Sons of Destruction: Korah, Dathan, Abiram and the two hundred and fifty false ministers. Numbers 16: 1 ¶ Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and 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 certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: (These are elders of Israel, men who the people look up to and trust. They also are big in their own eyes. ~ kenny) 3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and Yahweh is among them: why then do you lift up yourselves above the congregation of Yahweh? (These men accuse Moses and Aaron of being self appointed ministers. Beyond this they claim that all of these men are equal to Moses and Aaron and able to minister as well as they can. ~ kenny) 4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: 5 And he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, Even to morrow Yahweh will show who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he has chosen will he cause to come near to him. 6 This do; Take you incense burners, Korah, and all his company; 7 And put fire therein, and put incense in them before Yahweh tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom Yahweh does choose, he shall be holy: you take too much upon you, you sons of Levi. (Moses offers a solution: Let God speak for himself. God will show all whom he has chosen. ~ kenny) 8 And Moses said to Korah, Hear, I pray you, you sons of Levi: 9 Does it seem but 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 service of the tabernacle of Yahweh, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? 10 And he has brought you near to him and all your brethren the sons of Levi with you: and seek you the priesthood also? 11 For which cause both you and all your company are gathered together against Yahweh: and what is Aaron, that you murmur against him? (Moses accuses these men of attempting to usurp the position only God himself can appoint one to. ~ kenny) 12 ¶ And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, “We will not come up:” 13 “Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except you make yourself altogether a prince over us?” 14 “Moreover you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.” (Moses sent for the men so he could speak to them and they refused to show him any honor. Beyond this they made railing accusations against Moses, all of which were baseless yet the men behaved as fools. The implication here is that Moses is a poor leader and we can do better. ~ kenny) 15 And Moses was very angry, and said to Yahweh, Respect not you their offering: I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them. (Moses here is righteous in his anger. These men have laid false accusations against God’s true ministers in an attempt to obtain for themselves a position of authority over the people. These men like all wolves seek to fleece the flock and Moses the shepherd is angry. ~ kenny) 16 And Moses said to Korah, Be you and all your company before Yahweh, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow: 17 And take every man his incense burner, and put incense in them, and bring yourselves before Yahweh every man his incense burner, two hundred and fifty incense burners; you also, and Aaron, each of you his incense burner. 18 And they took every man his incense burner, and put fire in them, and laid incense on them, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron. (Moses puts out the challenge again, this time with fervor. He reminds them again that God will set the record straight. ~ kenny) 19 And Korah gathered the entire congregation against them to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of Yahweh appeared to the entire congregation. (These evil men have the ear and admiration of the people and have a mutiny started among the entire congregation of Israel. God changes the atmosphere when he reveals his glory and the people see it. ~ kenny) 20 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 Separate you from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. 22 And they fell upon 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 congregation? (God wants to wipe out the whole assembly in one fell swoop yet Moses and Aaron as true ministers of God intercede for those who deserve death. ~ kenny) 23 ¶ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24 Speak to the congregation, saying, Get you up from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. 25 And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins. (Moses still has the peoples respect and tells them to get away from these men who are now damned unless they partake of their sins and judgment. ~ kenny) 27 So they got up from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. (The people obeyed Moses and packed up their tents and belongings and moved them away from these evil men. ~ kenny) 28 And Moses said, Hereby you shall know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. 29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then Yahweh has not sent me. 30 But if Yahweh makes a new thing, and the earth opens her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that pertain to them, and they go down quick into Sheol (Hell); then you shall understand that these men have provoked Yahweh. (Moses explains to the people that if he and Aaron are God’s chosen ministers then God will send these evil men to hell while they are yet alive, in the sight of all. This should prove that God has indeed rejected Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and settle all doubt about Moses and Aaron. ~ kenny) 31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground broke open that was under them: 32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that pertained to Korah, and all their goods. 33 They, and all that pertained to them, went down alive into Sheol (Hell), and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. (God’s reply was instant and no more space for repentance could be found for these three evil men who troubled the congregation of Yahweh. These had also beside themselves two hundred and fifty converts to their strange fire doctrine. These others must have had their knees knocking together about this time. ~ kenny) 34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, unless the earth swallows us up also. (The witnesses were filled with the fear of God. ~ kenny) 35 ¶ And there came out a fire from Yahweh, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. 36 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 37 Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the incense burners out of the burning, and scatter the fire yonder; for they are now holy. 38 The incense burners of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before Yahweh, therefore they are now holy: and they shall be a sign to the children of Israel. 39 And Eleazar the priest took the brazen incense burners, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: 40 To be a memorial to the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before Yahweh; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as Yahweh said to him by the hand of Moses. (God indeed made a prime example of these men who decided to make the choice to be God’s ministers. Their sin was that they chose this position and Only God decides who will be his ministers. Every time someone thought of the alter he was reminded of these fellows who foolishly took upon themselves the mantle of ministry. ~ kenny) 41 ¶ But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of Yahweh.” (Wow, an unbelievable accusation, again against God’s chosen ministers. Like many in the Church today these are very short sighted and seem to lack memory. ~ kenny) 42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Yahweh appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. 44 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. (Again God is going to wipe these deserving people off of the face of the earth. And yet again these two true ministers begin to intercede for the same group of people who are making railing accusations against Moses and Aaron. ~ kenny) 46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take an incense burner, and put fire in it from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from Yahweh; the plague has begun. 47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. 49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed. (We see here the true ministry of God’s true ministers. They seek to save those whom they minister to. Aaron stood between the living and the dead, a shadow of Christ the true high priest stopping the plague of death which all were deserving of. For Aaron’s sake God stopped the plague of death. ~ kenny) In conclusion we can see from the above portion of scripture that God does indeed choose his ministers, they do not choose to become a minister. One who has chosen to be a minister is a usurper and should repent, seeing the example of how God consumed those usurpers here. God has called us to order and not disorder. We are to submit to God’s true ministers for our own good. We see all around us these days those usurpers in the pulpit preaching the doctrines of men and of demons. How could we expect to hear God’s word issuing forth from them seeing they have no fellowship with God in that he has rejected them? You will know them by their fruits brothers. They plainly don’t understand that ministry to God’s people is service and not a position whereby one can seek their own benefit. These bring false charges against God’s true ministers and breathe out insurrection. How will they escape the fires of God’s judgment since it is the body of Christ which they subvert with their lies? No brothers there is a difference between those called to minister to the body and those who are not. Those whom God chooses are given manna in its season and told to “feed my sheep… feed my lambs”. Amen we are all but brothers and we have only one Master and Rabbi, Jesus Christ is his name and the true teacher is the spirit of Christ. Yet we have many servants, who deserve our respect and honor, and besides this they are our brothers and we are to love our brothers. Let us not be numbered among Korah, Dathan, and Abiram neither among those who would usurp the position of servant.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 04:04:49 +0000
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