Wandering in the Wilderness: Reflections from the book of Numbers. 3500 years to Covid-19
Lesson Fourteen (Numbers Chapters 32ff)
19 February 2021
To view this online as a video:
Lesson Fourteen: Final Wrap up (Land distribution for each tribe)
A. Introduction
1. Greetings
Shalom to each of you here on the Zoom call and those who will watch this class lecture on YouTube later. Our usual program during these talks is to conduct an overview of the Bible section in the first 25 minutes and then let everyone on the call into a conversation about all the themes or ideas that I will bring up for the last 30 minutes or so. Further discussion happens even deeper in our D-Groups that happen over the next week or maybe some will conduct a D-Group on Shabbat.
I’m going to recommend that you who are watching this on YouTube should read the next two Bible chapters before you listen/ watch the rest of this. This is chapters 32. Then press play on your machine and re-join us. Thanks. Welcome back.
2. Overview
[For those online, see this book overview from The Bible Project (https://youtu.be/tp5MIrMZFqo)]
Some of you are new to our Zoom call and I especially welcome you, whether here in Australia or from overseas. You are muted at the beginning, but in a short while, our host will allow the usually lively conversations and questions. We are looking at the traveling of the Jewish people in the book of Numbers, titled in Hebrew “Bamidbar” or “In the wilderness.” With Covid-19 with variants and now vaccines having their way throughout the world, with US political turmoil, with the continuing uncertainty that almost defined the last twelve months, the world is still in a wilderness and God’s answers for us are found in the pages of this book.
[[There are three theses that pop up often in this book of the Bible:
1) The goal of our wandering was another place: Israel
2) God is to be central to our marching and in our living
3) The authority of the Lord and his anointed is often front and centre. ]]]
B. Today’s study: Land Distribution and final wrap-up
Let’s start today’s lesson at the end. Chapter 36. Verse 12. “Thus their inheritance remained with the tribe of the family of their father.” Throughout this Bible book, we have noted the three theses, that the Promised Land was to be the goal, and when we got there, that we should preserve who we are, no matter the conditions of the land, the enemies we would face from without or within, and that we should keep God as central in our lives. The summary of the ending of this book is all about distribution of the land which will ensue as we are done with battles, no more since the battle against Midian. Cities of refuge and more.
Today we are going to see this first with the 2 and a half tribes of Gad, Reuben and half of Menasheh with their instructions and their commitments. Let’s look at chapter 32.
1. Two and a half tribes (chapter 32)
If the goal of the wandering is to get into the land, then what’s going on with the 2 ½ tribes in announcing that they are going to take possession of the land east of the Jordan River? Seems they have much cattle and the land of Israel is not exactly conducive to their contentment. They want the plains, and the area north of the Arnon River and south of the Sea of Galilee will suit them perfectly. They ask Moses for permission and are granted this area. I like that. It’s not wrong to ask for a place to live. And it’s not wrong to ‘get in first’ before the rest of the family gets their apportionment.
But what does Moses say? In verse 6 we read
Now why are you discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the LORD has given them?
Moses chides the 2.5 tribes for discouraging the others. The Hebrew is well represented with the English “discourage” Cour is the French for heart, and dis-courage means to diminish or be anti-heart. The Hebrew is
תְנוּאוּן [תְנִיא֔וּן] אֶת־לֵ֖ב
To thwart, to discourage, to hinder. Moses sees the 2.5 as jumping ship and not going all the way. Moses reminds the 2.5 tribes of the history from Kadesh Barnea, the wandering and God’s anger about the faith-less situation. He tells them three times that God’s anger burned against the Jewish people in the wilderness and that’s why so many have died and in fact all (except two) died who were 20 or older when they left Egypt. God’s anger burned in verse 10, and verse 13, and verse 14.
But, here’s the difference. The 2.5 in verse 16 approach Moses with a plan. They say they will build proper cities for their families, with sheepfolds for their livestock. They say they will lead the charge throughout the entire military campaign to come. They say they will not return home until the entire land is conquered and everyone else is apportioned their residences.
What does that say?
It says ‘take heart, Moses.’ It says ‘encouragement’ not discouragement at all. It says ‘FAITH!’
Remember Psalm 95 we saw earlier in this study? It carried a call to sing and rejoice, to worship and bow down. And a reminder,
cToday, 2if you would hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
As in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
9 “When your fathers tested Me,
They tried Me, though they had seen My work.
10 “For forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
11 “Therefore I swore in My anger,
Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”
God’s call through the psalmist was to praise the Lord IN DIRECT CONTRAST to the 40-year folks who were ‘loathed’ and who ‘erred’ and ‘didn’t know my ways.’ These didn’t ‘enter into my rest.’
