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Numbers Chapter
Sixteen
Numbers 16
Chapter Contents
The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram Korah contends
for the priesthood. (1-11) Disobedience of Dathan and Abiram. (12-15) The glory
of the Lord appears The intercession of Moses and Aaron. (16-22) The earth
swallows up Dathan and Abiram. (23-34) The company of Korah consumed. (35-40)
The people murmur A plague sent. (41-50)
Commentary on Numbers 16:1-11
Pride and ambition occasion a great deal of mischief both
in churches and states. The rebels quarrel with the settlement of the
priesthood upon Aaron and his family. Small reason they had to boast of the
people's purity, or of God's favour, as the people had been so often and so
lately polluted with sin, and were now under the marks of God's displeasure.
They unjustly charge Moses and Aaron with taking honour to themselves; whereas
they were called of God to it. See here, 1. What spirit levellers are of; those
who resist the powers God has set over them. 2. What usage they have been
serviceable. Moses sought instruction from God. The heart of the wise studies
to answer, and asks counsel of God. Moses shows their privileges as Levites,
and convicts them of the sin of undervaluing these privileges. It will help to
keep us from envying those above us, duly to consider how many there are below
us.
Commentary on Numbers 16:12-15
Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram to bring their
complaints; but they would not obey. They bring very false charges against
Moses. Those often fall under the heaviest censures, who in truth deserve the
highest praise. Moses, though the meekest man, yet, finding God reproached in
him, was very wroth; he could not bear to see the people ruining themselves. He
appeals to God as to his own integrity. He bade them appear with Aaron next
morning, at the time of offering the morning incense. Korah undertook thus to
appear. Proud ambitious men, while projecting their own advancement, often
hurry on their own shameful fall.
Commentary on Numbers 16:16-22
The same glory of the Lord that appeared to place Aaron
in his office at first, Leviticus 9:23, now appeared to confirm him in
it; and to confound those who set up against him. Nothing is more terrible to
those who are conscious of guilt, than the appearance of the Divine glory. See
how dangerous it is to have fellowship with sinners, and to partake with them.
Though the people had treacherously deserted them, yet Moses and Aaron approved
themselves faithful shepherds of Israel. If others fail in their duty to us,
that does not take away the obligations we are under to seek their welfare.
Their prayer was a pleading prayer, and it proved a prevailing one.
Commentary on Numbers 16:23-34
The seventy elders of Israel attend Moses. It is our duty
to do what we can to countenance and support lawful authority when it is
opposed. And those who would not perish with sinners, must come out from among
them, and be separate. It was in answer to the prayer of Moses, that God
stirred up the hearts of the congregation to remove for their own safety. Grace
to separate from evil-doers is one of the things that accompany salvation. God,
in justice, left the rebels to the obstinacy and hardness of their own hearts.
Moses, by Divine direction, when all Israel were waiting the event, declares
that if the rebels die a common death, he will be content to be called and counted
an imposter. As soon as Moses had spoken the word, God caused the earth to open
and swallow them all up. The children perished with their parents; in which,
though we cannot tell how bad they might be to deserve it, or how good God
might be otherwise to them; yet of this we are sure, that Infinite Justice did
them no wrong. It was altogether miraculous. God has, when he pleases, strange
punishments for the workers of iniquity. It was very significant. Considering
how the earth is still in like manner loaded with the weight of man's sins, we
have reason to wonder that it does not now sink under its load. The ruin of
others should be our warning. Could we, by faith, hear the outcries of those
that are gone down to the bottomless pit, we should give more diligence than we
do to escape for our lives, lest we also come into their condemnation.
Commentary on Numbers 16:35-40
A fire went out from the Lord, and consumed the two
hundred and fifty men that offered incense, while Aaron, who stood with them,
was preserved alive. God is jealous of the honour of his own institutions, and
will not have them invaded. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to
the Lord. The censers are devoted, and, as all devoted things, must be made
serviceable to the glory of God. This covering of the altar would remind the
children of Israel of this event, that others might hear and fear, and do no
more presumptuously. They brought destruction on themselves both in body and
soul. Thus all who break the law and neglect the gospel choose and love death.
Commentary on Numbers 16:41-50
The gaping earth was scarcely closed, before the same
sins are again committed, and all these warnings slighted. They called the
rebels the people of the Lord; and find fault with Divine justice. The obstinacy
of Israel notwithstanding the terrors of God's law, as given on mount Sinai,
and the terrors of his judgments, shows how necessary the grace of God is to
change men's hearts and lives. Love will do what fear cannot. Moses and Aaron
interceded with God for mercy, knowing how great the provocation was. Aaron
went, and burned incense between the living and the dead, not to purify the
air, but to pacify an offended God. As one tender of the life of every
Israelite, Aaron made all possible speed. We must render good for evil. Observe
especially, that Aaron was a type of Christ. There is an infection of sin in
the world, which only the cross and intercession of Jesus Christ can stay and
remove. He enters the defiled and dying camp. He stands between the dead and
the living; between the eternal Judge and the souls under condemnation. We must
have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins. We admire the
ready devotion of Aaron: shall we not bless and praise the unspeakable grace
and love which filled the Saviour's heart, when he placed himself in our stead,
and bought us with his life? Greatly indeed hath God commended his love towards
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, Romans 5:8.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on
Numbers》
Numbers 16
Verse 1
[1] Now
Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and
Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
The son of Izhar —
Amram's brother, Exodus 6:18, therefore Moses and he were cousin
germans. Moreover, Izhar was the second son of Kohath, whereas Elizaphan, whom
Moses had preferred before him, and made prince or ruler of the Kohathites, Numbers 3:30, was the son of Uzziel, the fourth
son of Kohath. This, the Jewish writers say, made him malcontent, which at last
broke forth into sedition.
Sons of Reuben —
These are drawn into confederacy with Korah, partly because they were his next
neighbours, both being encamped on the south-side, partly in hopes to recover
their rights of primogeniture, in which the priesthood was comprehended, which
was given away from their father.
Verse 2
[2] And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two
hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of
renown:
Rose up —
That is, conspired together, and put their design in execution.
Before Moses —
Not obscurely, but openly and boldly, not fearing nor regarding the presence of
Moses.
Verse 3
[3] 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 ye up
yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?
They —
Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and the rest, who were all together when Moses spake
those words, Numbers 16:5-7, but after that, Dathan and
Abiram retired to their tents, and then Moses sent for Korah and the Levites,
who had more colourable pretences to the priesthood, and treats with them
apart, and speaks what is mentioned, Numbers 16:8-11. Having dispatched them, he
sends for Dathan and Abiram, Numbers 16:12, that he might reason the case
with them also apart.
Against Aaron — To
whom the priesthood was confined, and against Moses, both because this was done
by his order, and because before Aaron's consecration Moses appropriated it to
himself. For whatever they intended, they seem not now directly to strike at
Moses for his supreme civil government, but only for his influence in the
disposal of the priesthood.
Ye take too much — By
perpetuating the priesthood in yourselves and family, with the exclusion of all
others from it.
All are holy — A
kingdom of priests, an holy nation, as they are called, Exodus 19:6, a people separated to the service
of God, and therefore no less fit to offer sacrifice and incense, than you are.
Among them — By
his tabernacle and cloud, the tokens of his gracious presence, and therefore
ready to receive sacrifices from their own hands.
Ye — Thou Moses, by
prescribing what laws thou pleasest about the priesthood, and confining it to
thy brother; and thou Aaron by usurping it as thy peculiar privilege.
Verse 4
[4] And
when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:
On his face —
Humbly begging that God would direct and vindicate him. Accordingly God answers
his prayers, and strengthens him with new courage, and confidence of success.
Verse 5
[5] And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow
the LORD will shew 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.
To-morrow —
Heb. In the morning, the time appointed by men for administering justice, and
chosen by God for that work. Some time is allowed, partly that Korah and his
company might prepare themselves and their censers, and partly to give them
space for consideration and repentance.
He will cause him — He
will by some evident token declare his approbation of him and his ministry.
Verse 8
[8] And
Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:
Ye sons of Levi —
They were of his own tribe, nay, they were of God's tribe. It was therefore the
worse in them thus to mutiny against God and against him.
Verse 9
[9]
Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated
you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the
service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to
minister unto them?
To minister to them — So
they were the servants both of God and of the church, which was an high
dignity, though not sufficient for their ambitious minds.
Verse 11
[11] For
which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the
LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?
Against the Lord —
Whose chosen servant Aaron is. You strike at God through Aaron's sides.
Verse 12
[12] And
Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will
not come up:
Dathan and Abiram — To
treat with them and give them, as he had done Korah and his company, a timely
admonition.
Come up — To
Moses's tabernacle, whither the people used to go up for judgment. Men are said
in scripture phrase to go up to places of judgment.
Verse 14
[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.
These men — Of
all the people who are of our mind: wilt thou make them blind, or persuade them
that they do not see what is visible to all that have eyes, to wit, that thou
hast deceived them, and broken thy faith and promise given to them?
Verse 15
[15] And
Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering:
I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.
Respect not their offering — Accept not their incense which they are now going to offer, but shew
some eminent dislike of it. He calls it their offering, though it was offered
by Korah and his companions, because it was offered in the name and by the
consent of all the conspirators, for the decision of the present controversy
between them and Moses.
I have not hurt one of them — I have never injured them, nor used my power to defraud or oppress them,
as I might have done; I have done them many good offices, but no hurt:
therefore their crime is without any cause or provocation.
