Summary of Numbers Chapters 1 - 10"

							Bro. Virgil L Killebrew Men's Leadership Training Class Minister Robert L Turner, Instructor Assignment ; Completed:

Summary of Numbers Chapters 1 - 10
Chapter 1: Before the departure of Israel from Sinai, God commanded Moses, on the first of the second month in the
second year after the exodus from Egypt, to take the number of the whole congregation of the children of Israel, with the Exception of that of Levi. “according to their families, according to their fathers' houses ,according to the number of their names,” i.e., each one counted singly and entered, but only “every male according to their heads of twenty years old and upwards” “all who go forth of the army,” i.e., all the men capable of bearing arms, because by means of this numbering the tribes and their subdivisions were to be organized as hosts of Jehovah, that the whole congregation might fight as an army for the cause of their Lord. All they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. However, thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. Chapter 2: The twelve tribes were to encamp each one by his standard, by the signs of their fathers' houses, opposite to the tabernacle (at some distance) round about, and, according to the more precise directions given afterwards, in such order that on every side of the tabernacle three tribes were encamped side by side and united under one banner, so that the twelve tribes formed four large camps or divisions of an army. Between these camps and the court surrounding the tabernacle, the three leading families of the Levites were to be encamped on three sides, and Moses and Aaron with the sons of Aaron (i.e., the priests) upon the fourth, i.e., the front or eastern side, before the entrance (Num 3:21-38). ‫ ,דֶּל‬a standard, banner, or flag, denotes primarily the larger field sign, possessed by every ‫ֶּג‬ division composed of three tribes, which was also the banner of the tribe at the head of each division; and secondarily, in a derivative signification, it denotes the army united under one standard. Chapter 3: As Jacob had adopted the two sons of Joseph as his own sons, and thus promoted them to the rank of heads of tribes, the tribe of Levi formed, strictly speaking, the thirteenth tribe of the whole nation, and was excepted from the muster of the twelve tribes who were destined to form the army of Jehovah, because God had chosen it for the service of the sanctuary. Out of this tribe, God had not only called Moses to be the deliverer, lawgiver, and leader of His people, but Moses' brother Aaron, with the sons of the latter, to be the custodians of the sanctuary. Now, lastly, the whole tribe was chosen, in the place of the first-born of all the tribes, to assist the priests in performing the duties of the sanctuary, and was numbered and mustered for this its special calling. The Levites had proved themselves the most suitable of all the tribes for his post, through their firm and faithful defense of the honor of the Lord at the worship of the golden calf. The number of the Levites mustered, 22,000, does not agree with the numbers assigned to the three families, as 7500 + 8600 + 6200 = 22,300. But the total is correct; for, according to Num_3:46, the number of the firstborn, 22,273, exceeded the total number of the Levites by 273. After this, Moses numbered the first-born of the children of Israel, to exchange them for the Levites according to the command of God, which is repeated in Num_3:41 and Num_3:44-45 from Num_3:11-13, and to adopt the latter in their stead for the service at the sanctuary (on Num_3:41 and Num_3:45, cf. Num_3:11-13). The number of the first-born of the twelve tribes amounted to 22,273 of a month old and upwards (Num_3:43). Of this number, 22,000 were exchanged for the 22,000 Levites, and the cattle of the Levites were set against the first-born of the cattle of the tribes of Israel. In Num_3:44 and Num_3:45 the command of God concerning the adoption of the Levites is repeated, for the purpose of adding the further instructions with regard to the 273, the number by which the first-born of the tribes exceeded those of the Levites. “And as for the redemption of the 273 of the first-born of the children of Israel which were more than the Levites, thou shalt take five shekels a head,”. This was the general price established by the law for the redemption of the first-born of men (see Num_18:16). The redemption money for 273 first-born, in all 1365 shekels, was to be paid to Aaron and his sons as compensation for the persons who properly belonged to Jehovah, and had been appointed as first-born for the service of the priests. Chapter 4: After the adoption of the Levites for service at the sanctuary, in the place of the first-born of Israel, Moses and Aaron mustered the three families of the Levites by the command of God for the service to be performed by those who were between the ages of 30 and 50. The particulars of the service are first of all described in detail ; and then the men in each family are taken, of the specified age for service. The three families are not arranged according to the relative ages of their founders, but according to the importance or sacredness of their service. The

