Numbers complete w/ notes

Numbers 1 King James Version (KJV)

I doubt many Christians have EVER ventured into the Book of Numbers for leisure. What a dull sounding book to our ears. But as you’re about to discover the Book of Numbers is one of the most vibrant and informative of all the books in the Bible.

You can see, for us in our day, the word “numbers” is readily associated with accounting, records keeping, math, income tax returns, balancing check-books, and dealing with budgets or debt often using computers and the Internet. Numbers are impersonal and cold and in some ways even feel like a threat to our mental well-being; in other ways numbers may even represent a kind of self-imposed bondage we are forced to deal with like it or not.

• 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, nor were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

You can see all of these events that Paul has listed are found WRITTEN DOWN in the Torah, in the book of Numbers to be specific. Paul saw what we would see: that the book of Numbers, while a record of history, is also prophetic!

We will see the Messiah in the book of Numbers, and we will see Him operating BEFORE He became a man of flesh. Paul also makes the point; if the ransomed Israelites rebelled and then received punished for it in ancient times (as told of in the book of Numbers), why would a Believer ransomed by the blood of Yeshua think he could be rebellious and escape God’s hand of discipline?

Numbers is merely the English translation of the Greek name given to this book……Arithmoi…..from which we also get the word arithmetic. And the Greeks gave this name to it because in the early chapters the Lord orders a census taken of the Israelites, and the results are recorded.

In Hebrew the name for this book is B’midbar; and it means “In the Wilderness”. The first 10 chapters record the events of less than 3 weeks. Once the Lord put some distance in between the Israelites and their past, the next thing He did was to teach them about holiness, HIS holiness. And this was accomplished by means of the very Torah we are now studying.

Upon the summit of Mt. Sinai God gave Moses many ordinances and rules, laws and commands, to give to the people of Israel; how else would a people who didn’t know God LEARN about who He is and what He expects of His worshippers? Once the Ruach HaKodesh [Holy Spirit] has indwelled us, what comes next…at least that is what it is intended… is our quest for knowledge.

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

² Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;

³ From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

Men who know each other or are family will be more loyal to one another and stick together; And they’ll feel like they are fighting for a land they are attached to and have a stake in, rather than some ideological or philosophical thing. Think of WWII where we had different nations participating, each with their own national armies loyal to their own nation but fighting together as allies in a coordinated way.

⁴ And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.

⁵ And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur (God of the Rock) the son of Shedeur. (spreader of light)

⁶ Of Simeon; Shelumiel (Peace of God) the son of Zurishaddai. (Rock of the Almighty)

⁷ Of Judah; Nahshon (speak quietly, whisper) the son of Amminadab. (people of liberty)

⁸ Of Issachar; Nethaneel (given of God) the son of Zuar. (small)

⁹ Of Zebulun; Eliab (God of his father) the son of Helon. (strong)

¹⁰ Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama (God of hearing) the son of Ammihud: (people of splendor) of Manasseh; Gamaliel (reward of God) the son of Pedahzur. (a rock has ransomed)

¹¹ Of Benjamin; Abidan (father of judgement) the son of Gideoni. (warlike)

¹² Of Dan; Ahiezer (brother of help) the son of Ammishaddai. (people of the Almighty)

¹³ Of Asher; Pagiel (impact of God) the son of Ocran. (affliction)

¹⁴ Of Gad; Eliasaph (gatherer of God) the son of Deuel. (known of God)

¹⁵ Of Naphtali; Ahira (brother of adversity) the son of Enan. (having eyes)

¹⁶ These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.

¹⁷ And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names:

¹⁸ And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls.

¹⁹ As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰ And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

²¹ Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.

²² Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

²³ Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.

²⁴ Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

²⁵ Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty.

²⁶ Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

²⁷ Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.

²⁸ Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

²⁹ Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.

³⁰ Of the children of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

³¹ Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.

³² Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

³³ Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred.

³⁴ Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

³⁵ Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.

³⁶ Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

³⁷ Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

³⁸ Of the children of Dan, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

³⁹ Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.

⁴⁰ Of the children of Asher, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

⁴¹ Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.

⁴² Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

⁴³ Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.

⁴⁴ These are those that were numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men: each one was for the house of his fathers.

⁴⁵ So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel;

⁴⁶ Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

Now everyone should know that a large portion of the humans who left Egypt, with Israel, were not Hebrews; they were Egyptians as well as various groups of Semites and who knows what other combination of nationalities that had been in Egypt for one reason or another at the time of the plagues which God had poured out upon Egypt. And these various people had been so moved by the power of the God of Israel that they wanted to join up with Israel, enjoy the benefits of worshipping such a god, and participate in the Exodus from Egypt to a Promised Land.

So the question is, where and how do these non-Hebrews fit in the mix? Some of these foreigners had married Israelite men or women and so were easily associated with one or the other of the 12 tribes and thus would have figured into the final census totals. But the foreigners who were not genealogically connected with Israel, nor had they married into Israel, would have had to make a choice: declare allegiance to one or the other of the 12 tribes or tag along as non-members of Israel.

As non-members of Israel they would NOT have been counted in the census. And they would NOT have been allowed to live within the camp of Israel; rather they would have had to set up their tents beyond the Israelite camp limits. We have no way of knowing how many would have fallen into that category. But, understand this: these foreigners were welcomed to tag along and they were not considered enemies. Without doubt these same foreigners helped to contribute to the delinquency of Israel as it pertained to idol worship, not that Israel needed much help in that area!

⁴⁷ But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.

⁴⁸ For the Lord had spoken unto Moses, saying,

⁴⁹ Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:

The taking of the Levites away from their biological father Jacob, the Lord is substituting the Levites as a ransom for all the firstborn of all the other tribes of Israel. Instead of God owning the lives of all the firstborn of Israel, He has exchanged them for the Levites.

⁵⁰ But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.

Here we get an all-important spiritual principle that completely flies in the face of the modern world. A principle that if most even understood it, would be denounced as the most intolerant and arrogant position a person might harbor. And it is this: God separates His servants away from everyone else, elevates them, has higher expectations of them, and gives them special attention. They are different. It is Yehovah who gives them different status; it is has not come because of anything they’ve done to merit such favor but because God has declared it so. This is not a God who says we’re all one big happy family. He does NOT view everyone the same and is NOT tolerant to the politically correct in order to suit our ever-changing vanities and preferences.

⁵¹ And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

⁵² And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts.

⁵³ But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.

⁵⁴ And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.

2 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

² Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard (tribe), with the ensign of their father’s house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.

Each Israelite is to camp with the tribe/battle unit he belongs to, as determined by the census, and above his tribe/unit is to fly a banner representing his unit. Now this banner was some kind of colored cloth with the insignia of the group emblazoned upon it. Each of the 12 tribes had a distinctive banner incorporating a specific color and that the color of each banner coincided with one of the 12 semi-precious stones that adorned the High Priest’s breastplate.

³ And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah.

⁴ And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.

⁵ And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar: and Nethaneel the son of Zuar shall be captain of the children of Issachar.

⁶ And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.

⁷ Then the tribe of Zebulun: and Eliab the son of Helon shall be captain of the children of Zebulun.

⁸ And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.

⁹ All that were numbered in the camp of Judah were an hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their armies. These shall first set forth.

Can we ascertain just why certain tribes were designated to camp together in a particular group? yes? There is actually some rationale and pattern to it. To the East were composed of what is called the Leah tribes. That is the biological mother of Judah and the other two tribes he camped with was also of Leah.

To the South we find 3 more Leah tribes; however there is a slight difference. The leader of the Southern Division, Reuben, was the biological son of Leah as was Simeon. But Gad was NOT a biological son of Leah; rather he was the son of Leah’s handmaiden Zilpah. However by law Zilpah, as a servant, was but a surrogate mother for Leah so Gad was counted as among the sons of Leah.

¹⁰ On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies: and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.

¹¹ And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.

¹² And those which pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon: and the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

¹³ And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.

¹⁴ Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel.

¹⁵ And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and five thousand and six hundred and fifty.

¹⁶ All that were numbered in the camp of Reuben were an hundred thousand and fifty and one thousand and four hundred and fifty, throughout their armies. And they shall set forth in the second rank.

¹⁷ Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards.

The Levites in protecting God’s holiness at the same time protected the common people of Israel from God’s wrath by keeping those who were not sufficiently holy away from Him. If the non-holy were able to get near God’s holiness, His wrath would fall upon the entire community in divine retribution. All that stood between the total annihilation of Israel and God was the Levites. All that stands today between the total annihilation of the world and God, is your testimony of the saving grace of Yeshua.

¹⁸ On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.

¹⁹ And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty thousand and five hundred.

²⁰ And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh: and the captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

²¹ And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.

²² Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni.

²³ And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

²⁴ All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were an hundred thousand and eight thousand and an hundred, throughout their armies. And they shall go forward in the third rank.

To the West were the Rachel tribes led by Ephraim; that is these were all sons produced by Jacob’s most loved wife, Rachel. Now again I have some explaining to do because although Benjamin’s biological mother was indeed Rachel, Ephraim and Manesseh, the other two tribes making up this division, did NOT have Rachel as a biological mother. So why are they called Rachel tribes? Because Rachel WAS the biological mother of Joseph, who was the biological father of Ephraim and Manasseh; and as Joseph’s sons they were currently carrying the authority of Joseph, something that had been ordained by that amazing cross-handed blessing of Genesis 48. By the way we would think of it, biologically speaking Ephraim and Manasseh were grandsons of Rachel. Nonetheless due to the customs of that era Benjamin was considered a son of Rachel and in the cross-handed blessing Jacob (Rachel’s husband) had adopted Ephraim and Manasseh.

²⁵ The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies: and the captain of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

²⁶ And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.

²⁷ And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran.

²⁸ And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.

²⁹ Then the tribe of Naphtali: and the captain of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan.

³⁰ And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.

³¹ All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were an hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred. They shall go hindmost with their standards.

To the North, representing the lowest spot in the tribal pecking order, were the remaining 3 tribes, led by Dan. What made them the lowest is that they were all sons of Jacob’s concubines a.k.a. Leah’s and Rachel’s handmaidens. Dan and Naftali were sons of Bilah, and Asher the son of Zilpah.

³² These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

³³ But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses.

³⁴ And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers.

Why the Wilderness Tabernacle in the center? God deals with us using manners and ways that we are familiar with in our culture. Despite the obvious reasons that by means of the people surrounding the Tabernacle it was better protected we also find that historically Rameses II used this exact formation during his battle campaigns. The royal tent of Pharaoh was placed in the protected middle and certain battalions were assigned in a kind of pecking order around the tent. These Israelites who had spent generations in Egypt, were completely familiar with this method.

3 These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the Lord spake with Moses in mount Sinai.

² And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office.

⁴ And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father.

⁵ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

⁶ Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him.

⁷ And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.

⁸ And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

⁹ And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel.

¹⁰ And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

¹¹ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

¹² And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;

God in some special way regarded all the firstborn males of the tribes of Israel as special and set-apart for Him…… a kind of ownership or adoption by God….. NOW He has taken the Levites, in total, as His own in substitute of all the firstborns of Israel. That special status of Israelite firstborns as over and above the firstborns of other nations came about in Exodus 11, when the firstborns of Israel were commemorated to God as a remembrance of their Passover salvation.

¹³ Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the Lord.

¹⁴ And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,

¹⁵ Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.

¹⁶ And Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded.

The Hebrew word usually translated as “word” or “command” of God in this verse, is ‘al pi. which more precisely means “oracle”. In other words, the results of the census were divinely related to Moses, directly from God….it was an oracle from God, a very special announcement made for a monumental purpose. Neither Moses nor Aaron, nor the Levite tribal chieftains, nor any human for that matter, was involved in the counting of the Levites. This was much too important of a matter because redemption was at the heart of it. Instead Yehoveh Himself conducted the census and Moses was simply told the results by means of an “oracle” from Yehoveh, and then what God said was written down.

It would do no good for leaders and elders of all the churches and synagogues of the world to conduct a census in order to determine how many people are actually redeemed, or in evangelical Christian-eze, saved. The Holy Scriptures makes it clear that the Lord, and the Lord alone, makes that determination. That Baptism Certificate, or your name on a church or synagogue membership role, or that you were voted or appointed an Elder or a Deacon; or even if you are a Pastor or Rabbi with a Certificate of Ordination…..all of these are nice and meaningful things in man’s religious activities; but they count for exactly nothing when God takes His final census.

