1. Mattot Numbers 30:2 thru 32:42 Mattot = Tribes The 42 nd Portion Readings

2. Vows Numbers 30 Almost everyone has made a vow to their god Wedding vows, promises made to one another in God’s name

3. Vows Numbers 30 Vowing to tell the truth in a court of law Biblical vows were valid and not superstition Biblical Law established concerning making vows

4. Making Rash Vows In moments of crises we sometimes make promises to God Vs. 3 Males making vows The Lord says EVERYTHING that comes out of a Man’s mouth as a vow is to be done! Vs. 4 If a WOMAN makes a vow Yehoveh looks upon MEN’s vows differently than upon women’s vows

5. Vows PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE LAWS OF VOWS ALREADY ESTABLISHED Child is to submit to parent Wife to submit to husband Husband to submit to God Neither child NOR wife may substitute self-imposed obligations to God in place of the standard God-ordained duties in Torah The NATURE of the vow is not the issue Vows of a wife or child come FIRST under the husband/father, before considered valid under the Lord

6. Vows in N.T. Era Continued Gospels and Epistles include validation of vows Yeshua warned against the DOWNSIDE of making vows He said that a vow could not allow a person to evade a lawful expectation Matt.15:3 An example of wrong-minded vow making Tradition = doctrine Tradition/doctrine is NOT Scripture

7. Story of Jephthah Story of a man making a rash vow Jephthah from the tribe of Gad Gilead = Gad Gilead needed Jephthah to help fight Ammon Jephthah makes a vow to God in exchange for the Lord favoring him in battle Judges 11

8. An Unexpected Consequence Jepthah’s only daughter becomes the payment of the vow Jephthah had vowed to sacrifice whatever came out of his tent; it turned out to be his daughter Jephthah followed through and killed her Did it from a perverted piousness He could have broken his vow and accepted his sin

9. Case # 1 Unmarried Hebrew Girl Still living at home Under authority of her father If girl makes a vow, and father does not respond, she is obligated to fulfill her vow If her father disapproves of her vow, he can annul it The Lord will NOT count her vow being annulled as a sin against the girl for not fulfilling it God-Principle: obedience to her father more important than fulfilling a vow to God

10. Case #2: Girl Gets Married Still living at home, girl makes vow, but father doesn’t stop her therefore vow is to be fulfilled She gets married, husband learns of vow Husband has the right to annul that vow Authority over the girl was transferred from her father to her husband upon marriage

11. Case #3: Widow or Divorcee A widow or divorced woman can make a vow and NO one has authority to annul it She is fully responsible to fulfill it

12. Case #4: Wife Makes A Vow Married woman makes vow, husband remains silent, so vow is valid Husband bears some responsibility for outcome

13. Two Kinds of Vows Neder = vow A positive act involving a sacrifice Issar = pledge Involves abstinence from something (like a Nazarite vow) All vows and pledges require taking an oath Oath involves invoking the name of God Two types of Oaths: 1) Assertion 2) Promise A covenant is a promissory oath

14. War With Midian God ordered war with Midian due to their alliance with Moab Balak and Balaam Israel remained in area after Balaam incident Balaam convinced King Balak to get their women to use sex to entice Hebrew men Hebrews worshipped Chemosh Various Midianite clans located east of Jordan River Moses’ army ONLY killed Midianites up in the Moab area

15. The Extermination of Midian Many Christians have trouble with the killing and blood of the Old Testament The problem some say is : O.T. A God that slays and conquers nations N.T. A God that sacrifices Himself FOR the nations

16. Armageddon What is different between the slaughter of Midian and the slaughter of nations at Armageddon? Whether Torah or the Gospels it is the SAME God! The Lord has chosen throughout history times when he will slay people who are NOT His The WORST divinely led slaughter in history is yet to come! Our Lord was meek for a purpose, and He will be a warrior for a purpose

17. Lord Deals First With His People AFTER dealing with His own, He punishes the outsiders Principle: ALL who sin shall perish EXCEPT those who accept His grace to escape…..Jew or gentile! This principle was NOT abandoned with the advent Of Christ Romans 2 explains how the Lord will treat Jew and gentile concerning BOTH grace AND destruction

