Deuteronomy
The fourth book of the Pentateuch takes its name from the recording of two censuses of Israel's population: one in the second year after the exodus, before the Israelites broke camp at Mount Sinai (chs. 1-4), and one just prior to their entering the promised land 38 years later (ch. 26). The Hebrew title relates to the book's setting: "In the desert."
Content
The events at the beginning of Numbers overlap with those at the end of Exodus. Although Numbers does not proceed in strict chronological order, three main sections chart Israel's progress toward claiming God's covenantal promise of land. In the first section (chs. 1-1o) God, through Moses, prepares the Israelites for departure for a life with him in Canaan. Social organization and the establishment of centralized worship characterize this section, and the demand for strict adherence to God's commands emerges as a basic theme.
In chapters 11-25 the Israelites rebel. The congregation's complaints against God reach their climax when the Israelites fail the test of faith by refusing to enter the land God has promised for fear of Canaan's strong cities and mighty inhabitants (chs. 13-14). Their refusal dooms them to 38 more years of homelessness as desert nomads and robs the current adult generation of their covenantal blessing of land. Then the Levites rebel by grasping for greater position and power (chs. 16-17). Finally, even Israel's top leaders, Moses and Aaron, forfeit the privilege of entering Canaan by failing to honor God at Meribah (20:12), and they receive the same sentence as the rest of the rebellious generation: death in the desert. Only Caleb and Joshua, who remain fixed in their faith in God, prove worthy to accompany the next generation of Israelites into the promised land.
In the final section (chs. 26-36) the Israelites who refused to claim Canaan have died, and the nation sits on the plains of Moab poised to cross the Jordan. The Israelites have already subdued the peoples east of Canaan in Transjordan and have captured their land. Now God prepares the new generation practically and spiritually to possess and divide their inheritance in Canaan proper.
The alternating accounts in Numbers set the Israelites' tendency toward discontent, disobedience, and lack of faith over against God's longsuffering, forgiveness, and covenantal faithfulness. In also upholding God's uncompromising holiness, Numbers highlights the consistent and determined initiative God takes in redeeming sinful humanity - a theme prominent in the book of Exodus as well.
Composition
While the Pentateuch refers to Moses' writing down of certain laws, songs, and other accounts (33:2; Exod. 17:14; Deut. 31:9), evidence suggests that later editors drew his writings together and incorporated additional information to produce the "Five Books of Moses." In Numbers this includes the repeated phrase, "The Lord spoke to Moses," as though a third party is recording the events. Yet although Numbers weaves together a mix of literary types - including legal passages, narrative accounts, speeches, and administrative material - the book displays a considerable degree of unity.
1 Israel's First Census
In preparation for leaving Sinai in order to possess the promised land, God commands Moses and Aaron to enlist the help of tribal leaders in taking a head count of all Israel's adult males able to fight in war. The census proceeds ac cording to the clans and families descended from Jacob's sons, but it excludes the Levites, whose sole responsibility is to maintain and guard the tabernacle. Dividing Joseph's line according to his sons Ephraim and Manasseh restores the total of tribes numbered to 12.
Judah emerges as the largest tribe and remains so throughout Israel's history. The total number of males at least 20 years old amounts to more than 60o thousand. This parallels the figure for those who left Egypt under Moses' leadership one year earlier (Exod. 12:37), as well as the number in the second census taken 38 years later (Num. 26:5-51). These figures imply a total population of 2 to 3 million - a very large number for a desert to support, and comparable to the population of Canaan in the latter half of the 2nd millennium B.C. (cf. Exod. 12:37). As elsewhere, "thousand" here probably means "clan" or "military unit" rather than the number 1000.
2 The Arrangement of Israel's Camp
Four groups of three tribes position themselves on the east, south, west, and north sides of the tabernacle, which sits at the camp's center. The Levites' camp provides a buffer zone on all sides of the tabernacle to shield God's dwelling place from the non-Levitic Israelite population. Although in the census Reuben appears first (1:5), Judah receives the place of honor in the Israelite camp: the east side facing the entrance to the tabernacle. The Israelites' march through the desert toward Canaan proceeds according to the order established for the camp, with Judah taking the lead.
3 The Levites Redeem Israel's Firstborn
At the Passover in Egypt (Exod. 13:1-16), God claimed Israel's firstborn as specially dedicated to him, and the elders of the individual households acted as priests in carrying out God's instructions for family worship (Exodus 12). With the establishment of a central sanctuary in which to conduct worship in accordance with a national covenant, God declares Israel's firstborn as "redeemed" by accepting the Levites in their stead for service to him. Since the rest of the nation's firstborn males outnumber the male Levites, Moses collects a sum of money equal to about six months of a laborer's wages for each unredeemed layman and gives it to the priests.
Three clans form the tribe of Levi: Kohath (directed by Aaron's son Eleazar, who later inherits the high priesthood), Gershon, and Merari (both directed by Aaron's other surviving son, Ithamar). The Kohathites receive the most sacred duties, including care for the ark of the covenant and the other furnishings inside the tabernacle. The priests (Aaron's family) play an even more exclusive role by carrying out the tabernacle's service.
As God assigns specific camp locations to each of Israel's tribes, so he designates certain living areas around the tabernacle to the individual Levitical clans. Moses and the priests camp on the east side, opposite the tabernacle's entrance (cf. Judah's place of honor in 2:3).
