Trinity Lutheran Lexington, NE
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- Today's Reading is Numbers 31... My thoughts on today's reading... As we move into Chapter 31, we begin to see a part of the Old Testament accounts that are sometimes troubling for us... the idea that Israel was to go into the Promised Land and completely destroy their enemies. The Midianites were a people group (remember that Moses wife was a Midianite) that was also connected to the Moabites, and previously in Numbers 22 we hear how the Moabites and Balak their king, joined with the Midianites to try and battle against Israel. In a reading from Chapter 25 a couple days ago we hear how an Israelite man brought a Midianite wife to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and how the leaders were getting into worship of Baal at Peor (where Balaam was from) and involving themselves in their cultic practices including cultic prostitution. While we might assume that Balaam for example had promised to only proclaim what the Lord wanted, evidently he advised Balak to lead the Israelites into sin (Numbers 31:16) and he too dies. Joshua 13:22 indicates that Balaam was also involved in divination, a practice condemned by the Lord. God's concern that the Israelites would be led into sin as they encountered these other people groups was what led him to demand their destruction. Bear in mind, these were people who deserved God's wrath and judgement as they slaughtered their own children to their gods and were not only involved in idolatry but other heathen practices. God wanted His people the Israelites to be set apart to be a light to the nations. Until they were established as a nation into the Holy Land, He knew these other nations would tempt them into becoming like them, and they wouldn't be able to be that light to others, and lead them to worship the Lord. Truthfully, we all deserve God's wrath and judgement, and could all be destroyed. God doesn't overlook sin and evil. He had to deal with it. In the Old Testament, He sought to have Israel overcome the evil of their day by choosing them to be His people and showing them mercy and steadfast love. Ultimately, that wasn't enough for them, and so in Christ Jesus, God finally overcomes evil at the Cross and gives us life and salvation. Are we much better than the Israelites in overcoming the evil of this world? Probably not. Like them, looking forward to the coming Messiah who would redeem God's people, we too look to the Messiah, but not looking forward, but back to Calvary.
- Today's Reading is Numbers 28-30... My thoughts on today's reading... Repetition is the mother of learning... maybe you've heard that phrase before... it's true that many times the more we repeat something the more likely we are to remember it. We might wonder why the Lord has to repeat all the details about the various offerings and feasts that His people were to keep, but it is for the very reason that they were often so forgetful that He does repeat it. I'm going to attach a picture of the Jewish Calendar and how the feasts fit in. Obviously as prescribed, their were daily offerings, sabbath offerings, monthly offerings and then the offerings for various feasts. It's a lot to keep track of. Note that the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar, but the number of days per month can be 29-30 days, and there are 12 months, but instead of a leap year where one day is added, their average year was 354 days, so their leap year added a extra 30 day month. They have about 7 leap years in a 19 year cycle. Confused... I would be too, but remember we are used to our calendar system, so this one sounds pretty random to us. Chapter 20 reveals the importance of keeping vows you make, and adds provisions for vows that women make, as they are determined as valid if their father (if they are unmarried) or their husband doesn't cancel the vow but allows it to stand. I know this sounds pretty dated to us, but you have to remember that in their culture, the father or husband was supposed to look out for the best welfare, so they would have seen this as a form of protection and looking out for the best interest of those under their responsibility. By the way, Adar II in the picture below is the leap month, and in the case of this year 2024 is a year that month is included so unlike most years when Passover is the week of Easter, for the Jews Passover isn't until April 22, after our celebration of Easter.
- I think I would need someone standing by constantly reminding me and I would probably still mess up. And we do still mess up even when we know.
- Yeah, since they didn't really do much writing down and didn't have planners, they would probably have developed some sort of routine... and probably remembered more things than we do!
