OT Study: Numbers Pt. 3

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After refusing to enter the promised land and attempting to overthrow Moses, Aaron and the two faithful spies Caleb and Joshua, God declared, “35I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.” Everyone in this first wicked generation was to die and not enter the promised land. The ten spies died that day, some died during Korah’s rebellion, others died by the plague of poisonous snakes. Others died as the congregation wandered through the wilderness. Now in Chapter 22 we see Israel at the end of their 40 year journey as they approach the Jordan river which divides Moab from the Promised Land of Canaan. As this first section in Numbers comes to a close we will see the final end of the first generation of Israelites. But what we will also see is the glorious future of the nation of Israel that lies ahead of the second generation and to the generations beyond.

K. Deliverance from Moab’s Spiritual Attack (22:1-24:25)

i. Balak Summons Balaam (22:1-37)

20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. 22 But God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. 25 And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall. So he struck her again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” 30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.” 31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. 32 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” 34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” 35 And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.”

In 1967, inscriptions were discovered at an archeological site called Tel Deir ‘Alla that mention Balaam the seer. They tell of Balaam receiving visions of an impending war of the gods of the region of Gilead, east of the Jordan. This is the exact region in which the Israelites find themselves encamped in chapter 22 of Numbers. The king of the Moabites, Balak is fearful of what the Israelites will do when they come to Moab so he sends for this man, Balaam, who was a renowned divinator and prophet of the gods of the Canaanites. Balak wanted Balaam to practice his magic and conjure a curse against the Israelites and he was willing to pay Balaam handsomely for his services. It is interesting to see that Balaak recognizes that YHWH is behind the success of Israel and ultimately Balaak is trying to move YHWH to his side. However, YHWH is the covenant God of Israel. This can be seen when we look at how God address Himself to Balaam as Elohim as opposed to YHWH. Balaam calls God by His covenant name, but God does not have this relationship with Balaam or with Balak, who were enemies of His people. To them He is Elohim, the awesome and powerful God of the Universe, not YHWH, the compassionate and faithful covenant God of Israel. God does not permit Balaam’s request to curse His people for they are blessed. God would not do the opposite of what He promised to do for to do so would have violated His covenant with Israel. So then Balaam sent the men away at the command of God.

Shortly after, Balak’s servants return and make their request to Balaam again. Balaam’s desire for money compels him to approach God again, even after God denied their initial request. God tells Balaam to go in the morning “if the men have come to call you...but only do what I tell you.” The text says that the next morning Balaam woke up, saddled his donkey and went with Balak’s men. He was so eager to earn money that he didn’t listen to every word of God and wait for the men to call him. Because of this heart of greed and lack of attention to all of God’s instructions God’s anger was kindled against him. This leads to the famous story of Balaam’s talking donkey. God sent the Angel of the LORD to block the path of Balaam who was riding on his donkey. The irony here is that the famous prophet and seer couldn’t see what his donkey could: the Angel of the Lord standing in His way. Through this instance, God humbled Balaam and filled him with fear. Balaam was ready and willing to turn back but God commanded him to continue and speak exactly what God tells him to say; no more and no less.

ii. Balaam’s First Oracle (22:37-23:12)

38 Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.”

3 And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height,4 and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5 And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

“From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’ 8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? 9 For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him; behold, a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among the nations! 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!”

11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” 12 And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

Upon arriving in the presence of Balak, Balaam declares that he must only speak the words that God puts in his mouth. Balaam then receives an oracle from God to declare to Balak. In this first prophecy, God declares that Israel cannot be cursed by the foreign nations. They are the seed of Abraham to whom God promised blessing and Abraham an “offspring as the dust of the earth” (). Remember that God’s covenant with Abraham was unconditional. God is bound by His covenant faithfulness to fulfill what He pledged to Abraham.

iii. Balaam’s Second Oracle (23:13-23:26)

“Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor: 19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? 20 Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. 21 He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them. 22 God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. 23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What has God wrought!’ 24 Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.”

