Bible Commentaries
Numbers 16

Num_16:36 Num_19:22 .

The gravity of the sin of Korah and his company is emphasized by the instructions the Lord gave Moses, as recorded in verses Num_16:36-40 . There was to be a perpetual reminder of their sin by their censers being made into a covering of the altar, composed of broad plates. For so long as the altar was thus covered no sacrifice for sin could be offered, and evidently the gainsaying of Korah, which was sin of a most wilful kind, had placed him beyond the reach of a sin offering.

The solemn warning that we have in Heb_10:26 , Heb_10:27 , may possibly be a reference to this incident. The words, "judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries" would point to this. As we read earlier in our chapter Korah and his company were "gathered together against the Lord;" that is, in challenging Aaron they had committed themselves to the position of adversaries against the Lord, who had appointed him. As Jude indicates in his Epistle a similar thing on a much larger scale will take place in Christendom just before the appearing of Christ. Many will gather together "against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us" ( Psa_2:2 , Psa_2:3 ).

The closing verses of our chapter show that the spirit displayed by Korah, Dathan and Abiram had infected the whole congregation. In the presence of these displays of the power of God in judgment, they stubbornly refused to see the hand of God and accused Moses and Aaron, as though they had done these things by some occult power. They either could not, or would not, see the act of God. Truly they were "children in whom is no faith" ( Deu_32:20 ).

Their rebellion was such that the Glory of the Lord appeared, ready to destroy them. For the third time in this chapter we find Moses fallen on his face. With God-given foresight he realized what would happen, and directed Aaron to act as intercessor in a very striking way. The censers of Korah and his company had been decisively rejected. Now the one censer, divinely appointed in the hands of Aaron, avails to stay the plague between the dead and the living. Whether the 14,700 who died were special leaders in the evil we are not told. Sin is lawlessness rebellion against God. And the wages of sin is death. The whole incident emphasizes this.

In Heb_3:1 , we are bidden to consider the Lord Jesus as both Apostle and High Priest. We have just seen both these offices challenged in their typical representatives Moses and Aaron. The apostleship of Moses was continually being demonstrated, inasmuch as he was clearly the sent one of Jehovah, through whom all the Divine communications were made. The priesthood of Aaron was established at a later date, and needed to be reinforced in the minds of the people. Hence, this is what took place, as recorded in Numbers 17.0 .

There is no eliminating the miraculous from the early history of Israel. When God inaugurates a new dispensation, He manifests His power in such supernatural ways that men have to recognize the finger of God. It was so here. A rod is dead, being a stick severed from the living tree. Twelve such dead things, each with the name of a tribe on them, were laid up in the tabernacle before the Lord. On the rod of Levi the name of Aaron was written. The next morning eleven of the sticks were unchanged in their dead state. The twelfth, that of Aaron, was living and even fruitful, since it not only blossomed but bore almonds. Now the almond tree is one of the earliest to bear fruit. In Jer_1:11 , Jer_1:12 , there is a play on its name, which is almost the same as the word translated "hasten" in verse Num_16:12 .

It may well be that we today can see more in the details of this incident than was apparent even to Moses, when it happened. Certain it is that it has typical meaning, and hence the fact, that the rod in which life out of death was displayed was to be laid up for a testimony, is mentioned in Heb_9:4 , as well as here. What was conclusive in those days was that the earthly priesthood was vested in Aaron and his sons, and in no one else, so that all question and murmuring among the people on that point might effectively be stilled.

What we can see is a foreshadowing of the fact that the Priesthood of our Lord Jesus springs out of His death and resurrection, and hence it is His "after the power of an endless life" ( Heb_7:16 ). In the type there were not only buds and blossoms but fruit also, as we have noted, and in the Priesthood of Christ we find the guarantee of abiding fruitfulness.

We say this, thinking of such a scripture as 1Pet 2.4-2.9 . True, the figure there is different, "Stone," and not "Fruit." But we lay the stress upon "living," both as regards Him and ourselves. Coming to Him as the living One, we become living ones, and as such are constituted priests, both "holy" and "royal." The Christian priesthood is not a dead, nor merely ritualistic thing. It is in the power of a life which is derived from Him "the Son, who is consecrated for evermore" ( Heb_7:28 ). It all hangs upon Him, and the eternal character of His priesthood guarantees the stability of all that He supports to all eternity.

