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The BibleTruth.cc Torah Study Series Parashat Korach "Korah" Bamidbar [Numbers] 16:1-18:32 Theme The theme of Parashat Bamidbar... Parashat Korach is relevant today because every congregation has experienced the uprising of some of its members who think they are more qualified to lead the congregation than its present leaders. Read and study this Torah portion to find Yahuwah's attitude and response to these kinds of uprisings. Sedarim The Responsibilities of Priests and Lewites Prophetic Pictures in this Week's Torah Portion Prophetic End Time Shadows in the Torah Parashah
The Rebellion of Korach
1 Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and
certain sons of Re'uven-- Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son
of Peleth-- became insolent 2 and rose up
against Mosheh. With them were 250 Yisraelite men, well-known community
leaders who had been appointed members of the council. 3 They came as a
group to oppose Mosheh and Aharon and said to them, "You have gone too
far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and Yahuwah is with
them. Why then do you set yourselves above Yahuwah's assembly?" 4 When Mosheh heard
this, he fell facedown. 5 Then he said to
Korah and all his followers: "In the morning Yahuwah will show who
belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near
him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. 6 You, Korah, and
all your followers are to do this: Take censers 7 and tomorrow put
fire and incense in them before Yahuwah. The man Yahuwah chooses will be
the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!" 8 Mosheh also said
to Korah, "Now listen, you Levites! 9 Isn't it enough
for you that the Elohim of Yisrael has separated you from the rest of
the Yisraelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at
Yahuwah's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to
them? 10 He has brought
you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to
get the priesthood too. 11 It is against
Yahuwah that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is
Aharon that you should grumble against him?" 12 Then Mosheh
summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, "We will
not come! 13 Isn't it enough
that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to
kill us in the desert? And now you also want tYahuwah it over us? 14 Moreover, you
haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us
an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of
these men? No, we will not come!" 15 Then Mosheh
became very angry and said to Yahuwah, "Do not accept their offering. I
have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of
them." 16 Mosheh said to
Korah, "You and all your followers are to appear before Yahuwah
tomorrow-- you and they and Aharon. 17 Each man is to
take his censer and put incense in it-- 250 censers in all-- and present
it before Yahuwah. You and Aharon are to present your censers also." 18 So each man took
his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Mosheh and Aharon
at the entrance to the Tent of Appointment. 19 When Korah had
gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the
Tent of Appointment, the glory of Yahuwah appeared to the entire
assembly. 20 Yahuwah said to
Mosheh and Aharon, 21 "Separate
yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." 22 But Mosheh and
Aharon fell facedown and cried out, "O Elohim, Elohim of the spirits of
all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one
man sins?" 23 Then Yahuwah said
to Mosheh, 24 "Say to the
assembly, 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.'" 25 Mosheh got up and
went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Yisrael followed him. 26 He warned the
assembly, "Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch
anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all
their sins." 27 So they moved
away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had
come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at
the entrances to their tents. 28 Then Mosheh said,
"This is how you will know that Yahuwah has sent me to do all these
things and that it was not my idea: 29 If these men die
a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then
Yahuwah has not sent me. 30 But if Yahuwah
brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and
swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down
alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated
Yahuwah with contempt." 31 As soon as he
finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32 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. 34 At their cries,
all the sons of Yisrael around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going
to swallow us too!" 35 And fire came out
from Yahuwah and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense. 36 Yahuwah said to
Mosheh, 37 "Tell Eleazar son
of Aharon, the priest, to take the censers out of the smoldering remains
and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy-- 38 the censers of
the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into
sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before Yahuwah and
have become holy. Let them be a sign to the sons of Yisrael." 39 So Eleazar the
priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned
up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, 40 as Yahuwah
directed him through Mosheh. This was to remind the sons of Yisrael that
no one except a descendant of Aharon should come to burn incense before
Yahuwah, or he would become like Korah and his followers. 41 The next day the
whole community of the sons of Yisrael grumbled against Mosheh and
Aharon. "You have killed Yahuwah's people," they said. 42 But when the
assembly gathered in opposition to Mosheh and Aharon and turned toward
the Tent of Appointment, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of
Yahuwah appeared. 43 Then Mosheh and
Aharon went to the front of the Tent of Appointment, 44 and Yahuwah said
to Mosheh, 45 "Get away from
this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." And they fell
facedown. 46 Then Mosheh said
to Aharon, "Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from
the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath
has come out from Yahuwah; the plague has started." 47 So Aharon did as
Mosheh said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had
already started among the people, but Aharon 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 Aharon
returned to Mosheh at the entrance to the Tent of Appointment, for the
plague had stopped.
