Thursday Night Bible Study

Numbers 30-Numbers 32 (Click on scripture reference for audio access)

"He Makes All Things New"  •  7.19.12  •  Thursday Night Bible Study, Calvary Christian Fellowship

Intro.

- Let's jump right into Numbers chapter 30, which speaks of God's community and Their Word.

Text

• Numbers 30:1-5 : "Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, 'This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. Or if a woman makes a vow to the Lord, and binds herself by some agreement while in her father’s house in her youth, and her father hears her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand. But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her agreements by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the Lord will release her, because her father overruled her." : Vows or oaths made to God were serious matters in the relationship of Israel to God.

- Unfortunately, even given this prohibition, there are many foolish vows in the scripture. Jephthah in Judges 11, King Saul in I Samuel 14 and Peter at the last supper are all examples.

- A man or woman were to hold to their Word and do that which they had promised. It was binding. For a young woman, if her Father consented by silence, she was bound to her wrd.

- A Father could intervene and overrule when a promise had been made that should not have been made. In that case, God would not hold her resposible.

• Numbers 30:6-9 : "If indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash utterance from her lips by which she bound herself, and her husband hears it, and makes no response to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand. But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make void her vow which she took and what she uttered with her lips, by which she bound herself, and the Lord will release her. Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her." : If a woman had made a hasty utterance before marriage, her new husband could overrule it on the day that he heard it.

- Any vow made which outlasted a husband or marriage would then witness against her.

• Numbers 30:10-16 : "If she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound herself by an agreement with an oath, and her husband heard it, and made no response to her and did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement by which she bound herself shall stand. But if her husband truly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not stand; her husband has made them void, and the Lord will release her. Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void. Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all the agreements that bind her; he confirms them, because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them. But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.' These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter in her youth in her father’s house." : The husbands bore guilt if he did not void them on the day of hearing them! God is protecting them from themselves. He expects truth from us.

- The first point of this passage is that God's people are to be people of their Word! Let your "yes" be "yes" and your "no" be "no!" (Matthew 5:37)

- We are to speak carefully, with the intention to act on our Word.

- Notice also that God is affirming the Family. Fathers, Husbands, you are the heads of your Family! God has ordained it to be! Don't stand there silent afraid to speak. You must speak and lead!

- We move from Their Word to Their War!

• Numbers 31:1-8 : "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 'Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.' So Moses spoke to the people, saying, 'Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them go against the Midianites to take vengeance for the Lord on Midian. A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.' So there were recruited from the divisions of Israel one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. Then Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from each tribe; he sent them to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and the signal trumpets in his hand. And they warred against the Midianites, just as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed all the males. They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword." : God was sending Israel to war, as an arm of His justice. Israel would take vengeance for the Lord on Midian.

- This was from the Lord, (v.1) and for the Lord (v.3). Israel understood this to be the case, as Moses sent them out with the Priests, who brought the articles and trumpets.

- Beside the Kings that were killed, Balaam's life was also brought to an end. God had executed His wrath and dealt with the son of Beor for his counsel against Israel.

- The riches that he received were held against his own life! What sin is worth your life?

• Numbers 31:9-11 : "And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captive, with their little ones, and took as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods. They also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts. And they took all the spoil and all the booty—of man and beast." : This war had not been fought for spoil, but they did receive spoil, we'll see, in great measure.

- All the rest was burnt down, which was standard operating procedure in this time.

• Numbers 31:12-20 : "Then they brought the captives, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.  And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to meet them outside the camp.  But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle. And Moses said to them: 'Have you kept all the women alive?  Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately. But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately. And as for you, remain outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. Purify every garment, everything made of leather, everything woven of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.'" : Every thing was fine until Moses saw the women. The women that were brought back were not normal captives.

- Moses reminds them that these were the very women who cooperated with Balaam's counsel. "Don't you guys remember the plague in the congregation of the Lord?"

- It's sad that there are many in the body of Christ who are willing to live with that which is most dangerous to them! Know that you and I are weak and no enemy of ours should coexist with us!

- Be brutal with you flesh! Don't think you are over it! Never give it a chance to breathe!

- Moses now calls upon them to do the duties necessary for in that theocratic society. They were to kill all the males and every woman who was not a virgin.

- The women who were virgins would have had a particular hairstyle which showed them to be innocent with regard to the sexual sin that had happened in Peor. They could serve as slaves.

- All the rest of the males, likely some that had hidden among the ladies, were to be killed.

- This action, deemed right by God, would make them unclean for a week. They would need purification on the 3rd and 7th day. This was for a specific time and place.

- Nomadic tribal life is foreign to us who live in the west. How they battled and waged war is quite different than we do. They were much more savage and brutal. This was a just action by God.

• Numbers 31:21-24 : "Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, 'This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses: Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean; and it shall be purified with the water of purification. But all that cannot endure fire you shall put through water. And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.'" : The things that came from the battle had to be purified, metals through fire and water, everything else, water.

