Mattot
Tribes
Numbers 30:2[1]-32:42
Jeremiah 1:1-2:3
Mas’ei
Stages
“Double Portion: Final Instructions”
Numbers 33:1-36:13
Jeremiah 2:4-28; 3:4 (A);
2:4-28; 4:1-2 (S)
excerpted from TorahScope, Volume III
This week as the Book of Numbers comes to a close, its final two Torah readings, give the generation of Joshua, some final instructions before embarking on the invasion of Canaan. Recall how after the trauma associated with the sin of Baal-peor was tragically resolved, a census was conducted, to number the survivors of the plague, followed by the transfer of Moses’ authority to Joshua (Numbers 27:15-23). This was followed by a reiteration of various daily offerings and sacrifices (Numbers 28:1-29:40).
In our two Torah portions for this week, Moses was instructed to remind the Israelites about the seriousness of personal vows (Numbers 30:1-16), the proper military means to address the chronic threat from the Midianites (Numbers 31:1-24), and how to handle the request of the Tribes of Reuben and Gad, to settle the land east of the Jordan River (Numbers 32:1-42). There is then a textual review of the forty-two different encampments, during the nearly forty-year sojourn through the desert (Numbers 33:1-49). Next, the means to equitably distribute the territory to the Twelve Tribes of Israel, by lot, to settle forty-two cities with special attention to the Levitical priesthood, and the establishment of six additional cities of refuge to deal with unintentional deaths (Numbers 33:50-35:34)—adds considerably to maintaining an orderly transition from the plains of Moab, once the Promised Land is conquered. Finally, the Lord gave Moses some explicit instructions on how to handle the issue presented earlier by the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 36:1-13). Obviously, Moses knew that his days were numbered, and that the Lord had already told him he was not going to be allowed to enter into the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12-13), because of his presumptuous actions at the waters of Meribah. As the leader of Israel, Moses’ intention was to fulfill his mission to communicate the word of the Lord before expiring.
With so much to elucidate to those who survived the arduous journey, modern-day students of God’s Word may think that they have a “double portion” blessing, of reviewing these key instructions—so that they might learn from them and properly apply them in the modern era.
One aspect of our Torah selection, concerns the issue of wives or daughters making vows, and the ability for the father to cancel these vows. It is not as easy for modern readers to understand the importance of this, because we live in a time when women have an unbelievable amount of rights, responsibilities, and opportunities, which the ancients did not have. The very fact that women would largely even be able to make binding oaths on behalf of a family, must be recognized here. The instructions, regarding a husband or father being able to cancel the word of a wife or daughter, need to be understood first in the context of Ancient Israel in the Ancient Near East. Today, in a definitively egalitarian post-resurrection era (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 2:11), where husbands and wives are to serve one another as co-leaders of the home in mutual submission (Ephesians 5:21), looking out for one another, these instructions should be more readily applied with that in mind:
“Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, ‘This is the thing which the LORD has commanded. When a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. Also, when a woman vows a vow to the LORD and binds herself by a pledge, being in her father’s house, in her youth, and her father hears her vow and her pledge with which she has bound her soul, and her father says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge with which she has bound her soul shall stand. But if her father forbids her in the day that he hears, none of her vows or of her pledges with which she has bound her soul, shall stand. The LORD will forgive her, because her father has forbidden her. If she has a husband, while her vows are on her, or the rash utterance of her lips with which she has bound her soul, and her husband hears it, and says nothing to her in the day that he hears it; then her vows shall stand, and her pledges with which she has bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband forbids her in the day that he hears it, then he makes void her vow which is on her and the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul. The LORD will forgive her. But the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, everything with which she has bound her soul shall stand against her. If she vowed in her husband’s house or bound her soul by a bond with an oath, and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her and didn’t disallow her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge with which she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand. Her husband has made them void. The LORD will forgive her. Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void. But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges which are on her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her in the day that he heard them. But if he makes them null and void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity.’ These are the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter, being in her youth, in her father’s house” (Numbers 30:1-16, WMB).
It is certainly clear from Numbers ch. 30, that the issue of making vows in Ancient Israel, was quite serious—and that no one was to make any sort of rash commitment to God. Centuries later in His Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua the Messiah issued the following instruction to those listening. He quantitatively advised against people making any vows, likely because of their human inability to fully keep them:
“Again you have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows’ [Leviticus 19:2; Numbers 30:3; Deuteronomy 23:22], but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King [Psalm 48:2]. Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one” (Matthew 5:33-37, WMB).
