Numbers 16

CHAPTER 16THEME: Rebellion against divinely constituted authority; the sixth murmuringAlthough we have no detailed account of the children of Israel during these wasted years in the wilderness, there are isolated incidents recorded. From chapters 16 through 19, we have four incidents which all concern the priesthood. Chapter 16 is the gainsaying of Korah. Chapter 17 is about Aaron’s rod that budded. Chapter 18 is the confirmation of the priesthood, and chapter 19 concerns the offering of the red heifer.

Numbers 16:1

REBELLION AGAINST DIVINELY CONSTITUTED AUTHORITYThis chapter opens with the murmuring of the children of Israel. This is the fifth murmuring, and before we get out of the chapter, we will find the sixth murmuring. One can divide the wandering of the children of Israel according to their murmurings in the wilderness. This one is a murmuring among the priesthood. In fact, it is led by Korah, a very prominent Levite. Korah was a Levite of great authority. Associated with him were 250 of the princes of the assembly who were also men of authority. A rebellion, to be effective, must have prominent men behind it. It takes brains and money. This rebellion was no small affair. Maybe you thought that protest movements and marches were new. They are not new at all. Here is a protest movement against the establishment. These are men of ability and, as always, they appeal to the mob by making charges such as: “Your rights are being infringed upon. Your leaders are assuming too much authority. You are being deprived of something you should have.” Now, actually, the charges made in this rebellion were not true to the facts. They were absolutely unfounded. Moses was not taking too much upon himself. If we go back in his history, we find that when God called him, he refused. He didn’t feel capable of leading these people. Even after God had trained him in the wilderness, he didn’t want the job. He asked for a helper, and God gave him Aaron. Moses was the meekest man on earth. When Joshua wanted to silence the prophets, Moses said that he wished all of God’s people might prophesy. He didn’t have a jealous bone in his body. My friend, we have seen that Moses was not sinless, but he certainly was not guilty of taking too much upon himself. What was really the root trouble here? It was the jealousy of Korah. This matter of jealousy is an awful thing. All authority is God-given. No man takes this honor upon himself. God had given the places in the camp, and He had given the Levites their specific jobs to do. Korah was a Kohathite, and their position and service were God-appointed. Moses had his position and duties. Frankly, a rebellion like this must be dealt with, and extreme measures are going to be used. This is so important for us to see today. Churches everywhere are having problems. We are a problem-conscious people today because we do have problems. My experience is that a great deal of the problem in churches today and a great deal of rebellion among the people in the churches can be found rooted in one thingjealousy! This is why the Bible enjoins us to walk in meekness and in lowliness of mind. We are to walk in humility. We are to recognize that all authority is God-given. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul pictures the church as a body, a human body. As the body has many members, so the church has many members. When God saves you, He puts you in the body by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You are to function in a certain way in the body of believers. There are many gifts of the Spirit. If you are a Christian, you have been given a gift, and you are to use that gift as you function in the body of believers. The whole body is not a tongue. Therefore, everyone will not speak in tongues. Not all the body is an eye, nor is all the body an ear. Every individual has a gift and there are many gifts. One of those gifts is the gift of helps, and I can think of hundreds of ways in which you can help to get out the Word of God. Every believer has a gift, and God wants us to function by exercising that gift. Your business is not to try to get someone else’s office or job. We have too much insane vanity among Christians wanting to be chairman of a board or to do something publicly. My friend, most of the members of the body are not seen. We cover them or they are inside the body. Yet their function is essential to the body. It is just so in the church! Jealousy motivates a great many people who are troublemakers in our churches. These people push themselves into a place of leadership. They attempt to usurp a gift which they do not have at all. They have no particular ability to do the thing that they are attempting. God never called them to do that. That is hurting the church today. God is going to deal with this rebellion in a definite way. I tell you, the judgment of these men is going to be serious. Let us notice what God did.

Numbers 16:4

They had said to Moses and Aaron that they took too much upon themselves. Now Moses is telling them from God that they take too much on themselves.

Numbers 16:8

Because the duties of Moses and Aaron were appointed by God, the murmuring is actually directed at God.

Numbers 16:12

Their malicious charge against Moses ignores the fact that had they followed his leadership at Kadesh-barnea, by now they would be settled in the land of milk and honey.

Numbers 16:15

It is up to God to make known His will in this matter.

Numbers 16:18

Every man took his censer, put incense in it, and came to the tabernacle. We will see that the glory of the Lord appeared. We have noticed before that the glory of the Lord appeared at the time of the murmuring, and now it appears at this time of rebellion.

Numbers 16:22

Again Moses intercedes for his people.

Numbers 16:23

It is a terrible thing for a man or group of men to disobey God and His divinely appointed leaders. It is a terrible thing to set up a little system of worship and so divide the people of God. God must deal with this kind of rebellion, and He must judge it.

Numbers 16:31

It is awesome to see the way God judged them. Because they attempted to divide the people, God judges them in the same way in which they had sinned. He divides the people to separate them from Korah and his group, and then He divides the earth and it closes upon them. Gal_6:7 says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” God judges the very same way in which the man sins. That was true of old Jacob; it was true of David; it was true of Paul, the apostle; and it will be true of you and me.

Numbers 16:34

These men had been leaders in Israel. They felt they should have had more prominence in their service. What a warning for us today! Too many people have a marvelous gift for serving God, but it would put them into some humble service, and they have the impression they should be running the church. Do you remember Dorcas who had the gift of sewing? That gift was so important to the early church that God used Peter to raise her from the dead. I think that today we need fewer voices trying to do the speaking and more people who will do the tasks such as sewing. We need people to do the humble tasks around the church today. Each and every gift is important. Jealousy and rebellion will be judged by God.

Numbers 16:36

Now God told Moses that the censers of the rebels should be molded into broad plates for covering of the altar. These were to be a memorial to the children of Israel that no one was to offer incense before the LORD unless he was in the line of Aaron, the priest.

Numbers 16:41

THE SIXTH MURMURINGThe next day, after they had brooded over it all night, they charge Moses and Aaron with murdering the rebels! Moses and Aaron didn’t do it, you see; God did it. Notice again that after their murmuring, the glory of the Lord appears. Now God is ready to judge this murmuring people. The very man about whom they are complaining is the one who stands between the people and God in order to avert His judgment from them.

Numbers 16:44

The man they rebelled against is the very man who saved them. He stood between them and God. Likewise, the very One whom the human family crucified on the Cross is the One who saves us. He stands between God and the sinner.