As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites." Sermons
I. PERSONAL, II. SOCIAL. I. PERSONAL: on the sinner himself, as in the case of Korah the Kohathite, honoured as one of the ministers of God's ark. lllustration - Infection, taken unawares, may not be suspected by friends, hardly by the victim; but its effects (fever, eruption, &c.) will be seen by and by. Sin cannot always be kept secret (Isaiah 59:12; James 1:15). "Evil shall slay the wicked." If the consequences are not as fatal as in Korah's case, moral destruction is going on. As Alpine granite may be reduced by frost and damp to a kind of mould, so sin - some sins especially - seems to break up the moral nature and reduce it to ruins. From the personal consequences of sin the destroyer we can only be delivered by Christ the Savior (Titus 2:14). II. SOCIAL: on others. In the case of Korah and his conspirators, sin was fatal to their families. So perhaps in the case of Achan (Joshua 7:24-26; Joshua 22:20); if not, how terrible for them to see the husband, the father, killed, and to know that he had caused the loss of thirty-six men at Ai! "Curses, like chickens, always come home to roost." We cannot sin with impunity to our family any more than Adam did. Sin propagates sin. It involves others, directly or indirectly, in its fatal consequences. Illustration - King Saul, and the catastrophe to both family and nation at Gilboa. Unrighteous statesmen. Men of high social position who are immoral or infidel. Each sinner a center of contagion (Ecclesiastes 9:18). The fate of the children of Korah's company a warning to sinful parents. The children of the godless may be expected to become the parents of godless children, and thus the evil may be perpetuated from generation to generation. Mournful epitaph for a sinner's grave: "That man perished not alone in his iniquity." "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Romans 5:20, 21; Romans 8:2, 3). - P.
Take up the censers. What God has kissed must not be lost; what God has consecrated must be preserved. The two hundred and fifty men may be burned up, the censers may be scorched, but they shall be turned to some use in the sanctuary. O thou great Economist, the very stones of Thy house are sacred to Thee; they are not sacred as magically consecrated, but they are sacred because Thou hast told men to seek in the quarries of the earth and in the forests of the land for stone and wood to put together to make a sanctuary for Thee; and once Thine, Thine for ever. The stones are dear to Thee, yea, the dust of Zion is more than the constellations of the sky. If we have given anything to the Cross, it is God's; it will never be unholy. At the beginning of every year some men say, "So much for Christ." They say, "There it is; every penny is His, it will all go to His treasury." Such men can never be vexed and fretted by appeals, because they have given the money, and when they have spent all the money they say so, and God is as pleased with their not giving as with their giving, because they have given it all. They first set it apart, they consecrated it, they took it to the Cross and said, Jesus, this little handful is all Thine; help me to spend it aright. It is all gone, so when the next applicant comes and gets nothing, God is not displeased. So let us give ourselves to Christ; then every hair on our head is His, and will be numbered; all our outgoings and incomings, our downsittings and uprisings, will be of consequence to Heaven. Why? Not because of the detailed action, but because the life out of which all of that action came was itself baptized, made holy with the chrism of fire.(J. Parker, D. D.) People Aaron, Abiram, Dathan, Eleazar, Eliab, Israelites, Izhar, Kohath, Korah, Levi, Levites, Moses, Pallu, Peleth, Reuben, ReubenitesPlaces Wilderness of ParanTopics Altar, Beaten, Broad, Censers, Cost, Cover, Covering, Fire-pans, Forfeited, Hallowed, Hammer, Hammered, Holy, Israelites, Offered, Overlay, Payment, Plates, Plating, Present, Presented, Sheets, Sign, Sin, Sinned, Sinners, Sons, Souls, Spread-out, Thus, VesselsOutline 1. The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram23. Moses separates the people from the rebels' tents 31. The earth swallows up Korah, and a fire consumes others 36. The censers are reserved to holy use 41. 14,700 are slain by a plague, for murmuring against Moses and Aaron 46. Aaron by incense stays the plague Dictionary of Bible Themes Numbers 16:38Library September 3. "The God of Israel Hath Separated You" (Num. xvi. 9). "The God of Israel hath separated you" (Num. xvi. 9). The little plant may grow out of a manure heap, and be surrounded by filth, and covered very often with the floating dust that is borne upon the breeze, but its white roots are separated from the unclean soil, and its leaves and flowers have no affinity with the dust that settles upon them; and after a shower of summer rain they throw off every particle of defilement, and look up, as fresh and spotless as before, for their intrinsic nature cannot … Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth Death Swallowed up in victory Whether Vengeance Should be Taken on those who have Sinned Involuntarily? Conflict. Ninth Sunday after Trinity Carnal Security and Its vices. The Life and Death of Mr. Badman, Numbers Links Numbers 16:38 NIVNumbers 16:38 NLT Numbers 16:38 ESV Numbers 16:38 NASB Numbers 16:38 KJV Numbers 16:38 Bible Apps Numbers 16:38 Parallel Numbers 16:38 Biblia Paralela Numbers 16:38 Chinese Bible Numbers 16:38 French Bible Numbers 16:38 German Bible Numbers 16:38 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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