Numbers 21

Numbers 21

Numbers 21:1 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.

Numbers 21:2 And Israel pledged a solemn pledge to Yahveh and said, “If you will really give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.”

Numbers 21:3 And Yahveh heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So, the name of the place was called Hormah.

Numbers 21:4 From Mount Hor, they advanced by the way to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. And the throats became impatient on the way.

Numbers 21:5 And the people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the open country? Because there is no food and no water, and our souls loathe this worthless food.”

Numbers 21:6 Then Yahveh sent fiery snakes among the people, and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died.

Numbers 21:7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahveh and you. Pray to Yahveh that he takes away the snakes from us.” So, Moses prayed for the people.

Numbers 21:8 And Yahveh said to Moses, “Make a fiery snake and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten when he sees it will live.”

Numbers 21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and set it on a pole. And if a snake bit anyone, he would look at the bronze snake and live.

Numbers 21:10 And the people of Israel advanced and camped in Oboth.

Numbers 21:11 And they advanced from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the open country that is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise.

Numbers 21:12 From there they advanced and camped in the Valley of Zered.

Numbers 21:13 From there, they advanced and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the open country that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

Numbers 21:14 Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of Yahveh, “Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,

Numbers 21:15 and the slope of the valleys that extends to the seat of Ar and leans to the border of Moab.”

Numbers 21:16 And from there they continued to Beer; that is the well of which Yahveh said to Moses, “Gather the people together, so that I may give them water.”

Numbers 21:17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well! — Sing to it! —

Numbers 21:18 the well that the princes made, that the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter and with their staffs.” From the open country, they went on to Mattanah,

Numbers 21:19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

Numbers 21:20 and from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah that looks down on the desert.

Numbers 21:21 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, and this is what he said,

Numbers 21:22 “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into a field or vineyard. We will not drink the water from a well. We will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”

Numbers 21:23 But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the open country and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.

Numbers 21:24 But Israel defeated him by the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, because the border of the Ammonites was strong.

Numbers 21:25 And Israel took all these cities, and Israel took possession of all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and all its villages.

Numbers 21:26 Because Heshbon was the city of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon.

Numbers 21:27 Therefore the ballad singers say, “Come to Heshbon, let it be built; let the city of Sihon be established.

Numbers 21:28 Because fire came out from Heshbon, flame from the city of Sihon. It devoured Ar of Moab and swallowed the heights of the Arnon.

Numbers 21:29 Tragedy has come to you, O Moab! You have perished, O people of Chemosh! He has made his sons fugitives and his daughter’s captives to an Amorite king, Sihon.

Numbers 21:30 So we overthrew them; Heshbon, as far as Dibon, perished; and we laid waste as far as Nophah; fire spread as far as Medeba.”

Numbers 21:31 This is how Israel came to possess the land of the Amorites.

Numbers 21:32 And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

Numbers 21:33 Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Og, the king of Bashan, came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

Numbers 21:34 But Yahveh said to Moses, “Do not fear him, because I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land. And you will do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”

Numbers 21:35 So they defeated him and his sons and all his people until he had no remaining survivor. And they possessed his land.

Numbers 21 quotes:

“With the beginning of chapter 21, a new chapter in the story of Israel’s wanderings begins. Up to this point, all the threats to God’s people’s forward progress have been internal (feuds, fights, despair) or, if external (as with Edom in Num. 20), fairly easily avoided. Indeed, the key reason for Israel’s circuitous wanderings, which take up ten verses at the heart of Numbers 21 (vv. 10-20), is its desire, at least while on the east bank of the river Jordan, to “pass through” this territory without a fight. But here, at this point in the journey, the resistance to this priestly nation’s transit in the world stiffens, and its swords are for the first time unsheathed—not against rebels and malcontents in its own ranks, but against a series of three enemies without. They are in order: the king of Arad (“the Canaanite,” 2:1), and the kings of the Amorites and of Bashan, King Sihon and — King Og.”

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 194.

“This initial victory was won at the place of earlier defeat. The Lord was assuring them that, in coming days, things would be different. When the Lord gave the Canaanites over to them (3) it was an immense boost to their morale. This first conquest became the precursor of later triumphs (21:21-35). On the threshold of Canaan, the Lord was assuring them that, by his grace and in his power, life could be different.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 183.

“God did not argue with them. He just acted. What He did was to send fiery serpents among them. When bitten by these serpents, many of the people died. This was all part of the judgment of God.”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 115.

