Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 7 Lesson 62
This week in Sunday school, we join Israel in their wilderness wandering to see what they’ve learned after missing out on entering the promised land. Surely this people, chastened for their unbelief, will have finally humbled themselves before God…right? Shockingly, we’re going to see through Korah’s rebellion and its aftermath that the people are still exalting themselves against God. Even Moses, Aaron, and the next generation of Israel stumble into arrogant rebellion. How does God respond to these acts of pride? And what can we learn from these accounts so that we might live humbly before God?
Our main texts for this lesson are Numbers 16:1-50 and 20:1-13.
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Oh, great. All right. Well, let’s get started. Welcome to Sunday school. Good to see Good to see you. We’re continuing through the Torah, a important first five books of the Bible that in many ways lay a foundation for the rest of what we see in the scriptures. Last time we had moved on from the book of Exodus and we’re looking at Israel’s experience in the book of Numbers. We look at Numbers 13 and 14. And there we witnessed Israel’s failure to enter into God’s good land, God’s promised land, due to their own fear and unbelief. They missed out because they would not believe the Lord. Well, now we begin to find out if Israel’s learned anything from their failures, especially that great failure. Having those 10 times of testing by the Lord and failing before the Lord, but then experiencing God’s grace and limited judgments, not what they deserved, limited judgments. Has it produced a new heart of humility, of faith, and dependence in the people of Israel?
Well, we’re going to find out a little bit today as we look at a few notable events during Israel’s wilderness wandering. What we’re going to see, amazingly, is that Israel’s heart is as a people, it is still proud. It is still hard against the Lord. We’re also going to see that even Moses and Aaron and the second generation of Israel, they too are going to slip into prideful rebellion and unbelief against the Lord, even their leaders.
How’s God going to respond to this? And what are we to learn from it? We can see part of the answer given away in today’s title of the lesson that is God judges rebellion.
Now, by the end of this lesson, I pray that God will have confronted your own heart about whether it is prideful against the Lord, whether it is rebellious against the Lord or whether it is humble and believing.
Now, you don’t want to miss out on any of God’s blessings. You certainly don’t want to miss out on God’s eternal rest.
So, you cannot risk a prideful heart.
So, that’s why you must pay close attention to what we’re about to look at today.
Well, let’s pray and then we’ll hear from God’s word. Our heavenly father, I pray that you would humble our hearts this morning as we encounter this sobering text, the sobering set of texts, God, that we would see more of yourself, that you are a holy God, and that we cannot trifle with you. We cannot live hypocritically before you.
We cannot seek our own glory and not give it to you, for you are jealous for your glory. I pray that that truth would be seen very evidently today. You would help me to be able to explain it and help us to be able to apply this word in Jesus name. Amen.
Please take your Bibles and open to book of Numbers, chapter 16.
Numbers 16.
This is where we’re going to find our first passage. We’re going to be in two different passages today. Numbers 16 is our first. That’s page 158 if you’re using the Pew Bible.
Bible doesn’t tell us very much about Israel’s experience in the 40 years of wandering. A lot of those years seem to be just skipped over. But we do hear about one instance in that wilderness wandering.
Soon after Israel’s failure to enter the promised land in Numbers 14, we hear about a certain rebellion that takes place, Kora’s rebellion. And this apparently takes place within the 40 years of wilderness wandering. And we see the account of that rebellion in this chapter. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to look at just the first part of the chapter, the account of the rebellion itself in verses 1 to 40, and then we’ll examine the aftermath, verses 41 to 50 afterwards. So, let’s go ahead and read verses 1 to 40, and hear about Kora’s rebellion. Here’s what it says.
Now, Kora, the son of Ishar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dayan and Abram, the sons of Elab, and An, the son of Paleth, sons of Reuben, took action.
And they rose before Moses or they rose up before Moses together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation chosen in the assembly, men of renown. They assembled together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone far enough for all the congregation are holy, every one of them. And the Lord, that is Yahweh, is in their midst. So why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of Yahweh?” When Moses heard this, he fell on his face, and he spoke to Kora and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning, Yahweh will show who is his and who is holy, and will bring near, bring him near to himself, even the one whom he will choose. He will bring near to himself. Do this, take sensors for yourselves, Kora, and all your company, and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of Yahweh tomorrow. and the man whom Yahweh chooses shall be the one who is holy.
You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi.
Then Moses said to Kora, “Hear now, you sons of Levi, is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of 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, and that he has brought you near, Kora, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you.” And are you seeking for the priesthood also? Therefore, you and all your company are gathered together against Yahweh. But as for Aaron, who is he that you grumble against him?
Then Moses sent a summons to Dayathan and Abram, the sons of Elab, but they said, “We will not come up. Is it not enough that you have brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lorded over us? Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards.
Would you put out the eyes of these men?
We will not come up.” Then Moses became very angry and said to Yahweh, “Do not regard their offering. I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.” Moses said to Kora, “You and all your company be present before Yahweh tomorrow. Both you and they along with Yahweh or along with Aaron, each of you take his fire pan and put incense on it.
And each of you bring his sensor before Yahweh. 250 fire pants. Also, you and Aaron shall each bring his fire pan.” So they each took his own sensor and put fire on it and laid incense on it. And they stood at the doorway of the tent of the of tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. Thus Kora assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the congregation.
