The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 231

were murniurlng the plague was breaking out in the camp. Ho,v shall it be stayed ? Let Aaron show hi1_nself ~ true P:iest by mo.~in~ atonement.for the people. There is no time for presentmg a sm of!'enng. Let him mstead fill his censer with coals from- the altar of sacrifice, and run in between the living and the dead, burning incense. It was a palpable token and demonstration of the Divine authority of the priesthood which the rebels had affected to condemn, that whereas the two hundred and fifty had by their incense-burning brought on themselves death, Aaron by his incense-burning warded off death, and that not only from himsel£ but from the whole congregation. General l688CY!M .~1. The gTeatest storm of trial will not overthrow the man who makes God his strength. Moses begins, carries on, finishes his conflict against Korab with prayer (vers. 4, 22, 45). Hence his unfailing meekness. 2. General! demonstrations of sympathy with men who are the champions of error and unright- eousness bring guilt on the community, are displeasing to God, and may be expected to bring down his chastisements. 3. Moses, in hie meek endurance of obloquy and his successful intercession for those who assailed him with it, is the figure of our blessed Lord. He endured the contradiction of sinners against himself. He prayed, "Father, forgive them." And thousands of them were forgiven. Christ's priesthood which men despise, how often is it glorified in their salvation I 4:. The best answer that a Church or a ministry can give to men by whom their legitimacy is challenged or derided, is to bestir themselves like Aaron, standing between the dead and the living, and turning back the tide of destruction.-B. Vers. 1-35.-Envyand iu bitter fruits. L A CONSPIRACY OIi' SLANDEROUS REBELS. 1. They begin by blowing up the flame of envy in one another's hearts. The vicinity of the Reubenites to the Kohathites in the camf. gave opportunities for this. "Woe to the wicked man, and woe to his neighbour,' is a Jewish saying perhaps derived from this incident. 2. Tbeir sin the more serious because they were "men of re- nown." Inflaential sinners particularly dangerous. 3. Korah's sin especially grievous (1) because of his kinship to Moses, but chiefly (2) because of the honour already bestowed on him and his brethren (,•ers. 9, 10). Note the insatiableness of sin. 4. Their conduct condemns their motives also as bad. They envied the power or privileges, perhaps even the provision, made for the priests, as being somewhat better than that of the Levites. "Seek est thou great things for thyself? Seek them not." 5. They bring a false charge against Moses (ver. 3), which recoils on them- selves (ver. 7). God had "lifted up" Moses; they were seeking to lift up themselves. 6. They will not avail themselves of "space for repentance" till the morrow, when God will decide. They will not "sleep over it" with any advantage to themselves. 7. They are unmoved by the reminder that their murmuring is really against God (ver. 11 ). 8. They meet the friendly interposition of Moses by a fresh conspiracy of grievous falsehoods: of ambition (ver. 13), deception (ver. 14: "Wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? "), and responsibility for the evils they bad brought on them by their own sine (vers. 13, 14: "to kill us j " "thou hast not brought us," &c.). 9. They persist in the most. audac!ous defiance of God till the very last. Ske~h Korab and his company with their censers at the door of the tabernacle, whde- Dathan, Abiram, and their kindred are recklessly waiting the issue at the doors oi their tents, in spite of the wamillg of ver. 26. This last act of sin one element also- of their punishment. II. A !"EARFUL BETBIDUTION FROM AN ANGRY GoD. 1. The infatuation of the· rebels one part of the judgment. The madness of hardened sinners their own guilt,. but God's punishment (cf. Exod. iv. 21; 1 Kings .xiii. 19-23; .Acts miii. 23- 27). 2. New, strange sine call for a new,." strange work" of judg~ent (~ers. 31- 33; Prov. .xx.i:x:. 1). 3. Those who unbidden h~ndled sac.red fire m th!lir cell'!ers, perished by the fire of God. Learn hence the guilt and peril of munnunng against the appointments of God in regard to the methods of hie government, or the means. of acce~table approach to him through our Divine High Prie~t. Teachers and rulers, in Gods Church are to be honoured and followed (1 These. v. 12, 13; Heb. xiii. 17), and Christ is to be recoguieed as "the head of all .principality and power" (Col. ii.. 10), a~d the one and only medium of acceptance with God (Pe. ii. 12 i John v. 22.. ~; nv. 6).-P. 'OH. XVI. 1-40.] THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 213