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Dickson Teacher’s Bible1 Numbers

Dickson Teacher’s Bible, www.africainternational.orgNumbers - Roger E. Dickson, ©1982, 2006, 2017: Africa International Missions, Hutchinson, Kansas U.S.A., Cape Town, South Africa

Dickson

Teacher’s Bible

NUMBERS

Roger E. Dickson

2017



WRITERMoses is the undisputed writer who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to inscribe

the words of this book (See intro. to Gn). The phrase, “The Lord spoke to Moses”is used over 40 times in the book to introduce chapters and sections of divine in-struction for the nation of Israel.

Because this book explains much of the work of Moses on behalf of Israel, it issometimes referred to by scholars as the “Book of Moses.” Moses is pictured in thebook as the lawgiver, counselor, provider, intercessor, peacemaker, religious andcivil leader, and the servant of God on behalf of Israel. The focus of the book is Godworking through Moses in order to lead His people to the promised land.

The key verse of the book would be 10:29: “We are journeying to the place ofwhich the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will do good toyou. For the LORD has spoken good concerning Israel.”

Numbers is a record of the many times the Israelites complained about theirpredicament throughout their wanderings from Egypt to Canaan. They had forgot-ten the suffering of their Egyptian bondage, but not the fine things they enjoyed inEgypt. When in times of struggles, the mind often forgets past struggles by focus-ing on the good times of the past. This natural forgetfulness of the struggles theyhad in Egypt made it possible for the Israelites to murmur concerning their predica-ment in the wilderness. Their complaints digressed from complaining against Mosesto complaining directly against God. The results of their attitude of complaint wasthat they were condemned to forty years of wandering in the wilderness, wherein allwho were twenty years of age and over at the time of the exodus from Egypt werenot allowed to enter the promised land. We would assume, therefore, that this recordof their complaints, and subsequent punishments by God, was written in order toremind the generations of Israel to trust in God by forsaking their culture of com-plaining.

BOOKThe first numbering (census) of Israel at the foot of Mt. Sinai was made in order

to establish and organize the tribal families for an income for the Levitical priest-hood (Ex 30:11-16). Recorded in this book is another census that was taken beforeIsrael left Sinai in order to determine the military personnel of the nation (chs 1-4).Immediately before Israel entered the land of Canaan, a third census was taken (Seech 26). Because of the numbering of Israel upon which focus is made in this book,Bible students have assigned the book with the title, “Numbers.”

NUMBERS



“Numbers” is the traditional name of the book. We take this name from thename that was assigned to it by Jerome in the Latin Vulgate (Numeri). However,Jerome took the name from the Septuagint. The Hebrew name for the book isB’midbar, which means “in the wilderness” since the book covers Israel’s historyfrom Mt. Sinai to the time of their entrance into Canaan.

The book continues the history of Israel that was concluded with the book ofExodus. In order to understand Numbers, therefore, one must have a good under-standing of history that is revealed through both Genesis and Exodus, for the bookof Numbers adds a vital link in Israel’s history from the time of Israel’s exodus fromEgypt to the time of the nation’s entrance into Canaan.

DATEThe events of the book occurred about eleven months after the Israelites arrived

at the foot of Mt. Sinai. If we accept the date of the exodus from Egypt to be around1,445 B.C., then Numbers was probably written sometime around 1,400 B.C. How-ever, a later date has also been proposed. Some Bible historians have felt that thebest evidences establish the time for the exodus from Egypt to be around 1,300 B.C.There are various reasons for this date. The Hyksos Dynasty, a dynasty of Pharaohswho were not Egyptian, probably existed previous to 1,300 B.C., and thus this dy-nasty was in existence when Joseph, who was also not an Egyptian, was a ruler inEgypt. He would have been allowed to be a great ruler in Egypt during the HyksosDynasty, whereas during the dynasties of the Egyptian-born Pharaohs he would nothave been allowed to rule in Egypt. There is also archaeological evidence thatmany cities suddenly appeared in the land of Canaan during the time following1,300 B.C., which cities could have been built by the newly settled Israelites in theland.

The book was probably written a short time before Israel entered Canaan. Itthus covers a period of about 39 years that started with Israel’s leaving Mt. Sinai,wandering in the wilderness, and to the time they prepared to enter Canaan.

Preparation To Leave Mt. Sinai

(1:1 – 9:23)

Outline: (1) The first census of Israel (1:1 – 2:34),

(2) Support for the Levites (3:1 – 4:49), (3) The

purity of society (5:1-31), (4) The Nazarite vow

(6:1-21), (5) Benediction on the Israelites (6:22-

27), (6) Offerings by the princes of Israel (7:1-

89), (7) Cleansing of the Levites (8:1-26), (8)

Movement of the camp (9:1-23)

THE FIRST CENSUS OF ISRAEL1:1-3 Take a census: Various rea-

sons have been given for the numberingof the nation. Some have felt that the

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numbering at this time in the history ofIsrael was for the purpose of emphasiz-ing for later generations God’s promisethat He would multiply the nation as waspromised to Abraham. Another purposefor the numbering of those over the ageof twenty would have been a record that,except for Joshua and Caleb, no one overthis age entered the promised land be-cause of their sin in refusing to enterCanaan immediately upon God’s instruc-tions. Every male: Since the census wasof the males only, then we would assumethat this census was for military purposesin order to determine how many menwere in Israel who could go to war.

1:4-19 The numbering was con-ducted according to the heads of thetribes, families and households of Israel.The number according to the familiesmade it possible for future generationsto trace back to these families those who

came out of Egyptian captivity.1:20-46 Only those men who were

20 years of age and older were to becounted. The total number from this cen-sus was 603,550 men of war. Later inchapter 26 the census would reveal thatthere were 601,730. By figuring accord-ing to this number of men in Israel, Biblestudents have estimated that the popula-tion of Israel at this time in history, in-cluding women and children, to be any-where from two million to a maximumof three million.

1:47-54 The Levites were excludedfrom the numbering of men for war. Godhad earlier separated them for spiritualservice to the nation. Their primary workwas to maintain the tabernacle and thesacrificial services for the people. TheLevites were thus subject to a differentcensus because they were not to receivea possession in the land (See 3:1 – 4:49).

2:1-34 Described in this chapter isthe organization of the tribes of Israel inreference to the movement and setting upof the tabernacle. The center of refer-ence for the settlement of the people wasthe tabernacle. The reason for the loca-tion of each tribe according to the set-ting of the tabernacle was for the pur-pose of contact and communication.People could be located and a plan formarching with the tabernacle could becarried out in an orderly manner. Themoving and setting up of the tabernacle

was as a moving city. Since the taber-nacle was situated where it was the cen-ter of the settlement, every tribe had fron-tal property that was connected to the tab-ernacle. The settlement of the people inreference to the tabernacle symbolicallyconnected all tribes together as one na-tion with their focus on the presence ofGod. When the tabernacle was movedamong the possessions, no one tribecould claim ownership of the tabernacle,and thus unity was to prevail among thetribes.

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SUPPORT FOR THE LEVITES3:1-4 Kohath was probably a cousin

of Moses. The Kohathites served in tak-ing care of the ark and ceremonial uten-sils. But the sons of Aaron, Moses’brother, were specifically consecrated tothe Lord as the high priests. From Aaronpriests were to come to minister the ser-vices of the tabernacle, whereas theKohathites were to be responsible for thetransportation of the ark and ceremonialutensils. Nadab and Abihu: These twosons of Aaron sinned against the Lord,and subsequently were struck dead (Seecomments Lv 10:1,2). Some have specu-lated that the sons of Levi helped in theirduties as priests with the sons of Aaron(See Jg 17:5,10,13).

3:5-13 Tribe of Levi: It is apparentthat those of the tribe of Levi were assis-tants to the sons of Aaron. It was at thistime that the tribe of Levi was separatedfrom the other tribes of Israel in order tominister to the spiritual needs of the na-tion. Those of the tribe of Levi thus func-tioned full-time on behalf of Israel. Alien... put to death: No unauthorized or un-clean person was allowed to function inthe capacity for which the sons of Leviwere to perform. If someone other thana Levite attempted to function as a priest,that person was to be put to death. I havetaken the Levites: God had hallowed thefirstborn of Israel at the time of the exo-dus from Egypt (See Ex 13:2,11,12). Inthis context He hallowed the sons of Leviwith all their livestock. Instead of tak-

ing all the firstborn of Israel, He took onlythe sons of Levi.

3:14-39 The census included num-bering all the male children who wereover one month old. It also includednumbering the children between the agesof 30 and 50. Those between 30 and 50would care for the tabernacle under thesupervision of the sons of Aaron. Thenumbering included the Gershonites,Kohathites, Merarites, with Moses andAaron. The total number of males onemonth and older was 22,000. The totalnumber that is given in verse 39 does notinclude an additional 300. The 300 werepossibly the firstborn of the Levites, andthus did not need to be counted with thetotal number since they were already con-secrated to the Lord. The total numberof the males between 30 and 50 was 8,580(4:48). We must keep in mind that whenanalyzing these numbers we cannot bemeticulous in the final figures. The finaltally was meant to be a figure from whichto begin the services of the tabernaclewith reference to the total population ofIsrael.

3:40-51 There was a difference of273 between the final tally of the first-born and the total of the tribe of Levi. Inorder to make up this difference there wasa plan of redemption (payment). Insteadof the firstborn of all the nation beinggiven for service to the Lord, an offeringof five shekels was given for each one.This amount was possibly taken from thetribal treasuries and given to the priests.

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4:1-20 Sons of Kohath: TheKohathites, as well as the Gershonitesand Merarites, were given specific du-ties in reference to the tabernacle. TheKohathites were given the duty of takingcare of the utensils of worship (the table,the vessels, the altars, and all the servicepieces). They were to function under thedirection of Eleazar, the priest (3:32).Since they were under more strict regu-lations than either the Gershonites andMerarites, they had the greater responsi-bility in their service to the tabernacle.With their more significant work camegreater responsibility.

4:21-28 Sons of Gershon: The sonsof Gershon had the responsibility of thetent structure which included the curtainsand draperies (See 3:25,26).

4:29-33 Sons of Merari: The sons

of Merari were responsible for theboards, bars, pillars, sockets, and thesolid parts of the curtains (3:36,37). Theywere to carry out their responsibilitiesunder the supervision of the priest,Ithamar, who had the responsibility of or-ganizing the construction of the tent ofmeeting (Ex 38:21).

4:34-49 Thirty ... fifty: The age atwhich one was to assume his priestly re-sponsibilities was 30. This providessome commentary on why Jesus beganHis earthly ministry at about 30 (Lk3:23). At the age of 50, the sons of Leviand the priests could retire from their re-sponsibilities of serving the people intheir God-ordained duties. Their servicewas from 30 to 50, after which they couldlive in their own dwellings for the rest oftheir lives.

