The Closing of a Chapter (Numbers 34-36) [2025-8-31]

All right, good morning, church family.

If you would open your Bibles or type in your devices the Book of

Numbers this morning, we're going to be in verses 3435 and

36, and we are going to conclude the Book of Numbers this

morning. And the title of the sermon is

appropriately titled both for our sermon series and the book.

It is the closing of a chapter. We, we started the Book of

Numbers back on September 22nd, 2024.

So it's been almost a year that we've been going through this

book. We'll actually finish it in less

than a year. I didn't think that we would

actually get it done in less than a year, but Lord willing,

if we finish it today, we will finish it less than a year.

This morning we're going to look at the last three chapters of

this book. And next week we will begin a

new study through the book of James.

And I've never preached through James before.

I have preached in James, but I never preached on the entire

book. So we'll be doing a new study

next week on the book of James. So I won't read the text upfront

because it's 3 chapters. So if you will open with me.

In a word of prayers, we ask God to please speak to us now.

Our Heavenly Father, we we pray, asking for your voice that we

have heard over and over again in our life, that it would once

again speak to us as your sheep, Lord.

And we we know your voice, we discern it, we recognize it, and

we pray God that you would speak once again as we close out this

book and as we reflect on it and process.

Lord God, help us discern what you're speaking to the church

this morning and to us specifically.

I pray God, as we close out this chapter, maybe some of us are

closing out chapters in our own life.

Maybe we're starting new chapters wherever we may be this

morning. Lord, would you help us to be

attentive to what the Spirit is speaking to us?

Thank you God for being a God who is willing and ready to

communicate to His people. We love you, we pray in Jesus

name, Amen. Have you ever watched a movie

where at the end of it you are unsatisfied?

You are unsatisfied with the ending?

It didn't, you know, there was maybe no resolution or it ended

in a strange way and you're like, why did you end it this

way? This happened recently, not

recently. This happened to me several

years ago. There was a movie that I got to

at the end of it and I just was totally unsatisfied with the

ending. And one of my friends came to me

and he said, I think that was the point.

It was one of those movies where the bad guy got away.

Like he, he he didn't die. There wasn't justice.

You know, I'm a big justice person and there was no justice

at the end of movie. And I was, I was, I was

frustrated. My friend came to me and he said

that's the point. The the point is, is that that's

life. In real life.

The bad guy doesn't always get caught in real life.

There doesn't always end the way.

I think that was the point of the director was to show that

this is here, life moves on, there's a chapter, there's

another story to be had. I felt this way when I read the

end of Numbers. I read the end of it and I was

like, that's how you end the book.

There's there's no message of, you know, you're waiting for

this finale or this, you know, encouraging message.

And and and it ends with the specific test case of the

daughters. What do we take away from that?

I think it's this the book of Numbers ends, but it's the

closing of a chapter, but it's not the closing of the Bible.

There's more to this story. This book ends and a new chapter

will begin. And so as we look at this, I

want to just remind us that so often that is is that 1 chapter

closes, but a new one begins. So as we look at our text this

morning, I'm going to be giving exposition application woven

together. I won't be reading chapter 34

because it is a bunch of boundaries and tribal chief

names. You can read that on your own if

you like, but I will go through it.

So let's I might read portions of it, but not all of it.

Let's start in chapter 34. Let's read verses 1 and 2.

The Lord spoke to Moses saying, command the people of Israel and

say to them, when you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land

that you shall fall to you for an inheritance.

The land of Canaan as defined by its borders.

We'll stop there for right now. So chapter 34, before they go

over the Jordan and cross into the land of Canaan, what is

going to establish the borders of Israel for Israel, for the

land of Canaan? Now here's what I find

fascinating about this. They haven't fought a single

battle yet in Canaan. Not one battle have they fought

in Canaan yet. And God is already telling them

what their borders will be. This means that God is telling

them ahead of time what He's going to give them, specifically

what He's going to give them. You see, we so often want God to

tell us the future, don't we, man?

We want God to tell us. Like what college will I go to?

What job will I graduate college?

Will I get married or will I not?

Will we have kids and if we do, how many will I be able to keep

this job or will I have to look for another one?

