Deuteronomy is the last will and testament of Moses. Some of the starting stuff is geographical in nature, but he quickly gets into some really interesting stuff about ancient giants, and he adds a lot more texture to the stories that we have already covered from Exodus through Numbers.

Mark is the second gospel we will be reading. We have already covered John. You’ll find that these two don’t have a whole lot of overlap. That is okay. Each is concerned with conveying different and essential things about the God-Man. Soak it all up.

Make sure to share this with anyone you know that needs to cover some ground in the scriptures. God bless you as you respond in faith to the Christian canon!

Deuteronomy 1

These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—in the Arabah opposite Suph—between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 

It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb  to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir. 

In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them. 

This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 

On the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying: 

The LORD our God said to us at Horeb: “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 

Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates. 

See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.” 

At that time I said to you, “I cannot carry the burden for you alone. The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky. 

May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised. 

But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes all by myself? 

Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.” 

And you answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.” 

So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them as leaders over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and as officers for your tribes. 

At that time I charged your judges: “Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident. 

Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.” 

And at that time I commanded you all the things you were to do. 

And just as the LORD our God had commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Kadesh-barnea, 

I said: “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. 

See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.” 

Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us to search out the land and bring us word of what route to follow and which cities to enter.” 

The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe. 

They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied out the land. 

They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us word: “It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.” 

But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. 

You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be annihilated. 

Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’ ” 

So I said to you: “Do not be terrified or afraid of them! The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt and in the wilderness, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.” 

But in spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, who went before you on the journey, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, to seek out a place for you to camp and to show you the road to travel. 

When the LORD heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath, saying, “Not one of the men of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your fathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.” 

The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land. 

Joshua son of Nun, who stands before you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit the land. 

And the little ones you said would become captives—your children who on that day did not know good from evil—will enter the land that I will give them, and they will possess it. 

But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.” 

“We have sinned against the LORD,” you replied. “We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God has commanded us.” Then each of you put on his weapons of war, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country. 

But the LORD said to me, “Tell them not to go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from defeat by your enemies.” 

So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country. 

Then the Amorites who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir all the way to Hormah. 

And you returned and wept before the LORD, but He would not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 

For this reason you stayed in Kadesh for a long time—a very long time.

Deuteronomy 2

Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir. 

At this time the LORD said to me, “You have been wandering around this hill country long enough; turn to the north and command the people: ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful. 

Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession. You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’ ” 

Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing. 

So we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber, and traveled along the road of the Wilderness of Moab. 

Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.” 

(The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites. 

The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the LORD gave them as their possession.) 

“Now arise and cross over the Brook of Zered.” So we crossed over the Brook of Zered. 

The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them. 

Indeed, the LORD’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished. 

Now when all the fighting men among the people had died, the LORD said to me, “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar. 

But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession.” 

(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. 

They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place, 

just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day. 

And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, were destroyed by the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtor  and settled in their place.) 

“Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle. 

This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.” 

So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying, 

“Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left. 

You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot, just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.” 

But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day. 

Then the LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.” 

So Sihon and his whole army came out for battle against us at Jahaz. And the LORD our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and his whole army. 

At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destruction  the people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors. 

We carried off for ourselves only the livestock and the plunder from the cities we captured. 

From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them. 

But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, or the land along the banks of the Jabbok River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that the LORD our God had forbidden.

Deuteronomy 3

Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 

But the LORD said to me, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” 

So the LORD our God also delivered Og king of Bashan and his whole army into our hands. We struck them down until no survivor was left. 

At that time we captured all sixty of his cities. There was not a single city we failed to take—the entire region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 

All these cities were fortified with high walls and gates and bars, and there were many more unwalled villages. 

We devoted them to destruction, as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city. 

But all the livestock and plunder of the cities we carried off for ourselves. 

At that time we took from the two kings of the Amorites the land across the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Hermon— which the Sidonians call Sirion but the Amorites call Senir— all the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead, and all of Bashan as far as the cities of Salecah and Edrei in the kingdom of Og. 

(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.) 

So at that time we took possession of this land. To the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the land beyond Aroer along the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead, along with its cities. 

To the half-tribe of Manasseh I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og. (The entire region of Argob, the whole territory of Bashan, used to be called the land of the Rephaim.) 

Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. He renamed Bashan after himself, Havvoth-jair, by which it is called to this day. 

To Machir I gave Gilead, and to the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead to the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley was the border) and up to the Jabbok River, the border of the Ammonites. 

The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea ) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east. 

At that time I commanded you: “The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor are to cross over, armed for battle, ahead of your brothers, the Israelites. 

But your wives, your children, and your livestock—I know that you have much livestock—may remain in the cities I have given you, until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as He has to you, and they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them across the Jordan. Then each of you may return to the possession I have given you.” 

And at that time I commanded Joshua: “Your own eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. The LORD will do the same to all the kingdoms you are about to enter. 

Do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God Himself will fight for you.” 

At that time I also pleaded with the LORD: “O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your greatness and power to Your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can perform such works and mighty acts as Yours? 

Please let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that pleasant hill country as well as Lebanon!” 

But the LORD was angry with me on account of you, and He would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said to me. “Do not speak to Me again about this matter. 

Go to the top of Pisgah and look to the west and north and south and east. See the land with your own eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan. 

But commission Joshua, encourage him, and strengthen him, for he will cross over ahead of the people and enable them to inherit the land that you will see.” 

So we stayed in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

Deuteronomy 4

Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 

You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you. 

Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor. 

But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive to this day, every one of you. 

See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land that you are about to enter and possess. 

Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 

For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him? 

And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today? 

Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren. 

The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, “Gather the people before Me to hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach them to their children.” 

You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. 

And the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. 

He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to follow—the Ten Commandments  that He wrote on two tablets of stone. 

At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. 

So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female, of any beast that is on the earth or bird that flies in the air, or of any creature that crawls on the ground or fish that is in the waters below. 

When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 

Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today. 

The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. 

For I will not be crossing the Jordan, because I must die in this land. But you shall cross over and take possession of that good land. 

Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you. 

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 

After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form—doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger— 

I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed. 

Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. 

And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. 

But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 

When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. 

For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath. 

Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported? 

Has a people ever heard the voice of God  speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived? 

Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes? 

You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him. 

He let you hear His voice from heaven to discipline you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the fire. 

Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power, to drive out before you nations greater and mightier than you, and to bring you into their land and give it to you for your inheritance, as it is this day. 

Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 

Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time. 

Then Moses set aside three cities across the Jordan to the east to which a manslayer could flee after killing his neighbor unintentionally without prior malice. 

To save one’s own life, he could flee to one of these cities: Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, or Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites. 

This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites. These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt, while they were in the valley across the Jordan facing Beth-peor in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt. 

They took possession of the land belonging to Sihon and to Og king of Bashan—the two Amorite kings across the Jordan to the east— extending from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Siyon  (that is, Hermon), including all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan and as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.

Mark 1

This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: 

“Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.” “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’ ” 

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 

People went out to him from all of Jerusalem and the countryside of Judea. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 

John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 

And he began to proclaim: “After me will come One more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 

As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, He saw  the heavens breaking open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. 

And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” 

At once the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, and He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered to Him. 

After the arrest of John, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God. 

“The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!” 

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 

“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” And at once they left their nets and followed Him. 

Going on a little farther, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat, mending their nets. 

Immediately Jesus called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him. 

Then Jesus and His companions went to Capernaum, and right away Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. 

The people were astonished at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 

Suddenly a man with an unclean spirit cried out in the synagogue: “What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” 

But Jesus rebuked the spirit. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!” At this, the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and came out with a loud shriek. 

All the people were amazed and began to ask one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him!” 

And the news about Jesus spread quickly through the whole region of Galilee. 

As soon as Jesus and His companions had left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 

Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever, and they promptly told Jesus about her. 

So He went to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them. 

That evening, after sunset, people brought to Jesus all who were sick and demon-possessed, and the whole town gathered at the door. 

And He healed many who were ill with various diseases and drove out many demons. But He would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who He was. 

Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray. Simon and his companions went to look for Him, and when they found Him, they said, “Everyone is looking for You!” 

But Jesus answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns so I can preach there as well, for that is why I have come.” 

So He went throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. 

Then a leper  came to Jesus, begging on his knees: “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” 

Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him, and the man was cleansed. 

Jesus promptly sent him away with a stern warning: “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 

But the man went out and openly began to proclaim and spread the news. 

Consequently, Jesus could no longer enter a town in plain view, but He stayed out in solitary places. Yet people came to Him from every quarter.

Mark 2

A few days later Jesus went back to Capernaum. And when the people heard that He was home, they gathered in such large numbers that there was no more room, not even outside the door, as Jesus spoke the word to them. 

Then a paralytic was brought to Him, carried by four men. 

Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat. 

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 

But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 

At once Jesus knew in His spirit that they were thinking this way within themselves. “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?” He asked. 

“Which is easier: to say to a paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” 

And immediately the man got up, picked up his mat, and walked out in front of them all. As a result, they were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” 

Once again Jesus went out beside the sea. All the people came to Him, and He taught them there. 

As He was walking along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up and followed Him. 

While Jesus was dining at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Him and His disciples—for there were many who followed Him. 

When the scribes who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat  with tax collectors and sinners?” 

On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were often fasting. So people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t Your disciples fast like John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees?” 

Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them? As long as He is with them, they cannot fast. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. 

No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, and a worse tear will result. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.” 

One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain as they walked along. 

So the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 

Jesus replied, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 

During the high priesthood of Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests. And he gave some to his companions as well.” 

Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Tomorrow is a catch-up day. Before that, we finish off 1 Corinthians. Today is one of those rare days in which the New Testament dominates. The Psalm is the only taste of the Old Testament.

