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 25-26.

    After Balak’s failure to get Balaam to curse the Israelites, the local Moabite women seduced some of the Israelite men into worshiping Baal of Peor. The passage tells us that God told Moses to have the ringleaders of this among the men of Israel put to death. Moses called together the leaders of the people of Israel to give them God’s command about this. As he finished doing this, an Israelite man brought a Midianite woman into his tent right there where Moses and the assembled people could see him doing so. This indicates a certain brazenness, an expectation that no one would, or could, do anything to stop him. Aaron’s grandson, the son of Eleazar (who succeeded Aaron as high priest), grabbed a spear and killed the man.

    OK, my analysis of this passage. The first thing that confuses some people is the shift from Moabite women to Midianite women. However, this is not as big of a switch as it might seem. Before Balak sent emissaries to Balaam he consulted with the elders of Midian, which suggests that the Moabites and the Midianites were both part of one nation at the time. The next thing of interest is that, while the Moabite and Midianite women seduced Israelite men and involved them in the worship practices of Baal of Peor, there were leaders among the Israelites drawing other men into the practice. So, this was not just a case of foreign women leading Israelite men astray. The men themselves recruited other men to the practice of Baal worship. The final thing I want to bring up is that there was apparently a plague caused by the Israelite men doing this. The passage does not say so, but it is reasonable to suppose that this plague was some sort of sexually transmitted disease. I said that was the final point, but there is one more thing I want to write about this. This passage reminds us that sexual immorality is intrinsically linked with idol worship. That is, those who practice sexually immoral practices inevitably get drawn into idol worship/

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 22-24.

    The next king who found himself in the path of the Israelites tried a different approach to that taken by the previous two. He sent messengers to summon Balaam. We do not really know much about Balaam, but he was clearly a prophet of some kind with a reputation for getting results. Anyway, the story is that when Balak’s representatives first came to Balaam, Balaam asked God what he should do and God told him not to go with them. When Balak sent a second group of messengers, Balaam once again asked God what he should do. This time God told him to go with them, but only say what God told him to say. However, when Balaam set out, God sent an angel to kill him. Balaam only escaped with his life because of his faithful donkey.

    The passage tells us that God sent the angel because He was angry with Balaam for going with Balak’s messengers (the similarities between the two names in this story has caused me no end of confusion when listening to sermons on this passage, especially in my childhood days). This always struck me as unfair, since God had told him to go with them. There is however a lesson for us to learn here. If we persist in asking God for something, He may grant us what we asked for, but that does not mean He wanted that for us. That being said, I do not believe that God intended for the angel to kill Balaam. Instead, the angel was intended to remind Balaam that he must only say what God tells him to say. That is an important lesson for us. We must strive in all we say and do to only say or do those things which God tells us to say or do.

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 19-21.

    The King of Edom refused the people of Israel passage through his land. He mustered his army and confronted them at the border. As a result, the Israelites turned back and went another way. Later, two other kings also refused the Israelites passage. However, these two kings were not satisfied with mustering their armies and defending their borders. Instead they launched an attack against the Israelites. The result in these latter cases is that the Israelites completely conquered those who attacked them.

    There is a lesson here for us (actually two). The King of Edom made a show of force, but did not initiate violence. By doing this he gained the outcome he desired. The Israelites did not enter his lands. The other two kings also made a show of force, but they initiated violence. Not only did they fail to keep the Israelites out of their land, they were completely destroyed. The lesson here is that there are times when a show of force is called for, but we need to resist the urge to be the first to turn to violence. The second lesson is that is we follow God’s lead, He will defeat our enemies for us.

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 16-18.

    After leading the people back into the wilderness, one of the leaders among the Levites led a revolt against Moses. It is not clear what triggered this particular rebellion. However, among the complaints the rebels had against Moses was that he had failed to lead them into a land to make their own. This of course overlooks the fact that the people had refused to enter that land when Moses attempted to lead them into it. I think the important lesson to be learned from this is that Moses did not muster his forces and confront them with force of arms. Instead, Moses called on the rebel leaders to present themselves before God along with Aaron and himself. Moses then called on God to judge between himself and the rebels. God confirmed Moses’ leadership by signs and wonders. It is worth noting that this was not the first time that God had confirmed Moses’ leadership with signs and wonders. I believe that if we come before God, He will show us who He has chosen to be our leaders. We should present ourselves BEFORE rising in opposition to existing leadership.

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 14-15.

    In yesterday’s passage we read about the 12 spies who went into the land of Canaan and returned to give a report on the land. Ten of the spies reported that the people of the land were too powerful for the Israelites, while two, Joshua and Caleb (especially Caleb), reported that they would be able to defeat the people of the land with God’s help. Today we read that the people listened to the ten and rebelled against going into the land. When the ten got sick and died the people realized their mistake, but by them it was too late. The window of opportunity had closed and God was going to lead them through the wilderness for 40 more years.

