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Day 139 – Separation Numbers 16:1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, made bold, and with him Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, the sons of Reuben; 2 and rose up against Moses, with two hundred and fifty men of the children of Israel, princes of the assembly, summoned to the council, men of renown; 3 and gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “It is enough; for the entire assembly, every one of them holy, and JEHOVAH is among them; and why do ye lift up yourselves above the congregation of Jehovah?” 4 When Moses heard this, he fell on his face. 5 He spoke to Korah and to his band, saying, “Even tomorrow will JEHOVAH make known who is his, and who is holy; and He will cause him to come near to him; and him whom He has chosen, him will He cause to come near to him. 6 This do: take censers, Korah, and your company, 7 and put fire therein, and lay incense thereon before JEHOVAH tomorrow; and it will be that the man whom JEHOVAH doth choose, he will be holy. It is enough, you sons of Levi!” 8 Moses said to Korah, “Hear, I pray you, you sons of Levi! 9 Is it too little for you, that the Elohiym of Israel has separated you from the assembly of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the work of the tabernacle of JEHOVAH, and to stand before the assembly to minister to them? 10 —that he has brought you near, and your brethren the sons of Levi with you; and seek you now the priesthood also? 11 For which cause you and your company banded together against JEHOVAH; and Aaron, who is he that you murmur against him?” 12 Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up! 13 Is it a small thing that you brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must make yourself a ruler over us? 14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!” 15 Then Moses was angry, and said to JEHOVAH, “Have no regard to their oblation: not one donkey have I taken from them, neither have I hurt one of them.” 16 Moses said to Korah, “Come, you and your company before JEHOVAH, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. 17 Take each his censer, and put incense thereon, and present before JEHOVAH every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; and you, and Aaron, each his censer.” 18 They took each of his censer, and put fire on them, and laid incense thereon, and stood before the entrance to the tent of meeting, as well as Moses and Aaron. 19 Korah gathered the whole assembly against them to the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of JEHOVAH appeared to the assembly. 20 JEHOVAH spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from the midst of this assembly, and I will consume them in a moment.” 22 They fell on their faces, and said, O El, the Elohiym of the Ruach of all flesh! will one man sin, and will you be angry with the whole assembly?” 23 JEHOVAH spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak unto the assembly, saying, ‘Get up from about the habitation of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’ 25 Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 He spoke to the assembly, saying, “Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you perish in their sins.” 27 They got up from the habitation of Koran, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side. Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the entrance of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. 28 Moses said, “Hereby you will know JEHOVAH sent me to do these deeds, for they are not out of my own heart: 29 if these men die as men die, and are visited with the visitation of men, JEHOVAH has not sent me; 30 but if JEHOVAH makes a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them, and everything they have, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know these men despised JEHOVAH.” 31 It happened when he ended speaking these words, the ground clave apart that was under them. 32 The earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, their households, and the men that belonged to Korah, and their property. 33 They went down, they and everything they had, alive into Sheol, and the earth covered them; and they perished from among the congregation. 34 All Israel that were round about them fled at their cry; for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” 35 There came out a fire from JEHOVAH and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who had presented incense. 36 JEHOVAH spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, to take the censers out of the burning; and scatter the fire afar; for they are hallowed, 38 the censers of these sinners who forfeited their life; and make them into broad plates for the covering of the altar; for they presented them before JEHOVAH, therefore, they are hallowed; and they will be a sign unto the children of Israel.” 39 Eleazar the priest took the copper censers, which they that were burnt had presented; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: 40 as a memorial to the children of Israel, that no stranger who is not of the seed of Aaron comes near to burn incense before JEHOVAH, that he be not as Korah, and as his company, —as JEHOVAH had said to him through Moses. 41 The whole assembly of the children of Israel murmured on the morrow against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You killed the people of JEHOVAH.” 42 It happened, when the assembly was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, they looked toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of JEHOVAH appeared. 43 Moses and Aaron went before the tent of meeting. 44 JEHOVAH spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Get up from the midst of this assembly, and I will consume them in a moment. And they fell on their faces. 46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, and put fire thereon from off the altar, and lay on incense, and carry it quickly to the assembly, and make atonement for them; for there is wrath gone out from JEHOVAH: the plague is begun.” 47 Aaron took as Moses had said and ran into the midst of the congregation; and behold, the plague had begun among the people; and he put on incense and made atonement for the people. 48 He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague stopped. 49 Now, they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides them that had died because of the matter of Korah. 50 Aaron returned to Moses to the entrance of the tent of meeting; and the plague stopped. God’s names: JEHOVAH – Self-existent, Eternal El – God Elohiym – Mighty God Ruach – Spirit, Breath God’s character: Holy Judge Every day people protest something they don’t like and often gather other likeminded people with them to come against people and organizations they don’t agree with. Sometimes those protests become angry, and violence ensues, causing those in authority to come against them, armed against the protesters. When they do, many people become injured, and some die. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram along with two-hundred-fifty men came against Moses and Aaron and their authority. When they did, JEHOVAH came against them and killed them. The earth swallowed them and their families alive into Sheol, the pit, or hell. Then the congregation came against Moses and Aaron for killing those men and their families. JEHOVAH came against them, sending a plague to kill those who stood against Moses and Aaron. If Aaron had not taken a censor of incense into the middle of the congregation, the entire assembly would have died. As it was, 14,700 men died because of their protest against Moses and Aaron. Many Christians come against their church leadership and divide the congregation, separating themselves and forming a new congregation. When they do, it brings chaos and hard feelings between everyone involved. I’ve been part of two such separations. Part of it because I was a member of the congregation. I did not take part in the trouble those people caused. I can tell you it brought pain to the minister, affected by those who came against him. Did it cause the minister to reject those who came against him? No. It caused him to pray for them and seek Elohiym’s will in the middle of the trouble. It caused separation between the people who caused the trouble, but it didn’t change how he felt toward them. Moses sought JEHOVAH’S response to what Korah, Dathan, and Abiram did, on his face before JEHOVAH. It was JEHOVAH’S decision to destroy those who stood against Him and His servants. Moses didn’t kill anyone, JEHOVAH did. The only thing you can do when people come against church leadership is pray and let Elohiym take care of the matter. Hard feelings will erupt. It is inevitable, but you must stand firm with your church leadership and not allow those who cause trouble to sway you from standing with the servant Elohiym placed over you. Let’s pray: Father, help me stand with my church leadership and not with those who cause trouble. Help me pray for those who cause trouble and those in authority over me. Let Your will be done and let me accept Your decision. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. Copyright © 5 June 2024 by Valerie Routhieaux The image belongs to me.