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Last week we
finished with Moses' sister being cured of leprosy after being punished
by God for slandering Moses about his Ethiopian wife. After her cure
they set of from Hazeroth and pitched their tents in the Wilderness of
Paran.
From here
God tells Moses to send out one member of each tribe to spy out the land
of Canaan to see if the people that dwell there are strong or weak, if
they live in walled cities or unwalled, if the land is rich or poor, if
there are trees and what fruit they produce. The time was late July
early August because it was just as the grapes were beginning to ripen.
The spies travelled up to the wilderness of Zin to Rohob and continuing
north of the wilderness they came to Hebron. Here, in a place called the
valley of the cluster, they cut a cluster of grapes which was so big
that they carried it upon staves. They also took some pomegranates and
figs.
After searching the
land for forty days they returned and came to Moses and Aaron and all
the congregation of Israel who were waiting to hear of this Promised
Land. They showed the fruit they had taken and told them that indeed it
was a land flowing with milk and honey, but also told them that the land
was inhabited with a strong nation and the cities are strong and walled
in. Two of the men who went up as spies- Caleb and Jesus the son of Nun
calmed the people saying that we also are powerful and shall prevail
against them and inherit the land. But the other spies said that they
should not go up because they are much stronger and they are men of very
great stature, they are like giants and we were before them like
grasshoppers. The people didn't need much to get stirred up and rebelled
against Moses and the Lord and murmured that it would have been better
to have died in Egypt or even in the wilderness than to fall in war and
their wives and children taken as spoils of war. They all agreed that it
would be better to return to Egypt and decided to select someone as
their leader to lead them back.
Moses and Aaron
tried to calm the people but failing this they fell on their faces and
pleaded with the congregation and with God to strengthen their faith.
Caleb and Jesus of Nun rent their clothes as a show of grief at the
people's rebellion against God. They also tried to calm the people by
telling them that the land in indeed exceedingly good and that they
should not worry because they were the chosen people of God and that he
would be with them. He will lead them into the land of milk and honey
only don't depart from the Lord, neither fear the people of this land,
with the Lord by their side they will destroy them. At this the people
rose up in anger against Jesus and Caleb and were ready to stone them,
but the glory of the Lord as a bright light appeared in the cloud upon
the tabernacle in the sight of all the people and saved them.
God's anger
is again stirred up against Israel and is not going to let them forget
this uprising without a punishment and says to Moses: How long does this
people provoke me; how long do they refuse to believe me and all the
signs and wonders that I have done to them? I will smite them with death
and destroy them and instead of them I will make you and your father's
house a mighty nation much greater than this. This is the second time
God is playing with the thought of breaking the covenant he has made
with Israel and to destroy them completely and to make a new chosen
people from the seed of Moses. In defence of the people Moses replies:
Egypt and the other nations that dwell in this land have heard that you
are a God among the people and your cloud rests upon them and you go
before them during the day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar
of fire. But now if you destroy this people they will say that the Lord
was not able to bring them into the land which he had promised them and
so destroyed them in the wilderness. Moses continues to argue that by
showing mercy the Lord will be glorified much greater than if he showed
justice.
The Lord agrees
with Moses, but he is not ready to let the guilty go unpunished. For
Moses sake he will again show his longsuffering and great mercy and will
not destroy them as a nation, but divine justice required that the
guilty be punished, even if this is a lesser punishment than immediate
death. Thus the Lord gives his sentence on the guilty. Because they have
all seen my glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the
wilderness and have tempted me now this tenth time, they shall not see
the land that I swore unto their fathers, but their children who do not
know good or evil they will inherit it. They said they would rather die
in the wilderness than die in war and their wives and children taken as
spoils. By their own word will be their punishment. Not one of them
shall enter the Promised Land except for Caleb and Jesus of Nun and
everyone under twenty years old. The spies searched out the Promised
Land for forty days, so for forty years – a year for each day they will
wander the wilderness until everyone guilty has died. The ten spies who
stirred up the people with lies about the land had a different fate they
died an instant death.