The need, to watch one’s lips or mouth, and the words, statements, commitments—and yes, even oaths and vows which are made—is absolutely imperative. Instructions such as the following, from the Book of Proverbs and James the Just, give us some key warnings of the potential pitfalls of the tongue:
“He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies. There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals. Truth’s lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary” (Proverbs 12:17-19, WMB).
“So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20, WMB).
Following the issue of oath taking, our Torah reading turns to how the Ancient Israelites would affectively deal with the ongoing threat of the Midianites, who continued to want to impede their progress, as they were preparing to enter the Promised Land. Here with the explicit instructions of the Lord, the proper way to go to war with His blessing is detailed:
“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.’ Moses spoke to the people, saying, ‘Arm men from among you for war, that they may go against Midian, to execute the LORD’s vengeance on Midian. You shall send one thousand out of every tribe, throughout all the tribes of Israel, to the war.’ So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. Moses sent them, one thousand of every tribe, to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the shofars for the alarm in his hand. They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses. They killed every male. They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. The children of Israel took the women of Midian captive with their little ones; and all their livestock, all their flocks, and all their goods, they took as plunder. All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire. They took all the captives, and all the plunder, both of man and of animal. They brought the captives with the prey and the plunder, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho. Moses and Eleazar the priest, with all the princes of the congregation, went out to meet them outside of the camp. Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war. Moses said to them, ‘Have you saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD’” (Numbers 31:1-16, WMB).
Not only did Israel choose warriors from each of the tribes, but they were instructed to have the blessings of Phinehas, the son of the high priest Eleazar, with the holy vessels and trumpets accompanying the assault upon Midian. As is later noted, the overwhelming victory by Israel decimating the Midianites, was achieved without suffering any mortal casualties (Numbers 31:49), and they received a victor’s booty (Numbers 31:33-47) which was huge and equitably distributed to the valiant warriors (Numbers 31:27). Interestingly in an aside, it is noted how Balaam, the prophet for hire, apparently advised Balak to send the Moabite women into the Israelite camp, in order for the people to curse themselves by their licentious and lascivious acts and worship of idols (Numbers 31:16). However, one discovers that Balaam, perhaps frustrated by his inability to curse Israel but rather bless them, was now found among the dead Midianites, having been thrust through by an Israelite sword (Numbers 31:8). The great lesson to learn is that the Holy One’s justice is absolute, and that those who oppose His will are going to eventually be justly judged for their indiscretions.
After the unconditional victory over the Midianites, there is a lengthy description of how Moses handled the request of the Tribes of Reuben and Gad, to locate their herds of livestock on the east side of the Jordan, before the conquest of the Promised Land would be completed. The following depicts some recollections about their predecessors, and how the Lord was adamant that all Twelve Tribes collaborate, to first secure the territory before the settlement was finalized:
“Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock. They saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead. Behold, the place was a place for livestock. Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying, ‘Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, the land which the LORD struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock.’ They said, ‘If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Don’t bring us over the Jordan.’ Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, The LORD’s anger burned in that day, and he swore, saying, “Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, because they have followed the LORD completely.”’ The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation who had done evil in the LORD’s sight was consumed. ‘Behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to increase the fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel. For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.’ They came near to him, and said, ‘We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones; but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our houses until the children of Israel have all received their inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.’ Moses said to them: ‘If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go before the LORD to the war, and every one of your armed men will pass over the Jordan before the LORD until he has driven out his enemies from before him, and the land is subdued before the LORD; then afterward you shall return, and be clear of obligation to the LORD and to Israel. Then this land shall be your possession before the LORD. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out. Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth.’ The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall be there in the cities of Gilead; but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord says’” (Numbers 32:1-27, WMB).
One would think that after experiencing the total victory over the Midianites, the Israelites would understand the blessings of unified actions. But after the dialogue between Moses, and those of Reuben and Gad, the realization that conquering Canaan with a full compliment from every tribe, was critical for accomplishing the goal. Hence, the negotiation was agreed upon, with the Reubenites and Gadites agreeing to fight for the Promised Land with their cousins, before their final resettlement on the east side of the Jordan River. The lesson to be learned, even today, is that God’s purposes for the Creation will be fulfilled, when His people are unified with one mission to complete His work, through the guidance and direction of His Spirit:
“There is one body and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one immersion, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in us all” (Ephesians 4:4-6, WMB).
