Numbers 36: Wrapping up Numbers with a Christmas Bow
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Introduction
Introduction
The heads of the fathers’ houses of the clan of the people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel. They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph is right. This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’ ”
The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses, for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father’s brothers. They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.
These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
Today, I have two goals in mind — first, I want to wrap up Numbers by treating both the text at hand and the book on the whole. There’s plenty to learn from these 13 verses, but I think we’d do even better to see if we might be able to learn from all 36 chapters as well. Second, I want to set the stage for our Advent series which will run through Christmas Day, and this will involve learning not just from the 36 chapters of Numbers, but from Numbers in its Old Testament context, the Scriptures that have come before (Genesis-Leviticus) and the Scriptures that detail God’s dealings in the world afterwards, culminating in a look at one facet of Jesus’s identity that the Old Testament Scriptures foretold centuries in advance. First, let’s see if we can wrap up Numbers.
I have a confession — I hate pretty much all endings. I can finish hardly anything. Whether it’s food, having to leave just a little bit in the fridge so we don’t run out, or whether it’s a really good movie series like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, or a good show — we had been putting off finishing the last episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender for some time until just this week — there’s just something about endings that doesn’t sit well with my soul. Maybe it’s that sickening feeling of saying goodbye to a constant companion who’s been by your side for weeks or perhaps even months on end. Maybe it’s my aversion to change. Whatever it is, one of the only endings I enjoy is a graduation, so for today I’m going to give all of us a certificate of completion for the book of Numbers. Congratulations, guys! We’ve done it! We are about to commence our lives as graduates of GBC’s series through the book of Numbers. Save your hat throws for later, please.
Chapter 36 divides into four sections, vv. 1-4, vv. 5-9, vv. 10-12, and then v. 13. (next slide)
vv. 1-4: The Problem
First, vv. 1-4: the problem.
The heads of the clan of Gilead, that is, leaders of the half-tribe of Manasseh who had claimed their land on the eastern side of the Jordan rather than in Canaan, approach Moses and the rest of the chiefs of Israel with a claim — those daughters of Zelophehad who are landowners according to the regulation given in Numbers 27:5-11 could pose a problem if they were to marry outside their tribe because if they were to do so, their land would go with them, and Manasseh’s inheritance would be reduced. You may have noticed the repetition of, “their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers”, a problem not only in the eyes of these leaders, but in the eyes of the LORD — in verse 5, the LORD says that these sons of Joseph are right.
In Israel, land possession has always been a central concern from the time of Abraham, who was promised the land of Canaan, that his descendants after him would possess it. This promise is repeated through the patriarchs and is hopefully very soon going to come to fruition; it would be a crying shame if one tribe were to, say, gobble up all the land of those around them and displace their brethren. This is why the LORD gives the Jubilee, mentioned in verse 4 here, all the way back in Leviticus 25:23-28 (read v. 23, 24, 28 on slide)
23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land. 25 “If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. 26 If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27 let him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property. 28 But if he does not have sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.
In other words, the land would return to its original state, that is, its state at the time of the conquest, every 50 years. It’s a cartographer’s dream. He can redraw maps as often as needed during those 50 years then, once the year of Jubilee comes, just copy and paste the same map he printed 50 years prior!
Now notice what’s key in all of this — although possessing land is important for people so they have a place to live and prosper, land possession is even more important for the LORD. “The land is mine”, he says in verse 23, his to give to whom he wills in accordance with his good judgment so that Israel would shine as a light to the nations around them. Instead of intertribal conflict over boundaries and borders, Israel was to be a land of generosity, flowing with milk and honey, and a land of peace, with Israel resting within their borders for freedom from strife within and freedom from enemies without.
Conflicts over land were to be far too trivial for God’s chosen people, so it makes sense to iron out this one wrinkle before the land is conquered rather than afterwards when folks have already settled down and an abstract hypothetical problem becomes an emergency. Let’s see how this plays out in verses 5-9 (next slide).
vv. 1-4: The Problem
vv. 5-9: The Solution
In response to the claim, Moses commands — according to the word of the LORD, the narrator emphasizes — just one thing. “Let them marry whom they think best; only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father,” and expands in verse 8, “and every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father” so that these daughters of Zelophehad will serve as a standing, shining example for any woman in their position for generations and generations to come. And that’s it, problem solved. No more, “their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers” repeated here — instead, it’s “every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers”, just as the LORD intended.
