Sunday, August 16, 2009

NUMBERS: Chapter 10

Chapter 10
Summary:God tells Moses to make two trumpets that are to be made from a whole piece of silver. These trumpets are to be used for calling an assembly of the people of Israel, and to signal the moving of the camp.

When both trumpets are blown, the people will be to gather at the door of the tabernacle. If only one trumpet is blown, then only the "princes" - meaning the leaders of the various tribes of Israel - are to gather at the door of the tabernacle.

When an "alarm" is blown with the trumpet, the camps that lie to the east shall go forward first; when the "alarm" is blown a second time, the camps that lie to the south shall go forward. When gathering the people of Israel, the trumpets will be blown, but differently from the sound of the "alarm".

Only Aaron and his sons, the priests, will be allowed to blow the trumpets - this is a permanent law to be followed from generation to generation.

If war breaks out in the "Promised Land" between the people of Israel and the enemy tribes, an alarm shall be blown, which God will hear and will save the people from their enemies.

The trumpets are to be sounded in times of joy, times of sorrow, and on the first day of each month. The trumpets are also to be sounded over "burnt offerings" and "peace offerings", to be a memorial before God.

On the twentieth day of the second month* in the second year since the exodus from Egypt, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle. The people of Israel left the wilderness of Sinai and followed the cloud until it rested in the wilderness of Paran. This was their first journey according to God's commandment through Moses.

At the head of the march was the tribe of Judah, led by Nahshon, son of Amminadab. They were followed by the tribe of Issachar, led by Nethanel, son of Zuar; and the tribe of Zebulun, led by Eliab, son of Helon.

The tabernacle was taken down, and the people of the Levite tribes of Gershon and Merari followed next in the march, carrying the tabernacle with them.

They were followed next by the tribe of Reuben, led by Elizur, son of Shedeur; the tribe of Simeon, led by Shelumiel, son of Zurishaddai; and the tribe of Gad led by Eliasaph, son of Deuel.

Next came the Koathites, bearing the items from the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle. By the time the Koathites would arrive, the tabernacle would already be set up in the new campsite.

Following the Koathites, was the tribe of Ephraim, led by Elishama, son of Ammihud; the tribe of Manasseh, led by Gamaliel, son of Pedahzur; and the tribe of Bejamin, led by Abidan, son of Gideoni.

Following in the flank, was the tribe of Dan, led by Ahiezer, son of Ammishaddai; the tribe of Asher, led by Pagiel, son of Ocran; and lastly, the tribe of Naphtali, led by Ahira, the son of Enan.

These were the orders in which the people of Israel marched from Sinai to Paran.

Moses then asks Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in-law, to join them in their journey to the "Promised Land", but Hobab declines stating that he's going back to his own land to live amongst his own kindred. Moses begs Hobab not to leave them, pointing out that Hobab is more knowledgeable about the wilderness and would be a great help to the people of Israel. Moses says to Hobab, that if he will join the Israelis, then he will be able to share in all the the "goodness" God will do for them.

The group departed from Mount Sinai, in a journey that would take them three days. carrying the ark of the covenant before them in order to search out a resting place. The cloud that God controlled was upon them by day when they left the camp at Mount Sinai, and as they carried the ark forward, Moses cried out to God, asking him to "Rise up" and "let thine enemies be scattered, and let them flee before thee". When the ark was set down, Moses asked God to return to the "many thousands of Israel".
Notes:1.) Approximately May 5th by our current calendar.
2.) There is a good amount of debate towards who Hobab truly is in relation to Moses. He is either considered to be Moses' brother-in-law (with Rageul being another spelling of Reuel, the name of Moses' father-in-law given in Exodus: Chapter 2), or that the name Hobab is yet another alternate name for Reuel/Jethro, making him Moses' father-in-law. The theory that Hobab is yet another name for "Reuel/Jethro" is supported by the following passage in Judges Chapter 4 verse 11:
"Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
Thoughts:God tells Moses that he'll have to make a pair of trumpets out of a single piece of silver, with the intention of these trumpets being used to both assemble the people of Israel, and to signal that it's time to pack up the camp and move forward on their journey to the "Promised Land". Obviously, these will have to be some rather large instruments to be able to be heard by well over 625,000(!) people.

