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Overview
"Its arrangement is commendable—it could serve as a marvelous guide for home study of the Bible or for group study. The outline before each section is well chosen and interwoven in the body of the material." — Derward W. Deere, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781575679006 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Moody Publishers |
| Publication date: | 06/01/1964 |
| Series: | Everyman's Bible Commentaries |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 128 |
| File size: | 322 KB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Numbers
Journey to God's Rest-Land
By Irving L. Jensen
Moody Press
Copyright © 1964 The Moody Bible Institute of ChicagoAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-57567-900-6
CHAPTER 1
Part One
PREPARATION FOR THE JOURNEY
(1:1–10:10)
I. ORDER AND ORGANIZATION (1:1—4:49)
The first prominent truth about the ways of God revealed in the Book of Numbers is His order and planning. This is vividly demonstrated in the Genesis account of the creation of the universe. Here in Numbers it is manifested in His leading a great host of people (at least two million) on a journey through strange lands.
A. Order of Inventory (1:1-54)
At this point in the history of the Israelites everything pointed to a goal not yet attained, the occupation of the land of Canaan. This was not the goal of a dreamer, but the goal promised by the God who already had done marvelous miracles in behalf of His very own people. He had formed them into a nation as He had promised Abraham: "I will make of thee a great nation" (Gen. 12:2). He had delivered them from the utmost in human bondage in Egypt. He had also encouraged them as to the reality of occupying Canaan by making prior specific provision for the kind of life and worship which would be theirs. The Book of Leviticus is filled with such provision and direction, e.g., "When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto Jehovah" (Lev. 25:2).
Advance day was now imminent for Israel. It was the first day of the second month, in the "second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt" (1:1). The logistic problems of a mass march of more than half a million fighting men, besides the women and children, were of fantastic proportions, exceeded only by the infinite resources of such a leader and sustainer as Jehovah Himself.
The first order of the day in terms of preparation for the journey was that of personnel inventory: "Take ye the sum" (1:2). Moses and Aaron, with the help of princes or heads of each tribe (1:4-16), assembled all the congregation and numbered by tribes every male, twenty years old and upward, able to go forth to war (1:3).
Before even listing the numbers of each tribe, Moses as writer of Numbers was inspired to insert early in the record the fact of his utter obedience to the commandment of God. Moses did not raise doubts about the ultimate outcome of the journey, utter murmurings about the laborious task of census-taking, or push the job over to someone else. The record says, "As Jehovah commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai" (1:19). If Jehovah's initiative is the first outstanding truth in the opening chapters of Numbers, Moses' obedience is the second.
The count of the men of war begins at 1:20. When all the records were in, this was the count by tribes (apparently recorded in terms of round numbers, rounded off to units of one hundred, except the tribe of Gad): Reuben, 46,500; Simeon, 59,300; Gad, 45,650; Judah, 74,600; Issachar, 54,400; Zebulun, 57,400; Ephraim, 40,500; Manasseh, 32,200; Benjamin, 35,400; Dan, 62,700; Asher, 41,500; Naphtali, 53,400. The grand total was 603,550 fighting men (1:46).
"But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them" (1:47), since their task along the way would not be to battle the enemy hosts, but to take care of the tabernacle and its belongings, and to minister in its services (1:5053). In the eyes of God, work, war, and worship were a trio, each part of which was indispensable to the successful completion of the journey to Canaan. Even if the success of a battle depended on hosts of men, it would never call away a Levite from his duties connected with the people's worship. If the favor of God depended on worship and communion, then work and war, in their place and time and by commandment of God, were indispensables to the sanctity of the people. What the people of Israel needed to see so desperately was that the General who was planning the strategy knew what He was doing, and that to disobey His orders was to bring doom.
"Take ye the sum" (1:2). The numbering of the men of war before the journey started was in effect a representative measure of the number of the total people of God. This people of God, recently delivered from the bondage of Egypt, brought into Sinaitic covenant relationship, and now anticipating entrance shortly into the promised land of rest, symbolize some interesting spiritual lessons for the Christian today:
(1) Each child of God in the large Body of Christ is an individual soul, known by his heavenly Father (for a total number is the sum of individual parts).
(2) Victorious Christian living (the life of rest in God) is possible only for those already redeemed from the bondage of sin. (Those numbered in anticipation of the march to Canaan had been delivered from Egypt's bondage.)
(3) The attainment of spiritual rest comes by spiritual warfare and by the prevailing might of God. (The numbering anticipated and served the logistic purposes for the battles to come.)
(4) Being a Christian is not a guarantee of automatic victorious living.
This latter truth reflects one of the most sobering facts of the history of Numbers, namely, that of all those counted in this early census of Numbers, only two actually were to enter the land. "All that were numbered of you ... shall not come into the land ... save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun" (14:29, 30). The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that the people did not enter the land because of unbelief and disobedience.
B. Order of Encampment (2:1-34)
A mass of people, unordered, invites confusion and riot. Jesus honored order when He prepared to feed over five thousand people at one time. He commanded them to "sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties" (Mark 6:39, 40). How much more the need for order and efficiency with over two million Israelites in the wilderness!