Two things were now quite plain; that, on the one hand, this earthly priesthood had been vested by God in Aaron and his house; on the other hand, that the mass of the people had definitely committed themselves as "rebels." In verse Num_16:10 , God speaks of them as such. In the two verses that close the chapter we see them still displaying the rebel spirit. The Lord had just ordered the rod to be preserved as a token so that their murmurings and liability to instant death might be taken away. They at once unbelievingly counter this by crying out that the presence of the Lord in His tabernacle brought death upon them.

This reminds us of the argument of the Apostle in Romans 7.7-7.14 . The tendency of sinners under the law was to try to throw the blame of their plight on the law. But the law was holy, just and good. The mischief has been wrought by sin, and the blame lies there and on the sinner. So it was here. The people found the presence of Jehovah in His tabernacle a menace, and wished to blame it and Him. The blame lay in themselves and in their rebellious hearts.

The whole of Numbers 18.0 is occupied with regulations as to the offices of both priest and Levite. It is not difficult to see how appropriately these things come in at this point. The priesthood had just been most conclusively confirmed to Aaron and his house, and the rest of the tribe of Levi confirmed in their proper place. Their responsibilities and their privileges are now clearly defined.

And first of all their responsibilities as we might expect, seeing they were under the law. The first 24 verses of the chapter were spoken directly to Aaron without the intervention of Moses, and he was told that he and his sons had to " bear the iniquity of the sanctuary," and also of the priesthood. It is obvious, of course, that there was no iniquity attaching to the sanctuary itself, yet it was in the midst of a people marked by much iniquity, and the onus and weight, not only of their own errors but also of the errors and defilements of the people, when they touched matters of the sanctuary, would rest on the shoulders of the priests.

In verses Num_16:2-6 , the responsibilities of the Levites are stated. They were to keep their charge, ministering to the priests, as given to them by the Lord, but they were not to touch the priest's office. To the priests belonged activities which were typical of worship whilst to the Levites service was apportioned. The believer today is privileged to engage in both worship and service, and, being not under law but under grace, we are established in our privileges first, and then called upon to face our responsibilities.

In verses Num_16:8-20 , we find what the Lord ordained for the maintenance of the priests and their families. We may sum it up by saying they were to live of certain parts of the sacrifices brought by the people parts that were not consumed upon the altar. These things devoted to God were to have their sacred character preserved. Of certain sacrifices what remained was to be eaten only by the priests and in the holy place. What remained of others was to be shared by the whole of the families, sons and daughters alike, with the one stipulation that they were clean.

In all this we again see a type. Today the Christian in his priestly character may offer spiritual sacrifices to God, but in so doing he receives spiritual food for himself. Some of it we may enjoy outside the sanctuary in our domestic life, and some may be ours rather in the sanctuary of God's presence, but it is a point to remember that God has linked together what we offer to Him in the way of worship and what we receive from Him in the way of our spiritual upkeep.

We must not miss the point that is made in verse Num_16:20 . Though it was a day in which God was leading a people into an earthly inheritance, there was no such inheritance for Aaron and his house. In verses Num_16:23 and 24, we find the Levites also had no inheritance among the tribes. They were devoted to the service of God, and though dwelling-places were assigned to them, they did not have a special part of the land allotted to them, for the call of God separated them from the common people. Today our calling is not to an earthly inheritance but to a heavenly, so we are not surprised to see in 1Pet 2.0 , that having been told of our priesthood, both "holy" and "royal," we are addressed as "strangers and pilgrims." Being brought so closely into touch with God, our old links with the world-system are severed.

Verse Num_16:22 of our chapter makes the separate place of Aaron and the Levites the more pronounced. The mass of the people were not to come near the tabernacle. The word "henceforth," shows that previously they had come nearer than was now to be permitted, since their "rebel" character had been so sadly manifested.

The verses that close the chapter give us details as to the system of tithing that was instituted. The twelve tribes were to give one tenth of their produce to God, and He handed it to the children of Levi as a reward for the service they gave Him, and thus they were to be amply provided for. Had the twelve tribes been about equal in numbers and possessions, then taking for the produce of each tribe 100 as a basis for calculation, each would have been reduced to go, whereas the Levites would have received 120. But against this the Levites were to offer in sacrifice to the Lord a tithe of the very best they received, and this would reduce that which was for their personal use to 108. This short calculation may help to show us that God does not mean to underpay His servants.

The Apostle Paul wrote, "Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel" ( 1Co_9:14 ), and we may see how the Lord did so by saying, " The workman is worthy of his meat" ( Mat_10:10 ), This law concerning the tithes often seemed burdensome to Israelites. In a time of revival things went happily enough as recorded in Nehemiah 12.41-12.47 . But in the very next chapter we see decline and neglect, and this increased until we get such a rebuke as is recorded in Malachi 3.8-3.10 .

