Numbers 36 – The Value of Numbers

Numbers 36:13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which the LORD commanded to the sons of Israel through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.

So concludes the book of Numbers.

What value does the book of Numbers have for Christians today? It’s original role was as that of “case law”. Leviticus gave the laws by which the Israelites were to live in order to be faithful to God; but, Numbers provided examples of how those laws played out in every day life. For instance, what happens in the year of Jubilee if you have inter-tribal marriage; do inheritances change tribes? This was important for Israel, not so much for a contemporary Christian.

The takeaways have more to do with a general call to faithfulness. We are called to trust that God will provide for our needs and that God can be trusted to follow through on promises.

There is also a general theme of caring for one another. Israel is not a collection of individuals, nor a collection of tribes; it is one people who must work together, with mutual support and cooperation, and do what God has called them to do. This is an incredible example for the Church today. The Church is not a collection of people, or individual churches, or even denominations. The Church is one people, committed to Christ, who must work together, with mutual support and cooperation, and do what God has called the Church to do.

The value in Numbers is the example it sets for us on how we are to be the Church.

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Numbers 35 – Love Your Neighbor

Numbers 35:9-11 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall…

The Lord was giving instruction to Moses that he was to pass on to the people regarding what they were to do upon entering the Promised Land. There is an undertone of sadness here, because Moses will not be entering the Promised Land with them. Moses, like the rest of his generation, had acted unfaithfully and so was not allowed to enter the land. However, God was giving instructions on the blessing the Israelites were to receive through Moses.

Sometimes, we do not get to partake of the blessings that help to bring about. Sometimes, we are like Moses, giving instruction to those who will go and be blessed, while we are left on the outside. Are you willing to do the hard things God may ask you to do, even if you are not the one who receives the blessing from your actions?

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Numbers 34 – Our Journey

In Chapter 34 God divvies up the promised land to the different tribes within the nation of Israel. The people have finally been faithful and trusted God; their trust and faith is being rewarded with a blessing.

We all have difficult journeys to make in our lives. While on those journeys we can trust that God will bring us through, we can refuse to move, or we can run away in fear. When we refuse to move and when we run away, we are rejecting the eventual blessing that God is looking to pour into our lives.

Move courageously along in your journey, listen to God and trust that God will bring you through.

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Numbers 32 – Make me a blessing

Numbers 32:1-25 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had an exceedingly large number of livestock. So when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that it was indeed a place suitable for livestock, 2 the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “…4 the land which the LORD conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not take us across the Jordan.” 6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here?…16 Then they came near to Moses and said, “We will build here sheepfolds for our livestock and cities for our little ones; 17 but we ourselves will be armed ready to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 “We will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has possessed his inheritance. 19 “For we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan toward the east.” 20 So Moses said to them, “If you will do this…this land shall be yours for a possession before the LORD. 23 “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out…25 The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands.”

We are not alone. A God centered life is not a life of “every-man-for-himself”. We have a responsibility to be sure that the physical, psychological, and spiritual needs of others are met.

The tribes of Gad and Reuben discovered the land that God was blessing them with. They were excited with this discovery and wanted to live in God’s blessing. But God was still in the process of bringing about the blessing for the rest of Israel. Gad and Reuben had a responsibility to work for God in bringing about the blessing of others.

When we discover the blessing that God has set aside for us, it is not an excuse to stop doing the work of God in other peoples lives.

When we wallow in our own blessing and ignore what we have been called to do to bless another, then we have sinned against God.

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Numbers 31 – Genocide, xenophobia, and the Bible

Numbers 31:9-20 The sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods they plundered. 10 Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps with fire. 11 They took all the spoil and all the prey, both of man and of beast. 12 They brought the captives and the prey and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan opposite Jericho. 13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. 14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 And Moses said to them, “Have you spared all the women? 16 “Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD. 17 “Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately. 18 “But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves. 19 “And you, camp outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 “You shall purify for yourselves every garment and every article of leather and all the work of goats’ hair, and all articles of wood.”

This is a really horrible story. Why is this in the Bible? What is God trying to say?

In the book of Leviticus God gave Moses the law of ritual purity by which the Israelites were to live. The idea of purity is paramount to God. The people are to be pure in their words, deeds, relationships, and genetics. Extreme measures were deemed necessary to keep the Israelites genetic purity intact. It sounds terrible and I will never be able to justify it, but it was a very different culture and none of us are fully able to put ourselves in that context. The book of Numbers is the case law of examples of how the purity code of Leviticus is to be kept. The philosophical law of Leviticus said that the people are not to inter-marry with outside nationalities. The case law of Numbers tells what is to happen when women are brought back as part of the spoils of war.

How does this apply to us today? We are to follow the instructions of God. God has given us a community to help us discern how we are to live out God’s instructions in day to day life. That’s the best I’ve got.

