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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>N U M B E R S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XVI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The date of the history contained in this chapter is altogether
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uncertain. Probably these mutinies happened after their removal back
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again from Kadesh-barnea, when they were fixed (if I may so speak) for
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their wandering in the wilderness, and began to look upon that as their
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settlement. Presently after new laws given follows the story of a new
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rebellion, as if sin took occasion from the commandment to become more
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exceedingly sinful. Here is,
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I. A daring and dangerous rebellion raised against Moses and Aaron, by
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Korah, Dathan, and Abiram,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:1-15">ver. 1-15</A>.
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1. Korah and his accomplices contend for the priesthood against Aaron,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:3">ver. 3</A>.
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Moses reasons with them, and appeals to God for a decision of the
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controversy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:4-11">ver. 4-11</A>.
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2. Dathan and Abiram quarrel with Moses, and refuse to obey his
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summons, which greatly grieves him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:12-15">ver. 12-15</A>.
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II. A solemn appearance of the pretenders to the priesthood before God,
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according to order, and a public appearance of the glory of the Lord,
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which would have consumed the whole congregation if Moses and Aaron had
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not interceded,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:16-22">ver. 16-22</A>.
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III. The deciding of the controversy, and the crushing of the
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rebellion, by the cutting off of the rebels.
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1. Those in their tents were buried alive,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:23-34">ver. 23-34</A>.
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2. Those at the door of the tabernacle were consumed by fire
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:35">ver. 35</A>),
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and their censers preserved for a memorial,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:37-40">ver. 37-40</A>.
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IV. A new insurrection of the people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:41-43">ver. 41-43</A>.
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1. God stayed in the insurrection by a plague,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:45">ver. 45</A>.
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2. Aaron stayed the plague by offering incense,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:46-50">ver. 46-50</A>.
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The manner and method of recording this story plainly show the ferment
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to have been very great.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Nu16_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu16_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu16_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu16_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu16_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu16_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu16_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu16_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu16_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu16_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu16_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1490.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of
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Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son
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of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took <I>men:</I>
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2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children
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of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous
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in the congregation, men of renown:
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3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and
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against Aaron, and said unto them, <I>Ye take</I> too much upon you,
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seeing all the congregation <I>are</I> holy, every one of them, and
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves
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above the congregation of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>?
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4 And when Moses heard <I>it,</I> he fell upon his face:
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5 And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying,
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Even to morrow the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> will show who <I>are</I> his, and <I>who is</I>
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holy; and will cause <I>him</I> to come near unto him: even <I>him</I> whom
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he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.
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6 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;
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7 And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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to morrow: and it shall be <I>that</I> the man whom the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> doth
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choose, he <I>shall be</I> holy: <I>ye take</I> too much upon you, ye sons
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of Levi.
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8 And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:
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9 <I>Seemeth it but</I> a small thing unto you, that the God of
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Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to
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bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto
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them?
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10 And he hath brought thee near <I>to him,</I> and all thy brethren
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the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?
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11 For which cause <I>both</I> thou and all thy company <I>are</I>
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gathered together against the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: and what <I>is</I> Aaron, that ye
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murmur against him?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. An account of the rebels, who and what they were, not, as formerly,
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the mixed multitude and the dregs of the people, who are therefore
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never named, but men of distinction and quality, that made a figure.
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Korah was the ring-leader: he formed and headed the faction; therefore
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it is called <I>the gainsaying of Korah,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:11">Jude 11</A>.
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He was cousin-german to Moses, they were brothers' children, yet the
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nearness of the relation could not restrain him from being insolent and
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rude to Moses. Think it not strange if a man's foes be <I>those of his
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own house.</I> With him joined Dathan and Abiram, chief men of the
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tribe of Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob. Probably Korah was disgusted
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both at the preferment of Aaron to the priesthood and the constituting
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of Elizaphan to the head of the Kohathites
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+3:30"><I>ch.</I> iii. 30</A>);
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and perhaps the Reubenites were angry that the tribe of Judah had the
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first post of honour in the camp. <I>On</I> is mentioned
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>)
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as one of the heads of the faction, but never after in the whole story,
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either because, as some think, he repented and left them, or because he
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did not make himself so remarkable as Dathan and Abiram did. The
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Kohathites encamped on the same side of the tabernacle that the
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Reubenites did, which perhaps gave Korah an opportunity of drawing them
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in, whence the Jews say, <I>Woe to the wicked man, and woe to his
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neighbour,</I> who is in danger of being infected by him. And, these
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being themselves <I>men of renown,</I> they seduced into the conspiracy
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<I>two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>);
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probably they were first-born, or at least heads of families, who,
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before the elevation of Aaron, had themselves ministered in holy
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things. Note, The pride, ambition, and emulation, of great men, have
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always been the occasion of a great deal of mischief both in churches
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and states. God by his grace make great men humble, and so give peace
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in our time, O Lord! Famous men, and men of renown, as these are
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described to be, were the great sinners of the old world,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:4">Gen. vi. 4</A>.
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The fame and renown which they had did not content them; they were
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high, but would be higher, and thus the famous men became infamous.</P>
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<P>
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II. The rebels' remonstrance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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That which they quarrel with is the settlement of the priesthood upon
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Aaron and his family, which they think an honour too great for Moses to
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give and Aaron to accept, and so they are both charged with usurpation:
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<I>You take too much upon you;</I> or, "Let it suffice you to have
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domineered thus long, and now think of resigning your places to those
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who have as good a title to them and are as well able to manage them."
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1. They proudly boast of the holiness of the congregation, and the
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presence of God in it. "They are <I>holy, every one of them,</I> and as
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fit to be employed in offering sacrifice as Aaron is, and as masters of
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families formerly were, and <I>the Lord is among them,</I> to direct
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and own them." Small reason they had to boast of the people's purity,
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or of God's favour, as the people had been so frequently and so lately
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polluted with sin, and were now under the marks of God's displeasure,
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which should have made them thankful for priests to mediate between
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them and God; but, instead of that, they envy them.
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2. They unjustly charge Moses and Aaron with taking the honour they had
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to themselves, whereas it was evident, beyond contradiction, that they
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were called of God to it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+5:4">Heb. v. 4</A>.
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So that they would either have no priests at all, nor any government,
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none to preside either in civil or sacred things, none over the
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congregation, none above it, or they would not acquiesce in that
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constitution of the government which God had appointed. See here,
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(1.) What spirit levellers are of, and those that despise dominions,
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and resist the powers that God has set over them; they are proud,
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envious, ambitious, turbulent, wicked, and unreasonable men.
