THE DAY DIRT ATE PEOPLE
I'm in the process of writing my next "Bizarre Bible Stories" book, and I'd like help with a story about the earth eating people. It goes along with our third heart attitude.
Our third heart attitude says "I will humbly give and receive scriptural correction." I'm not sure if it is harder to give it or to receive it. But to not receive it can kill you. Here's how the story starts. Remember - it's a kids book!
CHAPTER 1: THE DAY DIRT ATE PEOPLE
Scripture Passage: Numbers 16
So What? So be careful who you follow – it’s never too late to turn back!
For Parents: [Anything in brackets]
Introduction
This story is about jealousy. Do you know what jealousy is? Can you give me an example of someone being jealous? [Practical Word Studies defines it as “wanting and desiring to have what someone else has. It may be material things, recognition, honor, or position.” (PWSNT #2200)]
Before we find out about the time when the earth ate people, we have to learn about the bad guys in our story. These guys were behaving badly because they were jealous. Their names were Korah – he’s the leader - and Dathan, Abiram and On. How would you like the name On? At least it’s easy to spell! And somehow it sounds better then being named Off. Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On were jealous of Moses. Can you think of anything Moses had that these guys might have wanted? Was he super smart? No. Did he have lots of money or a nice car? Nope. Do you have any other ideas?
These guys were jealous of Moses because Moses was the leader of the country of Israel. He was like a king, but he wasn’t rich or called a king. He ruled over more than two million Israelites. That’s like… [For us it’s like four Winnipeg’s put together- maybe you can figure out how big it is compared to where you live.] So Moses was in charge of lots of people. He would talk to God (maybe about where to get food, or where they were going to travel), and God would tell him what to do. Moses would come back from talking to God and say, “Hey everybody, we need to go over here next.” And off they would go. He was in charge. And Korah and his three friends didn’t like it. Then didn’t like it one bit. They wanted his power and fame.
Korah and his buddies were also jealous of Aaron. Aaron was Moses’ older brother and the high priest. In those days, the high priest was kind of like a pastor in charge of all the other pastors. It was a very important position, and Korah and his friends were jealous of Aaron’s position. They wanted to be high priests. And they were jealous of Moses; they wanted to act like a king. They wanted to be the leaders of both the church and the nation. [This often seems to be the way Satan controls people; he wants both spiritual and physical leadership. From Caesar to Stalin to the Antichrist, Satan desires total control.] Of course Korah would have been the real king. The other three were following him.
Korah and his friends were jealous of Moses and Aaron, but they were also afraid of them. When bullies are afraid of those they want to challenge, what do they usually do?
Korah and his jealous friends were afraid of Moses and Aaron, so they worked at getting more people on their side. Jealous bullies work best when they’re in a gang. They don’t want a fair fight. So they searched around the two million people of Israel to find others to bully Moses and Aaron. In time, they found 250 people who had money and power who wanted Moses out of the way. [The NIV calls them “250 other prominent leaders, all members of the assembly.” (Numbers 16:2) If you’ve seen church control fights, this story will sound all too familiar.] Now Korah had over 250 angry, bitter, jealous people who were glad to blame Moses and Aaron for all their problems. This would get them in a lot of trouble - be careful who you follow!
All 250 some of them came together against Moses and against Aaron and said, “You’ve gone too far!” What they meant was, “You think you’re so hot! You have too much power! You shouldn’t be in charge! God is with all of us. So how come you’re ruling us? Who do you think you are anyway? We don’t want to follow you anymore!”
Then Moses told Korah and his friends they had, “gone too far.” Do you ever fight like that? “You think you’re so big!” “No I don’t, you think you’re so big!” “Do not!” “Do so!” Have you ever been in an argument like that when you knew you were right, but you couldn’t win? That’s where Moses was, and that’s how he must have felt. He couldn’t win because Korah was accusing him - of what Korah was doing! This is how people – maybe even us sometimes – try to cover their sins. If someone lies a lot, they may accuse you of lying. If they’re cheating by reading off your paper, they may accuse you of cheating. If you argue with them, you’ll never win. It’s your word against theirs. You can’t always prove you are right. When that happens, you have to give the argument to God, and believe He will make things right in His time. You can’t win, God can.
