Numbers 16:1-22
Rebellion Against Moses and Aaron
1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; 2 and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. 3 They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
4 So when Moses heard it, 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 cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him. 6 Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company; 7 put fire in them and put incense in them before the LORD tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the LORD chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”
8 Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9 Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to serve them; 10 and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also? 11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD. And what is Aaron that you complain against him?”
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up! 13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should keep acting like a prince over us? 14 Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
15 Then Moses was very angry, and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”
16 And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company be present before the LORD—you and they, as well as Aaron. 17 Let each take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.” 18 So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.
20 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”
22 Then they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?”
The question of accountability for sin was raised by Moses and Aaron to the LORD when He was about to hold all the congregation of His people accountable for the sin of one man, Korah, for rebelling against His word through the leaders chosen by God. This is the heart of the Genesis account of one man’s sin (Romans 5:12), Adam, whose disobedience to that word led us all into condemnation for that sin as if we had all been accomplices. We are Adam’s accomplices (Romans 5:14-15) by that spiritual inheritance. Yet Romans 5:18-19 tells us the hope of the gospel of merciful grace is found in Jesus Christ who has taken that anger against Adam’s sin and ours by spiritual blood inheritance and interposed His own lifeblood to cover or atone for our sin and his as a second Adam to justify and make us righteous in Christ, defeating that just and right penalty of sin we owe to justify eternal life to all who receive Him. The rebellion of Korah and his compatriots only emphasizes that we all are worthy of judgment in our rebellion of sins against God’s word and those He sent to hear and heed for repentance to this life. They were judged and so will every son and daughter of the first Adam unless the second Adam takes on that penalty (Romans 6:23) by faith in His word and work to justify and redeem us from this certain and terrible judgment. We must separate our from the world under judgment to avoid a worse fate than them. The question of whether God would be angry with all for the sin of one man therefore is answered in the affirmative here, but the hope of grace and mercy is found not in judgment, but (John 5:24) in release from it through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is His glory (2 Corinthians 3:18, 4:6) before the congregation of the saints made holy and righteous in Him that we now see. May all who hear and heed escape the pit opening under their feet as happened to these. Remember God’s anger against the sin of one man which has been inherited by us all.
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