Chapter 2 records the details of the positioning of the tribes while they were encamped and while they were on the march. For encampment, the locations were identified by the directions east, south, west and north, with the tabernacle in the very center: "Over against the tent of meeting shall they encamp round about" (2:2). The order for marching was identified by the sequence as listed in the account.
1. At the Head of the March, the East Campers (2:3-9) "They shall set forth first" (2:9).
a. The camp of Judah
b. Next, the tribe of Issachar
c. Followed by the tribe of Zebulun
d. At this point (10:17) the Gershonites and Merarites followed, carrying their burden of the tabernacle structure, so as to have this ready when the Kohathites would arrive with the sacred things (10:21).
2. Followed by the Second Rank, the South Campers (2:10-16)
a. The camp of Reuben
b. Next, the tribe of Simeon
c. Followed by the tribe of Gad
3. Next, the Camp of Levites (2:17)
They were responsible for everything of the camp and tabernacle except that which was carried earlier by the Gershonites and Merarites. As in encampment, so in march, the Levites were to be centrally located.
4. The First of the Rear Divisions, the West Campers (2:18-24)
a. The camp of Ephraim
b. Next, the tribe of Manasseh
c. Followed by the tribe of Benjamin
5. The Hindmost Marchers, the North Campers (2: 25-31)
a. The camp of Dan
b. Next, the tribe of Asher
c. Lastly, the tribe of Naphtali
Chapter 2 closes with a note concerning the obedience of the children of Israel to the directions of God: "According to all that Jehovah commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set forward, every one by their families ..." (v. 34).
By finding their designated places and keeping to them, the families of the Israelites were taught some vital lessons preparatory to marching and going to war. They were taught to keep their places, whether in camp or on the move; to recognize their dependency on others for protection on all sides; to keep their eyes on the standards, and to heed the voices of their leaders. They were also taught that both camping and marching were in the divine purposes. The journey to Canaan would involve marching, and it would involve camping. Never would the Israelites reach Canaan if they did not keep moving forward; the demands of moving forward would be hard and long, hence the need of mustering renewed strength at camping time.
Perhaps the most important lesson God was teaching the Israelites in the directions for camping and marching was that He, Jehovah, their Covenant Maker and Covenant Fulfiller, must be central in their lives. The tabernacle was not arbitrarily placed in the center of the camp. It was placed there by divine design to be the crossroads of all daily activity, to be the major focus of attention, to be a continual reminder of the Person who dwelt in the midst of the people and Who was rightfully commanding worship and loyalty.
C. Order of Ministry (3:1—4:49)
If the success of the journey to Canaan depended on obedient hearts of the Israelites, then a vital part of the journey's preparation involved caring for those things which would encourage and cultivate true worship and spiritual growth. Chapters 3 and 4 record some of God's directions for this preparation. The contents of the two chapters may be summarized:
1. The Priests, Sons of Aaron (3:1-4)
2. The Levites
a. Their general service (3:5-10)
b. Their divine Ordainer (3:11-13)
c. Their number (one month old and upward) and duties (3:14-39)
d. Their substitutionary position (3:40-51)
3. Duties of Sons of Levi Amplified; Number of Males, Ages 30-50
a. Kohath: charge (4:1-20); number: 2,750 (4:34-37)
b. Gershon: charge (4:21-28); number: 2,630 (4:38-41)
c. Merari: charge (4:29-33); number: 3,200 (4:42-45)
4. Summary of Census of Levites, Ages 30-50: 8,580 (4:46-49)
Priests and Levites were two different classes of ministers. The Levites ministered to the priests (3:6) mainly in the outward elements of the worship services, while the priests performed the ceremonial exercises of the worship itself. In this segment of chapters 3 and 4 only the first four verses refer to the priests exclusively, while the remainder deals with the Levites.
The first note struck by the author is a somber one indeed. Having identified the four sons of Aaron by name–Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar–and having emphasized that they were "consecrated to minister" (3:3), the author reached back to an event of the past and recovered it–hideous as it was–to impress upon the reader an inviolable truth concerning sin and service: without exception, sin destroys service. Nadab and Abihu died at the hands of Jehovah for doing that which the Lord commanded them not to do. They offered strange fire before Jehovah (see Lev. 10:1 ff.). It was a sin of disobedience and presumption. Three important truths stand out in this prologue to the main contents of chapters 3 and 4:
(1) No sins are left unjudged.
(2) Not even God's servants are exempt from judgment. These were sons "consecrated to minister," and when they died, the number of Aaron's sons was reduced by half!
(3) Generations of tomorrow are affected by service today. "And they had no children" (3:4). No sons to pick up the lost strands! God alone knows the full extent of the loss to the generations that followed.
