Numbers 34 - Deuteronomy 2 Recap | OT Ep 21

In this episode, Austin and Ashley recap chapters 34 to 36 of Numbers and introduce the book of Deuteronomy through Ch 2. They discuss the boundaries of the Promised Land, the inheritance of the Levites, and the concept of cities of refuge. The conversation highlights the historical context of biblical texts, the significance of the Pentateuch, and God's faithfulness throughout Israel's journey. They conclude with reflections on God's protection and assurance in Christ.

Reading Plan - Old Testament in One Year
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tSmSv3JOd-gCJS6VSFMtu-iv14NZ45_M/view?usp=sharing

Chapters

• 0:00 Dividing the Promised Land (Ch 34)
• 2:11 Levites and Cities of Refuge (Ch 35)
• 6:33 Female Heirs (Ch 36)
• 7:20 Intro to Deuteronomy
• 9:40 Broken Records + Theology (Ch 1 & 2)
• 12:15 Understatement (Ch 2)

Transcript

Hey everyone,

My name is Austin. And my name is Ashley. Welcome to the Clean Slate Podcast. Where we're finding Jesus in the Old Testament.

 Hey everybody and welcome into episode 21. Today we're going to be recapping numbers chapters 34 to 36. And we'll actually start Deuteronomy and do chapters one and two.

At the beginning of chapter 34, the Lord gives Moses the boundaries for the land of Canaan, also known as the Promised Land.

These borders also correspond accurately with borders found in Egyptian texts of the 1500s to 1300s BC, which is the timeline that we're in right now, the time of Moses. The Bible is a historical book, as many of you have found out by reading all the people and all the landmarks and all the details that you really could have cared less about. But God is so smart. He knew the legitimacy of His word would be questioned and all of these details show the accuracy and legitimacy of the text to be able to corroborate it with these things outside the Bible during the same time period. Those historical writings outside the Bible are called extra biblical writings. These can provide us modern day readers with cultural, historical, and contextual backgrounds to certain parts of scripture.

But remember that these are not inspired scripture and should be handled with an appropriate level of care and understanding. They are not the authority in our life scripture is.

In verses 13 through 15, Moses said the land will be divided

into nine and a half sections.

But as we read in chapter 31, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance.

So in verse 16, the Lord tells Moses that Eliezer and Joshua are the ones who will divide the land for the remaining tribes, taking one chief from each tribe.

And to close out this chapter, those chiefs are listed out one by one for us here. Now that we've discussed the other tribes' inheritance we move on to the Levites. Remember, all the way back to Numbers chapter 18, the Lord had declared that the Levites would not receive an inheritance in the Promised Land because, as 18 verse 20 says, I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. They did not need entire cities to dwell in.

because their service in the presence of the Lord and the tithe of the people was more than sufficient inheritance.

The tithe was their income and reward for transporting the tabernacle, serving as bridge builders between the people and God in the Ten of Meeting. I mean, it was a risky thing being the one to deal with the holy things. And also, like we said, they did not receive an inheritance of the land to generate future wealth, but they did need somewhere to dwell.

So the Lord commanded Moses, saying the people of Israel should give them some of their inheritance to dwell in.

So the Levites were given 48 cities or little villages and the pastures for grazing by the livestock that was given to the tabernacle. Again, not an inheritance, but a use of it for the people doing the Lord's work. I think it's interesting too that the Lord sprinkled the Levites all over the different tribes rather than all of them close to Jerusalem.

And this, I think, is not only a practical provision, but also a symbol for the unity of the people of God in one faith.

Moving into verse 6, we read a concept of something that's kind of familiar to us even in modern times. It says that six of those 48 cities shall be cities of refuge where you should permit the manslayer to flee. So this is carried further in the next section, verses 9 through 34. These cities of refuge were a sanctuary so that the manslayer could have a fair trial. He would stand before the congregation and have a chance for the story to be told.

Whoever is trying to avenge the blood of their family member would follow after the manslayer, and the congregation would judge based on the rules the Lord laid out. Basically, murder out of hatred in any fashion, called for the death penalty. And the avenger of blood could avenge their family member and kill him without any blood guilt. But if the killing was ruled an accident, what we would call manslaughter,

then the Manslayer could stay in the City of Refuge and be safe from the Avenger of Blood. However, if the Manslayer left the City of Refuge and the Avenger of Blood kills him, the Avenger would not have a blood guilt.

Now, you guys are going to get a theology nugget and a gospel glimpse all in one. So someone dying in a place of someone else that deserves to die is called substitutionary atonement. And we have seen multiple ways over the last few books that substitutionary atonement happens via an animal. However, here we see a person filling that role.

The manslayer had to remain in the city of refuge until the high priest died, because the high priest's death is to serve as full satisfaction on behalf of all who took refuge under him.

If this sinful man's death can free

the manslayer from his confinement, how much more can our great high priest's death free us from our bondage to sin? Hebrews 6 verses 18 through 19 say, "...we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain."

Jesus, our great high priest, died once for all to serve as full satisfaction on behalf of those who seek refuge in him.

Moving on to chapter 36, it's a reminder and clarification of what the Lord told people in Numbers chapter 27 about a family that had only female heirs. And to keep everything from getting too confusing with inheritance of the land and who gets what, when one marries another, et cetera,

The Lord tells Moses that no land will be transferred from one tribe to another. And to keep it this way, female heirs should only marry from within their own

clan, and the daughters are happy to do so, and they did just as the Lord commanded Moses. And that concludes the book of numbers, friends. I'm going to step away from the mic and let Austin intro us into our next book and the last book of the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy.

