Números 17

Números 17

Wiersbe - The Lord gave Israel three reminders to encourage them to obey His Law and submit to His will: the tassels on their garments, the brass plates on the altar, and Aaron’s rod in the holy of holies. To encourage believers today to be obedient children, the Lord has given us His Word (John 17:17), the indwelling Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19–20), the Lord’s Supper, reminding us of the death of Christ and His promised return (11:23–34; 1 John 3:1–3), and the interceding Savior in heaven (Heb. 4:14–16; Rom. 8:34). Before we judge God’s ancient people, perhaps we’d better examine our own hearts to see if we’ve submitted to the authority of His Word and of His appointed leaders. (Be Counted) Numbers 17:11 Thus Moses did; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did. NET Numbers 17:11 So Moses did as the LORD commanded him– this is what he did. NLT Numbers 17:11 So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. ESV Numbers 17:11 Thus did Moses; as the LORD commanded him, so he did. NIV Numbers 17:11 Moses did just as the LORD commanded him. KJV Numbers 17:11 And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he. YLT Numbers 17:11 and Moses doth as Jehovah hath commanded him; so he hath done. LXE Numbers 17:11 And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses, so did they. ASV Numbers 17:11 Thus did Moses: as Jehovah commanded him, so did he. CSB Numbers 17:11 So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. NKJ Numbers 17:11 Thus did Moses; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did. NRS Numbers 17:11 Moses did so; just as the LORD commanded him, so he did. NAB Numbers 17:26 And Moses did as the LORD had commanded him. NJB Numbers 17:26 Moses did as Yahweh had ordered. That is what he did. GWN Numbers 17:11 Moses did exactly what the LORD commanded him to do. Numbers 17 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries NO QUESTIONS ONLY OBEDIENCE! Thus Moses did; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did - Note the repetition of did...did emphasizing Moses' complete obedience in stark contrast with the rebellious behavior of his fellow Israelites. Little wonder that Moses is so often referred to as a servant of Jehovah. A servant has ears to hear what the Master commands and a heart that lovingly obeys without hesitating or questioning. THOUGHT - Does the obedience of Moses describe your (our) response when we hear from the Lord in His word and prayer? It should. As we daily surrender to the Holy Spirit, He gives us the desire and power to obey like Moses obeyed. In Ezekiel 36:27 God made the Jews and all who believe in Him a sure word of promise - "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes (THE SPIRIT'S ENABLING POWER), and you will be careful to observe My ordinances (OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO YIELD TO HIS POWER)." It is not "Let go, let God," but "Let God and let's go!" John Currid says "The passage closes with the obedience formula. Moses, in contrast to the Israelites throughout the episodes of chapters 16–17, does precisely and exactly what God had commanded him to do." (EPSC-Nu) Numbers 17:12 Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, "Behold, we perish, we are dying, we are all dying! NET Numbers 17:12 The Israelites said to Moses, "We are bound to die! We perish, we all perish! NLT Numbers 17:12 Then the people of Israel said to Moses, "Look, we are doomed! We are dead! We are ruined! ESV Numbers 17:12 And the people of Israel said to Moses, "Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. NIV Numbers 17:12 The Israelites said to Moses, "We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! KJV Numbers 17:12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. YLT Numbers 17:12 And the sons of Israel speak unto Moses, saying, 'Lo, we have expired; we have perished; we have all of us perished; LXE Numbers 17:12 And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, we are cut off, we are destroyed, we are consumed. ASV Numbers 17:12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. CSB Numbers 17:12 Then the Israelites declared to Moses, "Look, we're perishing! We're lost; we're all lost! NKJ Numbers 17:12 So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, "Surely we die, we perish, we all perish! NRS Numbers 17:12 The Israelites said to Moses, "We are perishing; we are lost, all of us are lost! NAB Numbers 17:27 Then the Israelites cried out to Moses, "We are perishing; we are lost, we are all lost! NJB Numbers 17:27 The Israelites then said to Moses, 'We are lost! We are dead men! We are all dead men! GWN Numbers 17:12 The Israelites said to Moses, "Now we're going to die! We're lost! We're all lost! Behold: Nu 26:11 Ps 90:7 Pr 19:3 Isa 57:16 Heb 12:5 Numbers 17 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries ISRAEL CRIES "UNCLE" AND ARE TERRORIZED! Cry uncle means to admit or concede defeat or plead for mercy. It indicates a willingness to give up the fight! John Currid - The Israelites finally get the point: not just any person may approach the tabernacle to serve in it; this duty is reserved for the Levites. These two verses, then, serve as a proper conclusion to the entire section covering chapters 16–17 which deals with the issue of who has been set apart for the work of the tabernacle. (EPSC-Num) Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying - They were now walking by sight not faith. The evidence of God's choice of Aaron's rod was indisputable. Behold, we perish, we are dying ("we are as good as dead"), we are all dying ("we will be destroyed")! - NLT says “Look, we are doomed! We are dead! We are ruined!” The people are declaring "behold" drawing attention to their intense sense