You Can Read the Bible Guided Podcast

Back in Exodus when the Tabernacle design was laid out, I noted that the Tabernacle was unlike anything Israel had ever seen.  It was made with the finest materials and most exact workmanship, yet was to be portable and follow Israel wherever they went. 

It is impossible to overstate the significance of what this design represents.  Ancient shrines were as local and limited as their gods.  Gods could expand their territory, but were always finite.    But this Yahweh had adopted a people, not a place, with which to dwell. 

I bring all this back to mind because our reading today begins with instructions to the clan of Kohath – a Levite family that was specially assigned to transport the Tabernacle.  It’s been over a month since the Tabernacle was erected and the LORD’s glory descended upon it, and almost a year since Israel settled in the Wilderness of Sinai.  Directions for how to move everything foreshadow what might happen soon.

Following this in chapter 5 is a variety of instructions.  The first have to do with implementing the Leviticus commands to put unclean people out of the camp.  Next is a rehash of the laws of restitution, repeating the injunction to both confess the crime committed and to add 1/5th to it.  

The final section today has to do with the sin of adultery – how to deal both the committing of adultery and with an accusation of adultery.   Listen for a few things.  First, listen, as I’ve often stated, for repeated words and ideas: jealousy; authority; bitterness. 

Second, notice the role the priest plays, and the way in which the truth is brought to light: not through investigation, but through revelation.   As we’ve already seen, false accusation and false witness are just as important to God as the rest of His law.  

Our verse for this week is Ephesians 5:2: “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Numbers chapters 4 and 5.  Now let’s read it!

The title of “Numbers” is likely derived from the record of the census and camp arrangements that begin the book.  The Hebrew title, “In the Wilderness,” is probably more appropriate for the geographical and spiritual contents of this book. 

Numbers will be broken into three very distinct sections.  First, comes the aforementioned census and a variety of laws and their fulfillment.  Don’t worry, because there is a substantial change in chapter 10, when Israel breaks camp and heads toward Canaan, launching the middle section of narrative (yea, narrative!).  The final third of the book is a mixture of narrative, law, fulfillment… and wilderness. 

Our reading begins today one month after the completion of the Tabernacle and thirteen months after the night of the Passover.  A command comes to Moses: “Take a count of your soldiers, tribe by tribe.”  This census is recorded in painstaking detail, as with everything else we’ve seen.  

Chapter 2 diagrams how the camp was arranged: which tribes were situated on the north, south, east and west sides of the Tabernacle.  Remember from Leviticus, the Tabernacle was the center of Israelite life and at the physical center of their camp. 

Chapter 3 spends considerable time expounding on a theme we first saw in chapter 1: that the tribe of Levi was specially set aside for the service of the Tabernacle.  Remember that Aaron, the High Priest, is a Levite.  His set-apartness is representative of his entire tribe’s. 

A comment needs to be made about the numbers represented here.  In our English Bibles the total number of warriors exceeds 600,000.  Add in women, children, and the elderly, and 2 to 3 million people could be counted here. 

This number comes up against some significant factors, not the least of which is that the present nation of Israel is a densely-populated 8 million people.  There is the further issue of archaeology digging up cities and towns in Canaan numbering in the hundreds – virtually empty before such an invading force. 

This all hinges on the translation of one Hebrew word – elef – which is variously translated “thousand” or “clan” or “military unit.”  There could have been as few as 25,000 people in the wilderness, depending on how this one word gets translated.  But, since the translation issues impact all the nations they will face, and since the LORD is giving Canaan to them, the odds facing Israel are the same.  Remember that neither translation nor archaeology are perfect sciences, and that there is no matter of belief impacted here.  It is best left in the category of mysterious curiosity.   

Our verse for this week is Ephesians 5:2: “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

 Numbers chapters 1 through 3.  Now let’s read it!

You’ve made it to the end of Leviticus!  I know for some of you that this is your first time through this entire book.  Congratulations!

A few weeks ago I asserted that this covenant read like the founding documents of a nation, like a constitution, with one significant difference.  The LORD is king, not negotiating partner.  The LORD is not waiting for Israel to ratify his commands before they become binding.  This will be important for the Israelites to remember when they approach their inheritance – the Promised Land – which we’ll watch in the book of Numbers. 

This idea is God’s kingship is clear in a few passages today.  In chapter 25, when the LORD is laying down laws for managing property, He reminds them that: “…the land is mine.  For you are strangers and sojourners with me.”  He commands them to allow the land to rest every seventh year, to return property to its original owners every fifty years, and to deal kindly with poorer citizens.  Nested in these commands is a reminder that “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.”

Chapter 26 begins promises of blessings for obedience: “…I will walk with you and be your God…”   This is followed with threats of punishment for disobedience: “If you walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you.”   Notice that twice as much space is devoted to the curses as to the blessings, and consider what this says about the LORD. 

The last chapter of Leviticus contains instructions for how to manage vows that people might make to the LORD.  These were voluntary vows, a way of giving to the tabernacle through the sale of servants, animals, or even houses.  The vows were to be taken seriously – so much so that there was a 20% penalty for attempting to “buy back” the vow, and breaking a vow outright could be condemned with death.  Consider why someone would voluntarily make a vow to the LORD, then try to back out of it. 

 And then we come to the end.  Next week the children of Israel will pull up stakes and come to the borders of Canaan, the land where all the promise of Leviticus will, we hope, be fulfilled.

Our verse for this week is Romans 5:6: For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

 Leviticus chapters 25 through 27.  Now let’s read it!

We’re close to the end of Leviticus and it’s time to take stock of where we’ve been.  The book begins with an outline of how offerings are to be given.  They are supposed to be pure, the best of the best – a true sacrifice.  And they are to be personal; the giver doesn’t drop them off at the door but participates in their presentation to the LORD. 

After receiving their instructions, the priests were consecrated for their ministry at the Tabernacle.  We watched anxiously as each moment of instruction was acted upon, until Aaron presented the first atonement offering before the LORD, and we waited for the LORD to respond with approval. 

Next came an assortment of instructions reflecting God’s insistence that Israel be holy as He is holy – to experience their set-apartness in every facet of life. 

We come now to the ways in which days of the week and of the year were to be set apart to the LORD.  These break down as follows:

As you listen to the descriptions of each of these and consider their purpose, recall the way the LORD embedded His directions on the night of the Passover with instructions of how to remember what was happening. 

 Chapter 24 is broken into two parts.  First, supply for the Tabernacle’s lamp oil and bread for the priests is accounted for.  Next, instructions about restitution and retribution for crimes of personal injury are wrapped in a brief narrative account of a man committing blasphemy.  

Note at least two things here.  First, we’re not sure how this man misused the name of the LORD, but note that “cursed” can have multiple meanings.  Second, note that the famous “eye for an eye” passage in chapter 24 follows another 1-2-3-2-1 chiastic structure, not only repeating the commands but repeating them in such a way as to make them memorable.

Our verse for this week is Romans 5:6: For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Leviticus 23 and 24.  Now let’s read it!