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation that I may consume them instantly.” But they fell on their faces and said, “Oh God, God of all the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will you be angry with the entire congregation?” Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the congregation, saying, “Get back from around the dwellings of Kora, Dayan, and Abberham.” Then Moses arose and went to Dayam and Abram with the elders of Israel following him. And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, or you will be swept away in all their sin.” So they got back from around the dwellings, Zakora, Dayan, and Abram. And Dayan and Abram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents along with their wives and their sons and their little ones.
Moses said, “By this you shall know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these deeds, for this is not my doing. If these men die the death of all men, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then Yahweh has not sent me. But if Yahweh brings about an entirely new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into shiel, that is the grave, then you will understand that these men have spurned Yahweh.” As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up and their households and all the men who belonged to Kora with their possessions. So they and all that belong to them went down alive to shield, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us up.” Fire also came forth from Yahweh and consumed the 250 men who are offering the incense.
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Say to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest that he shall take up the sensors out of the midst of the blaze, for they are holy, and you scatter the burning coals abroad. As for the sensors of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before Yahweh, and they are holy, and they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel. So the aids of the priests took the bronze sensors which the men who are who were burned had offered and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman who was not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before Yahweh so that he will not become like Kora and his company just as Yahweh had spoken to him through Moses.
All right. Well, here’s the rebellion.
It is indeed a rebellion, even a mutiny against Aaron and against Moses. Let’s make some basic observations on the passage.
Notice the specific men mentioned in this rebellion in verse one. We have Kora from the tribe of Levi and also Dayan, Abram, and Anne were from the tribe of Reuben. Now, interestingly though, Anne is mentioned in verse one, he doesn’t appear anywhere else in our passage. So it may be that he was initially a leader in this rebellion but then withdrew and hopefully repented.
Now what’s special about the tribe of Levi? Can anyone tell me what were they chosen for?
It was from the tribe of Levi that the priest would come and Aaron is the line of the priesthood. But aside from Aaron, the Levites were also the ones who service the tabernacle. They transported all the implements. They helped set it up. They helped guard it to care for it.
This was a position of great privilege.
It was one given to them by God. So Kora is from the tribe of Levi. And we other men are from the tribe of Reuben. What’s special about the tribe of Reuben?
Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn. Though because of Reuben’s sin, he laid with his father’s concubine, he was in many ways kind of disinherited from any firstborn blessing. And we see that even in the last few chapters of Genesis, he says, “Hey, you’re not going to be blessed in a special way because of what you did.” So, Reuben lost the tribe lost its prominence though these men are from the tribe of Reuben.
Now, these are the leaders, but there are other men with them. Verse two tells us that 250 chiefs uh leaders, elected men, men of renown, they join these three or four men in the rebellion. And these other men are it says from the people apparently from the different tribes of Israel. Though verse 8 tells us because of how Moses speaks to these people that it appears that most of these men are from the tribe of Levi.
We’ve got these three or four leaders and then a number of Levites and others who are joined with them. And notice though that these other men are leaders among Israel.
Now notice the accusation that Kora and the others with him bring against Moses and Aaron. In verse three, they accuse Moses and Aaron of exalting themselves over the assembly of Israel.
In other words, they’re saying, “You have no right to take up the leadership of Israel as you have done. We have the same right to leadership, even spiritual leadership as you do.
Now, Moses position, his position as a leader, as a as a prophet, he’s one who meets with and speaks for God. Aaron, of course, was the high priest. And from him, a line of priests, his sons were engaged. Now, is this a true accusation?
Had Moses and Aaron indeed exalted themselves to these positions of leadership?
No, they had not. Who put them in that position?
God did. Moses and Aaron were specifically appointed these positions by God. Back in Exodus, God appointed Moses as a leader and as a prophet.
Appointed Aaron as his helper. And then later on, God appointed Aaron in his line as the priests of the priesthood.
So, they didn’t exalt themselves at all.
But notice though at this accusation in verse four, Moses falls on his face.
It’s a sign of humility, dependence on God. Then Moses proposes a test to settle this issue of leadership. It says the 250 men should come along with Kor and present their sensors with incense before God. And Yahweh will then choose between all those who are offering incense because Aaron’s going to be offering incense at the same time. And God will choose between them and indicate which man or men he has chosen to appear before him.
By the way, is this the first time that Moses’s leadership has been directly challenged in Israel?
No. Every time Israel’s complained against Moses, they’ve been challenging his leadership. But also, in one of the events that we didn’t look at together specifically back in Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron actually challenged Moses with a kind of similar argument.
They said, “Hey, Moses, why should you be the number one position, and we’re just as good as leaders as you are?” And does anybody know how God responded to that?
Miriam.
Yeah. Miriam was afflicted with leprosy for a week and God made very clear, I will choose the one who will draw near to me, not you. And I’ve chosen Moses.
Now, Israel was witness to that.
The Kora and his associates, they were witness to that. God affirmed Moses’s leadership. But here, nonetheless, we have the people challenging Moses and also challenging Aaron over their leadership positions.
By the way, do you notice anything interesting about the phrase that appears at the ending of verse 7?
Yes. What’s interesting about that?
Very good. You see some repetition in the text. A little bit of uh not exactly irony, but certainly something profound here. They tell Moses, “Hey, you’ve gone too far. You’ve gone far enough in exalting yourself.” Moses says, “Actually, you’ve gone far enough in exalting yourself, you sons of Levi.
You’ve been given a privileged position and now you want something more.
