Numbers 36 English Standard Version Marriage of Female Heirs 36 The heads of the fathers' houses of the clan of the people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel. 2 They said, “The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.” 5 And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph is right. 6 This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7 The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’” 10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD commanded Moses, 11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father's brothers. 12 They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's clan. 13 These are the commandments and the rules that the LORD commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. Moses is about to make a new set of stone tablets so that the original set can remain in the Ark of the Covenant after he dies and the people can still have a copy of the Law that they can see (the Law is supposed to turn into something internal that will be in their hearts, though at this point it will still be something external to them). Everything in the Ark of the Covenant represents a portion of the gospel as the Law helps us remember God's rules that we could never complete fully and that we needed someone else (Jesus) to fulfill completely on our behalf. It was also full of blessings and curses and we were all under the curse of sin, but Jesus took all the curses upon Himself that we deserved and gave us all the blessings that He deserved. The Law is usually only thought of as the Ten Commandments, though that is only a small portion of the Law as we'll see when we eventually study the book of Deuteronomy.
The Law also dealt with civic issues and there was one issue that was sort of dealt with a while ago, but needs to be revisited to tie up some loose ends--the question of the rules surrounding a woman inheriting her father's estate. Let's go back and look at that specific rule from Numbers 27 for context. Numbers 27:8-11 English Standard Version 8 And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. 9 And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. And it shall be for the people of Israel a statute and rule, as the Lord commanded Moses.’” The question now is about if an inheritance is given to a daughter before she gets married and then she gets married, does that inheritance become the property of the husband and his family because she has become a part of his family, or must the land stay in the woman's family if possible and go to the next rightful heir according to the passage in Numbers 27? Leaving the land in the possession of the wife's new family seems to go against the promise that the boundaries that God drew were to represent lots of land that were everlasting possessions for those tribes and the only way it seemed that someone was to lose their land was if all their descendants died and if that happened, then the land would still go to the clan or or tribe so that the boundaries that the LORD set did not change, so this is a good question asked by the tribe of Manasseh that the daughters of Zelophehad belonged to about their land (note they are interested in this now because they have already claimed their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan River--at least partially as half the tribe of Manasseh wanted their land to the east of the Jordan River, and the other half wanted to settle on the west side of the Jordan River as we'll see later.) There was an easy answer to this problem. These women who had inherited were to marry from within the clan of their father so the the land would continue to be an eternal inheritance to the tribe and clan. "So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance." (v. 9). It was important to show that God was faithful to keep His promises to the people through all generations. These women married their cousins (the sons of their father's brothers to obey the command of the LORD. With that issue resolved, we close the book of Numbers which is the story of God faithfully bringing His people to the doorstep of the Promised Land twice--the first time the people were unfaithful and were sent back into the wilderness to die. There is now a new generation standing before the LORD in this place and He has given them victory over many enemies already and they face the same foes with a different mindset that the LORD will give them victory. However, God is concerned more about the moral defeat that will come to them if they disobey the Law and force Him to send the curses of the Law upon them like He had done upon their enemies. He wanted to pour out His blessings on the people. So, God is going to permit Moses to recite the entire Law to the people before he dies. While we may only be concerned about having victory over the external situations, God is more concerned that His people have victory over their greatest enemy (themselves) by putting the flesh to death, repenting of their sin, and coming to God in faith for salvation and living the new life that God provides by His Spirit (apparently this was different back in the days before Pentecost, but I have to believe that no man was ever able to keep any part of the Law apart from the work of the Spirit of God and that somehow He was at work within the people of God, even if it was in a different way than it is today). Numbers 35:9-34 English Standard Version Cities of Refuge 9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. 14 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there. 16 “But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 17 And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21 or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. 22 “But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait 23 or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, 24 then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. 25 And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. 28 For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. 29 And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 30 “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. 33 You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 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.” We mentioned the cities of refuge briefly in the last passage. There were six cities total that were to be set aside as places where someone who had committed involuntary manslaughter could run for safety from those who were trying to avenge the death of the one who died. It was the job of the Levites to protect such a man and to make sure that he received a fair trial.
