Numbers 26-27, 32, 35
Key Scriptures
26:1-55 The Lord instructed Moses and Aaron’s son Eleazar to “Conduct a census of every Israelite family, numbering all able-bodied men at least twenty years old who are fit to serve as a fighting force. …Next you are to match families and clans to the land they will inherit in Canaan, with the amount of land each group is allotted determined in proportion to its size. …The land each tribal group is to receive will be determined through casting lots.”
27:12-14 After the census was finished the Lord said to Moses, “Now you are to hike up the slopes of the mountains of Abarim until you can see the Promised Land I will give to Israel. Once you’ve seen it, your journey on earth will be over and I will take you to the land where your ancestors and Aaron now dwell. You are allowed to see the Promised Land but not to enter it because, along with Aaron, you failed to honor me before the people during their rebellion at Meribah.”
27:15-21 Moses replied to God, “May the Lord of all humankind see fit to appoint a worthy man to lead the people of Israel in my absence—someone with the skills and integrity to guide them well so they will not wander off your path like sheep without a shepherd.” The Lord then said to Moses, “You are to go to Nun’s son Joshua, in whom my Spirit dwells, and lay your hand upon him in front of Eleazar and all the people. Then commission Joshua to succeed you as Israel’s leader and confer upon him the authority you now have so the people will place their trust in him and obey him. Joshua will work closely with Eleazar who will assist him in determining my will through use of the Urim that is brought before me. In this way Joshua will guide and direct the entire congregation of Israel in all their endeavors.”
32:1-19 At that time the tribes of Reuben and Gad possessed very large herds of sheep and goats. They were quick to recognize that the country east of the Jordon—Jazer and Gilead—were perfect for grazing their flocks. So their tribal leaders approached Moses, Eleazar, and the other Israelite elders with this request: “If our efforts on behalf of all of Israel have been commendable up to now, reward us by giving us the lands on this side of the Jordan we want for our inheritance.” Moses replied with a question, “Are you asking to remain here in peace while the rest of Israel must battle to capture the land of Canaan?” “Not at all,” they answered. …“We simply want to build towns and corrals for our families and herds to be safe here before we lead Israel in its battles across the Jordan. …We vow not to return to our families and lands until every tribe is given their own inheritance. And though we fight to capture Canaan for the other tribes of Israel, we will make no claims on any lands but these we will inherit east of the Jordan.”
32:20-33 After he fully understood the nature of their request, Moses said, “If you are committed to follow through with your promise…then the lands you desire to inherit on this side of the Jordan will be God’s gift to you. But if your people fail to honor your word and thereby sin against the Lord, he will see to it that you are punished for your betrayal. So by all means build the towns and corrals you want for your families and herds, but don’t fail to honor your word to us. …With that stipulation clear to everyone, Moses gave over the kingdoms of Sihon and Og—Amorite lands with all their towns and territories—to the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
33:50-56 On the Moab Plains beside the river Jordan, God gave Moses more instructions for the people of Israel. “Tell Israel that when the time comes to cross over the Jordan into the Promised Land, you must be committed to force out all the peoples who dwell there. You are to destroy their idols, whether cast or carved, and flatten the sacred mounds upon which the native peoples now worship. Possess the land for yourselves. It is my gift to you. …But be certain of this: if you fail to remove all of the native inhabitants, those who remain behind will be like dust in your eyes and thorns in your feet. Serious trouble will remain behind with them in your homeland. And you will inherit the punishment they are due for their idolatrous ways.”
35:2-15 God then gave this word to Moses, “Direct the Israelites to distribute to the Levites towns in which they can live in as their inheritance from the Lord. They are to be towns with good grazing lands around them to insure the Levites can adequately care for their families and flocks. …Among the towns you give to the Levites, six will be towns of refuge where a person can flee when an accidental murder takes place. The towns of refuge will serve to promote justice, for the accused murderer can flee to one of them until the community can decide the merits of his case. During the proceedings, the accused will be safe from the family avenger who seeks his life. …Three of these towns of refuge are to be on the east side of the Jordan and three on the west so everyone can access them, whether Israelite, immigrant, or any other resident of the land.”
35:33-34 “The land where you will live will be polluted if bloodshed and murder take place there Therefore, do not murder and so defile the land, for it will remain that way until the lifeblood of the murderer makes amends for the crime. The land must not be desecrated in such a manner, for it is also my dwelling place and I will live there among the Israelites so long as they pursue righteousness.”
Basic Message
Prior to entering the Promised Land, God told Moses to conduct a census of the Israelites with the intention of numbering the fighting men and creating a fair distribution of the land after conquest. Then God told Moses he was soon to die without entering the Promised Land, and Moses requested that God should appoint a worthy leader to replace him. God chose Joshua and told Moses to commission his successor in front of all the people so they would recognize Joshua’s authority and obediently follow him.
Then the leaders of the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh came to Moses requesting that their portion of land inheritance be given east of the Jordan River in the good livestock grazing areas they had recently conquered. They argued that if given those lands, they would lead the Israelite army into Canaan and not return until all the other tribes had settled on the lands they were to inherit west of the Jordan. Moses agreed but warned that if the three tribes should renege on their promise, they would be sinning against God and should expect severe consequences.
