You Can Take it with You
Numbers 16
This chapter is a bizarre story that I don't remember. So you have these three guys- Korah, a Levite, and Dathan and Abiram who are Reubenites. They are a bit sick of Moses so they get 250 other guys, some of them community leaders to stand up against Moses and Aaron. They said, "Who do you think you are? God is with ALL of us, not just you. Where do you get off being so 'holier than thou?'"
Moses is really hurt by this accusation and falls face down. But it kind of seems that it's his pride that's really hurt (at least after my initial reading). He tells them- "We'll see who God wants near him. Tomorrow we'll have a community incense burning and we'll see who God picks. We'll see who God thinks is holy."
He continues, "Levites, hasn't God done enough for you by separating you from the rest of Israel letting you be near Him to do His work? Where do you get off griping at Aaron? You're actually complaining against God, anyhow."
Moses then summoned Dathan and Abiram who responded, "No, we're not coming- you're not the boss of us. Isn't it enough that you teased us with that whole milk and honey inheritance? We're still waiting on this promise. Are you hoping to treat us like slaves?"
Moses then made a little prayer against them. Speaking to God, he says, "Don't accept their offering. I haven't accepted anything from them not even a donkey-and I haven't wronged them either.
Then Moses sets them up, "Everyone take your censer and fill it with incense- and Aaron will join you." When they were gathered, God warned Moses and Aaron, "You two step back, I'll wipe out the whole group at once."
But Moses and Aaron suddenly soften. They fall down on their faces (a popular position this chapter) and cry "You who created everything- will you punish everyone for the sins of one man?"
God seems to reconsider and tells them to have the assembly move away from the other three. So they do- saying- "Back away! Don't even touch anything that belongs to them or you'll be swept away for their sins." So the three instigators stand in front of their tents with their families and await their doom.
Moses can't resist a little speech. He says "Here's the litmus- here's how you know that I speak for God. If these three die a natural death, than I am not from God- but if the Lord creates this new thing... if He opens up the earth and swallows them up alive with all of their possessions (is he riffing here?) and they enter the realm of the dead still living (how will they verify that?) then you know that these three have been disrespectful to God."
Instantly, the ground opened and swallowed them up. The three of them and their families and all of their possessions changed zip codes. Once swallowed, the earth closed back up over them.
Understandably, this freaked people out. They assumed the earth was still hungry and that they would also taste pretty good.
Then God sent out fire and killed the 250 who had been offering incense. God had Aaron's son Eliazor to get the censers out of the remains- they are still holy. He's to spread the charred remains some distance away- but to hammer the censers into sheets to put over the altar. They will be a sign. This was to remind them that only Aaron's children could offer incense before God or they would receive a similar fate.
This whole scenario wasn't much of a morale boost. They approached Moses and Aaron and accused them of killing the LORD's people. God had had enough- so He told Moses to stand back- I'm going to take them all out.
Moses told Aaron to quickly get his censer and incense and burning coals and go make atonement. He realized that a plague had started. Aaron ran and made atonement but in the meantime 14,700 additional people died from the plague. Once the plague stopped, Aaron came back to the entrance of the tent of meeting.
So what to make of this?
First off- I'm reminded that not too long ago, Moses referred to himself as the most humble man alive (or something similarly extraordinary). For someone so humble, he seems to not be perceived by others that way.
Second, I think that some of the details help make sense out of the whole. They aren't just saying- Moses, we're sick of your mouth- they're saying- we've been made promises- they haven't come true- we're through listening to you- we're calling our own shots now. I think Moses is right, they are defying God, not just Moses.
While Moses does seem to set them up- they seem to be breaking one of God's laws by sitting around with the censers. Moses isn't just challenging them to see who God picks. He's saying God said only Aaron's family can offer sacrifice- God set us apart- see what happens if you defy God's law.
Finally, Moses seems to waver in his desire for justice and his desire for mercy. And I think this principle rings true. He prays for God to not take the sacrifice- but He's sorry when God's wrath is stirred up. Vengeance doesn't seem so sweet in practice. Grace and mercy are much easier to live with in the long term. Easy to see here... sometimes hard to recognize in the heat of rage.
