The Discipline of Remembering

We are getting close to the end of Numbers. Moses will die with the disobedient generation outside the land, but their children will enter in. Here in Numbers 33 Moses writes a recap of their journey thus far, in the form of a military itinerary.

Numbers 33:1 These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the LORD, and these are their stages according to their starting places.

This is one of only a few places where we are explicitly told that Moses wrote this. What an amazing gift we have been given, the written word of God. A reliable written record is a treasure. We may not understand everything that was written, or why it was written, but writing is a way to pass down and preserve a record accurately, so that future generations can continue to study and learn and make new discoveries. Many places in the Bible have been (re)discovered or identified in my lifetime, and many more (including the majority of this list) are not yet established with certainty.

But here, shortly before his death which the Lord had predicted, like Peter, he wrote a record, ‘so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things’ (2Pet.1:13-15).

A long list of place-names doesn’t mean much to us, because we weren’t there. But we have been journeying with them through the text of the book of Numbers, so we have been given enough to get a taste of what this meant to them.

The Exodus [Exodus 2-14]

Numbers 33:3 They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them. On their gods also the LORD executed judgments.

YHWH had instructed Moses:

Exodus 4:22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”

Remember the plagues against Egypt, where God repeatedly warned and proved himself supreme over all the false gods of Egypt by ten mighty acts of judgment (Ex.12:12)?

Remember the Passover, when each Hebrew family was to sacrifice a lamb, and paint its blood on their doorpost, so that God’s judgment would ‘pass over’ them (Ex.12:13)? ‘Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed’ (1Cor.5:7).

Remember the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover, when Israel went out triumphantly, having plundered the Egyptians (Ex.12:35-36)?

Numbers 33:5 So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth [means booths, temporary dwellings]. 6 And they set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. 7 And they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth [mouth of the gorges], which is east of Baal-zephon [Baal of the north], and they camped before Migdol [tower].

Remember God instructing his people to turn back to Pi-hahiroth, camping at Migdol by the sea (Ex.14:2-4), where they were trapped with no human way out, closed in with mountains on either side, Pharaoh’s army pursuing them, and their backs against the impassible sea?

Remember the people’s desperation (Ex.14:9-12), and Moses’ answer:

Exodus 14:13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Remember God’s parting the Red Sea, so his people could cross on dry land (Ex.14:21-22)? Remember Pharaoh’s army pursuing them, and the waters returning to destroy his enemies, so they would never pursue them again? (Ex.14:26-28) Remember Moses’ song by the sea (Ex.15:1-21), rejoicing in the salvation of YHWH?

Numbers 33:8 And they set out from before Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they went a three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.

Peoples’ Grumbling; God’s Provision [Exodus 15-17] (2 months)

Remember Marah in the wilderness of Shur (Ex.15:22-26), where the waters were bitter (Marah means ‘bitter’), where the people grumbled against the Lord, where God enabled Moses to make the bitter waters sweet, where God tested them and promised that if they would listen diligently, he would heal them?

Remember Elim, (Ex.15:27) the oasis in the desert? (Elim means ‘place of trees’)

Numbers 33:9 And they set out from Marah and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 10 And they set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea. 11 And they set out from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of Sin.

It was the wilderness of Sin, (Ex.16) a month after the people left Egypt where the people grumbled because of their hunger, where the Lord began to rain bread from heaven on them to provide for their daily need.

John 6:33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” …35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Numbers 33:12 And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. 13 And they set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14 And they set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15 And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai.

Remember Rephidim, (Ex.17:1-7) where there was no water to drink, and the people brought a legal argument against Moses, questioning his motives, questioning his ability to lead? Moses was afraid for his life. Remember Horeb, where YHWH stood before Moses on the rock and invited Moses to strike the rock, and living water poured out, meeting the complaining people’s needs? ‘The spiritual rock that followed them …was Christ’ (1Cor.10:4).

Remember also at Rephidim, (Ex.17:8-16) where the people were first attacked by the Amalekites? Remember Joshua fighting the battle while Moses prayed for them on the hill above? Remember that as long as he lifted his hands, Israel prevailed, but when he lowered his hands, Amalek prevailed? Remember Aaron and Hur coming alongside the weary Moses, supporting him and holding up his hands, until the Lord gave Israel the victory?

The Wilderness of Sinai [Exodus 19 – Numbers 10] (11 months)

Remember the wilderness of Sinai, when they came to Mount Sinai, where God met them in cloud and fire and thick darkness, where he gave them his covenant to take them to be his people and to be their God (Ex.6:9)? Where he wrote the covenant with his own finger on stone tablets (Ex.31:18), the covenant which they broke before they had even received the signed copy? Remember the golden calf, when 3,000 men died because of their unfaithfulness (Ex.32:28)? Remember God threatening to wipe out the entire people, and Moses interceding, and God again promising to be with them to be their God (Ex.32:10)? The second half of Exodus, all of Leviticus, and the first 10 chapters of Numbers all take place in this year camped at Sinai, where they built the tabernacle. All this took place at Sinai, but Mount Sinai itself is not even explicitly mentioned in this passage.

Sinai to Kadesh; [Numbers 11-20] (11 days journey; ~11 months?)

Numbers 33:16 And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.

Remember Kibroth-hattaavah, the graves of craving (Nu.11:1-35)? Where Israel complained against the Lord that they did not have any meat to eat, and they loathed his provision of bread from heaven? Remember God promised to give them what they craved, and they would eat it for a whole month until it came out their nostrils? The anger of the Lord was kindled against the people and he struck them down with a very great plague, and they buried the people who had the craving. Remember Moses (Nu.11:10-30) was so overwhelmed from carrying the burden of the people that he wanted to die, and the Lord put his Spirit on 70 men to share the burden of leadership?

This place, Kibroth-hattaavah, like so many places on this list, was not a place on a map with a name before Israel came; rather it was so named because of Israel’s experience when they camped there. Kibroth-hattaavah means ‘graves of craving’, a reminder of the lusts of the people, and the danger of ungrateful hearts.

Numbers 33:17 And they set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

Remember Hazeroth, (Nu.12) where Miriam and Aaron challenge Moses’ authority, and Miriam was struck with leprosy and put outside the camp 7 days for purification? The end of Numbers 12 says the people left Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

The next 17 places on this list are otherwise unknown, likely sites moving north from Jebel Musa at the bottom of the Sinai peninsula, up through the rugged mountainous eastern Sinai. Rithmah, Rimmon-perez, Libnah, Rissah, Kehelathah, Mount Shepher, Haradah, Makheloth, Tahath, Terah, Mithkahm, Hashmonah, Moseroth, Bene-jaakan, Hor-haggidgad, Jotbathah, Abronah.

These places have not been located, primarily because they were temporary campsites, not permanent dwellings, and apparently Israel adhered to a ‘leave no trace’ style of camping.

Ezion-Geber is on the north end of the gulf of Aqaba.

Kadesh [Numbers 13-20] (38 years)

Numbers 33:36 And they set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh).

The camp in the wilderness of Zin is specified to be Kadesh. Kadesh means ‘holy’ or ‘set apart’. It is from Kadesh that the 12 spies are sent out to survey the land from Lebo-hamath in the north to Hebron in the south, but ten of the twelve bring back an evil report of the land and discourage the hearts of the people. Ruled by fear, the people wail and grumble against Moses and Aaron, long for the days of slavery in Egypt, and seek to appoint a leader to take them back to Egypt. The Lord again threatens to wipe them out, but Moses intercedes, and only the 10 spies die before the Lord, and the rest of that generation except Caleb and Joshua are sentenced to die in the wilderness. The next 38 years revolve around Kadesh, where Israel is defeated in battle (Nu.14:39-45), where a sabbath breaker is executed (Nu.15:32-36), where Korah and 250 Levites seek the priesthood and were consumed by fire, and Dathan and Abiram reject the leadership of Moses and the earth opened up and swallowed them (Nu.16), where Miriam dies (Nu.20:1), where the people again take up a dispute against Moses and Aaron over lack of water, and this time Aaron and Moses disobey the Lord and fail to uphold him as holy; they berate the people and strike the rock when they were told to speak to the rock and God would give them water, and Aaron and Moses are sentenced to die outside the land. 38 wasted years because of their unbelief.

Numbers 33:37 And they set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom. 38 And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the LORD and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. 39 And Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

The people mourn for Aaron thirty days (Nu.20:29). Moses and Aaron go up Mount Hor, and Moses and Eleazar, Aaron’s son come down the mountain, Eleazar taking the place of his father as high priest of the nation.

Kadesh to Moab; Victories Over Enemies [Numbers 21-31]

Numbers 33:40 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.

Numbers 21:1-3 tells us that Arad attacked Israel, but YHWH gave Israel the victory and they devoted them to destruction, so the place was named Hormah.

Numbers 33:41 And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. 42 And they set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. 43 And they set out from Punon and camped at Oboth.

Numbers 21:4-9 tells us that because Edom would not grant them passage, they traveled the long route around Edom by way of the Red Sea, probably south toward Ezion-geber and then back north around Edom. It was in this detour that the people spoke against God and against Moses; ‘no food, no water, and we loathe this worthless food’. The Lord sent fiery serpents and Moses lifted up a serpent on a pole, so that whoever looked at the serpent would live.

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Numbers 33:44 And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab. 45 And they set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad. 46 And they set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. 47 And they set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48 And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; 49 they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

This is the march of the next generation to the borders of the promised land. They defeat Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan (Nu.21:21-35). It is on the plains of Moab where Balaam attempts to curse Israel from the mountains, but the Lord puts a word of blessing in his mouth instead (Nu.22-24). It is on the plains of Shittim where the Midianites seduced Israel to immorality and idolatry, and 24,000 died in the plague (Nu.25). But the new generation in numbered in chapter 26, vengeance is taken on Midian in chapter 31, and the people are preparing to cross the Jordan under Joshua’s leadership.

Encouragement and Warning

There are a lot of lessons to learn from remembering, both the blessings of believing and the defeat of unbelief. This is both an encouragement and a warning.

Numbers 33:50 And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. 53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. 56 And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”

Remember. Remember the bondage of unbelief and disobedience. Remember there is freedom and victory through faith in Jesus!

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

The book of Numbers begins by numbering the fighting men who came out of Egypt. In chapters 13-14 that generation rebelled against the Lord and rejected his land, and the consequences of their unbelief was death. That generation would die in the wilderness, but their children, whom they feared would become a prey, would enter in (Nu.14:31). Here we are 40 years later, again on the border of the land, that rebellious generation having died in the wilderness, the next generation’s fighting men now numbered, poised to enter in. Preparations are being made, God’s instructions for life in the land; God’s provision of new leadership, provision of sacrifices and grain and wine for their offerings, the requirements of integrity in speech, and purification from that which defiles.

