Plymothian

I have some times seen families fall out over inheritance.  Who gets what when the old guard passes away?  In this passage Moses’ successor is named and the rights of women to inherit land is established.  Women did not have many rights in the ancient world, so it is quite important that women without male relatives were protected with regard to their land.

Numbers 27

The daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. They approached ² the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders and the whole assembly, and said, ³ “Our father died in the desert. He was not among Korah’s followers, who banded together against the LORD, but he died for his own sin and left no sons. ⁴ Why should our father’s name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s relatives.”

 ⁵ So Moses brought their case before the LORD ⁶ and the LORD said to him, ⁷ “What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father’s relatives and turn their father’s inheritance over to them.

 ⁸ “Say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and leaves no son, turn his inheritance over to his daughter. ⁹ If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹ If his father had no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan, that he may possess it. This is to be a legal requirement for the Israelites, as the LORD commanded Moses.’ “

 ¹² Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim range and see the land I have given the Israelites. ¹³ After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, ¹⁴ for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)

 ¹⁵ Moses said to the LORD, ¹⁶ “May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community ¹⁷ to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

 ¹⁸ So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, ^[a] and lay your hand on him. ¹⁹ Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. ²⁰ Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. ²¹ He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the LORD. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

 ²² Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. ²³ Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD instructed through Moses.

Questions

1. What were the names of the women in this passage?
2. How did Moses decide how their case was to be handled?
3. Who was chosen to lead Israel?
4. Why are rules of succession important?
5. What inheritance issues should you have resolved before it’s too late?

The Israelites start over after their years of wandering in the wilderness.  The military emphasis comes to the front and centre again.  How many fighting men of 20 and over will Israel have?  The answer is only slightly less than the time before, despite plagues and wars.  Some tribes have been blessed and increase. Others bore the brunt of God’s wrath.  However, at this late stage in the book of numbers we have a new beginning.  However, much water there is under the bridge God can start thigs anew.  Do you need that?

Numbers 26

¹ After the plague the LORD said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, ² “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by families—all those twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army of Israel.” ³ So on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, ^[a] Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them and said, ⁴ “Take a census of the men twenty years old or more, as the LORD commanded Moses.”
      These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt:

 ⁵ The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were:
       through Hanoch, the Hanochite clan;
       through Pallu, the Palluite clan;

 ⁶ through Hezron, the Hezronite clan;
       through Carmi, the Carmite clan.

 ⁷ These were the clans of Reuben; those numbered were 43,730.

 ⁸ The son of Pallu was Eliab, ⁹ and the sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. The same Dathan and Abiram were the community officials who rebelled against Moses and Aaron and were among Korah’s followers when they rebelled against the LORD. ¹⁰ The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire devoured the 250 men. And they served as a warning sign. ¹¹ The line of Korah, however, did not die out.

 ¹² The descendants of Simeon by their clans were:
       through Nemuel, the Nemuelite clan;
       through Jamin, the Jaminite clan;
       through Jakin, the Jakinite clan;

 ¹³ through Zerah, the Zerahite clan;
       through Shaul, the Shaulite clan.

 ¹⁴ These were the clans of Simeon; there were 22,200 men.

 ¹⁵ The descendants of Gad by their clans were:
       through Zephon, the Zephonite clan;
       through Haggi, the Haggite clan;
       through Shuni, the Shunite clan;

 ¹⁶ through Ozni, the Oznite clan;
       through Eri, the Erite clan;

 ¹⁷ through Arodi, ^[b] the Arodite clan;
       through Areli, the Arelite clan.

 ¹⁸ These were the clans of Gad; those numbered were 40,500.

 ¹⁹ Er and Onan were sons of Judah, but they died in Canaan.

 ²⁰ The descendants of Judah by their clans were:
       through Shelah, the Shelanite clan;
       through Perez, the Perezite clan;
       through Zerah, the Zerahite clan.

 ²¹ The descendants of Perez were:
       through Hezron, the Hezronite clan;
       through Hamul, the Hamulite clan.

 ²² These were the clans of Judah; those numbered were 76,500.

