Week # 31 Study Page

Numbers 16-36

About the Book(s)

Numbers

Date of Authorship: Numbers begins by telling us that it is recording words which God spoke to Moses on the first day of the second month of the second year after the exile. By comparing this to Exodus 40:17, it can be determined that the tabernacle has now been set up for one month and the people have been camped at Sinai for nearly a year.

Author: Moses is traditionally considered to be the author of the first five books of the Bible. This is a collection called The Pentateuch and Numbers is the fourth of those five books. There are lines in Numbers that are certainly written or "interpolated" by someone other (later) than Moses. Consider Numbers 12:3 for example.

Purpose: Numbers records the rebellion and punishment of the Israelite people after their departure from Mt. Sinai. Interspersed throughout this account is a continuation of laws for the Israelite society and worship much in the same style as Exodus 20-40 and Leviticus. Numbers gets its name from the census(es) taken in the beginning of the book. Numbers records the toil and strife that God's people suffer as a result of their disobedience of and mistrust towards God, and the gracious deliverance sent by God despite all of that. The censuses, divisions of labor, and lists that seem boring to us, were crucial and invaluable founding documents to God's people.

As You Read Notes

Numbers: 16:13-14: "Milk and Honey"

In this passage, Dathan and Abiram, Moses's opponents, refer to the promised land a "a land flowing with milk and honey." Here, they are angry at Moses for not bringing them into such a land - the type of land which was promised to Moses in Exodus 3:7. This phrase becomes synonymous with the Promised Land in the Bible. The Milk of the promised land was the product of sheep, goats, and cattle, as would be common to the modern reader. However, the honey referred to here is likely not the product of bees which we squeeze from a bear-shaped bottle. It is likely that "honey" here refers to the syrup of dates, as it was a much more common agricultural product in the region of Palestine.

Numbers 19: Cleansing from death

Numbers 19 contains an elaborate set of instructions for how a member of the Israelite community is to be cleansed from contact or even proximity to a corpse. When we read about this ceremony and law it may be tempting to jump straight to the unspoken practical benefit of such an instruction. It is true that limited contact with corpses and communal separation from those who have had contact, would have benefits for disease prevention in this ancient society. It is fair to speculate that health considerations may have factored into God giving this law to Israel. However, that rationale is not mentioned in God's word, we are simply told that this uncleanliness must be purified. This level of avoidance and washing from contact with a corpse is unique. "The biblical purification rituals are perhaps the most detailed of any developed in the ancient near east" (IVP BBC-OT, Walton, Matthews & Chavalas). So why did God institute these rules? In these instructions, the Israelites would know how God felt about death and how contact with it did not belong in the community that enjoyed his presence. Perhaps the particular uncleanliness of death in the system of laws given by God to he Israelites, was to teach us that it has no part in His design or plan for mankind.

Numbers 21: The Bronze Snake

This is a trace of the Nimrud Bowl excavated in Assyria

Because of the Israelites' repeated grumbling against God, they are sent a plague of "venomous snakes." The word that the NIV translates "venomous" could also mean "fiery," "winged," or "darting." God told Moses to make a bronze image of these serpents and put it up on a pole so that the people could be healed. This vague description (the uncertain adjective modifying the serpent here in Numbers) has led to a varying array of depictions of the serpents through history. Interestingly, excavations at Nimrud (an Assyrian royal city) have uncovered an ornate bronze bowl that contains the text of Hebrew names as well as depictions of winged serpents on top of a pole. Many have speculated that this artifact was part of the booty taken by Assyrian King Sennacherib (see passage below). Would you be surprised to learn that the Israelite depiction of this serpent in Numbers 21 included wings?

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace. (2nd Kings 18:13-15)

Numbers 21:14: The "Book of the Wars of the Lord"

a note from the IVP Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament

"In compiling the history and traditions of the conquest, the Biblical writers drew on a variety of sources, both written and oral. Among the written sources was the Book of Jashar (see Joshua 10:13; 2nd Samuel 1:18) and the Book of the Wars of the Lord (here). Based on the three fragments of these documents that appear in the Bible, they were composed primarily of victory songs and tales of the mighty acts of God and the leaders of the Israelites during this formative period. Unfortunately, neither book has survived, but their mention in the Biblical text indicates that the narrative was based, at least in part, on cultural memories.

