Psalm 106. Psalm 106. We're going to just touch
it real briefly for just a second to remind ourselves
what we're talking about tonight. Psalm 106.
We started there last Wednesday, and we were
introduced to a story, but we had to flip back
to number 16 to really look at the story. I felt
like it was worth us looking at. It's a good
story. We looked at part of it last week, and
we'll wrap up this portion of the story. But
in Psalm 106, it's talking about Israel's unfaithfulness
to God. God had been faithful to his people many
times, but God's people were often unfaithful
to him. And one of these stories is being recalled
here in Psalm 106 in verse 16. We'll just refresh
ourselves with this. story and then we'll flip
back to Numbers 16 and talk more about it. Let's
pray and we'll get started. God, we come to you.
I thank you for your word. I pray that you would
help us to learn something from what we are about
to read, that we would pay attention to the actions
of your people, that we would pay attention to
your actions, dear Lord. Maybe what we see here
tonight would cause us to think a little bit
about the things that we are tempted to do and
the complaining that we are tempted so often
to complain about, all the things that may come
into our mind. And I pray that you just would
free us from distractions and worries and let
your Holy Spirit be among us tonight as we look
at these words. In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen.
Alright, Psalm 106 verse 16. In the camp they
were envious of Moses and of Aaron, the Lord's
holy one. The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan.
It covered the assembly of Abiram. Fire blazed
throughout their assembly, and flames consumed
the wicked. So that brief three verses we see
in Psalm 106 has a whole big story that goes
with it. And we talked about that last week in
Numbers 16. I'll refresh you a little bit about
what was going on. Last week we read through,
oh, I don't remember what verse we read through
last week, through about verse 14. We read number
16, verses 1 through 14. And there were a few
folks that really didn't like the way things
were going with Moses and Aaron. And so Korah
and Dathan and Abraham and some others that they
gathered up were going to... do this rebellion
against Moses. They said, hey, why do we have
to follow you? Why do we have to listen to you?
And they said, you know, we left a land flowing
with milk and honey to come out here where we
are now. Well, the reason why they were in the
shape they were in was because of their disobedience.
They certainly could have really been in a land
flowing with milk and honey. It's interesting
that they remembered their time enslaved in Egypt.
With such fond memories, obviously the time that
had elapsed from when they were freed, they were
kind of thinking back that things were a little
better than they were. But they had saw the land
that God had promised them, and based on the
report of some of the ones that went in to check
out the land, the people were afraid and didn't
want to go in. So the Lord said, okay, you don't
want to go in. You're not going to go in. Well,
the people didn't like what was going on. They
didn't like the way Moses and Aaron was leading.
And so these three guys and some others, 250
other leaders in the community, were planning
this rebellion to say, look, we're not going
to follow you, Moses. We don't have to listen
to you. We can do this our own self. What makes
you so special? So that's what we saw last week
in the beginning part of the story. Now, as you
can imagine, this did not sit well with Moses,
and it did not sit well with the Lord. And so
we're going to see the conclusion. of that story
tonight in Numbers chapter 16, starting in verse
15. We'll cover a lot of verses, but we'll try
to get through them quickly because we really
need to see most of these to understand the story.
All right, Numbers 16, verse 15. Then Moses became
angry and said to the Lord, Don't respect their
offering. I have not taken one donkey from them
or mistreated a single one of them. So Moses
told Korah, You and all your followers are to
appear before the Lord tomorrow, you, they, and
Aaron. Each of you is to take his fire pan, place
incense on it, and present his fire pan before
the Lord. 250 fire pans. You and Aaron are each
to present your fire pan also. Okay, so Moses
says, look. I haven't done wrong by you guys.
You guys are going to come out against us. You're
going to come out against the Lord. You're coming
out against me and Aaron. So tomorrow we're all
going to gather with our fire pans before the
Lord, and we're going to let the Lord sort this
out. We're going to let the Lord decide who's
in the right and who's in the wrong here. Is
it going to be Moses and Aaron, or is it going
to be Korah and Dathan and Abraham and all these
who are... Calling Moses out, okay? They call
Moses out. They're calling out the Lord essentially
in this. And so Moses says, we're going to go
before the Lord. We'll let the Lord sort this
out. All right, verse 18. Each man took his firepan,
placed fire in it, put incense on it, and stood
at the entrance of the tent of meeting along
with Moses and Aaron. After Korah assembled,
the whole... All right, didn't take the Lord
long to make a judgment on this case right here.
