A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 32 (Part 1)

Numbers 32:1-5—1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, 2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the country which the LORD defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock." 5 Therefore they said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan." Jazer was a city in the land of Gilead, and Gilead was an area to the east of the Jordan River between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee (known at the time as Sea of Chinnereth), and laid to the south, the west, and the north of the land of Ammon. (Do not think Jazer lent its name to the Al-Jazeera media network, as it is based in Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula.) Gilead was a grandson of Manasseh (see Numbers 26:29; 1st Chronicles 2:23). The land of Gilead is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. 

The first time we read of it is in Genesis 31, where we read about Jacob fleeing from Laban after Jacob had taken all the best cattle from him (Genesis 31:1-25). The next time we read of Gilead is in Genesis 37, when Joseph’s brothers sell him to the Midianites. Joseph was the next-to-last son of Jacob, and Jacob loved him more than his other sons, since he was born in Jacob’s old age. This made Jacob’s other sons jealous, and when Joseph came to them one day in the land of Gilead, they first plotted to kill him, until the words of Judah convinced them to not kill him but rather sell Joseph to the Midianites. This could have been all that we read of Joseph, if God did not use him to save the people of Israel alive. We read in Genesis 37:23-25—23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. 25 And they sat down to eat a meal. This shows how cold and ruthless the brothers of Joseph were, and how much they hated Joseph. They threw him in a deep, dark pit, which had probably before been a well (And the pit was empty; there was no water in it). And what did they do after this? They sat down to eat a meal. Who could do such a thing? What would harden the heart of someone to the point that they would cast their own brother into a pit then not only sit down, but eat a meal? And while they were eating, what do they see? A band of Ishmaelites—descendants of the son of Abraham who despised Isaac—comes by and they talk about selling him into their hand. So they sold him to foreigners (note—verses 27-28 list both Ishmaelites and Midianites. Midian was another son of Abraham, the fourth son of Abraham with his second wife Keturah. The Midianites and the Ishmaelites were neighbors, both dwelling to the north of the Gulf of Aqaba, between the Arabian Peninsula and the mainland of Asia, to the southeast of modern-day Israel. So it would not be uncommon for them to be in a caravan together), thinking they would never see him again. They sold off their own flesh and blood, then he was loaded up to be carried off to who knows where? Well, God knew where they were taking Joseph. They were taking him to Egypt, where he would eventually be second-in-command to Pharaoh, and his actions would save alive Israel and his other sons, Joseph’s brothers, and all the people with them. 

Joseph would show his brothers that he harbored no ill will toward them when they apologized to him and sought his forgiveness. Genesis 50:15-18—15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him." 16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, "Before your father died he commanded, saying, 17 'Thus you shall say to Joseph: "I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you. "' Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, "Behold, we are your servants" (see Genesis 37:5-9). They realized their sin that they sinned against Joseph in selling him into slavery. But they were looking at their actions through human eyes. But God used their actions for his glory. You might even say that God planned these things. After all, they just happened to be in Gilead when Joseph just happened to come along at a certain time and the brothers just happened to throw him in a well and sit down and the band of Ishmaelites and Midianites just happened to come along at just a certain time and… You get the idea. With God, there is no such thing as coincidence. If God has a plan, He will work things to make that plan happen according to His good will and pleasure. 

We read again of Gilead at the end of 1^st Samuel, and the death of King Saul. In 1^st Samuel 31, we read of the battle between the Philistines and Israel. This battle took place on Mount Gilboa, which is located in the land of Gilead. The prophet Samuel has told Saul that the kingdom would be taken away from him because of his offering that was in opposition to what God had commanded (1st Samuel 13:9), saving alive King Agag of the Amalekites and the spoils of that battle (1st Samuel 15:9) and enquiring of the Witch of Endor (1st Samuel 28:8-11). We don’t read much about this battle with the Philistines, only that they shot arrows at Saul which pierced his armor and wounded him grievously (1st Samuel 31:3). Saul would then ask his armor bearer to slay him with his sword, so that Saul may not die at the hand of the uncircumcised Philistines. The armor bearer would not harken to the command of his king, so Saul fell on his own sword and died in Gilead. The Philistines found Saul’s dead body, and strung up his head and his armor in their city. This gave great joy to the enemies of God. But isn’t that always the truth? When a person of God falls, the enemies of God rejoice. Herodias, the daughter-in-law of Herod, rejoiced when she received the head of John the Baptist (see Matthew 14:11; Mark 6:28). 

And like the disciples of John the Baptist who took up the body of their teacher and buried it (see Matthew 14:12; Mark 6:29), the men of Gilead took down the body of Saul from the Philistines and buried it. 1st Samuel 31:11-13—11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. As much wrong as Saul had done, he was still the king chosen by God, and his body deserved to be treated properly. 

David, his successor, knew this, which is why he gave Saul and his sons a proper final burial. 2nd Samuel 21:12-14—12 Then David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the men of Jabesh Gilead who had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them up, after the Philistines had struck down Saul in Gilboa. 13 So he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there; and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the tomb of Kish his father. David saw Saul, even in his worst actions, as the anointed of God, as did the men of Gilead.