Moses relays
the Lords punishment to the people and they mourned greatly. Because of
pride or because they repented and wanted to rectify their rebellious
error their cowardice suddenly turns to courage and they decide to go up
to Canaan. Moses warns them that they are again transgressing the word
of the Lord because he has given the order for them to return to the
Wilderness of Paran by the Red Sea. If they go they will not prosper
because the Lord is not with them and they shall fall before the face of
their enemies. The Amalek and Canaanite are already there waiting for
them and they will die by the sword because they disobeyed the Lord.
They didn't listen to Moses and forced their way out of the camp and
headed for Canaan. They were met by the Amalek and Canaanite who
destroyed them and those that escaped returned to the camp.
The next
chapter deals with some supplementary rules on sacrifices, but also
mentions a case of someone breaking the Sabbath. Certain men found a man
gathering sticks on the Sabbath and they brought him before Moses and
Aaron. He was detained because they didn't know what to do with him. The
Lord told Moses that all the congregation was to stone him to death so
he was taken out of the camp and stoned.
As a visual
reminder of the commandments the Lord instructs them to make fringes on
the borders of their garments with threads of blue. This is the origin
of the Jewish prayer shawl known as the tallit. Its purpose was to
remind them of all the commandments every time they looked upon it.
Next follows
another rebellion. Korah a descendant of Levi and a cousin of Moses and
Aaron together with two descendants of Reuben, Dathan and Abiram, rose
up against Moses together with two hundred and fifty men of high
standing. Because Korah was a Levite he believed he had a right to be a
priest like Aaron's sons; in fact every Levite wanted to be a priest.
Dathan and Abiram, the descendants of Reuben believed that as Reuben was
the firstborn of Jacob his tribe should have the leadership of the
people. Thus we have here two simultaneous rebellions – Korah
challenging the religious leadership and the descendants of Reuben
challenging the political leadership. They speak rather contemptuously
to Moses saying: "Enough of playing the saint, all the congregation is
holy and the Lord is among them, you're not above the congregation that
you have made yourself leader by force." Korah is using the argument
that all the Levites are dedicated to the tabernacle and belong to the
Lord on an equal standing so with equality as the base of his argument
he desires to replace Moses as the spiritual leader.
Moses falls
to the ground and prays to God to intervene and judge the rebellion. He
then tells Korah and all his company: God knows which men he has
separated for the priesthood, but because you do not except this,
tomorrow each of you come with his censer and put in fire and incense
and offer it to God. If God accepts the incense of any man let it be a
sign that he has been chosen by God to be the priest. The offering of
incense was the duty of the priest so if God accepted the offering from
any Levite this was a sign that he approved the rebellion. Moses
continues speaking to the Levites: Do you think that it's a small thing
that God has separated you Levites from all the other tribes of Israel
and has joined you to himself and has accounted you worthy of serving in
the tabernacle? Is this honour not enough that you also seek to become
priests? What is Aaron that you murmur against him? Of himself he is
nothing, but as the high priest chosen by God he is great.
Moses then
calls for the descendants of Reuben to come to him so that through
discussion they can solve the problem of their complaint. They replied
that they would not come saying ironically: It's not enough that you
have brought us out of Egypt to kill us in this wilderness that flows
with milk and honey, you also want to rule over us like a prince. If you
think that you have led us to the land of milk and honey and have given
us as an inheritance fields and vineyards you have blinded the eyes of
the people that they cannot see the reality. Moses was angry with their
reply and seeing that they were not willing to listen to reason, he
again turns to Korah and tells him to sanctify his company of two
hundred and fifty men and tomorrow each man to prepare his censer and
Aaron also.
So the next
day Moses and Aaron stood by the doors of the tabernacle and Korah and
his company came with their censers. With them also came many other
thousands who supported their uprising. Suddenly the glory of the Lord
as a bright light appeared to all the congregation. The Lord told Moses
and Aaron to separate themselves from the congregation and he will
destroy them once and for all. Moses and Aaron pleaded with God not to
destroy all the congregation just because one man has sinned. God then
tells them to separate the congregation from the rebels. Moses then
leaves the tabernacle and goes to Dathan and Abiram and tells the
congregation to put themselves at a distance from the tents of these
stubborn men and not to touch anything that belongs to them. Dathan and
Abiram were standing by their tents with their wives and children. Moses
then explains to the people how they will know that God had sent him to
do the works he has done and that he did not of his own doing forcibly
take the leadership. If the rebels die a natural death like all other
men then God did not send me, on the other hand if the earth opens up
beneath them and swallows them up together with the families and tents
and all their belongings that they go down to Hades by this terrible and
sudden death then you will know that these men have provoked the Lord.