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Bro. Virgil L Killebrew Men's Leadership Training Class Minister Robert L Turner, Instructor Assignment ; Completed:

Summary of Numbers Chapters 1 - 10
Kohathites take the lead, because the holiest parts of the tabernacle were to be carried and kept by this family, which included the priests, Aaron and his sons. The service to be performed by each of the three Levitical families is introduced in every case by a command from God to take the sum of the men from 30 years old to 50. Chapter 5: As Jehovah, the Holy One, dwelt in the midst of the camp of His people, those who were affected with the uncleanness of leprosy, of a diseased flux, or of menstruation, and those who had become unclean through touching a corpse, whether male or female, were to be removed out of the camp, that they might not defile it by their uncleanness. The command of God, to remove these persons out of the camp, was carried out at once by the nation. If a man's wife was accused of unfaithfulness towards him, As the woman's crime, of which her husband accused her, was naturally denied by herself, and was neither to be supported by witnesses nor proved by her being taken in the very act, the only way left to determine whether there was any foundation or not for the spirit of jealousy excited in her husband, and to prevent an unrighteous severance of the divinely appointed marriage, was to let the thing be decided by the verdict of God Himself. The priest was to bring her near to the altar at which he stood, and place her before Jehovah, who had declared Himself to be present at the altar, and then to take holy water, in an earthen vessel, and put dust in it from the floor of the dwelling. He was then to loosen the hair of the woman who was standing before Jehovah, and place the jealousy offering in her hands, and holding the water in his own hand, to pronounce a solemn oath of purification before her, which she had to appropriate to herself by a confirmatory Amen, Amen. The water, which the priest had prepared for the woman to drink, was taken from the sanctuary and the dust to be put into it from the floor of the dwelling, to impregnate this drink with the power of the Holy Spirit that dwelt in the sanctuary. During the administration of the oath, the offering was placed in her hands, that she might bring the fruit of her own conduct before God, and give it up to His holy judgment. The priest, as the representative of God, held the vessel in his hand, with the water in it, which was called the “water of bitterness, the curse-bringing,” inasmuch as, if the crime imputed to her was well-founded, it would bring upon the woman bitter suffering as the curse of God. Chapter 6: The words, “if a man or woman make a separate vow, a Nazarite vow, to live consecrated to the Lord,” with which the law is introduced, show not only that the vow of the Nazarite was a matter of free choice, but that it was a mode of practicing godliness and piety already customary among the people. The vow consisted of the three following points,: In the first place, he was to abstain from wine and intoxicating drink; and neither to drink vinegar of wine, strong drink, nor any juice of the, nor to eat fresh grapes, or dried (raisins). In fact, during the whole period of his vow, he was not to eat of anything prepared from the vine, “from the kernels even to the husk,” i.e., not the smallest quantity of the fruit of the vine. Secondly, during the whole term of his vow of consecration, no razor was to come upon his head. Till the days were fulfilled which he had consecrated to the Lord, he was to be holy. He was then “to bring a yearling sheep as a trespass-offering. The vow of a Nazarite was assumed for a definite period; and after this had been interrupted, it had to be commenced again from the very beginning. The blessing which the priests were to impart to the people, consisted of a triple blessing. - The first (Num_6:24), “Jehovah bless thee and keep thee,”; - The second (Num_6:25), “Jehovah make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee,” - The third (Num_6:26), “Jehovah lift up His face to thee, and give thee peace” . Chapter 7: The princes of Israel, the heads of the twelve tribes, who were their leaders or rulers, offered as their sacrificial gift six covered wagons and twelve oxen, one ox for each prince, and a wagon for every two. At the command of God, Moses received them to apply them to the purposes of the tabernacle, and handed them over to the Levites, “to everyone according to the measure of his service,” i.e., to the different classes of Levites, according to the requirements of their respective duties. Every prince offered “the dedication of the altar,” i.e., what served for the dedication of the altar, equivalent to his sacrificial gift for the consecration of the altar, “on the day,” i.e., at the time, “that they anointed it.” “Day:” Moses was directed by God to receive the gifts from the princes on separate days, one after another; so that the presentation extended over twelve days. All the princes brought the same gifts. The order, in which the twelve princes made their presentation, corresponded to the order of the tribes in the camp, prince of Judah taking the lead, and the prince of Naphtali coming last.

