2 Tell the Israelites to get twelve rods, one from each of tribe, and write the name of a man from each tribe on it. 3 Write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi. 4 Lay the rods in the tabernacle in front of the testimony. I'll meet you there. 5 I'll choose one of the rods and make it blossom. That will make the murmurers stop murmuring against you.
6 Moses delivered God's message to the Israelites, and each of the twelve princes gave Moses a rod from their tribe. 7 Moses put the rods in front of God in the tabernacle.
8 Aaron's rod budded, bloomed, and yielded almonds.
1815 You must redeem your firstborn sons and unclean animals.
16 Firstborn boys must be redeemed when they are a month old by paying a priest five shekels. 17 But firstling cows, sheep, and goats may not be redeemed. They are holy. You must sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat for a sweet savor to me.
16 Whoever touches a dead body, a bone of a man, or a grave is unclean for seven days.
17 To get clean, an unclean person must: take the ashes of the burnt heifer and mix it with running water in a vessel.
18 Then a clean person will take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent, the vessels, and persons that were in the tent, and upon the person that touched the bone, dead body, or grave.
19 The clean person shall sprinkle it on the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day. On the seventh day, the unclean person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be clean in the evening.
Instructions for priests (Num 18:1-13)
See Episode 53 (Lev 21-22)
How to redeem your firstborn sons (Num 18:14-20)
See Episode 30 (Ex 13)
Tithes (Num 18:21-32)
The first mention of tithing was in Episode 3 when Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe of 10%. (Gen 14)
The red heifer (Num 19)
The red heifer is a big deal for many Jews and Christians. The rabbis say that a third temple can't be built until a red heifer can be found and sacrificed to produce the cleansing water described in Numbers 19.
Maimonides said that only nine red heifers had been sacrificed from the time of Moses to the destruction of the second temple in 70 CE. Their ashes had been used during this time for purification purposes. But the ashes of the last red heifer were lost after the second temple's destruction.
According to Maimonides, the third temple will be rebuilt when the tenth red heifer is sacrificed - and then the Messiah will come.
Many Christians believe that when a red heifer is found and the temple is rebuilt, Jesus will return.
Recently five red heifers have been sent from Texas to Jerusalem, hoping that one of them will meet the rabbi's standards.