“The people sought relief and confessed their sin to Moses, asking him to pray to remove the snakes. Moses prayed for them, and God answered by instructing Moses to make a snake and put it up on a pole. Whoever looked at the pole would recover from the snakebite. The Lord had them construct the bronze snake as “an emblem of healing rather than an object of veneration” (Harrison, 278). But later the Israelites, probably under the influence of Canaanite religion, worshiped and burned incense to this object. Still later, godly King Hezekiah destroyed the serpent (2 Kgs. 18:4).”

Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002. p. 332.

“Here is the Gospel, preached in plainest language, by object-lesson again. The Israelites were bitten by the serpent, and were dying. God lifted up the remedy, upon which if they would but look, they might live. Just so, the old Serpent has bitten everyone of the human race and they are dying. God lifted up the remedy — Christ Jesus, upon whom if one but looks with the eye of faith he lives.

Saxe, Grace. Studies in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Grace Saxe, 1921. p. 45.

Numbers 21 links:

a hopeful walk
bless us with boring
faith to destroy
having life, or awaiting wrath
recover, remember
Spring up, Oh Well
The dead will hear, and come out
The desert snake
when his enemies attack

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, May 4, 2021

The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

Numbers 20

Numbers 20

Numbers 20:1 And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the open country of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.

Numbers 20:2 Now there was no water for the congregation. And they collected themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

Numbers 20:3 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “We should have expired when our brothers expired at the face of Yahveh!

Numbers 20:4 Why have you brought the congregation of Yahveh into this open country, that we die here, both we and our animals?

Numbers 20:5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”

Numbers 20:6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the congregation to the entrance of the conference tent and fell on their faces. And the impressive appearance of Yahveh appeared to them,

Numbers 20:7 and Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Numbers 20:8 “Take the staff, and collect the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock in the sight of their eyes to yield its water. So, you will bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their animals.”

Numbers 20:9 And Moses took the staff from in the sight of Yahveh, as he commanded him.

Numbers 20:10 Then Moses and Aaron collected the congregation together in the sight of the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: must we bring water for you out of this rock?”

Numbers 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out copiously, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

Numbers 20:12 And Yahveh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you will not bring this congregation into the land that I have given them.”

Numbers 20:13 This is the water of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with Yahveh, and through them he showed himself holy.

Numbers 20:14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that we have encountered:

Numbers 20:15 how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians treated us and our fathers cruelly.

Numbers 20:16 And when we cried to Yahveh, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.

Numbers 20:17 Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from a well. We will go along the King’s Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

Numbers 20:18 But Edom said to him, “You will not pass through, or else I will come out with the sword against you.”

Numbers 20:19 And the people of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.”

Numbers 20:20 But he said, “You will not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force.

Numbers 20:21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.

Numbers 20:22 And they advanced from Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

Numbers 20:23 And Yahveh said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom,

Numbers 20:24 “Let Aaron be gathered to his people, because he will not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the water of Meribah.

Numbers 20:25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor.

Numbers 20:26 And strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron will be gathered to his people and will die there.”

Numbers 20:27 Moses did as Yahveh commanded. And they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

Numbers 20:28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

Numbers 20:29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had expired, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

Numbers 20 quotes:

“What’s bad news for Moses is good news te us. Why? If one of the leaders (in contrast to subordinates and future leaders like Joshua and Caleb?) had managed to make it over the Jordan by his or her merit alone, then the challenge to be holy as the Lord is holy would simply come to us at face value. But even Moses fails, and even Moses is remembered more for his “attitude” toward God (“whom the Lord knew face to face”; Deut. 34:10) than for his “aptitude for holiness.” All of our lives and actions are meant to reflect the holiness of the Lord in our midst, and yet this remains a bar too high for any of us to attain.”

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 190.

“Israel’s leader must have faced many a day with a heavy heart. These biblical characters did not belong to a make-believe world where, because they loved God, everything automatically went well for them. Their experience hardly supports the optimistic euphoria of the ‘prosperity theology’ people, with their assurance of health and wealth. The Bible is more realistic and more honest.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 173.

“The higher up a person is, the heavier the blow falls. Those who belong to congregations have pastors and officers, who carry extra responsibility. These leaders are not as free as others. Because of the load that is on them, they must walk carefully.”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 113.