THE PURITY OF SOCIETY5:1-4 If the total count of the Israel-

ites was around three million at the timethey were at the foot of Mt. Sinai, thenthere would be some social and cleanli-ness issues for such a large group ofpeople in one place in the wilderness.There would be challenges of cleanliness,honesty and morality for the society ofIsrael as they dwelt in the wilderness ontheir way to Canaan. In reference tocleanliness, they would have a problemwith sanitation when camped in closeproximity to one another, though whilein the wilderness, the tribes probablycamped at a greater distance from one

another than we might suppose. Justprior to their entrance into the land ofCanaan, 20:1 seems to indicate that after38 years there was a coming together ofthe tribes from their disbursed locationsin the wilderness in order to make finalplans to enter Canaan. Behind the lawsconcerning contact with the dead and lep-ers, there were certainly connotationsconcerning health and sanitation.Though three specific cases of unclean-liness are mentioned (leprosy, dischargesfrom infection, and contact with a deadbody), the general instructions in refer-ence to any of these cases would be ap-plicable to any disease (See Lv 13:3;

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15:2; 21:1). Outside the camp: In orderto prevent epidemics, the instructionwould be isolation outside the camp of thepeople. Though the people did not under-stand the contamination that would comefrom viruses and germs that would bespread from one person to another, quar-antine was the precaution given whensymptoms of disease were seen. Godwanted His people to behave after a man-ner of cleanliness because they were a holypeople. Cleanliness and holiness were con-nected in the sense that if one violated thelaws concerning cleanliness, he would beviolating the law of God, and thus be un-holy before God. The laws concerningcleanliness were from God, as well as allmoral laws. Violation of any law from Godwas a violation of the whole law of God.

5:5-10 Make restitution: The sec-ond sin that is emphasized in this chap-ter in reference to the social structure ofIsrael, is in reference to honesty. Theprinciple that one’s property be securewithin a society must be maintained inorder that citizens of the society dwell inpeace with one another. If something wasstolen, twenty percent was to be addedto the value of that which was stolen withthe restitution of that which was stolen.In the matter of righting the wrong thatwas done, repentance was required andmanifested through the action of restitu-tion. The wrong was to be righted by theaction of the restitution. After the resti-tution was made, there was to be recon-ciliation with God by the man who madethe restitution. This was accomplishedby the offering of a ram for atonement.

5:11-31 Any ... wife ... commits a

trespass: The third challenge to main-tain order in the camp of Israel’s societywas in reference to morality. The matterhere discussed would not be adultery, forwhich the death penalty was given (Lv20:10). The matter here would be whena wife’s conduct would spark suspicionof infidelity which could not be proved.If the husband were suspicious of hiswife’s behavior, he could take her beforethe priest for judgment. Since there isno example of this law being carried outin Scripture, the giving of the law greatlyprevented the problem. It was a law thatwas certainly meant for the time Israelwas wandering in the wilderness. Theprinciple of the law was that no wifeshould act in a flirtatious manner withanyone other than her husband. If shedid, then she could be taken before thepriest for judgment. The desire of mar-ried women, therefore, must be totally totheir husbands lest they give the impres-sion that they are seeking affection out-side their marriage union. Marital fidel-ity is the foundation of any society, andthus it must never be compromised bythe illicit behavior of either the husbandor wife. Holy water ... dust: The em-barrassment and humiliation of goingthrough such a trial to determine the judg-ment of the woman’s innocence certainlyencouraged the wives not to involvethemselves in any flirtatious behaviorwith men other than their husbands. Ifthe woman was guilty of infidelity, thedrinking of the bitter water would causeserious reactions in her female organs.However, if she was innocent, the bitterwater would cause her to bear children.



THE NAZARITE VOW6:1-8 The vow of a Nazarite could

be taken by anyone of Israel, both menand women. The Hebrew word for“Nazarite” (nazir) means “to separate.”By taking the vow one was separatinghimself or herself for a specific cause forthe Lord. Drink no ... strong drink: TheNazarite was to drink nothing that wouldbe intoxicating. Vinegar was made bythe Hebrews in a manner that it wouldintoxicate, and thus was prohibited forthe Nazarite. The Nazarite was essen-tially prohibited from eating or drinkinganything that was produced from thegrapevine. No razor: Not cutting ofone’s hair was an outward symbol of hav-ing taken the Nazarite vow. The outwardsymbol of the vow was necessary in or-der that others not offer the Nazaritesomething that would contradict his vow.He will not come near a dead body: Lesthe become unclean, the Nazarite was noteven to help in the burial of his own fam-ily members. He was to be a person sepa-rated for the Lord, and thus committedto the Lord’s service.

6:9-12 Since the Nazarite was hu-man, he could inadvertently violate hisvow. For this reason, atonement couldbe made by shaving his head. He wouldthen bring two turtledoves or two young

pigeons to the priest for an offering.6:13-21 The days: The Nazarite

vow was for a specific period of time.The vow was for no less than one year.At the end of the vow the Nazarite wouldbring offerings before the priest in orderto conclude the time of the vow. Oncethe priest performed the appropriate cer-emonies to conclude the vow, the headwas shaved in order to reveal to the pub-lic that the individual had concluded thetime of the vow.

BENEDICTIONON THE ISRAELITES

6:22-27 This blessing of the priestwas a benediction for blessing a conse-crated people. By exalting the characterof God before the people, the people wereencouraged to live holy lives before Godwho was holy. The blessing was meantto inspire the people to behave accord-ing to the will of God. The blessing re-assured the people (See Ps 91; Jn 17:9-15; 1 Th 5:23), reminded them that God’sfavor was with them (See Ps 21:6; 34:15),gave them assurance of God’s peace (SeeJn 14:26-27), and gave them confidencein that God had claimed His people byputting His name on them (See Jn14:26,27). They could thus go forth withthe confidence that God was with them.

OFFERINGSBY THE PRINCES OF ISRAEL

7:1-9 Wagon ... oxen: The taber-nacle was constructed for constant move-

ment throughout the wanderings of Israel.The sons of Merari and Gershon werethus provided with wagons and oxen inorder to transport the furnishings and

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structure of the tabernacle throughout thewilderness wanderings. The sons ofKohath had the responsibility of trans-porting the ark and sacred utensils of theceremonies surrounding the offerings.Provisions were also made in order totransport the tabernacle from one regionto another when Israel eventually cameinto the land of promise.

7:10-89 The offering of each princewas the same. The offering was one sil-ver plate, one silver basin, and one golddish. Each brought a grain offering, burntoffering, sin offering, and a peace offer-ing. Other than the burnt offering, theofferings were for a meal of celebrationfor the dedication of the tabernacle. Allthe offerings were in the context of dedi-cating the tabernacle for its use. Thisonetime event would dedicate the taber-nacle for centuries to come. There wouldnever again be such a dedication for thetabernacle. We would assume, therefore,that the tabernacle was to be God’s cen-ter for religious reference for Israelthroughout their history in the land ofPalestine. The temple of Jerusalem cameabout 400 years later in the history of Is-

rael when men desired to have a build-ing in the midst of Palestine that repre-sented their center of spiritual connec-tion with God. The implications fromthis context of the dedication of the tab-ernacle, however, would indicate thatGod intended that the tabernacle alonebe God’s symbol among the people thatHe was in their midst. The problem withthe temple that came later, was that it wassituated in one location, and thus couldnot be moved around from one tribal pos-session to another as the tabernacle.Jerusalem, therefore, became a uniquecity in Israel. However, in these originallaws in reference to the tabernacle it wasnot in the mind of God. In fact, whenthese laws were given, Jebus (later,Jerusalem) was only an insignificantsettlement in the land of Canaan. Godonly allowed the temple, and the city ofJerusalem, to become the center of Jew-ish religious emphasis because of the de-sires of men who followed the templeworship of the nations around them. Wemust never underestimate man’s desireto construct a building in which he seeksto place his god and religious service.

CLEANSING OF THE LEVITES8:1-4 Light the lamps: This action

possibly signified that the priests wereready to offer sacrifices for the people(See Ex 40:4). The significance was atleast a signal that the consecration of thetabernacle was finished, and thus, Godwanted the people to know of His con-tinuing presence with the people and theiropportunity to offer sacrifices.

8:5-19 Cleanse them: In order todo the holy work of the tabernacle thepriests themselves had to be separatedfrom the people for the purpose of spiri-tual ministry. The instructions here weregiven as rites of purification in order toset forth the priests as holy workers be-fore God on behalf of the people. Therewere rites given for the physical cleans-ing of the priests, as well as the legal

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purification of their work. Put theirhands on the Levites: We are not toldexactly how this was done, but the sym-bolism is significant. By putting theirhands on the Levites, the people weresignifying that they would accept theLevites for the uniqueness of their Godordained function among the people.They were also stating that they wouldsupport the Levites as a tribe that wasseparated from Israel as special priestsfor the sake of Israel. Though all Israelwas a nation of priests, God had ordainedthat the Levites function within Israel aspriests to the nation of priests. EvenGod’s appointed workers must have spiri-tual help from those whose work it is toencourage the saints. Simply because one

is a spiritual leader of the people doesnot assume that he has no spiritualstruggles within his own life.

8:20-26 After the ceremonies of pu-rification, and the peoples’ commitmentto provide for the Levites, the Levitiesassumed their function. All Levite malesfrom the ages of 25 to 50 assumed theirduties, on behalf of the people, to attendto the tabernacle and the spiritual needsof the people. In 4:3 the age at which theLevite was to start his service is given as30. The difference between the two ages,25 and 30, would possibly be answeredin the fact that there was a period of fiveyears for apprenticeship before the Levitebegan his official duties.

MOVEMENT OF THE CAMP9:1-14 See comments Exodus 12:1-

27. Since the Israelites had arrived at thefoot of Mt. Sinai over a year before, theyhad not observed the Passover. God’scommand that they observe it now wasto inaugurate their departure from Sinai.Because of the struggles that they wereabout to endure, they needed to be re-minded of the struggles they wentthrough in captivity and their deliverancefrom the bondage of Egypt. They neededto be reminded continually of theirstruggles they had in Egypt since in theirown struggles in the wilderness theywould seek to return to Egypt. Added tothe instructions of Exodus 12:1-27 aretwo more specific commands here in ref-erence to who could keep the Passover.Those who had come into contact with a

dead body or had been on a far off jour-ney could keep the Passover on the four-teenth day of the second month. Thereis also given in this context provisionsfor the alien. Reference here is to theproselyte. This was one who had deter-mined to settle with Israel and accept thereligious ceremonies of the law of God.These first instructions to Israel concern-ing the alien reminded Israel that theywere not to be a nation that excludedpeople from the law of God, but one thatincluded everyone who would desire tobe obedient to the law of God. God’slaws for Israel were never meant to belaws that would exclude others fromcoming to God through obedience to Hiswill.

9:15-23 Cloud ... fire: Since theirdeparture from Egypt, Israel had enjoyed

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the comfort of God’s presence as it wasmanifested through the pillar of cloud byday and the fire by night (Ex 13:21).They were reassured in this context thatthe same would stay with them through-out their journey as they set out from Si-nai. However, His presence would bemanifested through the tabernacle.

Leaving Mt. Sinai

(10:1 – 14:45)

Outline: (1) Movement of the Israelite camp

(10:1-36), (2) Complaints of the people (11:1-9),

(3) Burden of leadership on Moses (11:10-17), (4)

God’s promise of food (11:18-23), (5) Giving of

the Spirit (11:24-30), (6) Giving of the quail

(11:31-35), (7) Sin of Miriam (12:1-16), (8) Sur-

veying the promised land (13:1-33), (9) Negative

response of the people (14:1-10), (10) God’s judg-

ment of the nation (14:11-45)

MOVEMENTOF THE ISRAELITE CAMP10:1-10 Calling of the assembly:

The movement of the camp of Israel wasno small challenge. In order to rally thepeople for movement, Moses was com-manded to make trumpets that would beblown to call the attention of the people.These trumpets were to be made of sil-ver, and thus different from the ram’shorn trumpets that were used in referenceto worship. The sounding of these trum-pets signaled that the entire assemblyshould gather. The sounding of one trum-pet called the princes of the tribes to-gether. The continuous sound signaledthat the camp should begin its march. Thetrumpets were also used to call the armiesto war and to celebrate certain feast days.The sounding of the trumpets for thesepurposes was to continue throughout thehistory of Israel.