As soon as Moses had finished speaking the ground under their feet
opened up and swallowed them up together with all their families, tents
and cattle and all the men that were with them. Of the two hundred and
fifty men that offered incense, a fire came from the Lord and burnt them
up.
The next day
the sons of Israel again murmured against Moses and Aaron accusing them
of killing the people of God. The people rose up against them and Moses
and Aaron ran to the tabernacle where the cloud and the glory of the
Lord protected them. The Lord told Moses that he will destroy the people
and again Moses and Aaron beseech the Lord to forgive them. It seems
that Moses didn't get the answer he hoped for because he turns to Aaron
and tells him to take up the censer and put fire in it from the Altar
and to quickly go out into the camp and make an atonement for the people
because the Lord's wrath had already began to destroy the people. Aaron
ran out to the camps and offered incense between the living and the dead
and the destruction of the people stopped. Besides those that died the
previous day because of Korah and the descendants of Reuben, those that
died were fourteen thousand seven hundred.
God is well
fed us with this people and their continual murmuring. To put a stop to
the dispute over Aaron's election as high priest, God tells Moses to
speak to the heads of each tribe and to take a rod from each tribe and
write the name of their prince on the rod and for the tribe of Levi to
write down Aaron's name. Then to take all twelve rods and place them in
the tabernacle of the testimony opposite the ark and the Lord will make
known his chosen high priest. It's possible that many had the thought
that Moses had made Aaron high priest because he was his brother thereby
keeping all the high positions within the family.
The next day
Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle and brought out the twelve rods
for all the people to see. Aaron's rod had blossomed and brought forth
walnuts. In the Hebrew text it has almonds instead of walnuts. The Lord
instructs Moses to keep the rod before the ark as a reminder and
testimony to future generations of this rebellious people that they put
a stop to their murmuring against him, lest they also die.
The next
chapter (18) deals with the duties of the priests and the Levites
followed by their rights to eat of the sacrifices offered by the people
and chapter 19 deals with a sacrifice of a red heifer that was to be
sacrificed outside of the camp and the ashes of it to be kept somewhere
outside the camp. When someone was unclean because they touched a dead
person they would take of the ashes and mix it with water and wash their
bodies with it and their clothes and sprinkle the home where the person
died to be purified.
Up to the
end of chapter 19, everything we have covered took place within the
first two years of Israel's exodus from Egypt. From chapter twenty we
find ourselves in the fortieth year of the Israelites wandering in the
desert. For the thirty eight years in-between there is a dark silence,
but from what we can deduce from the Books of Jesus of Nun, Amos,
Ezekiel and the Psalms, the older generation, that is the over twenties
of those that came out of Egypt fell into grave sins and were
indifferent to the laws of sacrifices, to keeping the Sabbath, on proper
circumcision and again fell into idolatry and worshipped the gods of
Egypt and Canaan.
In the first
month of the fortieth year Israel came into the desert of Zin and made
their camp in Kadesh. Here, in one simple sentence we are told that
Miriam, Moses' sister died and was buried. We are then told that there
was no water in the place and the people again gathered themselves
against Moses and Aaron complaining that they had brought them into an
evil place where nothing grows. Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle
and prayed unto the Lord. The Lord spoke unto Moses and told him to take
his rod and call the assembly of the people together and to speak to the
rock in front of them and it will pour forth with water. Thus Moses took
his rod and gathered the congregation together before the rock and said
to them: hear me you disobedient people, is it possible for us to bring
you water out of this rock? He then lifted up his hand and smote the
rock twice and much water poured forth and the people drank. The Lord
then tells Moses and Aaron that because they didn't believe him to
glorify him in the presence of the sons of Israel they would not lead
the people into the land which he had promised them.
So what was Moses'
and Aaron's sin that they are punished with not entering the Promised
Land? There are four opinions: the first that they doubted that God
would perform another miracle because of the people's continual
unfaithfulness; but this isn't credible because God told them that the
water would come forth from the rock. The second opinion is that God
told Moses to speak to the rock, but instead he hit it with his rod.