25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” 26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?”

In Balaam’s second oracle, God declares that what He says, He will do. He is not a liar, like man. He will always be faithful to carry out His promises to bless Israel. God will mercifully forgive Israel of their sin and will not devote them to utter misfortune and abandonment. He informs Balak and the nations that He is their King who is among them. Here God also declares that He is for Israel like a protective ox, ready to destroy and demolish the enemies of His people, like an ox with its horns or a lion devouring its prey. Upon hearing this, Balak was furious that Balaam wouldn’t curse Israel. He begs for Balaam to stop blessing them but Balaam knew the consequence for not saying what God commanded him to say.

iv. Balaam’s Third Oracle (23:27-24:9)

27 And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”

2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him, 3 and he took up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, 4 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: 5 How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel! 6 Like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. 7 Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. 8 God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows. 9 He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.”

Balak foolishly thought that maybe if he took Balaam to a different mountain he would be able to curse Israel - as if a change in scenery could force God to change his mind. God again declared the glorious future of Israel to Balak. Notice how God uses edenic imagery and wording from and 2 to describe the future dwelling places of Israel in the promised land. God also promises a king who will be more powerful than the kings of the Amalakites who were commonly named Agag. The Amalakites were the most prominent and powerful of the desert tribes, but Israel's King will be above them.

God promised to bring this King out of Egypt. The prophet Hosea alludes to this when he makes his mesianic prophecy in , “out of Egypt I called my son.” See in verse 9 that this king will “lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?” This is a direct quote from Jacob’s prophecy of Judah’s seed in , “Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?” God is here introducing the nations to the coming King of Israel. The nations will be blessed for blessing the King and cursed for cursing Him when He comes to rule and reign. This is a direct quote from the Abrahamic covenant given in . What is being established here is that the ultimate fulfillment of that covenant will come through the Messiah King.

v. Balaam’s Fourth Oracle (24:10-25)

15 And he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, 16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: 17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. 18 Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. 19 And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!” 20 Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said, “Amalek was the first among the nations, but its end is utter destruction.” 21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said, “Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock. 22 Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned when Asshur takes you away captive.” 23 And he took up his discourse and said, “Alas, who shall live when God does this? 24 But ships shall come from Kittim and shall afflict Asshur and Eber; and he too shall come to utter destruction.”

25 Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Balaam’s 4th and final oracle builds on the Messianic message of the previous oracle. This oracle focuses on what will happen in the latter days. This is the first use of the term latter days which refers to the culmination of all history in which the promises of God will be fulfilled to their completion. The prophecy begins with Balaam seeing the coming King who is like a star. In the ancient near east, rising stars were used to describe a rising and powerful king. Not only will this King be a star, He will be a scepter that shall arise. This is a reference to , “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,” This again confirms that this coming King will be a descendant of Judah. Moreover, this King shall crush the head of Moab. This is a direct allusion to the promise of , “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This was a promise made of the 2nd Adam, the one who will destroy all the enemies of God including the devil himself. This King that Balaam sees will be the 2nd Adam promised in Genesis. Verse 19 also alludes to Genesis by declaring that this King will exercise dominion. This word for dominion has not been used since which is where God blessed Adam and granted him dominion over all creation. This oracle ends with the prophecies of the destruction of Israel’s neighbors. The nations mentioned will all be defeated in the time of David, but this prophecy will find its ultimate fulfillment in the reign of the 2nd David who will conquer all the nations. Paul looks forward to this time in , “24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

To review, establishes that there will be a King of Israel who shall arise like a star. He will be the descendant of Judah. He will be the New Adam who will fulfill the promise of and the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. Lastly, He will conquer all of Israel’s enemies and subdue them under His dominion.

