I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 32-33.

    When the tribes of Reuben and Gad saw the land which the Israelites had conquered on the east side of the Jordan, they saw it as perfect for their lifestyle. They approached Moses to request that it be made their inheritance rather than land on the west side of the Jordan. Moses immediately assumed that they did not want to face the people on the other side of the river, just as the previous generation had not wanted to enter the Promised Land. He assumed the worst about them. They were quick to explain that they were not only willing, but eager to fight alongside their brothers from the rest of the tribes. There is an important lesson for us here. The tribes knew how their request would be misunderstood and were prepared to answer the accusation. They did not ask for the land in order as a way to fighting alongside their fellow Israelites, nor did they use their desire for the land east of the Jordan as an excuse to avoid the fighting. In the same way, we should be quick to volunteer to do the hard work associated with the goals of the organizations we are part of, even when the activities we are interested in do not require it.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 30-31.

    A short time after the Moabite plot to seduce Israelite men into worship of Baal of Peor the Israelites went to war against the Midianites in retaliation. There are some who are confused by this transition from Moabites to Midianites. However, there are two things which make clear what was going on here. First, before Balak sent for Balaam he consulted with the elders of Midian. Second, this passage records that when the Israelites defeated the Midianites they killed Balaam. Balaam’s presence among the Midianites lends support to the statement by Paul in the New Testament that Balaam advised Balak to have the women seduce the Israelites into Baal worship. Finally, Moses command after the battle to kill all of the women who were not virgins supports the idea that the plague which struck the Israelites was a sexually transmitted disease. A final point which supports the idea that there was significant disease among the Midianites was that all of the men who went into the battle, all of their captives, and all of the plunder needed to be washed with the “water of purification” (which was either soapy water or lye water–lye dissolved in water…the ritual for preparing water of purification would result in one or the other, I am not sure which).