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(2.) What usage even the best and most useful men may expect, even from
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those they have been serviceable to. If those be represented as
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usurpers that have the best titles, and those as tyrants that govern
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best, let them recollect that Moses and Aaron were thus abused.</P>
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<P>
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III. Moses's conduct when their remonstrance was published against him.
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How did he take it?</P>
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<P>
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1. He <I>fell on his face</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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as before,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:5"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 5</A>.
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Thus he showed how willing he would have been to yield to them, and how
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gladly he would have resigned his government, if it would have
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consisted with his duty to God and his fidelity to the trust reposed in
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him. Thus also he applied to God, by prayer, for direction what to say
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and to do upon this sad occasion. He would not speak to them till he
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had thus humbled and composed his own spirit (which could not but begin
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to be heated), and had received instruction from God. The <I>heart of
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the wise</I> in such a case <I>studies to answer,</I> and asks counsel
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at God's mouth.</P>
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<P>
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2. He agrees to refer the case to God, and leave it to him to decide
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it, as one well assured of the goodness of his title, and yet well
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content to resign, if God thought fit, to gratify this discontented
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people with another nomination. An honest cause fears not a speedy
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trial; even to-morrow let it be brought on,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:5-7"><I>v.</I> 5-7</A>.
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Let Korah and his partisans bring their censers, and offer incense
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before the Lord, and, if he testify his acceptance of them, well and
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good; Moses is now as willing that all the Lord's people should be
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priests, if God so pleased, as before that they should all be prophets,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:29"><I>ch.</I> xi. 29</A>.
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But if God, upon an appeal to him, determine (as no doubt he would) for
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Aaron, they would find it highly dangerous to make the experiment: and
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therefore he puts it off till to-morrow, to try whether, when they had
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slept upon it, they would desist, and let fall their pretensions.</P>
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<P>
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3. He argues the case fairly with them, to still the mutiny with fair
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reasoning, if possible, before the appeal came to God's tribunal, for
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then he knew it would end in the confusion of the complainants.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) He calls them <I>the sons of Levi,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>,
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and again
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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They were of his own tribe, nay, they were of God's tribe; it was
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therefore the worse in them thus to mutiny both against God and against
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him. It was not long since the sons of Levi had bravely appeared on
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God's side, in the matter of the golden calf, and got immortal honour
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by it; and shall those that were then the only innocents now be the
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leading criminals, and lose all the honour they had won? Could there be
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such chaff on God's floor? Levites, and yet rebels?</P>
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<P>
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(2.) He retorts their charge upon themselves. They had unjustly charged
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Moses and Aaron with taking too much upon them, though they had done no
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more than what God put upon them; nay, says Moses, <I>You take too much
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upon you, you sons of Levi.</I> Note, Those that take upon them to
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control and contradict God's appointment take too much upon them. It is
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enough for us to submit; it is too much to prescribe.</P>
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<P>
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(3.) He shows them the privilege they had as Levites, which was
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sufficient for them, they needed not to aspire to the honour of the
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priesthood,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
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He reminds them how great the honour was to which they were preferred,
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as Levites.
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[1.] They were <I>separated from the congregation of Israel,</I>
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distinguished from them, dignified above them; instead of complaining
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that Aaron's family was advanced above theirs, they ought to have been
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thankful that their tribe was advanced above the rest of the tribes,
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though they had been in all respects upon the level with them. Note, It
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will help to keep us from envying those that are above us duly to
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consider how many there are below us. Instead of fretting that any are
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preferred before us in honour, power, estate, or interest, in gifts,
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graces, or usefulness, we have reason to bless God if we, who are less
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than the least, are not put among the very last. Many perhaps who
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deserve better are not preferred so well.
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[2.] They were separated to very great and valuable honours,
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<I>First,</I> To <I>draw near to God,</I> nearer than the common
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Israelites, though they also were a people near unto him; the nearer
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any are to God the greater is their honour. <I>Secondly, To do the
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service of the tabernacle.</I> It is honour enough to bear the vessels
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of the sanctuary, and to be employed in any part of the service of the
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tabernacle. God's service is not only perfect freedom, but high
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preferment. <I>Thirdly,</I> To <I>stand before the congregation to
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minister unto them.</I> Note, Those are truly great that serve the
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public, and it is the honour of God's ministers to be the church's
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ministers; nay, which adds to the dignity put upon them,
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[3.] It was the God of Israel himself that separated them. It was his
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act and deed to put them into their place, and therefore they ought not
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to have been discontented: and he it was likewise that put Aaron into
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his place, and therefore they ought not to have envied him.</P>
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<P>
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(4.) He convicts them of the sin of undervaluing those privileges:
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<I>Seemeth it a small thing unto you?</I> As if he had said, "It ill
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becomes you of all men to grudge Aaron the priesthood, when at the same
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|
time that he was advanced to that honour you were designed for another
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|
honour dependent upon it, and shine with rays borrowed from him." Note,
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[1.] The privilege of drawing near to the God of Israel is not a small
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|
thing in itself, and therefore must not appear small to us. To those
|
|
who neglect opportunities of drawing near to God, who are careless and
|
|
formal in it, to whom it is a task and not a pleasure, we may properly
|
|
put this question: "Seemeth it a small thing to you that God has made
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|
you a people near unto him?"
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[2.] Those who aspire after and usurp the honours forbidden them put a
|
|
great contempt upon the honours allowed them. We have each of us as
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|
good a share of reputation as God sees fit for us, and sees us fit for,
|
|
and much better than we deserve; and we ought to rest satisfied with
|
|
it, and not, as these, <I>exercise ourselves in things too high for us:
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|
Seek you the priesthood also?</I> They would not <I>own</I> that they
|
|
sought it, but Moses saw that they had this in their eye; the law had
|
|
provided very well for those that served at the altar, and therefore
|
|
they would put in for the office.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(5.) He interprets their mutiny to be a rebellion against God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>);
|
|
|
|
while they pretended to assert the holiness and liberty of the Israel
|
|
of God, they really took up arms against the God of Israel: <I>You are
|
|
gathered together against the Lord.</I> Note, Those that strive against
|
|
God's ordinances and providences, whatever they pretend, and whether
|
|
they are aware of it or no, do indeed strive with their Maker. Those
|
|
resist the prince who resist those that are commissioned by him: for,
|
|
alas! says Moses, <I>What is Aaron, that you murmur against him?</I> If
|
|
murmurers and complainers would consider that the instruments they
|
|
quarrel with are but instruments whom God employs, and that they are
|
|
but what he makes them, and neither more nor less, better nor worse,
|
|
they would not be so bold and free in their censures and reproaches as
|
|
they are. Those that found the priesthood, as it was settled, a
|
|
blessing, must give all the praise to God; but if any found it a burden
|
|
they must not therefore quarrel with Aaron, who is but what he is made,
|
|
and does but as he is bidden. Thus he interested God in the cause, and
|
|
so might be sure of speeding well in his appeal.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab:
|
|
which said, We will not come up:
|
|
13 <I>Is it</I> a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a
|
|
land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the
|
|
wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?
|
|
14 Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth
|
|
with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and
|
|
vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not
|
|
come up.
|
|
15 And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Respect
|
|
not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them,
|
|
neither have I hurt one of them.
|
|
16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company
|
|
before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:
|
|
17 And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and
|
|
bring ye before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> every man his censer, two hundred and
|
|
fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each <I>of you</I> his censer.
|
|
18 And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them,
|
|
and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle
|
|
of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.
|
|
19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto
|
|
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> appeared unto all the congregation.
|
|
20 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
|
|
21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may
|
|
consume them in a moment.
|
|
22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of
|
|
the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be
|
|
wroth with all the congregation?
