Numbers B'ha-alot'cha

B’ha-alot’cha
Numbers 8:1 – 12:16

I. Summary

A. B’haalot’cha – [When you (Aaron)] “mount/kindle” [the lamps] ….

B. God tells Moses to tell Aaron to light the golden lampstand in the Tabernacle. The menorah is described. God describes how Levites are to be purified and anointed by Aaron as assistants under Aaron and his sons (“an elevation offering”) for service in Tabernacle. God takes Levites into God’s service in lieu of all Israelite firstborns. God says Levites are to perform labor only between ages of twenty-five and fifty. Those Israelites who are impure (“by reason of a corpse”) or on a long journey during Nissan and therefore unable to then celebrate Passover (offering Passover sacrifice) are given a time in the month of Sivan to observe a "second Passover." (Num 9:1-14)

C. A cloud by day and fire by night show God's Presence over the Tabernacle. “At a command of God”, Israelites make camp. When the cloud lifts from the Tabernacle, Israelites break camp. (Num 9:15 – 23)

D. God instructs Moses on making and use of two silver trumpets … military purposes, priestly purposes (by Aaron’s sons, i.e. priestly ritual becoming “an institution for all time”) and on joyous occasions (“fixed festivals and new moon days”).(Num 10:1-10)

E. The cloud lifts and Israelite leave camp “troop by troop” heading into wilderness of Paran (on way to Promised Land). Moses asks his Midianite father-in-law (Hobab = Jethro) to come with them but Hobab refuses to go. Israelites march for three days. (Num 10:11-36)

F. The Israelites complained bitterly. God becomes incensed at their complaining and broke out fires against them. The Israelite complain about the lack of meat. God gets very angry and Moses becomes frustrated (questioning God why God is lashing out at him since he (Moses) can’t “carry all this people by myself”). (Num 11:1-15)

G. God tells Moses to appoint a council of elders. God provides Israelites with meat (“swept quail from the sea”). Israelites greedily gather up food (“meat between their teeth, not yet chewed”). God punishes their greed by striking them with a severe plague. (Num 11:16-34)

H. Miriam and Aaron complain (to whom?) about 1) Moses having married the "Cushite woman" (a Sudanese wife Moses took in addition to Midianite Zipporah) and 2) not being recognized as carrier of God’s words as Moses is. Miriam is struck with leprosy (t’zaria), and Moses begs God to heal her. After her recovery, the people resume their journey. (Num 12:1-16)

II. Commentary (Plaut, various websites, Jewish Study Bible, Hevreh discussions)

A. Disconcerting interplay – Militaristic preparation for campaign to conquer Promised Land (1. making/breaking camp, 2. departure troop by troop and 3. silver trumpets) and negative emotional responses (1. frustration of Moses, 2. dissatisfaction, whining and greed of Israelites and 3. anger and punishment of/by God) v. spiritual (menorah, anointment of Levites and second Passover).

B. Complaining – The people took to complaining bitterly …” (Num 11:1) and "If only we had meat to eat!" (Num. 11:4).

1. What were they complaining about? The people were not really grumbling against their diet but about the authority of God, casting doubts on God's power and omnipotence and their newfound freedom and all the responsibilities that go with it.

2. Who was complaining? “Riffraff” in Num 11:4 identified by later generations in order to free majority of people from blame?

3. How were they complaining? The Hebrew text does not say that "the people complained," but that "the people were like complainers" (compare Plaut’s “took to complaining”). The people were not actually complaining out loud: They were just murmuring under their breath. That is why God became angry. All the people were grumbling but they never bothered to tell anyone what the problem was.

C. Punishing Miriam and Aaron - "Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married." (Numbers 12:1) Miriam and Aaron challenge the morality of Moses' marriage and suggest that he has become arrogant and lustful. Miriam's punishment of leprosy was "the Providential punishment for Miriam slandering Moses”. While Miriam was punished corporally, Aaron was punished mentally (suffering 1) guilt when he sees Miriam, his sister, disfigured and 2) the humiliation of having to humble himself to Moses, his younger brother, after Aaron pretended to be the equal of Moses).

D. When God punishes – "Adonai heard and was incensed: a fire of Adonai broke out against them, ravaging the outskirts of the camp." (Num 11:1) v. Ex 16:3 when God responds to Israelite complaints by providing manna (plus other instances where God responds favorably to Israelites’ complaints). Difference is that in Num 11:1 Israelites were not complaining about specific problems that had potentially specific remedies (e.g. food in Ex 16:13) but were merely murmuring "like complainers" and fomenting rebellion.

E. Moses unique among prophets – Moses 1) hears God directly v. other prophets hear God through dreams and visions, 2) fully conscious when hearing God v. other prophets in a trance, 3) speaks to God at will v. other prophets wait to be visited by God and 4) kept himself apart in dwelling and by sexual abstinence after contact with/from God v. other prophets returned to their normal existence. Uniqueness reinforced by Deut 34:10 … “Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses”. Why is Moses not a patriarch?

F. Example of “no before or after” in Torah – (The cloud lifted) “in the second year on the twentieth day of the second month” (Num 10:11) = twenty days earlier than when Numbers began … “on the first day of the second month in the second year” (Num 1:1). Suggests that there is no chronological order in Torah (which is of divine origin so could not be approached like creations of human hands).

G. Moses’ appointment of 70 person council of elders – God draws upon spirit of Moses “and put it on them” (Num 11:17) suggests elders share spirit with Moses rather than God giving them spirit independent of Moses. Also distinguish them from Moses’ prior delegation of responsibilities to judges at Ex 18:21 (earlier judges suggested by Jethro have no prophesying power v. latter elders suggested by God and have prophesying power).

III. Lessons for today

A. Recognize and be guided by God’s continuous presence - Israelites knew when to make and break camp by when cloud (God’s presence) settled and lifted.

B. Need to balance practical with spiritual – God’s directions re: conquering Canaan v. God’s description of menorah, anointment of Levites and second Passover reinforces need for both aspects.

C. Acknowledge good and bad (easy and tough) aspects of experience – Israelites blocked bad memories but retained good memories from slavery experience v. Israelites didn’t want to accept the burdens attending freedom and independent thought.

(Revised 6/13/09)