As you make your way through today, you might hear a pretty solid rebuke of pretty normal charismatic practices around speaking in tongues. While Paul spoke in tongues and argued for its utility in worship when translation was possible, he largely stands against tongues being something that defines the assembly. He also seems to indicate pretty strongly that the laity should be participating in worship more than is really seen today. Hold up his words against how it is that your local church does things.

1 Corinthians 12

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 

Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 

There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people. 

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 

To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 

All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines. 

The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ. 

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink. 

For the body does not consist of one part, but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 

And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 

But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.” 

On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts we consider less honorable, we treat with greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty, whereas our presentable parts have no such need. 

But God has composed the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another. 

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 

Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it. 

And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues. 

Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. 

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. 

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 

If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing. 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. 

Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed. 

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away. 

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. 

Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 14

Earnestly pursue love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 

But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, encouragement, and comfort. The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 

I wish that all of you could speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be edified. 

Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 

Even in the case of lifeless instruments, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone recognize the tune they are playing unless the notes are distinct? 

Again, if the trumpet sounds a muffled call, who will prepare for battle? 

So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 

Assuredly, there are many different languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 

If, then, I do not know the meaning of someone’s language, I am a foreigner  to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. 

It is the same with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, strive to excel in gifts that build up the church. 

Therefore, the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 

What then shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. 

Otherwise, if you speak a blessing in spirit, how can someone who is uninstructed say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? 

You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other one is not edified. 

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church, I would rather speak five coherent words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. 

Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature. It is written in the Law: 

“By strange tongues and foreign lips I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to Me, says the Lord.” 

Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. 

So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who are uninstructed or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 

But if an unbeliever or uninstructed person comes in while everyone is prophesying, he will be convicted and called to account by all, and the secrets of his heart will be made known. So he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is truly among you!” 

What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church. 

If anyone speaks in a tongue, two, or at most three, should speak in turn, and someone must interpret. 

But if there is no interpreter, he should remain silent in the church and speak only to himself and God. 

Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is seated, the first speaker should stop. 

For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 

For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace—as in all the churches of the saints. 

Women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 

If they wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church. 

Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached? 

If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual person, let him acknowledge that what I am writing you is the Lord’s command. 

But if anyone ignores this, he himself will be ignored. 

So, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner.

1 Corinthians 15

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, and in which you stand firm. 

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas  and then to the Twelve. 

After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 

And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth. 

For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 

Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. 

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith. 

In that case, we are also exposed as false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead, but He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. 

For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men. 

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 

But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him. 

Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. 

For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 

For “God has put everything under His feet.” Now when it says that everything has been put under Him, this clearly does not include the One who put everything under Him. 

And when all things have been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all. 

If these things are not so, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 

And why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day, brothers, as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, 

“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame. 

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 

And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. 

But God gives it a body as He has designed, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body. 

Not all flesh is the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another, and fish another. 

There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the splendor of the heavenly bodies is of one degree, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is of another. 

The sun has one degree of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. 

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 

So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit. 

The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 

As was the earthly man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 

And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man. 

Now I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 

For the perishable must be clothed  with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 

“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” 

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 16

Now about the collection for the saints, you are to do as I directed the churches of Galatia: 

On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a portion of his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will be needed. 

Then, on my arrival, I will send letters with those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem. And if it is advisable for me to go also, they can travel with me. 

After I go through Macedonia, however, I will come to you; for I will be going through Macedonia. 

Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. 

For I do not want to see you now only in passing; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, even though many oppose me. 

If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, just as I am. 

No one, then, should treat him with contempt. Send him on his way in peace so that he can return to me, for I am expecting him along with the brothers. 

Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was not at all inclined to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity. 

Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong. Do everything in love. 

You know that Stephanas and his household were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. Now I urge you, brothers, to submit to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. 

I am glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you. 

For they refreshed my spirit and yours as well. Show your appreciation, therefore, to such men. 

The churches in the province of Asia  send you greetings. 

Aquila and Prisca  greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. 

All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 

This greeting is in my own hand—Paul. 

If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be under a curse. Come, O Lord! 

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 

My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus. 

Amen.

Psalm 44

We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old. With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out. For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them. You are my King, O God, who ordains victories for Jacob. Through You we repel our foes; through Your name we trample our enemies. For I do not trust in my bow, nor does my sword save me. For You save us from our enemies; You put those who hate us to shame. In God we have boasted all day long, and Your name we will praise forever. 

Selah 

But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies. You have made us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have plundered us. You have given us up as sheep to be devoured; You have scattered us among the nations. You sell Your people for nothing; no profit do You gain from their sale. You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock  among the peoples. All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face, at the voice of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy, bent on revenge. All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten You or betrayed Your covenant. Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path. But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals; You have covered us with deepest darkness. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart? Yet for Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever. Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul has sunk to the dust; our bodies cling to the earth. Rise up; be our help! Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.

Numbers is wrapping up, and we are now getting into the nitty gritty of how it is that the Israelites went about dividing the land. Right off the bat, things are getting complicated, as a couple of the tribes don’t even want the Promised Land because a couple of the newly-conquered lands are ideal for them. Moreover, there is a problem with future inheritance of land. In the current US, indigenous folks were once apportioned lands, but those lands could be transferred to whites in various means. That meant the original population was eventually displaced. The Israelites saw that the transfer of lands could happen by marriage between tribes, such that eventually one tribe could irreversibly suffer the loss of land. Moses and his leadership were able to effectively anticipate these things and lay a foundation for equity.

In the Corinthians excerpt, we deal with the sacrament of the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper) and the principles undergirding it. It can be done (and still is sometimes) wrongly. Paul flatly says that we should imitate him. Sometimes that is a loving thing to say. Sometimes we need to listen…

Make sure to maintain the right disposition to these things. Don’t close yourself off. Don’t start getting comfortable. The scriptures were written to discomfort us in some important ways, while simultaneously offering good news and comfort. Do your best to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in how you read and listen.

Numbers 32

Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock. 

So the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, and said, “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, which the LORD conquered before the congregation of Israel, are suitable for livestock—and your servants have livestock.” 

“If we have found favor in your sight,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.” 

But Moses asked the Gadites and Reubenites, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land that the LORD has given them? This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to inspect the land. 

For when your fathers went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land that the LORD had given them. 

So the anger of the LORD was kindled that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 

‘Because they did not follow Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years of age or older who came out of Egypt will see the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun—because they did follow the LORD wholeheartedly.’ 

The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation who had done evil in His sight was gone. 

Now behold, you, a brood of sinners, have risen up in place of your fathers to further stoke the burning anger of the LORD against Israel. 

For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.” 

Then the Gadites and Reubenites approached Moses and said, “We want to build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our little ones. But we will arm ourselves and be ready  to go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our little ones will remain in the fortified cities for protection from the inhabitants of the land. 

We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has taken possession of his inheritance. Yet we will not have an inheritance with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan.” 

Moses replied, “If you will do this—if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for battle, and if every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the LORD, until He has driven His enemies out before Him, then when the land is subdued before the LORD, you may return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the LORD. 

But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out. Build cities for your little ones and folds for your flocks, but do what you have promised.” 

The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do just as our lord commands. Our children, our wives, our livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead. 

But your servants are equipped for war, and every man will cross over to the battle before the LORD, just as our lord says.” 

So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the family leaders of the tribes of Israel. 

And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, with every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession. 

But if they do not arm themselves and go across with you, then they must accept their possession among you in the land of Canaan.” 

The Gadites and Reubenites replied, “As the LORD has spoken to your servants, so we will do. 

We will cross over into the land of Canaan armed before the LORD, that we may have our inheritance on this side of the Jordan.” 

So Moses gave to the Gadites, to the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the land including its cities and the territory surrounding them. 

And the Gadites built up Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and they built folds for their flocks. 

The Reubenites built up Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, as well as Nebo and Baal-meon (whose names were changed), and Sibmah. And they renamed the cities they rebuilt. 

The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there. 

So Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Machir son of Manasseh, and they settled there. Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages and called them Havvoth-jair. 

And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages and called it Nobah, after his own name.

Numbers 33

These are the journeys of the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt by their divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 

At the LORD’s command, Moses recorded the stages of their journey. These are the stages listed by their starting points: 

On the fifteenth day of the first month, on the day after the Passover, the Israelites set out from Rameses. They marched out defiantly  in full view of all the Egyptians, who were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them; for the LORD had executed judgment against their gods. 

The Israelites set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth. They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. They set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon, and they camped near Migdol. 

They set out from Pi-hahiroth  and crossed through the sea, into the wilderness, and they journeyed three days into the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. They set out from Marah and came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 

They set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea. They set out from the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin. They set out from the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah. They set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. They set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 

They set out from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai. They set out from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah. They set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. They set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. 

They set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. They set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. They set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. They set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. They set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 

They set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. They set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. They set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. They set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. They set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 

They set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. They set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. They set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. They set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad. They set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. 

They set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. They set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber. They set out from Ezion-geber and camped at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin. They set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the outskirts of the land of Edom. 

At the LORD’s command, Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor and died there on the first day of the fifth month, in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt. 

Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor. 

Now the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming. 

And the Israelites set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. They set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. They set out from Punon and camped at Oboth. They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim on the border of Moab. They set out from Iyim  and camped at Dibon-gad. 

They set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. They set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim  facing Nebo. They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. 

And there on the plains of Moab they camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim. 

On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places. 

You are to take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 

And you are to divide the land by lot according to your clans. Give a larger inheritance to a larger clan and a smaller inheritance to a smaller one. Whatever falls to each one by lot will be his. You will receive an inheritance according to the tribes of your fathers. 

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you settle. And then I will do to you what I had planned to do to them.”

Numbers 34

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Command the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, it will be allotted to you as an inheritance with these boundaries: 

Your southern border will extend from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom. On the east, your southern border will run from the end of the Salt Sea, cross south of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and go south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it will go on to Hazar-addar and proceed to Azmon, where it will turn from Azmon, join the Brook of Egypt, and end at the Sea. 