K. Deliverance from Moab’s Spiritual Attack (22:1-24:25)

i. Balak Summons Balaam (22:1-37)

“Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. 2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. 4 And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, 5 sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. 6 Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” 7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message.8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” 12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” 14 So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.” 15 Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these.16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me, 17 for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.’” 20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. 22 But God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. 25 And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall. So he struck her again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” 30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.” 31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. 32 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” 34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” 35 And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” In 1967, inscriptions were discovered at an archeological site called Tel Deir ‘Alla that mention Balaam the seer. They tell of Balaam receiving visions of an impending war of the gods of the region of Gilead, east of the Jordan. This is the exact region in which the Israelites find themselves encamped in chapter 22 of Numbers. The king of the Moabites, Balak is fearful of what the Israelites will do when they come to Moab so he sends for this man, Balaam, who was a renowned divinator and prophet of the gods of the Canaanites. Balak wanted Balaam to practice his magic and conjure a curse against the Israelites and he was willing to pay Balaam handsomely for his services. It is interesting to see that Balaak recognizes that YHWH is behind the success of Israel and ultimately Balaak is trying to move YHWH to his side. However, YHWH is the covenant God of Israel. This can be seen when we look at how God address Himself to Balaam as Elohim as opposed to YHWH. Balaam calls God by His covenant name, but God does not have this relationship with Balaam or with Balak, who were enemies of His people. To them He is Elohim, the awesome and powerful God of the Universe, not YHWH, the compassionate and faithful covenant God of Israel. God does not permit Balaam’s request to curse His people for they are blessed. God would not do the opposite of what He promised to do for to do so would have violated His covenant with Israel. So then Balaam sent the men away at the command of God. Shortly after, Balak’s servants return and make their request to Balaam again. Balaam’s desire for money compels him to approach God again, even after God denied their initial request. God tells Balaam to go in the morning “if the men have come to call you...but only do what I tell you.” The text says that the next morning Balaam woke up, saddled his donkey and went with Balak’s men. He was so eager to earn money that he didn’t listen to every word of God and wait for the men to call him. Because of this heart of greed and lack of attention to all of God’s instructions God’s anger was kindled against him. This leads to the famous story of Balaam’s talking donkey. God sent the Angel of the LORD to block the path of Balaam who was riding on his donkey. The irony here is that the famous prophet and seer couldn’t see what his donkey could: the Angel of the Lord standing in His way. Through this instance, God humbled Balaam and filled him with fear. Balaam was ready and willing to turn back but God commanded him to continue and speak exactly what God tells him to say; no more and no less.

ii. Balaam’s First Oracle (22:37-23:12)

38 Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.” 3 And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height,4 and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5 And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” “From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’ 8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? 9 For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him; behold, a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among the nations! 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!”11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” 12 And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”Upon arriving in the presence of Balak, Balaam declares that he must only speak the words that God puts in his mouth. Balaam then receives an oracle from God to declare to Balak. In this first prophecy, God declares that Israel cannot be cursed by the foreign nations. They are the seed of Abraham to whom God promised blessing and Abraham an “offspring as the dust of the earth” (). Remember that God’s covenant with Abraham was unconditional. God is bound by His covenant faithfulness to fulfill what He pledged to Abraham.

iii. Balaam’s Second Oracle (23:13-23:26)

17 And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” 18 And Balaam took up his discourse and said,“Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor: 19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? 20 Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. 21 He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them. 22 God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. 23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What has God wrought!’ 24 Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.”25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” 26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” In Balaam’s second oracle, God declares that what He says, He will do. He is not a liar, like man. He will always be faithful to carry out His promises to bless Israel. God will mercifully forgive Israel of their sin and will not devote them to utter misfortune and abandonment. He informs Balak and the nations that He is their King who is among them. Here God also declares that He is for Israel like a protective ox, ready to destroy and demolish the enemies of His people, like an ox with its horns or a lion devouring its prey. Upon hearing this, Balak was furious that Balaam wouldn’t curse Israel. He begs for Balaam to stop blessing them but Balaam knew the consequence for not saying what God commanded him to say.

iv. Balaam’s Third Oracle (23:27-24:9)

