catching up

I have been behind, busy life but no excuses. Here's my chapter summaries, no commentary today. I'll post next 10 weeks this week.

Numbers
32 Gadites and Reubenites ask for separate land
33 summary of Egypt to Promised Land entry
34 borders of Canaan
35 cities of refuge

36 inheritance stays within tribes
Deut
1 Moses retells the journey
2 Moses retells the journey pt 2
3 Moses retells the journey pt 3

4 Moses’ final instructions begin
5 Moses’ reminds them of the Covenant (10 commandments)
6 the first and greatest commandment: love the LORD your God
7 driving out the nations and their culture of idolatry

8 do not forget the LORD when times are good
9 reminder of the Golden Calf
10 reminder of new tablet covenant reminders
11 be careful to obey God

12 foreshadow of the Temple in Jerusalem
13 don’t let others lead you to worship false gods
14 beginning of the summaries of all the laws (food/tithes)
15 setting apart debts/servants/animals

16 Feasts: Passover & others
17 penalty for false worshippers/court rulings/the King
18 offerings
19 cities of refuge

Baton to Joshua

We begin to see in these readings the transition from Moses to Joshua. God calls Moses to commission Joshua in chapter 27, and in chapter 31 we see Moses' last appointed task from the LORD, deal with the Midianites once and for all. I think it was John Maxwell who said (or stole): "There is no success without a successor."

Who is succeeding you? No doubt Moses was intentional about preparing Joshua to take his mantle of leadership after he was gone. Moses had to be a hard act to follow. I mean, come on, this guy stared down Pharaoh, saw the sea of Reeds parted, and lots of other crazy things. Yet he led with faithfulness.

Many people long for greatness. And if you look at his life, you can see where Joshua's greatness began. It began with his attitude and faith when he and Caleb were with the other 10 spies to check out Canaan. "Big" greatness always begins with "small" greatness. Sounds biblical, doesn't it? If you are entrusted with little, you will be entrusted with much.

Many people are impatient with starting small, but that's where it all begins for all of us. Be faithful with what you have today, no matter how big or small.

Numbers chapter summaries

24 Balaam's prophecy against Balak
25 some Israelites worship Baal and hook up w/ Moabite women
26 census of Israel
27 Moses commissions Joshua

28 instructions on offerings
29 instructions on feasts
30 instructions of vows
31 Moses' last task: defeat the Midianites

a talking donkey

This is one of those stories in the Bible that everyone talks about. I don't necessarily have any deep thoughts on it that I'll share, but one observation that is funny to me. Before we get to that...

This section of the story there are 3 movements of opposition to Moses and his leadership. (chapters 16, 20, 21) There's definitely something to be said for respect for those God has put in authority, especially when you see what happened to the people who complained!

This brings up an interesting point...how did Moses know he was following the wisdom and will of God when he faced all this opposition? There is a common thought today in the Western Church that if you are doing God's will that He will "open all the doors" for you and it will be smooth sailing. If that is always the case, Moses would have been one confused guy when facing all these people that were against him. Some people today believe that if God is for you, He will make all the opposition go away or it won't happen at all. And if it does happen that it probably wasn't God's will to begin with. To these people, opposition = not God's will. They would see favor as something that brings others in alignment, not opposition.

So how do we know?

As we can probably imagine, following God's will can bring hardship. After all, we have an enemy that opposes the good work on God through us. So, where is the line between knowing whether it's God or satan that is opposing us?

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer, no one really does. There is no litmus test for knowing. What we do know is what we learn from this passage that following where God is leading can be difficult, and even God's own people sometimes can oppose you. Eventually, a true follower knows the voice of their Shepherd (John 10) and can discern over time if opposition is truly from God or our enemy.

Back to Balaam...the funniest thing to me isn't just imagining a donkey talking, and even someone talking back. The funniest thing is how God speaks through the donkey to reason with Balaam. Check out the conversation:
Nu 22:30 The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?"
"No," he said.

Balaam is reasoning with this animal, and the animal is right! This, to me, is funny.


