Sermon Summary
Pastor Jason discusses the book of Numbers, focusing on chapters 16-19. He explains the Israelites' rebellions, starting with Korah's challenge to Moses' leadership, leading to a dramatic showdown where Korah and his followers are swallowed by the earth and consumed by fire. Despite this, the Israelites continue to grumble, leading to a plague that kills 14,700. Aaron's intervention stops the plague. The narrative emphasizes the need for atonement and the establishment of Aaron as the high priest. Pastor Jason connects these events to the concept of sin, atonement, and the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, highlighting the incurable nature of sin and the grace provided through Christ.

Sermon Transcript

Numbers. It's a very difficult book for most people, and indeed for myself too, as I prepare and as I teach it. And some of you are new with us, so I understand it may not be so familiar. So let me just give a very quick recap. Though we are covering four chapters today, I'll try to make this as concise as I can. It should not be a long sermon.

Korah’s Rebellion and Its Consequences
The timeline of Numbers really begins with the first 10 chapters of instructions. The people of Israel are at camp at Sinai, and God kind of gives them the marching orders, the principles, the priorities, as they prepare for war at Canaan. And the preparation is spiritual, because God taught them the importance of centeredness. God must be in the center of Israel, so the whole of the nation is oriented around the tent of meeting, where God's special dwelling place is. Then God taught them about lessons about cleanness. God is holy, and God's people must be clean. And then He taught them the principles of closeness; how to follow the Lord as they would journey towards the Promised Land. So it's off to a great start in the first 10 chapters. Then they move off.

In Chapter 11, however, their stocks crashed big time, because instead of doing well, they did very badly, as they murmured and complained against God two times. First at Taberah; secondly at Kibroth Hattaavah. Two places where they murmured and grumbled against God. Things did not get better, because in Chapter 12, we read about how Miriam and Aaron, the sister and brother of Moses, would actually oppose Moses himself. So again, another sad story of sin. And Chapters 13 and 14 is like the pits of Numbers, because there the whole nation decided to listen to the 10 spies who brought a negative report about the Promised Land. And they said, “We will not enter the Promised Land because God only brought us out here to be killed by the giants in Canaan.” So they flat out, blatantly disobeyed God, and even threatened to kill or to stone God's messengers. Now God said that He is going to eliminate all of Israel, but Moses pleaded for the people, and God relented, saying the old generation would all die in the wilderness, only the new generation would enter the Promised Land.

So what is this all about? Well, it's all about God's goodness in the beginning and how they would rebel, how they would rebel, and how they would rebel. In spite of this recalcitrant sin against God, we read in Chapter 15 that God did not entirely give up on Israel, isn't it? Because, as was mentioned, He said the new generation would enter, and in (Chapter) 15, God affirms that, “I will show mercy and still give you the land.”

So that's maybe a one- or two-minute recap of Numbers so far. Today we come to 16 to 19, four chapters. And here we're going to see two rebellious confrontations. So really, jialat (Hokkien for terrible) people keep doing the wrong things, but we're going to look at that right now.

So it begins with this confrontation: Korah and his gang. We read that Korah, Dathan, Abiram and 250 chiefs gathered against Moses. It's like “we don't like you”. So they said, “You have gone too far, Moses. You are too much. Because why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” In essence, they are saying, “Who do you think you are?” Or in Chinese, ni3 suan4 lao2 ji3 (what is your rank)? Why do you think you are our leader? Why do you think you are our high priest? Who made you so special? Aren't we all holy unto God? Why would you be leading us?”

Well, Moses then responded, saying, “It's not us who have gone too far. You have gone too far. You sons of Levi, as you confront us this day. Is it too small a thing for you to do service in the tabernacle?” You see, Korah belongs to the people of Kohath. He is a Levite, and his people are responsible for the… not the priestly but the Levitical duties. They are assistants to the priest. But Korah is not satisfied to be an assistant to the priest. He wants to be a priest. So he (Moses) says to Korah, “Is it too small a thing for you to help out in the tabernacle? Would you also seek the priesthood? Therefore, it is against the Lord that you and all your company have gathered together. You're not opposing me. You're not opposing my brother, Aaron. You're opposing God Himself.”