Your western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea; this will be your boundary on the west. 

Your northern border will run from the Great Sea directly to Mount Hor, and from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath, then extend to Zedad, continue to Ziphron, and end at Hazar-enan. This will be your boundary on the north. 

And your eastern border will run straight from Hazar-enan to Shepham, then go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Chinnereth. 

Then the border will go down along the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. 

This will be your land, defined by its borders on all sides.” 

So Moses commanded the Israelites, “Apportion this land by lot as an inheritance. The LORD has commanded that it be given to the nine and a half tribes. 

For the tribes of the Reubenites and Gadites, along with the half-tribe of Manasseh, have already received their inheritance. 

These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan from Jericho, toward the sunrise.” 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “These are the names of the men who are to assign the land as an inheritance for you: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. 

Appoint one leader from each tribe to distribute the land. These are their names: 

Caleb son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah; Shemuel son of Ammihud from the tribe of Simeon; Elidad son of Chislon from the tribe of Benjamin; Bukki son of Jogli, a leader from the tribe of Dan; Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph; Kemuel son of Shiphtan, a leader from the tribe of Ephraim; Eli-zaphan son of Parnach, a leader from the tribe of Zebulun; Paltiel son of Azzan, a leader from the tribe of Issachar; Ahihud son of Shelomi, a leader from the tribe of Asher; and Pedahel son of Ammihud, a leader from the tribe of Naphtali.” 

These are the ones whom the LORD commanded to apportion the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

Numbers 35

Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho: “Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities. 

The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock. The pasturelands around the cities you are to give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits  from the wall on every side. 

You are also to measure two thousand cubits  outside the city on the east, two thousand on the south, two thousand on the west, and two thousand on the north, with the city in the center. These areas will serve as larger pasturelands for the cities. 

Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities. 

The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, with their corresponding pasturelands. 

The cities that you apportion from the territory of the Israelites should be given to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.” 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there. 

You are to have these cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands trial before the assembly. The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. Select three cities across the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge. 

These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there. 

If, however, anyone strikes a person with an iron object and kills him, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death. Or if anyone has in his hand a stone of deadly size, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death. 

If anyone has in his hand a deadly object of wood, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death. The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him. 

Likewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him, or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death; he is a murderer. When the avenger of blood finds the murderer, he is to kill him. 

But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally, or without looking drops a heavy stone that kills him, but he was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him, then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. 

The assembly is to protect the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. 

But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he fled and the avenger of blood finds him outside of his city of refuge and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed because the manslayer must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may he return to the land he owns. 

This will be a statutory ordinance for you for the generations to come, wherever you live. 

If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a lone witness. 

You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death. 

Nor should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to a city of refuge and allow him to return and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. 

Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 

Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.”

Numbers 36

Now the family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, one of the clans of Joseph, approached Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families and addressed them, saying, “When the LORD commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, He also commanded him to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 

But if they marry any of the men from the other tribes of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the portion of our fathers and added to the tribe into which they marry. So our allotted inheritance would be taken away. 

And when the Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to the tribe into which they marry and taken away from the tribe of our fathers.” 

So at the word of the LORD, Moses commanded the Israelites: “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks correctly. 

This is what the LORD has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they please, provided they marry within a clan of the tribe of their father. 

No inheritance in Israel may be transferred from tribe to tribe, because each of the Israelites is to retain the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 

Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any Israelite tribe must marry within a clan of the tribe of her father, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers. 

No inheritance may be transferred from one tribe to another, for each tribe of Israel must retain its inheritance.” 

So the daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD had commanded Moses. 

Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to cousins on their father’s side. 

They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan. 

These are the commandments and ordinances that the LORD gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

1 Corinthians 11

You are to imitate me, just as I imitate Christ. 

Now I commend you for remembering me in everything and for maintaining the traditions, just as I passed them on to you. 

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 

Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 

And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved. 

If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. And if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. 

A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. 

Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason a woman ought to have a sign of authority on  her head, because of the angels. 

In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 

For just as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. 

Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Doesn’t nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. If anyone is inclined to dispute this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God. 

In the following instructions I have no praise to offer, because your gatherings do more harm than good. 

First of all, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 

And indeed, there must be differences among you to show which of you are approved. 

Now then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat. For as you eat, each of you goes ahead without sharing his meal. While one remains hungry, another gets drunk. 

Don’t you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? No, I will not! 

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 

In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the  body and blood of the Lord. 

Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body  eats and drinks judgment on himself. 

That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 

Now if we judged ourselves properly, we would not come under judgment. 

But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. 

So, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 

If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you come together it will not result in judgment. And when I come, I will give instructions about the remaining matters.

Fall is upon us and my kids are playing out in the back yard. I think we will have a bonfire here in a bit.

With each new season, we get to mark times of our lives by what we do at those times. For instance, I remember Spring in Idaho distinctly because that was when my wife and I tried Crossfit for the first and only time. It was exhausting. We would be so tired from working out that we would park the truck in the garage and then take a nap together because we were too tired to get out and walk into the house. I will always remember my exhaustion and the sweetness of a little nap in the truck when my mind thinks of Spring.

Every season of life should be marked with dwelling in the scriptures. My wife and I host a morning worshiping community four mornings per week. Twelve or so people join in. We are getting to know one another. I recently asked how it was that the Lord brought each of them into closer fellowship with him. Almost every single person had a story of being in the scriptures more and coming to understand who God really is, rather than who they had always thought him to be.

Reading scripture is the most powerfully transformative thing you can do in your life, so long as it is accompanied by the illumination of the Holy Spirit. So I ask the Lord to send you his Spirit as you attend upon these readings with me today:

Numbers 28

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Command the Israelites and say to them: See that you present to Me at its appointed time the food for My offerings by fire, as a pleasing aroma to Me. 

And tell them that this is the offering made by fire you are to present to the LORD as a regular burnt offering each day: two unblemished year-old male lambs. 

Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour  as a grain offering, mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives. 

This is a regular burnt offering established at Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. 

The drink offering accompanying each lamb shall be a quarter hin. Pour out the offering of fermented drink to the LORD in the sanctuary area. 

And offer the second lamb at twilight, with the same grain offering and drink offering as in the morning. It is an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 

On the Sabbath day, present two unblemished year-old male lambs, accompanied by a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour  mixed with oil, as well as a drink offering. 

This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. 

At the beginning of every month, you are to present to the LORD a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished, along with three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering with each bull, two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering with the ram, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering with each lamb.

This is a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. 

Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine  with each bull, a third of a hin  with the ram, and a quarter hin with each lamb. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon throughout the year. 

In addition to the regular burnt offering with its drink offering, one male goat is to be presented to the LORD as a sin offering. 

The fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover. On the fifteenth day of this month, there shall be a feast; for seven days unleavened bread is to be eaten. 

On the first day there is to be a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work. 

Present to the LORD an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished. 

The grain offering shall consist of fine flour mixed with oil; offer three-tenths of an ephah with each bull, two-tenths of an ephah with the ram, and a tenth of an ephah with each of the seven lambs. Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. 

You are to present these in addition to the regular morning burnt offering. 

Offer the same food each day for seven days as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It is to be offered with its drink offering and the regular burnt offering. 

On the seventh day you shall hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work. 

On the day of firstfruits, when you present an offering of new grain to the LORD during the Feast of Weeks, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work. 

Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old as a pleasing aroma to the LORD, together with their grain offerings of fine flour mixed with oil—three-tenths of an ephah with each bull, two-tenths of an ephah with the ram, and a tenth of an ephah with each of the seven lambs. Include one male goat to make atonement for you. 

Offer them with their drink offerings in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering. The animals must be unblemished.

Numbers 29

“On the first day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly, and you must not do any regular work. This will be a day for you to sound the trumpets. 

As a pleasing aroma to the LORD, you are to present a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished, together with their grain offerings of fine flour mixed with oil—three-tenths of an ephah  with the bull, two-tenths of an ephah  with the ram, and a tenth of an ephah  with each of the seven male lambs. 

Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. 

These are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings with their prescribed grain offerings and drink offerings. They are a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. 

On the tenth day of this seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly, and you shall humble yourselves; you must not do any work. 

Present as a pleasing aroma to the LORD a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished, together with their grain offerings of fine flour mixed with oil—three-tenths of an ephah with the bull, two-tenths of an ephah with the ram, and a tenth of an ephah with each of the seven lambs. 

Include one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering of atonement and the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offerings. 

On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work, and you shall observe a feast to the LORD for seven days. 

As a pleasing aroma to the LORD, you are to present an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished, along with the grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil with each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths of an ephah with each of the two rams, and a tenth of an ephah with each of the fourteen lambs.

Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering. 

On the second day you are to present twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished, along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed. 

Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering. 

On the third day you are to present eleven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished, along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed. 

Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering. 

On the fourth day you are to present ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished, along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed. 

Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering. 

On the fifth day you are to present nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished, along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed. 

Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering. 

On the sixth day you are to present eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished, along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed. 

Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering. 

On the seventh day you are to present seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished, along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed. 

Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering. 

On the eighth day you are to hold a solemn assembly; you must not do any regular work. 

As a pleasing aroma to the LORD, you are to present an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished, along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed. 

Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering. 

You are to present these offerings to the LORD at your appointed times, in addition to your vow and freewill offerings, whether burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, or peace offerings.” 

So Moses spoke all this to the Israelites just as the LORD had commanded him.

Numbers 30

Then Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded: If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised. 

And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge, and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. 

But if her father prohibits her on the day he hears about it, then none of the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. The LORD will absolve her because her father has prohibited her. 

If a woman marries while under a vow or rash promise by which she has bound herself, and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her on that day, then the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. 

But if her husband prohibits her when he hears of it, he nullifies the vow that binds her or the rash promise she has made, and the LORD will absolve her. 