 ²³ The descendants of Issachar by their clans were:
       through Tola, the Tolaite clan;
       through Puah, the Puite ^[c] clan;

 ²⁴ through Jashub, the Jashubite clan;
       through Shimron, the Shimronite clan.

 ²⁵ These were the clans of Issachar; those numbered were 64,300.

 ²⁶ The descendants of Zebulun by their clans were:
       through Sered, the Seredite clan;
       through Elon, the Elonite clan;
       through Jahleel, the Jahleelite clan.

 ²⁷ These were the clans of Zebulun; those numbered were 60,500.

 ²⁸ The descendants of Joseph by their clans through Manasseh and Ephraim were:

 ²⁹ The descendants of Manasseh:
       through Makir, the Makirite clan (Makir was the father of Gilead
       through Gilead, the Gileadite clan.

 ³⁰ These were the descendants of Gilead:
       through Iezer, the Iezerite clan;
       through Helek, the Helekite clan;

 ³¹ through Asriel, the Asrielite clan;
       through Shechem, the Shechemite clan;

 ³² through Shemida, the Shemidaite clan;
       through Hepher, the Hepherite clan.

 ³³ (Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons; he had only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.)

 ³⁴ These were the clans of Manasseh; those numbered were 52,700.

 ³⁵ These were the descendants of Ephraim by their clans:
       through Shuthelah, the Shuthelahite clan;
       through Beker, the Bekerite clan;
       through Tahan, the Tahanite clan.

 ³⁶ These were the descendants of Shuthelah:
       through Eran, the Eranite clan.

 ³⁷ These were the clans of Ephraim; those numbered were 32,500.
      These were the descendants of Joseph by their clans.

 ³⁸ The descendants of Benjamin by their clans were:
       through Bela, the Belaite clan;
       through Ashbel, the Ashbelite clan;
       through Ahiram, the Ahiramite clan;

 ³⁹ through Shupham, ^[d] the Shuphamite clan;
       through Hupham, the Huphamite clan.

 ⁴⁰ The descendants of Bela through Ard and Naaman were:
       through Ard, ^[e] the Ardite clan;
       through Naaman, the Naamite clan.

 ⁴¹ These were the clans of Benjamin; those numbered were 45,600.

 ⁴² These were the descendants of Dan by their clans:
       through Shuham, the Shuhamite clan.
      These were the clans of Dan: ⁴³ All of them were Shuhamite clans; and those numbered were 64,400.

 ⁴⁴ The descendants of Asher by their clans were:
       through Imnah, the Imnite clan;
       through Ishvi, the Ishvite clan;
       through Beriah, the Beriite clan;

 ⁴⁵ and through the descendants of Beriah:
       through Heber, the Heberite clan;
       through Malkiel, the Malkielite clan.

 ⁴⁶ (Asher had a daughter named Serah.)

 ⁴⁷ These were the clans of Asher; those numbered were 53,400.

 ⁴⁸ The descendants of Naphtali by their clans were:
       through Jahzeel, the Jahzeelite clan;
       through Guni, the Gunite clan;

 ⁴⁹ through Jezer, the Jezerite clan;
       through Shillem, the Shillemite clan.

 ⁵⁰ These were the clans of Naphtali; those numbered were 45,400.

 ⁵¹ The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730.

 ⁵² The LORD said to Moses, ⁵³ “The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names. ⁵⁴ To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one; each is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those listed. ⁵⁵ Be sure that the land is distributed by lot. What each group inherits will be according to the names for its ancestral tribe. ⁵⁶ Each inheritance is to be distributed by lot among the larger and smaller groups.”

 ⁵⁷ These were the Levites who were counted by their clans:
       through Gershon, the Gershonite clan;
       through Kohath, the Kohathite clan;
       through Merari, the Merarite clan.

 ⁵⁸ These also were Levite clans:
       the Libnite clan,
       the Hebronite clan,
       the Mahlite clan,
       the Mushite clan,
       the Korahite clan.
       (Kohath was the forefather of Amram; ⁵⁹ the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, who was born to the Levites ^[f] in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses and their sister Miriam. ⁶⁰ Aaron was the father of Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ⁶¹ But Nadab and Abihu died when they made an offering before the LORD with unauthorized fire.)

