Numbers 16:41 - Meaning and Application

A new rebellion broke out the very next day against Moses and Aaron. Heaven and earth should be astonished at this, for it shows the stubborn corruption of sinners. On the next day (Numbers 16:41), the whole crowd mutinied. They had just been terrified by the punishment of the rebels. The cries of those sinners, who had ruined their own souls, were still in their ears, the smell of the fire was still there, and the open ground had barely closed up. Yet they repeated the same sin and ignored all those warnings.

They had also just been rescued from sharing the same punishment. The survivors were like brands pulled out of a fire, yet they turned against Moses and Aaron, the very men whose prayer had saved them. Their accusation was very serious: “You have killed the Lord’s people.” Nothing could have been more unfair or hateful. They honored the rebels by calling them the Lord’s people, even though those men had died fighting against him. They also attacked God’s own justice. It was clear enough that Moses and Aaron had no part in their death. They had done all they could to save them. So by blaming them for murder, the people were really blaming God.

This stubbornness, even after the fear of God’s law at Mount Sinai and the fear of his judgments here, shows how much we need God’s grace. Without it, the strongest warnings will not change a person’s heart or life. Love does what fear cannot do.

God quickly appeared against the rebels. When they gathered against Moses and Aaron, perhaps planning to remove or kill them, they looked toward the tabernacle, as if their uneasy consciences expected trouble from there. Then the glory of the Lord appeared (Numbers 16:42), for the protection of his servants and the shame of their accusers. Moses and Aaron then came before the tabernacle, partly for safety, since there they took refuge from angry tongues (Psalm 27:5; Psalm 31:20), and partly to ask what God wanted them to do (Numbers 16:43). Justice showed that the people deserved to be destroyed at once (Numbers 16:45). Why should those live another day who hate correction and keep on rebelling? Let judgment do its work, and the matter would soon be over, but Moses and Aaron had to be protected first.

Moses and Aaron prayed for the people. Though they had every reason, one might think, to pray against Israel like Elijah did (Romans 11:2), they forgave the insults and remained their enemies’ best friends. They both fell on their faces and begged God for mercy, knowing how great the offense was. They had done this before in similar situations, and though the people had repaid them badly, they still turned to the same way of prayer. That is what it means to pray continually.

Moses saw that the plague had already started among the gathered rebels, so he sent Aaron, acting in his priestly office, to make atonement, that is, to cover sin and turn away guilt, for them (Numbers 16:46). Aaron went quickly and burned incense between the living and the dead, not to clean the air, but to calm an angry God, and so he stopped the plague. This showed several things.

It showed that Aaron was a good man, with a true love for his people, even though they hated and envied him. Though God was then defending Aaron’s priesthood, Aaron still stepped in to turn away God’s anger. He even forgot his age and dignity and ran into the middle of the crowd to help them. He did not say, “Let them suffer for a while, and then I will be more welcome.” Instead, he hurried to the place where death was breaking in. Moses and Aaron had been accused of killing the Lord’s people, so they could have answered harshly. Could the people expect help from those they had called murderers? But these good men teach us not to grow cold toward people who speak sharply to us, and not to refuse real help just because someone has insulted us. We must return good for evil.

It also showed that Aaron was a bold man. He dared to go into the middle of an angry crowd gathered against him, and the plague may have made them even more upset. He dared to go where the infection was spreading and where death was falling all around him. To save their lives, he risked his own and did not count his life too precious as long as he could carry out his ministry.

It also showed that Aaron was a man of God, set apart to act for people in matters that belonged to God. His calling to the priesthood was strongly confirmed and left beyond question. God had already saved his life when the intruders were destroyed, and now God made him the one who saved Israel. Compare Aaron’s censer with the censers of those sinners who ruined their own souls. Their censers stirred up God’s anger, but Aaron’s brought peace. Their act destroyed lives, but his saved them. No room is left to doubt Aaron’s calling to the priesthood. Those who prove themselves most useful to the public show the best claim to public honor. If anyone wants to be great, let him become the servant of all.

Aaron was also a picture of Christ, who came into the world to make atonement for sin and turn away God’s wrath from us. Through his mediation, that is, his work of standing between God and people as a helper and intercessor, he stands between the living and the dead, keeping his chosen people safe and rescuing them from a world filled with sin and curse.

God’s justice was honored in the death of some. The Lord’s sword did great execution in a very short time. Though Aaron hurried as fast as he could, 14,700 men had already died before he reached his place of service (Numbers 16:49). Only a few died in the matter of Korah, mainly the leaders, as an example. But since the people did not turn to God after his patience and mercy toward them, justice was no longer so sparing of Israel’s blood. They had complained that the death of a few hundred was a cruel slaughter of the Lord’s people, but here God answered that complaint by the death of many thousands.

Those who quarrel with smaller judgments are preparing worse ones for themselves, because when God judges, he will prevail. His mercy was also shown in preserving the rest. God had shown them what he could do by his power, and what he might do in justice, but then he showed what he would do in his love and pity: he would still preserve them as his own people, through a mediator, that is, one who stands between God and people. The cloud of Aaron’s incense, brought by his hand, stopped the plague.

This greatly honors God’s goodness, because many times he remembers mercy even in anger. Even after judgment has begun, prayer can bring it to a stop. He is so ready to forgive, and he takes so little pleasure in the death of sinners.