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The Beauty of Numbers – 6

Mike Bull — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 11:07:28 +0000

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

We have reached the sixth cycle of Numbers, which seems to include chapters 30-34. Seeing as it has been a while since we looked at Numbers, here’s the overview again, with this next cycle in red.

Overview of Numbers

Genesis/Transcendence – Creation:
1 – Israel called and arranged as a New Creation

Exodus/Hierarchy – Division/Delegation/Passover:
2 – Leadership disputes, failures and judgments

Leviticus/Ethics Given – Ascension/Firstfruits/Altar:
3 – Levitical offerings and “firstfruits” victories

Numbers/Ethics Opened – Testing/Pentecost:
4 – Israel fails the jealous inspection

Deuteronomy/Ethics Received – Maturity/Trumpets:
5 – Israel’s national festal offerings

Joshua/Sanctions – Atonement/Vindication:
6 – Vengeance upon Midian, Dividing the Land

Judges/Succession – Booths/Glory
7 – Yet to see

The first step towards identifying what this cycle consists of is its “liturgical” significance in the book. We should be looking for Atonement motifs, purging of sin and a claiming of the promised inheritance. We might also find “Covenant vows” as Conquest in the Bible Matrix corresponds to Sanctions in the Covenant pattern.

Numbers 30: Genesis/Transcendence – Creation/Sabbath/Covenant Vows:
This cycle is the “Day 6″ of the Book of Numbers. As such, we find it begins with an Adam and an Eve. This is reflected in the two approaches of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement (the sixth feast). He makes a covering for the head (the blood of a bull) and then a covering for the body (the blood of the first goat). So, that is one “coordinate” here, but it is also the first step in this cycle, and, interestingly, it concerns Covenant vows. This ties it to the first section of the Ten Words. Adam: Word from God; Eve: Word to God. [1] Notice that the “male” vows are relatively simple, covered in only two verses. As usual, the female section is a multiplication of the male. The man stands alone before God (as Covenant Head) but a woman makes a vow as a wife or a daughter.

Numbers 31:1-11: Exodus/Hierarchy – Division/Passover/Delegation: Now, this is REALLY INTERESTING. At the centre of the pattern in Genesis concerning the qualification of Adam is his Testing by the serpent. At Conquest, Adam was to crush that serpent. At Testing in the Book of Numbers (cycle 4), Israel committed adultery and idolatry with Midianite women. Here, at Conquest, the Lord calls for vengeance upon Midian. However, the Covenant Sanctions are a two-edged sword, which brings both redemption and vengeance, the two “bridal” goats of Atonement.
As in Eden, two old foes clash once again. The hero-priest, Phinehas (as Adam) is sent by God into battle with the holy vessels (Ark – Head, Lampstand & Table – Arms, and signal Trumpets – Body). This is holy war. Mount Sinai itself, incarnate in Israel, has come to Midian. Balaam, the serpentine prophet, is slain in the battle. His crimes against Israel are atoned for. The lying sword of his mouth finally met its match in a New Israel.
Read verses 1-11 and see how they follow the matrix pattern.

Numbers 31:12-54 Leviticus/Ethics Given – Ascension/Firstfruits/Altar & Table:
Just as the first step concerned vows for Adam and vows for Eve, this battle has two parts. Delegation was about going out to war. This second part is about the return. Verses 1-11 were very “male.” Israel killed all the males, including Balaam and the five kings of Midian. But this second part concerns the females, and again, females complicate things wonderfully. Moses’ commands seem brutal but they are intended to “cut off” the Midianite culture entirely. Only the virgins who could be married into Israel were to be spared. His commands to Israel concerning the purification of all those who have shed Midianite blood make perfect sense when we understand this step as the “Altar” of this Atonement process. “You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.”

However, there is a second part to this step, and it presents the sacrifice on the Altar. It is the “Table” of this cycle. Eleazar the priest and the fathers divide the spoil, with a part taken for the Levites who keep the Tabernacle. This ties it perfectly to Firstfruits.

Now read the whole chapter and see how both parts follow the matrix, but combined as head-and-body they also follow it.

Numbers 32: Numbers/Ethics Opened – Testing/Pentecost/Flaming Sword:
Reuben and Gad propose that they settle on the wilderness side of the Jordan. Moses brings to mind the fact that their failure to “go up” and inherit by faith is like that of their fathers. “And behold, you have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel! For if you iturn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.” But Reuben and Gad pass the test in this case, as they vow to take up arms against any who would attack the other tribes until they have settled. This chapter follows the Covenant pattern beautifully, so perhaps the significance of these two tribes remaining behind is to stand as two witnesses, two trees, two pillars, two angels at the gate of God.