Where am I going to live in five years?

Reality is God so rarely tells us the future because He cares

more about our faith than our future.

But God does tell us what we need to know when we need to

know it, just as God told them. He told them this is the

promised land, and I'm giving you the dimensions.

I'm telling you exactly what you're going to inherit down to

the city, down to the rivers. He tells them.

And likewise for us to God has told us about our promised land

that awaits us. Jesus told us that he goes to

prepare a place for us. It has walls of Jasper, streets

of pure gold, and gates made of pearls.

There is a river of life and a tree of life there.

And we are all dressed in white, praising the Lamb who sits upon

the throne. You see, we may not know what

awaits us in eight years, but we all know what awaits US in 80

years. God is going to tell them their

boundaries. He's going to tell them their

southern boundary, their western boundary, their northern

boundary, and their eastern boundary of the promised land.

I want to show it to you on a map.

This is in verses 3 to 12. We won't get there right now,

but this is a map of of the borders that are given.

He tells him in verses 3 to 12 that their southern boundary is

going to go all the way down to the wilderness.

Their western boundary is going to be the great sea.

That's what that that that a lie on the left is the great sea is

the Mediterranean. So when you read great sea

there, just read that as Mediterranean.

That's what we know as the northern boundary is going to go

all the way up to Labo Hamath up up top here.

And the eastern boundary is going to go all the way to this

dotted line. And then it's going to curve in

because to where this line is, where the Jordan River is down

to the Dead Sea. And also you'll notice a phrase,

the Sea of Chinarath, that's there in your text that is the

Sea of Galilee. So sometimes, you know, you read

these texts, you're like, what are these terms here?

You just have to research that and look that up.

All right, so this is going to be the borders.

God basically is telling him they have not conquered a single

city yet. They haven't fought a single

battle. And God says, I'm going to give

you all of this land. All of it is going to be yours.

Now, what's interesting though, is that Israel never occupied

this full territory. They never did.

Why? Because of their disobedience.

They occupied a large portion of it.

But if you study geography and you say the Old Testament, they

never occupied all of that. David got the closest to it, but

he never got all of it. It's a reminder to us that even

though God has promised heaven to all of us in Christ, we still

have to persevere in obedience to receive the inheritance.

It's not as though Israel could just walk over into Canaan, find

a lawn chair and a glass of lemonade and say, Hey,

Canaanites, this is ours. They still have to persevere in

obedience. Likewise, you and I, nobody gets

into heaven on a sailboat. We still have to persevere in

our faith to receive the inheritance.

Third, versus 13 to 15, Moses commanded the people of Israel,

saying, This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which

the Lord has commanded to give to the 9 tribes and to the half

tribe. For the tribe of the people of

Reuben by father's houses and the tribe of the people of Gad

by their fathers houses have received their inheritance.

And also the half tribe of Manasseh, the 2 tribes and the

half tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan

east of Jericho toward the sunrise.

So Moses tells the people that this land that is up here, that

9 1/2 tribes are going to receive this.

They're going to receive it by lot.

That you're right. Why 9 1/2 and not 12?

The reason is, if you remember, 2 1/2 tribes have received their

inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho toward the

sunrise. Do you remember a few weeks ago

we looked at this with, remember Reuben and Gad, They, they were

on this east side over here and they basically asked for

permission to inherit that land and Moses agreed.

He said as long as you come and fight with your brothers, then

then it will be yours and it'll be conquered.

So Reuben and Gad get that land and then the half tribe of

Manasseh. Manasseh was split in two.

There's an eastern side and a western side.

The half tribe of Manasseh will receive a portion on the east

side as well today and dispossessed the Amorites who

were there. So 2 1/2 tribes are on the east

side, the other 9 1/2 are on the West side.

And the way that those 9 1/2 are going to determine what belongs

to them is by lot. I want to pause and briefly talk

about that idea. I kind of touched on a little

bit before, but I want to pause here for just a minute.

Think about this for for just a second.