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. The insolence of Dathan and Abiram, and their treasonable
|
|
remonstrance. Moses had heard what Korah had to say, and had answered
|
|
it; now he summons Dathan and Abiram to bring in their complaints
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>);
|
|
|
|
but they would not obey his summons, either because they could not for
|
|
shame say that to his face which they were resolved to say, and then it
|
|
is an instance of some remains of modesty in them; or, rather, because
|
|
they would not so far own his authority, and then it is an instance of
|
|
the highest degree of impudence. They spoke the language of Pharaoh
|
|
himself, who set Moses at defiance, but they forgot how dearly he paid
|
|
for it. Had not their heads been wretchedly heated, and their hearts
|
|
hardened, they might have considered that, if they regarded not these
|
|
messengers, Moses could soon in God's name send messengers of death for
|
|
them. But thus the God of this world <I>blinds the minds of those that
|
|
believe not.</I> But by the same messengers they send their articles of
|
|
impeachment against Moses; and the charge runs very high.
|
|
|
|
1. They charge him with having done them a great deal of wrong in
|
|
bringing them out of Egypt, invidiously calling that <I>a land flowing
|
|
with milk and honey,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Onions, and garlick, and fish, they had indeed plenty of in Egypt, but
|
|
it never pretended to milk and honey; only they would thus banter the
|
|
promise of Canaan. Ungrateful wretches, to represent that as an injury
|
|
to them which was really the greatest favour that ever was bestowed
|
|
upon any people!
|
|
|
|
2. They charge him with a design upon their lives, that he intended to
|
|
<I>kill them in the wilderness,</I> though they were so well provided
|
|
for. And, if they were sentenced to die in the wilderness, they must
|
|
thank themselves. Moses would have healed them, and they would not be
|
|
healed.
|
|
|
|
3. They charge him with a design upon their liberties, that he meant to
|
|
enslave them, by <I>making himself a prince over them.</I> A prince
|
|
over them! Was he not a tender father to them? nay, their devoted
|
|
servant for the Lord's sake? Had they not their properties secured,
|
|
their order preserved, and justice impartially administered? Did they
|
|
not live in ease and honour? And yet they complain as if Moses's yoke
|
|
were heavier than Pharaoh's. And did Moses make himself a prince? Far
|
|
from it. How gladly would he have declined the office at first! How
|
|
gladly would he have resigned it many a time since! And yet he is thus
|
|
put under the blackest characters of a tyrant and a usurper.
|
|
|
|
4. They charge him with cheating them, raising their expectations of a
|
|
good land, and then defeating them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou hast not brought us,</I> as thou promisedst us, <I>into a land
|
|
that floweth with milk and honey;</I> and pray whose fault was that? He
|
|
had brought them to the borders of it, and was just ready, under God,
|
|
to put them in possession of it; but they thrust it away from them, and
|
|
shut the door against themselves; so that it was purely their own fault
|
|
that they were not now in Canaan, and yet Moses must bear the blame.
|
|
Thus when the <I>foolishness of man perverteth his way his heart
|
|
fretteth against the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+19:3">Prov. xix. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
5. They charge him in the general with unfair dealing, that he put
|
|
<I>out the eyes of these men,</I> and then meant to lead them blindfold
|
|
as he pleased. The design of all he did for them was to open their
|
|
eyes, and yet they insinuate that he intended to put out their eyes,
|
|
that they might not see themselves imposed upon. Note, The wisest and
|
|
best cannot please every body, nor gain the good word of all. Those
|
|
often fall under the heaviest censures who have merited the highest
|
|
applause. Many a good work Moses had shown them from the Father, and
|
|
for which of these do they reproach him?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Moses's just resentment of their insolence,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Moses, though the meekest man, yet, finding God reproached in him,
|
|
<I>was very wroth;</I> he could not bear to see a people ruining
|
|
themselves for whose salvation he had done so much. In this
|
|
discomposure,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He appeals to God concerning his own integrity; whereas they basely
|
|
reflected upon him as ambitious, covetous, and oppressive, in making
|
|
himself a prince over them, God was his witness,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That he never got any thing by them: <I>I have not taken one ass
|
|
from them,</I> not only not by way of bribery and extortion, but not by
|
|
way of recompence or gratuity for all the good offices he had done
|
|
them; he never took the pay of a general, or the salary of a judge,
|
|
much less the tribute of a prince. He got more in his estate when he
|
|
kept Jethro's flock than when he came to be king in Jeshurun.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That they never lost any thing by him: <I>Neither have I hurt any
|
|
one of them,</I> no, not the least, no, not the worst, no, not those
|
|
that had been most peevish and provoking to him: he never abused his
|
|
power to the support of wrong. Note, Those that have never blemished
|
|
themselves need not fear being slurred by others: when men condemn us
|
|
we may be easy, if our own hearts condemn us not.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He begs of God to plead his cause, and clear him, by showing his
|
|
displeasure at the incense which Korah and his company were to offer,
|
|
with whom Dathan and Abiram were in confederacy. Lord, says he,
|
|
<I>Respect not thou their offering.</I> Herein he seems to refer to the
|
|
history of Cain, lately written by his own hand, of whom it is said
|
|
that to him and his offering God had not respect,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+4:5">Gen. iv. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
These that <I>followed the gainsaying of Korah walked in the way of
|
|
Cain</I> (these are put together,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:11">Jude 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore he prays that they might be frowned upon as Cain was, and
|
|
put to the same confusion.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Issue joined between Moses and his accusers.