¹⁷ And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁸ And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shimei.

¹⁹ And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁰ And the sons of Merari by their families; Mahli, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers.

²¹ Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites.

²² Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred.

²³ The families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward.

²⁴ And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.

²⁵ And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

²⁶ And the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof.

²⁷ And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izeharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites.

²⁸ In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary.

²⁹ The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward.

³⁰ And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

³¹ And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof.

³² And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.

³³ Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari.

³⁴ And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two hundred.

³⁵ And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward.

³⁶ And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto,

³⁷ And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.

³⁸ But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

³⁹ All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the Lord, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.

⁴⁰ And the Lord said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

⁴¹ And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the Lord) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.

⁴² And Moses numbered, as the Lord commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

Before there was a priesthood, it was the duty of the firstborn of each family to perform sacrifices and other rituals on behalf of the family. The firstborn was a kind of pre-priesthood family priest. This custom (as were many others) was neither unique NOR new to Israel.

We’ll find documents dating back 1000 years before this time (from Mesopotamian cultures) that specify certain religious and spiritual duties for the firstborn son of the family. And chief among these duties was to carry on all that was involved with ancestor worship and ritual. This duty began with the responsibility of the firstborn to properly bury his parents. Thereafter the firstborn was to bring oil, and food, even water to the gravesite for the use of his deceased parents’ spirits.

During these rituals the names of the parents were recited because in some undefined way keeping the memory of the individual alive kept that individual’s spirit alive. Now if the firstborn son conducted the ancestor worship rituals properly, then the spirits of his dead ancestors were to intercede on his behalf with the gods. If the worship was done improperly then no intercession was possible and the spirits of his dead ancestors might even turn on him and make trouble for him; anything from causing disease to crop failure, to making his wife barren.

⁴³ And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen.

⁴⁴ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

⁴⁵ Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord.

⁴⁶ And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites;

⁴⁷ Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:)

⁴⁸ And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons.

⁴⁹ And Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites:

• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

⁵⁰ Of the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money; a thousand three hundred and threescore and five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

⁵¹ And Moses gave the money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

We can begin to see that much would change for Israel, rather drastically, when Yehoveh established a divinely ordained, set-apart group of priests where the authority lay in one particular tribe. The change was that the ritual duties were transferred from being the charge of each separate family as each family saw fit, to a specified group of priests under a common set of laws and ordinances (the Law), and under centralized control (that of the High Priest), and the firstborn son, now being relieved of the duties he had formerly performed as kind of a family priest, had his status changed. This change was, no doubt, seen as a demotion of sorts and would not have been well received. The replacement of firstborns was to be exacting ordered by Yehoveh was not to be only general or symbolic; it would be done on a one-to-one basis; each male Levite was to be a substitute for one currently living firstborn of Israel.

4 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

² Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,

³ From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

This census differs from the earlier Levite census that God Himself performed, primarily that in this new census the age range to be counted was from 30 years old to 50 years old; a narrow 20-year age range as the first Levite census counted males from 1 month old and up. The reason, though not specifically stated, for specifying this particular age range is because of the heavy nature of this work that involves carrying Sanctuary objects and pieces, and doing guard duty. The thought is that these men must be very responsible and emotionally mature so as to perform their jobs with absolute dedication, and they must be physically able to lift heavy objects and defend the Sanctuary in hand to hand combat if necessary.

⁴ This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things:

⁵ And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it:

⁶ And shall put thereon the covering of badgers’ skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.

⁷ And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon:

⁸ And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put in the staves thereof.

⁹ And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it:

¹⁰ And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put it upon a bar.

¹¹ And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put to the staves thereof:

¹² And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put them on a bar:

¹³ And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon:

¹⁴ And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basons, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers’ skins, and put to the staves of it.

The sacred objects and furnishings of the Tabernacle were too holy to be directly handled by the Levites. So they had to be wrapped and packed by the Priests and then transferred to the care of the Kohathites for transport, so that, the hands of those who were not of a high enough holy status would not accidentally touch a holy object. The Priests accomplished all this preparation before giving it over to the Kohathites, who were allowed ONLY to handle the sacred object by means of touching the carrying poles. In fact, later in the Bible we’ll read of a couple of different incidents when the Ark was being transported and it appeared ready to fall over; so an unauthorized person reached out to steady it…. and they were instantly struck dead.

¹⁵ And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

¹⁶ And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof.

¹⁷ And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying,

¹⁸ Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:

¹⁹ But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:

²⁰ But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.

²¹ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²² Take also the sum of the sons of Gershon, throughout the houses of their fathers, by their families;

²³ From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

²⁴ This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and for burdens:

²⁵ And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgers’ skins that is above upon it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

²⁶ And the hangings of the court, and the hanging for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them: so shall they serve.

²⁷ At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service: and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens.

²⁸ This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

²⁹ As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers;

³⁰ From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.

³¹ And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation; the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof,

³² And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden.

³³ This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

³⁴ And Moses and Aaron and the chief of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites after their families, and after the house of their fathers,

³⁵ From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation:

³⁶ And those that were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

³⁷ These were they that were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, which Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

³⁸ And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, throughout their families, and by the house of their fathers,

³⁹ From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,

⁴⁰ Even those that were numbered of them, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty.

⁴¹ These are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all that might do service in the tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did number according to the commandment of the Lord.

⁴² And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers,

⁴³ From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation,

⁴⁴ Even those that were numbered of them after their families, were three thousand and two hundred.

⁴⁵ These be those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

⁴⁶ All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered, after their families, and after the house of their fathers,

⁴⁷ From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁴⁸ Even those that were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore,

It is interesting how we watch a foundational principle of God……dividing, electing, and separating….. occur in so many parallel ways. God divided and separated the entire population of the world into two groups: Hebrews and gentiles. These Hebrews….now the nation of Israel……were also divided into two groups: the 12 tribes and the tribe of Levi. And we have recently seen the tribe of Levi divided into two groups, the Priests and the non-priests, the Levites.

In this process of dividing, electing and separating, absolutely NO merit is stated for why one certain line of people was to be of a higher holy status than another. There was nothing inherently special about Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. There was nothing inherently special about the Tribe of Levi, and there was nothing particularly special about Aaron’s descendants (who were the priests of Israel) than any of the other sons of Levi. God simply, for His own good reasons, elected them.

⁴⁹ According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, as the Lord commanded Moses.

5 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

² Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:

³ Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.

⁴ And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the Lord spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.

The problem was that a ritually unclean person presented a danger to himself/ herself when they came too near to God in that condition, causing that person to be destroyed. And, they were a danger to the entire community because uncleanness was transmissible. A clean person touching an unclean person might become unclean themselves; NOT ill but unclean. According to traditional Rabbi’s an unclean person could transmit their uncleanness to objects like dishes and pots, or even a chair that they sat on or a bed they laid in. And then once that object became unclean IT could transmit uncleanness to a clean person who, unawares, came along and sat on that chair, lay in that bed, or used that pot to cook in, thus denying them access to God.

• 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”

⁵ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

⁶ Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the Lord, and that person be guilty;

⁷ Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.

⁸ But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the Lord, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him.

• Romans 5:10-12 “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”

⁹ And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his.

¹⁰ And every man’s hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.

We have just read the hypothetical case of a person who has committed some kind of crime or fraud against another person; AND then swore an oath to God that he had NOT done this thing. He lied to those charged with investigating the situation and He lied to God. Here’s the dynamic of confession: every sin is essentially unforgivable if it is not confessed. Because to NOT confess is (in the Torah way of thinking) to LIE to God. Lying to God is an intentional and High Handed sin, for which there is no atonement. By confessing you are no longer lying to God but instead agreeing with Him that you have trespassed. Now the sin can be atoned for.

The thing is this: the condition of the heart is a priority even in the sacrificial system. An unrepentant man who offers a sacrifice is NOT forgiven. The sacrificial system was not a forgiveness vending machine. It was only efficacious for the one who confesses and repents. The price is: complete reparation to the individual harmed PLUS 20%. And the sinner must also bring a prescribed sacrifice to the priest for atonement. So when a crime is committed against another person the usual procedure is reparation to the injured party, plus a penalty to the injured party, plus a sacrifice of atonement….an expensive lesson. Wouldn’t it be nice if that were possible today, in our society?

• Matthew 5:23-24 “If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”

¹¹ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

¹² Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,

¹³ And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner;

¹⁴ And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:

• John 8:1-11 “Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”
• Notice that something very different has occurred here concerning adultery. Rightly so the Pharisees said the Torah demanded death for this woman because she was subject to the Leviticus law that was about a woman caught in the act of adultery. That is WHY the statement that she was “caught in the act” is so key; otherwise the law in Numbers 5 would have applied……a law that does NOT allow a suspected, but unproved, act of adultery to be punished. But Yeshua says go and sin no more; I’ll not condemn you. Condemn doesn’t mean to just find you guilty; it means to set out the punishment.
• The curse of the Law isn’t the Law itself; it’s the death penalty that comes from violating the Law. It is my opinion: when Jesus said “he without sin”, He was likely not referring to just sin in general, He was referring to the sin of bearing false witness, and maybe to some degree these men’s impure motives for making this accusation in the first place. In this instance the PURPOSE of the false witness against the woman was to entrap Jesus (as the story itself makes clear). Yeshua called their bluff in a maneuver that would make Perry Mason proud. Justice wasn’t the issue, getting rid of Yeshua was the issue.

¹⁵ Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

¹⁶ And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord:

¹⁷ And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:

¹⁸ And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:

¹⁹ And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:

²⁰ But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:

²¹ Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;

²² And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

²³ And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:

²⁴ And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.

²⁵ Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar:

²⁶ And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.

²⁷ And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.

²⁸ And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.

²⁹ This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;

³⁰ Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.

³¹ Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.

When it comes to the Tabernacle and the various rituals and procedures performed there; and the priesthood, and the Biblical Feasts that are all only extremely limited facsimiles of spiritual principles, we must not think that the physical model is all there is or that it is fully adequate. Yet neither must we think that the physical model is incorrect or not worth observing; it is just incomplete as compared to the original spiritual object or principle it is demonstrating or foreshadowing.

6 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

² Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord:

Paul himself participates in Nazarite ritual at the suggestion of James (brother of Jesus) the leader of the Messianic Jews, as proof to other Jews that Paul approves of, honors, and obeys the Torah even though he believes Yeshua is the Messiah. This was deadly serious business. What I’m saying is that this wasn’t some act or show that Paul was putting on. Paul was going to be walking around Jerusalem bald-headed; a sure sign that he had undergone a Nazarite ritual. Everyone knew what that baldhead meant and so he’d be a walking billboard to the effect that Paul followed the Laws of Moses. A Nazarite vow was supposed to end AT the Temple, and the hair itself was to be offered as a sacrifice and burned.

• Acts 18:18 “So Paul, having stayed on for many days, said good-bye to the brothers and sailed away to Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because he had taken a vow.”
• Acts 21:20-26 “And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication. Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.”

³ He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.

⁴ All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.

Why the prohibition against eating grapes? Israel is often symbolized by the grapevine. The idea is that in every Sabbath year (every 7th year), the land of Israel is consecrated to the Lord. Fields are not to be harvested, land is not to be tilled or weeded, and vineyards are not to be tended. Not only must grapes be left on the vines to rot, even the much necessary twice-yearly pruning of the grapevines was suspended during the Sabbatical year…..the year that the land was set-apart and set-aside for God. So just as the Nazarite is set-apart and set-aside for God for a certain time, during that time the Nazarite symbolizes the quintessential purpose of Israel: holy and set apart for Yehoveh.

⁵ All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.

⁶ All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body.

⁷ He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.

⁸ All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord.

⁹ And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.

¹⁰ And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

¹¹ And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.

¹² And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.

¹³ And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

¹⁴ And he shall offer his offering unto the Lord, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,

¹⁵ And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings.

¹⁶ And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:

¹⁷ And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering.