As Christians we are not under the law but under grace, still we feel the rightness of what is often stated that our response to grace bestowed should not fall below the level of response to the demands of law, but rather exceed it. Did all Christians give, as the Lord has prospered them, to the Lord and His service leaving the support of the world's schemes, even the "good" and "charitable" ones, to the world that initiates them, and that can easily support them there would be no lack for the genuine service of God.

As we leave Numbers 18.0 , we cannot but recognize how perfect a system was established in Israel for the support of God's throne in the tabernacle and of the priests and Levites who served there. All that was wanted was that order of "life" in the children of Israel, that would have disposed them to walk in obedience. Says the Apostle, "If there had been a law given which could have given life . . ." (Galations 3.21 ), then all might have been well. As things were, the law failed to accomplish what was desired, "in that it was weak through the flesh " ( Rom_8:3 ). The material on which it operated was flesh, which is dead toward God. The Christian is indwelt by "the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus," and this makes all the difference, while it increases our responsibility.

In Numbers 19.0 , we have the provision that was made, so that any who contracted defilement should not be excluded permanently from the congregation of the Lord. It is an important type inasmuch as it sets forth the washing of water by the word, of which the New Testament speaks, but which is too often overlooked by us. In Heb_9:13 , we read of, "the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean" which "sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh ;" that is, the bodies of men. In contrast to this the passage goes on to speak of the purging of the conscience, which is what we have today.

If the chapter be read with care it will be noticed that this slaying of the heifer is not spoken of as something to be repeated. What was to be repeated was the application of the water brought into contact with the ashes. As far as the type goes the heifer was sacrificed once for all a fitting type of the sacrifice of Christ. The blood was sprinkled seven times before the tabernacle, while the body of the animal was burnt to ashes.

Now fire is typical of the searching judgment of God, and into the fire, when the heifer was burned, went cedar and hyssop and scarlet. Solomon spoke of trees from the cedar to hyssop, so evidently we have here the most lordly in the vegetable world and the most humble. Scarlet also seems typical of human glory. In type then we see all human glory from the greatest to the least consumed in the sacrifice of Christ. The reality indicated was expressed by Paul when he wrote of the Cross of Christ, "by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Galations 6.14 ). The glory of the world was consumed in his eyes.

No type however gives the fulness of the reality typified. Here the fire totally consumed the sacrifice. We rejoice in the knowledge that, as far as we are concerned, Christ as the Victim has consumed the fire! This work has been accomplished once for all. The once shed blood was presented in sevenfold completeness before the tabernacle, which reminds us that the blood of Christ abides before God in its eternal value.

In the type the holiness of the whole proceeding was emphasized. Only those who were ceremonially "clean" had anything to do with its administration on behalf of the unclean. It is striking that all through the particular form of uncleanness mentioned is that of contacting death in various forms a dead body, a bone, a grave. Yet the water into which some of the ashes had been put is spoken of as "a water of separation" and "a purification for sin." We carry still the flesh in us, upon which the sentence of death rests, to say nothing of living in a world of men who are dead in trespasses and sins.

How often then do we need this purification for sin; not now the cleansing from all sin, which is ours by the blood of Christ, giving us a never-to-be-forfeited and never-to-be-repeated standing in righteousness before the throne of God, but that cleansing of thought and heart and ways, that fits us to live in happy communion with God. We need it again and again; daily, we may say. This, we believe, is the cleansing that is typified here.

Twice in our chapter verses Num_16:13 and 20 is it stated that if defilement was incurred and the defiled person refused or neglected this "water of separation," he would be cut off from the congregation, which would mean he was outside the camp and debarred the ordinary privileges of the Israelites. So let us take to heart that except we experience this repeated cleansing we forfeit communion with God, and may ultimately lose practical communion with the people of God.

And how does this repeated cleansing reach us? Eph_5:26 speaks of "the washing of water by the word." Again in John 13.0 we have the washing of water in the symbolic action of the Lord in the Upper Chamber, the meaning of which becomes plain if we read Joh_15:3 . In Numbers 19.0 it is water that had been brought into contact with the ashes of the heifer. For us it is the word which is saturated, if we may so say, with the death of our Saviour and all that it signifies. As the significance of His death touches our hearts they are cleansed from all that is contrary to it. Happy are we if we know the cleansing power of the word of God.