1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben,
2 took men; and they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men;
3 and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, "You have gone too far! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and YHVH is among them; why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of YHVH?"
Korah is a Hebrew word meaning bald, cold and without horns. It denotes the coldness of materialistic ideas. Being without horns is another way of saying that he had no spiritual force within him. Dathan means cistern or spring. It denotes a leading thought which is bound with the letter of the law. This blinds the thought to the spiritual truths behind the outer ceremonies. Abiram means father of elevation, high or proud and represents the arrogance of pride. The three thoughts, combined together, led to rebellion.
4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face;
5 and he said to Korah and all his company, "In the morning YHVH will show who is his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him; him whom he will choose he will cause to come near to him.
6 Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company;
7 put fire in them and put incense upon them before YHVH tomorrow, and the man whom YHVH chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!"
8 And Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi:
9 is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of YHVH, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;
10 and that he has brought you near him, and all your brethren the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?
11 Therefore, it is against YHVH that you and all your company have gathered together; what is Aaron that you murmur against him?"
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab; and they said, "We will not come up.
13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us?
14 Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up."
15 And Moses was very angry, and said to YHVH, "Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one ass from them, and I have not harmed one of them."
16 And Moses said to Korah, "Be present, you and all your company, before YHVH, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow;
17 and let every one of you take his censer, and put incense upon it, and every one of you bring before YHVH his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer."
Our material consciousness, symbolized by these material thoughts or levels of consciousness, will continually try to maintain control of our being. Even though we have reached the level of spiritual development indicated by the exodus from Egypt, (materialism) under the leadership of Moses, (our enlightened consciousness), we must continue our vigilance and maintain control by the higher, developing Spiritual Consciousness.
18 So every man took his censer, and they put fire in them and laid incense upon them, and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
19 Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of YHVH appeared to all the congregation.
20 And YHVH said to Moses and to Aaron,
21 "Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment."
No matter how insistent the material consciousness, once the soul has begun to be enveloped with the Glory of YHVH, the Spiritual Consciousness, or Illumination, it will quickly transmute or consume the egotistical thoughts.
22 And they fell on their faces, and said, "O El, the God of the Spirits of all Flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be angry with all the congregation?"
24 "Say to the congregation, Get away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."
25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
26 And he said to the congregation, "Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins."
27 So they got away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abi'ram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.
Part of the spiritualizing process is the separation of the "wheat from the chaff." It represents the process that each of us must go through in our own inner thought life, that of testing our beliefs and ideas and accepting only those which are worthy of our spiritual goals.
28 And Moses said, "Hereby you shall know that YHVH has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord.
29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they are visited by the fate of all men, then YHVH has not sent me.
30 But if YHVH creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the Grave, then you shall know that these men have despised YHVH."
31 And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split asunder;
32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men that belonged to Korah and all their goods.
33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into the Grave; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at their cry; for they said, "Lest the earth swallow us up!"
35 And fire came forth from YHVH, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense.
The earth's swallowing them up is a way of saying that they were returned to the element from which they came, dust to dust. These negative thoughts must be transmuted or reborn as positive, loving and helpful thoughts before they can be of benefit to our spiritual growth. As dust again they can be reformed to fulfill this purpose.