|
|
|
|
1. Moses challenges them to appear with Aaron next morning, at the time
|
|
of offering up the morning incense, and refer the matter to God's
|
|
judgment,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Since he could not convince them by his calm and affectionate
|
|
reasoning, he is ready to enter into bonds to stand God's award, not
|
|
doubting but that God would appear, to decide the controversy. This
|
|
reference he had agreed to before
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
and here adds only one clause, which bespeaks his great condescension
|
|
to the plaintiffs, that Aaron, against whose advancement they excepted,
|
|
though now advanced by the divine institution to the honour of burning
|
|
incense within the tabernacle, yet, upon this trial, should put himself
|
|
into the place of a probationer, and stand upon the level with Korah,
|
|
at the door of the tabernacle; nay, and Moses himself would stand with
|
|
them, so that the complainant shall have all the fair dealing he can
|
|
desire; and thus <I>every mouth shall be stopped.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. Korah accepts the challenge, and makes his appearance with Moses and
|
|
Aaron <I>at the door of the tabernacle,</I> to make good his
|
|
pretensions,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:18,19"><I>v.</I> 18, 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
If he had not had a very great stock of impudence, he could not have
|
|
carried on the matter thus far. Had not he lately seen Nadab and Abihu,
|
|
the consecrated priests, struck dead for daring to offer incense with
|
|
unhallowed fire? and could he and his accomplices expect to fare any
|
|
better in offering incense with unhallowed hands? Yet, to confront
|
|
Moses and Aaron, in the height of his pride he thus bids defiance to
|
|
Heaven, and pretends to demand the divine acceptance without a divine
|
|
warrant; thus wretchedly is the heart hardened through the
|
|
deceitfulness of sin. They <I>took every man his censer.</I> Perhaps
|
|
these were some of the censers which these heads of families had made
|
|
use of at their family-altars, before this part of religious service
|
|
was confined to the priesthood and the altar in the tabernacle (and
|
|
they would bring them into use and reputation again); or they might be
|
|
common chafing-dishes, which were for their ordinary use. Now to attend
|
|
the solemn trial, and to be witness of the issue, one would have
|
|
thought Moses should have <I>gathered the congregation against the
|
|
rebels,</I> but it seems Korah gathered them against Moses
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
which intimates that a great part of the congregation sided with Korah,
|
|
were at his beck, and wished him success, and that Korah's hopes were
|
|
very high of carrying the point against Aaron; for, had he suspected
|
|
the event, he would not have coveted to make the trial thus public: but
|
|
little did he think that he was now calling the congregation together
|
|
to be the witnesses of his own confusion! Note, Proud and ambitious
|
|
men, while they are projecting their own advancement, often prove to
|
|
have been hurrying on their own shameful fall.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The judgment set, and the Judge taking the tribunal, and
|
|
threatening to give sentence against the whole congregation.
|
|
|
|
1. The <I>glory of the Lord appeared,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
The same glory that appeared to instal Aaron in his office at first
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+9:23">Lev. ix. 23</A>)
|
|
|
|
now appeared to confirm him in it, and to confound those that oppose
|
|
him, and set up themselves in competition with him. The
|
|
<I>Shechinah,</I> or divine Majesty, the glory of the eternal Word,
|
|
which ordinarily dwelt between the cherubim within the veil, now was
|
|
publicly seen over the door of the tabernacle, to the terror of the
|
|
whole congregation; for, though they saw no manner of similitude, yet
|
|
probably the appearances of the light and fire were such as plainly
|
|
showed God to be angry with them; as when he appeared,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:10"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nothing is more terrible to those who are conscious of guilt than the
|
|
appearances of divine glory; for such a glorious Being must needs be a
|
|
formidable enemy.
|
|
|
|
2. God threatened to <I>consume them all in a moment,</I> and, in
|
|
order to that, bade Moses and Aaron stand from among them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
God thus showed what their sin deserved, and how very provoking it was
|
|
to him. See what a dangerous thing it is to have fellowship with
|
|
sinners, and in the least to partake with them. Many of the
|
|
congregation, it is likely, came only for company, following the crowd,
|
|
or for curiosity, to see the issue, yet not coming, as they ought to
|
|
have done, to bear their testimony against the rebels, and openly to
|
|
declare for God and Moses, they had like to have been all consumed in a
|
|
moment. If we follow the herd into which the devil has entered, it is
|
|
at our peril.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. The humble intercession of Moses and Aaron for the congregation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. Their posture was importuning: they <I>fell on their faces,</I>
|
|
prostrating themselves before God, as supplicants in good earnest, that
|
|
they might prevail for sparing mercy. Though the people had
|
|
treacherously deserted them, and struck in with those that were in arms
|
|
against them, yet they approved themselves faithful to the trusts
|
|
reposed in them, as shepherds of Israel, who were to stand in the
|
|
breach when they saw the flock in danger. Note, If others fail in their
|
|
duty to us, this does not discharge us from our duty to them, nor take
|
|
off the obligations we lie under to seek their welfare.
|
|
|
|
2. Their prayer was a pleading prayer, and it proved a prevailing one.
|
|
Now God would have <I>destroyed them</I> if Moses had not <I>turned
|
|
away his wrath</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:23">Ps. cvi. 23</A>);
|
|
|
|
yet far be it from us to imagine that Moses was more considerate or
|
|
more compassionate than God in such a case as this: but God saw fit to
|
|
show his just displeasure against the sin of sinners by the sentence,
|
|
and at the same time to show his gracious condescension to the prayers
|
|
of the saints, by the revocation of the sentence at the intercession of
|
|
Moses. Observe in the prayer,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The title they give to God: <I>The God of the spirits of all
|
|
flesh.</I> See what man is; he is a spirit in flesh, a soul embodied, a
|
|
creature wonderfully compounded of heaven and earth. See what God is;
|
|
he is the God of the spirits of all mankind. <I>He forms the
|
|
spirit,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+12:1">Zech. xii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
He <I>fathers it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:9">Heb. xii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
He has an ability to fashion it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+33:15">Ps. xxxiii. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
and authority to dispose of it, for he has said, <I>All souls are
|
|
mine,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+18:4">Ezek. xviii. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
They insinuate hereby that though, as <I>the God of the spirits of all
|
|
flesh,</I> he might in sovereignty consume this congregation in a
|
|
moment, yet it was to be hoped that he would in mercy spare them, not
|
|
only because they were the work of his own hands, and he had a
|
|
propriety in them, but because, being the <I>God of spirits,</I> he
|
|
knew their frame, and could distinguish between the leaders and the
|
|
led, between those who sinned maliciously and those who were drawn in
|
|
by their wiles, and would make a difference accordingly in his
|
|
judgments.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The argument they insist on; it is much the same with that which
|
|
Abraham urged in his intercession for Sodom
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:23">Gen. xviii. 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Wilt thou destroy the righteous with the wicked?</I> Such is the
|
|
plea here: <I>Shall one man sin and wilt thou be wroth with all the
|
|
congregation?</I> Not but that it was the sin of them all to join in
|
|
this matter, but the great transgression was his that first hatched the
|
|
treason. Note, Whatever God may do in sovereignty and strict justice,
|
|
we have reason to hope that he will not destroy a congregation for the
|
|
sin of one, but that, <I>righteousness and peace</I> having <I>kissed
|
|
each other</I> in the undertaking of the Redeemer, <I>mercy shall
|
|
rejoice against judgment.</I> Moses knew that all the congregation must
|
|
perish in the wilderness by degrees, yet he is thus earnest in prayer
|
|
that they might not be consumed at once, and would reckon it a favour
|
|
to obtain a reprieve. <I>Lord, let it alone this year.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_34"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>23 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses, saying,
|
|
24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about
|
|
the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
|
|
25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the
|
|
elders of Israel followed him.
