A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 3 (part 2)

Now, this idea of God being particular about who ministers to Him for man, this precept is still in effect today. Only today those men are not called priests, but rather preachers. If you’re like me, you have heard snippets from those who call themselves preachers who have no business calling themselves preachers. Whether they're spewing the heretical Prosperity “gospel”, or they call themselves “progressive”, or they stand before their congregation wearing a rainbow-colored shawl, these are some who do not preach truth. And every time they stand to give their talks, they heap more and more of God’s wrath upon them. They are outsiders coming near, as our verse in Numbers says, and while they may not die today or tomorrow, they will die, like all humans. And when they do, they will stand before God, who will judge them rightly, that they have blasphemed the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, they have blasphemed the Father, and are deserving of eternal torment.

The question I always have is, “why do they do it”? Why do they blaspheme the name of God—the very God they hate—why do they preach, as they say, “in the name of Jesus”, teaching their audiences the very opposite of what God has said, the very opposite of what Christ has said? I fear that it may be their way of sticking their thumb in His eye, showing Him their utter contempt. Making light of the things of God and His Christ. And they will receive the reward for their unrighteousness. And it will be eternal. 2nd Peter 2:1-3—1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

Now, this is not to say the Levites could not be corrupted. In the book of Judges we see two episodes where they were not seen in the most favorable light. Of course  in Judges 19 we read of a Levite who was travelling with his concubine, she gets taken by a bunch of men referred to as “sons of Belial” and has unspeakable things done to her. She returns, dies on the threshold of the house, and he walks past her with contempt. And also in Judges 17 we read of a Levite who worked as a priest for an individual named Micah and served his graven images. Judges 17:6-13—6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (That is a phrase you find all throughout the book of Judges. Judges, if you read it, may very well be the most depressing book in the Bible. Moses has died, Joshua has died, and Israel as a nation is still in its infancy, and many of their past behaviors return.) 7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there. 8 The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9 And Micah said to him, "Where do you come from?" So he said to him, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find a place to stay." 10 Micah said to him, "Dwell with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance." So the Levite went in. 11 Then the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12 So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!" This is the passage referred to by Paris Reidhead in his famous sermon entitled “Ten Shekels and a Shirt”.  This passage is a warning to all who would come—whether Old Testament priests or New Testament preachers, but especially those who would preach and teach in such a way to lead people into sin and away from God—to examine why it is they preach, or “preach”. He says in his sermon—

The question comes then to this, what is the standard of success and by what are we going to judge our lives and our ministry? And the question that you are going to ask yourself, “Is God an end or is He a means?” Our generation is prepared to honor successful choices. As long as a person can get things done or get the job done then our generation is prepared to say well done.

And so we’ve got to ask ourselves at the very outset of our ministry, and our pilgrimage, and our walk, “Are we going to be Levites who serve God for ten shekels and a shirt?” serve men perhaps in the name of God, rather than God. For though he was a Levite and performed religious activities, he was looking for a place, which would give him recognition, a place which would give him acceptance, a place which would give him security, a place where he could shine in terms of those values which were important to him. His whole business was serving in religious activities, so it had to be a religious job. He was very happy when he found that Micah had an opening. But he had decided that he was worth ten shekels and a shirt, and he was prepared to sell himself to anyone that would give that much. If somebody came along and gave more, he would sell himself to them. But he put a value upon himself and he figured then his religious service and his activities were just a means to an end, and by the same token, God was a means to an end.

It’s why Paul tells us in 1st Timothy 3:2 that a pastor must be blameless, not covetous or a drunkard, etc. etc. Don’t judge the effectiveness of your ministry by numbers, but rather by your faithfulness to God.

Now, after these events, did God say “Eh, I’m done with you Levites. If anybody wants to be a priest and to minister in the Tabernacle, go ahead”? Did He cast off the tribe of Levi for these offenses? No. Paul lays out the qualifications for elders and deacons in his letters to Timothy and Titus. And, as the Levites did, some who have been elders and deacons have abused those positions. Does that mean God has said, “Well, okay, I’ll open up the doors and if anyone wants to be an elder or deacon, go right ahead”? Again, no. God does not adapt to the culture; the culture is to adapt to God and His Word. Unfortunately, many “churches” are run by men—and women—who do not fit the qualifications laid out in Scripture. And we wonder why society is running downhill at such an alarming rate. If the church doesn’t care about God’s Word and His commands, why should we expect those outside the church to respect them?

