Bamidbar (Numbers)
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Meaning
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Day Three
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Haftara
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B'rit Hadashah
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1 Our Father, we receive Your Words and hide Your commandments with us; 2 we incline our ear unto wisdom, and apply our hearts to understanding; 3 We cry after knowledge and lift up our voices for understanding; 4 we seek it as silver; and search for it as for hidden treasures; 5 We declare that we shall understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. Declaration of Proverbs 2:1-5
Numbers 2:33-3:13 (NASB)1
33 The Levites, however, were not numbered among the sons of Israel, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 34 Thus the sons of Israel did; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, every one by his family according to his father’s household.
3 1 Now these are the records of the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 These then are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests. 4 But Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD when they offered strange fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of their father Aaron. 5 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 7 They shall perform the duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. 8 They shall also keep all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, along with the duties of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. 9 You shall thus give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the sons of Israel. 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death.”11 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. 13 For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the LORD.”
3 1 Now these are the records of the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 These then are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests. 4 But Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD when they offered strange fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of their father Aaron. 5 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 7 They shall perform the duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. 8 They shall also keep all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, along with the duties of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. 9 You shall thus give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the sons of Israel. 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death.”11 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. 13 For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the LORD.”
Isn’t it interesting that every once in a while, the Scripture interjects into the middle of history a little genealogy? This carries right through to the B’rit Hadashah where you will find two large genealogies. There is one in the opening chapter of Matthew and the other is contained in the third chapter of Luke. Some complain that they aren’t complete and that some of the names are spelled differently, so take a shot at their veracity, but I’ve always thought that they’re similar enough to prove their own. After all, any genealogist will tell you that in many family trees, the reason why some hit “brick walls” when searching for particular people is because of several factors. Here is one example from my tree. A person might have been christened Regina Mary Solomon for instance. Yet, all her life, people knew her as Mamie. So if one isn’t aware of another name in usage, then one can think that there is a big “hole” in a family tree.
On many census records, the spelling of a name was consistent with the cultural background of the census taker. The English version of Mary would suddenly surface on a census as “Marie” because the census taker was French. Another explanation is that the name would be spelled as the census taker heard it. That could make for some strange names, spelled phonetically and differently than the original. Some folks might deliberately obfuscate information by not revealing the name of a father or mother for some personal reason—another problem I’ve hit upon in my personal investigations. Similarly, in many families, there’s plenty of mystery.
The statement here “the generations of Aaron and Moses” follows with the sons of Aaron but no mention of the sons of Moses. What is up with that? Perhaps it was because the sons of Moses faded into history a lot sooner than those of Aaron. Had God not chosen the Levites (the tribal origins of Moses and Aaron) over the firstborn sons, then it would have logically followed that the firstborn sons of both Aaron and Moses would have formed the foundation of the priesthood. But because of the zeal of the sons of Levi, they were taken in place of the firstborn sons whose traditional position in the family was from Strong’s:
“1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc.”
So one could postulate that in the deaths of all the firstborn in Egypt, the human tradition of these sons whose position it was to carry on the family name and leadership may have been discarded by God—and He would provide a substitute. After all, the firstborn, the male first fruits of the womb were His anyway.
12 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; 13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD. Numbers 3:12-13.
The sons of Moses held some important positions in the administration of the temple in the generations following.
14 Now concerning Moses the man of God, his sons were named of the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses were, Gershom, and Eliezer. 16 Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief. 1 Chronicles 23:14-16.
24 And Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was ruler of the treasures. 25 And his brethren by Eliezer; Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomith his son. 26 Which Shelomith and his brethren were over all the treasures of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the chief fathers, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the host, had dedicated. 27 Out of the spoils won in battles did they dedicate to maintain the house of the LORD. 1 Chronicles 26:24-27.
