The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 65: Revolt Against Moses (2024)

Episode Date: March 5, 2024

Fr. Mike dives into the recurring issue of the Israelites rebelling against God and remaining stuck in their past as we read about the revolt of Korah, Dathan and Abiram against Moses and Aaron. Today's readings are Numbers 16, Deuteronomy 15-16, and Psalm 97. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 65, and we are reading from Numbers chapter 16 as well as from Deuteronomy chapter 15 and 16. We're also praying today from Psalm 97. As always, I'm reading from the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. And as always, also,

I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to get your own Great Adventure Bible, you can buy it, I guess. You can also download your own Bible reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. If you haven't yet subscribed, subscribe to the podcast. Please do that. That would be phenomenal. As I said, today is day 65. We are reading from Numbers chapter 16, Deuteronomy chapter 15 and 16, as well as praying through Psalm 97. The book of Numbers, chapter 16, revolt of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Now Korah, the son of Izar,

son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men, and they rose up before Moses with a number of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You have gone too far, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord? When Moses heard it, he fell on his face and he said to Korah and all his company, in the morning, the Lord will show who is his and who is holy and will cause him to come near to him. Him who he will choose,

he will cause to come near to him. Do this, take censers, Korah and all his company, put fire in them, and put incense upon them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the Holy One. You have gone too far, sons of Levi. And Moses said to Korah, Hear now, you sons of Levi. Is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that he has brought you near him, and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you. And would you seek the priesthood also? Therefore it is against the Lord that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you murmur against him?

And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. And they said, We will not come up. Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up. And Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them and I have not harmed one of them. And Moses said to Korah, Be present,

you and all your company before the Lord, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. And let every one of you take his censer, and put incense upon it, and every one of you bring before the Lord his censer two hundred and fifty censers, you also, and Aaron, each his censer. So every man took his censer, and they put fire in them, and laid incense upon them, and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram are punished. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram are punished.

And the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell on their faces, and they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation? And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the congregation, Get away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. And he said to the congregation, Depart, I beg you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins. So they got away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. And Moses said, Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works,

and that it has not been of my own accord. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they are visited by the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. But 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, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord. And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split asunder, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households and all the men that belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them,

and they perished from the midst of the assembly. And all Israel that were round about them fled at their cry, for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up. And fire came forth from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense. Then the Lord said to Moses, Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, to take up the censers out of the blaze, then scatter the fire far and wide. For they are holy, the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives. So let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are holy.

Thus they shall be a sign to the sons of Israel. So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar to be a reminder to the sons of Israel, so that no one who is not a priest, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the Lord,

lest he become as Korah and as his company, as the Lord said to Eleazar through Moses. A plague strikes the rebels. But the next day, all the congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the Lord. And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting. And behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting. And the Lord said to Moses, Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell on their faces. And Moses

said to Aaron, Take your censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them. For wrath has gone forth from the Lord, the plague has begun. So Aaron took it, as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly, and behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. Now those who died by the plague were

14,700, besides those who died in the affair of Korah. And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped. plague was stopped. The book of Deuteronomy chapter 15 and chapter 16. Chapter 15. Concerning the sabbatical year. At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release. Every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord's release has been proclaimed. Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother, your hand shall release. But there will be no poor among you, for the Lord will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance to

possess, if only you will obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment which I command you this day. For the Lord your God will bless you as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you. If there is among you a poor man, one of your brethren, in any of your towns within your land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take heed, lest there be a base thought in your heart, and you say, The seventh year, the year of release, is near, and your eye be hostile to the your heart, and you say, the seventh year, the year of release is near,

and your eye be hostile to the poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and it be sin in you. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him. Because for this, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you undertake. For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore, I command you, you shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in the land. If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, he shall serve you six years. And in the seventh year, you shall let him go free from you.

And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this day. But if he says to you,

I will not go out from you, because he loves you and your household. Since he fares well with you, then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your bondsman forever. And to your bondswoman you shall do likewise. It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired servant he has served you six years. So the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do. Regulations Concerning Livestock All the firstling males that are born of your herd and flock, you shall consecrate to the Lord your God. You shall do no work with the firstling of your herd, nor shear the firstling of your flock. You shall eat it, you and your household, before the Lord your God year by year at the place which the Lord will choose.