 

In this ignominious fate of Saul there was manifested the righteous judgment of God in consequence of the hardening of his heart. But the love which the citizens of Jabesh displayed in their treatment of the corpses of Saul and his sons, had reference not to the king as rejected by God, but to the king as anointed with the Spirit of Jehovah, and was a practical condemnation, not of the divine judgment which had fallen upon Saul, but of the cruelty of the enemies of Israel and its anointed. For although Saul had waged war almost incessantly against the Philistines, it is not known that in any one of his victories he had ever been guilty of such cruelties towards the conquered and slaughtered foe as could justify this barbarous revenge on the part of the uncircumcised upon his lifeless corpse. (Keil and Delitzsch) 

Numbers 32:6-15—6 And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: "Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? 7 Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them? 8 Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the LORD had given them. 10 So the LORD's anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 11 'Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.' 13 So the LORD's anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone. 14 And look! You have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel. 15 For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people." 

While the people of Israel are in Gilead in Numbers, and the last of the people that stood in the way of the people of Israel from entering Canaan had been defeated, all that was left for them to do was to cross over the Jordan River and take the land of Canaan. But the tribes of Gad and Reuben (who would be joined later by a half-tribe of Manasseh) saw that the land would be good for grazing the flocks and herds, and wanted to stay there. They did not want to go over into the land that God had promised them; they wanted to graze their animals in Gilead. They knew what God had promised them, but they did not want that. They wanted a land where they could prosper with their flocks and herds. Much like Lot, who wanted the good land (Genesis 13:10-11), not realizing how that would bring strife to the people of God for centuries to come (for the land he chose included Sodom and Gomorrah, which would be destroyed by God. After this destruction, his daughters would get him drunk and lay with him. The children born of these encounters were Ammon and Moab). And like Lot, they would be surrounded by those who despised YHVH, for this was the land of Bashan, king of the Amorites. And they would meet a not unexpected fate because of this. 1st Chronicles 5:3-26—3 The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi…6 and Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria carried into captivity. He was leader of the Reubenites…9 Eastward they settled as far as the entrance of the wilderness this side of the River Euphrates, because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead. 10 Now in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand; and they dwelt in their tents throughout the entire area east of Gilead. 11 And the children of Gad dwelt next to them in the land of Bashan as far as Salcah…16 And the Gadites dwelt in Gilead, in Bashan and in its villages, and in all the common-lands of Sharon within their borders…18 The sons of Reuben, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh had forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty valiant men, men able to bear shield and sword, to shoot with the bow, and skillful in war, who went to war…23 The children of the half-tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land. Their numbers increased from Bashan to Baal Hermon, that is, to Senir, or Mount Hermon…25 And they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and played the harlot after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. 26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He carried the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into captivity. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan to this day. 

They took their eyes off the promises of God and set their eyes on their immediate perceived needs and their immediate comfort. And because they took their eyes off God and His promises, they were indeed blessed for the time being, as their tribes and their flocks and herds grew, but ultimately they were hamstrung by their perceived needs and their comfort. They thought more about their sheep and their cattle than they thought of God and His promises. The promises of the world are fleeting; the promises of the world are here, right in front of our face, for but a moment, then are dissipated in a vapor, never to be seen again. But the promises of God are eternal, they never change, and they are sure and steadfast. That is the theme of the entire first chapter of 1^st Corinthians. The knowledge of the world is finite; the knowledge of God is infinite. The world is often unfaithful; God is forever faithful. The world is fractioned and divided; God is One. The wisdom of this world is fleeting, vanishing; the wisdom of God is greater, and ever present. The world favors the pretty, the wise, and the mighty. But God… 1st Corinthians 1:27-29—27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen…29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. The tribes of Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh didn’t want that ugly old land of Canaan that God had promised. They wanted the lush greenery of Gilead. They didn’t want to fight with and for the people of God, they wanted to lean back and just raise their cattle and their sheep. 

But aren’t we guilty sometimes of the same thing? We don’t want to wake up on a Sunday morning and get the kids ready and shower and shave and get dressed to go hear a speech about the Bible, because that is hard. We want to sleep in; we want to relax and watch TV. We don’t want to read God’s Word, because that is hard. We would rather read a new novel or a comic book. We certainly don’t want to study the Bible, because that can take time away from our social media time. “So was there something wrong with these folks wanting a land that was suitable for grazing their animals?” No, not inherently. For they were not the only tribes to own flocks and herds. But it’s as if they did not trust the promise of God, to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. 

