“Prayer For The Sons of Korah’ (Num. 14-16) 3/9/16

Things seem to be moving along well in the Numbers 15 other than the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath in Num. 15:32, and they stoned him. Then they had to put a blue cord in their (tzitzit) to remind them of their obligation to follow God’s commandments, all 1,521 of them. That’s right, there were not 10, nor 613, but 1,521 of them, at least that’s what the Rabbi’s list included. Then we come to Numbers 16, just one more chapter and we find the “Rebellion of Korah,” and here we go again. They rose up before Moses and Aaron, 250 princes, famous men, men of renown and they declared, “You take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation is holy!” Moses, oi gevault!

Moses falls on his face in the mud again and cries out to God! For a humble, old man of about 100 years old, he spends a lot of time on his face in the dirt. So, Moses tells them all to go get a censer, put some incense in it and stand before the LORD, YeHoVaH tomorrow and then put some fire in it and we will see who the LORD has chosen to be holy because, “You take too much upon you; you sons of Levi.” Then Moses goes on rebuking them in v. 9 saying, “Does it seem like 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 the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?” v.10, “And seek ye the priesthood also?” How much more do you want?

Who is Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi anyway? Well you have to go back to Num. 3:17-20 where you have the descendants of of Levi and then onto Num. 3:27-32 for what for what the Kohathites were in charge of in the Tabernacle. They had charge of the ark, the tables, the lamp-stand, the altars, the vessels, the hangings and all the holy implements. They covered some of them, carried all of them, cared for them, and set them up. They were in charge of ‘all the service of them’ and they were the closest to YeHoVaH of any family or clan of Israel or the Levites except for Moses and Aaron, but they wanted more, they wanted the priesthood too. They were to bear the ‘holy things’ but not to touch them lest they die, Num. 4:15. They also had to be 30 years old to serve and they had to retire from service at the age of 50, Num. 4:3.

In Jude v. 11 in the Newer Testament, Jude talks about the “gainsaying of Korah” which was intrusion into the priest’s office and Heb. 5:4 says, “No man takes this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” It was a rebellion against the divine order in the theocratic kingdom. The sin of Korah was the denial of the authority of Moses as God’s chosen spokesman and intrusion into the priest’s office. Why else would Moses have them all bring censers and incense which was a priest’s duty? Moses then sends for Dathan, Abiram, and Eliab who refuse to come up from their camp, but they reply in v. 13, “It is a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey…” A play on Moses’ words in v. 9 and on God’s promise, mocking them both. Moses then responds, not to them but to the LORD in v. 15, “Respect not their offering, I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them.”

Moses tells the sons of Korah to get their 250 censers ready with incense and fire and to stand before the door of the Tabernacle and they gathered the congregation together to rebell and the LORD wanted to kill them all and consume them in a moment, v. 21. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces again in prayer and God pardoned them, but He is going to punish the rebellion of Dathan, Abiram and Eliab and their families. Then the earth opened up and swallowed them alive down into (sheol) v. 30, “And there came out fire from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.” Then the LORD told Eleazar, the son of Aaron to make a plate out of the censers to cover the altar, and it shall be for a sign to all who enter the Tabernacle never to offer incense before the LORD. Num. 16:40. There it sat, leaning against the wall for hundreds of years as a sign of, ‘the gainsaying of Korah.’

“But the very next day (good night!) all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD!” No they didn’t, the LORD killed them! But the LORD spoke unto Moses saying, “Get up from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” And they fell on their faces again, WOW!! How Moses and Aaron must have like the dirt! I wonder how many times your pastor would fall on his face in the dirt for you? However, Moses tells Aaron to take a censer, put some incense on it, take some fire from off the altar and ‘RUN’ into the midst of the congregation and make an atonement for them, for there is wrath already gone out from the LORD, because the plague, the slaughter has already begun, Num. 16:48, “And he stood between the dead and the living and the plague was stayed.” 14,700 died in that plague, besides the 250 holding censers and the families of Dathan, Abiram and Eliab, probably about 20,000 in all. However, without a gap man, an intercessor to stand in the gap and make up the breech all 2.5 to 3 million would have died. Does prayer work? Ask Miriam when you see her or Aaron or Eleazar!

Things seem to calm down for a little while, in chapter 17 of Numbers we have Aaron’s rod that buds, a sign against the rebels, Num. 17:10, “The children of Israel spoke unto Moses saying, Behold we die, we perish, we all perish. Whosoever cometh anywhere near unto the Tabernacle of the LORD shall die, shall be consumed with dying!” It’s about time they got it! Aaron’s rod that budded was a type of Christ in the resurrection, acknowledged by God as high priest. Aaron’s priesthood had been questioned in the rebellion of Korah, so God Himself would confirm it, listen to Num. 17:5, “And it shall come to pass that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom; and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.” Aaron’s rod not only budded over night, but it also bloomed blossoms and yielded almonds. The head of each tribe brought a dead stick, but God breathed life into Aaron’s stick only for a sign to Israel.

However, the bigger sign to me anyway was God’s intercessor who never gave up, never quit, never got weary, never got tired of wiping the dirt off his face, never grew tired of picking himself up, was always ready to step into their mud-puddle again, always ready to step in the gap, to repair the breech, to restore the path, to make up the hedge; a real gate-keeper, a watchman on the wall, a prayer warrior, an intercessor, a mediator, etc, etc, Where are you on that list for your church, your pastor, your country, your missionaries? Better yet where am I on that list? Well till next time with the ‘Red Heifer’ I’ll see you in my closet on my knees or, “…Between The Lines…”

“Prayer For The Sons of Korah” (Num. 14-16) 3/9/16