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Numbers 34 - 36

2/24/2012

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         Numbers 34 – 36 continues the Israelites’ preparation for entrance in the Promised Land.  It identifies the boundaries of the Promised Land, names a new generation of leaders for the tribes, describes the cities that will be given to the Levites and resolves the possible confusion that could follow the decision regarding Zelophehad’s daughters in Numbers 27:1-11.  But notice that it is much more than a final list of tasks to complete before entering the Promised Land.  It lays out a new understanding of holy space that will undergird the rest of our readings from the Old Testament.
         Remember how the Israelites were organized through Numbers 10: they were positioned by tribe around the tabernacle, living in tents and prepared for movement at any time.  The tabernacle established not only their spiritual center but their geographical center as well.  It didn’t matter if they were in the terrain of Sinai, Hormah or the plains of Moab; every tribe had its place around the tabernacle.  Numbers 33 puts an end to that thinking.  From now on, the tribes will look for their geographic center in the Promised Land itself.  The tabernacle will continue to be their spiritual center, but their geographical center has been transferred to the space designated in Numbers 34:1-15.
         For that reason it is essential that the Israelites understand the following:
         1)  The land is given by Yahweh: “I have given the land to you to possess” (Numbers 33:53).  Just as they feared and acted in accordance with Yahweh’s holiness in the desert, they are to fear and act in accordance with His holiness in the land.
         2)  Therefore, they must rid the land of all spiritual contamination: “You shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.  And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it” (Numbers 33:52-53).
         3)  There will be severe consequences if they do not fear Yahweh’s holiness in the land: “If you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.  And I will do to you as I thought to do to them” (Numbers 33:55-56).
         4)  Yahweh sets the borders of the Promised Land; they are not determined only by the Israelites’ ability to conquer it or not: “This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around” (Numbers 34:12).
         5)  Yahweh will determine where the tribes will live in the land: “Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, ‘This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe” (Numbers 34:13).
         6)  Yahweh even chooses the leaders that will receive the portions of the land (Numbers 34:16-29).
         7)  Even the list of tribes in Numbers 34:16-29 reflects this new reality.  The order of the list of tribes is unlike any that we have seen up to this point, but generally they fall in the order of their future settlement in the Promised Land from south to north (if Manasseh and Ephraim change places).
         Notice too, that the Levites not only will live near the tabernacle like before but also will settle in cities throughout the Promised Land according to Numbers 35:1-8.  Just as they guarded the holiness of the tabernacle, now they will guard the holiness of the land.  That is why the cities of refugee are presented along with the Levitical cities – they are instructions to preserve the land’s holiness: “You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel” (Numbers 35:34).  Yahweh’s holiness is associated not only with the tabernacle and His people but with the land itself where the Israelites will live.
         To maintain the integrity of the tribes in the land, they must resolve a potential problem resulting from the inheritance of Zelophehad’s daughters.  When they traveled through the desert, a family from the tribe of Reuben could not move their tent to accompany the families of Naphtali; a family from Ephraim could not divorce itself from its tribe and decide to march in the front lines with the tribe of Judah.  Everyone had to establish himself geographically according to his tribe and submit to their corresponding authorities for their protection.  But if a woman received a land inheritance and married someone from another tribe, the land would pass to him… and to the husband’s tribe.  Instead of geographical integrity by tribe, within a few generations the whole land would be a confused patchwork of alliances among different tribes, an administrative nightmare that would change and grow worse with each generation.  Therefore a woman who receives a land inheritance is commanded to marry within her tribe, and: “The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD commanded Moses” (Numbers 36:10).
         To summarize, in closing the book of Numbers in today’s reading, we open a new chapter in our understanding of Israel and sacred space that serves as a foundation for the rest of our readings from the Old Testament.  Yahweh's holiness is extended from the tabernacle to all of the land where the Israelites soon will reside.
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Numbers 31 - 33