You don’t want to don’t as Levites, you simply don’t want to service the tabernacle. You want the priesthood also.” And notice also Moses recognizes the true nature of their complaints in verse 11. He says outwardly, “You’re complaining about me. You’re complaining about Aaron. But really, you’re complaining against God. You’re complaining against Yahweh himself.” Now, Moses then summons Dayan and Abram to come to this assembly of the 250 men offering their sensors. But Dayan and Abram won’t come. They repudiate his summons directly disobey Moses. And then they lab or they lay further accusations on Moses in verses 12 to 14. They accuse Moses of failing to bring them into the promised land. They accuse him of causing them to die in the wilderness.
And they accuse him beyond all these failures of lording his authority over them. Now, what about these accusations?
Are these true? Is it Moses’s fault that these things happened?
No. Again, this is not true. In fact, it’s the opposite of true. Moses wanted to lead the the people of Israel into the land flowing with milk and honey.
But they were the ones who were not willing due to their sinful unbelief.
And in the wilderness, it was God putting judgment on the people and causing them to die over these 40 years.
It was not Moses.
Moses has been trying to get them to trust the Lord. Far from harming any of his people, what has Moses actually been doing for the people again and again?
He’s been interceding, praying, he’s been protecting and saving their lives.
And they’re accusing him of the of causing all their trouble.
So these are wicked accusations from these men.
They’re taking their own failures and putting the blame on Moses.
So notice how Moses responds to this second set of accusations in verse 15.
Becomes very angry and he protests his innocence before God. He even prays against the rebels that God would not accept their offering. He says, “God, you know that what they’re doing is wrong, so do not accept the incense that they offer before you.” Well, the majority of rebels do assemble and they offer their incense before Yahweh along with Aaron. Notice verse 19 says though that Kora assembled all the congregation against Moses and Aaron as well. So don’t get the idea that this is just a small pot of rebels who have their thing going on. No, somehow they’ve got all Israel to at least be a little bit behind them. So this is indeed a mutiny of the whole nation against Moses and Aaron.
And then God appears before the people and notice what God says to Moses and Aaron in verse 21. He says, “Get away from Israel because I’m going to destroy them all instantly.” I know their complicity in this wicked rebellion. God is essentially saying, “They deserve to die, so let me destroy them.” What do Moses and Aaron do? What do they reply in verse 22? They say, “God, will you destroy everyone for one man’s sin?
So what are Moses and Aaron again doing for Israel?
They’re interceding for their salvation.
Lord, please don’t destroy all the people. Yes, they’re doing wrong here, but it’s really the leaders who are leading them into the it’s Kora and his companions. Will you really destroy them all because of Kora?
So God listens to Moses and Aaron and he commands he the second command that the people separate from the dwellings of Kora, Dayan, and Abram. He says, “Moses, tell the people to do that.” And Moses does. In verse 27, Moses gives the command that people do separate from the households of Kora, Dayan, and Abram.
Kor apparently with the men before the tabernacle. Dayan and Abram are still in their tents. And those two men, they stand at the door of their tents with their families, with their wives, their children, and their little ones. And then Moses in verses 28 to30, he tells the people how to interpret what’s about what’s about to happen. He says, “If Kora, Dayan, and Abraham, if they live out their lives and die normally as people do, then I’m not really God’s prophet, and these men are right. But if these men and their households are swallowed up suddenly by the ground, and you will all know that these men are wicked rebels against God.
And then notice verse 31. As soon as Moses finishes that explanation, soon as he finishes speaking, the ground opens beneath these men, their tents, their possessions, their families, and their slaves, and everything falls into the chasm, and the earth closes over them.
Fire also comes down from heaven and consumes Kora and the 250 leaders who are offering incense before the tabernacle.
Would this not have been a frightening sight? The opening of the earth, all the the trauma in the ground that’s associated with that, the closing of it, the fire from heaven. You can understand why Israel reacts the way it does in verse 34.
This would have been very frightening to see all these people destroyed suddenly.
Now, side note, Numbers 26, Numbers 26 9-11 gives us a little bit of extra information, a little comment on this event. Listen to what it says. You can turn there if you want, but Numbers 26:es 9-11 says this. This is part of the second census of Israel. It says, “The sons of Elab, Nemuel and Dayan and Abram, these are the Daythan and Abram who were called by the congregation who contended against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Kora when they contended against Yahweh. And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Kora. And when that company died, when the fire devoured devoured 250 men, so that they became a warning. And now verse 11, the sons of Kora, however, did not die.
Huh? Numbers 26:11 says the sons of Kora did not die. But back here in our chapter, Numbers 16:32 specifically says that all the men who belonged to Kora with their possessions, they were those who were part of the group who were swallowed up by the earth. Is this a contradiction? Well, no. I we know enough at this point. This is not a contradiction. So, how is it that Numbers 16:32 and Numbers 26:11 are both true?
What must have happened for all of those in the household of Kora with the tent to be destroyed and then yet have the sons of Kora survive.
It must be it. Remember Moses’s warning was get away from the tents of these men.
And apparently most of the family did not. But it looks like the sons of Kora did, or at least some of the sons of Kora, they left their father.
They decided not to stand with their father, whether he was standing before the tabernacle or standing somewhere else. And they said, “We’re going to we’re going to get away from the tent.” And they survived.
Now, here’s the interesting thing. Where did the sons of Kora appear later in the scriptures?
They were worship leaders. And what else did they do?
They wrote a number of the psalms. Yeah, it’s almost I think uh 10 or 12 psalms.