Numbers 33:1-49: Deuteronomy/Ethics Received – Maturity/Trumpets/Witness: When I tell people that following the Bible Matrix in the text is very often “ticking the boxes” they don’t believe me. Well, we are up to the Deuteronomy step, and guess what? Moses recounts Israel’s journey. This section prefigures the next book in the Bible.

Numbers 33:50-56: Joshua/Sanctions – Conquest/Atonement/Vindication: The Lord gives Moses instructions for the conquest of Canaan. He finishes with a Covenant curse, a sanction: “…if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”

Numbers 34: Judges/Succession – Booths/Glory: The final step concerns Succession, inheritance. Here, the Lord appoints the boundaries of Canaan: Edom, the Great Sea, Mount Hor and the Jordan. If we step out “fractally,” this is the beginning of Israel’s Land as a giant four-horned altar (this is where the stupid “flat earth” criticism originates from). Eleazar and Joshua were to divide the Land. Eleazar was the “priestly” ruler (Ascension of the Head – Garden) and Joshua the Kingly one (Conquest of the Body – Land). What was bound in heaven by the High Priest would be bound on earth by the faithful conqueror.

Finally, a list of tribal chiefs is given who would serve these two leaders, so the “Head/Body” pattern in Eleazar and Joshua is replicated fractally in Priest/King and Prophetic People. This not only carries the Head-Body Covenant theme throughout this cycle, it mirrors chiastically the vows in step one of this cycle. That is, if we have eyes to see.

Two observations to close:

The first concerns the process of maturity inherent in the Covenant process. At Passover, and in the wilderness, Israel was under the angelic sword. Angels were “tutors” until Israel was qualified to bear the sword as worthy representatives of their God. At Atonement, the veil is opened and it is the “firstborn,” the Man who bears the sword. But he is all grown up now. Angels slew the unfaithful in Egypt, but it was Israelite soldiers who would slay the unfaithful in Jericho. This originated in Eden, where Adam was “cut” by an angelic hand (graven?) for the purpose of building Eve, but Adam was expected to bear the sword-word of the Covenant against the serpent. That is the background, and here is the observation (finally). It was an angelic sword that “passed over” Balaam, but it was an Israelite sword that passed through him. [2] After the sin with the Midianites, God instructed the Israelites to wear robes with “wings.” Israel was now the fiery Spirit-messenger of God. Of course, all this prefigures the New Covenant, and explains the references to Balaam and the false prophet in the Revelation.

The second is from James Jordan’s “Sand Trek” lectures on Numbers. Balaam is frustrated three times by the angel and the donkey, until finally the donkey speaks for God. Balaam is behaving just like his boss, Balak, who is forcing Balaam, as his faithful donkey, to disobey the Lord. Balaam attempts to curse Israel three times, and finally prophesies concerning all Israel’s future. You can purchase these lectures in the complete set in the column at right (scroll down if necessary).

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[1] See Bible Matrix II: The Covenant Key, for the way in which the Ten Commandments follow the Covenant Matrix in two columns, one for Adam (odd numbers) and one for Eve (even (!) numbers).
[2] See Pass-over and Pass-through and The Angels of Death Are We. As you will see, this has great import for the change from circumcision (under the sword) to credobaptism (bearing the sword as a mature, qualified vow-keeper).

The Beauty of Numbers – 4

Mike Bull — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:50:40 +0000

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Strange Fire

We’ve reach the central “cycle” of the book of Numbers, the attempt by Balak to destroy Israel. To the unbeliever, it is a story about a talking donkey. For believers, it is a story about a wicked prophet and a carnal people. For those with a wide angle “Bible Matrix” lens, the entire landscape suddenly comes into focus as something familiar and terrifying.

Firstly, we should get our bearings. Based on what we’ve seen so far, it seems we have seven major cycles in the book of Numbers. The first cycle laid out the basic structure of the rest of the book. What was at the centre—Testing—of cycle one? Numbers 5, the strange chapter where a woman suspected of adultery was to be subjected to the “inspection of jealousy.”

