Overall Question: What was at stake in the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram?

Memory Text: Proverbs 16:18 ESV “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Sunday – Rebellion Again
Numbers 16:1-3 God’s Word to the Nations “1 ¶ Korah (son of Izhar), Dathan and Abiram (sons of Eliab), and On (son of Peleth) dared to challenge Moses. (Korah was a descendant of Kohath and Levi. Dathan, Abiram, and On were descendants of Reuben.) 2 These four men were joined by 250 Israelite men, well–known leaders of the community, chosen by the assembly. 3 They came together to confront Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You’ve gone far enough! Everyone in the whole community is holy, and the LORD is among them. Why do you set yourselves above the LORD’S assembly?"”
Numbers 16:1-2 COMMENTARY BY JAMIESON, FAUSSET, AND BROWN The latter mentioned individuals, being all sons of Reuben, the eldest of Jacob's family, had been stimulated to this insurrection on the pretext that Moses had, by an arbitrary arrangement, taken away the right of primogeniture, which had vested the hereditary dignity of the priesthood in the first-born of every family, with a view of transferring the hereditary exercise of the sacred functions to a particular branch of his own house; and that this gross instance of partiality to his own relations, to the permanent detriment of others, was a sufficient ground for refusing allegiance to his government. In addition to this grievance, another cause of jealousy and dissatisfaction that rankled in the breasts of the Reubenites was the advancement of Judah to the leadership among the tribes.
Numbers 16:12-14 Holman “12 ¶ Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come! 13 Is it not enough that you brought us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Do you also have to appoint yourself as ruler over us? 14 Furthermore, you didn’t bring us to a land flowing with milk and honey or give us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come!””

Monday – If the Lord Creates Something New
Numbers 16:11 CEV “You and your followers have rebelled against the LORD, not against Aaron.”
Numbers 16:15-35 NLT “15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not accept their offerings! I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single one of them." 16 And Moses said to Korah, "Come here tomorrow and present yourself before the LORD with all your followers. Aaron will also be here. 17 Be sure that each of your 250 followers brings an incense burner with incense on it, so you can present them before the LORD. Aaron will also bring his incense burner." 18 So these men came with their incense burners, placed burning coals and incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron. 19 Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up the entire community against Moses and Aaron, and they all assembled at the Tabernacle entrance. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to the whole community, 20 and the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 21 "Get away from these people so that I may instantly destroy them!" 22 But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. "O God, the God and source of all life," they pleaded. "Must you be angry with all the people when only one man sins?" 23 ¶ And the LORD said to Moses, 24 "Then tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram." 25 So Moses got up and rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed closely by the Israelite leaders. 26 "Quick!" he told the people. "Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don’t touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins." 27 So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents with their wives and children and little ones. 28 And Moses said, "By this you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things that I have done—for I have not done them on my own. 29 If these men die a natural death, then the LORD has not sent me. 30 But if the LORD performs a miracle and the ground opens up and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the LORD." 31 He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them. 32 The earth opened up and swallowed the men, along with their households and the followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned. 33 So they went down alive into the grave, along with their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished. 34 All of the people of Israel fled as they heard their screams, fearing that the earth would swallow them, too. 35 ¶ Then fire blazed forth from the LORD and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.”
Numbers 16:28-34 COMMENTARY BY JAMIESON, FAUSSET, AND BROWN The awful catastrophe of the earthquake which, as predicted by Moses, swallowed up those impious rebels in a living tomb, gave the divine attestation to the mission of Moses and struck the spectators with solemn awe.

Tuesday – Memorials
Numbers 16:36-40 CEV “36 Then the LORD said to Moses, 37 "Tell Aaron’s son Eleazar to take the fire pans from the smoldering fire and scatter the coals. The pans are now sacred, 38 because they were used for offering incense to me. Have them hammered into a thin layer of bronze as a covering for the altar. Those men died because of their sin, and now their fire pans will become a warning for the rest of the community." 39 Eleazar collected the pans and had them hammered into a thin layer of bronze as a covering for the altar, 40 just as the LORD had told Moses. The pans were a warning to the Israelites that only Aaron’s descendants would be allowed to offer incense to the LORD. Anyone else who tried would be punished like Korah and his followers.”
Other Memorials in the Bible:
Exodus 20:8-11 NRSV “8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.”
Numbers 31:54 NRSV “So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.” [Note: this is after the apostasy Balaam induced]
Matthew 26:13 BBE “Truly I say to you, Wherever this good news goes out in all the world, what this woman has done will be talked of in memory of her.” [Jesus’ comment after being anointed during dinner]
Luke 22:19 CEV “Jesus took some bread in his hands and gave thanks for it. He broke the bread and handed it to his apostles. Then he said, "This is my body, which is given for you. Eat this as a way of remembering me!"”

Wednesday – Between the Living and the Dead
Numbers 16:41-50 God’s Word to the Nations “41 ¶ The next day the whole community of Israel complained to Moses and Aaron. They said, "You have killed the LORD’S people." 42 The community came together to confront Moses and Aaron. When they turned toward the tent of meeting, they saw the smoke covering it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting. 44 The LORD said to Moses, 45 "Get away from these people, and let me destroy them in an instant!" Immediately, they bowed with their faces touching the ground. 46 Moses said to Aaron, "Take your incense burner, put burning coals from the altar and incense in it, and go quickly into the community to make peace with the LORD for the people. The LORD is showing his anger; a plague has started." 47 Aaron took his incense burner, as Moses told him, and ran into the middle of the assembly, because the plague had already begun among the people. He put incense on the incense burner to make peace with the LORD for the people. 48 He stood between those who had died and those who were still alive, and the plague stopped. 49 Still, 14,700 died from the plague in addition to those who had died because of Korah. 50 By the time Aaron came back to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the plague had stopped.”
Numbers 16:48 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE By the awful transactions recorded in this chapter, we may see how jealous God is of the sole right of appointing the way and means of salvation. Had any priesthood, and any kind of service, no matter how solemn and sincere, been equally available in the sight of Divine justice and mercy, God would not have resented in so awful a manner the attempts of Korah and his company in their new service. The way of God's own appointment, the agony and death of Christ, is the only way in which souls can be saved. His is the priesthood, and his is the only available sacrifice. All other modes and schemes of salvation are the inventions of men or devils, and will in the end prove ruinous to all those who trust in them.

Thursday – Aaron’s Rod That Budded
Numbers 17 NIV “1 ¶ The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. 3 On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. 4 Place them in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you. 5 The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites." 6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them. 7 Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony. 8 ¶ The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each man took his own staff. 10 The LORD said to Moses, "Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die." 11 Moses did just as the LORD commanded him. 12 The Israelites said to Moses, "We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! 13 Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?"”
Numbers 17:8 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE To see a piece of wood long cut off from the parent stock, without bark or moisture remaining, laid up in a dry place for a single night, with others in the same circumstances-to see such a piece of wood resume and evince the perfection of vegetative life, budding, blossoming, and bringing forth ripe fruit at the same time, must be such a demonstration of the peculiar interference of God, as to silence every doubt and satisfy every scruple.