We have a little description at the beginning that says they were written by the sons of Kora. These are the same sons. They are the descendants of that rebellious Kora that we’re reading about here. The sons of Kora became worship songwriters and leaders and even authors of part of scripture. So, whenever you read any of those psalms, try to keep the family history in mind. I wish I had time to go go through some of those psalms with you together, but think of Psalm 46 specifically, which begins with a number of lines talking about how even if the earth should change and the mountains quake and all these seismic disruptions, yet we will trust in Yahweh.
I think there’s a reference to the family history there. Or the middle of that psalm talks about the nations of the earth rebelling against Yahweh and how God stops them with a word. And then at the very end of the psalm, that famous line, Psalm 46:10, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. We often think of that phrase as being a a cure for anxiety. You know, okay, I just need to stop and be at peace. But in the context of that psalm, he’s actually talking about rebellion. He’s saying, you nations, you peoples, be still. Stop rebelling against Yahweh. Why? Because I will be exalted among the nations. He says, “You won’t win in a rebellion against me. I will be exalted.” I think the sons of Kora would appreciate that truth especially.
So remember that when you when you see the Psalms, sons of Kora.
Anyways, back to our our text here, number 16. Sons of Kora separate, but the rest are destroyed. Notice what are done with the sensors of the consumed individuals, the consumed rebel leaders.
In verses 36 to 40, God commands that they be gathered, that be formed into a cover for the altar as a reminder of the judgment that God brought on those who were not authorized to burn incense, who had exalted themselves and tried to get in on what God had aortioned to the line of Aaron.
So, wow, what a powerful lesson. What a powerful testimony to all of Israel about rebelling against God. Surely they got the point right. Don’t do what Kora and the others had done.
But before we turn to the interpretation questions, we need to read the rest of the chapter. Let’s look at the aftermath of this rebellion. Verses 4150.
Here’s what it says.
But on the next day, all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of Yahweh’s people.
came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Yahweh appeared. Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from among this congregation that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces. Moses said to Aaron, “Take your sensor and put in it fire from the altar and lay incense on it. Then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them for wrath has gone forth from Yahweh. The plague has begun.
And Aaron took it as Moses had spoken and ran into the midst of the assembly.
The for behold the plague had begun among the people. So uh he took his stand between the dead and the living.
Oh, I’m sorry. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. He took his stand between the dead and the living so that the plague was checked.
But those who died by the plague were 14,700 besides those who died on account of Kora. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tented meeting for the plague had been checked.
Whoa. Notice how the congregation of Israel responded the next day to Kora’s rebellion.
They blamed Moses and Aaron and complained against them.
We read this and we say, “Are you serious? Israel, you drew the totally wrong lesson. Kora and his company, they just complained against Moses and Aaron, and now you’re going to do the same. You see what God did to them?
Notice how God responds to the people’s complaint here in verses 42 to 45. He appears in his cloud, his glory cloud over the tent of meeting, and he tells Moses and Aaron, he’s just going to consume the people. Get away from them.
I got to consume them. I I can’t take any more of this.
What do Moses and Aaron do? They fall on their faces before God. Moses instructs Aaron to quickly burn some incense on a center, a sensor, atone for the people’s sin. And why? Because a fast and deadly plague is already spreading among the people. And then we have this just dramatic deliverance. Aaron is running.
He brings the sensor right into the midst of the people. But it says in verse 48, he stood between the dead and the living. It’s like this wave of death was just spreading through the congregation. Aaron runs as fast as he can and he stands in the middle of them and that’s where the wave stops. The tidal wave of death breaks right where Aaron is and it recedes. On the one side are the dead. On the other side are the living.
Yet, despite Moses and Aaron’s efforts to quickly intercede for Israel to move as fast as they can, we’re still here. How many people died? Almost 15,000 14,700 people.
Substantial number in Israel.
And this is God’s judgment.
It could have been worse. That’s the crazy part. Moses and Aaron hadn’t done anything.
So now considering the entire passage, let’s ask a few interpretation questions.
First, the people of Israel’s accusations against Moses and Aaron were clearly false.
So why did they make these accusations?
And why do they even believe them? What do you think?
Yeah, I think you’re right, Mark. What we’re seeing here is just the effects of pride, hardened heart, love of sin. It causes them to assert and believe that which is not true. Because let’s face it, it feels good in the flesh to be proud. There’s a certain intoxicating effect to pride to exalting oneself to thinking well and highly of oneself and especially as part of that to blame others for your own failures to blame others for your sin. I mean this is a temptation we all feel right when we we are confronted with the reality of our sin we’re tempted to just blame others because that allows us to continue to feel good about ourselves and to look down on others. I remember I had a philosophy professor in college. He in one of the classes I took with him, he was trying to make the point that whenever you realize that something is true, you can’t help but admit it. You can’t convince yourself otherwise. But you know what? Ever since that time, I’m like actually he’s so wrong because he doesn’t appreciate he doesn’t appreciate what the scriptures say. The effect of pride of heart, the effect of sin does cause you to suppress what you know is true. Romans 1, right? You can because of love of sin, you can live in a fantasy world, one that makes you feel good about yourself and how you rebel against God because sin does have that that momentary pleasure that goes with it. And that’s what the people of Israel are doing here. That’s what Kora and his men, they’re indulging in pride and therefore believing that which is patently untrue.
Now I I see your hand, Roy. Let me come back to that in just a second. What is the tragic irony though in the people’s continual complaints against Moses and Aaron?
That’s true.
It did in the past. They were delayed from going into the promised land by their complaining. This group, this appears to be the first generation, so they’re not going to go into the promised land no matter what. But they’re certainly bringing more trouble on themselves by complaining. But what else is the deep irony here? They’re complaining specifically against Moses and Aaron and their leadership.
