Nu 16: prelude to a plague

         16:1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: 2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: 3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

       Korah was the grandson of Kohath. The Kohathites were assigned specific duties around the tabernacle (Numbers 4). From what Moses says in response, Korah and his followers weren’t content with their role as Levites (caring for the tabernacle articles); they wanted the priesthood also. Moses stands up for Aaron: what is Korah’s problem with Aaron?

       The rebellion grows to 250 leaders in the congregation. Dathan and Abiram are Reubenites. (On is a Reubenite. He is only mentioned in this verse in the whole bible.) It appears that they have a separate but simultaneous quarrel with Moses.

            4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:

       What does it take you to fall upon your face? Granted, this may be a common display in certain cultures. It’s not common in the US, at least not in Vermont.

       I found the phrase “fell upon” and “face” and its derivatives ~29 times in the Bible. In each case, profound emotional circumstances surround it. It shows worship, awe, horror, humility, wonder or extreme gratitude. In verse 4 above, it seems that Moses' display is a mix of horror and fear for what is likely to come.

       Moses fell on his face more than once. I linger on this thought because one of my desires in “opening the Old Testament” is for you to see these characters as real people with passions and foibles very like our own.

       I truly believe Moses loved these people. Like crazy. How often has he interceded for them? He once killed a man for the injustice he perceived (Exodus 2). He gave up a promise of an amazing heritage in order to talk God out of destroying Israel. Even when pushed to the brink of suicide, Moses pulls it together to continue to lead.

       Misunderstood and maligned, slandered and accused, Moses nevertheless does everything he can to guide and protect the children of Israel from stupidity in its many forms.

       I don’t wish to wax political in a bible study, but here is one thing for certain: when I see a would-be leader, if that man or woman has this kind of heart for a nation, that person will definitely draw my consideration. May our loving God raise up those kind of men and women in our lifetimes.

Numbers 4: the Kohathites

Numbers 4: 19a But thus do unto [the Kohathites], that they may live, and not die,

       Who were the Kohathites? Why were they warned that they could die if they approached the most holy things?

       Kohath was a direct descendant of Levi and the grandfather of Aaron.

       Ge 46:11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

       Ex 6:18 And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.

       The Kohathites were Levites and relatives of Aaron but not descendants of Aaron. Because they were descendants of Levi they were included in the service of the tabernacle.  Numbers 4 directs them to do service, but they can’t touch or look upon the holy tabernacle items. The sons of Aaron had to cover everything first.

       Upon a second (or third) reading of Numbers 4, verse 18 jumps out:

         Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:

       The word for “cut off” [trk karath] means anything from breaking a covenant to cutting off a body part to failing. Most likely it is in the sense of breaking a covenant. (It seems to be a word like our English “set.” It has lots of definitions and the meaning is derived from context.)

       Could it be that God was anticipating future disagreements or entitlement disputes? God made provision for all of Levi’s descendants, not just the priests. The priests did have a slightly different “salary,” so to speak, but the other Levites were not to be excluded.

       We see similar guidelines for the descendants of Levi’s sons Gershon and Merari. They are Levites and entitled to the benefits of the family line, but they are not part of the priestly line.

       Of note, one Levites census was for Levites 30-50 years old. It seems the age limit was 30-50 years old for priestly and ancillary service for the work of the tabernacle, but then in Numbers 8, it says 25-50 years old. If I discover anything conclusive, I'll let you know. Maybe the 5 years are kind of a training period?

Have a day full of good "Numbers!"

Nu. 2-4: on micromanagement

       Numbers 2 gives the layout of the tribes’ camps about the tabernacle.

       Numbers 3:1-14 introduces the census of the Levites, with a reference to Nadab and Abihu. [I’ll come back to that.] Because all the firstborn belong to God, the Levites will replace the firstborn of all the tribes of Israel.

       Numbers 3:13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD.

       Moses counts the Levites, every male of one month old or older. There aren’t enough Levites to cover all of the firstborn of Israel, so they collect money from the tribes to cover them. This is given to Aaron and his sons per God’s command.

       A few days ago, I wrote about when God says “if.” To get at the heart of scripture, to see God’s heart, character and motivation, I recommend you also take note of other specific words when God says them. Two more are “because” and “lest.” God says "because" in 3:13. Did you find “lest” in chapter 4? If you have a different translation, you will have to look harder for key concepts like “lest.” You’ll have to think of do/don’t do…or else. If you use a Strong’s concordance (I highly recommend), you can look up “lest,” find the verse in the concordance and then look it up in your translation. All right, I’ll tell you.

       Numbers 4:18-20 Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites: But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden: But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.

       [More on the Kohathites later.]
       I was impressed by something in chapters 3-4. Talk about micromanagement! As a rule, I don’t like being micromanaged. As I think about it, it occurs to me that maybe I dislike it so much because I might possibly have that tendency. I’m blessed right now to have two bosses that aren’t micromanagers. They trust me to do my job. You have no idea how freeing it is to be trusted as competent. When you don't have to keep answering for every action, you can actually act!

       Having said that, why is God micromanaging? Is it possible that God didn’t trust the Levites to do their jobs? Ouch! God knows the past; He knows the future.

       Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

       It follows that God knows how far Israel would fall, so He is careful to give such detail, lest people die. [To borrow from C.S. Lewis' concept, Aslan is not a tame lion.]
Therefore: Man micromanages=could be bad. God micromanages=bad sign but good intent!

       Which brings me to Nadab and Abihu.