10:11-36 The cloud was taken up:This was the signal that it was time tomove. With great anticipation the peoplesurely waited for this day, since they hadbeen at the foot of Mt. Sinai for about a

year (See Ex 19:1). In the first place:The listing of the tribes by their leaderswas to set the order of their marchthroughout the wilderness. Hobab:Jethro (Reuel), Moses’ father-in-law,eventually returned to Midian. Hobab,one of Jethro’s sons, however, stayedwith the Israelites while they were at Mt.Sinai. But when the Israelites were mov-ing on, Hobab also decided to return tohis father’s house in Midian. Moses,however, wanted him to go with Israelbecause of his knowledge of the wilder-ness areas into which they were going.Though Hobab wanted to return toMidian, it seems that Moses’ persistenceconvinced him to stay with Israel, sincehis descendants are mentioned to be liv-ing in Canaan many years later (See Jg1:16; 1 Sm 15:6). Ark of the covenant:The ark was carried before the people(See Ja 3:6). The fact that it was carriedbefore the people symbolized God’s lead-ership of the people and their willingnessto follow. Rise up, O Lord: Moses’prayer was that the enemies of Israel bescattered before their march. As long as

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Israel was obedient to the will of God,this prayer was answered. When the arkwas settled in a specific place, the prayerwas that God remain among His people.

This He did, but only when they livedaccording to His commandments. Thecondition for the answered prayer was theobedience of the people.

COMPLAINTS OF THE PEOPLE11:1-3 The complaints of the people

are an indication of their difficulty indealing with the struggles of their presentcircumstances. The Israelites had learneda culture of complaint while slaves inbondage in Egypt. They continued thiscomplaint culture in their journey to Mt.Sinai (Ex 14:11,12; 15:24,25). And nowthey were again complaining. The atti-tude of complaint must be replaced bytotal dependence on God. We would as-sume that God knew that this culture ofcomplaining had to be taken out of thenation as a whole. Much of it was withthe death of those of the age of 20 andover during the 40 years of wildernesswanderings. By the time the nation cameto the east of the Jordan River to enterinto Palestine, they had been humiliatedand humbled by their wilderness exile.There was no complaining after theycrossed the Jordan. Fire of the Lord:The answer to complaint was disciplinefrom the Lord. In this case, the punish-ment was immediate. The discipline wasstopped only when Moses interceded forthe people. Moses knew that if the pun-ishment continued, Israel would be totallydestroyed. As a leader of the people, there-fore, he knew the judgment of God, andthus pled on behalf of the people for theirsurvival from the punishment of God.

11:4-9 Meat to eat: Their craving

for meat reminded them of their life inEgypt. Their appetites for meat, there-fore, caused them to forget their strugglesin bondage. It seems that they hadspoiled themselves with a diet of meat inEgypt, for at this time the manna was notenough (See Ex 16:14-36). The miracleof the presence of the manna was notenough to reassure them that God wastaking care of their need for food. Onepoint is at least proved in reference tomiracles. Men become accustomed toevery evidence of the presence of God,and thus continue to complain in refer-ence to the struggles of life. In this case,the manna miracle did not increase theirfaith. They still complained. A constantwitness of miracles, therefore, is not suf-ficient to produce a strong faith. Onlywhen one lives in the absence of miracles,and in the midst of struggle, is his faithincreased. Miracles initiate faith, but donot sustain or build faith. Great faith canbe developed only outside the presenceof miracles.

BURDENOF LEADERSHIP ON MOSES11:10-17 The people weep: The

people were organized in their protest inthat every man wept at the door of histent. The punishment by fire among themdid not stop their complaining. Afflictedyour servant: Because of Moses’ de-

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spair, he thought that he had done some-thing wrong in reference to his leader-ship of the people. There may be somecomplaint on the part of Moses for Godlaying the burden of leading the peopleon his shoulders. Moses’ complaint,therefore, was that he was not able to leadsuch a people. If he trusted in his ownleadership skills, he could not lead thepeople. God allowed the burden of lead-ership to weigh heavy on Moses. It washeavy to the point that Moses realizedthat he must trust in God to carry himthrough the task of leading the people.God leads His leaders into realizing thatthey alone cannot lead His people. Onlythose who trust in the power of God intheir lives can effectively lead God’speople to where He wants them. Kill me:Moses’ despair was so great that he knewthat he could not go on with the com-plaining of the people. Seventy men: Inorder to relieve some of the responsibil-ity of the burden of leadership, God in-structed Moses to delegate responsibil-ity to the elders. This had been done be-fore as a result of Jethro’s counsel (Ex18:17-26). However, in this case the em-phasis is on the spiritual leadership of thepeople. Good leadership does not focusthe attention of the people exclusively onone person, but on the many who standup to lead the people. Centralized lead-ership will always lead to the downfallof the people.

GOD’S PROMISE OF FOOD11:18-23 Sanctify yourselves for

tomorrow: God would provide the meatthrough the giving of the quail. How-

ever, there is some punishment in the giv-ing of the quail in that the people wouldinitially be overwhelmed by one month’squail in one day. The people could noteat their own flocks and herds whichwere meant for sacrifices and daily milk.Despised the Lord: This was the sin ofthe people, not the complaining. Thecomplaining was only an indication of agreater problem among the people. Theyfollowed their lusts for the pleasures ofEgypt rather than the will of the Lord.They wanted to trust in the security oftheir life in Egypt, rather than put theirfaith in God. Lord’s hand too short: Inorder to prove that God can care com-pletely for His people, in one day He pro-duced a month’s worth of quail for thepeople. They were overwhelmed by thequail, and thus taught that God’s provi-sion for His people is not inadequate.God can care for His people far beyondtheir dreams.

GIVING OF THE SPIRIT11:24-30 The Spirit rested on them:

The Holy Spirit came on the elders asHe was upon Moses. Their inspiredpraises of God and prophesying the willof God was a witness to the faithfulnessand presence of God. Through this mi-raculous event the people were encour-aged by the presence of God. Eldad ...Medad: We are not told if these two el-ders were present at the tabernacle. Re-gardless of their presence at the taber-nacle, the Lord poured out the Spirit onthem. Though Joshua recommended thatthey not be allowed to prophesy, Mosescounselled that regardless of where they



were, they were to be allowed to do thework of God (Compare Lk 9:49,50). Godworks in order to include, not excludethose who seek to do His will. Wouldthat all ... were prophets: In Moses’sresponse to Joshua he affirmed that itwould be good that everyone speak thepraises of God and teach His will. In thisway the work of God would continue toall nations. We see in this act of proph-esying that God wanted His prophets notto isolate their work to themselves, butthey teach the nations the wonderfulworks of God.

GIVING OF THE QUAIL11:31-35 Quail from the sea: In

reference to the location of the camp of

Israel, this would have been from the Gulfof Aqaba, or the Red Sea. The quail couldeasily be caught, so the one who caughtthe least caught ten homers, or approxi-mately 65 bushels. A very great plague:That which was to be a blessing, was alsoa curse. Because of their complaints, thequail was given. However, the quail wasgiven in a manner that resulted in a sick-ness among the people. As a result, manyin the camp died. They thus reaped theresult of their sin of desiring the materialsecurity of Egypt over trust in the Lord.When men seek to trust in things of thisworld, they will reap the consequence ofa weak relationship with God. One can-not have a great faith in God when hehas a great faith in the things of the world.

SIN OF MIRIAM12:1-16 Miriam ... Aaron: It seems

that Miriam, the prophetess (Ex15:20,21), initiated the complaint on thisoccasion. Aaron, on the other hand, wasthe follower who succumbed to the pre-sumption of his older sister. They bothcomplained about Moses marrying a for-eigner, Zipporah. And more serious, theycomplained about Moses being the soleleader of the people. Moses had beenmarried to Zipporah for many years bythe time this complaint arose, for he mar-ried Zipporah sometime during the fortyyears he was in exile in Sinai (Ex 2:21).In the controversy here among brothersand sister (Miriam, Aaron, and theyounger, Moses), God ignored whatseemed here to be a racial complaint inreference to Zipporah. God focused on

the complaint concerning the challengeof Moses’ authority. God considered thisvery serious, for He knew that this chal-lenge would come again with the rebel-lion of Korah. The Lord spoke suddenly:Questioning the authority of God’sanointed representative was serious, andthus needed an immediate response. Godspoke indirectly to other prophetsthrough visions and dreams, but withMoses He spoke mouth to mouth, faceto face. His relationship with Moses waspersonal. Moses was God’s mediatorbetween Himself and the people. Mosesbecame the example of how God wouldrelate to all men personally through themediatorship of Jesus (See Hb 3:2-6).Under no circumstances, therefore, wasMoses’ position to be challenged. Lep-rous: God’s punishment of the instiga-

CHAPTER 12



tor of the complaints was immediate. Thepunishment of Miriam was not only inbeing stricken with the horrible diseaseof leprosy, but the social implications ofthe disease, that she would be driven fromsocial contact with Israel (See Lv 13,14).Her sin was in thinking that she could beelevated to the position and function ofMoses, and thus be exalted before thepeople. But her pride resulted in her hu-miliation and banishment from the people(See Pv 16:18; Is 10:33). Moses ... mylord: Upon seeing the sudden afflictionof his sister, Aaron’s attitude changed im-mediately in that he addressed hisyounger brother, Moses, as lord. His rec-ognition of Moses’ mediatorship withGod was the only thing that would save

his sister, Miriam. Seven days: Thisperiod of time was sufficient to chastiseone who had sought to question God’sanointed authority among the people. Wesee in the incident that God’s authorityamong His people must not be ques-tioned. Because there was no writtenword by which this authority could bestated to the people, in this historical caseit was revealed directly through Moses.Some thus assumed that Moses madehimself who he was. God’s authority to-day is through His word, not man. Be-cause of this incident we know that theauthority of His word must not be ques-tioned (Compare Jn 12:48; Gl 1:6-9; Rv22:18,19). Wilderness of Paran: Thiswould be Kadesh-barnea (Dt 1:18).

SURVEYINGTHE PROMISED LAND

13:1-16 Send men: At this time ascouting party was commissioned to spyout the land of promise in order to makeplans for immediate conquest. One manwas taken from each tribe in order to formthe party. Ephraim and Manasseh repre-sented the descendants of Joseph. TheLevites were separated from the othertribes, and thus were not included. Thedescendants of Ephraim and Manassehcompleted the twelve tribes of Israel. Bythe commandment of the Lord: Whencomparing the statement of Deuteronomy1:19-23 with this context, it seems thatthe “commandment of the Lord” hererefers only to God allowing the peopleto do what they sought to do, that is, spyout the land. God wanted them to fully

trust in Him, not in the report of spies.Moses’ account in Deuteronomy indi-cates that God initially wanted the peopleto go immediately to engage the occu-pants of the land of Canaan, without seek-ing reassurance from a scouting party. Sotheir lack of faith in the power of God tobe with them in the immediate conquestwas manifested in their sending of ascouting party. On this occasion, we mustview God’s command to send the scout-ing party only as an appeasement of thepeoples’ lack of faith. But as history un-folded in reference to the events that tookplace, the scouting party only increasedtheir doubts and lack of faith in God.Their lack of faith subsequently led totheir humiliation of wandering in the wil-derness for almost forty years.

13:17-25 Spy out the land: The

CHAPTER 13



normal requests for information wasmade by Moses in order to reassure thestrength of the people of Canaan, as wellas reconfirm their goal of dwelling in aland that flowed with milk and honey. Allthe requests were indications of Israel’slack of faith in trusting God to take theland, as well as trusting in God’s prom-ise of what was waiting for them whenthey possessed the land. We must keepin mind that Moses did not need this in-formation. He only asked the spies tobring the information back in order to re-assure the people to go up and take theland immediately.

