Psalm 106-17-18

Psalm 106:17-18

Rebellion has consequences!

Following on from the previous verse - the next morning the men all assemble before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Korah is there with the 250 elders of Israel, all of them have their censers with their hot coals and incense ready to burn before the Lord. Aaron is told that he too must participate in this ritual. The glory of the Lord appeared before them all and He commanded Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from the rabble. But these two men pleaded with the Lord to spare the protestors who had merely followed one man who was the ringleader. You will remember that the Levites were camped close to the Tent of Meeting and acted as a form of protection around it; the assembly are commanded by the Lord to move away from the tents of Dathan, Abiram and Korah and their families and not to touch any of their possessions. Then Moses made a spine-chilling announcement, “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 to the realm of the dead (Sheol), then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.”

Read it for yourself in Numbers 16. The ground split open, Dathan, Abiram, Korah and their families went down alive into the realm of the dead and the earth closed over them! Then fire came down from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering incense. As Hebrews 10:31 reminds us, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”


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