Verse 16
[16] And
Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and
they, and Aaron, to morrow:
Before the Lord —
Not in the tabernacle, which was not capable of so many persons severally
offering incense, but at the door of the tabernacle, where they might offer it
by Moses's direction upon this extraordinary occasion. This work could not be
done in that place, which alone was allowed for the offering up of incense; not
only for its smallness, but also because none but priests might enter to do
this work. Here also the people, who were to be instructed by this experiment,
might see the proof and success of it.
Verse 18
[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.
Fire —
Taken from the altar which stood in that place, for Aaron might not use other
fire. And it is likely the rememberance of the death of Nadab and Abihu
deterred them from offering any strange fire.
Verse 19
[19] And
Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the
congregation.
Against them —
That they might be witnesses of the event, and, upon their success, which they
doubted not of, might fall upon Moses and Aaron. And it seems by this that the
people were generally incensed against Moses, and inclined to Korah's side.
The glory appeared — In
the cloud, which then shone with greater brightness and majesty, as a token of
God's approach and presence.
Verse 22
[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?
The spirits —
And this is no empty title here, but very emphatical. Thou art the maker of
spirits, destroy not thy own workmanship! O thou who art the preserver of men,
and of their spirits, the Lord of spirits, Job 12:10, who as thou mayst justly destroy this
people, so thou canst preserve whom thou pleasest: the father of spirits, the
souls. Deal mercifully with thy own children: the searcher of spirits, thou
canst distinguish between those who have maliciously railed this tumult, and
those whose ignorance and simple credulity hath made them a prey to crafty
seducers.
Of all flesh — Of
all mankind: the word flesh is often put for men.
One man —
Korah, the ringleader of this sedition.
Verse 24
[24]
Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
The congregation —
Whom for your sakes I will spare upon the condition following.
Verse 25
[25] And
Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel
followed him.
Unto Dathan —
Because they refused to come to him.
The elders —
The seventy rulers, whom he carried with him for the greater solemnity of the
action, and to encourage them in their work, notwithstanding the obstinate and
untractable nature of the people they were to govern.
Verse 27
[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.
Stood in the door — An
argument of their foolish confidence, obstinacy and impenitency, whereby they
declared that they neither feared God, nor reverenced man.
Verse 28
[28] And
Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these
works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
All these works — As
the bringing of the people out of Egypt; the conducting of them through the
wilderness; the exercising authority among them; and giving laws to them
concerning the priesthood.
Verse 29
[29] If
these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the
visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.
The death of all men — By a natural death.
The visitation of all men — By plague, or sword, or some usual judgment.
The Lord hath not sent me — I am content that you take me for an imposter, falsely pretending to be
sent of God.
Verse 32
[32] And
the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all
the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
All that appertained unto Korah — That is, all his family which were there, women, children, and servants;
but his sons, who were spared, Numbers 26:11,58; 1 Chronicles 6:22,37, were absent either upon
some service of the tabernacle, or upon some other occasion, God so ordering it
by his providence either because they disliked their fathers act, or upon
Moses's intercession for them. This expression may intimate, that Korah himself
was not here, but that he continued with his two hundred and fifty men before
the Lord, where they were waiting for God's decision of the controversy. Nor is
it probable that their chief captain would desert them, and leave them standing
there without an head, especially, when Aaron his great adversary, abode there
still, and did not go with Moses to Dathan. And Korah may seem to have been
consumed with those two hundred and fifty. And so much is intimated, Numbers 16:40, that no stranger come near to
offer incense before the Lord, that he be not as Korah, and as his company,
that is, destroyed, as they were, by fire from the Lord. And when the Psalmist
relates this history, Psalms 106:17-18, the earth's swallowing them up
is confined to Dathan and Abiram, Psalms 106:17, and for all the rest of that
conspiracy it is added, Psalms 106:18. And a fire was kindled in their
company, the flame burnt up the wicked.
Verse 33
[33]
They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the
earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
Into the pit —
Into the earth, which first opened itself to receive them, and then shut itself
to destroy them.
Verse 35
[35] And
there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men
that offered incense.
From the Lord —
From the cloud, wherein the glory of the Lord appeared.
Verse 37
[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.
To Eleazer —
Rather than to Aaron, partly because the troublesome part of the work was more
proper for him, and partly lest Aaron should be polluted by going amongst those
dead carcasses; for it is probable this fire consumed them, as lightning
sometimes doth, others, by taking away their lives, and leaving their bodies
dead upon the place.
Out of the burning —
From among the dead bodies of those men who were burnt.
Yonder —
Far from the altar and sanctuary, into an unclean place, where the ashes were
wont to be cast: by which God shews his rejection on of their services.
They are hallowed — By
God's appointment, because they were presented before the Lord by his express
order, Numbers 16:16,17.
Verse 38
[38] The
censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad
plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD,
therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
Their own souls —
That is, their own lives: who were the authors of their own destruction.
The altar — Of
burnt-offerings, which was made of wood, but covered with brass before this
time, Exodus 27:1,2, to which this other covering was
added for farther ornament, and security against the fire, continually burning
upon it.
A sign — A
warning to all strangers to take heed of invading the priesthood.
Verse 40
[40] To
be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of
the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not
as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
To him — To
Eleazer. These words belong to Numbers 16:38, the meaning is, that Eleazer did
as God bade him.
Verse 41
[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 LORD.
On the morrow —
Prodigious wickedness and madness so soon to forget such a terrible instance of
Divine vengeance! The people of the Lord - So they call those wicked wretches,
and rebels against God! Tho' they were but newly saved from sharing in the same
punishment, and the survivors were as brands plucked out of the burning, yet
they fly in the face of Moses and Aaron, to whose intercession they owe their
preservation.
Verse 42
[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 LORD appeared.
They —
Moses and Aaron, who in all their distresses made God their refuge.
Verse 43
[43] And
Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
Moses and Aaron came — To hear what God, who now appeared, would say to them.
Verse 45
[45] Get
you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment.
And they fell upon their faces.
They fell upon their faces — To beg mercy for the people; thus rendering Good for Evil.
Verse 46
[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 LORD; the plague is begun.
Incense —
Which was a sign of intercession, and was to be accompanied with it.
Go unto the congregation — He went with the incense, to stir up the people to repentance and
prayer, to prevent their utter ruin. This he might do upon this extraordinary
occasion, having God's command for his warrant, though ordinarily incense was
to be offered only in the tabernacle.
Verse 48
[48] And
he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
The living —
Whereby it may seem that this plague, like that fire, Numbers 11:1, began in the uttermost parts of the
congregation, and so proceeded destroying one after another in an orderly
manner, which gave Aaron occasion and direction so to place himself, as a
mediator to God on their behalf.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Numbers》
16 Chapter 16
Verses 1-35
Korah . . . Dathan, and Abiram . . . gathered themselves together
against Moses and against Aaron.
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
I. The rebels.
1. Influential.
2. Numerous,
3. Deluded--
II. Their sin.
Rebellion against the authority of God which was invested in Moses.
1. Cause in Korah (see Numbers 3:30); whence it appears that for
some unexplained cause a younger relative was appointed to the headship of the
Kohathites. Korah was descended from the second son of Kohath (Numbers 6:18), whilst the present head
was descended from the fourth son.
2. Cause in Dathan and Abiram. The priesthood transferred from the
first-born of every family to one particular tribe, and that a branch of the
house of Moses. But this was done by command of God, not of Moses alone.
3. Cause in the two hundred and fifty. Their own assumed rights might
be interfered with, so they thought.
4. Cause in their followers. General dissatisfaction. They charged
upon Moses the effects of their own selfishness. Pride in all of them.
III. Their
punishment.
1. Of Divine selection. Left on both sides to Divine arbitration. On
the part of the rebels, a defiance; on the side of Moses, humble agreement.
2. Manifest. All should see it, and know thereby the Divine will.
3. Of Divine infliction. God took the matter into His own hands. It
was a rebellion against Him, more than Moses.
4. Terrible.
5. Complete.
All pertaining to them perished. God could do without men who had
thought so much of themselves. Learn:
1. “Our God is a consuming fire.” “A fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God.”
2. Beware of resisting Divine authority. “How shall ye escape,”
&c.
3. Have we not all rebelled?
4. God was in Christ, making reconciliation, &c. (J. C.
Gray.)
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
The particular characters of these three men, Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram, are not given in Scripture; but they seem to represent generally all
those who rise up against the powers ordained of God: Korah the Levite against
Aaron; Dathan and Abiram of the tribe of Reuben against Moses; but both conspiracies
being combined together, indicates that it is the same temper of mind which
rejects the ordinances of God whether it be in Church or State. Their sin was
like that of the fallen angels who from envy, it is supposed, arose against the
Son of God. But let us consider how far the case is applicable to ourselves
now; as it is in some degree peculiar; for Moses and Aaron had their authority
all along confirmed of God by outward signs and miracles. Add to which that
their characters were such as less than any other to justify opposition or
envy. For Moses was the meekest of men; and Aaron was inoffensive in all his
conduct toward them. Their pre-eminence, too, was in hardship rather than in
wealth or worldly power: in journeyings in the wilderness, not in the riches of
Canaan. But these circumstances do not in fact prevent the application to
ourselves; for the Pharisees afterwards had no miracles to prove their
authority from God; and moreover they were great oppressors, covetous and
cruel: yet our Lord says of them, “The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’
seat: all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do”; and
this He says at the very time when He is cautioning His disciples against their
wickedness. They had to obey the ordinance of God, though it had neither
outward sign nor holiness to support it. Nor indeed is the presence of God
denied by the company of Korah as being vouchsafed to them under the guidance
of Moses and Aaron; they say that “the Lord is among them,” as He was seen in
the pillar of fire and the cloud, in the holy tabernacle, in the manna from
heaven: but what they complained of was the want of visible fruits and
enjoyments, “Thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and
honey”; “Wilt thou put out the eyes of these men?” as men may say now, “We see
not our tokens”; where are our spiritual privileges? where is the fulfilment of
all the glorious things which the prophets have spoken of the Christian Church?