of doom. This repetition (perish...dying...dying) indicates how terrified the people were. It took 3 words to express their terror (see below). The Greek uses three different verbs meaning something like "We are entirely spent (utterly destroyed) (exanalisko - see roo analisko), we are ruined (apollumi), we are wasted, consumed lost to no purpose (paranalisko)." All three verbs are in the perfect tense speaking of past completed action with ongoing effects (speaks of permanence). What are they saying? It seems they finally "get it" that only Aaron can come near the Tabernacle (Nu 12:13) and that anyone who attempts to do so will die! NET NOTE on perish...dying...dying - The use of הֵן (hen) and the perfect tense (ALL THREE HEBREW VERBS) in the nuance of a prophetic perfect expresses their conviction that they were bound to die—it was certain. Currid adds that "After what has happened, the Israelites are in a state of panic and they are clearly reticent to go near the tabernacle. Their speech is quite dramatic as they employ three persistent perfective verbs: ‘perish … destroyed … destroyed’. These are what the older grammarians used to call ‘prophetic perfects’—that is, they represent future situations as if they were already complete. The action is considered as good as done. The deed is already accomplished in the mind of the speaker." (Ibid) Pfeiffer - A final expression of self-pity from a gainsaying generation closes this chapter and also the report of God’s dealings with them. The next words of narration (Nu 20:1) describe the closing days of wilderness wandering and the rise of the new generation. (Wycliffe Bible Commentary) Bush on the "confession" from the sons of Israel that they were dying - A miracle of mercy seems to have extorted from them the confession which the previous miracles of judgment had failed to do. We take the words as implying not an unjust complaint or the outbreak of a still remaining discontent, but an humble acknowledgment of their just deserts and of the imminent peril from which they had barely escaped. The Chald. paraphrases the words thus: “Behold, the sword hath killed some of us, and behold, the earth hath swallowed some of us, and behold, some of us are dead with the pestilence.” The Targ. Jon. thus: “Behold, some of us are consumed with flaming fire, and some of us are swallowed up into the earth; behold, we think as did they, so we all of us shall perish.” They virtually confess that, by reason of their rebellion, they were as good as dead, and that they would certainly incur that doom should they hereafter offend. Wiersbe - God vindicated His servants by bringing death to some of their opponents and by giving life to Aaron’s rod. By the power of God, the dead rod produced beauty and fruit. Spiritual leadership will be recognized by its life and fruitfulness, which come from being in the Holy of Holies with God. How unpredictable is human nature! One day, the people wanted to serve in the tabernacle; the next day, they were afraid to get near it! They did not sincerely fear God; they feared only His judgment. They needed leadership far more than they realized. (WWBC) Dying...dying (lost, destroyed, ruined) (06) (abad) is a verb meaning to perish, to be destroyed, to be ruined, to be lost, to in a state of ruin and destruction pertaining to an object, including the death (Ex 10:7). Abad can mean literally to die, or, in the case of things, reputation, etc., to pass away. Perish (01478)(gava) means to expire, to perish, to die. Death in the flood (Ge 6:17, 7:21). Death of the patriarchs (Gen 25:8, 17, 35:29, 49:33). Breathing out (Job 34:14, Ps 104:29). Baker says gava "is apparently from a root meaning to breathe out." Bush says " The term signifies not so precisely to die, as to be brought into that state of painful suffocation which is very likely to end in death." It is used to describe a natural death (Gen. 25:8), death by dehydration (Num. 20:3), execution (Achan, Josh. 22:20) and divine judgment (Num. 17:12f). In an incredible prophetic passage gava is used to predict the future death of 2/3's of the nation of Israel (Zech 13:8+)! Gava - Usage: breathed his last(4), die(5), died(2), expire(2), expires(1), perish(6), perished(4). Gen. 6:17; Gen. 7:21; Gen. 25:8; Gen. 25:17; Gen. 35:29; Gen. 49:33; Num. 17:12; Num. 17:13; Num. 20:3; Num. 20:29; Jos. 22:20; Job 3:11; Job 10:18; Job 13:19; Job 14:10; Job 27:5; Job 29:18; Job 34:15; Job 36:12; Ps. 88:15; Ps. 104:29; Lam. 1:19; Zech. 13:8 Numbers 17:13 "Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, must die. Are we to perish completely?" NET Numbers 17:13 Anyone who even comes close to the tabernacle of the LORD will die! Are we all to die?" NLT Numbers 17:13 Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle of the LORD dies. Are we all doomed to die?" ESV Numbers 17:13 Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?" NIV Numbers 17:13 Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?" KJV Numbers 17:13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying? YLT Numbers 17:13 any who is at all drawing near unto the tabernacle of Jehovah dieth; have we not been consumed -- to expire?' LXE Numbers 17:13 Every one that touches the tabernacle of the Lord, dies: shall we die utterly? ASV Numbers 17:13 Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the tabernacle of Jehovah, dieth: shall we perish all of us? CSB Numbers 17:13 Anyone who comes near the LORD's tabernacle will die. Will we all perish?" NKJ Numbers 17:13 "Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD must die. Shall we all utterly die?" NRS Numbers 17:13 Everyone who approaches the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all to perish?" NAB Numbers 17:28 Every time anyone approaches the Dwelling of the LORD, he