March 7: Numbers 25:1 – Numbers 26:65

Baal Worship at Peor – Numbers 25

• While Israel is living in Shittim, some of the men begin having sexual relations with women from Moab. They take part in sacrifices to the Moabite gods, yoking themselves to Baal of Peor.
• God's anger is kindled and he instructs Moses to have the judges put to death (kill and impale) those under their authority who had joined in worshiping Baal.
• One of the people of Israel brings a Midianite woman to his family in the sight of Moses and all of the people. When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, sees this, he grabs a spear and goes after the man. He impales the man, also driving the spear into the woman's belly, and the plague on Israel stops. Even so, twenty-four thousand people have died.

The Zeal of Phinehas

• God tells Moses that Phinehas has turned back His wrath by being jealous with God's jealousy and that He gives him a covenant of peace for making atonement for Israel.
• The name of the slain man is Zimri (a Simeonite) and the slain woman Cozbi.
• God tells Moses to strike the Midianites down.

Census of the New Generation – Numbers 26

• After the plague, God tells Moses and Aaron to take another census of the people of Israel, men twenty years and older.
• The tribe of Reuben includes these clans: Hanochite, Palluite, Hezronite, and Carmite (43,730 men).
• The tribe of Simeon includes these clans: Jemuelite, Jaminite, Jakinite, Zoharite, and Shaulite (22,000 men),
• The tribe of Gad includes these clans: Zephonite, Haggite, Shunite, Oznite, Erite, Arodite, and Arelite (40,500 men).
• The tribe of Judah includes these clans: Shelanite, Perezite, Zerahite, Hezronite (Perezite subclan), and Hamulite (Perezite subclan) (76,500 men).
• The tribe of Issachar includes these clans: Tolaite, Puite, Jashubite, and Shimronite (64,300 men).
• The tribe of Zebulun includes these clans: Seredite, Elonite, and Jahleelite (60,500 men).
• The tribe of Manasseh includes these clans: Makirite clan, Gileadite, and Gileadite subclans Iezerite, Helekite, Asrielite, Shechemite, Shemidaite, and Hepherite (52,700 men).
• The tribe of Ephraim includes these clans: Shuthelahite, Bekerite, Tahanite, Eranite (Shuthelahite subclan) (32,500 men).
• The tribe of Benjamin includes these clans: Belaite, Ashbelite, ahiramite, Shuphamite, Huphamite, Ardite (Belaite subclan), and Naamite (Belaite subclan) (45,600 men).
• The tribe of Dan includes these clans: Shuhamite (64,400 men).
• The tribe of Asher includes these clans: Imnite, Ishvite, Beriite, Heberite (Beriite subclan), and Malkielite (Beriite subclan) (53,400 men).
• The tribe of Naphtali includes these clans: Jahzeelite, Gunite, Jerezite, and Shillemite (45,400 men).
• The total number of men ages twenty and older is 601,723. God tells Moses to divide the land among the tribes, giving the larger tribes more land than the smaller ones.
• The tribe of Levi includes these clans: Gershonite, Kohathite, and Merarite. The subclans include: Libnite, Hebronite, Mahlite, Mushite, and Korahite. The number of male Levites age one month and older is 23,000, but they are not included in the registration because they are not given land allotment. 
• None of these people counted were counted in the previous registration taken by Moses and Aaron since God had said that they would all die in the wilderness. The only ones who survived were Joshua and Caleb. 

March 6: Numbers 22:1 – Numbers 24:25

Balak Summons Balaam – Numbers 24

• Israel camps in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho.
• Balak, the king of Moab, sends messengers (elders from Moab and Midian) to Balaam, summoning him to come help drive away the people who have come out of Egypt. Balaam tells the messengers to stay for the night, and during the night, God appears to Balaam. He asks Balaam who the people with him are, and Balaam tells Him why the messengers are there. God tells him that he is not to go with Balak against Israel, because they are blessed. The next morning, Balaam sends word back to Balak that he refuses to go against the Hebrew people.
• Balak again sends messengers, this time princes, but Balaam still refuses the invitation to join forces (depite offers of money). During the night, God tells Balaam to return to Balak with the princes, but to do as He tells him to do.