“Instead of speaking to the rock as God had instructed him, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff. He thundered at them for their wrangling: Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock? He uncharacteristically disobeyed the clear instructions of the Lord. Moses, it appeared, was angrier than God with the complaining throngs. Water flowed from the rock and the people drank, but the damage was done. The Lord pronounced a sentence on Moses and told him he would not enter the promised land with the people. The place was therefore named Meribah, meaning “to strive.”

Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002. p. 331.

“It would seem that Moses perfectly understood these instructions, and followed them exactly (vv. 9, 10) until he stands before the assembled multitude ; but as he beholds the people, and perhaps remembers how, from the time they started from Egypt, they have blamed him for everything that went wrong, he seems to be carried away in a perfect storm of pride and passion, and instead of speaking to the rock he speaks to the people, and takes his own rod, and smites the rock twice (v. 10).”

Saxe, Grace. Studies in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Grace Saxe, 1921. p. 44.

Numbers 20 links:

“To be gathered to his people”
a hopeful walk
all about a Promise (part 1)
Excursus- “To Be Gathered”
great miracle, great tragedy
last climb
request refused

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, May 4, 2023

The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

Numbers 19

Numbers 19

Numbers 19:1 Then Yahveh spoke to Moses and Aaron, and this is what he said,

Numbers 19:2 “This is the prescription of the instruction that Yahveh has commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a perfect red heifer, in which there is no flaw, and on which a yoke has never been placed.

Numbers 19:3 And you will give it to Eleazar, the priest, and it will be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in the sight of him.

Numbers 19:4 And Eleazar the priest will take some of its blood with his finger and spritz some of its blood toward the front of the conference tent seven times.

Numbers 19:5 And the heifer will be burned in his sight. Its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, will be burned.

Numbers 19:6 And the priest will take cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn and toss them into the fire burning the heifer.

Numbers 19:7 Then the priest will wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward, he may come into the camp. But the priest will be contaminated until evening.

Numbers 19:8 The one who burns the heifer will wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water and will be contaminated until evening.

Numbers 19:9 And a man who is pure will gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a pure place. And they will be kept for the water for impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel; it is a failure offering.

Numbers 19:10 And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer will wash his clothes and be contaminated until evening. And this will be a permanent prescription for the people of Israel and for the foreign guest who sojourns among them.

Numbers 19:11 “Whoever touches the dead throat of any human will be contaminated seven days.

Numbers 19:12 He will purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be pure. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, he will not become pure.

Numbers 19:13 Whoever touches a dead throat of any human who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Yahveh, and that throat will be eliminated from Israel; because the water for impurity was not tossed on him, he will be contaminated. His contamination is still on him.

Numbers 19:14 “This is the instruction when a human dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent will be contaminated for seven days.

Numbers 19:15 And every open vessel that has no cover fastened on it is contaminated.

Numbers 19:16 Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally or touches a human bone or a grave will be contaminated for seven days.

Numbers 19:17 For the contaminated they will take some ashes of the burnt failure offering, and fresh water will be added in a vessel.

Numbers 19:18 Then a pure person will take hyssop and dip it in the water and spritz it on the tent and all the furnishings and on the throats who were there and on whoever touched the bone, or the slain or the dead or the grave.

Numbers 19:19 And the pure person will spritz it on the contaminated on the third day and the seventh day. Thus, on the seventh day, he will purify him, and he will wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and in the evening, he will be pure.

Numbers 19:20 “If the man who is contaminated does not purify himself, that throat will be eliminated from the midst of the collected assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of Yahveh. Because the water for impurity has not been tossed on him, he is contaminated.

Numbers 19:21 And it will be a permanent prescription for them. The one who spritzes the water for impurity will wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity will be contaminated until evening.

Numbers 19:22 And whatever the contaminated person touches will be contaminated, and any throat who touches it will be contaminated until evening.”

Numbers 19 quotes:

“But now, all the people — priests, Levites, and Nazirites included—find themselves in a camp with 14,700 corpses (Num. 16:49), plus the ashes of the 250 (16:35), and Korah and crowd underfoot (16:31-33)! How will any of them ever approach the Lord in this state, without making further additions to the casualties?”

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 184.

“With such a recurrent emphasis on death it is natural that, at this point in the story, some instruction should be given to the Israelite people about how they should react to the presence of a dead body.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 162.

“Many times people will wonder whether a person may be completely forgiven for having done wrong. Any person not only can be forgiven, but he can be completely cleansed, as was done here.

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 109.

“A red heifer ritual cleansed the Israelites from ceremonial defilement.”

Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002. p. 329.