27 And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him, 3 and he took up his discourse and said,“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, 4 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: 5 How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel! 6 Like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. 7 Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. 8 God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows. 9 He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.”Balak foolishly thought that maybe if he took Balaam to a different mountain he would be able to curse Israel - as if a change in scenery could force God to change his mind. God again declared the glorious future of Israel to Balak. Notice how God uses edenic imagery and wording from and 2 to describe the future dwelling places of Israel in the promised land. God also promises a king who will be more powerful than the kings of the Amalakites who were commonly named Agag. The Amalakites were the most prominent and powerful of the desert tribes, but Israel's King will be above them. God promised to bring this King out of Egypt. The prophet Hosea alludes to this when he makes his mesianic prophecy in , “out of Egypt I called my son.” See in verse 9 that this king will “lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?” This is a direct quote from Jacob’s prophecy of Judah’s seed in , “Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?” God is here introducing the nations to the coming King of Israel. The nations will be blessed for blessing the King and cursed for cursing Him when He comes to rule and reign. This is a direct quote from the Abrahamic covenant given in . What is being established here is that the ultimate fulfillment of that covenant will come through the Messiah King.

v. Balaam’s Fourth Oracle (24:10-25)

10 And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. 11 Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13 ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’? 14 And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”15 And he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, 16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: 17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. 18 Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. 19 And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!” 20 Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said, “Amalek was the first among the nations, but its end is utter destruction.” 21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said, “Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock. 22 Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned when Asshur takes you away captive.” 23 And he took up his discourse and said, “Alas, who shall live when God does this? 24 But ships shall come from Kittim and shall afflict Asshur and Eber; and he too shall come to utter destruction.”Balaam’s 4th and final oracle builds on the Messianic message of the previous oracle. This oracle focuses on what will happen in the latter days. This is the first use of the term latter days which refers to the culmination of all history in which the promises of God will be fulfilled to their completion. The prophecy begins with Balaam seeing the coming King who is like a star. In the ancient near east, rising stars were used to describe a rising and powerful king. Not only will this King be a star, He will be a scepter that shall arise. This is a reference to , “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,” This again confirms that this coming King will be a descendant of Judah. Moreover, this King shall crush the head of Moab. This is a direct allusion to the promise of , “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This was a promise made of the 2nd Adam, the one who will destroy all the enemies of God including the devil himself. This King that Balaam sees will be the 2nd Adam promised in Genesis. Verse 19 also alludes to Genesis by declaring that this King will exercise dominion. This word for dominion has not been used since which is where God blessed Adam and granted him dominion over all creation. This oracle ends with the prophecies of the destruction of Israel’s neighbors. The nations mentioned will all be defeated in the time of David, but this prophecy will find its ultimate fulfillment in the reign of the 2nd David who will conquer all the nations. Paul looks forward to this time in , “24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” To review, establishes that there will be a King of Israel who shall arise like a star. He will be the descendant of Judah. He will be the New Adam who will fulfill the promise of and the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. Lastly, He will conquer all of Israel’s enemies and subdue them under His dominion.

L. Dealing with Apostates (25:1-18)

1 While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.” 6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting.7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped.9 Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

In we learn that Balaam advised Balak at Baal Peor to send the Moabite women into the camp to seduce the Israelites into adultery. Balaam could not turn God against Israel but he told Balak how to turn Israel against God. The sin of Baal Peor is the final straw in the apostasy and sin of the first generation. At Sinai, God declared great and glorious promises of making Israel a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. There was a glorious celebration of the inauguration of the Mosaic covenant that included a meal between Moses, the elders of Israel and God, Himself. This moment concluded with Moses going up to Sinai and receiving Commandments from the hand of God. But then, Israel apostatized. They devoted themselves to worshiping a golden calf as the deity who led them out of Egypt. They violated each of the 10 commandments and completely rejected the relationship that God had promised in the Mosaic Covenant. Here at Baal Peor we see the same thing. After we read of God’s glorious plans for the future of Israel the scene quickly shifts to the men of Israel committing adultery with the whores of Moab and Midian who seduced them and then led them to worship their gods. This first generation doesn’t want to follow YHWH. They want no part in receiving the glorious promises of God and provisions of a covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe. Instead they would rather follow their own passions and worship the idols of their whores.

