Have you moved your household recently? Preparing for a move takes a lot of time, thought, and energy; but after all the work, a unique feature of moving house is the tradition of neighbors and friends bringing us housewarming gifts. In Numbers Chapter Seven Moses recorded a list of all the offerings brought by the tribes to the Lord at the tabernacle. “What are the best housewarming gifts? They are the gifts given to us by people who know us well enough to know what will be useful and appreciated…the gifts given by Israel to God were no exception to that rule. Every single tribe brought exactly the same housewarming gifts to God’s tabernacle not because they lacked imagination and flair but because they understood the nature and function of the tabernacle…The gifts that each tribe brought were designed to accomplish three things: they provided the means of transport, means of sacrifice, and means of ministry for the tabernacle. This chapter shows us that the twelve tribes all eagerly played their part in providing the resources for a program of worship and fellowship with God…the end result of this generous giving was that the tabernacle functioned exactly as it was intended to do.”(1) “On the day when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle and had anointed and consecrated…the chiefs of Israel, heads of their fathers’ houses…approached and brought their offerings before the Lord…And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him.” (Numbers 7:1-2, 89) God’s presence, order, and preparation were vital for the Israelites, who were called to be a light to the nations when they resided in the Promised Land. As we apply the principles of Numbers to ourselves, we may consider how the indwelling Holy Spirit’s presence in us, God’s orderly Word, and preparation for eternity will pay great dividends when we pass, with Christ, into the new world.
The Lampstand
“Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand’…[a] hammered work of gold.” (Numbers 8:1, 3) “The lampstand of the tabernacle…had a practical purpose: to give light in the Outer Sanctuary. There were no windows…and there were thick, heavy curtains all around it…Yet the lampstand was never just a utilitarian light: they couldn’t simply have replaced it with a bank of fluorescent tubes…God commanded Aaron to set up the seven lamps on the lampstand in such a way that they faced forward and threw their light in front of the lampstand…[The lampstand] symbolized God himself. That is why this piece of furniture was made out of pure gold, hammered into shape, unlike all the other objects in the Outer Sanctuary, which were made of wood and merely plated with gold. It had seven lamps on it, symbolizeding the completeness bd perfection of God’s presence…It was to ‘give light,’ exactly the same Hebrew word that the priestly blessing used of God’s face shining upon his people (6:25). The light of the lampstand thus represented God’s favor or blessing shingling out into the darkness…It was to shine forward, on the area ‘in front of the lampstand,’ upon the place where the table of the show read stood…[which] had on it twelve loaves representing the offerings of the twelve tribes of Israel…What the priests declared in words of their benediction, the lampstand of the tabernacle proclaimed as a daily reality: the light of the Lord’s blessing rested upon all the tribes of his people, making their offerings acceptable in his sight. God’s love and acceptance of those who were his was depicted at the very heart of the tabernacle.” (2) More on this to come.
The Leviticus’ Consecration & Cleansing
“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them…you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine…’” (Numbers 8:5, 14) “The Levites were specialist substitutes in ancient Israel. They were called by God to be set apart to his service, taking the place of the rest of Israel in ministry before the Lord…More precisely, they were substitutes for the firstborn sons of Israel (Exodus 13:2). These firstborn sons of Israel belonged to God in a special way because when he brought judgment on Egypt in the tenth and final plague, he passed over the Israelite houses that were marked with the blood of the Passover lamb and spared their firstborn…In place of all these firstborn sons of Israel, God claimed the Levites…set apart as belonging to the Lord…[and] those who serve the Lord must first be purified…by cleaning and by sacrifice…free from all defilement, spiritually clean…Washing could deal with minor impurities, but only sacrifice could take away substantial impurities and neutralize sin’s polluting power. Only the pure could stand in the presence of God.” (3) And God’s presence was crucial for the Israelites, to fulfill their calling as a light to the nations when they resided in the Promised Land. Just so, God, the Holy Spirit, is necessary for us if we are to be God’s witnesses here on earth, as we approach our Promised Land in heaven.
