One of the 1st Conspiracy Theories

[Tammy Roesch]

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Num 16:13  Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?

Dathan & Abiram didn't want to accept their fate.  Because of their rebellion and refusing to stand with Caleb and Joshua and lead the people up to take Canaan, they, along with all the rest of the adults over 20, were consigned to die in the Wilderness. So, rather than REPENT and ACCEPT their punishment, they concoct a CONSPIRACY THEORY and tell the people that Moses, NOT GOD, led the Israelites out of Egypt (notice how they here call EGYPT the "land that flowery with milk and honey") and that Moses' plan was to enrich himself from them!  It wasn't long until God Himself let it be known that Korah, Dathan & Abiram were on the wrong side, and swallowed them up with the first earthquake ever

Amazing how blind humans can be if they do not want to accept the TRUTH.  I love reading these Old Testament stories and learning the lessons they have for me....

[teddyv]

Not the point of your OP but "first earthquake ever"?

[Tammy Roesch]

52 minutes ago, teddyv said:

Not the point of your OP but "first earthquake ever"?

Yes, I'm pretty sure in the Bible story, Moses said that the Lord would do a NEW THING...the earthquake

[appy]

I don't know what bible you are reading from, but the whole chapter (numbers 16) has nothing to do with refusal to follow Caleb and Joshua into the land of Canaan. It also had nothing to do with wanting to go back to Egypt. But an attempt to usurp Moses' position as God's chosen priest.

God had chosen Moses and Aaron to serve as priests. The Levites were assigned to serve the Lord in other ways in regards to the Tabernacle and ministering before the people. Specifically, Korah, Dathan and Abiram were not content with this. They wanted the priesthood too, which was given to Moses and Aaron. They incited 250 other Levites to join in this rebellion against Moses and Aaron specifically. Korah's retort was an attempt to justify his desire for the priesthood and leadership.

Today we no longer live under the Old Covenant and Moses leadership, but under the New Covenant and Jesus' leadership, for Jesus is our high priest, and the mediator between God and man. There is no other name for men to call upon to save them. A terrible fate awaits those who reject Jesus as Lord and Savior.

[Tammy Roesch]

Appy, I've read the story many times.  There were 12 spies sent into spy out the land of Canaan, right? 1 from each tribe, right.  Well, when they came back to camp after their spying, there were only 2 of them, Joshua and Caleb, who believed that God would bless their efforts and they would take out the Canaanites....all the rest of the spies, all 10 of them, influenced the Israelites that it was impossible to take Canaan....Korah, Dathan and Abiram were of the number that bought the testimony of the 10 spies, not the testimony of Caleb and Joshua.  Korah, Dathan and Abiram were of the number who were destined to live in the wilderness for 40 years, and then die (as all adults over 20, that was their fate for their unbelief)....  They didn't like that.  They concocted this conspiracy theory that Moses had taken them out of Egypt (even calling Egypt the land of milk and honey) and that he intended to kill them all off and enrich himself with their goods.  They were trying to start a rebellion. And God allowed the to manifest what spirit they were off, and then put them in their place.

FYI, I'm not saying all the details are in that one Chapter, but if you put them all together, I'm pretty confident you would come to the same conclusion

Edited August 14, 2021 by Tammy Roesch

[Tammy Roesch]

12 minutes ago, appy said:

God had chosen Moses and Aaron to serve as priests. The Levites were assigned to serve the Lord in other ways in regards to the Tabernacle and ministering before the people. Specifically, Korah, Dathan and Abiram were not content with this. They wanted the priesthood too, which was given to Moses and Aaron. They incited 250 other Levites to join in this rebellion against Moses and Aaron specifically. Korah's retort was an attempt to justify his desire for the priesthood and leadership.

 

And yes, I agree with this

[appy]

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Numbers 16 (NASB)

Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men, ² and they stood before Moses, ^[a]together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation ^[b]chosen in the assembly, men of renown. ³ They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “^[c]You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell on his face; ⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his group, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will make known who is His, and who is holy, and will bring that one near to Himself; indeed, the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. ⁶ Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and ^[d]your whole group, ⁷ and put fire in them, and place incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. ^[e]You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”

⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: ⁹ Is it too small an honor for you that the God of Israel has singled you out from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; ¹⁰ and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? But are you seeking the priesthood as well? ¹¹ Therefore you and your whole group are the ones gathered together against the Lord; but as for Aaron, ^[f]who is he, that you grumble against him?”

 

There is NO mention of Joshua or Caleb in the whole chapter.  Korah was being snide and sarcastic in his response to Moses words. Notice that Korah's retort is in verse 14. And after Moses tried to reason with him in verse 8 through 11.

 

[Tammy Roesch]

1 minute ago, appy said:

 

There is NO mention of Joshua or Caleb in the whole chapter.  Korah was being snide and sarcastic in his response to Moses words. Notice that Korah's retort is in verse 14. And after Moses tried to reason with him in verse 8 through 11.

 

I understand that....I edited my post above yours and added this ~

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FYI, I'm not saying all the details are in that one Chapter, but if you put them all together, I'm pretty confident you would come to the same conclusion 

Read a couple of the chapters previous...I think you'll find what I was saying.  Numbers 16 is about the Conspiracy they were trying to concoct

[walla299]

 

3 hours ago, teddyv said:

Not the point of your OP but "first earthquake ever"?

 

2 hours ago, Tammy Roesch said:

Yes, I'm pretty sure in the Bible story, Moses said that the Lord would do a NEW THING...the earthquake

Minor points, but the chapter says the earth opened and swallowed them. That would have definitely been a new thing! That doesn't necessarily need an earthquake to happen, but all sorts of strange things do happen to the ground during an earthquake including it splitting open. Also, if it was a quake I doubt it was the first. There would have been many of them during the flood of Noah as the planet was being rearranged. Also, that region has been seismically active since before recorded history. 

[Kelly2363]

Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took action, and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown. They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” When Moses heard this, he fell on his face; and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. “Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company, and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!” Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi, is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking for the priesthood also? “Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord; but as for Aaron, who is he that you grumble against him?” Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up. “Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? “Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!” Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not regard their offering! I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.” Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be present before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. “Each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.” So they each took his own censer and put fire on it, and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” But they fell on their faces and said, “O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?” Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ” Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, or you will be swept away in all their sin.” So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and their sons and their little ones. Moses said, “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing. “If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. “But if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord.” As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us up!” Fire also came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad. “As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel.” So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar, as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman who is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and his company—just as the Lord had spoken to him through Moses. NASB Numbers chapter sixteen.

This (above) is the chapter you elected to cite to demonstrate your premise @Tammy Roesch.

In your narrative, however, you drew on chapter fourteen to make the argument about not entering the land of Canaan for the generations of Israel who were twenty years and above - save for Joshua and Caleb. It is chapter fifteen that specifically sets the meaning for chapter sixteen and in that chapter fifteen the issue is observing the Sabbath. 

All three chapters speak of the rebellion of Israel or its consequence and (chapter fourteen) the appointment of leaders of that rebellion and fifteen the final refusal of those singular men to refuse Moses and ultimately to attempt to wrestle the intimacy with God (priesthood) from Moses and Aaron directly. Yet in all of that the single most important thing is not what must be self evident when men rebell against God - that he will judge them - but rather that His servants will always cry out for mercy when they are intimate with Him. And the chapter you cited expressly makes that clear - though it is a simple matter of missing it when our ambition is to see the hand of God in judgement and cannot fathom His mercy.