Numbers 36

⁵³ God has also ordained different levels of authority within the Christian church. Although all Christians are saints and equally beloved by God, He has appointed some to be apostles,some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11). And we are commanded to submit to the authority of these leaders (Hebrews 13:17).

⁵⁴ The censers were shovel-like implements used for burning incense (see Exodus 30:1–10,34–38).

⁵⁵ The burning of incense before the Lord could be done only by proper priests, descendants of Aaron. Thus Korah and his followers were defiantly opposing God’s laws. Had they forgotten what happened to Nadab and Abihu who had offered unauthorized incense—and they had even been Aaron’s sons? (Leviticus 10:1–2).

⁵⁶ In verse 14, the expression gouge out the eyes means any kind of torture. In this case, Dathan and Abiram could also have meant that Moses wanted to “blind” his enemies to keep them from seeing his “evil deeds.”

⁵⁷ When Aaron and his sons were beginning their priestly ministry, the glory of the LORD appeared to the people, so they might know that the Lord Himself had appointed Aaron and his descendants to the priesthood (Leviticus 9:23–24). Now a second time the glory of the Lord appeared, this time to confirm His chosen priests and to destroy those who would oppose them.

⁵⁸ The line of Korah did not die out; evidently one or more sons had not been part of the rebellion. Later, the descendants of Korah would become temple singers and would be responsible for writing a number of the psalms. One descendant, who had clearly renounced Korah’s wicked plot to usurp the priesthood from Aaron, wrote these famous words: I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked (Psalm 84:10).

⁵⁹ In verse 1, the Lord says that Aaron, his sons, and his father’s family—that is, the Levites—are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary; and the priests alone are to bear responsibility for offenses against the priesthood. This means that the priests and Levites were to be held responsible not only for offenses committed by themselves but also for those committed by other people. If they allowed any offenses to occur, wrath would fall both on them and on the offender (verses 2–3,5).

⁶⁰ For a discussion of the term ceremonially clean, see Leviticus 11:1; 15:1; Numbers 5:1–4 and comments.

⁶¹ For the meaning of the term devoted to the LORD, see Leviticus 27:28–29 and comment.

⁶² For a fuller discussion of the redemption of the firstborn, see Exodus 13:1–2,11–16; 22:29–30; Numbers 3:11–13,39–51 and comments.

⁶³ In verse 19, the meaning of the term covenant of salt is uncertain. For the connection between salt and covenant, see Leviticus 2:11–13 and comment.

⁶⁴ For a discussion of the terms clean and unclean, see comments on Leviticus 11:1; 15:1.

⁶⁵ There would have been many opportunities to come into contact with a dead body following the plague described in Numbers 16:47–50.

⁶⁶ It is likely that the Israelites used Kadesh (also called Kadesh Barnea) as a base during those thirty-eight empty years, since those years begin and end with the Israelites camped there (Numbers 13:26; 20:1). Kadesh was the main oasis of northeastern Sinai; it lay between the Desert of Paran and the Desert of Zin near the southern border of the promised land.

⁶⁷ The symbolism of the rock can be carried further. Christ only needed to die—to be struck—once; His sacrifice was once for all (Hebrews 9:26–28; 10:10). The water coming from the rock represented the Holy Spirit; Christ had to die in order for the Holy Spirit to be given to us (John 16:7). But now that Christ has died, we no longer have to “strike” Him again to receive additional fillings of the Spirit; all we need to do is to speak to Him, to ask Him, and He will freely give the Spirit to us (Luke 11:13).

⁶⁸ In Hebrew, Meribah means “quarreling.” Massah, the place where Moses first struck the rock, was also called Meribah (Exodus 17:7).

⁶⁹ Edom was the land where Esau and his descendants had settled; it was also called the hill country of Seir (Genesis 36:8–9). Esau was the twin brother of Jacob (Genesis 25:24–26); that is why Moses referred to Israel as “your brother Israel” (verse 14).

⁷⁰ The Canaanites had been under God’s curse ever since the days of Noah (see Genesis 9:20–29 and comment). The many tribes living in Canaan were wicked ungodly people, whom the Lord intended to totally destroy. This had been God’s plan ever since He promised the land to Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 12:6–7). But there had been a delay of over four hundred years, during which time the sin of the Amorites was to reach its peak (Genesis 15:16). The Amorites were the first of the major Canaanite tribes to be conquered by Israel (verses 25,31); their sin was representative of the sin of all the tribes living in Canaan. The Canaanite tribes were to be “totally destroyed,” not merely subjugated.

The Hebrew term totally destroy means to give something completely over to the Lord, often by destroying it. Such a thing is then said to be “devoted” to the Lord. For further discussion on the subject of “devoting” things to the Lord, see Leviticus 27:28–29 and comment.