What an interesting way to determine how the rest of your

life and the rest of the lives of your descendants is going to

be. It's not as though they can have

an auction for the land and the highest bidder gets to choose

first. It's not as though they can arm

wrestle for or have a foot race for it and whoever wins gets to

choose first. It's not as though they can have

a farming challenge and the the tribe with the biggest

watermelon gets to choose first. They are literally going to cast

lots. It's like rolling dice.

One time forever. Your tribe will inherit this

land, whatever your lot is. This will determine where you

live and your descendants live for all generations.

How would you feel if all decisions were made this way?

Which college you went to was determined by lot.

Who you married was determined by lot.

What job you worked at was determined by lot.

Where you lived was determined by lot.

I thought about that this week. I was meditating on that idea

all week long. On the one hand, I thought this

it would surely simplify things. I don't ever have to question if

this is God's will because I know it's God's will.

The lot says that it's God's will.

If the lot told me you're going to live in Tacoma, I guess I'm

going to Tacoma. I don't have a choice.

That's the will of the Lord. It surely would simplify, but it

also got me thinking this. Why don't we have this

perspective even without casting lots?

Why is it that the moment we introduce human choice and

effort and talent and merit and hard work, we also introduce

things like envy and jealousy and bitterness and resentment

and pride and boasting and anxiety?

If your lot fell next to a river and therefore your animals and

your crops were prosperous, no one could boast because no one

controls the lot. God does.

No one could say, look at how prosperous my crops are.

I rolled that lot really well. And if your lot fell in a dry

and arid land and therefore you had to struggle, no one could be

envy or bitter because God controlled the lot.

That's what he apportioned for you.

Brothers and sisters, God controls your lot.

Even with human choice involved, he still controls it.

Verses 16 to 29 I won't read. This is a list of tribal chiefs.

God, it gives Moses that. You can read that on your time

if you like, but it's there's a list of names there.

God gives Moses the names of the men who divide up the land, the

first names mentioned. I do want to point out the first

names mentioned. Or Eliezer the priest and Joshua

the son of Nun. And then he tells Moses to take

one chief from every tribe for inheritance.

And then he list 1 chief from each of the 12 tribes.

You can read their names in the text if you like. 2 things I

want to point out about this list though.

Number one, the two names that that I want to highlight is that

Joshua and Caleb are mentioned and Joshua and Caleb are going

to enter the promised land. In fact, they are the only two

men over the age of 20 who came up out of Egypt who will see the

Promised Land. An entire generation of of men

and women and children came up out of the Promised Land.

And all those over the age of 20, none of them got to see the

Promised land except 2 Not even Moses, not even Aaron, not even

Miriam, 2 Joshua and Caleb. Why?

Because they were faithful to trust the Lord.

God rewards our faithfulness. 40 years ago they faithfully trust

the Lord when everybody else around them doubted God.

And now 40 years later, God is rewarding them for their

faithfulness. Brothers, sisters, God doesn't

need to put anything in His calendar. 40 years have gone by.

God doesn't need to put anything in his calendar.

He doesn't need a secretary to remind him.

God remembers every act of faithfulness, and He will reward

us in due time. He sees it and He will reward

it. That's the first piece I want to

mention #2 there is a shared leadership here.

The task of dividing up the land doesn't fall on Eliezer.

It doesn't fall on Joshua. The task falls on 14 men, two

Eliezer and Joshua. Eliezer is the high priest,

Joshua is their new spiritual leader.

And then one man from each tribe.

Total of 14 men that are going to be responsible for dividing

up this land. In the same way, the church

should have shared leadership. No one man is equipped to divide

up all this land. No one man is equipped to lead

an entire church on their own. God has designed the church to

have shared leadership, to have elders, plural in place, even if

that is just two elders. Verse 35, verse 30, chapter 35.

Let's look at chapter 35, verses 1 to 5.

The Lord spoke to Moses and the plains of Moab by the Jordan of

Jericho, saying, Command the people of Israel to give to the

Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities

for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the

Levites pasture lands around the cities.

The city shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasture land

shall be for their cattle and for their livestock, and for all

their beast. The pasture lands of the cities

which you shall give to the Levites shall reach from the

wall of the city outward. 1000 cubits all around you shall

measure outside the city, on the east side 2000 cubits and on the

South side 2000 cubits and on the West side 2000 cubits and on

the north side 2000 cubits. The city being in the middle,

This shall belong to them as their pasture land for their

cities. So what's going on here?

