Sermon Tone Analysis

Numbers 16

Numbers 16 (NKJV)

Rebellion Against Moses and Aaron

1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men;

2 and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown.

3 They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them.

Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

Korah, Dathan, Abiram and 250 leaders of the congragation rose up against Moses and Aaron.

They were men of renown, They used their fame and popularity among the people to usurp the authority of their leaders Moses and Aaron.

They use the pretext of “people being holy, just like them and that God is among them”

A false sense of equality that blurs the distinction of power and authority.

It is very attractive and enticing, hence the whole congregation followed them.

4 So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face;

Moses response was to go to his knees and pray, not only ovewhelmed by the challenge ihe facing but also seeing the gravity of the sins of these people.

5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him.

That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him.

6 Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company;

7 put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one.

You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”

8 Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi:

9 Is it 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 work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to serve them;

10 and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you?

And are you seeking the priesthood also?

It was them that were taking too much upon themselves

coveting an office to which they were not appointed to

Using the congragation to try to satisfy their ambition

11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord.

And what is Aaron that you complain against him?”

They were not gathered againts Moses and Aaron, but they were gathered againts the Lord.

Because Moses and Aaron did not appoint themsleves to their respective offices but the Lord himself with his holy anointing.

Romans 13:1-2 “1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.

For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”

12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up!

13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should keep acting like a prince over us?

14 Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards.

Will you put out the eyes of these men?

We will not come up!”

15 Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, “Do not respect their offering.

I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”

16 And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company be present before the Lord—you and they, as well as Aaron.

17 Let each take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.”

18 So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron.

19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

20 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”

22 Then they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?”

They began to intercede for their enemies, for those who have risen up againts them.

How noble of hearts they possessed.

23 So the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’

”

25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.

26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.”

We must keep ourselves from people that will try to rebel againts authority (usurpe authority), no matter how popular they might me, lest we be consumed in their punishment.

27 So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little children.

28 And Moses said: “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will.

29 If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me.

30 But if the Lord creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.”

31 Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them,

32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods.

33 So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.

This are the only people in the Bible whom God sent directly to hell while they were still alive.

You can see the gravity of their sin.

Rebelling against authority which God has sent in the Church is a serious sin.

34 Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also!”

35 And a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.

36 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

37 “Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, to pick up the censers out of the blaze, for they are holy, and scatter the fire some distance away.

38 The censers of these men who sinned against their own souls, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar.

Because they presented them before the Lord, therefore they are holy; and they shall be a sign to the children of Israel.”

Their prayers was a sin againts their own souls Why?

Because it was a prayer of rebellion and they were praying against their anointed leaders

39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned up had presented, and they were hammered out as a covering on the altar,

40 to be a memorial to the children of Israel that no outsider, who is not a descendant of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his companions, just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.

Complaints of the People

41 On the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.”

42 Now it happened, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting; and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

They were blaming Moses and Aaron for what God has done.

It still did not get to them that it was God directing Moses to do this things, he was not doing out of his own will.

It was God who Placed Aaron and his desendents as Priests in the Tabernacle.

It was God who gave the specified role of each family of the sons of Levi.

43 Then Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting.

44 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

45 “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”

And they fell on their faces.

46 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the Lord.

The plague has begun.”

47 Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people.

So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people.

48 And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped.

49 Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the Korah incident.

50 So Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, for the plague had stopped.

Numbers 17

Numbers 17 (NKJV)

The Budding of Aaron’s Rod

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses—twelve rods.

Write each man’s name on his rod.

3 And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi.

For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house.