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

Numbers 17

Numbers 17

Numbers 17:1 Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Numbers 17:2 “Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each father’s house, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. Write each man’s name on his staff,

Numbers 17:3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. Because there will be one staff for the head of each father’s house.

Numbers 17:4 Then you will deposit them in the conference tent at the face of the reminder, where I meet with you.

Numbers 17:5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus, I will make to cease from me the complaints of the people of Israel, which they complain about you.”

Numbers 17:6 Moses spoke to the people of Israel. All their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. The staff of Aaron was among their staffs.

Numbers 17:7 And Moses deposited the staffs at the face of Yahveh in the tent of the reminder.

Numbers 17:8 On the next day, Moses went into the tent of the reminder and noticed that Aaron’s staff for the house of Levi had sprouted, put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.

Numbers 17:9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from at the face of Yahveh to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff.

Numbers 17:10 And Yahveh said to Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron at the face of the reminder, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, or else they will die.”

Numbers 17:11 This is what Moses did. He did what Yahveh commanded him.

Numbers 17:12 And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Notice, we are expiring,[1] we are perishing, we are all perishing.

Numbers 17:13 Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of Yahveh, will die. Are we going to finish up expiring?”

[1] גָּוַע = expire. Numbers 17:12, 13; 20:3, 29.

Numbers 17 quotes:

“In the startling events at the Tent of Meeting, the people had just been given undeniable proof of the divine authenticity of the priesthood, but the Lord knew that not everyone would be convinced. He knew all about ‘that disease of obstinacy’ which still maintained ‘its secret hold upon their hearts’.! So, to the existing ‘sign’ of the bronze altar-covering (16:36-38), he added another. Some who could be overwhelmed by an expression of instant wrath might be persuaded by a manifestation of continuing mercy. Therefore, the Lord added to the daunting testimony of death (the bronze altar-covering), a persuasive testimony of life. A further sign, a fruit-bearing staff, was to be kept as a sign to the rebellious (10).”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 152.

“Aaron’s family is established as the true priesthood.”

Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002. p. 321.

“Each tribe must bring a rod with their name upon it; and these rods, together with one bearing Aaron’s name, were to be laid up in the Tabernacle before the Lord. The next day, when they were brought forth, they were all the same dead sticks as before, with the exception of Aaron’s rod, which had budded and blossomed, and borne fruit. So the question as to whom God had appointed as high priest was settled by this sign, bringing life out of the dead stick, making the dead to live. Was not the question as to whom God has appointed to be our High Priest settled by the same sign-— making the dead to live? The resurrection of Christ proved Him to’ be what He claimed.”

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

“Thus these three stories reiterate clearly and unequivocally God’s choice of Aaron. He is the pre-eminently holy one. Only he can draw near to God. Only he can make atonement for Israel’s sin. Israel must acknowledge his unique place in the scheme of salvation by not usurping his prerogatives and by supporting his ministry financially.’

Wenham, Gordon J.. Numbers: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 4) (p. 157). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Numbers 17 links:

a submissive walk
from accusation to fear
Perish the thought

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, May 3, 2023

The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

Numbers 16

Numbers 16

Numbers 16:1 Then Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men.

Numbers 16:2 And they rose at the face of Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, chosen from the collection, well-known men.

Numbers 16:3 They collected themselves together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! Because all in the congregation are sacred, every one of them, and Yahveh is among them. Why, then, do you exalt yourselves above the collected assembly of Yahveh?”

Numbers 16:4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face,

Numbers 16:5 and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning Yahveh will show who is his, and who is sacred, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him.

Numbers 16:6 Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company;

Numbers 16:7 put fire in them and put incense on them at the face of Yahveh tomorrow, and the man whom Yahveh chooses will be the sacred one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!”

Numbers 16:8 And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi:

Numbers 16:9 is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of Yahveh and to stand at the face of the congregation to minister to them,

Numbers 16:10 and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?

Numbers 16:11 Therefore, it is against Yahveh that you and all your company have collected. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”

Numbers 16:12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up.

Numbers 16:13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the open country, that you must also make yourself a prince over us?

Numbers 16:14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.”

