0:03
This is the law is good if one uses it lawfully session 31. Um, I said last week that I was intentionally pulling two verses out of the text, uh, much on the same logic as
0:17
part one, where we observed several statements in chapters 2 and three of Deuteronomy, his first discourse, that appeared to interrupt the rhetorical
0:28
flow of the speech. And I made the argument at that time that those parenthetical notes uh made the most sense as being added later by a writer
0:41
late in the time of the judges or early in Israel's monarchy. So that that's the the argu essential argument I'm making for uh chapter 10
0:53
6-7. And I need to state at the outset that if you do not like that idea at all, that's fine. Um I think that I
1:04
would ask only for a general agreement that they do appear to be parenthetical in nature. Uh at the on one hand, they
1:15
may be Moses in his speech to Israel chasing a rabbit temporarily and then coming back to his point. That would be the least that I'd ask. uh or Moses
1:25
himself or his Emanuences as scribe adding to the written record of his speech shortly thereafter and then the on the other end of things that that it
1:37
actually makes the most sense to be displaced somewhat in time I say somewhat displaced centuries in time from Moses' actual life. Um the the main
1:48
thing I'm doing is treating them as a parenthesis. So to go ahead they are
2:04
the people of Israel journeyed from Beer Ben Yakan to Moser. There Aaron died and there he was buried and his son Eleazar ministered as priest
2:14
in his place. From there they journeyed to good Gdah and from Good Ga to Yot Bata, a land with brooks of water.
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Um, a couple of points as to what suggests this as a parenthetical statement. Um, the first you may have noticed yourself and is a very much an objective metric and that's a sudden
2:42
change in tense or voice. That was certainly the case uh with the past tense being used as opposed to the present I believe in chapters two and three uh and the way that those spoke up
2:55
spoke matching up here we have uh a a different kind of grammatical change but grammatical change is one of the things to uh look out for. Um second is
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interrupting the rhetorical flow of Moses discourse which is I admit a more subjective measure. Uh that's an that's my opinion that it it seems to interrupt his rhetorical flow. But I say that
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because they call attention to details that were beyond obvious for Moses' immediate audience and really seemed to be extraneous to Moses' overall point.
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Again, I admit that's a subjective measure. But combined with on the other hand calling attention to details that would be relevant and helpful assuming a different audience that can be very
3:41
strong um rather than the audience that was actually hearing Moses. A good example from part one was the saying is the is uh is uh Og's bed not a bed of
3:55
iron measuring such and such and is it not in Rabba of the Ammonites? That statement as a no, I can prove it makes no sense to Moses' immediate audience
4:07
because they fought that battle against Og and they saw him even alive and certainly dead. So why offer the additional witness unless that witness
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is meant for a later audience either by Moses or by a later commentator actually clarifying for a later audience. So that's an example of a detail that makes no difference to Moses' argument to his
4:30
audience, but makes a big difference to a later audience. And then fourth, um, especially that these considerations, both of the four parenthetical statements in two
4:42
through three and this one, that these details seem to be uh, very relevant for Israel's situation late in the time of the judges. So, not only is it
4:54
parenthetical by grammar, not only is it seeming to be parenthetical by the details it chooses to bring up, but then and I feel like I do have to make this argument effectively in order for you
5:05
to, you know, trust what I say that it actually makes a lot of sense assuming a an audience late in the time of the judges. specifically Israel's disunityity uh their low morale and a
5:18
dysfunctional priesthood which is really the subject of uh the the parenthesis today. So to take uh the first one grammar um we have first versus third person um in
5:30
a segment of Moses' discourse where he is urgent to say that you his audience you participated in these things which
5:41
are in fact 40 years in their past and his audience none of them but a handful were actually adults at the time that the cast metal calf was made.