And God knows what might have been their portion in the land of Canaan—it might have been even better than what they had in Gilead! 14 “And look! You have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel. 15 For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.” In short, these people were complaining because it would be harder to cross the Jordan River and fight the people of the land of Canaan than to just stay where they were. Moses tells them as much, that this was what they wanted. They did not want to do the hard thing that would have given them something better than what they then had. They just wanted to take it easy, no matter how it turned out for the rest of the people. He even tells them that if they stayed where they were they would not turn away from the land they were promised, rather they would turn away from following Him. What was Canaan? It was the Promised Land. Who promised it to them? God. So, while it was not wrong for them to want a land where they could raise their flocks and herds, it was wrong to forego a promise made by God. As we saw before, this was the land of Bashan (land of the Amorites), and they simply stayed there, and did not drive out the inhabitants. These inhabitants worshipped Ba'al and Dagon, and would eventually entice these three tribes to worship these false gods. And because of this, God would raise up Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, to take them away captive in the year 734BC—12  years before King Ahaz and the northern kingdom of Israel was taken captive and led into exile by Shalmaneser, and a full 147 years before the southern kingdom of Judah was taken captive and led into exile by Nebuchadnezzar.

Part 2 next week

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen. 

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 28-30 (Part 1)

Numbers 28-29 detail offerings that were to be given at different times during the year. Numbers 28 is a recapitulation of the offerings commanded in Exodus 23:14-17; Exodus 29:38-42; Exodus 31:12-17; and Leviticus 23:1-44. 

Numbers 29:1-6—1 “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets. 2 You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish. 3 Their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, 4 and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; 5 also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, to make atonement for you; 6 besides the burnt offering with its grain offering for the New Moon, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, as a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.” 

Numbers 29 outlines the sacrifices which were to be given in the seventh Month of the religious calendar, but the first month of the secular calendar. This is known as the month Tishri. There are many “new years” in Judaism, and they are explained on the website Judaism 101:

 

Judaism has several different "new years," a concept which may seem strange at first, but think of it this way: the American "new year" starts in January, but the new "school year" starts in September, and many businesses have "fiscal years" that start at various times of the year. In Judaism, Nisan 1 is the new year for the purpose of counting the reign of kings and months on the calendar, Elul 1 (in August) is the new year for the tithing of animals, Shevat 15 (in February) is the new year for trees (determining when first fruits can be eaten, etc.), and Tishri 1 (Rosh Hashanah) is the new year for years (when we increase the year number. Sabbatical and Jubilee years begin at this time).

(https://www.jewfaq.org/rosh_hashanah) 

The 1^st  of Tishri was called יוֹם תְּרוּעָה (Yom Teruah, “a day of sounding the shofar”) or what we now know as רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה‎ (Rosh Hashanah, “head of the year”) and is still celebrated by Jews around the world. The month Tishri falls around the Gregorian months of September and October, and the command here to celebrate is an echo of the command given in Leviticus 23:24-25—24 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'" So how is Rosh Hashanah celebrated? 

It is still observed by abstaining from work, and is still treated as sacred and holy by Jews. Another custom is dipping apples (or bread) in honey, as a symbol of the hopes that the new year will be sweet. If bread is used, it is not like the bread we would but in a loaf from a store. This bread is called “challah”, and is a round loaf, as opposed to the oval loaf it is normally made as. The round shape is to symbolize the cycle of life from one year to the next. Prayers are spoken from a prayer book called the Mahzor:

 

The prayer book for the High Holidays is called the Mahzor. Three unique sets of prayers are added to the morning service during Rosh Hashanah. These are known as Malkhuyot, which address the sovereignty of God, Zikhronot, which present God as the one who remembers past deeds, and Shofarot, in which we stand in nervous anticipation of the future.

(https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/rosh-hashanah-101/)

 

 

So are we as Christians, as some claim, to keep this Feast of Trumpets, this Jewish New Year? Are we to keep the feasts outlined in the Old Covenant? No we are not, for they are part of the Law, and Christ has fulfilled them all. Matthew 5:17—“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” There are some who claim that we are still bound by the Old Testament Law, that we are to follow every jot and tittle of it or we are damned. And they completely miss the work that Jesus did. He has set us free from that Law by fulfilling every requirement of that Law. So they work and labor and sweat for no reason, they deny themselves of different foods, they set their calendars for days and months, they bind themselves up in needless regulations instead of believing what Jesus said, that He fulfilled the Law for us. How many times do we read the words of Paul, that Hebrew of Hebrews, that we are not bound to the Law any longer. Romans 8:1-2—1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. The law could make no man righteous before God, since the Law only pointed to how sinful we are (Galatians 3:11)—it was our guide until it was fulfilled by the only one who could fulfill it (Galatians 3:24-25). Colossians 2:16-17—16  So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Romans 14:4-8—4 Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. What was Paul’s rebuke of Peter, recorded in Galatians 2? That while Peter was preaching freedom in Christ to the Gentiles, he was leaving them and sitting with the Jews and observing their rules when they came along (Galatians 2:11-21). There are many Peters today—those who claim to love Christ with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, yet deny the freedom He bought for us. They worship Him with their lips, but their heart is far from Him, not believing that He delivered us from a rigid obedience to new moons and Sabbaths. 

