Plains of Moab, Midian, Battle for territory, Amalekites, Levitical/Aaronic, Edomites, Ordinations, King’s Highway, Vows (4 cases) May 2014
Moab is the incestuous son of Lot with his oldest daughter (Genesis 19:37). Moab is the father of the Moabites. A famous Moabite is Ruth, the ancestor of Jesus.
In similar fashion Lot’s youngest daughter bore Ben-ammi, the father of Ammonites. The king of Moab, Balam, formed a plan to set God against the Israelites. His scheme: get some prophet to pray for evil upon them and then to pronounce a blessing upon himself and his forces, that then he should be able to deal with them. 22:1-14. Balaam had great reputation for this. Through angelic interference, he is forbidden to curse Israel but to instead bless it. Balaam sees the destiny of Israel and prophesies of the Messiah.
Moab means: of the father – son of Lot. A district east of Dead Sea, about 50x30miles in territory. Several valleys, gorges. Fertile land, water found in cisterns. Moabites were Semites, descent of Lot. A Moabite Stone – 850 b.c. (Deut 2:10). Original inhabitants were tall race of Emim. Moabites were of Chemosh (kemosh) religion, with gods and human sacrifices. Origin of group, see Gen 19. Wanderers also, began as Amorites. Eventually became strong enough to threaten Israelites (Judges 3:13-14). David subjugated Moab (2Sam 8:2)
Midian was the son of Abraham and Keturah. His five sons were the progenitors of the Midianites (Gen25. 1-4; I Chron.1: 32-33). The term “Midian” = “place of judgment”) The Midianites are first mentioned as having had a priest who became afterward Moses’ father-in-law. Toward the close of the forty years’ wandering of the children of Israel in the wilderness, the Midianites were allied with the Moabites in the attempt to exterminate the Israelites. For this reason Moses was ordered by God to punish the Midianites (Num 31). Moses, accordingly, despatched against them an army of 12,000 men, under Phinehas the priest; this force defeated the Midianites and slew all their males, including their five kings.
The Israelitish soldiers set on fire all the cities and fortresses of the Midianites, carried the women and children into captivity, and seized their cattle and goods. The Israelites were afterward ordered by Moses to slay every Midianite male child and every woman, sparing only the female children (Num. 31: 2-18). It appears from the same account that the Midianites were rich in cattle and gold. The narrative shows that each of the five Midianite tribes was governed by its own king, but that all acted together against a common enemy; that while a part of each tribe dwelt in cities and fortresses in the vicinity of Moab, another part led a nomadic life, living in tents and apparently remote from the seat of the war. For, after the Midianites had been “exterminated” by the army of Phinehas, they reappear some hundreds of years later, in the time of Gideon.
The Biblical account of the battle between the Midianites and Gideon (Judges 5-8) asserts that the Israelites suffered at the hands of the Midianites for a space of six years. The Midianites seem to have been then a powerful and independent nation; they allied themselves with the Amalekites and the children of the East, and they oppressed the Israelites so severely that the last-named were obliged to seek refuge in caves and strongholds; they destroyed their crops and reduced them to extreme poverty. The allied army of Midianites and Amalekites encamped in the valley of Jezreel after having crossed the Jordan. Gideon with his army encamped by the fountain of Harod, the Midianite army being to the north of him. With 300 men Gideon succeeded in surprising and routing them, and they fled homeward across the Jordan in confusion. This would show that only two tribes bore the name “Midianites,” while the remaining three probably were merged with other Arabic tribes, their kinsmen, and perhaps partly with the Israelites also. Midian is stated to have been “subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more.
The Book of Numbers – Bamidbar begins at Mt. Sinai. They are to take possession of the Promised Land, Israel. The Midianite battles are apart of their taking possession of the land so they can become a numerous nation. It is a story of faith, holiness and trust. Earlier in the book, Moses sends out Caleb and Joshua as spies to visit Canaan and report. When Israelites arrive on the Moab plains a new census gives the total number of males from 20+ as 601.730, and Levites=23,000. The land shall be divided by lot. The daughters of Zelophehad, their father having no sons, are to share in the allotment. Moses is ordered to appoint Joshua as his successor. Prescriptions for the observance of the feasts, and the offerings for different occasions are enumerated.
Moses orders the Israelites to massacre the people of Midian. The Reubenites and the Gadites request Moses to assign them the land east of the Jordan. Moses grants their request after they promise to help in the conquest of the land west of the Jordan. The land east of the Jordan is divided among the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
Moses recalls the stations at which the Israelites halted during their forty years’ wanderings and instructs the Israelites to exterminate the Canaanites and destroy their idols. The boundaries of the land are spelled out; the land is to be divided under the supervision of Eleazar, Joshua, and twelve princes, one of each tribe.
