Numbers 16-17

Bible Narrative Project

Forgot to include chapter fifteen in the last one. Hmm. There are some laws, perhaps to reestablish Moses’ authority and restore order to the people. A people cannot survive wilderness wandering if they are all doing their own thing, as was the dude gathering wood on the sabbath. He wasn’t just gathering wood, he was being deliberately defiant and rebellious, out of unity with the people. (Jesus was not…he was caring about people…which was not forbidden on the sabbath, though it had come to that by Jesus’ time.) There are no jails, and so such rebellion is checked with death. Same deal with the rebellion of Korah and his allies, who had high duties in the tabernacle, but wanted more. The people blame Moses for their deaths and God shows up to stop them with death but again Moses acts on behalf of the people and instructs Aaron as priest on their behalf, to stop the plague. If that wasn’t enough to show that Moses and Aaron are “for the people” God shows them who he chooses as priest by making Aaron’s rod bud instead of the other potential priests. The laws in the chapters that follow fully outline the duties of the priesthood, who are “for the people”.