John Wesley said of Moses—that he had learned to be humble in the years of being a shepherd to such an extent that it never seemed to bother him that his sons were not given as high a position as that of his brother Aaron. I made the connection between the naming of Gershom and realized that not only did Moses name him for his standing at the time that he had him, but also, Gershom was a family name. No doubt Moses could have named him for his great uncle Gershom, who was a son of Levi. He became Moses the family man—Moses of Israel—Moses the great nephew. It was not until Torah study on a consistent daily basis that I learned of the many dimensions of this hero and finally understood that Moses was made of no different stuff than we all are, and that we can accomplish as much as he did if we only be as obedient as he was. It wasn’t that Moses was so much higher or better than we are—it's that he was obedient to his Father God! We cannot accomplish the feats of Moses—we don’t have to do so—but there are many other things that we can accomplish that may seem trivial to us but against the backdrop of eternity they might mean a lot to God!
If Vayikra was the manual for the priests, then this book, “in the wilderness”, is certainly one that specifically deals with the organization of Israel as a nation under God. These are the beginning of the generations that served Yahweh as priests and Levites of the tabernacle. In the very beginning, The Almighty picked out a man and promised him a family. Before the flood, it was the selection of a man and his family that would take mankind through the flood. Then later still, when the nation of Israel was nurtured inside the twelve sons of Jacob and were in danger of starving to death, Joseph and his family led their brethren into Egypt and out of starvation. And now Moses and his family had taken them out of Egypt and were forming the cornerstone of the nation of Israel through the priesthood. The Levites, into whose tribe Moses and Aaron were born formed the priestly tribe serving in the tabernacle and they alone would care for the furnishings and do all the priestly duties to serve their fellow eleven tribes and their God.
Here is a whole tribe out of Israel that is lifted as ‘an offering to God’ to serve in the holy things of the congregation. They would not have occupations as the others in Israel would, but their duties as priests would be their occupation. The very mundane things like carrying ashes, cleaning the grates of the altar in the courtyard, and portering the furnishings of the Tabernacle when they were on the move became elevated to sacred duties. That is the way of God. We often think of things we do daily as mundane and unimportant and yet put in a different light we can view these same things as sacred acts when performed in the spirit of worship, and they become much more than routine and unimportant. The volume of commentary from which I took the excerpt below was prepared by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown and published in 1871. The Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible is in the public domain and may be freely used and distributed.
“The consecration of this tribe did not originate in the legislative wisdom of Moses, but in the special appointment of God, who chose them as substitutes for the first-born. By an appointment made in memory of the last solemn judgment on Egypt (from which the Israelitish households were miraculously exempt) all the first-born were consecrated to God ( Exodus 13:12 , 22:29 ), who thus, under peculiar circumstances, seemed to adopt the patriarchal usage of appointing the oldest to act as the priest of the family. But the privilege of redemption that was allowed the first-born opened the way for a change; and accordingly, on the full organization of the Mosaic economy, the administration of sacred things formerly committed to the first-born was transferred from them to the Levites, who received that honor partly as a tribute to Moses and Aaron, partly because this tribe had distinguished themselves by their zeal in the affair of the golden calf ( Exodus 32:29 ), and also because, being the smallest of the tribes, they could ill find suitable employment and support in the the designation of a special class for the sacred offices of religion was a wise arrangement; for, on their settlement in Canaan, the people would be so occupied that they might not be at leisure to wait on the service of the sanctuary, and sacred things might, from various causes, fall into neglect. But the appointment of an entire tribe to the divine service ensured the regular performance of the rites of religion.”
And so we see God putting into place at this time in the story, the underpinning, as it were for the religious aspect of the nation of Israel. Let it be noted also that God meant for the Levites alone to be the support for Aaron and his sons. The KJV renders what the NASB calls “layman” as a “stranger”. The original Hebrew for a stranger is זוּר zûwr, zoor a primitive root; to turn aside (especially for lodging); hence to be a foreigner, strange, profane; specifically (active participle) to commit adultery:—(come from) another (man, place), fanner, go away, (e-) strange(-r, thing, woman). Verb. The KJV translators seemed to be using a rather modern term and yet they performed this translation in the years leading up to 1611 when it was published. Anyone who was not a son of Levi was considered by God a stranger, an alien, and even a profane man. God’s order was to be respected and let no man be arrogant enough to think that he should change it! There is a story of one man named Korah who ventured forth to do so, and we’ll come across him by and by.