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Bro. Virgil L Killebrew Men's Leadership Training Class Minister Robert L Turner, Instructor Assignment ; Completed:

Summary of Numbers Chapters 1 - 10
Chapter 8: The command of God to consecrate the Levites for their service is introduced in Num_8:1-4 by directions
issued to Aaron with regard to the lighting of the candlestick in the dwelling of the tabernacle. The first part of this ceremony represented cleansing from the defilement of sin. Moses is told to “Sprinkle sin-water upon them.” The nature of this purifying water is not explained, and cannot be determined with any certainty. “And they shall cause the razor to pass over their whole body,” i.e., shave off all the hair upon their body, “and wash their clothes, and so cleanse themselves.” After this purification, the Levites were to bring two young bullocks, one with the corresponding meat offering for a burnt-sacrifice, the other for a sin offering. After this, the Levites were to come before Jehovah and the princes were to lay their hands upon them. This transfer was to be completed by Aaron's waving the Levites as a waveoffering before Jehovah on behalf of the children of Israel, i.e., by his offering them symbolically to the Lord as a sacrifice presented on the part of the Israelites. The ceremony of waving consisted no doubt in his conducting the Levites solemnly up to the altar, and then back again. The Levites were then to close this transfer of themselves to the Lord with a sin offering and burnt offering, in which they laid their hands upon the sacrificial animals. “From the age of twenty-five years shall he (the Levite) come to do service at the work of the tabernacle; and at fifty years of age shall he return from the service of the work, and not work any further, but only serve his brethren at the tabernacle in keeping charge.” Chapter 9: In the first month of the second year after the exodus, the people were commanded, “to keep the Passover in its appointed season, according to all its statutes and rights”; Israel kept it in the wilderness of Sinai, in exact accordance with the commands that God had given. Certain men who were defiled by human corpses could not eat the Passover on the day appointed. These men came to Moses, and asked, “Why are we diminished from offering the sacrificial gift of Jehovah at its season in the midst of the children of Israel?” Moses told them to wait and he would hear what the Lord would command. “Every one who is defiled by a corpse or upon a distant journey, of you and your future families, shall keep the Passover in the second month on the fourteenth, between the two evenings,” But lest anyone should pervert this permission into an excuse for postponing it without any necessity and merely from indifference, the threat is held out in Num_9:13, that whoever should omit to keep the feast at the legal time, if he was neither unclean nor upon a journey, should be cut off. As Jehovah was with His people in the cloud, the rising and falling of the cloud was “the command of the Lord” to the Israelites to break up or to pitch the camp. Whether it might rest many days long or only a few days, or only from evening until morning, and then rise up again in the morning, they encamped without departing. “Kept the charge of the Lord,” i.e., observed what was to be observed towards The Lord.

Chapter 10: Although God Himself appointed the time for removal and encampment by the movement of the cloud
of His presence, signals were also requisite for ordering and conducting the march of so numerous a body, by means of which Moses, as commander-in-chief, might make known his commands to the different divisions of the camp. To this end, God directed him to prepare two silver trumpets of beaten work, which should serve “for the calling of the assembly, and for the breaking up of the camps. The form of these trumpets is not further described. To give the signal for breaking up the camp, they were to blow a noise or alarm. At the first blast the tribes on the east, i.e., those who were encamped in the front of the tabernacle, were to break up; at the second, those who were encamped on the south; and so on in the order prescribed. But to call the congregation together they were to blow in short, sharp tones. These trumpets were to be used for the holy purposes of the congregation generally, and therefore God Himself prescribed not only the making, but also the manner of using them. They were to be blown by the priests alone, and “to be for an eternal ordinance to the families of Israel. The blast of these trumpets was to call Israel to remembrance before Jehovah in time of war and on their feast-days. After all the preparations were completed for the journey of the Israelites from Sinai to Canaan, on the 20th day of the second month, in the second year, the cloud rose up from the tent of witness, and the children of Israel broke up out of the desert of Sinai. Moses asked Hobab go with them to Canaan, promising that Jehovah would do good to them. Hobab declined and Moses repeated the request, “Leave us not, forasmuch as thou knowest our encamping in the desert. Hobab’s final answer is unknown. When the camp was breaking up, Moses said, “Rise up, Jehovah! that Thine enemies may be scattered, and they that hate Thee may flee before Thy face”; and when it rested, “Return, Jehovah, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel!”

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