The morning after Korah and his company were destroyed, the congregation gathered against Moses and Aaron before the tabernacle when the cloud covered it and the glory appeared, falsely charging them with killing the Lord's people, and the Lord told Moses to get up from among them so they could be consumed in a moment. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces, and Moses kept his care for Israel despite their rebellion and cruelty, pleading with God to spare and pardon them while sending Aaron to make atonement so his prayers would rise with the incense and the whole congregation would not perish. Aaron made atonement with incense and stood between the dead and the living until the plague was stayed, though 14,700 died for presumptuous rebellion fueled by envy and jealousy. The rebellion displays on a narrower stage the same spirit that led to Satan's rebellion in heaven, where pride and ambition led Lucifer to complain against God's government and seek to overthrow heaven's order, and since his fall he works the same envy, distrust, and ambition for position in men so that in rejecting God's appointed men they reject God Himself. The history is recorded for instruction and warning to God's people at the end of the world not to follow that example of unbelief, calling them to genuine repentance and to decisive separation from evil workers whose hearts remain unchanged.
Setting and Events
Numbers 16:44 belongs to the account of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram against Moses. It comes the morning after the destruction of Korah and his company, when the congregation gathered against Moses and Aaron before the tabernacle and the cloud covered it and the glory appeared. At that meeting the people falsely accused Moses and Aaron of killing the Lord's people.
The charge was made the day after the destruction, when the people renewed their murmuring and blamed Moses for the rebels' deaths. It continued despite overwhelming evidence of God's leading of Israel and despite the most convincing evidence of His displeasure in the destruction of the men who had deceived them. Their judgment had been so shaped by sympathy for those opposing correction and by rebellion and prejudice that they saw the rebels as martyrs and Moses as responsible. By attributing the most striking manifestations of God's power and His judgments to human or satanic agency, declaring that Moses and Aaron through the power of evil had caused the death of good and holy men, they rejected light until blinded.
In that setting the Lord told Moses and Aaron to withdraw and get up from among the congregation so the rebels could be consumed in a moment. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before Him. Moses kept the same care for Israel despite their rebellion and cruel conduct toward him, begging God to spare and pardon the people.
He remained before the Lord in prayer while directing Aaron to make atonement for their sin, so his prayers would go up with the incense and be acceptable to God and the whole congregation would not perish in rebellion. Aaron made atonement with incense and stood between the dead and the living until the plague was stayed. Though the plague was stopped, 14,700 died, with thousands more under judgment for sin and presumptuous rebellion fueled by envy and jealousy.
Warning and Application
The history to which this word belongs was preserved for instruction and warning, to teach God's people not to follow the example of unbelief and rebellion shown by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. The chapter recording how that rebellion developed is to be read carefully and prayerfully as a warning, and its history is to be used to call people to genuine repentance. What befell Israel stands as an example written to admonish those living at the end of the world, and its instruction applies at the present time to keep the whole flock from being fed with errors that cause straying.
The rebellion displays on a narrower stage the same spirit that led to Satan's rebellion in heaven. Pride and ambition 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 the same envy and discontent and the same ambition for position and honor into men. He worked upon Korah, Dathan, and Abiram to arouse desire for self-exaltation and to excite envy, distrust, and rebellion, so that by rejecting the men of God's appointment they rejected God as their leader. While in murmuring against Moses and Aaron they blasphemed God, yet they were so deluded as to think themselves righteous and to regard those who had faithfully reproved their sins as actuated by Satan.
Deliberate rejection of the agency through which God communicates with man sealed their doom as the sin against the Holy Spirit, by which the heart is effectually hardened against divine grace and the channel of communication between the soul and heaven is cut off. That rejection came despite overwhelming evidence that God was leading Israel and despite the most convincing evidence of His displeasure in the destruction of the men who had deceived them, when the people attributed the most striking manifestations of God's power and His judgments to human or satanic agency and declared that Moses and Aaron through the power of the evil one had caused the death of good and holy men, rejecting light until blinded. Their judgment had been so shaped by sympathy for those opposing God's correction that they saw the rebels as martyrs and Moses as responsible, and the same hatred of reproof and defense of wrongdoing can arise among God's people.
The chapter calls for decisive action in an emergency, in that evil workers should be separated from the Lord's work. It also warns that people may have intellect and hold responsible positions yet remain unable to distinguish purity from impurity and holiness from sin unless their hearts are decisively changed. The call to read the whole chapter is joined to the contrast between work done in self and work done in God, illustrated by holy fire: work rooted in self will not endure, while work done in God will.