Again this opinion is not credible because why then would God tell Moses
to take his rod in the first place. The third opinion is that Moses hit
the rock twice showing by this that he lacked faith that the miracle
would happen with just one hit of his rod. The fourth opinion and
probably the only one that makes sense is that Moses didn't proclaim God
as the power behind the miracle. He should have said: "do you believe
that God can bring forth water from this rock" but instead he portrayed
himself and Aaron as the miracle workers by saying: "is it possible for
us to bring you water out of this rock?" This is also verified by a
later chapter (27) where again Moses is told that he will not enter the
Promised Land because he transgressed God's commandment in the
wilderness of Zin when the congregation didn't praise and glorify God
because he didn't give the glory to God at the waters before their eyes.
The place became known as the water of strife.
From Kadesh
Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom asking for a safe passage for
thy brother Israel through the King's highway which ran along the
borders of Edom. The road was known as the King's highway because it was
used by the king's army, but it was a public road. Moses calls the king
brother because Edom is Esau who was Jacob's twin brother. Brother or
not, the king refused Israel entry into his borders and came with a
great army to make sure. Israel turned away from Edom and had to pass
through another route. They leave Kadesh and come to mount Hor which was
outside the borders of Edom.
At mount Hor
the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying that it was time for Aaron to
die as he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because of what
happened at the water of strife. Moses is to take Aaron and his son
Eleazar up the mount and there take off Aaron's priestly vestments and
put them on his son Eleazar making him now the high priest. Once this
was done Aaron died on the mount and Israel wept for him thirty days.
Chapter 21
begins with a war which probably took place before Aaron's death while
they were still at Kadesh. The Canaanite king of Arad who lived by the
wilderness heard that the Israelites were in the area and were preparing
to move. He probably thought that they would pass through his land and
so made war against them and took some of the Israelites captive. Israel
made a vow to the Lord saying if you deliver this people into our hands
we will not take of the spoils but their cities and everything in it we
will dedicate to you. God heard their prayer and delivered up the people
to Israel who destroyed them.
From mount
Hor the Israelites departed and travelled south again towards the Red
Sea so that they could go north the long way round by the Arabian
Desert. The journey was tiring going through sand in the scorching heat
with shortage of fresh food and water that the people were fed up and
angry. They turned against God and Moses complaining that there was no
food and water and that they were sick and tired of eating the tasteless
bread from heaven. As punishment God sent deadly snakes among the people
and many of the people were bitten and died. The people quickly repented
and came to Moses, saying, We have sinned, for we have spoken against
the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the
serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people and the Lord told Moses
to make thee a fiery serpent of brass, and set it upon a pole: and
whenever someone is bitten by a snake, when they look upon it they will
live. The brass serpent on the pole foreshadows Christ on the cross for
he himself used this image to describe his crucifixion. In the Gospel of
St. John Christ says: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
The
Israelites took the brass serpent with them in remembrance of this event
and had it in their possession for about 700years, but because they
thought it had magical powers and because they burnt incense before it,
the pious King Hezekiah had it destroyed.
The
Israelites now begin their upward journey to the Promised Land bypassing
Edom from the other side. We are told of many uneventful stops on the
way until they reach the borders of the Amorites. Here Moses sent
ambassadors to Sihon the king of the Amorites seeking passage through
his land. Sihon refused to allow the Israelites to pass through and
gathered his army to go out to war against them. Israel smote the
Amorites and took possession of their land and for the first time in
forty years they dwelt in cities. The Israelites continued to fight
against the neighbouring villages and towns and successfully taking
control of their lands.
The
Israelites are now very near to the Promised land and pitch camp on the
west of Moab by the river Jordan opposite Jericho. The land had
originally belonged to the Moabites but were defeated by the Amorites
who took possession of the land. To the south of Moab is the land of the
Midianites and taking advantage of the Moabites defeat by the Amorites,
the Midianite king Balak took possession of what was left of Moab and
made himself king also of Moab. When Balak saw the two million or so
Israelites near his border he became very concerned. He saw what they
did to the Amorites and didn't dare go out to war against them lest he
also would be defeated by them. He met up with the elders of Midian
hoping that together they could find a way to rid themselves of the
Israelites who they saw as a threat to all their lands. Seeing that they
could not defeat the Israelites with war they decide to use sorcery. A
prophet called Balaam from Mesopotamia was well known to them and they
sent messengers to him to persuade him to come and put a curse on the
Israelites in exchange for great wealth. Balaam is considered a prophet
because he knew and worshipped the one true God and the ancient
traditions of Israel were known to him. At the same time he is a false
prophet because he uses his prophetic gift for his own personal gain.