5:52
Nonetheless, he is urgent to place them, you in the action from 40 years before. And yet suddenly in verses 6 through7, he switches to third person, the sons of
6:06
Israel. That's a red flag. Um, it seems, I think, highly probable that then that the verses are an explanatory note and they're meant to call attention to something in Moses'
6:19
discourse that we were not Moses' original audience would not otherwise catch. That's really the purpose of any parenthetical statement is to clarify. Hey, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, stop. I'm
6:30
making a point here. Okay. Um, as to its chronology and timing, um, this is one of the things that seems
6:40
to have just befuddled scholarship about these two verses is that if they're read along with the rest of the passage as a natural part of that passage, it seems
6:52
on a surface reading that Moses is then contradicting himself relative to Exodus 32 uh, verses 25- 29 uh, which shall read
7:03
now for the sake of sort of entering them into the record. And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose, that is having made the
7:13
cast metal calf and offered sacrifice to it, for Aaron had let them break loose to the derision of their enemies. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, "Who is on Yahweh's side? Come to
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me." And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. And he said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, God of Israel, put on your sword on your side, each of you, and go
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to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor." And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that
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day about 3,000 men of the people fell. And Moses said, "Today you have been ordained for the service of Yahweh, each one at the cost of his son and of his
8:01
brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day." So the argument I'm making is if these verses are not a parenthetical insertion of some kind either by Moses early Moses
8:13
later or someone else much later then the phrase at that time which follows in verse 8 not only doesn't fit with Exodus it really doesn't fit the context of Moses discourse. Moses has been talking
8:25
about matters that happened 40 years ago at the mountain and then all of a sudden he's talking about something else and saying at that time Levi was ordained. Um I think that
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that does not u rise to the level of making sense. If though if we're able to read smoothly from verses 5 to8 as the flow of Moses' own words, then at that
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time fits very well with the context in the same way that at that time is used earlier in Deuteronomy to refer to events back at the mountain. And I mentioned that last week.
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I think that rather than being inaccurate or sloppy, Moses is in fact being strictly accurate concerning that time, contrary to what's alleged by many
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scholars. Um, and and by the way, I'll put my finger on here and say, um, many times through Deuteronomy, these verses have given me fits. Um, just trying to
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figure out how does how do you understand this? So, I'm speaking not only from experience of looking at, you know, looking at commentaries and hearing scholarship on the matter, but
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but also just my own experience not being able to make anything of it. Yes.
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The 30,000 um I just don't know what the um what the criterion was, whether it was clear away all those who were trying to escape judgment. I don't know if that was why it was from gate to gate uh the
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stockade. I have no idea. Um yeah, I suppose it does seem somewhat low, but then again, 3,000 people personally killed um you know, face to face is is
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pretty rough. Um and that it and that it fell on Aaron's tribe to to do so is an embarrassment to him. Uh which is part of what we're going to be looking at. So no matter what the number was, it is a
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it is a cry and shame for Israel. Um, and as far as Moses' accuracy concerning the timing, it it is interesting. He's speaking of events back at the mountain,
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you know, Aaron was ordained later on after these two goings up as priest, but the whole tribe of Levi was in fact set apart at that time. Even ordained is is
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Moses' wording. So Moses' wording in verse 8 uh at that t at that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi is a is a
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very precise wording uh that fits well with his chronology. Um the so the so the charge that at that time because in
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my um in my ASV uh the parenthesis is from verse 6 all the way to verse 9. That's what they put in parenthesis. Given that there's no uh divine punctuation uh as far as parentheses are
11:17
concerned, I'm just going to say that's wrong. The parenthesis should close at the end of verse 7. Um because otherwise you're messing with chronology and you just don't need to. Um so
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um concerning the priesthood, I think this lies very much at the heart of why the parenthetical statement is there. Uh the commentator is apparently urgent that we notice Moses' point in verses
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8-9. Um and and this is a a a moment here where I'm going to say the short short version. Okay. So here's the point of of that that that the whoever put
11:55
these words here is trying to draw our attention to. Just as the first tablets perished, so Aaron eventually died. Okay? But just as Yahweh gave a
12:06
continuence in the second tablets of the law, so he gave his promise to the whole house of Levi continually. That's the main point that the this is
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there to highlight. The first tablets perished. Aaron also died being the first priest. But Yahweh gave a continuence and a and the second tablets of the law. And so his promises are to
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the house of Levi enduring. Okay. Yahweh's separation of Levi had been in spite of Aaron's sin and even the antidote to it in a way and it and it
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was not nullified by Aaron's death either. Something that for Moses and his original audience had already happened. Okay, Aaron is dead. Um, and as I said, his wording the tribe
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of Levi is very intentional. Um, but late in the time of the judges could cause some confusion. It's very precise wording for him, but I think for a later audience, it might cause confusion, and
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I'll get to that in a minute. But again, getting to the heart of the point that the commentator is trying to get us to is that the administration of the law in Israel didn't depend solely on Aaron.