The Lust of The Eyes

In Numbers 32, another threat to God’s promise arises:

Numbers 32:1 Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. 2 So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land that the LORD struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.”

Because of their unbelief, failing to uphold the Lord as holy, Moses and Aaron were forbidden to cross the Jordan and enter the land (Dt.3:25,27). The promises to give his people this land date back over 600 years to the time of Abraham. Now, two of the tribes, making up almost 14% of Israel’s fighting force, ask to opt out of the conquest.

Notice what they say; They saw the land …and behold, the place was a place for livestock. This sounds familiar. There was another time great herds and suitable pastureland became an issue; and much of the language is similar. About this same land, also over 600 years earlier, in Genesis 13,

Genesis 13:10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom.

Two comparisons are made; this land is ‘like the garden of the Lord’, where our first parents saw and took for themselves that which was outside the boundaries;

Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

It is also ‘like the land of Egypt’, the place of slavery that the Lord delivered his people from, slavery they often longed to return to.

This was the land of the Ammonites and Moabites, descendants of Lot’s incestuous relations after God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen.19). Just as Lot ‘chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, these two tribes chose for themselves the land that they desired. ‘Let this land be given to your servants for a possession.’ And their final words are telling ‘Do not take us across the Jordan.’

A Strong Exhortation / Expositional Preaching

Moses, himself excluded from the land through his own sin, gives them a fiery rebuke and a warning:

Numbers 32:6 But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? 7 Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the LORD has given them? 8 Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the LORD had given them. 10 And the LORD’s anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, 12 none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.’ 13 And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone. 14 And behold, you have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel! 15 For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”

Moses starts by highlighting the selfishness of their request; all the tribes together fought to secure the land you now want for your own, and you want to settle down and leave them to conquer the land without your help?

Then he addresses the danger of this decision to the morale of the army; ‘Why do you discourage the heart of the people of Israel?’ This decision to opt out and settle outside the land will be contagious. This comes on the heels of a major victory, where the Midianites were defeated and not a man was lost in battle. Now 84,230 men want to hang up their weapons and quit before the real battle begins. This would be a dangerously demoralizing move.

He reminds them that this is ‘the land that the LORD has given them’. God’s gifts are meant to be received. It is nothing less than an insult to God to decline his gift and request something else instead. And he gives them a lesson from history. Rather than learning from the failures of the past, you are repeating them. Your fathers discouraged the hearts of the people from entering in to the good land the Lord was giving them. The result? YHWH’s anger was kindled. That entire generation who came out of Egypt, numbered at the beginning of this book, 603,548 men, died in the wilderness.

God had given his word, he had made a promise, he swore to give that land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Unbelief is not taking God at his word; they failed to walk in a way that showed they were believing what he said. That earlier generation was controlled by fear; there were giants in the land; they would be devoured. Their children would become giant food. This generation seems simply to prefer something else, something outside the promises of God.

The issue was wholly following the Lord. Their fathers were excluded from the promises because they did not wholly follow the Lord. Only two men, men they should have held as heroes, Caleb and Joshua, were men who wholly followed the Lord.

The Lord’s anger was kindled by their failure to wholly follow him, their contagious unbelief in God. Now these two tribes ‘have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of YHWH against Israel!’

My sin never affects only me. Moses was not only afraid that they would bring God’s judgment down on their own heads; he was afraid they would bring the fierce anger of YHWH against all of Israel because they were a people, and what one did brought guilt into the camp. A little leaven leavens the whole lump (1Cor.5:6). “For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”

Moses gave them a strong warning, but it was a warning, meant to open their eyes to the danger of what they proposed, and to turn them away from the error of their ways.

A Modified Proposal; (Repentance or Persistence?)

Reuben and Gad modified their proposal;

Numbers 32:16 Then they came near to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 17 but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.”

The mention of ‘little ones’ in light of the danger of ‘the inhabitants of the land’ reminds us of the first generation who were afraid that they would enter the land, only ‘to fall by the sword; our wives and our little ones will become a prey’ (Nu.14:3). Now these ‘little ones’, the next generation of fighting men the Lord promised to give the land, are seeking to settle for less than God’s promises.

But rather than not crossing the Jordan; letting their ‘brothers go to the war while you sit here’, they promise to take up arms and go before the people, to lead the charge, until each of their brothers had gained his inheritance. They reiterate that they want to inherit the land east of the Jordan, outside the land.

They are bargaining. We are not sure what their motive is. Is this rooted in repentance, a recognition that what Moses has warned of was true? Did they feel remorse for wishing to stay behind while their brothers go to the war? Did they recognize the terrible danger of discouraging the people? Were they willing to wholly follow the Lord? Or were they simply determined to have what they desired, and willing to make concessions in order to get it? We aren’t told, in fact we are left with Moses wondering about their sincerity.

If / Then / If Not, Be Sure Your Sin Will Find You Out

Moses answers with an if.

Numbers 32:20 So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the LORD for the war, 21 and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him 22 and the land is subdued before the LORD; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the LORD.

23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.”

Moses can’t see their hearts. He accepts their proposal, but with an ‘if,’ and a warning, and a call to be men of their word. If you do what you say you will do, then you will have fulfilled your obligation and you may take your possession east of the Jordan.

In his language, he issues a reminder that victory belongs to the Lord (Pr.21:31). Reuben and Gad offer to lead the armies, but they must not begin to think that the success belongs to them. It is the Lord who will drive out his enemies, and the land will be subdued before YHWH.

He issues a warning; ‘but if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against YHWH, and be sure your sin will find you out.’ Moses can’t see their hearts, but YHWH God knows. He is calling them to search their own hearts, and know that any sin against God, however hidden, will eventually catch up with them. Sin here is personified; like the Lord’s word of warning to Cain, ‘sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you’ (Gen.4:7).

This is taking the shape of a contractual agreement, a covenant. The terms are clearly stated; if / then; if not / then. Do what you have promised. In verses 25-27 Gad and Reuben agree to the terms Moses has laid out. In verses 28-30, this covenant that has been hammered out primarily between Moses and the leaders of Gad and Reuben is made public.

Numbers 32:28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. 29 And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the LORD, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. 30 However, if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”

This holds them accountable. This is important, because Moses will not be there to determine if they keep their word. It will be on the next generation of leaders, on Joshua and on Eleazar the high priest and the heads of the tribes to hold them to their word. Again in verses 31-32, this time publicly, the people of Gad and Reuben agree to the terms and give their word.

Moses rehearses this covenant in Deuteronomy 3. In Joshua 1, after Moses has died, Joshua reminds them of their word and they affirm their commitment. We see in Joshua 4:12 that ‘the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them.’

The rest of this passage specifies what land is allotted to whom. In their original proposal nine cities are named; here the total comes up to 14; eight for Gad, six for Reuben. Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran. Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, Nebo, and Baal-meon (those names were changed from being named after false gods), and Sibmah. These are real places; most of them have been identified.

Part of the tribe of Manasseh is included in this proposal for the first time in verse 33.

Numbers 32:39 And the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40 And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it. 41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair. 42 And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

In Numbers 27 we met Machir son of Manasseh’s great grandson Zelophehad, who had only daughters, and those daughters successfully petitioned for inheritance rights. We will see them again in chapter 36. Here we learn that their inheritance would lie east of the Jordan in Gilead.

Somewhere around eight years later, in Joshua 22

Joshua 22:1 At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. 3 You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the LORD your God. 4 And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

Motives; Search My Heart O God

Was this a good thing or a bad thing? They settled on the other side of the Jordan, and that created its own problems and dangers. Our actions, our choices have consequences. The Lord had given them the victory over Sihon and Og in Numbers 21, and this proposal increased the total territory of Israel. These tribes answered Moses’ objections, and he conceded. And they proved true to their word. And yet even Joshua warns them, charges them to love and cling to YHWH your God. The answer is not always clear cut, black or white. Many times there are mixed motives. We need to hear straightforward rebuke, we need to be willing to heed warnings, to be willing to search our own hearts. But remember, our hearts are deceitful (Jer.17:9); we don’t always even understand our own true motives. There is wisdom in praying with David:

Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Are you wholly following the LORD, clinging to him as your only hope? Are you clinging only to Jesus?

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Spiritual Warfare

The Christian life is war. We are in a spiritual battle. And the stakes are high.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. …

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

We are in Numbers 31. This is an account of war. War is never pleasant, but sometimes it is necessary. God’s people are poised to enter the land God promised to give to them.

Numbers 31:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the LORD’s vengeance on Midian. 4 You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5 So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.

This is to be Moses’ final battle. Afterward (which we find out means after he communicates to them the contents of the book of Deuteronomy) he will be gathered to his people. Because he did not treat the Lord as holy in the Meribah-Kadesh incident, he is not allowed to enter the earthly promised land; rather he will be gathered to his people, to Abraham’s bosom, to await the final resurrection of the saints.

God’s people are to ‘execute YHWH’s vengeance on Midian’. God’s people, with God’s visible presence enthroned in the midst of their camp as their commander in chief, directing the Lord’s army, are to execute God’s vengeance on his enemy.

Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar, is to direct the battle with the holy articles, namely the silver trumpets from chapter 10.

Only a representative 12,000 out of the 601,730 numbered in chapter 26 are to engage in this battle, just under 2% of Israel’s fighting force. The Lord can save by many or by few (1Sam.14:6).

Balaam’s Involvement

Numbers 31:7 They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9 And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. 10 All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, 11 and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. 12 Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

Remember Balaam son of Beor? Balaam was the pagan sorcerer hired by the king of Moab and the elders of Midian to curse Israel. After 3 failed attempts to curse them, in which God spoke a blessing over them through him instead,

Numbers 24:10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. 11 Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the LORD has held you back from honor.”

After one final unsolicited prophetic word from the Lord over what Israel would do to Moab and its allies in the latter days,

Numbers 24:25 Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

I thought we had seen the last of Balaam in that chapter, but here he is killed along with the five kings of Midian. What is he doing here? This will become clear in a moment.

Balaam’s Advice

Numbers 31:13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16 Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD. 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 18 But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves. 19 Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.”

Here we find out that Balaam’s advice was behind the seduction of Israel to immorality and the worship of false gods in chapter 25 that caused a plague in which 24,000 Israelites died (25:9). The sorcerer for hire was prevented from cursing the ones that God had blessed, but it appears that he pursued a different means of attacking Israel, and it worked. At one point Balaam expressed his desire to ‘die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his’ (Nu.23:10), but he chose a different path. What Israel did is described as treachery against the Lord; covenant unfaithfulness, breaking covenant vows to take God alone to be their God and to be his people; it was not only sexual immorality, it was spiritual adultery.