But in general God uses prophecy for the good of others independent of
the moral and religious quality of the prophet.
Balaam told
the messengers to stay the night and he will give them an answer in the
morning. God instructs Balaam to not go with these men, neither to curse
the Israelites because they are blessed. So in the morning he told the
messengers that God had told him not to go with them and they returned
to Balak and told him of Balaam's refusal to go with them.
Balak again
sends more messengers to Balaam pleading with him to come and put a
curse on the Israelites and he will greatly honour him, He will give him
whatever he asks for and do whatever he tells him to do. Balaam was
tempted with the idea of becoming very wealthy and answered: Even if
Balak were to give me his house full of gold and silver I will not be
able to say anything other than what the Lord instructs me to say; but
stay tonight and I will let you know what the Lord will say. The Lord
had already told him not to go, but with the temptation of wealth Balaam
hopes that he can change the Lord's mind by asking again. This time the
Lord tells him that he can go with the men but to be careful to say and
do only what the Lord will tell him to do. So in the morning Balaam rose
up and saddled his donkey and went with the men of Moab. Next we are
told that God is angry with Balaam for going, but God told Balaam to go
so why should he be angry with him? In his mind Balaam was playing with
the idea of cursing the Israelites because that would be the only way he
would be rewarded by Balak. He thought that as God gave him permission
to go that this also gave him the go ahead to curse the Israelites.
To stop him in his
tracks God sends an angel to block his path. The donkey saw the angel
standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand and turned aside
off the road and went into a field. Balaam hit the donkey with his staff
to make it go back to the road again. A little further the road had
walls on both sides and the angel again stood in the way and the donkey
thrust herself against the wall crushing Balaam's foot; again he hit the
donkey with his staff. Then the road narrowed so that it was impossible
to turn to the left or to the right and when the donkey saw the angel
standing in the way she sat down and wouldn't move. Balaam was angry
with his donkey and hit her again. Then God opened the donkey's mouth
and it began to speak and said to Balaam: what have I done to you that
you have hit me this third time. Balaam answered: because you have
mocked me and if I had a sword in my hand I would have killed you. The
donkey then says: Am I not your donkey upon which you have ridden since
you were a youth? Did I ever do anything like this before? God then
opened Balaam's eyes and he saw the angel with the sword in his hand
standing in the way. He bowed to the ground before the angel and the
angel said to him: why did you hit your donkey this third time? I came
to destroy you because your path was not correct before me. The angel is
referring to Balaam's desire to curse the Israelites. When your donkey
saw me she turned away from me and had she not done so I would have
slain you. Balaam replied that he didn't know that he stood in the way,
but if my journey displeases you I will turn back. The angel then tells
Balaam to continue with the men but to be very careful to say only what
he is instructed to say from God.
Balaam
reaches Moab and meets with Balak and informs him that he will not be
able to curse the Israelites; he will only say what the Lord tells him
to say. In the morning Balak took Balaam to a high place where he could
see part of the Israelite camp. Here he told Balak to build seven altars
and to offer a calf and a ram at each altar. While the sacrifices were
being made, Balaam went aside to enquire of God what to do. After
receiving God's instructions he returned to Balak and said: Balak the
king of Moab hath sent for me out of Mesopotamia, out of the mountains
of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and Come, call for a curse
for me upon Israel. How shall I curse, those whom the Lord does not
curse, or how shall I denounce those whom God will not denounce? They
are God's chosen people, they will multiply and it is impossible to
number them. May I die and be numbered among this righteous people of
Israel and may my descendants be as many as their descendants.
Balak was infuriated and told Balaam: what have you done to me? Did I
not call you to curse my enemies but instead you have blessed them.
Balaam replied: did I not warn you that I will only be able to say what
God puts in my mouth?