If you remember, the Levites are not the Levites are tribe of

Israel. They're one of the 12 tribes and

they're not going to inherit any land.

They won't cast a lot because they don't get any land.

God said, but to Aaron back in chapter 18, you shall have no

inheritance in the land, neither shall you have any portion among

them. Why?

I am your portion. I am your inheritance among the

people of Israel. Now of course that raises the

question. And you know, if I'm a Levite,

I'm like, OK, Lord, I, I'm all for this, but I just have one

question. Where are we going to live?

Where are they going to live? And God commands people to give

to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession

as cities for them to dwell in. In addition, they're to be given

pasture lands around the cities. They have a city and then they

have pasture lands around the city.

The Levites will own these cities and own these pasture

lands. Now why did God set it up this

way? I'll give you 3 reasons why #1

so that the Levites would be scattered throughout the entire

nation if God had given the Levites just one portion of land

and all of the spiritual leaders would all be in one section.

So those who live way up north, you know, it's like living,

well, some of you do live in Lynnwood or like you like living

in Marysville, right? Like you probably wouldn't come

to this church if you lived in Marysville.

It's too far. Well, if you, if you did, praise

God, but it's too far. So God is going to have the

Levites be scattered all throughout the nation of Israel.

The Levites are charged with teaching the Torah.

And so by having them scattered throughout the whole entire

nation of Israel, every tribe will have access to this

teaching. They'll have access to the

teaching of the Levites. That's the first reason #2 the

Levites were to serve as a picture for how all Israel

should live. In other words, even though it

was good and right for them to inherit the land, when they saw

the Levites living in these cities not inheriting this land,

they were to be reminded this is how we are all to live.

Would that we all considered our soul inheritance to be the Lord,

that I wouldn't cling so tightly to this and say I have to have

this. God is our inheritance #3 Some

of the Levite cities will be cities of refuge.

We'll look at that in just a minute.

I'll explain that in just a minute.

God gives to them the dimensions of the pasture land.

Let me show you a picture of how this would probably work.

The city would be in the middle. It'd be 1000 cubits on each

side, 2000. That's where the 2000 comes from

around. So they would live in the city,

and everything else is pasture land where they would have their

animals and so forth. Now, that's not miles or feet,

that's cubits, right? A cubits about 18 inches, give

or take. So how big is this?

That's about .3 square miles, About 200 acres.

All right, So .3 square miles or about 200 acres, you say?

That's not a lot. If you think about it, if you

add up all the cities, if you count all the cities and

multiply it times this size, the total area assigned to the

Levites came to just 15 square miles.

That's it. 15 square miles, which is only about .1% of the

land of Canaan. The Levites only got .1% of the

land. They really did not have an

inheritance like the other tribes did.

God was their inheritance. The verses 6 to 8 The cities

that you give to the Levites shall be 6 cities of refuge

where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in

addition to them you shall give 42 cities.

All the cities that you give to Levites shall be 48 with their

pasture lands. And As for the cities that you

shall give from the possession of the people of Israel from the

larger tribes you don't take many, from the smaller tribes

you shall take few. Each and proportion to the

inheritance that it inherits shall give of its cities to the

Levites. So All in all the tribes that

the the 1211 tribes, well, I guess, yeah, 12 if you count the

the two halves, they are to give a total of 48 cities to the

Levites, 48. Now six of the 48 are going to

be cities of refuge. You're like, what is that?

What is a city of refuge? This is the city where you shall

permit the manslayer. It's an interesting phrase.

Manslayer to flee. What does that mean?

God explains this and Deuteronomy 19.

He says if anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally in the

past, and then he he says, suppose you and your friend,

suppose Ian and Lucas, I'll use them, they're right there.

Two brothers. Suppose they went to go chop

wood in the forest and Ian's chopping and as he goes to swing

his axe head flies off and it hits Lucas in the head and kills

him. This is the example that God

gives in Deuteronomy 19. At this point Ian has to flee to

a city of refuge. Why?