In response, God executed His final judgement of the first generation. He sent a plague amongst the people and He instructed Moses to take the leaders of each tribe and hang them on the tree. In this we see that in God’s economy of justice, the sins of the people demands the hanging of the leaders who represent them. Death by hanging was painful, shameful and public, it was “in the sun before the Lord”. Moses then turned to the faithful judges of Israel who had not sinned at Baal Peor and instructed them to kill those who had committed adultery and idolatry.

After this, Moses and the people were mourning the sin of their brethren before the Tabernacle when Zimri, the son of the chief of the Simeonites, brought a Midianite princess to his tent to fornicate with her. Not only was this man joining in the sins of Baal Peor, he brought a gentile woman inside the camp and before the Tabernacle in order to commit adultery with her. Such disgusting and disgraceful sin caused Phineas, the grandson of Aaron and the son of the high priest, Eleazar, to rise up and pierce Zimri and the Midianite with a spear. After Phineas defended the holiness of God and the holiness of the Tabernacle, God’s wrath was appeased and He removed the plague from the congregation. Because of Phinmeas’ zeal for the Lord he and his descendants were promised a perpetual priesthood. His jealousy for God and his zeal for the holiness of God demonstrates a markedly different attitude towards God then we have seen in the first generation of Israelites. Moses records that 24,000 people died because of the plague that God had sent. This parallels the death of 23,000 Israelites following the sin of the golden calf.

It is important to recognize that the sin of Baal Peor establishes the foundation for the appeasement of God’s wrath and the removal of plague (curse). Here we saw that the leaders of the people were hung as punishment for the sins of the people that they represented. Furthermore, we saw the curse of the plague was removed by the piercing of the sinner with a spear. In we read that “a hanged man is cursed by God.” and then in we see Paul combine this curse in Deuteronomy with the theological foundation established in when he wrote, “13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”” Like the elders at Baal Peor, Christ was hung on a tree as punishment for our sin. He bore the curse of God that belonged to us so that we could be redeemed from the curses of breaking God’s Law. Like Zimri, He was pierced with a spear. But He was not pierced for His sin, for He was sinless. Instead “he was pierced for our transgressions” (). All glory be to Christ, Who, “21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. ().

II. Second Generation ()

Main Point

The main point of this section is to show how God raises up a holy generation to accomplish His holy purpose. This can be seen in the following structure:

Structure

Raising Up a New Generation ()Raising Up Those Concerned About Obtaining the Land ()Raising Up New Leadership ()Raising Up a Worshipful Community ()Raising Up a Pure Community ()Raising Up a Settled Community ()Review of the Wanderings ()Raising Up a Nation of Conquerors ()Raising Up a Physically Organized Nation ()Raising UP a Spiritually and Judicially Organized Nation ()Raising Up Those Concerned About Maintaining the Land (