Every vow a widow or divorced woman pledges to fulfill is binding on her. 

If a woman in her husband’s house has made a vow or put herself under an obligation with an oath, and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her and does not prohibit her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. 

But if her husband nullifies them on the day he hears of them, then nothing that came from her lips, whether her vows or pledges, shall stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will absolve her. 

Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow or any sworn pledge to deny herself. 

But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all the vows and pledges that bind her. He has confirmed them, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard about them. But if he nullifies them after he hears of them, then he will bear her iniquity.” 

These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the relationship between a man and his wife, and between a father and a young daughter still in his home.

Numbers 31

And the LORD said to Moses, “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.” 

So Moses told the people, “Arm some of your men for war, that they may go against the Midianites and execute the LORD’s vengeance on them. Send into battle a thousand men from each tribe of Israel.” 

So a thousand men were recruited from each tribe of Israel—twelve thousand armed for war. 

And Moses sent the thousand from each tribe into battle, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took with him the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling. 

Then they waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. 

Among the slain were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. 

The Israelites captured the Midianite women and their children, and they plundered all their herds, flocks, and goods. 

Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites had lived, as well as all their encampments, and carried away all the plunder and spoils, both people and animals. 

They brought the captives, spoils, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho. 

And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 

But Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who were returning from the battle. 

“Have you spared all the women?” he asked them. 

“Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD. 

So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man, but spare for yourselves every girl who has never had relations with a man. 

All of you who have killed a person or touched the dead are to remain outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day you are to purify both yourselves and your captives. 

And purify every garment and leather good, everything made of goat’s hair, and every article of wood.” 

Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses: 

Only the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—everything that can withstand the fire—must be put through the fire, and it will be clean. But it must still be purified with the water of purification. And everything that cannot withstand the fire must pass through the water. 

On the seventh day you are to wash your clothes, and you will be clean. After that you may enter the camp.” 

The LORD said to Moses, “You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the congregation are to take a count of what was captured, both of man and beast. Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to battle and the rest of the congregation. 

Set aside a tribute for the LORD from what belongs to the soldiers who went into battle: one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, or sheep. 

Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD. From the Israelites’ half, take one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or other animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.” 

So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD had commanded Moses, and this plunder remained from the spoils the soldiers had taken: 

675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 women who had not slept with a man. 

This was the half portion for those who had gone to war: 

337,500 sheep, including a tribute to the LORD of 675, 36,000 cattle, including a tribute to the LORD of 72, 30,500 donkeys, including a tribute to the LORD of 61, and 16,000 people, including a tribute to the LORD of 32. 

Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as an offering for the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 

From the Israelites’ half, which Moses had set apart from the men who had gone to war, this half belonged to the congregation: 

337,500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 people. 

From the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty persons and animals and gave them to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded him. 

Then the officers who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and of hundreds—approached Moses and said, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one of us is missing. 

So we have brought to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man acquired—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.” 

So Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them all the articles made out of gold. 

All the gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds presented as an offering to the LORD weighed 16,750 shekels. Each of the soldiers had taken plunder for himself. 

And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.

1 Corinthians 9

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord? 

Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. 

This is my defense to those who scrutinize me: Have we no right to food and to drink? 

Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? 

Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living? 

Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk? 

Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 

For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 

Isn’t He actually speaking on our behalf? Indeed, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they should also expect to share in the harvest. 

If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you? 

If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. 

Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings? 

In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. 

But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast. 

Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 

If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility. 

What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it. 

Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 

To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law. 

To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law. 

To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 

I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. 

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. 

Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. 

Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. 

No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 10

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 

They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 

Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness. 

These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did. 

Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and to drink, and got up to indulge in revelry.” 

We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 

We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes. And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. 

Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 

So the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall. 

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it. 

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say. 

Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 

Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf. 

Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar? 

Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 

No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons. 

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too. 

Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? 

“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying. No one should seek his own good, but the good of others. 

Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 

If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat anything set before you without raising questions of conscience. 

But if someone tells you, “This food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience— the other one’s conscience, I mean, not your own. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience? 

If I partake in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? 

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God— 

as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.

Balaam gets treated as an enemy in the New Testament, but in these stories in Numbers, he comes off as a good guy, doesn’t he? He submits to the will of the LORD and proclaims blessing upon the Israelites, standing against Balak in the process. However, according to later sources, he then concocts the plan to compromise Israel by having the women of the land seduce them. This method has regularly worked to get men to compromise their values and priorities. It works very well in this case, until the ensuing plague is ended by Phinehas. This disjointed story fits together only with some effort. We should manage it.

The stuff in Corinth continues to be relevant today. What becomes apparent is that the institution of marriage is not necessarily for emotional things, but is definitionally for sexual things. This rather transactional approach is treated with more clarity by Paul than our culture generally affords. It is almost as if individuals are supposed to have emotional intimacy with people beyond their spouses. I sometimes wonder if Americans have sorta warped what marriage is supposed to be, and that is why marriage fails so often today. Consider these things as you read through…

Numbers 24

And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not resort to sorcery as on previous occasions, but he turned his face toward the wilderness. 

When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him, and he lifted up an oracle, saying: 

“This is the prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of a man whose eyes are open, the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide open: How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel! They spread out like palm groves, like gardens beside a stream, like aloes the LORD has planted, like cedars beside the waters. Water will flow from his buckets, and his seed will have abundant water. His king will be greater than Agag, and his kingdom will be exalted. God brought him out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox, to devour hostile nations and crush their bones, to pierce them with arrows. He crouches, he lies down like a lion; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.” 

Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together and said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times. 

Therefore, flee at once to your home! I said I would richly reward you, but instead the LORD has denied your reward.” 

Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not already tell the messengers you sent me that even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD? I will speak whatever the LORD says. 

Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you what this people will do to your people in the days to come.” 

Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying, 

“This is the prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of a man whose eyes are open, the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide open: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls  of Moab and strike down all the sons of Sheth. Edom will become a possession, as will Seir, his enemy; but Israel will perform with valor. A ruler will come from Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city.” 

Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: 

“Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction.” 

Next he saw the Kenites and lifted up an oracle, saying: 

“Your dwelling place is secure, and your nest is set in a cliff. Yet Kain will be destroyed when Asshur  takes you captive.” 

Once more Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: 

“Ah, who can live unless God has ordained it? Ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus; they will subdue Asshur and Eber, but they too will perish forever.” 

Then Balaam arose and returned to his homeland, and Balak also went on his way.

Numbers 25

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab, who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods. So Israel joined in worshiping Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD burned against them. 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that His fierce anger may turn away from Israel.” 

So Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.” 

Just then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and the whole congregation of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 

On seeing this, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand, followed the Israelite into his tent, and drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and on through the belly of the woman. 

So the plague against the Israelites was halted, but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000. 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the Israelites; for he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My zeal. 

Declare, therefore, that I am granting him My covenant of peace. It will be a covenant of permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.” 

The name of the Israelite who was slain with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family. And the name of the slain Midianite woman was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family. 

And the LORD said to Moses, “Attack the Midianites and strike them dead. For they assailed you deceitfully when they seduced you in the matter of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of the Midianite leader, the woman who was killed on the day the plague came because of Peor.”

Numbers 26

After the plague had ended, the LORD said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, “Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by the houses of their fathers—all those twenty years of age or older who can serve in the army of Israel.” 

So on the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest issued the instruction, “Take a census of the men twenty years of age or older, as the LORD has commanded Moses.” 

And these were the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt: 

Reuben was the firstborn of Israel. These were the descendants of Reuben: The Hanochite clan from Hanoch, the Palluite clan from Pallu, the Hezronite clan from Hezron, and the Carmite clan from Carmi. 

These were the clans of Reuben, and their registration numbered 43,730. 

Now the son of Pallu was Eliab, and the sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. 

It was Dathan and Abiram, chosen by the congregation, who fought against Moses and Aaron with the followers of Korah who rebelled against the LORD. 

And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire consumed 250 men. They serve as a warning sign. 

However, the line of Korah did not die out. 

These were the descendants of Simeon by their clans: 

The Nemuelite clan from Nemuel, the Jaminite clan from Jamin, the Jachinite clan from Jachin, the Zerahite clan from Zerah, and the Shaulite clan from Shaul. 

These were the clans of Simeon, and there were 22,200 men. 

These were the descendants of Gad by their clans: 

The Zephonite clan from Zephon, the Haggite clan from Haggi, the Shunite clan from Shuni, the Oznite clan from Ozni, the Erite clan from Eri, the Arodite clan from Arod, and the Arelite clan from Areli. 

These were the clans of Gad, and their registration numbered 40,500. 

The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan. These were the descendants of Judah by their clans: 

The Shelanite clan from Shelah, the Perezite clan from Perez, and the Zerahite clan from Zerah. And these were the descendants of Perez: the Hezronite clan from Hezron and the Hamulite clan from Hamul. 

These were the clans of Judah, and their registration numbered 76,500. 

These were the descendants of Issachar by their clans: 

The Tolaite clan from Tola, the Punite clan from Puvah, the Jashubite clan from Jashub, and the Shimronite clan from Shimron. 

These were the clans of Issachar, and their registration numbered 64,300. 

These were the descendants of Zebulun by their clans: 

The Seredite clan from Sered, the Elonite clan from Elon, and the Jahleelite clan from Jahleel. 

These were the clans of Zebulun, and their registration numbered 60,500. 

The descendants of Joseph included the clans of Manasseh and Ephraim. 

These were the descendants of Manasseh: 

The Machirite clan from Machir, the father of Gilead, and the Gileadite clan from Gilead. These were the descendants of Gilead: the Iezerite clan from Iezer, the Helekite clan from Helek, the Asrielite clan from Asriel, the Shechemite clan from Shechem, the Shemidaite clan from Shemida, and the Hepherite clan from Hepher. 