- Today's Reading is Numbers 26-27... My thoughts on today's reading... Oh great, another census! You might be thinking you can just skip pass Chapter 26 as there probably isn't much but a list of names and a count of how many were in each tribe, but just wait there are some really neat little gems of information tucked away in those list. For example, look at verse 11. We hear about how Korah led a rebellion and 250 men died in that rebellion when the ground opened up and swallowed them, but verse 11 tells us Korah's sons didn't die. I find this interesting because it means they chose not to join in their father's rebellion or they would have been swallowed up with him. Then in verse 19, we hear how the sons of Judah, Er and Onan died in Canaan. I had to go back and remind myself that Er was struck down by the Lord in his sin, and Onan didn't carry out his responsibility of providing a son to carry on his brothers name. Er's wife was Tamar, and that of course leads to the story of Judah's sinful actions against his daughter-in-law. This is the same Tamar who will show up in Matthew in the genealogy of Jesus. I also find it interesting in verse 46 the mention of Asher's daughter Serah. No details about her at all in the Scriptures, but she is mentioned here and in Genesis 46:17 and 1 Chronicles 7:30. As much as some would point to the whole patriarchal emphasis of the Bible as being a sign of the lesser value of women, we get attention drawn to Serah, with no other context. I guess it affirms to me that God places great value in us all, male and female. A couple of other interesting notes... remember this count of Israel is coming after spending 40 years in the wilderness, where the previous generation are gone, and yet in counting those able to go to battle as they prepare to enter the Promise Land, there is only a decrease of 1,820. Compare Numbers 1:46 to Numbers 26:51. And for the Levites there is an increase of 1000 if you compare Numbers 26:62 to Numbers 3:39. For a chapter with a census in it, there are some interesting things that appear in the text. Then in Chapter 27 we see the Lord agreeing with the daughters of Zelophehad on their claim to inheritance and the Lord even established a statute and rule for His people, which again, shows an indication that women were valued. One final thing to note about God appointing Joshua to lead God's people after Moses is gone is that Moses cared deeply for those he had been leading. He didn't want them to be like sheep without a shepherd. You would think that after as much trouble as they caused him, he would have thought to himself that its no longer any of my concern, but I see in Moses request a genuine love for those he served.
- Today's Reading is Numbers 22-25... My thoughts on today's reading... Today brings another story from the book of Numbers you may be familiar with... Balaam and his donkey make for an interesting tale, and one that children find to be funny. One year in summer Sunday School I had the kids act out the story while we video taped it. It was pretty comical, watching Balaam beating the donkey... even though of course in our play, no real violence took place. It appears that Balaam was a prophet of the Lord, who would not go against what the Lord said, except for the one time that he decides to go with Balak's men and the whole donkey episode takes place. While the Lord had told Balaam to go with the men of Balak, evidently he must have decided in his heart to not speak God's word. That's why the Lord says to him, "Behold I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me." (Numbers 22:32b) Having learned his lesson, Balaam tells Balak, I'm only going to say what the Lord tells me to say, and after three attempts at swayng Balaam, Balak gives up in frustration, because instead of cursing Israel, he blesses them. Then Balaam offers a fourth and final oracle, which peaks not only against Balak and the Midianites but also others from the area. Unfortunately, in Chapter 25, we see that the leadership of Israel gets caught up in worship of Baal which would have included sexual fertility cults which were apart of Baal worship, which is the descriptive language that we usually don't see very often in verse 1. Because of this great sin, the Lord punishes the leaders who were setting a bad example for the people, by having the leaders hung. And to further show the evil, one of the Israelites brought a Gentile woman into the tent of meeting. Phineas, grandson of Aaron is furious and punishes this great defilement, and the plague that was impacting God's people stopped. Phineas is described as being jealous for God, which God uses to describe how He feels about His people and he is commended for acting on behalf of the Lord. BTW, this isn't the first time we've heard about the Midianites... remember they were the traders who bought Joseph from his brothers and sold him to the Egyptians. They are descendants of Abraham also through his marriage to Keturah after Sarah had died, and as I mentioned back when we were in Genesis, they pop up in the Biblical accounts from time to time as a temptation to God's people of Israel to sin and worship false gods.