The consequence of adultery under the law was death, and God had already executed vengeance on the 24,000 men of Israel who indulged in this false worship and immorality. Now the women would be held accountable for their actions. Judgment began with the house of God (1Pet.4:17-18), but God’s justice is not be satisfied until everyone involved is held accountable for their sins.
Genocide? Or Holy War?

This is hard for us to swallow; God commanding his people to kill every man, woman and child. What do we do with this?

First, Israel was a theocracy, with God seated on his throne in the middle of the camp, directing his armies. God’s people had been attacked, seduced into unfaithfulness, and in chapter 25, the are held responsible for their sin. This chapter is ‘the LORD’s vengeance on Midian’ for what they did to his people. God is God, and God was doing what was necessary to secure the purity of his chosen people and bring about all his promises, ultimately that the promised One would be born, the Seed of the woman, descended from David, born of a virgin. We may not understand why, but God’s ways our higher (not lower) than ours (Is.55:9). God reveals himself as ‘merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, …forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty’ (Ex.34:6-7); we may never understand why he does all that he does, but we can trust his character.

God is not telling us today as followers of Jesus to do this. On this side of the cross and resurrection, we are commanded to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us (Mt.5:44).

Our War With Sin

This gives us a picture of our battle against sin; we are to be ruthless in our battle with sin, and that primarily applies to the sin within; Jesus told us that if our own eye or hand causes us to sin, tear it out, cut it off (Mt.5:28-30). We are to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal.5:24). Our battle against our own sin is to be merciless.

The other thing we can say is that our sense of justice rises up in outrage at innocent people being harmed, and this is right. But we need to remember who we are, and that our perspective is not always accurate. The Bible says ‘all have sinned.’ ‘None is righteous, no not one’ (Rom.3:10,23). According to this there are no innocent people. God is just, and will not let the guilty go unpunished. Even if in our opinion we are better than the other guy, we are guilty before God. But in Jesus (and this is the good news!), God has made a way for sinners like us to be forgiven, cleansed, made new, counted righteous by faith in the finished work of Jesus.

Exposure to Death Defiles; Requires Purification

This is serious, this is sobering, death is defiling; even the death of those who deserve to die. There ought to be grief over everything that has gone wrong in God’s good world. All everyone and everything who had come in contact with death are to go through the purification process described in Numbers 19 with the water for purification. Death contaminates. We are to ‘snatch some from the fire, …hating even the garment stained by the flesh’ and to ‘keep watch on ourselves, lest we too be tempted’ (Jude:22-25; Gal.6:1).

Fire destroys. Fire also purifies.

Numbers 31:21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded Moses: 22 only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.”

Peter tells us:

1 Peter 1:6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Everyone and everything that will be brought into the camp, into proximity to the Lord and his tent must be purified.

Plunder Divided

Numbers 31:25 The LORD said to Moses, 26 “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation, 27 and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28 And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. 29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD. 30 And from the people of Israel’s half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the LORD.” 31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.

In most cultures plunder was considered the wage of the warriors who went to battle, and they may give to their gods whatever they chose. But in Israel, that which was given to them by God was to be divided between the warriors who went out to battle, and those who were required to stay behind, and a percentage given for the sustenance of the priests and the Levites.

Numbers 31:32 Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him.

Half of this was divided between the 12,000 men who went out to battle. Half was dispersed among the 589,730 who stayed behind. Of the warrior’s portion one out of 500 (or 2 tenths of one percent) was given to the Lord; out of the remainder of the people’s portion, one out of 50 (or 2 percent) was given to the Levites.

If we connect this with the cumulative numbers of lambs and bulls offered in the yearly sacrifices in chapters 29-30, we see that what God gave them from the plunder of the Midianites was far beyond what was required of them for their sacrifices. Less than 2 tenths of one percent of the total plunder would cover the 1,093 lambs and 113 bulls that the Lord required of them each year. To put it another way, this one war provided over 600 years worth of the regular sacrifices. That which God requires of us, he also provides.

Generosity Inspired by God’s Protection; Debt vs. Relationship

Numbers 31:48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses 49 and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. 50 And we have brought the LORD’s offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.” 51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. 52 And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels. 53 (The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the people of Israel before the LORD.

God’s gracious protection over his people in this battle, where this small force of 12,000 men gained such a victory without even one casualty led their hearts to overflow with generosity. In Exodus 30, God instructed his people that if they number the people, each man is to give a ransom to God for his life. David in 2 Samuel 24 (cf. 1Chr.21) chose to number the people and brought a plague on the nation. God’s people belong to God and only God gets to count his own stuff. David as king was acting as if the people under his authority belonged to him. But on this occasion this was an act of worship; the commanders were amazed that out of their small fighting force, not one man was lost in battle. The fighting men made a voluntary offering of the spoils to God totaling 16,750 shekels. The command in Exodus 30 was one half shekel per person. For the 12,000 fighting men, this would have totaled 6,000 shekels; they gladly gave 10,750 shekels above and beyond the minimum required. God’s abundant grace stirred up a response of willing generosity in his people, and they gave 279% of what they were obligated to give.

This next generation was beginning to walk in obedience to all that God commanded, to walk in joyful relationship with him.

Romans 12:10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

My wife and I have a relationship with the Internal Revenue Service. My natural tendency is to do the minimum I’m obligated to do. When we pay our taxes, it has never gone through my mind or heart to increase the amount I pay just because I appreciate them so much. And I’ll use my wife in this illustration because she’s the generous one in our relationship, and I still have a lot to learn from her. But I don’t think its ever crossed her mind either. Our relationship with the IRS is one of debt and obligation. But with people we know, we love, our family, friends, she often doesn’t even keep track; it’s her joy to give. God makes demands on us, because God is God. But God is abundantly generous toward us, God desires a relationship with us, not merely of duty or obligation, but of knowing and being known. He invites us into relationship.

What is your relationship with the Lord? Is it obligation? Or the delight of knowing and being known?

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

In Numbers 13, the people are at the border of the land. They send in spies, the majority of whom bring back a bad report of the land, inciting fear in the people. In Numbers 14 they reject God’s promises and refuse to enter in; God decrees judgment on that generation, but promises the next generation will enter in. The people presumptuously go to battle, attempting to take the land in their own strength, contrary to God’s instructions, and they are defeated before their enemy.

In Numbers 15, God addresses that next generation:

Numbers 15:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you, 3 and you offer to the LORD from the herd or from the flock a food offering or a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pleasing aroma to the LORD, 4 then he who brings his offering shall offer to the LORD a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil; 5 and you shall offer with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, a quarter of a hin of wine for the drink offering for each lamb.

For a ram the flour is doubled and the oil and wine increased from ¼ to 1/3. For a bull, the flour is tripled, and the oil and wine is increased to ½ hin.

Now this next generation is camped at the border of the land, their parents having fallen in the wilderness. In chapter 31, in preparation for entrance to the land, Israel will wipe out the Midianites, who led them to sin.

In chapter 28 and 29, God summarized the all the livestock, grain, oil and wine that would be required for the daily, weekly, and monthly sacrifices, and for the annual feast days; if I did the math right, the annual totals come out to: 113 bulls, 37 rams, 1,093 lambs, and 19 goats, together with 753 gallons of fine flour, 342 gallons of oil and 342 gallons of wine or strong drink. This was a promise of the bounty of the land and the provision God would supply to make these lavish feasts and offerings possible. Numbers 29 closes with these words:

Numbers 29:39 “These you shall offer to the LORD at your appointed feasts, in addition to your vow offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.” 40 ​So Moses told the people of Israel everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

So the sacrifices listed in Numbers 28 and 29 were the minimum required sacrifices, not including other more voluntary types of offerings like those to fulfill a vow, the freewill offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and peace offerings.

Chapter 30 puts some parameters around vow offerings, specifically under what circumstances and by whom a vow can be annulled.

Sacrifices are costly; David said of the offerings he offered at the purchase of the temple mount “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” (1Chr.21:24).

In today’s market, just to get a ballpark idea of what we are talking about, a bull values somewhere around $6,000; a ram around $500; and a lamb around $200. If those numbers are right, the amount of livestock listed for a year of the base required offerings would be just shy of a million dollars ($915.100).

Vows could come in many different shapes and sizes. Jacob (Gen.28) promised God a tenth of everything if God would protect him and bring him home safely. Jephthah (Jud.11) promised to sacrifice whatever came out of his house if God would grant victory in battle. Hannah (1Sam.1) promised to give her child to the service of God if God would give her a child. The Nazirite vow in Numbers 6 was a dedication of self to the service of God for a period of time, during which certain things were given up and a higher level of separation was required. When Israel was under attack from the Canaanites in Numbers 21, they vowed to give those cities to the Lord as an offering if God would give them victory.

Do Not Break Your Word

Deuteronomy 23 says:

Deuteronomy 23:21 “If you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. 23 You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth.

Vows to God are a big deal. Vows are serious, not to be entered into lightly, and cannot be broken without incurring guilt.

Numbers 29 concludes the list of regular offerings with a mention of additional offerings that can be offered, including vow offerings. Numbers 30 specifically addresses these vows.

Numbers 30:1 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the LORD has commanded. 2 If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

God’s people are not to break their word. Say what you will do, and do what you say.

Numbers 30:3 “If a woman vows a vow to the LORD and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father’s house in her youth, 4 and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the LORD will forgive her, because her father opposed her.

The rest of this chapter deals with vows that can be revoked by a person in authority. We are to honor father and mother. Children are under the authority and protection of parents. And a father has the authority to revoke the vows or pledges of a daughter in his house. This is a protection against coercion; a young woman pressured into pledging something is protected by her father’s authority. A vow that is considered unreasonable, that has the potential of harming the daughter or the family is voidable by the father.

Here’s the idea. One of my daughters could ask me to co-sign on a loan, and I would have the option to consider the terms of that loan, and if I am able and willing to meet the conditions. I have the option to sign or not, and to legally bind myself or not. It would not be right for my daughter to take out a loan in my name without my permission. This is protection for me, because my daughter could not vow to give someone my ox (or in today’s terms my automobile) without my consent. This is protection for her, because if she owns an ox (or a car), she would need my permission while in my house to give it away.

Numbers 30:6 “If she marries a husband, while under her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, 7 and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. 8 But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself. And the LORD will forgive her.

If her father allowed her vow, but her fiancee is not willing to take on the debt or responsibility of that vow, he, taking on the responsibility to care for and to protect her, has the right to nullify that vow.

The assumption of this passage is that any breach of faith, any breaking of one’s word incurs guilt and needs to be forgiven. And under these specific circumstances the word of the husband or the word of the father releases the one under their authority from the debt.

Numbers 30:9 (But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.)