Exposition

1. Raising Up a New Generation ()

1 After the plague, the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war.” 9 The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are Dathan and Abiram, chosen from the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the Lord 10 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured 250 men, and they became a warning. 11 But the sons of Korah did not die. 14 These are the clans of the Simeonites, 22,200. 22 These are the clans of Judah as they were listed, 76,500. .33 Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters. And the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.34 These are the clans of Manasseh, and those listed were 52,700. 63 These were those listed by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who listed the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64 But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For the Lord had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” Not one of them was left, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.This second section in the book of numbers begins as the first section did, with a census. God, because of His great mercy, love and faithfulness, did not utterly annihilate Israel. They deserved such a punishment. But instead God refined His people by raising up a zealous and holy generation. This can be seen when we compare the two censuses. The total population in the first census was 603,550. In , the total population was 601,730. This small difference of less than 2,000 men shows how God had faithfully brought the little children of the unfaithful first generation to the edge of the promised land. Three other distinctions can be observed when we compare the two censuses. First, Judah continues to be the most populated tribe. Remember that they are the royal tribe as we saw in Balaam’s oracles. Second, the population of the Simeonites diminished by about 27,000 men. Simeon was one of the most indulgent tribes in the idolatry and fornication at Baal Peor and for this they are severely punished. Lastly, the population of the tribe of Manasseh increases by just over 20,000 men. The reason for this increase will be made clear as we move through this section, but it is important to keep this rise in mind. The last thing of note in this census is the mention of Korah’s sons. Remember that Korah was the Levite who led a rebellion against Aaran and Moses where he claimed that he and his clan should be included in the priesthood. God promptly ended that rebellion by opening the ground to swallow the rebel leaders and then kill the rebels that followed him by burning them with fire from heaven. Here we see that Korah’s sons did not stand with their rebellious father but instead submitted to YHWH’s choice of Aaron and his two sons as the only priests of Israel. These men are famous for writing songs that focus on trusting and relying upon YHWH (; ). The census concludes with a reiteration that none of those who were numbered in the first census were included in this census for none of this generation were left except, Joshua, Caleb and Moses. What God decreed in came to pass here in . He is faithful both to bless and to judge.

2. Raising Up Those Concerned About Obtaining the Land ()

1 Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin. And he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father's brothers.” 5 Moses brought their case before the Lord. 6 And the Lord said to Moses, 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them. 8 And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.The narrative here shifts focus to a family from the tribe of Manassah. Five daughters of Zelophehad, the descendent of Joseph, approach Moses and request that they would be inheritors of the Promised Land. Their father had died along with the rest of the 1st generation and they had no brother to carry on the name of their father. They were worried that this would have disqualified them from inheriting the Land for it was unheard of that a woman would be a landowner in that time period. Moses took their case before God and God favored them and their zeal for the Promised Land by decreeing that women can become inheritors of their father’s land.

3. Raising Up New Leadership ()

“12 The Lord said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel. 13 When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14 because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) 15 Moses spoke to the Lord, saying,16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” 18 So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 19 Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. 20 You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. 21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.” The placing of Moses’ succession plan closely behind the request of Zelophehad's daughters demonstrates how God provided Israel with a plan for leadership when the time came for them to enter the land. Moses must die before entering the land because of his sin at Meribah (). However here God promises him that he will be able to see the Promised Land from afar. God instructs Moses to take his longtime assistant and faithful spy, Joshua to inherit the responsibility of leading Israel into the Promised Land. In vs 17, Moses calls the leader of Israel a shepherd over the people who are called sheep. This theme will be taken up by David, who is raised as a shepherd and then in 2 Samuel, called the Shepherd of Israel. In what is perhaps David’s most famous song, , David recognizes that the Lord is his Shepherd. Ultimately we see the conclusion in this theme in Christ who is both the Lord, the descendent of David, and the New Moses. He is the Good Shepherd and King over all of God’s sheep.

4. Raising Up a Worshipful Community ()

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time.’ 3 And you shall say to them, This is the food offering that you shall offer to the Lord: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a regular offering. 4 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 8 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight. Like the grain offering of the morning, and like its drink offering, you shall offer it as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 9 “On the Sabbath day, two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering:10 this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. 39 “These you shall offer to the Lord at your appointed feasts, in addition to your vow offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.” 40 So Moses told the people of Israel everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 30:1 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the Lord has commanded. 2 If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. The book of Numbers began with instructions for an orderly arrangement for how Israel camped and moved upon leaving from Sinai. These instructions demonstrated that God, who was placed at the center of the camp, was central to the nation of Israel. He was their king and all revolved around Him. Here, after the second census is performed we see instructions for orderly and holy conduct. However these are not instructions about how to set up camp. These instructions are for orderly worship for when they enter the land. God’s centrality was to be a constant focus for the people who entered into the land. They were to sacrifice to Him daily, on the Sabbath and uphold His yearly feasts. The schedule of each day, each month and each year was to revolve around worshipping God. These instructions would have also provided hope and strengthened the faith of the second generation. The amount of grain and livestock required for these regular sacrifices would only be a possibility if Israel lived in an agriculturally rich land such as Canaan. Chapter 30 deals with vows made to God by men and women of Israel. These vows were often accompanied with giving free-will offerings which expressed thanksgiving, devotion or petition to God. In these vows the Israelites would promise to abstain from activities () or dedicate some of their possessions as an offering to God. These vows were often linked with requests and petitions made to God. It is imperative that the vows made to God be fulfilled. A breaking of a vow would threaten the holiness of the nation. If God was faithful to answer a request than the vows made by that person had to be upheld and that person was to be held accountable by the entire congregation.

