Numbers 16:36-40: a reflection

36The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 37“Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire away from the camp; for they are holy, 38even the censers of those who sinned against their own lives. Let them be beaten into plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered them before the LORD. Therefore they are holy. They shall be a sign to the children of Israel.” 39Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which those who were burned had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar, 40to be a memorial to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger who isn’t of the offspring of Aaron, would come near to burn incense before the LORD, that he not be as Korah and as his company; as the LORD spoke to him by Moses.

After Korah and his company had presumptuously offered incense before the LORD, and were struck down, God gives an unusual instruction. The bronze censers they had used are to be gathered up and hammered into a covering for the altar, to be a lasting sign and memorial to the people, a warning that no one but the appointed priests should presume to come near and offer before the LORD. The very censers of the presumptuous became a permanent reminder against presumption.

Notice what God does with this tragedy: he makes it a lasting memorial, a warning built into the altar itself. The censers of those who had presumed to approach God on their own terms were beaten into a covering, so that every time the people looked at the altar, they would remember, and be warned against the same presumption. God turned the tragedy into a durable reminder, that his people might not repeat it.

That points to something worth taking to heart: the value of lasting reminders that keep us from repeating grave mistakes. God knew how easily the people would forget, and so he built a memorial into the altar to keep the warning before them. We too are prone to forget the lessons of past mistakes, our own and others', and to drift back toward them. It is wise, then, to keep the warnings before us, not to let the lessons fade. Do not let the hard lessons of past mistakes be forgotten; keep them before you as lasting reminders, as God kept the warning before Israel, so that you are not doomed to repeat what once brought grief. A remembered warning is a guard against a repeated fall.

Lord, after Korah's company presumptuously offered incense and were struck down, you had their censers hammered into a covering for the altar, a lasting sign and warning to your people against the same presumption. Show me the value in that: of lasting reminders that keep me from repeating grave mistakes. You knew how easily the people would forget, and so you built a memorial into the altar to keep the warning before them. I too am prone to forget the lessons of past mistakes, my own and others', and to drift back toward them. Help me keep the warnings before me, and not let the lessons fade. Do not let the hard lessons of past mistakes be forgotten in me; help me keep them before me as lasting reminders, as you kept the warning before Israel, so that I am not doomed to repeat what once brought grief. A remembered warning is a guard against a repeated fall; help me remember, Lord, and not repeat.