|
|
NUMBERS The following comments are from Navigator's and Quiet Time Diary journals. One verse will be entered, then the comment, then the date. 1:2 Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. This census was taken about 1450 B.C. and was probably the first one taken (?). It was interesting to note that only 20+ year old men were counted. These were the men able to go to wars. (DRM 2/22/88) 1:45-46 So all the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers' households, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war in Israel, 46even all the numbered men were 603,550. I saw in the introduction to this book that God asked Moses to take two censuses while they were in the wilderness; the first at the (near) beginning of the exodus and the other at (near) the end. Both numbers are nearly the same, which shows to me that the Lord wanted us to see the number was consistent, even though the generations changed. (DRM 5/3/09) 1:51 So when the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it up. But the layman who comes near shall be put to death. God is holy. God's Word is holy, and the
fixtures in God's temple are holy. In this case no temple had yet been built, as
the Jews were in the wilderness. They had a tent like tabernacle that moved with
them. ONLY the Levites were allowed to take care of God's holy things. 3:4 (Aaron's sons) Nadab and Abihu, however, fell dead before the Lord when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before him in the desert of Sinai. This verse shows me that everyone should listen to the Lord and obey His commands, or face the consequences! Lord, let me always obey Your word! (DRM 2/23/88) 3:9 You shall thus give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the sons of Israel. I would call this the "transfer of power."
Aaron was appointed God's priest with his sons (Exod. 28:1), but now with all
the additional duties, God chose the tribe of Levi. The Levites would become the
future "priests" of Israel. The term "Levites" designates all of the descendants of Levi except Aaron and his progeny who are called "priests." — Word of Life diary comment. 3:44-45 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 45"Take the Levites instead of the firstborn among the sons of Israel and the cattle of the Levites. And the Levites shall be Mine; I am the LORD. . . " According to this verse, the firstborn sons
of the families of Israel would no longer be dedicated to the Lord, but rather
the Levites part of the family. 4:16 Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, is to have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering and the anointing oil. This chapter of Numbers dealt with counting more people and their duties as involved in the moving of the "tent." Everyone has a purpose and a job. (DRM 2/24/88) 5:24 He shall have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water will enter her and cause bitter suffering. This chapter deals with a woman who leaves her husband. The verse above deals with how the priest shall deal with the woman. I'm surprised at curses in the Bible! (DRM 2/25/88) 6:2b, 3a If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of separation to the Lord as a Nazirite, 3he must abstain from . . . The law seems to continue throughout these five books. Thank God that I can commit myself to Him, but not have to be restricted by the old law! (DRM 2/26/88) 6:5 All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD: he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long. This verse refers to one of three vows of a Nazirite, to dedicate himself to the LORD (v. 2). This Old Testament laws shows the Lord God the true intent of the heart of the person. Since Jesus came then left the Holy Spirit, I believe that He knows our hearts desires - but still it would be good to observe this law for self-discipline. (DRM 5/7/09) 7:13, 79 Same for 12 verses: "His offering was one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according . . . " In this chapter of the Bible, I read twelve times that each leader of each tribe brought the same offering to please God. I should learn not to try to be "better" than others, but to be able to conform and relate. (DRM 2/27/88) 7:89 Now when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, so He spoke to him. Sometimes it's very hard to hear the voice of the Lord God, or Holy Spirit. As this verse states, Moses heard the voice of God above the mercy seat. I hear the Holy Spirit better in one place than in others. To hear the "voice" of God you must be silent and away from distractions - it isn't easy (for me) to do in today's hectic world. (DRM 