God begins listing to Moses all the various different ways to blow the trumpets to signify different things. When both trumpets are blown, this is to signify to the all of the people of Israel to gather at the door of the tabernacle; if only one trumpet is blown, then only the leaders of the tribes are meant to gather at the door of the tabernacle.

God then states that a different trumpet sound, meant as an "alarm" is to signify that it's time for the people of Israel to move ahead in their journey. The first "alarm" blast is to signal that the tribes camped in the east are to go ahead and move, while the second blast is to get the southern camps moving.

Of course, God states that only the priests get to sound the trumpets, but fails to tell Moses what the punishment might be for a non-priest fooling around with the trumpets - but I'm sure we can assume it probably means something pretty ugly like either a stoning or perhaps excommunication.

God also states that in the event of a war breaking out with an enemy tribe once they've settled in the promised land, they'll only need to blast an "alarm" sound on the trumpet, and God will hear this and thus save the Israelis from their enemies.

The trumpets are also to be sounded during times of joy and sorrow, as well as on the first day of each month. They're also to be sounded when performing "burnt offering" or "peace offering" animal sacrifices, as a memorial statement to God.

While the people of Israel had been camping out in the wilderness of Mount Sinai for the past two years, on the twentieth day of the second month (around May 5th) the cloud lingering above the tabernacle finally moved. The people of Israel followed the cloud to it's resting spot in the wilderness of Paran. This was the first time they've traveled since leaving Egypt and camping in Mount Sinai two years prior.

The eastern tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun led the way, while the Levite tribes of Gershon and Merari followed behind carrying the tabernacle that they had dismantled. The southern tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Gad followed them, and behind them were the Koathites carrying the items from the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle (by the time the Koathites would arrive in Paran, the rest of the tabernacle would already be set up and ready to place the items the Koathites were carrying into it). Following the Koathites, the northern tribes of Ephraim, Mannasseh, and Benjamin followed. Lastly, the western tribes of Dan, Asher, and Nephtali held up the rear of the march.

While the tribes were preparing to go, Moses begs his in-law Hobab to join them. There's however a puzzling question of who Hobab really is in relation to Moses. The King James Version of the bible says in verse 29:
And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the LORD hath spoken good concerning Israel.
The way this is written here, we would assume that Hobab is the son of "Raguel", and that "Raguel" must be yet another name for Reuel/Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, rather than interpreting Hobab to be another name for Reuel/Jethro. However, Hobab is also brought up once more in the bible later on in Judges Chapter 4, verse 11:
"Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites..."
This would appear to support the theory that Hobab is in fact yet another name for Moses' father-in-law Reuel/Jethro. However, dictionary.com has another interesting theory about what is actually meant by the term "father-in-law" as used here in Judges. Their theory is that:
In Judges 4:11, the word rendered "father-in-law" means properly any male relative by marriage...and should be rendered "brother-in-law,"
Which indeed would clear up the apparent contradiction, but begs the question as to why something that could easily be fixed by updating this minor change in the development of our language is left to appear contradictory and confusing. While I can understand why believers are hesitant to reword even the slightest bit of the bible, I just can't fathom why they would want to leave something completely confusing to modern readers that could easily be cleared up without distorting the context.

In any event, however Hobab is related to Moses, he's apparently pretty savvy about traveling in the wilderness, and because of that Moses tries to get him to travel along with them. Hobab doesn't seem very interested in the prospect and thinks he needs to go back home to live amongst his own people. Moses begs Hobab to join them, and promises that if joins them (and presumably if he helps them) then Hobab will be able to share in all the "goodness" God will do for them. If this "goodness" requires sacrificing animals for every small mistake like touching the wrong animal or a dead body, and even worse - working on a Saturday and finding yourself stoned to death, maybe we can't really blame Hobab's lack of enthusiasm here. Unfortunately, the chapter doesn't make it clear whether Hobab decided to join them or whether he wisened up and went back home, as we won't hear about him again until the brief mention of him in Judges 4:11.

The people of Israel marched ahead following the cloud and carrying the ark of the covenant before them, as somehow the ark is stated to have helped them figure out where to go. As the cloud left Sinai that day, Moses cried out to it and asked for "God the cloud" to scatter the people of Israel's enemies. When they set the ark back down, however, Moses cried out again asking God to return back to the people of Israel.

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