We would see later in Scripture that some unscrupulous kings would appoint whomever they desired, regardless of ancestry, to be priests. For example, we see Jeroboam do this very thing in 1st Kings 12:27-31— 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah." 28 Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" 29 And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 31 He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi. He did it again in the very next chapter, 1st Kings 13:33-34—33 After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. 34 And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth. This becomes a phrase used repeatedly in the books of Kings and Chronicles, “the sin of Jeroboam”. His sons would be wiped out, his name dragged for so many years—so many times the evil kings of Israel are described as “walking in the sin of Jeroboam”. Not “sins”, but “sin”, singular. This sin here, where he sets up idol worship and appoints priests from outside of Aaron’s bloodline—directly against the edict from God. Simply because he wanted glory for himself, the very glory which belongs to God and God alone! Robert Hawker, the Anglican priest from the late 1700s and early 1800s, summarized the sinfulness and wretchedness of these actions quite succinctly

What an awful example doth this man afford of an unreclaimed heart! oh, Reader! Learn from it the vast and infinite importance of the Spirit’s work upon the soul, without whose gracious influence every sinner’s heart would be more and more hardened, through the deceitfulness of sin.

Then of course we have the example of King Saul. 1st Samuel 13:8-12—8 Then [Saul] waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, "Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me." And he offered the burnt offering. 10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. 11 And Samuel said, "What have you done?"—you can almost hear the anger and consternation in Samuel’s voice—Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.'  Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering." Saul of course was from the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe which had no business with the things of the Tabernacle. But Saul presumed to offer a Burnt Offering to God, and did so without waiting for the man of God, Samuel, who was descended from Levi through his father Elkanah.

And just as Rehoboam suffered the loss of his kingdom, so Samuel told Saul he would lose his kingdom as well. 1st Samuel 13:13-14—13 And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14      But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." And of course we know this came true, that King Saul died in battle and his kingdom was given to the man he tried to kill many times, the man David, And while David is held in high esteem by the Israelites, while King Saul is held in derision. Why? Because he disobeyed God.

Part 3 next week 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 3 (Part 1)

We’re going to skip chapter 2, as it is simply a numbering of the various tribes and move on to Numbers 3:1-10— 1 Now these are the records of Aaron and Moses when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he consecrated to minister as priests. 4 Nadab and Abihu had died before the LORD when they offered profane fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.  5 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 6 "Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 7 And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle. 8 Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. 9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to him from among the children of Israel. 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death."

First thing we need to remember is this: Everything in all of creation belongs to God. Even people. Psalm 24:1— The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. God would have been perfectly righteous to declare “every single soul on Planet Earth shall come before Me to serve Me”. And who could argue with Him? It all belonged to Him anyway. But He doesn’t. He says “I will take the Levites, they will belong to Me, they will be in My service”. So let’s go through this passage.

Numbers 3:5-13—5 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 6 "Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 7 And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle. 8 Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. 9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to him from among the children of Israel. 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death. 11 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 12 "Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, 13 because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the LORD.”

Aaron was to be the High Priest. He was the chief of all who were to go between man and God. But remember, there were over 600,000 people in the camp of Israel. And they were all sinners, as everyone is. And the depth of their sin was exposed when Moses was atop Mt. Sinai receiving the Law from God, and before he could even come down they were already throwing a drunken orgy in front of the Golden Calf that they convinced Aaron to make. So whoever it was going between man and God was going to be busy. Especially when you take into account all the details of all the various sacrifices, what animals were to be brought, male or female, how they were to be prepared, what to do with the blood, etc etc etc. Not to mention having to inspect the people and their houses for possible leprosy.

Now, remember, this was under the Old Covenant. And under this Old Covenant, only Levites could serve in the priesthood. And when one priest died, or one High Priest died, they were replaced. So this priesthood was transferred from one man to another to another, throughout successive generations. As it says in Hebrews 7:23—Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. And this is a place where we say “But God…” He gave to us a New Covenant, with a better High Priest, namely our Lord Jesus Christ. And the good thing about Him is, He is not dead, as He lives forevermore. And because He lives forever, His priesthood is forever. Hebrews 7:24—But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. No more need for going through the divisions of the priesthood to see who will sprinkle incense and offer prayers today or tomorrow or the next day. No more deciding who will be High Priest today or tomorrow. We now have one Priest, both now and forever, and He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25).