    This passage demonstrates the dangers of following the majority opinion of the “experts”. Ten out of twelve of the spies, ten out of twelve of the “experts”, said that the people of the land were too powerful for the children of Israel to overcome. Caleb and Joshua argued that they had God on their side and thus would be able to overcome the people of the land. However, the people of Israel chose to follow the opinion of the majority of the experts. The majority of the experts told them that they should be afraid of the people of the land. So, they were afraid of the people of the land. We need to listen to the arguments being made by the experts, not just follow what most of them are saying.

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 11-13.

    Once more the people complain about their hardships and some of the people looked back on the good things they had had in Egypt (forgetting the bad that went with those good things). Moses complained to God about being unable to bear the burden on his own. God then tells Moses to appoint 70 elders from among the people to share the burden with him. This is not the first time that Moses was told that he needed to delegate more. In Exodus, his father-in-law had told him the same thing. On that occasion Moses had appointed men as judges for the people. Unfortunately, we see here that while Moses had appointed men to judge disputes among the people, he was still holding all of the leadership roles for himself.

    Moses’ problem here is one that many leaders face. They know how to accomplish their goals. They know how to inspire others to seek those same goals. However, they often fail to trust others to make the decisions necessary to get the things done which need to be done to realize those goals. They reserve all of the decision making to themselves. It is important for leaders to trust those who follow them to make good decisions. We can contrast what Moses did in leading the children of Israel out of Egypt with how Jesus carried out His ministry. Moses worked with Aaron and Miriam to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, but even there, Moses viewed Aaron and Miriam as carrying out the decisions which he made. Jesus, on the other hand, started His ministry by calling 12 Apostles. He then spent the next three years teaching them His thought processes. At the end of those three years He turned to job of building the Church over to those 12 men and left them to carry it out.

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 8-10.

    When time came to celebrate the Second Passover a group of men was ceremonially unclean, which meant that they could not celebrate the Passover. However, they wanted to celebrate the Passover, so they asked Moses what they should do. Moses consulted God and came back with the following answer. Those who were unable to celebrate the Passover at the appointed time, either because they are ceremonially unclean or because they are traveling, must celebrate the Passover one month later. This was not permission to put off celebrating the Passover because it was inconvenient. It was a special case allowing those who were unable to celebrate at the appointed time to do so at another time. The key to understanding this was that the men who came forward actively sought to celebrate the Passover. Not only did they not take advantage of the opportunity to bypass their obligation to partake in the Passover ceremony, they actively sought some sort of exception whereby they could do so. In other words, they did not view the Passover as an obligation they were bound to perform. Instead they viewed celebrating the Passover as a privilege they desired to perform. Let us have a similar attitude towards the things God calls on us to do.

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 5-6.

    The description of the trial a woman must go through if her husband believed her to be unfaithful bothers me. However, there are two things it is important to remember here. Many of the surrounding cultures (and even many cultures in the world today) would have found it perfectly acceptable for the husband to torture or kill his wife out of his jealousy, with no more evidence than his suspicion. Second, those who condemn this as barbaric and arbitrary are dismissing the power of God. It is well within God’s power to cause only those women who had been unfaithful to suffer the possible negative effects of this drink. That being said, I am happy that we do not practice this.

    I find the description of the ritual to be taken by anyone taking the vow of the Nazirite fascinating. It occurred to me that this vow was something which predated this ritual and this ritual was a formalization of what the vow was. I am unsure what the vow of the Nazirite is. From the context, I am going to attempt to figure out as much about it as I can. One taking the vow of the Nazirite was dedicating themselves to carry out some task which they felt furthered God’s will in this world. I believe that one could also take the vow to request God’s assistance to carry out some task which one was then dedicating to increase the glory of God. There are several stories later in the Bible of God instructing a woman to commit her son to a Nazirite vow from the time of his conception (Sampson and Samuel come to mind). One of the key factors in the vow of the Nazirite is dedicating oneself to maintaining both the appearance and truth of holiness.

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 3-4.

    When Moses had done the census of the fighting age men of Israel he did not count the men of the tribe of Levi because the tribe of Levi was set aside to serve the Tabernacle and the priests. Now Moses conducted a count of the males of the tribe of Levi. Unlike with the census of the rest of the tribes Moses counted every male of the tribe of Levi one month old and older. The passage goes on to explain that the Levites represented the first born males of Israel whom God spared when He sent the angel of death to kill the first born sons in Egypt. There is a theme presented here that is alluded to elsewhere in the Old Testament. That theme is that the firstborn sons belong to God and need to be redeemed. I believe that there was a tradition among the people surrounding the Israelites of sacrificing the first born son to their gods. I believe the message here and elsewhere was that those peoples got it partially right; our children belong to God. However, God did not, and does not, desire us to sacrifice our children, not even our firstborn. Our children belong to God, we have no right to take their lives, not even before they are born.