Numbers, Chapter 16

This chapter is about Korah, Dathan, & Abiram. This chapter is dark. These 3 individuals stir up some trouble. By the end of the chapter, almost 15,000 people are dead. Thanks for reading. Enjoy!

Korah (who was the great-grandson of Levi, whom the Levites where named after.), Dathan, & Abiram (both were Reubenites) & On (Yes, On, in this case, is a person’s name! This is the only time that he is mentioned by name. The other 3s names show throughout the rest of the chapter) became insolent! They decided to rise up against Moses!

With these 4 men were 250 Israelite men, who were well-known community leaders. They all came to oppose Moses & Aaron. They said to the 2 brothers, “You 2 think you’re better than us! The WHOLE Israelite community is holy! Not just the 2 of you! Why are you setting yourselves apart from everyone else?!”

When Moses heard this, he literally fell on his face. Moses then proceeds to tell Korah & his followers, “In the morning, God will show who belongs to him (You’ll see this phrasing in 2 Timothy 2:19.) & who’s holy. God will have them come near Him.”

Moses continued, “Here’s what you, & your little friends, are gonna do. Y’all gonna take some incense holders, put some incense in it, & light it before God. Because whoever God chooses is holy.”

Moses then let’s them have it! “Isn’t it enough for y’all the the God of Israel set all the Levites apart from the WHOLE Israelite community?! It’s not enough that He brought y’all the closest to Him? God’s brought y’all near Himself & now you want the priesthood too?! Y’all went against God with this, banding together. And who is Aaron anyways, that you should grumble against him?”

Moses summoned Dathan & Abiram (Korah’s cohorts.). But they didn’t go. They said, “You brought us out of the land flowing with milk & honey. Now you’ll kill us in the desert! You haven’t taken us into a land flowing with milk & honey. Nor given us an inheritance of fields & vineyards.”

This did it for Moses! He got really really MAD! So he tells God, “Don’t accept their offering! I haven’t taken anything from them! I didn’t do anything to them!” (You have to admit, that’s a pretty gutsy thing to do! To go up to God God & say that!)

Korah, Dathan, Abiram, & all their followers, plus Aaron, took their censers (incense burners) & incense. They presented it before God, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

When Korah gathered all his followers at the entrance of the Tent, the glory of God appeared to the WHOLE Israelite community. Good then tells Moses & Aaron to get away from the community so He could put an end to them at once. (God was gonna pretty much gonna kill everyone except Moses & Aaron!)

Moses & Aaron played savior to the Israelites, once again! God relented. He (God) told everyone to move away from the 3 conspirators tents (or houses. They still were nomads in the desert at this point.).

Moses went over to Dathan & Abiram. The Israelite elders followed with him. Moses warned everyone to stay away from their tents. Or they’d be swept away because of them.

Everybody moved away from the 3 men’s tent. Dathan & Abiram had come out of their tents. They were standing with their wives & kids, of all ages, at the entrances of their tents. (This tidbit makes what happens a little later a bit sad.)

Moses then says, “This is how you’ll know that God sent me. This was not MY idea. If these men die of natural causes & what only men can die from, then the big guy didn’t send me. But if the ground opens up & swallows them, & everything they own. They’ll go down, ALIVE, into Sheol. (Sheol (pronounced Sh-ol, the ‘e’ is silent.) was like the ancient Hebrews version of the Elysian Fields. It’s just a place for the dead to go.) Then you’ll know that they tested God with contempt!”

As soon as the words came out of Moses’ mouth, the ground opened up. It swallowed them, & everything they owned, up.

They were all shallowed up alive. At their cries, all the other Israelites around them fled! Fire came out from God & consumed the other 250 men who were with Korah & his 2 co-conspirators.

Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took the censers out of the smoldering remains. He scattered the coals some distance away, because the censers are holy. The censers were then hammered out into sheets to overlay the altar. It was to be a sign for the Israelites, that no one except a descendant of Aaron should burn incense before God. Or they’ll become like Korah & his followers.

Even after all that, the next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses & Aaron. But when the Israelites gathered in opposition to Moses & Aaron, & turned towards the Tent. Suddenly the cloud came down & the glory of God appeared, again!

God told Moses & Aaron to get away so He could deal with them. At this point, Moses & Aaron should be considered super heroes! They saved the day, AGAIN!

Aaron immediately starts making atonement for the Israelites. A plague (The text just says a plague. It doesn’t specifically say what the plague was. Not like in Exodus, where the plagues were specifically specified) had starred before Aaron’s atonement had begun. Aaron stood between the living & the dead. The plague stopped. 14,700 people died from the plague, alone.