Numbers 22:4-7: The Midianites

The Midianites are a people living to the east of Edom, southeast of the dead sea. Recall that they, like the Israelites, are descended from Abraham (Genesis 25:106). We see them operating as traders and caravaneers in the story of Joseph (Genesis 37:25-36), and Moses joins the Midianite clan of Jethro after fleeing from Egypt in Exodus 2. Here, in Numbers, the Midianites are allied with the Moabites (recall that the Moabites are descended from Abraham's nephew Lot and his daughter) to oppose the Israelites. Furthermore, Moabites and the Midianites are treated as a singular party in Numbers 25 when both of them send women to entice the Israelite men.

Numbers 22-24: Balaam

In Joshua, Balaam is described as a "soothsayer" (13:22) He is from the region of upper Mesopotamia and, in this account, has an international reputation as a true prophet. Although Balaam uses sacrificial rituals to obtain God's answer, he is not simply a diviner (one who seeks omens, often in the ancient near east this was done through extispicy - the examination of the liver of a sacrificial animal). In each case, Balaam seems to have direct communication with God and then speaks God's word in the form of oracles.

If Balaam is truly a Mesopotamian prophet who has spoken in the name of many gods, it seems unusual that he, here, refers to Yahweh as "the Lord My God" (22:18). It is perfectly possible that Balaam was familiar with the Israelite God, at least by reputation. Or he may always refer to each god he is dealing with in these intimate terms to demonstrate his prophetic authority. Balak's (the Moabite king) interest in Balaam seems to be based on his ability to invoke blessings or curses - no matter which god he calls upon. There is little reason to maintain that Balaam served Yahweh exclusively (IVP BBC-OT)

in 1967, Archaeologists discovered plaster fragments in modern-day Jordan, written in Aramaic, which mention Balaam son of Beor from Numbers and Joshua, and date to 850 BC. the date of these texts indicate that Balaam's notoriety was such that he remained an important prophetic figure for centuries in this region: you can read the reconstructed translation of those fragments here:

http://www.livius.org/sources/content/deir-alla-inscription/

Numbers - Ending

The Israelites forty-year-long period of wandering arrives at its final destination in Numbers 22:1. It has been a long and winding journey with more low-lights than highlights. the Itinerary of their wandering is recounted in Numbers 33 and depicted on this map.
The image of the Israelites spending every day of their 40-year time in the wilderness walking or traveling in circles is a misconception. the route which they traversed could have been accomplished in two or three weeks. They would only travel occasionally and were mostly hunkered down around sources of water, waiting for the period of their punishment to expire. Their journey ends in the plains of Moab near the Abarim mountains, with 15 chapters of Numbers left. Additionally, this location is the site for the instructions of Deuteronomy which we'll read this fall.

One of the first orders of business here is to appoint the next leader of the Israelite people. God selects Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim - one of the two good spies from the account of Numbers 13. We have seen Joshua lead the Israelites in battle (Exodus 17: 9-13), and we have seen him trust God to deliver Israel and lead them into victory (Numbers 14:6-10). When God selects him, he remarks that Joshua has the "spirit of leadership." There is no established political authority over all the tribes except that designated by the Lord. The recognition of the empowerment by the spirit of God becomes the criterion by which political authority is granted by the tribes.

As the Israelites come to the Jordan river, the eastern border of the Promised Land, God outlines the borders of the land promised to them. The borders listed are below on the left. These are not the actual borders of the nation of Israel at any point in its history. The closest that Israel came was during the reign of Solomon as shown below. The Israelites failed to conquer and expel both the Philistines in the south-west, and the Phoenicians in the north-west.

Week 31 Study Page - Numbers 16-36