Perhaps for historical and recorded verification purposes, Numbers ch. 33 essentially gives the details of the itinerary of Israel—with some nuances of what had taken place, over the previous nearly forty-year sojourn, from Egypt to the plains of Moab overlooking the Jordan River. At this point, the command to utterly destroy the inhabitants of Canaan and decimate their idols, in order to cleanse and possess the Promised Land, is described, as well as the distribution of the territory by lot:
“The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, “When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their stone idols, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places. You shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for I have given the land to you to possess it. You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger groups you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them will be like pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell. It shall happen that as I thought to do to them, so I will do to you”’” (Numbers 33:50-56, WMB).
Of course, the key, to a successful occupation of the Promised Land, was for Israel to adhere to the Lord’s commands. Yet as was the case since the taking of the Promised Land, the Lord’s people had not been totally faithful to follow His instructions. The consequences of the propensity to disobey, is certainly epitomized by the universal principle that people will reap what they sow. Is there a lesson to be learned?
Our Torah reading includes some explicit instructions the Levites, who were not to receive an inheritance of land because of their responsibilities to exclusively serve the Almighty (Numbers 18:20-21), were to instead be taken care of. Here the six cities of refuge are described in detail:
“The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ‘Command the children of Israel to give to the Levites cities to dwell in out of their inheritance. You shall give pasture lands for the cities around them to the Levites. They shall have the cities to dwell in. Their pasture lands shall be for their livestock, and for their possessions, and for all their animals. The pasture lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits around it. You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall be the pasture lands of their cities. The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the man slayer to flee to. Besides them you shall give forty-two cities. All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities together with their pasture lands. Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many, and from the few you shall take few. Everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give some of his cities to the Levites’” (Numbers 35:1-8, WMB).
Concurrent with this, instructions are given about the cities of refuge, to handle the issues of unintentional or accidental deaths. Capital punishment is mentioned here, because the Lord was very concerned about the Promised Land not becoming polluted by the blood of innocent life. The Lord stated how He would be dwelling in the midst of Israel:
“then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. The congregation shall deliver the man slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the man slayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees, and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the man slayer shall return into the land of his possession. These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain based on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify alone against any person so that he dies. Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death. He shall surely be put to death. You shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it. You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, where I dwell; for I, the LORD, dwell among the children of Israel” (Numbers 35:24-34, WMB).
When one contemplates these specific instructions, perhaps in light of the modern-day institution of abortion—there is a serious concern about all of the innocent life which is being casually murdered, without properly respecting and adhering to the thrust of these commands. Obviously, only the Lord knows what the ramifications are for a society, which can so blatantly disrespect life. Without equivocation, may God have mercy on those who promote abortion—and by His grace, let us hope that it stops before His judgment rectifies the flagrant sin, in order to more favorably dwell among His people!
In the last set of instructions seen in our Torah reading, Moses sought the Lord’s word on how to handle the request of the daughters of Zelophedad, regarding their inheritance in the Promised Land:
“The heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel. They said, ‘The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel. My lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. If they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. When the jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.’ Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the LORD’s word, saying, ‘The tribe of the sons of Joseph speak what is right. This is the thing which the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them be married to whom they think best, only they shall marry into the family of the tribe of their father. So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel move from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall all keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers. So shall no inheritance move from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall each keep his own inheritance.’” The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD commanded Moses” (Numbers 36:1-10, WMB).
Apparently before the Book of Numbers comes to a close, the issue of how to deal with women’s rights, brought up earlier (Numbers 26:33), needed to be addressed with a direct word from the Lord. Perhaps by this reiteration of how to handle women equitably, the Lord began to return His people to an equality among the genders lost in Eden (cf. Genesis 3:16). For certainly, as the Book of Numbers finally ends, there is the categorical declarative statement that:
“These are the commandments and the ordinances which the LORD commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho” (Numbers 36:13, WMB).
May each of us learn, and take to heart, the great lessons to be learned from what the Lord requires! He constantly wants His people to be unified in the common resolve to fulfill His Word, and complete His mission for the Creation. To this end may we each faithfully serve Him, by advancing His Kingdom today, until the Messianic restoration of all things culminates!