2/23/2012

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         Numbers 31 fulfills the command that Yahweh declared before the second census: “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor” (Numbers 25:17-18).  But the battle is much more than just vengeance for the deceit and idolatry that caused the death of 24,000 Israelites.  In Numbers 31 we read for the first time in detail that war is a ritual, a holy act commanded by Yahweh and fulfilled in obedience just like the presentation of offerings or laws of purification.
         Notice the following observations which are very different for thinking regarding war today:
         1)  As we saw above, the decision to wage war against Midian was not made through a consultation of Israelite leaders; it was commanded by Yahweh.
         2)  They take the vessels of the sanctuary with them: they represent Yahweh’s Presence with them.
         3)  They treat the Midianites just as Yahweh commands in the book of Deuteronomy for non-Canaanite people: “And when the LORD your God gives it [a city] you’re your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves.  And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you” (Deuteronomy 20:13-14).  But Moses gets angry with the leaders because they allowed the women, the cause of the sin at Baal-peor, to live, as well as the boys who possibly lead a rebellion against Israel in the future.  Therefore, he commands them to exterminate these two groups.
         4)  Numbers 31 spends a lot more time discussing the treatment of the captives, the purification of the soldiers and the assimilation of the booty than it spends on narrating the battle itself.  Since the battle is a ritual and sacred act, all of these actions are extremely important and open the possibility of contaminating the entire nation if they are not performed in agreement with the law.
         5)  Remember that when we studied the atonement money in Exodus 30:11-16, we saw that the Israelites received guilt when they were counted in a census, and therefore each one paid an offering of a precious metal to atone themselves.  Now we see the same idea in Numbers 31:49-50.  They count the soldiers after the battle and discover the miracle that no Israelite soldier died.  And since they were counted, they pay the atonement money: “And we have brought the LORD’s offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD” (Numbers 31:50).
         All of the conquest of Canaan will be a holy war, but in Numbers 32, it seems like two of the tribes don’t want to participate.  The tribes of Reuben and Gad want to settle the land east of the Jordan River, outside the Promised Land, because Israel took it from Sihon and Og and because it is good for cattle-raising.  From the petition, “Do not take us across the Jordan” (Numbers 32:5), Moses sees a rebellion just like the one a generation earlier in Numbers 14; he reproves them for disobedience and for discouraging their brothers.  But they come to an agreement to accompany their brothers in the conquest of the Promised Land, leaving their families in fortified cities in the meantime.  Remember this suspicion of the tribes east of the Jordan; to a certain point, it seems like it will remain hidden and then reappear in Joshua 22.
         Numbers 33 looks back and remembers Yahweh’s faithfulness, from Israel’s redemption on Passover night through the journey in the desert until the present time.  It mentions places of miracles and national growth like Marah (“Bitter”; Exodus 15:22-26) and Sinai; it mentions places of national shame like Kibroth-hattaava (“Tombs of Covetousness”; Numbers 11:4-35) and Hazeroth (where Aaron and Miriam rebelled against Moses; Numbers 12); it mentions significant events like Aaron’s death and the first contact with the Canaanites under the king of Arad.  And the purpose of recalling the past is to encourage the nation to look to the future: “And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it…  But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.  And I will do to you as I thought to do to them” (Numbers 33:53, 55-56).
         Therefore, the holy battle that was waged against Midian is only the first step of all that they will do in all of Canaan.  It serves as one example for the Israelites to follow, all of their tribes united in obedience to Yahweh.
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Numbers 28 - 30