|
|
26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray
|
|
you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of
|
|
theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.
|
|
27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and
|
|
Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood
|
|
in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and
|
|
their little children.
|
|
28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath sent
|
|
me to do all these works; for <I>I have</I> not <I>done them</I> of mine
|
|
own mind.
|
|
29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be
|
|
visited after the visitation of all men; <I>then</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath not
|
|
sent me.
|
|
30 But if the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> make a new thing, and the earth open her
|
|
mouth, and swallow them up, with all that <I>appertain</I> unto them,
|
|
and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand
|
|
that these men have provoked the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all
|
|
these words, that the ground clave asunder that <I>was</I> under them:
|
|
32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and
|
|
their houses, and all the men that <I>appertained</I> unto Korah, and
|
|
all <I>their</I> goods.
|
|
33 They, and all that <I>appertained</I> to them, went down alive
|
|
into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished
|
|
from among the congregation.
|
|
34 And all Israel that <I>were</I> round about them fled at the cry
|
|
of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up <I>also.</I>
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the determining of the controversy with Dathan and Abiram,
|
|
who rebelled against Moses, as in the next paragraph the determining of
|
|
the controversy with Korah and his company, who would be rivals with
|
|
Aaron. It should seem that Dathan and Abiram had set up a spacious
|
|
tabernacle in the midst of the tents of their families, where they kept
|
|
court, met in council, and hung out their flag of defiance against
|
|
Moses; it is here called <I>the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and
|
|
Abiram,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:24,27"><I>v.</I> 24, 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
There, as in the place of rendezvous, Dathan and Abiram staid, when
|
|
Korah and his friends went up to the tabernacle of the Lord, waiting
|
|
the issue of their trial; but here we are told how they had their
|
|
business done, before that trial was over. For God will take what
|
|
method he pleases in his judgments.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Public warning is given to the congregation to withdraw immediately
|
|
from the tents of the rebels.
|
|
|
|
1. God bids Moses speak to this purport,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was in answer to Moses's prayer. He had begged that God would not
|
|
<I>destroy the whole congregation.</I> "Well," says God, "I will not,
|
|
provided they be so wise as to shift for their own safety, and get out
|
|
of the way of danger. If they will quit the rebels, well and good, they
|
|
shall not perish with them; otherwise, let them take what follows."
|
|
Note, We cannot expect to reap benefit by the prayers of our friends
|
|
for our salvation, unless we ourselves be diligent and faithful in
|
|
making use of the means of salvation; for God never promised to save by
|
|
miracles those that would not save themselves by means. Moses that had
|
|
prayed for them must preach this to them, and warn them to <I>flee from
|
|
this wrath to come.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. Moses accordingly repairs to the head-quarters of the rebels,
|
|
leaving Aaron at the door of the tabernacle,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Dathan and Abiram had contumaciously refused to come up to him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet he humbly condescends to go down to them, to try if he could yet
|
|
convince and reclaim them. Ministers must thus with meekness instruct
|
|
those that oppose themselves, and not think it below them to stoop to
|
|
those that are most stubborn, for their good. Christ himself stretches
|
|
out his hand to a rebellious and gainsaying people. The seventy elders
|
|
of Israel attend Moses and his guard, to secure him from the insolence
|
|
of the rabble, and by their presence to put an honour upon him, and if
|
|
possible to strike an awe upon the rebels. It is our duty to contribute
|
|
all we can to the countenance and support of injured innocency and
|
|
honour.
|
|
|
|
3. Proclamation is made that all manner of persons, as they tendered
|
|
their own safety, should forthwith <I>depart from the tents of these
|
|
wicked men</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
and thus should signify that they deserted their cause and interest,
|
|
detested their crimes and counsels, and dreaded the punishment coming
|
|
upon them. Note, Those that would not perish with sinners must <I>come
|
|
out from among them,</I> and be separate. In vain do we pray, <I>Gather
|
|
not our souls with sinners,</I> if we save not ourselves from the
|
|
<I>untoward generation.</I> God's people are called out of Babylon,
|
|
lest they share both in her sins and in her plagues,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+18:4">Rev. xviii. 4</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The congregation takes the warning, but the rebels themselves
|
|
continue obstinate,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. God, in mercy, inclined the people to forsake the rebels: <I>They
|
|
got up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram,</I> both those
|
|
whose lot it was to pitch near them (who doubtless with themselves
|
|
removed their families, and all their effects) and those also who had
|
|
come from all parts of their camp to see the issue. It was in answer to
|
|
the prayer of Moses that God thus stirred up the hearts of the
|
|
congregation to shift for their own preservation. Note, To those whom
|
|
God will save he gives repentance, that they may <I>recover themselves
|
|
out of the snare of the devil.</I> Grace to separate from evil doers is
|
|
one of the things that accompany salvation.