4 Instructions for Moving the Tabernacle
A second census of the Levites numbers males between ages 3o and 5o, who will assist the priests in disassembling the tabernacle, transporting it, and re-erecting it when the Israelite camp changes locations. Counted according to clan, these men total 858o.
God's instructions for moving direct the priests to cover the tabernacle furnishings with blue cloths, which distinguish these most sacred items from the scarlet and purple curtains hung as the walls of the tent and which serve as a visual warning - on pain of death for dishonoring God - not to touch the objects or look beneath the curtains that cover them. The Kohathites will transport the furnishings from camp to camp. The Gershonites will carry the tabernacle's curtains and coverings, and the Merarites will use wagons pulled by oxen to move the tent's framework.
5 Purifying the Camp
For God's chosen nation, order and purity must go hand in hand. With the Israelite camp's logistical arrangements established, the purifying of its members must now take place. The ritually unclean must move out of the camp proper (cf. Leviticus 11-15), community members must restore right relationships with each other (cf. Lev. 6:1-7), and husbands must ensure the purity of their marriage relationships. Jealous husbands must submit wives suspected of adultery to a trial by ordeal administered by God's appointed priest, with God as judge. A husband's authority over his wife is thereby limited, leaving any punishment to God.
6:1-21 The Nazirite Vow
An Israelite layperson who wishes to set himself apart for God in a special way, usually for a limited period of time, may make a Nazirite vow (from Hebrew "vow"; it does not identify a "Nazarene," from Nazareth; cf. Leviticus 27). While God requires priests to abstain from drinking wine before performing their priestly duties (Lev. 10:9), a Nazirite must refrain from eating all grape products, fermented or not, for the entire period of the vow. Like the priests, the Nazirite must take special care to avoid ritual defilement through contact with a corpse. The visual sign of a Nazirite consists in his allowing his hair to grow while fulfilling the vow (cf. Judg. 13:5; 16:19-31; Acts 18:18; 21:20-26).
6:22-27 The Priestly Blessing
This very ancient Israelite poem sums up the covenantal blessings by invoking on the congregation God's protection, presence, pleasure, grace (ill-deserved favor), attentiveness, and peace (well-being in all areas of life).
7 Gifts for the Tabernacle Service
Here Numbers flashes back one month and describes the gifts and offerings Israel's 12 tribal leaders presented for the consecration of the tabernacle, the altar, and the priests. The Gershonites and Merarites receive carts and oxen to carry out their assignments as Levites. Then one tribe per day gives an equal amount for the 12-day consecration ceremony, beginning again with the honored Judah. With the ceremony completed, Moses enters the tabernacle, and God speaks to him from the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant.
8 Preparation of the Levites
After Aaron lights the tabernacle's lamps, the Levites receive their commission to the tabernacle service. Their preparation includes shaving and washing as part of their ritual cleansing. God instructs the congregation to lay their hands on the Levites, apparently to represent the Levites' taking the place of Israel's firstborn as dedicated to God. After Aaron presents the Levites as a wave offering to the Lord, they receive atonement by laying their hands on the heads of two bulls, one sacrificed as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. While the second census of male Levites numbered men between ages 3o and 5o able to work at the tabernacle (ch. 4), the instructions here are to begin counting at 25 years old.
9:1-14 Passover Observed
This second Passover occurs one month prior to the census recorded in chapter 1 and just before the Israelites embark on their journey toward Canaan. Here a case study occasions the establishment of guidelines for the ritually unclean and those away from home to observe the Passover: they may celebrate it one month late. Lest any Israelite think this exception lessens the obligation of those able to observe the occasion at the proper time, God makes clear that neglect of one's duty in this regard will result in being "cut off" from the Israelite community (v. 13).
9:15-23 God Leads in a Cloud
The Israelites have spent almost 14 months encamped at Sinai, and they observe God's presence with them in the cloud that rests over the tabernacle. The pillars of cloud and fire protected the Israelites on their exodus from Egypt; now the cloud, which appears firelike at night, directs their movements as they proceed toward Canaan (cf. Exod. 14:19-24).
10 The Israelites Set Out for Canaan
Silver trumpets provide a mass communication system for the large Israelite population. Aaron's sons will sound different trumpet blasts to signal the summoning of Israel's leaders or the entire congregation, the impending movement of the camp, alarms in war, and the celebration of feasts.
A covenant is an agreement between two parties in which one or both promise under oath to perform or refrain from certain actions. The concept of covenant (Heb. berit; Gk. diatheke) has long been recognized as an important framework for interpretion within the Bible. The Bible itself comes to us as the "Old" and "New" Testaments (= "covenants"). Within these Testaments, both the theology and the chronology of the biblical story are structured around six covenantal interactions - with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and the church.
In the loth century new discoveries demonstrated that this biblical concept of covenant relates to a secular concept borrowed from the larger ancient Near East and maintained by later biblical writers because of its seminal role in the self-revelation of Yahweh to his people. In 1931 Viktor Koro"sec published a study of treaty documents from the ancient Hittite Empire in Anatolia (ca. 1400-1180 B.C.). In 1954 biblical scholar George E. Mendenhall recognized that the literary form of these secular diplomatic texts could be correlated to the covenant of Israelite and later Christian tradition. Specifically, he argued that the form of the Decalogue in the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 20-23) and the form of the book of Deuteronomy resembled what Koro"sec had named the Hittite "suzerainty treaty." In 1970 Moshe Weinfeld argued for similar
parallels between the covenant of grant" from Assyrian tradition and the divine covenants with Abraham and David. As numerous publications and epigraphic discoveries have since illustrated, the concept of covenant, in all of its various forms and functions, was widespread throughout the ancient Near East, and the matrix of ideas expressed by this secular concept clearly stands behind the biblical tradition.