Because Lucas's family is going to kill Ian.

That's, that's what it is. There is an Avenger.

What? And their custom and their

culture. One of Lucas's relatives,

whoever is his closest Avenger, go.

Well, it's also going to be translated Redeemer, same exact

word as Boaz Kinsman Redeemer, same exact word.

We'll go and avenge Ian's blood, Lucas's blood by killing Ian.

But there's a city of refuge where you can flee.

I'll talk more about this in just a second.

For all the 48 cities, they shall be given in proportion to

the size of each tribe. Larger tribes are going to give

more cities. Smaller tribes will give fewer

cities. Now, how are we to apply this

today? We don't have refuge like this

today. Here's how I think we apply it

today. The church is a city of refuge.

This church, any church that is gospel centered is a city of

refuge. How so?

Well, we have all sinned against God.

We have all sinned against our neighbors.

We are all guilty of death. And of course, our ultimate

refuge is the cross of Jesus Christ.

But Jesus himself has also given us something else.

He's given us the church. Jesus founded the church and he

gave it to us as a gift and it is a place where we simply do

not drive to, nor do we walk to, but we flee to unto the church

where there is an entire city of forgiven sinners.

We step inside this city and we are reminded, I too am guilty,

and I too am forgiven and I am safe.

Look at verse 9 to 15 and the Lord spoke to Moses saying,

Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, when you cross

the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall select

cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who

kills any person without intent may flee there.

The city shall that the manslayer may not die until he

stands before the congregation for judgement.

And the cities that that you gives shall be your six cities

of refuge. You shall give three cities

beyond the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan to

be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be for

refuge for the people of Israel and for the stranger, and for

the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person

without intent may flee there. So God here gives them further

details of how these six cities would work of refuge.

When the Manslayer flees to this city of refuge, he would be safe

from the Avenger. So he flees the city, he's safe

from the Avenger. The Avenger cannot enter this

city, but the man who flees there still has to stand for the

congregation for judgement. Why?

Similar to our context, he's innocent until proven guilty,

right? I mean, you could kill someone

to the city of refuge when like you really did it intentionally.

So he has to stand trial. Three of the cities will be

beyond the Jordan made on the other side.

The three will be on in the land of Canaan.

These cities will be not only for the Israelites.

They will also be for the stranger, for the sojourner,

meaning the foreigner. They will be for everybody.

Look at verse 16 to 21. But if he struck him down with

an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer.

The murderer shall be put to death, and he struck him down

with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died.

He is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to

death, or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could

cause death, and he died, he is a murderer.

The murderer shall be put to death.

The avenger of Bloodshot himself put the murderer to death.

When he meets him, he shall put him to death.

And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at

him lying in wait so that he died, or an enmity struck him

down with his hand so that he died, then he who struck the

blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer.

The avenger of blood shall be shall put the murder to death

when he meets him. So God makes it clear that these

cities of refuge are only for those who commit accidental

death. These are not for those who

commit murder. They're not for those who even

commit manslaughter. He gives several examples of

when this would apply. He says if someone struck

another person with an iron tool or a stone tool or a wooden tool

and the person died, then the event the offender is a

murderer. If someone pushed someone else

out of hatred, or he hurled something at him and he did it

in enmity, he did it with anger and the person died as a result,

the offender is considered a murderer.

And in all these cases, the murderer is to be put to death.

The avenger of blood is the one who is to put him to death,

whoever his closest relative was on his family side.

Now, just as a side note, he's like, why?

Why is he? But that God commanded capital

punishment. The Old Testament remember

capital punishment. God said eye for an eye, tooth

for a tooth. That's how it worked in the old

covenant. Since they shed blood, their

blood is to be shed, but the scissors.

Aren't you glad that we don't live under the old covenant?

How many of us would be dead by now if we did?

I mean, a man was put to death for picking up sticks.

How many of us would be dead if we lived under the old covenant?

The author of Hebrew says that Jesus has become the guarantee

of a better covenant. Hebrews 722.