¹⁸ And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.

¹⁹ And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven:

²⁰ And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.

²¹ This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the Lord for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.

The Hebrew word that we translate as Nazarite is nazir. The base root-word, nazir, most literally means “set-apart” or “pruned”. So literally translated the person who takes the vow is NOT called a Nazarite, they’re called a “set-apart person” or a “pruned away person”. Nazarites must also nazar, be separated, from grapes……separated in the negative sense of being prohibited from grapes. Further there is the Hebrew word nezer, which literally means shoot or branch. It is the term used for the unpruned grapevine.

• John 15:1-8 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.”

²² And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²³ Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,

²⁴ The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

²⁵ The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

²⁶ The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

²⁷ And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.

7 And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them;

² That the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, offered:

³ And they brought their offering before the Lord, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they brought them before the tabernacle.

⁴ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

⁵ Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service.

⁶ And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites.

⁷ Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service:

⁸ And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

⁹ But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.

¹⁰ And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar.

¹¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar.

The word that is usually translated “dedication offering”, is Hanukkah. Yes, the same word as used for the Holiday we celebrate in the fall, Hanukkah, to recognize the rededication of the Temple to Yehoveh. We should make good and proper use of Hanukkah as an occasion to celebrate the birth of the one who made US into Yeshua’s followers, and through the Ruach HaKodesh to be the NEW operational dwelling place of God. As we read for 12 consecutive passages each tribe’s Hanukkah offering was: 1 Silver bowl, 1 Silver basin, each filled with Semolina flour with oil mixed in (a Minchah offering); 1 golden spoon or ladle filled with incense; one bull, one mature ram, and one yearling lamb (for an ‘Olah offering); 1 male goat (for the Hata’at offering); and 2 Oxen, 5 Rams, 5 male goats, and 5 yearling lambs for the Shelamim offering. [Leviticus 1-6] The honor of being first went to Judah, the honor of giving their offering on the Shabbat went to Ephraim. And it was these two tribes who eventually became the two surviving super-tribes who absorbed all the other tribes. It is Judah and Ephraim who are also called “The Two Houses of Israel” in Ezekiel and elsewhere in the Bible.

¹² And he that offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah:

¹³ And his offering was one silver charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them were full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

¹⁴ One spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense:

¹⁵ One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

¹⁶ One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

¹⁷ And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

¹⁸ On the second day Nethaneel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, did offer:

¹⁹ He offered for his offering one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

²⁰ One spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense:

²¹ One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

²² One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

²³ And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

²⁴ On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun, did offer:

²⁵ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

²⁶ One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

²⁷ One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

²⁸ One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

²⁹ And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

³⁰ On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben, did offer:

³¹ His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

³² One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

³³ One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

³⁴ One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

³⁵ And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

³⁶ On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon, did offer:

³⁷ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

³⁸ One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

³⁹ One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

⁴⁰ One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

⁴¹ And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

⁴² On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered:

⁴³ His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

⁴⁴ One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

⁴⁵ One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

⁴⁶ One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

⁴⁷ And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

⁴⁸ On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, offered:

⁴⁹ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

⁵⁰ One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

⁵¹ One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

⁵² One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

⁵³ And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴ On the eighth day offered Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh:

⁵⁵ His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

⁵⁶ One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

⁵⁷ One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

⁵⁸ One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

⁵⁹ And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰ On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin, offered:

⁶¹ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

⁶² One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

⁶³ One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

⁶⁴ One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

⁶⁵ And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶ On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children of Dan, offered:

⁶⁷ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

⁶⁸ One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

⁶⁹ One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

⁷⁰ One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

⁷¹ And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

⁷² On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ocran, prince of the children of Asher, offered:

⁷³ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

⁷⁴ One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

⁷⁵ One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

⁷⁶ One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

⁷⁷ And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ocran.

⁷⁸ On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali, offered:

⁷⁹ His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:

⁸⁰ One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:

⁸¹ One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:

⁸² One kid of the goats for a sin offering:

⁸³ And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

⁸⁴ This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve chargers of silver, twelve silver bowls, twelve spoons of gold:

⁸⁵ Each charger of silver weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy: all the silver vessels weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

⁸⁶ The golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary: all the gold of the spoons was an hundred and twenty shekels.

⁸⁷ All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the lambs of the first year twelve, with their meat offering: and the kids of the goats for sin offering twelve.

⁸⁸ And all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace offerings were twenty and four bullocks, the rams sixty, the he goats sixty, the lambs of the first year sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after that it was anointed.

⁸⁹ And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.

“Standing before the Lord” is a common idiomatic Hebrew expression in the Bible; we find it applied to private individuals, such as, the woman suspected of adultery, and it merely means to come near to God’s sanctuary, not inside of it, nor certainly not inside of the Holy of Holies.

8 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

The tribe of Levi has been divided into distinct two groups: the Priests (who all come from Aaron’s clan), and the Levites, who represent the remainder of the Levite clans. What we see happening here is that the Levites are to be cleansed……purified….. to initiate their service as a set-apart group of Hebrews assigned the duty of serving God by means of serving God’s priesthood. Notice that it is Moses that is directed to perform this ritual and not a priest. Once the priests are consecrated Moses won’t be performing any more of these rituals. This ritual upon the Levites was merely to cleanse and purify them sufficiently to operate around and near the Sanctuary area. However Levites were NOT permitted inside any of the sacred areas and they were NOT permitted to conduct any of the sacred rituals, so they did not have to be granted the highest level of holiness as was bestowed upon the Priests.

² Speak unto Aaron and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.

³ And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴ And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the Lord had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.

⁵ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

⁶ Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.

⁷ And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.

⁸ Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.

⁹ And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together:

¹⁰ And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:

Obviously 2 million or so Israelites didn’t lay hands on the Levites; it was the elders, the lay leaders from each tribe that laid hands on the Levites. Why did the Israelites do this? This is the typical act that indicates a substitutionary sacrifice. The Levites were being offered to God as a substitution…..in place of…….all Israelite firstborns. Kippur means “atonement” just as the bulls are the kippur (the atonement) on behalf of the Levites, so are the Levites the kippur (the atonement) on behalf of the Israelites. Kippur also carries with it the sense of payment or ransom, which is expressed the word kapparah, which is an offshoot of kippur.

As with most of Christendom, they can scoff and say the law is nailed to the cross all they want, however, with this procedure where the Israelites make the Levites their substitute/payment/atonement, and then the Levites make the bulls their substitute/payment/atonement……but we really ought to be thankful. We typically find the literal concept as much too primitive for our modern sensibilities, so we twist it and remold it until it is comfortable for us. If we were to enter a time machine and go back to this era and tell them what atonement and redemption means in our modern understanding of it, that it would be unrecognizable to them.

For this is a picture and demonstration of God’s justice system at work. It was this precise system……based on substitution, payment, and atonement….. this is what made Yeshua LEGALLY able to be everything that was needed to satisfy God as concerned our sin and iniquity before Him.

• Proverbs 21:18 The wicked serve as a ransom for the righteous, and likewise the perfidious for the upright.

This passage literally says that the termination of the lives of wicked people (meaning those who deny the God of Israel) is an acceptable payment to Yehoveh to appease Him in order that the righteous people (meaning those who are devoted to the God of Israel) receive forgiveness for their sins. It is an exchange that God has decided will satisfy Him. Please note, we are not speaking of the righteous killing the wicked and then offering them to God, but rather of God taking out His wrath upon the wicked in whatever manner He determines.

¹¹ And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord.

¹² And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites.

¹³ And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the Lord.

¹⁴ Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.

¹⁵ And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering.

¹⁶ For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.

¹⁷ For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.

¹⁸ And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.

When it came time for Israel to leave Egypt, God would call in His marker. All Firstborns of people and cattle, of Egypt AND Israel would be literally sacrificed, slaughtered, killed…..to pay the price for Israel being redeemed from slavery. He would NOT sacrifice those firstborns who TRUSTED Him enough to follow His provision that every home was to slaughter a lamb and then paint the blood of that lamb on the doorposts of their homes. In other words, that lamb was to be the payment for all the Firstborns who were rightfully to be slaughtered as a sacrifice. Of course we know of this event as the Passover.

Now that Israel had escaped Egypt, the firstborns of Israel still weren’t out of the woods, though: they were still God’s holy property. They owed God a lifetime of service to Him. Therefore Yehoveh, in His mercy, decided that the Levites would become the substitute (a ransom) for all these Israelite firstborns. Eventually it all fell on Yeshua’s shoulders. He was the final and best substitute for atonement. He could either have accepted being the blood atonement sacrifice (as He did) or He could have laid it on an animal.

• Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
• Thankfully Yeshua obeyed the Father – otherwise the cycle would simply have continued.

¹⁹ And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.

²⁰ And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them.

²¹ And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the Lord; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.

²² And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.

²³ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²⁴ This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:

²⁵ And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more:

²⁶ But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.

9 And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

² Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at his appointed season.

Now it is a key God-principle to understand: 1] Any family whom a circumcised male led as a sign of joining Israel (no matter their nationality) could participate. 2] that while this instruction was primarily aimed at Israel, ANY family living in Egypt, no matter their nationality, who worshipped Yehoveh and obeyed and followed this command was passed-over by death.

³ In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.

⁴ And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the Passover.

⁵ And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

⁶ And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the Passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:

⁷ And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel?

⁸ And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.

⁹ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

¹⁰ Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover unto the Lord.

¹¹ The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

¹² They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it.

Remember the Hebrew day begins and ends in the evening not the morning like it is among gentiles today. More specifically it is not at DARK that the day ends but when that final edge of the sun disappears over the horizon. Even MORE specifically it’s when 3 stars in the sky can be seen that the current day ends and the new one begins. Yeshua transformed the Passover celebration from not only a remembrance of Israel’s redemption from Egyptian slavery, but also to a remembrance of HIM and the unmatched redemption that He offered. He even used the word remembrance: do this (the Passover Seder with unleavened bread and wine representing his body and blood) in remembrance of ME.

¹³ But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the Passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

The curse of the Law is not the Law itself, the curse of the Law is the consequence of breaking the Law. And that consequence is death. The curse of sinning is not sin itself, the curse of sinning is the consequence (or wages) of sinning: death. What defines sin? What tell us which behaviors and attitudes are in line with His will and which are not? God says it is His Law….. the Torah. For the Giver of the Law is God, the Law is good, and God does not change. The Lord does not give us what is bad and then tell us to be obedient to it, only to turn around later and say that it was actually bad and that to obey it is wrong.

• Matthew 7:9 “What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?” Luke 11:11 “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?”)

¹⁴ And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the Passover unto the Lord; according to the ordinance of the Passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.

The second Passover, for those unable to participate in the first, is established. Also YHVH says to reinforce a principle set down in Genesis: that among Israel there is one law for everyone whether Hebrew or foreign born. All the Torah applies to them and they are under the same requirements and the same blessings and the same curses. This is the central theme of Romans 11. Look at verse 24 just for the moment then go back and read the whole chapter. “For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”

¹⁵ And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.

¹⁶ So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

¹⁷ And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.

When the cloud stops, they stop; whether it is overnight, for a week, a month, or a year it says. And by the way, this is not saying that the maximum time they stopped and camped at any one place was a year. It just means that whether for a long or a short time, they followed the Fire-cloud.

¹⁸ At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.

• 2 Corinthians 5:4 “Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life.”

¹⁹ And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not.

• Matthew 17:5 “While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said: This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him. Listen to Him!”
• Matthew 24:30 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

²⁰ And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed.

²¹ And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.

²² Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.

• Revelation 14:14-16 “Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and One like the Son of Man was seated on the cloud, with a gold crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. Another angel came out of the sanctuary, crying out in a loud voice to the One who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.”
• Revelation 14:12 “This demands the perseverance of the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”

²³ At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

10 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

² Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.

³ And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

A shofar is NOT an earlier more ancient and primitive version of a hatsotserah, a metal trumpet, as some have supposed. And their uses are different not so much in what they are used for, but rather WHO uses them. In the Bible the common people use a shofar, but the Silver Trumpets can ONLY be blown by priests.

⁴ And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee.