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That much is clear. Okay? But the lack of mention of Aaron's house in chapter 10 does not mean that the house of Aaron was no longer preeminent in the tribe of
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Levi. something you would not naturally get explicitly from Moses' words. Moses did not actually need to clarify that point to his audience because Elazar,
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Aaron's son and successor, was there with him at the time when he spoke these words. And the people who were his audience had seen Aaron die and Elazar clothed. and a ve very visual
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demonstration that the priesthood was going to endure and it was going to endure in the house of Aaron with his son. So he doesn't need to make a clarification later. There's some
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clarification needed I argue. Okay. It would be needful in Samuel's time. Uh, so we're going to go over uh to uh 1st Samuel 2 and enter into the record the
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things said about the house of Eli, a descendant many generations later of a certain branch of the house of Aaron, but the preeminent branch. Uh, and it
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was not going well in his day. Okay. 1st Samuel 2:12. Samuel 2:12. Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know Yahweh. The custom of
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the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling with a three-pronged fork in his hand, and he would thrust it
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into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shilo to all
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the Israelites who came there. Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept
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it from you, boiled, but only raw." And if the man said to him, "Let them burn the fat first and then take as much as you wish," he would say, "No, you must
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give it now, and if not, I will take it by force." by force." In this way, the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of Yahweh. For the men treated the offering of
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Yahweh with contempt. Now, u I won't read the passage involved, but I do have on your outline some selected verses from Leviticus 6. I think what this is talking about is the sacrifice of their
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peace offerings. Would you agree that that Yeah. Um and in the law of the peace offerings, there was specific things that the offer was to give the priest. One was one loaf from the basket of
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bread. The other was the breast meat and the right thigh. Those were the things that were to be waved before God and then given to the priest as his portion. So what they're doing is they're coming
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and taking as much as they possibly can out of the cauldron. And let's just say that it's luck of the draw. That's not what the law says. Furthermore, in
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Leviticus 7, there is an explicit prohibition against eating the fat. So, they're wanting the fat before it's burned off, whereas Leviticus says that the fat is for Yahweh only and they are
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not to eat it. That's second point against it. And then a third is is somewhat me speculating, but wanting the meat raw would would make one wonder, do they also want the blood? Uh I would I
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would want to know why they wanted it that way as opposed to boiled. not for that purpose. Um so but suffice it to say that they are taking cuts that are not theirs and they're taking fat which
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belongs to God. Um uh moving further uh and of course they they refused to listen. Uh it says in verse 25 it says
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they would not listen to the voice of their father when he objected. Um for it was the will of Yahweh to put them to death. It also says that they lay with the
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women, the Levite women who were had charge of the gate as well. So they were they were they were not good. Um, moving on in verse 27, and there came a man of
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God to Eli and said to him, "Thus Yahweh has said, did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt, subject to the house of
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Pharaoh? Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear the aode before me? I gave to the house
17:50
of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. Why then do you kick at my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honor your sons above me by fattening
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yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people, Israel? Therefore, Yahweh, the God of Israel, declares, "I promised that your house and the house of your father should go
18:13
in and out before me forever. But now, Yahweh declares, far be it from me. For those who honor me, I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming
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when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on
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Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever. The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart. And all the
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descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. And this is that which shall come upon your two sons, Offne and Fineos, and it shall be a sign to you. Both of them
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shall die on the same day. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart and my mind. And I will build him a shore house. And he shall go in and
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out before my anointed forever. And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, "Please put me in one of the priests
19:23
places that I may eat a morsel of bread." There's a very dire prediction and there is nothing in there of a promise that it'll still be of Aaron's
19:34
house but your subhouse is done. That's not made explicit in this oracle. Um so I would make the argument that if word
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spread of this oracle that the that the disposition of the entire house of Aaron now is coming into question because of Eli. the priesthood is is as far as Eli and
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his sons are concerned is over. And if you know the you read further uh in the history uh the way that his sons died is that they took the ark of the covenant into battle with the Philistines and
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both perished in the battle and lost the ark. Uh the Philistines captured the ark and took it to their cities. Uh at which time they were uh afflicted with
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grievous diseases. grievous diseases. uh when Eli received the news of his son's death in battle, he himself fell off his seat and broke his neck and died
20:31
being an old man. So within the same day or couple of days, uh the high priest and both of his sons have died.