⁷¹ The place where the major battle was fought was named Hormah, which in Hebrew means “destruction.” There the Israelites completely destroyed the Canaanites from Arad (verse 3).

⁷² The lifting up of the snake in the desert was a foreshadowing (or “type”) of Christ being lifted up on the cross. For further discussion concerning “types” in the Old Testament, see General Article: Types and Predictive Events.

⁷³ Sometimes when a city was “completely destroyed,” the valuable possessions of the inhabitants and also their livestock were saved for the benefit of the Israelites (see Deuteronomy 2:35; Joshua 8:2).

⁷⁴ In verse 29, the Moabites are called the people of Chemosh; Chemosh was the chief god of the Moabites. Now, however, a new God had arrived on the scene: His name was Yahweh, God of Israel!

⁷⁵ According to Deuteronomy 3:1–11, Israel completely destroyed all sixty fortified cities of Bashan, along with their inhabitants (Deuteronomy 3:4–6). Og himself was the last descendant of the Rephaites, an ancient people of very large stature (Genesis 14:5); Og’s bed was thirteen feet (4 meters) long (Deuteronomy 3:11).

⁷⁶ The Moabites were descended from Abraham’s nephew Lot (Genesis 19:36–37). Thus they were “cousins” to the Israelites. Balak’s fears were unfounded; Israel had been forbidden by God to attack Moab (Deuteronomy 2:9).

⁷⁷ Midian was located in a region comprising southeastern Sinai and northwestern Arabia. Moses’ wife Zipporah was a Midianite (Exodus 2:15–21). Moses lived in Midian for forty years before being called by God to lead Israel.

⁷⁸ See comment on Exodus 22:18–20; first footnote to comment on Leviticus 19:26–31.

⁷⁹ Occasionally, however, the words of true prophets were also called oracles (see Zechariah 9:1; 12:1; Malachi 1:1).

⁸⁰ The names Jacob and Israel are used interchangeably as names for the nation of Israel. Israel was the new name that God gave to the patriarch Jacob (Genesis 32:28).

⁸¹ Because God knows everything that will happen in the future, He is never surprised; He never has to change his mind. But He often allows His mind to be “changed” in response to prayer; He invites us to share with Him in the carrying out of His will (see Exodus 32:14 and comment).

⁸² This is the first time in Scripture that God refers to Himself as Israel’s King. Ancient Israel was a theocracy, and the Lord was indeed its King and sovereign Ruler.

⁸³ As Christians, we too are “protected,” but mainly in a spiritual and eternal sense. We may face curses or worse in this life, but our God is with us; He is for us. Paul wrote: If God is for us,who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). We do not need to fear what men might do to us (Matthew 10:28–31).

⁸⁴ It is possible that Agag was a common name for kings of the Amalekites and that Balaam’s reference is to a previous Agag, who was defeated by Joshua soon after the Exodus (Exodus 17:8–13). The Amalekites were perpetual enemies of the Israelites (Numbers 14:45; 1 Samuel 30:1–2,17–18); only in the reign of Hezekiah were they finally destroyed completely (1 Chronicles 4:43).

⁸⁵ In verse 17, the expression sons of Sheth is another name for the Moabites. Hebrew poetry is characterized by the use of couplets, in which the same idea is repeated using different words.

⁸⁶ Seir is another name for Edom, so this too is a matching poetic couplet.

⁸⁷ See comment on verses 3–9 and footnote to comment.

⁸⁸ Baal was the major god of most of the Canaanite tribes; the worship of this god involved fertility rites and sexual orgies. Peor was a mountain in Moab (Numbers 24:28), where Baal was worshiped.

⁸⁹ The Midianites were descended from Midian, Abraham’s son by his second wife Keturah (Genesis 25:1–2).

⁹⁰ For further discussion of the problem of variant names and numbers in the Old Testament, see comment on Exodus 12:40–42 and footnotes to comment.

⁹¹ According to Deuteronomy 32:48–52, the mountain was Mount Nebo, located in Moab just east of the Jordan River across from Jericho, the first Canaanite city to be attacked by the Israelites. From there Moses could see the whole land of Canaan.

The Lord told Moses he would be gathered to his people (verse 13)—one of several expressions meaning “to die.” Moses’ brother Aaron had been taken to the top of Mount Hor, where he died (Numbers 20:22–29); now the same end would come to Moses on top of Mount Nebo.

⁹² There are no capital letters in the Hebrew script, so in verse 18 it is impossible to be sure if the Holy Spirit is meant or not.

⁹³ The Urim and Thummim were two objects that the high priest carried in his breastpiece which aided him in discerning the Lord’s will in doubtful situations (see Exodus 28:15–30 and comment).