The passage lays out some scenarios where the manslayer was guilty of murder and could be avenged and situations where the manslayer was not guilty of murder and it was up to the Levites and the whole congregation to protect him and make sure he got a fair trial. God also made provision for such a man who had been found not guilty, but was still under the threat of death from an avenger to live in the city of refuge and he would be protected there. His "sentence" if you want to call it that for his involuntary manslaughter would be that he could not leave the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. If the manslayer leaves the protection of the city of refuge, and the avenger finds him and kills him, then the avenger will not have any bloodguilt, even though the man has been found not guilty of murder, because he was guilty of manslaughter. After the death of the high priest, the manslayer would be allowed to return home--he had served his sentence. God then establishes the rule that only on the testimony of multiple eyewitnesses should a man be put to death. The passage also says there there is no other price that can be paid for murder than the life of the murderer. The Levites and priests were not to accept any bribes when it came to their judgment or when it came to the time that a man was free to return home from the city of refuge (after the death of the High Priest). God then tells them not to pollute their land (I think this has to do with all kinds of pollution), and specifically says that the shedding of blood pollutes the land and no atonement can be made for the land that has been polluted by the shedding of blood, except the blood of the one who shed it. The land in which they were to dwell belonged to the LORD and He lived among them, so for that reason alone they should not pollute the land nor shed innocent blood. Cities for the Levites 35 The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. 3 The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. 4 The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around. 5 And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities. 6 “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. 7 All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands. 8 And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.” There are two closely connected passages here, but we'll first talk about the Cities for the Levites as the Cities of Refuge are a subset of these cities. When the people would settle in the land it would no longer be reasonable for all of the Levites to live around the Tabernacle in a single place. They would need to live among the people that they ministered to as their duties extended beyond that of caring for and protecting the sanctuary (though that was one of their main duties). They were also to be the teachers and health inspectors, and judges, and other government officials. But how would this work? It would be a similar problem if the LORD gave them a specific inheritance in the land and they were all gathered together there. Instead we see the idea of the tithe applied here and those with much land gave several cities to the Levites and those with little land gave few cities to the Levites, but the LORD designated 48 cities total for the Levites to live in with their families among the people. These would be walled cities that would protect them, and it would be the responsibility of the tribes who lived in those regions to protect the Levites that lived among them.
God also gave land outside the city walls to the Levites--500 yards outside the city walls he specifically gives to them as pasture for their animals but there is another 500 yards of buffer that is also supposed to be measured out and belong to them as additional pastureland so that there would be 1,000 yards on each side of the city. (A cubit is 18 inches or 1.5 feet, so I've converted into yards for you a 2 cubits=1 yard.) Of all these cities given to the Levites, six in particular were chosen to be "cities of refuge" (we'll study about them next time) where someone who killed someone without intent could run to for safety so that he could be afforded a fair trial and would not be killed by those who sought their own "justice" in the form of vengeance. Before we wrap up today, imagine how these cities give to the Levites are a picture of how it is with us. We've discussed in the past of how we are part of a kingdom not of this world and we live among people of another kingdom. We are much like the Levites here and we live among the people that we minister to and in some ways depend on them to apportion a place for us and defend us, but there is supposed to be a different culture as you come within the walls of our proverbial cities where we live, work and worship, or even as you get close to them--even from quite some distance away, others should know "there's something special about this place and the people who live here." We should be about the same business of being "salt and light" in the places God has given to us and helping to cultivate a godly culture. We should be reliant on the LORD while at the same time working to provide for our own needs as we see the Levites being engaged in farming of crops and livestock so that they were not wholly reliant on the sacrificial system to feed their families (and I'm almost certain that God blessed them with enough to not only care for their families, but to care for the poor and needy people around them). Next time we'll talk about the Cities of Refuge and how they point to a greater truth about Jesus and the salvation that He provides. Numbers 34:1-15 English Standard Version Boundaries of the Land 34 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), 3 your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of the Salt Sea on the east. 4 And your border shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. 5 And the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea. 6 “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast. This shall be your western border. 7 “This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to Mount Hor. 8 From Mount Hor you shall draw a line to Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad. 9 Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border. 10 “You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. 11 And the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of the Sea of Chinnereth on the east. 12 And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.” 13 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. 