13:26-33 The report of the spies con-firmed the fact that Canaan was a land ofmilk and honey (See Ex 3:8). But in theminds of the spies, the land was filledwith a strong people who lived in forti-fied cities. It is certain that not all thepeople were giants in the land, nor allthe land was desolate. The negative spiessimply picked the points on which theywanted to focus in order to give a dis-

couraging report. In this sense, therefore,their report was not completely true. Bybeing selective in what they reported,they discouraged the people. Grasshop-pers: Other than Caleb and Joshua, theweakness of the faith of the other spieswas revealed by the comparison of them-selves with the occupants of the land.Instead of giving their weak faith an op-portunity to grow by trusting in God, thespies discouraged the people from goingup immediately to take the land. It is pos-sible that the spies believed that dwell-ing in the wilderness was better than tak-ing the land, for they gave no encourage-ment to the people to prepare to take theland. Since they were not willing to takethe land immediately as God wanted,then at least some of them were thinkingabout returning to Egypt. We assume thatGod knew that they would rebel againstimmediately taking the land. Neverthe-less, He offered them the opportunity inorder to test their faith.

NEGATIVE RESPONSEOF THE PEOPLE

14:1-10 The people wept: Their lackof faith in God moved them to quicklyaccept the pessimistic report of the spieswho also focused on the negative aspectsof the land (See Dt 1:27). Return toEgypt: Total rebellion had now set in.In their minds they had forgotten thestruggles of bondage in Egypt. Theyknew they could not survive in the wil-derness, and thus they formed a plan toreturn to Egypt. The plan, however, was

a rebellion against God. Joshua ... Caleb... tore their clothes: Leadership de-mands a positive attitude. These two hadalso gone with the spies. They had thesame information as the other spies aboutdesolate parts of the land and the strongstature of some of the inhabitants. How-ever, they knew through faith that theland could be taken. The leadership ofJoshua and Caleb was manifested at thistime of social chaos among the people,for they focused on the positive and notthe negative. Negative spirited people

CHAPTER 14



cannot be leaders for God. And whentimes of social chaos prevail, leadersmust be positive for God. Stone them:Leaders who stand with God and for thatwhich is right will often be rejected bythe people (See At 6:8 – 7:60). And thus,if one is not able to stand against the er-roneous beliefs and practices of themasses in order to do that which is right,he or she cannot be a leader for God.Rocks will always be thrown at leaders,but leaders who stand on the rock of Godwill always overcome. In this case, Goddirectly intervened by appearing at thetabernacle for all to see in order to pro-nounce judgment on a nation of little faiththat stood against His will and His lead-ers.

GOD’S JUDGMENTOF THE NATION

14:11-45 I will make of you agreater nation: On this occasion thatwould have been a turning point in thehistory of the world, God first addressedMoses. In the address God referred tothe signs that the people had seen. Butin seeing these signs, they still did notbelieve to the point of fully trusting inGod. The fact is that the miracles didnot produce the faith that was necessaryfor the people to follow the command-ments of the Lord into great conflict withthe forces of evil. In fact, the more onedepends on the miracles as his or herfoundation of faith, the less one seeks tofollow the commandments of God in fac-ing the wiles of the devil. Miracles stimu-late an initial faith, but as in the case ofthe entire nation of Israel, the initial spark

of faith must only be the point from whichone grows in a faith that will move moun-tains. Faith that moves mountains nolonger needs miracles to reconfirm it (Seecomments Jn 20:26-31). In fact, the faiththat is necessary to move the mountainscannot be built on the continual experi-ence of miracles. Strong faith is a faiththat does not walk by sight (miracles),but by trusting in the presence of God’spromises through His word. Israel hadbeen given the word of promise (to re-ceive the land), and the word of conquest(they could take the land). But they re-fused to follow through by growing infaith. Because they did not follow theword of promise, God was willing toscrap the entire nation and start again tofulfill the seedline promise to Abraham.He was willing to fulfill the promise bybuilding another nation through Moses.We must not forget, that it was God’s eter-nal plan to bring Jesus into the world forthe salvation of all those who walk byfaith. If this could not be fulfilled throughIsrael, then God was willing to wait untilafter building another nation throughMoses. I beseech You: As the mediatorbetween the Israelites and God, Moseshere assumed his example of what Christwould do in the centuries to come. Mosespled Israel’s case on the foundation ofGod’s attributes. God is longsuffering,merciful and forgiving. For the sake of afaithless nation, Moses pled that Godmanifest the attributes of His characterin forgiving their sin. I have pardoned:Though there was forgiveness, there hadto be punishment. Except for Joshua andCaleb, all among the people who were



twenty years of age and older would notsee the land of promise. The period dur-ing which this death would take place wasaccording to the number of days the spieswere in the land, that is forty years forforty days. This was the time for a gen-eration to pass away, and thus there wasmercy in the punishment. Instead ofstriking this generation dead immedi-ately, they were at least allowed to liveout their lives in the wilderness. Onlythe unbelieving spies died by a plague.The people mourned greatly: It is notthat the people refused to believe theword of God. They did not believe tothe point of taking the land immediately.However, they did believe concerningtheir fate to dwell in the wilderness forforty years, for they all mourned. It ispossible that the plague that immediatelykilled the spies was evidence that Godmeant what He said. We will go up: Re-gardless of the pronouncement of God’sjudgment that they could not take theland, the people sought to go on their ownwithout the blessing of God. Unfortu-nately, man by his own works cannot

atone for his own sin. Israel had to paythe price for her rebellion, and thus couldnot change God’s punishment by seek-ing to walk alone in her presumptuousefforts to conquer the land. The fact thatthey were beaten back by the Amalekitesand the Canaanites proved that withoutGod they could not take the land. Theirchildren would remember well this eventwhen they would seek to take the landforty years later under the command ofJoshua. They would know that they mustgo with both the blessing and help ofGod.

From Wilderness Wandering

To Initial Conquest

(15:1 – 21:35)

Outline: (1) Review of the law (15:1-41), (2)

The rebellion (16:1-50), (3) Confirmation of the

priesthood (17:1-13), (4) Duties of the priests

and Levites (18:1-32), (5) Ordinances of purifi-

cation (19:1-22), (6) Moses’ sin in providing water

(20:1-13), (7) Refusal of passage by Edom (20:14-

21), (8) Succession of Eleazar to be high priest

(20:22-29), (9) The brazen serpent (21:1-9), (10)

Conquest of the Amorites (21:10-35)

REVIEW OF THE LAWThis section of the book begins with

Israel’s leaving Mt. Sinai. It gives littleinformation concerning the almost 38years that Israel was in the wilderness.The little information that is given con-cerning the wilderness wanderings is asif Moses did not want to record these sadyears of punishment and humiliation, as-suming that Israel’s legacy of sin shouldnever be repeated. However, God did not

forsake His people during this period ofwandering. He continued to feed themwith manna and quail. The people alsohad the continuing miracle that theirclothes did not wear out, nor did theirshoes wear from their feet (Dt 8:2-6;29:5,6). It is also interesting to note thatduring this period they did not circum-cise their babies (Ja 5:2-8). Joshua re-veals that they did not celebrate the Pass-over during this period (Ja 5:10), though

CHAPTER 15



they continued to observe the laws in ref-erence to the Sabbath (Nm 15:32-36).After the wandering, Moses revealed thatthe period of wandering was for the pur-pose of humbling Israel to trust totally inGod (Dt 8:2,3).

The manner by which Israel lived inthe wilderness is not revealed. However,from Numbers 20:1 we could assume thatthey did not remain in the organized man-ner that they were in when at the foot ofMt. Sinai. We could assume that thetribes scattered somewhat throughoutSinai, but in 20:1 they all came togetheragain in the desert of Zin at the time ofMiriam’s death.

15:1-21 Sweet savor to the Lord:These repeated instructions concerningofferings to the Lord are made to empha-size the worshiper’s desire to please theLord. The metaphor that the Lord smellsthe offering means that when one makesthe offering, the Lord is pleased with thecontrite heart of the worshiper. The pointhere is that when one makes an offeringhe is to make it according to the will ofGod. One does not have the choice todetermine his own way of offering sinceit is to the Lord that the offering is made.The lesson is that the worshiper does nothave a choice as to how he would wor-ship God, for it is God’s choice as to howHe wants to be worshiped (See commentsMk 7:1-9). Bread of the land: With theblessings that come from the Lord are theresponsibilities to remember from whomthey come. Offerings: The laws con-cerning the offering of the firstfruits hereincluded that which was done in the home(See also Lv 2:14). There were two rea-

sons for the offering of the firstfruits. (1)The offering expressed the people’sthanksgiving to God for all that He haddone for them. (2) The offering of thefirstfruits was a means by which theLevites were supported to work on be-half of the spiritual needs of the people.

15:22-36 Done unintentionally:This would be sin committed out of ig-norance by either the entire nation or byan individual. Atonement could be madefor such a sin. Does anything presump-tuously: This would be sin that was com-mitted out of defiance of God’s will. Theone who sins willfully would be cut offfrom the people because he despised theword of God. The example of the onewho was stoned for picking up sticks onthe Sabbath illustrated the presumptuoussin. The individual knew the law thathad previously been given (Ex 31:14,15;35:2,3). Nevertheless, the individual ig-nored the word of God, and committed adefiant act against the law of God. Thiscontext, therefore, illustrates God’s gracetoward those who sin out of ignorance,but manifests His judgment against thosewho willfully defy His law.

15:37-41 Tassels in the borders:These would be fringes on the bordersof their clothing in order to remind themof the laws of God. By remembering thelaws of God, they would guard them-selves from sinning ignorantly againstGod. Do not seek after your own heart:This is the spirit of idolatry within manto create a god after his own image, andthen a religion after his own desires.When men forget the law of God, theywill create their own gods and laws to



soothe their own consciences. When oneis ignorant of the law of God, he will cre-ate his own religious laws, and then di-

gress from God to a god he creates afterhis own imagination.

THE REBELLION16:1-19 It is in the context of this

event that the authority of Moses waschallenged. The subsequent punishmentof the conspirators reveals God’s harshjudgment against any who would seek todefy His anointed leaders. Korah: Korahwas a Levite of the family of Kohathites,a cousin of Moses and Aaron. He wasjoined by Dathan, Abiram and On whowere of the tribe of Reuben. Korah re-cruited 250 fellow conspirators from thetribe of Levi. You take too much on you:Their error was in their self appointmentto leadership. In doing such, they ques-tioned the God-appointed leadership ofboth Moses and Aaron. They sought toset aside God’s appointed leadership inorder to set themselves up as leaders. Itwas true that they were part of the holyassembly of Israel, but they were wrongin assuming that being a part of the holyassembly gave them a right to set asidethe leadership of both Moses and Aaron.They presumptuously thought that theycould assume leadership as priests amongthe people. You assume too much:Moses’ words were a rebuke, but also arepetition of what Korah had said toAaron and himself. In seeking the priest-hood of Aaron, Korah was seeking thespiritual leadership of the people. He wasinvolved in a sin of arrogance. Dathanand Abiram were challenging the civilleadership of Moses by ignoring the fact

that they could not go into the land ofmilk and honey because of their own re-bellion against God. This generation ofleaders was barred by God from enter-ing the land of promise, and thus at thistime they thought they would set asideGod’s appointed leadership. You makeyourself a prince: They were accusingMoses of making himself a dictator overthe people. They had forgotten thatMoses was directly appointed by God.Moses’ reply was that he had not led themfor the purpose of gain, nor did he leadthem in a harsh manner. He was not adictator or a self-appointed leader. Theiraccusations against Moses, therefore,were only for the purpose of justifyingtheir mutiny against God’s appointed au-thority.

