The Free Thinkers guide to the Bible

Part 5 #1 - The Rebellion of Korach

The Perpetual Priesthood

Welcome back to the Free Thinkers guide to the bible. I created this series so that ‘anyone’ can explore and understand the bible. You don’t need to be a biblical scholar; all you need is a desire to see what is written. I will present to you several biblical examples and demonstrate the process of sifting the accounts to reveal the hidden. This process is very similar to archeology, where the layers are excavated and analyzed. Just not the dirty part, though you will be digging up some dirt along the way.

Warning:

The series unfolds like a story in a book. Please study the content in the order it is presented in order to have the best experience. (The study series begins with Part 1 #1 – The Flood)

Preface

Welcome to the fifth portion of the study. In this section we will build upon the knowledge we acquired in the first four studies. The focus of this study will be on the primary goal of the “A” writers; the establishment of the eternal Aaronid priesthood in the hearts and minds of the reader/listener. If you have participated in the series from the beginning you know that the “A” writer’s agenda was to insert the formation of the priesthood with its rites, rituals and statutes. They introduced the Tabernacle of the congregation and the Ark of the Covenant and all of the offerings associated with the priestly worship of the Creator within the “B” writer’s stories. They introduced the Sabbath, the festivals, tithing, clean/unclean foods and the concept of ritually clean/unclean. The Tabernacle was revealed to be the precursor to the House of God built by Solomon the son of David with its altars and ceremonial objects.

*** indicates breaks where verses are used in the “B” writers account

“A” writers keywords are highlighted in RED

Before beginning, if you haven’t already done so, read through the Rebellion studies Part 1 #4 - Level 1 and the Rebellion Part 3 #5 Level 2 for the best experience.

The Rebellion “A” – Korah and the two hundred and fifty elders

Numbers 16:1a Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown. *** 3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord (יהוה) is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord (יהוה)? 4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: 5 and he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the Lord (יהוה) will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. 6 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; 7 And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the Lord (יהוה) tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom the Lord (יהוה) doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. 8 And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: 9 Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God (אלהים) (Elohim) of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord (יהוה), and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? 10 And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also? 11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord (יהוה): and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?

***16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the Lord (יהוה), thou, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow: 17 and take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the Lord (יהוה) every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer. 18 And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron. 19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the Lord (יהוה) appeared unto all the congregation. 20 And the Lord (יהוה) spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. 22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God (אל), the God (אלהים) of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

***35 And there came out a fire from the Lord (יהוה), and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

36 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 37 Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. 38 The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. 39 And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: 40 To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger (זוּר - zûr), which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the Lord (יהוה); that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the Lord (יהוה) said to him by the hand of Moses.

Observations

This “A” account begins with the rebellion of the Levite leader Korach and two-hundred and fifty other Levite leaders who rose up against Aaron, stating that they equally deserved to serve the Lord in the Priestly capacity.

Moses and Aaron gathered the people at the tabernacle of the congregation and the Levite leaders offered incense. Fire came from the Lord and consumed the two-hundred and fifty Levites for their presuming that they were ‘holy’ enough to come near the Lord.

Note: The leader Korach is not mentioned as being consumed by the fire in the account.

The Creator told Moses to speak to Aaron’s son Eleazar and have him collect the brass censers so they could be used to cover the brazen altar to be a memorial that no person (Stranger - zûr) who is not of the lineage of Aaron could come near and offer incense to the Creator under the ‘penalty of death’.

According to the words in these passages, there is no possibility that any person whether a fellow Levite or leader of the people can serve as priest to YHWH except Aaron and his descendants. To ensure that there are no future challenges it is sealed under ‘the penalty of death’.

We continue with the Numbers sixteen account …

The murmuring of the people and the Plague

Numbers 16:41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD (יהוה). 42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD (יהוה) appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. 44 And the LORD (יהוה) spake unto Moses, saying, 45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. 46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD (יהוה); the plague is begun. 47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. 49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.

In this portion of the account the people murmured against Moses and Aaron and the Creator wanted to destroy them. Moses and Aaron prostrated themselves. Moses told Aaron to take incense and coals from the fire and go into the midst of the people to atone (cover) their sin. Fourteen thousand seven hundred people died in the plague for their outrage over the death of the Levite leaders which they blamed on Moses and Aaron.

This account demonstrates the recurring use of ‘the penalty of death’ for defying or transgressing against the Aaronid priestly authority. When reading the “A” writer accounts; consciously look for the ‘death penalty’ scare tactic. You may find it intriguing when you see how prevalent it is in their narratives.

The Rod of Aaron/Levi

Num 17:1 And the LORD (יהוה) spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod. 3 And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. 4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. 5 And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.

6 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD (יהוה) in the tabernacle of witness.

8 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. 9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD (יהוה) unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. 10 And the LORD (יהוה) said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. 11 And Moses did so: as the LORD (יהוה) commanded him, so did he.

12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. 13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

In this account we see the solidification of Aaron’s authority. He is given authority over every tribe including the tribe of Levi under the guise of quelling the murmurings of the people. This is an inventive way to establish Aaron’s absolute authority to the listener/reader.

Subconsciously you may also see that Aaron’s authority also extends over his younger brother. Aaron is the firstborn in the family and according to this account he is also considered to be the leader of the tribe of Levi.

If you have participated in the previous studies you will likely relate the “rod of Aaron” in this account with Aaron’s rod in the Plagues study.