You may ask, “But Jesus isn’t from the tribe of Levi, He is from Judah”. And this is true. But remember, New Covenant. The Old Covenant, with all its rules and regulations, and its imperfections because of men’s weaknesses (Romans 8:3), could redeem no one simply because they did their best to keep it. So a New Covenant had to be made. External commands could save no one, as they were always being broken and the burning flesh of bulls and goats could not take away their stain (Hebrews 10:4). If we were to be redeemed to God, we needed a better and eternal sacrifice. And for this, we needed a better and eternal High Priest. And it had to be One who did not come from the tribe of Levi.

Why? Simply to show that this High Priest was offering a sacrifice better than the Law. If He were from the tribe of Levi, the people—especially the Jews—would think salvation came from the Law. However, Galatians 2:16—knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. So now we have a New Covenant, a better and eternal sacrifice, mediated by a better and eternal High Priest, to redeem us from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13).

Us. Sinful, wretched us!!! Us who for however long turned our backs on God, despised God, rebelled against God, violated His Law and ignored His salvation! And yet, here comes the Lion of Judah—a different tribe entirely from the tribe of Levi—to become our High Priest, to become our perfect and eternal sacrifice, that we may be reconciled to the very God we hated! The very God in whose face we spit came and offered Himself as the sacrifice. Think about it! When the Roman guards were beating Christ and spitting on Him and mocking Him. They were not doing these things to a mere man. They were beating and spitting on and mocking—God! Were they any different than us? No. They were not

Isaac Watts said it quite well—

Alas! and did my Savior bleed,/and did my Sovereign die!
Would he devote that sacred head/for sinners such as I?

Was it for crimes that I have done,/he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!/And love beyond degree!

 (“Alas And Did My Saviour Bleed?”)

 The blood of Bulls and goats could not take away sin. They can cover them up, but can never take them away. Hallelujah! He wrote in another place-

 

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

that were a present far too small.

Love so amazing, so divine,

demands my soul, my life, my all.

(“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”)

What do many hold onto on this Earth, what do many prize more, what do many not want to rid themselves of, in exchange for the eternal goodness and beauty of our Lord Jesus! May it never be with those of us who love Him! There are about a thousand more rabbit holes I could go down, but I won’t.

Look at the last part of Numbers 3:10—“But the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.” Only the Levites were to perform any work in the Tabernacle of Meeting. Anyone who was not a son of Aaron could not come near to the Tabernacle of meeting to perform priestly duties, lest God Himself wipe that person out. “But that’s not fair, shouldn’t everybody have a chance???” The short answer: no. The longer and more detailed answer: also, no.

Again, God has a certain way He wants things done. And if you go against the way He wants things to be done, you will incur His wrath and you run the risk of being destroyed on the spot. Just ask Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-2). God declared that only the incense that was made according to His specifications was to be used on the altar. They said “we’ve got a better idea” and…..*poof*

Part 2 next week

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 1

So now that we are done with Leviticus, we keep moving through the Law, and into the book of Numbers. And as you might have already guessed, the book of Numbers is full of a bunch of…wait for it…numbers!! Can you believe that! Originally, the title of the book wasבְּמִדְבַּר  (BaMidbar or BeMidbar), which is Hebrew for “in the wilderness”, and is taken from the first verse in the book. Numbers 1:1—Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai…  The structure of Numbers alternates between narratives and exhaustively detailed lists. The lists show that God is a God who is concerned with details. He doesn't just tell Moses to grab a bunch of guys to do certain tasks—He mentions these men by name. He doesn't just have Moses tell the people to gather whatever gifts they want to bring, and bring them wherever they want whenever they want—He spells out who is to bring what and when. The narratives show the mercy of God. Even after they complain about having to eat manna—which is Hebrew for “free food from Heaven, every day” (well, not really, but that’s what it was)—and He has to kill many of those people. Even after they complain about Moses and Aaron “taking upon themselves” the mantle of leadership and He has to send Korah and his sons directly to Hell. Even after He has to strike Miriam with leprosy for daring to question the way God ordered things. Even after the people commit harlotry with the women of Moab. Even after they complain that they can't take the land He promised and He makes them wander for forty years until that generation died out. Even after…even after…even after… Even after all these things—these are still His people and He is still their God!

