Bereans Corner
Bereans Corner
Thru the Bible - #131 -Numbers 16 - Korah's Rebellion
Welcome to Berean's Corner, the podcast where we go through books of the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse. Wherever you are in the world, thank you for joining. Grab a glass of water, a cup of coffee or tea, and thank you for joining me. As always, open up your Bible to Numbers, chapter 16. The title of today's lesson is Korah's Rebellion, numbers 16, and let's read Numbers 16, and let's read Numbers 16.
Speaker 2:Korah, son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites, dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab and On, son of Peleth, became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them you have gone too far. The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why, then, do you set yourselves above the Lord's assembly? When Moses heard this, he fell face down. Then he said to Korah and all his followers In the morning, the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses, he will cause to come near him. You, Korah, and all your followers, are to do this. Take censers and, tomorrow, put fire and incense in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You, levites, have gone too far. Moses also said to Korah Now listen, you, levites, isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord's tabernacle and stand before the community and minister to them. He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?
Speaker 2:Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said we will not come. Isn't it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, and now you also want to lord it over us? Moreover, you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come. Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them. Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord. Moses said to Korah is to take his censer and put incense in it 250 censers in all and present it before the Lord. You and Aaron are to present your censers also. So each man took his censer put fire and incense in it and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
Speaker 2:When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them. At the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the Lord appeared to the entire assembly. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once. But Moses and Aaron fell face down and cried out O God, god of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins? Aaron fell face down and cried out O God, god of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins? Then the Lord said to Moses Say to the assembly Move away from the tents of Korah, dathan and Abiram.
Speaker 2:Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram and the elders of Israel followed him. He warned the assembly Move back from the tents of these wicked men, do not touch anything belonging to them or you will be swept away because of all their sins. So they moved away from the tents of Korah, dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrance to their tents. Then Moses said this is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea. If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about something totally new and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them with everything that belongs to them and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt. As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave with everything they owned. The earth closed over them and they perished and were gone from the community. At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting the earth is going to swallow us too.
Speaker 2:And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense. The Lord said to Moses Tell Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, to take the censers out of the smoldering remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy, the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the Lord and have become holy. Let them be assigned to the Israelites. So Eliezer the priest collected the bronze incensors brought by those who had been burned up and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, as the Lord directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the Lord, or he would become like Korah and his followers.
Speaker 2:The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. You have killed the Lord's people, they said. But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the tent of meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting and the Lord said to Moses Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once. And they fell face down.
Speaker 2:Then Moses said to Aaron Take your censers and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord. The plague has started. So Aaron did as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. He stood between the living and the dead and the plague stopped. But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, where the plague had stopped.
Speaker 1:The last time we were together, we looked at Psalm 90, the first and oldest Psalm. This Psalm was written after Numbers 15, which included the laws of Canaan, law of the sojourner and the punishment of Israel breaking Sabbath. Today we are looking at the rebellion of Korah. Now, if you don't know about Korah, this is the same man who had descendants who wrote some of the Psalms. When you go through the the book of Psalms and you see some of the Psalms that say the sons of Korah, this is the same Korah. So he, well at least his sons, are mentioned in the psalms. And I want to read a little something about Korah so you can kind of get a better understanding. Just in case you're listening to this and you don't remember or you're maybe kind of wondering who this Korah might be, let's read a little bit about him. Cora, this rebellious Levite, was either a priest vying for position and authority over the established priesthood, over a lay person insisting that all the congregation are holy, not just Moses. When Cora and his followers rebelled against Moses and Aaron and therefore against God, they were killed by an act. Korah suddenly died when he was bit, when he was buried and burned alive by earthquake and fire, which is something that we are going to get into in this lesson. So I just want to kind of give you a little bit of Korah's background and who he is. Now I want you to understand something even when we do evil in the sight of the Lord, he can still bless us and he can still use our bloodline.
Speaker 1:This chapter is about trying to overthrow a leader and or his authority who has been given authority by God. Let us remember it is God who puts kings, ie political leaders in our days, in their place. If you remember, in Daniel he mentioned exactly that as a matter of fact, just hold your. You know, you know, if you want to, you mentioned exactly that as a matter of fact. Just hold your. You know, you know. If you want to, you could turn with uh, turn with me to Daniel, but if not, you can just stay right here. I just want to look at this verse in Daniel and bring home the point. I'm going to Daniel, chapter 2, just in case you want to go there with me, and I can show you exactly what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:Daniel, chapter 2. We are looking at verses 20 and 21. This is Daniel speaking. Daniel answered and said let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to him and is he who changes the times and epochs. He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding. Let us understand something very, very clearly now.