Balaam's Donkey and the Angel 

• God's anger is kindled because Balak, though saying he will not fight, wants the money and honor that Balak offers. As Balaam is riding his donkey along with two of his servants, and angel of the Lord with a sword drawn appears to the donkey. The donkey goes into the field, and Balaam strikes her. The angel then appears to the donkey in a narrow path between the walls of two vineyards, and the donkey presses Balaam's foot against the wall. He strikes her again. The angel then appears to the donkey in a narrow place, and she lies down. Balaam strikes her a third time, and this time she asks him why he has struck her three times. He tells her because she has made a fool of him, and if he had a sword, he would kill her. She points out that he has ridden her all his life and questions if it is her habit to treat him that way. Balaam admits it is not.
• God opens Balaam's eyes, and he sees the angel and falls on his face before the Lord. God asks him why he has struck his donkey and points out that if she had not turned aside before him those three times, He would have killed Balaam and let the donkey live. Balaam admits his sin, and tells God he will turn back. God instructs him to go with the men, but to speak as He tells him to do.
• Balak comes out to meet Balaam at the city of Moab. Balaam tells him that God puts the words in his mouth for him to speak. They travel to Kiriath-huzuoth together.

Balaam's First Oracle – Numbers 23

• Balaam tells Balak to build for him seven altars and prepare seven bulls and seven rams. Balaam offers a bull and a ram on each altar, then tells Balak to stand beside his burnt offering, and he go and try to meet with the Lord.
• God meets Balaam, and tells him what to tell Balak. Balaam return to Balak and tells him he cannot curse Israel because God has blessed them. Balak points out that he has brought him here to curse his enemies, but Balaam has blessed them. Balaam responds that he must speak what the Lord puts in his mouth.

Balaam's Second Oracle

• Balak takes Balaam to another place where they can overlook Israel. There he builds seven more altars and offers a bull and ram on each altar. Again, Balaam goes off and meets the Lord, then returns to Balak and blesses Israel. Balak takes him to another place where he can overlook Israel, and there Balaam tells him to again build seven altars and sacrifice seven rams and oxen on them.

Balaam's Third Oracle – Numbers 24

• Balaam sees that it pleases the Lord to bless Israel, so he does not go to look for omens this time. He sets his face toward the wilderness and sees Israel camped tribe by tribe. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon him, and he again blesses Israel.
• Balak is angered and he tells Balaam to return to his own place, refusing to honor him. Balaam points out that he had already told Balak's messengers that he would not curse Israel even for all of Balak's gold and silver. He then tells Balak what Israel will do to Balak's people in the latter days.

Balaam's Final Oracle

• Balaam gives his final oracle, speaking of prophecies about Israel overtaking Edom, Amalek, and the Kenite (the rise of the Davidic dynasty). He then goes on his way, and Balak returns home.

March 5: Numbers 19:1 – Numbers 21:35

Laws for Purification – Numbers 19

• God tells Moses to have the people bring a red heifer (with no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed) and give it to Eleazar. He will take it outside the camp and sacrifice it, then sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. It should then be burned along with cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet yarn. The priest and anyone else involved will then bathe and wash their clothes. The ashes (of this sin offering) will then be used for cleansing unclean people.
• Instructions are given for uncleanness after touching a dead body, and for using ashes from the sin offering, water, and hyssop to cleanse unclean people and their belongings. Unclean people are to be cleansed on the third and seventh days, and then they will be clean. Those who do not cleanse themselves will be cut off from the people.

The Death of Miriam – Numbers 20

• In the first month, Miriam dies in Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and is buried there.

The Waters of Meribah

• The Hebrew people complain to Moses and Aaron because they have no water. Moses and Aaron fall on their faces before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and God tells Moses to assemble the people and tell the rock before them to yield water for the people and cattle.
• Moses does as instructed, but instead of speaking to the rock to bring water, he hits it with his staff (as he did in Exodus 17). For this disobedience, God tells Moses that he will not bring the people into the Promised Land.

Edom Refuses Passage

• Moses sends messengers to the king of Edom (the people descended from Esau), asking that he and the Hebrew people be allowed passage through the land. He assures the king that they will not go through fields or vineyards, and will not take water from any wells, only following the King's Highway.
• The king refuses them passage, and comes against them with a large army. Israel turns away.

The Death of Aaron

• The Hebrew people journey from Kadesh to Mount Hor. There God tells Moses to bring Aaron and his son Eleazar up onto Mount Hor and place Aaron's garments on Eleazar, because Aaron will die there. Moses does as instructed, and Aaron dies on the mountain top. Moses and Eleazar return to the people belong, and Israel weeps for thirty days.

Arad Destroyed – Numbers 21

• When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, hears that Israel is coming, he fights against them and takes some captive. Israel vows that if the Lord will give over the king and his people to their hand, they will destroy the cities (Deut. 20 states that Canaanite cities that resist Israel will be destroyed). The Lord gives over the Canaanites, and Israel destroys their cities.

