The Book of Numbers. Numbers Chapter Links. Numbers 1 Numbers 2 Numbers 3 Numbers 4 Numbers 5. Numbers 6 Numbers 7 Numbers 8 Numbers 9 Numbers 10

Transcription

1 Th Book of Numbrs Numbrs Chaptr Links Numbrs 1 Numbrs 2 Numbrs 3 Numbrs 4 Numbrs 5 Numbrs 6 Numbrs 7 Numbrs 8 Numbrs 9 Numbrs 10 Numbrs 11 Numbrs 12 Numbrs 13 Numbrs 14 Numbrs 15 Numbrs 16 Numbrs 17 Numbrs 18 Numbrs 19 Numbrs 20 Numbrs 21 Numbrs 22 Numbrs 23 Numbrs 24 Numbrs 25 Numbrs 26 Numbrs 27 Numbrs 28 Numbrs 29 Numbrs 30 Numbrs 31 Numbrs 32 Numbrs 33 Numbrs 34 Numbrs 35 Numbrs 36 Numbrs Introduction

2 Numbrs Introduction Introduction to th book of Numbrs: Barthl, a confusd commntator, writs: Th fourth book of Moss, Numbrs, also dos not hav much to offr th modrn radr. As its nam implis, it is a dtaild cnsus rport of th twlv tribs of Isral, along with a chcklist of th dats prscribd for crtain sacrifics and fstivals, a survy of th boundaris btwn th grazing grounds allottd to th various tribs, and a complt itinrary of 1 thir arly migrations. As usual, th unblivr dos not vn hav a clu. Much of Numbrs, lik th book of Lviticus, is a st of dirct quots from God, and thrfor has bn all but liminatd from th taching in God's churchs, slandrd as w hav hr, and poorly and inconsistntly rndrd. All of this is unfortunat bcaus th contnt of th book of Numbrs is fascinating and compltly rlvant to our livs today. Th NIV Study Bibl 2 calls Numbrs thologically significant; which is an undrstatmnt. As I writ this introduction, my prsonal nots on this book xcd four hundrd pags. This will not b som dusty book that, in your program to rad through th Bibl in on yar, that you spnd thr hours with, rcall littl or nothing, and hav movd on. W will, for awhil, liv and brath this book, and our livs will b th richr for it. In th final four books of Moss, thr is an intrsting chckrboarding which occurs. Th Exodus covrs a 3 priod of ighty yars, th last forty yars of which is covrd in dtail. Th book of Lviticus dos not vn covr a priod of a month. Thn Numbrs covrs a tim priod of almost forty yars and Dutronomy is only a fw days long in its scop. Howvr, its scop in tim dos not tak from th dirct quots from God, which ar plntiful in this book. Thm: Th book of Numbrs dals with th various rsponsibilitis of th sons of Isral it is in this book whr w s whr th various tribs ar stationd with rgards to th tabrnacl; w ar givn mor spcifics concrning th srvic of th sons of Aaron; and th rsponsibilitis of th Lvits ar dlinatd in this book, not in th book of Lviticus. Anothr thm found in this book is, and I attribut this to Zodhiats, is that it was asir for God to gt Isral out of Egypt than it was for Him to gt th Egypt out of Isral. W will find Isral on many occasions in this book rcalling thir idyllic lif in Egypt, rsplndnt with grat foods (Num. 11:4 6 14:2 4 20:4 5 21:5). It is as though thy had compltly forgottn that th Egyptians complld th sons of Isral to labor rigorously; and thy mad thir livs bittr with hard labor in mortar and bricks and fild labor [with] all thir labors which thy rigorously imposd upon thm...and th sons of Isral sighd bcaus of th bondag and thy crid out; and thir cry for hlp bcaus of bondag ros up to God (Ex. 1: :23b). Th Titl: Th Jwish Scribs knw this portion of th Pntatuch as In th Wildrnss (or, In th Dsrt), which is th Hbrw word B mîd bar (ø Ç ã Ó îò ) [pronouncd b'md -BAHR] (?), which is th fifth word in this Num. 1:1. Ó This is a bttr dscription of this book than our nam, Numbrs. In th Wildrnss givs us a fl for th ntir book of Numbrs, as this is whr th Isralits spnt thir tim. Our English nam is drivd from th two cnsuss which wr takn in this book (th Grk and Latin dsignations ar similarly namd). In th Grk, th titl is arithmoi (AÑIèÌOI), from whnc w obviously driv our word arithmtic. Although th numbring of th popl for battl th numbring of th first and scond gnrations was important, still, this is not th thrust of th book. Although th mn wr numbrd for battl at th bginning of th book of Numbrs, that gnration faild in vry rspct in battl. Th scond gnration was also numbrd and thy ntr into svral short wars with svral popls, mrging victorious. Howvr, th actually numbring of ths Isralits is but two significant vnts in a book which is packd with important doctrins. Th dat of writing: Th tim during which th book of Numbrs was writtn is dpndnt upon th tim of th Exodus. Unfortunatly, that tim priod is hotly disputd, bing datd btwn 1440 B.C. and 1260 B.C. Consrvativ Biblical scholars lan toward th arl dat, archologists toward th latr. On rknown Manfrd Barthl's What th Bibl Rally Says, p NIV Study Bibl, p It dos, of cours, rach back furthr than that, but only in th first fw vrss.

3 Th Book of Numbrs 3 archologist Nlson Gluck spnt tn yars ( ) studying th Ngv and th Trans-Jordanian ara and his conclusions wr that th rgions mntiond, particularly in Numbrs, wr larg unihabitd during th tim priod quotd by consrvativ thologians. In fact, it is his contntion that that ara was populatd by othr than nomads no soonr than 1300 BC. Howvr, his conclusions wr basd on surfac obsrvations and climatic considrations mad svral thousand yars aftr th fact, making his conclusions scintifically unviabl. As I will stat latr, th climat during that tim was vry likly diffrnt than th climat is now. Thr wr som dry aras and som aras whr Isral wnt without watr; howvr, thy wnt for a long tim whn that was not an issu. You cannot judg th stat of th Midast thn by how it is today. Sinc Gluck had publishd his findings, L. Harding has shown that during th Hyksos priod of Egypt ( BC), thr wr wll--stockd tombs in th ara of Amman (known in th Bibl as Rabbath-Ammon). Nomads do not tnd to bury thir dad in tombs, 4 so this calls into qustion Gluck's stand for th lat dat of th Exodus. Thr ar othr considrations which point toward th arlir dat. Egypt had vry littl influnc outsid hr ralm during this tim priod (thought to b during th rul of Ikhnaton); which would mak sns, sinc God all but dcimatd th army of Egypt prior to th Exodus. Furthrmor, th run-ins with Midian as rcordd in th book of Numbrs, is consistant with th historical Midians of this ra, but not of any othr. During this tim priod, thy did not own much trritory, but thy xrcisd control ovr a lot of trritory du to thir commrcial ntrpriss 5 which wr protctd by thir military. As I will stat in th chronology sction, I bliv that Moss did th majority of his final draft whil Isral coold hr hals in Kadsh-barna aftr thir spctacular failur in Num This would plac th dat of writing btwn 1438 BC and 1400 BC. Th vnts hrin dscribd would hav takn plac btwn 1439 BC and 1400 BC. Contnt: W bgin th book of Numbrs right aftr th majority of th Mosaic Law had bn givn and th construction of th tabrnacl had bn compltd. Th childrn of Isral ar at th foot of Mount Sinai and will march into th Land of Promis with th intntion of taking th land. Along this march, thy ar continually bst by thir own mntal attitud sins and lack of trust in God. Onc thy rach th land, th siz of th occupants frightns thm and thy fall into srious disfavor with God (this is putting it mildly God will kill vry man, twnty yars and oldr with th sin unto dath). So Isral sttls into a priod of stagnation whil God kills many of thm off. Onc most of that vil gnration ar dstroyd, thy approach th land onc mor, travling in a much mor circuitous rout (howvr, in accordanc with God's lading). Th book of Numbrs taks thm right to th Jordan Jricho, just du ast of thir land, poisd and prpard for combat. Allow m to quot from Scofild's introduction: Rdmd from Egypt, possssing th law, ld by Moss, daily loking upon th Tabrnacl, and suprnaturally guidd by cloud and pillar of fir, Isral should hav walkd 6 triumphantly in in th prfct will of God. Instad thy faild rpatdly, as this book rcords. Lik th book of Lviticus, much of th book of Numbrs is quotd dirctly from God. To th untraind y, th book of Numbrs might sm to b an hodgpodg of vnts, battls, movmnt, laws and lgal addndums. This may b attributd to th authorship of a man who has rcntly xprincd th vnts hrin found and has mor to writ about than h has tim to writ. Nvrthlss, th book of Numbrs tnds to b gnrally chronological, th ordinancs and laws rcordd hr ar oftn an intgral part of th vnts which wr occuring at this tim. For instanc, th Exodus gnration, gnration X, wr dying off in larg numbrs du to th sin unto dath. Thrfor, it would mak sns to includ hr laws which dalt spcifically with th unclannss incurrd whn coming into contact with a dad body a vry common vnt of that tim priod only (Num. 9). Lik all of th Old Tstamnt, thr ar incidnts and thir manings which ar not compltly prspicuous until aftr th dath and rsurrction of our Lord. Th bronz srpnt vnt, th movmnt toward and promis of th ZPEB, Vol. 4, p Ibid. Scofild's Rfrnc Bibl, p. 166.

4 Introduction to th Book of Numbrs 4 land of Canaan, th budding of Aaron's rod (Num. 17), th sriousnss of th mistak of Moss whn h struck th rock twic instad of mrly spaking to it (Num. 20), th horribl infiltration of othr rligions into th lif of Isral (Num. 25) and th citis of rfug (Num. 35) all hav maning which go byond thir simpl historic rcording. All of ths vnts forshadow and fortll th dath of our Lord and His rsurrction. Thir complt maning is asy to ascrtain today, whras th full import of ths vnts would b lss undrstood, vn by thir author, Moss. What I am tlling you is that you, an individual Christian with whatvr background you hav, ar in a position to hav a bttr grasp of th vnts of this book and thir spiritual import, guidd by th ministry of God th Holy Spirit, than vn Moss did, likly th gratst man in th history of Isral, and on of th gratst mn in th history of th world. On of th thms running throughout this book is on of th blssings of obdinc to Y howah and th cursing and disciplin attndant to disobdinc. Whn Isral listnd to and obyd God's Word, thy rcivd protction and blssing (Num. 21:21 35). Whn thy rblld against God and His Laws, God punishd thm (Num. 21:4 9). Nar th nd of th book of Numbrs, w not only s th daths of th faithlss Exodus gnration, but w rad of th uncrmonial dath of Miriam (sh will also b involvd in hr own littl rbllion against God's authority) as wll as th dath of Aaron, who was rvrd of th popl and who was an honorabl man, dspit svral glaring rrors of judgmnt. Evn Moss, in this book, will mak on grav mistak th xtnt of which, h will not fully undrstand in his own liftim but a mistak, nonthlss, which will kp him from vn ntring into th Promisd Land with thos h has ld for forty yars. Throughout th Pntatuch, as wll as from Joshua to Samul, th Jws wr undr a thocracy that is, thy 7 wr ruld by God. Thy did not hav a king as did th othr nations. Howvr, thr was always somon who stood btwn th popl and God, and, throughout thir arly history, this was Moss. God bgan right from th vry start to tach that thr is a mdiator btwn God and man. W know that Mdiator today as Jsus Christ; th Jws had thir first mdiator in th prson of Moss, who, in occupying that offic, was a shadow of Jsus Christ. Th mor spcific contnt can b found immdiatly blow in th outlin. Outlin of Chaptr 1: Th book of Numbrs can ssntially b dividd into two parts: Part I:Gnration X th Exodus gnration. Part II: Th Scond Gnration. Throughout this book, w hav a contrast btwn th fathrs and th sons. Gnration X I. Isral is organizd (Num. 1:1 10:10) A. A cnsus is takn of th adult mmbrs of lvn tribs of Isral (Num. 1:1 46) B. Th Lvits ar not includd in this cnsus and thir gnral dutis ar givn (Num. 1:47 54) C. Th camps ar arrang around th tabrnacl (Num. 2) D. Th Lvits ar a gracious gift to th Aaronic pristhood (Num. 3:1 13) E. Th Lvits ar numbrd, all mals of a month of ag and oldr and givn dutis (Num. 3:14 39) F. Th first-born of th Lvits ar numbrd and rdmd (Num. 3:40 51) G. Spcific Lvitical rsponsibilitis (Num. 4:1 33) 1. Thos of th Kohathits (vv. 1 20) 7 This lads m on a marvlous digrssion hr: God has shown th Jws again and again that thy cannot sm to choos for thmslvs God's man for th job. This is why God was rluctant to giv thm a king. For instanc, th Jws chos Samul, but God chos David. So it only stands to rason, that th Jws, who historically could not rcogniz God's man, would also b unabl to rcogniz thir own Savior: For H grw up bfor Him lik a tndr root-shoot and lik a root out of parchd ground. H has not bauty or majsty that w should look upon Him, nor apparanc that w should trasur Him. H was dspisd and forsakn of mn, a man of sorrows and acquaintd with grif; and h was lik on from whom mn hid thir fac. H was dspisd and w did not stm Him (Isa. 53:2 3).

5 Th Book of Numbrs 5 2. Thos of th Grshonits (vv ) 3. Thos of th Mrarits (vv ) H. Th thr Lvitical familis ar numbrd according to thos who will actually srv (Num. 4:34 49) I. Sts of laws and customs (mostly pculiar to th Ag of Isral) (Num. 5 6) 1. Concrning dfilmnt (Num. 5:1 4) 2. Concrning confssions of sin and rstitution (Num. 5:5 10) 3. Th tst for adultry (Num. 5:11 31) 4. Nazirit vows (Num. 6:1 21) 5. A blssing for Aaron to invok (Num. 6:22 27) J. Rituals (Num. 7:1 10:10) 1. Th ladrs of th tribs bring offrings (Num. 7:1 88) 2. Th lampstands (Num. 7:89 8:4) 3. Th clansing of th Lvits (Num. 8:5 26) 4. Th scond Passovr (Num. 9:1 15) 5. Erction of th tabrnacl and th guidanc of Y howah (Num. 9:16 23) 6. Th silvr trumpts (Num. 10:1 10) II. Isral movs out (Num. 10:11 19:22) A. Th popl lav Sinai (Num. 10:11 36) B. Complaints along th journy (Num ) 1. Th popl complain to Moss about bing tird of manna (Num. 11:1 9) 2. Moss complains to ladrship God about his position of ladrship (Num. 11:10 15) 3. God provids ladrs to assist Moss, quail for th popl and th Holy Spirit (Num. 11:16 35) 4. Miriam, and Aaron, complain to Moss about thir authority and God disciplins Miriam (Num. 12) C. Th popl at th dg of th Land of Promis (Num ) 1. Moss snds spis into th land (Num. 13:1 24) 2. Th spis bring back thir rport (th majority rport is that th inhabitants of th land ar too big for Isral to oppos; th minority rport is that th land is just as Y howah said it it is; lt's go and tak it (Num. 13:25 33) 3. Th popl whin and bitch and rfus to go into th land (Num. 14:1 10) 4. God thratns to dstroy all of th sons of Isral; Moss intrcds; God will just kill thos who ar twnty yars old and up (Num. 14:11 38) 5. Th Isralits, in a burst of motion, attack th Amalkits and th Canaanits, and Isral is struck down and forcd back to Hormah (Num. 14:39 45) D. God's marvlous grac; His laws for ntring into th Land of Canaan (Num. 15:1 31) 1. Offrings to b brought bfor God upon ntring into th land (Num. 15:1 13) 2. God's laws apply to th tmporary immigrant as wll (Num. 15:14 31) E. An incidnt of Sabbath-braking occurs (Num. 15:32 41) F. Korah's rbllion against Moss and subsqunt actions 1. Korah, Dathan and Abiram all point to Moss as th rason that th Jws could not tak th land of Promis (Num. 16:1 14) 2. Moss and his rbls fac off; an arthquak nvlops th rbls and lightning kills som of thm (Num. 16:15 35) 3. Th bronz incns burnrs of th rbls ar hammrd into shts and usd upon th altar as a sign to sucding gnrations (Num. 16:36 40) 4. Th popl complain to Moss bcaus of th harsh tratmnt of th rbls and God disciplins thm with a plagu (Num. 16:41 50) 5. Aaron's rod that buds is a sign to th rbls (Num. 17) G. Spiritual ordinancs (Num ) 1. Lvitical assistanc (Num. 18:1 7) 2. Th portion of th prists (Num. 18:8 20) 3. Th portions and obligations of th Lvits (Num. 18:21 32) 4. Th rd hifr sacrific (Num. 19:1 12) 5. Prsonal contact with dad body (Num. 19:13 22)

6 Introduction to th Book of Numbrs 6 Th Scond Gnration (th Gnration of Hop) I. From Kadsh to Jazr: svral victoris and two daths (Num ) A. Th dath of Miriam and th scond gnration's no-watr tst (Num. 20:1 13) B. Ngotiations to transvrs Edom fail (Num. 20:14 23) C. Aaron's dath (Num. 20:24 29) D. Th Isralits dfat th king of Arad of th Ngv (Num. 21:1 3) E. Th long additional journy causs th popl to complain; th bronz srpnt (Num. 21:4 9) F. Isral continus to advanc (Num. 21:10 20) G. Victory ovr th Amorits (Num. 21:21 32) H. Victory ovr Og, th king of Bashan (Num. 21:33 35) II. Isral, Balak and Balaam (Num ) A. Balak, king of Moab, snds for Balaam (Num. 22:1 21) B. Balaam gos to Balak (Num. 22:22 41) C. Balaam blsss Isral instad of cursing hr (Num ) III. Th last of Gnration X dis (Num. 25) A. Th influnc of th cults of th womn of Moab and Midian and th subsqunt plagu (Num. 25:1 9) B. Phinhas stops th plagu (Num. 25:10 18) IV. Prparations for ntranc into th Land of Promis (Num ) A. Th scond major cnsus (Num. 26) B. Inhritanc laws (Num. 27:11 14) C. Joshua is to succd Moss (Num. 27:15 23) D. Offrings and vows (Num ) 1. Th accompnaying brad offrings (Num. 28) 2. Spcial offrings for th svnth month (Num. 29) 3. Spcial voluntary vows (Num. 30) E. Th slaughtr of Midian 1. Prparation (Num. 31:1 6) 2. War (Num. 31:7 10) 3. Th spoil and pry (Num. 31:11 18) 4. Purification of th mn of war (Num. 31:19 24) 5. Th division of th spoil (Num. 31:25 54) F. Rubn and Gad sttl in th lands rcntly conqurd (Jazr and Gilad) (Num. 32) 1. Thir formal rqust to Moss (Num. 32:1 5) 2. Ngociations btwn Moss and th ldrs of Gad and Rubn (Num. 32:6 27) 3. Th agrmnt is formally ratifid in public (Num. 32:28 32) 4. Gad, Rubn and a portion of th trib of Manassh sttl thir familis thr (Num. 32:33 42) G. Th journy from Egypt to Jordan Jricho is rviwd (Num. 33:1 49) H. Th apportioning of th land (Num. 33:50 36:13) 1. Th gnral principl of possssing th land (Num. 33:50 56) 2. Th bordrs of th land which is to b conqurd ar givn (Num. 34:1 15) 3. Dlgation of authority of land managmnt (Num. 34:16 29) 4. Th citis of th Lvits (Num. 35:1 5) 5. Th citis of rfug (Num. 35:6 34) a. Th particular citis (Num. 35:6 15) b. Diffrntiating btwn manslaughtr and capital murdr (Num. 35:16 34) 6. Th laws of inhritanc of Num. 27 appndd (Num. 36) Th author of th introduction braks th book of Numbrs into thr parts, with a gographical mphasis. I mntion this, so that whn w gt startd, you will hav som outlins of what is to occur in th back of your mind. Isral is campd at Mount Sinai for th first tn chaptrs; in th middl of chaptr 10, thy mov toward th land of promis, and ncamp for awhil at Kadsh-barna; and, aftr thirty-ight yars, mov toward th ast bordr of th Land of Promis. For th balanc of Numbrs (Num. 22:2 36:13), th Isralits rmaind campd on th plains of Moab.

7 Th Book of Numbrs 7 S nots on Num. 1:1 in NIV. Incorporat Scofild's not for Num. 15:1. Chronology: Th book of Exodus nds with Now it cam about in th first month of th scond yar, on th first day of th month, that th tabrnacl was rctd (Ex. 40:17) and th book of Numbrs bgins in Num. 1:1 with th dat Thn Y howah spok to Moss in th dsrt of Sinai, in th tnt of mting on th first [day] of th scond month in th scond yar aftr th had com out of th land of Egypt. Although gnrally in chronological ordr, latr, part way through th book of Numbrs, w rad: Thus Y howah had spokn to Moss in th dsrt of Sinai in th first month of th scond yar aftr thy had com out of th land of Egypt, saying, "Now, lt th sons of isral obsrv th Passovr at its appointd tim, on th fourtnth day of this month..." (Num. 9:1 3a). W ar thn told on what day Isral advancd from Mount Sinai: Now it cam to pass in th scond yar, in th scond month, on th twntith [day] of th month, that th cloud was liftd from ovr th tabrnacl of th tstimony, and th sons of Isral st out on thir journys from th wildrnss of Sinai. Thn th cloud sttld down in th wildrnss of Paran (Num. 10:11 12). Most of th way through th book of Numbrs, w ar givn anothr dat on which to hang our hats: Thn Aaron, th prist, wnt up to Mount Hor at th mouth of Y howah and did thr in th fortith yar aftr th sons of Isral had com from th land of Egypt on th first [day] of th fifth month (Num. 33:38). This tlls us that th book of Numbrs was not writtn immdiatly aftr ths vnts, and thrfor not all of it is in chronological ordr. Howvr, th bginning and stopping points ar clar: th Isralits ar xactly on yar out of Egypt and th book of Numbrs concluds with thm at Jordan Jricho (across th Jordan rivr from Jricho), prparing to ntr into th land of Canaan and to dispossss th popls in it. Th book of Dutronomy bgins with: And it cam to pass in th fortith yar, on th first day of th lvnth month, that Moss spok to th childrn of Isral, according to all that Y howah had commandd him [to say] to thm (Dut. 1:3). So th tim span of th book of Numbrs is xactly thirty-ight yars, tn months. For thos of you lik myslf, who ar vry linar and vry tim-orintd, this should appal to you. Prvious Dat Earlist Dat Latst Dat Nxt Dat 8 1/1/2 AE 1/?/2 AE 5/1/40 AE 11/1/40 AE Ex. 40:17 Num. 9:1 Num. 33:38 Dut. 1:3 Num. 9:1 occurs prior to 1/14/2 AE; howvr, this passag may rfr to a talk which Y howah had with Moss prior to th incidnts found in th book of Numbrs. Howvr, th dat 2/1/2 AE is found in Num. 1:1 and is an intgral part of th incidnts rcordd in that chaptr. So, in any cas, Numbrs bgins at last with th scond month of th scond yar and nds no latr than th fifth month of th fortith yar. Authorship: This book was writtn by Moss, most of which was likly rcordd during th thirty-ight silnt yars. You hav no doubt hard thoris whrin th Pntatuch was supposdly writtn by four diffrnt sts of authors ovr diffrnt priod of tim, all long aftr th actual occurrnc of th vnts hrin rcordd. Numbrs in particular is thought to b th product of mor than on man bcaus it is so divrs in its contnt (it is mor divrs than any of th othr four books of th Torah). Howvr, divrsity dos not indicat that Numbrs had to b writtn by a tam of authors. Moss, apart from any rligious connotation, was on of th gratst mn of ancint history who, do to his grat intllignc and strngth of charactr, was quit divrs in his abilitis and intrsts. H was raisd royalty in th castl of Egypt, which would allow for his grat background. On of th primary rasons thos who bliv in th thory of documtnary hypothsis (i.., that th Pntatuch was th rsult of four sts of popl or groups oprating svral hundrd yars apart long aftr th facts rcordd) tak such a stand is that thy dspis prophcy. Thy do not lik th fact that God th Holy Spirit rgularly prdictd th nar and th far futur for Isral throughout th books of th Old Tstatmnt. It is way too dvinlyinspird for thm. Thrfor, it is asir to claim that th prdictions wr writtn aftr thy occurrd. That way, on dos not hav to dal with things such as divin inspiration. This hypothsis and its rfutation ar dalt with 8 Aftr th Exodus.

8 Introduction to th Book of Numbrs 8 in grat dtail in Evidnc Which Rquirs a Vrdict, Book II and A Rady Dfns, both writtn by Josh 9 McDowll. A shortr rfutationof this flawd hypothsis can b found in ZPEB, Vol. 4, p With what I hav xamind, it is much asir to argu that th writing of Numbrs was don by a contmporary with th incidnts rcordd (i.., Moss) as opposd to this bing writtn hundrds of yars latr or rdactd svral tims hundrds of yars latr. In fact, lt m list som of th things which point to a contmporary, and thrfor, Mosaic, authorship: # Th lngth of th gnological lin found in Num. 3:1 3 xtnds from Aaron through his sons and gos no furthr. It rachs backward, in Num. 3:17 21 to Lvi; vn an author writing a rvision or an updating (i.., a rdactor) would hav likly includd th sons of Aaron's sons, as th pristly lin wnt through Aaron. # Num. 33:2a calls Moss th author of at last that portion of Scriptur, as it rads: And Moss rcordd thir starting placs according to thir journys by th command [lit., mouth] of Y howah. # Th spcial instructions concrning Passovr and contact with th dad would hav spcial maning to th scond gnration, but would man vry littl to us (Num. 9:1 14). # Th carful attntion to dtail of Num. 33, th naming of th individual stopping placs, and th gography, would b logically th work of a contmporary to ths travls. An author of svral hundrd yars latr would not hav bn intrstd in this matrial, and th nams would hav corrspondd to th citis of his tim, not to aras totally lost to history (roughly half th stopping placs in Num. 33 hav no historical impact). # Th splitting of th inhritanc laws into two disjoint chaptrs (Num. 27 and 36) would b logically don by a prson who rcordd ths vnts as thy occurrd. An author of a latr ra would mor likly group this ruling into on chaptr. # Th vnts of Korah's rbllion, in Num. 16, hav th fl of an ywitnss, as opposd to an author writing about this hundrds of yars latr. Similar argumnts for an ywitnss rcording of vnts could b mad for Num. 25, 31 and 32. # Th fallibility of Moss, as sn in Num. 20, includs matrial that only bcoms truly significant aftr th dath of our Lord and th Paulin dissction of sam. Sinc th Pntatuch was in xistnc long bfor Paul wrot, this argus for divin authorship, as wll as for Mosaic authorship. # Thr is a lack of dtail in th battls found in Num. 21:1 3, and 33 35, whras th vnt of Num. 21:4 9 is givn mor attntion to dtail. As commandr in chif, Moss would not go into battl with Isral's troops, thrfor what h writs about th actual battls will b quit sktchy (as contrastd to Joshua, who will giv dtails to many of his battls). Howvr, th bronz srpnt incidnt, sandwichd btwn, is mor mticulous with rfrnc to dtail, indicating an ywitnss. This would point to a Mosaic authorship. A latr author might want to downplay Isral's failur and to boast mor of hr victoris (furthrmor, ancint authors would tnd to mbllish th grat xploits of battl, as opposd to nglcting such dtails, as Moss did). # Our Lord and almost vry Nw Tstamnt writr rfr to Moss as th author of th Pntatuch (Matt. 8:4 19:7 22:24 Mark 1:44 10:3 Luk 5:14 20:28 John 1:!7 Acts 3:22 Rom. 10:5 II Cor. 3:15 Hb. 9:19 10:28 at last to th last four books), without arguing for it, indicating that was th basic blif during thir tim, and, bcaus of th divin inspiration of Scriptur, this clinchs it for any blivr. ZPEB points out that Jrom, of th Latin Vulgat translation, was th first arly thologian to qustion th authorship of th Pntatuch. Allow m to quot from th NASB's introduction to th book of Numbrs: Extrms of litrary criticism hav trid to dny that Moss could hav writtn any of th book and hav attmptd to partition it into documnts dating form svral priods of Isral's history. Archaological discovris, howvr, hav shown th antiquity of laws, 9 In fact, lt m insrt a plug for Evidnc which Dmands a Vrdict (book on), or A Rady Dfns. I prsonally did not want to fall into a position of intllctual lassitud upon bcom ing a Christian. Bing raisd in th hippy gnration and bing xposd to th Jsus fraks, I had com into contact with nough brain-dad popl. I prsonally did not want to fall into som brainlss abyss of fundam ntalist Christianity. Ths books, along with a grat many othrs, gav m th hop that I could bcom a blivr in Jsus Christ and not sim ultanously com m it intllctual suicid. Ths two books dal primarily with Christian apologtics, which, I guss you could say, is th study of is Christianity rasonabl? Anothr rcom m ndation along ths lins is C.S. Lwis's Mr Christianity.

9 Th Book of Numbrs 9 institutions and living conditions dscribd in Numbrs. Th viw that Numbrs coms from Moss and th priod in which h livd is supportd also by th grat vnration which th Jws had for Moss and th sacrd writings attributd to him. Thr is only on portion of th book of Numbrs which is curious with rgards to original authorship and that is th incidnt of Balaam bing calld by King Balak to curs Isral (Num ). Moss was not an ywitnss to this vnt, yt it contains grat dtail. Portions of it, particularly Num. 22:22 35, ar vry prsonal to Balaam, yt carry with thm a fl of omniscinc. Th carful quotations of Num. 23 and 24 sound as though thy wr rcordd on th spot by an ywitnss, or soon thraftr. Hr, I hav a thory or two, but nothing that I am marrid to. I would think that Balaam might hav chronicld ths vnts, and, whn facd with dath at th hands of th Isralits svral months latr, h may hav offrd ths writings as proof of his rlationship with Y howah. H was still uncrmoniously killd and th writings wr likly brought back to Moss. Explanation #2 (which I hav vn lss rgard for) is that God th Holy Spirit providd all of th dtails of this occuranc to Moss dirctly. Now, don't misundrstand m hr: I hav no problm with th ability of God th Holy Spirit to provid us with dtails of things that w hav not sn and with dtails only an ywitnss would hav. My problm with this kind of an xplanation is that it gos against th gnral tnor of Scriptur. Whn vnts out of th author's ralm ar rcordd, thr ar oftn asids concrning this (th book of Luk, for instanc, was basd on svral documnts and th intrviws of ywitnsss Luk did not just lock himslf up in a room and say, "Okay, God, lay it on m; what happnd?" His was a carful compilation of xisting historical matrial and ywitnss rports. Moss shows th sam attntion to dtail, and is wont to quot his sourcs (Num. 21:14 and 27 for instanc). In th NASB, Th introduction to th book of Numbrs rads: Sinc th Mosaic priod is at last thirtn hundrd yars bfor christ, th book in its prsnt form has passd through many hands, and vn in th Hbrw itslf has bn translitratd from on typ of script to anothr. Undoubtdly thr ar scribal or ditorial additions hr and thr. Th NIV Study Bibl rads: It is not ncssary, howvr, to claim that Numbrs cam from Moss' hand complt and in final form. Portions of th book wr probably addd by scribs or ditors from latr priods of Isral's history. This dos not man that this book has bn rwrittn or rvisd, but that thr hav bn som changs mad to th txt. Thos who hav don so hav bn appropriatly punishd, as pr Rv. 22:18 19: I tstify to vryon who hars th words of th prophcy of this book; if anyon adds to thm, God will add to him th plagus which ar writtn in this book; and if anyon taks away from th words of th book of this prophcy, God will tak away his part from th tr of lif and from th holy city, which ar writtn in this book. Moss himslf told th popl: "You will not add to th word which I am commanding you, nor tak away from it, that you may kp th commandmnts of Y howah your God, which I command you...whatvr I command you, you will b carful to do; you will not add to nor tak away from it." (Dut. 4:2 12:32). This is God's Word, and God is abl to prsrv His Word. Th Mishna and th Torah ar two of th vry bst argumnts today for th prsrvation of th original txt. Th Jws fll into lgalism and dvlopd th Mishna, th Midrash and th Talmud, whos intntion was not unlik that of a Biblical xgt or a Bibl commntary, xcpt that thy wnt off th dp nd. Thir intrprtations of crtain passags got incrdibly intricat, going far byond that njoind in th Torah (th Law) of Moss. Howvr, rathr than insrt som of ths idas and writings dirctly into Scriptur, this information was passd down in writtn and oral form, and vntually committd to th writings which th Jwish scholars study today. In th Jwish world, ths ar givn a lssr plac than th books of Moss, yt thy ar studid mor. Howvr, th point of mntioning ths books, is that rathr than go into th actual txt of Moss with a lot of farftchd idas and lgalistic commntary, vn though som groups of Jws hld firmly to ths blifs, ths writings hav rmaind sparat from th Law and thir plac in Jwish thology is blow that of th writings of Moss, gnrally spaking and, again, this is a mattr of vrbal assnt; but th rality is diffrnt. In Christianity, w also hav grat vrbal dfrnc givn to th Word of God; howvr, thos who plac it on a pdastal of honor paradoxically rarly study God's Word nor do thy oby God' s Word. Also, thr is xtnt today th spiritual gift of txtual criticism, which scholars mploy to dtrmin what th original txt was. My point in all of this is that, ys, thr hav crtainly bn changs, additions and adultrations in th txt of Moss on th othr hand, ths hav bn vry minor, and many of th discrpancis in txt will b xamind as w study this fantastic book. Bar in mind, that this is God's Word and H has allowd a fw adultrations to crp in, and H has givn to us

10 Introduction to th Book of Numbrs 10 popl who hav dvotd thir livs to dtrmin what ths corruptions ar. If you want numbrs, lt's say that 10 th book of Numbrs in th Hbrw is in agrmnt with th autographs % of th tim (and vn with that low 97%, much of it is xgtically inconsquntial, as w will s). You must undrstand that th Scribs who ddicatd thir livs to copying and rcopying th books of Moss so that God's Word would b prsrvd had a dp and abiding ddication to this task. Thy did not tak thir work lightly. Thrfor, thy would mak vry attmpt possibl to achiv accuracy of th original txt. ZPEB calld 11 th txt of Numbrs (along with that of th rst of th Pntatuch) rmarkably stabl. Th variations which w find in th various codics ar quit minor (many of ths will b pointd out arly in th book of Numbrs to giv you an ida as to how inconsquntial and unimportant thy ar). Authority and Inspiration: Th book of Numbrs was authord, lik all Scriptur, by God th Holy Spirit (I originally wrot co-authord, but that dos not fully convy what occurs). Th writing of Scriptur is as much th product of divin inspiration as it is a human accomplishmnt. It is compltly and wholy God's Word and compltly and wholy th Word of man. Th writtn Word itslf is a pictur of Jsus Christ, fully human and fully divin. Th book of Numbrs is not mrly inspird, nor dos it contain God's Word, but it is God's Word, whthr a quot dirctly from God or a narrativ passag. Howvr, just as I hav listd svral rasons why Moss is indd th human author of this book, lt m list why this book is th work of God th Holy Spirit:! God continually spaks dirctly to Moss (and somtims to Aaron), so that much of this book is quotd dirctly from God (Num. 1:1 2:1 3:40 4:1, 21 5:1, 11 6:1 tc.). In fact, th NIV Study Bibl points out that th book of Numbrs says ovr 150 tims that God spok to Moss and stats this in twnty diffrnt ways. 12! Moss has givn us a gnral njoindr not to add or subtract from ths Laws givn by God (Dut. 4:2 12:32).! Intrstingly nough, no writr of Scriptur, Old Tstamnt or Nw, quots dirctly from th book of Numbrs. Howvr, svral of th incidnts found in th book of Numbrs ar mntiond. Th Isralits will b fd quails by God in Numbrs and this is confirmd as an historical vnt in Psalm 78: :40. I Cor. 10:8 10 carris an admonition against spcific mistaks mad by th Isralits in th book of Numbrs, nding with v. 11: Now ths things happnd to thm as an xampl and thy wr writtn for our instruction, upon whom th nds of th ags hav com. On of th most quotd Nw Tstamnt passag, John 3:16, follows aftr John 3:14, which confirms th historicity of th bronz srpnt of Num. 21: And as Moss liftd up th srpnt in th wildrnss, vn so must th Son of Man b liftd up; that whovr blivs may in Him hav trnal lif. For God so lovd th world that H gav His uniquly-born Son that whovr blivs in Him should not prish but hav trnal lif." (John 3:14 16).! Takn as a cohsiv part of th Pntatuch, this book is givn authority throughout th Old and Nw Tstamnts (2Kings 14:6 21:8 Dan. 9:11 Mal. 4:4).! This book is includd in th canon of Scriptur without any rsrvation of any txtual critic. Chronology of th Writing of Numbrs: Now thr is anothr sort of chronology which should b xamind and that is th chronology of th writing of this book. Num. 1:1 compard with Num. 9:1 indicats that not vrything is in xact chronological ordr; howvr, whn xamining th dats (Num. 1:1 9:1 10:11 20:1 33:3, 38) which ar found in this book, thr is vry indication that it is ssntially writtn in chronological ordr. Furthrmor, an xamination of th incidnts in comparison to th movmnt of th troops in Num. 33 givs no contradiction in tim of movmnt nor dos it giv ris to any srious argumnt for th contnts of Numbrs to b in som ordr othr than chronological. In Num. 1 19, Moss was quit involvd with th following activitis: th movmnt of th Isralits through th wildrnss ara; th cnsus taking; ovrsing th rmoval of th tabrnacl and th r-stablishing of th tabrnacl at vry stag of movmnt; rcording th Law as givn him by Y howah; spaking to th popl as to th contnts of th Law; daling with rvolt aftr rvolt aftr rvolt and with th grumbling and complaining that An autograph is a compltly accurat copy of th original txt. ZPEB, Vol. 4, p p. 187.

11 Th Book of Numbrs 11 Gnration X smd to do on a rgular basis (w only s a small portion of thir dgnracy in God's Word); and, Moss was involvd quit activly in th court systm, haring som cass as th originatd and othrs on appal. What I am saying to you that during this priod of a yar or so, Moss had no tim whatsovr to himslf. During th thirty-ight silnt yars, although Moss has most of ths rsponsibilitis, th tabrnacl is rmaining in on plac, thr is no troop movmnt, thr ar no spis to snd out, th cnsus taking has bn compltd, and Moss sms to hav no clos involvmnt with th thousands of popl who wr dying lik flis in th dsrt so it is my opinion that h compild most of Gnsis, Exodus, Lviticus and th first half of th book of Numbrs during this stay at Kadsh-barna. Much of this matrial had alrady bn writtn down chifly th Laws as givn to Moss by Y howah. Moss had bn told on svral occasions to writ this down. Thn Y howah said to Moss, "Writ this in th book as a mmorial and plac it in th ars of Joshua, that I will uttrly blot out th mmory of Amalk from undr th havn." (Ex. 17:14). And Moss wrot down all th words of Y howah (Ex. 24:4a). Thn Y howah said to Moss, "Writ down for yourslf ths words, for in accordanc with ths words, I hav mad a covnant with you and with Isral." (Ex. 34:17). And Moss rcordd thir starting placs according to thir journys by th mouth of Y howah, and ths ar thir journys accoridng to thir starting placs (Num. 33:2). I would think that at Kadsh-barna, h would hav a littl mor tim to rflct, insrt historical vnts, and to ssntially complt th bulk of th Pntatuch. Bcaus Moss will not ntr th land, thr was a tim priod whn th troops of Isral attackd and dfatd th Amorits, Midian and th King of Bashan; thn th tribs of Rubn, Gad and a portion of Manassh sttld thm womn and childrn ast of th Jordan. This gav Moss som tim to finish th last portion of th book of Numbrs and to prpar svral farwll srmons to th childrn of Isral, gnration 2. It is possibl that at this point, if not arlir, Moss usd an amanunsis, although h did not ncssarily nd on. Furthrmor, th likly candidat for that position would hav bn Joshua, son of Nun. This would xplain th smooth transition at th nd of Dutronomy from th mssag of Moss to th dath of Moss, which, as vry author points out, Moss could hav writtn prophtically, but which was likly writtn by Joshua, God's nxt choic to rul ovr Isral. Making copis of th Law was njoind by th tim of Dut. 17:18, whr th king was to sit on his thron and...writ for himslf a copy of th Law on a scroll in th prsnc of th Lvitical prists. Gography: Th book of Numbrs bgins at th foot of Mount Sinai aftr God has ssntially givn Moss most of th Laws and rgulations by which th popl of Isral ar to liv. From thr, thy will travl up north along th Gulf of Aqaba, probably along a rivr fding into th gulf. At som point, much mor north than is shown on most Bibl maps, thy will cut ovr almost du wst to Kadsh-barna. From thr, thy will snd out spis to xamin th land and plan for thir first invasion. As th spis ar looking ovr th land, th sons of Isral advanc to Hormah and byond. Howvr, th rport of th spis will frightn th popl, and thy will rfus to go into th land, to tak it. Thn, aftr thy raliz that thy hav scrwd up and that God will disciplin thm for it, thy go up to invad th land, apart form Y howah, and thy ar rpulsd and pushd back to Hormah. Thy stop and spnd thirty-svn silnt yars in Kadsh-barna [whr prhaps thy had lft thir womn and childrn prior to th invasion?]. Aftr most of th Exodus gnration has did out, thy travl ast and thn south, to whr th Gulf of Aqaba bgan in thos days (which I bliv was much farthr north than it is today). Thy had hopd to go north on th King's Highway, but th Edomits would not giv thm passag. Thr ar two routs which thy may hav takn from hr. I bliv that thy wnt wst again, cam up on th wst sid of Edom, and cut across just south of th Salt Sa. Howvr, it is possibl that thy movd du ast or du south, got out of th bordr of Edom that dirction, and thn procdd north up along th ast sid of Edom's bordrs. Thy travld outsid th ast bordr of Moab, cut across btwn Moab and Ammon, and got into an altrcation with th Amorits who had rcntly takn a larg chunk of alnd away from Moab (this is th land ast and northast of th Salt Sa). Thn Isral got into an altrcation with Og, th king of Bashan, and thy conqurd th land dirctly north of th Amorits and took a rathr larg chunk of land in that invasion. At th nd of Numbrs, thy will stand prchd, across th Jordan Rivr from Jricho, from whr Moss will dlivr his famous Dutronomic [pronouncd DOO-tr-uh-NOME-ik] mssags to th nw gnration of Isralits (th book of 13 Dutronomy) who ar soon to invad th land of Canaan to tak it (th book of Joshua). 13 I nd a map right hr, showing othr possibl routs, othr possibl gographis, and how th sons of Isral rally did travl.

12 Introduction to th Book of Numbrs 12 In this book of Numbrs, w will spnd mor tim travling through th Sinai Pninsula and through th various dsrts than w do anywhr ls in th Pntatuch. I think that it is important to not that th promisd land today is undr disciplin from God. It is filld with wars and racial and rligious strif and intns violnc. To look at picturs of Palstin, on dos not s a land flowing with milk and hony, but rathr a lot of dsrt ara intrsprsd with som patchs of grn and disputations. A littl watr can transform any ara, as can th lack of watr (Los Angls is a prim xampl of what a littl influx of watr can do to a dsrt rgion). At last during th tim of th xodus and th arly sttling of th promisd land, thr was a lot mor rain and a much grat agricultural prosprity than w s today. In fact, I bliv that th rain was much mor plantiful for prhaps a tim priod of clos to two thousand yars. Aras which hav watr in thm only during th rainy sason probably had flowing watr in thm throughout th yar. Whn Abraham and Moss lookd out onto th promisd land, thy saw a land which was lush, and grn and inviting, with grat agricultural prosprity, unlik it is today. Th gulf of Aqaba probably xtndd at last anothr 60 mils north, with watr flowing btwn th Salt Sa and th Gulf of Aqaba, at last during th rainy sason, if not yar round. Whn I first studid th Pntatuch, instad of th standard translation, th wildrnss of Sinai or th wildrnss of Zin, I instad rndrd it th dsrt of Sinai and th dsrt of Zin. Howvr, my studis hav causd m to conclud that this was not th dsrt rgion thn that it is today. Th translation wildrnss would includ som dsrt rgions (obviously a problm at tims whn th Jws facd th no-watr tst), but it also includd som aras which wr basically uninhabitd and somtims difficult to transvrs. Thr ar two basic viws that I am awar of whn it coms to th forty-yar wandrings of th sons of Isral. Most authors and commntaris tak th stand that th Jws wandrd in th dsrt for forty yars. I prsonally bliv that thy transvrsd th wildrnss, moving toward Sinai and thn toward th land of Canaan in a spac of about 2 3 yars; thn thy campd in Kadsh-barna, bcaus thr was no nd for thm to go anywhr. Thy wr not going into th land. God had bgun to kill off larg numbrs of th xodus gnration. Thy had to dal with th daths of two million popl ovr a priod of thirty-svn yars. This would prclud a lot of travl bcaus (1) thy had no rason to travl anywhr; (2) thy had no plac to travl to; and (3) thy wr constantly busy with th rituals of coming into contact with dad popl (clansing from contact with dad popl, although it dos not play a prominnt part in th book of Numbrs, it is still givn mor tim than on would think undr normal circumstancs). And, finally, (4) th Isralits did not just wandr th dsrt. Now on th day that th tabrnacl was rctd th cloud covrd th tabrnacl, th tnt of th tstimony, and in th vning it was lik th apparanc of fir ovr th tabracnl, until morning. So it was continuously: th cloud would covr it, and th apparanc of fir by night. And whnvr th cloud was liftd from ovr th tnt, aftrward, th sons of Isral would thn st out; and in th pac whr th cloud sttld down, thr th sons of Isral would camp. At th mouth of Y howah th sons of Isral would st out, and at th mouth of Y howah, thy would camp; as long as th cloud sttld ovr th tabrnacl, th rmaind campd. Evn whn th cloud lingrd ovr th tabrnacl for many days, th sons of Isral would kp Y howah's charg and not st out (Num. 9:15 19). Do you follow this? Th childrn of Isral did not wandr aimlssly. Thr is no indication of that anywhr in Scriptur. This passag, along with Ex. 13:21 22 and 40:34 38, tll us that God guidd thm vry stp of th way. At Kadshbarna, aftr thir trribl failur, thy had no plac to go. God had no rason to lad thm anywhr. "Thrfor, I was disgustd with this gnration. And said, "Thy continually wnt astray in thir thinking [lit., hart]; and thy did not know My ways. As I swor in My wrath, thy will not ntr My rst." (Hb. 3:10 11 Psalm 95:10 11). What do you think is going to happn? Moss is going to gt wandrlust and gt up som morning and say, "Lt's go for a forcd march out into th dsrt." Do you think th sons of Isral will lav an ara of thir basic ncssitis and go back into th wildrnss? Do you think that God is going to lift th cloud from abov th tabrnacl and commnc to lad ths sons of Isral on a wild goos chas, so to spak? Y howah suddnly says, "I'm bord with us just bing hr, lt's go wandr aimlssly until you di." Many of this gnration did n rout to Kadsh-barna and many of thm will di whn thy go to ntr th land onc again from th ast sid btwn th two sas. Howvr, many of thm will simply di uncrmonious daths out thr in th wildrnss ara of Kadsh-barna. Thr is at last parital agrmnt with this viwpoint by David W. Krr, Th.M., who wrot th introduction to th book of Numbrs. H wrot Whil ths ar sually dscribd as yars of wandring, it is fairly clar that th popl livd south of Canaan propr, partly in th ara known as th Ngv, not far from Kadsh Barna, for about thirty-svn yars. During this tim th tabrnacl was th foacl point of civil as wll as rligious lif, sinc it was hr that Moss carrid out his administrativ dutis. It may b assumd

13 Th Book of Numbrs 13 that th popl followd th domstic pursuits of nomads, living in tnts, pasturing flocks in th smi-arid stpps. 14 This circumstancs rquird spcial divin provisions of food and watr. On quit intrsting not, howvr, is that I cannot rcall anything bing said about th disposal of th bodis of thir dad or rituals concrning burials and mmorials. Thy cam out of Egypt whr th prsrvation of som of thir dad bordrd on fanaticism, howvr this topic is not vn covrd in th books of Numbrs and Lviticus. My prsonal thought hr is that thy kpt a larg fir burning outsid th camp and basically dumpd th bodis onto this fir. This may sm rathr callous to you, but w hav an avrag of approximatly 150 popl dying vry singl day. That is a lot of dad popl to bury and that rquirs a lot of room for burial plots (and, as I mntiond, burial is nvr discussd in ths books). Th Cnsus: On of th gratst contmporary objctions to th book of Numbrs is th cnsus. Th book of Numbrs is uncompromisingly consistnt in this rgard, but many objct to this bcaus how could two million popl wandr in th dsrt for forty yars and liv? (6) Th Isralits did not wandr throughout th dsrt for forty yars; thy travld in th dsrt for a priod of a yar and a half, and thn anothr half a yar, (roughtly). Thy coold thir hls in Kadsh-barna for most of thos forty yars. (7) Th climatic conditions of that ara wr mor favorabl at that tim toward a larg, nomatic group. (8) Too many of us pictur th watr coming from th rock, an incidnt which took plac in Exodus and was rpatd for th scond gnration in th book of Numbrs, to look lik mayb a hos was in th middl of th rock. This ida is basd upon picturs that w hav sn in childrn's Bibl storis. Obviously, two million thirsty popl and thir cattl cannot gt nough watr from a gardn hos. Try standing at a watr fountain bhind two hundrd popl and s how fast your thirst is assaugd. Much worst to b standing bhind two million popl. Th first w can comprhnd; th larg numbr of th scond maks this totally incomprhnsibl. Howvr, this was not a gardn hos-sizd stram of watr; Psalm 78:20 105:41 both indicat that quit a rivr was almost an immdiat rsult of this miracl. (9) It was clarly miraculous for such a larg group to b fd and clothd during this tim in th wildrnss. Our God is a God of th miraculous. Many of th miracls prtaining to th prsrvation of ths popl ar not vn rcordd in Scriptur, and othrs ar alludd to vry brifly (.g., Moss said to th scond gnration: "And I hav ld you forty yars in th wildrnss; your cloths hav not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot." Dut. 29:5). For ths two gnrations of Jws, miracls wr almost commonplac. Thy had no xcus for thir unblif. For ths rasons, you may rad of many authors hdging on th numbrs in Numbrs; and som mak som vry good argumnts, rducing th population of Isral to a hundrd thousand or two, as opposd to two million. But ultimatly, w hav a problm that thir numbrs do not add up; thy ar not consistnt. And such an incras in population from a group of svnty in Egypt would hav not only not bn notworthy (as rcordd in Ex. 1:7, 20), but, if anything, would indicat modrat growth at bst. Final Commnts: Numbrs, lik much of th Old Tstamnt, has bn all but ignord in our day of apostasy; howvr, this is a grat book which dmands our attntion, arns our intrst and givs us invaluabl historical data on th popl of Isral. 14 NASB, p. 132.

14 Numbrs 1 Numbrs 1:1 54 Outlin of Chaptr 1: vv. 1 3 Th command by God for Moss to tak a cnsus vv Th hads of th tribs to assist with th cnsus vv Th cnsus is takn vv Th rsponsibilitis of th Lvits Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Introduction: In Num. 1 w hav th first of two cnsuss takn in this book of Numbrs, so aptly titld. Th original plan was for Isral to immdiatly go into th land and conqur it. Howvr, thy will fail a major tst at Kadsh Barna and God will caus thm to cool thir hls in th dsrt for an additional forty yars until th gnration that God loathd dis out. Th Command by God for Moss to Tak a Cnsus And Yahwh spok to Moss in th dsrt of Sinai, in th tnt of mting, on th first of th scond month, in th scond yar of thir going out of th land of Egypt, saying, [Num. 1:1] Moss has bn carful to giv us a plac and dat in ordr to fix this point in history. H was a mthodical prson in this way. W wr abl to dtrmin to th month whn th book of Lviticus was writtn. According to Num. 33:38, th scop of this book is yars. This is thirtn months aftr Isral bgan hr xodus from Egypt and Aaron will di on th first day of th fifth month in th fortith yar. That maks this book 38 yars and four months in its duration btwn Num. 1:1 and 33:38. Sinc th book of Dutronomy bgins on th first day of th lvnth month of th fortith yar, Numbrs spans 38 yars and 9 months. During this tim w will s this vil gnration struck down by God. Th NIV points out that dating th tim of thir wandrings using th anchor of th Exodus is vry similar to th Christian quoting dats as bing A.D. or B.C. (bfor or aftr th yar of our Lord). Our Lord's dath is th grat act of dlivranc of our souls, just as th daths of th first born of th sons of Egypt markd th grat act of dlivranc of Isral from Egypt. Hr, th Jws had packd up and bgan to wandr through th dsrt. Thy had bn at th foot of th Sinai mountains, which thy had walkd along. This was thir scond tim to brak a smi-prmannt camp. Aftr scaping th Egyptians, thy had bn travling through th dsrt of Sinai and thy parkd thmslvs in front of Mount Sinai whil Moss rcivd th bginning of th Law from Yahwh (Ex. 19:1 2). Thy brok camp aftr th goldn calf incidnt (Ex. 32) and movd along th mountains of Sinai (Ex. 33:1 6). Howvr, thy rmaind nar to ths mountains (Lv. 27:34). "Tak a cnsus [lit. had] [or, tak a had count] of all th congrgation of th sons of Isral by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, in th numbr of nams vry mal by thir had by had. [Num. 1:2] Tak is th masculin singular, Qal imprativ of nâsâ (à È ð È) [pronouncd naw--saw], a word with 46 rndrings in th Authorizd vrsion, among thm: xact, as, contain, cast, lad, marry, rspct, suffr; it mans, as w hav sn, to lift, to tak, to bar, to carry. Moss bars th primary rsponsibility, so this vrb is in th singular, vn though Aaron will assist him and th twlv to b mntiond will also assist thm. What Moss is to tak is a rô sh ( àø É ) [pronouncd rosh] and it is from an unusd root that mans shak, and it gnrally mans had

15 Th Book of Numbrs 15 as th had is asily shakn. Th closst w hav to this idiom is tak a had count. This idiom is rasonabl sinc th word had has a varity of manings (.g., top, chif, front, choicst, lading division). W find a diffrnt word for had, usd twic, at th nd of this vrs. Moss is about to go into battl with th surrounding Gntils and nds to know his strngth. "From a son of twnty yars and upward, vry on going out [to] war in Isral, you will numbr thm by thir armis, you and Aaron; [Num. 1:3] Th cnsus is to b takn of all th mn abl to go to war. Th word translatd war is tsâbâ (à áè öè ) [pronouncd b tsaw -VAW], and it can man army, war, or warfar. It is usually translatd hosts in th KJV, which oftn is sort of a pansy translation, as you do not raliz that w ar spaking of war and warfar whn you har th word host. Most popl sm to think that w ar spaking of a band of angls carrying harps and singing swt hymns. Howvr, th pictur is mor of a hug army of angls rady to do battl. In this contxt, w ar spaking of all th sons of Isral who ar draft ag who ar old nough to go to war. God has clarly givn th promisd land to Isral; howvr, thy will hav to tak it, which includs going to war against th prsnt inhabitants. This cnsus is not takn for th purposs of sipl information or for taxation purposs, but to dtrmin how many mn will b going to war. This is a military cnsus. W will s this phras anothr thirtn tims throughout this chaptr. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Hads of th Tribs to Assist with th Cnsus "And with you thr is a man for ach trib, a man h [is] a had to th hous of his fathrs. [Num. 1:4] Moss and Aaron will not prsonally count ach and vry prson. Thr will b a man with thm from ach trib of Isral, a had to th hous of his fathrs. That is, thr will b a tribal ladr from ach of th twlv tribs of Isral. Thr is not word for ach in this vrs, although som translations hav th word ach occur twic. What is hr twic is th word for man, <îysh ( é à ò ) [pronouncd sh]. "And ths [ar] th nams of th mn who stand with you: [Num. 1:5a] God dos not vn xpct Moss and Aaron to choos th mn who would stand for th tribs God chooss ths mn Himslf. This way, thr is no popularity contst, no on can rsnt Moss or Aaron bcaus h was not chosn, and, most importantly, th corrct popl can b chosn to had up a trib. "For Rubn Elizur [pronouncd l--tsoor], son of Shdur [pronouncd shd-ay-oor]; [Num. 1:5b] Bn (ï ) [pronouncd bn] simply mans son, a word that w find narly 5000 tims in th Old Tstamnt. What w hav hr is ssntially our quivalnt of a first and last nam: Elizur bn Shdur th primary diffrnc bing that th fathr's nam is his fathr's first nam. Th trib of Rubn would b on th south said of th camp (Num. 2:10). Although Rubn was th ldst of th sons of Jacob, h was calld unstabl as watr that is, h would tak th form of th containr that h was pourd into which mans that h did not hav th charactrisitics of a ladr. H was not th oldst son to whom his brothrs could look up to. Thrfor, whn offrings wr prsntd by th ladrs of th tribs, Elizur bn Shdur was fourth, not a rflction upon his own charactr, but upon that of his fathr, Rubn. Elizur's nam mans God of [th] rock; his fathr's nam mans spradr of light. By thir nams, thy both appar to hav som doctrin and som divin viwpoint. Howvr, othr than God choosing him for this important position of ladrship, h did not distinguish himslf in any way apart from th rst of th hads of Isral and is thrfor not mntiond apart from th othr trib

16 Numbrs Chaptr 1 16 ladrs. All fiv rfrncs to him in th book of Numbrs ar th sam standard fiv rfrncs givn to th othr lvn. "For Simon Shlumil [pronouncd shl-oo-m-ale], son of Zurishaddai [pronouncd tsoor-shad-dah-]; [Num. 1:6] H and his trib also campd on th south sid with th trib of Rubn (Num. 2:12). H was th fifth to offr sacrifics to God (Num. 7:36) and also was not distinguishd from th othr tribal ladrs. His nam mans pac with God and his fathr's nam mans rock of [th] Almighty. In th Apocraphyl book of Judith, his nam is listd as Salamil, son of Salasadai (Judith 8:1). "From Judah Nahshon [pronouncd nahk-shone], son of Amminadab [pronouncd am-mnaw-dawb]; [Num. 1:7] Although th tribs ar bing givn in ordr of th birth of thir fathrs, Nahshon bn Amminadab is on of th pr-mminnt of th tribal ladrs. Amminadab mans popl of librality and Nahshon mans nchantr. H was in th lin of David (Ruth 4: Chron. 2:10), in th lgal lin of our Lord (Matt. 1:4) and in th matriarchal lin of our Lord (Luk 3:32). Furthrmor, you may not with th pronounciations that w do not hav a corrct translitration hr (as wll in svral othr cass). It appars as though th KJV st th standard for th nams and most Bibl translations go with it. Nahshon's sistr bcam th wif of Aaron (Ex. 6:23). Du to his position in th lin of Christ and th fact that his fathr, Judah, did vntually bcom a prson with charactr, h gav his offring first of all (Num. 7:12). H is also listd first whn his trib taks a position on th East sid in Num. 2:3. Furthrmor, h took th lad whn thir troops st out (Num. 10:14). It just gos to show that you can nam your childrn whatvr you want, but unlss thy ar wll-traind and us thir own volition proprly, thr is no tlling how thy will turn out. "For Issachar Nthanl [pronouncd nth-an-ale], son of Zuar [pronouncd tsoo-awr]; [Num. 1:8] Nthanl mans givn of God, and Zuar mans small. Although Nthanl's nam occurs svral tims throughout th Old Tstamnt, th on spokn of hr finds his nam only fiv tims, whr w would xpct it to b. Nthanl gav his offring on th scond day. "From Zbulun Eliab [pronouncd l--awb], th son of Hlon [pronouncd chay-lone]; [Num. 1:9] Eliab mans God of [his] fathr. HIs offring was on th third day. "From th sons of Josph: from Ephraim Elishama, th son of Ammihud; from Manassh Gamalil, th son of Pdahzur; [Num. 1:10] Elishama [pronouncd l--shaw-maw] mans God of Haring, Ammihud [pronouncd am-m-0hood] mans popl of splndor, Gamalil [pronouncd gam-l-ale] mans rward of God, and Pdahzur [pronouncd pdaw-tsoor] mans a rock has ransomd. Elishama shows up in th standard fiv placs of prominnc plus on: w find out in 1Chron. 7:26 7 that h is th fathr of Nun and th grandfathr of Joshua. Thr ar six othr popl in th Bibl with his nam. Gamalil sounds as though h should hav bn a man of grat spiritual growth; howvr, h is found in th typical fiv placs (Num. 1:10 2:20 7:54, 59 10:23). "From Bnjamin Abidan, son of Gidoni; [Num. 1:11] Abidan [pronouncd ab--dawn] mans fathr of judgmnt (or, of judg) and Gidoni [pronouncd ghid-o- NEE] mans warlik. Although Bnjamin was th youngst, Abidan mad his offring on th ninth day. "From Dan Ahizr, son of Ammishaddai; [Num. 1:12]

17 Th Book of Numbrs 17 Ahizr [pronouncd akh,-eh-zr] mans brothr of hlp and Ammishaddai [pronouncd am-m-shad-dah] mans popl of [th] Almighty. This man, othr than bing chosn of God, dos not indiviudally distinguish himslf. "From Ashr Pagil, son of Ocran; [Num. 1:13] Pagil [pronouncd pag--ale] mans accidnt of God (for thos who thought that birth control and plannd parnting is rlativly nw) and Ocran [pronouncd ak-rawn] mans muddlr. With nams lik ths, you want ths guys to com in first; howvr, Pagil shows up in th appointd fiv portions of God's Word. "From Gad Eliasaph, son of Dnl; [Num. 1:14] Eliasaph [pronouncd l-yaw-sawf] mans God [is] gathrr and Dnl [pronouncd dh-oo-ale] mans known of God. H gav his offring on th sixth day (Num. 7:42); but it only gos to show that you can giv childrn all th advantags in th world (both h and his fathr hav spctacular nams), and it mans nothing without th propr training. "From Naphtali Ahira, son of Enan; [Num. 1:15] Ahira [pronouncd akh--rah] mans brothr of wrong (or, brothr [is] vil) and Enan [pronouncd ay-nawn] mans having ys. Ahira was th last on namd and th last to giv an offring (Num. 7:78). Th sons youngr than h ar Josph and Bnjamin, yt h is namd last. "Ths [ar] thos summond [by popular dmand] of th company, princs of th ancstral 15 tribs [or, tribs of thir fathrs]; thy [ar] hads of th thousands of Isral." [Num. 1:16] Thr is a word hr found only thr tims in th Old Tstamnt. Qârîy (à é øò È ) [pronouncd kaw-ree] is found only hr and in Num. 16:2 26:9. Th corrsponding vrb is qârâ (à øè È ) [pronouncd kaw-raw] which w find many tims throughout th Bibl; it mans to rad, to proclaim, to summon, to call. In ordr to diffrntiat this from th words calld, and lctd, w will translat th adjctiv summond [by popular dmand]. It is an organic procss whr ths ar practically slf-proclaimd ladrs and mn of rknown who stand bfor thir trib and ar popularly affirmd. Evn though I hav spokn poorly of ths mn, it is only in comparison to th othrs who wr also chosn. This is th Exodus gnration, a gnration which God spok of as loathing. Moss will liv byond th tim of vn ths mn, th ladrs of thir gnration; God will strik ths mn down in th dsrt along with thir brothrs and sons. And Moss (and Aaron) took ths mn, who wr dsignatd by nam; [Num. 1:17] b I placd Aaron's nam in parnthss bcaus th vrb took is in th masculin singular. Gâqa v (á Ç â È ) B [pronouncd gaw-kah V] mans pirc, and you may b wondring about this, not sing this word in this vrs. b Gâqa v is in th Niphal (passiv) prfct, maning that thy rcivd th action of th vrb. W hav sn this vrb in Lv. 24:11, 16, whn a young man blasphmd (or, pircd) th nam of Yahwh (similar usag in Num. 23:8, 25 Job 3:8 5:3). W will s this word to man a litral pircing in 2Kings 12:9 18:2. Howvr, hr it rfrs to somon who has bn dsignatd or distinguishd or appointd to a position. What I would lik to find, but cannot, is this word usd to bor a hol in th ar of a slav which armarkd th slav for liftim srvic. That is a diffrnt vrb ntirly (found only in Ex. 21:6). Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx 15 Som translations rndr this word clans; w will dal with this particular word latr in th chaptr.

18 Numbrs Chaptr 1 18 Th Cnsus Is Takn And all th congrgation thy assmbld on th first of th scond month, and thy dclard thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, in th numbr of nams from a son of twnty yars and upward, by thir polls; [Num. 1:18] Th ladrs wr all chosn and th mn wr all assmbld all on th sam day. Evn thir ladrs did not do a had count, pr s, but thy assmbld in groups and gav th numbr of mals who wr twnty yars and oldr from ach family. Th point is that this was don in an organizd fashion. As Yahwh had commandd Moss; and h numbrd thm in th dsrt of Sinai. [Num. 1:19] God gav Moss th command on th first day of th scond month and Moss has vrything organizd and going on th vry sam day. Vrs 19 summarizs th action and th nxt 33 vrss provid th dtails. A similar cnsus was takn of th nw gnration in Num. 26. So thr wr: th popl of Rubn, Isral's first born thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, its numbrd ons in th numbr of nams by thir polls, vry mal from a son of twnty yars and upward, and vryon of draft ag [lit., going out to th army]. [Num. 1:20] Only th mals would b numbrd hr. Th word for familis is mishpâchâk (ä çè È Ó îò ) [pronouncd mish-paw- KHAWH] and it mans family, clan, class (of popl), spcis (of animals), or sort (of things). Thir numbrd ons, for th trib of Rubn, ar 46,500 [lit., six and forty thousand and fiv hundrd]. [Num. 1:21] On of th thoris which I hav bn xposd to is that thr wr fwr popl of Isral at this tim. Th ky is th word lph (ó ì à ) [pronouncd EH-lf], which has svral manings. I first of all xamind similar words to mak crtain that a chang in th vowl point would not chang to maning to a similar and also applicabl word. No such changs would hav likly occurrd without rndring this vrs nonsns. This word appars to b rndrd a thousand most of th tim, in som placs only that rndring would mak sns, such as Ex. 18:21 and 25, which rad, in part, ladrs of thousands, ladrs of hundrds, ladrs of fiftis, and ladrs of tns (s also Ex. 38:25, 29 1Sam. 29:2). Th othr maning is familis (howvr, this is not th sam word as w find usd for familis in th prvious vrs), which rndring is not found nar as oftn (BDB givs th passags Judgs 6:15 1Sam. 10:19 Micah 5:2). This sam word is translatd kin or cattl in Dut. 7:13 28:4, 18, 51; th rfrnc is to th larg numbr of cattl rathr than to th animals thmslvs. In ths fw passags whr this word could man somthing othr than a thousand, it could b translatd a thousand without oblitrating th maning. Howvr, thr ar a significant numbr of passags whr a rndring othr than on thousand would not mak sns. Thrfor, whras I hav no motional attatchmnt to th actualy physical numbr of Jws includd in this cnsus, maning it dosn't mak any diffrnc to m whthr thr ar 200 or 2,000,000 Isralits, I think that w, purly on linguistic grounds, nd to stay with th traditional numbring of 46,500. Furthrmor, th contxt of this vrs sms to indicat a had count (rcall Num. 2:2: Tak a cnsus of all th congrgation of th sons of Isral, by thir familis, by thir fathrs' housholds, according to th numbr of nams, vry mal, had by had). Th Sptuagint offrs a slightly diffrnt numbr: 46,400 (for thos who ar wondring, th words for four and for fiv ar vry diffrnt in th Hbrw). Thrfor, th rndring on thousand is supportd by th Hbrw, by th contxt and by th Sptuagint. Thr ar a lot of mn who hold to lph not maning a thousand and most of that is basd upon th fact that this is an incrdibly larg army; th total population of Isral would hav had to hav bn at last two million, which is a lot of popl to b mandring through th dsrt. W hav alrady sn that God has providd thm with a brad-lik substanc, manna; and mat (quail) which in itslf is miraculous, and vn mor so considring th larg numbrs that ar bing fd. W hav xamind th growth of th Isralits from 70 to two million and hav shown that it is possibl; thr would just had to hav bn larg familis and a population xplosion, which

19 Th Book of Numbrs 19 th Bibl alluds to (Ex. 1:7 12). For your own study, th NIV Study Bibl givs svral possibl xplanations in fairnss in its introduction to Numbrs, but you can tll that th author of Numbrs, lik myslf, still lan toward 16 th larg numbrs prsntd hr. Glason L Archr in th Encyclopdia of Bibl Dificultis also lists som of th altrnat thoris and in mor dtail. H gos into mor dtail. With thos who hold to th altrnat thoris, thir bginning point is not God's Word, but human logic. Thy bgin with th fact that it is unlikly for two million popl to liv in th dsrt for forty yars, a valid objction; and list a varity of rasons; along with th point of viw that for 70 popl to bcom two million in 400 yars, that would b a sizabl population xplosion. From that standpoint, thy rationaliz what is found in th Scripturs to fit thir viwpoint. I might as wll giv th altrnat thoris. W hav lookd at th concpt that lph could mans familis, clans, but this linguistically dos not stand, nor is this th way you tak a cnsus to dtrmin how many mn you hav. In dtrmining your own military strngth, you do not sttl for on division of 147 familis as an accurat cnsus. Th othr thory is that lph could b th word <allûp, which mans chifs, so that w ar listing th numbr of chifs and th numbr of nlistd mn. Our problm hr is fivfold: (1) onc or twic a mistak lik this can b mad with th vowl points, but vry singl tim is not likly; (2) this would put us in disagrmnt with all th codics; (3) w would hav svral instancs of too many chifs and not nough Indians for instanc, Manassh would hav 32 chifs and 300 Indians; (4) th Isralits ar just now bing countd in prparation to b mobilizd for war no on has vn bgun to think about military training and officr slction; such a viw is prmatur; and, (5) this 17 intrprtation dos not jiv with all of th othr numbrs givn in th Bibl. For thos who wish to rad an author who dos hold to on of ths thoris dogmatically, thr is Robrt W. Faid's A Mor Scintific Approach to Mor Biblical Mystris, pp ; howvr, it all boils down to all th Biblical vidnc lands on th sid of th larg numbrs and all th human viwpoint lands on th sid of smallr numbrs. Som additional points which Glason brings out: vn if you rduc th numbr of popl, 30,000 draft ag mn in th dsrt would di from thirst and hungr as asily as 600,000. In rgard to th sons of Simon thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, its numbrd ons in th numbr of nams by thir polls, vry mal from a son of twnty yars and upward, vryon going out to th army [Num. 1:22] Th scond-born was numbrd nxt. Thir numbrd ons, in rgard to th trib of Simon: 59,300. [Num. 1:23] Th Sptuagint's numbr is th sam hr. In rgard to th sons of Gad thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, its numbrd ons in th numbr of nams by thir polls, vry mal from a son of twnty yars and upward, vryon going out to th army [Num. 1:24] Gad was numbrd nxt. Thir numbrd ons, in rgard to th trib of Gad: 45,650. [Num. 1:25] Th Sptuagint placs Gad much latr in this list. In rgard to th sons of Judah thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, its numbrd ons in th numbr of nams by thir polls, vry mal from a son of twnty yars and upward, vryon going out to th army [Num. 1:26] 16 pp In orr to gt th num brs to jiv, thr would hav had to hav bn corruptions in four othr portions of th Old Tstam nt, and thr could hav bn no surviving m anuscripts or codics which ar uncorruptd this is highly unlikly.

20 Numbrs Chaptr 1 20 Judah was numbrd nxt. Thir numbrd ons, in rgard to th trib of Judah: 74,600. [Num. 1:27] Th Sptuagint's numbr is 74,600. In rgard to th sons of Issachar thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, its numbrd ons in th numbr of nams by thir polls, vry mal from a son of twnty yars and upward, vryon going out to th army [Num. 1:28] Th NASB rdnrs this as:of th sons of Issachar, thir gnalogical rgistration by thir familis, by thir fathr's housholds, according to th numbr of nams from twnty yars old and upward, whovr was abl to go out to war. Thir numbrd ons, in rgard to th trib of Issachar: 54,400. [Num. 1:29] Th Sptuagint's numbr is th sam. In rgard to th sons of Zbulun thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, its numbrd ons in th numbr of nams by thir polls, vry mal from a son of twnty yars and upward, vryon going out to th army [Num. 1:30] Zbulun was numbrd nxt. Thir numbrd ons, in rgard to th trib of Zbulun: 57,400. [Num. 1:31] Th Sptuagint's numbr is th sam. In rgard to th sons of Josph: in rgard to th sons of Ephraim thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, its numbrd ons in th numbr of nams by thir polls, vry mal from a son of twnty yars and upward, vryon going out to th army [Num. 1:32] Not that Josph's trib is countd as two. Josph, du to his grat spiritual charactr, rcivd th doubl portion normally afford to Rubn, th firstborn. Furthrmor, th trib of Lvi is not includd in this cnsus, so th doubl portion of Josph givs us th magic numbr twlv for th numbr of tribs. Thir numbrd ons, in rgard to th trib of Ephraim: 40,500. [Num. 1:33] Th Sptuagint's numbr is th sam. In rgard to th sons of Manassh thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, its numbrd ons in th numbr of nams by thir polls, vry mal from a son of twnty yars and upward, vryon going out to th army [Num. 1:34] Manassh was numbrd nxt. Thir numbrd ons, in rgard to th trib of Manassh: 32,200. [Num. 1:35] Th Sptuagint's numbr is th sam. Not that togthr, Josph's childrn numbr 72,500, which is th scond largst family (aftr Judah) and almost twic th siz of som familis, such as Bnjamin and Rubn. In rgard to th sons of Bnjamin thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, its numbrd ons in th numbr of nams by thir polls, vry mal from a son of twnty yars and upward, vryon going out to th army [Num. 1:36]

21 Th Book of Numbrs 21 Bnjamin was numbrd nxt. Thir numbrd ons, in rgard to th trib of Bnjamin: 35,400. [Num. 1:37] Th Sptuagint's numbr is th sam. It is aftr this vrs that th Sptuagint insrts th trib of Gad. In rgard to th sons of Dan thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, its numbrd ons in th numbr of nams by thir polls, vry mal from a son of twnty yars and upward, vryon going out to th army [Num. 1:38] Dan was numbrd nxt. This also puts us back on track with th Sptuagint. Thir numbrd ons, in rgard to th trib of Dan: 62,700. [Num. 1:39] Th Sptuagint's numbr is th sam. In rgard to th sons of Ashr thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, its numbrd ons in th numbr of nams by thir polls, vry mal from a son of twnty yars and upward, vryon going out to th army [Num. 1:40] Th trib of Ashr was numbrd nxt. Thir numbrd ons, in rgard to th trib of Ashr: 41,500. [Num. 1:41] Th Sptuagint's numbr is th sam. In rgard to th sons of Naphtali thir births by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, its numbrd ons in th numbr of nams by thir polls, vry mal from a son of twnty yars and upward, vryon going out to th army [Num. 1:42] Th trib of Naphtali was numbrd nxt. Thir numbrd ons, in rgard to th trib of Naphtali: 53,400. [Num. 1:43] Th Sptuagint's numbr is th sam. Ths [ar] thos numbrd, whom Moss numbrd and Aaron, and th princs of Isral, twlv mn, ach was for th hous of his fathrs [Num. 1:44] This is a tstimonial to authority and organization, as w got an accurat cnsus takn of ovr 600,000 mn. And thy ar, all thos numbrs of [lit., all a numbring of] th sons of Isral, by th hous of thir fathrs, from a son of twnty yars and upward, vryon going out to th army in Isral; [Num. 1:45] By th numbrs givn, this tlls us that thy had a rasonabl arithmtic systm, not xactly basd upon tn digits, but similar to that; furthrmor, it should b obvious that thy hav roundd ths numbrs off to th narst fifty mn. All thos numbrd ar 603,550. [Num. 1:46] This is th sam numbr givn in th Sptuagint. Th numbrs givn in th Massortic txt do add up to 603,550, whras th numbrs for th Sptuagint do not. All of ths mn, xcpt for Joshua and Calb, will di in th dsrt. Th total numbr of mn conscriptd for th army is mntiond hr, in Num. 2:3 32 and Ex. 12:37, which

22 Numbrs Chaptr 1 22 rads Now th sons of Isral journyd from Ramss to Succoth about 600,000 mn on foot asid from childrn. A mor xact figur is namd in Ex. 38:26, a portion of which is vidntly an addndum to that passag. This indicats that vry figur throughout ths portions of Scriptur bcam corruptd including th codics or that thy stand unabashdly as simply a vry larg numbr of Isralits. Rcall that Yahwh had mad a promis to Abraham that his sd would b as th sand of th sa and th stars of th havns and sinc Abraham had but on son, God had to tak up th slack somwhr. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Rsponsibilitis of th Lvits But th Lvits, for th trib of thir fathrs, hav not numbrd thmslvs in thir midst; [Num. 1:47] This is th first plac whr w will s that God will trat th Lvit diffrntly than th othr tribs. This was not th cas in th book of Lviticus. Th gnral rsponsibilitis of th Lvits will b statd in Num. 3:6: "Bring th trib of Lvi nar and st thm bfor Aaron th prist, that thy may srv him." For Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 1:48] Just as in th Book of Lviticus, Yahwh spaks dirctly to Moss. In th book of Numbrs, also a nglctd book of th Bibl, this particular phras or on lik it occurs ovr 150 tims in 20 diffrnt ways. As th NIV Study Bibl says, from Num. 1:1 to th last vrs, Num. 36:13, this book is filld with dirct quotations from God spokn to Moss. "Only th trib of Lvi you will not numbr, and you will not tak thir cnsus in Isral [lit., thir hads you will not tak up in th midst of th sons of Isral]; [Num. 1:49] Th rason why God is numbring thos in Isral, but not numbring th Lvits is th Lvits will not b involvd in th war othr than on a spiritual lvl. Th othr sons of Isral wr numbrd bcaus thy will b going to war against th cancrous hathn in th land. "And you ar to authoriz [or, appoint] th Lvits ovr th tabrnacl of th tstimony, and ovr all its articls [or, vssls], and ovr all that it has; thy will bar [or, carry] th tabrnacl, and all its articls [or, vssls], and thy srv it; and round about th tabrnacl, thy ncamp. [Num. 1:50] As you will rcall, th tabrnacl was a tmporary tnt and th articls of furnitur wr all dsgind so that thy could b carrid. Th Lvits wr th ons authorizd by God to do th moving of th furnitur. Thir camping about th tabrnacl was to guard it. Sinc th tabls of th Law wr kpt insid th ark, which was insid th 18 tabrnacl, this structur bcam known as th tabrnacl of th tstimony. Th Law was kpt in th Ark of th covnant, and it would b rasonabl to assum that Lvits wr also usd to mak copis of th Law, as wll as to mak copis of othr documnts and othr litratur. S th Doctrin of th Lvits not finishd yt! "And in th journying of th tabrnacl, th Lvits tak it down, and in th ncamping of th tabrnacl, th Lvits rais it up; and th strangr who is coming nar is put to dath." [Num. 1:51] Hr th spcific rsponsibilitis of th Lvits is givn; also, a prohibition of th contact of Gntils with th tabrnacl. In ordr to hav fllowship with God, you must b born again. Thr is no rlationship with God apart 18 This can all b vrifid by Ex. 25:16, : :18 32:15 34:29 40:20.

23 Th Book of Numbrs 23 from bing rgnratd. In thos days, that mant bcoming a Jw. Howvr, in this contxt, th strangr is anyon who is not a Lvit. Th Isralits, du to th holinss of God and thir own natural dpravity, could not approach th tabrnacl xcpt as spcifid in thir sacrifics and offrings. And th sons of Isral hav ncampd ach by his camp, and ach by his standard, by thir armis. [Num. 1:52] Chânah (ä ðè çè ) [pronouncd khaw-naw] proprly mans to inclin; it is usd primarily to pitch a tnt, to ncamp. This word was usd in th past thr vrss: th Lvits wr to ncamp (Qal imprfct th Qal is th normal stm of a vrb and th imprfct looks at th action of th vrb as unfinishd or in progrss) about th tabrnacl; th tabrnacl itslf is pitchd (or, stup) (Qal infinitiv th infinitiv is similar to our infinitiv whr th vrb is prcdd by to); and th sons of Isral hav pitchd thir tnts (Qal prfct th action is lookd upon as on vnt or as an vnt or action having bn compltd) nar thir trib, nar th standard, or th flag of thir trib. And th Lvits ncamp round about th tabrnacl of th tstmony and thr is no wrath on th company of th sons of Isral, and th Lvits will kp charg [or, will tak custody, or will tak th rsponsibility] of th tabrnacl of th tstimony. [Num. 1:53] Encamp is in th Qal imprfct. Th Lvits camping about th tabrnacl ar a protction that Yahwh dos not bring His wrath down upon th Isralits. Thr is a play on words which w do not s in my English rndrings; it could rad: and th Lvits will guard what is to b guardd; this is th Qal prfct of shâmar (ø îç È ) [pronouncd shaw-mahr], which mans guard, kp, watch, prsrv; and mish'mrth (ú ø î Ó îò ) [pronouncd mish'mehrth] and it rfrs to somthing which somon has bn givn charg of or rsponsibility for. It is that which is guardd or takn charg of. God would dsignat only crtain popl to b abl to hav contact with th tabrnacl; vryon ls had to only obsrv. And th sons of Isral did according to all th Yahwh had commandd Moss; so thy hav don. [Num. 1:54] Th word for do is âsâh (ä È òè ) [pronouncd ìw-sawh] which mans to do, to mak, to construct. It is found twic in this vrs, first in th Qal imprfct, which dscribs th individual rsponsibilitis involvd in obying God's Word; and thn it is in th Qal prfct which tlls us that thy had compltd God's commands. Rcall that thy ar only a yar plus on month out of th land of Egypt and thy hav sn many miracls and thy hav sn th xcution of svral popl. Thy Jws can handl obdinc ovr a short trm, but in th long haul, thir old sin naturs will win out and God will hav to strik thm down in th dsrt.

24 Numbrs 2 Numbrs 2:1 34 Outlin of Chaptr 2: Vv. 1 2 Yahwh's command to Moss Vv. 3 9 Th astrn division Vv Th southrn division V. 17 Th rsponsibilitis of th Lvits Vv Th wstrn division Vv Th northrn division Vv A cnsus summary and th obdinc of th Isralits Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Introduction: Num. 2 Yahwh's Command to Moss And Yahwh spok to Moss and to Aaron, saying, [Num. 2:1] What othr book tstifis to God spaking to man? "Th sons of Isral will ncamp ach man [lit. a man] by his standard, with nsigns of th hous of thir fathrs; thy will ncamp facing from a distanc from round about [or, on vry sid of] th tnt of mting. [Num. 2:2] Facing from a distanc from is th prfixd prposition mîn and th prposition/advrb ngd (ã â ð ) [pronouncd NEH-ghd]. Mîn is a prposition which invovls sparation and ngd mans in front of, opposit to, in th sight of. Th Lvits wr to b clos to th tabrnacl, thus protcting th othr Isralits from God's wrath (Num. 1:53); so this short word tlls us that th Isralits wr to fac th tabrnacl and campd a distanc away from it. W find a similar usag in Gn. 1:16 Dut. 32:52. A mor intrsting usag of th sam combination can b found in Dut. 28:66 and 2Kings 2:15 (spiritual sparation or aloofnss is th ky in ths passags). Each trib had a nsign or a bannr, diffrnt from th othr tribs; and ach trio of tribs had a standard which thy rallid around. Th nsign was carrid at th had of ach trib and possibly for ach subdivision of a trib; th standard was a much largr fild sign. W ar not told in th Bibl what ths flags lookd lik (if thy wr flags; howvr, thy wr probably mor similar to Egyptian standards than our modrn flags. Egpytian standards wr mad of wood and/or mtal and th top was shapd lik som sacrd ntity. Frman givs us som various picturs in his books and at th nd of a stick thr might b a carvd bird or an animal, th had of a Pharaoh or som othr symbol. Jwish tradition, which is not always corrct (and rarly has a basis in Bibl doctrin) has it that ach bannr was th color of whatvr ston on th high prist's brastplat rprsntd that particular trib. I don't particularly but that nor is it important, as it is not covrd in th Bibl. Thr is also a tradition th th standard fo Judah had th figur of a lion on it; Rubn th figur of a man; Ephraim, th figur of an ox; and Dan, th figur of an agl (to corrspond with Ezk. 1:10 and Rv. 4:7). This is mor rasonabl and satisfying than th first tradition, but, 19 again, has no basis in fact. 19 NIV Study Bibl, p. 189.

25 Th Book of Numbrs 25 Th dirction of God in our livs is prvausiv. It ncompasss vry portion of our livs. For a nw Christian, this is frightning, and for thos who ar unsavd, it might vn put you off. Howvr, God's dsir for us is th absolut bst and h works in vry aspct of our livs. Hr h organizs th way that th Isralits will camp. Up until this tim, thy hav just bn travling as a hug swath of mn, womn and livstock in a width of svral mils without any sort of ral organization. For our God is not God of confusion...lt all things b don proprly and in an ordrly mannr (I Cor. 14:33a, 40b). Th Eastrn Division "And thos ncamping astward towards th sun-rising [ar] th standard of th camp of Judah, by thir companis [lit., armis]; and th princ of th sons of Judah [is] Nashon, son of Amminadab; [Num. 2:3] This chaptr will b vry much lik th portion of th prvious chaptr which was vry rptitious. Yahwh will position ths mn around th camp. You would xpct th lading division to b Rubn, as h was th firstborn, but it is Judah. "Judah, your brothrs will prais you; you hand will b on th nck of your nmis; your fathr's sons will bow down to you. Judah is a lion's whlp; from th pry, my son, you hav gon up. H bows down, h lis down as a lion; and as a lion, who [dars] wak him up? Th scptr will not dpart from Judah, nor th rulr's staff from btwn his ft until Shiloh coms, and to him will b th obdinc of th popls." (Jacob spaking to his sons in Gn. 49:8 10). Rubn was th ldst and h should hav bn in th lad of th first division. Howvr, whn th brothrs plottd against Josph and wr about to kill thm, Rubn, as th firstborn, should hav put a stop to it. H mkly offrd that thy should not kill Josph rathr than tak a stand as a ladr (Gn. 37:18 30). Th nxt two oldst, Lvi and Simon, viciously killd vry man in a city to avng th rap of thir sistr, whras thr was but two guilty partis, th rapist, and his ovrindulgnt fathr, Shchm (Gn. 34). This lft Judah, who, although not prfct (Gn. 38:1 24), h could at last admit to bing wrong and h did not continu with his injustic against Tamar (Gn. 38:25 26). What ths brothrs did, did not dtrmin th futur of thir trib; howvr, it st up a pattrn or prcdnc for thir progny. I know you ar wondring about th Lvits and how w s this pattrn in thm...fast forward to th tim of our Lord and xamin th prists in th gospls Jsus was prscutd and physically attackd by thm on svral occasions (Matt. 16:21 Mark 11:27 14:55 56 John 18:19 24). As w hav sn, Judah will b th lin of Christ. "And his army, and thir numbrd ons: 74,600 [lit., four and svnty thousand and six hundrd]. [Num. 2:4] This is th sam figur found in Num. 1:27, th population of th mn in this trib who wr of draft ag. "And thos ncampd by him [ar] th trib of Issachar; and th princ of th sons of Issachar [is] Nthanl, son of Zuar; [Num. 2:5] Notic that our ordr is diffrnt than w had in Num. 1. "And his army, and its numbrd ons: 54,400. [Num. 2:6] God has crtain mn that H would lik to function togthr as a unit. "Th trib of Zbulun; and th princ of th sons of Zbulun: Eliab bn Hlon; [Num. 2:7] Notic that th sntnc structur is not as rptitiv. Judah, Issachar and Zbulun ar all sons of Lah. "And his army, and its numbrd ons: 57,400. [Num. 2:8] So far, all of this is in accord with th Sptuagint.

26 Numbrs Chaptr 2 26 "All thos numbrd of th camp of Judah: 186,400 [lit., a hundrd thousand, and ighty thousand, and six thousand, and four hundrd] by thir armis; thy journy first. [Num. 2:9] Th wording hr maks it vn lss likly that thousand rally mans chifs or clans. Judah will tak th lad in most of th movmnt and most of th wars. Our Lord will com from th trib of Judah. Th Southrn Division "Th standard of th camp of Rubn: southward; by thir companis [lit., armis]; and th princ of th sons of Rubn: Elizur bn Shdur; [Num. 2:10] God has groupd th Isralits into thr brigads to mak a division. "And his army, and thir numbrd ons: 46,500 [lit., six and forty thousand and fiv hundrd]. [Num. 2:11] This numbr agrs with chaptr 1 and with th Sptuagint. "And thos ncampd by him: th trib of Simon; and th princ of th sons of Simon: Shlumil bn Zurishaddai; [Num. 2:12] Rubn was th lad brigad on th south sid. "And his army, and its numbrd ons: 59,300. [Num. 2:13] Th numbrs again chck with Num. 1 and th Sptuagint. 20 "Th trib of Gad; and th princ of th sons of Gad: Eliasaph bn Rul; [Num. 2:14] Rubn, Simon and Gad ar groupd togthr. Rubn and Simon wr sons of Lah and Gad was a son of hr handmaid, Zilpah. "And his army, and its numbrd ons: 45,650. [Num. 2:15] Again th numbrs chck. "All thos numbrd of th camp of Rubn: 115,450 [lit., a hundrd thousand, and on and fifty thousand, and four hundrd and fifty] by thir armis; thy journy scond. [Num. 2:16] Notic, as has bn th pattrn, all of thos numbrd in Rubn, Simon and Gad ar combind and th total chcks, as it should. Whn th Isralits mov out, thy will mov as thr divisions, with Judah's triad in front, Rubn's triad scond, Ephraim's third and Dan's will b in th rar. Th Rsponsibilitis of th Lvits "And th tnt of mting, th camp of th Lvits in th midst of th camps as thy ncamp; so shall thy st out ach in position standard by standard. [Num. 2:17] 20 Dul in many of th Masortic txts and so found in th Samarian, Pntatuch and th Vulgat, as th Hbrw r (ø ) and th Hbrw d (ã ) ar asily confusd. Th majority of th Masortic manuscripts rad Rul.

27 Th Book of Numbrs 27 Th book of Numbrs bgins to giv th trib of Lvi, a son of Lah, a plac in God's plan. Thy wr to surround th tabrnacl and protct th surrounding troops from bing in too clos of contact with a holy and just God. W hav bcom so informal in our thinking about God that som mn, sing our Lord Jsus Christ would go right up to Him and shak His hand and introduc thmslvs. Mayb thy would say a nic thing about our Lord. W hav lost sight of th fact that w ar corrupt in His sight; our sins causd th worst pain and suffring vr known to man to our Lord; our old sin natur and our prsonal sins kp us afar from a holy and just God. God is not som namby pamby, sit out on th lawn with all of us holding hands and smlling flowrs. H is th prfct God of th univrs who dmands no lss than prfction and our sins sntnc us to no bttr than vrlasting tormnt in sparatin from Him. God cannot com into contact with sinful man. Th Lvits formd a barrir from God's Prsnc and th Isralit. Th Wstrn Division "Th standard of th camp of Ephraim by thir companis [lit., armis] wstward [lit., on th sasid]; and th princ of th sons of Ephraim: Elishama bn Ammihud; [Num. 2:18] Whn compass dirctions ar givn, thy ar always givn in trms of Isral. East is oftn dscribd as th sun rising and wst is oftn dscribd as th sa as th Mditranan Sa is Wst of Isral. Th word found hr is yâm (í é È) [pronouncd yawm] and it dos not man wst strictly spaking, but sa. W find this word usd in Gn. 1:10, 22, 26, 9:2 as wll is a half dozn rfrncs to compass dirction (Gn. 12:8 13:14 28:14 Ex. 10:19 26:22, 27, tc.). Ex. 10:19 has yâm usd twic and translatd both sa and wst. In fact, until 1Chron. 12:15, thr is no spcific word for wst in th Hbrw. Howvr, hr, th popl hav not bn in th land and its lay out is unknown to thm. This tlls us that a grat Sa is on thir wst sid for this to mak sns to thm. Wst of thm is th Gul of Suz, which thy hav crossd ovr. Thy do not raliz that ast of thm is th Gulf of Jordan. Now, God is spaking and God is consistnt; thrfor, H will rfr to that which is on th wst by using th word sa. Howvr, this would not hav mad any sns to th Isralits unlss thy also had a sa on thir wstrn sid at this tim. On of th unfortunat things whn a translation is mad to hlp clarify what is bing said is that som things ar lost. His hlps us plac th Jws on th map. Tradition has thm on th Sinai Pninsula and this vrs is consistnt with that. Ephraim ld th division on th Wst sid. Jacob gav prcdnc to Ephraim ovr Manassh (Gn. 48:13 20). But Isral strtch out his right hand and laid it on th had of Ephraim, who was th youngr, and his lft hand on Manassh's had, crossing his hands, although Manassh was th first-born...whn Josph saw that his fathr laid his right hand on Ephraim's had, it displasd him; and h graspd his fathr's hand to rmov it from Ephraim's had to Manassh's had. And Josph said to his fathr, "Not so, my fathr, for this on is th firstborn. Plac your right hand on his had." But his fathr rfusd and said, "I know, my son, I know; h also shall bcom a popl and h also will b frat. Howvr, his youngr brothr will b gratr than h, and his dscndants will bcom a multititud of nations." Thus h put Ephraim bfor Manassh (Gn. 48:14, 17 19, 20b). "And his army, and thir numbrd ons: 40,500 [lit., forty thousand and fiv hundrd]. [Num. 2:19] If ths numbrs ar incorrct, it is amazing that w do not hav hundrds of contradictory manuscripts. "And by him: th trib of Manassh; and th princ of th sons of Manassh; Gamalil bn Pdahzur; [Num. 2:20] Manassh and Ephraim wr th two sons of Josph. "And his army, and its numbrd ons: 32,200. [Num. 2:21] Our numbrs chck again.

28 Numbrs Chaptr 2 28 "Th trib of Bnjamin; and th princ of th sons of Bnjamin: Abidan bn Gidoni; [Num. 2:22] Jacob was in lov with Rachl. H srvd svn yars as a slav, thinking that h was srving this tim for hr. So Jacob srvd svn yars for Rachl and thy smd to him but a fw days bcaus of his lov for hr (Gn. 29:20); on of th most romantic vrss of th Bibl. His fathr-in-law to b dcivd him and gav him Rachl's sistr instad and thy had sx bfor Jacob ralizd that sh was not Rachl. Jacob srvd Laban, his vil fathr-in-law, for anothr svn yars and took Rachl as his scond brid. Rachl producd two sons, Josph and Bnjamin and Josphj latr had two sons, Ephraim and Manassh. It is Bnjamin, Ephraim and Manassh who form th third division of th Isralit army. "And his army, and its numbrd ons: 35,400. [Num. 2:23] God is vry carful to inform us of th cnsus figurs. Thr is a rason for that. "All thos numbrd of th camp of Ephraim: 108,100 by thir armis; thy journy third. [Num. 2:24] Th division is thn totald, not as a chck to Moss or Aaron, but as a chck for us rading God's Word. Th Northrn Division "Th standard of th camp of Dan: northward; by thir companis [lit., armis]; and th princ of th sons of Dan: Ahizr bn Ammishaddai; [Num. 2:25] Th fourth and final division was ld by Dan. "And his army, and thir numbrd ons: 62,700. [Num. 2:26] Dan had on of th largr populations; h was a son of Bilhah, Rachl's maid. "And thos ncampd by him: th trib of Ashr; and th princ of th sons of Ashr: Pagil, bn Ocran; [Num. 2:27] Ashr was on of th two sons of Zilpah, Lah's maid. "And his army, and its numbrd ons: 41,500. [Num. 2:28] Th siz of Ashr's rgimnt was about avrag. "Th trib of Naphtali; and th princ of th sons of Naphtali; Ahira bn Enan; [Num. 2:29] Naphtali was th only othr son of Bilhah, Rachl's maid. "And his army, and its numbrd ons: 53,400. [Num. 2:30]

29 Th Book of Numbrs 29 Our numbrs chck onc again. "All thos numbrd of th camp of Dan: 157,600 by thir armis; thy journy scond. [Num. 2:31] Again, God provids us with a chcking figur, rubbing our noss in th fact that thr wr ovr 600,000 mn in th army of Isral, and ovr two million Jws that God guidd through th dsrt, an xtraordinary miracl. A Cnsus Summary and th Obdinc of th Isralits "Th ar thos numbrd of th sons of Isral by th hous of thir fathrs; all thos numbrdd of th camps by thir armis: 603,550. [Num. 2:32] Ashr Dan Naphtali Manassh Lvi Issachar Ephraim Lvi Th Tabrnacl Lvi Judah Bnjamin Lvi Zbulun Gad Rubn Simon This shows th positioning of th troops around th tabrnacl Again, this figur matchs th on from Num. 1 and is a sum of th four divisions of Isral's army. "And th Lvits hav not numbrd thmslvs in th midst of th sons of Isral, as Yahwh had commandd Moss. [Num. 2:33] This tlls us that w did not s th ntirty of Yahwh's ordrs to Moss. "And th sons of Isral did according to all that Yahwh commandd Moss; so thy hav ncampd by thir standards, and so thy hav journyd, ach by his familis by th hous of his fathrs. [Num. 2:34] Th Isralits wnt from total disarray wandring through th dsrt to a vry ordrly camp, which is quit imprssiv for a group of this siz. For all intnts and purposs, thy hav bn a mob (witnss th goldn calf incidnt or th murmuring prior to th watr coming from th rock). Our armd forcs hav found out that th first stp in molding a fighting unit out of a bunch of undisciplind, gocntric young mn, is to first instill disciplin and ordrlinss. You may b wondring throughout this chaptr why was this rcordd. It is fin that God wantd th sons of Isral to assmbl in a crtain way and group togthr in a crtain way, but why th rptitiv dtails? Why numbr th four divisions? Why vn nam th numbr of mn if this has alrady bn don in th prvious chaptr? Whras this is crtainly not anyon's favorit passag, it shows us that God has a spcific plan for our livs to which w must adhr for blssing. Thr ar no altrnativs and th Christian lif is not a sat of th pants xprinc. God has a dirct will within which w will find our gratst arthly blssing. Oftn what is mphasizd in th Christian lif is what w cannot do and how much fun w ar missing. What is missd is that in following God's Word, w ntr into th gratst arthly lif that w can hav. God givs us His vry bst hr on arrth and thn givs us vn gratr blssings in trnity. Howvr, I hav strayd fromth qustions which I raisd. What is most important is that w hav som chcks and balancs to th numbrs found in Num. 1. God knw that during our tim priod, many authors and many Christian mn would tak issu with th numbrs prsntd in th first chaptr of Numbrs. Howvr, w ar givn vn mor chcks and balancs in this chaptr. Thy ar groups by thr's and thos populations ar summd; thn th final summation coms at th nd. Furthrmor, w will hav a cnsus of th nxt gnration and it will b rasonabl, considring th numbrs that w hav hr.

30 Numbrs Chaptr 2 30 God is tlling us that h has don th impossibl. H has fd and protctd and guidd ovr two million popl in th dsrt btwn Egypt and Isral, a miracl which is as grat as thos which accompanid th xodus from Egypt. God knw thr would b skpticism so h just rubbd it in vrs aftr vrs. Each vrs has mor mn than human viwpoint scholars would lik to s, but ths popl wr sustaind in th dsrt baus God is abl. W hav an analogous situation in th first chaptr of Gnsis. So thr is no confusion as to th tim priod alludd to, ovr and ovr in Gnsis w hav a litral 24-hour day prsntd rptitivly in languag that can only b undrstood to man six litral days. Thos who hold to th day--ag thory skim that chaptr lightly, as thos who hold to th various thoris concrning a small population hr skim th vrss lightly.

31 Numbrs 3 Numbrs 3:1 51 Outlin of Chaptr 3: Vv. 1 4 Th Aaronic pristhood Vv Yahwh sts asid th Lvits to srv Aaron and his sons Vv Th Lvits will rplac th first-born as ddicatd to Yahwh Vv Cnsus of th Lvits and dutis assignd to th Lvits Vv Rdmption of th first-born Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Introduction: Num. 3 covrs th Lvit trib, thir gnalogy and thir background. Th Aaronic Pristhood And this is th gnalogy of [lit., ths ar th gnrations of] Aaron and Moss in th day of Yahwh's spaking with Moss nar mount Sinai: [Num. 3:1] Tôwl dâh (äãè ì ) [pronouncd to-l'dawh] mans gnrations and usually rfrs to th account of a man and Ó his dscndants (as BDB puts it). Th writr is not th prson at th top of th list, but h is oftn ithr at th nd of th list or h is th scond to th last. In th book of Gnsis, th author gnrally bgan with a far ancstor and workd his way down to himslf. Gnalogy is a good modrn translation (Young uss th word births). W ar usd to sing th mphasis upon Moss and whn Moss and Aaron ar namd in Scriptur, Moss coms first. Howvr, in v. 2, w will xamin th lin of Aaron, so h taks prcdnc in this vrs. This is a titl of sorts, on which w hav sn rpatd svral tims throughout th book of Gnsis. What this oftn connotd was thr was a nw author and h was about to covr his own gnalogical information which would nd with himslf or with his sons. And ths [ar] th nams of th sons of Aaron: th firs-born [was] Nadab, and Abihu, Elazar and Ithamar; [Num. 3:2] You will notic that for th past book plus two chaptrs, w hav bn rading on long xtndd quot from God to Moss or to th popl of Isral. It was crtainly givn ovr various points in tim for th past svral wks and now Moss rcords som prsonal information. This bgins in this vrs and continus in v Ths [ar] th nams of th sons of Aaron, th anointd prists, whom h ordaind as prists [lit., whos hand h has filld to function as a prist]. [Num. 3:3] Whn on rcivs a rsponsibility or is ordaind into an offic, this is spokn of as filling on's hand. Th last word is th vrb cognat for th noun prist; w hav no asy way to translat this word xcpt to prform th dutis of a prist, to function as a prist, to prform pristly functions. Just bar in mind that is on word. And Nadab did Abihu also [lit., and Abihu] bfor th fac of Yahwh, in thir approaching with strang fir bfor Yahwh, in th dsrt of Sinai, and sons thy had not; and Elazar Ithamar also acts as prist bfor th fac of Aaron, thir fathr. [Num. 3:4] 21 Most codics rad And ths.

32 Numbrs Chaptr 3 32 Moss has writtn an awful lot of matrial and ralizing that on may just pick up this portion of God's Word in th middl and bgin rading, Moss givs a brif history of what happnd to th first two sons of Aaron (Lv. 10:1 2). Yahwh Sts Asid th Lvits to Srv Aaron and His Sons And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 3:5] Unlik bfor, this will b a rlativly short quotation. "Caus th trib of Lvi to approach and caus it to stand bfor Aaron, th prist, and thy will srv him. [Num. 3:6] Aaron only had two sons and thr was far too much to do with th sacrifics to think about doing anything ls. Thy did not hav th tim to mov th articls of furnitur and th rst of th tabrnacl. Thrfor, God will assign crtain rsponsibilitis to th Lvits. Thr is a grat many things about th Lvit trib in this book and this book ought to hav bn namd Lviticus. "And thy will guard his commission and [th] commission of th whol congrgation bfor th fac of th tnt of mting to srv [or, work] th labor of th tabrnacl. [Num. 3:7] W hav a pair of cognats hr; thy will guard his guarding, and to srv th srvic or to work th work of th tabrnacl is what is actually said in th Hbrw. All of Isral had a rsponsibility bfor Yahwh thy may not hav known th full xtnt of it quit yt, but thy did hav spiritual rsponsibilitis as wll as th sons of Aaron had spcific spiritual rsponsibilititis and th Lvits wr to assist in ths. Ths will b spcifid: "And thy will tak rsponsiblitiy for [lit., kp or guard] all th furnitur [lit., vssls] of th tnt of mting, and th rsponsibility [or, charg] of th sons of Isral to labor in th labor of th tabrnacl. [Num. 3:8] Again w hav a gnral and a mor gnral rsponsibility: thy ar to tak charg or tak rsponsibility of th furnitur of th tabrnacl. That is, it will nd to b cland, movd, rpaird, tc., and thy ar to s to thos rsponsibilitis. In doing so, thy will b doing th work of th tabrnacl. "And you will giv th Lvits to Aaron and to his sons; in thir bing givn, thy ar givn to 22 him. [Num. 3:9] W hav a rptition of th vrb for giv, st, plac both tims in th masculin plural, Qal passiv participl. Th Qal is th common stm; th passiv voic mans that God placs thm bfor Aaron or givs thm to Aaron. Thy rptition of th vrb mans that this is a solmn gift of grat importanc. "And obsrv that I, vn I hav takn your brothrs th Lvits from among th sons of Isral; thy ar a gift to you, givn to Yahwh, to prform th srvic for th tnt of mting." (Num. 18:6). W will s mor spiritual rsponsibilitis droppd into th lap of th Lvits in Numbrs 4 and Dut. 17 and 31. In Dut. 31, w will rviw th rsponsibilitis of th Lvits. You may b wondring why did God choos th Lvits; why not th trib of Judah or Issachar? Ex. 32:25 29 rads: Now whn Moss saw that th popl wr out of control for Aaron had lt thm got out of control to b a drision among thir nmis; thn Moss stood in th gat of th camp and said, "Whovr is for Yahwh, to m!" And all th sons of Lvi gathrd togthr to him. and h said to thm, "Thus says Yahwh, th God of Isral, 'Evry man put his sword upon his thigh and go back and forth from gat to gat in th camp and kill vry man his brothr, and vry man his frind and vry man his nighbor.' " So th sons of Lvi did as Moss 22 Most of th Masortic txts rad to him; thr ar a fw, along with th Sptuagint and th Syriac Codics which rad to m.

33 Th Book of Numbrs 33 instructd and about 3000 mn fll that day. Thn Moss said, "Ddicat yourslvs today to Yahwh for vry man has bn against his son and against his brothr in ordr that H may bstow a blssing upon you today." "And you hav appointd Aaron and his sons and thy hav takn th rsponsibility of thir pristhood; and to th strangr who approachs, h will b xcutd." [Num. 3:10] Thr is a play on words which I do not ntirly gt. It is this vry difficult vrb pâqad (ã Ç È ) [pronouncd paw- KAHD]. This is th vrb usd for taking a cnsus and ggnrally translatd numbrd. Howvr, this is also th vrb oftn translatd appoint, visit, punish; and ths ar all manings from th Qal stm. Th Lvits did not hav to b numbrd as thy srvd Aaron and his sons, who had bn numbrd [appointd] by Moss. As I said, it is thr in th Hbrw, but I don't quit grasp prcisly what is bing said. As for th xcution of th strangr; this is not just for th non-jw. No on but th prist could com into th tmpl. Bing abl to com to God is an act of mrcy. Howvr, thr wr strict ruls and rgulations st up in ordr to prsnt God's holinss and rightousnss and crmonis which clarly rvald th gospl of Jsus Christ to anyon who was positiv toward God at God-conciousnss. Thos who fl that God is thir bst frind or that H ovrlooks thir shortcomings out of lov is confusd as to Who and What God is. Just as th Jws could not approach God dirctly, nithr can w. Our approach to Godis don only in th powr of th Holy Spirit through our Lord Jsus Christ. Thr is no worship in whatvr way you fl is corrct and God will blss your sincrity it was God's way or no way at all, and His policy has not changd. This rmaind God's policy vn byond th nd for th tabrnacl (which bcam a tmpl). Only th prists could ntr into th Holy Plac and only th High Prist, onc a yar, was allowd into th Holy of Holis. Non of th discipls wnt into th sanctuary, nor did our Lord (although H would hav bn qualifid). Whn our Lord taught in th tmpl, this would b th tmpl nclosur. As Th Amplifid Bibl points out, th Grk word usd is always th outr ara (hiron) and nvr th sanctuary (naos). Our Lord, at His dath, ntrd into th tru Holy of Holis, th thron room and Prsnc of God. Thr is on tim in God's Word whr a king attmptd to ntr into th Holy Plac; King Uzziah attmptd to go into th sanctuary in ordr to burn incns to God. Eighty prists forcd him out and h bcam a lpr for this transgrssion (I1Chron. 26:16 21). Th Lvits wr to surround th tnt of mting. Thy wr th only on authorizd in th srvic to th tabrnacl. Only th prists could go into th tabrnacl. Thr was to b absolutly no contact btwn th sons of Isral and any part of th tabrnacl or its furnitur. Thy could at bst com into th courtyard and obsrv what was bing don. What a marvlous pictur of our salvation. All th work was don by Aaron, his sons and th Lvits just as all of our salvation was providd for us by God th Son. Evrything for our livs on arth hav bn providd for us by God th Fathr, God th Son and God th Holy Spirit. Thy hav givn to us a whol host of angls as guardian angls, our wall of fir, a protction that is about vry singl on of us. Th Isralits could bring a lamb or a goat without spot and without blmish, as w com to God in Christ. Thn th Jw could at bst, just obsrv as this aimal is slaughtrd bfor him. Again, th incrdibl shadow prsntd hr. It was th Jws, th corrupt, unrgnrat Judas, along with th chif prists and th ldrs of th popl (Matt. 26:47b), who cam and sizd our Lord and brought him bfor th various courts to b trid and xcutd. Aaron, who is in charg, is analogous to God th Fathr; h is th spiritual had of th tnt of mting. On of his two sons kills th sacrific, putting his hand on its had and idntifying with it analogous to our Lord Jsus Christ. Th scond son is thr doing work which w do not s analogous to God th Holy Spirit. Th Lvits, a grat numbr of popl, wr rsponsibl thmslvs for taking car of a grat many things which w do not s analogous to th ministring angls givn us by God. Th Jws who day aftr day bring forward th sacrifics rprsnt both th sinnr coming to God with nothing but th sacrific of our Lord in his hand; and also rprsntativ of th unrgnrat Jws who sizd our Lord and brought him to b crucifid. Th Lvits Will Rplac th First-Born as Ddicatd to Yahwh And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 3:11]

34 Numbrs Chaptr 3 34 Again, God spaks to Moss. "Obsrv, I, vn I hav takn th Lvits from th midst of th sons of Isral instad of vry first-born opning a womb among th sons of Isral, and th Lvits hav bn min. [Num. 3:12] Prior to this, th first-born had bn st apart to God: "St asid to M vry first-born, th first offspring of vry womb among th sons of Isral, both of man and bast; it blongs to M." (Ex. 13:2). This is bcaus God struck down vry first-born of Egypt. This was a substitution; God paid for vry first-born of Isral with th dath of th first-born of Egypt. S also Ex. 11:4 5 12: : Th substitution of on for anothr is a major thm in Old Tstamnt Scriptur. Thos who will srv as ministring saints to God ar th Lvits, takn from among th Jws. Rcall that prviously, th Jws wr a disorganizd mob which God had rcntly organizd and from out of this disorganizd mob, H pulld out th Lvits to srv Him, as th blivrs ar takn out of this world. W ar in a mob which w ar takn out of by God. This is th mob of th unrgnrats in th world and w ar thoroughly mixd in with thm, insofar as th world ss. In fact, many blivrs livs do not vn bgin to rval a sparation. Howvr, w ar pulld out to srv our Lord, rathr than thos who would b th pr-mminnt, th first-born. W ar all a family, brothrs, as th family of th Lvits calld to srv God. "For vry first-born is min. In th day of My striking vry first-born in th land of Egypt, I hav sanctifid to Myslf vry first-born in Isral, from man to bast; thy ar Min; I [am] Yahwh." [Num. 3:13] Jsus Christ, whn H slaughtrd th first-born of th Egyptians, in this sacrific, H st asid th first-born of Isral for Himslf. You ar not your own, for you hav bn bought with a pric; thrfor, glorify God in your body (I Cor. 6:19b 20). God has paid a fair pric for ach of th first born of th Isralits a first-born for a first-born. Whn our Lord did for our sins, His dath was far mor painful than w could vr imagin as H took upon Himslf th sins of all of us from Adam down to th last sinnr in th millnnium. S th Doctrin of th Firstborn. Th complt Doctrin of th Firstborn can b found lswhr, this is th abbrviatd vrsion. Th Abbrviatd Doctrin of th Firstborn 1. Two of th rlatd Hbrw words ar: a. In th Hbrw, th word firstborn is b kôwr (áìàëåéø) [pronouncd b KOHR]. Mtaphorically, this word is usd for anything which is chif or first of its kind Strong s #1060 BDB #114. b. Th fminin noun is b kôwrâh (áìàëåéøèä) [pronouncd b koh-raw], which mans rights and rsponsibilitis of th firstborn, privilgs of th firstborn, birthright [of th firstborn]; primognitur. By virtu of bing born first, ach firstborn has crtain rights and privilgs which ar bstowd upon him. W hav svral instancs in th Bibl whr this is takn away. Thr was nvr, by God s Law, a st of dfinit rights and rsponsibilitis which blongd to th firstborn. That was a mattr of tradition and cultur, but not Law. S Gn. 29:26. Strong s #1062 BDB # Th rlatd Grk words: a. Th noun/adjctiv prôtotokos (ðñùôïôüêïò) [pronouncd proh-tot-ok-oss], which mans firstborn [of man or animals]; th bginning [first] [of a nw sris]. Usd as an adjctiv only in Luk 2:7; lswhr as a noun. Strong s #4416. b. Th nutr noun: prôtotokia (ðñùôïôüêéá) [pronouncd proh-toht-ohk--ah], which mans birthright, right [or privilg] of primognitur, th right or advantags of th firstborn son. This rfrncs th rligious ladrship of a family (th firstborn blongs to God); and th doubl-portion of th fathr s walth wnt to him. Strong s # Wbstr givs us two sts of dfinitions for first-born, which is important in ordr to intrprt th nxt point: a. First brought forth; first in th ordr of nativity; ldst; as th first-born son. 1 b. Most xcllnt; most distinguishd or xaltd. Christ is calld th first-born of vry cratur.

35 Th Book of Numbrs 35 Th Abbrviatd Doctrin of th Firstborn 4. It is vry important in th Bibl, th first tim a word is usd. This sort of sts th ton and/or th paramtrs for this word. a. Whn th first man born to a woman occurs in Scriptur, h is namd Abl but h is not calld Adam and Ev s firstborn. W associat this trm with th firstborn of Abl s flock which h brings to God to b sacrificd, a sacrific which God rspcts (which sacrific spaks of Jsus Christ). Gn. 4:4 b. Th first tim firstborn is usd in th Nw Tstamnt (Luk 2:7), it also rfrs to Jsus Christ (th only us of that trm in th gospls). 5. It is in Gn. 25 whr w hav our first indication that bing th firstborn carris with it som privilgs. This is th chaptr whr Esau, th firstborn, and Jacob intract with Isaac, thir vry old and mostly blind fathr. Jacob is aftr th blssing of th firstborn. As w go ovr th sub-points, bar in mind that th Mosaic Law is not bn spokn yt and what w ar xamining hr is mor tradition than anything ls. a. Esau and Isaac wr twins, with Esau bing dlivrd first. Isaac cam out nxt, holding onto th hl of Esau. God spok to Rbkah concrning ths two, saying that thy would bcom two nations who would struggl against on anothr and that th oldr would vntually srv th youngr (Gn. 25:22 26). b. Unfortunatly, both Isaac and Rbkah dvlopd favorits Isaac prfrrd his firstborn, Esau, th huntr; and Rbkah prfrrd Jacob, who apparntly larnd to cook (Gn. 25:27 29). c. Whn Esau cam in from th fild, h was starving hungry to th point of grat waknss. Jacob had mad a stw. Whn Esau askd for som, Jacob mad Esau giv up his birthright for a bowl of stw. Esau s rationalization is that h was so hungry, h was about to di and what good is a birthright aftr dath? Just xactly what this birthright ntaild is not told to us. W also do not know who was latr told about th xchang of th birthright. It is nvr disclosd whthr this was simply btwn Esau and Jacob, or whthr Jacob informd his parnts of this information; howvr, it is implid that this was known in thir family in Gn. 27:36. Gn. 25:29 34 d. In Gn. 27, Jacob stals th blssing of his fathr to Esau. H prtnds to b Esau (at th urging and hlp of his mothr), and rcivs th blssing from Isaac that was mant for Esau. This is not ncssarily rlatd to on bing firstborn or not. Isaac simply, prior to his dath, was going to blss Esau, but blssd Jacob instad. Jacob, whn masqurading as his brothr, idntifid himslf svral tims to his fathr as his firstborn. 6. Jacob also blsss his own sons, rfrring to Rubn as his firstborn. Thn h tlls Rubn that h is spinlss. Rubn lackd charactr and judgmnt. Whn h coms to Judah, Jacob says that his brothrs would prais him and bow down to him, maning that th dscndants of his brothrs would bow down and prais his Dscndant. Actually, this has a doubl-fulfillmnt: it is fulfilld in th royal lin which xtnds David to th last king of Judah; and this is fulfilld in our Lord as wll, Whos humanity is in th lin of Judah (Luk 3:23 33). What had happnd was that Rubn, du to his lack of ladrship, particularly with rgards to th brothrs tratmnt of Josph, lost his birthright. H lost th ladrship aspct of his birthright to Judah and th doubl portion to Josph. W will touch on this in 1Chron. 5:1 2, whr th passag is proprly xgtd (w will xamin this probably aftr th book of Ruth). 7. Although, traditionally, th firstborn was sn as th primary continuation of th lin of th fathr, and oftn du mor blssing and inhritanc, God blssd mn basd upon thir rgnration and cursd mn if thy wr ngativ toward Him. Gn. 41:51 49:3 4 1Chron. 5: Th Lvits wr takn as God s firstborn, instad of th firstborn from vry family, as a trib ddicatd to Him. Num. 3:12, 45, 50 Th clos association with th numbr of Lvits as compard to th numbr of firstborn was to indication (1) that rdmption was involvd in stting apart th firstborn; (2) stting apart th Lvits as firstborn was analogous to God stting apart Jsus as His firstborn; and (3) th rdmption had to b xactly th right amount. Jsus could not just go and suffr on th cross for awhil, and that would do th trick; H had to pay for th sins of all mankind. Rdmption, by th way, mans paymnt. This rdmption was continud so that all of th firstborn had to b rdmd. Num. 18:15 Again, th ida was to connct rdmption with th firstborn with a spcific amount (a spcific rdmption amount). 9. Th Passovr: Th final judgmnt against Egypt was to kill thir firstborn. This was a typ of Christ. Ex Num. 8: Dut. 16:1 6 Psalm 105:36 135:8 136:10 (which passag associats God s lov with striking thm down) 1Cor. 5:7 Hb. 11:28

36 Numbrs Chaptr 3 36 Th Abbrviatd Doctrin of th Firstborn a. God calls Isral His firstborn in Ex. 4:22. Th implication is that thr could b anothr born of God. Howvr, God usd it in this way: Pharaoh was to lt God s firstborn go or H would kill Pharaoh s firstborn (Ex. 4:23). b. God has Moss thratn th Pharaoh with this in Ex. 11:4 6. c. Dath of th firstborn is a typ of Christ, as Christ is th Firstborn of God. 1Cor. 5:7 Hb. 1:6 d. Prior to th carrying out of this curs, God instructs Moss in th Passovr. All of Isral is to, by houshold, slaughtr a lamb. What God says is chilling: Th whol assmbly of th congrgation of Isral is to kill it at twilight. (Ex. 12:6b). Th blood of th lamb is thn smard on both sids and at th top of th door fram (Ex. 12:7, 22). That blivrs wr passd ovr bcaus of th blood about thir door (matching th blood on our Lord s hands, had and ft), is a pictur of God not judging us bcaus H has judgd His Firstborn in our stad. Whn God saw th blood of th Passovr at th ntranc of th hous, God would not go into th hous and kill th firstborn (Ex. 12:13, 23). Thn thy wr to roast th lamb with fir without rmoving any part of it, and thn to at th lamb (Ex. 12:7 11). Fir spaks of God s judgmnt, which is put upon His Lamb rathr than upon mankind, who dsrvs dath.. Easton tlls us about th Egyptian Pharaoh who was probably th on whos firstborn did during this tim: Mnphtah is probably th Pharaoh whos first-born was slain. His son did not succd or surviv his fathr, but did arly. Th son's tomb has bn found at Thbs unfinishd, showing it was ndd arlir than was xpctd. Som of th rcords on th tomb ar as follows: Th son whom Mnphtah lovs; who draws towards him his fathr's hart, th singr, th princ of archrs, who govrnd Egypt on bhalf of his fathr. Dad Jsus Christ is calld th firstborn in Psalm 89: Jsus is calld th firstborn in th Nw Tstamnt: a. Th first occasion, alrady mntiond, is Luk 2:7. b. Paul associats Christ as th firstborn of many brothrs with lction. For thos whom H forknw H also prdstind to b conformd to th imag of His Son, in ordr that H might b th firstborn among many brothrs. And thos whom H prdstind H also calld, and thos whom H calld H also justifid, and thos whom H justifid H also glorifid (Rom. 8:29 30). c. Jsus is calld th firstborn of all cration in Col. 1:15 16: H is th imag of th invisibl God, th firstborn of all cration. For by Him all things wr cratd, in havn and on arth, visibl and invisibl, whthr throns or dominions or rulrs or authoritis--all things wr cratd through Him and for Him. d. H is also calld th firstborn from th dad in Col. 1:18 20: And H is th had of th body, th church. H is th bginning, th firstborn from th dad, that in vrything h might b prminnt. For in Him all th fullnss of God was plasd to dwll, and through Him to rconcil to himslf all things, whthr on arth or in havn, making pac by th blood of His cross. H has this sam titl in Rv. 1:5. Hb. 1:5 6: For to which of th angls did God vr say, "You ar my Son, today I hav bgottn you"? Or again, "I will b to him a fathr, and H shall b to M a son"? And again, whn H brings th firstborn into th world, H says, "Lt all God's angls worship Him." (Psalm 2:7 2Sam. 7:14 Dut. 32:43 LXX?). f. W should glan two things from ths rfrncs: Jsus is not actually born or cratd, but H is prminnt among all that which has bn cratd. Scondly, His titl Firstborn is also to ti Him to th Passovr vnt, whr th dath of th firstborn, rdmption, th blood of th Lamb and th passing ovr all thos undr His blood ar all gathrd togthr as a typ, for which Jsus is th antityp. Again, this is th abbrviatd vrsion of this doctrin. 1 2 Noah W bstr's 1828 Dictionary of Amrican English from -sword; topic: first-born. M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustratd Bibl Dictionary; 1897; from -Sword, topic: first-born.

37 Th Book of Numbrs 37 Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins Cnsus of th Lvits and Dutis Assignd to th Lvits And Yahwh spok to Moss in th dsrt of Sinai, saying, [Num. 3:14] God is no longr spaking to Moss nar Mount Sinai but in th dsrt rgion of Sinai, which mans that th mountains should b far out of viw. ""Numbr th sons of Lvi by th hous of thir fathrs, by thir familis; vry mal from a son of a month [in ag] and upward you will numbr thm." [Num. 3:15] So this is aftr thy hav bgun thir forcd march, as thy ar now in th dsrt of Sinai. Numbr is th sam word usd for visit, punish, appoint. Hr, a cnsus is bing takn of th Lvits. And Moss numbrd thm according to th word of Yahwh, as h had bn commandd. [Num. 3:16] Moss had nough sns to oby whn h hard God's Word. And ths ar th sons of Lvi by thir nams: Grshon, and Kohath, and Mrari. [Num. 3:17] W hav this information in th rcords of Gnsis (Gn. 46:11) and Exodus (Ex. 6:16 25). Moss has alrady tracd his linag back in Exodus. This is don so that th various tribs of Lvi could b sparatd. And ths [ar] th nams of th sons of Grshon by thir familis: Libn and Shmi. [Num. 3:18] W hav covrd ths two mn and thir familis back in Ex. 6:17. And th sons of Kohath, by thir familis [ar] Amram and Izhar, Hbron and Uzzil. [Num. 3:19] Ex. 6:18. And th sons of Mrari by thir familis [ar] Mahli and Mushi; thr ar th familis of th Lvits by th hous of thir fathrs. [Num. 3:20] Ex. 6:19. Of Grshon [is] th family of th Libnit, and th family of th Shimit; thr ar th familis of Grshonit. [Num. 3:21] Th purpos of rcalling th family lin is so that th Lvits can b countd and organizd as ach family will hav its own function and plac to b. Thir numbrd ons, in numbr, vry mal from a son of a month and upward, thir numbrd ons [ar] [Num. 3:22] This is th Grshonit trib. Th familis of th Grshonit, bhind th tabrnacl, do ncamp wstward [lit., toward th sa]. [Num. 3:23]

38 Numbrs Chaptr 3 38 Whn it coms to thir position with rgard to th tabrnacl, thy will b on th wstward, sa sid. By this w know thy hav travld past th Gulf of Suz but thy could not sa th Gulf of Aqaba (which would b to th ast or to th southast). And th princ of a fathr's hous for th Grshonit [is] Eliasaph bn Lal. [Num. 3:24] Eliasaph mans God gathrs and Lal mans [blonging] to God. Eliasaph is obviously not th sam Eliasaph that w saw in Num. 1:14 and 2:14; That Eliasaph was also chosn as a grat ladr, but h was th son of Dul (or, Rul) in th Gaddit trib. And th rsponsibility of th sons of Grshon in [lit., out of] th tnt of mting: th tabrnacl, 23 and th tnt, its covring and th vil at th opning of th tnt of mting; [Num. 3:25] Our scond Eliasaph was in charg of th tabrnacl covrings, th curtains fo th court and th main altar. Thr was a curtain at th ntranc to th courtyard (Num. 4:26); at th ntranc of th tabrnacl itslf (Num. 4:25); and btwn th Holy Plac and th Holy of Holis (Num. 4:5). Th trib of Grshon was rsponsibl for ths covrings. And th hangings of th court and th vil at th opning of th court, which [is] by th tabrnacl and by th altar round about, and its cords, in rgard to all its srvic. [Num. 3:26] This family took th rsponsibility of th car of ths itms and th protction of thm whn movd. (as th Jws will b on th mov for th nxt 39 yars). And of Kohath, th family of th Amramit, and th family of th Izharit, and th family of th Hbronit, and th family of th Uzzilit; ths ar th familis of th Kohathit. [Num. 3:27] Ex. 6:18. In numbr, all th mals from a son of a month and upward: 8600 kping th rsponsibility of th sanctuary. [Num. 3:28] With th lack of vrbs, this rads mor lik a list than pros. Moss in this vrs rcords th cnsus rsult and thir gnral function with rspct to th tabrnacl. Th Sptuagint rads 8300 hr and 8300 is th propr amount ndd so that th total would b 22,000. This is on of th vry fw placs whr th minority of manuscripts support a numbr which is incorrct. Likly this was a copist rror. Th familis of th sons of Kohath ncamp by th sid of th tabrnacl southward. [Num. 3:29] Notic that vn for ths familis, thy ar organizd by God. And th princ of a fathr's hous for th familis of th Kohathits: Elizaphan bn Uzzil. [Num. 3:30] Elizaphan mans God of trasur (or, possibly, God has protctd) and Uzzil mans strngth of God (rcall that El mans God). And thir rsponsibility: th ark and th tabl and th candlstick and th altars and th furnitur [lit., vssls] of th sanctuary with which thy srv, and th vil and all its srvic. [Num. 3:31] 23 Most codics rad and its covring.