“But didn’t Paul says that to the Jews and to those under the Law he became as a Jew and as one under the Law?” But what does the apostle mean by those words? Simply this: that he showed the Jews and those under the Law how the Law pointed to Christ. “But what about when he had Timothy circumcised (Acts 16:3)?” Good question. And John Gill answers it:

 

Wherefore having a mind to take Timothy with him to be assisting to him in the preaching of the Gospel, in point of prudence he thought it proper to circumcise him, that he might be received by them, and be the more acceptable to them; who would otherwise have taken such an offence at him, as not to have heard him: thus the apostle to the Jews became a Jew, that he might gain and save some, for they knew all that his father was a Greek; and that therefore he was not circumcised; for a woman might not circumcise, because she was not a fit subject of circumcision herself; though in case of necessity circumcision by women was allowed of 

Yes, he had Timothy circumcised, but it was not because he felt obligate to under the Law, as the Jerusalem Council had just decided in Acts 15 that it was not necessary to have him circumcised. It was he might by all means save some (1st Corinthians 9:22), that by doing so he might have an audience with them and save some. He did not, as Peter, shrink away from them and live under the Law in front of the Jews, but rather showed them that Timothy was not saved by being circumcised, but that he was saved whether circumcised or not. “So if someone wants to observe Rosh Hashanah, simply because they choose to, are they not saved?” On the contrary.  He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord. If one wants to observe it to celebrate the goodness of God and if it helps them in their repentance from sin, then they are free to do so. But let no one lead you to believe that you have to observe it in order to be saved, as he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. Let us now move on to Numbers 30. 

Numbers 30:1-16—1 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: 2 If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. 3 Or if a woman makes a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by some agreement while in her father's house in her youth, 4 and her father hears her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her agreements by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the LORD will release her, because her father overruled her. 6 If indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash utterance from her lips by which she bound herself, 7 and her husband hears it, and makes no response to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand. 8 But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make void her vow which she took and what she uttered with her lips, by which she bound herself, and the LORD will release her. 9 Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her. 10 If she vowed in her husband's house, or bound herself by an agreement with an oath, 11 and her husband heard it, and made no response to her and did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement by which she bound herself shall stand. 12 But if her husband truly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not stand; her husband has made them void, and the LORD will release her. 13 Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void. 14 Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all the agreements that bind her; he confirms them, because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them. 15 But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt." 16 These are the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter in her youth in her father's house. 

“If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” When a person took a vow to the LORD, it was a very serious matter. In the tragic case of Jephthah (Judges 11:30-40), he makes a vow to YHVH that he will sacrifice the first thing that comes to meet him when he returns home. Of course his daughter meets him first, and because of the vow he made to God, he has no choice but to sacrifice her. When the Gibeonites ask Joshua and the people to make a vow to save them from harm (albeit under false pretenses) and they made said vow, they could not go back on it, since they vowed to God (Joshua 9:15-27). Even in the New Testament, we read of Jews who wanted to kill the apostle Paul, that they made a vow to God that they would neither drink nor eat until Paul was dead (Acts 23:12-24). We read there that Paul was secretly taken away safely, but we read no more about the men who bound themselves by their oath. We can only speculate that either (a) they died of thirst and starvation, or (b) they went back on their vow to God. And even today, if we take the witness stand in court, and we swear that we will “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God”. When Presidents are sworn in to office, they take what we call the “Oath of Office”, in which they swear "that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God." Now, in each of these last two cases, these oaths have been broken by some who make these oaths, and they will have to answer to none but God for breaking these oaths. 

3 “Or if a woman makes a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by some agreement while in her father's house in her youth, 4 and her father hears her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her agreements by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the LORD will release her, because her father overruled her.” This passage is speaking of a girl (or woman) who makes a vow while still living under her father’s roof. Her father has the right to uphold or to nullify the vow that she has made. This does not take away the girl’s freedom to make a vow, it simply adds a layer of protection to her, for young women may make a vow rashly and later regret it. But her father can overrule her, if she vowed rashly, and nullify that vow. If, on the other hand, her father deems her vow to be legitimate, he can hold his tongue and allow her vow to stand. “So why isn’t this safeguard there for boys or men living under their father’s roof?” Because under the Law, boys were to be taught the importance of vows under the Law. Deuteronomy 6:6-7—6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Boys, being taught the Law, were expected to have a firm knowledge of the Law, and everything contained therein, and thus if they made a vow, it was binding upon them and they could not be released from it. 