So, when does this book begin? Well, we see from the very first verse that these people have been camped at the bottom of Mt. Sinai for a little over a year. Numbers 1:1—Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt. This is the first day of the month ofאִיָּר  (Iyyar), they have been a year out of Egypt—which means they’ve been at the bottom of Sinai for nearly fourteen months. They’ve seen the lightnings and thunders and heard God speak and were afraid and told Moses, “You talk to Him lest we die”; they’ve built their golden calf, after which many were put to death and had to drink the powdered gold ; God has been giving Moses all these rules and commandments and ordinances. And now God tells Moses to take a count of all the people. Numbers 1:2—“2 Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male individually.” Numbering is a way of showing ownership, which is why David got in trouble for calling the census at the end of his life. 2nd Samuel 24:10—And David's heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O LORD, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly."

This was one of several censuses God calls Moses to undertake. A little later He tells Moses to count all the children from the tribe of Levi, from one month old and above. He would have a reason for that census, and we’ll talk about that when we get there. Now, notice something about this census that God commands. He doesn't tell Moses, “Hey, go out and grab some friends and count the people.” He tells Moses to number the people “by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male individually.” Notice that last word—individually. By family, by name. This shows that God is a God who knows His people by name. Does that sound like something Jesus might have said? John 10:2-3—2 “But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” If you know Christ (or, rather, are known by Him [Galatians 4:9]), this was not something that just happened. You were known by Christ before even the world was founded. Listen to Jesus’ words in John 10:14—“I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.” Notice, Jesus does not say “I will know My sheep.” He says “I know them”. Present tense. And I don’t think I'm incorrect in saying that the vast majority of His sheep hadn’t even been born yet. I wasn’t. You certainly weren’t. If you are reading this, then you came along at least 2000 years after Jesus said “I know My sheep.” You were one of the sheep He knew, even 2000 years ago. And He has called you by name, and you have answered, and He will not lose you.

Numbers 1:3-16—“3 From twenty years old and above—all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 4 And with you there shall be a man from every tribe, each one the head of his father's house.  5 These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: from Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; 6 from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; 7 from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; 8 from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; 9 from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; 10 from the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; 11 from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; 12 from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; 13 from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran; 14 from Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel; 15 from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan." 16 These were chosen from the congregation, leaders of their fathers' tribes, heads of the divisions in Israel.  Every tribe sent the head of their tribe, as listed here. As you will see, there is an order that God commands, as God has an order for everything. In His order of creation we see that He first created the heavens and the earth, then He gave it light, then He divided the water from the land, then the moon and stars, then life in the sea, then creatures that lived on land, then Man.  At creation, He gave all that man would need, and gave him dominion over those creatures, and set man over them. But here, He gives orders to set these men over their armies. And He calls them by name. He always knows His own, and in Scripture, He calls His own by name. Isaiah 43:1--But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!” We belong to Him, just as the armies of Israel belonged to Him, and He knows us and calls us by name, just as He knew and called the armies of Israel by name.

These are men who were called to be warriors. There was land that God had promised to His people, land that was already inhabited, and the people that lived in these lands were not just going to give it up without a fight. Today, we are called to win people to Christ, not by war and fighting, but by spreading the gospel to people who do not know God, and many of whom don’t care for God and may even hate God. They have a master, one who, like the inhabitants of the lands the Israelites were to conquer, does not give ground easily. 2nd Corinthians 4:4--whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. Many times in the New Testament, we are referred to in a militaristic manner. 2nd Timothy 2:3-4--You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. In Ephesians we are told to wear the full armor of God. Ephesians 6:13-17—13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Many of the hymns we love speak of our battle.

Onward, Christian Soldiers

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle see His banners go!

 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow’r are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

 Does the one hymn say "Onward Christian Daffodils"? Or "A Mighty Civic Center Is Our God"? No. These tell us to be soldiers, and that God is a mighty fortress. We should be ready to go into battle for the gospel--not with arrows and shields, but by the power of God, fully submitted to Him, remembering that the battle is the Lord's (1st Samuel 17:47). Here in Numbers, God is calling all men—not women, not children, they had to be of a certain age to be considered, by God, to be ready for this service—into service, much like in 1^st Timothy, where Paul relates that a pastor must be not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil (1^st Timothy 3:6). When one is too young, or too new in the faith, and is given too great a position, he can think that he deserves it, can become arrogant, and take himself too seriously, instead of submitting himself to the word, and the authority, of God. Likewise here, males for service in the army of Israel were not to be youngsters, or adolescents, or teenagers, but were to be fully grown and mature, lest they think they are better than their leaders or better than what they truly are.

