All right, in Numbers chapter
16, 1 through 5, let's pay careful attention. Here's laid the foundation
of our study. Now Korah, the son of Ishar,
the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, And Dathan and Abiram,
the sons of Eliab and On, the son of Pileth, sons of Reuben,
took men. And they rose up before Moses
with certain of the children of Israel, 250 princes of the
assembly, famous in the congregation, men
of renown. And they gathered themselves
together against Moses and against Aaron and said unto them, ye
take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy,
every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Wherefore then
lift you up yourself above the congregation of the Lord." And
when Moses heard it, He fell on his face. And he spake unto
Korah, and unto all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the Lord
will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to
come near unto him. Even him whom he hath chosen
will he cause to come near unto him. Now look at verse 31. And it came to pass, as he made
an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave
asunder that was under them, and the earth opened her mouth
and swallowed them up. and their houses, and all the
men that appertaineth unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and
all that appertained unto them, went down alive into the pit,
and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among
the congregation. And all Israel that were round
about them fled at the cry of them, for they said, lest the
earth swallow us up also. There came out a fire from the
Lord and consumed the 250 men that offered in sin. And one
more verse, a part of Jude verse 11, we'll go there later, we
read of the gainsaying of Korah. Now, there are many such incidences
as this to be found in the Old Testament, many of them occurring
during the journey from Egypt under the land of Canaan, what
we call the wilderness journey, as the people were moved from
one place under the other. when Moses, by God's appointment,
was raised up and commissioned by the Lord to go and to bring
the people out of Egyptian bondage and take them into the land flowing
with milk and with honey. Now, during that time and journey,
the people, as we know, were often rebellious and mutinous
against Moses and against his leadership. We read in Exodus
17 and 4 something very interesting. On a certain occasion, Moses
was distressed at the behavior of the people, and he cried unto
the Lord these words, What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone
me, unquote. That is, Moses said, if there
are rises any higher, they might rise up and take stones even
to stone me to death. A little more, he said, and they
might take up stones against me. Now, there are several examples
of their rebellion. We'll note them quickly in bringing
ourselves to our particular subject of the morning. During the journey
in Exodus chapter 14, verse 23 through verse 26, when they came
to the waters of Marah and found that they were too bitter to
drink, They murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we
drink? God had Moses cast a tree into
the waters of Marah, and they became sweet. In Exodus chapter
16, they got into the wilderness. And again, they murmured because
they found no food to eat and feared that they would hunger
to death. And God, in His graciousness,
gave them manna from heaven that they might eat every day. Again,
in Exodus chapter 17, they came to Rephidim, And again, they
found no water. And they accused Moses of attempting
to thirst them even unto death. So God, in his graciousness,
had Moses to smite a rock, and water aplenty came out of that
rock. We remember Exodus chapter 32. when they persuaded Aaron in
Moses' absence to make them a golden calf, gods that may go before
us, they said, for we know not has become of this man Moses. And they danced about it, and
they credited it with having delivered them out of the land
of Egypt. Many died there in the judgment
of God. We remember in Numbers chapter
11, they complain against the manna, and they crave flesh to
eat, and the Lord adds quail under their diet. In Numbers
chapter 12, Moses' enemies became they of his very own house, as
Aaron and Miriam speak out against him, and are so soundly rebuked
by the Lord." Well, they had a twofold argument against Moses. Number one, the wife that you
have taken, an Ethiopian woman. And number two, they resent Moses
having recognition, and they, Miriam and Aaron, for a time,
suffered the judgment of God. Miriam was made leprous and was
cast outside of the camp. Then you may remember Numbers
13 and 14. They murmur at the report of
the spies who came back from the land of Canaan and said,
yes, it's a good land. It flows with milk and with honey. But there are giants in the land. And so they murmured and they
directed their ire against Moses and say, we would have been better
off to have died in Egypt or have died in the wilderness than
to be slaughtered by the Amalekites, the Jebusites, and the Hittites
