Abiram

Abiram was a Reubenite, the son of Eliab, who joined Korah and Dathan in a rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron in the wilderness (Numbers 16:1). When summoned by Moses, Abiram and Dathan refused to come, accusing Moses of failing to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey and trying to make himself a prince over them (Numbers 16:12-14). In response to the rebellion, Moses proposed a test to demonstrate whom God had chosen. Korah and his followers were to present themselves before the Lord with censers, and God would show who was holy (Numbers 16:16-19). God warned Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from the rebels so that He could consume them, but Moses interceded for the people (Numbers 16:20-22). God then commanded the congregation to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Moses declared that if these men died a natural death, then the Lord had not sent him, but if the earth swallowed them up, then they had rejected the Lord (Numbers 16:23-30). As soon as Moses finished speaking, the ground split apart and swallowed up Korah, Dathan, Abiram, their households, and all their possessions (Numbers 16:31-33; PsalmNumbers 106:17). The sons of Korah, however, did not die (Numbers 26:11). The rebellion of Abiram and his co-conspirators served as a warning to the Israelites not to challenge God's appointed leaders (Deuteronomy 11:6). The New Testament also refers to this incident as an example of God's judgment against those who reject His authority (Jude 11).