A woman not under outside authority is bound by her word. She, like the man in verse 2, must keep her word. There is no release from that vow.

Numbers 30:10 And if she vowed in her husband’s house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, 11 and her husband heard of it and said nothing to her and did not oppose her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. 12 But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the LORD will forgive her. 13 Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself, her husband may establish, or her husband may make void. 14 But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges that are upon her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them. 15 But if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her iniquity.”

A failure to take action and revoke a vow by implication affirms that vow. A husband cannot hear a vow, say nothing, and then revoke it later. His silence affirms that vow. Healthy communication is good for a marriage. Hannah, unable to have children,

1 Samuel 1:11 And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”

That seems like a pretty big deal. Something that husband and wife ought to be on the same page with. ‘By the way, I just gave away our firstborn son.’ ‘Oh, that’s nice dear.’ Do you think maybe we should talk about this first?

Numbers 30:16 These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses about a man and his wife and about a father and his daughter while she is in her youth within her father’s house.

Well-Ordered Community

What underlies all these legal provisions is order in the community. Ephesians tells us

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. … 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,

Honor God-given authority. Consider one another. Do not abuse God-given authority, but use it wisely to serve and protect those under your care.

Do Not Use Vows to Avoid Responsibility

In Jesus’ day vows to God were being used manipulatively by adult children to avoid supporting and caring for their parents.

Mark 7:6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Vows were never meant to be used this way. It is the very opposite of what a vow is meant to be to avoid the responsibility of caring for others and attempt to selfishly accumulate more wealth for self.

Vows and the Character of God

Ecclesiastes says:

Ecclesiastes 5:1 ​Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2 ​Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

Ecclesiastes 5:4 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.

Vows are a big deal because of the character of God. God is a God of truth; what he says, he will do. He never makes a promise he will not keep. Our vows are a big deal because as image bearers of God, we represent him to this world. We are to be men and women of our word because our speech and our conduct ultimately reflects the character of God to a watching world.

We are to be people of our word. Psalm 15 asks:

Psalm 15:1 O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; 3 who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 ​in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

Jesus taught his followers to be people of their word.

Matthew 5:33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

The Heidelberg catechism asks if we are ever allowed to swear or take an oath; it answers “Yes; when the magistrate requires it, or it may be needful otherwise to maintain and promote fidelity and truth, to the glory of God and our neighbor’s good. For such swearing is grounded in God’s Word, and therefore was rightly used by the saints in the Old and New Testaments” (Lord’s day 37).

God is faithful. All the promises of God find their ‘yes’ in Jesus. (2Cor.1:18-22). Jesus testified in John 3:

John 3:33 …that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Look to Jesus for salvation from the consequences of your sins, and you will live. Look anywhere else and God’s righteous wrath will remain on you.

God himself took an oath. Hebrews 6 tells us:

Hebrews 6:13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, …16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

God’s Gift of the Land

We have been journeying with Israel through the wilderness in Numbers. Delivered from Egypt, even after rebellion, grace! God dwelling among his people in the Tabernacle; he pitched his tent among them, and was with them throughout their wilderness experience. They came to the borders of the land he promised to give to them, and controlled by fear, they rejected his promises, his grace. They rejected him, his laws, his leaders, and his land. That generation chose to die in the wilderness, but God graciously promised that their children, the next generation, he would bring into the land. Miriam died, Aaron died, Moses will die; but here on the borders of the land, they take a new census, a numbering of this next generation who will receive God’s promises by faith.

Chapters 28 and 29 consist of a list of commands about the sacrifices to be offered at the tabernacle. In the context of the book, this is another confirmation of God’s promises; they would be settled in this land of plenty;

Deuteronomy 6:10 “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant— …

This gift of the land would grant them access to the resources necessary to support God’s instructions in these chapters. What God requires, he provides.

It’s All About Me!

God introduces these instructions with these words:

Numbers 28:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time.’

My, my, my, my, me; my offering, my food, my offerings, my pleasing aroma, offer to me. If we are tempted to think that the universe revolves around us, God re-orients our thinking. He tells us ‘this is about me; it’s really all about me’. Throughout the wilderness wanderings, the people attempted to put themselves in the middle of everything; my needs, my wants, my desires, my preferences. They grumbled and complained about God’s good gifts. When we put ourselves at the center, we mess everything up! God graciously re-orients us to that which is truly significant, truly weighty, truly has mass and gravitation around which we were meant to orbit, God himself and his glory.

The opportunity to offer sacrifices to God is a gift. Every good thing we have is a gift, and it is our privilege to give back some of it to God, to remind us to keep our own priorities in line, to keep us orbiting around him as our center. We were made for worship, to ascribe worth to the only one who is truly worthy. And it is in this that we find our joy.

These chapters outline God’s requirements for sacrifices from his people;

28:1-2; It’s All About Me!

28:3-8; Daily (Morning and Evening) [Ex.29:38-46]

28:9-10; Weekly (Sabbath) [Ex.31:12-17; Lev.23:3]

28:11-15; Monthly (New Moon)

Annually:

28:16-25; Passover and Unleavened Bread (7 days) [Lev.23:4-8]

28:26-31; Firstfruits and Feast of Weeks [Lev.23:9-22]

29:1-6; Feast of Trumpets [Lev.23:23-25]

29:7-11; The Day of Atonement [Lev.23:26-32; Lev.16]

29:12-38; The Feast of Booths (Tabernacles; 8 days) [Lev.23:33-43]

29:39-40; Conclusion

There is a rhythm of life to keep the followers of God centered on God. And keep in mind this is not primarily individual (although there’s clearly some applications we can make there); this is corporate; this is a list of sacrifices made by the priests in the tabernacle on behalf of the entire congregation. Based on the arrangement of the camp around God’s tent in Numbers 2 and 3, this is literally central to their lives as a community.

Daily (Morning and Evening) [cf. Ex.29:38-46]

Numbers 28:3 And you shall say to them, This is the food offering that you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a regular offering. 4 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 5 also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin of beaten oil. 6 It is a regular burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. 7 Its drink offering shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb. In the Holy Place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD. 8 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight. Like the grain offering of the morning, and like its drink offering, you shall offer it as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

This summary of offerings begins with the daily offerings, morning and evening, which were to be kept burning all night long until the morning. As the rest of this passage makes clear, even on days when other offerings were made, they were in addition to this basic daily foundation of sacrifices. In long lists of animals and sacrifices, it’s easy to get lost, so I put together some graphics that I hope will help us track with what’s going on in each of these sacrifices.

This is described as ‘the food offering that you shall offer to YHWH’; and it includes not only meat, but flour and oil and wine, a full meal. But it is made clear that this is not actually sustenance for God; ‘If I were hungry, I would not tell you’ (Ps.50:12). It goes up in smoke, as a pleasing aroma to YHWH. As it were, he smells the sweet savor and is satisfied.

The Wages of Sin, Substitution and God’s Grace

You might be thinking that it’s sad, it might even seem wrong, to think of a cute little lamb being killed and offered as a sacrifice, and that’s part of the point. Leviticus 1 gives instructions on how the burnt offering is to be offered:

Leviticus 1:3 “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD. 4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

The purpose of these offerings is made clear; it is ‘that he may be accepted before YHWH’. The wages of sin is death, and when a person would put his hand on the head of the animal, he would be identifying with that animal. That animal is then ‘accepted for him to make atonement for him’. The dying animal experiences the wages of my sin, experiences the death I deserve, in my place. You might think ‘but that’s not fair! The lamb doesn’t deserve to die!’ and again, you would be right. The wages of sin is death, and you deserve to die, but God in his grace made a way for something or someone to take your place, to take the punishment you deserve. When we think of a lamb on the altar, we should be thinking ‘that ought to be me!’

Exodus 29 talks about the offering of these two daily lambs

Exodus 29:42 It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43 There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. 45 I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

The point of the sacrifices is to make a way for sinners like us to have the all holy all glorious God dwell among us, to meet with us, to speak to us. That we might know him, enjoy relationship with him. That can only happen when we are sanctified, consecrated, set apart, cleansed, made holy. And that can only happen by the penalty of sin being taken out of the way through sacrifice.

The morning and evening sacrifices are a reminder that through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, through faith in him, we have access to God all day every day. We benefit from reminding ourselves morning and evening of the good news that Jesus took my place so that I can enjoy relationship with him. Charles Spurgeon named his daily devotional (which I recommend) after this, taking time to savor the good news morning and evening.

Weekly; The Sabbath: [cf. Ex.31:12-17; Lev.23:3]

Numbers 28:9 “On the Sabbath day, two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering: 10 this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

In addition to the daily offering, there is a weekly offering, the Sabbath. It is a reminder of the six days of creation, and the seventh day in which God rested from all his work (Gn.2:2-3). He invites us into his rest. He invites those he set free from the hard labor of slavery into his rest. He invites the weary and heavy laden to enjoy rest with him.

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

We see in the New Testament that the resurrection of Jesus changes everything! The primary day for weekly worship as a community of believers shifted from the seventh day to the first day of the week; from rest to new creation; resurrection day!

Monthly (New Moon)

Numbers 28:11 “At the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; 12 also three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull, and two tenths of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; 13 and a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for every lamb; for a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. 14 Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and a quarter of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. 15 Also one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

The sacrifice on the new moon (the first of the month) was significantly more substantial, with larger and more animals, and the corresponding larger quantities of grain, oil and wine; almost a bushel of flour and 3 gallons of oil and wine. This was a feast fit for a King. At this monthly offering a goat for a sin offering was added, a reminder of our need for forgiveness; we are sinners in need of a substitute. This offering set the standard for the spring feasts.

Annual: Passover and Unleavened Bread (7 days) [Lev.23:4-8]

Numbers 28:16 “On the fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover, 17 and on the fifteenth day of this month is a feast. Seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. 18 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, 19 but offer a food offering, a burnt offering to the LORD:

The same animals in the same quantities as the monthly offering are listed.

Numbers 28:23 You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a regular burnt offering. 24 In the same way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. 25 And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work.

Unleavened bread was a seven day feast, celebrating the firstfruits of the barley harvest. The same offerings were repeated each of the seven days, for a total of 14 bulls, 7 rams, 49 lambs and 7 goats, together with over 6 bushels of flour, 21 gallons of oil and 21 gallons of wine. It was on Passover that our Lord was crucified as the fulfillment of the Passover lamb, and he was raised on Sunday during the feast of unleavened bread.

Annual: Firstfruits and Feast of Weeks [Lev.23:9-22]

The feast of weeks was 7 weeks after the day the firstfruits sheaf of the barley harvest was presented to the Lord (Lev.23:15-16), 7 weeks after Resurrection Sunday. It celebrated the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, also on the day after the Sabbath, a Sunday.

