Moses was the man whom the Lord knew face to face. That’s just amazing, really. Think about the implications of that. Since the fall, since losing our home in the garden, we have lost that face to face relationship with our creator. But Moses, Moses knew God face to face. He killed a man in …
“But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” Now, I looked it up. The Hebrew translated ‘word’ above is elsewhere translated ‘matter’ (as in subject), ‘act,’ and ‘thing.’ All this is saying is what it is literally saying: “The command isn’t …
Okay, so being warned that if you violate the covenant with God your nation will be so besieged that the best among you are eating their own children and refusing to share them is… dramatic to say the least. It paints pretty graphic picture. Pretty intense. I mean, talk about trying to scare folks straight. …
“You shall not pervert the justice due the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge, but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there.” I have to do it. I have to take a moment to focus on something …
Miscellaneous laws. These can be… troublesome. Antagonists will use them to challenge the entire Bible. Fundamentalists will… pick and choose which they consider still relevant. (While there may be some congregations that follow the planting and clothing restrictions, it’s usually not the ones making a fuss over other issues.) I think the problem is that …
I love the end of chapter 20. It kind of takes me back to God’s promise after the flood. He didn’t promise to never flood the earth again as any sort of comfort to humanity. Nope. He promised the earth he wouldn’t punish it anymore for our sake. So reading here that the Israelites were …
Deuteronomy 15:4 says that “there will be no poor among you,” and Deuteronomy 15:11 says “there will never cease to be poor in the land.” One way to understand this is to accept that God’s promise of abundance is conditional on their obedience. As Moses is fully aware that the people will never completely obey, …
Tithing. So Numbers establishes a tithe to support the Levites. Here we have the outline of a tithe for sacrifice, but one that is eaten before the Lord, not given to the priests. This is explained as a tithe for feasts. (I looked up several resources and they all say the same thing.) These are …
I could write for a while on the injunction to care for the sojourner. All too often in the modern world, those who associate themselves with the church and proudly claim the title christian are among the loudest opponents to immigration reform and the acceptance of refugees. I find it truly disturbing how absolutely they …
There is a lot worth reflecting on in these chapters. Moses reminded them that they were not chosen because they were in any way worthy. It’s so easy to fall into the mindset that we deserve or have somehow earned the blessings we’ve received. It’s important to remember that we were simply chosen. That we …