Numbers 15:1-41

The Old Testament Book of Numbers

In the Desert

Numbers

Marion Adams

Chapter 15

Laws about *sacrifices – Numbers 15:1-29

v1 The *LORD spoke to Moses. v2 He told Moses to give these instructions to the *Israelites. The instructions were about how to offer *sacrifices when they were in the *Promised Land.

v3 ‘You may *sacrifice *bulls, male sheep or goats and burn them on the *altar. These are *burnt offerings.

You may offer other *sacrifices because you want to do this. Or you may offer *sacrifices because you have made a promise. Also you may offer *sacrifices during your regular ceremonies. The smell of the smoke from these *sacrifices pleases me.

v4-5 When you *sacrifice a young male sheep or a goat, also you must offer a *kilogram of your best flour. Mix this flour with a litre of *olive oil. This is a *grain offering. Also you must pour a litre of wine on the *altar.

v6-7 If the animal is an adult male sheep, also you must offer two *kilograms of flour. Mix this flour with one and a half litres of *olive oil. Also you must pour one and a half litres of wine on the *altar. The smell of the smoke from this *sacrifice pleases me.

v8-9 When you *sacrifice a young *bull, also you must offer three *kilograms of flour. Mix this flour with two litres of *olive oil. Do this if the *bull is a *burnt offering, or a *peace offering. Do the same if you offer this *sacrifice because of a promise. v10 Also, you must pour two litres of wine on the *altar. The smell of this smoke pleases me.

v11-13 If you are an *Israelite, you must follow these rules. You must do these things each time that you *sacrifice a *bull, a male sheep or a goat. Then the smell of the smoke from your *sacrifice will please me. v14 The foreigners who live among you must obey these rules, too. And the smell of the smoke from their *sacrifices will please me. v15-16 This law will never change. I am the *LORD. I consider everyone as equal, both you *Israelites and the foreigners who live among you. So the *Israelites and the foreigners among you must always obey the same laws and rules.’

v17-19 The *LORD gave Moses these instructions for the *Israelites. ‘When you eat in the *Promised Land, remember to offer some food to me. v20 After every harvest, bake some bread from the first dough (a mixture of flour, oil and water) that you make. Offer this bread to me, in the same way that you offer grain to me. v21 All your *descendants must obey this law. They must offer to me some of the first dough (a mixture of flour, oil and water).’

v22-23 The *LORD also told Moses to give other instructions to the people. They had to follow these instructions if they had not obeyed any laws by accident.

The *LORD said, v24 ‘Perhaps all the people intend to obey all my laws. But perhaps they will fail. Then they must *sacrifice a *bull as a *burnt offering. The smell of the smoke from this *sacrifice pleases me. Also, they must offer to me a *grain offering, an *offering of wine and a male goat as a *sin offering. v25-26 Then the priest will pray. He will ask me to forgive you. I will forgive you, both you *Israelites and the foreigners who live among you. This is because you did not intend to do wrong things. And also you offered the proper *sacrifices to me.

v27 If one person does not obey my laws by accident, that person must *sacrifice a female goat. The goat must be one year old. It is a *sin offering. v28 Then the priest will ask me to forgive that person. I will forgive that person’s *sin.

v29 This law is for anyone who *sins by accident. It is for the *Israelites and for the foreigners who live among you.’

Verses 1-2 Some people think that it is strange to interrupt the story with another list of rules. This chapter is similar to some Chapter s in the first part of the book, before the *Israelites began their journey. So it seems as if nothing bad has happened!

But there is a possible reason why this chapter is here, at this place in the book. It reminds us that God had promised the land to the *Israelites’ children. Therefore, they had to prepare for the time when their children would live in it. They had to know God’s rules, so that they could tell their children. God was punishing the *Israelites. But also, he was promising them that their children would live in the country called Canaan.

Still, the *Israelites were the people whom God had chosen to belong to him. These rules and laws showed that they had to live as God’s people in the *Promised Land. If they *sinned, they had to offer *sacrifices. Then God would forgive their *sins and he would *bless them.

Verses 3-16 When the people burned an animal as a *sacrifice, they also had to offer grain, *olive oil and wine. The people burned only some of the *grain offering. They gave the rest to the priests. They poured the wine over the *altar.

The smell from these *sacrifices pleased God (verses 3, 6-7, 10). People offered them to show that they were God’s people. They wanted to show God that they loved him. They wanted to thank him for his good gifts.

Verses 17-21 This rule reminded the *Israelites again about their children’s good future in the country called Canaan. They would produce crops there. God told them to give to him some of the first dough (a mixture of flour, oil and water) that they made after each harvest.

God would provide food for them. So they had to offer some food to him in order to thank him. We must never forget that God provides our food, too. We should remember to pray to him before we eat. We should always thank him for our food.

Verses 22-29 The *Israelites had many rules and laws. It was easy to do something wrong by accident. So if all the people, or even just one person *sinned by accident, they had to offer a *sacrifice.

A person who *sins *defiantly against God – Numbers 15:30-36

v30-31 The *LORD said, ‘But if someone *sins *defiantly, that person is guilty of *blasphemy against me. They have hated my words and they have not obeyed my laws. You must send that person away. Such a person must not live among you. This rule is for both *Israelites and for the foreigners who live among you.’

v32 While the *Israelites were travelling through the *desert, a man went to collect some wood. It was the *Sabbath. v33 Some of the *Israelites caught him. They took him to Moses, Aaron and the rest of the people. v34 But nobody knew what to do about the man. So they kept him as a prisoner.

v35 Then the *LORD said to Moses, ‘This man must die. Take him outside the camp. Tell all the people to throw stones at him until he dies!’

v36 So the people followed the *LORD’s instructions. They took the man outside the camp and they killed him.