2/22/2012

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         Numbers 28 – 30 continues the preparation of the Israelites to enter the Promised Land, centering their national daily life and their entire calendar on Yahweh.
         These chapters also are important because they remind the Israelites of the festivals described in Leviticus 23 and 25, many of which they have never celebrated because they depend on their residence in the Promised Land.  As Yahweh goes back and presents them again, He confirms to a new generation that He is about to fulfill His promise.
         Numbers 28:3-8 confirms the daily offering explained in Exodus 29:38-42.  That reading inserted it among the commands to consecrate the priests.  To review, remember all of the daily responsibilities of the priests: they have to put wood in the base of the bronze altar to keep the fire burning (Leviticus 6:12-13); they must present the daily offering and dispose of the ashes of the burnt offerings (Exodus 29:38-42; Leviticus 6:9-11; Numbers 28:3-8); they must present the grain offering for their consecration (Leviticus 6:20-23); they burn incense on the golden altar twice daily (Exodus 30:7-8) and tend the lamps of the lampstand (Exodus 27:20-21; 30:7-8).  Notice that this offering and all the rest of these priestly duties are continual: they are not replaced by the offerings on the sacred days.
         Numbers 28:9-10 describes the Sabbath offering presented in addition to the daily one.  The Israelites celebrated the Sabbath with rest from work and a sacred assembly while they were in the wilderness (Exodus 20:8-11; Leviticus 23:2-3; Numbers 15:32-36); now for the first time, Yahweh commands a special offering for this day.
         Numbers 28:11-15 commands the offering for the beginning of the month, also for the first time in all the Mosaic Law. We can see the importance of this celebration by the number of sacrifices involved.  Notice that the fine flour, oil and wine offered with each animal agrees with what we read earlier about all of the sacrifices (Exodus 29:38-40; Numbers 15:3-12).
         Numbers 28:16-25 describes the offering for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Notice that the offering is the same as that of the new month, but it is offered on every one of the seven days of the feast (Leviticus 23:8; Numbers 28:24).  Although it is not mentioned here, remember that the day after the Sabbath following Passover, the Israelites will present the sheaf of the firstfruits of the barley harvest.  Along with that sheaf they will offer a one-year-old lamb without defect as a burnt offering to Yahweh.  They will not eat the grain of the new harvest until that offering is fulfilled (Leviticus 23:10-14).
         Numbers 28:26-31 commands the sacrifices for the Feast of Weeks (or in Greek, Pentecost) that celebrate the wheat harvest.  Notice again that they are the same as the sacrifices for the new month.  Notice too, that there are some differences with the offerings mentioned in Leviticus 23:15-21: Leviticus 23:17-18 mentions two loaves baked with leaven as firstfruits to Yahweh, and then a bull and two rams among the sacrificial animals; Numbers 28:27 says two bulls and one ram and makes no mention of loaves.  According to Jacob Milgrom, Numbers (Jewish Publication Society, 1990, pg. 244), the rabbis understood that these passages referred to two separate series of sacrifices offered the same day.  That way the sacrifices of Numbers 28:26-31 would sanctify the day and those of Leviticus 23:15-21 would thank Yahweh for the harvest.
         Numbers 29:1-6 gives more detail about the Feast of Trumpets, one that is only described briefly in Leviticus 23:23-25.  Notice that the sacrifices for this day are added to those for the first day of the month mentioned in Numbers 28:11-15.  That is, on the first day of the seventh month the Israelites offered the daily sacrifices, the ones of for the beginning of the month and the ones for the Feast of Trumpets.  And if this day happened to fall on a Sabbath, they would offer a total of three bulls, two rams, 18 lambs, all with the appropriate flour, oil and wine offerings, and two male goats for atonement.
         Numbers 29:7-11 describes the additional sacrifices for the Day of Atonement.  We read about the main sacrifices for this day in Leviticus 16 and Leviticus 23:26-32.  Once again, we see that the additional sacrifices mentioned here do not replace the daily offerings or the sacrifices for atonement on that day.
         Numbers 29:12-40 commands the sacrifices for the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths that we read about in Leviticus 23:33-43.  The changes in the number of sacrifices each day are interesting, but notice that for the seven main days of the feast, all of the sacrifices add up to numbers divisible by seven: 70 bulls, 14 rams and 98 lambs in all.
         Notice too, that in addition to the daily offering, Numbers 28 – 29 describes seven sacred Israelite celebrations.  If we were to calculate holiness as equal to the number of sacrifices and feasts, the seventh month would be the holiest of them all.  It makes sense that the number seven is seen as a symbol of Yahweh’s holiness and completeness!
         Notice too, that the daily sacrifices and those of the feasts do not cover all the tabernacle sacrifices: “These you shall offer to the LORD at your appointed feasts, in addition to your vow offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings” (Numbers 29:39).
         The mention of personal vows fulfilled in the tabernacle in Numbers 29:39 brings us to the additional laws on vows in Numbers 30.  Notice that these protect the integrity of a woman’s vow under authority without demonstrating any disrespect to that authority.
         In all these ways, Yahweh prepares the Israelites to continue to relate to Him through the tabernacle even after they have entered and settled in the Promised Land.
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Numbers 25 - 27 and Psalm 42