Girls, on the other hand, were still under the care and protection of their father, and their oath could be abrogated if their fathers decided so. Only he has to decide on the day he hears it. Why? This prevented her from seeing that the vow was too great, and she could not keep it, and the father simply saying, “Well, she can’t keep her vow, so I release her from it.” The same was true in the case of married women and their husbands. 6 “If indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash utterance from her lips by which she bound herself, 7 and her husband hears it, and makes no response to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand. 8 But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make void her vow which she took and what she uttered with her lips, by which she bound herself, and the LORD will release her…13 Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void. 14 Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all the agreements that bind her; he confirms them, because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them. 15 But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.” What are the vows we exchange when we get married? “Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband…to love, honor, cherish and obey…’til death do you part?” In the eyes of God, when we exchange vows we are making a covenant with God that we will become one flesh with the person and we will stay in that covenant until separated by death (Which is why in a wedding the bride’s family sits on one side and the groom’s on the other, and the couple, once they are married, walks between them, thus ratifying the covenant, as a covenant in olden times was ratified by the slaying and dividing of an animal and the two parties walking between the two halves [see Genesis 15:9-21]). So in the Old Testament, the wife was to be under the care and protection of her husband. Now the husband, being cognizant of the regulations contained in the Law, was on his own when he swore a vow. “If a man makes a vow to the LORD…he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”

Part 2 next week 

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen. 

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 27 & 36 (Part 2)

So what happens to those who are teachers and preachers and pastors who deliberately teach wrongly, or who sully their name with some sin? They are removed from their office. In March of 2004, Carlton Pearson, a popular Pentecostal preacher, began preaching a “gospel” of universalism—that Hell is not real and that everyone will go to Heaven. He was removed from the pulpit. In the early 2000s Ted Haggard was one of the most popular preachers in America. In 2006 it was revealed that he had paid a male prostitute for sex and was using meth. He was removed from the pulpit. Also in the early 2000s, Mark Driscoll was an influential pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. In 2014 he was found to have committed abusive behavior in his church . He was removed from the pulpit. Time would fail us to speak of Perry Noble, Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, Bill Hybels and Steve Lawson. Suffice it to say that these are examples of what Jesus meant when He said “2 For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops” (Luke 12:2-3). 

Numbers 27:15-23—15 Then Moses spoke to the LORD, saying: 16 "Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, 17 who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep which have no shepherd." 18 And the LORD said to Moses: "Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; 19 set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and inaugurate him in their sight. 20 And you shall give some of your authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. 21 He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the LORD for him by the judgment of the Urim. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, he and all the children of Israel with him—all the congregation." 22 So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. 23 And he laid his hands on him and inaugurated him, just as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses. Moses shows his tender love for the people in desiring for them to have a strong leader as they go into Canaan. And that leader is Joshua, the man whose book bears his name. If you read the book of Joshua, you will see the man as the one who led Israel into battle against all the land of Canaan and subdued it (by the hand of God) and gave the people rest. And under his leadership, the land had rest from war (Joshua 14:15). 

Does God like war? What is war, after all? Is it not conflict between people who are made after the similitude of God? Does it not cause death and destruction and disease? What is there to like about war? We read in 2^nd Samuel about how Abner had killed Joab’s brother Asahel, when he told Asahel to stop running after him. It does not appear that Abner wanted to kill him, but in the heat of battle it is either “kill or be killed”, and since Abner did not want to be killed, Abner struck him in the stomach with the blunt end of the spear, so that the spear came out of his back; and he fell down there and died on the spot (2nd Samuel 2:23). Asahel would not cease pursuing Abner, so Abner stuck out his spear and Asahel ran into the blunt end of it, and he was so fleet of foot that it went through his abdomen and out through his back. Abner, the son of Ner (which is what the name Abner means, literally), King Saul’s Secretary of Defense (if you will) called out to Joab, who held the same position under David, and asked him how long the bloodshed would continue between the two houses. 2nd Samuel 2:26—Then Abner called to Joab and said, "Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the latter end? How long will it be then until you tell the people to return from pursuing their brethren?" Abner did not want war, especially between fellow Israelites. 

Sometimes, however, war is necessary. There arose a fellow in Germany in the 1930’s who wanted to spread war all across the globe in order to bring about his vision of a perfect people. Should we have not engaged in that war? Should we have let his war machine devour the planet and kill everybody who did not fit into his small vision? Does that mean God liked that the world waged war? No. But it was necessary. On the other hand, does God want us to be passive in the face of growing threats to men’s freedom? Also no. CS Lewis, in his book “Mere Christianity”, says that while he sees war as an evil, it is a necessary evil:

 

Does loving your enemy mean not punishing him? No, for loving myself does not mean that I ought not to subject myself to punishment—even to death. If one had committed a murder, the right Christian thing to do would be to give yourself up to the police and be hanged. It is, therefore, in my opinion, perfectly right for a Christian judge to sentence a man to death or a Christian soldier to kill an enemy. I always have thought so, ever since I became a Christian, and long before the war, and I still think so now that we are at peace. It is no good quoting “Thou shalt not kill.” There are two Greek words: the ordinary word to kill and the word to murder. And when Christ quotes that commandment He uses the murder one in all three accounts, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And I am told there is the same distinction in Hebrew. All killing is not murder any more than all sexual intercourse is adultery. When soldiers came to St. John the Baptist asking what to do, he never remotely suggested that they ought to leave the army: nor did Christ when He met a Roman sergeant-major—what they called a centurion. [. . .] We may kill if necessary, but we must not hate and enjoy it.