5/8/09) 8:7 To purify them (the Levites), do this: Sprinkle the water of cleansing on them; then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes . . . Another rather strange law is shown here in the purification of the Levites. I certainly would have trouble fulfilling this law and thank God that Jesus Christ replaced the old laws. (DRM 2/28/88) 8:14 Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. In this passage, between Numbers 8:5-12, there are four different "offerings" mentioned. Each had a different purpose, but all were required to purify the Levites for service to the Lord. Since this system is no longer used, Christians who want to serve the Lord (that should be everyone) have to make this known to the Lord, and repent of all past sins. He will know our true desire. (DRM 5/9/09) 8:24-25 "This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall enter to perform service in the work of the tent of meeting. 25But at the age of fifty years they shall retire from service in the work and not work any more. . . " While I don't know the exact statistics, I don't think people lived as long then as they do today. In one verse God gives us threescore and ten years. The work also could have been very strenuous in the moving of the sacrifices, I would think. Still, God showed that he cared about His people and didn't overwork them. (DRM 5/10/09) 9:12 They must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones. (The Passover lamb) Thank God that our Passover Lamb has already died for our sins!!! This could be the reference verse comparing Jesus with the Passover lamb. (DRM 2/29/88) 9:17 Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. As the Israelites were traveling in the
Exodus, God was with them. It's hard to imagine why they rebelled if His cloud
was also in their midst. They had a physical cloud that directed their paths -
to stay or to move. 10:2 Make yourself two trumpets of silver, of hammered work you shall make them; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for having the camps set out. I am not visualizing a trumpet like today,
but a single straight stem trumpet that plays only one note. Later verses state
the different signals that the trumpets were to give to direct the people - thus
an early way of "mass communication." Today a church bell in a steeple would be
similar. 10:12 Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran. This is what I would call a "traveling chapter." The trumpets were made and the order of march is described here. I must always be willing to follow God's leading in my life! (DRM 3/1/88) 11:17 Then I [God] will come down and speak with you [Moses] there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them [seventy of the elders]; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone. God had given the Holy Spirit to Moses at
some previous time, probably at the burning bush? Now that all the Israelites
were complaining about the food, Moses wanted to give up. God's solution is in
this verse. 11:18c . . . The Lord heard you when you wailed. . . So many times I ask the Lord for things! Happily many times He provides. Other times He does hear me, but seems to say "not yet." May I be more willing to listen. (DRM 3/2/88) 11:33 While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very severe plague. God is in control. God is not mocked (Gal.
6:7). The people in the desert complained that God didn't provide any meat for
them. They wanted to go back to Egypt. So God, Who can do anything, provided the
quail as "demanded" by the people - but those who were greedy immediately got a
plague and died. (v. 34) 12:9-10 So the anger of the LORD burned against them [Aaron and Miriam] and He departed. 10But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. It is not for us to understand God. Both Aaron and Miriam had spoken against Moses' marriage to a Cushite woman (v. 1) and the Lord God came to talk to them and tell them of His favor toward Moses. As these two verses show, God gave Miriam leprosy for seven days (v. 14). I don't know why Aaron was "spared." Perhaps it just wasn't written here. God has the right to make any decision He chooses. We are still to follow and obey. Eventually (maybe in Heaven) we will know the reason. (DRM 5/15/09) 12:11 . . . and he said to Moses, "Please my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. In this chapter, Miriam and Aaron began to
talk against Moses, their brother. God intervened, and Miriam was made
leprous. 13:2 [the LORD spoke] "Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers' tribes, every one a leader among them." What did the Lord really say to Moses here?