in the land. And so, as a result of what Hebrews
3 and verse 8 calls the provocation or the temptation in the wilderness,
whereby all of that generation that murmured were forbidden
to enter into the land of Canaan, only Caleb and Joshua entered
in. Now, you might say to me, what
does that have to do with us today? What does that have to
do with the New Testament people of God who worship after the
way of the gospel? Some might argue this is ancient
history and it is not relevant to the Christian church and to
us in our day. And yet, remember, that the New
Testament authors say things like this. Paul said in 1 Corinthians
chapter 10 and verse 6, these things were for our example,
our figure. And in verse 11 of the same chapter,
these things happened unto them far in sample. We read in Jude
verse 7 that the judgment of God upon Sodom and Gomorrah is
set forth as an example. It is an open example that God
made of them and of the sin that they had given themselves over
unto, and that was giving themselves to fornication and going after
strange flesh, Jude verse 7. So Peter, 2nd Peter 2 and verse
6, making them an example unto those that afterward should live
ungodly. The idea being these and like
judgment against the ancient sin and sinners were what one
called standing monuments of his wrath before the eyes of
men as a warning unto the world. And this powerful little book
of Jude, yonder in the New Testament, is a warning concerning apostasy. It is a warning to apostate. It draws heavily on the events
of the ancient times, how God dealt with them, and how God
dealt with those who would turn the grace of God into lasciviousness
and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Christ. That's in Jude
verse 4. They are dreamers. They defile
the flesh. They despise dominion. Some have
it. They despise lordship. They speak evil of dignities
and are not afraid. Some render it glories and some
have it angelic magistrate. But in Jude verse 5, he writes,
I will put you in remembrance. I will remind you. I will bring
it to your attention. These things that are familiar,
which you know to be true, and they are examples. For example, in verse 5 of the
book of Jude, after delivering the people out of the land of
Egypt, afterward, God destroyed them that believed not. Them that turn back, them that
believe not God. In verse 6 of Jude, the judgment
of God exercised upon and against the apostate angel. What did God do but cast them
down under chains of darkness? Verse 7 again, he reminds them
of the judgment that came upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah. In verse 9, he reminds them of
Michael, the archangel, when dealing with the devil about
the body of Moses. Does not rebuke him, but said,
the Lord rebuke him. In verse 11 is our verse, the
sin and the judgment of Cain, of Balaam, and of Corey. The last being the same as that
from the text in chapter 16, and those that perished in the
gainsaying of Korah, which in Numbers 16, 31 through 35, was
no small number as we read. Now before we go back there,
let us notice something from the book of Jude. By the way,
I have one book by an author who said that the book of Jude
is really a record of the acts of the apostates, not apostles,
but apostates. Judas writes, Judah, Judah, Judah,
Jude rather writes that his readers hold firmly to the gospel and
to the confession of Christ. because they who are ungodly
turn grace into lasciviousness and deny the Lord and Master
of us, Jesus Christ. Now, mind you, not denying his
existence or his being, but denying his deity and his lordship, his
divine essence. denying the essence of our Lord
and Savior. Now, to emphasize this, the apostle
uses two examples or approaches. Number one, in verse five, recalling
the fate of the apostates of old, how God dealt with them. And number two, verse 11, pronouncing
woe upon such as act against our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Woe unto them. Now the word woe
in scripture usage refers to grievous calamity and miseries
which are either present or approaching or to come. As the Lord often
said to the hypocritical Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23, there
are eight of those woes that are pronounced against the Pharisees
in that chapter, and seven times out of the eight, he joins with
it, calling them hypocrites. Woe, misery, judgment, destruction,
to such as imitate Balaam, Cain, and Corey. Now, we know Cain's
sin or way. It was Cain that was the first
to depart out of the right way. It was Cain that was the first
to offer faultily before the Lord and despise the godly and
murderous brother. Then there is the era of Balaam. who the Bible said loved the
wages of unrighteousness and ran greedily after it, a type
of those who adulterate the doctrine of the gospel out of the love
of covetousness and filthy lucre. One man said, Balaam had oracles
for sale, unquote. He hired himself out that he
might curse Israel, and the story you have in Numbers chapter 22. William Jenkins wrote in his