16:20-40 Because of the pleas ofMoses and Aaron, the entire assembly ofIsrael was not destroyed by God becauseof the sin of one man. However, the fami-lies of Korah, Dathan and Abiram weredestroyed with their fathers as the judg-ment of God came upon them and the 250other conspirators. The judgment did notcome as a result of a civil war that couldhave broken out between the followersof Moses and the followers of Korah,Dathan and Abiram. The judgment wasdirect from God as Moses here indicated.The judgment was swift and definite inthat the conspirators were swallowed upby the earth. The gravity of the sin was

CHAPTER 16



manifested in the fact that there was notime made for repentance and sacrifices.This was sin against God’s anointed lead-ership, as well as defiance against the lawof God. For this reason the judgment wasgiven in a manner that it struck fear inthe hearts of all Israel. Since God knewthat such mutinous behavior would even-tually come in the future of Israel, Hewanted this illustration of judgment tobe known among all Israel so that therewould be no doubt concerning His atti-tude toward those who would act in amutinous way against His anointed lead-ers.

16:41-50 Israel murmured: Theignorance of the people prevailed overcommon sense. They held Moses andAaron personally responsible for thejudgment that came upon the conspira-tors. It is evident, therefore, that theschemes of Korah, Dathan and Abiramwere also in the hearts of many of thepeople of Israel. God’s judgment, there-fore, was again unleashed against the na-tion to the point that 14,700 perishedfrom a plague that He sent among thepeople. The plague was stopped onlywhen Aaron made atonement for Israel.

CONFIRMATIONOF THE PRIESTHOOD

17:1-13 The confirmation of thepriesthood of Aaron was to prevent oth-ers from assuming the position. Staff:Aaron’s staff was a symbol of the tribeof Levi. This miraculous action was toprove to all Israel that the sons of Aaronand the Levites were chosen by God andseparated from Israel for the spiritualservice of the nation. They were thus notself-appointed. Kept for a sign: Or, it

was kept for a sign of the God-appoint-ment of Aaron and his sons and the tribeof Levi as the priestly tribe of Israel. Theexercise confirmed the priesthood of theLevites at this time. Nevertheless, thestaff was to be kept in the ark of the cov-enant for all time in order to remind thepeople that Aaron, his sons, and the tribeof Levi were the God-appointed priestsof Israel. No one was to presume to be ahigh priest of Israel other than those whodescended from Aaron.

DUTIES OF THE PRIESTSAND LEVITES

18:1-7 These instructions in this his-torical context reemphasize the sacredduties of the priests (See 3:1 – 4:49). IfIsrael rejected or struggled against God’sofficial appointment of Aaron, his sonsand the Levites, then they were actuallystruggling against God and rejecting His

will. At the same time, the Levites werewarned to assume the responsibilities oftheir appointment, being cautious thatthey follow God’s instructions (See17:13).

18:8-32 I have given them to youas a portion: Aaron is here remindedthat he, his sons and the Levites, as thespiritual leaders of Israel, were to be sup-

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18



ported by all Israel. Since they were tofunction on behalf of Israel in spiritualmatters, it was the obligation of those forwhom they ministered before God, tofully support them. Because they couldnot work as all Israel in order to providefor their families, it was the responsibil-ity of the rest of Israel to support them.We understand from these instructionsthat the priests were to take a portion ofall that was offered for the sacrifices (Seecomments 1 Co 9:1-14). Covenant ofsalt: It was a covenant that would not bedissolved, but would last throughout thegenerations of Israel. Only when the gen-erations of Israel ended in Christ would

the Levitical priesthood cease. Tithe:The priests were to receive a tenth fromthe nation, but they in turn were to offera tenth of the tithe as an offering to theLord. The priests, therefore, were notwithout their responsibility of offering tothe Lord. The lesson is that no one isexempt from making an offering to theLord. Though the priests worked full-time because of the offerings of thepeople, they were also to tithe to the Lordthat which they received from the people.No one was to rob God by keeping backofferings (Ml 3:8-10). Those who pre-sume to worship without offerings are de-ceiving themselves.

ORDINANCES OF PURIFICATION19:1-10 Ordinance of the law: This

unique phrase here indicates the cleans-ing of Israel after the great plague thathad just happened. Their defilement be-cause of their rebellion had to be cleansedin order for them to stand again beforeGod. There was the need for nationalcleansing in order to be a holy people be-fore God. Though hygienic and spiritualcleanliness were different, the two wererelated in reference to Israel’s acceptancebefore God. Hygienic cleanliness wasin reference to their social contact withone another, whereas spiritual cleanlinesswas in reference to their connection withGod. In this context, their cleansing isin reference to their contact with themany who had died during the plague(See also Lv 12-15). The laws on physi-cal and spiritual cleanliness were fromGod. For one to be spiritually clean,

therefore, he had to be obedient to all thelaws of God in reference to cleanliness.Water of separation: Prepared before theneed arose, this water was used for theceremony of cleansing those who wereimpure from the defilement of sin. Dur-ing the ceremony for cleansing that tookplace on this occasion, a heifer withoutblemish was presented to Eleazar. Thisheifer was slain outside the camp (SeeEx 29:14; Lv 4:11,12,21). After the sprin-kling of the blood of the heifer, the ani-mal was completely consumed on the al-tar of sacrifice. The ashes were mixedwith the water of separation that was usedfor the removal of sin.

19:11-22 There were many in thecamp of Israel who were unclean becausethey had come into contact with thosewho died from the plague. Thoughpeople could become unclean for otherreasons (see vss 14-16), the primary rea-

CHAPTER 19



son in this context was the necessity tobe cleansed because of their contact withthose who died from the plague. The cer-emonial procedures that were to be ob-served here went deeper than the cer-emony. There is always the need for thepeople of God to cleanse themselves be-fore God. God’s people must be cleansedof defiled hearts and rebellion against Hislaw (See Dt 6:4,5; 30:6). They must be apeople who are filled with the Spirit ofGod, and thus continually living with acontrite heart before God (See Ez 36:25-38). Defiles the tabernacle: This indi-cates that there is a connection betweenphysical cleanliness and spiritual clean-

liness. The physical cleanliness accord-ing to God’s law was an outward mani-festation of one’s inner self. If one wasnot physically clean according to the law,then his heart of rebellion against God’slaw was revealed. In this context whereIsrael was given the laws of physicalcleanliness, those who refused to submitto such laws were cut off from Israel.God’s forgiveness was thus conditionedon the willingness of the individual tosubmit to the will of God. There was nograce without obedience to the will ofGod. God’s grace will not save the will-ful sinner.

MOSES’ SININ PROVIDING WATER

20:1-13 Kadesh: This was the endof the wilderness wandering. At thispoint the tribes reassembled for entranceinto the land of promise. From how thistext reads, it seems that the tribes did notwander in the wilderness according to theorganized manner they were in 38 yearsbefore this meeting at the desert of Zin.They could have been wandering sepa-rately from one another, and then orga-nized together at this point. At this timetheir organizing together probably tookfrom three to four months in order thatthis new generation of Israelites reac-quaint themselves with one another, andthen make plans to take the land. Therewas also the mourning of Miriam andcommunication with the Edomites.There was no water: It is possible thatthe springs had dried up. Or, it could have

been that there was not enough water inthe area for the assembly of this greatmultitude of approximately three millionpeople. Egypt: The younger generationhad not experienced Egypt. They hadpossibly heard of Egypt from their fatherswho by this time died in the wilderness.It was for them easy to complain aboutgoing somewhere they had never beenbefore. Their murmuring, however, is theresult of people who have no vision forthe future. Speak to the rock: Thesetwo leaders knew the consequences ofmurmuring against the care of the Lord.In his frustration, Moses did not followthe exact instructions of the Lord. Hestruck the rock instead of speaking to it,following the instructions that had pre-viously been given many years beforewhen he was instructed by God to bringforth water from the rock in Meribah (Ex17:1-7). This one error cost him his en-

CHAPTER 20



trance into the land of promise. Mustwe bring forth water: This statement ofMoses and Aaron did not bring glory toGod. It was not by the power of Mosesand Aaron that the water was to be pro-vided. The water came forth by thepower of God, to whom they should havegiven credit on this occasion (See Lv10:3; Ps 99:5,9). You did not believe:Belief is always manifested in our ac-tions. It was not that Moses had no faithin God. Moses allowed his frustrationswith the people to cloud his actions inreference to what God commanded. Thisis often a problem with frustrated lead-ers. They act contrary to the will of Godwhen the people do not obey accordingto the will of God. Frustrated leadersoften become rebellious when proclaim-ing the people to be rebellious. The sinof leadership is when leaders behave ina sinful manner in order to keep thepeople from sin.

REFUSALOF PASSAGE BY EDOM

20:14-21 Moses had assumed thatconquest of the land could not happenby entering from the south. His strategy,therefore, was to divide and conquer. Ifthe Israelites entered into the landthrough Jericho, then the inhabitants ofthe land could not assemble a great armytogether against them. His strategy,therefore, meant that they would have topass through the land of Edom. Yourbrother Israel: The Edomites were thedescendants of Esau, the brother of Jacobwho was the father of the Israelites.Whether the Edomites still practiced cir-

cumcision after the custom of Abraham,we do not know. But as one of the buffernations to what would become the landpromised to Abraham, the great grandfa-ther of both Esau and Jacob, we wouldhave assumed that the Edomites wouldhave allowed Israel the right of passagethrough their land. The king’s highway:Moses reassured the king of Edom thatthe Israelites would not plunder Edom ontheir journey through the land. Theywould travel the normal trade route alltravelers took as they passed throughEdom. Edom refused: The king ofEdom mustered his forces to block thepassage of Israel through the land. Thiswas a fatal error on his part, as historywould judge the Edomites with extinc-tion from history because of these ac-tions. Moses would not lead the Israel-ites in conflict with the descendants ofthe brother of Jacob. So he turned hisforces away from Edom. The judgmentof Edom would come later in history.

SUCCESSION OF ELEAZARTO BE HIGH PRIEST

20:22-29 You rebelled against Myword: Both Moses and Aaron were notallowed to enter Canaan because of theirrebellion at the waters of Meribah. Bothwere at least 120 years old at this time,and their leadership of Israel was nowcoming to an end. Aaron, who was olderthan Moses, was to die first. Bring themup to Mt. Hor: There was to be no elabo-rate funeral ceremony over this greatleader. As people sometimes get caughtup in the ceremonies of the funeral oftheir leaders, the death of Aaron was to



be quiet and obscure on a mountain, awayfrom the ceremonies of any funeral ser-vice. Lest people lose their confidencein the leadership of God by focusing onthe leadership of man, it was best thatthis great spiritual leader die in the ob-scurity of a mountain scene. When

Moses and Eleazar descended from themountain, the people saw that the spiri-tual leadership of Israel now rested onEleazar. They knew that Aaron had died,and thus mourned his death for the cus-tomary thirty days.

THE BRAZEN SERPENT21:1-3 Arad the Canaanite: It may

have been that Moses planned this attackinto Canaan from the south, the originalplan of God to enter into Canaan. How-ever, King Arad heard of the plan, andthus routed the Israelites, taking some ofthem captive. Utterly destroy: Fromwhat the Israelites vowed, it would seemthat their original plan was not to utterlyvacate the Canaanites from the land. Thiswas contrary to the plan of God to ridthe land of the wicked Canaanite culture.

