CONTEXT
PART
2: To Canaan
The
second part covers the travel from Sinai to Kadesh and the
events along the way.
Ch.10:
[Action]
Leaving
Sinai
-
Breaking camp
C
h.
11:
[Action]
Complaints, Fire, Quail, Plague
-
First grumblings, discipline, meat provided and plague
follows
C
h.
12:
[Action]
Internal Opposition
-
Aaron & Miriam complain & are disciplined
|
FRAMEWORKS:
Numbers 10: Leaving Sinai
v.1-10
The Silver Trumpets
v.11-36
The Israelites Leave Sinai
v.1-10
The Silver Trumpets
v.1
The
Lord said to Moses:
v.2
Twofold Use of the Trumpets
v.2
“Make
two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling
the community together and for having
the camps set out .
v.3,4
For Assembly
v.3
When
both are sounded , the whole community is to assemble before
you at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
v.4
If
only one is sounded , the leaders—the heads of the clans
of Israel—are to assemble before you.
v.5,6
For setting out
v.5
When
a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the east are
to set out.
v.6
At
the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south are to
set out. The blast will be the signal for setting out.
v.7
Different sounds for different uses
v.7
To
gather the assembly, blow the trumpets, but not with the signal
for setting out.
v.8
Trumpets only blown by the Priests
v.8
“The
sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is
to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come.
v.9
Trumpet for going into battle
v.9
When
you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing
you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered
by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies.
v.10
Trumpets celebrating festivals
v.10
Also
at your times of rejoicing—your appointed festivals and New Moon
feasts—you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings
and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you
before your God. I am the Lord your God.”
[Notes:
As is clearly seen from the above, the use of two trumpets
was to be the signalling for the whole camp.]
v.11-36
The Israelites Leave Sinai
v.11-13
They start off from Sinai, their first move
v.11
On
the twentieth day of the second month of the second year,
the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the covenant law.
v.12
Then
the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and travelled
from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert
of Paran.
v.13
They
set out, this first time,
at the Lord 's command through Moses.
v.14-16
The first three tribes set off
14 The
divisions of the camp of Judah [1]
went first, under their standard.
Nahshon son of Amminadab was in command.
15 Nethanel
son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar,
[2]
16 and
Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun.
[3]
v.17
The Tabernacle structure taken down and sets off
v.17
Then
the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and Merarites,
who carried it, set out.
v.18-20
The second group of three tribes set off
18 The
divisions of the camp of Reuben [4]
went next, under their standard.
Elizur son of Shedeur was in command.
19 Shelumiel
son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon,
[5]
20 and
Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad.
[6]
v.21
The Tabernacle Furniture & Utensils are taken
v.21
Then
the Kohathites set out, carrying the
holy things. The tabernacle was to be set up before they
arrived.
v.22-28
The Remaining Six Tribes set off
22 The
divisions of the camp of Ephraim [7]
went next, under their standard.
Elishama son of Ammihud was in command.
23 Gamaliel
son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh,
[8]
24 and
Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin.
[9]
25 Finally,
as the rear guard for all the units, the divisions of the camp
of Dan [10] set
out under their standard. Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was in command.
26 Pagiel
son of Okran was over the division of the tribe of Asher
, [11]
27 and
Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali.
[12]
28 This
was the order of march for the Israelite divisions as they set
out.
v.29-32
Moses persuades Hobab to act as Guide
v.29
Now
Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses'
father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place about
which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.' Come with us and
we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things
to Israel.”
v.30
He
answered, “No, I will not go; I am going back to my own land and
my own people.”
v.31
But
Moses said, “Please do not leave us. You know where we should
camp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes.
v.32
If
you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things
the Lord gives us.”
v.33-36
The First Three-day Leg of the Journey
v.33
So
they set out from the mountain of the Lord and travelled for three
days. The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them during
those three days to find them a place to rest.
v.34
The
cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from
the camp.
v.35
Whenever
the ark set out, Moses said, “Rise up, Lord ! May your enemies
be scattered; may your foes flee before you.”
v.36
Whenever
it came to rest, he said, “Return, Lord , to the countless thousands
of Israel.”
[Notes:
As can be clearly seen from the breakdown above, the
breaking of camp is carried out in stages on this their first
move from Sinai on the journey to the Promised Land. Three tribes
get under way [v.14-16], then the Tabernacle structure [v.17],
then the second set of three tribes [v.18-20], then the Tabernacle
Utensils & Furniture [v.21], and then the final six tribes
[v.22-28]. No doubt somewhere in all this movement, Moses talks
to his brother-in-law and persuades him to come with them as a
guide because he would have known this area even better than Moses
himself. The first leg of their travel lasts three days before
the following events appear to occur.]