But if this case is of universal application and for general warning, then the
question will arise, are there no allowances, no limitations, to be made; and is there no
relief in the case of oppressive governors and bad pastors? must all resistance
be like that of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, displeasing to God? and is it never without
sin? Let us consider this a little more particularly. If such powers are of
God, then He gives such as are suitable to the people over whom they are
placed; not necessarily such as they like, but such as are good for them to
have, and such as they deserve. For instance, the Roman emperors during the
early days of Christianity, were many of them monsters of cruelty and
wickedness; but when we come to inquire into the character of the people over
whom they were placed, we find the corruption of morals so deep and extensive
that they were as bad as the tyrants that governed them. And it was to these
Romans and living under some of the worst of these governors that St. Paul
says, “Let every one be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power
but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore
resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God.” And St. Peter unto
Christians under the same rule, “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man
for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king as supreme; or unto governors,
as unto them that are sent by Him.” Moreover, in consequence of this, we find
in Scripture that kings and people are often together condemned and visited
alike. Pharaoh and Egypt both together oppressed Israel; both hardened their
hearts; both were cut off together. The same order of Divine providence applies
also to spiritual governors; it is so with the Church of God in all times and
places; the angels of the Churches and the Churches themselves are tended on,
and in each case addressed together as one by their Lord, who has the seven
stars in His
hand, while He walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. We may
therefore consider it as a general law of God’s providence, that their rulers
both spiritual and temporal will be such as the people are worthy of; that if
they need better rulers, the only way in which this can be produced efficiently
and effectively, is by becoming better themselves. But a case of difficulty
which may arise is this, if a signal repentance should take place among the
people, the spirit of grace and supplication should be poured out upon them,
and there should be a general awakening; then the deficiency of their pastors
and rulers will come before them in a striking light; and then will be their
great temptation to take the amendment of such things into their own hands. But
yet not well nor wisely. Surely no reformation can be equal to that which took
place suddenly and simultaneously, when the disciples of Christ were yet under
the Scribes and Pharisees, yet He said, as they sat in Moses’ seat they must be
obeyed. Or again, when the apostles wrote to Christians, that they must submit
themselves to the powers that be, while those powers were the most corrupt of
heathen governments. It is true that the change had not then become extensive,
or leavened the general state of society, but the law of God’s providence was
the same, for it was the gradual progress of that change which would bring over
them in God’s own good
time their own true governors, such as were meet for them. And in the meanwhile
those evil rulers formed a part of that discipline of faith by which they were
perfected and established, being purified thereby as gold in the fire.
Moreover, it is observed that the Church of God has flourished more under
heathen than under its own Christian rulers. This consideration may allay our
impatience; we are at best so weak and frail that we need the iron rod more
than the golden sceptre; in our present state the Cross is more suited for us
than the crown. In prosperity we lean on an arm of flesh, and are weakened; in
adversity we lean on God, and are strengthened. But then it may be said that
there is a case far more grievous than this, that of evil ministers in the
Church itself, whether it be of chief pastors, or of those in their own nearer
and subordinate sphere. These are trials peculiarly heavy to a good man; and
there are some cases which can only be considered as severe visitations of God,
and the scourge of sin. But if God does not afford the power of remedying this
great evil, then the same law of patience must be applied. In one ruler or
pastor you may read God’s wrath, in another His love. You cannot reject either;
take His wrath in meekness, and He may show you His love. And in the meanwhile,
with regard to any particular case of great trial, we must practise
forbearance, and God will remember us in His own good time. This duty of
meekness and patience applies to a case so far as it is one we cannot remedy,
like any evil or scourge that comes to us from God’s hand, we must take it as
our punishment from Him. But then it may be said, when the case is one that
implies grievous sin, an example which dishonours God, corrupts Christ’s little
ones, and poisons the fount of life, are we to acquiesce in this? Does not the
love of God constrain us not to resign ourselves to such evil--to lift up our
voice and cry--to move heaven and earth? This is most true: for surely there is
a remedy with God. When He has forbidden one way of redress, He has pointed out
another and a better. Our Lord has pointed out the one and only way, and that
is the way of prayer. He did not even Himself send forth apostles without it.
Many are cast down because the Church is in bonds. It can neither appoint for
itself suitable pastors, nor set aside evil ministers, nor manage its own
affairs, and the government of it is falling into the hands of its enemies. But
these are not the g, eat evils to be feared; the one great cause for apprehension
is this, whether in the body of the Church at large the spirit of prayer is
sufficiently strong to cast off all these impediments; for where prayer is, all
such evils from without are thrown off, even as in the spring of the year nature throws
off all the chains of winter. The imprisoned eagle may even yet soar aloft, and
unfold her wing in the free expanse of heaven. (Isaac Williams, B. D.)
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
I. The sin.
1. A jealousy of the privileges and positions of God’s appointed
priesthood.
2. A lack of reverence for sacred things.
3. An unauthorised and presumptuous intrusion into Divine mysteries.
II. The conviction.
1. Moses acted wisely.
2. Modestly.
3. Prudently.
III. The punishment.
1. It destroyed the guilty.
2. It involved the innocent.
3. It was deterrent in its tendency.
Lessons:
1. The fatal consequences of extreme irreverence.
2. Before we find fault with others we should take heed to ourselves.
3. All who attempt to get to heaven through their own efforts,
instead of by the merits of the great High Priest, Jesus Christ, shall share
the fate of these wicked men. (Preacher’s Analyst.)
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
I. The sin of
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram was this: they were discontented with the arrangement
made for public worship by the choosing out of Aaron and his family to be
priests. The argument they used was a very plausible one, because it depended
upon the great truth of the Lord’s being with all His people, consecrating and
sanctifying them all, making them all in a certain sense holy to the Lord, in a
certain sense priests. It also flattered the vanity of the people, and
strengthened them in the notion that they were oppressed by their rulers.
II. The answer to
this argument was that Moses and Aaron had not lifted themselves up at all; the
Lord had lifted then up. This was the answer which was ultimately given, with
very terrible emphasis, by the swallowing up of Korah and his company. Korah
and his company had laid great stress on the fact that all the congregation of
the Lord were holy. Moses and Aaron might very well have replied, that they for
their part by no means questioned the fact. Moses had never represented the
choice of Aaron and his family as a declaration that they only of the people
were holy. Nothing could be a greater mistake on the part of the people than to
take this view of the priestly consecration.
III. Between our own
priesthood and that of the Israelites there is still the great common ground of
ministry before God in behalf of others which must be at the basis of every
religion. Hence both priest and people may learn a lesson. The priest may learn
that his office does not imply that he is holier or better than his brethren,
but that it does imply greater responsibility, greater opportunities of good,
greater sin if he does evil. And the people may learn to be gentle and
considerate to those who are over them in the Lord, not to be ready to find
fault and condemn, but rather to be charitable, and forbearing, and gentle. (Bp.
Harvey Goodwin.)
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
God has brought the Israelites out of Egypt. One of the
first lessons which they have to learn is, that freedom does mean license and
discord--does not mean every one doing that which is right in his own eyes.
From that springs self-will, division, quarrels, revolt, civil war, weakness,
profligacy, and ruin to the whole people. Without order, discipline, obedience
to law, there can be no true and lasting freedom; and therefore order must be
kept at all risks, the law obeyed, and rebellion punished. Now rebellion ought
to be punished far more severely in some cases than in others. If men rebel
here, in Great Britain or Ireland, we smile at them, and let them off with a
slight imprisonment, because we are not afraid of them. They can do no harm.
Bat there are cases.in which rebellion must be punished with a swift and sharp
hand. On board a ship at sea, for instance, where the safety of the whole ship,
the lives of the whole crew, depend on instant obedience, mutiny may be
punished by death on the spot. And so it was with the Israelites in the desert.
All depended on their obedience. The word must be, Obey or die. As for any
cruelty in putting Korah, Dathan, and Abiram to death, it was worth the death
of a hundred such--or a thousand--to preserve the great and glorious nation of
the Jews to be the teachers of the world. Moses was not their king. God brought
them out of Egypt, God was their king. That was the lesson which they had to
learn, and to teach other nations also. And so not Moses, but God must punish,
and show that He is not a dead, but a living God, who can defend Himself, and
enforce His own laws, and execute judgment, without needing any man to fight
His battles for Him. And God does so. The powers of nature--the earthquake and
the nether fire--shall punish these rebels; and so they do. Men have thought
differently of the story; but I call it a righteous story, and one which agrees
with my conscience, and my reason, and my experience also of the way in which
God’s world is governed until this day. What, then, are we to think of the
earth opening and swallowing them up? This first. That discipline and order are
so absolutely necessary for the
well-being of a nation that they must be kept at all risks, and
enforced by the most terrible punishments. But how hard, some may think, that
the wives and the children should suffer for their parents’ sins. We do not
know that a single woman or child died then for whom it was not better that he
or she should die. And next--what is it, after all, but what we see going on
round us all the day long? God does visit the sins of the fathers on the
children. But there was another lesson, and a deep lesson, in the earthquake
and in the fire. “Who sends the earthquake and the fire? Do they come from the
devil--the destroyer? Do they come by chance, from some brute and blind powers
of nature?” This chapter answers, “No; they come from the Lord, from whom all
good things do come; from the Lord who delivered the Israelites out of Egypt;
who so loved the world that He spared not His only-begotten Son, but freely
gave Him for us.” Now I say that is a gospel which we want now as much as ever men did; which
the children of Israel wanted then, though not one whit more than we. You
cannot read your Bibles without seeing how that great lesson was stamped into
the very hearts of the Hebrew prophets; how they are continually speaking of
the fire and the earthquake, and yet continually declaring that they too obey
God and do God’s will, and that the man who fears God need not fear them--that
God was their hope and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore
would they not fear, though the earth was moved, and though the mountains be
carried into the midst of the sea. And we, too, need the same lesson in these
scientific days. We too need to fix it in our hearts, that the powers of nature
are the powers of God; that He orders them by His providence to do what He
will, and when and where He will; that, as the Psalmist says, the winds are His
messengers and the flames of fire His ministers. And this we shall learn from
the Bible, and from no other book whatsoever. God taught the Jews this by a
strange and miraculous education, that they might teach it in their turn to all
mankind. (C. Kingsley, M. A.)