But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind, or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. You shall eat it within your towns. The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer. Only you shall not eat its blood, you shall pour it out on the ground like water. Chapter 16. Keeping the Passover. Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God. For in the month of Abib, the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the Lord your God from the flock or the herd at the place which the Lord will choose to make his name dwell there. You shall eat no

leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction. For you came out of the land of Egypt in hurried flight, that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out from the land of Egypt. No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning. You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns which the Lord your God gives you, but at the place which the Lord your God will choose to make his name dwell in it. There you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt.

And you shall boil it and eat it at the place which the Lord your God will choose. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. For six days you shall eat unleavened bread. And on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it. Keeping the Feast of Weeks You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.

weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain. Then you shall keep the feast of weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place which the Lord your God will choose to make his name dwell there. You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe all these statutes. Keeping the Feast of Booths You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days. When you make your ingathering from your threshing floor and your winepress, you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter,

your manservant and your maidservant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. Seven days you shall keep the feast to the Lord your God at the place which the Lord will choose, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the works of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place which he will choose, at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able according to the blessing of the Lord. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. Every man shall give

as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God, which he has given you. Appointing Judges and Officers. You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice, you shall not show partiality, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God gives you.

Forbidden forms of worship. You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God which you shall make. And you shall not set up a pillar which the Lord your God hates. Psalm 97. The glory of God's reign. The Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Let the many islands be glad. Cloud and thick darkness are round about him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries round about.

His lightnings lighten the world. The earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples behold his glory. All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols. Let all his angels bow down before him. Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments, O God. For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth.

You are exalted far above all gods. The Lord loves those who hate evil. He preserves the lives of his saints. He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light dawns for the righteous and joy for the upright of heart. wicked. Light dawns for the righteous and joy for the upright of heart. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name. Father in heaven, we thank you. We thank you and we give you praise and we thank you for your justice. And you reveal that when you set up the people of Israel and when you gave them a law,

when you gave them your law, when you gave them your law, you revealed your heart and your heart is true. You are true. You are truth, Lord God. And you are justice. And you call your people, just like you call us,

to live justice, to do right, to walk humbly, to love goodness and to care for those who are around us. Lord God, help us to have hearts like yours, hearts that love justice, hearts that run away from evil, that hate evil,

and hearts that are open to those around us who are in need. Lord God, before you, we stand in need. And so we ask you to send us your Holy Spirit to meet us in every one of our needs because you are the source of all goodness. You are the of our needs, because you are the source of all goodness. You are the source of all truth. You are the source of all justice. And we need you.

So come and be near us now. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Oh my gosh. So here we are, back up in Numbers 16. And the theme, I think, has been rebellion, right?

We had back in chapter, I think it was chapter 12, we had Aaron and Miriam rebelling against Moses. Then we had the people after they went up in Canaan and they came back and those 10 scouts said, we can't possibly do this. They're rebelling against, once again, against Moses and Aaron. And today in chapter 16, we have this story of Korah and Abiram and Dathan, and they're rebelling against Moses and Aaron. Remember that it specifically says that Korah is the son of Kohath, the son of Levi. And if you

remember this, the Kohathites were, they're of the tribe of Levi. That's why it says Kohath, the son of Levi. Remember there were the four families in the tribe of Levi. There was Aaron, the family sons of Aaron. Those are the priests. Then we had the Merorites and the Gershonites. And now we have also the Kohathites. Remember those other two families, those, the Merorites and the Kohathites. Nope. Gershonites. You know, we've got a lot of names. You guys got a ton of names that their responsibility was to care for the, like the tent, to care for the poles of the tent, to care for like almost, you won't say like the structure. They're at the service of the tent of meeting that the service, service of the tabernacle service of what ultimately will be the temple. But the Kohathites

were those who were responsible for caring for the holy objects. In fact, you might say second to the sons of Aaron, the Kohathites were closest to, you might say, the presence of the Lord and serving the Lord directly, meaning worshiping the Lord directly. But as you can see, that wasn't enough. And so they said, well, why does it have to be the sons of Aaron who are the only ones who are able to offer sacrifice before God?

Why can't we be priests too? And then we have this throw down. And I love this because in chapter 16, in verse 4, when the Kohathites assemble against Moses and against Aaron, and they say that, why do you exalt yourselves above everyone else? Verse four says, when Moses heard it, he fell on his face, which means that he went to prayer. That Moses' response to this rebellion, essentially, and this rebellion of saying like, you exalt yourselves over us. That's what they're going to say later on to you. You made a prince of yourself over us. That Moses' response is to pray. Now he gets mad. It's what they're going to say later on to you. You made a prince of yourself over us.