Numbers 28:26 “On the day of the firstfruits, when you offer a grain offering of new grain to the LORD at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, 27 but offer a burnt offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD: …

Again this feast requires the same offerings as the monthly New Moon offering.

Numbers 28:31 Besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall offer them and their drink offering. See that they are without blemish.

The feast of weeks in Greek was called Pentecost (for the counting of 50 days); the Jews recognized this as the day the Lord came down on Mount Sinai in fire and gave his people his covenant. It was 50 days after the Resurrection that the Spirit was poured out in fire on his apostles, and the New Covenant community was born.

Feast of Trumpets [Lev.23:23-25]

We now jump ahead to the fall feasts, around September / October.

Numbers 29:1 “On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, 2 and you shall offer a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to the LORD: …

This feast has similar offerings to the New Moon, except it has one less bull. But being on the first of the month, this is in addition to the regular monthly and daily offerings.

Numbers 29:6 besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and its grain offering, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offering, according to the rule for them, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

We are not told much about this feast, except it was a day for blowing trumpets.

The Day of Atonement [Lev.23:26-32; Lev.16]

Numbers 29:7 “On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation and afflict yourselves. You shall do no work, 8 but you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma: …

The day of Atonement had the same sacrifices as the Feast of Trumpets

Numbers 29:11 …besides the sin offering of atonement, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

But this was a fast rather than a feast, a day of national mourning for sin.

Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

Revelation 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

The Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) [Lev.23:33-43]

Numbers 29:12 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall keep a feast to the LORD seven days.

This is the Feast of Booths, the last of the three pilgrim feasts that every man was required to attend. This celebrated the final ingathering of the late crops like grapes and olives. Leviticus 23:39-43 describes the booths or tabernacles they would construct to commemorate their time in the wilderness dwelling in tents. Remember these commands come to them while they are encamped outside the land, poised to enter in. But the focus here is on the sacrifices they would offer:

Numbers 29:13 And you shall offer a burnt offering, a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD, thirteen bulls from the herd, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old; they shall be without blemish; 14 and their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each of the two rams, 15 and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; 16 also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.

This feast was a countdown of sorts; it was a seven day feast, and each day one less bull was offered, counting down to a perfect seven bulls on the seventh day. And this feast had a solemn assembly on the first day and on the eighth day, a day of new beginnings.

Numbers 29:35 “On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You shall not do any ordinary work, 36 but you shall offer a burnt offering, a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD: …

This eighth day assembly reverted back to the same offerings given on the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. This was a climactic celebration, with extravagant sacrifices. It looked back to the wilderness days, with the Lord dwelling in a tent in the middle of their camp; but it also looks forward to a coming day:

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Conclusion

39 “These you shall offer to the LORD at your appointed feasts, in addition to your vow offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.” 40 ​So Moses told the people of Israel everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Look back, look forward, keep God at the center; fix your eyes on Jesus.

***

Jesus showed us how to keep the feasts as his followers (even after the temple was destroyed and there was no way to offer these required sacrifices); it is in the Lord’s Supper;

Luke 22:15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” … 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 5:7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Faith. How do you define faith? What does your faith look like? We’re in Numbers 27. We’ve seen what unbelief looks like. We’ve witnessed grumbling, complaining about God’s good gifts. We’ve seen the people come to the very border of the land God promised to give them, and they respond

Numbers 13:31 …“We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

We’ve seen the people rebel against God’s authority, going their own way, refusing to be shepherded. We’ve seen a whole generation fall in the wilderness because of their unbelief. We’ve even seen this next generation stray from the Lord to worship other gods, and 24,000 of them died in the plague. The census of Numbers 26 ends this way:

Numbers 26:64 But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For the LORD had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” Not one of them was left, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

Bold Faith; The Daughters of Zelophehad

But here in Numbers 27 we see a bold example of faith.

Numbers 27:1 Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin. And he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.”

God had promised to give the people the land. The land is currently occupied by giants, in walled cities, greater and stronger than they (Nu.13:28; Dt.9:1-3). They have yet to set foot across the Jordan, into the land. They have battles yet to fight. Much is uncertain. But they are moving forward in faith. God said he would give them the land, that he would drive out its inhabitants before them, so they are taking God at his word and moving forward. These women have a question that is completely irrelevant outside the land. Their question is not based on an ‘if’ but on a ‘when’. When God gives us the land, what does this look like for us? We believe God will do what he promised to do, and when he does, what is our lot in that; what is our inheritance?

This is a great definition of faith; taking God at his word, believing he will do what he has promised. Faith is not quantitative, as if we need more of it; when asked to increase their faith, Jesus told his disciples that with even the smallest amount of faith, nothing is impossible (Lk.17:5-6). Faith does not have power in and of itself, so that if I believe something hard enough, it will come true. No, faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed. Faith in a lie is useless, no matter how firmly you hold it. But faith in God’s promise is as sure as the God who made those promises.

We find this same definition of faith in Romans 4, when Abraham, in spite of his circumstances believed that God would do what he had promised.

Romans 4:20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Faith gives glory to God because faith is simply depending on God to do what he has said he would do.

We were introduced to these five women in Numbers 26:33, the fifth generation from Manasseh, daughters of Zelophehad who had no sons but only daughters. In a patriarchal society, property rights are passed down through the sons; not because men are better than women, but because there needed to be a way to keep the land inheritance within the tribe to whom it was given. This allowed for marriage outside of one’s tribe, and still maintain the God-given property rights of each tribe. These women make the case that their father had not forfeited his property rights because of joining in overt rebellion against YHWH. These women were making a legal petition for the property rights of their father to not be lost because he had no sons; and they found a hearing before Moses and Eleazar and the chiefs of the tribes at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

Walk in Light of God’s Revealed Word

Moses heard their plea. This is a special circumstance, a circumstance for which there is no law, no word from the Lord, no precedent. God has given his people his word. He has revealed his will. He has given them his law, and he expects them to act in accordance to his word, not to walk contrary to what he has said, and not (like Balaam) to seek another word from the Lord (Nu.22:19), a different answer contrary to what he has already spoken, because ‘God is not a man, …that he should change his mind’ (Nu.23:19).

When we already have God’s will revealed in God’s word written, faith is never seeking a different answer according to our own desires. God expects us to take what we have been given, apply his principles to our circumstances, and walk in his wisdom.

But this is a circumstance to which God has not spoken. Like the case in Numbers 9:8, Moses does not go beyond the word of the Lord and speak on his own. He takes the question to the Lord and waits for his answer. And God gives him more than an answer to this specific question; he sets a precedent and gives instructions that will guide them in similar future decisions.

Numbers 27:5 Moses brought their case before the LORD. 6 And the LORD said to Moses, 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them. 8 And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. 9 And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. And it shall be for the people of Israel a statute and rule, as the LORD commanded Moses.’”

These daughters of Zelophehad bracket this last section of Numbers as chapter 36 gives further clarification on the implications of this decision on inheritance in the land as the people prepare to enter in. These daughters of Zelophehad set a bold example of faith in the promises of God, trusting him to do what he said he would do, and living in a way that displays their confidence in God. These women setting an example of confident dependence on God stand in stark contrast to the Midianite women who led the people to gratify their own desires and go after other gods.

Unbelief and Its Consequences; Death

The flesh must be put to death (Rom.8:13; Col.3:5).

Numbers 27:12 The LORD said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel. 13 When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14 because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

Although Moses was a man of faith, even he stumbled. He acted in unbelief (Nu.20:12). He acted out of anger and frustration, out of pride and selfishness. He and his brother Aaron failed to uphold the Lord as holy in the eyes of the congregation. He acted in disobedience. Disobedience has consequences. He would not set foot in the promised land. Like Abraham before him, he would die in faith having seen it from afar, but not having received the things promised (Heb.11:13).

We see Moses continue to receive God’s word through the end of Numbers, now with Joshua by his side transitioning into leadership. Deuteronomy consists of Moses giving God’s instructions to the people on the plains of Moab before they enter the land, and Deuteronomy ends (32-34) with the account of Moses’ death on Mount Nebo. Moses records in Deuteronomy 3 his petition to the Lord on this occasion to be allowed to enter the land, and the Lord’s refusal. When we fail to walk by faith, there are consequences.

Our Need For a Shepherd

But here Moses’ heart is displayed:

Numbers 27:15 Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, 16 “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.”

Moses had experience shepherding the flock of another (Ex.3:1). And as frustrating as that often was, he cared for the sheep. His concern was that this people be cared for as they enter into the land without him. Moses did not appoint one of his own sons; he did not select his own successor; he took this need to the Lord. He appealed for one who would go out before the people and come in before them; that is shepherding language, leading to pasture and bringing back to the fold, but more specifically that is military language, (1Sam.8:20; 18:13) one who would lead them out to battle and bring them back safely.

Moses was concerned that God’s people not be hungry, lost and vulnerable, lacking direction and protection, like sheep without a shepherd.
Spirit Filled Joshua (and the Shepherds of Israel)

Numbers 27:18 So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 19 Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. 20 You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. 21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.”

Hoshea, son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim (Nu.13:8,16); renamed Joshua, assistant to Moses from his youth (Nu.11:28); who led Israel’s army (Ex.17), who spent time with Moses on the mountain and at the tent of meeting (Ex.24:13; 33:11), who objected that Moses’ authority might be undermined by others prophesying (Nu.11:28), one of only two spies who brought back a good report of the land (Nu.14), who was full of the Spirit, was the Lord’s choice. He was to be given some of Moses’ authority, commissioned publicly. But there was a difference; the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend (Ex.33:11; Dt.34:10); Joshua was to receive direction through the priest who would mediate the Lord’s instructions.

Numbers 27:22 And Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, 23 and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the LORD directed through Moses.

Joshua faithfully led the people to victory in the promised land,

Judges 2:7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. … 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel. 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.

The time of the Judges was a time where ‘Everyone did what was right in his own eyes’ (Jdg.17:6; 21:25). The Lord took David from the sheepfolds to shepherd his people (Ps.78:70-72), but even David fell short. The time of the kings was described this way: ‘I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd.’ (1Ki.22:17). The prophets had scathing rebukes for the shepherds of Israel who fed only themselves (Is.56; Jer.23;25;50; Ez.34; Zech.10)

The Good Shepherd

But already God was pointing beyond Joshua to someone greater; a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord would know face to face, who would speak all his words (Dt.18:15,18; 34:10).

Isaiah prophesied:

Isaiah 40:9 Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” 10 ​Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11 ​He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

And to Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 34:15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD.