39 Th Book of Numbrs 39 Th gnral statmnt was in v. 28 and th mor spcific dutis, or rsponsibilitis, ar listd hr. Thy ar rsponsibl for th articuls of furnitur within th tabrnacl. And th princ of th princs of th Lvits: Elazar bn Aaron, th prist: th ovrsight of thos who prform th dutis of th sanctuary [lit., th kprs of th charg or, guardians of th rsponsibility of th sanctuary]. [Num. 3:32] A princ of princs (or, a chif of chifs), whr a noun in th Hbrw is rpatd in th gnativ plural, is an xprssion of a vry mphatic suprlativ. Thr is no suprlativ in th Hbrw, so it is oftn xprssd using a figur of spch lik this, known tchnically as a polyptoton [pronouncd po-lyp-to-ton]. Th Lvits will not hav four chifs ovr thm, but on, to whom th four chifs will rport. W hav a God of ordr and authority. Aaron's son will assum that authority. At this point I do not know how old this son is, howvr, Aaron is approximatly 85, so this son is probably btwn yars of ag. Of Mrari, th family of th Mahlit, and th family of th Mushit ths [ar] th familis of Mrari. [Num. 3:33] Ex. 6:19. W hav th intrsting figur of spch hr: an panadiplosis [pronouncd EP-an-a-di-PLO--sis], which whr w hav th sam word at th bginning and th nd of a sntnc. What is implid is a complt circl, which in this cas draws attntion to th compltnss of th statmnt. And thir numbrd ons, in numbr, all th mals from a son of a month and upward: [Num. 3:34] Not that th population of th Lvits, vn combind, is among th lowst of th th populations of th othr tribs. Th othr tribs numbrd th mals who wr twnty yars and oldr; ths ar mals who ar a month old or oldr. Th rason this numbring is don is that ths mn ar not bing numbrd for war but for srvic to yahwh, which can bgin at any ag byond th ag of accountability (and training prior to that is a must, as w will s). And th princ of a fathr's hous for th familis of Mrari: Zuril bn Abihail; by th sid of th tabrnacl thy ncamp northward. [Num. 3:35] Zuril mans rock of God and Abihail mans fathr (or, possssor) of might. Zuril is mntiond only hr in God's Word. And th ovrsight th rsponsibility of th sons of Mrari: th boards of th tabrnacl, and its bars and its pillars and its sockts and all its vssls and all its srvic; [Num. 3:36] So that w undrstand hr, vry trib and vry subdivision had a spcific function, a spcific part to play in God's plan. Today, w all hav spcific functions and a spcific plan for our livs, found only by bing filld with th Holy Spirit, rmaining in fllowship and studying God's Word (and not on our own). And th pillars of th court round about and thir sockts and thir pins and thir cords. [Num. 3:37] Somday I will know whn I am in havn why thos who st up th vrss would stop midway in a sntnc, midway in a thought, and thn finish it in th nxt vrs.

40 Numbrs Chaptr 3 40 And thos ncamping bfor th tabrnacl astward, bfor th tnt of mting at th ast: Moss and Aaron and his son, kping th rsponsibility of th sanctuary for th rsponsibility of th sons of Isral, and th strangr who approachs is xcutd. [Num. 3:38] Again, th strangr is anyon outsid of th Lvit trib. Th astward sid, or th sid of th sun rising, is th most honord plac, in gnral. This rasonably blongs to Moss and Aaron and also to th trib of Judah, which would produc King David, King Solomon and our Lord Jsus Christ. 24 All thos numbrd of th Lvits whom Moss numbrd Aaron also by th command of Yahwh, by thir familis, vry mal from a son of a month and upward: 22,000. [Num. 3:39] This mans that thr wr probably 10,000-15,000 mals who wr of ag 20 and abov. Rdmption of th First-born And Yahwh said to Moss, "Numbr vry first-born mal of th sons of Isral from a son of a month and upward, and mak a list of thir nams [lit., tak up th numbr of thir nams]. [Num. 3:40] Now God rquirs Moss to tak a cnsus of just th first-born. "And you hav takn th Lvits for M I Yahwh instad of vry first-born among th sons of Isral and th cattl of th Lvits, instad of vry firstling among th cattl of th sons of Isral." [Num. 3:41] Ashr Dan Naphtali Manassh Mrari Issachar Ephraim Grshon Th Tabrnacl Moss, Aaron and Aaron's sons Judah Bnjamin Kohath Zbulun Gad Rubn Simon This shows th positioning of th Lvit familis around th tabrnacl Th Lvits wr to b in plac of th first-born, which blongd to God. Th Lvits would blong to God instad. God has paid for th first-born of Isral, which in turn paid for th Lvits. And Moss numbrd, as Yahwh had commandd him, all th first-born among th sons of Isral. [Num. 3:42] Moss again follows God's ordrs without qustion or dlay. And all th first-born mal by th numbr of nams, from a son of a month and upward, of thir numbrd ons, ar 22,273. [Num. 3:43] This is th first xact figur which was takn and you will not that thr ar just nough Lvits to stand in th stads of th first-born. W should xmain som numbrs now: if, say, 200,000 of th mn of th 600,000 ar marrid and hav childrn, thn th numbr for first-born would rasonably b btwn 20,000 and 60,000. If a 24 Aaron also may not b a part of th original txt; for mor information s Dr. Ginsburg's Introduction to th Massortico- Critical dition of th Hbrw Bibl (1897), pp ; and his Hbrw nots for his dition of th Hbrw Bibl.

41 Th Book of Numbrs 41 highr numbr of mn ar marrid, that would incras ths figurs. Wll, this is going to caus us som problms with th larg population of th Isralits. Undr any on of th thoris proposd, this numbr of firstborn would hav bn far too larg. Howvr, if you rad this carfully, th numbr of first-born bing 20,000 would appar to b too small. This would man that ach family would avrag tn childrn, which is xcssiv at this point. Th ky hr is that th sanctification of th first-born did not occur until Ex. 13:1 2; prior to that, th first-born wr not st asid to God. So from that point on, th first-born blongd to Yahwh. This givs us a grat many births btwn Ex. 13 and now (lss than two yars latr). This may not b too larg a numbr; this mans that for a priod of lss than two yars, 1 out of 30 mn ag twnty or abov, got marrid, or wr rcntly marrid, and thy sird thir first-born sinc th Exodus. Th population of Isral had grown had a good rat during thir prscution; this probably lvld off with th trmndous prssurs put upon thm by th Egyptian Pharaohs, and this suddn frdom probably blossomd into many marriags and first-born childrn. This is not too unlik th baby boomr gnration of th Unitd Stats which gnratd a trmndous populatoin growth immdiatly following World War II. Alfrd Eldrshim in his book Bibl History Old Tstamnt, points out that you cannot judg past population figurs by prsnt growth. H givs th xampl of Austria that, in 1851, saw roughly on marriag for vry tn popl; 25 which country in 1854, had lss than on marriag pr 100 popl. H also givs th xampl of England incrasing in population by a million in th spac of thr yars, whras, during th sam tim priod, th numbr of marriags dcrasd by 11, 000. And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 3:44] I am bginning to think that not only did th worst translators gt assignd to Lviticus and Numbrs, but th vry worst guys whn it cam to dividing up vrss. "Tak th Lvits instad of vry first-born among th sons of Isral, and th cattl of th Lvits instad of thir cattl; and th Lvits hav bn Min I [am] Yahwh. [Num. 3:45] Th Lvits ar kpt aliv as an vn trad for vry first-born, just as our Lord was raisd again and stands as a prfct substitut for our dsrving dath uponm th cross. "And thos ransomd of th 273 (who ar mor than th Lvits) of th first-born of th sons of Isral; [Num. 3:46] Thr ar an xcss of first-born sons who ar not covrd by th Lvitical population. Thr wr 22,000 Lvits (Num. 3:39) and 22,273 firstborn (Lv. 3:43). Thrfor, God rquird Isral to pay a ransom for th xcss of 273 mn. "You will tak fiv shkls ach by th poll by th shkl of th sanctuary you will tak; twnty grahs th shkl; [Num. 3:47] A grah is approximatly 1/40th of an ounc, making a shkl about ½ an ounc (othr sourcs rad 4/10ths of an ounc). Yahwh will not ignor this disparity. Similarly, vry sin that w hav vr committd and will commit was paid for on th cross. God did not allow a singl sin to go without bing paid for. "And you will giv th mony to Aaron and to his sons, whrby thos ovr and abov ar ransomd." [Num. 3:48] A major topic of th Old Tstamnt is th ransoming of falln man. 25 IThis is from p. 231 in th footnots (f I am rading this corrctly; thr was a txtual rror in his book).

42 Numbrs Chaptr 3 42 And Moss took th ransom mony from thos ovr and abov thos ransomd by th Lvits; [Num. 3:49] God rquirs an xact accounting for vry last prson. This 273 first-born which wr not rdmd man-forman by th Lvits, wr rdmd with silvr at fiv shkls ach. From th first-born of th sons of Isral h took th mony, 1365 [shkls] by th shkl of th sanctuary. [Num. 3:50] Th shkl of th sanctuary mans that thr is a divin standard. Th Lvits wr takn as God s firstborn, instad of th firstborn from vry family, as a trib ddicatd to Him. Num. 3:12, 45, 50 Th clos association with th numbr of Lvits as compard to th numbr of firstborn was to indication (1) that rdmption was involvd in stting apart th firstborn; (2) stting apart th Lvits as firstborn was analogous to God stting apart Jsus as His firstborn; and (3) th rdmption had to b xactly th right amount. Jsus could not just go and suffr on th cross for awhil, and that would do th trick; H had to pay for th sins of all mankind. And Moss gav th mony of thos ransomd to Aaron and to his sons, according to th word [lit., mouth] of Yahwh, as Yahwh had commandd Moss. [Num. 3:51] That which is spokn is oftn calld in th Hbrw according to th mouth of.

43 Numbrs 4 Numbrs 4:1 49 Outlin of Chaptr 4: Vv Th rsponsibilitis of th Kohathits Vv Th rsponsibilitis of th Grshonits Vv Th rsponsibilitis of th sons of Mrari Vv Cnsus figurs and summary Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Introduction: Num. 4 dals vn mor spcifically with th dutis of th Lvits; primarily it covrs thir rsponsibilitis in a mov. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Rsponsibilitis of th Kohathits And Yahwh spok to Moss, and to Aaron, saying, [Num. 4:1] Again, this is a dirct quot from God. Whovr dvlopd th ida of a rd-lttrd dition of th Bibl did not tak it far nough. "Tak up a numbring [lit., a had count] of th sons of Kohath from among th sons of Lvi by thir familis and thir fathrs' houss; [Num. 4:2] Rô sh ( àø É ) [pronouncd rosh], as w hav sn, mans shak, and it gnrally mans had count, as an idiom, although it is usd in svral othr ways. Initially, you should b confusd; didn't w just tak a cnsus of th sons of Kohath? Howvr, th ky hr is that this is an unfinishd sntnc. "From a son of thirty yars and upward, vn till a son of fifty yars, vryon going in to th srvic [lit., army], to do th work in th tnt of mting. [Num. 4:3] Th word hr usd for srvic is th sam on usd for th mn ntring th armd forcs. Th Lvits ar ntring into a spiritual battl, th liks of which w larn from God's Word, but will nvr compltly apprciat until w ar fac to fac with th Lord. This is to th Lvits: from twnty-fiv yars old and upward thy will ntr to prform srvic in th work of th tn of mting; but at fifty yars thy will rtir from srvic in th work and not work any mor (Num. 8:24 25). Apparntly btwn ags twnty-fiv and thirty, th Lvits wnt through an apprntic program of sorts. "This [is] th srvic of th sons of Kohath in th tnt of mting, th holy of holis: [Num. 4:4] This will b a list of th srvics that thy will prform, primarily with rspct to th moving of th tabrnacl. Th Kohathits hav on of th most sacrd positions of rsponsibility thy will b handling th furnitur of th Holy Plac and from th Holy of Holis. Howvr, thy ar not to touch it dirctly (v. 15) or vn look at it (v. 20); or thy will b xcutd by God. Th Kohathits wr undr th dirct suprvision of Aaron and his sons, who would hlp to kp thm from violating God's holinss.

44 Numbrs Chaptr 4 44 Thr is a continual mphasis in th Old Tstamnt on th absolut holinss of God and th fact that man can hav no dirct contact with God. Thos who claim to hav a casual, frindly rlationship with God th Fathr or with Jsus Christ hav not rad th Scripturs and do not raliz how painfully sinful w ar in th light of His prfction. "And Aaron will go in and his sons whn th camp is to st out; and thy will tak down th vil of th hanging and hav covrd with it th ark of th tstimony. [Num. 4:5] Th wil hanging btwn th Holy Plac and th Holy of Holis is usd to covr th ark. 26 "And thy will put on it a covring of animal skin, and thy will sprad a garmnt compltly of blu [possibly, violt] abov, and hav placd its pols. [Num. 4:6] W do not know rally what kind of a skin is bing talkd about hr. Various translations us badgr or dolphin; so you can s thr is no ral agrmnt. Th pols bing placd ar thos pols which ar usd in ordr to carry th ark. Th ida hr is simpl: th Ark rprsnts Jsus Christ, and what was sn of th Ark, th gold plating, rprsntd His dity. Man cannot look dirctly upon God s dity, du to man s inhrnt sinfulnss. Thrfor, th Ark had to b covrd whn it was movd. W hav on incidnt whn th Ark was transportd on th ordrs of King David, that on of th mn rachd out to stady th Ark, and God struck him dad for that irrvrnc (2Sam. 6:2 7). "And on th tabl of th Prsnc, thy will sprad a garmnt of blu [or, possibly violt], and thy will plac on it th dishs and th spoons and th bowls and th cups of th libation, and th prptual brad [lit., brad of continuity] is on it. [Num. 4:7] Qas wâh (ä å È Ó Ç ) [pronouncd ka-s'wawh] dos not man covrs as th KJV has, nor dos it man basins, as implid by Th Emphasizd Bibl; thy ar simply cups or jugs and this word is found only hr and in Ex. 25:29 37:16 1Chron. 28:17. Th prptual brad or th brad of continuity is simply brad which is always thr; th brad spaks of fllowship and vn though God and Isral ar now strangd, thr is a plac in God's plan for vry singl Isralit, both now and in th futur. Furthrmor, this fllowship with th nation Isral will b rstord in th futur whn Isral rturns to th Lord Who bought hr. W might go down to th local liquor stor and pick up a fw boxs in ordr to pack th brakabls; howvr, thy did not hav that luxury; thrfor, th rlatd itms wr placd ovr th garmnt which was on th tabl. "And thy will sprad ovr thm a garmnt of scarlt, and hav covrd it with a covring of animal skin; and th will plac its pols. [Num. 4:8] Th first garmnt, from a practical viwpoint, holds vrything in plac; and th animal (of whatvr kind) skin, holds vrything in plac as sort of a ballast. Ths things which ar holy ar surroundd by a cloth of blu, which spaks of th third havn; by a cloth of scarlt, spaking of our Lord's blood; and an animal skin, spaking of our Lord's sacrific. Th lattr two itms may sm as though thy ovrlap, but rcall in th Lord's suppr, w partak both of th body and th blood of our Lord (symbolically). "And thy will tak a garmnt of blu [possibly, violt] and thy will covr th candlstick of th lamp, and its lights, and its snuffrs, and its snuff-dishs, and all its oil vssls with which thy ministr to thm. [Num. 4:9] God is vry xplicit as to how ths articls of furnitur will b movd. Thr is no us your bst judgmnt hr. It is th sam for our livs; thr is th corrct way to conduct ourslvs and th incorrct way. God has a prfct 26 Th Sptuagint and th wstrn Sam aritan codics add th word thrupon.

45 Th Book of Numbrs 45 pa=lan for our lif and w can fulfill that plan. Th only way that w can hav complt fulfillmnt in our livs is through fulfilling His plan for our livs. It is th diffrnc btwn compting in a sporting vnt on th sdi of th winning tam and watching th gam from th bnch on th sidlins. Our tam will win; thr is no doubt about that. W will all shar in th glory. Howvr, thr will b gratr prstig and rwards for thos who actually playd. Thy will fl th gratst about our final victory of th Dvil and his angls. "And thy will plac it and all its utnsils [lit., vssls] into a covring of animal skin and thy will plac it on th carrying fram [or, pol]. [Num. 4:10] W hav a tough word hr: môwþ (è î ) [pronouncd mot] and it mans wavring, fall. This is found only six tims in th Old Tstamnt (Num. 4:10, 12 13:23 Psalm 66:9 121:3 Nahum 1:13). This is apparntly a pol usd to carry things on, although in th Psalms it rfrs to stability or possibly dpndnc and rlianc. "And on th goldn altar thy ar to sprad a garmnt of blu, and thy will covr it with a covring of animal skin, and thy will plac [or, position] its pols. [Num. 4:11] Each articl of furnitur was to b covrd, partially to kp it from bing marrd or bruisd, and partly to shild it from th Isralits as its holinss was just too grat. "And thy will tak all th utnsils [lit., vssls] of srvic with which thy srv in th sanctuary, and thy will plac [thm] into a garmnt of blu, and thy will covr thm with a covring of animal skin, and th will plac [thm] on th bar. [Num. 4:12] Lik th othr itms of th sanctuary which ar carrid, ths wr also placd btwn th garmnts and th skin to b carrid in a protctiv way. "And thy will rmov th fat-ashs of th altar and hav sprad ovr it a garmnt [of purpl]; [Num. 4:13] It is th altar that th garmnt is sprad ovr. This tlls us that th altar was a rpository for ashs. "And thy will put on it [th garmnt] all its vssls with which thy srv about it, th cnsrs, th hooks and th shovls and th bowls, all th utnsils [lit., vssls] of th altar, and thy will sprad on it a covring of animal skin, and will placd its pols. [Num. 4:14] To rmind you, vssls was an all purpos trm; it did stand spcifically for bowls and containrs, but it was a gnral dsignation for anything which was usd for th altar (or for any of th othr pics of furnitur of th tabrnacl). "And Aaron will finish and his sons also covring th sanctuary, and all th vssls of th sanctuary, in th journying of th camp, and aftrward th sons of Kohath will com in to carry [it]; howvr [lit., and] thy do not com into th Holy Plac, or thy will di; ths [things ar] th burdn of th sons of Kohath in rgards to th tnt of mting. [Num. 4:15] Th tnss of th Hbrw languag ar vry difficult to translat consistntly as tim is not a major concrn of th Hbrw tns systm. An imprfct tns can b usd to dscrib ongoing past action, prsnt action, or vn futur action, which is not lookd at from an accomplishd standpoint. Howvr, th prfct tns, which is usually a compltd action, can also stand for an vnt which is past, prsnt or futur. In any cas hr, th sons of Aaron and thir dscndants s to th disassmbly of th tabrnacl bfor th sons of Kohath mov anything. On portion of this vrs may sm awkward th rlativ adjctiv ths (rfrring to th dutis numratd in this passag) and th prdicat nominativ (as w would know it in th English) of burdn, which is in th singular. Howvr, I hav addd a coupl of words to hlp smooth out th translation.

46 Numbrs Chaptr 4 46 "And th ovrsight of Elazar, son of Aaron, th prist: th oil of th lamp and th spic-prfum, and th prsnt of continuity, and th anointing oil, th ovrsight of th sanctuary, and in rgards to its vssls." [Num. 4:16] Th noun found hr is a difficult on: p quddâh (ä È Ë ) [pronouncd p'kood-dawh] ar th noun cognat for Ó pâqad (ã Ç È ) [pronouncd paw-kahd], which w hav translatd appoint, st, mak, committd, laid up, authoriz, dlgat, dsignat, numbr or install. W find p quddâh usd to man visitation in Jr. 8:12 10:15 and it appars to b a tim whn God has particular contact with somon, whthr it b a positiv or a ngativ visitation (rcall th vrb is usd to visit and to punish in Lv. 18:25 Isa. 13:11 26:14; but also it has bn usd to visit and to blss or to tak car of in Gn. 50:24 25). What appars to b implid hr is dirct contact with God; so in this contxt, Elazar will hav dirct contact with th itms namd; that is, thy will b undr his ovrsight or undr his visitation. Only th High Prist was allowd this kind of contact with th most holy of things hr on arth, rprsnting God's prfction and rightousnss. Evn h, bing human, could only ntr into that Holy of Holis onc a yar. H mrly rprsnt our Lord, Who is prfct and can draw nar to God th Fathr. It is important to not that all this is mrly rprsntativ of God's prfction and our inadquacis. This will hlp us to undrstand David's transport of th ark in a mor casual mannr in 2Sam. 6. Th oil spaks of th Holy spirit, th spic-prfum of propitiation and satisfaction with our Lord's work upon th cross; th prsnt of continuity (th brad) is fllowship; th anointing oil is th function of th Holy spirit in a prson's lif ths things ar all th rsponsibility of th prist, who rprsnts th God-man. A prist is a go btwn God and man and rprsnts Jsus Christ in that way, Who was indwlt by th Holy Spirit, mpowrd by th Spirit, Who was in fllowship continually with God th Fathr; whos dath on th cross was a swt-savor, inasmuch as it brought us all to God. And Yahwh spok to Moss and Aaron, saying, [Num. 4:17] Whr ls is it so clar that this is God spaking to man? "You will not cut off th trib of th familis of th Kohathits from th midst of th Lvits; [Num. 4:18] I am nonplussd hr; why is Moss bing told not to cut th Kohathits out of th loop? "But do this to thm and thy will liv and do not di in thir approaching th Holy of Holis; Aaron and his sons will ntr, and thy will plac thm, ach man in accordanc with his srvic, and to his burdn; [Num. 4:19] This xplains v. 18; if th Kohathits just barg into th Holy of Holis, thn God will kill thm, thus cutting thm off from th midst of th Lvits. Thrfor, thr will b a spcific procdur which will b followd whnvr th Jws brak camp. "And thy will not go in to s whn th holy thing is swallowd, so that thy don't di." [Num. 4:20] Bâla (ò ìç È ) [pronouncd baw-lahì] dos not man vn for a momnt, as som Bibls translat it (RSV and NASB, for instanc) but it mans ngulf, swallow up. W saw this sam word usd whn th svn thin ars of corn swallowd up th svn fat ars in Josph's dram (Gn. 41:7, 24) and whn th arth swallows up th dgnrat idolatrs in Ex. 15:12. All this mans is that th holy things will first b covrd by th sons of Aaron bfor ths Lvits hav anything to do with thm. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx

47 Th Book of Numbrs 47 Th Rsponsibilitis of th Grshonits And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 4:21] This is a continuation of th rsponsibilitis and th rgulations concrning th Lvits. "Tak up th numbr of th sons of Grshon also thy, by th hous of thir fathrs, by thir familis; [Num. 4:22] Th sub-trib of th Grshonits ar xamind nxt. Th thy blongs in v. 22, vn though it is not found in many of th English translations. "From a son of thirty yars and upward, till a son of fity yars, you will numbr thm, vryon who is going in to srv th host [lit., army], to do th srvic [lit., to srv th srvic] in th tnt of mting. [Num. 4:23] Th NASB givs anothr maning for numbr hr: mustr. Moss would b not ncssarily counting ths Isralits but dtrmining how many thy wr and dlgating crtain dutis to ach st which H intrviwd. Th us of th vrb and its cognat giv grat mphasis to ths words; it is almost quivalnt to th suprlativ in th Hbrw (vn though thr is no suprlativ, strictly spaking, in th Hbrw). Th tribs of th Lvits ar xamind on at a tim. Again, spiritual srvic is quivalnt to going to war. W ar in a constant warfar against Satan and his angls. For our struggl is not against flsh and blood, but against th rulrs, against th authoritis, against th world forcs of this darknss, against th spiritual [forcs] or vil in th havnlis (Eph. 6:12). "This is th srvic of th familis of th Grshonit, to srv and for burdns: [Num. 4:24] Thir dutis and rsponsibilitis will follow: "And thy will bar th curtains of th tabrnacl and th tnt of mting, its covring and th covring of th animal skin, which is on it abov, and th vil at th opning of th tnt of mtings; [Num. 4:25] Thir rsponsiblitis includ primarily th curtains and th covrings for th tabrnacl. "And th hangings of th court, and th vil at th opning of th gat of th court which [is] by th tabrnacl, and by th altar round about, and thir cords and all th vssls of thir srvic, and all that is mad for thm so thy will srv. [Num. 4:26] Evrything to do with th curtains and covrings ar thir rsponsibilitis. "By th word [lit., mouth] of Aaron and his sons will b all th srvic of th sons of th Grshonit in rgard to all thir burdn [or, rsponsibility] and in all thir srvic; and you hav laid a rsponsibility [or, charg] on thm concrning th rsponsibility [or, charg] of all thir burdn. [Num. 4:27] A chain of command is st up whr th Grshonits rport to Aaron and his sons. "This is th srvic of th familis of th sons of th Grshonit in th tnt of mting; and thir charg [is] by th hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron, th prist. [Num. 4:28]

48 Numbrs Chaptr 4 48 Ovr th Grshonits is Aaron's son, Ithamar. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Rsponsibilitis of th Sons of Mrari "Th sons of Mrari, by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs, you will numbr thm; [Num. 4:29] This is th third sub-trib of th Lvits which will b countd and givn spiritual rsponsibilitis. "From a son of thirty yars and upward vn to a son of fifty yars will you numbr thm, vryon who is ntring into th host [lit., army], to prform th srvic of th tnt of mting. [Num. 4:30] Lik th othr tribs, ths ar numbrd as to thir involvmnt in th srvic to God. "And this [is] th rsponsibility of thir burdn: of all th srvic in th tnt of mting; th boards of th tabrnacl, and its bars and th pillars, and its sockts [or, bass]; [Num. 4:31] Th framwork of th tabrnacl was thir rsponsibility. "Also [lit., and] th pillars of th court round about, and thir sockts [or, bass], and thir pins, and thir cords; [Num. 4:32a] Th nd of this vrs is variously translatd: Th Amplifid Bibl Th Emphasizd Bibl KJV NASB NIV NRSV Young's Lit. Translation...and all thir accssoris for srvic; and you will assign to thm by nam th articls which thy ar to carry [on th march]....to th xtnt of all thir articls, to th xtnt of all thy labour, and by nams shall y put undr thir car th articls of thir charg of burdns....with all thir instrumnts, and with all thir srvic; and by nam y shall rckon th instrumnts of th charg of thir burdn....with all thir quipmnt and with all thir srvic; and you shall assign ach man by nam th itms h is to carry....all thir quipmnt and vrything rlatd to thir us. Assign to ach man th spcific things h is to carry....with all thir quipmnt and al thir rlatd srvic; and you shall assign by nam th objcts that thy ar rquird to carry....of all thir vssls, and of all thir srvic; and by nam y do numbr th vssls of th charg of thir burdn. It is a mattr of how carfully you want to rad this; if you ar trying to gt th gnral ida of what is occurring, aftr rading through th various translation, you hav it. All th stuff which is rlatd to th framwork of th tnt and th court is what thy ar rsponsibl for; ach prson will hav a spcific assignmnt spcific itms which thy ar rsponsibl for and which thy will carry. That is all fairly clar. From th standpoint of a translator, this is kind of a mss bcaus th actual vocabulary is so diffrnt and inconsistnt with th sam words bing usd lswhr in th Old Tstamnt. At th bginning of th sntnc, w hav th pillars of th court followd by thr conjunctions, thr nouns and thr masculin plural suffixs, maning th nxt thr things blong to th function of th pillars: thir sockts, thir pgs and thir cords. Thn th sntnc structur changs and w hav th lâmd prfixd prposition (to, for, in rgard to), th word for all th noun for vssls (and a masculin plural suffix), a conjunction and lâmd

49 É Th Book of Numbrs 49 again with th word for all and anothr noun. This chang in sntnc structur mans that w ar now talking not about th pillars or anything to do with th pillars, but this rfrs backs to th sons of Mrari thy ar th masculin plural suffix hr. So it should rad: in rgards to all thir [th sons of Mrari's]...and in rgards to thir [th sons's of Mrari's]... Th first noun in us is spcifically vssls; this bcam an all-purpos word. In th ancint world, a vssl was usd for a grat many things and it could tak all shaps, forms and sizs. Things wr stord in vssls, including food, utnsils, clothing; vssls wr usd to carry liquid, to b usd to drink from, to b usd as food containrs for a mal. Thy had such a wid varity of uss, that anything connctd with a particular function in lif was groupd undr th gnral titl of vssl. It dosn't mattr that som of th itms alludd to wr not thmslvs vssls; thrfor, w hav th rndrings of accssoris, articls, instrumnts, quipmnt. You s, a vssl can man diffrnt things dpnding upon what it is a vssl for. That is, it dos not vn hav to man spcifically somthing in which you could plac watr if it is attachd to a function which has nothing to do with that. I will translat this word componnt parts; ths ar th things thy will carry. This word is found twic in th plural at th nd of this vrs, which is why most translations hav th sam word rpatd. Othrs translators did not do this purly bcaus it would sound funky to th English ar. Thn w hav th sam sntnc structur (and with rgard to all of thir...) and th word burdn, which, in th b b Hbrw, is ã vôdâh (ä ãáè òâ ) [pronouncd ìu -vo-dawh] and it mans labour, srvic. In a mor modrn vocabulary, w might us load, cargo, fright, payload. It is that which is liftd and carrid; howvr, this rfrs to th act of srvic as wll as to that which is liftd. In othr words, th spcific things which th sons of Mrari ar carrying ar covrd in Num. 4:31b 32a and this last portion of v. 32 is an all purpos phras naming that ths ar th fright and rsponsibilitis of th sons of Mrari. Strong s #5656 & 5647 BDB #715. At th nd of th vrs w hav a vrb which has many applications. It is th Qal imprfct of pâqad (ã Ç È ) [pronouncd paw-kahd]. W hav lookd at this word in th Hiphil, th causativ stm, and translatd it appoint, st, mak, committd, laid up, authoriz, dlgat, dsignat, or install. This is th word that w hav usd in taking a cnsus; w hav translatd it numbr. What is bing don is that ach componnt part is bing assignd or matchd to a diffrnt prson, just as ach prson was numbrd in th cnsus. Thy ar bing countd off and assignd a particular pic of fright. This is prcdd by th word for nam, which is prcdd by th prfixd bêyth conjunction, which mans in, into, at, by; proximity is "In rgards to all of thir [rfrring to th sons of Mrari] componnt parts [lit., vssls], and with rgard to all of thir srvic [or, fright]; and by nam you will assign [or numbr] th componnt 27 parts [lit., vssls] of th rsponsibility of thir burdn [or, load]. [Num. 4:32b] Evn though what is occurring may sm trivial or unimportant to us, it is still nic to hav a corrct translation and a rasonabl undrstanding of what is occurring hr. "This is th srvic [or, rsponsibility] of th familis of th sons of Mrari, for all thir srvic, in th tnt of mting, by th hand of Ithamar and Aaron th prist." [Num. 4:33] This is a summary statmnt, maning that w will go onto a slightly diffrnt subjct, w will go into an ovrall summary of this chaptr or a fulfillmnt of th dirctivs of Yahwh. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx 27 Instad of having articls of thir srvic, svral codics (wstrn Sam aritan, Sptuagint and th targum of Jonathon) hav all of thir srvic.

50 Numbrs Chaptr 4 50 Cnsus Figurs and Summary And Moss numbrd and Aaron also, and th ladrs of this assmbly th sons of th Kohathits, by thir familis, and by th hous of thir fathrs. [Num. 4:34] Th imprfct tns for numbring mans that Moss took som tim to do this cnsus taking; th vrb xamins this as a procss and a continuing action and not as a compltd action. This vrs tlls us it is th Kohathits who ar numbrd hr. From a son of thirty yars and upward, vn to a son of fifty yars, vry on who is ntring to to th host [lit. army], for srvic in th tnt of mting. [Num. 4:35] This vrs tlls us which group of th Kohathits wr numbrd. And thir numbrd ons, by thir familis, ar [Num. 4:36] This is a rasonabl portion of th mals to fall btwn th ags of 30 and 50 givn th prvious numbrs that w hav had. Ths [ar] thos numbrd of th familis of th Kohathit, vry on who is srving in th tnt of mting, whom Moss and Aaron numbrd according to th commandmnt [lit., mouth] of Yahwh by th hand of Moss. [Num. 4:37] This tlls us what was don, who took th cnsus; that th cnsus was takn as God spok (maning not whil God spok but in th mannr prscribd by God); and that Moss was in charg. And thos numbrd of th sons of Grshon, by thir familis, and by th hous of thir fathrs; [Num. 4:38] This short passag is a summary of th cnsus takn of th sub-trib of Grshon. Notic how thy ar spokn of slightly diffrntly than th Kohathits. W spak of th familis of th Kohathit and th sons of Grshon. From a son of thirty yars and upward, vn to a son of fifty yars, vry on who is ntring to to th host [lit. army], for srvic in th tnt of mting. [Num. 4:39] This vrs tlls us which sub-group of th Grshonits wr numbrd. And thir numbrd ons, by thir familis, ar [Num. 4:40] This is a rasonabl portion of th mals to fall btwn th ags of 30 and 50 givn th prvious numbrs that w hav had. Ths [ar] thos numbrd of th familis of th sons of Grshon, vry on who is srving in th tnt of mting, whom Moss and Aaron numbrd according to th commandmnt [lit., mouth] of Yahwh. [Num. 4:41] This tlls us what was don, who took th cnsus; that th cnsus was takn as God chargd Moss. And thos numbrd of th familis of th sons of Mrari, by thir familis, by th hous of thir fathrs; [Num. 4:42] Finally w mov to th xact numbrs of th sons of Mrari; notic that thy ar namd in vn a diffrnt way than th Kohathits. I don't know how notworthy that is.

51 Th Book of Numbrs 51 From a son of thirty yars and upward, vn to a son of fifty yars, vry on who is ntring to to th host [lit. army], for srvic in th tnt of mting. [Num. 4:43] This vrs tlls us which sub-group of th sons of Mrari wr numbrd. And thir numbrd ons, by thir familis, ar [Num. 4:44] This is a rasonabl portion of th mals to fall btwn th ags of 30 and 50 givn th prvious numbrs that w hav had. This mans that th larg numbrs ovrall which hav bn givn ar probably accurat. From th standpint of human viwpoint, w may not lik thm, but God's plan dos not dpnd upon human viwpoint. Ths [ar] thos numbrd of th familis of th sons of Mrari, whom Moss and Aaron numbrd according to th commandmnt [lit., mouth] of Yahwh by th hand of Moss. [Num. 4:45] This tlls us what was don, who took th cnsus; that th cnsus was takn as God spok to Moss. All of thos numbrd, whom Moss numbrd and Aaron also, and th ladrs of Isral of th Lvits, by thir familis, and by th hous of thir fathrs; [Num. 4:46] This is a final summary vrs of th cnsus takn ovrall of th Lvits population which fll btwn th ags of 30 and 50. From a son of thirty yars and upward vn to a son of fifty yars, vry on who is going in to do th work of th srvic, vn th srvic of burdn in th tnt of mting; [Num. 4:47] Why ths coupl vrs ar brokn up, I hav no clu. Evn thir numbrd on ar 8580; [Num. 4:48] Th thr numbrs givn prviously add up to this numbr. By th command [lit., mouth] of Yahwh, h has numbrd thm, by th hand of Moss, ach man by his srvic and by his burdn, with his numbrd ons [or, thus thy wr numbrd by him], as Yahwh had commandd Moss. [Num. 4:49] Th last phras of this vrs was translatd according to th wstrn Samaritan, th Targum of Jonathan, th Sptuagint, th Syriac and th Vulgat codics; in th Masortic txt, this rads:...thus thy wr numbrd by him wr thy whom Yahwh command Moss. Yahwh commandd Moss to numbr th popl and Moss obyd, dlgating th rsponsibility out as a good ladr should do. Furthrmor, ach man and ach group was givn thir particular rsponsibilitis during th numbring. As w hav sn, th word to numbr can rfr to taking a cnsus and it can rfr to an assignmnt of dutis. Rturn to Outlin Sit Map Rturn to th Chart Indx Rturn to th Samul Hompag Rturn to Bginning of this Chaptr

52 Numbrs 5 Numbrs 5:1 31 Outlin of Chaptr 5: vv. 1 4 Unclannss is rmovd from th camp of Isral vv Confssion and rstitution vv Th dtrmination of th unfaithfulnss of a wif Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: I ntroduction: In th first portion of Num. 5, w will s crtain dfild popl rmovd from th camp of Isral. Thn w quickly xamin rstitution whn th prson to b compnsatd is no longr on th scn. Finally, in part II, w will s a tst applid to dtrmin whthr on has committd adultry or not. Ths ar not ncssarily connctd in anyway ths ar thr diffrnt topics prsntd that way. Th fact that thy ar in th sam chaptr is nothing mor than a convnint man-mad division, which has bn quit hlpful, but not ncssarily inspird. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Unclannss Is Rmovd from th Camp of Isral And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 5:1] A tru rd-lttrd dition of th Bibl would just about run out of rd ink in Lviticus and Numbrs. Th paralll passag for th nxt four vrss is Lv. 15:1 33. "Command th sons of Isral, and thy will snd out of th camp vry lpr and vryon with an issu and vryon dfild in rgard to th dad body [lit., in rgard to th soul]. [Num. 5:2] According to th NIV Study Bibl, ths dischargs from th body wr primarily continual dischargs from th sxual organs. This is not mrly confind to sxually transmittd disass, but could also rfr to womn who ar hmorrhaging, as in Luk 8: W might look upon this as crul, but th camp of Isral is illustrativ of thos who ar st asid for Yahwh and th only ons who can b st asid ar thos who ar without spot and without blmish. Evryon ls is dismissd from th camp, as thy ar illustrativ of what it mans to b lost. Th NIV Study Bibl calld thm objct lssons. Th concpt of unclannss was not lft abstract nbulous; but God gav Isral concrt illustrations of unclannss. Any unclannss whatsovr, and you ar kpt from fllowship with God and from God's blssing. In this day and ag whn so many popl claim to visit fac to fac with Jsus whil thy ar 28 shaving, or visit with God th Son in btwn watching Lavrn and Shirly, w hav totally lost track that God is prfction; God is holy. Contact with God is not som whimsical notion. God dos not hav any contact with that which is unclan. Th ultimat, if you will, in th ralm of unclannss, was that of a dad body. This is a prson whos ntir arthly xistnc has stoppd; his intrnal organs no longr function; his body has run out of nrgy and has bgun to dcay. It illustrats th absolutly lost stat that w find ourslvs in with no way out of this lif xcpt dath. This is why contact with th dad is considrd an act of unclannss. W ar not spaking of 28 John MacArthur, Jr.'s Charismatic Chaos, pp , 37.

53 Th Book of Numbrs 53 punishmnt hr or wrongdoing, but contact which maks on unclan. Just as th ntir arth and th ntir ralm of humanity bcam unclan du to th sins of Adam and th woman; so now w, as of th arth, ar unclan. Our Lord, whos work on th cross clanss us from all unrightousnss, had contact with th dad, as in th cas of th daughtr of th synagogu official in Mark 5:41 His contact gav hr lif instad of making Him unclan, as H that is in us is gratr than h that is in th world. "From mal vn to fmal, you [plural] will snd out outsid th camp; so that [lit., and] thy will not dfil thir camps in th midst of which I am tmporarily dwlling. [Num. 5:3] W ar going to look at a coupl of prpositions in th vrs and th final vrb: Ad (ã òç ) [pronouncd ahd] is usd in four ntirly diffrnt ways: it can b a noun which mans prptuity, a noun which mans booty, pry, a prposition that mans as far as, vn to, up to, until, whil, and a conjunction that mans until, until that, to th point that, so that vn. Hr is a prposition which clarly stats that vry singl prson is subjct to this ban from th camp. Dscribing whr on is snt with rgard to th camp is two prpositions. El (ì à ) [pronouncd l ] and it is a prposition which dnots dirction and is oftn rndrd in, into, unto. It is followd by th prfixd prposition mîn (ï îò) [pronouncd min], a prposition which dnots sparation (away from, out from, out of from). Th noun which follows mans outsid. Thy ar bing snt in th dirction of th outsid of th camp away with vryon ls. This is all said by placing ths two littl prpositions prior to th word outsid. Aftr th first prson pronoun, th final vrb is th Qal activ participl of shâkan (ï ëç È ) [pronouncd shaw-kahn], th vrbal cognat for our word tabrnacl (tnt). This is why many translations rndr this whr I tabrnacl. God dwlling in th camp of Isral, in th tnt of mting, spaks of fllowship on arth and of an trnal rlationship in havn. In th Bibl, w hav distinctions btwn th sxs that is th laws ar applid diffrntly. W hav aras whr ithr th man or th woman is namd, but what is covrd is applicabl to both sxs. And, thr ar passags lik this whr it is mad clar that unclannss cuts across sxual lins. So thr is no confusion, all mals and fmals alik wr cast outsid th camp. A marvlous illustration, untouchd hr but implid: what of th man whos wif is unclan and put outsid th camp, yt h lovs hr? What ar his options? H chooss to join hr in th ara of th unclan outsid th camp, just as our Lord Jsus Christ lft th thron room of God to pursu His blovd Isral, who is outsid th camp through unclannss. God's Prsnc rmaind with Isral in th tnt of mting, fortlling what would occur in trnity. And I hard a loud voic from th thron saying, "Bhold, th tnt of God is among mn and H will dwll among thm and thy will b His popl and God Himslf will b among thm. And H will wip away vr tar from thir ys; and thr will no longr b dath; thr will no longr b mourning, or crying or pain; th first things hav passd away." And nothing unclan and no on who practics abomination and lying will vr com into it [th nw Jrusalm], but only thos whos nams ar writtn in th Lamb's book of lif (Rv. 21:3 4, 27). "And th sons of Isral did so, and thy snt thm outsid th camp; as Yahwh had spokn to Moss, so hav th sons of Isral don. [Num. 5:4] Our oftn usd vrb for to do, manufactur, mak âsâh (ä È òè ) [pronouncd ìaw-sawh] is found hr twic; first in th Qal imprfct tns, rfrring to a procss; and thn in th Qal prfct, maning th action was compltd. Th roundd up thos who wr with physical dfcts, which took tim this is a procss; and finally, thy wr rmovd from th camp. That was th compltd (prfctiv) action. This in no way mans that ths prsons wr unblivrs or that thy had no chanc of bing savd. Thy playd a part in God's plan. W all hav a plac in God's plan and thir was outsid th camp to portray God's absolut prfction and holinss. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx

54 Numbrs Chaptr 5 54 Confssion and Rstitution Lv. 6:1 7 And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 5:5] W covrd th doctrin of inspiration back in Gnsis; howvr, it dos not gt much mor inspird than this. Thr ar popl who try to draw a connction btwn v. 4 and v. 5 (and btwn vv. 10 and 11; howvr, thr is no nd for such a rlation to xist. This ar prsntd as diffrnt priods of tim whn Yahwh spok to Moss. Thrfor, just bcaus thy appar in th sam chaptr, dos not man thy ha to b rlatd or connct, nor is thr ncssarily a natural sgu btwn ths thr portions of scriptur. "Spak to th sons of Isral, man or woman, whn thy do any of th sins of mankind, in rgard to acting unfaithfully in unfaithfulnss against Yahwh and that prson is guilty. [Num. 5:6] Th dirct vocabulary of God is somtims mor complx than what I am abl to dal with without xamining it. Thr ar two diffrnt words for man hr, th first, with woman, is without th dfinit articl and is thrfor rndrd by som Bibls as a man or a woman; and th scond word for man has th dfinit articl and is mor of a gnric trm. Sinc it is in th singular, I hav gon with mankind. This is a sin which was against anothr prson, which is why it is calld a sin of mankind. This is followd by th vrb and its cognat, acting unfaithfully and unfaithful. This givs grat mphasis upon th transgrssion. Th Bibl so far has alrady givn us a list of transgrssions against God. Now w ar going to dal with thos who hav transgrssd against Him. "And thy will confss thir sin which thy hav don and h will mak rstitution [for] his guilt with its principal [lit. full amount], and it fifth is addd to it, and h will giv it to him in rfrnc to whom h had bn guilty. [Num. 5:7] Confss is th Hithpal prfct of yâdâh (ä ãè é)è [pronouncd yaw-dawh]. This word is usd sparingly to cast or 29 throw whn found in th Qal or th Pil; in th Hiphil, th causativ stm, it is usd to giv thanks (1Chron. 16:4 23:30 Psalm 106:47) and occasionally to confss (1Kings 8:33, 35 Job 40:14 this is usually th infinitiv and th imprativ), and to prais (Psalm 54:6 76:10 99:3 this is usually in th imprfct tns). Finally, in th Hithpal, which is th rflxiv intnsiv (th rflxiv of th Pil stm), it mans confss (Lv. 5:5 2Chron. 30:22 Ezra 10:1). In all of ths xampls, w ar throwing somthing down; w ar placing our thanks bfor Yahwh, w ar throwing our confssion bfor Him. b b Shûw v (á i ) [pronouncd shoo v] is found ovr a thousand tims in th Old Tstamnt. In th simpl Qal stm, it just mans to turn back, to rturn (Gn. 16:9 Josh. 2:23 Judgs 15:19); howvr, in th Hiphil (th causativ) stm, it can man to b causd to rturn (2Sam. 19:11 2Chron. 6:25), to bring (Gn. 14:16 28:15), or to rturn somthing, to rstor, to mak rstitution. (Nh. 5:11 Prov. 24:12 Lam. 3:64). Obviously what has happnd it that th guilty party has dfraudd or causd harm to th plaintiv, and h is rstoring to him what was du plus 20%. V. 8 is somwhat confusing. It's difficult to tll whthr th guilty party is making rstitution to a kinsman or whthr th kinsman is making rstitution on his bhalf. Th translations rad: Th Amplifid Bibl But if th man [wrongd] has no kinsman to whom th rstitution may b mad, lt it b givn to th Lord for th prist, bsids th ram of atonmnt with which atonmnt shall b mad for th offndr. Th Emphasizd Bibl But if on hav no kinsman unto whom h may mak good that whrin h is guilty thn that whrin h is guilty, which is to b rstord to Yahwh shall b th 29 It is only usd thr tims this way Jr. 50:14 Lam. 3:53 and Zch. 1:21

55 Th Book of Numbrs 55 KJV NASB NIV NRSV Young's Lit. Translation prist's, bsids th ram of propitiation, whrwith a propitiatory covring is to b put ovr him. But if th man hav no kinsman to rcompns th trspass unto, lt th trspass b rcompnsd unto th LORD, vn to th prist; bsid th ram of th atonmnt, whrby an atonmnt shall b mad for him. But if th man has no rlativ to whom rstitution may b mad for th wrong, th rstitution which is mad for th wrong must go to th LORD for th prist, bsids th ram of atonmnt, by which atonmnt is mad for him. But if that prson has no clos rlativ to whom rstitution can b mad for ht wrong, th rstitution blongs to th LORD and must b givn to th prist, along with th ram with which atonmnt is mad for him. If th injurd party has no nxt of kin to whom rstitution may b mad for th wrong, th rstitution for wrong shall go to th LORD for th prist, in addition to th ram of atonmnt with which atonmnt is mad for th guilty party. And if th man hav no rdmr to rstor th guilt to, th guilt which is rstord is Jhovah's, th prist's, apart from th ram of th atonmnts, whrby h makth atonmnt for him. This obviously is not going to b an asy vrs to xgt. This vrs bgins with a conjunction, an hypothtical particl (if) and a ngativ. Thn w hav th word for man that w had in th prvious vrs îysh ( é à)ò [pronouncd sh] this was th word found whr w had man or woman. Thrfor, this is likly th guilty party, although grammatically it is not impossibl for this to rfr to th on who was transgrssd against. So far this would rad: And if not a man... Howvr, prcding a man is th prfixd lâmd prposition, which mans to, for, in rgard to. Thrfor it rads: And if not to a man... This is followd by th Qal activ participl of gâ al (ì àç )È [pronouncd gaw-ahl], th vrb for rdm. Bcaus w hav a prposition bfor man and bcaus thr is no vrb for has or is, w would translat this: And if not to a man [thr is] on rdming... This maks rasonabl sns whn on lavs out th hlping phras thr is. b What follows is th lâmd prfixd prposition and th Hiphil infinitiv construct of shûw v (á i ) [pronouncd b shoo v], which mans to rstor, to mak rstitution. Th lâmd plus th infinitiv maks this act just lik an vrb infinitiv in th English. This is followd by th dfinit articl and th word for guilt, offns or guilt-offns. Unlik most of th translations, thr ar no rlativ pronouns and no prpositions hr. This portion should rad to rstor th offns. W hav sn that this word can stand for th guilt on has, th offns that h has committd, or th offring which is givn on bhalf of th offns, th guilt-offring. Thn w hav a prposition which could b rndrd rgarding, to, unto; which givs us som lway for intrprtation hr. It is affixd to a singular masculin suffix. This is followd by th dfinit articl and th word for guilt-offns again, and th Hophal participl of rstor. Th Hophal stm is th passiv causativ stm. Th subjct rcivs th action of th vrb. In th participl, w do not hav to hav a subjct pr s, yt th vrb is still in th passiv-causativ stm. Thn w hav th lâmd prposition and Yahwh, and th lâmd prposition, a dfinit articl, and th masculin singular of prist. So far, w hav And if not to a man on rdming to rstor th offns rgarding him, th offns bing rstord for Yahwh, for th prist... Finally w hav som agrmnt in [most of] th translations: apart from th ram of atonmnts [or, covrings], with which it covrs [or, atons] for him. "And if not to a man a rdmr to rstor th offns [or, th guilt] to him th offns rstoring [is] for Yahwh for th prist, apart from th ram of th covrings [lit., atonmnts], with which it covrs [or, atons] for him. [Num. 5:8] Hr is a cas whr thr is not somon to whom th guilty party can mak rstitution for what h has don wrong; that which h should us to rstor to anothr is givn dirctly to Yahwh actually, to th prists, who rprsnt Yahwh. Hr th rdmr is th on who rcivs rstitution. H is not doing th rdming but rciving th rdmption. In addition to th rdmption amount, thr is th ram which is sacrificd for th sin.

56 Numbrs Chaptr 5 56 "And vry contribution to th holy things of th sons of Isral, which thy approach [with] to th prist will b his; [Num. 5:9] Whn things ar contributd to th tabrnacl or for th sacrifics or for th furnitur, ths things bcom th prists'. W hav a larg sgmnt of th population of Isral who srv God dirctly and hav to b rmunratd for not bing abl to go out in a fr ntrpris systm and mak a lot of mony. In fact, thy cannot mak any mony it is only what god provids thm. 30 "And any man's hallowd [lit., st apart] things ar his; whatvr any man givs to th prist is his." [Num. 5:10] God allowd for all things givn to Him to go dirctly to th prists as His particular popl. Just as Isral wr a pculiar popl to God among th nations, th prists ar a pculiar popl to God among th sons of Isral. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Dtrmination of th Unfaithfulnss of a Wif And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 5:11] This mans w ar daling with a nw topic. "Spak to th popl of Isral and you will say to thm, a man of a man whn his woman gos astray and acts unfaithfully [or, commits an infraction] against him an act of unfaithfulnss [or, infraction]. [Num. 5:12] W hav just rcntly had th vrb mâ al (ì òç îè ) [pronouncd maw-ìal] and its noun cognat usd togthr. It is usually translatd to act unfaithfully, to act trachrously and I hav oftn rndrd this as to commit an infraction. W had a similar construction in v. 6. Hr is th vrb in th Qal imprfct, th prpositional phras against him and th noun. "And a man lis with hr th laying of sd and it is concald from th ys of hr man, and sh gos undtctd, yt [lit., and] sh has bn dfild and [thr is] no witnss against hr and sh has not bn takn in th act [lit. sh has not bn sizd]; [Num. 5:13] Although it is fairly obvious what is occurring hr, I will covr som of ths words anyway. W hav th Niphal (passiv) prfct of âlam (í ìç òè ) [pronouncd ìaw-lahm] mans to vil from sight, to concal. Th nxt vrb is th Niphal prfct of çâthar (ø úç ñè ) [pronouncd saw-thahr] and it mans to hid, to concal. Th diffrnc btwn ths two words is that th first vrb dscribs what is don bhind closd doors, in a tnt, undr a vil that is, an act which is concald; and th scond word is an act of concalmnt. Th final vrb is tâphas ( ôç È ) [pronouncd taw-fahs] and it mans to manipulat, to siz. What is amazing hr is that th woman, who is a rspondr, has committd this act of adultry. Howvr, vry singl vrb in this vrs of th last four vrbs is in th Niphal, th passiv, stm th rciving, rsponding stm. Only th first vrb is in th Qal, whr th man is th subjct of th vrb. "And a spirit of jalously has passd ovr him, and h is jalous of his woman, yt [lit., and] sh has not bn [discovrd as having bn] dfild; [Num. 5:14] 30 Som codics, th Sptuagint, Syriac and th Vulgat, rad but what.

57 Th Book of Numbrs 57 W hav th xact sam construction as v. 13 whr it rads sh has bn dfild xcpt thr is a ngativ hr. What is implid, but not outrightly statd is that sh has not bn discovrd to rciv dfilmnt. Thr is a trrific closnss btwn a man and wif and whn adultry has occurrd, vry oftn th wrongd party knows it has occurrd. Thy cannot put thir fingr on it, but somthing is trribly wrong. This dos not man that vry tim a prson is suspicious that adultry has occurrd; som popl ar mntally ill and ar in almost a constant stat of jalousy. Th othr way to look at ths two vrss is in v. 13, sh has dfild hrslf and in v. 14 sh has not dfild hrslf and, in both cass, th husband is suspicious of hr activity. Whichvr th scnario, th woman is not xposd unqustionably as an adultrss, yt th husband suspcts infidlity on hr part. For jalousy nrags a man and h will not spar in th day of vnganc; h will not accpt any ransom nor will h b contnt though you giv many gifts (Prov. 6:34 35). Th thrust of this passag is th dtrmination of th innocnc or th guilt of th woman. Adultry is trribly dstructiv and hurtful to any marriag and th accusation of unfaithfulnss is almost as dvastating whn th accusr is wrong. It is important to discrn at this point if th woman is guilty. What has to b mphasizd nxt is that arly on in God's rlationship with Isral, God was mor spctacular in th ralm of signs and wondrs. Yahwh prformd mor miracls and did mor things which wr xtraordinary than occurrd latr in th history of Isral and crtainly mor thn than th church ag aftr th first cntury. Thrfor, th nxt portion of this chaptr should b xamind in that contxt. "Thn [lit., and] th man will bring his woman to th prist and h will bring in hr offring for hr, a tnth of th phah of barly mal. H will not pour oil on it nor will h put on it frankincns, for it [is] a tribut-offring of jalousy it [is] a tribut-offring of rmmbranc a rmmbranc of guilt-iniquity. [Num. 5:15] Lt m tak an unpopular stanc. Whn ithr party of a marriag has bn unfaithful, it is damaging oftn byond rpair. Howvr, I think that unfaithfulnss on th part of th wif cuts dpr into th soul of th man than his infidlitis cut into hr soul. A woman sms to b bttr abl to forgiv such a trspass, although it may tak yars for hr to do so; a man oftn cannot vr forgiv such a thing. This is not a mattr of right or wrong; just a mattr of a gnralizd diffrnc btwn th sxs. 31 Marriag illustrats Yahwh's rlationship to Isral. Th most famous analogy which was basd on historical fact is th rlationship btwn Hosa and Gomr. Hosa took a wif who was unfaithful to him and h continud to go aftr hr until h finally found hr at a slav auction and purchasd hr for th pric of a gord bull. HIs compassion and lov, dspit hr unfaithfulnss, illustrats our Lord's lov for Isral. God has not cast Isral asid bcaus of hr continud unfaithfulnss. "And it will nvr again b th confidnc of th hous of Isral, bringing to mind th iniquity of thir having turnd to Egypt. Thn thy will know that I am Yahwh Elohim." (Ezk. 29:16). Although a husband whos wif has bn unfaithful to might bar this in his soul forvr, God will not rcall th unfaithfulnss of Isral. "And th prist will bring hr nar and will caus hr to stand bfor Yahwh; [Num. 5:16] W ar coming to a portion of Scriptur which was abusd in latr yars. You hav to always tak into considration that although what is dscribd is tru and workd in thos days; this dos not man that this particular function will last for all tim. Th only rason I am abl to go to th Old Tstamnt and dig out what is thr is bcaus I had an outstanding Bibl tachr, R.B. Thim, guid m through th Nw Tstamnt doctrin and plac vrything into prspctiv. So many cults and so-calld Christian movmnts hav bn waylaid by charismatic ladrs who did not hav a clu as to how to intrprt th Old Tstamnt. So lt m mak this clar: 31 Marriag also illustrats th rlationship btwn Christ and th church. Evn though Yahwh Elohim and Jsus Christ ar on and th sam, H is not an adultrr or a bigamist marriag is an illustration, an analogy. Such litrary things ar usd to mak somthing mor undrstandabl, but not vry singl aspct of marriag can b pursud to xplain th rlationship btwn Yahwh Elohim and Isral. Th doctrin is known to God and known to th on taching it; th analogy is a rfrnc point to hang th doctrin on. An analogy hlps to xplain a doctrin; it is not th doctrin itslf.

58 Numbrs Chaptr God has just dlivrd th nwly formd nation Isral from Egypt. 2. Yahwh dlivrd Isral using grat signs, wondrs and miracls. 3. Th Jws wr usd to God working grat dds bfor thir ys. Thy wr almost callous toward such miracls. 4. At th bginning of almost any dispnsation or at any chang of a dispnsation, thr is oftn a prpondranc of suprnatural activity which blongs to God. 5. Thrfor, what follows has to b put into that historical contxt, just as w plac th miracls and wondrs of our Lord into th contxt of His first coming; and just as w put th miracls and wondrs prformd by th apostls during th first part of th first cntury into that historical prspctiv. 6. Jsus Christ, th sam ystrday, today and forvr rfrs to His ssnc as God; it obviously dos not rfr to His incarnation, His actual tim spnt hr on arth. It has nothing to do with signs and wondrs bing prsnt during vry priod of tim during vry dispnsation. "And th prist will tak holy watr in an arthn vssl, and of th dust which is on th floor of th tabrnacl, th prist will tak it and plac [it] into th watr; [Num. 5:17] For thos who bliv that talking fac-to-fac with God whil aliv on arth or spaking in tongus or halings; you may want to tak carful nots hr and prform this dtrminr of guilt or innocnc. "And th prist will caus th woman to stand bfor Yahwh, and h will uncovr th woman's had and h will giv into hr palms th offring of rmmbranc it [is] an offring of jalousy, and in th hand of th prist ar th bittr watrs th [watrs of] cursing. [Num. 5:18] Which caus th curs or that bring th curs, ar two common rndrs of th nd of this vrs albit, not altogthr grammatically accurat. This is a masculin plural (rfrring back to watrs), Pil (intnsiv stm) participl (making this vrb act lik an adjctival noun) and a dfinit articl (rfrring to a spcific substantiv) mans this vrs should nd as th cursing. I hav supplid additional words to attmpt to giv this mor radability in th English languag without ntirly dstroying th grammatical corrctnss. On of th things that w totally miss in this vrs is th paronomasia [pronouncd par-o-no-ma-si-a] th trm, paronomasia, is th two Grk words, para (for bsid) and onomazô (maning, to nam). Two things which sound th sam ar placd nxt to on anothr, ithr for mphasis, contrast, additional information. Bullingr writs: Th figur is vry frquntly usd and is nvr to b disrgard. This figur is common to all languags, 32 but th instancs cannot radily b translatd from on languag to anothr. Th last thr words of this vrs rad: mêy hammârîym ham ârãrîym (í é øò øâ àè î Ó äç í é øò È äç é îå ) [pronouncd may-ham-maw-rm-ham'aw-ra-m]. As w saw, it was difficult to put togthr a flowing translation, but part of that problm was th grammar of this vrs taks scond plac to th paronomasia. So th prist has th woman stand bfor Yahwh it is not spcifid whthr this is a public trial or not and h uncovrs hr had; and h placs th barly mal into hr hands. H has th watr mixd with dust in his hand (also calld th dirty watr). Th uncovring of th woman's hair shows hr submission to th court of law. "And th prist will caus hr to swar, and will say to th woman, 'If no man has lain with you, and if you hav not turnd asid [to] unclanss whil you undr your man [thn] b fr of ths watrs of bittrnss bringing th curs; [Num. 5:19] Th woman will tstify bfor God that sh has not bn unfaithful to hr man whil bing undr him. " 'And you, if you hav turnd asid undr your husband and if you hav bn dfild and a man has plac in you copulation othr than your husband;' [Num. 5:20] 32 Bullingr's Figurs of Spch Usd in th Bibl, p. 307.

59 Th Book of Numbrs 59 I am not crtain how far I want to xamin th word copulation hr xcpt to say that it is only found hr and in Lv. 5:33 18:20 and 20:15. Dos it man what you think it mans? I am not crtain; I havn't studid ths vrs nough in th original languags. "And th prist will mak th woman tak an oath an oath of a solmn pldg [lit., swar a swaring of a solmn pldg] and th prist will say to th woman, 'Yahwh giv you a solmn pldg and an oath in th midst of your popl in Yahwh's giving your utrus [or, rproductiv systm] to fall [or, to b brought down] and your womb to swll; [Num. 5:21] b b W hav lookd at th word for swaring an oath bfor Shâ va (ò áç È ) [pronouncd shaw -VAH] and it may b rcognizabl to som bcaus it looks so clos to th word for Sabbath and svn. It is a vrb which litrally mans to svn onslf or to bind onslf with svn things. It is a vrb for swaring to somthing, binding yourslf to somthing, giving your word on somthing, vn taking an oath. Hr it is found first in th Hiphil prfct th causativ stm with compltd action so this on word is translatd will mak...tak an oath. This b b- is followd by th noun cognat, Sh vû âh (ä òè á Ë ) [pronouncd sh voo-ah]; in th original Hbrw, it is formd Ó by mrly adding an h; howvr, th pronunciation was also quit diffrnt. W simply rndr this swar a swaring to illustrat th solmnity of th oath (in th English, it just sounds corny; in th Hbrw, it carris grat wight). At th othr nd of th Hbrw dictionary w hav th word âlâh (ä ìè àè ) [pronouncd aw-law], commonly translatd oath, curs, or xcration (whatvr th hck an xcration is). W might also think to translat this as attstation, solmn oath, statmnt undr oath, vow, guarant, pldg, judicial oath, solmn dclaration, solmn promis. W first find this word usd in Gn. 24:41, and although most translators us th word oath, vn a suprficial xamination of that contxt finds that this is not th bst rndring of âlâh. An oath is somthing that you mak to somon ls. Thrfor, in this contxt, it is mor of an agrmnt, a pact, an obligation, a commitmnt, a vrbal contract. Th diffrnc btwn th two words is âlâh is a solmn oath, a b vrbal contract, a guarant, or a pldg that you mak to anothr prson; whras sh vû âh is an oath xtractd from somon ls. Furthrmor, âlâh can man a cursing (s Dut. 30:7 Psalm 10:7 59:12); 33 howvr, it appars to m that cursing is a short-cut for saying that a solmn promis has bn mad which involvs th cursing to whomvr this promis is mad. That is, Yahwh maks a solmn promis and this solmn promis includs His wrath to fall upon somon. Th nxt vrb found twic in this vrs is th vry common nâthan (ï úç ð)è [pronouncd naw-thahn], which mans to giv, to st, to plac, to put. A full four pags of BDB ar givn to this word, making it rank right up thr with most prpositions (which BDB givs th most spac to in gnral). It is first found in th Qal prfct and thn in th Qal infinitiv construct (th construct simply mans that you can follow th word with our English word of). Yahwh will caus th thigh to nâphal (ì ôç ð)è [pronouncd naw-fahl]. This word is givn two pags in BDB and mans to fall, to li, to di a violnt dath, to b brought down, to sttl, to slp dply. This woman has possibly lain with anothr man. Thrfor, God will bring hr utrus or rproductiv systm to fall, to b brought down. Th word translatd thigh in th KJV is yârk ( êó ø é)è [pronouncd yaw-rek ] and this word is also found in Gn. 24:2, 9 Ex. 32:25, :26 47:29 Ex. 1:5 25:31 Judgs 3:16. In most of ths vrss, it is translatd thigh, with th notabl xcptions of Gn. 46:26 and Ex. 1:5, whr Jacob's immdiat prodgny wr said to hav com out of his yârk, which is rndrd loins in ths two vrss (also, s Judgs 8:30). This us conncts it unqustionably with progny; so w car causing th loins to fall hr. Th sam word is rndrd shaft in Ex. 25:31 and 37:17, as in th shaft of th lampstand. This word is found translatd sid in Ex. 32:27 40:22, 24 Lv. 1:11 Num. 3:29, 35. So, to xplain my translation: 1. It dos not mak much sns to caus somon's thigh or sid to fall, to b brought down, to di a violnt dath. 2. Yârk is clarly associatd with progny in som passags (Gn. 46:26 Judgs 8:30). 3. Yârk can b translatd in th dual and thr can b a right yârk (Ex. 28:42 Judgs 3:21 SOS 7:1). 4. Yârk can also b clarly singular whr thr is no lft or right yârk possibl (Ex. 25:31 Num. 8:4). 5. Contxt should always b takn into account whn rndring a translation. 6. Th nxt word mans womb. 7. Thrfor, I hav translatd this utrus or rproductiv systm. 33 Also xamin in particular Dut. 29:12, 14, 19, 20, and 21 Yahwh gos back and forth btwn th manings giving a vrbal guarant and cursing.

60 Numbrs Chaptr 5 60 I am crtain that thr ar many who think that I gt far too tchnical whn it coms to th languag and th xamination of th languag. Just how th hck do you think you got any English translation? Ths translators did not sit around calling upon th Holy Ghost to guid thir hands and thir harts and thn just wrot what thir harts told thm to writ. Thos who wr blivrs crtainly calld upon God th Holy spirit for guidanc; howvr, thir ability to translat a vrs cam from yars upon yars of study of th original languags. Prior to th wr yars of prparation. Thy workd to gt th bst manuscripts and xamind with grat scrutiny altrnat radings. A translation just dos not happn without grat formal training and your xamination of God's Word dos just not happn. Not only am I fortunat nough to hav spnt roughly 60,000 hours undr th taching of on of th bst Bibl xgts of th 20th cntury, but I stand upon th shouldrs of many grat mn whos works in philology, history, txtual criticism and languag ar fundamntal absolutly crucial to my own work. Without such ddicatd mn as R.B. Thim, Robrt Young, Gorg Wigram, Jams Strong, Dr. Spiros Zodhiats, John Owns, Brown, Drivr, Briggs and Gsnius, Jams Frman, E.W. Bullingr, and hundrds probably thousands mor many of whom I will not know vn by nam until I rach havn, my work would b trivial and absolutly mdiocr at bst. Th fingr has no maning or us apart from th hand, which is uslss apart from th arm my plac in th Christian community, albit as humbl as it is, would b a thousand tims lss without th ddication and hard, liftim work of ths mn. You will nvr know how many hundrds of thousands of blivrs from cnturis past hav touchd and nrichd your lif with thir prsonal ddication and you hav no ida how many livs that you will touch in your rprsntation of Jsus Christ hr on arth and for how many gnrations your impact will b flt. In trnity futur, I suspct that w will all b amazd as to th intricacy and intrdpndncy of God's plan and how incrdibly blssd w ar to b abl to tak any part in it. è Bþn (ï ) [pronouncd BEH-tn] primarily mans womb, and, so far in th Bibl, has bn usd in no othr way 34 (Gn. 25: :2 36:27 ar all of th prior rfrncs). Th final word, translatd to swll, sounds as though it spaks of prgnancy. Howvr, this vrb is found only in 35 Num. 5:22, 27 and this rlatd adjctiv is found only in this vrs. W don't hav anything ls to guid us, othr than th fact that w ar spaking of a womb. At this point in tim, I will tak th coward's way out and say th God will promis that sh will b imprgnatd by this othr prson. Th problm is that thr ar othr mor common words which could hav bn usd, ithr for giving birth or for swlling, which wr not. Th NIV Study Bibl tak on this vrs, which is intrsting, and has grat application to this day, is that what is bing said is that ths watrs, through God's intrvning action, will caus th woman to miscarry and to bcom barrn. Sinc th manin of swll is not crtain, and bcaus th word translatd thigh in most English Bibls is almost nonsnsical, this is not an unrasonabl tak on this vrs's maning. Looking at it from th prspctiv of th ancint world, no man would bring his woman bfor a prist undr ths circumstancs if th child in hr womb could b his. From th prspctiv of this ag, this clarly allows for an abortion undr crtain circumstancs but not who maks th choic th husband whn h suspcts infidlity. This would allow for abortion, by application, for cass of rap. Prsonally, if th woman's lif was at stak, I would support an abortion, although that infrnc cannot b gottn from this vrs. Rcall that in Lv. 20:10, th punishmnt for bing takn in adultry was dath. Hr, th man is uncrtain, so h dpnds upon God to (1) dtrmin th woman's guilt or innocnc; and (2) h furthr dpnds upon God for th punishmnt of th woman. Marriag [is] in honor among all, and lt th bd [b] undfild; for God will judg fornicators and adultrrs (Hb. 13:4). It is intrsting that w hav th sam offns dalt with diffrntly bcaus of th way guilt was dtrmind. Lt m giv you an application whn a prson is undniably guilty of a particular crim, no amount of lgal manuvring or loophols should prclud th swift application of justic. A lawyr should not b faultd for th clavr and ddicatd dfns providd for his clint; howvr, our systm of law should b faultd whn it allows clvrnss to supplant justic It is also found in Num. 5:22, 27 Dut. 7:13 28:4, 11, 18, 33 30:9; ths ar all th rfrncs to it in th Torah. For thos who ar chcking up on my and wondr what about Isa. 29:7 that is th vrb â vâ (à áè òè ) [pronouncd aw -VAW] and not <âbh. b b

61 Th Book of Numbrs 61 " 'And ths watrs which caus th curs [lit., th solmn promis] to go into your bowls, to caus your womb to swll and to caus [th] utrus [or, rproductiv systm] to fall;' and th woman will say, 'Amn amn [lit., truly truly].' [Num. 5:22] To fall was in th Hiphil, or causativ stm. God clarly will promis that hr sin will b rvald and that thr will b physical manifstations of hr sin. It appars as though thr ar mor physical manifstations than simply prgnancy. As many know, amn is mrly a translitration of th Hbrw, which mans truly, vrily. Oftn our Lord would say, vrily, vrily, I say unto you. This is th sam ida. "And th prist will writ ths solmn promiss in a book and h will blot out with th bittr watrs; [Num. 5:23] Laving th immdiat contxt, not that w hav on of th many rfrncs to writing hr. Popl could writ in that day and tim and it was not an abnormal thing for somon to b abl to do. Yahwh dos not call for a prist who has th ability to writ; this is assumd with this vrs, indicating that this skill was wid sprad, if not rlativly univrsal in Isral. W ar not daling with cav mn hr ths popl wr vry likly our supriors in intllct; this is rvald in thir rich vocabulary and in th nuancs of th Hbrw grammar and syntax. Thr ar tims that w cannot fully grasp what is bing said in a vrs of Hbrw not always du to undrstanding th individual manings of th words, but that ths thoughts ar somtims mor complx than our minds ar willing to pondr. God's Word can b complx and w do not plumb its dpths by closing our ys and putting our fingr 36 on a vrs. Nor do w go to th Bibl to find our lif vrs. Our ignoranc bfor God is so unblivably pathtic and our lack of intrst in His truth is so appalling. W hav so many suprficial brthrn who lt's put it this way, in many familis thr is this on prson that you do not rally want anyon ls to know you ar rlatd to. Ths, in God's family, ar th lif-vrsrs and th popl who clos thir ys and plac thir fingr on a vrs for guidanc. W might spnd trnity with thm and without thir old sin naturs, thy may vn b likabl. Howvr, whn thy'r invitd ovr for Thanksgiving dinnr, I might nd up going out to MacDonald s. Back to xgsis. Th man's jalous flings hav brought th woman bfor th prist; th prist rcords in a book hr solmn oath that sh has not lain with anothr man. God has mad a promis of dfinit physical manifstations of hr sin bfor all of Isral. Many husbands, in ths circumstancs, ar unabl to copulat with thir wivs, and, if a prgnancy rsults, it is clar to thm thy wr not th fathr. In this vrs w hav th Qal prfct of mâchâh (ä çè îè ) [pronouncd maw-khawh] it mans to strok, to rub, to ras, and th implication is that somthing is bing smoothd. This can b usd in a positiv or a ngativ way. God promisd to wip out vry living thing in Gn. 7:4 (prior to th flood); s also Dut. 25:19 29:20 2Kings 21:13 Psalm 9:5. Howvr, it can b usd to wip away sin, or to blot out transgrssions, as in Psalm 51:1, 9 Isa. 43:25. Furthrmor, it can b usd to wip away vry tar (Isa. 25:8). What has happnd is that th prist writs hr oath on papyrus and thn washs or wips it with th bittr watr which h has prpard. "Thn h will caus th woman to drink th bittr watrs th cursing [watrs]; and th watr th cursing will ntr into hr for bittrnss. [Num. 5:24] Now w hav a word for curs: th Pil participl of ârar (ø øç àè ) [pronouncd aw-rahr], which mans to bittrly curs. Th prvious words givn did not appar to b curss that is, thy did not appar to b usd in th ngativ sns, although that could b implid. What sms to b th cas is that thy wr givn promiss or 36 For thos of you who ar lucky nough to not know what I am talking about; a lif vrs is a vrs which corrsponds with your birthday. Min is Octobr 9th, 10/9, so, sinc I was just in Isaiah, I hav just turnd to Isaiah to find my lif vrs, th vrs that I will mmoriz and us for comfort and guidanc throughout my lif: Isa. 10:9: Is not Calno [possibly, Calnh] lik Carchmish, or Hamath lik Arpad, or Samaria lik Damascus? I hav a fling that many tims in th futur I will find grat comfort and solac in this, my lif vrs. Howvr, to b fair to thos who propagat this suprficial lif vrs ida, I rally should hav gon to Numbrs, th book I am prsntly studying, for 10:9. I guss that I will hav to start carrying a trumpt whrvr I go.

62 Numbrs Chaptr 5 62 xtractd promiss. Hr, it mans curs, pur and simpl (Gn. 12:3 Ex. 22:28 Judgs 5:23 Mal. 2:2). This is in th Pil stm, which is intnsiv, and it has th grammatical notation of a dirct objct, which is why I translatd as though it rad that th woman was drinking th...cursing watrs. This vrb is rpatd; it is usd again as a dirct objct. If th woman has slpt with anothr man, hr action is on that will caus grat bittrnss in th soul of hr man as som hav found it, this can b an irrparabl bittrnss. "And th prist will tak out of th hand of th woman th tribut-offring of th jalousy and h will wav th tribut offring bfor Yahwh, and h will approach with it to th altar; [Num. 5:25] Th woman has brought an offring; sh may or may not b guilty but hr husband suspcts hr of bing guilty. Th prist taks th offring and approachs Yahwh with th offring. "And th prist will tak a handful of th tribut-offring its mmorial and h will caus it to smok on th altar; and aftrwards, h will caus th woman to drink th watr. [Num. 5:26] Many of th tribut offrings wr grain offrings (though not all), so this is how th prist is abl to tak a handful of it. Thn th prist puts this handful of th tribut offring on th altar, whr thr probably is somthing alrady burning, and this causs smok to com up to God. Rcall that a grain offring is oftn on of fllowship and if th woman has committd adultry, thn sh is out of fllowship. Finally, th prist causs th woman to 37 drink th watr. "In fact [lit., and], h will caus hr to drink th watr and it will com to pass for hr [lit. sh will bcom] if sh has bn dfild and has actd unfaithfully [in] unfaithfulnss against hr husband th cursing watrs hav gon into hr for bittr things, and hr womb will swll and hr utrus [or, rproductiv systm] will fall, and th woman will bcom a curs in th midst of hr popl. [Num. 5:27] I don't quit follow why hr thigh would fall or vn what that mans, othr than prhaps an allusion to morning sicknss; howvr, what appars to b th likly scnario is that sh maks a public dclaration of hr innocnc and svral months latr, hr unfaithfulnss will bcom known through hr prgnancy. In rading through som of th English translations, it soundd mor mystrious and laborat than that. "And if th woman has not bn dfild but is clan; thn [lit., and] sh will b acquittd and sh may sow sd. [Num. 5:28] Nâqâh (ä È ð)è [pronouncd naw-kawh], although said to man to clan, to mpty, it rally mans to b acquittd, unpunishd, dclard fr or dclard guiltlss (Niphal, or passiv, stm Gn. 24:8 Ex. 21:19 Jr. 2:35), and clansd, acquittd, dclard innocnt (Pil, or intnsiv, stm Ex. 20:7 Psalm 19:12 Jol 3:21). This vrb is found in th Qal stm only in Jr. 49:12. Th last vrb is th Niphal prfct of th vrb which mans to sow sd and this is followd by th masculin singular of th word for sd; this mans that, onc acquittd, sh can rturn to having childrn by hr husband. Th NIV Study Bibl points out that, whil som of us may look upon ths stps as svr and damaging, a gratr wrong would giv th woman no rcours whatsovr whn accusd. A man tird of his wif or a man who has an affair on th sid could not frivalously accus his wif of adultry, divorc hr and stablish a rlationship with anothr woman. In such a strongly mal-dominatd socity, this sort of action would lav a formr wif without financial support and brandd for th rst of hr lif. This law along with th laws daling with 37 Thr is no word for caus in this vrs; in ach cas, it is th propr translation of th Hiphil stm, which is th causal stm. Th burning of th tribut offring is in th prfct voic, indicating com pltd action, and th drinking of th watr is portrayd as a procss. It is not takn in in on gulp, but rquirs svral tris to drink all of it.

63 Th Book of Numbrs 63 slavry providd rights and lgal protction for slavs and womn, somthing almost unhard of in othr 38 socitis. "This: th law of jalousis, whn a woman turns asid undr hr husband an has bn dfild; [Num. 5:29] This vrs summarizs what w hav just studid. "Or whn a spirit of jalousy passs ovr a man and h has bcom jalous of his wif; thn h will caus th woman to stand bfor Yahwh and th prist will do to hr all of this law; [Num. 5:30] This is th othr sid of th coin. Hr, th woman is placd bfor Yahwh and th prist and sh will turn out to b guilty. "And th man will b acquittd from iniquity, and th woman will bar hr iniquity." [Num. 5:31] Th man is jalous and that is a sin; howvr, if th woman has committd adultry, thn h is acquittd from bing jalous. This is prior to th giving of th Holy Spirit; but still, this is an amazing vrs. Thr ar vry fw sins which God ovrlookd, so to spak; yt, in th cas of marriag and unfaithfulnss, th man was acquittd of th sin of jalousy if his wif committd adultry. Rturn to Outlin Sit Map Rturn to th Chart Indx Rturn to th Numbrs Hompag Rturn to Bginning of this Chaptr 38 I rally should substantiat this with som lgal systms contmporary to Moss.

64 Numbrs 6 Numbrs 6:1 27 Outlin of Chaptr 6: Vv. 1 8 Nazarit vows Vv Offrings of a Nazarit who has bcom crmonially unclan Vv Th pristly bndiction Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Doctrins Covrd Doctrins Alludd To Nazarits Introduction: Num. 6 dals with an unusual brd of charactr th Nazarit (and th Nazarit vows). Of th storis with which vryon is familiar, that of Sampson if on of th most notorious. Samson was a Nazarit. This is a vocation of prsonal choic, possibly for thos who wishd that thy wr Lvits, but wr not. Thir intrst in spiritual srvic might b gratr than that of th avrag Lvit, thrfor, th lifstyl of th Nazarit might appal to such a on. Howvr, this is in no way to b confusd with a Nazarn that is, a prson ithr born or raisd in Nazarth. Our Lord was a Nazarn; H was not a Nazarit. So Samson had long hair, as pr th Nazarit vows; Jsus Christ did not, bcaus H was not a Nazarit (by vow). Nazarit Vows And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 6:1] "Spak to th sons of Isral, and you will say to thm, whn a man or a woman is causd to do that which is xtraordinary to vow th vow of a Nazarit to sparat himslf to Yahwh; [Num. 6:2] Th first thing which should catch your y, if you rcall anything about Samson, is that a Nazarit can b a man or a woman. Until now, I had nvr thought of a woman bcoming a Nazarit. W hav sn bfor th vrb pâlâ (à ìè È ) [pronouncd paw-law], which is usually usd of God in rfrnc to doing that which is miraculous or xtraordinary. Hr, w find this word usd th sam way, xcpt with rfrnc to a prson who has chosn to do that which is xtraordinary st himslf apart fully to Yahwh. This is in th Hiphil imprfct, maning causativ continuous action. So this prson is causd to mak such a choic and, lik all spiritual growth, it is don on a day-by-day basis, involving thousands of dcisions. Thr ar actually thr diffrnt words for sparation in this vrs (chck Zodhiats hr and nam thm). Nazarit is a translitration. Th Hbrw word is nâzîyr (ø é æð)è ò [pronouncd naw-zeer] and w hav sn this word thric prviously in Scriptur: Gn. 49:26 Lv. 25:5, 11. In Gn. 49:26, w ar givn th rndrings distinguishd (NASB), th Sparatd On (Th Emphasizd Bibl), him that was sparat (KJV), who was st apart from (NRSV), and sparat (Young's); and it is almost ignord, but footnotd as th on sparatd from in th NIV. Whras most translations translitrat this word, th Sptuagint translatd it to sparat (obviously, that is th English translation of th Grk). In Lv. 25:5, 11, this word is translatd untrimmd vins (NASB), sparatd thing (Young's) undrssd vin (KJV), untndd vins (NIV), and unprund vin (NRSV). Th connction hr is that this is lik a Nazarit with unshorn hair. Th corrsponding vrb is nâzar (ø æç ð)è [pronouncd

65 É Th Book of Numbrs 65 naw-zahr] and it is translatd to tak th vows of a Nazarit, to liv as a Nazarit; and mor simply to sparat, to conscrat (Lv. 15:31 22:2 Num. 6:2 3, 5 6, 12 Ezk. 14:7 Hos. 9:10 Zch. 7:3). A rlatd masculin noun is nêzr (ø æ ð)å [pronouncd nay-zer], which mans crown, conscration, Nazaritship. Strong s #5145 BDB #634. Thr is actually a connction btwn ths various rndrings. It is a crown which sparats on man ntirly from vry othr man; th crown is on th had and th Nazarits crown is his hair, which is untrimmd, lik th vins during th Sabbath Yar. Ths ar words which bgan with a common manings and Yahwh coind thm to man Nazarit, to bcom a Nazarit. It is possibl that th vows mad hrin wr similar to vows mad by th Jws prior to Mount Sinai, but hr thy ar rgulatd and mad a part of God's Law. Making a vow to sparat onslf to God is not to b ntrd into lightly, nor is this to b an xrcis in crativity. God was vry spcific in what H xpctd of th Nazarit. This sparation to God did not man that ths mn or womn sparatd thmslvs from socity, pr s. That is, thy did not go off into th mountains and liv off lttuc and bird sd, as Thim was wont to say. Thy rmaind in th camp of Isral. Famous popl who hav takn th vows of a Nazarit includ Samson (Judgs 13:5 7 16:17), Samul (1Sam. 1:11, 28) and possibly John th Baptist (Luk 1:15) and possibly vn Paul (Acts 21:23 26), although it would hav bn a mistak on th part of Paul to ntr into a vow lik that during th church ag. Th nd of this vrs is vry paronomsiac: lîn rrôr nâzîyr nrr l hazzîyr (ø é äç ò ì ø é æð òè ø ø ð øì ð Ó Ó ì)ò [pronouncd ln'r-roar naw-zr Nw Englishman s Hbrw Concordanc of th Old Tstamnt-zr l'hahz-zr], mphasizing th solmn charactr of this vow. W hav occasionally mad rfrnc to th Charismatics; I would guss that thr must b a group of thm somwhr whr of thos who, instad of doing incrdibl miracls or spaking in tongus, thy might b taking Nazarit vows. "From win and strong drink, h will kp sparat; vingar of win, and vingar of strong drink, h will not drink; and any juic of graps h will not drink; and graps moist or dry, h will not at; [Num. 6:3] Th graps spak of blssing hr on arth. Graps ar a prsonal favorit of min and I oftn hav thm with brakfast, lunch or dinnr. To m, thy hav th most marvlous tast not too swt, but wondrously flavorful. As is pointd out hr, th Jws wr adpt at a grat dal of food procssing. Thy usd graps to mak both vingar and win; thy at graps raw and as raisins. Howvr, th Nazarit would not at any of th products associatd with graps, as graps spak of that which is tid to th arth. Thy ar marvlous blssings from God, but thy ar a part of this falln arth. "All th days of his sparation, of anything which is mad of th win-vin, from sds vn to skin, h will not at. [Num. 6:4] Thr is a complt abstinnc from all that which is associatd with unsinful arthly plasurs. As mntiond, th Nazarit is a typ of Jsus Christ, Who is holy, harmlss, undfild, sparat from sinnrs (Hb. 7:26b). "All days of th vow of his sparation, a razor will not pass ovr his had until th fulnss of th days which h had sparatd to Yahwh h is sparatd th uppr part of th hair of his had has grown up. [Num. 6:5] Mn grow hair on thir hads and on thir bards. This vow clarly rlatd to th hair of on's had. And sh mad a vow and said, "O, Yahwh of th armis, if You will indd look upon th affliction of Your maidsrvant and rmmbr m and not forgt Your maidsrvant, but You will giv Your maidsrvant a son, thn I will giv him to Yahwh all th days of his lif, and a razor will nvr com on his had (1Sam. 1:11). W hav all of th goofy picturs of th patriarchs with this long flowing hair. This was an unusual vow, not takn by any of th patriarchs and not takn by Moss, Aaron, or any of th prophts that w know much about. Th point hr is that ths mn did not all hav long, flowing hair. Thy wr not Nazarits. This is a vow of sparation. How can you b

66 Numbrs Chaptr 6 66 all that sparat if you look xactly lik vryon ls? Paul mad it vry clar that if a man has long hair, it is a sham unto him (I Cor. 11:14). Taking th vows of a Nazarit was an xcption to this. Obviously, long hair would not b a primary distinguishing mark btwn Nazarits and vryon ls if vry othr mal had long, hippi hair. Also s Ezk. 44:20. "All days of his kping sparat to Yahwh, concrning a dying soul h will not go; [Num. 6:6] As w hav sn, a prson who has did rprsnts th ultimat of what this arth has to offr dath. A prson's dath, although it is a promotion to God, is viwd as tragic and sad oftn th rsult of many accumulatd sins and oftn a rsult of th natural dcay of th body. In any cas, from th human standpoint, dath is vrything which is wrong with this world. W hav laws passd which attmpt to kp popl from dying. Th Nazarit is to b sparatd from all that is rlatd to th arth. Evn a prist was allowd contact with clos rlativs who had did (Lv. 21:1 3). S also Num. 19: It might sm logical to you to xamin th Doctrin of th Nazarit at this point in tim; howvr, that would b bttr suitd for our first cas history, which is Samson in th book of th Judgs (Judgs 13:5). "In rgard to his fathr or in rgard to his mothr or in rgard to his brothr or in rgard to his sistr h is not to caus himslf to bcom unclan for thm at thir dath, for th sparation of his God [is] on his had. [Num. 6:7] Th nd portion of this vrs could hav bn rndrd,...for th [badg] of sparation of his God[ his hair] [is] on his had. Th vow of a Nazarit is not ncssarily a liftim, as is implid by all th days of his vow (vv. 4a, 5a, 6a); howvr, in ordr for his hair to grow long and to stand out bcaus it has not bn cut, indicats that this vow must last at last svral months, if not longr. Evn if any of his clos family mmbrs di during this tim priod, h is not to dfil himslf by thir daths. Th sparation of th Nazarit to God was absolutly complt and total. Evn his family tis wr not a hindranc to his vows. Whil H was still spaking to th multituds, bhold, His mothr and His brothrs wr standing outsid, sking to spak to Him. And somon said to Him, "Bhold, Your mothr and Your brothrs a standing outsid sking to spak to you." but H answrd to th on was tlling Him and said, "Who is My mothr and who ar My brothrs?" And, strtching out His hand toward His discipls, H said, "Bhold, My mothr and My brothrs! For whovr will do th will of My Fathr Who is in havn, h is My brothr and sistr and mothr." (Matt. 12:46 50). Rad also Luk 9: "All th days of his sparation, h is st apart to Yahwh. [Num. 6:8] Th sign of his sparation is his unshorn hair and h is to hav no contact with worldly plasurs (th graps) and no contact whatsovr with th dad. H is a man st solly apart to Yahwh obviously a typ of Jsus Christ, Who cam not to do His Own will, but th will of His Fathr. Our Lord had no intrsts of His Own which H followd, but H did that which God th Fathr dirctd Him to do. Offrings of a Nazarit Who Has Bcom Crmonially Unclan "And whn th dad di bsid him in an instant, suddnly, and h has dfild th had of his sparation, th h will shav his had in th day of his clansing on th svnth day, h will shav it. [Num. 6:9] Th Nazarit, particularly on who took his vows during ths nxt 30+ yars of wandring, would s a lot of popl di; in fact, th Jws would b dying just lik flis in th dsrt during this tim priod. Th Nazarit must thn go through a priod of clansing, which involvd shaving his had. Th cutting of th hair du to unclannss was also a part of th ritual of on who had bn curd from lprosy (Lv. 14:8 9). "And on th ighth day, h will bring in two turtl dovs or two young pigons to th prist to th opning of th tnt of mting; [Num. 6:10]

67 Th Book of Numbrs 67 Rcall that ths ar th two last xpnsiv offrings. Th land was plntiful at that tim with ths birds. "And th prist will prpar on for a sin [-offring] and on for a burnt-offring, and h will mak atonmnt [or, a covring] for him bcaus of that which h had missd th mark [or, sinnd] in rspct to th soul and h had st apart his had on that day; [Num. 6:11] Rcall that th sin offring is th sins ar transfrrd to th animal and th burnt-offring spaks of judgmnt. "And h is sparatd to Yahwh th days of his sparation and h will bring in a lamb, a son of a yar, for a guilt-offring; and th formr days hav falln, for his sparation has bn dfild [Num. 6:12] Th scond to th last vrb is th Qal imprfct of nâphal (ì ôç ð)è [pronouncd naw-fahl] and it simply mans to fall and is oftn usd for th dath of somon. Just as our Lord was mad sin for us, his association with a dad prson maks him unclan and thrfor dad to Yahwh. W ar not spaking of bing out of fllowship or doing anything wrong; h is dad by virtu of association with th dad just as w, as bing born human, ar born out of fllowship and spiritually, as wll as positionally, ar born dad. Our association with th human rac, as bing dscndd from Adam placs us dad with rgard to God. Th formr days rfr to th tim of his Nazarit vows and ths days hav falln, as h has had contact with th dad. "And this is th law of th Nazarit; in th day of th compltion [lit., fulnss or fulfillmnt] of th days of his sparation, h brings it in unto th opning of th tnt of mting; [Num. 6:13] Th Nazarit brings th lamb to th opning of th tnt of mting; not that only th prists wr allowd to go insid. It is possibl that Paul, in a mov which compromisd doctrin, was sponsoring thos involvd in th Nazarit vows in Acts 21: "And h has approachd with his offring to Yahwh, on h-lamb, a son of a yar; a prfct on, for a burnt-offring, and on sh-lamb, a daughtr of a yar, a prfct on, for a sin-offring; and on ram, a prfct on, for pac-offrings. [Num. 6:14] Th pac offring is pac with God, not pac with mankind. As a rsult of th sin and th burnt-offrings, w hav pac with God w ar no longr at nmity with Him. Notic that ths animals mak for a rathr xpnsiv offring. "And a baskt of unlavnd brads of fin flour of caks mixd with oil, and thin caks of unlavnd brads anointd with oil, and thir tribut-offring, and thir libations. [Num. 6:15] Unlavnd brad spaks of svral things: it is th body uncorruptd by sin of our Lord givn for us, filld with th Holy Spirit (oil). Brad also spaks of fllowship with God through God th Holy Spirit; th unlavnd brad bing that which is uncorruptd by fals doctrin. Th drink offring was not consumd by th prists, but pourd out in its ntirty in th sanctuary (Num. 28:7). A drink rprsnts th lif or th soul of a prson which is pourd out into a body. Just as a drink compltly fills whatvr containr it is pourd into, similarly your soul fills your ntir body. Th drink offring spaks of our Lord pouring out his lif for us. In th sam way, th cup, aftr thy had atn, saying, "This cup which is pourd out for you is th nw covnant by mans of My blood." (Luk 22:20). It also spaks of th Holy Spirit which is pourd out ovr our Lord's church. "But this is [similar to] that which was spokn of through th propht Jol: 'And it will b in th last days,' God says, 'That I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all flsh; and your sons and your daughtrs will prophsy and your young mn will s visions, and your old mn will dram drams; vn upon My slavs, both mn and womn, I will in thos days pour fourth of My Spirit, and thy will prophsy.' " (Acts 2:16 18 Jol 2:28 29). "And th prist will approach bfor th fac of Yahwh and will mak his sin [-offring] and his burnt offring. [Num. 6:16]

68 Numbrs Chaptr 6 68 Notic that th on who brings th offring to th prist, dos not bring this offring to Yahwh nor dos h sacrific this offring himslf, but th prist actually brings th offring bfor God and kills it. Th doubl maning of this is that our Lord brings bfor God th Fathr His body and offrs it upon th cross w stand upon His finishd work, but H brought it bfor God. Also, it was th rsult of th prists and th high prist that our Lord was brought bfor Pilat and Hrod and was vntually xcutd (Luk 22:49 54, 22:66 8:10). "And th ram h mad a sacrific of pac-offrings to Yahwh, bsids th baskt of unlavnd brad; and th prist will mak its prsnt and libation. [Num. 6:17] Notic again that th prist dos all of th work; vn though th Nazarit brings ths things bfor th prist, it is th prist who dos th sacrificing of th animals and th burning of th unlavnd brad and th pouring out of th drink. "And th Nazarit will shav (at th opning of th tnt of mting th had of his sparation and will tak th hair of th had of his sparation and h will plac it on th fir which [is] undr th sacrifics of th pac-offrings. [Num. 6:18] It is th hair of th Nazarit which distinguishs him physically from th othr Isralits or sparats him from his brothrs and sparats him to God. "And th prist will tak th boild shouldr of th ram and on unlavnd cak of th baskt and on thin unlavnd cak, and h will put on th palms of th Nazarit aftr his shaving his [badg of] sparation; [Num. 6:19] Ths things which ar sacrificd to Yahwh ar placd into th hands of th Nazarit; h taks a hold of thm as w tak a hold of Jsus Christ for our salvation. "And th prist will wav thm a wav offring bfor Yahwh. It [is] holy to th prist, upon th brast of th wav-offring and upon th lg of th contribution; and aftrward, th Nazarit will drink win. [Num. 6:20] "For I say to you that I will not drink of th fruit of th vin from now on until th kingdom of God coms." (Luk 22:18). At th nd, drinking of win no longr is a rfrnc to lgitimat human plasurs on arth, but fllowship with God. Although I tnd to spic up th conjunctions onc and awhil, as and in th Hbrw dos not just man and, th prpositions ar a diffrnt thing. Th on usd hr twic is <al (ì òç) [pronouncd al ], and it sounds th sam in th English, but it should not b mistakn for th prposition al (ì àç ) [pronouncd al ]. Th first prposition basically mans upon; it is upon this dfinition that all its othr shads of maning ar discrnd. It is variously rndrd as on th ground of, according to, on account of, on th basis of, on bhalf of, concrning, bsids, in addition to, togthr with, byond, abov, ovr, by on to, towards, to, against. Whn rndring this, w do not gt to just go and blindly pick out a prposition from abov, but what should b on our minds is th rlationship btwn th words in contxt and th ida of upon. Th brad is gnrally placd upon th sacrifics and burnd, thrfor I favor this maning ovr bsids (Young's Translation, Th Emphasizd Bibl) with (KJV), and togthr with (NASB, Own's translation, NRSV, NIV). "This [is] th law of th Nazarit, who vows his offring to Yahwh for his sparation, apart from that which his hand attains; according to his vow which h vows so h dos on th basis of [lit., upon] th law of his sparation." [Num. 6:21] Th portion which rads apart from that which his hand attains; is a rfrnc to any othr frwill offring that th Nazarit might bring to Yahwh. This is th concluding statmnt, th priod at th nd of th giving of God's laws on a particular topic. W will xamin th Doctrin of th Nazarit. in Judgs 13:5.

69 Th Book of Numbrs 69 Th Pristly Bndiction And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 6:22] This will b a concluding gnral statmnt a doxology, if you will as w will spnd som tim in narrativ. "Spak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'Thus you will blss th sons of Isral, saying to thm: [Num. 6:23] Th Bibl is lgnd for its quots within quots within quots. Th prists will apparntly say this during or aftr a sacrific is offrd. " ' "Yahwh blss you and kp you; [Num. 6:24] Aaron and his sons will call for th provision and blssing of th Isralits and Gods guarding thm, as a shphrd guards his shp. Moss, in spaking to th nxt gnration, said, "Now if will b, if you diligntly listn to th voic of Yahwh your God, bing carful to do all His commandmnts which I command you today, Yahwh, your God will st you high abov all th nations of th arth. And all ths blssings will com upon you and ovrtak you, if you will oby Yahwh your god. Blssd you will b in th city and blssd you will b in th fild. Blssd will b th offspring of your body [lit., th fruit of your womb] and th fruit of your ground and th fruit of your basts, th incras of your hrd and th young of your flock. Blssd will b your baskt and your knading bowl. Blssd will b whn you com in and blssd you ar whn you go out." (Dut. 28:1 6). Hannah, th mothr of Samul, prayd, "H [Yahwh] kps th ft of His godly ons, but th wickd ons ar silncd in darknss, for not by might will a man prvail." (1Sam. 2:9). A similar prayr is mad by Jabz in 1Chron. 4:10. " ' "Yahwh to caus His fac to shin upon you and to favor you; [Num. 6:25] A rfrnc to Yahwh's fac first signifis His prsnc, and, scondly, signifis His blssing and protction. Th fac of anyon in th dirction of somon ls was a blssing or a show of favor; oftn associatd with dlivranc and/or salvation. Mak Your fac to shin upon Your slav; dlivr m in Your graciousnss (Psalm 31:16). O God, rstor us, and caus Your fac to shin on us and w will b dlivrd (Psalm 80:3). "O, Yahwh, lt your fac shin on Your dsolat sanctuary." (Dan. 9:17b). For God Who said, "Light will shin out of darknss," is th On who has shon in our harts to giv th light of th knowldg of th glory of God in th fac of Christ (II Cor. 4:6 Gn. 1:3). It is our rflctd light, idally, which attracts th unblivr, although w know in practic, many of us ar disdaind by unblivrs not for our faith, but for slf-rightous, obnoxious bhavior. This is not God's plan, howvr. His plan is for His glory to b rflctd from our souls, which dos occur on an occasional basis. "Lt your light shin bfor mn in such a way that thy may s your good works and glorify your Fathr Who is in havn." (Matt. 5:16). Unfortunatly, som of us will not rflct God's glory until trnity: "Thn th rightous will shin forth as th sun in th kingdom of thir Fathr." (Matt. 13:43a Dan. 12:3). S also Ex. 33:20, 23 Psalm 51:11 89:15 1Chron. 29:12 Jonah 1:3 I Cor. 13:12. " ' "Yahwh lift up His fac upon you and appoint for you pac." ' [Num. 6:26] Thos of Isral who ar in fllowship and who ar functioning corrctly in God's plan ar ambassadors for pac thy hlp to bring th mssag of th faraway king of th pac that H offrs thm. In th Hbrw, v. 24 has 3 words, v. 25 has 5 and v. 26 has 7. "Th stadfast mind You will kp in prfct pac, bcaus h trusts in You; Trust in Yahwh forvr, for in God, Yahwh, th vrlasting Rock." (Isa. 26:3 4). Yahwh, you will stablish pac for us, sinc You hav also prformd for us all our works (Isa. 26:12). This is obviously not world pac, but pac with God; which, in turn, mans all forms of arthly good and blssing. "And thy hav placd My nam upon th sons of Isral, and I vn I blss thm." [Num. 6:27] God's rputation is tid to His nam. Thr ar no national gods, all pointing toward th sam God; th national ditis ar dmons, and not th tru God. Thr is but on God, Yahwh, Who chos to rval Himslf primarily

70 Numbrs Chaptr 6 70 to th Isralits during th scond priod of man's history. God is tid to His nam Yahwh not that w nd to call Him by that nam, as w know Him now by Jsus Christ, th King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Howvr, just as thr is on mdiator btwn God and man th man Christ Jsus, thr is on rvald mmbr of th Godhad in Old Tstamnt tims, and that is spcifically Yahwh. And H has chosn to associat Himslf and His nam with Isral and through this association, blss thm. [A prayr of David to Yahwh]: "For what on nation on th arth is lik Your popl, Isral, whom God wnt to rdm for Himslf as a popl and to mak a nam for Himslf, and to do a grat thing for You and awsom things for Your land, bfor Your popl whom You hav rdmd for Yourslf from Egypt [and from othr] nations and thir gods." (2Sam. 7:23). [God spaking to Moss that which is to b said to Isral]: "You will mak an altar of arth for M and you will sacrific on it your burnt offrings and your pac offrings, your shp and your oxn; in vry plac whr I caus My nam to b rmmbrd, I will com to you and blss you." (Ex. 20:24).

71 Numbrs 7 Numbrs 7:1 89 Outlin of Chaptr 7: Vv Th tabrnacl is rassmbld; prparations ar mad for th sacrifics Vv Th offrings of th ladrs of Isral Vv A summary of th offrings brought bfor Yahwh Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Introduction: W will b rintroducd to th ladrs of th twlv tribs of Isral in Num. 7. Thy will all bring offrings bfor Yahwh. This is a chaptr that, if you dcidd to rad th ntir Bibl, and you got this far, you ithr wnt on fast forward or you fll aslp to this chaptr. W will hav th sam six vrss rpatd almost vrbatim twlv tims. This is th longst and th most rptitiv chaptr of th ntir Pntatuch. Th challng to a tachr or th challng to a writr is just what th hck do you say about th xact sam vrs th tnth or lvnth tim that you com across it? How can you vn mak a commnt? If you will opn your NASB th Study Edition, you will notic that btwn vv. 16 and 83 thr is not a singl Scriptural rfrnc. I don't know if this is tru of any othr portion of th Bibl which is this xtnsiv. This is God's Word and vry part of it is important. Howvr, this was so difficult, I had to rsort to using God's Word in ordr to xpand upon what is found hr. Th Tabrnacl Is Rassmbld; Prparations Ar Mad for th Sacrifics And it cam to pass on th day Moss finishd stting up th tabrnacl, that h anointd it and sanctifid it, and all of its furnishings [lit., vssls] and th altar, and all of its furnishings [lit., vssls], and h anointd thm and sanctifid thm; [Num. 7:1] Anointing with oil mans that Moss rcognizd th powr of th Holy Spirit in vanglism and in spiritual growth, with things th tabrnacl and its furnishings facilitatd, as thy rvald Yahwh, th God of Isral, and th work of Jsus Christ on th cross. Stting ths things apart mant that thy had th xclusiv us for spiritual things. Obviously, Moss did not himslf, prsonally, st up th ntir tabrnacl, any mor than Bob Buildr, th buildr of Bob Buildr Homs, builds th homs. Th buildr of any givn hous may not pick up th hammr vn on tim to build a particular hom. H ovrss th work and sub-contracts out th work. Moss saw that vrything was organizd and st up corrctly. And th princs of Isral hads of th hous of thir fathrs thy [ar] th princs of th tribs, thy who ar standing ovr thos numbrd [wr causd to] approach; [Num. 7:2] Approach is in th Hiphil (causativ) stm; Moss ordrd thm, by God's Word, to approach, aftr h had st rd up th tabrnacl.th word which I hav consistntly rndrd approach, is in th 3 masculin plural. That is, th princs of Isral wr causd to approach. Thy wr not causd to offr anything in this sntnc. Thy will approach Yahwh with thir offrings. And thy causd thir offrings to b brought bfor Yahwh, six wagons covrd, and twlv oxn a wagon for two of th princs and an ox for on and thy approachd [or, wr causd to approach] with thm bfor th tabrnacl. [Num. 7:3]

72 Numbrs Chaptr 7 72 What w hav hr ar a grat many sacrifics to God. It is not that God is ovrjoyd to s hundrds of innocnt animals offrd to Him howvr, this communicatd th gospl to all of Isral and God th Holy spirit spok to th nxt gnration of Jws through ths sacrifics. And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 7:4] W don't know if ths ladrs of th tribs of Isral had bn instructd to bring ths offrings to Yahwh or if thy just chos to do so. "Rciv from thm, and thy ar to do th srvic [or, thy ar to srv] of th tnt of mting; and you will giv thm to th Lvits ach according to his srvic." [Num. 7:5] Th plural thy rfrs to th animals. Moss is to rciv th animals and thn thy ar to b givn to th Lvits to b usd in th srvic of th tnt of mting. And Moss took th wagons and th oxn and gav thm to th Lvits. [Num. 7:6] Moss rcivs th wagons and oxn as gifts from th ladrs of Isral. Ths wagons and oxn wr usd to bring th offrings of th twlv ladrs of th tribs of Isral, but th wagons and oxn thmslvs wr rcivd as gifts. H gav two wagons and four oxn to th sons of Grshon, according to thir srvic. [Num. 7:7] Thr ar thr sub-tribs of th Lvits and on would xpct, from this vrs, that ach trib would handl an qual shar. Th Grshonits handld th hangings and th curtains that was thir srvic. And h gav four wagons and ight oxn to th sons of Mrari according to thir srvic undr th dirction of Ithamar, th son of Aaron th prist. [Num. 7:8] Howvr, th scond trib rcivd twic as much to b rsponsibl for. Th Mrarits handld th havy framwork and th pillars, so thy rquird most of th wagons. But to th sons of Kohath, h gav non bcaus th car of th holy thing [was] upon thm; on th shouldr thy bor [it]. [Num. 7:9] Th word found hr is th masculin singular of qôdsh ( ã É ) [pronouncd ko-desh], which is a noun maning sacrdnss, apartnss, that which is holy, holy things. W ar not rfrring to th furnitur of th tabrnacl hr or th utnsils of th various pics of furnitur bcaus this is in th masculin singular. Som Bibl rndr this holy things, holy objcts and som sanctuary; howvr, thy wr not in charg of th sanctuary, pr s, but thy wr in charg of th most holy itm of all, th ark, and that is what this passag rfrncs. Rcall that through th rings of th ark wr placd th pols and th sons of Kohath wr to carry this ark with th pols on thir shouldrs. This is what this vrs rfrs to and I am not awar of any translation which got this right. Now, th Kohathits wr in charg of most of th sacrd furnitur (th ark, th lampstand, th altar, th tabl of showbrad Num. 4:5 15) and all of ths holy pics of furnitur wr dsignd with rings and pols that thy might b carrid without having dirct contact with th furnitur itslf (Ex. 37:13 15, for instanc). Ths pics of furnitur all rprsnting Christ's work upon th cross and thy wr to b born on shouldrs as our Lord bor our sins. Thr was not an asy way out and what our Lord did was not without work in fact, what H did in trms of sacrific is totally byond our comprhnsion. W would hav to suffr through th Lak of Fir for a tim just to imagin th wight which H bor. Thn th ladrs approachd th ddication [or, conscration] of th altar in th day of its bing anointd; in fact, th princs will approach with thir offring bfor th altar. [Num. 7:10]

73 Th Book of Numbrs 73 Whn vrything was st up again and ddicatd to Yahwh, thn ths ladrs wr to approach with thir offring (th singular mans what thy brought was sn as a whol). And Yahwh said to Moss, "On princ to a day on princ to a day thy will approach with thir offring for th ddication of th altar." [Num. 7:11] Hr w know that if ths mn took th initiativ to com bfor Yahwh with thir offrings, that this would b organizd by God. Each ladr, or princ, would approach Yahwh with his offring on ach day. W hav a similar ddication of Solomon's tmpl in 2Chron. 7:8 10: So Solomon obsrvd th fast at that tim for svn days, and all Isral with him, a vry grat assmbly from th ntranc of Hamath to th brook of Egypt. And on th ighth day, thy hld a solmn assmbly, for th ddication of th altar thy obsrvd svn days, and th fast svn days. Thn on th twnty-third day of th svnth month, h snt th popl to thir tnts, rjoicing and happy of hart, bcaus of th goodnss that Yahwh had shown to david and to Solomon and to His popl, Isral. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Offrings of th Ladrs of Isral Thn th on approaching on th first day [with] his offring is Nahshon bn Amminadab of th trib of Judah. [Num. 7:12] I hav changd th word ordr somwhat to accuratly rndr th Hbrw. Th status quo vrb to b is th first word of this sntnc it is in th Qal imprfct, indicating a long list of ladrs to com bfor Yahwh. Approach, a word that w hav lookd at svral tims, poorly translatd throughout most Bibl translations, is in th Hiphil participl thy ar causd to approach and th participl maks this vrb act as a noun th subjct of this sntnc, in fact. Many of th translations us th words h who at this junctur, which is accurat sinc both vrbs ar in th masculin singular; howvr, thr is no rlativ pronoun. And his offring: on silvr plat, its wight a hundrd and thirty [shkls]; on silvr bowl, svnty shkls (according to th shkl of th sanctuary) both of thm full of fin flour mixd with oil for a tribut-offring; [Num. 7:13] Whn you rad a rptitiv shopping list such as this, you might wondr as to its purpos. It is good in trms of practicing on's Hbrw and it hlps us with th manings of crtain words. On goldn spoon of tn [shkls], full of incns; [Num. 7:14] Th word translatd spoon is actually kaph (ó Ç ) [pronouncd kaf] and it is gnrally translatd palm, hollow or flat of th hand, sol of th foot and vn bowl. Th rason that this is translatd spoon is bcaus of its wight it only wighs four ouncs (110 grains). Bcaus of that, w can conclud this should b translatd spoon in such passags as Ex. 37:16 Num. 4:7 1Kings 7:50. Ths various rndrings ar tid togthr by th concpt of th hollow. Strong s #3709 BDB #496. On young bull, a son of th hrd, on ram, on lamb, a son of a yar; for a burnt-offring; [Num. 7:15] Th young bull, of cours, spaks of Jsus Christ. H was takn out of th hrd, just as our Lord was a Jw takn out of th Jwish rac. W hav svral xampls in th Nw Tstamnt whr our Lord, whn prscutd, was abl to lud his prscutors mrly by mlting into th crowd. Evn at th vry nd, Judas had to idntify our Lord Jsus Christ, th God of th Univrs, to th prists who cam for him th night bfor th cross bcaus thy knw not Who H was.

74 Numbrs Chaptr 7 74 On kid of th goats [lit., A mal-goat of th fmal goats on] for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 7:16] This first portion of this vrs litrally rads: A mal-goat of th fmal goats on. Why ar w that concrnd? W ar just spaking of on mal goat whn w just com down to it, right? Wrong th mal goat is born out from th fmal goats, just as it is th sd of th woman from which would com th Savior. It is th uncorruptd 46 chromosoms of th woman from which cam our Lord Jsus Christ, holy and undfild, not pollutd by th sin natur of Adam. Evry word in God's Word is important w nd to hav mor than just th gist of what is bing said. And for th sacrific of pac offrings, two oxn, fiv rams, fiv mal goats, fiv lambs, sons of a yar this was th offring of Nashon bn Amminadab. [Num. 7:17] Onc a burnt-offring and a sin-offring had bn placd bfor Yahwh, thr was an vn gratr offring for pac. What follows is an additional 66 vrss which stat substantially th sam thing for ach of th othr lvn ladrs of th rmaining nin tribs plus two half-tribs. Matthw Hnry xprssd th viw that ach tribal ladr had a sparat day for his git and th rports wr all givn qual spac, rgardlss of th individual trib's strngths, waknsss, siz, tc. Each trib was fully rcognizd and ach ladr was fully rcognizd for thir particular offring and approach to Yahwh. This tlls us that ach trib had an qual shar in th land and an qual standing bfor Yahwh that would only chang as thir ddication changd. Howvr. God took not of vrything that ach trib brought bfor Him and rcordd it prfctly in His Word, tlling us that our spiritual srvic is not unnoticd or disrgardd vn though our livs at tims sm rathr unspctacular. W will find that thr ar many unknown hros from th church ag whos prayr, whos prsonal intgrity in thir day to day lif, whos unfailing witnss somtims bfor only on prson will not pass unnoticd. W all hav a spcific plan for our livs on this arth and our fulfillmnt of thos plans ar what God wants to s. Thr is no way that w can assign rlativ mrit to individual livs. Th quality of our srvic is not dpndnt upon our mans or its visual impact upon othr blivrs and unblivrs. Th widow with two mits gav a grat dal mor than rich 39 popl with grat sums of mony (Mark 12:41 44). Our all is worth much mor than any billionair's 10%. In th scond day, Nathanl bn Zuar, ladr of th trib of Issachar, was causd to approach [Yahwh]. [Num. 7:18] Th sntnc structur hr is somwhat diffrnt; approach is in th Hiphil prfct, rathr than th Hiphil participl, and thr is no is. And his offring: on silvr plat, its wight a hundrd and thirty [shkls]; on silvr bowl, svnty shkls (according to th shkl of th sanctuary) both of thm full of fin flour mixd with oil for a tribut-offring; [Num. 7:19] 130 shkls is approximatly 3¼ pounds, or 1.5 kg. On goldn spoon of tn [shkls], full of incns; [Num. 7:20] In th Hbrw, th first portion of this vrs rads, litrally, on spoon tn gold. On young bull, a son of th hrd, on ram, on lamb, a son of a yar; for a burnt-offring; [Num. 7:21] Th ram also rprsnts Jsus Christ. S th Doctrin of th Ram not finishd yt!! A mal-goat of th fmal goats on for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 7:22] 39 Much of this parapgraph cam from a footnot in Th Amplifid Bibl, p. 169.

75 Th Book of Numbrs 75 And for th sacrific of pac offrings, two oxn, fiv rams, fiv mal goats, fiv lambs, sons of a yar this was th offring of Nathanl bn Zuar. [Num. 7:23] Thos who lov Your law hav grat pac and nothing causs thm to stumbl (Psalm 119:165). In th first day th ladr of th sons of Zbulun, Eliab bn Hlon. [Num. 7:24] W hav no vrb whatsovr hr. W know thy ar all approaching th altar. And his offring: on silvr plat, its wight a hundrd and thirty [shkls]; on silvr bowl, svnty shkls (according to th shkl of th sanctuary) both of thm full of fin flour mixd with oil for a tribut-offring; [Num. 7:25] A silvr bowl of svnty shkls wighs about 1¾ pounds, or 0.8 kg. On goldn spoon of tn [shkls], full of incns; [Num. 7:26] Whn wight is rfrrd to, it was undrstood that th wight was in shkls if not othrwis notd. On young bull, a son of th hrd, on ram, on lamb, a son of a yar; for a burnt-offring; [Num. 7:27] Th lamb is probably th most widly usd and rcognizd of th animals which rprsnt our Lord. John th Baptizr said, Bhold, th lamb of God coms. Bing a yar old is prtty much aftr th lamb has ntrd into adulthood. Our Lord bgan His public ministry at ag 30, quivalnt to th lamb's ag. A mal-goat of th fmal goats on for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 7:28] Rcall that thr is no particular word for sin-offring in th Hbrw. It is not a combination of sin and offring but it is simply th word sin. It is th contxt which tlls us that w ar spaking of a sin-offring rathr than just sin. This is bcaus th sin-baring bcam compltly idntifid with th sin which H bor. And for th sacrific of pac offrings, two oxn, fiv rams, fiv mal goats, fiv lambs, sons of a yar this was th offring of Eliab bn Hlon. [Num. 7:29] For a child will b born to us, a son will b givn to us and th govrnmnt will rst upon His shouldrs; and His nam will b calld Wondrful Counslor, Mighty God, Etrnal Fathr, Princ of Pac (Isa. 9:6). On th fourth day, th ladr of th sons of Rubn, Elizur bn Shdur. [Num. 7:30] Now th sntnc structur is xactly th sam as v. 24. And his offring: on silvr plat, its wight a hundrd and thirty [shkls]; on silvr bowl, svnty shkls (according to th shkl of th sanctuary) both of thm full of fin flour mixd with oil for a tribut-offring; [Num. 7:31] Silvr is on of th prcious mtals, whit in color, and mallabl nough to b batn into lavs mm thin. Its mlting tmpratur is 961 C, and it can b alloyd with gold, coppr, nickl and zinc. In fact, thr is gnrally about 10 15% silvr found in mind gold. According to ZPEB, th cll dimnsions of th basic cubic

76 Numbrs Chaptr 7 76 units of four atoms of silvr and of gold ar almost idntical and bcaus of this silvr substituts for gold, and vic 40 vrsa, right up to 100%. On goldn spoon of tn [shkls], full of incns; [Num. 7:32] This spoon which could also b a vry small incns bowl (?) containd q þôrth (ú ø è É ) [pronouncd k'to- Ó RETH] and should not b rndrd prfum, but incns. On young bull, a son of th hrd, on ram, on lamb, a son of a yar; for a burnt-offring; [Num. 7:33] S th Doctrin of th Bull not finishd yt! A mal-goat of th fmal goats on for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 7:34] So a mal goat is takn from th fmal goats, just as Jsus Christ was th sd of th woman. And for th sacrific of pac offrings, two oxn, fiv rams, fiv mal goats, fiv lambs, sons of a yar this was th offring of Elizur bn Shdur. [Num. 7:35] [Our Lord spaking to His discipls]: "Do not think that I cam to bring pac on th arth; I did not com to bring pac, but a sword. For I cam to st a man against his fathr and a daughtr against hr mothr; and a daughtr-in-law against hr mothr-in-law." (Matt. 10:34 35 Micah 7:6). On th fifth day, th ladr of th sons of Simon, Shlumil bn Zurishaddai. [Num. 7:36] Lik th rst of th chaptr, this is now falln into a pattrn. And his offring: on silvr plat, its wight a hundrd and thirty [shkls]; on silvr bowl, svnty shkls (according to th shkl of th sanctuary) both of thm full of fin flour mixd with oil for a tribut-offring; [Num. 7:37] Continuing with th information found in ZPEB, Vol. 5, p. 438: from th arlist tims, silvr was manufactord into articls of valu, such as ornamnts, jwlry; and, it was of cours usd as a prcursor of mony (Lv. 5:15 1Chron. 18:10 Matt. 26:15 Acts 19:24). Silvr was crtainly known in Egypt as far back as 4000 BC, and it was st givn th spcific valu as on-fourth that of gold in 3100 BC by th foundr of th 1 dynasty of ancint Egypt. A portion of Abraham's walth was silvr (Gn. 13:2) and it is likly that silvr and gold bcam fairly standard mdiums of xchang (i.., thy wr mony) around 800 BC for all of th countris which wr btwn th Nil and th Indus. On goldn spoon of tn [shkls], full of incns; [Num. 7:38] Gold is considrd to b probably th prcious mtal, although it is by no mans th rarst or th most xpnsiv. Bcaus of its bauty, it rprsnts th dity of Jsus Christ. On young bull, a son of th hrd, on ram, on lamb, a son of a yar; for a burnt-offring; [Num. 7:39] S th Doctrin of th lamb not finishd yt!! A mal-goat of th fmal goats on for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 7:40] 40 P , Vol. 5.

