10-Numbers 21-36
Feb. 28, 2009
We will begin this week’s study in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 21. A King of the Canaanites in the city of Arad, whose territory was in the Negev, received word that Edom had refused passage of the Children of Israel through their land. He was worried that Israel would try and reach their destination through his territory. The king sent an army to meet the Israelites. The army prevailed and took some of the Israelites prisoner. The Children of Israel made a vow to the Lord that if He would deliver the Canaanite army into their hands they would destroy them entirely. The Lord heard their request and granted their vow. Israel then defeated Arad and destroyed their cities. Even though Israel defeated the Canaanites at Arad, Moses turned them to the south and journeyed around the territory of Edom by way of the Red Sea to reach the Promised Land. The people again complained to Moses that he had led them into the wilderness to die. They complained that there was no bread or water, and that they loathed the manna God had provided for them to eat. God became angry with the people and sent fiery serpents to bite and kill the complainers. When the people saw those who had been bitten by the serpents begin to die, they repented of their sin and asked Moses to intercede for them yet again. Moses prayed to the Lord for the people, and God had him make his own fiery serpent and set it upon a standard, so that anyone who had been bitten could look upon Moses’ serpent and live. Moses made the serpent out of bronze and placed it on top of a staff. Moses then lifted the standard up and the people who had received a bite from a fiery serpent and believed in the Lord, lived. This account of the fiery serpent is used by Jesus in the New Testament as an illustration of His death on the cross and what would happen to those who believe in Him. This passage is spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of John 3:14-15 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” After this incident Israel continued to travel north around Edom to the eastern side of the Jordan River. Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites to request passage through his land as they did with Edom. Sihon also refused but was defeated in battle by Israel. Israel then continued north and defeated Og, the king of Bashan and his people. In Chapter 22, Balak, the king of the Moabites had become very afraid of the Children of Israel because of what they had done to their neighbors, the Amorites. He wished to form an alliance with the Midianites that lived to the south. Balak sent messengers with the proper fees to Balaam the son of Beor, a Midianite prophet, to enlist his services to curse Israel. Balaam had a reputation of speaking effective curses that came to pass as spoken. Balaam asked the messengers to stay for the night while he inquired of God. Balaam did not have a relationship with the God of Israel. He was not a prophet of God, but a worshipper of the idol Baal of the Midianites. Balaam knew of the God of Israel because his people were descended from Abraham through his wife Keturah, he took after the death of Sarah. God asked Balaam who had accompanied him, and what was it that he wanted. Balaam replied that they were representatives of Balak the king of Moab, and they were sent to him to have him curse a people who had come out of Egypt. God told Balaam not to curse the Israelites because they had been blessed. Balaam told the messengers the next morning to return to Balak, and that he could not curse Israel. The men returned, but Balak was not ready to give in. Balak then sent more money and a more distinguished group of messengers to Balaam to enlist his help. Balaam did not want to refuse the money and had the messengers stay the night again. God spoke to Balaam and allowed him to go with the men as long as he only told them what God had said. The next morning Balaam saddled his donkey and left with the men towards Moab. God was angry that Balaam decided to go with the messengers, and went out and stood in his path. On the way Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the Lord blocking their way with a sword in His hand. The donkey was afraid and left the path. Balaam was angry and struck the donkey to make her move on. The donkey complied with Balaam until they reached a narrow passageway in some vineyards. The angel of the Lord again blocked the way. The donkey went close to the vineyard wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against it. Balaam again struck his donkey for disobeying him. Again the angel of the Lord blocked their way in a narrow place in the path so they could not pass. The donkey sat down under Balaam and he again became very angry and struck the donkey a third time. The Lord then opened the mouth of the donkey, and she asked Balaam what she had done to deserve to be hit these three times. Balaam answered the donkey and said she had made a fool of him and if he had a sword he would have killed her by now. The donkey replied and asked him if she hadn’t been the donkey that had transported him his entire life until this day, and had never done this before? Balaam answered no, his eyes were then opened, and the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the path. The Lord said to Balaam that if it had not been for the donkey he would have been