A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 35 (Part 1)

Numbers 33 recounts the journey the people took through the wilderness to arrive where they are. In Numbers 34 God tells Moses how the land will be split up once they arrive in Canaan. So that leaves us with Numbers 35, and we will finish the book. In Numbers 35 we see the rules for the Levitical Cities and the Cities of Refuge. 

Numbers 35:1-8—1 And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, saying: 2 “Command the children of Israel that they give the Levites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession, and you shall also give the Levites common-land around the cities. 3 They shall have the cities to dwell in; and their common-land shall be for their cattle, for their herds, and for all their animals. 4 The common-land of the cities which you will give the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around. 5 And you shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits. The city shall be in the middle. This shall belong to them as common-land for the cities. 6 Now among the cities which you will give to the Levites you shall appoint six cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. And to these you shall add forty-two cities. So all the cities you will give to the Levites shall be forty-eight; these you shall give with their common-land. And the cities which you will give shall be from the possession of the children of Israel; from the larger tribe you shall give many, from the smaller you shall give few. Each shall give some of its cities to the Levites, in proportion to the inheritance that each receives.” 

Remember, the Levites were not to receive any type of land inheritance, since their portion was God (Numbers 18:20-23). But the people of the twelve tribes needed priests so they could know and learn the Law and make the proper sacrifices when they breached the Law. So each of the other 11 tribes other than the Levites had to portion off a piece of land outside the cities for the Levites to dwell in, as well as common-land for the Levites to graze their flocks and herds. And again we see a perplexity, as commentators are divided on how this land was measured. Some say that for whichever city the tribe of Issachar (for example) dwelt, they were to measure from outside of the walls 1000 cubits and there would establish the villages where the Levites would dwell. Then the next 1000 cubits out from there would be the pasture land for the flocks and herds of the Levites. This would make up the two thousand cubits spoken of in verse 5. Others say that they were to measure out 1000 cubits for the Levitical cities, then measure two thousand cubits for the Levites’ pastures (the common-lands). I tend to agree with John Gill on the interpretation:

 

And ye shall measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits...Before only 1000 cubits were ordered to be measured, and now 2000, even 2000 more, which were to be added to the other, and to begin where they ended. The first 1000 were for their cattle and goods, these 2000 for their gardens, orchards, fields, and vineyards; and so the Jewish writers understand it. Jarchi observes, that 1000 cubits are ordered, and after that 2000; and asks, “how is this? or how is it to be reconciled?” to which he answers, “2000 are put to them round about, and of them the 1000 innermost are for suburbs, and the outermost (i.e. the 2000) are for fields and vineyards”; and with this agrees the Mishnah, from whence he seems to have taken it; and the same was to be on every other side of the city, south, west, and north, as follows:

 

and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; which, added to the other 1000 all around, must make a large circumference of land. 

The Mishnah sates:

 

Eliezer the son of R. Yose the Galilean says, “A thousand amahs [an amah is a measurement roughly equivalent to a cubit] form the outskirts, and two thousand amahs cover the surrounding fields and vineyards.” 

Whichever is the case, land was to be allotted to the priestly tribe. They were to be allotted 48 cities, 6 “cities of refuge” (which we shall talk about shortly) and forty-two regular cities. “But forty-two cities divided by eleven tribes doesn’t make an even number”. True. That is why the command was “from the larger tribe you shall give many, from the smaller you shall give few.” The larger tribes were to give the Levites more cities, the smaller tribes less. And you can read a detailed list of which cities in which tribes’ lands were given to the different families of the tribe of Levi in Joshua 21:1-45. I will allow Keil and Delitzsch to summarize:

 

According to Joshua 21, the Levites received nine cities in the territory of Judah and Simeon, four in the territory of each of the other tribes, with the exception of Naphtali, in which there were only three, that is to say, ten in the land to the east of the Jordan, and thirty-eight in Canaan proper, of which the thirteen given up by Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin were assigned to the families of the priests, and the other thirty-five to the three Levitical families [the families of Kohath, Merari and Gershon]. 

The larger tribes gave more land, the smaller tribes less. Even the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh were commanded to give land to the Levites east of the Jordan River in Gilead. 

Numbers 35:9-15—9 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there. 12 They shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment. 13 And of the cities which you give, you shall have six cities of refuge. 14 You shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you shall appoint in the land of Canaan, which will be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there.” 