Recent sociological studies demonstrate that the ideological foundation of covenant-making was "fictive kinship." In the tribal cultures of the ancient Near East, all societal privileges and responsibilities derived from a person's familial relationships. The more closely related two individuals were, the greater their responsibility to one another; the more distantly related, the lesser their responsibility. If one needed to create a relationship of privilege and responsibility with non-kin, a fictive kinship bond could be established by which both parties agreed to act like family. This ideological framework has profound implications for the old covenant's identification of Israel as God's "son," and the new covenant language of "adoption" and "marriage" as regards the church. Fictive kinship could function on the individual, tribal, or national level. Covenant could operate on all of these levels as well. At least two secular covenantal forms were incorporated into the heart
of Israelite and, thereby, Christian theology: the suzerain/vassal treaty of the 2nd-millennium Hittite world and the covenant of grant.
The Suzerain/Vassal Covenant
In the ancient world the suzerain/ vassal treaty was used to govern international relations by defining a relationship between two nations of unequal size and strength. The treaty granted the suzerain (the "big" king) authority over the land and people of the vassal nation (the "little" king). Legally, the suzerain owned all the vassal's land and produce. Although the suzerain typically allowed the vassal to continue to rule his own people, and thereby to maintain his own government and traditions, the vassal was expected to pay regular tribute as well as to provide military assistance whenever required. In return, the vassal received domestic and international protection by his suzerain's superior military forces. Frequently, the vassal also received a land grant. All considered, the most important stipulation in any suzerain/vassal treaty was "loyalty" (Heb. hesed), a term often translated in English Bibles as "loving-kindness, (steadfast) love, mercy." Hesed (in this context it literally means "covenantal faithfulness") communicates the type of loyal behavior that comes from blood: what a patriarch shows to his family, what a firstborn owes to his father. If a vassal dared to make a covenant with another suzerain - an unthinkable situation within the family metaphor - he had committed high treason and would be severely punished. In many ways this somewhat technical term captures the very heart of the redemption story. Throughout history Yahweh has offered both his extravagant covenantal blessings and his unwavering hesed to his people (cf. Psalm 136); he has asked only for their hesed in return.
The format of the suzerain/vassal treaty is clearly reflected in the covenant made between Yahweh and Israel on Mount Sinai. Having triumphantly led his people out of the land of their now-defeated oppressors, and having brought these offspring of Abraham to himself at Sinai, the great king, Yahweh, extends to the tribes of Israel a suzerain/vassal treaty by which this rabble of slaves will be transformed into a nation (Exod. 19:5-6). Although the people of Israel were once not a people," by means of his treaty with them at Sinai Yahweh makes them the people of God" (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9-10). In exchange, Yahweh requires of Israel the typical duties of a vassal: absolute loyalty, regular tribute (a schedule of required offerings), and military availability (the "holy war" of Israelite tradition). If Israel will be loyal to the covenant, the nation will obtain the privileges of loyal vassalage: a secure international and domestic position in the promised land. A comparison between the six-part, 2nd-millennium Hittite treaties and the Mosaic covenant as recorded in the Book of the Covenant and the book of Deuteronomy yields the following results.
The Covenant of Grant
Just as the suzerain/vassal treaty was well known in the ancient Near East, so was the covenant of (royal) grant. The grant was a gift bestowed by a higher-ranking official upon an individual who had distinguished himself by loyal service. Quite common between kings and their various officials or wealthy masters and their servants, the gift given was typically a land grant or an enduring office. These secular grants have been compared to the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. By means of his covenant with Abraham, Yahweh promises to his people the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:1; 15:7-21; 17:8); by means of his covenant with David, Yahweh promises to his people an ongoing dynasty and the domestic security that such a dynasty would bring (2 Sam. 7:10-17; Psalms 89,132). The offer of both of these covenants was based on past obedience and continuing loyalty. (Although many have characterized these grants as "promissory," as distinguished from the "obligatory" covenant at Sinai, recent scholarship has shown that these ancient grants, like the suzerain/vassal treaty, retained a number of conditional elements.) In the biblical scheme, the Abrahamic covenant may be understood as a precursor to the Mosaic covenant, and the Davidic covenant as a subcategory of the Mosaic.
The Biblical Theology of the "Old" and "New" Covenants
The comparison of the ancient treaties and the biblical covenants raises several critical theological points. The first is the theol
ogy of the historical prologue of the suzerain/vassal treaty. In the secular treaty the historical prologue provided the reason the vassal should participate in the covenant and accept the suzerainty of the great king. At present, the evidence indicates that this feature disappeared after the 2nd-millennium Hittite treaties. It is noticeably absent from the 1stmillennium Assyrian treaties. This shift in structure reflects a shift in ideology: whereas the motivational scheme of the Hittite treaties was, at least theoretically, built upon gratitude for past acts of grace, the Assyrian treaties were founded upon fear of future reprisal. This distinction between 2nd- and ist-millennium treaties is not only important to dating the Sinaitic covenant (it places the ideology of the Sinaitic covenant squarely in the 2nd millennium), but it is also critical to our understanding of who Yahweh is. In Israel's case, the formulaic summary of its historical prologue with Yahweh may be found restated throughout the Hebrew Bible: "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; therefore, you will...." This is significant because the Israelites were not being asked to obey Yahweh's stipulations in order to win his grace; they were being asked to obey Yahweh's stipulations because the faithful suzerain already had shown his grace. Hence the stipulations of both old and new covenants follow God's gracious acts of redemption, regardless of whether that act is deliverance from slavery to Egypt or deliverance from slavery to sin (Col. 1:13; cf. Rom. 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 6:20).
