This continues a chronological Bible study. Because Blogger limits the number of labels per post, this post is actually in two parts. See the first part here:
The Israelites' Removal from Sinai to Paran, Part 1
(Numbers 10:22) And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set
forward according to their armies; and over his host was Elishama the
son of Ammihud.
In part one of this post the tribes of the Israelites were moving out from their camps in an order that had been predetermined. The
Israelites under the standard of Judah (Judah, Issachar, Zebulun) moved first; then went the Gershonites and Merarites carrying the tabernacle; then the tribes under the standard of Reuben (Reuben, Simeon, Gad) moved forward; and then went the Kohathites carrying the most holy parts of the tabernacle, those things belonging to the sanctuary.
Now we see that the next to move were the tribes under the standard of Ephraim. According to Numbers 2, they camped on the west side,
and included the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. The captain
of the host of Ephraim was Elishama, the son of Ammihud.
(23) And over the host of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
The captain of the host of the tribe of Manasseh, which was under the standard of Ephraim, was Gamaliel, the son of Pedazur.
(24) And over the host of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.
The captain over the host of the tribe of Benjamin, that also moved under the standard of Ephraim, was Abidan, the son of Gideoni.
(25) And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan set forward, the rearward of all the camps throughout their hosts; and over his host was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
Finally the standard of Dan moved forward, bringing up the rear of all the camps. The captain of the host of the tribe of Dan was Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai. According to Numbers 2:25 they camped on the north side of the
tabernacle. Included under the standard of Dan were the tribes of Dan,
Asher, and Naphtali.
(26) And over the host of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran.
The captain over the host of the tribe of Asher, which was under the standard of Dan, was Pagiel, the son of Ocran.
(27) And over the host of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan.
The captain of the host of the tribe of Naphtali, also under the standard of Dan, was Ahira, the son of Enan.
(28) Thus were the journeyings of the children of Israel according to their armies, when they set forward.
Thus was the order in which the children of Israel journeyed forward, by their armies.
(29) And Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses's father-in-law, "We are journeying to the place of which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the LORD has spoken good concerning Israel."
Reuel or Jethro (in some scriptures) was Moses's father-in-law, Zipporah's father; therefore Hobab would be Zipporah's brother. Back in Exodus 18:27 Moses had left his father-in-law to go to his own land, but apparently, his brother-in-law had stayed with the Israelites. Now that they were moving on to the place the Lord was giving to them, Moses asked Hobab to join them, promising to treat him well because the Lord had promised blessings on Israel and they would share those with him.
(30) And he said to him, “I will not go, but I will depart to my own land and to my kindred."
Hobab refused, saying he would return to his own land and to his family.
(31) And he said, "Leave us not, I pray thee, forasmuch as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you may be our eyes."
Moses asked Hobab not to leave them, this time suggesting that he could help them. Obviously, the Lord was their guide in the cloud, but I suppose Hobab could have been useful in their daily excursions from their camps. He, being more familiar with the area, could point them to watering places, pastures, or point out dangerous places, etc. This may have been just Moses's attempt to show Hobab that they sincerely would like him to stay with them.
(32) “And it shall be, if you go with us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness the LORD shall do to us, the same will we do to you.”
Moses continued with his plea to Hobab, repeating that indeed if Hobab went with them, whatever goodness the Lord blessed them with, they would in turn bless Hobab.
(33) And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days' journey; and
the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days'
journey, to search out a resting place for them.
Although it doesn't specifically say so, I think we can assume that Hobab remained with the Israelites, because later scriptures show that
his posterity dwelt among the Israelites in Canaan. The Israelites departed from Mount Sinai, and traveled three days with the pillar of cloud over the Ark of the Covenant leading them, seeking out the next place for them to rest or camp.
(34) And the cloud of the LORD was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp.
The cloud did not just stay as a pillar at the head, but it spread itself in journeying over the whole body of people and was a covering to them from the heat of the sun, as well as a guide to them. The psalmist spoke of this in Psalm 105:39: "He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night."
(35) And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, “Rise up, O LORD, and let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You.”
When the ark set forward, Moses asked the Lord to rise up and scatter their enemies and those who hated Him, so that they might safely travel through the wilderness. That's a prayer we would all do well to remember; God must come first and we want to follow Him and be dependent upon Him for our successes.
(36) And when it rested, he said, “Return, O LORD, to the many thousands of Israel."
Moses also prayed when the ark rested. Having asked the Lord to rise up and scatter their enemies as they journeyed, he now asked Him to return to them and take up His abode with them. Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, likened this to the church of God, which has many thousands, hundreds of thousands, yet their safety is not in their numbers, but in the continual presence of God. Our welfare and happiness, like with the Israelites, depends upon His grace and mercy and guidance.
Sunday, July 1, 2018
The Israelites' Removal from Sinai to Paran, Part 1
(Numbers 10:13) And they first took their journey according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
In verse 12 at the end of the last post, we were told that the pillar of cloud lifted and the children of Israel moved from the wilderness of Sinai to the wilderness of Paran where the cloud again rested. The people set out on this first journey according to the commandment of the Lord that had been earlier described as the movement of the cloud, and by the directions that had been given to Moses and were carried out by him as follows:
(14) In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children of Judah according to their armies; and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
Numbers 2 explained the four standards, the tribes grouped under each standard, where they should camp, and the order of their marching. The Israelites under the standard of Judah were to move first; these included the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. These were camped on the east side and had been instructed in Numbers 2:9 to move out first. The captain of the tribe of Judah was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.
(15) And over the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar.
The captain of the tribe of Issachar that was also under the standard of Judah, was Nethanel, the son of Zuar.
(16) And over the host of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.
The captain of the host or army, if you will, of the children of Zebulun was Eliab, the son of Helon. The tribe of Zebulun also moved under the standard of Judah.
(17) And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing the tabernacle.
The tabernacle was taken down; according to Numbers 1:51, this would have been done by the Levites. Then specifically the Gershonites and Merarites moved forward carrying the tabernacle. Numbers 3 described the tribes of the sons of Levi and their particular duties as it related to the moving of the tabernacle. The Gershonites were responsible for the tent, the skin covering, and all the curtains and linen hangings of the tabernacle. The Merarites carried the boards of the tabernacle, including all the bars, pillars, and sockets.
(18) And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their armies; and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur.
Next the standard of Reuben moved forward. According to Numbers 2, the standard of Reuben camped on the south side, and the tribes under that standard were Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. The captain of the host of Reuben was Elizur, the son of Shedeur.
(19) And over the host of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
The captain of the host of the tribe of Simeon, which was under the standard of Reuben, was Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai.
(20) And over the host of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
The captain of the army of Gad, which was also under the standard of Reuben, was Eliasaph, the son of Deuel.
(21) And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary; and the other did set up the tabernacle before they came.
Next the Kohathites moved forward, carrying the holy things, including the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat, the showbread table, the gold candlestick, the altars, and all the vessels and furnishings of the sanctuary. The Gershonites and Merarites, who had marched before the Kohathites, had the tabernacle set up before the Kohathites came with the holy things.
Because Blogger limits the number of labels I can have per post, I will continue this in the next post:
The Israelites' Removal from Sinai to Paran, Part 2
In verse 12 at the end of the last post, we were told that the pillar of cloud lifted and the children of Israel moved from the wilderness of Sinai to the wilderness of Paran where the cloud again rested. The people set out on this first journey according to the commandment of the Lord that had been earlier described as the movement of the cloud, and by the directions that had been given to Moses and were carried out by him as follows:
(14) In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children of Judah according to their armies; and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
Numbers 2 explained the four standards, the tribes grouped under each standard, where they should camp, and the order of their marching. The Israelites under the standard of Judah were to move first; these included the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. These were camped on the east side and had been instructed in Numbers 2:9 to move out first. The captain of the tribe of Judah was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.
(15) And over the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar.
The captain of the tribe of Issachar that was also under the standard of Judah, was Nethanel, the son of Zuar.
(16) And over the host of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.
The captain of the host or army, if you will, of the children of Zebulun was Eliab, the son of Helon. The tribe of Zebulun also moved under the standard of Judah.
(17) And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing the tabernacle.
The tabernacle was taken down; according to Numbers 1:51, this would have been done by the Levites. Then specifically the Gershonites and Merarites moved forward carrying the tabernacle. Numbers 3 described the tribes of the sons of Levi and their particular duties as it related to the moving of the tabernacle. The Gershonites were responsible for the tent, the skin covering, and all the curtains and linen hangings of the tabernacle. The Merarites carried the boards of the tabernacle, including all the bars, pillars, and sockets.
(18) And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their armies; and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur.
Next the standard of Reuben moved forward. According to Numbers 2, the standard of Reuben camped on the south side, and the tribes under that standard were Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. The captain of the host of Reuben was Elizur, the son of Shedeur.
(19) And over the host of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
The captain of the host of the tribe of Simeon, which was under the standard of Reuben, was Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai.
(20) And over the host of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
The captain of the army of Gad, which was also under the standard of Reuben, was Eliasaph, the son of Deuel.
(21) And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary; and the other did set up the tabernacle before they came.
Next the Kohathites moved forward, carrying the holy things, including the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat, the showbread table, the gold candlestick, the altars, and all the vessels and furnishings of the sanctuary. The Gershonites and Merarites, who had marched before the Kohathites, had the tabernacle set up before the Kohathites came with the holy things.
Because Blogger limits the number of labels I can have per post, I will continue this in the next post:
The Israelites' Removal from Sinai to Paran, Part 2
Friday, June 15, 2018
Use of the Silver Trumpets
Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Numbers 10:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Make you two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece you shall make them; that you may use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps."
In the last chapter and post, God had given instructions to Moses about how the people were to move and camp according to the pillar of cloud above the tabernacle. When it rested on the tabernacle, they were to camp and stay camped until the cloud lifted up into the pillar, at which point they were to move. Now the Lord told Moses to make two silver trumpets that were to be used when it was time to move, or whenever he needed to call an assembly. Each trumpet was to be made from a single piece of silver, hammered into shape, rather than in pieces joined together.
(3) "And when they blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to you at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."
When they blew both trumpets together, the whole congregation was to come together at the door of the tabernacle. "They" who blew them were the priests, as will be revealed in a later verse.
(4) "And if they blow but one trumpet, then the princes, heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves to you."
If the priests blew only one trumpet, that was a signal for just the princes of the tribes to assemble. Both trumpets were sounded for the whole congregation, one can assume because it was louder and could be heard at a greater distance; but if only one was sounded, that was a signal for just the princes to assemble.
(5) "When you blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward."
When they blew an alarm, which apparently was a different sound from the other signals, then the camps on the east side, the camps of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, were to move forward.
(6) "When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey; they shall blow an alarm for their journeys."
When the alarm sound was blown a second time, the camps on the south side, Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, were to march forward. The alarm, which was evidently different than the signals for assembly, was to be sounded when the people were to journey. Although scripture didn't report it, the historian Josephus said that at the third sounding of the alarm, the camps on the west (Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin) moved, and on the fourth, the camps of the north (Dan, Asher, and Naphtali).
(7) "But when the congregation is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm."
Once again, we are told the trumpet sound for the gathering of the assembly was not the same as the alarm sound for movement of the camps.
(8) "And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance forever throughout your generations."
The sons of Aaron, the priests, were the ones who were to blow the trumpets. I believe the meaning of the second part of the verse is that it was to be an ordinance forever, or at least as long as the Levitical priesthood lasted, that only the priests blew the trumpets.
(9) "And if you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresses you, then you shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and you shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies."
If the people went to war in their land against an oppressive enemy, they were to blow an alarm with the trumpets, in a sense calling to the Lord to be with them and save them from their enemies, which is what the Lord promised to do in this verse. As Matthew Henry stated in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "Not that God needed to be awaked by sound of trumpet...But where he intends mercy it is his will that we should solicit it." God wants us to depend and call upon Him and Him alone for our salvation.
(10) “Also in the day of your gladness, in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, that they may be to you for a memorial before your God; I am the LORD your God."
God named times when the priests should blow the trumpets: in their days of celebration, rejoicing, and thanksgiving; in their solemn days which referred to their appointed festivals like Passover and Pentecost, etc.; at the beginnings of the months; and over their burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of their peace offerings. The blowing of the trumpets purposefully brought their Lord to their minds, remembering His promises, faithfulness, and blessings.
(11) And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony.
On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year since their coming out of Egypt, the pillar of cloud was lifted up from the tabernacle of the Testimony, indicating it was time to move on from their camps. They had been encamped almost a year according to Exodus 19:1, which stated they came to the wilderness at Sinai in the third month of the first year of their exodus from Egypt.
(12) And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran.
