Day 49: Numbers 31-33

(The previous post covered God's instructions, just before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, concerning offerings and vows.)

Numbers 31
¹ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
² Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.

(God told Moses to avenge the Israelites of the Midianites. God commissioned Israel to initiate a conflict. This was in response to the Midianites' (of Moab) seduction of Israel into idolatry (Numbers 25).)

³ And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm ye men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Jehovah's vengeance on Midian.
⁴ Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.
⁵ So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

(12,000 men were armed for war.)

⁶ And Moses sent them, a thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
⁷ And they warred against Midian, as Jehovah commanded Moses; and they slew every male.
⁸ And they slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

(They slew all the males, including Balaam. Notice, Balaam stayed with Balak. He was in the wrong place.)

⁹ And the children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey.

(The children, women, animals, and goods were taken captive.)

¹⁰ And all their cities in the places wherein they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire.
¹¹ And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of beast.
¹² And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.
¹³ And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.
¹⁴ And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.

(Moses was angry with the men who presented him the captives.)

¹⁵ And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
¹⁶ Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Jehovah.

(Moses asked them why they did not kill the women because they caused, through the counsel of Balaam, the Israelites to trespass against the Lord. The women were as guilty as the men.)

¹⁷ Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
¹⁸ But all the women-children, that have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

(Moses told them to kill all the women and male children but not the virgin women.)

¹⁹ And encamp ye without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, ye and your captives.
²⁰ And as to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood, ye shall purify yourselves.

(Moses told those who were unclean to quarantine and purify themselves.)

²¹ And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war that went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses:
²² howbeit the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
²³ everything that may abide the fire, ye shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make to go through the water.

(Metals are purified by fire. God uses the same method for spiritually purifying believers: trials of fire and washing by water.)

²⁴ And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean; and afterward ye shall come into the camp.
²⁵ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
²⁶ Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation;
²⁷ and divide the prey into two parts: between the men skilled in war, that went out to battle, and all the congregation.

(God instructed Moses and Eleazar to divide the spoils they took from the Midianites.)

²⁸ And levy a tribute unto Jehovah of the men of war that went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the asses, and of the flocks:
²⁹ take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for Jehovah's heave-offering.
³⁰ And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the flocks, even of all the cattle, and give them unto the Levites, that keep the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah.
³¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Jehovah commanded Moses.
³² Now the prey, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,

(The amount of spoils after what the men of war took was: 675,000 sheep.)

³³ and threescore and twelve thousand oxen,
³⁴ and threescore and one thousand asses,
³⁵ and thirty and two thousand persons in all, of the women that had not known man by lying with him.

(They also collected 72,000 oxen/cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 virgin women.)

(Verses 36-47: the spoils were split in half - one portion going to those who went to war and one portion going to the children of Israel.)

³⁶ And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep:
³⁷ and Jehovah's tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.
³⁸ And the oxen were thirty and six thousand; of which Jehovah's tribute was threescore and twelve.
³⁹ And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which Jehovah's tribute was threescore and one.
⁴⁰ And the persons were sixteen thousand; of whom Jehovah's tribute was thirty and two persons.
⁴¹ And Moses gave the tribute, which was Jehovah's heave-offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as Jehovah commanded Moses.
⁴² And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided off from the men that warred,

(Moses divided the spoils himself.)

⁴³ (now the congregation's half was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand, seven thousand and five hundred sheep,
⁴⁴ and thirty and six thousand oxen,
⁴⁵ and thirty thousand and five hundred asses,
⁴⁶ and sixteen thousand persons),
⁴⁷ even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, that kept the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah; as Jehovah commanded Moses.
⁴⁸ And the officers that were over the thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses;
⁴⁹ and they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war that are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.

(Not one man of war from the Israelite Army was missing. Israel was now mature enough to possess the Promised Land.)

⁵⁰ And we have brought Jehovah's oblation, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, ankle-chains, and bracelets, signet-rings, ear-rings, and armlets, to make atonement for our souls before Jehovah.
⁵¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.
⁵² And all the gold of the heave-offering that they offered up to Jehovah, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.