Numbers 16:15 And Moses was furious and said to Yahveh, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.”

Numbers 16:16 And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, at the face of Yahveh, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow.

Numbers 16:17 And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring to the face of Yahveh his censer, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.”

Numbers 16:18 So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the conference tent with Moses and Aaron.

Numbers 16:19 Then Korah collected all the congregation against them at the entrance of the conference tent. And the impressive appearance of Yahveh appeared to all the congregation.

Numbers 16:20 And Yahveh spoke to Moses and Aaron, and this is what he said:

Numbers 16:21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”

Numbers 16:22 And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the breaths of all flesh, will one man make a failure, and will you be angry with all the congregation?”

Numbers 16:23 And Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said

Numbers 16:24 “Say to the congregation, Get away from the staying of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

Numbers 16:25 Then Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.

Numbers 16:26 And he spoke to the congregation, and this is what he said, “Get away, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, or else[1] you will be swept away with all their sins.”

Numbers 16:27 So they got away from the staying of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.

Numbers 16:28 And Moses said, “As a result of this, you will know that Yahveh has sent me to do all these works and that it has not been of my own accord.

Numbers 16:29 If these men die as all men die, or if the fate of all humanity visits them, then Yahveh has not sent me.

Numbers 16:30 But if Yahveh creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised Yahveh.”

Numbers 16:31 And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart.

Numbers 16:32 And the land opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their belongings.

Numbers 16:33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the ground closed over them, and they were destroyed from the midst of the collected assembly.

Numbers 16:34 And all Israel who were around them ran away at their cry because they said, “Or else the ground will swallow us up!”

Numbers 16:35 And fire came out from Yahveh and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.

Numbers 16:36 Then Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Numbers 16:37 “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide because they have become sacred.

Numbers 16:38 As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their throats, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar because they offered them at the face of Yahveh, and they became sacred. Thus, they will be a sign to the people of Israel.”

Numbers 16:39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar,

Numbers 16:40 to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no unauthorized person, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense at the face of Yahveh, or else he will become like Korah and his congregation — as Yahveh said to him through Moses.

Numbers 16:41 But on the next day, all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and this is what he said: “You have killed the people of Yahveh.”

Numbers 16:42 And when the congregation had collected against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the conference tent. And notice, the cloud covered it, and the impressive appearance of Yahveh appeared.

Numbers 16:43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the conference tent,

Numbers 16:44 and Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said

Numbers 16:45 “Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.

Numbers 16:46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and provide reconciliation for them, because wrath has gone out from Yahveh; the plague has begun.”

Numbers 16:47 So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the collected assembly. And notice that the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.

Numbers 16:48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.

Numbers 16:49 Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the affair of Korah.

Numbers 16:50 And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the conference tent, when the plague was stopped.

[1]פֶּן = or else. Numbers 16:26; 20:18.

Numbers 16 quotes:

“Korah wanted to get close to God’s fire; 250 do get close to God’s fire, literally: they are “consumed” (v. 35). Dathan and Abiram are upset that Moses lords it “over them”; well, now everybody will stand “over them,” as they are swallowed alive down beneath the earth (v. 32). The people are concerned that Moses is the cause of the killing; so the Lord commences to kall by that form so frequent in Exodus through Numbers: the plague (v. 46).”

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 177.

“In this book’s unfolding story we again switch suddenly from one literary genre to another. Yet the abrupt transition is more apparent than real. Obedience is a central theme in chapter 15 and is followed by a story relating the tragic consequences of disobedience (16:1-50).”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 142.

“The natural man does not like to be controlled. We see this in a baby and especially in a three-or four-year-old. It is particularly noticeable in a group if the one in control is a meek, humble person. The people under him oftentimes do not want to be told what to do. The history of Israel is marked by the notorious rebellion of Korah, a leader under Moses.”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 100.

“Attempts to override God’s authority will meet with his judgment.”

Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002. p. 319.

