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Scripture Reading: Num. 16
No rebellion among the children of Israel was as great as the one recorded in Numbers 16. Korah of the tribe of Levi took the lead, joining himself with Dathan and Abiram of the tribe of Reuben. In addition, 250 of the leaders of the assembly joined them. They gathered themselves together and spoke strong words against Moses and Aaron. This was a great rebellion. The reviling in Numbers 12 was confined to Aaron and Miriam, and was merely a murmuring behind the back. But the rebellion in chapter sixteen was corporate, and it was directly against Moses and Aaron. The rebels said, “You have gone too far!…Why then do you exalt yourselves above the congregation of Jehovah?” (v. 3). Their charges were serious and severe. We should pay attention to (1) the condition of Moses, that is, his attitude, and (2) the way he dealt with the situation, that is, his answer to them.
Verse 4 says that Moses’ first reaction was to fall on his face. This is the proper attitude of God’s servant. All of the rebellious ones were standing when they spoke; only Moses fell down on his face. Here we see a man who had touched authority. He was indeed meek; he did not have any feeling of his own. He did not vindicate himself or argue. The first thing he did was fall on his face. In verses 5 through 7 he seemed to be saying, “Jehovah will make known who is His, who is holy, and whom He will choose, and He will cause him to come near to Him. There is no need for us to argue. In the morning we will all know. I dare not say anything for myself. He will show us clearly who is His. If it turns out to be you, that is fine. If it turns out to be me, that is also fine. Let God decide. We do not have to decide anything. Tomorrow we will all come before the Lord and be tested by the censers. Let the Lord decide who is the one; we do not have to fight for it. God will choose who is His. Let us come to God and be open to His speaking.” Moses spoke these words meekly while he was falling on his face. However, the last few sentences were quite strong and serious: “You have gone too far, sons of Levi!” (v. 7). This was a sighing of grief from an elderly man who knew God. The Israelites had been wandering in the wilderness for a long time, and they were still not in Canaan yet. Moses was still hoping that they could go into Canaan; he was still hoping that he could recover them.
Verses 8 through 11 were Moses’ words of exhortation to Korah; he was trying to recover Korah. He had to deal with their accusation, which had to wait for the result of the next day. In the meantime, he was aware of the seriousness of this matter, and he was worried about them. It was not enough for him to sigh and worry; he felt that he had to exhort them as well. He seemed to say to Korah, “It is not a small thing for the sons of Levi to be chosen by God to do the service of the tabernacle of Jehovah. You should be content with this. Why do you still want to be the priests? When you do this, you do not oppose me; you oppose the Lord.” Moses was a magnanimous man, and he was confident of the things he was doing. He knew the seriousness of this matter and he was worried about the sons of Korah. This is why he exhorted them. His exhortation was not a sign of arrogance, but of humility. Others were attacking him and giving him a hard time. But no matter how wrong they were, he could still exhort them. This is a sign of a truly meek person. If we allow others to continue in their mistakes, it means that our hearts are hardened and that we have no intention to recover them. Refusal to exhort is a sign of a lack of humility; it shows that one is proud. When Moses was rebuked, he turned around to exhort his opposers and openly deal with them. He even gave them a night to think about it, hoping that they would repent.
In dealing with the rebellious ones, Moses took care of them separately. First he dealt with Korah the Levite and then with Dathan and Abiram. In verse 12 he sent for Dathan and Abiram to come, but they would not come, indicating that they wanted to break away. Here we see that even when a deputy authority is rejected, he will not want the opposing ones to break away. Instead, he will try to recover the lost ones. Dathan and Abiram said, “You have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey” (v. 13). This statement turned things around; it was exactly the opposite of the truth. They forgot that they were making bricks in Egypt. There was no milk or honey; there was not even straw to make the bricks. This is like bringing a young man to the Lord who then turns around and accuses you of bringing him to hell. It is also like the ten spies who clearly saw the riches of Canaan and yet would not enter, but murmured against Moses instead. Nothing more could be done except judgment when Dathan and Abiram’s rebellion reached its peak. Moses tried his best to recover them, but they declared twice that they would not go up. After all this, Moses gave up his hope, became angry, and went to Jehovah to settle the matter (v. 15). Then he told Korah, “You and all your company shall be present before Jehovah, you and they and Aaron, tomorrow. And let every one of you take his censer, and put incense upon it, and every one of you bring before Jehovah his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer” (vv. 16-17). Korah’s company then came before the tent of meeting, reviling Moses and Aaron again. At this point the glory of Jehovah appeared to the whole assembly.
