In yesterday's study the Lord judged Korah and his followers who rebelled against the authority of Moses and Aaron. This rebellion was actually against the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron to the positions they hold. To prove to the assembly that this level of rebellion will not be allowed to stand, and to prove that Moses and Aaron were not acting on their own will but on the will of the Lord, the Lord caused Korah and his 250 followers and the two Reubenites to perish. Korah and the two Reubenites, Dathan and Abiram, fell into the earth when the Lord caused a large chasm to open underneath them. The 250 men who were attempting to be priests (against the Lord's will) were consumed by fire from the Lord.
This is where we pick up our study today. "The Lord said to Moses, 'Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the censers from the charred 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 a sign to the Israelites.'" (Numbers 16:36-38)
The censers are to be preserved because incense has been offered in them to the Lord. But they will no longer be used as censers now that these men used them in their sin. Instead the censers will be a perpetual reminder of the dangers of blaspheming a holy God. To reject God's decision in choosing a particular family line of the tribe of Levi to be priests is to reject the authority and sovereignty of God. The rebellion of these men was a result of their opinion that God has no right to choose who will stand before Him to present offerings and sacrifices and incense. These men wanted to impose their will over God's will. God most certainly does have the right to choose whom He wants to be ordained to stand before Him in His house to perform the holy office of priest. To put it in modern terms, what kind of pastor would we want for our church? Do we want a person who has been called by God to shepherd the flock? Or do we want a person who has presumptuously taken it upon themselves to lead the church without the calling and blessing of God upon him? I don't want a pastor who is attempting to lead the church in his own strength without the Lord having called him to the office of preacher. I want a pastor whom the Lord has chosen and called to minister to the congregation.
One of the priests chosen by God, Aaron's son Eleazar, collects the censers and ensures they are hammered into sheets to overlay the altar. "So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death, 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." (Numbers 16:39-40) When we get to 1 Kings 13, after the ten northern tribes of Israel (a kingdom which will retain the name of Israel) split away from the two southern tribes (a kingdom which will be known as Judah) we'll find King Jeroboam of Israel sinfully appointing priests "from all sorts of people". We'll be told, "Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated". This will be the beginning of the downfall of the northern kingdom which will eventually fall into such idolatry that the Lord will bring the kingdom of Assyria against it to conquer it.
The Lord has put an end to the rebellion of Chapter 16 and to the men who started it. Everything will calm down now for a while, right? I am sure Moses and Aaron hoped that would be the case, but it isn't. The community is saddened and shocked by the death of the men who opposed the Lord but by the next day their sadness and shock have turned to anger---anger which they direct at Moses and Aaron. "The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 'You have killed the Lord's people,' they said." (Numbers 16:41) Their statement is incorrect. First of all, Korah, Dathan, Abiram and the 250 men who tried to be priests against the Lord's will were not the Lord's people except in the sense that they were of Israel. These men had not made God the Lord of their lives; they had made themselves the lords of their lives. Secondly, Moses and Aaron didn't kill anybody. They didn't lay a finger on any of the men. The Lord is the one who opened the earth under Dathan, Abiram, and Korah. The Lord is the one who sent fire to consume the 250 men with the censers. These things happened right before the assembly's very eyes and it was plain to see Moses and Aaron took no action against the men.
Why does the assembly turn on Moses and Aaron again? The people beheld the Lord's power and judgment but in their hearts they found fault with it. There's nothing they can do to the Lord to satisfy their anger toward Him for how He handled the rebellion. But Moses and Aaron are living, breathing, mortal human beings standing right in front of them, so the people direct all their negative feelings toward them. Moses and Aaron become the focus of the people's anger.
I think another plot is brewing to stone Moses and Aaron to death because we find the community once again forming an angry mob. "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.'" (Numbers 16:42-45a) The members of this mob have learned nothing from what just happened to over 250 men of their community. Their hearts are still focused on man and not on God. God's anger burns against them for their stubborn refusal to acknowledge Him as sovereign Lord and once again He longs to just put an end to them.
In tomorrow's study we'll see how this action-packed chapter comes to an end.
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