Numbers 16 links:

a submissive walk
dangerous discontent
Excursus- Sheol- The Old Testament Consensus
going too far
introducing the breath of God
Perish the thought
Sheol in the Bible- The Old Testament Consensus
swept away

The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

Numbers 15

Numbers 15

Numbers 15:1 Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Numbers 15:2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you,

Numbers 15:3 and you offer to Yahveh from the herd or from the flock a fire offering or an ascending offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a solemn pledge or as a spontaneous voluntary offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pacifying[1] aroma for Yahveh,

Numbers 15:4 then the one who brings his offering will offer to Yahveh a tribute offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil;

Numbers 15:5 and you will offer with the ascending offering, or for the sacrifice, a quarter of a hin of wine for the drink offering for each lamb.

Numbers 15:6 Or for a ram, you will offer for a tribute offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil.

Numbers 15:7 For the drink offering, you will offer a third of a hin of wine, a pacifying aroma to Yahveh.

Numbers 15:8 And when you offer a bull as an ascending offering or sacrifice, to fulfill a solemn pledge or for offering for healthy relationships to Yahveh,

Numbers 15:9 then one will offer with the bull a tribute offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with half a hin of oil.

Numbers 15:10 And you will offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, as a fire offering, a pacifying aroma to Yahveh.

Numbers 15:11 “Thus it will be done for each bull or ram, or each lamb or young goat.

Numbers 15:12 As many as you offer, so will you do with each one, as many as there are.

Numbers 15:13 Every native Israelite will do these things in this way, in offering a fire offering, with a pacifying aroma to Yahveh.

Numbers 15:14 And if a foreign guest is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a fire offering, with a pacifying aroma to Yahveh, he will do as you do.

Numbers 15:15 For the collected assembly, there will be one prescription for you and for the foreign guest who sojourns with you, a permanent prescription throughout your generations. You and the sojourner will be alike at the face of Yahveh.

Numbers 15:16 One instruction and one rule will be for you and for the foreign guest who sojourns with you.”

Numbers 15:17 Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said

Numbers 15:18 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land to which I bring you

Numbers 15:19 and when you eat of the bread of the land, you will present a contribution to Yahveh.

Numbers 15:20 Of the firstfruits[2] of your dough, you will present a loaf as a contribution, like a contribution from the threshing floor, so will you present it.

Numbers 15:21 Some of the firstfruits of your dough you will give to Yahveh as a contribution throughout your generations.

Numbers 15:22 “But if you inadvertently make a failure, and do not observe all these commands that Yahveh has spoken to Moses,

Numbers 15:23 all that Yahveh has commanded you by Moses, from the day that Yahveh gave a command, and onward throughout your generations,

Numbers 15:24 then if it was done inadvertently without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation will offer one bull from the herd for an ascending offering, a pacifying aroma to Yahveh, with its tribute offering and its drink offering, according to the rule, and one male goat for a failure offering.

Numbers 15:25 And the priest will provide reconciliation for all the congregation of the people of Israel, and they will be forgiven, because it was a failure, and they have brought their offering, a fire offering to Yahveh, and their failure offering to the face of Yahveh for their failure.

Numbers 15:26 And all the congregation of the people of Israel will be forgiven, and the foreign guest who lives temporarily among them, because the whole population was involved in the failure.

Numbers 15:27 “If one throat inadvertently sins, he will offer a female goat a year old for a failure offering.

Numbers 15:28 And the priest will provide reconciliation to the face of Yahveh for the throat who makes a failure, when he sins inadvertently, to provide reconciliation for him, and he will be forgiven.

Numbers 15:29 You will have one instruction for him who does anything inadvertently, for him who is native among the people of Israel, and for the foreign guest who lives temporarily among them.

Numbers 15:30 But the throat who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native or a foreign guest, reviles Yahveh, and that throat will be eliminated from among his people.

Numbers 15:31 Because he has despised the word of Yahveh and has broken his command, that throat will be utterly eliminated; his violation will be on him.”

Numbers 15:32 While the people of Israel were in the open country, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.

Numbers 15:33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation.

Numbers 15:34 They put him in custody because it had not been made clear what should be done to him.

Numbers 15:35 And Yahveh said to Moses, “The man will be put to death; all the congregation will stone him with stones outside the camp.”

Numbers 15:36 And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as Yahveh commanded Moses.

