Numbers 16:42
And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
The morning after Korah and his company were destroyed, the whole congregation gathered against Moses and Aaron charging them with killing the people of the Lord, and as they looked toward the tabernacle the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. That appearing was God's visible presence in answer to rebellion against the leaders He had appointed, arresting their presumptuous course with warning of impending judgment and opportunity to repent. Their course sprang from envy and jealousy, the same spirit that led Lucifer to complain of God's government and seek to overthrow heaven's order, now working in men to excite distrust, ambition for position, and desire for self-exaltation. By murmuring against Moses and Aaron they blasphemed God and rejected Him as their leader, and by resisting light until blinded they hardened their hearts in the sin that cuts off the soul's communication with heaven. Judgment fell for accusing His chosen servants in a plague that killed 14,700, stayed only when Moses interceded and Aaron made atonement standing between the living and the dead, leaving the account as a warning against unbelief for God's people in the last days.
Setting and Divine Appearance
The verse belongs to the morning after, the day after, the destruction of Korah and his company. At that time the whole congregation gathered against Moses and against Aaron and charged them with killing the people of the Lord. They remained convinced that Moses had caused the destruction and resisted accepting it as God's judgment.
As the congregation gathered, they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation. The cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. That appearing was God's visible presence and divine response amid rebellion against the leaders He had appointed. It came in the setting of renewed opposition after Korah's rebellion, when the earlier judgment had not cured rebellion and the false accusation brought further judgment.
Moses and Aaron went before the tabernacle. God told Moses to get away from the congregation so He could destroy them instantly. Moses and Aaron fell facedown before God, with His presence appearing as judgment was about to fall on the congregation.
Rebellion's Root and Judgment
The disaster is traced to envy and jealousy, working out on a narrower stage the same spirit that led to Satan's rebellion in heaven. Pride and ambition had prompted Lucifer to complain of God's government and seek to overthrow the order established in heaven, and since his fall he infuses the same envy and discontent and ambition for position and honor into men. He worked on Korah, Dathan, and Abiram to arouse desire for self-exaltation and to excite envy, distrust, and rebellion.
The people were so deluded as to think themselves righteous, flattered by Korah and his company until they believed themselves a very good people wronged and abused by Moses and deceived by him. They regarded those who faithfully reproved their sins as actuated by Satan. They were unwilling to admit Korah was wrong and Moses was right, because then they would have to receive as God's word the sentence that they must die in the wilderness. They cherished hope for a new order of things with praise instead of reproof and ease instead of anxiety and conflict, and because the men who perished had spoken flattering words and professed interest and love for them, they concluded Korah and his companions were good men and Moses had caused their destruction.
By rejecting the men of God's appointment they rejected God as their leader, and in murmuring against Moses and Aaron they blasphemed God. In this they offered God the greatest insult by despising and rejecting the instrumentalities He would use for their salvation. They remained convinced Moses had caused the destruction and resisted accepting God's judgment, interpreting it wrongly and treating the men God had judged as martyrs, with discernment shaped to defend wrong and reject correction. Despite overwhelming evidence that God was leading Israel and the most convincing evidence of His displeasure in the destruction of the men who deceived them, they rejected light until blinded, attributing His judgments to human or satanic agency and declaring that through the power of the evil one Moses and Aaron had caused the death of good and holy men. The earlier judgment had not cured rebellion, and their false accusation brought further judgment.
The night before had been a night of probation spent not in repentance and confession and seeking pardon for grievous sin but in devising resistance to the evidences showing them to be the greatest of sinners, while Satan was at hand to pervert their judgment and lead them blindfold to destruction. With hatred and resistance to authority they purposed to put Moses and Aaron to death. This act sealed their doom as the sin against the Holy Spirit, a sin by which man's heart is effectually hardened against divine grace, cutting off the channel of communication between the soul and heaven through which God communicates with man by the Holy Spirit.
The appearing of God's presence marked that judgment was about to fall on the congregation for accusing His chosen servants, and the ensuing plague killed 14,700 people. Moses kept the same care for Israel despite rebellion and cruel treatment, begging God to spare and pardon the people and staying in prayer before the Lord while he sent Aaron to make atonement for sin with incense, so his prayers would go up with the incense and be accepted and the whole congregation would not perish. Aaron stood between the living and the dead until the plague stopped.
Warning for Later Generations
The record of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram gathering against Moses and Aaron, with the cloud covering the tent and the divine glory appearing, stands as a warning against unbelief and against following their example. It is an admonition to God's people in the last days. It is to be read carefully and prayerfully.
The chapter warns that work done in self will not stand, while work done in God will endure. It warns against offering service kindled by self.
The visible appearing of divine glory over the tabernacle arrested the presumptuous course of the rebellious congregation and warned them of impending judgment. In that appearing God displayed His power before them. He thereby gave the congregation an opportunity to repent and seek forgiveness. When God's people rebel against His appointed servants, He calls for decisive action against evil workers, and those who persist in sin and resist His warnings must have their hearts changed or they cannot see God.