Today we can't even get agreement between two parties often; but God settled 12 of them.

Numbers Chapter 34: Canaan’s Borders are Specified by God; Officials Named to Apportion the Inheritance to the Sons of Israel

(Courtesy of ConformingtoJesus.com)

 

Intro to Numbers 34:1-29

Day 92. Nothing new to report on the Covid-19 front. Some are fearing a second wave on its way; others think it’s still the tail end of the first. Toronto remains in Phase 1 of Re-opening, but with a little gas in your car, you can drive just north of the City and get your hair cut. (Men only; women, I’m told, would rather wait than switch.) We press on with our study of Numbers. In this chapter (Numbers 34), God tells Moses the exact extend of the Promised Land and its southern, western, northern, and eastern borders. Pretty simple really, but no, everybody and their uncle since 1947 when Israel became a state again, somebody has tried to change the boundaries still. Let’s take a closer look.

The Passage

Verses 1-5 describe the southern border.
Verse 6 describes the western border.

Verses 7-9, the northern border.
Verses 10-12, the eastern border.

In verses 13-15, Moses says this land was to be the inheritance for 9.5 tribes as the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh got their inheritance on the other side of the Jordan earlier.

Verses 16-29 tell that in charge of this division of property would be Eleazar the high priest and Joshua. They would have ten men (one from each of the 9.5 tribes) helping them out.

Thoughts on the Passage

The first thing I notice here is that we had 12 tribes (but 13 groups since the tribe of Joseph was two half-tribes). Two and a half tribes (or 3 groups) got their land east of the Jordan. The tribe of Levi gets no land as they are the priesthood. That would leave 9.5 groups to get the land west of the Jordan, which agrees with verse 13 of this chapter.

However, one of those groups that got their land earlier, east of the Jordan was that of Manasseh.  Yet that group has a leader appointed (see verse 23) to assist in this division of property.

Robert Jamieson says that the appointee was from the “western segment of the half-tribe of Manasseh – applying that some of Manasseh’s tribe did decide to reside in the Promised Land. And when we check the majority of the maps describing that period of time, we find that Manasseh’s tribe did indeed reside on both sides of the Jordan – some stayed in the old land of the Moabites and some went into the Promised Land.

Also, we would note that as Jamieson writes, “The names are mentioned in the exact order in which the tribes obtained possession of the land, and according to brotherly connection.”

Also, take a look at verse 5 – the reference there is to “the brook of Egypt”. David Guzik says: “There is some debate about the identity of the Brook of Egypt; is it the Nile river, or a smaller stream towards the south? This would determine whether or not God gave the greater Sinai region to Israel as part of the Promised Land.”  Most maps show the “brook or the river of Egypt” to cut through modern-day Egypt – but clearly the Israelites didn’t claim that in 1947.

Wrap-up

At first, I had to do some real mathematical gymnastics to make the events and numbers of chapter 32 balance with those of this chapter. The ‘snag’ for me was that Manasseh’s half-tribe had one might say a split-personality.

God, the Hero of every chapter of the Bible, indeed kept His Word and gave land, in accordance to their size, and I would imagine, what was already there, to each of the tribes that wanted to cross over Jordan and enter the Promised Land.

He was even generous enough to allows some tribes (Reuben, Gad, and half of the half-tribe of Manasseh) to not end up in the Promised Land, and going even further, He allowed Manasseh’s half-tribe to be split into two again, so that some crossed over Jordan and some didn’t. This is the accommodating character of God to give His children what He possibly could, while at the same time, ensuring that His divine plan for us is being fulfilled.

We serve an amazing God.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

God's take on Social Order w.r.t. prostitution, sabbaths, new agers, elderly, strangers, and business dealings.

Leviticus 19:29-37 – Social Order Basics Part V – Miscellaneous Commands

Free at last. Our self-quarantine period is over. Or is it? The government has asked us to stay home for another month at least. So, we meet with our small groups online and we read the paper, watch the news, do crossword puzzles, play some Scrabble. And we continue to study our Bible, which by the way seems to always have this unique ability to say something about today’s global circumstances. Read on.

The Passage

²⁹ ‘Do not profane your daughter by making her a harlot, so that the land will not fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness. ³⁰ You shall keep My sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am the Lord.

³¹ ‘Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

³² ‘You shall rise up before the gray-headed and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.

³³ ‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.³⁴ The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

³⁵ ‘You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or capacity.³⁶ You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah (approx. one bushel), and a just hin (approx. one gallon); I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. ³⁷ You shall thus observe all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them; I am the Lord.’”