The morning after Korah and his company were destroyed, the congregation gathered against Moses and Aaron before the tabernacle when the cloud covered it and the glory appeared, falsely charging them with killing the Lord's people, and the Lord told Moses to get up from among them so they could be consumed in a moment. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces, and Moses kept his care for Israel despite their rebellion and cruelty, pleading with God to spare and pardon them while sending Aaron to make atonement so his prayers would rise with the incense and the whole congregation would not perish. Aaron made atonement with incense and stood between the dead and the living until the plague was stayed, though 14,700 died for presumptuous rebellion fueled by envy and jealousy. The rebellion displays on a narrower stage the same spirit that led to Satan's rebellion in heaven, where pride and ambition led Lucifer to complain against God's government and seek to overthrow heaven's order, and since his fall he works the same envy, distrust, and ambition for position in men so that in rejecting God's appointed men they reject God Himself. The history is recorded for instruction and warning to God's people at the end of the world not to follow that example of unbelief, calling them to genuine repentance and to decisive separation from evil workers whose hearts remain unchanged.
Setting and Events
Numbers 16:44 belongs to the account of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram against Moses. It comes the morning after the destruction of Korah and his company, when the congregation gathered against Moses and Aaron before the tabernacle and the cloud covered it and the glory appeared. At that meeting the people falsely accused Moses and Aaron of killing the Lord's people.
The charge was made the day after the destruction, when the people renewed their murmuring and blamed Moses for the rebels' deaths. It continued despite overwhelming evidence of God's leading of Israel and despite the most convincing evidence of His displeasure in the destruction of the men who had deceived them. Their judgment had been so shaped by sympathy for those opposing correction and by rebellion and prejudice that they saw the rebels as martyrs and Moses as responsible. By attributing the most striking manifestations of God's power and His judgments to human or satanic agency, declaring that Moses and Aaron through the power of evil had caused the death of good and holy men, they rejected light until blinded.
In that setting the Lord told Moses and Aaron to withdraw and get up from among the congregation so the rebels could be consumed in a moment. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before Him. Moses kept the same care for Israel despite their rebellion and cruel conduct toward him, begging God to spare and pardon the people.
He remained before the Lord in prayer while directing Aaron to make atonement for their sin, so his prayers would go up with the incense and be acceptable to God and the whole congregation would not perish in rebellion. Aaron made atonement with incense and stood between the dead and the living until the plague was stayed. Though the plague was stopped, 14,700 died, with thousands more under judgment for sin and presumptuous rebellion fueled by envy and jealousy.
Warning and Application
The history to which this word belongs was preserved for instruction and warning, to teach God's people not to follow the example of unbelief and rebellion shown by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. The chapter recording how that rebellion developed is to be read carefully and prayerfully as a warning, and its history is to be used to call people to genuine repentance. What befell Israel stands as an example written to admonish those living at the end of the world, and its instruction applies at the present time to keep the whole flock from being fed with errors that cause straying.
The rebellion displays on a narrower stage the same spirit that led to Satan's rebellion in heaven. Pride and ambition 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 the same envy and discontent and the same ambition for position and honor into men. He worked upon Korah, Dathan, and Abiram to arouse desire for self-exaltation and to excite envy, distrust, and rebellion, so that by rejecting the men of God's appointment they rejected God as their leader. While in murmuring against Moses and Aaron they blasphemed God, yet they were so deluded as to think themselves righteous and to regard those who had faithfully reproved their sins as actuated by Satan.
Deliberate rejection of the agency through which God communicates with man sealed their doom as the sin against the Holy Spirit, by which the heart is effectually hardened against divine grace and the channel of communication between the soul and heaven is cut off. That rejection came despite overwhelming evidence that God was leading Israel and despite the most convincing evidence of His displeasure in the destruction of the men who had deceived them, when the people attributed the most striking manifestations of God's power and His judgments to human or satanic agency and declared that Moses and Aaron through the power of the evil one had caused the death of good and holy men, rejecting light until blinded. Their judgment had been so shaped by sympathy for those opposing God's correction that they saw the rebels as martyrs and Moses as responsible, and the same hatred of reproof and defense of wrongdoing can arise among God's people.
The chapter calls for decisive action in an emergency, in that evil workers should be separated from the Lord's work. It also warns that people may have intellect and hold responsible positions yet remain unable to distinguish purity from impurity and holiness from sin unless their hearts are decisively changed. The call to read the whole chapter is joined to the contrast between work done in self and work done in God, illustrated by holy fire: work rooted in self will not endure, while work done in God will.