On Lamps, Levites and Dixieland Music (Numbers Lesson 4)

 Wandering in the Wilderness: Reflections from the book of Numbers.  3500 years to Covid-19

Lesson Four (Chapters 8-10) 

To view this online as a video:  https://youtu.be/UJ1LhbvlfJc

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 three Bible chapters before you listen/ watch the rest of this. They are chapters 8 through 10. Then press play on your machine and re-join us. Thanks.

2.     Overview

[For those online, see this book overview from The Bible Project (https://youtu.be/tp5MIrMZFqo)] We saw how this book breaks into three major geographic and chronological sections. The first is found in chapters 1 through 10. Geographically we were at Sinai at the time. That’s where we are in this our 4^th class today.

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.

3.     Three Theses

We will continue to remind ourselves about three major considerations that Moses addresses over and over in the book of Numbers. You will find them throughout our study. First, as Jewish people today still think, the goal of our wandering was a settled place, then titled ‘Canaan’ and today titled ‘Israel.’ Wildernesses are ok for trekkers or adventurers, but that’s not the long-ranged plan of God for us Jewish people. The second major thesis is the centrality of God, in location, in guidance, in physicality, in the structures he establishes from Tabernacle on. We are a community often on the march, but we are never to forget the centrality of the Almighty. The third major thought concerns authority. We have the One who gave us his law at Mt Sinai, and to whom we often have to return for further clarification and advice. 

Watch for those three theses each week, although some weeks they won’t be that visible, but usually they are front and centre.

B. Today’s study: Beha’alotecha

When I was a teenager, this parsha was one which I was assigned to read publicly at the synagogue, and I had not prepared well enough, so I feigned a throat problem about 2 minutes into my reading. Thus when I get to this section of Bible, I have a deep regret, a sense of shame, and a memory that causes me to reflect on guilt and embarrassment. Maybe you have such memories in your life. I’m here today to assure you, nothing is beyond the grace and power of God to forgive. There is no sin which can prevent the forgiveness of the Lord to reach us. On what do I base that? The Word of God! It starts here with lamps.

1.     Lamps are lit

As chapter 7 concluded, the issue and roles of authority are evident. God spoke with Moses and now as chapter 8 begins, the speaking is overheard if you will. What God said to Moses, Moses records for us that we might know three things:  1) God’s voice is to be obeyed, 2) Moses is only the spokesman and not the originator of these directions and 3) the compliance by the Levites or the priests or Aaron or even Moses himself—those are functions of obedience and both a template and a record of what Israel is to do and how we are to behave going forward.

First things first. Light the lampstand after you build it. Of course the menorah was already built in Exodus (instructions in Ex. 25, fulfilled in Ex. 37), and now the location of the lamp is in view. 

Most of your versions of the Bible read verse 2 something like “when you erect” the lamps. But the Hebrew says ‘beha’alotecha’, which means ‘when you cause the lamps to go up.’ I really like that. There is a sense of height that is missed in the English. And if there is height, there is increased capacity both for observation by others and for viewing which the lamps can reach. Does that make sense to you? God wants light to pervade the Mishkan and he wants that light to reach every corner, every crevice. And that includes reaching into your life here in 21^st century, lockdowns and COVID-oriented and virus fatigued Australia and wherever you live. Letting light shine is the goal and trimming lamps is the mechanism of doing this. Let me explain.

Matthew 25 opens with a parable of 10 virgins and lamps. It’s a parable about readiness and about awaiting the return of Messiah. Yeshua tells the story to focus the listener (or in our case, the reader) on eager anticipation of the coming of Messiah, and about living with such hope. 

⁶ “But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ “Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ “The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

The story has great conflict and drama and I encourage you to read it later after our class today. The wise virgins are those who long for the return of the Bridegroom and who maintain light on the subject. The foolish ones are those who let their lights dwindle by dawdling and misbehaving. The clarity is obvious and I bring it to this reading of Numbers today to highlight our need to keep our lamps trimmed and burning. The biblical folks didn’t have electricity as neither Tesla nor Edison had rolled onto the scene. Lights were not candles but oil and wicks, and to keep up continual light.

Ex. 27:20   “You shall charge the sons of Israel, that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.

The purpose of the menorah was to fill the Tabernacle with light, not for a moment, but ongoing, morning and evening, which is a dramatic was of saying perpetually. 

Those olives were beaten to produce the oil and the wicks were cut and trimmed to make this happen. In other words there are sacrifices and cutting which produced the end result God required. So it will be in your life; God will ask of you diminutions and tough times, beating if you will, to produce a godly result. Don’t despise those trimmings. The end result is light, for others, and you will benefit as well.

Even in verse 4 of our text today (Num. 8.4) the menorah was made of hammered gold. You want the light to shine in the Mishkan? The oil and the menorah are both beaten. You want the light of God to shine in your life? The reality is that some significant loss has to happen so that real stuff shines.

In Revelation 18.23, we read. “the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.”

Those whose light stops shining are those who dwell at ease in Babylon, without stress or difficulty, with bounty and luxury. Let God have his way in you, this week, even today, amen?

2.     Levites cleansed

The children of Levi are now in view as the Mishkan is finished, the tent needs people to work there. It’s almost as if you are walking past a new business in your neighbourhood. The building site has been behind the construction site walls, and finally, the grand opening is announced. Then the walls come down and the new building is almost finished. You bring your family to see the new place. Looks really good. The announcement of the Opening Day is on the building, and a help wanted sign is seen in the distance. 

What good is the new business if no one works there. 