dead. Balaam then understood the message and repented of his sin. He asked if he should turn back and go home. The angel of the Lord told him to continue on to Balak, but warned him to only say what God had told him to say. Balaam continued, and when he came to Balak he refused to curse Israel no matter what Balak did, or where he was taken. Again and again he would only speak prophecy about Israel’s future dominance over the people of the land. In Chapter 24:17 Balaam even prophetically spoke of the future coming of Christ to lead His people. Balaam was then finished with Balak and returned to his home. Balaam though was not finished with Israel. He suggested that the men of Israel should join themselves with the women of Baal of Peor. Some of the Children of Israel corrupted themselves and began to worship the idol Baal, and sacrifice to the gods of the Midianites. The Lord became very angry with His children, and told Moses to execute the leaders of Israel in His sight so that His anger would be turned away from His people. Moses went to the judges of Israel and told them to kill all the people who were worshipping the gods of the Midianites. While Moses was giving this command at the doorway to the Tent of Meeting, a man of Israel came by along with a woman of Midian, in defiance of the Lords command. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the High Priest, and the grandson of Aaron, saw this act, and in his zeal for the Lord went into the tent where the couple was and pierced them both through with a spear. This appeased the Lord’s anger and He stopped the plague that had begun to go through the people. In all 24,000 died from the plague for their transgression. As a reward to Phinehas, for his zeal for the Lord, God made him and his descendants a perpetual priesthood. The Lord then told Moses to strike the Midianites for what they had done to His people. In Chapter 26 the Lord told Moses and Eleazar to take a census of the Tribes of Israel the same as Moses and Aaron had done forty years before. They were to number the people by the men who were twenty years old and older that were able to go to war. The text goes through the census for each tribe. One interesting result of the census was the loss of 45,020 fighting men from the tribes of Israel living on the side of the Tabernacle next to the Levites of Kohath. It was his grandson Korah who had incited the rebellion against Moses and Aaron resulting in the death of almost 15,000 people. The people from the nearby tribes had participated in the rebellion with Korah. In all there was a net loss of 1,820 fighting men through the forty years of wandering. The Levites gained 1,000 men from one month old and older even including the loss of men during Korah’s rebellion. This census was to be used by Moses when he divided up the land by lot to the tribes; the larger the tribe, the larger the inheritance of land, the smaller the tribe, the smaller the inheritance. When the census was complete, not one man from the previous census except Moses, Caleb, and Joshua was left alive as the Lord had promised. Instructions were given to Moses for the people in Chapter 28 on the rules concerning inheritance. A descendent of Manasseh, Zelophehad, died and had no sons to receive inheritance; his wife had born him only daughters. The daughters of Zelophehad came before Moses and Eleazar and said that their father had died in his own sin, meaning he was not involved in the rebellion of Korah, and that he had no sons to receive his inheritance. They wanted to know why his name should be withdrawn from the line of his family, and asked that his inheritance would be given to them. Moses asked them to wait while he stated their case before the Lord. The Lord told Moses that the daughters of Zelophehad were correct in their request, the inheritance of their father rightfully belonged to them. The Lord also gave Moses the other rules of exception for the issues of inheritance at this time. The Lord then told Moses to go up on the mountain of Abarim and look out at the land He had given to the Children of Israel. He then told Moses that after he saw the land he would die as his brother Aaron had died on the mountain. God reminded Moses that he would not lead the people into the land because of his rebellion against the Lord at Meribah in Kadesh, and that he did not treat the Lord as holy there. Moses accepted what the Lord had said and asked Him to appoint a successor over the children of Israel. Moses realized the people would be like sheep without a shepherd if they had no leader. The Lord heard Moses and asked him to take Joshua, in whom the Spirit of the Lord rested, and lay your hand on him. Moses was to have Joshua stand before Eleazar, and the congregation, while he was commissioned by him in their sight. Moses was to give Joshua some of his authority so the people would obey him. Joshua was also to be told to seek the Lord’s will on issues with Eleazar by the use of the Urim. Joshua was not to be able to inquire directly with God as Moses did. Moses then did what the Lord had instructed and Joshua was commissioned before the congregation. The next several chapters deal with the requirements for the daily offerings to the Lord, and the offerings required during the three feasts to the Lord during the year. The listing of the offering requirements are outlined in the text. A large number of animals were