And if our conscience says that if a man wishes to impose his own brand of evil on the world, that man must be stopped by any means necessary. Joshua’s conscience told him that if anyone opposed God and was occupying a land that God has promised to his people, those opposed to God must be destroyed. He was commissioned to lead the people into Canaan and wipe out the peoples who inhabited it. And that is just what he did. He led the people in battle against the idolatrous people of Canaan and the people of Israel conquered the Canaanites. And Joshua gave the people rest from the pagans. 

Now while Joshua gave the people rest, this was only a temporal rest, for the idolatry of the people still surrounded them. He was a type of the coming Christ, who would give the people of God eternal rest—not from the world surrounding them, for that world will always be with us. Jesus told His apostles in John 19:15—“Because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” As long as we live in this world, the world will hate us who believe in Christ. That is to be expected. The world is beholden as slaves to Satan. He has blinded the world to the truth in Christ, and they serve him and want nothing to do with God. They are as the Canaanites and Moabites and Ammonites who hated the people of Israel, and seek to destroy us out of this world. So long as we are in this world, the world will hate us as it hated Christ. But we have peace within us, because this Christ has promised us rest from our adversaries—not man’s peace, while we are in the world, but peace with God, which is the only peace that really matters in the end. JC Ryle says:

 

For one thing, persecution is the cup of which Christ Himself drank. Faultless as He was in everything, in temper, word, and deed,—unwearied as He was in works of kindness, always going about doing good,—never was any one so hated as Jesus was to the last day of His earthly ministry. Scribes and High Priests, Pharisees and Sadducees, Jews and Gentiles, united in pouring contempt on Him, and opposing Him, and never rested till He was put to death. Surely this simple fact alone should sustain our spirits and prevent our being cast down by the hatred of man. Let us consider that we are only walking in our Master's footsteps, and sharing our Master's portion. Do we deserve to be better treated? Are we better than He? Let us fight against these murmuring thoughts. Let us drink quietly the cup which our Father gives us. Above all, let us often call to mind the saying, "Remember the word that I spake unto you, The servant is not greater than his Master." For another thing, persecution helps to prove that we are children of God, and have treasure in heaven. It supplies evidence that we are really born again, that we have grace in our hearts, and are heirs of glory: "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." Persecution, in short, is like the goldsmith's Hall mark on real silver and gold: it is one of the marks of a converted man. 

The writer of Hebrews says, in Hebrews 4:8—For if Joshua (KJV—Jesus) had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. In Hebrews 3-4 the subject is the rest for the people of God, and how the people who rebelled in the Wilderness never saw rest because of their rebellion and their hardened hearts. For forty years they wandered, all those who complained against God, and they died in that wilderness, and their children entered the land promised to them. Then when they entered that land, they had to fight against those pagans who lived in that land. But that was not an eternal rest, for they had to contend with the neighboring nations who worshipped idols and which always polluted the true worship of the True God. And as you read through the Old Testament, you see this crop up time and time and time again. There was never any rest for the people of God under their kings. Until their true King came along, who came to give them eternal rest. And if we are in Christ, we will have that rest. Hebrews 4:9-11—9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. Let us be ever diligent of the rest that Jesus has promised us—not as the temporal rest that Joshua gave them, which they soon abandoned after his death (Judges 2:10-12)—but the rest offered by our Sovereign Lord, who told us in truth that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30).   

John 16:33—“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” What words of comfort are these! That we need not attempt to overthrow the works of the wicked one ourselves, for Christ has already done so! Should we be slothful in this world, and simply lay back and let those who slander and blaspheme the name of God have their way? Should we not rather seek to tell the world of the greatness of God and show forth the goodness within us? Peter tells us in 1st Peter 3:14-16—14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. "And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled." 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. We do not seek to defend God. We seek to defend the reason of the hope that is within us. Charles Spurgeon once said, “The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.” God is more than capable of defending Himself. He can (and will) bring about sore retribution to those who oppose Him. Will that dissuade them from accursing Him? No, they will still rail against the Sovereign. Revelation 16:8-11—8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. 10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds. These men who assailed the name of God, even after being struck with heat and pain, will not give glory to God, but will oppose Him even more because of His wrath that is poured out upon them. 

“So why do we need to tell people about God if they’re only going to continue to blaspheme Him?” First, we warn them because some of God’s elect may be with them, and have not yet heard the truth of God, and if they are elect, when they hear the truth they will obey the truth. “But what will happen to those who do not obey?” What do you think will happen to them? They will face the wrath of God, and be sent to their eternal destruction. Which is why we need to let the truth of God be known, that they may rest in the eternal rest that Jesus gives us, and not the temporal rest that Joshua delivered. While Joshua did indeed work mighty works of God, he did not give them the rest that only Jesus can give. “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” If we are in Christ, and He has overcome the world, then guess what? We too will overcome the world through Him. Like the people Joshua led into Canaan, we will be beset by those who hate and despise us for believing in God. We will be surrounded by the spiritual descendants of Canaan and Moab and the Amorites. We  will not have rest in this world, but we will have eternal rest in the world to come, where we will bask in the glory of God the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. 

