THE EFFECTS OF THESE VISITATIONS AND THE RESTORATION OF THE COVENANT. V. 34. Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest and enjoy her Sabbaths. It is here implied that Israel, in its revolt against Jehovah and His commandments, would omit the observance of the sabbatical years, and that the land, suffering under the oppression of this greed, would feel the relief brought about by the deportation of the owners. V. 35. As long as it lieth desolate, it shall rest, because it did not rest in your Sabbaths when ye dwelt upon it. V. 36. And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, filling their hearts with a cowardly fear, with the despondency of an unreasonable terror; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth, victims more of their own terror than of any harm done to them by their enemies. V. 37. And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth; and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. V. 38. And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. Cp. Num. 13, 32; Ezek. 36, 13. V. 39. And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands, so long as they remain in their unrepentant attitude toward God; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them; for if the children follow in the footsteps of their sinful parents, the sins of the latter are visited upon them also. But now the mercy of the Lord comes into the foreground again. V. 40. If they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, the guilt which they brought upon themselves by their misdeeds, with their trespass which they trespassed against Me, and that also they have walked contrary unto Me, an open confession being necessary to show the sincerity of their repentance; v. 41. and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies, thereby freely

acknowledging that they were suffering a welldeserved punishment; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity, v. 42. then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember, with all the blessings promised therein; and I will remember the land, turn back to it with thoughts of love and kindness. V. 43. The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her Sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them, being free from the oppression of a population that disregarded the will of the Lord; and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity, bowing their backs to the Lord's chastening rod; because, even because they despised My judgments, and because their soul abhorred My statutes. V. 44. And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, when it seems that they are absolutely forsaken by God, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly, for that had not been the purpose of His punishment in the first place, and to break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord, their God, who always has mercy upon the repentant sinner. V. 45. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen. I am the Lord. In this way the punishment of the Lord would finally result in blessing the people, in bringing them back to the fellowship of the covenant which He had never repudiated. V. 46. These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the Lord made between Him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses. The history of Israel, as foreshadowed in this chapter, is an example of warning to all men. Unto those that are disobedient to the truth the Lord will render tribulation and anguish, Rom. 2, 8. 9. He will in flaming fire take vengeance on them that know not God, that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Thess. 1, 8. 9. But His mercy is always ready to turn to those that come to Him with a sorrowful and repentant heart.

Of Vows.

OF MEN AND BEASTS.-V. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, v. 2. Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, an exceptional, unusual, special promise to the Lord, which involved the offering of his own body to the Lord for some service in His worship, the persons shall be for the Lord by

thy estimation; the redemption from the obligations of the promise had to be made in accordance with the estimate given out, first by Moses and later by the priest in charge. The fulfilment of the vow consisted in this, that the person concerned paid the price of the estimation to the Sanctuary. V. 3. And thy estimation shall be of the male, in the case of a man, from twenty years old even unto sixty

years old; even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the Sanctuary (about $32). V. 4. And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels (about $19.20). V. 5. And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels (about $12.80) and for the female ten shekels (about $6.40). V. 6. And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver (about $3.20), and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver (about $1.92). V. 7. And if it be from sixty years old and above, at the time of life when the bodily strength usually will not permit strenuous service; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels (about $9.60) and for the female ten shekels (about $6.40). V. 8. And if he be poorer than thy estimation, if he cannot afford the price of redemption according to the priest's estimate, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him, fix the price of redemption in proportion to the person's ability to pay; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him. This special ordinance made it possible even for the very poor to dedicate themselves to the Lord by a vow; for the Lord's mercy and kindness at all times stands out with special force. V.9. And if it be a beast whereof men bring an offering unto the Lord, that is, if the vow concerns such an animal, all that any man giveth of such unto the Lord shall be holy, dedicated to Him, set aside subject to His orders. V. 10. He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad or a bad for a good; for the vow, having once been made, could not be recalled; and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy, both of them devoted to the Lord, subject to His disposal, those without blemish being used for sacrifices, those not perfect being allotted to the priest. V. 11. And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the Lord, then he shall present the beast before the priest; v. 12. and the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad; as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be. The priest was to fix a medium price, neither too high nor too low, for the proceeds of the sale were used in the interest of the Sanctuary. V. 13. But if he will at all redeem it, for his own use, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation, as a sort of compensation for his act in taking the animal back for his own use. OF HOUSES, FIELDS, AND FIRSTLINGS. V. 14. And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord, in a vow devoting its value to the service of Jehovah, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good

