L26

Are these random events, or orchestrated responses?

Blessings for Obedience:

L26:1-3 No idols, images, figured stones. Keep sabbaths, commands..

L26:4-13 Rain, plenty, security, peace, God’s presence.

Penalties for Disobedience:

L26:14-15 Disobedience, break covenant.

Strike 1: L26:16-17 Terror, consumption, fever, poor crop, enemies rule.

Strike 2: L26:18-20 7x more punishment, pride broken, no success.

Strike 3: L26:21-22 Plague, wild animals.

Strike 4 L26:23-26 Hostility from God, sword, pestilence, famine.

Strike 5:L26:27-33 Wrathful hostility from God, major societal breakdown loss of sons and daughters, cities laid waste.

Does God get His way, one way or the other?

L26:34-35 “...'Then the land will enjoy its sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 'All the days of its desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your sabbaths, while you were living on it...”

What is the way back after striking out with God?

L26:40-41 “...If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me - I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies - or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, ..I will remember My covenant ...I will not reject them ...that I might be their God ...”

L27 Valuations of people, animals, houses, fields

What belongs to the Lord?

L27:30-32 “...'Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord. 'If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it. 'For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord...”

Why the 10% plus 1/5 (12%)?

Allowance for monetary gifts to replace the actual produce, animals, etc.

Why all the valuations?

A special vow to dedicate persons to the Lord could be fulfilled directly with actual service in the sanctuary, or by monetary payment to the sanctuary treasury.

1 Sam.1 Hannah made a vow to dedicate Samuel to the Lord.

Numbers:

Hebrew (Be-midbar) “in the wilderness”.

English (Numbers) focuses on two census takings.

N1,N2,N3

Does God condone war?

N1:2-3 “...Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall number them by their armies...”

The Encampment

N1:52 “...The sons of Israel shall camp, each man by his own camp, and each man by his own standard...”

	Ephraim Manasseh Benjamin 108,100 OX W
Reuben Simeon Gad 151,450 MAN S	Gershon Kohath Tabernacle Merari Moses,Aaron	Dan Asher Naphtali 157,600 EAGLE N
	E Judah Issachar Zebulun 186,400 LION

What did the camp look like when viewed from the east?

N2:3-9 Sunrise side, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun (186,400)

N2:10-16 South side, Reuben, Simeon, Gad (151,450)

N2:18-24 West side, Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin (108,100)

N2:25-31 North side, Dan, Asher, Naphtali (157,600)

Who belonged to the Lord?

N3:12,13 “... I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, ... For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine...”

N3:21-23 Behind the tabernacle, west, Gershon (7500)

N3:27-29 South, Kohath (8600)

N3:33-35 North, Merari (6200)

N3:38 Eastward in front, Moses, Aaron and sons

Each had their specified duties.

How specific was God about firstborn replacements?

N3:42 “... and all the firstborn males ... were 22,273...”.

N3:39 “... All the ...Levites, ...were 22,000...”

Close enough?

N3:46-48 “... For the ransom of the 273 of the firstborn of the sons of Israel who are in excess beyond the Levites, you shall take five shekels apiece, per head; you shall take them in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), and give the money, the ransom of those who are in excess among them, to Aaron and to his sons...”

What is the significance of the tribal standards?

Jewish tradition says the “four standards” under which Israel encamped in the wilderness, to the east, Judah, to the north, Dan, to the west, Ephraim, to the south, Reuben, were respectively a lion, an eagle, an ox, and a man, while in the midst was the tabernacle containing the Shekinah symbol of the Divine Presence."

Hebrews 8:5 “...a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, "SEE," He says, "THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN..."

Ezekiel 1:4-10 “...As I looked, ...there were figures resembling four living beings. ...each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle...”

Rev.4:6-7 “...and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle...”

N4 Blue cloths and porpoise skins

Where do you think the porpoise skins came from?

How dangerous was the work of the sons of Kohath?

N4:15 “... When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry...”

N4:20 “... but they shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”

Lots to carry without a Uhaul!

N4:24-26 “... This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, ...they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of porpoise skin that is on top of it, and the screen for the doorway ...the hangings of the court, and the screen for the doorway of the gate of the court. ..and their cords and all the equipment for their service; and all that is to be done, they shall perform...”

Specific jobs for specific people.