Numbers 1:17-19—17 Then Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned by name, 18 and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they recited their ancestry by families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, each one individually. 19  As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai. Notice, this is the second day of the first month, the very day the Tabernacle was erected (Numbers1:1). Just as God commanded the people to come out of Egypt quickly and to not delay, here He does not delay, either. He knew these people would resort to being a lazy people if given the chance (see Exodus 32:1). And because there were so many people to prepare, all who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. So He wanted to get them numbered, mustered and ready for battle. And so we must be ready. 1st Peter 3:15—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. That is why we must always be in the word, reading it, studying it, so we may give that answer when needed. 

The next verses, from verse 20 through verse 44, are simply relating the numbers from each of the twelve tribes, so we will skip those verses, and pick up at verse 45. Numbers 1:45-51—45 So all who were numbered of the children of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war in Israel—46 all who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. 47 But the Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers' tribe; 48 for the LORD had spoken to Moses, saying: 49 "Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel; 50 but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it and camp around the tabernacle. 51 And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. 603,550 men, age 20 and older. But we see the Levites left out. Why? Simple. They were to be the priests to God, to go between men and God. And He did not want these men entangled in military combat. Because military service did not involve only going into battle, but also training, which usually took up more time than the fighting itself. And what was the main duty of the priests? Preparing the sacrifices of the people to God. And there was a lot to remember about these sacrifices; they had to be done properly, they had to divide the animals in certain ways depending on what the sacrifice was for, then there was the actual slaughtering of the animals, burning them on the altar, and let’s not forget carrying the waste and the skeletons out of the camp.

Plus, another thing to consider, these were the men who made peace between God and man, they could not be seen as men of war. This is exactly why God told David not to build Him a temple. 1st Chronicles 28:3—“But God said to me, ‘No David, you must not build a house for my name. You must not do that because you are a soldier, and you have killed many men.’” Likewise, we Christian men should not try to force others into the kingdom of God by violent force. Which is why we are given many admonitions in the New Testament about our conduct toward those who are outside of Christ. Colossians 4:5-6—5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. 1^st Peter 4:3-4—3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. James 1:19-20—19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.  The world will not listen to what we say about Christ if we try to bludgeon them over the head with a Bible.

One more thing, God calls those whom He will, for one reason—because that is the way He wants it. Like in Acts 6:1-4—1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. 2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. 3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; 4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." Men in 11 of the tribes of Israel were to fight for His people, but His priests—the Levites—were to stay behind to do the work of bringing His people closer to Him.  Likewise, the Apostles were to go out, taking the message of Christ to the world—to both Jew and Gentile—but the deacons were to serve the church locally, that the Apostles may not be ensnared with micromanaging the local congregation, but that they may devote themselves to studying and teaching the word of God.

Then in the last sentence of the last verse we see that only the Levites are to go near the Tabernacle. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. Why? Because it was in the innermost part of this massive tent that the priest—and only the High Priest at that—was to speak with God, and that on only one day out of the year. Remember when God was speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai? Exodus 19:12—You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. God sets boundaries. He has to. Otherwise, a creature may get too close, and they would die. Exodus 33:20—But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live." God does not set these boundaries to be a big, bad ogre who wants to stifle your freedoms. He does it to protect you and to keep you safe.

In an article published by the American Society of Landscape Architects, they cited a study of playgrounds, and they discovered a difference between those that had a fence and those that didn’t:

 

A simple study was conducted to discover the effects of a fence around a playground and the consequent impact it would have on preschool children.  Teachers were to take their children to a local playground in which there was no fence during their normal recess hour.  The kids were to play as normal.  The same group was to be taken to a comparable playground in which there was a defined border designated by a fence. In the first scenario, the children remained huddled around their teacher, fearful of leaving out of her sight.  The later scenario exhibited drastically different results, with the children feeling free to explore within the given boundaries. The overwhelming conclusion was that with a given limitation, children felt safer to explore a playground.  Without a fence, the children were not able to see a given boundary or limit and thus were more reluctant to leave the caregiver.  With a boundary, in this case the fence, the children felt at ease to explore the space.  They were able to separate from the caregiver and continue to develop in their sense of self while still recognizing that they were in a safe environment within the limits of the fence.