or bad; as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand, his medium valuation should be final. V. 15. And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, desiring to have it back for his own use, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his. V. 16. And if a man shall sanctify unto the Lord some part of a field of his possession, the price of its valuation being intended for the use of the Sanctuary, as a gift, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof, according to the amount of seed used in putting the field to grain; an homer (a little over eight bushels) of barley-seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver (about $32.40) . V. 17. If he sanctify his field from the Year of Jubilee, immediately after its close, when the land was again cultivated, according to thy estimation it shall stand. The valuation once fixed would hold good till the next Year of Jubilee, and the one that made the vow would be obliged to make his yearly payments accordingly. V. 18. But if he sanctify his field after the Jubilee, after some years had elapsed, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the Year of the Jubilee, and it shall be abated from thy estimation. In the case of a field of barley, for instance, if twenty years still remained till the next Year of Jubilee, then the person concerned would have twenty shekels to pay, plus the one-fifth which was added for the sake of compensation, if it was so arranged. V. 19. And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him. V. 20. And if he will not redeem the field, by the regular payment of the price of valuation, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more; if a person lapsed in his payments, he forfeited his ownership of the field. V. 21. But the field, when it goeth out in the Jubilee, out of the hands of the man that bought it in the mean time, shall be holy unto the Lord, as a field devoted, and thus the property of the Sanctuary; the possession thereof shall be the priest's. V. 22. And if a man sanctify unto the Lord a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession, does not belong to the land which is the perpetual inheritance of his family, v. 23. then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the Year of the Jubilee, the total sum due as the price of redemption; and he shall give thine estimation in that day, make payment of the required sum at once, as a holy thing unto the Lord. This provision obviated the possibility of the land's being devoted to the Sanctuary and thus being lost to the original owner,

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LEVITICUS 27, 24-34.

who was to regain possession of it in the year of the Jubilee. V. 24. In the year of the Jubilee the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong, and who could not dispose of it absolutely, but only until the year of redemption. V. 25. And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the Sanctuary, the standard of weight for all money transactions; twenty gerahs shall be the shekel. V. 26. Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the Lord's firstling, Ex. 13, 2. 12, no man shall sanctify it; these animals could not be used in the event of vows; whether it be ox or sheep; it is the Lord's. V. 27. And if it be of an unclean beast, one that could be used neither for sacrifices nor as food for the priests, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto; or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation, for the benefit of the Sanctuary. V. 28. Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed, while it is under the vow; every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord, a gift which cannot be redeemed, surrendered to the Lord to be disposed of at His will, irrevocably cut off from all common use. V. 29. None devoted, which shall be devoted of

men, dedicated to the Lord in this special sense, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death; the person was irredeemable, and Jehovah's sentence of destruction was sure to be carried out. V. 30. And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's; it is holy unto the Lord, absolutely at His disposal, and Jehovah executed the ban. V. 31 And if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof, as a penalty or compensation. V. 32. And concerning the tithe of the herd or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, that is, under the staff of the shepherd, who keeps a careful record of the animals in his care, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord, the tenth part of the annual increase was set apart for the use of the Lord and His Sanctuary. V. 33. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it, v. 10; and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed. V. 34. These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai, this last chapter on vows being an appendix to the Book of Leviticus, the types of whose sacrifices point forward to the Lord, our Righteousness; for they were prescribed to the Jews of the Old Covenant because of transgressions, until the promised Seed should come.

The fourth book of Moses received its English name from the fact that the first chapter relates the numbering of the people, and that lists and enumerations are found in various parts of the book. It records the history of the chosen nation from the second year after its departure from Egypt to its arrival at the borders of Canaan in the fortieth year of the desert journey. God had intended to bring His people into the Promised Land shortly after the establishment of the covenant on Mount Sinai. The Book of Numbers shows us that the children of Israel who left Egypt in adult life failed to reach Canaan, and, in a few vivid sketches, indicates the reason for this failure. "What a picture this is of the life of many a child of God to-day! Redeemed out of the bondage of Satan, yet failing to enter into the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Do we not all know, either in the past or in the present, something of the wilderness life of failure and defeat? Yet even in their wanderings the Lord did not

forsake His people; He had compassion on them, He let them enjoy His provision and protection and guidance day by day."