2/21/2012

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         We’ve just heard some beautiful prophetic poetry about Israel, proclaimed from the lips of a foreigner: “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel!  Like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the LORD has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters” (Numbers 24:5-6).  Despite the king of Moab’s intentions of cursing Israel, Balaam confirms Yahweh’s covenant blessings… and immediately we enter the ugliness of Numbers 25.
         “While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to @#!*%  with the daughters of Moab.  These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods” (Numbers 25:1-2).  Do you remember Exodus 32, when the divine instructions for the tabernacle given on Mount Sinai ended with the revelation of idolatry with the golden calf?  Here Yahweh’s glorious blessings announced on the top of Peor end with the revelation of a new idolatry: “So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor.  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel” (Numbers 25:3).
         Yahweh’s wrath will bring an end to the leaders of Israel: “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel’” (Numbers 25:4).  And while Moses and the Israelites weep at the entrance to the tabernacle over Israel’s sin and the arrival of this death sentence, an unbelievably shameless event takes place: “And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel” (Numbers 25:6).
         Notice that the Midianites were in league with the Moabites in their desire to curse Yahweh’s people (Numbers 22:4, 7).  They did not agree with the praise of Yahweh that Jethro, a Midianite priest and the father-in-law of Moses, declared in Exodus 18. Now they present the Israelites with the temptation that Yahweh warned them about decades before: “You shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they  @#!*%  after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of this sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters @#!*% after their gods and make your sons  @#!*% after their gods (Exodus 34:14-16).  And the undeniable truth of these words shone forth when, before the eyes of all Israel in anguish from Yahweh’s punishment, this young Israelite man and his idolatrous girlfriend, without tears or shame, stride to their family tent as if nothing was wrong, as if their private actions had no impact on the congregation.
         We saw a brief mention of Phinehas a long time ago; he is the son of Eleazar, the new high priest, and Aaron’s grandson (Exodus 6:25).  When he spears the couple, it is believed that they were in a compromising position.  What we can say with certainty is that this action done in zeal for Yahweh’s holiness saved the people: “Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped” (Numbers 25:8).
         Just as the Levites were dedicated to Yahweh because of their zeal in the episode of the golden calf (Exodus 32:29), Phinehas was singled out for a special covenant by Yahweh, a covenant of peace and perpetual priesthood, “because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel” (Numbers 25:13).  And Yahweh hands out not only a perpetual covenant with Phinehas but also a decree against the Midianites: “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor” (Numbers 25:17-18).  We’ll see the fulfillment of this decree in Numbers 31.
         This decree against the Midianites is the most immediate motive for the second census of Numbers 26: “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war” (Numbers 26:2).  But its focus is not just war against the Midianites but also the future wars to take the land from the Canaanites and distribute them to the Israelites: “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Among these the land shall be divided for inheritance according to the number of names.  To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its inheritance in proportion to its list’” (Numbers 26:52-54).
         At the same time, the census motivates the petition of Zelophehad’s daughters in the first part of Numbers 27.  Yahweh decides in their favor that yes, in situations where there is no son to receive an inheritance for the next generation, the daughters can receive it to carry on its possession within the family.
         The census also indicates the coming-of-age of the next generation to receive Yahweh’s blessing in accordance with his decree in the Desert of Paran: “But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected” (Numbers 14:31).  Now the census informs us: “These were those listed by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who listed the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.  But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.  For the LORD had said of them, ‘They shall die in the wilderness.’  Not one of them was left, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun” (Numbers 26:63-65).
         But there is another unfinished matter, the prohibition of Moses and Aaron to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12-13).  Aaron died on Mount Hor, but Moses still is leading the people.  Today’s reading also prepares the people for this last step by informing Moses that his death soon will take place, and Yahweh selects Joshua as the leader for the new generation (Numbers 27:12-23).
         Today’s reading indicates a decisive step for the fulfillment of Yahweh’s promises.  Despite the sin of Baal-peor and Yahweh’s just punishment of His people, nobody can stop the grace with which He will bless His people, not Balaam, not the king of Moab, not even the sin of His people.  Yahweh is just and zealous for His holiness… and His mercy is unstoppable.
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Numbers 22 - 24

