Numbers 15–17

If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Numbers, chapter 15.

Numbers, chapter 15. The last time that we were with the children of Israel, things weren't going real well for them. They had come right to the edge of the problem. They came to the edge of the promised land, and when they came to the edge of the promised land, they sent in the spies. As they send those spies in, they send 12 of them. 10 of them we don't care about because they were terrible spies.

Two of them we do care about because their names are Joshua and Caleb. But of those 12 spies, the 10 that we don't care about came back with this report, and they said, oh my gosh, there's giants in the land. The land swallows up its inhabitants. The cities are fortified. Sure, it's a land of milk and honey, but we can't do anything about it because we'll never be able to take over these armies that are there.

And of course, Joshua and Caleb stand up and say, listen, if God is pleased with us, he'll give us the land. He'll do exactly what he's promised to do. Now let's go in there and let's take what God has given to us. And of course, you know the story that everybody listened to the 10 spies because it's a lot easier to believe the negative than it is to believe the positive because that's how we all tend to be bent in our lives.

Right? That's why we have a tendency to watch the news is because we like to find out the negative and not always the positive. And so, of course, they take stones to stone Joshua and Caleb. And God says, that's it. And of course, those 10 spies die in a plague. And God says, here's the thing. I'm going to give you exactly what you wanted because they said it'd be better for us just to die in the wilderness.

And God said, fine, that's what will happen then. You guys will die in the wilderness over the next 40 years. You'll wander through the wilderness. You'll wander through the wilderness and everybody over the age of 20 will die. And everybody under the age of 20 years and under will be able to enter the land. The only two over the age of 20 that are going to escape and make it into the land

are Joshua and Caleb because they have a different kind of heart. The kind of heart that wants to obey. And so when last we left the children of Israel, it was a very sad and somber scene. Sad for the people because they knew, first of all, that they weren't going to be able to go into the land. The land that God had promised. Second of all, they had been given really kind of a dangerous fate.

While God had forgiven them as a nation, the individuals who had given into this unbelief would not make it into the land. But also a sad day for Moses because Moses had endured so much with the children of Israel up to this point in time. And now to see the promised land right where he was at the edge of it and he couldn't go in. And so very dejectedly, the children of Israel set out towards the wilderness.

And that's what makes chapter 15 such an interesting and encouraging chapter. Because chapter 15 starts off like this. Now the Lord spoke to Moses saying, Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you enter the land where you are to live, which I am giving you, then make an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or as a freewill offering, or in your appointed times to make a soothing offering, an arroment to the Lord from the herd or from the flock. And then he goes on to give them instructions.

Did anything stick out to you in those first couple of verses? Perhaps the same word that stuck out to me when I read. Because it says in verse 2, When you enter the land. You see, I've entitled chapter 15, Various Laws or Hope for a New Beginning. Because God just gave the most amazing statement of hope to the children of Israel. Because while they were destined to roam in the wilderness for the next 40 years,

he was reminding them that while there are some that will have to die because of their unbelief, as a nation, God is still going to bring them into the land. And he doesn't say, If you enter the land. He says, When you enter the land. He says, You know, the amazing thing about God is that sometimes in life we take what I like to call God's plan B. Right? I've done this before in my own life where plan A was laid out before me,

but it was a step of faith. I shared this with you last week. It was a step of faith for me to take plan A. And so I'm like, No, plan A looks way too hard. I'll go with plan B. And plan B takes a lot longer. And you go through a lot more of the wilderness. And you have to learn a lot of lessons on God. And you have to learn a lot of lessons on God's plan B.

But God's plan B doesn't mean that he can't end up at some point in time getting you back on track. Because there is such amazing grace with God in our lives. Because God is so patient with us in our failures that when we fail, God says, You will have to pay the consequences for this failure in your life. Because while you can choose your sin, I'm going to choose your consequences and they'll always be for the best.

But in the midst of those consequences, it doesn't mean that I'm done with you. It just means that you've got to spend some time roaming through the wilderness, preparing yourself and allowing me to prepare you for this next big step of faith that I have for you. But I promise you, when you enter the land, maybe tonight you have felt like you have taken God's plan B in some aspect of your life. Maybe in some way in your life you feel like, Oh my gosh, I've seen the failures that I have.

And I think, is there ever a way for me to get back on track? Is there ever a way for me to get back where God wants me to be? And I just want to tell you that there is. That God is not done with you yet. That as long as you have breath in your lungs and a desire to follow your Savior, God will never be done with you. It may take a little bit of work. It may take some hard knocks and it may take a little bit of pain in your life.

