Numbers 16:25-50

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

God’s Judgment of Those Involved in the Rebellion of Korah

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. God removes believers who persist in the sin of rebellion.

  2. God reminds believers of the consequences of the sin of rebellion.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Thank the Lord that He stands between the dead and the living.

QUESTIONS

  1. What is behind the surface sin of contempt?

  2. Why are these sins of the wilderness recorded?

  3. Give an example of sin that can lead to death.

  4. What did Eleazar the priest do with the bronze incense censers of the rebellious men?

  5. Why did God say again that He would wipe out the children of Israel?

  6. Did God consume all the people with the plague?

ANSWERS

  1. The deeper sin of rebellion is behind the surface sin of contempt.

  2. They are a warning for us, lest we commit the same sins and miss out on the blessings God has for us. See 1 Corinthians 10:1-13.

  3. Rebellion against God’s authority structure

  4. He hammered them into plates to cover the altar, as a reminder to the people that only descendants of Aaron could offer incense before the Lord. It also reminded them that God must judge the sin of rebellion.

  5. Because the day after He had judged the sin of Korah, the people accused Moses and Aaron of killing these “people of the Lord.”

  6. No, Aaron ran to offer incense to the Lord as an atonement for the people, and the plague stopped.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. God removes believers who persist in the sin of rebellion. This was true during the time of the wilderness wandering, and it is true today. Read 1 Corinthians 11:29-32 and 1 John 5:16-17. Why does God do this? Is God just in doing this?

  2. When a believer rebelliously sins, God will hammer out the consequences of that sin, so His people will see the consequences and remember that God punishes the sin of rebellion. Think of an example from your own life. How has your experience benefited others? Have you been willing to teach them from your mistakes? Remember that God can work all things for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) Share how your life is a testimony of this!

CHALLENGE

  1. Aaron standing between the dead and the living is a picture of our Lord Jesus as High Priest. If you are believer, you have been delivered from the dead and are now in the company of the living, because of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. Thank the Lord that He stands between the dead and the living.

KEY VERSES

  • “The censers of these men who sinned against their own souls, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar… they shall be a sign to the children of Israel.” Numbers 16:38

  • “And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped.” Numbers 16:48

Numbers, Old Testament, TalksRon ReidNUMBERS 16:25-50