NUMBERS LESSON 39
We will begin this lesson in Numbers 31:25 "And the LORD spake
unto Moses, saying," Numbers 31:26 "Take the sum of the prey that was
taken, [both] of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and
the chief fathers of the congregation:"
It was Moses and Eleazar who would divide the prey. They had sent
the young men out to war, so they would be the ones to determine what
was to be done with the prey. The chief fathers of the congregation
could be speaking of the 70 men Moses had chosen to assist him. The
prey is speaking of living things, not the goods.
Numbers 31:27 "And divide the prey into two parts; between them
that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all
the congregation:"
Half of all the girls and the animals were to be given to the
people who fought the battle. The other half was divided among the
congregation.
Numbers 31:28 "And levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war
which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, [both] of the
persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:"
This is a portion that goes to the LORD. One of each five hundred
of the souls they received shall be received in tribute to the LORD.
This included the girls, as well as the animals. Beeves were animals
of the ox kind, both male and female.
Numbers 31:29 "Take [it] of their half, and give [it] unto
Eleazar the priest, [for] an heave offering of the LORD."
The portion given to the LORD is, actually, for the use of the
priest and his family. The heave offering was offered to the LORD
first, and then belonged to the priest.
Numbers 31:30 "And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt
take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the
asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them unto
the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD."
Notice, the difference in the amount of those who did not go to
war. They were levied one out of fifty. This is ten times the
percentage, as those who went to war. These went to the Levites, not
to the priest and high priest.
Numbers 31:31 "And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD
commanded Moses."
This is just saying, that Moses and Eleazar did exactly as they
were commanded of God.
Numbers 31:32 And the booty, [being] the rest of the prey which
the men of war had caught, was six hundred thousand and seventy
thousand and five thousand sheep,
The number of sheep was 675,000.
Numbers 31:33 "And threescore and twelve thousand beeves,"
There were 72,000 ox-like animals.
Numbers 31:34 "And threescore and one thousand asses,"
There were ,7000 asses. This seems like a lot of animals, but we
must remember, that was the way these people made their living.
Numbers 31:35 "And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of
women that had not known man by lying with him."
There were 32,000 virgin girls, that had not been killed.
Numbers 31:36 "And the half, [which was] the portion of them that
went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and
thirty thousand and five hundred sheep:"
The previous numbers were of the whole. Now, we see just how many
the soldiers received. Their half was 337,500 sheep.
Numbers 31:37 "And the LORD'S tribute of the sheep was six
hundred and threescore and fifteen."
The tribute on this was 675 sheep. This is the one out of five
hundred mentioned above.
Numbers 31:38 "And the beeves [were] thirty and six thousand; of
which the LORD'S tribute [was] threescore and twelve."
The beeves {ox-like animals} they received 36,000 of which the
Lord received 72.
Numbers 31:39 "And the asses [were] thirty thousand and five
hundred; of which the LORD'S tribute [was] threescore and one."
They received of the asses 30,500; of which the LORD received 61.
Numbers 31:40 "And the persons [were] sixteen thousand; of which
the LORD'S tribute [was] thirty and two persons."
They received 16,000 virgins; of which the LORD received 32
persons.
Numbers 31:41 "And Moses gave the tribute, [which was] the LORD'S
heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses."
All of these given to the LORD, were then in turn given to
Eleazar. We remember, that the high priest received of the altar of
the LORD for his wages.
Numbers 31:42 "And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses
divided from the men that warred,"
This half went to all of those who stayed home. Their half will
be divided between a much larger group, but they did not go to war.
Numbers 31:43 "(Now the half [that pertained unto] the
congregation was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand [and]
seven thousand and five hundred sheep," Numbers 31:44 "And thirty and
six thousand beeves," Numbers 31:45 "And thirty thousand asses and
five hundred," Numbers 31:46 "And sixteen thousand persons;)"
The congregation received 337,500 sheep, 36,000 beeves, 30,500
asses, and 16,000 persons.
Numbers 31:47 "Even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took
one portion of fifty, [both] of man and of beast, and gave them unto
the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as
the LORD commanded Moses."
The entire Levitical tribe received one out of each 50 of all of
those belonging to the congregation. This would have been 6,750 sheep,
720 beeves, 610 asses, and 320 virgins for all of the congregation
combined.
Numbers 31:48 "And the officers which [were] over thousands of
the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came
near unto Moses:"
These officers were very well aware of the fact that they fought
the battle, but the victory was because God was with them. The leaders
of the soldiers have, now, come to Moses.
Numbers 31:49 "And they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken
the sum of the men of war which [are] under our charge, and there
lacketh not one man of us."
It appears, that not even one Israelite soldier died in battle.
This has to be God's working. This would not be a normal thing to
happen in so great a battle.
Numbers 31:50 "We have therefore brought an oblation for the
LORD, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and
bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our
souls before the LORD."
It appears from this, that the spoils went to the victors. These
precious things were brought to the LORD, in thanks for saving their
lives in battle. The atonement was like a covering for all sin.
Numbers 31:51 "And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of
them, [even] all wrought jewels."
Moses and Eleazar, acting on behalf of the LORD, received the
booty from the leaders of the army.
Numbers 31:52 "And all the gold of the offering that they offered
up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of
hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels."
This is 16,750 shekels of gold. This would have been over 11,000
ounces of gold. At $400.00 per ounce, this would figure $4,400,000.00.
Remember, this was an offering to the LORD.
Numbers 31:53 "( [For] the men of war had taken spoil, every man
for himself.)" Numbers 31:54 "And Moses and Eleazar the priest took
the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it
into the tabernacle of the congregation, [for] a memorial for the
children of Israel before the LORD."
This large amount was, probably, kept in the tabernacle for the
expenses of the tabernacle. We do not know whether the high priest and
the priests got any of this, or not. The Bible does not say.
Numbers 39 Questions
1. It is __________ and __________ who will divide the prey.
2. Who could the chief fathers be speaking of?
3. What was the prey?
4. How was the prey to be divided?
5. What is the tribute in verse 28?
6. What were beeves?
7. The tribute from the men of war went to whom?
8. The portion given to the Lord, actually, goes to whom?
9. Who does the tribute of the children of Israel's half go to?
10. How many sheep had they captured?
11. Why did these people have so many animals?
12. How many virgin girls had not been killed?
13. How many of the sheep did the LORD receive in tribute from the
soldiers?
14. The tribute of the soldiers, actually, went to whom?
15. How many sheep, beeves, asses, and persons did the congregation
receive?
16. How many of each of these did the Levitical tribe receive?
17. How many Israelites were killed in the war?
18. Who brought the oblation for the soldiers to Moses?
19. Who was the offering given to?
20. What was the value of the gold that was brought, figuring at
$400.00 per ounce?
21. The gold was, probably, kept in the ___________.
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