Look at verse 22 to 29. But if he pushed him suddenly

without enmity, or hurled anything on him, without lying,

and wait, or use a stone that could cause death, and without

seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not

his enemy, and did not seek his harm, then the congregation

shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of

blood. In accordance with these rules,

the Congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of

the Avenger of blood, and the Congregation shall restore him

to a city of refuge to which he has fled, and he shall live in

it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with

holy oil. But if the manslayer shall at

any time go beyond the boundaries of a city of refuge

to which he fled, and the avenger of Blood finds him

outside the boundaries of a city of refuge, and the avenger of

Blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood,

for he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the

high priest. But after the death of the high

priest, the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.

And these things shall be for a statute and a rule for you

throughout your generations and all your dwelling places.

I didn't put this in the sermon, but I was talking to Lauren at

lunch this week and I was like, man, you kind of wish that the

high priest was like 80 that year.

And what if he was 20? God clarifies that if a person

kills someone by accident, so someone or hit someone and it

was no enmity, or if he hurled something or dropped something.

If you're staying on a on a on a Ridge and thought it would be

cool to pick up a stone and just throw it off, not realizing

there was a guy down at the bottom and hit him in the head

and killed him, you didn't mean to.

This person still has to flee to the the the City of Refuge.

The congregation will judge between the Manslayer and the

Avenger of Blood in accordance with these rules.

Maybe he's to have a court case and the congregation is to serve

as a jury. The text doesn't say this, but

if the congregation found him to be guilty, then he would

presumably be considered a murderer and he would

consequently die by the Avenger. If they found him guilty, they

would hand him over to the Avenger and the Avenger would

put him to death. But if the congregation found

him innocent, that he was required to stay in the city of

refuge until the death of the high priest, once the high

priest died, then the manslayer could return to the land of his

possession. Now why does he have to wait

until the high priest dies? Well, whenever death occurs,

there must be atonement through another death.

Whenever there is death in the Old Testament, there has to be

atonement through another death. So in this case, the death of

the high priest serves as the manslayer's atonement.

Now he has to stay there until he dies.

The high priest dies. But if he leaves the city of

refuge before the high priest dies, you know what he like one

day is like? You know what I don't like?

The city of Refuge. I got a much better plot of land

back in my hometown. I'm tired of being here.

If he leaves those borders, if the Avenger of Blood finds him

and he decides to kill the Manslayer, he is not guilty.

He is actually allowed to kill him.

In other words, if you leave the city of Refuge before the

designated time, all bets are off.

You kind of wondered, anybody ever do it?

Anybody risk it? Did anybody ever try it in a

totally different context? Shamai did.

I don't know if you guys remember when Shamai, who hurled

insults and dirt at David, and then David told Solomon to make

sure you bring judgement on Solomon, told him you got to

stay in the city. You ever leave the city, you'll

be killed. Shamai was stupid enough to

leave the city and then he died. This reminded me of something I

once read in Tim Keller's book on prayer.

You may have read that if you read that book.

Here's what he writes. At one point my wife urged me to

do something with her we had never been able to muster the

self-discipline to do regularly. She asked me to pray with her

every night. Every night.

She used an illustration that crystallized her feelings very

well. As we remember it, she said

something like this. Imagine you were diagnosed with

such a lethal condition that the doctor told you that you would

die within hours unless you took a particular medicine, a pill,

every night before going to sleep.

Imagine that you were told that you could never miss it or you

would die. Would you forget?

Would you not get around to it? Some nights, no, no, It would be

so crucial that you wouldn't forget.

You would never miss. I got to be honest, I think some

of us might miss. What if we viewed sin like this

though? What if we viewed all sin like

this? The boundary and if I step

outside this boundary, I might die.

There is a boundary and if I step outside this boundary I

might die. What if we viewed sin like that?

The verse 30 to 34 If anyone kills a person, the murderer

shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses, but no

person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.

Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a

murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death,

and you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to a city

of refugees, that he may return to dwell in the land before the

death of the high priest. You shall not pollute the land

in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no

atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed

in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of

which I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell in the midst of the people

of Israel. God here give some further rules

and statutes. A murderer shall only be put to

death on the evidence of witnesses, plural.