So it is with God who has the Tabernacle built and now he’s hiring. He has already numbered the people and now he hires the Levites to run the place. But not simply a Levite, rather a cleansed Levite. 

What are the rites associated with this readying? The end result is separation to duty (8.14). The guidelines from the Authority are these: 1) Clean water,  2) shaved hair,  3) cleansed garments, 4) presentation of animal and food offerings, 5) gathering at the Mishkan for presentation of the Levites to the people, 6) laying on of hands by the people of the Levites, 7) Aaron presents the Levites to the Lord as a wave offering and finally 8) the Levites make sacrifices to make atonement. 

Now that’s a lot of effort for people who are already chosen. Here’s what I mean. By right, the children of Levi were established by God to be the workers in the Mishkan.  (Num. 3.5-7) The announcement had already been made. Now they who are deserving have to be made ready. It was automatic but it wasn’t. The Levites were qualified by genealogy, but it had to be filled full and completed by these 8 actions. In the same way, my people, the Jewish people are all automatically deserving of a relationship with God, already in place by genealogy to be his, but there are actions we have to take to complete this choice. 

When I say I’m a completed Jew, it means I’ve been doubly chosen. I often think in sports analogies because I’m a keen sports watcher and sports player enthusiast. Some would say fanatic, but I prefer the kinder word, ‘fan.’ A sports personality like Diego Maradona who died yesterday in Buenos Aires was the most important player on his Argentinian side in the 1980s. In 1986, he hit two goals against England in the semi-finals which launched his home side to ultimate victory in the World Cup. He was nicknamed “El Dios” which means “the god” and is not a little sacrilegious. But think with me in this way. If Maradona had earned his salary in the beginning of the season and was the celebrity of every newscast, but then for whatever reason, he decided to sit out the match against England, the noise from the crowds would have been heard here in Sydney. 

Imagine if Maradona said, “I’m chosen. I’m the celebrity. I’m the winner.” But then didn’t play. The fans across his country would have been scandalized and horrified. Chosenness is about performance, not about status. 

In the same way, we Jews are chosen, not to sit idly by while the world is wasting away in Babylon. We are chosen to perform, to make the world a better place, to listen to the Authority of God and to enact his purposes. To bring his light to the darkness of the world. Amen?

So when the Levites are chosen to work, they can’t just rock up and say, “Yo, I’m here. Where’s my throne? Where’s my lounge room?” They have work to do to ready themselves and then to ready the business in which they will be working. 

Washing in water. Obviously. They’ve been in the heat of the wilderness for a year, and they and their clothes both need a cleansing. Shaving marks them out as distinct. Sacrificing animals and offering appropriate foods, but then they had to present themselves, orderly, humbly, to be anointed and have hands laid on them. They are now offered as an offering. How good is that? The Levites had to bow their heads and have a benediction said over them. That humility before their brothers. 

What else is there? The sprinkling. It’s in the infinitive, thus not a command to Moses to perform (over 200,000 Levites) but a requirement, however the Levites did this. Then also in verse 7, the phrase is ‘purifying water.’ But the Hebrew is ‘water of sin’ which really means the water to remove sin, or better water which accompanies the cleansing from sin. The water alone doesn’t wash our sin. 

Peter the apostle said something similar about baptism. 

“baptism now saves you — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” 1 Peter 3.21. The water of baptism isn’t salvific, it’s the appeal to God for a new heart, a cleansed heart, through Yeshua’s life and death and resurrection. 

Now the Levites are cleansed and we learn more about their qualifications. 

They are to serve the Aaronides (the priests) and make atonement for the people of Israel. They apprentice from 25-30 years old and then they serve among their brothers for 20 years until they are 50. (.23-25) After that, they became trusted advisors to the newer Levites and priests.

Chapter 9 is next in our text, but we have already covered that in our First Lesson as it takes place at the beginning of the chronology of this book.

So we skip to Chapter 10.

3.     The Dixieland Band

God tells Moses to line up some trumpeters. Think New Orleans and Dizzy Gillespie or the Aussie James Morrison rather than the shofar blowers of Rosh Hashanah. But you might argue, isn’t the trumpet always a shofar? Nope, in this case they were silver trumpets and were used for various purposes. 

Again, they were made of beaten work (10.2) to remind me of the purpose of suffering, to make fantastic music and to sound purposeful signals to the community. You remember the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow cantillation, “one if by land and two if by sea” in “Paul Revere’s Ride” (1860 poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that commemorates the actions of American patriot Paul Revere on April 18, 1775) 

            Similarly, here the sounding of certain sounds in sequence or in rhythm or in pairs would tell the people one thing or another. Notice it’s the priests, not the Levites who are trumpeting their signal. I find this significant. Music is a high calling and as such is for the highest-ranking Israelites.

            If you heard the teruah that’s a battle cry, or ‘alarm’ in many versions. If you heard a single blast it meant to call the princes of the tribes to gather. Two clarion sounds of the silver trumpets and that meant all the nations should gather. 

            Look at verse 9. When we hear the trumpets, when the priests blow and we listen, then we are in a way praying, so that God remembers us, and ‘you shall be saved from your enemies.’

            The final use is in verse 10 where we read, ‘Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”

            God wants us to rejoice in him with sounds of gladness. He wants us to mark festivals with such celebrations and silver trumpets. Our offerings and our new moons. In other words, let everyone know that it’s a holiday or a festival. Don’t leave any Israelite out in their seeking for God’s life and news about God.     