(The amount of gold was approximately 420 pounds.)

⁵³ (For the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.)
⁵⁴ And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, for a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah.




Numbers 32
¹ Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;
² the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,
³ Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
⁴ the land which Jehovah smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle; and thy servants have cattle.
⁵ And they said, If we have found favor in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession; bring us not over the Jordan.

(The children of Reuben and Gad wanted their land on this side of the Jordan and now.)

⁶ And Moses said unto the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to the war, and shall ye sit here?
⁷ And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Jehovah hath given them?

(Moses asked if they were going to just stay here while their brothers went to war. This would have discouraged the others to cross the Jordan.)

⁸ Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.
⁹ For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Jehovah had given them.
¹⁰ And Jehovah's anger was kindled in that day, and he sware, saying,
¹¹ Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:
¹² save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; because they have wholly followed Jehovah.
¹³ And Jehovah's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander to and fro in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of Jehovah, was consumed.

(Moses explained what happened earlier when some men discouraged the Israelites. He was showing them by their experience that discouraging others to do God’s Will was an evil idea.)

¹⁴ And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of Jehovah toward Israel.
¹⁵ For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye will destroy all this people.
¹⁶ And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones:
¹⁷ but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
¹⁸ We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.

(The children of Reuben and Gad would build cities and sheepfolds but agreed to go to war until the rest of the Israelites had their inheritance.)

¹⁹ For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan, and forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.
²⁰ And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will arm yourselves to go before Jehovah to the war,
²¹ and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before Jehovah, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,
²² and the land is subdued before Jehovah; then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless towards Jehovah, and towards Israel; and this land shall be unto you for a possession before Jehovah.
²³ But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against Jehovah; and be sure your sin will find you out.

(Moses warned them that if they broke this vow they would have sinned against the Lord and he assured them that their "sin will find you out." Justice is real, no one is getting away with anything. Justice will be equaled out in the Long-Term.)

²⁴ Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.
²⁵ And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth.
²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead;
²⁷ but thy servants will pass over, every man that is armed for war, before Jehovah to battle, as my lord saith.

(The men of war would cross the Jordan but the children, wives, and animals would stay in the cities of Gilead.)

²⁸ So Moses gave charge concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel.
²⁹ And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man that is armed to battle, before Jehovah, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:
³⁰ but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.

(Moses relayed the agreement to the other leaders of Israel.)

³¹ And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As Jehovah hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.
³² We will pass over armed before Jehovah into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.
³³ And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto the half-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, according to the cities thereof with their borders, even the cities of the land round about.

(Half of the tribe of Manasseh would have their inheritance on the same side of the Jordan as Reuben and Gad.)

³⁴ And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,
³⁵ and Atrothshophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah,
³⁶ and Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran: fortified cities, and folds for sheep.
³⁷ And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim,
³⁸ and Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Sibmah: and they gave other names unto the cities which they builded.
³⁹ And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites that were therein.
⁴⁰ And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein.
⁴¹ And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the towns thereof, and called them Havvoth-jair.
⁴² And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.




Numbers 33

(This chapter reviewed the exodus and previewed the entrance of the Promised Land.)

¹ These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their hosts under the hand of Moses and Aaron.
² And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of Jehovah: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.

(Moses recorded these journeys.)

(Verses 3-4: the departure from Egypt.)

³ And they journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians,

(The day after the Passover, the Israelites left Rameses. Rameses meant "child of the sun." It was a city in lower Egypt that was built by the Hebrew slaves.)

⁴ while the Egyptians were burying all their first-born, whom Jehovah had smitten among them: upon their gods also Jehovah executed judgments.

(Verses 5-15: from Egypt to Mount Sinai.)

⁵ And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses, and encamped in Succoth.
⁶ And they journeyed from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.
⁷ And they journeyed from Etham, and turned back unto Pihahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon: and they encamped before Migdol.
⁸ And they journeyed from before Hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness: and they went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped in Marah.
⁹ And they journeyed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve springs of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees; and they encamped there.
¹⁰ And they journeyed from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea.
¹¹ And they journeyed from the Red Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.
¹² And they journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.
¹³ And they journeyed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush.
¹⁴ And they journeyed from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.

