Numbers 16:38
The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
The verse belongs to the judgment on Korah, Dathan and Abiram, whose censers were taken after their rebellion against Moses and Aaron and beaten into broad plates to cover the altar as a lasting sign to Israel. Though they belonged to men who sinned against their own lives, the censers were counted holy because they had been offered before the Lord. The covering stood as a memorial that self-chosen worship and rebellion against God's appointed order will not endure. Only work kindled by God's own holy fire is safe and will stand, while work mixed with self and unauthorized worship will fail. The history is written as a warning for God's people, especially in the last days, not to follow that unbelief, for rebellion deceives its followers into thinking themselves righteous while they murmur against God Himself.
Rebellion Context and Censers
Numbers 16:38 belongs to the history of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and that history stands as an example of rebellion and unbelief to warn God's people, especially in the last days, not to follow it. It is a history to be read carefully and prayerfully for admonition, because rebellion against God is serious and is meant to teach later generations, giving instruction appropriate for the present time so the whole flock will not be fed with errors that cause them to go astray. The conspirators trusted their own judgment over that of Moses, claiming the congregation was holy while charging Moses and Aaron with exalting themselves over it. They believed Moses was harming Israel, and their stubborn self-confidence shows how rebellion deceives its followers and makes them hard to convince.
The censers named in the verse were those of men who sinned against their own souls or lives in approaching God without authorization. Although the offerers were sinners, the censers themselves became hallowed or holy because they had been offered before the Lord. By divine command they were to be gathered up and beaten into broad plates for a covering of the altar. In that form they were to remain a lasting sign to the children of Israel, memorializing God's judgment upon the rebellion.
That rebellion worked out on a narrower stage the same spirit that had led to Satan's rebellion in heaven. Pride and ambition had prompted Lucifer to complain of the government of God and to seek the overthrow of the order established in heaven, and since his fall his object has been to infuse into men the same envy and discontent and the same ambition for position and honor. He worked upon Korah, Dathan, and Abiram to arouse desire for self-exaltation and to excite envy, distrust, and rebellion. By rejecting the men of God's appointment they in fact rejected God as their leader, and in murmuring against Moses and Aaron they blasphemed God. Yet they were so deluded as to think themselves righteous, and to regard those who faithfully reproved their sins as actuated by Satan.
Warning and Instruction
The account to which this verse belongs stands as a written example of rebellion and unbelief, set down to instruct and warn God's people against following the same course. Its history of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram is to be read carefully and prayerfully for admonition, because rebellion against God is a serious matter meant to teach later generations. For those living in the last days especially, its events serve as example and admonition not to repeat the rebels' example.
The Rebellion of Korah gives instruction suited to the present time, so that the whole flock shall not be fed with errors that lead them astray. In an emergency the chapter calls for decisive action against workers of evil, while the censers of the rebels were beaten into plates for the altar as a sign to Israel.
Only the holy fire kindled by God Himself is safe, for work done in self will not stand, whereas work done in God will endure. The censers taken from the sinners in their approach to God were made into plates for the altar because they had been offered before the Lord, and by that use they became holy and a sign to Israel. Work mixed with self and unauthorized worship will not endure, but work wrought in God will stand.
Stubborn rebellion deceives those who cherish it and makes them hard to convince, as seen when Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their company trusted their own judgment above Moses' and charged him with harming Israel. Though God's judgments destroyed the leaders and princes, the survivors soon accused Moses of killing the Lord's people. God's judgment did not at once end the rebellion, and continued resistance with false accusation brought further judgment upon them.