I see the 2.5 as holy people who were not included in that category.
The difference? They had faith! They trusted God to preserve their families. They trusted God to lead them through the conquest. In other words, they believed the two spies who came back with the minority report! They believed like Abraham in the Akedah story.
Do you know that story? It’s foundational to the issue of faith and it’s found in one Hebrew letter.
The record of the Akedah is in Genesis chapter 22. There Abraham is called to take his son up the mountain named Moriah and to offer him as a sacrifice. He takes Isaac, the son of promise, and they take a three-day journey.
5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”
Verse 5 is the key. And within it is one Hebrew letter, the letter nun beginning three words here. We will go. We will worship. We will return.
נֵלְכָ֖ה עַד־כֹּ֑ה
וְנִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֖ה
וְנָשׁ֥וּבָה אֲלֵיכֶֽם׃
I think Abraham is saying what the 2.5 tribes are saying. We will go. We will win the war. We will return. Abraham demonstrated faith! No wonder he’s called the ‘Father of Faith’
The writer of the book of Hebrews, whom I believe is Priscilla, Aquila’s wife, notes this well in chapter 11, the Hall of Faith chapter. Have you seen that before?
Heb. 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18 it was he to whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED.” 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.
In other words, Abraham received Isaac back as a type of something which would happen in the future. A father who offered his son, who actually was crucified and died on a Roman cross, and who rose from the dead. That’s Yeshua!
What did Priscilla say, “He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead” How do we know that? The Hebrew letter Nun! We will go, we will worship; we will return!
Who says that? Who says ‘we will return?’ knowing that he was called to offer his son? Only one who knows God is able to raise people even from the dead!
That’s what I see in the 2.5 today as well. They believed God. And thus they were able to enter the Promised Land, to serve in battle there, and to return to their wives and children. That’s faith, amen?
And as a result Moses gave them the land of Sihon, melech Emori, and Og, melech Bashan, and the 2.5 built cities and gave their word that they would be front-line soldiers to the end.
Verse 23 of Numbers 32 is a well-worn and oft-used promise. “Be sure your sins will find you out.” Considering the revelations the last few months, and most notably the last week, of rape in the Parliament here in Australia and commensurate blaming and silence, and the more global criminal activity of a well-known preacher/ apologist whose sexual and financial exploits were revealed after he died last year, this verse is more true than ever. Be sure, no matter if before or after you die, your sins will find you out. Or as Yeshua taught,
But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known. (Luke 12.2)
Review: Chapters 33 and following
The rest of this book contains a rehearsal of the journeys. Chapter 33 shows the geography to the people who know those places. Most of this information is useful for those who study academically. I want to show you another purpose.
The Midrash says “It may be like a king who took his ailing son to a distant place to be healed. On the return journey, the king would lovingly recount to the lad all the experiences they went through at each of the places they stopped.” In other words, it’s a showcase of life together, en route to the Land of Promise, for the father and son to remember each other as well as the journey.
I’m a keen photographer and take pictures everywhere I travel. In some way I’m a photojournalist, and in a deeper moment of pondering, I would say I want to remember what God was doing or saying to me at the time. Maybe that helps you with this pin-point mapping of the travels of the people.
Look for adverbs like in verse 3 of chapter 33 “started out boldly” and feel the excitement of the Jewish people. Verse 4 shows the verb ‘burying’ and marks the pathos of Egypt. Verse 9 has a description of the oasis which would remind the hearer of the bounty of pleasure and relief they felt. Verse 37 shows the proximity “at the edge of the land of Edom.” Each of these adds emotion and memory.
Aaron dies in verse 38 and 39 and that’s a huge point of cognition.
Chapter 34 lists names and places, for the verification of history and the remembrance of right things.
Final instructions: 33:50 to end of book
Moses is told in chapter 33 that he should instruct the Israelites about taking the land. Together. Completely. Don’t leave any of the 7 nations alive. What would happen if they failed?
Verse 55 says “‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become aas pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live.
You will see a similar phrase two other times in Tenach and one time in the Newer Testament.
Josh. 23:13 know with certainty that the LORD your God will not continue to 1drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.
Judg. 2:3 “Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will 1become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’”
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me — to keep me from exalting myself! 8Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12.7-10)
If we follow God and trust him to do what he says, yes, there will be enemies; Yes, there will be opponents. The thorns of the enemies of God will be around us, but we will win. In Joshua’s day the enemies of the Jews were left in the land and perpetually, and dare I say, to this day, haunt us. In Paul’s day, the opponents of the Gospel, those legalizers who misrepresented Paul and the Gospel, they were the thorns in his side.