Korah
God was pleased under the old, as He has done under the
present dispensation, to constitute the priesthood of His Church, in accordance
with that principle of orderly arrangement which runs through all His ways, in
a threefold order, with a regular distribution and gradation of powers from the
lowest to the highest. But the wisdom of men does not quietly acquiesce in
God’s wisdom when it goes counter to the interests, impulses, and aspirations
of self-love. Men are easily brought to doubt the divinity of a system that
sets others over them, and assigns them only an inferior station, even though
that be honourable and good. The spirit of discontent and rebellion broke out
even in the life of Aaron, and during the sojourn in the wilderness. Even thus
early did the presumption of man dare to criticise and amend the institutions
of God, and under the guise of a zeal for liberty and for right, the favourite
pretext of ambition and selfishness, to break the order which God had
established, and substitute devices of its own creation. Korah was a Levite,
but he aspired also to be a priest, and could not acquiesce in those
limitations, which, what he may have called the accident of birth and the
arbitrary restraints of the Law, imposed upon him. And he easily drew to him
associates in his nefarious enterprise. The sedition was wide-spread, and
threatened the most fatal consequences. Jealousy of power and place is
contagious, and always finds an answering sentiment in many hearts. Broach it
once among any body of men, and it will run “like sparks among the stubble.”
Equality and the lowering of eminence and distinction, and disregard of law,
are popular doctrines, and easily clothe themselves in specious forms. It is
alleged that all society is sacred; there is, there ought to be, no special
sacredness in any in eminent place, which inferiors in office or men in private
condition are bound to recognise and respect. Thus the bonds of social order in
the Church, in the State, are loosened and destroyed. We stand on the dignity
of human nature, and the spiritual equality of all Christians: we can have no
rulers, we will brook no superiors, we will obey no restrictions--the spurious
pleas of presumptuous self-will and ambition, in the State and in the Church,
in all ages. God, however, quickly interfered in this instance, to vindicate
and protect His own appointments, and keep that sacred polity which His wisdom
had provided for His Church from being trampled on and destroyed. What, then,
is this “gainsaying of Core” to us? and what may we learn from it that is
profitable for admonition and instruction in righteousness?
1. We learn the sacredness of the ministry, and of its divinely
appointed order Every man was to know his place and to keep it, and to do the
duty of his place and none other, and not, on some specious plea of a higher
fitness or a larger usefulness, intrude on work which God had given to others.
Now, here are great principles, and these are applicable to the Church in all
her periods and in all her forms. There is a ministry now in the Church, and it
is there not because man made it, but God. “Let a man,” says St. Paul, “so
account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of
God.” They hold their place, if they are really anything at all, by a Divine
commission. Without a ministry recognised as truly Divine, there will never
be religious stability, nor long, religious life and true Christian morals. And
when these are gone, civil liberty and political order will not last long. And
the first, the fatal step towards these dreadful losses is taken when that
constitution of the ministry which Christ appointed is changed, and the sacred
office begins to be looked upon as a thing which men may mould and alter to
their convenience and their fancy.
2. But we must spare a little space for the broader lesson which this
“gainsaying of Core” teaches us, namely, that in the social system, we all,
ministers and laymen, especially ministers, have our place, which is appointed
us of God, and our true wisdom and happiness lie in knowing what it is, and
keeping in it. Korah had a place, and a very good place, but he did not like
it. He sought a better by unlawful means, and he lost all, and “left his name
for a curse unto God’s chosen.” He forgot that God had assigned him his place,
and that contentment in it was a part of his religious obedience, the service
that God required at his hands. How full this world is of restless and
uncomfortable aspirings! Men see around them higher places, happier ones as
they think; places that are certainly grander, that shine more, that seem to
contain a greater plenitude of good, and to open larger sources of pleasure and
enjoyment. They are discontented. They are envious. They get very little
comfort from what they have by reason of their uneasy hankerings after what
they have not. The true antidote of this great evil is faith; faith in God and
in His overruling Providence; faith in the Divine order into which we find
ourselves wrought, faith in the social economy under which we live as a Divine
structure and appointment; faith in our own assignment to that place and those
relations in it, which, whatever we may think of them, are the mind of God
concerning us, the work of that great fashioning Hand which “ordereth all
things in heaven and earth,” and which appoints to all inferior agents their
place and their work, not in caprice, not in cruelty, not in partiality, not in
a reckless disregard of their rights and their welfare, but in wisdom, in
equity, in benevolence, for His glory and the greatest good of the greatest
number of His creatures. (R. A. Hallam, D. D.)
Whatsoever evil men do, they are ready to justify it
When evil men have committed evil, they are ready to justify their
evils that they may seem good. We see this in Saul, 1 Samuel 13:11; 1 Samuel 31:12; 1 Samuel 15:15; John 12:5-6. Judas pretended the poor and
his great care of them; albeit he cared not for them, but for himself.
1. For men are affected to their actions as they are to themselves.
Though they be corrupt, yet they would not be thought to be so; and therefore
they seek excuses for themselves, as Adam did fig leaves to cover his shame and
his sin.
2. If they should pretend nothing, all would be ready to condemn
them; therefore, to blind the eyes of others, they cast a mist before them as
jugglers used to do that they may not be espied.
Uses:
1. This serveth to reprove divers sorts that go about to varnish
their actions with false colours, thereby to blind the world and to put out
their eyes. These show themselves to be rank hypocrites.
2. We are to judge no otherwise of all such as transgress the law of
God, whatsoever their allegations be. How many men are there that think even
palpable sins to be no sins at all, because they can blanch and colour them
over! (W. Attersoll.)
Elevated character exposed to violence
Some years ago I went to see the lighthouse which, standing on
Dunnet Head--the Cape Orcas of the Romans--guards the mouth of the Pentland
Firth. On ascending the tower, I observed the thick plate-glass windows of the
lanthorn cracked--starred in a number of places. I turned to the keeper for an
explanation. It appears that is done by stones flung up by the sea. The wave,
on being thrown forward against the cliff, strikes it with such tremendous
force as to hurl the loose stones at its base right up to the height of 300
feet. So are the great light-bearers, by the exposure of their position, and in
spite of the elevation of their character, liable to be cracked and starred by
the violence of the world. (T. Guthrie.)
Seek ye the priesthood
also?--
Wicked ambition faith fully rebuked
I. The greatness
of the privileges conferred upon the Levites.
II. The
unrighteousness of the ambition cherished by them. Their ambition involved--
1. The disparagement of their present privileges. Their privileges
“seemed but a small thing unto them.” Great as they were, they did not satisfy them.
“Ambition,” says Trapp, “is restless and unsatisfiable; for, like the
crocodile, it grows as long as it lives.”
2. Interference in the Divine arrangements. “Seek ye the priesthood
also?”
III. The heinousness
of the rebellion in which they engaged. Moses points out to them concerning
their rebellion that--
1. It was unreasonable. “What is Aaron that ye murmur against him?”
The high priest was merely an instrument in the hand of the Lord.
2. It was exceedingly sinful. “Thou and all thy company are gathered
together against the Lord.” “Those resist the prince who resist those that are
commissioned by him” (comp. Matthew 10:40; John 13:20; Acts 9:4).
Conclusion:
1. Let us crush every rising of ambition which is not in harmony with wisdom
and righteousness.
2. Let us seek to give to our ambition a righteous and noble
direction. (W. Jones.)
The privileges of the Levites
1. They were separated from the congregation of Israel, distinguished
from them, dignified above them; instead of complaining that Aaron’s family was
advanced above theirs, they ought to be thankful that their tribe was advanced
above, the rest of the tribes, though they had been in all respects upon the
level with them. Note, it will help to keep us from envying those that are
above us, duly to consider how many there are above whom we are placed. Many
perhaps who deserve better are not preferred so well.
2. They were separated to very great and valuable honours.
3. He convicts them of the sin of under valuing these privileges,
“Seemeth it a small thing unto you?” It ill becomes you, of all men, to grudge
Aaron the priesthood, when at the same time that he was advanced to that
honour, you were designed to another honour dependent upon it, and shine with
rays borrowed from him. Note:
4. He interprets their mutiny to be a rebellion against God (Numbers 16:1). While they pretended to assert
the holiness and liberty of the Israel of God, they really took up arms against
the God of Israel: “Ye are gathered together against the Lord.” 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! saith Moses, “What is Aaron that ye murmur against him?” 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. They that found the priesthood, as
it was settled, a blessing, must give all the praise to God; but if any thought
it a burden, they must not therefore quarrel with Aaron, who is but what he is
made, and doth as he is bidden. Thus he interested God in the cause, and so
might be sure of speeding well in his appeal. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Separation for nearness to God
I. God’s
separation of His servants.