77 Th Book of Numbrs 77 S th doctrin of goats not finishd yt!! And for th sacrific of pac offrings, two oxn, fiv rams, fiv mal goats, fiv lambs, sons of a yar this was th offring of Shlumil bn Zurishaddai. [Num. 7:41] Th fathr of John th Baptist was filld with th Holy Spirit and h said (or, possibly wrot) th following: Bcaus of th tndr mrcy of our God, with which th Sunris from on high will visit us, to shin upon thos who sit in darknss and th shadow of dath, to guid our ft into th way of pac." (Luk 1:78 79). On th sixth day, th ladr of th sons of Gad, Eliazaph bn Dul. [Num. 7:42] It is unfortunat that ths wr th mn of God's choosing, maning that thy had th gratst potntial of all in thir trib, and, whil thy ar mntiond svral tims, it is always as part of a larg group whos accomplishmnts wr minimal. And his offring: on silvr plat, its wight a hundrd and thirty [shkls]; on silvr bowl, svnty shkls (according to th shkl of th sanctuary) both of thm full of fin flour mixd with oil for a tribut-offring; [Num. 7:43] Continuing with th information found in ZPEB, Vol. 5, p. 438: nativ silvr is much mor of a rar occurrnc than nativ gold, but it is widly distributd in small amounts and would hav bn th arlist sourc of th mtal. Silvr can b xtractd from it many ors by a numbr of rlativly simpl procsss, on of which was usd by th Babylonians, cupllation with lad, is still usd today. ZPEB dscribs th procss. Howvr, th mlting of th rsultant lad-silvr alloy, producs lad oxid, which is skimmd away I mntion this, bcaus this lad oxid is calld dross in Ezk. 22:18. Th tarnish which forms on silvr is not an oxidation of silvr, but a combination of sulphur or sulphur compounds in th air racting with th silvr to form a thin layr of silvr sulphid on th surfac of th silvr. W s this commonly today in any ara adjacnt to an industrializd city; howvr, in th ancint world, such tarnishing was rar, and silvr rmaind th most lustrous of th mtals almost indfinitly in th ancint world. On goldn spoon of tn [shkls], full of incns; [Num. 7:44] Takn from ZPEB, vol. 2, p. 771: Gold's mlting point is abov that of silvr (1063 C), which surprisd m. Although it is usd to plat a grat many things, and can b batn into lavs with a thicknss lss than mm, that is not as thin as silvr. On young bull, a son of th hrd, on ram, on lamb, a son of a yar; for a burnt-offring; [Num. 7:45] Whn ths animals wr burnt, this spok of th sacrific and judgmnt of our Lord Jsus Christ upon th cross. A mal-goat of th fmal goats on for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 7:46] Indd, thr is not a rightous man on arth who dos good and who nvr sins (Eccls. 7:20). And for th sacrific of pac offrings, two oxn, fiv rams, fiv mal goats, fiv lambs, sons of a yar this was th offring of Eliazaph bn Dul. [Num. 7:47] "Pac I lav with you; My pac I giv to you; not as th world giv, do I giv to you. Lt not your hart b troubld, nor lt it b farful." (John 14:27). In th svnth day, th ladr of th sons of Ephraim, Elishama bn Ammihud. [Num. 7:48]

78 Numbrs Chaptr 7 78 Ephraim is th half-trib of Josph. And his offring: on silvr plat, its wight a hundrd and thirty [shkls]; on silvr bowl, svnty shkls (according to th shkl of th sanctuary) both of thm full of fin flour mixd with oil for a tribut-offring; [Num. 7:49] Th failur of th rfining procss of lad and silvr in th ancint world bcam a parabl to illustrat th rfusal of th sons of Isral to bcom obdint to Yahwh, th God Who bought thm (Jr. 6:29 30). On goldn spoon of tn [shkls], full of incns; [Num. 7:50] Takn from ZPEB, vol. 2, p. 771: anothr itm of intrst, of which most of you ar awar, is that gold is th most mallabl and ductil of th mtals, maning that its shap and siz can b changd trmndously without braking. What a marvlous pictur of th dity of our Lord! His prfction and ssnc ar facd with billions upon billions of situations and it can b applid prfctly without taring it or compromising it. Thr is a right way to do a thing; thr is a corrct way to approach vry situation. God's charactr can b applid to vry situation in lif without compromis. On young bull, a son of th hrd, on ram, on lamb, a son of a yar; for a burnt-offring; [Num. 7:51] In this, th first sacrifics of th tabrnacl aftr it was rassmbld, wnt on for twlv days. Each day thr would b parad of animal sacrifics. God was communicating His gospl to th nxt gnration as thy bcam of ag. A mal-goat of th fmal goats on for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 7:52] David wrot th following aftr having takn Bathshba, anothr man's wif, and thn had hr husband killd: B gracious to m, O God, according to Your gac, according to th gratnss of Your compassion, blot out my transgrssions. Wash m thoroughly from my iniquity and clans m from my sin. For I rcogniz [lit., know] my stransgrssions and my sin is always bfor m. Against You and You only I hav sinnd (Psalm 51:1 4a). And for th sacrific of pac offrings, two oxn, fiv rams, fiv mal goats, fiv lambs, sons of a yar this was th offring of Elishama bn Ammihud. [Num. 7:53] Paul, writing to Gntils: But now in Christ Jsus, you who formrly wr far off hav bn brought nar by th blood of Christ. For H Himslf is our pac, who mad both on, and brok down th barrir of th divinding wall by abolishing in His flsh th nmity, th Law of commandmnts in ordinancs that in Himslf H might mak th two into on nw man, stablishing pac, and might rconcil thm both in on body to God through th cross, by having put to dath th nmity. And H cam and prachd pac to you who wr far away and pac to thos who wr nar (Eph. 2:13 17). Hr, th pac spokn of is that btwn th Jw and th Gntil, a natural nmity xistd, as thr would b btwn blivrs and unblivrs. God joind th Jws and th Gntils in th church. In th ighth day, th ladr of th sons of Manassh, Gamalil bn Pdahzur. [Num. 7:54] Manassh is th othr half trib of Josph. And his offring: on silvr plat, its wight a hundrd and thirty [shkls]; on silvr bowl, svnty shkls (according to th shkl of th sanctuary) both of thm full of fin flour mixd with oil for a tribut-offring; [Num. 7:55] Silvr was a mark of walth and prosprity. Whn lands wr conqurd and booty takn, oftn silvr and things mad with silvr wr takn. Silvr was usd in th construction of th various itms of th tabrnacl chifly

79 Th Book of Numbrs 79 th rings. As was mntiond, silvr would last for a vry long tim without tarnishing; howvr, w do not find many archological objcts of silvr from Palstin and Syria bcaus th limston soil causs silvr to corrod 41 badly. On goldn spoon of tn [shkls], full of incns; [Num. 7:56] Takn from ZPEB, vol. 2, p. 771: nativ gold which is mind is usually alloyd with silvr; but occasionally it can b found alloyd with coppr, iron, platinum, palladium and rhodium. Th mor silvr prsnt, th whitr th gold; coppr maks th gold an orang-rd. On young bull, a son of th hrd, on ram, on lamb, a son of a yar; for a burnt-offring; [Num. 7:57] At th first advnt, our Lord did not com out of havn riding a whit std, but h was a son of th hrd, a man, just lik us. A mal-goat of th fmal goats on for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 7:58] Th wisdom of th prudnt is to undrstand His way, but th folly of fools is dcit. Fools mock at sin, but among th upright thr is grac [from God]. Th hart knows its own bittrnss and a strangr dos not shar its joy. Th hous of th wickd will b dstroyd; but th tnt of th upright will flourish. Thr is a way [which sms] right to a man, but its nd is th way of dath (Prov. 14:8 12). And for th sacrific of pac offrings, two oxn, fiv rams, fiv mal goats, fiv lambs, sons of a yar this was th offring of Gamalil bn Pdahzur. [Num. 7:59] And th pac of God, which surpasss all comprhnsion, will guard your harts and your minds in Christ Jsus (Phil. 4:7). In th ninth day, th ladr of th sons of Bnjamin, Abidan bn Gidoni. [Num. 7:60] Rcall that Bnjamin was th youngst of all of th brothrs, Josph was th scond to th youngst. Thy wr particularly important to thir fathr Jacob, as thy wr childrn of th woman h lovd, Rachl. And his offring: on silvr plat, its wight a hundrd and thirty [shkls]; on silvr bowl, svnty shkls (according to th shkl of th sanctuary) both of thm full of fin flour mixd with oil for a tribut-offring; [Num. 7:61] What is most important is what dos silvr symboliz in Scriptur. I appropriatd this list from Thn Intrnational Standard Bibl Encyclopdia, vol. 4, p. 2793: 1. Th possssion of silvr indicats grat blssing and abundanc (Gn. 13:2 Job 3:15 22:25 27:16 Isa. 60:17 Zch. 9:3). 2. God's Word is compard to silvr rfind svn tims with rgard to Its purity (Psalm 12:6). 3. Pursuing and attaining knowldg is suprior to th gaining of silvr (Prov. 3:14 8:19 10:20 16:16 22:1 25:11) or so says on of th richs mn in th history of th world (Solomon, th writr of th bulk of Provrbs). 4. Th dross from th silvr rfinmnt procss was usd to illustrat th dgnracy of Isral (Isa. 1:22 Jr. 6:30). 5. Danil intrprtd th brast and coat of arms of silvr to prsnt an infrior kingdom to that of Nbuchadnzzar's (Dan. 2:32, 39). 6. Mn oftn compromis what is right in ordr to mak a living; th illustration is th silvrsmith Dmtrius, who mad gods of silvr (Acts 19:24 41). 7. Although thr is nothing wrong with making mony, a dpndnc upon silvr in th long trm is futil (Jams 5:3). 8. Finally, on of th signs of th fall of Babylon is th suddn drop off in trad of silvr and othr itms of walth (Rv. 18:9 19). 41 Th Intrnational Standard Bibl Encyclopdia, vol. 4, p

80 Numbrs Chaptr 7 80 On goldn spoon of tn [shkls], full of incns; [Num. 7:62] Takn from ZPEB, vol. 2, p. 771: gold is distributd widly throughout th arth's crust, but in small amounts. Th gold in th arth's crust is approximatly on part pr thousand million. Th proportion of popl who ar in God's plan and acting appropriatly is probably similar. In th population of th Jws, of thos two million, thr ar only thr mn of not: Moss, Calb and Joshua. And th Jws mad up a small portion of th arth's population. On part pr thousand million is not out of lin whn comparing th numbr of popl fulfilling God's plan for thir livs as compard to th numbr of popl that thr ar. On young bull, a son of th hrd, on ram, on lamb, a son of a yar; for a burnt-offring; [Num. 7:63] Each and vry day, a ladr-rprsntativ from ach of th twlv tribs (xcluding th trib of Lvit and th trib of Josph bing countd twic) brought bfor Yahwh and bfor th congrgation twnty-on animals to b slaughtrd. A mal-goat of th fmal goats on for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 7:64] "Com now, lt us rason togthr," say Yahwh. "Though your sins ar as scarlt, thy will b as whit as snow; through thy ar rd lik crimson, thy will b lik wool." (Isa. 1:18). And for th sacrific of pac offrings, two oxn, fiv rams, fiv mal goats, fiv lambs, sons of a yar this was th offring of Abidan bn Gidoni. [Num. 7:65] Now may th Lord of pac Himslf continually grant you pac in vry circumstanc. Th Lord b with you all! (II Thss. 3:16). In th tnth day, th ladr of th sons of Dan, Ahizr bn Ammishaddai. [Num. 7:66] Dan was a son through Rachl's amid. And his offring: on silvr plat, its wight a hundrd and thirty [shkls]; on silvr bowl, svnty shkls (according to th shkl of th sanctuary) both of thm full of fin flour mixd with oil for a tribut-offring; [Num. 7:67] In th outsid world, th valu and wight changs. Howvr, Jsus Christ is th sam today, ystrday and forvr. Thrfor, th wight of th silvr was masurd according to th unchanging standard of th tabrnacl. Th word for sanctuary is on that w hav studid arlir: qôdsh ( ã É ) [pronouncd ko-desh], which is a noun maning sacrdnss, apartnss, that which is holy, holy things, sanctuary. W could also hav rndrd this: according to th holy shkl or th shkl of holinss. On goldn spoon of tn [shkls], full of incns; [Num. 7:68] Takn from ZPEB, vol. 2, p. 771: sinc gold has such a high dnsity, whn it is found in sand, watr was usd to carry off th lss-dns particls, laving th flaks of gold. Having bn raisd in California, I had th mining tchniqus usd in th gold rush drilld into m. On young bull, a son of th hrd, on ram, on lamb, a son of a yar; for a burnt-offring; [Num. 7:69] For many, worship of God bcom prfunctory th burnt sacrifics oftn bcom but a ritual, just as many churchs today ar filld with a varity of rituals which th congrgation blindly gos through without thought, half

81 Th Book of Numbrs 81 aslp on a Sunday morning. "For I dlight in grac [or, mrcy], rathr than sacrific; and in th knowldg of God rathr than burnt offrings." (Hosa 6:6). A mal-goat of th fmal goats on for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 7:70] "And sh will bar a Son, and you will call His nam Jsus, for it is H who will dlivr His popl from thir sins." (Matt. 1:21). And for th sacrific of pac offrings, two oxn, fiv rams, fiv mal goats, fiv lambs, sons of a yar this was th offring of Ahizr bn Ammishaddai. [Num. 7:71] For God is not of confusion, but of pac, as in all th churchs of th saints (I Cor. 14:33). Som codics list this prson's nam as Ahizr bn Ammi-Shaddai In th lvnth day [lit., in th day of on, tn day], th ladr of th sons of Ashr, Pagil bn Ochran. [Num. 7:72] Ashr is th last son of Lah's maid. And his offring: on silvr plat, its wight a hundrd and thirty [shkls]; on silvr bowl, svnty shkls (according to th shkl of th sanctuary) both of thm full of fin flour mixd with oil for a tribut-offring; [Num. 7:73] Th flour mixd with oil spaks of th humanity of Jsus Christ filld with th Holy Spirit. On goldn spoon of tn [shkls], full of incns; [Num. 7:74] From ZPEB, vol. 2, p. 771: Gold ornamnts and utnsils go back to at last th Bronz Ag, circa 3000 BC. On st Egyptian monumnts which dat back to 2900 BC, to th 1 dynasty of Egypt, w hav th washing of gold ors dpictd (gold was found btwn th Nil and th Rd Sa). On young bull, a son of th hrd, on ram, on lamb, a son of a yar; for a burnt-offring; [Num. 7:75] Thus says Yahwh: "Har, O arth: bhold, I am bringing disastr on this popl [and on] th fruit of thir plans, bcaus thy hav not listnd to My words. And as for My law, thy hav rjctd it also. For what purpos dos frankincns com to M from Shba, and th swt can from a distant land? Your burnt offrings ar not accptabl and your sacrifics ar not plasing to M." (Jr. 6:16a, 19 20). A mal-goat of th fmal goats on for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 7:76] Thrfor, just as through on man, sin ntrd into th world, and dath through sin, and so dath sprad to all mn, bcaus all sinnd. For th wags of sin is dath, but th fr gift of God is trnal lif in Christ Jsus our Lord (Rom. 5:12 6:23). And for th sacrific of pac offrings, two oxn, fiv rams, fiv mal goats, fiv lambs, sons of a yar this was th offring of Pagil bn Ochran. [Num. 7:77] Jsus answrd thm: "Ths things I hav spokn to you, that in M you may hav pac. In th world, you hav tribulation, but tak courag; I hav ovrcom th world." (John 16:31a, 33). In th twlfth day, th ladr of th sons of Naphtali, Ahira bn Enan. [Num. 7:78]

82 Numbrs Chaptr 7 82 Naphtali is th youngst son of Rachl's maid. Ths tribal ladrs appar bfor Yahwh in th ordr that thy ar stationd around th tabrnacl, which tlls m that my chart on this is incorrct and th on in th NIV is mor accurat. And his offring: on silvr plat, its wight a hundrd and thirty [shkls]; on silvr bowl, svnty shkls (according to th shkl of th sanctuary) both of thm full of fin flour mixd with oil for a tribut-offring; [Num. 7:79] Tribut offring is th corrct rndition of this word, rathr than grain-offring; as I hav pointd out in th past, thr ar svral passags whr this word is usd and animals ar sacrificd. On goldn spoon of tn [shkls], full of incns; [Num. 7:80] Sinc gold is picturd in rlationship to walth and abundanc (Gn. 13:2 Judgs 8:26 1Kings 10:14), it rprsnts that which is th most valuabl to man on arth (Psalm 19:10 I Ptr 1:7 Rv. 21:18). It is no larg lap to s th obvious paralll btwn gold and our Lord Jsus Christ. Th incns, of cours, spaks of th swt savor of our Lord's sacrific bfor God th Fathr; it is that swt savor which givs us standing bfor God. Othrwis, w would b totally lost, without any mans of raching out to God. On young bull, a son of th hrd, on ram, on lamb, a son of a yar; for a burnt-offring; [Num. 7:81] Sacrific and a tribut offring, You hav not dsird; my ars You hav pircd [a mark of liftim slavry]; burnt offring and sin-offring You do not rquir (Psalm 40:6). A mal-goat of th fmal goats on for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 7:82] Now I mak known to you, brothrs, th gospl which I proclaimd to you, which you also rcivd, in which you stand, by which also you ar savd, if you hold fast th word which I hav prachd to you, unlss you blivd in mptinss. For I dlivrd to you as of first importanc, what I also rcivd, that Christ did for our sins according to th Scripturs (I Cor. 15:1 3). H mad Him who knw no sin, sin on our bhalf, that w might bcom th rightousnss of God in Him (II Cor. 5:21). And for th sacrific of pac offrings, two oxn, fiv rams, fiv mal goats, fiv lambs, sons of a yar this was th offring of Ahira bn Enan. [Num. 7:83] Th Word of Yahwh cam to Haggai th propht, saying, "Th lattr glory of this hous [Isral] will b gratr than th formr," says Yahwh of th armis, "And in this plac I will giv you pac," dclars Yahwh of th armis (Hag. 2:1b, 9). Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx A Summary of th Offrings Brought Bfor Yahwh This [is] th ddication of th altar, in th day of its bing anointd, by th princs of Isral; twlv silvr dishs, twlv silvrs bowls, twlv goldn spoons; [Num. 7:84] Th silvr spaks of God's rflctd glory and th gold spaks of His dity. A hundrd and thrity [shkls] ach silvr dish, and ach bowl svnty [shkls]; all th silvr of th vssls: 2400 [shkls], by th shkl of th sanctuary. [Num. 7:85]

83 Th Book of Numbrs 83 Th word shkls is implid; such would b th cas vn without th phras at th nd. Whn I gav word problm tsts and tsts ovr units to my studnts, th units involvd, in thir mind, wr oftn implid (as was th irony of som of thir answrs). Twlv goldn spoons, full of incns, tn [shkls] ach spoon by th shkl of th sanctuary; [Num. 7:86] God's sanctuary is th masur of all things. Whn Solomon built a tmpl, a prmannt hom for th Shkinah Glory, w had all th cups, snuffrs, bowls, spoons, fir pans, tc. W find this in 1Kings 7:48 51 and 2Chron. 3:3 4:22. Howvr, Isral's disobdinc to God and lack of intrst in His truth rsultd in th Chaldans ovrthrowing Jrusalm and carrying ths things away (2Kings 25:10 17). All th oxn for burnt-offring: twlv bullocks; rams twlv; lambs, sons of a yar, twlv; and thir prsnt; and kids of th goats twlv, for a sin offring; [Num. 7:87] I prsrvd th word ordr, followings Young's xampl and translation hr. And all th oxn for th sacrific of th pac-offrings ar twnty-four bullocks; rams sixty; mal goats sixty, lambs, sons of a yar, sixty; this is th ddication of th altar, in th day of its bing anointd. [Num. 7:88] I am confusd; I am counting only twlv bulls; th othr xplanation hr is that th two oxn (vv. 65, 77) ar th twlv bulls hr. And in th going in of Moss to th tnt of mting to spak with Him, h did har th voic spaking to him from off th mrcy-sat which [is] upon th ark of th tstimony, from btwn th two chrubs, and H spok to him. [Num. 7:89] This tlls us that Yahwh was prsnt in th rassmbling of th tabrnacl. O Shphrd of Isral, listn, You Who lads lik th block [of] Josph; You Who ar nthrond [btwn] th chrubim shin forth! (Psalm 88:1). Rturn to Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx

84 Numbrs 8 Numbrs 8:1 26 Outlin of Chaptr 8: Vv. 1 4 Yahwh's ordrs to rassmbl th lampstand Vv Th clansing of th Lvits for srvic Vv Ags of srvic of Lvits Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Introduction: Num. 8 dals with thr diffrnt topics: (1) Th rassmbling of th lampstand is important bcaus th function of th Jws on arth is to b th light of th world to th Gntils. (2) Th Lvits ar also st asid for srvic to Yahwh and hrin clansd. A crmony which sts thm apart to Yahwh, bought by th dath of th first-born in Egypt, occurs in this chaptr. (3) Finally, God sts up spcific ags at which tim th srvic of th Lvits will bgin and at what tim thy will rtir from physical labor (although thy might rmain on th scn in an advisory position). Yahwh's Ordrs to Rassmbl th Lampstand Ex. 21:31 40 And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 8:1] This vrs will occur thr tims in this chaptr. Vry likly, that rprsnts thr diffrnt sssions which Yahwh had with Moss. "Spak to Aaron, and you will say to him, 'In your causing th lamps to go up [or, in your raising up of th lamps], upon th front of th fac of th lampstand, th svn lamps will [b causd to] giv light.' " [Num. 8:2] This is a vry litral translation; howvr, many of th Hbrw vrbs hav bn translatd by svral words to convy thir actual manings. Th lamps (or lights, or candlsticks) will b causd to b put up by aaron, although h may not actually do it himslf. Thrfor, th word <âlâh (ä ìè òè ) [pronouncd aw-lawh], maning to go up, to ascnd, to rais up, is in th Hiphil infinitiv. In th infinitiv, w do not hav a subjct, pr s, but w can affix a suffix. Hr, that suffix was th scond masculin singular. Whn w xprss our vrbs in gnral form, w us th infinitiv of th vrb, as in to go up, to ascnd, to rais up; and I oftn do that whn giving th maning of a vrb. Howvr, in th Hbrw, vrbs xprssd in th vocabulary form ar givn in th Qal stm, just as vrbs in th Grk in vocabulary form ar givn in th prsnt activ indicativ. This accounts for th addd word to. Th Hiphil stm is causativ, maning that th rndring to rais up is most apropos. I hav not yt sn a pictur of a lampstand which would actually jiv with this dscription. Th prpositions involvd indicat clarly that thr is a front (and, by implication, a back) to th lampstand. Th first prposition is <al (ì òç ) [pronouncd al], which mans upon, against, abov, ovr; and this is followd by th prposition mûwl (ì î) [pronouncd mool ] and it mans in front of. This is followd by th word for fac. Ths two words togthr man that thr is a front to th lampstand. Th lamp was in th holy plac and th ark was in th Holy of Holis. Bcaus of th Shkinah glory, thr was no light ndd in th Holy of Holis; in th holy plac, th lamp itslf providd th light. Th lampstand rprsntd th Jws, who wr to b th light of th world, just as w as blivrs hav bcom.

85 Th Book of Numbrs 85 And Aaron did so; upon th front of th fac of th lampstand, h causd its lamps to go up [or, h raisd up its lamps], as Yahwh commandd Moss. [Num. 8:3] God always has a chain of command. God spok to Moss, Moss spok to Aaron, and Aaron causd, that is dlgatd this rsponsibility, to an unnamd Lvit (w know this by th continud us of th Hiphil, or causativ, stm in this vrs and in th prvious vrs). It is likly that Aaron wnt to th had of th partial Lvitical trib and spok to him and h had on of thos undr him actually do th placmnt of th lamps. Notic that God dos not go dirctly to th Lvit and tll him what to do. Nor dos Moss go dirctly to that Lvit and tll him what to do. Thr is a clar, spcific chain of command which is taught to us in th Hbrw. And this [was] th craftsmanship [lit., work] of th lampstand: hammrd work, gold from its bas 42 [lit., thigh] to its flowrs, it [was] a hammrd work according to th bluprint [lit., apparanc] which Yahwh had shown Moss, so h constructd [or, mad] th lampstand. [Num. 8:4] Ma ãsh (ä òâ îç ) [pronouncd mah-ðã-seh] mans dd, work; it is a rfrnc to that which has bn constructd or mad (it coms from th oft usd Hbrw vrb âsâh). I hav translatd it craftsmanship. Strong s #4639 BDB #795. Its vrbal cognat dos occur in this vrs in th Qal prfct with an unnamd subjct hr. Th h dos not rfr to Moss, Aaron or Yahwh but to th prson who actually constructd this lampstand, Bzall (Ex. 37:1, 17 23). Mar<h (ä ò ø Ó îç ) [pronouncd mahr-eh] mans vision, apparanc, sight, that which is sn. I strtchd things somwhat hr to us th word bluprint. Yahwh obviously rvald this to Moss visually and Moss ovrsaw th work to b crtain this is what was constructd. Th Clansing of th Lvits for Srvic And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 8:5] This is likly a compltly diffrnt sssion. "Tak th Lvits out from th midst of th sons of Isral, and you will clans thm. [Num. 8:6] In his attmpt to b litral, Young translats prfct tns of a vrb and translats it as though it is a compltd action. So, if you ar following along in his translation, it rads and thou hast clansd thm. Howvr, th Hbrw dos not hav a past, prsnt or futur tns; th contxt dtrmins th timing of th vrb. Th prfct tns xamins this as a compltd action, not as a sris of actions; howvr, if God is spaking to Moss, H is not tlling Moss what h has don but rathr what h will do; thrfor, I hav usd th English futur tns. I say this on bhalf of anyon who knows that I us Young's Translation as a guid (as wll as Own's trrific Analytical Ky to th Old Tstamnt). Th Lvits hav bn st apart for srvic dirctly to God, to assist Aaron and his sons, and thrfor anyon in srvic to God must b clansd. No mattr how good, kind and nic a prson is, thy ar not in srvic to God if (1) thy ar not savd and (2) thy ar not in fllowship. If I giv all my possssions and if I dlivr my gody to b burnd, but I do not hav lov [a rfrnc to th filling of th Spirit in this contxt], [thn] it profits m nothing (I Cor. 13:3). Th crmonial clansing spaks of th prfction of Jsus 43 Christ in His, th ultimat work; and on a lss important lvl, of our srvic as Christians. 42 Although th Massortic txt rads flowr, th W strn Sam arian and th Sptuagint has flowr in th plural; a rndring m ost translations agr with. 43 Allow m to go off on a tangnt hr; if you ar a nw Christian, it is possibl that th ida of bing involvd in Crhistian srvic dos not appal to you for any numbr of rasons. Do not worry about this. Plas indulg this analogy; as a 2 yar old baby, you might obsrv a football gam in prson or on tlvision and it mans absolutly nothing to you. As you grown up and join th football tam, you would lik mor than anything to play, instad of sitting th gam out. It is similar to our function in th Christian lif. W, as young Christians, may hav no dsir to play any ral part in God'splan; or w may want to jump right in without any sort of training or guidanc. W hn w spnd tim larning His W ord, w will vntually hav th dsir to bcom invovld in His plan for our livs and our involvmnt will b maningful.

86 Numbrs Chaptr 8 86 It is tim to look at th translations. If you hav a paralll Old Tstamnt, you would rad right through this vrs and not giv it a scond thought. If it wasn't for on of my sourcs, Edrshim, I might hav missd this ntirly. Th Amplifid Bibl And thus you shalldo to thm to clans thm: sprinkl th watr of purification [watr to b usd in cas of sin] upon thm... Th Emphasizd Bibl And thus you will do unto thm to purify thm, sprinkl upon thm sin-clansing watr... KJV And thus shalt thou do unto thm, to clans thm: Sprinkl watr of purifying upon thm,... NASB And thus you shall do to thm, for thir clansing: sprinkl purifying watr on thm... NIV To purify thm, do this: Sprinkl th watr of clansing on thm; NRSV Thus you shall do to thm, to clans thm: sprinkl th watr of purification on thm,... Own's Translation And thus you shall do to thm to clans thm; sprinkl upon thm th watr of xpiation... Young's Lit. Translation And thus thou dost to thm to clans thm: sprinkl upon thm watrs of atonmnt,... Excpt for th Th Emphasizd Bibl's translation, a footnot in th NASB and th Th Amplifid Bibl's rndring, you would miss this ntirly. What w find hr is watr of chaþþâ th (ú à È çç ) [pronouncd khat-tawth] and this is th word for sin or sin-offring. "And you will do this to thm to clans thm: sprinkl upon thm watrs of sin, and thy will caus a razor to pass ovr all thir flsh, and thy will wash thir garmnts, and clan thmslvs; [Num. 8:7] Mayb if you undrstood how soap works, thn this vrs would mak mor sns. Th rason soap works is that it attatchs itslf to th dirt th dirt that was attatchd to you or to your dishs or to your carpt; it acts lik a magnt; and whn you wash th soap away, th dirt it is attatchd to also is washd away. Th watrs of sin is th sam. Th watr attatchd itslf to th sin and as th watr flows off th skin, it taks th sin with it. Translating this as watrs of purification is fin, if you rcogniz that it is th watr which washs away th sin; it is idntifid with sin or it attatchs itslf to sin. Thr is littl significanc to th plural of watr; throughout th bulk of th Old Tstamnt, watr is in th plural. It is th way th Hbrws spok, just as w say pants or trousrs. You may rcogniz th shaving of th ntir body. This had also occurrd back in Lv. 14:8 9 whn a lpr was clansd. This simply symbolizs th clansing of th ntir body. All of this, of cours, is crmonial; this was a way to illustratspiritual clannss; clanlinss bfor God. For th blivr, thr ar two kinds of clannss hr on arth. W ar positionally clan whn w bliv in Jsus Christ; and w ar tmporally clan whnvr w hav namd our sins to Him. Wash m thoroughly from my iniquity and clans m from my sin. For I know my transgrssions, and my sin s vr bfor m. Purify m with hyssop and I will b clan; wash m and I will b whitr than snow (Psalm 51:2 3, 7). Howvr, this is all crmonial. But whn Christ appard as a high prist of th good things to com through th gratr and mor prfct tabrnacl, not mad with hands, that is to say, not of this cration; and not through th blood of goats and calvs, but through His own blood, H ntrd th holy plac onc for all, having obtaind trnal rdmption. For if th blood of goats and bulls and th ashs of a hifr sprinkling thos who hav bn dfild, sanctify for th clansing of th flsh, how much mor will th blood of Christ, Who, through th trnal Spirit, offrd Himslf without blmish to God, clans your conscinc from dad works to srv to living God (Hb. 9:11 15). Th tru clansing is th blood of Jsus Christ His spiritual dath on th cross, His paymnt for our sins upon th cross. Aftr that, w ar tmporally clansd through rbound, th naming of our sins to God which is simpl and nonmritorious as th paymnt for ths sins was mad on th cross w mrly acknowldg that fact.

87 Th Book of Numbrs 87 "And thy will tak a young bull, a son of th hrd, and its tribut-offring, flour mixd with oil, and a scond bull, a son of th hrd you will tak for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 8:8] W continually s th animal takn out from th hrd, just as our Lord Jsus Christ was takn out of th population of th Jws and was mad sin for us. Th flour mixd with oil spaks of th humanity of our Lord filld with th Holy Spirit. "And you will caus th Lvits to approach bfor [lit., to th fac of] th tnt of mting and you will assmbl th ntir congrgation of th popl of Isral. [Num. 8:9] Moss is th you in this vrs. H is th on who will approach th tnt of mting with th Lvits and h will b th on to assmbl th ntir congrgation of Isral. Th Hiphil stm is causativ, so Moss causd th Lvits to approach. "And you will caus th Lvits to approach bfor th fac of Yahwh and th popl of Isral will lay thir hands upon th Lvits. [Num. 8:10] Th laying on of hands has thr sparat connotations: (1) It is a way of idntifying. Th Lvits ar st apart to God and th Isralits ar idntifid with th Lvits. (2) Th laying on of hands oftn is a mans of confrring, and th spiritual vocation of th Lvits is rcognizd by th sons of Isral confrrd upon thm. (3) Finally, th laying on of hands indicats a substitution has takn plac. Th sinnr oftn was instructd to lay his hands on th animal sacrific bfor it was slaughtrd; hr, th Lvits ar substitutd for th first-born of Isral. It's tim to s how svral translations rndrd th nxt phras: Th Amplifid Bibl Th Emphasizd Bibl KJV NIV NRSV Young's Lit. Translation And Aaron shall prsnt th Lvits bfor th LORD... and Aaron shall offr th Lvits as a wav-offring bfor Yahwh... And Aaron shall offr th Lvits bfor th LORD... Aaron is to prsnt th Lvits bfor th LORD as a wav offring... And Aaron shall prsnt th Lvits bfor th LORD as an lvation offring... and Aaron hath wavd th Lvits a wav-offring bfor Jhovah,... This vrs dos bgin with a conjunction and th subjct is Aaron. Th vrb is th Hiphil prfct of nûwph (ó ð) [pronouncd noof]. According to BDB, th tchnical us of this word is that prist would tak an offring and lift it up toward th altar and thn mov it away, back to himslf, as it wr, to rprsnt that this is bing offrd to Yahwh and Yahwh has givn it back to thm. So, in this vrs, Aaron prsnts th Lvits to Yahwh, but thn rcivs thm back as a prsnt to himslf and his sons. "And Aaron will prsnt [lit., wav] th Lvits a wav-offring bfor th fac of Yahwh, from among th sons of Isral; thy ar to srv th srvic [or, to work th work] of Yahwh. [Num. 8:11] T'nûwphâh (äôè ð ) [pronouncd t'noo-phawh] is obviously closly rlatd to nûwph. Oftn, in th Hbrw, a Ó noun is formd from th vrb by adding an âh nding. Hr, it is prcdd by a t as wll. This is a wav-offring for want of a bttr trm. This is th offring which th prist brings toward th altar and thn taks it away, signifying that th offring is givn to God and thn rcivd back to thm. Th Lvits ar offrd to Yahwh, givn wholly ovr to Him; and God th prsnts thm to Aaron and his sons for thir srvic to Him. Th scond portion of this vrs appars to b gnrally as poorly dalt with as th first. Own's rads: from th popl of Isral that it may b thirs to do th srvic of Yahwh; th NASB: from th sons of Isral, that thy may qualify [footnotd as lit., b abl] to prform th srvic of th LORD; and Young's Translation is qually abstrus: from th sons of Isral, and thy hav bn for doing th srvic of Jhovah. This is not difficult. Thr ar two prpositions, mîn (sparation is implid) and êth (ú àå) [pronouncd ayth] and it simply mans with, among. This

88 Numbrs Chaptr 8 88 is a littl tricky as this sam word is oftn untranslatd and usd to dsignat a dirct objct. Th contxt hr tlls us how this is to b usd. Th w hav th simpl vrb to b in th Qal prfct with a masculin plural subjct, mystriously rndrd by Own (and th RSV) as that it may b thirs. Hllo! This is simply thy ar. This is followd by th prposition b to (th prfixd lâmd) and th Qal infinitiv construct of to srv, to work; that is, th vrb â vad (ã áç òè) b [pronouncd ìaw -VAHD]; from this vrb is built th words for srvant, srvic (work), and labor. Strong's #5647 BDB #712. Th noun cognat is found immdiatly aftrward. Th maning is simpl; thy Lvits ar ddicatd to God, st apart to Yahwh, offrd to thir Lord; and thn Yahwh rturnd thm to Aaron for srvic to Aaron and his sons to do th work of Yahwh. Why this was not simply litrally rndrd by ths translations, I do not know. W hav a similar situation back in Lv. 7:30 34: th brast of th wav offring was brought bfor God. It was likly brought toward th altar, but not burnd, and thn takn away. Whn it is brought bfor Yahwh, brought is in th imprfct and not prfct tns, as though w hav a procss and not a compltd action. Thrfor, it is possibl that this was brought to th altar and takn away and thn this may hav bn rpatd svral tims. In any cas, this portion of th pac-offring th brast and th thigh was givn to Aaron and his sons (Lv. 8:31 32). "And th Lvits will lay thir hands on th had of th bulls and you will mak [lit., do] th on a sin-offring and th on a burnt-offring to Yahwh, to covr [or, aton] for th Lvits; [Num. 8:12] In this vrs w hav a clar cas of panadiplosis [pronouncd EP-an-a-di-PLO-sis] whr a sntnc bgins and nds with th sam word. A complt circl or compltnss is implid in a vrs lik this; thr has bn a statmnt of complt truth and its bginning and nd ar both markd. Th idntification with th bulls and thir sacrific as a sin-offring and as a burnt-offring is a complt offring, just as what our Lord did on th cross was compltly fficacious on our bhalf; that is, His work, His dath, compltly blottd out th list of sins and ordinancs against us. Th laying on of hands is idntification and th Lvits idntifid thmslvs with th bulls. Th bulls stood for Jsus Christ bing judgd (burnt) for our sins (th sin-offring). How this was don, whthr a fw did this as rprsnting th Lvit trib, it is not rvald to us hr. Thr could hav bn a procssion, but that is not implid hr ithr. "And you will caus th Lvits to stand bfor Aaron, and bfor his sons, and you hav 44 prsntd [lit., wavd] thm [as] a wav-offring to Yahwh; [Num. 8:13] Furthrmor, it is not rvald whthr th Lvits movd forward toward th altar and back again; with th us of ths vrbs and th fact that th Jws wr vry dmonstrativ, it would sm as though ths movmnts wr don. "And you will sparat th Lvits from th midst of th sons of Isral, and th Lvits ar [or, will b] Min; [Num. 8:14] It is in th book of Numbrs that w ha th spcific dutis of th Lvits and thir calling out, as opposd to th book having thir nam, Lviticus. 45 "And aftrwards th Lvits will go in to srv th tnt of mting and you will hav clansd thm, and you hav prsntd [lit., wavd] thm a wav-offring. [Num. 8:15] Possibly bfor th fac of Yahwh as pr th codics: th W strn Onkolos, th targums of Jonathan and th Sptuagint. Possibly to srv th srvic as pr svral of th codics.

89 Th Book of Numbrs 89 As bfor, th tnss givn ths vrbs ar rasonabl, givn th contxt. Not rcalling my English, it sounds as though I hav usd a prfctiv futur hr (or somthing lik that) to rfr to a compltd action in futur tim. Whn thy go in to srv th tnt of mting (an vnt futur from Yahwh spaking to Moss), this will follow Moss having prsntd thm to God, an action futur from th tim of spaking, but past with rgards to thir ddicatd srvic. "For thy ar compltly givn [lit., thy ar th givn, thy ar th givn] to M from th midst of th sons of Isral, instad of him who opns any womb th first-born of all from among 46 th sons of Isral, I hav takn thm to Myslf; [Num. 8:16] God had purchasd th first-born of Isral with th first-born of Egypt; "St apart to M vry first-born, th first offspring of vry womb from among th sons of Isral, both of man and bast; it blongs to M." (Ex. 13:2). Hr, H has xchangd or substitutd th Lvits for th first-born. This fits in with th grat thms of th Old Tstamnt: atonmnt (or, covring) of sin, sacrific, rdmption, slavry, clansing, substitution, th first-born. Evry major thm in th Old Tstamnt is a shadow of th good things to com. "For vry first-born from among th sons of Isral, among man and among bast[is] Min; in th day of My striking vry first-born in th land of Egypt, I sanctifid thm for Myslf; [Num. 8:17] Sanctifid, rcall, is th vrb qâdash ( ãç È ) [pronouncd kaw-dahsh] and it mans conscrat, sanctify, ddicat, hallow. Thr ar a whol st of words which w hav xamind wich man holy, sacrd, apart from, st apart to, tc. Th ntir concpt is that God purchasd ths in Isral through th dath of th first-born, through th sacrific of th first-born whn God judgd and struck down th first-born. Similarly, h would purcha all of us through th judgmnt and striking down of His first-born and w would b thrby st apart to Him. You wr bought with a pric; do not bcom th slavs of mn (I Cor. 7:23). "And I tak th Lvits instad of vry first-born among th sons of Isral; [Num. 8:18] Again, w hav th grat thm of substitution. Just as God's Son will b our substitut for judgmnt, so th Lvits wr substitutd for th first-born. "And I giv th Lvits gifts [lit., givn ons] to Aaron and to his sons, from th midst of th sons of Isral, to srv th srvic [or, work th work] of th sons of Isral in th tnt of mting, and to mak atonmnt for th sons of Isral, and thr is not a plagu among th sons of Isral in th sons of Isral's approaching th sanctuary." [Num. 8:19] This givs us a bttr ida of what a wav offring is. Th Lvits ar prsntd bfor God for His srvic and God givs thm to Aaron for srvic to Aaron and his sons. Giving is a procss of rciving blssings from God and rturnd som of thos blssings to Himand having Him rturn ths blssings to you. Our srvic to God is similar God has givn His Son for our salvation and w giv ourslvs to Him in srvic and H givs to us grat spiritual and matrial blssings. Th ida of a wav offring is not so much lik waving your hand but mor lik th wavs of th ocan, which mov backward and forward. God has a plan for vry blivr in vry dispnsation. No on is unimportant. In th church ag, this is vn mor tru, as vryon has bn baptizd with th Spirit and vryon has rcivd at last on spiritual gift. Now concrning spiritual [gifts], brothrs, I do not want you to b ignorant...thr ar varitis of gifts, but th sam Spirit. And thr ar varitis of ffcts, but th sam God who works all things in all. But to ach on is givn th manifstation of th Spirit for th common good. For on is givn th word of wisdom throught th Spirit, and to anothr th word of knowldg according to th sam Spirit; to anothr, faith by th sam Spirit, and to 47 anothr, gifts of haling by th on Spirit, and to anothr th ffcting of works of powr [i.., miracls] and to 46 Th wstrn Samarian, th Onkolos, Syriac and Vulgat hav just among rathr than from among. 47 Rcall that this passag is from th first portion of th church ag whn thr wr halings, miracls and popl spok in forign languags that thy did not know in ordr to vangliz th Jws as a fulfillmnt of Isa. 28:10 13.

90 Numbrs Chaptr 8 90 naothr prophcy, and to anothr th distinguishing of spirits and to anothr [th ability to spak] various forign languags, and to anothr th intrprtation of [ths] languags. But on and th sam Spirit work all ths things, distributing to ach on individually, just as H wills. For vn as th body is on and has many mmbrs, and all th mmbrs of th body, thought thy ar many, ar on body, so also is Christ. For by on Spirit w wr all baptizd into on body, whthr Jws or Grks, whthr slavs or fr, and w wr all mad to drink of on Spirit. For th body is not on mmbr, but many. If th foot should say, "Bcaus I am not a hand, I am not of th body," it is not for this rason any th lss of th body. And if th ar should say, "Bcau I am not an y, I am not of th body," it is not for this rason any th lss of th body. If th whol body wr an y, whr would th haring b? If th whol wr haring, whr would th sns of smll b? But now God has placd th mmbrs, ach on of thm, in th body just as H dsird. And if thy wr all on mmbr, whr would th body b? But now, thr ar many mmbrs, but on body. And th y cannnot say to th hand, "I hav no nd of you"; or again, th had to th ft, "I hav no nd of you." On th contrary, it is much trur that mmbrs of th body which sm to b wakr ar ncssary (I Cor. 12:1, 3 21). In fact, if anything, thr is a much gratr importanc placd upon th blivr who is inconspicuous. Th oldr widow who prays two hours a day, th walthy bnfactor who quitly givs to a church without strings, th prson who might spnd thr or four hours a day studying. As I hav mntiond, thr ar blivrs whos shouldrs I stand upon that you hav nvr hard of who faithfully did work in th original languags, an absolutly ncssary but thanklss job that som Christians actually dngrat bcaus it is complicatd and dos not always support thir own viwpoints. Th Lvits also act as a protctiv barrir, a hdg against attack from God. Thy ar to b th salt of th land thos in srvic to God, thos whos prsnc in Isral will kp Isral saf from God's wrath and His plagus. Blivrs today in a nation also protct that nation from God's wrath. Th Unitd Stats is a dcadnt nation, but it has bn prosprd and blssd du to a small pivot of matur blivrs. Bcaus I know how som of you think, you mind is thinking, I'll just mak th bst us of th grat blssing givn by God and I will allow somon ls to b th matur pivot. W ar all sons of God, and as such ar subjct to disciplin. So vn though w liv in a nation of grat matrial walth and blssing, w who try God's patinc will b svrly disciplind. Hav you forgottn th xhortation which is addrssd to you as sons? "My son, do not rgard lightly th disciplin of th Lord nor faint whn you ar rprovd by Him. for thos whom th Lord lovs, H disciplins and H scourgs vry son whom H rivd." It is for disciplin that you ndur; God dals with you as with sons; for what son is thr whom his fathr dos not disciplin? But if you ar without disciplin, of which all hav bcom partakrs, thn you ar illgitimat childrn and not sons. Furthrmor, w had arthly fathrs to ddsciplin us, and w rspctd thm; shall w not much rathr b subjct to th Fathr of spirits and liv? for thy disciplind us for a short tim as smd bst to thm, but H dsiciplins us for good, that w may shar His holnss. All disciplin for th momnt sms not to b joyful, but sorrowful; yt, to thos who hav bn traind by it, aftrwards it yilds th pacful fruit of rightousnss (Hb. 12:5 11 Prov. 3:11 12). And Moss did [this] and Aaron and all th congrgation of th sons of Isral in rgard to th Lvits according to all that Yahwh had commandd Moss concrning th Lvits; so hav th sons of Isral don to thm. [Num. 8:20] For a long tim, a lot of things ran smoothly for th Isralits God gav a st of dirctivs and Moss saw to it that ths dirctivs wr followd to th lttr. For thos who know what is coming, you kp waiting for th ax to fall. It will fall in Num. 11. Thus far, sinc many of th dgnrat idolators wr liminatd back in th incidnt of th goldn calf, Moss and th popl hav bn vry obdint to all of Yahwh's commands. Howvr, coming up in Num. 11, thy will murmur against His grat provisions for thm hr on arth and that will b th bginning of th nd. Our rlationship to God rquirs mor than lgalistic obdinc. Th bginning of v. 21 is intrsting: Th Amplifid Bibl And th Lvits clansd and purifid thmslvs... Th Emphasizd Bibl And th Lvits accptd th clansing from sin,... KJV And th Lvits wr purifid... NASB Th Lvits, too, purifid thmslvs from sin... NIV Th Lvits purifid thmslvs... NRSV Th Lvits purifid thmslvs from sin...

91 Th Book of Numbrs 91 Own's Translation Young's Lit. Translation And purifid thmslvs from sin th Lvits... And th Lvits clans thmslvs... Th bginning vrb is not what you would xpct to find hr. W would xpct th third prson masculin plural, Hithpal imprfct of þâhêr (ø äå èè ) [pronouncd taw-hair] which simply mans to b clansd. Th Hithpal is th 48 intnsiv rflxiv; thy act upon thmslvs and th vrb is intnsifid. Our morphology would b corrct but th vrb would b wrong. Th vrb hr, surprisingly nough, is châtâ (à èèçè ) [pronouncd khaw-taw], th vrb for sin, dviat, subvrt [th Law]. Howvr, whn this vrb is found in th Pil, it appars to man unsin, purify (Pil prfct: Ex. 29:36 Lv. 14:52 Num. 19:19 Ezk. 43:20, 22 45:18; Pil Infinitiv: Lv. 14:49 Ezk. 43:23; Pil imprfct: Gn. 31:39 Lv. 8:15 9:15 2Chron. 29:24 Psalm 51:9; Pil participl: Lv. 6:26; and th Hithpal 49 futur: Num. 8:21 19:12, 13, 20 31:19, 20, 23 Job 41:25). I wondr if thr might b just a complt idntification with sin hr? This will tak som mor study; howvr, for right now, I will tak th asy way out and go with th scholarship to dat. Th Brown Driv Briggs gos into dtail with this vrb in th Qal stms and thir variations, but only dvots a pararaph to th Pil and rlatd stms. Alfrd Edrshim suggsts th 50 translation unsinnd. 51 And th Lvits wr purifying thmslvs [from sin], and thy wr washing thir garmnts, and Aaron was prsnting [lit., waving] thm a wav-offring bfor th fac of Yahwh, and Aaron was making a covring [or, atonmnt] for thm to clans thm; [Num. 8:21] Th actual activitis involvd in this clansing procss ar wn hr as a procss and not as a compltd action. From God's standpoint, from th standpoint of His dirctivs, ths things wr mandatd and th action was sn as compltd; howvr, from th viwpoint of th Isralits, this was a procss which took tim in ordr to fulfill th dmands of Yahwh. And aftrward, th Lvits hav gon in to do [lit., srv] thir srvic at th tnt of mting, bfor th fac of Aaron and bfor th fac of his sons; as Yahwh had commandd Moss concrning th Lvics, so thy hav don to thm. [Num. 8:22] Onc th Lvits had bn crmonially clansd, thy wr fit to srv Yahwh at His holy tnt of mting. I do not bliv that thy actually wnt insid as a gnral rul; that sms to b rsrvd for th sons of Aaron, just as only th high prist could go into th Holy of Holis. This is analogous to Paul, who offrd to God th Gntils. But I hav writtn vry boldly to you on som points, so as to rmind you again, bcaus of th grac that was givn m from God; to b a ministr of Christ Jsus to th Gntils, ministring as a prist th gospl of God, that [my] offring of th Gntils might bcom accptabl, sanctifid by th Holy Spirit (Rom. 16:15 16). If you hav nvr studid th Old Tstamnt, you hav no apprciation for th analogy which Paul was drawing. H brings th Gntils to God as a wav offring, bringing thm to God and thn God givs thm back to th population for srvicd to Him. Paul is just lik Aaron or his sons, th prists, offring th Lvits to God aftr having clansd thm. Thr ar som similaritis and svral significant diffrncs btwn th ordination of th prists and th clansing of th Lvits: 52 Th Prists Th Lvits Th prists wr mad holy. Lv. 8:30 Th Lvits wr mad clan. Num. 8:6 7, W actually don't hav a univrsally rcognizd rflxtiv form of th Qal stm; th passiv of th Qal th Niphal stm can b rflxiv This is a dfinativ listing of vrss. Bibl HIstory Old Tstamnt, by Alfrd Edrshim, 1995, p Or, possibly, th Lvits wr idntifying thm slvs with sin and washd thir cloths. This is takn from a footnot in th NIV Study Bibl, p. 200.

92 Numbrs Chaptr 8 92 Th Prists Th prists wr anointd and washd. Lv. 8:6, 10, 12 Th Lvits Th Lvits wr sprinkld. Num. 8:7 Th prists rcivd nw garmnts. Lv. 8:7 9 Th Lvits washd thir clothing. Num. 8:7, 21 A bull and two rams wr sacrificd; blood was applid to th prists. Lv. 8:15, 24 Two bulls wr sacrificd, but nothing was said of thir blood. Num. 8:8 Th prists wr ssntially givn to th Isralits; God had thm prform all of th sacrifics. Lv. 6:9, 20 Th Lvits wr a gift to th prists; thy wr a wav offring Num. 8:11, 19, 21 Ags of Srvic of Lvits And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 8:23] Now that th Lvits ar clansd and st asid for God's purpos, w turn to anothr topic: "This [is] that which [is] th Lvits: from a son of twnty-fiv yars and upward, h will go in to srv th host [lit., army] in th srvic of th tnt of mting; [Num. 8:24] This appars to contradict th information givn us in Num. 4:3 whr it appars as though th tim of srvic would fall btwn th ags of thirty and fifty. Howvr, that was a cnsus takn for a particular rsponsibility. It is likly that btwn th ags of twnty-fiv and thirty, a Lvit would go through a priod of training and obsrvation, an apprnticship. W hav a similar cnsus takn by David in 1Chron. 23:3. In 1Chron. 23:24, whr David apparntly lowrd th ag of srvic of th Lvits to twnty. "And from a son of fifty yars h will rtir from srvic [lit., rturn from th army of th srvic] and h will not srv any mor; [Num. 8:25] God dos st up a spcific rtirmnt ag, that bing ag fifty for thos srving as Lvits. This dos not man that all srvants of God should rtir from Christian srvic at ag fifty. Thr ar som who should rtir, prhaps, or pursu othr aras of srvic and fifty striks m as bing quit young. Howvr, th rsponsibilitis of th Lvits primarily was that of moving th things of th tabrnacl and th walls and around ag forty is whn I lost th romanticism of moving. It is important to b matchd with a propr position and this dfinitly implis that ag fifty is a good cut off for strnuous physical labor. "And h will ministr with his brothrs in th tnt of mting, to kp th charg [or, rsponsibility] yt [lit., and] not to do th srvic; thus you do to th Lvits concrning thir charg [or, rsponsibility]." [Num. 8:26] Rcall that mish'mrth (ú ø î Ó îò ) [pronouncd mish'meh-rth] rfrs to a charg, a rsponsibility or commission. Th Lvits did a lot of grunt work; that is, a lot of physical labor. Whn thy movd from camp to camp, th Lvits took down th tabrnacl and its primtr and carrid it from plac to plac. Howvr, by ag fifty, thy wr rlivd of this work, although thy wr allowd to assist or advis th youngr Lvits in thir srvic.

93 Numbrs 9 Numbrs 9:1 23 Outlin of Chaptr 9: Vv God's dirctivs for th scond Passovr Vv A summary of God's gographical will for th childrn of Isral Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Introduction: Num. 9 is a summary passag, writtn long aftr it occurrd, just as Ex. 40 was writtn long aftr it occurrd. Th first half of this chaptr focuss in on th first Passovr and God's commandmnts prtaining thrto. Th scond portion dals with God's dirctiv will in th livs of th Isralits, lading thm through th dsrt. A pattrn had bn stablishd by this tim, indicating that Moss wrot this long aftr it actually occurrd. Furthrmor, th tim givn in Num. 9:1 is prior to th tim of Num. 1:1, indicating that Moss wrot this from mmory or from nots and arrangd this information topically. This indicats to m that from somwhr nar th nd of Exodus to at last this far in Numbrs, Moss wrot that portion long aftr it all occurrd. What is quit hlpful to us in Num. 9 (and 10) is a tim fram is givn to us by implication. W, as Wstrnrs, tnd to think linarlly and chronologically, and th nd of Exodus (from Ex. 33 on), all of Lviticus and th first nin chaptrs of Numbrs ar not xactly in chronological ordr, but in a topical ordr as this information was brought to th hand of Moss whn h rcordd it. Most of th incidnts rcordd wr in a chronological ordr and thy would b intrsprsd with information rcivd from God. Moss spnt ighty days on top of th Mount of Sinai, God psaking to him. Do you think that h got th Tn Commandmnts and thn God said, "Cool your hls, boy and lt's wait till th Jws gt thmslvs in troubl." God taught Moss th Law and vrything that was xpctd by th Law. During th passags which rad, and God spok to Moss on Mount Sinai (Lv. 25:1), this cam from on of ths two tims upon Mount Sinai. Whn God spok to Moss from th tnt of mting, this would hav occurrd aftr th compltion of th tabrnacl at th foot of Mount Sinai (Lv. 1:1) or in th tnt pitchd outsid th camp (Ex. 33:7 11). Whn God spok to Moss in th dsrt of Mount Sinai, this would hav bn ithr aftr thy st out on a journy or outsid th camp prior to th building of th tabrnacl (I havn't dcidd which yt). Now, how do w know that Ex. 33 Num. 9 was not rcordd as givn by God in a day-by-day fashion? Two rasons: (1) Ex. 40:34 38 and Num. 9:15 23 both ar summary vrss of th travls of Isral through th dsrt. That is, both look at th ncampmnts of Isral and th travls of Isral from a prspctiv of svral yars of movmnt a pattrn was obsrvd and rcordd. This indicats to us that th information containd in ths two passags, and, thrfor, vrything in btwn, was writtn aftr such a pattrn was stablishd. Furthrmor, Ex. 33 contains th ordrs to st out and Num. 10 is th fulfillmnt of ths ordrs. In btwn, w hav th construction of th tabrnalc, tabrnacl worship, tc. God's Dirctivs for th Scond Passovr Ex. 12:1 20, And Yahwh spok to Moss, in th dsrt of Sinai, in th scond yar of thir going out of th land of Egypt, in th first month, saying, [Num. 9:1] This vrs tlls us a coupl of things. First of all, Num. 1 9 was all writtn aftr th mov from th foot of th mountains of Sinai. Thus far, th Jws campd at Mount Sinai whn Moss wnt up to rciv th Law; thy campd along th foot of th mountains of Sinai, and now thy hav lft th mountains for th dsrt. During th mov and immdiatly aftr th mov, Moss rcivd divin rvlation from God and h ithr kpt it in his mind or h took nots. Howvr, this is th final vrsion or his final rvision and it is obvious that if Num. 9:1 occurrd prior to Num. 1:1 that Moss is not rcording this as it occurs, in chronological ordr, but in a topical ordr. This taks som gtting usd to as my prsonal prfrnc is chronological ordr and I will likly tach most of th Old

94 Numbrs Chaptr 9 94 and Nw Tstamnts in chronological ordr. It is likly that this chaptr is logically insrtd hr, somwhat out of ordr. "Also, th sons of Isral ar to prpar [lit., will do] th Passovr in its appointd sason; [Num. 9:2] Thr is a spcific rason that this chaptr is prsntd out of chronological ordr. Whn God spok to Moss, it was to lt Moss know that first and formost what must b don in th vry nar futur is th Passovr. This is not a crmony which can b skippd for any rason. Thrfor, th Jws wr first to rct th tabrnacl as pr Ex. 40:2 and 17, on th first day of th first month. Thn thy wr to obsrv th Passovr. Thn thy would b on th mov, first clansing th Lvits and thn dismantling th tabrnacl. Th ordrs to prform th Passovr took plac prior to th ordrs concrning th Lvits and th dismantling and th moving of th tabrnacl. And th fulfillmnt of God's dirctivs would tak plac in th following ordr: first th obsrvanc of th scond Passovr, thn th Lvits would b clansd for srvic (as it would mak sns for thm to b clansd prior to rndring thir srvics in th moving of th tabrnacl); thn thy would mov th tabrnacl and a march would bgin, with ncampmnt taking plac as pr th pictur givn in Num. 2; finally, th tabrnacl would b st up onc again. "In th fourtnth day day of this month btwn th vnings, you all will prpar it in its appointd sason according to all its statuts and acording all its ordinancs you will prpar it." [Num. 9:3] Btwn th vnings has traditionally bn at th nd of on day, and th bginning of anothr which is sunst, whn calculatd by Jwish tim. In Num. 9:1, it is th first month of th scond yar, probably at th first of th month. This dirctiv is for th fourtnth of this sam month (Num. 9:3). Aftr th Passovr, Yahwh spaks to Moss again on th first day of th scond month in th scond yar (Num. 1:1). It is likly that th bulk of th matrial writtn btwn Ex. 40:17 and Num. 9:3 was writtn quit a bit aftr th fact, as Moss brought this information to mind. And Moss spok to th sons of Isral to prpar [lit., do] th Passovr; [Num. 9:4] Th tabrnacl has just bn rctd for th first tim not but a day or a wk prvious and Moss spaks to th popl. Th clansing of th Lvits and th moving of th tabrtnacl tak plac subsqunt to this vrs. And thy prpard th Passovr in th first [month] on th fourtnth day of th month, btwn th ving, in th dsrt of Sinai, according to all that Yahwh had commandd Moss, so th sons of Isral did. [Num. 9:5] What w hav btwn Ex. 40:2 and this point in tim is th honymoon. God commands th Isralits and thy oby. Thy ar happy and thy arn't complaining. Whn it is tim to clbrat th Passovr, thy do. In th past svral vrss, w hav had th sam vrb, <âsâh, maning to do, to construct, in svrfal diffrnt forms. In v. 3, it occurs twic in th 2nd prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct all th sons of Isral prformd th action of th vrb and it was lookd upon as a procss. In v. 4, th sam vrb is in th Qal infinitv construct, corrctly translatd to do. Finally in v. 5, <âsâh occurs twic again, first in th 3rd prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct th sons of Isral bgin to go through th procss fulfilling God's commands; and finally, at th nd of v. 5, <âsâh is found in th 3rd prson plural, Qal prfct, maning th action of th vrb is sn as compltd. Thn thr mn wr wr unclan by a human soul, and thy hav not bn abl to prpar [lit., to do] th Passovr on that day, and thy approachd bfor th facs of Moss and bfor Aaron on that day; [Num. 9:6] Now w gt a bttr ida as to th rason for th ordr of ths chaptrs. Moss rcordd things as thy wnt wll. Hr is th first hint of troubl. Yahw's dirctivs wr clar. Anyon who was crmonially unclan for

95 Th Book of Numbrs 95 any rason could not tak part in spiritual activity. It did not mattr if thy mant it to happn or not. Sincrity is not th issu. You can b as sincr as possibl and if you ar unclan that is, if you ar out of fllowship thn your srvic to God is maninglss. Th mony you giv, th amount of tim you spnd praying, all th witnssing that you do is all worthlss. And thir spiritual worship would b maninglss bcaus thy ar unclan. And thos mn said to him, "W ar dfild by a soul of a man; why ar w prvntd so as not to approach with th offring of Yahwh in its appointd sason in th midst of th sons of Isral?" [Num. 9:7] Mss' Fathr-in-law suggstd: "Furthrmor, you will slct out of all th popl abl mn who far God, mn of truth, thos who hat dishonst gain; and you will plac [ths mn] ovr thm ladrs of thousands, of hundrds of fiftis and of tns. And lt thm judg th popl at all tims; and lt it b that vry major disput thy will bring to you, but vry minor disput, thy thmslvs will judg." (Ex. 18:21 22a). Th logical xtnsion of this is that if Moss could not dcid, thn h took th mattr bfor Yahwh. If you ar stupid, you ar thinking, bully for thm; thy ar dmanding to worship God! Sorry, but you ar 100% wrong. Thos who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in doctrin. You cannot com to God unclan and xpct anything to com of it othr than disciplin. You cannot do a right thing in a wrong way and xpct God to blss you or to tak notic of you. Ths mn ar sincr and thy ar wrong. This rvals an undrcurrnt of disobdinc to God that w hav not sn hrtofor. Moss includd this hr as a forshadowing of what was to com. This logically had to occur at th tim Yahwh had mandatd th scond obsrvanc of th Passovr. So from Ex. 40 until now, w hav just hard what occurrd that was good and how Moss and th sons of Isral obyd th mandats of God. Now w will obsrv a chang. And Moss said to thm, "Wait a minut, boys [lit., all of you, stand], that I may har what Yahwh will command concrning you." [Num. 9:8] W alrady know or think w know God's rspons hr. Hll no! Howvr, prpar to b surprisd. And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 9:9] This will giv us th divin viwpoint rgarding this: "Spak to th sons of Isral, saying, 'Evn though a man is unclan by a soul or in a distant journy (or you [spcifically] or of your gnrations), yt h has prpard a Passovr to Yahwh; [Num. 9:10] Hr is th if portion of this: a prson is unclan du to contact with a dad prson or thy happn to b away from th camp during a Passovr; this mans that this ordinanc shall stand forvr. Now on thing which I would hat for you to miss in this documnt is th unclannss associatd with dath. This is mntiond in vv. 6, 7 and 10 a contmporary to ths vnts would crtain writ about this bcaus so many of thos in th Exodus gnration ar dying; howvr, it would mak no sns to includ this kind of matrial if this book wr writtn, say, a hundrd yars aftr ths vnts occurrd, and vn lss sns for this matrial to b includd in a book writtn hundrds of yars aftr ths vnts (as som hav assrtd). "In th scond month on th fourtnth day btwn th vnings, thy will do it; thy will at it with unlavnd brad and bittr hrbs. [Num. 9:11] Tim must still pass and thy might hav to go through a crmonial clansing similar to that found in Lv. 21:1 2, 11, which applis to prists. Th NIV Study Bibl providd a good obsrvation hr: Th Lord thus dmonstrats th rality of th distanc that unclannss brings btwn a blivr and his (or hr) participation in th worship

96 Numbrs Chaptr of th community, but h also provids a mrciful altrnativ. Out of fllowship, w hav no rlationship to God's plan. W ar afar off. W must bcom clan, ntr into fllowship again, and thn w may participat in His plan. "Thy will lav non of it until th morning and thy will not brak a bon of it according to all th statut for th Passovr, thy will kp it. [Num. 9:12] Th Passovr lamb is Jsus Christ and on th cross, not a bon of his body was to b brokn. "It is to b atn in a singl hous; you will not bring forth any of th flsh outsid of th hous, nor ar you to brak any bon of it" (Ex. 12:46). Yahwh is nar to th broknhartd and dlivrs thos who ar grac-orintd. Many ar th afflictions of th rightous, but Yahwh dlivrs him out of thm all. H kps all his bons; not on of thm is brokn. Evil will slay h wickd; and thos who hat th rightous will b concmnd. Yahwh rdms to soul of His srvants and non of thos who tak rfug in Him will b condmnd (Psalm 34:19 22). I fl sorry for th xgt in Old Tstamnt tims who had to xplain this bit about th no brokn bons. In th midst of saving th grac-orintd and th rdming of th souls of his srvants, suddnly th Psalmist points out that that H kps all his bons; not on of thm is brokn. That would b tough to xplain xcpt in th light of what has transpird. Only John was thr at th crucifixion, so h obsrvd mor dtails than is found in th othr of th gospls. His Grk is dcptivly simpl, maning that ithr Grk was not his original languag or h was not xcpitonally bright. Nvrthlss, his gospl is packd with information not found i th othrs: Th Jws, thrfor, bcaus it was th day of prparation, so that th bodis should not rmain on th cross on th Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), aksd Pilat that thir lgs might b brokn and thy might b takn away. Th soldirs thrfor cam, and brok th lgs of th first man, and of th othr man who was crucifid with Him; abut coming to Jsus, whn thy saw that H was alrady dad, thy did not brak His lgs; but on of th soldirs pirc His chst with a spar, and immdiatly thr cam out blood clots and srum {lit., blood and watr]. And h who has sn has born witnss, and his witnss if tru; and h knows that h is tlling th truth, so that you also may bliv. For ths things cam to pass, that th Scriptur might b fulfilld, "Not of bon of Him shall b brokn." (John 19: 36). "And th man who is clan, and has not bn on a journy and has casd to prpar [lit., to do] th Passovr, vn that prson has bn cut off from his popl; bcaus h has not approachd with th offring of Yahwh in its appointd sason, that man will bar his sin. [Num. 9:13] Th Passovr is th sacrific which most closly parallls th dath of Jsus Christ for our sins. Th innocnt lamb, without spot and without blmish; th ntir congrgation shall slay it; th dath of th first-born; th blood on th door posts; th dlivry out of th land of slavry into th promisd land all of this obviously points toward our Lord's dath for our sins. W hav a similar warning concrning th communion tabl: But lt a man xamin himslf and so lt him at of th brad and drink of th cup; for h who ats and drinks, ats and drinks judgmnt to himslf, if h dos not judg to body corrctly. For this rason, many among you ar wak and sick and many slp. But if w hav judgd ourslvs, w will not b judgd. But whn w ar judgd, w ar disciplind by th Lord in ordr that w may not b condmnd along with th world (I Cor. 11:28 32). "And whn a visitor visits with you, thn h will prpar [lit., do] a Passovr to Yahwh, according to th statut of th Passovr, and according to its ordinanc, so h will do. On statut is to [all of] you, both to a visitor and to a nativ of th land." [Num. 9:14] Popl will com from all ovr th world to th Jws and to thir God, a God of a small but xcdingly prosprous and powrful nation; a nation of slavs which walkd away from th Egyptian mpir and thir God brought that mpir to its kns. God will s to it that othr popl com through Isral for othr rasons and thy will all b vanglizd through th Passovr and th othr sacrifics. Rcall that God th Holy Spirit can tak spiritual truth 53 p. 201.

97 Th Book of Numbrs 97 and mak it ral to th soul of th unblivr, allowing th unblivr th chanc to bliv. This parallls Ex. 12:47 49, which rads: "All th congrgation of Isral ar to clbrat this. But if a visitor stays with you and dos th Passovr to Yahwh, lt all his mals b circumcisd, and thn lt him approach to do it; and h will lik lik a nativ of th land. But no uncircumcisd prson may at of it. On law will b to th nativ as to th visitor who stays among you." Notic, this is just lik bing born into a nw family, which is th whol point of rgnration. Th Passovr crmony, as w hav covrd bfor, spaks clarly of Jsus Christ dying for our sins on th cross. It is on of th clarst picturs of His sacrific on our bhalf. For Christ, our Passovr, also has bn sacrificd (I Cor. 5:7b). This most solmn of crmonis was th only on carrid into th Nw Tstamnt. Our Lord and th discipls clbratd Passovr togthr th night bfor th cross, and, whil thy wr ating, H took brad and aftr a blssing, H brok [it] and gav [it] to thm and said, "Tak this is My body, which is givn for you; do this in rmmbranc of m." And H took a cup, and whn H had givn thanks, H gav [it] to thm and thy all drank from it. And H said to thm, "This cup which is pourd out for you this is th My blood of th covnant, which is shd on bhalf of many for forgivnss of sins. This cup is th nw covnant by mans of My blood. Do this as oftn as you drink [it] in rmmbranc of M." (Mark 14:22 24 Luk 22:20b Matt. 26:28b I Cor. 11:25b). According th th NIV Study Bibl, this is th last tim th Isralits will obsrv th Passovr until Joshua 5:10. This is not ncssarily tru. Th only rcordd instanc of th obsrvanc of th Passovr in all of th Pnttuch is in Ex. 12; hr, it has mandatd and th mandat bing carrid out was implid by th qustions of th unclan mn. Th mandat to kp th Passovr will b found again in Num. 28:16 33:3 and in Dut. 16:1 6. Just bcaus w do not find spcific rfrncs to kping th Passovr dos not man that thy did not kp th Passovr. Th Isralits did not obsrv thir Sabbatical yars and that is wll attstd to. Howvr, thr is nothing said in th Bibl about thm not obsrving th Passovr. A Summary of God's Gographical Will for th Childrn of Isral Ex. 13: :1, And in th day of th raising up of th tabrnacl th cloud covrd th tabrnacl, vn th tnt of th tstimony; and it th vning it was ovr th tabrnacl, as an apparanc of fir till morning; [Num. 9:15] Rcall th tim fram that w ar in right now. Th tabrnacl has just bn compltd (although this is also tru for th first tim that it was movd) and th glory of Yahwh is upon th tabrnacl. This, just as th nd of Exodus, dscribs what happnd th first tim th tabrnacl was rctd, just as what happnd vrytim it was rassmbld. And h rctd th court all around th tabrnacl and th altar and put th scrnfor th ntryway of th court. Thus Moss finishd th work. Thn th cloud covrd th tnt of mting, and th glory of Yahwh filld th tabrnacl, and throughout all thir journys whnvr th cloud was takn up from ovr th tabrnacl, th sons of Isral would mobiliz; but if th cloud was not takn up, thn thy did not mobiliz until th day whn it was takn up. For throughout all thir journys, th cloud of Yahwh was on th tabrnacl by day, and thr was a fir in it by night, in th sight of all of hous of Isral (Ex. 40:33 38). Notic that th nd of th book of Exodus dos not sound lik som writtn immdiatly aftr th first raising of th tabrnacl, but it sounds lik somthing writtn aftrwards, aftr th tabrnacl had bn dismantld and movd svral tims, as pr th dirction of Yahwh. Evn at th vry bginning of th journy of Isral away from Egypt, God providd for thm this kind of dirction. And Yahwh was going bfor thm in a pillar of cloud by day to lad thm on th way, iand in a pillar of fir by night to giv thm light, that thy might journy by day and by night. And H did not tak away th pillar of cloud by day nor th pillar of fir by night from bfor th popl (Ex. 13:21 22). So it has bn continually; th cloud covrd it and th apparanc of fir by night. [Num. 9:16]

98 Numbrs Chaptr 9 98 Fir is th Hbrw word sh ( àå ) [pronouncd aysh] and on of its many uss is th suprnatural fir, th prsnc of Yahwh or th attndanc of a thophany. This passag parallls Ex. 40: It was writtn latr, but rfrs to simultanous vnts. Rcall that this is in th dsrt of southrn Egypt and it is highly unlikly that thr ar any clouds in th sky at all xcpt for this, th visual imag of th acompanimnt of Jsus Christ. And according to th going up of th cloud from off th tnt and aftrwards th sons of Isral journy; and in th plac whr th cloud sttls [lit., tabrnacls], thr th sons of Isral would sttl [lit., would tabrnacl]; [Num. 9:17] Th vrb usd twic in this vrs is th Qal imprfct of shâkan (ï ëç È ) [pronouncd shaw-khahn] and it mans to sttl, to sttl down, to dwll, to ncamp, to tabrnacl. Its noun cognat is mîsh kkân (ï È Ó îò ) [pronouncd mish'k-kawn], which mans dwlling plac, tnt, tabrnacl. By th command [lit., mouth] of Yahwh, th sons of Isral journy, and by th command [lit., mouth] of Yahwh, thy ncamp; all th days that th cloud ncampd ovr th sacrd tnt, thy ncampd [or, mor lit, th cloud tabrnacld ovr th tabrnacl thy tabrnacld]. [Num. 9:18] This is a summary vrs dscribing what would happn in gnral following th first and th subsqunt raisings of th tabrncl. Th command of Yahwh was th ncampmnt or th tabrnacling of th cloud by day, fir by night. Th command or th mouth of Yahwh was th movmnt of th cloud, which guidd thm. This cloud is suprnatural. It is almost suprnatural to s a cloud thr in th first plac and to hav on which hovrs, riss and falls and movs slowly nough to b followd, is suprnatural. Th Jws in th Exodus gnraton wr privy to a grat many miracls, although it did not rally affct thm spiritually. Thy wr a dgnrat, rbllious gnration and God loathd that gnration. Sinc th cloud rprsntd God's prsnc and His guidanc, it was only natural to follow it, vn without bing givn th dirctiv to do so. And in th cloud prolonging itslf ovr th tabrnacl many days, thn hav th sons of isral kpt th rsponsibility [or, charg] of Yahwh, and thy would not st out; [Num. 9:19] Whnvr th cloud stoppd moving, thn th sons of Isral rmaind in th on plac. Thr is a gographical will of God and w ar to rmain in that gographical will. Ours is not quit as clarly prscribd as it was to th Exodus gnration; howvr, it is not a situtation whr w must dtrmin do w go right on th 610 Loop to gt to th Gallria, or do w stay on 45 until w gt to intrstat 10 and cut ovr on 10? If w stay with doctrin, God will tak car of our gographical location. No mattr what, it will not b dtrmind by how w fl at any givn tim. And so whn th cloud is a numbr of days ovr th tabrnacl; by th command of Yahwh, thy ncamp (lit., tabrnacl); all th days that th cloud tabrnalcs ovr th tabrnacl, thy ncamp (or, tabrnacl). [Num. 9:20] Th cloud rmaining in on plac is God's visual dirctiv to thm to rmain in that on plac. And so whn th cloud is from vning till morning, whn th cloud has gon up in th morning, thn thy will journy; whthr by day or by night, whn th cloud gos up, thn thy journy. [Num. 9:21] Apparntly, th cloud would sttl furthr down, much closr to th tabrnacl. This was an asy task to dtrmin for th sons of Isral. In this dsrt, thy would b staring into an almost cloudlss sky, sav on. Whn th cloud would ascnd, thn would pack up and had out; whn it would bgin to hovr, thy would stop, camp and st up th tabrnacl. Thn th cloud would dscnd upon th tabrnacl. Whthr two days or a month or a yar [lit., days], in th cloud prolonging itslf ovr th tabrnacl, to tabrnacl ovr it, th sons of Isral tabrnacld and did not journy; and in its bing liftd up, thy journyd; [Num. 9:22]

99 Th Book of Numbrs 99 Thr was no st amount of tim that th Isralits journyd. It might b for two days, a month, or for many days (this usually indicats a yar, as pr Lv. 25:29). It was an indtrminabl amount of tim, just as our knowldg of our livs hr on arth is an indtrminabl amount of tim. Thisis writtn from a prspctiv of prvious obsrvation. Thr hav bn nough travlings and ncampmnts that Moss has sn th pattrn and that th pattrn is unrlatd to a tim factor but to th lading of Jsus Christ in th dsrt. By th command [lit., mouth] of Yahwh, thy ncamp; and by th command [lit., mouth] of Yahwh, thy st out; th rsponsibility of Yahwh, thy hav kpt, by th command [lit., mouth] of Yahwh with th hand of Moss. [Num. 9:23] This prvious passag dscribs divin guidanc to th childrn of Isral.

100 Numbrs 10 Numbrs 10:1 36 Outlin of Chaptr 10: Vv Th Us of trumpts Vv Th first march away from Mount Sinai Vv Moss and his brothr-in-law Vv Th ark of th covnant lads th advanc Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Introduction: Up until this tim, th Isralits hav prpard to travl. Evryon had thir assignd dutis and th Lvits had bn clansd for srvic. In Num. 10, as God ordrd in Ex. 33, th Jws will finally st out from Mount Sinai. In rtrospct, from th nd of Exodus until about this tim, this information was rcordd not in chronological ordr, but in a topical ordr, as Moss brought ths things back to mind. Som wr rcivd on Mount Sinai during his two tims up thr and som wr rcivd in th dsrt of Sinai (whn h was outsid th camp) and som things wr spokn to him in th tabrnacl. At this point, w ar actually braking camp and moving away from Mount Sinai and toward th promisd land. Num. 10 is th nd of th honymoon. It has appard that sinc th goldn calf incidnt that th cutting out of th cancrous lmnt of Isral possibly did th trick. Howvr, th implication of th Num. 9 incidnt and on of th first things which will occur whn th Jws com into th dsrt away from th mountain, will indicat that ths ar a hard-hartd, rbllious gnration that God will hav to strik dad in th dsrt. Th Us of Trumpts And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 10:1] Prior to moving out, thr will hav to b som way for Moss to kp ordr. W will hav two million popl wandring across th dsrt and thr will b tims whn Moss will hav to gt thir attntion. "Mak for yourslf two trumpts of silvr; batn work you will mak thm, and thy hav bn to you for th convocation of th company, and for th journying of th camps; [Num. 10:2] Trumpts, insofar as w know, wr long mtal tubs which wr straight and thin and th nds, lik all brass instrumnts, wr falrd. God stats th purpos of th two trumpts thy ar to convn th companis of Isral and to assist thm on thir journy. "And thy sound th trumpts [lit., blow with thm], thn [lit., and] th ntir congrgation will assmbl thmslvs with you, in th dirction of th opning of th tnt of mting. [Num. 10:3] Som of th translation hr ar difficult to follow. Simply, th horns will b blown and that will b th sign for th sons of Isral to gathr thmslvs to th tnt of mting. W ar talking such a larg group that thr would only b a small prcntag of mn who would actually b right at th tnt of mting and vryon would hav falln in bhind thm. "And if on sounds th trumpt [lit., and if with on thy blow], thn th princs, th hads of th divisions [lit., thousands] of Isral, will mt togthr with you; [Num. 10:4] Two trumpts blowing at th sam tim mans th ntir congrgation will assmbl thmslvs and on trumpt mans that only th princs of Isral nd assmbl thmslvs.

101 Th Book of Numbrs 101 "And [if] you blow [th trumpt] a shout, thn thos on th ast sid of th tabrnacl will advanc [lit., and th camps which ar ncamping astward will journy]; [Num. 10:5] This is not a trumpt sound and thn a shout, but rathr a dscription of a typ of trumpt sound. Th troups campd on th ast sid of th tabrnacl, at this sound, would march. Rothrham rndrs this but whn y blow 54 an alarm and footnots it, xplaining that it likly mans a protractd or rpatd blowing. W find such an alarm alludd to in Jol 2:1: Blow a trumpt in Zion an dsound and alarm on My holy mountain! Lt all th inhabitants of ht land trmbl for th day of Yahwh is coming; surly it is nar. "And you [all] hav blown a scond shout, thn [lit., and] th camps which ar camping on th south will advanc [or, journy]; a shout thy blow for thir journys. [Num. 10:6] Hr, two shouts of th trumpt causs th southrn troops to advanc; I don't quit follow th last sntnc hr. "And in th assmbling of th assmbly you blow and you do not shout; [Num. 10:7] Thr is apparntly a diffrnt kind of trumpt sound to assmbl all of Isral. "And sons of Aaron, th prists, blow [with] th trumpts; and thy will b to you a prptual statut throughout your gnrations [or, mor litrally, and thy hav bn to you for a statut ag-during to your gnrations]. [Num. 10:8] Our languag is somwhat diffrnt than th Hbrw languag. W would blow th trumpts and thy would blow with th trumpts. W ar saying ssntially th sam thing. Th thy hr may not ncssarily rfr to th prists but rathr to th instructions with rgards to blowing th trumpts. W find th prists blowing ths trumpts hundrds of yars latr in 1Chron. 15:15:24 and 2Chron. 13:12. "And whn you [all] go into battl in your land against an advrsary who is distrssing you, thn you will shout with th trumpts and you will b rmmbrd bfor th fac of Yahwh your God, and you [all] will b dlivrd from your nmis. [Num. 10:9] Th ky hr is that during th battl, thy concntrat upon thir God and Savior, Jsus Christ and callupon Him whn things bgin going bad, and Jsus Christ would dlivr thm in battl. W will s a miraculous illustration of this in Joshua 6. "And in th day of your gladnss and in your appointd sasons, and in th bginnings of your months, you will blow also with th trumpts ovr your burnt-offrings and ovr th sacrifics of your pac-offrings, and thy will b to you a mmorial bfor th fac of your God; I, Yahwh, [am] your God." [Num. 10:10] Th trumpts can b blown to xprss joy and gladnss and whn offrings ar mad to God. God is obviously saying that H will har thm. Th Psalmist wrot: Blow th trumpt at th nw moon, at th full moon on our fast day. For it is a statut for Isral, an ordinanc of th God of Jacob (Psalm 81:3 4). So far, w s that trumpts ar to b usd for (1) th assmbling of th congrgation (v. 3); (2) th assmbling of th ladrs (v. 4); (3) advancing (vv. 5 6); (4) going into battl (v. 9); and, (5) fastdays (v. 10). S th Doctrin of Trumpts not finishd yt!! David, possibly during his rtirmnt, st up a full orchstra of 288 musicians (1Chron. 25). I bliv that thr is on sct (and probably mor) which dos not bliv in musical instrumnts i th church. And whn th prist cam forth from th holy plac (for all th prists who wr prsnt had sanctifid thmslvs, without rgard to divisions), and all th Lvitical singrs, Asaph, Hman, Jduthun, and thirs sons and rlativs, clothd in fin 54 Th Emphasizd Bibl, p. 168.

102 Numbrs Chaptr linn, with cymbals, harps and lyrs, standing ast of th altar, and with thm 120 prist blowing trumpts in unison whn th trumpts and th singrs wr to mak thmslvs hard with on voic ot prais and to glorify Yahwh, and whn thy liftd up thir voic accompanid by trumpts and cymbals and instrumnts of music, and whn thy praisd Yahwh: "H indd good for His graciousnss is vrlasting" thn th hous, th hous of Yahwh, was filld with a cloud, so that th prists could not stand to ministr bcaus of th cloud, for th glory of Yahwh filld th hous of God (1Chron. 5:11 14). If Yahwh was totally against musical instrumnts, H would hav not hav blssd this group by filling th tmpl with His Prsnc. Th First March Away from Mount Sinai And it cam to pass, in th scond yar in th scond month, in th twntith of th month, that th cloud wnt up from off th tabrnacl of th tstimony; [Num. 10:11] This is actually th first tim that th Jws would st out. Prior to this, thy had spnt lvn months at th foot of Mount Sinai. During ths lvn months, Moss had rcivd doctrin dirctly from God on Mount Sinai, at th foot of Mount Sinai in th tabrnacl; and out in th dsrt of Sinai at th tnt of mting pitchd outsid th camp. Idally, this should hav bn th march of th Jws into th land of Canaan, into th promisd land. Ths formr slavs wr to march against and dfat th various dgnrat Canaanit tribs. This should hav takn anothr coupl yars to stablish thmslvs in th land givn thm by God. And th sons of Isral journy in thir journyings from th wildrnss of Sinai, and th clouth dwlt [lit., tabrnacld] in th dsrt of Paran. [Num. 10:12] Th Jws brok camp and bgan to follow th cloud which movd into th dsrt of Paran. Rcall that whn Hagar lft with Abraham's son, Ishamal, thy wnt to th dsrt of Paran (Gn. 21:21). Thy ar hading north toward th land of Canaan and thir first major stop will b Kadsh, which is approximatly 150 mils away. And thy advancd [or, journyd] at first by th command [lit., mouth] of Yahwh, at th dirction of [lit., in th hand of] Moss. [Num. 10:13] Th Isralits movd forward following th cloud in obdinc to th command of Yahwh. Now vn though this is a miraculous occurnc, it will sm to thm much lss spctacular than th things which thy hav sn and hard about. A cloud is a cloud is a cloud. Evn though clouds wr rar in an Egyptian or dsrt sky, particularly on which movd with intllignc, it nvrthlss is a lss than spctacular miracl and th Jws, onc thy had travld somwhat, will bgin to complain of God's provision. And th standard of th camp of th sons of Judah advanc in th first, by thir hosts, and ovr its host is Nahshon, son of Amminadab. [Num. 10:14] Judah's trib is pr-mminnt throughout, vn though Moss and Aaron cam from th trib of Lvi and th last grat prson in th Jwish lin was Josph, fathring th two half-tribs of Manassh and Ephraim. Each company of thr tribs will hav a standard or a bannr which would lad thm and which thy would rally around. And ovr th armyh of h trib of th sons of Issachar: Nathanil bn Zuar. [Num. 10:15] Obviously, this will b anothr list of th ladrs. And ovr th army of th trib of th sons of Zbulun: Eliab bn Hlon; [Num. 10:16] Ths tribs ar probably assmbling and falling in lin bhind on anothr according to whr thy had campd about th tabrnacl.

103 Th Book of Numbrs 103 And th tabrnacl has bn takn down and th sons of Grshon and th sons of Mrari hav advancd, baring th tabrnacl. [Num. 10:17] As was pointd out, this was thir duty. Only th Lvits could tak th tabrnacl down, as pr Num. 1:51 any unauthorizd prson would di th sin unto dath. Notic that thir plac in th procsion is intrsting. You would think that thy would b in th middl or in th middl-back, for maximum protction. Nop thy ar fourth in lin. Th sons of Mrari ar prforming thir dutis as pr Num. 4:21 32 and 7:7 9. And th standard of th camp of Rubn will advanc, by thir armis; and ovr its army: Elizur bn Shdur. [Num. 10:18] Th trib Rubn should lad by virtu of Rubn bing th first-born of Jacob, howvr h will lad th scond brigad (or third, if you includ th two companis of Lvits) (Num. 2:10 16). And ovr th army of th trib of th sons of Simon: Shlumil bn Zurishaddai. [Num. 10:19] Simon was th scond born and should b scond in lin; howvr, as a group, thy wr not faithful to God's Word. And ovr th army of th trib of th sons of Gad: Eliasaph bn Dul; [Num. 10:20] Hr w hav th rptition of a sntnc finally. And th Kohathits will advanc, baring th tabrnacl and th othrs hav raisd up th tabrnacl until thir coming in. [Num. 10:21] It's intrsting that th Lvits wr split up with th tribs of Gad, Simon and Rubn falling btwn thm. W covrd th dutis of th Kohathits in Num. 4:4 20. And th standard of th camp of th sons of Ephraim has advancd, by thir armis, and ovr its army: Elishama bn Ammihud. [Num. 10:22] Th two half-tribs of Josph com nxt. S Num. 2: And ovr th army of th trib of th sons of Manassh: Gamalial bn Pdshzur. [Num. 10:23] Ths chosn twlv mn ar somwhat of a mystry. Thy ar namd svral tims in th Bibl, always togthr in a group whr thy ar ssntially indistinguishabl, and not on is vr alludd to apart from th othrs nor is somthing said to distinguish thm from th othrs. It is as though ths ar th bst th Isral has to offr (with th xcption of Moss, Aaron, Joshua, Calb, Aaron and Aaron's sons) and thy will all di with thir troops and with thir gnration. And ovr th army of th trib of th sons of Bnjamin: Abidan bn Gidoni. [Num. 10:24] Th two youngst sons of Jacob ar gnrally placd togthr. Notic that right man/right woman dos not ncssarily insur that your childrn or thir childrn will b grat. Josph was without a doubt on of th gratst spiritual hros of th Old Tstamnt, but thr hav bn vry fw if any othrs who wr distinguishd from ths tribs. And th standard of th camp of th sons of Dan has advancd (rarward to all th camps) by thir armis, and ovr its army: Ahizr bn Ammishaddai. [Num. 10:25] This is th last thr companis ld by th trib of Dan (Num. 2:25 31). Th rar army is of grat importanc and thy ar mntiond twic mor in Joshua 6:6, 9.

104 Numbrs Chaptr And ovr th army of th trib of th sons of Ashr: Pagil bn Ocran. [Num. 10:26] Ths troops com in from th north. And ovr th army of th trib of Naphtali: Ahira bn Enan. [Num. 10:27] Naphtali is th final trib to mov out. This was th fourth and final tim that ths ladrs of Isral wr to b namd (s also Num. 1:5 15 2:3 31 and 7:12 83). W will nvr har from thm again bcaus God intnds to snd thm into battl and thy, lik th rst of th congrgation, will whin and complain and rfus to go into battl with th Canaanits and God will kill thm in th dsrt. Thr advancs of th sons of Isral by thir armis and thy advancd. [Num. 10:28] This is our summary statmnt th ntir two million of Isral advancd into th dsrt. Moss and His Brothr-in-law And Moss said to Hobab bn Rgul (th Midianit, fathr-in-law of Moss), "W ar advancing to th plac of which Yahwh has said, 'I giv it to you'; go with us and w will do good to you; for Yahwh has spokn good concrning Isral." [Num. 10:29] Obviously on of th things which attractd Moss to his first wif was hr fathr, whom h lovd and admird. His fathr-in-law, a Midianit, is mntiond mor oftn and givn mor prsonality and is a gratr prson than any of th twlv lads of th tribs of Isral. Hobab would b th brotrh-in-law of Moss and it is obvious that Moss dvlopd a much bttr rlationship with his in-laws than h did with his wif. Moss and Hobab will b actually going nar whr thy originally mt, to whr his in-laws had thir roots. W will har about th sons of Hobab in Judgs 4:11. W ought to xamin Th Doctrin of Moss' In-Law's not finishd yt!! God would promis to blss Isral if Isral obyd His Word. "So you will kp His statuts and His commandmnts which I am giving you today, that it may go wll with you and with your childrn aftr you, and that you may liv long on th land wich th Lord your God is giving you for all tim." (Dut. 4:40). As w will s, th gnration following th Exodus gnration was a much gratr population; Moss told this scond gnration: "And Yahwh your God will bring you into th land which your fathrs posssd, and you will possss it; and H will prospr you and multiply you mor than your fathrs." (Dut. 30:5). And h said to him, "I will not go, but to my land and to my rlativs I will go." [Num. 10:30] Hobab crtainly would prfr to rturn to his family, most of which has rmaind in th Midianit dsrt ara, how Moss would prfr for his brothr-in-law to rmain for svral rasons. (1) Moss gnuinly liks his in-laws; (2) Moss has spnt mor tim with his in-laws (forty yars) and has a gratr rlationship with thm than h dos with most individual Jws, whom h has only spnt lss than two yars with; and, finally, (3) his brothr-in-law, Hobab, would b invaluabl as a guid thorughout this dsrt ara. Both h and Moss would hav a vast knowldg of th dsrt ara, although Hobab's knowldg would hav had approximatly an additional forty yars of familiarity with th dsrt ara. And h said, "I [rspctfully] implor you, do not forsak us, bcaus you hav known our ncamping in th dsrt and you hav bn to us for ys; [Num. 10:31] Don't misundrstand, Moss was not calling his brothr-in-law four ys, but his fathr-in-law knw th dsrt ara and h would hav bn quit hlpful. Howvr, God wants Moss to dpnd upon Him and not upon his fathrin-law in ths travls. ð È W hav this word in th Hbrw nâ (à ) [pronouncd naw] and it is part of an xhortation or part of an ntraty. It is quivalnt to our word plas, although it oftn dos not sound right whn translatd that way. I cannot com

105 Th Book of Numbrs 105 up with a good on word translation, so I will do what th KJV dos, but updat it from I pray th to I rspctfully implor [or ask or rqust] you. Moss also gnuinly liks his fathr-in-law, much mor than his first wif, who will nvr b hard from again. For th nxt vrs, lt m giv you th smooth and th unsmooth vrsions: Th Amplifid Bibl "And if you will go with us, it shall b that whatvr good th Lord dos to us, th am w will do to you." Th Emphasizd Bibl "And it shall b if thou wilt go with us, ya it shall b that with th vry good whrwith Yahwh shall do us good will w do good unto th." KJV "And it shall b, if thou go with us, ya, it shall b, that what goodnss th Lord shall do unto us, th sam will w do unto th." NASB "So it will b, if you go with us, it will com about that whatvr good th Lord dos for us, w will do for you" NIV If you com with us, w will shar with you whatvr good things th Lord givs us." NRSV "Morovr, if you go with us, whatvr good th Lord dos for us, th sam w will do for you." Young's Lit. Translation And it hath com to pass whn thou gost with us, yah, it hath com to pass that good which Jhovah doth kindly with us it w hav don kindly to th." From ths vrss, th gnral maning of this vrs can b ascrtaind. Howvr, lt's look at th Hbrw a bit to s what is hr, as our two most litral translations ar somwhat abstrus and th frr translations sound grat and ar asy to undrstand, but thy sm to mor of a translation of th gnral impact of th vrs as opposd to a word--by-word translation. This vrs bgins with th vrb hâyâh (ä éäè È ) [pronouncd haw-yaw] which simply mans to b. Without a spcific subjct and objct, it oftn mans and it will com to pass. This is followd by th conjunction kîy (é ò ) [pronouncd k] which mans whn, that, for. Thn hâyâh is rpatd with th sam morphology. Placing th sam word twic in th sam vrs givs it grat mphasis, which I hav achivd in my translation blow by insrting th words in fact which ar not a part of th translation, but an intrprtation of th syntactical maning. Sinc th Hbrw has no past, prsnt or futur tns, I hav prsonally givn this a past tns to contrast th futur tns which I bgan th vrs with. In th Hbrw, both tim this vrb is in th Qal prfct, which is th simpl stm and compltd action. Hr is whr things bgin to bcom tricky (th prvious stuff was fairly asy by comparison). W hav a dfinit articl and th masculin singular of th 3rd prson prsonal pronoun hîy (à é äò ) [pronouncd h] and this can b translatd h or it. It is prcdd by a dfinit articl and oftn this prsonal pronoun is translatd it [is]. Howvr, it could also b th subjct of th vrb hâyâh. Howvr, it can also b translatd as a dmonstrativ pronoun, as this or that. Th rason for conncting this pronoun or dmonstrativ adjctiv with th nxt noun is that th nxt noun, maning good, bnfit, wlfar is also in th masculin singular. This is followd by a vrb, again usd twic, which mans to do good to, to dal wll with. Th first tim th subjct is Yahwh and th scond tim th subjct is w. "And it will com to pass whn you go with us, in fact, is has com to pass that th [lit., th that] good [or, bnfit] which Yahwh dos graciously with [possibly, in spit of] us, and w will dal graciously with rspct to you." [Num. 10:32] God gracs out all of Isral and Moss will grac out his fathr-in-law; as it has bn in th past, so it will continu to b in th futur. This is not th first instanc of blssing by association bing obsrvd by on of Moss' inlaws. And Jthro rjoycd ovr all th goodnss which Yahwh had don to Isral, in dlivring him from th hand of th Egyptians (Ex. 18:9). H crtainly taught this grat truth to hs sons. Furthrmor, th Jws had bn carfully instructd not to dfraud thos who a not Jws by birth. "Whn a strangr rsids with you in your land, you will no dfraud him. Th stangr who rsids with you will b to you as a nativ among you and you will lov him as yourslf; for you wr alins in th land of Egypt; I am Yahwh, your God. You will do no wrong in judgmtn, in masurmnt of wight or capacity. You will hav just balancs, just wights, a just phah and a just hin; I am Yahwh your God who brought you out from th land of Egypt" (Lv. 19:33 36). Thy wr not to show favortism in th courts nor wr thy to lowr thir standards of businss whn daling with a forignor.

106 Numbrs Chaptr In Judgs 1:16 w hav th dscndants of Moss' fathr-in-law travling with th sons of Judah, indicating that Hobab chos to stay with Moss and th Isralits (s also Judgs 4:11 and 1Sam. 15:6). Th Ark of th Covnant Lads th Advanc And thy advancd from th mount of Yahwh, a journy of thr days; and th ark of th covnant of Yahwh advancd bfor thir facs. Th journy of thr days [was] to sk for thm a rsting-plac. [Num. 10:33] If th ark wr a mr rligious artifact, thn it crtainly would not lad th march. W ar talking about somthing which rquird a grat dal of gold to mak. An nmy would crtainly dsir to dstroy and plundr th front lin with th ark in th lad. Howvr, th ark is th vry Prsnc of Jsus Christ, Yahwh Who would lad th Isralits into battl for th nxt thousand yars. This gnration ndd only to focus thir attntion upon Jsus Christ, as Moss ssntially symbolizd by placing th ark bfor thm. On of th things w sarch for is trnal rst. Lif is difficult and filld with hard labor. Thn it will com to pass in that day that th nations will rsort to th root of Jss, who will stand as a rallying point for th popls; and His rsting plac will b glorious (Isa. 11:10). "Com to M, all of you who ar wary and havy-ladn, and I will giv you rst." (Matt. 11:28). Rst in Yahwh and wait patintly for Him; do not frt bcaus of whom prosprs in his way bcaus of th man who carris out vil schms (Psalm 37:7). Thrfor, lt us b dilignt to ntr into that rst, so that no on will fall through th sam xampl of disobdinc (Hb. 4:9). Th mount of Yahwh is Mount Sinai. This is th honymoon priod of this march. Rcall that w hav two million Jws on th march with childrn, womn and animals, no asy fat. W ar looking for a nw plac to put down camp. Th thr days of marching has no significanc yt. It will b in Num. 11 that w will har ths popl bgin to whin and complain, which will b aftr th thr day march. It should b obvious that with two million popl on thir first organizd march that thy did not rally gt too far. And th cloud of Yahwh on thm by day, in thir advanc from th camp. [Num. 10:34] Thy advancd as th cloud advancd. And it cam to pass in th advancing of th ark, that Moss said, "Ris, O Yahwh, and Your nmis ar scattrd, and thos hating You fl from Your prsnc." [Num. 10:35] This was ssntially a prayr of protction; Moss calld upon God to protct thm and scattr thir nmis as thy marchd for th first tim in about a yar. H calld for Yahwh to scattr thir nmis from all around. King David wrot a Psalm clbrating this: Lt God aris, lt His nmis b scattrd and lt thos who hat Him fl bfor Him. As smok is drivn away, so driv [thm] away; as wax mlts bfor th fir, so lt th wickd prish bfor God (Psalm 68:1 2). W will latr har Moss spak to th congrgation: "But H rapys thos who hat Him to his fac, to dstroy him; H will not dlay with rspct to him who hats Him; H will rpay him to his fac." (Dut. 7:10). And in its rsting, h said, "Rturn, O Yahwh, th myriads, th thousands of Isral." [Num. 10:36] And in th vning, whn thy stoppd, Moss calld for Yahwh to rturn to thir camp and to rst upon thm, as it wr, as thir protction. It is possibl that ths vrss ar slightly out of ordr from th original; it is possibl that th corrct vrs ordr should b vv. 33, 35, 36, 34; or, And thy advancd from th mount of Yahwh, a journy of thr days; and th ark of th covnant of Yahwh advancd bfor thir facs. Th journy of thr days [was] to sk for thm a rsting-plac. And it cam to pass in th advancing of th ark, that Moss said, "Ris, O Yahwh, and Your nmis ar scattrd, and thos hating You fl from Your prsnc." And in its rsting, h said, "Rturn, O

107 Th Book of Numbrs 107 Yahwh, th myriads, th thousands of Isral." And th cloud of Yahwh on thm by day, in thir advanc from th camp. Th vrss sm to flow mor logically whn rarrangd lik this. HOwvr, that is not th rason that scholars suspct that thy wr misordrd. Th arlist Massortic authoritis bracktd vv , which likly indicatd that thy had probably bn dislocatd. Th rarrangmnt is th thought of Hbrw scholar Ginsburg Th Emphasizd Bibl, p. 169.

108 Numbrs 11 Numbrs 11:1 35 Isral Complains and God Givs Thm Quail to Eat Outlin of Chaptr 11: vv. 1 5 Th sons of Isral dsir mat in thir dit vv. 6 9 Th popl ar tird of ating manna vv Moss himslf complains about his grat rsponsibilitis vv God promiss Moss that H will snd th Isralits an ovrabundanc of mat vv Moss bcoms sarcastic; Yahwh gntly upbraids him vv Moss chooss his svnty hlprs and God snds thm th Holy Spirit vv God snds th Isralits an ovr abundanc of quail Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: v. 15 Th Early Lif of Moss V. 15 Th Paralllism Found in vv. 10, 11 and 15 v. 25 Th Abbrviatd Doctrin of th Ministry of th Holy Spirit in th Old Tstamnt Introduction: In Num. 11, w rturn to narrativ onc again. Prior to this, throughout Lviticus and Numbrs, w hav had ordinancs and laws givn by Yahwh to Moss, intrsprsd with a portion of thir daily lif. Now th Isralits ar moving away from Mount Sinai, north toward th land of Canaan, and aftr thr days travl, w will bgin to s thm for what thy rally ar and w will bgin to undrstand why God loathd this gnration. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Sons of Isral Dsir Mat in Thir Dit Alrady in th first vrs, w hav quit a diffrnc in translations: Th Amplifid Bibl Th Emphasizd Bibl KJV NASB NIV NRSV Own's Translation Young's Lit. Translation And th popl grumbld and dplord thir hardships, which was vil in th ars of th Lord; and whn th Lord hard it, His angr was kindld; And it cam to pass that whn th popl wr giving thmslvs up to murmuring it was grivous in th ars of Yahwh, so Yahwh harknd and kindld was his angr,... And whn th popl complaind, it displasd th Lord; and th Lord hard it; and his angr was kindld; Now th popl bcam lik thos who complain of advrsity in th haring of th Lord; and whn th Lord hart it, His angr was kindld,... Now th popl complaind about thir hardships in th haring of th Lord, and whn h hard thm his angr was arousd. Now whn th popl complaind in th haring of th Lord about thir misfortuns, th Lord hard it and his angr was kindld. And th popl complaind about distrss in th haring of Yahwh and whn Yahwh hard his angr was kindld... And th popl is vil, as thos sighing habitually in th ars of Jhovah, and Jhovah harth, and His angr burnth,... Th ida of th first half of th vrs is basically th sam; th popl grumbl and complain, Yahwh hars and H bcoms gratly angrd (obviously an anthropopathism). Howvr, it would b nic to know just xactly what rd God's Word rally says. This vrs bgins with th wâw conscutiv and th 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct of hâyâh. This is followd by th dfinit articl and th masculin singular for th word popl. Without

109 Th Book of Numbrs 109 th appropriat noun, this vrs would bgin, thn it cam to pass, th popl...; howvr, th popl ar likly th subjct of this vrb. Young, bing as litral as can b, translatd th vrb in th singular, which maks it sound goofy in th English; it is an accurat translation, albit a bit goofy. This is followd by th prfixd prposition k, maning lik, as; and th masculin plural, Hithpal participl of ânan (ï ðç àè ) [pronouncd aw-nahn], a word occurring but twic in th OT (hr and Lam. 3:39) and it mans complain (insofar as w know). Th Hithpal is th intnsiv, rflxiv stm, so this complaining was lik a prson you hav upst, and h wandrs off muttring caustic things, almost out of your haring. A participl is a vrb which can act as a noun, mphasizing th action of th vrb. An English xampl: th haring impaird. So this should b translatd, thn th popl bcam lik thos complaining [to thmslvs]... Unfortunatly, vry major translation ignord th rflxiv in this participl. Ths popl ar lik thos who ar muttring to thmslvs. God is right thr; thy can communicat dirctly to Moss, through th chain of command, and thy can pray to Yahwh, Whos vry prsnc thy ar in constantly. Instad, thy muttr to thmslvs, just loud nough so that thos around thm har thir dissatisfaction, causing thm to muttr to thmslvs. This is followd by th noun for vil, distrss, misry; ra (ò øç) [pronouncd rah]. Prior to this, w hav a complt thought this cannot b appndd to what w hav just had. Prior to this noun, w do not hav a construct, nor do w hav a prposition, nor can this b attachd to th prvious vrbs as a subjct, as thy ar alrady attachd to subjcts. This bgins a nw thought. It is immdiatly followd by th prposition maning in and th rst of th phras, ar of Yahwh. 56 Thn th popl bcam lik thos complaining [to thmslvs] vil in th ar of Yahwh. [Num. 11:1a] It is all wll and good to translat th rough maning, but it is vn mor rasonabl to translat this litrally, as th maning is clar, vn though a litral simil is usd (whn it rads th popl bcam as thos complaining, thy actually wr popl who wr complaining. Th first portion of this vrs tlls us what th popl did and what this was to God. God had frd thm from slavry and had providd for thm miraculously in th dsrt. Thir complaints and mumblings to thmslvs showd a distinct lack of faith in a God Who had shown thm gratr miracls and signs than H has vr shown to any prvious gnration. Psalm 106:10 13 dscribs thir problm: So H dlivrd thm from th hand of th on who hatd [thm], and H rdmd thm from th hand of th nmy; and th watrs covrd thir advrsaris; not on of thm was lft. Thn thy blivd His words; thy sang His prais. Thy quickly forgot His works; thy did not wait for His counsl. Rcall that ths vry sam popl crid out to Yahwh to dlivr thm from th Egyptians. Ex. 2:23: Now it cam about in th cours of thos many days that th king of Egypt did. And th sons of Isral sighd bcaus of th slavry, and thy calld out [to God]; and thir cry for hlp bcaus of slavry ros up to God. So God hard thir groaning and God rmmbrd His covnant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And God saw th sons of Isral and God knw thm. From th first tn chaptrs of Numbrs, w hav mad a dramatic chang. For tn chaptrs, ovr and ovr w saw th obdinc of Moss and th obdinc of th popl. All of a suddn, in this chaptr and th subsqunt ons (s Num. 14:2 16:41), onc Isral was uprootd and put on a forc march to th promisd land, thir vil natur is brought out. Som popl's vil natur cannot b obsrv until you put thm undr a littl prssur and thn you s thm for xactly what thy ar. Crtainly you hav sn a husband or a wif who sms prfct; howvr, whn you ask thir spous, who has obsrvd thm up clos undr prssur, th rport is not ncssarily so favorabl. What w rally ar is clarly rvald whn prssur and trials ar addd to our livs. Almost anyon can bhav dcntly whn things ar going thir way. So Yahwh kpt haring thn his angr was kindld thn it burnd against thm th fir of Yahwh [or, th fir of Yahwh burnd against thm] and it consumd th xtrmity of th camp. [Num. 11:1b] 56 Th wstrn Onklos, Targum s of Jonathan, th Sptuagint and th Syriac codics hav ys hr instad.

110 Numbrs Chaptr Th scond portion of this vrs givs Yahwh's raction to thir dgnrat, faithlss thinking. W hav thr words for fir or burning in this vrs, and on word for th consumption by fir. Th first phras, his angr was kindld, cannot b improvd upon in th English. Th vrb is chârâh (ç øèäè ) [pronouncd khaw-rawh] and it mans to kindl, to bcom angry. This is obviously an anthropopathism God dos not gt angry; but th pictur hr is God ss this, and h gts a littl mad; H thinks about it, and H gts a littl mor angry; H thinks about it som mor, and H bgins to sth and burn with angr. Just as I larnd in th cub scouts, you bgin a fir with som papr, which ignits som small twigs, which ignits som largr branchs, which ignits th logs. This vrb obviously must b in th imprfct, as this is a continud action of on's angr building up. But again, lt m mphasiz, this is an anthropopathism; God's charactr dos not allow for Him to sth with angr; this is languag of accommodation so that w can hav a human undrstanding of God's actions. W hav all bn upst ovr a situation that, whn givn tim to rflct upon it, hav bcom mor and mor angry. Evry tim w think about it som mor, w gt angrir. That is th maning of this vrb it is just lik kindling a fir. rd Th nxt vrb for burn is in th 3 prson fminin singular, Qal imprfct. This tlls us what th subjct of th vrb is; it is fir (also in th fminin singular) and not Yahwh, a propr noun which taks a masculin singular vrb. I placd th fir of Yahwh whr it occurs in th Hbrw, but it is th subjct of that vrb. It is normal for th Hbrw subjct to follow th Hbrw vrb, rathr than vic vrsa, as in English. Lt's tak a look at this word for fir. Th word is sh ( àå ) [pronouncd aysh] and it mans fir (Lv. 1:7); lightning (Gn. 19:24 Ex. 9:23 24); and it is oftn usd to man a suprnatural fir, th prsnc of Yahwh or th attndanc of a thophany. (Ex. 3:2 13:21). Hr, all thr manings ar combind; it is lightning from abov, rvald th prsnc of God, rsulting in fir on th arth. This is in th imprfct tns and it mirrors th maning of kindl. Just as kindling is a sris of actions, so was this lightning it is th Divin Prsnc, which rsultd in lightning from th sky, which rsultd in fir on th ground. W will s lightning from abov strik an altar on bhalf of Elijah in 1Kings 18:38. A logical progrssion God's prsnc and of His actions, non of which can b isolatd from th othrs. Throughout this vrs thr ar fiv waw conscutivs. This is gnrally a w with a patah å ()Ç [pronouncd wah]. Th waw conscutiv was onc calld a waw convrsativ; it rcivd th lattr nam bcaus, it was thought, 57 it would chang an imprfct vrb into th prfct tns and vic vrsa; it convrtd thm. My chif commnt at this point is why bothr? Why not mak th vrb th way you wantd it in th first plac; why bothr with a convrsativ? Luckily, thos wll-vrsd in th Hbrw hav com to th sam conclusion and th nam and th maning of th waw convrsativ changd. It is now calld a waw conscutiv, maning conscutiv action is 58 bing givn. Hr, th continud us of th waw conscutiv also draws grat attntion to ths two sntncs. Rcall that vrything has bn going so wll, and suddnly Moss, through God th Holy Spirit, grabs us by th shirt collar and ylls at us. Thr wrn't vn fiv waw conscutivs in th prcding fiv vrss and hr w hav fiv all at onc. Thy should b translatd and so, and thn, thn, so. Now rad v. 1with th following mphasis: Thn th popl bcam lik thos complaining [to thmslvs] vil in th ar of Yahwh. Thn Yahwh kpt haring; thn his angr was kindld; thn it burnd against thm th fir of Yahwh thn it consumd th xtrmity of th camp. Not only do w hav conscutiv action, but it is conscutiv action with grat mphasis. Th similar words for fir and burning also giv grat mphasis to what is bing said hr. This is a complt chang of pac from th Pntatuch all th way from th goldn calf incidnt back in Exodus until now. I am crtain that som of you do not lik to dlv into th Hbrw, but it is th Hbrw of this vrs which tlls us xactly what is bing said. Thr ar a sris of vnts, on which follows anothr, a logical progrssion of vnts from our standpoint, not from God's a sris of vnts which tlls us that crtain actions hav logical consquncs. W might b a trifl concrnd at this point, thinking that th Jws hav had a prtty good track rcord up until this tim and all that is occurring hr is a littl mumbling and complaining, and most of thm ar kping it to thmslvs. And Ptr said, "Lord, ar You addrssing this parabl to us or to vryon as wll?" And th Lord said, 'Who thn is th faithful and snsibl srvant, whom his mastr will plac in charg of his slavs, to giv 57 Biblical Hbrw, Mnahm Mansoor, Vol. 1, p Davidson's Introductory Hbrw Grammar~Syntax, J.C.L. Gibson, pp ; Biblical Hbrw, an Introductory Grammar, Pag H. Klly, pp

111 Th Book of Numbrs 111 thm thir rations at th propr tim. Blssd is that slav whom his mastr finds so doing whn h coms. In fact, I say to you that h will put him in charg of all his possssions. But, if that slav says in his hart, 'My mastr will b a long tim in coming,' and bgins to bat th slavs, both mn and womn, and to at and drink and gt drunk; th mastr of that slav will com on a day whn h dos not xpct, and at an hour h dos not know, and will cut him in pics, and assign him a plac with th unblivrs. And that slav who knw his mastr's will and did not gt rady or act in accord with his will, will rciv many lashs. Howvr, th on who did not know, and committd dds worth of a flogging, will rciv but fw. And from vryon who has bn givn much shall much b rquird; and to whom thy ntrustd much, of him thy will ask all th mor. I hav com to cast fir upon th arth; and how I dsir that it alrady b kindld." (Luk 12:41 49). Ths Jws, at that tim, had bn givn much mor and thy had sn much mor, than any othr popl on th arth. Howvr, as rcipints of God's grac, God xpcts much mor from thm. Thir advantag is a doubl-dgd sword on th on hand, thy saw daily th animals bing sacrificd to Yahwh and thy saw th might hand of God through many grat miracls and incrdibl fats and this gav thm a jump start on salvation and a rlationship with Jsus Christ (as a majority of th grat blivrs in th Old Tstamnt ar Jwish). As Paul wrot: Thn what advantag has th Jw? Or what is th bnfit of circumcision? [It is] grat in vry rspct. First of all, thy wr ntrustd with th oracls of God (Rom. 3:1 2). For thos who ar ignorant of God's Word, thr is limitd disciplin and limitd blssing. For th unblivr, God prtty much allows thm to do what thy want (God dos not chastis thos who ar not His childrn) and only applis prssur whn thy hav positiv volition and just nd ncouragmnt (if w could hav wondrously prfct livs and still b positiv toward a rlationship with God and to God's Word, it would b highly unlikly that God would vr apply prssur which hurt). Howvr, on th othr hand, for a prson to b xposd to th gospl and to God's Word and to disoby, thr is hll to pay. Thn th popl crid to Moss so Moss prayd to Yahwh and so th fir was qunchd [lit., sunk down or drownd]. [Num. 11:2] Again w hav svral waw conscutivs, thr of thm to b xact, which I hav translatd diffrntly, thn, so, and so. A mor litral translation might stick with on rndring only. Ths ight waw conscutivs in on vrs grab us and tll us that w ar in an historical narrativ now which is chronological. Th thrust of such a connctiv is ssntially chronological or logical progrssion. Th final vrb is th Qal imprfct of shâqa (ò Ç È ) [pronouncd shaw-kah] and it mans to sink down, to drown although it is a rlativly rar word in th Old Tstamnt (Job 41:1 Jr. 51:64 Ezk. 32:15 Amos 8:8 9:5). Strong's #8257 BDB #1054. Notic hr that w hav our lvls of authority and now th popl ar going through th corrct channls. Thy go to Moss, who rprsnts God to thm, and h gos to God. Th stop mumbling to thmslvs and thy talk to Moss (possibly aftr going through thir own immdiat ladrs). Thy ar not as concrnd about th things that thy wr mumbling about, but about th firs of Yahwh which hav bn startd nar th outsid of th camp. God listns to this and withdraws th lightning and th firs. Thn h calld th nam of that plac Tabrah, for [lit., and] th fir of Jhovah burnd among thm. [Num. 11:3] Tabrah is obviously a translitration (w will only s it onc mor in Dut. 9:22) and it is th word for buring to th lttr, with th xcption that it is prcdd by a ta. Th firs which burnd among thm cam dirctly from Yahwh. Naming this plac srvs two purposs: (1) as a rmindr to thm of what had transpird; and, (2) as a taching aid to thir childrn; th childrn would ask why this ara had th nam Tabrah, and th adults would xplain why. And th rabbl who [ar] in its midst had grat cravings [lit., lustd a lust], thn th sons of Isral rminiscd [lit., turnd back] thn wpt, thn said, "Who will giv us mat? [Num. 11:4]

112 Numbrs Chaptr On of th things which w do not s in th English is th us of th vrb and its noun cognat to draw attntion to th intnsity of this vrs. Th vrb is th 3rd prson masculin plural, Hithpal prfct of âwâh (ä åàè È ) [pronouncd aw-wawh] and it mans to dsir, to crav, to lust. It is followd by th fminin singular noun ta ãvâh (ä åàâ È Ç ) [pronouncd tah-av-waw], which is a dsir, a craving, a lust, a wish, that which is dsird. Th litral translation is to lust a lust. This xprssion, known tchnically as a polyptoton [pronouncd po-lyp-to-ton] obviously intnsifis th maning of th words; this was an ovrpowring lust or dsir. Svral translation insrt b b th word again nar th word wpt; it is actually th Qal imprfct of shûw v (á ) [pronouncd shoo v]; which mans rturn; w saw it svral tims in Lviticus (Lv. 25 is whr w studid this word), whr that which was stoln or dstroyd or brokn was rturnd or rstord to th original ownr. Hr, th Isralits ar rturning in thir minds to Egypt; that is, thy ar rminiscing. Thr ar tims that w hav rosy notions of th way things us to b; thr ar popl, lik myslf, who rarly rmmbr things in a ngativ way, but rcall th past quit favorably. Som popl who do this find thmslvs longing for th good old days. Hr, it was complt and total rmoval from rality. Thy wr so abusd as slavs that thy calld out to thir God for hlp, as w hav rcntly quotd. Thy wr undr grat strss and pain. And suddnly, on yar latr, thy ar rminiscing about th good old days and thir idyllic lif as slavs and thy ar homsick! Thy wp th imprfct tns for both vrbs indicats that thy think back a littl, thy wp a littl, thy think back som mor and wp som mor. Insrt into this action that thy call out for som actual mat, which thy hav not had for awhil. Som popl hav a vry tough tim with prsonal inconvninc; whr som things ar just nvr th sam. I prsonally rcall having apricot trs and ating frsh apricots right off th tr and having apricot pi th yllowish orang fruit sold in th stors is practically a diffrnt fruit; and that which is sold in cans dos not vn rsmbl th tast or txtur of apricots vn rmotly. This dos not man that was th gratst tim of my lif and I spnd my lif wishing to rturn to thos days. Whn your lif movs ahad, thr ar things in this world which you will lav bhind and som things which you will miss. That is a part of this lif. Howvr, ths Jws wr bing mlodramatic and thir horribl past was blurrd by som of th dlicacis that thy wr abl to njoy thn. It was not wrong to dsir som of th trmndous food which thy lft bhind in Egypt. Howvr, ths popl ar taking this too far; thy fail to rcogniz that (1) thir livs wr horribl undr Egyptian slavry; (2) that thy had calld to Yahwh for hlp and dlivranc from slavry to th Egyptians; (3) that God was taking thm to a land of milk and hony; (4) that th God of th Univrs, th On capabl of anything, was lading thm through th dsrt and H could provid for thm whatvr thy ndd and oftn gav thm things which thy dsird. Thr was a way to approach this and a way not to approach this. Thy could spak to Moss and ask him to ask God for som variation in thir dit. This is actually kind of fascinating bcaus, originally, God providd th sons of Isral with both manna and quail mat, back in Ex. 16 (s Ex. 16:8 13). W do not know what happnd btwn thn and now. Did God suddnly stop providing quail? Did God gradually wan th Jws from quail? W ar nvr told that. Howvr, th Jws ar bing tstd hr thy ar bing tstd to trust God s provisions. Thy ar about to fac th ral tst, and this is an intrmdiat tst to gt thm rady. This is th practic tst. God has providd thm with mat and manna in th past; God continus to provid th Jws with manna at this tim; so, th tst qustion is, can God provid thm mat if thy ask for it? Ths Jws did not nd to complain. Thy did not nd to bllyach. This did not nd to approach Moss lik Moss has ruind thir livs, taking thm out of thir Shangri-la Egypt and making thm to wandr in this dsrt. Back in Egypt, thy got roasts and fish and lks and garlic; and thir lif was so good. This is a bad mov on thir part. This band of ldrs who hav com to Moss simply hav to say, W ar all tird of just manna; could God provid us with quail again or vn with fish? God is God. God can do anything. With th propr mntal attitud, not only could ths Jws hav atn wll, and probably hav gottn anything that thy askd for, but thy chos to approach God (actually, Moss, thir mdiator) in a hostil mannr. Th fact that ths popl will fail big tim in th nxt coupl chaptrs is what w ought to xpct. What thy wantd in thir dit is bâsâr (ø È È ) [pronouncd baw-sawr] which is proprly translatd flsh; howvr, it can b usd as a uphmism for th mal organ (Gn. 17:11, 414, 23), flsh in trms of bing rlatd (Gn. 29:14 Judgs 9:2), for man as diffrnt from God (Gn. 6:3 Psalm 56:5); for animals (Gn. 7:15 16 Isa. 31:3); for living things (Gn. 6:17, 19 Lv. 17:14). Howvr, w will translat this mat bcaus that is th propr maning of this word in this contxt rlativ to our cultur.

113 Th Book of Numbrs 113 Prhaps if w lookd at this a diffrnt way, so that you can undrstand what was so lousy about thir attitud. Havn't you vr known or workd with or bn rlatd to somon who dos nothing but complain about lif, thir boss, thir co-workrs, thir family, thir husband, thir wivs, thir childrn? It is if vry othr sntnc from thir mouths is a complaint about somon or somthing. If you ar a fllow comisrator, you might njoy what thy hav to say bcaus whn thy stop and tak a brath, you will hav your chanc to complain about somon or to agr with thm. Howvr, for most popl, listing to somon moan, bitch, whin and complain is th most distrssing. Hav you as a husband com hom from working tn hours a day and your wif starts bitching at you th momnt you com in th door that you don't mak nough mony? Havn't you as a wif, com hom from a hard day at work and th first thing you har from th husband is why havn't you straightnd this up, or why isn't dinnr rady yt? Havn't you spnt two hours prparing an incrdibl mal prhaps svral hours prparing a Thanksgiving dinnr, and your kid whins about how h would rathr hav a hamburgr; don't you want to just pop him in th had? You foolishly bought your sixtn yar old daughtr a nw rd corvtt to rward hr bcaus sh is (1) not prgnant and (2) still in school; and sh whins bcaus sh liks tal? It is absolutly irritating and frustrating to b around popl who ar so slf-cntrd, so insnsitiv and so ngativ. This is what God facd. Instad of apprciation for what H had don and anticipation for what lay ahad H had promisd thm a land flowing with milk and hony ths Jws ar whining, bitching, complaining about th good old days which wrn't all that good. Now ths things happnd as xampls for us, that w should not crav wrong things, as thy [thos of th Exodus gnration] also cravd (I Cor. 10:6). Application: God givs us a varity of tsts; som ar practic tsts and som ar mid-trms. This is th practic tst for Gn X. Coming up, in Num , will b thir final xam. Thy fail th practic tst and thy will fail th final xam. Whn God tsts you, thn it is a good ida to mak som kind of attmpt, through th powr of th Holy Spirit, to pass that tst. It is th prudnt thing to do. Had this gnration of Jws passd this tst, it is possibl that thy would hav walkd right into th Land of Promis and takn it away from th hathn in th land. Howvr, what will happn instad is, God will lt thir carcasss di in th dsrt (prviw of coming vnts). Simpl qustion for you whn you fac a tst: do you want to pass th tst and njoy all that God can provid for you or do you want your drid up carcass to drop dad in a misrabl dsrt? Application: So thr is no misundrstanding, th Christian lif is not all about you want to do on thing and God wants you to do somthing diffrnt, and now you hav to do this somthing diffrnt that you absolutly hat doing. God is not going to snd you off to th African junls to b a missionary if you (1) hat Africa, (2) hat languags, (3) hat bugs and wildlif, and (4) hat difficult surroundings. God has a plan for your lif which you will njoy. I can attst to that. God s plan for vryon is diffrnt. Now, God is going to disrupt your lif now and again, and God is going to pick you up and mov you from point A to point B; but don t think that a lif of Christian srvic mans, God is going to pick out th thing you hat th most and mak you do that. Th basic ky is this: you rgularly nam your sins to God, you gt undr a pastor-tachr who carfully tachrs th Word of God rgularly (I would say that 4x a wk is a bar minimum; and that minimum should b supplmntd), and thn lt com what may. You start thr, and thn God is going to both blss you and tst you. Of cours, if you want to just whin and complain to God about how lousy your lif is and how man H is, try that, and s how far that gts you. If you ar carrying Zodhiats Th Complt Word Study Old Tstamnt, or th NIV Study Bibl, and you rad th commntary not which associats this rabbl with th Egyptians who cam out with th Jws, put a larg "X" through that footnot and nxt to it writ wrong wrong wrong. Too many Bibl commntaris try to associat th rabbl with th non-jws who cam out of Egypt with th Jws. Don't b misld by your translation if it rads mixd-multitud. Thos who cam with th Jws who wr not born Jws wr not th problm hr or anywhr ls. This is a condition of th hart. This is not a racial issu. Crtainly, som formr Egyptians wr whining and complaining; but so wr som Jws. Th Bibl nvr lists th mixd-multitud as th culprits. Psalm 78, a marvlous psalm writtn about this gnration, rads: Thn H ld thm with a cloud by day and all th night with a light of fir. H split th rocks in th wildrnss, and gav abundant drink, lik th dpths of th ocans. Yt thy still continud to sin against Him, to rbl against th Most High in th dsrt; and in thir hart, thy put God to th tst, by asking fo food according to thir lust. Thn thy spok against God; thy said, "Can God st [or, prpar] a tabl in th dsrt? Sur [lit., bhold], H struck th rock, so that watrs gushd out and strams wr ovrflowing; [but] can H giv brad also? Will H provid mat for His popl?" Thrfor, Yahwh hard

114 Numbrs Chaptr and was full of wrath, and a fir was kindld against Jacob and angr also mountd against Isral, bcaus thy did not bliv in God and thy did not trust in His dlivranc (Psalm 78:14 24). This is God's Word and it tlls us that th culprits wr Jacob and Isral (God's dsignation for th Isralits). For h is not a Jw who is on outwardly; nithr is circumcision that which is outward in th flsh, but h is a Jw who is on inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of th hart, by th Spirit, not by th lttr; and his prais is not from mn, but from God (Rom. 2:28 29). It was that ntir gnration which God loathd, not just a fw scattrd Egyptians who lft with th Jws. Do not hardn your harts as whn thy provokd M as in th day of trial in th dsrt whr your fathrs trid M by tsting. And thy saw My works for forty yars. Thrfor, I was disgustd with this gnration, and said, "Thy always go astray in thir hart; and thy did not know My ways." As I swor in My wrath, "Thy will not ntr into My rst." (Hb. 3:8 11 Psalm 95:8 11). Don't you rcall all ths conscutivs that w just xamind. Thn th popl crid out to Moss; thn Moss prayd to Yahwh, thn th fir was qunchd (v. 2). Ths Jws ar rlatd to th God of th Univrs. If thy want somthing, thy can ask for it. This principl is illustratd in th gospl of Luk: "And I say to you, ask, and it will b givn to you; sk, and you will find; knock, and it will b opnd to you. For vryon who asks, rcivs; and h who sks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will b opnd. Now suppos on of you fathrs is askd by his son for a fish; h will not giv him a snak instad of a fish, will h? Or h is askd for an gg, h will not giv him a scorpion, will h? If you thn, bing vil, know how to giv good gifts to your childrn, how much mor will your havnly Fathr giv th Holy Spirit to thos who ask Him?" (Luk 11:11 13). "W rmmbr th fish which w at in Egypt for nothing; th cucumbrs and th mlons and th lks and th onions and th garlic; [Num. 11:5] This is all wll and good. Egypt would hav had som food stuffs unobtainabl whil crossing th dsrt. Thy hav bn ating manna all this tim and crtainly thir mals had bcom monotonous. So what? Thr was som slf-sacrific involvd for a fw yars. Th Isralits had a difficult tim sparating thmslvs from Egypt. Thr wr svral tims that thy viwd thir slavry in Egypt through ros-colord glasss, as though it wr a stroll through th country. And th sons of Isrral said to thm [Moss and Aaron], "W wish tht w would hav did by Yahwh's hand in th land of Egypt, whn w sat by th pots of mat, whn w at brad to th full; for you hav brought us out into this dsrt to kill this ntir assmbly with hungr." (Ex. 16:3). Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Popl Ar Tird of Eating Manna "And now our apptit is bord [lit., our soul is dry]; thr is not anything, xcpt th manna [lit., what is it?] bfor our ys." [Num. 11:6] Now hr is a thought. Lading thm through th dsrt is th God of th Univrs Who cratd th Univrs. All thy ndd to do was to go to Moss and ask Moss to ask God for som variation in thir dit. Thy don't nd to whin, bitch, moan and complain. Th problm hr is attitud and faith. God should hav just poppd thm in th hads. And th manna is a coriandr sd, and its apparanc is lik th apparanc of bdllium [lit., th y of it as th y of bdllium]. [Num. 11:7] In this vrs, th word y stands in for th word color. This is bcaus it is with th y that w distinguish color, a maninglss concpt to smll, tast and touch. What w hav hr is an asid by Moss, as guidd by th Holy Spirit. Lt's just xamin this manna thing for a momnt: Th popl hav turnd asid and gathrd [it], and thy hav ground [it] will mill-stons, or bat [it] in a mortar, and boild [it] in a pot, and mad it caks, and th tast is similar to th tast of th moistur of oil. [Num. 11:8]

115 Th Book of Numbrs 115 So what is th point of all this? Th point is that whn thy wr hungry, God fd thm and brought to thm a food unlik any othr which wa xcptionally vrsatil and could b prpard in a vry larg numbr of ways. I think of what, which can b mad into cral, hot or cold, a vast multitud of brads, croutons, stuffing, pastry and othr dsrts. This is mrly on food, just as manna was mrly on food. Don't ths Jws raliz that thy can ask God for what thy nd? Don't you know that you should not spnd your lif bitching, whining and moaning? If you nd somthing, you can ask God. Obviously, thr is a right way and a wrong way to go about this. Thr is protocol. I rcall on frind who, whnvr sh wantd som matrial thing, sh would ask m to pray to God to gt it for hr. Now sh had no intrst in God, or Who h rally is, or what hr rlationship to Him should b sh simply wantd that matrial thing and I was a rabbit's foot to hlp hr gt it. I am crtain that sh also appald to hr Catholic or Buddhist frinds in th sam way, to covr all bass. And in th dscnding of th dw on th camp by night, th manna dscndd with [lit., on] it. [Num. 11:9] Moss rminds us that th Jws ar still rciving manna hr from God. Th mphasis hr is that manna was miraculous; God gav that to thm. Can you imagin what othr things God would hav givn thm had thy askd corrctly? This is simpl. Your ightn-yar-old coms to you and says "Gimm th car kys." What's your raction? Or, h says, "May I borrow th car; I'll b going ovr to Marcia's to study Algbra for an hour thn I would back back hr bfor 10:00 pm." Which kid has th bttr chanc of gtting th car? You lust and you do not hav...you do not hav bcaus you do not ask. [or] You ask and you do not rciv, bcaus you ask with wrong motivation, so that you may squandr [it] on your lusts (Jams 4:2a, 2c, 3). Don't misundstand what is bing taught hr. Nithr Jams nor I ar taching you how to play God. You cannot out-psych God and thr is no particular st of prayrs which work bttr than any othrs. Th ky is what is in your soul. You cannot manipulat God; howvr, thr is still a right way and a wrong way of approaching Him. You will not that a grat many of th principls taught in th Nw Tstamnt ar mrly carrid ovr from th Old Tstamnt. W ar crtainly in a nw dispnsation and thr hav bn grat changs in what has bn givn us; howvr, a vast majority of that which is right and wrong is found in both tstamnts. You may want to rviw your nots on manna at this tim. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Moss Himslf Complains about His Grat Rsponsibilitis Thn Moss hard th popl wping by its familis, ach at th opning of his tnt, and th angr of Yahwh burnd xcdingly, and in th ys of Moss thy wr vil. [Num. 11:10] A minor grammatical point hr: th subjct of wr vil is popl; both ar in th masculin singular. Howvr, our us of th word dmands th plural, which is th way I translatd it. W us th word crowd in th singular; howvr, this is not a synonymous trm for th Hbrw word translatd popl. Thr is a vrb found hr and in v. 11 (and its noun cognat is found in v. 15). Hr w find th Qal prfct of râ a (ò òç øè) [pronouncd raw-ìahì] and it mans to b vil, bad, displasing. To Moss, th bhavior of this popl was vil. Th popl hav bn out for thr days; thy ar a littl tird of manna and thy ar bing mlodramatic about th lack of varity in thir dit. Thir poor attitud, thir sloppy approach to God, and thir intnt to incit othrs to thir own lvl of dissatisfaction is dplorabl; thy ar nothing mor than a bunch of damn crybabis. Hr thy ar, rlatd uniquly to th God of th Univrs, and thy ar whining and complaining. Don t miss th application to your lif. You prsonally ar rlatd to th God of th Univrs. You ar indwlt by God th Fathr, God th Son and God th Holy Spirit; you hav th gratst powr on arth oprational insid of you. Do you whin and complain, cry about your lot in lif? Ar you snivling about your lack of opportunity, th lack of matrial walth that you hav, a brokn hart? Lt m lt you in on a littl scrt: God dplors you! You ar wrtchd

116 Numbrs Chaptr in His sight. And if Moss wr on arth, you would b vil in his sight also. You can solv vry problm that lif has givn you. Jsus Christ, on arth, opratd His human lif ntirly by mans of th Holy Spirit. I know you don't vn hav a clu as to what I just said. Whnvr it cam to His prsonal nds, to His motions and mntal stat, to His hungr and thirst; H could hav, in His own powr, satisfid His vry nd. Whn H was tmptd by Satan and had not atn for forty days, H had th innat powr not to just turn th rocks at His ft into brad, but into fillt mignon with bakd potatos, sour cram, chs and chivs. Whn th soldirs slappd him prior to th cross, H could hav instantly vaporizd thm. Evry miracl H prformd was not in His own powr or from His own dity, but from th powr of th Holy Spirit th xact sam Holy Spirit which indwlls us. Dos that man that w can turn th stons in our backyard into a barbcu right bfor th crowd shows up? Crtainly not! W ar not to function outsid of God's plan and w cannot us th powr of th Holy Spirit outsid of God's plan. Howvr, thr is no difficulty, no hart ach, no circumstanc, no problm which God did not fors H has mad full provision for vry troubl in our lif and has givn us th Holy Spirit and His writtn Word to guid us. Now brac yourslvs: thr is anothr way to s this vrs. In this cas both intrprtations ar valid. Th unnamd subjct for is vil can also b God. In th ys of Moss, aftr haring all this trmndous whining and complaining, God is vil in his ys bcaus Yahwh has saddld him with this trmndous rsponsibility and Moss dos not know how to mak it stop hurting. A mothr whos child is in trribl pain, looking to hr for comfort, clarly undrstands th flings of Moss. Sh dsirs abov all ls to qull th pain and suffring of hr child and could find hrslf angry with God for giving hr a child in grat pain that sh can smingly do nothing about. And Moss said to Yahwh, "Why hav You causd vil to b don to Your srvant? And why hav I not found grac in Your ys to plac of all this popl upon m? [Num. 11:11] Rcall how you did not lik on of th intrprtations that Yahwh had bn vil in th sight of Moss. Notic that w hav th sam vrb, râ a (ò òç øè) [pronouncd raw-ah] and this unqustionably is Moss rfrring to God, as it is in th scond prson singular. Howvr, Moss has couchd this is what would b considrd mor polit languag. Th vrb this tim is in th Hiphil prfct, maning that God as not don vil to Moss but that God has causd vil to b don to Moss. Bcaus of th Hiphil stm, I hav translatd this singl vrb by th phras causd vil to b don to. God was not th dor of th action of th vrb, but God st up a srris of vnts which rsultd in a situation which was vil to Moss. And notic who is complaining now; Moss is complaining to God. His popl th Jws, ar hurting and h dos not know how to mak it stop. Thir discontnnt and unhappinss is catching. It is difficult for anyon, rgardlss of thir spiritual strngth, to b around popl who ar whining, complaining, blaming and to maintain an vn attitud. Moss is a grat man byond what any of us hav vr sn, and th whining and complaining of his gnration has vn impactd him. 60 "Hav I vn I concivd all this popl? Hav I vn I bgottn thm, that You say to m 61 'Carry thm in your bosom as th nursing fathr bars th suckling? [Carry thm] to th land, which You hav sworn to thir fathrs?' [Num. 11:12] So Moss asks God if h, Moss, is th prson who fathrd this popl, bcaus th prson who fathrd ths popl should b th on to carry thm into th land. Moss is approaching God gingrly, mostly with infrnc. H dos not com right out and say, "Ths ar Your popl, God, You tak car of thm." Instad, Moss implis that. Aftrall, God is th Fathr of Isral. "Thn you will say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says Yahwh, "Isral is My son, My first-born." ' " (Ex. 4:22; also s Isa. 63:16). Th pictur drawn is that of Moss carrying a suckling baby nxt to his bosom a baby actually concivd by Yahwh. And Moss will do this for forty yars And for a priod of about forty yars, H [God] put up with thm in th dsrt (Acts 13:18). God has mad promiss to Now don't fly into a tizzy; I am spaking anthropopathically hr, just as Moss is in writing this vrs. Lit., it rmmbr, this is in th singular to match th Hbrw singular of th word popl. Lit., it.

