A Journey through the Bible with Tiglath
22. Numbers Chapter 1 to 9
We are now going to travel through the Book of Numbers - a very interesting
book. It covers the thirty-eight years the Israelites spent wandering in the Sinai
Desert after they had left Egypt and before they entered the Promised Land. It is
interesting to note that of all the men who left Egypt only three are still with us
at the end of this book: Moses who does not enter Canaan and Joshua and Caleb
who do.
Why is it called the Book of
Numbers? Read the first few
chapters and all will be revealed .
In Chapter 1 a census is taken of all
men fit for military service. The
number is recorded as six hundred
and three thousand, five hundred
and fifty. The census was
conducted by Moses and Aaron with
the assistance of the head of the
family from each tribe. Here it may
be useful to list the twelve tribes -Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon,
Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Asher, Gad and Naphtali. You will observe that
although there were twelve tribes only eleven were involved in the census. The
other tribe, the Levites, were given special duties looking after the Tabernacle as
detailed in Chapter 1 verses 48 to 53.
Chapter 2 tells how the Lord wished the
Israelites to lay out their camps, each
under the tribal emblems. The second
part of the chapter details the duties of
the Levites and this continues into
Chapter 4. The number of Levites who
carried out duties before the
Tabernacle was eight thousand, five
hundred and eighty.
Chapter 5 begins by telling us that any Israelite who suffered from a malignant
skin disease or discharge had to be put outside the camp. The chapter then describes the Law of Restitution and the Law concerning 12 jealousy.
Chapter 6 is most interesting because it tells of persons who decide to dedicate
themselves to the Lord. It is said that 'coming events cast their shadows before' and
as these people were called Nazirites which means 'separated or dedicated ones',
we almost get a glimpse of the monks of the Christian era. Chapter 6 is very
detailed in describing how Nazirites should behave.
Chapter 7 contains some very detailed descriptions of how and what offerings were to be brought to the altar. In Chapter 8 we learn how the Levites were consecrated and then in Chapter 9 we learn how the Israelites keep the Passover. You will recall the night in Egypt when the Lord passed over the land killing all the first-born of the Egyptians. The Israelites were spared because they marked their houses in a special way and ate a special meal. This feast is kept by the Jews to the present day. If you turn back to Exodus Chapter 12 it describes, in full detail, the Passover Feast. All it says in Numbers is that it shall be eaten with unleavened cakes and bitter herbs, nothing shall be left over until morning and no bone of it shall be broken.
Chapter 9 concludes with a description of the cloud over the Tabernacle which
led the Israelites across the desert from one camping place to another.
Next month the Israelites leave Sinai and set off into the desert