Jesus said in John 10:

John 10:7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 ​I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 ​I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 ​just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

The greater Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth;

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

A Tale of Two Generations

God led his people out of slavery, out of Egypt. He brought them to the mountain where he entered into a covenant relationship with them, he took them to be his people, and gave himself to them to be their God. They built him a tent to dwell with them, in the middle of the camp. He led them to his promised land, protecting and providing for them all the way. But they rejected him, his love, his land, his leaders. They broke their covenant with God, so they would die in the wilderness, but God promised that their children, the next generation would enter the land. The book of Numbers began this way:

Numbers 1:1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. 3 From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. 4 And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.

Now here we are, 40 years after leaving Egypt, again on the borders of the land, having been protected by God from spiritual warfare waged against them from the mountains of Moab, having egregiously sinned against God by engaging in immorality with women who led them break the first command of their covenant and go after other gods, after 24,000 of them died in a plague, in Numbers 26 we read:

Numbers 26:1 After the plague, the LORD said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war.” 3 And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 4 “Take a census of the people, from twenty years old and upward,” as the LORD commanded Moses. The people of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt were:

Miriam is dead. Aaron the high priest is dead, his son Eleazar now taking his place. Moses is soon to die. This is a census of the next generation; those military age men who under Joshua’s leadership will conquer the land, enter in and posses it. God promised to give them the land, but not without a fight. Already they have defeated the Amorites, Sihon and Og, and possessed their land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as Mount Hermon (Dt.3:8).

The Census; Tribes, Clans and Warnings

In Numbers 1, the head of each tribe was listed, the would-be heroes of Israel, who fell in the wilderness. In that chapter each tribe was numbered with this repetitive formula: ‘…Of the people of [tribe], their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: those listed of the tribe of [tribe] were [number].’

Chapter 26 gives us more detail, listing the families by their clans; the formula here is ‘The sons of [tribe] according to their clans: of [son’s name], the clan of the [son’s name]ites; [each clan is listed] …These are the clans of the [tribe]ites, [total number].

Numbers 26 is a review of history; it is a reminder of the failures of the fathers, a warning not to follow in their footsteps. The chapter begins ‘after the plague’, a warning from chapter 25 to flee sexual immorality, to ‘have no other god before me’, a reminder of the 24,000 who died in the plague.

Eleazar the priest is mentioned as son of Aaron, a reminder of Aaron and Moses’ anger and pride in chapter 20, where they forfeited entering the land because of unbelief and a failure to uphold YHWH as holy (Nu.20:12).

The Census

5-11 this census begins with Reuben the firstborn and his sons; Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; with a focus on Pallu’s son Eliab, and his sons Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram (Nu.16) provide another warning as prominent men,

Numbers 26:9 …chosen from the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the LORD 10 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured 250 men, and they became a warning. 11 But the sons of Korah did not die.

They rebelled against the God-appointed leadership of Moses and Aaron. Having been entrusted with authority and responsibility, they were not satisfied, but jealous; they wanted more. Korah, a Levite, is listed here because of his association with this rebellion. But sons don’t have to fail the same way their fathers failed. The sons of Korah did not follow in their fathers footsteps, and instead went on to author some of the Psalms we now enjoy.

12-14 Simeon is listed next, with his sons Nemuel, Jamin, Jachin, Zerah, and Shaul.

15-18 Gad is listed with his sons Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ozni, Eri, Arod, and Areli

19-22 Judah fathered Er and Onan, who became a warning against wickedness and selfishness toward inheritance rights (Ge.38). We aren’t told what Er did, but he was wicked in the sight of the Lord; what other opinion matters? Er, Onan and Shelah were born of the daughter of Shua a Canaanite. Perez and Zerah were born of his daughter-in-law whom he thought was a prostitute, but all this is overlooked. Perez’ line is traced through Hezron and Hamul. We find out in Ruth that Hezron became the ancestor of David; Matthew (1) and Luke (3) trace the genealogy of Jesus through Judah, Perez, and Hezron.

23-25 lists Issachar as the father of Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron.

26-27 records Zebulon as father of Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

28-37 follows the birth order of Joseph’s sons, listing Manasseh first, although Numbers 1 listed Ephraim first according to the Jacob’s blessing in Genesis 48. Manasseh’s lineage is traced through his son Machir, who fathered Gilead, who fathered Iezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Shemida, and Hepher. Hepher fathered Zelophehad, who had no sons but only daughters; Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. These five daughters of Zelophehad, unusual in a list of male descendants, also unique in that they constitute the fifth generation, take center stage in chapters 27 and 36 as they petition Moses for inheritance rights.

35-37 lists Ephraim as the father of Shuthelah, Becher, and Tahan; Shuthelah fathered Eran.

38-41 trace the descendants of Benjamin, Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, Shephupham, and Hupham; Bela fathered Ard and Naaman.

42-43 tell us that Dan had only one son Shuham, through whom his large tribe descended.

44-47 Asher fathered Imnah, Ishvi, Beriah; Beriah fathered Heber and Malchiel, Asher’s daughter Serah is also mentioned.

48-50 Naphtali concludes the list with his clans Jahzeel, Guni. Jezer, and Shillem.

Here’s a comparison list (slide) to show the changes in the numbers of each tribes; some increased, some decreased (Simeon significantly, possibly because of his part in the Baal-Peor plague in chapter 25).

Numbers 26:51 This was the list of the people of Israel, 601,730.

What is amazing is that in spite of grumbling, disobedience, unfaithfulness, and God’s judgments, including the plague killing 24,000 at Baal-Peor, the overall number of Israelite males dropped by less than 2,000.

Military Men and Inheritance Allotment

The census includes only militarily eligible men age 20 and up, those who could go to war. Life is war, and God was giving Israel a promised land to conquer. The roster of the military would be essential as they began to occupy hostile land.

But this census had another purpose;

Numbers 26:52 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 53 “Among these the land shall be divided for inheritance according to the number of names. 54 To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its inheritance in proportion to its list. 55 But the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. 56 Their inheritance shall be divided according to lot between the larger and the smaller.”

The census gave them the information they needed divide the land equitably to accommodate the different sized tribes. The division of the land was ultimately to be done by lot, a way to take it out of the manipulative hands of men and allow God to apportion the land as he willed. Numbers 34 specifies the boundaries of the land, which would be divided in Joshua 13-19.

Levites and the Lord their Inheritance

The tribe of Levi was not to be numbered among the military, as they were assigned a different battle; guarding the sanctity of God’s tent and God’s people. In Numbers 3-4 they were numbered as a substitute for every firstborn male of the other tribes and they were organized around God’s tent and assigned different responsibilities for transporting God’s tent according to their divisions. But the promised land would provide a more permanent home for God’s tent, and eventually the temple, so their duties would be different. They would not inherit land (the Lord was their inheritance); they were to be given cities scattered among the other tribes (48 cities assigned in Joshua 21) to continue to guard the sanctity of God and his people.

The three sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath and Merari; Gershon fathered the Libnites; Kohath the Hebronites and Korahites; Merari the Mahlites and Mushites.

Numbers 26:58 …And Kohath was the father of Amram. 59 The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. And she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister. 60 And to Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD.

There is a focus here on Amram, another son of Kohath, through whom came Aaron, Moses and Miriam, leaders of Israel. And here is another warning; Aaron had four sons. After the climax of Leviticus 9, when the tabernacle was complete and the priests were set apart for service, and the appropriate offerings were presented, God’s glory filled the tabernacle and fire came out from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering. Caught up in the moment, (Lev.10) Nadab and Abihu took each his censer and offered incense before the Lord. But they violated God’s clear instructions; they worshiped in a way that seemed right to them (Prov.14:12; 16:25), they presented their own fire, and fire came out from the Lord and consumed them. We are not free to approach God in any way we see fit. There are not many paths to God. Jesus said the way is wide to destruction; few find the narrow path to life (Mt.7:13-14).

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Access to God is exclusively through our Lord Jesus. We cannot clean ourselves up; we must be washed in his blood. We cannot come with our own righteousness; we must come clothed in his.

An Entire Generation Dead by Unbelief

The concluding statement also includes a warning.

Numbers 26:63 These were those listed by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who listed the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64 But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For the LORD had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” Not one of them was left, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

A son born to parents some 20 years after they left Egypt would now be 20, eligible to be numbered in this census. A 19 year old who was not numbered in the first census would now, 38 years later, be 57. The only men over 57 that remained were Moses, Caleb, and Joshua, and Moses would die before they entered the land. God is faithful to his promises.

Numbers 14:21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

28 Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ 35 I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”

God is faithful to his promises both in judgment on the faithless and in his gracious promises to those who trust him

Conclusion:

God is faithful to all his promises. But he is just and demands holiness of his followers. Flee sexual immorality and idolatry; love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Beware anger and pride; always treat the Lord as holy. Be on guard against jealousy, wickedness, selfishness. Approach God in the one and only way he has authorized, through the blood of Jesus Christ his only Son. Enter through the narrow way, the way of utter dependence on the finished work of another.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

The new generation is camped on the plains of Moab, poised to enter God’s promised land. In chapters 22-24 Balak king of Moab recruited the renown sorcerer Balaam to travel around 400 miles to curse Israel, to weaken them, so that he could drive them from his land. But the Lord makes it clear that he cannot curse those whom the Lord has not cursed; three times at great expense he attempts to curse them, but instead the Lord puts a blessing in his mouth for Israel. Frustrated, Balak sends him off without pay, but not before the Spirit of God delivered a magnificent promise of the coming God-king who would descend from Jacob, who would crush the nations. At the end of his seven oracles blessing God’s people and cursing their enemies, we read;

Numbers 24:25 Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

This is the last we hear of Balaam… or is it? Numbers 25 shifts the scene back down to Israel, camped on the plains of Moab, oblivious to the spiritual warfare waged against them on the mountains above, or how God stood as their defense.

Covenant Relationship and Covenant Treason

Meanwhile down on the plains…

Numbers 25:1 While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.

This is shocking! This next generation, who witnessed their fathers falling in the wilderness because of unbelief, who were now experiencing victory over their enemies, experiencing the sovereign protection of the Lord from their spiritual enemies, and even when they sinned, they confessed their sin (21:7); this is the generation that began to replace grumbling with singing (21:17). These are the ones now on the verge of entering into God’s promised land, indulging themselves in the lusts of the flesh. Women and food. Sexual immorality, meat sacrificed to false gods, idol worship.

The sexual immorality was real, but it was a picture of a deeper issue; it was covenant unfaithfulness not only of each man to his spouse, but of the community to their God. In Numbers 5 we have the procedure for resolving the guilt or innocence of a wife suspected of unfaithfulness by a jealous husband; the penalty for marital unfaithfulness was death (Lev.20:10). God portrays himself as a husband jealous for the exclusive affections of his wife.

Isaiah 54:5 ​For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.

Isaiah 62:5 …as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

Jeremiah 3:20 ​Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, declares the LORD.’”