The narrative of the book summarizes the experiences of the children of Israel in the wilderness during the thirty-nine years following their departure from Mount Sinai. It is merely a sketch, and therefore mentions those occurrences only that were of vital significance for the people. They had remained at the foot of Mount Sinai, at the southern extremity of the peninsula for an entire year. According to the conclusions of various independent investigators the amount of vegetation in that region at that time was fully able to sustain the cattle of the Israelites, and that there was usually no lack of rain appears from Ps. 68, 7-9; 77, 16-20. After leaving their camp at the foot of Mount Sinai, the children of Israel encamped for unknown periods at various places, the location of which is largely a matter of conjecture. In the second year of their wanderings they reached Kadesh-barnea, which

must have been close to the boundary of Palestine; for from there the twelve spies were dispatched who were to report upon the character of the land and upon the appearance and prowess of its inhabitants. The tale with which they returned so terrified the Israelites as to cause them to rebel against the guidance of the Lord. As a consequence they were condemned to many years of wandering in the desert. When a portion of the people attempted to force an entrance into the Promised Land, they suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of their enemies, and were obliged to bow to the Lord's decree. Turning away from the desired goal of their journey, they sadly entered upon the weary plodding of the following years. The Scriptures relate very little of their adventures during the remaining thirty-eight years; we know hardly more than the names of their chief camps, the location of which no research has ever been able exactly to determine. The book ends with the

story of the arrival of the Israelites and the happenings in the Plains of Moab. Interspersed between the various parts of the narrative we find additional legislation, most of the ordinances referring to the civil life of the people, together with some further instructions concerning the religious ceremonial. Our interest centers chiefly in the Messianic prophecy of Balaam and in the Messianic type of the brazen serpent, both of which are expressly referred to in the New Testament.

The Book of Numbers is usually divided into four parts, namely, that referring to the preparations for the removal from Mount Sinai, that relating the chief events during the journey from Sinai to the fields of Moab, that containing the prophecies of Balaam and his death, and that containing regulations governing the conquest and the division of Canaan.1)

1) Concordia Bible Class, Feb., 1919, 25-27; Fuerbringer, Einl. in das Alte Testament, 25.

The Census and Its Regulations. THE MUSTER OF THE PEOPLE. — V. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, while the people were still encamped below the mountain, in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, from the place above the mercy-seat, between the cherubs, where He had promised to reveal His glory and to communicate with Moses, Ex. 25, 22, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, v. 2. Take ye, Moses and his assistants, the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel after their families, the large divisions of the tribes known by the name of some prominent leader, Ex. 6, 14, by the house of their fathers, which was a subdivision of the former, with the number of their names, numbered and recorded individually, every male by their polls, for these only were entered into the lists, Ex. 30, 14; v. 3. from twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel. Thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies, muster them in such divisions, because they were to be organized as the armies of Jehovah, carry arms in waging war in His interest. V. 4. And with you, as assistants for this special purpose, there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers, holding at least this rank among the people. V. 5. And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: Of the tribe of Reuben: Elizur, the son of Shedur. V. 6. Of Simeon: Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai. V. 7. Of Judah: Nahshon, the son of Amminadab. V. 8. Of Issachar: Nethan

eel, the son of Zuar. V. 9. Of Zebulun: Eliab, the son of Helon. V. 10. Of the children of Joseph, who were divided into two sections, or tribes, the one division taking the place of the Levites, who were not numbered with the tribes: of Ephraim: Elishama, the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh: Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur. V. 11. Of Benjamin: Abidan, the son of Gideoni. V. 12. Of Dan: Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai.

V. 13.

Of Asher: Pagiel, the son of Ocran. V. 14. Of Gad: Eliasaph, the son of Deuel. V. 15. Of Naphtali: Ahira, the son of Enan. V. 16. These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel, for that division of the people known technically as "family" numbered at least a thousand households. V. 17. And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names, distinguished by being selected by the Lord Himself; v. 18. and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they, the people, declared their pedigrees, stated exactly from whom they were descended, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls. V. 19. As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai. V. 20. And the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to

war: v. 21. those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred. V. 22. Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war: v. 23. those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. V. 24. Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war: v. 25. those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty. V. 26. Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war: v. 27. those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. V. 28. Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war: v. 29. those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred. V. 30. Of the children of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war: v. 31. those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. V. 32. Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war: v. 33. those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred. V. 34. Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war: v. 35. those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred. V. 36. Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of

their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war: v. 37. those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred. V. 38. Of the children of Dan, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war: v. 39. those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred. V. 40. Of the children of Asher, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war: v. 41. those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred. V. 42. Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war: v. 43. those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred. V. 44. These are those that were numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men; each one was for the house of his fathers. V. 45. So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel: v. 46. even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty, or, in figures, 603,550, a number which tallies exactly with that given about nine months before, when the Sanctuary money was required, Ex. 38, 25. 26.

THE LEVITES SET ASIDE FOR GOD'S SERVICE. V. 47. But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them, they were not included in this census. V. 48. For the Lord had spoken unto Moses, saying, v. 49. Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, they were not to be mustered and organized for war, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel; v. 50. but thou shalt appoint the Levites over the Tabernacle of Testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it; they were to have all these things in their charge and be responsible for their safe-keeping; they shall bear the Tabernacle and all the vessels thereof, carry them from one encampment to the next; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the Taber