There are parts of the Bible that make me cringe. That’s okay. I do not have to like all of the Bible in order to believe that it was all inspired by God.

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Numbers 30 – Truthfulness

Numbers 30:2 “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Our words are to be honest and true. We are to keep our vows and do what we say we will do. This is honorable in the eyes of God.

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Numbers 29 – Rosh Hashanah

Numbers 29:1-6 ‘Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets. 2 ‘You shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect; 3 also their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, 4 and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs. 5 ‘Offer one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you, 6 besides the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD.

There are times and seasons when we are called to put our labor aside and focus on worshiping God. Are you able to stop your work and worship God or does your work consume you? We all need to practice readjusting our priorities now and then. The Israelites did this with Rosh Hashanah (described above). When is your scheduled time to reorient your priorities toward God?

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Numbers 28 – Worship is meant for God

Numbers 28:1-2 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be careful to present My offering, My food for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time.’

We should be careful how we worship God. It is more important to please God in worship than to please ourselves. Our worship needs to be done with a good attitude and with the correct motivation. Worship is meant for God; it is good for us, but it is for God. Make your worship a gift to God.

If God is asking you to do something for him; that is part of your worship. You should do it with a worshipful attitude. If you do not feel God asking you to do something for him, you may need to put more effort into listening.

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Numbers 27 – Looking to the future

Numbers 27:15-23 Then Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, 16 “May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, 17 who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep which have no shepherd.” 18 So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; 19 and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. 20 “You shall put some of your authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him. 21 “Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his command they shall go out and at his command they shall come in, both he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation.” 22 Moses did just as the LORD commanded him; and he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. 23 Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.

I have always been amazed at how many good leaders are too short sighted to prepare a future generation to lead. In my opinion, from the moment you enter leadership you should work to build up your replacement.

As the time for you to retire approaches. Take the time to build up your predecessor. Encourage, pray for, and anoint them.

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Numbers 26 – Another census

God really liked counting Israelites. I guess the important part of this chapter is that no one was left of the generation that had sinned against God in the wilderness except Caleb and Joshua.

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Numbers 25 – Remove the idolaters

Numbers 25:1-5 While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. 2 For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel. 4 The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor.”

When leaders in the church turn from Jesus Christ and start pursuing false idols they need to be purged from leadership.

What is a false idol?

Another god? Money? Career? Self-realization? Political activism? Coherence? Pride? Control? Maybe even the Bible if elevated above God?

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Numbers 24 – True honor comes from God

Numbers 24:10-13 Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times! 11 “Therefore, flee to your place now. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, the LORD has held you back from honor.” 12 Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, 13 ‘Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything contrary to the command of the LORD, either good or bad, of my own accord. What the LORD speaks, that I will speak ‘?

If someone asks you to say or do something, and it is contrary to the will of God, you should not do it. It is far better to be cursed by a man than by God.

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Numbers 23 – The immovable object and the irresistible force

Numbers 23:18-27 “Arise, O Balak, and hear; Give ear to me, O son of Zippor! 19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? 20 “Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it. 21 “He has not observed misfortune in Jacob; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; The LORD his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them. 22 “God brings them out of Egypt, He is for them like the horns of the wild ox. 23 “For there is no omen against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel; At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what God has done! 24 “Behold, a people rises like a lioness, And as a lion it lifts itself; It will not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain.” 25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” 26 But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘Whatever the LORD speaks, that I must do ‘?” 27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there.”

It’s a little odd to a contemporary reader that the king would believe God might change his mind just because the king made his offering from a different location. This points out the difference between the God of the Bible and the other gods Ancient Near-East societies worshiped. The God of the Bible is not a servant to man in the way some other gods were. The God of the Bible does not change in response to our movement; we change in response to the movements of God.

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Numbers 22 – God speaks

Numbers 22:5-13 So [Balak] sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, at Pethor, which is near the River, in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people came out of Egypt; behold, they cover the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me. 6 “Now, therefore, please come, curse this people for me since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” 7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam and repeated Balak’s words to him. 8 He said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring word back to you as the LORD may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me, 11 ‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” 12 God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13 So Balaam arose in the morning and said to Balak’s leaders, “Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”

Balaam was not an Israelite; he was not one of God’s chosen people. In fact, Balaam appears to be a sorcerer or magician of some kind…yet God spoke to him.

God speaks to everyone. Some listen and submit to God’s will. Some listen and attempt to use God for their own purposes. Some hear God and ignore the leading they receive. Some train their hearts to ignore God.

God is speaking to your heart. What is he saying?

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Numbers 21 – Numbers, Jude, and Idols

Numbers 21:5-9 The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” 6 The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” 9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

This passage always confused me because it seems to go against the whole “no graven idols” thing (also, how do you make a sculpture of a “fiery” serpent?).

It’s still a great story. It comes up in several New Testament passages, including one of my favorites, Jude. In fact, I think Jude uses more per verse references to Numbers than any other book.

