Thoughts

Introduction

The book of Numbers is titled “In the Wilderness” in Hebrew, and that is really what the book is about. The previous book, Leviticus, told the story of the Hebrew people in the year after God, through Moses, led them out of Egyptian bondage. It covered just a year. Numbers covers the more than thirty-eight years they were in the wilderness.

Take A Count

In chapter 1, God instructs Moses to take a census of all the men twenty years old and older, who were able to go to war.. God was taking the children of Israel to Canaan, the Promised Land. People were already in the land, and they were going to have to take the land, so Moses needed to know how many fighting men they had. Once the census was taken, Moses knew how many men there were, and in what tribe and what families.

After taking the census, Moses organized the people by tribe and family, with leaders being named.

Note that the priestly tribe, Levi, was not counted in this census, the one that counted the potential soldiers. 

You Go Here

In chapter 2, the arrangement of the camps was described. The Tabernacle was in the center, with the twelve tribes around it, arranged according to God’s instructions. They camped around four banners: a lion, a man, a calf and an eagle. Guess what. In the book of Revelation chapter 4, verse 7, there are four creatures surrounding the throne of God. The same creatures: a lion, a man, a calf and an eagle. 

Take A Different Count

In chapter 3, the Levites are counted, but not as the other tribes. In this census, the males a month old and above were counted. After the census, the Levite families were given their duties.

I like what the great preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon said about the Levitical division of priestly duties: “It is worthy of note that these Levites, although they were all equally consecrated to God, had not all exactly the same work to perform. God is not the God of all uniformity. There is a wondrous unity of plan and design in all that he does, but there is also an equally marvelous variety.” 

Chapter 4 continued describing the duties of the Levitical families.

Go Out There

In chapter 5, the Lord began to deal with the effects of sin among the people that He was preparing for the journey to Canaan. He told Moses to send people who were unclean, the lepers, those who had a discharge, and those who had touched a dead body out of the camp. Each of these conditions is a reminder of what sin does.

Why did this have to be done? Remember what God is doing with His people. He is preparing them to go into the Promised Land. He wanted to remind them that they must separate themselves from sin in order to accomplish this task. 

Notice also that in giving this command, He said, “send them away so that the camp where I am living among you will not be made unclean.” God would not dwell where sin’s effects were there. 

The Lord gave Moses instructions on confessing sin and making restitution, and He had a lot to say about how to deal with jealous husbands and their wives. 

He Said She Said

Jealousy, whether founded or not, can destroy a marriage. God’s instructions, when carried out, would reveal the guilt or innocence of the wife. The truth, once revealed, would then allow the husband and wife to take appropriate actions. It is clear that God does not want husbands and wives to endure the turmoil that jealousy brings. 

And since it appears that the ceremony seems to be a public, this was another way for the Lord to teach the people about staying faithful. To each other and to God.

It Ain’t All The Same

Please note that there are different kinds of jealousy. Remember, God says, “I am a jealous God.”

If my neighbor gets a shiny new sports car, and I’m jealous because he got it instead of me, that’s sin. I am coveting. 

If my neighbor is flirting with my wife, the jealousy I might feel is because he has no right to flirt with her. She is my wife. Only I have the right to flirt with her. 

If I give my worship to someone or something other than God, He is jealous, because only God is worthy of worship.

So being jealous for something that rightly belongs to you is right, but being jealous for something that does not belong to you is wrong. 

So this passage in Numbers dealing with a husband’s jealousy shows how they were to determine whether the jealousy was right or wrong, and as I said, they could deal with the consequences from there. 

Don’t Assume

One last thing. The fact that jealous wives’ jealousy about suspected infidelities of husbands was not addressed does not necessarily mean that it never happened or that husbands got a free pass. It is entirely possible that this sort of ceremony could be employed in this case.

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 40-41 NIV, Ch. 42-43 ERV

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