117 Th Book of Numbrs 117 th sons of Isral, so why is Moss doing all th work and acting as though h mad all ths promiss? As is footnotd, thm should b translatd it but it could also b translatd him. Thr is no distinction in th Hbrw btwn th masculin and th nutr as thr is in th Grk. Moss is th grat mdiator btwn God and God's popl Isral; and for him th prssur was bcoming too grat. Moss rprsnts our Mdiator, Who facd an vn gratr prssur. And H took with Him Ptr and Jams and Joh, and bgan to b vry distrssd and troubld. And H said to thm, "My soul is dply grivd to th point of dath; rmain hr and kp watch." And H wnt a littl byond and fll to th ground and bgan praying that if it wr posibl, th hour might pass Him by. And H was saying, "Abba! Fathr! All thing ar possibl for You; rmov this cup from M, yt not what I will but what You will." (Mark 14:33 36). W hav our salvation bcaus our grat Mdiator did not buckl undr th prssur of baring our sins, vn though w wr born of th dvil and not of Him, having an indwlling old sin natur and a dp dsir to oppos Him. "From whr do I hav mat to giv to all this popl? For thy wp to m, saying, 'Giv to us mat, and w will at.' [Num. 11:13] Moss lists thir numbr on complaint: thy ar tird of manna and want som actual mat in thir dit. H dosn't hav any mat and h has no ida whr to gt th mat ncssary for this many popl out in th middl of th dsrt. Howvr, God is abl. This is th sam God, Who, svral cnturis in th futur, will fd 5000 with fiv barly loavs and two fish (Matt. 14:13 21 Mark 6:32 44 Luk 9:10 17 John 6:7 13). H is mor than abl. "I am not abl I alon to bar all this popl. For, [this burdn is] too havy for m. [Num. 11:14] This is a fascinating figur of spch an implid polyptoton (implid through llipsis). Normally, this would rad: I am not abl I alon to bar th burdn of all this popl; for this burdn is too havy for m. Th polyptoton is th combining of th vrb for to bar with its noun cognat, which would b undrstood. Hnc an implid polyptoton. You xpct to s th polyptoton, but you do not; this, along with th abbrviation (llipsis) of it all shows grat motion in Moss' spch. This is an intns pla for hlp. God is incrdibly gracious. Moss has bgun to sound lik th whiny Jws h is lading around. H is acting as if h is all alon, as if God is not thr to hlp him. Rathr than strik Moss down for his ignoranc, God allows him to spak. Moss, vn though this maks him look bad, rcordd this convrsation of ovr 3000 yars ago for our bnfit. Prhaps w may rcogniz ourslvs as going to God, whining about this or that littl insignificant problm, as though th world wr falling in upon us. "And if You ar doing m [this way], [thn] kill m, I implor You [lit., plas]; kill [m] if I hav 62 found grac in your ys, and lt m not look on [or, at] Your vil." [Num. 11:15] You may prhaps think that I am bing far too fr with this translation. Moss bgins with a conjunction and th 63 hypothtical particl if. This is followd by th scond prson pronoun followd by th Qal activ participl of âsâh (ä È òè ) [pronouncd aw-sawh] which mans to do, to mak, to construct. This is followd by th th lâmd prposition (to) with a first prson suffix. Litrally, so far, w hav and if you ar doing to m. Th vrb to kill is found twic in this vrs, onc in th Qal imprativ and onc in th Qal infinitiv absolut. Th scond occurnc of this vrb tnds to intnsify th first usag. In btwn is a particl of ntraty which should b translatd plas but that sounds too lam. Occasionally, w hav blivrs in Jsus Christ who gt undr so much prssur that thy cry out to b killd by God. Elijah, whn on th run, and fling quit alon in th world with his stand, wrot: But h himslf wnt a day's journy into th dsrt, and cam and sat down undr a junipr tr; and h rqustd for himslf that h might di, and said, "It is nough, now. O Lord, tak my lif., for I am not bttr than 62 This could possibly rad: my vil or misry; th rason for th chang of prson to b covrd in txt. 63 For thos who ar chcking up on m, th scond prson pronoun is in th fminin gndr, but that appars to b a rading problm (Own's Analytical Ky to th Old Tstamnt, Vol. I, p. 624).

118 Numbrs Chaptr my fathrs." (1Kings 18:4). Thr can b tims whn you hav a srious intrst in God's Word an dyou will b all alon, insofar as you know, whn it coms to this intrst. Th Christians that you know might b intrstd in a thousand othr things othr than th Word. Don't b surprisd. In fact, don't b surprisd if onc and awhil, if not all th tim, you fl as though you ar th only blivr lft on this plant who is intrstd in God's Word. You ar no doubt wondring about th nd of th vrs. My vil (or, misry) is th rading of th Massortic txt. Howvr, vv lnd thmslvs mor radily to this rading Your vil. Furthrmor, contxt dos not lnd itslf to Moss bing so insightful hr to rcognizing that his prsonal viwpoint and stand hr is vil. His accusation is against God, not himslf. It has bn assrtd that th Sophrim (th ditorial scribs), mad this altration, not wanting to associat vil with God, and lft a margin not to indicat this. Such a marginal not is calld an mndation and this will b covrd in gratr dtail in 1Sam. 3:13 From th Jrusalm Targum, it 64 has bn shown that this was rad th vil of th popl or thir vil. This vrs is a small, prsonal pity party bing thrown by Moss. Lif is too tough, popl ar complaining just kill m, God, and gt m out of this. Som of us ar foolish nough to dsir positions of grat authority, not bcaus w can handl it or bcaus w hav any ladrship capabilitis at all, but bcaus w lik to boss popl around. W lik to tll popl what to do, but w don't want to b told what to do. This givs us a much bttr ida as to what ladrship is all about. Moss has a trmndous rsponsibility and all complaints invitiably vn whn thy ar just spokn to onslf on a hot dsrt aftrnoon to no on in particular wind up on his dsk and h, bing in authority, is to both tak th blam for what has happnd and thn fix th problm. This is too much for Moss who has nvr had dlusions of grandur and nvr had any grat dsir to lad anything (although, as w hav sn, was raisd to bcom th ladr of on of th gratst nations on arth at th tim). In fact, it might b a good tim to r--xamin Moss' arly lif: Th Early Lif of Moss 1. Moss was born a Jw; a Lvit (Ex. 2:1 2). 2. At th tim of his birth, th Jws wr slavs in Egypt and xprincing a trmndous population xplosion (Ex. 1:8 12). 3. Th Pharaoh first instructd th two suprvisors of th midwivs to kill all mal Hbrw babis as thy wr born, and, whn that faild, commandd all of th popl to cast mal Hbrw babis into th Nil (Ex. 1:15 22). 4. Lik all mal Hbrw babis, Moss had bn circumcisd on th svnth day (Gn. 17:11 12), and thrfor whn th Pharaoh's daughtr found him in th Nil, sh knw that h was an Hbrw (Ex. 2:5 6). 5. Moss was brought up in th castl of Pharaoh (Ex. 2:10 Acts 7:21 22). 6. Whras Moss could hav bn brought up as a princ to on day bcom king (h would hav bn in lin as a crown princ), h chos instad to lad his popl (Acts 7:21 22 Hb. 11:24 27). 7. Th dcision to stay with his popl and lad thm was no on-shot dcision; th totality of this dcision took ovr forty yars (Acts 7:23 30). Evn hr w s his rticnc. 8. Moss was so concrn about his natural spakig ability that h rqustd God to giv him som altrnativ to spaking dirctly to Pharaoh, which was Aaron for awhil, Aaron spok for God to Pharaoh (Ex. 4: :29 7:2). 9. Howvr, Moss did vntually assum his position of authority and spak dirctly to Pharaoh (Ex. 8: ). Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx You will crtainly rcall back in Ex. 32 th goldn calf incidnt whn Moss wnt up on Mount Sinai to spak with Yahwh and th popl fll into idolatry. At that tim, whn h confssd th sin of th popl to God, h askd God to rmov thir sin or blot him from th book of lif (Ex. 32:32). In this cas, w hav Moss, unhappy in his 64 Takn from Th Emphasizd Bibl, p. 169; S Dr. Ginsburg's Introduction to th Massortico-Critical dition of th Hbrw Bibl (1897), p. 353.

119 Th Book of Numbrs 119 position of authority, unabl to mak it stop hurting ofr his popl th Jws; upst bcaus thy crtainly blamd him for all of thir hardships and h knows that h was th mouth which ld thm out of Egypt into th dsrt (it was God's command, but it was Moss spok to th popl). Moss asks God to kill him so that h, Moss, will not hav to look upon his own affliction that is, h will not hav to dal with his problms and th invitabl criss which com to a prson in a ladrship position. Your prsonal application? If you gratly dsir a ladrship position, rthink this craving. If all it is is a lust for powr a dsir to boss othrs around don't bothr to vn pursu such a notion. B honst with yourslf, if this is your motivation, thn you will mak a horribl ladr. Th on who lads is a srvant of all, not vic vrsa (Matt. 20: :11 12 John 13:3 8 I Cor. 9:19). If you think any diffrntly, you ar all mixd up. On of th many problms with out govrnmnt to day is that it has assumd a position of authority but not a position of srvitud and rsponsibility. Again, th book of Numbrs is filld with applications to your lif today. Whn it coms to pointing out ths applications, I am only scratching th surfac. W also hav a paralllism running btwn vrss 10, 11 and 15, which is vn noticabl in th English: v. 10 And it [or H] was vil in th sight of Moss. Th Paralllism Found in vv. 10, 11 and 15 v. 11 Why hav you causd vil to your srvant and why hav I not found grac in Your sight? v. 15 [Kill m] if I find grac in Your sight and I may not look at my misry (or, vil, or affliction). Notic that w hav a rpating of th thm in th sight of; and th vrb vil occurs in vv and its fminin noun cognat occurs in v. 15. Furthrmor, th vrb for s is quit simlar to th vrb for doing vil. S is râ âh (ä àè øè) [pronouncd raw-awh] and doing vil is râ a (ò òè øè) [pronouncd raw-aw]. W all tnd to focus in on God's wrath dirctd towards Isral and Moss' waknss hr; but what w oftn do not s is God's graciousnss toward Moss. Moss has bn sarcastic, insolnt, slf-pitying, and wak. God dos not upbraid Moss vn onc. Moss is so grat that God ovrlooks som of his faults which ar occasionally xprssd, and God focuss in on what will b don. H dos not hav to chw Moss out; God nds only to rfocus Moss and th gratnss that is Moss, bing filld by th Holy Spirit, will tak ovr. W will s th sam thing whn David sins with Bathshba. God will disciplin David and th pain will b almost unbarabl, but David will rgain his position and powr and th lin of Christ will actually procd through David and Bathshba (who was David's right woman, whom David should hav waitd for). Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx God Promiss Moss That H Will Snd th Isralits an Ovrabundanc of Mat And Yahwh said, to Moss, "Gathr to M svnty mn from th ldrs of Isral, whom you hav known that thy ar ldrs of th popl, and its authoritis; and you will tak thm to th tnt of mting, and thy will station thmslvs thr with you. [Num. 11:16] Unlik most popl, Moss dos not dsir to hav absolut authority. H would lik som hlp. Thr ar two million popl to rul ovr and God also rcognizs that it is an impossibl task for on man to handl. Moss has st up som judgs, as pr his fathr-in-law's advic (Ex. 18:17 26); so you may b wondring, whr ar ths mn? thy wr from th oldr gnration, many of whom hav did th sin unto dath. In addition, th siz and complxity of his mobil country rquirs mor administration than just som additional judgs. Th rulrship ovr two million popl by principally on man is an administrativ nightmar. Som popl foolishly lust aftr such powr. Finally although th suggstion of th fathr-in-law of Moss was an xcllnt ida, thos who wr appointd ovr groups of fifty and a hundrd and a thousand wr not filld with th Spirit, so thy wr likly inffctual as ladrs. Moss, in his working with ths popl, has gottn to know a grat many popl wll and rcognizs th ladrship potntial in othrs. God placs upon him th task of putting togthr a govrnmnt of

120 Numbrs Chaptr about svnty mn to rul ovr ths two million wandring Jws. As w will find out by th nd of th Pnttuch, thr ar only two mn in all of Isral, othr than Moss, Aaron and Aaron's two sons, who hav any ral tru ladrship potntial. I should point out that from this passag coms th Sanhdrin, th most authoritativ Jwish assmbly during th tim of our Lord. Unfortuantly, thy conformd in form, but not in rality. Th Sanhdrin during our Lord's tim containd vry fw mn, if any, who wr guidd by th Spirit of God. "And I will com down and spak with you thr, and I had kpt back my Spirit, which is upon you, howvr [lit., and] I will plac [it] upon thm, and thy will bar with you som of th burdn of th popl, and you will not bar [it] yourslf alon. [Num. 11:17] Now not how asy that was. Moss had a problm, h wnt to God, and God solvd it. Moss prayr was for God to kill him or in som way rmov th grat rsponsibility with which h had bn saddld. God did not answr this prayr in th way that Moss xpctd, but God did answr th prayr, immdiatly, and God solvd th problm. Th Isralits could hav larnd somthing hr. Rathr than thir bitching, whining and complaining, thy just ndd to go to God (through Moss thy had to approach God through an intrmdiary) and rqustd an xpansion of thir mnu. God is asy. Thy hav blivd in Him and up until now had trustd and oby Him. Thy just ndd to approach thir God. B anxious for nothing, but in vrything by prayr and supplication with thanksgiving lt your rqusts b mad known to god. And th pac of God, which surpasss all [human] comprhnsion shall garrison your harts and minds in Christ Jsus (Phil. 4:6 7). "Thy will not labor in vain or bar [childrn] in calamity; for thy ar th sd of thos blssd by Yahwh, and thir dscndants with thm. It will also com to pass that bfor thy call, I will answr; and whil thy ar sitll spaking, I will har." (Isa. 65:23 24). Don't bcom nonplussd ovr th kping back of th Holy Spirit hr. God has pourd th Holy Spirit upon Moss; God will kp back som of that powr which H has bn giving to Moss and pour it upon th svnty. This dos not man that Moss will now b oprating with 32 mgs of RAM as opposd to 64; Moss will not oprat now on four cylindrs instad of ight; God is simply rsrving som of th Spirit's powr for th assistants to Moss. Filld with th Spirit, ths mn will b a hlp to Moss; apart from th Holy Spirit, ths svnty ldrs wr just b anothr svnty popl who ar a pain in th nck to Moss with mor powr and authority than thy had bfor. If thos immdiatly undr you ar working against you, thn thir influnc is much mor dstructiv than that of th hoi polloi. Not hr, as I hav pointd out tim and tim again, thir srvic is worthlss outsid of th powr of th Holy Spirit, just as our srvic is worthlss without God's indwlling powr. Our giving, our slf-sacrific, our prayrs, our church attndanc, our witnssing you nam it whatvr you viw as Christian srvic or Christian activity is absolutly vain and uslss apart from th filling of th Holy Spirit. In th Old Tstamnt, thy had not th choic that w hav. God sovrignly chos who rcivd th Holy Spirit and who did not. Today, w nd only 65 nam our sins to God and w ar filld again with th Holy Spirit. "And to ths [lit., th] popl you will say, 'Sanctify [or, st yourslvs apart to God] yourslvs for tomorrow, and you [all] will at mat, for you [all] hav wpt in th ars of Yahwh, saying, "Who will giv us mat? For it was good [or, plasant] to us in Egypt." Yahwh will giv you mat and you will at [mat]. [Num. 11:18] Th problm was not i God's dsir or ability to provid th Isralits with mat. That was a givn. H could do that without any difficulty. Th problm was thir attitud and thir approach. W can approach God in a lot of diffrnt ways. Howvr, whn w com to him with mntal attitud sins, in bittrnss, blaming Moss, scapgoating othrs, in angr, in frustration w hav a problm. God is not going to answr our prayrs, or, whn H dos, H will b quit unplasant about it. H knows th prssurs that w ar undr and H is a 65 W hav all bn filld onc with th Holy Spirit whn w first blivd in Jsus Christ.

121 Th Book of Numbrs 121 forbaring, undrstanding God. Howvr, th attitud of th Exodus gnration was sorry, and God loathd that gnration. " 'You [all] will not at for on day, nor two days, nor fiv days, nor tn days, nor twnty days; [Num. 11:19] God will not just answr thir prayrs, H will giv thm an ovrabundanc of mat. W hav an xprssion in th nxt vrs about having so much mat that it coms out thir nostrils. Th Amplifid Bibl intrprts this as thm bcoming so full that thy violntly vomit this food back up and it coms out of thir nostrils. This is not what God will say blow. You rcall that, as a child, whn dscribing a marvlous Thanksgiving mal, that you xclaimd that you wr full up to hr, and you usd your hand to illustrat how full you wr (usually, you hld it ovr your had). This is th sam kind of xprssion. Whil not xactly a gntl mtaphor, it clarly indicats an ovrabundanc of and ovrindulgnc in mat. Frman concurs with this xplanation of bing filld to th nostrils in his book Mannr's and Customs of th Bibl (p. 99), whr h points out th a similar phras is still usd in India. " 'As far as a month of days, till that it coms out from your nostrils, and it bcoms to you an abomination; bcaus you [all] hav loathd Yahwh, Who is in your midst, and you wp bfor Him, saying "Why this? W hav com out of Egypt!" ' " [Num. 11:20] Th vry words of ths Jws shows how disorintd thy ar to God's plan. For th ways of a man ar bfor th ys of Yahwh and H watchs all his paths; his own iniquitis will captur th wickd and h will b hld with th cord of his sin. H will di for lack of instruction and in th gratnss of his folly, h will go astray (Prov. 5:21 23). "And I say to you that vry carlss word that mn spak, thy will rndr an account for it is th day of judgmnt. For by your words you will b justifid, and by your words you will b condmnd." (Matt. 5:36 37). Th problm is not that th sons of Isral dsir a chang of dit or som mor varity in thir dit. It is thir sorry attitud. Thir attitud and thir approach to God shows a loathing for God's charactr, a misapprhnsion of God's charactr. With th right attitud, thy could hav gon to Moss, thir grat mdiator, and askd Moss to ask God for mat. God would hav immdiatly grantd this rqust. Howvr, instad, thy stood around and bitchd and moand to thmslvs, thn to ach othr, so God gav thm too much for th priod of a month. W find this kind of attitud and prcption of God is found today. How many popl ar trappd in what it is thy bliv bcaus thy hav mad God into thir imag and thy hav an ida as to how God should act and b toward thm, and whr God should show som slack, and how God's morality should chang and bcom updatd. To ths popl, God is loathd bcaus thy do not lik Him for Who H is. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Moss Bcoms Sarcastic; Yahwh Gntly Upbraids Him And Moss said, "Six hundrd thousand footmn your popl in whos midst I [am]; and You You hav said, 'I will giv mat to thm and thy will at [it for] a month of days!' [Num. 11:21] Moss rminds God of how many popl thr ar. H has just rcntly takn th cnsus, so th numbrs ar in his had. Thy ar in th middl of th dsrt and thr ar 600,000 mn fit for srvic in thir army and God is tlling Moss that thy will at mat until it coms out thir nostrils for a month of days? Moss is just making sur that h has got his facts right. As far as Moss is concrnd, this is quit a miracl h is just making sur that h got it right and thr may hav bn a bit of a ton of disblif and/or mocking in his voic.

122 Numbrs Chaptr "And is [th ntir] flock and hrd slaughtrd for thm, that [lit., and] on has found for thm? If all th fishs of th sa gathrd for thm, that [lit., and] on has found for thm?" [Num. 11:22] Evn in a translation mad ovr thr thousand yars aftr th act, you can har th incrdulousnss in Moss' voic. You can har him half-mocking this notion that God will fd this many popl mat. Why has Moss takn this tact, and, if h is in disblif, what about th rst of Isral? Whn on's faith is hld by miracls, thn on nds mor miracls and gratr miracls to sustain this faith. It has bn ovr a month sinc th Jws hav sn anything which was xtraordinary. What about th cloud and th fir? this was old hat. Thy had sn that for ovr a yar; thy had bgun to tak that for grantd. Lt m giv you an illustration. Lt's say that God has dcidd to giv you your own prsonal, privat miracl...that vrytim you wr alon and thirsty and had an mpty glass in your hand, that God would miraculously fill it with watr or th bvrag of your choic. Wll, th first tim that this happnd, you would b amazd. You would drink it down and hold it up for a rfill. By th nd of th day, you'd b rtaining an ocan of fluid. And for a month or so aftrwards, this would b th most incrdibl thing that you could imagin. Howvr, onc svral months go by, vn though you rcogniz that this is quit unusual, it would not b that big of a dal. And, onc a yar has passd, it would b nothing, and crtainly such a miracl would not sustain your faith. Th ky is that ral faith coms from th insid. Faith coms by haring and haring by th Word of God. This is whr our faith is dvlopd not by sing miracls. Thos miracls wr Moss' crdit card. H was to lad Isral, h was to withstand th Pharaoh of Egypt and th miracls confirmd this. To bas your faith upon ths grat miracls is a mistak. Your sustaining faith will com from your volition. You will choos to tak God at His Word. "And if it is disagrabl in your stimation [lit., sight] to srv Yahwh, choos for yourslvs today whom you will srv; whthr th gods which your fathrs srvd which wr byond th Rivr, or th gods of th Amorits in whos land you ar living; but as for m and my hous, w will srv Yahwh." (Joshua 24:15). Lt's chang this passag slightly: And if it is disagrabl in your stimation to bliv Yahwh, thn choos for yourslvs today whom you will bliv; whthr th whthr th gods which your fathrs blivd in which wr byond th Rivr, or th gods of th Amorits in whos land you ar living; but as for m and my hous, w will bliv Yahwh. Srvic to God bgins by faith in God, just as th Christian lif bgins with nothing but faith, faith th siz of a mustard sd. And Yahwh said to Moss, "Is th hand of Yahwh shortnd? Now you will s whthr My Word will mt your xpctations or not [lit., will mt you or not]." [Num. 11:23] Hr is th ky: My Word. God spok to Moss and told Moss what was going to happn. That is all God had to do. Moss only ndd to bliv at that point. Whn God said, "Is th hand of Yahwh shortnd?", what H was saying is did H not hav th powr to ffct this miracl? This is an idiomatic phras, rndrd in th NASB and th NRSV: "Is th LORD's powr limitd?" Th Amplifid Bibl: Has th Lord's hand [His ability and powr] bcom short [thwartd and inadquat]? It maks m grimac to quot th Living Bibl, but: Thn th Lord said to Moss, "Whn did I bcom wak?" As H said in Isa. 59:1: Bhold, Yahwh's hand is not so short that it cannot sav; nithr is His ar so dull that it cannot har. Finding mat for a population of 2,000,000+ is obviously a human impossibility in this dsrt. Howvr, for God, is His arm too short? God cratd th ntir univrs in an instant. Providing a littl mat is not such a difficult thing. In fact, as w will s, God had obviously bn tnding a hug flock of quail and will bring thm to th Jws without vn prforming som incrdibl miracl. H will provid for thm from His grat powr; howvr, instad of crat th quail immdiatly, God had alrady had th quial in waiting and h will simply gathr thm up and bring thm to th sons of Isral. nd Th final vrb in this vrs is th 3rd prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct, 2 prson masculin singular suffix of qârâh (ä øè È ) [pronouncd kaw-rawh] and it mans ncountr, mt, bfall. Howvr, in this word is just th slight hint of chanc; somthing just might happn. Thr is that ting of probability which is implid, as w s in its noun cognat, mîq rh (ä ø Ó îò) [pronouncd mik - REH], its maning, by BDB, is accidnt, chanc, fortun. Th rspons of God is missd ntirly in all th English translations. Moss is half-mocking, half unbliving tlling God now lt m gt this straight thr ar 600,000 foot soldirs and you ar going to fd thm mat until it coms out thir nostrils? W'r going to slaughtr all of th hrds and flocks, right? You'r going to suddnly provid us with all of th fish in th sa do I hav my facts right, hr?" And God rplis, "Am I too wak? Lt's just s mayb it will com to pass; it could happn." Th attitud of Moss is givn rigth back to

123 Th Book of Numbrs 123 him by God. I don't man to imply informality btwn Yahwh and Moss as much as I want to convy to you God rplis to Moss almost tongu in chk; sarcastically, if you will. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Moss Chooss His Svnty Hlprs and God Snds Thm th Holy Spirit And thn Moss wnt out and spok to th popl th words of Yahwh, and so h gathrd svnty mn of th ldrs of th popl thn causd thm to stand round about th tnt. [Num. 11:24] Moss is a bit uncrtain that ths things will rally occur, so h has quizzd God to mak crtain ths things would occur, thought to himslf, what th hll, and prsntd God's Word to th popl. Whn a pastor runs into a passag of th Bibl whr th maning of th passag causs him to b uncomfortabl or h thinks that it might not go ovr wll; thn just tak Moss' attitud. What th hll, I'll just prsnt God's Word and w'll s what happns. Th nxt vrs is rathr difficult in translation and som words ar gnrally mistranslatd; othrs hav acquird a maning or an mphasis apart from its tru usag in th original languags. Thn Yahwh cam down in th cloud and thn H spok to him, and thn H st asid out from th [powr of th] Spirit which [is] on Him and thn H placd [it] on th svnty mn of th ldrs; [Num. 11:25a] Th first phras of this vrs is asy; but thr is som difficulty with th lattr portion: Th Amplifid Bibl...and took of th Spirit that was upon him, and put it upon th svnty ldrs; Th Emphasizd Bibl...and took of th spirit that was upon him, and gav unto th svnty mn th ldrs. NASB...And H took of th Spirit who was upon him and placd Him upon th svnty ldrs. NRSV...and took som of th spirit that was on him and put it on th svnty ldrs; Young's Lit. Translation...and kpth back of th Spirit which is on him, and puttth on th svnty mn of th ldrs; As usual, Young's translation dos not quit agr with th othrs. Th ky word is 3rd prson, masculin singular, Hiphil imprfct of âtsal (ì öç àç)è [pronouncd aw-tsahl], a word found only in Gn. 27:36 Num. 11:!7, 25 Ecc. 2:10 and Ezk. 42:6 (th most intrsting us of this word). It's maning in BDB is givn as lay asid, 68 rsrv, withdraw, withhold. It would b rasonabl, bcaus of its us in Gn. 27:36b to translat this word st asid, rsrv. Rcall that Moss wnt to God with two problms: th popl wr complaining about not having any mat in thir dit and th rsponsibility was too grat for him. First w dal with Moss bing ovr-xtndd. H nds som assistanc. So svnty mn ar chosn, as pr God's instructions. Ths may or may not hav bn th sam svnty ldrs mntiond in Ex. 24:9. Thr was vry likly som ovrlapping. Thn God placs His Spirit upon ths mn. This is an unusual vnt, and, as such, is givn som unusual accompanimnt. This dos not sound too unlik, "And it will com about aftr this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughtrs will prophsy; your old mn will dram drams and your young mn will s visions." (Jol 2:28). Whn God givs His Holy Spirit, in som cass, this occurs with unusual signs and activity lik at th bginning of th church ag and at this point in tim bfor th Spirit is givn in gnral to all blivrs. 66 Th wstrn targum of Jonathan and th Vulgat both rad ldrs of Isral hr. 67 And thn, and so, and thn ar all th sam word, th wâw conscutiv in th Hbrw. 68 Isaac has just givn th blssing that h was saving for Esau to Jacob; and Esau whins, "H took away my birthright and now look, h has takn away my blssing. Hav you not rsrvd [or, st asid] a blssing for m?"

124 Numbrs Chaptr Now that was asy nough; howvr, notic th last portion of this vrs: Th Amplifid Bibl...and whn th Spirit rstd upon thm, thy prophsid [sounding forth th praiss of God and dclaring His will]. Thn thy did so no mor. Th Emphasizd Bibl And it cam to pass that whn th spirit rstd upon thm thy prophsid, and thn did so no mor. KJV...and it cam to pass, that, whn th spirit rst upon thm, th prophsid, and did not cas. Own's translation...and it was whn th spirit rstd upon thm, thy prophsid but thy did so no mor. Young's Lit. Translation...and it comth to pass at th rsting of th Spirit on thm, that thy prophsy, and do not cas. b b Prophsy is in th Hithpal imprfct of nâ vâ (à áè ð)è [pronouncd naw -VAW] and this is on of th rar instancs 69 whr th Hithpal (th rflxiv of th Pil) acts mor as a passiv voic; that is, thir spaking prophcy is a rsult of rciving this dirctly from God. Furthrmor, this is th first occurrnc of this vrb in th Old Tstamnt (it is found in Num. 11:26 27, scattrd parsimoniously in som of th historical books, such as in 1Sam. 10:11, 13 1Kings 22:10 2Chron. 18:7, 9; howvr, this word occurs most frquntly in Jrmiah and Ezkil almost 75 tims). Th upshot of this is w do not hav a prcdnc in trms of th us of this vrb. Howvr, its noun b b cognat, nâ vîy (à é áò ð)è [pronouncd naw -VEE] has alrady whn found in Gn. 20:7 and Ex. 7:1. In Gnsis, God tlls Abimlch that Abram is a propht, although Abram had not, up until that tim, citd any futur vnts which wr to com to pass; and in Ex. 7:1, thr was an analogy st up. God's plan was for Him to spak to Moss and for Moss to communicat God's will to Pharaoh, as God's propht. Howvr, sinc Moss was suffring from a trrific cas of shynss, God said, "I will mak you God to Pharaoh and your brothr Aaron will b your propht." In ths two instancs, vn though thr would b som prophcy involvd in what Aaron would tll Pharaoh, th thrust of what is bing said is divin viwpoint. A propht is a prson who is spaking to man from God; a propht is a man who spaks from God and communicats divin viwpoint to man; a propht rprsnts God to man (just as a prist primarily rprsnts man bfor God). Popl gt carrid away and ovrmphasiz th prophtic natur of what is bing said. Prophcy is involvd bcaus God is omniscint H knows th nd from th bginning so obviously anything spokn dirctly from God will contain lmnts of what w considr prophsy, simply bcaus th futur to God is no diffrnt than th past. Tim applis to us, bcaus w ar in b tim; God is not confind by tim. Furthrmor, BDB translats nâ vîy as spoksman, spakr, propht. In othr words, what w viw as prophsy is incidntal to th maning of both th vrb and th noun. Anothr mistak which is mad whn intrprting this vrs is claiming that th svnty ldrs fll into cstatic uttrancs. Thr is no vidnc and nothing by way of infrnc, ithr in contxt or in th prvious usag of th noun cognat that which indicats that ths mn ar spaking in tongus or in som sort of cstatic stat with vrbal accompanimnt. Th ghastly tongus movmnt has sadly distortd som Scripturs, including this on. From on nd of th Bibl to th othr thr is not on mntion of mn who ar filld with th Holy Spirit, who babbl lik a bunch of possssd idiots not on! Thr is a liklihood that such bhavior took plac in 1Kings 18:28 29, but ths wr prophts of Baal influncd by dmons. Without going into a long dissrtation on tongus, in Acts 2, what is occurrd is th Apostls spok in forign languags which wr clarly undrstood by thos who spok th sam languags. Th tongus movmnt rsts upon a sadly out-of- contxt intrprtation 70 of I Cor. 13:1 combind with th psychotic babbling which occurs insid thir churchs. At th nd of this vrs w hav a conjunction, a ngativ and th 3rd prson plural, Qal prfct of yâçaph (óñç é)è [pronouncd yaw-sahph] and it is a primitiv vrb which mans to add, to augmnt; and as an advrb it mans S Zodhiats Th Complt W ord Study Old Tstamnt, p This will b covrd in gratr dtail whn I gt to I Cor. 13; but notic th contxt; mn know ALL mystris and hav ALL knowldg and hav nough faith to mov mountains. How many Christians do you know who fall into vn on of thos catgoris? Roughly zro? That is also how many Christians that you know who also spak with th languags of angls. Paul, at first, givs xampls which ar byond xtraordinary, to mphasiz th importanc of lov (th filling of th Spirit). Thn h givs th ultim at in prsonal, hum an sacrific, which crtainly dos occur, and am ong our own prsonal acquaintancs, w probably know of no on, but w might hav hard of on such prson. In any holy rollr, practically th whol doggon congrgation supposdly spaks in anglic tongus. That dos not fit in with th othr xam pls givn.

125 Th Book of Numbrs 125 to continu to do a thing. Thr is no problm finding additional rfrncs to this particular word it is found ovr 300 tims in th Old Tstamnt. Th problm is coming up with a consistnt maning. Howvr, if w stick with th Qal stm (which is appropriat with so many rfrncs), w might b abl to ascrtain th corrct maning. In Gn. 8:12, w hav th xact sam morphology (xcpt that it is in th fminin singular), along with th ngativ and th conjunction: Thn h waitd anothr svn days and snt forth th dov and sh did not continu to rturn to him any mor. W hav th sam morphology in Gn. 38:26: Thn Judah rcognizd and said, "Sh is mor rightous than I, inasmuch as I did not giv hr to Shlah, my son;" and h did not continu again to know hr. From ths two vrss, th maning would sm clar; howvr, w s that this vrb can b clarly usd to man to add, to appnd. Lv. 22:14: But if a man ats that which is holy unintntionally, th h will add to is a fifth of it and h will giv th holy to th prist (also xamin Lv. 26:18, 21 27:13, 15, 27). What has occurrd in Num. 11:25 is that, although for th past coupl days vryon has bn mumbling ngativ human viwpoint, xprssing thir gnral dissatisfaction with thir lot in lif and with God's guidanc, thos upon whom God placd His Spirit not only xprssd God's viwpoint, but thy did not add to it thir own prsonal viws and misconcptions. And so it cam to pass at th rsting of th Spirit on thm so thn thy prophsid and thy did not add [thir human viwpoint]. [Num. 11:25b] Th problm with th othr vrsions (i.., thy stop or thy don't stop prophsying) of this vrs is nithr intrprtation jivs with th contxt. For th translations which sound as though thy stoppd, th wâw conscutiv bgins th nxt vrs, which mans and thn, and th rst of th chaptr dals with prophsying. Othr vrsions which indicat that thy did not stop ar contxtually accurat, to an xtnt, but do not match at all th manings of th Hbrw words. With th ngativ, it would b did not continu. Howvr, th ntir thrust of this chaptr is th disgruntld mumbling of human viwpoint. Evryon, including Moss, is oprating on human viwpoint, and bitching and mumbling and complaining, first to thmslvs, and this gnral air of dissatisfaction has sprad throughout th camp. Th mphasis hr is not only do ths svnty mn xprss divin viwpoint, but thy do not add anything to it. God's Word is not appndd with th typical dissatisfaction found throughout th camp. Now that w know what this vrs actually says, it would b a good ida to xamin th Doctrin of th Ministry of th Holy Spirit in th Old Tstamnt. Th Abbrviatd Doctrin of th Ministry of th Holy Spirit in th Old Tstamnt 1. Th Holy Spirit is prsntd as an indpndnt, sovrign ntity in th Old Tstamnt. Isa 40:13 14 Who has masurd th Spirit of th LORD, or what man shows Him his counsl? Whom did h consult, and who mad Him undrstand? Who taught Him th path of justic. Isa. 48:16 [Th rvald God of th Old Tstamnt is spaking]: Draw nar to M, har this: from th bginning I hav not spokn in scrt, from th tim it cam to b I hav bn thr." And now th Lord GOD has snt M, and His Spirit. 2. Th Holy Spirit was involvd in th rstoration of th arth so that lif could surviv on it. It appars as if th Holy Spirit providd th nrgy to warm plant arth, which was ncasd in ic. Gn. 1:2 Psalm 104:30 3. God th Holy Spirit givs all mn lif and sustains that lif. Gn. Gn. 2:7 Job 27:3 33:4 Eccls. 12:7...and th dust rturns to th arth as it was, and th spirit rturns to God who gav it. Isa. 42:5 4. Th Holy Spirit intractd with mankind vn with corruptd mankind prsumably to giv thm th gospl. Gn. 6:3 5. Th Holy Spirit and th truth in th Old Tstamnt: 1) Th Holy Spirit maks spiritual information undrstandabl to Old Tstamnt saints. Job 32:8 2) Th Holy Spirit mpowrd thos who wrot th Old Tstamnt. Psalm 23:1 3 Matt. 22:43 Mark 12:36 2Ptr 1:21 3) God th Holy Spirit mpowrd thos prophts in th Old Tstamnt to spak th truth. Nh. 9:30 Ezk. 2:1 3 And H said to m, "Son of man, stand on your ft, and I will spak with you." And as H spok to m, th Spirit ntrd into m and st m on my ft, and I hard him spaking to m. And H said to m, "Son of man, I snd you to th popl of Isral, to nations of rbls, who hav

126 Numbrs Chaptr Th Abbrviatd Doctrin of th Ministry of th Holy Spirit in th Old Tstamnt rblld against m. Thy and thir fathrs hav transgrssd against M to this vry day. This is both prophtical, spaking of Jsus Christ; and for th tim it was givn, spaking of Ezkil. S also Ezk. 3:12 Luk 1:67 2:25 6. Th Holy Spirit and prophcy in th Old Tstamnt: 1) Th popl of Isral wr to look to fulfilld prophcy in ordr to raliz that this is th Spirit of God tlling thm of ths things. Isa. 34:16 2) Isaiah prophsid th ministry of God th Holy Spirit to th Mssiah. Isa. 11:2 And th Spirit of th LORD shall rst upon him, th Spirit of wisdom and undrstanding, th Spirit of counsl and might, th Spirit of knowldg and th far of th LORD. S also Isa. 42:1 Isa. 61:1 2 3) Isaiah, Ezkil and Jol prophsid that th Spirit would b pourd out upon mankind during th Millnnium. Isa. 32:15 Ezk. 36: :14 39:29 Jol 2: Th Holy Spirit and mpowrmnt in th Old Tstamnt: 1) Th ky to mpowrmnt, vn in th Old Tstamnt, was th Holy Spirit. Zch. 4:6 2) Som of th artisans involvd in th building of th Tabrnacl of God wr mpowrd by God th Holy Spirit. Ex. 31:3 35:31 3) God allowd Moss to dlgat his authority, and God would giv ths mn th Holy Spirit. Num. 11:16 17, ) God gav th Holy Spirit to som arly prophts whn Moss and th popl of God wr in th dsrt. Num. 11: ) Spcific popl in th Old Tstamnt had bn givn th Holy Spirit in ordr to mpowr thm. Num. 27:18 Judgs 3:10 6:34 11:29 14:6, 19 15:14 1Sam. 10:6, 10 11:6 16:13 2Chron. 20:14 24:20 Danil 4:18 Micah 3:8 6) On could ask for mpowrmnt by th Holy Spirit. 2Kings 2:9 Luk 11:13 7) Jsus Christ, in His humanity, in th Ag of th Hypostatic Union (which was, in many rspcts, a continuation of th Ag of Isral) was mpowrd by th Holy Spirit. Isa. 61:1 Luk 4:1 4:14, Th Holy Spirit and Isral: 1) God s Spirit rmaind with Isral from th xodus. Haggai 2:5 2) God promiss an trnal rlationship with th Jws; a rlationship which is basd upon truth. Isa. 59:20 21 "And a Rdmr will com to Zion, to thos in Jacob who turn from transgrssion," dclars th LORD. "And as for M, this is My covnant with thm," says th LORD: "My Spirit that is upon you, and My words that I hav put in your mouth, shall not dpart out of your mouth, or out of th mouth of your offspring, or out of th mouth of your childrn's offspring," says th LORD, "from this tim forth and forvrmor." 3) Th Holy Spirit was givn to Isral as a nation. Isa. 63:11 13a Thn h rmmbrd th days of old, of Moss and His popl. Whr is H Who brought thm up out of th sa with th shphrds of his flock? Whr is H Who put in th midst of thm his Holy Spirit, who causd His glorious arm to go at th right hand of Moss, Who dividd th watrs bfor thm to mak for Himslf an vrlasting nam, Who ld thm through th dpths? 4) Isral continud to b in opposition to th Holy Spirit. For this rason, God subjctd thm to th 5 th stag of national disciplin (th fifth cycl of disciplin). Zch. 7: Th Holy Spirit could b takn from a prson prviously ndowd with th Holy Spirit. 1Sam. 16:14 Psalm 51:11 Th ntir Doctrin of th Ministry of God th Holy Spirit in th Old Tstamnt (HTML) (PDF) Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins And thn two of th mn rmaind in th camp, th nam of t on: Eldad, and th nam of th scond Mdad, and th Spirit rstd upon thm and thy ar among thos writtn and hav not gon out to th tnt and thy prophsid in th camp. [Num. 11:26]

127 Th Book of Numbrs 127 Moss pickd out svnty mn to assist him in govrning ths popl. H obviously mad a list of thir nams, considring thir strngths and waknsss, liminating som, and adding othrs. Moss did not just rattl off th first svnty nams which cam to his mind. That is why Eldad and Mdad's nams wr among thos writtn. Thy wr all calld out to th tnt of mting, but, apparntly, som could not attnd. This dos not imply any shortcomings on thir part; thr could hav bn a myriad of valid or invalid rasons for thir nonattndanc. Howvr, ths wr mn chosn by Moss and all thos chosn by Moss wr lit upon by th Holy Spirit. This is a pictur of what would happn in th book of Acts whn God calld into th body of blivrs, without diffrntiation, Jw and Gntil alik. Evn thos who wr blivrs from far away wr givn th Spirit. This is anothr shadow of th good things to com. Thn a particular [lit., th] young man ran, thn dclard to Moss, and said, "Eldad and Mdad ar prophsying in th camp." [Num. 11:27] Moss had a particular young man who was his aid or srvant, Joshua. Moss calls him th young man in this vrs and idntifis him in th nxt. Whn Joshua nams Eldad and Mdad, Moss knows ths mn by nam and rcognizd thm as a part of th svnty that h had placd on his list. H knw that God had placd His Spirit upon th othr sixty-ight, bcaus Moss was thr to obsrv it. Thrfor, it would b obvious that God placd His Holy Spirit, as H promisd, also on thos who wr unabl to attnd th first mting of th board of xcutivs. And thn, Joshua, son of Nun, ministr of Moss, out from his young mn, answrd and said, "My lord, Moss, rstrain thm." [Num. 11:28] rd Rstrain is th scond prson masculin singular, Qal imprativ, 3 prson masculin plural suffix of kâlâ (à ìè È ) [pronouncd kaw-law] and it simply mans to shut up, rstrain, withhold. It is an imprativ dlivrd from rd Joshua to Moss and th action of th vrb is to b applid to th 3 prson plural, rndrd thm. Joshua is on of th grat mn of his gnration, but this dos not man that vrything that h says and dos will b corrct. Moss is in charg bcaus Moss has th big pictur and Joshua dos not (w hav only sn Joshua brifly prior to this in Ex. 33:11. You may rcall a similar incidnt from th Nw Tstamnt: John said to Him, "Tachr, w saw somon casting out dmons in Your nam, and w trid to hindr him bcaus h was not following us." But Jsus said, "Do not hindr him, for thr is no on who shall prform a miracl in My nam and b abl soon aftrward to spak vil of M. For h who is not against us is for us." (Mark 9:38 40). Prhaps you want som application to today? Crtainly; thr ar a lot of cults which claim to hav th only truth and that only thos who blong to ths cults rally hav any lin to God's truth and that only mmbrs of ths cults can rally hav a rlationship with God. This is untru. Thr ar Christians in vry major Christian rligion, including vn a fw in Catholicism, who hav ffctiv, dynamic Christian livs. Thr is no on church or dnomination which has a monopoly on th truth. God's Word is th Truth and any pastor of any dnomination who attmpts to tach God's Word as it stands will bar fruit. Any blivr who allows God's Spirit and God's Word to work in his lif will lad a maningful lif. Furthrmor, thr ar numrous xampls, in contmporary history and in Scriptur whr th spiritually accurat fll far outsid mainstram Christianity. Th most obvious xampls ar John th Baptizr, Jsus Christ and th Apostls (particularly Paul). John th Baptizr was a hrald for th King, announcing th arrival of Jsus Christ. H did not do this in th synagogus, whr Scriptur was rad daily which spok of Him. H spok out in th dsrt. H didn't snd out flyrs or advrtismnts of his ministry ithr; God brought th harrs to him. Our Lord Jsus Christ, vn though H taught in th synagogus, as wll as in th strts and in th filds, was accursd by organizd rligion. In fact it was organizd rligion which brought Him to th cross. And, of cours, much of Paul's lttrs dal with th corrction of confusd thought as spousd by th organizd rligion of his day. In this cntury, on of th most nlightning churchs was th on I was spiritually raisd in, Brachah Church, which was not associatd with any particular dnomination. Oftn criticizd and malignd, its pastor, R.B. Thim, Jr., faithfully studid and taught God's Word as oftn as nin tims pr wk on his rgular schdul, and occasionally tims pr wk during crtain confrncs.

128 Numbrs Chaptr Going furthr back, th history books ar filld with mn, whos primary intntion was to gt God's Word out to th gnral population; mn who wr prscutd by th Catholic church. On of my prsonal hros was a man namd Trglls, somon that most of you hav nvr vn hard about. Codx Vaticanus, which datd back to circa 340 AD, was a manuscript containing th majority of th Old and Nw Tstamnts. This manuscript had bn brought back East around 1448 by Pop Nicolas, and its xistnc had bn kpt scrt from th public until 1800's. Whn it bcam known that such a manuscript was at th Vatican library, Trglls applid to th Pop to xamin th manuscript. H was summarily rfusd. H xplaind that h was a profssor of Nw Tstamnt litratur at Lipzig Univrsity, so th Pop allowd him, in 1843, to xamin it for six hours. In 1845, Trglls was again givn th opportunity to study th manuscript for six hours a day for svral days. Howvr, thr wr crtain rquirmnts. H was sarchd upon ntring and xiting th library. H was not allowd to bring his own writing matrials nor wr any providd, so h could not tak nots. Th manuscript was laid out on a larg tabl and guards stood ovr him watching him as h studid it. So, vry day, Trglls wnt into th library, was sarchd, sat down bfor th manuscript undr th scrutiny of th guards, and mmorizd a portion of th original txt. Onc h got hom, h sat down and wrot out that portion of Scriptur which h mmorizd. In thr months, during his summr vacation, h had mmorizd th ntir Codx Vaticanus (which was in Hbrw, Aramaic and in Grk), an incrdibl fat of mmory and a tstamnt to th powr of th Holy Spirit. H thn publishd his rsults. Th Vatican, ralizing that th cat was out of th bag, had th manuscript photographd, thus making it public proprty for th world at larg. Th point is that thos who ar in God's srvic ar not ncssarily rcognizd by th gnral Christian populac nor ar thy ncssarily connctd in any way to any dnomination. And Moss said to him, "Ar you jalous for my sak? O that all Yahwh's popl wr prophts [and] that Yahwh would plac His Spirit upon thm!" [Num. 11:29] Moss is th propht to his gnration. Howvr, h is not powr-hungry nor is h concrnd about his position. H did not want to lad all of ths popl in th first plac; his last concrn is to cnsor somon whom God is also guiding. Moss was th mkst man on th arth. H was not thratnd in his position of ladrship, as God gav it to him, h did not aspir and work towards it (although God did s to it that h was prpard for such a position of powr). Thn Moss gathrd [and rmovd] himslf and th ldrs of Isral to th camp. [Num. 11:30] Som translations rad that Moss rturnd to th camp, but th word hr is âçaph (ó ñç àè ) [pronouncd aw- SAHPH], and this word mans to gathr, rmov. H gathrd up and rmovd himslf and th ldrs of Isral from th tnt of mting and wnt back to th camp. Got is a good on-word dscription. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx God Snds th Isralits an ovr Abundanc of Quail This is a difficult sction of Numbrs, which is why w hav spnt so long in just this on chaptr. W nd to look at th translations of this nxt vrs: Th Amplifid Bibl Th Emphasizd Bibl NIV And thr wnt forth a wind from th Lord and brought quails from th sa, and lt thm fall [so thy flw low] bsid th camp, about a day's journy on this sid and on th othr sid, around th camp, about two cubits abov th ground. Now a wind had sprung up from Yahwh and cut off quails from th sa, and lt thm li ovr th camp as it wr a day's journy hr and a day's journy thr, round about th camp and as it wr two cubits on th fac of th land. Now a wind wnt out from th LORD and drov quail in from th sa. It brought thm down all around th camp to about thr ft abov th ground, as far as a day's walk in any dirction.

129 Th Book of Numbrs 129 Young's Lit. Translation And a spirit hath journyd from Jhovah, and cuttth off quails from th sa, and lavth by th camp, as a day's journy hr, and as a day's journy thr, round about th camp, and about two cubits, on th fac of th land. And H st out a wind [or, spirit] from Yahwh and H [Yahwh] cut off quails from th sa, and lft [thm] by th camp, a day's journy in all dirctions [lit., as a day's journy hr, and as a 71 day's journy thr], round about th camp, and about two cubits abov th fac of th land. [Num. 11:31] Yahwh is th subjct of all thr vrbs, as thy ar both in th 3rd prson masculin singular and th wind (or, spirit) is in th fminin singular. Th wind is acting undr God's spcific dirction. Gathring th mat for th Isralits to at is not a big dal to God. Most of us, having drivn on th frway, know what it is lik to b cut off. W ar driving in a particular dirction at a particular spd, and suddnly w ar cut off and this changs our spd and somtims our dirction. Hr w hav a bunch of quail flying about with thir own inbrd idas about whr thy wr going to go and how high thy would fly, and God suddnly cuts thm off and r-routs thm. Without going into all th xplicit dtails, God brought a hug numbr of quail into thir ara. Th quails strtchd out in a radius around th camp of a day's journy in all dirctions. God brought ths quail low to th ground; thy wr flying, and not lying, thr ft off th ground. God had promisd that thy would hav thir fill of mat, and thy would. And th popl ros up all that day and all th night and all th day aftr, and thy gathrd th quails h who had th last gathrd tn homrs and thy sprad thm out for thmslvs round about th camp. [Num. 11:32] Ths popl wr ravnous and grdy. Surrounding thm wr miillions upon millions of quail flying low nough th th ground to just alk ovr and grab. Thy wnt out and grabbd ths quail to at as if thr wr no tomorrow. Food lust controlld thm. God had providd thm day aftr day th miraculous manna from th sky that thy had only to gt up and go out and gathr. Now God has givn thm mat to at and thy hav gathrd far mor than thy rally nd. Th grat Psalm 78 maks mntion of this incidnt: H causd th ast wind to blow in th havns and by His powr H dirctd th south wind. Whn H raind mat upon thm lik th dust, vn wingd fowl lik th sand of th sas. Th H lt thm fall in th midst of thir camp, round about thir dwllings. so thy at and wr wll filld and thir dsir H gav to thm (Psalm 78:26 29). Now you may hav caught what is going on. Thy Jws nvr wnt to Moss to rqust mat. Thy ar in th dsrt and this is just somthing which could not b don. So, instad, thy wail and cry to thmslvs. God asks Moss, whn daling with this problm, if His arm is too short. You man God cannot provid mat for ths popl. God had th quail in waiting. H knw of thir nds in trnity past. God did not just suddnly dcidd, "Omigosh, thy nd som mat in thir dit"; and thn cratd svral million quail. God had a hug flock of quail in waiting. Thy had fd off of th locusts or th frogs or somthing in Egypt and had bcom probably th largs flock of quail in human history. Or, this was an incrdibly larg numbr of quails migrating north from th intrior of Africa, draild by God's powr. This particular flight of a group of quails and th fact that thy wr low to th ground is not an unhard of thing in this ara. Howvr, this was byond anything which had vr bn sn bfor or sinc. But notic th naturalistic xplanation. God simply causd a wind to pull this flock ovr to th Isralits. Crtainly, God could hav cratd all of thos quail in an instant. H did not. H chos to rais ths quail far in advanc of thir nd, to rval that h knw what Isral ndd in th dsrt and mad provision for it long bfor thy askd for it. Our nds do not catch God unawars. Howvr, whn God provids, w ar going to b a lot happir if our hart was right in th first plac. 71 Early printd ditions of th Hbrw Bibl rad th fac of all th land.

130 Numbrs Chaptr [Whil] th mat is yt btwn thir tth it is not yt cut off and th angr of Yahwh burnd among th popl, and Yahwh struck down among th popl a grat striking down [or, mauling or slaughtr]. [Num. 11:33] Th KJV translats th vrb makkâh (ä È îç ) [pronouncd mahk-kawh] as plagu, slaughtr, strok, or wounds. Howvr, this is not th word found in th book of Exodus; in fact, its first us is in Lv. 26:21. Th only English words which I can find which sm to b apt ar mauling, bating, striking, striking down. Howvr, I cannot sm to lay hold of a word which would consistntly work for Lv. 26:21 Num. 11:33 Dut. 25:3 Joshua 10:10 and Esthr 9:5. Th word slaughtr works grat in this passag and many othrs it just dos not work consistntly. Th vrbal cognat of makkâh is fairly consistntly translatd smit in th Authorizd vrsion, although I hav usually translatd it strik, updating th word vr so slightly. God is so irritatd with th popl's attitud and thir grd, as if H would forgt to provid thm with food tomorrow, that h striks down a largr numbr of th Isralits. Although not vr incidnt in th dsrt will b covrd in this book, God will strik down this ntir gnration, with a handful of xcptions. Bfor thy had satisfid thir dsir whil thir food was in thir mouths, th angr of God ros against thm and killd som of thir soutst ons an dsubdud th choic mn of Isral (Psalm 78:30 31). And on calld th nam of that plac Kibroth-Hattaavah, for thr thy hav burid th popl who lust. [Num. 11:34] Kibroth-Hattaavah [pronouncd kib-rôth haht-tah-ãv-wawh] maning Gravs of Dsir. Ths popl ar just about out of control whn givn mat from God. Whn your Quit, loving cat is hungry, throw him a raw pic of round stak and s how h racts if you try to tak it away. His disposition changs slightly, dos it not? This is how th Isralits wr bhaving. God will rmind th nxt gnration of this inidnt in Dut. 9:22. Obviously, God dspiss gluttony as H dos any othr sin. Gluttony is simply th unbridld satiating of food lust. It is okay to lik food, to dsir it and to at it. It is not okay to brat God if you cannot gt th kinds of food that you dsir, nor is it okay to bhav grdily, lik a dog or cat who is givn a pic of stak. W ar not animals, w ar cratd in God's imag and w dgrad ourslvs whn w bhav as an animal dos with mat. From Kibroth-Hattaavah hav th popl journyd to Hazroth, and thy ar in Hazroth. [Num. 11:35] Th Isralits first campd at th foot of Mount Sinai, thn at Kibroth-Hattaavah, and now at Hazroth [pronouncd khats-ay-roth] (Num. 33:16 17).

131 Numbrs 12 Numbrs 12:1 16 Outlin of Chaptr 12: vv. 1 3 Miriam criticizs Moss vv. 4 8 Yahwh straightns Miriam and Aaron out vv God judgs Miriam vv Th judgmnt is rmovd and th trip is rsumd Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: v. 8 Numbrs 12:6b 8 in Vrs I ntroduction: Num. 12 contains an incidnt that w might think is just thr for historical fillr. Aaron and Miriam both criticiz Moss, God disciplins thm, striking Miriam with lprosy, thn sh and Aaron ask God's forgivnss. Th rason this is so aptly placd is that th Jws in Num. 11 had th sam options. Thy could hav com to God and bggd His forgivnss for thir sins. Moss would hav intrcdd and th march would hav gon on to th land of milk and hony. Howvr, in all of Num. 11, in th svral hours w spnt thr, not onc do th gluttonous, complaining Jws go to God asking His forgivnss. Thr is a paralll hr; Miriam hrslf will not ask forgivnss. Th Exodus gnration is corrupt from th foot soldir to thos in th ladrship positions, with but a handful of xcptions. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Miriam Criticizs Moss Latr [lit., and thn] Miriam spok, and Aaron, against Moss concrning th circumstanc of th Cushit woman whom h had takn; for h had takn a Cushit woman. [Num. 12:1] First of all, this is not th sam woman as Moss' Midianit wif of his youth, Zipporah. Miriam and Aaron ar not going to suddnly objct to this marriag forty yars aftr th fact. If it was bad, thy don't hav to say a thing, bcaus that would b obvious. This is a scond marriag for Moss which had just takn plac. Thr ar two million popl in this camp and a larg numbr of thm ar singl, Jwish womn. Cush is th Hbrw word for Ethiopia, south of Egypt. This is a woman who is a part of th much malignd mixdmultitud whom Moss marrid. W do not know whr his first wif is. Whn h was undr God's dirction to lad th Jws out of Egypt, sh dsrtd him bcaus circumcising hr sons was too yucky for hr or Moss told hr to rturn to hr fathr, as sh was going to stand in his way (Ex. 4: :2). Hr fathr brought hr back, haring of th grat dlivranc of Isral by Moss, but nothing is said of hr; th tru fllowship is btwn Moss and hr fathr (Ex. 18). At this point in tim, w hav no ida as to whr Zipporah is. Sh rturnd to hr family bfor and it is possibl that sh wnt back with hr fathr. Hr fathr rcognizd th gratnss of Moss and crtainly, whn joining Moss in Ex. 18, had thoughts of runiting his daughtr to this grat man (as wll as th njoymnt of his prsonal frindship with Moss). W do know that Moss' sons ar probably with him, as thy hav bn mntiond prior to this (Ex. 18:2) and will b mntiond latr on (1Chron. 23:15 16). On of th issus which is occasionally brought into focus hr is th rac of this Cushit woman. It is vry possibl that sh was black. Moss was raisd with th Egyptians until ag forty. Egyptians back to 2700 BC wr brown-skinnd with stiff, dark hair, according to a wall painting from th fourth dynasty. Howvr, as w hav notd, thr is som confusion as to who xactly ruld Egypt during th tim of Moss, so w do not know prcisly what th Egyptians wr racially during that tim. I mntion this, bcaus this is what Moss would hav

132 Numbrs Chaptr bcom accustomd to. His adoptd mothr was also probably dark-skinnd and what a mothr looks lik can hav a grat affct upon what a man will latr find attractiv. Furthrmor, th Jwish popl thmslvs, having bn undr forcd labor for svral hundrd yars, and bcaus thy ar Smitic, would also hav bn darkr skinnd. W all crtainly nvision Moss as looking lik Charlton Hston, but this is cultural conditioning. If you wr to xamin a photograph of som modratly dark, middl astrn mn, say from Pakistan or Afghanistan, that would b much closr to th actual apparanc of Moss than what w s. So thr is no misundrstanding, vn cland up and in a suit, Moss would hav bn dnid ntranc into th avrag whit church in th 1950's or arlir. H was not Caucasian. Now, Thim s rmark that this woman that Moss marris hr is a whit Egyptian just dos not hav any foundation in fact. No mattr who is in powr in Egypt, it is likly that th popl of Egypt ar going to b darkr-skinnd, and in Ethiopia, vn mor so. In othr words, thr is no rason why w would think that this woman is not African; or, in th vry last, dark-skinnd. Furthrmor, it is also possibl that th Nw Tstamnt Grk word for Ethiopian mans dark-facd. All of this suggsts that Moss' scond wif was black. Howvr, this is not th objctions of Miriam and Aaron. Thir problm is with hr not bing a Jw. Thy might hav a problm with his bing marrid to Zipporah. Now, Moss is not going to marry an unblivr. Thr is no rason to doubt th sincrity of th mixd multitud. Thy may hav bn no bttr than gn X of th Jws, but thy wr crtainly no wors. Also, thr is anothr rason for bliving that this woman is black. Th trm Cush or Cushit sms to diffrntiat this group from all othrs. W s such a usag of th word in Amos 9:7a, whr God says to Isral: "Ar you not as th sons of Cush [or, Ethiopia] to M?" In a similar vin, it is possibl that Cush in th inscription 72 of Psalm 7:1 is a vild rfrnc to King Saul. Th nam Cush sts him apart from vryon ls. In all of ths rfrncs, Cush sts th prson apart from vryon ls. This would b an indication that this woman was black, st apart from all othr womn as Moss' wif. No mattr what th rason is that Miriam (and Aaron) criticiz Moss, it is non of thir damn businss who Moss wants to marry; nor dos it mattr how far outsid his cultur or rac h is marrying. You will not that throughout this chaptr, it will b Miriam who is disciplind for hr foolish intrfrnc and not Moss. Moss can marry any woman that h wants, and it dos not mattr whthr his family has approvd of hr or not. Moss was an adult a long tim ago. His formr wif is probably dad and h appars to hav bn sparatd from hr for most of thir marriag (w rally don t know whthr sh rmaind with Moss aftr hr fathr rturnd hr to Moss in Ex. 18 hr track rcord would suggst that sh did not). Now, I raliz that thr is automatically th 1% who rad this and rad things which arn t thr. I am not saying that you should marry into anothr rac nor am I saying that it is good whn you can piss off mmbrs of your family with th prson that you choos to marry. Thos things ar gnrally non-issus. Howvr, if you ar a blivr, and you ar considring marriag to an unblivr, and your bliving family protsts, thn you ought to listn to your family. And thy said, "Yahwh has spokn only by Moss? Has H not spokn also by us?" And Yahwh hard. [Num. 12:2] It has bn clar, but not a law, up until this tim, that th Jws wr to intrmarry. This did not forbid marriags with othr nationalitis. Josph, aftr all, marrid an Egyptian woman (Gn. 41:45). Th primary prohibition was aginst marrying Canaanits, who wr too dgnrat. Moss had mad th mistak of marrying a woman who was not vry supportiv of his spiritual dstiny (although hr fathr was; and this would hav indicatd to Moss that sh would hav bn). Moss accuratly sizd up hr fathr and dtrmind that sh had com from good stock. Howvr, h misjudgd Zipporah possibly confusd by hr bauty. Now h had mad anothr dcision to marry, which may or may not hav bn a good dcision (this is ovr forty yars latr and Moss had bcom mor popl-smart sinc thn). Howvr, this was probably not what st Miriam off. Sh saw thir family as bing a triumvirat [pronouncd try-um-vr-it] ovr Isral, and hr position of authority was challngd by th svnty ldrs chosn by Moss and ratifid by God with th giving of th Holy Spirit. All of a suddn, sh did not hav official standing, and Moss was gtting marrid to somon who could assum th powr that sh thought that 72 A similar abstrus rfrnc of pculiarity may possibly also b found in Jr. 38:7.

133 Th Book of Numbrs 133 sh had. Th Bibl was nvr clar as to hr position of authority (although Micah 6:4 indicats that sh did hav som and Ex. 15:20 indicats that sh was a prophtss). Sinc that is an historical fact and not a prcdnt, w don't nd to know what it was xactly. Howvr, if God dmotd Moss, h would hav accptd it immdiatly. Hr it appars that Miriam might b bing dmotd and sh throws a hissy fit. As for Aaron, h is asily influncd and would go along with whovr convincs him. Rcall last chaptr whn othr mn wr spaking as inspird by th Holy Spirit whr Moss had not prpard thm first, that this did not concrn Moss. H saw no rason to cnsor thm. Moss had no problms with his position of authority. H did not hav to assrt, dfnd or maintain it. God handld all of that. All h had to do was go along for th rid. Howvr Miriam, and also Aaron, obviously influncd by Miriam (said in v. 1 is in th fminin singular), ar concrnd about thir plac in God's plan. Thy hav to dfnd thir status and Miriam wants to b on qual footing with Moss. Moss oftn had his authority challngd, as grat mn always fac. W will s anothr challng to his authority in Num. 16:3 by Korah and th popular ladrs chosn by th congrgation of Isral. Thr is quit a contrast btwn Moss and Miriam. Miriam cannot go to Y howah dirctly. Sh has no dirct contact to God. So sh gos to Moss to complain that sh dos not hav th spiritual authority that h dos. Sh is not asking God to giv hr mor authority in this rgard, sh is asking Moss to. Sh dsrvs it bcaus God spaks through hr just as H spaks through Moss. This is absurd and hr argumnt is absurd. God will not vn grant Miriam a privat audinc, so obviously, hr spiritual authority is infrior to that of Moss. This would b found in th book of th Bibl ntitld Duh! Moss, onth othr hand, would prfr to hav lss authority. Rcall that just on chaptr ago, in Num. 11:10 15, that Moss dsirs lss authority. H would prfr to dlgat all of his rsponsibilitis. H would prfr that Miriam and Aaron had authority qual to his in ordr to rliv som of th burdn that God had placd upon him. What w hav hr is a grat contrast in motivation. Miriam is motivatd by powr lust, by jalousy and by arroganc this is why sh blivs that sh should b on an qual footing with Moss. Moss is, on th othr hand, th most grac-orintd prson in th world. H did not want th authority ovr th childrn of Isral in th first plac and took this upon himslf only bcaus God so rquird this of him. His rason for wanting lss authority is bcaus h cannot giv ths popl what thy dsir. Moss fls rsponsibl for thm (as any prson in authority should fl) and asks for his position of authority to b rmovd bcaus h cannot provid ths popl with what thy want. And th man Moss [is] vry grac-orintd [or, humbl] mor than any of th mn on th fac of th arth. [Num. 12:3] Th word for humbl is ânâv (á ðè òè ) [pronouncd ìaw-nawv] and it mans humbl, mk, grac-orintd and possibly poor or afflictd. W hav studid th corrsponding vrb back in Lv. 23:29. Strong's #6035 BDB #776. This is an incrdibl statmnt. This is Moss, who could stand up to two million rbllious Jws and put thm in thir plac. This is th man who, whn many Jws fll into idol worship with th goldn calf, grabbd thm by th scruff of th nck and mad thm drink th ground-up gold in watr. This is th man who writs rpatd, thus said Yahwh. This is th man who, whn th scond gnration will cry for watr, h will yll, "Listn, now, you rbls, shall w bring forth watr for you out of this rock?" (Num. 20:10b). W think of humbl as somon who is always looking down at his own ft, mumbling slf-dprciatory things in a holy voic, shuffling, holding his had at half-mast, as Thim usd to say. Whn complimntd, w think th humbl prson should shuffl his ft and look down and say "It wasn't nothing." That is phony and maninglss. So is humility, improprly undrstood. Humility is grac-orintation. This mans that you know just xactly who and what you ar and Who and What God is. You ar orintd to God's plan for your lif. This might involv a ladrship position and you might spnd your lif claning toilts. It dosn't mattr. God has a plan and w ar going to b happist whn in this plan. Grac-orintation is ralizing that whr God want you to b is what is prfct for you. Moss had no dsir to lad, to hav powr, to xrt his authority. H lft Egypt, although h could hav bcom th King of Egypt. Whn God wantd him to assum a position qual to that of Pharaoh, h askd for assistanc from

134 Numbrs Chaptr Aaron not bcaus h wantd to shar th glory, but such a position was mor than h was rady to tak right off th bat. H had to warm up to it. If any on of you wr offrd th position of prsidncy tomorrow, you would snap it up in a scond. Or if you wr chosn to had a multi-million dollar industry, you would tak it in a hartbat, thinking that if thy can do it, you can do it. W ar arrogant fools. Howvr, Moss was th most grac-orintd man on th fac of plant arth in his day. In his grac-orintation lis his quit gratnss and nobility. Our Lord said of Himslf: "Tak My yok upon you and larn from M, for I am gntl and humbl in hart; and you will find rst for your souls. For My yok is asy and My load is light." (Matt. 11:29 30 Jr. 6:16). This passag spak of th humility of th humanity of Jsus Christ. In His humanity, our Lord was also grac-orintd, allowing His strngth to b in th Holy Spirit rathr than dpnding upon His Own inhrnt dity. Our Lord also said, "Blssd [or, happy] ar th gntl [th grac-orintd ons], for thy will inhrit th arth." (Matt. 5:5). Thos of you who ar grac-orintd lik Moss, rgardlss of your IQ, your attractivnss, your social position rgardlss of any othr human factor you will inhrit th arth; you will assum a ladrship position in this univrs. And thos of you hr who ar rich and attractiv and succssful yt you lack gracorintation you will b working in thir cotton filds (and you will lik it). And no mattr what human status you hav now, you will spnd your trnity in constant pain and suffring in th Lak of Fir, prpard for th dvil and his angls. I should point out that som scholars bliv that this statmnt was insrtd by Joshua svral dcads latr. In fact, Glason Archr writs: Apart from Dutronomy 34 (which must hav bn an obituary writtn aftr Moss' dath), no passag in th Pntatuch has bn mor frquntly citd as an vidnc of non-mosaic authorship 73 than this vrs. Although that it is possibl that somon ls wrot this, is it not ncssary. Th rasoning is that Moss would not b mk if h wrot a statmnt claiming mknss. Poppycock. Now that w undstand what mknss is, w should hav no rason to tak this stanc. J.W. Haly wrot: Th objctionabl words wr insrtd to xplain why it was that Moss took no stps to vindicat himslf, and why, consquntly, th Lord had 74 so promptly intrvnd. Moss was guidd by th powr of th Holy Spirit, which allowd him to rcord his gratnss as wll as his waknsss which h did with prfct accuracy and objctivity. This is no diffrnt than th Apostl Paul, in dfns of his own Apostolic authority, writing: For I considr myslf not in th last infrior to th most minnt Apostls (II Cor. 11:5; s also 12:11 12). It is a simpl mattr of God th Holy Spirit causing both mn to rcord th objctiv truth. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Yahwh Straightns Miriam and Aaron out Thn Yahwh said suddnly to Moss and to Aaron and unto Miriam, "Com out you thr to th tnt of mting;" and th thr wnt out. [Num. 12:4] Miriam and Aaron hav no businss trying to run Moss' lif. Nor dos God spak to thm as H dos to Moss. Thy nd to b straightnd out immdiatly. Th structur of authority and who is in charg is at stak hr, and God immdiatly dal with th problm of Aaron and Miriam. Now, Aaron will go along with whatvr, but Miriam nds to hav hr had scrwd on right. If Moss tlls Aaron that h must vrball prsnt God's mssag to Pharaoh, h'll do it. If th Jws tll Aaron that Moss has bn up on th mountain for too long and Aaron nds to build a gold calf idol, h'll do it. If Miriam tlls Aaron that Moss just should not b marrying this Ethiopian woman, h'll go along with hr. Aaron liks vryon and wants to gt along with vryon and wants vryon to b happy. H is not so much concrnd with compromising his position on doctrin as h is with gtting along with vryon. Aaron is spinlss and asily influncd, which is why God did not choos Aaron to run th show. Aaron got dominatd arly in lif by Miriam, and h was unabl to function appart from somon Encyclopdia of Bibl Difficultis; p.136. Allgd Discrpancis; p. 248.

135 Th Book of Numbrs 135 tlling him what to do. God rmovd Moss from th houshold so that his oldr sistr would not hav an undu amount of influnc ovr his lif. And Yahwh cam down in th pillar of th cloud, and stood at th opning of th tnt and calld Aaron and Miriam and thy cam out, both of thm. [Num. 12:5] Moss dos not nd to b upbraidd hr Miraim and Aaron nd it. Moss is strictly thr to obsrv. God may com down to judg (Gn. 11:5) or h may com down to blss (Num. 11:25). Th NIV Study Bibl has a marvlous quot hr: In a sns, vry thophany (apparanc of God) is a pictur and promis of th grand 75 thophany, th incarnation of Jsus, both in grac and in judgmnt. And H said, "Listn, if you would, My Words: [Num. 12:6a] This statmnt is dripping with sarcasm. What did Miriam say in v. 2? "Yahwh has spokn only by Moss? Has H not spokn also by us?" Miriam is saying that God spok to hr and Aaron and thy also rlayd God's Word to th popl. So God spaks to Miriam dirctly and asks hr to listn. Sh can stop spaking God's Word for a fw momnts and listn to His Word. Furthrmor, h asks hr to listn using th particl of ntraty, plas, if you will, I rspctfully ask you. Thr ar tims lik this whn God is sarcastic, and othr tims whn H is forcful, such as on th Mount of Transfiguration whn Ptr startd shooting off his mouth. Now Ptr and his companions had bn ovrcom with slp; but whn thy wr fully awak, thy saw His glory and th two mn [Moss and Elijah] standing with Him [Jsus Christ]. And it cam to pass, as thy wr parting from Him, Ptr said, to Jsus, "Mastr, it [is] good for us to b hr; so lt us mak thr tnts: on for You and on for Moss and on for Elijah" (not ralizing what h was saying); and whn h was saying this, a cloud formd and ovrshadowd thm; and thy w afraid as thy ntrd th cloud. And a voic cam out of th cloud, saying, "This is My Son Chosn On listn to Him!" (Luk 9:32 36). In both of ths instancs, w ar spaking of th sam prson Who is to b listnd to: Jsus Christ. "If your propht is [of] Yahwh in a vision to him will I mak Myslf known; in a dram I will spak with him. [Num. 12:6b] Th bginning of this vrs is a littl difficult. It bgins with an hypothtical particl (if) and th Qal imprfct of hâyâh (ä éäè È ) [pronouncd haw-yawh], which is th absolut status quo vrb to b. In th masculin singular suffix. So far, w could translat this if it coms to pass or if thr is. Thn w hav th word for propht with a masculin plural suffix. Oftn, th Hbrw languag placs th subjct of th vrb aftr th vrb; and sinc this agrs with th vrb (thy ar both in th third prson, masculin singular), w would plac propht first, as w do in th English. This is followd by th propr noun Yahwh. So, although a cas could b mad for translating this if thr is your propht [of] Yahwh; it is bttr translatd: if your propht is [of] Yahwh. W hav an xampl of this in God spaking to Jacob in a vision, back in Gn. 46:2; and communicating to him in a dram in Gn. 31:11. Jacob, as you will rcall, was not xactly a spiritual giant, but h was in th chosn lin and h did matur to som dgr. Howvr, God did not spak to him mouth to mouth (also s 1Sam. 3:15 1Kings 3:5, 15). Miriam has just told Moss that what thy said cam from God. Thrfor, God spaks to hr for th first tim and xplains how His communication works. God might mak an appar in a vision to th propht. This mans that th prson would go into a tranc-lik stat and God would spak to him, holding him in rapt attntion. Mthod #2 is that God coms to th propht in a dram. As has bn discussd, ths rvlations no longr tak plac, xcpt with psychotics. Popl may b influncd by dmons that way, but God no longr nds to spak with anyon bcaus H has finishd spaking to man with th canon of Scriptur. W do not rquir anything mor. God dos not suddnly say, "Oh hll, I forgot to tll Charli Brown whn to buy and whn to sll; I'll just 75 P. 206.

136 Numbrs Chaptr hav to spak to him in a dram." Thos popl who think God is spaking to thm in drams or in an audibl voic or in visions ar boardring on psychosis or thy ar having a tru communion with dmons. Thos who think thy nd to do not vn hav a clu as to th powr of God's Word. Th Bibl is mor than som happy sayings scratchd down by som old popl a long tim ago it is aliv and powrful, sharpr than any two-dgd sword, picing vn to th dividing asundr of th soul and th spirit, th joints and th marrow, and it is abl to judg of th thoughts and intntions of th hart (Hb. 4:12). Som of you think that if you could hav only bn aliv whn Jsus walkd th arth, that you would hav listnd intntly to His vry word and oby vrything that H said. You fool! Don't you know what th Bibl is? It is th mind of Jsus Christ (I Cor. 2:16); it is th vry words of our Lord. Jsus Christ did not stay on arth for a spaking ngagmnt of twnty yars. His public ministry was but thr yars, and most of th discipls, although thy wr blivrs, aftr spnding much of ths thr yars with Him, barly undrstood a portion of th gospl. You ar carrying around with you th writtn Word of God, as our Lord was th living Word of God. You hav God's Word and you hav somon who is willing to tach it to you. "[It is] not so [with] My srvant Moss; in all of My hous, h [rmains] stadfast [rliabl, faithful]. [Num. 12:7] This vrs actually bgins with Not so My srvant Moss. It is vry lliptical, maning that this is bing strssd to Miriam. Sh actually thinks that sh is on som sort of qual footing with Moss, spaking th Word of God. Suddnly, God is spaking to hr for th first tim, and H ylls at hr. Not so My srvant Moss! God bgins with grat sarcasm, to catch hr attntion, and thn ylls at hr. W do not know if H raisd His voic, but grammatically h ylld at Miriam. This is followd by th prposition phras in all of My hous and th Niphal participl of âman (ï îç àè ) [pronouncd aw-mahn] and this is a word that som of you actually rcogniz. You'r thinking, is that...? and it is. W translitrat this word amn. Most Christians think that this is th word that you just affix to th nd of a prayr; but it is quivalnt to nding a prayr with th phras I bliv it or I bliv You or I am ntrusting this to You. Actually, it is not quit th sam as nding a prayr with any of thos thr phrass, bcaus whn you nd a prayr with any of thos thr phrass, that indicats that you hav som cognizanc of what you just did, as opposd to th prson who just says amn at th nd of a prayr bcaus that's just th way h's always ndd a prayr. Th Niphal is gnrally th passiv of th Qal, but it also indicats a stat of bing, progrss or dvlopmnt. To indicat a continuous action, I hav insrt th vrb rmains rathr than th vrb is. Th word itslf can man svral things: confirmd, faithful, stadfast, dpndabl, trustworthy, ntrustd, rliabl; not that I am giving th English quivalnts as adjctivs, and not as vrbs th participl bhavs lik an adjctiv hr, or a prdicat nominativ. I did not us th passiv translation hr (such as ntrustd) bcaus th us of th Niphal mor dscribs a stat of bing rathr than th passiv voic. God sts up a contrast btwn th way that H spaks to a propht and th way that H spaks to Moss and this contrast is bcaus Moss rmains stadfast, faithful and rliabl. Jws point to Moss as on of th vry gratst in thir lin, and thy ar corrct in this. Howvr, th writr of Hbrws taks this on stp furthr. Thrfor, brothrs st apart, partakrs of a havnly vocation, considr Jsus, th Apostl and High Prist of our confssion. H was faithful to Him who Appointd Him, as Moss was also in all His hous. For H has bn countd worthy of mor glory than Moss, by just so much as th buildr of th hous has mor honor than th hous. For vry hous is built by somon, but th buildr of all things is God. Now Moss was faithful in all His hous as a srvant, for a tstimony of thos things which wr to b spokn latr, but Christ was as a Son ovr His hous whos hous w ar, if w hold fast our confidnc and th boast of our hop stablizd until th nd (Hb. 3:1 5). At this point, w should xamin th Doctrin of Moss as a Typ of Christ not finishd yt!! "Mouth to mouth, I spak with him. And an apparanc and not in nigmatic sayings [or, riddls or dark spch]; and th form [or, liknss] of Yahwh h bholds attntivly; [Num. 12:8a] W nd to carfully plow our way through th first part of v. 8. It sounds, particularly whn mistranslatd, as if thr is no contrast. God spaks to th propht in a vision (v. 6) and H spaks to Moss in a vision (v. 8). Thr ar two words found in v. 6 and v. 8 which ar simply th masculin and th fminin of th sam word. This is an incrdibl play on words and on gndr. Miriam is saying how sh is just as privy to th Lord's counsling as

137 Th Book of Numbrs 137 was Moss so God contrasts th infrior word, found in th fminin gndr (visions) with th masculin word (apparanc or form). Whras God will com to prophts in visions and by drams, H spaks dirctly to Moss just as on would hold a normal convrsation. It is mouth to mouth, spaking to Moss just as Miriam was spaking to Moss and to Aaron. In v. 1, Miriam (and Aaron) spok against Moss. It is th sam bêyth prfixd prposition, and it can man in, into, against, with. Th implication is opposition in v. 1, whr hr it is communion. Lt's put this into English: you'r th mom and your son has don somthing wrong. You say to your husband, "You nd to spak to him!" And your husband gos into your son's room and says, "I nd to spak to you." Evn though w ar daling with th sam word to, th mphasis is slightly diffrnt. In h first phras, w ar daling with somthing which is mor confrontational and in th scond, it is mor communal (vn though th kid is about to gt his butt chwd). Th word vision in v. 6 was prcdd by th bêyth prposition, which, as w hav said, can man with, in. Hr, it is a vry slightly diffrnt word and it stands without th prposition with th simpl conjunction and. In v. 6, w 76 usd th word mar âh (ä àè ø Ó îç ) [pronouncd mahr -AWH] and it strictly mans vision. S Gn. 46:2 Ezk. 1:1 8:3 40:2 Dan. 10:7 8. That word is in th fminin and is usd lss oftn than its masculin countrpart mar h (ä à ø Ó îç ) [pronouncd mahr --EH] and this can man th act of sing, a vision, an apparanc, or a sight. This is mor of a tru imag of God as opposd to looking into a shiny brass sht which may distort our imags somwhat. Th word translatd nigmatic sayings can also man dark spch, contrasting it with th word for apparanc, but corrsponding to th word vision. Th word for bhold attntivly is diffrnt from th oftn usd word to s. W will xamin it in th futur. W might translat this and h looks [carfully] at th form [or, liknss] of Yahwh. God's rvlation to mankind is not qual by any mans. This is obvious with Christians that you know. Som things that thy do, in th nam of Christianity is downright scary. Whn thy start praying for th Holy Ghost or thy dscrib to you how thy kow to turn lft instad of right bcaus thy can fl it in thir shouldrs, you know right thn that rvlation is not qual to all (although it is now qually availabl to all posotiv volition is th dtrminnig factor today). Howvr, in rgard to th prophts and th Apostls, thir undrstanding varid gratly. With Ptr and Matthw, thir undrstanding of what was taking plac during our Lord's ministry hr on arth was vry limitd, as sn in th gospls of Matthw and Mark. Matthw rcognizd that Jsus was th Mssiah, com from God and thy wr both abl to rcord a grat many historical vnts; howvr, both smd to b nonplussd by th cross, its maning not clar to thm until yars latr. Howvr, th Apostl John, whos vocabulary in th Nw Tstamnt is th most simplistic, smd to hav th most firm grasp of what it all mant and h was abl to isolat what was important from th vnts of our Lord's ministry. This hlps us to undrstand why our Lord spok in parabls; it brought truth down to th lvl that th discipls could grasp, yt gav us information which could b disctd for vn gratr maning than thy wr abl to tak in at th tim. This mans that Moss is diffrnt from thos who rcivd th Holy Spirit; h is diffrnt from othr prophts from th past. H spaks with God as a man spaks to anothr man fac to fac; whras som rciv nigmatic sayings or s God in a vision, God spaks clarly Moss and God's apparanc, as it wr, is mor ral or closr to th truth. Bar in mind Ex. 33:20: But H (Yahwh) said, "You cannot s My fac and liv; for no man can s M and liv." and John 1:18a: No man has sn God at any tim (s also I John 4:12). Thr is non who could bhold th full dity of our Lord and liv, as His prfction is just to grat for us to bar. My ducatd guss is that, on occasion, Moss spok with Jsus Christ in his glorifid human form in His glorifid incarnation, a privilg not givn to anyon ls until th Mount of Transfiguration. I wouldn't stak my lif on it, but this sms to imply that. In any cas, I am crtain that Paul had this passag in mind whn h wrot to th Corinthians: For now w s in a mirror dimly; but thn fac to fac; now I know in part, but thn I will know compltly just as I hav bn fully known (I Cor. 13:12). Now follow this logic: th convrsation btwn Moss and God was unlik that btwn anyon ls in thir gnration. No on had that clos of a rlationship with God. Howvr, Miriam took it upon hrslf to upbraid 76 A slightly diffrnt usag is found in Ex. 38:8. This vrs givs us an ida as to its maning. Th womn did not hav th accurat mirrors as w hav, but thy had mtals which was shind to a high gloss and would giv thm a rough ida as to what thy lookd lik.

138 Numbrs Chaptr Moss. Now God will lad hr to a logcial conclusion. Thus, Yahwh usd to spak to Moss, fac to fac, just as a man spaks to his frind (Ex. 33:11a). Sinc thn, no propht has risn in Isral lik Moss, whom Yahwh knw fac to fac (Dut. 34:10). Anyon with any sns would fall to th ground in far bfor God. Miriam, howvr, has dcidd to tak it upon hrslf to criticiz Moss, God's rprsntativ hr on arth. "And why ar you [both] not afraid to spak against my srvant against Moss?" [Num. 12:8b] It is not Miriam's businss to run th lif of Moss. Sh is his oldr sistr, but into thir ightis and abov, hr rank as bing a fw yars oldr no longr is maningful. With such a dirct rprsntativ from God in thir midst, a propht as has nvr bn bfor, isn't sh just a littl afraid to criticiz his lif? Aftrall, to his own mastr h stands or falls; God can tak car of Moss, if thr is a problm; God dos not rquir Miriam's assistanc or vn hr advic. W ar not calld upon by God to b busybodis, to intrfr with th livs of othrs. God can handl his own srvants hr on arth. W do not nd to mddl with th affairs of othrs; w do not nd to gossip or upbraid othrs; nor do w nd to run anyon ls's lif. Furthrmor, God has st up th authority structur in th travling nation; not Moss and dfinintly not Miriam or Aaron. Qustioning th authority of Moss is qustioning God's authortiy. Thr is mor to this than just kp your nos out of Moss' businss; God asks Miriam if sh isn't afraid. If you wr about to jump out of a four story building, wouldn't you hav nough sns to b afraid. Miriam has just attackd th most prsonal srvant of Yahwh. "Do not touch My anointd ons, and do My prophts no harm." (Psalm 105:15). God asks hr, "Don't you hav nough sns to b afraid?" Aaron is includd in this, although h'll go along with whatvr. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx What w miss in this xgsis is th potic natur of th answr (which is lost, to a crtain dgr sinc it is translatd into a diffrnt languag. Howvr, it may b hlpful to s ths last fw vrss prsntd in potic form: Numbrs 12:6b 8 in Vrs: If your propht is [of] Yahwh in a vision to him will I mak Myslf known; In a dram I will spak with him. Not so My srvant Moss; in all of My hous, h [is] faithful. Mouth to mouth, I spak with him. And an apparanc and not in nigmatic sayings and th form of Yahwh h bholds attntivly; And why ar you not afraid to spak against my srvant against Moss? Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx God Judgs Miriam Thn th angr of Yahwh was kindld against thm and thn H dpartd. [Num. 12:9] Thr is a simpl lsson to b larnd hr you do not attack th Lord's anointd. Moss blongs to God, h was chosn to accomplish a particular sris of tasks, and Miriam and Aaron wr thr to assist, if vn that. Th nxt tim you dcid to run down a pastor or a missionary or any Christian that you barly know, bar in mind that you will carry thir punishmnt if thy'v don anything wrong and, if thy havn't, you will bar th punishmnt thy would hav dsrvd had thy don anything wrong. You will rciv that along with punishmnt for your mntal attitud sins and for your gossip and slandr and maligning. "Do not touch My anointd ons and

139 Th Book of Numbrs 139 do no harm to My prophts." (1Chron. 16:22 Psalm 105:15). "Do not judg or you will b judgd. For in th way you judg, you will b judgd; and by your standard of masur, it will b masurd out to you." (Matt. 7:1 2). If somon has don wrong, and you know it, just stand at a distanc and allow God to tak car of it. I hav prsonally sn God judg othrs and for all intnts and purposs, bring thm to thir kns. Just stand far nough away so that th lightning dos not strik you too. But whn [lit., And] th cloud had dpartd [lit., turnd asid] from ovr th tnt, thy took notic that [lit., and, lo], Miriam [was] lprous as snow; and Aaron turnd to Miriam and, chck it out [lit., lo], lprous! [Num. 12:10] With my translation, what is lost is th lliptical natur of th vrs, indicating th immdiat and shocking ffct. Th Emphasizd Bibl rads: And whn th cloud rmovd from off th tnt lo! Miriam lprous, lik snow! And Aaron turnd unto Miriam, and lo! Lprous! Moss was takn aback and Aaron was totally shockd. Aaron was likly quit afraid, not knowing if h prsonally had bn struck with lprosy. It dosn't say, but you can b sur that Aaron quickly liftd his hands to xamin thm for any chang. As a woman, vn on with psudo powr, Miriam is going to b concrn about hr apparanc and suddnly sh finds hrslf to b struck with lprosy. On of th things which is most pronouncd in th Old Tstamnt is that God was mor dmonstrativ, as th Jws thmslvs wr mor dmonstrativ. So you might criticiz a pastor today and not b struck with lprosy; howvr, you will b disciplind and God knows what hurts you th 77 most. And if you don't bliv m, tst God. W all know how much God liks for us to tst Him, so try Him and His patinc and s what happns. Having facd divin disciplin on many occasions I would just as soon tak Him on His Word, myslf. As w hav notd bfor in th book of Lviticus, this is not ncssarily lprosy, but som sort of skin disas which may or may not still b xtnt. This will b th last tim w will har about Miriam, othr than a rfrnc to hr dath (Num. 20:1), svral family lin rfrncs, and God will us hr mistak hr to tach othrs (Dut. 24:9). S th Doctrin of Miriam not finishd yt!! You may wondr why th Bibl stops to dal with th failings of Miriam and th far-too-asily-swayd Aaron, but thr is a rason for this God is going to wip out an ntir gnration of Isralits, and w might wondr, why dos God kill Aaron and Miriam as wll? God is going to lt thr mn of Gn X liv: Moss (who is oldr than most in Gn x), Joshua and Calb. W find out in this chaptr why God did not prsrv Aaron and Miriam; and w will find out in Num why God prsrvd Joshua and Calb. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Judgmnt Is Rmovd and th Trip Is Rsumd And Aaron said to Moss, "O my lord, I rspctfully ask you, do not lay upon us [this] sin [in] which w hav bn foolish, and in which w hav sinnd; [Num. 12:11] Aaron is asily ld astray, but whn God clobbrs somon narby, h suddnly straightns up. Thr is nothing wrong with Aaron's action hr. H is not to go dirctly to God, h is to go dirctly to Moss, which h did. H dos not go dirctly to God bcaus h cannot go dirctly to God. In th Old Tstamnt in almost any gnration, thr was on prson to go to who stood btwn man and God. At this tim it was Moss. Aaron immdiatly rcognizs th authority of Moss and plads with him. God knw that h didn't hav to do too much to gt Aaron's attntion. King David mad a similar confssion to God: Now David's hart troubld him aftr h had numbrd th popl. So David said to Yahwh, "I hav sinnd gratly in what I hav don. But now, O Yahwh, plas caus th rmoval th iniquity of Your srvant, for I hav actd vry foolishly." (2Sam. 24:10). Aaron knw 77 I am writing tongu-in-chk hr, in cas you did not know.

140 Numbrs Chaptr what was right and h could hav straightnd out Miriam, or at last, rfusd to stand with hr in hr sillinss, and sinc h did not, his sistr has bn struck with lprosy. Sh may hav don nothing, had h not stood with hr. Aaron mad a lot of mistaks and was too spinlss to b a solo spiritual ladr. Howvr, it didn't tak too much from God to straightn him up. His ralization of his mistak is complt and his tru concrn for his sistr is touching. In our dispnsation, w do not approach God dirctly for salvation. It dos not mattr how many tims w say plas or how nic w ar or how many sins that w liminat from our livs. This dos not man a thing to God. W all go to God th sam way: through his intrmdiary, Jsus Christ, th God-man. W bliv in Jsus Christ and that gains us salvation. "Plas do not lt hr b as dad [or, still-born], whos flsh is half atn away whn h coms from our mothr's womb [lit., whn in his coming out from th womb of our mothr th half of our flsh is consumd]." [Num. 12:12] First w must dal with th us of th word our in my translation as opposd to his in your translation. It was considrd drogatory for mothr of th grat lawgivr to b dpictd in this way, so th simil was softnd so 78 as to b mor gnral. It was changd from th prsonal to th vry imprsonal. Miriam's body had bn atn away with lprosy and Aaron flt trribl about th part that h playd. H should hav had nough backbon to stand up against hr bfor sh lt things go this far, but th on thing that Aaron lacks, as w hav sn again and again, is backbon and conviction. H only ralizs what is right aftr doing what is wrong. Evryon is diffrnt. Som popl do that which is wrong bcaus thy ar bull-hadd and som popl do wrong bcaus thy ar ld to do wrong by othrs. Aaron was obviously of th lattr group. And Moss crid to Yahwh, saying, "O God, I rspctfully ask you, giv, I rspctfully rqust, haling to hr." [Num. 12:13] Moss is th prson who is wrongd hr, but h lovs his family and cannot bar to s thm hurt. H acts as an intrmdiary, as Jsus Christ dos. W ar lucky, bcaus in bliving in Jsus Christ, w hav an advocat bfor th Fathr. W ar rlatd to on who lovs us, bcaus of your position in Christ. This passag tlls us that somtims illnsss of various sorts ar a rsult of divin disciplin. W do not go to divin halrs for thir rmoval, but to God (Psalm 30:2 41:4 Isa. 30:26 Jr. 17:14). Blss Yahwh, O my soul, and do not disrgard His bnfits; Who pardons all your iniquitis; Who hals all your disass (Psalm 103:3). And Yahwh said to Moss, "And hr fathr had but spat [lit., in spitting, had spit] in hr fac is sh not ashamd svn days? Sh is shut out svn days at th outsid of th camp, and aftrwards sh is gathrd [to th camp]." [Num. 12:14] I do not know th significanc of spittl. Our Lord onc curd a blind prson whn H rubbd spittl in his ys. Thr is nothing curativ in th spittl that I am awar of; nor do I follow th symbology in th lattr cas. Hr, it is crtainly a symbol of drision and sham to Miriam (s Job 7:6 30:10 Isa. 50:6), which is what God would xpct. Sh had no right putting hr nos into Moss' businss. In th svn days, sh is isolatd from th camp and sh is givn tim to think about hr position and how wrong sh is. Th simpl application to today is that you do not butt into othr popl's businss. God can tak car of thm. Th xcptions, of cours, ar your childrn and thos involvd in flony criminal activity. What your childrn do and with whom thy associat is your businss. Th svn days of quarantin is a standard priod of public sham and clansing. 78 Ginsburg's Introduction to th Massortico-Critical dition of th Hbrw Bibl, pp and Figurs of Spch Usd in th Bibl; E.W. Bullingr; p

141 Th Book of Numbrs 141 And Miriam was shut out at th outsid of th camp svn days, and th popl did not journy until Miriam had bn gathrd [to thm]; [Num. 12:15] This is, of cours, in accordanc with prviously givn rvlation (Num. 5:1 4). Th popl of Isral wr also givn tim to think about this; whatvr thy might know. Thy do know that thir journy has bn haltd and that it is bcaus of Miriam, on that thy had associatd with ladrship. And aftrwards th popl journyd from Hazroth and th ncampd in th dsrt of Paran. [Num. 12:16] I don't bliv that w hav any dats in this sction of Numbrs btwn Num. 9:1 and 33:38 (a span of 38 yars). This was a major mov, not covring yars, but probably months. Thy Jws mad thir mistak concrning th mumbling to thmslvs about not gtting mat; God killd svral of thm; Miriam was punishd; and thn thy travld for quit a distanc. Sinc w ar moving two million popl, my guss is that this journy took btwn a month and a yar. W ar now in th southrn most portion of th promisd land. Th ntry into th promisd land to tak it is placd bfor this gnration of Jws. Thy hav sn God's trmndous powr against thir opposition. Now thy nd only call upon thir own faith. Rturn to Outlin Sit Map Rturn to th Chart Indx Rturn to th Numbrs Hompag Rturn to Bginning of this Chaptr

142 Numbrs 13 Numbrs 13:1 33 Outlin of Chaptr 13: vv Twlv mn ar chosn for a rconnaissanc mission vv Moss' ordrs to his spis vv Th actual mission vv Th gnral rport vv Th minority and th majority rport Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: v. 20 What Information Ndd to b Gathrd on th Rconnaissanc Mission Introduction: In this Exodus gnration that Yahwh loathd, thr wr only a coupl of mn who had any charactr. On of ths mn was Calb, whom w will mt in Num. 13. Th Isralits will go right up to th southrn portion of th promisd land. All thy nd to do is to go in and tak it. Thy hav sn signs and wondrs as w can only imagin from th xamination of Scriptur thy hav sn a grat forc of Egyptians dstroyd by Yahwh on thir bhalf. Now thy hav a chanc to stand on thir faith in Yahwh and it is hr, thy will fail misrably as a nation. This is thir last chanc to rdm thmslvs. Th raction of th Jws in this chaptr will doom thm to spnding th nxt thirty-ight yars wandring in th dsrt as God wips out this loathd gnration. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Twlv Mn Ar Chosn for a Rconnaissanc Mission Num. 13 nds to b prfacd so that w can undrstand Dut. 1. Th Jws travld to th promisd land rlativly quickly. Thy stoppd in ordr to build th tabrnacl and to clbrat crtain days of worship, but thy hav movd right into th land. Thy ar about to tak th land, and Moss apparntly has a confrnc with th svnty, and thy (or thy and thir constitunts) hav suggstd that a rconnaissanc tam b snt out first. This maks good sns to Moss. H gos to Y howah concrning this plan and God tlls Moss to snd on man for ach trib. And Yahwh spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 13:1] Although I havn't chckd vry passag, it is likly that Num. 12 was th last tim that God would spak to Aaron and Miriam prsonally. From hr on out, God will spak only to Moss. "Snd for yourslf mn, and thy will spy th land of Canaan, which I giv to th sons of Isral; on man, on man for th trib of his fathrs will you snd; vry on [of thm] a princ [or, ladr] among thm." [Num. 13:2] Th Jws hav sn th gratst signs that any gnration of mankind has vry witnssd bfor. Up until that point in tim, and not until th gnration of th incarnation of our Lord, will such signs b givn. Thy hav sn God's powr and provision; thy nd only bliv that God has to powr to do what H has hsown thm that H can do. Onc w hav got to hr, you may b wondring whr in th hck did I gt this confrnc btwn Moss and th svnty? Dut. 1:19b 24 rads:...and as w cam to Kadsh-barna, and I said to you, "You hav com to th hill country of th Amorits which Y howah our God is about to giv us. S, Y howah your God has placd

143 Th Book of Numbrs 143 th land bfor you; go up, tak possssion, as Y howah, th God of your fathrs, has spokn to you. Do not far or b dismayd. Thn all of you approachd m and said, 'Lt us snd mn bfor us, that thy may sarch out th land for us, and bring back to us word of th way by which w should go up, and th citis which w will ntr.' And th thing plasd m and I took twlv of your mn, on man for ach trib, an dthy turnd and wnt up into th hill country, and cam to th vally of Eshcol and spid it out." You s, onc w gt to Dutronomy, w hav th nxt gnration, and much of Dutronomy is a rcap of what had alrady occurrd. Howvr, thr ar oftn two or mor ways to viw an vnt. In Numbrs, w ar sing th Godward sid, and, in th first fw vrss, th manward sid is not rcordd. Howvr, in Dut. 1:19 26, w s what occurrd almost from strictly th human viwpoint. And Moss snt thm from th dsrt of Paran by th command [lit., mouth] of Yahwh all of thm mn, hads of th sons of Isral, thy [ar]. [Num. 13:3] Moss had chosn svnty of th gratst mn of Isral of that gnration to assist him in lading th nation. Now h will choos twlv mn from thm to go into th land of Canaan and spy out th land. Th word mn hr is th simpl word for man: ish, and is not mrly a dsignation of gndr, but mor a dsignation of prominnc and strngth (a simlar usag can b found in Isa. 5:15). And you would think that out of two million popl, thr would hav bn twlv mn who wr both brav and who trustd in Yahwh. Now, from a human standpoint, all twlv of ths mn wr brav thr is no doubt about that. Howvr, thy did not bliv Yahwh. And ths ar thir nams: for th trib Rubn, Shammua bn Zaccur. [Num. 13:4] Shammua [pronouncd sham-moo-ah] mans rnown and his fathr's nam [pronouncd zak-koor] mans mindful. For th trib of Simon, Shaphat bn Chori. [Num. 13:5] Shaphat [pronouncd shaw-fawt] mans judg (which was rathr prsummptuous of his parnts, don't you think?) an dhis fathr's nam [pronouncd kho-ree] mans ithr cav-dwllr or whit. Obviously a vry pal boy whn born and his fathr namd him. For th trib of Judah, Calb bn Jphunnh. [Num. 13:6] Calb mans dog and Jphunnh [pronouncd yf-oon-neh] mans h will b prpard. Youwondring to yourslf, what wr thos parnts thinking? Now you will notic by now that ths ar not th sam mn who wr namd arlir as tribal ladrs in Num. 1. This would possibly rquir thm to b youngr and strongr, possibly vrsd in othr languags. Th othr hads of th tribs had a diffrnt function to assist Moss in working with ths tribs and allviating th load that h was baring. For th trib of Issachar, Igal bn Josph. [Num. 13:7] Igal [pronouncd yig-awl] mans avngr and Josph [actually pronouncd yo-safe] mans an addition, th act of adding as though a family had a larg numbr of childrn and this was anothr child. For th trib of Ephraim, Hosa bn Nun. [Num. 13:8] Hosa [pronouncd ho-shay-ah] mans dlivrr it is th Hbrw quivalnt of Jsus. Nun [pronouncd noon] mans to propagat by shoots, to rsprout, to b prptual. This is not unlik th chip of th old block xprssion. For th trib of Bnjamin, Palti bn Raphu. [Num. 13:9] Palti [pronouncd pahl-tee] mans dlivrd and Raphu [pronouncd raw-foo] mans curd. For th trib of Zbulun, Gaddil bn Sodi. [Num. 13:10]

144 Numbrs Chaptr Gaddil [pronouncd gad-d-ale] mans fortun of God and Sodi [pronouncd so-dee] mans a confidant. For th trib of Josph for th trib of Manassh Gaddi bn Susi. [Num. 13:11] Gaddi [pronouncd gahd-dee] mans vry fortunat and Susi [pronouncd soo-see] mans hors-lik. As you will rcall, it was th trib of Josph which rcivd th doubl portion; so it bcam two half-tribs. For th trib of Dan, Ammil bn Gmalli. [Num. 13:12] Ammil [pronouncd am-m-ale] mans popl of God and Gmalli [pronouncd ghm-ahl-lee] mans camldrivr. Notic how many of thir nams wr rlatd to animals. It must hav bn a phas popl wr going through (as, in som contmporary gnrations, whr som nam vry child with a nam that bgins with j). For th trib of Ashr, Sthur bn Michal. [Num. 13:13] Sthur [pronouncd sth-oor] mans hiddn and Michal [pronouncd m-kaw-ale] mans who is lik God. For th trib of Naphtali, Nahbi bn Vophsi. [Num. 13:14] Nahbi [pronouncd nahk-bee] mans occult and Vophsi [pronouncd wauf-see] mans additional. For th trib of Gad, Gul bn Machi. [Num. 13:15] Gul [pronouncd ghh-oo-ale] mans majsty of God and Machi [pronouncd maw-kee] mans pining. Thr [ar] th nams of th mn whom Moss snt to spy th land; and thn Moss was calling [or dsignating] Hosa bn Nun, [as] Joshua. [Num. 13:16] Hosa is pronouncd ho-shay-ah and mans dlivrr; Jhoshua [pronouncd yh-ho-shu-ah] mans Yahwh dlivrd. So, although you do not raliz it, in your English Bibls, up until this tim, Joshua wasn't Joshua but Hosa (or Hosha) [ths ar our common English translitrations, which ar obviously prtty far off]; and now h is calld Joshua which still isn't rally Joshua, but yh-ho-shu-ah. Now th actual diffrnc is in maning, of cours. Hosa mans salvation or dlivranc; and Joshua mans Yahwh savs [or, dlivrs]. Joshua has bn namd arlir in Scriptur as Joshua rathr than as Hosa (I hav chosn to stay with th Anglicizd vrsions of ths nams) in Ex. 17:9 and 24:13. W hav th xact sam sntnc structur as Gn. 1:5, 8, 10. This mans ithr (1) Moss did not writ much of this information down in its final form until aftr Num. 13, whn th Jws spnt 38 yars wandring in th dsrt; by thn it would hav bn much mor natural to rfr to Hosa as Joshua; (2) that h or somon ls wnt back and changd Ex. 17:9 and 24:13 (which I doubt); or (3) this is whn Moss bgan to publically call for Hosa with th nam Joshua. I tnd to go with th first xplanation, allowing Moss nots to writ down th laws of God and thn, during th 38 yars of wandring, to rcord all this information in its final form, howvr not ncssarily always in chronological ordr. This dinking around with th nams mad m think; thr ar a lot of disagrmnts as to th corrct pronunciation of God's nam in th Old Tstamnt. This vrs will actually hlp us hr. S th Doctrin of th Pronunciation of God's Nam. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Moss' Ordrs to His Spis And Moss snt thm to spy th land of Canaan, and said to thm, "Go up this [or, hr] into th south [th Ngv], and you [all] will hav gon into th mountains. [Num. 13:17]

145 Th Book of Numbrs 145 It sounds as though Moss has drawn a map and is pointing out on th map thir dirction and spaking at th sam tim. It is th word zh (ä æ ) [pronouncd zh] which mans this or hr which suggsts that to us. Eithr b that or thy ar standing bfor th mountains and th vally and Moss is pointing toward th Ng v. b B South or Ngv is th word ng v (á â ð ) [pronouncd n-ghe V] is a vry wll dfind portion of Isral and, in this cas, is bst translatd south-country. Th word originally mant south (Gn. 13:14) and bcam th gnral dsignation for this portion of th promisd land (Gn. 12:9 13:1, 3 20:1). This land xtndd northward from Kadsh almost to Hbron, with th Dad Sa and th Mditrranan bordring it on th ast and wst. Strong s #5045 BDB #616. Th word translatd mountains is a word which cam to rfr to a rang of hills and mountains in th southrn and cntral portion of Canaan, which ara falls within th inhritanc of Judah and Ephraim, primarily. Ths mountains bgin south of Hbron and xtnd northward toward th plain of Jzrl, and looping northwst to th sa at Mount Carml. Oftn common trms ar usd by inhabitants to rfr to a spcific ara. Th Jws rfrrd to th land of Canaan as simply th land. Som nationalitis (I hav forgottn which) rfrrd to thmslvs as simply th popl. Most of my frinds calld my Uncl Bill Uncl Bill. Th Jws ar probably at th foot of th hill country of Juda, at th southrnmost portion of Judah, prhaps in Kadsh Barna. Th spis ar ntring into th southrn portion of Judah, through th dsrt, and thn rturn by way of th mountains, which would provid thm covr. Thr wr just twlv of thm, so it would b asy to rmain surrptitious. "And you will s th land what it and th popl which dwll in it, whthr thy [ar] [lit., it is] strong or fbl; whthr thy [ar] [lit., h is] fw or many; [Num. 13:18] Th intntion hr is to tak th land. Moss has bn prpard by God to raliz that thy ar not just going to walk into th land, ask for th kys, and ask th popl to lav. Th Jws will hav to go into th land and tak it from th dgnrat Canaanits. This mans actual war, which th Jws hav nvr facd bfor. Most of thm had nvr bn in a skirmish bfor, lt alon a fight. So this wighd havily on thir minds as thy ntrd into th land. Kp in mind, ths twlv ar th bst possibl military mn that Moss could mustr out of 600,000 soldirs. "And what th land [is lik] in which thy [lit., h] dwll [s], whthr it [is] good or bad; and what th citis [ar lik] in which thy dwll [lit., it dwlls], whthr in camps or in fortrsss; [Num. 13:19] So far this rconnaissanc tam has got two aras of xamination, th popl and th land. "And what th land [is lik], whthr it [is] fat or lan; whthr thr is wood on it or not; and you will strngthn yourslvs, and you will tak up th fruit of th land; and th days [ar] th days of th first-fruits of graps." [Num. 13:20] To xamin th diffrnt taks of a portion of this vrs: Th Amplifid Bibl And b of good courag and bring som of th fruit of th land. Th Emphasizd Bibl 79 Thn shall y pluck up courag and tak of th fruit of th land. KJV And b y of good courag and bring of th fruit of th land. NASB Mak an ffort thn to gt som of th fruit of th land. NIV Do your bst to bring back som of th fruit of th land. NRSV B bold, and bring som of th fruit of th land. Young's Lit. Translation...and y hav strngthnd yourslvs, and hav takn of th fruit of th land; 79 To b fair, so that you s thr is anothr viwpoint, Rothrham's xplanation is that taking th fruit of th land would b an act of courag. W hn you s th morphology of th main vrb, you will s that this is not an adquat xplanation.

146 Numbrs Chaptr Th vrb is th scond prson masculin plural, Hithpal imprativ of châzaq ( æç çè ) [pronouncd khaw-zahk] and th root mans to fastn upon, to siz. This word cam to man to b strong, firm, to strngthn. Th HIthpal is th rflxiv of th Pil (th intnsiv stm), so thy ar to do this to thmslvs. Lt us xamin th immdiat contxt. How this phras occurd prior to ntring th land or prior to th invasion of th land, it would hav th connotation of bcoming confidnt and couragous; howvr, notic that thy hav just lookd at th landscap, whthr it is havily forstd or not, and thy ar about to tak up som graps. Thy ar going to strngthn thmslvs, nourish thmslvs by ating from th fruit of th land. Furthrmor, dspit th rfrnc notd in th Scofild Bibl to Dut. 31:6 and 23, this is not th sam word found in thos vrs, although it is translatd as though it is. Th nxt vrb is tak not bring, and it is in th Qal prfct, which is not an imprativ it could b bttr translatd...and you hav takn up th fruit of th land. Now, thy will at of th fruit of th land and thy will also bring som back to th ncampmnt. Bringing it back was not ncssarily a part of thir fild ordrs, but mn ar allowd to tak som initiativ. Thn thy took of th fruit of th land in thir hands and brought it down to us (Dut. 1:25a). What Information Ndd to b Gathrd on th Rconnaissanc Mission Th Popl: 1. Thir rlativ strngth and might (not a rfrnc hr to numbrs, but to thir conditioning, obsrvd physical strngth, thir military rsourcs, tc.) 2. Th numbr of popl is th land dnsly populatd, ar thr a fw individualizd tribs of popl hr and thr. Rcall that during this tim that th Jws grw to a population of two million, th Canaanits had also xprincd som population growth. Th Land: 1. Is th land good or bad, as a qualitativ stimation of th valu of th land for living and farming. 2. What ar th living conditions of th nativs; do thy liv in citis which ar fortifid against attack or ar thy in sprad out camps. 3. What is th land lik is thr a lot of agricultur and growth, or is it lik Egypt with a lot of worthlss dsrt. 4. What about th foliag? Ar thr forsts? Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx All of th abov wr important whn planning an attack and a mod of attack. Moss undrstands that thr will b actual battls which will b fought and that stratgy and tactics will b important. Moss must know his nmy. At th tim of this rconnaissanc, it is th springtim and th land should hav harvst of frsh graps. On of th advantags of bing on this mission was th mn got to njoy som of th fruits of th land. Th actual mission was to covr th ntir lngth of th land, from th southrnmost rgion to th northrnmost rgion, a distanc of approximatly 250 mils. Twlv mn, on a forcd march, if ncssary, can travl twnty to fifty mils a day. Sinc thy will b on th trail for forty days, this mans that thy must avrag 12.5 mils pr day, which is a rasonabl avrag for twlv strong mn. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Actual Mission And thy wnt up to spy th land, from th dsrt of Zin to Rhob at th ntranc of [or, going in to] Hamath; [Num. 13:21] Thy wr to possibly bgin in th south, mov in a northwst dirction, through th dsrt, prhaps on a particular road which xtnds to Hamath, tak th road north and thn com back around through th mountains. Hamath is th most northrn portion of Isral. God had told thm to tak th land, so thy will xamin it from th bottom to th top, travling first on th wstrn portion and rturning on this astrn mountains. This mission

147 Th Book of Numbrs 147 would tak forty days, probably from spring through th bginning of summr. This would b a good tim to xamin th Doctrin of th Dsrt of Zin and th Doctrin of Hamath not finishd yt!! And thy wnt up by th south thn on wnt as far as Hbron, and thr [wr] Ahiman, Shshai, and Talmai, childrn of th Anak (and [thy larnd] Hbron had bn built svn yars bfor Zoan in Egypt); [Num. 13:22] b Most of your translations rad, And thy wnt up by th Ng v [or, th southrn portion] and wnt into Hbron. Howvr, this is not how it rads in th original languags. Th scond vrb is in th third prson masculin 80 singular, nor plural. In th many mistranslations w los a littl of what occurrd. Thy all wnt into th land b through th Ng v but thy snt on man into Hbron, to spy out th city itslf, to obtain mor xplicit information. All twlv of thm travling through Hbron would hav smd to b mor of a thrat, mor noticabl, mor suspicious. On lon man travling through would not b noticd and h would not b a thrat. Thr is anothr concrn hr: languag. In Egypt, thr was a lot of trading which took plac. Thy snt thir tradrs out throughout th world and tradrs cam to thm. In ordr to ngag in trad, thr had to b a common languag. Thrfor, som Egyptians knw th languags of othr countris and tradrs from othr countris oftn knw nough Egyptian to gt by. Th Jw who wnt into Hbron (I would think it would b Joshua or Calb) likly knw a smattring of a coupl of othr languags. It is likly that this vry gnration built most of Zoan in Egypt and th nwnss of th construction of th city of Hbron indicatd a similar start dat. This is likly pointd out bcaus thy wr imprssd with th construction, probably having had a hand in th construction of Zoan. Having not travld until now, thy would b surprisd to s a fortification as sophisticatd as that in Egypt don with thir slav labor. Furthrmor, thy knw of Hbron from th information in Gnsis, and storis which had bn handd down from gnration to gnration. Thy wr not xpcting to s it built up and fortifid from what thy had bn told about it. W will xamin at th Doctrin of Hbron in Joshua 14:15. Hbron was th ara whr th Hbrw patriarchs had bn burid (Gn. 23:19 49:31). Thr is no contradiction in this. Obviously, this Hbron was a rcntly built city. This is th first tim that w hav hard of th childrn of Anak; howvr, thir nams will crop up again throughout th rst of th Pntatuch and for a portion of Joshua. Anak mans long-nckd or giant. And, ys, it is prcdd by a dfinit articl as indicatd. latr, Calb will lad th forc which will driv thm out of th land (Joshua 15:14). So that you do not worship at th shrin of archology, it was long assrtd that Zoan was associatd with th citis Tanis and Avaris, which cam latr in Egyptian history that would obviously mak this account bogus. Howvr, rlativly rcnt archology has discovrd an ancint city nar modrn Qantir which has now bn idntifid as Zoan. Zodhiats assrts that this is th sam city as Ramss, which was mntiond in Ex. 1:11(or built in th sam ara). Zodhiats writs: This would sm to confirm that th Hyksos rulrs bgan th opprssion 81 of Isral in Egypt. S th Doctrin of Zoan not finishd yt!! And thy cam in unto th brook of Eshcol, and cut down a branch and on clustr of graps, and thy bor it on a staff by two; also, of th pomgranats and of th figs. [Num. 13:23] On of th complaints of th Isralits was th monotony in thir dit. At that tim, th land of Isral was quit frtil and it had a grat many naturally growing fruits. Furthrmor, ths wr so hug, that it took two mn to carry ths graps. This will rval that this land is flowing with milk and hony. Also, in cas th nam Eshcol sounds familiar, h was a convrt of Abraham's in Gn. 14:13. That plac was calld [lit., h calld that plac] th Vally of Eshcol bcaus of th clustr which th mn of Isral cut down from thr. [Num. 13:24] 80 Som codics and som vrsions hav this vrb in th masculin plural; howvr, I think that was ithr an intntional or unintntional sm oothing out of th txt. 81 Th Complt Word Study Old Tstamnt, p. 396.

148 Numbrs Chaptr Th word for clustr of graps and Eshcol ar th sam. Thr is a Canaanit trib also by that nam. My guss would b that th nam naturally applis to th clustr of graps first and was givn to th Canaanit popl and to th brook at a latr tim. And thy rturnd from spying th land at th nd of forty days. [Num. 13:25] This givs us th tour of duty of this rconnaissanc mission. This would hlp giv us an ida as to th amount of ground that thy covrd. Twlv mn could covr up to forty mils in a day, if ncssary. Crtainly, thy brok off into smallr groups and wnt into th towns, as thy knw th nams of som of th popl who livd thr. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Gnral Rport And thy wnt and thn cam into Moss and to Aaron to all th company of th sons of Isral, as far as th dsrt of Paran, to Kadsh; and thy brought thm and all th company back word, and showd thm th fruit of th land. [Num. 13:26] W hav hard about Kadsh (also known as Kadsh-Barna) many tims. It was an oasis in th dsrt, right blow th land of Canaan. S th Doctrin of Kdsh-Barna not finishd yt. No on in th land ralizs that thr ar two million popl campd right outsid th land (or in th southrn most rgion) rady to tak possssion of thir land. Whn thy rturnd, it sounds as though thr was somwhat of a parad. Thy at last wandrd through th camp, showing th fruit of th land and wr rcivd by Moss, Aaron and th rmaindr of th svnty ldrs. As w will s, Isral will rmain in Kadsh-barna for th nxt 38½ yars (or, at last, vry clos by). This is in th far southrn rgion of Judah and whn w nxt rad of whr Isral is, it will still b Kadsh, vn though it will b 38½ yars latr (Num. 20:1). And thy rcountd to him and said, "W cam in unto th land whithr you had snt us and also, it is flowing with milk and hony and this is th fruit. [Num. 13:27] So thy first giv vryon th good nws. {Moss said:] "Thn thy took of th fruit of th lnad in thir hands and brought it down to us; and thy brought us back a rport and said, 'It is a good land which Y howah is about to giv us.' " (Dut. 1:25). Th land was xactly as God had promisd thm. Grat amounts of produc, bautiful and lush; it is obvious by th Biblical dscriptions, that Palstin has changd a grat dal ovr th past svral millniums. "Only, surly th popl which dwll in th land [ar] strong; and th citis ar fortifid, vry grat; and also, th childrn of Anak w hav sn thr. [Num. 13:28] So far, th spis agr upon vrything. Th land is marvlous and th popl ar strong who liv in th land and thir citis ar wll-fortifid. This fact has bn attstd to by modrn archology. It has bn confirmd that thr wr svral walld fortrsss throughout th land of Canaan vn during th tim of 1440 BC. For a long tim, it mad ths citis almost imprgnabl until th scinc and tchniqus of sig warfar bcam as advancd as that of th fortifications. By what has bn said hr, th trib of Anak has quit a rputation vn to mn who wr onc slavs. Lt s xamin th Doctrin of th Anakim hr. "Amalk is dwlling in th land of th south, and th Hittit, and th Jbusit, and th Amorit is dwlling in th hill country, and thy Canaanit is dwlling by th sa, and by th sid of th Jordan." [Num. 13:29]

149 Th Book of Numbrs 149 Ths ar all vry famous ancint popls. At som tim in th futur, w will xamin ach of ths groups, both thir plac in scular history and thir rlationship to Isral. W will run into thm again and again. Som of thm w may hav alrady covrd in Gnsis I just hadn't bgun th indx yt! What w hav had so far is th information which Moss had askd for, and ths wr objctiv facts to which all twlv would agr. Now w will gt th minority rport: Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Minority and th Majority Rport Thn Calb quitd th popl [or, causd th popl to bcom quit] and h said to Moss "Lt us crtainly go up [lit., in going up, w will go up] and w will possss it for w ar mor than abl to do it [lit., in our ability, w ar abl]." [Num. 13:30] Th actual word ordr is somthing lik this: Thn quitd Calb th popl to Moss and said... Howvr, in th Hbrw, th dirct objct oftn prcds th vrb, as th subjct of th sntnc oftn coms aftr th vrb. So 82 th phras to Moss is th objct of Calb's spaking, not th objct of Calb quiting down th popl. Othrwis, th prposition to dosn't mak much sns. Now Calb is on of th fw mn of his gnration who rcogniz th strngth and powr of God. Most of us do not, so w li, cut cornrs, pilfr, gossip and do numrous othr things bcaus w do not bliv in God's strngth. W ignor His Word bcaus w do not bliv in its strngth. Calb was diffrnt and h will b on of th mn who will surviv and go into th land. H and Joshua stood in favor of invading th land and taking it (w know that Joshua also stood with Calb bcaus of Num. 14:6 7). It is bcaus of thir stand that thy will liv to invad th land and thir contmporaris would hav thir bodis strwn throughout th dsrt sands. Now for th majority rport: And th mn who wnt up with him said, "W ar not abl to go up against th popl, for thy [ar] [lit., it is] strongr than w." [Num. 13:31] This was not th ntirty of th majority rport. What likly happnd is that ths twlv cam into camp, thy ithr wnt to thir familis and frinds and told thm what thy had sn, or, aftr rporting to Moss, th rumor of what thy had sn sprad throughout th camp and th sons of Isral crid and moand that night. [Moss is spaking] "Yt you wr not willing to go up, but rblld against th command of Y howah your God and you grumbld in your tnts and said, 'Bcaus Y howah hats us, H has brought us out of th land of Egypt to dlivr us into th hand of th Amorits to dstroy us. Whr can w go up? Our brothrs hav mad our harts mlt, saying "Th popl ar biggr and tallr than w; th citis ar larg and fortifid to havn. And bsids, w saw th sons of Anakim thr." ' " (Dut. 1:26 28). Th spis rcognizd that thy would b th military ladrs and thy wr frightnd. Thy did not want to di. So, aftr dlivring thir rport, thy wnt back into th camp amidst thir familis and frinds and incitd th popl against Moss and Aaron (w will s this in Num. 14). Th majority rport dos not bliv God. This is constantly sn in ral lif. God sts up prfct standards in rlationships, in marriag, in frindship, in businss practics standards which ar th bst for us, and w, bing filld with vil, rjct thm. W know that Calb and Joshua blivd God and wr rady and willing to go in and tak th land. It was thir manifst dstiny. God had promisd to giv thm th land. Thy fully rcogniz God's grat powr. Howvr, th othr tn mn thought othrwis. Thy look at lif totally from human viwpoint. From human viwpoint, thy ar ntirly corrct. Th popl in th land hav bn warriors for many gnrations. This land is a marvlous land flowing with milk and hony and in ordr to kp it for thmslvs, thy hav crtainly had to dfnd thir occupation many tims. Thy ar strongr than th Isralits, thr is no doubt, with far gratr xprinc i th art of war. Without th ladrship of Jsus Christ and th assuranc of God th Fathr, 82 Although w do hav a problm with that misplacd and.