⁵ When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.

⁶ When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.

⁷ But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm.

⁸ And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance forever throughout your generations.

⁹ And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.

¹⁰ Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God.

Silver Trumpets: they shall be blown on joyous occasions, those occasions being the 7 Biblical Feasts AND New Moons, in honor of Yehoveh. This is not about playing music, or songs, on a Trumpet, this is about sounding the detailed blasts as defined in the earlier verses. This is not a musical instrument, they were Torah ordained communication devices.

¹¹ And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony.

¹² And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran.

¹³ And they first took their journey according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

• Matthew 24:31 “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”

¹⁴ In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children of Judah according to their armies: and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

• 1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”

¹⁵ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

¹⁶ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.

¹⁷ And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing the tabernacle.

¹⁸ And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur.

¹⁹ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

²⁰ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

²¹ And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary: and the other did set up the tabernacle against they came.

²² And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud.

²³ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

²⁴ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.

²⁵ And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan set forward, which was the rereward of all the camps throughout their hosts: and over his host was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

²⁶ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran.

²⁷ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan.

²⁸ Thus were the journeyings of the children of Israel according to their armies, when they set forward.

²⁹ And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses’ father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.

³⁰ And he said unto him, I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred.

• Revelation 8:13 And I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe, to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

³¹ And he said, Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes.

³² And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness the Lord shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee.

³³ And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them.

³⁴ And the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp.

³⁵ And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee.

³⁶ And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel.

The thing is that trumpets are used to call the congregation together for a message, for worship, for warning, for action and for war.

11 And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

• Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.”

What was written in the former days is referring to the Hebrew Bible, the TaNaKh, what we call the Old Testament. In Numbers we see that virtually the first thing Israel does upon leaving Mt. Sinai is to rebel. Even Moses becomes a grumbler. Over the next 15 chapters we will have detailed for us 6 identifiable rebellions and every one of them was both real and represents a “type” of rebelling against Yehoveh. The text says it was bitter complaining. Actually the word for bitter complaint in Hebrew is “‘al ra'”. Al meaning complaint and ra literally meaning evil.

² And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched.

How much time passed between Numbers 10:36 and Numbers 11:1? How long did it take for their attitude and behavior to change rather radically? Three days!

³ And he called the name of the place Taberah (burning): because the fire of the Lord burnt among them.

⁴ And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

The group of complainers is called, in Hebrew, ‘asafsuf; and it means rabble, riffraff. This term is constructed very similarly to another unique Hebrew word that was used back in Exodus: ‘erev rav, which means mixed multitude. Scholars are fairly unanimous that ‘asafsuf is referring to that mixed multitude; the thousands of non-Israelites that followed along from Egypt and were required to camp on the outskirts of the Israelite encampment. In other words these complainers were resident aliens; they were the folks who were NOT Hebrews; they were foreigners who wished to remain foreign.

⁵ We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: (they also complain they’re not getting fresh fruit or vegetables.)

⁶ But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

⁷ And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.

⁸ And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

Insert the voice of Bubba from the movie Forrest Gump, “Fried manna, boiled manna, roasted manna, baked manna…..”

⁹ And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

¹⁰ Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.

¹¹ And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

¹² Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?

¹³ Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.

¹⁴ I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

¹⁵ And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.

Interestingly after Moses blows up at God, God doesn’t chastise him for it. Moses had an honest relationship with God. He told God of his frustrations. He told God what was going on inside of Him.

¹⁶ And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

¹⁷ And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

The Holy Spirit. We find right here in Numbers that the Spirit of God was shared among 71 individuals 1300 years before Yeshua was born. So, the entire premise of the Holy Spirit being shared among many men simultaneously is a Torah principle, not some brand new NT principle.

• John 16.13-15 “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. Everything the Father has is Mine. This is why I told you that He takes from what is Mine and will declare it to you.”

¹⁸ And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.

¹⁹ Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;

²⁰ But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?

• 1 Corinthians 10:1-12 “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”) [Also: Romans 11]

I can see in my own life where I sat and murmured against YHVH and his blessings. It was when I was oblivious to being blessed so mightily by YHVH. What I thought: it was my efforts, my hard work, that created the income and “things” that made my life comfortable. It is true that I was working very hard and very long hours but it was God that was supplying the work load. It was a prayer of mine to live differently than what I had as a child, a prayer I kept throwing at YHVH and like the quail here in Numbers, YHVH gave it to me until I was corrupted by it. Also like the people here I had to be saved from the corruption. So glad he loves me enough to teach me a lesson and not leave me in the wilderness.

• Hebrews 12:11 “No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

²¹ And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.

²² Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?

²³ And the Lord said unto Moses, Is the Lord’s hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.

²⁴ And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the Lord, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.

²⁵ And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.

²⁶ But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied (spoke “in ecstasy”) in the camp.

²⁷ And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.

Now, does any of this sound the least bit familiar to you? Was there another time when the Holy Spirit descended upon people and they began speaking in a special way?

• Acts 2:1-4 “And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.”

²⁸ And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.

²⁹ And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!

• 1 Timothy 2:1-4 “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

³⁰ And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

³¹ And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits (3 feet) high upon the face of the earth.

³² And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers (50 bushels of quail): and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.

³³ And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague.

• Psalm 78:26 “He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He directed the south wind. When He rained meat upon them like the dust, Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas, 28 Then He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their dwellings. So they ate and were well filled; And their desire He gave to them. Before they had satisfied their desire, While their food was in their mouths, The anger of God rose against them, And killed some of their stoutest ones, And subdued the choice men of Israel. In spite of all this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wonderful works.”

³⁴ And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: (“the place of craving”) because there they buried the people that lusted.

Obedience to the Law brings a kind of righteousness that is definitely demanded of God and pleasing to Him; but at the same time it cannot and does not bring with it an internal spiritual sanctification that has been performed by the Lord, that we call Salvation.

³⁵ And the people journeyed from Kibrothhattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.

12 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

Speculation exist whether or not Moses had married a second wife or whether Zipporah is no longer alive in this narrative. Remember we are dealing with encompassed writing and not linear chronology. In either case there is a secondary issue as to the term “Ethiopian” it is referring to the family tree of Cush, who was a member of the linage of the cursed Ham. And, we know that Cushites were black-skinned people, usually identified with early Ethiopia. This could be racially motivated or, more than likely, motivated by the notion that the line of Ham produced Nephilim. The last thing to consider is that this woman, which could actually be Zipporah, was just now being introduced to Moses’ relatives and they were concerned because she was not a Hebrew.

² And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.

Sometimes you’ll hear or see the word “Intermediary” used as a synonym for Mediator. Not only is that quite incorrect from a technical standpoint, but it also has the greatest of theological and spiritual ramifications such that we must decide whether Yeshua is an intermediary OR a Mediator. This is one of those words that one must pay attention to when the doctrines of a denomination or religion are being discussed; for there is a vast and critical gulf that separates a Mediator and an Intermediary. An intermediary is a being who is halfway between God and Man. In other words the intermediary is NOT God, but he is also not a man. He is something else altogether. Angels might be seen as examples of intermediaries: they are not men, but they are also not God…they are something else entirely. A Mediator is not some other kind of creature with a status or station that is between two others, he is on par with either God or man. The High Priest of Israel, Aaron in the Book of Numbers, was a mediator. So was Moses. And since the NT makes it clear that Jesus is our High Priest and the mediator of the newer covenant just as Moses was mediator of the earlier covenant, at Mt. Sinai, we can use the pattern and example of Moses to better help us to understand the role of Yeshua our Messiah. Fully God and fully man.

³ (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

⁴ And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.

⁵ And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.

⁶ And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

⁷ My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

⁸ With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

YHVH was not using metaphors or signals with Moses, He spoke to Moses plainly and directly. For the people to question the instructions Moses gave would be a direct affront to YHVH.

⁹ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed.

¹⁰ And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

The Hebrew word used here, Tzara’at, doesn’t indicate a specific disease. There were several different levels and kinds of Tzara’at that ranged from minor to very serious. But key to understanding the term Tzara’at is that it is a spiritually based infliction. It is the outward manifestation of one’s inward and hidden condition. It is a God thing, whereby Tzara’at is a punishment or a disciplinary action upon an individual, divinely caused.

¹¹ And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.

¹² Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb.

¹³ And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
In brief, look at the pattern set up here in Moses; the pattern of how the Messiah would be established.

1. He would be declared, or spoken, into existence.
2. Even though He was, on the one hand, human, his position as Messiah had no human peer.
3. The Messiah was to be God’s trusted master over His entire household. And, who is God’s household? Israel…….and all who would be joined to Israel by means of those covenants given to Israel. Jesus was given all of the Father’s authority over men.
4. Men would come against the Messiah, and say that this man doesn’t have anything they don’t. That they are just as close to God, that they hear from God, that they have just as much standing with God as does Yeshua.
5. That as great as God’s appointed prophets are and were; that as superior and important as the High Priest was, this Mediator was above them all.
6. That the great Mediator would have God’s own spirit in him, and if others were to have God’s Spirit it would have to be drawn from Moses’, and later Yeshua’s, body.
7. The Messiah would be humble, meek. He would NOT come as great world leader, seeking to rule all in his own power. Rather, he would be a reluctant leader, but always willing to bow the will of the Father.
8. The Messiah would NOT be an intermediary being; He would be a Mediator and Intercessor. He was not some other kind of being, he was fully a man. And, yet, he was fully God. Not a hybrid of the two, and not something halfway in between a man and a god, like an angel.

¹⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

Miriam was healed right on the spot even though it is not specifically detailed. Right then. How can you know? Because of the Levitical laws concerning impurity and the rituals of purification. Yehoveh answers Moses by saying, “let her be shut out of the camp for 7 days”. The normal ritual period of cleansing for a person who has Tzara’at (7 days) does not start until that person is FREE of any signs of Tzara’at.

• John 9:6-7 “After He said these things He spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. “Go,” He told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.

¹⁵ And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.

¹⁶ And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

13 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

² Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, everyone a ruler among them.

Like the story of Joseph a pattern and type is set up here that is at once true and historical with meaning and poignancy all to itself; as well as being prophetic and a metaphor; a type that will (in so many ways) be repeated not just by the Israelites in later eras but by the Church.

³ And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.

A key Hebrew word used here is Shelah-lekha; which literally means, “send for yourself”. In other words God is telling Moses, “if you want to send someone to check things out, you have my permission”. God was responding to a request from Moses, and Moses was responding to request of the people by taking the matter to the Lord; so Yehoveh tells Moses to go ahead and satisfy himself (and the people’s request) by sending out these scouts. After all God knew what was there in the Land of Canaan. It was the people of Israel who were unsure.

⁴ And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben (Behold a son), Shammua (renowned) the son of Zaccur.

⁵ Of the tribe of Simeon (Hear Him), Shaphat (judge) the son of Hori.

⁶ Of the tribe of Judah (Give Him Praise), Caleb (cry out) the son of Jephunneh.

⁷ Of the tribe of Issachar (He brings reward), Igal (avenger) the son of Joseph.

⁸ Of the tribe of Ephraim (Doubly blessed), Oshea (rescuer) the son of Nun.

⁹ Of the tribe of Benjamin (Son of my right hand), Palti (deliverer) the son of Raphu.

¹⁰ Of the tribe of Zebulun (Dwelling with us), Gaddiel (fortune of God) the son of Sodi.

¹¹ Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh (Cause to forget), Gaddi the son of Susi.

¹² Of the tribe of Dan (judge), Ammiel (people of God) the son of Gemalli.

¹³ Of the tribe of Asher (happy and blessed), Sethur (hiding) the son of Michael.

¹⁴ Of the tribe of Naphtali (Strife), Nahbi (occult) the son of Vophsi.

¹⁵ Of the tribe of Gad (fortune/wealth), Geuel (Majesty of God)the son of Machi.

Look at the names; ‘Behold a Son, renowned as the judge, hear Him cry out. Give him praise as He brings reward, avenging, our rescuer and deliverer. Doubly blessed at the right hand of the Father, dwelling with us. The fortune of God, causing God to forget the judgement of the people. Happy and Blessed are the people hidden from strife and evil, gaining God’s majesty, fortune and wealth.’ WOW!!!