            I really believe that this is significant. Today is Friday in Sydney, but it’s still very much Thursday in the USA, and this is Thanksgiving there. The holiday that’s the most travelled (usually when not Covid time) of all the US holidays. There are reasons to be thankful today. And those reasons do not include 260,000 dead people from the virus. That does not include the millions including Lil and Robin, Glenn and so many that I know, who have contracted the virus. Our thankfulness involves eternal matters and God’s provision. God has given us reasons to celebrate all his love and his attention to us. And we are glad. If you are glad and don’t say ‘thank you’ to the Lord, you are missing out. 

            Gratitude is one of the most wonderful gifts God can give you. Be thankful for all his supply. I’m grateful for my family who loves each other. My wife and kids and grandsons. Awesome. I’m grateful for my first cousins and the life of Janet who passed last week. I’m glad we had some delightful times together. I’m glad for my Aunt Sarah, the last uncle or aunt in my life, who passed away the other night, and our times of fellowship in the Lord and her joyful spirit even to the end. I’m grateful for technology which allows us to share on Zoom and the Bibles we all have in abundance, enough to share. I’m grateful for the donors who supply needed funds to keep our work going here in Sydney. I’m grateful for the Jewish men and women who are seeking God, considering his life and plan and purpose. Even this morning here into our shop came South African Tom who had his first visit with us, and it won’t be the last. 

            I’m grateful that Yeshua died for my sins and extended eternity to me by his spirit so I could enter eternal life almost 50 years ago in May, 1971, by faith in the blood of Jesus. What an awesome God we have.

            Can you make a gratitude list today? You don’t have to wait until the 4^th Thursday in November where you live. You can have your own Thanksgiving anytime. With a turkey and cranberry sauce or simply with a list of thanks. It’s worth doing. Blow a trumpet if you have one. Dixie land music includes trombones, too. Or just look up to heaven and smile, lift your hands and say, ‘thanks.’ 

Conclusion

Stay with us during these weeks and learn with the others how you can stay on track in 2020 and beyond. And in the D-Groups, you will work this out with others, as a community on the march. If you have not yet joined a weekly Discipleship Group, please re-consider that and join us as we dig deeper.

I hope to see you next Friday 10 am Sydney time, as we study chapters 11 and 12, and learn about our marching to Zion together and our first anniversary or what I might title Kvetching 102”. Hope to see you then, and until then, please keep your lamps trimmed and burning, bless those around you and shout Hallelujah to the Lord of life for all he has done for us all. Shabbat shalom!

 

The three theses:

1)     The goal of our wandering was another place: Israel

2)     God is to be central to our marching and in our living

3)     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.

Weirsbe, Warren. Be Counted. David C. Cook Publishing, Colorado Springs,1999.

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D-Groups for this week

1)              Tuesday 11 am Sydney time. Led by James Howse

2)              Monday 10 am Sydney time, led by Rebekah Bronn

3)              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?

 

Actual text:

Num. 8:1   Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you mount the lamps, the seven lamps will give light in the front of the lampstand.’” ³ Aaron therefore did so; he ¹mounted its lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. ⁴ Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flowers it was hammered work; according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

Num. 8:5   Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and cleanse them. ⁷ “Thus you shall do to them, for their cleansing: sprinkle purifying water on them, and let them use a razor over their whole body and wash their clothes, and they will be clean. ⁸ “Then let them take a ¹bull with ^aits grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and a second bull you shall take for a sin offering. ⁹ So you shall present the Levites before the tent of meeting. You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, ¹⁰ and present the Levites before the LORD; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites. ¹¹ “Aaron then shall present the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, that they may qualify to perform the service of the LORD. ¹² “Now the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³ “You shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and before his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the LORD.

Num. 8:14   “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. ¹⁵“Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and present them as a wave offering; ¹⁶ for they are wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself instead of every first issue of the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. ¹⁷ “For every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. ¹⁸ “But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. ¹⁹ I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the sons of Israel by their coming near to the sanctuary.”

Num. 8:20   Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the sons of Israel to the Levites; according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. ²¹ The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²² Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons; just as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them. 

Num. 8:23   Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall enter to perform service in the work of the tent of meeting. But at the age of fifty years they shall retire from service in the work and not work anymore. ²⁶ “They may, however, assist their brothers in the tent of meeting, to keep an obligation, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall deal with the Levites concerning their obligations.”

Num. 10:1   The LORD spoke further to Moses, saying, ² “Make yourself two trumpets of silver, of hammered work you shall make them; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for having the camps set out. ³ “When both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ⁴“Yet if only one is blown, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall assemble before you. ⁵ “But when you blow an alarm, the camps that are pitched on the east side shall set out. ⁶ “When you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are pitched on the south side shall set out; an alarm is to be blown for them to set out. ⁷ “When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow without sounding an alarm. ⁸ “The priestly sons of Aaron, moreover, shall blow the trumpets; and this shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations. ⁹ “When you go to war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God and be saved from your enemies. ¹⁰ “Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”

Not morbid, but real: Death is on its way

There was a season when I would stop and visit cemeteries. It seemed like I found a new one (to me) and wandered through rows and rows almost weekly. That was about 7 years ago. Many Jewish people I knew and others I didn't know were passing away and I had to process that. My ambling through Jewish or Presbyterian sections, mausolea and plain graves, with or without rocks... it didn't matter; I had to visit.

What I was looking for wasn't exactly clear to me then. Nor is it clear to me now. But again this week, this notion of the end splashed up on me. I don't know any of the 250,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19 this year. But death has hit me this week.

My first cousin, Janet passed away the other day. She was 70 and had her time extended again and again. She had a crippling disease, dystonia, which had its way with her for decades. She died peacefully at the Jewish home. That was a few days ago. Then my sister notified me that another man from our synagogue youth group (long since a fleeting memory) named Larry died as well. He died having suffered from muscular dystrophy. This afternoon a pastor friend in Sydney let me know of another pastor we knew named Jason who died of a heart attack on Wednesday, and the splashing around me is becoming ceaseless. 