 ⁶² All the male Levites a month old or more numbered 23,000. They were not counted along with the other Israelites because they received no inheritance among them.

 ⁶³ These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. ⁶⁴ Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai. ⁶⁵ For the LORD had told those Israelites they would surely die in the desert, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Questions

1. What does God order the people of Israel to do?
2. What people are counted apart from fighting men?
3. What is the purpose of this census?
4. How is a census taken in the USA in 2010 meant to benefit the people in a similar way to the census in Numbers 26?
5. How does effective administration aid God’s work in your life?

So I had a sinus infection and decided to take it easy on myself.  I did each of the daily readings and today finished Numbers 25.  In these chapters we have the story of Balaam’s donkey.  When I was in Sunday School I got the impression that Balaam was one of God’s prophets somehow.  It is interesting to see how he is a spiritist from an enemy nation.  His fingerprints are even over the plan of sending Midianite and Moabite women to seduce the Israelite men and lead them into idolatry.  What warfare does not achieve, sex comes closer to achieving.  Is sex something that can lead you astray?

Questions

1. What does the Moabite king offer Balaam if he will curse Israel?
2. What does Balaam reply to these offers?
3. How does a plan using sex get further than occult practices?
4. How does sex distract God’s people today?
5. How is sex rightly integrated into your life?

This chapter of mourning shows how God removes those who are generally faithful from ministry when they make a significant mistake.  Remember that God destroyed those whose lives were marked by disobedience.  God is actually lenient with Moses and Aaron.  Even Miriam seems to pass aay quietly.  We are aware of each of their disobedience but we tend to trivialise Moses’ striking the rock – twice.  In Hebrew the words that describe Moses’ disobedience show it as being willful disobedience.  Moses acted in a high-handed way against God.  Moses had enough.  In some cases such disobedience can be overlooked, but if God overlooked Moses’ disobedience a pattern would be set for the whole of the Israelite history.  God could not allow that so he took Miriam, Aaron, and finally Moses to be with him.

Numbers 20

 ¹ In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

 ² Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. ³ They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! ⁴ Why did you bring the LORD’s community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? ⁵ Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”

 ⁶ Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. ⁷ The LORD said to Moses, ⁸ “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

 ⁹ So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he commanded him. ¹⁰ He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

 ¹² But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

 ¹³ These were the waters of Meribah, ^[a] where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he showed himself holy among them.

 ¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying:
       “This is what your brother Israel says: You know about all the hardships that have come upon us. ¹⁵ Our forefathers went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers, ¹⁶ but when we cried out to the LORD, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt.
       “Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king’s highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

 ¹⁸ But Edom answered:
       “You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.”

 ¹⁹ The Israelites replied:
       “We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot—nothing else.”

 ²⁰ Again they answered:
       “You may not pass through.”
      Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army. ²¹ Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them.

 ²² The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. ²³ At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁴ “Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor. ²⁶ Remove Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there.”

 ²⁷ Moses did as the LORD commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community. ²⁸ Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, ²⁹ and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.

Questions

1. What did God tell Moses and Aaron to do regarding Israel’s water supply?
2. What did Moses actually do?
3. Why did God think Moses’ actions were so serious?
4. When have you seen public figures openly sinning?
5. Why would God count the actions of spiritual leaders so seriously?

In this chapter a sacrifice in the past provides a whole bottle of ready purification for those who are contaminated by touching death.  remember, God is life to the point where he can have nothing to do with mortality.  People involved in funerals and battles would be contaminated.  After all the judgment that God has meted out on the Israelites in the chapters leading up to 19, it seems fitting that God should provide a short-hand way of dealing with death.  A red cow sacrificed in the past will provide purification that can be applied at any time in the future.  Can anyone else see how this foreshadows the death of Christ?

Numbers 19

¹ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: ² “This is a requirement of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. ³ Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. ⁴ Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. ⁵ While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and offal. ⁶ The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. ⁷ After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. ⁸ The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.

