The rebellious nature of the people of Israel was exposed to the uttermost. After God's vindication through Aaron's budding rod, they said, "Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. Everyone shall die who comes near at all to the tabernacle of Jehovah. Shall we not all end up perishing?" (vv. 12-13). This indicates that even after seeing God's judgment and vindication, the people were not subdued. The earth had opened to swallow Korah and his company, fire had come down from God to consume the two hundred fifty leaders, and fourteen thousand seven hundred of the people had been slain by the plague in one day. All these were miracles on the negative side. The next day, God did a miracle not on a large scale but on a small scale, causing Aaron's rod to bud, blossom, and bear fruit, even ripe fruit. This was altogether positive, a matter of mercy and grace, with no thought of judgment. It was a vindication to indicate who and what were of God and on God's side. Everyone should have been convinced and subdued, but the people of Israel still spoke words of rebellion to Moses.
It is no wonder that these children of Israel were not permitted to enter the promised land. In their rebellion, they had gone too far. Some of the rebels had said to Moses and Aaron, "You have gone too far!" (16:3). Moses said the same thing to them: "You have gone too far, sons of Levi!" (16:7). Actually, the rebellious ones had gone too far, yet they accused Moses and Aaron of going too far. They condemned Moses and Aaron for doing what they themselves were doing. Similar things have happened through the generations, with the ambitious ones falsely accusing others of being ambitious. In Numbers 16 and 17 God's judgment and vindication clearly indicated that the rebels, not Moses and Aaron, had gone too far.
As chapter seventeen reveals, this case ends with the punished people not being subdued. Therefore, even God gave them up and let them go. If we had been there and had been able to do something about the situation, we probably would have punished the people further for their rebellious words. But God was God, and He did not do anything. Neither did Moses or Aaron do anything. They simply let the people be as they were. It is good to have such a picture in typology.
Do not expect to see an ending of turmoil. Every "storm" will surely come to an end. In history there has never been an endless storm. Although a particular storm will end, those who become involved in that storm may not cease their rebellion.
The rebellious nature in man is Satan himself. Satan has been rebellious, he is rebellious, and his rebellion will not end until he is thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). He may not be subdued even when he is in the lake of fire. Do not forget that this rebellious one is in us, and in ourselves we do not have a way to overcome him. Only one person, Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God and also the Son of Man, can defeat this evil one, and He has defeated him (Heb. 2:14).
We need to be continually on the alert by watching and praying. We have not only the Devil as the enemy on the outside but also Satan as the adversary on the inside. We should remember the word of the Lord Jesus to Peter: "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to have you to sift you as wheat" (Luke 22:31). On one occasion, Peter told the Lord that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God, and the Lord praised him, saying that he had been blessed by the Father (Matt. 16:16-17). Immediately after that, the Lord Jesus rebuked Peter, calling him Satan (Matt. 16:23). Within a very short period of time, a person who had been blessed by the Father became possessed by the Devil, and even became Satan. Since this is the situation with fallen human beings, we should not expect to see the ending of man's rebellious nature. There is no end.
When Paul was about to be martyred, he wrote to Timothy, in his last Epistle, saying that all the people in Asia had left him (2 Tim. 1:15). This is the sad, dark portrait in 2 Timothy. Nevertheless, Paul was triumphant (2 Tim. 4:17-18).
We have emphasized the fact that, even after God's judgment and vindication, the children of Israel continued to speak words of rebellion. Numbers 17 portrays a sad picture concerning this rebellion. After seeing such a picture, we can only worship God, and worship Him as the Lord.