The Bronze Serpent

• Israel sets out toward the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. The people complain about being in the wilderness with no food or water, and the Lord sends fiery serpents among the people. They bite the people, and many people die.
• The people go to Moses, repent for their sins, and ask Moses to pray to God to take away the serpents. Moses prays, and God tells him to take a serpent of bronze and place it on a pole, and that when whoever has been bitten sees it, he will live. Moses does as instructed.

The Song of the Well

• Israel journeys on. When they reach Beer, God tells Moses to gather people together at a well. The Hebrew people sing of the well, and then move on, ending up in the valley by the top of Pisgah, in the region of Moab.

King Sihon Defeated

• Israel sends messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, asking to pass through their land. Again they say they will stay only on the King's Highway, but Sihon refuses and gathers all his people against Israel. The Hebrew people defeat them and take possession of their land. The Hebrew ballad singers sing of their victory.

King Og Defeated

• Israel lives in the land of the Amorites, and Moses sends out spies to Jazer, and they capture the villages there. The Israelites then head up toward Bashan, and King Og comes against them. They defeat him and his people and take possession of their lands as well.

March 4: Numbers 16:1 – Numbers 18:32

Korah's Rebellion – Numbers 16

• Several men (Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On) gather together 250 chiefs of the congregation and come against Moses and Aaron, telling them that they have gone too far and asking what right they have to act like they are better than anyone else (since they all belong to God).
• Moses falls on his face before them, then tells them that tomorrow morning God will make it known who belongs to Him. He points out that they are already chosen by God since they are Levites, and would they now want to take the priesthood as well. He concludes that they are revolting against God, not him and Aaron. He summons Dathan and Abiram, but they refuse to come to him, claiming he has not fulfilled his word to take them into the Promised Land.
• Moses becomes angry and tells God not to accept their grain offerings. He then tells Korah and the others that they must come the next day and prepare incense burners.
• The next morning the men burn the incense and stand at the entrance to the tabernacle. They rile up the people against Moses, and God descends as a cloud and tells Moses and Aaron to move away because He's going to destroy all of them.
• Moses begs God to not be angry with all the people because of one man's sins, and God has Moses instruct the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Moses does this, and the people obey. The three men come to the doors of their tents with their families, and Moses announces that if the ground swallows up theses men, the people will know the men sinned against the Lord.
• The splits open, swallowing the men and their families, their belongings and tents, and anyone who stood with them. The earth closes up over them, and the people flee. Fire blazes forth from God and burns up the 250 men offering incense.
• God tells Moses to instruct Eleazar the priest to take the incense burners and hammer the metal into a thin sheet to overlay the altar. The bronze is hammered as instructed and placed on the altar to remind the people that no one who is not a Levite should enter the Lord's presence to burn incense.
• The next morning, the people begin grumbling about Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron go to the entrance of the tabernacle, and God tells them to get away from the people so he can instantly destroy them. Moses instructs Aaron to get an incense burner, light it, and carry it among the people to purify them, but the plague still kills 14,700 people. 

Aaron's Staff Buds – Numbers 17

• God tells Moses to get from the people twelve staffs, one from each tribe, and write the name of the tribe's chief on the staff. They are then to place the staffs in the tent of meeting before the testimony, and the staff of the man God chooses will sprout. The next morning, Aaron's staff has sprouted with blooms, buds, and almonds.
• Moses brings out the staffs and hands them to the men they belong to. God then tells Moses to put Aaron's staff back before the testimony as a sign for rebels. The people of Israel claim they are "undone" (ruined) and question if they will all die.

Duties of Priests and Levites – Numbers 18

• God tells Aaron that the Levites will be responsible for any offenses related to the sanctuary or the priesthood. He instructs Aaron to bring his relatives (the Levites) to the tent of meeting to assist them, but they must not go near the sacred items. Only the priests are to perform the sacred duties.
• God instructs that Aaron and his sons are in charge of the holy offerings (grain, sin, and guilt) and that they are to eat of them. Everything that Israel sets apart for the Lord will also belong to them, including the firstborns (which will be redeemed). They will receive no land, because God is their allotment, and the Levites will receive compensation for their service (they will received one-tenth from all people's donations).
• From that day on, no Israelites except for priests and Levites may approach the Tabernacle or they will die. The Levites can present their tenth as a sacred offering to the Lord, and it will be acceptable as their own offering. They are cautioned not to treat the holy gifts as common, or they will die.