But God so graciously and patiently works with us to get us where he wants us to be. He wants for us to be. And for the nation of Israel, that meant it would take 40 years. You know, it took somebody else 40 years to get exactly where God wanted them to be. Do you remember his name? His name we mentioned already. His name is Moses, right? It took Moses 40 years to get where God wanted him to be.

But God's so patient with us. And that's exactly the way he's going to be with the nation of Israel. And so he tells them, when you enter the land, and then he goes through over the next set of verses, really verses, three through verse 20. We're not going to read through all of those because really, these are all a lot of things that have already been told to us in the book of Leviticus.

So why does he repeat himself again? Well, because he is reassuring the next generation and teaching the next generation exactly what they're going to need to know for when they come into the land. Now he's beginning specifically to address this next generation so that they'll have a distinct understanding. And so he'll go through all of the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings and the grain offerings and all of those kinds of things.

And, and really he tells them that it's to be the same for both the stranger, the sojourner alike, everybody that comes into the land. These are the laws for them. Now, as we come down to verse 21, I want you to pay attention to something. It says, excuse me, verse 22. It says, but when you unwittingly fail and do not observe all these commandments, which the Lord has spoken to Moses,

even all that the Lord has commanded you through Moses, from the day when the Lord gave the command onward throughout your generations, then it shall be, if it is done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull for a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to the Lord with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance and one male goat for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation, for all the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven for it was an error. And they have been, and they have brought their offering and offering by fire to the Lord and their sin offering before the Lord for their error.

So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven with the alien who sojourns among them, for it happened to all the people through error. Also, if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a one year old female goat for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally. Making atonement for him that he may be forgiven.

You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is a native among the sons of Israel, and for the alien who sojourns among them. Again, what stuck out to me there is in verse 22 it said, when you sin unintentionally. It's almost like the same promise about going into the land was just made about the failures of our flesh. Now listen, I want to point something out to you, and I'll point it out much more harshly in the next couple of verses, that come up.

This is not an excuse to live in sin. And we'll talk about high handed sin in just a moment. But it's so good to know that when God is addressing the children of Israel, he addresses them in the reality of who they are. That there will be times when they sin unintentionally. That there will be times where they will stumble and fail to keep the commandment that God had given to them.

You see, God has a perfect plan for our lives. The perfect plan for our lives is obedience. And I believe the thing that we should continue to do, we should continue to live for in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit, is to be obedient to God in everything. As a matter of fact, I think the best thing that you can do, is every morning you wake up and you commit yourself to being a person who loves God, follows him, and obeys him with all of your heart.

And then continues to do so throughout your entire day, to the best of your ability, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to be as obedient to God as you can possibly be. But when you fail, because brothers and sisters, we are men and women of flesh, we sometimes don't even realize the failures that we have in our lives until God makes them very aware to us. When you fail, make the sacrifice for your failure, which for us is no longer a ram or a burnt offering. Now the sacrifice that we make for our failure is a broken spirit and a broken and a contrite heart, to come to God and confess our sin because he promises to forgive our sin, because he is faithful and just.

And then he deals with one last thing when it comes to sacrifices. Notice what he says. But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people, because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment. That person shall be completely cut off, his guilt will be on him.

It's sort of like after that little statement of grace, God then gives the, but if you sin defiantly, that word defiant is kind of fun, it means with a high hand. I don't exactly know what it means to have a high hand, but I do know what it means to be defiant. And that's, I don't care what you say, I'm going to do what I want to do. You can just go you know where, because I'm going to live my life, it's my life, right?

Bon Jovi sang a song about this, it's my life, it's now or never. You know, I'm going to do what I want to do, because it's my life. Right? That's defiant living. And God says, for the one who sins defiantly, there's nothing that can be done for them. There's no hope for them. There's no sacrifice that can be made for them. Now, I want to speak a word to two different hearts that are in here tonight that I feel

confident are in here tonight. The one heart that's in here tonight is the one that does have that tendency towards defiance. Maybe they're watching online, maybe they're not in the room, but that defiant heart says this. How much sin can I get away with and still belong to Jesus? How much sin can I get away with and still go to heaven? How much sin can I continue to live in and still be okay as far as God is concerned?

