OVERVIEW: The daily and weekly offerings; the sabbath and monthly offerings, and the offerings to be given at the appointed feasts; God’s instruction concerning vows; God’s judgment upon the Midianites; the division of the booty obtained from the Midianites; the officers and captains bring an offering to the Lord; Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh settle east of the Jordan.
HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:
Chapters 28 and 29 deal with the subject of the Lord’s offerings, and are actually an amplification of the instructions already given in Leviticus 23. Keep in mind that all of the offerings speak of Christ and find their fulfillment in Him. (Matt. 5:17) Understanding that makes Numbers 28:2 beautifully significant as God speaks of these offerings as “My bread.” Christ is the One in whom the Father has found His delight and perfect satisfaction. (Matt. 3:17)
In chapter 30, God talks about the seriousness of making vows to Him. He wants to make certain that His people did not take ENTERING into a vow with Him lightly, or take the BREAKING of a vow lightly. Though we are not instructed to make vows, as such, as New Testament believers, wasn’t our very salvation a sacred “vow” of sorts, as we recognized that our lives were not our own because of the price Christ paid to redeem us, and so we exchanged our life for His? (1 Cor. 6:19–20; Matt. 16:24)
The purpose of God’s command to go to war against Midian in chapter 31 was two-fold:
1) To “avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites.” (31:2)
2) To “avenge the Lord of Midian.” (31:3)
It served that two-fold purpose because the Midianites had devastated Israel, not as “ENEMIES” in a PHYSICAL war, but as “FRIENDS” in a SPIRITUAL war. The idol-worshipping Midianites seduced the Children of Israel into committing “SPIRITUAL ADULTERY” against the Lord, and became involved in “PHYSICAL ADULTERY” with their women. It had resulted in the death of 24,000 Israelites! (Num. 25:9)
In this war that God designed to provide HUMAN RETALIATION and DIVINE RETRIBUTION, three significant things stand out:
1) The easiness of the victory.
2) The enormity of the spoil.
3) The absence of the loss of life. (Not one of the Israelites was killed!)
Keep in mind that like Israel, we, too, have been called to war against our PHYSICAL enemy, the flesh (Gal. 5:17), and to war against our SPIRITUAL enemy, the devil and his principalities and powers. (Eph. 6:10-17) When we walk in obedience to the Word of God and appropriate the victory that Christ has already won, we can expect the same result as the children of Israel in Numbers 31!
In chapter 32, the tribes of Reuben and Gad approach Moses for permission to settle in a piece of property recently acquired on the east of Jordan. They had set their affection on what they could see with their “physical eyes” (note in 32:1 – “and when they saw”), rather than what God had in store for them in the Promised Land that required the “eyes of faith.” From a human/financial standpoint, their request was very reasonable and made all the sense in the world, but spiritually, it was an act of selfishness, compromise and lack of faith. Israel’s place was INSIDE Canaan, not OUTSIDE! That was the whole purpose for the exodus: to bring them into a new land. (Deut. 6:23) God wanted the entire nation to enter the land as one, and for all of Israel to desire to be near the tabernacle, and thus, constantly living in His presence. We see the result of their choice in 1 Chronicles 5:18–26 and 2 Kings 15:29. It wasn’t long before they bowed themselves to the gods of the people around them, and they were the first to go into captivity.
Obviously, these tribes are a graphic picture of self-indulgent, worldly Christians who foolishly set their affection on things on earth rather than on the things above (Col. 3:1–2), allowing physical or financial advantages to be their first consideration, and the key factor in making the decisions of life. Like Israel, our place is in CANAAN, not in this WORLD! We are to be living in this world, but all the while, our affection driving us to seek the things which are above, lest we, like Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, be overtaken by the world, the flesh, and the devil.
CHRIST IS REVEALED:
In the OFFERINGS of the FEAST of TABERNACLES – Numbers 29:12–39 (Compare Num. 29:12 with Lev. 23:24) – John 1:14 (“The Word was made flesh and DWELT among us…” Note that the word “dwelt” is the word “tabernacle,” meaning “to temporarily live in a tent.”)
In MOSES, the RIGHTEOUS JUDGE of the wicked – Numbers 31:1–17 (Rev. 16:5; 19:11; 2 Thess. 1:7–9; Jude 14–15)