 ⁹ “A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They shall be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. ¹⁰ The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the aliens living among them.

 ¹¹ “Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days. ¹² He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean. ¹³ Whoever touches the dead body of anyone and fails to purify himself defiles the LORD’s tabernacle. That person must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

 ¹⁴ “This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, ¹⁵ and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.

 ¹⁶ “Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.

 ¹⁷ “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. ¹⁸ Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or someone who has been killed or someone who has died a natural death. ¹⁹ The man who is clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify him. The person being cleansed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and that evening he will be clean. ²⁰ But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he must be cut off from the community, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, and he is unclean. ²¹ This is a lasting ordinance for them.
      “The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. ²² Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”

Questions

1. What must the red heifer have never done?
2. Where must the ashes be placed?
3. What happens to someone who fails to use the ashes to purify themselves?
4. What mode of purification is available for us today?
5. What happens to anyone who fails to make use of God’s provision for purification today?

I still don’t know of any verses that say that a person must give their tithe to the church.  there is no doubt in my mind that this passage indicates that the first tenth belongs to God.  I tend to think of that as pre-taxes, but I am not going to fight with people who give after taxes.  I give my tenth to Christian education.  I believe that it is a defence against the postmodern thinking that pervades the minds of our youth.  When a child has developed a Christian worldview and apologetic I want to have them engage with the world in public education.  I have not witnessed any church that has a program strong enough to combat the processing that children learn from an early age in the public sphere.  I want to counter practical atheism at its roots.  I put my money where my mouth is.  My wife gives her tenth directly to the church.  Do you set aside a tenth of your salary for God’s work?

Numbers 17

¹ The LORD said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. ³ On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. ⁴ Place them in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.”

 ⁶ So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them. ⁷ Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.

 ⁸ The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each man took his own staff.

 ¹⁰ The LORD said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.” ¹¹ Moses did just as the LORD commanded him.

 ¹² The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! ¹³ Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?”

¹ The LORD said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your father’s family are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the priesthood. ² Bring your fellow Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister before the Tent of the Testimony. ³ They are to be responsible to you and are to perform all the duties of the Tent, but they must not go near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die. ⁴ They are to join you and be responsible for the care of the Tent of Meeting—all the work at the Tent—and no one else may come near where you are.

 ⁵ “You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that wrath will not fall on the Israelites again. ⁶ I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”

Offerings for Priests and Levites

 ⁸ Then the LORD said to Aaron, “I myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented to me; all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as your portion and regular share. ⁹ You are to have the part of the most holy offerings that is kept from the fire. From all the gifts they bring me as most holy offerings, whether grain or sin or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons. ¹⁰ Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as holy.

 ¹¹ “This also is yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.

 ¹² “I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the LORD as the firstfruits of their harvest. ¹³ All the land’s firstfruits that they bring to the LORD will be yours. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.

 ¹⁴ “Everything in Israel that is devoted ^[a] to the LORD is yours. ¹⁵ The first offspring of every womb, both man and animal, that is offered to the LORD is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. ¹⁶ When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels ^[b] of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.

 ¹⁷ “But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep or a goat; they are holy. Sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. ¹⁸ Their meat is to be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh are yours. ¹⁹ Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD for both you and your offspring.”

 ²⁰ The LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.

 ²¹ “I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the Tent of Meeting. ²² From now on the Israelites must not go near the Tent of Meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and will die. ²³ It is the Levites who are to do the work at the Tent of Meeting and bear the responsibility for offenses against it. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites. ²⁴ Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the LORD. That is why I said concerning them: ‘They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.’ “

 ²⁵ The LORD said to Moses, ²⁶ “Speak to the Levites and say to them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the LORD’s offering. ²⁷ Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. ²⁸ In this way you also will present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the LORD’s portion to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ You must present as the LORD’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.’