A second ideological aspect of the ancient treaties borrowed into the old and new covenants is exclusive loyalty. Yahweh expresses his demand for exclusive loyalty in this manner: You shall have no other gods before me" (Exod.2o:3).
Whereas monothesism was a new, radical (and difficult) idea in Israel's polytheistic world, by putting this new idea in political terms Yahweh bridges the gap in understanding. The message here
is, 'Just as you would never bind yourself to more than one suzerain, you will not bind yourself to more than one deity." This is why the stipulations of the Decalogue begin with a detailed discussion of what exclusive loyalty (monotheism) will look like in Israel's worship. This requirement of exclusive loyalty is also why the 1st-century confessions of Christian faith all included the affirmation that Jesus Christ (not Caesar or any other deity) is Lord (Rom. 1o:9; cf. Phil. 2:9-11; Col. 1:13-14). The new covenant adds to the ancient idea by means of the Incarnation: Jesus is both the divine suzerain to whom exclusive allegiance is due and the human mediator whose task it is to lead the nation in obedient vassalage.
As was typical of any secular treaty, after Israel swears fidelity to Yahweh's berit, the oath is sealed by a sacrificial ceremony and fellowship meal (Exod. 24:8). In this moment, the children of Abraham become the nation of Israel by oath. By oath the God of the cosmos becomes their sovereign lord. Turning to the new covenant, a similar interaction marks the first communion meal recorded in Matt. 26:26-28. On that Passover night, Jesus transformed a new rabble of slaves into his covenantal people, when the church was set apart by means of sacrifice and blood. Note the intentional echo:
Moses: This is the blood of the covenant";
Jesus: "This is my blood of the covenant."
This parallel is not coincidental. As Moses sprinkled the blood of bulls upon the people of Israel in order to ratify the "old" covenant at Sinai, so Jesus, the second Moses, distributed his own blood to the people in order to ratify the new covenant (cf. Heb. 9:11-15). In the sacrifice of Christ, as commemorated in the communion meal, the new covenant was ratified, and this time the oaths were sealed with the blood of God the Son.
How does this covenantal heritage inform redemption history? By the 1st century, it had become painfully apparent that Israel had failed as Yahweh's covenantal partner. The children of Abraham had not kept hesed and, therefore, their land grant was in jeopardy. Moreover, the sons of David had failed to keep covenant, and their enduring office also had been suspended. But the hope remained that the promise of Jer. 31:31-34 might yet come to pass - a new covenant. This hope was fulfilled
when a son of David appeared declaring that he had come to bring that new covenant, offering vassalage to a new Israel (= converts from all the nations), and even offering to transform the hearts of his subjects such that they would be able to keep hesed. It is the explanation of the character of this new covenant that occupies the bulk of the New Testament.
For Further Reading
SANDRA RICHTER
Having made this last provision for the journey toward Canaan, the Israelites follow God's cloud on a three-day journey from the Sinai wilderness to the wilderness of Paran. Now the tabernacle follows the first cohort of tribes so the Gershonites and Merarites can set it up before the Kohathites arrive with the sacred tabernacle furnishings. The ark of the covenant heads the procession. Moses persuades his brother-in-law Hobab to remain as a guide through the wilderness rather than returning to his home in Midian.
Moses' words at the beginning of each stage of the journey are both a blessing of God and an invocation of God's protection of the Israelites for the sake of his own glory, for he dwells among them. At the end of each day of traveling, Moses beckons the Lord to remain with his people.
11 The Complaining Begins Again
Even after God miraculously delivers the Israelites from slavery, rains down manna in the desert for them, and agrees to live in their midst, the Israelites find food for complaint. Not even God's display of his displeasure at the Israelites' ingratitude prevents them from allowing the greedy resident aliens among them to infect their attitude. The Israelites remember their life in Egypt through rose-colored glasses and hunger for the variety of food available there.
Moses becomes so frustrated with the Israelites' weeping over their lack of meat and his own inability to satisfy their desire that he asks God to relieve him of his responsibilities by killing him. God does not grant Moses' death wish; instead, God empowers 70 Israelite elders who will share the burden of leadership with Moses. The elders demonstrate their receipt of God's spirit by prophesying, and Moses shows his relief at the spreading of the leadership burden by expressing his wish that God would send his spirit on all the Israelites (v. 29).
God's answer to the Israelites' ungrateful cry for meat becomes part of their punishment as well (vv. 19-20). He satisfies their craving by causing a three-foot-deep layer of quail to fall a day's journey on all sides of the camp, and even those Israelites who gather the least come away with 11 bushels' worth of fowl. But God soon punishes them for their complaining spirit by striking them with a "very severe plague," which causes the greedy to die.
12 Aaron and Miriam Challenge Moses' Authority
Aaron and Miriam use their brother's marriage to a foreigner as an excuse to challenge his authority. Their grasping for power and position contrasts with Moses' humility and steadfast obedience to God. Because Moses displays these qualities, God exalts him before Aaron and Miriam. Moreover, God punishes Miriam with "leprosy" (cf. Leviticus 13), so, rather than gaining the power she seeks, she loses even basic community with her people N. 14; cf. Lev. 13:46). Aaron repents of his and Miriam's sin, and perhaps Aaron's contrite heart deters God from punishing him. Moses might have rejoiced at being cleared by God, but instead he intercedes on Miriam's behalf. God agrees to heal Miriam, but only after she bears the shame of her sin for a full week. When Miriam returns to the camp proper, the Israelites move on.
