Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Numbers 16:41 - 16:50
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Rebellion and the Punishment of the Congregation. —
v. 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. They charged these two with the responsibility for the death of the rebels, whom they, in blasphemous exaggeration, call the people of the Lord, the flower of the Lord's army. To that extent the wickedness of the hardened heart will go in refusing to acknowledge its own sinfulness; for the truth of the matter was that Moses had saved the people from sudden destruction the day before.
v. 42. And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, a sullen mob, ready for almost any crime, that they looked toward the Tabernacle of the Congregation; and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared, in a threatening manifestation of His majesty over against the people, while it sheltered, at the same time, the men against whom the murmuring of the mob was directed.
v. 43. And Moses and Aaron came before the Tabernacle of the Congregation, ready to receive the commands of the Lord.
v. 44. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
v. 45. Get you up from among this congregation, remove from its midst as quickly as possible, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces, with the intention of making a plea, even now, for the lives of the people. The attitude of the Lord, however, showed Moses that it was too late for an intercession.
v. 46. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar of burnt offering, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation and make an atonement for them; for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun, a terrible, devastating pestilence, which struck dead without warning.
v. 47. And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people; and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people, the incense being a symbol of intercession and of the people's prayers of repentance.
v. 48. And he stood, placed himself like a valiant champion, between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed, shut off, confined to the place where it had broken out.
v. 49. Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
v. 50. And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, where the faithful leader watched, although rejected by his own people; and the plague was stayed, it did no further damage, wrought no more ravages. Note: The two hundred and fifty censers of the fanatics effected nothing but deadly consequences; the one censer of the true high priest saves life and conquers death by making a separation between the living and the dead. Mark, also: Aaron is here again a type of Christ, the perfect Priest, who entered into the midst of lost and condemned mankind and by His sacrifice stayed the plague of God's wrath, thus making a perfect atonement for the world.