God then instructed Moses to tell the Israelites that they were to drive out all the inhabitants of the lands across the Jordon they were soon to conquer. Not to do so would invariably lead to moral corruption and consequent punishment by God. Then the people were instructed to set aside towns for the Levites who would not be inheriting lands like the rest of the tribes. Among the forty-eight Levite towns, along with the pastureland that surrounded them, the Israelites were to establish six towns of refuge. The towns of refuge were to be established so fugitives from a death they had caused would have a safe place to flee until justice could be served in each case. Finally, the people were instructed that murder was polluting not only to the community but to the land itself, and not to be tolerated. The land was to be sacred, for God would dwell there among his people.
Comments
* This final census was predominantly to establish a sense of God’s fair dealing among the Israelites. Their land inheritance was based on the population of their tribes, clans, and families—the only means to make certain that no one tribe or family was shown favoritism. The location of the lands to be inherited would be drawn by lot. This system eliminated any possibility of abuse by those allotting the land and so avoid arguing or complaining among the people. One could view the model as a precursor to democratic principles—an even distribution based on the ideal that every individual should have equal rights and equal access to resources.
* Interestingly, the fact that a land inheritance system was established east of the Jordan was an unequivocal sign that the Israelites would successfully conquer the native inhabitants of the entire region. When God gave Moses the instructions for land inheritance, it would have been an enormous confidence builder for the battles that lay ahead. The fear generated by the initial spy reports from several decades before of giants and well-fortified cities in the land would no longer be a concern. God was detailing the end results before the struggles of conquest even began. It was an example of how he was continually in the process of building faith among his people.
* When God told Moses he was to die without entering the Promised Land he had spent forty plus years guiding his people toward, Moses didn’t complain. One slip up at the springs of Meribah versus forty years of faithful service would seem unfair by any other standard. But Moses possessed a truly humble heart that was oriented not toward himself and personal gain, but toward concern for his people and the task God had given him. Moses’ immediate reply to God’s decree was instructive: he only asked that God appoint a good leader to replace him—which God did in the person of Joshua. Moses wanted what God wanted. That orientation of the heart is a state of true freedom from the tyranny of self-centeredness that otherwise seems impossible to overcome.
* God had promised the people of Israel the land of Canaan. But when the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh asked for lands east of the Jordan, God approved. The concession is evidence that God takes pleasure in blessing his obedient people. As Psalm 37:4 states, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” The three tribes had followed God faithfully, as indicated in Moses’ response to the first part of their proposition, “If our efforts on behalf of all of Israel have been commendable up to now…” So God was happy to give them their hearts’ desires—the lands east of the Jordan. God delights to do the same for us today—grace and generosity being central to his character. The image of God as a dictatorial ruler who coldly enforces the law for law’s sake, as so many people erroneously imagine him to be, is the polar opposite of the engaged, compassionate, divine parent of the Bible who loves to give good gifts to his children, as would any loving parent.
* God’s command for the Israelites to drive out the people of Canaan and destroy all vestiges of their idolatrous worship was for the simple reason that all cultures absorb the values of neighboring cultures, whether consciously or unconsciously. This is especially so when neighboring cultural values appear more attractive, as would obviously be the case for Israelite men viewing the mix of sex and religion afforded by Canaanite worship. The net result would have been—and, indeed, proved to be—an eroding of devotion and commitment to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose love for his people entailed a holy jealousy. What singular, pure love is not imbued with such passionate desire for the full affections of the beloved? Were not such jealous love present, one could only suspect a half-hearted commitment on the part of the lover, as well as a lukewarm response from the beloved.
* The towns set aside for the Levites and the towns of refuge among them give us a picture of the importance God placed on justice for the soon-to-be nation of Israel. While in the wilderness, justice was meted out by Moses and his Levitical assistants who heard every case that surfaced. But once settled and scattered about, justice would be more difficult to administer. Distributing Levitical towns among the population was like leavening the whole nation with the priestly presence that functioned in numerous ways to perpetuate justice and adherence to the Laws of Moses.
* The fact that towns of refuge would be established to protect those who killed without intent—“manslaughter” in modern parlance—furthered the notion that God was keen to see that justice would prevail in the land. Under Mosaic Law, premeditated murder carried a death sentence for the murderer. Coupled with the Middle Eastern principle of the kinsman-avenger—a custom wherein a family member avenged the blood of an innocent victim—the “eye for eye” principle of justice could easily lead to an unjustified revenge killing for manslaughter. Towns of refuge provided the solution, affording a place of protection for the killer until justice could be determined by the community. Israel was not to be the “wild West” that human nature tends to establish when left without moral guidance, but the nation within which dwells the God of Justice. Murder is described as polluting, not only to the nation of Israel, but to the very land itself; for God, in all his holiness and purity was to dwell there among his people. And like the Garden of Eden past and the Kingdom of Heaven to come, his presence would sanctify his people and their dwelling place. Wherever God dwells, love, peace, and justice follow suite.
Biblical Themes
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15