Thoughts on the Passage

This passage has some commands that hopefully many of us will not ever need, but that does not mean there aren’t those who need them. The first command here in verse 29 is one of those. God is opposed to the child sex trade (and the entire sex trade for that matter). Exploiting children and adults in that way is to profane them (that is, it is to treat them with disrespect, or irreverence; it pushes them into things which are not sacred as it desecrates their body which is a holy temple of God). The result God says is harlotry (read that as prostitution; others translate it as profligacy or the reckless extravagance or wastefulness in the use of resources). And when we do that, God continues and says, the whole land we dwell in becomes full of lewdness (the quality of being very sexual or lustful in an offensive way, an example of which is asking people for sexual favors on the streets). Do you ever feel that our land has become ‘full of lewdness’? David Guzuk reminds us that this order stemmed from the practice in the old days, especially in Egypt when men gave their daughters as ritual prostitutes at a pagan temple.

In the next verse (30), God reminds us to keep His sabbaths and revere His sanctuary because He is the Lord. Keeping His sabbaths in the way that most of us have been accustomed to (by going to church) has become impossible recently, even forbidden in some cases, but there are other ways to keep God’s sabbath. The point is that we need to do ‘something’ different on that day. Normally, we are to ‘rest’ on that day. But now, resting is what we do almost every day. So, now, we may need to either think of all our days as sabbaths (not what God had in mind even during Covid-19) or come up with other ways of worshipping on our sabbaths – more prayer, more singing, more praising.  And the sanctuary of God (in this case a physical place where we may normally go to meet with God) may take on a difference location, size, or shape – it may be our ‘closet’ or our den or our office.

In verse 31, we are forbidden to turn to mediums or spiritists (maybe today the better word is ‘spiritualist’). God says, you choose them, and you lose. You will be defiled. Period. So many so-called Christians live their lives with one foot grounded in the faith and the other grounded in the ‘new age’ lifestyle, running to check to their horoscopes or to get their fortune read. God says ‘no’.

Then comes verse 32 where God is speaking to those who are not “gray-headed” or “aged”.  So, at my age, that’s not me, although I suppose if there were older people in the house, it would be me. But listen to what he says to those that are younger. He says first, get up earlier than those that are older than you. I’m so blessed to be able to sleep in these days, to be awakened by my daughter making coffee in the kitchen. Now if only we can get the grandkids following in their mother’s footsteps, that would be really nice. Although I must admit, it does happen that they do beat everyone up at least once a year (on Christmas morning). And secondly, God says, honor those that are older. Each one of us can find ways to do that, so we’ll leave that up to your imagination and your circumstances. The point is that God says we are to do those two things because by doing so, we “revere [our] God” for “[He is] the Lord”. And that ‘revere’ does not mean that we do it because we ‘fear’ our God. No, it means we do it because we want to show that we feel deep respect or admiration for Him. We do it because we love Him.

Then God tells us again we are to do no wrong to any stranger we come across. Strangers who live ‘with us’ are to be like those who belong there. And we are to treat them with love. God told the Israelites they were to do this because they once were ‘aliens’ in Egypt. We are to do it because, He adds, He is the Lord our God. What is interesting here is that the strangers in our land need to be viewed as ‘natives’ among us. I don’t know about others, and I can’t definitely speak for God, but to me that means we are to treat them no different than we would treat our own people. The question arises what is our responsibility to those who come to our land and don’t want to be like us and start demanding that they be treated differently? Perhaps that is best left for another topic, another day. But clearly, the Word here is clear – treat strangers in our land the same way as you treat natives. So, yes, give them all the rights of citizens of the land, but don’t change those rights or add to them, just to please them.

Finally, in verses 35 and 36 God tells we are not to cheat anyone in our business dealings. Establish your rules of operation and stick to them. Don’t take advantage of the weak or foolish. Judge fairly, pay fairly, treat fairly.

All these things God says will allow society to exist within a desired social order. Why do these things work? Because He is God who created us to operate in this way. And we follow His commands, because He is ‘the’ Lord and He is ‘our’ Lord. Now, if He isn’t ‘your’ Lord, well, you’re excused, but at your own peril, as the world is finding out, not just now through this Covid-19 experience, but since the beginning of man’s history.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Joseph’s Brothers Agree To Grave Consequences If Found Guilty - Genesis 44:9-10

“With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”  So he said, “Now let it also be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and the rest of you shall be innocent.”