Numbers 15:37 Yahveh said to Moses,

Numbers 15:38 “Speak to the people of Israel and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner.

Numbers 15:39 And it will be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of Yahveh, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to prostitute yourselves for.

Numbers 15:40 So you will remember and do all my commandments and be sacred to your God.

Numbers 15:41 I am Yahveh your God

[1] נִיחוֹחַ = pacifying. Numbers 15:3, 7, 10, 13, 14, 24; 18:17; 28:2, 6, 8, 13, 24, 27; 29:2, 6, 8, 13, 36.

[2]רֵאשִׁית = firstfruits. Numbers 15:20-21; 18:12; 24:20.

Numbers 15 quotes:

“Suddenly and without warning, we find ourselves back in the classroom. Having received the word that they now have forty years of wandering still ahead of them, and having been forced to accept the without-parole nature of this sentence by their quick defeat at the hands of the Amalekites and the Canaanites, the Israelites decide to use this time constructively with some “continuing ed” in holy living. Like a battalion on maneuvers when the rain sets in, God’s people park their wagons, pitch their tents, and return to the role of students, which they learned so well back at Mount Sinai.”

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 169.

“The central message of this new chapter is that, despite their disobedience and rebellion, a patient and merciful God was speaking again to his people. He kept the lines of communication open as he talked to them about undeserved grace (1-2), sacrificial worship (3-21), promised forgiveness (22-29) and necessary obedience (30-40).”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. P. 131.

“Moses knew that the people of Israel were just human beings, who were prone to forget God. So Moses gave them special instructions to help them keep God in mind.”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 97.

“The Lord gives guidance on further offerings and a test of obedience.”

Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002. p. 318.

Numbers 15 links:

a community walk
ACST 50- The Sacrifice
Dead souls, dying souls
distinctive loyalty
God of grace and mercy
harmless or horrible?
immutable God
perspective change
TIME TO TASSEL

The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

Numbers 14

Numbers 14

Numbers 14:1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept through that night.

Numbers 14:2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “We wish that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or we wish that we had died in this open country!

Numbers 14:3 Why is Yahveh bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”

Numbers 14:4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Numbers 14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the sight of all the collected assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.

Numbers 14:6 And Joshua, the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes

Numbers 14:7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceptionally good land.

Numbers 14:8 If Yahveh delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.

Numbers 14:9 Only do not rebel against Yahveh. And do not fear the people of the land because they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and Yahveh is with us; do not fear them.”

Numbers 14:10 Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the impressive appearance[1] of Yahveh appeared at the conference tent to all the people of Israel.

Numbers 14:11 And Yahveh said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, despite all the signs that I have done among them?

Numbers 14:12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation more influential and mightier than they.”

Numbers 14:13 But Moses said to Yahveh, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it because you resurrected this people by your might from among them,

Numbers 14:14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Yahveh, are in the midst of this people. Because you, O Yahveh, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

Numbers 14:15 Now if you exterminate this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say,

Numbers 14:16 ‘It is because Yahveh was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has exterminated them in the open country.’

Numbers 14:17 And now, please let the power of Yahveh be great as you have promised, and this is what you said,

Numbers 14:18 ‘Yahveh is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving violation and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the violation of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’

Numbers 14:19 Please pardon the violation of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven these people, from Egypt until now.”

Numbers 14:20 Then Yahveh said, “I have pardoned, according to your word.

Numbers 14:21 But truly, as I live, and as all the land will be filled with the impressive appearance of Yahveh,

Numbers 14:22 none of the men who have seen my impressive appearance and my signs that I did in Egypt and the open country, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice,

Numbers 14:23 will see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me will see it.

Numbers 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different breath and has followed me thoroughly, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants will possess it.

Numbers 14:25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites stay in the valleys, turn tomorrow and advance for the open country by the way to the Red Sea.”

Numbers 14:26 And Yahveh spoke to Moses and Aaron, and this is what he said,

Numbers 14:27 “How long will this wicked congregation complain about me? I have heard the complaints of the people of Israel, which they complain about me.

