Korach Slides (pdf)
Korach Notes (pdf)
Overview of Korach (“Korah”) Numbers 16:1 – 18:32
Israel, having failed to obey Yehovah’s instruction (and promise) to enter the Promised Land, has now settled into their camp at Kadesh Barnea. Here they will continue to receive additional instructions so that they can complete their 38-year journey through the wilderness and finally enter the Promise Land.
We had a preview of this week’s Portion two weeks ago (in Parsha BeHa’alotcha) when Aaron and Miriam privately confronted Moses about his marriage to an Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12).
But the true reason for this confrontation was quickly revealed as jealousy: why did Yehovah choose to speak through Moses, their younger brother rather than through either one of them? We know that Yehovah resolved this when He spoke directly to both of them and confirmed that Moses was His Chosen Prophet. And His anger manifested when Miriam became leprous; but Aaron remained unaffected (he still had to be ritually clean and holy to perform his Priestly duties in the Tabernacle).
In this week’s Portion we see a very similar challenge to Moses’ authority…but unlike the previous one, this one was done in a very public manner. And Yehovah’s anger with the rebels manifested also in a pubic and much more catastrophic way.
Chapter 16 Korah’s Rebellion
Unlike the earlier rebellion of Aaron and Miriam, Korah’s revolt involved several hundred people who publicly questioned Moses’ ability to hear from Yehovah and his authority to lead them. The rebels consisted of two groups: The first was led by Korah – a Kohathite, who was literally a cousin to Moses; the second was led by Datan, Abiram and On – all from the Tribe of Reuben. Incidentally, nothing more is heard about On; and Rabbinic tradition says that his wife talked him out of participating in this rebellion. In this case, it was life-saving advice. Guys….listen to your wife!
This alliance of Reubenites and Kohathites seems like an unusual union; what did these two groups have in common that would cause them to unite in this rebellion? When you look at the layout of the camp of Israel, you will notice that the Kohathites camped immediately to the south of the Tabernacle, and the Tribe of Reuben camped immediately to the south of Kohath. So it was likely that, after supper when the wives were washing the dishes from the evening meal, the men would gather outside their tents to “talk about things.” And in the course of time, these two tribes formed a rebellion, and they drew many others into it. They were not just the loud-mouthed hangers-on found in the outer edges of the crowd; they were the nasi – those who were “lifted up” – the leaders within these Tribes.
Their complaint was: “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” Their foundational premise that “all the congregation is holy” was true when Yehovah made His covenant with them at Sinai (to take them as His bride, and to make them a kingdom of priests – Exodus 19:6); but that covenant promise was taken away at the Sin of the Golden Calf. Israel would no longer be a kingdom of priests; instead they would have a Priesthood … from the Tribe of Levi. The rebels had not gotten that message and they were challenging Moses’ authority to lead them forward into the Promised Land. They wanted to turn back to the known entity of life in Egypt. How often do we rebel when Yehovah wants to take us out of our comfort zone to do His will? Human nature is to want to stay where we are. Korah’s Rebellion should be a lesson to us all.
When Moses heard this accusation, he fell on his face. How many of us would take this humble attitude in the face of such criticism? We would all (including me!) stick out our chins in defiance and offer emotional responses to justify our relationship with Yehovah and our authority from Him to lead Israel. His response to the rebels was for them to all take censers to offer incense to Yehovah on the next day. This was a ritual that only the Priests could perform; Yehovah would choose who His priests really were!
So the next day Korach, Datan and Abiram appeared before Yehovah. Rabbinic tradition says that Korah was dressed in blue from head to foot. Why would the Rabbis think that? The last few verses in the previous Portion were the commandment to wear tzit-tzit – fringes with a strand of blue in them – on the four corners of our garments for the purpose of seeing and remembering Yehovah’s Word. So Korah thought that if wearing four strands of blue was a good idea, then dressed entirely in blue was an even better idea; he thought he could intimidate Moses into accepting the idea that he (Korah) was chosen by Yehovah.
May we take a moment to extrapolate this Rabbinic belief to Yeshua’s appearance before the High Priest? Yeshua was accused of hatching a rebellion against the Aaronic Priesthood…just like Korah had done 1,500 years earlier. It has been suggested that He had been dressed entirely in blue – just as Korah was believed to have been. He would have initially worn this blue garment (symbolic of His Priesthood…according to the Order of Melchizidek (Hebrews 7:17 & Psalm 110:4). As His trials and suffering progressed, He would then have been dressed in a scarlet robe (Matthew 27:28, symbolic of His role as a Prophet); and He would ultimately been given a purple robe to wear (John 19:2, symbolic of His role as King). These three colors were prominent in the Tabernacle: particularly in the veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place…the same veil that was torn from top to bottom as the sign that Yehovah had accepted Yeshua’s perfect sacrifice on that Tree of Sacrifice. What an awesome God we serve…One Who reveals His plans to us through the patterns He has established in Torah! Now …. back to the text.
As the group of rebels was gathered against Moses and Aaron at the Tabernacle, Yehovah told Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from this group so that He may judge them. He caused the earth to open beneath the tents of Korah, Datan & Abiram; they were all (men, women and children) swallowed alive; and the earth closed behind them. We see a connection to this event and the End-time event of the Beast and false prophet being cast alive into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20).
