Korah's Rebellion

Korah, with Dathan, Abiram, and many recognised leaders of Israel, rose up against Moses and Aaron. They said the whole congregation was holy and accused Moses and Aaron of exalting themselves. Moses fell on his face and said the Lord would show whom he had chosen to come near. He told the sons of Levi that this dispute was really against the Lord, not merely against Aaron.

When Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, they refused to come. They accused him of bringing them into the wilderness and acting like a ruler over them. Moses was very angry and spoke to the Lord. Then he told Korah, his company, and Aaron to come the next day with censers and incense before the Lord.

Korah gathered the congregation at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and the Lord’s glory appeared. The Lord told Moses and Aaron to separate from the congregation. They fell on their faces and appealed to God. Then Moses warned the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, so they would not be swept away in these men’s sins.

Moses said that if the ground opened and swallowed these men, Israel would know they had despised the Lord. As soon as he finished speaking, the ground split open. Dathan and Abiram, their households, Korah’s men, and their goods were swallowed up. Then fire came from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering incense.

Afterward, the Lord told Moses to have Eleazar collect the bronze censers from the burning. They were hammered into a covering for the altar as a memorial. It would warn Israel that no one outside Aaron’s offspring should come near to burn incense before the Lord. But the next day the congregation accused Moses and Aaron, saying, 'You have killed the Lord’s people.'

Again the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the Lord’s glory appeared. Moses told Aaron to take a censer with fire from the altar and hurry to make atonement for the people, because a plague had begun. Aaron ran into the middle of the assembly and stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped. Fourteen thousand seven hundred died in the plague, besides those who died in the matter of Korah. Why do you think this passage remembers both judgment and mercy?