Chapter summaries:

16 the opposition to Moses from the Levites
17 Aaron's staff buds
18 responsibilities of the priests and Levites
19 uncleanness and the water of cleansing

20 water from a rock/the death of Aaron
21 the bronze snake in the desert
22 Balaam's talking donkey
23 Balaam's first 2 prophecies to Balak

Still working on the chapter/book summaries I'm using. When I'm done, I'll post them. They will help those of you trying to remember each chapter from memory.

Groovy Moments in the Bible

When I was in college, we had a guys Bible study on our floor 1x a week. If someone forgot to prepare who was supposed to lead, we did something called "Groovy Moments in the Bible." We read odd or strange passages and laughed about them. Our reading today has one of them.

To me this is one of the funniest and most ironic verses in the Bible, it's found in Numbers 12:3 3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) If you didn't know already, Moses was the author of this book, and most likely the overwhelming majority of the first 5 books of Scripture. So here Moses is saying that he's the most humble man in all the earth...and seems proud of it. How ironic. I'm not sure this made it in our college study, but it could have. (I still have a list I collect of other groovy moments throughout Scripture, there are some doozies)

Now we head into Numbers, the fourth book of the Law/Pentateuch. Numbers is a turning point in the Exodus account (the Israelites leaving Egypt for the Promised land Canaan) because it begins the saga of Joshua, and the fork in the road the report of the 12 spies bring back to the people and Moses in chapter 13.

I'm hoping to review all the summaries for this weekend and show you how I'm breaking down the sections into blocks in order to help memorize them. I need to make some updates so I hope I'll have that done.


27 dedication and redemption of people and things
Numbers
1 census of Israel
2 tribal camp arrangements
3 Levites set aside as priests

4 Levite clan assignments
5 jealousy test
6 Nazirite vows
7 offerings for dedication of tabernacle

8 dedication ceremony of the Levites
9 Passover instructions
10 Israel finally leaves Sinai
11 meat from the Maker

12 Aaron and Miriam doubt Moses and are punished
13 twelve men explore Canaan and report
14 God and Moses discuss the people's rebellion
15 instruction on offerings in the new homeland

Why so serious?

I stole this line from the movie Dark Knight, I'll admit.

Ever read one of those passages in the Bible that seems to portray God in a way that doesn't make sense at all?

In chapter 24 when a young man is stoned to death because he curses "the Name" of God, it can seem pretty harsh for a small infraction. Shouldn't the punishment fit the crime? Why such a harsh judgment on something that seems so small? This is one of those OT passages that skeptics use to paint out God to be a cruel tyrant of a God.

Are they true? How could a loving God endorse such a cruel thing such as this? This is a valid question to ask of the situation.

Knowing the cultural context and also the Scriptural background leading up to this event helps. Going back to previous posts, God made a covenant (something like a modern day contract) with the people of Israel. Part of that covenant were strict guidelines to be followed, as was customary in that time when two parties entered into an agreement. Much of the covenant agreement is found surrounding the 10 'Words'.

God made it abundantly clear to all the people that were certain things that crossed the line and were totally out of bounds for people. LIke a parent who is fair, the definition of the transgression along with the punishment were crystal clear up front. One thing we know for sure from the entirety of Scripture is the justice and fairness of God. Knowing this, we approach texts like this understanding that God is not a Deity who is flying off the handle about something illogical that no one understands.

This person who cursed the Name, was fully aware of the decision he made to do what he did. This is probably why this is included in Scripture, because someone knowing full well the consequences, kamikazeed himself in this way. The fact that he cursed God was an indictment upon himself. He was making a statement that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with God and made this known in a very brazen way.

Therefore, we know that the punishment fit the crime, God is never unjust.