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Numbers 20 – Public disobedience has public consequences

Numbers 20:3-12 The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! 4 “Why then have you brought the LORD’S assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here? 5 “Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.” 6 Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them; 7 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. 12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

Moses failed to follow God’s instructions; what’s more, Moses publicly disobeyed God.

It is one thing when a church leader prays to God, receives a private leading, and disobeys. It is another thing entirely when a church leader publicly asks for God’s instruction, the community receives God’s leading, and then the leader says, “I think I’d rather do it a different way.”

I am sure the public nature of Moses’ disobedience is what cost him the opportunity to enter the Promised Land.

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Numbers 19 – The Red Heifer

Numbers 19:1-9 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an unblemished red heifer in which is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed. 3 ‘You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence. 4 ‘Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. 5 ‘Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its hide and its flesh and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned. 6 ‘The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet material and cast it into the midst of the burning heifer. 7 ‘The priest shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward come into the camp, but the priest shall be unclean until evening. 8 ‘The one who burns it shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening. 9 ‘Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin.

The heifer described in this passage is so genetically rare that, according to Jewish tradition, only nine red heifers were actually slaughtered between the time of Moses and the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. There are groups of radical Jews and radical Christians who, today, are trying to breed a red heifer because the state of ritual purity obtained through the ashes of a Red Heifer is a necessary prerequisite for participating in any Temple service. Therefore, if another Temple is to be built, a red heifer would be required. Check it out online. There are some crazy people out there.

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Numbers 18 – Giving God what God wants

Numbers 18:24 “For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”

I do not support the popular contemporary Christian idea of tithing. I do not find the idea of giving 10% of your income to be Biblical.

For the Israelites, God instituted a tithe which people gave as an offering to the Lord. This tithe fed, clothed, and cared for the needs of the Levites who were the Priests of God’s house and had no inheritance or land of their own.

As a Christian, I am not called to give 10% of my wealth to the church; as a Christian I am called to give all I am and all I have to God.

Establishing a tithe enables us to define what is “ours” and what is “Gods”. If I have given my ten percent to a church then I can claim to have met my obligations.

In fact, I could sell everything I have and give it all to God and my obligation to God would not be paid. I could spend every moment of the rest of my life serving God, and I could not begin to return to God what I owe.

Rather then picking an arbitrary number, each of us need to honestly evaluate our lives and determine if we are giving to God what God deserves.

I do not believe we need to become penniless, or live in communes (although I have nothing against that), but I know plenty of people for whom ten percent does not scratch the surface of establishing correct priorities in their life. I also know plenty of people who could never give ten percent of their income, but they give
God more than I ever could.

Don’t define your debt to God by some arbitrary number; take the time to honestly ask God what he wants from you.

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Numbers 17 – A God of life

Numbers 17:1-8 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father’s household: twelve rods, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households. You shall write each name on his rod, 3 and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households. 4 “You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you. 5 “It will come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.” 6 Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods. 7 So Moses deposited the rods before the LORD in the tent of the testimony. 8 Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.

God brought life to something that was dead as a sign that he was with his people. The idea of resurrection comes up over and over again in the Bible. In this case God resurrected a staff of wood; and more than just bringing the staff to life, he made it fruitful.

God is a God of life. He created life. He restores life. He enables the reproduction of life.

When we turn our hearts and lives over to Christ we become like the staff that sprouted in this story. When we chose God, God chooses us. When God chooses us he brings us from death to life. When we move into life we become reproductive and can share with others the good fruits of the life God has given us.

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Numbers 16 – When Christians rebel against Church leaders

Numbers 16:1-40 Now Korah…and On the son of Peleth…took action, 2 and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown. 3 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 above the assembly of the LORD?” 4 When Moses heard this, he fell on his face; 5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “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. 6 “Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company, 7 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!” 8 Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi, 9 is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; 10 and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking for the priesthood also? 11 “Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD; but as for Aaron, who is he that you grumble against him?”…16 Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be present before the LORD tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron.”…18 So [Korah's company] 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. 19 Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation. 20 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” 22 But they fell on their faces and said, “O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?” 23 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’” 25 Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, 26 and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, or you will be swept away in all their sin.” 27 So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and their sons and their little ones. 28 Moses said, “By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing. 29 “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. 30 “But if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the LORD.” 31 As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. 33 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. 34 All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us up!” 35 Fire also came forth from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense. 36 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “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 scatter the burning coals abroad. 38 “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.” 39 So Eleazar 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, 40 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; so that he will not become like Korah and his company– just as the LORD had spoken to him through Moses.

There is a place for rebellion against church leaders. When they become corrupt, when they stop listening to God, when they seek out their own benefit rather than the will of God. In these cases Christians should cast aside their church leaders. But, when we are following people who are honestly seeking the will of God, we should not commit the sin of Korah.

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