150 Numbrs Chaptr thr is no way that th Jws could tak th land. Howvr, thy hav th guidanc and strngth of Y 'howâh with mn, this is impossibl; with God, all things ar possibl (Matt. 19:26b). And thy brought out an vil account [or, a whispring dfamation] of th land which thy had spid to th sons of Isral, saying, "Th land into which w passd ovr to spy it, is a land dvouring its inhabitants [or, thos inhabiting it, or thos dwlling in it] and all th popl whom w saw in its midst: mn of statur; [Num. 13:32] Tn of th mn ar afraid. Thy ar to lad th sons of Isral in battl if thy wr th ons chosn to spy out th land. Thy s thmslvs as th first to di. Thrfor, thy pass on an vil rport, a whispring, a dfamation, a rumor that th situation is vn mor blak than thy prsntd to Moss th first plac. Thy did not want to go into battl, so thy quickly sprad th rumor that thy would all di if thy wnt ot battl against th popl of th land. Th intrprtation of th phras dvouring its inhabitants I tak to man that if th Jws wnt in to posss th land, to occupy it, thy would b dvourd. Th land is prsonalizd hr, a mtonomy for th popls of th land, and th land would dvour thm as thos who would lik to dwll in it (w find a similar us in Ezk. 36:13 14). Isral had a grat dal mor prcipitation during that priod of tim and was lush, grn and frtil. Bcaus of its high dsirability as a land, many popls sttld in th land and many did trying to sttl in th land (that is th maning of this rumor which was bing sprad). Thn thy bgin with thir dscription of th popl of th land. Th mn who dwll in th land ar hug almost byond imagination, will b th furthr assrtion of this rumor. "And thr w saw th Nphilim, sons of Anak, of th Nphilim; and w ar in our own ys as grasshopprs, and so w wr in thir ys." [Num. 13:33] Th word Nphilim is n phîlîym (í é ìôò ò ð) [pronouncd n f-l-eem] is obviously a translitration and it mans Ó giants. W hav sn this word only applid to a pr-dluvian half-human, half-anglic rac in Gn. 6. Thr is no rlation btwn th two popls, othr than thos in th land of Canaan wr obviously largr and tallr than th sons of Isral. This indicats that thr had bn som Bibl taching to ths mn, that thy had studid Gn. 6, probably undr Moss, but, as all popl in rvrsionism, thy misapplid it. And notic how ths mn wnt from bing tall in statur (th implication of v. 28) to bing giants of mythical proportions (v. 33). To furthr xaggrat th diffrncs, ths Jws usd a typ of figur of spch calld miosis [pronouncd mî-ô-sis], which mans th blittling of on thing to xaggrat th siz of anothr. Now only wr ths popl giants as was known in th pr-dluvian priod of tim, but th spis, th strongst of th Jws, wr but grasshopprs in thir sight. Ths tn ladrs did not want to go to war against ths inhabitants of Canaan and thy rousd th popl against God's plan through xaggration and scar tactics. Rathr than rcogniz thir phnomnal plac in history bing guidd by th only tru God, our Savior thy viwd ths Canaanits and thir fortifid citis as impassibl barrirs. From th sound of thir rport, a fw of th Isralits actually wnt into som of th citis, as thy knw who occupid th land. From afar and from clos up, ths mn wr giants. Now w do not know th actual statur, but siz is rlativ. W can assum that thos who occupid th land wr prhaps a had tallr than th Jws. Howvr, do not los sight of th xaggration factor. It is possibl that ths mn wr slightly tallr and largr than th avrag Jw; howvr, by th tim th party of spis rturnd to th camp, tn of thm saw ths mn as giants. Thy did not want to fight against th popl of th land, so thy xaggratd thir siz in thir own minds (s also Dut. 1:28) God would dstroy ths giants with or without this particular gnration (Dut. 9:2 Josh. 11:21). Th us of th word Nphilim tlls us that without a doubt, th contnts of Gnsis was known to th Jws in gnral othrwis, this would b a vry obscur rfrnc undrstood by vry fw popl. Th ida hr was to us scar tactics to kp th Jws from going to war against th popl of Canaan. Scar tactics won't work if no on undrstands what it is you'r talking about. For this word to man anything to th Jws, thy all had to know th contnts of Gnsis. This mans that it was taught to thm. Howvr, as w will s mor and mor, thir dgnrat spiritual stat indicats that thr is a bttr chanc that th history rcordd in Gnsis is not th rsult of an oral tradition, rquiring accurat vrbal transmission through many gnrations, but likly th rsult of th rsponsibility of a vry fw (in prcntag) who wrot this information down (as I hav dscribd to you in our study of Gnsis) and th vry fw who taught from th Scripturs (and ths Isralits wr obviously

151 Th Book of Numbrs 151 taught). This is furthrmor tid to th ministry of God th Holy Spirit, Who, as w hav sn, did not ministr to all Old Tstamnt saints, but to also a vry small prcntag. Thn, as today, only thos movd by God th Holy Spirit would b ntrustd to th prsrvation, th transmission and th taching of God's Word. So thr is no confusion, God did not trust his Word to th vrbal transmission of a rac of popl not mpowrd by th Spirit, just as today H only ntrusts th taching of His word to thos filld with th Spirit. Th tn spis who cam out of th land not only spok of th inhabitants and thir grat statur, but how wll fortifid thir citis wr. "Whr can w go up? Our brothrs hav mad our harts mlt, saying, 'Th popl ar biggr and tall than w; th citis ar larg and fortifid to havn. And bsids, w saw th sons of th Anakim thr.' " (Dut. 1:28). From th standpoint of human viwpoint, th citis wr quit forboding. In Egypt, in th land of Goshn, th Jws had sn but on fortifid city: Raamss. In th land, du to th warlik natur of its inhabitants, it was filld with fortifid citis, dscribd by Kllr as turrtd fortrsss built of "Cyclopswalls"...th country was plastrd with thm. Numrous strongpoints stard down from hilltops and mountain 83 paks, which mad thm look vn mor powrful and trrifying. Kllr furthr points out that th Jws wr not skilld in th art of making wapons (this is not a skill which th Egyptians thought good to tach thm), so thy did not hav vn th skills to prpar for such a war. This is mntiond in Dutronomy but not hr bcaus th purpos of Num. 14 is to show how th oral tradition rally works and how a small xaggratd pic of information, spcially cultivatd in an nvironmnt of far, can built quickly to information which is incrdibly xaggratd. Now if you would lik to s th rsult of th ral oral tradition, thn Num. 14 will b an illustration of it. This, unfortunatly, is on of th worst placs to hav a chaptr brak. Th majority rport nds to lad dirctly into th rspons of th popl. To fully undrstand why God loathd this gnration, w nd to mov dirctly from this chaptr into th nxt. Rturn to Outlin Sit Map Rturn to th Chart Indx Rturn to th Numbrs Hompag Rturn to Bginning of this Chaptr 83 W rnr Kllr, Th Bibl as History (sconf rvisd dition), p. 146.

152 Numbrs 14 Numbrs 14:1 45 Outlin of Chaptr 14: Vv Th sons of Isral rbl against Y howah and Moss for th tnth tim Vv Moss intrcds on bhalf of th popl Vv God promiss to dstroy only that gnration, xcpting Joshua and Calb Vv An insrtd postscript Vv Moss rlays God's Word to th popl Vv Th popl storm th hill against God's commandmnt Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: v. th Introduction: Num. 14 has pickd up whr th xciting 13 chaptr lft off. Out of complt unblif and lack of faith, tn of th spis bgan sprading th vil rumor that thy could not win against thos who occupid th land of Canaan. Thy ovr xaggratd th disparity btwn th Jws and th popl of th land, in ordr to sway th popl ovr to thir way of thinking. Th mn of Isral, who wr a gnration of trashy, worthlss and faithlss crybabis, wr asily convincd. Aftr sing incrdibl signs of what Y howah was capabl, all it took was an vil rumor passionatly sprad to dissuad thm of God's powr. Du to thir unblif, God will spak prsonally to Moss and thratn to dstroy th ntir rac of Jws and bgin anw. Moss intrcds, portraying a wondrful pictur of God th Son, standing in th gap btwn God and man, rdming worthlss man bfor a prfct God. It is only th intrvntion of God th Son which dlivrs us from trnal sparation from God, which was th proposal of God concrning th childrn of Isral. Th picturs paintd in th Old Tstamnt ar marvlous and incrdibl, all forshadowing a God Who forgiv us our sins Who forgivs thos who do not dsrv it on th intrvntion of a mdiator. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Sons of Isral Rbl Against Y howah and Moss for th Tnth Tim Dut. 1:26 33 And thn all th congrgation liftd up and gav [forth] thir voic, and thn th popl wr wping during [or, in] that night; [Num. 14:1] You know xactly what is going on hr if you hav had a child. A young child has larnd that whn h wants somthing, crying sms to do th trick. H may stub his to, fall down, or whatvr, but if h has dcidd that h nds a littl sympathy, h will cry. H will lift up his voic and cry. If thr is not an immdiat rspons to this prsonal crisis, his prsonal crisis managmnt skills dmands that h cry loudr until thr is a rspons. So th Jws hard th rumors, talk about this in an animatd fashion, trading viwpoints, lifting up thir voics to God, hoping for a pardon, and aftr a lot of talking, bgan to cry and wp in unison. And all th sons of Isral wr causd to murmur against Moss, and against Aaron, and all th assmbly said to thm, "O, that w had did in th land of Egypt or in this dsrt; O that w had did! [Num. 14:2] Back in Num. 11:1, th Jws bcam lik thos who complain of advrsity. Hr, thy ar no longr lik thos who complain, but thy hav brokn into a full blown vrbal rvolution. Thir complaint bfor was lack of varity

153 Th Book of Numbrs 153 in thir dits in fact, thy longd to rturn to Egypt to njoy onc again th foods thy rmmbrd (Num. 11:5). Ths complaints will continu and scalat throughout Num. 16, 20 and 21. Th vrb murmur is in th Niphal, which is th causativ stm. Th rumors startd by th tn dissidnts causd thm to murmur against Moss. So, what ar thy afraid of? Thy ar afraid of dying. So what is thir solution? That thy did arlir. "And why is Y howah bringing us into this land to fall by th sword? Our wivs and our infants ar bcom a pry; is it not good for us to turn back to Egypt?" [Num. 14:3] Obviously thy ar talking to on anothr. Thr ar crtain phrass bing said ovr and ovr again, or similar things ar bing said. Ths thr sntncs in v. 3 may or may not hav bn spokn by th sam prson; it is as though th assmbly of Isralits spok as on. Onc mobs gt startd, thir intllignc quotint sms to drop to th lowst lvl. Thr is no tru rasoning hr; thy ar only rationalizing what thy want du to thir 84 far, which was inspird by th tn rvrsionists. Back in Ex. 5:21, this sam gnration complaind to Moss: "May Y howah look upon you and judg you, for you hav mad us odious in Pharaoh's sight and in th sight of his srvants, to put a sword in thir hand to kill us." Now it is two yars latr, thy hav sn Y howah's grat powr, but thy ar faithlss, so, not only do thy want to rturn to Egypt but thy hav dcidd that it would b prfrabl to hav did in Egypt as opposd to dying hr. You may b thinking to yourslf so what diffrnc dos that mak? Whn popl hav strayd from God, and thy bhav according to thir motions, thy bcom quit irrational and illogical. From whr w stand, ths popl don't mak sns howvr, that is to b xpctd from rvrsionists. Thy hav usd thir childrn, hirs to th land, as an xcus. Th only way to turn around a curs which falls upon succding gnrations is for th youngr gnration to rjct thir parnts and to mbrac th valus as taught by God's Word. Our Lord said, "Do you suppos that I cam to giv pac on arth? I tll you [unquivocally] no; instad [I giv] division. Thy will b dividd, fathr against son and son against fathr, mothr against daughtr and daughtr against mothr." (Luk 12:51, 53a). This is not a brif for rbllious tnagrs to act lik biggr jrks than thy alrady ar. This is whn clar spiritual lins ar drawn btwn following God's Word or not this youngr gnration, obsrving God's powr and th hoplss dgnracy of thir parnts, will sparat thm from thir parnts and thy will ntr th land. Moss said, "Morovr, your littl ons, who you said would bcom a pry and your sons, who this day ha no knoldg of good or vil, will ntr thr [into th land of milk and hony], and I will giv it to thm and thy will possss it." (Dut. 1:39). And thy said to on anothr, "Lt us appoint a had and turn back to Egypt." [Num. 14:4] This plan of action is about as foolish as thy could b. Y howah just dcimatd Egypt. Th living Egyptians dspis thm, but no on would pursu thm furthr bcaus of th powr of God. Howvr, if thy rturnd, without th dirction and powr of Y howah, thn th Egyptians who rmaind would slaughtr most of thm and nslav th rst. Had vn a thought gon through thir hads, thy would hav ralizd this. Thy did not dfat th Egyptians bcaus thy wr mighty warrriors. Thy did not lift up a hand against th Egyptians. Thy did not lav Egypt on good trms ithr. Evry prson who rmaind in Egypt had had sons and mal family mmbrs killd bcaus of th Jws. Th Egyptians ar not going to hold opn wlcom arms to clbrat th rturn of th Jw. But not th suggstd mthod of govrnmnt a dmocracy. Thy will all choos a ladr and thn rturn undr that prson's ladrship to Egypt. Far is an irrational motion. And Moss fll and Aaron also on thir facs bfor all th assmbly of th company of th sons of Isral. [Num. 14:5] 84 On of Thim's words to dscrib somon who has not only falln out of fllowship, but has bn out of fllowship for a long tim.

154 Numbrs Chaptr Thr ar two words hr that w ought to tak a quick look at. Qâhâl (ì äè È ) [pronouncd kaw-hawl] mans an organizd assmbly, a calld convocation; this is not just a crowd of popl milling about, but popl who wr assmbld for a rason. <Êdâh (ä ãè òå ) [pronouncd ay-daw] and this also mans a company of popl assmbld togthr by appointmnt or a group of popl acting togthr concrtdly. At this point in tim, I do not know th diffrnc btwn th two words. What w hav is an organizd mob standing against Moss and Aaron. Thy ar but two popl and thy ar facing two million who hav workd thmslvs into an irrational froth. You nd to udnrstand that mobs cannot think and thy cannot rason. Thy do not bhav rationally. All mob violnc and mob action is unquiviocally wrong. No mattr what th circumstanc, you should nvr, as a Christian, b involvd in a union, a gang, a paramilitary group, a pac dmonstration, a racial gathring or any othr group whn thr is th slightst hint that things could rrupt into violnc. Union lins whr obsnitis ar shoutd and fists ar bing wavd should b avoidd. Ths popl ar not rady to listn to rason. Thy ar rady to lct a nw ladr and do violnc against Moss and Aaron. Moss an daaron fall down bfor thm. And Joshua bn Nun, and Calb bn Jphunnh, of thos spying th land, rnt thir garmnts. [Num. 14:6] Calb and Joshua rcognizd th authority of Moss and Aaron and rcogniz th strngth and omniscinc of God. Notic that non of ths four grat mn bgin by ngaging in a vrbal contst of ylling. Moss and Aaron prostrat thmslvs bfor th crowd and Joshua and Calb tar thir cloths to indicat thir protst against th mob action and th mob mntality. Thir actions quit th crowd long nough for thm to spak: And thy spok to all th congrgation of th sons of Isral, saying, "Th land into which w hav passd ovr to spy it th land is xcdingly [lit., vry vry] good. [Num. 14:7] Whn it says thy spok to th congrgation of Isral, this is obviously Calb and Joshua, but it also includs Moss. W ar daling with 600,000 snivling warriors and thy ar spokn to in groups, in shifts. W know that Moss did som spaking hr bcaus of Dut. 1:29 30, whr Moss says, "Thn I said to you, 'Do not b shockd nor far thm. Y howah your God who gos bfor you will Himslf fight on your bhalf just as H did for you in Egypt bfro your ys.' " Th Jws hav bn outsid of th land that God gav to thir fathrs for four hundrd yars. God had promisd thm a land flowing with milk and hony and, as y witnsss, thy ar pointing out that this was xactly as God had promisd thm. Anothr way to translat this would b: th land was good xcpitonally good. This is affirmd in Num. 13:27 and Dut. 1:25. "If Y howah dlights in us, thn H will bring us into th land and H will giv us a land flowing with milk and hony. [Num. 14:8] God has kpt his promis with rspct to th land which H had promisd thm. It was prosprous and bautiful. If thy attaind God's favor, thn God would bring thm into th land and H would givn thm th land. In th nxt vrs, thr is a phras which is gnrally mistranslatd: Th Amplifid Bibl...thir dfnsand shadow is rmovd from ovr thm, but th Lord is with us; Th Emphasizd Bibl Thir shad hath dpartd fro movr thm, And Yahwh is with us. KJV...thir dfns is dpartdf rom thm, and th LORD is with us. NASB Thir protction [lit., shadow] has bn rmovd from thm, and th LORD is with us; NIV Thir protction is gon, but th LORD is with us. Young's Lit. Translation...thir dfnc hath turnd asid form off thm, and Jhovah is with us; öå Th word in qustion is tsêl (ì ) [pronouncd tzal] and it mans shadow (and all th words similar to it ar somhow rlatd to th concpt of a shadow. W find a similar word in Gn. 1:26 27, whn God crats us in His shadow-imag. Howvr, this particular word is only prviously found in Gn. 19:8. In that passag, shadow

155 Th Book of Numbrs 155 was rlatd to protction, prsrvation and rsponsibility. As has bn so many tims pointd out, w can oftn mploy th first usag of a word in Scriptur to ascrtain its gnral maning and implications. Th dgnrat popls of Sodom had com to Lot to rap and ravish th mal strangrs which had com to Lot and wr now undr th shadow of his roof. What is bing said hr is whatvr protction and prsrvation which was affordd ths popls of th promisd land had now bn rmovd. Th vrb for rmov, çûwr (ø ñ) [pronouncd soor] gnrally mans to turn asid, howvr, in th Hiphil, it mans to caus to dpart, to rmov, to tak away. "Only, do not rbl against Y howah and do not far th popl of th land for thy [ar] our brad; thir protction [and prsrvation] [lit., shadow] has bn rmovd from off thm and Y howah [is] with us do not far thm." [Num. 14:9] Most of th tim whn th Bibl uss an idiom or a figur of spch, it is not difficult to distinguish this from accuratly rcordd historical fact. Joshua is not saying that th popl in th land of Canaan ar litral brad. This is a saying similar to our contmporary thy at thm up, whn rfrring to two tams in a mismatchd sporting vnt. Today, if spaking to a crowd, Joshua would say, w will at thm aliv. You can s how insidious rligion is w had to mak ducatd gusss as to th pronounciation of God's nam, yt His nam was usd in common vryday spaking. Joshua has just usd His nam thr tims. If for som rason, man was not to us God's nam at all, thn w would not find vrss lik this. Joshua tlls thm th ky is not to rbl against God; nor ar thy to far th popl who liv in th land. Th land dos not at up its inhabitants th Jws will at up th inhabitants of th land. Thir dfnss ar worthlss bcaus God is with Isral. And Joshua (or Calb) rpats, "Do not far thm." (s Dut. 1:21, 29). Joshua, Calb and Moss all spok, to diffrnt groups within th crowd and ths fw sntncs ar just a summary of what was said. Dut. 1:31 33 tlls us mor of th things which Moss said to thm: "And in th dsrt whr you saw how Y howah your God carrid you, just as a man carrid his son, in all th way which you hav walkd, until you cam to this plac but for all this, you did not trust Y howah your God, who gos bfor you on [th] way, to sk out a plac for you to ncamp, in fir by night and cloud by day, to show you th way in which you should go." V. 9 finishs with Y howah is with us; far thm not. Although ocassionally trivializd by popl who talk to thir bst frind, Jsus, this concpt is applicabl to us at all tims. Thus Sarah oby Abraham, calling him lord, and you hav bcom hr childrn if you do what is right without bing frightnd by any far (I Ptr 3:6). Our Lord said, "Pac I lav with you; My pac I giv to you; not as th world givs, do I giv to you. Lt not your hart b troubld nor lt it b farful." (John 14:27); and H said, "Lo, I am with you always, vn to th nd of th ag." (Matt. 28:20b). On of th last things that Moss will say to th nxt gnration is: "B strong and couragous, do not b afraid or trmbl at thm, for th Lord your God is th on who gos with you. H will not fail you or forsak you." (Dut. 31:6). And all th conggation said to ston thm with stons, and th glory of Y howah appard in th tnt of mting to all th sons of Isral. [Num. 14:10] Moss was awar for a long tim as to th volatility of this gnration of Jws. As far back as th bginning of thir journy through th dsrt, Moss, whn th popl wr copmlaining about lack of watr, said to God: "What will I do to this popl? A littl mor and thy will ston m." (Ex. 17:4). Th thrat hr was against Moss, Aaron, Joshua and Calb. Early on in this history of th formativ nation of Isral, God displayd His glory. Th popl complaind of no food, so prior to providing thm with mannah, it is writtn: And it cam about as Aaron spok to th whol congrgation of th sons of Isral, that thy lookd toward th dsrt and saw th glory of Y howah appar in th cloud (Ex. 16:10). W do not know xactly what physical apparition was invovld hr. Howvr, what is important is that th popl undrstood that thy wr undniably in th prsnc of th glory of God. Exactly what that was in trms of a snsory xprinc has bn lft unspcifid so that popl do not sarch for that

156 Numbrs Chaptr particular snsory xprinc, thinking that in it is God's glory. All w know is that vryon in th congrgation knw unqustionably that it was god's prsnc. Thr wr no mor grumblings or complainst for awhil. God's glory primarily hovrd ovr th tnt of mting whn Moss was thr alon writing or praying (and, as w hav sn, Joshua would b outsid th door). Howvr, things hav gottn out of hand. Th sons of Isral ar about to kill th only grat popl of thir gnrations. God stps in, just as H would had thy gon to battl against th Canaanits. This stops th mob action dad in its tracks. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Moss Intrcds on Bhalf of th Popl Dut. 1:34 And Y howah said to Moss, "Until whn will this popl dspis M? And until whn do thy not bliv in M, for all th signs which I hav don in its midst? [Num. 14:11] God knows th answrs to all of ths qustions. H knw xactly what would occur hr in th southrn most portion of th land of Canaan back in trnity past. H knw of th rbllious crowd and how Moss and his company would try to rason with thm and H knw that would fail. H knows that this popl will stand in complt rbllion against him as long as thy draw brath. Thy dspisd th plasant land; thy did not bliv in His Word, but grumbld in thir tnts. Thy did not listn to th voic of Y howah (Psalm 106:24 25). Howvr, what is bing taught must b spokn on man's lvl so that w can apprciat what has occurrd for th nxt svral millniums. God has prformd mor signs and miracls bfor ths popl than vry bfor. Only whn our Lord rturnd in human form did larg groups of popl vr s such incrdibl miracls (rmmbr that thy wr ngativ also). And vn aftr all of ths signs and wondrs don in thir midst, th Jws still complaind and wr faithlss. And ths ar rgnrat Jws. Ths ar blivrs. This shows us that, thologically spaking, vn aftr rgnration, man is worthlss. Four mn out of two million hav vn a clu as to what is going on (and who knows, thr might b anothr handful of matur blivrs somwhr in this group). Man would rquir th Holy Spirit to hav any spiritual function whatsovr. Aftr Satan fll, at his appals trial, prhaps on of his objctions was: "Had I sn a daily dmonstration of Your powr and might, thn I would not hav rblld." It taks mor than sing God's signs and wondrs to mak an impact on man. God's powr is in His Word in His writtn Word and in His living Word. Th gratst mistak in lif that w can mak is not to bliv Him. "O unbliving and prvrtd gnration, how long will I b with you? How long will I put up with you?" (Matt. 17:17b). And H aid to thm, "O foolish mn and slow of hart to bliv in all that th prophts hav said! Was it not ncssary for th Mssiah to suffr ths things and to ntr into His glory?" (Luk 24:25 26). Tak car, brothrs, so that thr is not in you an vil, unbliving hart by rvolting against th living God (Hb. 3:12). [And th final tstimony of John th Baptizr]: "H who blivs in th Son has trnal lif; but h who dos not oby th Son will not s lif, but th wrath of God abids upon him." (John 3:36). "I will strik it with pstilnc and dispossss it and mak you to bcom a nation gratr and mightir than it." [Num. 14:12] What w find hr is trmndous. I hop you rcogniz whr ls this occurrd. God has just offrd Moss a chanc to say th word and God would dstroy that gnration which stood in opposition to him. Moss' lif is in dangr and God tlls Moss, "Just say th word and ths popl ar history." And thn Moss would b th first in a gnration st apart to God. It would b strictly from his progny. This was a bona fid offr to Moss on which h had rjctd bfor in Ex. 32: Thrfor, H said that H would dstroy thm, had not Moss, His chosn on, stood in th brach bfor Him, to turn away His wrath from dstroying [thm] (Psalm 106:23). Can you imagin bing offrd th chanc to b known as th fathr of th gratst nation in th world that vryon in that grat nation would com from you. Our Lord was tmptd in a similar fashion. And h [th dvil] ld Him [Jsus Christ] up and showd Him all th kingdoms of th world in a momnt of tim.

157 Th Book of Numbrs 157 And th dvil said to Him, "I will giv You all this domain and its glory; for it has bn handd ovr to m and I giv it to whomvr I wish. Thrfor, if You worship bfor m, it will all b Yours." And Jsus answrd and said to him, "It is writtn, You will worship th Lord your God and srv Him only." (Luk 4:5 8). Now this is obviously not a prfct paralll, but Moss is facd with a grat tmptation. H can liminat all this prssur in an instant. Bfor him ar thousands of mn rady to tak his lif bcaus thy ar dgnrat scum. God would dstroy thm in a scond, and Moss would bgin anw, with a lot fwr prssurs and h would b th fathr of a grat nation. Satan offrd our Lord a chanc to rul th ntir world and to rmov th prssur of th cross (although I do not bliv that Satan ralizd that thr would b a cross). Howvr, in both instancs, what was offrd was lss prssur, lss work and an altrnativ which fll outsid th plan of God (vn though God has mad th first offr, it is still outsid His plan). Thr is somthing ls afoot hr as wll. God is spaking to Moss about wiping out vryon xcpt for him (wll, God may allow a coupl of othrs to liv). Do you raliz that God could hav lookd at th ntir human rac at any tim and say, To hll with ths ungratful, hard-hadd popl; thy ar dad. And in an instant, God could hav wipd out th ntir human rac. W do not dsrv mor. W as blivrs in Jsus Christ fail again and again and again and again. As you rad this, and undrstand what a failur you ar, you also must rcogniz th grac of God. This passag tll us that w can gt up off th ground, dust ourslvs off, and mov forward. This passag tlls us that God is not going to grind us into th dirt for our failurs, dspit th fact that w dsrv it. Our grat Mdiator is Jsus Christ, and Moss is a typ of Christ; Moss is acting as mdiator for this group of losrs. You might b rading through this commntary, thinking, Yah, kill m, God; thy r worthlss; thy r chumps; stomp thm into th ground! This what Satan dos. H is th accusr. H is lik a rogu proscuting attorny. H gos up to havn day in and day out, asks to spak to God, and brings with him svral million fils on blivrs, and tlls God what losrs thy ar and how God nds to hand thm ovr to him, so that h can dstroy thm. In almost vry singl cas, Jsus Christ stands in btwn our accusr and God th Fathr and says, H is undr th blood; h has rboundd; h s got a futur. Now, onc and awhil, Satan coms across somon, and God hands that prson ovr to Satan for th dstruction of th body, so that his soul might b 85 savd. That is th sin unto dath. At this point in our narrativ, that is what is going to happn. God will put Gn X undr th sin unto dath. Thy will di in th dsrt. This is th closst that thy will vr com to th Land of Promis. God will put this whol movmnt forward on hold, and man aftr man aftr man from Gn X will drop dad in th dsrt. Onc God has killd thm all, th nxt gnration, th Gnration of Promis, will pick thmslvs up, walk into th land, and, undr Joshua, thy will conqur it. And Moss said to Y howah, "Thn all th Egyptians would har! For You hav brought up with Your powr this popl out of thir midst. [Num. 14:13] Th phras out of thir midst dos not ncssarily rfr to a point quidistant from th xtrms, but it simply 86 mans out from among th popl of Egypt. On of th vry bst profssors that I had in collg, my Political Scinc profssor, Dr. Gottlib Bar, would oftn bat us with qustions and viwpoints som of which h hld and som of which h didn't just to argu, just to giv us an altrnativ viwpoint and primarily to mak us think. H did not hav to hold a position to assrt it. God is making a valid offr hr to Moss, but it is God's scond choic. God's first choic is what Moss will choos to do. Moss dos giv this option som thought. Killing all of th Jws, although thy obviously dsrv it, would not b what God should do for svral rasons, th first bing th raction of th Egyptians. God has just gon through a grat dal of troubl to tak His popl out of Egypt. Th Egyptians facd grat signs and wondrs and th powr of Y howah. This would look silly to thm for God to hav don all this and thn to 85 Dying th sin unto dath is an incrdibly painful procss. Howvr, blivrs who di in this m annr ar still savd; onc thy di, thy go to b fac to fac with God. 86 Bullingr's Figurs of Spch Usd in th Bibl, p. 411.

158 Numbrs Chaptr slaughtr his popl two yars latr at th foot of th promisd land. What happns to th Jws is a rflction upon God's omniscinc and omnipotnc God has gon to a trmndous amount of troubl to rmov th Jws from Egypt and for what rason? Could God not s in His grand intllignc that th popl H dlivrd wr worthlss? (this, incidntally, should lt you know why you ar sitll aliv aftr som of th crap you hav pulld sinc you hav bcom a Christian). "And thy hav said it to th inhabitant of this land, thy hav hard that You, Y howah, [ar] in th midst of this popl, that y to y You ar sn, O Y howah, and that You ar going bfor thm by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fir. [Num. 14:14] God has bn tid to this popl. H lads thm as a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fir through th dsrt. Not only do th Egyptians know this, but th inhabitants of th promisd land ar awar of it. Rcall that th Jws hav spnt almost two full yars in th dsrt whil Moss rcivd th Law and whil thy built th tabrnacl and clbratd th various fast days. Thy did not cut a straight path to th land of Canaan. This gav tim for th nws to sprad concrning th final outcom of th struggl btwn th God of th Jws and th gods of Egypt. Th ntir world was awar of this struggl. It was th gospl of th ancint world during this and svral mor gnrations. So Moss points out that God is inxtricably connctd to this popl, for bttr or for wors. "And You will put to dath this popl as on man, and th nations who hav hard Your fam will spak, saying, [Num. 14:15] God will hav to cut out som of th Jws as a cancr. Howvr, what is bing discussd his is th total radication of th Jwish rac, with a half dozn xcptions. If such a thing occurrd, this would b noisd abroad just as His dlivranc of th Jws was. And thy hathn would talk about it and xprss thir own opinions: " 'From Y howah's want of ability to bring this popl into th land which H had sworn to thm H slaughtrs thm in th dsrt.' [Num. 14:16] To th hathn, this will not b a rflction upon th Jwish popl and thir dgnracy but such an act will rflct upon th Living God, Y howah, and His inability to bring th popl into th promisd land. It is known that God has givn this land to th Jws if God slaughtrs thm in th dsrt, it will indicat that thr was som sort of inadquacy in Him and not in th Jws thmslvs. Such action would mak God sm unfocusd, inadquat, with limitd powr and limitd knowldg. God would appar frivilous and changabl, rathr than prfct and omniscint. 87 "And now, I rspctfully ask You, lt th powr of my Y howah b grat, as You hav spokn, saying: [Num. 14:17] Moss is now applying all this doctrin which h knows. H may or may not rcogniz that God is baiting him, but h dos know what would b th bttr witnss. Th gratnss of Y howah's powr is formost; what God has suggstd would appar wak in th ys of th othr nations. " 'Y howah [is] slow to angr, and of grat kindnss; baring away iniquity and transgrssion, and now ntirly acquitting, charging iniquity of fathrs on sons, on a third and on a fourth [gnration];' [Num. 14:18] Som codics ar slightly diffrnt, and w rad, instad: Y howah slow to angr and grat in grac and faithfulnss; Forgiving iniquity and transgrssions and sin; Though H will not lav ntirly unpunishd 87 Manuscripts diffr hr; som hav Adhonây and othrs Y howah.

159 Th Book of Numbrs Visiting th iniquity of fathrs upon sons, upon a third gnration and upon a fourth. Moss corrctly quots Scriptur to God. H is no longr daling with th Lord's rputation, but now with His charactr. This is not a mattr of how do I, Moss, fl about this but it is a mattr of God's Word. Moss quots God's Word in contxt, basd upon a similar situation. Th popl had just constructd and worshippd th goldn calf and Moss had com down with th tn commandmnts writtn on two tablts of ston. God was about to dstroy th popl and Moss intrcdd on thir bhalf. God rplacd th tablts of ston which wr brokn and Y howah proclaimd: "Y howah, Y howah God, compassionat [or, mrciful] and gracious, slow to angr, and abundant in kindnss and truth, kping kindnss for thousands, taking away iniquity, and trangssion, and sin and now ntirly acquitting, charging iniquity of fathrs on childrn and on childrn's childrn, on a third and on a fourth [gnration]." In contxt, this portion of God's Word is applicabl it is xactly applicabl. Moss did not lift this out of som forign contxt and drop it down into this situation, as did Satan in Luk 4 whn h quotd Scriptur to our Lord. It is a paralll situtation whr God has thratnd to dstroy th Jws and Moss is standing in th gap, as a mdiator btwn God and man, plading th cas for man, not basd upon man's charactr, which is not th issu, but upon God's charactr. W stand or fall basd upon God's charactr. Th iniquity of th Jws is not to b ignord. Thr will b rsidual affcts upon th Jwish rac for svral gnrations bcaus of thir iniquity. Now would b th idal tim to xamin th Doctrin of th Third and Fourth Gnration Curs not finishd yt!! ""Forgiv, I rspctfully rqust of You, th iniquity of this popl, according to th gratnss of Your grac, and as You hav born with this popl from Egypt, vn until now." [Num. 14:19] Moss appals to God's grac. His gratnss and grac hav carrid this popl to hr all th way from Egypt. Moss rqusts God for this gratnss and grac to continu on thir bhalf. Intrcssory prayr is difficult for som to undrstand. God knows th futur as wll as H knows th past; although not vrything has bn prdstind, what will occur in th futur is alrady known by God so why do w pray? God is glorifid by our prayrs on bhalf of othrs to Him. It rvals our faith to th anglic host about us. It is bcaus of this prayr that Isral was dlivrd. Thrfor, H said that H would dstroy thm; had not Moss, His chosn on, stood in th brach bfor Him, to turn away His wrath from dstroying thm (Psalm 106:23). Similarly, w ourslvs ar not clansd without our rbound prayr to Him. B gracious to m, O God, according to Your grac, according to th gratnss of Your compassion, blot out my transgrssions; wash m thoroughly from my iniquity, and clans m from my sin (Psalm 51:1 2). Our actions, our dds, our choics, our motivations and our prayrs ar tid dirctly to what will occur in th futur. God knows all futur vnts, vn though ths vnts oftn dpnd upon our own actions and volition. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx God Promiss to Dstroy Only That Gnration, Excpting Joshua and Calb Dut. 1:34 40 And Y howah said, "I hav forgivn, according to your word; [Num. 14:20] God has allowd Moss to quot His Word to Him, and this word was in th soul of Moss so, in spaking to Moss, God calls it your word. This is whr God's Word nds to b is in our souls. For who is a God lik You, Who pardons iniquity and passs ovr th rbllious act of th rmnant o f His possssion? H dos not rtain His angr forvr, bdaus H dlights in grac. H will again hav compassion on us; H will trad out iniquitis undrfoot. Ys, You will cast all thir sins into th dpths of th sa. You will giv truth to Jacob, unchanigng lov to Abraham, which You did swar to our forfathrs from days of old (Micah 7:18 20). 88 I hav put in bold th diffrncs btwn th Massortic txt and som of th codics. Th codics in qustion, th wstrn Samarian, th targums of Jonathan and th Sptuagint ar simply quoting mor of what is found in Ex. 34:6 7, although it is likly that Moss actually did not.

160 Numbrs Chaptr "And yt, I liv and th whol arth will b filld [with] th honor [or, glory] of Y howah. [Num. 14:21] And on calld out to anothr and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy is Y howah of th armis, th whol arth is full of His glory." (Isa. 6:3). "For th arth will b filld with th knowldg of th glory of Y howah." (Hab. 2:14). What th b arth will b filld with is th kâ vôwd (ã á È ) [pronouncd kaw(b)-vode] of Y howah, which is His glory, abundanc, and honor. Why dos God say this? Th Jws, with thir bhavior, hav dishonord Him. Thy thmslvs ar a witnss to all th popls of th arth and thy dishonor Him with thir lack of faith and thir rbllion. Howvr, God is making a futur prdiction concrning th stat of th world this it will b filld with His glory. "For all th mn who s My glory and My signs, which I hav don in Egypt, and in th dsrt, and [who] try M ths tn tims, and hav not harknd to My voic; [Num. 14:22] This is th worst plac for a vrs brak. H hav th apododsis of a condional phras. God is rfrring to all of th Jws who hav witnssd His powr and His signs, who hav sn His glory, who continually tst God's patinc. Whras, tn tims dos not nd to rfr to th numbr of tims th Jws tstd God's patinc that is, this could b a figur of spch in this cas thr actually wr tn tims whr th Jws had tstd God. Thos tn tims ar as follows: 1. Whn th popl wr still in th possssion of th Egyptians, Moss had gon to Pharaoh to dmand thir rlas and this pvd Pharaoh somwhat. Thrfor, h incrasd thir burdns as slavs. Thy complaind to Moss about this (Ex. 5:21). 2. Pharaoh and th othr Egyptians had lost thir first-born, and had acquisd to th dpartur of th Jws. Howvr, in immdiat rtrospct, Pharaoh was sorry that h did so, so h pursud th xiting Isralits. Whn thy saw th dust of Pharaoh's camls approaching thy rmarkd, "Is it bcaus thr wr no gravs in Egypt tht you hav takn us away to di in th dsrt? Why hav you dalt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not what w said to you in Egypt: 'Lav us alon that w may srv th Egyptians'? For it would hav bn btttr for us to srv th Egyptians than to di in th dsrt." (Ex. 14:11b 12). 3. Whn th popl had no watr xcpt for th bittr watr at Marah, thy grumbld at Moss (Ex. 15:22 26). 4. Thy bitchd again bcaus thir dit was not as good in th dsrt as it was in Egypt; thy said, "Would that w had did by Y howah's hand in th land of Egypt, whn w sat by th pots of mat, whn w at brad to th full; for you hav brought us out into this dsrt to kill this whol assmbly with hungr." (Ex. 16:3). 5. Moss gav th Jws instructions with rgard to not kping too much manna, but som ignord him (Ex. 16:19 20). Thy also disobyd God with rgard to gathring manna on th Sabbath (Ex. 16:26 29). 6. Aftr covring mor mils in th dsrt, th popl again wnt for svral days without watr. Thy hav just sn four tims that God providd for thm. Thy could hav rqustd watr from Y howah. Instad, thy said, "Why, now, hav you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our childrn and our livstock with thirst?" (Ex. 17:3b). This is whr God providd watr which gushd out of th rock. 7. Th sixth tim of tsting was th goldn calf incidnt, found in Ex. 32: Th popl again complaind of advrsity in Num. 11:1. God struck thm with lightning (Num. 11:2 3). 9. Th popl complaind about having no mat in Num. 11:4, so God providd thm with quail (Num. 11:31 32). 10. Th last tim th Jws tstd Y howah is whn Moss had snt th twlv spis to rconnointr th promiss land and th popl crid, "Would w had did in th land of Egypt! Or would that w had did in this dsrt! Why is Y howah bringing us into this land, to fall by th sword? Our wivs and our littl ons will bcom plundr; would it not b bttr for us to rturn to Egypt?" (Num. 14:2b 3). Coincidntally, thr wr tn spis who spok against taking th land. Evn though ths twlv spis wr prhaps th bst of Isral, notic that th majority is not always right (in fact, th majority is rarly right). Not only was th majority rport anti-god, but thy wr abl to also invok th popular sntimnt against God. Similarly, w as Christians should not allow ourslvs to b affctd by what th majority opinion and th majority morality sms to b. Evry dcad sms to fostr its own standards (or lack throf); a Christian is to rciv his or hr standards from God's Word.

161 Th Book of Numbrs 161 "Thy will not s th land which I hav sworn to thir fathrs ya, non of thos dspising M will s it; [Num. 14:23] Th gnration of Moss (who wr mostly dad) and th gnration of Joshua and Calb ar thos in viw hr. Thy ar th ons who rbl against God. God will not wip out th ntir Jwish rac, but H will prform radical surgry. A larg numbr of Jws will b rmovd from th arth, so that th youngr gnration which rmains will liv and go into th land. W will s this fulfilld in Num. 26:65 32:11 and rfrrd back to many tims (Psalm 45:11 Dut. 1:35 Hb. 4:3, 5). Hb. 6:4 6 givs us th Nw Tstamnt vrsion: For in th cas of thos who hav onc bn nlightnd and hav tastd of th havnly gift and hav bn mad partakrs of th Holy Spirit, and hav tastd th good Word of God and th powrs of th ag to com and hav driftd of cours, it is impossibl to rnw thm against to rpntanc, sinc thy again crucify to thmslvs th Son of God and put Him to public dfamation. Just as thos in Hbrws had tastd th havnly gift, but had gon back to animal sacrifics, th Jws hr hav don th sam thy hav xprincd God in His most glorious, in trms of signs and wondrs, and thy still doubt and qustion Him. An analogy would b whn w ar out of fllowship, w cannot partak in th grat blssings which God has providd for us. In rbllion, w cannot ntr into th promisd land w cannot ntr into His blssings. Now ths Jws ar savd and will spnd trnity in havn with God and with us, but thy will all di th sin unto dath. God will slaughtr thm in th dsrt for thir dgnracy and faithlssnss. Hr is whr th analogy nds and th rality of th comparison bgins. W ar also subjct to dying th sin unto dath whn w rmain too long out of fllowship. "And My srvant Calb, bcaus thr has bn anothr spirit with him, and h is fully aftr M I will bring him into th land whr h has ntrd, and his dscndants [lit., sd] will possss it. [Num. 14:24] Throughout th Bibl, th futur is as prspicuous to God as is th past. Hr God promiss that H will bring Calb into th land, along with his family, bcaus Calb blivs God has has a diffrnt spirit. I bliv that Calb has bn mpowrd by th Holy Spirit, as th grat Apostl Paul wrot, in m dwlls no good thing. It is possibl that th Jws in th Old Tstamnt could rqust God to giv thm His Holy Spirit and that God would grant thm this wish (as h did to Elisha and as H promisd to th Apostls). Only Calb and Joshua, from thir gnration, rmaind to ntr th land (Num. 26:65 32:12 15:13 14). Forty-fiv yars latr, Calb tstifid that God kpt His word (Joshua 14:10). "And th Amalkit and th Canaanits ar dwlling in th vally; tomororrow, turn and journy for youslvs into th dsrt th way of th Rd Sa." [Num. 14:25] No longr will th Jws go right into th land. Thy hav clarly lt thir faithlssnss b known. Thy ar to turn around and go back into th dsrt, travling along th road which lads to th Rd Sa. Hav you vr flt out of kiltr with lif and out of kiltr with God's plan? Things ar off balanc somtims just a littl; your timing is all wrong, things arn't going as you think thy should and your lif, whil not always a shambls, is just not right. This is th Jws from Calb's gnration. Bcaus of thir faithlssnss, thir lif is out of kiltr. Bcaus thy would not listn and oby God's Word, thy wr compltly off balanc. And bcaus thy rjctd God, God would rjct thm and strik thm down, bginning hr and for th nxt thirty-ight yars as thy wandrd through th dsrt. And Y howah spok to Moss and to Aaron, saying, [Num. 14:26] Moss and Aaron would both hav to rlay God's mssag to th popl, to thir ladrs first and thir ladrs th thos undr thm, and vntually to all th congrgation of Isral. "Until whn has this vil congrgation that which thy ar murmuring against M? Th murmurings of th sons of Isral, which thy ar murmuring against M, I hav hard; [Num. 14:27]

162 É Numbrs Chaptr God is about to mak a solmn promis to Moss and to Aaron. H rhtoricaly asks thm (maning no answr is xpctd) how long would thy murmur against Him. God will thn answr this qustion Himslf (as popl oftn do with rhtorical qustions): "Say to thm, 'I liv an affirmation of Y howah; [and] I damn wll man this [lit., if not]; as you hav spokn in My ars so I will do to you; [Num. 14:28] First, for thos who watch carfully, thr is a linguistic trick hr which should b xamind. W hav th hypothtical partical îm (í à)ò [pronouncd m], which mans if and it is followd by th ngativ particl lô (àì) [pronouncd low]. Whn following an oath, ithr statd or implid, îm, by itslf, is an mphatic ngativ. 89 Howvr, whn followd by lô, it bcoms an mphatic affirmativ. This shows grat motion and powr; God is tlling Moss and Aaron what thy should say to th popl of Isral, and, as God oftn dos, H tlls thm word for word what thy must say. Howvr, this bcoms so intns that God changs prson and spaks as though H is spaking dirctly to th nation Isral. You didn't gt that? Instand of God saying this is what you will say to th childrn of Isral, and thn quot xactly what Moss and Aaron should say, word for word, God, in His angr and motion, spaks suddnly as if H is spaking dirctly to th congrgation of Isral. In writing this, bar in mind that I am spaking anthropopathically, ascribing human motions to God motions which H dos not possss in ordr to rlay to you what is occuring. God of cours is not motional nor is H angry howvr, th chang of prson from this vrs to th nxt indicats that if a prson spok this way, grat motion would b xprssd. As w hav sn, th Jws hav ovr and ovr again said to God, "Would that w had did in Egypt; would that w had did in th dsrt." As thy hav spokn to Y howah, so Y howah will do to thm. Thir rfusal to tak th land which God had givn to thm was th last straw. As w xamind arlir, God gav thm tn chancs and thy faild ach of thos tn chancs. God will now scattr thir corpss throughout th dsrt. Popl oftn wondr why it took Moss forty yars to travl from Egypt to Isral. It took thm two yars to rciv th law, to st up th tabrnacl and to bgin thir rligious crmonis. It took God an additional thirty-ight yars to wip out th rmaining mmbrs of this vil gnration. "Now, th tim that it took for us to com from Kadsh-barna, until w crossd ovr th brook Zrd, ws thirty-ight yars; until all th gnration of th mn of war prishd from wthin th camp, as Y howah had sworn to thm. Morovr, th hand of Y howah was against thm, to dstroy thm from within th camp, until thy all prishd. So it cam to pass, whn all th n of war had finally prishd from among th popl, that Y howah spok to m, saying, 'You will cross ovr Ar, th bordr of Moab, today.' " (Dut. 2:14 18). And with whom was H angry for forty yars? Was it not with thos who sinnd, whos bodis fll in th wildrnss (Hb. 3:17)? I am hoping that th analogy to th prsnt day is clar. God has offrd us that which is analogous to th promisd land trnal fllowship with God. It is offrd to us and all w hav to do is to bliv Him and tak it. Salvation is His work and w can trust Him. It is just a mattr of taking what has bn givn to us. " 'In this dsrt your carcass will fall, vn all your numbrd ons, to all your numbr, from a son of twnty yars and upward, who hav murmurd against M. [Num. 14:29] Th M in this vrs (as it will b vn clarr in th nxt vrs) is God, not Moss. God is spaking to Moss, but is so carrid away, in human trms, that is as if H is spaking dirctly to this faithlss gnration. God is hrby promising thm that H will strik thm down and thir bodis will fall in th dsrt. Not just thir bodis, but thir carcasss, bcaus thy ar dad right now insofar as God is concrnd. Thy ar no longr a part of His plan. This is a dirct rfrnc to all thos mn of war who wr numbrd in Num. 1 during Moss' armd forcs rgistration cnsus. This did not ncssarily includ th Lvits. " 'You you will not com into th land which I hav liftd up My hand to caus you to tabrnacl in it, xcpt Calb bn Jphunnh, and Joshua bn Nun. [Num. 14:30] 89 BDB, p. 50; Own's Analytical Ky to th Old Ttamnt, Vol. I, p. 639.

163 Th Book of Numbrs 163 Ths wr th supr grac blivrs of thir gnration. Evry mal thir ag would b struck down by God in th dsrt, but ths two would b spard and brought into th land. Notic that w do not hav th nams of Moss or Aaron includd hr. Although it is not rcordd hr, God vn told Moss that h would not ntr into th land. "Y howah was angry with m also on your account, saying, 'Not vn you will ntr thr.' " (Dut. 1:37). " 'As to your infants concrning whom you hav said, A spoil thy will bcom; I hav vn brought thm in and thy will know [or, com to know] th land which you hav kickd against. [Num. 14:31] On of th chif xprssd worris of th Isralits was thir womn and childrn thy said thir womn and childrn would b takn in spoil, as slavs and concubins. Howvr, thr is a wall of fir a wall of protction which God provids and if God protctd th mn of Isral, H would protct thir womn and childrn. Howvr, in this cs, bcaus of thir unblif, God would dstroy th mn who spok against Him in unfaith and thir childrn would tak th land, as ld by Joshua. You hav hard of a prson who is carrid out kicking and scraming. Wll, God was going to carry thm in, but thy did too much kicking and murmuring. " 'As to you your carcasss will fall in this dsrt, [Num. 14:32] Normally, I don't car whn a sntnc is split up into thr diffrnt vrss, but this portion should stand alon. This dscribs th sin unto dath. Thy ar unhappy with thir dit, thy ar scard, thy lookd back upon slavry as th good old days, and God would kill thm in th dsrt thy would nvr ntr into His land of milk and hony which H gav to thm. Ths ar blssings which thy would nvr attain, although God had mad it clar that ths wr thir blssings to tak. Aftr svral yars of war, ths mn could hav rtird in a land of milk and hony, out of th dsrt, in splndor. Nvrthlss, with most of thm, God was not wll-plasd, for thy wr laid low in th dsrt. Now ths things happnd as xampls for us, that w should not crav things [which ar] wrong, as thy also cravd (I Cor. 10:5 6). Th nxt vrs rquirs a littl xamination: Th Amplifid Bibl And your childrn shall b wandrrs and shphrd in th wildrnss forty yars, and shall suffr for your whordoms [your infidlity to your spousd God], until your corpss ar consumd in th wildrnss. Th Emphasizd Bibl and your sons shall b shphrds in th dsrt forty yars, and shall bar your unchastitis until your dad bodis ar consumd in th dsrt. KJV And you childrn shall wandr in th dsrt forty yars, and bar your whordoms, until your carcasss b wastd in th wildrnss. NASB And your sons shall b shphrds for forty yars in th wildrnss, and thy shall suffr [lit., bar] for your unfaithfulnss [lit., fornications], until your corpss li [lit., ar finishd] in th wildrnss. NIV Your childrn will b shphrd hr for forty yars, suffring for your unfaithfulnss, until th last of your bodis lis in th dsrt. Young's Lit. Translation And your sons ar vil in th wildrnss forty yars, and hav born your whordoms till your carcass ar consumd in th wildrnss; You will notic th obvious diffrnc btwn Young's and th othr translations. Th gnral ida is asy to grasp from th first fw translations, but what th hck is Robrt Young talking about? Th translations all sm to agr on: And your sons [or, childrn] will [or, ar]... Thn w hav th vrb râ<âh, which can man to shphrd, to graz, but it can also man to associat with. It is in th third prson, masculin plural, Qal activ participl. Howvr, rcall that râ<âh is also th fminin of vil; which xplains whr Young got his translation. Contxt and intrprtation would indicat rathr than shphrding thir animals in an ara of milk and hony, thy would b shphrds out in th dsrt. A gnration always passs somthing along. A dgnrat gnration nvr lavs its childrn unspoild. Sin has consquncs for th prson who sins and thos who com aftr him, unto th third and fourth gnrations. Whn Adam sinnd, this advrsly affctd all of our livs until vn now, thousands upon thousands of gnrations latr.

164 Numbrs Chaptr " 'And you sons will b shphrding in th dsrt forty yars, and hav born [th punishmnt for] your fornications till your carcasss [ar] consumd [lit., finishd] in th dsrt. [Num. 14:33] Tâmam (í îç È ) [pronouncd taw-mahm] mans to compltly us up, to complt, to finish, to consum, to xhaust, to accomplish, to spnd, to b (spiritually) matur. It is in th Qal infinitiv construct, which is why I placd th ar in brackts. Bcaus of what happnd, thy will bar or carry [th punishmnt for] th fornications of thir fathrs. Fornications includs adultry ths ar thos who hav bn marrid to Y howah but rjct Him for a fals God and fornications includs sx outsid of marriag, which is analogous to th unfaithfulnss of th Jws. Bcaus of th unfaithfulnss of Joshua's gnration, thir sons will b stuck for forty yars out in th dsrt, waiting for thir fathr's bodis to fall in th dsrt. As you hav sn, I hav insrtd th phras th punishmnt for twic. This is calld a mtonymy of th caus. That is, sin and its synonyms ar oftn put whr w would xpct to s th ffcts or th punishmnt of sam. S also Ex. 28:43 Lv. 20:20 Isa. 53:4. Dspit th fact that God kpt this gnration out in th dsrt for forty yars, thy did not lack a thing in th ralm of physical nds. [Moss is spaking to th nxt gnration] "For Y howah, your God, has blssd you in all th work of your hand; H has known your wandrings through this grat dsrt. Ths forty yars, Y howah your God has bn with you; you hav not lackd a thing." (Dut. 2:7). During ths forty yars, thir sons will suffr for th sins of thir fathrs that is, instad of going dirctly into th promisd land, th sons will b stuck out in th dsrt also. Howvr, th purpos will b for God to tst th nxt gnration. [Again, Moss is spaking]: "And you will rmmbr all th way which Y howah your God has ld you in th dsrt ths forty yars, that H might humbl you, tsting you, to know what was in your hart, whthr you would kp His commandmnts or not. And H huymbld you and lt you b hungry, and fd you with mana which you did not know, nor did your fathrs know, that H might mak you know that man dos not liv by brad alon, but man livs by vrything that procds out of th mouth of Y howah. Your clothing did not war out on you, nor did your foot swll ths forty yars. Thus you ar to know in your hart that Y howah your God was discipling you just as a man disciplins his sons." (Dut. 8:2 5). " 'By th numbr of th days which you spid th land, forty days a day for a yar, a day for a yar you will bar your iniquitis forty yars, and you will know my stand in opposition [to you]. [Num. 14:34] Th last noun in this sntnc is difficult it is th Hbrw word t nûw âh (äàè ð ) [pronouncd t'noo-ah]. It is Ó only found hr and in Job 33:10. Obviously, it is hard to dtrmin its maning basd upon th contxt of two passags. Luckily, w hav a vrb with th sam bas: nûw (à ð) [pronouncd noo] and this vrb is only found in Num. 30:5, 8, 11 32:7, 9 Psalm 33:10 141:5. Rcall how som vrbs could affix a tâw ( ) [pronouncd taw] to th bginning in ordr to form a rlatd noun. Th additional âh at th nd of a word was th fminin gndr. Th vrb mans to stand in opposition to, to tak a stand against (such that th aims, position, dsir, tc. of th othr prson is hindrd, nullifid, or rstraind). This is mrly th corrsponding noun. For vry day that ths twlv mn spid out th promisd land, God will put th Jws in a holding pattrn for a yar, so that th nxt gnration, aftr spnding that much tim in a dsrt, will bliv God and will not fail as did thir fathrs. " 'I [am] Y howah I hav spokn; if I do not this to all this vil company who ar mting against m; in this dsrt thy ar consumd, and thr thy will di.' " [Num. 14:35] Evn God uss common figurs of spch. Thr ar tims whn on uss th protosis of a conditional claus but dos not us th apodosis bcaus it is undrstood. Hr it is, if I do not do this to all this vil congrgation th ons gathrd against M thn I am not Y howah. This is how thy know that H is God, that th oldr gnration will di in th dsrt and thir childrn will b stuck wandring th dsrt for anothr forty yars bcaus of th iniquitis of thir fathrs. W hav sn th iniquitis of th fathrs fall upon th iniquitis of th sons. I cam from a vry slfish, slf-srving, hdonistic gnration. Th fr lov and pac in our tim gnration was a gnration which dsird sx outsid of marriag, without commitmnts or limits, and wantd no committmnt to thir own country which involvd hardship in thir livs. As a rsult, w hav rampant dadly sxual disass, childrn bing born with dadly sxually transmittd disass; homosxuality sprading lik a disas (at som point in tim w will psychologically ti th fr lov of th sixtis to mal homosxualtiy and

165 Th Book of Numbrs 165 mal brutality, th lattr rsulting in rampant fmal homosxuality), w hav th abus of drugs almost unparallld in othr countris, which has rsultd in a crim wav byond what our grandparnts would think imaginabl and also rsulting in such tragdis as crack babis. In ordr to gt th attntion of a gnration which may b salvagabl, God must tak som stps which w may viw as unduly harsh. In our country, God has not don that. H has simply allowd our bhavior th bhavior of my gnration to rap its natural rsults. As a nation, w hav still bn blssd and protctd by God far byond what w dsrv. What is rcordd in ths past svral vrss is not th ntirty of what God said to Moss. In Num. 14:41 43 and Dut. 1:42 w hav mor of what Y howah said to Moss. Lt m giv you anothr vry common gnrational curs: thr ar popl who gt marrid nowadays for all of th wrong rasons. Onc thy ar marrid, thy hav childrn and thn thy divorc, oftn to pursu an affair or to gt out of th mistak that thy mak. Th amount of suffring and disorintation to lif that childrn xprinc in a divorc has bn gratly undrstimatd. This is thir ntir basis for trust, lov and comfort. Now, I am not spaking of a marriag whr spousal abus has occurrd (lt m b mor spcific: whr th husband has rpatdly struck th wif) or whr thr is srious drug or alcohol abus on th part of on of th parnts. Howvr, many popl divorc bcaus thy hav grown apart, hav falln out of lov, hav found somon ls who looks lik a bttr dal and thy ar willing to sacrific th scurity and stability of thir childrn in ordr to pursu this othr avnu. Hr th mistaks of th parntal gnration sriously affct th livs of thir childrn. W hav, in th past coupl of gnrations, raisd vry confusd and disorintd groups of childrn, whos lack of family stability has causd thm to pursu drugs, gangs, crim, hdonism. It was th slfishnss of thir parnts which impactd dirctly on thir livs. A child isn't som hampstr that you kp for a fw wks and you lt it di onc you'r tird of it. Whn you chos to hav childrn and to sir childrn (which is a possibl choic you mak vrytim you hav sxual rlations), thn you ar making a liftim committmnt to that prson. Again, th subjct mattr in Numbrs, as wll as th rst of th Pnttuch, whn rightly applid, is as up to dat as tomorrow's nwspapr. A qustion which may com to mind is whr ar all th gravsits? 600,000 mn (and som of thir wivs) will b struck down in th dsrt btwn Egypt and th southrn bordr of Egypt. It is fair to inquir as to whr th gravs ar. Ths mn ar loathd by Y howah, and vn though thy ar th parnts of th childrn who will go into th land, thr was not indication that thy should rciv any honor or glory. Thrfor, laborat burials and gravstons wr out of th qustion. Furthrmor, with that many daths, as prdictd by Y howah, thy did at a rat of prhaps as high as 20 pr day, whn on includs th womn from that gnration. Whn popl ar dying in disgrac in ths numbrs, that dos not lav much tim or motivation for laborat burials and crmonis. Th bodis wr likly put into shalow gravs, if at all. It would not b out of th qustion for th bodis to b stackd outsid th boundaris of th camp. Th wandring that Isral did would not just b at th guidanc of Y howah but at th nd to mov away from th rotting and dcaying bodis as wll. Bodis burid in shallow gravs, or just thrown outsid th camp, or mrly lft upon battl grounds would dcay rapidly, subjct to th forcs of natur, including carrion-ating wild animals. This is implid by Dut. 28:26: "And your carcasss will b food to all birds of th sky and to all th basts of th arth; and thr will b no on to frightn [thm] away." Not vn th bons of th skltons would b prsrvd for longr than a fw cnturis. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx An Insrtd Postscript And th mn whom Moss had snt to spy th land, and rturnd and causd all th congrgation to murmur aginst Him for bringing up an vil rport against th land; [Num. 14:36] Again, this is a vrs whr th sntnc has bn split; this is basically half of th subjct of a sntnc w ar making a rfrnc to th tn mn who wnt on a rconnaissanc mission.

166 Numbrs Chaptr And so thy did, th mn who brought up an vil rport of th land, by th plagu bfor th fac of Y howah; [Num. 14:37] Th plagu mntiond hr wipd out almost 15,000 mn from this gnration (Num. 16:49). And with whom was H angry for forty yars? Was it not with thos who sinnd, whos bodis fll in th dsrt? And to whom did H swar that thy should not ntr His rst, but to thos who wr disobdint? And so w s that thy wr not abl to ntr bcaus of unblif (Hb. 3:17 19). Now I dsir to rmind you thought you know all things onc for all, that th Lord, aftr saving a popl out of th land of Egypt, subsquntly dstroyd thos who did not bliv (Jud 5). Th way this is writtn tlls us that Moss ithr ditd his manuscripts or actually wrot this portion of Scriptur somtim aftr th vnts of this chaptr took plac. What w find hr is a parnthtical insrt concrning th nd of that gnration. My ducatd guss is that th bulk of th Pnttuch was writtn whil Isral was in th dsrt for th nxt thirty-ight yars. God always turns cursing into blssing and sinc th tabrnacl had bn constructd and sinc Isral had no battls to fight and sinc God took car of thir basic nds by providing mannah this gav Moss th tim to rcord, thousands of yars ago, God's prmannt rcord of thos tims, for our instruction and spiritual growth. Thr must hav bn a fw dozn of th youngr gnration who, aftr fiftn yars in th dsrt of watching thir parnts di, who thought, okay, I gt th pictur opposition to God is not th prudnt position to tak. Howvr, not only did this lsson hav to b burnd into thir psychs, but Moss ndd tim to rcord God's Word and dit th historical documnts providd him into th history of our world from its incption. You may b wondring why dos th Bibl continually say forty yars and I kp saying thirty-ight yars; obviously, if thr is a diffrnc of opinion, I am wrong and th Bibl is corrct. W will b givn som dats of th rturning to th land in Dut. 1:3. Thr ar two ways to look at this: (1) God gav th Jws crdit for tim alrady srvd, much as our pnal systm dos. Whn a criminal has bn lockd away in prison without bail awaiting trial and is givn a spcific sntnc; a portion of his sntnc has alrady bn srvd prior to th actual sntncing. (2) Or, vn asir, forty yars is just th rounding off of thirty-ight yars. If you hav had any training in mathmatics, you raliz that all prcision is rlativ, and, although w oprat on th postulat that thr is an xact distanc btwn two points (whthr this b two points on a plan or two points in tim), our actual physical masurmnt of such is always an approximation. I raliz that I just lft 99% of you in th dust. So to at last pick up anothr 40%, you oftn say, "But that was forty yars ago" whn it was actually closr to thiry-ight yars ago. And, of th mn who wnt to spy out th land, Joshua bn Nun and Calb bn Jphunnh rmaind aliv [lit., livd]. [Num. 14:38] I hav altrd th word ordr in this vrs so that it corrsponds mor closly to wstrn thinking. A vrs lik ths past coupl could hav only bn writtn aftr th fact. Thir purpos was to indicat that what God had promisd, God brought to pass. Moss ithr lft a fw lins blank hr and filld thm in, or, in rwriting this at th nd of his lif, insrtd ths coupl vrss which showd th God brought to pass what H had promisd. Or, th bulk of this portion of God's Word was writtn long aftr th fact, during th final fw yars prior to thir r-ntry into th promisd land (I prsonally stand with th lattr viw). Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Moss Rlays God's Word to th Popl Dut. 1:41 42 And Moss spok ths words to all th sons of Isral, and so th popl mournd [or, wr causd to mourn] a grat dal. [Num. 14:39]

167 Th Book of Numbrs 167 Th words that Moss spok to th congrgation wr thos concrning what would happn to thm that is, vv ; what followd was a postscript writtn by Moss, or an insrtion out of chronological squnc, indicating that God did in fact bring ths things to pass. As I mntiond abov, what likly happnd is that Moss wrot this yars latr (which accounts for all of this information not falling into a strict chronological ordr); aftr th tn had did and many of thir contmporaris had falln in th dsrt as corpss. Whn Moss spok to th popl, tlling thm what God had said, aftr God dscndd upon thm as a pillar of cloud, th apparanc of God was sobring nough for th crowd to back down, to stop its murmuring, and, for a fw hours, to listn to Moss. Howvr, thy did not listn as thy should hav. You know that thr ar popl who do not har what you tll thm but thy har what thy want to har. Ths sons of Isral did not har what God told thm would happn. Moss, to imprss upon us, th radrs, what Y howah promisd, rcordd th fulfillmnt right hr in vv Th Jws ralizd that thy wr wrong, but thy chos only to har a portion of God's Word. God alrady solmnly promisd that if H did not bring ths things to pass, thn H was not God. Lt m giv you an illustration, so that you undrstand thir mntality. A proprly brought up child, whn facd with a spanking, will say and do almost anything to gt out of bing spankd. Th corrct parnt may listn to his appal, but will still spank him if that was th promisd punishmnt for th child's crim. A criminal,whn on trial, will oftn say anything and promis to do anything to gt out of th sntncing; howvr, what h says should man littl or nothing whn it coms to th sntncing portion of his trial, onc his guilt has bn undniably dtrmind. God has alrady passd judgmnt; H has alrady spokn. Thy ar not going to go into th land; thy ar not going to tak th land. Thy don't gt to go back as though God did not spak and now tak th land. Thr is not anothr chanc givn hr. God did not say, "Okay, you hav on mor opportunity ithr tak that mountain now, or you will spnd th nxt thirty-ight yars in th dsrt." God did not say that. Thrfor thy ar acting prsumptuously. Thir choic to ascnd th mountain in battl was anothr wrong mov which God would judg. And thy aros arly in th morning and wnt to th top of th mountain, saying, "Hr w [stand] and w hav com up to th plac which Y howah has spokn of, for w hav sinnd." [Num. 14:40] Th childrn of Isral hav ntrd th land. Th kickd against this and now thy hav stppd into th land, advancing up th mountains bfor thm. Thy hav hard thir sntncing and thy hav dcidd that God was mrly warning thm. Thy hard what thy wantd to har, not what God said to thm. And Moss said, "Just what th hll do you think you'r doing [lit., Why this]? You ar transgrssing th command of Y howah and that will not succd [lit., prospr]. [Num. 14:41] Th final vrb is th 3rd prson fminin singular, Qal imprfct of tsâlach (ç ìç öè) [pronouncd tsaw-lahch] and it mans advanc, prospr Th two words ar rlatd bcaus whn som popl advanc in lif, thy ar prospring. This is givn with th third prson singular prsonal pronoun, which is not rlatd to anything ls in this vrs or th prvious vrs. This could rad it will not advanc [or, prospr]. "Do not go up, for Y howah is not in your midst, and you will not b struck down by your nmis. [Num. 14:42] If God is not with th Jws, thn thy hav no chanc against any of th Canaanit popl. If w ar not filld with th Spirit, if God is not in our midst, w cannot advanc w cannot succd. W will b struck down by our nmis. W will b struck down by Satan. "If only you had paid attntion to My commandmnts! Thn your wllbing would hav bn lik th sand and your offspring lik its grains; thir nam would nvr b cut off or dstroyd from My prsnc." (Isa. 48:18).

168 Numbrs Chaptr "For th Amalkit and th Canaanit [ar] thr bfor your fac, and you will fall by th sword, bcaus you hav turnd back from following Y howah and Y howah is not with you." [Num. 14:43] It is simpl: Y howah is no longr with ths popl. H has promisd that H will wast thm in th dsrt. This dosn't chang bcaus thy gt this suddn rush of adrnalin. Just bcaus thy ar xcitd, it dosn't man that thy ar acting according to God's laws. Thir dsir to mak up for thir having sinnd is not admirabl in any way. This is a dgnrat gnration that no mattr what God says, thy will listn to thir own motions. Thir dclaration of having sinnd, back in v. 40, is a stp in th right dirction; howvr, thy ar just rplacing on sin with anothr. For thos who know a littl mor about Scriptur, you raliz that thr is a potntial problm hr. In Dut. 1, ths popl ar calld Amorits; hr thy ar consistntly rfrrd to as Canaanits and Amalkits. Th short xplanation is that Amorit is somtims usd as a gnral trm for divrs groups of popls living in th wst. A longr xplanation will b givn in Dut. 1. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Popl Storm th Hill Against God's Commandmnt Dut. 1:43 46 And thy [bn causd to bcom] swlld up [with mpty motion] to go up into th top of th mountain, and th ark of th covnant of Y howah and Moss hav not dpartd out of th midst of th camp. [Num. 14:44] Thy did not go into battl with th ark of th covnant, thy did not go into battl with Moss and thy did not go into battl with Y howah. Th first vrb in this vrs is th Hiphil imprfct of âphal (ì ôç òè) [pronouncd ìaw-fahl], a word found only in this passag and Habak. 2:4. It is actually givn two diffrnt manings in BDB and tratd as two sparat words, but that is unncssary. It coms from th word which mans tumour (s Dut. 28:27 1Sam. 5:6), which is a swlling up of a disasd portion of th body, an undisciplind, unrgulatd mass of clls a cancrous growth. I hav rndrd this vrb swlld up [with mpty motion]. Strong's #6076 BDB #779. Howvr, for your dification, allow m to includ svral othr rndrings: Th Amplifid Bibl Th Emphasizd Bibl KJV NASB But thy prsumd to go up to th hights of th hill country; But thy prsumptuously ascndd into th top of th mountain [lit., "wr prsumptuous to ascnd"] But thy prsumd to go up unto th hilltop: But thy wnt up hdlssly to th ridg of th hill country; Howvr, although thy advanc up th mountain toward th inhabitd citis, Moss and th ark of th covnant rmaind in th camp of Isral. Y howah did not advanc with thm, xcpt to wast thir corpss on th battlfild. And th Amalkits and th Canaanits who ar dwlling in th mountains cam down and struck thm and bat thm down unto Hormah. [Num. 14:45] W hav a possibl problm with this passag. Th city of Hormah was so namd som tim latr, vry likly aftr Moss wrot this passag. It s original nam was Zphath, which is mntiond only on tim in Judgs 1:17. In that passag, it was conqurd and rnamd Hormah, possibly as a rsult of Num. 21:3. Evn had it bn conqurd during th tim of Moss, aftr th 38 silnt yars in th dsrt, Moss would not hav mad this chang (h likly wrot th Pntatuch whil cooling his hls for 38 yars). This indicats that somon arly on mad this chang, contrary to th will of God. Bcaus of this and svral othr changs which had bn mad, it is obvious that God s Word was tamprd with vry arly on in its xistnc. It was bcaus of this tampring which gav many scholars th xcus to claim that th books of Moss wr writtn aftr his dath.

169 Th Book of Numbrs 169 A passag lik this would giv thm caus to think that. Thr is a slight chanc that th Isralits wr unawar of th nam of this city, and that som vowd to nam it dstruction (somthing which did occur 38 yars latr), and that nam was usd. Howvr, sinc nothing lik that is mntiond hr, I would still hold with this as a chang mad by a latr copyist. What happnd was that many of th mn totally ignord God's Word thy wr motionally inflatd by God's visibl prsnc and thy chargd up th mountain, and, aftr prhaps a forcd march of a day or so, thy took aggrssiv action against th Amalkits and th Canaanits. As Y howah said, "Thn you rblld against th mouth of Y howah your God; you nithr blivd Him nor listnd to His voic. You hav bn rbllious against Y howah from th day I knw you." (Dut. 9:23b 24). Sinc God was not with thm, thy could not prospr. God did protct thir childrn, howvr and, it is vn possibl that thy did thmslvs. Whn thy rtratd, thy could hav ld th Amalkits and th Canaanits dirctly to thir camp, ndangring th rst of th camp and alrtd th popls of th promisd land to th massiv prsnc of th Jws in th land. Howvr, rathr than b pushd back to Kadsh, thy rtratd to and thn dfatd at Hormah, a distanc of roughly twnty mils from Kadsh. With most of thm, God was not wll-plasd; for thy wr laid low in th dsrt. Now ths things happnd as xampls for us, that w should not crav wrong things as thy also cravd (I Cor. 10:5 6). Howvr, things will chang. So Isral mad a vow to Y howah, and said, "If You will indd dlivr this popl into my hand, thn I will uttrly dstroy thir citis." And Y howah hard th voic of Isral, and dlivrd up th Canaanits, and thy uttrly dstroyd thm and thir citis. Thus th nam of th plac was calld Hormah (Num. 21:2 3). This tlls us that th nxt gnration will turn things around and this passag furthr indicats that Moss ithr wrot or appndd Num. 14 aftr th battls dscribd in Num. 21 (which is aftr th additional thirty-ight yars wandring in th dsrt). Rturn to Outlin Sit Map Rturn to th Chart Indx Rturn to th Numbrs Hompag Rturn to Bginning of this Chaptr

170 Numbrs 15 Numbrs 15:1 41 Introduction: In Num. 15, w bgin with th thirty-ight yars in th dsrt. This will continu until th nd of th book of Numbrs (s Dut. 1:3). Moss will bgin to dal with th nxt gnration and God will dal with thir fathrs. Th gnration of Joshua and Calb ar lost. God has promisd to dstroy thm in th dsrt, so thy ar just marking tim until thir day has com. As w hav sn, Isral will los about 20 popl vry day. Howvr, thir birth rat will b just about quivalnt to this hug dath rat. Howvr, w will s in this chaptr God's marvlous grac. This gnration of Isral has faild misrably bfor God, yt, immdiatly aftr thir failur, God is giving a list of laws to b followd upon ntring into th land of Canaan. Outlin of Chaptr 15: Vv Sacrifics and offrings to b don upon ntring into th land of Canaan Vv God's laws apply to th alin as wll as to th Jw Vv Offrings to b mad upon ating th first food in th land of Canaan Vv Unintntional rrors Vv Intntional sinning and on xampl Vv Rmmbring God's commandmnts th tassl mthod Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Sacrifics and Offrings to B Don upon Entring into th Land of Canaan Thn Y howah spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 15:1] Numbrs, lik Lviticus, is rarly taught in th Christian church. It was ruind in translation lik Lviticus bcaus most of ths books ar dirct quots from God to Moss. "Spak to th sons of Isral and you will say to thm, "Whn you [all] com into th land of your dwllings, which [land] I am giving you; [Num. 15:2] This is a marvlous statmnt. Th Jws hav just bn pushd back out of th land du to thir unblif and God has told thm, "Your carcasss will fall in this dsrt and your childrn will wandr in th dsrt forty yars and bar [th rsults of] your fornications until your carcasss ar wastd in th dsrt...you will bar your iniquitis [for] forty yars." (Num. 14:32b 33, 34b). Yt God vn at this point in tim prpars thm for th ntring of th land. For th gifts and th calling of God ar irrvocabl (Rom. 11:29). W ar now spaking to th nxt gnration of Isralits. God will not nd to dal in any dtail with thir parnts. God knows that thy will ntr into th land and that thy will tak it. This scond gnration has just sn thir parnts batn down and thrown out of th land. This vrs givs thm hop and tlls thm that thy will ntr into th land. Mor than giving thm hop, God must also b crtain that this nxt gnration will follow th rituals and oby His commandmnts, which actions glorify Him. " 'Thn you [all] will prpar a fir-offring to Y howah, a burnt offring, or a sacrific, to prform a [wondrful] vow or fr-will offring, or in your appointd things, to mak a tranquilizing scnt [or, swt fragranc] to Y howah, out of th hrd or out of th flock. [Num. 15:3]

171 Th Book of Numbrs 171 Th first thing thy ar to do upon ntrting th land is to sacrific to Y howah. Thr ar a numbr of diffrnt sacrifics, ach signifying somthing slightly diffrnt, as w hav studid in th book of Lviticus. W hav studid th vow offrings in Lv. 22: " 'And h who is approaching with his offring to Y howah will approach with a prsnt of flour, a tnth part, mixd with a fourth of th hin of oil; [Num. 15:4] Thos who brought an offring or, as it says hr, approachd or cam nar with an offring wr to also bring an offring of flour mixd with oil. To rmind you, th flour is th humanity of Jsus Christ and th oil is th filling of th Holy Spirit. Rcall a hin is approximatly a gallon, so th amount of oil hr is roughly a quart (or a litr). " 'And win for a libation [a drink offring], a fourth of th hin you will prpar for th burntoffring or for a sacrific, for th on lamb; [Num. 15:5] This win can b intoxicating, as th sam word is found in Gn. 9:21, 24 and is forbiddn to th Nazarits (Num. 6:3). This is th first vrs whr win is a part of th sacrific to God. " 'Or for a ram you will prpar a prsnt of flour two-tnths [of an phah] mixd with oil, a third of a th hin; [Num. 15:6] Still, th mal offring spaks of Jsus Christ, His humanity as mixd with th Holy Spirit. As you may or may not notic, th siz of th grain offring incrass as th siz of th sacrific incrass. " 'And win for a libation [a drink-offring], a third part of th hin; you will bring [this] nar a tranquilizing scnt [or, swt fragranc] to Y howah. [Num. 15:7] That which is burnt is mor than plasing to God it is a tranquilizing scnt th scnt which stays His hand of xcution of th punishmnt that w all dsrv. " 'And whn you mak a son of th hrd a burnt-offring [or, an ascnding--offring] or a sacrific, to prform a [wondrful] vow or a pac-offrings to Y howah; [Num. 15:8] Abov, I hav givn a vry litral and consistnt rndring of th original; blow, you will gt an ida as to how poorly som of Numbrs is translatd: Th Amplifid Bibl And whn you prpar a bull for a burnt offring, or for a sacrific in fulfilling a spcial vow, or pac offrings to th Lord, Th Emphasizd Bibl And whn thou wouldst offr a choic young bullock, as an ascnding-offring or sacrific, for clbrating a vow or as a pac offring unto Yawh... KJV And whn thou prparst a bullock for a burnt offring, or for a sacrific in prforming a vow, or pac offrings unto th Lord; Th Living Bibl If th sacrific is a young bull, NASB And whn you prpar a bull as a burnt offring or a sacrific, to fulfil a spcial vowl [or, mak a spcial votiv offring], or for pac offrings to th Lord, As you s, many librtis ar takn with th rndring of this vrs and ths svral words. An improvmnt is sn in th NIV whr a pac--offring is rndrd a fllowship offring. Too many popl ar confusd and continually s th word pac and associat it with world pac; thr is no world pac in th Bibl xcpt in th millnium pac always rfrs to pac btwn God and man, as w ar by natur at mnity with on anothr.

172 Numbrs Chaptr On of th difficult words is th Pil infinitiv construct of pâlâ (à ìè È ) [pronouncd paw-law] which is usually 90 usd in th Niphal in conjunction with God prforming or doing marvlous and miraculous things (.g., Ex. 3:20 34:10). In th Hiphil (th causativ stm) th KJV usually translats as somthing occuring wondrously, marvlously but hr w hav th Pil stm (also found in Lv. 22:21 Num. 15:3). Sinc ths two instancs ar accomplishd by man and not God and sinc thr dos not appar to b anything miraculous occuring, w will translat this to prform [a wondrful]. " 'Thn h will bring nar for th son of th hrd a prsnt of flour, thr-tnths [of an phah], mixd with oil, a half of th hin; [Num. 15:9] For ach of ths sacrifics, thr is to b an accompanying mal offring. " 'And win you will bring nar for a drink offring, a half of th hin a fir-offring of tranquilzing scnt to Y howah; [Num. 15:10] Whn ths sacrifics ar offrrd so that thy rcogniz th humanity of Jsus Christ, His powr on arth givn and guidd by th Holy Spirit, thy act as a tranquilizing scnt to God. " 'Thus it is don for th on ox, or for th on ram, or for a lamb of th shp or of th goats. [Num. 15:11] Th mal offring hrin dscribd was to b givn with any of th sacrifics at th ntry of th land. " 'According to th numbr that you [all] prpar, so you [all] will do to ach, according to thir numbr; [Num. 15:12] This just mans for tn burnt offrings, thr will b tn mal offrings. " 'Evry nativ will do thus with ths, at bringing nar a fir-offring of a tranquilizing scnt to Y howah. [Num. 15:13] This is how th Jws who inhabit th land will offr to Y howah. God's Laws Apply to th Alin as Wll as to th Jw " 'And whn a strangr is rsiding with you [or, whn a visitor is visiting], or whovr is in your midst, throughout your gnrations and h maks a fir-offring, a tranquilizing scnt to Y howah, as you do thus h will do. [Num. 15:14] Whn this is rndrd as a visitor visting it is similar to th Hbrw whr both th vrb and its noun construct; howvr, it givs th imprssion that ths ar out-of-town rlativs com to visit. Th ida is that this is a strangr who is travling through th land somon who is not a Jw. Whn thy bring this prson into thir homs and sacrifics ar offrd, th strangr is not givn th opportunity to shar his own particular brand of rligion but is to follow thir lad in worshipping th on tru God. Th purpos of th Jwish nation was to witnss to th on tru God. "And I will blss thos who blss you, and th on who curss you I will curs and in you all th racs of th arth will b blssd." (Gn. 12:3). God would bring popl to Isral for th purpos of witnssing to thm and to giv thm th gospl and spiritual information. This baton has bn handd to th church. W, as blivrs in Jsus Christ, ar th church. God brings popl into our path to witnss to also. Unlss movd by God, you don't hav to go out and witnss to twnty popl a day. That is a gift which som popl hav bn givn. Howvr, thr will b 90 Th Niphal is usually th passiv stm; howvr, it can strss th ffct of th action of th vrb on ach individual.

173 Th Book of Numbrs 173 tims in our lif whn God calls upon us to witnss. Somtims it coms to a point whr w los a lovd on whos salvation is in qustion a lovd on who could spnd all of trnity in hll a lovd on whom w will nvr s again, not vn in trnity in ordr to mak us raliz how important our witnss is. " 'On statut is for you of th congrgation and for th strangr who is rsiding a prptual statut throughout your gnrations as you [ar] so th strangr will b bfor Y howah. [Num. 15:15] Th Jws ar not to stray from this. In gnrations to com, thos who God brings to thm ar to b xposd to th undilutd gospl; this is mor than participating politly in anothr's rligious ritual this is bing xposd to th gospl of th Almighty God. " 'On law and on ordinanc is to you and to th strangrs who is rsiding with you.' " [Num. 15:16] W hav sn whn obsrving th Passovr, th Jw and th strangr ar to obsrv it in th sam way (Num. 9:14). Thr is only on way of salvation. God dos not allow for othr rligions, no mattr how 91 sincr thy appar to b. All othr rligions worship th cratur rathr than th crator that is, all othr rligions worship Satan rathr than Jsus Christ. Offrings to B Mad upon Eating th First Food in th Land of Canaan And Y howah spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 15:17] Thr is no othr book lik th bibl throughout all th world. In no othr book do w hav dirct quotation aftr dirct quotation from God. "Spak to th sons of Isral, and you will say to thm, 'In your coming into th land whr I am bringing you [to] thr; [Num. 15:18] Again, God is not spaking to th gnration of Joshua and Calb but to thr youngr gnration, bcaus thy will com into th land. " 'Thn it will com to pass, in your ating of th brad of th land, you [all] will rais a contribution to Y howah; [Num. 15:19] Th word translatd rais is th Hiphil imprfct of rûwm (í ø) [pronouncd room] and it mans to xalt, to rais, to lift up and vn to offr up. Strong's #7311 BDB #926. Its substantiv construct is rndrd contribution. Th Jws, onc thy hav sttld into th land and ar ating of th brad producd in th land, thn thy will lift up and offring to Y howah in apprciation. Whn th Jws finally ntr into th land, thy will offr of th first fruits of thir brad as wll as of thir produc. Also, manna will cas bing brought to thm. And on th day aftr th Passovr, on that vry day, thy at som of th produc of th land, unlavnd caks and parchd grain. And th manna casd on th day aftr thy had atn som of th produc of th land, so that th sons of Isral no longr had manna, but thy at som of th yild of th land of Canaan during that yar (Josh. 5:11 12). " 'Th bginning of your dough [or, possibly, coars mal] a cak you rais up a contribution as an offring from th thrshing floor so shall you prsnt it. [Num. 15:20] 91 Rom. 1:23b.

174 Numbrs Chaptr Th first part of th grain that thy mak into dough or into caks is to b offrd to God. This is vry simlilar to th offring of th firstfruits. God has always askd to rciv from th first or th bginning of our possssions (Ex. 34:26 Lv. 23:10, 14, 17 I Cor. 16:2). " 'Of th bginning of your dough [or, possibly, coars mal] you [all] will giv to Y howah a contribution throughout your gnrations. [Num. 15:21] To rmind this nxt gnration and all succding gnrations that God brought thm into this land flowing with milk and hony, thy ar to offr th first part of th brad that thy mak. Unintntional Errors " 'And whn you [all] rr and do not all ths commandmnts which Y howah has spokn to Moss; [Num. 15:22] God's plan always includs an authority hirarchy. His plan always includs an intrmdiary. Th if portion of this conditional sts up a situation whr thos harrs do not oby all of Y howah's commandmnts. " 'Th whol that Y howah has chargd rgarding you by th hand of Moss, from th day that Y howah had commandd and hncforth to your gnrations; [Num. 15:23] W ar still in th protosis of this conditional claus. This is a promis concrning thos who do not do all of th commandmnts givn by Y howah through Moss; commandmnts givn by God throughout all of thir gnrations. Th transgrssion of th commandmnts hr will b unintntional transgrssions. A sin is a sin is a sin, whthr intntional or not, and must b dalt with. All sins must b forgivn for on to procd in fllowship. Today, th naming of our sins to God frs us from th pnalty of known sins and unknown sins (I John 1:9). Vv dal with th unintntional sins committd by Isral as a congrgation (compar Lv. 4:13) and vv ar th unintntional sins of an individual. " 'Thn it will com to pass, if from th ys of th company it had bn don in ignoranc, that all th company will prpar on bullock, a son of th hrd, for a burnt-offring, for a tranquilizing scnt to Y howah, and its prsnt, and its libation [or, drink offring], according to th ordinanc, and on kid of th goats for a sin-offring. [Num. 15:24] This is what must transpir whn such a transgrssion has takn plac. If th transgrssion was unintntional, as this indicats, thn thr must b an offring to Y howah (w also xamind such offrings in Lv. 4). Along with th burnt offring, thr would b th mal offring and th drink offring and on goat would b offrd. " 'And th prist will mak atonmnt for all th company of th sons of Isral and it has bn forgivn thm, for it [was] ignoranc, and thy thy hav brought thir offring, a firoffring to Y howah, vn thir sin-offring bfor Y howah for thir ignoranc. [Num. 15:25] God has diffrntiatd btwn sins of ignoranc and sins of cognizanc. Thos committd in ignoranc still rquird a sacrific to God. " 'And it will b forgivn to all th company of th sons of Isral, and to th strangr who is tmporarily rsiding in thir midst; for to all th company [actd] in ignoranc. [Num. 15:26] This forgivnss is availabl to th ntir company of Isral and to vn th strangr who is in thir midst. " 'And if on prson sins in ignoranc, thn h will bring nr a sh-goat, daughtr of a yar, for a sin [-offring]; [Num. 15:27]

175 Th Book of Numbrs 175 As w hav no doubt noticd, th phras son of a yar and daughtr of a yar ar both simpl phrass just to indicat th ag of th animals. " 'And th prist will mak a covring [or, an atonmnt] for th prson who is in rr, in his sinning in ignoranc bfor Y howah, by making a covring [or, an atonmnt] for him, and it has bn forgivn him. [Num. 15:28] Th covring or atonmnt that th prist maks on bhalf of th prson who has sinnd in ignoranc is th animal sacrific and th sprinkling of th blood. " 'For th nativ among th sons of Isral, and for th strangr who is tmporarily rsiding in thir midst thr is on law for you to th on making an rror. [Num. 15:29] Ths sacrificics ar th only ons prsribd undr ths circumstancs. God's planis much mor xclusiv than som rally car for that is bcaus God is prfct and His plan is prfct. Thr is only on way of doing a thing. Thr is on body and on Spirit, just as you wr calld in on confidnc of your calling; on Lord, on faith, on baptism, on God and Fathr of all who is ovr all and throught all and in all (Eph. 4:4 6). As Thim usd to put it, you can only do a right thing in a right way. Thos from othr lands wr not allowd to ngag in any of thir own rligious rituals bcaus God spok dirctly to th Isralits and not to humankind in gnral. Th Isralits wr God's light to th world. God rvald th gospl through His prsribd rituals, through thir contact with th outsid world. Th world was filld with many rligions thn, as it is now. Howvr, thir has always bn just on tru path to God, faith in Jsus Christ, and many fals roads which all lad to th Lak of Fir. It is only faith in Jsus Christ which acknowldgs God as prfct, which rcognizs His tru ssnc and dos not compromis that ssnc. Evry othr rligion compromiss God's charactr and asks God, Who is prfct, to accpt man who is not on th basis of man's failur of a lifstyl. Now you might b th most prfct prson in th world. Prsonally, I am glad that will not hav to stand upon my prsonal works bfor God in ordr to gain salvation. I hav don on or two things right in my lif, through th powr of th Holy Spirit, but, as Garrison Killor usd to put it, I also hav th backstag viw. God has that sam viw and I cannot stand bfor a holy God outsid of Jsus Christ. His prfction and my complt imprfction and inadquacy would prclud that. Evryon who intnds to stand bfor God basd upon bing a good prson who dos good things is ithr a thousand tims bttr than I am, or an absolut fool (or both). You cannot stand bfor God an drciv prais and accptanc outsid of bing in Christ. "I am th way, and th truth and th lif; no on coms to th Fathr but through M." (John 14:6b). Thr is on law for th sons of Isral as wll as for th nonrsidnt tmporarily rsiding in Isral. Intntional Sinning and On Exampl " 'And th prson who dos by a raisd hand of th nativ or of th strangr h is rviling [or blasphming] Y howah, and that prson will b cut off from th midst of his popl; [Num. 15:30] This is th litral translation and what w hav hr is an idiom. In th NASB it is rcordd as acting dfiantly; in th NIV it rads: sins dfiantly; in th Th Amplifid Bibl, this is a prson who dos anything [wrong] willfully and opnly; and in th NRSV is is on who acts highhanddly. A raisd hand can signify many things in diffrnt culturs in a classroom, it is a sign of a qustion or a commnt; whn a raisd fist in th sixtis, it was oftn a symbol of black powr and dfianc of th law of th land; howvr, in Isral, during this tim priod, it mant to act in accordanc with on's own works, to stand upon on's own accomplishmnts, rathr than upon what God has don. Of cours you ar wondring, whr did I gt this. It was obviously a commonly undrstood phras during that tim, othrwis God would not hav usd it whn communicating this information to Moss. W find it in Dut. 32:27: So thy should not say, "Our hand is raisd and Y howah has not don all this." It is man's actionsx as opposd to God's. In contxt, it is a prson not conforming to this on law. It is also a symbol of dfianc, as w find in Ex. 14:8 Num. 33:3.

176 Numbrs Chaptr W hav svral xampls of this dfiant sinning, th chif of which is th raction of Isral to th rport of th spys. Thy spys wr wrong to b afraid; thy wr wrong to incit th crowd against Moss and Aaron; and th sons of Isral wr wrong to tak thir lad (Num. 14:40 44 Dut. 1:43 17:2 3). " 'Bcaus of th word of Y howah h has dspisd and His command h has brokn, that prson is crtainly cut off; his iniquity [or guilt] [is] on him.' " [Num. 15:31] This is th prson who acts outsid th Law. This is th prson who ithr has his own prsonal ritual, acts in accordanc with som rligious ritual of som pagan rligion, or dos not think that h rquirs forgivnss. Whn w do not go to God for forgivnss, our iniquity is upon us. Furthrmor, this is a prson who is acting with full knowldg of right and wrong; not in ignoranc. Such a prson is cut off from his popl. This will b illustratd blow. And thn sons of Isral wr in th dsrt and thy found a man gathring wood on th sabbath-day; [Num. 15:32] Th Jws had rcivd a principl in this prvious passag and now was th tim for application. God spok to Moss, Moss taught th principl and, somtim latr, this incidnt took plac. Howvr, w hav alrady rcivd th gnral principl back in Ex. 31:14: Thrfor you ar to obsrv th sabath, for it is holy to you. Evryon who profans it shall surly b put to dath; for whovr dos any work on it, that prson will b cut off from among his popl. For six days work may b don, but on th svnth day thr is a sabbath of complt rst, holy to Y howah; whovr dos any work on th sabbath day will sur b put to dath (s also Ex. 35:1 3). So what is actually occuring hr is th popl ar going back to Moss and asking him to go back to God and ask, "Now ar you crtain about this?" Thy want to know whthr God mans what H says or whthr this is allgorical. And thos finding him gathring wood brought him nar to Moss and to Aaron and to all th company; [Num. 15:33] This is not as clar-cut of a cas as you might suppos. Thr ar popl, who for rlaxation, chop wood, run svral mils, practic martial arts. What is bing don is against th Law of Moss; howvr, it is possibl, du to this contxt and du to th uncrtainty of th Jws, that this man was acting in ignoranc. And thy placd him in ward, for it [is] not xplaind [or, dclard distinctly] what [should b] don to him. [Num. 15:34] W hav quit a point of intrst hr. In ward mans that th Jws did hav som sort of holding cll or prison to tmporarily hous criminals. Anothr point of intrst; w hav alrady sn that thr wr two placs in th Law which rquird th dath pnalty for th infraction of braking th sabbath. Ths Jws did not know god's Law. W will now apply th Law. Howvr, vn Moss taks this mattr to God. Again, this sms lik such a minor infraction, and th Law prscribs captal punishmnt. And Y howah said to Moss, "Th man in dying will b put to dath all th company will ston him with stons at th outsid of th camp." [Num. 15:35] God knw th hart of this man. God knw that that this man actd dfiantly bfor Him, not in ignoranc. On of th grat proofs of th six day cration is that throughout th world, w function on a svn-day wk. Thr ar gnrally fiv or six days of work and on or two days of rst, th confusion bing in th chang from th sabbath as a holy day to God to Sunday, th first day of th wk, bing st apart to God. It is only natural that whn such a momntous chang occurrd, that thr would b thos who would not chang, and thos who kpt both just in cas. Howvr, from th vry bginning, God had st apart th svnth day as a day of rst. Whn th various calndrs wr st up, it would hav mad a lot mor sns to oprat on 5 or 6 day wks. Our months could hav bn bttr balancd with th sam numbr of wks and th holy day could always fall on th sam days; and thr could b a holy wk. Th S.A.E masurmnt systm is

177 Th Book of Numbrs 177 basd upon numbrs which ar divisibl by many othr numbrs (12 inchs in a foot, 36 inchs in a yard, 5280 ft in a mil, 16 ouncs in a pound, tc.). Yt, whn it coms to on of th most fundamntal aspcts of our livs and th livs of almost vry country in th world, w hav th vry illogical svn-day work wk illogical, xcpt that such a wk was prscribd by God from th foundation of th world, in Gn. 2:2 and ritratd in th Law in Ex. 20:8 11. Howvr, w ar not undr th Sabbath today, as has alrady bn covrd in th Doctrin of th Sabbath not finishd. This svn day wk is a grat sign of God's cration of th arth and th rcognition of that by man for th past 6-10,000 yars. Also, w should xamin th Doctrin of Capital Punishmnt not finishd yt! Thn all th company brought him out to th outsid of th camp and thy stond him with stons and h did, as Y howah had commandd Moss. [Num. 15:36] Again, notic th chain of command. Th popl brought th man to Moss, Moss wnt to God, God told Moss what to do, and Moss told th popl what to do. Ths popl did not just look up into havn and ask God, what should b do with this guy? And God, whn askd, did not spak to th ntir congrgation of Isral. God always has a chain of authority and H always has in intrmdiary btwn Himslf and man. Cnturis latr, th kping of th Sabbath was distortd byond rcognition. Th Jws wnt from on xtrm in thir qustioning of God's clar commands to th othr of adding to th law of th sabbath. Th Jwish Talmud is filld with hundrds of commands daling with th obsrvanc of th sabbath; commands which go far byond what God had intndd. A prson was only allowd to walk 2000 pacs on a sabbath day. If a hous fll upon an individual, it was just too damn bad and thr would b no xcavation until th nxt day. A scrib was not allowd to carry a pn in his blt (no doubt, it was thought h was carrying a 92 burdn). I rcall from my Jwish history class that whn mud had bn splashd upon on's garmnt on th sabbath, that prson could wait until th mud drid, squz it onc with th hand, and lt go. This obviously has nothing whatsovr to do with God's Word it is simply man adding to God's Word. It is ths typs of distortions which causd th Phariss to sk th lif of Jsus Christ whn thy alldgd that H brok th sabbath (Matt. 12:1 14, as a for instanc). As a litrary asid, vv ar st up as a paralllism. Whn w study ths vrss phras by phras, w somtims miss th ovrall potry of th passag. Thrfor, I hav rtypd vv blow. And Y howah said to Moss, "Th man in dying will b put to dath; thy will ston him with stons all th company at th outsid of th camp." Thn all th company brought him out to th outsid of th camp and thy stond him with stons and h did, as Y howah had commandd Moss. Rmmbring God's Commandmnts th Tassl Mthod And so Y howah spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 15:37] Th conscutiv wâw, whil gnrally dnoting an advanc in chronological tim can just rfr to a diffrnt tim and plac, as it dos hr. Th commands of th first portion of Num. 15 did not ncssarily prcd this commands; thy just took plac at diffrnt tims and Moss is rcalling ths things many yars latr. 92 Ths illustrations cam from Gowr's Th Nw Mannrs and Customs of Bibl Tims; p. 354.

178 Numbrs Chaptr "Spak to th sons of Isral, and you will say to thm (and thy will mak for thmslvs frings [or, tassls] on th xtrmitits [or, wings] of th garmnts, to thir gnrations, and thy will put on th fring [or, tassls] of th xtrmitits [or, wings] a ribbon of blu); [Num. 15:38] Th parnthtical portion of this vrs is not what God has said to Moss, but not xactly what Moss will say to th popl. Th word translatd fring is found only in vv and in Ezk. 8:3, whr it rfrs to a lock 93 of hair. Th contxt for rmmbring rfrs right to this prvious incidnt and othrs lik it whr God's commands hav bn clarly statd, yt thy go to Moss who gos to God to doubl-chck on th commandmnt and th consquncs for braking it. Hundrds of yars latr, th scribs and Phariss, rathr than looking upon ths tassls to hlp thm rcall th commandmnts of God, thy mrly lngthnd thirs so that thir rligious statur was mor obvious to thos around thm. Socity givs its approbation to many diffrnt kinds of popl ours today sms to hav an normous amount of approbation for movi stars, athlts and succssful musicians. Th Jwish socity at th tim of th incarnation had grat admiration for thos who wr rligious this was a way of pointing out to th gnral public that thy wr rligious (matt. 23:5). In ordr to bttr grasp this passag and th contxt to which Moss alluds, w will xamin othr translations of v. 39. Th Amplifid Bibl And it shall b to you a fring or tassl that you may look upon and rmmbr al th commandmnts of th Lord, and do thm, that you may not spy out and follow aftr [th dsirs of] your own hart and your own ys, aftr which you usd to follow and play th harlot [spiritually, if not physically]; Th Emphasizd Bibl...so shall thy srv you as frings, and whn y s thn, thm shall y call to mind all th commandmnts of Yahwh, and shall do thm, andshall not spy out, aftr your own harts and aftr your own ys for things aftr which y ar rady to go unchastly away; KJV And it shall b unto you for a frgng, that y may look upon it, and rmmbr all th commandmnts of th Lord, and do thm; and thta y sk not aftr your own hart and your own ys, aftr which y usd to go a whoring; NASB And it shall b a tassl for youto look at and rmmbr all th commandmnts of th Lord, so as to do thm and not follow aftr your own hart and your own ys, waftr which you playd th harlot, NIV And you will hav ths tassls to look at and so you will rmmbr all th commands of th Lord, that you may oby thm and not prostitut youslvs by going aftr th lusts of your own harts and ys. Young's Lit. Translation...and it hath bn to you for a fring, and y hav sn it, and hav rmmbrd all th commands of Jhovah, and hav don thm, and y sarch not aftr your hart, and aftr your ys, aftr which y ar going a-whoring; " 'And it is to you for a fring, and you hav will s it and you will rmmbr all th commands of Y howah, and you will do thm and you [all] will not sarch aftr your hart, and aftr your ys, aftr which you [all] go fornicating [lit., which you go fornicating aftr thm]; [Num. 15:39] W hav an intrstiinig us of words hr. Tûwr (ø ) [pronouncd toor] mans to spy, to sarch out, to xplor. Th sam word was usd whn th spis wnt into th land. On of th things which confuss unblivrs is that it is our natural tndancy to do wrong. A homosxual, a child molstr, a liar or a chat may all claim thy wr born that way and should b xcusd. W ar all born that way, with various inclinations to do various sins. Som of us hav had this furthr dvlopd through our nvironmnt. W hav th choic to follow what God has told us or w can sarch out our own harts, w can sarch out th 93 Th word found in Dut. 22:12 is a diffrnt word altogthr.

179 Th Book of Numbrs 179 dsirs of our own ys and act according to what w think w should do. Th lattr will invitably anti-god. Whn w dlv into th book of th Judgs, w will find tim aftr tim whr vry man did what was right in his own ys, and th book of Judgs is a book of grat dgnracy and spiritual darknss. Th us of th word fornicating rfrs to whnvr th right woman (Isral) chass aftr th wrong man (any thing or anyon scpt for God). Evn whn th Jws pursud that which was right in thir own ys, that was fornication against God, thir right man. Th fring was a command from God for th Jws to look upon and xamin as thy would th blu of th tabrnacl, and it would bring to mind th commands of God, so that thy would not do what is in thir harts; so that thy would not follow aftr thir own lusts (a rfrnc to th ys w all dvlop dsirs from that which w can s). Th rsult of this is activity which is spiritually immoral. It crtainly could rsult in sxual dvianc, which is th first thing to com to mind whn sing th words a-whoring, prostituting howvr, that, as w hav xamind in th past, is forsaking on's right God and mbracing that which is fals. Th blu fring was to rmind thm of God's commands and that thy should mbrac thir God as th tru God of th Univrs. W will go into mor dtai about ths tassls in ithr Dut. 4 or 1Sam. 24. In summary, thr ar two dirctions in which th sons of Isral can go thy can choos to oby God and His commandmnts, which includd stoning a man for braking th Sabbath, or thy can choos to follow thir own instincts and thir own lust pattrn. Following thir hart is doing what thy think to b right and following thir ys is choosing to pursu thir lust pattrn (vryon has a diffrnt lust pattrn). Following that which on ss mans th homosxual may s somon of th sam sx that thy find attractiv and thy sxually pursu that prson; just as a Lothario (or a tramp) ss a prson of th opposit sx and thy sxually pursu thm; just as a prson obsrvs th powr and authority hld by anothr and dsirs that powr and authority; just as anothr ss th grat walth and possssions of anothr and dirs thos things. W all hav diffrnt things for which w lust and w can choos to pursu that lust pattrn or to bliv God. God, undr logistical grac, will provid us whatvr it is that w nd. Undr th grac w ar givn whil advancing in th spiritual lif, H givs us blssings far byond what w nd. As a prsonal tstimony, I rcall haring ths things vry arly in my Christian lif, as wll as haring that w ar tstd with prosprity as wll as with advrsity and I thought to myslf that I would rathr lik bing tstd by prosprity. In fact, I probably vn prayd somthing to that ffct in my spiritual youth, if I rcall corrctly. 94 About fiftn or twnty yars latr, I lookd around m and noticd that I had, rlativly spaking, grat matrial walth and grat prosprity. Luckily, I hav rmaind faithful in th pursuit of th undrstanding of God's Word and H has allowd m to rtain this walth (and, again, this is rlativly spaking walth compard to what I am usd to; thr ar many popl who ar much walthir and som who ar not). " 'So that you [all] will rmmbr and will do all My commands, and you all will b holy [st apart] to your God; [Num. 15:40] Th Jws will b givn svral ways to rcall th commandmnts of God; w hav bn givn th Holy Spirit. Not that th vrbs in th vrs ar in th Qal prfct and not th Qal imprativ. That is, ths ar promiss, not commands. " 'I [am] Y howah your God, who has brought you out from th land of Egypt to bcom your God; I, Y howah, [am] your God.'" [Num. 15:41] Thr is an xclusivity btwn God and th Jws. In th Old Tstamnt, God was spcifically th God of on nation, Isral, just as H is xclusivly th God of th church in this dispnsation. 94 This is rlativ to a walth status to which I was accustomd.

180 Numbrs 16 Numbrs 16:1 50 Outlin of Chaptr 16: Vv. 1 3 Korah stands up against Moss and Aaron Vv Moss rasons with Korah and sts up a tst for th nxt day Vv Moss spaks with Dathan and Abiram, thn to God and thn to Korah Vv Moss opposs Korah, Dathan and Abiram bfor th congrgation of Isral Vv An arthquak nvlops Korah, Dathan, Abiram and thir rspctiv housholds Vv A lightning storm dstroys thir intndd royal administration Vv A larg contingnt of followrs still oppos Moss and Aaron Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: v. 13 Dathan and Abiram s Logic v. 13 Th Flawd Logic of Dathan and Abiram v. 13 Th Application to You v. 13 Actual Exampls of th Abov Introduction: Num. 16 dals with th rbllion of Korah and th carful sparation btwn th Aaronic pristhood and th Lvitical rsponsibilitis (which did not includ th pristhood). In othr words, th Lvitical pristhood is a misnomr. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Korah Stands up Against Moss and Aaron On of th uncrtaintis of th prvious chaptrs is whthr God would wip out th gnration of Lvits as wll as th gnration of th othr lvn tribs. This chaptr givs a Lvitical rbllion nding in th sin unto dath of svral hundrd Lvits. W ar not xposd to vry rbllion or God's judgmnt of sam for th nxt thirtyight yars. W will hav to tak this as a typical xampl which was rpatd svral tims. And thn Korah bn Izhar, son of Kobath, son of Lvi, took both Dathan and Abiram, sons of 95 Eliab, and On bn Plth, sons of Rubn; [Num. 16:1] Lvi had thr sons, Grshon, Kohath and Mrari (Ex. 6:16 Num. 3:17). Kohath had at last four notabl dscndants: Amram, Izhar, Hbron and Uzzil (Ex. 6:18 Num. 3:19, 27). Izar had thr notabl dscndants: on of which was Korah (Ex. 6:21). Th fact that Korah is mntiond as arly on as Ex. 6 indicats that h hadd a prominnt family in Isral. Bcaus of th ags givn for Lvi and Kohath (137 and 133 rspctivly; Ex. 6:16 17), w know that thr must hav bn som intrmdiat gnrations (at last Aminadab, who fll btwn Kohath and Korah; 1Chron. 6:22). Dathan and Abiram (as wll as Nmul) wr th dscndants of Eliab, who was a dscndant of Pallu, who was a dscndant of Rubn (Num. 26:7 9). On was a dscndant of Plth who was a dscndant of Rubn (our passag). This is why all of thm ar calld sons of Rubn. So w hav on Lvit and thr Rubnits who ar displasd with th ladrship situation. Moss was a Lvit and Korah will dmand to know why h has such a position of powr whras, h, Korah, dos not. Th othr thr ar from th first-born of Jacob and thrfor should hav ladrship positions, but thy do not. God promots and dmots and thy had not bn promotd. 95 Th wstrn Samaritan and Sptuagint has son hr; although that is probably rronous.

181 Th Book of Numbrs 181 And thy ros up bfor Moss and mn of th sons of Isral two hundrd and fifty ladrs of th company, summond [by popular dmand] of th convntion, mn of nam; [Num. 16:2] In thir grumbling, much of th congrgation of Isral mt and chos mn to rprsnt thm. This was a dmocratic form of a rpublic. Th mn of Isral chos thir ladrs, two hundrd and fifty mn, probably from all th tribs. Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On wr likly ladrs from th bginning. This kind of discontnt must b fomntd. Somon must stand bfor th crowd and bgin talking. A mob will not act unlss thr is a ladr to ignit thm. Rmov th ladrship of th mob bfor it has a spcific purpos and it will dfus itslf. Th choic of ths four was likly an organic procss thy stood up bfor th sons of Isral as ladrs and incitd th discontnt which was alrady thr. By virtu of thir standing bfor Isral and inciting thm to rvolt, thy wr givn popular support and chosn. Thn Isral chos anothr two hundrd and fifty mn to accompany thm and to rprsnt th gnral congrgation, sinc all two million could not go bfor Moss and Aaron. What w ar daling with hr is human clbrityship. Ths ar th popl that thir trib would hav lctd 96 to rprsnt thm. Thy wr prsonabl and undrstanding, thy had th right look; thy wr handsom and rasonably intllignt, but not too far abov thos thy rprsntd. Thy wouldn't hav mad th idolatrs drink gold mixd with watr. Thy wr th popl's choic. Howvr, sinc thy wr not God's choic and sinc thy opposd God's authority, thy will di th sin unto dath (Num. 16:35). W would prsonally sav ourslvs a grat dal of troubl if w did not oppos thos placd in authority ovr us. W suffr disciplin, lost tim, pain and th continual pounding of our hads against walls bcaus w oppos thos that God st up in authority ovr us. Som vn di th sin unto dath for such opposition. And thn thy assmbld against Moss and against Aaron, and thy said to thm, "Enough of you! For all th company all of thm [ar] holy [st apart to God] and in thir midst [is] Y howah! And why thn do you xalt yourslvs up abov th assmbly of Y howah?" [Num. 16:3] Thim paraphrasd th sntimnts of this mob svral dcads ago: "W'r all qual, brothr and you'r no b bttr than us. W all hav a spark of divinity." Th first thing that thy say is ra v lakm! It is idiomatic it was b b a popular colloquialism. Ra v (á øç) [pronouncd rah v] mans many, much, grat (in th sns of larg, not acclaimd; Gn. 6:5 7:11 21:34 50:20 Ex. 19:21). This is followd by th prfixd prposition lâmd (to, for, in rgard to) with th scond prson masculin plural. Litrally, w hav much for you [all]. W might intrprt this as w hav had too much of you, w hav had nough of you, you hav gon on long nough, you hav gon too far, you ar too much (spokn ironically). W hav a similar idiomatic usag in Gn. 45:28 Ex. 9:28 Num. 16:7. Th scond us of this phras indicats that it may hav bn a rallying call; a slogan for this campaign). "Too much of you! Too much of you!" th crowd scrams. This idiom xprsss grat dissatisfaction with Moss and Aaron as ladrs. Thr ar many grat ladrs in th past who facd a lot of ngativ public sntimnt Churchill, MacArthur, Cæsar. Insofar as ths popl ar concrnd, th rign of Moss and Aaron has gon on long nough. Thy hav th gratst ladrs in all of history standing bfor thm and thy want a rcall. That is pur dgnracy. What w hav hr is Satan's favorit trick; it is a mixtur of truth and lis. It is tru that Y howah is in th congrgation of Isral. It is tru that Isral is st apart from all th othr nations of th arth. Howvr, Moss did not xalt himslf abov all th congrgation this is a position which God has assignd him. Furthrmor, it is God's purpos to hav a systm of authority in plac, and that authority bgins with Moss. Th prson who opposs this authority opposs God. Do you think that Communism is somthing nw? Do you think a rpublican form of govrnmnt is nw? W ar 1400 yars prior to th birth of our Lord and w hav both th sd of Communism and th sd of a rpublic. Moss and Aaron wr in authority ovr two million popl. Thos in rbllion rasond that thy wr all qual in God's sight. God was with thm as wll as with Moss and Aaron; so thr was no rason for Moss and Aaron to hold positions of authority ovr thm. Thy rasond that thy wr all brothrs undr th skin, thy all had th sam God, and thy all had th sam authority. Th chif diffrnc was ths mn wr th popl's choic. 96 W hav xamind th word calld back in Num. 1:16.

182 Numbrs Chaptr Korah is th actual ring ladr of this rbllion. H is th primary ladr. H is rblling against God's lct, against th man chosn spcifically by God to lad th Jws. H is rblling against th man who has stood in th gap btwn God and Isral and has dlivrd Isral from God's wrath svral tims. But ths mn rvil th things which thy do not undrstand and [thy rvil] th things which thy know by instinct lik unrasoning animals. By ths things thy ar dstroyd. Wo to thm, for thy hav gon th way of Cain, and for pay thy hav rushd hadlong into th rror of Balaam, and thy hav prishd in th rbllion of Korah (Jud 10 11). Korah's motivs ar clarly dlinatd in what h has said. H dsirs th powr and authority xrcisd by Moss and Aaron. Although th Kohathits, Korah's family, wr in charg of th tabrnacl, thr was no plac of ladrship for him in fact, th ladrship of th four familis of th Kohathits was ntrustd to th youngst of th family hads, Uzzil and his family. This had crtainly burnd in Korah's craw for a long tim. H had bn sthing with mntal attitud sins and vil thoughts and now, sinc th Jws wr back in th dsrt, h had his opportunity to complain and to grab a position of ladrship. No doubt, h would just as soon turn th Isralits around and had back into th land. Korah was not abl to ntic many Lvits to follow him (and prhaps h did not want to) so h appald to th trib contiguous to his trib, th Rubnits. Now thy blongd to th trib of th first born of Jacob, and thy also had a rason to b disaffctd. Thy should b rulrs ovr Isral. If thy wr running th show, as wll thy should b, thn thy would b back in th land njoying its milk and hony. In thir minds, thy wr lss than nthralld by th dsrt wandring, and it smd unjust to thm to tak a back sat with rgards to ladrship to th family of Moss and Aaron. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Moss Rasons with Korah and Sts up a Tst for th nxt Day And Moss hard and fll on his fac; [Num. 16:4] Moss has a tndncy bfor an angry mob to tak a submissiv position, and yild ovr to God. Thr is nothing h can do bfor this mob. H can't shout thm down. In this position of grac-orintation, rvaling th gracorintation in his soul, h maks a calm proposal to th mn of Korah. And Moss spok to Korah, and to all his company, saying, "[In th] morning and Y howah will caus to know thos who ar his, and him who is holy, and H has brought [or, causd to bring] nar to Himslf, vn him whom H chooss, H brings nar [or, causs to com nar] to Himslf. [Num. 16:5] Know is in th Hiphil (causativ) stm, which is why it is translatd caus to know. Brought nar is also in th Hiphil stm. This is th vry word which is continually mistranslatd offr, sacrific but it mans to bring nar; in th Hiphil, it again spaks of bing causd to bring nar. At th nd of this vrs, w vn s a littl divin choic. How blssd [happy] is th on whom You hav chosn and [whom] you bring nar to You to dwll in Your courts (Psalm 65:4a). God chooss thos who choos Him. Thos H has known sinc trnity past. Nvrthlss, th firm foundation of God stands, giving this sal, "Th Lord knows thos who ar His." (II Tim. 2:19a). Howvr, thy can only choos Him if givn th Holy Spirit (which allows thm a fr will choic and maks th gospl ral to thm). "This [you must] do tak to yourslvs cnsrs Korah, and all his company; [Num. 16:6] Moss dos not vn consult God. H tlls Korah and his followrs to all tak thir own cnsrs (ths ar things which will allow for th burning of incns). To stablish his own authority, Moss had to rsort to this. Such a thing is ncssary and important, particularly in a dgnrat group of Jws lik that. Aftr all, his authority whn it coms to writing Scripturs would b calld into qustion hr if his simpl ruling authority did not stand.

183 Th Book of Numbrs 183 "And put in thm fir, and put on thm prfum, bfor Y howah tomorrow, and it will com to pass, th man who Y howah chooss h is th only on; nough of you, sons of Lvi." [Num. 16:7] Moss dos not spcify, at last in this rcordd portion of God's Word, xactly how God will idntify who is of God and who is not; howvr, th mn of Korah, who s thmslvs as having Y howah in thir midst vn as Moss, ar to plac thir incns burnrs in fir and to scnt thm. Rcall how ths mn said to Moss, "Ra b v b lâkm"; or, "Too much of you!" Moss throws th sam thing back at thm: "Ra v lâkm, you sons of Lvi!" Somthing which is oftn ignord in xgting this passag is that this is short-trm prophcy. W hav a tast of short-trm prophcy in th Bibl (crtainly not all that occurrd). Moss has told thm that tomorrow, God would rval whom H will draw nar to Himslf. Prophts wr judgd with rgards to two critria: (1) if thy adhrd to Bibl doctrin; and, (2) if thir prophcis cam to pass; th formr qualification bing mor important than th lattr. "You may say in your hart, 'How do w know th word which Y howah has not spokn?' Whn a propht spaks in th nam of Y howah and if th thing dos not com about or com tru, that is th thing which Y howah has not spokn. Th propht has spokn it prsumptuously; you will not b afraid of him." (Dut. 18:21 22). "If a propht or a dramr of drams ariss among you and givs you a sign or a wondr, and th sign or th wondr coms tru, concrning which h spok to you, saying, 'Lt us go aftr othr Gods (whom you hav not known) and lt us srv thm.' You will not listn to th words of that propht or that dramr of drams; for Y howah your God is tsting you to find out if you lov Y howah your God with all your hart and with all your soul. You will follow Y howah your God and far Him; and you will kp His commandmnts, listn to his voic, srv Him and cling to Him." (Dut. 13:1 3). What Moss prophsid cam to pass, which gav crdnc to his words and to his ladrship position. Num. 16:30 is also a short-trmd prophcy which cam to pass almost immdiatly. And Moss said to Korah, "Listn [up] you, I rspctfully ask you, sons of Lvi; [Num. 16:8] Moss trats his opposition with rspct. Moss did not dsir his position of authority. A lot of popl placd into authority who ar grat ar mn who did not dsir this position in th first plac and thy discharg thir dutis not out of som lust for authority and control, but out of rspct for God's choic, which is thm. For thos in authority as wll as thos undr authority, it is a lot asir to go along with God's plan thn it is to oppos it. "Is it a small thing to you that th God of Isral has sparatd you from th company of Isral to bring you nar to Himslf, to do th srvic of th tabrnacl of Y howah, and to stand bfor th company to srv thm? [Num. 16:9] You probably missd th wondrful play on words hr. Ths followrs hav alrady told Moss, "Too much of you!" and Moss gav th xact sam phras back to thm; howvr, hr, h inquirs of thm, "Is it a small thing...to do th srvic of th tabrnacl of Y howah?" Thy'v had too much of Moss; Moss tlls thm that thy ar too much; and thn h asks if th srvic assignd thm by Y howah is just too littl. That was thir God- givn srvic, according to Num. 3:6, 9. Moss now has thm of balanc; thy ar thinking about thir incns burnrs and mting Moss tomorrow and God choosing His Own mn, and thn Moss bgins to rason with thm. God has givn th Lvits a plac of grat importanc th assistanc of th dutis of th tabrnacl. God has th idal plac for us all to function in His plan and somtims ths ar placs of grat rcognition and somtims our work gos totally unnoticd 97 by th hoi polloi. Thr ar popl who ar poor, hav fw or no frinds, and spnd much of thir tim in prayr. Thir prayr lif is richr and mor maningful than th ntir ministry of som pastor-tachrs. Ths mn had a trmndous ministry, tid dirctly to th vanglism of all of Isral and thos that God brought into Isral. "In fact [lit., ya], H brings you nar, and all your brothrs th sons of Lvi with you and you also sk aftr th pristhood? [Num. 16:10] 97 Okay, for thos of you who know, I raliz that I should not prfac hoi polloi with th.

184 Numbrs Chaptr So that this is ultra-clar to you, Korah is a Lvit who thinks that h ought to b a prist. Thr is no Lvitical pristhood that is a misnomr; it is an Aaronic pristhood th sons of Aaron, spcifically, ar prists, not th sons of Lvi (Aaron is a Lvit, but h is th particular chosn branch of th Lvits). Moss rasons with Korah: God brings you nar to Him but you think that you ought to b prists as wll? Y howah spok to Moss, saying, "So you will appoint Aaron and his sons that thy may kp thir pristhood, but th outsidr who coms nar will b put to dath." (Lv. 3:5, 10). God's stanc hr is unmistakabl anyon outsid th family of Aaron who tris to bring thmslvs nar to God will di th sin unto dath. To think that just anyon can com into contact with God ithr ignors our own imprfction or God's prfction. Furthrmor, thy ignor God's mandat just statd. This clarly illustrats that thr is an xclusivity of thos who can com nar to God. Prfction and rightousnss cannot xist apart from judgmnt and condmnation of that which is imprfct and unrightous. In th on sns, this is no on othr than our Lord Jsus Christ othr than Him, thr is no on who can com nar th holy prsnc of God without bing annihilatd by His rightousnss. Imprfction cannot com into contact with prfction; unrightousnss cannot com into contact with rightousnss. For what partnrship hav rightousnss and lawlssnss, or what fllowship has light with darknss (II Cor. 6:14b)? Thr is a continud mphasis in th Bibl, particularly th Old Tstamnt, btwn that which is clan and that which is unclan. In a scond sns, only blivrs hav accss to God bcaus thy ar holy and rightous in Christ (thos last two words cannot b ovrmphasizd). Our sourc of prfction positionally is Jsus Christ. Thrfor thr is now no condmnation for thos who ar in Christ Jsus. For I am convincd that nithr dath, nor lif, nor angls, nor principalitis, nor things prsnt, nor things to com, nor powrs, nor hight, nor dpth, nor any othr cratd thing is abl to sparat us from th lov of God which is in Christ Jsus our Lord (Rom. 8:1, 38 39). It is only bcaus Jsus Christ is tru prfction and th fact that w ar in Him which allows us accss to God. Now, just xactly how dos th Old Tstamnt illustrat th diffrnc hr? Simpl: just as thr ar many sons in th family of God but thr is just on Son, thr ar many prists, but only on High Prist. At this point in tim, Aaron was th high prist and his two rmaining sons wr th prists. Howvr, that would chang as mn grw old and did but thr would always b but on high prist and th progny of Aaron, th first high prist, wr th only prists. All th prist wr bgottn of th on high prist. Th Nw Tstamnt is carful to carry this analogy into our dispnsation. Today, w ar a kingdom of prists, but our High Prist is Jsus Christ. And coming to Him as to a living ston, rjctd by mn, but choic and prcious in th sight of God; you also, as living stons, ar bing built up as a spiritual hous for a holy pristhood, to offr up spiritual sacrifics accptabl to God through Jsus Christ (I Ptr 2:5). And H has mad us a kingdom of prists, to Him th glory and th doinion forvr and vr Amn (Rv. 1:6). Thrfor, holy family of God, partakrs of a havnly calling, considr Jsus, th Apostl and High Prist of our confssion (Hb. 3:1). Sinc thn w hav a grat High Prist who has passd through th havns, Jsus, th Son of God, lt us hold fast our confssion (Hb. 4:14). Furthrmor, to continu th analogy, th prists basically with all of thir dutis, wr vanglists. Satan did not undrstand th gospl bcaus in all his grat gnius, h is not vn a fraction as intllignt as God is; howvr, vry savd prson in th Old Tstamnt undrstood nough of th gospl to bliv and to b savd bcaus th Holy Spirit mad th gospl ral to him. W also act as vanglists in our own sphr, as th Aaronic pristhood did in thirs. Th high prist dalt dirctly with God in th holy of holis onc a yar on that Grat Day of Atonmnt, rprsnting all of Isral bfor God. Similarly, our High Prist rprsntd us bfor God on that grat day of atonmnt whn H bor our sins in his own body on th wood. "That bing so, you and all your company th ons gathrd against Y howah; and Aaron, what [is] h, that you [all] murmur against him?" [Num. 16:11] This bgins with th prfixd lâmd prposition and th advrb kên (ï Å ) [pronouncd kan]; togthr, thy man according to such conditions, that bing so, thrfor. L = Strong s #non BDB #510. Kên = Strong s #3651 BDB #485. It is an accptd fact that ths Lvits dsir to b prists. Th first vrb is actually th Niphal participl of yâ ad (ã òç é)è [pronouncd yaw-ìahd] and, although BDB givs its maning as appoint, it is akin to th its noun cognat êdâh (ä ãè òå ) [pronouncd ìâ-dawh], translatd company, congrgation, assmbly. Strong's #5712 BDB #417. So all of ths who ar gathrd gathrd, incidntally, against God if thy dsir

185 Th Book of Numbrs 185 to b prists and God is in thir midst as wll as anyon ls, why do thy bothr to murmur against Aaron? You ar still flshly. For sinc thr is jalousy and strif among you, ar you not flshly, and ar you not walking lik mr mn (I Cor. 3:3)? Moss, lik Paul, has a grat logical mind. Th ability to think and to rason is not a dtrimnt to th Christian lif but rathr, ths abilitis ar assts and will b dvlopd in th matur Christian. If God has not only allowd Aaron to approach Him but has mandatd it, and if Y howah is in th midst of th Lvits, thn isn't it illogical for th Lvits to murmur against Aaron? Howvr, thos who murmur against Aaron ar murmuring against Y howah, as thy hav bn told bfor (Ex. 16:8). Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Moss Spaks with Dathan and Abiram, Thn to God and Thn to Korah And Moss snt to call for Dathan and for Abiram, sons of Eliab, and thy said, "W will not com up." [Num. 16:12] Thr is a group of two hundrd and fifty mn bfor Moss, and thn much of th congrgation of Isral is standing bhind thm. Moss calls for Dathan and Abiram to com forward, as h has finishd spaking to Korah. Thy ar apparntly in thir tnts and thy will not com out to spak with Moss, and thrby validat his authority. Instad, th apparntly snt a wll-thought out, incndiary mssag. "Is is a small thing that you hav brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and hony to put us to dath [or, to allow us to di] in a dsrt that you mak yourslf a rulr ovr us morovr making yourslf a rulr [or, you hav morovr mad yourslf an rulr ovr us indd!]? [Num. 16:13] Moss has just usd th phras, is it a small thing, and thy ar throwing this phras back at him in an insulting way. Thy ar in th crowd, thy just hard him drss down Korah, and thy don't fl as though thy hav to go forward. It is not a mattr of far, but a mattr of Moss has just ordrd thm to do somthing and thy ar rfusing to do it. Thy instad bring up th old complaint paintd in a nw way thy blam Moss that thy hav 98 lft this land flowing with milk and hony (rmmbr, thy just got thir butts kickd by th Canaanits), and that thy ar out in th dsrt again. Not only has Moss hauld thm out of th land flowing with milk and hony, but thn h also has mad himslf a rulr ovr thm. In a mor modrn vrnacular, w would say, "Oh, so it's not nough that you hav takn us out of a land flowing with milk and hony to put us to dath in th dsrt, but you hav also mad yourslf a rulr ovr us?" I should add that put to dath is in th prmissiv Hiphil, so it could b rndrd: "Is is a small thing that you hav brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and hony to all us to di in a dsrt..." 99 This vrs nds with a vrb bing usd twic first th Hithpal imprfct and thn th Hithpal infinitiv absolut of sârar (ø øç È ) [pronouncd saw-rahr], which mans (in th Hithpal, or rflxiv, stm) to mak onslf a rulr or a princ. Btwn th rptition of th vrb is th words ovr us, morovr. Th rptition of th infinitiv absolut of a vrb oftn mphasizs, intnsifis or acts as th complmnt of improbability and condition of th vrb. Hr th additional occurrnc of th vrb is th complmnt of improbability th prson spaking is amazd that vn failing as a ladr, that Moss has mad himslf a rulr ovr thm. What thy ar saying is that, not only has Moss bn a total failur in th ralm of bringing th popl into th land, but you hav mad yourslf a rulr? Prpostrous!" Thy ar totally amazd that Moss could b this much of a failur and thn arrogant nough to mak himslf rulr. Obviously, ths mn do not undrstand God's plan, God's grac and God's Word. Thy hav bn told unquivocally that God would scattr thir corpss in th dsrt. Howvr, sinc thy hav not sn a manifstation of God rcntly (othr than th daily manna, which thy now tak for grantd), thy hav rturnd to oprating in human viwpoint. You may ask, what about Num. 13? W do not 98 Th NIV Study Bibl claims that thy ar rfrring to Egypt as a land of milk and hony, thus transforming what whas a prison to a paradis (p. 212). 99 Rothrham's Th Emphasizd Bibl, p. 175.