No one can be put to death on the evidence of one witness #2

You shall accept no ransom for the life of the murderer who is

guilty of death. In other words, if if you killed

someone, you couldn't pay a price to get off, right?

If you did, it would just incentivize rich people to

murder. There is no price to pay for

such a a sin. There is no price that you can

pay except the price of death. This is a reminder that there is

no amount of money. There is no amount of good works

that can atone for our sin. No one will stand before Jesus

Christ and before the Father and say, here's what I'll give you

to enter heaven. There is nothing.

What ransom could we pay for our sins?

What amount of money would a holy God accept?

There is none except one. And it was death.

It was the death of His Son. And #3 God says you shall accept

no ransom for him who has fled to a city of refuge.

So in other words, if you even accidentally killed someone, you

went to the city of refuge. The high priest that year was 20

years old when you did this. So now you're looking at a life

of six years, perhaps, of living in a city of refuge.

And you say to Eliezer or whatever, I'll give you $10

million. I do not want to live in the

city of refuge. I'll give you $10 million.

Let me go back to my land. Doesn't work that way.

There is no price you can pay to go back to your land.

There is only one price, and it is the price of the death of the

high priest. That was all that God would

accept. God makes it clear that His land

shall not be defiled with blood, because God dwells in their

midst. Now what does that mean for us?

If that is true of this land, how much more is it true for

this temple? The apostle Paul writes to us.

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse

ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing

holiness to completion in the fear of gods in Corinthians 7/1

last chapter. I know I'm moving fast.

Chapter 36. Let's read verses one and four.

So the heads of the father's houses of the clan of the people

of Gilead, the son of Mahir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of

the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and

before the chiefs, the heads of the father's houses of the

people of Israel. They said the Lord commanded my

Lord to give the the land for inheritance by lot to the people

of Israel. And my Lord was commanded by the

Lord to give the inheritance of Zela Fahad, our brothers, to his

daughters. But if they are married to any

of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then

their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our

fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into

which they marry, so will be taken away from the lot of our

inheritance. And when the jubilee of the

people of Israel comes, then the inheritance will be added to the

inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their

inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe.

Now, what's going on here? The Book of Numbers ends with a

very specific test case. The people from the half tribe

of Manasseh, remember the people who lived on the east side, the

half tribe of Manasseh, they're living in on the east side of

the Jordan. They come to Moses with a

problem. I want to pause right there for

a moment. I want to say a word about that.

They come to Moses with a problem.

One of the most helpful things that a church congregation can

do is to come to their leadership with their problems,

with their complaints. And one of the most hurtful

things they can do is to not do that.

No leader can solve a problem or clarify A misunderstanding that

they don't know about. I don't know you have a

complaint. I don't know you have a

misunderstanding unless you tell me, unless you tell Frank or

another leader or pastoring. One of the most helpful things

church members can do is to go to their leadership with their

problems and their complaints. There was clearly a problem with

an earlier law. Moses was not aware of the

problem. He didn't foresee it.

He didn't know about it. But the Klan and Manasseh, they

realized it. The Klan and Manasseh says, hey,

there's a problem. Rather than grow bitter about

it, rather than try to fix it on their own, rather than gossip

about it, bring their problem to Moses.

Now, what was the problem? Here it is.

My Lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of

Zealfahad, our brother, to his daughters.

Now, this was back in chapter 27.

You remember the story. There was a man named Zealfahad.

He had five daughters and no sons, and the father died.

Now in their culture the inheritance would pass to only

sons. But the daughters bring their

complaint to Moses, and they say to Moses, Why should the name of

our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son?

Give to us a possession among our father's brothers.

Moses brings this case before the Lord, and the Lord says the

daughters of Zela Fahad are right.

You shall give them a possession of an inheritance among their

father's brothers, and transfer the air inheritance of their

father to them. Now the clan of Gilead begins

thinking about this, and they notice a problem with this new

law. And here's the problem, They say

if any of these five daughters marry sons from another tribe,

then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of

our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into

which they marry. So let's say number one, who is

from Manasseh, marries a dude from Zebulon.

That inheritance that she has will pass to Zebulon.

