Thursday Night Bible Study

Numbers 33-Numbers 36 (Click scripture reference for audio access)

"From Wandering To Waiting!"  •  7.26.12  •  Thursday Night Bible Study, Calvary Christian Fellowship

Intro.

- As we close the book of Numbers tonight, we begin with a summary of their journey. Numbers 33:1-49 is a record of 40 years of faithfulness, from Rameses to Canaan.

- God ordered this recorded in order that the people might remember where they had come from and that it was His miraculous care for them that brought them to the Promised Land.

- This information was more than nostalgia. It was necessary for their future, as the duties that lay before them required the fresh reminder of God's power.

• Numbers 33:50-56 : "Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places; you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess. And you shall divide the land by lot as an inheritance among your families; to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance; there everyone’s inheritance shall be whatever falls to him by lot. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. Moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.’" : The Canaanite engraved stones were tributes to gods from other nations in some cases and memorials to the dead in others. Their images were grotesque in nature, emblems of their religion.

- The "High Places" were mounds that were elevated above the surface of the ground where the most vile of actions took place. God wanted all of this demolished and the people settled.

- The warning was that if they did not, the people of the land would be a constant irritation to them and God would turn on them in the same way that He intended to turn on the Canaanites.

- They were to view the conquest of the land as their continuing responsibility as God's people.

- Numbers 34:1-15 details the boundaries of the land that God was giving to Israel. Verses 16-29 deal with the leaders of the tribes who were responsible for dividing up the land.

- I would advise you to compare maps at the back of your BIble of the intended territory that God assigned and the actual territory that was taken, especially during the Kingdom years.

- You'll note a significant difference, as the people never took all that God laid out for them and in some respect, they continue to be irritated by their enemies to this very day!

- As we move into chapter 35, God lays out what was to happen with the tribe of Levi.

Text

• Numbers 35:1-5 : "And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, saying: 'Command the children of Israel that they give the Levites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession, and you shall also give the Levites common-land around the cities. They shall have the cities to dwell in; and their common-land shall be for their cattle, for their herds, and for all their animals. The common-land of the cities which you will give the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around. And you shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits. The city shall be in the middle. This shall belong to them as common-land for the cities." : The Levites were not given a possession in Canaan but they needed a place to dwell and a place to raise cattle.

- Notice that they were to dwell there, but not own or possess. God was their possession.

- He gives the perameters for the priests, ordaining pastureland for them from the other tribes, 1500 feet from the town wall, with a 3,000 foot circumferance.

- The Levite presence would be a great benefit to these cities, serving as local Pastors.

• Numbers 35:6-8 : "Now among the cities which you will give to the Levites you shall appoint six cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. And to these you shall add forty-two cities. So all the cities you will give to the Levites shall be forty-eight; these you shall give with their common-land. And the cities which you will give shall be from the possession of the children of Israel; from the larger tribe you shall give many, from the smaller you shall give few. Each shall give some of its cities to the Levites, in proportion to the inheritance that each receives.'" : The Levites were given 48 cities, 6 of which were "cities of refuge." They were spaced out in such a way, that a person could get to them within a day and half from about anywhere.

• Numbers 35:9-15 : "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there. They shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment. And of the cities which you give, you shall have six cities of refuge. You shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you shall appoint in the land of Canaan, which will be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there." : Cities of refuge provided asylum for a person fleeing from the avenger of blood, who was in essence, the next of kin.

- Justice for a slain family member was a deeply ingrained part of the DNA of these people from the ancient near east.

- As with some of the laws, they are not written to endorse actions, but to restrain actions. Consequently, if you killed a person without intent, you could run into one of these cities and be safe.

• Numbers 35:16-21 : "But if he strikes him with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. And if he strikes him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. The avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. If he pushes him out of hatred or, while lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he dies, or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him." : Some cases were simple to diagnose as murder. Hitting someone with a hammer or a stone, etc, qualified a person as a murderer.

- That person was to be put to death immediately having shown premeditation by the weapon that they had chosen to use.