Numbers 16
This chapter is a bizarre story that I don't remember. So you have these three guys- Korah, a Levite, and Dathan and Abiram who are Reubenites. They are a bit sick of Moses so they get 250 other guys, some of them community leaders to stand up against Moses and Aaron. They said, "Who do you think you are? God is with ALL of us, not just you. Where do you get off being so 'holier than thou?'"
Moses is really hurt by this accusation and falls face down. But it kind of seems that it's his pride that's really hurt (at least after my initial reading). He tells them- "We'll see who God wants near him. Tomorrow we'll have a community incense burning and we'll see who God picks. We'll see who God thinks is holy."
He continues, "Levites, hasn't God done enough for you by separating you from the rest of Israel letting you be near Him to do His work? Where do you get off griping at Aaron? You're actually complaining against God, anyhow."
Moses then summoned Dathan and Abiram who responded, "No, we're not coming- you're not the boss of us. Isn't it enough that you teased us with that whole milk and honey inheritance? We're still waiting on this promise. Are you hoping to treat us like slaves?"
Moses then made a little prayer against them. Speaking to God, he says, "Don't accept their offering. I haven't accepted anything from them not even a donkey-and I haven't wronged them either.
Then Moses sets them up, "Everyone take your censer and fill it with incense- and Aaron will join you." When they were gathered, God warned Moses and Aaron, "You two step back, I'll wipe out the whole group at once."
But Moses and Aaron suddenly soften. They fall down on their faces (a popular position this chapter) and cry "You who created everything- will you punish everyone for the sins of one man?"
God seems to reconsider and tells them to have the assembly move away from the other three. So they do- saying- "Back away! Don't even touch anything that belongs to them or you'll be swept away for their sins." So the three instigators stand in front of their tents with their families and await their doom.
Moses can't resist a little speech. He says "Here's the litmus- here's how you know that I speak for God. If these three die a natural death, than I am not from God- but if the Lord creates this new thing... if He opens up the earth and swallows them up alive with all of their possessions (is he riffing here?) and they enter the realm of the dead still living (how will they verify that?) then you know that these three have been disrespectful to God."
Instantly, the ground opened and swallowed them up. The three of them and their families and all of their possessions changed zip codes. Once swallowed, the earth closed back up over them.
Understandably, this freaked people out. They assumed the earth was still hungry and that they would also taste pretty good.
Then God sent out fire and killed the 250 who had been offering incense. God had Aaron's son Eliazor to get the censers out of the remains- they are still holy. He's to spread the charred remains some distance away- but to hammer the censers into sheets to put over the altar. They will be a sign. This was to remind them that only Aaron's children could offer incense before God or they would receive a similar fate.
This whole scenario wasn't much of a morale boost. They approached Moses and Aaron and accused them of killing the LORD's people. God had had enough- so He told Moses to stand back- I'm going to take them all out.
Moses told Aaron to quickly get his censer and incense and burning coals and go make atonement. He realized that a plague had started. Aaron ran and made atonement but in the meantime 14,700 additional people died from the plague. Once the plague stopped, Aaron came back to the entrance of the tent of meeting.
So what to make of this?
First off- I'm reminded that not too long ago, Moses referred to himself as the most humble man alive (or something similarly extraordinary). For someone so humble, he seems to not be perceived by others that way.
Second, I think that some of the details help make sense out of the whole. They aren't just saying- Moses, we're sick of your mouth- they're saying- we've been made promises- they haven't come true- we're through listening to you- we're calling our own shots now. I think Moses is right, they are defying God, not just Moses.
While Moses does seem to set them up- they seem to be breaking one of God's laws by sitting around with the censers. Moses isn't just challenging them to see who God picks. He's saying God said only Aaron's family can offer sacrifice- God set us apart- see what happens if you defy God's law.
Finally, Moses seems to waver in his desire for justice and his desire for mercy. And I think this principle rings true. He prays for God to not take the sacrifice- but He's sorry when God's wrath is stirred up. Vengeance doesn't seem so sweet in practice. Grace and mercy are much easier to live with in the long term. Easy to see here... sometimes hard to recognize in the heat of rage.
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