That’s right. These are their intercessors. They’re actually going to intercede over these complaints. But the very ones who are their saviors, guardians, protectors, the one who are actually protecting them from their own sin. They’re the ones that they want to get rid of. They’re the ones that they want to see removed from office, even destroyed.
And isn’t this always what sin does?
Back in the garden, Adam and Eve, they are persuaded by the devil via the form of the serpent that the Lord is really the enemy. Yeah, you know, he seems like a generous guy, but no, he’s really your enemy. So sin and the pride that came with that sin because remember, they wanted to be like God. It caused them to turn from the only one who could actually love, help, protect, and provide for them to Satan who was a deceiver. And then when they fell into their sin, realized what they had done, realized they were naked. Then what did they do?
They hid from God. The only one who would be able to save and help them in that situation. And then when God came and confronted them, then what did they do? They blamed each other and blamed God.
Sin, you see the wickedness of sin, the deceitfulness, the folly of sin. It causes one to look at those who can actually help you in a truly spiritual way and regard them as the enemy, God himself and his people.
Sin and pride are so self-destructive.
And we see that with the people of Israel. They’re trying to get rid of Moses and Aaron when those two men are their saviors. And you know in Acts chapter 7 when Stephen gives his speech to the Sanhedrin, he’s going to say, “Look, this is what Israel has always done. They always take the deliverers that God sends and they treat them as enemies. They reject them and kill them if they can.” And you know what? They did the same thing with God’s own son.
That’s Steven’s accusation at the Sanhedrin. He said, “You did the same thing with Jesus the Christ. You crucified him when he was the savior that God had sent.” That’s because your hearts are so hard, just like the people of Israel before you. Of course, they didn’t like to hear that. And so, what did they do? The same thing. They killed Steven, the one who was pointing them to deliverance.
We do not want to fall into that same pattern of self-destructive pride. We want to humble ourselves and receive the help that only Yahweh can give through his servants.
Now, a separate question. Actually, Roy, let me let me come back to you. You had something you wanted to share.
Yeah, right. I think that’s really true. Thank you for sharing that, Roy. Um, the the lack of really spiritual self-awareness is a contributor and also a symptom to pride. They really did believe that they were holier than they were in a sense.
They were wholly set apart by God. The whole nation was. That’s true. But they use that as a way to downplay their own sin and to even exalt themselves beyond what God had given them. And you’re right, there is the same temptation today in each one of us to when we think about, oh, I’m in Christ now. I’ve received all these blessings and we can go uh we can stop thinking of ourselves as sinners desperately in need of God’s grace. Yes, we do progress in sanctification. That’s very important.
You know, pastor’s talking about that.
But we can’t lose sight of the fact that apart from Christ, we are the most miserable wretches deserve to be consumed instantly the way that Israel did.
And even the the progress that we make in holiness is only by God’s grace. And so when we lose sight of that or when we start thinking like, “Oh, I’m way better than these other people.” We’re on a path to destruction just as these people were. So yeah, totally right. Now, let me go in a little bit different direction here with a question that may have occurred to you. How is it right that God executed the wives, the children, and even the slaves of Kora, Dayan, and Abram?
You say, “Wait, didn’t God doesn’t God say somewhere in the scripture that he won’t punish parents for their children or children for their parents?” Yes, that’s in Ezekiel 18. So, what’s going on here? Well, I wish I had time to fully explore this. This is a somewhat difficult question. I think on the one hand we we face one of the tragic realities of life which is you’re affected by the spiritual choices of others especially your parents. If they choose wisely and righteously you experience the benefit from that but if they choose foolishly and sinfully well you experience consequences of that painful consequences of that. It’s not a judgment on you necessarily but it is a reality of life. And you can’t talk about it in terms of oh I didn’t deserve this. Well, none of us deserve anything, anything that we receive from our parents. We can’t say, “Oh, I deserve the good, or I deserve the neutral.” No, you don’t. You don’t deserve anything except judgment from God because you’re part of that sinful line of rebels starting from Adam. But this is just a reality of life. And so, when Kora rebelled and God judged Kora, there was some effects, some very deadly effects to those who were part of his family.
And God knows what he’s doing with particular family members. If you experience the consequences of other people’s sin, even your parents, God is doing something in that his own good purposes. Again, it’s not necessarily a judgment on you, too, because God says he he is just in that way. He doesn’t punish other people for sins not committed by them. Everyone is judged for their own sin, but consequences of others actions is a reality of life. But along with that and I think maybe the the emphasis here is actually on the complicity of their families.
I do believe that they are partly responsible for the sin of Kora, Dayan and Abram and that they are rightfully judged. And why do I say that? Well, two reasons. One, God commanded the people through Moses to separate from the tents of these men. That command went to the family members too. If they stayed with their father, if they stayed with their rebel family members, then they’re agreeing, all right, we’ll take the same consequence. And secondly, as we already noted, the sons of Kora apparently did separate from their father. So it’s not as if God said, all right, I have to kill all of the family too.
Not necessarily. There was opportunity for even sons to leave the tents and be spared from the judgment. Most of them did not do so. And so they perished along with their rebellion. By staying together, they’re essentially affirming we stand with his sinful choice and therefore God’s judgment was just.
So this was not God being too harsh.
So then what does God clearly reveal and emphasize about himself in this passage?
What do you think? What’s one thing?
God will not be mocked. That’s true.
What else?