21:4-9 There is no bread: This, ofcourse, was not true since God was sup-plying them with manna and quail. It wasthat they had not received the bread ofEgypt which their fathers had received.They were possibly still living on theword-of-mouth communication fromtheir fathers who had formerly lived inEgypt. The problem here was that theircomplaints originated from their lack offaith that God would continue to supplythem while they resided in the wilderness.Fiery serpents: The bite of these ser-pents probably resulted in death from aburning poisonous venom. We havesinned: They at least recognized that itwas sin to speak against God and Hisdesignated leader, Moses. Serpent of

brass: God was establishing a founda-tion for symbolism that would later findsubstance in the sacrificial death of Jesuswho would be lifted upon the cross forthe spiritual healing of all men (See Jn3:14,15; compare Is 53:5,6; Rm 8:3; 2Co 5:21). All that people had to do inthis case was to look upon the brass ser-pent. If they did, they would be healed.The spiritual significance in reference toJesus on the cross would be that all menmust look to Jesus for healing. It wassupernatural that the fiery serpents weresent among the people. It was supernatu-ral that the people were cured when theylooked upon the brass serpent. In all thathappened incident God supernaturally re-affirmed His presence with the people,and thus answered their complaints withHis presence. He would remain in theirpresence if they would remain faithful toHis law.

CONQUEST OF THE AMORITES21:10-20 Other than Moab to the east

of the Jordan River, the locations throughwhich Israel journeyed are not found onour modern maps. Book of the wars:These uninspired records were kept ofIsrael’s military exploits, especially themilitary conquest of the land of Canaan.

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These records do not exist today. Dugthe well: This is the transition of thepeople into the land where they wouldprovide for themselves after the miracu-lous provision of God during their wil-derness wanderings. In this incident theLord said He would give them water, butthey had to dig the well. God will not dofor man what man can do for himself.

21:21-35 The Amorites: TheAmorites were one of the primary cul-tural groups of the Canaanites (See Gn10:16). The name was sometimes usedto refer to all the Canaanites of the re-gion (See Dt 1:7,19,27). At the time Is-rael arrived, Sihon was ruling over a partof the Amorites to the east of the JordanRiver. It was not Moses’ original plan towar against the Amorites on the east sideof the Jordan. Because Sihon would notallow Israel to pass, but came out to fightagainst Israel, Israel fought against theAmorites and Sihon was defeated. Is-rael subsequently occupied all the citiesof the Amorites (See Dt 2:30-37).Chemosh: This was the imagined godof the Moabites. The fact that Israel de-feated the Amorites, who had previouslydefeated the Moabites, was a testimonythat the imagined god of the Moabitescould not deliver them from the one trueand living God in which Israel believed.Though the Amorites had a great faith intheir own god, their god was only imag-ined. They were thus trusting in them-selves and the power of human faith inone’s own created god. But this beliefwas not strong enough to stand againstthe one true and living God who defeated

the Amorites through the proxy of the Is-raelite armies. Israel’s victories over allthe armies of the Canaanites is a testi-mony to the fact that God was at workamong the Israelites. Og: Og was oneof the last of the tribes of giants inCanaan. He was the king of a warriornation that dwelt within walled cities.Because of the pasture lands of the terri-tory of Og, the tribes of Reuben, Gad andhalf the tribe of Manasseh desired todwell in this land (See Dt 3:15-17). Donot fear: God encouraged Moses andIsrael by giving them victory over the na-tions that would border the land ofCanaan. Though inexperienced in battle,the Israelite army was successful inbattles against every nation. God thusproved that He was with Israel. Wewould assume that Israel’s confidencegrew as they approached the walled cit-ies that were within the land of Canaan.Heshbon: This city’s name means “cityof daughters” or “the mother city.” It issignificant that the people of this regionhad for centuries been nomadic, travel-ing from one location to another. How-ever, archaeologists have confirmed thatsometime prior to the arrival of Israel tothis region, the Canaanites began build-ing cities in order to settle down in theregion. Some of the cities were withoutwalls (Dt 3:5), indicating that the peoplehad peace with one another. When Is-rael arrived in the region, many of thecities were still without walls, and thuseasy to conquer. With little effort theycould take the land, especially since Godwould be fighting to strengthen them.



Conflict With The Moabites

(22:1 – 25:18)

Outline: (1) Balak’s efforts to curse Israel (22:1-

41), (2) Balaam’s curse turned to blessing (23:1 –

24:25), (3) Sin of Israel at Baal-peor (25:1-18)

BALAK’S EFFORTSTO CURSE ISRAEL

22:1-20 Balaam: This incident isinjected in the account of Israel’s histori-cal venture into the land of Canaan inorder to give us information that theirbattle was not only with armies, but alsowith maintaining their morality amongpagan nations. Balaam was a Gentilewho was at least known by Balak, theking of Moab. Balaam was a religiousleader about whom we know little, otherthan the fact that he seems to have beenone of questionable character whose giftof preaching was for hire (See Jd 11; Rv2:14). Balak: The news of Israel’s con-quests had by this time been circulatedthroughout the Palestinian region. Feargripped the hearts of the Canaanites andsurrounding countries, for they saw noone who could defeat the armies of Is-rael. It was at this time in history thatthe Canaanites were evidently at peacewith one another, for they built cities inwhich to settle in the region. However,they were not at peace with one anotherto the extent of organizing their armiestogether to fight against the army of Is-rael. Though Moab was not one of thecountries that was to be destroyed by Is-rael, Balak, in ignorance of this fact,sought a well-known religious personal-ity to curse the Israelites. Rewards ofdivination: Balaam is known for beingthe preacher who preached for pay. He

was out for hire from the highest giver(Jd 11). You will not go: God’s answerto the messengers of Balak, was thatBalaam not go in answer to the plea ofBalak. Unfortunately, the appeal of themoney was too great for Balaam, andeventually he succumbed to the pleas ofthe Moabite king. Princes ... more nu-merous and ... distinguished: There wasmore involved in this situation than thebribe in getting Balaam to come to theaid of Balak. Man’s desire to be involvedwith the rich and famous was also usedto entice Balaam. The thirst to becomeinvolved in the political life of those whoare in power is a tremendous temptationfor those who seek to be important in aworld of poverty. The desire for notori-ety often prevails over nobility. Housefull of silver and gold: In view ofBalaam’s character that we understandfrom Jude 11, we would interpret thisstatement as a subtle attempt by Balaamthat he was out for hire to the highest bid-der. God gave him permission to go, butGod also knew the character of Balaam,that it would eventually be revealedthrough his lust for money. We wouldinterpret Balaam’s initial refusal to re-ceive the silver and gold as a flippantstatement to clear his name before themessengers. In actuality, however, hewent for the silver and gold with whichhe was hired to curse Israel.

22:21-41 God approached Balaam

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in three ways in order to remind him ofhis position in relation to Balak and theIsraelites. Angel ... standing in the way:The first obstacle to Balaam going toBalak in fulfillment of his desires for hirecame from an angel who could be seenonly by the donkey. The angel stood inthe road in order to restrict the passageof Balaam. A path in the vineyard: Thesecond effort to dissuade Balaam waswhen the angel stood in the road in thevineyard in order to block again the pas-sage of Balaam. In a narrow place: Thethird effort of God to stop Balaam waswhen the angel stood in a narrow pas-sage where it was impossible for the don-key to pass. Throughout all this resis-tance to block Balaam by the angel stand-ing in the way of the donkey, Balaam

complained to the donkey and unmerci-fully struck his donkey, for he had notseen the angel. At this point is recordeda case where an animal talked by thepower of the Lord. Your way is perverse:It is here that we understand that themotive for Balaam going to Balak wasbecause of his lust of money. If the don-key had not turned from the path of theangel, the angel would have slain Balaam.Balaam eventually went to Balak, andsubsequently was later slain in Moab’sbattle with Israel. Promote you withhonor: Balaam’s lust for pomp, positionand power made his motives perversebefore the Lord. This is good advice forboth politicians and preachers who seekthe same for themselves at the expenseof the people they serve.

BALAAM’S CURSETURNED TO BLESSING

23:1-12 After Balak had built theseven altars, and the sacrifices weremade, Balaam could only bless Israel, andnot curse the nation as Balak had re-quested. Within the pronouncementsmade by Balaam, God spoke of theuniqueness of the nation of Israel. Thepeople will dwell alone: Because ofIsrael’s belief in the one true and livingGod, she would dwell alone among thenations who had created gods after theirown imagination. She would be alonethroughout the centuries because of herbelief. Who can count the dust of Jacob:Balaam prophesied that throughout thecenturies to come, Israel would grow intoa mighty people as was promised to Abra-

ham (See Gn 12:1-3). The righteous:Israel was a nation of good people, andthus did not deserve to be cursed by apagan nation. What have you done tome: Balak’s reaction to Balaam’s bless-ing of Israel was his realization that Is-rael would be against him. To his reac-tion Balaam reminded Balak that hecould only pronounce that which God putin his mouth. Of course, the blessing wasindirectly a curse of Balak, which cursehe suffered in the near future by his death.

23:13-26 The same preparations andofferings were again made as were donefor the first pronouncement of Balaam.In this prophecy, God spoke directly toBalak. God is not a man: The God ofIsrael was not created after the imagina-tion of the Israelites. For this reason, He

CHAPTER 23



cannot tell a lie as Balak demanded. Nei-ther could the destiny of Israel bechanged, as men change their minds ac-cording to their own desires. The Godof Israel was not a god who could bemanipulated by the whims of men ascould the god of the Moabites. This pro-nouncement of Balaam was thepreacher’s lesson to an idolater who con-trolled his people by manipulating theirreligious beliefs concerning their falsegod, Chemosh. God is with him:Through Balaam, God reminded Balakthat He had proved many times that Hewould be with His people. They werethus a strong and confident people withthe strength of an ox. The nation of Is-rael existed because of God, not becauseof the leadership of any man. The exist-ence of Moab depended on the power of

King Balak. But the existence and powerof Israel rested in God. A people willrise up: This prophecy that was surelywell-known by every Israelite, spoke ofthe nation of Israel. She would rise upas a lion and eat until the prey was con-sumed. No enemy, therefore, would beable to stand against her. If Balak wouldbe the enemy of Israel, therefore, thenthe nation of Moab would be eaten as theprey of Israel. Do not curse them:Balak’s frustration is revealed in thesewords. Since Balaam could not curseIsrael, then he asks that he say nothing.Balaam reminded Balak that he couldonly say what the Lord put in his mouth.But this was not sufficient for Balak sinceIsrael posed a great threat to him. Hewanted divine help in defeating the threatof Israel.

23:27 – 24:14 Israel dwelling intents according to their tribes: This wassurely an awesome sight to behold. Allthe nation of Israel that would change theworld forever was dwelling in one placeat this time in history, a moment thatwould never be repeated again. Balaamcould see the people around whom thehistory of the world would be made andthe people through whom God wouldeventually bring the Redeemer into theworld. For centuries God had worked tobring this people to the brink of the Jor-dan River in order to possess the land ofCanaan. Centuries later He wouldthrough Israel bring the Son of God tothe cross for the redemption of mankind.Neither Balak nor Balaam understood

any of this, and thus Balaam could onlybless the heritage of God. Vision of theAlmighty: When the Spirit came uponBalaam, he pronounced the purpose andwill of God through Israel. This was theoracle of God, the blessing of His peoplewho would bring about His eternal pur-pose. Blessed is he who blesses you: Un-fortunately, Balak could not see the workof God in Israel. He, as many other na-tions, did not see the eternal plan of Godto work through Israel to bring the Mes-siah into the world. Through this nationthat now rested in the valley, God wascontinuing the seedline of woman whowould crush the head of Satan (See Gn3:15). Those who would support Israelin God’s plan to settle the nation in the

CHAPTER 24



land of Canaan, would be blessed. How-ever, those who would work against Is-rael, would find themselves workingagainst the plan of God.