- This Weekend's Reading is Numbers 21... My thoughts on this reading... Part of Numbers 21 is very familiar to us. We hear about Israel grumbling against Moses and the Lord again, (surprise, surprise, you think they would learn!) and as a result they wind up facing punishment in the form of fiery serpents! We of course hear about this story right before John 3:16 when Jesus said that as Moses lifted up a serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man would be lifted up, because God so loved the world! One of the things I think is important to note is that while the Lord provides a mean of healing and forgiveness with about as simple as a task to do receive life, look at a serpent on a pole, and live... but God doesn't remove the snakes, which I think most of us would think would be the way to solve the problem. Perhaps the Lord felt a little sting from a snake bite would be a good antidote! Along with hearing about the defeat of King Sihon and King Og, there is a little part of Chapter 21 that I must admit that I have forgotten. I don't remember having read the story of the Song of the Well. I'm not sure why it hadn't stood out to me before, but I find it a little bit interesting in its message... it was the Lord who provided the water, but they speak of those who dug it.... seems to me they should have acknowledged the Lord in their little song.
- Today's Reading is Number 19-20... My thoughts on today's reading... God provides a means of purification through the sacrifice of a red heifer, after the ashes from the sacrifice are mixed with water which becomes a water for purification. This includes purification from touching a dead body or being in the presence of a dead body inside of a tent. Two notes about this... even today, modern Jews believe that a red heifer must be sacrificed in a restored temple, so that purification water can be available for God's people today. In fact they look for a red heifer as a sign that Messiah is coming. Too bad they missed the real Messiah! Secondly, you can possibly see why in Jesus story of the Good Samaritan the priest and Levite pass by the beaten man, for fear that if the man was dead, they would be unclean for seven days and be unable to carry out their duties. but in His parable about God's Kingdom, He points out that the Lord is more concerned about compassion than a strict keeping of the Old Testament law. Somehow God's people lost sight that having to sit out from temple duties for seven days would be less of a issue than caring for a beaten, almost dead stranger by the roadside. In Chapter 20, we hear of the death of both Miriam and Aaron, Moses older siblings. We also hear how Moses and Aaron handle a situation to provide water for God's people by putting on a show with a staff by hitting a rock two times, instead of simply speaking to the rock as the Lord commanded. This might seem like a small offense in our eyes, but besides the point of openly disobeying the Lord's command, Moses calls God's people rebels and gives a false impression of the Lord, who with compassion wanted to provide water for His people. Moses made it seem like the Lord was angry with His people, but note that isn't what we hear the Lord command Moses to express. As an added insight on this part of Chapter 20 look at 1 Corinthians 10:4. A little note too on Edom. If you remember, Edom were the descendants of Esau, so they were distant relatives dating back to the time of Esau and Jacob, and so safe passage seems like a reasonable request. Edom refuses and there will be tension between Israel and Edom from then on. Note that this also meant a longer extended trip around the Edom so it was also an inconvenience. Kind of like needing to go to Illinois, but Iowa tells you have to get to Illinois by way of Minnesota or Missouri! 😀
- Today's Reading is Numbers 16-18 My thoughts on today's reading... So God appointed Moses and Aaron to lead His people, with the assistance of the leaders from each tribe and the Levites who were to serve as priests and workers in the tabernacle. Evidently that wasn't enough for Korah, so he convinces others to join him in his rebellion against Moses and Aaron. He wants to appoint himself as a priest, so Moses says to take the censors and appear before the Lord. Note that Aaron and Moses both plead for the Lord to forgive, and rather than destroy them all, the Lord does end the rebellion of Korah and his followers as the ground opens up and swallows them. You would think, lesson learned. I'm going to be on my best behavior now.... but no, another group complains that Moses and Aaron had punished Korah and his followers, (even though it was the Lord, and Moses and Aaron pleaded for the Lord to spare the rest of Israelites). And so begins some kind of plague, but who comes to the people's rescue again... Moses and Aaron. I guest I would hope that the people would get the point that Moses and Aaron aren't in it for themselves and their own power, but to serve God's people. To remove any doubt, God has each tribe present a rod, and it is Aaron's that is chosen, proving that it was God who had chosen Aaron and his sons to serve in their priestly roles. Chapter 18 then goes on to point out the duties of the priests and Levites, and how God would provide for their wellbeing, through the sacrifices of God's people.