¹⁶ These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.

¹⁷ And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:

It was like searching for a new community to buy a house, not like the preliminary to a military operation. And if it had been a military operation, most certainly the leaders of the tribes would not have gone, and they wouldn’t have sent 12; 2 or 3 would have been more appropriate because stealth would have been key; and later in the Bible when we see actual military “spying” it will indeed usually be 2 or 3 men at most.

¹⁸ And see the land, what it is, and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;

There is no need for them to “spy” the land. Exodus 23:20-23 “I am going to send an angel before you to protect you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. Be attentive to him and listen to his voice. Do not defy[a] him, because he will not forgive your acts of rebellion, for My name is in him. But if you will carefully obey him and do everything I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. For My angel will go before you and bring you to the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.”

¹⁹ And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds;

²⁰ And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.

We’re given the season in which this scouting mission happened: the time of the first grape ripening, which means it was in the summer, in the July/August time frame. It was going to be HOT going through the Negev.

²¹ So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. (about 250 miles/40 days for them to go there and back)

²² And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

²³ And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

²⁴ The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

²⁵ And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

²⁶ And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.

²⁷ And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

We get a little hint of the bent of these scouts because they say “we came to the land WHERE YOU SENT US”. Not the land the Lord promised or the land that was sworn to Abraham. In other words they disassociated themselves from the Promise, from the covenant, and from God. For them this was simply a political/economic matter.

²⁸ Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

• Most of the walls of the walled Canaanite cities that have been excavated have been found on average 30 to 50 feet high, and 10 to 15 feet thick.

²⁹ The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

³⁰ And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

³¹ But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

The word here “we” can also be translated as “him”. It is no wonder that YHVH wouldn’t allow them into the Promised Land!

³² And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

³³ And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

• Exodus 23:27-28 “I will cause the people ahead of you to feel terror[a] and throw into confusion all the nations you come to. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you in retreat. I will send the hornet in front of you, and it will drive the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites away from you.”

14 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

² And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

³ And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

⁴ And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

How quickly we forget the pain and anguish of our past lives, our lives before God, and we’ll go back for more even after we’ve escaped it for a time. This truth is so prevalent among men that there are Proverbs written to warn and remind us about our self-destructive human tendencies. This is what we do, as Believers, when we accept our Salvation, and then go right on living as though it never happened. God brought us up to the Promised Land, and then we got cold feet and ran right back to the world. We have the people of Israel wailing and crying out to God all night long, and at the very same moment they are grumbling and threatening rebellion against God’s handpicked leader and ordained Mediator, Moses. And to boot they accuse God of not having their best interests at heart; rather this whole exodus thing is just some cruel hoax being played on helpless folk.

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

They weren’t worshipping the elders; they hit the dirt because they were expecting a VERY severe reaction from God. They were in utter disbelief at what was happening before their eyes, such that their knees grew weak and they fell to the ground in utter despair.

⁶ And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:

⁷ And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.

⁸ If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.

⁹ Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.

• Daniel 10:10-14 “Suddenly, a hand touched me and raised me to my hands and knees. He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man treasured by God. Understand the words that I’m saying to you. Stand on your feet, for I have now been sent to you.” After he said this to me, I stood trembling. “Don’t be afraid, Daniel,” he said to me, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your prayers were heard. I have come because of your prayers. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for 21 days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me after I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to help you understand what will happen to your people in the last days, for the vision refers to those days.”

¹⁰ But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.

What will your reaction be, when the world stands ready to kill you, either physically or socially?  Are you ready to have your reputation murdered for YHVH?

• Matthew 5:11-12 “You are blessed when they insult and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

¹¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?

¹² I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

¹³ And Moses said unto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)

¹⁴ And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou Lord art among this people, that thou Lord art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.

¹⁵ Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,

¹⁶ Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.

¹⁷ And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,

¹⁸ The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

Vertical retribution. The idea is that an innocent party bears the divine punishment in place of the guilty party; but the parties are of the same family, just different generations. We cannot get away from this principle in the Bible. Noah declares a curse upon his grandson, Canaan, for what Canaan’s father, Ham, did. In addition to punishment, though, mercy can also be passed forward. Listen to Psalm 103:17-18: ” But the Lord’s steadfast love is for all eternity towards those who fear Him, and His beneficence is for the children’s children of those who keep His covenant and remember to observe His precepts.”

¹⁹ Pardon (salach), I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

When Moses asks Yehoveh for salach, and God says, OK, I give you salach, what is happening is that God is saying He will pardon the punishment for the rebellions (by means of postponing it), and He will allow a continued relationship between those people who committed the rebellion and Himself. Even more, the reconciliation contained with the essence of the word salach points to the continuation of the Covenant made on Mt. Sinai. What a great mercy is hidden in the meaning of all this!

²⁰ And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word: (God pardons their iniquities – He does not change His mind.)

²¹ But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.

²² Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

²³ Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

As a consequence for their great apostasy they will not ever be allowed to enter the Promised Land. And, the Lord defines the group that shall not enter as those 20 years of age and up. Why that group? Because, they were the army, the fighting men, but they had refused to fight.

²⁴ But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land where into he went; and his seed shall possess it.

²⁵ (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) Tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

²⁶ And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

²⁷ How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

²⁸ Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

²⁹ Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me.

³⁰ Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

³¹ But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.

³² But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.

³³ And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

What is being demonstrated here is the principle of measure for measure: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Proportional and symbolic justice, 40 years for the 40 days.

Matthew 5:37-39 “But let your word ‘yes’ be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one. Go the Second Mile “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”

³⁴ After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

³⁵ I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

³⁶ And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,

³⁷ Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord.

³⁸ But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.

³⁹ And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.

⁴⁰ And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned.

⁴¹ And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper.

⁴² Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.

⁴³ For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you.

⁴⁴ But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.

⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

It’s one thing to go forward with God’s blessing, in His timing, to attack a worthy task. It’s quite another to approach that same task when God has deemed that it’s time has passed, and He no longer is behind it…or has turned the task over to someone else….. for whatever reason. God gives us windows of opportunity, and then they close. The timing is always His, not ours. How often we say, yes God, but not right now…..how about later? Right now really isn’t good for me. It is foolishness to try and pry that window open at a later date, even though we might achieve what appears to be some small measure of success. More than likely, though, we will be utterly defeated, as were these Israelites who would not submit to God.

15 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

It is the Torah where we’ll find all of the foundational God-principles explained in detail. The NT fully expects its readers to already have Bible 101, which is the Torah. We need to grasp that commentary (ANY commentary) by definition comes AFTER the foundational material. The Torah and the Prophets are the foundational material, and so, the NT comments on it, Paul especially.

² Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you,

³ And will make an offering by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savour unto the Lord, of the herd or of the flock:

⁴ Then shall he that offereth his offering unto the Lord bring a meat offering of a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil.

⁵ And the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering shalt thou prepare with the burnt offering or sacrifice, for one lamb.

⁶ Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meat offering two tenth deals of flour mingled with the third part of an hin of oil.

⁷ And for a drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin of wine, for a sweet savour unto the Lord.

⁸ And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice in performing a vow, or peace offerings unto the Lord:

⁹ Then shall he bring with a bullock a meat offering of three tenth deals of flour mingled with half an hin of oil.

¹⁰ And thou shalt bring for a drink offering half an hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

¹¹ Thus shall it be done for one bullock, or for one ram, or for a lamb, or a kid.

¹² According to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to every one according to their number.

¹³ All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

¹⁴ And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; as ye do, so he shall do.

“The word ‘ger’ goes back to a nomadic life, and it denotes a man of another tribe or district who, coming to sojourn in a place where he was not strengthened by the presence of his own kin, put himself under the protection of a clan or a powerful tribal chief”. ~WR Smith

Israel regarded ITSELF as a ger both before it moved to Egypt, while the Patriarchs were living in Canaan, and during its time in Egypt. That is, they were protected strangers, resident aliens, in Canaan and in Egypt because it wasn’t their land. Even after they possessed the Promised Land they didn’t own it, no one does, it was and still is Yehoveh’s land, and Israelites are essentially leaseholders. By ancient tradition, gerim could not own property. So, the Israelites WELL understood what God meant that they were gerim with Him: they would NEVER be able to sell their property, because they could never OWN it in the first place. Therefore, gerim had to either be employed as workers on someone else’s land, or as craftsmen with trades. Often they were wards of the state: that is, they were under the authority of the tribe, but they also received a kind of welfare to survive.

• Leviticus 25:23: “The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me.”

¹⁵ One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance forever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.

¹⁶ One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.

¹⁷ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

¹⁸ Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you, (some 38 years into the future.)

¹⁹ Then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an heave offering unto the Lord.

²⁰ Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for an heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it.

²¹ Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the Lord an heave offering in your generations.

²² And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses,

²³ Even all that the Lord hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations;

• Ephesians 2:8-22 “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift, not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.” “So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands. At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For He is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In His flesh, He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it. When the Messiah came, He proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. The whole building, being put together by Him, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord. You also are being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.”
• We don’t become fleshly citizens of earthly Israel, we become spiritual citizens, along with our fellow Jewish Believers, in Spiritual Israel. And, this is all by means of the covenants God created WITH Israel. just as an immigrant to the USA must go through a swearing-in ceremony to vow allegiance to the United States Constitution and to abide by its tenants, so must a foreigner to Israel vow allegiance to the Constitution of Israel, which are the Biblical Covenants God made with Israel. The Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants because that’s what Paul is referring to here.
• Hebrews 3:7-19 “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works for 40 years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation and said, “They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known My ways.” So I swore in My anger, They will not enter My rest.” Watch out, brothers, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that departs from the living God. But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception. For we have become companions of the Messiah if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start. As it is said: Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it really all who came out of Egypt under Moses? And who was He provoked with for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And who did He swear to that they would not enter His rest, if not those who disobeyed? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”

²⁴ Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the Lord, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering.

²⁵ And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their ignorance:

²⁶ And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance.

²⁷ And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering.

²⁸ And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.

²⁹ Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.

³⁰ But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

³¹ Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.

• Hebrews 10:26 “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins”

³² And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.

³³ And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.

³⁴ And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.

• Exodus 35:2 “For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. “You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

So the issue about gathering the firewood obviously is tied to the negative commandment that a fire must not be kindled on the Sabbath. But the man was NOT caught kindling a fire (that is, starting a fire) he was only caught gathering the wood FOR a fire. This was the primary reason and distinct possibility of a serious violation that did exist.

³⁵ And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.

³⁶ And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses.

³⁷ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

³⁸ Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:

³⁹ And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them ; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:

⁴⁰ That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.

⁴¹ I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.

To understand the significance of the Tzitzit, we must begin by understanding what the writers of the Old Testament understood: that what was worn as, or on, the hem of one’s garment was an indication, or extension of one’s own personality and authority. The hem was the common status symbol of the Biblical era, throughout the Middle East, and even in somewhat earlier times.

In America in general, we believe the car we drive or the brand of the clothing we choose says something about whom we are inside. Christians often plaster their cars with bumper stickers and various religious insignias as another means of explaining something about our beliefs. Or we wear Crosses, or Stars of David, or that 3-part Symbol, or other items that are but visible extensions of our personalities and persona. And don’t even think some people aren’t superstitious about these emblems with St. Christopher’s medals, WWJD bracelets, and so on.

The hem of the garment played a similar role in more ancient times. Written records found in Mesopotamia indicate that a seer or a wise-man in service to the King was required not only to TELL the King his vision or prophetic dream, but that he had to write it down. Once written the document was presented to the King along with a lock of hair from that seer’s own head, along with a piece of the hem of his garment. This was the equivalent of a sworn and notarized affidavit and indicated the truthfulness of what was recorded.

The Tzitzit holds great meaning. It is manufactured from two different kinds of materials; linen and wool. Each Tzitzit was to have a single strand of wool, dyed to royal blue or royal purple, at the center and surrounded by many of strands of white linen. That single woolen strand of blue is called a tekhelet, and it key to the meaning of the Tzitzit for it indicates nobility. The Tzitzit represents the reality that God has declared all Israel to be, at some level or another, holy.