14 For the tribe of the people of Reuben by fathers' houses and the tribe of the people of Gad by their fathers' houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.” First, I'll start off by saying that I don't exactly agree with the heading here in the ESV as we've already talked about the boundaries of the land that the LORD gave to the people and all the peoples that He had commanded them to conquer--that land is much larger, but there was only a portion of that promised to each of the 12 Tribes and the families that existed at this time. To me that means that there was always supposed to be room for growth. The promise here was made to these original families that the land that was known as Canaan would be their eternal inheritance. It's also important here to notice that God is only talking to the 10 tribes that haven't already chosen their inheritance. Moses has already set boundaries for them in a separate passage (see Numbers 32: 33-42). It's hard to imagine these boundaries as we don't know all their names, but most Bible maps (in the back of many Bibles) and Bible atlases do a good job with this map. I'll also put a map at the end of this blog for you to show you, but it's what we generally think of as "The Promised Land." And, yes, these boundaries differ from the map that I included in my blog on June 26th, 2021 (the main difference is that map is not speaking of the land that would be allocated/apportioned to the 12 tribes at the end of the conquest--this passage is specifically focused in on the land of Canaan. That's not to say that Canaan was the totality of the land that would belong to the nation of Israel or maybe I should say that their dominion and influence were meant to extend beyond the regions of where their citizens specifically lived. I hinted at why I think this is the case in my last statement, but why promise more land than what you need for your people (actually a lot more land)? I think it was God's intent for other nations to want to come under His authority and be a part of the promise of Genesis 12:3, Genesis 12:3 English Standard Version 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So, I think God gave addition room not promised specifically to the Jews to show that it was always His intent for their to be God-fearing Gentiles. I think there will be a day when the center of authority in Jerusalem will extend its reaches far beyond the geographical boundaries of the land of Canaan and that other nations and peoples will desire to be a part of that kingdom--maybe they become citizens or maybe they just pay tribute and are more of a territory or protectorate. Here are some verses in the Bible that talk about the boundaries of the nation of Israel: https://www.openbible.info/topics/promised_land_boundaries. Ultimately though we know that there will be a King of Kings and Lord of Lord who will have His capital city in Jerusalem (the New Jerusalem) and He will reign over all creation, and His kingdom will be a kingdom that has no end. Currently, we already live in a place where the Kingdom is not limited by geographical boundaries or limited only to ethnic Israel as there are remnant of people from every tribe, tongue, nation and people group that will be part of those around the throne in heaven singing praise to the King of Kings. However, that future Kingdom is not what this promise means....God has promised His people a physical land and physical inheritance among the nations and has designated this as the place where all the attention of the world would be focused and that all His people would be gathered during their pilgrimage feasts so that no one should have been able to miss the coming of Jesus. People of nations great and small had to come through this exact parcel of land to do business. Numbers 33:50-56 English Standard Version Drive Out the Inhabitants 50 And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then 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. 53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 55 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. 56 And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.” Why was it okay for the people of Israel to go to war against the inhabitants of the Promised Land, because God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth is the ultimate authority over nations, kingdoms and territories and He had deeded this land to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as part of an eternal covenant and it is He, not Moses or the people of Israel that decided that it was right for these people to go to war against the people that lived in the land that God had promised to the people of Israel.
God's command is clear. They were to drive all of the Canaanites out of the land and to completely destroy all of their idols and places of worship to their false gods. They were not to leave any trace of these to be a temptation to future generation or to have any sexual relations with any of the Canaanites or allow any of them to remain in the land so that they could corrupt God's people in future generations. If only they had completely obeyed this command! We'll see much of the Old Testament has to do with this generation not fully obeying this command at this time. As said above, it was God who was giving the land to the people. While God makes the boundaries for all nations, no other nation can point to something quite like this to say that God deeded a specific parcel of land to them as an eternal inheritance. They are actually commanded to possess it and settle in it. God tells them once again that they will inherit their land based off of the size of their tribe and clan. The largest tribes will receive the largest allocations of land and the smallest tribes the smallest allocations (we'll see shortly that the Levites would only receive the cities of refuge as the sacrifices and the tithes were their inheritance and the LORD was their portion forever). God gives a stern warning that if they do not obey (whenever we see this, we know God is saying, "I know you will not obey and this is what's going to happen to you.") God will cause the Canaanites that they leave in the Land to be like barbs in their eyes and thorns in their sides(OUCH) and God would cause the things that He had planned to be reserved for the Canaanites to also happen to His people who were rebellious and would not obey (because the Canaanites would turn the hearts of the people against God). I'm not exactly sure what God had planned for the Canaanites that Israel got caught up in, but it definitely seems that God is saying that this is exactly what is going to happen to them even though I'm guessing the people at this time were saying and thinking, "May it never be." Numbers 33:1-49 English Standard Version Recounting Israel's Journey 33 These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the LORD, and these are their stages according to their starting places. 3 They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them. On their gods also the LORD executed judgments. 5 So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth. 6 And they set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. 7 And they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. 8 And they set out from before Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they went a three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. 9 And they set out from Marah and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 10 And they set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea. 11 And they set out from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of Sin. 12 And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. 