As Israel went back into the wilderness, four men
decided to set things straight concerning Moses
and Aaron. The leader was Korah, from the tribe
of Levi. They formed a group of two hundred fifty
prominent men and went to Moses. They said,
“You’ve taken your authority too far. We’re a holy
nation. The Lord is with all of us. Things don’t
have to always go through you.”
Moses said to Korah, “I know what this is
about. The Levites have been chosen to do the
Lord’s service. Now you want the priesthood as
well. God has chosen the family of Aaron, so you
are in rebellion against God. Tomorrow, all of us
will stand before the Lord holding censers filled
with fire and incense. The Lord will choose who
he wants to lead the people.”
Two of the organizers said, “We’re not coming!
You’ve brought us back into the wilderness to
die. Now you’re telling us what to do like a king.
So, we won’t be there!”
This made Moses angry. He said to the Lord,
“I’ve never mistreated these people. I haven’t
taken anything from them. Yet they hate me.”
The next day, Moses, Aaron, and all two
hundred fifty men stood before the Lord with
their censers filled with fire and incense. The
entire congregation was there to watch.
The glory of the Lord appeared, and God said
to Moses and Aaron, “Step out of the way. I’m
going to destroy the entire congregation.”
Moses fell down and begged, “Oh God,
don’t punish everyone for what a few people
have done.”
God said, “Tell the people to move away from
the tents of the men who refused to come to this
meeting.” So everyone moved away from those
tents. The two men came out and stood next to the
door of their tents, along with their wives, children,
and babies. Korah went and stood with them.
Moses spoke to the congregation. “If these
men grow old and die a natural death, then you’ll
know that the Lord didn’t send me to do these
things. But if something unusual happens to them,
you’ll know they were speaking against God.”
Suddenly, the earth opened, and these men
and their families fell into the hole. The ground
closed up around them as if the earth swallowed
them. People screamed and ran thinking they
might be swallowed as well. Then fire came and
killed all two hundred fifty men who were holding
censers with incense.
The Lord said to Moses, “Collect all two
hundred fifty censors from among the men’s
ashes. Hammered them into plating and use it
to overlay the altar. This will remind the people
that the priesthood is only for Aaron and his
descendants.”
Even with all of this, the people were still
talking about the priesthood the next day. A
crowd gathered around Moses and Aaron to talk
about the people who died. They said, “You killed
God’s people.”
Moses turned and saw that God’s anger was
hot against the crowd. He said to Aaron, “Quick,
go get a censer and fill it with incense and fire.
Run among the people and make atonement for
their sins. God’s anger is flowing out, and he’s
striking them with a plague.” As Aaron did this,
he saw that the plague had started. He made
atonement for the people, standing between
the dead and those who were alive. The plague
stopped, but 14,700 died that day.
To solve the issue of the priesthood, the Lord
said to Moses, “Have each tribe bring a walking
stick. Put Aaron’s name on Levi’s walking stick.
Place them in the Tabernacle. I’ll make one of
them sprout. This will make the people stop
complaining about you!”
Moses followed the Lord’s instructions. The
next day, not only had Aaron’s walking stick
sprouted, it formed buds, blossomed, and
produced almonds! The people saw this and were
amazed. From that day, they didn’t even want to
go near the Tabernacle, in case they would die.
Aaron’s staff was put back into the Tabernacle for
safekeeping.

© God Child