Have you ever had someone accuse you of doing something wrong [i.e. cheating, lying], when they were the ones doing it? How did you feel? What did you do?
Moses knew this was a dangerous time. What should he do? Rather than trying to defend himself, Moses said, “We’ll let God decide who will rule Israel.”
In the days when Moses and Aaron lived, those who loved God worshipped Him in a building called the Tabernacle. It was a gigantic tent, and was used kind of like a portable church. Sometimes when the priests would pray for the people, they would put fiery coals and/or incense into brass pans. The pans looked kind of like a large frying pan, but without the handle. [They were called censors.] The smoke coming up from the fire was a picture of their prayers going up to heaven. You could try something similar with your parents when you say your prayers tonight. Sometimes it’s hard to know that God really hears our prayers. You could have your mom or dad light a candle in your room. After you pray, blow out the candle. You’ll see the smoke going up like your prayers went up to God in heaven.
Moses told Korah, “Show up tomorrow morning at the Tabernacle with pans full of coals of fire. God will decide if you and your followers should be leading Israel – or if Aaron and I should continue. It’s you who have gone too far!”
Later Moses tried to talk to Dathan and Abiram, but they were so rude they wouldn’t even talk to Moses. All they wanted to do was lie about him. Do you remember the other jealous guy named On? He isn’t mentioned again in the story. We don’t know what happened to On, he just drops out of the story here – which, if you were On, is probably a good thing. Maybe he realized his jealousy had gone too far, so he quit following Korah. It’s never too late to turn back when you’re doing something wrong. Don’t keep going on and on and on!
The next day, Korah and his followers showed up at the Tabernacle. His 250-some jealous leaders had been saying bad things about Moses and Aaron to the people – and the people believed them! It looked like it was Moses and Aaron against everyone else: two against two million! Everyone was standing around the entrance to the Tabernacle to see what would happen. The leaders picked up their pots of fiery coals.
Then God showed up.
Have you ever looked up at the sun on a bright day? What happened? If you look too long it can damage your eyes. Sometime you may get the chance to see a solar eclipse. Do you know that that is? [The moon blocking out the sun – if you’ve seen one, describe it to your children.] To watch a solar eclipse you have to wear special sunglasses. Can you guess why? [If you look at the eclipse without them, or with regular sunglasses, you can be permanently blinded.]
Then God showed up – but not in all His glory. No one has ever seen God outside of Heaven and lived [Jn 1:18, I Jn 4:12]. They all saw God like we see the sun. They got a glimpse of His glory and it was all they could take. He let them see as much of His brightness as they could stand to see and still live. What do you think He looked like? One day we will get to see God, and He won’t be too bright for us then [Job 19:26, Mt 5:8].
Then God told Moses to tell the people to get away from Korah, Dathan and Abiram. "Quick!" he [Moses] told the people. "Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don't touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins." [Num 16:26] So everyone backed away from Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Then Moses said, “If these men die a natural death, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord performs a miracle and the ground opens up and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord.’ He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them. The earth opened up and swallowed the men… The earth closed over them, and they all vanished” [Num 16:29-35] As if that wasn’t enough, God sent fire down from heaven, probably something like lightening, and the fire killed the other 250 leaders who were jealous of Moses and Aaron. This was the day the earth ate people – complaining, jealous people who followed the wrong leader.
Do you think God was too hard on Korah and his friends? What would have happened if God had let Korah and his friends take over? [What would have happened to Moses, Aaron, and the two million people?]
God loves us, and He wants us to be careful who we follow. He knew if Korah and his buddies ruled Israel, Israel would be ruined. God put Moses and Aaron in charge because they were humble, not jealous. God wants us to follow people who lead in the right direction. When people are continually jealous and angry, we have to separate from them and find other friends – or we will be destroyed along with them. Of course the earth probably won’t open up and eat us, but we will feel pressured to follow those friends away from God. That pressure always leads to destruction. On had the right idea and he turned back before it was too late. If you turn back on sin and follow God - someday you will really see Him!
Remember – On Had God’s Word on It!
Matthew 5:8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.
Deut. 8:19 I assure you of this: If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.
3 John 1:11 Dear friend, don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God's children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.
Micah 4:5 Even though the nations around us worship idols, we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.