The Budding of Aharon's Staff
17:1 Yahuwah said to Mosheh, 2 "Speak to the sons
of Yisrael and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each
of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. 3 On the staff of
Levi write Aharon's name, for there must be one staff for the head of
each ancestral tribe. 4 Place them in the
Tent of Appointment in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you. 5 The staff
belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this
constant grumbling against you by the sons of Yisrael." 6 So Mosheh spoke to
the sons of Yisrael, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for
the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aharon's staff was
among them. 7 Mosheh placed the
staffs before Yahuwah in the Tent of the Testimony. 8 The next day
Mosheh entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aharon's staff,
which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had
budded, blossomed and produced almonds. 9 Then Mosheh
brought out all the staffs from Yahuwah's presence to all the sons of
Yisrael. They looked at them, and each man took his own staff. 10 Yahuwah said to
Mosheh, "Put back Aharon's staff in front of the Testimony, to be kept
as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling
against me, so that they will not die." 11 Mosheh did just
as Yahuwah commanded him. 12 The sons of
Yisrael said to Mosheh, "We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! 13 Anyone who even
comes near the tabernacle of Yahuwah will die. Are we all going to die?"
The
Responsibilities of Priests and Lewites
18:1 Yahuwah said to Aharon, "You, your sons and your father's
family are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the
sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility
for offenses against the priesthood. 2 Bring your fellow
Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you
and your sons minister before the Tent of the Testimony. 3 They are to be
responsible to you and are to perform all the duties of the Tent, but
they must not go near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or
both they and you will die. 4 They are to join
you and be responsible for the care of the Tent of Appointment-- all the
work at the Tent-- and no one else may come near where you are. 5 "You are to be
responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that wrath
will not fall on the sons of Yisrael again. 6 I myself have
selected your fellow Levites from among the sons of Yisrael as a gift to
you, dedicated to Yahuwah to do the work at the Tent of Appointment. 7 But only you and
your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the
altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the
priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be
put to death." 8 Then Yahuwah said
to Aharon, "I myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented
to me; all the holy offerings the sons of Yisrael give me I give to you
and your sons as your portion and regular share. 9 You are to have
the part of the most holy offerings that is kept from the fire. From all
the gifts they bring me as most holy offerings, whether grain or sin or
guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons. 10 Eat it as
something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as
holy. 11 "This also is
yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings of
the sons of Yisrael. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as
your regular share. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean
may eat it. 12 "I give you all
the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give
Yahuwah as the firstfruits of their harvest. 13 All the land's
firstfruits that they bring to Yahuwah will be yours. Everyone in your
household who is ceremonially clean may eat it. 14 "Everything in
Yisrael that is devoted to Yahuwah is yours. 15 The first
offspring of every womb, both man and animal, that is offered to Yahuwah
is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn
male of unclean animals. 16 When they are a
month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five
shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs
twenty gerahs. 17 "But you must not
redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep or a goat; they are holy.
Sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made
by fire, an aroma pleasing to Yahuwah. 18 Their meat is to
be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh
are yours. 19 Whatever is set
aside from the holy offerings the sons of Yisrael present to Yahuwah I
give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an
everlasting covenant of salt before Yahuwah for both you and your
offspring." 20 Yahuwah said to
Aharon, "You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have
any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the
sons of Yisrael. 21 "I give to the
Levites all the tithes in Yisrael as their inheritance in return for the
work they do while serving at the Tent of Appointment. 22 From now on the
sons of Yisrael must not go near the Tent of Appointment, or they will
bear the consequences of their sin and will die. 23 It is the Levites
who are to do the work at the Tent of Appointment and bear the
responsibility for offenses against it. This is a lasting ordinance for
the generations to come. They will receive no inheritance among the sons
of Yisrael. 24 Instead, I give
to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the sons of Yisrael
present as an offering to Yahuwah. That is why I said concerning them:
'They will have no inheritance among the sons of Yisrael.'" 25 Yahuwah said to
Mosheh, 26 "Speak to the
Levites and say to them: 'When you receive from the sons of Yisrael the
tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that
tithe as Yahuwah's offering. 27 Your offering
will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from
the winepress. 28 In this way you
also will present an offering to Yahuwah from all the tithes you receive
from the sons of Yisrael. From these tithes you must give Yahuwah's
portion to Aharon the priest. 29 You must present
as Yahuwah's portion the best and holiest part of everything given to
you.' 30 "Say to the
Levites: 'When you present the best part, it will be reckoned to you as
the product of the threshing floor or the winepress. 31 You and your
households may eat the rest of it anywhere, for it is your wages for
your work at the Tent of Appointment. 32 By presenting the
best part of it you will not be guilty in this matter; then you will not
defile the holy offerings of the sons of Yisrael, and you will not
die.'"
Prophetic End
Time Shadows in the Torah Parashah
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