There was a lot of judgment in today's reading. First people are swallowed into the earth when it splits open. Then they are burned as the LORD's fire consumes them. Then, Aaron and Moses are forbidden to enter the Promised Land.
Some people get envious and suspicious of Moses because he is essentially the highest authority (short of God) in the entire nation of Israel. These people were not just village idiots. It there were these main guys (Korah, Dathan, Abriam, and On). With them were 250 of Israel's elite and well-known men. They are suspicious of the priesthood who have exclusive access to God in His purest sense. They argued that all of Israel is holy, set apart to God, and therefore everyone should be involved with and have access to God (Num. 16:3). I could sense, though, that they did not really mean everyone. They probably wanted access to God themselves, and everyone else could fend for themselves. They are ready to storm the Tabernacle, but Moses makes a wager, saying that they should bring bronze torches with incense in them, and to stand before the Tabernacle opposite Moses and Aaron and Aaron's sons. Then, they would let God decide the outcome. If God was a God of (their flawed) reason, He would side with them. Right?
Moses is scared, because he could very well be killed by either God or these angry, envious men. In 16:22, he begs God not to judge the whole nation because of these few sinful men, but God reassures him.
Well, the "elites" show up with their incense, and Moses says that whoever God chooses will live. As soon as he says that, the earth splits open and all of the households of Korah, Daman, Abriam, and On fall into the pit, torches and all, and the earth closes over them. It reminded me of how the waters swallowed up the Egyptians in the Exodus. I wonder if that parallel was intentional. Anyway, these insurrection leaders are swallowed up. I am sure that their 250 elite friends were a little afraid at this point. They sure feared the LORD in that moment, I'm sure. They were afraid they were going to fall into the pit too (16:34), but God has something more dramatic in store. He sends fire that consumes them all.
Remember those bronze torches they had? Well, they did not burn up in the fire, obviously. So, God commands the priests to collect the bronze torches, hammer them out, and make a bronze covering for the altar. This was to "remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the LORD..." (Num. 16:36-40). How's that for an object lesson? Take the symbol of their pride from around the ashes of their burned bodies, and then use it in humble worship of the God they were trying to gain self-interested access to.
I got a real sense, in reading this, that God craves righteousness. He does not want our good intentions and half-hearted attempts. He wants us completely.
.I think the camp was bickering about who should lead the Israelites, to make it perfectly clear, after the upheaval of the past few days, who was to lead the Israelites. God tells them to take the walking stick from the leader of every tribe, 12 in total, and place them with their respective names in front of the Testimony to be left overnight. Whichever one sprouted would indicate which person was to lead Israel in worship. The next day, they saw that Aaron's staff had sprouted. They took this and placed it with the tablets and the manna in the Ark. I assume that was the same staff that turned into a snake. Cool staff.
There was a cool passage in this chapter 19 about the water of cleansing, which was a mix of the ashes of a burnt offering and water. The mixture was used in the purification of sin. The water was poured over the sinner on the third and seventh days, and then they were cleansed from their sin. What a powerful symbol. You were washed clean by the death of a sacrifice. Its ground bones flowed over your skin, covering you from the wrath of God, and washing you clean from your impurity.
Chapter 20 contains another passage about water from a rock. This is a direct parallel to Exodus 17. The people complain about not having water to drink, so Moses goes to God. God tells him to speak to the rock, and it would pour out water. Moses walked in front of the people, and got upset, probably because of the all the recent events. He called them "rebels" (Num. 20:10). He struck the rock with his staff, just like he did in Exodus 17, and the water gushed out. But he had disobeyed God's commands, and he had acted out of anger. As a result, God tells Moses that he nor Aaron would enter the Promised Land (Num. 20:12). God craves holiness, righteousness, and attention to detail.
The last passage of this chapter contains the story of Aaron's death. He was to walk to the top of Mount Hor, remove his priestly garments, pass them onto his son, and them die. He did as the LORD commanded. He died in a final act of obedience. I just got a real chill of reverence as I read that passage. It seemed so surreal and holy.
1730 pages to go!
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