Psalms 106:16

SIN NO. 3

This sin was the insurrection against Moses and Aaron by Korah and others, recorded in Numbers 16.

"They envied Moses also in the camp,

And Aaron the saint of Jehovah.

The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,

And covered the company of Abiram.

And a fire was kindled in their company;

The flame burned up the wicked."

There were three leaders of this insurrection, namely, Korah, Dathan and Abiram. The omission of Korah's name is not significant. "This was probably due to the fact of Korah's name being omitted in Deuteronomy 11:6, or because his sons were not destroyed (Numbers 26:11)."[14]

"Earth opened ... covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company" (Psalms 106:17-18). Abiram's company was in two divisions, those that were swallowed up into the earth, and the two hundred fifty men who unlawfully usurped the office of the Levites and offered censors of incense contrary to God's law. Those 250 men were destroyed by fire. Of course, critics, ever searching for what they might be able to label a contradiction, did not overlook the ambiguity here. Addis declared that, "There was no need of the fire if the rebels had already been swallowed up by the earthquake"![15]