Job 19:26 After my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!
I'm in the process of writing my next "Bizarre Bible Stories" book, and I'd like help with a story about the earth eating people. It goes along with our third heart attitude.
Our third heart attitude says "I will humbly give and receive scriptural correction." I'm not sure if it is harder to give it or to receive it. But to not receive it can kill you. Here's how the story starts. Remember - it's a kids book!
CHAPTER 1: THE DAY DIRT ATE PEOPLE
Scripture Passage: Numbers 16
So What? So be careful who you follow – it’s never too late to turn back!
For Parents: [Anything in brackets]
Introduction
This story is about jealousy. Do you know what jealousy is? Can you give me an example of someone being jealous? [Practical Word Studies defines it as “wanting and desiring to have what someone else has. It may be material things, recognition, honor, or position.” (PWSNT #2200)]
Before we find out about the time when the earth ate people, we have to learn about the bad guys in our story. These guys were behaving badly because they were jealous. Their names were Korah – he’s the leader - and Dathan, Abiram and On. How would you like the name On? At least it’s easy to spell! And somehow it sounds better then being named Off. Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On were jealous of Moses. Can you think of anything Moses had that these guys might have wanted? Was he super smart? No. Did he have lots of money or a nice car? Nope. Do you have any other ideas?
These guys were jealous of Moses because Moses was the leader of the country of Israel. He was like a king, but he wasn’t rich or called a king. He ruled over more than two million Israelites. That’s like… [For us it’s like four Winnipeg’s put together- maybe you can figure out how big it is compared to where you live.] So Moses was in charge of lots of people. He would talk to God (maybe about where to get food, or where they were going to travel), and God would tell him what to do. Moses would come back from talking to God and say, “Hey everybody, we need to go over here next.” And off they would go. He was in charge. And Korah and his three friends didn’t like it. Then didn’t like it one bit. They wanted his power and fame.
Korah and his buddies were also jealous of Aaron. Aaron was Moses’ older brother and the high priest. In those days, the high priest was kind of like a pastor in charge of all the other pastors. It was a very important position, and Korah and his friends were jealous of Aaron’s position. They wanted to be high priests. And they were jealous of Moses; they wanted to act like a king. They wanted to be the leaders of both the church and the nation. [This often seems to be the way Satan controls people; he wants both spiritual and physical leadership. From Caesar to Stalin to the Antichrist, Satan desires total control.] Of course Korah would have been the real king. The other three were following him.
Korah and his friends were jealous of Moses and Aaron, but they were also afraid of them. When bullies are afraid of those they want to challenge, what do they usually do?
Korah and his jealous friends were afraid of Moses and Aaron, so they worked at getting more people on their side. Jealous bullies work best when they’re in a gang. They don’t want a fair fight. So they searched around the two million people of Israel to find others to bully Moses and Aaron. In time, they found 250 people who had money and power who wanted Moses out of the way. [The NIV calls them “250 other prominent leaders, all members of the assembly.” (Numbers 16:2) If you’ve seen church control fights, this story will sound all too familiar.] Now Korah had over 250 angry, bitter, jealous people who were glad to blame Moses and Aaron for all their problems. This would get them in a lot of trouble - be careful who you follow!
All 250 some of them came together against Moses and against Aaron and said, “You’ve gone too far!” What they meant was, “You think you’re so hot! You have too much power! You shouldn’t be in charge! God is with all of us. So how come you’re ruling us? Who do you think you are anyway? We don’t want to follow you anymore!”
Then Moses told Korah and his friends they had, “gone too far.” Do you ever fight like that? “You think you’re so big!” “No I don’t, you think you’re so big!” “Do not!” “Do so!” Have you ever been in an argument like that when you knew you were right, but you couldn’t win? That’s where Moses was, and that’s how he must have felt. He couldn’t win because Korah was accusing him - of what Korah was doing! This is how people – maybe even us sometimes – try to cover their sins. If someone lies a lot, they may accuse you of lying. If they’re cheating by reading off your paper, they may accuse you of cheating. If you argue with them, you’ll never win. It’s your word against theirs. You can’t always prove you are right. When that happens, you have to give the argument to God, and believe He will make things right in His time. You can’t win, God can.
