I. Since the sin of Adam and Eve, death is a normal part of life. The events of the previous chapter prove the point. In Numbers 19 God decrees a water of separation to cleanse those who have been defiled by the dead (chapter 19).

• A red heifer is to be slain by Eleazar outside the camp and its blood sprinkled before the Tabernacle (1-4).
• The remains are to be burned, with cedar, scarlet and hyssop added to the fire (5-6).
• The priest and the one who burns the animal both become unclean (7-8).
• The ashes are saved for the water of purification (9-13).
• Concerning the dead and the immediate environment of their death (14-19).
• Failure to apply these rules results in mandatory cutting off from the congregation (20)
• This to be a perpetual obligation (21-22).

II. When good people do bad things (chapter 20).

• Miriam dies
• The people complain of thirst
• Moses and Aaron intercede
• God announces His intention to provide
• Moses and Aaron complain to the people and fail to follow God’s instructions
• Water flows for the people in spite of the sin of Moses and Aaron
• God announces that neither of them will enter the promised land
• Aaron dies

Meditation Points:

1. Although death is normal, and in our fallen state even natural, this was not the case before Adam’s sin. The water of separation/purification was to be a perpetual reminder of the effects of sin.
2. God’s work must be done in God’s way.
3. The leaders of God’s people are not exempt from God’s rules.
4. If the people were forbidden from entering the promised land because they did not trust God, then their leaders must be kept out also for the same reason.

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Numbers 17

After the attempted coup of the previous chapter, God publicly demonstrates (again) that He has chosen Aaron to be the high priest. This He does by causing Aaron’s rod alone, from amongst 12 other rods of tribal significance, to come alive and to bud (1-9).

The now-living rod is kept with the ark of the covenant as a perpetual reminder of God’s election (10-11).

The people rightly are afraid (12).

Numbers 18

1-7. What the priests and Levites are to be doing.

8-19. How the priests’ needs are to be met.

20-24. How the Levites’ needs are to be met.

25-32. How the high priest’s needs are to be met.

Meditation Points:

• God has the right to choose whom He will.
• As God caused Aaron’s rod to come back to life as proof of Aaron’s call to be high priest, so God raised Jesus from the dead as proof that Christ was the great High Priest accepted by God to atone for the sins of the world.

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Meditation Points (by verse number):

1. Korah was a Kohathite, a Levite assigned to carry the sacred furniture. Apparently this honor and responsibility did not satisfy him.

2. 250 Princes joined with Korah, Dathan and Abiram in the rebellion. Sometimes the children of leaders can be the worst rebels.

3. Had Moses and Aaron taken leadership roles upon themselves? No. The complaint was actually against God’s choice of leaders.

3. Were all of the Israelites qualified to lead? No. Their constant complaining is evidence enough to the contrary.

12-14. Dathan and Abiram absented themselves from the public challenge; but they soon discovered that God would not allow them to escape the conclusion of the matter.

26. Believers must separate themselves from those who are under the wrathful eye of God.

31-33. Who controls the movement of the earth?

35-40. Not only the leaders, but the co-conspirators in the rebellion were judged.

41-50. Are these complainers the same ones that Korah said were holy and qualified to lead (verse 3)?

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Part of a three year Bible reading program in English, used by Trinity International Baptist Church of Athens, Greece

I. Guidelines for offerings (1-31)

• meat and drink offerings (1-16)
• dough and the peace offering (17-21)
• sins of ignorance (22-29)
  • guilty congregation
  • guilty individual
• presumptuous sins (30-31)

II. Pickup Sticks (32-36)

• violation of Sabbath rules
• temporary confinement (imprisonment?)
• swift punishment

III. A Fringe Group (37-41)

• a distinguishing band of blue
• a reminder to obey God’s commandments
• a reminder not to follow their own heart, their own conscience, understanding
• a reminder to be holy unto God
• a reminder of who God is and what He has done for them

Meditation Points:

1. Presumptuous sins have been mentioned before (Exodus 21:14; Numbers 14:44), and they will be mentioned again (Deuteronomy 1:43; 17:12-13). Remember as well Psalm 19:13 and Hebrews 10:26-29. Do you think that your presumption will be excused?
2. The man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath was presumptuous.
3. Often members of a close community adopt a dress code to identify one another when they walk among those who are outside the community. The blue band was not for the purpose of distinguishing Israelites, but rather to distinguish the God of Israel and His demand for holy obedience.

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