Wilderness of Paran, where the Israelites camped after leaving Sinai. (Richard Cleave, Pictorial Archive)
13-14 Possession of Canaan Postponed
With the Israelites at Kadesh-barnea, near the southern border of the promised land, Moses commissions an advance team to gather information about Canaan, apparently at the prompting of the Israelites themselves (cf. Deut. 1:22). The group of spies includes one leader from each tribe along with Moses' servant Hoshea, who later assumes Moses' leadership position. Moses changes Hoshea's name ("to save") to Joshua (= "Jesus" in Greek), "The Lord saves," in anticipation of God's future deliverance of the Israelites from their enemies in Canaan.
The spies travel 250 miles north and spend 4o days during late summer (when the grapes ripen) assessing the number and strength of Canaan's inhabitants, whether their cities are open or walled, the lay of the land, and its vegetation and fruit. Their mission takes them from the wilderness of Zin in the south to Rehob in the northern hill country and includes a visit to Hebron, home of the patriarchs' family tomb.
The spies return with grapes, pomegranates, and figs as evidence that indeed the land does flow "with milk and honey" (cf. Exod. 33:3). But countering their good report about the land itself, to of the spies discourage any attempt to take possession of Canaan because of the strength of its inhabitants and because of its large, fortified cities (13:28, 32-33).
The majority report so discourages the Israelites that they conspire a mutinous plan to return to Egypt. Moses and Aaron plead for God's mercy on the rebellious people, and Joshua lends his support to the Israelite leadership by joining the primary dissenter, Caleb, in tearing his clothes as though mourning for God's unavoidable judgment on the Israelites' faithlessness. Joshua's and Caleb's attempts to dissuade the masses from disobeying God meet with the people's call to stone them.
Refusing to tolerate his people's faithlessness, which amounts to outright rejection of the covenant he has established with them, God again determines to dispossess Abraham's descendants and create an even greater nation through Moses. But just as he had done previously in the incident of the golden calf (Exodus 32), Moses refuses God's determination to exalt him in favor of upholding God's own reputation among the Egyptians and Canaanites. Moses intercedes on the Israelites' behalf, and God pardons them. Their sin will bear a consequence, however: the Israelites will spend one year wandering in the wilderness for each day the spies spent in Canaan (14:25, 34)• In this way, God will grant the faithless generation's careless wish to die in the desert (14:2). Not only will Joshua and Caleb escape punishment, but Caleb will also realize God's blessing for his obedient spirit (14:24).
Figs, among the lush produce gathered by the spies sent into Canaan (Numbers 13). (Richard Cleave, Pictorial Archive)
Judgment for the io faithless spies comes quickly - they die from a plague sent by God. The Israelites then experience a change of heart, but too late. They acknowledge their sin but follow up their repentance with further disobedience by trying to forgo God's punishment and enter Canaan against his will. (Moses does not participate.) Because God does not go with the Israelites, the Amalekites and Canaanites can and do drive them south out of the hill country.
15 The Promise Reaffirmed and Obedience Emphasized
God has merely postponed, not nullified, the fulfillment of his promise of land to Abraham's descendants. God instructs the Israelites to offer sacrifices when they finally do enter the land. The required offerings include products from the land itself: grain, oil, and wine as a libation (liquid offering). In this way, the Israelites will offer back to God a portion of what he has given to them.
The instructions also provide for resident aliens to participate in Israel's worship and thereby to benefit from the blessings of the covenant - but only if they obey the same laws God mandates for the Israelites (cf. Lev. 17:10, 13; 18:26).
Offerings will bring atonement only for those who sin unintentionally. In cases of intentional disobedience of God's laws, the transgressor's only recourse is to cast himself on God's sheer mercy. As a constant reminder of the seriousness with which the Israelites must take these laws, they must now wear blue tassels on the corners of their garments.
16 Korah's Rebellion Quelled
Just as Miriam and Aaron had earlier failed to understand that Moses' "power" lay only in his obedience to God's commands, so now a group of Levites and Israel's leaders seek to seize the power they mistakenly believe belongs to Moses and Aaron, rather than recognizing that these men hold their positions only at God's appointment (cf. ch. 12). Korah, a Kohathite Levite, joins forces with several Reubenites in rallying 250 of Israel's leaders to challenge Moses' and Aaron's authority. Ignoring the faithlessness the Israelites displayed when presented with the opportunity to enter Canaan and instead professing the people's holiness N. 3), these instigators blame the brothers for failing to fulfill a promise that is God's to keep (vv 13-14).
Moses recognizes their thirst for greater power through elevation to priestly status (vv. 9-10). He also deflects blame from Aaron, but the further charge of the Reubenites Dathan and Abiram that Moses has tried to deceive the people by bringing them out of a land flowing with milk and honey (Egypt) rather than into one so angers Moses that he challenges them to a trial by ordeal so that God might demonstrate his choice of leaders and priests. Korah and his band cooperate, only to have God annihilate them all for challenging his authority and spurning his will (vv. 31-33).