Now Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons but only daughters. The names of his daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 

These were the clans of Manasseh, and their registration numbered 52,700. 

These were the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: 

The Shuthelahite clan from Shuthelah, the Becherite clan from Becher, and the Tahanite clan from Tahan. 

And the descendants of Shuthelah were the Eranite clan from Eran. 

These were the clans of Ephraim, and their registration numbered 32,500. 

These clans were the descendants of Joseph. 

These were the descendants of Benjamin by their clans: 

The Belaite clan from Bela, the Ashbelite clan from Ashbel, the Ahiramite clan from Ahiram, the Shuphamite clan from Shupham, and the Huphamite clan from Hupham. 

And the descendants of Bela from Ard and Naaman were the Ardite clan from Ard  and the Naamite clan from Naaman. 

These were the clans of Benjamin, and their registration numbered 45,600. 

These were the descendants of Dan by their clans: 

The Shuhamite clan from Shuham. 

These were the clans of Dan. 

All of them were Shuhamite clans, and their registration numbered 64,400. 

These were the descendants of Asher by their clans: 

The Imnite clan from Imnah, the Ishvite clan from Ishvi, and the Beriite clan from Beriah. 

And these were the descendants of Beriah: 

the Heberite clan from Heber and the Malchielite clan from Malchiel. 

And the name of Asher’s daughter was Serah. 

These were the clans of Asher, and their registration numbered 53,400. 

These were the descendants of Naphtali by their clans: 

The Jahzeelite clan from Jahzeel, the Gunite clan from Guni, the Jezerite clan from Jezer, and the Shillemite clan from Shillem. 

These were the clans of Naphtali, and their registration numbered 45,400. 

These men of Israel numbered 601,730 in all. 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “The land is to be divided among the tribes as an inheritance, according to the number of names. Increase the inheritance for a large tribe and decrease it for a small one; each tribe is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those registered. 

Indeed, the land must be divided by lot; they shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers. Each inheritance is to be divided by lot among the larger and smaller tribes.” 

Now these were the Levites numbered by their clans: 

The Gershonite clan from Gershon, the Kohathite clan from Kohath, and the Merarite clan from Merari. 

These were the families of the Levites: 

The Libnite clan, the Hebronite clan, the Mahlite clan, the Mushite clan, and the Korahite clan. 

Now Kohath was the father of Amram, and Amram’s wife was named Jochebed. She was also a daughter of Levi, born to Levi in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam. 

Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar were born to Aaron, but Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized  fire before the LORD. 

The registration of the Levites totaled 23,000, every male a month old or more; they were not numbered among the other Israelites, because no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites. 

These were the ones numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho. 

Among all these, however, there was not one who had been numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sinai. 

For the LORD had told them that they would surely die in the wilderness. Not one was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Numbers 27

Now the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. These were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the whole congregation, and said, 

“Our father died in the wilderness, but he was not among the followers of Korah who gathered together against the LORD. Instead, he died because of his own sin, and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father disappear from his clan because he had no sons? Give us property among our father’s brothers.” 

So Moses brought their case before the LORD, and the LORD answered him, “The daughters of Zelophehad speak correctly. You certainly must give them property as an inheritance among their father’s brothers, and transfer their father’s inheritance to them. 

Furthermore, you shall say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and leaves no son, you are to transfer his inheritance to his daughter. If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. 

If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. And if his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the next of kin from his clan, that he may take possession of it. This is to be a statutory ordinance for the Israelites, as the LORD has commanded Moses.’ ” 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range  and see the land that I have given the Israelites. After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was; 

for when the congregation contended in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against My command to show My holiness in their sight regarding the waters.” Those were the waters of Meribah  in Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin. 

So Moses appealed to the LORD, “May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” 

And the LORD replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man with the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and commission him in their sight. Confer on him some of your authority, so that the whole congregation of Israel will obey him. 

He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will go out and come in.” 

Moses did as the LORD had commanded him. He took Joshua, had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD had instructed through Moses.

1 Corinthians 7

Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good to abstain from sexual relations. But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. 

The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 

The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife. 

Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control. 

I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. 

Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am. 

But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. 

To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. 

To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 

And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 

But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you  to live in peace. 

How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? 

Regardless, each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is what I prescribe in all the churches. 

Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts. 

Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called. 

Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you—but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity. 

For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave. 

You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brothers, each one should remain in the situation he was in when God called him. 

Now about virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 

Because of the present  crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife. 

But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. 

What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing; and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away. 

I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord. 

But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife, and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the work of the Lord, how she can be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how she can please her husband. 

I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but in order to promote proper decorum and undivided devotion to the Lord. 

However, if someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his betrothed, and if she is beyond her youth and they ought to marry, let him do as he wishes; he is not sinning; they should get married. 

But the man who is firmly established in his heart and under no constraint, with control over his will and resolve in his heart not to marry the virgin, he will do well. 

So then, he who marries the virgin does well, but he who does not marry her does even better. 

A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord. 

In my judgment, however, she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

1 Corinthians 8

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the one who loves God is known by God. 

So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one. 

For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many so-called gods and lords), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist. 

But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that they eat such food as if it were sacrificed to an idol. And since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 

But food does not bring us closer to God: We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. 

Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you who are well informed eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols? 

So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. By sinning against your brothers in this way and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 

Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to stumble.

"The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath" - Matthew 12:8

This week we discussed the sabbath and Jesus' rebuttal to the Pharisees when they confront him about it.

Today we get the stories of the deaths of Miriam and Aaron, the siblings of Moses. We also get the story of Moses’ failing of God’s command to bring forth water from the rock by his words. When he chooses instead to strike the rock with his staff, he forfeits the privilege of leading his people into the Promised Land. We get the story of the God sending the venomous snakes to punish them for complaining. As those of you who have read the Gospel of John know, the “fiery serpent” on the pole represents Jesus. Finally, we get the stories of hostile nations refusing to let them pass, some of them opposing the Israelites, then being defeated. King Balak is the final challenger, who summons the prophet Balaam to curse Israel for him.

1 Corinthians deals with the sexual immorality and sin in the Corinthian community. It is a big deal. Our culture needs to consult these things. There is eternal and ancient wisdom here. He ignore it at our own peril.

Numbers 20

In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel entered the Wilderness of Zin and stayed in Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. 

Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron. 

The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD! Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? 

Why have you led us up out of Egypt to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain, figs, vines, or pomegranates—and there is no water to drink!” 

Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. 

And the LORD said to Moses, “Take the staff and assemble the congregation. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will pour out its water. You will bring out water from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.” 

So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he had been commanded. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 

Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink. 

But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” 

These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them. 

From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to tell the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has befallen us, how our fathers went down to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers, and when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. 

Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. Please let us pass through your land. We will not cut through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.” 

But Edom answered, “You may not travel through our land, or we will come out and confront you with the sword.” 

“We will stay on the main road,” the Israelites replied, “and if we or our herds drink your water, we will pay for it. There will be no problem; only let us pass through on foot.” 

But Edom insisted, “You may not pass through.” And they came out to confront the Israelites with a large army and a strong hand. 

So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their territory, and Israel turned away from them. 

After they had set out from Kadesh, the whole congregation of Israel came to Mount Hor. 

And at Mount Hor, near the border of the land of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will not enter the land that I have given the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah. 

Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up Mount Hor. Remove Aaron’s priestly garments and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will be gathered to his people and will die there.” 

So Moses did as the LORD had commanded, and they climbed Mount Hor in the sight of the whole congregation. 

After Moses had removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 

When the whole congregation saw that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.

Numbers 21

When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked Israel and captured some prisoners. 

So Israel made a vow to the LORD: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will devote their cities to destruction.” 

And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah. 

Then they set out from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, in order to bypass the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient on the journey and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” 

So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died. 

Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people. 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” 

So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live. 

Then the Israelites set out and camped at Oboth. They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness opposite Moab to the east. 

From there they set out and camped in the Valley of Zered. From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends into the Amorite territory. 

Now the Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites. Therefore it is stated in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: 

“Waheb in Suphah and the wadis of the Arnon, even the slopes of the wadis that extend to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.” 

From there they went on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people so that I may give them water.” Then Israel sang this song: 

“Spring up, O well, all of you sing to it! The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with their scepters and with their staffs.” 

From the wilderness the Israelites went on to Mattanah, and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland. 

Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, “Let us pass through your land. We will not cut through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.” 

But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. 

And Israel put him to the sword and took possession of his land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok—but only up to the border of the Ammonites, because it was fortified. Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its villages. 

Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land as far as the Arnon. That is why the poets say: 

“Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt; let the city of Sihon be restored. For a fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon’s heights. Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites. But we have overthrown them; Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon. We demolished them as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.” 

So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there. Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet them in battle at Edrei. 

But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” 

So they struck down Og, along with his sons and his whole army, until no remnant was left. And they took possession of his land.

Numbers 22

Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho. 

Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and Moab was terrified of the people because they were numerous. Indeed, Moab dreaded the Israelites. 

So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” 

Since Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time, he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates  in the land of his people. 

“Behold, a people has come out of Egypt,” said Balak. “They cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. So please come now and put a curse on this people, because they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land; for I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.” 

The elders of Moab and Midian departed with the fees for divination in hand. They came to Balaam and relayed to him the words of Balak. 

“Spend the night here,” Balaam replied, “and I will give you the answer that the LORD speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 

Then God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?” 

And Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message: ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them away.’ ” 

But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse this people, for they are blessed.” 

So Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s princes, “Go back to your homeland, because the LORD has refused to let me go with you.” 

And the princes of Moab arose, returned to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.” 

Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first messengers. 

They came to Balaam and said, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me, for I will honor you richly and do whatever you say. So please come and put a curse on this people for me!’ ” 

But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command of the LORD my God. So now, please stay here overnight as the others did, that I may find out what else the LORD has to tell me.” 

That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.” 

So in the morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. 