March 3: Numbers 14:1 – Numbers 15:41

The People Rebel – Numbers 14

• The people raise a great cry and grumble against Moses and Aaron, asking why God has brought them out of Egypt and the wilderness to die at the hands of those who inhabit the Promised Land. They question whether it would be better to return to Egypt, and plot to choose a new leader.
• Moses and Aaron fall on their faces before the people. Joshua and Caleb tear their clothing and claim that the Promised Land is an exceedingly good land, and that if the Lord delights in His people, He will bring them into it. They claim that the land's inhabitants will have their protection removed from them, and that the Hebrew people shouldn't fear them because God will be with them. The Israelites want to stone them.
• God asks Moses how long the people will despise Him and not trust Him, then says He will strike them with a pestilence, disinherit them, and make of Moses a nation much more mighty than they are.

Moses Intercedes for the People

• Moses points out that if God wipes out the Hebrew people, their enemies will hear of it and claim that the people died because the Lord could not bring His people into the land He swore to them. Moses asks God to remember His claim that He is slow to anger. abounding in steadfast love, and forgiving of iniquity, and he begs God to pardon the people's iniquities.

God Promises Judgment

• God agrees to pardon the Israelite's behavior, but warns that none of the people who have seen His signs yet have put Him to the test will be able to enter the land God promised to their forefathers. God will bring Caleb into the land, and his descendants will possess it. He tells Moses that since the Amalekites and Canaanites dwell in the valleys, the Israelites are to set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.
• God tells Moses and Aaron to instruct the people that all of them who have grumbled against the Lord will not be permitted to enter the Promised Land. The only ones allowed to enter the land will be Joshua and Caleb and the Israelite children. The rest will die in the wilderness, and their children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years due to their parents' faithlessness.
• The ten spies who grumbled against the Lord die of a plague sent by God.

Israel Defeated in Battle

• The people mourn greatly. They get up early in the morning and go into the hill country, saying they will now go to the land the Lord promised them.
• Moses instructs them not to disobey the Lord (as God has said they will not enter the Promised Land) because if they do, God will allow them to be destroyed by their enemies. The people ignore Moses' words, and the Amalekites and Canaanites defeat them and pursue them to Hormah.

Laws about Sacrifices – Numbers 15

• God tells Moses to again tell the people about how they are to make their sacrifices when they come into the Promised Land. In addition to the various offerings (see Leviticus 1–7), these now must be accompanied by appropriate quantities of meal, oil, and wine. When they reach the land, they are also to bake a loaf of bread and present it to the Lord.

Laws about Unintentional Sins

• God tells Moses to again tell the people how they are to atone for sins done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation (see Leviticus 4).

A Sabbathbreaker Executed

• While in the wilderness, the Hebrew people find a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath. He is brought to Moses and Aaron, and God tells them that the man is to be put to death. He is stoned to death outside the camp.

Tassels on Garments

• God tells Moses to instruct the people to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. The tassel is to remind them of the commandments of the Lord.

March 2: Numbers 11:1 – Numbers 13:33

The People Complain – Numbers 11

• The Hebrew people complain, and God hears them. His anger is kindled, and the fire of the Lord burns among them and consumes some of the outlying parts of the camp. The people appeal to Moses, and he prays to God. The fires then die down.
• The people again complain, this time that they want meat, fruits, and vegetables to eat (instead of the manna they are always given).
• Moses hears the people weeping at the doors of their tents. The anger of the Lord blazes hotly, and Moses is displeased. He asks God why he has not found favor with Him and gives an account of everything he had done as instructed. Moses begs God for meat for the people, claiming he cannot bear the burden he has been given alone.

Elders Appointed to Aid Moses

• God tells Moses to gather for Him seventy of the elders of Israel and bring them to the tent of meeting, and He will come down and talk with them there. God tells Moses that He will take some of the Spirit placed on Moses and place it on the elders. Moses is then to tell the people to consecrate themselves, for tomorrow they will eat meat. They will have meat for a month, until they are tired of it, because they have rejected the Lord.
• Moses does as instructed. The Lord comes down in a cloud and rests upon the seventy elders, and they prophesy, but they do not continue doing it.
• The Spirit rests on Eldad and Medad, who are still in the camp. They prophesy in the camp, and a man comes to the tent of meeting to tell Moses. Joshua tells Moses to stop them, but Moses refuses, saying he wishes all the men would receive the Spirit of the Lord. Moses then returns to the camp.

