Commentaries on the Pentateuch: Numbers
Overview
The Lord desires a people who will embrace their responsibilities. The history of Israel in the wilderness is a sad narrative of people with hearts hardened by complaint and rebellion to God's ordained authorities. They were slaves, not an army. They would recognize the tyranny of Pharaoh but disregard the servant-leadership of Moses. God would judge the generation he led out of captivity, while training a new generation to conquer Canaan.
The book of Numbers reveals God's dealings with both generations. The rebellious in Israel are judged incessantly while a census is taken to number the armies according to their tribes. This was an assessment of strength and a means to encourage the younger generation to view themselves as God's army and not Pharaoh's slaves.
Top Highlights
“A basic aspect of the benediction was and is the ascription of absolute sovereignty and Kingship to God. This is the necessary prerequisite to being blessed. We receive from God when we give Him all the glory, confessing His absolute sovereignty and His unfailing righteousness or justice as well as His grace and mercy.” (Pages 51–52)
“Men tend to believe that the routines of life take priority over other things. These requirements make it clear that a man’s dedication to God’s work takes priority, and any interference with that exacts a price.” (Page 48)
“Benedictions are pronounced by persons in authority, in terms of God’s word, and under His authority” (Page 51)
“God takes very seriously His requirement that we reject the normality of sin and evil” (Page 218)
“The Nazarite’s separation meant a total giving of himself to life” (Page 47)
- Title: Commentaries on the Pentateuch: Numbers
- Author: Rousas John Rushdoony
- Publisher: Ross House Books
- Publication Date: 2006
- Pages: 428
Rousas John Rushdoony (1916–2001) was was a well-known American scholar, writer, and author of over thirty books. He earned degrees from the University of California, received theological training at the Pacific School of Religion, and received an honorary Doctorate from Valley Christian University for his book The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum.
Rushdoony was an ordained minister and served as pastor at two California churches. He served for almost nine years as a missionary to the Shoshone and Paiute Indians in a remote area of Nevada. It was during this time as a missionary that Rushdoony began writing. The Institutes of Biblical Law and Commentary on the Pentateuch are just a few of the titles that Rushdoony has penned.
The Chalcedon Foundation, an educational organization devoted to research, publishing, and cogent communication of a distinctively Christian scholarship to the world at large, was founded by Rushdoony in 1965. He served as the editor of The Chalcedon Report, the monthly magazine of the Chalcedon Foundation.
Rushdoony also published the Journal of Christian Reconstruction and was an early board member of the Rutherford Institute which was founded by John W. Whitehead.