269 What About . . . Korah's Rebellion Part 1

This episode looks at the story in the Old Testament that is one of those "What About" situations where the event is described in a way that attributes to God the instant destruction of Korah and his family as the ground opens up and devours them for challenging the leadership of Moses and Aaron. How do we explain that story in the eyes of Jesus who revealed God as non - violent. He appears to be pretty violent in this story. So we begin to unpack the story in this episode.

Click the link below for the pdf document.

SHOW NOTES

Korah’s Rebellion

Moses and Korah were cousins

Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, Merari (Exodus 6:16)

Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel (vs 18)

Amram married his aunt Jochebed (vs 20).

Their two sons were Aaron and Moses.

Izhar sons were Korah, Nepheg and Zicri. (vs 21).

So, Moses and Korah were cousins!

This made it more difficult for Moses to deal with Korah’s rebellion.

Israelite Theology

In 1 Chronicles 10:4 king Saul commits suicide. In verse 16 he is killed by the LORD. This

paradox illustrates the theological understanding of Israel at the time of the writing of

Chronicles. Chronicles is one of the last books written in the Old Testament. The explanation was the since the all-powerful LORD had anointed Saul to be king through the prophet Samuel the only way Saul could be killed was if God changed his mind and thus caused his death. This sounds strange in our theology, but it is the implication of this paradox. This observation is germane to understanding many of the narratives in the Old Testament.

The Story of Korah’s rebellion.

Numbers 16

1 Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites, Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, became insolent 2 and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. 3 They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, ‘You have gone too far’ The whole community is holy,every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?

In the previous chapter a Sabbath breaker was stoned to death for his rebellion (Numbers 15:30- 36), so rebellion was rampant in the camp. Now, Korah, Dathan, On and Abiram, instigate a rebellion against Moses and they are joined by 250 community leaders (vs 1-3). On apparently repents because he is not mentioned again in the story.

4 When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. 5 Then he said to Korah and all his followers: In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. 6 You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers 7 and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the LORD. The man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!

8 Moses also said to Korah, ‘Now listen, you Levites’ 9 Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? 10 He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. 11 It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?

This rebellion is fomented by Levites, the priests of Israel.

12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, ‘We will not come! 13 Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us? 14 Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk andhoney or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come’”

15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.’ Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so

These two rebels are arrogant and judgmental.

16 Moses said to Korah, ‘You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow, you and they and Aaron. 17 Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it’250 censers in all, and present it before the LORD. You and Aaron are to present your censers also.’ 18 So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 19 When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the

LORD appeared to the entire assembly. 20 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 21 ‘Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.’

22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown, and cried out, ‘O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?’

23 Then the LORD said to Moses, 24 “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”

25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 He warned the assembly, ‘Move back from the tents of these wicked men’ Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” 27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.

28 Then Moses said, ‘This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: 29 If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me. 30 But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave,

then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.”

31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah’s men and all their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. 34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, ‘The earth is going to swallow us too.

’

It was well known at that time, that a Mesopotamian deity, Mot (the god of death), lived just under the surface of the ground. His mouth was right up against the surface, and occasionally, when he was hungry, he would open his mouth/ground and swallow up people. (Greg Boyd podcast)

If Satan wanted to entice people to remain trapped in paganism, what better means than reinforcing the superstitions believed by the surrounding pagan nations. (Floyd Philips email)

35 And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense. 41 But the very next morning the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!” 42 As the community gathered to protest against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of the Lord appeared. 47The plague had already begun to strike down the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified the people. 48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped. 49 But 14,700 people died in that plague, in addition to those who had died in the affair involving Korah. 50 Then because the plaguehad stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

As a result of the rebellion the earth swallows some, fire incinerates others and plague kills over 14,000. This variety of destructive agencies is also displayed in other narratives in the Old Testament. It feels more like the work of a rampant, violent agency than a merciful, compassionate LORD. However feelings can be fickle and the evidence

must be considered. Especially since reading this story in isolation can leave no other conclusion than theLORD destroyed these rebellious men and their families.

However here is evidence that it was NOT the LORD who destroyed them:

1. Jesus taught the kingdom of heaven is not about destroying the enemies of the LORD.

Matt. 5:44 “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”Jesus not only taught the above he lived it too. During his torture and execution, he blesses those involved in his passion. He could only do this because it was his habitual way of relating to people. The cross was not an exception to his living but revealed his everlasting ethic for living.

2. The apostle Paul blames the death of Korah and friends on ‘the destroyer.’

1 Corinthians 10:7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.’ 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.

What does this tenth verse imply? Here are some other translations:

KJV: Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

ESV: nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.

NASB: Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

John gives insight into the identity of the destroyer.

Revelation 9:11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.

Both Abaddon and Apollyon mean destroyer. The angel of the Abyss is the devil. This is

established by reading Revelation 20:1-3 and Luke 8:31. The Abyss is a state of containment for wicked angels where they are prevented from deceiving and destroying people ad lib. The king of these angels is the devil. He is unmistakably identified as the destroyer in Revelation since he is symbolized by the dragon and works through violent and deceptive beasts.

Strong’s Bible Dictionary identifies the destroyer as a venomous serpent.

1 Corinthians 10:10 (NLT) And do not grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. (“angel of death” or “destroyer” KJV or “venomous serpent” see Strong G3644).

Identifying “the destroying angel.”

We identify this being or angel. destroys. To do this we investigate other references to a being(s) who Exodus 12:23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.Most readers of the Exodus story believe that God killed all the first born of Egypt.

This verse claims that it was “the destroyer” who killed them. Furthermore, that “the Lord” kept “the destroyer” from entering the houses of the believers who painted their door posts with the blood of the “Passover” lamb. This picture of God is confirmed in Revelation 7:1-3.

This means that God was the one preserving the life of the first born. Surely, he was not

persuading “himself” from killing the first born! There is no personality disorder with God!

Clearly there was another agency, or angel that was doing the destruction and God prevented this destruction for the first born of believers. Christians have correctly repurposed the lamb’s blood to represent the life of God given in death at Calvary.

Revelation 9:11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in

Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.

These two names mean the same, viz. Destroyer. Most bibles give this explanation as a footnote. “Who is this being? This is the star or angel that had fallen from sky to earth (Revelation 9:1) which Jesus identified as Satan (Luke 10:18). This is the prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) who is the mortal enemy of life and the Life Giver. He is the master of death as the following passage indicates.

Hebrews 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he (Jesus) too shared in their

humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that

is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of

death.

From this passage we may legitimately infer that whenever death occurs, it is because the devil has been at work. God brings life, the devil brings death. It is that simple. Jesus was crystal clear on this subject.

John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s

desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no

truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of

lies.

A little later Jesus will reiterate this teaching with John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

Wherever there is light, life and love, there is the Lord.

Wherever there is deceit, death and destruction, there is the devil.

When the Israelites grumbled or rebelled or did not believe, they effectively drove away God’s protection and the devil moved in “to steal, kill and destroy.” The writers of the Old Testament were not aware of the reality of the supernatural evil being we call the devil and attributed allsupernatural events, good or bad, to God. after all the only eyewitness of God (John 1:18).

So, Peter warns:

We know better, because of Jesus’ witness. He is 1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a

roaring lion looking for someone to devour.