“In chapter 19 God gives a standing ordinance for the purification of all uncleannesses, in the water of separation made of the ashes of a red heifer. By comparing Heb. 9:11-13 we see that this sacrifice, like all the others, pointed to Christ. This ceremony showed the purifying effect of the ashes of the sin-offering when applied to man by water, and typified the purifying effect which the remembrance of our Sin-offering (Christ) has, when applied by the Spirit.”

Saxe, Grace. Studies in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Grace Saxe, 1921. p. 43.

Numbers 19 links:

a maintained walk
contaminated by death
Dead souls, dying souls
looking beyond death


Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, May 3, 2021
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, May 1, 2019

The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

UNITY

UNITY

Psalm 133 ESV

A Song of Ascents. Of David. 1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.

Israelite pilgrims probably sang the songs of ascent as they traveled to Jerusalem to worship the Lord during the annual festivals. As the believers climbed toward Jerusalem, they prepared themselves spiritually for the importance of their visit to Mount Zion. This particular Psalm is attributed to David. It celebrates the unity of God’s people.

I believe we Christians should meditate on this Psalm. Unity is also a significant theme in the New Testament. Jesus prayed for us to live in harmony with one another when he asked the Father that we may be one, just as he and the Father are one (John 17:21). The Apostle Paul taught us not to focus on our differences but to see ourselves as one in Christ. He knew that the Christians in his time had a lot of diversity. They had ethnic diversity because the gospel had spread to many nations, and now there were Greek Christians as well as Jewish Christians. He knew the gospel had been preached to both high-class nobility and lower-class slaves. He also knew that the good news had been proclaimed to and by women as well as men. So, he taught that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female — for all of you are one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).”

Our relationship with Christ allows us to overlook our differences and treat each other as He commanded us to. He taught us to love, respect, and be considerate of one another. In fact, we are warned that if we only claim to love God but do not love each other, we are hypocrites. When we consider all these things the New Testament teaches about unity, we would be surprised if the same principles are not found in the Old Testament, the Bible Jesus read.

Some of the oldest Bible stories actually depict unity in a negative light. Adam and Eve were united in their defiance against the Lord in the garden, and the people of Babel were united in their attempt to disobey God’s command to scatter across the Earth.

But as revelation progresses, it becomes clear that God is not against human unity. He wants to unify us in a way that is different from the way we want to unify ourselves. We want to unify ourselves against his plan and against his heart. He wants to unify us according to his plan and in line with his heart. The way he wants to do that is to unify us in the Messiah. He wants us to be one in Christ.

The final book of the Bible, Revelation, reveals what this will look like in eternity. It shows us a vision of the redeemed from every tribe, language, people, and nation. But this vast multitude of people is one despite their former ethnic, geographic, social, and economic differences. They are the redeemed in Christ, and they are one. That’s what God wants.

Now that we have surveyed the concept of unity in the Bible, let’s examine the teachings of this particular passage.

Unity is a good thing (1).

We don’t use the word “behold” very often now, but it was frequently used in Bible times. We use it when we want to attract people’s attention to something. When we write something, we can do this by changing the font, underlining the word, or putting it in bold print. We are telling our readers to notice this word or phrase because it is crucial.

David wanted his readers to see that fraternal unity was a good and pleasant thing. He paints a picture with his words, portraying the entire nation sitting together as one person. We can understand how David could feel that way as king. He did not want his kingdom to be divided, he did not want civil war, and he wanted peace and harmony among the citizens of his nation.

But his words are more general than that. Perhaps he is expressing his gratitude for the peace that he has known in the United Israel. But he wants us to notice that God wants this of every nation.

Here is where the rubber meets the road for us in 21st-century America. This psalm reminds us that our country’s name is the United States. You all know that I rarely talk politics in the pulpit because I don’t think that is what this pulpit is for. But I need to address the reality that is all too evident in this nation today. We are taking sides and attacking each other. We are defining ourselves as us and condemning them. The last time we were polarized to such an extent, it resulted in a civil war.

God speaks to our current situation and calls us to peace, reconciliation, and unity. We need to recognize that unity is a good thing and that, as a nation, we are far from dwelling together in unity.

Unity is a calling (2).

David uses two similes to explain how good it is for brothers to be unified. In verse 2, he shows Aaron, the nation’s first high priest, being anointed with oil in his ordination ceremony.  We watch as the anointing oil flows freely down Aaron’s head and drips down his beard to the collar of his robes. No one screams, “Somebody get a towel.” Nobody wants to clean up the mess. Why? Because this is the anointing oil. Aaron is the anointed of God. He is called to represent the people before God as their high priest.