(This event in Rephidim was recorded in Exodus 17.)

¹⁵ And they journeyed from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai.

(While in the wilderness of Sinai, the events recorded from Exodus 18 through the Book of Leviticus and up to Numbers 10 occurred.)

(Verses 16-49: from Mount Sinai to the shores of the Jordan River.)

¹⁶ And they journeyed from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in Kibroth-hattaavah.

(This event from verse 16 was recorded in Numbers 11.)

¹⁷ And they journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah, and encamped in Hazeroth.
¹⁸ And they journeyed from Hazeroth, and encamped in Rithmah.
¹⁹ And they journeyed from Rithmah, and encamped in Rimmon-perez.
²⁰ And they journeyed from Rimmon-perez, and encamped in Libnah.
²¹ And they journeyed from Libnah, and encamped in Rissah.
²² And they journeyed from Rissah, and encamped in Kehelathah.
²³ And they journeyed from Kehelathah, and encamped in mount Shepher.
²⁴ And they journeyed from mount Shepher, and encamped in Haradah.
²⁵ And they journeyed from Haradah, and encamped in Makheloth.
²⁶ And they journeyed from Makheloth, and encamped in Tahath.
²⁷ And they journeyed from Tahath, and encamped in Terah.
²⁸ And they journeyed from Terah, and encamped in Mithkah.
²⁹ And they journeyed from Mithkah, and encamped in Hashmonah.
³⁰ And they journeyed from Hashmonah, and encamped in Moseroth.
³¹ And they journeyed from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene-jaakan.
³² And they journeyed from Bene-jaakan, and encamped in Hor-haggidgad.
³³ And they journeyed from Hor-haggidgad, and encamped in Jotbathah.
³⁴ And they journeyed from Jotbathah, and encamped in Abronah.
³⁵ And they journeyed from Abronah, and encamped in Ezion-geber.
³⁶ And they journeyed from Ezion-geber, and encamped in the wilderness of Zin (the same is Kadesh).

(This event from verse 36 was recorded in Numbers 19. This was where Miriam died and Moses struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it.)

³⁷ And they journeyed from Kadesh, and encamped in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.
³⁸ And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of Jehovah, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month.
³⁹ And Aaron was a hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor.

(Aaron's death was recorded in Numbers 20.)

⁴⁰ And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.
⁴¹ And they journeyed from mount Hor, and encamped in Zalmonah.
⁴² And they journeyed from Zalmonah, and encamped in Punon.
⁴³ And they journeyed from Punon, and encamped in Oboth.
⁴⁴ And they journeyed from Oboth, and encamped in Iye-abarim, in the border of Moab.
⁴⁵ And they journeyed from Iyim, and encamped in Dibon-gad.
⁴⁶ And they journeyed from Dibon-gad, and encamped in Almon-diblathaim.
⁴⁷ And they journeyed from Almon-diblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.
⁴⁸ And they journeyed from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
⁴⁹ And they encamped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth even unto Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

(The Israelites camped in the plains of Moab before they crossed the Jordan River. This was recorded in Numbers 22-24 during the time Balaam was asked by Balak to curse the Israelites.)

(Verses 50-56: a preview of the entering into the Promised Land.)

⁵⁰ And Jehovah spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
⁵¹ Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
⁵² then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places:

(They were commanded to drive out all of the inhabitants of the land.)

⁵³ and ye shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for unto you have I given the land to possess it.
⁵⁴ And ye shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer thou shalt give the less inheritance: wheresoever the lot falleth to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers shall ye inherit.
⁵⁵ But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then shall those that ye let remain of them be as pricks in your eyes, and as thorns in your sides, and they shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
⁵⁶ And it shall come to pass, that, as I thought to do unto them, so will I do unto you.

(They were warned what would happen if they did not drive out all of the inhabitants: what God thought to do to the inhabitants of the land and what God would do to the Israelites.)

(This post covered Israel's battle with the Midianites, summary of their journey from Egypt, and final preparations before entering the Promised Land.)

Day 50