Numbers 16:48

And he stood between the dead and the living,.... The plague beginning at one end of the camp, and so proceeded on, Aaron placed himself between that part of it wherein it had made havoc, and that

And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. Stood between the dead and the living. The plague seems to have begun in the extremities of the camp. Aaron, in this remarkable act, was a type of Christ.

Whereby it may seem that this plague, like that fire, , began in the uttermost parts of the congregation, and proceeded, destroying one after another in an orderly manner, which gave Aaron occasion and direction so to place himself as a mediator to God on their behalf.

Numbers 16:48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.Ver. 48. And he stood between.] A clear type of Christ.

(48) And he stood between the dead and the living . . . —Aaron was, in this respect, a striking type of Christ, who “hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour” (Ephesians 5:2).

Verse 48. He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague, c.] What the plague was we know not, but it seems to have begun at one part of the camp, and to have proceeded regularly onward and Aaron went to the quarter where it was then prevailing, and stood with his atonement where it was now making its ravages, and the plague was stayed; but not before 14,700 had fallen victims to it, Numbers 16:49. IF Aaron the high priest, with his censer and incense, could disarm the wrath of an insulted, angry Deity, so that a guilty people, who deserved nothing but destruction, should be spared; how much more effectual may we expect the great atonement to be which was made by the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom Aaron was only the type! The sacrifices of living animals pointed out the death of Christ on the cross; the incense, his intercession. Through his death salvation is purchased for the world; by his intercession the offending children of men are spared. Hence St. Paul, Romans 5:10, says: If, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved THROUGH HIS LIFE, i. e., by the prevalence of his continual intercession. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19: "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." By the awful transactions recorded in this chapter, we may see how jealous God is of the sole right of appointing the way and means of salvation. Had any priesthood, and any kind of service, no matter how solemn and sincere, been equally available in the sight of Divine justice and mercy, God would not have resented in so awful a manner the attempts of Korah and his company in their new service. The way of God's own appointment, the agony and death of Christ, is the only way in which souls can be saved. His is the priesthood, and his is the only available sacrifice. All other modes and schemes of salvation are the inventions of men or devils, and will in the end prove ruinous to all those who trust in them. Reader, forget not the Lord who bought thee.

41–50. The people murmured at the death of Korah’s company, and were punished by a plague, which ceased when Aaron made atonement with incense. In contrast to the action of the princes, the offering of incense by a duly qualified person is accepted by Jehovah.

48. Between the dead and the living — The secret blast was moving along, like the angel of death, from one extremity of the camp to the other, destroying the people.