2/19/2012

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         In today’s reading we have a fascinating change of perspective.  Since Pharaoh’s words in the first chapters of Exodus and Jethro’s visit in Exodus 18, we have not seen a foreigner’s extended viewpoint of Israel.  Almost all of our attention for the last month has focused on Israelite topics within Israel.  Today we suddenly look at Israel from the outside for three chapters.  And this reading teaches us that Yahweh is sovereign over the nations and completely committed to blessing Israel.
         And since this reading occurs after so many on Israelite worship and laws, today’s reading gives us a fascinating perspective on the religions of Israel’s neighbors.  Through Balak’s attempts to curse Israel, we see a religion centered on human desires, one that tries to manipulate blessings and curses through magic.  After reading so much about Yahweh’s holiness, we’re surprised to see the attempts to move a spiritual lever through magical words from a renowned spiritual man, through sacrifices offered in the correct geographical locations, through an insistence in getting what you want.  From Balaam we’re surprised by religion for sale, a spiritual leader who wants to be manipulated by money and fame.  Their religion is empty, useless and desperate in comparison with everything we’ve read about the tabernacle and a holy and living relationship with Yahweh.  And that is exactly the lesson that the Israelites will need to remember through their generations.
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Numbers 21 and Psalm 66

2/19/2012

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         After Yahweh declared His punishment of the Israelites in Numbers 14 for murmuring against Him and not wanting to enter the Promised Land, some of the Israelites confessed their sins and decided to enter it.  Moses commanded them not to go because Yahweh would not be with them: “But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp.  Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah (Numbers 14:44-45).
         Now, about 38 years after the embarrassment at Hormah, the Israelites return, and they will enjoy very different results: “When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.  And Israel vowed a vow to the LORD and said, ‘If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction’” (Numbers 21:1-2).  In other words, they would destroy the cities and take nothing of the booty, the people or the animals for themselves.  “And the LORD heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction.  So the name of the place was called Hormah (Numbers 21:3).
         “Hormah” means “destruction”.  It is the first victory for the Israelites against Canaan.  It takes away the shame of the first battle of Hormah.  We can only imagine the enthusiasm that ran through the camp – Yahweh gave us victory over the Canaanites who were so terrifying four decades ago!  Who can stop us now?  Certainly we will head directly north and conquer the whole Promised Land.
         But Yahweh has other plans: From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom (Numbers 21:4).  Instead of following in the path of victory to the north, Yahweh is taking them in the opposite direction!  They’ve won the victory, but they’re backtracking as if they’ve been defeated.  Therefore, “The people became impatient on the way” (Numbers 21:4).
         Yahweh disciplines His people again… and He saves them again (we’ll see more on this subject below).  They continue around Edom, Moab and Ammon.  As Yahweh explains to them in Deuteronomy 2:4-5, 9, 19, He doesn’t allow the Israelites to attack them because they are related (Edom / Esau was the brother of  Israel / Jacob; Moab and Ammon were the sons of Lot, Abraham’s nephew) and because Yahweh has given them the territory they possess.  Therefore the Israelites march north but far to the east of the Promised Land… until they come to the territory of the Amorites (one of the Canaanite tribes).
         The Israelites are encouraged again.  Songs break out as they approach the Promised Land.  They defeat Sihon, the Amorite king, and for the first time since the patriarch Jacob, the Israelites take land for their own possession: “Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites” (Numbers 21:31; on Jacob, see Genesis 48:22).  They even preserve a ballad or poem of the Amorites they defeated to preserve information about the border of their new territory (Numbers 21:26-30).
         Then Og, the king of Bashan, prepared to attack the Israelites: “But the LORD said to Moses, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land.  And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon’” (Numbers 21:34).  After decades of waiting, Moses finally sees the first steps of Yahweh’s fulfillment of His promises about the land, first in Sihon and now in Og: “So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left.  And they possessed his land” (Numbers 21:35).  ¡Glory to Yahweh for His faithfulness!  Although these territories are not part of the land promised to Abraham, these newly conquered regions to the east of the Jordan River will be a part of Israel for many generations.
         The movement of the Israelites and their first three victories over the Canaanites are the main theme of this chapter.  But we Christians appreciate it for another reason.  When Yahweh sends fiery serpents among the Israelites, they repent, and Moses intercedes for them in prayer.  “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’  So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole.  And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live (Numbers 21:8-9).  If the Israelites look at the serpent with faith in what Yahweh said, He saves them and heals them from the deadly bites caused by their sins.
         Many centuries later Jesus Christ will say about His purpose in coming and His crucifixion, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).  Jesus Christ would be lifted up on a cross for the salvation of His people, so that all who look upon Him with faith would have eternal life.
         If you were with the Israelites on their journey through the desert and were bitten by a poisonous serpent, would you look with faith at the bronze serpent on the pole to be saved from certain death?  In the same way today: Will you look with faith at Jesus Christ crucified in order to be saved from eternal death for your sins?
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Numbers 18 - 20

