Numbers — Chapter 16

Core, Dathan, Abiron, and On with 250 princes rebel against Moses and Aaron: \"All the congregation is holy and the Lord is among them; why do you exalt yourselves above the people of the Lord?\" A type of all clerical and lay ambition against legitimate hierarchical authority.

Moses answers by offering a test at the Tabernacle: God will show who is His; \"He who is holy, Him shall He bring near to Himself.\" Let God judge the presumptuous; do not pre-empt divine election.

The earth opens and swallows Core, Dathan, and Abiron alive with their households; all Israel who stood around fled at their cry: \"Lest the earth swallow us also.\" An unparalleled punishment for sacrilegious usurpation of the priesthood.

Fire goes out from the Lord and consumes the 250 men who offered incense; their bronze censers are beaten flat and attached to the altar as a permanent warning against unauthorized liturgical ministry.

Aaron takes fire from the altar, puts incense on it, and runs into the midst of the congregation to make atonement; \"he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.\" Aaron as intercessor between God's wrath and the dying people is a type of Christ.