The Lord Will Show Who Are His

Numbers 16:2-5 [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 ? [4] And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: [5] And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the Lord will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.

This is a sobering chapter. A group of people rose up against the man that God had put in leadership. Not only this one man Korah, but 250 famous in the congregation. This is an example of how we need to be very careful who we are listening to. These men were famous and men of renown, yet they were against the man of God. What was Moses' response? "The Lord will show who are His and who is holy."

Numbers 16:26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.

Moses warned the congregation to separate from them lest they be consumed with them.

Numbers 16:33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

The ground literally opened up and swallowed them! 

Numbers 16:41-42 [41] But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord. [42] And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

Yet, the congregation still was against Moses and the will of God. So, God sent a plague.

Numbers 16:49 [49] Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.

We need to very careful about our attitude towards the man of God and his leadership. In this event almost 15,000 people died because of their rebellion.