Balak then
takes Balaam to another place where he couldn't see as many Israelites
hoping that if Balaam can't see them then he would curse them. So again
Balak built seven altars and offered at each a calf and a ram. Balaam
again removed himself from the others to speak with God and when he
returned Balak asked him what the Lord had said to him. Balaam replied:
God is not like men that can be tricked or threatened, what he has said
that he will do. He has told me to bless the Israelite people and that I
will do. Rather than have Balaam bless Israel Balak tells him to neither
curse nor bless them, but Balaam reminds him again that what God tells
him that must he do.
Balak again
takes Balaam to another place and again builds seven altars and
sacrifices as before. To cut a long story short, Balaam again blesses
Israel and prophesies that they will become a mighty nation and whoever
blesses them will be blessed and whoever curses them will be cursed. At
this Balak became extremely angry and said: I called you to curse mine
enemies and instead you bless them this third time. Now depart from me;
I said I would honour you and give you whatever you asked for but now
your God has deprived you of glory. Balaam replied: did I not tell your
messengers that even if you were to give me your house full of silver
and gold I would not be able to beyond the word of the Lord. I will
return to my place but before I go I will first tell you what this
people will do to you in the future. Balaam prophesies that a king will
rise from Israel who will destroy all his enemies including the Moabites
and Edomites. The king could be David who crushed both the Moabites and
Edomites, but more probable the king referred to is Christ the Messiah
and the Moabites and Edomites and the other nations mentioned are
symbolic types of Christ's enemies.
After this Balaam
rose up and departed and returned to his place. At least that is what we
are told here, but in a later chapter we are told that he was
responsible for the Israelites to sacrifice to another god and for
fornicating with the Moabite women. Against his original desire Balaam
remained obedient to God and didn't curse the Israelites, but he still
wanted the gold and silver. It appears from the later chapters that
Balaam returned to Balak and told him of a plan that would get rid of
the Israelites. He told him that if he managed to get them to sacrifice
to another god and if they fornicated, which their God despised, their
God would become angry and leave them and that way they could be
defeated. So the Moabites organized a great feast and invited the young
Israelites. At this feast the Moabite women dressed to seduce succeeded
in fornicating with the young men and under the influence of the feast,
they sacrificed to the Moabite gods and ate the meats sacrificed to
these idols.
God was indeed
angry with the Israelites and demanded Moses to order the death of all
those that took part in the sacrifice. While this was happening and the
people grieved at the door of the tabernacle someone led his brother to
a Midianite women to commit fornication before Moses and the
congregation. They entered the tent and Phineas the grandson of Aaron
took a javelin and went in after them and pieced both of them through.
This pleased God and his anger was ceased and the death of the guilty
also ceased. Those that died numbered 24,000, but it could have been a
lot higher if Phineas hadn't caused God's anger to stop.
Next God
orders Moses and Eleazar the priest to do another census of the army.
The last census was 39years ago and all those in the first census have
died. The new numbers come to 580,830 almost 23 thousand less than the
first census. Comparing the two figures, the reductions are mostly from
the tribes Reuben and Symeon. This is probably due to a large number of
the tribe of Reuben being destroyed when his descendants Dathan and
Abiram rose up against Moses for the leadership of the people and a
large number of the tribe of Symeon being destroyed because of their
involvement in the recent episode of sacrificing to idols and
fornicating with the Moabite women. A census of the Levites is also made
separate to the other tribes because they serve the tabernacle and are
not numbered in the army census. Their numbers come to 23,000 an
increase of a thousand from the last count.
God then
tells Moses to go up Mount Nebo just beyond Jordan to see the land of
Canaan which he will give to the sons of Israel as a possession and
after that he will die because he was not to enter Canaan as punishment
for what happened at the water of strife. Moses tells the Lord to pick a
man that will succeed him as leader of the people and lead them into the
Promised Land. The Lord appoint Jesus of Nun as the new leader and tells
Moses to take him before Eleazar the priest and there to lay his hands
upon him so that his glory can pass over to him.
The next
chapters (28 and 29) again deal with certain feast days they must keep
as holy and the various sacrifices that have to be offered on those
days.