And so Moses said, “Because of what you do, there will be a showdown. There will be a confrontation tomorrow.” So Moses said, “Let every one of you, 250 of you, and you yourself, Korah––every one of you––bring a censer. A censer is a receptacle, a container for fire and incense. You bring this tomorrow, everyone, and we will see who God chooses.” So the next day, they brought their censers. I'm not sure if a censer really looks like this. It's just the best picture I can find on Google. But imagine 250 of them gather, and Moses now says, “If the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol…” It's a very specific sign, if God does this, if this happens, then you shall know that these men, these 250 men, together with Korah, have despised the Lord.

This phrase is repeated in Numbers 12, in Numbers 14, and it describes the inner heart attitude of the people of Israel. Why do they keep complaining? Why do they keep rebelling? Why do they oppose God's chosen leaders? Because they despised the Lord. They don't believe in God. They think that He's lousy, they think that He's not smart, they think that He's not good. They have despised the Lord.

So as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, wow, drama! The ground under them split apart. An artist's impression of this episode might look something like this (Pastor Jason points to a picture on the screen). And so the Bible says, “The earth opened its mouth, swallowed them up with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods.” And that's not all, because this is only the punishment, the judgment to Korah and his family. What about the rest? Well, God doesn't miss them, because the fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense. So it was a swift, decisive, clear sentencing against these rebels.

As for the censers, God says, “After they are destroyed, these men are destroyed, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar.” So these censers, bronze censers, are to be refashioned to be a covering for the altar, as a sign to the people of Israel, so that they know no one else, except for the descendants of Aaron, should offer incense, should be priests. Now, I know it's quite long, but it's quite simple.

Three things to note. Number one, we see that sin committed by Korah and company. Then we see a sentencing against them–––the earthquake and the fire. And finally, we see a sign. The sign–––to remind them that they should not do this anymore–––is the bronze covering for the altar. Now I would have thought, and you probably would have thought, that after this has happened, after so many people died, really drama. Earth split. Fire come from heaven. I mean, it can't get clearer than that, right? That the people of Israel would now say, “Oh, I'm sorry, God. We have sinned against you. We’ll not do it again.” Wouldn't you think that would be the case? I mean, when I discipline my kids, even if they would not really want to obey in their hearts, they would say, “Okay, I learnt, I will obey.” I would have thought that Israel would have responded this way.

The Plague and Aaron’s Intercession
But no! Lo and behold, we read of them the next day coming to Moses with such posture, you see that like… buay song (Hokkien for unhappy), like want to attack him. And that's exactly what they did on the next day! It is not the next month. It's not the next year. After so many people died, the next day, they came and grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of God.” Wah, jialat (Hokkien for terrible). This one shang1 nao3 jin1 (Chinese for agonising) right, this kind of people?

And you know, they are in serious trouble, because the Bible tells us, “The glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting.” That means God is going to, again, sentence and judge the people. So God said to Moses and Aaron, “Get away from the midst of this congregation that I may consume them in a moment. I'm going to just destroy them.” Moses, interestingly, now, said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put fire on it from off the altar.” The altar is where sacrifices are made. The altar is where the blood is spilled. So take fire from this altar, where there is sacrifice, where there is blood spilled, take fire from there, carry it and lay incense on it, carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone up from the Lord, the plague has begun. God is holy and will not tolerate sin and rebellion. So He has shown His wrath, and people are dying.

How many people are dying? Well, we jump a bit to verse 49 and we are told that 14,700 of them died because they are complaining, and there will be a lot more if not for what Moses and Aaron would do. So we read, Aaron quickly put on the incense and made atonement for the people, and he stood… This is an interesting statement. He, as the great high priest, stood between the dead and the living. If not for his ministry, if not for Aaron, many more will die. But because of his mediatorial role, because of his atonement that is offered up, the plague was stopped.

Aaron’s Rod and the Final Judgment
Again, don't get lost in the details. Let's take a step back and look at the structure. It's quite simple. There's a sin, a sentence, a sign. Rhythm to these two stories. We see Korah sin, and they are sentenced, and they are given a sign. And it is the same here, where now it's not just Korah, but the whole nation of Israel sinned, and there will be a sentence of a plague. We're not sure what it is in detail, but it's the plague that killed many. And there will come a sign, and the sign will be Aaron's rod. An artist's impression of what that might look like is this: a rod that bloomed and blossomed and produced almonds.

