A warning against rebelling against God appointed leaders

Text Numbers 16 Time 16/09/12 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

I want us to return tonight to our studies in Numbers. We have now reached the midpoint of the book and the emphasis is here on the worship of God and its centrality. Therefore it must be done in the right way.

We left off last time at Numbers 15 and in Numbers 16 we return to the storyline. Here we find a Levite called Korah and certain Reubenites, Dathan and Abiram and On, rebelling against the God appointed leadership of Moses and Aaron. This is not the first rebellion reported. Back in Chapter 12 we were told how Aaron and Miriam also rebelled and some of the points we made then we will be making again. In Chapters 11 and 14 the people also grumble and complain.

We are not raising this subject because I have heard that someone has been complaining or criticising. Indeed, the years I have been pastor here have, on the whole, been happy years when opposition from within the congregation has been almost unheard of. No, we raise this subject because it is here in God's Word and there is a need for us to at least be familiar with the subject even if we never have any close personal knowledge of it. Only this last week Robert and I were with a minister who has sadly had to tender his resignation because of opposition to his ministry. He has been patient and has tried to resolve the issue but now feels he is left with no choice but to resign. It does happen.

There are a number of points to make from the passage.

1. Expect opposition to God appointed leaders to arise from time to time

The rebels are named as Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi and a cousin of Moses and Aaron who conspired with certain Reubenites - Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth. It says that they became insolent but this is a bit of a guess. What it actually says is that they took something. Perhaps it is best to translate “they took action”. What they did was they rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. So here is a minor but significant rebellion against the God appointed leader Moses. Such a rebellion was no doubt fuelled by jealousy and is really a rebellion against God himself.

What happens is that they come

as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron saying You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly?

At the end of Chapter 15 God says that the people are holy. These rebels seem to have taken this truth and twisted it so that they are prepared to argue that Moses and Aaron have somehow done something illegitimate by acting as leaders.

It is typical of such people that they will take a biblical truth and twist in such a way that it is made a pretext for rebellion. The examples are obvious. People say all God's people are holy so the church should be run as a democracy. Or they say all God's people are holy so why shouldn't women be preachers and ministers as well as men? Or they say all God's people are holy so why should there be ministers at all? (as was said by the Plymouth Brethren in the nineteenth century).

Such so called arguments may appear to have some logic but in fact they are not logical at all but an excuse for rebellion. We must not be taken in by them. God appoints men to lead his people. It is our duty to accept their leadership not to rebel and make it difficult for them.

2. Learn the correct way for leaders to react to such opposition

In verses 4-11 we see how Moses reacts to this rebellion. There are three elements to note.

1. There must be humble prayer

The first thing Moses does on hearing this is to fall (4) facedown. Some think he is simply overwhelmed and merely crumples at this new onslaught. It is much more likely that be is in fact expressing his humility and looking to God in prayer. That is certainly the first thing any leader should do if he is under attack.

2. Such men must look to the Lord for their vindication

No doubt it was God's leading in answer to Moses's prayer that led him to then say to Korah and all his followers what we read in verses 5-7

In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers and tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them before the LORD. The man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy ….

One of the duties of the priesthood in those days was to offer incense in metal censers designed for the purpose. Here is a simple test then of who is authorised to do this work.

The Tabernacle and Temple have now been replaced and perhaps tests are not so easy to arrange but the Lord will vindicate his servants either in the immediate of the long term future. We need not doubt that.

You may know the name of Jonathan Edwards. He was one of the greatest preachers whoever lived. Nevertheless he was dismissed from his church in eighteenth century New England because for conscience' sake he refused to comply with the will of the majority and give communion to people who did not profess to be converted. It was no easy thing to leave his church at such a time but he was willing to do so and in due time has been vindicated many times over.

Something similar could be said of C H Spurgeon who felt compelled to resign from the Baptist Union when it continually refused to do something about the false teaching that was riddling Baptist churches up and down the country in the nineteenth century. He said at the time “I am quite willing to be eaten by dogs for the next fifty years but the more distant future shall vindicate me” and he was right, of course.

This year sees the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of what is called the Great Ejection when 2000 ministers were forced to resign from the Church of England because they refused to submit to the terms imposed on them by the government. It is another example of opposition to God appointed leaders where the situation looked hopeless at the time but in which such men in time saw their vindication in due time so that churches like this one are perfectly within the law and are tolerated by the state.

God will vindicate his own no matter what men may say.

3. Rebels must be rebuked

Moses also rebukes these people. He says some interesting things. At the end of verse 7 he says You Levites have gone too far! The rebels had said to Moses You have gone too far! But now he says “No. It is you who have gone too far”. When he says to Korah, Now listen, you Levites! He is concentrating on the ring leader and his companions. He says in verse 9

Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. It is against the LORD that you and all your followers (you congregation) have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?