God reaffirms Aaron's and his family's sole appointment to the priesthood (vv. 39-40), but the Israelites fail to recognize that it was God who punished their defiant leaders and instead accuse Moses and Aaron. Poised to consume the entire assembly once more, God ominously descends on the tabernacle (v. 45; cf. V. 21). But this time, Moses' and Aaron's intercession alone is not enough: Aaron must run through the crowd making atonement for the congregation with a smoking censer. While the rebels' incense ignited the fire of God's wrath to consume them, Aaron's offering of the "pleasing aroma" checks the plague God has already begun to inflict.
17:1-11 Aaron's Position Reaffirmed
God provides the Israelites with a sign that indeed he has chosen only Aaron's line to serve as his priests. The rod of Aaron - the only one that sprouts and produces fruit overnight - will serve as a perpetual, visual reminder of God's reaffirmation of his will for the Israelite priesthood.
17:12-18:32 The Levites' Rights and Responsibilities
Finally the Israelites recognize that God will indeed enforce his lordship. But this realization produces fear, for they had allied themselves at
least in spirit with Korah and his cohort; and now they fear that approaching the tabernacle will result in their deaths, too. God therefore declares that the entire tribe of Levi will share and bear the guilt of the people's offenses against proper worship. The Levites will also forfeit their inheritance of land in Canaan. Instead, their inheritance will be lives of full-time service to God.
But God will provide for the landless Levites, who are free from the normal responsibilities for food and survival: the leftovers of the Israelites' sacrifices will be food for the Levites - sacrifices that represent both the choicest of animals and the best of the land's produce, as well as its firstfruits. In addition, God gives to the Levites the tithe he requires of the Israelites, but the Levites must in turn tithe in support of the priests one tenth of the best that they receive.
19 The Ritual of the Red Heifer
God had commanded that the ritually unclean move outside the camp proper before the Israelites left Sinai (5:1-4). Now he prescribes a ritual to purify any camp residents who become unclean through contact with a human corpse. The procedure guards against defilement of the tabernacle.
That the slaughter of the red heifer takes place outside the camp, and not at the altar inside the tabernacle court, indicates that the animal does not represent a sacrifice to God (contrast Lev. 17:3-5). The mixture of water and its ashes after burning restores cultic purity by absorbing the impurities that have contaminated the physical body.
20 Miriam and Aaron Die and Moses Disobeys
The beginning of the 4oth year after the exodus finds the Israelites back at Kadesh-barnea, where their faithlessness had earlier resulted in postponement of their entrance into the promised land (chs. 13-14). Chapter 20 first makes passing note of Miriam's death at Kadesh before going on to relate how Moses and Aaron fail to honor God. The Israelites have not changed their ways after four decades: once again, they grumble about the lack of water in the wilderness, and once again God provides for their needs. But this time Moses' frustration with the people leads to his carelessness in following God's instructions, and Aaron participates in the folly.
The brothers' sin occurs at three levels: failure to credit God for the provision of water (v. 10); striking the rock, rather than speaking to it (compare v. 8 with v. 11; cf. Exod. 17:6); and dishonoring God publicly (v. 12). Not only will God strip Aaron of his position as high priest, neither will God allow him to enter the promised land. Aaron is defrocked and dies on Mount Hor, on the border with Edom, and Eleazar assumes his father's position as high priest.
God's punishment of Moses by also disallowing him to enter Canaan seems harsher in view of Moses' steadfast faithfulness over the years. But Moses' inclusion in God's judgment emphatically underscores the peculiar care required of religious leaders in exercising their responsibilities (cf. Leviticus 21-22).
Nevertheless, Moses continues to pursue his mission by attempting to lead the Israelites to Canaan by way of Edomite territory. In requesting the Edomites' permission to travel up the King's Highway, he appeals to the Israelites' blood relationship to the Edomites (v 14). But the king's refusal of passage forces the Israelites to take a long detour south and west.
21 Progress toward Canaan
Not only do the Israelites' own relatives hinder their progress toward Canaan, so do other neighboring peoples. The Canaanites of Arad (Hormah), west of Edom, attack but are defeated when the Israelites vow to exercise their faith in God's covenantal promises by destroying the Canaanites and their cities if God will grant them victory. Soon afterward, however, the Israelites once again complain about their "miserable food" and lack of water, and God punishes them with a plague of "fiery serpents." The people repent, and God provides a means of healing for anyone bitten by the venomous snakes: the victim must look upon a bronze serpent made by Moses and raised on a standard in the wilderness (cf. 2 Kgs. 18:4; John 3:14-15). Today the serpent remains a symbol of modern medical practice.
From this point on, the Israelites make rapid progress toward the promised land and realize great success in defeating those who oppose them. They defeat and occupy all the cities of the Amorites, whose territory stretches from the Arnon River in Moab up to the Jabbok River in Gilead. The Israelites also gain control of Bashan, northeast of the Sea of Galilee.
22-24 Balaam Blesses Israel
Having taken most of the Transjordanian territory north of Edom, the Israelites return south to Moab opposite Jericho. Well aware of the Israelites' successes and fearing his own impending downfall, King Balak of Moab enlists the help of the Midianites in sending for supernatural help from Balaam, a renowned diviner who lives a good distance north near the Euphrates River. Midian lies well to the south of Moab and just east of the Sinai Peninsula, but the account indicates that some Midianite tribes lived in Moab at this time. Before accepting the invitation to come and utter a curse against the Israelites, however, Balaam seeks the will of God. God warns Balaam not to fulfill the request, and Balak's envoys return to Moab alone.