(https://www.asla.org/awards/2006/studentawards/282.html)

 

We do better with boundaries.  Thus, we do better with God. Because God sets those boundaries, and we can trust that He knows what He is doing. He doesn’t act on impulse, He always has a reason for doing what He does, and sometimes we need Him to show us that don’t need what we think we need, or what we want. And as you read through the Bible, you will see that His ways are best, because “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

 

 Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers (Introduction, Part 2)

Several major events take place in Numbers 20. First we see the people complain—again—because there is no water at Meribah Kadesh. So God tells Moses to speak to the rock so that water might come out. But Moses, in his anger, instead strikes the rock with his rod, incurring the anger of God so that God would not allow him to see Canaan. Numbers 20:12—Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." And we will see when we get to Deuteronomy that Moses does indeed die before the people get to the Promised Land. In Numbers 20:14-21 we see messengers being sent to the king of Edom to ask that he allow the people to simply pass through the land, that they would not turn to the left or to the right, and that they would not graze their flocks or their herds there (Numbers 20:17). They told him they would pass along the King’s Highway, an established trade route through the land. However the king of Edom would not allow it, which angered God as we will see later. In Numbers 20:22 God speaks to Moses, telling him to take the garments off Aaron and put them on Aaron’s son Eleazar, as Aaron was getting ready to pass away. They had traveled to Mount Hor, which is about halfway between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. And we see in Numbers 20:28 that Aaron did indeed die at Mount Hor, and when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days. (Numbers 20:29).

As Numbers 21 opens, the people are complaining (I told you they do this a lot), so God sends fiery serpents to destroy the people. But we see a foreshadowing of the Cross here, as Moses sets up a serpent on a pole, that whoever looks upon that serpent would be healed and not die. We see recorded the words of our Savior in John 3:14—“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” Just as that serpent was lifted up, that whoever looked to it might not die, so our Lord Jesus was lifted up, that all who look to Him might be given eternal life! We then read of Sihon the king of the Amorites and Og of Bashan, how they opposed the people and also incurred the anger of God. We will briefly touch on some of the places in the Scriptures that speak of these two men, as we will see them again in Deuteronomy.

In Numbers 22-24 we read of Balaam, who was sent by Balak (king of Moab) to curse Israel, and the troubles that Balaam encountered in doing so. In a way, Balaam gets a bad rap, as he did not want to, at first, curse Israel, as God told him He would not curse the people, as He had blessed them (Numbers 22:11). And the more Balaam tried to curse the people, the more he realized he could not. And if you know Scripture, you know of Balaam riding a donkey and how an Angel of God stood in that donkey’s way, and that the donkey spoke to Balaam—and Balaam answered it! This gave rise to the hymn “I Saw An Angel In The Road” by Daniel Charles Damon:

I saw an angel in the road and quickly turned aside,

But Balaam had not seen it yet. My master tanned my hide.

Returning to the narrow way, the angel loomed so tall,

My master struck me when I scraped his foot against the wall.

But, fearful of the way ahead, I lay down on the ground.

My master struck again in rage until he heard this sound:

"What have I ever done to you that you abuse me so?"

A donkey speaks, an angel stands, and Balaam's tears now flow.

"Forgive me for the blows I gave in arrogance and fear.

Direct me, God, and help me speak the loving word I hear."                

Numbers 25 shows us that the people do not learn from their mistakes. The people, who have seen the mighty works of God, decided to commit harlotry with the women of Moab (Numbers 25:1) and began to worship the pagan god Ba'al (Numbers 25:3). What was God’s command in response to this rebellion? Numbers 25:5—"Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor." (Baalpeor, KJV) God does not tolerate insolence, and He let the people know that here, in no uncertain terms. In this instance, the penalty was death, as it was when the people enticed Aaron to form the Golden Calf at the foot of Mt. Sinai (Exodus 32:1-6). In the midst of all this, a man brings a Midianite woman to the people, and while he is in his tent having sex with her, Phinehas (son of Eleazar) puts a javelin through both of them (Numbers 25:8). And because of this action, God made a covenant with him that his descendants would be priests to Him (Numbers 25:12-13).

Numbers 26 shows us the second census of the people. The timing of this census is off, since we see in Numbers 26:63-64 that all those who were at Sinai had died off, as God promised in Numbers 14. This census probably came closer to the end of Deuteronomy.

