Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 3-128 (Expository Sermon)

THE PENALTY FOR SIN Numbers 16:1-50

In his book Effective Leadership, British management consultant John Adair shared what he called a “short course on leadership”:

The six most important words – “I admit I made a mistake.”

The five most important words: “I am proud of you.”

The four most important words: “What is your opinion?”

The three most important words: “If you please.”

The two most important words: “Thank you.”

The one most important word: “We.”

And the least important word: “I.”

I believe we work best and ultimately achieve more when we cooperate rather than compete, and when we encourage others in their designated roles rather than criticising or suggesting how we could do their job so much better. Sadly for Israel’s leadership, such wisdom was far from the people’s hearts.

Again and again in Exodus and Numbers we discover the same destructive pattern of grumbling, rebellion and judgement – or, as I learned at theological college, “rebellion, retribution, repentance, restoration and rest.”

The two narratives in Numbers 16 follow this pattern but end in defeat and death for those who oppose God. We don’t know how much time has elapsed since the spies returned from Canaan; the rebellion could have taken place at any point in the 38 years of desert wanderings.

First, Korah, a Levite like Moses and Aaron, opposes his leadership of the nation; and Dathan, Abiram and On object to Aaron’s special role as High Priest. They were Reubenites, and perhaps they felt their rights as descendants of Jacob’s firstborn son had been unjustly lost to Moses and Aaron. Second, two days later, the whole community stands and opposes Moses and Aaron.

The first inkling of trouble for Moses and Aaron comes when these four leaders, with 250 supporters, confront them and say, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?” (verse 3).

Politically they are very adept: although there are two groups with separate grievances and goals, they present as a united front, and frame their objection in a way designed to attract maximum support from other Israelites.

The community was indeed holy (cf Exodus 19:6), and the Lord was indeed with them, even among them (cf Exodus 29:45). But Korah simply uses these truths to render his leading question more reasonable.

I can imagine bystanders looking at one another and saying, “Korah has a valid point – we are holy, God is with us; we’re going nowhere; perhaps it is time for a change of leadership!”

The same problem crops up today in national politics, on the boards of major corporations, and also within church life. That’s not the right way to solve problems and build a significant organisation or ministry. If you hear that sort of negativity in the church, let it die, and certainly don’t contribute to it.

Where do such actions originate? From where do attitudes so clearly at cross-purposes with God’s will emanate? They emanate from the fallible, selfish, sinful human heart.

Essentially sin is hostility to God, demonstrated in active rebellion against him and his Word. Sin is universal and unavoidable. As Paul says, “All have sinned . . . the sinful mind is hostile to God” (Romans 3:23; 8:7a).

Like all of us, Moses and Aaron were sinners – but they had been redeemed and sanctified, and it seems that Korah and his mates did not share their God-given vision or passion. Korah’s mind was hostile to God. He had lost the plot.

Moses responds with characteristic grace and wisdom: he falls face- down; he prostrates himself. When he rises, he has two things to say: one to the specific charge raised by Korah (verses 5-7), and the other to Korah’s underlying motive (verses 8-11).

Moses turns Korah’s accusation on its head, saying, “You Levites have gone too far!” (verse 7b). They ranked second to the priests in Israelite society; they camped next to the tabernacle (God’s dwelling place), and they coordinated the dismantling, carrying and erection of the tabernacle (see verses 8-11).

And the Levitical subgroup known as the Kohathites, of which Korah was a member, had the awesome privilege of “caring for the most holy things” and carrying Israel’s most sacred object from camp to camp – the ark of the covenant (see Numbers 4:1-20).

But those privileges were not sufficient for Korah and his companions. So Moses proposes a ‘litmus’ test: he says to them, “Take censers and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy” (verses 6b-7a).

Then Moses calls for Dathan and Abiram (On is not mentioned again), but they refuse to come, perhaps recalling the fate of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, who offered unauthorised fire before the Lord and died (Leviticus 10:1-2).

Instead, they indirectly complain about the way Moses has treated them, depicting Egypt (of all places!) as “a land flowing with milk and honey,” and complaining that the promises made to them have not been kept (verses 12-14).

This amounts not only to an open attack on Moses but to veiled contempt for God’s redemptive purpose. They perceived the land of slavery as paradise! As Jesus put it, “Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

If these are the effects of sin on people during the times of Moses and Jesus, what does sin do to me?

* First, it affects my self-harmony.