American comedians, George Burns and Red Skelton, used to say something about rising and reading, but I found out that neither of them coined the saying originally. "I wake up in the morning and read the obituaries. If I don't see my name there, I know it's going to be a good day."  (See below the line) I graduated high school over 50 years ago and all too often our classmates will send a note around about the passing of yet another one of us. 

So death is all around us. And death is on its way to each of us. That's the fact, Jack. 

I cannot find the quote's author, but one American comedian was asked, "What do you want people to be saying of you in 50 years?" His reply: "He looks good for his age!"

But I titled this, "not morbid." And I mean that. I'm using morbid as a colloquial term, not the medical professional one. Let me explain. Morbidity is any physical or psychological state considered to be outside the realm of normal well-being. The term is often used to describe illness, impairment, or degradation of health.But 'morbid' according to Merriam-Webster is "abnormally susceptible to or characterized by gloomy or unwholesome feelings, even grisly or gruesome." Synonyms (a whole list is below the line) include sepulchral and gloomy, even dismal. 

That's what I meant when I titled this. Death is not supposed to be gloom and doom. Yes, being aware of our impermanence could give some pause or anxiety. I get that. And when I ponder the 'taken too soon' of life of young people, like the four kids in Sydney's west earlier this year (See Abdullah family), my heart breaks. For the parents. For the siblings. For the community. 

When I say, "death is part of life," I don't want to be callous. I agree with thanatologists but not with nihilists. I agree with psychologists who want to help people process the fear of death, but not with those who incessantly dwell on it or deny it with vigor. 

When I was seven years old, my grandfather (zayde: Yiddish for grandfather) died. He was my dad's dad, and since I was the third of our three kids, and the usual time of our visit to see him was among many other cousins, I didn't have a very close relationship with Zayde. I remember that April morning when my dad received the phone call. They told me Zayde had died, and I just sat there in the lounge room. "Are you ok?" one of my parents asked. I replied something like, "Everyone dies. I'm ok." 

That wasn't callous, but maybe a bit cavalier. I took it in stride, in a way. Death is part of life. And for whatever reason, I already knew that. My brother had lost a dog when I was younger. But probably it was more of a dismissal of the feeling of loss. What can a 7-year-old boy in 1959 'feel' anyway?

In March, 2014, I was flying from Dublin, Ireland to Newark, New Jersey. It was the roughest airplane ride I had ever had (before or since!). No real rest on the plane due to the turbulence which lasted interminably, and on arrival at the airport, I received a phone call from my sister that our brother, Michael, had died while I was in the air. I was beside myself, and went into and through immigration control, and found myself outside the airport having forgotten to collect my baggage. I rang United Airlines and they helped reroute me and to reroute my luggage which flew separately. Death, although part of life, distressed me that day. 

I really felt sadness. I felt gloom. This was a day when Emily Dickenson informed me more than the Bible. My brother and I had rekindled our relationship only 9 months earlier, after decades of separation. I had no pigeon-hole into which to place those feelings that day. But over time, after the shiva and my returning to work, my life returned to normal, and my feelings of loss took more of a backseat. 

Of course, my own parents are gone. Mom in 2004 and Dad only 10 months later in 2005. I still have dreams where one or both of them show up. And the loss is real, although much fainter. 

Now it's Janet who will linger in my mind for these days. I couldn't get back to Kansas City to be with her sister and my sister and our friends for the funeral due to COVID realities. Janet has three grandchildren who live across the country whom I've never met. I could barely focus for a day or two. I imagine it's a part of my life that more regularly I will hear and be impacted by the realities of someone close or at least known to me, will die. Burns and Skelton are probably right. I need to read the obits and see if my own name is there.

But my hope is not living until I'm 120. My hope is not that everyone I know will last into my last days. I do have hope, and it is about life beyond the grave, but it's not about lingering in a home for oldies. My hope is in God and what He has announced about life and death and eternity. My hope is fixed on the One who came and preached, walked on water and fed 5,000 with a few fish and loaves. My hope is settled due to One who died on a Roman cross and was buried, then burst out of that grave on the 3rd day and after six weeks ascended into heaven in full view of some of his followers. 

My hope is set. My hope is in the Hope of Israel, the Messiah Himself, Yeshua. 

He even said, "I am the resurrection and the life." And by His rising from the dead and His establishing relationship with each of us, He extends His life to us one-by-one. I'm a recipient of that life. I'm a grateful man. 

Death is on its way. This is not morbid, but real. After you die, where will you spend eternity? Write to me if you want to discuss this. Or if you just want to talk about loss for a while. I really do get it. And I'm glad to be someone in your world who will listen as you grieve. Literally, we are all in this together. 

Death, be not proud... Death, thou shalt die. (The whole sonnet is here ). Thanks, John Donne. 

Oh death, where is your sting? (Hosea, the Jewish prophet as recorded in Hos.13.14)

Oh death, where is your victory? (Rabbi Saul, quoted in 1 Corinthians 15.54-55)

Thanks, G. Handel for memorializing those verses into Messiah, your amazing oratorio. 

This blog may have helped me in a cathartic way more than anyone else. And for now, I'm going to keep sitting in the feeling of loss, and let its ways motivate me as I memorialize some of my good times with my cousin and the pastor from Weston who passed on Wednesday. 