2/18/2012

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         Remember that in Numbers 8 we read about the purification of the Levites.  Besides carrying the tabernacle, they served as a buffer to protect the Israelites from Yahweh’s devastating holiness.  But the rebellion of Korah and the other Levites in league with him caused a breach in that protection: “Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the affair of Korah” (Numbers 16:49).  The Israelites no longer see Yahweh’s Presence as a blessing but as a deadly threat: “And the people of Israel said to Moses, ‘Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone.  Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die.  Are we all to perish?’” (Numbers 17:12-13)  Numbers 18 repairs the damage of this breach in protection and assures the Israelites that they can approach Yahweh again.
         Notice that Yahweh speaks directly to Aaron alone, the only time that He speaks to him alone in the whole book of Numbers.  He spoke to him alone on one other occasion, in Leviticus 10:8 to underline the priests’ responsibility to teach the people about the difference between the sacred and the profane, between the impure and the clean.  This time Aaron will teach the Levites how to distinguish between the priestly responsibilities and the levitical ones so that they do not attempt to take what Yahweh has prohibited, as Korah tried in his rebellion.
         Yahweh reunites Aaron and the Levites in verse 2, but He also imposes a limit on them in the following verse: They shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar lest they, and you, die (Numbers 18:3).  The Levites can help with the responsibilities in the service of the tabernacle, but: “No outsider shall come near you” (Numbers 18:4).  This way there will be clearly defined limits to protect the people from the devastating holiness of the tabernacle: 1) no other Israelites will be able to approach the tabernacle to serve the priests; 2) only the Levites will serve the priests, but they cannot present offerings on the altar nor serve in the Holy Place; 3) only the priests can put offerings on the altar and enter the Holy Place, but no one can enter the Most Holy Place except the high priest once a year on the Day of Atonement described in Leviticus 16.
         In the rest of Numbers 18, Yahweh gives commands for the support of the priests and the Levites in accordance with the differences we have just seen.  The Israelites will give their tithes for the support of the Levites.  The Levites, from what they receive, will give their tithes to the priests.  And the priests will receive their support from the offerings presented on the altar.  Income and responsibilities are designated clearly so that no one will step out of line and contaminate the holy things and cause Israel to be punished.
         Because of the high number of deaths from the plague and Korah’s rebellion in Numbers 16, many would have been contaminated by contact with a corpse.  How will they purify so many people in the midst of so much death?  And what will they do in the future when they enter the Promised Land to conquer it and find hundreds or thousands of corpses in a single battle?  Numbers 19 responds to this need by giving the laws for purification by the ashes of the red heifer and the water for impurity.
         Notice that this is the only sacrifice in which the hide and the blood of the animal are burned; also, everything is burned outside the tabernacle.  Nothing is burned on the altar, nor is any blood brought into the tabernacle or courtyard.  At the end of the sacrifice, the ashes are kept by the community.  It seems that the blood, burned and mixed with the ashes, purifies from contamination when it is sprinkled with water.  This way, the benefits of the sacrifice are made “portable”; the purification administered from the sacrifice near the tabernacle now is spread wherever the need arises.
         After Numbers 18 and 19 repair the damage wrought by Korah’s rebellion, we get more bad news in Numbers 20.  First, Miriam dies, marking another step toward the end of the generation that had experienced Yahweh’s redemption from Egypt (Numbers 20:1).  Second, Moses and Aaron disobey Yahweh at the waters of Meribah (Numbers 20:13) and as punishment cannot enter the Promised Land (Numbers 20:2-13).  Third, the joy with which Esau received Jacob in Genesis 33 has been lost over the centuries.  Now the descendants of Esau do not want to receive the descendants of Jacob; they would prefer to fight them if they approach (Numbers 20:14-21).  And fourth, Aaron, the one who did so much for the Israelites in their redemption and who interceded for them regularly as their high priest, also dies (Numbers 20:22-29).  Our reading ends appropriately with 30 days of mourning.
         But it doesn’t end in desperation.  Aaron died on Mount Hor, but Moses and Eleazar come down from the mountain with the latter dressed in the holy vestments of the high priest (Numbers 20:28).  Although death came and robbed someone of such great importance in Israel, Yahweh’s promises continue.  He has prepared another to intercede for them.  His promises, His mercy, His holiness and His power will continue for another generation.
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Psalm 95 and Numbers 15 - 17