At the sign of the pillar of cloud the people packed up and journeyed out of the wilderness of Sinai and to the wilderness of Paran, which is where the cloud again rested on the tabernacle. I like what Matthew Henry wrote about this relating to our current times: "All our removals in this world are but from one wilderness to another. The changes which we think will be for the better do not always prove so; while we carry about with us, wherever we go, the common infirmities of human nature, we must expect, wherever we go, to meet with its common calamities; we shall never be at rest, never at home, till we come to heaven, and all will be well there."
Although this is a relatively short post, I have to separate this chapter into two different posts because Blogger limits the number of labels I can have per post, and I find them all important and don't want to omit any of them. This seems a good stopping point as it ends the Israelites' many months (and chapters) of encampment.
(Numbers 10:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Make you two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece you shall make them; that you may use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps."
In the last chapter and post, God had given instructions to Moses about how the people were to move and camp according to the pillar of cloud above the tabernacle. When it rested on the tabernacle, they were to camp and stay camped until the cloud lifted up into the pillar, at which point they were to move. Now the Lord told Moses to make two silver trumpets that were to be used when it was time to move, or whenever he needed to call an assembly. Each trumpet was to be made from a single piece of silver, hammered into shape, rather than in pieces joined together.
(3) "And when they blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to you at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."
When they blew both trumpets together, the whole congregation was to come together at the door of the tabernacle. "They" who blew them were the priests, as will be revealed in a later verse.
(4) "And if they blow but one trumpet, then the princes, heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves to you."
If the priests blew only one trumpet, that was a signal for just the princes of the tribes to assemble. Both trumpets were sounded for the whole congregation, one can assume because it was louder and could be heard at a greater distance; but if only one was sounded, that was a signal for just the princes to assemble.
(5) "When you blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward."
When they blew an alarm, which apparently was a different sound from the other signals, then the camps on the east side, the camps of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, were to move forward.
(6) "When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey; they shall blow an alarm for their journeys."
When the alarm sound was blown a second time, the camps on the south side, Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, were to march forward. The alarm, which was evidently different than the signals for assembly, was to be sounded when the people were to journey. Although scripture didn't report it, the historian Josephus said that at the third sounding of the alarm, the camps on the west (Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin) moved, and on the fourth, the camps of the north (Dan, Asher, and Naphtali).
(7) "But when the congregation is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm."
Once again, we are told the trumpet sound for the gathering of the assembly was not the same as the alarm sound for movement of the camps.
(8) "And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance forever throughout your generations."
The sons of Aaron, the priests, were the ones who were to blow the trumpets. I believe the meaning of the second part of the verse is that it was to be an ordinance forever, or at least as long as the Levitical priesthood lasted, that only the priests blew the trumpets.
(9) "And if you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresses you, then you shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and you shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies."
If the people went to war in their land against an oppressive enemy, they were to blow an alarm with the trumpets, in a sense calling to the Lord to be with them and save them from their enemies, which is what the Lord promised to do in this verse. As Matthew Henry stated in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "Not that God needed to be awaked by sound of trumpet...But where he intends mercy it is his will that we should solicit it." God wants us to depend and call upon Him and Him alone for our salvation.
(10) “Also in the day of your gladness, in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, that they may be to you for a memorial before your God; I am the LORD your God."
God named times when the priests should blow the trumpets: in their days of celebration, rejoicing, and thanksgiving; in their solemn days which referred to their appointed festivals like Passover and Pentecost, etc.; at the beginnings of the months; and over their burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of their peace offerings. The blowing of the trumpets purposefully brought their Lord to their minds, remembering His promises, faithfulness, and blessings.
(11) And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony.
On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year since their coming out of Egypt, the pillar of cloud was lifted up from the tabernacle of the Testimony, indicating it was time to move on from their camps. They had been encamped almost a year according to Exodus 19:1, which stated they came to the wilderness at Sinai in the third month of the first year of their exodus from Egypt.
(12) And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran.
At the sign of the pillar of cloud the people packed up and journeyed out of the wilderness of Sinai and to the wilderness of Paran, which is where the cloud again rested on the tabernacle. I like what Matthew Henry wrote about this relating to our current times: "All our removals in this world are but from one wilderness to another. The changes which we think will be for the better do not always prove so; while we carry about with us, wherever we go, the common infirmities of human nature, we must expect, wherever we go, to meet with its common calamities; we shall never be at rest, never at home, till we come to heaven, and all will be well there."
Although this is a relatively short post, I have to separate this chapter into two different posts because Blogger limits the number of labels I can have per post, and I find them all important and don't want to omit any of them. This seems a good stopping point as it ends the Israelites' many months (and chapters) of encampment.
Sunday, June 3, 2018
The Passover and the Pillar of Cloud Directing the Movements of the Israelites
Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Numbers 9:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, (2) "Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at its appointed time."
I am supposedly doing a chronological Bible study, one that was suggested by Skip Andrews found here. However, this taking place in the first month of the second year after they had come out of Egypt, was actually prior to the numbering that took place in Numbers 1 which was on the first day of the second month (Num. 1:1). Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, explained it this way: "It is...recorded here as introductory to the ordinance of Num. 9:6-14 in this chapter respecting the supplementary Passover; the observance of which was one of the last occurrences during the halt at Sinai." The Lord spoke to Moses telling him the children of Israel were to keep the Passover at its appointed time as follows:
(3) "In the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you shall keep it at its appointed time; and according to all its ceremonies you shall keep it.”
The fourteenth day of this first month, Abib or Nissan (corresponding to our March or April), at evening, which was when the Hebrew day started, they were to keep the Passover according to all its ceremonies which had been previously described in Exodus 12.
(4) And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should keep the Passover.
Moses told the children of Israel what the Lord had told him about them keeping the Passover at its appointed time.
(5) And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at evening in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did.
The Israelites kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at evening, just as the Lord had commanded Moses that they do. As far as keeping all its ceremonies (v. 3 above), some details would necessarily differ from the first Passover, like putting the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts, which was not only impossible since they were living in tents, but also unnecessary since they were not in Egypt and no longer had to be identified and "passed over" during the killing of all the firstborn in Egypt. However, the people had been instructed to keep that day as a memorial and keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout their generations (Exodus 12:14).
(6) And there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.
There were certain men who could not keep the Passover on that day because they had been defiled by a dead body. The people had been told previously in Numbers 5:2 to separate those who had been defiled by the dead from the camp. Albert Barnes suggested that these men were probably Mishael and Elzaphan, who buried Nadab and Abihu within a week of this Passover. Moses was the one who had instructed these men to carry their brethren out of the camp (Lev. 10:4), so it was certainly through no fault of their own that they could not keep the Passover. Therefore they brought their case to Moses and Aaron.
(7) And those men said to him, “We are defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in its appointed time among the children of Israel?"
The men explained to Moses that they had been defiled by a dead body, and seemed to lament the fact that they would not be able to participate in the Lord's Passover at its appointed time.
(8) And Moses said to them, “Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you."
Moses told the men to wait there while he consulted the Lord about what He would have these men do.
(9) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (10) “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If any man of you or of your posterity is unclean because of a dead body, or is on a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover to the LORD.'"
The Lord told Moses to tell the children of Israel that if any of them at that time and in their future generations became unclean because of a dead body, or found themselves on a journey far away, they would still be able to keep the Passover to the Lord.
(11) "'The fourteenth day of the second month at evening they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.'"
They would be allowed to keep the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month, that is Iyar, corresponding to our April or May. That gave them an entire month to cleanse themselves if they were defiled or to return home and prepare for the Passover, which was never to be omitted. The Passover lamb was to be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs as instructed in Exodus 12:8.
(12) "‘They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break any bone of it; according to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it.'"
None of the flesh of the Passover lamb was to be left until morning, but any that was left was to be burnt with fire (Ex. 12:10), nor was any bone of the lamb to be broken (Ex. 12:46). The people were to observe the same ordinances of the Passover as if they had kept it on its appointed day.
(13) "‘But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, that same person shall be cut off from among his people; because he did not bring the offering of the LORD at its appointed time, that man shall bear his sin.'"
However, if a person was not defiled and was not on a journey afar off, but just neglected to keep the Passover for whatsoever petty reason, that person was to be cut off from among his people, which meant either excommunication or even death by the immediate hand of God. Because that man had broken a divine law of God and had shown negligence and ingratitude to his Lord, he would certainly bear his sin in this affront to God.
(14) "'And if a stranger shall sojourn among you and will keep the Passover to the LORD, according to the ordinance of the Passover and according to its manner, so shall he do; you shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger and for him that was born in the land.'"
If a stranger was visiting and wished to participate in the Passover, he could, as long as he had been circumcised, according to earlier instructions in Exodus 12:48: "And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land; for no uncircumcised person shall eat of it." If the stranger was circumcised and wished to participate in the Passover, he may, but he must observe the law of the Passover just as a child of Israel must.
(15) And on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; and at evening there was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire, until the morning.
On the day that the tabernacle was raised up, which was the first day of the first month in the second year after the people came out of Egypt (Exodus 40:2), the pillar of cloud in which the presence of the Lord manifested itself (Exodus 13:21), covered the tabernacle, more specifically that part that covered the Ark of the Testimony. Through the night the cloud looked like a pillar of fire.
(16) So it was always; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
So it was that the Lord was with them always; the cloud covered the tent of the testimony by day, and the appearance of fire covered it by night. The King James translators supplied the words "by day"; they were not in the original text. Even commentators agree the words were necessarily applied. However, I see the meaning clearly without those words. Those words make it sound as if the cloud took on two different forms, one as a cloud during the day and one as a pillar of fire during the night. I see the meaning as the cloud covered it always and that same cloud had the appearance of fire at night.
(17) And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.
We learned in earlier scriptures that the cloud was with them always guiding them on their journey (Exodus 13:21-22), but when the tabernacle had been raised, the cloud covered the tent and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34). When the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, as that pillar of cloud probably visible to all the camp, then the children of Israel journeyed with the pillar of cloud guiding them. When the cloud settled back down, there the Israelites pitched their tents.
(18) At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched; as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.
It's not that the Lord audibly commanded they journey, but by the motion of the cloud, He directed them to move or camp. As long as the cloud abode over the tabernacle, the people rested in their tents.
(19) And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and did not journey.
Even if the cloud remained over the tabernacle many days, the children of Israel obeyed the Lord's command and did not journey.
(20) And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.
That was the way it was for the people when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle. According to the commandment of the Lord through the motion of the cloud, they either abode in their tents or journeyed.
(21) And so it was, when the cloud abode from evening until the morning, and the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed; whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
Likewise, that was the way it was for them if the cloud rested over the tabernacle only one night. Whenever the cloud was taken up, whether day or night, they journeyed.
(22) Or whether it was two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining on it, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
Even if it was more than a few days, if it was a month or a year that the cloud remained on the tabernacle, the children of Israel resided in their tents and did not journey. At the time it was taken up, whenever that was, they journeyed.
(23) At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed; they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
Once again, the commandment was made visible to the people by the motion of the cloud, and they obeyed and rested in their tents, or they obeyed and journeyed, according to the commandment of the Lord that had been explained to Moses.
There are many lessons to be learned in this pillar of cloud. The people never knew when the cloud would move. They had to be always ready to move, but then again, they could be waiting days, weeks, or months. Is that not the way it is for us? We have no idea what the future holds and our best laid plans can be wiped away in an instant: "Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (James 4:14). Also there is a time when we should rest and wait on the Lord: "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him..." (Psalm 37:7a). As Matthew Henry stated in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "There is no time lost while we are waiting God's time. It is as acceptable a piece of submission to the will of God to sit still contentedly when our lot requires it as to work for him when we are called to it." When we get busy and try to fix things ourselves, we can often screw it up, or at the very least, we won't have God's best for us! Think of Sarah deciding it must be up to her to "help" God when she gave Abraham her hand maiden Hagar to have a child for him. God still gave Sarah a child, but there was much strife in her life caused by Hagar and her child, all because Sarah jumped in to "do something" before God's timing.
Note how many times it was stated that the people obeyed the commandment of the Lord in the cloud. It must be very important and I believe, for our instruction, as "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). How important it is for us to be with God at all times! We must follow the direction of His word and Spirit; "all the motions of our souls must be guided by the divine will" (Matthew Henry). "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:6). How wonderful the care God has for His people! Although we don't visually see His constant presence in a cloud, He gave us His Holy Spirit to guide us: “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth..." (John 16:13a). "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD..." (Psalm 37:23a).
(Numbers 9:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, (2) "Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at its appointed time."