Moses wrote in Psalm 90, "As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away...So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom." (90.10-12) I want to make the most of what I have left. Not with worry or compensatory speed. I want to spend time with my grandsons. I want to finish the book I'm writing.  I want to make sure that my t's are crossed and my i's are dotted. 

"Teach us to number our days" means to me that I should make the most of each day. I hope for you the same.

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“When I get up in the morning I read the obituaries. if I don’t see my name there, I go to the office” was said by Bill Comte, a building contractor, in 1962. In 1967, the line was credited to the late British actor A. E. Matthews (1869-1960), who supposedly said it on his 89th birthday in 1958. American actor and comedian George Burns (1896-1996) told the line frequently in the 1980s.  

Synonyms of 'morbid' include: black, bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, dreary, dreich [chiefly Scottish], elegiac (also elegiacal), forlorn, funereal, gloomy, glum, godforsaken, gray (also grey), lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, solemn, somber, sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched

Numbers Lesson Three: Characteristics of God's people (Chapters 5-7)

 Wandering in the Wilderness: Reflections from the book of Numbers 3500 years to Covid-19

Lesson Three (Chapters 5-7)

bob@jewsforjesus.org.au

 

To view this online as a video: https://youtu.be/HdwDhVDqFSE

The entire Bible text of chapters 5, 6, and 7 are at the end also

 

Lesson Three: Characteristics of God’s people

 

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 three Bible chapters before you listen/ watch the rest of this. They are chapters 5 through 7. Then press play on your machine and re-join us. Thanks.

2.     Overview

[For those online, see this book overview from The Bible Project (https://youtu.be/tp5MIrMZFqo)] We saw how this book breaks into three major geographic and chronological sections. The first is found in chapters 1 through 10. Geographically we were at Sinai at the time. That’s where we are in this our 3^rd class today.

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.

3.     Three Theses

We will continue to remind ourselves about three major considerations that Moses addresses over and over in the book of Numbers. You will find them throughout our study. First, as Jewish people today still think, the goal of our wandering was a settled place, then titled ‘Canaan’ and today titled ‘Israel.’ Wildernesses are ok for trekkers or adventurers, but that’s not the long-ranged plan of God for us Jewish people. The second major thesis is the centrality of God, in location, in guidance, in physicality, in the structures he establishes from Tabernacle on. We are a community often on the march, but we are never to forget the centrality of the Almighty. The third major thought concerns authority. We have the One who gave us his law at Mt Sinai, and to whom we often have to return for further clarification and advice. 

Watch for those three theses each week, although some weeks they won’t be that visible, but usually they are front and centre.

B. Today’s study

1.     God’s people: Cleansed of defilements (Chapter 5)

Today we are going to look at some of the characteristics of God’s people that are shown to be in his plan. And maybe you have longed for that. Maybe you want a list so you can strike through when you have attained a certain category. Maybe you want that list to show your spouse, or your children or grandchildren. Let me say that you can have a list as long as the Constitution or Don McLean’s ‘American Pie,’ but keeping that list may not be very helpful to you. We’ll look at that in a few minutes.

 

A.    Clean and holy (5.1-31)

a.              The Hebrew word “tamei” means impure or unclean is also translated defiled. Each one has a certain valence, but the end of the matter is that whatever is so categorized, and the word is used 9 times in this chapter alone, was enough to make the person unclean. That uncleanness caused exclusion from the camp and cost the unclean person socially as well as economically. Of note, is that each person also had a way back into good graces, and I don’t want us to forget that one, ever!

The categories (in verses 1-4) of defiled people included those with leprosy, those with bodily discharge (compare Leviticus 15) or those who touched a dead body, whether human or animal. 

Some label this section of Torah as “miscellaneous laws” but Philip Budd insists

“It seems entirely appropriate that the issue should be raised here after the detailed discussion of the camp’s organization in Num 1–4.”

Whether these laws were miscellaneous, or health or hygiene, Weirsbe says, “their basic purpose was to teach the Jews the meaning of separation and holiness.” (page 35)

Some of you on this link are believers in Yeshua, and you know that he walked throughout Israel in the First Century, approximately 1500 years after Moses wrote these words in Bamidbar, and he claimed to be Messiah among his followers. And yet, though a traditional holy man, and one who never sinned, Yeshua touched lepers (Luke 5.12-15), and people with discharges touched him (Luke 8.43-48). Yeshua raised the dead by touch (Luke 7:11-17, 8:49-56). In other words, none of these defilements was a sin, otherwise Yeshua could not claim to be Messiah. 

b.              Not only were we to stay clean in our bodies, we were also to regard each other as our community. Verses 5-10 highlights reimbursements required if there were breach of trust or stolen property. We not only had to return the item (or its equivalence), we were to add another 20%. Steal $100? Bring back $120 to your neighbour. No neighbour? Bring $120 to the priests.   Even though the restitution was recorded already in Leviticus 6, here is another example of what I said in lesson one:

“God makes special allowance for celebrating in what would become known as Pesach Sheni. (verses 10-11) I love that about the Lord and we will see him offering alternatives throughout Bamidbar. That’s so useful in understanding how to survive ‘in the wilderness.’ Speak with him and let him use wisdom to make situations real and reasonable and memorable as a result. More on that throughout this book.”  God extends the rule to allow the priest to be the recipient of the required restitution.

