Num
16:32, 35, 41, 44, 47b-50 (NIV) . . .
and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households
and all Korah's men and all their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the
grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they
perished and were gone from the community.
. . .
35 And
fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the
incense.
41 The
next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
"You have killed the Lord's people," they said.
. .
. 44 and the Lord said to Moses, 45
"Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once."
And they fell facedown.
. . . .
The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense
and made atonement for them. 48 He stood between the living and the dead, and
the plague stopped. 49 But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to
those who had died because of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the
entrance to the Tent of Meeting, for the plague had stopped.
NOTE: God could have
destroyed the whole nation for its rebellion on multiple occasions. In his
mercy, He doesn't. In his mercy, He warns us. God is okay with our sharing our
worries, fears, failures, and struggles with Him. But when we refuse to obey Him,
He acts, and sometimes quite painfully. Which is not to say that all pain and
suffering is God's disobedience, because it is clear from scripture that it is
not, but we should stop and ask ourselves when times are hard -- is God trying
to get my attention?
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