required to be offered by Israel to the Lord throughout the year. Chapter 30 deals with vows to the Lord made between a husband and wife, and a father and his daughter during her youth in her father’s house. In Chapter 31 the Lord tells Moses to send 1,000 men from each of the tribes of Israel against the Midianites. In all there were 12,000 men with Phinehas to lead them to totally destroy the people of Midian for what they had done to corrupt the Children of Israel. The army went to battle and killed every male of Midian. The five kings of Midian were killed along with Balaam the prophet during the battle. When the battle was complete Moses asked the men if they had spared the women because they were told to kill them also. It was the women of Midian, because of Balaam’s advice, which caused the men of Israel to transgress against the Lord in Peor. Moses told them to kill even the male little ones along with the women. They were only to spare the virgin girls who could safely be assimilated into the congregation of Israel. The soldiers were to stay outside the camp for seven days and purify themselves. Also the ashes of the red heifer were then used to cleanse their garments and articles of leather, goat’s hair and wood. The metals they possessed that could withstand fire would be purified with fire. Anything that could not withstand the fire would be purified with the water containing the ashes of the red heifer. The spoils of the battle were then divided up evenly through the congregation. An equal portion was given to the people who fought and also to the people who stayed in the camp. A portion was also given to the Levites, and also a portion was given to the Lord. The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad possessed a large amount of livestock. They noticed that the land where they were camped on the eastern bank of the Jordan River was a land suitable for livestock. Even though this was not the land the Lord had promised the Children of Israel, the two tribes wanted this land for their inheritance. They went to Moses to ask for the land. Moses became very angry with them and asked if they would let their brothers fight alone for the Promised Land while they sat here safe. He accused the two tribes of committing the same sin their fathers did during the episode with the spies, many years before, of discouraging the Children of Israel from entering the land. He reminded them that the bad report of the spies caused Israel to wander through the wilderness for forty years. To appease Moses the representatives for the Reubenites and the Gadites said they would build pens for their livestock and accompany their brothers across the Jordan to help them fight and possess the land, and not return to their families until the entire land was conquered. Moses then agreed to their proposal and divided up the land of Gilead, the Amorites, and the land of Bashan between the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh. In the first part of Chapter 33 the Bible lists a review of Israel’s journey from Egypt to where they were now camped on the northern end of the Dead Sea near the eastern bank of the Jordan River. Each starting point and camping place of each movement of the Children of Israel is listed in the text. At the end of the chapter the Lord tells Moses to instruct the people on what they were to do when they crossed the Jordan to possess the land. Moses was to tell the people to go in and drive the inhabitants out of the land, to destroy their idols and molten images. They were also to demolish all their high places. This was necessary because any of these people or things would become a source of trouble for the Children of Israel later. The land would be divided by lots to the people according to their numbers. The Lord also warned the Children of Israel that if they did not obey His commands that He would do as He says in Chapter 33:56 “And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.” In Chapter 34 the Lord gave to Moses the borders of the Promised Land. At this time He also told Moses that Joshua and Eleazar would be the ones who were to divide up the land. The Lord then appointed the leaders over each of the tribes of Israel. The Lord instructed Moses to command the people that they were to provide cities in their territories for the Levites to live in. The Levites required these cities because they had no inheritance of land from the Lord. These cities would also be cities of refuge for men who had killed another by accident. The Levites in the city would judge the innocence of a fugitive murderer when he reached the city. If the murder he committed was considered intentional the man would be put to death. If the murderer was found to have committed the murder unintentionally, he would be safe from those who sought to avenge the murder the man committed. The murderer would only be safe to leave the city at the death of the High Priest. We will end our study and the Book of Numbers this week with Chapter 36. This chapter outlines the rules for inheritance through marriage. The main thing is that all inheritance must stay within the original tribe. The land cannot be passed through marriage between tribes. Next week we will begin the Book of Deuteronomy which is a re-telling of God’s Law by Moses on the Plain of Moab to the new generation of the Children of Israel during the final weeks of Moses’ life.