|
|
|
|
2. God, in justice, left the rebels to the obstinacy and hardness of
|
|
their own hearts. Though they saw themselves abandoned by all their
|
|
neighbours, and set up as a mark to the arrows of God's justice, yet
|
|
instead of falling down and humbling themselves before God and Moses,
|
|
owning their crime and begging pardon, instead of fleeing and
|
|
dispersing themselves to seek for shelter in the crowd, they impudently
|
|
<I>stood in the doors of their tents,</I> as if they would out-face God
|
|
himself, and dare him to his worst. Thus were their hearts hardened to
|
|
their own destruction, and they were fearless when their case was most
|
|
fearful. But what a pity was it that their little children, who were
|
|
not capable of guilt or fear, should by the presumption of their
|
|
parents be put in this audacious posture! Happy they who are taught
|
|
betimes to bow before God, and not as those unhappy little ones to
|
|
stand it out against him!</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Sentence is solemnly pronounced upon them by Moses in the name of
|
|
the Lord, and the decision of the controversy is put upon the execution
|
|
of that sentence by the almighty power of God. Moses, by divine
|
|
instinct and direction, when the eyes of all Israel were fastened upon
|
|
him, waiting the event, moved with a just and holy indignation at the
|
|
impudence of the rebels, boldly puts the whole matter to a surprising
|
|
issue,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:28-30"><I>v.</I> 28-30</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. If the rebels die a common death, he will be content to be called
|
|
and counted an impostor; not only if they die a natural death, but if
|
|
they die by any sort of judgment that has formerly been executed on
|
|
other malefactors. "If they die by the plague, or by fire from heaven,
|
|
or by the sword, then say, God has disowned Moses;" but,
|
|
|
|
2. "If the earth open and swallow them up" (a punishment without
|
|
precedent), "then let all the house of Israel know assuredly that I am
|
|
God's servant, sent by him, and employed for him, and that those that
|
|
fight against me fight against him." The judgment itself would have
|
|
been proof enough of God's displeasure against the rebels, and would
|
|
have given all men to <I>understand that they had provoked the
|
|
Lord;</I> but when it was thus solemnly foretold and appealed to by
|
|
Moses beforehand, when there was not the least previous indication of
|
|
it from without, the convincing evidence of it was much the stronger,
|
|
and it was put beyond dispute that he was not only a servant but a
|
|
favourite of Heaven, who was so intimately acquainted with the divine
|
|
counsels, and could obtain such extraordinary appearances of the divine
|
|
power in his vindication.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Execution is immediately done. It appeared that God and his servant
|
|
Moses understood one another very well; for, as soon as ever Moses had
|
|
spoken the word, God did the work, the earth <I>clave asunder</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>opened her mouth, and swallowed them all up,</I> them and theirs
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>),
|
|
|
|
and then <I>closed upon them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
This judgment was,
|
|
|
|
1. Unparalleled. God, in it, <I>created a new thing,</I> did what he
|
|
never did before; for he has many arrows in his quiver; and there are
|
|
diversities of operations in wrath as well as mercy. Dathan and Abiram
|
|
thought themselves safe because they were at a distance from the
|
|
<I>shechinah,</I> whence the fire of the Lord had sometimes issued,
|
|
<I>qui procul à Jove</I> (they say) <I>procul à
|
|
fulmine--he who is far from Jove is far from the thunderbolt.</I> But
|
|
God made them to know that he was not tied up to one way of punishing;
|
|
the earth, when he pleases, shall serve his justice as effectually as
|
|
the fire.
|
|
|
|
2. It was very terrible to the sinners themselves to go down alive into
|
|
their own graves, to be dead and buried in an instant, to go down thus
|
|
to the bars of the pit when they were in their <I>full strength wholly
|
|
at ease and quiet.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. It was severe upon their poor children, who, for the greater terror
|
|
of the judgment, and fuller indication of the divine wrath, perished as
|
|
parts of their parents, in which, though we cannot particularly tell
|
|
how bad they might be to deserve it or how good God might be otherwise
|
|
to them to compensate it, yet of this we are sure in the general, that
|
|
Infinite Justice did them no wrong. <I>Far be it from God that he
|
|
should do iniquity.</I>
|
|
|
|
4. It was altogether miraculous. The cleaving of the earth was as
|
|
wonderful, and as much above the power of nature, as the cleaving of
|
|
the sea, and the closing of the earth again more so than the closing of
|
|
the waters. God has all the creatures at his command, and can make any
|
|
of them, when he pleases, instruments of his justice; nor will any of
|
|
them be our friends if he be our enemy. God now confirmed to Israel
|
|
what Moses had lately taught them in that prayer of his,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+90:11">Ps. xc. 11</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Who knows the power of thy anger?</I> He has, when he pleases,
|
|
<I>strange punishments for the workers of iniquity,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:3">Job xxxi. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let us therefore conclude, <I>Who is able to stand before this holy
|
|
Lord God?</I>
|
|
|
|
5. It was very significant. They <I>set their mouths against the
|
|
heavens,</I> and <I>their throat was an open sepulchre;</I> justly
|
|
therefore does the earth open her mouth upon them and swallow them up.
|
|
They made a rent in the congregation; justly therefore is the earth
|
|
rent under them. Presumptuous sinners, that hate to be reformed, are a
|
|
burden to the earth, the whole creation groans under them, which here
|
|
was signified by this, that the earth sunk under these rebels, as weary
|
|
of bearing them and being under them. And, considering how the earth is
|
|
still in like manner loaded with the weight of iniquity, we have reason
|
|
to wonder that this was the only time it ever sunk under its load.
|
|
|
|
6. It was typical of the eternal ruin of sinners who die impenitent,
|
|
who, perhaps in allusion to this, are said to <I>sink down into the
|
|
pit</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+9:15">Ps. ix. 15</A>)
|
|
|
|
and to <I>go down quickly into hell,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+55:15">Ps. lv. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
But David, even when he <I>sinks in deep mire,</I> yet prays in faith,
|
|
<I>Let not the pit shut her mouth upon me,</I> as it does on the
|
|
damned, between whom and life there is a gulf fixed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+69:2-15">Ps. lxix. 2-15</A>.
|
|
|
|
His case was bad, but not, like this, desperate.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. All Israel is alarmed at the judgment: <I>They fled at the cry of
|
|
them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
They cried for help when it was too late. Their doleful shrieks,
|
|
instead of fetching their neighbours in to their relief, drove them so
|
|
much the further off; for knowing their own guilt, and one another's,
|
|
they hastened one another, saying, <I>Lest the earth swallow us up
|
|
also.</I> Note, Others' ruins should be our warnings. Could we by faith
|
|
hear the outcries of those that have gone down to the bottomless pit,
|
|
we should give more diligence than we do to escape for our lives, lest
|
|
we also come into that condemnation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_40"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>35 And there came out a fire from the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and consumed the
|
|
two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
|
|
36 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses, saying,
|
|
37 Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take
|
|
up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire
|
|
yonder; for they are hallowed.