God stepped forward to judge. Korah was the chief instigator, and the assembly followed. God was prepared to destroy not only the chief instigator but all of the assembly as well (v. 21). But Moses fell down before the Lord again. The first time Moses fell on his face before his brothers. The second time he fell before the Lord. He prayed for the whole assembly and interceded for their safety. God answered his prayer and ordered the assembly to depart from the tents of the wicked ones (vv. 22-24). Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram. (They were of the tribe of Reuben and lived in a separate place.) Since they would not come to Moses, he went to them. He ordered the assembly to depart from them, and God executed His judgment upon Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (vv. 25-33).
While God was about to execute His judgment, Moses said, “In this shall you know that Jehovah has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own mind” (v. 28). Moses was a meek person. He explained why he had to do this. It was God who ordered him to do it. According to his own feeling, he would not judge anyone who rebelled against him. He did it because God wanted to do it. Moses continued to show himself to be a servant of God. He did not say that they had offended him. He only said that they had offended the Lord. We have to learn to touch the spirit of such a person. There was no feeling of judgment in Moses at all. He was a servant of God, and he only wanted to be obedient to God. He had no feeling of his own. The only feeling he had was that the assembly had offended God, the One who had sent him. Following this, he told them that God had sent him and that there would be evidence as proof of this. We must realize that Moses could not fail here. Had Moses failed, the Israelites’ exodus out of Egypt would have been a failure. Moses was sent by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, just as Christ was sent by God to impart eternal life to men. God had to establish Moses. The result of His judgment was the destruction of three families and the consuming of the 250 leaders by fire. God executed a large-scale judgment to establish His deputy authority. The way of the rebellious ones is the way to Hades; rebellion and death go hand in hand. Authority is established by God, and when a man offends God’s authority, he is despising God. Here we see how Moses acted as a deputy authority. He did not pass his own sentence or make his own proposals, and he did not have a spirit of judgment within him.
When all the Israelites saw that the earth opened its mouth, they were afraid and fled away (v. 34). But they were afraid of the judgment; they were not afraid of God. They still did not know Moses, and their hearts were not yet turned. Therefore, their fear did not do them any good. They thought it over for a night, and the next day they rebelled again. All the assembly of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of Jehovah” (v. 41). Indeed, if a man has not touched God’s grace, one cannot expect any change in him. God wanted to step forward and destroy the whole assembly immediately. Here we see how a deputy authority should react to opposition. Actually, Moses could have been very angry with the attack of the whole assembly of Israel. It was God’s doing. Why did the Israelites have to blame him? They did not confront God but turned and sharply dealt with the deputy authority. Verses 42 through 45 tell us that God’s reaction was faster than that of Moses or Aaron. The glory of the Lord appeared suddenly, and a cloud covered the tent of meeting. God was about to judge the whole assembly. He told Moses and Aaron to rise from the midst of the assembly. This order seemed to be saying to Moses and Aaron, “Your prayer yesterday was wrong, yet I answered it. Today I am going to destroy the whole assembly. What would you say?” God is never wrong, yet He is full of mercy. He answered the prayer the day before. Yet on this day, He would not tolerate their rebellion any longer.
