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Teaching - Numbers Commentary
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Part V, In the Wilderness: Numbers 26-36 |
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Written by Rev. Justin Lee Marple
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Wednesday, 12 August 2009 12:44 |
The epilogue to Exodus-Numbers began with Num 24:25. This long epilogue is fitting for such a long narrative. And it tells for us the story of the second generation in the wilderness. We seen the holy jealousy of Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, for the true God of Israel. And now we are going to see that he is representative of the whole generation.
First we have a new census and it should be noted that instead of YHWH speaking to Moses and Aaron He is now speaking to Moses and Eleazar (Aaron's son) the priest (Num 26:1). This census is again for those 20 years old and up who are able to go to war (i.e. again it will not include Levi) (Num 26:2). The order of the census by tribe was Reuben, Simeon, Gad, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Manasseh, Ephraim, Benjamin, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. This is the same order of the census in Numbers 1 where Gad was promoted to prepare for the placement of the tribes around the tabernacle, except for the order of Manasseh and Ephraim. I now instinctively look at the order and try to discover why.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:35 |
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Part IV, In the Wilderness: Numbers 20:22-25:18 |
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Written by Rev. Justin Lee Marple
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Friday, 07 August 2009 12:40 |
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Before moving on to this section, it is worth noting that the incident with striking the rock that is Christ resembles something that took place back in Exodus 17:6 where YHWH said, "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink." This foreshadows the death of Jesus Christ because the staff of judgment strikes YHWH Himself. And thus Moses in Num 20:8 is to speak to the rock and God will give them drink. Striking the rock again would be like saying Christ would need to die again. Instead, all we need do now is to ask the Rock for our Spiritual food and drink.
But Moses struck the rock again, and thus God says, "Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah" (Num 20:24). And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son (Num 20:28).
Iain Duguid also observes that by calling the people "rebels" Moses is setting himself up as their judge when God has told them to extend God's mercy and by striking the rock Moses and Aaron are claiming to be the people's saviors. The judgment: death and being stripped of God's glory-image. This is in contrast to the soon-to-be hero Phineas, son of Eleazar.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:34 |
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Part III, In the Wilderness: Numbers 15:1-20:21 |
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Written by Rev. Justin Lee Marple
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Thursday, 30 July 2009 12:36 |
I have not discovered an easy way to divide up the book. The narrative of Numbers, like Exodus, does not appear to be structured in any patterns. Exodus was organized thematically around salvation, law, and worship. And some try to divide the text of Numbers by discussing what wilderness they were in or going toward, but there is no consensus to my knowledge on even how one might do that. Thus the divisions we have and will observe may be somewhat artificial but necessary for such a long text.
Yet chapter 15 itself has some of the structural phrases we saw in Leviticus. Sections begin with YHWH speaking to Moses and saying, "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land..." (Num 15:1-2, 17-18 and a shorter intro in Num 15:37-38). The phrase "a pleasing aroma to YHWH" sometimes marking paragraph endings in the first section (Num 15:7, 10). And the whole chapter closing: "I am YHWH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am YHWH your God" (Num 15:41). Thus ending with a double "I am YHWH your God" similar to parts of Leviticus.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:32 |
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Part II, In the Wilderness: Numbers 10:11-14:45 |
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Written by Rev. Justin Lee Marple
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Friday, 24 July 2009 12:32 |
In Num 10:11 the people of Israel begin to "set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai" where they have been since Exodus 19:1. Following the cloud by day first to the wilderness of Paran (Num 10:11, 34). Next, following the quail incident, "the people journeyed to Hazeroth" (Num 11:35). "After that [the seven days Miriam was unclean with a skin disease] the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran" (Num 12:16). So we are still in the same general region where we started. From this wilderness went the spies into the land of Canaan. It looks like the people successfully move again when they "came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh" (Num 20:1). Next they would journey from Kadesh to Mount Hor (Num 20:22), and then on eventually to the plains of Moab (Num 22:1). A more specific account of the places where they stopped is given in Num 33:16-49.
The people left in a particular order -- "the people of Judah set out first" (Num 10:14). Issachar and Zebulun followed (Num 10:15-16). The tabernacle was dismantled and the Gershonites and Merarites set out (Num 10:17). Reuben, Simeon, and Gad followed (Num 10:18-20). Then the Kohathites set out (Num 10:21), followed by Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin (Num 10:22-24). And finally the people of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali set out (Num 10:25-28). The order follows from east, south, west, north through the tribes by prominence as discussed in the previous post. But the order of the Levites does not follow in the same way but seems to be for practical reasons. Then Moses encouraged his father-in-law to come too (Num 10:29-32).
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:30 |
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In the Wilderness, Still at Sinai: Numbers 1:1-10:10 |
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Written by Rev. Justin Lee Marple
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Friday, 17 July 2009 12:20 |
Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers are tied together because the Israelites arrived at Sinai with Exo 19:1 and began their journey from Sinai with Num 10:11. Thus the beginning of Numbers is meant to be read as a continuation of the story of Exodus and Leviticus. The reason for the title Numbers sticking is the census taking in the book. However, the Hebrew title, "In the wilderness [desert]" is more appropriate because the people begin the book in the desert and end the book in the desert. In Deuteronomy too, they are not yet in the land at the end. Therefore, the story of the Torah (Old Testament Gospels) in an of itself is incomplete and needs the Prophets (Old Testament Acts) just as the Gospels (New Testament Torah) awaited the giving of the Spirit in Acts (New Testament Prophets).
"In the Wilderness" is an Old Testament Gospel teaching "that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" and promising the Spirit on the Pentecost after Jesus' resurrection (Luke 24:46-49). The book tells us about two generations of Israel. The first characterized by unbelief and the second by faith. This section is the necessary background we need for the first generation.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:31 |
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