24:15-19 In this pronouncement ofBalaam, he told Balak what Israel woulddo to Moab. Star: A king would comeout of Israel who would bring judgmentupon Moab. Though Balaam was speak-ing of earthly events among nations,some have concluded that a secondaryreference here is to the star that appearedduring the time of the birth of the Mes-siah. Scepter: Reference here is to therule of kings. A ruler would arise in his-tory who would crush the rule of Moab.He would have dominion over his en-emies. Again, some have assumed thatreference is to the rule of King Jesus overHis enemies. In the centuries after this

event, Jesus did reign over his enemies(See comments Dn 2:44; 7:13,14; Ph 2:5-11; Rv 2:27; 3:21). But in the context ofthese immediate events, the kings of Is-rael would eventually rule over Moab inthe centuries to come.

24:20-25 In this final discourse,Balaam turned his prophecy toward thenations. Edom would become the pos-session of Israel, which prophecy cametrue during the reign of David. Becauseof their despiteful actions against Israelwhen they initially came out of Egypt,they would be destroyed forever as apeople. The Kenites would be taken intocaptivity. Asshur and Eber would, as theEdomites, perish forever. Thus ended thefinal pronouncements of God throughBalaam, after which both Balak andBalaam went their way.

SIN OF ISRAEL AT BAAL-PEOR25:1-5 The people began to play the

harlot: This moral and spiritual apos-tasy on the part of Israel may seem in-comprehensible in view of the manystruggles through which God had broughtthem. But it revealed the continual prob-lem they had in dwelling among otherpeople (See Ex 34:12-16; Dt 7:1-6). Ledby the daughters of Moab, Israelite mensuccumbed to the lure of bowing them-selves to false gods. The seriousness ofthe matter was manifested in the stern-ness of the punishment for their immoralactions. The leaders of the people whomGod held responsible, were first hanged.People are directed by their leaders, andthus if the leaders do not lead people to

God, they are responsible. The secondaction that had to be done was to rid thenation of those who had committed thesin. And thus the judges executed thosewho had joined themselves to womenwho worshiped the Baal of Peor.

25:6-18 The brazen sin permeatedthe camp of Israel to the point that onewithout shame brought a Midianitewoman before the assembly in the sightof Moses. This woman was brought intothe camp even while supplications werebeing made to stop the plague that wasravaging through Israel. Phinehas: Onthis occasion, the righteous indignationof Phinehas moved him to take immedi-ate action. Both Zimri and Cozbi werethrust through with a spear. Because he

CHAPTER 25



acted quickly, Phinehas and his heritagewere rewarded with a covenant of per-petual priesthood in Israel. Hostile ...with their tricks: Deception was appar-ently part of the problem in reference toIsrael’s sin with the Midianites. It mayhave been that the innocence of Israel wasexploited by the Midianites. Neverthe-less, though the Israelites were innocentlytricked or deceived, they were still re-sponsible for their sin. The Midianitespaid the price for the sin in that Godjudged them through the proxy of the Is-raelite army (See ch 31). It seems thatBalaam played some part in this moraldestruction of Israel in that he condonedor counselled both the Israelite men and

Moabite women to commit fornication(See 31:16; compare Rv 2:14).

Preparations For Entering Canaan

(26:1 – 36:13)

Outline: (1) Second census of Israel (26:1-65),

(2) Inheritance laws for women (27:1-11), (3)

Joshua anointed as leader (27:12-23), (4) Repeti-

tion of offering laws and holy days (28:1 – 29:40),

(5) Laws concerning vows (30:1-16), (6) War with

the Midianites (31:1-54), (7) Assigning of land

east of the Jordan (32:1-42), (8) Israel’s camps

from Egypt to Canaan (33:1-49), (9) Instructions

concerning land allotments (33:50 – 35:34), (10)

Laws concerning the inheritance of daughters

(36:1-13)

SECOND CENSUS OF ISRAEL26:1-65 This was the second census

taken of the nation of Israel. The lawsfor taking the census were given in Exo-dus 30:12. The purpose of the first cen-sus was to determine the number of malesfor war (1:28). This second census wasto prepare the people for occupation ofthe land of Canaan. In this census, onlythose who were 20 years old and olderwere counted. The total number was601,730, which was slightly less than thecensus of males that was taken in chap-ters 1 & 2. The land will be divided:The allotment of the land was to be ac-cording to the size of the tribes, and thenaccording to the casting of lots. Thelarger portions of land were probably firstdetermined for the larger tribes, and thenlots were cast for the land (33:54). Thecasting of the lots made sure that no nepo-

tism or favoritism was practiced in thedistribution of the land. The Levites: Noland inheritance was given to the Levites.They were allocated cities within theland. They will surely die: It was a newnation that was entering the land. Dur-ing the time of the rebellion when theyrefused to enter Canaan 38 years before,those who were of the age of 20 and olderhad died in the wilderness. This was anew generation. They were not respon-sible for the sins of their fathers, and thuswere ready to enter the land that waspromised to their fathers. Only Joshuaand Caleb of the older generation wereallowed to enter. They were allowed toenter because of their faith 38 years be-fore when they wanted, against the coun-sel of the other spies, to go up immedi-ately take the land. They were able toenter the land by faith.

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INHERITANCE LAWSFOR WOMEN

27:1-11 Our father died in the wil-derness: The father of the daughters ofZelophehad was not of the rebellion ofKorah, and thus died a natural death. Buthe had no sons through whom inheritancetraditionally came (See Dt 25:5-10). Therequest of these daughters was valid, andthus inheritance was given to them. If aman died without a son, then the right ofinheritance was passed through thedaughters. This law of inheritance ad-vanced the womanhood of Israel, for itgave women legal rights that previouslythey did not have in reference to inherit-ance laws.

JOSHUA ANOINTED AS LEADER27:12-23 Mt. Abarim: From this

mountain God showed Moses the landof milk and honey. Though he was notallowed to enter because of his sin atMeribah (20:1-13), he was allowed to seethe land. It was now time for Moses totransfer leadership to one who could leadIsrael to the completion of God’s prom-ise. Joshua: God saw in Joshua the one

who could lead Israel in the conquest ofthe land. He was thus set before the as-sembly of Israel, and then charged anddesignated the successor of Moses. He,as Caleb, proved his leadership 38 yearsbefore when he disagreed with the otherten spies who discouraged the people. Hewas willing to speak against that whichwas wrong, and thus manifested one ofthe first qualifications that a leader musthave. Though the majority might con-sent to that which is wrong, God’s lead-ers must be willing to stand alone for thatwhich is right. Judgment of Urim:Moses spoke face to face with God.However, God’s communication with Hisprimary leader was now changing.Joshua must go before the priest whowould make judgments in reference tothe Urim and Thummim. These were twosmall objects in the ephod that was wornby the priests. The objects were used fordetermining judgments from God (Ex28:30). Joshua thus assumed the posi-tion of a military leader, for from this timeforward Israel needed such a leader inthe conquest of the land.

REPETITION OF OFFERINGLAWS & HOLY DAYS

28:1-15 Before Israel enteredCanaan, it was necessary to remind thepeople of their daily, weekly, monthly andyearly offerings in worship to God.These offerings were necessary in orderthat the people be reminded of the One

who brought them into the land and sus-tained them there if they remained faith-ful to God. Though the instructions con-cerning these offerings might be confus-ing to us, they were understood by Israelin the context of the rural setting of thenation when the people settled through-out the land. There was no “general as-

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CHAPTER 28



sembly” for worship in the instructionsconcerning worship and offerings, andthus the families of Israel settled in thecountry on small farms that were scat-tered from one another throughout theland. Their offerings, therefore, were theoccasion for them to worship God in afamily setting. Every offering that wasto be eaten by the family was an oppor-tunity for the parents to teach the chil-dren concerning the significance of theoffering. We must understand the con-text of these offerings, therefore, in ref-erence to the rural setting in which Israellived in Canaan. We must be careful not

to read into the context of the worship ofIsrael our worship culture of general as-semblies in designated places of worship,which thing was foreign to the worshipof the families of Israel.

28:16-31 The Passover had not beenobserved throughout the wilderness wan-derings. But now it was time to rehearsethe laws concerning the time and eventof the Passover (See Ex 12:16; Lv23:7,8). Immediately after the Passover,the feast of unleavened bread was to be-gin (See Lv 23:5,6). This feast lasted forseven days and was the offering of thefirstfruits of the harvest (Ex 34:22).

29:1-6 The feast of trumpets was sonamed because the trumpets were blownthroughout the land. This feast was con-ducted in the middle of the Jewish year.Blowing of the trumpets was Israel’smeans of national communication. Theycould know when the trumpets wereblown by the blowing of the ram’s hornthroughout the land. We are not told ex-actly how this was done. However, wewould assume that every rural family hada ram’s horn that was to be blown whensignaled by the blowing of the horn bythe residents of an adjoining farm. Thesignal could thus be relayed throughoutthe land that the trumpets had been blownby the priests.

29:7-11 The day of atonement wasthe day when an offering was made forthe sins of the people. This was an an-nual event wherein the high priest enteredinto the holy of holies of the tabernacle

to make atonement for the nation as awhole.

29:12-40 The feast of tabernacles(booths or tents) lasted for seven days.The people dwelt in tents during this timein order to commemorate their wander-ing in the wilderness. It was a time to bethankful to God for bringing them intothe land of Canaan wherein they coulddwell in their own houses. All of the of-ferings and feasts were in thanksgivingto God for His grace in bringing theminto the land of milk and honey. If suchwere required of Israel in order to thankGod for the material blessings they hadreceived, then certainly the Christianshould be more thankful for the spiritualsalvation that he has received in Christ.For this reason, the Christian is a priestof God on duty continually, offering uphis entire life in gratitude to God (Rm12:1,2; 2 Co 4:15).

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LAWS CONCERNING VOWS30:1-16 He will not break his word:

Vows were made both to God and man.When a man spoke the word of his vow,it was binding on him as a self-imposedlaw. No written contract had to be madefor a man was to be good for his word.But this was not the case with certainwomen. A woman’s vow had to be certi-fied by the man to whom she was respon-sible. There were different vows madein this context, one in reference to gen-eral vows and the other which was morespecific as the vow of a Nazarite (See ch6). Woman ... in her youth: If a daugh-ter was still living with her father, then

her vow had to have the approval of herfather. If she should marry: If a womanwas under a vow at the time of her mar-riage, then her husband had the author-ity to either ratify or annul the vow. If awoman made a vow after she was mar-ried, then the husband could either allowor nullify the vow. If the husband didnot allow the vow, then she was not obli-gated to keep it before the Lord. A widowand a divorced woman: In this case, thevows of those who had no man to whomaccount was to be given were based onthe laws that applied to men in the mak-ing of their vows.