Jeremiah 31:32 …the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.

Ezekiel 16:32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband!

There are so many parallels in the relation of husband and wife that Paul, teaching on the marriage relationship in Ephesians 5 says ‘This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.’

The First Commandment; Competing Loves

The terms of his covenant relationship with his people were laid out in Exodus 20, which begins this way:

Exodus 20:2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

The question is who do you love? Who is your first love? Who holds your affections? Who has your attention? Who captures your imagination? To whom are you devoted?

God warns of this very danger in Exodus 34:

Exodus 34:12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. 13 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.

This generation saw their fathers indulge in the same kind of unfaithfulness; while Moses was on mount Sinai, receiving the signed copy of their covenant relationship with God, the people made a gold bull idol, feasted before it, worshiped it, and indulged in sexual immorality (Ex.32:6-8). Here, the pagan prophet Balaam is compelled to speak God’s blessings over the people from the mountaintops, and the people on the plains commit covenant treason, bow to worship a different lord (Baal), feast before him, and indulge in sexual immorality. By their actions they transferred their allegiance from YHWH to Baal, entering into a covenant relationship with the false god Baal. No one can serve two masters. Where supernatural cursing failed, at the allure of carnal pleasures, they caved.

This is catastrophic. At the golden calf incident in Exodus 32

Exodus 32:9 And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

God was ready to wipe out the whole nation and start over with Moses. Moses interceded for the people, and called for the Levites to purify the camp, and about 3,000 men died that day (Ex.32:28).

Leadership Inaction and its Consequences

Numbers 25:4 And the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.” 6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting.

God instructs Moses to hold the leadership of the tribes accountable for their failure to lead, their failure to restrain the people under their charge. This is covenant treason. Execute the leaders publicly to turn God’s wrath away from the entire nation. This seems severe, but this is gracious; God will hold the leaders accountable for their failure to lead, possibly 12 men, the chief of each tribe (1:4), or if these were the chiefs of thousands (10:4), that would be just over 600 men; they were to die in place of the entire nation.

But it seems Moses doesn’t follow the Lord’s instructions. The fierce anger of YHWH was set against Israel, and Moses instructed the judges (were these the same men sentenced by the Lord to die (Dt.1:15-16)? Or were these the 70 appointed in Numbers 11 to share the burden of the people with Moses?); Moses instructs the judges to ‘kill those of his men who had yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.’ But even this we don’t see happening; instead we see weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Grieving over sin is good, but was this disobedient inaction on the part of the leaders of Israel? It’s hard to say for sure. The sin of the people was so flagrant, and the passivity of the leaders implying consent, so that a son of the chief of Simeon had the audacity to parade a Midianite woman into the tent for immoral purposes in full view of Moses and the whole congregation.

Immorality and its Consequences

Numbers 25:7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

Phinehas is the grandson of Aaron, his father Eleazar is now the high priest which would leave Phinehas in charge of Levites. The Levites were commissioned to protect the sanctity of the tabernacle.

One of the lies of the enemy is that my sexual sin only affects me. It is true that it does affect me; ‘…the sexually immoral person sins against his own body’ (1Cor.6:18); why would anyone willingly destroy his own soul? But the lie that it is no-one else’s business, is a lie. Sin affects not only the individual who sins, but those around him, and ultimately the entire community. Paul addresses this issue in the church in Corinth, rebuking their complacent leadership, and says ‘purge the evil person from among you’ (1Cor.5:11-13).

Jesus takes the sexual purity of his followers seriously:

Matthew 5:27 ​“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 ​If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 ​And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

We might be shocked at Phinehas’ action, but he took his God seriously. He took the sanctity of the people of God seriously. He took sin seriously. Because God accepted his action, the plague which had already broken out among the community was stopped. Still, 24,000 people died in the plague. To put this in perspective, that is about 4 percent of the original census of the people. In response to the golden calf, the Levites killed about 3,000 men (Ex.32:28). After God’s judgment on Korah (Nu.16:49), when Aaron took his censer and ran into the midst of the rebellious congregation to stand between the dead and the living to make atonement, 14,700 had died. That’s almost 10,000 less than died in this plague.

Zeal for The Lord’s House

Numbers 25:10 And the LORD said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

Whatever we might think of Phinehas’ actions, YHWH approved. He was jealous with YHWH’s jealousy. By his action he turned away God’s wrath against the people. Like the Levites who went through the camp and killed those who were worshiping the calf, who were then entrusted with the service of the tabernacle, so God rewarded Phinehas’ zeal with the a covenant of peace and a perpetual priesthood.

Jesus, on seeing his Father’s house made into a house of merchandise, made a whip of cords and drove the moneychangers and those who sold out of the temple courts;

John 2:17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Sin is serious. Two people engaged in immorality died a violent death run through by a spear which turned away God’s wrath. Jesus, the only innocent one, was publicly humiliated, hung up before the Lord, and he turned the wrath of God away from all who would run to him for rescue. He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities (Is.53:5). Every sinner who will turn to him will find forgiveness and freedom in his cleansing blood.

Public Shame and Dishonor

Numbers 25:14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father’s house belonging to the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a father’s house in Midian.

These were prominent leaders of the community, both of Israel and the Midianites. Cozbi means ‘false’ or ‘deceiver’; probably a derogatory name given to describe her character. Where Phinehas is honored for his zeal for the Lord, these two bring public shame and dishonor on their families for their treasonous actions.

Proverbs 7 describes the fool who is led astray by a prostitute as an ox being led to the slaughter.

Consequences for Causing to Stumble

Numbers 25:16 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18 for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”

Where the men of Israel who committed covenant treason were punished for their actions, those who tempted them also had consequences. Jesus said:

Matthew 18:6 “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea. 7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!

The Instigation of Balaam

Balaam, the pagan sorcerer who was prevented from cursing Israel and thus forfeited his pay does not appear at all in chapter 25, because the chapter puts the responsibility for sin right where it belongs, squarely on the shoulders of those who succumbed to temptation. But there’s a backstory to this story. We are told in Numbers 31 that

Numbers 31:7 They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.

I thought we had heard the last of Balaam?

Numbers 31:15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16 Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.

Balaam forfeits the opportunity to die the death of the righteous for personal greed; although he was restrained from cursing Israel, he knew enough of YHWH’s character to get the people by their own sin to turn God’s anger against them. Such are the wiles of our enemy, who prowls about, seeking whom he may devour.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Israel is spread out on the plains of Moab, poised to enter the promised land. Unbeknownst to them, Balak king of Moab hired Balaam to curse Israel for him. God made it explicitly clear to Balaam that he was not to go beyond God’s word, because God had blessed Israel. Balak took Balaam to three high places where he could look out over the camps of Israel; at each high place he built seven altars and sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

On the high place of Baal, YHWH put a word of blessing in his mouth for Israel; God alone is the true source of blessing and cursing; Israel is unique, set apart from all the nations, chosen by God, and the Lord has made them numerous as the dust. They are viewed as upright, and Balaam wishes to share in the blessings they will enjoy in the afterlife.

From the top of Pisgah, YHWH put another word of blessing in his mouth; ‘God is not a man that he should lie, or the son of man that he should change his mind.’ He infallibly keeps all his promises. God is with his people as their King, and he views them as righteous. He is for them, and no forms of divination or sorcery can overthrow his blessings on them. They will conquer all their enemies.

Then from the top of Peor, the Spirit of God came upon Balaam, and his eye is opened. He describes them as the restored garden of Eden, and he points to their fruitfulness, a source of blessing to many. He points to a coming King who will defeat their ancient enemy, whose kingdom will be exalted, who will crush the nations, all who are opposed to them. He recites God’s blessing upon Abram from Genesis 12; ‘Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you’ (Nu.24:9; Ge.12:2).

Balak is frustrated; “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them” (23:11); “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all” (23:25); ‘And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. …“I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the LORD has held you back from honor”’ (24:10-11).

Numbers 24:12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13 ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the LORD speaks, that will I speak’?

Balaam reveals his heart; his attention is still fixed on silver and gold as both Peter and Jude warn (2Pt.2:15: Jd.1:11),

Balak had commanded him to cease from speaking and return home without pay, but the Spirit of the living God was upon Balaam, and compelled him to speak. No sacrifices were required, no compensation expected, no seeking omens; God would have the final word, and his blessings could not be stopped, not by any attempt at cursing, not by the king of Moab, not by a pagan diviner for hire. Balaam is bound to not go beyond the word of YHWH; to speak only what YHWH speaks.

Balaam Oracles 4-7

Numbers 24:14 And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”

15 And he took up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God,

and knows the knowledge of the Most High,

who sees the vision of the Almighty,

falling down with his eyes uncovered:

17 ​I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not near:

a star shall come out of Jacob,

and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;

it shall crush the forehead of Moab

and break down all the sons of Sheth.

18 ​Edom shall be dispossessed;

Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.

Israel is doing valiantly.

19 And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion

and destroy the survivors of cities!”

20 Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said,

“Amalek was the first among the nations,

but its end is utter destruction.”

21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,

“Enduring is your dwelling place,

and your nest is set in the rock.

22 Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned

when Asshur takes you away captive.”

23 And he took up his discourse and said,

“Alas, who shall live when God does this?

24 But ships shall come from Kittim

and shall afflict Asshur and Eber;

and he too shall come to utter destruction.”

25 Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Here we have four uninvited oracles again under the control of the Spirit of God, which rounds out the total to seven. These final four shift the focus from who God is and his blessing on his people, to the consequences on those who oppose God’s people. The last three are very concise, directed toward specific people groups. The first is the longest, with a preface about Balaam, and points to a coming king who will conquer his enemies.

Balaam’s eye has been opened by the Spirit of God come upon him. He hears the words of El, he has been given knowledge of Elyon, he sees a vision from Shaddai. He is face down on the ground with his eyes finally opened.

A Scepter Shall Rise out of Israel

And what he sees is something that will come in the distant future, in the latter days. The one he sees is not now and not near, a distant coming future one. He describes this one as a star and a scepter. A scepter is a rod carried by royalty which symbolizes authority and judgment. A rod can also be used as a lethal weapon. Jacob’s blessing on his son Judah as a lion has been echoed in the second and third oracles of Balaam.

Genesis 49:9 Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

There will be a coming King, a ruler bearing a royal scepter with which he will crush the skulls of his enemies.

A Star Shall Come Out of Jacob

The star imagery is more surprising. ‘A star shall come out of Jacob’. The descendants of Abraham were promised to be numerous as the stars. But stars in the Bible often point to superhuman beings. The Lord challenges Job in Job 38 ‘where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth’

Job 38:6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

The morning stars are pictured as sons of God or celestial beings who sing together and shout for joy. Psalm 148 makes a similar connection:

Psalm 148:1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! 2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! 3 Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! 4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!