If that's the question that you have, then I question whether or not you actually know Jesus. And I think that's an absolutely correct biblical way to handle that. Because if you have been radically changed by the grace of God, grace is not a license to sin. Grace is an opportunity for obedience. Right? And so, if you're here tonight and you're thinking, I want to see how much I can get

away with and still belong to Jesus, that's defiantly sinning. That is sinning with a high hand. But if you are the type of heart that's here tonight that says, how much will Jesus forgive me because I'm well aware of how easily I stumble in my flesh, I'm well aware that I still have areas of my life that I'm struggling with and I want to know if Jesus can forgive me. Then I want to tell you that the grace of God reaches down to the uttermost and is greater than all of our sin.

See, that's not sinning high-handedly. That's struggling with the flesh. That's struggling with an area of sin in your life. That's sinning unintentionally as far as I can tell from what Scripture has to tell us. And there's always a sacrifice for sin. So he deals with these two aspects of it here. He addresses the children of Israel. He addresses the children of Israel.

And then if we have any question what high-handed sin looks like, he gives us an example of it from a story that actually took place in the wilderness. Notice what it says in verse 32. Now, while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation, and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him.

The Lord said to Moses, the man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones. I'll stone him with stones outside the camp. So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones just as the Lord commanded." Whoa. Things just got serious in the camp, did they not? But did you catch the defiant aspect of sin that took place there?

I lost count of how many times God told them that the Sabbath day was to be holy and they were to do no work on the Sabbath day. Now, listen, I get temptation. I can't imagine somebody being so tempted being like, oh, my God. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I really want to go gather wood on the Sabbath day. Oh, man, but I know I shouldn't. But, man, that sounds so good.

It sounds so good to collect firewood right now. I mean, I have an itching to collect firewood more than I've ever had in my entire life. No, of course not. He's like, I want to get ahead. I want to get ahead of everybody else, and I don't care what God has to say. This is what I'm going to do, and this is how I'm going to do it. And so he goes out and he does this.

And so, of course, Moses and Aaron, they catch him. They catch him in the act of this defiant sin, and they bring him to the cross. They bring him to the cross. They bring him to the cross. They bring him to the cross. They put him in custody. They're like, God, what do we do with him? God said, there's only one thing that can be done with him. You need to put him to death.

So the entire congregation was involved in the putting of this man to death. Why? Because it was sinning in a defiant sort of way. And so he's like, I want to get ahead. I want to get ahead of everybody else. And I don't care what God has to say. This is what I'm going to do, and this is how I'm going to do it. And so he goes out and he does this. And so, of course, Moses and Aaron, they catch him.

They catch him in the act of this defiant sin, and they bring him. They put him in custody. They're like, God, what do we do with him? God said, there's only one thing that can be done with him. You need to put him to death. So the entire congregation was involved in the putting of this man to death. Why? Because it was sinning in a defiant sort of way. And lest there be any question about that, I want you to notice the command that the

Lord gives. Verse 37, it says, the Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the sons of Israel and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations. that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, so that you may remember to do all my commandments and be holy to your God.

I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God. So what does he tell them is the best remedy for them to prevent themselves from this kind of sinning? He says, you need to tie tassels on the ends of your robe, on the corners of your robe, so that when you walk, you'll take note of that. And when you see those tassels, those cords of blue hanging off of your rope,

it will remind you of what God's word has to say. It will remind you of what the law has to say, so that it will constantly be on your mind. So what I propose that we do is that on the bottoms of all of our shoes, we put tassels. We put tassels that will stick off of the shoelaces. No, I don't think we should do that. Although, man, that would be awfully funny if we did, isn't it?

You know what I think we can equate this to as New Testament believers, because we don't wear long, sweet, flowing robes like they did back then? You know, I think one of the better things that you can do as a believer in Jesus Christ to keep yourself constantly in mind of what God's word has to say, put it up everywhere that you can. I heard somebody teach one time about the fact that they were overcoming an area of struggle in their life. Theirs happened to be a life-dominating fear that they had, and so they did this.

They went through Scripture, and they looked for every verse that talked about fear. So what they would do is they would keep three-by-five cards with them in their pocket, so that as they were walking, whether they were in the store or whatever they were doing, and they would start to feel that well up inside of them, they would pull those three-by-five cards out, and they would read over those verses. While there weren't tassels on the end of their robes, it was a visible reminder of what God's word had to say, so that they would continue to put that, into their mind. I've shared with people before that when I was overcoming an aspect of anxiety, my mom had Scripture.

I was still living in my parents' basement at that point in time, and my mom had Scripture up all over the house, and those Scriptures were so vital to me, because I began memorizing all those Scriptures, especially the one that was next to the bathroom mirror, where I brushed my teeth every morning. And I began memorizing all those things, and I always knew that they were there. They were great reminders for me. Brothers and sisters, fill your house, fill your home, fill your car.