I am supposedly doing a chronological Bible study, one that was suggested by Skip Andrews found here. However, this taking place in the first month of the second year after they had come out of Egypt, was actually prior to the numbering that took place in Numbers 1 which was on the first day of the second month (Num. 1:1). Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, explained it this way: "It is...recorded here as introductory to the ordinance of Num. 9:6-14 in this chapter respecting the supplementary Passover; the observance of which was one of the last occurrences during the halt at Sinai." The Lord spoke to Moses telling him the children of Israel were to keep the Passover at its appointed time as follows:
(3) "In the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you shall keep it at its appointed time; and according to all its ceremonies you shall keep it.”
The fourteenth day of this first month, Abib or Nissan (corresponding to our March or April), at evening, which was when the Hebrew day started, they were to keep the Passover according to all its ceremonies which had been previously described in Exodus 12.
(4) And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should keep the Passover.
Moses told the children of Israel what the Lord had told him about them keeping the Passover at its appointed time.
(5) And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at evening in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did.
The Israelites kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at evening, just as the Lord had commanded Moses that they do. As far as keeping all its ceremonies (v. 3 above), some details would necessarily differ from the first Passover, like putting the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts, which was not only impossible since they were living in tents, but also unnecessary since they were not in Egypt and no longer had to be identified and "passed over" during the killing of all the firstborn in Egypt. However, the people had been instructed to keep that day as a memorial and keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout their generations (Exodus 12:14).
(6) And there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.
There were certain men who could not keep the Passover on that day because they had been defiled by a dead body. The people had been told previously in Numbers 5:2 to separate those who had been defiled by the dead from the camp. Albert Barnes suggested that these men were probably Mishael and Elzaphan, who buried Nadab and Abihu within a week of this Passover. Moses was the one who had instructed these men to carry their brethren out of the camp (Lev. 10:4), so it was certainly through no fault of their own that they could not keep the Passover. Therefore they brought their case to Moses and Aaron.
(7) And those men said to him, “We are defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in its appointed time among the children of Israel?"
The men explained to Moses that they had been defiled by a dead body, and seemed to lament the fact that they would not be able to participate in the Lord's Passover at its appointed time.
(8) And Moses said to them, “Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you."
Moses told the men to wait there while he consulted the Lord about what He would have these men do.
(9) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (10) “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If any man of you or of your posterity is unclean because of a dead body, or is on a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover to the LORD.'"
The Lord told Moses to tell the children of Israel that if any of them at that time and in their future generations became unclean because of a dead body, or found themselves on a journey far away, they would still be able to keep the Passover to the Lord.
(11) "'The fourteenth day of the second month at evening they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.'"
They would be allowed to keep the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month, that is Iyar, corresponding to our April or May. That gave them an entire month to cleanse themselves if they were defiled or to return home and prepare for the Passover, which was never to be omitted. The Passover lamb was to be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs as instructed in Exodus 12:8.
(12) "‘They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break any bone of it; according to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it.'"
None of the flesh of the Passover lamb was to be left until morning, but any that was left was to be burnt with fire (Ex. 12:10), nor was any bone of the lamb to be broken (Ex. 12:46). The people were to observe the same ordinances of the Passover as if they had kept it on its appointed day.
(13) "‘But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, that same person shall be cut off from among his people; because he did not bring the offering of the LORD at its appointed time, that man shall bear his sin.'"
However, if a person was not defiled and was not on a journey afar off, but just neglected to keep the Passover for whatsoever petty reason, that person was to be cut off from among his people, which meant either excommunication or even death by the immediate hand of God. Because that man had broken a divine law of God and had shown negligence and ingratitude to his Lord, he would certainly bear his sin in this affront to God.
(14) "'And if a stranger shall sojourn among you and will keep the Passover to the LORD, according to the ordinance of the Passover and according to its manner, so shall he do; you shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger and for him that was born in the land.'"
If a stranger was visiting and wished to participate in the Passover, he could, as long as he had been circumcised, according to earlier instructions in Exodus 12:48: "And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land; for no uncircumcised person shall eat of it." If the stranger was circumcised and wished to participate in the Passover, he may, but he must observe the law of the Passover just as a child of Israel must.
(15) And on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; and at evening there was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire, until the morning.
On the day that the tabernacle was raised up, which was the first day of the first month in the second year after the people came out of Egypt (Exodus 40:2), the pillar of cloud in which the presence of the Lord manifested itself (Exodus 13:21), covered the tabernacle, more specifically that part that covered the Ark of the Testimony. Through the night the cloud looked like a pillar of fire.
(16) So it was always; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
So it was that the Lord was with them always; the cloud covered the tent of the testimony by day, and the appearance of fire covered it by night. The King James translators supplied the words "by day"; they were not in the original text. Even commentators agree the words were necessarily applied. However, I see the meaning clearly without those words. Those words make it sound as if the cloud took on two different forms, one as a cloud during the day and one as a pillar of fire during the night. I see the meaning as the cloud covered it always and that same cloud had the appearance of fire at night.
(17) And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.
We learned in earlier scriptures that the cloud was with them always guiding them on their journey (Exodus 13:21-22), but when the tabernacle had been raised, the cloud covered the tent and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34). When the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, as that pillar of cloud probably visible to all the camp, then the children of Israel journeyed with the pillar of cloud guiding them. When the cloud settled back down, there the Israelites pitched their tents.
(18) At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched; as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.
It's not that the Lord audibly commanded they journey, but by the motion of the cloud, He directed them to move or camp. As long as the cloud abode over the tabernacle, the people rested in their tents.
(19) And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and did not journey.
Even if the cloud remained over the tabernacle many days, the children of Israel obeyed the Lord's command and did not journey.
(20) And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.
That was the way it was for the people when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle. According to the commandment of the Lord through the motion of the cloud, they either abode in their tents or journeyed.
(21) And so it was, when the cloud abode from evening until the morning, and the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed; whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
Likewise, that was the way it was for them if the cloud rested over the tabernacle only one night. Whenever the cloud was taken up, whether day or night, they journeyed.
(22) Or whether it was two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining on it, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
Even if it was more than a few days, if it was a month or a year that the cloud remained on the tabernacle, the children of Israel resided in their tents and did not journey. At the time it was taken up, whenever that was, they journeyed.
(23) At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed; they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
Once again, the commandment was made visible to the people by the motion of the cloud, and they obeyed and rested in their tents, or they obeyed and journeyed, according to the commandment of the Lord that had been explained to Moses.
There are many lessons to be learned in this pillar of cloud. The people never knew when the cloud would move. They had to be always ready to move, but then again, they could be waiting days, weeks, or months. Is that not the way it is for us? We have no idea what the future holds and our best laid plans can be wiped away in an instant: "Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (James 4:14). Also there is a time when we should rest and wait on the Lord: "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him..." (Psalm 37:7a). As Matthew Henry stated in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "There is no time lost while we are waiting God's time. It is as acceptable a piece of submission to the will of God to sit still contentedly when our lot requires it as to work for him when we are called to it." When we get busy and try to fix things ourselves, we can often screw it up, or at the very least, we won't have God's best for us! Think of Sarah deciding it must be up to her to "help" God when she gave Abraham her hand maiden Hagar to have a child for him. God still gave Sarah a child, but there was much strife in her life caused by Hagar and her child, all because Sarah jumped in to "do something" before God's timing.
Note how many times it was stated that the people obeyed the commandment of the Lord in the cloud. It must be very important and I believe, for our instruction, as "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). How important it is for us to be with God at all times! We must follow the direction of His word and Spirit; "all the motions of our souls must be guided by the divine will" (Matthew Henry). "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:6). How wonderful the care God has for His people! Although we don't visually see His constant presence in a cloud, He gave us His Holy Spirit to guide us: “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth..." (John 16:13a). "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD..." (Psalm 37:23a).
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Consecration of the Levites
Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Numbers 8:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Speak to Aaron, and say to him, ‘When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.'"
In the last chapter and post there had just been a formal dedication of the tabernacle and the altar. Rich and elaborate offerings had been presented by the twelves princes of the tribes of Israel on twelve consecutive days. The last verse of chapter 7 stated that when Moses went into the tabernacle after the twelve days' of offerings to speak with the Lord that he heard His voice speaking to him from the mercy seat on the ark of the Testimony, and this is what He said. He told Moses to speak to Aaron about what was evidently the first lighting of the seven lamps of the candlestand. When Aaron lighted the lamps the seven lamps would give light over what was in front of the candlestand, that being the part of the tabernacle where the showbread table stood.
(3) And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Aaron did as the Lord commanded to Moses that he do. He lit the lamps of the candlestand. That difficult language of the phrase "over against" was used in many places in scripture and always meant "in front of". It's the light that shone over and out from that side of the candlestand which was its front facing the showbread table.
(4) And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, to its shaft, to its flowers, was beaten work; according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the candlestick.
The work of the lampstand was of solid hammered gold in a pattern of branches, bowls, and flowers that had been instructed by the Lord to Moses in Exodus 25:31. Moses had made it (or oversaw the making of it) just as the Lord had instructed.
(5) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (6) “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them."
Again the Lord spoke to Moses telling him to pull the Levites out from among the children of Israel and ceremonially cleanse them in the following manner:
(7) "And thus shall you do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean."
Moses was to follow these instructions to cleanse the Levites. First he was to sprinkle "water of purifying" on them. It is very interesting to note that the original word "chattath" that was translated as "purifying" literally means "sin". They were sprinkled with water of sin to purify them from sin. Then they were to clean themselves by shaving their bodies and washing their clothes.
(8) “Then let them take a young bullock with its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, and another young bullock shall you take for a sin offering."
Then they were to take a young bull with the grain offering that always accompanied a burnt offering, and another young bull was to be offered for a sin offering.
(9) “And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation, and you shall gather together the whole assembly of the children of Israel together."
The Levites were to be brought to the tabernacle, and the entire congregation of the children of Israel were to be brought together so that what was to follow might be done in the presence of all.
(10) "And you shall bring the Levites before the LORD, and the children of Israel shall put their hands on the Levites; (11) And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD."
The Levites were to be brought before the Lord at the tabernacle and the children of Israel were to place their hands upon them. Some commentaries suggest that it was only the princes and elders of the tribes that placed their hands on the Levites, as it would be impossible for every last Israelite to do that. However, as there were many Levites, I can see that there would be room for many more than just the princes and elders to take part in this. The people took part with Aaron in offering the Levites to the Lord that they might execute the service of the Lord. John Wesley, in his Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, reminded us that by putting their hands on the Levites, the people "signified their transferring that right of ministering to God from the first-born in whose hands it formerly was, to the Levites, and their entire resignation and dedication of them to God's service."
It is interesting to note that the original word "nuph" that was translated as "offer" in verse 11 is the same word that has been previously translated as "wave" as in wave offerings. Some Biblical scholars believed that while Aaron could not physically wave the Levites back and forth, he perhaps made that side to side motion himself and the Levites in turn imitated his motions, thus offering themselves to the service of the Lord. Whether they actually waved back and forth or not, I believe at the very least it was as Matthew Henry wrote in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "not that they were actually waved, but they were presented to God as the God of heaven, and the Lord of the whole earth, as the wave-offerings were. And in calling them wave-offerings it was intimated to them that they must continually lift up themselves towards God in his service, lift up their eyes, lift up their hearts, and must move to and fro with readiness in the business of their profession. They were not ordained to be idle, but to be active and stirring."
(12) "And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks, and you shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites."
The Levites in turn were to place their hands on the heads of the bullocks transferring their sins to them so that by the bulls' sacrifice, atonement would be made for the Levites. One bull was offered for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. The Levites' sins had to be atoned for before they could be employed in the service of the Lord.
(13) “And you shall set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering to the LORD."
After atonement was made for them, the Levites were presented to Aaron and his sons to do service and assist the priests. Again "nuph" was used, indicating a wave offering. Whether or not they waved back and forth or to and fro, they were presented like a wave offering to the Lord.
(14) “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine."
By following the instructions laid out in verses 6 through 13, Moses would separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites would be considered the Lord's to do His service.
(15) "And after that the Levites shall go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and you shall cleanse them and offer them for an offering."
After that the Levites would be able to go into probably what was just the court of the tabernacle to do the service of the tabernacle; only the priests were allowed to go into the sanctuary. They probably weren't cleansed and offered again after they came into the courtyard, but "so shall you cleanse them..." and then they could go into the court of the tabernacle to do its service.
(16) “For they are wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel; I have taken them to Me instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel."
The Levites were wholly given to the Lord from the children of Israel. God took them as His own instead of the first-born as He before stated in Numbers 3:41.
(17) "For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast; on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself."
God reminded them why it was that all the firstborn of both man and beast were His. On the day that He struck all the firstborn of the Egyptians, He protected His people and saved alive their firstborn. Back in Exodus 13:2, the Lord ordered all the firstborn of both man and beast to be sanctified to Him, claimed as His own and set apart for His own use.
