Numbers 16:41-50 King James Version (KJV)

41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.
42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
44 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.
47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.

Numbers 16:41-50 Amplified Bible (AMP)

41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the Lord.
42 When the congregation was gathered against Moses and Aaron, they looked at the Tent of Meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and they saw the Lord’s glory.
43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting.
44 And the Lord said to Moses,
45 Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And Moses and Aaron fell on their faces.
46 And Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer and put fire in it from off the altar and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them. For there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun!
47 So Aaron took the burning censer as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and behold, the plague was begun among the people; and he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.
48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed.
49 Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the matter of Korah.
50 And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the Tent of Meeting, since the plague was stayed.

Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation



These are my thoughts, please share yours.

41 This shows a lack of faith of the people but also may show that God backed them, they may have more likely viewed based on things they did later that God was under Moses control, which was far from the truth because Moses was willing to submit to the Lord’s will no matter what it was. They would have not been killed if they truly were the Lord’s people.

42 The cloud symbolized the Lord, the people may have been gathering together to get rid of Moses and Aaron which shows them wanting to control what they do themselves.

43 They went to the Lord their problems unlike what they others we doing, we should always be willing to go to Him, and it is what is best.

44 He was still with Him; He never leaves us even when it seems everyone is against us.

45 They went to prayer, God was going to protect them against these people and they put their faces to the ground willing to pray for them.

46 Moses and Aaron were willing to risk their lives for those who wanted to harm them, if the church did this many more people would be coming to faith as they were when the church first started.

47 Aaron had to be the one to go because Aaron was the high priest not Moses. We have to rely on someone else so we can have atonement but it not a man it is Jesus our Savior.

48 Sometimes even when we come to receive forgiveness some of the effects may remain even though our sin is forgive, He is merciful but also just.

49 This is a large number of people to die because they turned against God’s chosen, the best example of supporting the one God puts in charge is David and how he reacts to Saul as king even after Samuel anoints him to be the next king and even after Saul dies David kills the man that killed Saul because he should have never killed someone the Lord put in charge, it was for the Lord to remove Saul not this man and it was for the Lord to remove Moses not Korah or any others.

50 Aaron returned because there was not point in him dying, he was wise to listen to the Lord but showed his love to the people by listening to Moses. Sometimes we do all we can do for people and we just need to let God deal with them.