Yehovah then turned His attention to the 250 followers standing there with their censers ready to offer incense to Him. He sent fire from Heaven to consume them. Instead of offering incense, they became the Burnt Offering!
Chapter 17 The Consequences of Rebellion
Note: this chapter in the Jewish Bible actually starts with verse 36 in the 16th chapter of the Christian Bible.
Yehovah had Aaron’s son, Eleazer, pick out the brass censers from among the smoldering remains of the 250 rebels. He instructed him to hammer them flat into plates and attach them to the Brazen Altar, “to be a memorial to the children of Israel that no outsider, who is not a descendant of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his companions, just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.” This is Yehovah’s irony: the next time Israel packed up the Tabernacle to follow the Cloud, the Kohathites would have noticed that the Brazen Laver was much heavier due to the added brass plates from the rebels censers. They would literally have to bear their brothers’ sins upon their shoulders!
The next day the people accused Moses of killing the rebels. Yehovah told Moses and Aaron to again separate themselves from these people so that He could consume them. But Moses told Aaron to pass among the people with a censer of incense to make atonement for them: “and he [Aaron] stood between the dead [Angel of Death] and the living; so the plague was stopped.” Before Aaron could complete his intercession, 14,700 people died in the plague. Yehovah’s judgment continued on the unbelieving generation that had departed from Egypt; and it would continue until all of that first generation had died in the Wilderness.
Aaron’s Rod that Budded
To confirm to everyone that Aaron was His chosen Priest, Yehovah had the leader of each of the 12 Tribes (including Levi) place a rod in the Tabernacle of Meeting. The next day, only Aaron’s rod had sprouted buds, then blossoms and, finally produced ripe almonds. This was Yehovah’s sign. He commanded that this rod be placed into the Ark of the Covenant “to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.”
Chapter 18 The Instructions Continue
With Israel camped at Kadesh Barnea, Yehovah continued to download His instructions to them. Aaron gathered all the Levites and the Priests together so that they may understand their duties. The Levites were to guard and protect the Outer Court of the Tabernacle from unauthorized entry; and Aaron and the Priests were to guard and protect the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place….and also protect the Levites.
Tithing
Yehovah had established the concept of tithing early in Torah:
Abram tithed to Melchizidek in Genesis 14:19-20
Jacob tithed to Yehovah in Genesis 28:20-22
All Israel was to tithe the fruit of the Land (including animals) in Leviticus 27:30-37
But here Yehovah established that the people were to tithe to the Levites, and the Levies, in turn, tithed their “income” to the Priests. In that manner, Yehovah provided for all the Sons of Levi because He had not given them a Land inheritance; it was the responsibility of the remaining Tribes to provide for their Levitical brothers.
Incidentally, the New Covenant is silent about the concept of tithing …giving 10% of your income. It talks about giving generously…but never mentions a specific percentage. So we are to give according to what Yehovah places upon our heart…not what a pastor may try to convince us the Bible tells us today about tithing. Personally, we have tithed our income for many years; and we quickly saw that we cannot out-give Yehovah. As we are obedient to what He places upon our hearts to do…He is faithful to meet our every need in this life.
The Haftarah Reading (I Samuel 11:14 – 12:22)
In the Haftarah reading, we see the Prophet Samuel presenting Saul to Israel as her first King. Samuel uses the same language that Moses used in his intercession with God when Korach challenged him. Moses cited his integrity in dealing with the people; he said: “I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.” Here Samuel uses these same words as he transfers his authority to Saul. We read from I Samuel 12:1-6:
“Now Samuel said to all Israel: “Indeed I have heeded your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. And now here is the king, walking before you; and I am old and gray-headed, and look, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my childhood to this day. Here I am. Witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.” And they said, “You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man’s hand.” Then he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they answered, “He is witness.” Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who raised up Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt.”
The Brit Chadashah reading (Matthew 26:57-65)
So far we have seen two challenges to Moses’s leadership: one from his brother & sister and now, this week, from Korach and his followers. In the Brit Chadashah reading we see one final challenge of the High Priest’s authority … this time by Yeshua. Rome had corrupted the Priesthood, and Yeshua was continually confronting them about it. We read of Yeshua’s final challenge of the High Priest, Caiaphas, in Matthew 26:57-65:
“And those who had laid hold of Yeshua led Him away to Caiaphas the High Priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. But Peter followed Him at a distance to the High Priest’s courtyard. And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end. Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Yeshua to put Him to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’” And the High Priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?” But Yeshua kept silent. And the High Priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the Living God: Tell us if You are the Messiah, the Son of God!” Yeshua said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the High Priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!’”
Even though Yeshua was beaten, bound and was standing before the High Priest, Yeshua was totally in charge of that situation! Caiaphas had torn his Priestly garment and, therefore, disqualified himself from the position of the Levitical High Priest…making way for Yeshua to take His rightful place as the High Priest of the Higher Order – the Order of Melchizedek! Caiaphas was not able to offer that Passover Sacrifice; Yeshua Himself would be not only the Passover offering, but He would also serve as the High Priest Who offered that Passover sacrifice. Halleluyah!!!