 

c.     The laws about jealousy and suspicion of adultery

Some of you find this a tough section to read. Weirsbe says, “faithfulness in marriage is a foundation stone for every society.” (page 35) The section involves the examination of a woman, not a man, whose spouse suspects of adultery and breaking the covenant. Let me say from the outset that this ceremony never takes place in the record of Scripture. Around the time of the Destruction of the Temple, Yochanan ben Zakkai abolished this ordeal and “divorce alone was used in cases of well-proven faithlessness.” (Hertz, page 589)

The event was public which is terrible and shame and disgrace would be intended. This is not a pre-nup; it’s a post-nup of terror. The woman is made to go through several mechanisms of evaluation and testing more rigorous than a Pfizer Covid testing lab to determine her honorable covenant-keeping. It’s not the best way to honor your wife. Obviously there were other issues going on, but the Bible zooms in on this one possible activity. And no matter what, this man in the chapter is going to have to live with the results, and in either case, it won’t be good for them as a couple. If she’s guilty, he has to take care of her to the death, without a child, and if she’s not, he has to live with his own suspicions and try to apologize, probably daily until they die.

The woman, and probably others and you might say as in verse 22, “Amen. Amen.” The original meaning has now been almost lost, as it’s more of a marker of “I’m finished with my prayer.” The meaning was “So be it” or “I believe it” and carries the weight of affirmation to a preceding statement. All that has been said and to which the speaker agrees is in view. The woman of suspicion agrees with the process. And hey, if you are delivered from the suspicion, and shown to be faithful, then according to the text, she will bear a child. (v. 28). That is sort of God’s amen to the situation.

Look, the sin of stealing personal property and the sin of adultery (stealing someone else’s wife) as shown in chapter 5 are both about undetected thievery. No matter what, dear friends on this call and who are watching on YouTube, be sure that all your sins will find you out. God had various ways in Tabernacle time to find out, and he still has ways today. The best advice I can give you, as one who has been caught out many times before, is to be rigorously honest with the Almighty and confess your sins. Don’t wait until Yom Kippur; do it today. And the mercy you hope to receive will be yours; that’s who God is!

2.     God’s people: Separated to be blessed (Chapter 6)

 

The next chapter, chapter 6, ends with a famous blessing and that helps me set the title of this characteristic of God’s people: blessed. And if you are blessed, you will be thankful. At least that’s normal. And for you in the US just now, next Thursday is Thanksgiving and normalcy brings with it commensurate turkey and dressing, cranberries, family and football games. In the Scriptures here, this blessing follows the discussion about the Nazarite vow and the concept of a separated people. 

I think the word Nezer (separate) is used at least 15 times in this one chapter alone. It’s the theme and a clear characteristic of God’s people.  The idea of clean and pure (tahor) from the previous chapter and Nezer in this one, remind me that issues internal and external need to be in sync in a holy person’s life. The community is going to be on the march to Zion, and we have to be together in purity and in goals. 

Accidents happen, and the Nazirite of chapter 6 might touch a death thing and become defiled (tamei. Verse 9), then plan B comes to the front. The hair according to Rabbi Hertz was regarded “as the symbol of the vital power at its full natural development, and the free growth of the hair on the head of the Nazirite represented the dedication of the man with all his strength and powers to the service of God.” (Page 592) The Nazarite shaves his head and is out for 7 days. BUT then he can reboot his vow and start over. 

Again, this theme of substitution and another angle is seen over and over in Numbers, and I love that about the Lord. He gives us 2^nd and 3^rd and as many chances as possible for us to make things right.

Starting over, no matter how sure we didn’t need that ‘this time’ is the grace of God. The Proverbs teach, “a righteous man falls 7 times, and gets up again.”(24.16)

Then after the instruction about the Nazarite, God gives the blessing to pass on to Aaron to give to the people. Threefold. The Lord. Bless and keep. Make his face to shine upon you. Be gracious. Lift up countenance. Give you peace. Each Lord performs two actions. 

A separated people, who devote themselves to the Lord, receive 6-fold blessings from our Triune God. Not everyone is going to be a Nazarite and not every Nazarite is perpetually separated, but the model is there in our text to remind us that the Jewish people are to separate from the nations around them, and find the 6-fold blessing which included these blessings.

a.     Blessed (with goods)

b.    Kept (from harm)

c.     Make his face to shine upon you (personal relationship)

d.    Grace (favour, kindness, when we fail)

e.     Lift up countenance (make us to feel better, lifter of my head (Ps. 3)

f.      Peace (rest in the Lord no matter what)

The rabbis interpret the “make his face to shine” in a purely spiritual sense, to imply the gift of knowledge and moral insight. Sifri: “May he give you enlightenment of the eyes, the light of the Shechinah, may the fire of prophecy burn in the souls of your children, may the light of the Torah illumine your home.” As I said, when you are blessed and happy and you know it, you don’t stomp your feet or jump in place, you say ‘thanks.’ That’s the end result of the peace we should have with God and with our neighbours. Thankfulness and gratitude. Not only on Thursday or Thursdays, but throughout our days. Amen?

3.     God’s people: Everyone counts (Chapter 7) and should be GENEROUS

I hope you read these 89 verses one day. Maybe this afternoon. And let your mind evaluate why this name by name, tribe by tribe, gift by gift designation happens 12 times. Ponder what God is trying to say to you as you read and feel like you are re-reading it. By the way, the names are in the same order as they were in chapters 1 and 2. The tribes like everything God does, are in order. And each person’s gift, each tribal offering is counted. 

I don’t know if you are still watching the endlessness of the US 2020 elections. I grew weary of it by the end of the first week after all the ballots were sent in or people rocked up to polling stations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. What’s fascinating to me is that in several places people who are volunteers, who worked that week of 3 November are still in place, and they are again counting or recounting those ballots one by one. I can only imagine the blurry eyes and the weary seats. I can imagine the conversations at the water coolers of the tireless servants. 