5. Raising Up a Pure Community ()

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord's vengeance on Midian. 4 You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5 So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7 They warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9 And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. 13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16 Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, 27 and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses 49 and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. Remember that the Midianites joined with Balak, the king of Moab, in sending their women into the camp of the Israelites to seduce them into adultery and idolatry at Baal Peor. Here we see God exercise judgement against the Midianites for those who cursed His people shall be cursed. God commanded Moses to send 12,000 soldiers to kill the armies of 5 Midianite kings. The Israelites kill every Midianite male, each of the 5 kings, and Balaam the seer. Remember that Balaam advised Balak to seduce the Israelites with women after God had prevented Balaam from cursing Israel on the mountain in . Note, however, that the Israelites spared the actual culperates of Baal Peor, the midianite women, and brought them back to the camp. This was an obvious mistake. Upon returning Moses ran out to the Israelite army and was filled with anger at the fact that the soldiers had brought the very women who had caused the sin of Baal Peor into the Israelite camp. Moses demanded that they repent of their folly and kill all the grown women in order to prevent a second Baal Peor and the soldiers respond in obedience. Previously, such a request would have been met with grumbling, complaining and disobedience. However, there is not one mention of resistance to the command of Moses made in these verses. After the battle Moses requested an accounting of the spoils of war as well as the casualties that the Israelite army sustained. Out of 12,000 people, who went up against the combined armies of 5 kings, not one Israelite died. What was clear to the Israelite army that day is that they fight with the mighty hand of God strengthening and protecting them.

6. Raising Up a Settled Community ()

1 Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. 2 So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land that the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.” 6 But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? 7 Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the Lord has given them?8 Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 16 Then they came near to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 17 but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 20 So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the Lord for the war, 21 and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord, until he has driven out his enemies from before him 22 and the land is subdued before the Lord; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. 23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. 33 And Moses gave to them, to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country. As Israel approached the Jordan river that divides the wilderness from the land of Canaan, the tribes of Reuben and Gad see the lush grasslands on the east bank of the Jordan and express a desire to settle there. Their desire to not have to cross the river causes Moses to remember the fear of the 10 spies who convinced the people that it was a death sentence to enter the Promised Land. Rather than rebel against Moses, the leaders of Reuben and Gad respond by pledging that after settling their children and wives in the land east of the Jordan, they will join the other tribes in conquering the Promised Land and will not return to their families until the conquest is complete. Moses accepts their vows but warns them that if they fail to uphold their promise, their sin would find them out. Half of the tribe of Manassah joined in settling on the east of the Jordan as well.

7. Review of the Wanderings ()

1 These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these are their stages according to their starting places. 48 And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; 49 they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.As Israel was about to enter the Promised Land, Moses took the time to look back at the journey of the Israelites from Egypt. This account outlines the date and the location of where Israel camped and wandered in the wilderness. This account demonstrates God’s faithfulness and love for His people. God had sanctified and preserved a new generation of His people and they were now at the very edge of their Exodus

8. Raising Up a Nation of Conquerors ()

50 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. 53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. 56 And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”God had promised to give the land of Canaan to the children of Abraham. God had also declared that He would eventually judge the sin and corruption of the Canaanites. In these instructions we see that God desires that His people destroy all the stones, images, shrines, and altars in the high places at Canaan. In verses 55-56 we see that if Israel fails to follow God’s command God will cause the Canaanites who remain in the land to be a constant trouble to Israel and will prevent the people from having any real and lasting peace in the Promised Land.

