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Welcome. I'm Cliff Hedges. This is Pastor Cliff's Dotes. This is a podcast where we are studying the Bible. We're working our way through the book of Numbers. Today is episode 1630, and we're looking at Numbers chapter 16, verses 1 through 14. So God's brought the Israelites to the edge of the land of Canaan, but their faith faltered and they rebelled against the Lord. So God said that that generation that had been counted in the census back in chapter 1 would not enter the promised land. They would spend forty years in the wilderness until all of that generation died. Now we're in chapter 16, verse 1. Now Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, with Dathan, and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took two hundred and fifty prominent Israelite men who were leaders of the community and representatives in the assembly, and they rebelled against Moses. They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, You have gone too far. Everyone in the entire community is holy, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the Lord's assembly? Okay, we've got a rebellion here, a big one now, and it's not just Rifraf, this is important people. And the first one mentioned is Korah. Korah is the son of Ishar, son of Kohath, son of Levi. So he is one of the Levites, and he is one of the clan of the Kohathites. Remember when we were looking at the order, encampment, duties, and things, we saw that there were three clans of the Levites. The Kohatites, the Gershonites, and the Merorites. And the Kohatites were actually the ones who had were in the premier position. They were the ones that carried the articles of the tabernacle. They carried the Ark of the Covenant, the Golden Lampstand, the Golden Table of the Bread of the Presents, the Golden Altar of Incense, the bronze altar of burnt offerings. They carried those things. They were the ones who had the premier position of all the Levites. So Korah is one of the people of this clan of the Kohathites. Now, is also the family of Moses and Aaron are of the clan of Kohathites. So they're descendants of Amram, where Korah is a descendant of Izar. So how closely they're related is hard to say, but they are in the same clan. The others once mentioned Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, so two brothers, and another man, On, son of Pilath. They're of the tribe of Reuben. And then they have this group of 250 prominent Israelite men, leaders in the community. So these are respected people. This isn't Rifraf. This is respected people. Verse 3, they came together against Moses and Aaron and said, You've gone too far. So this isn't some kind of impromptu meeting. This is obviously something that's been planned out, thought through, allies formed, and they come against Moses and Aaron. And their complaint, everyone in the entire community is holy. Well, that's a true statement. And they say, and the Lord is among them. That also is a true statement. So then from then they say, so why you in charge, basically? So they're arguing, basically, it seems, for equality of status. Everybody in the community is holy. Yep. God's with everybody. Yep. But they're ignoring the whole point that God has established order. He's established rank. He's established responsibilities. When we saw early in the book of Numbers the arrangement of who camped where around the tabernacle, it was in priority order. And the Koethites were actually in a pretty mere position. They're the ones that carry the articles of the tabernacle. So they carry the Ark of the Covenant. The Meriorites, they carry tent pegs. But they're complaining that they're being overlooked. And we'll see later, Moses makes a comment in verse 10 that they're really saying they should be priests. Now, one author calls this the South Side Rebellion. Because if you look at the arrangement around the tabernacle where the groups camp, there's a priority of position. East side, that's the number one position. The south side is the number two position. Then the west side is the number three position. And the north side is the number four position. And the people here doing all this complaining, at least that are named, we don't know who the 250 prominent people are. They're probably from all the different tribes. But the ones named are all part of the group on the south. The Kohatites are the Levites who camp immediately on the south side of the tabernacle. Then the camp of Reuben is also on the south side of the tabernacle. And it's the camp of Reuben, which consists of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Simeon, and the tribe of Gad, with Reuben's tribe being the one in charge. So the group on the south, the South Side Rebellion. They're the ones who seem to be complaining. So he didn't faint, he didn't have a seizure. He is falling before God. He doesn't respond immediately to their attack. This is a good lesson for all of us who are in service in the Lord's work. When somebody attacks you, go immediately to God. Don't try and defend yourself initially, go before God. Find out what God wants to do about this. And so Moses falls before God. Does he just fall face down and then a