Speaker 1:This was true in the days of the Israelites, with the situation right here with Korah, and it is even true in our time. It is the Lord, the Lord God, who puts leaders in their place. In their time it was kings, it was. There were prophets who did the lord's bidding. In our time it would be politicians. Remember that, no matter who it is, the lord is the one who put them in their place. He's the one who put them there for his reasons. Sometimes the lord put them there for reasons that are going to benefit us, but sometimes they may be there for things that may not benefit us. But the truth is is that it all is to the Lord's good. No matter if it's good for us, if it's bad for us, if it's in the middle for us, it is all to the Lord's good. You know, it reminds me in the book of First Kings, with Ahab, and there was a situation that you know one day day, lord willing, when we get through uh, first kings, where Ahab, who was really not a good guy, the Lord still used him for his purpose and he still used him to get done what he needed to get done. So you all need to remember that. We need to remember that, whoever is in power, the Lord put them there and your only duty is to give them the respect and remember that the Lord put them there, whether you like them or not. Listen, you don't have to agree with everything that a political leader does, but you do have to recognize them as the power that the Lord puts in place. I hope that my point was pretty clear on that. Now, looking at Cora and his and his rebellion.
Speaker 1:This chapter right here we will break down into 13 parts. Part number one Korah began to rise people against Moses and Aaron. We see this in verses one through three. Now, korah, the son of his her, the son of Kohat, the son of Levi, with the Dan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab and on, the sons of Pelleth, sons of Reuben, took action and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation chosen in the assembly of men of Renown and they assembled together against Moses and Aaron and said to them you have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the lord is in their midst. So why do you exalt yourselves? But above the assembly of the lord? Now did Korah forget this quick, what happened to Miriam and Aaron back in Numbers 12, when Miriam and Aaron did the same thing, when they rose up against Moses and said God isn't only using you, he's using all of us? Obviously he did because he must have forgot that God called Moses to lead Israel with Aaron's assistance. We see this back in Exodus, your finger right here. Let's take a quick look at that.
Speaker 1:Go back to Exodus, chapter 3, just in case anybody forgot who the Lord called and put in charge here. Exodus, chapter 3. We're going to look at verses. I'm starting at verse 10. I'm going through Exodus 4, 17, exodus 3, 10 through.
Speaker 1:Therefore, come now and I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God who am I? That I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt. And he said certainly I will be with you and this shall be the sign to you that is I who have, who have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.
Speaker 1:Then Moses said to God behold, I am going to the sons of Israel and I shall say to them the God of your fathers has sent me to you. Now they may say to me what is his name, what shall I say to them? And God said to Moses I am who I am. And he said thus you shall say to the sons of Israel I am has sent me to you. And God, furthermore, said to Moses Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever and this is my memorial name to all generations.
Speaker 1:Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them the Lord, the God of your fathers, the fathers, the God of Abraham, isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me saying I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. So I said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey, and they will heed to what you say and, with the elders of Israel, will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord, our God. But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go except under compulsion. So I would stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles, which I shall do in the midst of it, and after that he will let you go and I will grant the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it shall be that when you go you will not go empty handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house articles of silver and articles of gold and clothing that you will put them on your sons and daughters. You will plunder egyptians.
Speaker 1:Then moses answered and said what if they will not believe me or listen to what I say, for they may say the lord has not appeared to you. And the lord said to him what is that in your hand? He said a staff. Then he said throw it on the ground. So he threw it on the ground and it became a serpent and moses fled from it. But the lord said to moses stretch out your hand and grasp it by his tail. So he stretched out his hand and caught it and it became a staff in his hand.
Speaker 1:That they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob he says this several times to bring the point home has appeared to you. And the Lord, furthermore, said to him now put your hand into your bosom. So he put his hand into his bosom and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then he said put your hand into your bosom again. So he put his hand into his bosom again and when he took out, he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. And it shall come about that if they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign real quick. The reason that the Lord is doing this is that he's giving Moses uh, not only is he building Moses confidence, but he's telling him you can show the people these type of things and it will be a sign to them. But it shall be that if they will not believe even those two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the now and pour it on the dry ground, and the water which you take from the now will become blood on the ground, the dry ground.