N429-32 “... the sons of Merari, ...this is the duty of their loads, for all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its sockets, and the pillars around the court and their sockets and their pegs and their cords, with all their equipment and with all their service; and you shall assign each man by name the items he is to carry...”

What was the length of the Levites working career?

N4:47 Tabernacle carrying work: Age 30-50.

N8:24,25 Service of the tent of meeting: Age 25-50.

How many Levites did it take to pack up and move the tabernacle?

N4:48-49 “... 8,580...”

N5 Keeping the place clean

How were the “unclean” to be handled? Why?

N5:2-4 “... send away from the camp every leper and everyone having a discharge and everyone who is unclean because of a dead person. You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they will not defile their camp where I dwell in their midst.”

How was sin to be handled? In our culture?

N5:6,7 “... When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the Lord, and that person is guilty, then he shall confess his sins which he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged...”

How was possible adultery to be handled? In our culture?

N5:11-31 Spirit of Jealousy, Water of bitterness, thigh/abdomen issues

N6 Separating as a Nazirite

Nazir - to be separated or consecrated.

A voluntary vow. A specific time frame. Specific requirements and restrictions. A conclusion with a sacrifice offered.

What did the special vow of a Nazarite include?

N6:3,4 “...abstain from wine and strong drink ...no vinegar ...not ...grape juice ...not eat anything produced by the grape vine...”

N6:5 “...no razor ...let the locks of hair on his head grow long...”

N6:6-12 No touching dead people. Shave head if do.

N6:13-20 Ends with an offering to the Lord, shaving his head, “...take the dedicated hair of his head and put it on the fire ...under the ...peace offering...”.

How does putting God’s name on people lead to blessing?

N6:23-27 "...Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.' "So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them..."

N7 12 days of offerings by 12 leaders

N7:3 “...six covered carts and twelve oxen ...”

N7:10 “...The leaders offered the dedication offering ...”

N7:84 “...twelve silver dishes, ...silver bowls, ...gold pans...”

N7:87 “...twelve bulls ...rams twelve ...lambs ...twelve ...”

N7:88 “...peace offerings 24 bulls, ...rams ...goats ...lambs 60 ...”

What do we bring to the Lord?

N8 Cleansing the Levites

N8:4 “...the lampstand, hammered work of gold, according to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses...”

Cleansing and presenting the First Born Replacements!

N8:9,10,14,15,16 “...assemble the whole congregation ...present the Levites before the Lord ...separate the Levites ...to serve the tent of meeting ...for they are wholly given to Me...”

Does retirement show up in scripture? And then what?

N8:25 “...at the age of fifty years they shall retire from service in the work and not work any more...”

N8:26 “...They may, however assist their brothers ...but ...do no work...”

N9 The Passover, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

N9:5 Passover: 1st month, 14th day, at twilight.

N9:11 2nd month, 14th day for those who missed because unclean.

N9:13 Neglecting to observe - cut off.

N9:14 Same rules for native and alien alike.

How were they absolutely dependent on God? Are we?

N9:21-23 ‘...If sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would move out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out. Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they did set out. At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out; they kept the Lord's charge, according to the command of the Lord through Moses...”

N10

From where did the trumpets come? For what use?

N10:2 “...Make yourself two trumpets of silver, of hammered work ...use them for summoning the congregation...”

N10:3-6 Trumpet signals:

Both blown for everyone to assemble.

One blown for leaders to assemble.

First alarm, for east camps to move.

Second alarm, for south camps to move.

Who does the blowing?

N10:8 “...The priestly sons of Aaron ...shall blow the trumpets, and this shall be for you a perpetual statute...”

Other times for trumpet blowing?

N10:9 “...When you go to war ...that you may be remembered before the Lord ...and be saved from your enemies...”

N10:10 “...Also ...gladness ...appointed feasts ...first days of your months ...over your burnt offerings ...sacrifices...”

Are the tabernacle and tent of meeting the same?

The “tent of meeting” was outside the camp, while the Tabernacle was within the camp.

The “tent of meeting” was served by Moses and Joshua, while the Tabernacle was served by the Levites.

The cloud of God’s presence came down to the “tent of meeting” when Moses was there, while the cloud hovered over the Tabernacle at all times, except when Israel was to break camp and march

Are we ready, and capable, to move when the Lord prompts, as a body, in an orderly fashion?