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I think he was enjoying the meat. Yeah. And the fat, right? So nothing good is said concerning his house and nothing is said explicitly that it will be another of of
20:59
the uh of the subtribe of Aaron. Um so first the priesthood is in a bit of a pickle u for the people. Secondly, uh
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moving forward in that sort of same passage to uh chapter 6 verse 19, when the ark is returned, it miraculously the sorry the the Philistines put it on
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a cart pulled by two milking cows, the the cows most likely to not leave. and and they say if it's from Israel's God that all these disasters have happened
21:33
to us then we'll expect that it make a beline for Israel that the cows will go to Israel but if they wander around and don't we know that it was simply by bad
21:43
fortune and the cows not only make a beline for Egypt but also for an Aaronite town for the town of B she was specifically allocated and this is in
21:54
the Joshua passage that I have on your outline was specifically there for the house of Aaron So it made its way to the right town. But he struck some of the men of B
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Sheamesh because they looked upon or looked in the ark of Yahweh. He struck 70 men of them. And the people mourned because Yahweh had struck the people
22:14
with a great blow. Then the men of Bamesh said, "Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?" So
22:25
they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirat Yarim, saying,"The Philistines have returned the ark of Yahweh. Come down and take it up to you." And the men of Kirat Yarim came and took up the ark
22:37
of Yahweh and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill." And they consecrated his son Elazar to have charge of the ark of Yahweh. From the day that the ark was lodged at Kirat
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Yarim, a long time passed. Some 20 years all the house of Israel lamented after Yahweh. Um in the Joshua passage that I listed,
22:59
it's listed all the cities that are uh allocated for the the various clans of Levi. Keratim is not one of them either. Now, I don't know if they had taken over
23:10
the city. It's possible that they were Levites, but it's also very possible they weren't. So the ark has now gone from not in it's not in the tabernacle to pagans sent back to an Aaronite town.
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They send it away to a non Levite town and it's just left there.
23:41
50,000. Yeah, there there is a there is a what is that from? Um the the Hebrew is somewhat difficult there. The ESV footnote says of the people 70 men 50,000 men
23:54
which is not altogether clear. So I think that they're deter and maybe it may be the Septuagant that has a different reading. It may also be a revocalization of the Hebrew yields a phrase that would would say um rather uh
24:08
like of them or something along that line. I'm not I'm not sure. I'm not conversant in the Hebrew, but um ESV made a decision. NASB made a decision. Apparently it's not clear. Yeah.
24:18
Yeah. Yeah, it is. Um but apparently both numbers are there but maybe separated in the language in an unnatural way. Um, that's that's how I'm reading that footnote. Um, in any case,
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so the status of the priesthood is in question and now the status of the ark of the covenant is in question. And you can see how both of those would have a lot to do with what we read in in Deuteronomy last week. He me that
24:42
mentions that Levi was ordained to bear the ark of covenant. Okay. Um, I also find it notable that Samuel had a long and illustrious ministry as judge and
24:53
prophet of Israel. And yet, no instructions were given to him as to what to do with the ark. That the ark was not unified with the house of Yahweh, either tent or temple of stone.
25:05
Okay? Uh, until uh Solomon's day, even even when David brought it up, it was not kept in the tabernacle. The tabernacle was at the in uh and during
25:16
the reign of David at Gibon. Uh and the the the ark was kept in the city of David um eventually and that was after a
25:27
big kurfuffle with the ark which you may be familiar with. So the disposition of the ark was very much in question. It was supposed to be the repository of the law contract but now we don't know what
25:38
to do with it and no instructions are even given to Samuel about it. So great confusion could issue from this situation and that's the main thing I rest my argument of this being a an
25:49
important parenthetical insertion later on. Um so to the rationale for a later note again this is sort of the the compact short version the rationale for
26:00
the later note is to highlight the permanency of the priesthood. Moses is already making that argument. See, second, making certain Moses' words are not misconstrued to undermine that
26:12
permanency. He doesn't mention that the house of Aaron is there to bear the ark. He says the house of Levi. Does that mean we should look for priests from somewhere else? No, says the later commentator. Third, to remind Israel of
26:24
the purpose and of the purpose and rightful bearers of the ark. Okay? No matter what has happened, the ark is still the repository of God's law and
26:34
the rightful bearers are still the Levites. And fourthly, to note that to note that that permanency where Moses is already
26:46
showing the enduring character of God's righteous promise. righteous promise. Any questions or comments thus far?