186 Numbrs Chaptr know how far apart in tim ths two chaptrs ar. Num. 14 is a rprsntativ incidnt of many rbllions. Sinc twnty popl vry day will di in th dsrt, this srv to hlp us undrstand how this many could di. This incidnt took plac somtim during th thirty-ight yars of wandring. Knowing th apostasy of ths Jws, this could hav occurrd as rcntly as a month or two aftr Num. 13 and it would not hav bn out of charactr. 100 Th grumblings of th rcalcitrants, accusing Moss of making himslf a princ ovr thm, almost brings us to a full circl in Moss lif. H is nar th nd his ministry hr. W do not know whn during th thrity-ight yars this occurrd. Moss spnt forty yars in th palac of Pharaoh and on day, h vnturd out into th company of th Jws and killd an Egyptian task mastr who was bating a fllow Hbrw. Whn h rturnd th nxt day to try to rsolv a disput btwn two Jws, on said, "Who mad you a ladr or a judg ovr us? Ar you intnding to kill m as you killd th Egyptian?" (Ex. 2:14b). How prophtic this incidnt was, stting th mold of th rlationship btwn Moss and this gnration. Thr ar two figurs of spch hr. First of all, thy dnigrat what Moss has don thus far in taking thm to a land flowing with milk and hony bcaus h will put thm to dath in th dsrt. Th nd rsult nullifis any crdit that Moss should rciv for gtting thm to that point. This is th flip sid of th nd justifis th mans; hr, th nd dvalus and dprciats th mans. Furthrmor not only is th first itm namd dplorabl by itslf, but th Moss has furthr committd an vn gratr offns by making himslf rulr ovr thm. W had bttr tak this in points. Dathan and Abiram ar also schoold in logic: 1. Th first figur of spch th nd dprciats th mans: a. Th small thing that Moss has don: i. Moss has ld th Jws out of Egypt through grat signs and wondrs. ii. Moss has rcivd th Law from God at Mount Sinai. iii. Moss has ld th Jws through th dsrt. iv. Moss has ld th popl right up to th promisd land a land flowing with milk and hony. b. Th rsult of what Moss has don: i. Th Jws wr pushd out of th promisd land in thir first battl to tak it. ii. Th Jws ar now dropping lik flis in th dsrt. Thy ar dying in larg numbrs. c. Th ssnc of th first figur of spch is that it is maninglss (a small thing) what Moss did initially bcaus of th nd rsult. d. Th nd rsult tings or soils what cam bfor.. Thrfor, what Moss has don up to this point in tim is an offns which should b condmnd. 2. Th scond figur of spch th scond offns is vn gratr than th first: a. Th first offns: Moss has slaughtrd ths Jws by bringing thm out to th dsrt. b. Th scond offns: Moss has mad himslf rulr ovr th Jws. c. So not only dos Moss bring ths popl out into th dsrt to kill thm, but h furthrmor maks himslf out to b a rulr ovr thm. This dmonstrats, in thir ys, incrdibl nrv on th part of Moss. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Flawd Logic of Dathan and Abiram So, how is thir logic flawd? W will tak this in points: 1. Th flaw in th nd dprciats th mans: a. Moss rightfully dsrvs prais for lading th Jws out of Egypt up to th promisd land. b. Th Jws did not ntr th promisd land du to thir own unblif, not du to any dficincy on th 100 An xcllnt nam for a rock band, by th way.

187 Th Book of Numbrs 187 Th Flawd Logic of Dathan and Abiram part of Moss. c. Th daths of all th Jws in th dsrt ar a rsult of thir prsonal volition. d. Thy only rason that th Jws ar vn still aliv is bcaus Moss twic stood in th gap on thir bhalf, rasoning with God to spar thir livs.. Thrfor, th first fw acts of Moss ar not flawd bcaus th rsults wr du to unblif on th part of th Jws; not bcaus of any dficincy of Moss. 2. Th flaw in th scond offns is gratr than th first offns: a. As w hav just sn, thr has bn no first offns. Moss has don nothing wrong. Ths Jws hav faild to tak rsponsibility for thir actions and thy hav faild to bliv God. b. Furthrmor, Moss did not mak himslf ladr ovr thm; God mad Moss ladr ovr thm. God practically had to tak Moss kicking a scratching into this ladrship rol. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Application to You Now for application (whn you wr half aslp and you rad this vrs in your rad th Bibl through in on yar program, did you notic any of this?): 1. You ar rsponsibl for th choics you mak in lif. 2. Whn God clarly stats a mandat, and w disoby that mandat, thr ar both natural rsults and disciplinary rsults, although th two ar oftn intrtwind. 3. Th Jws wr unabl to ntr into th land flowing with milk and hony this is basically a natural rsult of thir unblif. 4. Th Jws wr slaughtrd by th Canaanits in battl and ar dying n mass in th dsrt ths ar th rsults of bing disciplind by God. Thy ar dying th sin unto dath. 5. You cannot blam somon ls for th natural rsults or th disciplinary rsults of your choics and actions. 6. Whn you blam somon ls for your choics and actions, you compound th problm. Whn you hav gon against th will of God, you must rbound nam your sins to God. If you don't tak th rsponsibility for your own sins, thn you will not rbound, maning you will not b rstord to fllowship and you will rmain undr God's disciplin which will intnsify to th sin unto dath. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Now for som actual xampls of th abov: 1. It is clar in God's word that you ar not to ngag in prmarital sx (I Cor. 7:1 Hb. 13:4). 2. Th natural rsults will rang from: a. Missing out on your right man or woman bcaus: i. You cannot idntify that prson; ii. That prson gts marrid whil you ar fooling around; iii. That prson has no intrst in you bcaus of your moral standards; iv. You hav mt that prson, but you ar too involvd in prmarital sx to notic thm. b. Vnral disas, which could rsult in: i. A tmporary or prmannt mdical condition; ii. A tmporary or prmannt disfigurmnt; iii. An awful disas, such as AIDES, lading to dath; iv. That passing on of yars of suffring to your futur childrn who inhrit th disas from birth

188 Numbrs Chaptr Now for som actual xampls of th abov: from you. 3. Th disciplinary rsults can b: a. Any of th abov, as wll as: b. Unrlatd illnss; c. Financial stbacks; d. Problms in th workplac;. Or, in gnral, anything which hurts. 4. Your ractions to th abov: a. If you ar disciplind and/or suffring natural rsults, you can rbound and all rsultant suffring will b for your blssing, or; b. You can blam socity, th othr prson, God, or anyon ls, maning that your disciplin continus to b compoundd until you nam anothr sin, or; c. You can rationaliz your bhavior in any way that you choos, maning that you don't rbound and that disciplin continus until you nam anothr sin to God. Addndum: This xampl could hav bn on any sin whatsovr, vrything from rblling against God's authority to drug usag, to sprading rumors (it dosn't mattr if it is tru or not), to ruminating on various mntal attitud sins (whthr thy involv hatrd, bittrnss, slf-pity, lust, tc.), to oprating with an unrstraind tmpr. I hav crtainly lft out your pt ara of sin howvr, th principl rmains th sam: whn you blam somon ls for your shortcomings, you will fail to rbound and your disciplin and th natural rsults of your sins will continu to grow. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx "In fact [lit., ya], to a land flowing with milk and hony you hav not brought us in, nor do you giv to us an inhritanc of fild and vinyard; do you pick out th ys of ths mn? W hav not com up [into th land]." [Num. 16:14] V. 14 contains a continuation of thir skills of logic. Bringing thm to th land flowing with milk and hony was such a small thing bcaus, on top of what was said in v. 13, Moss did not vn bring thm into that land, nor did h giv any of ths popl thir fild or thir vinyard (rmmbr th slogan a chickn in vry pot? ths rcalcitrant Jws xpctd not only to ntr th land unhindrd, but to b givn byond what thy had arnd). Dathan and Abiram, whn snding this mssag to Moss, wr xcoriating. It is obvious to s why popl followd thm as ladrs; thir logic was xcptional othr, than th fact that it was built up th fals. Whn you build a systm of logic upon somthing which is tru, th rsults ar tru (assuming that th logic itslf is not flawd); howvr, no mattr how corrct th logic if it is built upon a foundation of lis and half-truths, thn th conclusions ar also fals. In v. 14, thy bgin to pick apart his ladrship skills. God promisd to bring thm into a land flowing with milk and hony and Moss has not accomplishd this. Thy assrt hr tha vry man should hav bn givn his own fild and vinyard, yt thy ar wandring around in th dsrt. In th first plac, God has not promisd thm thir own vinyard and fild; God has givn thm instructions as to how to dal with thir own proprty whn thy go into th land (Ex. 22:5 23:11). Scondly, thy ar wandring around in th dsrt bcaus thy would not tak th land as God had commandd to; and, thn whn God told thm thy would not b allowd to tak th land, thy attackd th Canaanits and trid to tak th land without God's hlp or guidanc and faild. Ths mn ar not blind thy can s what Moss has faild to do. H hasn't brought thm into th land. Thy do not rcogniz that God placd Moss as ladr ovr thm and that Moss had no dsir to bcom thir rulr, vn balking at th thought of it arly on (Ex. 3:11). Furthrmor, thy hav rjctd God's xplicit Word that H would scattr thir bodis in th dsrt.

189 Th Book of Numbrs 189 And Moss angr bgan to sth [lit., thn Moss bgan to burn xcdingly], and so h said to Y howah, "Turn not to thir prsnt; not on ass from thm hav I takn, nor hav I afflictd on of thm." [Num. 16:15] Moss has bcom as angry as Y howah had xprssd to him arlir. Not only has h ld this worthlss bunch of crap who sobbd and crid th night bfor thy wr to ntr th land, but Moss stood in th gap and savd thir sons and daughtrs, mdiating btwn God's angr and thir dsrvd punishmnt of dath. Rcall that God twic was rady to wip out th ntir Jwish rac and bgin anw with Moss. H may vn b wondring to himslf right now, why didn't h just go ahad and tll God, "Go ahad, kill thm all now I am sick of playing nursmaid to a bunch of whining, titty babis." Moss is praying to God to ignor thir offrings and pointing out that h has not takn advantag of his ladrship position for matrial gain, nor has bn an crul, unjust, tyrannical rulr. You can s in this vrs that, although Moss was an xtrmly strong man, thir accusations cut to his humanity and hurt him. Th propht Samul was a grat studnt of th Law. H rad th books of Moss carfully and said ssntially th sam thing to th Isralits of his day (1Sam. 12:3). Th similarity btwn what h said and what Moss said was not a coincidnc, as h soon thraftr spok about Moss and Aaron (1Sam. 12:6). And Moss said to Korah, "You and all your company, b bfor th fac of Y howah, you and thm, and Aaron tomorrow; [Num. 16:16] Moss is giving ordrs to thm. Evn though Dathan and Abiram hav dfid him, Moss still taks his position of ladrship and tlls Korah what h will do. "And you will [all] tak your [lit., his] incns burnr and you will hav placd upon thm prfum and you will bring [thm] nar bfor th fac of Y howah, ach [man] his incns burnr, two hundrd and fifty incns burnrs; and you and Aaron, ach his incns burnr." [Num. 16:17] In trms of who is God's choic, this has not bn an issu to Korah h is th popl's choic. H not only has th support of a larg portion of th popl, but h has a cabint of two hundrd and fifty ddicatd followrs to hlp him administrat his ladrship position ovr th popl. Moss will mak this a spiritual issu. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Moss Opposs Korah, Dathan and Abiram Bfor th Congrgation of Isral So ach took his incns burnr and placd thm on a fir and laid on thm prfum and so thy stood at th opning of th tnt of mting with [lit. and] Moss and Aaron [or, and so Moss and Aaron took thir stand at th opning of th tnt of mting]. [Num. 16:18] Notic, vn in rbllion against Moss, thy hav still obyd him. Moss has st up th ruls of comptition to show whom God has chosn and thy tacitly agrd to this. In th wstrn Sptuagint, th Syriac and th Vulgat codics, w hav So ach took his incns burnr and placd thm on a fir and laid on thm prfum and so Moss and Aaron took thir stand at th opning of th tnt of mting, which appars to b a bttr rndring. It maks mor sns for Moss and Aaron to tak a stand in opposition to th followrs of Korah, as opposd to thm taking a stand with Moss and Aaron. And Korah assmbld against thm all th company at th opning of th tnt of mting, and th glory of Y howah was sn by all th company. [Num. 16:19] Korah stood out from his mn. Th sntnc structur blis th fact that Korah is not only standing against Moss and Aaron, but h is standing against th two hundrd and fifty mn that h draggd into this confrontation. Nithr h nor thy raliz that, and thy ar acting on thir own volition but Korah has not actd in thir bst

190 Numbrs Chaptr intrst and it is his prsonal lust which has causd him to stand against Moss and Aaron his own prsonal lust for powr and dominion ovr th Jwish popl. Korah has rjctd God's rvald will and xpcts to prospr. From what w hav covrd, you ar probably wondring how could Korah b so stupid? God has clarly rvald His will and th futur to th ntir congrgation of Isral is it possibl to b that stupid? So lt's tak this from a diffrnt angl: how much of God's Word hav you prsonally ignord? Tlvision and movis notwithstanding, dos your sxual morality lin up with God's Word? Hav you falln for th li that you (1) mt somon; (2) slp with thm; (3) bcom motionally involvd; (4) liv togthr; and, (5) finally gt marrid? And you wondr why your rlationships ar not working out? You ar wondring why you find yourslf with a family and lif that you do not want? Do you think that you can ignor God's Word and prospr? Thr is only on ordr to marriag: (1) you mt somon; (2) you gt to know on anothr and fall in lov; (3) you gt marrid; (4) thn you liv togthr and slp togthr. Thr is no othr ordr in God's plan. You try anything ls, placing th last stp anywhr prior to marriag, and you hav just insurd yourslf yars of misry. This book of Numbrs and th incidnts thrin hav grat application to our livs. Th application may not b just what you would xpct, but it is simpl God has rvald His will to you. How much of His authority hav you rjctd? How much of God's clarly rvald will hav you ignord? Having rjctd His plan and His will, don't b surprisd whn things don't work out and don't b unnrvd whn you ar svrly disciplind. And Y howah spok to Moss and to Aaron, saying, [Num. 16:20] Nothing is said about Korah, or th othr two hundrd and fifty; it is likly that thy did not har God's voic. "Sparat yourslvs from th midst of this company, and I will consum thm in a momnt." [Num. 16:21] Now hr is a clar-cut command of God's; Moss and Aaron hav a choic thy can stand with this company, as thy ar God's ladrs, or thy can sparat thmslvs from this group. God's command is for immdiat sparation. So what do thy do? And thy fll on thir facs, and thy said, "God, God of th spirits with rgard to all flsh, this on man sins, and against all th company You burn in angr!" [Num. 16:22] Thir livs ar in dangr du to ths two hundrd and fifty mn who hav com to support Korah. Crtainly it is Korah who has gottn thm all stirrd up. That is obvious. Howvr, thy of thir own volition hav joind Korah's rbllion and thy hav shown thir support for Korah by coming out this nxt day with thir incns burnrs. Any on of thm could hav stayd at hom. Anyon of thm could hav obyd God's Word. Thy chos not to. Evn though thy ar shp bing ld to th slaughtr, thy ar going thir of thir own volition. Bing ld by a charismatic ladr dos not xcus anyon. It is typical of crtain cults to hav vry charismatic ladrs that thos clos to thm attmpt to mulat thm and to support thm. Korah is obviously a vry dynamic, prsonabl ladr and ths two hundrd and fifty mn hav falln in right bhind him. You do not hav to lad or to organiz to b undr disciplin. Moss is familiar with th book of Gnsis. H has rad it in its unditd form or in its svral sourc forms (w do not know xactly how h cam to b in possssion of it whthr it was through his fathr-in-law or through th congrgation of Isral). H knows what happnd in Gn. 18: Abraham argud with God, dtrmind to prsrv th city of Sodom if thr wr tn rightous mn thrin (rcall that h had rasond that his rlativs and thir spouss would add up to tn). God promisd Abraham that H would not dstroy th city of Sodom if 101 thr was a pivot of tn in th city. So Moss sks to prsrv through a rlatd argumnt: you can't dstroy all of Isral bcaus thr ar a fw rvolutionists. In this cas, it is mor spcifically, You cannot dstroy all of ths two hundrd fifty mn bcaus thy wr stirrd up by Korah (s also Gn. 20:1 11). 101 Pivot is a trm original with Thim rfrring to thos who ar rgnrat and xprincing spiritual growth in a particular gographical ara.

191 Th Book of Numbrs 191 Now not th actions of Moss and Aaron; Moss knows that without th ladrship of Korah that ths mn would not b thr in opposition to him and h prays for thir forgivnss. Korah is th principl prson in rbllion hr; thy ar but shp. Moss was so much gratr than I would hav bn undr th sam circumstancs. My prsonal raction would hav bn, can I look up whil you massacr ths rvrsionists? This is bcaus Moss was grat and compassionat; h took grat rsponsibility for his popl, vn whn thy opposd him. If you hav childrn particularly tnagrs you may undrstand Moss vn mor. Now what amazs m is th third prson masculin plural of th vrb said. Although just what Moss and Aaron said is not diffrntiatd, it is gracious for Moss to includ Aaron in this quick prayr to God. My guss is that Aaron said, "O God" and Moss said th rst. Howvr, w can find that out in trnity. W hav an intrsting vocativ hr: It is l ìlohêy, which is "God (singular) God (plural) of th spirits in rgards to all flsh." It could b "God, God of th spirits to [or, for] all flsh." W find almost th sam vocativ in Num. 27:16. God has always bn tid to th spirit of man, which is th portion of man which allows fllowship with God, just as th soul of man allows him to hav fllowship with othr mn. Whn th soul has dgnratd to a crtain dgr, man is no longr a man, but bordrs on th animalistic that is, a man with a worthlss soul is mor likly to rap and kill and hav no rgard for th livs of othr mn. Som criminals in prison hav rachd this sort of animal stat thos rsponsibl for homosxual raps and th daths of othr criminals du to vnganc of som sort. But, I digrss. And Y howah spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 16:23] Aaron may hav hard what God said to Moss, but I suspct that this was in rspons to Moss' prayr for th dlivranc of th two hundrd and fifty mn. "Spak to th company, saying, 'Go all of you from round about th tabrnacl [or, tnt] of Korah; Dathan and Abiram.' " [Num. 16:24] God is about to, in just sconds, dstroy ths mn. Moss quickly prayrs for thir dlivranc and God answrs his prayr. This was a quickly-dlivrd, last minut prayr and God just as quickly answrs it. Moss is to tll ths popl to sparat thmslvs from this apostat ladrship. W hav had rligious cults whr popl hav bn trappd. Howvr, God has allowd thm to lav. Thy can pray for thir dlivranc and God will dlivr thm. Or you can pray for thir dlivranc, and God will provid for thm a way out. But th kys to thir dlivranc is both your prayr and thir choic to sparat from th apostat ladrship. Th tabrnacl, or tnt, of Korah; Dathan and Abiram, has nothing to do with th tabrnacl of God. This is mrly th dwlling plac of Korah. Thy do not all dwll in th sam tnt ithr. Oftn, in th Hbrw, a singular subjct will b tid to a singular vrb, yt thr is a plural subjct which is tid immdiatly aftrward (s Num. 21:1, for instanc, whr Miriam is th primary prson who is spaking, but Aaron is likly backing hr up by saying a fw things of his own; so th vrb for spak is in th fminin singular, although most translations translat it as a plural). And Moss aros and wnt to Dathan and Abiram and th ldrs of Isral followd him; [Num. 16:25] Thr is a suddn, tmporary stay of xcution. God is about to dstroy all of ths mn, and Moss calls timout. Thr is a larg gathring hr of thos supporting both sids. Som of you who ar rading critically may b lost in th actual logistics of what is going on. Moss has st up a tim whn Korah, Dathan, Abiram and thir two hundrd and fifty mmbr cabint would mt at th tnt of mting to s who God would choos (vv. 5 11). Dathan and Abiram did not attnd th first confrontation btwn Korah, th two hundrd and fifty and Moss. Whn Moss had thm summond to th tst th nxt day, thy dclind (vv ). Moss is angry at thir rply and rpats his ordrs to Korah and his cabint (vv ). Korah and th two hundrd and fifty mt Moss at th tnt of mting (vv ). God thratns to dstroy this two hundrd fifty th nxt day at thir assmbly against Moss; Moss and Aaron stand in th gap

192 Numbrs Chaptr on bhalf of ths two hundrd and fifty (vv ). Moss and Aaron, in this vrs, gt up from th ground, and walk to th tnts of Dathan and Abiram, which ar adjacnt to th tnt of Korah. Korah follows thm, along with th ldrs of Isral (v. 25). Whil moving toward thir tnts, prhaps a mil away, Moss says th following: And h spok to th company, saying, "Turn asid, I urg you, from th tnts of ths vil mn, and do not touch anything which [is] thirs, so that you will not [all] b swpt away in all thir sins." [Num. 16:26] W hav xamind th word nâ (à ð)è [pronouncd naw] bfor; it is part of an xhortation or part of an ntraty. It is quivalnt to our word plas, although it oftn dos not sound right whn translatd that way. A rasonablsounding, on-word translation dos not com to mind, so I will updat th KJV vrsion I pray th to I urg you. God allows Moss tim to dlivr ths last fw mn. Rcall during th tim of th cross, th soldir who said, "Truly, this was th Son of God." Rcall th thif who askd for Jsus to rmmbr him whn H cam into His kingdom. Evn at th last momnt, God is willing to dlivr. Not that Moss has givn ths popl a vry clar warning. Thy ar to sparat thmslvs compltly from Korah, Dathan and Abiram (On is only mntiond onc, back in Num. 16:1). This is th Moss who has don many signs and wondrs bfor thir ys in th powr of th Spirit; this is th Moss who rturnd from th top of Mount Sinai with th Tn Commandmnts tchd in ston; this is th Moss whom God has spokn to tim and tim again. Ths othr mn hav no crdntials of God; only of mn. Thy havn't prformd any miracls; thy hav not ld thir popl out of th dsrt; thy hav not ntrd into th promisd land; God dos not spak to thm. So thir choic is ithr with God's man or with th popl's choic. Thy will act on thir own volition and thy will hav to tak th natural and divin consquncs of thir actions. W hav sn a similar situation in th past. Mssngrs (or, angls) from God cam to Lot to rmov him and his family from Sodom bfor it was dstroyd by God. Immdiatly aftr th mn of Sodom cam to Lot's hous with th intntion of raping Lot's visitors [th angls] and wr thn struck blind, th angls said to Lot: "Whom ls do you hav hr? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughtrs and whomvr you hav in th citiy bring [thm] out of th plac for w ar about to dstroy this plac, bcaus thir outcry has bcom so grat bfor Y howah that Y howah has snt us to dstroy it." And Lot wnt out and spok to his sons-in-law, who wr taking his daughtrs, and said, "Up, gt out of this plac, for Y howah will dstroy th city." But h appard to his sons-in-law lik on who was jsting. And whn th morning dawnd, th angls urgd Lot, saying, "Up, tak your wif and your two daughtrs, who ar hr, so that you ar not swpt away in th sin of th city." But h hsitatd, so th mn sizd his hand and th hand of his wif and th hands of his daughtrs, for th compassion of Y howah [was] upon him; and thy brought thm out, and put him outsid th city (Gn. 19:12b 16). This indicats that if God is about to dstroy an ara that H will dlivr thos who ar His, if thy so choos. Thr ar tims whn w as blivrs ar calld to havn through a disastr, oftn to witnss to on prson bfor w ar takn, but th two situations hr ar incidnts of dirct judgmnt by God. And thy wnt up from th tabrnacl of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, from round about, and Dathan and Abiram cam out, standing at th opning of thir tnts, and thir wivs and thir sons and thir infants. [Num. 16:27] Rcall that Dathan and Abiram would not vn stand in front of this crowd and fac Moss man to man. Thy would not oby his ordrs to stand in front of him. Howvr, thir human shild has mltd away. Ths two hundrd and fifty hav stayd narby. Thy hav not fully rjctd Dathan and Abiram's ladrship thy ar mrly wavring btwn Moss and apostasy. "How long will you hsitat btwn two opinions? If Y howah is God, [thn] follow Him." (1Kings 18:21b). Howvr, thy hav movd asid. So now Dathan and Abiram hav mrgd from thir tnts, holding thir childrn, standing with thir familis. You may b wondring just what is going on. Crtainly you hav sn pictur aftr pictur of a politician and his family? That is all it is PR. Thr is th slight possibility in thir minds that God might dstroy thm, so, sinc thir shild has mltd away, thy stand with thir familis and infants. Thy ar family mn; how could God dstroy thm? Howvr, God will dstroy all of thos who rmain with ths thr, including thir familis. Thy hav bn clarly warnd and som of th sons of Dathan and Abiram will hd this warning (Num. 26:11).

193 Th Book of Numbrs 193 Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx An Earthquak Envlops Korah, Dathan, Abiram and Thir Rspctiv Housholds And Moss said, "By this you [all] will know that Y howah has snt m to do all ths works, for [my authority is] not from my own hart. [Num. 16:28] Th two hundrd and fifty hav stppd asid, but thy ar not out of th pictur. Thy hav not fully rmovd thmslvs from Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Howvr, now Korah and Dathan and Abiram ar standing out in th opn, Dathan and Abiram ar with thir familis. Much of th congrgation of Isral is probably out to obsrv this. God had to continually prov Himslf to this congrgation. H would prform som incrdibl work bfor thir ys, and th sons of Isral would b faithful for a short tim. Howvr, thy would ocntinually go astray, forgtting ntirly God's grat powr. Moss tlls thm that his own authority will b vindicatd by what is about to occur. Moss did not choos this position of ladrship; h took it rluctantly. God will vindicat Moss' authority. Th last portion of this vrs appars to b (but is not) a mattr of intrprtation. Svral translations (NIV, Young's Translation and th KJV) indicat that it is ths works which do not com from Moss' own hart. Howvr, this intrprtation misss th gist of th ntir passag. What has bn qustiond by Korah is th authority of Moss and Aaron. Th rason thy ar facing two hundrd and fifty mn is that ths mn ar th rplacmnts for Moss and Aaron; thy ar th popl's choic. Korah has accusd Moss of making himslf a ladr ovr all th sons of Isral. What will occur will show that th position which Moss has was not on from his own hart, but that h was chosn by God. So crtainly, th works ar not of Moss' hart; howvr, th intnt of this vrs is that it his authority which is not of his hart (i.., his authority was not somthing which h purposd to hav). Th nd of v. 29 vindicats this intrprtation "If ths mn di naturally and what happns to thm is what happns to all mn, thn Y howah has not snt m." (Num. 16:29). Th translations which proprly intrprt this ar th NASB, Own's translation, Th Emphasizd Bibl and th NRSV. Th nxt vrs is a littl difficult, so lt's xamin th various translations: Th Amplifid Bibl Th Emphasizd Bibl KJV NASB Young's Lit. Translation If ths mn di th common dath of all mn, or if [only] what happns to vryon happns to thm, thn th Lord has not snt m. If as all human bings di ths do di, and th visitation of all human bings b visitd upon thm Yahwh hath not snt m. If ths mn di th common dath of all mn, or if thy b visitd aftr th visitation of all mn; thn th LORD hath not snt m. If ths mn di th dath of all mn, or if thy suffr th fat of all mn, thn th LORD has not snt m. If according to th dath of all mn ths di or th charg of all mn is chargd upon thm Jhovah hath not snt m; "If according to th dath of all of ths [lit., th] mn ths di or th visitation [or, prsonal contact] of all of ths [lit., th] mn is visitd upon thm Y howah has not snt m; [Num. 16:29] What Moss is saying is that if ths mn just di lik all othr mn di; vn if it is a bit prmatur, yt in th dsrt, thn God did not snt Moss. Howvr, th scond part of this vrs is a bit mor difficult. Notic that w hav fiv diffrnt ways of translating th last portion of this vrs. Th vrb is pâqad (ã Ç È ) [pronouncd paw- KAHD], which w hav studid twic bfor. It is in th Niphal (th passiv stm) imprfct hr and in th Niphal it is translatd lacking, missing, wanting, appointd, visitd. Th basic dfinition givn by BDB is attnd to, visit, mustr. Th lattr word is also translatd numbr. Th sub-dfinitions ar (in th Qal): pay attntion to, obsrv, attnd to, sk (with intrst or dsir), to sk in vain (thrfor, to nd to miss, to lack), to visit (for diffrnt purposs), to appoint; (in th Niphal): to b sought, missd, to b lacking, visitd, to b visitd upon, to b

194 Numbrs Chaptr appointd. Th ky to all of ths dfinitions is prsonal contact of som sort. Prson A is in contact with prson B in ordr to blss thm, to disciplin thm, to numbr thm, to appoint thm, to look for thm (and thrfor, find thm lacking or missing); in th Niphal, th passiv stm, this is to b on th rciving nd of such visitations. Th British hav a vry similar colloquialism which may hlp som of you to grasp th maning: sort; as in, I nd to sort him out. Hr, prsonal contact is rquird in ordr to achiv a dsird rsult. Th final givn dfinition can b words which sm to b ntirly unrlatd. To giv you som ampls (and w will look at only th Niphal): Num. 31:49b rads, "You srvants hav takn a sum of th mn of war who ar in charg and no man of us is missing." This mans that thr was no man who was not in prsonal contact with th cnsus takr. A similar usag is found in Judgs 21:3 1Sam. 20:18 2Kings 10:19. In Nh. 7:1, it rads Now it cam to pass whn th wall was rbuilt and I had st up th doors, and th gatkprs and th singrs and th Lvits wr appointd. What is occurring is that Nhmiah (or his srvants) hav com into prsonal contact with th gatkprs, singrs and Lvits into ordr to gt a had count and gt thm appropriatly assignd to thir dutis. Nhmiah is not th subjct of th vrb hr, but thos h got into contact with ar; thrfor, it is in th 102 passiv voic. But notic how th ky is prsonal contact. So Moss has st up a visual for th congrgation and, although h has not com right out and said, ths mn will di, h has said if thy di a normal dath by and by, and if th visitation upon thm (th implication of th vrs is that this visitation is by God) is th visitation is th sam as don to any othr man, thn Y howah did not snd Moss. "And if a cration Y howah crats, and th ground opns hr mouth and swallows thm and all that thy hav, and thy hav gon down aliv into Shol thn you [all] will know that ths mn dspis Y howah." [Num. 16:30] Moss has bn waxing somwhat potic, but this gts lost in th xgsis somtims. H has mad us of a figur of spch which is classifid as a polyptoton [pronouncd po-lip-tô-ton]. W s th usd in th Hbrw quit oftn whr a vrb is rpatd or a vrb and its noun cognat ar placd togthr. If w dram a dram, build a building, dsign a dsign, w ar mploying ths sam figur of spch. A polyptoton is a kind of a 103 suprlativ, dclaring th magnitud and gravity of an action or th gratnss and importanc of its rsults. It is don twic in v. 29 and onc in v. 30. What is going to happn is that God will crat somthing out of nothing. Th vrb hr is th sam on usd in Gn. 1:1, 21, 27. Thr ar thos who tach that this word mans to crat out of nothing; howvr, th usag of th sam vrb hr dos not indicat that this arthquak was mad 104 out of nothing. Rothrham says it can simply man to mak a nw thing, raliz a nw ida. What has bn cratd hr is an arthquak. Prior to th flood, th arth was much flattr, with fwr and lss dramatic mountains, whr th land was not a grat dal abov sa lvl. During th flood, thr was a grat shifting of th arth's crust, forming grat mountains, vallys, and grat sa cavitis; and allowing for arthquaks in cnturis to com. This is possibly th first of th many grat arthquaks that hav occurrd on this arth. W ar givn no clu as to how Moss had dcidd upon this typ of judgmnt. Crtainly, h wantd judgmnt to b quick and final, yt dirctly clarly at Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Thr is no indication that God suggstd this to Moss, making it likly that this was Moss' ida, and God rspctd and rspondd to his prayr with an arthquak. Thr ar two things which could happn at this confrontation. Ths mn could di normal daths whn thir tim coms; th things which happn to anyon ls obsrving this vnt happns to thm; or, in th altrnativ, God could crat somthing that ths popl had nvr sn bfor, whr th arth opns up and swallows thm whol. What Moss is alluding to is an arthquak, but h is prdicting that Y howah will caus th arth to opn up bnath thm and to swallow up ths rbls. And notic how Moss dlicatly phrass this, bing th mastr of tact. Hr ar mn who claim to hav Y howah in thir midst, just as Moss dos, and thrfor 102 On of th svral rasons that I hav spnt tim putting togthr a lxicon of sorts is that, although th BDB is invaluabl in larning th dfinitions of words, it gnrally has th svral manings without having som point of commonality givn so that, whn on looks up a word, thr or four smingly com pltly rndrs ar found, allowing th radr to insrt any of ths dfinitions willy nilly into any vrs. W hn on ss th common thrad of ths dfinitions, th contxt thn hlps to slct th m ost appropriat m aning Bullingr's Figurs of Spch, p Rothrham's Th Emphasizd Bibl, p. 176.

195 Th Book of Numbrs 195 should hav his powr and authority. So thy ar paying lip srvic to God; and who knows, prhaps som of thm ar sincr. Moss tlls th congrgation that whn th arth opns up and swallows ths mn, that all will know that thy dspis God. King David, a grat studnt of th Law of Moss, wrot: Lt dath com dcitfully upon thm; lt thm go down aliv to Shol, for vil is in thir dwlling, in thir midst (Psalm 55:15). W do not know whthr Moss dcidd that this would b th outcom or whthr God rvald this to him. No spcific contact with God is givn whn God promiss to do this, so that could indicat that Moss cam up with this tst ntirly on his own. In any cas, notic that h has grat confidnc in God, that H will bring it to pass; and, although who thought this tst up is a mattr of intrst, what is important is Moss' unwilding faith in God's powr and his complt undrstanding of his plac in God's plan. So many popl who aar Christians and profss to hav som sort of intrst in God ar totally prplxd whn it coms to thir plac in God's plan as if this wr som dp, dark scrt. In my own prsonal psychotic stat as an unblivr, I just knw that thr was this groov that I could fall into whr vrything would b alright, but I could nvr quit fall into that groov. That is, I was always just out of sync with lif or my plac in lif; that just a littl movmnt this way or that would plac m in sync with lif and my plac hr on arth. It was as though thr was a shadow xistnc that if I could fit right into th shadow, right into that plac, that vrything would b okay. Ths flings whil in a psychotic stat wr not ntirly unrlatd to rality. Thr was vn a movi calld Groundhog Day whrin th lad charactr vntually, aftr innumrabl attmpts, livd on day corrctly (in trms of human viwpoint). That is, h was in sync with lif. Thr is that groov; thr is a lif dsignd for us that w can fall into sync with. Thr is a plac whr w can b whr, vn in th dvil's world, vrything is alright, rlativly spaking (it cannot b ovrmphasizd that w ar in th dvil's world). This plac is th plac of rst, th plac of fllowship. All w hav to do is to gt into fllowship, stay thr, and larn God's Word. Evrything ls will fall into plac. For thos who wants to b in sync with thir lif as rlatd to God; who want to find thir nich in th world, who want to b in a lif which is balancd God has that for you. As long as you hav th ability mak moral choics that is, you know right from wrong, or your lft hand from your right thn you can fall into that groov; your lif can b in sync in th dvil's world. I say this with a grat dal of thought bhind it: it dos not mattr if you hav bn a drug addict, a psychotic, an alcoholic, a homosxual, vn a witch with rlativly clos contact to dmons thr is this groov, this plac of synchronization, that you can fall into. Howvr, you must b savd, gt into fllowship, stay in fllowship, and tak in God's Word. Onc you ar thr, you practic what Thim trms as faith-rst; you do not allow your lusts to run away with you, and all th dtails of your lif will b takn car of as you apply what you hav larnd from God's Word. Furthrmor, this is all fr if you want it, God will giv it to you and much mor than you could vr imagin. And it cam to pass at his finishing spaking of all ths words, that th ground which [was] undr thm was causd to brak opn; [Num. 16:31] God has givn Moss nough tim to dlivr this mssag; thos who ar in opposition to his God-givn authority hav mad thir choic in lif. Thrfor, thr is no mor nd to talk about anything. God is going to wip out this dgnrat gnration, and this is how som of thm will go. W can find paralll passags for this incidnt in Dut. 11:6 and Psalm 106:17. And th arth opnd hr mouth and swallowd thm, and thir houss and all th mn who [wr] for Korah, and all th goods; [Num. 16:32] Th word translatd houss dos not man hous xactly as w pictur it. This is thir houshold; it includs thir womn and childrn and tnts and rlativs. You may b thinking to yourslvs that this is totally unfair thir innocnt familis ar trappd by thir sins. First of all, thr ar no innocnt familis. This gnration is filld with dgnrats who kickd at th land God brought thm to. Scondly, ys, whn a woman marris a man, and placs hrslf undr his authority, thr ar dcisions that h will mak which will impact hr lif and th lif of thir childrn. Duh! Whn it coms to gtting marrid, th woman has th asist choic in th world can I plac my lif and soul undr this man's authority. Do I hav th rspct and trust in his judgmnt that whatvr h says, whatvr ordrs h dlivrs, I know that I can oby thm? And if this man just turns you on and h is th cutst thing on this arth and you want to spnd vry minut with him, just so long as h dosn't vr think about tlling you what to do, thn you obviously hav th wrong man. Now, without going off into a totally othr

196 É Numbrs Chaptr tangnt, all mn xprss thir authority diffrntly, and this dos not man that a man is going to bcom (or vn should bcom) som sort of a drill srgant. Howvr, all final dcisions rst with th man; and if, as a woman, you cannot trust his final judgmnt, thn lav this man find yourslf a man whos judgmnt you can trust. So, ths womn chos ths mn. Thrfor, thy hav chosn thir authority. Howvr, thy had an option. Moss told thm, "Dpart now from th tnts of ths wickd mn, and touch nothing that blongs to thm, so that you will not b swpt away in all thir sin." (Num. 16:26). You know th horror movi whr somon scrams "Gt out of th hous!" Moss is giving thm th gt out of th hous scram. Moss maks it simpl. Ths mn ar way out of God's will, thy ar about to di th sin unto dath, and anyon who has a lick of sns should put mils btwn thmslvs and ths mn. Now, thir wivs hav day in and day out obsrvd thir husbands and thy hav obsrvd Moss and th powr givn Moss by God. Moss laid it all out on th tabl jjust as clarly as h could. So thy can choos stand with thir husband, or lav, don't look back, and don't tak anything with you. Th sam dcision was givn to anyon who was in thir houshold. So whn th arth opnd up and swallowd ths rvrsionists and thir familis and thir possssions, God was not bing unfair. And w will s that som listnd to his warning. Now, mor application (did you vr whn you rad this passag in your rading through th Bibl in on yar vr dram that it had any application to you?): w ar commandd crtain kinds of sparation. For a drug addict, thr is an nvironmnt, thr ar associations that you nd to avoid. For on who is a homosxual or who thinks himslf or hrslf to b sxually addictd: thr ar popl and placs from which you must sparat yourslf. If you ar a thif, thr ar associations from which you nd to b sparat. I don't hav to b spcific you know yourslf th kind of sparation that must tak plac. Now this is diffrnt than sparating yourslf form unblivrs. You will com into contact vry day with unblivrs and you should. Howvr, thr ar crtain placs, popl and things from which you nd to b sparatd and that taks a choic, a frwill choic. Ths popl had that choic, and thos who would not sparat wr swallowd up by th arth and lost all that thy thought thy had, as thos without doctrin do at dath. If you do not sparat from crtain popl, placs, activitis, you will find yourslf swallowd up th Satan's world to whr you also loos vrything that you thought you had. Rmmbr, if you ar a child of God, thn you ar also subjct to God's disciplin. It is absolutly tru that all you hav to do to b savd is to bliv in Jsus Christ and thn you can tll God, "I am going to do whatvr I want; I will s You in trnity, God." You can do that. But, you ar subjct to God's disciplin and som of you will b hit so hard that you don't know what hit you so I will tll you right now it is disciplin from God, which will procd from warning disciplin, to intnsiv disciplin to dying disciplin, th sin which lads to dath. Ths popl who wr swallowd up hav a choic and it was clar cut and thy wr givn tim to mak it. You also hav similar choics in lif. If you can undrstand what I am saying, thn you ar 100% fully rsponsibl for th dcisions that you mak in your lif, vn if you ar only ight yars old. And som of ths dcisions will not just impact your lif for a fw months or a fw yars, but som dcisions that you will mak will impact your lif for all of trnity. And thy wnt down, thy and all that thy had, aliv into Shol, and th arth closd up ovr thm, and thy prishd from th midst of th assmbly; [Num. 16:33] Shol, as you hav probably surmisd, is a translitration; it coms from th word sh ol (ìà ) [pronouncd Ó sh 'OLE] and it is a rfrnc to th undrworld for both blivrs and unblivrs. Anothr common translation would b th grav. W will covr th Doctrin of Shol in Job 7:9 and 1Sam. This was likly th first and only arthquak witnssd by ths popl, and it must hav bn a rathr dramatic xprinc. Thos swallowd hr wr Korah, Dathan, Abiram and possibly On and thir housholds. Howvr, God did prsrv a rmnant according to th lction of grac (Rom. 11:5b). And th arth opnd its mouth and swallowd thm [Dathan and Abiram] up along with Korah, whn that company did, whn th fir dvourd two hundrd fifty mn, so that thy bcam a warning. Th sons of Korah, howvr, did not di 105 Num. 16:32 Dut. 11: W actually don't know what happnd to On in rlationship to this incidnt. It would b rasonabl to assum that h backd off from th rvolution; howvr, h crtainly did prior to th nd of Isral's wandrings in th dsrt.

197 Th Book of Numbrs 197 (Num. 26:10 11). This is grac. Korah was a dgnrat, powr-hungry rvolutionist; howvr, his sons had th sns to stp away from thir fathr and thir fathr's tnt whn thy wr so warnd by Moss. From thm was 107 dscndd Samul (1Sam. 1:1 1Chron. 6:33 38). From thm was also dscndd th sons of Korah who wrot many of th Psalms (mistranslatd in th KJV as for th sons of Korah; it should rad of th sons of Korah). This is God's trmndous grac. S th Doctrin of th sons of Korah not finishd yt!! And all Isral who [wr] round about thm fld at thir voic, for thy said, "So that th arth dos not swallow us." [Num. 16:34] Th voic hr ar th scrams of thos who ar takn undrground by th opning of th arth's crust in th arthquak. Th would hav soundd a scram as on man. Othrs ran from th sound of th scrams to avoid falling into th grat cavitis. It's intrsting that On was only mntiond in Num. 16:1, vn though h was on of th ladrs of th rbllion along with Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Th othr thr ar mntiond in svral placs Num. 26:9 11 indicating clarly that thy did in this arthquak. Howvr, in th cas of On, his nam occurs only at th bginning of Num. 16, but his dath is nithr confirmd nor dnid ithr hr or in Num. 26. H was dmd so unimportant as to not warrant bing mntiond again. Thr ar svral outcoms for On that w can spculat upon. Sinc his childrn and gnalogy ar not mntiond, it is fair to say that his lin possibly ndd with him. His ntir family and childrn stood with him and thy all prishd in th arthquak. Or, sinc h is not namd as bing spcifically an arthquak victim, h may hav avoidd th arthquak, but did immdiatly aftr in th plagu. Hr is a man who has grat ladrship ability, who is a popular choic of th popl, who can mustr a prsonal support group of two hundrd and fifty mn, and hav a larg popular backing bsids. Yt, for all of that, vn Moss dos not sm to rcall what happnd to him in rtrospct. Human clbrityship mans absolutly nothing. Thr ar millions of popl who ar rnown for thir ability to ntrtain in som way or anothr thy ar grat athlts, thy ar popular musicians, thy ar wll-known actors yt at thir dath thir nams will b 108 takn out of th book of lif and thy will spnd trnity in hll, an unimportant and long-forgottn minor footnot in history, thir livs of walth, succss and rcognition bing but a drop in th buckt for all th trnity that thy suffr, rjcting th Lord who bought thm (2Ptr 2:1b). Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx A Lightning Storm Dstroys Thir Intndd Royal Administration And fir cam out from Y howah and consumd th two hundrd and fifty mn [who wr] bringing nar th prfum. [Num. 16:35] Moss and Aaron wr just at th tnts of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Th arthquak nvlopd thm and thir housholds. Thr is no indication that thy rturnd to th tnt of mting, although thr is no indication that thy did not. In ithr cas, this fir from Y howah is lightning, so thr was a grat arthquak accompanid by a thundr and lightning storm. Rcall that w hav two million popl scattrd all around th tabrnacl. God causd an arthquak in on plac, taking down into th ground th thr; thn lightning struck vry on of th two hundrd and fifty. Moss did rturn to th tabrnacl (as w will s in th nxt coupl of vrss) w just don't know if it was bfor, aftr or during th lightning storm. W hav sn a similar incidnt in Num. 11:1 3. Th saying "May God strik m with lightning if...", although it bordrs on a chap and suprficial us of th nam of God, dos find som support in th Bibl. Howvr, it is God's grat patinc and forbaranc which savs som popl from bing struck by lightning from Him. Howvr, ths mn had rachd a point of ngativ volition toward Him to whr thir harts would nvr b 107 Zuph would hav bn born from th marriag of an Ephraimit and a Kohathit; that will b covrd in mor dtail whn w gt to 1Sam. 1: Ex. 32:33 Psalm 69:28.

198 Numbrs Chaptr toward God again. Thrfor, God took thm out of this lif in a spctacular mannr. Evn though this spctacl smd to hav no affct whatsovr upon thir contmporaris, thir childrn obsrvd ths incidnts with grat rvrnc. And Y howah spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 17:1 (16:36 in th English vrsions)] Again notic how many tims this phras roccurs in this book. "Spak to Elazar th son of Aaron th prist, so that [lit., and] h will tak up th incns burnrs from th midst of th burning and scattrd th fir offring byond, for thy ar holy; [Num. 17:2 (16:37 in English)] Hâl âh (ä àè ì Ó äè ) [pronouncd HAWL -aw] has bn translatd back, byond, hncforward, hithrto, and forward in its fiftn occurrncs in th Old Tstamnt. I bliv th intntion hr is for it to ithr b outsid th tabrnacl courtyard or outsid th camp. From xamining th othr passags whr this occurs (Gn. 19:9 35:21 1Sam. 10:3 18:9 20:22, for instanc), byond is a rasonabl, but not prfct, translation. Strong s #1973 BDB #229. It is th incns burnrs which ar holy; th incns from th fir offrings was probably also considrd holy, vn though it was offrd by ths two hundrd and fifty rbls. Howvr, in this us by ths mn, ths things hav bcom dfild and wr no longr to function as originally dsignd. "And thy will construct th incns burnrs of th mn who hav sinnd against thir souls [into] hammrd plats a covring for th altar for thy brought thm nar bfor th fac of Y howah thrfor [lit., and so] thy ar holy and thy will b a sign to th sons of Isral." [Num. 17:3 (16:38 in English)] Bcaus ths incns burnrs wr brought bfor God, thy ar holy. Howvr, sinc thy wr brought bfor Him in sin and rbllion, thy will b hammrd into flat shts to covr th altar and th constant offring of sacrifics upon ths altars will b a sign to Isral. And Elazar th prist took up th brazn incns burnrs which thy who ar burnt had brought nar, and thy sprad thm out, a covring for th altar; [Num. 17:4 (16:39 in th English)] Onc God has dmonstratd His grat powr, thn thr is always quick obdinc on th part of Isral. Elazar is a part of th nxt gnration; part of th gnration who will ntr into th land and tak it as God forordaind. W ar not told which altar was ovrlaid with th mtal from ths incns burnrs. My guss would b th altar of incns. A mmorial to th sons of Isral, so that an outsidr [or, a strangr] who is not a dscndant [lit., of th sd] of Aaron will not approach to mak a prfumd offring bfor th fac of Y howah, and will not b lik Korah and lik his company as Y howah had spokn by th hand of Moss to him [Elazar]. [Num. 17:5 (16:40 in th English)] God, in His Law, prviously brought bfor all of Isral, gav spcific dutis to prists and chos crtain mn (th sons of Aaron) to b prists to Him. An outsidr in this contxt is not a non-jw; but an outsidr with rspct to th Aaronic pristhood. This was not a vocation to b takn lightly, as w saw with th xcution by God of Aaron's first two sons (Lv. 10). Nor was this a vocation which anyon could dcid thy wr going to do, no mor than anyon could dcid that thy ar going to bcom th savior of man. That is Jsus Christ, chosn by God th Fathr in trnity past. Our spiritual gifts of th church ag ar much th sam. You cannot just dcid that you will b a pastor-tachr or that you hav som othr spcific gift (lik thos in apostat churchs 109 who all alldg to spak in tongus). What gift or gifts givn you by th Holy Spirit ar irrvocabl H 109 Rom. 11:29.

199 Th Book of Numbrs 199 chooss, w do not. W just choos whthr to go along with His prfct plan. Thim occasionally th story of Billy Graham who bgan by pastoring a church and lft bcaus that was not his gift; God gav him th gift of vanglism and God workd through Billy Graham in a marvlous way ovr th past svral dcads. God would not hav workd through him in such a way had h chos to rmain a pastor-tachr. Th Lvits had a vry important spiritual function. "So whn th tabrnacl is to st out, th Lvits will tak it down; and whn th tabrnacl ncamps, th Lvits will st it up. Howvr, th outsidr who approachd [it] will b put to dath. And th Lvits will camp around th tabrnacl of th tstimony, that thr may b no wrath on th congrgation of th sons of Isral. So th Lvits will kp charg of th tabrnacl of th tstimony." (Num. 1:51). Thir dsir to hav a diffrnt spiritual function is no diffrnt than that of a Christian who rjcts th spiritual gift bstowd upon him in favor of a diffrnt gift. Paul discusss spiritual gifts in I Cor. 12. You can all rlat to right man/right woman, vn if it is only in thory. Can you imag a man throwing asid his right woman dsignd for him in trnity by God and taking up with som trollop? Crtainly you can imagin it bcaus it occurs tim and tim again; howvr, it is a stupid mistak on his part, just as th Lvits dciding that thy would lik a mor prominnt spiritual position is a mistak on thir part. I hav to insrt a thought. Thr ar svral branchs of Christianity which hav a spcializd pristhood. I hop that you hav noticd in this study of Lviticus and Numbrs that God chos a spcific branch of th Lvits, th dscndants of Aaron, to b prists to him. God has just dstroyd hundrds of mn who thought thy should b allowd to b prists as wll. Pristhood is not somthing that anyon in th Old Tstamnt chos to do thy wr born into it and thos who insistd that thy could b prists as wll did th sin unto dath. So if you ar a mmbr of a spcializd pristhood or if you attnd a church whr thr is som kind of spcializd pristhood, kp in mind that th kind of pristhood to which you adhr is not that which is found in our Bibl. If you cannot point to svral passags in th Bibl whr thr is such thing as a spcializd prishood whr on lcts, of his own volition to bcom a part of (this is othr than th univrsal pristhood of th blivr), thn your rligion is apostat. You don't gt to mak up th way God's plan is going to b run. It is th study of th Old Tstamnt by which you gt a firmr grasp of what has com bfor, what it all mans, and how it is rlatd to th Nw Tstamnt. If you hav larnd anything from our study in th Old Tstamnt, it is that thr is a spcific way to do somthing and God xpcts us to do it that way. Thr is nothing fr-form or mad up or sloppy about God's plan. H is prfct and His plan is prfct and it is vry spcific. Th Bibl History Old Tstamnt rads: Th momnt Isral dviatd in any dtail, howvr small, thy not only rblld against God's appointmnt, but dstroyd th maning of th whol by substituting th human and natural for th Dvin. Th typs wr, so to spak, mirrors of God's own fitting, which, xhibitd, as alrady prsnt, futur spiritual ralitis with all thir 110 blssings. Pay clos attntion to this passag: svral hundrd popl ar dying th sin unto dath bcaus thy hav dcidd that thy ar going to bcom a part of God's spcializd pristhood. God has a prcis way of doing things, and that prcluds just choosing to bcom a prist. Ys, in cas you wrn't crtain, som of ths popl wr probably vry sincr. Isral, at that tim, was th light of th world, vn as th church is today. Th gospl was rvald to th world through th nation Isral. God brought nations and individuals into contact with th Jws in ordr to vangliz th non-jw. Aaron was to light up th lights about th tabrnacl, as ths lights wr th light of th world; and h was to burn fragrant incns upon th altar, as th incns rprsntd th propitiatory fragranc of th sacrific of our Lord. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx A Larg Contingnt of Followrs Still Oppos Moss and Aaron And off th company of th sons of Isral murmurd th nxt day against Moss and against Aaron, saying, "You you hav killd th popl of Isral." [Num. 17:6 (16:41 in th English)] 110 P. 253.

200 Numbrs Chaptr Can you imagin anything mor prpostrous than having sn God's judgmnt upon Korah and th malcontnts which h ld, to thn blam Moss for this? Wll, actually thr is an xplanation for this. Thr ar two million Isralits scattrd for svral mils on all sids of th tabrnacl. Som wr abl to obsrv th arthquak which swallowd Korah, Dathan, Abiram and thos who stood with thm. Som wr abl to obsrv th lightning strik thir two hundrd and fifty cabint mmbrs. Most just knw that ths popl had all did and you know that th rumors would b flying throughout th camp. Ths popl ar clarly unabl to think straight and thy may not hav all of th facts. Som did witnss lightning which struck down th two hundrd and fifty followrs; and som obsrvd th trmndous arthquak which swallowd th thr ring ladrs, but, du to th siz of th congrgation th majority did not. Thy knw that Moss and Aaron did hav somthing to do with it, although thy did not all compltly undrstand what. So without all of facts, thy blam Moss and Aaron for th daths of ths dgnrats. Thy chos of thir own fr will to stand in opposition to Moss and Aaron and thy wr thrfor in opposition to God. Whn you stand in opposition to God's anointd, thn you ar in opposition to God. Thir prdisposition to blam Moss and Aaron xplains to us why this ntir gnration had to di. Som of th signs of an incrdibly dgnrat socity ar failing to tak rsponsibility for on's choics and actions and acting in mobs on th basis of only a portion of th facts. God would also judg ths, th many sympathizrs of th Korah rbllion. And it cam to pass, in th company which was assmbld [or, had bn calld togthr] against Moss and against Aaron that thy turnd towards th tnt of mting, and saw [lit, lo] th cloud had covrd it and th glory of Y howah was sn; [Num. 17:7 (16:42 in th English)] Rcall that ths popl ar in th dsrt. Clouds ar a rar occurrnc. A cloud so low that it covrd th tabrnacl was an incrdibl sight. Th cloud smd to com out of nowhr th cloud just formd and hung low ovr th tabrnacl, covring th tabrnacl. And Moss cam Aaron also to th front of th tnt of mting. [Num. 17:8 (16:43 in th English)] Th disput brought on by th mob of rcalcitrants was put on hold. Th cloud ovr th tnt was Y howah summoning Moss and Aaron to th tnt. And Y howah spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 17:9 (16:44 in th English)] As Moss approachd or wnt into th tnt of mting, God spok to him. "Gt up out from th midst of this company and I will consum thm in a momnt;" and thy fll on thir facs. [Num. 17:10 (16:45 in th English)] It is not clar whthr th suddn cloud falling ovr th tabrnacl or whthr God's voic was audibl. In ithr cas, it gav th popl quit a start. A grat doctrin which is implid hr is divin prsrvation du to a pivot. Th pivot is Moss. God wants Moss to rmov himslf from th Jws so that H can slaughtr thm. As long as God's faithful srvant, Moss, rmains in with th midst of th Jws, thy ar saf. Thr ar so many businsss, and familis and citis and nations which would b summarily dstroyd but for a fw Christians who ar gographically involvd with thm. And Moss said to Aaron, "Tak th incns burnr and put fir on it from off th altar and plac [on it] prfum, and go; hastn to th company and mak a covring [or, atonmnt] for thm, for th wrath has gon out from th fac of Y howah th plagu has bgun." [Num. 17:11 (16:46 in th English)] Moss rcognizs th gravity of th situation. God has told Moss svral tims that H loaths this gnration of Jws and wants to dstroy thm all. What thy hav said rvals trribly ngativ volition which is prtty much out of control. Moss, as th supr-grac hro as th spiritual atlas upon whos shouldrs rsts th wll-bing of this popl can, with Aaron, mak a covring for this popl. Thir grivous sins nd to b covrd. You

201 Th Book of Numbrs 201 will notic that Moss is no longr calling for God to spar this gnration, but h is acting quickly so that som might b savd. Aftr all that has happnd, thr ar fw argumnts that Moss could bring to God to withdraw His wrath. Notic th way God is judging ths popl. Thr ar th sons of this vil gnration thy will ntr into th land at th nd of this thirty-ight yars. Thr ar Moss and Aaron. So God has to cut out th cancrous clls and lav th good clls. H bgins to dstroy many of th rmaining rcalcitrants with disas. In this nation, w hav a pivot which has prvntd God from dstroying us in a grat war. Howvr, our last svral gnrations hav bcom so dgnrat and so hdonistic that God has had to dstroy us with disas. Popl hat to har this, but th disas AIDS acts as a dstroyr of a cancr. If a homosxual chos not to hav sx or if a drug addict chos not to injct drugs, thy would b saf from this horribl disas. Howvr, thos who chos to lad thos lifstyls had to b rmovd by God, as our laws mak no provision for thir rmoval. Crtainly, innocnt popl (and notic that innocnt is in italics) popl hav bn affctd, but that is part of God's plan and His grac, working within th boundaris of th natural rsults of sin. Many popl hav bn savd bcaus of this awful disas, just as many ar savd du to war, du to th disas cancr, and du to 111 tim spnt in prison. And Aaron took [it] as Moss had said, and ran into th midst of th assmbly, and obsrv [lit., lo], th plagu had bgun among th popl; and h hav th prfum and mad atonmnt for th popl; [Num. 17:12 (16:47 in th English)] Apparntly th popl wr struck with som sort of a disas which bgan to wakn and dbilitat thm and Aaron, function as a typ of Christ, mad atonmnt for thm from th midst of thm, just as our Lord was in th midst of th Jws as H mad atonmnt for us on th cross. And h stood btwn th dad and th living and th plagu was rstraind; [Num. 17:13 (16:48 in th English)] Obviously, this sicknss bgan to kill a fw of thos in th crowd who wr upst ovr th fact that Korah, Dathan, Abiram and possibly On wr now dad and that thir ladrship into a full-blown rbllion was thrfor stifld. Moss was not th most popular prson in th camp and th popl dsird for him to b supplantd by any othr rulr who was mor appaling to thm. Moss again stood in th gap btwn God and th popl, his prsnc and influnc prsrving som. Pual, many cnturis latr, wrot: For w ar a fragranc of Christ to God among thos who ar bing savd and among thos who ar prishing; to th on an aroma from dath to dath, to th othr an aroma from lif to lif. And who is qualifid for ths things? For w ar not lik many, pddling th word of God, but as from discrnmnt, but as from God, w spak in Christ, in th sight of God (II Cor. 2:15 17).. And thos who did by th plagu ar fourtn thousand and svn hundrd, apart from thos who did for th mattr of Korah; [Num. 17:14 (16:49 in th English)] This rvals to us that Korah and his cohorts wr immnsly popular mn. Not only was thr support from th two hundrd and fifty, but ovr fourtn thousand othrs supportd thm (which is only a portion of thos in th crowd). It would hav bn physically impossibl for Isral to do anything but pick up camp and mov lswhr. Evn taking th bodis outsid th camp would hav bn an ordal. Fashioning hadstons and burying this many popl would hav bn unthinkabl. Sinc th imprssion is givn that Aaron's standing in th gap was of som bnfit to ths popl, som of th congrgation who wr in opposition to Moss and Aaron lookd at things onc again. Crtainly, som othrs 111 Crtainly, many prison convrsions ar phony; howvr, many of thm ar ral, bcaus in prison, mn hav nowhr ls to turn but to God and th gift of His Son Jsus Christ. Thr ar som who ar savd who fall back into thir old ways. W nd not just vanglism but doctrin to b taught in th prisons.

202 Numbrs Chaptr thought bttr of thir position and God spard thm. By th way, this will not b th gratst slaughtr of this apostat gnration. 24,000 will di in Num. 25. Not vry rbllion is covrd in this portion of Numbrs. W only hav som rprsntativ incidnts which rsultd in th daths of many rcalcitrants. W hav flashs of history takn out of thirty-ight yars whr God slaughtrd 600,000 mn, along with som of thir wivs. As was mntiond arly on in th book of Numbrs, thr hav bn qustions as to th corrct numbr of popl. Th Bibl sms to unquivocally stat thr wr originally 600,000 mn prpard for war, and thir wivs and childrn. Larg numbrs lik ths givn in v. 49 mak sns only if th 600,000 cnsus is also corrct. What I am saying is that ths figurs ar consistnt. Som popl may not lik thm, but thy ar th numbrs givn by God's Word. And Aaron turnd back to Moss, to th opning of th tnt of mting, and th plagu had bn rstraind. [Num. 17:15 (16:50 in th English)] Although popl did at th rat of twnty pr day, thr wr som days whn thr was a wholsal slaughtr of mn, as was this day. Almost fiftn thousand mn did that particular day du to thir rbllion. Thy rblld not only against Moss and Aaron, but against God whn God mad it clar that Moss was His chosn on. As I said bfor, whn you chos to rvolt against God's anointd you ar rvolting against God. Thr is a grat application hr that non of you s. Whn a prson is rligious yt follows Buddha or Krishna or Josph Smith, h has rjctd God's anointd h has rjctd Jsus Christ, and whn you rjct Jsus Christ, you rjct God. Whn you do not accpt Jsus Christ for Who H is Who H claims to b, thn you hav rjctd th Lord of Glory, th God of th Univrs, and thr is non othr nam undr havn givn among mn by which w must b savd (Acts 4:12). No mattr how rligious you ar, you rjct Jsus Christ and you ar in full rbllion against God. Rturn to Outlin Rturn to Bginning of Chaptr Rturn to th Chart Indx Rturn to th Numbrs Hompag

203 Numbrs 17 Numbrs 17:1 13 Outlin of Chaptr 17: vv. 1 8 God instructs Moss for a tst and Moss obys vv Aaron's rod buds Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Introduction: Not only ar Num. 16 and 17 ar quit diffrnt in trms of siz in th English chaptr division, but th way thy wr dividd maks mor sns in th Hbrw vrsion. Th complaint of th popl and th plagu of Num. 16:41 50 ar tid mor dirctly to Num. 17:11 13 than ths incidnts ar tid to th prvious portion of Num. 16. It actually might hav bn bttr to prsnt as on hug combind chaptr. Howvr, this chaptr is diffrnt from th prvious thmatically. Hr is th first plac that w hav som hop for th nation Isral. It is in this chaptr that w will s th famous Aaron's rod that buddd, which will b placd into th ark of th covnant as a witnss against th popl. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx God Instructs Moss for a Tst and Moss Obys Thn Y howah spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 17:16 (17:1 in th English)] In th English, Num. 16 got so long, that thy arbitrarily stoppd it hr, using this famous dividing lin. "Spak to th sons of Isral and tak form thm ach a rod, for a fathr's hous, from all thir princs, for th hous of thir fathrs, twlv rods; th nam of ach you will writ on his rod; [Num. 17:17 (17:2 in th English)] Th Isralits cam out of Egypt and in th picturs which w hav found on th walls of Egyptian tombs, a prson of rank, on who ownd land and was a had of a family, carrid a rod or a staff which indicatd as much. Crtainly, in thir trudgings through th dsrt, thos of rank would hav had a rod to indicat thir position of ladrship. God will illustrat somthing hr. W hav a lot of vry imprssionabl undr twnty young mn and womn obsrving th wrath of Y howah and wondring if thy ar all going to di at God's hand for th sins of thir apostat fathrs. God oftn xplains somthing by way of an illustration or an act, as ths things tnd to stay in th mind longr. For most popl, if you paint a pictur, it is asir to rcall than rcalling som words. So ach of th twlv tribs would tak a rod and th nam of on of th hads of that trib would b writtn on that rod. "And Aaron's nam you will writ on th trib of Lvi; for on rod [is] for th had of thir fathr's hous; [Num. 17:18 (17:3 in th English)] On th rod of Lvi, Aaron's nam will b writtn (vn though Moss is mor prominnt, h is th national ladr).

204 Numbrs Chaptr "And you will plac thm in th tnt of mting, bfor th fac of th tstimony, whr I mt 112 with you. [Num. 17:19 (17:4 in th English)] Moss is to bring th rods into th tnt of mting and plac thm bfor God. Th tstimony is th ark of th covnant, th ark of tstimony against thm (Ex. 25:16, Num. 17:7). Bfor th fac of th tstimony would b, most likly, right outsid th Holy of Holis, by th altar of incns, in front of th curtain which hids th ark of th tstimony. What occurs nxt is asy to undrstand; howvr, th litral translation of Young, upon which I havily dpnd, lavs much to b dsird. Th Amplifid Bibl And th rod of th man whom I choos shall bud; and I will mak to cas from M th murmurings of th Isralits, which thy murmur against you. Th Emphasizd Bibl So shall it com to pass that th man whom I shall choos his staff shall bud, so will I caus to cas from against m th murmurings of th sons of Isral, whrwith thy ar murmuring agianst you. KJV And it shall com to pass, that th man's rod, whom I shall choos, shall blossom; and I will mak to cas from m th murmurings of th childrn of Isral, whrby thy murmur against you. NASB "And it shall com about that th rod of th man whom I choos will sprout. Thus I shall lssn from upon Myslf th grumblings of th sons of Isral, who ar grumbling against you." Young's Lit. Translation 'And it hath com to pass, th man's rod on whom I fix doth flourish, and I hav caus to cas from off m th murmurings of th sons of Isral, which thy ar murmuring aginst you.' "And it will com to pass, th man whom I choos, his rod will sprout, and I hav causd to cas from against M th murmurings of th sons of Isral, which thy ar murmuring against you." [Num. 17:20 (17:5 in th English)] Each man rprsnts a trib. H brings his rod to Moss. Moss placs ths rods bfor God. Y howah dos not choos th rods, H chooss th mn and th mn whom H chooss, thos mn's rods will sprout. Now th rods ar dad. It is just lik carrying around a can. For most of ths thirty-ight yars, God has killd off larg sctions of all twlv tribs. His displasur with Isral has bn clarly statd on a numbr of occasions, vn to th point of thratning twic to anihilat all twlv tribs and to bgin anw with Moss. Thir biggst complaint in this past rbllion was that Moss and Aaron hld ladrship positions, and that God was in th midst of th rst of th congrgation, spcifically in th midst of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, maning that thy had just as much right to ladrship positions as did Moss and Aaron. And now with Korah, Dathan and Abiram having did th sin unto dath, thr was still a sizabl portion of th congrgation which cam forth to complain against Moss and Aaron and thir positions of ladrship. So this was to b a visual sign to show whom God favord and whom would lad Isral spiritually. On th prvious day, God had alrady shown to Korah an dth othr rbls whom H had chosn. This was covrd in Num. 16:5, which rads: And h spok to Korah and all his company, saying, "Tomorrow morning Y howah will show who ar His and who is holy and [whom H] will caus to bring nar to Himslf; vn th on whom H will choos, H will bring nar to Himslf." 112 This is plural in th Massortic txt; singular in th Sam arian, th Sptuagint and th Vulgat. Th singular sm s to m ak th most sns, as God primarily mt with Moss in th tnt of mting; howvr, it is a rul of txtual criticism to choos, in most instancs, th rading which maks th last sns. That is, if thr is not ovrwhlming vidnc as to why a rading may hav changd or what sort of scribal rror may hav occurrd, thn it would mak mor sns for an intntional chang to rflct what maks mor sns, rathr than lss sns, which is why th rading which maks th last sns is oftn chosn as th accurat rndition.

205 Th Book of Numbrs 205 Thr is anothr sid to this. Thr is only on Mssiah. God would, from what smd dad, caus to sprout His Son. Isral, during th tim of our Lord, was vry rligious and vry apostat. For cnturis, vn most of th high prists of Isral wr not savd (in fact, two conspird in th dath of our Lord). From Isral, who smd dad in trspasss and sins, would sprout forth th Mssiah, th Lord of Glory, Jsus Christ. Thr will b only on trib from which will com Mssiah, just as only on rod will sprout. Thn a root--shoot will spring from th stump of Jss, and a branch from his roots will bar fruit (Isa. 11:1) And Moss spok to th sons of Isral, and all thir princs [or, ladrs] giv to him on rod for ach princ [or, on rod for a ladr], for thir fathrs' hous, twlv rods, and th rod of Aaron in th midst of thir rods; [Num. 17:21 (17:6 in th English)] God will prform a sign to indicat whom H favors. God has chosn in His Word on branch of a trib to handl th pristly functions, and God has chosn on ladr. It is through this that God will show which branch of which trib that is. You may asking, did God spcifically tll Isral in His Word who would handl th pristly functions? Crtainly, but Isral has rjctd His Word, thinking it to b no mor than th word of Moss. Thy sought a sign and this would b thir sign. And Moss placd th rods bfor Y howah, in th tnt of th tstimony. English)] [Num. 17:22 (17:7 in th Th tnt of tstimony is th tabrnacl, which spaks of Who and What God is and His mrcy shd upon us, dspit our inhrnt sinfulnss. It is calld th tnt of tstimony bcaus it contains th ark of tstimony tstimony against us. What will occur will b a miracl, but a miracl on a small scal. God has prformd many incrdibl miracls bfor ths popl, including bringing watr from th rock, th dstruction of Pharaoh's forcs, tc. This will b a quit miracl to caus thm to cas from thir murmurings. From thir apostasy and complaining, nothing living would sprout. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Aaron's Rod Buds And it cam to pass, on th nxt day, that Moss wnt into th tnt of th tstimony, and saw [lit., and lo], th rod of Aaron had sproutd for th hous of Lvi, thn was causd to put forth buds and was causd to blossom blossoms thn it bor rip almonds. [Num. 17:23 (17:8 in th English)] Not only had this rod sproutd, but it shot forth lavs, blossoms and fully ripnd almonds. This ndd to b a sign which would clarly b miraculous. It had to b a dad can or rod which, in on ovrnight priod of tim, actually brought forth rip almonds. Thy all knw thir own rods and Aaron's had bn clarly markd with his nam on it (Num. 17:3). And Moss brought out all th rods from bfor Y howah, to all th sons of Isral, and thy lookd and ach took his rod. [Num. 17:24 (17:9 in th English)] Thy wr allowd to xmain th rods carfully, to tak out th on which blongd to thm. Naturally, lvn of th rods had not changd whatsovr. This is a sign of th vibrancy of th offic and authority of Aaron and or th worthlssnss and dadnss of th complaints of th popl. Also, this is a sign of rsurrction. W all will di, but thos who hav blivd in Jsus Christ will sprout forth w will com to lif at th call of our Lord and Savior Jsus Christ.

206 Numbrs Chaptr And Y howah said to Moss, "Put back th rod of Aaron, bfor th fac of th tstimony, to b prsrvd [lit., for a charg], for a sign to th sons of rbllion, and you will rmov thir murmurings from against M, and thy will not di." [Num. 17:25 (17:10 in th English)] Isral ndd somthing as a continual sign of thir rblliousnss bfor God. Thrfor, God ordrd that th ark of th tstimony b placd in front of th ark of th covnant, th ark of tstimony. Latr, this rod was placd insid th ark, as our sin and our rbllion coms from within ourslvs. Th ark would contain th tablts of th Law God's ordinancs against us; th pot of manna th provision of God which w rjct; and Aaron's rod taht buddd and bor fruit our rbllion against God and God's chosn authority. And bhind th scond il thr was a tnt, which is calld th Holy of Holis, having a goldn altar of incns and th ark of th covnant covrd on all sids with gold, in which was a goldn jar holding manna, and Aaron's rod which buddd, and th tabls of th covnant (Hb. 9:3 4). Th Jws to this day do not rcogniz that thy ar in constant rbllion against Him, vn though, as you will rcall, back in Lv. 26, prior to ntring th land, God told thm that thy would b scattrd throughout all th nations of th arth for thir rbllion against Him. Many Jws rad that chaptr again and again and thy don't rcogniz that God is spaking to thm. It is thir constant spaking against God which rvals th rbllion in thir soul. Thy wr to rcogniz this sign of th spiritual ladrshp of th trib of Aaron, to back off as a mob, othrwis God would tak thm out in th sin unto dath as H had don to so many othr rcalcitrants. And Moss did as Y howah had commandd him; so h had don. English)] [Num. 17:26 (17:11 in th Moss had no problm with obdinc to God, which is why it was him of all his fllow Jws who was chosn by God to lad Isral. You cannot xpct to lad a lif of disobdinc to God and xpct that you will gt anywhr. And th sons of Isral spok to Moss, saying, "Oh no [lit., lo], w hav did; will hav prishd; w all of us hav prishd!" [Num. 17:27 (17:12 in th English)] Th sons of Isral, noting th sprouting and th fruit on Aaron's can, and non upon thir own, lookd upon this as maning thy wr to di. Thy wr th walking dad. Evryon in coming nar, coms nar to th tabrnacl of Y howah h will di; hav w not com to compltion to prish?" [Num. 17:28 (17:13 in th English)] For a short tim, thy rcogniz thir own spiritual condition. Now not carfully hr that this is analogous to our spiritual condition. How many popl do you kow who considr thmslvs spiritual bings? How many popl who you know who bliv that thr is a littl spark of God and God's goodnss insid of thm? Yt ths popl do not know Jsus Christ thy do not know God. Th god thy know and possibly worship is a chap rplica of thmslvs. Hr th Jws rcogniz that whn thy com to th tabrnacl of God whn thy com into contact with God, thy di. It is thir inhrnt rbllious natur, just as w should rcogniz that du to our rbllious natur, w hav no fllowship with God apart from Him choosing us apart form our bing in His Son. Othrwis, contact with God causs nothing mor than dath for us.

207 Numbrs 18 Numbrs 18:1 32 Outlin of Chaptr 18: Vv. 1 7 God givs th Lvits as a gift to th sons of Aaron Vv Th rmunration of th sons of Aaron Vv Lvit dutis and thir rmunration Vv Th contribution of th Lvits and som final words Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: v. 25 To Say... Introduction: Bcaus of th insidious rvolt of Korah, which no doubt includd som othr Lvits, God had to again dfin clarly what rsponsibilitis wr Aaron's and his sons. This chaptr dos not ncssarily hav to follow chaptr 17 in tim. Num. 18 could hav logically com immdiatly bfor or aftr Num. 17. Howvr, w hav alrady larnd what Aaron's dutis wr, as wll as what th Lvits wr to do. This has bn mad clar in th past. God is, so thr is not confusion whatsovr, ritrating som of th rsponsibilitis. Rcall that th dutis of th pristhood covr svral chaptrs and that som tnd to gt lost in that many chaptrs. Num. 18 basically sums up thos dutis and diffrntiats, again, btwn th Lvits and Aaron's familial branch of th Lvits. Num. 18 also covrs th rmunration which is rcivd by th prists and by th Lvits for thir srvic to God. Ths gifts ar tid both th to ating of sam and to th baring of th sins of th popl. Ths may sm to b two incongruous concpts; howvr, thy will b tid togthr in v. 1. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx God Givs th Lvits as a Gift to th Sons of Aaron And thn Y howah said to Aaron, "You and your sons and th hous of your fathr with you bar th iniquity [or, guilt] of th sanctuary; and you and your sons with you will bar th iniquity [or, guilt] of your pristhood; [Num. 18:1] This is on of th vry fw tims whr God spaks dirctly to Aaron alon. This has occurrd only in Ex. 4:27 and 16:9 (and on might argu that God was not spaking only to Aaron in th scond citation, but to Moss and Aaron togthr, giving thm sparat tasks). Furthrmor, God will spak to Aaron alon only on mor tim in Num. 18:20. In othr vrss, God spaks primarily to Moss and occasionally to Moss and Aaron. It is possibl that God spok to Moss and Moss rlayd th information to Aaron; howvr, considring that had bn don bfor and God communicatd ithr to Moss or to Moss and Aaron, that would indicat that H spok dirctly to Aaron. Also, th author of th Pntatuch (at last Exodus through Numbrs), who is Moss, smd to b almost anal in prsrving whn God spok, xactly what God said, and th circumstancs undr which God spok. I am not sur thr is any instanc in th Pntatuch whr on could say, Now, I am not sur if this is Moss or God spaking right hr. For ths rasons, I bliv that God is spaking to Aaron dirctly, as th Scriptur says. This should giv any on of us hop not that God will dirctly spak to us, but that w might attain som modicum of spiritual growth, dspit numrous and alarming failurs. Can you imagin doing anything wors than what Aaron did bing manipulatd by th popl of Isral to lad thm to cast a goldn calf to worship? This is aftr sing God prform many incrdibl signs. Yt, dspit this and othr failurs, God spaks dirctly to Aaron and God honors Aaron with th pristhood.

208 Numbrs Chaptr A sinful prson cannot prsonally bar th sins of anothr sinful prson. Aaron and his sons, as prists, wr givn th monumntal task of baring th sins of th popl, who wr almost out of control, bittr and upst. Th sons of Aaron had to stand in th gap btwn God and ths popl so that God did not dstroy all of Isral. This pristhood was a gracious gift from God. Th prists offrd sacrifics and offrings on bhalf of th popl and, bcaus of thir faithful srvic, a rmnant of th popl would b dlivrd and would go into th land (in this particular cas, it would b only th childrn of thos who sinnd in thir rbllion against God). And it will b on Aaron's forhad, and Aaron will bar th iniquity [or, guilt] of th holy things which th sons of Isral conscrat, with rgard to all thir holy gifts; and it will always b on his forhad, that thy may b accptd bfor Y howah (Ex. 28:38). What this mans is, Aaron and his sons bor th immns rsponsibility of th pristhood and all that prtains to it thy would b rsponsibl for vry offns and vry act of nglct rlatd to th pristhood, th holy things and th Tabrnacl of God. Barns givs this a slightly diffrnt intrprtation: Th Hbrw xprssion to bra iniquity is applid ithr to on who suffrs th pnalty of sin (Ex 28:43 Lv. 5:1, 17 17:16 26:41, tc.), or to on who taks away th sin of othrs (Gn. 1:17 Lv. 10:17 16:22 Num. 20:15 1Sam. 15:25, tc.). In svral of ths passags th vrb is rightly rndrd to forgiv. Th iniquity which is spokn of in this plac dos not man particular sins actually committd, but that condition of alination from God in vry arthly thing which maks rconciliation and conscration ndful. Compar Num. 18:1. It blongd to th high prist, as th chif atoning mdiator btwn Yahwh and His popl (s th not at Ex. 28:36), to aton for th holy things that thy might b accptd bfor th Lord (compar Lv. 8:15, not; Lv. 16:20, Lv. 16:33, not): but th common prists also, in thir propr functions, had to tak 113 thir part in making atonmnt (Lv. 4:20 5:10 10:17 22:16 Num. 18:23, tc.). Moss, in spaking to Elazar and Ithamar (Aaron's rmaining sons), said, "Why did you not at th sin offring at th holy plac? For it is most holy, and it was givn to you to bar away th guilt of th congrgation, to mak atonmnt for thm bfor Y howah." (Lv. 10:17). "And thy will not profan th holy [gifts] of th sons of Isral which thy offr to Y howah. And so caus thm to bar th iniquity for guilt by ating thir holy [gifts]; for I am Y howah Who sanctifis thm." (Lv. 22:15 16). It is th ating of ths gifts by th sons of Aaron which bars th sins of th congrgation, so to spak. Eating is analogous to faith ("H who ats my flsh and drinks My blood has trnal lif; and I will rais him up on th last day." John 6:54) and to our rasonabl spiritual srvic ("But H said to thm, "I hav food to at that you do not know about." Th discipls, thrfor, wr saying to on anothr, "No on brought Him [somthing] to at, did h?" Jsus said to thm, "My food is to do th will of Him Who snt M, and to accomplish His work." John 4:32 34). Onc somon is a blivr, thn thr is th mattr of thir rasonabl srvic to God (which, obviously som nvr bcom involvd with). Jsus Christ bars our sins, not th animal sacrifics and not th contributions which ar brought. It is in th gnral tabrnacl srvic of th sons of Aaron by which th sins of th congrgation ar born. This tabrnacl srvic, which involvs a 114 complt Christology, placats God, as a tranquilizing smll from an offring. "And also you brothrs, th trib of Lvi, th trib of your fathr, caus thm to approach with you, and thy will b jointd to you and srv you, vn you and yours sons with you, bfor th tnt of th tstimony. [Num. 18:2] Aaron is from th trib of Lvi, as is Moss. God, howvr, chos for Aaron, who, sav for on or two lapss in judgmnt (i.., th goldn calf incidnt and his quit support of Miriam's bitch fst) has bn quit faithful in srvic to Him, to act as a high prist and his sons to act as prist blow him. Howvr, his brothrs, th Lvits, will participat in th srvic to God undr th prists doing various tasks as assignd by Aaron and his sons. Th Lvits had alrady had thir rasonabl srvic dlinatd in Num. 3; howvr, as vidncd by Korah's rbllion, thy did not bliv God's Word but som followd Korah. Ths assignmnts of rsponsibility wr 113 Barns Nots; Exodus to Ruth; F. C. Cook, ditor; rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; p. 79. I did not bgin to us Barns rgularly until latr. This citation was don in I am spaking anthropologically, of cours.

209 Th Book of Numbrs 209 not to b takn lightly, as w hav sn whn Aaron's two oldst sons wr xcutd by God and whn God killd Korah who rblld against his position in this lif. "And thy hav kpt your rsponsibility and th rsponsibility of all th tnt; only, to th vssls of th sanctuary and to th altar thy ar not to approach, that [lit., and] thy di not, ithr thy or you. [Num. 18:3] God had vry spcific dutis which H had assignd to th sons of Isral and to th various sub-tribs. "And whn Aaron and his sons hav finishd covring th holy [things] and all th furnishings of th sanctuary, whn th camp is to st out, so that whn th sons of Kohath will com to carry [ths things], thy will not [dirctly] touch th holy [things] and di. Ths ar th itms in th tn of mting which th sons of Kohath ar to carry...thy will not go in to s th holy [things] vn for a momnt, or thy will di" (Num. 4:15, 20). God mad it vry clar what th sons or Kohath could and could not do. Som of ths dutis God assignd as H knows th futur and how much H could trust th Lvits in gnral and how much H could trust th Aaronits in gnral. Aaron and his sons smd to rcogniz th solmnity of thir rsponsibility. Korah and his rabbl following obviously did not. Ths rstrictions guard th running analogy hr. Th prist rprsnts man to God. Our High Prist, th Lord Jsus Christ, paid for our wrongdoing and bor our sins and guilt by His dath on th cross. W hav no par tin this sacrific xcpt to bliv and trust Him for what H did on our bhalf. Howvr, aftrwards, w hav bcom childrn of God and w hav a spiritual srvic to rndr. This is lik th Lvits. W don't hav a part in th actual sacrific of our Lord that is, thr is nothing that w do which in som way is fficacious or hlps God to forgiv us for our monumntal sins. This was accomplishd compltly on th cross and w cannot add to it. W can only bliv. Th prists, th sons of Aaron, and th Lvits ar sparatd in th sam way. Th prists rprsnt our Lord Jsus Christ and th Lvits rprsnt us in srvic to Him. Thr cannot b a commingling of thir rsponsibilitis without confusing th analogy. It would b lik m tlling you that som pain or suffring that I hav xprincd somhow atond for your sins. That is compltly fallacious. Ths shadow imags ar th ky to th ntir Old Tstamnt, and a dlibrat fouling of th carfully drawn Old Tstamnt analogis rsultd in th sin unto dath of th offndr. Th unclan was not to hav any contact with th clan. "Hr prist hav don violnc to My Law and hav profand My holy things; thy hav mad no distinction btwn th holy and th profan, and thy hav not taught th diffrnc btwn th unclan and th clan; and thy hid thir ys from My Sabbaths, and I am profanmd among thm." (Ezk. 22:26). Sincrity and what would appar to b rasonabl motivs wr nvr an xcus: But whn thy cam to th thrshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah rachd out toward th ark of God and took hold of it, for th oxn narly upst it. And th angr of Y howah burnd against Uzzah and God struck him down thr for th irrvrnc; and h did thr by th ark of God (2Sam. 6:6 7). "And thy hav bn joind to you and hav kpt th rsponsibility of th tnt of mting, for all th srvic of th tnt; and an outsidr [or, a strangr] will not approach you; [Num. 18:4] This is important bcaus th lad instigator in this rbllion was a Lvit; furthrmor, thr wr, no doubt, svral Lvits involvd in th two hundrd and fifty. Thrfor, it might giv Aaron th imprssion that th Lvits no longr had a plac in God's srvic. Quit th contrary, thr wr som faithful Lvits, particularly in th gnration coming up, and God did not want this rbllion to hindr th rlationship btwn Aaron and th Lvits. Th outsidr hr is not a non-jw but a non-lvit. This trm translatd strangr appars to apply to on who is not a mmbr or a part of a particular group givn in contxt. "And you hav kpt th rsponsibility of th sanctuary and th rsponsibility of th altar and thr is no mor wrath against th sons of Isral. [Num. 18:5] "And I hav givn to th Lvits as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among th sons of Isral, to prform th srvic of th sons of Isral at th tnt of mting, and to mak atonmnt on bhalf of th sons of Isral, that thr may b no plagu among th sons of Isral by thir coming nar to th sanctuary." (Num. 8:19). This dos not man that thr will nvr b a problm again btwn God and th Lvits; it mans that th last rbllion

210 Numbrs Chaptr has bn compltly dalt with and now Aaron can gt back to th businss of bing a prist. Th Lvits also hav thir assignd plac of srvic which thy ar to rturn to. In th stablishing of th Law and tabrnacl worhsip, God's judgmnt upon thos who brought unauthorizd gifts to Him was swift and svr (Lv. 10:2 Num. 16:35). 115 "And I, vn I, hav takn your brothrs, th Lvits, from th midst of th sons of Isral; to you a gift thy ar givn by Y howah, to do th srvic of th tnt of mting; [Num. 18:6] W ar a prsnt from God to Jsus Christ, to do srvic on His bhalf. Similarly, our Old Tstamnt shadow imag, th Lvits, ar a prsnt from God to th High Prist. "You will thus giv th Lvits to Aaron and to his sons; thy ar wholly givn to him from among th sons of Isral." (Num. 3:9). Thy ar also involvd in th ministry of th tabrnacl, which rvald Jsus Christ and th cross to th congrgation of Isral. Just as w ar not involvd in any pristly functions on bhalf of anyon ls (that is, w do not rprsnt man to God in any way); thy wr similarly sparat from that aspct fo th ministry. "And you, and your sons with you, will kp [or, tak rsponsibility for, guard and prsrv] your pristhood, with rspct to vrything [lit., all of [th] doctrin {lit, a word}] of th altar from th habitation to th vil [or, curtain]; and you [all] hav srvd. A srvic of gift [or, offring] I giv [or, st] your pristhood; [Num. 18:7a] I hav com across a combination of prpositions. W hav th lâmd prposition plus min, a noun, and thn th prfixd lâmd again. I think it should b rndrd from...to... I couldn't gt this compltly substantiatd by BDB. Th sns hr is to man all that is within th tabrnacl, th arthly habitation of our Lord. Howvr, as you can s by all th addd brackts that I hav bn gtting boggd down in this translation. To hlp with your undrstanding, allow m to includ som othr rndrings of th first thr-quartrs of this vrs: Th Amplifid Bibl Thrfor, you and your sons with you shall attnd to your pristhood for vrythig of th altar [of burnt offring and th altar of incns], and [of th holy of holis] within th vil; and you shall srv. I giv you your pristhood as a srvic of gift; Th Emphasizd Bibl But thou and thy sons with th shall kp th charg of your pristhood as to vry mattr of th altar, and, as to th intrior of th vil, and shall do th laborious work as a laborious srvic of gifts do I giv your pristhood,... KJV Thrfor, thou and thy sons with th shall kp your prist's offic for vry thing of th altar, and within th vil; an dy shall srv: I hav givn your prist's offic unto you as a srvic of gift: NASB But you and your sons with you shall attnd to your pristhood for vrything concrning th altar and insid th vil, and you ar to prform srvic. I am giving you th pristhood as a bstowd srvic,... NIV But only you and your sons may srv as prists in connction with vrything at th altar and insid th curtain. I am giving you th srvic of th pristhood as a gift. NRSV But you and your sons with you shall diligntly prform your pristly dutis in all that concrns th altar and th ara bhind th curtain. I giv your pristhood as a gift; Young's Lit. Translation...and thou, and thy sons with th, do kp your pristhood, for vrything of th altar, and within th vil, and y hav srvd; a srvic of gift I mak your pristhood; A glaring diffrnc that you may hav noticd btwn th way I hav rndrd this vrs and th othr translations is th inclusion of th word habitation. Thr is th combination of prpositions, lâmd and min, and 116 thn w find th word bayîth (ú.é Ç ) [pronouncd BAH-yith], which mans hous, houshold, habitation as wll as inward. It is so translatd throughout th Bibl (Gn. 6:14 7:1 12:1, 15, 17 14:14 Num. 18:1, 11, 13, 31) Lit., I, bhold, I... or I, lo, I... W hy not BAH-yth?

211 É Th Book of Numbrs 211 Why w do not find it hr clarly in on of th mor litral translations, I hav no ida, but it is thr in th original. Thn it is followd by th lâmd prposition onc again and th word for vil. On of th things which I hav noticd whn Y howah is quotd dirctly is that H did not, in a grammatical sns, spak down to Moss or to Aaron. Th most difficult and complx sntnc structur tnds to b found whn God is quotd dirctly. I do lik th NASB's rndring with rgard to th pristhood bing givn as a bstowd srvic. I think that bst capturs, in modrn languag, th maning of th words thr. Dspit th complx structur of this vrs, it is clar that Y howah has givn thm particular dutis with rspct to th intrior of th tabrnacl and outsidrs (or, unauthorizd prsonnl) ar not to attnd to thos functions whatsovr. Th Aaronits wr mad prists as a statut forvr from th vry bginning (Ex. 29:9). Th sin unto dath is promisd for th outsidr who attmpts to srvic insid th tabrnacl. Howvr, just as th Lvits ar a gift to thm, thir own srvic is also a gift. And th outsidr [or, strangr] who is coming nar is put to dath." [Num. 18:7b] Th outsidr is unauthorizd prsonnl. God has st up a carful analogy. Th Old Tstamnt is filld with th imagry of what our Lord would do on our bhalf. God's commands wr simpl, clarly statd, and asy to follow. For thos who dlibratly and consistntly rjctd His Word, H rjctd thm. Th Rmunration of th Sons of Aaron Dut. 18:1 5 And thn Y howah said to Aaron, "And I, vn I, hav givn to you th rsponsibility of My contributions, of all th sparatd things of th sons of Isral to you, I hav givn thm for th anointing, and to your sons, by a prptual dcr [or, a statut forvr]. [Num. 18:8] Thr ar two words in th Hbrw which ar translatd intrchangably and I know that thy ar not intrchangabl. Chôq ( ç ) [pronouncd khok] is th masculin noun whos manings ar givn as somthing prscribd, a statut, du; (BDB) and is translatd also portion (Gn. 47:22), law (Gn. 47:26), task (Ex. 5:14), ordinanc (Ex. 12:24), statut (Ex. 15:25) thos wr just th first six occurrncs in Scriptur. From thron in, it is almost consistntly translatd statuts with an occasional rndring of dcr, law, ordinanc, custom, commandmnt and vn ordinary (Ezk. 16:27) and masur (Isa. 5:14). Thr is also th fminin form of this noun, chuqqâh (ä È çë ) [pronouncd khook-kawh]. BDB givs its manings as somthing prscribd, nactmnt, statut. Th KJV givs th rndrings statuts, ordinancs, mannrs (Lv. 20:23). With rar xcptions (lik Gn. 47:22 Ezk. 46:14 and this passag), both words ar gnrally found in th plural. My instinct is to translat th masculin by th words dcrs, that which is dcrd and th fminin as th softr ordinancs. I may chang this opinion latr. "This is yours of th most holy things from th fir: vry thir offring of thirs to vry prsnt of thirs and to vry sin[-offring] of thirs, and to vry guilt-offring of thirs, which thy caus to b rturnd to M, it [is] most holy [lit., holy of holis] to you and to your sons. [Num. 18:9] Ths offrings offrd by th prists wr not to b takn lightly. This was not a rsponsibility givn to just anyon, rgardlss of thir lvl of sincrity. On had to b born into this rsponsibility (as our Lord was born sinlss in this rsponsibility) and only th Aaronic branch of th Lvits, th prists, wr to b offring animal sacrifics, just as our Lord's sacrific is th only on which is fficacious for us all. Thos in th pristhood and thos who srvd th prists (th Lvits) had no othr mans of support. Thir livs wr givn totally ovr to God. Thy had no land to farm on th sid, thy carrid no sid jobs. Thy did not hav a rtirmnt fund paying thm. Thrfor, thy had to b rmunratd by th sons of Isral for thir spiritual

212 Numbrs Chaptr srvic prformd on thir bhalf. Thy rcivd tiths of produc and mony and thy rcivd th bst portions (s also Lv. 6:14 7:36). "Against [or, In] th holy of holis, You will at it; vry mal will at it; holy it is to you. [Num. 18:10] That which is offrd, in many cass, was givn to th prists to at. This was to b continud vn aftr Korah's rbllion. Howvr, thy did not us th Holy of Holis as a lunchroom; thy at in th tnt, but not in th Holy of Holis itslf. Only th High Prist could go insid th Holy of Holis and that but onc a yar. "And this [is] yours: th contribution of thir gift, to all th wav-offrings of th sons of Isral to you, I hav givn thm to your sons and to your daughtrs with you, by an vrlasting ordinanc vry clan on in your hous will at it. [Num. 18:11] Th prists and high prist sacrificd a larg numbr of animals and wr in full-tim srvic to Y howah. Thy had no mans of support othr than through donations. This allowd thm food to at. This food and ths tiths supportd not only th prists, but thir familis as wll (prists wr not clibat as a rul). Bing clan is analogous to bing without sin, in fllowship. Th crmonial functions associatd with bcoming unclan and with bing clansd ar found in Lv. 22. In this chaptr, as wll as throughout most of th books of Lviticus and Numbrs w hav th word offring. Howvr, thr ar svral kinds of offrings and svral diffrnt words which ar so translatd. Thrfor, w nd to study th Doctrin of th Hbrw Words for Offring not finishd yt! "All th bst [lit., fat] of th oil, and th bst [lit., fat] of th nw win, and what thir first which thy giv to Y howah to you I hav givn thm. [Num. 18:12] This mans that th prists got th first and th bst of all produc of Isral (Psalm 81:16 147:14). Dut. 18:1 4 is a paralll passag: "Th Lvitical prists, th whol trib of Lvi, will hav no portion or inhritanc with Isral; thy will at Y howah's offrings by fir and His portion. and thy will hav no inhritanc among thir countrymn; Y howah is thir inhritanc, as H promisd thm. Now this will b th prist' du from th popl, from thos who offr a sacrific, ithr an ox or a shp, of which thy will giv to th prist th shouldr and th two chks and th stomach. You will giv him th first fruits of your grain, your nw win and your oil; and th first sharing of your shp." Your pastor should b tratd th sam way. A pastor should not b paid with what is lft ovr, living a lif scraping by. His dvotion to you in th Word of God is your lif. H should rciv th bst that you hav, not your lftovrs. For it is writtn in th Law of Moss, "You will not muzzl th ox whil h is thrshing." God is not concrnd about oxn, is H? Or is H spaking altogthr for our sak? Ys, for our sak it was writtn, bcaus th plowman ought to plow in hop, and th thrshr in hop of sharing [in th harvst]. If w sowd spiritual things in you, is it too much if w sould rap matrial things from you? If othrs shar th right ovr you, do w not mor? Nvrthlss, w did not us this right, but w ndur all things, that w may caus no hindranc to th gospl of Christ. Do you not know that thos who prform sacrd srvics at of th [food] of th tmpl? Thos who attnd rgularly to th altar hav thir shar with th altar? So also th Lord dirctd thos who proclaim th gospl to gt thir living from th gospl (I Cor. 9:9 13 Dut. 25:4). "Th first-fruits of all that is in thir land, which thy bring in to Y howah, ar yours; vry clan on in your hous will at it; [Num. 18:13] Much of God's Word has application to today as wll as to th past. Th intrprtation of th past is fairly simpl. God providd th bst for th prists for thos most closly connctd to th srvic to Him. Similarly, God has givn us grat blssing as blivrs in th church ag. W do not hav to b vanglists, pastor-tachrs, nor do w nd to b Sunday School tachrs or kick around th church in som ara of rsponsibility or anothr. W ar in full-tim Christian srvic by virtu of our intak of God's Word and our functioning in th Spirit. God has providd for us and for our familis grat blssings in many ralms. Not vryon rcivs grat financial rwards, although many do. God provids many with grat family blssings, with thir nich in lif, with grat

213 Th Book of Numbrs 213 promotion, with right man or right woman, with grat innr happinss, tc. Som vn rciv grat suffring, as God can only blss us through suffring in this world. Thr ar som popl whos spiritual opration on arth w nvr s bcaus thy pray quitly for hours on our bhalf and on th bhalf of othrs. God honors thos prayrs and thr ar som popl who w look down on or fl sorry for who hav bn praying on our bhalf for yars and much of our blssing is a rsult of th trmndous prayrs. Thos popl also rciv grat rwards, hr and in havn. Th growing blivr rcivs th bst which God can provid. "Evry dvotd thing in Isral is yours; [Num. 18:14] "I am God your God; vry bat of th forst is Min; th cattl on a thousand hills. I know vry bird of th mountains and vrything that movs in th fild is Min." (Psalm 50:7b, 10 11a). Lv. 27 gos into grat dtail as to what blongs to th prist. "Evryon opning a womb of all flsh which thy approach with to Y howah, among man and among bast, is yours; only, you will crtainly rdm [or, in rdmption, you will rdm] th first-born of man, and you will rdm th firstling of th unclan bast. [Num. 18:15] Much of th Old Tstamnt looks forward to our day in shadow imags. W, as having an old sin natur, ar unclan and thr must b a rdmption pric paid on our bhalf as unclan. Th rdmption of th unclan bast is analogous to our situation. This also looks backward to th dath of th firstborn in Egypt rdming th Isralits (Ex. 13:13 15). "And thir rdmd ons from a son of a month, you will rdm with your valuation of silvr, fiv shkls, by th shkl of th sanctuary, [or] it [is] twnty grahs. [Num. 18:16] As notd prviously, all that is valuabl is dtrmind by th sanctuary; th valu of vrything is dtrmind by th tabrnacl of God. A shkl is approximatly half an ounc so a grah would b an ighth of an ounc. "Only, th firstling of a cow, or th firstling of a shp, or th firstling of a goat, [thos] you will not rdm thy [ar] holy; thir blood you will sprinkl on th altar, and of thir fat, you mak prfum, a fir-offring of swt fragranc to Y howah; [Num. 18:17] That which is holy dos not nd to b rdmd. Our Lord Jsus Chrsit dos not rquir rdmption. You do not purchas somon who is not a slav from th slav markt. Only thos which ar unclan must b rdmd. "And thir flsh is yours, as th brast of that hld up [or, wavd]; [Num. 18:18] Against, ths blssings blong to th sons of Aaron. "All th holy contributions which th sons of Isral rais up to Y howah I hav givn to you and to your sons, and to your daughtrs with you, by a prptual dcr, a covnant of salt, forvr it [is] bfor Y howah, to you and to your sd with you." [Num. 18:19] God taks car of his own in both tim and in trnity. W should xamin th vry short Doctrin of th Covnant of Salt right hr (not finishd). Lvit Dutis and Thir Rmunration And thn Y howah said to Aaron, "In thir land, you will not inhrit, and a portion you will not hav in thir midst; I [am] your portion, and your inhritanc in th midst of th sons of Isral; [Num. 18:20]

214 Numbrs Chaptr Evry trib of Isral will b givn a spcific portion of land which to farm and dwll upon. Howvr, th sons of Aaron (and th sons of Lvi) will not rciv this grant of land. This fact is continually statd throughout th Old Tstamnt. But to th trib of Lvi, Moss did not giv an inhritanc; Y howah, th God of AIsral, is thir inhritanc, as h had promisd to thm (Joshua 13:33). "And it will b with rgard to an inhritanc for thma: I am thir inhritanc; an dyou will giv thm no possssion in Isral I am thir possssion." (Ezk. 44:28). S also: Dut. 10:9 12:12 14: :2. This is bcaus thir kingdom is not of this world. Thir kingdom is othrworldly; thir kingdom is in th Nw Jrusalm, in th nw havns and th nw arth. This is a shadow imag of th blivr in th church ag. Jsus answrd, "My kingdom is not out from this world. If My kingdom wr of this world, thn My srvants would fight, that I might not b dlivrd up to th Jws; but, as it is, My kingdom is not of this ralm." (John 18:36). Thrfor, thos who rprsnt our Lord on arth do not hav a prmannt plac in this falln arth. "And to th sons of Lvi, not [lit., lo] I hav givn all th tnth in Isral for inhritanc in xchang for thir srvic which thy ar srving th srvic of th tnt of mting. [Num. 18:21] Evn though th Lvits wr involvd in th prvious uprising, thy still hav a part in God's plan particularly thos who ar coming up in th nxt gnration. God will spcify in thir dutis. Thy ar in srvic to th tabrnacl as God had prviously prscribd. Howvr, thy will not ntr into th tnt of mting. "And th sons of Isral will no longr approach nar to th tnt of mting, to bar sin, to di; [Num. 18:22] Whn Korah and th othrs stood against Moss and Aaron, thy dsird gratr powr and mor say in govrnmnt. Part of what thy xpctd to do was to b ladrs in th spiritual ralm. God is spcifically prohibiting anyon, othr than thos which H has commissiond, th prform sacrifics and to dal with th articls of furnitur in th tabrnacl. "And th Lvits will srv [lit., and Lvi will srv] th srvic of th tnt of mting, and thy thy bar thir iniquity [this is] a prptual dcr to your gnrations. And in th midst of th sons of Isral, thy will hav no inhritanc; [Num. 18:23] Th sons of Lvi, just as th sons of Aaron, rprsnt God on arth and rprsnt man to God. Thy ar th shadow-imag of Jsus Christ thrfor, thy do not hav an arthly inhritanc. In th srvic to th tabrnacl, thos dvotd to God bar th iniquity (or, th guilt) or th othr Isralits. It is through th animal sacrifics and th rituals which fortll th sacrific of th dath of our Lord on our bhalf that th Lvits (and th prists) bar th iniquity of th othr Isralits. This vrs could b misintrprtd out of contxt, it would sound as though th Lvitical dsir for powr causd thm to b without an inhritanc. Howvr, this is not th cas. So that w ar not misld, God clars that up in th nxt vrs: "But th tith of th sons of Isral which thy lift up to Y howah, a contribution, I hav giv to th Lvits for an inhritanc; thrfor, I hav said of thm, in th midst of th sons of Isral, thy hav no inhritanc." [Num. 18:24] Th inhritanc of th sons of Lvi is th spcial tith which is pickd up. Thr is a tith spcifically for thm, to financially support th sons of Lvi so that thy can srv th sons of Aaron who srv in th tabrnacl. Th Contribution of th Lvits and Som Final Words And thn Y howah spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 18:25]

215 Th Book of Numbrs 215 Notic that thr is a diffrnt formula whn God spok to Moss and whn God spok to Aaron. With Aaron, it is and thn Y howah said to Aaron; and with Moss, it is and thn Y howah spok to Moss, saying. Thr ar also two diffrnt words usd hr, which I do not know how to diffrntiat btwn. It is possibl that thy ar usd just to spic up th languag and it is possibl on mans to communicat and th othr mans to say. To Say... Vrs Word Morphology Spokn to... v. 1 âmar (ø îç àè ) [pronouncd aw--mar] Qal imprfct Aaron b b v. 8 dâ var (ø áç È ) [pronouncd daw -VAR] Pil imprfct Aaron v. 20 âmar Qal imprfct Aaron b v. 25 dâ var; âmar Pil imprfct; Qal infinitiv construct Moss b v. 26 dâ var; âmar Pil imprfct; Qal prfct Th Lvits v. 30 âmar Qal prfct Th Lvits Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx "And to th Lvits you will spak; and you will say to thm, 'Whn you [all] tak from th sons of Isral th tith which I hav givn to you from th, for you inhritanc, th you [all] will rais up from it th contribution of Y howah, a tith of th tith; [Num. 18:26] Evn though th Lvits ar stat supportd, if you will, thy still must contribut from thir incom to Y howah. And th prist, th son of Aaron, will b with th Lvits whn th Lvits rciv tiths, and th Lvits will bring up th tnth of th tiths to th hous of our God to th chambrs of th storhous (Nh. 10:38). W ar ar givn matrial bnfits from God and w ar all to giv of what w hav. It is not ncssarily a tnth anymor, as w ar not undr th Law. In som cass, it is vrything w hav (as in th widow's mit); somtims it is not th amount but th motivation which rmovs th spiritual bnfit of giving (as in th gift of Annanias and Saphira). " 'And your contribution will b computd to you as corn from th thrshing-floor, and as fulnss from th win-vat; [Num. 18:27] Th othr sons of Isral offrd up grain, win and oil from thir produc. Howvr, whatvr th Lvits rciv, thy will giv a tnth of that, and that will b quivalnt to what is givn by th othr Isralits. " 'So you vn you will also rais up th contribution to Y howah to Aaron th prist; [Num. 18:28] Th Lvits, dspit th fact that som of thm had rblld against Aaron's authority, thy will tith from thir own possssions to Aaron and to his lin (th propr noun is oftn usd for a trib or sub-trib). Th Lvits wr mn. Thy wr analogous to th blivr in his srvic to our Lord, but thy wr still mn. Thrfor, thy wr not xmpt from bliving in Jsus Christ, from animal sacrifics, from disciplin or from tithing. Th prists thmslvs, although rprsnting Jsus Christ, wr also mn. Thy also participatd in th things of man which wr ncssary du to thir falln stat. " 'Out of all your gifts you [all] will rais up th ntir contribution of Y howah; out of all its fat its hallowd [st apart] portion out of it.' [Num. 18:29]

216 Numbrs Chaptr What thy rcivd in contributions was thir walth, or thir fat. From this would b a contribution to Y howah givn to th sons of Aaron. "And you will say to thm, 'In your raising up its fat out of it, thn it will b computd to th Lvits, as an incras of a thrshing floor-floor, and as incras of a win-vat. [Num. 18:30] This gift from th Lvits will b quivalnt to th gift of any othr trib whn giving from thir own produc. God will honor it as though thy had grown or producd it thmslvs. " 'And you [all] will at it in vry plac, you [all] and your housholds, for it [is] your rmunration in xchang for your srvic in th tnt of mting; [Num. 18:31] Th food from othrs produc and from that which thy procss will blong to th Lvits to at as if thy had producd it thmslvs. Thy had to b paid for thir spiritual srvic. Thy had familis which dpndd upon thm. " 'And you [all] will bar no sin for it, in your raising up its fat out of it. Furthrmor [lit., and] th holy things of th sons of Isral, you [all] will not pollut so that [lit., and] you [all] will not di.' " [Num. 18:32] Thy must, out of thir own walth, rais up a contribution to God (calld fat hr; th word rprsnts th xcss portion that is, it rprsnts xcss walth). Furthrmor, thy ar not to pollut th holy things of Isral which, in this cas, ar thir gifts and tiths. Th Lvits ar to giv a tnth of th bst of this. Th rmaindr is to b atn in fllowship and not in rbllion.

217 Numbrs 19 Numbrs 19:1 22 Outlin of Chaptr 19: Vv. 1 6 Th rd hifr sacrific Vv Th clansing of thos in th crmony of th sacrific Vv Th clansing of thos associatd with dath Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Introduction: th first tn vrss of Num. 19 dal with th rd hifr sacrific, which appars to b a on-tim sacrific. It is not ntirly clar to m th purpos of this sacrific. It is prformd primarily by Aaron and his son Elazar, and Elazar will assum th dutis of th High Prist in th nxt chaptr. Whthr this is th connction, I don t know for crtain. In th scond half of Num. 19, w find th rintroduction of laws concrning what is clan and what is not. As w hav sn, it is of monumntal importanc to diffrntiat btwn th clan and th unclan. Rligion dos not do that today thy gloss ovr th prfction and rightousnss of God to whr God is a namby-pamby God Who will tak anyon who xrts som ffort to b good onc and awhil. Th Rd Hifr Sacrific And Y howah spok to Moss and to Aaron, saying, [Num. 19:1] Th laws givn in this chaptr will b primarily Lvitical in natur; which is why God spok to Aaron and Moss. "This [is] a statut of th Law which Y howah has commandd, saying, spak to th sons of Isral, and thy will bring to you a rd hifr, a prfct on, in which thr is no blmish, on which no yok has gon up; [Num. 19:2] W ar in thos thirty-ight silnt yars. In Num. 18 w wr givn a rlativly rprsntativ incidnt of rbllion and God's supprssion of sam. Hr, intrstingly nough, w suddnly stop daling with th judgmnt and thousands dying th sin unto dath and look at a particular animal sacrific. It has bn clarly shown that th prfction of ths animals rlats to th prfction of th humanity of Jsus Christ. This is furthr amplifid in Lv. 22:20 25 whr having no blmish is furthr dfind. A yok is a burdn 117 and our Lord was unburdnd by an old sin natur. In ths passags in th Law which rquir crtain sacrifics to b of animals which hav not bn yokd sacrific an animal which is st apart to God an animal which has not had a profan (or common) us. Any animal which had bn usd to pull a cart or a farming implmnt would hav bn profand, and thrfor not a suitabl sacrific to God. Th rprsntation is of Jsus Christ, Who had no old sin natur, Who had committd no sin, Who had not bn profand bfor God th Fathr, and thrfor was suitabl for a sacrific to Him. A hifr sacrific whr th hifr, incidntally, had nvr bn yokd was usd latr for th xpiation of a crim in Dut. 21. Similarly, w stand as criminals bfor God. It is th sacrific of our Lord which xpiats our criminal bhavior, insofar as w hav disobyd His Laws. 117 On rathr unintntionally hum orous suggstion (I won't quot th sourc bcaus thir work has gnrally bn hlpful in this ndavor) was that unyokd oxn wr takn bcaus a bull which had bn yokd had bn first castratd, making him unfit for sacrific. Howvr, bing a bull in th first plac, capabl of bing castratd, prtty wll rm ovs him from th arna of hifrs.

218 Numbrs Chaptr "And you [all] will giv it to Elazar th prist, and h will bring it out to th outsid of th camp, and h will slaughtr it bfor him. [Num. 19:3] You wll undrstand that vry sacrific is a symbol for Jsus Christ, so why is this hifr takn outsid th camp? Jsus was sizd by his own countrymn, th Scribs and prists as ld by Judas, but h was not xcutd by th Jws, as this was a capital offns but takn outsid th camp to b trid and xcutd by th Romans. Thr would b so much prssur from th Jws for His xcution that it bcoms politically th xpdint thing to do. Th bull of th sin offring of Lv. 4 was also takn outsid th camp (Lv. 4:12, 21). "And Elazar th prist will tak of its blood with his fingrs and h will sprinkl [it] ovr [and] against th front of th tnt of mting out of hr blood svn tims; [Num. 19:4] Th tnt of mting rprsnts Jsus Christ and His dwlling in th midst of th Jws th blood idntifis Him with th dath of th rd hifr. Svn always rprsnts divin prfction. A similar crmony occurrd with th bull of th sin offring in Lv. 4:6, 17. "And on will burn th cow bfor his ys; hr skin and hr flsh and hr blood, bsids hr dung, h will burn; [Num. 19:5] Th subjct of th vrbs and th his modifying ys ar all nonspcific as to who is prforming th action of th vrb. In this contxt, it is an hlpr burning th cow bfor th ys of Aaron (s v. 8 blow); howvr, in th futur, it will b God th Fathr burning th cow bfor th ys of Isral. Giving this mandat in a nonspcific prson allows for its futur rfrnc to b spcific. Burning always spaks of judgmnt and our Lord was judgd on our bhalf. "And th prist will tak cdar wood and hyssop, and scarlt, and h will cast [thm] into th midst of th burning of th cow; [Num. 19:6] Th cdar wood, hyssop and scarlt must all stand for somthing hr!?!? Thy ar also all found back in Lv. 14:4 whn a lpr was clansd and w hav studid th doctrin of th hyssop back in Ex. 12:22. Th following chart was partially adoptd from a footnot in th NIV Study Bibl: Th Rd Hifr Without spot and without blmish Th animal is an hifr (a cow) Color spcifically was rd Had nvr bn yokd Blood was not draind and ntrails wr not rmovd and cland Slaughtrd outsid th camp Burnt whol outsid th camp Prist was not spcifically idntifid with th sacrific of th animal Primary focus: th ashs Most othr sacrifics Without spot and without blmish Usually and ox or a bull No spcification concrning its color Nothing is said concrning th prvious labors of a sacrific Blood is draind and ntrails rmovd and clansd Sacrificd in front of th tnt of mting Burnt upon th altar Prist idntifid himslf or a mmbr of th congrgation with th animal Primary focus: th sacrificial act

219 Th Book of Numbrs 219 Th Clansing of Thos in th Crmony of th Sacrific "And th prist will wash his garmnts, and h will bath his flsh with watr, and aftrwards, h will com into th camp, and th prist will b unclan until th vning; [Num. 19:7] It is th dath of Jsus Christ clanss us; so, aftr th sacrific of th rd hifr, Aaron is clansd. Howvr, why is h not immdiatly clan? Th sam way w ar not immdiatly cland. W ar positionally clan and tmporally clan whn filld with th Holy Spirit. Howvr, w ar still carry th old sin natur within our flsh and not until w di (whn vning coms) ar w sparatd from it. Again, w hav similaritis btwn th prists hr and th ons handling th scapgoat in Lv. 16: "And h who is burning it will wash his garmnts with watr and will bath his flsh with watr and is unclan until th vning. [Num. 19:8] Th sam applis to th othr prson involvd in this crmony. "And a clan man will gathr th ashs [lit., ash] of th hifr, and h will caus [thm] to b placd at th outsid of th camp, in a clan plac, and it [th ash] will b to th company of th sons of Isral for a rsponsibility for watrs of impurity it [is for] a sin [-offring]; [Num. 19:9] Part of th problm of undrstanding this vrs is th ash is in th fminin singular, not th plural. Most translations plac it in th plural, thus confusing what it stands for at th nd of th vrs. It is th ash of th hifr. To continu, th ashs of th cow ar th body of our Lord, burid in th grav of Josph of Arimatha. W hav had th word nîdâh (ä È ð ò ) [pronouncd nid-dawh] back in Lv. 12 and it mans impurity, as in abhorrnt, 119 shunnd and this is a word associatd with mnstruation (s Lv. 15:19 20, Ezk. 18:6) and w could translat it mnstruation, but not vrywhr (.g., hr) and w would translat it mnstruation only by implication. I think th watrs of impurity rfr to th watrs which clansd Aaron. In any cas, th ashs wr to b kpt in a clan plac outsid th camp and thy wr usd whn clansing thos associatd with dath, just as th dath of Jsus Christ clanss us from all sin. It is kpt for us whn w ask for clansing. Th Clansing of Thos Associatd with Dath "And th on who is gathring th ashs of th hifr will wash his garmnts, and is unclan until th vning; and it will com to pass to th sons of Isral and to th visitor who is visiting in thir midst, for a prptual ordinanc. [Num. 19:10] This rd hifr sacrific was apparntly don during th tim of th thirty-ight yars of wandring, whn Isral was in a parchd dsrt, not unlik Isral undr Roman rul during th tim of Christ. Politically thy wr in a parchd dsrt. Not in this vrs that on visiting th Isralits vanglism did tak plac during thos thirtyight yars of wandring also participats in this crmony. "Th on touching against a dad [body] of any soul of man: [h is] unclan for svn days; [Num. 19:11] Dath, in som ways, is th ultimat stat of unclannss. Th body no longr has procsss functioning to clans itslf. It immdiatly bgins to rot and dcay and rturn to th dust from whnc it was formd. For thos Som codics lav out in watr as in Lv. 16:28. From whnc w gt th oftn usd KJV rndring sparation

220 Numbrs Chaptr who ar unrgnratd, thy will nvr hav anothr chanc to b savd. It is from that point on that thy will spnd th rst of trnity in sparation from God, a continuation of thir choic of sparation from God on arth. W hav similar laws against th touching of on who is dad in Lv. 21:1, 11 Num. 5:2 6:6. It is our indwlling sin, our prsonal sin and thd imputd sin of Adam which hav causd us to b in a world of dath. Sinc sin is so closly associatd with dath, it will rquir this as a sin offring to clans on from contact with th dad. "H will clans himslf against it [i.., for contact with th dad body] on th third day, thn on th svnth h is clan; and if h dos not clans himslf on th third day, thn on th svnth day h is not clan; [Num. 19:12] rd It, hr, dos not rfr to th watr back in Num. 19:9 (as implid by th NASB). It is th 3 masculin singular suffix of th vêyth prposition (in, into, with, by, against, at proximity is mphasizd) and watrs is in th masculin plural. It rfrs to th contact with th dad body, th formr abod of somon's soul. Our Lord was raisd from th dad thr days aftr th crucifixion. Thrfor, dath hr is associatd with clansing on th third day. His clansing was bing raisd bodily from th dad in a rsurrction body, which was far suprior to his own uncorruptd body. "Any on who is coming against th dad, against th body of th on who did, and clanss not himslf [thn] h has dfild th tabrnacl of Y howah and that prson will b cut off from Isral, for th watr of impurity had not bn thrown upon him; h is unclan; his unclannss [is] still upon him. [Num. 19:13] Th watr of impurity is th watr which rmovd impurity. Whn on is clansd, th dirt from our bodis is absorbd by th watr and carrid away by th watr. Th watr, which was clan, bcoms dirty, and through it bcoming dirty, w bcom clan. Obviously, an analogy to th dath of our Lord, who bcam sin for us that w might bcom rightousnss of God in Him (II Cor. 5:21b). Sinc Isral blongd to Y howah and Y howah was holy, Isral must b holy. Whn thy bcam unclan, thy wr to clans thmslvs according to th Law othrwis, th dfild th vry Prsnc of Y howah in thir midst (as indwlling th tabrnacl). It was xpctd that this shadow imag would b carfully maintaind throughout th history of Isral. That would allow thos who obsrvd th lif and crucifixion of our Lord to associat it with th so-calld Lvitical sacrifics (which should b trmd th Aaronical sacrifics). Now would b a good tim to xamin th Doctrin of Unclannss not finishd yt!! "This [is] th protocol: whn a man dis in a tnt; vryon who is coming in unto th tnt and all that [ar] in th tnt bcom unclan svn days; [Num. 19:14] Crtainly, thr ar som sanitation faturs in this ordinanc, but this primarily rprsnts th unclannss of this lif and our dath. This is also unintntional unclannss. Just as whn a prson sins out of ignoranc, h is placd out of fllowship an Isralit who has bcom unclan unintntionally, is still sparatd from Y howah. "And vry opn vssl which has no cord of binding upon it is unclan. [Num. 19:15] Appparntly th containrs in th ancint world had lids which wr bound to thm using a cord. Th dath of this lif prmats vrything. "And vryon who coms on th fac of th fild against on slain with a sword [lit., th pircd of th sword] or against th dad or against a bon of a man or against a grav h is unclan svn days. [Num. 19:16] Any contact with th dad maks on unclan. Whn w sin, rgardlss of how minor and unimportant a sin, w bcom unclan du to th sin.

221 Th Book of Numbrs 221 This contact with th bons of a dad man making on unclan hlps to xplain 2Kings 23: Josiah was taring down and dstroying all th altars ddicatd to Ashrah, Tophth and Molch, Ashtorth, Chmosh, and 120 Milcom dmon gods. H tor thir altars down, st thm on fir, and burnd th bons of dad mn upon thm. H was associating that which was trribly unclan with th altars to ths dmons, as thy ar all unclan. "And thy will tak for th unclan prson of th ashs [lit., ash or dust] of th burning of th sin [-offring], and h will plac upon it running [lit., living] watr into a vssl; [Num. 19:17] Ths ar th ashs (or, dust) of th rd hifr. Th on who is unclan must hav applid to him th ashs of th rd hifr, which rprsnts th dath of Jsus Christ. Ths ashs wr stor outsid th camp, in a clan plac, to b usd whn thy wr ndd. This is a pictur of th fficacious work of our Lord bing availabl to us to clans us from sin as w nd it. It also picturs His work outsid th camp of Isral, whn Isral rjctd hr King and Mssiah. It is th church outsid th camp of Isral which sprad th gospl of th crucifixion. "And a clan prson will tak hyssop and will dip [it] in watr, and h will sprinkl [it] on th tnt, 121 and on all th vssls, and on th prson who hav bn thr, and on him who is coming against a bon, or against on pircd, or against th dad, or against a grav. [Num. 19:18] W hav th clansing which taks plac by th contact with th ashs of th rd hifr and thn w hav clansing from th watr of th hyssop which is sprinkld on that prson. "And th clan [prson] will sprinkl [it] upon th unclan on th third day, and on th svnth day; and h will clans himslf on th svnth day, and h will wash his garmnts and will bath with watr and h will b clan in th vning. [Num. 19:19] Th numbr svn rprsnts divin prfction; whn h has rachd th point of divin prfction, h is sprinkld and h washs himslf. This is th nd of a prson's lif, which, idally, was productiv. "And th man who is unclan and dos not clans himslf, vn that prson will b cut off from th midst of th assmbly; for h has dfild th sanctuary of Y howah; watr of impurity was not sprinkld upon him; h [is] unclan. [Num. 19:20] Th Jws ar a witnss of our Lord Jsus Christ and whn thy do not kp th typ, thn unblivrs ar no vanglizd. It is through ths various crmonis that on is brought to Jsus Christ (in th Old Tstamnt). Watr, in th Bibl, is oftn usd as a symbol for claning away sin. "Thn I will sprinkl clan watr on you and you will b clan. I will clans you from all your filthinss and from all your idols." (Ezk. 36:25). Lt us draw nar with a singular hart in complt confidnc in doctrin, having had our harts sprinkld [clan] from an vil conscinc and our bodis washd with pur watr (Hb. 10:22). 122 "And it will b to thm for a prptual dcr, that h who is sprinkling th watr of impurity will wash his garmnts, and h who is coming against th watr of impurity is unclan till th vning. [Num. 19:21] Ths laws wr to rmain on th books forvr so that th Jws would b rmain a witnss to all. For if th blood of goats and bulls and th sprinkling of hifr ashs on thos who hav bn dfild, sanctify for th [crmonially] clansing of th flsh, how much mor will th blood of Christ, Who, through th trnal Spirit, 120 2Kings 23:7, 10, Th wstrn Sam arian, Sptuagint and th Syriac om it th word all; vssls is th sam word translatd articls of furnittur. 122 Many codics th wstrn Onkolos manuscript, th Jonathan targum s, th Sptuagint and th Syriac rad to you.