These guys are coming against Moses. They all
go before the Lord. The Lord says, Moses, you
boys get out of the way. I'm about to send fire
down. I'm about to consume this whole community
of people. The Lord says, I'm done with them.
I'm going to consume them. So the Lord had already
made his decision on who was in the wrong here.
All right, verse 22. But Moses and Aaron fell
face down and said, God, God of the spirits of
all flesh. When one man sins, will you vent your
wrath on the whole community? All right, that's
a good thing we see of Moses here. Now, we see
this throughout Moses as he leads the people.
Moses intercedes for the people. He steps up
for the people when they've done some pretty
evil things. Now, if God would have chosen to
have wiped them all out, the whole bunch of them,
he would have been right in doing so. He had
given them some conditions. Hey, you need to
do these things. And if you don't do these things,
you're going to experience my wrath. Well, they
did not follow the instructions of God. They
did not live in obedience to him. And God says,
I'm going to take care of them. But Moses intercedes
and says, hold up, God. Not everybody's bad.
There's some of these folks in your community
that are bad, sure enough. These guys that are
wanting to start this rebellion, they're not
doing a good thing, but don't take out your anger
on the whole group of your people, God, just
because there's a few folks that are doing wrong.
So Moses intercedes on behalf of the people.
Verse 23, Then the Lord replied to Moses, Tell
the community, get away from the dwellings of
Korah, Dathan, and Abraham. Moses got up and
went to Dathan and Abraham, and the elders of
Israel followed him. He warned the community,
Get away now from the tents of these wicked men.
Don't touch anything that belongs to them, or
you will be swept away because of all their sins.
So they got away from the dwellings of Korah,
Dathan, and Abraham. Meanwhile, Dathan and Abraham
came out and stood at the entrance of their tents
with their wives, children, and infants. Okay,
now God had just told Moses and Aaron, hey, get
away. I'm going to destroy everybody. And Moses
intercedes and says, hold up, God. There's some
bad eggs in this group, but don't punish everybody
because there's a few bad guys in this group
that are doing wrong. So the Lord hears Moses'
request. And so Moses goes out and tells the
community, all right, these dudes here, Korah,
Dathan, and Abraham, they're up to no good. And
if y 'all know what's good for you, you need
to get away from them. Don't be anywhere close
to them, nothing they own, not their family.
You need to get away. You need to get out of
God's path because God is about to bring his
wrath on these who have done wrong. So Moses
gives the people a warning. All right, let's
continue on in verse 28. Then Moses said, This
is how you will know that the Lord sent me to
do all these things and that it was not of my
own will. If these men die naturally, as all
people would, and suffer the fate of all, then
the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings
about something unprecedented and the ground
opens its mouth and swallows them along with
all that belongs to them so that they go down
alive into Sheol, then you will know that these
men have despised the Lord. Okay? So Moses says,
all right, we need to figure out who's in the
right and who's in the wrong. If I'm in the wrong,
Moses says, if God did not send me, then these
men who are coming against me, then nothing's
going to happen to them. Then they're just going
to live a long, normal life. There will be no
more problems. They'll go on their way. I'll
go on my way. And if nothing happens to these
men, then you'll know that God didn't send me.
But Moses says, if God did send me, then the
ground, may it open up and may it swallow these
men and everything they got. May it be brought
down to Sheol. May it be brought down to the
grave with them. All right, let's see what happens
after Moses speaks these words. Verse 31. Just
as he finished speaking all these words, the
ground beneath them split open. The earth opened
its mouth and swallowed them and their household,
all Korah's people and all their possessions.
They went down alive into Sheol with all that
belonged to them. The earth closed over them
and they vanished from the assembly. At their
cries, all the people of Israel who were around
them fled because they thought, the earth may
swallow us too. Fire came down from the Lord
and consumed the 250 men who were presenting
the incense. Sure enough, we see who was in the
right. It was Moses. Moses was sent by God. He
was doing exactly what God said. He was giving
the commands of God to the people. They didn't
always like it. They didn't like the results
that they were getting, which was pretty much
their own fault. God told them what to do. They
didn't do it. God would bring consequences, and
then they'd complain, and then Moses would intercede,
and then they'd complain some more. It's just
this cycle that we see over and over. But Moses
was just doing the Lord's work. And Moses said,
okay, if I'm doing the Lord's work, ground's
going to swallow these dudes up, ground open
up. swallowed these dudes up, all their family,
everything, and the ground closed over them.
