Numbers 33

F. FUTURE PROSPECTS IN THE LAND (chapters 26-36).

We now come to the final main section of the book. It will commence with the numbering of Israel, a sign that they were making ready for the final push, and is divided up into rededication and preparations for entering the land (chapters 26-32), and warning and encouragement with respect to it (chapters 33-36). The first section concentrates on the mobilisation and dedication of the people of Yahweh, and the punishment of those who by their behaviour hinder that mobilisation and dedication.

In terms of the overall pattern of the book the first section covers the mobilisation of Israel, the appointment of Joshua on whom was the Spirit and the death of Moses For Sin (chapters 26-27), which compares with the earlier murmuring of Israel, the appointment of elders on whom came the Spirit, and the plague on Miriam because of sin (chapters 11-12). This then followed by the dedication of Israel through Feasts, Offerings and Vows and the purifying of Transjordan through vengeance on the Midianites and settlement of the two and a half Tribes (chapters 28-32) which compares with the purification and dedication of Israel in chapters 5-10.

Analysis of the section.

(I). Preparation for Entering the Land (chapters 26-32).

This can be divided up into:

a Numbering of the tribes for possessing the land (Numbers 26:1-51).

b Instructions concerning division of the land (Numbers 26:52-62).

c Vengeance had been brought on those who had refused to enter the land (Numbers 26:63-65).

d Regulation in respect of land to be inherited by women and others (Numbers 27:1-11).

e Provision of a dedicated shepherd for the people of Israel (Numbers 27:12-23).

e Provision of a dedicated people and future worship in the land (Numbers 28-29).

d Regulation in respect of dedicatory vows made by women and others (Numbers 30:0)

c Vengeance to be obtained on Midian (Numbers 31:1-24).

b Instructions concerning division of the spoils of Midian (Numbers 31:25-54).

a Settlement of the Transjordanian tribes in possessing land (Numbers 32:0).

(II) Warning and Encouragement of The Younger Generation (chapters 33-36).

a Review of the journey from Egypt to the plains of Moab (Numbers 33:1-49).

b Instruction concerning the successful possession of and dividing up of the land in the future (Numbers 33:50 to Numbers 34:15).

c The Leaders who will divide the land for them are appointed (Numbers 34:16-29).

d Provision of cities for the Levites. (Numbers 35:1-5)

d Provision of cities of refuge and prevention of defilement of the land (Numbers 35:6-34).

c The Leaders of the tribe of Manasseh approach Moses about the possible loss of part of their division of the land as a result of the decision about the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 36:1-4).

b Instruction concerning women who inherit land so as to maintain the dividing up of the land which they successfully possess (Numbers 36:5-12)

a Final summary of the book and colophon. The journey is over. They are in the plains of Moab opposite Jericho (Numbers 36:13).

In this section stress is laid on preparation for entering the land.

II). Warning and Encouragement of The Younger Generation (chapters 33-36).

This final section of the book is full of hope, the kind of hope that was in the hearts of Israel when they first mobilised at Sinai. It reiterates the successful journey from Egypt to the plains of Moab, lays out details of how they were to divide the land that they would soon inherit, as the Gadites, Reubenites and half tribe of Manasseh had already done, describes that land in realistic terms as a goal to aim at, appoints the very leaders who will have responsibility for that task, tells them of the necessity to provide cities for the Levites and cities of refuge for the maintenance of the holiness of the land, and brings the whole to a conclusion with the glorious example of the daughters of Zelophehad, demonstrating how their struggle for fair treatment ended in success because of their faithfulness and trust in Yahweh and their final obedience to His commands. This last human interest story, which also carried within it other valuable lessons concerning the guaranteeing of the land to those to whom it would be allotted, would act like a spur to all the people as they sought to copy the trustfulness and obedience of these courageous daughters of Zelophehad. The inspiration that it was comes out in the constant references to it. It had seized the imagination of Israel (Numbers 26:33; Numbers 27:1; Numbers 27:7; Numbers 36:2-11), and was thus seen as a suitable ending for the book.

Analysis of the Section.

a Review of the journey from Egypt to the plains of Moab (Numbers 33:1-49).

b Instruction concerning dividing up the land by lot in the future so that each man has his lot and for the purifying of the land (Numbers 33:50-56).

c Description of the land to be inherited (Numbers 34:1-15).

d The Leaders who will divide the land for them are appointed (Numbers 34:16-29).

e Provision of cities for the Levites. (Numbers 35:1-8)

e Provision of cities of refuge and prevention of defilement of the land (Numbers 35:9-34).

d The Leaders of the tribe of Manasseh approach Moses about the possible loss of part of their division of the land as a result of the decision about the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 36:1-2 a).

c Description of the problem relating to the land inherited by the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 36:2-4).

b Instruction concerning women who inherit land so as to maintain the lot in the dividing up of the land (Numbers 36:5-12)

a Final summary of the book and colophon. The journey is over. They are in the plains of Moab opposite Jericho (Numbers 36:13).