|
|
38 The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let
|
|
them make them broad plates <I>for</I> a covering of the altar: for
|
|
they offered them before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, therefore they are hallowed:
|
|
and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
|
|
39 And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, wherewith
|
|
they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad
|
|
<I>plates for</I> a covering of the altar:
|
|
40 <I>To be</I> a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no
|
|
stranger, which <I>is</I> not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer
|
|
incense before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; that he be not as Korah, and as his
|
|
company: as the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said to him by the hand of Moses.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We must now look back to the door of the tabernacle, where we left the
|
|
pretenders to the priesthood with their censers in their hands ready to
|
|
offer incense; and here we find,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Vengeance taken on them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is probable that when the earth opened in the camp to swallow up
|
|
Dathan and Abiram <I>a fire went out from the Lord and consumed the 250
|
|
men that offered incense,</I> while Aaron that stood with them was
|
|
preserved alive. This punishment was not indeed so new a thing as the
|
|
former, for Nadab and Abihu thus died; but it was not less strange or
|
|
dreadful, and in it it appeared,
|
|
|
|
1. That <I>our God is a consuming fire.</I> Is thunder a sensible
|
|
indication of the terror of his voice? Lightning is also the power of
|
|
his hand. We must see in this his fiery indignation which devours the
|
|
adversaries, and infer from it what a fearful thing it is to <I>fall
|
|
into the hands of the living God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+10:27-31">Heb. x. 27-31</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. That it is at our peril if we meddle with that which does not belong
|
|
to us. God is jealous of the honour of his own institutions, and will
|
|
not have them invaded. It is most probable that Korah himself was
|
|
consumed with those 250 that presumed to offer incense; for the
|
|
priesthood was the thing he aimed at, and therefore we have reason to
|
|
think that he would not quit his post at the door of the tabernacle.
|
|
But, behold, those are made sacrifices to the justice of God who
|
|
flattered themselves with the hopes of being priests. Had they been
|
|
content with their office as Levites, which was sacred and honourable,
|
|
and better than they deserved, they might have lived and died with joy
|
|
and reputation; but, like the angels that sinned, <I>leaving their
|
|
first estate,</I> and aiming at the honours that were not appointed
|
|
them, they were thrust down to <I>Hades,</I> their censers struck out
|
|
of their hands, and their breath out of their bodies, by a burning
|
|
which typified <I>the vengeance of eternal fire.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Care is taken to perpetuate the remembrance of this vengeance. No
|
|
mention is made of the taking up of their carcases: the scripture
|
|
leaves them as dung upon the face of the earth; but orders are given
|
|
about their censers,
|
|
|
|
1. That they be secured, because they are hallowed. Eleazar is charged
|
|
with this,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those invaders of the priesthood had proceeded so far, by the divine
|
|
patience and submission, as to kindle their incense with fire from off
|
|
the altar, which they were suffered to use by way of experiment: but,
|
|
as soon as they had kindled their fire, God kindled another, which put
|
|
a fatal final period to their pretensions; now Eleazar is ordered to
|
|
scatter the fire, with the incense that was kindled with it, in some
|
|
unclean place without the camp, to signify God's abhorrence of their
|
|
offering as a polluted thing: <I>The sacrifice of the wicked is an
|
|
abomination to the Lord.</I> But he is to gather up the censers out of
|
|
the mingled burning, God's fire and theirs, because <I>they are
|
|
hallowed.</I> Having been once put to a holy use, and that by God's own
|
|
order (though only for trial), they must not return to common service;
|
|
so some understand it: rather, <I>they are devoted,</I> they are an
|
|
anathema; and therefore, as all devoted things, they must be made some
|
|
way or other serviceable to the glory of God.
|
|
|
|
2. That they be used in the service of the sanctuary, not as censers,
|
|
which would rather have put honour upon the usurpers whose disgrace was
|
|
intended; nor was there occasion for brazen censers, the golden altar
|
|
was served with golden ones; but they must be beaten into <I>broad
|
|
plates for a covering of the brazen altar,</I>
|
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:38-40"><I>v.</I> 38-40</A>.
|
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These pretenders thought to have ruined the altar, by laying the
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|
priesthood in common again; but to show that Aaron's office was so far
|
|
from being shaken by their impotent malice that it was rather confirmed
|
|
by it, their censers, which offered to rival his, were used both for
|
|
the adorning and for the preserving of the altar at which he
|
|
ministered. Yet this was not all; this covering of the altar must be a
|
|
<I>memorial to the children of Israel,</I> throughout their
|
|
generations, of this great event. Though there was so much in it
|
|
astonishing, and though Moses was to record it in his history, yet
|
|
there was danger of its being forgotten in process of time; impressions
|
|
that seem deep are not always durable; therefore it was necessary to
|
|
appoint this record of the judgment, that the Levites who attended this
|
|
altar, and had their inferior services appointed them, might learn to
|
|
keep within their bounds, and be afraid of transgressing them, lest
|
|
they should be made like Korah and his company, who were Levites, and
|
|
would have been priests. These censers were preserved <I>in
|
|
terrorem,</I> that others might hear and fear, and do no more
|
|
presumptuously. Thus God has provided that his wonderful works, both in
|
|
mercy and judgment, should be had in everlasting remembrance, that the
|
|
end of them may be answered, and they may serve for instruction and
|
|
admonition to those <I>on whom the ends of the world are come.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_42"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_43"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_44"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_45"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_46"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_47"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_48"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_49"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu16_50"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of
|
|
Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have
|
|
killed the people of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered
|
|
against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the
|
|
tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered
|
|
it, and the glory of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> appeared.
|
|
43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the
|
|
congregation.
|
|
44 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses, saying,
|
|
45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume
|
|
them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
|
|
46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire
|
|
therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly
|
|
unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there
|
|
is wrath gone out from the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; the plague is begun.
|
|
47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of
|
|
the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the
|
|
people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the
|
|
people.
|
|
48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague
|
|
was stayed.
|
|
49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and
|
|
seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
|
|
50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the
|
|
tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. A new rebellion raised the very next day against Moses and Aaron. Be
|
|
astonished, O heavens, at this, and wonder, O earth! Was there ever
|
|
such an instance of the incurable corruption of sinners? <I>On the
|
|
morrow</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>)
|
|
|
|
the body of the people mutinied.
|
|
|
|
1. Though they were so lately terrified by the sight of the punishment
|
|
of the rebels. The shrieks of those sinking sinners, those sinners
|
|
against their own souls, were yet sounding in their ears, the smell of
|
|
the fire yet remained, and the gaping earth was scarcely thoroughly
|
|
closed, and yet the same sins were re-acted and all these warnings
|
|
slighted.