The rest of the chapter deals with differentiating between murder/voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter and how these cases were dealt with. If someone killed their neighbor, it had to be reckoned whether it was done intentionally or not. For us today, what is the difference between these concepts? Well, murder charges are either 1^st- 2^nd- or 3^rd-degree, while manslaughter is classed as either voluntary of involuntary. 1^st-degree murder is always premeditated. An example of 2^nd-degree murder is when two people get into a fight and the one person does not stop striking the second person until they are dead. They did not previously intend to kill the person, but once the fight was engaged, not intending to kill the person, they nonetheless did cause the person to die. Only three states—Florida, Minnesota and Pennsylvania—classify 3^rd-degree murder. This is the charge when a murder is committed, and is not premeditated, but occurs in the commission of another dangerous and potentially life-threatening action, e.g. when a bank robber kills a bank teller for pressing the silent alarm. Voluntary manslaughter is usually what is now classified as a “crime of passion”, such as when a husband comes home and finds his wife in bed with another man and kills one or both of them. Involuntary manslaughter is when a person causes a death but did not intend to. Killing a pedestrian when running a red light or stop sign; handling a gun you did not know was loaded and shooting someone—these are cases where there was a reckless action but the intent to kill was absent. 

As today—and maybe even more so—murder was a very serious offence in the days of Moses. Today, thanks to TV and the movies, murder has been losing its sense of seriousness, and is often portrayed as simply a means to an end. People watch these TV shows and movies where people are murdered almost mindlessly, not considering that the victim’s life has just ended. And in the real world, that person would, in the next instant, be standing before God to be judged. But in the days of Moses it was treated more seriously. Exodus 21:12—“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.” And when someone was killed by another in the cities of the people of Israel, a blood relative, more specifically, “that particular relative whose special duty it was to restore the violated family integrity, who had to redeem not only landed property that had been alienated from the family, or a member of the family that had fallen into slavery, but also the blood that had been taken away from the family by murder” (Gustav Oehler), would avenge that murder upon the perpetrator. But if someone killed another, not meaning to, and they were not worthy of having their own life taken, they could flee to the nearest of these six “cities of refuge”, and have their case heard, and could be judged to be declared not guilty of shedding innocent blood. If the victim’s blood was shed accidentally, God gave them a way to escape until he could plead his cause. Exodus 21:13—“However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.” And there were six cities—three on the west side of the Jordan River and three on the east side of the Jordan—where the accused could flee until his case was heard. Joshua 20:7-8—7 So they appointed Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in the mountains of Judah. [These would be the cities on the west side of the Jordan] 8 And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. [These would be on the east side of the Jordan].

  

(https://theisraelbible.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/cities-of-refuge.jpg) 

And when the manslayer (accidental perpetrator) reached one of these cities, the people were to allow the person in until their case could be heard. Joshua 20:3-6—“3 That the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. 5 Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand. 6 And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.” When the manslayer arrived at the gates of the City of Refuge, he was not to be treated as being guilty, but rather as simply being accused, with no guilt or innocence assigned to him by the residents of the city until he could make his case (innocent until proven guilty). He was to be allowed in, put up in a house, and was to be treated as a member of the tribe wherein this city lay. And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment. And they were to protect him from the avenger. 

Remember, at the time they did not have the level of surveillance we have today. There were no cameras—no closed circuit, no cell phone cameras, no trail cams, nothing of the sort. So they could not see what had happened. They had to rely on the testimony of the manslayer and any potential witnesses. And even today, in the United States, according to our Constitution, a man or woman is (supposed to be) considered innocent until proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. And there are all kinds of safeguards in place to make sure the accused is given a fair trial. Search warrants must be obtained, a jury of the accused’s peers must be installed, both sides must be given time to examine the evidence from the other side. In short, all things must be done properly to ensure the accused is not wrongly convicted (or acquitted). Today, in a court trial, all kinds of evidence can be included—and excluded—from a case by both the prosecution and by the defense. The same principles were applied in the case of the man who had killed his neighbor accidentally, and even more so, as the testimony of one witness was not enough to convict a man. In order to carry out a death sentence against a man accused of murder, there had to be two or three witnesses, and they had to testify truthfully about the matter. Deuteronomy 19:15—“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.” One person holding a grudge against a man could testify, “Yeah, I saw it happen. He just up and struck the victim without warning. And, oh yeah, he hated the guy for a long time.” But this testimony alone could not convict. There had to be one or two more witnesses to corroborate this testimony. 

We see a couple cases in the New Testament that carry on this principle. In the Gospel of John, we read the account of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). Was the woman guilty of adultery? Well, yes. Was she indeed to be stoned? Well, yes. Leviticus 20:10—“The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.” The fact that the woman was brought to Jesus was not the problem here. The problem was the Pharisees did not bring the man who was involved. See, the Pharisees had set up the whole situation in order to trick Jesus into betraying Himself and His God by putting Him in (what they thought was) a no-win situation. But, as always, Jesus knew what they had devised in their hearts. So what was the first thing He did? John 8:6—Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. And when they continued to press Him, He gave His answer in John 8:7—So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." And because they knew that they themselves were guilty of sharing in the adultery, they dropped their stones and walked away. So because the Pharisees were acting under false pretenses, and because they did not bring the man involved, meaning their case would be tossed out, Jesus refused to hear their case, and sent them away empty-handed. 

