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indignant appealto God against the implied charges of the Reubenites (ver. 15).
Indeed, the conspirators expresslystated these views as follows (ver. 3), "Sufficient for
you!" - that is, You, Moses and Aaron, havelong enough held the priesthood and the
government; "for the whole congregation, all are holy, and inthe midst of them
Jehovah. And why exalt ye yourselves over the convocation of Jehovah?" It willbe
observed that the pretense which they put forward to cover their selfish, ambitious
motives wasthat of a higher spirituality, which recognized none other than the spiritual
priesthood of all Israel.But, as we shall presently show, their claim to it was not
founded on the typical mediatorship of thehigh-priest, but on their standing as Israel
after the flesh.
The whole of this history is so sad, the judgment which followed it so terrible -
finding no otherparallel than that which in the New Testament Church overtook
Ananias and Sapphira - and therebellion itself is so frequently referred to in scripture,
that it requires more special consideration. Therebellion of Korah, as it is generally
called, from its prime mover, was, of course, an act of directopposition to the
appointment of God. But this was not all. The principle expressed in theirgainsaying
(ver. 3) ran directly counter to the whole design of the old covenant, and would, if
carriedout, have entirely subverted its typical character. It was, indeed, quite true that
all Israel were holyand priests, yet not in virtue of their birth or national standing, but
through the typical priesthood ofAaron, who "brought them nigh" and was their
intermediary with God. Again, this priesthood ofAaron, as indeed all similar
selections - such as those of the place where, and the seasons when Godwould be
worshipped, of the composition of the incense, or of the sacrifices -although there
mayhave been secondary and subordinate reasons for them, depended in the first place
and mainly uponGod's appointment.
"Him whom the Lord hath chosen will He cause to come near unto Him" (6:5);
"whom the Lord dothchoose, he shall be holy" (ver. 7).
Every other service, fire, or place than that which God had chosen, would, however
well andearnestly intended, be "strange" service, "strange" fire, and a "strange" place.
This was essential forthe typical bearing of all these arrangements. It was God's
appointment, and not the natural fitness ofa person or thing which here came into
consideration. If otherwise, they would have been naturalsequences, not types -
constituting a rational rather than a Divine service. It was of the nature of atype that
God should appoint the earthly emblem with which He would connect the spiritual
reality.The moment Israel deviated in any detail, however small, they not only
rebelled against God'sappointment, but destroyed the meaning of the whole by
substituting the human and natural for theDivine. The types were, so to speak, mirrors
of God's own fitting, which exhibited, as alreadypresent, future spiritual realities with
(^)