moment get up? Or does he fall face down, wait a while? But it seems like he then gets a word from God and gets up. Verse 5. Then he said to Korah and all his followers, Tomorrow morning the Lord will reveal who belongs to him, who is set apart, and the one he will let come near him. He will let the one he chooses come near him. Korah, you and all your followers are to do this. Take fire pans, and tomorrow place fire in them, put incense on them before the Lord. Then the man the Lord chooses will be the one who is set apart. It is you Levites who have gone too far. Back in verse three, they said, Moses, you've gone too far. Now Moses saying, No, it's you Levites who've gone too far. Now we don't know when this actually occurs in the narrative. We don't know whether this is a few days after the events of Kedish Barnea, a few months, or even a few years. This is sometime after the rebellion of Kadesh Barnea. How long? No idea. But the people should remember what happened to Aaron's sons, Nabib and Abuhu, when they offered unauthorized fire to the Lord. It didn't go well for them. And now what Moses is saying, the way we're going to figure this out is we're all going to offer incense in our firepans before the Lord. And you Levites have gone too far. I think maybe I'd have skipped out on this thing, but they don't. Verse 8. Moses also told Korah, Now listen, Levites, isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the Israelite community to bring you near to himself, to perform the work at the Lord's tabernacle, and to stand before the community to minister to them? He has brought you near, and all your fellow Levites who are with you, but you are pursuing the priesthood as well. Therefore it is for you and all your followers who have conspired against the Lord. As for Aaron, who is he that you should complain about him? You're saying there is you're not really complaining about Aaron, you're complaining about God, because God's the one who set up this arrangement. Moses challenged to Koras, take a good look at where you have been placed in this hierarchy, because it is a hierarchy. You are the tribe of Levi who has been pulled out special. You're not part of the army. You serve the Lord at the tabernacle. Nobody else can do this. Only the Levites. And you of the Kohathite clan are the ones who are the closest to the most important things. The only people who are closer are the priests. At this point, there are just a handful of them. And try to appreciate what God has allowed for you versus coveting something more. Verse 12. Moses sent for Deathon and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, We will not come. So apparently they weren't with Korah when he makes the challenge against Moses and Aaron. Sounds like the 250 prominent leaders are there with them, but not these two from the tribe of Reuben. And as far as the third man from Reuben on, we don't see him again, so he may have dropped out of all this or maybe just played such a minor role. He's not included in the narrative. But he sends for him and said, We're not coming. Verse 13, is it not enough that you brought us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Do you also have to appoint yourself as ruler over us? Furthermore, you didn't bring us up to a land flowing with milk and honey, or give us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come. Wow. So he sends for them, and they say, We're not coming, Moses. And they said, You brought us from a land flowing with milk and honey. That's Egypt. They're describing Egypt now as a land flowing with milk and honey. That's been the words used to describe the promised land. And when the scouts came back with a report, they said, Yep, it is a land flowed with milk and honey. But now they're thinking Egypt would have been a whole lot better. This is what got the people in trouble at Kadesh Barnea. And so, why'd you bring us up here to die in the wilderness? Well, you are going to die in the wilderness, but it's not because of Moses. And you didn't bring us to a land filling with milk and honey. So they're blaming Moses for God's judgment on the people's sin. They've really got things out of order. This comment, will you gouge out the eyes of these men? That's kind of a euphemism for will you blind people to your own sinful actions? So basically saying, We're not going to come talk to you, Moses, because we know you're just going to pull the wool over our eyes, too. We're not coming. No use coming and talking to you because you just lied to us anyway. So we've got this rebellion now. The family of Korah and some followers who are of the clan of Kohath. So it's not everyone in that clan. It's just Korah himself and his family, it seems, and people he's got gathered around him to follow him. And these three men from the tribe of Reuben, and then an assortment of 250 community leaders throughout Israel who've all joined together to come and complain against Moses and Aaron. And their complaint is Moses, you and Aaron shouldn't be in charge. There should be a shared leadership with us in particular. But we'll see how God sorts things out next time. So thanks for joining me. Join me again next time as we continue working through numbers.