2/16/2012

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         As you read about Israel’s rebellion against Moses and Aaron in these chapters, as you read about the frustration and anger of the people because they couldn’t enter the Promised Land, as you read about the punishments through which Yahweh extinguishes their rebellions, don’t overlook the evidences of His grace: “When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you”… (Numbers 15:2)  He will keep His promise to give their descendants the land!  “When you come into the land to which I bring you”… (Numbers 15:18)  He will not abandon them!  His Presence will dwell among them even during their punishment.  Truly He is Yahweh, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression (Numbers 14:18).
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Numbers 13 - 14 and Psalm 81

2/15/2012

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         Today we read of one of the saddest episodes to this point in our Bible reading, only surpassed by Adam and Eve’s sin in Genesis 3.  In fact, there are many parallels between the sins of rebellion in Genesis 3 and in Numbers 13 – 14:
       1) In both cases they distrust God’s word (Genesis 3:4-5; Numbers 14:8-10).
       2) They trust their own abilities to examine and assess a situation more than they trust the truth of God’s word (Genesis 3:6; Numbers 13:31-33).
       3) The death sentence is not fulfilled immediately (Genesis 3:15; Numbers 14:20, 29, 34).
       4) In both cases they suffer a life of difficulties as punishment for their sins (Genesis 3:16-19; Numbers 14:33-34).
       5) They are prohibited entrance into the land of blessing (Genesis 3:24; Numbers 14:40-45).
         These characteristics suggest the common denominators to any sin of rebellion.  But there also are noticeable differences between these two episodes:
   1) Adam and Eve disobey a prohibition; the Israelites disobey a blessing.
   2) Those who lead the people in rebellion die immediately (Numbers 14:36-37).
   3) There is a remnant (Joshua and Caleb) who, by faith in Yahweh’s word, are spared the destruction that the others will suffer and who will enjoy the promised blessings (Numbers 14:24, 30, 38).  In the midst of just judgment on all the rest, they will experience protection and salvation.
         And just like Genesis 3, the reading of Numbers 13 – 14 tells us a lot about Yahweh:
       1) He is just and severe, punishing sin in accordance with what it deserves.  Those who said, “Would that we had died in this wilderness!” will die in the wilderness (Numbers 14:2, 28-29); those who feared that their children would be prey to the Canaanites will know that their children will receive the blessing that they despised (Numbers 14:3, 31).
       2) While Yahweh is just and severe, He also is forgiving.  Moses says, “‘And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, “The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.”  Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.’  Then the LORD said, ‘I have pardoned, according to your word’” (Numbers 14:18-20).
       3) He preserves a remnant who will enjoy His future blessings, in this case Joshua, Caleb and the whole generation of Israelites who were not counted in the census in Numbers 1.
       Despite the sad rebellion in Numbers 13 – 14, there still is hope for the future.
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Numbers 11 - 12