 ³⁰ “Say to the Levites: ‘When you present the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the product of the threshing floor or the winepress. ³¹ You and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere, for it is your wages for your work at the Tent of Meeting. ³² By presenting the best part of it you will not be guilty in this matter; then you will not defile the holy offerings of the Israelites, and you will not die.’ “

Questions

1. What problem is being solved in this passage?
2. How does organising the priests solve the problem?
3. Why must the people financially invest in their religious institutions?
4. What institutions need finances to serve God today?
5. Could you give to The Chapel, Moody, Cornerstone, Tear Fund, or some Christian church or organization?

If only God would point out clearly who his people are.  If only we knew which pastors truly followed God.  If only we knew the righteous.  When we read passages like Numbers 16, we tend to side with the heroes.  We imagine ourselves stood smugly with the righteous as God’s enemies perish.  However, sometimes some of us picture the other side.  Imagine those who stand and watch in hoor as those they support or love are shown to be far from God.  Imagine believing that you are righteous only to discover that you are part of an heretical cult.  I pray each day that I am right.  the consequences of being wrong before God can be horrific.

Numbers 16

¹ Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolent ^{[a] 2} and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. ³ They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?”

 ⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. ⁵ Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. ⁶ You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers ⁷ and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the LORD. The man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”

 ⁸ Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! ⁹ Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? ¹⁰ He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. ¹¹ It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?”

 ¹² Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come! ¹³ Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us? ¹⁴ Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of ^[b] these men? No, we will not come!”

 ¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.”

 ¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron. ¹⁷ Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it—250 censers in all—and present it before the LORD. You and Aaron are to present your censers also.” ¹⁸ So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁹ When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire assembly. ²⁰ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.”

 ²² But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, “O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?”

 ²³ Then the LORD said to Moses, ²⁴ “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ “

 ²⁵ Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ He warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” ²⁷ So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.

 ²⁸ Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: ²⁹ If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, ^[c] then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.”

 ³¹ As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah’s men and all their possessions. ³³ They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. ³⁴ At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”

 ³⁵ And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

 ³⁶ The LORD said to Moses, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take the censers out of the smoldering remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy- ³⁸ the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the LORD and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites.”

 ³⁹ So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, ⁴⁰ as the LORD directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the LORD, or he would become like Korah and his followers.

 ⁴¹ The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the LORD’s people,” they said.

 ⁴² But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting, ⁴⁴ and the LORD said to Moses, ⁴⁵ “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” And they fell facedown.

 ⁴⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has started.” ⁴⁷ So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. ⁴⁸ He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. ⁴⁹ But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. ⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, for the plague had stopped.

Questions

1. Who rebelled against Moses in the earlier verses?
2. Who rebelled against Moses in the later verses?
3. How did God settle the insubordination?
4. Does the world have a spiritual leader akin to Moses or Aaron at the moment?
5. How could people’s longing for spiritual direction lead them after a false leader?

Motives make the world of difference.  We see in this passage that those who willfully disobey God and walk away from him do not receive forgiveness.  Those who pursue God and sin without meaning to have a better standing before God.  In Christ there is always a way back.  However, we must see that we have received grace and be thankful.  So many Christians act with a kind of entitlement that leaves me aghast. 

Numbers 15

¹ The LORD said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘After you enter the land I am giving you as a home ³ and you present to the LORD offerings made by fire, from the herd or the flock, as an aroma pleasing to the LORD -whether burnt offerings or sacrifices, for special vows or freewill offerings or festival offerings- ⁴ then the one who brings his offering shall present to the LORD a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah ^[a] of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin ^[b] of oil. ⁵ With each lamb for the burnt offering or the sacrifice, prepare a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering.

 ⁶ ” ‘With a ram prepare a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah ^[c] of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin ^[d] of oil, ⁷ and a third of a hin of wine as a drink offering. Offer it as an aroma pleasing to the LORD.

 ⁸ ” ‘When you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice, for a special vow or a fellowship offering ^[e] to the LORD, ⁹ bring with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah ^[f] of fine flour mixed with half a hin ^[g] of oil. ¹⁰ Also bring half a hin of wine as a drink offering. It will be an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. ¹¹ Each bull or ram, each lamb or young goat, is to be prepared in this manner. ¹² Do this for each one, for as many as you prepare.