Balak tries again by sending a larger contingent of higher-ranking leaders, who offer Balaam great wealth in exchange for his services. Balaam again makes clear that he can do nothing outside God's will; this time God allows Balaam to go to Moab with the understanding that he will speak only as God instructs him. On the journey, the angel of the Lord opposes Balaam by intimidating the donkey on which Balaam is riding. Because Balaam cannot see the angel, he urges his beast on with a whip. Miraculously, the donkey speaks in protest. Then the angel appears to Balaam, and Balaam confesses his unwitting sin of opposing the Lord. God uses the episode to impress upon Balaam the importance of obeying God with his tongue when he arrives in Moab.
Three times Balak offers sacrifices to Baal, the Canaanite god of war and fertility, in preparation for Balaam's curse on the Israelites; three times Balaam cannot help but bless God's people instead. Then, in a fourth and final oracle, Balaam anticipates a future king who will defeat Israel's enemies completely (24:17).
Couched in poetic verse, Balaam's blessings recall God's promises to the patriarchs: Jacob's descendants appear innumerable (23:10; cf. Gen. 28:14); God goes with the Israelites (23:21; cf. Gen. 28:15); he has brought them out of Egypt (23:22; 24:8; cf. Gen. 15:13-14) and will vanquish their enemies (24:8; cf. Gen. 15:18-21; 22:17); and those who bless Israel will receive blessing, but those who curse God's people will bring curses upon themselves (24:9; cf. Gen. 12:3). This final pronouncement prompts the frustrated and furious Balak to send Balaam packing without the promised remuneration, but Balaam utters a parting oracle that both recognizes that the covenantal curses on Israel's opponents have begun and confirms that they will continue.
Though Balaam appears God-fearing here (esp. 22:18), the Israelites later find him in the company of their Midianite foes when they slay the lot (31:8). The New Testament, perhaps keying on 31:16, regards Balaam as a wayward and wicked prophet motivated by personal gain (2 Pet. 2:14-16; Jude 11; Rev. 2:14).
25 The Israelites Worship Baal
Four decades of isolation in the desert have not solidified the Israelites' devotion to God alone. In succumbing to the sexual temptations of the Moabite and Midianite women living near them, the Israelites also participate in Canaanite religious rituals, even bowing down to worship the fertility-god Baal. The Lord orders the execution of the idolaters and sends a devastating plague that claims the lives of 24 thousand Israelites. Phinehas, grandson of the late high priest Aaron, checks the plague by diverting God's wrath: in righteous indignation, Phinehas slays an Israelite man and a Midianite woman after the two enter his tent (presumably to engage in sexual relations) in plain sight of Moses and the Israelites weeping over their sin at the tabernacle. God rewards Phinehas by extending to him a covenant of perpetual priesthood before ordering revenge on those Midianites living in Moab.
Israel's sin in these instances consists primarily in mixing with foreign peoples and thereby endangering the integrity of their holy community. The social and religious interplay between the Israelites and inhabitants of Canaan continued to threaten the chosen people's covenantal relationship with God throughout their history in the promised land and ultimately resulted in the downfall first of Samaria to the Assyrians in 722 and then of Judah to the Babylonians in 587/6.
26:1-27:11 The Second Census and Allotment of Land
The 40 years of wilderness wandering over, Israel stands on the brink of entering Canaan. Having defeated the promised land's Transjordanian neighbors, the new generation of Israelites must now organize themselves to take possession of their covenantal inheritance. A second census reveals only a slight decrease in the number of their fighting force, despite the thousands struck down by God for disobedience in the previous four decades (compare 1:46 with 26:51). Instructions for dividing up the land according to the size of each tribe ensures an even distribution of people throughout Canaan - an important measure for sustaining a society based on farming. From the previous generation of Israelites, only Caleb and Joshua remain to claim the covenantal promise of land (cf. 14:30).
That Zelophehad, a descendant of Joseph through Manasseh, left no sons to inherit land (26:33) gives rise to the appeal of his five unmarried daughters that they receive their father's portion. Through Moses, God grants their request and establishes a law concerning landed inheritance that protects as members of society single, brotherless women otherwise dependent on male family members (27:1-11). The law specifies alternative lines of inheritance that keep land allotments within the tribe to which they originally belonged. (See the restrictions concerning the marriage of Zelophehad's daughters in ch. 36.)
27:12-23 The Commissioning of Joshua
Though Moses will not enter the promised land because of his sin at Meribah (20:12), God will allow him to survey Canaan from the top of the Abarim mountain range (Mount Nebo) before he dies. Putting his own interests aside once again, Moses appeals to God not on his own behalf but for the Israelites, who will need a leader to replace him. God instructs Moses to commission Joshua, his faithful servant and proven leader, as his successor (cf. 14:6-9; Exod. 33:11). Moses symbolically transfers his authority to Joshua by laying his hands on him in front of the high priest Eleazar and the entire Israelite congregation. In this way, God makes continued provision for a shepherd of his sheep as he prepares the Israelites to enter Canaan.
28-30 Offerings and Vows
Through Moses and Eleazar, God has prepared this new generation of Israelites militarily and logistically to enter the promised land; now he must prepare them spiritually by communicating his instructions concerning sacrifices and vows. Moses had given these commands to the previous generation, but through their faithlessness they forfeited this honor. Now their offspring's opportunity has come, and God prepares them in the same way.
