Yahweh's Threat Against the People (Numbers 16:44-45).
But in fact the threat came from Yahweh. In a sense this whole interlude of the rebellion was an important one. The disillusionment of the people after the failure to enter the land, and the cancellation of their prospects for doing so, was such that there had to be an emphatic response which brought them to their senses. Otherwise the future would have been bleak indeed. It had required a threefold threat of their total destruction (Numbers 16:21; Numbers 16:34; Numbers 16:45)
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,'
Yahweh again spoke to Moses and his words were clearly recorded.
“ Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.'
The message was one of doom. Moses and Aaron were to get themselves safely away from the congregation so that Yahweh could punish them for their attitude. As with Dathan and Abiram it would all happen ‘in a moment'. Having given them a second chance He was no longer willing to continue to spare them.
We must recognise in this that Yahweh was not being continually frustrated but was both proving the faithfulness and effectiveness of Moses and Aaron to the people, and at the same time demonstrating where the people would be (or would not be) without them. He wanted it to be clear to the people that the only reason why they were allowed to survive was because of His mercy and because of the faithfulness and intercession of His chosen servants whom He had appointed.
Once again the intrepid couple threw themselves on their faces before Yahweh and begged for His mercy.