Numbers 2-3
Numbers 2
So, before you "Google" a chart or
a map or revert to some other source, get a piece of paper and colored markers
or pencils, or steal your kids crayons (or use your own); and read through this
section and map it out yourself. If you do, you'll gain confidence in your
ability to figure stuff out. If you Google it, well, you already know how to
use a search engine. Try it yourself. Make sure if you draw the tabernacle
first, both the entrance to the outer court and the entrance to the tabernacle
proper faced east. When you place the tribes in order around the tabernacle,
leave room between the tribes and the tabernacle for the families of the
Levites. The positions of the families of the Levites will be given in chapter
3.
The only thing I would bring to your
attention is the major tribe of Israel that was placed opposite the entrance of
the tabernacle. This was a great honor and is a foreshadowing of what is to
come for that tribe.
Seeing how God chooses, it reminds me that
regardless of who we are, the very fact that we have somehow come to know
Christ is an amazing honor. We feel tired and beaten up and depressed, but it
is only because of the toxic atmosphere of this place and this body of death we
lug around with us. Ephesians 1-3 gives you a lift, and so does Romans 5:1-6.
It is an incredible honor and miracle that we know the Lord and are following.
Therefore, since we have been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we
stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we
rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and
endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not
put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right
time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:1-6)
Vs. 1-9 This is the camp of Judah. Notice
that each camp had its own flag. You noted that Judah was the largest tribe and
is given a place of honor here. This reflects back to Jacob's blessing in
Genesis 49. Notice too that this camp began the march first. This naming went
clockwise, but the camp unraveled counter-clockwise.
Vs. 10-16 This is the camp of Reuben. They
were second to join the march.
V. 17 Sandwiched in the middle, and protected
by all, were the Levites and the tabernacle.
Vs. 18-24 This is the camp of Ephraim. Notice
that this camp represents all of the children of Rachel.
Vs. 25-31 This was the camp of Dan, and they
were the rear guard.
Vs. 32-34 God is preparing the people to
march to the land.
So, how do you figure out how many people
were in the camp of Israel? If there were 603,550 men from 20 years old and up
(who could fight) from all the tribes but Levi, and if there were 22,000 total
men from Levi, we have about 625,550 men. There were probably more women, but
for simplicity, let's just double the men. Now we're up to 1,251,100. Now,
there were at least this many kids because the people were very
"fruitful," but if we only added another 625,550, we're up to almost
2 million people. There were probably over 3 million and estimates say there
were 6-10 million. Later when Moses blesses the Lord as the camp of Israel
comes to rest in Numbers 10:36, he will say, Return, O LORD, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel. My wife
has informed me that ten thousand thousands equals 10 million.
Numbers like this are important to think
about. When it says Jesus fed 5000, it says in Matthew 14:21, And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. The likelihood is
that Jesus actually fed over 15,000 people.
What God was doing for Israel every day in
the wilderness was a "class A" miracle.
Numbers 3
Now comes the tribe of Levi. They will become
the servants of Israel, but even more, they will protect Israel and act as
mediators between a holy God and the people. If you've made a diagram of the
camp of Israel, we'll now find out where they were to camp, and what their
responsibilities were in taking down, transporting and rebuilding the
tabernacle.
Vs. 1-4 Aaron is mentioned first, because
only his descendants could be priests in Israel.
Vs. 5-10 This will be the function of the
Levites. It is interesting that they are "given" to Aaron. Their job
is to guard (also care for) different parts of the tabernacle. Aaron would be
their boss and he would guard the priesthood.
Vs. 11-13 This is very interesting. All of
the firstborn of Israel were to be dedicated to the Lord. In their place, God
took the Levites.
Vs. 14-20 After Aaron, there were three main
clans in the tribe of Levi. Notice that they were listed from one month old.
Vs. 21-26 These are the Gershonites. Notice
where they camped, what they guarded and what they were responsible for when
they had to take down and rebuild the tabernacle.
Vs. 27-32 These are the Kohathites. Again,
notice all the particulars. Notice too that Eleazar, Aaron's son, is mentioned
here because of the taking down of the Holy Place, the Holy of Holies and all
of the furniture in those places. Later we'll find out what Aaron and his sons
had to do to the furniture, so that the Kohathites didn't get blasted.
Vs. 33-37 The Merarites were last and took
down all the frames.
Vs. 38-39 Aaron and Moses where camped
between the entrance to the tabernacle and the camp of Judah.