real good commentary on Jude, that out of desire, Balaam made
devilish arts and unlawful divinations for the cursing of Israel. And he did so in violation of
his own conscience and the command of God. And he met a very bad
end for he was slain, Numbers 31 and verse 8, 2 Peter chapter
2, verse 15 and 16. But now, coming to the third,
the rebellion of Korah, and why he is included in the examples
in the epistle of Jude, that he might be a warning against
their faction and their bold sectarianism. For Corey is a
good example of those who in Jude verse 8 despise dominion,
and are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries. And in verse
10 of Jude, speak evil of the things which they know not and
especially speak against Christ, our Lord and the gospel. Now, as we read, the story of
Korah's rebellion is found in Numbers chapter 16. Here we have
both his sin and his perishing for it, or the judgment of God. To have it fresh in our minds
again, Let's read again Numbers chapter 16 and verse 2 and verse
3. And they rose up against Moses
with certain of Israel, 250 princes of the assembly, famous in the
congregation, men of renown. And their complaint is in verse
3. And they gathered together against
Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, You take too
much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every
one of them and the Lord is among them, wherefore then lift you
up yourself above the congregation of the Lord." Now, in this history,
here is a record of two things. Number one, here is a personal
resume, if we may call it that, of Korah. his nativity or his
pedigree, his spiritual position or employment, and his offspring
or posterity. Secondly, his sin and his punishment
is brought out in this passage of the scripture. Concerning
Korah, we learn here that he was of the family of the tribe
of Levi. He was therefore a priest and
of the priestly tribe. And if you look down in verse
9, and 10 and 11, you will see that Moses uses this in rebuking
him and reminding him of his sin. That God had brought him
near, that God had put him in the service, and thy brethren
the Levites with thee, and he says, do you seek the priesthood
also? Was it that Korah desired an
elevation? Now exactly what was the sin
of Korah and his cohorts that it highly grieved and offended
Moses and was visited by God with such a severe judgment as
well as an unusual and a unique judgment and punishment? We see
in Jude verse 11, it is called gainsaying, the gainsaying of
Judah. We might think this is an archaic
word that has fallen out of use over the history of words, but
the word means literally to speak against, by disputing or standing
face to face, contradicting. The word means to answer back
or answer against. It means to deny. It can mean
to reply. It means to revile. Gain saying,
therefore, is a combination of two words. Number one, against. and number two, to say. Hence,
to say or to speak against. So his sin was gainsaying, and
we read it. He spake against Moses and against
Aaron, but in effect, he spake against the command and the will
of God. Now, it was Korah that gave birth
to this movement against Moses and against Aaron. He was what
Matthew Henry called the ringleader, for he both formed and headed
the faction, unquote, which is no doubt the reason why Jude
refers to it by Korah's name or under Korah's name, calling
it the gainsaying of Korah. This time, in this uprising. It is not the mixed multitude
that stands against Moses. In this mutiny, it is not that
mixed multitude that came with them out of the land of Egypt,
as it was in Numbers 11 and verse 4. It was the mixed multitude
there that fell to lusting. But again, neither was it the
dregs and the outcasts of the people that Korah gathered around
him. But he stirred up some men of
reputation and distinction, as in verse 2. and 50 princes of the assembly,
famous, known in the congregation, men of renown that had a reputation
among the people. Thus, we see the wiles of Corey
to give a boost under his affronting Moses and Aaron in that he recruits
not rabble-rousers to come with him, not a motley mob of malcontents
and misfit, but such as were well known and held in some esteem
in the eyes of the people hoping perhaps that their reputation
would add force and strength onto his movement and position. And what's more, as Matthew Henry,
John Gill, others have pointed out, Cora was a great grandson
of Levi. He was therefore a cousin, even
if distant, of Moses and of Aaron. And some of those involved were
the descendants of Reuben, a son of Jacob, the father of the twelve. And we see there in chapter 16,
verse 3, the first part, when they were organized, they made
their move And they confronted Moses and Aaron, and they did
so in the camp. And in verse 3, the last part,
we read their charge. You take too much upon you. You've
taken too much authority. You don't deserve that. The people
are equal in their standing before God. Now, the last part is particularly
telling. When they lie then, Do you lift