• Leviticus 19 tells Israel, “You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.”

• Matthew 9:20-21 “And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I shall get well.”She was grabbing for Yeshuas Tzitzit

• Malachi 4:1-4 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the Son of Righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules[b] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.”

16 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men

The story we’re about to read begins with another in a series of rebellions by the people of Israel against God. Oh, they don’t see it as rebellion against Yehoveh, they see it as rising up against mere men: Moses and Aaron. And what a mistake that perception is, as they will soon find out.

² And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:

³ And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?

• Matthew 13:47-49 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish, and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous.”

Korah is telling Moses that everyone in the camp is on equal status with YHVH. This is not the case and YHVH will prove this out in the end.

⁴ And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:

⁵ And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the Lord will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.

⁶ This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;

⁷ And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom the Lord doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.

⁸ And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:

⁹ Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?

¹⁰ And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?

¹¹ For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?

¹² And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:

Korah is a Levite from the line of Kohath. On the other hand Datan and Aviram are from the tribe of Reuben. So how does this unlikely brain trust get together? They are camped together on the south side of the Israelite encampment. They lived right next to one another and their lives were thus mingled.

¹³ Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?

This was typical tribal society behavior where tribes, and clans within tribes, were in a never-ending cycle of vying among themselves for dominance, status and power. The most blasphemous response, and one that illustrates just how far out of touch they were with God and His plans for Israel, they say to Moses that it is not Canaan that is the land flowing with milk and honey, but Egypt.

¹⁴ Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.

An idiom of the day, “you would gouge the eyes out” of the people. This idiom corresponds to our modern “pull the wool over the eyes”.

¹⁵ And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the Lord, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.

¹⁶ And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the Lord, thou, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow:

The tribe Levi divided and separated into two groups: the Priests who came ONLY from the line of Aaron, and the remaining Levites who worked for the priests. As a Levite from the clan of Kohath, Korah was not eligible to be a priest. Priests carried the most authority and a higher status and so Korah was jealous.

• Revelation 8:3-10 “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;”

¹⁷ And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the Lord every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.

¹⁸ And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.

¹⁹ And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the congregation.

²⁰ And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

²¹ Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.

²² And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

²³ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²⁴ Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

²⁵ And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

²⁶ And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of their’s, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.

²⁷ So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.

²⁸ And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.

²⁹ If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord hath not sent me.

We find this principle of separation woven throughout the entire Bible, Old and New Testaments. Believers must be separated from non-Believers. Clean from unclean. Sinners from the saved. Sheep from the goats.

• 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Don’t be deceived, bad company corrupts good character.”
• Proverbs 14:7 “Stay away from fools, for you won’t learn wise speech there.”
• Romans 16:17-18 “Brothers and sisters, I urge you to watch out for people who create divisions and problems against the teaching that you learned. Keep away from them. People like that aren’t serving the Lord. They are serving their own feelings. They deceive the hearts of innocent people with smooth talk and flattery.”

³⁰ But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.

³¹ And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:

³² And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

³³ They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

³⁴ And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.

³⁵ And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. (If this isn’t a good picture of Hell, the Lake of Fire, and the ultimate punishment of the unrighteous I don’t know what is.)

³⁶ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

³⁷ Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.

³⁸ The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.

³⁹ And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:

⁴⁰ To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the Lord; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the Lord said to him by the hand of Moses.

⁴¹ But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord.(These people are blinded by their own piety that they do not see the workings of YHVH.)

⁴² And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

⁴³ And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁴⁴ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

⁴⁵ Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.

⁴⁶ And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun.

⁴⁷ And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.

• Deuteronomy 28:15 “But if you do not obey the Lord your God by carefully following all His commands and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overtake you.”

⁴⁸ And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.

⁴⁹ Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.

• Revelation 18:4 “Then I heard another voice from heaven say, “Come out of her, my people, so that you don’t take part in her sins and don’t receive any of her plagues.”
• Ezekiel 18:23 “Do I take pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord God. Certainly not! If they change their ways, they will live.”

⁵⁰ And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.

Notice the dynamic and hierarchy set up in Israel: Moses is the sole Mediator. There IS no access to God without going through Moses, the Mediator. Those who tried to replace the Mediator or determined to go around God’s appointed Mediator weren’t just rejected; they were destroyed with no further hope of reinstatement. Our ONLY possible access to God is by means of Yeshua our Mediator. We must come to Yeshua before we can come near to God.

• 1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”

17 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

² Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod.

• Ezekiel 37:16-19 “Son of man, take a single stick and write on it: Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him. Then take another stick and write on it: Belonging to Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and all the house of Israel associated with him. Then join them together into a single stick so that they become one in your hand. When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these things?’— tell them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick so that they become one in My hand.”

³ And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.

⁴ And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.

⁵ And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. (God gives them a visible affirmation to shut them up!)

⁶ And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

⁷ And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.

⁸ And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms*, and yielded almonds.

*H6731 צִיץ tsiyts (tseets) n-m. flower, plate, wing. This is the root word for Tzitzits.

• Exodus 28:36 “And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, Holiness To The Lord.”

• Ezekiel 37:1-14 The Valley of Dry Bones ~ “The hand of the Lord was on me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley, and they were very dry. Then He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I replied, “Lord God, only You know.” He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.” So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!” So I prophesied as He commanded me; the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ Therefore, prophesy and say to them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, My people, and lead you into the land of Israel. You will know that I am Yahweh, My people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. I have spoken, and I will do it.” This is the declaration of the Lord.”

⁹ And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

¹⁰ And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.

¹¹ And Moses did so: as the Lord commanded him, so did he.

¹² And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.

¹³ Whosoever cometh anything near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

Why is it that God keeps telling Moses and Aaron to “separate themselves” from the community of those He plans on punishing? Will God wipe away the good people right along with the evil ones? Answer: ABSOLUTELY! Does that shock you or bother you a little bit? Do you believe that? Well I certainly hope you do. We have example after example of it in the Word. The way it works is this: the righteous will be affected by the same outpouring of wrath or natural disaster as the wicked, if they do NOT separate themselves from the wicked.

18 And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

• Hebrews 5:1-4 “Every high priest is taken from the people and put in charge of things that relate to God for their sake, in order to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. The high priest is able to deal gently with the ignorant and those who are misled since he himself is prone to weakness. Because of his weakness, he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as for the people. No one takes this honor for themselves but takes it only when they are called by God, just like Aaron.”

² And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.

³ And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.

⁴ And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.

⁵ And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.

• Ezekiel 46:20 And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, in order that they may not bring them out into the outer court to transmit holiness to the people.”
• Romans 11:16 “And if the first piece of dough be holy, the lump is also; and if the root be holy, the branches are too.”

⁶ And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁷ Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for everything of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

⁸ And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance forever.

⁹ This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of their’s, every meat offering of their’s, and every sin offering of their’s, and every trespass offering of their’s which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.

¹⁰ In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.

¹¹ And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute forever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

¹² All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee.

¹³ And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.

¹⁴ Everything devoted in Israel shall be thine.

¹⁵ Everything that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the Lord, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.

¹⁶ And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

¹⁷ But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the Lord.

¹⁸ And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine.

¹⁹ All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute forever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee.

Blood was integral in covenant making, because covenants were deemed to be a life-fellowship….and because life was in the blood. Understand what that means: the covenant was life-long, and the participants considered themselves to have been joined together, almost as one flesh, under whatever terms that covenant demanded. Salt, together with bread, was usually eaten as the final event of the covenant ceremony. The participants eating a meal together upon completion of the covenant was a way of signifying that a new family-type relationship had been formed. Salt became so important to the transaction, that the making of a covenant was sometimes called the Covenant of Salt. In fact, in some cultures the act of simply exchanging salt was at times enough to conclude a covenant over an everyday matter, without blood or all the other ritual. We find this idea of the Covenant of Salt mentioned in both the OT and the NT.

²⁰ And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.

²¹ And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.

²² Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.

²³ But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.

²⁴ But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the Lord, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

²⁵ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²⁶ Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe.

²⁷ And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress.

²⁸ Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the Lord of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the Lord’s heave offering to Aaron the priest.

²⁹ Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the Lord, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.

³⁰ Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the winepress.

³¹ And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.

³² And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.

19 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

² This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke:

• Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
• Hebrews 13:12 “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.”
• The problem with holiness is that while it is intrinsic to God’s character it is not to ours. Men are only truly holy when God is near and endows us with HIS holiness. The holiness that is inside of you is God; He put Himself there. Further, that holiness CAN be defiled; the advent of Yeshua did not change how holiness operates. It is our job, as disciples of Yeshua, to see to it that His holiness that is housed within this temporary and imperfect sanctuary that is our body, is protected. And the beginning of doing that is being open to learn about what holiness actually is, according to the Bible. Here in Numbers 19 is where the purpose and the details of the Red Heifer ritual are pronounced. Although we must go through several verses of the ritual procedure before we get to its purpose, it turns out that it is all about decontaminating a person who has become unclean because they touched a human corpse.
• Romans 6:11 “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
• Colossians 3:3 “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
• The Dictionary says that a paradox is a situation or statement that seems contradictory, unbelievable, or absurd. And yet it is very likely true or factual. And the paradox of this Red Heifer sacrifice is this: everybody that has anything to do with its preparation, death, burning up, and gathering of its ashes becomes UNCLEAN. People who are but following God’s command in this ritual law of purification, begin in clean state but wind up becoming ritually impure. As the Rabbis say about this procedure: the same ashes that purify the defiled also defile the pure. How is this possible? One of the difficulties in grasping the Red Heifer sacrifice, regular sacrifices, and the Temple rituals is the real meaning of the term “holy”.
• The term in Hebrew is kodesh or kadosh; and it REALLY simply means to be separated away or set apart. Thus the Red Heifer isn’t so much “holy” as it is simply kadosh, set apart; but it is set apart not for service to God (like in a standard Temple sacrifice) but rather for destruction. But this destruction will be used by God to make His people clean again. This is the same for Yeshua, he was set apart for destruction to make mankind clean. Most Bible translators will render the Hebrew term Hata’at as a “sin offering”.Hata’at is better translated as “purification offering”.
• Titus 2:14 “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
• Hebrews 9:13-14 “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

³ And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:

⁴ And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:

⁵ And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:

⁶ And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

All of these were present at the crucifixion of Yeshua, the cedar wood is represented by the cross, the scarlet material was his bloody clothes, and the hyssop was a post used to give Yeshua the sponge of vinegar.

• Luke 24:27 “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”
• Psalm 51:7 “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

⁷ Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.

⁸ And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.

⁹ And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.

• Luke 23:50-51 “And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just: (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.”
• John 19:38 “And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.”
• John 19:41 “Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.”

¹⁰ And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute forever.

¹¹ He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.

¹² He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.

¹³ Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

¹⁴ This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.

¹⁵ And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.

¹⁶ And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

¹⁷ And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:

• John 7:37-39 “On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been received because Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
• Hebrews 10:21-22 “and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.”

¹⁸ And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:

¹⁹ And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.

²⁰ But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.

²¹ And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.

²² And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.

20 Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

² And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

³ And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!

⁴ And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?

These are the children of the first generation that died in the wilderness, they now behave exactly as their parents did.

• Exodus 17:2-3 “Therefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?”

⁵ And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.

• Deuteronomy 8:7-9 “For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.”

⁶ And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them.

⁷ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

⁸ Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

⁹ And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

¹⁰ And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?

¹¹ And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

¹² And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

• 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”

¹³ This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

¹⁴ And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:

¹⁵ How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:

¹⁶ And when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:

¹⁷ Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king’s high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.

¹⁸ And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.

¹⁹ And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet.

²⁰ And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand.

²¹ Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

²² And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor.

²³ And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying,

²⁴ Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.

²⁵ Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor:

²⁶ And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.

²⁷ And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

²⁸ And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.

²⁹ And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.

21 And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.

² And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

³ And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

⁴ And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

⁵ And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

• John 6:31-40 “Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
• John 6:48-52 “I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

⁶ And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

⁷ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

• John 6:66-68 “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”

⁸ And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

• 2 Kings 18:1-4 “Now it came to pass in the third year of Hosea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.”