The next three paragraphs are introduced by the phrase, "And Jehovah spake unto Moses" (3:5, 11, 14). Moses was publicly to assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons, to do the service of the tabernacle (3:5-10). Jehovah emphatically declared that the Levites were really His: "The Levites shall be mine ... mine they shall be" (3:11-13). Then Moses was commanded to number the Levites, every male from one month old and upward (3:14 ff.). In chapter 4 another census was taken, that of all male Levites from thirty to fifty years old. The latter was the census of all active Levites serving in their charges. Just as the other Israelites were numbered for war, so the Levites were numbered for their service in worship.
Jehovah revealed a very close relationship between His sovereign appointment of the Levites to service and His sovereign redemption of the Israelites from bondage (3:40-51). That relationship may be seen from the following:
(1) The number of all first-born sons who had been born between the time of the exodus and the census, thirteen months later, was 22,273 (3:43).
(2) The number of all male Levites one month old and upward, was 22,000 (3:39).
(3) Jehovah made a one-for-one substitution for each of the 22,000. "I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of [in the place of] all the first-born that opened the womb among the children of Israel" (3:12). For the 273 difference, an equivalence of redemption money was paid to the priests (3:4651).
This transaction illustrates an important truth concerning the relationship of service to salvation. Sovereign appointment to service is based on sovereign deliverance from bondage.
Now in further detail the duties of the families of Levites are elaborated. The sons of Kohath were to have charge of the primary objects of the tabernacle, such as the ark, table, candlestick, and altar (4:4-15; 3:27-32). The Gershonites' service involved taking care of the large and heavy tabernacle and tent, the curtains, coverings, screens and hangings thereof (4:21-28; 3:25, 26). The sons of Merari were to have charge of the smaller auxiliary things, such as boards, bars, pillars, sockets, and pins (4:29-33; 3:33-37).
The Lord knew the details of the objects used in the worship service, and He provided for their care by the ministry of the Levites. They must have been impressed by the meticulous care which He wanted them to exercise in His work. They must have learned the lesson that each service is as important as the next. For instance, what would be the point of the coverings and enclosures (Gershonites' responsibility) without the contents, such as ark or laver (Kohathites' responsibility)? Or how could there be a tabernacle without the boards and bars (Merarites' responsibility)?
The numbers of those Levites who qualified by age (thirty to fifty) to serve in the tent of meeting were large: Kohathites, 2,750; Gershonites, 2,630; and Merarites, 3,200 (4:34-49). We are not told every detail of their duties, but the wilderness environment most certainly created a multitude of tasks. And for this work there was a multitude of workers. The Lord was not short of workers in that day!
In the concluding verses of chapter 4 a vital association is made, that of "service" with "burden"–"every one according to his service, and according to his burden" (4:49). The Levites were to serve faithfully in days of encampment, and they were also to be willing to carry the burdens whenever on the march. To serve and carry burdens–this is the task of the bondslave of the Lord.
I. CLEANSING, CONSECRATION, AND FINAL INSTRUCTIONS (5:1-10:10)
The first four chapters record the directions which Jehovah gave Moses regarding preparation for the journey as related especially to the community of the camp as a whole. In chapter 1 the instruction was, "Count the warriors of the camp"; in chapter 2, "Arrange the tribes in the camp"; and in chapters 3 and 4, "Take care of the tabernacle of the camp."
Now the directions were aimed more at individuals within the camp.
A. Put Out the Unclean (5:1-4)
God had placed the tabernacle in the center of the camp, to emphasize that the life of the Israelites centered about Him. Now He stated this fact very explicitly and clearly, and applied it to tine life of the camp:
The fact: I dwell "in the midst" of your camp (5:3).
The application: "Put out of the camp every leper," and so forth (5:2).
When the Holy One settles down to dwell, uncleanness and sin cannot find a home there. There is no room for joint occupancy. If God is in the midst, uncleanness must be put out.
Three cases of uncleanness are cited: the leper, the one with a running issue, and the one defiled by the dead. Apart from any hygienic reasons, the directions for such purging reflect the ways of God in speaking to the Israelites. They thought in terms of the concrete and the visible, and so God continually used the visible, the tangible, and the audible to make clear His message. Here was a threefold reminder that God did not want habitual sinners in the camp:
The leper was a picture of the awfulness and ugliness of sin.
The running issue was a reminder of sin unhealed and taking its toll.
Defilement by a dead body was a reminder of the ultimate result of sin, eternal death.
"And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp" (5:4). This was another instance of the Israelites' obedience to Jehovah before they began to move on the journey.
B. Judge the Guilty (5:5-31)
Having taught the Israelites in a symbolical manner that He and sin cannot dwell together, God now legislated what must be done when actual sin occurred in the camp, or when sin was suspected. The kinds of sin that might be committed were legion. God cited adultery as one example.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Numbers by Irving L. Jensen. Copyright © 1964 The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Excerpted by permission of Moody Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Preface,Introduction,
Part One: Preparation for the Journey (1:1–10:10) (At Sinai),
Part Two: The journey (10:11–22:1) (To Moab),
Part Three: At the Gate to the Land (22:2–36:13) (At Moab),
Conclusion,
Short Bibliography for Numbers,