Basically, the woman would drink the Covenant, and God would become an internal witness, seeing her from the inside out. Whatever was behind her legal witness, the truth or the lie, would be reflected in her own flesh and in her offspring. In Numbers 5, the priest recites the process aloud (external law) and then carries it out (internal inspection). Like some kind of liturgical X-ray, this process would take what went on behind closed doors (whether good or evil) and expose it, shout it from the rooftops. [1]

That “personal” inspection is what all Israel will now pass through. All the events so far in Numbers have been leading up to this “liturgically.” Testing in the Garden of Eden involved a false king (the serpent), a false prophet (Adam, who failed to speak the Word) and the Woman. The scene is set for a stadium-sized reenactment of the events of Genesis 3. The individuals of Eden have become “corporate.” As Numbers is at the centre of Israel’s sevenfold story, so the story of Balaam and Phinehas is at the centre of Numbers.

Understanding these events “structurally” answers the questions that remain once the action is over and the blood thickens on the ground. One thing we must keep in mind is the sacrificial structure of these events. Firstfruits put Israel on the Altar. Pentecost puts fire on the Altar. The test here is whether Israel will tolerate strange fire not only in their Tabernacle, but in their own tents and hearts.

Numbers 22:1-21 Genesis/Transcendence – Creation/The Kingly Call:
As the Firstfruits cycle began with the Levitical call, this “Pentecostal” cycle begins with the call of the prophet Balaam by Balak, the king of Moab. You may remember that Ammon and Moab were the sons of Lot by his own daughters, who took a short cut to gain a tribal future. Balaam is reluctant to heed the call. James Jordan has pointed out that, as far as the text is concerned, Balaam is initially presented as a godly prophet. Despite later meanings attached to his name, some believe it simply means “a lord (Baal) of Moab.” If so, he was a courtly advisor, like Job’s friends, and David’s mighty men. And Adam. Like Adam, he begins in innocence. Like Adam, he transgresses the bounds of the authority given to him and heeds the serpent-king.

Numbers 22:22-40 Exodus/Hierarchy – Division/Delegation/Passover: Balaam and the princes of Moab are the ungodly delegation here. It should be noted that Balaam rides a donkey, a sign that he comes in peace, when in reality he brings a sword against the children of Israel, to cut them off. We should remember the Lord bringing a sword against the firstborn of Moses, and the firstborn of Egypt. All Israel here is the firstborn son (Exodus 4:22). But that is in the background. In the foreground here is an angel with a sword, which is the first Edenic symbol. A talking animal is the second. Animals on earth correspond to angels in heaven. They are servants who die for their masters. Like Adam, Balaam’s eyes are initially closed, although he is warned against cursing the offspring of the Woman. The donkey is also a picture of faithful Gentile believers (like Ishmael), whose mouths are opened to shame God’s apostate prophets and provoke them to jealousy (another Pentecostal symbol). [2] So, Balaam himself passes under the “Passover” sword, and is given a ministry of Covenant blessing instead of Canaanite cursing.

Numbers 22:41-24:25 Leviticus/Ethics Given – Ascension/Firstfruits/Altar:
Balak takes Balaam up—Ascension—and it begins this section, so it is also a false Mountain of God, from where a demonic word would be spoken (there’s the “two coordinate” process again!). Balaam calls for the building of seven altars, and the preparation of seven bulls and rams. God puts only blessing into Balaam’s mouth.
Now, this is where the NZT-48 of the Bible Matrix really kicks in. Thanks to Luke Andrew Welch for this nootropic observation. Balaam pronounces four oracles in all, from four different locations surrounding the camp of Israel. Each location is a mountain peak and blood is shed before the prophecy. If we zoom out visually, we see that the stage for this event is a gigantic “Bronze Altar” with four bloodied horns. Balak wants the horns turned inwards upon Israel, the firstborn (Table) upon the Altar.
The first blessing has a Genesis/Day 1 theme; the second an Exodus/Day 2 theme; the third a Levitical (Sanctuary) Day 3 theme; and the fourth a Numbers/Day 4 theme. Day 4 concerns the government of stars. Here, “a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.” Not only this, but this sceptre would crush the forehead of Moab. So all that nasty stuff I said above about the king of Moab being “serpentine” is true.
But wait, there are only three mountains mentioned. It seems Balaam himself becomes the fourth horn (a little horn) as he pronounces curses upon the Canaanite kings. This gives us a complete “head and body” or Jew and Gentile pattern in the prophecies.