⁹ And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

• John 3:14-15 “ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

¹⁰ And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.

¹¹ And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.

¹² From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.

¹³ From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴ Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,

¹⁵ And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.

¹⁶ And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.

¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:

¹⁸ The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah:

¹⁹ And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:

²⁰ And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.

²¹ And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

²² Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king’s high way, until we be past thy borders.

²³ And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

²⁴ And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.

²⁵ And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.

²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.

²⁷ Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:

²⁸ For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.

²⁹ Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon (tempestuous) king of the Amorites.

³⁰ We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.

³¹ Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.

³² And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.

³³ And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.

³⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.

³⁵ So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land. (These were Nephilim giants)

• Deuteronomy 2:24-3:5 “Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee. And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet; (As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the Lord our God giveth us. But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land. Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. And the Lord our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain: Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took. From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the Lord our God delivered all unto us: Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the Lord our God forbad us. Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. And the Lord said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. So the Lord our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many.”

22 And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.

² And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

³ And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.

⁴ And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.

⁵ He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me:

Balaam means “not of the people” or “failure” while Beor means ‘light’ as in the sense of burning.

⁶ Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

⁷ And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

• Deuteronomy 18:9-12 “When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”

⁸ And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.

⁹ And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? (are you playing with fire?)

¹⁰ And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying,

¹¹ Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out.

¹² And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.

¹³ And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you.

¹⁴ And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.

¹⁵ And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they.

¹⁶ And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:

¹⁷ For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.

¹⁸ And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.

• 1 Kings 13:7-26 “And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel. Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him.”

¹⁹ Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more.

²⁰ And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.

²¹ And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. (He went ahead and left without the calling of the men. disobedience)

²² And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.

²³ And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.

²⁴ But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.

²⁵ And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.

²⁶ And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.

²⁷ And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.

²⁸ And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

In the book of Jubilees we read that YHVH closed the mouths of all the beasts due to the serpent deceiving Eve. Beyond that the interesting part is that Balaam does not freak out that the donkey is talking and then actually has a conversation with the animal. Notice the animal can see into the spiritual realm.

• Jubilees 3:27-28 “And on that day on which Adam went forth from the Garden, he offered as a sweet savior an offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in the morning with the rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame.  And on that day was closed the mouth of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of whatever walks, and of whatever moves, so that they could no longer speak: for they had all spoken one with another with one lip and with one tongue.”

²⁹ And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.

³⁰ And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? and he said, Nay.

³¹ Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.

³² And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:

³³ And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.

³⁴ And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again. (Balaam is in true repentance for his actions.)

³⁵ And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

³⁶ And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast.

³⁷ And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?

³⁸ And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say anything? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.

³⁹ And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjathhuzoth.

⁴⁰ And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.

⁴¹ And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.

23 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

² And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

³ And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the Lord will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.

⁴ And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.

⁵ And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. (1 Corinthians 12:8 “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit”)

⁶ And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

⁷ And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

⁸ How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?

⁹ For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

¹⁰ Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

¹¹ And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

¹² And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?

¹³ And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. (Balak seems to think a change in their human perspective will change the mind of YHVH. This is the thinking of pagans.)

¹⁴ And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

¹⁵ And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the Lord yonder.

¹⁶ And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.

¹⁷ And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the Lord spoken?

¹⁸ And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:

¹⁹ God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

²⁰ Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

²¹ He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.

²² God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.( H7214 רְאֵם r’em (reh-ame’) n-m. a wild bull) (mem, aleph, resh = mighty, leader, beginning)

²³ Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

²⁴ Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

²⁵ And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. (There will be a curse against Israel when they are disobedient in Numbers 31)

²⁶ But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do?

²⁷ And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.

²⁸ And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward jeshimon.

²⁹ And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

³⁰ And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

24 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.

² And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.

³ And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:

⁴ He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:

⁵ How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!

• 2 Peter 1:13-14 “Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”

⁶ As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.

⁷ He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

⁸ God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.

⁹ He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.

¹⁰ And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.

¹¹ Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour.

(Pagans think they can make a blessing out of their treasury and that it is better than the blessings of YHVH. Lunatics!)

¹² And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying,

¹³ If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I speak?

¹⁴ And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.

¹⁵ And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:

¹⁶ He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:

¹⁷ I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. (This is Yeshua!)

¹⁸ And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.

¹⁹ Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.

²⁰ And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish forever. (This is Satan and the people adverse to YHVH.)

²¹ And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock.

²² Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.

²³ And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!

²⁴ And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish forever. (Asshur = Nimrod or Antichrist; Eber is the sons of Esau, those that walk away from YHVH.)

²⁵ And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way.

• Numbers 31:7-10 “And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males. And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.”

25 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

• Numbers 31:15-16 “And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
• 2 Peter 2:9-16 “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.”

² And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

• Revelation 2:13-16 “I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”

³ And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. (Baalpeor means small g …god of power or pagan gods)

⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.

⁵ And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye everyone his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.

⁶ And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁷ And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;

⁸ And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

• Psalm 91:3-8 “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.”

⁹ And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

¹⁰ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

¹¹ Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.

• Isaiah 13:6-13 “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.”

¹² Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:

¹³ And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.

¹⁴ Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites.

¹⁵ And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi (false), the daughter of Zur (rock); he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.

Yeshua is the rock of our salvation. We can tell here this is a warning sign to our lives, in that, we see Baalpeor, Zur and Cozbi all in the same narrative. This is the same reference as Revelation.

• Revelation 13:11-13 “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb, but he sounded like a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people.”

¹⁶ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

¹⁷ Vex the Midianites, and smite them:

¹⁸ For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.

They performed this rebellious act right “in front of God and everybody” to show their own authority in ‘righteousnes’.

26 And it came to pass after the plague, that the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying,

² Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers’ house, all that are able to go to war in Israel.

³ And Moses and Eleazar the priest spake with them in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

⁴ Take the sum of the people, from twenty years old and upward; as the Lord commanded Moses and the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt.

The following is the census. 624,530 people, for the dividing of land, not for war.  Numbers 31:1-4 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian. Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.”

⁵ Reuben, the eldest son of Israel: the children of Reuben; Hanoch, of whom cometh the family of the Hanochites: of Pallu, the family of the Palluites:

⁶ Of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.

⁷ These are the families of the Reubenites: and they that were numbered of them were forty and three thousand and seven hundred and thirty.

⁸ And the sons of Pallu; Eliab.

⁹ And the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the Lord:

¹⁰ And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign.

¹¹ Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not. (There were members of Korah’s family that did not stand against Moses and so they lived to become part of this census.)

¹² The sons of Simeon after their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites: of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites: of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites:

¹³ Of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites: of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.

¹⁴ These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty and two thousand and two hundred.

¹⁵ The children of Gad after their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites: of Haggi, the family of the Haggites: of Shuni, the family of the Shunites:

¹⁶ Of Ozni, the family of the Oznites: of Eri, the family of the Erites:

¹⁷ Of Arod, the family of the Arodites: of Areli, the family of the Arelites.

¹⁸ These are the families of the children of Gad according to those that were numbered of them, forty thousand and five hundred.

¹⁹ The sons of Judah were Er and Onan: and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.

²⁰ And the sons of Judah after their families were; of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites: of Pharez, the family of the Pharzites: of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites.

²¹ And the sons of Pharez were; of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites.

²² These are the families of Judah according to those that were numbered of them, threescore and sixteen thousand and five hundred.

²³ Of the sons of Issachar after their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites: of Pua, the family of the Punites:

²⁴ Of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites: of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites.

²⁵ These are the families of Issachar according to those that were numbered of them, threescore and four thousand and three hundred.

²⁶ Of the sons of Zebulun after their families: of Sered, the family of the Sardites: of Elon, the family of the Elonites: of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites.

²⁷ These are the families of the Zebulunites according to those that were numbered of them, threescore thousand and five hundred.

²⁸ The sons of Joseph after their families were Manasseh and Ephraim.

²⁹ Of the sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites: and Machir begat Gilead: of Gilead come the family of the Gileadites.

³⁰ These are the sons of Gilead: of Jeezer, the family of the Jeezerites: of Helek, the family of the Helekites:

³¹ And of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites: and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites:

³² And of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites: and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites.

³³ And Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

³⁴ These are the families of Manasseh, and those that were numbered of them, fifty and two thousand and seven hundred.

³⁵ These are the sons of Ephraim after their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthalhites: of Becher, the family of the Bachrites: of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites.

³⁶ And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites.

³⁷ These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those that were numbered of them, thirty and two thousand and five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph after their families.

³⁸ The sons of Benjamin after their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites: of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites: of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites:

³⁹ Of Shupham, the family of the Shuphamites: of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites.

⁴⁰ And the sons of Bela were ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites: and of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.

⁴¹ These are the sons of Benjamin after their families: and they that were numbered of them were forty and five thousand and six hundred.

⁴² These are the sons of Dan after their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan after their families.

⁴³ All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those that were numbered of them, were threescore and four thousand and four hundred.

⁴⁴ Of the children of Asher after their families: of Jimna, the family of the Jimnites: of Jesui, the family of the Jesuites: of Beriah, the family of the Beriites.

⁴⁵ Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites: of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites.

⁴⁶ And the name of the daughter of Asher was Sarah.

⁴⁷ These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those that were numbered of them; who were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.

⁴⁸ Of the sons of Naphtali after their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites: of Guni, the family of the Gunites:

⁴⁹ Of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites: of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites.

⁵⁰ These are the families of Naphtali according to their families: and they that were numbered of them were forty and five thousand and four hundred.

⁵¹ These were the numbered of the children of Israel, six hundred thousand and a thousand seven hundred and thirty.

⁵² And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

⁵³ Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names.

⁵⁴ To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him.

⁵⁵ Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.

⁵⁶ According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few.

⁵⁷ And these are they that were numbered of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of Merari, the family of the Merarites.

⁵⁸ These are the families of the Levites: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korathites. And Kohath begat Amram.

⁵⁹ And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.

⁶⁰ And unto Aaron was born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

⁶¹ And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the Lord.

⁶² And those that were numbered of them were twenty and three thousand, all males from a month old and upward: for they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.

⁶³ These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.

⁶⁴ But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron the priest numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.

⁶⁵ For the Lord had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

27 Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph: and these are the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.

² And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

³ Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons.

⁴ Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father.

⁵ And Moses brought their cause before the Lord.

⁶ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

⁷ The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them.

⁸ And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.

⁹ And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.

¹⁰ And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren.

¹¹ And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses.

¹² And the Lord said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel.

¹³ And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered.

¹⁴ For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.

¹⁵ And Moses spake unto the Lord, saying,

¹⁶ Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,

¹⁷ Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd.

¹⁸ And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;

¹⁹ And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight.

²⁰ And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.

²¹ And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.

²² And Moses did as the Lord commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation:

²³ And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the Lordcommanded by the hand of Moses.

28 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

² Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season.

³ And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the Lord; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering.

⁴ The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even; (these are the daily offering for the people)

⁵ And a tenth part of an ephah of flour for a meat offering, mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil.

⁶ It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in mount Sinai for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord.

⁷ And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the Lord for a drink offering.

⁸ And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: as the meat offering of the morning, and as the drink offering thereof, thou shalt offer it, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

⁹ And on the sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof:

¹⁰ This is the burnt offering of every sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.

¹¹ And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the Lord; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without spot;

¹² And three tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, for one bullock; and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, for one ram;

¹³ And a several tenth deal of flour mingled with oil for a meat offering unto one lamb; for a burnt offering of a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord.

¹⁴ And their drink offerings shall be half an hin of wine unto a bullock, and the third part of an hin unto a ram, and a fourth part of an hin unto a lamb: this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year.

¹⁵ And one kid of the goats for a sin offering unto the Lord shall be offered, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.

¹⁶ And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of the Lord.

¹⁷ And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.

¹⁸ In the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work therein:

¹⁹ But ye shall offer a sacrifice made by fire for a burnt offering unto the Lord; two young bullocks, and one ram, and seven lambs of the first year: they shall be unto you without blemish:

²⁰ And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil: three tenth deals shall ye offer for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram;

²¹ A several tenth deal shalt thou offer for every lamb, throughout the seven lambs:

²² And one goat for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you.

