After the death of the two hundred and fifty followers of Korah, who
perished at the offering of incense, Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was
ordered "to take up the censers out of the burning," in which the
souls, not the bodies of the sinners were burned, [591] that out of
these brasen plates he made a covering for the altar. Eleazar, and not
his father, the high priest, received this commission, for God said:
"The censer brought death upon two of Aaron's sons, therefore let the
third now fetch forth the censer and effect expiation for the sinners."
[592] The covering of the altar fashioned out of the brass of these
censers was "to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, to the end
that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to burn
incense before the Lord." Such a one was not, however, to be punished
like Korah and his company, but in the same way as Moses had once been
punished by God, with leprosy. This punishment was visited upon king
Uzziah, who tried to burn incense in the Temple, asserting that it was
the king's task to perform the service before the King of all. The
heavens hastened to the scene to consume him, just as the celestial
fire had once consumed the two hundred and fifty men, who had
wrongfully assumed the rights of priesthood; the earth strove to
swallow him as it had once swallowed Korah and his company. But a
celestial voice announced: "Upon none save Korah and his company came
punishments like these, upon no others. This man's punishment shall be
leprosy." Hence Uzziah became a leper. [593]
Peace was not, however, established with the destruction of Korah and
his company, for on the very day that followed the terrible
catastrophe, there arose a rebellion against Moses, that was even more
violent than the preceding one. For although the people were now
convinced that nothing came to pass without the will of God, still they
thought God was doing all this for Moses' sake. Hence they laid at his
door God's violent anger against them, blaming not the wickedness of
those who had been punished, but Moses, who, they said, had excited
God's revengefulness against them. They accused Moses of having brought
about the death of so many of the noblest among them as a punishment
for the people, only that they might not again venture to call him to
account, and that he might thereby ensure his brother's possession of
the priestly office, since no one would hereafter covet it, seeing that
on its account the noblest among them had met so terrible a fate. The
kinsmen of those who had perished stirred the flame of resentment and
spurred on the people to set a limit to Moses' love of power, insisting
that the public welfare and the safety of Israel demanded such
measures. [594] These unseemly speeches and their unceasing,
incorrigible perverseness brought upon them God's wrath to such a
degree that He wanted to destroy them all, and bade Moses and Aaron go
away from the congregation that He might instantly set about their
ruin.
When Moses saw that "there was wrath gone out from the Lord, and the
plague was begun," he called Aaron to him, saying: "Take thy censer and
put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense thereon, and carry
it quickly unto the congregation, and make atonement for them." This
remedy against death Moses had learned from the Angel of Death himself
at the time he was staying in heaven to receive the Torah. At that time
he had received a gift from each one of the angels, and that of the
Angel of Death had been the revelation of the secret that incense can
hold him at bay. [595] Moses, in applying this remedy, had in mind also
the purpose of showing the people the injustice of their superstition
concerning the offering of incense. They called it death-bearing
because it had brought death upon Nadab and Abihu, as well as upon the
two hundred and fifty followers of Korah. He now wished to convince
them that it was this very incense that prevented the plague, and to
teach them that it is sin that brings death. [596] Aaron, however, did
not know why he employed incense, and therefore said to Moses: "O my
lord Moses, hast thou perchance my death in view? My sons were burned
because they put strange fires into the censers. Shall I now fetch holy
fire from the altar and carry it outside? Surely I shall meet death
through this fire!" Moses replied: "Go quickly and do as I have bidden
thee, for while thou dost stand and talk, they die." Aaron hastened to
carry out the command given to him, saying: "Even if it be my death, I
obey gladly if I can only serve Israel thereby." [597]
The Angel of Death had meanwhile wrought terrible havoc among the
people, like a reaper mowing down line after line of them, allowing not
one of the line he touched to escape, whereas, on the other hand, not a
single man died before he reached the row in which the man stood.
Aaron, censer in hand, now appeared, and stood up between the ranks of
the living and those of the dead, holding the Angel of Death at bay.
The latter now addressed Aaron, saying: "Leave me to my work, for I
have been sent to do it by God, whereas thou dost bid me stop in the
name of a creature that is only of flesh and blood." Aaron did not,
however, yield, but said: "Moses acts only as God commands him, and if
thou wilt not trust him, behold, God and Moses are both in the
Tabernacle, let us both betake ourselves thither." The Angel of Death
refused to obey his call, whereupon Aaron seized him by force and,
thrusting the censer under his face, dragged him to the Tabernacle
where he locked him in, so that death ceased. [598]
In this way Aaron paid off a debt to Moses. After the worship of the
Golden Calf, that came to pass not without some guilt on Aaron's part,
God had decreed that all four of Aaron's sons were to die, but Moses
stood up between the living and the dead, and through his prayer
succeeded in saving two out of the four. In the same way Aaron now
stood up between the living and the dead to ward off from Israel the
Angel of Death. [599]
God in His kindness now desired the people once and for all to be
convinced of the truth that Aaron was the elect, and his house the
house of priesthood, hence he bade Moses convince them in the following
fashion. Upon God's command, he took a beam of wood, divided it into
twelve rods, bade every prince of a tribe in his own hand write his
name on one of the rods respectively, and laid up the rods over night
before the sanctuary. Then the miracle came to pass that the rod of
Aaron, the prince of the tribe of Levi, bore the Ineffable Name which
caused the rod to bloom blossoms over night and to yield ripe almonds.
When the people, who all night had been pondering which tribe should on
the morrow be proven by the rod of its prince to be the chosen one,
betook themselves early in the morning to the sanctuary, and saw the
blossoms and almonds upon the rod of Aaron, they were at last convinced
that God had destined the priesthood for his house. The almonds, which
ripen more quickly than any other fruit, at the same time informed them
that God would quickly bring punishment upon those who should venture
to usurp the powers of priesthood. Aaron's rod was then laid up before
the Holy Ark by Moses. It was this rod, kings used until the time of
the destruction of the Temple, when, in miraculous fashion, it
disappeared. Elijah will in the future fetch it forth and hand it over
to the Messiah. [600]