⁹⁴ The New Testament was originally written in the Greek language.

⁹⁵ For further discussion of the purpose of the Old Testament laws, see comment on Exodus 20:1; General Article: The Purpose of the Mosaic Law.

⁹⁶ The ordinary sin offering was presented whenever an unintentional sin came to the awareness of the one or ones who had committed the sin (see Leviticus 4:1–35 and comment). This monthly sin offering, however, was to atone for sins that had been committed whether one was aware of them or not; even when there was no awareness, the guilt of sin remained and needed to be atoned for (Leviticus 4:13).

For a reference to other terms in this section, see the following: for burnt offering (verse 11), see Leviticus 1:1–17; for grain offering (verse 12), see Leviticus 2:1–16; for pleasing aroma (verse 13), see verse 1 and comment. An ephah (verse 12) was twenty-two liters; a hin (verse 14) was four liters.

⁹⁷ If one vowed to dedicate something to the Lord—whether land, a house, an animal, or a person– whatever was vowed could be redeemed by the payment of money. The rules for doing so are discussed in Leviticus Chapter 7. The rest of Numbers Chapter 30 deals with the conditions under which women can be released from vows they make.

⁹⁸ In verses 14–15, we see that if a man remains silent, it implies that he has consented to the vow. The same principle can be extended to us today: if we see evil and remain silent, we are, in effect, consenting to it.

⁹⁹ The Midianites were not totally destroyed in this war, because later in Judges Chapters 6–8 we read about them rising up against Israel again. The Midianites were a collection of tribes living in different areas; the ones defeated here were those associated with Moab.

¹⁰⁰ It was just such women who later contributed to the downfall of King Solomon (1 Kings 11:1–6).

¹⁰¹ In verses 1–49, the references for the more important stopping places are listed, beginning in verses 3–4 with the Exodus itself (Exodus 12:29–37): in verses 5–6, Succoth and Etham (Exodus 13:20); in verse 7, Pi Hahiroth (Exodus 14:9); in verse 8, the passage through the sea (Exodus 14:21–22) and arrival at Marah (Exodus 15:22–23); in verse 9, Elim (Exodus 15:27); in verses 14–15, Rephidim and the Desert of Sinai, where the Israelites stayed one year (Exodus 17:1); in verse 16, Kibroth Hattaavah (Numbers 11:34); in verse 17, Hazeroth (Numbers 11:35).

In verses 18–34, there is a succession of names that are unknown. It seems that the Israelites stopped at these sites on their way to Kadesh (verse 36), where they ended up staying for thirty-eight years (Numbers 13:2).

Then in verses 37–49, the journey of the new generation from Kadesh to the plains of Moab is described: in verse 37, the move to Mount Hor (Numbers 20:22); in verses 38–39, the death of Aaron (Numbers 20:27–29); in verse 40, the battle with Arad (Numbers 21:1–3); in verse 47, the mountains of Abarim near Nebo (Numbers 27:12; Deuteronomy 32:48–49); in verses 48–49, the plains of Moab (Numbers 22:1).

¹⁰² The first two of these instructions (verse 52) have been stated elsewhere in various forms (see Exodus 23:23–24,31–33; 34:11–17; Deuteronomy 7:1–6; 12:29–30).

¹⁰³ The high places were man–made mounds that were used for the worship of pagan gods in the ancient Middle East. In Israel’s later history, failure to destroy these high places was a major reason why God sent the Israelites into exile.

¹⁰⁴ The Israelites had already experienced the corrupting influence of godless nations when they were seduced by the Moabite and Midianite women (Numbers 25:1–3; 31:15–16).

¹⁰⁵ The boundaries described in verses 1–15 have several points of interest. In verse 3, the Salt Sea is an alternate name for the Dead Sea. In verse 4, the boundary went south of Kadesh Barnea, where the Israelites had camped for thirty-eight years; they had spent all that time just inside the border of Canaan but could not possess it. In verse 5, the Wadi of Egypt is the same as the river of Egypt mentioned in Genesis 15:18—which was the southwestern boundary of Canaan. In verse 6, the Great Sea is the Mediterranean Sea. In verse 7, the Mount Hor that is mentioned is not the same as the Mount Hor in the south where Aaron died (Numbers 33:37–38). Finally, in verse 11, the Sea of Kinnereth is an alternate name for the Sea of Galilee.

¹⁰⁶ It isn’t known whether non-Levites could also live in these cities. The selection of the cities for the Levites is described in Joshua Chapter 21.

¹⁰⁷ The avenger of blood was also called a “kinsman-redeemer,” the same word in Hebrew (Leviticus 25:48; Ruth 3:13). The idea was that only by shedding the blood of the murderer could one “redeem” the life of the murdered person.