Numbers 16:35 - Meaning and Application

Now we turn back to the door of the tabernacle, where we left the men pretending to be priests, with their censers in their hands, ready to offer incense. There we see judgment fall on them (Numbers 16:35).

It is likely that when the earth opened in the camp and swallowed Dathan and Abiram, a fire also came out from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who offered incense, while Aaron stood there and was kept alive. This judgment was not as new as the earlier one, because Nadab and Abihu had died in the same way. Still, it was no less shocking or terrible. In it we see, first, that our God is a consuming fire. Thunder shows something of the terror in his voice, and lightning shows something of the power of his hand. We should see in this his burning anger against his enemies and learn from it how fearful it is to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:27-31).

Second, we see how dangerous it is to take what does not belong to us. God guards the honor of his own commands and will not let people break into offices he has not given them. It is most likely that Korah himself was destroyed with the 250 men who tried to offer incense, because the priesthood was the prize he wanted. So we have reason to think he stayed at the tabernacle door. Those who hoped to become priests became sacrifices to God’s justice. If they had been content with their place as Levites, which was holy and honorable and better than they deserved, they might have lived and died with joy and respect. But, like the angels who sinned and left their proper place, they reached for honors not given to them, and were cast down to death. Their censers were struck from their hands, and their breath from their bodies, by a fire that pictured the punishment of eternal fire.

God also made sure this judgment would be remembered. No word is given about gathering up their bodies. Scripture leaves them like refuse on the ground. But orders are given about their censers (Numbers 16:37). Eleazar, Aaron’s son and the next priest, was told to care for them. Those who had wrongly claimed the priesthood had gone as far as God’s patience allowed by kindling incense with fire from the altar, which they were allowed to use as a test. But as soon as they lit their fire, God sent another fire that ended their claim forever. Eleazar was told to scatter the fire and the incense in an unclean place outside the camp, to show God’s hatred of their offering as something polluted. “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord.”

Yet the censers themselves were to be gathered up from the wreckage, because they had been made holy by being used in God’s service, even though only for a test. Some take this to mean that once something has been set apart by God’s command, it must not return to common use. More likely, the meaning is that these censers were devoted things, set apart under a curse, and therefore, like all devoted things, they had to be used somehow for God’s glory. They were not to be kept as censers, because that would honor the men whose shame God meant to display. Nor was there any need for bronze censers, since the golden altar was served with golden ones. So the censers were beaten into broad plates to cover the bronze altar (Numbers 16:38-40).

These men had hoped to undo the altar by making the priesthood common again. Instead, God used their censers to strengthen and decorate the altar where Aaron served. Their challenge only made Aaron’s office stand out more clearly. Even so, this was not all. The covering for the altar was to stand as a reminder to Israel through all their generations of this great event. The event was astonishing, and Moses was to record it in history, yet it could still be forgotten over time. Strong impressions do not always last. So God set up this lasting memorial of judgment, so the Levites, who served at that altar in lesser roles, would learn to stay in their place and fear crossing the line. If they did, they could become like Korah and his company, who were Levites and wanted to be priests. These censers were kept as a warning, so that others might hear and fear and never act so boldly again.

In this way God has arranged that his wonderful works, in mercy and in judgment, should be remembered forever. Their purpose is not only to be admired, but also to teach and warn those who come after.