1. The demand for this may come with the first Divine call of which
the soul is conscious. To one living a worldly life there comes a conviction of
the folly of this, which is really a Divine call to rise and pass from it,
through surrender to Christ, to the number of the redeemed. But that call is
not easy to obey at first. The influences under which we have grown hold us
where we are; aims to which we have been devoted, and in which we have much at
stake, refuse to be lightly abandoned; old associations and pleasures throw
their arms about us, like the family of Bunyan’s pilgrim, detaining us when we
would flee; the world’s beauty blinds us to the greater beauty of the
spiritual, and we fear to cast ourselves into the unknown.
2. This demand is repeated by God’s constant requirement of His
people. For it is the law of spiritual life to “die daily,” to “crucify the
flesh with the affections and lusts”; and what is that but to sever ourselves
for Christ’s sake from objects to which the natural man would cleave!
3. And this demand of God is supplemented by His frequent providence.
He calls us to voluntary separation, He also separates us whether we will or
no. Evidently spiritual life needs much loneliness.
II. This separation
is for nearness to Himself.
1. For apprehending God, we need separation from what is wrong. Every
turning, however little, towards the world from the demand of conscience is a
turning a little more away from God, till He is behind us and we lose sight of
Him, and live as though He were not. Yea, sin not only turns the back on Him,
it dims the eye to the spiritual so that though He stand before us we are blind
to His presence.
2. Besides this, for communion with God we need separation from
engrossing scenes and tasks. “How rare it is,” said Fenelon, “to find a soul
still enough to hear God speak!”
3. Moreover, for God’s tenderest ministry we need separation from
other joys.
III. This is the
answer to the spirit of murmuring. Then is the time to think how we are
separated for nearness to God, and to hear the question in the text, “Seemeth
it but a small thing unto you?”
1. Let it comfort us in enforced severance from what we love. When we
reflect on what we are severed from, let us reflect on the rare
compensation--what we are severed to. God is the sum of joy, it is heaven to
serve Him and to see His face, all else is nothing compared with conscious
nearness to Him, and that is our desire and prayer.
2. Let this impel us to seek Divine nearness in the time of our
separation. For nearness has not always followed separation in our experience:
on the contrary, the seasons of isolation we have referred to have sometimes
left us farther from God than we were. May not that be due to the fact that
fellowship with Him requires that we go to Him for reception?
3. And let this give us victory over the temptation to cleave to
evil. For when we first hear the call to relinquish sin the demand seems too
great, as though we were to leave all for nothing. And after our Christian
course has begun, it seems impossible to give up many an object we suddenly
find forbidden. From what, then, we are called to leave, let us turn to think
of what we are called to have. “Fear not, Abram,” God said to the patriarch,
who had refused the spoil at the slaughter of the kings, “Fear not, Abram, I am
thy exceeding great reward!” And so He says to us, adding, as we waver, Lovest
thou these more than Me; are they more to you than My favour, My fellowship,
Myself? (C. New.)
The greater our means are to prevent sin, the more we offend if we
reject those means
We learn hereby that the more helps we have to prevent sin, the
greater our sin is if we break these bands and east these cords from us. The
sins of the Israelites are often aggravated, because the Lord had sent His
prophets among them (Jeremiah 7:13-14; Jeremiah 11:7-8; Jeremiah 35:14; Psalms 78:17; Psalms 78:31; Psalms 78:35; Psalms 78:56; Matthew 11:21-24; Daniel 9:5-6). The reasons:
1. First, because those men sin against knowledge, having the Word to
inform them and their own consciences to convince them.
2. Secondly, it argueth obstinacy of heart; they have many strokes
given them, but they feel none of them. For such as transgress in the midst of
those helps that serve to restrain sin do not sin of infirmity, but of
wilfulness. Now, the more wilful a man is, the more sinful he is.
Uses:
1. This convinceth our times of much sinfulness, and in these times
some places, and in those places sundry persons to be greater sinners than
others. And why greater? Because our times have had more means to keep from sin
than other times have had. What hath not God done for us and to us to reclaim
us? Thus do we turn our blessings to be our bane, and God’s mercies to be
curses upon us.
2. Secondly, it admonisheth all that enjoy the means of preventing
sin as benefits and blessings, the Scriptures and Word of God, His corrections,
His promises and threatenings, His patience and longsufferance, that they
labour to make profit by them and to fulfil all righteousness, lest God account
their sin greater than others.
3. Lastly, learn from hence that the Word is never preached in vain,
whether we be converted by it or not (see Isaiah 55:10-11). (W. Attersoll.)
Every man in his place
In all the departments of life there are men who are as Moses and
Aaron. Take any department of life that may first occur to the imagination.
Shall we say the department of commerce? Even in the market-place we have Moses
and Aaron, and they cannot be deposed. Where is the man who thinks he could not
conduct the largest business in the city? Yet the poor cripple could not
conduct it, and the greatest punishment that could befall the creature would be
to allow him to attempt to rule a large and intricate commercial concern. But
it seems to be hard for a man to see some other man at the very head of
commercial affairs whose word is law, whose signature amounts to a species of
sovereignty, and to know that all the while he, the observer, is, in his own
estimation, quite as good a man--a person of remarkable capacity, and he is
only waiting for an opportunity to wear a nimbus of glory--a halo of
radiance--that would astound the exchanges of the world. But it cannot be done.
There are great business men and small business men: there are wholesale men
and retail men, and neither the wholesale nor the retail affects the quality of
the man’s soul, or the destiny of the man’s spirit; but, as a matter of fact,
these distinctions are made, and they are not arbitrary: in the spirit of them
there is a Divine presence. If men could believe this, they would be comforted
accordingly. Every preacher knows in his inmost soul that he is fit to be the
Dean of St. Paul’s, or the Dean of Westminster--every preacher knows that; but
to be something less--something officially lower--and yet to accept the
inferior position with a contentment which is inspired by faith in God, is the
very conquest of the Spirit of heaven in the heart of man, is a very miracle of
grace. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Leaders of disaffection
It is always a most critical moment in the history of an
assembly when a spirit of disaffection displays itself; for, if it be not met
in the right way, the most disastrous consequences are sure to follow. There
are materials in every assembly capable of being acted upon, and it only needs
some restless master spirit to arise, in order to work on such materials, and
fan into a devouring flame the fire that has been smouldering in secret. There
are hundreds and thousands ready to flock around the standard of revolt, when
once it has been raised, who have neither the vigour nor the courage to raise
it themselves. It is not every one that Satan will take up as an instrument in
such work. It needs a shrewd, clever, energetic man--a man of moral power--one
possessing influence over the minds of his fellows, and an iron will to carry
forward his schemes. No doubt Satan infuses much of all these into the men whom
he uses in his diabolical undertakings. At all events, we know, as a fact, that
the great leaders in all rebellious movements are generally men of master
minds, capable of swaying, according to their own will, the fickle multitude,
which, like the ocean, is acted upon by every stormy wind that blows. Such men
know how, in the first place, to stir the passions of the people; and, in the
second place, how to wield them when stirred. Their most potent agency--the
lever with which they can most effectually raise the masses--is some question
as to their liberty and their rights. If they can only succeed in persuading
people that their liberty is curtailed, and their rights infringed, they are
sure to gather a number of restless spirits around them, and do a vast deal of
serious mischief. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
Discontent a rebellion against God
God counts it rebellion (cf. Numbers 17:10). Murmuring is but as the
smoke of a fire; there is first a smoke and a smother before the flame breaks
forth: and so before open rebellion in a kingdom there is first a smoke of
murmuring, and then it breaks forth into open rebellion. Because it has
rebellion in the seeds of it, it is counted before the Lord to be rebellion.
When thou feelest thy heart discontented and murmuring against the dispensation
of God toward thee, thou shouldest check thy heart thus: “Oh! thou wretched
heart! What I wilt thou be a rebel against God?” (J. Burroughs.)
Fatal discontent
A fern told me that it was too bad to be always shut up in a shady
place, and float; it wanted to grow beside the red rose in the garden. The fern
said, “I have as much right to be out in the sunshine as the rose has, and I
will be out.” I transplanted the little malcontent, and in one hot day the sun
struck it dead with his dart of fire. Now, if we be where Christ means us to
be, in shade or in light, and will grow according to His will, it shall be well
with us, but if we touch that which is forbidden, we shall be made to remember
that it is written, “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely
die.” (J. Parker, D. D.)
Every man should walk as he is called of God
As in an orchard there is variety of fruit, apple trees, pear
trees, plum trees, &c., and every tree endeavours to suck juice answerable to
his kind, that it may bear such a fruit; and an apple tree doth not turn a plum
tree, nor a plum tree a cherry tree, &c.; but every tree contents itself to
be of its own kind: so in the Church and commonwealth there are varieties of
callings, pastors, people, magistrates, subjects; some higher, some lower. And
here now every man is to walk as he is called of God, and learn what belongs
thereunto, not to encroach or intermeddle with that which belongs to others:
for the saying of that Roman general to the soldier that kept the tents, when
he should have been fighting in the field, “Non amo nimium diligentem,” will
be one day used of God, if He calls us to one possession, and we busy ourselves
about another; if He set us on foot, and we will be on horseback; if He make us
subjects, and we must needs be superiors. God will not be pleased with such
busybodies. (J. Spencer.)
Respect not Thou their
offering.
