Numbers 1-8

Numbers begins with Israel’s eleven-day march from Sinai to Kadesh, records the subsequent rebellion and 38 years of wilderness wandering, and ends with a new generation poised on the doorstep of the Promised Land. Numbers contrasts the faithfulness of God with the fickleness of His people. Even though He must judge their disobedience, God faithfully leads His People through 40 years of agony. Working through Moses, Caleb, and Joshua, God demonstrates His willingness to reward those who trust Him.
Let’s get a picture of this group that traveled together for 40 years: “The World’s Largest Mobile Home Park: If the population estimate of 3 million is accurate, and a minimum living space is allowed for each Israelite’s family and flocks, the camp of Israel must have been enormous—covering more than 100 square miles (about twice the size of present-day San Francisco). And yet, through a detailed, God-given plan for pitching, striking, and moving camp, Moses maintained order in the nation.
Overview of Chapters 1 – 8 : With the laws given and the ceremonies specified, God now commands Moses to count the people and position them in a square formation around the tabernacle. The number of fighting men (603,550) suggests a total population in excess of 3 million men, women and children. The Levites are then positioned and numbered, and each priestly group is assigned a work detail in connection with the care and transporting of the tabernacle.
With the Israelites numbered and positioned, God further prepares the nation for entering the Promised Land by giving Moses instructions for cleansing and worship. First, Israel must be free of defilement from immorality and suspicions. The people must sense the sanctify of binding commitments such as the Nazarite vow. They must provide for the material needs of the tabernacle. And they must have a purified group of Levites to minister effectively for them in the corporate worship and celebration of Israel.
A 20th Century story: The code name for the enterprise was “Operation Overlord.” The popular name was “D-Day – June 6, 1943, when the combined Allied forces landed on “Omaha Beach” and signaled the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. It was the largest assembly of military personnel and material in the history of warfare. A historian wrote, “The Allied forces of soldiers, sailors, aviators and supporting service amounted to 2.8 million men in England.”
In Numbers, Moses is about to launch his own “Operation Overlord,” and his greatest desire was that Jehovah, the Lord of Hosts, truly be Lord over the whole enterprise. This huge group of Jews were anticipating entering Canaan, conquering the inhabitants, claiming the land, and enjoying their promised inheritance. But before all of this could happen, Moses had to organize this assembly of former slaves who had been enjoying their freedom for only a year…not an easy task!
His preparation for conquest involved four stages: *celebrating Passover (chp. 7 – 9) preceded the first six chapters. *numbering the soldiers (chp.1); *organizing the tribes (chp.2) and *assigning the priestly duties (chp.3-4)
DRAWING OUT SOME APPLICATION:
When Mohandas K. Gandhi was the spiritual leader of India, a missionary asked him what he thought was the biggest obstacle to Christian missions in India, and Gandhi replied, “Christians!” We may not like his answer, but we do have to face the fact that too often God’s people get in the way of God’s work. This is no better illustrated than in this book of Numbers where we see Israel repeatedly disobeying God and suffering for it. This explains why the Lord laid down some plain and practical rules for daily life in the camp of Israel. Israel was God’s chosen people, separated from the other nations, and God wanted them to be different in the way they lived. We can reference in this book many of His guidelines for His people. Clean and unclean were vital to daily life. Cleanliness involved much more than personal hygiene; it involved being acceptable to God in what they ate, what they wore, and how they conducted themselves at home and in public. The Israelites were in the infancy of their faith and God used familiar pictures to teach them spiritual truth. He compared sin to disease, etc.
Let’s look at one particular aspect addressed: A jealous husband, a suspicious wife. The combination can eat like acid into the marriage relationship. For this reason, God provided the seemingly strange ritual of Number 5:11-31 in order to deal decisively with jealousy and suspicious in the home. “Every time you turn green with envy, you are ripe for trouble.”
The ordeal by “bitter water” was designed to dramatize the bitterness and heartache caused by festering jealousy. Today the problem of jealousy remains just as widespread and malignant. But God’s prescribed cure has changed somewhat. According to James 4:7-10, it involves several steps: 1. Submission to God; 2. Conviction of sin 3. Confession of sin…Accompanied by sadness for sin 4. “Humble yourself – feeling very insignificant – in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you…He will life you up and make your lives significant” … Restoration in forgiving love. As with Numbers 5, the process is painful…but necessary. CAUTION: Confession of details of sin to others who are not a part of the solution or consequence.
Examine your heart and acknowledge if you are harboring suspicions or jealousy toward a spouse, a friend or family member? The place to begin is by talking to the Lord, confess your wrong attitude and appropriate His forgiveness. Confrontation of another involved must be in love with a clean and pure heart. It will not be pleasant, but when the alternative is simmering bitterness and broken fellowship, wouldn’t you agree that God’s way is best?
Nazirite = denotes generally one who is separated from others and consecrated to God. It would seem that although not mentioned before Samson, it existed before the time of Moses. There were three things involved: 1. Abstinence from wine and strong drink (or any fruit of the vine); 2. Refraining from cutting the hair off the head during the whole period of the continuance of the vow 3. The avoidance of contact with the dead.
No Wine, haircuts or corpses allowed! The requirements of the Nazirite vow might seem strange unless understood in their symbolic sense. Wine symbolized comfort and enjoyment. Death represented defilement. Long hair stood for God-given strength and dignity. By avoiding the former and maintaining the latter, the Nazirite declared his total devotion to God.
It seems that Paul made have made the Nazarite vow. As to the duration of a Nazarite’s vow, everyone was left at liberty to fix his own time. There is mention made in Scripture of only three who were Nazarites for life: Samson, Samuel and John the Baptist (Judges 13:4-5; I Samuel 1:11; Luke 1:15).