WAR WITH THE MIDIANITES31:1-24 What is recorded here is

Moses’ obedience to the will of God tomake war with the Midianites (25:17,18).Take vengeance: Because the commandto go to war with the Midianites was fromGod, this was the vengeance of Godagainst those who had deceived Hispeople. God’s vengeance upon Midianmust be understood from a greater per-spective than punishing Midian for se-ducing Israel to sin. We must always keepin mind that Israel was the seedline na-tion through whom God would bring theRedeemer into the world. Any nation thatset itself against Israel was setting itselfagainst the redemptive work of God. Wemust understand that Satan was workingbehind the scenes to destroy the seedlinepromise that was initiated in Genesis 3:15

and continued through God’s promise toAbraham in Genesis 12:1-3. Satan alsoworked behind the scenes to destroy theseedline, and thus destroy the work ofGod to crush his head. In order to warnall nations against devising any plots todestroy Israel, they were given anotherexample through the destruction ofMidian not to interfere with God’speople, and thus seek to interfere withthe seedline work of God. They warredagainst the Midianites: With only12,000 men, Israel caught the Midianitesby surprise and slew all their males andfive of their kings. Balaam was amongthe slain because he counselled thewomen of Midian to seduce the men ofIsrael. Moses was angry: He was angrybecause the army had saved alive thewomen and children. He subsequently

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CHAPTER 31



ordered that the older women be killed,as well as all the male children. The Is-raelite men had forgotten that it was theMidian women who had deceived theminto committing fornication. It couldhave been, therefore, that the men withwhom some had committed fornicationsought to keep alive some of the womenwith whom they had sinned. Though weview this judgment as harsh, we mustkeep in mind that God was clearing animmoral culture from the path of Israel.When they entered Canaan, Israel wasto cleanse the land of corrupted culturesthat were bent on immorality. The wick-edness of the Canaanites had at this timegrown to the point of no moral return,and thus, as with Sodom and Gomorrah,they had to be judged with annihilation.No adult was to be left alive who couldinfest Israel with immoral behavior.

31:25-54 After the battle, they wereto first take a count of all the spoils thathad been taken from their enemies. Af-ter this, they were to divide the spoils inhalf, half going to the soldiers who actu-ally went to war, and half for the rest ofthe people who stayed at home andwatched the camp. One fifth of one per-cent of what was given to the soldierswas to be given to Eleazar the priest. Twopercent of the half that was given to thepeople was to be given to the Levites.Because the soldiers were thankful thatnone of them had lost their lives in thewar, they brought all the jewels of goldto the tabernacle to be offered as an atone-ment for themselves. These jewels ofgold were stored in the tabernacle as areminder of the great victory that Godhad given them over the Midianites.

ASSIGNING OF LANDEAST OF THE JORDAN

32:1-42 Let this land be given toyour servants: This was the land east ofthe Jordan River that had been taken fromthe Amorites and Og. It was good pas-ture land, and thus Reuben and Gad, whowere later joined by half of the tribe ofManasseh, requested of Moses that theypossess this land. This request was in-nocent on the surface, but there weresome flaws in the reasoning of these tribalgroups. It was a request based on pureeconomics, for they were ignoring thedestiny of Israel, that they possess theland of milk and honey according to thepromise of God. It was the will of God

that all the tribes work together to takethe land of Canaan and settle therein. Therequest also ignored the duties of thesetribes to help their brothers to conquerthe land of Canaan. It seems that theydid not want to cross the Jordan, and thusassume their military responsibilitieswith the other tribes. Will you sit here:Moses interpreted their request to be aneffort to shun their responsibilities to ful-fill the will of God. You have risen upin your father’s place: Moses’ statementwas direct and true if Reuben, Gad andhalf of Manasseh were planning to foregotheir military responsibilities to help theothers conquer Canaan. It was simplynot right for part of the people to do the

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work for all the people. Everyone mustbe involved in the work of God. We our-selves will go ready armed: Realizingthat their request was either misunder-stood, or assumed to be an effort to settleagainst the will of God, the leaders ofReuben, Gad and half of Manassehquickly responded that they would gowith their brothers into battle against theCanaanites. They did not want to repeat

the consequences of their fathers’ rebel-lion almost forty years before by refus-ing to take the land immediately on thecommand of God. As a result of that re-fusal, all Israel had to pay the price. Be-cause they committed themselves to re-main militarily with the army of Israel,Moses called Eleazar and Joshua in or-der that their commitment be confirmedbefore all.

ISRAEL’S CAMPSFROM EGYPT TO CANAAN33:1-37 The journeys of the chil-

dren of Israel: In giving this log ofIsrael’s travels from Egypt to Moab,Moses listed forty locations where Israelcamped. Since almost all the places areunknown to us today, we would assumethat the names were given to the placesby Israel at the time when they campedat the location. The locations were prob-ably given the names listed in this chap-ter according to some experience that Is-rael had at the location. Though we maybe frustrated because we do not know theexact locations, the purpose for givingthe list in this chapter was not to recounta road map of travels. The listing herewas for Israel in order that their experi-ences through the wilderness be madeknown to following generations.

33:38-49 There is a difference be-tween this record and the one given in21:4-20, which account can be betterunderstood if we assume that the tribeswere somewhat scattered throughout thewilderness until they came together atKadesh (20:1). If the tribes were dwell-

ing at different places in the wilderness,then different names would have beengiven. We must not assume that any listof the names is complete. Each list wasgiven to highlight the experiences of anynumber of the tribes at the time they wereat any particular campsite.

INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNINGLAND ALLOTMENTS

33:50-56 Drive out ... destroy ... pic-tures ... molten images ... high places:The reason for the command to destroythese things was for the preservation ofthis segment of human society, the na-tion of Israel. If they did not follow thiscommand, the immoral and idolatrousculture of the Canaanites would infect Is-rael. They would then digress to a lowmoral level where they themselves wouldbe driven from the land. Unfortunately,they disobeyed this command. They sub-sequently digressed to the moral level ofthe Canaanites they drove out of the land.In the Assyrian and Babylonian captivi-ties centuries later, Israel too was drivenout of the land of Palestine. When theywere driven from the land, God then

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worked with only a remnant in order tobring the Messiah into the world. Wheninterpreting any instructions that Godgave to Israel in reference to the land ofCanaan, the interpreter must always keepin mind the eternal purpose of God. Itwas not that God chose Israel becausethey were a righteous people. They werestiffnecked and often rebellious. But Godknew that such a people were necessaryin order to survive the ancient world andfulfill the promise made to Abraham, that

in him all nations of the world would beblessed through the coming of the Sav-ior into the world. The nation of Israelwas only the vehicle through whom Godbrought the Savior into the world. At thecost of the existence of the Canaaniteswho had given up on God, Israel was tobe preserved for the eternal purpose ofGod. Though Israel as a whole fell awayin apostasy, God still worked through aremnant of Israel to accomplish His eter-nal plan of redemption.

34:1-15 God drew the borders of theland that Israel would possess. The southbegan at the southern end of the DeadSea, which border extended to Edom andKadesh-barnea. From Kadesh-barnea itextended along the river of Egypt (a dryriver called “Wadi el-Arish”). It thenextended to the Mediterranean Sea. Thewestern border was the coast of the Medi-terranean Sea. We do not know exactlyhow far north this border extended. Somehave suggested that it extended north tothe southern part of the Lebanon Moun-tains. The northern border reached fromthe Mediterranean Sea to Mt. Hor, andthen to Hamath, Zedad and Hazar-enan.The present location of all three cities is

uncertain. The eastern border ran fromHazar-enan south to the Sea of Galilee(Sea of Chinnereth), then south along theJordan River, and eventually to the DeadSea. What is significant about these bor-ders is that Israel for centuries never trulypossesses all this land. The borders arementioned in Joshua 15 – 19 and Ezek-iel 47:13-20; 48:28,29.

34:16-29 Since Israel had waited forcenturies to possess the land, the divi-sion of the land according to tribes was ahistorical moment for everyone. Becauseof the seriousness of the event, a specialcommittee of men was chosen to allot theland to each tribe according to the sizeof each tribe.

35:1-5 Because the Levites weregiven no inheritance of land, they weregiven cities in which to dwell and pas-ture lands that surrounded the cities.

35:6-15 Forty-eight cities were givento the Levites. Though the Levities nevertruly possessed all these cities, the com-

mand that they be given such was validthroughout the history of Israel. Refugecities were established in reference to thecivil laws of the nation. Six of the citiesthat were given to the Levites were des-ignated as refuge cities. Three were onthe west side of the Jordan and three were

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on the east side. These cities were placesto which a manslayer who unintention-ally killed someone could flee for safetyfrom the vengeance of a near kinsman ofthe person who was accidentally killed.The principle of the refuge cities wasbased on the law of the avenger whocould avenge the death of a kinsman whowas killed. The next of kin had the rightto avenge the death of a kinsmen. Un-less the avenging kinsman acted out ofthe heat of the moment when a kinsmanwas unintentionally killed, the assailantcould escape to a city of refuge until ajudgment could be made.

35:16-25 In this context, definitionsare given for those who had a right toflee to the cities of refuge. There was adifference between a manslayer, some-one who accidentally killed someone, anda murderer. The difference between thetwo is based on intent. The murderer wasone who intentionally killed someone.The manslayer was one who had no suchintent, but inadvertently did kill some-one. Only the manslayer was able to fleeto the cities of refuge. Other laws ap-plied to the one who intentionally mur-dered another. A murderer: One of theevidences that a murder took place wasthe use of a weapon. The weapon couldbe of iron, stone or wood. If a murdertook place, the avenger could slay themurderer on the spot. This same lawapplied to those who out of hatred killedanother. Thrust ... without enmity: Themanslayer, or the one who killed some-one unintentionally, fell under differentrules. This person could flee to the cityof refuge in order to escape the vengeance

of a near kinsman. However, if one ex-ercised the privilege of escaping to a ref-uge city, then he had to stay in the cityuntil the high priest died.

35:26-34 If the manslayer did ven-ture outside the borders of the refuge citybefore the death of the high priest, thenthe near kinsmen of the one who wasslain, could kill him without guilt. If thehigh priest died, the manslayer could re-turn to his family, and the near kinsmenhad no right to avenge the death of hiskinsman. Mouth of witnesses: Capitalpunishment could be carried out onlywhen more than one witness could tes-tify to the fact that murder was commit-ted. No amount of money could be paidto free the one who was guilty of mur-der, neither could any amount of moneybe paid in order that a manslayer leave acity of refuge before the death of the highpriest. Do not defile the land: The deathpenalty was given in order to keep soci-ety pure of the sickness of murderers.Once one murders another, then the landis defiled by those who have no valuefor life. The death penalty, therefore, wasGod’s means by which to keep societycleansed of moral decay in reference tothose who had no value for life. Once asociety gives up its value for life, then ithas digressed to a state of corruption inwhich God has no favor toward it. Whenone intentionally murders another, he hasgiven up his right to life for he has provedthat he does not value the right of othersto live. It is for this reason that societiesmust allow the teaching of moral prin-ciples to their citizens. And in teachingmoral principles, there must be a stan-



dard for judgment that is greater than thedesires of men. Men will digress to thepoint of genocide. For this reason theremust be a standard for moral judgment

that is greater than man himself. OnlyGod can offer this standard by which menmake moral laws.

LAWS CONCERNING THEINHERITANCE OF DAUGHTERS

36:1-13 The laws that are given heremust be viewed in reference to the lawsthat were given in 27:1-11 concerning theinheritance of the daughters ofZelophehad. In the case here, if a daugh-ter of one tribe was married to another,then the wife did not have permanentrights to the land of her husband if hedied. During the year of Jubilee all landwas to revert back to the original tribe.This law restricted the ownership of landto move from one tribe to another whena man married the daughter of anothertribe. The purpose of the law was to pre-vent the subdividing of the land amongthe tribes throughout the generations of

Israel. The title deed of the land was al-ways in the name of the man, and thusduring the year of Jubilee, all land wasreturned to the male descendants of eachparticular tribe. In reference to thedaughters of Zelophehad, their originalallotment of land was in the name of theirfather. Though they married outside theirtribe, the land remained in the name oftheir father, and thus the inheritance oftheir land remained with their father’stribe. It was not passed on to the tribe oftheir husbands. One of the key principlesconcerning the laws of God for Israel isrevealed in the giving of this law. God’slaws were fair and just. They were lawsthat proved that they could not have comefrom man, but from God Himself.

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