Chapter 30 deals with vows made by individuals to God. If a man makes a
vow he cannot break it but if a woman makes a vow and her father or
husband heard her vow and kept silent then the woman is bound to keep
her vow, but if her father of husband on hearing the vow disallowed the
vow then she is guiltless if she breaks the vow.
In chapter
31 the Lord tells Moses to speak to the people to arm themselves for
battle against the Midianites to avenge the Lord for their part in the
seduction of the people during the feast to the idol god. An army of
twelve thousand, a thousand from each tribe is sent to war against
Midian. The Israelites slew all the males including five kings and the
false prophet Balaam who was among them. Of the spoils they took all the
women and everything else they could lay their hands on. They then burnt
all their cities and villages. When they returned they were met by Moses
outside the camp and he was angry with the captains for taking the women
alive. The women, after being advised by Balaam, were responsible of
seducing the Israelites causing them to offer sacrifices to a false god
which resulted in the death of 24,000 of the Israelites. Moses orders
that every woman who is not a virgin to be killed and only the virgins
to be kept alive. How they were to select the virgins we are not told,
but it's possible that their dress and makeup were different from the
non virgins. The chapter continues with the cleansing of the army for
seven days before they enter the camp and how the spoils are to be
divided among the tribes including the Levites who did not go out to
war. .
Chapter 32
tells us of the tribes of Reuben and Gad. They had a very great number
of cattle and they saw the land of Jazer and Gilead that it was pasture
land, a perfect place to rear their cattle and so spoke to Moses saying
that they would prefer not to pass over the Jordan into Canaan, but to
be given as their possession these lands as their inheritance. Moses
replied: would it be right for your brethren to go to war while you
remain sitting here. Why do you pervert the minds of the sons of Israel
that they should not cross over into the land God has given them? Didn't
your fathers do the same when the spies came back and turned the hearts
of the people that they should not go into the land the Lord has
promised them and as a result the Lord was angry with them and made them
wander in the wilderness for forty years until all the generation that
has done evil in the sight of the Lord had died. Now you have risen up
in your father's stead, an evil race, to further anger the Lord against
Israel.
Moses had
misunderstood their intentions and they made clear to him that they were
willing to go with the other tribes and fight for the land of Canaan.
They would build folds for their cattle and walled cities for their
families and they would be a frontline guard protecting the lands of the
other tribes. They will leave their families on this side of the Jordan
but the men will go with the other tribes and fight and will not return
to their families until all the other tribes receive their inheritance
and they would waver their rights to inherit any other lands on the
other side of Jordan because they would have their full inheritance on
this side beyond Jordan. Moses agreed that if they do as they say and
will arm themselves for battle and pass over Jordan and fight with the
other tribes then they could have the land they ask for. Moses gathered
the elders of the tribes and in front of them announced what the tribes
of Reuben and Gad had asked for and their promise to fight alongside the
other tribes. So Moses gave to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the
tribe of Manasseh the kingdom of the Amorites and the kingdom of Bashan.
Chapter 33
gives us a recap of the Israelites journey with all the stations where
they camped and mentioning the events that took place at each station.
There are too many to mention individually and the names of most of the
places would not be of any use or interest to us. From Rameses in Egypt
from where they departed until now just a stone's throw away from the
Promised Land they made a total of 45 stops where they pitched their
camp.
So now with
the Israelites ready to enter Jericho and take possession of the land of
Canaan God gives the last instructions to Moses how they must kill every
inhabitant of the lands they take possession of and not to take any
captives and to destroy all the molten images and places of worship.
God then
tells Moses the land they are to possess and the borders of the land on
each side. The land is to be divided by Jesus of Nun and the high priest
Eleazar. Who gets what will be decided by casting lots. Each tribe is to
then allocate an area in the suburbs of each city for the Levites. Every
family of every tribe will have his possession which will be passed on
from father to son. A question arose that if a father does not have a
son but only daughters to pass on the inheritance and the daughters
marry someone from another tribe, then that tribe would inherit a
portion of another tribe's inheritance. Thus so that each tribe's
inheritance remains within the tribe and does not go from one tribe to
another, if a daughter inherits her father's possession she will only be
allowed to marry someone within her own tribe thereby keeping the
inheritance of each tribe within the tribe. With this the Book of
Numbers comes to and end.
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