3/28/11
Numbers 26-27
A Census of the New Generation
Numbers 26:1 After the plague the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, 2 “Take a census of the whole congregation of the Israelites, from twenty years old and upward, by their ancestral houses, everyone in Israel able to go to war.” 3 Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, 4 “Take a census of the people, from twenty years old and upward,” as the Lord commanded Moses.
The Israelites, who came out of the land of Egypt, were:
5 Reuben, the firstborn of Israel. The descendants of Reuben: of Hanoch, the clan of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the clan of the Palluites; 6 of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the clan of the Carmites. 7 These are the clans of the Reubenites; the number of those enrolled was forty-three thousand seven hundred thirty. 8 And the descendants of Pallu: Eliab. 9 The descendants of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the same Dathan and Abiram, chosen from the congregation, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they rebelled against the Lord, 10 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred fifty men; and they became a warning. 11 Notwithstanding, the sons of Korah did not die.
12 The descendants of Simeon by their clans: of Nemuel, the clan of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the clan of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the clan of the Jachinites; 13 of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the clan of the Shaulites. 14 These are the clans of the Simeonites, twenty-two thousand two hundred.
15 The children of Gad by their clans: of Zephon, the clan of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the clan of the Haggites; of Shuni, the clan of the Shunites; 16 of Ozni, the clan of the Oznites; of Eri, the clan of the Erites; 17 of Arod, the clan of the Arodites; of Areli, the clan of the Arelites. 18 These are the clans of the Gadites: the number of those enrolled was forty thousand five hundred.
19 The sons of Judah: Er and Onan; Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20 The descendants of Judah by their clans were: of Shelah, the clan of the Shelanites; of Perez, the clan of the Perezites; of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites. 21 The descendants of Perez were: of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the clan of the Hamulites. 22 These are the clans of Judah: the number of those enrolled was seventy-six thousand five hundred.
23 The descendants of Issachar by their clans: of Tola, the clan of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the clan of the Punites; 24 of Jashub, the clan of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the clan of the Shimronites. 25 These are the clans of Issachar: sixty-four thousand three hundred enrolled.
26 The descendants of Zebulun by their clans: of Sered, the clan of the Seredites; of Elon, the clan of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the clan of the Jahleelites. 27 These are the clans of the Zebulunites; the number of those enrolled was sixty thousand five hundred.
28 The sons of Joseph by their clans: Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The descendants of Manasseh: of Machir, the clan of the Machirites; and Machir was the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the clan of the Gileadites. 30 These are the descendants of Gilead: of Iezer, the clan of the Iezerites; of Helek, the clan of the Helekites; 31 and of Asriel, the clan of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the clan of the Shechemites; 32 and of Shemida, the clan of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the clan of the Hepherites. 33 Now Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34 These are the clans of Manasseh; the number of those enrolled was fifty-two thousand seven hundred.
35 These are the descendants of Ephraim according to their clans: of Shuthelah, the clan of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the clan of the Becherites; of Tahan, the clan of the Tahanites. 36 And these are the descendants of Shuthelah: of Eran, the clan of the Eranites. 37 These are the clans of the Ephraimites: the number of those enrolled was thirty-two thousand five hundred. These are the descendants of Joseph by their clans.
38 The descendants of Benjamin by their clans: of Bela, the clan of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the clan of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the clan of the Ahiramites; 39 of Shephupham, the clan of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the clan of the Huphamites. 40 And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the clan of the Ardites; of Naaman, the clan of the Naamites. 41 These are the descendants of Benjamin by their clans; the number of those enrolled was forty-five thousand six hundred.
42 These are the descendants of Dan by their clans: of Shuham, the clan of the Shuhamites. These are the clans of Dan by their clans. 43 All the clans of the Shuhamites: sixty-four thousand four hundred enrolled.
44 The descendants of Asher by their families: of Imnah, the clan of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the clan of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the clan of the Beriites. 45 Of the descendants of Beriah: of Heber, the clan of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the clan of the Malchielites. 46 And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. 47 These are the clans of the Asherites: the number of those enrolled was fifty-three thousand four hundred.
48 The descendants of Naphtali by their clans: of Jahzeel, the clan of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the clan of the Gunites; 49 of Jezer, the clan of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the clan of the Shillemites. 50 These are the Naphtalites by their clans: the number of those enrolled was forty-five thousand four hundred.
51 This was the number of the Israelites enrolled: six hundred and one thousand seven hundred thirty.
52 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 53 To these the land shall be apportioned for inheritance according to the number of names. 54 To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its inheritance according to its enrollment. 55 But the land shall be apportioned by lot; according to the names of their ancestral tribes they shall inherit. 56 Their inheritance shall be apportioned according to lot between the larger and the smaller.