The Nadab and Abihu connection – the sacrificial Lambs

Lev 9:24 and fire came out from before יהוה and consumed the ascending offering and the fat on the slaughter-place (altar). And all the people saw and cried aloud and fell on their faces. Lev 10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange (זוּר - zûr) fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. 2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. 3 Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.

In this “A” writer account Nadab and Abihu offered incense (זרה אשׁ – strange fire) to the Creator that He did not command them to bring. The penalty was death! This account was written as a warning to every listener/reader to make sure they know that even those of the lineage of Aaron would suffer the penalty of death for bringing strange (Tsurah) fire before his face (even Aaron’s first born son).

Note: When these sons of Aaron are mentioned in the Numbers scroll the writer added that they died because they brought strange fire before the Lord.

I want you to be open to the possibility that the sons of Aaron; Nadab and Abihu are possibly fictional characters’ that were written into the “A” writers accounts for the sole purpose of demonstrating the seriousness of any ‘Tsur’ stranger coming into the presence of the Creator. These men are mentioned only twelve times in the bible and always together.

The other three mentions in the “A” writers accounts…

Moses on the Mount

Exo 24:1 And to Mosheh He said, “Come up to יהוה, you and Aharon, Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu, and seventy of the elders of Yisra’ěl, and you shall bow yourselves from a distance. *** 9 And Mosheh went up, also Aharon, Naḏaḇ, and Aḇihu, and seventy of the elders of Yisra’ěl, 10 and they saw the Elohim of Yisra’ěl, and under His feet like a paved work of sapphire stone, and like the heavens for brightness.

The Consecration of the Priesthood

Exo 28:1 “And you, bring near Aharon your brother and his sons with him, from among the children of Yisra’ěl, for serving as priest to Me: Aharon, Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu, El‛azar and Ithamar, the sons of Aharon. 2 “And you shall make set-apart garments for Aharon your brother, for esteem and for comeliness.

The five genealogy accounts (eight of the twelve occurrences!)

Exo 6:23 Aharon took to himself Elisheḇa, daughter of Amminaḏaḇ, sister of Naḥshon, as wife. And she bore him Naḏaḇ, and Aḇihu, El‛azar, and Ithamar.

Num 3:1 And these are the generations of Aharon and Mosheh when יהוה spoke with Mosheh on Mount Sinai. 2 And these are the names of the sons of Aharon: Naḏaḇ, the first-born, and Aḇihu, El‛azar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aharon, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to act as priests. 4 And Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu had died before יהוה when they brought strange fire before יהוה in the Wilderness of Sinai. And they had no children. So El‛azar and Ithamar acted as priests in the presence of Aharon their father.

Num 26:60 And to Aharon were born Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu, El‛azar and Ithamar.

61 And Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu died when they brought strange fire before יהוה.

1Ch 6:3 And the children of Amram: Aharon, and Mosheh, and Miryam. And the sons of Aharon: Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu, El‛azar and Ithamar.

1Ch 24:1 And the divisions of the sons of Aharon: The sons of Aharon were Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu, El‛azar and Ithamar. 2 But Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu died before their father, and had no children, so El‛azar and Ithamar served as priests.

We find that there are only four accounts besides the four genealogy accounts that refer to these men. We have found in our previous studies that the “A” writers demonstrated wonderful creativity in their additions and accounts.

Is it possible that Nadab and Abihu are among the creative additions?

We also see a similarity to the “B” stories portrayal of Aaron as a leader of the people and not a priest.

I leave this for you to ponder.

The Rebellion “B” – Dathan, Abiram and On

Numbers 16:1b and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: 2 and they rose up before Moses, ***12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: 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? 14 Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up. 15 And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the Lord (יהוה), Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.

***23 And the Lord (יהוה) spake unto Moses, saying, 24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of (Korah), Dathan, and Abiram. 25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. 27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of (Korah), Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: And Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. 28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord (יהוה) hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. 29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord (יהוה) hath not sent me. 30 But if the Lord (יהוה) make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that belongs unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord (יהוה). 31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: 32 and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses (tents), and all the men that appertained unto (them?) Korah, and all their goods. 33 They, and all that belonged to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. 34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, lest the earth swallow us up also.

Observations

The “B” account:

In this rebellion account Dathan, Abiram and On (who is not mentioned after this) rise up against Moses leadership and complain that they have still not made it to the new lands “that flow with milk and honey” and complain because they don’t want to die in the Wilderness. (Korach is not a part of this rebellion, though the writer would have you believe that he was, by inserting his name in three locations).

In verse 24 Moses tells the congregation to remove themselves from around the tents of Korach, Dathan and Abiram. In the next verse Moses went only to the tents of Dathan and Abiram (Korach’s tent is not mentioned).

In verse 27 it states that the people moved away from the tents of Korach, Dathan and Abiram. We then read that only Dathan and Abiram came out of their tents and stood at the doorway. (Once again Korach is not mentioned).

In verse 32 the writer cleverly inserts Korach’s name and asserts that Korach and his family and possessions shared the same fate as Dathan and Abiram. (This fate is refuted by several biblical accounts)

Neither Aaron nor any priestly connection is mentioned in this account.

Word occurrences

Dathan and Abiram – 6X

Korah – 3X Note: Added to skew the readers understanding of the account.

Please continue with us in the next portion of the series:

Author: Hoyt Allen Spiker - 2025 - Shemoth20@Gmail.com

Part 5 #2 - The Perpetual Priesthood - The Heresy at Peor