So we see God saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, get staffs from them. Every tribe bring one staff. Basically, that's it, including Levi's tribe. Aaron's staff would represent Levi. So 12 staffs, lay them out before Me and the staff of the men whom I choose shall sprout.” So God is saying, “I'm going to show you supernaturally who will be the priest. Since you are not very happy with My choice, let this be another confirmation. Thus I will make to cease from Me the grumblings of the people of Israel.”

So the next day, Moses went into the tent of meeting, and it's like maybe balloting, hoping for lucky draw. He went in. He don't know which one, but well, he knew, I am sure. Behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and blossoms and almonds. Now clearly this is supernatural. They don't blossom and produce almonds overnight. And from something that is lifeless, life springs forth. And it is a clear sign that God has chosen Aaron. So it fulfills this rhythm of sin, sentence and sign.

So with these two episodes summarized or captured in one chapter, in Chapter 16, and then the sign of Aaron's rod in (Chapter) 17, the people of Israel finally come to terms that God has settled it all–––Aaron will be the great high priest. Then we come to these last two verses in Chapter 17, where we capture the response of the people having come to this realization. They said to Moses… jialat liao, cham (Hokkien phrases to mean this is terrible or awful): “Behold, we perish, we are undone. We are all undone. We are in hot soup because we will die. So Moses, are we all to perish? Since we have clearly been shown to be in the wrong, is God going to kill all of us?”

So the narrative ends here in Chapter 17, with this question, with this cliffhanger: what will God do to Israel now? Is God going to forsake them because they have been so sinful and rebellious? And the answer is given in the next verse. The answer is given in the next chapter, in Chapter 18 and verse one. That's why today's sermon can't end at (Chapter) 16. It's got to go to Aaron's rod, and then it can't end at Aaron's rod, because there's a question unanswered. We've got to go to (Chapter) 18. And in (Chapter) 18, we read, “So the Lord said”. The “so” is important. The “so” is telling us Chapter 18 is not something that is standing on its own. It is connected to Chapter 17 and Chapter 16.

Now I want you to maybe appreciate a little bit about this way that Moses wrote. If you look at your Bibles, I'm not going to show it on the screen, but in Chapters 16 and 17, it's nice, interesting stories. But when you come to (Chapters) 18 and 19, actually a bit boring, ah. To a Singaporean, to a Singaporean, you read…wow, simi lai eh? (Hokkien for “what is this?”). I don't get it, lah. All the priests, all the rites, the rituals, the regulations, the rules, seems very dry and boring. I don't see the point.

And frankly, last time when I read my Bible, I will probably read with relish Chapters 16 and 17. Wow, quite cool, ah. Got fire, got earthquake, all these exciting things. 18…19… don't know what it is. Boring. Skip, lah. Are you like me? Probably. So we will skip (Chapters) 18 and 19. But you see, Moses is not writing a bestseller here. He's not interested to just get people interested. He wants to communicate truth. And so the narrative of (Chapters) 16 and 17 is to be understood better with the instruction in (Chapters) 18 and 19. So the narratives give you the context for the instructions, and the instructions actually explain further what is in the narrative. It is not random. It is not about Moses being lor sor, chiong hei (Cantonese phrases that mean long-winded), bo liao (Hokkien for bored)... something he has spoken of before, and now he go and repeat again. No, it's very, very logical and intentional.

Because here He (the Lord) says to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary.” You see, early on they say, “Are we all going to die?” And God said, “Aaron and his priesthood will bear the iniquity.” You get that? Are we all going to perish for our sins? God said the priesthood is given to bear away your sins. Wow, that's amazing. These Jews are damnworthy. They deserve to be judged. They deserve to die. They have sinned against God over and over and over and over again. You've got to get that as you read the Pentateuch from Exodus to Leviticus to Numbers… they have sinned against God. But God is saying, “My plan and My provision is that the priesthood, with all the sacrifices, with all the blood that is shed, is to teach Israel: there is a solution, there is a salvation, there is an atonement, there is forgiveness, there is washing available for your sins. The priests and the sacrifices will be the means by which you are cleansed.” They shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. Now, of course, there are a lot more things spoken in Numbers 18 about how the priests should be supported, how they should tithe, and so on. But let's not get lost in all those details. The reason why Chapter 18 is there is to answer the question, “Are we all to perish?”