Numbers 25: Numbers/Ethics Opened – Testing/Pentecost:
To get the Covenantal “context” of this chapter, we should review the events placed at this section in previous cycles: the jealous inspection (Creation), Israel’s failure to enter the Land (Division), and the rites of purification (Ascension). What we have here is Testing x Testing.
Israel commits “harlotry” with the daughters of Moab, which for any reasonable person would be a reminder of Genesis 6. Those events were at the centre of the Adam-to-Noah cycle, a corporate version of the seduction in Eden, an intermarriage with idolatry (see also Daniel 2:43 [lit. "intermarry"] and Matthew 24:36).
Numbers 25, like every one of these major steps, also follows the matrix structure, which is also reflected in the structure of the Ten Words. The process here is liturgical, and an awareness of its reflection of the rite of sacrifice makes it all the more gut-wrenching. At the centre of the Ten Words are Knife (Adam) and Fire (Eve). Under Covenant, their passion is a fire that pleases God. But when strange fire enters in, it devours like a flaming sword. David discovered this. So here, liturgically, Israel does not make it through the fire. Perhaps it is a good idea to zoom in and observe the structure within the structure. Israel takes the Ten Words and smashes them one by one. [3]

Closeup on Numbers 25

Genesis/Transcendence – Creation:
1: Israel bows down to false gods. 2: Israel swears by (is yoked to) these false gods.

Exodus/Hierarchy – Division/Delegation/Passover:
3: The Lord orders the chiefs to be hanged (Work).

Leviticus/Ethics Given – Ascension/Firstfruits/Altar:
4: In Israelite brings in a Moabitess in the sight of the tent (Offspring). Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, rises up.

Numbers/Ethics Opened – Testing/Pentecost:
5. and 6. He takes a spear (Murder/Knife) and pierces the Israelite and the Moabitess together through the private parts (Adultery/Fire)

Deuteronomy/Ethics Received – Maturity/Trumpets:
7. The curse (for Adamic theft) is stopped. 8. The Lord Himself is a legal witness for the righteousness of Phinehas.

Joshua/Sanctions – Atonement/Vindication: 9. Phinehas is granted the Aaronic succession because “he made atonement for the people of Israel.” This concerns “coveting” the house.

Judges/Succession – Booths/Glory: 10. The death of the Jew is to be meted out upon the Midianites. This concerns “coveting” what is in the house. House and contents are Adam and Eve, at least at this point. This changes in Deuteronomy. In Moses’ repeat of the Law, an Eve “converted” by Adam’s faithfulness moves from the “contents” to co-regent of the house. [4]

What amazing artistry. The first fulfilment of Balaam’s “sceptre” prophecy was Phinehas. And he crushed the “forehead” of Moab by putting a spear through—circumcising—the offspring of the serpent. [5]

One final thought on this closeup. Can you think of another event which involved a “cup of testing,” spiritual harlotry, a spear, and a grant of High Priestly Succession? Yes, the death and resurrection of Christ as Adam. Then the entire process is repeated “corporately” for Israel as Eve, the harlot-bride who must drink the cup and be cut in two by the jealousy of God, into flesh and Spirit.

Okay, back to the major structure.

Numbers 26: Deuteronomy/Ethics Received – Maturity/Trumpets: At the Feast of Trumpets, the soldiers of Israel were assembled. Here, the Lord commands Moses and Eleazar (son of Aaron) to take a census. After a long list of names it is announced that not one name is left of those who were condemned to die at Sinai — except for Joshua (a faithful Israelite) and Caleb (a converted Kenizite), picturing the “one new man” of a resurrected priesthood, two faithful spies who became legal witnesses of a new Israel. Getting the New Covenant drift here? It should also be noted that only Israelites are “counted.” We see the same process in the Revelation: Sainted numbered; Saints pass through death and resurrection; Saints renumbered. In that case, there were also Gentile saints, but they were not numbered. Only the sacrificial “Head” is counted. Isaiah 53:12 says of Jesus, “He was counted among the rebels.”

Numbers 27:1-11: Joshua/Sanctions – Atonement/Vindication: An inheritance for the daughters of Zelophedad. See how this reflects Joshua and Covenant blessing? Their father was a faithful son, so these women, as a corporate “bride” robed like Esther, come boldly before the throne.

Numbers 27:12-23: Judges/Succession – Booths/Glory: Finally, this cycle which began on a mountain of false prophecy ends on the mountain with a faultless seer. Moses, “drawn from the water” of Egypt, is allowed to see the Land, but the waters of salvation will be crossed by Joshua.

The beauty of this literature is sublime. And its fractal structure silences every critic. Every mouth will be stopped. Help me to share this material where you can. The lack of interest by Christians stuns me.

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[1] See Behind Closed Doors.
[2] See the notes at the end of What Lies Beneath.
[3] I use the “scroll” division of the commandments because it fits the matrix. See Bible Matrix II for a full explanation.
[4] See Esther and the Ten Words.
[5] See The Circumcision of Satan.