Numbers 16:12-22

The Test.

v. 12. And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the negotiations till now having been carried on with Korah and his company; which said, We will not come up; they refused to come out to the open space before the Tabernacle.

v. 13. Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, for so they now designated Egypt, to kill us in the wilderness, for they accused Moses of deliberately exposing them to a slow death in the desert, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? That, they insisted, was the object of Moses, to play the lord, the tyrant over them, to make them do his bidding while he lived a life of ease.

v. 14. Moreover, thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, whereby they sneeringly imply that he had not kept his promises, Exodus 4:30; Exodus 3:7-2 Samuel :, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards; wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up. So they flung the charge into the face of Moses that he was boring out the eyes of the people, that is, degrading them to absolute, blind obedience to his wishes and whims, against all individual judgment.

v. 15. And Moses was very wroth, the insulting injustice of the charge provoking him to a just indignation, and said unto the Lord, Respect not Thou their offering; God should not accept their sacrifice, which certainly was a mild form of vindication of his own uprightness; I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them. The charge that Moses had used tyrannical measures at any time was absolutely unfounded.

v. 16. And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the Lord, thou and they and Aaron, to-morrow;

v. 17. and take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the Lord every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also and Aaron, each of you his censer, all of them performing one of the chief acts characteristic of the priesthood.

v. 18. And they took every man his censer, they accepted the challenge in a spirit of blasphemous presumption, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation with Moses and Aaron. They actually had the audacity to press forward to the place which was reserved for the ministrations of the priests.

v. 19. And Korah gathered all the congregation against them, in an attitude of hostility, unto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation; he encouraged them to press forward to profane the Sanctuary. And the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the congregation; by some miraculous manifestation the Lord gave a display of His majesty preparatory to punishing the offenders.

v. 20. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

v. 21. Separate yourselves from among this congregation that I may consume them in a moment. Because the people had taken sides with the rebels, the Lord intended to exterminate the entire congregation in one moment.

v. 22. And they fell upon their faces, in the attitude of most fervent intercession, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, Creator and Preserver of all living things, shall one man (Korah) sin, and wilt Thou be wroth with all the congregation? Korah was the leading spirit, he had instigated the rebellion; the rest were guilty indeed, but only inasmuch as they had given heed to his seditious speeches. Apparently the Lord heard the prayer of His servants, for He did not proceed to exterminate all the people. The confident prayer of the believers is a mighty weapon before God.