The resentment of Moses against sinners
Moses, though the meekest man, yet finding God reproached in him,
was very wroth; he could not bear to see a people ruining themselves for whose
salvation he had done so much. In this discomposure--
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--
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,” said he, “respect not Thou their
offering.” Wherein 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 (Genesis 4:4). These that followed the
gainsaying of Korah walked in the way of Cain (they are put together, Jude
verse 11), and therefore he prays they might be frowned upon as Cain was, and
put to the same confusion. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
A fire from the Lord.--
Presumptuous service
No man is indispensable to God. These men had no business to offer
incense. God will not have the order of the Church or the order of the universe
disturbed without penalty. Things are all fixed, whether you like it or not;
the bounds of our habitation are fixed. He who would upset any axiom of God
always goes down into the pit, the earth opens and swallows him up. That will
be so until the end of time. It is so in literature, it is so in housekeeping,
it is so in statesmanship, it is so in preaching. The whole order of creation
is God’s; why can we not simply, lovingly accept it, and say, Good is the will
of the Lord? Why this chafing against the bars of the cage? Why this discontent
with the foundations of things? The Lord placed me here, it is the only place I
am fit for, or I have been qualified by Divine compassion and love for this
position: good is the will of the Lord! Better that incense be not offered than
that it be offered by unworthy hands. There is really nothing in the incense;
it is in the motive, in the purpose, it is in the honest handling of the
censer, that good is done by any service or by any ceremony. No bad man can
preach. He can talk, he can say beautiful words, but he does not preach so as to
get at the heart and at the conscience, and so as to bless all the deeper and
inner springs of human life and human hope. Officialism is not piety. A man may
have a censer,
and yet have no right to it. A man may be robed in the clothes of the Church,
but be naked before heaven, and be regarded by high heaven as a violator and an
intruder. Whoever uses a censer gives himself more or less of publicity: by so
much does he become a leader; and by so much as a man is a leader does God’s
anger burn hotly against him when he prostitutes his leadership. How many men
were there? Two hundred and fifty. That was a great numerical loss. Yes, it
was: but numerical losses may be moral gains. The congregation must be weighed
as well as numbered. Some churches would be fuller if they were emptier. The
Church of Christ would be stronger to-day if all nominal professors were shed
off, if the earth would open and swallow them up every one. These were two
hundred and fifty trespassers. Whatever they were outside the Church, they had
no right to be within it in the sense which they now represent by this action.
No true man was ever cut off, let me say again and again. The whole emphasis is
upon the word “true.” He may not be a great man or a brilliant man, he may be
nothing of a genius, but if he be true, that is the only genius God desiderates
as fundamental and permanent. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Verses 37-40
Take up the censers.
Divine economy
What God has kissed must not be lost; what God has consecrated
must be preserved. The two hundred and fifty men may be burned up, the censers
may be scorched, but they shall be turned to some use in the sanctuary. O thou
great Economist, the very stones of Thy house are sacred to Thee; they are not
sacred as magically consecrated, but they are sacred because Thou hast told men
to seek in the quarries of the earth and in the forests of the land for stone
and wood to put together to make a sanctuary for Thee; and once Thine, Thine
for ever. The stones are dear to Thee, yea, the dust of Zion is more than the
constellations of the sky. If we have given anything to the Cross, it is God’s;
it will never be unholy. At the beginning of every year some men say, “So much
for Christ.” They say, “There it is; every penny is His, it will all go to His
treasury.” Such men can never be vexed and fretted by appeals, because they
have given the money, and when they have spent all the money they say so, and
God is as pleased with their not giving as with their giving, because they have
given it all. They first set it apart, they consecrated it, they took it to the
Cross and said, Jesus, this little handful is all Thine; help me to spend it
aright. It is all gone, so when the next applicant comes and gets nothing, God
is not displeased. So let us give ourselves to Christ; then every hair on our head is His, and
will be numbered; all our outgoings and incomings, our downsittings and
uprisings, will be of consequence to Heaven. Why? Not because of the detailed
action, but because the life out of which all of that action came was itself
baptized, made holy with the chrism of fire. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Verses 41-50
On the morrow all the congregation . . . murmured.
Transgression and intercession
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! (Numbers 16:41). On the morrow the body of
the people mutinied--
1. Though they were but newly terrified by the sight of the punishment
of the rebels. Warnings slighted.
2. Though they were but newly saved from sharing in the same
punishment, and the survivors were as brands plucked out of the burning, yet
they fly in the face of Moses and Aaron, to whose intercession they owed their
preservation.
II. God’s speedy
appearing against the rebels. When they were gathered against Moses and Aaron,
perhaps with design to depose or murder them, they looked towards the
tabernacle, as if their misgiving consciences expected some frowns from thence;
and behold the glory of the Lord appeared (Numbers 16:42) for the protection of His
servants, and confusion of His and their accusers. Moses and Aaron thereupon
came before the tabernacle, partly for their own safety; there they took
sanctuary from the strife of tongues (Psalms 37:5; Psalms 31:20), and partly for advice, to
know what was the mind of God upon this occasion (Numbers 16:43). Justice hereupon
declares, They deserve to be consumed in a moment (Numbers 16:45). Why should they live
another 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 with
them will soon be over; only Moses and Aaron must first be secured.
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 (Romans 11:7), yet they forgive and forget
the indignities offered them, and are the best friends their enemies have.
1. They both fell on their faces, humbly to intercede with God for
mercy, knowing how great their provocation was. This they had done several
times before upon the like occasion; 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 plague was begun in the congregation of
the rebels, i.e., that body of them which was gathered together against
Moses, sends Aaron by an act of his priestly office to make atonement for them
(Numbers 16:46). And Aaron readily went,
burnt 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 (Numbers 16:47).
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
fourteen thousand seven hundred men laid dead upon the spot (Numbers 16:49). Note, those that quarrel
with lesser judgments prepare greater for themselves; for when God judgeth 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 could do in His love and pity. He would preserve them a
people to Himself for all this, 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 has put a stop to them, so ready is He
to forgive, and so little pleasure doth He take in the death of sinners. (Matthew
Henry, D. D.)
The aggravated rebellion of the people, the effectual intercession
of the good, and the justice and mercy of God
I. The aggravated
rebellion of the people.
1. Terrible disregard of Divine warnings.
2. Base ingratitude to Moses and Aaron.
3. Profane characterisation of the wicked as the people of God.
II. The speedy
interposition of Jehovah.
1. The manifestation of His glory.
2. The declaration of the desert of the rebels.
III. The effectual
intercession of Moses and Aaron.
1. The kindness of Moses and Aaron. Their conduct reminds us of Him
who prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
2. The courage of Aaron. He feared neither the excited people who
were embittered against him, nor the pestilence which was smiting down the
people by thousands, but “ran into the midst of the congregation,” &c.
3. The zeal of Aaron. He was now an old man, yet he “ran into the
midst,” &c. An example for Christian ministers.
4. The success of Aaron. “The plague was stayed.” How great is the
power of prayer!
IV. The exercise of
the justice and mercy of God.
1. Here is an impressive display of Divine justice. Many slain.
2. Here is an encouraging manifestation of Divine mercy. Some spared.
Conclusion: Learn--
1. The heinousness of sin.
2. The great value of a faithful ministry.
3. The readiness of God to forgive sin. (W. Jones.)
Make an atonement for
them.
The sin of man and the salvation of God
I. There is an
awful controversy between a holy God and a rebellious world. Our sin resembles
theirs in many aspects, and has the same aggravations.
1. As it directly strikes against the authority and the grace of God,
whatever be the form it assumes.
2. As it is often committed in the face of frequent and awful
warnings.
3. As it is heightened by the experience of God’s preserving and
upholding mercy.
II. There is at
hand a prescribed and Divinely approved remedy.
1. That our only escape from threatened wrath is through the
mediation and advocacy of our High Priest.
2. That the plan of salvation by faith is as efficacious in reality
as it is simple in its mode of application.
3. That an immediate application to it is our only protection against
certain ruin. “Go quickly.” (S. Thodey.)
An awful spectacle, and a surprising remedy
I. An awful
spectacle exhibited. When private prayer is a task, and the minor moralities of
life begin to be disregarded, there are fearful symptoms of decay and
declension. “The plague is begun.”
II. The surprising
remedy found. “Take a censer,” &c. Where is the physician who would have
recommended this as a cure for the plague? Who would have thought that the appearance
of a single priest amidst the dying and the dead should have stopped the
progress of the pestilence? Yet the incense and the fire and the oblation
accomplish that for Israel which all the wisdom of the Egyptians could never
have achieved. Who does not, in like manner, rebel against God’s appointed
method of pardon? or question the mysterious virtue of Christ’s atoning blood,
and doubt the efficacy of faith, repentance, and prayer?
III. A practical
application demanded.
1. What infinite solemnity attaches to all the offices of religion!
Death and life are involved. The two hundred and fifty men that offered incense
perished: their spirit was bad. What if we bring strange fire! Aaron’s offering
saves life. If awful to preach, so also to hear.
2. How dreadful if the plague be in the heart, and we, unconscious of
danger, neglect the remedy! “Examine yourselves.”
3. What need ministers have for the prayers and sympathies of their
people!
4. Rejoice in the absolute sufficiency of salvation applied by the Spirit.
(S. Thodey.)
Aaron staying the plague
I. The willingness
of Aaron to intercede.
1. Regardless of the plague.
2. Regardless of the people’s enmity.
II. The nature of
Aaron’s intercession.
III. The success of
Aaron’s intercession. Conclusion:
1. Let us tremble at the wrath of an offended God.
2. Let us rejoice in the intercession of our Great High Priest. (J.
D. Lane, M. A.)
The plague stayed
I. The evil.
II. The punishment.
1. Divine.
2. By the plague.
III. The remedy.
1. In itself, not apparently adapted.
2. Connected with pious intercession.
3. Intercession grounded on sacrifice.
4. Efficient.
Learn:
1. The extreme evil of sin.
2. The riches of the grace of God.
3. The immediate duty of the sinner--to call earnestly on the Lord. (J.
Burns, D. D.)