Verses 30-31 The *Hebrew words in these verses refer to proud people who opposed God. These wicked people understood what God wanted them to do. But they refused to obey his rules. They *rejected him. So they did what they wanted to do. This was a very serious matter. They were *blaspheming against God. And they were not sorry for their *sins. They would not *repent. So God could not forgive them. These wicked people did not have the protection of God. They did not belong to him. They could never benefit from his special promises to his people. He had separated them from his people for all time.

Verses 32-36 This passage provides an example of a person who was *sinning *defiantly. He was opposing God’s laws on purpose. The *Sabbath was (and it is still) a very special day for the *Jews. They did no work. This was because God had told them to rest.

One of the 10 most important rules that God gave to Moses was about the *Sabbath (Deuteronomy 5:12). God told the people to remember always that the *Sabbath was a *holy day. All the people had to rest. God did not want them to work. On the *Sabbath, he wanted them to remember that he had rescued them from the *Egyptians. He wanted them to remember that they belonged to him.

It was a very serious crime to work on the *Sabbath. Every *Israelite knew this. The punishment was death for anyone who worked on the *Sabbath (Exodus 31:15; Exodus 35:2-3). But ‘nobody knew what to do’ about this man (verse 34). They did not know whether he had *sinned *defiantly. Perhaps he had not realised that it was the *Sabbath. Or perhaps he had a mental illness, so he was not able to understand about God’s laws. Because of these or other reasons, the man may not have *sinned *defiantly. The man was clearly guilty because of his actions. But only God knew whether he had *blasphemed. Only God knew whether he had *sinned *defiantly.

God told Moses that they had to punish the man. He had *sinned *defiantly. The man knew God’s rules. But he had decided not to obey them. In other words, the man was *rebelling against God on purpose. The man was guilty of *blasphemy. The punishment for *blasphemy was death. So the people obeyed God’s rules (Leviticus 24:10-23).

It is important to realise that God wants to forgive all our *sin. He is eager to forgive; he does not want to punish us. But he will only forgive us if we *repent.

King David was another man who *sinned on purpose. He had sex with a married woman called Bathsheba. Afterwards, David did not want anyone to know about his *sin. So he caused the death of Bathsheba’s husband. And then David married Bathsheba. But David was guilty of *adultery and murder (2 Samuel chapter 11). God sent a *prophet to speak to David. And then David *repented. David’s prayer, when he confessed his *sin to God, is in Psalms 51.

The Bible says that David loved God with all his heart (for example, 1 Kings 11:4). And it says that David obeyed God completely (for example, 1 Kings 11:6). We can see that David was guilty of terrible *sins. And he *sinned on purpose. But God forgave David because David *repented.

The *tassels on the *Israelites’ clothes – Numbers 15:37-41

v37 The *LORD said to Moses, v38 ‘Speak to the *Israelites. Tell them, “You must sew *tassels onto the bottom edge of your clothes. Tie a blue string to each *tassel. You must do this for all time in the future. v39-40 These *tassels will remind you to obey all my laws. When you obey my laws, you will belong to me completely. Then you will not turn away from me. You will not follow your own wishes and desires. v41 I am the *LORD your God who led you out of the country called Egypt. I did that so that I would be your God. I am the *LORD your God.’

Verses 37-41 Every *Israelite had to sew *tassels onto their clothes. Whenever they saw these *tassels, they should remember God’s laws. They should remember that they were God’s special people. They should remember his special promises to them. Therefore they would not want to think about their own selfish and greedy wishes and desires.

Blue was a special colour. A blue cloth covered the *Ark (Numbers 4:6). There were blue curtains in *God’s Tent. Also, kings often wore blue clothes. The blue string reminded the people that they belonged to God, the king of kings.

LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. In Hebrew, it is Yahweh. This name means something like ‘I am’ or ‘always alive’.

Lord ~ one who rules. God is the Lord who rules everyone.

Hebrew ~ the language of the *Jews.
Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.'Promised Land ~ the country that God promised to give to Abraham and his *descendants.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned animals or other gifts as a *sacrifice to God (or, to a false god).
kilogram ~ 1000 grams.

gram ~ a measurement of weight today. 28 grams make one ounce. 1000 grams make one kilogram.

'olive oil ~ oil that people make from fruit called *olives. They use the oil to cook food. Also, they put it on their hair and their bodies.'grain offering ~ an *offering of something that people made from grain.'burnt offering ~ an animal that the priests burnt on the altar as a *sacrifice.

altar ~ a special table where the priests burned animals or other gifts as a *sacrifice to God (or, to a false god).
peace ~ a calm and content attitude, even when there are problems.
sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.
bless ~ 1. To ask God to do good things for a person or people. 2. God blesses us when he does good things for us. He guards us and he keeps us safe from evil things.
blasphemy ~ an insult against God.
desert ~ a dry region, or a region where there is just a little water. A few wild plants are able to grow in some deserts. So people who are travelling can live in these deserts in their tents. And they can lead animals through the desert. The Israelites lived in a desert for nearly 40 years.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.
Sabbath ~ the Sabbath was the 7th day of the week (Saturday) which was special to the *Jews. It was the day on which the people had to rest from work (Exodus 20:8-11).
Hebrew ~ the language of the *Jews.
reject ~ not to accept or not to believe in someone or something.
blaspheme ~ to insult God.
repent ~ to decide not to do bad things that you did before. To decide to do what God wants.
holy ~ what God is like. God’s character: perfect, completely good with nothing bad in it. Separate from sin.

sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.
adultery ~ when a man or a woman has sex with someone who is not their wife or husband.
Ark ~ a wooden box that contained things that were special to the Israelites. God said that he would meet his people at the Ark. It was a *symbol that God was there in a special way.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.