Then God’s anger was kindled because Balaam was going along, and the angel  of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 

When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the path and went into a field. So Balaam beat her to return her to the path. 

Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow passage between two vineyards, with walls on either side. And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD and pressed herself against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her once again. 

And the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn to the right or left. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he became furious and beat her with his staff. 

Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” 

Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!” 

But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not the donkey you have ridden all your life until today? Have I ever treated you this way before?” 

“No,” he replied. 

Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. And Balaam bowed low and fell facedown. 

The angel of the LORD asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you, because your way is perverse  before me. 

The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, then by now I would surely have killed you and let her live.” 

“I have sinned,” Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “for I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me. And now, if this is displeasing in your sight, I will go back home.” 

But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. 

When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the Moabite city on the Arnon border, at the edge of his territory. 

And he said to Balaam, “Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why did you not come to me? Am I really not able to richly reward you?” 

“See, I have come to you,” Balaam replied, “but can I say just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth.” 

So Balaam accompanied Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and he gave portions to Balaam and the princes who were with him. 

The next morning, Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could see the outskirts of the camp of the people.

Numbers 23

Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.” 

So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 

“Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone,” Balaam said to Balak. “Perhaps the LORD will meet with me. And whatever He reveals to me, I will tell you.” 

So Balaam went off to a barren height, and God met with him. “I have set up seven altars,” Balaam said, “and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.” 

Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.” 

So he returned to Balak, who was standing there beside his burnt offering, with all the princes of Moab. 

And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: 

“Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’ How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced? For I see them from atop the rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. Behold, a people dwelling apart, not reckoning themselves among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous; let my end be like theirs!” 

Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!” 

But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?” 

Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp—not all of them. And from there, curse them for me.” 

So Balak took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 

Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.” 

And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.” 

So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. 

“What did the LORD say?” Balak asked. 

Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: 

“Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O son of Zippor. God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it. He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them. God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox. For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’ Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.” 

Now Balak said to Balaam, “Then neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!” 

But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?” 

“Please come,” said Balak, “I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you curse them for me from there.” 

And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland. 

Then Balaam said, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.” 

So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

1 Corinthians 5

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. 

And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this? 

Although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 

When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus  and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of the Lord Jesus, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord. 

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 

Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth. 

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. I was not including the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 

But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. 

What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”

1 Corinthians 6

If any of you has a grievance against another, how dare he go to law before the unrighteous instead of before the saints! 

Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 

So if you need to settle everyday matters, do you appoint as judges those of no standing in the church? 

I say this to your shame. Is there really no one among you wise enough to arbitrate between his brothers? Instead, one brother goes to law against another, and this in front of unbelievers! 

The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 

Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, even against your own brothers! 

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 

“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. 

“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 

By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also. 

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 

Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 

But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit. 

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

Today’s readings are pretty darn interesting, starting with Korah’s Rebellion. For folks who perhaps haven’t read the bible a lot before, these stories are history, but they are also about us. We are rebellious, and there are consequences for that. And just like the Levites were special, so God’s priestly nation is likewise special. But we don’t get to decide what that means; God does. If we step out of line, we forfeit our lives and blessings.

Paul’s warnings about comfort similarly chasten those who want to imagine themselves more important than they are. He humbles them and reminds them of the most important, the most solid things. His language about everything we build being tested by fire has stuck with me throughout ministry.

Like I said, we have some great readings today. Enjoy!

Numbers 16

Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath son of Levi, along with some Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—conducted  a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 men of Israel renowned as leaders of the congregation and representatives in the assembly. 

They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” 

When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.  Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will reveal who belongs to Him  and who is holy, and He will bring that person near to Himself. The one He chooses, He will bring near to Himself. 

You, Korah, and all your followers are to do as follows: Take censers,  and tomorrow you are to place fire and incense in them in the presence of the LORD. Then the man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. It is you sons of Levi who have taken too much upon yourselves!” 

Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you sons of Levi!  Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near to Himself to perform the work at the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? 

He has brought you near, you and all your fellow Levites, but you are seeking the priesthood as well. Therefore, it is you and all your followers who have conspired against the LORD! As for Aaron, who is he that you should grumble against him?” 

Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come! Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Must you also appoint yourself as ruler over us? 

Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!” 

Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not regard their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them or mistreated a single one of them.” 

And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron. 

Each man is to take his censer, place incense in it, and present it before the LORD—250 censers. You and Aaron are to present your censers as well.” 

So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 

When Korah had gathered his whole assembly against them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole congregation. 

And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” 

But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?” 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the congregation to move away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” 

So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 

And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” 

So they moved away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Meanwhile, Dathan and Abiram had come out and stood at the entrances to their tents with their wives and children and infants. 

Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things, for it was not my own doing: If these men die a natural death, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. 

But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.” 

As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions. 

They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly. 

At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!” 

And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense. 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the censers from the flames and to scatter the coals far away, because the censers are holy. 

As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.” 

So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, just as the LORD commanded him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his followers. 

The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!” 

But when the congregation gathered against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the Tent of Meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. 

Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the LORD said to Moses, “Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown. 

Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.” 

So Aaron took the censer as Moses had ordered and ran into the midst of the assembly. And seeing that the plague had begun among the people, he offered the incense and made atonement for the people. 

He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted. But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who had died on account of Korah. 

Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, since the plague had been halted.

Numbers 17

And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and take from them twelve staffs, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man’s name on his staff, and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe. Place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you. 

The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.” 

So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff—one for each of the leaders of their tribes, twelve staffs in all. And Aaron’s staff was among them. 

Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony. 

The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds. 

Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff. 

The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.” 

So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him. 

Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost! Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?”

Numbers 18

So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood. 

But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony. 

And they shall attend to your duties and to all the duties of the Tent; but they must not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die. 

They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you. 

And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and of the altar, so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again. 

Behold, I Myself have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to perform the service for the Tent of Meeting. 

But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.” 

Then the LORD said to Aaron, “Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute. 

A portion of the most holy offerings reserved from the fire will be yours. From all the offerings they render to Me as most holy offerings, whether grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons. 

You are to eat it as a most holy offering, and every male may eat it. You shall regard it as holy. 

And this is yours as well: the offering of their gifts, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given this to you and your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat it. 

I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits. 

The firstfruits of everything in their land that they bring to the LORD will belong to you. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat them. 

Every devoted thing in Israel belongs to you. The firstborn of every womb, whether man or beast, that is offered to the LORD belongs to you. But you must surely redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. 

You are to pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs. 

But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 

And their meat belongs to you, just as the breast and right thigh of the wave offering belong to you. 

All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt  before the LORD for you and your offspring.” 

Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites. 

Behold, I have given to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the service of the Tent of Meeting. 

No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die. 

The Levites are to perform the work of the Tent of Meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites. 

For I have given to the Levites as their inheritance the tithe that the Israelites present to the LORD as a contribution. That is why I told them that they would not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.” 

And the LORD instructed Moses, “Speak to the Levites and tell them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you as your inheritance, you must present part of it as an offering to the LORD—a tithe of the tithe. 

Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. 

So you are to present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites, and from these you are to give the LORD’s offering to Aaron the priest. 

You must present the offering due the LORD from all the best of every gift, the holiest part of it.’ 

Therefore say to the Levites, ‘When you have presented the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the produce of the threshing floor or winepress. 

And you and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere; it is the compensation for your work at the Tent of Meeting. 

Once you have presented the best part of it, you will not incur guilt because of it. But you must not defile the sacred offerings of the Israelites, or else you will die.’ ”

Numbers 19

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke. 

Give it to Eleazar the priest, and he will have it brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 

Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. 

Then the heifer must be burned in his sight. Its hide, its flesh, and its blood are to be burned, along with its dung. 

The priest is to take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. 

Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that he may enter the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean until evening. 

The one who burned the heifer must also wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he too will be ceremonially unclean until evening. 

Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to gather up the ashes of the heifer and store them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept by the congregation of Israel for preparing the water of purification; this is for purification from sin. 

The man who has gathered up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he will be ceremonially unclean until evening. This is a permanent statute for the Israelites and for the foreigner residing among them. 

Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days. He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean. 

Anyone who touches a human corpse and fails to purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person must be cut off from Israel. He remains unclean, because the water of purification has not been sprinkled on him, and his uncleanness is still on him. 

This is the law when a person dies in a tent: Everyone who enters the tent and everyone already in the tent will be unclean for seven days, and any open container without a lid fastened on it is unclean. 

Anyone in the open field who touches someone who has been killed by the sword or has died of natural causes, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days. 

For the purification of the unclean person, take some of the ashes of the burnt sin offering, put them in a jar, and pour fresh water  over them. 

Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, all the furnishings, and the people who were there. He is also to sprinkle the one who touched a bone, a grave, or a person who has died or been slain. 

The man who is ceremonially clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day. After he purifies the unclean person on the seventh day, the one being cleansed must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and that evening he will be clean. 

But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he will be cut off from the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean. 

This is a permanent statute for the people: The one who sprinkles the water of purification must wash his clothes, and whoever touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening. 

Anything the unclean person touches will become unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening.”

1 Corinthians 3

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? 

For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? 

What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role. 

I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 

He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. 

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds. 

For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 

If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. 

If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames. 

Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in  you? 

If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. 

Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise. 

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” 

Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas  or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All of them belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

1 Corinthians 4

So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Now it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 

I care very little, however, if I am judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me. 

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. 

Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over another. 

For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? 

Already you have all you want. Already you have become rich. Without us, you have become kings. How I wish you really were kings, so that we might be kings with you! 

For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death. We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as well as to men. 

We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored. To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 

We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. 

I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. 

Even if you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 

That is why I have sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which is exactly what I teach everywhere in every church. 

Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 

But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only what these arrogant people are saying, but what power they have. 

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

I actually preached on part of this Numbers text today in worship. We have an anecdote of a man violating the Sabbath and being executed for it. The Sabbath is a big deal, scripturally speaking. Lots of scripture about it!There are also great stories of the people persisting in ungracious entitlement with the Lord, rebellion against his instruction, faithlessness in the face of adversity. Also, if you don’t know what the Anakim/Sons of Anak/Nephilim are, they were literal giants that were descendents of the “sons of God” (rebel angels) coming and having children with human women.Paul’s 1 Corinthians is an ever-fresh reminder of the relationship our faith has with worldliness. We are rightly seen as foolish to those who are condemned. That is as it should be. I thank God for Paul all the time. You should, too!

Numbers 11

Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. 

And the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. So that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them. 

Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat? 

We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing to see but this manna!” 

Now the manna resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of gum resin. 

The people walked around and gathered it, ground it on a handmill or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot or shaped it into cakes. It tasted like pastry baked with fine oil. 

When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it. 

Then Moses heard the people of family after family weeping at the entrances to their tents, and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly, and Moses was also displeased. 

So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people? 

Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth, so that You should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries an infant,’ to the land that You swore to give their fathers? 

Where can I get meat for all these people? For they keep crying out to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 

I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me. 

If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.” 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you. 

And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself. 

And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, because you have cried out in the hearing of the LORD, saying: ‘Who will feed us meat? For we were better off in Egypt!’ Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat. 

You will eat it not for one or two days, nor for five or ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and makes you nauseous—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have cried out before Him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’ ” 

But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’ 

If all our flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?” 

The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.” 

So Moses went out and relayed to the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent. 

Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again. 

Two men, however, had remained in the camp—one named Eldad and the other Medad—and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the tent, and they prophesied in the camp. 

A young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 

Joshua son of Nun, the attendant to Moses since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!” 

But Moses replied, “Are you jealous on my account? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would place His Spirit on them!” 

Then Moses returned to the camp, along with the elders of Israel. 

Now a wind sent by the LORD came up, drove in quail from the sea, and brought them near the camp, about two cubits above the surface of the ground, for a day’s journey in every direction around the camp. 

All that day and night, and all the next day, the people stayed up gathering the quail. No one gathered less than ten homers, and they spread them out all around the camp. 

But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague. 

So they called that place Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food. 

From Kibroth-hattaavah the people moved on to Hazeroth, where they remained for some time.

Numbers 12

Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife. 

“Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” they said. “Does He not also speak through us?” And the LORD heard this. 

Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth. 

And suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three, come out to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three went out, and the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the Tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them had stepped forward, 

He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream. But this is not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?” 

So the anger of the LORD burned against them, and He departed. 

As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous, and said to Moses, “My lord, please do not hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed. 

Please do not let her be like a stillborn infant whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” 

So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, please heal her!” 

But the LORD answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in.” 

So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought in again. 

After that, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

Numbers 13

And the LORD said to Moses, “Send out for yourself men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each of their fathers’ tribes send one man who is a leader among them.” 

So at the consent  of the LORD, Moses sent them out from the Wilderness of Paran. All the men were leaders of the Israelites, and these were their names: 

From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi; from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; and from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi. 

These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses gave to Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua. 

When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev and into the hill country. 

See what the land is like and whether its people are strong or weak, few or many. Is the land where they live good or bad? Are the cities where they dwell open camps or fortifications? 

Is the soil fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous, and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.) 

So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath. 

They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. 

When they came to the Valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which they carried on a pole between two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs. 

Because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut there, that place was called the Valley of Eshcol. 

After forty days the men returned from spying out the land, and they went back to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 

And they gave this account to Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit! 

Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants of Anak there. 

The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.” 

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly conquer it!” 

But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!” 

So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature. 

We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”

Numbers  14

Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept. 

All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! 

Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 

So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” 

Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel. 

Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to the whole congregation of Israel, “The land we passed through and explored is an exceedingly good land. 

If the LORD delights in us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and He will give it to us. 

Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, for they will be like bread for us. Their protection has been removed, and the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!” 

But the whole congregation threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb. 

Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting. 

And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them? 

I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.” 

But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them. 

And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have already heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, that You, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 

If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, 

‘Because the LORD was unable to bring this people into the land He swore to give them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 

So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared: 

‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’ 

Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your loving devotion, just as You have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.” 

“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied. “Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD, not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times—not one will ever see the land that I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will see it. 

But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it. 

Now since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.” 

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me. 

So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. 

Your bodies will fall in this wilderness—all who were numbered in the census, everyone twenty years of age or older—because you have grumbled against Me. 

Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 

But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it. As for you, however, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. 

Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. 

In keeping with the forty days you spied out the land, you shall bear your guilt forty years—a year for each day—and you will experience My alienation. 

I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this entire wicked congregation, which has conspired against Me. They will meet their end in the wilderness, and there they will die.” 

So the men Moses had sent to spy out the land, who had returned and made the whole congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report about the land—those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD. 

Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive. 

And when Moses relayed these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly. 

Early the next morning they got up and went up toward the ridge of the hill country. “We have indeed sinned,” they said, “but we will go to the place the LORD has promised.” 

But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed! 

Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you. 

For there the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the LORD, He will not be with you.” 

But they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of the LORD moved from the camp. 

Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.

Numbers 15

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: After you enter the land that I am giving you as a home and you present an offering made by fire to the LORD from the herd or flock to produce a pleasing aroma to the LORD—either a burnt offering or a sacrifice, for a special vow or freewill offering or appointed feast—then the one presenting his offering to the LORD shall also present a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour  mixed with a quarter hin of olive oil. 

With the burnt offering or sacrifice of each lamb, you are to prepare a quarter hin of wine as a drink offering. 

With a ram you are to prepare a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah  of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of olive oil, and a third of a hin of wine as a drink offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 

When you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice to fulfill a vow or as a peace offering to the LORD, present with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour  mixed with half a hin of olive oil. 

Also present half a hin of wine as a drink offering. It is an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. This is to be done for each bull, ram, lamb, or goat. 

This is how you must prepare each one, no matter how many. 

Everyone who is native-born shall prepare these things in this way when he presents an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 

And for the generations to come, if a foreigner residing with you or someone else among you wants to prepare an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he is to do exactly as you do. 

The assembly is to have the same statute both for you and for the foreign resident; it is a permanent statute for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the LORD. 

The same law and the same ordinance will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing with you.” 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land to which I am bringing you and you eat the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the LORD. 

From the first of your dough, you are to lift up a cake as a contribution; offer it just like an offering from the threshing floor. 

Throughout your generations, you are to give the LORD an offering from the first of your dough. 

Now if you stray unintentionally and do not obey all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses—all that the LORD has commanded you through Moses from the day the LORD gave them and continuing through the generations to come—and if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, then the whole congregation is to prepare one young bull as a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and drink offering according to the regulation, and one male goat as a sin offering. 

The priest is to make atonement for the whole congregation of Israel, so that they may be forgiven; for the sin was unintentional and they have brought to the LORD an offering made by fire and a sin offering, presented before the LORD for their unintentional sin. 

Then the whole congregation of Israel and the foreigners residing among them will be forgiven, since it happened to all the people unintentionally. 

Also, if one person sins unintentionally, he is to present a year-old female goat as a sin offering. 

And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the person who erred by sinning unintentionally; and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven. 

You shall have the same law for the one who acts in error, whether he is a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you. 

But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people. 

He shall certainly be cut off, because he has despised the word of the LORD and broken His commandment; his guilt remains on him.” 

While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 

Those who found the man gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation, and because it had not been declared what should be done to him, they placed him in custody. 

And the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death. The whole congregation is to stone him outside the camp.” 

So the whole congregation took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 

Later, the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout the generations to come they are to make for themselves tassels for the corners of their garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. 

These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes. 

Then you will remember and obey all My commandments, and you will be holy to your God. 

I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.”

1 Corinthians 1

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 

To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: 

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I always thank my God for you because of the grace He has given you in Christ Jesus. For in Him you have been enriched in every way, in all speech and all knowledge, because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 

Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. 

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction. 

My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 

What I mean is this: Individuals among you are saying, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that I do not remember if I baptized anyone else. 

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: 

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 

Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. 

Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. 

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 

He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast in His presence. 

It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. 

Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 2

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 

I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. 

Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 

No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began. 

None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Rather, as it is written: 

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 

But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. 

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 

For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 

We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 

And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 

The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 

The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

The Nazirite vow is the opening section today. It impacts not only our understanding of Samson, but also there are later New Testament echoes of such a vow. Then we get into a prolonged section on the offerings of the Tribes of Israel to glorify God. Following that, we have the institution of the Levitical Priesthood, the reinstitution of the Passover, and instructions for calling holy convocations. Always remember when reading these that they were given in the wilderness at the start of their forty years, long before they ever entered the Promised Land.

Jude is the New Testament contribution for today, one of the more succinct and beautiful books in our scriptures. Don’t peter out before we get there. The book has a very timely warning for local churches:

Numbers 6

And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, he is to abstain from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and he must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. 

All the days of his separation, he is not to eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins. 

For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall pass over his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the LORD is complete; he must let the hair of his head grow long. 

Throughout the days of his separation to the LORD, he must not go near a dead body. 

Even if his father or mother or brother or sister should die, he is not to defile himself, because the crown of consecration to his God is upon his head. 

Throughout the time of his separation, he is holy to the LORD. 

If someone suddenly dies in his presence and defiles his consecrated head of hair, he must shave his head on the day of his cleansing—the seventh day. 

On the eighth day he must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 

And the priest is to offer one as a sin offering  and the other as a burnt offering to make atonement for him, because he has sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. On that day he must consecrate his head again. 

He must rededicate his time of separation to the LORD and bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. But the preceding days shall not be counted, because his separation was defiled. 

Now this is the law of the Nazirite when his time of separation is complete: He must be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and he is to present an offering to the LORD of an unblemished year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, an unblemished year-old female lamb as a sin offering, and an unblemished ram as a peace offering—together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—and a basket of unleavened cakes made from fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers coated with oil. 