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto Me and rest;
lay down, thou weary one, lay down
thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
so weary, worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting place,
and He has made me glad.

(“I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say” by Horatio Bonar) 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 27 & 36 (Part 1)

Numbers 26 is the second census that was taken of the people of Israel, so we will skip to Numbers 27, which we will study along with Numbers 36 which brings closure to the episode cataloged in this chapter. 

Numbers 27:1-4—1 Then came the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 And they stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, by the doorway of the tabernacle of meeting, saying: 3 "Our father died in the wilderness; but he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the LORD, in company with Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's brothers." So many people who don’t want to believe the Bible like to claim that it subjugates women. On the contrary, the things contained in the Bible are for the protection of women. “Well what about in Deuteronomy 22:28 where it says that if a man rapes a virgin he is to take her as his wife? How does that protect the woman?” Good question. Basically, this command (which is an echo of Exodus 22:16) is not talking about rape. It is to prevent a man from sleeping with a damsel, knowing that he will have to pay her father and marry her, never being able to divorce her. In other words, God is telling this man “If you want her, you will have to take her for life, her and her alone.” Just look at the verses previous to this, Deuteronomy 22:25-27—25 “But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. 26 But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter. 27 For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.” If the woman was not married or betrothed, the man who sleeps with her must marry her. If the woman was betrothed or married, her rapist must die. So yes, there were protections for women. 

Our text today gives us another example. The daughters of a man who died without any sons to inherit his land asked what would happen to them in the Promised Land, if they would have any inheritance. After all, inheritances of land were passed down through the sons. Zelophehad was a descendant of the tribe of Manasseh, and a grandson of the man Gilead (from whom the land of Gilead gets its name). Understanding the family tree as we read it in 1st Chronicles 7:14-15 is a bit tricky. The majority of translations (including the KJV, given here) render 1st Chronicles 7:14-15 (KJV)—14 The sons of Manasseh; Ashriel, whom she bare: (but his concubine the Aramitess bare Machir the father of Gilead: 15 And Machir took to wife the sister of Huppim and Shuppim, whose sister's name was Maachah;) and the name of the second was Zelophehad: and Zelophehad had daughters.  In the NKJV we read 14 The descendants of Manasseh: his Syrian concubine bore him Machir the father of Gilead, the father of Asriel. 15 Machir took as his wife the sister of Huppim and Shuppim, whose name was Maachah. The name of Gilead's grandson was Zelophehad, but Zelophehad begot only daughters. And in the NET (New English Translation) we see 14 The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, who was born to Manasseh's Aramean concubine. She also gave birth to Makir the father of Gilead. 15 Now Makir married a wife from the Huppites and Shuppites. (His sister's name was Maacah.) Zelophehad was Manasseh's second son; he had only daughters. In verse 15, the word “second” in the KJV, the word “grandson” in the NKJV and the phrase “second son” in the NET are translated from the word הַשֵּׁנִי (sheni) which usually means “second (ordinal number)”, but can also mean “another; other (something as distinct from something else)”. Scholars are divided and perplexed by the phrase “the second” (or “grandson” or “second son”). Keil and Delitzsch only guess at it; the Pulpit Commentary also. The Biblical Illustrator and even John Calvin are silent on this. Even great Jewish writers like Abraham Ibn Ezra, Maimonides and Josephus are also silent. This being the case, we cannot be dogmatic about it, but should only join these brilliant minds in their perplexity and silence. 

Let us suffice it to say that the name of Gilead's grandson was Zelophehad. But Zelophehad did not have any sons, only daughters. Since daughters were not yet given the right of land inheritance, would they have anywhere to live? Would they wander around homeless? Or would they marry into another tribe, and their father’s name simply be blotted out? These daughters had questions, and they were not afraid to ask them. But they did not do so in a harsh manner, but were tender and inquisitive in their asking. These were indeed children of Israel, being of the tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the son of Jacob, and as such they deserved to be cared for as children of Israel. And their concern for their father’s name is to be commended. So Moses had a quandary to figure out. And what does he do? He did what he always did: he took the matter to the One who could give him proper counsel. 

Numbers 27:5-11—5 So Moses brought their case before the LORD. 6 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 7 "The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right; you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father's brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. 8 And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 9 If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the relative closest to him in his family, and he shall possess it.'" And it shall be to the children of Israel a statute of judgment, just as the LORD commanded Moses. God always has an answer, always has a solution that will work out for the good of His people—even if it does not appear to be immediately for their good. It did not seem good at the time when God caused the people of Jerusalem to be carried away captive to Babylon because they had progressed further and further into idolatry, and had broken the covenant that God made with them, and risked being cut off from Him eternally.

