Numbers 1 – 5
Last week we did a general overview of the book of numbers tonight we are going to take closer a look at the individual chapters. Lets begin in,
Numbers 1:1 Now the
LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting,
on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had
come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2
"Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their
families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every
male individually, 3
"from twenty years old and above -- all who are able to go to war
in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 4 "And with you there shall
be a man from every tribe, each one the head of his father's house.
God commands Moses and
Aaron to take a census of the men only that were 20 years and older. This does
not include the women, children or strangers that were traveling around with
them. We also learn that there was to be one man to be the head of every tribe. Verses 5 -15 reveals who these 12 men are and
the tribe the represent.
Numbers 1:16 These were
chosen from the congregation, leaders of their fathers' tribes, heads of
the divisions in
Moses and Aaron obey Gods
command and they number these men. I just wonder how long this would have
taken. I am sure it took several day to accomplish this huge task. Lets take a
look at one example.
20
Now the children of Reuben, Israel's oldest son, their genealogies by their
families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, every male
individually, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go
to war: 21 those who were
numbered of the tribe of Reuben were forty-six thousand five hundred.
22-44 covers the other 11
tribes showing how many were numbered in each one of these tribes.
Numbers 1:44 These
are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with the leaders
of Israel, twelve men, each one representing his father's house. 45 So all who were numbered of the
children of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and above,
all who were able to go to war in Israel -- 46 all who were numbered were six
hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.
That’s a pretty
significant army and just thing that is just the men 20 years old and older. By
the time to factor in the women, children and strangers there could have been
around 2 to 2 1\2 million people there. Its been a long time since at looked at
the numbers for
Numbers 1:47 But the
Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers' tribe; 48 for the LORD had spoken to
Moses, saying: 49 "Only
the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the
children of
The Levites were not
counted during this census and that means that none of the Levites would be
fighting in any of the wars. God continues on and explains what the Levites
would be responsible for.
50
"but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony,
over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall
carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it and camp
around the tabernacle. 51
"And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down;
and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The
outsider who comes near shall be put to death.
52 "The children of Israel shall pitch their tents,
everyone by his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their
armies; 53 "but the
Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no
wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep
charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony." 54 Thus the children of
The Levites
responsibility was taking care of all aspects of the tabernacle. God didn’t
want strangers coming close to the tabernacle at this time and if the did they
would lose their life. As they traveled
and the pitch their tents only the Levites
were to pitch their tents around the tabernacle.
This Chapter gives us the
detail on how each tribe was to camp and to break camp. These tribes would basically
camp out on all sides of the tabernacle. Common sense would tell that this
would be a smart way to do this so that they would be protected from enemy
attack on all sides. This chapter also
tells which tribe was to break camp first and this was determined by the size
of the tribe.
Chapter 3 we learn more about the Levites
Numbers 3:3 These are
the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he consecrated
to minister as priests. 4
Nadab and Abihu had died before the LORD when they offered profane fire before
the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and
Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.
Aaron had 4 sons but 2 them died because of their
disobedience to God. So his other 2 son would be a part of the high priest hood
and only those through Aaron’s blood line could be high priest.
Numbers 3:5 And the
LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 6
"Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest,
that they may serve him. 7
"And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole
congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the
tabernacle. 8 "Also they
shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the
needs of the children of
So, all the Levites were
responsible for serving Aaron and his sons by helping with all things
associated with the tabernacle and again we see the warning of death to
outsider who comes near to the tabernacle.
I think this next passage
is interesting.
Numbers
All the first born belonged to God but he allowed the
Levites to be his in place of all the first born of the children and he used
the first born of the animals of the Levites as his as well. This concept is
given in more detail staring in:
Numbers
I find it interesting
that we are given the exact number of shekels that were gathered giving us a
very detailed account of this event.
Another interesting verse
in this chapter is has to do with the counting of the Levites.
Numbers 3:14 Then
the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying: 15 "Number the children of
Levi by their fathers' houses, by their families; you shall number every male
from a month old and above." 16
So Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he was
commanded.
Did you notice how this
was different from the census done on the other tribes? Remember the other
tribes were numbered by those 20 years and older but the Levites were numbered
by those 1 month and older and we learn from verse 43 that there were
22,273 male Levites and
this number does not include the women.
Vrs 19 -39 The Levites are broken down in to families and we get glimpse of the
specific duties that they are take care of in the tabernacle.
Chapter 4 goes into great detail about the different duties of the Levites. Were not going to read them all but I wants us take
look at one example.