The Levitical and Aaronic Priesthoods
Although the terms Aaronic and Levitical are sometimes used interchangeably (see D&C 107:1, 6, 10), there were differences in duties. The lesser priesthood was given to those of “the tribe of Levi” (Numbers 18:2), to which Aaron and his sons belonged. The Levites performed the housekeeping chores of the tabernacle, such as filling and lighting the lamps, carrying the ark of the covenant, assembling and disassembling the tabernacle, and so forth.
The priests, who were chosen from Aaron’s sons alone, were appointed to offer sacrifice, burn incense, instruct in the law, and so forth. Presiding over all the priests, or sons of Aaron, was a firstborn son. He served as high priest or president of the priests (see Numbers 3:5–10; 18:1–7; 1 Chronicles 23:27–32).
Those selected to minister in the offices of priest and Levite were to be supported from the tithes and offerings made by the children of Israel (see Numbers 18:21, 24). The Lord said to Aaron, “All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the first fruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee” (v. 12). These, like everything else in Israel, were to be tithed (see v. 26).
In addition, the Levites had to have a place to live. They were not given land as the other tribes were because their inheritance was the priesthood instead (see v. 20). In order to scatter them among the tribes and provide homes for the Levites, Moses commanded that forty-eight “Levite cities” be established for those who ministered to Israel’s spiritual needs (see Numbers 35:1–8). This Levitical inheritance was provided when the land of Canaan was conquered under Joshua (see Joshua 21).
Numbers 20:14 Moses referred to his people as “brother Israel” when he addressed the king of the Edomites (v. 14) because the Edomites were direct descendants of Edom (Esau), the brother of Jacob (Israel), from whom the Israelites descended. There was therefore a blood relationship between the two peoples. The things that Moses said imply that the Edomite king was well aware of the relationship. Still, he refused to let the Israelites pass through his lands.
Between the rebellion of Korah (chaps. 16–17) and the request for passage through the land of Edom (chap. 20), thirty-eight years of wandering had transpired. For reasons not known to us now, Moses did not describe those years in this record.
Numbers 20:17. To What Does the Phrase “King’s High Way” Refer? “The ‘king’s way’ is the public high road, which was probably made at the cost of the state, and kept up for the king and his armies to travel upon, and is synonymous with the ‘sultan-road’ or ‘emperor road,’ as the open, broad, old military roads are still called in the East”.
The highway ran along the highlands of present-day Jordan from the Red Sea up into Syria. On the east it paralleled the Dead Sea and the River Jordan.
Numbers 27:18–23 The event described here is the ordination and setting apart of Joshua to the priesthood held by Moses. “Special blessings, anointings, sealing of anointings, confirmations, ordinations, callings, healings, offices, and graces are conferred by the laying on of hands by the Lord’s legal administrators. As with all of the Lord’s prescribed procedural requisites, the proffered blessings come only when the designated formalities are observed.
“‘According to the order of God,’ ordination to offices in the priesthood is performed by the laying on of hands. (Alma 6:1; Acts 6:5–6; 1 Tim. 5:22.) Setting apart to positions of presidency, administration, or special responsibility comes in the same way. (Fifth Article of Faith; Num. 27:18–23; Deut. 34:9.)” (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 438.)
Numbers 30. The Making of Vows and the Conditions of Validity. The making of a covenant with the Lord was a very serious act in ancient Israel. This chapter in Numbers discusses the force and strength of one’s vows before the Lord. Particularly, it sets forth the relationship between man and woman where a vow or covenant is concerned. Four special instances are discussed:
The first case (vers 3–5) is that of a woman in her youth, while still unmarried, and living in her father’s house. If she made a vow of performance or abstinence, and her father heard of it and remained silent, it was to remain in force. But if her father held her back when he heard of it, i.e. forbade her fulfilling it, it was not to remain in force, and Jehovah would forgive her because of her father’s refusal. Obedience to a father stood higher than a self-imposed religious service.
The second case (vers 6–8) was that of a vow of performance or abstinence, made by a woman before her marriage, and brought along with her (… ‘upon herself’) into her marriage. In such a case the husband had to decide as to its validity, in the same way as the father before her marriage. In the day when he heard of it he could hold back his wife, i.e. dissolve her vow; but if he did not do this at once, he could not hinder its fulfillment afterwards.
The third case (verse 9) was that of a vow made by a widow or divorced woman. Such a vow had full force, because the woman was not dependent upon a husband.
The fourth case (verses 10–12) was that of a vow made by a wife in her married state. Such a vow was to remain in force if her husband remained silent when he heard of it, and did not restrain her. On the other hand, it was to have no force if her husband dissolved it at once.”
By Marlena Baker. Click on http://mormonsandjews.net for these weekly supplements