He demands obedience and in the way he prescribed. You can’t come up with your own kind of obedience. You can’t say, “All right, he ordained these guys as priests, but I really want to be a priest, too. I’m sorry. You have to come the Lord’s way.” And if you’re not going to pay attention to that, then be prepare prepare for the Lord’s chastening. God’s a serious God. His standards are serious. What else do we see? His holiness is dramatically underscored, is it not? When you violate what God has commanded, he must for the sake of his own holiness and righteousness and goodness judge it. He must act in justice against your evil, against your sin. And that’s what we see happening here. See other things, of course. We see the wrath of God, his terrible anger, which is a righteous anger. We see that God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Shows grace to Moses and Aaron, but he destroys Kora in his company. He is merciful. He is patient. He doesn’t do to Israel what they deserved. But his patience does has limits. When they rebelled again, there was a judgment, though it was still limited. He’s sovereign. He has the right to exalt whomever he wishes. You say, even in your own life today, oh, why don’t I have this? or why am I not in the position that other person is in the position and I want that position too.
If you are inappropriately desiring something like that, you need to rest.
You need to stop and rest in God’s sovereignty. You say, “Well, God knows what he’s doing with that person. It is right for that person to have that thing or that position right now. And it is right for me not to have it.” Now, there are certain things, even positions that we can desire in a righteous way. You know, the scriptures say, “If any man desires to be an elder, he desires a good thing.” Not wrong to have that desire. if a man is qualified and if he h desires that for the right reasons.
But we need to remember God’s sovereignty. He aortions, he exalts as he chooses in his own wisdom and pleasure. And what God chooses to do is good.
And as we said, God is to be worshiped in the way that he actually prescribes.
We could point to other things, but already now hopefully you’re thinking a little bit about application. As I mentioned at the beginning, we have to confront our own hearts. Are our hearts proud against God? Are we looking to exalt ourselves even to believe what is false if it will indulge some prideful fantasy we have?
Or are we instead humble before the Lord?
Do we have that view that the sons of Corora did not have, which is, Lord, I do not deserve any of the good. I’m so glad that you even gave me any of the privileges and gifts that you have. Or are we like them and saying, you know what, I want more. You know, this is good, but I want more. I won’t be satisfied till I have more. Oh, let’s not go to that place.
Well, we’ve seen Aresh how this first generation of Israel, they are manifesting their character. They are a sinful, unbelieving, prideful people.
And so, in a sense, we’re not that surprised by what they do here. I mean, they’ve been doing this all along before Sinai, after Sinai, after they even had a chance to go into the land.
They are an unbelieving people.
That’s part of why God says you’re all going to perish in the wilderness over these 40 years.
But we’re not the only ones who can be susceptible to sinful pride. The next passage we’re going to look at, we’re going to see how even God’s righteous, God’s faithful can slip into pride and experience painful consequences of it.
So, please take your Bibles and turn to Numbers chapter 20.
Numbers chapter 20. This also will give us some comments on the second generation because starting in Numbers 20, we’re actually with the second generation as it prepares to go into the promised land. Wilderness wanderings are coming to an end.
The last people who are to die off are dying off and then Israel’s indeed going to go into Canaan. So this be around 1406 BC, 1407, 1406.
Let’s hear what we find in Numbers 20:es 1-13.
Numbers 21-13. It says, “Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and people stayed at Cadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.
There was no water for the congregation.” And they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron.
People thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before Yahweh. Why then have you brought the Yahweh’s assembly into this wilderness for us to for us and our beast to die here? Why have you made us come up from Egypt to bring us into this wretched place? Is it not a place or it is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink? Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent and meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of Yahweh appeared to them, and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the rod, and you and your brother Aaron, assemble the congregation, and speak to the rock before their eyes that it may yield its water. shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock, and let the congregation and their beasts drink.
So Moses took the rod from before Yahweh, just as he had commanded him.
And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock, and he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels. Shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. And water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.
But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed me to treat me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” Those were the waters of Meabbah because the sons of Israel contended with Yahweh and he proved himself holy among them.
Oh, very sad. Let’s observe here.
Israel has returned to Kadesh, which is actually the same site southwest of Canaan, from which they had sent out the 12 spies to first spy out the land. So, they’re back at this site getting ready to go into Canaan. And this passage may feel a lot like déja vu, not just because we’re back at Kadesh, but notice the second generation of Israel is facing a situation that the first generation faced. They’ve got no water.
We’re there in the wilderness with no water. And one would hope that the second generation would respond a little bit differently than the first.
They responded with unbelief the first time. What about the second time? Well, no. Second generation does the same.
What do we see in verse two and following? They complain and they contend against Moses and Aaron. And notice how obnoxious their complaint is.
They say, “It would be better for us to have died with our brothers in the wilderness.” Either referring to Kora’s rebellion, which is a crazy thought, or to just the wilderness wandering itself.
Be better if we just died over there.
Why’d you bring us here to die? This is a very annoying complaint.
Per usual though, Moses and Aaron humbly fall on their faces before Yahweh over this. And notice God’s response. Verse eight, he does not say, “Get away from the congregation. I’m going to destroy them.” Not here. In fact, no judgment is threatened. God says, “Instead, Moses, take the rod, go to the certain rock, and speak to it, and water will come out for them and for all their animals.” Now, the last time that Moses brought water from a rock, he didn’t speak to it. Remember what he did back in Exodus 17? He struck the rock.
But this time, God says, “Speak to the rock.” But should be no problem, right?
Moses and Aaron, men of God, they know how to do this. Verse 10, they gathered the people before the rock. Notice what Moses says. He says, “Listen now, you rebel. Shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” What’s odd about that statement?