In the last portion of the gospel of John chapter one, you’ll see a similar thing when Messiah called forth those who would be the direct support workers for Him. These men would realize and invite their closest friends and relatives to realize that same truth. They were more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees because they correctly connected Moses and the prophets with the one they said would come. These twelve men would be looked upon by those same scribes and Pharisees as country bumpkins and of little account, and yet, their obedience changed the world!
On many census records, the spelling of a name was consistent with the cultural background of the census taker. The English version of Mary would suddenly surface on a census as “Marie” because the census taker was French. Another explanation is that the name would be spelled as the census taker heard it. That could make for some strange names, spelled phonetically and differently than the original. Some folks might deliberately obfuscate information by not revealing the name of a father or mother for some personal reason—another problem I’ve hit upon in my personal investigations. Similarly, in many families, there’s plenty of mystery.
The statement here “the generations of Aaron and Moses” follows with the sons of Aaron but no mention of the sons of Moses. What is up with that? Perhaps it was because the sons of Moses faded into history a lot sooner than those of Aaron. Had God not chosen the Levites (the tribal origins of Moses and Aaron) over the firstborn sons, then it would have logically followed that the firstborn sons of both Aaron and Moses would have formed the foundation of the priesthood. But because of the zeal of the sons of Levi, they were taken in place of the firstborn sons whose traditional position in the family was from Strong’s:
“1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc.”
So one could postulate that in the deaths of all the firstborn in Egypt, the human tradition of these sons whose position it was to carry on the family name and leadership may have been discarded by God—and He would provide a substitute. After all, the firstborn, the male first fruits of the womb were His anyway.
12 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; 13 Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD. Numbers 3:12-13.
The sons of Moses held some important positions in the administration of the temple in the generations following.
14 Now concerning Moses the man of God, his sons were named of the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses were, Gershom, and Eliezer. 16 Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief. 1 Chronicles 23:14-16.
24 And Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was ruler of the treasures. 25 And his brethren by Eliezer; Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomith his son. 26 Which Shelomith and his brethren were over all the treasures of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the chief fathers, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the host, had dedicated. 27 Out of the spoils won in battles did they dedicate to maintain the house of the LORD. 1 Chronicles 26:24-27.
John Wesley said of Moses—that he had learned to be humble in the years of being a shepherd to such an extent that it never seemed to bother him that his sons were not given as high a position as that of his brother Aaron. I made the connection between the naming of Gershom and realized that not only did Moses name him for his standing at the time that he had him, but also, Gershom was a family name. No doubt Moses could have named him for his great uncle Gershom, who was a son of Levi. He became Moses the family man—Moses of Israel—Moses the great nephew. It was not until Torah study on a consistent daily basis that I learned of the many dimensions of this hero and finally understood that Moses was made of no different stuff than we all are, and that we can accomplish as much as he did if we only be as obedient as he was. It wasn’t that Moses was so much higher or better than we are—it's that he was obedient to his Father God! We cannot accomplish the feats of Moses—we don’t have to do so—but there are many other things that we can accomplish that may seem trivial to us but against the backdrop of eternity they might mean a lot to God!
If Vayikra was the manual for the priests, then this book, “in the wilderness”, is certainly one that specifically deals with the organization of Israel as a nation under God. These are the beginning of the generations that served Yahweh as priests and Levites of the tabernacle. In the very beginning, The Almighty picked out a man and promised him a family. Before the flood, it was the selection of a man and his family that would take mankind through the flood. Then later still, when the nation of Israel was nurtured inside the twelve sons of Jacob and were in danger of starving to death, Joseph and his family led their brethren into Egypt and out of starvation. And now Moses and his family had taken them out of Egypt and were forming the cornerstone of the nation of Israel through the priesthood. The Levites, into whose tribe Moses and Aaron were born formed the priestly tribe serving in the tabernacle and they alone would care for the furnishings and do all the priestly duties to serve their fellow eleven tribes and their God.