Part of explaining Scripture is showing the connections between its words so that the readers understand how they relate. There are several connections here that are not obvious, so I need to point them out. First, as high priest, Aaron unified the whole nation of Israel. They were a multitude of people, coming from a dozen tribes, but they had only one high priest. When Aaron was anointed, he stood as a symbol of the unity of Israel.

Secondly, anointing oil was an ancient symbol of purity. People anointed their heads to cleanse them from impurity and keep bugs out. Thus, oil itself became a symbol of a promise to obey one’s calling with integrity. In the Ancient Near East, three types of people were ordained by an anointing ceremony: prophets, priests, and kings.

Each would be tempted to exercise their position in a self-centered way. Their anointing was a promise and commitment to avoid corruption and selfishness. The oil flowing down their heads was a symbol of a commitment to purity.

Thirdly, every prophet, priest, or king who was anointed realized that the Scriptures predicted a coming anointed one who would be God’s ultimate anointed one. He would be not just a prophet, not just a priest, and not just a king. He would be the prophet, the priest, and the king. He would be all three. He was called the Messiah: the Anointed One. Consequently, every anointing ceremony would itself be a foreshadowing of the great event of the coming of Christ. Thus, everyone who was anointed took on the responsibility of predicting Christ through their own life choices.

Unity is a calling. That is why the Apostle Paul called the church, “those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2). He says that we “were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).

We have not all been anointed with oil, but all of us have been anointed with God’s Holy Spirit. We have been given different gifts, but we are expected to use our gifts to build one another up “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God — a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature” Ephesians 4:13). So, just like Aaron in Psalm 133, every Christian is anointed. Our calling is to represent Christ as we grow to be more like him.

Unity is a blessing (3).

The simile changes in verse three. We are told that unity is like the dew of Hermon, but we don’t know who Hermon is. Mount Hermon is a high, snow-capped mountain located in the northern region. The picture is of the dew from this distant high mountain descending into the area of Zion, way to the South. We have heard of mountains being so large that they create their own weather. Something like that seems to be implied here. The difficulty is that there are numerous mountains in Israel, many of them in Judah itself, which is much closer to Jerusalem than Mount Hermon is. So, why did David draw attention to Mount Hermon?

I can only guess, but this is my guess. David chose a distant mountain to show us that the unity we can experience today is only an approximation of the unity we will experience when Christ returns. The dew from Hermon is a blessing upon all the pilgrims from the north as they make their way to Jerusalem for the feast. Our present unity is a blessing as well. But what we have in store when our Savior comes to reign is the blessing that the LORD commanded at Zion.

And what is that blessing? Life forevermore! Unity is good and pleasant, but the command of our God is more than unity. God wants more from us than merely getting along with others. He wants us all to make it to his destiny for us. As pilgrims together, we are blessed by the cooling dew from Mount Hermon, but we are all on our way to something even better. We are on our way to Zion. There the LORD has commanded the ultimate blessing: eternal life.

Some churches teach that we all already have eternal life. But that is not what this church teaches. The word of God speaks of a judgment day. The sheep and the goats will be separated. The goats will go to the punishment of permanent destruction, while the sheep will go to permanent life. The lost will die the second death, while the saved will get a second life. This second life will be the blessing that the LORD pronounced on Zion: life forevermore.

It is fitting that this short psalm about unity concludes by reminding us that something more important than unity exists. The unity in the Garden of Eden ended with our ancestors being expelled from paradise. The unity at Babel resulted in disorder and scattering. As we journey on this pilgrim path, we should all aim to get along with each other. However, our ultimate goal is not merely coexistence but to attain the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Communion Meditation:

Ephesians 2:15

“(Christ) nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace.”

After Christ’s death on the cross, there is only one people of God. He made forgiveness possible for both Jews and Gentiles. He enabled a unity based not on pedigree or works accomplished. His death made it possible for all of us to approach the throne of God based on his perfect work, not our imperfect works.

Numbers 18

Numbers 18

Numbers 18:1 So Yahveh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house with you will bear the violation connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you will bear the violation connected with your priesthood.

Numbers 18:2 And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and serve you while you and your sons with you are at the face of the tent of the reminder.

Numbers 18:3 They will keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but will not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar or else they, and you, will die.

Numbers 18:4 They will join you and keep guard over the conference tent for all the service of the tent, and no unauthorized person will come near you.