57 This is the enrollment of the Levites by their clans: of Gershon, the clan of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites; of Merari, the clan of the Merarites. 58 These are the clans of Levi: the clan of the Libnites, the clan of the Hebronites, the clan of the Mahlites, the clan of the Mushites, the clan of the Korahites. Now Kohath was the father of Amram. 59 The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram: Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam. 60 To Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unholy fire before the Lord. 62 The number of those enrolled was twenty-three thousand, every male one month old and upward; for they were not enrolled among the Israelites because there was no allotment given to them among the Israelites.
63 These were those enrolled by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who enrolled the Israelites in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho. 64 Among these there was not one of those enrolled by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had enrolled the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For the Lord had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” Not one of them was left, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
The Daughters of Zelophehad
Numbers 27:1 Then the daughters of Zelophehad came forward. Zelophehad was son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph, a member of the Manassite clans. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and they said,
3 “Our father died in the wilderness; he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin; and he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers.”
5 Moses brought their case before the Lord. 6 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 7 The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father’s brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them. 8 You shall also say to the Israelites, “If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall pass his inheritance on to his daughter. 9 If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. It shall be for the Israelites a statute and ordinance, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
Joshua Appointed Moses’ Successor (Deut 31.1—8)
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range, and see the land that I have given to the Israelites. 13 When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14 because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled with me. You did not show my holiness before their eyes at the waters.” (These are the waters of Meribath-kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)
15 Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation 17 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep without a shepherd.” 18 So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him; 19 have him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. 20 You shall give him some of your authority, so that all the congregation of the Israelites may obey. 21 But he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the decision of the Urim before the Lord; at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the Israelites with him, the whole congregation.” 22 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation; 23 he laid his hands on him and commissioned him—as the Lord had directed through Moses.
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by Bill Federer
On this date, March 28, 1885, the Salvation Army was officially organized in the United States. It was begun in England by “General” William Booth in 1865. He would conduct meetings among the poor in London’s East End slums. Originally named the Christian Mission, he designed uniforms and adopted a semi-military system of leadership. The Salvation Army provides food, clothing, shelter to those in most need. They maintain hospitals, low-cost housing, aid to prisoners, nurseries for babies, camps and welfare. With thousands of officers, men and women, the Salvation Army ministers across the entire globe.
Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.
by D.H. Stern
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;
how much more when he brings it with vile motives.
A lying witness is doomed,
but one who heard [what was said]
will testify successfully.
Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.
by Oswald Chambers
Isn’t there some misunderstanding?
Let us go into Judea. His disciples say unto Him … Goest Thou thither again? --- John 11:7–8. Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest
I may not understand what Jesus Christ says, but it is dangerous to say that therefore He was mistaken in what He said. It is never right to think that my obedience to a word of God will bring dishonour to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonour is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honour in place of what He is plainly impelling me to do is never right, although it may arise from a real desire to prevent Him being put to open shame. I know when the proposition comes from God because of its quiet persistence. When I have to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate come in, I am bringing in an element that is not of God, and I come to the conclusion that the suggestion was not a right one. Many of us are loyal to our notions of Jesus Christ, but how many of us are loyal to Him? Loyalty to Jesus means I have to step out where I do not see anything (cf. Matt. 14:29); loyalty to my notions means that I clear the ground first by my intelligence. Faith is not intelligent understanding, faith is deliberate commitment to a Person where I see no way.
Are you debating whether to take a step in faith in Jesus or to wait until you can see how to do the thing yourself? Obey Him with glad reckless joy. When He says something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a conception of His honour which is not His honour. Are you loyal to Jesus or loyal to your notion of Him? Are you loyal to what He says, or are you trying to compromise with conceptions which never came from Him? “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.”
the Poetry of R.S. Thomas
Two
So you have to think
of the bone hearth where love
was kindled, of the size
of the shadows so small a flame
threw on the world's
walls, with the heavens
over them, lighting their vaster fires
to no end. He took her hand
sometimes and felt the will to be
of the poetry he could not
write. She measured him
with her moist eye for the coat
always too big. And time,
the faceless collector
of taxes, beat on their thin
door, and they opened
to him, looking beyond
him, beyond the sediment
of his myriad demands to the
bright place, where their undaunted
spirits were already walking.
Thomas, R. S.
Pesaḥim 116a
A youth group is asked by the social worker of a children’s hospital to come and spend a few hours with the patients. The teenagers at first seem hesitant; a few are even worried that being around sick kids will put them in danger. But the youth leader convinces them that it will be a safe and worthwhile experience.