13 And they set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14 And they set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15 And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai. 16 And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah. 17 And they set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. 18 And they set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. 19 And they set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. 20 And they set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. 21 And they set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22 And they set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23 And they set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 And they set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25 And they set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. 26 And they set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27 And they set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28 And they set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29 And they set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30 And they set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. 31 And they set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. 32 And they set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad. 33 And they set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. 34 And they set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35 And they set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber. 36 And they set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh). 37 And they set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom. 38 And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the LORD and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. 39 And Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor. 40 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel. 41 And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. 42 And they set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. 43 And they set out from Punon and camped at Oboth. 44 And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab. 45 And they set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad. 46 And they set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. 47 And they set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48 And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; 49 they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab. It's important for one generation to pass the faith onto the next generation and it is important for a nation to remember to publicly tell the story of how God brought them together and has sustained them--especially a people like Israel who were known to be the "people of God." Moses is going to do exactly that as one of the the last things before he is gathered to be with his people (a phrase we use to talk about someone's spirit being taken to heaven to be with the LORD even though their body may die here on earth).
This new generation may not yet have been born when the journey started in the book of Exodus or they may have been too young to remember it, or if they were old enough it may seem fuzzy as it's been a long time (40 years) since some of those events happened--I'm guessing that you would be unlikely to recall events that happened to you 40 years ago with great detail. God had given Moses the insight to chronicle their journey along the way (or have someone do it for him) and now he is able to recount the people's history, but it's really "His Story"--the story of God being the central character and redeeming a people unto Himself to the praise of His glory. This is the "good news" or the "gospel" that the people knew and Moses is sharing it with everyone in that new generation now that judgment has finally come upon the old generation. Every single person listening is going to be called to not be like the old the generation that rebelled and died, but to be a new generation that would repent and believe and be the kind of people that God intended them to be and was calling them to be. Moses starts his history lesson at Passover as that was when the nation of Israel was officially created in a day. It was a victory not only over the people that were holding them as slaves, but it was a victory for God to prove that He was the only true God and that all the gods of the Egyptians (including Pharaoh who they worshiped) could not hold a candle to the LORD and that when the LORD speaks, we should obey and not harden our hearts. Moses then recounted how the LORD brought them to the Red Sea and intentionally made them camp with their backs to the sea so that there was no seemingly no escape from Pharaoh's advancing army when Pharaoh changed his mind and tried to bring all his wrath upon the people of God one last time and imagined he would drive them into the Red Sea, but instead it was Pharaoh and all his men that were drowned in the Red Sea and the same day that the nation of Israel was established, the empire that was Egypt was destroyed. Moses tells of how the LORD brought them into the wilderness and they had no water for three days and then they found nothing but "bitter" water that was undrinkable, and the LORD had Moses cut down a tree and throw it into the bitter water to make it turn sweet, just like the cross of Christ takes that which is "bitter" and transforms it into that which is "sweet" for us. Moses then fast-forwards a bit and says that they wandered through the wilderness of Sin for a while before reaching Mount Sinai. There God spoke to Moses face-to-face and gave the people the Law (not just the 10 Commandments, but everything we see written in the book of Deuteronomy (the second telling of the Law) and we see much of it in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers as Moses relates the Law to the people). Yes, Moses skipped over some events that I probably. Most of the rest of the story is the list of different places in which they encamped between Mount Sinai and Mount Hor which is at the edge of Edom. This is where we've seen most of the "action" take place recently, but Moses wants to remind them that this is the place where his brother Aaron died and was gathered to be with his people. Moses says that it was at this point that a Canaanite king heard about the people of Israel being on his doorstep, and we'll see in the book of Joshua that the LORD had caused these pagan Canaanites to hear of what the LORD had done and to strike fear in their hearts that judgment was coming upon them and that the LORD even sent hornets before the people to drive out the Canaanites and we'll see how the LORD will hurl hailstones from heaven (like those we read about in the plagues on Egypt) to destroy the armies of the Canaanites to make it clear that the battle belongs to the LORD. The army of Israel was mostly there to worship the LORD for the victory that He had secured (similar to how the Church will watch Jesus secure the victory over His enemies in the last days and all we will do is praise Him for being victories over all the enemies of the LORD, for He is the Captain of the LORD's Army that we will see in the book of Joshua). From there the people lived in the plains of Moab for a while and they are now at the Jordan River--one of natural boundaries that we think of when we think of the land of Israel and a symbol that we as Christians think of as a metaphor of someone "crossing Jordan" to go from living in the wilderness of this life to the Promised Land of heaven that is on the other side. We'll see the book of Joshua mostly begins with the people crossing the Jordan River, but we do see that while Moses will only see the Promised Land from this vantage point physically, he is about to enter the true "Promised Land" of heaven and will metaphorically cross the Jordan River as well. Numbers 31 English Standard Version Vengeance on Midian 31 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the LORD's vengeance on Midian. 