Quail and a Plague

• A wind blows in, bringing quail  from the sea. The people gather the quail for a day and a half and spread it for themselves all around the camp. Because of their greed, God's anger is kindled, and He strikes the people with a plague. The people then journey on to Hazeroth.

Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses – Numbers 12

• Moses has married a Cushite woman, and Miriam and Aaron speak against him. The Lord hears their complaints, and calls Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to the tent of meeting. There, He comes down as a pillar of cloud, stands at the entrance, and calls Aaron and Miriam to Himself. He points out that He trusts Moses completely and questions why they weren't afraid to criticize Moses, then leaves.
• When the cloud removes from over the tent, Miriam is leprous. When Aaron sees this, he apologizes and begs Moses to ask God to heal her. Moses does so, but God tells him that she should be shamed for seven days. So she is put out of the camp for seven days, and the people don't march until she is brought back into the camp. They then set out for the wilderness of Paran.

Spies Sent into Canaan – Numbers 13

• God tells Moses to send spies into the land of Canaan—twelve men, one from each tribe. The spies are:
1. Shammua, from the tribe of Reuben
2. Shaphat, from the tribe of Simeon
3. Caleb, from the tribe of Judah
4. Igal, from the tribe of Issachar
5. Hoshea (Joshua), from the tribe of Ephraim
6. Palti from the tribe of Benjamin
7. Gaddiel, from the tribe of Zebulun
8. Gaddi, from the tribe of Mannaseh
9. Ammiel, from the tribe of Dan
10. Sethur, from the tribe of Asher
11. Nahbi, from the tribe of Naphtali
12. Geuel, from the tribe of Gad
• Moses sends the men into the Negeb to get an overview of the land and its people and fruits. The men spy the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, then into the Negeb. In the Valley of Eschol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes and carry it on a pole. They also gather figs and pomegranates. 

Report of the Spies

• After forty days, the spies returned to Moses in the wilderness of Paran. They bring word to the Hebrew people that the land "flows with milk and honey, and with this fruit," but that the people who dwell there (the Nephilim, Hittites, Jebusites, Amalekites, Amorites, and Canaanites) are strong and the cities are large and fortified.
• Caleb quiets the people and insists that they should go and occupy the land, because they are well able to overcome it. The other spies (aside from Joshua) insist that they would not be able to overcome the inhabitants there.

March 1: Numbers 6:1–27; Numbers 10:1–36

The Nazirite Vow – Numbers 6

• God tells Moses to instruct the Hebrew people what they must do if they decide to become a Nazirite (a dedicated layperson who takes a vow to be separated to the Lord—most people did this for only a short time, but some chose to live this way at all times, such as Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist).
• Nazirites must not drink wine or eat anything produced by the grapevine, are not to shave any part of their body at any time during their vow, and must not go near a dead body (even if the dead person is a close relative). Instructions are given for the process to be followed if a person dies next to a Nazirite, including shaving of the head and bringing sin offering and burnt offering on the seventh day; the person may then separate themselves again.
• Instructions are given for the process to be followed after the vow is completed. He or she is brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting. The person is to bring along: a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, a one-year-old ewe lamb for a sin offering, and a one-year-old ram for a peace offering, a basket of unleavened bread and unleavened wafers smeared with oil for a grain offering and drink offering. The priest will then make the offerings. The person's head is to be shaved and the hair put on the fire as a peace offering. The boiled shoulder of the ram and one of the loaves of unleavened bread will be put in the hands of the Nazirite, and the priest will offer them as a wave offering.

Aaron's Blessing

• God tells Moses to instruct Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with the following words: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."

The Silver Trumpets – Numbers 10

• God tells Moses to make two silver trumpets to use for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp. When both trumpets are blown (by the sons of Aaron), all the people will gather at the entrance of the tent of meeting. When only one trumpet is blown, the heads of the tribes will gather at the entrance of the tent of meeting. An alarm is to be blown to start the camp setting out on a journey and when going to war against enemies. The trumpets are also to be blown over burnt offerings and peace offerings.

Israel Leaves Sinai 

• On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifts from over the tabernacle of the testimony. The people set out in stages (described earlier), leaving the wilderness of Sinai for the wilderness of Paran. 
• Moses asks Hobab, the son of Reuel (Moses' father-in-law) to come with them. Hobab initially replies that he will return to his own land, but at Moses' prodding, he agrees to go with them.
• After three days' journey, Israel reaches their destination. Whenever the ark sets out, Moses says, "Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you." Whenever it rests, he says, "Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel."