Who would have thought that a book called Numbers would contain interesting stories that are applicable to our lives today?  Actually, the Jews call the book In the Desert, which is not only a more engaging title but also more descriptive of the history the book records about the wanderings of the people of God in the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land.  The New Testament refers several times Numbers in order to point us to Christ and to call us to persevere in faith until we reach our Promised Land.  If you need some encouragement for the journey, it’s Numbers to the rescue!

While Leviticus makes for difficult reading for people today, it contains a simple message that everyone needs to learn: God is holy, so we may approach him only in the manner he determines. In the context of Leviticus, God determined that his people approach him through a holy priest offering a perfect sacrifice.  However, the fact that the people had to offer many sacrifices through many priests over many centuries indicated that none of the sacrifices finally took away their sins.  It turns out that the whole system was pointing forward to Jesus, the only truly holy priest who offered himself as the only perfect sacrifice.

While Leviticus makes for difficult reading for people today, it contains a simple message that everyone needs to learn: God is holy, so we may approach him only in the manner he determines. In the context of Leviticus, God determined that his people approach him through a holy priest offering a perfect sacrifice.  However, the fact that the people had to offer many sacrifices through many priests over many centuries indicated that none of the sacrifices finally took away their sins.  It turns out that the whole system was pointing forward to Jesus, the only truly holy priest who offered himself as the only perfect sacrifice.

We left off the story at the end of Genesis with Joseph’s coffin in Egypt and his words about God visiting his people in the future to bring them up from Egypt.  In Exodus, we pick up the story some generations later when the Hebrews found themselves enslaved and calling out to God for rescue.  He heard them and did indeed rescue them through the agency of a man named Moses.  However, things did not go smoothly in the aftermath, which points to the fact that this visitation was not the ultimate one.  Exodus points us forward to a greater visitation and a greater rescue.

We left off the story at the end of Genesis with Joseph’s coffin in Egypt and his words about God visiting his people in the future to bring them up from Egypt.  In Exodus, we pick up the story some generations later when the Hebrews found themselves enslaved and calling out to God for rescue.  He heard them and did indeed rescue them through the agency of a man named Moses.  However, things did not go smoothly in the aftermath, which points to the fact that this visitation was not the ultimate one.  Exodus points us forward to a greater visitation and a greater rescue.