So you can imagine there was great fear among
the people. It got their attention, at least
for a second, that God had brought judgment on
these people, on Korah and Dathan and Abraham
and their families, and these other 250 men,
fire consumed them. Boom. Now this is the event
that we see described in those three short verses
in Psalm 106. This is what's being talked about
here. This type of disobedience and complaining
and rebellion among God's people, those three
little verses have a big story behind them that
helps us to understand just how serious God was.
God didn't take these things lightly. He was
pretty serious about his people and about them
living in obedience to him. And when these guys
tried to come and thwart his plan and tried to
overthrow Moses, God said, no, this isn't the
way it's supposed to be. And even though God
desired to destroy them, praise the Lord that
Moses was a good intercessor there for the people
that God only destroyed those who were trying
to cause the rebellion and not the whole community.
Now let's skip down a few verses to verse 41.
All right, so this right here should be the end
of the story because God has done a pretty powerful
thing. Like if all of a sudden today you saw
the ground open up, and people do an evil fall
into it and the ground's shut behind them, you'd
think that would probably get your attention
so that you'd live in obedience and stop complaining.
Verse 41, The next day the entire Israelite community
complained about Moses and Aaron, saying, You
have killed the Lord's people. What in the world
is going on? We just saw this same thing in Exodus
chapter 15. Right when God got them out of slavery,
right when they crossed the Red Sea, they sung
a praise to the Lord, and then three verses later
they complained about how bad things were. They
had just saw the power of God swallow up these
men who spoke against Moses and Aaron, and you
don't have to skip down but a handful of verses,
and the next day the community complained about
Moses and Aaron. Now how do you think God felt
about that? He had just swallowed up all these
guys for what they were doing. Well, guess what?
The Lord's attitude hadn't changed. The next
day, he was still just as angry about that kind
of action that he was the day before. The next
verse, verse 42. When the community assembled
against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the
tent of meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered
it, and the Lord's glory appeared. Moses and
Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting,
and the Lord said to Moses, Get away from this
community so that I may consume them instantly.
Same thing we just saw. Isn't that pretty hard
-headed of God's people that they had just saw
him destroy these families for complaining about
Moses and Aaron, and the next day they complain
about Moses and Aaron, and God says, all right,
I'm ready to do it again. Watch out, Moses. Watch
out. Let me be done with these people. But what
does it say at the end of that verse? But they
fell face down. Verse 46. Then Moses told Aaron,
take your fire pan, place fire from the altar
in it and add incense. Go quickly to the community
and make atonement for them because the wrath
have come from the Lord. The plague has begun.
What does Moses and Aaron do here? What did they
do before? God said, I want to destroy everybody.
And Moses says, hold on. Hold on, dear Lord.
Moses says, look, we've got to make atonement.
He tells Aaron, go get your fire pan. We've got
to make atonement for these people. God's going
to wipe them out. So Aaron does just that in
verse 47. So Aaron took his fire pan and Moses,
as Moses had ordered, ran into the middle of
the assembly and saw that the plague had begun
among the people. After he added incense, he
made atonement for the people. He stood between
the dead and the living and the plague was halted.
But those who died from the plague numbered 14
,700 in addition to those who died because of
the Korah incident. Aaron then returned to Moses
at the entrance of the tent of meeting since
the plague had been halted. Now we don't know
what kind of plague this was. We don't have any
details other than it was a plague. That God's
people still hadn't learned their lesson? that
they still complained, that they still called
out Moses and Aaron. God says, it's done. I'm
going to destroy them. Moses and Aaron intercede
for the people, and in the middle of their intercession,
because they make atonement for the people, some
of them are spared. Some of them die. 14 ,700,
plus all those others that the ground swallowed
up. There was a lot of people that died. God
was bringing destruction on them, and rightfully
so. God was right to pass judgment on them. He
was doing no wrong there. Praise the Lord that
Moses and Aaron interceded to make atonement
for the people. It says in verse 48 that Aaron
stood between the dead and the living. Now, this
is a pretty good story for us to consider tonight.