 ¹³ ” ‘Everyone who is native-born must do these things in this way when he brings an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. ¹⁴ For the generations to come, whenever an alien or anyone else living among you presents an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the LORD, he must do exactly as you do. ¹⁵ The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the LORD : ¹⁶ The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the alien living among you.’ “

 ¹⁷ The LORD said to Moses, ¹⁸ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land to which I am taking you ¹⁹ and you eat the food of the land, present a portion as an offering to the LORD. ²⁰ Present a cake from the first of your ground meal and present it as an offering from the threshing floor. ²¹ Throughout the generations to come you are to give this offering to the LORD from the first of your ground meal.

Offerings for Unintentional Sins

 ²² ” ‘Now if you unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands the LORD gave Moses- ²³ any of the LORD’s commands to you through him, from the day the LORD gave them and continuing through the generations to come- ²⁴ and if this is done unintentionally without the community being aware of it, then the whole community is to offer a young bull for a burnt offering as an aroma pleasing to the LORD, along with its prescribed grain offering and drink offering, and a male goat for a sin offering. ²⁵ The priest is to make atonement for the whole Israelite community, and they will be forgiven, for it was not intentional and they have brought to the LORD for their wrong an offering made by fire and a sin offering. ²⁶ The whole Israelite community and the aliens living among them will be forgiven, because all the people were involved in the unintentional wrong.

 ²⁷ ” ‘But if just one person sins unintentionally, he must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. ²⁸ The priest is to make atonement before the LORD for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven. ²⁹ One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether he is a native-born Israelite or an alien.

 ³⁰ ” ‘But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the LORD, and that person must be cut off from his people. ³¹ Because he has despised the LORD’s word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.’ “

The Sabbath-Breaker Put to Death

 ³² While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. ³³ Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, ³⁴ and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. ³⁵ Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.” ³⁶ So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Tassels on Garments

 ³⁷ The LORD said to Moses, ³⁸ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. ³⁹ You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. ⁴⁰ Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. ⁴¹ I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.’ “ 

Questions

1. What must accompany any offering of meat made to God?
2. What was a person found doing on the Sabbath?
3. What happened to him?
4. Was this person acting in willful disobedience?
5. Have you acted willfully against God’s commands?  What should happen?  What did?

A small detail in te reading today struck me.  The ten spies who gave a bad report about Canaan were killed by God’s plague quickly after the report.  They had been commissioned to do an important work for God, but they did not do it as God wished.  For this they were killed.  It strikes me again how vain it is to live life focused on our own goals, perspectives and purposes.  If our lives are not in line with te God who has created us, we are worthy of destruction.  What a different measure of value this is compared to how we value people and their contributions to society!

Numbers 14

¹ That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. ² All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! ³ Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

 ⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. ⁶ Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes ⁷ and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. ⁸ If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. ⁹ Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

 ¹⁰ But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. ¹¹ The LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? ¹² I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”

 ¹³ Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. ¹⁴ And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O LORD, are with these people and that you, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵ If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, ¹⁶ ‘The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.’

 ¹⁷ “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: ¹⁸ ‘The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.’ ¹⁹ In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”

 ²⁰ The LORD replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. ²¹ Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, ²² not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times- ²³ not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. ²⁴ But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. ²⁵ Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea. ^[a] “

 ²⁶ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: ²⁷ “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. ²⁸ So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: ²⁹ In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. ³⁰ Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. ³¹ As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. ³² But you—your bodies will fall in this desert. ³³ Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. ³⁴ For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ ³⁵ I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die.”

 ³⁶ So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it- ³⁷ these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD. ³⁸ Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.

 ³⁹ When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. ⁴⁰ Early the next morning they went up toward the high hill country. “We have sinned,” they said. “We will go up to the place the LORD promised.”

 ⁴¹ But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the LORD’s command? This will not succeed! ⁴² Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, ⁴³ for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.”

 ⁴⁴ Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

Questions

1. What were the people going to do to Aaron and Moses?
2. How were the people stopped?
3. What was to happen to the people 20 years old and older?
4. Why might dreams about the Promised Land have been shattered?
5. Why did Caleb and Joshua think differently?
6. Is there a situation you are living where all you see are problems?