Then in Numbers 27, we see some women come to Moses who had a question about inheritance. Their father died, leaving no sons, only daughters (Numbers 27:3-4). And since an inheritance of land went to sons, they would be left with no place to call home. So Moses asks God, “What shall we do for these?” The answer is that they were to be given a portion of the land given to their uncles, and these daughters were to get the land that their father would have gotten (Numbers 27:7). Then we see that God gave other commands about the people inheriting land (Numbers 27:8-11). At the end of the chapter, we see God telling Moses that his time to die is drawing near (Numbers 27:13), but that Moses will die without entering the Promised Land as punishment for striking the rock at Meribah Kadesh (Numbers 20:12). Moses pleads to have a man set over the people who will faithfully lead the people into the Promised Land (Numbers 27:16-17). So God chooses Joshua to lead the people when Moses passes away, and for Eleazar to be the High Priest, as these two men have been faithful in all the ways of God. We will probably look at Numbers 36 along with this chapter, as it extends the commands contained in this chapter.

Numbers 30 talks about how when a person takes an oath it is binding upon that person, and in Numbers 31 God commands the people to smite the Midianites for the evil that they had perpetrated against the people of Israel in Numbers 25. It should be noted that Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law (the father of his first wife Zipporah) and Hobab, whom Moses pleaded with to be the eyes and ears of the people while they were traversing the wilderness, were Midianites. This will show us that even in the midst of a wicked people, there may be some that do believe in God, like Rahab in Jericho in the Book of Joshua.

In Numbers 32 we read about the Tribe of Gad and the Tribe of Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh not desiring to cross the Jordan after they saw that the land of Gilead was good for grazing cattle, which these tribes had in abundance (Numbers 32:1-5). However, Moses confronts them, saying that it is not right that their brethren should cross the Jordan and fight while these two tribes stay behind. So a deal is made that they will go over Jordan with the other tribes and fight, and when the land is settled they will return to Gilead (Numbers 32:16-27). And they fulfilled their promise, which can be seen in Joshua 22:1-34.

Numbers 33 lists the itinerary of the people for most of the chapter, but ends with a stern warning from Moses, that if the people do not utterly drive out the inhabitants of the land God is giving them, it will cause them to stumble before God (Numbers 33:55-56), and that God will do to the people of Israel what He thought of doing to the inhabitants of the land. And if you read ahead in the Scriptures, you will see this come to fruition in the wavering of the people of Israel between worshipping God and worshipping the pagan gods. For a good example of this, you need not read further than Judges 2. The people all cry out, with one voice, Joshua 24:16—“Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods.” Yet two chapters later, we see the death of Joshua in Judges 2:8, and his body isn’t hardly even cold yet when we read Judges 2:11—Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals. Which is why we need to always be careful to walk circumspectly (Ephesians 5:15), and never let our Adversary gain even a foothold, knowing the sway he can hold over us. We also see in Israel’s history, after the death of King David, how the people of Israel vacillated between the true worship of God and the false worship of the Baals and Ashtoreths.

In Numbers 34 Moses lays out the borders of the Promised Land, and in Numbers 35 he tells about the cities of refuge that are to be given to the Levites for the man guilty of involuntary manslaughter to flee to until he can lay his case out. We know that the Decalogue contains the commandment “Thou shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). But what if a man kills another man unintentionally? What if his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies (Deuteronomy 19:5)? If that were to happen, the one who swung the axe would flee to one of these cities of refuge where he could escape the “avenger of blood” (a family member of the victim who was seeking revenge) until he could remain safely until his case could be heard and he could—if it was found that he did not intend to kill the victim—be vindicated.

As you can see, there is a lot of complaining in this book. Many times the people are not happy with the way Moses does things, even though he is faithful to God in performing his duty. Things haven’t changed a whole lot in the millennia since these things occurred. Many times, no matter how faithful we are to God, things don’t go the way we want them to and we complain. Or we see that one of our neighbors has something we don’t have, and we complain because we don’t have that thing. We need to be on our guard against those feelings, as they can lead us to do something rash and harm our neighbor and in doing so, disobey God and do things He has commanded us to not do. And if we desire that thing too much it can cause us to take our eyes off God and focus them on ourselves.

Lord, help us to always remember that our first duty is not to ourselves, but to You. For You are above all things, You hold the world and all creation in your hand, and at any moment You may require our life from us. Let us never complain about anything You have given us, knowing that everything we have comes from You, and whatever You decree us to have, we should accept with all joyfulness. Let us always purge out from our lives those things which stand against you, and all those things which associate themselves with the unfruitful works of darkness. Let us always be thankful in all things.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.