I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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

At first glance, the rules concerning vows seem to suggest that women have less right to bond themselves to a vow to God.  While there is some truth to that one should look a little closer at what it says.  The fact was that a woman in that society was generally economically dependent on either her father or her husband.  The result of that being that a woman could suffer significant economic harm if she was forced to keep a vow to which her father or husband objected.  Here is where it gets interesting.  If the father or husband failed to immediately object to the vow the vow would be binding, and if they later decided to object and then prevented her from fulfilling the vow, THEY would be responsible for breaking the vow as if they had made it themselves.  In that day, the father or husband of a woman had the ability to force the woman to break the vow.  Whether that was right or wrong is irrelevant.  This codifies their responsibility to decide immediately whether or not they would do so.  Without this, women would have trouble entering into business agreements.  I have always read this to mean that we today should not enter into binding agreements without the knowledge and consent of our spouse.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 27-29.

When God had Moses appoint Joshua as his successor, He divided He divided secular and religious authority.  Joshua had authority over the people, but when guidance was needed from God, he needed to go to Eliazar, the high priest.  However, while Joshua needed to go to Eliazar to consult God for guidance, the arrangement did not give Eliazar authority over Joshua.  Instead, when Joshua needed guidance from the Lord he would go to Eliazar and Eliazar would use the Urim to cast lots to determine God’s will.  We do not know exactly what the Urim was,, which is probably a good thing since people would substitute a device which resembled it for actually seeking God’s will.  The important thing was not what was used to determine God’s will, but that it was done publicly, or, at least, in front of Joshua.  This meant that Eliazar could not just put forward his own decision and claim that it was God’s will.  So, even in a society where the laws of the land were intended to be those laid down by God, the secular authorities were not given the power to determine God’s will, but the religious authorities were not given the power to dictate to the secular authorities.  Not all decisions require us to inquire after God’s will, but we should be careful not to substitute  someone’s will for that of God.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 19-21.

Today’s passage describes the way to make the water of purification and how it was to be used.  Reading the recipe for the water of purification reminds me of how soap is made.  It does not seem quite like it would work, but I wonder if that is a result of bad translation from the Hebrew.  In particular, Ancient Hebrew had a very limited vocabulary relative to modern languages.  In addition, the meaning of certain procedures change over time.  As an example, I have some friends who take recipes they have found from pre-1600 and attempt to figure out how to prepare the food described in them.  They have discovered that the word for certain food items refer to a different item today than they did when the recipe was written (sometimes because we know that the food item referred to by that word today was not known in the area where and when the recipe was written).  They have also discovered that the term used for certain cooking methods meant something different when the recipe was written (sometimes because the method referred to today was not technologically possible then).  So, that being said, the ingredients listed for the water of purification are the ingredients for making a soap with antiseptic properties,

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 14-15.

Despite the miraculous ways in which God had brought them out of Egypt and provided for them in the wilderness, the Israelites listened to and trusted the 10 spies who told them that the people of the Promised Land were to powerful for them to overcome.  They went so far as to consider stoning Caleb and Joshua for trying to convince them to trust God.  They were only stopped by the manifestation of God’s presence over the Tabernacle.  Then, despite having been told that God would no longer be with them if they went into the Promised Land at this time, they decided to do so anyway.  This passage always reminds me that the actions God directs us to undertake often have an expiration date.  If we delay in following God’s direction, it may be too late for that action to be successful.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 11-13.

Yesterday I wrote about the fiery cloud which led the people of Israel through the wilderness.  Yet despite that daily evidence of God’s presence with them, today we read that the Israelites complained about the food which God provided them.  Even Moses complained to God (although his complaint was mostly about having to deal with the rest of the Israelites).  There are two lessons here.  The Israelites complained because they chose to remember only the good parts about their time in Egypt.  When they thought about the things in Egypt which they missed, they failed to remind themselves why they had given those things up.  As for Moses’ complaint, that arose from him not delegating any of his responsibilities.  He tried to do it all himself, which no one could have done.  Many leaders suffer burnout just as Moses did because they do not recruit others to carry some of the burden with them.

Then Aaron and Miriam complained about Moses’ authority.  When Moses began delegating some of his authority to the 70 elders, Aaron and Miriam felt slighted.  Before Moses chose the 70 elders, for all intents and purposes, Miriam and Aaron, as his siblings and the only people to whom he had delegated any power, had equal power with Moses.  When it was just the three of them, the people had to assume that anything Miriam or Aaron said represented what Moses said.  The 70 elders were a small enough group to go directly to Moses for clarification if they thought something Miriam or Aaron said did not match what Moses had said.  So, despite the continual evidence of God’s presence and care, the Israelites, even the highest among them, complained and whined about what God provided for them.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 8-10. 

I don’t want to spend much time on this, but with the dedication of the Levites to God we have more of a sort of foreshadowing of the relationship between Jesus and His twelve apostles.  I know that I have not done a good job of explaining the meaning of that connection, but I hope my comments on it have provided food for thought for my readers about it.

Having said that I want to look at the the discussion here of the Second Passover.  In a way, we have two apparently contradictory things.  First, we have a group of people who are upset that they will miss out on celebrating the Passover.  But then we have Moses  giving a command to cut off from the entire people anyone who is ceremonially able to celebrate the Passover at its proscribed time who does not do so.  This tells us a lot about people.  There are aspects of worshiping God which we should be eager to take part in, that if we are right with God we will be eager to take part in.  Nevertheless, there will be people who choose to forgo those celebrations.

When I first read this passage, I wanted to write something about the fiery cloud which settled over the Tabernacle when the Israelites were camped, which rose and moved to direct them where to go next.  Considering the difficulty I have discerning God’s guidance for my life, this seems like a wonderful thing.  Yet, despite this visual evidence of God’s guidance, many of the Israelites still questioned Moses’ leadership.  Which makes me wonder if perhaps my inability to discern God’s guidance is not a lack of clarity, and obviousness, in the message He sends to guide me but rather in my resistance to doing what He wants me to do.  I will continue to pray that He open my eyes to the path He wishes me to follow.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 5-6.

I find the vow of the Nazirite interesting and slightly mysterious.  The description seems to imply that the reader will already know what the vow is about so only the ritual of the vow need be described.  This leads me to wonder if the vow of the Nazirite was just a vow of dedication to God for some set period of time, similar to some of the vows of asceticism taken by many during the Middle Ages.  On the other hand, I read hints that it was a type of vow some took about a course of action they would follow.  Ultimately, I think that someone vowed to follow the rituals of the Nazirite for some length of time as an effort to get closer to God, even though every time I read this it feels as if there is some thing the writer is referring to but never wrote down.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 3-4.

In this passage we have a reference back to the first Passover while the Israelites were still in Egypt.  The first born sons of the Egyptians all died, while the first born sons of the Israelites were spared.  As a result, God claims the first born sons as His.  However, it was impractical to separate out the first born sons from all of Israel to be dedicated to serving God.  So, God designated the Levites as substitutes for the first born sons of the rest of Israel.  Which brings to an interesting thing.  The number twelve was important to the Israelites, but Jacob had adopted Joseph’s two sons as his own, substituting the two of them for Joseph, bringing the total number of tribes to thirteen.  Now the Levites are set aside to serve God as His chosen tribe, creating something analogous to when Jesus, God’s Chosen One, selected the Twelve Apostles.

When Moses had counted the other tribes, he counted all males 20 years old and older.  However, when he counted the Levites he counted all males one month old and older.  The difference was the purpose for which they were being counted.  The men of the other tribes were being counted to identify who could fight for the people of Israel, while the Levites were being counted to identify who could serve the Lord.