He said, "I am going to give. . . " When God says that, I'd believe Him. Knowing
history here, perhaps Moses shouldn't have asked these people for their
thoughts, but done what God said. 13:25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. Moses had sent a party to explore upcoming territory and (I think) did not expect their return soon. It would be interesting to check the several 40 day references in the Bible. (DRM 3/3/88) 13:31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us." Caleb was the only one of the group that spied out the land that had faith that the sons of Israel could take the land, the others, as stated in this verse, didn't agree. If they had only remembered all of the miracles that God had done to get them this far, and had faith that He would provide here, the outcome would be totally different. (DRM 5/17/09) 14:12 ". . .I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they." God was angry with the Israelites in their
refusal to go into the spied land. God wanted to kill them all and start over
with Moses, Joshua and Caleb probably. Moses then pleaded for the Israelites and
that God not kill them "as one man." (v. 15) 14:20 The Lord replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked." Moses "pleaded" with the Lord not to kill all the Israelites. This verse reminds me of the New Testament where Jesus forgave people of their sins. No one but God can forgive sins. (DRM 3/4/88) 14:29 . . . your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. God won! Is that a surprise? The Israelites had put Him to the test ten times (v. 22) and He was tired of their complaining and could/would do something about it. Moses' negotiation for God not to kill all of the people at once also somewhat succeeded, but it made the ordeal in the wilderness all the longer. Don't ever refuse to do what God clearly asks you (me) to do! (DRM 5/19/09) 14:44 But they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses left the camp. After the Israelites were told what would
happen due to their disobedience, they decided to "give in" and go into the
"hill country" on their own. 15:27 Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a one year old female goat for a sin offering. In this passage, sinning appears to be the breaking of any of the Ten Commandments (v. 22). I hope they had a lot of goats available! Also this is for unintentional sins. The man who intentionally picked up sticks on the Sabbath (v. 22) died (v. 36). God hates sin. Praise the Lord that Jesus came as our sacrifice for sins - but that doesn't mean we (I) can keep on doing them. (DRM 5/21/09) 15:31 Because he has despised the Lord's word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains in him. This verse refers to people who blaspheme the
Lord (v. 30). Obviously (to me) people who take the Lord's name in vain are not
a part of Him.. 16:32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions. Korah and his followers had opposed Moses and his rule in Chapter 16. The Lord showed his disapproval by the act in verse 32. While the Lord may not be so obvious today, HE IS STILL ACTING in our lives. (DRM 3/6/88) 17:8 Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. This was another way for God to show His will to the whole Israelite nation. Each of the twelve households (v. 2) put in a rod, but the next day only Aaron's rod budded, blossomed and produced almonds. Only God could have accomplished this, as nature doesn't work that fast! Sometimes God's will is easily discernable, sometimes the outline is in the Bible, and sometimes it requires the input of the Holy Spirit. (DRM 5/22/09) 18:7b I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death. This made me think of God's gift of my salvation. I must remember that everything that I have physically, materially or spiritually were gifts from God, not myself. (DRM 3/7/88) 19:11 Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days. There is little to say to add to this verse. The whole chapter consisted of this law and what would happen. . . Thank God we have Jesus to lean on! (DRM 3/10/88) 20:9-10 So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him; 10and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, "Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" This was Moses' great sin. What did he do
wrong? He didn't tell the people that God was the provider. He was claiming the
power that he was providing the water by not saying that this was a miracle of
God. 20:12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land . . . " God had told Moses to ASK for water from the
rock, but Moses disobeyed and hit the rock in anger to get water. 21:2 So Israel made a vow to the LORD and said, "If You will indeed deliver this people [in the Negev] into my [Israel's] hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities." After nearly 40 years, Israel was finally
"getting it." Before attacking a city in the Negev, they prayed - or made a vow
to the Lord for His protection, and He delivered up the Canaanites (v. 3). This
new generation apparently learned the Lord's ways - and truly wanted to go His
way. 21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived. This almost sounds like an idol, but the Lord has a purpose in this metal snake - that people that believed IN HIM would have security for eternity. (DRM 3/9/88) 22:2-3 Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3So Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel. Word traveled that the Israelites had
defeated other cities nearby (21:25) and now they were near Moab. The leader of
Moab (Balak) asked Balaam to curse the Israelites for his protection, but God
told Balaam that He was with them, so he refused to curse them. 22:28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" God had directed Balaam not to go with the
man unless they came to get him (v. 20), but Balaam went anyway - against God's