The second case of false witnesses is, of course, when they put Jesus on trial under cover of night. Matthew 26:59-61—59 Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, 60 but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward 61 and said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'" There they had their two witnesses, by whose testimony they could put Jesus to death. But they had to give the accused the chance to defend themselves, so they turned the questioning on Jesus, and said in Matthew 26:61-62—62 "Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?" 63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!" They were asking Him to swear by God (in other words, by Himself) whether the things these false witnesses said were true. Jesus—God in the flesh—could not lie and, really, didn’t want to lie. For all this was done according to the eternal will of the father (Acts 2:21-23) that He should die for the sins of His people. And He did—He fulfilled what God had planned from eternity past; He gave up His life on that cross, bearing all our sin and shame, being put to death by the world, contrary to the Law of Moses that these Pharisees so staunchly claimed they were upholding. So yes, even though two or three witnesses may be found to accuse the manslayer, they could turn out to be false witnesses and lead to an innocent man being put to death. John Calvin: “[The Pharisees] had previously resolved to put Christ to death, and now they only seek a pretense for oppressing him. Now it is impossible that equity can have any place where an examination of the cause is not the first step. In seeking false witnesses, their treacherous cruelty is manifested; and when, after being disappointed of their expectation, they still do not desist, this affords a still more striking display of their blinded obstinacy. Thus, amidst the darkness of their rage, the innocence of the Son of God shone so brightly, that the devils themselves might know that he died innocent.”

Part 2 (and the end of Numbers) next week. 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen. 

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 32 (Part 2)

Numbers 32:16-24—16 Then they came near to him and said: "We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 17 but we ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan." 20 Then Moses said to them: "If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the LORD for the war, 21 and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, 22 and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you may return and be blameless before the LORD and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. 23 But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what has proceeded out of your mouth." 

It was simple: if the tribes of Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh wanted to remain in Gilead, they had to cross the Jordan River and fight alongside their brethren. It was only fair. Why should they live in ease while Dan and Issachar and Judah and the rest are fighting for the land that was promised them? But such is the thought of many today: “I will believe in Christ, and take my rest in leisure. I will argue with no one, I will debate no one lest they ask a question I do not know the answer to. That is too hard for me! I will rather stay in my home and never bring up the name of Christ.” Such is the design of the monks, who squirrel themselves away in the cloisters, some even taking a vow of silence. But that is not the pattern for the Christian to follow. We are to stand up for the gospel, and proclaim it to all, whether they will hear us or not, even if they kill us. Matthew 11:12—“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” [literally, “the kingdom of the heavens is being forced and forceful ones are snatching her”]. There is a sister verse to this, Luke 16:16 (Revised Version)—“The law and the prophets were until John: from that time the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached, and every man entereth violently into it.” The Kingdom of God is not a place we enter into in a laissez-faire manner. The Christian life is not easy. We are beset daily by sin, and must fight against it daily. Will we stumble and fall? Yes, of course we will. We are human and as such we were born with a nature that wants what it wants, and sometimes that flesh will win some battles. So when it comes to facing those sins that seek to ensnare us, we must become violent against them and enter the Kingdom of God with a red hot hatred of sin, and be the violent men and women we should be. Jude said as much, Jude 1:3 (God’s Word Version)—Dear friends, I had intended to write to you about the salvation we share. But something has come up. It demands that I write to you and encourage you to continue your fight for the Christian faith that was entrusted to God's holy people once for all time. Other translations say “contend earnestly for the faith”. Peter tells us to always be ready to give a defense for the hope we have (1st Peter 3:15). Fight for the faith! Don’t be content to live your days in ease in Gilead. Your Father has promised you a better home, and you do not want to fall short of entering it! The old hymn does not say “Onward Christian Daffodils”. Another old hymn is not entitled “A Mighty Beach Chair Is Our God”. No! We are soldiers, and our God is a fortress! And if our adversary, who prowls about like a roaring lion, wants to ensnare us, we must fight against him, and take our position in the Kingdom of God by force if necessary, always fighting for the faith and letting our enemy know that it is by the Word of God that we have our faith, for it tells us of the mighty love and assurance we have in our risen Savior of our eternal life with God! We have been given the victory in Jesus. If we have a victory, there must have been a battle.

 

Am I a soldier of the cross/a foll'wer of the Lamb,

And shall I fear to own His cause/or blush to speak His name?

Must I be carried to the skies/on flow'ry beds of ease,

While others fought to win the prize/and sailed thro' bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?/Must I not stem the flood?

Is this vile world a friend to grace/to help me on to God?