2/15/2012

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         Finally the spiritual structure of the Israelites is in place!  They have entered the covenant with Yahweh.  They have consecrated the tabernacle and the priests.  They have been instructed in the acceptable sacrifices and in the ritual calendar, and Yahweh has accepted their first sacrifices.  All the tribes know their place around Yahweh’s Presence and the responsibilities they must fulfill.  And they’ve begun their march to the Promised Land.
         It seems like a long time has passed since Yahweh told them, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6).  Their spiritual formation in the last nine months has been impressive.  The new tabernacle shines in their midst, and the priests guide them in a close relationship with Yahweh that they never had experienced in all those centuries in Egypt.  They no longer look like a group of unstable, newly-redeemed slaves from Egypt like we read about in the first half of the book of Exodus.
         On the other hand… maybe they do still seem like a group of unstable, newly-redeemed slaves from Egypt like we read about in the first half of the book of Exodus.  They have not spent much time on the march when we read about their first complaint in Numbers 11: “And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes” (Numbers 11:1).  We don’t know what misfortunes they were complaining about, only that an attitude of displeasure and non-conformity awoke in them… directed at Yahweh.  “When the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp” (Numbers 11:1).
         Moses is experienced in intercession and puts it into practice again: “Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down” (Numbers 11:2).  The memory of this rebellion will be engraved on the minds of the Israelites; they call the place Taberah, which means “Burning”, “because the fire of the LORD burned among them” (Numbers 11:3).  Forty years later, Moses will remember this place when he lists the times that Israel provoked Yahweh to wrath (Deuteronomy 9:22).
         But this is only one of three rebellions against Yahweh in today’s reading.  Next the people complain because of a lack of variety in their diet.  It began with “the rabble that was among them” (Numbers 11:4) and ran throughout the camp family by family.  It seems like the general sense of discontent even caught up with Moses: “Did I conceive all these people?  Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them on your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers?” (Numbers 11:12)
         Yahweh responds with relief for Moses and judgment for the people.  A key word in this section is the Hebrew word “ruah”, translated “Spirit” in Numbers 11:25, 26 and 29 and “wind” in Numbers 11:31.  Yahweh puts His “ruah” or Spirit on the 70 elders so that they prophecy and help Moses govern the people, and at the same time His “ruah” brings quail from the sea and drops them beside the camp in judgment (Victor Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch, Baker Academic, 2005, pg. 324).
         From there we can see the difference between the exasperation of Moses and the attitude of the people: “The people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail.  Those who gathered least gathered ten homers.  And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp” (Numbers 11:32).  Remember that in Exodus 16:16, the Israelites can gather an omer of manna per person each day, approximately 2.2 liters (an omer is the tenth part of an ephah (Exodus 16:36), which the historian Josephus identifies as about 22 liters).  The word “homer” in Numbers 11:32 refers to another unit of dry measure which is equivalent to 220 liters.  That is to say, the one who gathered least in Numbers 11:32 gathered 2200 liters of meat for his personal use!  No wonder then, after Yahweh’s judgment, that they called the place “Kibroth-hattaavah”, which means “Graves of Covetousness”: “for there they buried the people who had the craving” (Numbers 11:34).
         Moses, on the other hand, was not covetous; he did not tell Yahweh, “I want to govern more people.  Give me more responsibilities and a more numerous people; I want to be emperor.  Oh, how I wish I had stayed in Pharaoh’s house!”  He did not crave more authority and power; instead, he was glad to share the responsibility of spiritual leadership of the people with others: “Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:29)  What humility!  It is a very different attitude from the one of a spiritual leader who throws himself into ministry with a passion for having more and more souls under his personal influence and care, thinking that he will be more recognized, respected and secure for directing a large congregation.  Perhaps it is better that Yahweh’s flock is shepherded by many leaders filled with His Spirit.
         The third rebellion touches Moses personally: “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman (Numbers 12:1).  The interpretation of this verse seems to run in one of two directions:
         1) sometime recently, without giving us the details, Zipporah died or abandoned Moses, and he married another woman, an Ethiopian or Cushite (the land of Cush is Ethiopia), or
         2) it is a reference to Zipporah herself, that she is from Cushan, a region closely tied to Midian in Habakkuk 3:7, where Moses sought refuge in the decades before Yahweh’s calling to rescue Israel from slavery.
         If it is the second option, the vast majority of the people probably never met her until she arrived in Sinai with Jethro in Exodus 18.  The key to either possibility is that Moses married a foreigner, someone who was not an Israelite by birth.  “How could the prophet of Israel dare to marry someone like that?” Miriam seems to ask.
         But the biblical narrator reveals to us the Miriam’s complaint runs deeper than annoyance with her sister-in-law: “And they said, ‘Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses?  Has he not spoken through us also?’” (Numbers 12:2)  Is it possible that Miriam and Aaron feel jealous because they weren’t included among the 70 who received the Spirit in Numbers 11?  Whatever the motive, they feel that they deserve more authority and recognition for their spiritual capabilities, and they think that one way of gaining that recognition is by taking advantage of a “defect” in Moses so that the Israelites will view them in a more positive light.
         Yahweh puts down this rebellion quickly.  He is sovereign in giving authority and recognition, prophecy and a living relationship with Himself; He is also sovereign in giving out punishment.  And the woman who thought she could promote herself to have more direction over the Israelites now holds up everyone because of her leprosy: “So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again” (Numbers 12:15).
         “Burning”, “Graves of Covetousness” and Hazeroth, where Miriam suffered leprosy because of her rebellion: three infamous places of rebellion in only two chapters.  We have not gotten off to a good start on our trip to the Promised Land.
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    Ken Kytle serves as pastor of Iglesia bautista La fe en Cristo near Atlanta, Georgia.

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