²³ Ye shall offer these beside the burnt offering in the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.

²⁴ After this manner ye shall offer daily, throughout the seven days, the meat of the sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord: it shall be offered beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.

²⁵ And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work.

²⁶ Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new meat offering unto the Lord, after your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work:

²⁷ But ye shall offer the burnt offering for a sweet savour unto the Lord; two young bullocks, one ram, seven lambs of the first year;

²⁸ And their meat offering of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto one bullock, two tenth deals unto one ram,

²⁹ A several tenth deal unto one lamb, throughout the seven lambs;

³⁰ And one kid of the goats, to make an atonement for you.

³¹ Ye shall offer them beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, (they shall be unto you without blemish) and their drink offerings.

29 And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.

² And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savour unto the Lord; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year without blemish:

³ And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram,

⁴ And one tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs:

⁵ And one kid of the goats for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you:

⁶ Beside the burnt offering of the month, and his meat offering, and the daily burnt offering, and his meat offering, and their drink offerings, according unto their manner, for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord.

⁷ And ye shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month an holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall not do any work therein:

⁸ But ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the Lord for a sweet savour; one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year; they shall be unto you without blemish:

⁹ And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals to a bullock, and two tenth deals to one ram,

¹⁰ A several tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs:

¹¹ One kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering of it, and their drink offerings.

¹² And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days:

¹³ And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish:

¹⁴ And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto every bullock of the thirteen bullocks, two tenth deals to each ram of the two rams,

¹⁵ And a several tenth deal to each lamb of the fourteen lambs:

¹⁶ And one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.

¹⁷ And on the second day ye shall offer twelve young bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without spot:

¹⁸ And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner:

¹⁹ And one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering thereof, and their drink offerings.

²⁰ And on the third day eleven bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish;

²¹ And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner:

²² And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering.

²³ And on the fourth day ten bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:

²⁴ Their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner:

²⁵ And one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.

²⁶ And on the fifth day nine bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without spot:

²⁷ And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner:

²⁸ And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering.

²⁹ And on the sixth day eight bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:

³⁰ And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner:

³¹ And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.

³² And on the seventh day seven bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:

³³ And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner:

³⁴ And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.

³⁵ On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein:

³⁶ But ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord: one bullock, one ram, seven lambs of the first year without blemish:

³⁷ Their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullock, for the ram, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner:

³⁸ And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, and his drink offering.

³⁹ These things ye shall do unto the Lord in your set feasts, beside your vows, and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your meat offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.

⁴⁰ And Moses told the children of Israel according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.

30 And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded.

² If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

• Ecclesiastes 5:4 “When you make a vow to God, don’t delay fulfilling it, because He does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow.”
• Deuteronomy 23:21 “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will require it of you, and it will be counted against you as sin.”
• Matthew 5:33-37 “Again, you have heard that it was said to our ancestors, you must not break your oath, but you must keep your oaths to the Lord. But I tell you, don’t take an oath at all: either by heaven, because it is God’s throne; or by the earth, because it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King.  Neither should you swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. But let your word ‘yes’ be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’ anything more than this is from the evil one.”

The purpose of these statements are that we speak in truth to both YHVH and to mankind.

• Matthew 12:34 “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”

³ If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father’s house in her youth;

⁴ And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand.

⁵ But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and the Lord shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her.

⁶ And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul;

⁷ And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.

⁸ But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the Lord shall forgive her.

• Ephesians 5:22-24 “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”

⁹ But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.

¹⁰ And if she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath;

¹¹ And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.

¹² But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them; then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and the Lord shall forgive her.

¹³ Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.

¹⁴ But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day; then he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which are upon her: he confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them.

¹⁵ But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard them; then he shall bear her iniquity.

¹⁶ These are the statutes, which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth in her father’s house.

31 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

² Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.

³ And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian.

The vengeance of YHVH against the people of Midian, idol worshippers, is exacted against them through the Israelites, they are His instrument of wrath. The plagues against Israel was to bring them into righteous standing to exact this war against the Midianites.

⁴ Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.

⁵ So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

⁶ And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.

⁷ And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.

⁸ And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

⁹ And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.

¹⁰ And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.

¹¹ And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts.

¹² And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.

¹³ And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.

¹⁴ And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.

¹⁵ And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?

¹⁶ Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.

¹⁷ Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.

¹⁸ But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. This is actually a huge obligation to take on the women as captives.

• Deuteronomy 21:10-13 “When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.”

¹⁹ And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day. (The red heifer sacrifice)

²⁰ And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.

²¹ And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses;

²² Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

²³ Everything that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.

• 2 Peter 3:10-13 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”

²⁴ And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.

²⁵ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²⁶ Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation:

²⁷ And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation:

²⁸ And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves (cattle), and of the asses, and of the sheep:

²⁹ Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for an heave offering of the Lord.

³⁰ And of the children of Israel’s half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them unto the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.

³¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³² And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,

³³ And threescore and twelve (72) thousand beeves,

³⁴ And threescore and one (61) thousand asses,

³⁵ And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of women that had not known man by lying with him.

³⁶ And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred sheep:

³⁷ And the Lord’S tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.

³⁸ And the beeves were thirty and six thousand; of which the Lord’s tribute was threescore and twelve.

³⁹ And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which the Lord’s tribute was threescore and one.

⁴⁰ And the persons were sixteen thousand; of which the Lord’s tribute was thirty and two persons.

⁴¹ And Moses gave the tribute, which was the Lord’s heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴² And of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided from the men that warred,

⁴³ (Now the half that pertained unto the congregation was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep,

⁴⁴ And thirty and six thousand beeves,

⁴⁵ And thirty thousand asses and five hundred,

⁴⁶ And sixteen thousand persons;)

⁴⁷ Even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord; as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴⁸ And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses:

⁴⁹ And they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us. (no one died in the war)

⁵⁰ We have therefore brought an oblation for the Lord, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord.

⁵¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.

⁵² And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the Lord, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. (approx. $8.2 million USD 2016)

⁵³ (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.)

⁵⁴ And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord.

32 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;

² The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,

³ Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,

⁴ Even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle:

⁵ Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.

⁶ And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?

⁷ And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them?

⁸ Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land. (Same sin as the spies.)

⁹ For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them.

¹⁰ And the Lord’s anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying,

¹¹ Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:

¹² Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord.

¹³ And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed.

¹⁴ And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel. (“You are doing the same thing your fore fathers did and they died in the wilderness.)

¹⁵ For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.

¹⁶ And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones:

¹⁷ But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁸ We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. (Making their own back-up plan and not following YHVH’s instruction.)

¹⁹ For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward.

²⁰ And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war,

²¹ And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,

²² And the land be subdued before the Lord: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.

²³ But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.

²⁴ Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.

²⁵ And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord (master, leader) commandeth.

²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead:

²⁷ But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith.

²⁸ So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel:

²⁹ And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:

³⁰ But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.

³¹ And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.

³² We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be our’s.

³³ And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.

³⁴ And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

³⁵ And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah,

³⁶ And Bethnimrah, and Bethharan, fenced cities: and folds for sheep.

³⁷ And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim,

³⁸ And Nebo, and Baalmeon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded.

³⁹ And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it.

⁴⁰ And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein.

⁴¹ And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havothjair.

⁴² And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

33 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. (This is the list of places where the Israelites camped.)

² And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.

³ And they departed from Rameses (Children of the Sun) in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the Passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.

⁴ For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the Lord had smitten among them: upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments.

⁵ And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth.(Tabernacles)

⁶ And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.

⁷ And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pihahiroth, which is before Baalzephon: and they pitched before Migdol.

⁸ And they departed from before Pihahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.

⁹ And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they pitched there.

¹⁰ And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea.

¹¹ And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.

¹² And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.

¹³ And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush.

¹⁴ And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.

¹⁵ And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai.

¹⁶ And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibrothhattaavah.

¹⁷ And they departed from Kibrothhattaavah, and encamped at Hazeroth.

¹⁸ And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah.

¹⁹ And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmonparez.

²⁰ And they departed from Rimmonparez, and pitched in Libnah.

²¹ And they removed from Libnah, and pitched at Rissah.

²² And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehelathah.

²³ And they went from Kehelathah, and pitched in mount Shapher.

²⁴ And they removed from mount Shapher, and encamped in Haradah.

²⁵ And they removed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth.

²⁶ And they removed from Makheloth, and encamped at Tahath.

²⁷ And they departed from Tahath, and pitched at Tarah.

²⁸ And they removed from Tarah, and pitched in Mithcah.

²⁹ And they went from Mithcah, and pitched in Hashmonah.

³⁰ And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth.

³¹ And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched in Benejaakan.

³² And they removed from Benejaakan, and encamped at Horhagidgad.

³³ And they went from Horhagidgad, and pitched in Jotbathah.

³⁴ And they removed from Jotbathah, and encamped at Ebronah.

³⁵ And they departed from Ebronah, and encamped at Eziongaber.

³⁶ And they removed from Eziongaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.

³⁷ And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.

³⁸ And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the Lord, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.

³⁹ And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor.

⁴⁰ And king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.

⁴¹ And they departed from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah.

⁴² And they departed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon.

⁴³ And they departed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth.

⁴⁴ And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in Ijeabarim, in the border of Moab.

⁴⁵ And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibongad.

⁴⁶ And they removed from Dibongad, and encamped in Almondiblathaim.

⁴⁷ And they removed from Almondiblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.

⁴⁸ And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.

⁴⁹ And they pitched by Jordan, from Bethjesimoth even unto Abelshittim in the plains of Moab.

⁵⁰ And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

⁵¹ Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

⁵² Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

⁵³ And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

⁵⁴ And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.

⁵⁵ But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.

⁵⁶ Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.

34 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

² Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof:)

³ Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward:

⁴ And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon:

⁵ And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea.

⁶ And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border.

⁷ And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor:

⁸ From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad:

⁹ And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan: this shall be your north border.

¹⁰ And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham:

¹¹ And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward:

¹² And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about.

¹³ And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the Lord commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe:

¹⁴ For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance:

¹⁵ The two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising.

¹⁶ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

¹⁷ These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.

¹⁸ And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land by inheritance.

¹⁹ And the names of the men are these: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

²⁰ And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud.

²¹ Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.

²² And the prince of the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli.

²³ The prince of the children of Joseph, for the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod.

²⁴ And the prince of the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.

²⁵ And the prince of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.

²⁶ And the prince of the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan.

²⁷ And the prince of the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.

²⁸ And the prince of the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.

²⁹ These are they whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.

35 And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

² Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and ye shall give also unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them.

³ And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.

⁴ And the suburbs of the cities, which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about.

⁵ And ye shall measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; and the city shall be in the midst: this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.

⁶ And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities.

⁷ So all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities: them shall ye give with their suburbs.

⁸ And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have many ye shall give many; but from them that have few ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites according to his inheritance which he inheriteth.

⁹ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

¹⁰ Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

¹¹ Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.

¹² And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment.

¹³ And of these cities which ye shall give six cities shall ye have for refuge.

¹⁴ Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge.

¹⁵ These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither.

¹⁶ And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷ And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸ Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

¹⁹ The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.

²⁰ But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die;

²¹ Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.

²² But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him anything without laying of wait,

²³ Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm:

²⁴ Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments:

²⁵ And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶ But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled;

²⁷ And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood:

²⁸ Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession.

²⁹ So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

³⁰ Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.

³¹ Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.

• John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
• Revelation 20:10-14 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

³² And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.

³³ So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

³⁴ Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.

36 And the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spake before Moses, and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel:

² And they said, The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters.

³ And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be put to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance.

⁴ And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then shall their inheritance be put unto the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.

⁵ And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well.

⁶ This is the thing which the Lord doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.

⁷ So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

⁸ And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers.

⁹ Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance. (This kept the equity of the promise of YHVH.)

¹⁰ Even as the Lord commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad:

¹¹ For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their fathers brothers’ sons:

¹² And they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

¹³ These are the commandments and the judgments, which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.