Num. 15 introduces another question about the “order
of events.” Why, immediately after Num.
13-14 (the provocation, the additional years of wilderness life), do we have a passage
about grain and drink offerings? It
seems so disconnected.
Here’s my thought. Having been turned away from the Promised
Land, the words, when you have come into the land you are to inhabit, which
I am giving to you (v2), would be words of hope. The people would understand that the Promise
of the Land is still intact. God would
keep His word to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In other words, for the next thirty-eight and a half years, the people
still needed an eye on the future. This
answer satisfies me because I know that the soon-coming “Day of the Lord,”
having been delay for 2000 years now, I know that the promise is still intact. This hope was a serious provision from God to
keep away any discouragement.
In addition, vs.22-31 on sacrifices for sin,
it would be an encouragement to know that these were still in place, after God’s
refusal to go with Israel in their attempt to take the land by themselves
(14:39-45).
Now, let us consider
the different parts of Num. 15.
·
15:1-21: Laws concerning grain and drink
offerings. In the NT the drink offering
is a picture of total devotion to God (e.g. 2 Tim. 4:6). Also note (15:13-15) that foreigners in
Israel as well as native-born had the same rule for these offerings. Again, note the hopeful thought (15:17-21) of
offerings from the fruit of the land when they finally get there. A “heave offering” (v20) involved a
particular cut of meat that was lifted up, and then given to the priest as his
portion.
·
15:22-31: Laws concerning “unintentional” and “presumptuous”
sins. When I hear those words I hear “I
didn’t mean to do it” and “I’m going to do it no matter what.” To be a little more precise, in v24 the word “unintentionally”
literally refers to the eye; thus the person did not see and thus
understand something. In v30 the word “presumptuously”
is literally the hand; thus he did this with power. It suggests “something done willfully and
openly … committed ostentatiously and in bravado” (Albert Barnes). In the context, this relates to the deaths of
all those twenty and above in the coming years.
It also explains …
·
15:32-36: The death penalty for violating the
Sabbath. This was likely an act done
very willfully. It also was an event
early in Israel’s nationhood, one that was meant by God to encourage proper
respect for the Sabbath. It was handled differently
at a later time (Nehemiah 13:15-22).
·
15:37-41: Tassels with a blue thread, on the corners
of their garments. In NT times the dye
for the blue thread came from a tiny mollusk found only in Greece and in
Israel, in the Mediterranean, near Dor.
The point of the tassels was to be a reminder to keep the law. Thus whatever they wore was to have these
tassels.
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