|
|
|
|
2. Though they were so lately saved from sharing in the same
|
|
punishment, and the survivors were <I>as brands plucked out of the
|
|
burning,</I> yet they fly in the face of Moses and Aaron, to whose
|
|
intercession they owed their preservation. Their charge runs very high:
|
|
<I>You have killed the people of the Lord.</I> Could any thing have
|
|
been said more unjustly and maliciously? They canonize the rebels,
|
|
calling those the people of the Lord who died in arms against him. They
|
|
stigmatize divine justice itself. It was plain enough that Moses and
|
|
Aaron had no hand in their death (they did what they could to save
|
|
them), so that in charging them with murder they did in effect charge
|
|
God himself with it. The continued obstinacy of this people,
|
|
notwithstanding the terrors of God's law as it was given on Mount
|
|
Sinai, and the terrors of his judgments as they were here executed on
|
|
the disobedient, shows how necessary the grace of God is to the
|
|
effectual change of men's hearts and lives, without which the most
|
|
likely means will never attain the end. Love will do what fear could
|
|
not.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. God's speedy appearance against the rebels. When they had
|
|
<I>gathered against Moses and Aaron,</I> perhaps with a design to
|
|
depose or murder them, they <I>looked towards the tabernacle,</I> as if
|
|
their misgiving consciences expected some frowns thence, and,
|
|
<I>behold, the glory of the Lord appeared</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:42"><I>v.</I> 42</A>),
|
|
|
|
for the protection of his servants, and the confusion of his and their
|
|
accusers and adversaries. Moses and Aaron thereupon came before the
|
|
tabernacle, partly for their own safety (there they took sanctuary from
|
|
the strife of tongues,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+27:5,31:20">Ps. xxvii. 5; xxxi. 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
and partly for advice, to know what was the mind of God upon this
|
|
occasion,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>.
|
|
|
|
Justice hereupon declares that they deserve to be <I>consumed in a
|
|
moment,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:45"><I>v.</I> 45</A>.
|
|
|
|
Why should those live an other day who hate to be reformed, and whose
|
|
rebellions are their daily practices? Let just vengeance take place and
|
|
do its work, and the trouble will soon be over; only Moses and Aaron
|
|
must first be secured.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The intercession which Moses and Aaron made for them. Though they
|
|
had as much reason, one would think, as Elias had to make intercession
|
|
against Israel
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:2">Rom. xi. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet they forgive and forget the indignities offered them, and are the
|
|
best friends their enemies have.
|
|
|
|
1. They both <I>fell on their faces,</I> humbly to intercede with God
|
|
for mercy, knowing how great the provocation was. This they had done
|
|
several times before, upon similar occasions; and, though the people
|
|
had basely requited them for it, yet, God having graciously accepted
|
|
them, they still have recourse to the same method. This is praying
|
|
always.
|
|
|
|
2. Moses, perceiving that the <I>plague had begun in the
|
|
congregation</I> of the rebels (that is, that body of them which was
|
|
gathered against Moses), sent Aaron by an act of his priestly office to
|
|
make atonement for them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:46"><I>v.</I> 46</A>.
|
|
|
|
And Aaron readily went and burned incense between the living and the
|
|
dead, not to purify the infected air, but to pacify an offended God,
|
|
and so stayed the progress of the judgment. By this it appeared,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That Aaron was a very good man, and a man that had a true love for
|
|
the children of his people, though they hated and envied him. Though
|
|
God was now avenging his quarrel and pleading the cause of his
|
|
priesthood, yet he interposes to turn away God's wrath. Nay, forgetting
|
|
his age and gravity, he ran into the midst of the congregation to help
|
|
them. He did not say, "Let them smart awhile, and then, when I come, I
|
|
shall be the more welcome;" but, as one tender of the life of every
|
|
Israelite, he makes all possible speed into the gap at which death was
|
|
entering. Moses and Aaron, who had been charged with killing the people
|
|
of the Lord, might justly have upbraided them now; could they expect
|
|
those to be their saviours whom they had so invidiously called their
|
|
murderers? But those good men have taught us here by their example not
|
|
to be sullen towards those that are peevish with us, nor to take the
|
|
advantage which men give us by their provoking language to deny them
|
|
any real kindness which it is in the power of our hands to do them. We
|
|
must render good for evil.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That Aaron was a very bold man--bold to venture into the midst of
|
|
an enraged rabble that were gathered together against him, and who, for
|
|
aught he knew, might be the more exasperated by the plague that had
|
|
begun--bold to venture into the midst of the infection, where the
|
|
arrows of death flew thickest, and hundreds, nay thousands, were
|
|
falling on the right hand and on the left. To save their lives he put
|
|
his own into his hand, not counting it dear to him, so that he might
|
|
but fulfil his ministry.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That Aaron was a man of God, and <I>ordained for men, in things
|
|
pertaining to God.</I> His call to the priesthood was hereby abundantly
|
|
confirmed and set above all contradiction; God had not only saved his
|
|
life when the intruders were cut off, but now made him an instrument
|
|
for saving Israel. Compare the censer of Aaron here with the <I>censers
|
|
of those sinners against their own souls.</I> Those provoked God's
|
|
anger, this pacified it; those destroyed men's lives, this saved them;
|
|
no room therefore is left to doubt of Aaron's call to the priesthood.
|
|
Note, Those make out the best title to public honours that lay out
|
|
themselves the most for public good and obtain mercy of the Lord to be
|
|
faithful and useful. If any man will be great, let him make himself the
|
|
servant of all.
|
|
|
|
(4.) That Aaron was a type of Christ, who came into the world to make
|
|
an atonement for sin and to turn away the wrath of God from us, and
|
|
who, by his mediation and intercession, <I>stands between the living
|
|
and the dead,</I> to secure his chosen Israel to himself, and save them
|
|
out of the midst of a world infected with sin and the curse.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The result and issue of the whole matter.
|
|
|
|
1. God's justice was glorified in the death of some. Great execution
|
|
the sword of the Lord did in a very little time. Though Aaron made all
|
|
the haste he could, yet, before he could reach his post of service,
|
|
there were 14,700 men laid dead upon the spot,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:49"><I>v.</I> 49</A>.
|
|
|
|
There were but few comparatively that died about the matter of Korah,
|
|
the ring-leaders only were made examples; but, the people not being led
|
|
to repentance by the patience and forbearance of God with them, justice
|
|
is not now so sparing of the blood of Israelites. They complained of
|
|
the death of a few hundreds as an unmerciful slaughter made among the
|
|
<I>people of the Lord,</I> but here God silences that complaint by the
|
|
slaughter of many thousands. Note, Those that quarrel with less
|
|
judgments prepare greater for themselves; for when God judges he will
|
|
overcome.
|
|
|
|
2. His mercy was glorified in the preservation of the rest. God showed
|
|
them what he could do by his power, and what he might do in justice,
|
|
but then showed them what he would do in his love and pity: he would,
|
|
notwithstanding all this, preserve them a people to himself in and by a
|
|
mediator. The cloud of Aaron's incense coming from his hand stayed the
|
|
plague. Note, It is much for the glory of God's goodness that many a
|
|
time even in wrath he remembers mercy. And, even when judgments have
|
|
been begun, prayer puts a stop to them; so ready is he to forgive, and
|
|
so little pleasure does he take in the death of sinners.</P>
|
|
|
|
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