Here is a whole tribe out of Israel that is lifted as ‘an offering to God’ to serve in the holy things of the congregation. They would not have occupations as the others in Israel would, but their duties as priests would be their occupation. The very mundane things like carrying ashes, cleaning the grates of the altar in the courtyard, and portering the furnishings of the Tabernacle when they were on the move became elevated to sacred duties. That is the way of God. We often think of things we do daily as mundane and unimportant and yet put in a different light we can view these same things as sacred acts when performed in the spirit of worship, and they become much more than routine and unimportant. The volume of commentary from which I took the excerpt below was prepared by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown and published in 1871. The Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible is in the public domain and may be freely used and distributed.
“The consecration of this tribe did not originate in the legislative wisdom of Moses, but in the special appointment of God, who chose them as substitutes for the first-born. By an appointment made in memory of the last solemn judgment on Egypt (from which the Israelitish households were miraculously exempt) all the first-born were consecrated to God ( Exodus 13:12 , 22:29 ), who thus, under peculiar circumstances, seemed to adopt the patriarchal usage of appointing the oldest to act as the priest of the family. But the privilege of redemption that was allowed the first-born opened the way for a change; and accordingly, on the full organization of the Mosaic economy, the administration of sacred things formerly committed to the first-born was transferred from them to the Levites, who received that honor partly as a tribute to Moses and Aaron, partly because this tribe had distinguished themselves by their zeal in the affair of the golden calf ( Exodus 32:29 ), and also because, being the smallest of the tribes, they could ill find suitable employment and support in the the designation of a special class for the sacred offices of religion was a wise arrangement; for, on their settlement in Canaan, the people would be so occupied that they might not be at leisure to wait on the service of the sanctuary, and sacred things might, from various causes, fall into neglect. But the appointment of an entire tribe to the divine service ensured the regular performance of the rites of religion.”
And so we see God putting into place at this time in the story, the underpinning, as it were for the religious aspect of the nation of Israel. Let it be noted also that God meant for the Levites alone to be the support for Aaron and his sons. The KJV renders what the NASB calls “layman” as a “stranger”. The original Hebrew for a stranger is זוּר zûwr, zoor a primitive root; to turn aside (especially for lodging); hence to be a foreigner, strange, profane; specifically (active participle) to commit adultery:—(come from) another (man, place), fanner, go away, (e-) strange(-r, thing, woman). Verb. The KJV translators seemed to be using a rather modern term and yet they performed this translation in the years leading up to 1611 when it was published. Anyone who was not a son of Levi was considered by God a stranger, an alien, and even a profane man. God’s order was to be respected and let no man be arrogant enough to think that he should change it! There is a story of one man named Korah who ventured forth to do so, and we’ll come across him by and by.
In the last portion of the gospel of John chapter one, you’ll see a similar thing when Messiah called forth those who would be the direct support workers for Him. These men would realize and invite their closest friends and relatives to realize that same truth. They were more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees because they correctly connected Moses and the prophets with the one they said would come. These twelve men would be looked upon by those same scribes and Pharisees as country bumpkins and of little account, and yet, their obedience changed the world!
40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ [The Anointed]. John 1:40-41.
44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. John 1:44-45.
44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. John 1:44-45.
1 NASB www.lockman.org for daily reading and KJV in commentary unless otherwise specified
*The Torah and Haftara chapter/verse numbering taken from the Hebrew Bible (Christian-published chapter/verse numbering indicated within parenthesis)
*The Torah and Haftara chapter/verse numbering taken from the Hebrew Bible (Christian-published chapter/verse numbering indicated within parenthesis)
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