27:10
when they read from this? I am actually not sure of the answer to that. um I saw so much confusion in and helps including um I'm sure John Gil has some you know insight on maybe what post second temple rabbis said about it and
27:22
that sort of thing but uh my main object was to try to make contextual sense of yeah interestingly though the uh the
27:32
Samaritan penetuk uh which I'm I'm tempted to call the King James version of the ancient world um actually harmonizes what we're going to the other aspect of this was just this geography.
27:44
It it makes some changes and harmonizes them and and several commentators were very satisfied with that which I found very perplexing. Do you have a comment? Just keep in mind that
28:19
Well, and you bring up an important point because the after um the the desecration of the temple by Antiochus um now we're not even sure what to do with the altar. There's no ark that with
28:32
the priesthood is it's been infected by Greek thinking and has been all kinds of defiled. So even like after they come back from the exile, there's a big question. There's not enough Levites who
28:44
can prove their genealogy and all that. The the glory of Yahweh does not visibly descend upon the tip the temple. Then there's the desecration under Antiochus. And now what do we do is is so yeah,
28:56
right. During the times when a lot of that rabbitical tradition is penned, there's there's not a lot to say about it. So I think that the that the note is even again even more important because
29:07
of that because of the fact that the confusion doesn't end. Um so one aspect of the verses that makes them so difficult is the order in which the place names are listed which I know you
29:18
you were just really looking forward to. Okay it but the the problem in it is again this is scholarship alleging these things. Okay. Therefore, we would say on a surface reading, you might conclude
29:30
that whoever wrote these things or Moses himself is contradicting himself relative to numbers 33:4-41. So, the order of the place names in
29:55
Moser. Let's see. And I'm implying from our reading Mount because we know that's where Aaron died even though it doesn't say that. And
30:06
then um we have good or something along those lines. Uh and
30:19
Okay. So the parallel in numbers 33 seems to allege a different order. uh which again causes some can cause some uh perplexing. Um numbers
30:40
And they set out from Hashmona and camped at Moserot. And they set out from Moserot and camped at Ben Yakan. And they set out from Ben Yakan and camped at Horhagedad.
30:53
And they set out from Horhugged God and camped at Yotbata. And they set out from Yot Bata and camped at Abbrona. And they set out from Abbrona and encamped at Edzion Gabber.
31:05
And they set out from Edzion Gab and camped in the wilderness of that is Kadesh. And they set out from Kadesh and encamped at Mount on the edge of the land of Edom. And Aaron the priest
31:18
went up Mount at the command of Yahweh and died there in the 40th year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month. And Aaron was 123 years
31:30
old when he died on Mount And the Canonite, the king of Aod who lived in the Neg in the land of Cananan heard of the coming of the people of Israel.
31:41
Okay. So then the order in uh the order in numbers is
31:53
mozarot which I'm just taking to be a cognate of moser uh ben ben yakan okay uh whid
32:11
god which again most are saying is cognate of that. Okay, we're just going to go ahead and grant that those are the same names. Um,
32:26
and Mount Okay, so they seem to be out of order uh in this in verses 6 through 7 of our passage.
32:37
So, um, not that all of you would feel an urgency to know what to do with that, but in case you do or in case it perplexes you later, I'm here for you. Okay. So, the first point I'm going to
32:48
make about the geography is the same point I made last part. We do not know where most of these geographical locations were. Period. End of story. Okay? We just don't know where they
32:59
were. But the second point is equally as important and that is that looking at the actual context of numbers 33, it is
33:09
clear that one, the stations are only listed once. But two, what can be known of their route meant that they reversed course at some point, which is why I kept reading to Edzion Gab.