Numbers 14:28 Say to them, ‘As I live, declares Yahveh, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you:

Numbers 14:29 your corpses[2] will fall in this open country, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have complained about me,

Numbers 14:30 no one will come into the land where I swore that I would make your stay, except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.

Numbers 14:31 But your little ones, who you said would become prey, I will bring in, and they will experience the land that you have rejected.

Numbers 14:32 But as for you, your corpses will fall in this open country.

Numbers 14:33 And your children will be shepherds in the open country forty years and will suffer for your faithlessness until the last of your corpses is finished[3]  in the desert.

Numbers 14:34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you will bear your violation forty years, and you will know my displeasure.’

Numbers 14:35 I, Yahveh, have spoken. Surely this I will do to all this wicked congregation who are collected against me: in this open country, they will finish, and there they will die.”

Numbers 14:36 And the men whom Moses sent to scout out the lad, who returned and made all the congregation complain about him by bringing up a bad report about the land–

Numbers 14:37 the men who brought up an evil report of the land — died by plague in the sight of Yahveh.

Numbers 14:38 Of those men who went to scout out the land, only Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, remained alive.

Numbers 14:39 When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly.

Numbers 14:40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, and this is what they said, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that Yahveh has promised because we have sinned.”

Numbers 14:41 But Moses said, “Why now will you be transgressing the command of Yahveh when that will not succeed?

Numbers 14:42 Do not go up, because Yahveh is not among you, or else you will be struck down in the sight of your enemies.

Numbers 14:43 Because there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned your back from following Yahveh, Yahveh will not be with you.”

Numbers 14:44 But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of Yahveh nor Moses left from the camp.

Numbers 14:45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and crushed[4] them, even as far as Hormah.

[1] כָּבוֹד = impressive appearance, reward. Numbers 14:10, 21, 22; 16:19, 42; 20:6; 24:11.

[2] פֶּגֶר = corpse. Numbers 14:29, 32, 33.

[3] תָּמַם = finish. Numbers 14:33, 35; 17:13; 32:13.

[4] כָּתַת= crush by beating,

Numbers 14 quotes:

“God’s discipline is never arbitrary. Every parent knows that the key to effective discipline is matching the discipline with the crime. If a child can see no correlation between what she has done and the consequences, the behavior may be stopped but little learning will occur.”

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 164.

“Every Christian evangelist stands between a merciful God and an obdurate people. However eloquent and well-informed, the contemporary evangelist is as powerless as Caleb and Joshua on the day they pleaded with that heedless multitude. We can only do what they ie. present a portrait of a unique God who has done so much for rebels, and pray that he will melt their hard and stubborn hearts”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 123.

“Moses reported the mind of God to the people and told them that that generation would never go into the land. They had not wanted to go forward because they were afraid to, but they did not want to go back because they hated to. There is a marvelous truth here that should be noted: if the time comes to go forward with the Lord and the believer does not go forward because he doubts, he must go backward. He cannot stand still.”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 96.

“Moses’ serious warning is brushed aside, even when the warning is followed by a concrete step: neither the ark nor the priests accompanying the ark will go with Israel, as they normally would when Israel went into battle ( 10: 35f. ; cf. also 1 Sam. 4:3). Israel believes that it can get along without the visible sign of the Lord’s presence and that it can ignore Moses’ warning, “the Lord is not with you.” They go “in their presump¬ tion” (v. 44; lit. “they were swollen, puffed up”?). The result is a crush¬ ing defeat — the enemy meets them before they have even reached the top of the hills. They “attacked them” and “beat them” (a play on words in Hebrew: wayyakum and wayyaketum).”

Noordtzij, A. Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House, 1983. p. 132.

“The people are to be given one last chance to repent, as Caleb and Joshua forthrightly plead with them to trust in the Lord. Yet the prostration of Moses and Aaron intimates that this appeal will not be heeded and that the people will fall in the wilderness (cf. 29ff.).”

Wenham, Gordon J.. Numbers: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 4) (p. 136). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Numbers 14 links:

all the right things
an obedient walk
fear can lead to rebellion
introducing the breath of God
no alternative
the price of failed leadership

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, April 30, 2019

The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library