It leads to self-deception, shame, greed, angst, and a deep spiritual dissatisfaction. The psalmist beautifully reflected this profound yearning after reality: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God” (Psalm 42:1-2a).

Rather than challenging Moses’ leadership, or boldly declaring their preference for Egypt’s attractions, Korah and his companions could have sought God at the tabernacle, acknowledging their need for renewal. Is that your desire?

* Second, sin affects my social harmony.

In Romans 3, Paul quotes from several psalms and from Isaiah to show that no one is righteous before God:

“All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit . . . Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know” (Romans 3:12-14).

Although penned long ago, those words are an accurate description of the sordid history of Israel, and of the world we inhabit today. Sin disrupts not only the harmony of my psyche or inner life, but my interpersonal relationships.

And sin certainly lay at the root of the inter-personal conflict recorded in Numbers 16. There was envy, jealousy, fear, misunderstanding, pride, deceit, slander, arrogance and unbelief: a powerful recipe for disaster.

* Third, sin affects my spiritual harmony.

It ruptures my relationship with God, rendering me unfit for his presence, unable to do his will, and insensitive to his word.

As Isaiah tragically said of his unbelieving compatriots, “your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). Sin is unbelievably powerful and destructive.

When Moses hears Dathan and Abiram’s criticisms, he loses his cool and says to the Lord, “Do not accept their offering” (verse 15). This meant cutting off communication between the rebels and God. In a very real sense, their iniquities separated them from God.

Meanwhile, Korah and his 250 would-be priests accept Moses’ challenge and boldly test their claim at the entrance to the tabernacle, before the Lord. In response, the glory of the Lord appears to the whole community, fire rushes out from the Lord, and the 250 men are promptly incinerated (verses 18-19, 35).

What I do about my sin determines my destiny. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

If I do nothing about my sin, or continue in it, the consequence is death. Only by accepting God’s gracious offer of salvation will I escape what is coming to me. Only by turning from my own way to God’s way will I see life.

None of those who opposed Moses and Aaron that day showed any sign of repentance, and not one of them survived. Their lack of repentance for their sins determined their final destiny, and the same principle applies to us. The judgement on this particular instance of sin was as terrifying as it was unexpected.

Just in time, Korah must have left them to stand with Dathan and Abiram and their families. But before the cold sweat dries on his forehead, Moses proposes another test, remarkably similar to the test Elijah initiated in 1 Kings 19:

“If these men die a natural death,” he says, “. . . then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt” (verses 28-30).

And something totally new does happen, precisely as Moses predicted. The rebels are shown to have treated God with contempt, Moses’ authority is confirmed, and the principle is reiterated that those who rebel against God’s chosen leaders are rebelling against God.

You would think that at last the Israelites had learned their lesson, but the very next day we find the whole community grumbling, accusing Moses and Aaron of murdering the rebels and their families (verse 41).

Again the glory of the Lord appears, but whereas in verse 22 Moses and Aaron interceded for the people, this time Moses says to Aaron,

“Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started” (verse 46).

Immediately, Aaron assumed his formal role as Israel’s High Priest, and made atonement for the people. A line was drawn at Aaron’s feet between the dead and the living, and the plague abated, albeit with the death of 14,700 people.

Earlier in the chapter they had been passive observers, but they became active rebels, and paid the price, and sealed their destiny. What about you and me? Where do I stand in relationship with God? What does God want me to do? Let me suggest four simple steps of faith:

* First, admit that I have not given God first place in my life, and ask him to forgive my sins. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

* Second, believe that Jesus died to pay for my sins, and that he rose from among the dead, and is alive today. “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

* Third, accept God’s free gift of salvation. Don’t try to earn it. “Saving is all his idea, and his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish!” (Ephesians 2:8, TM).

* Fourth, invite Jesus Christ to come into my life and become the Director (‘Lord’) of my life. “To all who receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12-13a).

The Levitical priesthood, the tabernacle in the desert, and the whole sacrificial system anticipated the coming of Jesus Christ, pointing to the significance of his death and the spiritual benefits he would secure for his people.

For those whose trust is in him, Jesus is our Great High Priest “who has gone through the heavens . . . to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:14, 16) – just as Aaron was able to help his people avoid the deadly plague.

Through his death Jesus has paid the penalty for your sins; he has made atonement for you. All he asks you to do is to admit, believe, accept and invite him into your life. Will you do that today?

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E131 Copyright (c) 2003 Rod Benson. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: New International Version (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1980).

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