By Brian Holda
Creation (Numbers 1-10)
- Num. 1-4: Census #1: 603,550 fighting men
- Num. 5-6: Separated unto God
- Num. 7-8: People give to Levites; Levites give to God
- Num. 9-10: Desert travel – Passover, cloud, trumpets
Fall (Numbers 11-25)
- Num. 11: They complain; they craved → death (see “More Graves of Craving”)
- But: “Moses prayed…the fire died down.” (11:2)
- Num. 12: They challenge → leprosy
- But: “Moses cried to the LORD, ‘…please heal her…’” (12:13)
- Num. 13-14: Their doubt → 40 years wandering, 603,548 die (see “Not By Sight”)
- But: “your little ones…I will bring in,” (14:31)
- Num. 15: They broke God’s Sabbath → stoned (note 15:39)
- But: “if you sin…the priest shall make atonement,” (15:22-25)
- Num. 16-18: They rebel → earth opens, fire, plague (note 17:5)
- But: “Aaron made atonement…plague was stopped.” (16:47-48)
- Num. 19: Red Heifer → God’s provision for touching death
- Pure red heifer with cedar, hyssop, scarlet; apply: ashes + water
- Num. 20: They dishonor God → will die
- But: “water came out abundantly” (20:11; 1 Cor. 10:4)
- Num. 21: They’re impatient → serpents kill many
- But: “look at the bronze serpent and live” (21:9; John 3:14-16)
- Num. 22-24: Balaam’s Curse → God’s Blessing (note 31:16)
- From high up: God blesses Israel; foretells victorious King
- Num. 25: They whore physically and spiritually → 24k die in plague
- But: “a spear…pierced…thus the plague…stopped” (25:7-8)
Redemption (Numbers 26-36)
- Num. 26: Census #2, 40 Years Later: 601,730 fighting men
- Num. 27: Next Generation’s Inheritance
- Num. 28-30: Offerings and Vows – 3,718 yearly offerings
- Num. 31: Victory over Midian
- Num. 32: 2.5 tribes settle
- Num. 33-36: Journey reviewed; new land & leadership
Also
- Entire assembly centers around God: 2:17
- Yet, God must be approached on His terms: 1:51, 1:53; 3:4, 10, 38; 4:15, 19, 20 – to look at holy things = death; 8:19, 21; 18:3, 5-6, 32
- Firstborn service is transferred to priests: 3:11-13
- Exod. 4:22-23; 12:29; 13:1-2 spared by blood for service
- Moses wrote Numbers: 17:2; 33:2; John 5:46
- Blessing (6:22-27), Prayer (10:35-36), Prophecy (11:16-30), Laying Hands (27:18-23), Pledges (30:8-9 – Christ is our Living Husband, He helps us pledge rightly)
- Victory in Promised Land
- 33:52: Inhabitants driven out due to idolatry and wickedness
- 33:55-56: Compromise will hurt you later
- God cares about intent: 35:15-16
Poem 1:
More Graves of Craving
By Brian Holda, 10/12/19
From Numbers 11 and Psalm 78
More!
We cry
With smugness in our eyes.
More!
How could God not hear us?
Doesn’t He care?
More! More! More!
And after complaining
To God
And neighbors
And friends
And family;
After preaching that
God’s goodness means
He does as we desire.
After looking around
And deciding
Our daily bread (and more),
God’s daily mercies (and more),
God’s spiritual food,
God’s presence
Was not enough.
After saying,
For the millionth time…
More!
God did it.
He relented.
He gave in
To our cravings.
He heard the cries
Of uncrucified flesh,
He heard us yell out with Adam
He heard our
More!
He was so “kind,”
So “good”
(so we thought),
To give us
What we craved.
So for a moment
We stopped saying,
More!
Just long enough
To taste
And see
What God gave us
And as we ate,
And laughed,
And smiled,
And looked at each other…
We never thought
To look to God.
It only makes sense that
God must be smiling
Since we finally got
What our flesh wanted.
So, for a moment,
We were happy
Eating the quail
We thought we needed.
And in between bites
I think I heard
Someone dare to ask
Whether God’s desires
Actually matched
Our cravings.
And whether
God answering our prayer
Was really a sign
That He lives
To make us happy.
But to tell the truth
Our bellies were too filled
To give this strange notion
Much thought.
So we feasted,
Blissfully ignorant
That God
Never served
Our last supper
With a smile.
“So he called the name of that place
Kibroth Hattaavah [Graves of Craving],
because there they buried the people
who had yielded to craving,”
(Numbers 11:34)
Poem 2:
Not By Sight
By Brian Holda
Inspired by Numbers 13
Twelve left as soldiers
Spying out the land.
“It’s easy,” they told us,
“We’re mighty; we’ll stand.”
But crossing the borders,
And taking one long look,
Made them question their orders,
And our God ten forsook.
“See,” ten surmised,
“They’re simply too strong.”
And in trusting their eyes,
Were convinced God was wrong.
But God, to two men,
Was not limited by sight.
Unlike the ten,
Josh and Caleb knew God’s might.
When all twelve returned
And gave their full report,
Ten made God’s anger burn,
While two trusted God’s support.
The end of the story
Happened just as they said
The two received God’s glory,
And the others wound up dead.
So what can be learned
When considering their plight?
For God’s word to be discerned
You walk by faith, and not by sight.
Appendix:
Yearly Offerings (Num. 28-29)
Yearly Totals (using 360 days and 52 weeks for 1 year)
- 3,718 Offerings
- 1,233 burnt
- 1,233 grain
- 1,233 drink
- 19 sin
- 1,252 Animals
- 1,083 lambs
- 113 bulls
- 37 rams
- 19 goats
Daily Offerings
2 burnt (2 lambs)
2 grain
2 drink
Weekly (* 52)
2 burnt (2 lambs)
2 grain
2 drink
Monthly (* 12)
10 burnt (2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lambs)
10 grain
10 drink
Passover
Repeated Days 1-7
10 burnt (2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lambs)
10 grain
(10 drink)
1 sin (goat)
Feast of Weeks
10 burnt (2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lamb)
10 grain
10 drink
1 sin (goat)
Trumpets
9 burnt (1 bull, 1 ram, 7 lamb)
9 grain
(9 drink)
1 sin (goat)
Atonement Day
9 burnt (1 bull, 1 ram, 7 lamb)
9 grain
(9 drink)
1 sin (goat)
Tabernacles
15th day (Day 1)
29 burnt (13 bulls, 2 rams, 14 lambs)
29 grain
(29 drink)
1 sin (goat)
16th day (Day 2)
28 burnt (12 bulls, 2 rams, 14 lambs)
28 grain
28 drink
1 sin (goat)
17th day (Day 3)
27 burnt (11 bulls, 2 rams, 14 lambs)
27 grain
27 drink
1 sin (goat)
18th day (Day 4)
26 burnt (10 bulls, 2 ram, 14 lamb)
26 grain
26 drink
1 sin (goat)
19th day (Day 5)
25 burnt (9 bulls, 2 ram, 14 lamb)
25 grain
25 drink
1 sin (goat)
20th day (Day 6)
24 burnt (8 bulls, 2 ram, 14 lamb)
24 grain
24 drink
1 sin (goat)
21st day (Day 7)
23 burnt (7 bulls, 2 ram, 14 lamb)
23 grain
23 drink
1 sin (goat)
22nd day (Day 8)
9 burnt (1 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lamb)
9 grain
9 drink
1 sin (goat)
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