Yeah, I mean that’s the sad irony, right? He’s basically calling them rebels when he himself is rebelling. And what is the emphasis in this statement?
We’re going to do it. We’re going to give you deliverance. So, who’s the who’s the glory supposed to belong to according to this statement?
To Moses and Aaron. We’re going to bring forth water from the rock for you. And not only that, but then Moses strikes the rock twice. God didn’t say strike it. Moses did.
By the way, what’s Aaron doing? What’s Aaron doing in these verses? Verses 10 to 11.
He’s there not doing anything as far as we know, just standing by. Nothing’s reported in the text. And look at the result. Verse 11. Water does come forth abundantly from the rock. Wow. You didn’t do what God God said and you still got the result. That’s wonderful.
Notice verse 12. God tells Moses and Aaron, “Neither of you are now going to take the people of Israel into the land. Why?
Because you did not believe me and because you did not treat me as holy in the sight of Israel.” The place was then named Meabba, which is the same name given to that other place of water testing, Masa and Meabbah, that was on a different part of the wilderness. But a similar name is given here because Meabba means contention. People contended against Moses and God there. And Yahweh, it says, proved himself holy.
Let’s talk about interpretation once again.
After 40 years of miraculous provision in the wilderness, why did the people contend against Moses over lack of water? Shouldn’t they have known by now?
Well, it’s the same thing we saw earlier. This is pride and unbelief in the heart.
They’re not willing to endure by faith.
They say, “I want what I want and I want it now. I’m uncomfortable because of this shortage of water. Therefore, I’m I’m going to complain.” There’s no gratefulness for their past provision from God. No gratefulness for their privileged position as the generation that actually will go into the promised land. All of that is forgotten. They say, “I want more. God hasn’t provided enough.” And yet, how does Moses himself degenerate into ungrateful pride?
See, in the passage, he exalts himself instead of God.
But we ask, Moses, you were doing so well. You’ve been a great leader for all this time. You’re such a humble man. How is it that you slipped into pride here?
We could say a number of things in explanation. Certainly he was provoked by the people. That’ll come up again in Deuteronomy.
But even in that provocation, he was responsible for his choice.
Certainly Moses knew better. He knew better than most of Israel that he is not to rob glory from God.
But he was still a man. He was still subject to sinful temptation. And in this moment he yielded to that temptation to feel the pleasure of indulging in pride rather the pleasure of honoring God. There’s no person who is immune from temptation and Moses yielded to it here.
But why does God punish Aaron too? Says both of you didn’t believe me. Both of you didn’t give me the glory. How how could that be true?
That’s right. That seems to be the answer. Roy, we don’t have the full report of what Aaron did. Maybe he was more obviously supportive of what Moses chose to do, but even if he did nothing, that was complicity in itself. This is a terrible thing that Moses was doing before the people. Aaron should have confronted him over it, but he didn’t.
So, for whatever reason, God said, “Aaron, you’re responsible, too. Both of you will no longer go into the land.” Now, we may say, “But isn’t this a little harsh? I mean, these men, they’ve been faithful. They’ve been interceding.
They’ve been looking to be uh keep God’s glory intact before the people of Israel. God, are you really going to punish them this way for such a minor slip up?” But in asking that question, we if we are indeed asking that question, we are betraying a little bit of misunderstanding. This is not a harsh judgment from God.
Again, as we said, Moses and Aaron, they ought to know, they ought to have known better after all that they had seen, after all that they had experienced, after all that God had done for them and through them. They ought to have known better. And we also, we underestimate the offense of their sin before God.
They were robbing God of glory. and in a particularly important way because remember this is the second generation.
They’re doing an evil thing by complaining against God. But notice God doesn’t judge this second generation immediately. I think part of the reason is that God says, “All right, new generation. I’m giving you a little bit more grace. This is new for you, but here’s an instance where I’m going to put my glory on display so that you’ll all learn. This is a particularly important teaching moment for the people of Israel via the second generation.” Moses and Aaron, this is what I need you to do so that they’ll be able to get this lesson. They’ll behold my holiness and my power. What do Moses and Aaron do? They take that important moment and they use it for themselves. Rather than having the people believe in Yahweh, have the people believe and trust in mere men, Aaron, Moses.
They took the glory that belonged to God. That was going to be such an important lesson for the people at that time and they took it for themselves.
And God is a jealous God. His glory he will not give to another. And Moses and Aaron though they were privileged by God experienced his blessings. They are mere men. They are like us dust. We don’t deserve to exalt ourselves.
We have sin in us. So they didn’t deserve the glory.
And as leaders they were more more accountable. You know James says James chapter 3, let not many of you become teachers because we will have a stricter judgment. And throughout the Old Testament, we do see that God holds leaders especially accountable for what they do. So for all these reasons, we can see that God was not being harsh with them. In fact, it really was God’s mercy. They should have been consumed.
Moses, how dare you? How dare you take my glory? Aaron, how dare you? Consider the patience I’ve shown you up to this point. Aaron, you made a golden calf.
How dare you do this? But God says, I won’t destroy you. But you won’t go into the land. You’ve done a terrible thing in robbing and attempting to rob my glory. In fact, that lesson that I was going to give the people of Israel, you’ve now marred. So now I’m going to have to give the lesson in a different way.
You wouldn’t display my holiness and my glory. So now when Israel understands the judgment that I’m putting on you, they’ll get the lesson. they’ll understand. Oh, the reason Moses and Aaron aren’t taking us in is because they tried to rob the glory of God. I have to get my lesson in a different way. Now, Israel needed to learn. So, it had to come one way or another.
