Numbers 15:1-31

Part Three: The Years of Wandering (Numbers 15; Numbers 16; Numbers 17; Numbers 18; Numbers 19; Numbers 20; Numbers 21)

I. IN PARAN (Numbers 15; Numbers 16; Numbers 17; Numbers 18; Numbers 19)

A. LAWS OF OFFERINGS vv. 1-31
TEXT

Numbers 15:1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you, 3. And will make an offering by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savor to the Lord, of the herd, or of the flock: 4. Then shall he that offereth his offering unto the Lord bring a meat offering of a tenth deal of flour, mingled with the fourth part of a hin of oil. 5. And the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering shalt thou prepare with the burnt offering or sacrifice, for one lamb. 6. Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meat offering two tenth deals of flour, mingled with the third part of a hin of oil. 7. And for a drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of a hin of wine, for a sweet savor unto the Lord. 8. And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice in performing a vow, or peace offerings unto the Lord; 9. Then shall he bring with a bullock a meat offering of three tenth deals of flour, mingled with half a hin of oil. 10. And thou shalt bring for a drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. 11. Thus shall it be done for one bullock, or for one ram, or for a lamb, or a kid. 12. According to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to every one according to their number. 13. All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. 14. And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whatsoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord; as ye do, so shall he do. 15. One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. 16. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.

17. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 18. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you, 19. Then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up a heave offering unto the Lord. 20. Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for a heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it. 21. Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the Lord a heave offering in your generations.
22. And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses, 23. Even all that the Lord hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations; 24. Then it shall be, if aught be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor unto the Lord, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering. 25. And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their ignorance: 26. And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance.
27. And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. 28. And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. 29. Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.
30. But the soul that doeth aught presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 31. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.

PARAPHRASE

Numbers 15:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2. Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, -When you come to the land of your dwellings, which I give to you, 3. make an offering of fire to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or as a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts to make a sweet aroma to the Lord, from the herd or the flock; 4. then he who presents his offering to the Lord shall bring a meal offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil. 5. You shall prepare wine for the drink offering: one-fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or sacrifice for each lamb. 6. Or for a ram, you shall prepare as a meal offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil. 7. And for a drink offering you shall give one-third of a hin of wine as a sweet aroma to the Lord. 8. And when you prepare a bull for a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a special vow, or as a peace offering to the Lord, 9. then he shall bring with the bull a meal offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-half a hin of oil. 10. And you shall bring for a drink offering, one-half hin of wine for an offering by fire, of a sweet aroma to the Lord.-' 11. Thus it shall be done for a bull, for a ram, for a lamb, or for a goat. 12. According to the number you shall prepare, so you shall do for everyone according to their number. 13. All who are born in this country shall do these things -in the same manner in presenting an offering by fire, of a sweet aroma to the Lord. 14. And if an alien sojourns with you, or anyone who is among you throughout your generations, and if he wishes to present an offering by fire, of a sweet aroma to the Lord, he shall do as you do. 15. There shall be just one regulation for you of the congregation, as well as for the alien sojourning with you, a regulation forever throughout your generations: as you are, so shall the alien be before the Lord. 16. One law and one code shall apply both to you and to the alien who sojourns with you.

17. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18. Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, -When you come into the land into which I bring you, 19. it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land you shall offer up a gift to the Lord. 20. You shall offer a cake from the first of your dough as a gift; just as you offer the gift of your threshing floor, in the same manner you shall set it apart. 21. You shall give an offering to the Lord from the first of your dough throughout your generations.
22. If you have erred and have not kept all these commandments which the Lord spoke to Moses, 23. everything the Lord has commanded you through Moses, from the day the Lord gave commandment and onward throughout your generations; 24. then if it is done unintentionally or without the knowledge of the congregation, all of the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a sweet aroma to the Lord, along with its meal offering and its drink offering according to the regulation; and one young goat shall be given as a sin offering. 25. Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; since it was unintentional, and they have brought their offering, a sacrifice brought by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering made before the Lord, for their ignorance. 26. And it shall be forgiven unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the alien sojourning among them, since all the people were in ignorance.
27. Also, if one person sins through ignorance, he shall bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. 28. And the priest shall make atonement for the person who sins in ignorance when he sins unintentionally before the Lord, to make atonement for him: it shall be forgiven him. 29. You shall have just one law for him who sins ignorantly, whether he is born among the children of Israel or the alien who sojourns among them.
30. But the person who acts defiantly, whether he is native born or an alien, dishonors the Lord: that person shall be excommunicated from among his people. 31. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, that person shall be entirely cut off; and his guilt shall be upon himself.

COMMENTARY

At this point comes a most abrupt break in the account of Israel's history. For thirty-seven years, with the exception of a single item, in chapter 16, no actions of the people are recorded. It is as if the time spent in the wilderness should be forgotten. True, the places of their encampments are given (Numbers 33:19-30); but even these are all but unidentifiable. We must not assume that God abandoned the people. They were certainly provided their daily manna, and, just as certainly, it would have been necessary that He furnish copious supplies of water for the people and their animals. In addition, the fire and the cloud went before them (see Exodus 40:34-37), so that the -wandering-' was not aimless and undirected; the Lord led them from place to place as it was appropriate. In analyzing the general circumstance, KD suggests the silence of the account is to be attributed to the fact that the fighting men of Israel had fallen under the judgment of Jehovah, and the sacred history, therefore, was no longer concerned with them; whilst the youth, in whom the life and hope of Israel were preserved, had as yet no history at all, (p. 100).

Anticipating the time when the young generation should arrive in the Promised Land, the Lord reveals certain provisions which complete previous laws. When KD proposes that the reason for this revelation is to revive the hopes of the oncoming generation and direct their minds toward the Land, the reasoning seems too thin. It is hard to see how such a minor factor could serve as such a buoy for forty years. Perhaps a better reason is that of PC: it is evident that the primary object of their promulgation was simply to supply certain defects and omissions in the Levitical legislation, (p. 181).

The laws pertain to certain meal offerings, which are to be added to other sacrifices, The first of these relates all burnt offerings and all offerings which were killed to meat and drink offerings. A fixed amount of meal, oil and wine should be presented with each animal. The quantity differed according to the kind of animal being sacrificed, The occasion of the offering had no effect upon this lawit did not matter whether the animal was being given during the observation of a feast, or in confirmation of a vow, or as a free will offering.

The second law, Numbers 15:17-21, establishes a procedure for offering the first-fruitscoarsely ground meal was to be made into a cake, which, in turn, was lifted up or heaved unto the Lord in token of gratitude and blessing. It then became food for the priests.

A final enlargement, Numbers 15:22-31, relates to offerings occasioned by sins of omission. Considering the broad expanses of the terms of the Law, and countless points upon which questions of personal interpretation might arise in carrying out the Law, it is not at all surprising that provision is made for those who, in ignorance or oversight, err. This law had no relationship whatever to deliberate or willful sins, such as blasphemy or rebellion against the Lord. In each of the three provisions, the same details are to apply to both stranger and native-born (see Numbers 15:16; Numbers 15:26; Numbers 15:30).

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

279.

What purposes would be served in giving the Israelites instructions for sacrificial procedures they would not use until they occupied their new land?

280.

Is it logical for Moses to change the account so abruptly at this point in his history of the people? Enlarge upon your answer.

281.

The period in Israel's history between Kadesh-Barnea and the end of their days in the desert have commonly been called the Wilderness Wanderings. How is this both accurate and inaccurate?

282.

Why are the special provisions given in this section to be applicable to both native Israelites and strangers alike?

283.

Under what circumstances should an Israelite make an offering for unknown sins?