Instructions for daily, Sabbath, and monthly offerings precede those for festival and freewill offerings (chs. 28-29). Repeating the unconditional obligation of men to keep their vows (30:2), Moses adds regulations concerning vows made by women - vows that may involve sacrifices or tithes. Husbands and fathers may confirm or annul the vows they overhear their wives and unmarried daughters make. God will not hold guilty a woman who fails to keep a vow annulled by a man in authority over her. This provision lends both spiritual protection to Israelite women, who live in a patriarchal system that does not generally recognize them as independent of male authority, as well as economic protection to men, who must provide for their wives and daughters.
31 Vengeance against the Midianites
God now orders the Israelites to take vengeance on the Midianites for leading his people astray. God has already held the Israelites responsible for breaking the covenant by worshipping the Baal of Peor (25:8-9); now he will use Israel to punish the perpetrators of his people's sin in that incident.
Each Israelite tribe contributed an equal amount in the consecration of the tabernacle, so now each must send an equal number of men to war. Under Phinehas's priestly leadership, 12 thousand Israelites slay all the Midianite men, including their five tribal kings and the diviner Balaam, who masterminded the plan to tempt Israel to sin (v. 16). Though God's purpose here does not include the total annihilation of the Midianites but only righteous vengeance for their subversive acts in diverting the Israelites' true worship of God, Moses scolds the army for sparing the Midianite women, for women carried out Balaam's plan. Moses orders the execution of all but the virgins, as well as any remaining Midianite boys, since both pose a continuing threat to Israel's fidelity to God's covenant. The command shows that the requirements of God's holiness surpass the value of human life.
In keeping with the laws concerning contact with a corpse, the warriors must remain outside the Israelite camp for one week and observe the appropriate rites of purification (cf. 19:11-13). They must also purify the booty they have taken in battle and then divide it in an orderly fashion that benefits the entire Israelite community. Those who fought receive the most per person: half of the live spoils go to the 12 thousand warriors, who must contribute one five-hundredth of their portion to the high priest. The rest of the Israelites receive the other half, from which they must give one-fiftieth to the Levites. The warriors make a freewill atonement offering of all the gold they captured in battle to thank God for sparing every Israelite soldier.
32 The Transjordanian Tribes
The fertile pastureland east of the Jordan River looks appealing to the Reubenites and Gadites, who have numerous flocks and herds, and they would rather possess the land they see than take a chance on what lies ahead. Moses appeals to the previous generation's mistake in warning that settling for land outside Canaan might discourage their countrymen from taking possession of the land of God's promise. The petitioners offer a practical plan that will satisfy both their desire and God's will: they will leave their flocks and families in Jazer and Gilead while their fighting men accompany the rest of the Israelites into Canaan and help them claim their covenantal inheritance. Moses accepts the plan but impresses on the Reubenites and Gadites their obligation to fulfill their promise (v 23). After displacing the Amorites in Gilead, half the tribe of Joseph's son Manasseh also opts to settle east of Jordan.
33:1-49 A Summary of the 40-Years' Journey
After setting out from Rameses in Egypt, the Israelites pitched their tents at 40 campsites during their four decades of wilderness wanderings. Most of these sites' geographical locations are difficult to pinpoint today. Aaron dies during the 4oth year at age 123 (vv. 38-39). The section closes with the Israelites encamped across a several-mile stretch on the plains of Moab opposite Jericho.
33:50-34:29 Claiming and Apportioning the Land
God instructs the Israelites to "drive out" all Canaan's inhabitants and destroy the trappings of their religion completely. If the Israelites fail in this mission, they will seal their own fate, for the foreigners will thwart Israel's obedience to God, and God will punish his people in the same way that he plans to punish the heathen. To give the Israelites a clear understanding of the scope of their task, God sets forth the borders of the promised land (cf. Joshua 13-19) that the remaining nine and a half tribes are to inherit (ch. 32). The high priest Eleazar and Moses' successor, Joshua, will preside over the distribution of the land by lot (cf. 26:53-56), and one leader from each tribe that inherits land in Canaan will help with this task.
Not until the reigns of David and Solomon in the early 1st millennium did Israel's territory reach the prescribed borders, from Dan in the north to Beer-sheba in the south (1 Kgs. 4:24-25).
35 Cities for the Levites
Israel's tribes must designate 48 cities as homes for the landless Levites, as well as pastureland around the cities for the Levites' flocks and herds. Six of these cities (three in Transjordan and three in Canaan) will serve as cities of refuge (Joshua 20-21). Any manslayer - Israelite or foreigner - may flee to one of these cities and claim asylum from those seeking blood revenge until a fair trial occurs. If found innocent of intentional murder, the fugitive gains protection from his would-be assailants by remaining inside the city to which he fled. Only the death of the high priest living at the time the accident occurred frees him from this restriction. If, however, more than one witness gives evidence that the culprit committed intentional murder, he must receive the death penalty (cf. 15:30-31). Ransom money may neither restore an unintentional killer to his home prior to the death of the high priest nor redeem the life of a murderer (contrast 3:45-51; 15:22-29).
While the rules concerning manslaughter and murder make justice a priority, their main function is to maintain the ritual purity of the land in which God dwells with his people (vv. 33-34). The Levites' physical presence throughout Canaan will serve as a constant reminder to the Israelites of their covenant with God.
36 Clarifying the Rules of Inheritance
The final chapter clarifies the rules concerning the inheritance of land - rules established in response to the granting of land to Zelophehad's unmarried daughters (27:1-11). Land must remain within the tribe that originally received it by lot; therefore, single women who inherit land must marry within their tribe, since their children - the heirs to the land - will belong to her husband's tribe.