Speaker 1:Then moses said to the lord please, lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently, nor in a time past, nor since thou has spoken to thy servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. And the lord said to him who has made man's mouth or makes him dumb or deaf, or seen or blind? Is it not I, the lord? God is sovereign. No matter how a person is born, that's just how it is. The lord has ordained it that way. Sometimes it has to do with genetics, but even if that's the case, the lord is saying it is he who is control of all these things.
Speaker 1:Now, then go even. I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to say. But he said please, lord, now send the messenger to whoever thou wilt. Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses and he said is there not your brother, aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently and, moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart and you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth. That's Aaron, and I will teach you what you are to do. Moreover, you shall speak, uh, he shall speak for you to the people, and it shall come about that he shall be as a mouth for you and you shall be as God to him, and you shall take in your hand this staff with which you shall perform the signs. Now, I went through all that to prove the point that the Lord put Moses and Aaron in charge. The Lord didn't say well, there are other people who can do this job or there's other people who can speak to the Lord. He put a particular man, in this case two men Moses, the leader, and Aaron, the assistants. He put them in charge, and it is even like that to this day.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of people who they look at a man who is teaching, or maybe he's an evangelist, he has the gift of, you know, going door to door or being a street preacher, or whatever the case may be. And there are those who they don't really look at that as respect. They say, well, you know why is he? You know, uh, going door to door. You know, I can do the same thing the Lord has called me for. That truth is the Lord doesn't call everybody for everything, and this is Korah's problem. He wants to stand up there and be in the front and he doesn't want to do the role that the Lord gave him.
Speaker 1:Back to part number two Moses falls to the ground on his face. We see this in verse four. When Moses heard this, he fell on his face. Why did Moses fall on his face? I believe that Moses fell on his face probably first of all is because he's really sick of dealing with these people. I mean, these people have been a thorn in his side. He has performed miracles through the Lord, through the Holy Spirit. He has brought these people out of Egypt by the Lord's power and these people are still grumbling. He? They've seen what happened to other people in some of the chapters we've already been through and these people are still complaining and grumbling. Moses is probably falling on his face because he wants to ask the Lord for his guidance, because he's tired and weary. Which brings us to part number three.
Speaker 1:Cora and his crew are confronted by Moses. We see this in verses 5 to 11. He spoke to Cora and all his company saying tomorrow morning, the Lord this is Moses speaking. Tomorrow morning, the Lord will show who is his and who is holy and will bring him near to himself. Even the one whom he will choose, he will bring near to himself. Do this take censers for yourselves, korah and all your company, and put fire in them and lay incense upon them in the presence of the Lord. Tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you, sons of Levi. Then Moses said to Kor hear now, you, sons of Levi, it is not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, which the Lord has done to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tabernacle which is what they were doing of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that he has brought you near, korah and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you. Are you seeking the priesthood also? Therefore, you and all the company are gathered together against the Lord. But as for Aaron, who is he that you grumble against him? Moses is saying, exactly right, what the people are really doing is they're really grumbling against the Lord. I say this a lot of times when I hear people complaining to believers and they have a gripe with oh you know, why did this happen or why did that happen? I don't understand this. I don't understand that. Listen, you cannot take that as an offense. You have to understand that their issue is really with the Lord, it's not with you. Who they're really grumbling against is God. You're just the person standing there representing the Lord.
Speaker 1:We will move on to part four. Dothan and Abiram hide when Moses calls them out. We see this in verses 12 to 14. Then Moses sent a summit to Dothan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said we are, we will not come up. It is not enough that you have brought us up out of the land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also Lord it over us. Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up. So these two are hiding because I think that they know that something's going to go down when they come before Moses. But I want you to notice something that they said. I want you to go back to verse 13. I'm sorry, let's start back at verse 12. Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said we will not come up.
Speaker 1:Is it not enough that you have brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey? Did you catch that? These two knuckleheads said that I mean, moses, you brought us out here in this wilderness. Is it not enough that you brought us out of a land that flowed with milk and honey? You might be wondering well, what's wrong with that? They're talking about Egypt. They're saying to Moses you brought us up out of Egypt, where we were slaves. That land flowed with milk and honey. Remember in previous chapters when they said oh wow, if we, if only we were back in Egypt. At least when we were slaves, we had honey to eat and we had meat to eat and bread and we had water. Yeah, we may have been slaves, but we had things to sustain us. That's what's going on here. The Lord has brought these people out of the land of Egypt where they were slaves, and these people are longing to go back there.
