365 Reflections

Deuteronomy means, "second law". The reason being that Deuteronomy serves as a retelling of the Law of God given to the people of Israel right before the death of Moses and entrances into the Promised land. Deuteronomy is regarded as a set of Moses' sermons to the people. Even the first paragraph describes Deuteronomy as specific words given to Moses for the people's instruction in their new life with God. Deuteronomy 1:1–3 (ESV) These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them, One commentator I read made the argument that Moses was to the Old Testament law what Paul is to the New Testament c...

You could really say that Moses was the first person to truly value and liberate women from the constraints laid upon them by males since the dawn of humankind. It is fitting that the last chapter dealing with Moses' acts (Numbers 36) have him resolving land ownership disputes for the daughters of Zelophehad. Numbers 36:6–7 (ESV) This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7 The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. This issue first arose back in Numbers 27. Yet after that first episode with these women Moses commissions Joshua to succeed him and we read 8 chapters of law which may cause us to forget. The daughters of Zelophehad will not let Moses get sidetracked from their issue. Tenacious wome...

Sometimes we miss the forest for the trees in Biblical texts because we are always looking for that personal application or really secret insight no one else has seen. But if we step back, see the communal message and take an interest in how God is working through collective humanity we can see really valuable lessons from the Word of God we may miss otherwise. Numbers 35 is preparing God's people for living in the land. What will be their values as a culture? A culture is cultivated by certain practices and standards. Americans are often ignorant of just how beneficial the culture of our country is to human life and flourishing. Yet so much of what we take for granted as Americans is rooted in God's culture forming rules here in Numbers 35. Take for instance the two sections dealing with land for the Levites and Cities of Refuge. Numbers 35:2–4 (ESV) “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell...

Numbers 34:1–2 (ESV)   The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), The Lord promised this land and the Lord outlined the borders for them. It was to be a sizable piece of land as well as a good land. It even came with ocean front property. What do we learn from a text that seems so void of spiritual insight? A lot. First we learn that God knows exactly where we are to go and what we are to do. Will we listen to Him? He has outlined for His people the places He wants them. He determines our steps. You are not aimless if you are walking with Christ. You have a specific destination in Him. Second we learn that God believes in us. There were many different typographical areas for Israel to conquer in that land. Some seacoast, some desert region, some lush and fertile, others marshy. The land wa...

When a Christian enters into a new relationship with God, they enter into a fight for their lives. For some reason, we don't focus on this enough. We tend to want Godly living to involve as little confrontation and effort as possible. God spells out for us here in Numbers 33 that no such experience awaits the person who follows Him. With Israel on border of the land, God reaffirms His instructions to Moses concerning what awaits the people on the other side of the Jordan. It is not peace and tranquility at first, it is war and fighting and effort first. The peace comes later. Numbers 33:51–52 (ESV) “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. Look at this command. These are ornate altars and high places the people are going to have to...

Numbers can be a redundant book. There's a lot of counting and recounting the 40-year long wilderness trek of the Israelites in the chapters. There are two census and a long chapter here in Numbers 33 that basically lists all the towns and cities they pass through along the way. Why is this here? First, I think the Holy Spirit is intentionally leading Moses to write all these things down so that we the reader can FEEL the emotional element of being stalled in no man's land for so long. It was monotonous and dry with occasional high points but a lot of ordinary boring days awaiting the time of God's fulfillment. Numbers is a clear warning to anyone hesitant to take the next step with God. We are made to believe Him for greater things and to trust Him for mighty acts. When we don't step out, we get stuck in a place we'd rather not be... counting and recounting. But there's powerful things to learn about God in the wilderness and that is why it's here. In N...

Numbers 32:1–5 (ESV) Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. 2 So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land that the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.” The slaves of Egypt have come a long way. They are no longer poverty stricken. They have experienced a few sizable victories over powerful peoples. They have seen God's blessings for obedience. Now they face a different temptation altogether. The temptation to stand pat where they a...

You are going to be disturbed by the contents of Numbers 31 if you don't understand ancient cultures and how to read the Bible. In this chapter, Moses is commanded by God to take vengeance on the Midianites for how they turned Israel from the Lord at Peor in Numbers 25. We remember that episode ended with Phinehas' zeal taking out the rebellious man and his Midianite concubine in one stab of spear. During the conquest upon the Midianites God instructs Israel to carry out their first "holy war" as defined by theologians. This kind of war involved total elimination of a culture. Men, women, everyone and everything... except for one group of people. The people carry out only a portion of those commands and they let the women live. Moses' response? Read for yourself: Numbers 31:15–20 (ESV) Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16 Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of ...

Numbers 30:2–5 (ESV) If a man vows a vow to the Lord , or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. 3 “If a woman vows a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father’s house in her youth, 4 and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the Lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her. I admit, when I read Numbers 30 there's a squeamish part of me that flares up. After all, are not all people equal in the eyes of God? How is it then, that a man can make a vow or take an oath for himself, but a woman (either living single in her father's house or married to her h...

The offering list we find in Numbers 28-29 is detailed and extensive. It covers the daily offerings, the weekly sabbath offerings, the monthly offerings of the new moon as well as the offerings for the 3 feasts that took place every year for the people of Israel. The one thought that occurred to me was this: Their times were in God's hands. God wanted them marking every new day with blood, every new week, every new month and season with blood and offerings. God wanted His people to remember the blood of sacrifice that makes them able to come into His presence. The Nation of Israel didn't just mark those times wth blood, they rested and celebrated together. God wanted them to take time to enjoy each other's presence and His presence among them. In all 5 special occurrences (Passover, Weeks, Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Booths) they were to do no ordinary work. It is clear that God was communicating that work should never be seen as that which makes them who they are. T...