Now, if you add up all the totals for the
Levites, it is more than 22,000. It is suggested that the extra 300 were
themselves firstborn in the tribe of Levi and so were not included in what
follows.
Vs. 40-51 This is the redemption of the
firstborn from the people of Israel. Again, in the Bible Knowledge
Commentary-OT, p. 220, it is suggested that the firstborn being counted
were since the Exodus, since the firstborn previous to the Exodus were covered
by the blood of a lamb.
To me, it's interesting to see how often God
built redemption and substitution into the lives of the people of Israel. They
would have constantly been reminded that sin required a substitute and payment
for redemption. You notice too, that God mentions that everything belonged to
Him. That means that He Himself provided the redemption price and the
substitute. That's exactly what He did with Jesus too.
Mark 11:27-12:17
It's amazing that the leaders were so set on
killing Jesus. When you see irrationality working at this level, you know it is
of a deep sick spiritual origin. There are situations I have been in, where at
one point or another it became clear that "rationality" wasn't the
issue. Things had gone deeply spiritual and personal. In those cases, "one
more" illustration or attempt to bring sense to things didn't help unless
the spiritual root was addressed.
Mark 11:27-33
This confrontation comes as a result of Jesus
cleansing the temple. It looks very much like what happened in John 2, when
Jesus cleansed it three years earlier. We read about this in Matthew so there
isn't too much to add here.
In Jesus trying to get the scribes to admit
that John's authority was from heaven, had they done that, it would have been
admitting that Jesus was from heaven. John bore witness to Jesus. Their silence
was not just an admission of their hardness of heart, but it gave the people
the freedom to keep regarding Him as the possible Messiah. A similar thing
happened in John 7.
Mark 12:1-17
Vs. 1-12 We read this parable in Matthew. A
couple of thoughts to add to this reading come from the Bible Knowledge
Commentary-NT, pp. 160-161.
First, the image of a vineyard might come
from Isaiah 5:1-2. The mention of the stone the builders rejected comes from
Psalm 118:22-23.
Also, it is mentioned that with the son
coming to the vineyard, it might have been supposed by the tenants that the
owner was dead. If they killed the heir, it could be theirs. Apparently back
then, possession was nine tenths of the law, especially if the land holder lived
in a foreign, distant country. That makes more sense to me. When applied to
man's response to God's messengers and Son, it is still irrational. But then,
we are man.
V. 12 Notice again that the scribes
understood that the parable was told against them, but rather than repentance,
there was increased hate. If they hadn't feared the people, they would have
taken Jesus then.
Vs. 13-17 This is the trap regarding the
giving of taxes. Again, the trap was in trying to get Jesus to say,
"yes" or "no," to paying taxes. If Jesus had said,
"yes," the people would have been upset. If Jesus had said,
"no," the Romans would have gotten mad. In Jesus answering this way,
He supported paying taxes, humbled His enemies and spoke wisdom to the crowd. They
would see that the real issue was honoring the one from whom we received our
image.
Psalm 47
This was written by the sons of Korah; and
with the tone of this psalm, it might also have been composed after Jerusalem's
adventures with the Assyrians. To sense fully what is being celebrated, read 2
Kings 18-19.
Vs. 1-4 If you look back to what the sons of
Korah wrote in Psalm 44:9-26 on March 1, you'll see here that the answer
arrived. God acted and the news went out to all of the world. Israel had the
promises and the right theology, but now they saw that in fact, God reigns over
all nations and selected Israel as His messenger.
Vs. 5-7 The appropriate thing to do is always
to praise God. It is one of those things God always deserves whether we feel
like it or not.
Vs. 8-9 Notice that this declares the promise
to Abraham to be a blessing to all nations. This is the promise of redemption
to all nations through Israel and their God. I've never noticed v. 9 before.
How cool.
The Assyrians were making a push to become
the first world empire and were threatening all the surrounding nations.
Because of the amazing deliverance at Jerusalem and the destruction of the
Assyrian army, the world was now looking to the God of Israel.
Proverbs 10:24-25
Amen!
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://oneyearbibleonline.com/weekly-one-year-readings/?version=47&startmmdd=0101. This version is set
to the ESV but you can reset this to a different version or different language.
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are
following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple,
following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship
culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging
each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make
disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our
growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here
or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some
explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My
comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on
Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups
will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with
and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the
harvest.
If you would like a complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is
still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's
keyed to the NIV, so the result is the commentators are constantly telling you
what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in
fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is
encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the
comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding,
that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but
only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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