Numbers: Faith, Law, and History

From Sinai to Paran

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Pentateuch

Lesson: From Sinai to Paran

Genre:

Track: 16

Dictation Name: RR181H16

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Let us pray.

Our Father, we thank thee that thou, who art Lord of heaven and earth, has seen fit to make us thy creatures, members of thy household. Make us ever mindful of how rich we are in Christ, how great our privileges are, and how great our responsibilities and duties. Make us faithful in all things, zealous in thy service, and joyful in our calling. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Our scripture is Numbers 10:11-32, and our subject: From Sinai to Paran. From Sinai to Paran. Numbers 10:11-32. “And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony. And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran. And they first took their journey according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children of Judah according to their armies: and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethaneel the son of Zuar. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon. And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing the tabernacle. And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel. And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary: and the other did set up the tabernacle against they came. And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary: and the other did set up the tabernacle against they came.”

“And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni. And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan set forward, which was the rereward of all the camps throughout their hosts: and over his host was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan. Thus were the journeyings of the children of Israel according to their armies, when they set forward.”

“And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.  And he said unto him, I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred. And he said, Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes. And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness the Lord shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee.”

In these verses, we have an account of Israel’s journey from Sinai to Paran. Here again, we see God’s particularity, even though the generation of that day was, in time, sentenced to die in the wilderness for their unfaithfulness. God notes their activity. God gives us, after all, the family records of more than a few ungodly men. For example, of the line of Esau, just as God’s judgments far exceed the judgments of men, so God’s mercies far exceed ours. The God who keeps books, keeps total books.

Now, we have a specific account in this chapter of the breaking camp at Sinai and then moving towards Paran. First Judah, under Nahshon, son of Amminadab. He and his tribe moved accompanies by the people of Issachar, and then Zebulun. Next, the dismantled tabernacle followed under the Levitical bearers, Gershon and Merari and their subclans. Then second came Elizer, son of Shedeur, of the tribe of Reuben, and he was accompanied by the clans of Simeon and Gad, and the Levitical subclan of the Kohathites.

Third Ephraim, under Elishama, the son of Ammihud, led Manasseh and Benjamin, and again, there were three tribes together. Then fourth, Dan and the rear guard headed by Ahiezer, son of Ammishaddai, led the tribes of Dan and Naphtali.

This move began ten months and nineteen days after the arrival at Sinai. We do not know where Paran, their destination was located. It has disappeared. We do know that it was the home, centuries earlier, of Ishmael. The name Paran moreover, survives among some Arab tribes, so apparently, at one time, it did become a place of some importance.

Now, the Levites, carrying the ark were in the vanguard of the march, although they were led by the cloud. The ark and the cloud were very closely associated one with the other, because the covenant was essential to the relationship between God and man, and following the ark, they were following the witness to the covenant. The journey was essentially a journey home. Many, many generations had passed since Jacob went into Egypt. Centuries, and the family had become a nation.

The covenant God, however, had declared that Canaan was their home, and this was conditional on their faithfulness, because of their disobedience, the generation that left Egypt died in the wilderness. Over the centuries, when Israel was disobedient, land fell under the rule of foreign powers. The apostasy of the people finally led to the Assyrian captivity of Israel and the Babylonian captivity of Judah. The destruction of Jerusalem followed Judah’s rejection of Jesus Christ. None of God’s promises are unconditional. It is a perversion of scripture to say so, even though many Armenians and dispensationalists do. We have talk about Israel’s right to Palestine on the basis of God’s unconditional love. We have talk of all kinds of promises to the church again, because of supposedly God’s unconditional love. This denies the very premise of the Bible, which is a covenant book. A covenant is a treaty, a contract, and when Israel and when the church break the terms of that contract, the conditions of the covenant are gone, both are outcast peoples.

Modern antinomianism is very prone to insisting on an unconditional contract, or covenant, and such a heresy can only invoke God’s judgment if the Bible means anything. It is faithfulness which assures a people of God’s presence and guidance on their march and pilgrimage into the future. It is not an easy march. No man and no people can say that God’s hand is on their shoulder because it was once there. That is blasphemy.

As the men marched, they were armed and ready for battle. They had, however, the limitation of their women and children, so battle would not have been easy. Added to this were the numerous livestock, and the situation becomes even more complex. The journey, moreover, had to be mindful of the ongoing need for water, periodically, for men and beasts, and other practical concerns. Treks similar to this, in great numbers, but not as many as this, marked the western migration in America, and even more, the moves of the Boors in South Africa. Stops along the way to Paran are particularly mentioned in Numbers 11:3 and 34-75, and the arrival is cited in numbers 12:6.

In verse 12 of our text, reference is made to the Wilderness of Sinai and also the Wilderness of Paran. The word translated as “wilderness” in the Hebrew can mean a pasture, or a desert among other things. The term “desert” in the Bible does not have the same meaning we associate with it. If we look at its alternate meaning, pasture, it becomes apparent that wilderness in the Bible means an uninhabited or uncultivated place. Now, this meaning of wilderness lingered well into the last century in English. At one time, about a century and a half ago, the American West between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas was listed on the maps as the Great American Desert, this, in spite of rivers and forests. In the Bible especially, a wilderness is a place not yet under man’s control and development. The first English settlers in New England, in terms of biblical usage, described it as, “a howling wilderness.” That’s not our idea of New England today, but this helps explain what the Bible means when it says wilderness. It can be a heavily forested area and in those days, much of Arabia was.