Mercy rejoiceth against judgment
I. Sin and its
consequence.
1. The sin of the Israelites was rebellion against God.
2. The terrible visitation.
II. The atonement,
and its success.
1. A significant act.
2. The completeness of His atonement.
II. The special lessons
to be derived from hence.
1. The faithful minister of God’s Word dares not withhold the
instruction to be derived from it concerning the terrible judgments which
ungodly men bring on themselves by continuing in sin against a just and holy
God.
2. If the judgment against sin is so terrible to contemplate, how
much need have we to accept God’s own way of deliverance! (E. Auriol,
M. A.)
He stood between the dead
and the living.
The high priest standing between the dead and the living
The whole scene is typical of Christ; and Aaron, as he
appears before us in each character, is a most magnificent picture of the Lord
Jesus.
I. First, look at
Aaron as the lover of the people. See in Aaron the lover of Israel; in Jesus
the lover of His people. Aaron deserves to be very highly praised for his
patriotic affection for a people who were the most rebellious that ever grieved
the heart of a good man. You must remember that in this case he was the
aggrieved party. Is not this the very picture of our Lord Jesus? Had not sin
dishonoured Him? Was He not the Eternal God, and did not sin therefore conspire
against Him as well as against the Eternal Father and the Holy Spirit? Was He
not, I say, the one against whom the nations of the earth stood up and said,
“Let us break His bands asunder, and cast His cords from us”? Yet He, our
Jesus, laying aside all thought of avenging Himself, becomes the Saviour of His
people. Well, you note again, that Aaron in thus coming forward as the
deliverer and lover of his people, must have remembered that he was abhorred by
this very people. They were seeking his blood; they were desiring to put him
and Moses to death, and yet, all thoughtless of danger, he snatches up his
censer and runs into their midst with a Divine enthusiasm in his heart. He
might have stood back, and said, “No, they will slay me if I go into their
ranks; furious as they are, they will charge this new death upon me and lay me
low.” But he never considers it. Into the midst of the crowd he boldly springs.
Most blessed Jesus, Thou mightest not only think thus, but indeed Thou didst
feel it to be true. Thou wast willing to die a martyr, that Thou mightest be
made a sacrifice for those by whom Thy blood was spilt. You will see the love
and kindness of Aaron if you look again; Aaron might have said, “But the Lord
will surely destroy me also with the people; if I go where the shafts of death
are flying they will reach me.” He never thinks of it; he exposes his own
person in the very forefront of the destroying one. Oh, Thou glorious High
Priest of our profession, Thou mightest not only have feared this which Aaron
might have dreaded, but Thou didst actually endure the plague of God; for when
Thou didst come among the people to save them from Jehovah’s wrath, Jehovah’s
wrath fell upon Thee. The sheep escaped, but by “His life and blood the
Shepherd pays, a ransom for the flock.” Oh, Thou lover of thy Church, immortal
honours be unto Thee! Aaron deserves to be beloved by the tribes of Israel,
because he stood in the gap and exposed himself for their sins; but Thou, most
mighty Saviour, Thou shalt have eternal songs, because, forgetful of Thyself,
Thou didst bleed and die, that man might be saved! I would again draw your
attention to that other thought that Aaron as a lover of the people of Israel
deserves much commendation, from the fact that it is expressly said, he ran
into the host. That little fact of his running is highly significant, for it
shows the greatness and swiftness of the Divine impulse of love that was
within. Ah! and was it not so with Christ? Did He not baste to be our Saviour?
Were not His delights with the sons of men? Did He not often say, “I have a
baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished”?
His dying for us was not a thing which He dreaded. “With desire have I desired
to eat this passover.”
II. Now view Aaron
as the great propitiator. Wrath had gone out from God against the people on
account of their sin, and it is God’s law that His wrath shall never stay
unless a propitiation be offered. The incense which Aaron carried in his hand
was the propitiation before God, from the fact that God saw in that perfume the
type of that richer offering which our Great High Priest is this very day
offering before the throne. Aaron as the propitiator is to be looked at first
as bearing in his censer that which was necessary for the propitiation. He did
not come empty-handed. Even though God’s high priest, he must take the censer;
he must fill it with the ordained incense, made with the ordained materials;
and then he must light it with the sacred fire from off the altar, and with
that alone. Behold, then, Christ Jesus as the propitiator for His people. He
stands this day before God with His censer smoking up towards heaven. Behold
the Great High Priest! See Him this day with His pierced hands, and head that
once was crowned with thorns. Mark how the marvellous smoke of His merits goeth
up for ever and ever before the eternal throne. ‘Tis He, ‘tis He alone, who
puts away the sins of His people. His incense, as we know, consists first of
all of His positive obedience to the Divine law. He kept His Father’s commands;
He did everything that man should have done; He kept to the full the whole law
of God, and made it honourable. Then mixed with this is His blood--an equally
rich and precious ingredient. The blood of His very heart--mixed together with
His merits--these make up the incense--an incense incomparable--an incense
surpassing all others. Besides that, it was not enough for Aaron to have the
proper incense. Korah might have that too, and he might have the censer also.
That would not suffice--he must be the ordained priest; for mark, two hundred
and fifty men fell in doing the act which Aaron did. Aaron’s act saved others;
their act destroyed themselves. So Jesus, the propitiator, is to be looked upon
as the ordained one--called of God as was Aaron. But let us note once more in
considering Aaron as the great propitiator, that we must look upon him as being
ready for his work. He was ready with his incense, and ran to the work at the
moment the plague broke out. The people were ready to perish and he was ready
to save. Jesus Christ stands ready to save thee now; there is no need of
preparation; He hath slain the victim; He hath offered the sacrifice; He hath
filled the censer; He hath put to it the glowing coals. His breastplate is on
His breast; His mitre is on His head; He is ready to save thee now. Trust Him,
and thou shalt not find need for delay,
III. Now view Aaron
as the interposer. Let me explain what I mean. As the old Westminster
Annotations say upon this passage, “The plague was moving among the people as
the fire moveth along a field of corn.” There it came; it began in the
extremity; the faces of men grew pale, and swiftly on, on it came, and in vast
heaps they fell, till some fourteen thousand had been destroyed, Aaron wisely
puts himself just in the pathway of the plague. It came on, cutting down all
before it, and there stood Aaron the interposer with arms outstretched and
censer swinging towards heaven, interposing himself between the darts of death
and the people. Just so was it with Christ. Wrath had gone out against us. The
law was about to smite us; the whole human race must be destroyed. Christ
stands in the forefront of the battle. “The stripes must fall on Me!” He cries;
“the arrows shall find a target in My breast. On me, Jehovah, let Thy vengeance
fall.” And He receives that vengeance, and afterwards upspringing from the
grave He waves the censer full of the merit of His blood, and bids this wrath
and fury stand back.
IV. Now view Aaron
as the saviour. It was Aaron, Aaron’s censer, that saved the lives of that
great multitude. If he had not prayed the plague had not stayed, and the Lord
would have consumed the whole company in a moment. As it was, you perceive
there were some fourteen thousand and seven hundred that died before the Lord.
The plague had begun its dreadful work, and only Aaron could stay it. And now I
want you to notice with regard to Aaron, that Aaron, and especially the Lord
Jesus, must be looked upon as a gracious Saviour. It was nothing but love that
moved Aaron to wave his censer. The people could not demand it of him. Had they
not brought a false accusation against him? And yet he saves them. It must have
been love and nothing but love. Say, was there anything in the voices of that
infuriated multitude which could have moved Aaron to stay the plague from
before them? Nothing! nothing in their character! nothing in their looks!
nothing in their treatment of God’s High Priest! and yet he graciously stands
in the breach, and saves them from the devouring judgment of God! If Christ
hath saved us He is a gracious Saviour indeed. And then, again, Aaron was an
unaided saviour. He stands alone, alone, alone! and herein was he a great type
of Christ who could say, “I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people
there was none with Me.” Do not think, then, that when Christ prevails with
God, it is because of any of your prayers, or tears, or good works. He never
puts your tears and prayers into His censer. They would mar the incense. There
is nothing but His own prayers, and His own tears, and His own merits there.
“There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved.” Nor doth He need a helper; “He came not to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance.” “He is able to save unto the uttermost them that come
unto God by Him.” He was, then, you will perceive, a gracious Saviour, and an
unaided one; and, once more, Aaron as a saviour was all-sufficient. Trust thou thy
soul with Christ, and thy sins are at once forgiven, at once blotted out.
V. Aaron as the
divider--the picture of Christ. Aaron the anointed one stands here; on that
side is death, on this side life; the boundary between life and death is that
one man. Where his incense smokes the air is purified, where it smokes not the
plague reigns with unmitigated fury. There are two sorts of people here this
morning, and these are the living and the dead, the pardoned, the unpardoned,
the saved, and the lost. A man in Christ is a Christian; a man out of Christ is
dead in trespasses and sins. “He that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ is
saved, he that believeth not is lost.” Christ is the only divider between His
people and the world. On which side, then, art thou to-day? (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
The plague in the wilderness
I. To say that
this evil had its origin in sin, would be to say nothing. All evil proceeds
from sin : there is not a pang or sorrow in the universe which has not this as
its source. But then suffering owes its existence to sin in various ways.