Have you ever had someone accuse you of doing something wrong [i.e. cheating, lying], when they were the ones doing it? How did you feel? What did you do?
Moses knew this was a dangerous time. What should he do? Rather than trying to defend himself, Moses said, “We’ll let God decide who will rule Israel.”
In the days when Moses and Aaron lived, those who loved God worshipped Him in a building called the Tabernacle. It was a gigantic tent, and was used kind of like a portable church. Sometimes when the priests would pray for the people, they would put fiery coals and/or incense into brass pans. The pans looked kind of like a large frying pan, but without the handle. [They were called censors.] The smoke coming up from the fire was a picture of their prayers going up to heaven. You could try something similar with your parents when you say your prayers tonight. Sometimes it’s hard to know that God really hears our prayers. You could have your mom or dad light a candle in your room. After you pray, blow out the candle. You’ll see the smoke going up like your prayers went up to God in heaven.
Moses told Korah, “Show up tomorrow morning at the Tabernacle with pans full of coals of fire. God will decide if you and your followers should be leading Israel – or if Aaron and I should continue. It’s you who have gone too far!”
Later Moses tried to talk to Dathan and Abiram, but they were so rude they wouldn’t even talk to Moses. All they wanted to do was lie about him. Do you remember the other jealous guy named On? He isn’t mentioned again in the story. We don’t know what happened to On, he just drops out of the story here – which, if you were On, is probably a good thing. Maybe he realized his jealousy had gone too far, so he quit following Korah. It’s never too late to turn back when you’re doing something wrong. Don’t keep going on and on and on!
The next day, Korah and his followers showed up at the Tabernacle. His 250-some jealous leaders had been saying bad things about Moses and Aaron to the people – and the people believed them! It looked like it was Moses and Aaron against everyone else: two against two million! Everyone was standing around the entrance to the Tabernacle to see what would happen. The leaders picked up their pots of fiery coals.
Then God showed up.
Have you ever looked up at the sun on a bright day? What happened? If you look too long it can damage your eyes. Sometime you may get the chance to see a solar eclipse. Do you know that that is? [The moon blocking out the sun – if you’ve seen one, describe it to your children.] To watch a solar eclipse you have to wear special sunglasses. Can you guess why? [If you look at the eclipse without them, or with regular sunglasses, you can be permanently blinded.]
Then God showed up – but not in all His glory. No one has ever seen God outside of Heaven and lived [Jn 1:18, I Jn 4:12]. They all saw God like we see the sun. They got a glimpse of His glory and it was all they could take. He let them see as much of His brightness as they could stand to see and still live. What do you think He looked like? One day we will get to see God, and He won’t be too bright for us then [Job 19:26, Mt 5:8].
Then God told Moses to tell the people to get away from Korah, Dathan and Abiram. "Quick!" he [Moses] told the people. "Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don't touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins." [Num 16:26] So everyone backed away from Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Then Moses said, “If these men die a natural death, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord performs a miracle and the ground opens up and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord.’ He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them. The earth opened up and swallowed the men… The earth closed over them, and they all vanished” [Num 16:29-35] As if that wasn’t enough, God sent fire down from heaven, probably something like lightening, and the fire killed the other 250 leaders who were jealous of Moses and Aaron. This was the day the earth ate people – complaining, jealous people who followed the wrong leader.
Do you think God was too hard on Korah and his friends? What would have happened if God had let Korah and his friends take over? [What would have happened to Moses, Aaron, and the two million people?]
God loves us, and He wants us to be careful who we follow. He knew if Korah and his buddies ruled Israel, Israel would be ruined. God put Moses and Aaron in charge because they were humble, not jealous. God wants us to follow people who lead in the right direction. When people are continually jealous and angry, we have to separate from them and find other friends – or we will be destroyed along with them. Of course the earth probably won’t open up and eat us, but we will feel pressured to follow those friends away from God. That pressure always leads to destruction. On had the right idea and he turned back before it was too late. If you turn back on sin and follow God - someday you will really see Him!
Remember – On Had God’s Word on It!
Matthew 5:8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.
Deut. 8:19 I assure you of this: If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.
3 John 1:11 Dear friend, don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God's children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.
Micah 4:5 Even though the nations around us worship idols, we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.
Job 19:26 After my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!