In verses 29-32, we have Moses’s invitation to his brother-in-law Hobab to accompany Israel into the Promised Land. Hobab was a Kenite, a subtribe of Midian which was centuries later, absorbed into Israel. This invitation was accepted, not in this chapter, we don’t see him saying anything but “no,” but later on we read that he accepted it. Moses asks Hobab to be Israel’s guide on their journey. He says, “Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes.” This in no way was in conflict with the guidance of God by the cloud. At every point, however, Israel needed to know where the best sources of water and grazing would be, because Hobab was familiar with this region, and none of the Hebrews were. Moses appealed to him to govern them in this respect.

The westward treks in the United Stated, by settlers, depended similarly on guides who knew where the best grazing and the best water were, and stops tended to be governed by their knowledge. Hobab, therefore, was an important addition to this journey. It should be remembered that Hobab was a foreigner, and yet, by God’s providence, he was not only Israel’s guide, but a privileged leader. Moses said to Hobab, “Come thou with us and we will do thee good.” As J. Baldwin Brown noted, “God’s privileges, the gifts which He bestows and the advantages which he confers on some are never intended to be exclusive.” This, in every age, is an urgently important fact. God’s purposes encompass all peoples, tribes, races, and tongues. There are very few things in the Bible that are clearer than this fact. We must therefore recognize first of all, that God who made all peoples and races has a purpose for all of them. His covenant is not the exclusive possession nor the unconditional property of any one people, or any groups of people. It is inclusive of all men. Man cannot limit what God does not limit. It is a heresy to restrict the covenant to one people, and this is a common heresy today, as many restrict it to Israel and to the western European peoples, the white races.

Psalm 87 is evidence of the presence of other peoples and the Hebrews at the temple, as is 1 Kings 8:41-43. To treat God’s covenant as a national or racial possession is evil. Second, God’s covenant salvation is all of grace, His sovereign grace. God reminds us in his law of the moral depravities of some peoples, and conditions are laid down with respect to their entrance into full covenant status. At the same time, one law should govern all people, God says.

Then third, all covenant peoples are heirs of the grace God gave to their ancestors. The difference between themselves and other peoples is not one of racial inheritance but of covenant grace, and when they deny that privilege, they lose it.

Therefore, the covenant people must extend the invitation to all peoples. “Come thou with us and we will do thee good.” Not to humanistic one world dream, but only the grace of God can accomplish that good. Moses recognizes this and adds, “For the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.”

As I said, the text does not tell us at this point that Hobab agreed. In fact, his first reaction as verse 30 tells us, was to return to his own land and his kindred. Apparently, in agreeing finally with Moses, he asked that his people also be included. Moses promises, “What goodness the Lord shall do unto us, the same will He do unto thee.” Thus, Moses makes very clear that God’s bounties would be shared equally, although it was many, many centuries later that the Kenites disappeared into the Hebrews. No attempt was made to require that they merge nor to impede that union. Whereas the humanistic dream seeks to make all peoples one and to destroy all differences, and this is wrong in the sight of God, biblical faith neither denies lines nor obliterates them. It respects God-created differences, and it centers society on grace, not race. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God, we thank thee for thy word, and we thank thee that even as Hobab and the Kenites were included in thy blessings, so we too in our forbearers, and the generations yet to come. We thank thee for thy mercy. We fear, our Father, that we may see that we are a privileged people and may share the privileges of grace with men and nations the world over. Make us zealous in thy service and faithful to thy word. In Christ’s name. Amen. Are there any questions now concerning our lesson? Yes?

[Audience] One of the five pillars of Calvinist doctrine is said to be the doctrine of unconditional election. Is that doctrine correct and if so, how is it to be distinguished from traditional {?}

[Rushdoony] God’s election is something that is known to God, and to us when He chooses us. We cannot limit it therefore, to ourselves, and our kindred, or our peoples. God tells Israel at one point that He could have chosen the Ethiopian out of Kur, and made them the chosen people, so that He makes it clear that it is not anything in themselves, but it is His sovereign grace. Therefore, since we cannot read the mind of God at that point, we have a requirement to treat all peoples as potentially the elect, and we know that they are to be elect out of all peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations. Therefore, there can be no limitation on our outreach to any people, anywhere in the world. The fact, of course, that some people are called earlier than others does not give them any ground for pride. If they become proud of that fact, they forget that it is all of grace and they are subject to judgment. This happened to Israel and it’s happening to the church. Are there any other questions or comments? Yes?

[Audience] About the cloud {?} as long as the tabernacle remained, which was some time before, I think {?}

[Rushdoony] It remained until they entered the Promised Land. Then it disappeared but it reappeared in the Holy of Holies from time to time, and of course, certainly, we are told, dramatically so at the dedication at Solomon’s Temple. Are there any other questions or comments? Well, if not, let us conclude with prayer.

Lord, we thank thee for thy guidance. Although now no pillar nor cloud precedes us. Thy word and thy Spirit give us even a more sure guide. Teach us, therefore, daily to turn to thee. Make us joyful in our privileges and faithful in thy service, to the end that the kingdoms of this world might become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ. And now go in peace. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost bless you and keep you, guide and protect you this day and always. Amen.

End of tape