Are we there yet? Part II

Some events of note are accounted for in Numbers which occur during the extended trip that was necessitated to allow for the “sinful generation” to die off in the wilderness.

There is a talking animal.

Which would be Balaam’s ass, the only animal other than the serpent in Eden reported to speak in the Bible.

Balaam's Ass

The donkey that could see the angel of the LORD, and tried to stop the seer who had been sought out by the Moabite Balak to issue a curse against the Israelites.

Who tried to help out his longtime master by not taking him to his doom.

Balaam was not an Israelite, but that doesn’t matter all that much since he is killed in the war with the Midianites on account of his stirring up the Moabite women at Baal of Peor to distract the Israelite men’s eyes from the prize which is the Promised Land by attempting to appeal to their baser instincts.

More sneaky women.

We also learn that Moses and Aaron will not make it into the Promised Land.

Apparently on account of taking a bit too much credit for making water flow from the rock a second time at Meribah in Kadesh.

Seems a little harsh, but it’s God’s rules.

One of the accounts of rules which may appear to some to be a little harsh concerns the affair of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

The rebellion amongst the Levites and the Tribe of Reuben.

As we have learned, the sons of Levi comprise the clan of the Tribes of Israel who perform the sacrifices of the community to Yahweh.  This tribe is split up into three subgroups responsible for dismantling, moving, and setting up the meeting tent which was being used as the temple to provide a physical dwelling-place for the LORD during his appearances on Earth, in addition to providing a place to conduct the ritual cultic animal and vegetable sacrifices to the LORD by the spilling of blood and the burning of various and sundry parts of the body.

The latter practices are to only be performed by the preists of the sons of Aaron.

No other Israelites (even others within the house of the sons of Levi) are to perform such rites of sacrifice.

Which could explain some of the later hubbubs in and around the Temple in Jerusalem around 30 A.D.

But that's getting way ahead of the story.

Back to Numbers.

Initially, there is a family dispute at the top of the group between Moses and his brother Aaron and sister Miriam, over the issue of sibling rivalry with God’s favor.

Miriam in happier days

Miriam winds up on the losing stick of that dispute, and is struck with leprosy (which clears up in a week after seeking and receiving God’s mercy through the intervention of Moses).

Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and 250 or so of their fellow rebels in the priesthood aren’t so lucky.

Korah’s sin amongst the Levites was to believe that all people (specifically, all Israelites) were intrinsically holy, and that God dwelt amongst them to a person (“all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them”).



The Rebellion of Korah

Dathan and Abiram of the Tribe of Rueben reject Moses’ call for them to stand up against the rebellion of Korath.  From their view, Moses hadn’t accomplished all that much other than causing the Israelites to depart from the comfort of Egypt only to die in the wilderness, so if Moses had an issue with someone not following his rules, that was Moses’ problem, not Dathan and Abiram’s problem.

Mistake.

The end of Korah

Moses proposes a sacrifice throw-down of burnt incense, and Korah and his men lose and are being swallowed up by the earth.  Dathan, Abiram, and their families share a similar fate and are consumed by fire.

Which emphasizes the following rules:

1) Whatever survives burning is thus holy (and so Korah’s censers were recycled into an alter-cover), and

2) An outsider to the priesthood who approaches the LORD to offer sacrifice shall be put to death.

The trip started with a total of 603,550.

It ends at the edge of the Jordan with a little less, amounting to 601,730.

All who had originally escaped the human bondage of Pharaoh (except Moses, Joshua, and Caleb) have perished in the wilderness.

Almost ready to enter the Promised Land.

Almost.

In any event, one of my favorite blessings is found in Numbers, and here it is:

May the LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you
and give you peace, wholeness of life, Shalom.

Peace be with you.