(18) "And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel."
In a sense the Lord gave up His right to all the firstborn, and accepted the Levites in their place. It's not that the Lord was given any "rights"; He has the "right" to ALL people and animals! I find it so interesting that God always did things according to what would seem fair and equitable to us humans. Even an even exchange for Levites in place of the firstborn wasn't completely equal, so He had the 273 more firstborn than Levites redeemed (Numbers 3:46). This is really amazing when you think about it! The supreme God of the universe has every right to anything He wants because all are His alone as His own creations, but He makes things fair in our eyes. Who are we that God needs to "play fair" with us? But it proves how just our Lord truly is, and why we can completely trust Him in everything!
I can hear all the dissents as I write this about how fair it is for a child to die from cancer or any such similar unfair cases! For one, this world is not our home; we truly are passing through. Death hurts the ones left behind much more than it does the one who died. God didn't cause cancer or cause a person to torture and kill another. It may be true that He allowed it, but good always comes to those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). It took awhile after a long process of healing, but I have come to realize that my Daddy dying at a young age from cancer helped to bring me to my Lord. And I would certainly give my life for my child! This world will always be plagued with troubles, so if going through some brings eternal life to others, isn't that our purpose on this pit stop called Earth? This is something I have only recently come to understand. Jesus's great commission was to go and teach all the nations what He had taught. While some people go out into the world and preach, and that is their calling and purpose, perhaps some others of us may have the purpose of letting Christ shine through even in our afflictions, and thus bringing others to Him. Why do some have to suffer more than others? Even in that I have come to have peace. Because our Lord is so just and fair, you can bet that those who have given more will be rewarded more! That doesn't mean in this world, but in our home to come.
(19) “And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary.”
The Lord gave the Levites who were His own as a gift to Aaron and his sons, to do the service of the tabernacle for all the children of Israel. The service of the tabernacle was something all the Israelites were responsible for having done, so in that respect, the Levites were doing their service. The Levites were to make atonement for the children of Israel in that they would perform the services which were required to be done by the children of Israel, thus the Levites were the atonement for the souls of the Israelites, that there be no wrath from God upon the children of Israel (Numbers 1:53). The Levites were to keep charge of the tabernacle that there be no plague among the children of Israel when they might come nearer to the sanctuary than they should or touch things that they should not touch.
(20) And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites; so the children of Israel did to them.
Moses, Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded to Moses that they do regarding the Levites.
(21) And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the LORD; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.
The Levites were purified by the sprinkling of purifying water, shaving themselves, and washing their clothes as instructed in verse 7 above. Aaron offered them as an offering before the Lord "for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD" (verse 11 above). The bulls for a sin offering and a burnt offering to the LORD (verse 12 above), made atonement for the Levites. Thus they were cleansed and ready to do the work of the tabernacle.
Matthew Henry pointed out that Aaron offered the Levites to God in verse 11, and then God gave them back to Aaron in verse 19. He wrote, "Whatever we give up to God, He will give back to us unspeakably to our advantage. Our hearts, our children, our estates, are never more ours, more truly, more comfortably ours, than when we have offered them up to God."
(22) And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons; as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
After that the Levites went into the court of the tabernacle to do the service of the tabernacle in the presence of Aaron and his sons, the priests, and by their direction. Just as the Lord had commanded through Moses they do, so they did.
(23) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (24) "This is that which is the Levites'; from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to perform the service of the tabernacle of the congregation."
The Lord then spoke to Moses, telling him what pertained to the Levites, that from 25 years of age and upward they would go into service of the tabernacle. The original word translated as "perform" was that word "tsaba" earlier explored that means "to muster as an army", "to serve", and "to go forth to war"; theirs was spiritual warfare.
Numbers 4:3 and 4:47 specifically said that it was from age thirty that the Levites came to do the service of the tabernacle. Biblical scholars suggest that either they went in at age 25 to learn the rites of service that they would perform beginning at age thirty, or as Dr. John Gill wrote in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, "what Aben Ezra proposes" (Jewish biblical commentator and philosopher of the Middle Ages)..."at thirty years of age a Levite entered into the service of bearing and carrying burdens; and at twenty five years of age he entered into the service of the tent or tabernacle, where he was employed in lighter service, such as opening and shutting the doors of the sanctuary, keeping out strangers and unclean persons, and singing the songs of the sanctuary; but was not concerned till thirty years of age in carrying the vessels of the sanctuary on the shoulders, as the Kohathites; or in taking down and setting up the tabernacle, loading and unloading the wagons, as the Gershonites and Merarites; which is the business assigned unto them, and spoken of in Num. 4:22, where the age of thirty years, and upward, is mentioned, as the time of their entrance on it, Num. 4:23."
(25) "And from the age of fifty years they shall cease performing this work, and shall work no more."
They were to work in the service of the tabernacle until the age of fifty, at which time they were to do no more of the heavy service of it. Some of the old commentaries I study pointed out that the phrase that was translated as "cease performing" literally meant "return from the warfare", once again indicating that while the Levites did not go to war, they did fight a spiritual war.
(26) "But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites regarding their charge."
The Levites over fifty years of age would still minister with their brothers in the tabernacle, by assisting their brothers with advice, counsel, and direction. They surely sang psalms, and perhaps another element of keeping the charge of the tabernacle, would have been to guard the door to keep those who should not come in from entering. Over the age of fifty, they were in no way disgraced, but rather were able to rest from the heavy labor and were still relevant in the service of the tabernacle. God ended His instructions by declaring that what He had described before was what Moses was to do regarding the service of the Levites.
Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, wisely surmised, "If it required so much legal purity to fit the Levites for their work in the tabernacle, can we suppose that it requires less spiritual purity to fit ministers of the Gospel to proclaim the righteousness of the Most High, and administer the sacred ordinances of Christianity to the flock of Christ? If these must be without spot, as the priests before without blemish, and these were only typical men, we may rest assured that a Christian minister requires no ordinary measures of holiness to prepare him for an acceptable and profitable discharge of his office. If the Christian ministry be established to prepare men for the kingdom of God, of the holiness of which the purity of the camp was but a faint emblem, how can any man expect to enter that place of blessedness, who has not his heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, and his body washed with pure water; his life and conversation agreeable to the sacred precepts laid down in the Gospel of Christ? If the law of Moses were more read in reference to the Gospel, the Gospel itself and its requisitions would be much better understood."
(Numbers 8:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Speak to Aaron, and say to him, ‘When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.'"
In the last chapter and post there had just been a formal dedication of the tabernacle and the altar. Rich and elaborate offerings had been presented by the twelves princes of the tribes of Israel on twelve consecutive days. The last verse of chapter 7 stated that when Moses went into the tabernacle after the twelve days' of offerings to speak with the Lord that he heard His voice speaking to him from the mercy seat on the ark of the Testimony, and this is what He said. He told Moses to speak to Aaron about what was evidently the first lighting of the seven lamps of the candlestand. When Aaron lighted the lamps the seven lamps would give light over what was in front of the candlestand, that being the part of the tabernacle where the showbread table stood.
(3) And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Aaron did as the Lord commanded to Moses that he do. He lit the lamps of the candlestand. That difficult language of the phrase "over against" was used in many places in scripture and always meant "in front of". It's the light that shone over and out from that side of the candlestand which was its front facing the showbread table.
(4) And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, to its shaft, to its flowers, was beaten work; according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the candlestick.
The work of the lampstand was of solid hammered gold in a pattern of branches, bowls, and flowers that had been instructed by the Lord to Moses in Exodus 25:31. Moses had made it (or oversaw the making of it) just as the Lord had instructed.
(5) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (6) “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them."
Again the Lord spoke to Moses telling him to pull the Levites out from among the children of Israel and ceremonially cleanse them in the following manner:
(7) "And thus shall you do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean."
Moses was to follow these instructions to cleanse the Levites. First he was to sprinkle "water of purifying" on them. It is very interesting to note that the original word "chattath" that was translated as "purifying" literally means "sin". They were sprinkled with water of sin to purify them from sin. Then they were to clean themselves by shaving their bodies and washing their clothes.
(8) “Then let them take a young bullock with its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, and another young bullock shall you take for a sin offering."
Then they were to take a young bull with the grain offering that always accompanied a burnt offering, and another young bull was to be offered for a sin offering.
(9) “And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation, and you shall gather together the whole assembly of the children of Israel together."
The Levites were to be brought to the tabernacle, and the entire congregation of the children of Israel were to be brought together so that what was to follow might be done in the presence of all.
(10) "And you shall bring the Levites before the LORD, and the children of Israel shall put their hands on the Levites; (11) And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD."
The Levites were to be brought before the Lord at the tabernacle and the children of Israel were to place their hands upon them. Some commentaries suggest that it was only the princes and elders of the tribes that placed their hands on the Levites, as it would be impossible for every last Israelite to do that. However, as there were many Levites, I can see that there would be room for many more than just the princes and elders to take part in this. The people took part with Aaron in offering the Levites to the Lord that they might execute the service of the Lord. John Wesley, in his Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, reminded us that by putting their hands on the Levites, the people "signified their transferring that right of ministering to God from the first-born in whose hands it formerly was, to the Levites, and their entire resignation and dedication of them to God's service."
It is interesting to note that the original word "nuph" that was translated as "offer" in verse 11 is the same word that has been previously translated as "wave" as in wave offerings. Some Biblical scholars believed that while Aaron could not physically wave the Levites back and forth, he perhaps made that side to side motion himself and the Levites in turn imitated his motions, thus offering themselves to the service of the Lord. Whether they actually waved back and forth or not, I believe at the very least it was as Matthew Henry wrote in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "not that they were actually waved, but they were presented to God as the God of heaven, and the Lord of the whole earth, as the wave-offerings were. And in calling them wave-offerings it was intimated to them that they must continually lift up themselves towards God in his service, lift up their eyes, lift up their hearts, and must move to and fro with readiness in the business of their profession. They were not ordained to be idle, but to be active and stirring."
(12) "And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks, and you shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites."
The Levites in turn were to place their hands on the heads of the bullocks transferring their sins to them so that by the bulls' sacrifice, atonement would be made for the Levites. One bull was offered for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. The Levites' sins had to be atoned for before they could be employed in the service of the Lord.
(13) “And you shall set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering to the LORD."
After atonement was made for them, the Levites were presented to Aaron and his sons to do service and assist the priests. Again "nuph" was used, indicating a wave offering. Whether or not they waved back and forth or to and fro, they were presented like a wave offering to the Lord.
(14) “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine."
By following the instructions laid out in verses 6 through 13, Moses would separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites would be considered the Lord's to do His service.
(15) "And after that the Levites shall go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and you shall cleanse them and offer them for an offering."
After that the Levites would be able to go into probably what was just the court of the tabernacle to do the service of the tabernacle; only the priests were allowed to go into the sanctuary. They probably weren't cleansed and offered again after they came into the courtyard, but "so shall you cleanse them..." and then they could go into the court of the tabernacle to do its service.
(16) “For they are wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel; I have taken them to Me instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel."
The Levites were wholly given to the Lord from the children of Israel. God took them as His own instead of the first-born as He before stated in Numbers 3:41.
(17) "For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast; on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself."
God reminded them why it was that all the firstborn of both man and beast were His. On the day that He struck all the firstborn of the Egyptians, He protected His people and saved alive their firstborn. Back in Exodus 13:2, the Lord ordered all the firstborn of both man and beast to be sanctified to Him, claimed as His own and set apart for His own use.
(18) "And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel."
In a sense the Lord gave up His right to all the firstborn, and accepted the Levites in their place. It's not that the Lord was given any "rights"; He has the "right" to ALL people and animals! I find it so interesting that God always did things according to what would seem fair and equitable to us humans. Even an even exchange for Levites in place of the firstborn wasn't completely equal, so He had the 273 more firstborn than Levites redeemed (Numbers 3:46). This is really amazing when you think about it! The supreme God of the universe has every right to anything He wants because all are His alone as His own creations, but He makes things fair in our eyes. Who are we that God needs to "play fair" with us? But it proves how just our Lord truly is, and why we can completely trust Him in everything!