Everything was Scripture. I even told you, I took one and taped it on my steering wheel for a little while, but that was a terrible idea, because you know what would happen with the steering wheel? So I moved it and put it on my dash instead. It was a better idea. It ultimately became the better thing for me to do. But those are all reminders for us, reminders of what God's word has to say,

so that we don't become those who sin in a defiant sort of way, because God's word is continually working its way into our hearts. And so, as we move out of chapter 15, we see this beautiful hope, a hope for a new beginning for the children of Israel. But now we move into chapter 16, and of course, we have another rebellion.

Verse 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 action. They rose up together, or they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown. They assembled themselves 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 is in their midst.

So why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord? And when Moses heard this, he fell on his face, 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 bring near to himself even the one whom he will choose. He will bring near to himself. Man, Moses just dealt with one of these, didn't he?

Remember the last time Moses dealt with this? It was his brother and sister. It was Aaron and Miriam. They said, hey, it had to do with his wife that time. Well, now he gets to deal with it again. We're given the specific players again. So Moses went to the house of Moses and brought them in. But they had already been told that Korah was one of them, and Korah was one of the sons of Kohath, a Levite.

If you will, this is a cousin of Moses. Now, the Kohathites had quite a job that they had to do already. Remember the job of the Kohathites was to carry all of the sacred instruments that were inside of the tabernacle. They already had a pretty, if you will, holy and set-apart-under-God sort of a job, a big job to be done, that they carried. And yet Korah and Dathan and Abiram had a problem. Their problem was they did

not want to submit to the authority of Moses and Aaron. So what did they do? They do what everybody does that doesn't want to submit to authority. They gather themselves a group of people that are on their side. Did you take note of how many people? There were 250 people. And did you take note of how those men were described? They are men of renown. After all, if you're going to rebel

against leadership, you better have some big names on your side, right? And so that's what happens. You can imagine how it went, right? It started with a small conversation. I don't understand why Moses and Aaron make all of the rules. I don't understand why they think they're so much better than us. I don't understand why they have to have all of the prestige. Listen,

if Moses ever heard one of those conversations, you know what I think he would have said? Prestige? Really? I mean, anytime you want to deal with being accused of genocide, every other day, you go ahead. You go ahead and do what you need to do. At any rate, they didn't want to submit to Moses and Aaron. And so they start these little conversations, these little side conversations amongst themselves. And as they start the side

conversations, they start bringing more people in. And as they bring more people in, they say, you know, this is what we've kind of been talking about. We're not sharing this with everybody because I'm not sure everybody's ready to hear this just yet. But I think it's important for you guys to hear because I feel like you're on the side of the conversation. I feel like you're on the

page with us with this kind of thing. And these little side conversations are starting. And so finally, they decide today's the day that we make our move. Because after all, we're tired of what we've been dealing with. Let's make our move. And so they say, Moses, you've been ruling long enough. We're tired of you lording your authority over us. And we think it's time to decide who

should really be in charge. After all, aren't we all holy? Well, as we look at this, we think about kind of the issues that Korah and his friends were going through. Number one, as I mentioned before, they did not want to submit to authority. They did not want to submit to authority. And that's always an issue that we as human beings, all of us have, is sometimes we can really struggle

to submit to godly authority in our lives. After all, everybody wants authority. Nobody wants responsibility, right? And so that's kind of where these guys are. The second thing I take note of is that God has given them to do. They're not content with the position God has put them in, because God has put them in a very important position of ministry within the congregation of the children

of Israel. But they're not content with that. After all, if I can't be in charge, then I really don't want to do anything. Number three, they had a desire to be in charge. Everybody wants to be in charge. Nobody wants to be responsible. I use the same thing with power. Everybody wants the power. Nobody wants the power. Nobody wants the power. Nobody wants the power. Nobody wants the

responsibility. That's exactly what's going on with these guys. But you know what the real issue was? Ultimately, they did not want to submit to God. Let's continue on with the story. Notice what happens. So Moses says, do this. Take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company, and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow.

And the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi. Then Moses said to Korah, 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 and to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation and to minister to them? And that he has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? Are you seeking for the priesthood also?

Therefore, you and all your brothers, you and all your brothers, you and all your brothers, all your company are gathered together against the Lord. But as for Aaron, who is he that you should grumble against him? I think verse 11, which is the last point that I just made here, verse 11, I think is a very eye-opening point, a very eye-opening verse for us, one that we must be reminded of, and that's that any sort of rebellion against authority is ultimately rebellion against God. This is about the second or third time this has been pointed out within the book of Numbers, that when the people were grumbling, that they weren't actually grumbling towards Moses and Aaron.

