Numbers 15

Numbers_15
5/24/09

Numbers_15
I. In our last study:
A. In response to the unbelief and rebellion of Israel, God gave them what they wanted, they said it would be better to die in the wilderness than to trust Him to deliver the Promised Land to them; so God decreed that all those twenty years and older would die in the wilderness (with the exception of Joshua and Caleb) and that He would give the land to their children.
1. But He had declared that He would spare them as a nation by giving the land to their children, those who were under twenty years old at the time of the failure and judgment there in Kadesh Barnea.
2. Also we were told that the ten spies who brought back the bad report and stumbled the nation died before the Lord by plague.
II. In chapter-15 we find various laws summarized for us which may seem odd to us stuck between two different cycles of rebellion. (that with the 10 spies and the rebellion of Korah and crew)
A. Laws of grain and drink offerings
Numbers 15:1-12 (NKJV)
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving to you,
3 and you make an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or in your appointed feasts, to make a sweet aroma to the Lord, from the herd or the flock,
4 then he who presents his offering to the Lord shall bring a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil;
5 and one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering you shall prepare with the burnt offering or the sacrifice, for each lamb.
6 Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil;
7 and as a drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine as a sweet aroma to the Lord.
8 And when you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering, or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, or as a peace offering to the Lord,
9 then shall be offered with the young bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil;
10 and you shall bring as the drink offering half a hin of wine as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.
11 ‘Thus it shall be done for each young bull, for each ram, or for each lamb or young goat.
12 According to the number that you prepare, so you shall do with everyone according to their number.
1. Israel had failed miserably at Kadesh Barnea rebelliously rejecting God's offer to bring them into the land and as a result the door to the Promised Land had closed for one generation and they would spend the next thirty-eight years wandering somewhat aimlessly in the wilderness.
a. But God speaks these wonderful words of encouragement and comfort through Moses to the nation, particularly to those who were under the age of twenty ‘When you have come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving to you,
(1) The reassurance that He will bring them into the land and give it to them, He has not changed and His promises to them have not failed.
b. And the offerings spoken here are free will offerings not compulsory offerings, and the focus is on the supplementary grain and drink offerings that were to accompany these free will offering all of which speak of joy and thanksgiving.
(1) Is this not a statement that He will bless them with blessings which will evoke their worship and thanksgiving?
(a) I thank so much of the time we don't recognize the abundance of God's blessings to us because we have become spoiled and somehow think of these blessings as what we deserve, our just rights, and we pout and complain when something is taken away with the misconception that God is depriving us.
i) We have become a people that is more focused on not having what we want than on what we have been undeservedly blessed with.
(2) What a wondrous thing to know that God delights to bless His people even in the midst of their failure.
2. Note that the grain and drink offerings that accompanied blood sacrifices increased progressively with the size and value of the sacrifice.
a. The greater our sacrifice to God the greater should be our joy and thanksgiving if the sacrifice is rightly motivated.
B. The universal or community nature of these laws.
Numbers 15:13-16 (NKJV)
13 All who are native-born shall do these things in this manner, in presenting an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.
14 And if a stranger dwells with you, or whoever is among you throughout your generations, and would present an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord, just as you do, so shall he do.
15 One ordinance shall be for you of the assembly and for the stranger who dwells with you, an ordinance forever throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.
16 One law and one custom shall be for you and for the stranger who dwells with you.’ ”
1. God had told Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through his offspring (particularly looking forward to the Messiah), and we see here that under certain conditions the gentile could enter into community with the Jew and worship the God of the Jew.

2. Secondly we should note that sacrifice is to be made with gladness and joy; not begrudgingly and with complaint.
3. Consider the words of Psalm-100
Psalm 100 (NKJV)

1 A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
4. I am the spiritual seed of Abraham, and a disciple of the Jesus the Messiah, I wonder do I bless others in such a way that they are drawn to a place of worship and thanksgiving?
a. Worship of the living God is the community we should desire to draw others into.
C. First fruit offerings.
Numbers 15:17-21 (NKJV)
17 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
18 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land to which I bring you,
19 then it will be, when you eat of the bread of the land, that you shall offer up a heave offering to the Lord.
20 You shall offer up a cake of the first of your ground meal as a heave offering; as a heave offering of the threshing floor, so shall you offer it up.
21 Of the first of your ground meal you shall give to the Lord a heave offering throughout your generations.
1. When they entered the land and began to enjoy the produce of that land they were to show their devotion to the Lord and their thanksgiving by presenting a cake baked from the first cutting of the grain each harvest.
a. They were to be mindful of God and that o was the one that supplied their daily sustenance.
2. Note we read the words again "When you come into the land to which I bring you" for the second time in this chapter
a. They were a long way out from entering the Promised Land, thirty-eight years to go, but God is setting their minds on the land and on His promises, so it we read in Colossians.
Colossians 3:1-4 (NKJV)
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.