33:22
We basically know where that is and not because of archaeology, but because of scripture. Later scripture says that Edzion Gab was where ships were launched into the Red Sea. So we know it's on the
33:34
shores of the Red Sea and is therefore a southern terminus of their wanderings. That's really important because from there in their final journey they were told to turn northward and go here. So
33:47
if they go down here and then go somewhere else, they're backtracking. Does that make sense the argument I'm making? So therefore, there's no need to say that the list of stations in numbers
33:59
are uh an exhaustive list of their camping places chronologically speaking. It isn't it is a list of their major camping stations which they may have reused and probably did. That's a really
34:11
important point. I think intertextual evidence shows you that in all likelihood they reused their stations. So that the order is reversed here can be purely a function of having reversed
34:23
course at some point. And I'll show that by diagram. And this is this is going to be my hypothetical reconstruction of their journey. Yes. Do you think they would have referenced Aaron's death
34:35
Aaron's death where every time they said that they would have would have the writer would have said that as
34:46
right? It's where Aaron died. Yeah, that's a good point. I don't know that that necessarily comes into play in this passage, but I think that's an important point to realize is that some places had such significance that you
34:57
need to consistently call attention to why they're significant. I think that's that's right in general. Um I in my
35:07
opinion I think the specific itinerary back to Mount must be from another source. Okay. um such as again this is intertextual evidence here such as the
35:18
book of the wars of Yahweh which is mentioned conveniently in numbers 21 around the time that Aaron's death and the events thereafter which are mentioned in summary in numbers 33
35:30
actually happened u so we know that there were other records of their journeys and it stands to reason that they would be more uh more detailed uh for simple purposes of recordkeeping
35:41
rather than being uh a a witness to the people of God uh later on. We don't need the exhaustive list. Um they may have. So I I think it's possible that the uh
35:54
the specific itinerary back to Mount Hore came from another source and we do know of at least one mentioned in the law. Um I'd also point out just as a side note um that this is for later
36:06
looking and for correlating the lists if you're interested. Um verse sorry uh chapter 33:36 chapter 33:36 it's numbers 336 I think corresponds to numbers 21.
36:25
I think if you put those together what's noted in the in our focus verses today makes a lot of sense. Okay. But now for uh the hypothetical reconstruction of
36:36
their journey just to illustrate how this would work. I do not anything in green I I don't know where it is and I well I guess I even put a question mark there but I know generally where that is
36:48
because it has to be in the NEB. Okay. And Edzion Gab had to be here somewhere. Okay. Um so here's the big map and this is the blowup.
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So I lost my blue. All right. So in this is purely hypothetical because we also don't know where Mount was another problem. So I'm just putting it out here
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for illustration purposes. So starting at Ben Yakan. Okay. So they go to Moserat. I'm going to put a put a one
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here. Okay. I go to Horhaged God Horhaged God yacht Bata eventually to Adion Gabber.
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into the wilderness of to Kadesh. Now the reason I put this here for illustrative purposes is this is around the place they met armed resistance from the people
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the people of Edom living in Seir and they so they wanted to cross through but they were denied access. So again it has to have been a backtracking. Okay that that is
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that is assured I think. All right. So, this is where they they got turned back. So, to All right. There we go. All
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right. From there to Ben Yakan. Okay. And by the way, the the beer uh in your um uh verses 6 through 7, that's
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wells. Okay. So, a place with water. Remember that. Okay. Um sorry, wait a minute. I think I got this wrong. Dang it.
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Me back up. The the the order of the the order of the stations is wrong. Let me let me back up. Apologize.
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Can't believe I did that. It's so It's so Thank you for that. Um all right. So, first from
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first from Maserat to Ben Yakan. Should have looked up there. Okay. further on to Horhagad and then from there on. All right. So down here back up to Kadesh.
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They meet armed resistance and they're forced to backtrack to Benet Yakan then to Moserat.
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Okay, there's your ordering. So this is like step eight. Okay. From there, Aaron dies and dies and they end up having armed conflict with
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the Conanites from Arod after Aaron's Okay. from from there again they end up following their journey to that same
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place and go or did I sorry I needed to I only made one arrow there nine
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and then the same order and eventually and eventually making their way down here and and turning northward. Okay, so again, a
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hypothetical uh reconstruction, uh reconstruction, but all based on the fact that they definitely backtracked and this this conflict happens while they're at the mountain. We don't know where any of
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these place names is, but it does work just fine for them to have gone back and forth and fits with the charact the characterization of their time in the wilderness, which is wandering, right?
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I think that looks like you mean in terms of finding wayinding from Apple Maps.
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That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Um, well, it's no wonder they were frustrated, okay? Because if you read Numbers 20 and 21, you know, the
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the the want of water and and the discouragement over their situation is very heavy in those passages. It's it's where the new generation really loses it
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is in and around this place. This is a very important time in in Israel's history. Um but I think that to summarize with all such difficulties
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with geographical locations or or what have you. Okay. I think we can safely begin from the assurance that the words of scripture concerning them are both factually accurate and spiritually
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significant. The writer did not put these place names here for no reason. Okay. So why did he do that? To call attention to springs of water.