Speaker 1:Let's move on to part five. Moses becomes angry, then prays verse 15. Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord do not regard their offering. I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them. So Moses is crying out to the Lord in his anger because, like I said, these people are wearing him thin.
Speaker 1:Part six Moses issues a challenge to Korah. Notice verses 16 to 18. Moses said to Korah you and all your company be present before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they, along with Aaron, and each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord Two hundred and fifty firepans. Also, you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan. So they each took his own censer and put fire on it and laid incense on it, and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. So Moses is putting the challenge out here because you know he's going to basically call Korah out on his words.
Speaker 1:Part seven the glory of the Lord appeared before Korah and company. We see this in verse 19. Thus, korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the 10th meeting and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation. Now the word appeared Hebrew 7200 or 7200. Ra means to appear or present oneself, so the Lord is presenting himself Now. You know how the Lord has been presenting himself as the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. The Lord is showing his presence here and it is interesting that Korah is still so thick-headed that he still is going to go through with this challenge. It's just interesting to me that he doesn't think about what happened to the other people who challenged the lord and challenged his servants.
Speaker 1:It's kind of, you know, like today, people in our time will say man, you know, if I live during the time of the israelites and the people in that time, it would be easy for me to believe, because the Lord did all of these miracles. Listen, people, no, I wouldn't. If you don't believe now, you weren't going to believe then. These people saw the miracles that the Lord was doing. They saw how he moved his mighty hand and yet, and still, these people still are grumbling against the Lord. Cora already knows that the Lord has struck some people down for doing exactly what he's doing right now, yet he is still doing it. Part eight what he's doing right now, yet he is still doing it.
Speaker 1:Part eight God appeared, but only spoke to Moses and Aaron. Look at verses 20 to 22. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying separate yourselves from among this congregation that I may consume them instantly. But they fell on their faces and said oh God, thou, god of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, would thou be angry with the entire congregation? This is a question that Aaron and Moses are asking the Lord, because when the Lord speaks, they know that the Lord's anger is about the kindle and they're really praying off of other people. They're basically saying Lord, these few over here are the ones sinning and speaking out against you. Lord, are you going to take out the whole congregation? That's the question that they're asking.
Speaker 1:But in part nine, god instructs moses. We see this in verses 23 and 24. Then the lord spoke to moses saying speak to the congregation, saying get back from around the dwellings of korah, dathan and abiram. So there's your answer. The Lord is telling Moses no, I'm not gonna take everybody out, but you better tell the people to get out from around them, the ones who don't want to be. You know, have happen to them. What's about to happen?
Speaker 1:Part 10 Moses and the elders go to the house of Dothan and Abraham and Moses speaks to the coming judgment. We see this in verses 25 through 30. Now remember that, dan and Abraham. They went into hiding and said we're not going to come out, but Moses goes to them verse 25. Then Moses arose and went to that, dan and Abraham, with the elders of Israel following him, and he spoke to the congregation saying depart now from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing that belongs to them, lest you be swept away in all their sin. So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, dothan and Abiram, and Dothan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and their sons and their little ones. And Moses said by this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds, for this is not my doing. If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me, but if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens his mouth and swallows them up and all of that is theirs and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord. So the Lord is speaking and basically the Lord I mean, excuse me, moses is telling everybody around. If these things happen, you know the Lord has spoken, but if these things don't happen, the Lord has not spoken, which does remind me.
Speaker 1:When you hear people in this 21st century talk about their prophets, you see people with prophet in front of their name. I'm prophet this, I'm prophetess that, and these people speak lies, which they do. They say things that don't come to pass. Think about what Moses just said. I'm telling you a thing that's about to happen, and if the thing that I tell you happens happens thus saith the Lord then it is of the Lord, but if it doesn't, then it's not. It's very interesting to me that men and women nowadays can say that the Lord spoke to them, the Lord told them these things and those things do not happen.
Speaker 1:The scriptures tell us, when we get to Deuteronomy, that when a prophet or a prophetess speaks a thing and it is not, so, it is not of the Lord. You are to get around them. They are a false yet and still, it's really sad that people will still follow these men and women and act like oh well, you know, it's just a mistake that they made. But the Lord is very clear when he says something. There is no mistake. Let's move on to part 11. The rebels are executed. We see this in verses 31 to 35.