I can hear all the dissents as I write this about how fair it is for a child to die from cancer or any such similar unfair cases! For one, this world is not our home; we truly are passing through. Death hurts the ones left behind much more than it does the one who died. God didn't cause cancer or cause a person to torture and kill another. It may be true that He allowed it, but good always comes to those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). It took awhile after a long process of healing, but I have come to realize that my Daddy dying at a young age from cancer helped to bring me to my Lord. And I would certainly give my life for my child! This world will always be plagued with troubles, so if going through some brings eternal life to others, isn't that our purpose on this pit stop called Earth? This is something I have only recently come to understand. Jesus's great commission was to go and teach all the nations what He had taught. While some people go out into the world and preach, and that is their calling and purpose, perhaps some others of us may have the purpose of letting Christ shine through even in our afflictions, and thus bringing others to Him. Why do some have to suffer more than others? Even in that I have come to have peace. Because our Lord is so just and fair, you can bet that those who have given more will be rewarded more! That doesn't mean in this world, but in our home to come.
(19) “And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary.”
The Lord gave the Levites who were His own as a gift to Aaron and his sons, to do the service of the tabernacle for all the children of Israel. The service of the tabernacle was something all the Israelites were responsible for having done, so in that respect, the Levites were doing their service. The Levites were to make atonement for the children of Israel in that they would perform the services which were required to be done by the children of Israel, thus the Levites were the atonement for the souls of the Israelites, that there be no wrath from God upon the children of Israel (Numbers 1:53). The Levites were to keep charge of the tabernacle that there be no plague among the children of Israel when they might come nearer to the sanctuary than they should or touch things that they should not touch.
(20) And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites; so the children of Israel did to them.
Moses, Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded to Moses that they do regarding the Levites.
(21) And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the LORD; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.
The Levites were purified by the sprinkling of purifying water, shaving themselves, and washing their clothes as instructed in verse 7 above. Aaron offered them as an offering before the Lord "for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD" (verse 11 above). The bulls for a sin offering and a burnt offering to the LORD (verse 12 above), made atonement for the Levites. Thus they were cleansed and ready to do the work of the tabernacle.
Matthew Henry pointed out that Aaron offered the Levites to God in verse 11, and then God gave them back to Aaron in verse 19. He wrote, "Whatever we give up to God, He will give back to us unspeakably to our advantage. Our hearts, our children, our estates, are never more ours, more truly, more comfortably ours, than when we have offered them up to God."
(22) And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons; as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
After that the Levites went into the court of the tabernacle to do the service of the tabernacle in the presence of Aaron and his sons, the priests, and by their direction. Just as the Lord had commanded through Moses they do, so they did.
(23) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (24) "This is that which is the Levites'; from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to perform the service of the tabernacle of the congregation."
The Lord then spoke to Moses, telling him what pertained to the Levites, that from 25 years of age and upward they would go into service of the tabernacle. The original word translated as "perform" was that word "tsaba" earlier explored that means "to muster as an army", "to serve", and "to go forth to war"; theirs was spiritual warfare.
Numbers 4:3 and 4:47 specifically said that it was from age thirty that the Levites came to do the service of the tabernacle. Biblical scholars suggest that either they went in at age 25 to learn the rites of service that they would perform beginning at age thirty, or as Dr. John Gill wrote in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, "what Aben Ezra proposes" (Jewish biblical commentator and philosopher of the Middle Ages)..."at thirty years of age a Levite entered into the service of bearing and carrying burdens; and at twenty five years of age he entered into the service of the tent or tabernacle, where he was employed in lighter service, such as opening and shutting the doors of the sanctuary, keeping out strangers and unclean persons, and singing the songs of the sanctuary; but was not concerned till thirty years of age in carrying the vessels of the sanctuary on the shoulders, as the Kohathites; or in taking down and setting up the tabernacle, loading and unloading the wagons, as the Gershonites and Merarites; which is the business assigned unto them, and spoken of in Num. 4:22, where the age of thirty years, and upward, is mentioned, as the time of their entrance on it, Num. 4:23."
(25) "And from the age of fifty years they shall cease performing this work, and shall work no more."
They were to work in the service of the tabernacle until the age of fifty, at which time they were to do no more of the heavy service of it. Some of the old commentaries I study pointed out that the phrase that was translated as "cease performing" literally meant "return from the warfare", once again indicating that while the Levites did not go to war, they did fight a spiritual war.
(26) "But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites regarding their charge."
The Levites over fifty years of age would still minister with their brothers in the tabernacle, by assisting their brothers with advice, counsel, and direction. They surely sang psalms, and perhaps another element of keeping the charge of the tabernacle, would have been to guard the door to keep those who should not come in from entering. Over the age of fifty, they were in no way disgraced, but rather were able to rest from the heavy labor and were still relevant in the service of the tabernacle. God ended His instructions by declaring that what He had described before was what Moses was to do regarding the service of the Levites.
Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, wisely surmised, "If it required so much legal purity to fit the Levites for their work in the tabernacle, can we suppose that it requires less spiritual purity to fit ministers of the Gospel to proclaim the righteousness of the Most High, and administer the sacred ordinances of Christianity to the flock of Christ? If these must be without spot, as the priests before without blemish, and these were only typical men, we may rest assured that a Christian minister requires no ordinary measures of holiness to prepare him for an acceptable and profitable discharge of his office. If the Christian ministry be established to prepare men for the kingdom of God, of the holiness of which the purity of the camp was but a faint emblem, how can any man expect to enter that place of blessedness, who has not his heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, and his body washed with pure water; his life and conversation agreeable to the sacred precepts laid down in the Gospel of Christ? If the law of Moses were more read in reference to the Gospel, the Gospel itself and its requisitions would be much better understood."
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Offerings of the Princes at the Dedication of the Altar, Part 2
Continuing a chronological Bible study, the seventh chapter of Numbers being continued from:
Offerings of the Princes at the Dedication of the Altar, Part 1
(48) On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, offered.
In the last post, the first half of Numbers, chapter 7, the princes of each of the tribes of the children of Israel brought offerings, first wagons and oxen for the Levites in the service of the tabernacle, and then also brought offerings for what seems to be a formal dedication of the altar. Each of the princes brought identical offerings, one on each day. Now on the seventh day Elishama, the son of Ammihud, prince of the tribe of Ephraim, brought his offering, and we will see that it was the same offering that had been presented on each of the six previous days.
(49) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (50) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (51) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (52) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (53) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.
Elishama brought the same offering that had been presented by six other princes on each of the six days prior to this: a silver charger weighing 130 shekels, a silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; a gold spoon weighing ten shekels that was full of incense; a young bull, a ram, and a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering; a goat kid for a sin offering; and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year for peace offerings.
(54) On the eighth day offered Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh. (55) His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (56) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (57) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (58) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (59) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
On the eighth day Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, prince of the tribe of Manasseh, brought the same offering that had been presented seven days before by seven other of the princes of the children of Israel.
(60) On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin, offered; (61) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (62) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (63) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (64) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (65) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.
On the ninth day Abidan, the son of Gideoni, prince of the tribe of Benjamin, offered the same offering that had been offered by the eight other princes on the eight days prior to this one.
(66) On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children of Dan, offered. (67) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (68) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (69) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (70) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (71) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
On the tenth day Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the tribe of Dan, offered the same offering that had been offered on the nine days before.
(72) On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ocran, prince of the children of Asher, offered. (73) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (74) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (75) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (76) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (77) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ocran.
On the eleventh day Pagiel, the son of Ocran, prince of the tribe of Asher, offered the same offering.
(78) On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali, offered. (79) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (80) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (81) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (82) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (83) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.
On the twelfth day Ahira, the son of Enan, prince of the tribe of Naphtali, offered the same offering.
(84) This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve chargers of silver, twelve silver bowls, twelve spoons of gold, (85) Each charger of silver weighing one hundred and thirty shekels and each bowl seventy shekels; all the silver vessels weighed two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
The total weight of all the silver brought by the twelve princes in this dedication of the altar was 2400 shekels, according to the standard used in the sanctuary. Once again, no one seems to know exactly what a silver shekel was worth. Even among the older commentaries I study, their estimates varied from 300 to 400 British pounds. I won't go to the trouble of trying to figure out what a British pound was worth in the 1800's since no one really knows how accurate that was anyway. We do know that a shekel was twenty gerahs, and a gerah is defined as a "kernel" or a "grain", the smallest weight or coin among the Israelites, said to be perhaps about two and a half or three pennies of American money. That would make it about $1400, but take that one with a gerah of salt, as no one really knows! $1400 doesn't sound like that much; I'm not sure what 300-400 pounds in the 1700-1800's sounds like, but I am quite sure that with the rate of inflation, or with the value placed on it during Biblical times, that this was a substantial gift of silver given by the twelve princes.
(86) The golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the spoons was a hundred and twenty shekels.
The total of the gold offered was 120 shekels of gold. According to Dr. John Gill in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, written in the 1700's, this was about 75 British pounds of gold. According to this article in Got Questions (gotquestions.org), "Scholars are uncertain what exactly a shekel was, but here is one calculation of its value: the sanctuary shekel was defined as 20 gerahs. A gerah has been traditionally measured as 1/50 of an ounce, or 0.6 grams. The sanctuary shekel would then equal 0.4 of an ounce of gold (20 times 1/50 of an ounce), or 12 grams. Based on a price of 46.43 USD per gram, the approximate value of a sanctuary shekel would be $557.16, in today’s market." According to these calculations, the value of the gold would have been over $66,000! However, as most everyone states in their opinions, we don't really know exactly what the value would be at this present time, but you can be sure its value in Biblical times was great when compared to prices of food and clothing and the like.
(87) All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve young bulls, the rams twelve, the male lambs in their first year twelve, with their grain offering, and the kids of the goats as a sin offering twelve.
The total for the burnt offering from the twelve princes combined, was twelve young bulls, twelve rams, and twelve young lambs in their first year, with the grain offering that always went along with the burnt offering. The total for the sin offering was twelve kid goats.
(88) And all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings were twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, and the lambs in their first year sixty. This was the dedication for the altar after it was anointed.
The total number for the sacrifice of peace offerings that were offered by all twelve princes combined was 24 bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty lambs in their first year. All these offerings were for the dedication of the altar after it had been anointed.
(89) And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with Him, he heard the voice of one speaking to him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims; and He spoke to him.
When Moses went into the tabernacle to speak with God, he heard God's voice coming from the mercy seat that was upon the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim. We will learn what He said to him in the next chapter.
Isn't it interesting that although every prince's offering was exactly the same, each account of them was given the same detailed description? I believe it was to show that each tribe was equally important to God. What a beautiful illustration of how God views the gifts of each and every one of us! Although we might feel inadequate when we consider how little our gifts are compared with the mighty works and gifts of others, God takes full notice of everything we do in His name, no matter how small. Consider Matthew 10:42 where Jesus said that even a cup of cold water given to His disciple would have its reward. Surely some of the tribes were not as rich as others of them, but each gave exactly the same offering, illustrating that they were all equally important to God. Although some of the tribes' services may have seemed more important than others, all were important in the service of God, and they all had an equal share in the altar.
Offerings of the Princes at the Dedication of the Altar, Part 1
(48) On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, offered.
In the last post, the first half of Numbers, chapter 7, the princes of each of the tribes of the children of Israel brought offerings, first wagons and oxen for the Levites in the service of the tabernacle, and then also brought offerings for what seems to be a formal dedication of the altar. Each of the princes brought identical offerings, one on each day. Now on the seventh day Elishama, the son of Ammihud, prince of the tribe of Ephraim, brought his offering, and we will see that it was the same offering that had been presented on each of the six previous days.
(49) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (50) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (51) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (52) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (53) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.
Elishama brought the same offering that had been presented by six other princes on each of the six days prior to this: a silver charger weighing 130 shekels, a silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; a gold spoon weighing ten shekels that was full of incense; a young bull, a ram, and a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering; a goat kid for a sin offering; and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year for peace offerings.
(54) On the eighth day offered Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh. (55) His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (56) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (57) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (58) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (59) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
On the eighth day Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, prince of the tribe of Manasseh, brought the same offering that had been presented seven days before by seven other of the princes of the children of Israel.
(60) On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin, offered; (61) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (62) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (63) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (64) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (65) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.
On the ninth day Abidan, the son of Gideoni, prince of the tribe of Benjamin, offered the same offering that had been offered by the eight other princes on the eight days prior to this one.
(66) On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children of Dan, offered. (67) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (68) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (69) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (70) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (71) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
On the tenth day Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the tribe of Dan, offered the same offering that had been offered on the nine days before.
(72) On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ocran, prince of the children of Asher, offered. (73) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (74) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (75) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (76) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (77) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ocran.
On the eleventh day Pagiel, the son of Ocran, prince of the tribe of Asher, offered the same offering.
(78) On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali, offered. (79) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (80) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (81) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (82) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (83) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.
On the twelfth day Ahira, the son of Enan, prince of the tribe of Naphtali, offered the same offering.