dies! Are we to perish to the last man?" NJB Numbers 17:28 Anyone who approaches Yahweh's Dwelling with an offering will die. Are we to be doomed to the last man?' GWN Numbers 17:13 Anyone who comes near the LORD's tent will die! Are we all going to die?" Whosoever: Nu 1:51-53 18:4-7 any thing: Ge 3:3 1Sa 6:19-21 2Sa 6:6-12 1Ch 13:11-13 15:13 Ps 130:3,4 Ac 5:5,11-14 Eph 2:13 Heb 10:19-22 consumed: Nu 16:26 32:13 De 2:16 Job 34:14,15 Ps 90:7 Isa 28:22 Numbers 17 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries FEAR OF FATALITY FOR COMING NEAR Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, must die - Note their repeated emphasis of drawing near. They are emphasizing that everyone drawing deserves death! It is ironic that it took at miracle of life (ripe almond out ot a dead rod) to convince them of this truth. The supernatural deaths of the rebels in in Numbers 16 did not even have such a great impact on the sons of Israel as this one relatively small miracle of life! It is fascinating that the multiple supernatural judgments (and multiple deaths) against the rebels in Numbers 16 did not produce as much fear in the sons of Israel as one budding rod did in Numbers 17! As Wiersbe phrases it "What the death of nearly 15,000 people could not do, the silent blossoming of a dead stick did accomplish! " (WEOOT) Jensen remarks "They now saw themselves as those who could not compete against God: “Every one that cometh near unto the tabernacle of Jehovah dieth”. Quite a contrast to the bold challenge made earlier against God and His servants!" Bush on comes near...comes near The following is the literal rendering of the verse: “Every one that cometh near, every one that cometh near unto the tabernacle of Jehovah shall die; shall we be consumed in expiring, or giving up the ghost?” Our translators have aimed to indicate the repetition, in the commencement of the verse, by inserting the words “any thing,” which answers somewhat to the import of the duplicated clause, hinting at the prohibition of any degree of approach. The doubling of words and phrase has often the effect, in Hebrew, of giving greater emphasis and intensity to the expression. FSB - The people understand the message: Yahweh has chosen the priestly authority, and His choice should not be challenged, lest more people die (Nu 17:10; compare Nu 16:22, 45). Are we to perish completely - KJV = "shall we be consumed with dying?" Notice they end up their plaintive cry just as they began "We perish...are we to perish completely?" Some writers think their question is rhetorical and the Tanakh renders it with a strong statement, saying “Alas, we are doomed to perish!” UBS - It seems that the Israelites finally got the message that nobody could enter the Tabernacle who had not been given the LORD’s authority to do so. Only Aaron and his descendants could enter the sanctuary and carry out the specific duties of the priesthood. Bush - Will the Lord proceed with us in this course of unsparing justice? Will he show us no mercy till all the people, doomed to die one after another, are cut off? “The name of Aaron was not more plainly written in that rod than the sin of Israel was in the fruit of it; and how much Israel finds their rebellion beaten with this rod, appears in their present relenting and complaint: “Behold, we are dead, we perish.”—Bp. Hall. NET NOTE - The verse stresses the completeness of their death: “will we be consumed by dying” (הַאִם תַּמְנוּ לִגְוֹעַ, ha’im tamnu ligvoa’). Wenham has an interesting comment - Recognizing the necessity of the priesthood, they are now ready to pay for it and offer the tithes and first-fruits set out in the following chapter. NET Note tends to agree writing that Numbers 18 (dealing with priestly functions, etc) "and the next (Nu 19) may have been inserted to explain how the priests are to function because in the preceding chapter Aaron’s position was affirmed. Brian Bell - One day, the people wanted to serve in the tabernacle (ch.16); the next day, they were afraid to get near it! What the death of nearly 15,000 people could not do (ch.16), the silent blossoming of a dead stick did accomplish! Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord! (Zechariah 4:6) How do we know our personal calling? How can I know the will of God for my life? Probably not going to be as miraculous as this budding rod! Yet, God is not a Cosmic Easter Bunny looking down saying, “you’re getting warmer!” Story - Friend of a friend who found his calling to Hawaii, in the shape of a communion Matzo cracker. Let’s start with a simple assumption: Since God has a will for us, He must want us to know it. (Excerpts taken from John MacArthur Jr. “Found: Godʼs Will”) God’s will is that you be: (5 things) Saved - obviously it starts here; you can’t be in His will w/o being “in Him”! Spirit-filled - do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is, & do not be drunk w/wine...but be filled w/the Spirit/yielded; You can’t tell a glove to play the piano, but you can place your hand in it, then the glove is empowered to play. Sanctified - holy; pure; control your body. It’s the cavalry officer who’s life depends on his sword, so he keeps it clean. “It’s not great talent, not great ideas that God uses, it is great likeness to Jesus!” A holy man is an awesome weapon in the hand of God. Submissive - Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake...For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men 1 Pet 2:13,15. Suffering (Phil.1:29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him. Rom.12:1,2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God If you are doing all 5 of the basic things, the next principle is, “Do whatever you want!” Get into the main stream of what God is doing & let Him lead you to that perfect will!