Speaker 1:Then it came about, as he finished speaking all these words to he being Moses, that the ground was under them split open and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up and their households and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol and the earth closed over them and they perished from the midst of the assembly and all Israel who were around them fled to their outcry, for they said, the earth may swallow us up. Fire also came forth from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense. Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying say to excuse me, I'm sorry, I went too far. Lean back up. Fire also came forth from the lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering incense. Sorry, that's where I was supposed to stop. Understand. Now you need to understand something this was an earthquake sent by the lord. Did you hear what it said? It said the ground opened up beneath them. Now the fire, you got to remember. There's lava in the earthquake. Now lava is between 1300 and 2200 degrees Fahrenheit, so this would have been a painful death. So when they fell into the ground, not only did they and all that belong to the fall into the ground, but there's lava down there as well. So they went by fire. That's the that. That is the way that they went out down to Sheol. We're going to move on to part 12.
Speaker 1:Eleazar is told by Moses that the Lord said to hammer the sacred censers into sheets. We see this in verses 36 to 40. Then the Lord spoke to Moses. When did the Lord speak to Moses after these things? What things? The earthquake that just happened and swallowed up all these people? Say to Eleazar, the son of aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the blaze, for they are holy. And you scattered the burning coals abroad, and excuse me. As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the lord and they are holy and they shall be for a sign to the sons of israel. So eliezer the priest, took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar, as a reminder to the sons of israel that no layman who is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his company, just as the Lord has spoken to him through Moses. So, even though the men who had those censers were sinners and they sinned against the Lord, the Lord said they did at one time present those instruments as holy. So we're not going to get rid of them, we're going to take them, but we're going to hammer them into sheets.
Speaker 1:And then we move to part 13, the murmuring and plagues. We look at, we look at this as we finish up the chapter, verses 41 to 50. But on the next day all the congregation, the sons of israel, grumbled against moses and aaron. I'm gonna stop right there. Did you just hear everything that just happened? But but still the word says on the next day the people were grumbling, they grumbled against moses and aaron, saying you are the ones who have caused the death of the lord's people. So you see what they're saying. They're saying that it was you who did this, moses and Aaron. They forget that it's the Lord who's sovereign in all these things. But, like I said, what they're really doing is, in a very sly way, they are really murmuring against the Lord. Verse 42.
Speaker 1:It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned towards the tent of meeting. And behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly. Ok, one day later, these people don't get it, and the Lord is about to give swift justice again. Then they fell on their faces. Moses and Aaron said take your censer and put it in the fire from the altar and lay incense on it. Then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the Lord. The plague has begun. Then Aaron took it, as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly. For behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people and he took his stand between the dead and the living so that the plague was checked. But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who died on account of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway, the tent of meeting for the plague had been checked, and that is how it ended this day for these Israelites. All right, that brings us to the end of numbers, chapter 16.
Speaker 1:As I mentioned earlier, it is very interesting that these people saw these things firsthand, but yet and still, this is just how prideful and and hard, you know, a man's heart is. Men can see things with their eyes and they still would go through with it. You know, in, in, in my culture, the old folks would say you don't, you don't believe. You know what I'm saying, that fire is hot, you know. In other words, you have to put your hand in the fire to find out for yourself. You just can't stand far from a back and see that is burning down the wood. You can't look and see that this other guy put his hand in there and his hand came out all burned up and you know he had to go to the burn unit. And you know, get, get repairs done. No, no, no, you have to go yourself and see it. That's what these people are like, and I can understand how Moses would be tired of these people. He would be annoyed with these people because the Lord has done all these things and all these good things for them and yet, and still, these people still have an issue with what the Lord says. And guess what? All these thousands of years later, times have not changed.
Speaker 1:All right, I hope you enjoyed this lesson. As I always ask, continue to pray for me as we go through these scriptures. This lesson, as I always ask, continue to pray for me as we go through these scriptures. Pray that we continue, that I stay the course and finish the race, and I am always doing the same for you. That's all I got to have, until next time, god bless.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to Berean's Corner. We appreciate you joining us as we dive into God's word and seek biblical truth together. If this episode encouraged or challenged you, be sure to subscribe, share and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. You can find Berean's Corner on Buzzsprout, apple Podcasts, spotify, iheart, amazon Music and more. Let's stay connected. If you have questions, comments or prayer requests, reach out to us at bereanscornerbuzzsproutcom, where you can follow along with show transcripts and leave a message in the fan mail slot. Also, follow us on YouTube at Bereans Corner, and don't forget to subscribe. We'd love to hear from you. Until next time, keep searching the scriptures like a Berean, stay discerning, stay faithful and God bless. Guitar solo. Thank you, thank you. ¶¶. Thank you.