But when I compare the month-long tallying in those states and what I read about in chapter 7, I think there’s no comparison. Each tribe has its own issues, of course, but note what they as a unit brought to the Lord. First, they came with gifts for the transportation of the Mishkan, and vessels for the services there and sacrifices of animals for the ceremonial activities there. 21 animals by 12 leaders totalled 252 animals. Over 12 days. This is pomp and circumstance on steroids. 

Look, nothing shows the leaders getting together and deciding what to bring, but it’s clear that unity was front and centre. No one gave more. No one gave less. The orderliness and the extravagance was dramatic. Read it and consider what God is saying to you. 

The characteristics evident to me in chapter 7 are orderliness and honour to the estate, to the Lord and most importantly generosity. 

This time of year in some countries, there is a large push for donations. Black Friday, Giving Tuesday, they do it all. God does want you to be generous. Not because of an appeal from a company in an envelope, but because of all his good blessings bestowed.

Conclusion

Stay with us during these weeks and learn with the others how you can stay on track in 2020 and beyond. And in the D-Groups, you will work this out with others, as a community on the march. If you have not yet joined a weekly Discipleship Group, please re-consider that and join us as we dig deeper.

I hope to see you next Friday 10 am Sydney time, as we study chapters 8 and 10 (since we have already viewed chapter 9), and learn about the Levites gaining cleansing and the end of the Jews’ time at Sinai as we make final preparations for the march to the land of Canaan. Hope to see you then, and until then, please have a safe and kind battle for God’s characteristics being formed in you and those around you. Shabbat shalom!

 

The three theses:

1)    The goal of our wandering was another place: Israel

2)    God is to be central to our marching and in our living

3)    Authority of the Lord and his anointed is not to be missed

 

 

Actual text:

 

Num. 5:1   Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the sons of Israel that they send away from the camp every leper and everyone having a discharge and everyone who is unclean because of a deadperson. ³ “You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they will not defile their camp where I dwell in their midst.” ⁴ The sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp; just as the LORD had spoken to Moses, thus the sons of Israel did.

 

Num. 5:5   Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Speak to the sons of Israel, ‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the LORD, and that person is guilty, ⁷ then ¹he shall confess his sins which he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged. ⁸ ‘But if the man has no relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to the LORD for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him. ⁹ Also every contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the priest, shall be his. ¹⁰ ‘So every man’s holy giftsshall be his; whatever any man gives to the priest, it becomes his.’”

 

Num. 5:11   Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, ¹³ and a man has intercourse with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she is undetected, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act, ¹⁴ if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself, ¹⁵ the man shall then bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of memorial, a reminder of iniquity.

 

Num. 5:16   ‘Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before the LORD, ¹⁷ and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel; and ¹he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. ¹⁸ ‘The priest shall then have the woman stand before the LORD and letthe hair of the woman’s head go loose, and place the grain offering of memorial in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy, and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. ¹⁹‘The priest shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness, being under the authority of your husband, be ¹immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse; ²⁰ if you, however, have gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had intercourse with you” ²¹ (then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people by the LORD’S making your thigh ¹waste away and your abdomen swell; ²² and this water that brings a curse shall go into your stomach, and make your abdomen swell and your thigh waste away.” And the woman shall say, “Amen. Amen.”

 

Num. 5:23   ‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall wash them off into the water of bitterness. ²⁴ ‘Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness. ²⁵ ‘The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar; ²⁶ and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water. ²⁷ ‘When he has made her drink the water, then it shall come about, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will waste away, and the woman will become a curse among her people. ²⁸ ‘But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will then be free and conceive children.

 

Num. 5:29   ‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, being under the authority of her husband, goes astray and defiles herself, ³⁰ or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest shall apply all this law to her. ³¹ ‘Moreover, the man will be free from guilt, but that woman shall bear her guilt.’”

 

Num. 6:1   Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to ³dedicate himself to the LORD, ³ he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. ⁴ ‘All the days of his separation he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

 

Num. 6:5   ‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

 

Num. 6:6   ‘^aAll the days of his separation to the LORD he shall not go near to a dead person. ⁷ ‘He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. ⁸ ‘All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.

 

Num. 6:9   ‘But if a man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his dedicated head of hair, then he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; he shall shave it on the seventh day. ¹⁰ ‘Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. ¹¹ ‘The priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering and make atonement for him ¹concerning his sin because of the dead person. And that same day he shall consecrate his head, ¹²and shall dedicate to the LORD his days as a Nazirite and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former days will be void because his separation was defiled.

 

Num. 6:13   ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall bring the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting. ¹⁴ ‘He shall present his offering to the LORD: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering and one ewe-lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering and one ram without defect for a peace offering, ¹⁵ and a basket of unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offering and their drink offering. ¹⁶ ‘Then the priest shall present them before the LORD and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. ¹⁷ ‘He shall also offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, together with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall likewise offer its grain offering and its drink offering. ¹⁸ ‘The Nazirite shall then shave his dedicated head of hair at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and take the dedicated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. ¹⁹ The priest shall take the ram’s shoulderwhen it has been boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall putthem on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his dedicated hair. ²⁰ ‘Then the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered by waving and the thigh offered by lifting up; and afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’

 

Num. 6:21   “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the LORD according to his separation, in addition to what else ¹he can afford; according to his vow which he takes, so he shall do according to the law of his separation.”

 

Num. 6:22   Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus ^ayou shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

 

Num. 6:24    The LORD bless you, and keep you;

²⁵         The LORD make His face shine on you, 

            And be gracious to you;

²⁶         The LORD lift up His countenance on you, 

            And give you peace.’