They are bidding to go higher than God had placed them and are forming a new little congregation of their own. It often happens like that.

3. Expect opposition to God appointed leaders often to continue among God's people

One might have thought that the humble prayer, the looking to the Lord and the rebuke would have had an effect but no. When Moses summons them, they refuse to come (12) Isn't it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? they say referring to Egypt (13, 14) And now you also want to lord it over us! Moreover, you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No, we will not come! They add then to the former argument that Moses is leading them to death and wants to enslave the people all over again. There is no substance to these statements but are a simple act of rebellion against God and his rule.

Attempts to bring such rebels under some kind of discipline are often resisted. It is tempted then to say “Why bother?” Rather we should do what we can to maintain order while recognising that if God does not act then we will make little formal progress.

4. Learn how to test and sift the opposition

In verse 15 Moses is angry and says to the LORD in self defence "Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them." Leaders ought to defend themselves before God as Paul does in the New Testament when he needs to.

Moses then says that Korah and his followers are to appear before the LORD the next day with Aaron.

17-20 Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it - 250 censers in all - and present it before the LORD. You and Aaron are to present your censers also. So each of them took his censer, put burning coals and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting. When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire assembly and then said to Moses and Aaron Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.

Again, a situation like this cannot be engineered anywhere near as easily in our day. However, the principle of separation and of making clear that there is a division must be followed. There is Korah and his followers and there is also the entire assembly who might side with them or with Moses and Aaron. At this point Moses and Aaron are on their own but no doubt the possibility of the assembly joining them is there. We must make such distinctions today where necessary. We try at first to work with the existing structures but where that is not possible then separation is necessary. We must come apart from those who seek to oppose God appointed leaders. It is often not easy to make a judgement but some sort of judgement needs to be made.

5. Remember that God will oppose those who oppose God appointed leaders therefore separate from such

The next thing we read is that faced with the imminent death of the assembly (22) Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, O God, the God who gives breath to all living things, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins? Their argument is that it is only Korah and his followers who have rebelled, therefore the people should not all be killed at once.

It is always a very difficult issue when there are rebels. It is often difficult for the people to know who to side with, who is right.

And so God tells Moses to tell the people to separate themselves from the tents of the rebels. The call to separation from such rebellion is always there in Scripture. Move back from the tents of these wicked men! says God Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins. So the people move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. It describes very movingly how Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.

It comes then to a test of Moses authority before the people. Moses says (28-30)

This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me. But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.

And what happens?

31-33 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.

At their cries, we read all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, The earth is going to swallow us too! How frightening it must have been especially as we read too that fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

Now again we do not expect such displays of divine wrath today. There are cases where temporal judgements appear to follow acts against God leaders. An obvious example would be the way the ejection of the 2000 in 1662 was followed by the plague of 1665 and the great fire of 1666. Sometimes it is difficult to know what to think of certain happenings. Back in 1984 many were struck by the way a lightning bolt hit York minster two days after the consecration there of the then Bishop of Durham, David Jenkins, a notorious denier of basic Christian truth.

These things are difficult to judge but what we can be sure of is that God will judge all those who dare to oppose leaders that he himself has appointed.

6. Recognise the importance of remembering such judgements

In verses 36-42 we read interestingly how Moses was instructed to tell

Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the censers from the charred remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy - the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the LORD and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites. So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, as the LORD directed him .... This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the LORD, or he would become like Korah and his followers.

It is right that we remember God's judgements. Anyone who looked carefully at the alter in years to come would have seen the signs of those censers hammered into the very fabric. It would have reminded them vividly of the danger of rebellion and the judgement of God. We too ought to remember God's judgements – not just this one but others such as Sodom and Gomorrah and the sending of his people into exile and things too like the plague and the great fire.

7. Expect opposition to God appointed leaders to rumble on despite God's judgements

And so one would expect with this great judgement that would silence the grumblers and mark a new found respect for Moses and his leadership. But not at all. We read in verse 41 that The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. You have killed the LORD's people, they said. Again this is typical when there has been a split or discipline has been exercised.

But again God intervenes (42-45)

But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the tent of meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting, and the LORD said to Moses, Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.

History is repeating itself so soon. But again Moses and Aaron fell facedown. Moses tells Aaron

Take your censer and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has started. So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them.

What a graphic picture we see (48) He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. However, 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah but Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped.

We think of grumbling as a little sin but it is not really and unless our great High Priest atones for this sin and others like it then there is no hope for us.

Spurgeon relates Aesop's fable “A heavy wagon was being dragged along a country lane by a team of Oxen. The axle-trees groaned and creaked terribly, when the oxen, turning round, thus addressed the wheels: Hallo there! Why do you make so much noise? We bear all the labour, and we, not you, ought to cry out.”

He says “Those complain first in our churches who have the least to do. The gift of grumbling is largely dispensed among those who have no other talents, or who keep what they have wrapped up in a napkin.”