Hardship and Rebellion... Numbers Quiz

Answer: Fifty

The Lord allowed an early retirement for the Levites after their purification and dedication, allowing them to become ritually clean. The Levites had their clothes washed and purified themselves, while Aaron dedicated them as a special gift to the Lord. In being pure, the Levites were able to work under the Tent of the Lord's presence.

"From the age of twenty-five each Levite shall perform his duties in the Tent of my presence, and at the age of fifty he shall retire." (Numbers 8.24-25)

Answer: Five

This passage taken from Numbers 18.16, was said to Aaron when the Lord entitled Aaron to any special contributions that were not burned as sacrifices to the Lord.

"Everything in Israel that has been unconditionally dedicated to me belongs to you." (Numbers 18.14)

"Every first-born child or animal that the Israelites present to me belongs to you. But you must accept payment to buy back every first-born child, and must also accept payment for every first-born child animal that is ritually unclean." (Numbers 18.15)

Answer: Two

The Lord commanded Moses to instruct the Israelites on the various food offerings that they must present at various times during the calendar year. These offerings included Regular offerings, Sabbath offerings, Harvest Festival offerings, Festival of Unleavened Bread offerings, New Year offerings, Day of Atonement offerings, and Festival of Shelters offerings.

On the day of the Sabbath, "offer two one-year-old male lambs without any defects, two kilogrammes of flour mixed with olive oil as a grain-offering, and the wine offering. This burnt-offering is to be offered every Sabbath in addition to the daily offering with its wine-offering." (Numbers 28.9-10)

Answer: 3

Originally, the tribe of Levi consisted of the clans of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (Numbers 26.57)

"Their descendants included the subclans of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi, and Korah." (Numbers 26.57)

Answer: Third

During the Third Prophecy, Belak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor. While there, Balaam built seven altars for Belak and offered a bull and a ram to each altar. Balaam knew that the Lord wanted him to bless the people of Israel, and as a result, he bagan to utter the Third Prophecy to the people of Israel.

"The message of Balaam son of Beor, The words of the man who can see clearly, who can hear what God is saying. With staring eyes I see in a trance a vision from Almighty God. The tents of Israel are beautiful, like long rows of palms or gardens beside a river, like aloes planted by the Lord or cedars beside the river. They will have abundant rainfall and plant their seed in well-watered fields. Their king shall be greater than Agag, and his rule shall be extended far and wide. God brought them out of Egypt; he fights for them like a wild ox. They devour their enemies, crush their bones, smash their arrows. The nation is like a mighty-lion; When it is sleeping, no one dares wake it. Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed, and whoever curses Israel will be cursed." (Numbers 24.3-9)

Answer: 123

Aaron the priest died on the journey from Egypt to Moab. When the Israelites left Rephidim, they travelled to Mount Hor where Aaron would pass away at the age of 123:

"At the command of the Lord, Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor. At the age of 123, he died there on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year after the Israelites had left Egypt." 33.38

Answer: Manasseh

The various leaders of the tribes presented offerings to the Lord to celebrate the dedication of the alter over the course of twelve days. The tribes presented their offerings in the following order:

Day 1 - Judah
Day 2 - Issachar
Day 3 - Zebulun
Day 4 - Reuben
Day 5 - Simeon
Day 6 - Gad
Day 7 - Ephraim
Day 8 - Manasseh
Day 9 - Benjamin
Day 10 - Dan
Day 11 - Asher
Day 12 - Naphtali

Answer: Six

The Lord commanded Moses to tell the Israelites how to divide the land fairly so that the Levites could have cities to live in and pastures to sustain food supplies. The Israelites were to be told the following:

"The pasture land is to extend outwards from the city walls 450 meters in each direction, so that there is a square area measuring 900 meters on each side, with the city in the middle. You are to give the Levites six cities of refuge to which a man can escape if he kills someone accidentally. In addition, give them forty-two other cities with their pasture land, making a total of forty-eight." (Numbers 35.4-7)

Answer: Seven days

These rules applied to anyone who had touched a corpse whether purposely or accidentally. Anyone who fails to obey these specific rules put forth by God will no longer be one of God's people.

"Whoever touches a corpse is ritually unclean for seven days. He must purify himself with the water for purification on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on both the third day and the seventh day, he will not be clean. Whoever touches a corpse and does not purify himself remains unclean, because the water for purification has not been thrown over him. He defiles the Lord's Tent, and he will no longer be considered one of God's people." (Numbers 19.11-13)

Answer: Judah

All men who were twenty years of age or older who were fit for military service were registered according to clan. These clans were listed and totalled as followed:

Reuben - 46500 men
Simeon - 59300 men
Gad - 45650 men
Judah - 74600 men
Issachar - 54400 men
Zebulun - 57400 men
Ephraim - 40500 men
Manasseh - 32200 men
Benjamin - 35400 men
Dan - 62700 men
Asher - 41400 men
Naphtali - 53400 men

Note: All passages, statistics, and numbers have been taken from the Good News Bible.