So sure were the brothers of their honesty and the false accusation against them that they offered to have any one of them with whom Joseph’s cup was found to be put to death and the rest of them would serve Joseph or perhaps his house steward as slaves.  Clearly this was an instantaneous and emotional reaction to the accusation.  They did not think of the consequences if this ‘one’ they thought did not exist ended up being their father’s youngest child, Benjamin.  So sure were they of their innocence that they didn’t stop to think of what would happen to their father Jacob and to their own families if they all had to serve Joseph or his steward as slaves.

To be fair though, their willingness to include themselves in the potential penalty were this accusation proven to be true does indicate their ownership of any such potential crime, not to mention the unity of the brothers at this point in time.  Clearly they were acting as one.

But let us also consider the steward’s response to their offer before we arrive at any guidance for living this portion of scripture may provide us.  The steward indicated that there should indeed be a penalty if the accusation was true, but he makes some major changes.  First, the one who is guilty would not die, but only serve the steward as a slave.  Second, the rest of them would not be his or Joseph’s slaves, but will be deemed innocent and free to go on their way home.  Were these the words of a kind and gentle steward or did they come from the mouth of one who knew the truth and wanted to be fair?  I suggest both.  The steward was surely in on his master’s plan for having the brothers being falsely accused, though he may not have known the exact reasoning behind it.  Keep in mind that to our knowledge, Joseph had not indicated what the penalty should have been when the cup was to be found in the youngest brother’s sack.  So the steward had lots of leeway as to what punishment he may have required of the guilty party. Nevertheless, he had to walk a fine line between forgiveness and unnecessary harshness, as he was both responsible to his master and his own conscious.

So, what are indeed the lessons for us from these two verses?  I think there is a reminder to check our emotions before we quickly offer an extreme sentence on ourselves if we were found guilty, even if we believed we were totally innocent.  What we do not know is that sometimes our enemies may actually frame us.  They may set a trap that will indeed ensnare us without our knowledge, just as the brothers experienced in this case.  That does not mean that we should not be totally relying on God to prove us innocent, but it does mean that we should utilize the ability to think and the wisdom He has given us to be reasonable in how we offer to make recompense in the event we are entangled in an ugly web of the enemy.

Second, when more than just we alone are party to an event, even though only one of us is being accused of the actual wrongdoing, do we stand with that person?  Are we united as a group?  Can every one in the group count on us?  Or do we run for the nearest exit?  This past week a police officer in our area was killed when a car driven by an unlicensed 15-year old driver with at least three other passengers, ran him down.  It will be interesting to see if those passengers take any ownership for what happened or whether they claim they were just innocent onlookers to an unfortunate act of the driver.  When it comes to matters involving your church, do you stand with those that you have been a part of when times were good, or do you run away when times are tough?  Yes, there is honor among thieves as the old adage goes, but there should also be ‘trust and reliance’ among true brothers and friends.

There is also something we can gain from the chief steward.  He had every opportunity to accept the terms of consequence suggested by the brothers if they were guilty, but he did not.  They were too extravagant and did not fit the potential crime.  The consequences to the men and their families and their father would have been too great and he understood that, as he too may have been a family man.  Put another way, there was no need to extract that extra ounce of blood from this stone.  Do we know when we have been offered more than enough in exchange for a wrong done to us?  Do we know when to say, “look it’s okay; you’ve done enough; thank you; I’m fine”?  Recently I had the misfortune of bumping into the back of someone’s car with my own vehicle.  Regardless of the circumstances of how it happened, the legal error would fall on me.  The driver involved, for his own reasons, did not want this to go through his insurance company.  I agreed and offered him a certain amount that more than covered his damages.  Graciously he said, “This happened to me before and I was able to fix the similar damage for half that amount.  Just give me half of it and I will be very satisfied.”  Are you willing to do that when it comes to others making good for the damage they’ve caused in your life?  I hope we all are.

 

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Will It Be An Eye for An Eye In Israel When It Comes To Prisoners?

There's nothing fair about love and nothing really fair about war. So the saying goes. And this story shows the latter.

First, it's an interesting story to see how prisoners of party A are treated by party B and vice-versa. Secondly, it will be an interesting story to follow as to whether party B will start treating party A prisoners the way party B's prisoners are treated by party A. If you follow all that, you're good. The article should help you clear it all up in your mind.

Should Israel adopt these pieces of legislation? If they do, they certainly won't be leading by example. If they do, they'll have a lot to answer for to many in Israel who may not be so "turn the other cheek" oriented.

Take a look and you tell us.

Schalit Bill to come one step closer to legislation

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.