Briefly, let’s consider God’s wisdom in this arrangement. This arrangement allowed for Israelite women to be free from external pressure from other tribes, who may have viewed them as even more of a catch and tried to coerce them into marriages for their land. This also allowed for the preservation of an Israelite man’s name if he had daughters rather than sons. After all, we know Zelophehad’s name really well at this point even though he had no male heirs precisely because his daughters acted faithfully. The blotting out of one’s name is one of the worst judgments God can mete out on an Israelite, so knowing that any child, boy or girl, will do for inheritance removes undue pressure on women to have child after child after child after child in order to produce a suitable male heir for their husbands.
Now there we have it — one more problem, one more solution. And, perhaps surprisingly at this point, although it’s not a surprise if you know these women, there are Israelites actually willing to follow the LORD’s commands. No grumbling, no griping, no “but I want to marry that handsome Danite!!” — no, we have sweet, sweet obedience. Let’s look at verses 10-12. (next slide)
vv. 1-4: The Problem
vv. 5-9: The Solution
vv. 10-12: The Legacy
Just as in Numbers 27, the daughters of Zelophehad, that is, Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah — names we would do well to remember — acted faithfully. They did as the LORD commanded Moses, marrying some nameless sons of their father’s brothers so that their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.
Note that we know Zelophehad and his daughters’ names, but not their husbands. I don’t want to make any more out of this data point than is warranted, but the Bible speaks clearly on this issue: God sees and remembers the names of his faithful people, whether male or female. Sisters, I’m speaking to you specifically. You may not be on a stage teaching literally tens of people. You may not be getting paid for the work you do. You may not get any pats on the back or vacations or recognition for the work you do on this earth, but know that the LORD knows your name. Your sisters in the faith whose names we know as some of the greatest in the faith are proof of this. Don’t doubt for a second that the LORD is keenly interested in your faithfulness and his rewards for you are far more abundant than you’d guess based on our world’s general treatment of women.
Now, although Numbers says that their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan, it’s at this point I want to start wrapping Numbers up properly and put a little Christmas bow on it.
R. Dennis Cole says this concerning the half-tribe of Manasseh, son of Joseph: “Later in their history they, along with the Gadites and Reubenites, were carried into captivity by Tiglath-pileser III to the Upper Euphrates region of Habor and the River Gozan at the end of his 733–32 B.C. campaigns.”
Simply put for those of us whose eyes glaze over at names and dates, the inheritance of the daughters of Zelophehad did not remain in the tribe of their father’s clan forever, or indeed for very long. They were among the first of the tribes of Israel to be carried off into captivity.
In other words, while we have great expectations for the coming conquest, the rest of the Bible indicates to us that the conquest isn’t where hope is to be found from the book of Numbers. No, the LORD has much greater intentions than the children of Abraham inhabiting a particular parcel of land in the Middle East. Let’s turn to verse 13. (next slide)
vv. 1-4: The Problem
vv. 5-9: The Solution
vv. 10-12: The Legacy
v. 13: The End
Numbers 36:13 “These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho,” is not exactly the climactic ending we’ve been hoping for, right? We’re wanting conquest action! We want Moses out of the way as that final vestige of the disobedient wilderness generation. We want the story to move forward. Surely we have enough commandments and rules by now, right? Well, I have bad news for you if that’s your heart’s desire, considering that Deuteronomy, the next book of the Bible, literally means “second law.”
If you’re disappointed, imagine how disappointed Israel were when they actually got to carrying out the conquest and found it to be more difficult than they’d bargained for because, surprise, they fell back into disobedience really, really quickly. You see, the conquest of the promised land has never actually been the end goal in and of itself. Let’s set the book of Numbers in its Old Testament context by remembering where the story has come from (and where it’s going). We’re going to read the endings of the previous books as a short way of tracing the big contours of the biblical story, and this is where we both finish numbers and start our Advent series. There’s a lot of Scripture coming your way, so buckle up and stick with me — if you’re a little confused, this should make sense by the time we’re done.