It is quite clear that the book itself sees each of these passages as an encouragement ready for the crossing over into the land. Each of them is a confirmation to them that the conquest will in essence be completed within their lifetime and the lifetime of their leaders. The setting of it in between the journeying to the plain of Moab, and their actually being there stresses the context of the whole. It promises that they will possess a land to divide up after removing those who defile it, describes that land and who will divide it up, guarantees that they will possess sufficient cities to be able to give forty eight to the Levites, and that they will be able to set up Cities of Refuge for the purpose of keeping the land free from defilement, and finally affirms the necessity for each part of the land to remain with the tribe to whom it was allotted, and encourages all by describing how the five women of faith and loyalty, the daughters of Zelophehad, of whom all had now heard, brought their story to a happy ending by fully obeying Yahweh.

This all confirms the purpose of the whole book, encouragement for the battles ahead. If the date of its writing is pushed into the future it loses its main purpose, and we have to ask why some theoretical future writer should have designed it in this way. He would have spent considerable time achieving something that had no significance. It only has significance if the invasion is about to begin.

1). A Review of The Journey From Egypt to the Plains of Moab (Numbers 33:1-49 ).

By its nature this passage is a list of encampments made on the journey from Egypt to the plains of Moab. As a historical travel narrative it could not be patterned chiastically (an evidence for its genuineness), and we are told that it was written down by Moses at Yahweh’s command (compare Exodus 17:14).

The purpose of its placing here was as evidence of how Yahweh had brought them thus far and provided for them in the way, and as confirmation of the certainty that now Yahweh would successfully bring to completion what He had so successfully brought to this point.

The fact that Moses is said to have written it down should not surprise us. In the course of the journey from Egypt Moses had been told by Yahweh to write down historical events related to Yahweh (Exodus 17:14), and we are regularly informed that he had at various times written down God’s instructions (Exodus 24:4; Exodus 34:27; Numbers 33:1-2; Deuteronomy 31:9; Deuteronomy 31:22). Now we also learn that he had written down details of their journeyings. It is clear that Moses was in the habit of writing things down. Thus we can be confident that his writings formed the basis for this book along with the others in the Pentateuch. And that is why we are constantly told that we are reading the words that Yahweh spoke to Moses. Who the collator and scribe was who finalised the books we are not told, but the probable suspicion must lie on Joshua, Moses’ servant, who certainly for a period was restricted to the early tent of meeting (Exodus 33:11) for some unstated purpose. But, however that may be, what follows is specifically said to have been recorded directly by Moses.

The vast majority of the places mentioned in the list are unidentifiable, and in the nature of the case will be for ever unidentifiable. We are not even sure where the Israelites crossed the Reed Sea and which exact direction the children of Israel took. It was known at the time and that was what mattered. What we do know is that they went through the wilderness (in order to throw off any danger of pursuit, and in order to avoid meeting enemies of any size), that the journey to Sinai took the slow moving Israelites two months (Exodus 19:1), and that they ended up in Kadesh in the Negeb Any site which cannot be reached within two months from Egypt at say two to three miles a day at the most (and thus roughly at the most one hundred and eighty miles) must be rejected, and that is without taking into consideration any stops that they made.

Furthermore we must recognise that over a period of three thousand years many changes will have taken place in that wilderness. Wind and weather would slowly change everything. And even the weather itself will have altered to quite some extent. It was probably rainier then. Thus what were once positive signs which could have identified the places would already probably already have begun to exist no longer even by the beginning of the first millennium BC, and we can be sure that by the time of the Exile the wilderness would have looked a very different place. So while Josephus and sources of tradition, coming at or after the end of that millennium, might seem to us to have existed a long time ago (and did), it was at least 1200 years after the death of Moses. That being so it is questionable if any information that they give us is any more reliable than ours, indeed probably less so.

Furthermore the encampments listed here were not close to sites of permanent residence. Thus they would not have fixed names. Most names given would have been transitory, either given by the Israelites themselves, or picked up from a desert tribesman who gave his own tribe’s local name for the venue. Any names attaching today can have no certain connection with those long ago days, for they may simply have arisen from the desire to satisfy the curiosity of pilgrims, both Jewish and Christian. We must then ever remain in ignorance of the direction of the wilderness journey (exciting though the attempt might be). In view of the nature of the area its detail cannot validly be used to favour any theory.

But when they were written the place names were pregnant with meaning, for there were those alive who could remember them vividly. Some of them had been connected with never to be forgotten experiences.

The fact that there are forty two place names may be significant. Forty two is seven (the number of divine perfection) times three (the number of completeness) times two (intensifying the numbers). It was a complete and divinely perfect journey.

One last point before we plunge into the wilderness. We must not see this as one vast desert. The land would vary from fairly good pasture land, to sparse stony land, to limestone plateau, to sandstone hills, to rocky semi-desert to real desert, and back again. There were springs in some places, and many oases, while the water table was often not far below the ground and could be reached by digging. Water was usually available for those who knew where to find it.