That Moses' response is to pray. Now he gets mad. It's not like he is a person without emotion, but his first response is, okay, this person's attacking me. And unjustly, right? They're attacking him unfairly. But Moses turns to the Lord first. Of course, he comes back and says, okay, get these censers. We're going to offer an incense. We're going to offer worship before the Lord. And who's worshiped the Lord accepts, like that's going to be, you can be a priest then essentially. And we see how it goes, that the Lord God destroys the families of Korah and Dathan and Abiram and removes them from the face of the earth. And then even then, my goodness, so remarkable. The people rebel against Moses and Aaron again, even though this is clearly God's will that he's exacting justice.

Remember, this is a God of justice, not a God of vengeance. This is very fair what's happening right now, because God has to make it absolutely clear that he is God. He is holy. He is alone, holy, and that only those who he has called, those sons of Aaron, can worship in the temple. And this is so, so key. So then they rebel. And what happens is Moses tells Aaron to get that incense and stand before the plague and the people. And as he's making atonement for them through the incense, the burning fire,

the plague stops. Now, there's a couple things to note about this. The first is in chapter 16, it says that Dathan and Abiram, they say to Moses that they're not going to do it. They're not going to do this challenge. They said, is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Remember, the promised land is a land described as a land flowing with milk and honey. Where they came from was Egypt. And again, yes, Egypt was a rich place, obviously, but they were slaves there. But they're describing their home. They're describing their place of slavery as a land flowing with milk and honey.

And it is remarkable to think how easy it is, as Jeff Cavins has noted, like these are people who are addicted. They're addicted to their past. They're addicted to this comfort. They're addicted to their former way of life. And they have to be cured of this addiction. They're looking back at this place of slavery, a place of bondage, and saying that was the land flowing with milk and honey, which is absolutely remarkable. And to our eyes, into our ears, when we hear that, we think that is really, that is remarkable and crazy. And yet, isn't that how we can live as well? So often we can look back on our past, even if that was a past of sin, even if it was

a past of a brokenness and a bondage and say, yeah, but you know, I mean, it was really fun or yeah, but you know, it was, uh, I had, I was happier than I ever was or something like this. And yet the Lord God is leading us. He's leading you and me through a desert, through battles to a place of true freedom. Now, if we go up to Deuteronomy, a couple of things we hear is once again, that God is not only a God of justice, that's going to be the last couple marks that he's going to clearly communicate that he's a God of justice, but also that he's a God who cares about those who are poor and that his people, those who belong to him, God says, there shall not be one poor person among you. Why? Essentially, you're being brought into a land flowing with milk and honey, right? The promised land will be rich and bountiful with enough for

everybody. But if there is someone who is poor, then you'll take care of them. If there's someone who's in need, then you'll take care of them. Even going so far as to saying that you might have to employ them. Now, if this is a person who you're employing as an employee, that would be one thing. But sometimes people are so desperate that they might sell themselves into bondage, sell themselves into slavery. But even so, we said it before, we'll say it again. This slavery or this bondage, this service was only six years of service. And did you note how incredible this was on the sabbatical year, right? The seventh year, the year of covenant, that seventh year, you let this servant go free. And not only you let them go free, but you give them stuff to make a new life. You don't just say, okay, you were a

servant for me for six years. Now go try to do it on your own. It was, you were a servant with me for six years. Now I'm going to give you what you need to start a new and free life. Cause that's how they're taking care of each other. Even to the point where if that servant doesn't want to, he says, if he loves you or she loves you and loves your family, then they can stay and they'll, they can stay to the end of their lives. It's just really remarkable and really powerful how the people of Israel were called to take care of those who couldn't take care of themselves.

And not only that, and this last note, but God says very clearly, you will do this with an open hand. You won't do this grudgingly. You won't do this resentfully. You won't even think badly about those who are poor among you. You will provide for them and help them and serve them. And in Deuteronomy chapter 16, I know I said last thing, but this is the true last thing,

is we have the three major festivals of worship. We have the Feast of Passover. We have the Feast of Weeks, which is Pentecost, and we have the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles. And in all of this, what do we have? We have go before the Lord and worship him. This is such an incredible piece of Deuteronomy 15 and 16. 15, care for the poor, love those people around you with justice and with mercy and with joy. And then in chapter 16, and also worship the Lord, your God. This is so key.

Okay, you guys, I am praying for you. We're going to get to the end of this and we're going to see each other tomorrow. And I'm so excited about that, but let's keep praying for each other. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.