Sure I must fight, if I would reign/increase my courage, Lord!

I'll bear the toil, endure the pain/supported by Thy word.

The saints in all this glorious war/shall conquer, though they die;

They see the triumph from afar/by faith's discerning eye.

When that illustrious day shall rise/and all Thine armies shine

In robes of vict'ry thro' the skies/the glory shall be Thine.

(“Am I a Soldier of the Cross?” by Isaac Watts)    

Numbers 32:25-33—25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying: "Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead; 27 but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, just as my lord says." 28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel. 29 And Moses said to them: "If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession. 30 But if they do not cross over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan." 31 Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying: "As the LORD has said to your servants, so we will do. 32 We will cross over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of the Jordan." 33 So Moses gave to the children of Gad, to the children of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land with its cities within the borders, the cities of the surrounding country. 

The attitude of these two-and-a-half tribes could also be described as worry. They worried that there would not be in the land of Canaan any land to graze their flocks and herds. They were worried that God’s promises would not be enough to fulfill their perceived needs. They worried and, in a way, complained against God once again. But do we ever need to worry when it comes to God? If your answer is anything other than “no”, then you do not know God. He provides for all His children. He even cares for the birds and the flowers (Matthew 6:25-30; Luke 12:22-28). David knew this as well. Psalm 37:22-26—22 For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, but those cursed by Him shall be cut off. 23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lends; and his descendants are blessed. When he was in the city of Nob, and he and his men were hungry, did they not receive the Showbread from the hand of Ahimelech the High Priest? In the Magnificat, how does Mary describe God? Luke 1:50-55—50 “And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. 54 He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, 55 as He spoke to our fathers, ‘To Abraham and to his seed forever.’” There is no need to fear when it comes to the things God has promised. His promises are “Yes” and “Amen” (2nd Corinthians 1:20). He may not give us the biggest and shiniest of everything. But He will provide what we need. May not be what we want, but it will be what we need. 

Now, if these tribes wanted to live in the lush land of Gilead, they had to fight for it. And if they didn’t fight? “But if they do not cross over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” Again, the choice is simple: Fight alongside your brethren and return to Gilead. Or don’t fight and you will be removed from Gilead and join your brethren in Canaan. If they wanted their life of leisure, they had to earn it. If they did not put forth the effort to earn it, they would go to Canaan. But, to their credit, they did go forth with their brethren. They crossed the Jordan River, they fought to capture the land of Canaan, and upholding the word that Moses spoke to them, Joshua released the Reubenite and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh to go to the land of Gilead in Joshua 22:1-6—1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said to them: "You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. 3 You have not left your brethren these many days, up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God. 4 And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5 But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." 6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. God gave them what they wanted, even though it was not what God intended them to have. 

But He will often do that: when we want something so bad, and we don’t want to trust in the goodness of God, He will sometimes let us have our wants, just to show us that what He had in store for us was much better. This principle is summed up in the Ten Commandments. “You shall have no other gods before Me.” What can statues do for you? “You shall not steal…you shall no covet”. What God has given is sufficient; you do not need to swindle from your neighbor his possessions. “You shall not commit adultery.” Is not the wife God has given you good enough? “You shall not murder.” The life of someone who was made in the similitude of God should not be ended by someone for any mundane reason. And how do we sum up the Ten Commandments? Matthew 22:37-40—37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." The Ten Commandments—even all the Law and all the Prophets—are summed up in the phrases “You shall love the Lord your God” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. Did the tribe of Gad and the tribe of Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh love the LORD with all their heart, soul, mind and strength? That is questionable. At the very least, they seem to have not trusted Him as well as they should have. They wanted to do things their own way; they wanted to have what was right in front of them instead of waiting on Him to fulfill His promise. But let us never do as they did. May we always remember that what God has promised, He will bring to pass. May we cry out “Onward Christian Soldiers”, and shout “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”! May we not be content to rest in Gilead, but fight in Canaan, for we have been given the victory already by our glorious Lord! I leave you with these words of the inimitable Mr. Spurgeon:

 

An idler is a great waster and makes others, wasters, too—his example is likely to make all around him as indolent as himself. I notice in our Churches that a few earnest men and women lead the way and others are sweetly drawn to follow them. How precious are the earnest few in a Christian community! David knew the value of the first three in his band. But if the leading spirits are dead, cold, indifferent—what happens? Why, lethargy spreads over the whole! I am sorry to say that I hear of instances in which a minister laments, "I labor with all my might, but I am persuaded that nothing will ever be done while Mr. So-and-So is here." He is often a cold-blooded deacon, or a purse-proud member. When you come to know him, you feel, "While there is such a great big iceberg floating close to the shore, the garden by the sea must be frostbitten—nothing can grow." 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

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.