For this, Moses and Aaron fell on their faces for the third time. Moses’ spiritual sense was keen. He knew that prayer alone would not solve the problem this time. The sin the day before was still somewhat hidden, but the sin this day was clearly an open one. He told Aaron to come to him immediately, and he took Aaron’s censer to the assembly and made propitiation for them (vv. 45-47). Moses was truly qualified to be a deputy authority. He knew the tragic end that the Israelites were going to face, and he realized that their loss would be God’s loss. He pleaded for God’s forgiving grace; his heart was full of compassion and mercy. This is the heart of one who knows God. Moses was not a priest; he could not offer up any sacrifice. But he knew that the situation was critical and there was no time to plead with God. He ordered Aaron to offer a sacrifice and to make propitiation for the people immediately. This is intercession plus propitiation. By then a plague had broken out. Aaron ran into the midst of the assembly and stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. Fourteen thousand seven hundred died by the plague (vv. 48-49). Had Moses and Aaron reacted more slowly, more would have died.
Here we see the kind of person Moses was and how he acted as God’s deputy authority. His intention was for propitiation. His heart for propitiation was as gracious as that of the Lord. Moses’ heart was for propitiation and forgiveness. He had no pleasure in judgment. The kind of person who can serve as God’s deputy authority is one who represents God on the one hand and cares for and bears God’s children upon his shoulders on the other hand. God’s deputy authority must care for God’s people. He must bear not only the obedient ones on his shoulders but also the rebellious ones. If he cares only for himself, minding how others treat him, and if he constantly complains that he cannot stand this one or that one, he is not qualified to be a deputy authority. When God looks for deputy authority, He considers not only a person’s individual submission to Him but his reaction to others’ opposition in his service as a deputy authority. A person’s reaction to others’ rebellion and opposition exposes the kind of person he is. Many people care only for their own faces. They care very much about criticisms, words, misunderstandings, and oppositions. Their own mind is occupied with themselves. They consider themselves to be the most important persons. These ones can never be God’s deputy authority.
When you set out for your work this time, you have to learn from Moses. He was faithful in all of God’s house. He was not faithful to himself. If he had allowed God’s house to suffer loss, his flesh might have enjoyed some ease and comfort. But if he had done this, he would not have been faithful. We can be rejected and despised. We must still bear the affairs of God’s children on our shoulders, and we must not allow God’s house to suffer loss. Here we see a beautiful picture of how Moses was faithful in all of God’s house. While Aaron was offering sacrifices for the children of Israel, Moses was prostrating and praying to God. He did not know what God was going to do. He let Aaron offer sacrifices and make propitiation for the people of Israel. Although the people rebelled against Moses, he turned around to bear their sins upon his shoulders. He took up their case. While they were opposing and rejecting him, he was interceding for them. Moses was the offended party, yet he was the one who pleaded for forgiveness. He was reviled, yet he was the one to intercede before God. Here we see the kind of person who can be God’s deputy authority. A deputy authority must not act according to his own feeling, and he must not care for himself or be a self-centered person.
If we want to be God’s deputy authority, we must learn to bear all of God’s children upon our shoulders. May the Lord make us gracious persons, those who can tolerate all of God’s children and who can bear His children upon our shoulders. If we only care for our own feeling, we will not have the capacity to bear the burdens of God’s children. We must confess our sins. We are too narrow and too hard. We are not like Moses. God has grace in Himself, but He does not want to dispense grace directly. He wants His servants to seek after His grace inwardly while they are carrying out His righteousness outwardly. God’s work is righteous outwardly, but His heart is full of grace. He wants all His servants, that is, those who are His deputy authorities, to have His heart and be full of grace as well. God wants us to be gracious to others. We should ask for more grace inwardly. This is pleasing to God. Why are there so many narrow-minded and self-caring ones? Many people cannot take any offense at all. But if God can take offenses, we should also be able to take offenses.
If we will truly bear the burden of the church and the children of God, and if we will learn to prostrate ourselves before the Lord, God will find His deputy authority on earth today. The more we dispense grace, the more we are qualified to be God’s deputy authority. Being gracious to others is one characteristic of a deputy authority. Those who deal righteously with others are not qualified to be a deputy authority. We have to spend all our time in prayer for this before we can learn this lesson well. We have to learn to bless when we are reviled, to intercede for others when we are rejected, and to plead for forgiveness when we are offended. God’s deputy authorities are gracious ones. All those who are for righteousness alone have need of God’s mercy. We should allow only God to execute His righteousness in all things, while we ourselves should be gracious to all men. This is the character of an authority of God.
