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Scripture Reading: Num. 16:19-50
Concerning the serious rebellion in chapter sixteen, we have already considered the rebels, the cause of the rebellion, and the reaction of Moses. In this message we will see how God judged this rebellion (16:19-50).
No matter what is happening on earth, God's government still stands, not only over His house, the church, but also over the entire world. From our study of history and from our observation of the present situation of the world, we are assured that everything is under God's government. We must believe, therefore, that everything, including judgment, is under Him, up to Him, and in His hand.
In chapter sixteen of Numbers, God's judgment is threefold, coming from the earth, from heaven, and from within the people themselves. The earth opened up to swallow certain of the rebellious ones, fire came from heaven to consume many others among the rebels, and germs from within others of the rebellious ones produced a plague that killed them.
Korah gathered all the assembly, not just his company or party, against Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the tent of meeting (v. 19a). This forced God to come out and appear in His glory to all the assembly (v. 19b). God's appearing in such a way was a very significant event.
Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron, telling them to separate themselves from among this assembly that He may consume the assembly in a moment (vv. 20-21). Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will You be angry with all the assembly?" (v. 22).
Moses and Aaron addressed God as "the God of the spirits of all flesh." The assembly was a composition of flesh, but all those in the assembly had a spirit. God is the God not of the flesh of people but of their spirit.
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were not afraid because of what they had done. They, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones, came out and stood at the entrance of their tents (v. 27). The fact that their tents were close together indicates that they were very intimate. They belonged to different tribes — Korah, to the tribe of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, to the tribe of Reuben — but they were quite close. When the earth opened up, they were all in the same place.
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones, and all the men who belonged to Korah and all their goods, were swallowed by the earth and sent down alive into Sheol (vv. 28-33). Sheol is a Hebrew word equivalent to the Greek word Hades. Sheol, or Hades, is the place where the souls and the spirits of the dead are kept. Korah and the others went down to Sheol alive. They went there directly; they did not need to die first. Hades is like a temporary jail, and the lake of fire is the final prison. These perished ones entered into the temporary jail to wait for the final imprisonment in the lake of fire. They went there without dying physically. This was something new that Jehovah created (vv. 29-30). We may say that it was a great miracle in a negative sense. In this way God used the earth to judge the rebellious ones. Probably this is the only time that living people were punished in such a way.
After the earth had swallowed the families of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, there were still two hundred fifty followers of Korah. They were well-known leaders selected from the entire congregation. By this we can see that the rebellion was quite popular, even universal. Immediately after the three leaders were swallowed up alive by the earth, fire came forth from Jehovah and consumed the two hundred fifty men while they were offering incense (v. 35). This was the second aspect of God's judgment.
The censers of the two hundred fifty men who had sinned against their souls, that is, against themselves, were made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, as a sign to the sons of Israel and a reminder to them, so that no one who was a stranger, who was not of the descendants of Aaron, would draw near to burn incense before Jehovah, lest he become as Korah and as his company (vv. 36-40). The two hundred fifty men were burned by God in His judgment. Then their censers were hammered into plates to cover the altar. When the people came to offer at the altar, they were reminded of the rebellion and of God's judgment on Korah and his company.
We may think that, after this twofold judgment, all the children of Israel would be calmed down and subdued. That, however, was not their situation. Their rebellious nature remained in them, and it was exposed. In verses 41 through 50 we have the exposure of the unsubdued rebellious nature of the children of Israel.
The murmuring of the people against Moses and Aaron proves that their rebellious nature had not been subdued. "On the next day all the assembly of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of Jehovah" (v. 41). I find it incredible that they could murmur against Moses and Aaron in such a way.
God intervened immediately. His glory appeared in the cloud that covered the tent of meeting (v. 42). He told Moses that He would consume the assembly in a moment (vv. 43-45a), and He sent the plague to kill them under His wrath (v. 46b). The germs of the plague were probably in them already.
At this juncture, Moses and Aaron did something as an emergency measure. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces (v. 45b). Aaron put fire from the altar in the censer, placed incense on the fire, carried the censer quickly to the assembly, and stood between the dead and the living, to make propitiation for them. Then the plague was stopped. Nevertheless, fourteen thousand seven hundred of the people were killed. This was God's judgment from within the rebellious people.
By reading chapter seventeen we can see that the remainder of the people still were not subdued. There had been a threefold, miraculous judgment by God. God had judged them by the earth, by fire from heaven, and by the plague that issued from the germs within them. Any one of those judgments should have been sufficient to subdue them and to cause them to fall down before God and worship Him. They certainly should have been subdued by the third judgment. However, even after the third judgment the people still complained (17:13). How terrible was their situation! They were so bold in their rebellion, not caring if they went to Sheol or the lake of fire, that they risked their lives, even their souls. They rebelled against Moses and Aaron, and eventually they rebelled against the very God, Jehovah. From this we see how perverse is the rebellious nature of fallen humankind.
If we consider God's way of judging, we will see that He executes His judgment from three directions: from the earth, from heaven, and from within the rebellious ones. Rebellious people, however, are not subdued by this. Actually, according to the record of the Bible, God never has subdued people by judgment. After the thousand years of purifying in the millennium, the human race will still rebel (Rev. 20:7-9). God's judgment does not subdue people; rather, it consumes them.
After reading a portion such as Numbers 16, some of us may have questions about God's love, mercy, kindness, and forgiveness. Why did God forgive the sinning Israelites yet still punish them? To answer this question we need to realize that, according to the teaching of the Bible, God's forgiveness is of different kinds. One kind is forgiveness through punishment. For God to forgive is one thing, and for Him to punish is another. In a particular situation God forgives, but He forgives through punishment; hence, this is a forgiveness with punishment.
We need to have a holy fear before God. We should bow down and humble ourselves before Him and pray, "Lord, have mercy on me. Only Your mercy can preserve me and keep me in Your grace."