18. The Penalty for Adultery is Death Yehoveh is Israel’s husband Israel had committed adultery by worshipping Chemosh 24,000 Hebrews died BEFORE the Lord starts to deal with Midian Israel is to prosecute the war precisely as the Lord says

19. Phinehas Was A Priest Every culture brought the priests of their gods to the battles Phinehas did NOT lead the battle, he only performed priestly service (like blowing the Shofar) No detailed account of the battle Israel annihilated Midian, and there were no Midianite men left Principle: When the Lord’s army goes into battle, there is ONLY one possible outcome: victory The only purpose for the battle is to display the Glory of God, not to see who might win

20. The Extermination of Midian Only the Midianites of the northern Trans-Jordan were attacked The Midianites consisted of tribes settled from the north down to the southwestern Arabian Peninsula

21. The Extermination of Midian Balaam was also killed Midianite women and children and their livestock were confiscated Midianite cities burned Taking defeated people grew your own tribe or nation Genealogical purity within Israel became impossible due to these customs

22. The Spoils of War Spoils of Midianite War brought back to Moses Moses became irate when he saw the women Sexually inexperienced woman to be kept as slaves All other women to be executed All male Midianite children to be executed In that era, a male child had the duty of avenging his father’s death Moses wanted no Midianite males to own property or have Hebrew wives

23. Israel’s Army had to be Purified Neither the soldiers nor the spoils could enter the camp until purified Soldiers unclean due to contact with death Spoils unclean because used for pagan purposes Soldiers had to be sprinkled with ashes of Red Heifer twice Metal objects had to pass through fire All other spoils had to be washed in water

24. Dividing the Spoils 12,000 soldiers kept ½ of all the booty The other ½ went to the remaining Israelites Soldiers had to “tithe” 1/500th of their portion All others had to “tithe” 1/50th of their portion Soldier’s tithe portion went to priests Other tithe portion went to the Levites 10 Levites for every 1 Priest In the end, every Priest and Levite received exactly the same amount!

25. Commanders Show Gratitude to God An enormous amount of livestock was seized All the commanders gave their spoils to the Lord as thanks for not losing a single Israelite soldier! The regular foot soldier kept all of his portion Beautiful picture of Godly leadership The Lord expects the greatest sacrifice from His leaders

26. The Conquest Begins Israel is still east of the Jordan River Tribes of Reuben and Gad decided NOT to settle in the Promised Land Mikneh = livestock (not cattle) Reuben and Gad come to the leadership council for permission Moses is angry AND frightened, because he fears a similar punishment as when the leaders refused to go forward 40 years earlier Va-yiggeshu = to beseech in a soft manner Nechalats = hand picked troops; the best Reuben’s and Gad’s best troops would stay with the rest of Israel and help conquer Canaan

27. Reuben and Gad Want Moab Leadership council agrees to request Land is on east side of the Jordan War with Midian was NOT about gaining territory Israel should have defeated Moab and then moved on Moses wanted ALL the tribes to live within the Promised Land

28. Jacob’s Blessings Reuben and Gad wanted the territory for pasture Reuben was “unstable as water”, lacked moral strength Gad’s prophetic blessing was as a military force Rueben and Gad were part of the same division of Israel (camped on the south side of the Tabernacle) In God’s providence Gad and Reuben provided a buffer between Israel and it’s enemies from the east Chose to stay out of Promised Land

29. The 2 ½ Tribes About ½ of the tribe of Manasseh also decide to stay out of the Promised Land This split undoubtedly was to allow for a peaceful resolution to a serious disagreement The other ½ of the tribe of Manasseh moved into Canaan It took many years before the exact boundaries became settled

30. 2 ½ Tribes Rebuilt Moabite Cities City names were changed from Moabite names to Hebrew names Cities usually rebuilt rather new ones built elsewhere Building material was mostly the stones from the previous city Tell = a mound that consists of layers of civilizations

31. Reuben and Gad Want Moab End of Mattot Study