(84) This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve chargers of silver, twelve silver bowls, twelve spoons of gold, (85) Each charger of silver weighing one hundred and thirty shekels and each bowl seventy shekels; all the silver vessels weighed two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
The total weight of all the silver brought by the twelve princes in this dedication of the altar was 2400 shekels, according to the standard used in the sanctuary. Once again, no one seems to know exactly what a silver shekel was worth. Even among the older commentaries I study, their estimates varied from 300 to 400 British pounds. I won't go to the trouble of trying to figure out what a British pound was worth in the 1800's since no one really knows how accurate that was anyway. We do know that a shekel was twenty gerahs, and a gerah is defined as a "kernel" or a "grain", the smallest weight or coin among the Israelites, said to be perhaps about two and a half or three pennies of American money. That would make it about $1400, but take that one with a gerah of salt, as no one really knows! $1400 doesn't sound like that much; I'm not sure what 300-400 pounds in the 1700-1800's sounds like, but I am quite sure that with the rate of inflation, or with the value placed on it during Biblical times, that this was a substantial gift of silver given by the twelve princes.
(86) The golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the spoons was a hundred and twenty shekels.
The total of the gold offered was 120 shekels of gold. According to Dr. John Gill in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, written in the 1700's, this was about 75 British pounds of gold. According to this article in Got Questions (gotquestions.org), "Scholars are uncertain what exactly a shekel was, but here is one calculation of its value: the sanctuary shekel was defined as 20 gerahs. A gerah has been traditionally measured as 1/50 of an ounce, or 0.6 grams. The sanctuary shekel would then equal 0.4 of an ounce of gold (20 times 1/50 of an ounce), or 12 grams. Based on a price of 46.43 USD per gram, the approximate value of a sanctuary shekel would be $557.16, in today’s market." According to these calculations, the value of the gold would have been over $66,000! However, as most everyone states in their opinions, we don't really know exactly what the value would be at this present time, but you can be sure its value in Biblical times was great when compared to prices of food and clothing and the like.
(87) All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve young bulls, the rams twelve, the male lambs in their first year twelve, with their grain offering, and the kids of the goats as a sin offering twelve.
The total for the burnt offering from the twelve princes combined, was twelve young bulls, twelve rams, and twelve young lambs in their first year, with the grain offering that always went along with the burnt offering. The total for the sin offering was twelve kid goats.
(88) And all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings were twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, and the lambs in their first year sixty. This was the dedication for the altar after it was anointed.
The total number for the sacrifice of peace offerings that were offered by all twelve princes combined was 24 bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty lambs in their first year. All these offerings were for the dedication of the altar after it had been anointed.
(89) And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with Him, he heard the voice of one speaking to him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims; and He spoke to him.
When Moses went into the tabernacle to speak with God, he heard God's voice coming from the mercy seat that was upon the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim. We will learn what He said to him in the next chapter.
Isn't it interesting that although every prince's offering was exactly the same, each account of them was given the same detailed description? I believe it was to show that each tribe was equally important to God. What a beautiful illustration of how God views the gifts of each and every one of us! Although we might feel inadequate when we consider how little our gifts are compared with the mighty works and gifts of others, God takes full notice of everything we do in His name, no matter how small. Consider Matthew 10:42 where Jesus said that even a cup of cold water given to His disciple would have its reward. Surely some of the tribes were not as rich as others of them, but each gave exactly the same offering, illustrating that they were all equally important to God. Although some of the tribes' services may have seemed more important than others, all were important in the service of God, and they all had an equal share in the altar.
Offerings of the Princes at the Dedication of the Altar, Part 1
Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Numbers 7:1) And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all its instruments, both the altar and all its vessels, and had anointed them, and sanctified them, (2) That the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them who were numbered, made an offering.
The past many chapters and posts, since Leviticus 10 till this one, have dealt with laws and numbers. I have been following a chronologically ordered study of the Bible set forth by Skip Andrews. As far as historical activities and events, Biblical scholars agree that the events in this chapter took place (or began to take place) on the second day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites' departure from Egypt, and the proper place of this account is immediately after the tenth chapter of Leviticus. However, it makes perfect logical sense that all the laws and numbers be linked together in sequence and placed conveniently where they were in the Bible.
Numbers 7:1 begins on the day after Moses had fully set up the tabernacle (Exodus 40:17), and after he had anointed and sanctified it and all its furnishings (Lev. 8:10-11). Obviously, all these things took time, and it is not to be taken literally that the events of Numbers 7 began on the exact day that Moses had set up the tabernacle, etc., but after all these things were completed. It was at that time that the princes of the twelve tribes of Israel who had been named in Numbers 1, made an offering.
(3) And they brought their offering before the LORD, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox; and they brought them before the tabernacle.
The princes brought six covered wagons, which scholars agree were actually covered litters, a litter being a type of wagon carried upon people or animals rather than on wheels. Each wagon was carried upon two oxen, and as there were twelve princes, it made one wagon for two princes and one ox for each prince. They brought them to the tabernacle.
(4) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (5) "Take it from them, that they may be used to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.”
The Lord told Moses to take the offerings of wagons and oxen from the princes to use in service of the tabernacle. They were to be distributed to the Levites according to each one's need for his particular service.
(6) And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites.
Moses did as the Lord had instructed him and he took the wagons and the oxen and distributed them to the Levites as follows:
(7) Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service.
Moses gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonites who were in charge of transporting the curtains, coverings, and hangings of the tabernacle (Numbers 4:25).
(8) And four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
Moses gave the other four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites whose service was the carrying of all the boards, bars, pillars, etc. (Numbers 4:31-32). As their burden was the heaviest, they were given more wagons and oxen. Ithamar, the son of Aaron, was in charge of direction and oversight of the Gershonites (Numbers 4:28) and the Merarites (Numbers 4:33).
(9) But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonging to them was that which they should bear on their shoulders.
Moses gave no wagons or oxen to the Kohathites because they had charge of the ark and other holy furnishings (Numbers 4:4, 15), and those were to be carried on their shoulders. It makes sense that those sacred things must never be carried by beasts.
(10) And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed; the princes offered their offering before the altar.
The princes of the tribes also made offerings for the dedication of the altar. There is some discrepancy among the commentaries I study as to whether this referred back to the time when Moses first anointed the altar (Lev. 8:10), or if, like in Numbers 7:1 above, it meant once the anointing had been done, they offered their offerings for the dedicating of the altar. I tend to believe the latter as this appears to be a formal dedication after the time Moses first anointed and sanctified the altar.
(11) And the LORD said to Moses, “They shall offer their offering, one prince each day, for the dedication of the altar.”
The Lord instructed Moses that the princes were to offer their offerings one day at a time, one prince offering on the first day, then another the next, etc., for what would be twelve days, for this dedication of the altar.
(12) And the one who offered his offering on the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, from the tribe of Judah.
The prince who offered his offering on the first day was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, who had been named in Numbers 2:3 as the captain (prince) of the tribe of Judah.
(13) And his offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.
Nahshon's offering was one silver charger that weighed 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, according to the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Exactly what the sanctuary shekel was varies among Biblical scholars, but as discussed in previous posts, as in the most recent post discussing this, a shekel was twenty gerahs, a gerah being a "kernel" or a "grain", the smallest weight or coin. This doesn't seem to be much value, but then again, who's to say what silver was worth in Biblical times, or what the rate of inflation might do to that value. Both of the silver items offered were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.
(14) One spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense; (15) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (16) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (17) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
In addition, Nahshon offered a spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense. Once again, no one seems to know exactly what the sanctuary shekel of gold weighed, but this article in Got Questions gives us one idea. According to those calculations, this spoon would have weighed about 4 ounces or 120 grams of gold, worth over $5500 in today's market. Nahshon also offered a young bull, a ram, and a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering; a goat kid for a sin offering, and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year for peace offerings.
(18) On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, presented an offering.
On the second day Nethanel, the son of Zuar, who had been named captain or prince of the tribe of Issachar in Numbers 2:5, presented an offering.
(19) He offered for his offering one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (20) One spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense; (21) One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (22) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (23) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.
Nethanel also offered a silver charger weighing 130 shekels and a silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, according to the standard shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. He also offered a gold spoon of ten shekels full of incense, and a young bull, a ram, and a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering. He also offered a goat kid for a sin offering, and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five lambs in their first year for peace offerings.
(24) On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun, did offer. (25) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (26) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (27) One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (28) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (29) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.
On the third day Eliab, son of Helon, prince of the tribe of Zebulun, made his offering. He offered a silver charger and a silver bowl of the same weight as offered by the first two princes, also full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering. He also offered a golden spoon of the same weight as the spoons given before, also full of incense. He also offered a young bull, a ram, a lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering, a goat kid for a sin offering, and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year for peace offerings.
(30) On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben, did offer. (31) His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain offering; (32) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (33) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (34) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (35) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.
On the fourth day Elizur, the son of Shedeur, prince of the tribe of Reuben, presented his offering which consisted of the same items offered by the princes before him on the previous three days. The offerings which the princes brought were very rich and valuable, and were surely not their own personal freewill offerings, but were the offerings of the people of their tribes. The princes of the tribes of the children of Israel would not have been so much richer than the common people of their tribes at this point.
(36) On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon, did offer. (37) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (38) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (39) One young bullock, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; (40) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (41) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
On the fifth day Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the tribe of Simeon, presented his offering which was exactly the same as the princes before him.
(42) On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered. (43) His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (44) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (45) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (46) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (47) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
On the sixth day Eliasaph, the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered the same large rich offering as the princes in the days before him.
Because Blogger limits the number of labels on each post, and all of the names are important in Numbers 7, I have continued the study of this chapter in the next post:
Offerings of the Princes at the Dedication of the Altar, Part 2
(Numbers 7:1) And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all its instruments, both the altar and all its vessels, and had anointed them, and sanctified them, (2) That the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them who were numbered, made an offering.
The past many chapters and posts, since Leviticus 10 till this one, have dealt with laws and numbers. I have been following a chronologically ordered study of the Bible set forth by Skip Andrews. As far as historical activities and events, Biblical scholars agree that the events in this chapter took place (or began to take place) on the second day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites' departure from Egypt, and the proper place of this account is immediately after the tenth chapter of Leviticus. However, it makes perfect logical sense that all the laws and numbers be linked together in sequence and placed conveniently where they were in the Bible.
Numbers 7:1 begins on the day after Moses had fully set up the tabernacle (Exodus 40:17), and after he had anointed and sanctified it and all its furnishings (Lev. 8:10-11). Obviously, all these things took time, and it is not to be taken literally that the events of Numbers 7 began on the exact day that Moses had set up the tabernacle, etc., but after all these things were completed. It was at that time that the princes of the twelve tribes of Israel who had been named in Numbers 1, made an offering.
(3) And they brought their offering before the LORD, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox; and they brought them before the tabernacle.
The princes brought six covered wagons, which scholars agree were actually covered litters, a litter being a type of wagon carried upon people or animals rather than on wheels. Each wagon was carried upon two oxen, and as there were twelve princes, it made one wagon for two princes and one ox for each prince. They brought them to the tabernacle.
(4) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (5) "Take it from them, that they may be used to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.”
The Lord told Moses to take the offerings of wagons and oxen from the princes to use in service of the tabernacle. They were to be distributed to the Levites according to each one's need for his particular service.
(6) And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites.
Moses did as the Lord had instructed him and he took the wagons and the oxen and distributed them to the Levites as follows:
(7) Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service.
Moses gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonites who were in charge of transporting the curtains, coverings, and hangings of the tabernacle (Numbers 4:25).
(8) And four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
Moses gave the other four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites whose service was the carrying of all the boards, bars, pillars, etc. (Numbers 4:31-32). As their burden was the heaviest, they were given more wagons and oxen. Ithamar, the son of Aaron, was in charge of direction and oversight of the Gershonites (Numbers 4:28) and the Merarites (Numbers 4:33).
(9) But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonging to them was that which they should bear on their shoulders.
Moses gave no wagons or oxen to the Kohathites because they had charge of the ark and other holy furnishings (Numbers 4:4, 15), and those were to be carried on their shoulders. It makes sense that those sacred things must never be carried by beasts.
(10) And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed; the princes offered their offering before the altar.
The princes of the tribes also made offerings for the dedication of the altar. There is some discrepancy among the commentaries I study as to whether this referred back to the time when Moses first anointed the altar (Lev. 8:10), or if, like in Numbers 7:1 above, it meant once the anointing had been done, they offered their offerings for the dedicating of the altar. I tend to believe the latter as this appears to be a formal dedication after the time Moses first anointed and sanctified the altar.
(11) And the LORD said to Moses, “They shall offer their offering, one prince each day, for the dedication of the altar.”