 

Num. 6:27   “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”

 

Num. 7:1   Now on the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, he anointed it and consecrated it with all its furnishings and the altar and all its utensils; he anointed them and consecrated them also. ² Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ households, made an offering (they were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who ¹were over the ²numbered men). ³ When they brought their offering before the LORD, six covered carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two of the leaders and an ox for each one, then they presented them before the tabernacle. ⁴ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵ “Accept these thingsfrom them, that they may be ¹used in the service of the tent of meeting, and you shall give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.” ⁶ So Moses took the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. ⁷ Two carts and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service, ⁸ and four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the ¹direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. ⁹ But he did not give any to the sons of Kohath because theirs was the service of the holy objects, which they carried on the shoulder.

 

Num. 7:10   The leaders offered the dedication offering ¹for the altar ²when ^ait was anointed, so the leaders offered their offering before the altar. ¹¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Let them present their offering, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.”

 

Num. 7:12   Now the one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah; ¹³ and his offering was one silver ^1adish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels,one silver bowl of seventy shekels, ^baccording to ²the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ¹⁴ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ¹⁵ one ¹bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ^16 aone male goat for a sin offering; ¹⁷ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of ^aNahshon the son of Amminadab.

 

Num. 7:18   On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, presented an offering; ¹⁹ he presented as his offering one silver dish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels, 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; ²⁰ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ²¹ one bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ²² one male goat for a sin offering; ²³ and for the sacrifice of ^apeace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.

 

Num. 7:24   On the third day it was Eliab the son of Helon, leader of the sons of Zebulun; ²⁵ his offering wasone silver dish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels, 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; ²⁶one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ²⁷ one young bull, one ram, one ^amale lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ²⁸ one male goat for a sin offering; ²⁹ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

 

Num. 7:30   On the fourth day it was Elizur the son of Shedeur, leader of the sons of Reuben; ³¹ his offeringwas one silver dish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels, 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; ³²one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ³³ one bull, one ram, one ^amale lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ³⁴ one male goat for a sin offering; ³⁵ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

 

Num. 7:36   On the fifth day it was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, leader of the children of Simeon; ³⁷ his offering was one silver dish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels, 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; ³⁸ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ³⁹ one bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁴⁰ one male goat for a sin offering; ⁴¹ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

 

Num. 7:42   On the sixth day it was ^aEliasaph the son of Deuel, leader of the sons of Gad; ⁴³ his offering wasone silver dish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of ^afine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁴⁴one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ^45 aone bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁴⁶ one male goat for a sin offering; ⁴⁷ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

 

Num. 7:48   On the seventh day it was ^aElishama the son of Ammihud, leader of the sons of Ephraim; ⁴⁹ his offering was one silver dish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels, 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; ⁵⁰ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of ^aincense; ^51 aone bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁵² one male goat for a sin offering; ⁵³ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

 

Num. 7:54   On the eighth day it was ^aGamaliel the son of Pedahzur, leader of the sons of Manasseh; ⁵⁵ his offering was one silver dish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels, 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; ⁵⁶ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of ^aincense; ⁵⁷ one bull, one ram, one ^amale lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁵⁸ one male goat for a sin offering; ⁵⁹ and for the ^asacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

 

Num. 7:60   On the ninth day it was ^aAbidan the son of Gideoni, leader of the sons of Benjamin; ⁶¹ his offeringwas one silver dish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels, 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; ⁶²one gold pan of ten shekels, full of ^aincense; ⁶³ one bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁶⁴ one male goat for a ^asin offering; ⁶⁵ and for the sacrifice of ^apeace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

 

Num. 7:66   On the tenth day it was ^aAhiezer the son of Ammishaddai, leader of the sons of Dan; ⁶⁷ his offering was one silver dish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the ^ashekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; ⁶⁸ one gold pan of ten shekels, full of ^aincense; ⁶⁹ one bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁷⁰ one male goat for a sin offering; ⁷¹ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

 

Num. 7:72   On the eleventh day it was ^aPagiel the son of Ochran, leader of the sons of Asher; ⁷³ his offeringwas one silver dish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels, 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; ⁷⁴one gold pan of ten shekels, full of ^aincense; ⁷⁵ one bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁷⁶ one male goat for a sin offering; ⁷⁷ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran.

 

Num. 7:78   On the twelfth day it was ^aAhira the son of Enan, leader of the sons of Naphtali; ⁷⁹ his offeringwas one ^asilver dish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels, 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; ⁸⁰one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense; ⁸¹ one bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering; ⁸² one male goat for a sin offering; ⁸³ and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

 

Num. 7:84   This was ^athe dedication offering ¹for the altar from the leaders of Israel ²when ^bit was anointed: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver bowls, twelve gold pans, ⁸⁵ each silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty shekels and each bowl seventy; all the silver of the utensils was 2,400 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; ⁸⁶ the twelve gold pans, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, according to the ^ashekel of the sanctuary, all the gold of the pans 120 shekels; ⁸⁷ all the oxen for the burnt offering twelve bulls, all the rams twelve, the male lambs one year old with their grain offering twelve, and the male goats for a sin offering twelve; ⁸⁸ and all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings 24 bulls, all the rams 60, the male goats 60, the male lambs one year old 60. ^aThis was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed.

 

Num. 7:89   Now when ^aMoses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above ^bthe ¹mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from ^cbetween the two cherubim, so He spoke to him.

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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.

Weirsbe, Warren. Be Counted. David C. Cook Publishing, Colorado Springs,1999.

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D-Groups for this week

1)             Tuesday 11 am Sydney time. Led by James Howse

2)             Monday 10 am Sydney time, led by Rebekah Bronn

3)             Thursday 7 pm, Sydney time, led by James White

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