Then we come to Chapter 19. Chapter 19 is there also for a reason. Chapter 19 is not just a random chapter about cleansing put in. Chapter 19 really answers this question of: “How can unclean people who have touched the dead be clean?” Now, why there? Because you must understand… how many people just died yesterday? How many people just died? 14,700 plus Korah’s burned by the fire, I think add up, ah… close to 15,000 people. 15,000 people died in your community! I'm sure a lot of people have been touching them, rendered unclean. So Chapter 19 is essential because it deals with the cleansing of the nation as they see sin and death.

So we see Chapter 19 about instructions about bringing a red heifer; a kind of cow, bull, as it were. So it says in verses two to five, “...Bring you a red heifer (a kind of cow) without defect”. Must not be diseased, must be well. And then you shall kill it. And then the high priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle the blood toward the front of the tent of meeting. So the nation and the tabernacle has to be cleansed by the blood of the heifer that has been sacrificed. And then you take this heifer after it's killed, after the blood is used or drained––you take this animal, the whole animal, and burn it. The skin, the flesh, the dung, everything is burned, and you take the ashes, and you use the ashes to make water for impurity. In other words, water that is used to cleanse people from their impurity. So we see in verse 11 and verse 12, “...whoever touches the dead (body) of any person shall be unclean seven days”, but he will be cleansed with this particular water.

So what's the idea? Again, take a step back. Structure of (Chapters) 16 to 19 is sin. Two times: Korah and Israel. Then the sentencing: earthquake, fire, and you have the plague. Then we have the signs of the bronze covering and Aaron's rod. And in Chapters 18 and 19, we see the message of salvation and how it is seen in both the atonement and cleansing.

The Significance of Atonement and Cleansing
Now I've spoken a lot, and I've not given you the title. So the title is this: “Korah, Cleansing and Christ”. A little bit similar to “Miriam, Moses and the Messiah”. So Korah, Cleansing and Christ. The purpose of this passage is not to tell you about history, what happened last time. The purpose of preaching is that God's people may know God and the gospel of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So we must see Christ in this. What are some of the… I'm just going to end off with some observations that is top of my head.

Number one: I'm really reminded about the grip of sin. Last week, I I gave some corny jokes, lame jokes. I think it didn't go very well with some young people, but never mind, I'll still do it again (laughs). How can a leopard change its spot? (Pause) Wah, so lame you can't even bother to think. (audience laughs) How can a leopard change its spot? Very simple. By leaving its spot and going to a new spot. That's a “cheat” thing, that's not quite fair.

But okay, do you know that “a leopard never changes its spots” is really from the Bible? In Jeremiah, God said, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?” And the idea here is that Israel is so incurably sinful that they will not be able to do good, since they are so accustomed to do evil. Can a leopard change its spots? Can Israel be capable of anything good? The reality, the answer: no. And we must see that Israel is truly a people gripped in sin. Since Adam and Eve sinned against God, mankind, not just Israel, mankind, all of humanity, you and I, we are all stricken with this disease called sin, and this sin is an intractable disease. It's an incurable disease on our own. We say in Chinese: wu2 yao4 ke3 jiu4: no medicine can save. And literally, it's true. None of us can find a solution to get out of sin.

Look at Israel. They sin against God in complaining; they sin against God in adultery; they sin against God in idolatry; they sin against God in rebellion, against authorities. All these are just manifestations of a people gripped in sin. And it's a picture of you and me, because since the day you are born, you can't help but sin. You can't help but lie. You can't help but rebel against your parents. You can't help but dishonor your authorities. You can't help but lust. You can't help but complain. No one needs to teach you that. And even if you try to do good, even if your parents scold you, even if your teachers try to discipline you, you will not change. You can't change because you're gripped in sin. It's an intractable disease. The Bible says, “There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that does good. There is none that seeks after Me, for all have gone astray.” There is no one who can save himself from the grip of sin. Sad but true. That's how powerful sin is. That's how grievous sin is.