The Lord instructed Moses that the princes were to offer their offerings one day at a time, one prince offering on the first day, then another the next, etc., for what would be twelve days, for this dedication of the altar.
(12) And the one who offered his offering on the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, from the tribe of Judah.
The prince who offered his offering on the first day was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, who had been named in Numbers 2:3 as the captain (prince) of the tribe of Judah.
(13) And his offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.
Nahshon's offering was one silver charger that weighed 130 shekels and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, according to the standard weight of the sanctuary shekel. Exactly what the sanctuary shekel was varies among Biblical scholars, but as discussed in previous posts, as in the most recent post discussing this, a shekel was twenty gerahs, a gerah being a "kernel" or a "grain", the smallest weight or coin. This doesn't seem to be much value, but then again, who's to say what silver was worth in Biblical times, or what the rate of inflation might do to that value. Both of the silver items offered were full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering.
(14) One spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense; (15) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (16) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (17) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
In addition, Nahshon offered a spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense. Once again, no one seems to know exactly what the sanctuary shekel of gold weighed, but this article in Got Questions gives us one idea. According to those calculations, this spoon would have weighed about 4 ounces or 120 grams of gold, worth over $5500 in today's market. Nahshon also offered a young bull, a ram, and a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering; a goat kid for a sin offering, and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year for peace offerings.
(18) On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, presented an offering.
On the second day Nethanel, the son of Zuar, who had been named captain or prince of the tribe of Issachar in Numbers 2:5, presented an offering.
(19) He offered for his offering one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (20) One spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense; (21) One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (22) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (23) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.
Nethanel also offered a silver charger weighing 130 shekels and a silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, according to the standard shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. He also offered a gold spoon of ten shekels full of incense, and a young bull, a ram, and a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering. He also offered a goat kid for a sin offering, and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five lambs in their first year for peace offerings.
(24) On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun, did offer. (25) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (26) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (27) One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (28) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (29) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.
On the third day Eliab, son of Helon, prince of the tribe of Zebulun, made his offering. He offered a silver charger and a silver bowl of the same weight as offered by the first two princes, also full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering. He also offered a golden spoon of the same weight as the spoons given before, also full of incense. He also offered a young bull, a ram, a lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering, a goat kid for a sin offering, and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year for peace offerings.
(30) On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben, did offer. (31) His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain offering; (32) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (33) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (34) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (35) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.
On the fourth day Elizur, the son of Shedeur, prince of the tribe of Reuben, presented his offering which consisted of the same items offered by the princes before him on the previous three days. The offerings which the princes brought were very rich and valuable, and were surely not their own personal freewill offerings, but were the offerings of the people of their tribes. The princes of the tribes of the children of Israel would not have been so much richer than the common people of their tribes at this point.
(36) On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon, did offer. (37) His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (38) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (39) One young bullock, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering; (40) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (41) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
On the fifth day Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the tribe of Simeon, presented his offering which was exactly the same as the princes before him.
(42) On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered. (43) His offering was one silver charger of the weight of a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; (44) One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; (45) One young bullock, one ram, and one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering; (46) One kid of the goats for a sin offering; (47) And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
On the sixth day Eliasaph, the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered the same large rich offering as the princes in the days before him.
Because Blogger limits the number of labels on each post, and all of the names are important in Numbers 7, I have continued the study of this chapter in the next post:
Offerings of the Princes at the Dedication of the Altar, Part 2
Sunday, April 22, 2018
Law of the Nazarites and the Lord's Blessing to His People
Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Numbers 6:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When either man or woman separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves to the LORD, (3) He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.'"
In the last chapter and post, the Lord told the people to remove sin and the unclean from their camps. Now He began explaining the law of the Nazarite which also demonstrated the separateness of God's holy people. The Lord instructed Moses to now talk to the people about when a man or woman chose to separate himself (or herself) and make the vow of a Nazarite. The word Nazarite is a form of the original word "nazar" which meant "to separate, set apart, devote, or consecrate". Upon taking the vow of a Nazarite, a man or woman chose to separate himself from the world and dedicate himself to the Lord. He was to separate himself from wine and strong drink. Another definition of the word "nazar" was "abstain". A person who separated himself for the Lord would necessarily abstain from any impurities; in this case he was instructed to abstain from any wine or strong drink, which included all forms of grapes and their juices, which in their various degrees of fermentation could cause varying degrees of intoxication, or at the very least some degree of impurity or reduced lucidity.
I don't believe this proves that a Christian must totally abstain from drinking. On the contrary, in listing the blessings of the Lord, Psalm 104:15 lists wine "that makes glad the heart of man". Jesus even used wine to represent His blood! If wine was an impure thing of itself, it would have never been used to represent something so precious as Jesus's blood! Of course, there are many admonitions against drunkenness in the scriptures, as well as numerous examples of times when a person should abstain from wine, but it can in no way be concluded that drinking wine is sinful. In this case, Nazarites who devoted themselves totally to the Lord, would likewise devote their totally clear thinking minds and pure hearts to the Lord.
(4) "‘All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the kernels even to the husk.'"
All the days that a person separated himself to the Lord, not only was he not to drink any form of grape juice or wine, he was also not to eat any part of the grapevine. Although some people were Nazarites for life, others were so for just a certain amount of time, and by their own volition, and it is probably concerning them that these rules were given regarding "the days of separation".
(5) "‘All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.'"
All the days that a Nazarite separated himself to the Lord, he was not to use a razor on his head. This would also include scissors or anything that he might use to cut or pluck his hair, as he was to let the locks of his hair grow. This was one of the ways in which he would separate himself from the world and be holy to the Lord. Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, pointed out in scripture that an abundance of hair "was considered to betoken physical strength and perfection (compare 2Sa 14:25-26), and baldness was regarded as a grave blemish (compare...2Ki 2:23; Isa 3:24). Thus, the free growth of the hair on the head of the Nazarite represented the dedication of the man with all his strength and powers to the service of God."
(6) "‘All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body.'"
All the days that a Nazarite separated himself to the Lord he was not to go near a dead body, which would include burying the dead or perhaps even attending a funeral.
(7) "‘He shall not make himself unclean for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die, because the consecration of his God is upon his head.'"
A Nazarite was not even to come close to the dead body of a close family member because the dedication to his God was upon his head, which might refer to his long locks that were emblematic of his separation to the Lord; or if not literal, might just mean that because he was separated and consecrated to the Lord, he must not go near any dead body.
(8) "'All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.'"
All the days of his separation a Nazarite was considered holy to the Lord, and must refrain and abstain from the things listed above, separating himself from the world in total dedication to his Lord.
(9) "'And if any man dies very suddenly by him, and he has defiled his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it.'"
In the event that someone died suddenly and unexpectedly in his presence, then his consecrated head would be defiled, and he must shave his head on the seventh day of his cleansing. Like some of the other ways a person might become unclean as described in Leviticus, we will find in later verses in Numbers that a person who touched a dead body would be considered unclean for seven days. He was to go through a purification process and then would be considered clean on the seventh day. Apparently it was after this purification process for seven days that he must shave his head.
(10) "'And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.'"
After the seven days of purification, and after shaving his head, on the eighth day he was to bring either two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest to the door of the tabernacle.
(11) "'And the priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, because he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.'"
The priest was to offer one of the birds for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to make atonement for him. Although he did not willfully sin, the person dying in his presence caused him to be unclean which is the effect of sin, and atonement must be made for him. After this, his head would be hallowed and again consecrated to the Lord, and he could begin growing his hair again.
(12) "'And he shall consecrate to the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering; but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.'"
I believe the meaning is that he would rededicate to the Lord the number of days in service to the Lord that he had first vowed. He was to bring a lamb in its first year as a trespass offering, and would begin again "the days of his separation"; all the days he had separated himself for the Lord before he became defiled by the dead were lost and he had to start over. Wow! What a sobering thought that even if we don't willfully sin, we become polluted and defiled by the sin around us! It is only by the love and mercy of our sweet Lord in that He gave us Jesus Christ to be an atoning sacrifice for all.
(13) "'And this is the law of the Nazarite when the days of his separation are fulfilled; he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.'"
This was the law of the Nazarite. The verse can be interpreted two different ways, depending on the punctuation which varies with different translations. Everything preceding comprised the law of the Nazarite, or what was to follow was to be considered the law of the Nazarite. Obviously both were part of the law as both had been instructed by the Lord. When the days of the Nazarite's separation for the Lord were completed, he was to be brought to the door of the tabernacle.
(14) "'And he shall offer his offering to the LORD, one male lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, (15) And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings.'"
He was to present at the door of the tabernacle his offering of a male lamb in its first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering, an unblemished ewe lamb in its first year for a sin offering, and one unblemished ram for peace offerings. Think about this! Even though he probably had not sinned while in complete dedication to the Lord, he brought a sin offering. I believe this shows that there is unknown and secret sin in all of us! The words of Psalm 139:23-24 come to mind: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." We are born into a life of sin in a sinful world; we are polluted by sin all around us and by sin in our hearts, feelings, and thoughts. Before Jesus Christ came to cover all those sins, even the most righteous men before God had to make offerings for their sins. Burnt offerings, sin offerings, peace offerings! All sorts of offerings were offered on the occasion of the Nazarite completing his period of separation. There was also a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, along with the grain offering and drink offerings which generally accompanied the sacrifices.
(16) "'And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. (17) And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer his grain offering and his drink offering.'"
The priest was to bring all the Nazarite's offerings before the Lord. He would offer the sin and burnt offerings, the ram for the peace offerings, the basket of unleavened bread, and the grain and drink offering.
(18) "'And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.'"
After having let his hair grow during the time of his vow as a symbol of his dedication to the Lord, at the end of the time of his vow, he was to shave his head at the door of the tabernacle. He was to take that hair, the symbol of his vow, and offer it to his God by placing it in the fire that was under the sacrifice of the peace offerings which was the ram that was boiling in a pot or cauldron.
(19) "‘And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite after the hair of his separation is shaved. (20) And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD; this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder; and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.'"
Then the priest was to take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer and put them upon the hands of the Nazarite. Putting his hands under the Nazarite's, he would wave them to and fro (wave) and up and down (heave) as an offering to the Lord. This shoulder of the ram was to be holy to the priest, set apart for him alone to eat, as was the wave breast and heave shoulder that was given him by another law stated in Leviticus 7:34. After all this, the Nazarite would be allowed to drink wine, which meant he could return to his previous way of living. Again I see this as proof that there is no sin in drinking wine; a Nazarite was allowed to drink wine. He certainly wouldn't have been told that it was now okay to sin!
(21) “'This is the law of the Nazarite who has vowed, and of his offering to the LORD for his separation, besides that which his hand shall get; according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.'"
The preceding described the law of the Nazarite and his offering to the Lord for his separation, the very least he was obliged to do when his period of separation was fulfilled. This was besides that which he may have voluntarily vowed; whatever he had vowed, he must do according to the law of the Nazarite, in addition to what was previously commanded above.
(22) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (23) “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘In this way you shall bless the children of Israel, saying to them, (24) “The LORD bless you and keep you; (25) The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; (26) The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
and give you peace."'"
The Lord told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons, the priests, to bless the children of Israel with a beautiful blessing: "The Lord bless you and keep you", meaning may the Lord bestow on His people His blessings and keep them from Satan and sin and the evil of the world; "the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you", meaning that the Lord cause Himself to shine His everlasting light on them, giving them spiritual light and knowledge of Him, and may He pour out large measures of His grace on them; and "the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace," probably meaning that He look upon them with a cheerful and pleasant countenance, as one who was well pleased with them and their service to Him, and thus give them peace.
The old commentaries that I study pointed out something I was not able to see in my study of the original words. I am only able to see the original word used, not the accents. Dr. John Gill, among others, wrote that "the LORD", or "Yehovah", in the three parts of the blessing, although the same word being used, had a different accent on each use of the word. The commentators said this denoted three distinct persons in the one Jehovah! In the words of Dr. Gill, "...each of them concerned in the blessing of the Lord's people, the spiritual Israel of God; Jehovah the Father blesses with all spiritual blessings, with electing, adopting, justifying, and pardoning grace, with regenerating and calling, and persevering grace, and with eternal life: Jehovah the Son blesses particularly with redeeming grace, and has a concern in all the other blessings; the saints are blessed with them in him, they are all in his hands, they are procured by him, come through him, and are the gifts of his grace: and Jehovah the Spirit blesses as a spirit of regeneration and sanctification, as the spirit of faith, as a comforter, as the spirit of adoption, and as the earnest and sealer of the saints unto the day of redemption."
(27) "And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them."