(1) A key part of our victory here in this land and in our pilgrimage is where we fix our thoughts, we see that unbelief and rebellion usually are born out of complaint, and so our meditations and attitudes affect our ability to walk in faith and be thankful.
(a) We want to learn to be mindful of God, mindful of His promises, and looking forward to the land He has promised us.
D. Now the third category of offerings found here concern sin offerings.
Numbers 15:22-29 (NKJV)
22 ‘If you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments which the Lord has spoken to Moses—
23 all that the Lord has commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day the Lord gave commandment and onward throughout your generations—
24 then it will be, if it is unintentionally committed, without the knowledge of the congregation, that the whole congregation shall offer one young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one kid of the goats as a sin offering.
25 So the priest shall make atonement for the whole congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them, for it was unintentional; they shall bring their offering, an offering made by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their unintended sin.
26 It shall be forgiven the whole congregation of the children of Israel and the stranger who dwells among them, because all the people did it unintentionally.
27 ‘And if a person sins unintentionally, then he shall bring a female goat in its first year as a sin offering.
28 So the priest shall make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally, when he sins unintentionally before the Lord, to make atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.
29 You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwells among them.
1. They were provided as a remedy for unintentional sin.
a. God provided a sin solution (atonement) for both the people collectively as well as for the individual.
b. And they were also universal (those that desired to be in relationship to Jehovah...) and not for Israel only.
c. We are here reminded that blood is required for atonement.
Leviticus 17:11 (NKJV)
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’

Hebrews 9:22 (NKJV)
22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

Romans 6:23 (NKJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(1) It is the blood of Jesus and His substitutionary death for us that provides the remedy (permanent remedy) for our sins.
2. By contrast we have in verses-30-31 law concerning intentional sin.
Numbers 15:30-31 (NKJV)
30 ‘But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the Lord, and he shall be cut off from among his people.
31 Because he has despised the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.’ ”
a. The word presumtpiously is the Hebrw word ruwm (room)
7311 [ruwm /room/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 2133; GK 3727 and 3753 and 8123 and 8225 and 8249; 194 occurrences; AV translates as ?(lift?, ?hold?, ?etc ? ) up? 63 times, ?exalt? 47 times, ?high? 25 times, ?offer? 13 times, ?give? five times, ?heave? three times, ?extol? three times, ?lofty? three times, ?take? three times, ?tall? three times, ?higher? twice, and translated miscellaneously 24 times.
1 to rise, rise up, be high, be lofty, be exalted. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to be high, be set on high. 1a2 to be raised, be uplifted, be exalted. 1a3 to be lifted, rise. 1b (Polel). 1b1 to raise or rear (children), cause to grow up. 1b2 to lift up, raise, exalt. 1b3 to exalt, extol. 1c (Polal) to be lifted up. 1d (Hiphil). 1d1 to raise, lift, lift up, take up, set up, erect, exalt, set on high. 1d2 to lift up (and take away), remove. 1d3 to lift off and present, contribute, offer, contribute. 1e (Hophal) to be taken off, be abolished. 1f (Hithpolel) to exalt oneself, magnify oneself. 2 (Qal) to be rotten, be wormy.
Strong, James: The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed. Ontario : Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996, S. H7311
(1) I believe the sin here goes beyond the intentional commission of a sin that is being struggled against, what we see here is blasphemous sin, defiant rebellious God rejecting sin which will not be forgiven.
Mark 3:28-30 (NKJV)
28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter;
29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”—
30 because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
(2) To reject the witness of the Holy Spirit concerning Christ by rejecting Christ and the rest provided in Him.
3. Look at the example we are given in verses 32-36
Numbers 15:32-36 (NKJV)
32 Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.
33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.
34 They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him.
35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”
36 So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.
a. Here is the violation of the law, undoubtedly it was the violation of a law known to all the camp, but they were not sure what to do with this violation so they put him under guard while they sought God to indicate the appropriate judgment.

(1) God returned the verdict and it was death, this man's heart and motive were examined and found to be deserving of death!
(2) Mercy was withheld; he was taken out of the camp and stoned to death.
b. All who lift themselves up against God refusing to submit themselves to His Lordship are self declared enemies against God and will one day be put to death for their rebellion.
Philippians 2:5-11 (NKJV)
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
c. The Sabbath rest points to Jesus and the rest that we have in Him, since no amount of good works that we can do could ever satisfy the perfection demanded by a perfect and Holy God, the only solution is for us to enter into the perfect work of Christ on the cross.
(1) And to reject His provision leaves us in a condition of death and enmity against God.
(2) But note as we read in Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(a) There is no gift like the gift of life in Christ, and God's desire is for us to obtain life in Him!
E. Now the chapter closes with this wonderful instruction.
Numbers 15:37-41 (NKJV)
37 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
38 “Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners.
39 And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined,
40 and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.
41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”
1. Tassels made with or attached with blue thread to the corners of the hems of their garments.
a. That as they looked at them they would be reminded that they were a holy people whose God was a holy God and that they were to keep His commandments.
(1) Also they would be reminded that the natural bent of their hearts would be to do that which was contrary to the commands of God and that they constantly needed to be reminded to make holy choices.
b. One of the ways in which God was reminding them to keep their minds set on Him so that they could walk in holiness and victory.
2. Just one more example of God's goodness and love for His people.
F. You know what strikes me powerfully as I stop and consider this portion of scripture is that love involves sacrifice, and lots of it, but if it is not willing sacrifice it is not love.
1. It cost God to love me, if I am going to love God and love you it will cost me something!
2. If you are going to love me it will cost uou something.
3. And the major cost for us is that we will have to lay aside our own self with all its selfish desire.
4. 1 Corintians-13
1 Corinthians 13:1-8 (NKJV)
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

1 John 4:7-8 (NKJV)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
III. Appendix for future reference:
Num 15:1?16 Ezek 46:4?15
Animal Grain + Oil Wine Grain + Oil (only)
Lamb 1/10 ephah + 1/4 hin 1/4 hin 1/6 ephah + 1/3 hin
Ram 2/10 ephah + 1/3 hin 1/3 hin 1 ephah + 1 hin
Young Bull 3/10 ephah + 1/2 hin 1/2 hin 1 ephah + 1 hin
Comparative weights and measures (approx.)
Ephah (~ 1 bushel) 1/10 eph = 2 qts 2/10 eph = 4 qts liters
3/10 eph = 6 qts