Ultimately, their grumbling was against the Lord. And I think that that's an important lesson for all of us as human beings to pay attention to, because as I've mentioned before, we all have this tendency to be complainers, and we all have this tendency to be critical, and we all have this tendency to be critical, and we all have this tendency to be critical, and we all have this tendency towards rebellion. You know how I know we have a tendency towards rebellion? Because it's an eight within us because of the rebellion of Eve.

I was thinking about this yesterday. There's a scripture that says something along the lines of that they believed the lie. I think it's in the book of Revelation, where it talks about the fact that everyone believed the lie. And so I've thought to myself several times, what lie is being talked about there? I think the lie that all of us as human beings believe all goes back to the Garden

of Eden. Because remember, why did Eve really want to eat that fruit? Because she had the belief that she could be her own God. Ever since that point in time, we have all had this rebellion deep down in our hearts that ultimately wants to be our own God, our own authority. And because of that, when there is authority, whether it be human authority or godly authority in our lives,

we have a tendency to buck against it. Why? Because all of us ultimately, we struggle with that lie. I can be my own God. I can be my own authority. Meanwhile, God sits back and says, I'll either be your savior or I'll be your judge, but you can't be your own God. Well, that's what goes on with Korah in this rebellion. But I want you to notice two things about how Moses responds. Number one, Moses responds in humility. Did you see what he did?

Look back over here at verse 1. Verse 4, it says, Why is it important at this point in time that Moses fell on his face? Well, because Moses responds in humility. You see, he could have easily just looked at them and said, well, who are you to come against me? I'm God's authority. Of course you need to listen to me. I'm the one who he spoke to. I'm the one that brought you the Ten Commandments. I'm the one that brought you out

of Egypt. But you see, that'd be pride on Moses' part, wouldn't it? Because who did all those things? God did, and he knows that. So he fell on his face before the people. Now, I might be mildly reading into Scripture when I say this, so please forgive me if you feel like that's what I've done. But do you know, I feel like also when Moses fell on his face, there was a certain amount of heart searching that went on for him, too. Because

you know, one of the best things that we can do when confronted with criticism is not only to respond in humility, but to first of all, respond by examining ourselves. Is what they're saying true? Because if we don't first have a time of silence, we don't have a time of self-examination, then there can be no true defense. Because if I truly am wrong in my heart, then I need to be dealt with. But not only did Moses respond in humility, but Moses responded

by allowing God to fight his battle. Did you notice what he said? He said, let's let God decide this whole thing. You guys bring your censors, we'll bring ours, and God will decide who ultimately is going to be in the right. God will decide who ultimately should be in charge. God will decide ultimately who his blessing is upon. One of the greatest things we can do as human beings,

when confronted with some sort of criticism like that, is to say, okay, let's let God decide. Let's let God bring forth my righteousness like the noonday sun. Let's let God handle this. Let's let God handle this little issue that's come up. You know what I've learned? If I fight my own battles, they become really big battles. If God fights my battles, I don't ever have to worry

about it. When I was leading college ministry in Kansas City, I had somebody come in that kind of wanted to take over. That very strong, personality. It was very out there theology that this person was promoting.

I, as a non-confrontational person, and wanting to honor the Lord in everything that I did, especially as about a 23-year-old kid, was like, okay, Lord, I need you to show me what to do. He said, Ryan, all I want you to do is pray. Of course, he didn't say that audibly, but I definitely felt like that was what the Lord ministered to me. I started praying pointedly that God would defend me and remove that person. You know, that person ended up moving to Dallas, Texas from Kansas City.

I thought, yep, God's pretty good at removing the people when they need to be removed. God told me at that point in time, he said, Ryan, you let me fight your battles and they won't be battles. If you try to do it yourself, it'll always end bad. It's a philosophy I have tried to live my entire life by. I'm not always good at it, but it's a philosophy I've tried to live my life by.