4 You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5 So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7 They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9 And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. 10 All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, 11 and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. 12 Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16 Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD. 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 18 But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves. 19 Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats' hair, and every article of wood.” 21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded Moses: 22 only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.” 25 The LORD said to Moses, 26 “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, 27 and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28 And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. 29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD. 30 And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the LORD.” 31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. 32 Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. 36 And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, 37 and the LORD's tribute of sheep was 675. 38 The cattle were 36,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 72. 39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the LORD's tribute was 61. 40 The persons were 16,000, of which the LORD's tribute was 32 persons. 41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the LORD, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses. 42 From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army-- 43 now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 and 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 persons-- 47 from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses. 48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses 49 and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. 50 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.” 51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. 52 And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels. 53 (The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the people of Israel before the LORD. This must have been an interesting command for Moses as Moses' wife was Midianite and his children were half Midianite and his father-in-law was a priest from Midian. He had lived in the land of the Midianites for 40 years when he fled from Pharaoh, and now the people of Israel have been wandering through that same desert with Moses leading them for another 40 year. So why now? This seems to be one final thing that God wants Moses to do before he dies--to avenge the Israelites against the Midianites--1,000 men from each tribe were to be selected to go to war against the Midianites to execute God's vengeance on them.
They killed the kings of Midian (probably regional tribal chiefs or heads of families/clans) and they killed every adult male, but they took captive the women, children, cattle, flocks and possessions. They burned their cities and encampments--it would seem like this should be the end of this people group who was descended from Ishmael, but if we know the Old Testament, we know that these women and children that were saved would have children who would rise up against Israel again in the days of the judges and will not be completely defeated until Judges chapter 8. God had intended for all of them to die here, but the soldiers acted more like the pagan peoples around them and wanted to take the women and children as spoils of war though the LORD's command was clear to kill all the Midianites. We'll see other places in the Bible where the Israelites will face this same issue. There's another name that we notice here though--apparently the LORD tells the Israelites to put Balaam the son of Beor to death. This is the seer that we just read about in Numbers 22-24. We get more of the story here that apparently Balaam was the one responsible for telling the Midianites that the way to defeat the Israelites was through engaging them in idolatry and sexual immorality. To this point we may have imagined Balaam to have been a true prophet of God, especially since he left telling Balak how he would be defeated and that he would be wise to come seek out Balaam in the future for additional words about how God would be victorious and King Balak and his peopel would be defeated. It is for this conspiracy that God is judging them and all the children and all the male children and all the women who were not virgins were killed. Then they were to purify themselves and everything that had come in contact with blood or the dead bodies. Everything that could be pass through fire and survive was purified by fire--gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and lead. These things were then also washed with water after being cleansed by fire. Everything that could not pass through the fire and survive was cleansed with water. There was then an inventory of all of the spoil of the war and it was divided between the soldiers who went into battle and those who remained in the camp. The spoils were split 50-50 between the 12,000 that went out to ware and all the others who stayed home and a tribute from each group was ordered to be given to Eleazer the priest as the LORD's portion--1/500th (0.2%) of the portion from the soldiers that went to war and 1/50th (2%) from the portion that went to the congregation. Most of the rest of the passage is the actual accounting of dividing of these spoils of war. The passage ends by showing that the LORD brought victory to Israel without one Israelite man loosing his life and their commanders offer sacrifices for atonement from their spoils and it went into the treasury of the Tabernacle, and the LORD accepted this sacrifice from the commanders on behalf of the soldiers who were spared in this war. |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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