So, what do we see revealed and emphasized in this section of of text?
It’s very similar to what we saw before.
God is holy. God is the judge. His standards and his commands cannot be fudged. You can’t say, “Well, we struck it last time.” We could just do that again. No, you have to listen to the words of Yahweh. What does God say in Isaiah? To this one, I will look to him who is humble and contrite in heart and who trembles at my word. Every word of God is precious and serious. You are to tremble before it.
Can’t treat it lightly. See that God will punish sin. God is jealous for his own glory.
and that we must be serious in our relationship with him. They say, “But wait, I thought God is merciful and compassionate.” He is, and he’s actually been demonstrating that even in these accounts of judgment. But we can’t miss the other side because what do we do in our flesh? We’re so prone to take the mercy and compassion of God and use it as an excuse for sin. We say, “God’s a loving God. Doesn’t really matter if I go into this sin. He’ll forgive me.” Israel was thinking something like that.
What did God say? I’ve got to show you that I am a holy God as well. We need to learn that lesson too.
God is not to be trifled with. Nor will he give his glory to another.
So you can see from these multiple instances of sinful pride, it brought about the holy opposition of the one true God who is a jealous God.
Now, there’s one more account that shows the same thing. I I wanted to get to that today. Numbers 21. We have the account of the fiery serpents, but we don’t have time for that. So, I hope that you’ll look that look at that on your own. Numbers 21.
But how can we apply what we’re seeing today?
I’ll give you some different suggested ways. Number one, you’ve got to see. You need to humble yourself before God.
Realize just how much good you’ve received from God that you do not deserve.
how much that you have not received from God that you do deserve for your sin and let that teach you to be humble before God. Appreciate all his small graes.
Appreciate how undeserving you are of his mercy.
People in these accounts lost sight of that and that’s why they went into sin and suffered the consequences.
Number two, give God continual thanks. I know some of you are going through difficult situations, things that are hard spiritually or physically or both.
But the good hand of God is on you even in that. So don’t turn to complaint.
Don’t turn to bitterness of heart. And if circumstances that you’re experiencing are partly due to your own sin, your own foolish choices, don’t blame God. Don’t blame others. Instead, thank God for how he’s still been gracious to you despite what you’ve done.
Thank God for the privileged position you have no matter what if you are in Christ.
Number three, beware exalting yourself.
Kora and his rebels, they once wanted a position of authority, prestige, power, influence that did not belong to them.
And there’s a similar temptation today, especially when it comes to leadership in the home and leadership in the church.
We’re going to see from second Peter as pastor takes us through it. God warns that there will be people from among believers in the church who will try to raise themselves up as leaders, teachers who are in fact immoral, doctrally unqualified. They’re teaching what is false and living an evil life.
God says, “You do not have any right to leadership.” And we know it’s more popular in our day for people to ignore the prescriptions of God’s word and have women leadership in the church.
female pastors, female elders, or it’s more popular to have an egalitarian view of the home. Oh, the husband and wife will be co-leaders, or they’ll take turns as leaders. And people basically advancing the same argument as Kora.
Hey, we’re all holy. We’ve all got the same privileges in Christ. Why do you men exalt yourselves?
But the response is actually the same.
That is, men have not exalted themselves.
and shouldn’t be exalting themselves because that role has been given to men by God as leaders in the church and leaders in the home. Nothing to do with men being superior or worth more to God.
All has to do with just the roles that God has given.
If we inappropriately desire a position of leadership or authority when we are not qualified or when it goes against God’s word, we need to repent. We need to stop and we need to repent because otherwise we are proceeding down the same path as Kora. And for the leaders that we have, we need to treat them with a dignity and respect that honors God.
Those who are in authority, God says they have their positions from God.
And so for God’s sake, we are to honor those authorities.
We need to beware exalting ourselves.
And then finally, we need to remember God’s holiness.
Israel always tried to push the envelope with God and they suffered for it. We need to learn from their negative example. Let us not test the Lord. Let’s not take God for granted. Let’s not excuse our sin or rationalize it. Yes, we run to Christ for grace for our sin.
There is an advocate and a mediator for our sin. We don’t work our way to God.
It is only by the blood of Christ we made acceptable to the Lord. And yet, he has called us to holiness. Not to be saved, but because we’re saved.
God says, “Be holy, for I am holy.” That’s still true for us. We are to rever God in our heart and show that reverence in how we walk before him.
But are we walking that way?
If you have questions about what you’ve heard today, please email me. That’s all the time we have. Next week, Israel is going to get closer into going into the land, but they’re going to do it a different way than they would have the first time. They’re going to go around.
We’re going to go to the east side of the Jordan and they’re going to counter a little opposition along the way. We’re going to see how Moses leads the people in battle against two kings and even see how God takes somebody’s attempt to curse Israel and God uses it as a avenue for blessing on Israel and even a prophecy of a coming delivering seed.
We’ll talk about all of that next time.
Let’s close in prayer.
Heavenly Father, it is a sober word.
God, we need to take seriously your holiness. We are so thankful that you are a loving God and that is our only hope, your mercy. You are full of loving kindness and mercy. But God, you are holy, and we are not to trifle with you.
Lord, help us to have the right kind of reverence before you, to have a holy fear of you that is consistent with a love of you. And God, help us protect us from pride, from the deceitful self-destruction of pride.
Walk humbly before you God because that is the place of blessing in Jesus name.