222 Numbrs Chaptr offrd Himslf without blmish to God, clans your conscinc from dad works to srv th living God (Hb. 9:13 14)? "And all against which th unclan prson coms [into contact with] is unclan; and th prson who is coming against [him] is unclan till th vning." [Num. 19:22] As mntiond bfor, it is intrsting that God th Holy Spirit chos to insrt this chaptr into th midst of th thirty-ight yars of wandring, whn th oldr gnration of Jws had bn dfinitly rmovd from taking possssion of th land. In rtrospct, it is possibl that on a non-spiritual lvl, th mixing of th ashs with running watr prhaps was a sort of ly solution which was usd to clan thos things associatd with dath. Although this is first and formost crmonial, it also indicats a crtain clanlinss and fastidiousnss possibly unparallld by contmporary civilizations of Moss. A similar clansing can b found in Lv. 15. What happnd during this nxt thirty-ight yars? If Moss did any writing during this tim, it concrnd that which had alrady occurrd. W only hav on short pic of writing which dalt with this spcific tim priod, whr th Isralits wr lft in Kadsh Barna to di th sin unto dath. Th pain and suffring was grat and it paind Moss to writ about it. H wrot on psalm during this tim and did not vn includ it in his writings. Thr is actually a rason for that, which I hav nvr sn proprly xplaind in any commntary. It is likly that Joshua discovrd this psalm among his writings and proprly titld it and kpt it with th sacrd litratur. That is Psalm 90, locatd in th Pntatuch-Psalm addndum, whr w will go nxt.

223 Numbrs 20 Numbrs 20: Yars Latr Outlin of Chaptr 20: v. 1 Th dath of Miriam vv. 2 5 Th sons of Isral complain about th lack of watr vv. 6 8 Moss and Aaron go bfor God concrning th contntiousnss of th popl vv Moss rrs in following God's command vv Mssngrs ar snt to Edom to ask for saf passag through Edom and Edom rfuss vv Th dath of Aaron Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Introduction Gnration X Forshadows th Failur of th Jwish Nation Introduction God Bringing Isral into th Land of Promis Forshadows th Rgathring of Isral v. 11 Th Mistak of Moss and What th Watr of Mribah was Supposd to Rprsnt v. 12 What Did Moss Do Wrong? I ntroduction: Bfor w actually gt startd in th xamination of Num. 20, w nd to tak a momnt and attmpt to intgrat som xtra-biblical history into this tim fram. Th arlist mntion of Isral (ithr as a nation or as a popl) is found on what is known th Isral Stl, a ston slab which commmorats th vnts of th tim of Pharaoh Mrnptah. Th biggst problm hr is dtrmining at what point in th Biblical narrativ do w plac th vnts of this ston. Thrfor, now would b a good tim to xamin Historical Paralll: th Isral Stl. Although w ar not ntirly assurd of ths svral chaptrs of Numbrs falling into strict chronological squnc, it is likly that thirty-ight yars hav passd btwn Num. 17 and Num. 20. Num. 33:5 38 hlps us hr. Th ntir travls of th Jws ar outlind in Num. 33, as carfully as som gnalogis ar givn, and this would plac us nar th nd of th thirty-ight yars of wandring. In comparing this to Num. 33:36 38, w ar probably in th fortith yar of thir wandrings (as th Jws will nxt travl to Mount Hor, at th dg of th land 123 of Edom and Aaron will di on Mount Hor on th first day of th fifth month in th fortith yar ). I should gt spcific at this point: th Jws ar oftn said to hav wandrd in th dsrt for 40 yars. I don t bliv that this is th cas. Thy wr in th dsrt for 40 yars; thy wandrd for about 1½ of thos yars; but thy did not wandr th ntir tim. Aftr bing batn by th Canaanits and th Amalkits back in Num. 14, th Jws rally had no plac to go. Thy could not procd north, bcaus that is whr th Canaanits and th Amalkits wr. Thy possibly had to rtrat as a group somwhat, so as to not b so clos to thm. Howvr, thr is no rason to think that, for 38½ yars, thy wandrd about aimlssly. Moss, whn rcounting th vnts of Num. 14 and thir faithlssnss, adds, So you rmaind in Kadsh many days, th days that you spnt thr. (Dut. 1:46). Kadsh is mayb 100 mils southwst of Hormah. Ths Jws wr bat down; thy wr dspondnt; God was going to rmov on gnration of Jws from thir population. Thr is no nd for thm to go wandring thy hav no plac to wandr to. Thy no longr hav a dirction. Thy no longr hav a rason for wandring. Moss is not going to say, Hy, lt s just gt up and mov from hr to thr whil w wait for God to kill off th first gnration. So thy cool thir hls in on plac for most of th 40 yars that thy ar in th dsrt. At this point in our narrativ, thy ar going to pick up and mov out. You may wondr how can this many yars pass and w har nothing about it? Wll, w do har somthing about this tim priod. W find that in our prvious study of Psalm 90. Blivrs hav a totally warpd undrstanding of Scriptur and God s dalings with mankind. W look back in th tims of our Lord and back to th tim of 123 Num. 33:37b, 38b.

224 Numbrs Chaptr Moss and think that vry singl day was this rollr coastr of miracls howvr, that is compltly wrong. Thr wr intns priods of tim, usually lasting a fw yars at th most, whr God dirctly intrvnd in history (or, mor corrctly, mad it clar that H was intrvning in history). W look back on th xodus of th Isralits out of Egypt and thir wandrings in th dsrt and thir final dstination, ast of th Jordan Rivr, prior to ntring th land, as a tim priod filld with miracls and dirct divin intrvntion. Not so. In fact, that is totally wrong. God, immdiatly prior to and during th xodus from Egypt, prformd incrdibl miracls and grat acts in Egypt what was bing don was unprcdntd, so mor than just a strong ladr was rquird God had to giv Moss th crdit card to indicat that h was a divinly-snt mssngr. And for svral months, thr wr a dozn or so incrdibl acts of God. At Mount Sinai, whn God gav th Law to Moss, anothr xtrmly important tim in th history of man, Moss was, as always, xcruciatingly clar as to whn God was spaking. And thn thr ar 38½ yars of silnc. Why? Bcaus God was silnt, dammit! Don t you gt it? Th priod of tim whn God maks it unrringly clar that H is taking a part in human history is rally a vry small prcntag of human history. Moss wrot nothing down for 38½ yars bcaus, as far as h was concrnd, h had nothing to writ about. H wrot on psalm that w ar awar of, Psalm 90, which w just studid, and probably finishd putting togthr th vnts of th xodus, committing thm to papr. But h wrot nothing of th 38½ yars, which is by far th majority of th tim that h was in command ovr Isral, bcaus thr was nothing to writ about. God did not spak; God did not prform any grat miracls. Thy just sat in th middl of th damn dsrt and gn X did off. Now, if th gratst Isralit of th Old Tstamnt spnt most of his tim not witnssing grat and powrful miracls, during th formation of th nation Isral, thn how th hll do you think you ar going to walk into church vry wk and s God prform halings and miracls and hav th Holy Spirit spak through you with tongus of angls? You rr bcaus you do not know th Scripturs. You do not hav any ral tru prspctiv of our spiritual history, which is Isral. It is not that th Bibl concals it from us; it is bcaus you hav no ral intrst in God s Word, and thrfor you think vry day is a day of miracls and dramatic vnts and whn it isn t, you manufactur thm in your mind som of you vn whip yourslvs up into this stat of mass frnzy and hystria and you think that you ar bing spiritual. That is not spirituality that is holy rollr, jack ass tim. What is coming up is that, dspit what has happnd in th past, Moss will, for a wk or a month s tim, ntr into th gratst priod of his spiritual lif, and that will b rcordd in th book of Dutronomy. And, during this priod of intns gratnss, how many miracls will occur? Not a singl damn on. Why? Bcaus whn you hav God s Word filling your soul, you do not nd to hav stunts and miracls and amazing things to bolstr your faith. Moss and this nw gnration of Isralits ndd nothing but what Moss had to say. Thy didn t witnss th miracls in th land of Egypt not most of thm. And for thos that did, it occurrd a long, long tim ago, in thir youth. What was important was th doctrin that Moss tachs thm in th book of Dutronomy, on of th gratst of all books in th Old Tstamnt. Thr is no miracl, no sign, no haling, no gift which is as important as th Word of God. Th only thing that you will carry with you from this world to th nxt is God s Word, Bibl doctrin. And that is what you should focus upon for th rst of your lif. Num. 20 is an unusual chaptr of th Bibl. Isral is about to ntr th land thy ar spnding thir last yar in th dsrt an vnt which should caus grat rjoicing. Howvr, in this grat chaptr of Numbrs, w will s th sad daths of Miriam and Aaron, both occurring within a fw months of ach othr and th tragic sin of Moss, which barrd him from ntring th promisd land with his brothrs. Th king of Edom will mak a bad dcision concrning th Jws. It would hav bn an idal tim to strik an allianc or, at th vry last, a nonaggrssion pact btwn th Edomits and th Jws. Howvr, th king of Edom was too short-sightd to commit to such an traty. Thr is also a fantastic analogy hr, which I cannot rcall bing mntiond by any othr commntator which I hav rad. Th original movmnt of Isral to th promisd land, thir rpulsion, and thir thirty-ight yars of cooling thir hls is all litral. Whn Joshua took th gnration of promis into th land, it took him svn yars to conqur it. I hop that you can s th forshadowing now. God gav th Jws th rsponsibility to vangliz th world and thy faild. As a nation, thy ar now cooling thir hls. Thir history, from th divin viwpoint, is unimportant, just as th thirty-ight yars of gnration X cooling its hls at Kadsh-barna wr unimportant. During this tim, aftr th grat failur of th Jws to accomplish what God had st up for thm to do, w hav th silnt yars for th Jws, which is analogous to th church ag. Howvr, God has not forgottn His popl

225 Th Book of Numbrs 225 nor has H placd thm asid forvr bcaus thy faild. Whn w, th church, ar takn out of th way, God will rturn to His popl and thy will rturn to th Land of Promis, and, in svn yars, thy will tak th land. Lt m do this by a chart: Scriptur Historic Incidnt Scriptur Forshadowd Incidnt Failur of Gnration X Failur of th Jwish Nation Ex. 15: :8 15 Th Isralits do not bliv that God can provid for thm. Matt. 9:23 25 Th public doubtd th powr of our Lord. Ex. 16:16 21 Th popl do not follow God's xplicit dirctions. Matt. 14: :3 9 19:1 9 Hrod has John th Baptist killd, as John told him it was not right to b marrid to his brothr's wif. Th Phraiss followd th tachings of man instad of God. Mn do not follow God's tachings about divorc. Ex. 17:1 7 Th popl doubt that th Lord is among thm. Matt. 12:1 8 13:53 58 Many do not bliv that H is Lord of th Sabbath. Many do not rcogniz His dity. Ex. 32:1 8 Num. 25:1 5 Th popl bcom corruptd with fals rligion and idolatry and turn away from Y howah, th on Who brought thm out of Egypt. Matt. 9: :1 8 15:3 9 Th rligious ladrs rjctd our Lord. Thy followd th tachings of man. Ex. 14: : :12 34:10 God producd many miracls bfor th childrn of Isral. Matt. 11:20 24 Dspit th miracls don in svral aras, popl did not bliv in Jsus Christ. Ex. 32:1 8 Lv. 10:1 7 Num. 12:1 15 Som of th spiritual ladrs of Isral fail. Matt. 12: :1 37 Th rligious ladrs sought to dstroy our Lord. Our Lord spaks of th failurs of th rligious ladrs of His day. Num. 11:1 10 Th popl complain about God's provisions. Mark 2:5 10 Th Phariss complain about our Lord forgiving th sins of th paralytic. Lv. 31:31 14:10 Th popl will not follow God. Mark 6:2 6 Luk 23:13 25 Acts 13:48 51 Th popl do not bliv in Jsus Christ. Th popl ask for th rlas of a murdrr instad of th rlas of Jsus Christ. Th Jws driv Paul and Barnabas out of thir ara. Num. 16:1 49 Isral rjcts its tru ladrs; th authoritis stablishd by God. Matt. 23:33 37 Mark 11:27 28 Acts 7:1 60 Thos in spiritual authority and th popl both rjct th prophts snt to thm by God. Our Lord's authority is qustiond. Stphn is stond whn th popl rjct his mssag.

226 Numbrs Chaptr Scriptur Historic Incidnt Scriptur Forshadowd Incidnt Num. 11:33 14:11 Hb. 3:8 11, God loaths this gnration. Matt. 21: :1 39 Luk 13:6 9 Our Lord curss th fig tr, symbolic of Isral, bcaus it producs no fruit. Phariss ar castigatd. Num. 14:26 38 Thos who oppos God will di and nvr ntr into his Land of Promis; thy will nvr ntr into His rst. Mark 10:17 23 Th rich young rulr stands in opposition to God and cannot b savd. Num. 14:39 45 Without th Tru God of Isral, th popl cannot dfat thir nmis. Luk 21:10 24 Josphus; Th Jwish War; VII viii.-ix. Th battl and fall of Massada whn Isral was rmovd as a nation in AD. God Placs Gnration X Asid Isral is Tmporarily St Asid B t w n Num. 19 and Num. 20 Scriptur is silnt on ths thirtyight yars as gnration X di th sin unto dath outsid of th land. Isa. 61:2a 2b Dan. 2: : :22 23 Hos. 3:4 5 5:15 6:1 Prophcy skips ovr th church ag; this is known as th doctrin of intrcalation. Btwn ths vrss fits th church ag. This dos not man church ag vnts ar ignord compltly. Th sign of th rjction of Isral (Isa. 14) and prdictions of th fall of Jrusalm occur (Matt. 24). Num. 14:20 35 This gnration of Jws is placd undr disciplin (in this cas, thy will not ntr into th land and thy will di th sin unto dath). Lv. 26:27 39 Ezk. 6:8 36:19 Luk 21:24 Th sons of Isral will b dispossssd from th land and scattrd throughout th nations; th land will bcom dsolat; God Brings Isral Into th Land God R-gathrs Isral Th book of Joshua Joshua lads Isral into th land and dispossss th dgnrat inhabitants. Isa. 49: :12 61:2 7 Jr. 16:15 Ezk. 36:24 37: :25 29 Hos. 3:5 6:1 God r-gathrs Isral into th land and givs it to thm. Joshua 14:7 10 Num. 9:1 10:11 13: : :38 This priod of tim is svn yars. It was forty-fiv yars from th tim God told Moss that Joshua would ntr into th land. Th Isralits coold thir hls in Kadsh-barna for 38 yars during that tim; that's svn yars. Ezk. 43:24 27 Dan. 9:24 27 Rv. 6:1 8:1 16:1 This priod of tim is svn yars.

227 Th Book of Numbrs 227 On mor thing should b mntiond. Thr is also vry likly a clos corrspondnc btwn th thirty-ight silnt yars, th church ag and th first tim that Isral was rmovd from th land. At som tim in th futur, I would lik to pursu that analogous situation as wll. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Dath of Miriam And th sons of Isral cam in all th company to th dsrt of Zin in th first month, and th popl abod in Kadsh, and Miriam did thr, and was burid thr. [Num. 20:1] Miriam is oldr than Moss by svral yars. Sh watch afar off as h was discovrd in th ark in th Nil rivr. This would mak hr btwn six and sixtn yars oldr than him. Sinc sh rblld against his authority, sh has not bn mntiond in Scriptur. Sh ld a full-scal prsonal rbllion and Aaron smd to go along bcaus h was too asily influncd by hr (h was hr youngr brothr also and possibly was usd to hr running th show; which is on of th rasons Moss had to b rmovd from thir immdiat family). Di is in th imprfct tns, maning that this was a procss. For th blivr, dying can b a blssing or a cursing. W don t raliz that Miriam is a part of Isral that God will dstroy bfor ntring into th Land of Promis. Sh was on of th last to go, du to hr rlationship to Moss. Th dsrt of Zin strtchs from nar th coast of th Mditrranan (th Grat Sa) around to th bordr of Edom to roughly a hundrd mils south of th bordrs of Palstin and Edom. On th wst it is bordrd by th Mditrranan on th southwst by th dsrt of Shur, and on th south by th dsrt of Paran. In Num. 13:21, th sons of Isral had just com out of Egypt, had rcivd th Law, and th dsrt of Zin was thir last stop bfor snding spis into th land. In this chaptr, th sons of Isral will transvrs th northrn portion of th dsrt of Zin, travling along th southrn bordrs of Palstin and Edom. Kadsh is a stop along th way through th dsrt of Zin. With thir location givn, thy ar not too far south of Palstin, th promisd land. No yar is givn hr and, in th immdiat contxt, w hav no clu as to how much thy hav wandrd. W know that thy wr dirctly south of Palstin whn thy wr rbuffd. It might sm as though thy wr prhaps dwlling in th dsrt immdiatly aftrward for th rbllion of Korah. Howvr, as w hav sn in th introduction, thirty-ight yars suddnly passd by sinc Num. 17. In Num , w hav two citis mntiond: Hormah and Kadsh. In Num. 13:26, Isral campd out in Kadsh during Isral s grat failur. God had told Isral to tak th land and thy rfusd to. Whn Moss told thm what th consquncs would b, thy stormd th Land of Promis in a fit of passion, bing drivn back to Hormah (which is about 50 mils north of Kadsh). Eithr in this vrs or th nxt, it is 38½ yars latr, and Isral is in Kadsh, indicating that Isral spnd much of thir tim in Kadsh, if not all of it during ths almost silnt 38½ yars. What I bliv that w ar givn ar two booknds, Num. 16 and Num. 25 both giv tragic storis of a larg numbr of mn losing thir livs. On occurs nar th bginning (probably) of th wandrings of th childrn of Isral and th othr occurs nar th nd of th wandrings. In btwn ths tims, anothr 560,000+ mn ar killd and thir bons wr scattrd throughout th dsrt ara in which thy wandrd. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Sons of Isral Complain about th Lack of Watr And thr was no watr for th company, and thy wr assmbld against Moss and against Aaron; [Num. 20:2]

228 Numbrs Chaptr W ar to th point whr most of th adult Exodus gnration hav passd away. Th fw that rmain hav sn almost 600,000 of thir contmporaris di in th dsrt at th hand of God du to thir rblliousnss. Howvr, thy hav not larnd. All ths daths hav mad thm bittr and thy hav nvr com to a point of bliving and trusting God in thir daily walk with Him. This is a continuation of on of th many grivancs which thy fild with Moss, thratning his lif and position vry tim that thy fild a grivanc. Thr wr a larg numbr of Isralits who had facd no watr bfor and all of thos who wr twnty and oldr rcalld that God had providd thm watr through th striking of a rock bfor (Ex. 17:1 7). Ths find it asir to complain and bitch whras all thy had to do is to mak thir rqusts known to God and H would bring thm to pass. Thy rquird watr in ordr to surviv and God was awar of that. God chos to hav thm rqust this watr of Him. Daily, thy rcivd provisions from Him in th form of mannah, so it wasn't as though God forgot what thy rquird. God was looking for th rqust of th child to th Fathr. And th popl contndd with Moss, and spok, saying, "And if only w had xpird [or, brathd our last] whn our brothrs xpird bfor Y howah! [Num. 20:3] Not carfully who th complainrs ar. "If only w had xpird whn our brothrs xpird." This is th rmnant of th Exodus gnration, th last of thm. Had thy said our fathrs, w would know that this is th youngr group who hav larnd how to complain from thir parnts. Howvr, this is th last of th rvrsionists whom God would strik down bfor ntring into th land. Hr thy ar, right whr thy rblld against God almost forty yars ago. Thy should hav ntrd into th land but tn of th spis sprad rumors throughout th congrgation that thy would b unabl to tak th land du to th siz of its occupants. Hr, whr thy rblld bfor, w hv com to a full circl and thy rbll onc again. This was not spokn to Moss and Aaron, but thy said this to work ach othr up. It was thir thm song whn undr strss. W hard xactly th sam thing back in Num. 14:2 3. Thy flt sorry for thmslvs, thy wr thirsty thy had spnt forty yars of thir livs wandring in th dsrt. Thy wr old, it did not appar as though thy wr vr going to ntr into th land. All thy hav lft in thir livs is to bitch about thir prsnt circumstancs. You crtainly know oldr popl who grip and complain constantly. Ths ar thm. Thy ar lamnting that thy jjust didn't di a long tim ago. At last thy would hav gottn it out of th way. Now this is not th ntir congrgation, mind you it is thos who ar ovr forty, whom God swor in His wrath that H would kill in th dsrt. Ths kind of popl ar a cancr. I taught a class onc whr this modratly attractiv and vry spoild young lady mad it hr businss to complain about vrything sh could think of. It ruind th class and I mad th mistak of putting up with hr griping. Th othr souls in th class, asily ld astray in thir youth, turnd callous toward th cours contnt and got littl or nothing out of it. I should hav wastd hr soul in th dsrt. I was in a dpartmnt whr thr was on woman who constantly complaind and gripd about vryon but hr two or thr frinds and it was gloomy just to b in th sam room with hr. Out choic, whn daling with blivrs with soul kinks lik that is w sparat. W ar advisd vry littl in th ralm of sparating from unblivrs, xcpt for prhaps th fast crowd of unblivrs whn our souls ar wak. Howvr, with blivrs, thr ar a lot of rasons to sparat. I raliz that this dos not sound lik unity of th faith, but thr ar som blivrs that you don't nd to s again xcpt in trnity. And if you ar forcd to b nar a blivr lik this, you pray vry way you can for God to disciplin thm, rmov thm or dlivr you through th strss of your on-on-on rlationship (howvr, you do not gt th opportunity to disciplin thm). "And why hav you brought in th assmbly of Y howah into this dsrt to di thr, w and our basts? [Num. 20:4] Popl who constantly whin and ocmpalin ar gnrally irrational. Thy ar implaccabl. Thr is nothing that you can do to chang thir minds or thir attituds. Hr thy wr wishing thy wr dad bcaus thy might di in th dsrt. That just dos not mak a whol hck of a lot of sns, dos it? Popl don't hav to b logical whn thy hav a complaint and whn thy scapgoat thir problms. Thy blam Moss for thir problms and

229 Th Book of Numbrs 229 it has bn shown to thm clarly, again and again, that it is thir ngativ voltion toward th plan of God which is thir problm. "And why did you bring us up out of Egypt to bring us into this vil plac? [Thr is] no plac of sd or fig or vin or pomgranat; and thr is no watr to drink! [Num. 20:5] Th problm is that thy rmmbr Egypt in a romantic way, having had all of ths things, vn though thy slavd fourtn to ightn hours a day for th Egyptians. Thy wr givn som things to at and thy missd ths things. Futhrmor, thy hav com to a plac in th dsrt whr thr is no watr. W hav thousands of young popl who hav grown up and thy rcall whn thy wr vry young sing Moss (or, mor likly, haring about Moss) bringing watr from a larg ston. Thos doing th gumbling, th ldrs of Isral, th rmaining dgnrats of th Exodus gnration, th vocal minority, saw this with thir own ys, but that was almost forty yars ago and thy wr thirsty right thn and thr. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Moss and Aaron Go Bfor God Concrning th Contntiousnss of th Popl And Moss and Aaron wnt in from th prsnc of th assmbly into th opning of th tnt of mting, and fll on thir facs and thy bhld th glory of Y howah. [Num. 20:6] Moss and Aaron had this down pat. Thy had givn up on th popl. Thy usd to mak a show out of falling to a submissiv position bfor th popl during a crisis lik this; howvr, thy had gottn usd to just walking away from th popl, going into th tabrnacl, and gtting immdiat and dirct instructions from Y howah. Th grumbling Jws, although not grat blivrs, knw that thy could not just follow Moss and Aaron into th tnt of mting, as thy would b struck dad for ntring into th tabrnacl. And Y howah spok to Moss, saying, [Num. 20:7] Moss dos not vn bothr to rcord what h and Aaron said and it is possibl that thy said nothing, but just waitd for guidanc from God. "Tak th rod and [caus to] assmbl th company, you and Aaron your brothr; and you [all] hav spokn to th rock bfor thir ys, and it will giv its watr. And you will [caus to] bring forth watr from th rock, and you will [caus to] watr th company and thir basts." [Num. 20:8] Rcall that bfor, Moss struck th rock undr God's command and out from th rock sprung living watrs. Thn Y howah said to Moss, "Pass bfor th popl and tak with you som of th ldrs of Isral; and tak in your hand your staff with which you struck th Nil, and go. Furthrmor, I will stand bfor you thr on th rock at Horb; and you will strik th rock, and watr will gush out of it, that th popl may drink." And Moss did so in th sight of th ldrs of Isral (Ex. 17:5 6). H split th rocks in th wildrnss, and gav abundant drink lik th ocan dpths. H brought forth strams also from th rock and causd watrs to run down lik rivrs...obsrv, h struck th rock, so that watrs gushd out (Psalm 78:15 16, 20a). H opnd th rock and watr flowd out (Psalm 105:41a). And thy did not thirst whn H ld thm through th dsrts. H mad th watr flow out of th rock for thm; H split th rock and th watrs gushd forth (Isa. 48:21). This is th staff that whn Moss struck th Nil, it spok of judgmnt against Pharaoh and th popl of Egypt. Whn Y howah stood bfor th fac of Moss, upon th rock and Moss struck th rock, Moss was striking Y howah Jsus Christ, with th rod of judgmnt. Out from Him, th rock would flow living watrs. Jsus Christ is th rock (Isa. 44:8 Matt. 16:18 Rom. 9:33 I Cor. 10:4 I Ptr 2:8), th fountain of living watrs (Jr. 2:13) and whn spaking to th Samarian woman at th wll, h said, "If you knw th gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Giv M a drink,' you would hav askd Him and H would hav givn you living watr." (John 4:10b). Now on th fast day, th grat [day] of th fast, Jsus stood and calld out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, lt him com

230 Numbrs Chaptr to M and drink. H who blivs in M, as th Scriptur said, "From His innrmost bing shall flow rivrs of living watr.' " (John 7:37 38 Isa. 58:11 Jr. 2:13). And all drank th sam spiritual drink, for thy wr drinking from a spiritual rock which followd thm; and th rock was th Christ (I Cor. 10:4). Th simpl point is that Jsus Christ was th rock which Moss struck with th rod of judgmnt, just as Jsus Christ was struck by th rod of judgmnt by God th Fathr whn H was on th cross. How many tims was H struck? On tim. Evr sinc thn, w can go to th Living Rock and out of Him will flow living watrs. All Moss has to do to maintain this typ is th spak to th rock it has alrady bn struck indicating that it has alrady bn judgd. Moss had bn spcifically ordrd by God, in no uncrtain trms, to spak to th rock, not to strik it. To obtain salvation, it is no longr ncssary for our Lord to b judgd onc again; it is no longr ncssary to offr up animal sacrifics. To obtain watr from th rock, it was ncssary only to spak to it. To obtain trnal salvation, th watr givn us that w will nvr thirst, w nd only spak to our Lord. Striking th rock and having watr gush forth this was not just som lucky analogy that happnd to occur. God in trnity past, knowing th hard-hartdnss of th Exodus gnration, allowd thm to com to a plac of nowatr. It was God Who mad crtain that th rvald mmbr of th trinity, Jsus Christ, Y howah Elohim, would b upon th rock struck by Moss. As you hav sn abov, this incidnt or its anti-typ ar quotd in almost a dozn placs throughout th Old and Nw Tstamnts. This larg numbr of occurrncs should indicat how important it is to gt th typ just right. God's plan is not som sloppy, do your bst, cross your fingrs and hop it coms out okay bcaus you ar sincr. God's plan, to paraphras Thim, is prcisly corrct procdur. Empowrmnt by th Holy Spirit and this is no rfrnc to spaking uncontrolld, motional gibbrish in a church mpowrmnt of th Holy Spirit is far mor than your bst it is th powr of God. This is what God's plan rquirs. As a public spakr I hard onc said, Somtims you hav to do mor than your bst somtims you hav to do what is rquird. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Moss Errs in Following God's Command And Moss took th rod from bfor Y howah, as H had commandd him; [Num. 20:9] Th watr would giv from its innrmost bing living watrs bcaus it was judgd this is why Moss had th staff. And Moss and Aaron assmbld th assmbly bfor th fac of th rock, and h said to thm, "Hr, I pray you, [you] rbls, from this rock do w bring out to you watr?" [Num. 20:10] Now Moss spaks to th crowd. This is optional. H was not commandd to do that, but it dos not ruin th typ. Howvr, it is obvious that Moss is pissd. H is out of fllowship. H is angry at this lam bunch of blivrs. H would lik to tak th staff and go out into th crowd and crack a fw skulls. H has don vrything possibl to prsrv this smarmy, surly, ungratful and constantly-griping mob and h has just about rachd his limit. You can tll that h is out of fllowship, not just bcaus of his angr, but bcaus of what h says: "Will w bring out to you watr?" Lik h and Aaron hav anything to do with it. His bing out of fllowship and his undrstandabl loss of patinc unfortunatly mak Moss lss than th bst choic to lad th sons of Isral hron. H will now mak a grav rror, vn wors than most raliz. And Moss liftd up his hand and struck th rock with his rod twic, and much watr cam out, and th company drank, also thir basts. [Num. 20:11] Hr is th problm. Our Lord Jsus Christ was judgd on tim for th sins of all. In ordr to rtain this analogy, this rock must b hit only on tim, and that occurrd forty yars ago. Moss was not to strik th rock with his staff again not vn onc. That would imply that our Lord's dath on th cross was not ntirly fficacious that somthing must b addd to His gracious sacrific in ordr to procur our salvation. God gav MOss vry

231 Th Book of Numbrs 231 spcific instructions and Moss improvisd, going for drama ovr and against truth; allowing his motions to ovrrun his common sns. Pastor-tachrs and vanglists do this all th tim. Thy oftn will tach things which thy know ar fals in ordr to mak a dramatic point or to shak th motions of on of thos in th audinc. This is wrong. W ar ministrs of truth and w ar not to tak dramatic licns with th truth. It may sm to b bttr advisd to mak popl think that if thy sin too oftn, thy could los thir salvation or that thy wr not savd in th first plac. This may or may not rduc th amount of sin in th world; howvr, it is not th truth and it should not b taught. Lt s look at this ntir passag, and mak a fw commnts: Num. 20:2 13: Thr was no watr for th community, so thy assmbld against Moss and Aaron. Th popl quarrld with Moss and said, "If only w had prishd whn our brothrs prishd bfor th LORD. Why hav you brought th LORD's assmbly into this wildrnss for us and our livstock to di hr? Why hav you ld us up from Egypt to bring us to this vil plac? It's not a plac of grain, figs, vins, and pomgranats, and thr is no watr to drink!" Thn Moss and Aaron wnt from th prsnc of th assmbly to th doorway of th tnt of mting. Thy fll down with thir facs to th ground, and th glory of th LORD appard to thm. Th LORD spok to Moss, "Tak th staff and assmbl th community. You and your brothr Aaron ar to spak to th rock whil thy watch, and it will yild its watr. You will bring out watr for thm from th rock and provid drink for th community and thir livstock." So Moss took th staff from th LORD's prsnc just as H had commandd him. Moss and Aaron summond th assmbly in front of th rock, and Moss said to thm, "Listn, you rbls! Must w bring watr out of this rock for you?" Thn Moss raisd his hand and struck th rock twic with his staff, so that a grat amount of watr gushd out, and th community and thir livstock drank. But th LORD said to Moss and Aaron, "Bcaus you did not trust M to show My holinss in th sight of th Isralits, you will not bring this assmbly into th land I hav givn thm." Ths ar th watrs of Mribah, whr th Isralits quarrld with th LORD, and H showd His holinss to thm. What w find in this passag is anothr incidnt which was supposd to b a shadow of Jsus Christ; howvr, Moss, in his angr, mssd it up. This is mor than a simpl mattr of disobdinc; Moss ngagd in actions which God did not tll him to do, and th rsult was, an inaccurat shadow of th good things to com: Th Mistak of Moss and What th Watr of Mribah was Supposd to Rprsnt 1. Jsus Christ dis on th cross on tim; H pays for our sins on tim only. Hb 9:26: Othrwis, H would hav had to suffr many tims sinc th foundation of th world. But now H has appard on tim, at th nd of th ags, for th rmoval of sin by th sacrific of Himslf. Rom 6:10: For in that H did, H did to sin onc for all; but in that H livs, H livs to God. Hb 7:27: H dosn't nd to offr sacrifics vry day, as high prists do--first for thir own sins, thn for thos of th popl. H did this onc for all whn H offrd Himslf. S Hb. 9:12 10:10 Ptr 3:18 (this point is mad six tims in th Nw Tstamnt do you s how important it is?). 2. Evn th Nw Tstamnt tlls us that this Rock, from which flows watrs of lif, is a rprsntation of Jsus Christ: And all drank th sam spiritual drink, for thy wr drinking from a spiritual rock which followd thm; and th rock was Christ (I Cor. 10:4). 3. Thrfor, whn Moss facs th rock, th rock bing Jsus Christ, h is not supposd to strik it, bcaus Jsus dos not di twic for our sins. Moss alrady struck th Rock back in Ex. 17:6, and from th Rock cam watrs of lif. God th Fathr striks Jsus on tim on Golgotha. Thrfor, Moss is supposd to strik th rock just on tim (it is probably a diffrnt rock, but thy both rfr to Jsus Christ). 4. What happns aftr that point? By analogy, w spak to th Rock, Jsus Christ. W bliv in Jsus Christ; H dos not di a scond tim w do not crucify Jsus a scond tim, putting Him to an opn sham (Hb. 6:6b). 5. Thrfor, Moss is to spak to th rock; h is not supposd to strik th rock. Whn h spaks to th rock, from it will flow living watrs. John 4:10: Jsus answrd, "If you knw th gift of God, and who is saying to you, 'Giv M a drink,' you would ask Him, and H would giv you living watr." S also John 4:11 7:38 Rv. 7:17 21:6 22:1, Bcaus Moss did not do as God told him, Paul cannot look back on th two mribah incidnts and rfr

232 Numbrs Chaptr Th Mistak of Moss and What th Watr of Mribah was Supposd to Rprsnt to thm as an analogy to Jsus Christ, th Rock of Ags. What Moss did wrong was not a simpl act of disobdinc, but an act which kpt this and Ex. 17 from bing usd as an illustration in th pistls as an xampl of anothr shadow of Jsus Christ and His work on th cross on our bhalf. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins And Y howah said to Moss, and to Aaron, "Bcaus you [all] did not bliv in M to sanctify M bfor th ys of th sons of Isral, thrfor, you [all] will not bring in this assmbly into th land which I hav givn to thm." [Num. 20:12] Som popl hav a vry hard tim grasping this. Moss, for forty yars, has bn faithful to this congrgation; h has stood up on thir bhalf to dlivr thm whn God would dstroy thm. H has bn faithful in th big things and in th littl things. H has obyd God almost instantly whn givn a spcific command. Hr, h slips up just on tim and bcaus of that on tim, Moss will nvr b allowd to ntr into th land. Notic Num. 27:12 14: Thn Y howah said to Moss, "Go up to this mountain of Abarim and s th land which I hav givn to th sons of Isral. And whn you hav sn it, you too will b gathrd to your popl, as Aaron your brothr was. For in th dsrt of Zin, during th strif of th congrgation, you rblld against My mouth to for My sanctity bfor thir ys at th watr." (ths ar th watrs of Mribah of Kadsh in th wildrnss of Zin). It may sm harsh, but th gospl is th most important bit of information to th unblivr. If you ar going to witnss to somon, you must gt it right. Othrwis, you might as wll not vn do it at all. Do you want a mchanic working on your car who is going to giv it a good try, but not do it corrctly? Do you want a sincr surgon prforming an opration which h will do incorrctly? Thr ar aras of lif whr w don't want somon to mak a mistak. Whn it coms to th most important pic of information of God's Word, an incidnt quotd again and again throughout th Old and Nw Tstamnts God wants it to b don right in th first plac. Moss' rspons was that of a grat man h askd God to plac ovr th childrn of Isral a man of grat ladrship ability (Num. 27:15 20). H did not say, "Kill m and to hll with thos whining sons of Isral." H rspctd God's dcisions, vn if h did not fully undrstand thm. Moss could hav only compltly undrstood th disobdinc portion of his punishmnt it is unlikly that h undrstood why God spcifically commandd him to spak to th rock rathr than to strik th rock. Th diffrnc was, to him, so insignificant that h likly did not vn giv it a thought. What Did Moss Do Wrong? It might b hlpful to hav a complt rundown of all that Moss did wrong in this action: 1. Moss got out of fllowship du to mntal attitud sins. H was angry, frustratd, h had hatrd in his soul for th ladrs of this conspiracy and h allowd th prssurs of lif to bcom strss on th insid. Th way h spok to th congrgation in v. 10 and th fact that h ignord God's Word and struck th rock, indicats that h bgan with ths sins. You undrstimat th importanc and dvastation of mntal attitud sins. It is th initial angr of Moss which put him out of fllowship and ld him to commit th othr sins in this contxt. It is this littl sin of angr and a littl tim out of fllowship bcaus of it that will kp Moss from ntring into th land. 2. Th fact that h had vn on mntal attitud sin put Moss out of fllowship. H did not confss this sin to God. Moss had a spcific spiritual duty to prform. H attmptd to do God's work whil out of fllowship. You ar wasting your tim to giv, pray, go to church, witnss, study God's Word or any othr spiritual activity whil you ar out of fllowship. 3. Whn Moss was out of fllowship, h ylld at th congrgation (which may or may not hav bn a sin), but, in any cas, it indicatd his angr and frustration and thn h said, "Shall w ftch you watr out of this rock?" As if Moss had anything to do with God's powr? W cannot tak crdit to ourslvs for what

233 Th Book of Numbrs 233 What Did Moss Do Wrong? God dos. Ministrs who mt in groups to hav braga-mtings about how many cam forward in thir congrgation ar taking crdit to thmslvs, rgardlss of th phony, pious phrasing that thy throw in with it. Today, in th dispnsation of th invisibl hro, most of what God dos in a congrgation is nvr sn. As I hav pointd out many tims bfor, you hav no ida as to how important prayr is and thr ar mmbrs of your congrgation whos spiritual ffctivnss is a hundrd tims yours du to thir corrct prayr lif and ths might b popl that you look down upon, or would not associat with or prhaps you fl sorry for thm. And thy ar oftn th unsn backbon of your church. a. By th way, as an asid, th siz of a church mans nothing. A prson might pastor a church of 20 popl ovr a priod of svral yars. That pastor might b clarly taching th Word of God and th corrct mchanics found in th Word of God. Ths 20 may b th only truly positiv popl in thir ntir city. Thrfor, th othr svral hundrd thousand or svral million do not nd to b thr. Just bcaus a church is larg, that dos not man anything. 4. Moss gav God no crdit whn spaking to th congrgation. Rcall, in th prvious no-watr incidnt, Moss said to th popl, "Why do you tst Y howah?" (Ex. 17:2b). God was not glorifid in what Moss did. H mad it sound as though h and Aaron wr doing th work. God dos all of th work on our bhalf. Salvation is 100% God's work. W cannot add a thing to it. Lading a good spiritual lif, bing baptizd, giving mony to th church, attnding church no mattr what you can think of, ths ar works which will not gain us salvation. Whn w bliv and add ths works to hlp God choos us, w ar not savd. Our trust must in in Christ alon for what H did for us on th cross. Th Jws wr to trust in Y howah alon for thir survival and blssing. Moss obscurd this issu. 5. God gav Moss a spcific st of instructions and Moss disobyd thos instructions. H was to spak to th rock instad, h struck th rock twic. 6. Finally, as has bn pointd out bfor, much of what was don in th Old Tstamnt was a shadow of what is to com; but th rality blongs to Christ (Col. 2:17b). This was a marvlous analogy to Jsus Christ on th cross, ovr 1400 yars prior to th cross. Y howah idntifid Himslf with th rock in Scriptur and by standing upon th rock whn Moss first struck it with th rod of judgmnt. From this rock sprung forth a hug amount of watr, which formd a pool and all who wr thirsty could com to th watr from th rock and drink. Moss ndd to only complt this analogy by now spaking to th rock, as w spak to th Rock, asking for and taking our salvation from Him. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx How dos God indicat that w hav a problm hr so that no on thinks that our Lord will b judgd again or so that no on confuss th analogy hr? God dos somthing so dramatic, that it stays with you God bars Moss and Aaron from ntring into th promisd land. Thr ar fw things which could convy His displasur as much as that. H causs all things to work togthr for good vn to thos who lov him (Rom. 8:28a) vn this mistak will show that thr is just on gospl and vn whn prsntd in typ-form in th Old Tstamnt, it must b as accurat as its prsntation in th Nw. Lt's go with a quick application. Moss most crtainly did not undrstand xactly how and why h had sinnd. H knw xactly what God's commands wr and h disobyd thm this is all that h was compltly cognizant of. What this symboliz, although rasonably clar to most blivrs, was not prspicuous to Moss. Now hr is th application: thr ar laws and mandats in God's Word for us that w may not compltly undrstand or s th rasons for. This dos not mak thm optional. W ar arrogant to think that w can brak God's laws whn it coms to marriag and divorc, pr-marital sx, dishonst businss dalings, drug usag, gossiping, maligning, and othr sins that som of us commit routinly. I am crtain that I missd your ara of waknss. Howvr, all it taks it for God to forbid it and it is forbiddn. Whn it coms to His mandats to nam our sins, to walk in th light, to larn His Word w do not grasp th full importanc of obdinc nobody dos; howvr, obdinc is still rquird.

234 Numbrs Chaptr Thr [ar th] watrs of Mribah, bcaus th sons of Isral hav opposd Y howah, and H is sanctifid upon thm. [Num. 20:13] Mribah mans contntion. It would hav bn asy for ths mn to hav gon to Moss and Aaron and to tll thm that thy wr short of watr and ndd watr to drink. Many of thm had witnssd th prvious occurrnc almost forty yars ago whn Moss brought watr forth from th rock. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Mssngrs Ar Snt to Edom to Ask for Saf Passag/Edom Rfuss And Moss snt mssngrs from Kadsh to th king of Edom, "Thus spok your brothr, Isral: You hav known all th travail which has found us; [Num. 20:14] Edom ar thos who hav dscndd from Esau (Gn. 36) and, at on tim, thy considrd on anothr brothrs. Evn though Isral and Esau had thir diffrncs du to Isral's spiritual immaturity, nar th nd, thy apparntly patchd up thir diffrncs, and from th information containd in Gn. 36, it appars as though Isral and/or Josph took a gnuin intrst in his brothr Esau and kpt track of his family lin and includd it in God's Word. Th intrst was mutual and Moss xpctd that th king of Edom had kpt track of his brothrs, th Isralits. Through God's Word, Moss knw that th sons of Isral took notic of th family lin of Esau and assumd that th Edomits did likwis concrning th Jws. Although it is not statd hr, Moss apparntly snt out two sts of mssngrs or, h snt out on st of 124 mssngrs to two diffrnt dstinations. Moss contactd both Edom and Moab about passing through thir rspctiv countris (s Judgs 11:17 18). God had mad it clar to Moss (as w will rad latr in Dut. 2:9,19 Judgs 11:15) that h was not to invad Moab or Ammon; nor was h to provok thm to war. Furthrmor, grat vnts of th ancint world wr broadcast throughout th world by travlrs and tradrs. W may think that only today with liv covrag of daily vnts can w possibly know what is occurring in othr countris. Howvr, in Joshua 2:9 10, Rahab th harlot knw that God had promisd Isral th land of Palstin. Othrs living in th land knw of what God had don on bhalf of Isral (Joshua 9:9 11). "It was told to your srvants that Y howah your God had commandd His srvant Moss to giv you all th land and to dstroy all th inhabitants of th land bfor you; thrfor, w fard gratly for our livs bcaus of you." (Joshua 9:24). God is abl to dissminat prtinnt information throughout th world to thos who nd it, just as H is abl to gt His Word out today to thos who nd it. Thr has nvr bn nor will thr vr b a hathn on positiv signals who will not har th gospl of our Lord Jsus Christ. "That our fathrs wnt down to Egypt and that w dwlt in Egypt many days, and th Egyptians did vil to us and to our fathrs; [Num. 20:15] Moss summarizs four hundrd yars of hardship with just a fw sntncs. As w hav sn, th Egyptians not only nslavd th sons of Isral, but thy pourd th work on until it was byond what thy could bar. "And w crid to Y howah and H hard our voic and snt an angl [lit., a mssngr] and causd us to b brought out of Egypt and, not, w ar in Kadsh, a city in th xtrmity of your bordr. [Num. 20:16] Thr has bn no command from Y howah for th Jws to attack and dstroy th Edomits; howvr, thir country is in th way of th sons of Isral in thir march into th land from th south ast portion (thy had ntrd from th southwst bfor). Moss is asking prmission to travl through thir country without this braking out 124 Th txt allows in Judgs 11:17 18 for th snding of m ssngrs to Moab to hav bn a parnthtical statmnt, so that said mssngrs did not hav to hav bn snt from Kadsh. That just tnds to b th mor likly scnario.

235 Th Book of Numbrs 235 into a small scal war. Why dosn't Moss just invad Edom and tak it? W will s in Dut. 2:2 8 that God had ordrd Moss not to. Th angl mntiond (throughout th ntir Old Tstamnt, th words for angl and mssngr ar th sam) is th Lord Jsus Christ in his pr-incarnat form. And th Angl of God, who had bn going bfor th camp of Isral, movd and wnt bhind thm and th pillar of cloud movd from bfor thm and stood bhind thm (Ex. 14:19). "Lt us pass ovr, w rspctfully ask you, through your land; w will not pass ovr through a fild or through a vinyard nor will w drink watrs of a wll; th way of th king, w go, w turn not asid right or lft till w pass ovr your bordr." [Num. 20:17] Moss and th sons of Isral would b travling up th famous king's highway, which ran north and south nar th astrn bordr of th promisd land. Th Jws ar two million popl strong and a group that larg, no mattr how carful thy would try to b, would dstroy a vinyard, a fild, or anywhr thy passd ovr. Thy hav givn thir word to travl only along th King's highway. Th King's highway is a long road, running north and south from Damascus to th Gulf of Aqabah and this highway is also mntiond in Num. 21:22 and Dut. 2:27. This was a wll-travld caravan rout, ssntial for tradrs, moving through Bashan, Gilad, Ammon, Moab and Edom. Just south of Edom, it connct to at last on major rout across th dsrt to Egypt. This road xistd prior to 2000 BC, bing found in Scriptur possibly as arly as Gn. 14 as a rout of th attack of Chdorlaomr and his allis. ZPEB hypothsizs that control of th King's highway was th motivation of this action. And Edom said to him, "You will not pass ovr through m, or ls [lit., lst] I will com out to mt you with th sword." [Num. 20:18] 125 In th Hbrw, thr is this conjunctiv particl pên (ï Å ) [pronouncd pan] which mans lst, pradvntur. Unfortunatly, lst is so datd that most popl ar uncomfortabl with it. It can b rndrd that...not, or ls. It is obvious that Moss' stimation of th rlationship btwn Isral and Edom was incorrct. Th king of Edom was not about to allow Isral in to hr bordrs sh might hav fard a surpris attack whil Isral was in hr bordrs. God was longsuffring toward Esau and his progny. Throughout this intrnational disput btwn Isral and Edom, God could at any tim hav told Moss to tak out th Edomits whichvr ons stood in his way. Howvr, God had givn that ara to Esau (Num. 24:18 Dut. 2:4 5). And th sons of Isral said to him, "In th highway w will go, and if from your watrs w drink I and my cattl thn I will giv [you] thir pric; only it [is] nothing on my ft that I pass ovr." [Num. 20:19] Lt's xamin som vry ancint Hbrw. Th advrb raq ( øç) [pronouncd rahk] mans only, altogthr, surly it carris with it rstrictiv forc. This is followd by th ngativ construct and thn th word for word: dâbâr (ø áè È ) [pronouncd daw-bawr]; litrally, what w hav is: only no word. This is an idiom; a fw yars prior to my writing ths words, th young idiom would hav bn crtainly this is no biggi. So, as Isral approachs from that dirction, Moss possibly snds th mssngrs back. On th othr hand (and this would b th stanc which I would tak), it is mor likly that Moss has givn ths mssngrs bargaining powr and has givn thm svral options that is, if Edom says this, thn thy ar authorizd to say that. Or, h may hav snt somon lik Calb and Joshua, whos judgmtn could b trustd. Howvr, no on is namd hr, so I would liminat Calb and Joshua as th ons who wnt (furthrmor, thy ar travling quickly 125 BDB: pn (ï ) [pronouncd pn].

236 Numbrs Chaptr for som distanc and Moss would probably hav usd youngr mn). Th last statmnt is that Moss did not want to hav to pay just for th privilg of walking through Edom. And h said, "You will not pass ovr;" and Edom cam out to mt him with many popl and with a strong hand; [Num. 20:20] Whn th mssngrs rturnd to Moss, thy Jws lookd just north of Mount Sir, nar th southrn bordr of Edom, to s an army of Edomits rady to mak war with Isral. Through som of th passags alrady quotd, w find that th Edomits ar afraid of Isral and, whil this is not a bluff on th part of th Edomits thy crtainly do not want to go to war with Isral thy obviously wr rady to if ncssary. Furthrmor, God has givn that ara to th Edomits and dos not want Moss to tak it from thm (Dut. 2:4 5). This is fascinating to m. Th Edomits ar wrong to say no to th Isralits; howvr, God will allow thm to say no. It is thir land, givn to thm by Him. How should I put this? Just bcaus it appars as though God lt you gt away with somthing dosn't man that it was okay to do. Th king of Edom mad a bad dcision hr and th popl of Edom backd him up. This was not th bst choic to mak and it rvals thir ngativ volition toward God and th Isralits. Thy would pay for this in th futur. Rmmbr, O Y howah, against th sons of Edom, th day of Jrusalm, who said, "Raz it, raz it to its vry foundation." (Psalm 137:7). "Bcaus of th violnc to your brothr Jacob, you will b covrd [with] sham, and you will b cut off forvr. On th day that you stood aloof; on th day that strangrs carrid off his walth and forignrs ntrd his gat and cast losts for Jrusalm you wr also as on of thm. Do not gloat ovr your brothr's day th day of his misforutn. And do not rjjjoic ovr th sons of Judah in th day of thir dstruction. Ys, do not boards in th day of thir distrss. Do not ntr th gat of My popl in th day of thir disastr. Ys, you do not gloat ovr thir calamity in th day of thir disastr. And do not loot thir walth in th day of thir diastr. And do not stand at th fork of th road to cut down thir fugitivs. And do not imprison thir survivors in th day of thir distrss." (Obad ). Thus says Y howah Elohim, "Bcaus Edom has actd against th hous of Judah by taking vnganc, and has incurrd grivous guilt and avngd thmslvs upon thm." Thrfor, thus says Y howah Elohim, "I will also strtch out My hand aganst Edom and cut off man and bast from it. And I will lay it wast; from Tman vn to Dmdan, thy will fall by th sword. And I will lay My vnganc on Edom by th hand of My popl Isral. Thrfor, thy will act in Edom according to My angr and according to My wrath; thus thy will know My vnganc," dclars Y howah Elohim (Ezk. 25:12 14). And Edom rfusd to allow Isral to pass ovr through his bordr, and Isral turnd asid from against him. [Num. 20:21] God had givn Isral no sign that thy should march against Edom, so Isral dflctd off th bordr of Edom and walkd along it. This incidnt is latr mntiond in Dut. 2:8 and Judgs 11:17. Notic that th two countris ar spokn of as just on man as though it wr simply Isral and Esau (howvr, th Hbrw words for Esau and Edom ar diffrnt). God's plan in incrdibly intricat to a dgr that is byond our imagination. From this point on, Isral will ithr mov forward or march, but, thy ar finishd with wandring. Howvr, in thir mov toward th land undr Moss, thy will hav to go to war against som of thos outsid th land. God has told Moss that h will not ntr into th land. This confrontation with Edom will put Isral on a dtour which will kp thm out of th land until Moss braths his last. "For you will s th land at a distanc, but you will not go thr into th land which I am giving to th sons of Isral." (Dut. 32:52). And th sons of Isral, th ntir company, journyd from Kadsh, and cam in into Mount Hor [lit., a spctacular mountain or mountain of th mountain]; [Num. 20:22] This is a straight astrn shot along th Edomit bordr from Kadsh to Mount Hor and th sons of Isral covrd that in a littl lss than four months (compar Num. 20:1 with 33:37 38). In fact, thy probably travld it in about two wks, and wr in a holding pattrn around Mount Sir (s Dut. 2:3 4). Th rst of th four months would includ th tim that th mssngrs spnt rlaying ths mssags back and forth.

237 É Th Book of Numbrs 237 It is intrsting that Mount Hor's xact location is unknown today. Th Nw Bibl Dictionary gusss its location to b not far from Kadsh somwhr nar th wstrn bordr of Edom, I prsonally pictur it as bing furthr to th ast, as a mountain thy walkd around to stay outsid th bordrs of Edom. Thn, latr on in th book of Numbrs, th physical boundaris for th land of Isral givn in Num. 34:3 12 plac Mount Hor in th northrn portion of Isral. For som popl, this would b pointd out as a Biblical rror or a contradiction. That bothrd m a grat dal whn I first rad ths two passags togthr. It is rasonabl that now and thn thr will b two or thr popl with th sam nam, and vn, occasionally, two citis with th sam nam; howvr, it is lss likly to hav two mountains with th sam nam particularly in th sam rgion. What could b assrtd by th casual Biblical critic at this point is that th author, Moss (and a critic would crtainly assign th writing to somon othr than Moss), is just making up nams of mountains as h writs. But this is God's Word, so thr must b a logical rason for this apparnt discrpancy. It is th Hbrw which will xplain this disparity (what a surpris). Mount Sinai, in th Hbrw, is har çînay (éðç ñ ò ø äç ) [pronouncd har s-nah-] which is, litrally, mountain of Sinai. Howvr, what is gnrally translatd Mount Hor is hôr hâhâr (ø äè äè øä) [pronouncd hor-haw-hawr] and this litrally mans mountain of th mountain. Bcaus of whr w find th word hâr in ths two dsignations, th first is a propr dsignation and it is proprly rndrd Mount Sinai. Howvr, if Mount Hor was th propr rndring, it would rad not hôr hâhâr but hâr hôr. This is not a propr noun hr and it dos not mattr that th KJV, th NASB, Young's Translation, th NIV, Th Emphasizd Bibl, or that any othr translation translats it that way that is incorrct. It would b bttr rndrd th incrdibl mountain, th spctacular mountain, THE mountain or vn, most litrally, mountain of th mountain but not Mount Hor. This is why w hav th sam nam of two diffrnt mountains (hr and in Num. 34:7) bcaus this is not a propr nam. It is a mountain that just stands out so this is why w hav two diffrnt mountains with th sam dsignation. Th radrs undrstood which mountains wr bing spokn of. Ironically, scholars disagr as to whr this particular mountain is (s also Dut. 32:50). Alfrd Edrshim, who wrot Bibl History Old Tstamnt, idntifis this Mount Hor with Modrah, th traditional sit bing Jbl Harun, nar Ptra th capital of Edom (th idntification of this sit gos back to Josphus). Jbl Harum is th highst and most conspicuous of th whol rang of th sandston mountains in Edom. This mountain has a doubl top, and is 1700 ft abov th city of Ptra. Howvr, Jbl Harum is in th middl of Edom, and ZPEB rjcts this location thir rasoning bing th Isralits had not bn givn passag into Edom. It is also assrtd that Jbl Harum is too high up to obsrv what is occuring blow (4800 ft high) and it is too ruggd for thr mn to ascnd it in a coupl of days. ZPEB suggst, instad, Jbl Madurah (th sam as Modrah?), as it is on th NW bordr of Edom. Howvr, this would not mak much sns for th childrn of Isral to tromp along th northrn bordr of Edom, intnding to had north, and rqust to travl through Edom (which, from that location, would snd thm hading du south, dirctly away from th promisd land). Thy should b moving south ast, or du ast along what would hav bn at that tim nar th southrn bordr of Edom. Furthrmor, Dut. 2:1 5 indicats that Isral was actually in Edom at this tim, not on its bordr. In othr words, th traditional sit is not unrasonabl. W also must dal with an allgd contradiction. This passag has Isral bing barrd form taking th King's Highway through Edom but Dut. 2:4 6 rads: "And command th popl, saying, 'You will pass through th trritory of your brothrs, th sons of Esau, who liv in Sir; and thy will b afraid of you. So b vry carful. Do not provok thm, for I will not giv you any of thir land, vn a footstp, bcaus I hav givn Mount Srir to Esau as a possssion. You will buy food from th with mony so that you may at and you will also purchas watr from thm with mony so that you may drink." At th tim of Num. 20, th Jws wr actually within th bordrs of Edom. Thy wr alrady in th southrn portion of Edom, travling from wst to ast. Thir dsir is to had northward up th kng's highway, through th gratr portion of Edom. Whn th Edomit army cam, th Jws movd toward th astrn bordr of Edom, along th mountains of Sir (Mount Hor was a mountain of this mountain).

238 Numbrs Chaptr Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Dath of Aaron And Y howah spok to Moss and to Aaron in mount Hor, on th bordr of th land of Edom, saying, [Num. 20:23] This was apparntly God's will for thm to travl in this dirction, as God appard to thm at mount Hor to spak. "Aaron will b gathrd to his popl, for h will not go in into th land which I hav givn to th sons of Isral, bcaus you [all] rblld [against] My command [or, contndd against My mouth] at th watrs of Mribah. [Num. 20:24] Bing gathrd to on's popl mant was an uphmism maning that it was tim for Aaron to di (s Gn. 25:8 25:17 35:29 49:29, 33). Th word translatd rbll against [contnt against] hr is mârâh (ä øè îè ) [pronouncd maw-rawh] and thr is indication that Aaron had th ability to straightn out Moss bfor Moss struck th rock twic. Aaron, although a grat man, was somwhat of a Milqutoast, and was asily influncd by othrs, vn whn it ran countr to his own judgmnt. Thrfor, h was asily causd to support th rbllion of Miriam, h bcam involvd in th fashioning of th goldn calf idol whn Moss was rciving th tn commandmnts, and hr, in this contxt, h saw Moss start on ovr to th rock with his staff and saw Moss rais th staff. H could hav calld for a quick sidbar at that tim and th rsponsibility is placd in his lap right hr. It is qually possibl that h didn't think. In ithr cas, h hard God's Word and did not act accordingly and h was thrfor rsponsibl. Easy application: thr ar tims you hav hard God's Word and you chos to do just th opposit; with many of you, you hav chosn to hav pr-marital sx and not to wait for your right prson in marriag. It dosn't mattr whthr you hav chosn to bliv that or not; in any cas, you ar rsponsibl for your choic and vn mor so bcaus you hav hard God's Word. W los out on a lot of blssing bcaus of our disobdinc. Aftr all that has occurrd, Aaron will nvr prsonally st foot in th land. H has at bst sn it from afar off whn th first spis wr snt in. "Tak Aaron and Elazar his son, and caus thm to go up Mount Hor [lit., a spctacular mountain or mountain of th mountain]; [Num. 20:25] Evn though God is said to spak to Moss and Aaron, Moss took th ordrs and carrid thm out. "And strip Aaron of his garmnts, and you will cloth Elazar, his son, with thm, and Aaron will b gathrd and h will di thr." [Num. 20:26] Although it is not spcifically statd, it is likly that Aaron wor his pristly garmnts, th garmnts of th high prist, which wr mor ornat than thos of th prists, and that Elazar wnt up with him in his strt cloths. Th high prist was not going to di in his dsignatd outfit. Th high prist would b prptual. Thr would not b a funral for th high prist, pr s. This is also a prophtic passag. Thr ar passags of Scriptur which look hundrds and thousands of yars into th futur; and thr ar passags such as this whr God's prophcy to Moss lookd only svral days into th futur. In fact, this particular bit of prophcy was not vn rcordd, probably, until aftr th prophcy and aftr th fulfillmnt. And Moss did as Y howah had commandd, and thy wnt up into mount Hor bfor th ys of all th company; [Num. 20:27] Although th sons of Isral did not ncssarily know what was going on, thy watchd solmnly as Moss, Aaron and Elazar travld up into mount Hor.

239 Th Book of Numbrs 239 And Moss strippd Aaron of his garmnts and clothd Elazar, his son, with thm, and Aaron did thr on th top of th mount; and Moss cam down Elazar also from th mount; [Num. 20:28] Whn it was tim for Aaron to di, thr was no disagrmnt. God just took him through physical dath. I should covr th lif of Elazar right hr!! And all th company saw that Aaron had brathd his last so thy mournd Aaron thirty days all th hous of Isral. [Num. 20:29] Thos of th sons of Isral who rmain ar primarily th sons of th Exodus gnration. Th Exodus gnration has bn wipd out by God. W saw th first grat rbllions against God's Word in Num. 14 and in Num. 16 and w will obsrv possibly th last grat rbllion in Num. 25. This would tak th Jws into th bginning of th sixth month of probably th fortith yar.

240 Numbrs 21 Numbrs 21:1 35 Outlin of Chaptr 21: Vv. 1 3 Isral's first battl against th Canaanit king of Arad Vv. 4 9 Isral complains and God disciplins thm Vv Isral movs north around and through Moab Vv Isral dfats th Amorits Vv Isral dfats th army of Bashan Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: I ntroduction: Num. 21 is a rathr disjoint and a vry unusual chaptr. W bgin with a war, mov into som grumbling by th Isralits, God xcuts judgmnt upon th popl but allows thm a way out; w chck into th book of th wars of th Lord to rad a passag or two; xamin th movmnt of th Jws; and ntr into two mor battls. On a prsonal not, up until this point in tim, this was prhaps th most difficult chaptr for m to xgt. Th symbology thrw m off, th battls with Moss still lading Isral, th journy thy took, as it is givn in much mor dtail than w find in Num. 33. By th tim I finishd this chaptr, I had svral of my most nagging qustions answrd but I was still not as comfortabl with this chaptr as I hav bn with any of thos in th past. It is also in this book that I bgan to qustion th Mosaic authorship of Dutronomy. I know this is going to caus som grimacing, but lt m continu. In this book, it bcam clar to m that Moss probably did not writ Numbrs during th thirty-ight yars of wandring, but aftrwards. H was quit advancd in his ag by that tim, worn tird by th constant prssur of lading th sons of Isral. By th tim thy wr about to ntr into th land propr, Moss was not ncssarily on who would writ as much as h did in his youngr days (twnty yars bfor, vn). For this rason, and bcaus of th way that Dutronomy is structurd, it sounds as though Moss gav svral days of vry intns taching to this youngr gnration, so that thy could larn from th mistaks of thir fathrs. I bliv that it is possibl that Joshua, acting as a scrtary, rcordd ths words, as Dutronomy has mor of th fl of a public spakr with his words bing duly notd as h spaks. Or, if you would rathr: ths ar Joshua's nots takn during th Bibl classs of Moss. Thrfor, th words ar thos of Moss probably as rcordd by Joshua rathr than by Moss. This dos not man that Moss was not th author of Dutronomy, but rathr that h dictatd it and Joshua possibly filld in a fw hols with narrativ (and thr is prcious littl narrativ in Dutronomy). Th oldr gnration had xrtd an unfortunat influnc ovr th Jws of Dutronomy so what Moss ndd to do was to rcap what had happnd to thm and giv thm th divin intrprtation of history. It is difficult to rmov onslf from th influnc of on's parnts, no mattr what our ag. Som of us wr fortunat to hav xcllnt parnts, howvr, most hav had parnts whos old sin natur govrnd thir livs, making thir parntal influnc quit dtrimntal at tims (parnts who ar alcoholics tnd to hav childrn who ar alcoholic; parnts who abus childrn physically or sxually tnd to rais childrn who abus thir own childrn; tc.). Th Exodus gnration was a gnration of complaining, whining, unbliving rvrsionists. Thy wr all blivrs, but th worst st of blivrs almost in th history of mankind. In Dutronomy, w com to dal with thir sons, who Moss has to straightn out and rmov from thm th influnc of thir parnts.

241 Th Book of Numbrs 241 Isral's First Battl Against th Canaanit King of Arad Thn th Canaanit a king [or chiftain] of Arad dwlling in th south, hard that Isral had com th way of Atharim, and h fought against Isral and took [som of] thm captiv. [Num. 21:1] Th Authorizd Vrsion mistaknly calls this man King Arad. King is in th construct, maning it should b translatd king of. W somtims translat th construct using th possssiv,.g., Arad's king. Furthrmor, it was not gnrally Moss' policy to nam particular kings by nam this is why throughout th ntir book of th Exodus, w nvr find out th nam of th Pharaoh of Egypt whos idntify has bn a mattr of discussion for svral millnnia sinc thn. b According to ZPEB, Arad is a city in th northast Ng v not far from Hbron. This puts us to th wst of th Salt Sa, rathr than to th ast, which was th dirction I originally thought that Isral was travling. So, apparntly, whn Edom snt Isral out of thir land, Isral wnt du wst, and thn cam up on th north sid of Edom's bordr. W would now b about twnty mils north of whr Isral was in th prvious chaptr, not too far from whr thy had bn rpulsd from th land som thirty-ight yars bfor. Thy ar vntually going to b hading northward on th othr sid of th Salt Sa. Th othr altrnativ hr is that Isral will mov du south, go around Edom, and thn com up north on th astrn bordr of Edom and that th king of Arad (or, vn, a chiftain of Arad) will strik th tail nd of company of Isral is thy mov south. This lattr viw would hav th Isralits to turn around thn go north to do battl will this chiftain, and thn do anothr about fac and go south again. This is th first battl which will signify a turning point for th sons of Isral. Now, thr is th possibility that this dos not natly fit chronologically btwn th dath of Aaron and thir movmnt toward th ast sid of th Salt Sa (this is primarily bcaus thr ar a lot of things which will occur in a vry short tim, from this point on). Undr th guidanc of th Holy Spirit, whn Moss wrot Scriptur, h did not los his vocabulary, prsonality, or prsonal train of thought. I prsonally tnd to think vry linarly and vry chronologically and that may b a wstrn mindst. In studying God's Word thoroughly, I hav takn basically a chronological approach, vn though th books of th Bibl ar not arrangd chronologically in th Old or Nw Tstamnts, nor ar thy arrangd chronologically in th Hbrw Bibl. Moss has just spnt svral chaptrs outlining what was wrong with Isral and now h, as th Jws ar about to ntr th land, will covr som aras whr thy shind, so to spak. Now why would h do that? God has bn quickly dcimating th Exodus gnration and kping Isral out of th land until thy hav bn wipd out, all sav Joshua and Calb. Howvr, during this tim, you hav thir sons and daughtrs who hav bn growing spiritually, who hav bn listning to Moss. God will bring thm into th land and thr will b som spiritual victoris on thir sid. Sinc th oldr gnration and th nwr gnration co-xistd, thr would b spiritual victoris and spiritual dfats. Listing thm chronologically would mak Isral sm xtrmly schizophrnic, whras, th primary diffrnc is thos who hav th primary influnc in that particular incidnt th oldr or th nwr gnration. Thrfor, I would not b surprisd if this incidnt took plac narr to th tim of th bginning of th thirty-ight yars of wandring rathr than hr at th nd. On th othr hand, w do hav th wâw conscutiv hr rathr than th simpl wâw conjunction. Anothr possibility is, that as th Jws movd around th country of Edom and north, this company of Arad pursud thm. W ar daling with two million Jws and thy ar going to b rathr scattrd no mattr whr thy ar. This could hav takn plac whil thy wr circling th Mount Sir mountain rang and w could b daling with a portion of Isral, a dtachmnt. Lt's dal with what th vrs actually says: It bgins with th waw conscutiv, which is usually translatd and thn, so, and so, thn. Howvr, that is a simplistic viw and thr has bn considrabl disagrmnt as to how it should b translatd. For th longst tim, it was calld a waw convrsativ and thr was th school of thought that it changd an imprfct into a prfct tns or vic vrsa, a silly notion. I wondr if it could not b rndrd, also (as in, by th way)?

242 Numbrs Chaptr Th king of Arad is calld a Canaanit, maning that h likly did dwll in th promisd land and, it is statd that b b h livd in th Ng v, which is southrn Palstin (Ng v can man ithr south or it can rfr to a spcific ara, as it dos hr) which xtnds into th dsrt a ways. Judgs 1:16 hlps us to put a fix on th location of Arad: th dsrt land of Judah is locatd south of Arad (it is marvlous how som portions of Scriptur, although, in thir own contxts, sm rathr innocuous, hlp put gographical and chronological fixs on th rst of Scriptur). This Canaanit king hars (oftn a country is spokn of in th singular, bing anthropologically idntifid with ithr its ladr or foundr) that Isral had com by th way of Atharim (this is th gnral translation found in most Bibls). Thr is no prposition; just th masculin singular construct of drk ( êó ø ) [pronouncd DEH rk ] and it mans way, distanc, road, journy, mannr. It could vn man toward, to (w must gt our word dirction from this). This is followd by a dfinit articl and th word Atharim, which is gussd to b a trad rout. From whnc som translations (lik NASB) com up with way of th spis, I don't know. BDB calls that improbabl. W don't rally hav any similar Hbrw words from which to gain a clu hr, ithr. For that rason, I would tnd to go along with translating this word as a propr noun, rfrring to a particular rout or ara known at that tim and lost to us (at thirty-four cnturis latr, that is not unlikly). Howvr, w can hypothsiz that th trad rout ran along th wstrn bordr of Edom, toward th Salt Sa (at which point, th Isralits will had ast). In this fight against Isral, this dos not man that w hav a full scal war occurring. This was a dtachmnts of Isral that th king of Arad opposd and thn took away captiv. Whn h cam down lik that, h hard of Isral coming, ndd som slav labor, and hit thm quickly and carrid away a numbr of Isralits as slavs. This battl, although a turning point, in rtrospct is mntiond only brifly as a footnot, if you will in Num. 33:40 and Joshua 12:14. An intrsting point is that Isral cam up btwn th Mditrranan and th Salt Sa hading north bfor and was rpulsd. With this, thir first ncountr sinc thn (of which w ar awar; and I am assuming that it is found in th corrct plac chronologically-spaking), it is surprising that thy do not continu du north into th land. Th rout dscribd will snd thm on th ast sid of th Salt Sa. Howvr, it has bn pointd out svral tims in th Scripturs that Y howah ld thm as a cloud by day and a pillar of fir by night, so it is not unrasonabl to assum that God is still lading thm. Thn Isral vowd a vow to Y howah, and said, "If in giving You giv this popl into my hand, thn I will dvot [or, compltly dstroy] thir citis." [Num. 21:2] W ar nowhr in th Bibl ncouragd to tak on vows. This is somthing which occurs priodically. Howvr, God tnds to tak a dim viw of thos who mak som sort of a vow to Him and thn don't kp it. Whn you giv your word to anyon, particularly to God, thn you should ndavor to kp it. Th original instructions wr for Isral to go into th land and to tak it, dstroying th Canaanits in thir path. Hr, Isral maks a vow to God if God dlivrs th popl into thir hand (this is bcaus many of thir population had bn takn away), thn Isral promisd to châram (í øç çè ) [pronouncd khaw-ram] thir citis. W studid this word back in Lv. 21:18 and 21. Somthing was compltly ddicatd to God, maning that th Jws could not vn us it for thmslvs. Raliz, if you will, whn a sacrific was givn totally to God, it was burnd and rmovd from this arth. So châram, whil it mans compltly dvotd to, dvotd to, th rsults of this dvotion is to b compltly dstroyd. So Isral is vowing hr to do what it was supposd to hav don from th vry bginning. 126 And Y howah listnd to th voic of Isral, and gav up th Canaanit into his hand, and h [Isral] dvotd [or, dstroyd] thm and thir citis and calld th nam of th plac Hormah. [Num. 21:3] So hr, Isral obyd, wnt to war and dfatd ths Canaanits. Hormah, in th Hbrw, is actually Chormâh, obviously rlatd to th Hbrw word châram. Thy had vowd to compltly giv ths citis and popl ovr to God and thy did. You will not that w hav a strong influnc of a nw gnration. This gnration will 126 Into his hand coms from th wstrn Samarian and Sptuagint codics.

243 Th Book of Numbrs 243 complain (as w will s) whn unduly influncd by thir rmaining parnts; howvr, thir inclination is to bliv God and to turn to Him for guidanc. This vrs hr hlps us to put a dat upon th writing of th arlir portion of Numbrs. Hormah is mntiond in Num. 14:45. This mans that Num. 14:45 was writtn aftr this particular incidnt took plac, as this incidnt is from whnc Hormah got its nam. Sinc Num. 14:45 marks th bginning of thir gnrational disciplin, it occurrd quit a bit bfor this war hr. I would hav prsonally thought that during th thirty-ight yars of wandring in th dsrt, Moss would hav compltd most of th Pntatuch. Howvr, this passag indicats 127 that h did not gt as far as Num. 14 whil during th wandring phas. Anothr possibility is that w hav two diffrnt placs namd Hormah, th first for whr th xodus gnration wr totally dfatd and th scond whr th sons of th xodus gnration totally dfatd th nmy. It was th sam ara, roughly, and naming it again by Hormah shows a crtain tongu-in-chk quality. Now hr is a qustion for you: most of gnration X has bn dstroyd, having did th sin unto dath; th Isralits hav just dfatd a Canaanit king; and yt thy ar moving ast or south ast why is God lading thm that way? With such a grat victory undr thir wings and bing so clos to th southrn bordr of th Land of Promis, why dosn't God just lad thm du north right into th land? I will allow you to pondr that qustion for somtim, as it will not b answrd us dirctly in th book of Numbrs. Howvr, Dutronomy 2 will xplain why th Jws did not just mov du north into th land from Kadsh-barna. By th way, 95% of you whn you rad Dut. 2 in advanc, you still won't know why. Howvr, w will gt thr! Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Isral Complains and God Disciplins Thm And so thy journyd from Mount Hor [lit., mountain of mountain], th way of th Rd Sa, to compass th land of Edom, and th soul of th popl was short in th way. [Num. 21:4] Jphthah also hlps us out with this rout. H writs: Thn thy wnt through th wildrnss and around th land of Edom and th land of Moab, and cam to th ast sid of th land of Moab, and thy campd byond th Arnon; howvr, thy did not ntr th trritory of Moab, for th Arnon was th bordr of Moab. (Judgs 11:18). This givs us two possibl routs from Kadsh to th Arnon Rivr. Th toughst part of this chaptr is th gography. I am wondring if, sinc th Jws probably ntrd Edom from th wst sid, if thy wr not askd to lav th way thy cam in, vn though th bordr on th ast sid was much closr. This would xplain th altrcation abov bcaus thy would hav com back out of th wst sid b of Edom, into th dsrt, travl north to th Ng v, do battl hr, and thn travl along th shor of th Salt Sa. This particular rout would rmov a lot of confusion of this first portion of this chaptr. It would giv us chronological ordr and a rout which is consistnt with Scriptur. This mans that thy would b travling wst, run into th watrs which com from th Salt Sa, and follow thos tributaris northward. It would not b unlikly that ths rivrs would b, prhaps at that tim, a natural boundary for Edom, which latr xpandd to tak ths watrs in. Th problm with this first rout is that it contradicts Dut. 2:8, which rads: So w passd byond our brothrs, th sons of Esau, who liv in Sir, away from th Arabah road, away from Elath and from Ezion-gbr. And w turnd and passd through by th way of th wildrnss of Moab. Ezion-gbr is at th northrn tip of th Gulf of Aqaba, which is on of th arms of th Rd Sa. This givs Isral a dciddly southrn rout. 127 Anothr possibility is that Moss (or Joshua), undr th guidanc of th Holy Spirit, addd this dsignation onto to Num. 14:45, noting th familiar landscap. Howvr, I don't think that is th cas, as usually th author will writ th nam by which an ara was known at that tim, and thn add, which is also known as... whn giving a m or contm porary rfrnc.

244 Numbrs Chaptr Elath is also to b found in that ara, as pr Barns: Elath (Akaba) is at th northrn xtrmity of th astrn arm of th Rd Sa, and givs to that arm th nam of th Elanitic Gulf. Th nam mans 128 Trs; and is still justifid by th grov of palm-trs at Akaba. A scond rout, which was a grat dal mor circuitous, would hav bn hading almost dirctly toward Egypt, and thn circling around th Sa of Aqaba, so that thy wr ast of Edom. Thn thy would mov northast, rmaining outsid th bordr of Moab. Thy movd up along th astrn bordr of Moab, to th Arnon Rivr, which sparatd Moab from th Amorits. At that point, thy movd wst, toward th Dad Sa. Th scond rout is by far th most circuitous and would hav takn svral months or mor (th journy would b possibly in xcss of 300 mils). You know that Isral would not b happy about this. Fausst dscribs what h blivs to b thir rout: For as Isral movd from Mount Hor by way of that plain towards th Rd Sa at Elath thy "compassd Mount Sir" (Num. 21:4 Dut. 2:1, 8). Whn Isral was rfusd lav to go th dirct rout to Moab through Edom's vallys (Num. 20:20 21) thy marchd circuitously round th mountains down th Arabah btwn th limston cliffs of th Tih on th wst and th granit rang of Mount Sir on th ast until a fw hours north of Akabah th wady Ithm opnd a 129 gap in th mountains, so that turning to thir lft thy could march north toward Moab (Dut. 2:3). W hav not yt ntrd into th land of Palstin, at last, not all two million Jws to sttl. Som, prhaps, in th battl dscribd in th first thr vrss of this chaptr, but no othrs. Thy Jws hav xprincd a grat victory th nw gnration knows that God is with thm and going around Edom taks a lot of xtra tim and xhausts som of thir rsourcs. Th popl ar lss than happy about this arrangmnt, and, although thy ar not calling for an attack on Edom, thy ar disappointd in th xtra tim which is usd to go all th way around Edom. Moss, as has bn mntiond, has bn givn spcific instructions not to attack Edom. Furthrmor, thy ar dirctly south of th promisd land and Moss is lading thm in what would appar to b almost th opposit dirction, around th Salt Sa. Moss is crtainly guidd by Y howah, so around th Salt Sa is th way that thy will go. 130 It is linguistically a kick to find an idiom which was rmaind with th human rac for ovr thr millnnia. Somtims, in a confrontation with somon, you find yourslf gtting short with thm. This dos not man that you both crouch down so that you don't sm so tall any mor, but it mans that you bcom short of patinc, short-tmprd and your spch tnds to b xprssiv in its consrvation, as it is shortr and mor to th point (.g., damn you!). This is xactly th us of this vrb hr. This mans that th popl's tmprs and patinc had bcom short. Thy ar doubling back thy hav transvrsd th dsrt and traipsd around th mountain ara of Edom, and thy ar som of thm just sick and tird of th dsrt, th hat, thir wandring, th manna. Thr ar just not a lot of things that ths Jws (th oldr gnration) ar happy about. Bing th oldr gnration, thy ar th ons in charg and thy will tnd to b much mor vocal than th youngr popl. So don't gt th ida that vry singl Jw is bitching and complaining. W hav a significant vocal minority, which maks it sound as though th ntir congrgation is complaining. So th popl bgan to spak against God and against Moss: "Why hav you brought us up out of Egypt to di in th dsrt? For thr is no brad and thr is no watr and our soul has bcom wary of this contmptibl [or, cursd] brad." [Num. 21:5] Th first complaint is on that w hav hard svral tims. Th oldr gnration, thos who ar still aliv, continu to blam Moss for taking thm out of thir shangri la and dpositing thm in th dsrt whr thy will di. A prson who has bn out of fllowship for a long tim tnds to blam othrs for his failurs and shortcomings. Ths Jws ar in th dsrt dying lik flis bcaus of thir ngativ volition toward God and His plan. Had thy blivd God, thy would hav bn in thir nw land conquring it as God had promisd thm Barns Nots, Volum 2, rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; p Andrw Robrt Fausst, Fausst s Bibl Dictionary; from -Sword, topic: Sir. W hich is also proprly writtn millniums, by th way.

245 É Th Book of Numbrs 245 Ths complaints ar similar to what thy hav had bfor (Num. 11:5 6 14:2 3 16:13 20:3 4). Thy tird of th manna, vn though it could b prpard in a grat many ways and it was th ultimat in halth food, having com from God. Th manna is what thy calld contmptibl brad. Th adjctiv is found only hr in th Bibl, but it coms from th word curs (I bliv) and rlatd to th word for scoff, mock. I mntion it bcaus it is an onomatopotic word: q lôqêl (ì ìå Ó ) [pronouncd k'lo-kale]. Th practically spit as thy said this word. God was angry with that gnration and, although H could hav providd thm with a walth of diffrnt foods, vn in th dsrt, H chos not to bcaus of thir sorry attituds. How can popl rjct God's prfct food? It is asy many Christians rjct th brad of our spiritual lif; God's Word, vn though thy ar born--again and oftn giv lip-srvic to His Word. It is our daily sustnanc and our spiritual lif is just about worthlss without a stady dit of His Word. Yt how many Christians fd upon His Word? Darn fw probably lss than 5% ar th rcipints of any ral Bibl taching. Th Jws did not hav vn a clu as to what th brad was all about. Our Lord statd: "I am th brad of lif. Your fathrs at th manna in th dsrt and thy did. This is th brad which coms down out of havn, so that on may at of it and not di. I am th living brad that cam down out of havn; if any on ats of this brad, h will liv fordvr; and th brad also which I will giv for th lif of th world is My flsh." (John 6:48 51). Howvr, vn th Jws in our Lord's day did not undrstand. Th Jws thrfor bgan to argu with on anothr, saying, "How can this man giv us flsh to at?" (John 6:52). To apply, thr is an awful lot which occurs in our lif that w do not undrstand th full rprcussions of most of it, in rnity w will undrstand, just as th xodus gnration undrstands now what was going on. Thy hav also movd away from that rock whr it gushd watr and ar fling th pinch again for watr to drink. This oldr gnration should hav caught on by now that all thy nd to do is to go to Moss and ask for what it is that thy nd and Moss would obtain th sam from God. This constant complaining maks for th absolut worst tstimony to thos who ar around you. Whn you ar th sort of prson who complains and whins about vrything and vryon around you, no on wants to know what motivats you; no on wants to know your God. You ar a public mbarrassmnt to Jsus Christ. If you ar a whinr and a complainr, you should not witnss. And Y howah snt among th popl th snaks th s râphiym [or, burning srpnts] and thy bit th popl and many popl of Isral did; [Num. 21:6] Throughout th tim that oldr gnration of Isral wr on ngativ volition, God continud to kill larg numbrs of thm by th sin unto dath. Quit a numbr of othr rvrsionists wr takn out by th sin unto dath in this way. Som of th translations rad firy srpnts, howvr, th fir or burning blongs to th bit of th srpnt. Th words ar nâchâsh ( çè ð)è [pronouncd naw-khawsh] it is an onomatopotic word th sound of th word is an imitation of th sound of th snak. Snak is not in th construct so it is not burning snaks or snaks of 131 burning. This is followd by th dfinit articl and th masculin plural of th word sârâph (ó øè È ) [pronouncd saw-rawf] and this has two or thr diffrnt manings. Th corrsponding vrb mans to burn sâraph (ó øç È ) [pronouncd saw-rahf]. Th noun, sârâph, is found only in Num. 21:6, 8 Dut. 8:15 Isa. 6:2, 6 14:29 and 30:6. It appars to hav two partially divrgnt manings: BDB rlats it to bings mythically concivd with srpnts' 132 bodis (srpnt-ditis); a prsonification of lightning. In Isa. 6:2, 6, ths would b majstic anglic bings with six wings and human hands and voics. I had hopd that having two diffrnt manings would not b ncssary howvr, in trying to caus th uss to coincid, thy divrgd instad. This word unqustionably rfrs to som kind of animal in Isa. 14:29 30:6 and probably in Dut. 8:15 (it is in th singular in all thr vrss; and it could b rprsntativ of somthing ls in th first passag). In th plural, in Isa. 6:2, 6, w ar dfinitly daling with anglic bings. A rasonabl hypothsis would b that w ar rfrring to som kind of rptil whn found in th singular, and som kind of angl in th plural; howvr, sârâph is in th singular in Dut. 8:15 and Th fminin form mans burning and is found in Num. 19:6, 17. p. 977.

246 Numbrs Chaptr that passag rfrs right back to this passag whr it is in th plural maning th animal found in Dut. 8:15 and in our passag ar th sam animal and singular or plural is not th issu. What I would hav originally likd to hav don is shown that ths ar dmon-possssd snaks; howvr, th us of th word lswhr prcluds such an intrprtation. Srpnt = Strong's #5175 Practic divination = Strong's #5172 BDB #638. What w hav hr instad is two words for roughly th sam thing on rfrring to snaks in gnral and th othr to vnomous snaks, sort of a clarification. Now would b an xcllnt tim to xamin th Doctrin of Snaks in Scriptur not Finishd Yt!! So what ar w daling with hr? Ths ar litral snaks in larg numbrs who ar filld with vnom, striking and killing ths popl. It is not ntirly out of th qustion that ths snaks wr givn ovr to falln angls to attack Isral. Howvr, much of what occurs in th tim of Moss, has som sort of maning to thm and to us. Th vnom was th influnc of thir old sin naturs, th snak bing a symbol of Satan from th bginning (Gn. 3:1 15); th vnom ntrs thir systm and influncs vrything that thy do. And, in our daily livs, all it taks is on sin, and thir ntir insids bcom atn up with vil, just as a small amount of vnom infcts th ntir human body, causing dath. Jams wrot: So also th tongu is a small part of th body, and it boasts of grat things. Bhold, how grat a forst is st aflam by such a small fir! And th tongu is a fir, th world of iniquity. Th tongu is st among our mmbrs as that which dfils th ntir body, and sts on fir th cours of lif, and is st on fir by hll (Jams 3:5 6). And th popl cam to Moss and thy said, "W hav sinnd, for w hav spokn against Y howah, and against you; pray to Y howah so H will [caus to] rmov th srpnts from us." And so Moss prayd for th popl. [Num. 21:7] Now hr w ar showing som promis. This is th first tim, aftr all of ths rbllions, that th Jws hav com to Moss, confssd thir sin bfor him, and askd him to ask God to rmov th disciplin. "But you will prish among th nations, and your nmis land will consum you. So thos of you who may b lft will rot away bcaus of thir inquity in th lands of your nmis; and also, bcaus of th iniquitis of thir forfathrs thy will rot away with thm. If thy confss thir iniquity and th iniquity of thir forfathrs in thir unfaithfulnss which thy committd against M, and also in thir acting with hostility against M...thn I will rmmbr My covnant with Jacob and I will rmmbr also My covnant with Isaac, and My covnant with Abraham as wll, and I will rmmbr th land." (Lv. 26:38 40, 42). This is that youngr gnration. Thy wr brought into th sins of thir fathrs by th undu influnc of thir parnts, but thy ralizd, aftr sing so many rbllions and sing God's trmndous grac, that thy wr totally out of lin. Th rcogniz what thy wr doing was not just a misundrstanding, but thy wr sinning against God and against Moss. Thy knw God's Word thy had listnd to Moss. And hr is how th popl could hav dalt with any on of thir problms or complaints all thy had to do was ask Moss to pray to Y howah. God is glorifid by our prayrs to Him, whn w ask Him to do things on our bhalf and to do things on bhalf of thos w pray for. And Y howah said to Moss, "Mak for you a sârâph [a vnomous snak], and st it on a pol; and it will com to pass, vry on who is bittn and has sn it h will liv." [Num. 21:8] Th word for pol is also translatd standard, nsign, signal, sign. It is gnrally a rallying point. This, as all of th vnts which ar dscribd in th Old Tstamnt, was a ral vnt that occurrd. Howvr, it was orchstratd by God to b symbolic of salvation. Notic that thr was no work on th part of thos infctd by th snaks' vnom. At first, th ffcts of th vnom might not b that noticabl, just as th prsnc of an old sin natur in a baby may not immdiatly stand out. Howvr, th long-trm ffcts of possssing an old isn natur will soon com out and caus dath, just lik th vnom. Our Lord took upon Himslf, th vnom, th sins of our old sin natur, and paid for ths sins. W look to Him for out salvation. Thr is no work involvd on our part. W nd only look to Him for haling. And Moss mad a snak of bronz and st it upon th pol and it cam to pass if th snak had bittn any man, and h lookd [xpctantly] to th snak of brass [or bronz] and h livd. [Num. 21:9]

247 Th Book of Numbrs 247 I must admit that, at first rading, I wondrd about th authnticity of this portion of God's Word. I found it, along with most of this chaptr, th most difficult to covr, laving m with svral unanswrd qustions. Howvr, God fully ralizd that thr ar som who would rad this chaptr critically and qustion its contnts as bing inspird by th Holy Spirit. Thrfor, this particular incidnt is alludd to in Scriptur no lss than four mor tims. Moss, whn lcturing this youngr gnration, said, "H [God] ld you through th grat and trribl dsrt [through] firy snaks and scorpions and thirty ground whr thr was no watr (Dut. 8:15a). This bronz snak fashiond by Moss rmaind with Isral for svral hundrd yars, bing alludd to spcifically in 2Kings 18:4. In th Nw Tstamnt, Paul wrot: Nor lt us tst th Lord, as som of thm did and wr dstroyd by th snaks (I Cor. 10:9). Finally, this passag must crtainly b a part of His Word, as vn our Lord tstifid to its authnticity whn spaking to Nicodmus: "And, as Moss liftd up th srpnt in th wildrnss, vn so must th Son of Man b liftd up; that whovr bliv may in Him hav trnal lif." (John 3:14 15). This final quotation hlps to xplain what all of this mant. That is, w hav ral Isralits bing bittn by ral snaks, bing injctd by dadly vnom; and Moss holds up this snak of bronz on a pol, and thos who look upon it ar savd. Just as w hav found lswhr, ths ral occurrncs should hav som sort of maning. Jsus Christ took upon Himslf th punishmnt for our sins, th vnom associatd with our old sin natur and w nd only look upon Him for salvation. Th brass snak rprsnts sin which has bn judgd, as th brass (or bronz or coppr) must b fird in ordr to work and fir rprsnts judgmnt; it also rprsnts Satan, who has bn judgd. Bronz spaks of judgmnt, as in th brazn [or, bronz] altar; and th snak is associatd with original sin and with Satan, th original tmptr. Th bronz snak is a typ of Jsus Christ, who was liftd up bfor God, hanging btwn havn and hll; Who bcam sin for us. And H Himslf bor our sins in His body on th cross, that w might di to sin and liv to rightousnss; for by His wounds you wr hald (I Ptr 2:24). H [God] mad Him [Jsus Christ] Who knw no sin, sin on our bhalf, that w might bcom th rightousnss of God in Him (II Cor. 5:21). Bcoming sin for us is th clos idntification of Jsus Christ with our sins; similarly, th snak is closly idntifid with th bronz. b Th word for look hr is nâbaþ (è áç ð)è [pronouncd naw -VAHT] and it mans to look intntly at, to xamin carfully. Whn God askd Abraham to look into th sky to count th stars, th word usd was nâbaþ. Whn Lot's wif lookd bhind to s Sodom, it was not a quick glanc, but a look of longing nâbaþ. This is not way implis that works ar a part of salvation. Howvr, it taks mor than just a casual glanc at our Lord on th cross to obtain salvation. Almost vryon knows about Jsus on th cross and that is an imag carrid by almost vry prson in th world. That visual imag dos not sav. Whn on looks to our Lord for salvation and dlivranc bcaus H was liftd up and idntifid with our sins, that is th look which savs us. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Isral Movs North Around and Through Moab And thn th sons of Isral travld and campd in Oboth. [Num. 21:10] Oboth occurs only as a rfrnc to th travling don by Isral in Num. 21: : ZPEB associats it with th modrn Ain l-wiba, which is south of th Dad Sa. And thy travld from Oboth and campd in Ij-Abarim, in th dsrt that [is] on th front of Moab, at th rising of th sun. [Num. 21:11] Scofild's Rfrnc Bibl has th Jws turning wstward from Mount Sir, travling along on of th rivrs coming from (or going to) th Salt Sa in a northwstrly dirction. Oboth is placd nar th fork of th rivr, from whnc thy travl du north toward th Salt Sa, cutting off to thir right along th Zrd Rivr. This would plac thm nar Arad ( th sit of th battl at th bginning of this chaptr) and not too far from whr thy attmptd to ntr into th land bfor. Th NIV Study Bibl, on th othr hand, has thm moving du south out of Edom, to th gulf of Aqaba and skirting up th astrn bordr of Edom. This would plac thm a grat dal of distanc away from Arad. Also, th NIV placs Ij-Abarim prhaps a bit mor ast than dos Scofild. Howvr, in this

248 Numbrs Chaptr vrs, thy ar on th south or southast bordr of Moab (which is dirctly north of Edom); again making that jog dscribd in th NIV Study Bibl as untnabl. Scofild givs th altrnat rading of Ij-Abarim as th ruins of Abarim; howvr, I was unabl to confirm that with my BDB, although it dos bar som looking at (chck BDB #720, Strong's #5682; BDB #743, Strong's #5863). Ij-Abarim is also splld Iy-Abarim (which is a bttr translitration) and it is abrviatd Iyim in Num. 33:45. From thr thy travld and campd in th vally of Zard [lit., Wadi Zrd]. [Num. 21:12] As you hav probably pickd up, wadi is a stram, or a rivr it has to do with watr. This is a rivr which probably fds into th Salt Sa and it runs ast wst from th tip of th Salt Sa forming a natural bordr btwn Edom and Moab. This particular rivr is a dry ravin, xcpt during th rainy sason. From thr, thy travld and campd byond Arnon, which [is] in th dsrt which is coming out of th bordr of th Amorit, for Arnon [is] th bordr of Moab, btwn Moab and th Amorit; [Num. 21:13] Th Jws ar making som ral progrss. Th ar on th ast sid of th Salt Sa moving at a prtty good clip, around and through th various hostil countris, rmaining on th bordrs of ths countris whnvr possibl. Now thy ar btwn Ammon and Moab, travling possibly wst th Arnon rivr, btwn Ammon, th Amorits and Moab. Thrfor, it is said in a book, Th Wars of Y howah: "Wahb in Suphah and th brooks of Arnon; [Num. 21:14] Th Jws ar known today as vry litrat popl and this indicats that thy had somwhat of a library vn during th tim of Moss. W do not know how xtnsiv thir collction was, byond th Law, writtn by Moss, along with th sourc matrial for Gnsis (which I bliv was in basic finishd form whn Moss rcivd it). This particular book is mntiond only hr in Scriptur and it appars to contain poms or psalms daling with th wars of th God of Isral. I was rathr confusd by what w hav hr, and th majority of th sourcs I mploy mad no commnt. 133 Howvr, lt m quot from Barns' Nots: Th words which follow to th nd of th nxt vrs ar a rfrnc rathr than a quotation. Contmporaris who had "th Book" at hand, could supply th contxt. W can only conjctur th sns of th words; which in th original ar grammatically incomplt. Th marg. is adoptd by man, and suggsts a bttr sns: supplying som such vrbs as "conqurd," th words would run "H" (i.., th Lord) "conqurd Vahb in Suphali, and th brooks, &c." Suphali would thus b th nam of a district rmarkabl for its rds and watr-flags in which Vahb was situatd. Th NIV Study Bibl's wisdom at this point: 134 Th maning of th Hbrw for this phras is uncrtain. Somon somwhr may hav mor information than this on this particular vrs; this is simply on of th most difficult chaptrs of th Bibl. "And th spring of th brooks which turnd asid to th dwlling of Ar and has land toward th bordr of Moab." [Num. 21:15] Th trib of Ar campd along th banks of th Arnon, as most ancint popls campd nar som sourc of watr. This would b furthr downstram from whr th sons of Isral crossd ovr. Thr ar ruins of an ancint city on a hill nar a madow whr th Arnon Rivr rcivs th tributary Nahalil. And from thr [thy travld] to Br [lit., to a wll]; it [is] th wll which Y howah said to Moss, "Gathr th popl, and I giv to thm watr." [Num. 21:16] Vol. 2, p P. 218.

249 Th Book of Numbrs 249 God was wll awar of th nds of th sons of Isral and providd thm with watr throughout thir wandrings in th dsrt. "If any man is thirsty, lt him com to M and drink. H who blivs in M, as th Scriptur says, 'From his innrmost bing will flow rivrs of living watr.' " (John 7:37b 38 Isa. 58:11, paraphrasd). In th dsrt, vn whn thy lackd watr for a short tim, it bcam a srious situation which rquird immdiat hlp from God. Th word br mans wll. In ordr to b hlpful, this would hav had to bn an ara of svral wlls. Thn Isral sang this song, "O wll, gush [lit., go up]; sing to it: [Num. 21:17] Somtims, whn w rad Scriptur, w wondr just what dos it man. Th Isralits ar singing to th wll and thy call for it to ascnd, to go up; this is bcaus thy ar usd to rciving thir watr from gushing sourcs. Thr is no way that thy would b watrd, thy and thr animals, without grat sourcs of watr. "A wll th princs hav dug it, th nobls of th popl hav dug it, with th digging in [or, with th dcring], with thir stavs." And from th dsrt [thy travld] to Mattanah; [Num. 21:18] Th first word for dig mans to dig, to sarch for; this is th act of trying to locat watr. Th scond word for dig mans to do th final digging of th wll. Châqaq ( Ç çè ) [pronouncd khaw-kak], which mans to cut in, to dcr, to inscrib. It is found hr in th Pol participl, which dos not sm to b any diffrnt in maning than th Pil stm (in fact, Zodhiats dos not vn mntion th Pol stm and idntifis this as a Pil; and two Hbrw languag books do not vn mntion th Pol stm. This vrb is listd in my Hbrw concordanc as occurring in th Pol, but not in th Pil. In any cas, this would b th intnsiv activ us of this vrb. This vrb is clarly rlatd to making an official dcr, as it could man to ngrav [in ston]; howvr, it is nvr usd that way in Scriptur. W hav sn th masculin and fminin noun forms of this vrb, translating th masculin as dcr, that which is dcrd and th fminin as ordinancs. W find this word in th Pol participl consistntly translatd in th KJV as lawgivr (Gn. 49:10 Dut. 33:21 Judgs 5:14 Psalm 60:7 108:8 Isa. 33:22). Th NASB rndrs this rulr's staff in Gnsis, scptr in Numbrs, rulr in Dutronomy. I am going to cautiously suggst that in th Pol participl, this b rndrd th act of dcring or th on making a dcr. Strong's #2710 BDB #349. Evrything about this chaptr is unusual. Th citis thy travld to ar not always includd in th Num. 33 travlogu. Th camping plac or city calld Mattanah is mntiond only hr and in th nxt vrs. Th Jws ar travling from th Arnon rivr into th land of th Amorits and this was a stopping ground on th way to th stram Nahalil. And from Mattanah [thy travld] to Nahalil, and from Nahalil to Bamoth; [Num. 21:19] Again, ths placs ar not mntiond in Num. 33. It is gussd by som that th Nahalil is a tributary of th Arnon rivr. ZPEB claims that Bamoth is probably shortnd for Bamoth--Baal (th high placs of Baal) found in Num. 22:41. This would b rasonabl, as would just high plac. And from Bamoth [to] th vally which [is] in th land [or, fild] of Moab [to] th top of Pisgah, which ovrlooks on th fac of th Jshimon [or, wastland]. [Num. 21:20] Th supplid prpositions may distort th maning of this vrs. It is possibl that th Isralits travld from th high plac to th vally, but this vally is dscribd hr as bing in th land of Moab and thy pass by Pisgah, which ovrlooks both this vally and th dsrt, acting prhaps as a buffr btwn th two. Again, non of this is mntiond in Num. 33, although Pisgah will b mntiond again svral tims. Pisgah, incidntally, mans clft or division, and Jshimon mans wastland or dsrt. Som plac Jbl n-nba as Mount Nbo and Ras s- Siyaghah as Pisgah. Thr is a saddl btwn ths two mountains (which could also b Pisgah). From Pisgah, on has a magnificnt viw (according to ZPEB I havn't bn thr) of th Jordan Vally, vn to Mount Hrmon, on th on sid and (according to Num. 21:20) th dsrt on th othr. Also, according to ZPEB, Pisgah is a vry high, but asily scald mountain.

250 Numbrs Chaptr You may wondr what this mans? Why do w hav much gratr dtail hr, than in Num. 33, whr w ssntially hav a travlogu of all th placs th sons of Isral travld to and through? This is simpl. Although w hav a tim whr Isral has a lot occurring, Moss bgan at this tim to writ ths things down. Thrfor, w hav grat dtail, particularly hr. That would indicat that it is vry likly that right at this tim, Moss pickd up a pn and bgan rcording th vnts of Numbrs (or continuing in his writing of th book of Numbrs). H likly wnt back to at last Num. 14 whn h bgan writing again. By th tim w gt to Num. 33, thy hav ssntially don all th wandring that thy wr going to do and thy wr about to ntr into th land into Isral propr, and Num. 33 is a summation of vrywhr that thy had bn. Sinc this is covrd in grat dtail hr, Moss did not fl it ncssary to again mntion vry brook and farmhous that thy stoppd at, but givs us th major citis that thy travld through. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Isral Dfats th Amorits Dut. 2:26 37 Psalm 136:19 And Isral snt forth mssngrs to Sihon, king of th Amorit, saying, [Num. 21:21] God has not told th Isralits to attack any of ths popls so thy ar bhaving lik gusts in th forign land, and not as aggrssors. "Lt m pass through your land. W will not turn asid into a fild, or into a vinyard. W will not drink watrs of a wll; in th King's Highway w will go, until w pass ovr your bordr." [Num. 21:22] Th Jws hav gon around Moab on th ast sid, hav com up th Arnon rivr btwn Moab and Ammon, and ar about to loop back onto th King's Highway, picking it up on th north bordr of Moab and southrn bordr of th Amorit. Thy hav bgun to mov north on th King's Highway, in an ara which is a buffr zon btwn th Amorits and th Moabits. As thy had promisd th king of Edom, th sons of Isral promis th king of th Amorits that thy would not lav th King's Highway, but travl du north through thir land, not disturbing th vinyards, filds or wlls. And Sihon did not allow Isral to pass through his bordr. In fact [and], Sihon gathrd all his popl and cam out to mt Isral in th dsrt and cam in to Jahaz and fought against Isral. [Num. 21:23] An intrsting figur of spch found hr (which I hav brought out by th mphasis in fact) is what is known as tapinosis [pronouncd ta-pi-no-sis], which occurs whn a ngativ is usd to mphasiz th positiv (or th positiv is usd as an mphatic ngation). For instanc (using Bullingr's xampl) whn you say "h is no fool" w ar doing mor than indicating that this prson is a littl mor intllignt than a rtardd prson. This indicats that, in contrast, h is vry bright. Hr, whn Sihon kpt Isral from ntring th land, it was mor than th simpl English translation w s hr: Sihon did not allow Isral to pass through his bordr. Th tru sns is that Sihon prohibitd Isral from passing through his bordr. Isral had a rputation for laving Egypt and causing grat dstruction to th land of Egypt; howvr, that was forty yars ago, and Isral dos not pos such an imminnt thrat to th popl's of th land. Had thy marchd right into th land, thy could hav won svral battls on rputation alon. Howvr, aftr forty yars, nations which would hav thought twic about doing battl with Isral hav forgottn th dtails of thir dlivranc from Egypt. I guss that it is tim for som application (I know that you did not xpct to har any application from this vrs). Back in Num. 20, Isral was also purposing to transvrs Edom. Th king of Edom, ngativ toward God, rfusd to allow thm passag. H also brought a brought many mn out with him as a thrat. Howvr, with Edom, th

251 Th Book of Numbrs 251 sons of Isral just turnd about and hadd out wst, dirctly out of th country of Edom. Howvr, hr, thy stoppd and fought. Lif is filld with a myriad of similar circumstancs and w should not always ract th sam way to similar circumstancs. W allow God's Word to lad us through opposition. Thr ar tims that you fac down your opposition, thr ar tims you fight and thr ar tims that you back down. You cannot b a on-trick pony in this lif. God has givn us a mind and has givn us trmndous lading and guidanc in His Word (although fw spnd nough tim in God's Word to gain any tru guidanc). W must tak a hold of what God has givn us and allow His Word to lad us through lif. For, thr is an appointd tim for vrything, and thr is a tim for vry plasur undr havn; a tim for war and a tim for pac (Eccl.. 3:1, 8b). And Isral struck him [down] by th mouth of th sword and possssd his land from Arnon to Jabbok to th sons of Ammon, for th bordr of th sons of Ammon [was] scur [or, strong]. [Num. 21:24] In th Sptuagint, th nd of this vrs possibly rads: for th bordr of th sons of Ammon [was] Jazr. Our translation is basd upon th Massortic txt. Th MT sms to mak mor sns, as Dut. 2:37 rads: "Only you did not go nar to th land of th sons of Ammon, all along th rivr Jabbok and th citis of th hill country, and whrvr Y howah our God had commandd us." Th Ammonit bordr was scur and it was th wrong dirction for Isral. Isral would b hading wst and Ammon was dirctly to th East. Th Isralits avoidd going through most of Moab and travld only on th southrn bordr of Ammon. Howvr, whn facd with a quick skirmish against th Amorit, Isral was up to th task and Isral dfatd th Amorit. Isral prhaps spnt a month in this country, occupying it and prhaps laving som mn bhind, taking a foothold in this portion of th land as a buffr stat. Scofild obsrvd somthing in this chaptr which compltly ludd m: thr is an ordr to ths vnts which is analogous to our spiritual lif: (1) W find atonmnt for our sins in vv. 8 9, whn th bronz snak is liftd up and thos who lookd upon it intntly wr savd; (2) from salvation, w ar ld to watr in v. 16, which is symbolic of th filling of th Holy Spirit and of Bibl doctrin; (3) joy, th rsult of th filling of th Spirit and th intak of doctrin hrin, rprsntd by singing (vv ); and (4) powr (vv ), rprsntd by Isral's 135 two grat victoris. And Isral took all ths citis, and Isral occupid all th citis of th Amorit, in Hshbon, and in all its villags [lit., daughtrs]; [Num. 21:25] Th Hbrw word usd hr is bath (ú Ç ) [pronouncd bahth] and it mans daughtrs; howvr, in th plural, it might rfr to villags, as in Num. 32:42 Joshua 15:45, 47 Judgs 1:27, 11:26 Jr. 49:2. I am not totally convincd of this myslf, although th Judgs 1:27 passag by itslf sms to indicat this altrnativ rndring. Howvr, th passag blow sms to indicat a doubl maning of villags and daughtrs. For Hshbon is a city of Sihon, king of th Amorits, and h had fought against th formr king of Moab, and took all his land out of his hand, [all th way] to Arnon; [Num. 21:26] You may wondr just what did Moss do during ths thirty-ight yars of wandring, othr than kick th butts of th Jws who got out of lin. H did a lot of rading, apparntly, as this particular chaptr has quots from thr diffrnt sourcs (although th NIV Study Bibl dos suggst that prhaps all thr of ths cam from th Book of th Wars of th Lord; howvr, this pic was unlikly a war originatd from God, as God was not bhind th Amorits, as w hav sn. Th Jws, whn thy took ovr this land, got a littl bit of th local history bhind it, which Moss hrin rcords. This song would hav bn ngravd on a prominnt wall or pol in th city, if not in svral placs, and was probably playing on all of th radio stations and, of cours, on th Amorit quivalnt of MTV. 135 Takn from Scofild Rfrnc Bibl, pp

252 Numbrs Chaptr Thrfor, thos singing ballads sing [lit., say], "Entr, you [all] [into] Hshbon; lt th city of Sihon b built and rady; [Num. 21:27] Bcaus of th stanc against Isral that Sihon took, his land was wrstd from him and his popl. It was a bad mov on his part. I don't doubt that in th last two skirmishs, th Isralits both outnumbrd thos thy opposd and thir army was of much youngr stock, causing thm to fac battl with lss far. Furthrmor, th youngr gnration trustd Y howah much mor than thir prdcssors did. This song was prtty much a slight against Sihon. Sihon, as th grat king of th Amorits, basically prpard a marvlous city for th Jws to com in and to occupy. "For fir has gon out from Hshbon, a flam from th city of Sihon; it has consumd Ar of Moab, [and it has consumd] th lords [lit., Baalim] of th high placs of Arnon [lit., of th hights of th Arnon]. [Num. 21:28] Thr ar svral thoris as to th whrabouts of th city of Ar. Placing it on th Arnon rivr is rasonabl; howvr, it has th sam principl lttrs ar th Hbrw word for city, maning that this could hav bn a principal city of Moab (vn rfrring to Hshbon, rathr than to a sparat city) which Sihon took ovr. This is a braggamony song by th popl of th Amorits, possibly writtn by Sihon himslf, to brag upon this conqust. This was th numbr on sllr of that day primarily in th land of th Amorits, who had rcntly takn ovr much of th Moabit land. Th fir which wnt out of Hshbon was Sihon and his army. This fir consumd much of th ara blonging to th Moabits. Th high placs [or hights] ar simultanously th aras whr dmon worship was practicd and a dsignation for th dwlling plac, as it wr, for this portion of Satan's dmon army. Thy wr rlatd to th dmon god whos nam was Chmosh. Howvr, although Chmosh, as w will s, faild thos who did obisanc to him, h continud to liv on and th Amorits would do homag to him. Although it says in this song that thy consumd th Baalim of th high placs (a rfrnc to th dmon ntourag ruling this ara), this is but human viwpoint. Th tru facts of th mattr ar that ths sam gods still rul ovr this ara. W will s that in Isral's history thr will b aras which ar conqurd and that Isral would bcom unduly influncd by th gods of th lands that thy conqurd. You would think that if a god was not strong nough to dfnd th land of his own popl, thn why worship that god? Howvr, ths gods ar ral thy ar a part of Satan's dmon army and thy ar th ultimat winnrs in war and conflict. And it did not mattr to th dmon bhind Chmosh who was in th land. It was his trritory, and h would rul it. Furthrmor, to th unblivr, it rally dos not mak a grat dal of diffrnc whthr h is ruld by on dmon or anothr. "Wo to you, Moab, you hav prishd, O popl of Chmosh; H has giv his sons who scap also his daughtrs into captivity, to a king of th Amorit Sihon! [Num. 21:29] It is intrsting that, although it was Edom who rfusd th Isralits ntry, that Moab is th subjct of this song. This is not a song writtn by Moss or by any of th Isralits; it just happnd to b on which was a bit of th local color which Moss pickd up on thir way through. Bcaus thy stood against Moss and th Isralits, 136 in conquring thm, Moss pickd up on a bit of thir cultur. Th NIV calls this an Amorit taunt song. Moss quots this song in irony. Chmosh is th nam of th Moabit god, associatd in Judgs 11:24 with th Amorits. Bcaus of thir clos proximity, whn th Amorits took ovr this land blonging to th Moabits, it is likly that thy took upon thmslvs thir god as wll. W will s svral instancs of Isral intrmingling with th womn of othr nations and bringing into thir homs th forign gods of ths womn. Now might b a good tim to xamin th Doctrin of Chmosh not finishd yt!! 136 P. 219.

253 Th Book of Numbrs 253 Chmosh, th god of th Moabits, gav thos who scapd th sword into slavry to th Amorits, so apparntly during this tim, thr was a grat dal of unrst btwn th Moabits and th Amorits. V. 30 is a bit difficult, so w will xamin a fw rndrings of it: Th Amplifid Bibl Th Emphasizd Bibl Dr. C.D. Ginsburg NASB NIV NRSV Sptuagint (English) W hav shot thm down; Hshbon has prishd as far as Dibon, and w hav laid thm wast as far as Nophah, which rachs to Mdiba. Thn w shot thm Hshbon is dstroyd as far as Dbon, thn laid w a wast as far as Nophah, a fir rachth unto Mdba....Th womn also vn unto Nopha And th mn vn unto Mdba. But w hav cast thm down, Hshbon is ruind as far as Dibon, Thn w hav laid wast vn to Nophah, which rachs to Mdiba. But w hav ovrthrown thm; Hshbon is dstroyd all th way to Dibon. W hav dmolishd thm as far as Nophah, which xtnds to Mdba. So thir postrity prishd from Hshbon to Dibon and w laid wast until fir sprad to Mdba. And thir sd shall prish from Esbon to Dæbon; and thir womn hav yt farthr kindld a fir against Moab. Obviously w hav quit a diffrnc of opinion on this vrs. Furthrmor, you will notic that I hav includd two translations which I usually do not includ, as thy ar important at this point. W bgin with a vrb which sms to stand on its own: W hav th Qal imprfct of yârâh (ä øè é)è [pronouncd yaw-rawh], which mans to throw, to shoot. I would think that to throw down (Gn. 31:51 Joshua 18:6) or to throw out (Ex. 15:4) would bttr suit this vrb. This was a word which was in xistnc bfor th concpt of th bow and arrow, and was applid to th us of an arrow, as in to throw out, howvr, bttr translatd, whn daling with an arrow: to shoot (Ex. 19:13 1Sam. 20:36 37). In th Hiphil, this is almost a diffrnt word. Th subjct is w and th vrb has a 3rd prson plural masculin suffix. Thrfor, it should rad w thrw thm [down] or w thrw thm [out]. Thn, som translations ignor th noun for sd, dscndants or postrity. This has a 3rd prson plural suffix, but it is in th masculin singular, which is appropriat to th vrb prishd (which is in th Qal prfct). This if followd by th propr noun Hshbon thn th prposition ad (ã òç ) [pronouncd ìad] which mans as far as (its maning is far mor complx than that). In th nxt sntnc (w know it is th nxt sntnc bcaus th vrb is prcdd by th wâw conscutiv), w hav th vrb shâmêm (í î È ) [pronouncd shaw--mame] which mans to dvastat, to b dvastatd, to stupfy (usually usd in th passiv sns). Hr is whr w run into som problms. At this point, it rads Th litral rndring of this is And so w hav causd to lay wast as far as Nophah which as far as Mdba. Howvr, bsids this maning bing somwhat stiltd and obscur (which might b accptabl, as it is a Hbrw translation of a popular song), thr is a problm. Abov th lttr rêysh (ø) thr is a dot, on of th fiftn placs in th Massortic txt whr this occurs. This mans that th lttr was thr and thy copid it down but thy do not bliv that th lttr was thr in th original txt. This would man th word which would actually b th word man. Th word for w causd dvastation bcoms th plural womn, giving us th altrnat rading: "And w thrw thm [down]; thir dscndants [lit., sd] hav prishd Hshbon as far as Dibon. Furthrmor [lit., and so] th womn as far as Nophah, th man as far as Mdba." I don't know that I prsonally want to mak a call on this on (particularly sinc it is basically a quot of a hathn song), but I thought you should know how carfully th Hbrw txt has bn xamind and why w hav such a variant rading as this. "And w thrw thm [down]; thir dscndants [lit., sd] hav prishd Hshbon as far as Dibon. Furthrmor [lit., and so] w caus dsolation as far as Nophah, which [is] as far as Mdba." [Num. 21:30] W is a rfrnc to th Amorit army and thm to th Moabits. This is th conclusion to thir song and how much thy did to th Moabits. It is givn hr bcaus, apparntly, thy wr so giddy about thir rcnt victoris ovr th Moabits, that thy wr still clbrating and singing songs about th vnt. Howvr, rathr

254 Numbrs Chaptr than turn to th God of Isral, thy took on th god of th Moabits (as w will s latr on); and it was thy who was pushd back and out of thir rcntly takn trritory. Th irony of this vrs is that it is quotd by th Isralits and pnnd hr by Moss. Aftr th grat victoris that th Amorits had ovr th Moabits, Moss, using th word w ironically (rfrring to Isral), stats that Isral ovrthrw th Amorits. And Isral dwlt in th land of th Amorit. [Num. 21:31] Hr w hav a rlativly simpl statmnt. Th Amorits wnt to all th troubl of writing a hit song which thy sang in all th bars and in th strts, bragging about thir victory. And hr is th simpl post script to this song: and Isral dwlt in th land of th Amorit. This was th first trritory sizd by th Jws in thir bid to tak th land givn thm by God. What would b considrd Isral primarily would b on th othr sid of th Salt Sa, to b capturd latr. This was not vn an intntional taking of trritory. Th Amorits attackd thm and lft Isral with no altrnativ but to fight thm and occupy thir land. I am not sur whr th Amorits wr pushd to, or whthr thy dwlt with Isral sid by sid in this land. Now would b a good tim to xamin th Doctrin of th Amorits not finishd yt!! It would also b a good tim to xamin th Doctrin of th Moabits not finishd yt!! Hshbon was originally in Moabit trritory and thy lost it to th Amorits undr Sihon. Howvr, thir hold ovr this city was short-livd, nding at this point in tim. Hshbon would latr b rbuilt by th trib of Rubn aftr th conqust of Canaan (Num. 32:37) and this would b situatd almost on th bordr btwn Gad and Rubn. Jrmiah rcordd th words of Y howah concrning this many yars latr: " In th shadow of Hshbon, th fugitivs stand without strngth; for a fir has gon forth from Hshbon and a flam from th midst of Sihon; and it has dvourd th forhad of Moab and th scalps of th sons of tumult. Wo to you, Moab! Th popl of Chmosh hav prishd for your sons hav bn takn away captiv and your daughtrs into captivity. Howvr, I will rstor th fortuns of Moab in th lattr days," dclars Y howah (Jr. 48:45 47a). And so Moss had snt to spy out Jazr, and thy capturd its villags [lit., daughtrs] and thy dispossssd th Amorit who [was] thr. [Num. 21:32] In th midst of singing thir stupid song about victory ovr th Moabits, Moss calmly wnt into th trritory and took it from th Amorits. Jazr was thr-quartrs of th way into th land of th Amorits, and Moss carfully scopd out th land and thn took it. Again, th word found in this vrs is litrally daughtrs and I am not compltly convincd that villags is th corrct rndring. This could hav bn th tond down, traditional rndring, as it sounds mor gntil than th litral rndring of Isral dfating th Amorits and taking thir womn. Jazr in this vrs is th Hbrw word Ya zêr (ø æå ò Ó é)ç [pronouncd yah-zare] and th word translatd Jazr in v. 24 is az (æ òç ) [pronouncd az]; th point bing that thy ar similar, but still quit diffrnt words (I mntion that for thos who hav Bibls whr w find Jazr in both vrss). Rubn will b plasd with this ara and will rmain hr, as will Gad (Num. 32:1). Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Isral Dfats th Army of Bashan Dut. 3:1 7 Psalm 136:20 And thn thy turnd and wnt up by way of Bashan and Og, king of th Bashan, cam out to mt thm h and all of his popl to battl at Edri. [Num. 21:33]

255 Th Book of Numbrs 255 Ths skirmishs hr wr quick and dcisiv. Isral dfatd ach of ths armis in prhaps a wk's tim to mayb a month. Thr is no indication that thy impdd thir progrss at all. Edri was about fifty or sixty mils north from whr thy wr. All of ths countris had G-2 systms in plac. Isral, whn moving north through hostil trritory, snt out mn to spy out th land. Og had mn positiond in th land of th Amorits to s what was going on south of him. Th Amorits had thir popl in Moab, which is why thy wr partially mobilizd and almost waiting for Isral on th bordr btwn Moab and thir land. Bashan mans plain, larg opn ara, champaign; and this is just as dscriptiv as it is th nam of a country or a rgion. In fact, it may b th Jwish rndring of th nam of this ara; as thr is no rason that thy would ncssarily th inhabitants own dsignation of thir country. Bashan was quit a rasonabl distanc from whr Isral was and, although thy didn't raliz it, not rally in dangr of attack. Th Isralits ar hading for th northrn portion of th Salt Sa, quit a ways south of th Sa of Galil, and thy will cut across to th wst and ntr th land of Palstin from a cntral point btwn th two sas. Bashan is narly 100 mils north of whr th Jws ar at this tim, although his G-2 forc is carfully watching, rcording and rporting th progrss and activitis of th Isralits. Thy did not know which way th Jws wr hading, but th Jws would not hav appard to b a formidabl forc in trms of prsonal physical siz, although thir numbrs would hav bn ovrwhlming. Rcall that th Jws wr quit concrnd thirty-ight yars ago about th physical siz of thos who dwlt in th promisd land thos thy would hav to fac in war. It was th shr individual physical siz of ths mn that frightnd Isral (Num. 14). Bashan's G-2 forc would not b all that concrnd in this rgard. Lik th rst of th land, ths armis had hard of what occurrd btwn Isral and Egypt and how God had ld thm out of Egypt with a mighty hand, but that was forty yars ago, and who knows, thy would rason to on anothr, how much of it is lgnd and how much rally happnd. And if thy wr such a formidabl forc, why wr thy dfatd by th much smallr army of Amalkits and th Canaanits thirty-ight yars ago? Thos of Bashan would also want thir own shot at ths Jws, just to show th world that th mn of Og wr a forc to b rckond with. And Y howah said to Moss, "Do not far him, for into your hand I hav givn him, and all his popl, and his land, and you will do to him as you hav don to Sihon, king of th Amorit, who was dwlling in Hshbon." [Num. 21:34] Th Amorit was a nw formd army, with imprcis boundaris and a rcnt victory. Og, king of Bashon, had a mor profssional army, hav acquird a mor stabl land ara, and was rady to attack Isral bfor Isral vn cam nar his bordr (Isral was fifty mils away whn th dcision to attack was mad up in Bashan). Ths popl wr a toughr popl than Isral had facd, which is why God gav Moss prsonal assuranc that thy would ovrcom thm. This particular campaign probably lastd th longst priod of tim possibly two months or mor. In ths campaigns, thos of th Isralits who wr of th prvious gnration wr bing culld out by god in battl. Th strngth of th nw gnration was bing dvlopd, along with thir grat faith in Y howah. W will sav th doctrin of th popl of Hshbon for Dutronomy. And thy struck him down and his sons and all his popl until h did not hav lft to him [vn] a rmnant; and thy possssd his land. [Num. 21:35] Th most dcisiv battl of all was against th strongst popl that Isral facd. Ths wr hug popl with a wll-traind, disciplind army. W ar not givn th dtails of thir dfat hr; just that God assurd Moss that thy would b dfatd and thy wr. Rturn to Outlin Rturn to Bginning of Chaptr Rturn to th Chart Indx Rturn to th Lviticus Hompag

256 Numbrs 22 Numbrs 22:1 41 Outlin of Chaptr 22: Vv. 1 7 Balak snds his mbassy to spak to Balaam Vv God's dirctiv will is mad clar: Balaam is not to go to Balak Vv Balak snds highr ranking officials who convinc Balaam to com Vv Th Angl of Y howah stands thr tims in th way of Balaam Vv Balaam's donky rasons with Balaam Vv Th Angl of Y howah spaks dirctly to Balaam Vv Balaam mts Balak Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: I ntroduction: Num. 22 bgins on of th most unusual of th thr chaptrs of th books of th Law. This and th nxt two chaptrs all dal with th propht, Balaam, who is a Gntil blivr, who dos spak to God. This is unusual as it is in grat dtail and th author, Moss, is not an ywitnss. Th Law would stand just as wll with ths thr chaptrs compltly missing. Thy ar not tid to anything ls xcpt in trms of timing and location of th contxt of Num. 21 and 25. On of th things which intrsts m is authorship. I prsonally bliv that all Scriptur is God-brathd and I bliv that an author vry clos to th historical vnts rcordd th information found in Scriptur (in othr words, I do not bliv that som prist in 600 BC suddnly got th inspiration to add svral chaptrs to th various portions of th Law). Howvr, th nxt thr chaptrs ar writtn is such xplicit dtail that, whil crtainly it is possibly that Moss wrot it undr th lading of God th Holy Spirit, it is mor likly that Balaam, who is a propht of God, albit on whos valus ar asily corruptd, wrot this portion of God's Word. This rads lik th rcording of a man who was thr. And on of th most important portions of ths thr chaptrs is lft out a vrs which xplains why Balaam is so univrsally condmnd by othr writrs of Scriptur (w will s that at th nd of Num. 24). How Moss or Joshua cam to hav this, whthr Balaam stoppd by and spok to th Jws, spok to Moss dirctly, whthr h wrot it and gav it to th Jws, of whthr God th Holy Spirit rvald all of this information dirctly to Moss, saying, "You don't know vrything that is going on; for instanc, just ovr that mountain..." My prsonal opinion, du to th way it is writtn, is this is a first-hand account of what transpird, by a propht of God, possibly Balaam. Bttr yt, it could b a scrib, assignd to rcord this information by King Balak. Th scrib would hav gon to gt Balaam and would hav sat in on th prophcis and would hav writtn down vry word, along with his obsrvations. Furthrmor, I would assum that this scrib bcam a blivr arly on in his transcription of what took plac. Now, in placing this thory bfor you, I want to mak it absolutly clar that no such scrib is vr alludd to in Scriptur this is a thory. Howvr, th succssion of vnts is rcordd with such a prsonal touch, that I cannot s how anyon apart from an ywitnss would hav rcordd this. And onc ths prophcis wr rcordd, it would mak sns that this nw blivr would lav Balak and Moab and tak it to th Jws spcifically to Moss, as God's Word. Now, I hav not rad any othr thoris on this and do not know if I am th first or th thousandth prson to assrt that this passag, whil it is crtainly God's Word (w find th story of Balaam rfrncd in Dut. 23:4 Joshua 24:9 10 Nh. 13:11 3 Micah 6:5 2Ptr 2:15 and Jud 11) was probably not originally writtn by Moss. Howvr, by its corrct placmnt in th Law, I would say that h had almost immdiat accss to it. Furthrmor, th knowldg of Balaam xprssd latr on in Num. 31 indicats that Moss knw who Balaam was. Having this information in his hand would lnd crdnc to that. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx

257 Th Book of Numbrs 257 Balak Snds His Embassy to Spak to Balaam And th sons of Isral travld and campd in th plains of Moab on th opposit sid of th Jordan, Jricho. [Num. 22:1] Th Amorit victory ovr Moab was a vry rcnt vnt, as this vrs points out. Th land which thy had bgun to occupy, having dfatd th Amorits, was still calld th plains of Moab, indicating not that Moab now has it back, but that it was still known by that nam. This dos not man that anything has sinc transpird btwn th Amorits and th Moabits. Thy ar now situatd dirctly north of th Dad Sa, across th Jordan rivr from Jricho, from which point thy would launch thir attack against th land of Canaan. In this vrs, w hav rachd th nd of th rcordd itinrary of th Jwish popl listd Num. 33: Th plains of Moab is actually th Arabah of Moab, which, ssntially rfrs to th uninhabitd portions of Moab which hav traditionally blongd to Moab. By itslf, Arabah can rfr to this ara, but it actually taks in a much largr gographical ara (th Jordan vally bginning at th southrn nd of th Sa f Galil going southward to includ th rgion around th Dad Sa, and continuing southward to includ th ara btwn th Dad Sa and th Rd Sa. In cas you ar wondring why my translation is somwhat diffrnt than othrs hr: Moab is followd by th mêm prfixd prposition and th word êbr (ø áò B Å ) [pronouncd ÌAY -vr], and it mans rgion across, byond, sid. With mêm, it mans on th opposit sid, on th othr sid. Strong s #5676 BDB #719. In th construct, with add th English prposition of. Th word Jricho is not prcdd by any prpositions (you will not th prpositions usd in th KJV and th NASB ar in italics bcaus thy ar not thr). Howvr, w do not nd a prposition artificially insrtd thr in ordr to undrstand th maning of this vrs. Th Isralits ar campd across th Jordan Rivr from Jricho. From thir vantag point, across th Jordan rivr: Jricho. And Balak, son of Zippor, saw all that Isral had don to th Amorit; [Num. 22:2] Balak is th king of Moab. Isral has just travld ithr through or around Moab without incidnt, but thy just totally dfatd th Amorits, who dfatd th Moabits and took much of thir land, and now th Isralits occupid that land. Moab was quit uncomfortabl with Isral in its formr trritory, dirctly north of thm, rcntly involvd in two battls that thy would know about. This would caus Balak and th popl of Moab to bcom quit alarmd. Balak knows nothing about God's plan. It was not God's plan to invad or to attack Moab, or th sons of Isral would hav alrady don so. "And Y howah had said to m [Moss], 'Do not harass Moab, nor provok thm to war, for I will not giv you any of thir land as a possssion, bcaus I hav gfivn Ar to th sons of Lot as a possssion.' " (Dut. 2:9). Moab would hav bn far bttr off not worrying about God's popl living sid-by-sid to thm; or, in at th vry most, should hav quitly built up thir dfnsiv forcs (I am spaking from human viwpoint hr). Moab had just fought and bn partially dfatd by th Amorits; had Balak had any divin viwpoint at all, h would hav rcognizd that Isral has just dstroyd his nmis and is acting as a northrn buffr of protction for Moab. For all intnts and purposs, Balak couldn't ask for anything mor by way of divin prsrvation. Howvr, Balak is ngativ toward God, has no intrst in Him, xcpt to us God. H will us th propht Balaam, not bcaus Balak is a Christian and wants Balaam's blssing, but Balaam's succss rat has imprssd Balak and Balak wants to mploy that. How can I put this on a lvl that you would fully grasp? Prhaps you hav an unbliving frind who is rligious and ocassionally asks you to pray for thm. I prsonally had a frind who was, for all intnts and purposs, not a Christian and not vn vry rligious howvr, whn sh wantd a job promotion or som matrial bnfit to com through for hr, sh would oftn ask m to pray for hr to gt ths things. This is vry similar to what Balak is doing. And that Moab bcam xcdingly afraid of th prsnc of th popl, for thy [lit., it] [wr] numrous; and Moab loathd [bcaus thy dradd] th fac of th sons of Isral; [Num. 22:3] An intrsting vrb in th Hbrw is qûwts (õ ) [pronouncd koots] and it is a translatd by th KJV wary (Gn. 27:46 Prov. 3:11), loathd (Num. 21:5 rcall th Isralits fling about th manna?), abhorrd

258 Numbrs Chaptr (Lv. 20:23 Isa. 7:16), vx (Isa. 7:6 ) and distrssd (hr). Sinc this word only appars nin tims in Scriptur, w crtainly should b abl to find fwr than fiv words by which to translat it. In xamining th contxts of ths various passags, th ida hr is that you loath or abhor whatvr it is which is th objct of th vrb. Howvr, thr is a littl mor to it than that. Bhind th loathing and abhorrnc thr is a fling of drad. That is, th sons of Isral loathd th manna so much that thy dradd ating it with thir mals. Hr, Moab loaths Isral, but part of that is bcaus thy ar in far of Isral. Rbkah loathd hr lif so much that sh dradd ach day. Th ida hr is thr is a fling of loathing and abhorrnc bcaus thr is an undrcurrnt of drad or warinss. W do not hav a on-word translation for this. Th Moabits hav sn two million Jws walk around thir land, and this sight was protractd and continual. Thy ar tird of sing ths Jws and thy hav an innr far of th Jws. Thrfor, thy loath ths Jws. Thr was no rason for th Moabits to far or to loath th Jws. God had givn Isral no agnda as of that tim against Moab. And Moab said to th ldrs of Midian, "Now th assmbly will lick up all that is around us, as th ox licks up th grn thing of th fild." And so Balak bn Zippor [was] king of Moab at that tim; [Num. 22:4] This vrs indicats that Moab, frshly dfatd, quickly mad an allianc with th rulrs of Midian. Th Midianits ar a loos band of nomads living in th dsrt btwn Msopotamia and Moab. Thy appar to b scattrd and unfocusd, not th sort of nation on would naturally ally onslf with. Howvr, Balak is oprating undr human viwpoint. It has also bn suggstd that Balak is Midian in origin, although this striks m mor as a rasonabl thory as opposd to somthing which can b Biblically provn. It is mor likly that th Midianits wr th only popl in Balak's priphry that h could turn to. It is aftr this initial contact that Balak snds mn to Balaam. It is likly with thir far-raching aras of inhabitation that th Midianits wr mor familiar with Balaam than was Balak. In fact, it is not unrasonabl to assum that th Midianits suggstd that thy snd for Balaam, an ida rciving Balak's complt support. At th nd of Num. 24, I will also giv you vidnc that Balaam was not from Msopotamia, but that h was a Midianit. It is ironic that th prson concrnd with losing this pic of ral stat, Balak th vry prson who initiatd all of this is prsrvd by God. God had told Moss not to ngag in warfar with Moab nor to tak any of Moab's land (Dut. 2:9) howvr, th Midianits, who do not actually own a pic of ral stat and who alignd thmslvs against th Jws only aftr bing promptd to do so by Balak, thy will b cursd by God and consquntly ngag in war with Isral (Num. 25: :1 10). Such is th strngth and powr of th promiss of God. Balak xplaind that, now that th Jws had sttld in th land, thy would at up vrything in sight, just as an ox would. If you tid an ox to a rop, confining him to a crtain ara, h would at up all of th grass in that ara. Th Jws hav just bn st down in th middl of th fild and now thy will at up vrything around thm. It is possibl that thy hav just bgan thir campaign against Bashan and Balak could point to that as an xampl of thm moving north (th implication bing is that thy would mov in all dirctions of th compass from ths plains of Moab. W know to insrt a vrb hr bcaus th wâw conscutiv which bgins v. 5 indicats a nw thought. This vrs is an aftrthought on th part of Moss. It's, oh, by th way, this guy that I hav mntiond, Balak h's th king of Moab just so you know for a point of rfrnc. And so h snt mssngrs to Balaam bn Bor, to Pthor, which [is] by th [Euphrats] Rivr 138 of th land of th sons of his [Balaam's] popl, to call for him, saying, "Look, a popl hav 139 com out of Egypt; and notic, thy [lit., it] hav covrd th y of th land, and thy [lit., it] ar dwlling ovr-against m. [Num. 22:5] It is in th Hiphil in this vrs, so its maning is somwhat diffrnt. It should b pointd out that th Samaritan, th Syrian and th Vulgat all incorrctly rad: sons of Ammon. Th and is found in crtain vrsions of th Samaritan, Onklos, th Targum of Jonathan, th Sptuagint and th Syriac.