And it's exampled right here in Scripture. Moses said, let's let God decide. And so as he's telling these guys, this is what I want you to do. Let God decide. He tells Korah, you guys show up tomorrow. We'll let God decide this. And then in verse 12, it says, Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram. Remember, they're his buddies on this whole thing. The sons of Eliab, but they said, we will not come up. Is it not enough that you have brought us up

out of a land flowing with milk and honey? Come again. To have us die in the wilderness? That you would lord it 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 the Lord, do not

regard their offerings. I've not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done any harm to them. And Moses said to Korah, you and all your company be present. Before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they, along with Aaron. Each of you take his firepan and put incense in it. And each of you bring his censer before the Lord, 250 firepans. Also you and Aaron

shall each bring his firepan. Oh man. I love that verse. And Moses was very angry. Oh, the audacity of Dathan and Abiram. When Moses is saying, hey, let's just solve this issue. Let's let God solve it. Of course, people that are challenging authority don't want God to solve the issue. They want to solve the issue. Why? Because they don't want to submit to authority. And if God

solves the issue, they might be wrong. Right? And so that's what they say. They're like, why would we do that? Listen, you took us out of a land flowing with milk and honey. What? Egypt was flowing with milk and honey? You were slaves there. You had nothing there. See, that's what happens when we're in rebellion against God is we write revisionist history. Right? He said, you took us out of a land flowing with milk and honey. You've not brought us into

a land flowing with milk and honey. Oh, at that point in time. So I have this thing that I do in my, every time I do it, my wife's like, Ryan, I rub my head when I get really angry. And so, because I don't know what else to do. And so I just go, that's why I don't have any hair on top of my head. I rub my head and Aaron's like, Ryan, you're, you're rubbing your head. I'm like, I know

because I literally do not know what to say. Right? It's that level of frustration. Can you imagine Moses at this point in time when they're like, you wouldn't take us into a land flowing with milk and honey. He had to have been like, I just need to not be here right now. I need to not be around you people right now. I was ready. We were all ready. You guys didn't want to go. And he said,

and you brought us out here just to Lord your authority over us. How many times was Moses like, no, God, they're your people. And God's like, no, Moses, they're your people. Listen, I'll flip you for him. Okay. I don't want these people anymore. And so he says, fine, listen, either be there or don't be there, but this is what you need to do. So the, uh, the stage has been set. This is what's supposed to happen.

Uh, so verse 18, they each took his own sensor and put fire on it, laid incense on it. And they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. Thus Cora assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation. And then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, separate yourselves from among the congregation. Then I may consume you. And then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron

and Aaron and he asked them to send them instantly. But they fell on their faces and said, Oh God, God of the spirits of all flesh. When one man sins, will you be angry with the entire congregation? And then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the congregation saying, get back from around the dwellings of Cora, Dathan and Abiram. And Moses arose and went to Dathan

and Abiram with the elders of Israel following him. And he spoke to the congregation saying, depart now from the tents of the wicked men and touch nothing. that belongs to them, or you will be swept away in all of their sin. So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of the tents along with their wives and their sons and their little ones. Moses said, by this you

shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds. This is not my doing. If these men die the death of all men, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing, and the ground opens its mouth, swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord. Okay, wait, stop there. Let's

talk about what's happened up to this point in time. So first of all, God's like, hey, listen, just get away from the congregation. I'll wipe them all out. And of course, Moses says, intercedes for the people like he always does. Isn't that, it's so amazing the heart that God has given us. It's so amazing the heart that God has given us. It's so amazing the heart that

God has given us. It's so amazing the heart that God has given us. It's so amazing the heart that God has worked into Moses by this point in time. Moses, the guy who at one point in time saw an Egyptian injuring a fellow brother, and rather than speak with love, he murdered him. And now God has done such a work in the heart of Moses and changed his heart that Moses actually intercedes for those

who are against him. He's working the heart of Jesus Christ into Moses before Jesus even walked the earth. And so he says, okay, fine, then you better get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, because business is about to go down. And I love the step of faith that Moses takes here. He says, Lord, if they die like every other person dies, then you have not sent me.

Do something new. If the earth opens up and swallows them into the earth and takes them down to Sheol, then everyone will know that you have sent me. Ever thought about praying a prayer like that? I mean, maybe you've thought about it, but you've never challenged it out loud like that. Or anything of that level of faith. And that's what Moses does. Can you imagine the entire

congregation going, what's going to happen now? And Moses is going, what's going to happen now? Actually, I think Moses is pretty confident by this point in time, right? Because if God doesn't swallow them up and they're like, you're not in charge, he's probably like, all right, deuce. You know, he's just ready to go. At any rate, we come now to verse 31. It says,

as he finished speaking all these words, What in the Marvel movie just happened here? Right? The earth opened up. I mean, did everybody read that story like I did? The earth opened up. He swallowed them, their families, their tents, and then the earth closed back up. That's the part that gets me the most, is that the earth closed back up. The entire congregation had to have gone,