- One might also note the way that the killing took place. If a person pushed another out of hatred or laid in wait, these would also be put to death and the avenger of blood would do his duty.

- The "avenger of blood" is also translated in a positive sense as the "Kinsmen redeemer." He would have the right in their society to enforce the law in the case of premeditated murder.

• Numbers 35:22-28 : "However, if he pushes him suddenly without enmity, or throws anything at him without lying in wait, or uses a stone, by which a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not his enemy or seeking his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments. So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession." : When you ran into a city of refuge, you were to stay there until the death of the high priest who stood over your case. That was to be their new home.

- Leaving the city of refuge would mean leaving the covering of one's agreement and endangering one's life! That person would forfeit the measure of safety that God wrote for him.

- When you think about the cities of refuge, understand that they were real cities and that the cases that were decided were real as well.

- However, one cannot help but see a shadow of Christ, who is our city of refuge. Guilty sinners run into Him and find their refuge from the enemy of their souls.

- Because we remain in Him, we are saved and because He will never die, His protection will remain over us!

• Numbers 35:29,30 : "And these things shall be a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty." : This was the perpetual law in the land. Murder was not to be tolerated and was to end in execution.

- It was never to be carried out with just one witness. In all cases, a word was to be established by the the testimony of two to three witnesses before the death penalty was given.

- The law's provision was such that no one could be delivered unto death on the strength of just one witness. One witness was not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty!

- This law was the backbone for their legal system and shows what a great violation the trial of Christ was, in that there were no two witnesses that agreed on any charge!

• Numbers 35:31-34 : "Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. Therefore do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.’" : Murder was a defilement to the land, an insult to God's name. The people were never to let go of what had happened.

- They were not to allow the murderer to arrange for bail. If you had a lot of money, there was never to be a miscarriage of justice. Men were not allowed to barter their way out of their sentence!

- Murder was a defilement of the land because the Lord was going to dwell among them and He is the Author of life!

• Numbers 36:1-4 : "Now 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 spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the chief fathers of the children of Israel. And they said: 'The Lord commanded my lord Moses to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. Now if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so it will be taken from the lot of our inheritance. And when the Jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.'" : The tribal leaders from Manasseh came to Moses to clarify some final business regarding Zelophedad's daughers.

- Their Father's land was to pass to them by decree of God but if they married outside of the tribe and then, they would take their inheritance into another's tribe and be taken from Manasseh.

• Numbers 36:5-9 : "Then Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying: 'What the tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks is right. This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, 'Let them marry whom they think best, but they may marry only within the family of their father’s tribe.’ So the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not change hands from tribe to tribe, for every one of the children of Israel shall keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be the wife of one of the family of her father’s tribe, so that the children of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. Thus no inheritance shall change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children of Israel shall keep its own inheritance.'" : The principle that had been originally ordered remained in effect: The tribe, the family was to retain the inheritance, Zelophedad's daughters were restricted in who they could marry.

• Numbers 36:10-13 : "Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad; for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to the sons of their father’s brothers. They were married into the families of the children of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s family. These are the commandments and the judgments which the Lord commanded the children of Israel by the hand of Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho." : This ends the book of Numbers. It's fairly anti-climactic and some believe that this was a later insertion into the text, meaning that it might have been meant for Numbers 27.

- It reminds us that God was concerned with His people's relationships, writing laws that would keep the community of Israel in good fellowship with one another.

- Whether that dealt with cities of refuge or with cities of inheritance, God preemptively speaks so that His people will know what they are to do!

- Within the word of God, if it's not there clearly, it's there in principle! You will not find a life situation that the Bible does not answer! That is the God of the Bible.

Conclusion

- Numbers covers a 40 year period of history which began with wandering and ends with waiting. They are sitting across from the first city that the Lord will conquer.

- Our next book, Deuteronomy, which we will cover beginning in about a month, only covers a month of time, but has just 2 chapters less than Numbers!

- What we leave with tonight is the reminder of God's faithfulness to His people, past, present and future. He promised to bring Israel to Canaan and He did!

- He has not changed! His promise to them fulfilled reminds us that His promise to us will also be fulfilled!