God’s people were clearly warned against worshiping these celestial beings:

Deuteronomy 4:19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.

God’s holy angels are quick to reject worship (Rev.19:10; 22:8-9). We are never to worship created beings. Deuteronomy 32 describes idolatry:

Deuteronomy 32:17 ​They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.

Isaiah 14 reveals the power behind the king of Babylon:

Isaiah 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ 15 ​But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.

Lucifer in pride aspired to be like the Most High, he sought to rule over the stars or celestial beings. He sought the worship God alone deserves. But he and his angels will be cast down (Rev.12:4,9).

Jesus in the gospels connects the stars falling from heaven in the last days with the powers of the heavens being shaken (Mk.13:25); ‘the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places’ (Eph.6:12). Amos 5:26 and Acts 7:41-43 mention worship of a star-god.

The Coming Human / Divine King

Satan is an impostor, but this prophecy points to a coming one who is both king and divine. And as one who comes out of Israel, descended from Jacob, he must also be human.

We see all these pieces, the anticipation of a divine/human God king come together in several prophecies.

Scepter of a God-King

Psalm 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, … 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

In Psalm 2 we see the coming King who will rule with an iron scepter, but this one, called YHWH’s Anointed or Messiah is also the begotten Son of YHWH. Psalm 45 is even more clear:

Psalm 45:6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; 7 ​you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

The scepter and throne belong to God eternally. But this God-king has been anointed by God, your God. Who is the God-King, and who is anointing him? Hebrews 1 quotes Psalm 45 in contrast to angels who are never to be worshiped, and says it is ‘of the Son he says ‘your throne O God, is forever and ever…’

Hebrews 1 also says that the Son ‘is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature’. Isaiah 60 says:

Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 ​And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

YHWH will rise like the sun; the glory of YHWH will break the darkness and shine with his glorious light.

Peter comments on his experience on the mountain when Jesus’ glory was revealed and ‘his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light’ (Mt.17:2); Peter says:

2 Peter 1:19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,

Jesus himself claims in Revelation 22

Revelation 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

Jesus, the coming star and scepter, the God-King, is both the source of David, and the descendant of David in his humanity.

Jesus The Conquering King

And he will crush the skull of his enemies and dispossess them; in him Israel is doing valiantly. This “one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!” Moab, who waged spiritual warfare against Israel, Moab’s head will be crushed. Edom, who refused Israel passage, will be dispossessed. Amalek, ancient enemy of Israel who attacked when they left Israel shall be utterly destroyed. The Kenites, one of the inhabitants of the land (Gen.15:18-22) will be taken captive and their city burned. ‘Alas, who shall live when God does this?’ Who shall live? No enemy of the Lord will live. Only the one who runs to Jesus to take refuge in him from his coming wrath. Have you taken refuge in Jesus? Today he is a star shining in the darkness, a light to fix your eyes on as you navigate through this present darkness. But one day he will rise in all his glory and dispel all darkness, and if you are part of that darkness you will suffer his wrath. Run to Jesus, hide in him, and you shall live. Truly live.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Balak king of Moab hired Balaam to curse Israel for him. God made it explicitly clear to Balaam that he was not to go beyond God’s word, because God had blessed Israel. Balak took Balaam to the high place of Baal, and YHWH put a word of blessing in his mouth for Israel. Balak to him to the heights of Pisgah, and YHWH put another word of blessing in his mouth.

Numbers 23:27 And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert. 29 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balak just doesn’t get it; in the last blessing, God revealed his character and nature; he is not a man or a son of man. He does not lie, he does not change his mind. God has blessed them, and there is no sorcery that can overturn God’s blessing. God is with his people, he is for them, and he will fight against those who fight against them. He took him to the top of Peor, another high place for worship of Baal, a place which will gain an ill reputation in chapter 25. Different location, same procedure; again seven altars, seven bulls, seven rams.

The Spirit of God Came Upon Him

Numbers 24:1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him,

This is different. God said ‘there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel’ (23:23), so Balaam does not look for omens; the word is the same as ‘enchantment’. He finally recognized that ‘it pleased YHWH to bless Israel’ so instead of his usual occult practices, he ‘set his face toward the wilderness’, and ‘lifted up his eyes’ and saw the camp of Israel.

And the Spirit of God came upon him. God had spoken to him, and put words in his mouth, but this time was different, God’s Holy Spirit came upon him, and rather than a word put in his mouth, the Spirit of God upon him inspired him to speak. We don’t see Moses or Aaron in this whole section of Numbers, and this language is not used throughout the five books of Moses about either one of them. In Numbers 11, YHWH took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on 70 of the elders of Israel, who prophesied. In response to Joshua,

Numbers 11:29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”

We see God’s Spirit come upon some of the prophets and judges and kings of Israel, even on some common Israelites who prophesied, but here we see the Spirit of God come upon an unbelieving pagan sorcerer. In the New Testament he spoke through Israel’s unbelieving high priest Caiaphas (Jn.11:49-52). As we’ve learned from the donkey incident, the Lord can speak through whomever he chooses.

Israel Camping Tribe by Tribe

Verse 2 tells us that Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. Back in chapter 2, God organized Israel around the tabernacle, three tribes on each side, east, south, west and north. We are given the census of each tribe in chapter 1, and if we lay that out, looking out from the mountains west northwest over the plains, the organization of the camp would have taken the shape of a cross.

Blind Eyes Opened

Numbers 24:3 and he took up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

4 the oracle of him who hears the words of God,

who sees the vision of the Almighty,

falling down with his eyes uncovered:

5 How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,

your encampments, O Israel!

6 Like palm groves that stretch afar,

like gardens beside a river,

like aloes that the LORD has planted,

like cedar trees beside the waters.

7 Water shall flow from his buckets,

and his seed shall be in many waters;

his king shall be higher than Agag,

and his kingdom shall be exalted.

8 God brings him out of Egypt

and is for him like the horns of the wild ox;

he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries,

and shall break their bones in pieces

and pierce them through with his arrows.

9 He crouched, he lay down like a lion

and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?

Blessed are those who bless you,

and cursed are those who curse you.”

Balaam the seer had been blind. Blind to what his own donkey saw so clearly, the angel of YHWH with drawn sword standing in the way to oppose him, because his way was perverse before the Lord. His own greed had blinded the seer from seeing the spiritual realities around him. But now, the Spirit of God having come upon him, his eye has been opened. He hears the words of El. He sees the vision of Shaddai. Falling face down on the ground at the presence of God almighty, he can finally see.

A Fruitful Garden (Like Eden)

And he begins to see Israel as God sees her; “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel! Like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the LORD has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters.”

One of the primary complaints of the people as they crossed the wilderness was a lack of water. Now this vision is of abundant water; wadis or river ravines spreading out, gardens beside a river, carefully planted like Eden by YHWH himself (Gn.2:8-9; the holy place in the tabernacle was full of garden of Eden symbolism). The tents, the encampments of Israel the Lord considers lovely. As we saw last time, Israel was considered upright; the Lord ‘has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel’ (23:1,21), not because they were without fault, we’ve read the story, we know better. But because God is with them, and because they belong to him, he views them with a righteousness not their own, a righteousness credited to their account.

God views Israel as YHWH’s garden of Eden restored, like cedars beside the waters. In Psalm 1 the righteous are compared with

Psalm 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

In spite of all their failures and flaws, as long as his people abide in him, he will prune them and they will bear fruit (Jn.15:1-5)

Living Water From Finite Vessels

The water metaphor now changes; not only are they well watered like a carefully planned garden, they become a water source that spreads out to bless others. A bucket or jar is usually used for drawing water, for containing, carrying, or storing water; it is not a source of water. But the picture here is flowing or living water flowing out of a finite clay jar. ‘We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us’ (2Cor.4:7). Jesus said to the sinful woman at the well:

John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” … 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus said in John 7

John 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

The Exalted Kingdom of the Coming King

This word for water can also be used for seed, and the focus of the prophecy moves to descendants, to children spreading out like water, like streams in the desert bringing with them abundant blessing. The concepts flow from blessings to offspring, to a coming King and his coming kingdom.

Numbers 24:7 Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

A king named Agag shows up in 1 Samuel 15, about 350 years later; this could be a prediction of his future defeat by the first king of Israel, or Agag could be a contemporary king of the Amalekites, after whom the king in 1 Samuel is named, or instead of a personal name it could be a royal title of the kings of the Amalekites. The Amalekites attacked Israel in Exodus 17 after they came out of Egypt; they defeated the people when they presumptuously attempted to enter the land after their rebellion and disobedience in Numbers 14.

There is a coming king who would be far superior to the ancient enemy of Israel. This coming King’s kingdom would be exalted. Although this may find a partial fulfillment in Saul, ultimately it points to the king who was God, who became human,

Philippians 2:8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Conquering King, Lion of Judah

In the last oracle, it was plural; God brings them out of Egypt; he is for them like the horns of a wild ox; now God brings him out of Egypt; and is for him like the horns of a wild ox. If we trace the nearest antecedent, the ‘him’ must be referring to the coming King whose kingdom shall be exalted. Matthew 2:15 sees the prophecy of Hosea 11:1 fulfilled in Jesus; “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Balak feared the tongue of the domestic ox; he should have feared the horns of the wild ox. There is one coming, one to be feared.

Revelation 19:13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. …15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

Revelation 6:15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

This coming king is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev.5:5). It would be wise not to poke the Lion. Balak attempted to wage spiritual warfare against God’s people, assuming that this pagan sorcerer had the power to bless and to curse. He summoned Balaam with the words: “for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed” (Nu.22:6). But back in Genesis 12, God told Abraham;

Genesis 12:2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God will not contradict himself. By attempting to curse Israel, Balak brought no harm to Israel, but instead put himself under God’s curse. The coming King will crush the head of the serpent, and all who align themselves with him.

The Price of Misguided Spirituality

Numbers 24:10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. 11 Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the LORD has held you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13 ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the LORD speaks, that will I speak’?

Balak was frustrated. Not only did he not gain any traction against God’s people, but all his efforts to the contrary only brought further confirmation of God’s blessing on his people. So far, Balak had on each of these three occasions sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams on seven altars. That’s 21 bulls and 21 rams. Just to help wrap my head around what that might have meant, quick search gave me today’s prices; an average bull goes for around $6,000 and a ram around $500 (and those estimates are on the low end); that would total somewhere around $136,500. For nothing. And that doesn’t include the animals sacrificed for the welcome feast. The price of misguided spirituality is high. Not only does it promise and not deliver, it will ultimately cost you everything. The Lord invites us:

Isaiah 55:1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 ​Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

Jesus said:

Matthew 11:28 ​Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org