wishes. An angel was put in the path to stop Balaam and the donkey, but only the
donkey could see the angel, then couldn't go any further. When God made the
donkey speak, it showed (again) that nothing is impossible for God. 22:34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back. How nice it would be to have an angel of the Lord tell me if I was doing wrong! To be easily convicted of the errors in our ways can now be done by the Holy Spirit within our lives, and when we do wrong, this Spirit will generally tell us. (DRM 1/19/87) 23:26 Balaam answered, "Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?" Balak was always asking Balaam to curse the Israeli's and he wouldn't or couldn't do it. Balaam was right in his complete devotion to God. I should be also. (DRM 3/11/88) 24:17a, b I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. The King is coming! This sounds like another prophecy to me. Thank God that Jesus Christ DID come to save us for our sins! He will return! (DRM 3/12/88) 25:1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women. Certainly God did not allow sexual immorality during the Old Testament and had these people killed. Today sexual immorality still lives and, while the pain is not always obvious, God WILL deal with all people. (DRM 3/13/88) 26:64 Not one of them (in this census) was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai. Moses was quite a person to lead the Israelites for such a long time! God really blessed him! There are hundreds of thousands of people in each census and to think they all died is amazing, but this was God's will. (DRM 3/14/88) 27:12 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go up to this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the sons of Israel." Moses had sinned against the Lord God when he
struck the rock at Meribah, so he could not go into the promised land; however
God allowed Moses to see the land from a distance before his "death." 27:22 Moses did at the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. The Lord directed Moses to appoint Joshua as his (Moses) successor. This "future" change of "power" was orderly and planned by God. This is just a sample of the fact that God has already planned everything that will happen in our future also. (DRM 3/15/88) 28:14c . . . This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon during the year. This chapter deals with offerings to the Lord on special occasions. It was interesting to me that monthly offerings were with the lunar cycle - thirteen per year. (DRM 3/16/88) 29:7 On the tenth day of this seventh month hold a sacred assembly. You must deny yourselves and do no work. As I continue to read about festivals and sacrifices involved, I thank God for sending Jesus Christ to earth to be the perfect sacrifice for all of our sins. (DRM 3/17/88) 31:7 They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man. I must prepare myself for the killing and warfare described throughout the Old Testament. I think the purpose may be to show us that God is powerful, vs. God is loving in the New Testament. (DRM 3/18/88) 32:5 They said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not take us across the Jordan." The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad (v. 1) saw that the land they were on was good for livestock and asked Moses if they could stay there; thus separating from the rest of the Israelites that were about to cross over. Moses didn't want them to separate, as he feared that this would be a repeat of the Kadesh Barnea (v. 8) incident. Like for us, God makes the final decision, not Moses. We (I) have to listen to His plan. (DRM 5/28/09) 32:22 . . . and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you shall return and be free of obligation toward the LORD and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours for a possession before the LORD. This was part of the negotiation agreement
between Moses and the sons of Reuben and God. The "sons" would be able to get
the land on the east side of the Jordan so long as they went over with the
Israelites and helped secure the other side. Then they could return to the east
side to shepherd their flocks. 32:25 The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses: "We your servants will do as our lord commands." What a great example for me to follow! When there are problems or troubles, it is easy to go some other way, but to do as the Lord commands, requires total devotion to Him! (DRM 3/19/88) 33:38 At the Lord's command Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor, where he died on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. Aaron has a long and fruitful life. It was
interesting to note that Israel settled soon after the fortieth year in which
Aaron died. 34:12b "This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side." In this chapter the Lord pinpoints the boundaries for Israel. While I know that the people of Israel never controlled all of this land — God is not done with us yet — and God never fails! (DRM 3/21/88) 35:11 . . . then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, that the manslayer who has killed any person unintentionally may flee there. This makes me think of the "wild west" in USA history. With laws that were seemingly less enforced, if a man killed another man (or woman) someone could kill him in revenge (avenger, v. 12). These cities were set up to protect people from the avenger - primarily if the murder was an accident - unintentional. Today, in a fair judicial system, a person would be judged by his/her peers. My (our) duty is to be law abiding citizens and avoid this process if possible. (DRM 5/30/09) 35:34 Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites. The previous verse uses the word "pollute" which I believe is similar to defile. God created the earth for our use, not abuse. We must remember that the Holy Spirit is dwelling within each Christian. (DRM 3/22/88)
|