Read Numbers 1:1-4:20 at Bible Gateway.
num 1:1-4:20, paragraph divisions and chiastic structures 2012 may 26
num 1-2, warfare in the kingdom/messianic prophecy in the encampment 2011 mar 01
num 3-4, paradigm shift of tectonic proportions 2011 mar 02
the teaching tools of scripture
Torah portion bamidbar forms an interesting chiastic structure:
1a) Num 1:1-47 {s+px13} The number of the armies of Israel;
1b) Num 1:48-54 {p} The Levites not numbered as they have charge of the tabernacle;
1a) Num 1:48, YHVH had spoken to Moses;
1b) Num 1:49-50a, The tribe of Levi you shall not number/ appoint them over the tabernacle of the Testimony;
1c) Num 1:50b, The Levites shall camp around the tabernacle;
central axis) Num 1:51, “And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”
2c) Num 1:52-53a, Israel shall camp by their standards, but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony;
2b) Num 1:53b, The Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony;
2a) Num 1:54 {p} Israel did according to all that YHVH had commanded Moses.
1c) Num 2:1-16 {s+s} The east + south camps of Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Reuben, Simeon, Gad;
central axis) Num 2:17 {s} The tabernacle of meeting with the Levites in the middle;
2c) Num 2:18-31 {s+p} The west + north camps of Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, Dan, Asher, Naphtali;
2b) Num 2:32-3:13 {px4} The Levites not numbered/ charge of attending to the priesthood + tabernacle;
2a) Num 3:14-43 {s+s+p} The number of the Levites/ the number of the firstborn males.
Please note the Messianic significance of the central axis!
Now, notice right away that the end of the parashah is left hanging as a loose end, something which is very common in Torah:
Num 3:44-51 {p} The redemption money for the firstborn given to Aaron
Num 4:1-16 {p} The duty of Kohath + Eleazar the priest
Num 4:17-20 {p} That Kohath may live and not die
We have seen so many times that loose ends make matching pairs with elements beyond the borders of the torah portion we happen to be studying at the time. So I began looking beyond the borders of bamidbar, and this is the surprising discovery which was waiting for me:
THAT ISRAEL MAY LIVE AND NOT DIE
Lev 26:3-13 {p} Obedience and its consequences of blessing
Lev 26:14-26 {s} If you do not keep the LORD’s commandments, evil befalls you
Lev 26:27-46 {p} If you refuse to repent, exile from the land/ if you repent, the Lord will remember His covenant
VALUATION/ REDEMPTION OF PERSONS CONSECRATED TO THE LORD
Lev 27:1-8 {s} Valuation of persons consecrated to the Lord
Lev 27:9-34 {p} Valuation + redemption of animals + property consecrated to the Lord
(chiastic structure for bamidbar, above, goes here)
THE REDEMPTION MONEY FOR THE FIRSTBORN
Num 3:44-51 {p} The redemption money for the firstborn given to Aaron
THAT KOHATH MAY LIVE AND NOT DIE
Num 4:1-16 {p} The duty of Kohath + Eleazar the priest
Num 4:17-20 {p} That Kohath may live and not die
And now the mystery of the loose end of Lev 27 is solved. (The firstborn, are after all, persons consecrated to the Lord, as He continually tells Israel in every place they are mentioned.)
I do not know yet if bamidbar is the central axis of all of Torah, but the structure may continue on backwards and forwards.
Working on this all week put me in mind of something I began to see last week, in Leviticus. We have been redeemed by the precious blood of Messiah Yeshua, so our valuation is very high – our redemption price is priceless, beyond valuation. This week the structure drives home the point, that only those things consecrated to YHVH are redeemed, as the firstborn are. However, Messiah Yeshua shed His precious and priceless blood for the sins of the whole world, that whosoever will, may come and bow his knee at the foot of the cross, and be redeemed from sin, death, and all the power of the devil. Does this mean the whole world is consecrated to YHVH? Well, I certainly believe it is His goal and desire to woo and win every last one of us! ♥
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