Numbers 18:5 And you will keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, so that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel.

Numbers 18:6 And notice, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to Yahveh, to do the service of the conference tent.

Numbers 18:7 And you and your sons with you will guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you will serve. I give your priesthood as a gift, and any unauthorized person who comes near will be put to death.”

Numbers 18:8 Then Yahveh spoke to Aaron, “notice, I have given you charge of the contributions made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a permanent due.

Numbers 18:9 This will be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every tribute offering of theirs and every failure offering of theirs and every reparation offering of theirs, which they render to me, will be most holy to you and to your sons.

Numbers 18:10 In a most holy place will you eat it. Every male may eat it; it is holy to you.

Numbers 18:11 This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, all the presentation offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a permanent due. Everyone who is pure in your house may eat it.

Numbers 18:12 All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the firstfruits of what they give to Yahveh, I give to you.

Numbers 18:13 The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahveh, will be yours. Everyone who is pure in your house may eat it.

Numbers 18:14 Every devoted thing in Israel will be yours.

Numbers 18:15 Everything that opens the uterus of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they offer to Yahveh, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn human you will redeem, and the firstborn of contaminated animals you will redeem.

Numbers 18:16 And their redemption price (at a month old you will redeem them) you will fix at five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

Numbers 18:17 But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you will not redeem; they are holy. You will spritz their blood on the altar and will burn their fat as a fire offering, with a pacifying aroma to Yahveh.

Numbers 18:18 But their flesh will be yours, as the breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours.

Numbers 18:19 All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to Yahveh I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a permanent due. It is a covenant of salt forever at the face of Yahveh for you and for your offspring with you.”

Numbers 18:20 And Yahveh said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, neither will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

Numbers 18:21 “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the conference tent,

Numbers 18:22 so that the people of Israel do not come near the conference tent, lest they pay for their failure and die.

Numbers 18:23 But the Levites will do the service of the conference tent, and they will bear their violation. It will be a permanent prescription throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they will have no inheritance.

Numbers 18:24 Because the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to Yahveh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they will have no inheritance among the people of Israel.”

Numbers 18:25 And Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Numbers 18:26 “Moreover, you will speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you will present a contribution from it to Yahveh, a tithe of the tithe.

Numbers 18:27 And your contribution will be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and like the fullness of the winepress.

Numbers 18:28 So you will also present a contribution to Yahveh from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you will give Yahveh’s contribution to Aaron the priest.

Numbers 18:29 Out of all the gifts to you, you will present every contribution due to Yahveh; from each its best part is to be dedicated.’

Numbers 18:30 Therefore you will say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest will be counted to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and like produce of the winepress.

Numbers 18:31 And you may eat it in any place, you and your households, because it is your reward in return for your service in the conference tent.

Numbers 18:32 And you will pay for your failure by reason of it, when you have contributed the best of it. But you will not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, or else you will die.'”

Numbers 18 quotes:

“Now, once more, it’s time to regroup. Boundaries have been crossed, relationships shattered. Somehow they must be restored. The smells of fire and death still hang over their tents, the grave of Korah and crowd runs like a ravine through their midst, and the bronze covering the altar and the almonds on Aaron’s rod have yet to lose their sheen. Momentarily, at least, Israel is alert and attentive. Indeed, the last words heard in the camp cry out from the very bowels of God’s people: “Are we all to perish?””

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 181

“Thus the people are taught that in that very priesthood which they had so despised and spoken against, they were to find their security ; and at the same time God offsets any tendency to conceit in Aaron, by laying upon him the holy responsibilities, as well as the privileges of the priesthood.”

Saxe, Grace. Studies in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Grace Saxe, 1921. p. 43.

“The priests and Levites would not be able to serve with the singleminded devotion the work demanded if they were troubled about life’s material necessities. The initial set of rules describes how the priests were to be maintained (8-20), before outlining the prescribed support for the Levites (21-32). The passage suggests some important guidelines regarding our own financial responsibilities towards God’s servants.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 157.

“The rules about tithes and firstlings show how Israel was to acknowledge the ministry of the priests and Levites (ch. 18).”

“Inasmuch as the Levites did not work for a living, but depended upon the tithes, Moses spelled out just what was to belong to them. Everything—oil, grain, and meat—was to be tithed to support the Levites.”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 106.

Numbers 18 links:

a maintained walk
all the best
or die
two gifts for the priests

The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library