Sometimes it is sent in mercy to prevent sin; thus Paul had a thorn in the
flesh “lest he should be exalted.” At other times it comes to discover sin and
subdue it in the Christian’s heart. “Before I was afflicted,” says David, “I
went astray, but now have I kept Thy word.” More frequently, however, its
design is to answer the purposes of God’s moral government; to punish sin: to
manifest the abhorrence in which the great Ruler of the universe holds it, and
thus to deter His creatures from the commission of it. And such was its object
here. The Israelites had sinned against the Lord; this plague was the
punishment of their sin.
1. This offence involved in it an overlooking of God’s providence; at
all events, a refusing to acknowledge it. God will not allow us to say for
ever, “Accident brought this evil on me, chance this disease, a casualty this
bereavement, the injustice or treachery of my fellow-man this loss and
poverty.” Either by His Spirit, or by His providence, or by both, God will
drive this atheism out of us. He will force us to say, “It is the Lord. He is
in this place, and I knew it not. Verily there is a God that judgeth in the
earth.”
2. The murmuring of these sinners included in it also a daring
censure of God’s ways. Whatever God does bears the impress of God. In some way
or other it manifests His perfections, and consequently is calculated to bring
honour to His name. Now a mind in a right state praises Him for every work of
His hands; and it does so on account of the traces of His glory it either
discovers in that work, or, though hidden, believes to be there. Indeed, this
is God’s great design in all His doings, to draw forth praise from His
creatures by revealing to them His excellencies, and thus to surround Himself
with a delighted and adoring universe. It follows, then, that to censure any of
God’s ways is, as far as in us lies, to frustrate the object at which God aims
in these ways; to rob Him of His honour, and worse than this--to asperse His
character and vindicate His enemies. And of this offence these Israelites were
guilty.
3. There was yet a third evil comprehended in the murmuring of these
Israelites; and this was a contempt of God’s warnings. Millions of our race
have already perished; the destroying angel is hastening to cut down millions
more. The world some of us deem so fair and happy is nothing better than the
camp of Israel--a scene of mercy, it is true, but yet a scene of misery,
terror, and death. How anxious, then, should we be to look around for a
deliverer! Blessed be God, there is One near. This history speaks of Him.
II. Consider now
the cessation of the pestilence.
1. It was effected by one who might have been supposed least likely
to interfere for such a purpose. Can we fail to discover here the great High
Priest of God’s guilty church, the despised and rejected Jesus? Aaron was a
type of Him.
2. The cessation of this plague was attended with a display of the
most self-denying and ardent love.
3. The cessation of this plague was brought about by means that
seemed altogether inadequate, that appeared, in fact, to have no connection at
all with the end proposed. (C. Bradley, M. A.)
Staying the plague
1. The origin of the judgment here spoken of. Men quickly forget the
Almighty.
2. The means adopted to arrest its devastating progress. Mediation.
3. The feelings of gratitude which the removal of the plague must
have inspired. (W. C. Le Breton, M. A.)
Standing between the dead and the living
In this, as in all other similar occasions, we perceive the
presence of the Eternal Son, preparing the way for that perfect scheme of
redemption which was to be unfolded in the fulness of time. Jesus in truth
stood between the dead and the living; for Aaron was His delegate and servant:
and I would apply the particulars of the present transaction to our own case
and circumstances. The plague, then, to which we may now advert is the plague
of sin, and the threatened death is the death of the soul. Truly the plague has
begun. It began in paradise, and has been raging ever since; and as soon as it
broke out, the Lord appeared to intercede and to atone. We can entertain no
doubt of the existence of the evil;
we cannot look far into the world, not far into the Christian world, without
beholding lamentable proof of its ravages: intemperance, profligacy, and even
blasphemy, meet us in every quarter; the moral pestilence is positively raging
around and within the Christian camp. Nor need we look abroad for proof of this
awful fact; we have each of us an evidence in our own bosom. But it was not
merely the existence of the plague itself which must have wrought upon the
Israelites, and have made them to accept the proffered remedy; it was also that
so many lay dead
before them; such multitudes of their neighbours and friends had been swept
away before their eyes. And have not we, on this ground, many powerful
inducements also? Have there not been presented before us in the page of
history, yea, in daily report, awful numbers of the human race, to all
appearance dying of the plague, dying in their trespasses and sins? Again, as
the Israelites saw many destroyed, so did they likewise see many recovered and
saved; and that would encourage them to lay hold of the means ordained. We also
have similar encouragements under the gospel. It is not altogether a scene of
desolation, of heedlessness and ruin; there have been many splendid trophies of
Divine grace, many careless sinners awakened and rescued from the grave of
destruction. (J. Slade, M. A.)
The living and the dead
Every minister of Jesus Christ, when he stands in the pulpit,
stands in the same responsible relation as Aaron did. I stand and look at the living on one
side, and on the other I see the dead. The Bible, up and down, declares that an
unforgiven soul is dead in trespasses and in sins. What killed the soul? The
plague. What kind of a plague--the Asiatic plague? No; the plague of sin. The
Asiatic plague was epidemic. It struck one, it struck a great many; and this
plague of sin is epidemic. It has touched all nations. It goes from heart to
heart, and from house to house; and we are more apt to copy the defects than we
are the virtues of character. The whole race is struck through with an awful
sickness. Explorers have gone forth, by ship, and reindeer sledge, and on foot,
and they have discovered new tribes and villages; but they have never yet
discovered a sinless population. On every brow the mark of the plague--in every
vein the fever. On both sides of the equator, in all zones, from arctic to
antarctic, the plague. Yes, it is contagious. We catch it from our parents. Our
children catch it from us. Instead of fourteen thousand seven hundred, there
are more than one thousand millions of the dead. As I look off upon the
spiritually dead, I see that the scene is loathsome. Now, sometimes you have
seen a body after decease more beautiful than in life. The old man looked young
again. But when a man perished with the Asiatic plague he became repulsive.
There was something about the brow, about the neck, about the lip, about the
eye, that was repulsive. And when a man is dead in sin he is repulsive to God.
We are eaten of that abominable thing which God hates, and unless we are
resuscitated from that condition, we must go out of His sight. But I remark
again, that I look off upon the slain of this plague, and I see the scene is
one of awful destruction. Gout attacks the foot, ophthalmia the eye, neuralgia
the nerves; and there are diseases which take only, as it were, the outposts of
the physical castle; but the Asiatic plague demolishes the whole fortress. And
so with this plague of sin. It enwraps the whole soul, It is complete
destruction--altogether undone, altogether gone astray, altogether dead. When I
look upon those who are slain with this plague, I see that they are beyond any
human resurrection. Medical colleges have prescribed for this Asiatic plague,
but have never yet cured a case. And so I have to tell you that no earthly
resurrection can bring up a soul after it is dead in sin. You may galvanise it,
and make it move around very strangely; but galvanism and life are infinitely
apart. None but the omnipotent God can resurrect it. I go further and say, that
every minister of the gospel, when he stands up to preach, stands between the
living and the dead of the great future. Two worlds, one on either side of us:
the one luminous, the other dark; the one a princely and luxuriant residence,
the other an incarceration. Standing between the living who have entered upon
their eternal state, and the dead who shall tarry in their eternal decease, I
am this moment. Oh, the living, the living, I think of them to-night. Your
Christian dead have not turned into thin clouds and floated off into the
immensities. Living, bounding, acting, they are waiting for you. Living! Never
to die. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
The prevailing Intercessor
Such was our High Priest who perceived that, on account of man’s
transgression, wrath was gone forth from the presence of the Lord, and that the
plague was begun among the people. And He saw that there was no man, and
wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore He arrayed Himself in the
holy garments of glory and beauty; He put on a breastplate of righteousness,
and a robe of inviolable sanctity, and He was clad, over all, with zeal as a
cloak. He was anointed with the oil of gladness, with the Holy Ghost, and with power; and on His
head was a crown of salvation and glory. Thus adorned and fitted for the work,
He put on, for incense, the merits of His sufferings. He ran into the midst of
God’s people as a Mediator, interposing Himself between the parties at
variance, in order to reconcile them. He met the burning wrath, and turned it
aside from all believers. And so the plague is stayed. A stop is put to the
progress of everlasting destruction. “There is now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus.” And can anything, then, prevent our accepting this
atonement, and thankfully receiving the benefits of this intercession? Nothing
can, but an utter ignorance of our sin, and of our danger. Could a dying
Israelite have been prevailed upon, think you, to reject the atonement and
intercession of Aaron? No, surely. Only see how hope revives in their
countenances, and joy sparkles in their eyes, all turned and fixed upon him in
the execution of his priestly office. And why? Because they were sensible of
their wretched and perilous estate. They needed not to be told that they were
expiring by the pestilence. Oh, why are not we so? Why do we hear of the
atonement and intercession of the Holy Jesus with so much cold indifference?
Why, but because we see not, we know not, we feel not the want of them. And yet, what is there,
within us, or without us, that doth not teach and show it us? To tell you that
the world is full of sorrow, is no news; to tell you that the world is full of
sin, is, I presume, no news. And from what would you desire to be delivered, if
not from sin and sorrow? What, in point of wretchedness, was the camp of Israel
with the pestilence in the midst of it, if compared to such a world as this?
Go, thou who art tempted to reject, or to neglect the satisfaction of Christ,
go to the bed of sickness, ask him who lies racked with pain, and trembling at
the thoughts of the wrath to come, what his opinion is concerning the doctrine
of atonement; and observe how the name of a Saviour and Intercessor puts
comfort and gladness into his affrighted soul, at a time when the treasures and
the crowns of eastern kings would be utterly contemned, as equally vain,
worthless, and unprofitable, with the dust of the earth. (Bp. Horne.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》