Chapter summaries

23 calendar of sacred assemblies/feasts
24 blasphemer stoned
25 Sabbath and Jubilee instructions
26 covenant reward & punishments

Abortion is our modern Molech/Leviticus 15-22

Leviticus chapter summaries

15 bodily discharge regulations
16 the Day of Atonement
17 blood and eating***
18 sacred sexual relations

19 various laws including the 10 Words
20 punishments for sin ****
21 instructions for priests
22 instructions for priests

***Blood is a major theme in Scripture, because in a sense it is the source of life for all living things. From early in the OT through to the atonement made through Jesus Christ for our sins, God reminds us through Scripture of the importance of blood. God instructs that any time blood is spilled, it is a sacred thing. Here in chapter 17 it is in reference to animals, but this shows how important God takes the spilling of blood, even if it is just for eating. No innocent blood can be spilled without a price that is paid.

Also, God instructs that the people 'do not follow the customs' they were used to…they were still used to the old ways of the Egyptians. God is calling them to a new and Holy standard.

****One of the punishments for sin mentioned in Leviticus 20 is in reference to Molech. Molech was a false god that people would commonly offer their infants to sacrifice before this god by burning them to death. Sounds pretty gruesome. It also sounds like something that is completely disconnected from our modern world. While very few cultures still practice rituals of this sort, there is a more direct link to modern society than you might think.

Interestingly enough, parents would sacrifice their children to Molech in hopes of material and financial blessing. The hope was that Molech would take this most sacred of sacrifices and bless the ones who offered it to him.

Often in Scripture there is a dichotomy of those who want something, but do the exact opposite action needed in an attempt to achieve a desired result. This is exactly what the sinful nature did to us when it entered humanity through Adam and Eve, it made us believe that what was good for us in all actuality destroys us.

God says over and over to 'choose life.' What happens when parents kill their children in favor of benefiting themselves? Abortion is our modern day Molech. Around 98% of abortions are for birth control purposes and you boil the reason down it basically comes down to money. People say they can't afford a child, they want a more affluent lifestyle that they couldn't afford with an extra child, etc.

Think about it, when you multiply the effects of many parents eliminating their children for their own financial gain within a culture that culture dies off and eventually ceases to exist. So ironically, the opposite effect happens...those who want a better life end up damning the future culture that dies off because of selfishness.

ONE MORE THOUGHT: How interesting that although most in the US wouldn't consider ourselves a "Christian" nation that compared to a region like the Middle East, dominantly Muslim, we in the US have a much, much lower birthrate in families compared the the typical Islamic family. Do the numbers and you'll see that eventually a people/culture/society that doesn't value children enough to bring them into society ends up going the way of the Do-Do bird.

Funky rashes and funky animals

It's been a few days since I posted. I'm posting way more this week. If you haven't noticed by now, I typically only post when I have some commentary to add to the Text. Honestly, I wondered if I'd have much to offer to much of the law/Levitical type sections of the Bible. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, I realized that I had many thoughts of each day last week. (at least this makes me feel like it's worth posting for other people to read)

So I'm posting Monday and Tuesday of last week today, and hopefully I'll catch up by Friday:)

Leviticus chapter summaries first:

7 offering instructions
8 Aaron and his sons become priests
9 the Levitical priesthood begins*
10 Aaron’s 2 sons die because of disobedience

11 clean and unclean animals
12 birth regulations
13 skin disease/mildew regulations
14 cleansing from skin diseases/mildew**

*Leviticus 10:8-11 God says to distinguish yourselves between the common and uncommon, distinguished by food intake. Do we do the same? This goes back to the former post. I wonder how much different we should view and treat our bodies as followers of Christ. God calls causes to be different, and we are to reflect this difference in our behaviors and actions.

**Skin rashes, mildew? Are these significant enough to include in the Holy Words of God? It doesn't seem to fit, does it? And at best it's doesn't seem that exciting. All the instructions may seem silly to us today, but these were literal life and death issues for the people of Israel. God gave these instructions through Moses as a protection for His people. Obviously, back in the days it was written the Bible spoke of physical instructions of cleanliness that foreshadowed many discoveries of modern science. These passages about physical ailments show us the Heart of a loving God, just as a parent takes care of their sick child.

Nothing has changed today, God’s instructions to us are for our protection, not just because. All Scripture teaches us about God, no matter how much it may seem irrelevant.