The Cities of Refuge (Chapter 35:6ff) are God’s safe havens for the people who get caught in manslaughter situations rather than murderous ones. We won’t unpack all the legal information and how to decide if someone is a murderer. Just know it’s there as a place of safety and calm. Compare the wild west in the US or the days of Ned Kelly and the retaliation that accompanied the death of a person. Here the Bible wants us to know God’s grace is available if you unintentionally take someone’s life. God placed these cities as beacons of light, and we should run to those in our days, for sure. Before you murder someone’s reputation, before you enact revenge, the old adage was ‘count to 10.’ In Bible times, it was let the accused get to a city of refuge and the whole world would count to 10.
[[Compare refuge city with refuge altar! 1Kings 1:50 And Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, and he arose, went and atook hold of the horns of the altar. 51 Now it was told Solomon, saying, “Behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, for behold, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’”
1Kings 2:28 Now the news came to Joab, for Joab had followed Adonijah, although he had not followed Absalom. And Joab fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar.]]
Back to some thoughts on the thorns, in these days, with the capacity to generate fake emails and fake identities to misrepresent a person, a movement or almost anything, we should expect more thorns.
Dear friends, if we are going to take the Land of God’s Promises, if we are going to live in the abundant life Yeshua wants to give us, be sure you will have enemies. You will find hostility. Didn’t our Master experience misinformation and cruelty? Didn’t he cop the anger of the mob and the rejection of many of his own? But be of good cheer, Yeshua has overcome the world. And so in him we shall as well.
My review of Bamidbar is complete. The daughters of Zelophehad get their property on the other side of the Jordan. The people of Israel make it next to the Promised Land and consider who they want to be and what they want to do. In the shule at the end of the reading of a Torah book “Chazak, chazak v’nitchazek” which basically means “Strength! Strength! We will be strong”(https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4305074/jewish/Why-Say-Chazak-After-Finishing-a-Book-of-Torah.htm) Please join me and say this together. We want God to make us strong to follow him in all aspects of our lives.
Invitation
Dear friends, if you have never asked Yeshua to be your Saviour, today as we continue our class in 2021, would you choose to believe the Lord of life? He is the source of healing for the plague of sin which has captured the world since the Garden of Eden. He’s the One who can overcome the virus and the plagues of evil which highlight the planet in Washington, DC, in the conflicts between governments, in conflicts between the peoples of the world… Look up to Him and be saved!
If you’d like to do that today, just now, join me as we pray.
Say something like this: “Father in Yeshua’s name, forgive me my sin, I was wrong to dismiss you and to disbelieve in you. I need your mercy. I deserve punishment but you are kind and merciful and I receive your grace. I receive Yeshua as my saviour and Lord. I look up to him who was lifted on the pole of the cross. I will live because of my faith in Messiah Yeshua. Amen.
If you prayed that, please let us know of your profession by writing straightaway, won’t you?Bob@JewsforJesus.org.au We’d love to hear from you.
Conclusion
We are delighted you have joined us today. Please join us next week and learn with the others how you can stay on track in 2021 and beyond. I hope to see you next week as we begin a new study on the Bible book and the lead character JOSHUA. This is the ‘rest of the story’ as the people of Israel go into the Promised Land. The adventures they had in the Wilderness continue and develop with individuals and with whole tribes often in view. You will certainly see yourself in the readings and in the lessons. I plan to take 24 weeks to read and learn with you. That’s almost 6 months. Line by line. It will be worthwhile!
Hope to see you then, and until then, continue to stay safe, love one another, believe even if the report is the minority report, and shout Hallelujah to the Lord of life for all he has done for us all. Shabbat shalom!
The three theses:
4) The goal of our wandering was another place: Israel
5) God is to be central to our marching and in our living
6) Authority of the Lord and his anointed is not to be missed
Bibliography
Budd, Philip, Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 5. Numbers. Word, Waco, 1984.
Hertz, Rabbi Dr JH, The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, Soncino, London, 1978.
Pakula, Martin, Numbers: Homeward Bound, Aquilla Press, Sydney, 2006.
Scherman, Nosson and Zlotowitz, Meir. The Chumash. Artscroll Mesorah Publishing, Brooklyn NY, 2019.
Weirsbe, Warren. Be Counted. David C. Cook Publishing, Colorado Springs,1999.
-------------------
D-Groups for this week
1) Tuesday 11 am Sydney time. Led by James Howse
2) Thursday 7 pm, Sydney time, led by James White
(Contact our office for zoom details)
If you’d like to host a D-Group either online or in person, please contact bob@jewsforjesus.org.au for further details. It’s time to step up. Ponder this—who will be in your D-Group?
No comments:
Post a Comment