That's how it worked. And they said, wait, that way

they recognize, look, we've been given this inheritance divinely.

This is the you said this was ours.

This is. But if these women marry outside

their tribe, the land will be taken from them and it'll pass

to another tribe. Look at verse 5 to 6.

Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the war of

the Lord, saying the tribe of the people of Joseph.

That's Manasseh. Same thing is right.

This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zela

Fahad. Let them marry whom they think

best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of

their father. Now the text doesn't say this,

but it's implied that Moses brought this specific situation

before the Lord. This is confirmed by two phrases

according to the word of the Lord.

And this is what the Lord commands.

So Moses brought this to the Lord.

He doesn't just, you know, shoo him away and be like y'all

figure it out. He doesn't just make up his own

mind. He brings it for the Lord.

Let this be a reminder that all leaders begins on the knees.

Leadership doesn't begin with the mind.

It doesn't begin with the hands. It doesn't begin with the sweat

of the brow. It doesn't begin with the

wrinkles on the face. All leadership begins with the

spiritual calluses of the knees. The Lord commands them.

Let them marry whom they think best.

And what does that mean? Literally?

Let them be the wives of whoever is good in their eyes.

Let them marry whoever they think is good in their eyes.

And this is off topic but related.

After everything I preach, this will be like the one thing you

guys remember. That's how it is my wife and I

hates for years. About whether there is the one.

She would argue yes. I would argue no.

Just for what it's worth, I would give this verse to you for

your consideration. God says they may marry whom

they think is best. As Paul writes about widows, if

her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes,

but only in the Lord. Just for your consideration,

there is one stipulation though. For these daughters they do have

to marry within the clan of the tribe of their father, meaning

they have to marry a Manasanite. So for Zela Fahad's daughters,

they they have to marry someone from the tribe of Manasseh.

Look at verse 7 to 9. The inheritance of the people of

Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another.

For every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to his

inheritance of the tribe of his father's.

And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of

the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the

tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of

Israel may possess the inheritance of his father's.

So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to

another. For each of the tribes of the

people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.

God says that the inheritance of each tribe shall not pass from

one tribe to another. Everyone who shall hold on to

his inheritance that he got from the the casting of lots.

Now This is why if you remember when Ahab asked Nabov for he

just wanted it, he's like, oh, I want that vineyard and he goes

to him and asked for it. And what is Nabal said?

He says the Lord forbid that I shall give you the inheritance

of my father's. God specifies that in this text

that the rule doesn't just apply to Zelafah's daughters.

It applies to any daughter who gets an inheritance and any

tribe, meaning this for all future generations.

If you were a woman who had no brothers and therefore your

father's inheritance went to you and or your sisters, you get to

keep the inheritance. However, if you're going to

marry, you have to marry your own tribe.

You can't marry outside your tribe so that the inheritance

would stay with that specific tribe.

That was the deal. Look at verse 10 to 13.

The daughters of Zealfahad did as the Lord commanded Moses for

Maha, Terza, Hagla, Milka, and Noah.

The daughters of Zealfahad were married to sons of their fathers

brothers. They were married into the clans

of the people of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, and their

inheritance remained in the tribe of the father's clan.

These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord

commanded Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by

the Jordan at Jericho. Now I want to point out what the

text doesn't say, what the daughters don't say.

That's not fair. I don't really like Manassonite

boys. What if I want to marry someone

from Judah? You know, David's from Judah?

Exactly. From Benjamin.

What if I like Zebulon? I've always been fond of

Zebulonites. That's not the perspective of

these five daughters. The text says the daughters of

Zelfaha did as the Lord commanded Moses.

They submitted themselves to the will of the Lord.

As we close this chapter, I want to leave you with a question,

and it's going to be the same question that we ask in

Worshipping Community. What was the most impactful take

away you had from the Book of Numbers?

It's been about a year, just shy of a year.

What it was the most impactful take away you had from The Book

of Numbers? I'll give you mine.

I'll answer a different one in Worshipping Community.

Mine is this, that when I read the book of Numbers, there's a

page to turn after it. That's mine.

There's another page. Because if I were God, end of

story, I'm done. Our God is faithful and patient

and merciful. Let's pray.