Scroll to the bottom for thoughts/discussion questions!
One-sentence summary: Some men from the Levites rise up against Moses and Aaron and the Lord consumes them, 12 rods are made to stand near the testimony as a test, and Aaron's rod blossoms as a sign to all Israel that the Lord has chosen him and his family alone for the priesthood.
Some of the men of the Levites rise up against Moses and Aaron and say that the congregation is holy and the Lord is among them, and ask why Moses and Aaron are exalting themselves above the rest of them. So Moses falls on his face and tells them that the next day, the Lord will let them know who belongs to Him and is holy, and He will call that person near. He tells Korah, the main aggressor, to take censors and put fire and incense in them before the Lord the next day; the one the Lord chooses and lets him come near will be His. Moses says that the sons of Levi are the ones "taking too much upon themselves" (the thing they accused Moses and Aaron of doing.) He chides them and says that the Lord has chosen the Levites to serve in the sanctuary, but now they are seeking priesthood also, and that it is the Lord they are actually gathering against. Moses asks for help from two leaders of the tribe of Reuben, but they refuse to come, as they say he promised them the land but now won't let them go in. So Moses gets very angry and tells the Lord not to respect their offering. He tells Korah to be present before the Lord the next day with the rest of his company, with the censors and incense and Aaron also, all 250 of the Levites who rose against them. So the next day, they all stand at the door of the tabernacle, and Korah gathers all the congregation against them. Then, the glory of the Lord appears before all them, and the Lord tells Moses and Aaron to separate themselves so that He can consume the congregation in a moment. Moses and Aaron fall on their faces and ask God not to be angry with everyone for one mans's sin. So the Lord speaks to Moses and tells him to tell the congregation to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (the two men who refused to help and complained against the Lord). So Moses goes to the men with the elders, and Moses tells the congregation to depart from these men, lest they be consumed along with their sins. So Dathan and Abiram come out and stand at the door of their tents with their families. And Moses says: "By this you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will." He says the sign will be if these men die naturally, then the Lord has not sent him, but if the Lord "creates a new thing" by opening the earth to swallow them up and their families, then it will be a sign that these men have rejected the Lord. As he finishes speaking, the ground splits apart under them and swallows them up with their entire households. Then, all Israel flees because they are afraid it will happen to them. And a fire comes out from the Lord and consumes the 250 men who brought the incense. Then, the Lord tells Moses to tell Eleazar the son of Aaron to take the censors because they are holy (as having been offered to the Lord) and to scatter the fire some distance away. The censors are to be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, which will be a sign to Israel. This is so that all Israel will remember that only the descendants of Aaron are to be priests and come near the altar and so that no one in the future will be presumptuous like Korah and his companions and die.
The next day, the whole congregation complains against Moses and Aaron and say, "You have killed the people of the Lord." Suddenly, they look toward the tabernacle, and a cloud covers it, and the glory of the Lord appears. And the Lord tells Moses again to get away from the congregation so that He can consume them in a moment. Moses tells Aaron to take a censor with incense and take it to the congregation to make atonement for them, and that "the plague has begun" because they have incurred the Lord's wrath. (It is interesting how the Lord does not even have to tell Moses what He is going to do; Moses knows Him so well that He knows what He is going to do.) Aaron takes the incense to the people and finds that the plague has already begun, and Aaron stands with the incense between the dead and the living, and the plague is stopped. Altogether, 14,700 people die in the plague. And Aaron returns to Moses once the plague stops.
The Lord speaks to Moses and tells him to tell Israel to get 12 rods from each tribe and to write each tribe's name on each rod. However, for the tribe of Levi, Aaron is to write his name on it (this is done so that the Levites will know for sure that Aaron's descendants have been chosen as priests and not them). The Lord tells Moses to place them before the testimony, and that the rod of the man the Lord chooses, that rod will blossom. This way "[The Lord] will rid [Himself] of the complaints of the children of Israel which they make against [Moses]." So Moses places the rods before the Lord, and the next day, Aaron's rod sprouts and puts forth buds, blossoms ,and almonds. So Moses brings all the rods out before Israel, and the men take their rods, and the Lord tells Moses to keep Aaron's rod near the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels so they will stop complaining and die. Israel tells Moses that they will surely die if they come near the tabernacle, and they ask him if they are all going to die. (Maybe they are finally "getting it?" Somehow, I don't think so.)
Thoughts/Discussion Questions:
Let's think how this applies to us today. Scripture tells us that if we believe God's prophets, we will prosper. We need to respect those God has chosen as prophets, honor them, and be careful not to speak against them, because really, we will be speaking against God.
Israel was spiritually going around and around the same tests and not learning their lesson, so they were condemned to wander in a physical wilderness. What is inside will eventually come out and be seen as fruit in our lives.