And He tells them through the prophet Jeremiah that this captivity will be for a short while, in order to bring them back to God. Jeremiah 27:17, 21-22—“17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city be laid waste?...21 yes, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem: 22 'They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I visit them,' says the LORD. 'Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.'” This was for the good of Jerusalem, that the idolatry would be blotted out and the city renewed. We see later that this captivity would be but for a season, and God would raise up a king in Babylon who would set them free to return to their land and worship Him. He would later say in Jeremiah 29:10-12— 10 For thus says the LORD: “After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.” And He did what He said He would. He raised up Cyrus, king of Babylon, who wrote a decree that all the people of Israel should return to their homeland. And here in Numbers, He gives a less severe command—He gives a command that yes, the daughters of Zelophehad should be given a portion of land among their uncles, and the inheritance that would have gone to any brothers (had they had any) would go to these daughters. 

And in future cases, the same thing would happen. But if the man died childless, his land would pass to his brothers. If he had no brothers, the land would pass to his uncle(s) on his father’s side. If he had no uncles on his father’s side, it would go to a near kinsman. This, of course, brings us to the case of Ruth. A little background—Naomi and Elimelech were Ephrathites who lived in Bethlehem Ephrathah in the land of Judah. Elimelech dies, and their sons Mahlon and Chilion took for themselves wives, Moabitesses from the land of Moab—one named Orpah and the other named Ruth. “But I thought men of Israel were not supposed to marry Moabite women?” True indeed (Deuteronomy 23:3). But read on. Mahlon and Chilion died, leaving Naomi not only as a widow but also having no sons (like Zelophehad and like the Shunammite woman in 2nd Kings 4:1 and like the widow of Nain in Luke 7:12). Ruth was also made a widow by this. Does she remain in Moab as Orpah did? No. What does she tell Naomi when she said she would go with her? “For wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God” (Ruth 1:16). She made a vow that she would worship YHVH, Naomi’s God. In the Mishnah (a collection of rabbinical commentaries on the Old Testament) we read in Mishna Yebamot 8:3(I) that “The male Ammonite and Moabite are prohibited from entering the congregation of the Lord, and the prohibition concerning them is forever. But their women are permitted forthwith”. So the prohibition was against the Moabite males from entering the assembly of Israel, not the Moabitesses. (Remember also that the people were to bring the young women of the Midianites into the camp after they had slain the men, women and boys in Numbers 31). She returned with Naomi to Bethlehem Judah, and gleaned the wheat fields to support Naomi and possibly find a husband. A husband from the people of Israel. So God used this marriage by Naomi’s Israelite son to this Moabite woman to bring the Moabitess into the land of Israel and, as you may know, she was one of the ancestors of our Lord (Matthew 1:5). 

Eventually, Ruth is smitten with a man named Boaz, a kinsman of Elimelech. And Boaz is smitten with her. And he takes Ruth to be his wife. But there is a matter of a piece of land that must be redeemed. Ruth 4:3-6—3 Then he [Boaz] said to the close relative, "Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 And I thought to inform you, saying, 'Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.'" And he said, "I will redeem it." 5 Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance." 6 And the close relative said, "I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it." Naomi had sold a piece of land, and since her husband and her sons were dead, and since (ostensibly) Elimelech had no brothers, the right to redeem it then went to his nearest kinsman. Since this nearest kinsman declined to purchase it (since he would also have to raise up seed with Ruth, according to the rite of the Levirate marriage [Deuteronomy 25:5-10]), he then transferred the right to redeem to the next-in-line, which was Boaz, who then raised up seed with this Moabitess. Ruth 4:13—So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. This son he named Obed (Ruth 4:21). Obed had a son he named Jesse. And Jesse’s son? That would be David (Ruth 4:22), who would become the favorite king of Israel, and a man after God’s own heart. 

We see the inheritance given to the daughters of Zelophehad in Numbers 36:1-13—1 Now the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the chief fathers of the children of Israel. 2 And they said: "The LORD commanded my lord Moses to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 Now if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so it will be taken from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when the Jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers." 5 Then Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying: "What the tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks is right. 6 This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, 'Let them marry whom they think best, but they may marry only within the family of their father's tribe.' 7 So the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not change hands from tribe to tribe, for every one of the children of Israel shall keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be the wife of one of the family of her father's tribe, so that the children of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 Thus no inheritance shall change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children of Israel shall keep its own inheritance." 10 Just as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad; 11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to the sons of their father's brothers. 12 They were married into the families of the children of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's family. 13 These are the commandments and the judgments which the LORD commanded the children of Israel by the hand of Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho. 

If a case like this arose in the future, and a daughter of one tribe married a son of another tribe, the land inheritance would go to any sons this couple might have, and would therefore then belong to the tribe of the man the woman married. This could lend itself to great confusion among the people, and land would be swapped among tribes until the land was nothing more than a hodge-podge of different tribes and they were all mixed up together. So to stop this from happening before it started, God gave Moses a command: The daughters of Zelophehad were to marry within the tribe of Manasseh so that the land they were given would stay in the tribe of Manasseh.

Part 2 next week 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.