The priest is to present all these before the LORD and make the sin offering and the burnt offering. 

He shall also offer the ram as a peace offering to the LORD, along with the basket of unleavened bread. And the priest is to offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering. 

Then at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head, take the hair, and put it on the fire under the peace offering. 

And the priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands of the Nazirite who has just shaved the hair of his consecration. 

The priest shall then wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. This is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine. 

This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the LORD for his separation, in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes, according to the law of his separation.” 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons: This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 

‘May the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’ 

So they shall put My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Numbers 7

On the day Moses finished setting up the tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, along with the altar and all its utensils. 

And the leaders of Israel, the heads of their families, presented an offering. These men were the tribal leaders who had supervised the registration. 

They brought as their offering before the LORD six covered carts and twelve oxen—an ox from each leader and a cart from every two leaders—and presented them before the tabernacle. 

And the LORD said to Moses, “Accept these gifts from them, that they may be used in the work of the Tent of Meeting. And give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.” 

So Moses took the carts and oxen and gave them to the Levites. He gave the Gershonites two carts and four oxen, as their service required, and he gave the Merarites four carts and eight oxen, as their service required, all under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. 

But he did not give any to the Kohathites, since they were to carry on their shoulders the holy objects for which they were responsible. 

When the altar was anointed, the leaders approached with their offerings for its dedication and presented them before the altar. 

And the LORD said to Moses, “Each day one leader is to present his offering for the dedication of the altar.” 

On the first day Nahshon son of Amminadab from the tribe of Judah drew near with his offering. 

His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab. 

On the second day Nethanel son of Zuar, the leader of Issachar, drew near. 

The offering he presented was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nethanel son of Zuar. 

On the third day Eliab son of Helon, the leader of the Zebulunites, drew near. 

His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab son of Helon. 

On the fourth day Elizur son of Shedeur, the leader of the Reubenites, drew near. 

His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur. 

On the fifth day Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, the leader of the Simeonites, drew near. 

His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; 

and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. 

On the sixth day Eliasaph son of Deuel, the leader of the Gadites, drew near. 

His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph son of Deuel. 

On the seventh day Elishama son of Ammihud, the leader of the Ephraimites, drew near. 

His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elishama son of Ammihud. 

On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, the leader of the Manassites, drew near. 

His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. 

On the ninth day Abidan son of Gideoni, the leader of the Benjamites, drew near. 

His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abidan son of Gideoni. 

On the tenth day Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, the leader of the Danites, drew near. 

His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. 

On the eleventh day Pagiel son of Ocran, the leader of the Asherites, drew near. 

His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel son of Ocran. 

On the twelfth day Ahira son of Enan, the leader of the Naphtalites, drew near. 

His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira son of Enan. 

So these were the offerings from the leaders of Israel for the dedication of the altar when it was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, and twelve gold dishes. 

Each silver platter weighed a hundred and thirty shekels, and each silver bowl seventy shekels. The total weight of the silver articles was two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel. 

The twelve gold dishes filled with incense weighed ten shekels each, according to the sanctuary shekel. The total weight of the gold dishes was a hundred and twenty shekels. 

All the livestock for the burnt offering totaled twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve male lambs a year old—together with their grain offerings—and twelve male goats for the sin offering. 

All the livestock sacrificed for the peace offering totaled twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty male lambs a year old. This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed. 

When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the mercy seat  on the ark of the Testimony. Thus the LORD spoke to him.

Numbers 8

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron and tell him: ‘When you set up the seven lamps, they are to light the area in front of the lampstand.’ ” 

And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps facing toward the front of the lampstand, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 

This is how the lampstand was constructed: it was made of hammered gold from its base to its blossoms, fashioned according to the pattern the LORD had shown Moses. 

Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the Levites from among the Israelites and make them ceremonially clean. 

This is what you must do to cleanse them: Sprinkle them with the water of purification. Have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves. 

Then have them take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering. 

Bring the Levites before the Tent of Meeting and assemble the whole congregation of Israel. 

You are to present the Levites before the LORD and have the Israelites lay their hands upon them. 

Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may perform the service of the LORD. 

And the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and offer to the LORD one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites. 

You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and then present them before the LORD as a wave offering. 

In this way you shall separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, and the Levites will belong to Me. 

After you have cleansed them and presented them as a wave offering, they may come to serve at the Tent of Meeting. 

For the Levites have been wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself in place of all who come first from the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. 

For every firstborn male in Israel is Mine, both man and beast. I set them apart for Myself on the day I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. 

But I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel. 

And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to perform the service for the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting and to make atonement on their behalf, so that no plague will come against the Israelites when they approach the sanctuary.” 

So Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel did with the Levites everything that the LORD had commanded Moses they should do. 

The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. 

After that, the Levites came to perform their service at the Tent of Meeting in the presence of Aaron and his sons. Thus they did with the Levites just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 

And the LORD said to Moses, “This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years of age or older shall enter to perform the service in the work at the Tent of Meeting. 

But at the age of fifty, they must retire from performing the work and no longer serve. 

After that, they may assist their brothers in fulfilling their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves are not to do the work. This is how you are to assign responsibilities to the Levites.”

Numbers 9

In the first month of the second year after Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai: “The Israelites are to observe the Passover at its appointed time. 

You are to observe it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth  day of this month, in accordance with its statutes and ordinances.” 

So Moses told the Israelites to observe the Passover, and they did so in the Wilderness of Sinai, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 

But there were some men who were unclean due to a dead body, so they could not observe the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron that same day and said to Moses, “We are unclean because of a dead body, but why should we be excluded from presenting the LORD’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?” 

“Wait here until I find out what the LORD commands concerning you,” Moses replied. 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: ‘When any one of you or your descendants is unclean because of a dead body, or is away on a journey, he may still observe the Passover to the LORD. 

Such people are to observe it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; they may not leave any of it until morning or break any of its bones. They must observe the Passover according to all its statutes. 

But if a man who is ceremonially clean and is not on a journey still fails to observe the Passover, he must be cut off from his people, because he did not present the LORD’s offering at its appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin. 

If a foreigner dwelling among you wants to observe the Passover to the LORD, he is to do so according to the Passover statute and its ordinances. You are to apply the same statute to both the foreigner and the native of the land.’ ” 

On the day that the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it and appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning. 

It remained that way continually; the cloud would cover the tabernacle by day, and at night it would appear like fire. 

Whenever the cloud was lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites would set out, and wherever the cloud settled, there the Israelites would camp. 

At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at the LORD’s command they camped. As long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle, they remained encamped. 

Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites kept the LORD’s charge and did not set out. 

Sometimes the cloud remained over the tabernacle for only a few days, and they would camp at the LORD’s command and set out at the LORD’s command. 

Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they would set out. Whether it was by day or by night, when the cloud was taken up, they would set out. 

Whether the cloud lingered for two days, a month, or longer, the Israelites camped and did not set out as long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle; but when it was lifted, they would set out. 

They camped at the LORD’s command, and they set out at the LORD’s command; they carried out the LORD’s charge according to His command through Moses.

Numbers 10

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make two trumpets of hammered silver to be used for calling the congregation and for having the camps set out. 

When both are sounded, the whole congregation is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 

But if only one is sounded, then the leaders, the heads of the clans of Israel, are to gather before you. 

When you sound short blasts, the camps that lie on the east side are to set out. 

When you sound the short blasts a second time, the camps that lie on the south side are to set out. The blasts are to signal them to set out. 

To convene the assembly, you are to sound long blasts, not short ones. 

The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to sound the trumpets. This shall be a permanent statute for you and the generations to come. 

When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who attacks you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God and saved from your enemies. 

And on your joyous occasions, your appointed feasts, and the beginning of each month, you are to blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to serve as a reminder for you before your God. I am the LORD your God.” 

On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony, and the Israelites set out from the Wilderness of Sinai, traveling from place to place until the cloud settled in the Wilderness of Paran. 

They set out this first time according to the LORD’s command through Moses. 

First, the divisions of the camp of Judah set out under their standard, with Nahshon son of Amminadab in command. 

Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar, and Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun. 

Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting it. 

Then the divisions of the camp of Reuben set out under their standard, with Elizur son of Shedeur in command. 

Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon, and Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad. 

Then the Kohathites set out, transporting the holy objects; the tabernacle was to be set up before their arrival. 

Next, the divisions of the camp of Ephraim set out under their standard, with Elishama son of Ammihud in command. 

Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh, and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin. 

Finally, the divisions of the camp of Dan set out under their standard, serving as the rear guard for all units, with Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai in command. 

Pagiel son of Ocran was over the division of the tribe of Asher, and Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali. 

This was the order of march for the Israelite divisions as they set out. 

Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel  the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.” 

“I will not go,” Hobab replied. “Instead, I am going back to my own land and my own people.” 

“Please do not leave us,” Moses said, “since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our eyes. 

If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us.” 

So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them. 

And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp. 

Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, 

“Rise up, O LORD! May Your enemies be scattered; may those who hate You flee before You.” 

And when it came to rest, he would say: 

“Return, O LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel.”

Jude

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, 

To those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ: 

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 

Beloved, although I made every effort to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints. 

For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 

Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus  had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe. 

And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day. 

In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire. 

Yet in the same way these dreamers defile their bodies, reject authority, and slander glorious beings. 

But even the archangel Michael, when he disputed with the devil over the body of Moses, did not presume to bring a slanderous charge against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 

These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively. 

Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion. 

These men are hidden reefs  in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted. 

They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. 

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them: 

“Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.” 

These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage. 

But you, beloved, remember what was foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ when they said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow after their own ungodly desires.” 

These are the ones who cause divisions, who are worldly and devoid of the Spirit. 

But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life. 

And indeed, have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh. 

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all time, and now, and for all eternity. 

Amen.