There are two possible meanings for putting the Lord's name upon the children of Israel, as is often the case with multiple meanings for individual scriptures. They shall put the Lord's name on the people; the children of Israel will be His special people called by His name. Also they were to pronounce the blessing on them in the name of the Lord; in effect, it was permission to use His sacred name to bless them. The Lord promised He would indeed bless them.
Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, pointed out that the law for a Nazarite was an illustration of what it is to be a Christian:
1. Every genuine Christian is a true Nazarite. He is separated from the world, and dedicated solely to the service of God.
2. His life is a life of self-denial; he mortifies and keeps the flesh in obedience to the Spirit.
3. All this enters into the spirit of his baptismal vow; for in that he promises to renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh - to keep God’s holy word and commandments, and to walk in the same all the days of his life.
4. The person who is faithful has the blessing of God entailed upon him. Thus shall ye bless the children of Israel, etc.
I would add that just like the Nazarite who became defiled, a Christian who has fallen may pick himself up and start anew in following Christ. Isn't that wonderful?! It's not, "Sorry, you failed," but He welcomes us back with loving open arms. It's true that we start over in the sense that the good deeds from before don't cover what comes after when we backslide, but the beauty is that the coming to Christ even late in life can cover all the sins of a lifetime before:
“But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed shall not be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live...But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be mentioned; in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die...When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive." - Ezekiel 18:21-22, 24, 26-27
Unlike the people in the Old Testament who had only the law, we are now saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, but the same principle applies:
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them, and their sins and iniquities I will remember no more." - Hebrews 10:16-17
"Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” - Hebrews 10:38
(Numbers 6:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When either man or woman separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves to the LORD, (3) He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.'"
In the last chapter and post, the Lord told the people to remove sin and the unclean from their camps. Now He began explaining the law of the Nazarite which also demonstrated the separateness of God's holy people. The Lord instructed Moses to now talk to the people about when a man or woman chose to separate himself (or herself) and make the vow of a Nazarite. The word Nazarite is a form of the original word "nazar" which meant "to separate, set apart, devote, or consecrate". Upon taking the vow of a Nazarite, a man or woman chose to separate himself from the world and dedicate himself to the Lord. He was to separate himself from wine and strong drink. Another definition of the word "nazar" was "abstain". A person who separated himself for the Lord would necessarily abstain from any impurities; in this case he was instructed to abstain from any wine or strong drink, which included all forms of grapes and their juices, which in their various degrees of fermentation could cause varying degrees of intoxication, or at the very least some degree of impurity or reduced lucidity.
I don't believe this proves that a Christian must totally abstain from drinking. On the contrary, in listing the blessings of the Lord, Psalm 104:15 lists wine "that makes glad the heart of man". Jesus even used wine to represent His blood! If wine was an impure thing of itself, it would have never been used to represent something so precious as Jesus's blood! Of course, there are many admonitions against drunkenness in the scriptures, as well as numerous examples of times when a person should abstain from wine, but it can in no way be concluded that drinking wine is sinful. In this case, Nazarites who devoted themselves totally to the Lord, would likewise devote their totally clear thinking minds and pure hearts to the Lord.
(4) "‘All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the kernels even to the husk.'"
All the days that a person separated himself to the Lord, not only was he not to drink any form of grape juice or wine, he was also not to eat any part of the grapevine. Although some people were Nazarites for life, others were so for just a certain amount of time, and by their own volition, and it is probably concerning them that these rules were given regarding "the days of separation".
(5) "‘All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.'"
All the days that a Nazarite separated himself to the Lord, he was not to use a razor on his head. This would also include scissors or anything that he might use to cut or pluck his hair, as he was to let the locks of his hair grow. This was one of the ways in which he would separate himself from the world and be holy to the Lord. Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, pointed out in scripture that an abundance of hair "was considered to betoken physical strength and perfection (compare 2Sa 14:25-26), and baldness was regarded as a grave blemish (compare...2Ki 2:23; Isa 3:24). Thus, the free growth of the hair on the head of the Nazarite represented the dedication of the man with all his strength and powers to the service of God."
(6) "‘All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body.'"
All the days that a Nazarite separated himself to the Lord he was not to go near a dead body, which would include burying the dead or perhaps even attending a funeral.
(7) "‘He shall not make himself unclean for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die, because the consecration of his God is upon his head.'"
A Nazarite was not even to come close to the dead body of a close family member because the dedication to his God was upon his head, which might refer to his long locks that were emblematic of his separation to the Lord; or if not literal, might just mean that because he was separated and consecrated to the Lord, he must not go near any dead body.
(8) "'All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.'"
All the days of his separation a Nazarite was considered holy to the Lord, and must refrain and abstain from the things listed above, separating himself from the world in total dedication to his Lord.
(9) "'And if any man dies very suddenly by him, and he has defiled his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it.'"
In the event that someone died suddenly and unexpectedly in his presence, then his consecrated head would be defiled, and he must shave his head on the seventh day of his cleansing. Like some of the other ways a person might become unclean as described in Leviticus, we will find in later verses in Numbers that a person who touched a dead body would be considered unclean for seven days. He was to go through a purification process and then would be considered clean on the seventh day. Apparently it was after this purification process for seven days that he must shave his head.
(10) "'And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.'"
After the seven days of purification, and after shaving his head, on the eighth day he was to bring either two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest to the door of the tabernacle.
(11) "'And the priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, because he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.'"
The priest was to offer one of the birds for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to make atonement for him. Although he did not willfully sin, the person dying in his presence caused him to be unclean which is the effect of sin, and atonement must be made for him. After this, his head would be hallowed and again consecrated to the Lord, and he could begin growing his hair again.
(12) "'And he shall consecrate to the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering; but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.'"
I believe the meaning is that he would rededicate to the Lord the number of days in service to the Lord that he had first vowed. He was to bring a lamb in its first year as a trespass offering, and would begin again "the days of his separation"; all the days he had separated himself for the Lord before he became defiled by the dead were lost and he had to start over. Wow! What a sobering thought that even if we don't willfully sin, we become polluted and defiled by the sin around us! It is only by the love and mercy of our sweet Lord in that He gave us Jesus Christ to be an atoning sacrifice for all.
(13) "'And this is the law of the Nazarite when the days of his separation are fulfilled; he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.'"
This was the law of the Nazarite. The verse can be interpreted two different ways, depending on the punctuation which varies with different translations. Everything preceding comprised the law of the Nazarite, or what was to follow was to be considered the law of the Nazarite. Obviously both were part of the law as both had been instructed by the Lord. When the days of the Nazarite's separation for the Lord were completed, he was to be brought to the door of the tabernacle.
(14) "'And he shall offer his offering to the LORD, one male lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, (15) And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings.'"
He was to present at the door of the tabernacle his offering of a male lamb in its first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering, an unblemished ewe lamb in its first year for a sin offering, and one unblemished ram for peace offerings. Think about this! Even though he probably had not sinned while in complete dedication to the Lord, he brought a sin offering. I believe this shows that there is unknown and secret sin in all of us! The words of Psalm 139:23-24 come to mind: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." We are born into a life of sin in a sinful world; we are polluted by sin all around us and by sin in our hearts, feelings, and thoughts. Before Jesus Christ came to cover all those sins, even the most righteous men before God had to make offerings for their sins. Burnt offerings, sin offerings, peace offerings! All sorts of offerings were offered on the occasion of the Nazarite completing his period of separation. There was also a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, along with the grain offering and drink offerings which generally accompanied the sacrifices.
(16) "'And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. (17) And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer his grain offering and his drink offering.'"
The priest was to bring all the Nazarite's offerings before the Lord. He would offer the sin and burnt offerings, the ram for the peace offerings, the basket of unleavened bread, and the grain and drink offering.
(18) "'And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.'"
After having let his hair grow during the time of his vow as a symbol of his dedication to the Lord, at the end of the time of his vow, he was to shave his head at the door of the tabernacle. He was to take that hair, the symbol of his vow, and offer it to his God by placing it in the fire that was under the sacrifice of the peace offerings which was the ram that was boiling in a pot or cauldron.
(19) "‘And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite after the hair of his separation is shaved. (20) And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD; this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder; and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.'"
Then the priest was to take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer and put them upon the hands of the Nazarite. Putting his hands under the Nazarite's, he would wave them to and fro (wave) and up and down (heave) as an offering to the Lord. This shoulder of the ram was to be holy to the priest, set apart for him alone to eat, as was the wave breast and heave shoulder that was given him by another law stated in Leviticus 7:34. After all this, the Nazarite would be allowed to drink wine, which meant he could return to his previous way of living. Again I see this as proof that there is no sin in drinking wine; a Nazarite was allowed to drink wine. He certainly wouldn't have been told that it was now okay to sin!
(21) “'This is the law of the Nazarite who has vowed, and of his offering to the LORD for his separation, besides that which his hand shall get; according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.'"
The preceding described the law of the Nazarite and his offering to the Lord for his separation, the very least he was obliged to do when his period of separation was fulfilled. This was besides that which he may have voluntarily vowed; whatever he had vowed, he must do according to the law of the Nazarite, in addition to what was previously commanded above.
(22) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (23) “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘In this way you shall bless the children of Israel, saying to them, (24) “The LORD bless you and keep you; (25) The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; (26) The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
and give you peace."'"
The Lord told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons, the priests, to bless the children of Israel with a beautiful blessing: "The Lord bless you and keep you", meaning may the Lord bestow on His people His blessings and keep them from Satan and sin and the evil of the world; "the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you", meaning that the Lord cause Himself to shine His everlasting light on them, giving them spiritual light and knowledge of Him, and may He pour out large measures of His grace on them; and "the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace," probably meaning that He look upon them with a cheerful and pleasant countenance, as one who was well pleased with them and their service to Him, and thus give them peace.
The old commentaries that I study pointed out something I was not able to see in my study of the original words. I am only able to see the original word used, not the accents. Dr. John Gill, among others, wrote that "the LORD", or "Yehovah", in the three parts of the blessing, although the same word being used, had a different accent on each use of the word. The commentators said this denoted three distinct persons in the one Jehovah! In the words of Dr. Gill, "...each of them concerned in the blessing of the Lord's people, the spiritual Israel of God; Jehovah the Father blesses with all spiritual blessings, with electing, adopting, justifying, and pardoning grace, with regenerating and calling, and persevering grace, and with eternal life: Jehovah the Son blesses particularly with redeeming grace, and has a concern in all the other blessings; the saints are blessed with them in him, they are all in his hands, they are procured by him, come through him, and are the gifts of his grace: and Jehovah the Spirit blesses as a spirit of regeneration and sanctification, as the spirit of faith, as a comforter, as the spirit of adoption, and as the earnest and sealer of the saints unto the day of redemption."
(27) "And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them."
There are two possible meanings for putting the Lord's name upon the children of Israel, as is often the case with multiple meanings for individual scriptures. They shall put the Lord's name on the people; the children of Israel will be His special people called by His name. Also they were to pronounce the blessing on them in the name of the Lord; in effect, it was permission to use His sacred name to bless them. The Lord promised He would indeed bless them.
Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, pointed out that the law for a Nazarite was an illustration of what it is to be a Christian:
1. Every genuine Christian is a true Nazarite. He is separated from the world, and dedicated solely to the service of God.
2. His life is a life of self-denial; he mortifies and keeps the flesh in obedience to the Spirit.
3. All this enters into the spirit of his baptismal vow; for in that he promises to renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh - to keep God’s holy word and commandments, and to walk in the same all the days of his life.
4. The person who is faithful has the blessing of God entailed upon him. Thus shall ye bless the children of Israel, etc.
I would add that just like the Nazarite who became defiled, a Christian who has fallen may pick himself up and start anew in following Christ. Isn't that wonderful?! It's not, "Sorry, you failed," but He welcomes us back with loving open arms. It's true that we start over in the sense that the good deeds from before don't cover what comes after when we backslide, but the beauty is that the coming to Christ even late in life can cover all the sins of a lifetime before:
“But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed shall not be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live...But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be mentioned; in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die...When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive." - Ezekiel 18:21-22, 24, 26-27
Unlike the people in the Old Testament who had only the law, we are now saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, but the same principle applies:
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them, and their sins and iniquities I will remember no more." - Hebrews 10:16-17
"Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” - Hebrews 10:38
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.” - Romans 4:7-8
"As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." - Psalm 103:12
"For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the
knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the
beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them." - 2 Peter 2:20-21
I believe there is a difference between backsliding into sin and totally turning away and rejecting Christ. God knows the heart of man. David sinned; he committed adultery and murder, but God called him a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). God, in His mercy, will draw us back to life in Him, but there are warnings that He will not do this indefinitely:
"Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." - Isaiah 55:6 (emphasis on "while" is mine)
"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting." - Romans 1:28
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