Wesley Corpus

The altar - Of burnt - offerings, which was made of wood, but covered with brass before this time, Exo 27:1,2, to which this other covering was added for farther ornament, and security against the fire, continually burning upon it. A sign - A warning to all strangers to take heed of invading the priesthood. To him - To Eleazer. These words belong to Num 16:38, the meaning is, that Eleazer did as God bade him. On the morrow - Prodigious wickedness and madness so soon to forget such a terrible instance of Divine vengeance! The people of the Lord - So they call those wicked wretches, and rebels against God! Tho' they were but newly saved from sharing in the same punishment, and the survivors were as brands plucked out of the burning, yet they fly in the face of Moses and Aaron, to whose intercession they owe their preservation. They - Moses and Aaron, who in all their distresses made God their refuge. Moses and Aaron came - To hear what God, who now appeared, would say to them. They fell upon their faces - To beg mercy for the people; thus rendering Good for Evil. Incense - Which was a sign of intercession, and was to be accompanied with it. Go unto the congregation - He went with the incense, to stir up the people to repentance and prayer, to prevent their utter ruin. This he might do upon this extraordinary occasion, having God's command for his warrant, though ordinarily incense was to be offered only in the tabernacle. The living - Whereby it may seem that this plague, like that fire, Nu 11:1, began in the uttermost parts of the congregation, and so proceeded destroying one after another in an orderly manner, which gave Aaron occasion and direction so to place himself, as a mediator to God on their behalf.