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Uh the wells and springs have to carry a very special significance in the commentator's thinking. Otherwise, why mention them? Why not just say Aaron died on Mount Horazar was anointed in his place? Done. Why mention the place
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names? Okay, the wells and springs. What he says is be benyakan, the wells of the sons of Yakan. And then uh Yot Bata is a
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land with springs of water. Um, some people will make make mention out of the out of the Hebrew of Moser or Moserot
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and good God or however you say that. Um, and and talk about what their what the name means. I won't bore you with that. Uh, but suffice it to say it
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doesn't mean water. Um, and numbers 20 through 21 show us that want of water before and after Aaron's death was a a deeply significant
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and and troubling thing for Israel. Okay, which fits if they come down from where there's water and there's no water and now Aaron dies. Okay, and then they
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go from that point having had an armed conflict with with Arod and they're still and they end up in want of water
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This becomes a great relief to them. Um then and the death of Aaron um occurred because of what had happened at the
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so-called waters of Mirabakadesh which didn't exist when they got there but were brought out of the rock for them. But that is where Aaron is condemned to die because they lost it at
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at the rock. Okay. And and remember first in the parallel verses in Deuteronomy to this in in the diagram I put out last week, Moses had cast the dust of the calf that Aaron made into
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the camp's water source. And Exodus says he made them to drink it. Okay, so again, springs of water is we're getting somewhere with the message. Yet here the commentator is pointing out that they're
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led to good sources of water even after Aaron's death. The fact that Yahweh led them from watering place to watering place demonstrates that he superintended their whole way, even timing the death
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of Aaron. Numbers numbers 20-21 shows want of water weighing heavily on them. And then numbers 21 uh 10-18, you can read that on your own, uh records the
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finding of springs of water as such a significant event after the death of Aaron that it it it warranted a song made about it. uh which is where you get the reference to the book of the wars of Yahweh. Um
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Yahweh. Um so it'd be difficult to overstate the symbolical significance of water in other parts of scripture, but a couple examples from the Psalms and the prophets will suffice. U one you're very
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familiar with, I'm sure. Uh just Psalm 23. Yahweh is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside waters of
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rest. He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for the sake of his name. Even though I walk through the valley of deep darkness, I will fear no evil, for
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you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. And further on in Isaiah,
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Z Isaiah 33 starting in verse 20. Behold, Cion, the city of our appointed feasts. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose
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stake shall never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. But there, Yahweh in majesty, will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams,
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where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass. For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. He will save us.
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So, it's fitting that the death of Aaron is here listed amidst evidences of Yahweh's guiding hand, as if to show the event in its merciful light rather than as a judgment. And we've ruminated on
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the question of whether Levi's ordination was a blessing or a curse. I think this even more makes the case that it is a blessing that that and that later on the death of Eli and the
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dryness experienced by Israel thereafter is known to God even during that time of disaster like the death of Aaron which is an unmitigated disaster.
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God is guiding his people like a shepherd and they his sheep. He led them to water in broad places even in the wilderness. How much more will he confirm his promise in that good watered
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land to which he's leading them? And that will be something that Moses calls attention to further on in the passage in Deuteronomy 11. For the land that you are entering to
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take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your feet, like a garden of vegetables. But the land that you are
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going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by rain from heaven. A land that Yahweh your God cares for. The eyes of Yahweh your God
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are always upon it from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. And for us, it's it's a suitable picture brought out to us in in the New Testament as well from Revelation 22. Then the angel
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showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. Also on either side of the river,
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the tree of life with its 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will
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there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. So, the land
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into which they were going and all of their wanderings in the wilderness are a picture for us of what is promised to all who believe by God. The promise of Abraham given to all his seed by faith.
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So that So that what is spoken by the Lord at the feast of boos, the the feast that is meant to commemorate their wanderings in the desert and which is said by the prophets
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that the esqueological people of God will continuously celebrate. That's us. What does he say in John 7:37? On the
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last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture
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has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." Now this he said about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive. For as
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yet the Spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Let's pray. Our
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Father, we thank you that we may look to you as sheep do to the shepherd, knowing the voice of Jesus and having from him and having within ourselves the the the
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nourishment and nourishment and the refreshment that you give by your spirit to all who believe. We thank you as heirs to the promises that are that are explicated to us by this passage of
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Deuteronomy. We ask that you would illuminate our understanding and fill us with hope. We ask this in Jesus name.