up yourself above the congregation of the Lord? In other words,
why do you exalt yourself, Moses and Aaron? Moses as the commander
captain and Aaron as the only high priest. Moses was asked
in Egypt, in Exodus chapter 2 and verse 14 when he confronted those
men in a fight. Who made you a prince or a judge
over us, they ask him. So the question is, what is their
point of contention? What is their complaint? What
do they complain about? which would then lead us to question,
what was the nature of Korah's sin? I agree with those expositors
who think it was related to their or to his resentment that one
man, Moses, was in charge of the whole congregation, and that
the high priesthood was given to one man, and that was Aaron,
and that Moses made Aaron the high priest, and that apart from
the voice and the consent of the majority. And he considered
all the congregation equally holy and qualified. Perhaps he based that upon Exodus
19 and verse 6, you are a holy nation under me. So that is one
commentator putting. Quote, Cora's sin is to invade
offices without a call and overthrow that order which God had established,
unquote. For we dare not forget in this
study, it was Jehovah, it was God himself that gave Moses this
place and this authority. And it was God or Jehovah who
chose Aaron to be the high priest of that system of worship. But Korah had come to be of the
mind that Moses making Aaron high priest was somehow beyond
his authority and too high an honor for Aaron to accept. and be the high priest. And as
Henry again noted, Korah in effect charges both Moses and Aaron
with usurping authority and usurping their offices. Now again, dare
we forget that both men, Moses as a deliverer and mediator,
and Aaron as the high priest, were human types of the Lord
Jesus Christ, who held these offices in one and the same person. And who made him so? Who made
the Lord Mediator and High Priest? Why, it was God the Father. And
yet there are those, there were those among them, and there are
those among us today who deny that people need a Mediator,
between them and God, or that they need a high priest to make
an atonement and a sacrifice for them. And he met those who
called him, the Lord did, a blasphemer. Some called him a blasphemer. for claiming an equality with
God, and there are those even today who emphasize more the
priesthood of the believer over that of the priesthood of our
Lord Jesus Christ, be that as it may. We note the response
of Moses in verse 4. both in prayer and in intercession,
that he might know, that he might have the mind and the direction
of the Lord. And he tells Korah and his company,
verse 5 and 16, that the Lord would manifest the next day,
verse 5, who are his and who is holy. that the Lord God Himself
would decide the matter in question and would clearly make it manifest
unto all. First, however, they should remember
how the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to be the priestly tribe
over the land of Israel. Now, the last part, as I said,
is particularly telling. We note the response of Moses. He has always carried it before
the Lord. But the Lord separated the tribe
of Levi to be the priestly tribe and made Aaron the high priest.
It was by the command of God. Only the Levites could serve
in the tabernacle. Only they could make the sacrifices. Only they could burn the incense
and such like. So Moses reminds Korah how, concerning
the priesthood, God himself had put a difference between the
Levites and the other tribes of Israel, making none but the
Levites to be the priest. in the system of worship, forbidding
any other to act in that capacity outside of the tribe of Levi. You'll see that verse 9, 10,
and 11. And yet blind ambition on the
part of Korah and of others drives them off of sound reasoning and
understanding. But again, Moses, as did the
prophet Elijah, would have God decide the matter. Who are his? Who is holy? Even as the Lord
did when Elijah called down fire from heaven. Even as God made
a distinction and a manifestation. between Cain and Abel and their
offerings in Genesis chapter 4. So in our text Moses bids
Korah and his company to appear the next day with censers and
with fire and with coal and appear before the Lord. and 50 in number,
that at that time the Lord would manifest those that were His
and those that were holy. Verse 7, it shall be that the
man whom the Lord does choose, he shall be holy. And it reminds them they were
the ones taking too much upon themselves, verse 7 and the last
part. Now as they gather the next day,
Korah had summoned the congregation, presumably for support. Not only did he bring his 250
princes, his men of renown, But somehow he persuaded the
congregation to gather before the door of the tabernacle, presumably,
I say, to support or to show force, or that many were sympathetic
to the cause of he and others. In verse 19, as they assembled,
the glory of the Lord appeared unto that gathered congregation,
even as it had when Aaron was made priest, Leviticus chapter
