The Earths Mouth | Rebellion and Judgment

When Moses wishes to prove to the Israelites that he has indeed been sent by God–as against the complaints of Korach and his associates–he asks Him to punish them in a special manner: “And if the Lord makes a new creation and the earth opens her mouth and swallows them up, with all their possessions, and they go down alive to Sheol [the underworld].” His request is answered:
And it was, when he had finished speaking all these words, that the earth which was below them cleaved open. And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses and every man who was for Korach, and all the property. And they and all that was theirs went down alive to Sheol and the earth covered them, and they perished from among the community. And all Israel who were round about them fled at their voice, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up.”( Num. 16:31-33)