Like Ashley said, we like to intro any new book we're getting into because context is key.

The Hebrew name for Deuteronomy is actually Debarim or in English it is, are the words, which happens to be the opening words of the book of Deuteronomy.

I was doing a little research and the authors of the New Testament quote the book of Deuteronomy about five dozen times. It's actually a little more than that. If you look at how many times it's referenced, but it's directly quoted about five dozen times. And I think that's fascinating because Deuteronomy is like Ashley mentioned, the last book of the Pentateuch.

In preparation for this introduction, I was listening to something and it was said that the Pentateuch is the foundation of the Bible, that everything is built off of the Pentateuch, that you have the Pentateuch and everything after that is inspired commentary, fulfillment, or application of the words found therein. And I think that may be a little bit of a stretch, but if look at how often New Testament writers reference the Pentateuch in Deuteronomy,

see their point.

is largely through the first 30 chapters or so, the spoken words of Moses. Those chapters are either one sermon or a series of sermons, possibly three, that were written down by Moses himself. We know they're written by Moses because Deuteronomy 31.9 says so, but so do other places in the Old and New Testament.

So like a list of those places would be Joshua 23, 6, 1 Kings chapter 2, verse 3, Malachi 4, 4.

Matthew 19, 7 through Romans 10, 19.

This is the final message from Moses, the man who God used to free the Israelites and the man who God used to get the law to his people.

The 40 year wandering period has come to an end and in his final sermon, Moses is compelling the people to keep the law that God gave at Mount Sinai and to go in and take the land that God has given them. I look forward to seeing how this plays out as well as catching glimpses of our Savior along the way.

As we jump into the first couple of chapters today, you may feel like, I've heard this before. That's because you have. For the better part of the first four chapters, Moses is retelling a good deal of the history of this journey. Moses is actually following the framework of ancient treaties of the Near East. Now I'm not saying this is a treaty, mind you, but Moses was a highly educated person and it makes sense that he knew about these sorts of things.

Part of the structure of the book of Deuteronomy is that the first few chapters frame up the next couple of sections by retelling some things that have already happened. But he doesn't only do that, he actually adds some theology to the retelling.

A great example of this is something we see in verses 26 through 31 in chapter 1. I'm going to read that for us.

So Moses is talking here at the beginning of verse 26 and he says,

We have seen the sons of the Anakim there. Then I said to you, do not be in dread or afraid of them. The Lord your God goes before you and will himself fight for you just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes and in the wilderness where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son all the way that you went until you came to this place.

this imagery of how God carried them as a father carries a son.

There were times that God allowed Israel to stumble, but there were also times that God kept Israel from harm as well. In a very similar fashion, there have been times I have allowed my son to struggle with something for the benefit of his growth, but there have also been times that I have protected him from things that he never knew existed.

there's a particular lesson that we as Christians should learn from this when facing trials.

God allows us to go through things at times, but then there is no telling how many things God has rescued us from that we will never know about.

Take a moment sometime today and thank him for his faithfulness and goodness to you in your life.

So as we move into chapter two, we have what might be the understatement of the whole book.

Verse 1 says, then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. For many days? What Moses means here is to 38 years of their wandering.

I want to draw out one quick thing from several places in chapter two, but use verses four and five as an example. So verse four says, and command the people, you are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau who live in Seir, and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. Do not contend with them for I will not give you any of their land. No, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on.

because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession." So there's a subconscious thought that I have noticed developing folks from time to time that God was really only concerned about Israel in the Old Testament.

Texts this, I think, help us to see that God is concerned with the whole earth. As the scriptures point out, He loves His creation, like the whole thing.

I don't want us to jump out of this text, but if I can reference the prophet Jonah for just a moment. So if you're familiar with that story, Jonah was called to go preach the city of Nineveh. Guys, that was likely the worst place on earth at the time, but God cared enough about those people to send a prophet to declare word to the whole city actually repented.

So with that in mind, back into this text, we said God was willing and working the people of Esau to have a possession of their own as well.

Now I am not saying that God's intentions for Israel weren't unique, because they were. God only gave His law to one people, only gave the prophets to one people, only brought His Messiah through this one people. All I am pointing out is that God loves His creation and everyone who draws breath is made in the image of the Immortal God and by that very fact alone, they have value to God.

I want to close by thinking about God's faithfulness to the Israelites we have seen recounted in these last two chapters and see if we can glean something from that faithfulness that would apply to us as well. Let's start our reflection by remembering how God rescued the people out of slavery from the most powerful nation on earth at the time, which was Egypt. God then gives his law and immediately the people break it. The people repeatedly complain and doubt and even accuse the Lord.

God carries them through the wilderness for 40 years and they never lacked one thing. God then brings them victories over kings and over armies.

We as Christians can be sure that God is always faithful to us and we can know the same as Moses is calling on Israel to do here by looking back at all the times he has been faithful to us when we have given him no reason to do so.

We can trust that when God fights for us, he never loses.

want to wrap up our recap today by reading the end of Romans chapter 8.

I'm gonna start in verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who is indeed interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come

nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Friend, if you have Christ, you have nothing to fear. Whatever you find yourself going through as you listen to this, He has overcome. I'm not telling you that you will get the outcome your heart desires, but I am telling you with full confidence that if you have Christ, He will never ever leave you or forsake you.

And that's going to do it for today's recap guys. May his grace abound to you and to me as we study to find Jesus in the Old Testament.