259 Th Book of Numbrs 259 Popl is in th singular, so, in th Hbrw, all th rfrncs to popl and th prtinnt vrbs ar also in th singular. Balak has just sn two million Jws travl around his land and thy hav just dfatd th Amorits. This snding for Balaam probably occurrd immdiatly aftr th dfat of th Amorits and bfor th dfat of Bashan. Balak didn't know what th plans of th Jws wr and it appard as though thy might just sttl thr and sprad out throughout th land, taking ovr what was lft of Moab. According to ZPEB, Pthor is locatd on th wstrn banks of th uppr Euphrats Rivr, just south of Carchmish, whr th rivr Sagura (today known as Sajur) runs into th Euphrats. This city had bn capturd by th Hittits whil Isral was in Egypt and thy hld onto it until th 9th cntury BC, whn th Assyrians, undr Shalmansr III, capturd it. Shalmansr III rcordd this: "I crossd th Euphrats and took th city Ana-Ashurutîr-aºbat on th othr sid of th Euphrats on th Sajur which th Hittits calld Pitru." Balaam is a propht for hir. H is a blivr in Jsus Christ and h is an honst-to-goodnss propht to th Gntils. In th rading that I hav don, I can s that this puts m in opposition with a numbr of grat blivrs. Th primary rason that thologians do not lik to prciv of Balaam as a man of God is that h is not just imprfct h is out of fllowship and flat out of God's will. Howvr, God's intrst in him and his spaking with God sms to indicat that thr is a rlationship thr. Just bcaus Balaam is tmptd by mony dosn't mak him an unblivr. Thr ar a lot of blivrs in ladrship positions who find thmslvs tmptd by mony, powr and sxual lust. Som giv in and som do not. This dos not mak thm unblivrs it mans, simply, that thy ar out of fllowship (and, admittdly, som ar not blivrs). Anothr argumnt mad in favor of Balaam bing a hathn is that h, as a man of God, would not align himslf against Isral. W, in rtrospct, rcogniz that Isral is God's blovd (most blivrs do, anyway) bcaus this is dclard in th ntir Old Tstamnt. Howvr, during th tim of Balaam, thr was a darth of Scriptur availabl to th common man. Moss was in th procss of organizing and writing Scriptur, som of which (th Laws and th ordinancs) wr givn to th common man. Howvr, Balaam did not hav accss to all of this. God has not xplicitly told Balaam yt that Isral is his, although such a rlationship is implid by His dlivranc of Isral from th bondag of Egypt. Howvr, that was forty yars ago and thologians at th tim of Balaam would crtainly bn abl to argu against God's xclusiv rlationship with Isral (rcall how th thologians of Job's day argud against his rlationship with God from xprinc). Balaam's problm is that (1) h is man of God; (2) h will b told by God what is allowd and what is not; (3) h qustions this undr th influnc of lust for mony. This dos not mak Balaam an unblivr it maks him a blivr who is out of fllowship. W will covr th blivr vs. unblivr status of Balaam at th nd of this chaptr. Apparntly, Balaam's fam is known far and wid as a propht for hir. In fact, his fam was so nduring that thr is archaological vidnc from Dir Alla which indicats that Balaam was still highly rgardd by pagans fiv cnturis following his dath. W hav on of his prophcis in an Aramaic txt from Dir Alla, which is in 142 th Jordan Vally, that dats back to 700 B.C. God's plan was for Isral to lav Egypt and march right into th land with th Law of God in thir hand. At that tim, Isral had som clout throughout th world. Rcall th song of Moss: Thn th chifs of Edom wr dismayd; th ladrs of Moab, trmbling grips thm; all th inhabitants of Canaan hav mltd away. Trror an drad fall upon thm; by th gratnss of Your arm, thy ar motionlss as ston; until You popl pass ovr, O Y howah; until th popl pass ovr whom You hav purchasd (Ex. 15:15 16). Th Isralits would hav had an immdiat impact upon th Gntil world had thy just followd God's Word and had gon dirctly into th land undr Y howah's lading. Isral, howvr, was not quit organizd as a nation, and, although thir tim in Egypt was a grat witnss to th Gntil nations vrywhr, thy hav just spnt forty yars in th dsrt as God wastd th oldr gnration, and forty yars is a long tim. It would hav bn bttr as thir witnss was to Y howah, to hav gon dirctly into th land and conqurd it. This would hav bn a tstimony obsrvd and undrstood by all This mans I sttld it against for Asshur. ZPEB, Vol. 4, p Th NIV Study Bibl, p. 220.

260 Numbrs Chaptr So lt's go with som ral application now. Whn w bcom blivrs, somtims thr is a crtain amount of drama involvd, a chang of lifstyl, a suddn rgular attndanc of church yt, what most popl notic is that you hav bcom slf-rightous, arrogant and rligious. Your prsonal lif is cland up in som ways, but thos who ar clos to you s a trmndous numbr of flaws. Thy ar not imprssd. Your witnss is compromisd by all of ths flaws which you, in your slf-rightous arroganc, ar blind to. You rpastor or his wif spak with a crtain inflction of th voic, using a spcific holy vocabulary, and you copy it. That's phony and vryon knows it. Any unblivr with an I.Q. ovr 90 rcognizs that you ar a phony and wants no part of it. You ar an mbarrassmnt to Jsus Christ. You blong to Campus Crusad and all th popl thr hav a crtain look, a crtain prsonality and you copy it. You ar a phony and vry unblivr around you knows it. You hav not just liminatd som of th sinful aras of your prsonality, but you hav liminatd your prsonality. Your family is looking to find th phon numbrs of som d-programmrs. Thy hav no intrst in what you hav bcom bcaus you ar phony. In many cass, thr is not a lot of rason to tll vryon around you that you hav bcom a blivr in Jsus Christ bcaus thy will only think: so that is why h is bhaving lik such an ass h's a mmbr of som cult. Our Lord did not snd vry hald prson out into th world to tll what happnd to thm; many of thm H spcifically told to shut up about what happnd. For many Christians at salvation, that is what thy ought to do. Mayb a yar latr, undr xcllnt taching, it might b tim to witnss. Thr ar xcptions to this, of cours, and som popl bcom blivrs, don't go through som sort of a psychotic prsonality chang, and yt do rcogniz aras of thir lif which ar corrupt. Undr som circumstancs, thos popl might b abl to witnss as to what God has don for thm within a month or so. This was th problm with Isral. Thy had bn rdmd, thy xitd Egypt, thy rcivd th Law, and th whol world was watching. Thn, at thir first ntry into th land, thy wr dfatd and thy disappard from history for thirty-ight yars. Gntils talkd about what happnd in Egypt for yars to com, but most of thm, aftr thr or four yars, found othr topics to discuss. Isral was nowhr to b hard from; at last invntory, thy wr wandring through th dsrt for som rason, dying in incrdibl numbrs. If God is lading thm, arn't thy smart nough to gt out of th dsrt? My point bing is that Isral facd trmndous dirct guidanc and lading from God it would hav bn asy to listn to God th God Who dlivrd thm ovr and ovr again and to bliv Him. Thy chos not to and th momntum of thir dlivranc was lost. Just lik th avrag Christian, thy rjctd th Word of God and thir Christian lif did not gt off th ground. Back to Balaam: God knw that His popl, th Jws, would fail, and would not b a witnss for almost forty yars, and H had to rach th Gntil world; thrfor, H, God, continud to hav Gntil prophts who possibly vn rcordd Scriptur (which I bliv that Balaam did). W will s that God spok on on on with Balaam and that Balaam rcognizd Who God was, although h did not always go by God's Word (which is not atypical of th Christian community). Balaam's fam was known far and wid; vn th unblivr, Balak, th rulr of Moab, had hard of Balaam, and Balaam's rputation was mor notworthy and rlvant to him than th tstimony of th Jws at that tim. "And now, com, I rspctfully ask you curs for m this popl, for thy [lit., it] [ar] mightir than I; it may b that I could prvail if I strik thm and cast thm out of th land; for I hav known that which you hav blssd is blssd and that which you curs is cursd." [Num. 22:6] Evrything in this vrs is in th first prson singular. A rulr was idntifid totally with his country and w hav sn svral instancs whn th popl of a country wr spokn of in th singular. Obviously, Balak was not intnding to prsonally invad th camp of Isral this is a prsonification, whr his country is idntifid with 143 him. Whras this passag spaks of Balak striking Isral and casting thm out of th land, h obviously mans his army. 143 Bullingr calls this a htrosis, th singular bing substitutd for th plural. I bliv that distorts th maning, rathr than clarifis it. Th nd rsult of th two intrprtations is basically th sam. Balak is not spaking of individually attacking Isral.

261 Th Book of Numbrs 261 Balak is ralistic th Jws outnumbr him and thy hav just dfatd somon who dfatd Moab, so Balak rcognizs that thy ar strongr than h is. As of this point, w know vry littl about Balaam, xcpt that his rputation prcds him. H is rcognizd as bing succssful in his fild. And th ldrs of Moab and th ldrs of Midian wnt and [th mony for] divination [was] in thir hand and thy wnt in to Balaam, and spok to him th words of Balak. [Num. 22:7] Th word divination is qçm (í ñ ) [pronouncd KEH-sm] and it is a word usually associatd with an apostat propht fortlling th futur, as wll as (in this contxt) bringing curss and blssings upon othr ntitis. W s this word usd in a ngativ sns in Dut. 19:10 1Sam. 15:23 2Kings 17:17 and in a nutral or positiv sns in this passag and in Prov. 16:10. In this passag, it is mor namd from th standpoint of Balak, th hathn king. Balaam is a propht of God, not som guy who just hung out his prophcy shingl for a buck. Balak dosn't rally rcogniz any sort of diffrnc btwn Balaam and any othr rligious guy (it is lik confusing Billy Graham with th Pop). For som, such a confusion is prpostrous; and to othrs, thy ar both big rligious guys or somthing. If th informd unblivr off th strt wr askd to nam tn Christians, it is likly that his list would includ svral popl who wr not vn savd and would spnd trnity in hll. Balak mans no disrspct by calling Balaam a divinr; h just dosn't know. As an asid, I should mntion that this tlls us a littl about God's plan in th Ag of th Gntils. God apparntly did work through Gntil prophts as wll as Gntil prists during th tim of transition btwn th Ag of th Gntils to th Ag of th Isral (rcall that Moss' fathr-in-law was a Midianit prist and that thir subsqunt rlationship was warm and Christ-cntrd). This would imply that God opratd in a similar fashion prior to this ag of transition. Although most dispnsation tratiss mntion a family pristhood during th ag of th Gntils, basing this primarily upon th xprincs of th patriarchs, this passag and th passags daling with Moss' fathr-in-law and Mlchizdk, indicat that thr xistd a pristhood and a prophtic offic which xtndd outsid th family for Gntils. Thy did not carry divination with thm thy carrid mony or tribut with which to purchas th divination 144 srvics of Balaam. This is a mtonymy whr divination stands for th tribut brought to purchas it. Midian was south of Edom, which was south of Moab. Apparntly, thy had som sort of allianc, possibly just rcntly formd bcaus of th Jws. Th Midianits, sinc th Jws did not travl up th King's Highway, and sinc thy had spis out, obsrvd ths Jws and also rcognizd that th Jws could kick thir butt in war. It is possibl that a counsl btwn th ldrs of Midian and Moab prsidd ovr by Balak, prcipitatd this cours of action. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx God's Dirctiv Will Is Mad Clar: Balaam Is Not to Go to Balak And h said to thm, "Lodg hr tonight and I will bring you back word, as Y howah spaks to m." And th princs of Moab stayd with Balaam. [Num. 22:8] Th gratr numbr cam from Moab, although thr was som rprsntation from Midian. This is intrsting, as w do not know how God dalt with othr nations during this tim. God crtainly has bn acting in th livs of th Isralits for th past svral hundrd yars, but this dos not man that H did not hav involvmnt with th rst of th world. Th book of Job is an xampl of a tim probably cotrminous with Abraham or on of th othr patriarchs of somthing which took plac in a Gntil nation. As of right now, w do not know how lgitimat Balaam is. Thus far, it sounds as though h has som sort of a rlationship with Y howah, God of th Jws not, w hav th spcific nam for God hr, not th mor gnric Elohim. This would indicat that God was activ throughout th world. As w study Balaam, w may loos our rspct for him howvr, not vry blivr lads an xmplary lif. 144 Evr th studnt, I rcognizd this bfor rading it in Bullingr. I m ust b larning som thing!

262 Numbrs Chaptr And God cam in to Balaam and said, "Who [ar] ths mn with you?" [Num. 22:9] God obviously knows who ths mn ar, as H is omniscint. By asking this qustion, God wants Balaam to xamin thir motivs and purposs and how h prsonally is involvd with thm. It is said that a good tachr alrady knows th rspons of th studnt that h asks (not that I buy that) God initiats convrsation to gt Balaam to think. Not also that this is th God of th Univrs spaking to Balaam. This indicats that Balaam did hav a rlationship with Him, albit somwhat straind whn mony was an issu. A minor point that I should dal with. Th NIV Study Bibl points out that, although Balaam uss th nam Y howah svral tims, whn God dals with him, w find th lss prsonal titl Elohim. This subtly distancs th Balaam from th prsonal God of Isral. This would b a valid point, howvr, it only indicats hr, at bst, that Balaam is oprating out of fllowship. It dos not indicat that h is an unblivr. Furthrmor, th fact that Balaam is spokn of in a ngativ way throughout Scriptur dos not indicat that h was an unblivr. Th ntir Exodus gnration was savd, yt spokn of in vry ngativ trms throughout th ntir Old and Nw Tstamnts (s Hb. 3:10 11, as an xampl). Finally, Balaam will com fac to fac with Jsus Christ in Num. 22:31 35, whr Jsus Christ will spak to Balaam dirctly as th Angl of Y howah. And Balaam said to God, "Balak bn Zippor, king of Moab, has snt [thm] to m. [Num. 22:10] So th first thing that Balaam mntions is who snt ths mn. This givs him tim to considr thir purpos and thir motivation. Th nxt vrs is a bit difficult to grasp, so xamining som othr rndrings will hlp: Th Amplifid Bibl Th Emphasizd Bibl NIV Young's Lit. Translation "Bhold, th popl who cam out of Egypt covr th fac of th arth; com now, curs thm for m; prhaps I shall b abl to right against thm and driv thm out." "Lo! Th popl that hath com forth out of Egypt h covrth th y of th land. Now, do com, do rvil m him, Pradvntur I shall prvail in making war with him, And shall driv him out." "A popl that has com out of Egypt covrs th fac of th land. Now com and put a curs on thm for m. Prhaps thn I will b abl to fight thm and driv thm away." "Lo, th popl that is coming out from Egypt and covrth th y of th land, now com, pirc it for m; it may b I am abl to fight against it, and hav cast it out;" "[And] s [lit., lo], th popl that ar coming out from Egypt and covr th y of th land. Now, 145 thrfor, com, curs it for m [and] prhaps I may b abl to fight against thm [lit., it], and [consquntly] driv thm [lit., it] out." [Num. 22:11] Th Jws ar so numrous, that thy covr th ara whr thy ar travling. Th idiom hr is to covr th y b b b of th land. Balaam thn uss two Qal imprativs: Com and th nxt word is qâ va v (á áç È ) [pronouncd kaw - B VA V] and it simply mans curs. This particular word is found only in Num and nowhr ls in th Bibl. Th word translatd curs in v. 6 is ârar (ø øç àè ) [pronouncd aw-rahr] is th word commonly usd for curs as b b far back as Gn. 3:14, 17 4:11 12:3 and all th way to Mal. 3:9. My ducatd guss is that qâ va v is prhaps th Hbrw quivalnt of th Balaam's word for curs. Balaam has alrady sn th mony and h is all for this. H has crtainly hard of th Jws and how God dlivrd thm out of Egypt, as that information was broadcast far and wid. H dismisss that as somthing which occurrd in th past and immdiatly invstigats th possibility of cursing thm. Evn though God, th 145 W find th word thrfor in th Samaritan, th Targums of Jonathan and th Sptuagint.

263 Th Book of Numbrs 263 vry Y howah to Whom h was spaking, had brought th Jws out of Egypt with a mighty hand, Balaam wantd to xplor this cursing option, as thr was a fair amount of mony involvd. And God said to Balaam, "You will not go with thm; nithr will you curs th popl, for thy [ar] blssd." [Num. 22:12] Th Massortic txt rads "You will not go with thm; you will not curs th popl, for thy ar blssd." Howvr, it is found as abov in th most vrsions of th wstrn Samaritan, th Targum of Jonathan, th Sptuagint, th Syriac and th Vulgat. Ths arly translations sm to hav a bttr flow and possibly rflct th orignal bttr. In any cas, th maning is ssntially th sam. On of th rasons for ths thr chaptrs in th Bibl is to s God's various choics whn it coms to our volition. W hav His dirctiv will, which is xprssd hr. God has xprssly forbiddn Balaam to go with ths mn. W will also s His prmissiv will and His ovrriding will. And so Balaam aros in th morning and said to th princs of Balak, "Go to your land, for Y howah rfuss to allow m to go with you." [Num. 22:13] At first, Balaam sms lik h is okay. Crtainly, h could stand to mak a littl cash on th sid, but God has xprssly forbiddn him to join ths mn to curs Isral, so Balaam snds thm on thir way back to Balak. And th princs of Moab aros and rturnd [lit., wnt] to Balak, and said, "Balaam rfuss to com with us." [Num. 22:14] W hav quit a littl trip hr covrd in a vrs. To go from Balaam back to Moab was a distanc of prhaps 300 mils. Thy wr apparntly instructd to mov quickly and givn th transportation which allowd thm to do so. To put this into prspctiv, on of th silly thing originatd by prsidnt Knndy wr ths fifty mil walks that h ncouragd many popl to participat in. Popl spnt th bttr part of a day walking fifty mils. This would indicat to m that on foot, w ar talking a maximum of 75 mils pr day, although thy likly had som form of quadrupd transport. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Balak Snds Highr Ranking Officials Who Convinc Balaam to Com And Balak addd yt to snd princs, mor numrous and honord than ths; [Num. 22:15] Th first st of mn snt to Balaam wr trustworthy mn with a mission. Howvr, thy faild to accomplish this mission. Balak was not intrstd in a no for an answr. So h snt som mn closr to th top of ralm, thos who would bttr undrstand th crisis at hand. And thy cam in to Balaam, and said to him, "Thus proclaims Balak bn Zippor, 'B not, I rspctfully ask you, withhld from coming to m. [Num. 22:16] Ths mn will b waring mor formal clothing, thy will hav mor mony, and thy ar prhaps carrying an official proclamation of th king with his sal. This is not just a frindly visit; thy ar in th midst of a crisis. " 'For vry gratly do I honor you, and all that you will say to m I will do; and com, I rspctfully ask you curs this popl for m.' " [Num. 22:17] Balak is vn mor prsistnt, laving th commission for on cursing to b at Balaam's own discrtion. Balak has, for all intnts and purposs, dlivrd a blank chck to Balaam. This is far mor tmptation that Balak can imagin.

264 Numbrs Chaptr And Balaam answrd and said to th srvants of Balak, "If Balak givs to m th fulnss of his hous of silvr and gold, I am not abl to pass ovr th command of Y howah my God, to do a littl or a grat thing; [Num. 22:18] Balaam sounds quit holy hr. Evn if Balak offrs to giv him vrything that h owns in th way of gold and silvr, Balaam is still unabl to bypass God's commands, whthr it b an insignificant mattr or a mattr of national importanc. "And, now, rmain, I pray you, in this [hous] tonight, and I will know what Y howah might continu to spak with m." [Num. 22:19] Hr w now s th chink in Balaam's armor. God has alrady unquivocally told him that h is not to go with ths mn. Th popl of Isral ar God's and thy ar blssd of him. It dos not mak any diffrnc how important this is to Balak nor how much mony Balaam has bn offrd, it is strictly a mattr th Jws ar God's popl, blssd by Him. Nothing can chang that. Rturning to God in prayr is not going to chang that. Hr is th rror of Balaam: But ths mn rvil th things which thy do not undrstand; and th things which thy know by instinct, lik unrasoning animals, by ths things thy ar dstroyd. Wo to thm! For thy hav gon th way of Cain [offring to God thir works rathr than th works prscribd by Him; th works of Jsus Christ]; and for pay, thy hav rushd hadlong into th rror of Balaam; and prishd in th rbllion of Korah [rcall that Korah wantd a plac in God's plan diffrnt than that givn him by God h rjctd divin rvlation concrning th position of Moss] (Jud 10 11). God has told Balaam what His will is. Balaam's dcision is impaird bcaus h is attractd to th grat amount of mony which is bing offrd to him. Forsaking th right way, thy hav bn dludd, having followd th way of Balaam, th son of Bor, who lovd th wags of unrightousnss (2Ptr 2:15). So you ar thinking "I don't hav th gift of prophcy, and no on has offrd m mony to curs th Jws; thrfor, I am not following th way of Baal." This is bcaus I quotd only on portion of 2Ptr and lft out th contxt. Balaam's rror is almost univrsal among Christians. H has bn xposd to God's dirctiv will and h is, out of lust for somthing, is looking for a loophol. Ar you marrid or marrid with a family and ar you looking for that loophol? Ar you dating somon and you find thm physically irrsistibl and you ar looking for a loophol? Ar you ngagd in a businss and you could mak a grat dal of mony if you actd with just som slight improprity and you ar looking for a loophol? Is thr somthing that you hav bn taught out of God's Word and you ar just not that happy with it and you ar looking for th loophol? This is th rror of Balaam. Th Lord knows how to rscu th godly from tmptation, and to kp th unrightous undr punishmnt for th day of judgmnt; and spcially thos who indulg th flsh in corrupt dsirs and dspis authority. Daring, slf-willd, thy do not trmbl whn thy rvil anglic majstis, whras, angls, who ar gratr in might and powr, do not bring a rviling judgmnt against thm bfor th Lord. But ths, lik unrasoning animals, born as craturs of instinct to b capturd and killd, rviling whr thy hav no knowldg, will in th dstruction of thos craturs also b dstroyd, suffring wrong as th wags of doing wrong. Thy count is a plasur to rvl in th daytim. Thy ar stains and blmishs, rvling in thir dcptions, as thy carous with you; having ys full of adultry and that nvr cas from sin; nticing unstabl souls, having a hart traind in grd, accursd childrn, forsaking th right way, thy hav bn dludd, having followd th way of Balaam, th son of Bor, who lovd th wags of unrightousnss, but rcivd rbuk for his own transgrssion; a dumb donky, spaking by mans of a voic in th sphr of man, rstraind th madnss of th propht. Ths [mn] ar springs without watr and mists drivn by a storm, for whom th black darknss has bn rsrvd (2Ptr 2:9 17). Thr is a mor spcific way of Balaam, which is accursd of God. Thr ar mn who ar savd with th spiritual gift of vanglism or of pastor-tachr (or, thy happn to b outstanding public spakrs). Thr ar blivrs who hav turnd this gift into mony. Through thir ministry, thy hav concntratd on and hav bcom walthy. This walth has bn accumulatd at th xpns of God's Word. If it is any consolation, thy will b doing th gardning for you at your mansion in havn.

265 Th Book of Numbrs 265 And God cam in to Balaam, by night, and said to him, "If ths mn hav com to call for you, aris, go with thm, and only th word which I spak to you that [lit., it] you will do." [Num. 22:20] This vrs has to b xamind carfully. Aris, go ar vrbs which ar both in th imprativ. Howvr, this is God's prmissiv will. Balaam has alrady rcivd a dfinitiv no from God, so rturning in prayr to God will not accomplish anything. Howvr, God now shifts gars and allows Balaam to go with th mn. W oftn tak what is God's scond choic in our livs howvr, God has plan B in backup for this infrior choic. So thr is no confusion, God has alrady told Balaam not to go. Hr, H is prmitting it, but it will not b without som disciplin and rdirction. Now would b an outstanding tim to xamin th Doctrin of th Will of God not finishd yt!! And so Balaam aros in th morning and saddld his ass, and wnt with th princs to Moab; [Num. 22:21] W do not know how th princs of Moab travld, whthr on caml, hors or ass, but Balaam travld by his favorit donky. H has lft God's gographical will for his lif and is outsid of God's dirctiv will for his lif. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Angl of Y howah Stands Thr Tims in th Way of Balaam Consquntly, th angr of God burnd bcaus h was going, and an angl [lit., mssngr] of Y howah stationd Himslf in th way as [lit., for] an advrsary to him. Now h was riding on his ass and two of his srvants [wr] with him. [Num. 22:22] W hav xamind th angl from God. This is usually Jsus Christ and onc and awhil it is just an angl. So, as h is riding on his ass accompanid by his srvants, suddnly, right bfor him is Jsus Christ, th Lord of th Univrs, standing in his way. And th ass saw th Angl of Y howah standing in th way, and his drawn sword in his hand, and th ass turnd asid out of th way and wnt into a fild, and Balaam struck th ass to turn it asid into th way. [Num. 22:23] Balaam is out of fllowship. H has chosn to go against God's dirctiv and gographical will, so only his mod of transportation is abl to rcogniz th Lord of Glory standing bfor thm. H, Balaam, is in tmporary spiritual darknss, as w all ar whn out of fllowship. Th ass, to protct his long-tim mastr, turns asid, laving th road, and walks dlibratly into a fild to avoid th sword of God which would hav struck Balaam down in th sin unto dath. Balaam is so full of himslf, that h nvr stops to think that thr may hav bn a rason for his trustd donky to swrv and walk out of th road. H simply striks th bast of out angr. And so th angl of Y howah stood in a narrow path of th vinyards a wall on this sid and a wall on that; [Num. 22:24] W don't know if this occurrd immdiatly aftrward, or svral hours latr or th nxt day. Howvr, whn travling through a vinyard, th vinyard had walls on both sids of whr Balaam was travling. And th ass saw th angl of Y howah and was prssd into th wall, and prssd Balaam's foot to th wall, and h struck hr again [lit., addd to strik hr]. [Num. 22:25] Balaam is a bit frustratd this has bn his ass for a long tim and sh has nvr bhavd lik this vring off th road thy wr on, or vring into a wall, crushing Balaam's foot btwn hrslf and th wall. This did not mak any sns to Balaam, so h dalt with th situation by striking th animal.

266 Numbrs Chaptr And th angl of Y howah kpt continuing to pass ovr, and stood in a narrow plac whr thr was no way to turn asid, right or lft; [Num. 22:26] Yâçaph (ó ñçé)è [pronouncd yaw-sahph] mans to add, to augmnt; and as an advrb it mans to continu to do a thing, again. W hav sn this vrb bfor and w oftn translat it as an advrb again and as a vrb continu. b In th Qal imprfct, I hav translatd it to dnot continuous action. This is followd by th Qal infinitiv of â var B (ø áç òè ) [pronouncd ìaw -VAHR], which mans to pass ovr, to pass through, to pass, to go ovr. It is found wll ovr 500 tims in th Bibl. Strong s #5674 BDB #716. As Balaam and company continud to mov forward, th angl of th Lord continud to mov forward. Balaam cannot s th angl of th Lord; howvr, H has mad Himslf visibl to th donky. Th donky has, so far, sn this angl twic. Now th angl stands bfor thm in a narrow pathway whr th donky cannot go forward. And th ass saw th Angl of Y howah, and crouchd down undr Balaam, and th angr of Balaam burnd, and h kpt striking th ass with a staff. [Num. 22:27] Balaam hasn't a clu that h is out of God's gographical will and out of His dirctiv will. This is typical of th Christian today. Thy might b gossiping, harboring mntal attitud sins of angr, hatrd, far, worry or sxual lust; thy might b involvd sxually with whom thy bliv to b th lov of thir livs and thy think nothing of it. Thy do not raliz how far out of fllowship thy ar or how long thy hav bn out of fllowship. Othr blivrs just nvr think to rbound. During motional srvics of r-ddication, thy might quitly confss thir sins to God, and th motional uphaval of th mting along with thir confssion, maks thm think thy ar on th road th Christian gratnss. Thy last until thir nxt sin twnty sconds latr and thy ar out of fllowship again. Balaam is frustratd. H has rationalizd this trip as bing God's will and h is lss than happy with th bhavior of his donky. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Balaam's Donky Rasons with Balaam And so Y howah opnd th mouth of th ass, and sh said to Balaam, "What hav I don to you that you hav strickn m ths thr tims?" [Num. 22:28] Balaam is out of fllowship so his rlationship with God has bn brokn. God chooss many diffrnt and unusual mans to communicat with us. This is compltly out of th ordinary howvr, it is fully within God's powr to spak through th donky, or allow th donky to, for a priod of tim, b abl to communicat with his mastr, giving him a vocabulary, apparnt but not ncssarily ral intllignc and vocal apparatus. Outsid of th srpnt in th Gardn of Edn, this is th only rcordd instanc of an animal spaking in Scriptur. Obviously, this is a miracl dsignd to rach Balaam and to tach us about His will. Nd I rmind you that God is capabl of anything. Furthrmor, Ptr tstifid as to th accuracy of this passag whn h wrot: But h [Balaam] rcivd a rbuk for his own transgrssion; a dumb ass [i.., a donky which could not spak], spaking by mans of a voic in th sphr of man, rstraind th madnss of th propht (2Ptr 2:16). And Balaam said to th ass, "Bcaus you hav rolld yourslf against m. Oh, that thr wr a sword in my hand, for now I would hav killd you." [Num. 22:29] Evryon riss to an occasion in a diffrnt way. Balaam is frustratd and, had h th ability to talk to his donky, h would giv it a pic of his mind. This is his chanc and h tars into th donky. If thr was any surpris in Balaam's voic or confusion, w ar not privy to it. Balaam just bgins spaking to th donky as if it wr routin six. W hav all had a varity of convrsations with popl who wr not thr popl who frustrat us, mak us angry, popl with whom w'r in lov basically popl that w hav strong flings about. For som of us, this nds up bing, onc and awhil, a two-way convrsation, vn though th prson may b mils away. Balaam is thinking ths things mntal attitud sins toward his own donky and, upon haring th donky's voic, Balaam blurts out with th first thing on his mind. Had h a sword, h would hav alrady killd this donky.

267 Th Book of Numbrs 267 And th ass said to Balaam, "Am I not your ass, upon which you hav riddn sinc [I was] yours until this day? Hav I at all bn accustomd to do this to you?" And h said, "No." [Num. 22:30] W don't know whthr th two srvants of Balaam ar privy to this convrsation, whthr Balaam is in som sort of a smi-tranc mntally spaking to his own donky, or whthr this is a vrbal xchang hard by all who accompanid Balaam. Who knows if thir donkys ar thinking, "Yah, tll it lik it is!" V. 28 sms to indicat that this was a vrbal xchang btwn Balaam and his ass, on which his srvants may or may not b clos nough to har. This dos giv us a marvlous forshadowing of an ass who is advising an ass (Balaam), who himslf will b advising anothr ass (Balak). Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Th Angl of Y howah Spaks Dirctly to Balaam Thn Y howah uncovrd th ys of Balaam, and h saw th angl of Y howah standing in th way, and his drawn sword in his hand, and h bowd and did obisanc, to his fac. [Num. 22:31] Thr of thos of you who rad a grat dal and on author I rad mntiond th xact paralll btwn th bginning of v. 28 and v. 31. In som English translations, thy might b th sam, or sound as though thy might b th sam in th Hbrw. Thy both bgin with th wâw conscutiv and th subjct of th sntnc is Y howah; howvr, th vrbs ar diffrnt and th first is a Qal imprfct whil th scond is a Pil imprfct. What w find in th English can oftn b dcptiv. Th concpt of th two vrss is ntirly diffrnt. In v. 28, I don't know that th donky suddnly bcam abl to spak its innr flings and thoughts, prsonally doubting th xistnc of such thoughts. Howvr, what Balaam hard was th xprssion of th flings th donky had, if it possssd th thoughts and vocabulary with which to xprss thm. In this vrs, th prophts ys ar bing opnd to what is ral. Th apt analogy hr would b to awakn from a slp whn your ys ar opnd, you s th rality that surrounds you. That is what happnd to Balaam. H was out of fllowship to a point that h was about to di th sin unto dath. H had compromisd th intgrity of God. His ys wr opnd to but a small portion of th spiritual rality which surroundd him. Much mor incrdibl than th donky spaking to him, was th vision of God th Son standing bfor him with a sword drawn, rady to kill him. It would hav bn th sin unto dath. Th convrsation with th donky was now a moot point. Balaam rcognizs that h is daling with God and h falls upon his fac bfor Him. This act of worship, which is not rbukd (as in Col. 2:18 Rv. 19:10 22:8 9), indicats that this is God th Son, th rvald mmbr of th Godhad. On of th things to which most Christians sm to b totally oblivious to is that w ar in th midst of th anglic conflict that, whil God may not b standing in front of your chvy causing it to swrv, w ar surroundd by hundrds of angls and dmons, obsrving vrything that w do. Th lct angls larn from what w do and Satan's dmon lgions gathr information by which to slandr us bfor God in th court of havn (as in Job 1). Thr is a much gratr rality in what w don't s than in what w do. Thrfor, sinc w hav so grat a cloud of witnsss surrounding us, lt us also lay asid vry ncumbranc, and th sin which so asily ntangls us, and lt us run with nduranc th rac that is st bfor us (Hb. 12:1). Balaam's ys wr opnd to s a small portion of th unsn rality around him. And th angl of Y howah said to him, "Why hav you strickn your ass ths thr tims? Look, I [vn] I hav com out as [lit., for] an advrsary, for [your] way has bn prvrs bfor m; [Num. 22:32] Balaam did not think or try to put things into prspctiv whn his donky spok to him, so now God th Son spaks to him, asking him th xact sam qustions. God opposd Balaam and his way.

268 Numbrs Chaptr "And th ass saw m and turnd asid at My Prsnc ths thr tims; unlss sh had turnd asid form My Prsnc, surly now also, I would hav killd you and kpt hr aliv." [Num. 22:33] God points out to Balaam that had his donky not turnd asid, H, God th Son, would hav killd Balaam. Balaam was dlivrd by his own donky. And Balaam said to th Angl of Y howah, "I hav sinnd, for I did not know that you [wr] standing to mt m in th way; and now, if [I am] vil in you ys, I turn back by myslf." [Num. 22:34] Balaam dos rcogniz his sin, that Y howah had forbiddn him to go and is willing to rturn. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Balaam Mts Balak And th Angl of Y howah said to Balaam, "Go with th mn; and only th word which I spak to you if you do spak." And Balaam wnt with th princs of Balak. [Num. 22:35] Now Balaam is back in th gographical and th dirctiv will of God. God has mad provision for vry choic that w mak. W oftn mak bad choics th rsult sof which last us an ntir liftim. Ths choics might involv drugs, marriag, divorc, dsrtion of childrn and spous, and a numbr of othr things which ar irrvocabl God has mad provision for that and w can tak up right whr w hav lft off. Originally, it was not in God's plan for Balaam to accompany ths mn. Now, God has mad provision for that. H mad provision for all of this in trnity past, although it may appar to us that God has changd his mind or shiftd His plan vr so slightly. And Balak hard that Balaam had com and h wnt out to mt him, to a city of Moab which is on th bordr of Arnon, which [is] in th xtrmity of th bordr; [Num. 22:36] Balak has not a clu that all of this has occurrd. All h knows is that h snt for Balaam, and, aftr a littl prsuasion, Balaam had arrivd. H did not wait for Balaam to com to him h wnt right out to mt Balaam as soon as h arrivd within th bordrs of Moab. This was likly th capital city Ir, which is nar th northrn bordr of Moab. And Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not [urgntly] snd for you [lit., in snding, did I not snd to you] to call for you? Why didn't you com to m? Am I not truly abl to honor you?" [Num. 22:37] Politically incorrct translation: "Whr th hll hav you bn? Didn't I snd you nough mony?" Th doubling of th vrb adds grat mphasis to its maning. In this cas, urgncy and mrgncy ar mphasizd. God has a sns of humor. H has sn to it that w could visualiz Balaam riding into walls and thm striking his donky. Balak, manwhil, is pacing back and forth at th palac, in a total tizzy. Th sons of Isral do not vn hav a clu as to what is occurring bcaus this will hav absolutly no ffct upon thm. Application: thr ar blivrs out of fllowship and unblivrs who plan and schm and worry and it is all for naught. Balak is not concrnd with Who God is if h wr, h would hav snt an ambassador to th Isralits, dsiring information about thir God and proposing an allianc. His mind is too corruptd by politics and his position. It dosn't mattr what h dos aftr all of this worry and work, h will accomplish a littl lss than h would hav without all of th worry and work. W cannot plan without God's guidanc, nor can will worry add vn an inch to our statur. If you ar a blivr out of fllowship, worrid about your lif and your futur, you might as wll tak a hammr and bat yourslf on th had. That will accomplish just as much as a lot of human viwpoint action.

269 Th Book of Numbrs 269 And Balaam said to Balak, "Look, I hav com to you; now, am I at all abl to say anything? Th word which God st in my mouth that [lit., it] I will spak." [Num. 22:38] Now that Balaam is thr, h asks about his frdom of spch. H will spak that which God has spokn to him. And Balaam wnt with Balak, and thy cam to Kiriath-Huzoth; [Num. 22:39] This city is mntiond only in this vrs. W do not know its xact location nor do w ncssarily know its nam (this is Hbrw for city of strts; th Grk is city of courtyards). This is crtainly nar Bamoth-baal, th capital of Moab, not far from th Arnon Rivr. And Balak sacrificd oxn and shp; and h snt to Balaam and to th princs who [wr] with him; [Num. 22:40] This all sounds wll and good that Balak is sacrificing shp and oxn to Y howah, but that is not what it says. H is simply making sacrificial offrings. Just as it is today, Satan is a countrfitr and th rligions of thos days all offrd animal sacrifics. Thos offring sacrifics thn wr no bttr off than thos who go into th church of a cult today. Thr is a bit of truth mixd in with nough lis to hid what th truth is. Th sacrifics ar thos mad to Baal, a front for a dmon. And h took Balaam, and causd him to go up to th high placs of Baal and h saw from thr th xtrmity of th popl. [Num. 22:41] W hav a dangrous mix hr. Allgdly, thy hav gon up to a high plac in ordr to b abl to s a portion of th Jws from thr, but, not by a coincidnc, it turns out to b an ara whr Baal is worshippd. Lt's xamin th Doctrin of Baal not finishd yt!! With this first chaptr of a trilogy undr our blt, w nd to xamin whthr Balaam is a blivr or an unblivr in gratr dtail: Is Balaam a Blivr or an Unblivr? 1. Thr ar two basic rasons that Balaam is sn as an unblivr by many thologians: (1) h disobyd God and was almost killd by God; (2) h placd somthing (in this cas, mony) ahad of God's will, and, (3) th Scriptur spaks disparagingly of him. Many blivrs ar guilty of #1 and #2 and svral blivrs (Samul, Annanias and Saphira) ar guilty of #3 (as wll as #'s 1 and 2). Ths ar not sufficint rasons to call Balaam an unblivr. 2. Unblivrs did not argu with Y howah bing th God of Isral. Thy accptd Him as a God, much th way hathn today librally accpt Buddha or Vishnu as god. What thy objctd to is: that Y howah, th God of Isral, is th ONLY God, th God of th Univrs, th Crator of th arth and all that is in it. 3. Hathn today objct to th sam thing. Thy don't s that Jsus is th ONLY God, th God of th Univrs, th Crator of th arth and all that is in it. 4. Edrshim, on p. 278 of Bibl History Old Tstamnt, draws analogis btwn Balaam and Simon Magus of Acts 8, who bhld th miracls and signs which wr don. Howvr, to s a miracl prformd and not to bliv is a lot diffrnt from Balaam's rol in this sris of vnts. Edrshim's bst argumnt against Balaam bing a blivr is th fact that th Hbrw word for propht is nvr applid to him. Howvr, this can b xplaind asily: That word, although in xistnc, was not widly usd, and th rcording of this incidnt was likly by a scrib who, although h knw svral languags, did not hav an xtnsiv vocabulary in all languags. Furthrmor, th word associatd with Balaam, divinr, whil gnrally usd in a ngativ sns (1Sam. 15:23 Jr. 14:14), is found in a nutral or positiv sns in Isa. 3:2 Micah 3:6. This word would b usd primarily for Gntil prophsying, which, during th ag of Isral, would b fals.

270 Numbrs Chaptr Is Balaam a Blivr or an Unblivr? 5. Balaam rfrs to Y howah as his God (Num. 22:18). 6. God rpatdly spok to Balaam, dirctly and through his ass (Num. 22:9 12, 32 35). 7. Balaam is known for his cursing and blssing as accurat (Num. 22:6). 8. God is not in th businss of warning, guiding, disciplining or blssing unblivrs. God disciplins thos who ar in His family. God spaks to unblivrs only to giv thm th gospl and, at tims, H has to crush thm to th point whr thy can rach only for His gospl of grac. 9. Balaam givs fiv xtnsiv, accurat prophcis in Num and thy ar rcordd in God's Word. Although it is tru that th Bibl dos contain th odd quot from an unblivr, it nvr givs this much spac to th spaking of an unblivr. This is mor than God spaking through an ass although th analogy is not far from bing on targt it is God spaking through on of His last Gntil prophts, howvr corruptd that propht may hav bn. 10. Th harsh tratmnt of Balaam, th thratning him with dath for what h did, is rathr xtrm for a blivr and vn mor xtrm for an unblivr. Popl curs God all of th tim and curs His popl, th Jws. God's forbaranc allows for that (it crtainly dos not condon it). Howvr, what Balaam is doing is much wors than all of that and th harsh punishmnt thratnd only maks sns if Balaam is not just a blivr, but a valid propht of God. Balaam is on rsponsibl to God to rlay God's mssag to th Gntils among whom h dwlls and h is willing to tak mony to do that which God has told him not to (God spcifically told Balaam to not go to Balak). Howvr, that mans no mony. 11. On thologian from Dallas Thological Sminary, in a 400 pag plus doctoral dissrtation, dals with Balaam and th thology of Balaam. I bliv that his stanc, lik most thologians, is that Balaam was an unblivr. Ths thologians ovrlook th obvious: why dos God work through Balaam? What didn't God just stand in Balak's way? Why didn't God thratn to kill Balak? Why dosn't Balak go to curs th Jws, but out instad coms blssing? Why did not Jsus Christ go dirctly to Balak and tll him what's up? God workd through Balaam bcaus Balaam is a blivr and did not work through Balak bcaus Balak is an unblivr. 12. Balaam, in Num. 23:1, rcognizs th divin prfction of th numbr svn. 13. God placs His Word in Balaam's mouth (Num. 23:5, 12). 14. Y howah continually spaks dirctly to Balaam and not to Balak (Num. 23:15 17). 15. Y howah rvals his will to Balaam in a vision a modus oprand followd only for blivrs (Gn. 15:1 Num. 12:6 24:3). 16. Th Spirit of God coms upon Balaam (Num. 24:2). 17. On could form an argumnt, from th immdiat contxt, that Balaam bgan as an unblivr and was rgnratd whn h mt God. Although a scnario lik that would xplain th latr rfrncs to spaking th Word of God and having th Spirit of God com upon him, this dos not squar with all th commntary on Balaam and latr books, nor with his dath at th hands of Isral. Balaam is nvr prsntd, outsid of this contxt, with any rdming qualitits (and within th confins of Num , on would hav to infr rdming qualitis). 18. Balaam knows th knowldg of God (Num. 24:16). Rturn to Outlin Rturn to Bginning of Chaptr Rturn to th Chart Indx Rturn to th Numbrs Hompag

271 Numbrs 23 Numbrs 23:1 30 Outlin of Chaptr 23: Vv. 1 6 Prparation for th first prophcy of Balaam Vv Th first prophcy of Balaam Vv Balak and Balaam discuss this first prophcy Vv Prparation for th scond prophcy from Mount Pisgah Vv Balaam's scond prophcy Vv Balak and Balaam discuss and thn prpar for th third prophcy on Mount Por Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: Introduction: Num. 23 and 24 should b on long chaptr. Thy contain th fiv cursings and blssings of Balaam. This is trmndous prophcy. This is God spaking to th middl ast for cnturis to com, spaking through His propht, Balaam. Prparation for th First Prophcy of Balaam Thn Balaam said to Balak, "Build for m in this [plac] svn altars and mak rady for m in this [plac] svn bulls and svn rams." [Num. 23:1] Balaam is in th midst of a lot of Baal worship; w'r prtty much looking at a sort of a rligious fstival hr. Whras ths sacrifics sound prtty darn holy, thy ar offrd as much as an honoring of all national ditis as thy ar offrd to God. Paul warnd th Corinthians: Do not b bound togthr with unblivrs; for what partnrship has rightousnss and lawlssnss, or what fllowship has light with darknss? Or what harmony has Christ with Blial, or what has a blivr in common with an unblivr? Or what agrmnt has th tmpl of God with idols? For w ar th tmpl of th living God. Just as God said, "I will dwll in thm and walk among thm; and I will b thir God and thy will b My popl. Thrfor, com out from thir midst and b sparat," says th Lord. "And do not touch what is unclan and I will mbrac you. And I will b a fathr to you, and you will b liks sons and daughtrs to M," says th Lord Almighty (II Cor. 6:14 18 Ex. 29:45 Lv. 26:12 Isa. 52:11 Ex. 4:22 2Sam. 7:14 Isa. 43:6). Undr crtain circumstancs, this would b appropriat as a sacrific to Y howah. Howvr, not hr or at this tim. As a Christian, you would not participat in a rligious fstival, clbrating th varity of th ways mn approach God. This is simply bcaus thr is but on way to approach God and all othr rligions ar paying homag to Satan and his dmon cadr. And Balak did as Balaam had spokn and Balak offrd a bull and a ram on th altar Balaam also. [Num. 23:2] Balak dosn't rally car what rigamaroll h bcoms involvd in offr up a bull and a ram? Crtainly, no problm. It is amazing what far will do to a man. Balak, th rulr of on of th grat nations of th world at that tim, has placd himslf undr th authority of th propht Balaam. And Balaam said to Balak, "Station yourslf by your burnt offring and I will go on; prhaps Y howah will com to m and whatvr H shows m, I will dclar [that] to you." And so h wnt to a high plac. [Num. 23:3] God oftn mt with prophts in high placs (rcall Moss on Mount Sinai). Th countrfit rligions do likwis; vrything occurs in a high plac. Balaam acts as though h intnds to do all that which is good and propr. Mony is hardly mntiond and h has alrady told Balak's ambassadors that all th mony in th world could not

272 Numbrs Chaptr buy thm a good blssing or cursing. Howvr, h was willing to doubl chck with God (as though God was not sur of what H had told Balaam th first tim). Lt's look at v. 4 from strictly a linguistic point of viw: th translations ar gnrally sloppy with th final two vrbs whn thr is no rason for it. Th Amplifid Bibl God mt Balaam, who said to Him, I hav prpard svn altars, and I hav offrd on ach altar a bull and a ram. Th Emphasizd Bibl And God cam unto Balaam, so h said unto him Th svn altars hav I guilt in a row, and hav causd to ascnd a bullock and a ram on ach altar. KJV And God mt Balaam: and h said unto him, I hav prpard svn altars, and I hav offrd upon vry altar a bullock and a ram. NASB Now God mt Balaam, and h said to Him, "I hav st up th svn altars, and I hav offrd up a bull and a ram on ach altar." NIV God mt with him, and Balaam said, "I hav prpard svn altars, and on ach altar I hav offrd a bull and a ram." NRSV Thn God mt Balaam; and Balaam said to him, "I hav arrangd th svn altars, and hav offrd a bull and a ram on ach altar." Young's Lit. Translation And God comth unto Balaam, and h saith unto Him, 'Th svn altars I hav arrangd, and I offr a bullock and a ram on th altar;' This vrs contains thr wâw conscutivs and on conjunction. Not on translation addrssd this fact. Th first vrb is th Niphal imprfct of qârâh (ä øè È ) [pronouncd kaw-raw] and mans to ncountr, to mt and not to com. Somtims thr is th implication of a chanc or accidntal mting. Th Niphal, which is gnrally 146 th passiv stm, and somtims a stm rfrring to a continuous sns of action (bing) rfrs hr to a 147 mting which was not prarrangd. Th prposition to gos with this vrb, but w do not hav a rasonably good corrsponding English vrb which allows for that prposition. Colloquially, w could translat this, And so God happnd to run into Balaam or God ran into Balaam. and such a rndring would allow for th prposition and th implication of a mting which was not prarrangd (by Balaam). To intrprt this in th passiv stm, God was brought to Balaam inadvrtntly through Balaam's sacrifics. Balaam did not xpct this mting, so h quickly tlls God that h has don what h is supposd to do. H st up altars and offrd sacrifics, tc. What w los hr is th humor of this vrs. Balaam is doing ths things which ar dsignd to contact God; howvr, thir subsqunt mting is a bit of a surpris to Balaam, so h immdiatly tlls God what h's bn doing. Havn't you as a parnt surprisd your son or daughtr doing somthing that thy wr not supposd to b doing, and thy suddnly bcam vry talkativ, xplaining quickly th things thy wr doing which wr okay. Balaam is trying to strap it on God. H's not supposd to b involvd in any sort of rligious affiliation with any othr pagan god, yt hr h is offring sacrifics in th high placs of Baal (Num. 22:41). Whn Balaam st h prpard th svn altars, th vrb mans to arrang in ordr, to arrang in a row. Nothing is gaind by obscurring this maning. Finally, in th sacrific, Balaam has offrd ths as burnt offrings, as th vrb mans caus to ascnd. It is in th Qal imprfct, howvr, and now th Hiphil, but having th vrb in th first prson singular with th objcts th bull and th ram, it mans that Balaam is right now in th midst of snding ths sacrifics up to God. Th implication hr of th prfct tns of arrang and th imprfct tns of ascnd is that God happnd to com to Balaam aftr h arrangd th altars and bfor h was finishd offring th sacrifics. Now Balaam is not saying that h is offring a bull and a ram on ach altar (although h is); but h is right in th middl of snding up a bull and a ram on a spcific altar. Now it is obvious that all of ths vrsions say roughly th sam thing and th actual translation is not too far from thirs. Howvr, whn a litral translation would suffic and giv a clar undrstanding as to what is hr, why giv any othr sort of translation? Th point is that thr ar tims whn on point of doctrin dpnds upon Zodhiats Th Complt W ord Study Old Tstamnt, p BDB, p. 899.

273 Th Book of Numbrs 273 whr a particular word is found in Scriptur and what its maning is. Vry fw pastors ar flunt in th Hbrw languag, and thrfor thy dpnd upon thos who hav gon bfor thm and hav translatd th Holy Scripturs. Furthrmor, a mor litral translation hr givs us a much richr undrstanding of what is going on. You may hav rad this vrs a dozn tims in your on yar program to rad th Bibl, and you didn't rally know what was hr. I guss this is a pla for somon or som group to giv a consistnt and litral translation of th Bibl, and prhaps includ, sid by sid, or as footnots, th mor idiomatic sns of som of th vrss. This would fr up th pastor to tach from this translation without having to b a languag scholar (which is prfrabl, but it dosn't occur vry oftn). And thn God ncountrd [to] [or, ran into] Balaam [or, and thn God was brought to Balaam] and so h said to Him, "Th svn altars I arrangd [in a row]; and now I am snding up [or, causing to ascnd] a bull and a ram on that [lit., th] altar." [Num. 23:4] Bfor Balaam has vn finishd offring ths sacrifics, God coms to him a bit soonr than Balaam xpctd. Balaam quickly xplains to God that h has bn good and has obyd all th formalitis of th rituals calld for by God, and, in fact, h is, at this momnt, right in th middl of snding up a sacrific to God (as in, "What a coincidnc!"). Hav you vr lid whn somon calls you on th phon (somon who has lft thr or four mssags) and you said, "I was just trying to call you." That's what Balaam is saying. God is kping clos tabs on Balaam, as h could, at any tim, say th wrong thing. God has to rmind Balaam that H is always thr. And Y howah put a word in th mouth of Balaam and said, "Turn back to Balak and thus you will say: [Num. 23:5] Rcall that God has allowd Balaam to accompany Balak on th condition that h spak only that which God tlls him. "If th mn hav com to call you, ris up go with thm; but only th word which I spak to you it you will do." (Num. 22:20b). This dosn't sound too awfully diffrnt from I tstify to vryon who hars th words of th prophcy of this book: if anyon adds to th God will add to him th plaugs which ar writtn in this book; and if anyon taks away from th words of th book of this prophcy, God will tak away his part from th tr of lif and from th holy city, which ar writtn in this book (Rv. 22:18 19). God will allow Balaam to spak only th truth concrning Isral. W do not know th xact mchanics of putting a word into th mouth of Balaam, xcpt that this was how God would work with prophts during th Ag of Isral [this is Moss spaking to Isral, rlaying what God had said to him]: "I will rais up a propht from among thir countrymn lik you, and I will plac My words in his mouth and h will spak to thm all as I command him." (Dut. 18:18). And h [Balaam] turnd back to him [Balak] and obsrv [lit., lo], h is standing by his burntoffring h and all th princs of Moab. [Num. 23:6] So Balaam has gon furthr up th mountain, God spok to him and snt him immdiatly downhill. W don't know if God gav Balaam a writtn spch, imprgnatd th information on Balaam's mind, or what. Howvr, w har it quotd only onc. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx

274 Numbrs Chaptr Th First Prophcy of Balaam Balaam will giv svn prophtical discourss: I (Num. 23:7 10); II (Num. 23:18 24); III (Num. 24:3 9); IV (Num. 24:15 19); V (Num. 24:20); VI (Num. 24:21 22); and VII (Num. 24:23 24), th lattr, shortr thr bing th mor difficult to intrprt. Balaam is th last of th Gntil prophts to th Gntils. Thr is a collosal failur at th nd of vrfy dispnsation and Balaam is rprsntativ of his. Th Jws would fail as a nation to vangliz th world just as Balaam has faild to stand as a pur witnss for Jsus Christ. In a way, Balaam almost hands th baton to Isral; howvr, his hands ar soild with a dsir to mak mony from his position as a propht. H can no mor hand th baton to th sons of Isral than could Ciaphas th high prist hand th baton to Saint Paul. Plas not that Balaam's prophcis ar from on Gntil to anothr Gntil about Isral. Isral hrslf will bcom corrupt during th tim of our Lord's incarnation, whn thos who ar prists will b unblivrs and thos who claim to uphold th Law of Moss cannot vn rcogniz th Lord Who gav ths laws to Moss. And h took up his discours [or, mmorabl rcitation] and said, "From Aram H lads m, Balak king of Moab; from mountains of oth ast com, curs for m Jacob, and com, b indignant [to] Isral. [Num. 23:7] Mâshâl (ì È îè ) [pronouncd maw-shawl] mans parabl, provrb, oracl, discours, mmorabl rcitation. This is th sam nam of th book of Solomon calld Provrbs. From its us in 1Sam. 10:12 1Kings 4:32 Psalm 44:14, I don't think that parabl is quit its maning. Th Wbstr dfinition of oracl is any uttranc mad or rcivd as authoritativ, xtrmly wis, or infallibl. In this rspct, oracl is a good translation of this word. Mâshâl rfrs mor to a short, oftn potic, asily-rmmbrd point of doctrin. I think on of th mor important aspcts of this word, which is oftn ovrlookd, is its quality of bing rmmbrd. Balaam bgins his discours with a prfac: Balak, king of Moab, has ld him from Aram and from th mountains in th ast, to com to curs Isral (rcall that Jacob and Isral ar th sam prson). "What do I curs? God has not cursd! And what do I dnounc [in indignation]? Y howah has not dnouncd! [Num. 23:8] Rcall, w hav xamind th two diffrnt words for curs which w find in v. 7 and v. 8 th first is a Hbrw word commonly translatd curs; and th scond is a word found only in ths thr chaptrs of Numbrs. Thn w hav this word which occurs twlv tims in th Old Tstamnt, yt is translatd fiv ways (not altogthr diffrntly, howvr). Zâ am (í òç æ)è [pronouncd zaw--ìahm] is translatd indignant, dfy, angry, abhor, abominabl. Its noun cognat, za am (í òç æ)ç [pronouncd zah-ìahm] is translatd indignant xcpt for Psalm 38:3. Th ky is that this word is usd of thos who do not masur up to God's prfct charactr; in fact, thy fall so short of it, thy ar dnouncd in indignation, dnouncd as an affront to God's prfct charactr, to dnigrat or disparag out of indignation. Balaam immdiatly rlats his quandary h has bn askd to spak authoritativly, as from God, to curs a popl that God has not cursd; to dnounc a popl whom God has not dnouncd. Ths ar animatd, xprssiv qustions which h poss, but thy ar not qustions prsntd in ordr to obtain information. This is calld rotsis [pronouncd ER-ô-TEE-sis] whr a qustion is askd, but an answr is not sought. This is a qustion statd in ordr to rfus to prform this action. "For, from th top of rocks I s it [th popl of Isral]; and from hights I obsrv it. S, a popl! Alon [or, apart] thy ar ncampd, and among nations thy do not rckon thmslvs [lit., it dos not rckon itslf]. [Num. 23:9] Balaam has bn takn to a high mountain from whnc h can obsrv Isral. H can s thm and rcognizs that thy ar not allid with any othr nation in fact, thy do not vn s thmslvs as a nation. Whn th Most High gav th nations thir inhritanc; whn H sparatd th sons of man, h st th boundaris of th popls according to th numbr of th sons of Isral (Dut. 32:8). So, Isral dwlls in scurity, th fountain of

275 Th Book of Numbrs 275 Jacob scludd, in a land of grain and nw win; his havns also drop down dw. Blssd ar you, O Isral. Who is lik you, a popl dlivrd by Y howah. Who is th shild of you hlp and th sword of your majsty? So your nmis will cring bfor you and you will trad upon thir high placs (Dut. 33:24). Th fact that Isral is sparatd from all othr nations has hld tru from that tim until today. Thr hav bn many nations which hav attmptd to conqur Isral and svral which hav succdd. Th Jws bn scattrd throughout all of th nations of th arth. Howvr, thy hav nvr bn thoroughly absorbd into any national ntitiy nor has any conquring nation vr fully assimilatd thm. In th Unitd Stats, whr thy hav rcivd grat accptancd as a popl, thr is still an undrcurrnt of anti-smitism, vn though th diffrnc in physical charactristics btwn Jws in th Unitd Stats and non-jws is minimal, if vn xistant. Th sam holds tru for many countris whr thy sojourn. "Who has countd th dust of Jacob and [who has] numbrd th fourth of Isral? Lt m [lit. my soul] di th dath of upright ons, and lt my last nd b lik his!" [Num. 23:10] Balaam is xprssing amazmnt at th larg numbrs that h is obsrving two million popl in on spot is a lot of popl. H can only s a portion of thm and th portion that h ss is quit larg and th numbr of Isralits that h ss is a small portion of th total population of Isral. Rcall God's promis to Jacob, which h rcivd in a dram: "Your dscndants will also b lik th dust of th arth, and you will sprad out to th wst and to th ast to and th north and to th south; and in you an din your dscndants will all th familis of th arth b blssd." (Gn. 28:14). Rathr than ths Isralits bing cursd by God and dying bfor God as accursd; thy ar blssd by God and thir daths ar victoris God has calld thm hom. A syncdoch [pronouncd syn-ek-do-k] is whn part of a thing stands for th ntirty. This is don quit oftn with th soul. Th soul stands in for th ntir prson. Balaam xprsss his dsir to di a dath lik Isral absolvd of guilt and blssd of God. Obsrv th blamlss man, and not th on with intgrity; for th man of pac [rlationship with God] will hav a futur (Psalm 37:37). Our dath is victory, not a loss. "Blssd [or, happy] ar th dad who di in th Lord from now on!" "Ys," says th Spirit, "that thy may rst from thir labors, for thir dds follow with thm." (Rv. 14:13b). This vrs shows an arnst dsir to di in such a way that would glorify God. Howvr, this arnst dsir coupld with th fact that h was in Moab undr to auspics of Balak to curs Isral, is only a dsir but not a prophcy which must b fulfilld. Balaam's dath will b that of an nmy of God: Th sons of Isral also killd Balaam, th son of Bor, th divinr, with th sword among thir slain (Joshua 13:22 Num. 31:8). It might b good to s this first prophcy as a cohsiv whol, without th nots, so that it flows: And h took up his mmorabl discours and said, "From Aram H lads m, Balak king of Moab; from mountains of th ast. Com, curs for m Jacob, and com, dnounc Isral. What do I curs? God has not cursd! And what do I dnounc [in indignation]? Y howah has not dnouncd! For, from th top of rocks I s thm [th popl of Isral]; and from hights I obsrv thm. S, a popl! Apart thy ar ncampd, and among nations thy do not stimat thmslvs. [Yt] who has countd th dust of Jacob and [who has] numbrd th fourth of Isral? Lt m [lit. my soul] di th dath of [ths] upright ons, and lt my last nd b lik his!" Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Balak and Balaam Discuss this First Prophcy And Balak said to Balaam, "What hav you don to m? I hav brought you to curs my nmis; and, look, in having blssd [thm] [gratly] you continud to blssd [thm]!" [Num. 23:11]

276 Numbrs Chaptr Rothrham's Th Emphasizd Bibl translats this as To rvil min nmis I summond th, and lo! thou has 148 kpt on blssing. Whn th infinitiv follows its finit vrsion, oftn contiuous action is dnotd. Balak is a bit disturbd. Th gam plan was to bring Balaam all th way from Msopotamia to curs th Jws and h has don quit th opposit. Balaam is confusd about th program and his participation in it. And h answrd and said, "If that which Y howah has placd in my mouth, that should I not tak rsponsibility [or, tak hd] to spak?" [Num. 23:12] Balaam has not originatd ths words. God is spaking through him. This is his rsponsibility as a propht to spak that which God wants spokn. Balaam is caught btwn a rock and a hard plac. H so much wants to tak th mony and run, but h is constraind by God. Now, w don't always s this in our translations, but th Bibl is carful to intrprt this for us. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Prparation for th Scond Prophcy from Mount Pisgah And so, Balak said to him, "Com, I rspctfully rqust of you [com] with m to anothr plac 149 [from] which [plac] you will s thm. You s only thir xtrmity and all of thm that you don't s. Thn [lit., and] curs thm for m thr." [Num. 23:13] Balak's thinking hr is that okay, Balaam has mor or lss blssd ths popl, but h has only sn a small portion of som of thm. All of Isral was not blssd hr just this portion. So thy will go to anothr plac from whnc thy can s th rst of Isral, and, now that Balaam undrstands th gam plan, h can at last curs thm. And h took him [to] th fild of Zophim, to th top of Pisgah, and built svn altars and offrd a bull and a ram on ach [lit., th] altar. [Num. 23:14] Apparntly, th dfinit articl can b translatd ach in a situation lik this. Obviously, thy ar not going to build svn altars and thn only offr two animals. Thy cannot us any of th xisting altars, as thos altars hav bn st asid for Baal worship. And h said to Balak, "Station yourslf hr, by your burnt-offring, and I vn I will mt [with God]." [Num. 23:15] Balaam undrstands th gam plan. H is going to God just in cas thr may hav bn a slight altration in God's plans of cursing and blssing. Balaam wouldn't mind picking up svral thousand dollars for this trip, so it just can't hurt to chck in with th boss and s if thr ar any changs that h can mak us of. Balaam dos not fully grasp th immutability of God. And Y howah cam to Balaam and placd a word in his mouth and said, "Rturn to Balak and thus you will spak." [Num. 23:16] I hav alludd to this svral tims and th mchanics I would find intrsting. W hav found svral placs whr God has placd a word in Balaam's mouth I would b intrstd in th mchanics of this. My guss is that God has told him what to say, has filld him with th Holy Spirit and thn snt him back to Balak. And h cam to him and obsrv, h was standing by his burnt-offring and th princs of Moab [wr] with him. So Balak said to him, "What has Y howah spokn?" [Num. 23:17] Th Emphasizd Bibl, p. 16. Lit., it (and so on throughout).

277 Th Book of Numbrs 277 Progrss is bing mad with Balak hr. H rcognizs who it is that Balaam spaks to. Not that God spaks to Balaam and not to Balak dirctly furthr vidnc that Balaam is a blivr and that Balak is not. What is tru of th ancint gods of various nations is that ach nation had thir own st of gods and th rcognizd that othr nations had thir own st of gods. This is not unlik th libral today who rcognizs on rligion has this kind of god and anothr rligion has that kind of god and, of cours, thos who think thmslvs rally dp thinkrs, say, "It is th sam god th God of man." Howvr, th Bibl maks it clar that is not th cas. Various nations at that tim and various rligions today do hav thir own spcific gods ths ar dmons and crtainly, dmons rcogniz that thr ar othr dmons. Howvr, thr is but on tru God Y howah Jsus Christ Who cratd th univrs. Balak is simply bing a libral, if not indulging Balaam. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Balaam's Scond Prophcy And h took up his discours [or, mmorabl rcitation] and said, "Aris, Balak, and har: giv ar to m, son of Zippor! [Num. 23:18] Now God, through Balaam, is spaking to Balak. H is saying, "Listn carfully to this." "God [is] not a man that h should li. And [H is not] a son of man and changs His mind. Has H said? Will H not do it? And [has H not] spokn? And will H not confirm it? [Num. 23:19] God has alrady considrd this mattr. "Blssd is Y howah, Who has givn rst to His pop Isral, according to all that H promisd; not on word has faild of all His good promis, which H promisd through Moss His srvant." (1Kings 8:56). "For also th Glory of Isral will not li or chang His mind; for H is not a man that H should chang His mind." (1Sam. 15:29). God is immutabl. H dos not chang His mind vr. Onc H has givn us a divin pronouncmnt, H will bring it to pass. "My Word will fo forth from My mouth; it will not rturn to M void without doing My will and without accomplishing that for which I snt it." (Isa. 55:11). Th grass withrs, th flowr fads, but th Word of our God stand forvr (Isa. 40:8). And sinc H has alrady spokn anothr sssion with Y howah will bring only confirmation to what H said bfor. God dos not vn dnigrat Himslf to b compard to dmon ditis H compars Himslf to man. Will H chang His mind lik som man would? Th rhtorical qustion cris out for th answr "Hll no!" As an asid, bcaus thr is always that prson who just bgan listning and has hard th passags whr God rpnts or whr Moss talks Him out of dstroying all of Isral. God had th intntion all along of accomplishing His purpos in thos mattrs. Whn th Bibl spaks of God rpnting (changing His mind), that is simply an anthropopathism it xplains th actions of God in a languag of accommodation. Thr ar tims whn w hav to spank our childrn, and it is vry difficult th child might tll somon ls that his mom and dad wr angry with him whras, it was quit th opposit. Thy spankd him bcaus thy lov him and flt no angr. Howvr, th languag of accommodation for th child was mom and dad ar mad at him. In saturations whr God spars Isral (or anyon ls) aftr Moss (or som othr blivr) argus for a diffrnt tact it is not that God is kind of slow on th uptak and suddnly says, "Wll, I guss I didn't look at it that way" or "I hadn't rally thought of that." This rvals th trmndous powr of intrcssory prayr (as wll as imprcatory prayr). God knw that Moss would argu on bhalf of Isral and had alrady dtrmind in trnity past to acquisc to th argumnts of Moss. Howvr, had Moss not argud on bhalf of Isral, thn God would hav dstroyd all of Isral in th dsrt and bgun anw with Moss. Evn though w don't always fully undrstand why, our prayrs on bhalf of othrs ar xtrmly important. Th simpl xplanation is that God is glorifid by answring our prayrs. "Look, to blss him [Isral], I hav rcivd. In fact, H blsss and I [can] not rvrs it. [Num. 23:20]

278 Numbrs Chaptr It is possibl th this vrs rads: "Obsrv, to blss I hav rcivd; and I will blss and I cannot tak it back (this is according to th wstrn Samaritan and th Sptuagint). Although this dos chang th immdiat maning considrably, th ovrall maning is th sam. Whn God blsss somon, thy ar blssd. That is not somthing an individual can rvrs. Similarly, whn God has informd Balaam that somon is to b blssd (or prosprd) by God, h convys th information. It is mor along th lins of don't shoot th mssngr. "Evn from trnity, I am H; and thr is non who can dlivr out of My hand. I act and who can rvrs it?" (Isa. 43:13). In ithr cas, Balaam xprsss his powrlssnss to do anything but rport what God has said. Th nxt vrs rquirs us to look at som othr translations: Th Amplifid Bibl [God] has not bhld iniquity in Jacob [for h is forgivn], nithr has H sn mischif or prvrsnss in Isral. Th Lord his God is with Isral and th shout of prais to thir King is among th popl. Th Emphasizd Bibl H hath not discovrd troubl in Jacob, Nithr hath h sn wrtchdnss in Isral Yahwh, his God is with him, And th acclaim of a king in his midst; KJV H hath not bhld iniquity in Jacob, ithr hath h sn prvrsnss in Isral; th LORD his God is with him, and th shout of a king is among thm. 150 NASB H has not obsrvd misfortun in Jacob; Nor has H sn troubl in Isral; Th LORD his God is with him, And th shout of a king is among thm. NIV No misfortun is sn in Jacob, no misry obsrvd in Isral. Th LORD thir God is with thm; th shout of th King is among thm. NRSV H has not bhld misfortun in Jacob, nor has h sn troubl in Isral. Th LORD thir God is with thm, acclaimd as a king among thm. Young's Lit. Translation H hath not bhld iniquity in Jacob, Nor hath H sn prvrsnss in Isral; Jhovah his God is with him, And a shout of a king is with thm. Lik w hav sn in svral vrss, thr ar som words in this vrs that you would nvr suspct ar hr. Thr ar two words usd for th sns of sight in th Hbrw; which mans to s and on which mans to look carfully, to xamin, to scrutiniz, to obsrv carfully. It is th scond word that w find hr. Âwn (ï å àè ) [pronouncd AW-wn], although givn in BDB as troubl, sorrow, wickdnss, sms to b translatd iniquity mor oftn than anything ls. Th scond vrb is th word oftn usd for s. This sts up a paralllism, using th two words for s and using th two nams of Jacob, Jacob and Isral. Th nxt word is a tough on. Thr is th vrb which is âmal (ì îç òè ) [pronouncd aw-mahl], which mans to labor, to toil. It is a vrb found primarily in th potry of th Bibl (Psalms, Provrbs and Ecclsiasts). It occurs on tim in Jonah 4:1 (and just onc in Psalm 127:1 and Prov. 16:26) but most of its occurrncs ar in Ecclsiasts. Strong's #5998 BDB #765 Howvr, th noun cognat which is âmâl (ì îè òè ) [pronouncd aw-mawl] is found sparingly in th Law (Gn. 41:51 Num. 23:21 Dut. 26:7 Judgs 10:16) and in th prophtical books (Isa. 10:1 53:11 59:4 Jr. 20:18 Hab. 1:3, 13) and quit oftn throughout th potical books (Job through Ecclsiasts). Howvr, it is translatd prvrsnss, toil, misry, wickdnss, troubl, mischif, sorrow, painful, labor, travail, grivousnss, grivancs. I am of two minds hr. On th on hand, I want to go with a complt paralllism and translat this word as wickdnss, troubl, mischif. On th othr hand, I want to go with xhausting labor bcaus it allows for mor consistncy. Thr ar two sids to th unrgnrat man's lif: iniquity and works man altrnats btwn sinning against God and thn trying to work his way back into God's favor. Strong's #5999 (and #5998) BDB #765. "H has not found [lit., bhld] iniquity in Jacob, nor has H sn [xhausting] labor in Isral. [Num. 23:21a] Now w hav just sn chaptr aftr chaptr of how Isral had sinnd against God and how God scattrd thir carcasss in th dsrt. You hav bn rbllious against Y howah from th day I knw you (Dut. 9:24). Thy [rfrring to Isral] hav actd corruptly toward Him; [thy ar] not His childrn bcaus of thir dfct, but [thy ar] a prvrs and crookd gnration (Dut. 32:5). Th Nw Tstamnt affirms th loathing by God of th 150 Footnotd iniquity in th NASB.

279 Th Book of Numbrs 279 xodus gnration. So, hr w find no iniquity in Jacob? Evn prsonalizd, as you will rcall, that Jacob was, of th thr patriarchs, on of th sorrist xcuss for a Christian on has vr sn. If you undrstand God's Word this is a no-brainr. Isral is th lct of God. Thy hav blivd in Y howah and hav bn clansd by th blood of Jsus Christ. Positionally, lik us, thy ar pur. Happy is h whos lawlss dds hav bn forgivn, and whos sins ar covrd. Happy is th man to whom th Lord [Lord in th Grk and Y howah in th Hbrw] dos not imput iniquity (Rom. 4:7 8, Psalm 32:1 2a). Bsids, "Y howah is slow to angr and abundant in grac, forgiving iniquity and transgrssion; but H will by no mans clar th guilty, visiting th iniquity of th fathrs on th childrn to th third and th fourth [gnrations]." (Num. 14:18). "In thos days and at that tim, dclars Y howah, "A sarch will b mad for th iniquity of Isral, but thr will b non; and for th sins of Judah, but thy will not b found; for I shall pardon thos whom I lav as a rmnant." (Jr. 50:20). S how grat a lov th Fathr has bstowd upon us, that w should b calld childrn of God; and w ar. For this rason, th world dos not know [or, undrstand] us, bcaus it did not know Him. Blovd, now w ar childrn of God, and it has not appard as yt what w shall b. W know that, whn H appars, w will b lik Him, bcaus w will s Him must as H is (I John 3:1 2). Y howah his God [is] with him and a battl-cry [or, th sound of warring trumpts] of a king [is] in him. [Num. 23:21b] Although I lik th way that th NRSV has translatd th scond portion of this vrs (Th LORD thir God is with thm, acclaimd as a king among thm), howvr I don't think that is th propr intrprtation (it should com as no surpris to you that many portions of a translation ar nothing mor than an intrprtation of what is thr). Th insrtion of th dfinit articl prior to king in th NIV is also an intrprtation th dfinit articl dos not occur hr. God has told Moss and Joshua that H would spcifically b with thm (Ex. 3:12 Dut. 31:23) and has said th sam to Isral as a nation: "And I will dwll among th sons of Isral and I will b thir God. And thy will know that I am Y howah thir Glodwho brought thm out of th land of Egypt, that I might dwll among thm; I am Y howah thir God." (Ex. 29:45 46). It is in this scond portion of th vrs, that what Balaam says that which should worry Balak. W hav th variously translatd word t rûw<âh (äòè ø ) [pronouncd t'rû-awh] a word which Ó is gnrally associatd with th vry loud sounds of battl, as in Jr. 4:19 Amos 1:14 2:2 Zph. 1:16. Isral is not rally a nation yt, as it dos not hav a trritory, nor has it built a city nor dos it hav a king. Howvr, th battl cry (or th sound of warring trumpts) of a king is in Isral. Thy ar about to go out and conqur th land of Canaan. Y howah is thir King and thir God, but that is not what is in viw hr. What is in viw is that thy will go out and conqur as through thy wr ld by a king. Thir king is, in a sns, Y howah, th God of th Univrs; and, in a sns, this king is Moss. Du to th lat sixtis and arly svntis, war is sn as th ultimat in vil; howvr, for Isral, it was th sound of thm conquring th land givn thm by Y howah undr His guidanc. How happy ar th popl who know th battl-sound of military trumpts! O Y howah, thy walk in th light of Your countnanc. In Your nam thy rjoic all th day, and by Your rightousnss, thy ar xaltd. For You ar th glory of thir strngth, and by You grac our horn [rprsnting ladrship and/or domination] is xaltd. For our shild blongs to Y howah and our king to th Holy On of Isral (Psalm 89:15 18). "God is bringing thm out from Egypt as th swiftnss [lit., horn] of a watr buffalo is to him; [Num. 23:22] 151 According to th NIV, th imag of a wild ox is that of powr to th ancint popls of th Nar East. Th imag hr is that on is bing carrid so quickly by this bast that thy must hold onto its horns to kp from falling off. Again, this imag of spd is rlativ. Isral could hav, had thy so chosn, gon from slavry in Egypt to conquring th land of Canaan in just a fw short yars. Howvr, thy chos to oppos God. For no nchantmnt [is] against Jacob, nor divination against Isral. At th tim it is said of Jacob and Isral: what has God brought into xistnc [or, mad or don]? [Num. 23:23] 151 NIV Study Bibl, p. 222.

280 Numbrs Chaptr Th bêyth prposition dnots proximity. It can man in, into, by, and it can also man against. Thr ar no words or incantations which can b spokn against Isral. How grat is Your goodnss, which You hav stord up for thos who far You; which You hav don for thos who tak rfusg in You bfor th sons of mn (Psalm 31:19). O God, w hav hard with our ars our fathrs hav told us, th work that You did in thir days, in th days of old. You with Your own hand drov out th nations and thn You plantd thm; You afflictd th popls and thn You sprad thm abroad (Psalm 44:1 2). Now w hav an unfortunat vrs brak. A rhtorical qustion is askd, which Balaam will answr. Obsrv, th popl as a lionss ariss, and as a lion, h lifts himslf up. H dos not li down until h ats [his] pry and drinks th blood of thos who hav bn fatally woundd [lit., th pircd ons]." [Num. 23:24] A lionss is slping off in th brush, unsn. Howvr, onc hungr awakns it, it will not go back and rst until it has atn. Isral is that lion. Isral was brought out of Egypt, hungry for its land. It will not rturn to a rsting position until it has takn th land which God has givn it. Isral is about to launch a long and vigorous campaign to tak th land givn thm by God. You just know that Balak is not going to lik this. King David will b from th trib of Judah and much of th conquring of th land will b undr David's hand. Jacob had prophsid many cnturis prvious: "Judah, your brothrs will prais you; your hand will b on th nck of your nmis; your fathr's sons will bow down to you. Judah is a lion's whlp; from th pry, my son, you will hav gon up. H crouchs h lis down as a lion. And, as a lion, who dars to rous him up?" (Gn. 49:8 9). As bfor, w will look at a loosr translation of this portion of God's Word takn as a whol: And h took up his mmorabl discours and said, "Aris, Balak, and har: giv ar to m, son of Zippor! God [is] not a man that h should li. And [H is not] a son of man and changs His mind. [What] has H said? Will H not do it? And [what has H] spokn? And will H not confirm it? Listn, to blss Isral, I hav bn commissiond. In fact, H blsss and I [can] not rvrs it. H has not found iniquity in Jacob, nor has H sn a labor in Isral. Y howah his God [is] with him and a battl-cry [or, th sound of warring trumpts] of a king [is] in him. God is bringing thm out from Egypt as th swiftnss of a watr buffalo is to him; For no nchantmnt [is] against Jacob, nor is thr a divination against Isral. At th tim it is said of Jacob and Isral: what has God brought into xistnc? Obsrv, th popl as a lionss ariss, and as a lion, h lifts himslf up. H dos not li down until h ats [his] pry and drinks th blood of thos who hav bn fatally woundd." Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Balak and Balaam Discuss and Thn Prpar for th Third Prophcy on Mount Por And Balak said to Balaam, "Nithr curs it at all nor blss it at all." And Balaam answrd and said to Balak, "Hav I not spokn to you saying, 'All that Y howah says that I will do?" [Num. 23:25] Balak has givn up hr. It would b bttr not to har anything at all as opposd to haring Balaam blss Isral. H is in wors shap now than whn h snt for Balaam. Balaam nots that "I told you so," as Balaam did tll Balak's ambassadors, "Though Balak wr to giv m his hous full of silvr and gold, I could not do anything, ithr small or grat, contrary to th mouth of Y howah my God." (Num. 22:18b).

281 Th Book of Numbrs 281 And Balak said to Balaam, "Com, I rspctfully ask you, I will tak you to anothr plac. It may b right in th ys of God to curs thm for m from thr." [Num. 23:27] This is an act of dspration on Balak's part. H has snt all th way to th Euphrats Rivr to gt ths Jws cursd. My guss is that Balak has dtrmind mayb a diffrnt and mor local god would hav som baring upon th words of Balaam. Howvr, this is a guss on my part as to his motivation. And Balak took Balaam to th top of Por, which is looking on th front of Jshimon [or, possibly, th dsrt] [Num. 23:28] Translators ar uncrtain about th last word of this vrs, whthr it is a rfrnc to th vast, almost unlivabl dsrt (Isa. 45:19 20) or to th nam of a particular ara, prhaps namd dsrt (Num. 21:20 23:28 1Sam. 23:19, 24). ZPEB's rul of thumb: whn it is prcdd by a dfinit articl, it is a particular ara (and two diffrnt aras with this nam ar mntiond in Scriptur); and, without th dfinit articl, it is th simpl noun dsrt. Por was an unknown mountain ara of ancint Moab and Por was th nam of a dity of Moab short for Baal-Por. Por was a dity of Moab, prhaps on of th most rnown. Balak's thinking hr was to allow for th influnc of th national god of Por to influnc Balak. Aftr all, if anyon is going to b slantd toward Moab, it would b this dity. And Balaam said to Balak, "Build for m in this [plac] svn altars and mak rady for m in this [plac] svn bulls and svn rams." [Num. 23:29] So w rpat th pattrn of Num. 23:1 and 14 and sacrifics ar offrd to Y howah. Apart from th rst of th Bibl, what Balaam is doing sms to b okay. Balak wants him to curs th Jws so Balaam builds th altars, sacrifics to Y howah and thn rlats th words of God to Balak. On th surfac, this should sm rasonabl to you. Howvr, th ky is motivation. Balaam was told not to go with Balak; h did. Now h is mixing with th gods of Moab, offring sacrifics right along sid of whr thos sacrifics ar offrd to dmons. Balaam was originally motivatd by mony. H actd as though h was not; but you hav to rad past th surfac statmnts which h mad (and allow th othr writrs of Scriptur to intrprt for us). And Balak did as Balaam had said and h offrd a bull and a ram on an altar. [Num. 23:30] Balak, of cours, dos not prsonally build ths altars. Th prists of Baal-Por or thir undrlings ar ordrd by Balak to build ths altars. Thr is just a bit too much intrmixing hr btwn th Pur and th impur; btwn th Clan and th unclan. This is continud in th nxt chaptr. Rturn to Outlin Rturn to Bginning of Chaptr Rturn to th Chart Indx Rturn to th Numbrs Hompag

282 Numbrs 24 Numbrs 24:1 25 Outlin of Chaptr 24: vv. 1 9 Balaam's third mssag vv Balak's incnsd raction vv Balaam's fourth mssag vv Balaam's final mssags concrning th Gntil kingdoms Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins: v. 2 Th Holy Spirit Functions in th Old Tstamnt v. 20 Summary of th Doctrin of th Amalkits Introduction: Num. 24 is an incrdibl chaptr of th Bibl. Balaam, through God th Holy Spirit, pks down th corridors of tim and givs us an outlin of history to com, much to th chagrin of Balak. Balaam's Third Mssag And Balaam saw that [it was] good in th ys of Y howah to blss Isral, and h did not go as at othr tims [lit., as tim by tim] to ncountr nchantmnts [from God]. And so h st his fac towards th dsrt; [Num. 24:1] It crtainly sms obvious to us, partially bcaus of our own historical prspctiv, to undrstand that God was going to blss Isral trmndously. Howvr, this was not obvious to Balaam. At last at th bginning, h chos not to bliv God. This indicats som of his motivation. H kpt going back to God, not as Abraham or Moss did, but in ordr to achiv financial gain for himslf. Abraham intrcdd on bhalf of th rgion of Sodom and rasond with God to spar th land on bhalf of th blivrs rsiding in Sodom. His motivation was to spar th family of Lot bcaus Lot was a blivr and Abraham assumd that his ntir family was mad up of blivrs. Thr was no prsonal gain in th back of Abraham's mind whn h pursud his lin of qustioning as to th numbr of blivrs would b rquird in ordr to prsrv Sodom (w studid all of this at th nd of Gn. 18). His only dsir was for th prsrvation of Lot and his family. Furthrmor, this was aftr h and Lot had a srious falling out in Gn. 13. This is intrcssory prayr Abraham was praying for th prsrvation of Sodom in ordr to prsrv his nphw Lot. Similarly, Moss prayd on a numbr of occasions for th prsrvation of th dgnrat Isral, vn though God would hav mad him th fathr of th nw nation Isral. Moss chos to put up with forty yars of moaning, bitching and complaining, as wll as with rvolts and uprisings, in ordr to prsrv th nation of th Jws. And much of his rasoning was basd upon what kind of a witnss this would b to th popl of land who knw about th Jws. H thought that it would not sm wis for God to bring th Jws out of Egypt with such a flourish and thn dstroy thm in th dsrt (s Num. 14:11 24). Notic th complt diffrnc of prayr and th motivation. It is accptabl to pray an imprcatory prayr (as David prayr against his nmis). Howvr, Balaam, whn h wnt back to God bfor, was not asking For God to curs th Jws, it was not basd upon thir conduct or thir lack of spiritual growth. It was basd ntirly upon th fact that h wantd th mony that h would rciv whn h gav such a cursing. Our application: thr ar a fw tims but vry fw whr w may go to God in prayr concrning what appars to b His will. If w approach God with th propr motivation and with His Word, our prayrs can actually dlivr a nation or dstroy a popl! But th ky is motivation and doctrin. Paul prayd thr tims to hav a physical ailmnt rmovd, but God's answr was no. It is not that you cannot pray on bhalf of yourslf. This is crtainly allowd and ncouragd in God's Word. Howvr, th ky to prayr is motivation and doctrin. If your motivation is pur and what you dsir lins up with God's Word, you will b amazd at th rsults of your own prayrs. Whn w go to God in prayr bfor all th angls, w glorify Him. H vindicats His Word which is in our souls. Whn w rquir God, in prayr, to act within his ssnc, H is glorifid.

283 Th Book of Numbrs 283 Qârâ (à øè È ) [pronouncd kaw-raw] which simply mans call, proclaim, rad. Howvr, thr is a scond maning of this word: it mans to assmbl for th purpos of ncountring God for th purpos of xgting His Word, or larning His will. Strong's #7122 & 7125 BDB #896 It is this last sns in which it is usd in this vrs. Howvr, hr, what Balaam was looking for was a way to circumvnt God's will and gt th mony promisd him by Balak. Howvr, by this point in tim h ralizs that is fruitlss. God is going to blss Isral and thr ar no two ways about it. So h no longr looks to God for prhaps a chang of vnu. Th word nchantmnts if found only hr and in Num. 23:23, but it is th noun cognat of a vrb found all th way from Gn. 30:27 to 2Chron. 33:6. And thn Balaam liftd up his ys and saw Isral camping by its tribs and th Spirit of God was upon him; [Num. 24:2] As was mntiond at th nd of Num. 22, most thologians classify Balaam as an unblivr as Scriptur spaks so harshly of him. H maks svral mistaks and prophsis for mony. Howvr, it is quit unusual for th Holy Spirit to light upon any unblivr, as w s hr. At this tim, I cannot think of a singl instanc of th Holy Spirit filling or guiding anyon xcpt for blivrs. Prvious to this tim, thr hav only bn a vry fw instancs of th filling, or ndumnt of th Holy Spirit on anyon. In fact, thr ar so fw rcordd instancs of th Holy Spirit guiding or moving on anyon that w can asily list thm all blow: Th Holy Spirit Functions in th Old Tstamnt 1. Th Spirit of God mltd th ic pack which nclosd plant arth at its rstoration (Gn. 1:2). 2. Th Holy Spirit in th antdiluvian ra activly influncd th inhabitants of th arth, attmpting to wo thm to th gospl (Gn. 6:3). 3. Th Pharaoh of Egypt rcognizd that Josph was a man within whom dwlt th Spirit of God (Gn. 41:38 39). 4. God gav to thos in charg of constructing th tabrnacl and its furnishings, along with th pristly garmnts, His Spirit of Wisdom (Ex. 28:3 31:3 35:30 33). 5. Th Holy Spirit is said to b upon Moss and upon th svnty mn who srvd undr him (Num. 11:16 17, 24 25). 6. Calb was likly filld with th Holy Spirit, as th spirit within him was diffrnt than that of th spis who wr afraid to ntr into th land (Num. 14:24). 7. Ths ar th only six instancs of th involvmnt of th Holy Spirit with man. This dos not man that thr was no othr contact btwn rgnrat man and th Spirit of God prior to Num. 24 ths ar th only rcordd instancs. Notic in vry cas that w ar daling with blivrs. Thr is no rason to think that th control by th Holy Spirit of Balaam is any diffrnt (Num. 24:2). 8. Finally, God th Holy Spirit coms upon blivrs in Scriptur (1Sam. 10:10 19:20, 23 2Chron. 15:1). It may b important to not that in 1Sam. 28, whn King Saul inquird of th witch of En-dor, sh did not giv any sort of prophcy, but Samul was brought back by God and Samul not th woman spok divin viwpoint to Saul. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx For what fllowship has light with darknss? H fully ralizs that God is going to blss Isral thr ar no two ways about that. Thrfor, h dos not nd to go to God to s about mayb cursing Isral this tim around. And, God coms to him and placs a word in his mouth. And so h took up his mmorabl rcitation and said, "A dclaration of Balaam bn Bor: and a dclaration of th man whos y [was shut but now] [is] opn: [Num. 24:3] What Balaam is about to spak is th word nâ am (í àç ðè) [pronouncd naw-ahm] which is th word for saying actually not usd too oftn until now (prviously found only in Gn. 22:16 and Num. 14:28). This word is found almost xclusivly in th Qal participl. It mans saying, dclaration, rvlation. Strong's #5001 & 5002

284 É Numbrs Chaptr BDB #610. Thn w hav a diffrnc of opinion whr Young's Translation says w hav ys which ar shut and NASB, Th Emphasizd Bibl and Own's mntions th y is opn. Th word is found only hr and in v and it has no rlatd cognats. Th targum of Onklos rndrs this as th man who saw clarly. BDB says th maning is dubious, so w will go with th translation abov, kping thos facts in mind. Howvr, such a us of th languag maks sns. Balaam bfor figurd h could go back to God and vntually gt a diffrnt answr and thn h would b abl to collct th cash. Howvr, by this tim out, h rcognizs his y has bn opnd that God is immutabl and that Isral is dstind to b blssd. "A dclaration of him who is haring [th] sayings [or, words, uttrancs] of God, who ss a vision of th Almighty falling [down], yt [lit., and] ys uncovrd. [Num. 24:4] It is this vrs which givs us an ida as to th maning of th scond to th last word in th prvious vrs. This vrs givs us a clar undrstanding of Balaam. H has hard th word of God; h has sn a vision of th Almighty God. Bcaus of his motivation, th ky to Balaam's dgnracy in this contxt, his ys hav still bn uncovrd and h was allowd to s truth. Now ask yourslf, vn though it is possibl that God could work through an unblivr, why would H? Crtainly God could dlivr His Word through any unblivr, howvr, that dos not sm to b His mthod. It is Balaam himslf who has falln down, going to God to try to rciv montary gain by th us of his spiritual gift. God still allows him to s th vision and rciv His Word concrning Isral and th futur God still allows for Balaam's ys to b uncovrd, to rval to him His Word. Thr is anothr sns in which Balaam is falln h is in possibly a tranc-lik stat, guidd by th Holy Spirit, his ys uncovrd to th truth. W hav a similar stat ntrd into by King Saul in 1Sam. 19: Othr prophts prostrat thmslvs or fall into a similar stat whn in contact with God's Word (Ezk. 1:28 Dan. 8:18 10:15 II Cor. 12:2 4). 153 "How good hav your tnts bn, O Jacob; and your tmporary dwllings [or, tabrnacls], O Isral; [Num. 24:5] Sinc w hav both words hr, w ought to dal with thm. Th first word is ohl (ì ä à) [pronouncd Ô-hl] is translatd tnt, tabrnacl, hous; and it rfrs to th tmporary dwlling of Abraham and Sarah (Gn. 18), th tmporary dwllings of Jacob and his wivs whn on th road (Gn. 31), to th Tnt or Tabrnacl of God (Ex. 33). Strong's #168 BDB #13 Th scond word is mîsh kân (ï È Ó îò ) [pronouncd mish -KAWN] is th word usd mor oftn for th tabrnacl of God, as wll as for tmporary dwlling plac (2Chron. 29:6 Job 18:21 Jr. 9:19), as found in Ex. 26, 36, 40 Num. 1, 3, 9 (yt, intrstingly nough, rarly in Lviticus). th two words occur togthr in Ex. 40:2 Num. 3:25. Th lattr word sms to b mor of a prmannt structur, yt still basd on th concpt of a tnt. It is lss than a hous, but mor than a tnt. Smi-prmannt structur, smi-prmannt tnt, tmporary dwlling plac all giv a sns as to th maning of mîsh kân. It is a tnt, nonthlss and can b takn up and pitchd again (Num. 1:51). Strong's #4908 BDB #1015. God finds a bauty in th tnts of Jacob and in th tmporary dwlling plac of Isral. This is not a litral rfrnc to Jacob, but to his progny, of cours. Th vision of Isral dwlling tmporarily on this arth is not unlik our lif on this arth, a tmporary plac in which w ar to dwll, as God prpars that which is prmannt for us. 154 "As vallys, thy hav bn strtchd out, as gardns by a rivr; as alos Y howah has 155 plantd, as cdars by watrs; [Num. 24:6] Th closst word by consanants mans to piss. Although not in th Massortic txt, and is found in th wstrn Samarian, th Targums of Jonathan, th Syriac and th Vulgat. 154 Th NASB and Th Emphasizd Bibl footnots vallys as possibly m aning palm-tr. Although this would fit wll with th contxt and, although BDB concurs that this could b th maning, this sam word is translatd vally or brook vrywhr ls (this word occurs wll ovr a hundrd tims in Scriptur). Lik tnts Y howah has pitchd is found instad in th Targum of jonathan, th Sptuagint and th Syriac codics. 155

285 Th Book of Numbrs 285 Th Targum of Onklos is spcially potic hr: As rivrs flowing onward, as th watrd gardn by Euphrats as aromatic shrubs plantd by Y howah; as cdars by th watrs. Th bauty to God of sing Isral's tnts is givn hr. Balaam and Balak ar standing on a high hill, unnoticd by th Isralits. Whras th sight of all ths popls both frightns and rvulss Balak, to God it is a vision of bauty, just as a rivr is mad so much mor bautiful whn thr is a gardn plantd along sid it. I hav sn th ocan whr thr is sand and a fw rocks and it is so lss asthtically appaling than a portion of th ocan whr thr ar trs, tid pools, and various flora scattrd up and down th bach. This land has suddnly bcom somthing bautiful and magnificnt with Isral dwlling in it. This is not bcaus thr is somthing intrinsically fantastic about th Jws it is simply that God will broadcast His gospl to th world from Isral, and th world will b vanglizd for many cnturis bcaus of Isral. W hav a similar paralll vrs in Psalm 1:3, which discusss th rightous man who mditats in th Law of Y howah: And h will b lik a tr plantd by strams of watr, which yilds its fruit in its sason and its laf dos not withr; and in whatvr h dos, h prosprs. "H maks watr flow from his buckts and his sd [is] by many watrs; and highr than Agag [is] his king, and xaltd is his kingdom. [Num. 24:7] In this dsrt nvironmnt, watr is a most prcious commodity. Th Los Angls ara was a dsrt which had bn watrd, which producd a trmndous population influx. Watr flowing from th buckts of Isral has a two-fold maning. On th on hand, this is simply watr, absolutly ncssary to Isral, and fulfilld in Dut. 8:7: "For Y howah your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of watr, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in vallys and hills." This also mans rfrshmnt and sustnanc for all th nations around hr (Isa. 2:2 3 to b quotd latr). All th nations in Isral would b blssd. Rsiding by watr is also a prsonal blssing givn to Isral by God. A nation which rsids whr thr is a grat frshwatr supply is gratly blssd by God. Thos of th ancint world did not hav th complx plumbing systm which w njoy. W don't hav to rsid nar frshwatr, as it is pipd in from a myriad of sourcs. Howvr, in th ancint world, this was crucial. It has bn postulatd that Agag rfrs to th king in 1Sam. 15, which is ridiculous, as w ar daling with incidnts svral hundrd yars apart. It is mor likly that Agag dos not rfr to a particular king but is a titl of on who is, much lik pharaoh is th titl of th rulr of Egypt or Cæsar of Rom. W will har of a diffrnt 156 Agag whn w rach 1Sam. 15. Th Amalkits, ovr which Agag ruld, wr possibly th most powrful of th dsrt tribs. Th scond two stanzas hav a dual maning. It will com to pass that th king of Isral will b on of th most famous and rnown kings in th history of th ancint world, King David; succdd by th almost-as-famous King Solomon. And David ralizd that Y howah had stablishd him as king ovr Isral, and that h had xaltd his kingdom for th sak of His popl Isral (1Sam. 5:2).Scondly, th king of Isral, who is th Lord Jsus Christ, is highr than all kings. And His kingdom is th powr and th glory forvr. Spaking of His kingdom, th psalmist writs: Thy will spak of th glory of Your kingdom and talk of Your powr; to mak known to th sons of mn Your mighty acts, and th glory of th majsty of Your kingdom. Your kingdom is an vrlasting kingdom and Your dominion [continus] throughout all gnrations (Psalm 145:11 13). Your thron, O God, is forvr and vr; a scptr of uprightnss is th scptr of Your kingdom. You hav lovd rightousnss and hav hatd wickdnss; thrfor, God, Your God, has anointd You with th oil of joy abov Your fllows (Psalm 45:7). "God is bringing him [possibly, thm] out of Egypt; as th swiftnss of a wild ox [lit., as it wr th horns of a wild ox] in rgards to him. H ats up nations his advrsaris; and thir bons h braks and his arrows h will pirc through. [Num. 24:8] 156 If, howvr, this is a prsonal nam, it is not unusual for two diffrnt rulrs to hav th sam nam. Tddy Roosvlt and Franklin Roosvlt; Gorg W ashington and Gorg Bush as quickly citd cass in our own history.

286 Numbrs Chaptr Whn it coms to conquring th land, th only thing that will stand in th way of Isral is Isral hrslf. God will mak it possibl for thm to conqur groups of popl who ar much largr than thm and mn with much gratr backgrounds in th art of war. Th ovrpowring by Isral of ths popls will bcom lgndary. You will brak thm with a rod of iron; you will shattr thm lik arthnwar (Psalm 2:9). Your arrows ar sharp; th popls fall undr You; [your arrows ar] in th hart of th King's nmis (Psalm 45:6). "H has crouchd down, h has laid down as a lion, and as a lionss; who will rais him up? H who is blssing you [is] blssd, and h who curss you [is] cursd." [Num. 24:9] For hundrds of yars, Isral has bn a lion, crouching, laying down not a dangr to anyon. This tim priod xtndd into forty yars of dsrt wandrings as God wipd out much of Isral. At that tim, thr is a lull in th dsrt, just as whn th lionss is laying down, thr is a lull. Howvr, God will rais Isral up to strik. This is th sam symbolism that w saw in Num. 23:24. On of th rasons that w hav bn blssd as a nation is our rlationship to th Jw. Although, as Thim has pointd out many tims, anti-smitism has ruind th consrvativ movmnt, still w hav not, as a nation, prscutd or discriminatd against thos of th Jwish rac. God has, from arly on, promisd blssing th thos who tratd Isral fairly. Y howah told Abraham: "And I will blss thos who blss you and th on who rvils you I will bind undr a curs. And, in you, all th familis of th arth will b blssd." (Gn. 12:3). Isaac told Jacob, "May popl srv you, and nations bow down to you; b mastr of your brothrs, and may your mothr's sons bow down to you. Cursd b thos who curs you and blssd b thos who blss you." (Gn. 27:29). In fact, kind tratmnt of any blivr or any Jw will rsult in at last arthly blssing, if not trnal blssing. "Crtainly, I say to you, to th xtnt that you did it to on of ths brothrs of Min, th last [of thm] you did it to M." (Matt. 25:40b). Finally, on of th most important vrs for any world ladr to xamin. Thr ar two things that you can follow throughout th modrn history of man: th gospl of Jsus Christ (not to b confusd with rligion and particularly not to b confusd with Catholicism) and th tratmnt of God's popl th Jw. Whnvr you s th gospl tak root in a country and whrvr you s th Jw tratd fairly and rspctfully by a country (for instanc, 19th cntury England or 20th cntury Unitd Stats), you s grat prosprity and trmndous frdom along with walth on a grand scal unlik that found anywhr ls in th world. As any history studnt knows, prosprity and succss sm to jump from on plac to anothr on th glob, somtims without any apparnt rason. Africa is on of th walthist aras in th world in natural rsourcs, yt on of th most backward rgions of th world. Th sam could b said of South Amrica. Howvr, th gospl has not mad grat inroads in ithr rgion as of lat. Similarly, th Middl East has bn a hll-hol, with a grat natural rsourc (oil), but continual bloodshd, as th nations thr do not rspct th Jw. Consquntly, lif for most in th mid East will rmain 157 blak and dismal. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Balak's Incns Raction And th angr of Balak burnd against Balaam and h struck his hands [lit., palms]; and Balak said to Balaam, "To pic my nmis I summond you, and, look, you hav crtainly blssd [thm] ths thr tims. [Num. 24:10] Balaam was lost in this prophcy and Balak was tird of listning to it. Balak gaind back Balaam's attntion by clapping his hands togthr. This crtainly had a diffrnt connotation thn than it dos now. W clap our hands 157 This is not to say that crtain Arabic nations cannot point to spcific incidnts fomntd by spcific Jws which wr unjust. Sim ilarly, on can point to spcific instancs of various transgrssions by spcific Arabs against th Jws. This can b found in any ara whr thr is racial or national strif. You cannot condmn an ntir rac of popl on ithr sid for th actions of a small minority. Howvr, th rsulting animosity flt by a larg numbr of th popl can b condmnd and, as is statd in this contxt, cursd by God.

287 Th Book of Numbrs 287 in a group to xprssd approval, motional stimulation or agrmnt. In th ancint world, whn on clappd thir palms, it was in disapproval, to rdirct thir attntion and to quit somon down. Balak is lss than nthusiastic about what has happnd. Isral is a thorn in his sid, somthing which kps him up at night. H assumd that if h hird this vry succssful propht, that h could hav Isral cursd. Howvr, Balak did not rally count upon God intrfring with his plans. Balak is not only an unblivr, but h likly dos not bliv in God at all, lt alon th God of Isral. Th ida that Balaam was anything othr than strictly a propht for hir nvr occurrd to Balak. "And now, fl for yourslf to your plac; I hav said, I do gratly honor you and, look, Y howah has kpt you back from [that] honor." [Num. 24:11] This promis of honor was th propr way of saying th Balak had a whol lot of mony to lay on Balaam. Balaam would b honord by bing givn grat walth by a king. Howvr, Balak xplains, Y howah chatd you out of this honor. "You coulda and shoulda takn th cash." This is Balak trying to wild som influnc hr. As far as h is concrnd, his good luck charm in Balaam is not panning out. So h xplains to Balaam that if h is so intnt on this Y howah fllow, that it is Y howah who has kpt him from his grat walth. And Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not also to your mssngrs whom you had snt to m, spak, saying; [Num. 24:12] Balaam dosn't lik th ida of walking away without any mony. This is lss than a satisfactory nding for him. His raction should hav bn, "That's fin; God ss to all of my nds. CU latr, King B." Howvr, Balaam wants that mony. This is what motivatd him in th first plac. H is hoping that if h xplains again that h told Balak's mssngrs up front that h could only prsnt what information God brought to him, that h has not bn guilty of mislading Balak (Num. 22:18). Th implication is, I cam and did what I could within th constraints that I hav outlind to you from th bginning. Now, giv m som mony. " 'If Balak givs to m th fullnss of his hous of silvr and gold, I am not abl to pass ovr th mouth of Y howah, to do good or vil of min own hart. That which Y howah spaks, that I must spak.' [Num. 24:13] This sounds all vry holy and rasonabl, but Balaam wnt for th soul purpos of gtting som bucks for his srvic. H had hopd that God would chang His mind but, in th vnt that didn't occur, that Balak would s that Balaam was doing is doggon bst and should thrfor gt som cash for his troubl. "And now, look, I am going to my popl; com, I will advis you what this popl will do to your popl in th lattr days." [Num. 24:14] Balaam's thinking hr is that h is stuck with th prophcy which h gav to Balak, but mayb h could cash in by counsling or advising Balak about th Jws. That has to b worth somthing. This is not obvious in th passag at hand that that way Balaam's thinking it is commntary inspird by God th Holy Spirit latr which tlls us that his motivation was not pur. W will latr find out that Balaam did not rturn to his popl soon nough and lost his lif undr attack by th Isralits (Num. 31:8 Josh. 13:22). Howvr, Balaam will launch into anothr st of prophcis. Th lattr days can hav svral rfrncs. Somtims, as hr, it is a rfrnc to th possibl lattr days of Moab that is, th nd tims of Moab. Howvr, th nd tims can also rfr to th priod of tim at th nd of th tribulation or th bginning of th millnnium whn: Th mountain of th hous of Y howah will b stablishd as th chif of th mountains and will b raisd abov th hills; and all th nations will stram to it. And many popls will com and say, "Com, lt us go up to th mountain of Y howah to th hous of th god of Jacob, that H may tach us concrning His ways and that w may walk in His paths." For th Law will go forth from Zion and th Word of Y howah from Jrusalm (Isa. 2:2b 3).

288 Numbrs Chaptr Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Balaam's Fourth Mssag And h took up his mmorabl rcitation and said, "An dclaration of Balaam bn Bor and an affirmation of th man whos ys [wr shut but now] hav bn opnd: [Num. 24:15] Not that w hav a rpat of v. 3 and that Balaam dosn't go to confrnc with Y howah as h knows that God is not going to chang His mind. H simply spaks as h is ld of th Spirit. "A dclaration of him who is haring sayings [or, words, uttrancs] of God and knowing th knowldg of th Most High who ss a vision of th Almighty falling [down], yt [lit., and] ys uncovrd. [Num. 24:16] V. 16 is a rptition of v. 4 xcpt that w hav th addd phras knowing th knowldg of God. This is a rfrnc to Balaam. For whom among mn knows about a man xcpt [through] th spirit of man, which is in him? Evn so, about God no on knows xcpt [through] th Spirit of God...a natural man dos not accpt th things of th Spirit of God, for thy ar foolishnss to him and h cannot undrstand thm, bcaus thy ar spritually discrnd (I Cor. 2:11, 14). Again, this maks sns that Balaam is a blivr. Vry fw unblivrs hav bn ntrustd with any knowldg of God byond th gospl particularly knowldg rcivd by spcial rvlation of by talking whn filld with th Spirit. This is not to say that God cannot do that, but this just adds anothr rason which confirms Balaam is a blivr and not an unblivr. I s it, but not now; I bhold it, but not nar; a star has procdd from Jacob and a scptr has arisn from Isral, [Num. 24:17a] W ar going to brak down this vrs into two parts. Th first part of th vrs in xtrmly important and w do not want it to gt lost in th xamination of th scond portion. This is our nar and far prophcy. Th nar prophcy applis to David, who is a typ of Jsus Christ, rising out of th trib of Judah, who grw up bfor God lik a tndr shoot, and lik a root out of parchd ground; h had no bauty or majsty that w should look to him 158 or apparanc that w should trasur him. David was th last of th propht Samul's pick of Jss's littr (actually, it was Jss, David's fathr, and Samul both who did th picking). Evryon of his brothrs appard mor majstic, imprssiv than David. Howvr, it was David who was chosn by God. H consolidatd th powr of Isral and acquird a grat dal of ral stat on bhalf of Isral. Howvr, it would b Jsus Christ who would b th ultimat fulfillmnt of this vrs. Th Jws univrsally associatd th star with Mssiah. Both th targum of Onklos and th targum of Jonathan s it that way. And, at His incarnation, our Lord was idntifid with a star. "Whr is H who has bn born King of th Jws? For w saw His star in th ast, and hav com to worship Him." (Matt. 2:2). At Armagddon, thr will b world domination by th powr of Jsus Christ. And thy gathrd thm togthr to th plac which in Hbrw is calld Har-Magdon. And I saw th bast and th kings of th arth and thir armis, assmbld to mak war against Him who sat upon th hors, and against His army. And th bast was sizd, and with him th fals propht who prformd th signs in his prsnc, by which h dcivd thos who had rcivd th mark of th bast and thos who worshipd his imag; ths two wr thrown aliv into th lak of fir which burns with brimston. And th rst wr killd with th sword which cam from th mouth of Him who sat upon th hors, and all th birds wr filld with thir flsh (Rv. 16:16 19:19 21). W hav a similar prophcy back in Gn. 49:10: "Th scptr will not dpart from Judah nor th rulr's staff from btwn his ft until Shiloh coms [or, until H coms to Shiloh]." This rfrs to th rulrship and dominanc of th trib of Judah, which will continu until th tim of our Lord. 158 This was takn from Isa. 53:2, altrd somwhat, writtn aftr th tim of King David and bfor th incarnation of Jsus Crhist. Isaiah is not spaking about King David, this just m ad an apt analogy.

289 Th Book of Numbrs 289 In th nxt half of this vrs, w apparntly hav a srious problm with th original txt, th Massortic txt not agring with th various codics. Lt m giv you som of th othr translations as wll as thir altrnat radings: Th Amplifid Bibl Edrshim's Vrsion: Th Emphasizd Bibl Alt. Emphasizd Bibl NASB Altrnat NASB Th Nw English Bibl NIV Altrnat NIV NRSV Own's Translation Th Sptuagint Young's Lit. Translation...and shall crush all th cornrs of Moab, and brak down al th sons of Shth [Moab's sons of tumult]. And dashth th two sids of Moab, and ovrthrowth th sons of tumult....that hath dishonourd th bard of Moab, Ya th crown of th had of all th tumultuous;...that hath dishonourd th bard of Moab, Ya and hath undrmind th sons of tumult....and shall crush through th forhad of Moab, and tar down all th sons of Shth....And shall crush through th cornrs of Moab, And th crown of th had of Tumult....H shall smit th squadrons [or, hads] of Moab, and bat down all th sons of strif. H will crush th forhads of Moab, th skulls of all th sons of Shth. H will crush th forhads of Moab, th [uncrtain] of Moab [or, all th noisy boastrs]....it shall crush th bordrlands [or, forhad] of Moab, and th trritory [som Mss. rad skull] of all th Shthits....it shall crush th forhad (cornrs) of Moab and a had of all th sons of Shth....and shall crush th princs of Moab, and shall spoil all th sons of Sth. And hath smittn cornrs of Moab, and hath dstroyd all sons of Shth. W hav two sts of problms hr: th actual original txt and th translation of th original txt. Thr ar many things which could hav happnd. A slip of th pn can chang a word or two. A slip of th pn can rndr a word indiscrnibl, so a transcribr or a translator may mak a chang, attmpting to writ what h blivd to b tru and corrct originally. W hav sn th word smit or strik down bfor. Th first word in qustion is pê âh (ä àè Å ) [pronouncd pay- AWH] and it mans cornrs, sids; and spcifically is rlatd to th boundaris of a somthing (Ex. 26:18, 20 38:9 Lv. 19:9); it can also rfr to th cornrs of a non-gographical objct (Ex. 25:26 37:13); and vn to a portion of on's fac (Lv. 13:41 19:27). Extrmity might b a good all-purpos word which could fulfill ths various contxts. Strong's #6285 & 6311 BDB #802 My ducatd guss, at this point, is that, bcaus of th occurrnc of th word skull in som of th codics, this particular word was rlatd to on's fac or bard or forhad as th xtrmity throf (prhaps to fulfill a sort of potic paralllism, which is common in Hbrw or any astrn potry). Howvr, to th bst of my knowldg, thr is no support for th addition of ths words to this vrs. W ar simply looking at from on sid of Moab to th othr hr. Th maning of this portion of this vrs has immdiat rprcussions for Balak now h hars that his country is in dangr his country is thratnd. H is probably wtting his pants now bcaus his plan has totally backfird. H dos not raliz that ths things will tak plac quit a bit in th futur; h just hars that his country will b crushd and struck down. Å It is our final word which is intrsting. Shêth (ú ) [pronouncd Shayth] is th son of Adam through whom cam Jsus Christ. Had th nam of Cain bn usd in this contxt, w could hav takn it mtaphorically as th dstruction of all unblivrs. Howvr, th only logical mtaphorical us of th word Shêth would b for th blivr, as through him cam Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moss, King David, Jrmiah and Jsus Christ. Strong's #8351 (& #7582?) BDB #1011 Thrfor, contxt would dictat that w ithr hav a misprinting or anothr maning. In th Chaldan, this mans six; howvr, w ar too arly to b using th Chaldan languag. Furthrmor, that would mak litl or no sns. I hav xplord a coupl of possibilitis; th misplacmnt of th dot ovr th shîyn (making it sîyn), and th mistakn rplacmnt of th last lttr, thâv, by similarly formd lttrs hê or chêyth (or a combination of thos) as wll as xamin th possibility of othr vowl points. This ld m

290 Numbrs Chaptr nowhr. I do not know whr th translation tumult cam from. It is quotd, as you hav sn, from svral diffrnt sourcs. I do hav a possibl solution, howvr a solution that you will undrstand why it had nvr bn posd in th typical Bibl translation. Shêth also mans buttocks or butts (it is in th singular, although w find it usd in th plural in th English). This givs a rasonably graphic dscription of th unblivr and th dgnrat blivr. Strong's #8357 (and 7896?) BDB #1059 Th othr solution is that this is a form of th vrb shâ âh (ä àè È ) [pronouncd shaw-awh] an dit mans to wast, to b in ruins, to b dsolat. Howvr, its uss ar so varid, that it is hard to pin it down to a particular maning. Strong's # BDB #980 "And h has struck down th cornrs [or, th xtrmitis] of Moab and has dstroyd all sons of dsolation [or, butt; or, Shêth]. [Num. 24:17b] Now this is bcoming quit prsonal for Balak and somwhat alarming. Although it would not happn right thn and thr, Isral, guidd by a rulr, would rmov th boundaris of Moab. Again, this is prophtical for nar (rlativly spaking) and far futur. W hav othr prophcis concrning Moab in Isa Jr. 48. Howvr, Moab's futur will not always b blak. Jrmiah wrot: "Yt, I will rstor th fortuns of Moab in th lattr days," dclars Y howah (Jr. 48:47a). "And Edom will b a possssion and Sir will b a possssion his nmis. Yt [lit., and] Isral is doing valiantly [or, prforming fficintly]; [Num. 24:18] Sir rfrs to a mountain rang in Edom and bcam synonymous with th country of Edom. Hr, Edom, for all th plotting and bribry of Balak, will bcom mr possssions, no longr a sovrign stat, but thy will blong in pics to thir nmis (mostly Isral). Most translations insrt a prposition btwn possssion and his nmis. Howvr, thr is non. His nmis mans Mssiah's nmis in this contxt (not that v. 17 and v. 18 should b placd togthr). Manwhil, Isral will b doing fin. It all gos back to th somwhat inadvrtant blssing givn by Isaac to Jacob: "May popls srv you, and nations bow down to you; b mastr of your brothrs, and may your mothr's sons bow down to you." (Gn. 27:29a). His brothr was Esau, th fathr of th popls of Edom, as this is whr Esau sttld (Gn. 32:3). This prophcy gos down to th nd of tim. "In that day I will rais up th falln shltr of David and wall up its brachs. I will also rais up its ruins and rbuild it as in th days of old, that thy may possss th rmnant of Edom and all th nations who ar calld by My nam." dclars Y howah who dos this (Amos 9:11 12). "H will rul [th on coming] out of Jacob and h will dstroy a rmnant from Ar." [Num. 24:19] This is an lliptical sntnc. In this cas, th participl is missing. Th KJV provids it in its translation: Out of Jacob shall com h that shall hav dominion. Again, th nar fulfillmnt of this vrs is King David and King Solomon and th far fulfillmnt is by our Lord Jsus Christ. Ar, bing an important city of Moab, also stands as synonymous for Moab. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart Indx Balaam's Final Mssags Concrning th Gntil Kingdoms And h saw Amalk and h took up his mmorabl dclaration: "A first of nations [or, a bginning of th Goiim] [is] Amalk; and his lattr nd h will prish forvr!" [Num. 24:20] Fausst s Translation of v. 20b: "Bginning of th pagan (was) Amalk, and its nd (shall b) dstruction" Although I cannot find any translation which agr with him, this litrally should rad: "Bginning of th Goiim (was) Amalk, and its nd (shall b) dstruction."

291 Th Book of Numbrs 291 With this vrs, w bgin th svral vry short prophcis, possibly not rcordd in full. At this point, w should xamin th Doctrin of th Amalkits. Amalk was th first nation which Isral fought upon laving Egypt (Ex. 14:8 13). Thy occupid portions of th land btwn Egypt and Isral, a nomadic group of dsrt popl. Isral was to spnd th nxt forty yars in th dsrt following thir xodus from Egypt that thy had to soundly dfat thm right at th bginning in ordr to maintain thir own safty during thir tnur in th dsrt. Howvr, anothr band of Amalkits, upon ntring th land, soundly dfatd Isral, with th aid of som Canaanits (Num. 14:45). Whn th Amalkits ar calld th first of nations, this dos not man that thy wr pr-minnt of all th nations in that ara. Thy wr just th first nation to oppos Isral in battl following th Egyptians. Thir history gos back as far as Gn. 36, having a bginning which roughly parallld that of th Jws. Thy wr wll known throughout th ancint world, yt Balaam prophsis hr that thy will fad out of history forvr. David would dal th dath blow to th Amalkits in 2Sam. 8:12 and 1Chron. 18:11. W will nvr har from thm again, xcpt as a fw which rmaind as a scattrd rmnant during th tim of Hzkiah. That is thir last rfrnc until thy disappard forvr from th pags of history. Summary of th Doctrin of th Amalkits 1. Th origins of th Amalkits ar unknown. Thy sm to appar suddnly in Gn. 14:7, although thr is also a mntion of an Amalk bing born to th family of Esau (Gn. 36:12, 16). As a rsult, thr ar svral thoris concrning th origins of th Amalkits, non of which can b sn as dfinitiv. 2. Thy primarily occupid th ara south of Judah, although thy also mad inroads to Ephraim. Gn. 14:7 Ex. 17:8 Judgs 12:15 1Sam. 30: Th Amalkits wr th first nation to attack Isral whn thy cam out of Egypt. Thy attackd Isral from th rar, whr thr wr th tird, wak and sickly Isralits. It is possibl that this attack was basd on watr rights, vn though th watr providd for th Isralits was from God. Ex. 17:8 16 Dut. 25:17 18 From 4. Bcaus of this mrcilss and vicious attack, and bcaus of th ngativ volition and anti-smitism which this popl xhibitd ovr th yars, God ordrd thir complt and total dstruction. Dut. 25:19 1Sam. 15: Saul disobyd God about compltly dstroying th Amalkits, which was th act of disobdinc which markd th nd of his dynasty. 1Sam David was troubld by th Amalkits whn h was an xpat in th trritory of th Philistins. Thy raidd his camp whn h was gon and took his womn and th things which h had accumulatd ovr th past yar or so. 1Sam An Amalkit falsly claimd rsponsibility for killing Saul and was xcutd by David for this transgrssion. 2Sam. 1: Th Amalkits wr among th popl which David struck down. 2Sam. 8: Chron. 18:11 9. Th Amalkits ar not mntiond again until th tim of Hzkiah (circa 700 A.D.), whn th trib of Simon dfats thm. 1Chron. 4: Th last Amalkit that w hr about is Haman, who is said to b dscndd from Agag (an unspcifid Amalkit king). Haman, in th book of Esthr, launchs a plan to dstroy all th Jws in Prsia (a schm thwartd by Esthr and hr uncl, Mordcai). Esthr 3:1, 10 8:3, 5 9:24. Notic th nar astrn paralllism that w s hr. Amalk is namd th first of nations, and thn Balaam givs th pitht of Amalk h will prish forvr. All th history of Amalk is bookndd by ths two phrass.