The date arrives, and the teens are driven to the hospital. They get a tour of the facilities and then meet with some of the children on the ward, serving them refreshments. The time comes for the “show”: The youth group sings some songs, puts on a skit, and even presents a few magic tricks. During the performance, the youth leader looks around and is very concerned: The patients don’t seem to be enjoying themselves. A few of the kids have fallen asleep; one cries during the entire show. A certain youngster has to be escorted to the bathroom every fifteen minutes; one little girl “gets sick” all over herself and has to be changed. A disturbed child screams out at a teenager who touches him: “I’m going to kill you!” The applause at the end of the program is sparse. The leader expects his teenagers to be very upset and depressed.
To everyone’s surprise, the teenagers have an incredible experience. They are deeply moved by what they have seen. These adolescents, who are so blessed materially and so sheltered emotionally, have gotten a glimpse of a side of life that they barely knew existed. They walk away having learned so much about sickness and health. They appreciate, perhaps for the first time, how fortunate and lucky they really are. Most importantly, they feel wonderful about themselves and how much they have been able to do for others. When they return home, they immediately beg their youth leader to set up another visit for some time soon.
To the children in the hospital ward, it was merely an hour’s diversion that didn’t make much of an impression. To the teenagers, it was a day that they would remember for many years to come. As it turns out, the teenagers wanted to help even more than the children wanted to be entertained. It is often that way: The ones who give get more out of the experience than those who receive. Cynics often think of human beings as needy and selfish. Deep down, it seems, we have a real need to share, to help, and to nourish others.
Begin with disgrace and end with praise.
Text / Mishnah (10:4): According to the ability of the son should the father teach. Begin with disgrace and end with praise, explaining from “My father was a fugitive Aramean” [Deuteronomy 26:5] until finishing the entire section.
Gemara: What does “disgrace” mean? Rav said: “In the beginning, our ancestors were idol worshipers.” Shmuel said: “We were slaves.” Rav Naḥman said to Daru his servant: “What should a servant, whose master has freed him and given him silver and gold, say to him?” He said to him: “He should thank him and praise him!” He [Rav Naḥman] said: “You have exempted us from saying ‘How is this night different …’ ” He began by saying “We were slaves.”
Context / My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation. The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us; they imposed heavy labor upon us. We cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our plea and saw our plight, our misery, and our oppression. The Lord freed us from Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and portents. (Deuteronomy 26:5–8)
In the beginning our ancestors served idols, but then God brought us close to Him that we might serve Him, as it is written, “Then Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus said the Lord, the God of Israel: In olden times, your forefathers—Terah, father of Abraham and father of Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and worshipped other gods’ (Joshua 24:2–3).” (Passover Haggadah)
We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord our God brought us forth from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. And if the Holy One, blessed be He, had not brought forth our ancestors from Egypt, then we and our children and our children’s children would still be slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. (Passover Haggadah)
The tenth chapter of Pesaḥim discusses in great detail the Seder meal and the rituals of the festival of Passover. Today, people follow the Haggadah which includes stories, biblical and rabbinic texts, and songs, to guide them through these rituals. But in the first and second centuries, there was not yet a fixed, formal book. Instead, there was a series of guidelines that each family used as a basis for its Seder meal. Our Mishnah gives three of these guidelines. First, the father (or leader of the Seder) should “tailor” the ceremony to the age and abilities of the children and other participants sitting around the table. The second direction is that we should begin the story by recounting the sad events of our past, and then end on the positive note of God’s liberation. Finally, the Mishnah instructs that the core text to be discussed at the Seder is Deuteronomy 26:5–8, which summarizes what befell our ancestors in Egypt.
The Gemara, picking up on the second issue, asks what exactly is meant by “disgrace.” Two views are offered. Rav understands disgrace to mean shameful things that our people did long ago in our past: they worshipped idols. Shmuel, on the other hand, sees disgrace in what was done to our ancestors by the Egyptians: They persecuted and enslaved them.
The Gemara ends with a story of Rav Naḥman asking his own servant how he would respond to being set free. Daru’s reply, that he would thank and praise his master, enables Rav Naḥman to understand and even feel the joy that the Israelite slaves must have felt.
Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. (1998). Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday LIving
. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.by Diana Wallis
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. --- Matthew 5:14
This passage of Scripture implies that there is a difference between Christians and other people. (The American National Preacher, Volumes 7-8
The principles of Christian piety will be in fact developed in the life. By this I mean that those who are truly Christians in their hearts will be in their lives. Now that this will be the case it does not require many words to prove. For the nature of the change is such that it cannot but develop itself. Regeneration effects no direct revolution in the intellect, but it does in the heart—none in the essential stamina of the mind, but it does in the principles of action and in the volitions, desires, and preferences of the individual. Nor is it a slight change. It is so great as to make it proper to apply to it the terms new creation, new birth, and life from the dead. There is no other change in the human mind like it—none so deep, so thorough, so abiding. This is so clear in the Bible as to need no further proof.
The change in someone’s religious views and feelings in regeneration is one that affects that individual not in any one department of life but in all. It is not a revolution whose effects we expect simply in the church or in the family, in the external conduct or in the abandonment of vices, but in all the appropriate circumstances of life. If a revolution like that exist, it will be seen. It will constitute that person a new creation in Christ Jesus.
The world is fitted to develop human principles. The whole arrangement of God’s moral government is to show what humanity is and to make the sentence of the day of judgment be seen to be just. People are permitted to become learned, to see whether they are disposed to employ their learning for the welfare of the universe. They are permitted to accumulate wealth, that the native propensities of the heart may be brought out. Objects of fame, of ambition, of pleasure pass before the mind. It is not that God may know, but that a fair trial may be made. Before that trial, condemnation would appear to be unfair. When people have been fairly tried, when virtue and vice, honor and dishonor have been fairly brought before them, it is right that God should address them and say to each, “Bear that character with you to eternity.” --- Albert Barnes
(27). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.Balak and Baalam
The final incident in Numbers 21 again shows Israel in battle, and again victorious (Numbers 21:33–35). God’s promise (“Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land.”) was now enough.
Protected from enemies without (Numbers 22–24). As fear of Israel struck the region, the peoples there began to look desperately for weapons to use against them. The king of Moab, Balak, frightened at the “horde” which seemed to him to “cover the face of the land,” attempted to call in spiritual powers to defeat Israel. He sent for a man named Balaam, saying, “I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed” (Numbers 22:6). Balak wanted to use Balaam to lay a curse on Israel, and thus drain their strength.
There is no reason to doubt that Balaam had some spiritual powers. Israel was warned that when they entered the land they were to destroy all those who were spiritualists, possessed by evil spirits, and necromancers (cf. Deut. 18:1). Though Balaam clearly used omens, as did pagan seers, in his divinations (cf. Numbers 24:1), it is possible that Balaam was a channel for God to speak to a pagan people. But it is more likely that the roots of Balaam’s spiritual power were in the demonic than the divine. Throughout the Bible Balaam is spoken of in a negative way, and held up as a negative example. His ways and his motives are condemned in the New Testament, and his death is recounted in Numbers 31 as a divine judgment.
At any rate, Balak called on Balaam to curse Israel for him. The word translated “curse” here is qabab, which suggests the idea of binding, to reduce ability, or to render powerless. Peoples in the ancient world considered curses magic tools to be used to gain power over enemies. Balak was attempting to mount a supernatural attack on this people against whom natural resources seemed inadequate.
But Balak was ignorant of the fact that the source of Israel’s power was itself supernatural: Israel’s strength came from the presence of Yahweh Himself in their camp.
God spoke to Balaam and told him not to go with Balak’s messengers. Yet greed moved Balaam to ask God’s permission again. This time God did permit Balaam to go, but warned him sternly that he must speak only the words God would give him.
We can picture Balaam’s arrival. Balak had been waiting anxiously. Angrily he insisted that Balaam hurry and curse his enemy.
Balak took Balaam to a range of hills that looked down over Israel’s encampment. There the Moabite offered the sacrifices that Balaam called for—and waited. Balaam finally spoke. But rather than speaking a curse, Balaam was forced by God to pronounce a blessing!
From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs! ---Numbers 23:9–10
Three times the sequence was repeated. Balak took Balaam to a different height, hoping that from a different viewpoint Israel might be cursed. Yet no matter from where the attack was launched, it returned not as a curse but as a blessing on this people that God has chosen and whom He protects. God has dealt with Israel’s sins in sacrifice and forgiveness. Thus:
No misfortune is seen in Jacob; no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox. There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, “See what God has done!” --- Numbers 23:21–23
It is God who is at work in His people. We are His workmanship. Protected by His very presence, there is no enchantment against us now.
The attack from without had failed. But Balaam made an effort to earn his fee. He suggested a strategy which he felt might force God to curse Israel against His will! Balaam reasoned that God could not bless a sinning people—and so he recommended to Balak that his women attempt to corrupt Israel and lead them into idolatry!
(323). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.