9 and verse 23. But in our chapter, verse 20
and 21, God tells Moses and Aaron to go, that he would consume
them, and that all in a moment, and that they would perish, whereby
Moses becomes, as often, an intercessor asking, in verse 22, whether
the sin of one man will bring ruin to the entire assembly or
congregation. Will the sin of this one man
Korah be visited in judgment and destruction upon the whole
congregation. Reminded me of the intercession
of Abraham on a certain occasion in Genesis chapter 18, 22, and
23, when he asked would he destroy the righteous along with the
wicked. But in number 16 and 23, the
congregation is warned to separate themselves from the rebels Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram, and flee the wrath of God about to come
down upon their head and down upon their houses. And the congregation
heeded the warning that was given unto them, and they removed from
the rebels and who come and stand obstinately in their doorway
in a defiant way against Moses and against Aaron. We want to
come down to verse 28 through verse 30. And Moses tells the
people that his calling will be confirmed and that soon. That he had not assumed his position
by his own inclination, or by his own contrivance? In fact,
remember, if you will, in Exodus chapter 3 and chapter 4, where
Moses, when called by God, pleaded his incompetence for such a work
as delivering the people out of the land of Egypt. He sought
to be excused from this work and from this calling. But now
all Israel would see evidence of his divine calling. Pardon the very short digression,
but I see a similarity between the calling and the work and
the treatment of Moses and of our Lord Jesus Christ by the
Jew. I see a similitude between them. But not only that, but look at
verse 29 and 30. God's judgment, he said, would
expose the evil of Korah's gainsake. Verse 29, if these men die the common death that all
men die. If their death come in the usual
way, then Moses said, consider me a fraud and an imposter and
a usurper. Moses makes a bold prediction
of a special judgment, saying, if these men die after the normal
fashion, these men lay down and die of sickness and illness and
such like, then I am not sent of God. Reminds us, I think of
the word did me, the prophet Micaiah. In 1st Kings chapter
22, saying to Ahab, listen, Ahab said, when I get back, I'll deal
with you. And the prophet of God said,
if you return in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me, verse
28. But in verse 30 of our chapter,
Moses predicts that God will do a new thing, a new thing not
heard of before. That is the earth will open up
its mouth and will swallow up alive all of these men and their
belongings and their houses and their family as a sign and judgment
that they had provoked the Lord God of Israel. And so it was
in verse 31 to verse 35 as we read, The earth opened up and
swallowed them alive, and the scripture said they went down
alive into the pit. Now, notice, this was a new thing. This was something God had not
done before. It was a way that he had not
taken. Usually, or before, famine or
pestilence had come among the people, fire from heaven come
down and destroy many of them. The sword of their enemies would
be brought against them, and many of them would die in that
plague. It was not disease. It was not
fiery serpents that would mark the end of these men. But the
earth opened, literally opened up, and swallowed them, and they
fell down and then it closed up upon them again. I want to read a passage found
in the psalm. 106 is the chapter, and verse
16 through verse 18 are the verses that I would like to emphasize. The psalmist writes of this. He says, Psalm 106, 16. They envied Moses also in the
camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord. The earth opened and
swallowed up Dathan and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their
company, and the flame burned up the wicked. So, God's judgment,
therefore, meted out against their sin. Now, let's make some
closing applications. For a time, it put the fear of
God back in the people. They feared they too would be
swallowed up, and so they were fearful and reverenced God, but
soon fell into another sin. Then there's another thing here,
and that is God's power, ability to use creation, to bring judgment,
upon the earth, whether it be wind, storm, rain, fire, all
of these obey the voice of the Lord God to go forth and to do
His bidding. Finally, to us as to them. Let these things be our example. How did God deal with these things
of old? What judgment did God bring against
apostates and blasphemers and enemies of God? And Jude takes
up the theme and reminds them, puts them in remembrance. Here's
how God dealt with such in former days. He destroyed them. Their
carcasses died, perished in the wilderness. The angels that sin
locked up forever under the judgment of God and so on. So let these
things be our example. as we walk or attempt to walk
before the Lord our God. The Gain saying of Korah, and
they that punish a perished in it.