Numbers 26:57

The Bible says in Numbers 26:57-62, “And these are they that were numbered of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of Merari, the family of the Merarites.[58] These are the families of the Levites: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korathites. And Kohath begat Amram.[59] And the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.[60] And unto Aaron was born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.[61] And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the LORD.[62] And those that were numbered of them were twenty and three thousand, all males from a month old and upward: for they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.” There are some great lessons to learn from these verses that tell us about the descendants of Levi. During the time of the travels from Egypt to the Promised Land, three of the greatest Israelites are mentioned and two of the worse Israelites are mentioned. Aaron, Moses, and Miriam were brothers and sister to each other. The three of them were the leaders and had the most power in leading and guiding the new nation of Israel. We should not fail to notice that Miriam was of course a woman, and she had a position of leadership. There are many examples in the Bible of women being in positions of leadership and accomplishment even outside the home. Even though the Bible was written thousands of years ago, it never puts women down. It elevates and honors them.

Aaron was a great servant of God, but notice that his sons named Nadab and Abihu became wicked and turned to false religion, and God killed them because of their evil ways. There are no guarantees with children. Some children with Christian parents do turn to Christ and believe on Him and serve Him too, but other children turn away and go the way of the world and the way of rebellion. Everyone has their own free choice. And so some parents know the same suffering that God has: to see those that they love go the wrong way spiritually speaking. That is the same pain that God feels every day millions of times over.

The Levites were not given an inheritance in the way that the other sons of Jacob were. They were not given a parcel of land. That is because they would not have time to work the land or take care of flocks of sheep. They were responsible for the tabernacle and later the temple, and the rituals, and the daily sacrifices. God has a purpose for everyone. We are all different. We all have our unique calling. Some have more material possessions than others. Some have more responsibility than others. Some have more gifts and abilities than others. The question for each believer to find out is: what does God want me to be and what does God want me to do? Whether small or great in the eyes of men, we live to honor the name of Jesus our Savior.

The Bible says in Numbers 26:63-65, “These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.[64] But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron the priest numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.[65] For the LORD had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.” There is one more thing to say about the numbering of the children of Israel in the wilderness: everyone died in the wilderness before they reached the Promised Land except for Caleb and Joshua. They were the two who kept the faith when everyone else feared the enemy and feared the battles to come. You cannot get into the Promised Land through the obeying of the law, you can only get there through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Bible says in Numbers 27:1-11, “Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph: and these are the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.[2] And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,[3] Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons.[4] Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father.[5] And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.
[6] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[7] The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them.[8] And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.[9] And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.[10] And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren.[11] And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.” These verses are interesting because five women who are sisters come up to Moses, and they want to be treated the same way that men are treated. They want the same rights. They did not want to be forgotten, set aside, or neglected during this time when the parcels of land were being handed out. Just because they had no brothers did not mean that they should go away empty-handed. God told Moses that the women were correct: they should be treated equally with the men. An extra law was created by God to handle this situation. God said to Moses in verses eight, “And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.” What happened to the daughter when there was a son? In that case the son was responsible to make sure that the daughter was also taken care of. It was kind of like having an executor of a will. An honest executor of a will would make sure that all the family members are treated fairly.

The Bible says in Numbers 27:12-14, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel.[13] And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered.[14] For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.” Let’s read a little deeply into this situation where Moses himself was not allowed to go into the Promised Land, Remember that Moses was the law-giver and in many ways Moses represented the law of God. The law demands total obedience. Any failure was punishable by death. The law was very unforgiving. The law was harsh. No one can enter the Promised Land by their own deeds. No one can deserve the Promised Land. Not even Moses could deserve it. Moses had hos failures just like all of us. In other words, “we are saved by grace through faith: not of works.” How blessed we are to live under the New Testament promise. Because of Jesus we will be allowed into heaven no matter how great our failures and sins were.

God said to Moses in verse fourteen, “For ye rebelled against my commandment.” This shows how great is the sin of rebellion. It is important to be surrendered to the will of God at all times and in every situation. The human will is so very strong, but to walk with Jesus in the Spirit, we must surrender our will to Him and to other people. Submitting ourselves to one another is one of the requirements of being filled by the Spirit according to Ephesians chapter five.

The Bible says in Numbers 27:15-23, “And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying,[16] Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,[17] Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.[18] And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;[19] And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight.[20] And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.[21] And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.[22] And Moses did as the LORD commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation:[23] And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.” God told Moses that Moses would die soon and that Moses would therefore no longer be leading the children of Israel. In verses sixteen and seventeen Moses had a prayer to God about this fact: Moses was concerned about who would replace him, and so Moses asked God to give a new leader to replace Moses. The ministry needed to continue. Once we leave the work that God gave to us, we want that work to continue on so that it will be a lasting work, and not a temporary one. We want to lay a foundation that others will build upon, and hopefully do even better than we did. Notice in Moses’ prayer that he said to God, “that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.” Some things never change. This is the same spiritual principle that exists today. The congregation of the Lord is the local church congregation that God has called you to be a part of. In these last days, you may not be able to find a good Bible-believing church. If that is the case, then ask the Lord Jesus to help you join with some others to start one. Jesus described the basic church and said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

God views His believers as sheep. Sheep need a shepherd. Jesus is the great shepherd of the sheep, but God’s sheep also need a human shepherd. The word “pastor” means shepherd. The pastor leads the sheep and feeds the sheep by teaching them the Word of God. One reason that there must be at least two gathered together to make a church is because one of them would be the pastor and the other one would be the congregation. One person would not be a church: one person can have a personal devotion time, but that is not a church. Jesus established the church because He wants His believers to gather together in the name of the Lord. Sheep without a shepherd will not do well. They will be scattered. They will not be well-fed. They will be in danger. Their spiritual lives will suffer greatly. Sheep need a shepherd. Moses knew that, and God knows it too.

Moses knew that the Lord needed to pick the replacement for Moses, and God’s choice was Joshua. God said to Moses in Numbers 27:18, “Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit…” The word “Joshua” comes from the Hebrew word that means Savior. “Jesus” comes from the Greek word for Joshua, that means Savior, and so we see that Joshua typified Jesus in at least one sense. Moses could not lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land because Moses symbolized the law, and the law fails man because man is weak and man always breaks the law. But a Savior can save us from our sins and deliver us into the Promised Land no matter how much we have failed. We get into heaven by faith, not by law. Put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then you shall be allowed into heaven.

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