The Annual Passover Celebration and Second Chances
“And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai…saying, ‘Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it…If any one of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord. In the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight they shall keep it.” (Numbers 9:1-3, 10) “God told the people not simply to celebrate the Passover but to celebrate it at the appointed time, in accordance with all its rules and regulations…The focus of the passage as a whole is not simply on the fact that God is a God of specifics who expects his rules and regulations to be observed precisely. I also shows us a second principle—namely, that God is a God of second chances. The center of the chapter addresses the situation of a number of Israelites who were unable to take part in the regular Passover meal because they were ceremonially unclean…They had come into contact with a dead body, either accidentally or as a matter of necessity and so were unable to partake at the regular time…Notice that the solution to their problem was not to pretend there was no problem. God didn’t say to them that exact obedience doesn’t really matter, provided their heart was in the right place…[but] he provided for a second-chance Passover…in a fallen world we often find ourselves in situations where precise obedience to God’s Word is simply impossible…some situations where pursuing one biblical principle and meeting people’s needs necessarily brings you into conflict with another biblical principle. The solution is to…seek God’s direction and to do the best you can in the present circumstances, while moving as quickly as possible toward fulfilling all of the biblical principles. God is not just the God of rule and regulations, but the God who extends grace and mercy into the messy world of reality. God’s rules and regulations are nothing less than his wisdom written down to guide and guard our hearts and lives. There is therefore no conflict in the end between God’s precise demands and his loving-kindness. …We who are God’s second-chance people by grace should as a result be eager to worship and serve this God according to all of his revealed will, so that he might receive the praise and glory that is due him.” (4)
The Call of the Silver Trumpets
“On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning…And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped… At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out…[And] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Make two silver trumpets…And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. But if they blow only one, then the chiefs, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you…And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I am the Lord your God.” (9:15-16, 22-23; 10:1, 3-4, 9-10) “God was going to lead them into the Promised Land. He would decide how long they were to remain in a particular place, whether one night or two days or a month or a year…this journey is at the will of the Lord himself and under his direction every step of the way…[This large number] of people was not to progress forward as a disorganized rabble but as a disciplined body, an army arranged by tribes and families…After the journey through the wilderness was over and the people had entered the Promised Land, these trumpets were still regularly to be used for two events: warfare and worship. At the sound of the trumpet, the community would gather together either to fight or to fellowship in praise. The trumpets would issue a continuing call to exercise obedience to God’s tabernacle…The sound of the trumpets also brought them to the Lord’s rembrance. As well as being a call for the people to come together and act as one, it was a cry to God to come and act on their behalf.” (5) God’s presence, order, and preparation were vital for the Israelites, who were called to be a light to the nations when they resided in the Promised Land. The indwelling Holy Spirit’s presence in us, God’s orderly Word, and preparation for eternity will pay great dividends when we pass, with Christ, into the new world.
The Gospel
“The ministry of the Levites points us forward to the ministry of Christ. They were substitutes for the firstborn of Israel…given over to a lifetime of service in God’s house. The result of their ministry was to be that the remainder of the Israelites would be able to approach God without receiving a covenant curse…[Jesus Christ] is the ultimate firstborn, not only the firstborn of Israel but of all creation (Colossians 1:15)…He himself was the tabernacle of God, the glory of God in flesh, and he guarded that tabernacle carefully against sin, remaining utterly without spot or blemish…Now, since we as Christians are united to Christ by faith, we share in this same ministry…[Jesus said], ‘You are the light of the world’ (Matthew 5:14)…God promises to supply the power for us…to be communities that are impossible to ignore, where an inexplicable light beams out, constantly confronting people with changed lives through the gospel…The light of Christ will shine forward into the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it…We are to be a community of believers, a family of God’s people, a military unit that fights together and is committed to the policy, ‘No man left behind.’ When a person hurts, we all hurt; when one person rejoices, we all rejoice…In addition to coming together to serve one another and to fight together, we also need to hear the trumpet call to come together for worship and fellowship. Perhaps the most important thing we do as God’s people is to come together to worship God…there is nothing more useful in all the world than singing God’s praises and studying his Word. This is what reorients our thoughts in the right direction and empowers us for renewed service by filling us with an accurate understanding of who God is and what he is doing in the world…One day the final trumpet will sound, announcing the definitive arrival of God’s presence on earth (1 Corinthians 15:52). This time it will not be in the form of a fiery pillar or as a baby at Bethlehem, but in the triumphant return of Jesus Christ to establish the new heavens and the new earth. The final trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ will rise, and those believers who are still alive will be caught up into his presence (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Then our wandering and our warfare will finally be over, replaced forever by worship.” (7) “The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.’” (Revelation 11:15)
Related Scripture: Exodus 12:48-49; 13:21-22; 25:22, 31; 33:9-11; 40:17-18, 36-38; Joshua 5:1-6; 2 Chronicles 13:14-15; Nehemiah 4:18; Psalms 47:1-5; 81:1-5; 96:8; Isaiah 18:3; 27:13; Jeremiah 4:5-6; Joel 2:1-2; Matthew 24:29-31; Romans 8:14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; Revelation 8:1-9:14; 10:7.
Notes:
1. Duguid, Iain M., “Numbers—God’s Presence in the Wilderness,” Numbers 7-10:10, Crossway Books, 2006.
2. Duguid, Ibid.
3. Duguid, Ibid.
4. Duguid, Ibid.
5. Duguid, Ibid.
6. Duguid, Ibid.
7. Duguid, Ibid.
8. Duguid, Ibid.
September 28, 2023
Divine Wisdom for Daily Living by Joanne Colvin 