what did we just see? This is an intense moment within the nation of Israel. But you know, it's also a sad moment within the nation of Israel. And may it be a word of warning to all of us with rebellious hearts. We are not the only ones that get swept away in our rebellion. When we rebel against authority, it affects our entire family. I have seen, I've heard stories of church splits that take place. And when they do,

those that lead the rebellion always end up falling into some form of sin. And that sin ultimately sweeps away their life. You know why? Because they were living in rebellion against God. And that's what happens with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Their lives are completely swept away in their rebellion. It says, verse 34, all Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, the earth may swallow us

up also. I mean, I had the same fear. Fire also came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, say to Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the prince of Israel, say to Eliezer, say to Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the prince of Israel, say to Eliezer, the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the blaze, for they are holy. And you shall scatter the burning coals abroad as for the censers of

these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives. Let them be made into hammered sheets for plating the altar, since they did represent, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy and they shall be a sign for the sons of Israel. So Eliezer, the priest took the bronze censers, which the men who were burned, 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 is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the Lord so that he will not become like Korah in his company, just as the Lord had spoken to him through Moses. So the other 250 men,

the ones that they had taken with them, they end up dying also. And then, of course, they take those censers and they put plating around the altar. Why? So that everyone, every time they look at that bronze plating on the altar, they remember, you will not rebel against the Lord because God's authority will always win. Unfortunately, Moses isn't done with the

people just yet. It says, 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 the Lord's people.

At some point in time, it has to just be like, really? Were you there? Did you? I didn't do that. They did that. They caused that. It wasn't me. God bless that man. I want to talk to Moses when I get to heaven and just be like, bro, let's hug it up for a minute. And then just tell me how that thing went. Although God will have wiped all that away, so it won't matter anymore.

And it 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 the Lord appeared. Again, another one of those moments where it feels like all the kids are fighting and then dad comes home, right? Like, they're all like, hey, look what you did to us. And Moses is like, really? And God's like, step back, right? Like, dad got home. Things are about to get serious.

And then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting and the Lord said to Moses saying, get away from the congregation that I may consume them instantly. And Moses said, sounds good. No. And then they fell on their faces. And Moses said, take your censer 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 out from the Lord and the plague has begun. So Aaron took it as Moses had spoken and ran into the midst of the assembly for behold, the plague had begun among the people. 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 Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting for the plague had been checked. So the glory of the Lord appears at the tabernacle. At that point in time, God says, move. I'm wiping them all out. And what do Moses and Aaron do again? They fall down on their faces before the people. Why? Why do they keep doing this?

Why? And I'm not talking about the people. I know why they keep doing it because they're sinners just like you and I are. Why do Moses and Aaron keep interceding for the people? Why do they find themselves in the same position where they're willing to intercede for the very people who are now accusing them of being the ones who put to death all of these men who had

opposed them? Why do they keep doing it? Why did Moses tell Aaron, you need to take your censer, you need to fill it with fire, and you need to take that smoke around and make atonement for all of the people with the coals from the altar? Why did they do that? Because God had given Moses a heart to love his enemies. God had given Moses a heart to love his people. God had given Moses the heart of a shepherd. How on earth did Moses have that kind

of a heart? How is Moses able to continue to be someone who loves his people? How is Moses able to love the people like this? You know how? Because Moses spent time with God. I don't think it can be underscored enough that Moses had spent time on the mountain with God, that Moses would speak to God face to face, that Moses had seen the very glory of God, that Moses had heard God's name, that Moses had a distinct understanding of the character and the

nature of God. That Moses received that heart because he had spent time with one who had that heart. Friends, we live in a world full of enemies. And I think it's important for us to point this out because we live in a world right now where everybody's pretty much opposed to what we believe. As believers in Jesus Christ, the world is becoming more and more polarized in the way

that they feel about the truth of Scripture. And we can approach that as believers in one of two ways. One, we can get really angry with the world. That's the one I like to lean towards, right? I can get really angry with the people of the world. I can get really angry with the people of the world. And think, okay, Lord, I can be like Habakkuk. When's it coming? When are you going to pour out

judgment? Because I'm super tired of the way that things are right now. And I can get really angry at the people of the world. And I can just try to prove them wrong and try to show them that the lifestyle that they're living is sinful. Or I can have the heart that Jesus had towards them. For sure, I want to point out the things that are wrong, but I can show them a great deal of love

and grace. And I can begin to pray for the salvation of their souls. And I can begin to show them the love of Jesus. See, those are my two responses. If I'm not spending any time with my Savior, if I'm never around someone with that kind of a heart, then I will end up having the wrong heart. But if I am spending time with my Savior, if I am spending time on the mountain alone with God, if I am