But at the same time, it gets worse. Because when we read about the Bible, we read the Bible, we see that there are severe consequences when man sins. So this is the terrible part. I can't help myself but sin, and when I sin, because God is holy––this is the problem––God is holy, but I'm not. I'm sinful, I'm flawed, I'm broken. This holy God must judge my sins, and so we see Israel kena (Malay for “getting hit by”) over and over and over and over and over again. Why? Because God is righteous and holy, and He must judge sin. So this is bad news for sinners like you and me, because every day in my life I'm going to sin against this God who made me and who will one day judge me. And I, because of all my sins, would face the severe wrath of God on that final day.

This passage, these stories, in Exodus, in Numbers, are not written just for history. They are written for your instruction. The Bible says, “These things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did”. Because God will judge sin. But finally, I say all those bad news… I sound like a bearer of bad news. I did not sign up as a preacher of the Bible to be a bearer of bad news. I don't want to be a bearer of bad news. I want to be a bearer of good news. And the Bible is really about the good news, but you got to know the bad news first, otherwise you will never appreciate the good news. And the good news is that there is a grace for sin.

Can't you see it in this text? Can't you see it in Numbers 18 and 19? Because the Bible tells us that there is an atonement. It begins… There's a hint of it already in Chapter 16, when Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for the people and he stood between the living and the dead. So God is favorable when there is a mediator, a priest, who will make atonement for the people. And that is further confirmed when God explicitly said that that's why the priesthood is established. They will bear away the sin, the iniquity of the people. God continues to tell us that the heifer, the animal sacrificed–––the blood is used for cleansing, and the ashes are to be fashioned or to be formed as waters for impurity, so that man may be cleansed. So there is a beautiful grace for sin that is found in a priest and a sacrifice.

And you know, the Bible is all about Jesus. From the beginning to the end, it's all about Jesus. And God sets these instructions in the ancient nation of Israel, so that we might learn better the saving work of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, because the Bible tells us Jesus is our great High Priest. He is not just our High Priest. This is the amazing thing. Jesus is not just a priest like Aaron was just a priest. Jesus was also the sacrifice, because He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves. But Jesus enters the holy place, the heavens, by His own blood, and He enters the heavens by His own blood to secure an eternal redemption: salvation for you and for me. Jesus is both priest and sacrifice. And His sacrifice is not animal sacrifice. It's the price of His divine and infinitely worthy life.

“For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a…”.. Can you see something here? It's like I never used to see it this way, but having gone through Numbers 19, I see “blood” and “ashes”, and I see that really in Numbers, God is intending to teach us Jesus. Because the Hebrews author picked up on it: “...blood and the ashes of a heifer for the purification of the flesh… how much more will the blood of Christ purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

Hey, on this new year, I just want to give you a simple, but, I hope, clear message. We are a people incurably sinful, and we will be judged for our sins, but thanks be to God, there is grace for sin, provided in the priesthood and in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who came to die for you and for me. He alone would atone for your sins. He alone would wash your sins away. I hope today you will turn from yourself, from your sins, to Jesus Christ. Thank God, before the throne of God, we have a strong and perfect plea, our perfect, great High Priest. And for all Gospel Lighters this year, hey, let's not forget this great love of God, this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ. And let's remember to serve the living God. He's alive. He's real. And I don't think there's a better way to live your life than to serve Him.

I figured out for myself when I was 18, on the day or during those days when I came to know the Lord, if God is not real, then live a happy life, a rich life, a luxurious life, a comfortable life. But if God is real, then I will be stupid to choose that path. Serve Him, because they who lose their life will find it. I hope this year will be a year you understand the grace of God more profoundly and give your life to serve Him more faithfully.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. Father, we thank You for Your great love for us. Indeed, we have a perfect, great High Priest. And so I pray for my friends, loved ones who do not know Jesus. May this simple but, I think, clear message of the Bible resonate in their hearts. May Your Spirit illuminate their eyes and may they come to Your Son for salvation. May Your church today be encouraged by Your great love and provision of Jesus Christ, our Priest and our Lamb. May we love You because You first loved us and give us wisdom to live lives worthy of Your calling. Thank You, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.