One... We see how serious God takes sin. And
God was pretty serious about this. I mean, he
opened up the ground and swallowed these folks.
And they continued to complain, and they continued
to live in disobedience. They should have learned
their lesson. But maybe there are some times
in life that we need to stop and look at our
own life and say, well, are we living in some
kind of disobedience? Maybe we turn a blind eye
to it, or maybe we think, oh, that's okay, it's
2026. Maybe it's not something that God turns
a blind eye to. Maybe he takes our sin a little
more seriously than we do. And maybe we need
to pump the brakes a little bit and think, okay,
we're not any better really than these Israelites.
How many times have we done wrong again and again?
How many times should we have learned our lesson?
But we didn't. And we keep on doing things that
we shouldn't do. We see this time and time again.
for the people of Israel, and we're really no
better. There are things in our life that we
should have learned our lesson, and we should
have stopped doing things that we are doing,
and we should stop our complaining. But we see
God work one day, and we complain the next day.
And so really, we're no better than these folks.
And we're just as deserving of God's wrath. I
mean, based on what we do, God has every right
to strike us down. If he wants to look down on
us and say, I'm done with them, I want to destroy
that community, God would have every right to
do so. But the beautiful part about this story
is it really kind of foreshadows what's going
to come in Jesus Christ. That even though we
are a people deserving of God's wrath, that there
is one who stands up for us. That as we are those
who are dead in our sin, that Jesus Christ stands
between the living and the dead, and he says,
look, I want to save those who are dying. I want
to save those who are going to experience God's
wrath, and it's Jesus who makes atonement for
us. Now Aaron made atonement for those people,
and those who were atoned for are the ones who
survived. Those are the ones who were spared.
Now praise the Lord for us tonight that Jesus
has come to stand between us and God to make
atonement for us. That we don't get the wrath
that we deserve, but that Jesus took that wrath
by dying on a cross to give us atonement so that
we may be spared. Even when we look at this story,
as we've gone through the Psalms, you may recall
when we got to, I believe, Psalm 44, we saw a
little section that started a few of the Psalms
that were Psalms that it said were written by
the sons of Korah. That's just who he talked
about. So Korah didn't do right by the Lord and
the ground opened up and swallowed him, but somebody
from Korah's line ultimately must have learned
from Korah's mistakes. Because some of the very
Psalms that we've been reading over the last
couple of years were Psalms that were written
by the descendants of Korah. Perhaps they knew
of this story of Korah. Perhaps that got their
attention, that they realized, I don't want to
be the one who goes against the Lord. I want
to be the one who's atoned for by the Lord. What
about us tonight? Have we found that atonement
in Jesus Christ? Do we know that tonight our
sins separate us from the Lord? That we may look
at our life and we may think we're better than
we are, but really we're just as bad as these
Israelites in this story. Time and again through
the Old Testament, we see them doing the same
types of things that we do. And it's not good.
But God is gracious to us. And praise the Lord
that he doesn't just strike us all down today.
He could strike everybody on the planet down
today if he wanted to. But God is patient, not
wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance
through Jesus Christ, who is our intercessor.
In the same way that Moses continually interceded
for the people, Jesus Christ intercedes for us
today. And just as Aaron made atonement for the
people, so Jesus has made atonement on the cross.
Hopefully we've been covered by Jesus' blood
and we've experienced that atonement tonight.
Let's pray. God, we thank you for this good story
and may it get our attention, dear Lord. Maybe
there are some things in our life that we realize
that we're just as stubborn and hard -headed
and just as bad as the Israelites, dear Lord.
We don't want to be okay with that. And so I
pray, dear Lord, that you'd help us to check
our own life. We thank you for your mercy, dear
Lord, and I ask that you would be merciful and
gracious to us. We thank you for Jesus for being
our atonement, dear Lord, to take care of us.
God, we know we don't deserve your grace and
there's nothing we can do to earn it. There's
no amount of good works or anything we can do
or say. So I pray, dear Lord, that we always
just trust in Jesus and what he's done for us
and never become proud, but always humble ourselves
before the cross and the one who offered atonement
for us. And I ask these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.