spending time seeking the glory of God and His grace and His love and His forgiveness, then I find that that flows from my heart more easily. You see, there's a principle in Scripture that says bad company corrupts good morals. But the reverse of that is true as well. Good company produces good things in our lives. It begins to rub off on us. Why were Moses and Aaron able to continue to make intercession for

the people? Because they'd spent time with God. And so unfortunately, a plague goes through the land, goes through the congregation. Fourteen thousand seven hundred were killed, plus the two thousand seven hundred were killed. And so unfortunately, a plague goes through the land, two hundred and fifty plus families that were killed. You're looking at somewhere around

fifteen thousand people in two days wiped out. Fifteen thousand of the unbelieving generation, fifteen thousand of those who had rebelled against God at Kadesh Barnea and refused to go into the land, wiped out in two days. It's going to be a long wilderness march. It's going to be a long wilderness journey. But remember, the promised land is coming. Let's quickly cover chapter seventeen. I've got a few minutes left here.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel and get from them a rod for each father's household, twelve rods from all their leaders, according to their father's households. You shall write each man's name on his rod. Write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi, for there is one rod for the head of each father's households. You shall then deposit them at the tent of meeting in front of the testimony where I meet with you.

It will come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will lessen from upon myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel who are grumbling against you. God essentially says, let's settle this once and for all so that the entire congregation knows exactly who I have chosen to be my leader and exactly who I have chosen to be my high priest. Let's deal with it one time so we won't deal with this same complaint again. Every man is to bring a rod, one leader from

the tribe is to bring their rod. Now at this point in time, especially for those journeying through the wilderness, the rod was really important for a bunch of shepherds. Remember we've talked about this in Psalm 23. The rod was specific to them and one that each individual man chose for himself that best fit his hand and his stature and everything else. Each man is to bring this

rod and he's to write his name on it. Now there will be one defining thing about the rod of whom God will choose to be the leader. That man's rod will blossom. In other words, it will produce flowers. It will produce some sort of fruit. Now, I don't know if you've ever tried to plant an old dead stick that has absolutely no life in it, but I have found that they don't usually work. Matter of

fact, I remember as a child planting a stick one time and saying, I'm planting a tree. And you know what never happened? That thing never grew. That thing was dead, right? And it's the same way with the rod. This will be a miraculous thing, but God says we're going to settle it once and for all. So verse six, Moses spoke to the sons of Israel and all their leaders and gave them a rod of peace.

For each leader, according to their father's households, 12 rods with the rod of Aaron among theirs. So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the tent of the testimony. And on the next day, Moses went into the tent of testimony and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced almonds or produced blossoms and bore ripe almonds. Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel.

And they looked, and each man took his rod. But the Lord said to Moses, put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels that you may put it into their grumblings against me so that they will not die. Thus Moses did just as the Lord commanded him. So he did. And then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses saying, behold, we perish. We are dying.

We are all dying. Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord must die. Are we to perish completely? And we'll deal with that next week. But isn't that an amazing thing that happens? They put them all in there. You can imagine, I wonder if Aaron and Moses were a little nervous that night. Surely this is going to work. I guess if it doesn't, not my problem anymore, right? At some point in time, that's

how you feel. But they go in there the next morning and not only had it blossomed, not only had it produced flowers, but it was also a sign of the Lord. And so they went there the next morning, flowers. It had produced ripe almonds. May I say there's an interesting spiritual parallel that's to be made, I think, from this. You see, that rod was dead. And yet out of that which is dead,

God brought new life. Because that's what God would do, even through Aaron, who still had that tendency towards death, who still was a fallen human being. He would produce fruit in him like no one had ever seen before. So God says, get that away so that the next time those rebels come to you and say, hey, who's in charge? You can be like, he is, right? So it'll always be dealt with. And of course, the children of Israel are

kind of going, man, we don't really know what's supposed to happen at this point in time. And so God will deal with that in the next set of chapters that we come to. But friends, while God does not want us to be rebellious against him, and we have to always check that in our lives, I'm always reminded that God has a plan. For us, we may have taken plan B, but it doesn't mean that God's done. Amen.

Father, we come before you, and I thank you for the time that we've had in your word tonight. Lord, I thank you for how, Lord, how patient you are with us. And Lord, I pray that as we each oftentimes see in ourselves that rebellious heart, that heart that does not want to submit to authority, Lord, I pray that we would put that to death. And that we would submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that in due time, we may be exalted. Father, do your work in us as you see fit, in Jesus' name.

Amen. Be blessed.