Weekly SummaryNumbers 8-22
After setting up and consecrating the tabernacle, God gives Moses direction about how the Levites will serve. He then institutes the celebration of the Passover, telling the people to keep all of the instructions as they were given two years prior, when they were in Egypt. Provisions were made for people who were traveling, or who were unclean.
During this time in the wilderness, and starting here, the people of Israel depended on the cloud's presence in the tabernacle to determine whether they would stay in a place or move on to the next: when the cloud lifted from the tabernacle, they would pack up and move on; while the cloud rested, they would stay. God also had them make two silver trumpets, that would be blown to assemble the camp, to move people out, to celebrate, and to remember the people before the Lord.
Very soon after these instructions were given, the cloud lifts, and the people take down the tabernacle and set out, and travel for three days. And, just like the last time they had traveled three day, they started complaining. They weren't very happy about the daily provision of manna. God's anger burned against them, and Moses interceded to stay the hand of God against them. To answer the people's plea for meat, God sends quail until it is literally coming out of their noses... because after eating it, many of them become sick and die. During this time, God also tells Moses to gather seventy elders around him to help him govern.
Even Moses' brother and sister turned on him, though, speaking against him because he had married a Cushite woman. God called the three of them-- Moses, Aaron and Miriam-- and showed his support of Moses by afflicting Miriam with leprosy. Moses pled with God to spare her life, and so after she had spent a week outside the camp, she was able to return to the community.
Next comes one of the more familiar stories in the Old Testament: Sending the spies into Canaan to see what the promised land was like. Twelve men were sent, one from each tribe, and the report they brought back was that the land was flowing with milk and honey, and was very fertile, but that the people were strong and large -- too big to conquor. The only one to speak against this and encourage the people to press on is Caleb, from the tribe of Judah, and Joshua, the future leader of Israel. The people, of course, grumble and complain against God and Moses, and God has had enough, and swears to wipe them off the face of the earth and start over again and make a great nation out of Moses' descendents. Again, Moses pleads with God, and says that if he destroys the Israelites, all the other nations will ridicule him. God relents, but prohibits any of the people who saw his glory in Egypt and in the wilderness from entering the promised land, other than Caleb and his descendents, and Joshua and his. Everyone else above the age of 20 would die in the desert. He also struck down the ten spies who brought the bad report.
The rebellions continue... Korah, who was a Levite but not a priest, and 250 others demanded the right to be able to perform priestly duties. Moses offers to let God decide who would perform these duties, and the company assembles the next day. God is ready to destroy the whole people again (still?) but Moses pleads for the innocent bystanders, and instead separates these men from the rest of the Israelite, and the ground opens up and swallows them. Does this satisfy the rest of Israel that Moses is God's chosen leader? Of course not. The next day they accuse Moses of killing of the Lord's people. At this God's anger burns again, and only at Moses' prodding of Aaron to offer atonement for the people keeps the death toll to 14,700.
In an attempt to finally demonstrate that he has chosen Aaron to serve as high priest, God has each of the heads of the tribes to bring a staff, with his name written on it. They leave them in the tent of testimony, and the next day, Aaron's staff has not only budded, but has produced almonds. This finally seems to have some effect on the people, and the staff is returned to the tent to be sign to the rebels that they should stop grumbling... or die.
So, after regulations about the duties of the priest, and laws of purification, the whole company arrives at Zin, where Miriam dies (presumably not of leprosy). Then, guess what? More complaining. Surprised? Then you really haven't been paying attention... This time they complain about the lack of water. Moses and Aaron fall on their faces with this request, and God tells them to speak to the rock, and there will be water enough for the people and the livestock. Moses and Aaron do as God commands.... almost. But instead of speaking to the rock, Moses strikes it twice. Although water came from it, God bars Moses and Aaron from the promised land because they didn't believe him and hold him up in front of the assembly.
Hoping to pass through Edom, Moses sends a request to the King of Edom, but they are turned away, and must go around.The continued up from Kadesh and up to Mt. Hor. Exactly as he had promised, God did not let Aaron go into the promised land. Instead, God commands Moses to take off Aaron's priestly robes and pass on his leadership to his son, Eleazar. When this has been done, Aaron dies, and Israel mourns him for thirty days.
En route to Atharim, Canaan and Israel battle, and many Isrealites are captured. Israel is finally prodded into devoting itself to the Lord, promising to destroy the cities completely if the Lord will deliver them into their hands, and God gives them victory. This devotion lasts almost no time at all, and the people are at it again, impatient with God for dragging them into the wilderness. This time God sends serpents, which bite and kill the Israelites. Moses intercedes, and God tells him to make a bronze serpent and lift it on a pole, and everyone who looks on it will not die.
Resuming their travels, the Israelites come to the Amorites, and when they are denied safe passage through the land, the Isrealites do battle, and defeat the Amorites and destroy their cities. After moving into the land, the Israelites also defeat Bashan as well.
Enter one of the strangest stories in this week's reading: A king, Balak, summons the magician Balaam to help him defeat the Isrealites. God appears to him, and tells him not to go with the king's emissaries, so he sends them away. When they return, however, he goes back to God, apparently hoping to get a different answer than he had before. God appears to relent, but is not pleased with Balaam when he goes with them. He sends an angel to block the way of the donkey, who sees the angel and will not proceed, despite the repeated beatings from Balaam. Finally, God opens the eyes of Balaam, who sees the angel -- and is berated by that angel for not following God's orders, and for being cruel to the donkey.
And there we leave them... What will happen to Balaam? Or to his donkey? Will the people of Isreal EVER stop complaining? Tune in next week...
4 comments:
Something I've been curious about for a while that may not directly be a comment to this passage.
What does it really mean to the individual to be unclean? Its obviously not a sin given the context it is used quite often. Some situations that cause you to be unclean seem downright unavoidable in some circumstances. Does it just have social implications while you are considered "unclean" or is this a list of things they weren't allowed to do while they were unclean? Or things they had to do again before becoming clean again (aside from "wait it out").
Was this just God's way at the time to say: You may not know the science behind this yet, but this is for your own good. Doing something that causes you to be unclean puts your own health and family's future at risk.
So what does it really mean to be unclean?
Hi Justin,
Unclean as you rightly point out does not connect with sin. Instead, it is a ritual impurity that has to be taken care of before you can worship God. Being unclean was something that was to remind a person and community of the holiness of God, something like wearing a WWJD bracelet a number of years ago was to remind people to ask "What would Jesus do" or in Biblical context, all the feasts are to remind people of things about God.
If you can't worship God while you're unclean, what does worshiping God mean in this context?
If I remember correctly, they often have to offer sacrifices to become clean again, so its not offering sacrifices.
Our method of worship manifests in gathering, praying, singing, preparing, etc. What would be their method of Worship that you speak of that they would have to abstain from?
Hey Justin,
When you look at the unclean deal sacrifices are offered after childbirth and when one is cleansed from a disease. There is an argument about whether these sacrifices end the uncleanness or if they play some other role.
When it comes to worship, the center of worship is the tabernacle. God says in Leviticus 15. 31 " 'You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.' " What is strongly implied here is that one can't come to God's dwelling place (tabernacle) in a state of uncleanness. Perhaps the fact that after childbirth the woman gives her offering at the door of the Tent of Meeting (Lev 12.6) reflects this.
But even if an impure person can participate in a sacrifice to end his/her ritual impurity they would be barred from the general worship of the people which included such things as the yearly feasts, the daily sacrifices, i.e. the worship of the community as a whole. Until they were made clean, they couldn't take part in community worship and sacrifice.
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