Let’s see where we’ve come from, through Genesis, Leviticus, and Exodus’ endings.
22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own. 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Note: the children of Abraham are in Egypt, waiting to be brought up into the promised land.
And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
Now, the children of Abraham are ready to journey — God has visitied them and is in their midst through the tabernacle and through his prophet, Moses.
34 These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.
The children of Abraham now have God’s law, God’s presence, and God’s prophet, but still no land.
13 These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
The children of Abraham have wandered about in the desert so that a disobedient generation would die off, and now they have more of God’s law, and still have his presence and his prophet, and they’re right on the cusp of the promised land.
10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
God’s prophet is now dead, and there has been no one like him. So now we have God’s presence and God’s law, but no promised land.
31 Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel. 32 As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
The children of Abraham have buried their patriarch Joseph in the promised land. Joshua, God’s leader, has led Israel faithfully — but there remains more of the promised land to take.
Judges 21:23–25 (ESV)
… Then they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and lived in them. 24 And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance. 25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
The conquest of the promised land is essentially complete — every man has his own inheritance, just as the LORD intended at the end of Numbers. But something has gone horribly wrong. God’s law is utterly disregarded, and God’s presence is becoming scarcer and scarcer, and Israel have rejected him as their king, one of the crucial aspects of the structure of God’s covenant with Abraham.
27 And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table, 30 and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.
Now things have really gone off the rails. The children of Abraham are no longer in the land; they’re exiled. They have a king, but he’s been freed from prison. They’re no longer one nation, but two — Israel and Judah. They’re not as numerous as the sand on the seashore, just a remnant spread throughout the corners of the earth.
This little exercise has shown, I hope, a large part of the central vision of the Old Testament: the children of Abraham faithfully obeying Yahweh their God in the land he has promised to give them, with Yahweh as their king and those children of Abraham living happy, prosperous lives free from danger of their enemies and bearing God’s image, teaching all creation to follow Yahweh and carrying out God’s commission to Adam by filling the earth with image bearers. By the end of 2 Kings, though, that vision is a mere shadow. But there’s still hope. God’s chosen king David still has an offspring preserving his line, Jehoiachin king of Judah, who’s sitting at the king of Babylon’s table and dining fine all the days of his life.
Let’s hear from a few of God’s spokesmen. How is God going to carry out his irrevocable promises to Abraham?
33 “As I live, declares the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I will be king over you. 34 I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.
4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
14 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
Now, I know you’re still wondering what Christmas has to do with all this, and here it is, in the words of Matthew:
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Now, what if I told you one of the Hebrew words for Branch is Nazar, and Matthew is quoting not just one prophet, but multiple? This is the only OT reference in Matthew I’m aware of where Matthew’s fulfillment formula is not a quotation from just one text, but a summary of many.
This means that the God of heaven orchestrated all history so that his Son would take on flesh in a particular time and place — a time and a place spoken of hundreds of years beforehand precisely so that he could live in a place called Nazareth — that is, Branch Town — not because of anything special in Nazareth, but because of a cross-linguistic wordplay that God was writing over the course of centuries of linguistic development and geopolitics. The Son of God took on human flesh and was called Jesus of Nazareth not by historical accident, with his biographers grasping at straws to prove who he claimed to be. The Son of God incarnate came to drink the cup of God’s wrath against sin, to gather his people from all the corners of the earth, to be David’s offspring sitting on the throne over God’s land. The Son of God was born to a faithful daughter of Abraham whose name we all know, Mary, so that he might guarantee every one of his people an inheritance that can never be taken away or transferred — himself. Jesus is the consummate husband to whom we, the church, are betrothed until we celebrate our marriage feast with the one we think best.
Friends, Christmas is a wonderful time of year because the incarnation is wonderful. The depths of God’s accomplishments in walking among humanity are unfathomable, uncountable, and the appropriate response is nothing less than sheer wonder and amazement as we consider just who Jesus the Nazarene is.