Numbers 4: 21
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 22
"Also take a census of the sons of Gershon, by their fathers' house, by
their families. 23 "From
thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, you shall number them, all
who enter to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of
meeting. 24 "This is the
service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and carrying: 25 "They shall carry the
curtains of the tabernacle and the tabernacle of meeting with its
covering, the covering of badger skins that is on it, the screen for the
door of the tabernacle of meeting, 26
"the screen for the door of the gate of the court, the hangings of the
court which are around the tabernacle and altar, and their cords, all
the furnishings for their service and all that is made for these things: so
shall they serve. 27
"Aaron and his sons shall assign all the service of the sons of the
Gershonites, all their tasks and all their service. And you shall appoint to
them all their tasks as their duty. 28
"This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the
tabernacle of meeting. And their duties shall be under the authority of
Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
One thing is for sure
they certainly should not of been confused on exactly what they were to do. God
did not make up all these details just for the fun of it. He wanted everything
done in certain way and certain order. The same thing is true when it comes to
the NT Christian. God has laid out for us in detail on how to become a
Christian and how to live a faithful life until to your death. Just as a God
expected these Levites to follow his word he want us to follow his word today.
Now lets pick up at the end of this chapter.
Numbers 4:46 All who
were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel
numbered, by their families and by their fathers' houses, 47 from thirty years old and
above, even to fifty years old, everyone who came to do the work of service and
the work of bearing burdens in the tabernacle of meeting -- 48 those who were numbered were
eight thousand five hundred and eighty. 49
According to the commandment of the LORD they were numbered by the hand of
Moses, each according to his service and according to his task; thus were they
numbered by him, as the LORD commanded Moses.
One other interesting
point that I see is that only those that were 30 years of age and older carried
out the different services for the lord. There was a lot of work to be done for
God and there is still a lot of work to do for the Lord today. So, don’t think
that everything is taking care and there is
nothing for you do because there always something that we can do for the
Lord.
Chapter 5 is very unique chapter in determining if
a wife has been unfaithful. In verses 1-4 The children of
Vrs 5-10 has to do with confessing you sin and restitution.
Numbers 5: 6
"Speak to the children of
For example if stole some
money from you neighbor you would have to give them back all their money plus
one-fifth.
Now starting in verse
number 11 we focus in on the wives and the jealously of the husband. Now this
going to be a long read but I don’t know of any better way to present this than
to read it right of the Bible.
Numbers 5:11 And the
LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12
"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'If any man's wife goes
astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him,
13 'and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from
the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed that she has defiled herself, and there
was no witness against her, nor was she caught -- 14 'if the spirit of jealousy
comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, who has defiled herself; or
if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife,
although she has not defiled herself -- 15
'then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. He shall bring the offering
required for her, one-tenth of an EPHAH of barley meal; he shall pour no oil on
it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of
jealousy, an offering for remembering, for bringing iniquity to
remembrance. 16 ' And the
priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD. 17 'The priest shall take holy
water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of
the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 'Then the priest shall stand
the woman before the LORD, uncover the woman's head, and put the offering for
remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And
the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 'And the priest shall put her
under oath, and say to the woman, "If no man has lain with you, and if you
have not gone astray to uncleanness while under your husband's authority,
be free from this bitter water that brings a curse. 20 "But if you have gone
astray while under your husband's authority, and if you have
defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with you"
-- 21 'then the priest shall
put the woman under the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman --
"the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD
makes your thigh rot and your belly swell;
22 "and may this water that causes the curse go into
your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot."
Then the woman shall say, "Amen, so be it." 23 ' Then the priest shall write
these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter
water. 24 'And he shall make
the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings
the curse shall enter her to become bitter. 25 'Then the priest shall take the
grain offering of jealousy from the woman's hand, shall wave the offering
before the LORD, and bring it to the altar;
26 'and the priest shall take a handful of the offering, as
its memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the woman
drink the water. 27 'When he
has made her drink the water, then it shall be, if she has defiled herself and
behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, that the water that brings a curse
will enter her and become bitter, and her belly will swell, her thigh
will rot, and the woman will become a curse among her people. 28 'But if the woman has not
defiled herself, and is clean, then she shall be free and may conceive
children. 29 ' This is the
law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband's authority, goes
astray and defiles herself, 30
'or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his
wife; then he shall stand the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall
execute all this law upon her. 31
'Then the man shall be free from iniquity, but that woman shall bear her
guilt.' "
All this is a very
strange way determine weather the woman
was innocent and guilty this method came from God and he obviously would
be in control. Unlike mankind who cannot read the thoughts of others God can.
He knows our every thought and we cannot hide anything from him. So when these women
would drink this bitter drink if they were innocent God would not allow this
drink to affect them. Could you image having a law like that today? That covers
the first 5 chapters of Numbers I hope you
have found it interesting.