- Their clothes were to be washed on the 7th day and then they would be clean.

• Numbers 31:25-31 : "Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 'Count up the plunder that was taken—of man and beast—you and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the congregation; and divide the plunder into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation. And levy a tribute for the Lord on the men of war who went out to battle: one of every five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep; take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest as a heave offering to the Lord. And from the children of Israel’s half you shall take one of every fifty, drawn from the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.' So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses." : The plunder was to be divided among the warriors and the congregation.

- As tribute to the Lord, one of every 500 was to go to Eleazar and symbolically waved before the Lord. From the congregation, one of ever 50 was to go to the Levites.

- Verses 32-41 detail how this was broken down, first from the spoil that was taken from the men of war. 1/10th of their spoil went to the Lord of the sheep, cattle and captives.

- The numbers are staggering: God received 675 lambs, 72 cattle, 61 donkeys and 32 persons. These were heaved to the Lord.

- Verses 42-47 details what the congregation received, from which the Levites were blessed with one out of every 50.

• Numbers 31:48-53 : "Then the officers who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses; and they said to Moses, 'Your servants have taken a count of the men of war who are under our command, and not a man of us is missing. Therefore we have brought an offering for the Lord, what every man found of ornaments of gold: armlets and bracelets and signet rings and earrings and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.' So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all the fashioned ornaments. And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the Lord, from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. (The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.) And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of meeting as a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord." : The people had won a tremendous war and had been greatly enriched.

- When all the warriors were counted not one was missing which led the officers to spontaneously give another offering to the Lord of jewelry that had been taken from the Midianites.

- There is no greater way to give than to give in recognition of what God has graciously done!

- We've seen Their Word, Their War and now finally, Their Way!

• Numbers 32:1-5 : "Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 'Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon,  the country which the Lord defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.' Therefore they said, 'If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.'" : Reuben and Gad were ready to settle with their share of the livestock from the Midianites. This area that they wanted to settle in was great in terms of agriculture, but not great in terms of calling!

- Two and a half tribes wanted to remain behind, having gotten close enough. This was a serious concern for the people of Moses who needed their strength to obtain their possession.

- Sadly, many Christians are fine with "close enough" Christianity! We are not to be that way!

- The only safe way to walk with the Lord is to go all the way with Him!

• Numbers 32:6-15 : "And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: 'Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. So the Lord’s anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.’ So the Lord’s anger was aroused 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 gone. And look! You have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.'" : Moses interpreted their desire as one that would discourage the people. That was the problem! The other tribes knew that victory would only be had together.

- To stay behind would have devastated and potentially even destroyed yet another generation in that desert! When we don't follow God fully, we discourage and potentially compromise them!

• Numbers 32:16-24 : "Then they came near to him and said: 'We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, but we ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.' Then Moses said to them: 'If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the Lord for the war, and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, and the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you may return and be blameless before the Lord and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out. Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what has proceeded out of your mouth.'" : Note the phrase: Our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants!

- They are acknowledging how unsafe their position was. In fact, beside the influence of the pagan nations, later, when Babylon shows up, they will be the first to be taken and the last to return!

- Moses allowed them their proposition only under the condition that they help their brothers obtain their inheritance. Until the job was done for the whole, there would be no settling.

- If they did, they would not have sinned against the people, but they would have sinned against the Lord! The warning that Moses gives them is that their sin would find them out!

- In other words, judgment would be coming upon them quickly!

• Numbers 32:25-32 : "And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying: 'Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead; but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.' So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel. And Moses said to them: 'If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession. But if they do not cross over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.' Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying: 'As the Lord has said to your servants, so we will do. We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of the Jordan.'" : The agreement between Reuben, Gad, Moses and Joshua was settled. If they held to their word, Reuben and Gad would have their wish to remain on the other side of the Jordan.

- Otherwise, they would be given a possession in Canaan.

• Numbers 32:33-42 : "So Moses gave to the children of Gad, to the children of Reuben, and to 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 its cities within the borders, the cities of the surrounding country. And the children of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer, Atroth and Shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah,  Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. And the children of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kirjathaim,  Nebo and Baal Meon (their names being changed) and Shibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built. And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he dwelt in it. Also Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its small towns, and called them Havoth Jair. Then Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and he called it Nobah, after his own name." : Moses gave into the requests of these tribes. When a group of people comes to a decision, despite how unwise, there is nothing left but to let them do it!

Conclusion

- God desires that His people are men and women of their Word. Be careful to say only what you have the capacity to do!

- God desires that His people fight His battles fully and completely, leaving no occasion for the enemy to strike. We are to be brutal with our nature and the things which war against the Lord.

- Finally, God desires that His people follow Him all the way into His promises. Close enough is never enough! Don't come short in any area of your life before the Lord.