9. Raising Up a Physically Organized Nation ()

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), 13 Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. 14 For the tribe of the people of Reuben by fathers' houses and the tribe of the people of Gad by their fathers' houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.” In this section we see the borders of the Promised Land established and presented as an inheritance to the 9 and a half tribes who desired to settle in the Promised Land. The boundary of Canaan begins in the south at the southern tip of the Dead Sea, curves south and west to Kadesh-barnea and the Wilderness of Zin, and then west to the Brook of Egypt and on to the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea forms the western border of the promised land. The northern boundary extends from the Mediterranean Sea out past Lebo-hamath into territory that includes parts of present-day Syria and Lebanon. The eastern boundary of the promised land extends from the northern border down past the eastern slope of the Sea of Galilee and then follows along the Jordan River down to the Dead Sea. However, as we will see in the conquest of the book of Joshua, Israel fails to conquer the entire land and drive out the inhabitants of the land. Even at Israel largest size, during the reign of Solomon and of David, the Promised Land is never fully settled. To this day, Israel has not finished the conquest and inherited all that God had promised to Abraham.

10. Raising Up a Spiritually and Judicially Organized Nation ()

1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. 3 The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. 6 “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. 7 All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands. 8 And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.” 9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge.14 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there. Here we see that not only was the Promised Land be organized based on the size of each tribe but that it was to be organized for the purpose of preserving the spiritual health and the justice of the people. Each tribe was to provide cities for the Levites to settle. The presence of the Levites throughout each tribe indicates that the presence and holiness of God was to be distributed throughout each tribe as well. There will eventually be a special intensity of God’s presence in the Temple in Jerusalem but God’s presence and holiness is greater than any one house in which He chooses to dwell. 6 of these Levitical cities were to be established as cities of refuge. These were to be cities where one who unintentionally killed his neighbor could flee to and be protected from the close relative of the one killed who had the obligation to avenge their relative.

11. Raising Up Those Concerned About Maintaining the Land ()

1 The heads of the fathers' houses of the clan of the people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel. 2 They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.” 5 And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph is right. 6 This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7 The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. The second section of Numbers ends as it began, with a display of the tribe of Manasseh’s zeal to inherit the Promised Land. Men from the tribe came before Moses with a concern that if the daughters of Zelophehad married men from other tribes, their inheritance would be transferred to the families of those other tribes, thus shrinking the land of the tribe of Manassah. So Moses instituted a statute to preserve the tribes inheritance by commanding that marriages must occur between those within each tribe. This section began with the second generation’s care and zeal for the land and it ends with this same zeal and care on display. The message of this is that God’s people are finally prepared and filled with a great desire to enter in to the Promised Land. Questions for ApplicationWhat aspects about God’s nature and character are on display in this section of Numbers? How does the zeal of the second generation for the Promised Land relate to Christ’s commands for us New Covenant saints to seek first His Kingdom? In Paul writes in reference to the history of the people of Israel in the wilderness, “these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” What is one lesson that you learned in the book of Numbers that has helped you in your Christian walk?

Questions for Application

What elements of Jesus’ nature as King are established here in

Explain the connection between the King in Balaam’s oracle, Adam and the eden like Promised Land of Israel’s future kingdom.

Explain further how the hanging at Baal Peor established the foundation for Christ’s atoning death.

What aspects about God’s nature and character are on display in this section of Numbers?

How does the zeal of the second generation for the Promised Land relate to Christ’s commands for us New Covenant saints to seek first His Kingdom?

In Paul writes in reference to the history of the people of Israel in the wilderness, “these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” What is one lesson that you learned in the book of Numbers that has helped you in your Christian walk?

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