Weekly Recap #6- Leviticus 16 thru Numbers 12

You know how I told y'all last week that Leviticus was a very difficult book of the Bible to read and comprehend....well....Numbers isn't much different for me!!!  There are a lot of things that are very repetitious....and I guess I get a bit bored if there's not a story involved!!! 

Here's a commentary that I liked that goes along with being repetitious:

"History repeats itself because it is based on factors which do not change: God's character and man's sinfulness."

J. Wenham Gordon

So....let's get started....and see if I can sorta explain what I learned.....

~~~Scapegoat.....did you realize the word "scapegoat" actually comes from scripture?  I remembered this, but it was good to read the story again.  During the Day of Atonement....which was a day of public fasting and to seek forgiveness for sins by the entire nation of Israel....Aaron, or the high priest at the time....was the only one allowed in the Tabernacle to offer the sacrifice.  One goat was sacrificed.  The high priest placed his hands on the head of the second goat and confessed over it all the sins of the people and then it was sent into the wilderness.

~~~Leviticus 19:18 - this verse of scripture told the children of Israel to "love your neighbor as yourself".  This was the cornerstone of the scriptures that would follow in the New Testament that tells us to do the same thing!!!

~~~Several rules were given as to how the people were to treat their own bodies....do not cut your body....do not mark your skin with tattoos.  Some of these rules were given because there were people who worshiped other gods and these were some of the things that they practiced.   As for how they apply to us today....does cutting your body also include ear piercing?!?!?  Or, is it just the practice that you hear about some young girls doing?!?!?  And, as for tattoos....my personal opinion....is that is a personal preference.  Me...I don't like pain!!!

~~~The people were to observe the Sabbath....every 7th day. It was to be a day of rest from ALL work....because....God rested on the 7th day after the creation!!!

~~~The book of Leviticus closes just as it opened.  In 1:1 it stated that the Lord called to Moses from the Tabernacle and said to him, "Give the following instructions to the people of Israel".  And, in verse 27:34, it states, "These are the commands that the Lord gave through Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites."

Now....let's head into Numbers.....

~~~The book of Numbers is actually 3 stages:

1)  the 19 days that Israel prepared for departure from their camp

2)  approximately 39 year journey from Sinai to the plains of Moab

3)  final months when Israel were camped on the plains of Moab shortly before they entered Canaan

~~~The Levites were God's chosen people to serve in the Tabernacle.  There were 3 clans of the Levites and each one of them had a specific task to perform when the Israelites would break camp and move.

***Kohalthite Clan

Men 30-50 years in age carried, set up, and disassembled all the sacred coverings and furnishings in the Tabernacle.

***Gersonite Clan

Men 30-50 years in age were required to perform general service and carrying loads, curtains, coverings, ropes and related equipment

***Merarite Clan

Men 30-50 years in age carried loads assigned to each man by name.

This can be so related to us today....some people's duties might seem so much more important than others...but it takes EVERYBODY working TOGETHER to get the job done!!!

Another interesting fact about the Levites....they could begin serving in the Tabernacle at the age of 25 but had to retire at age 50.  They could serve as guards, but could not officiate in  the service after the age of 50. 

Now....don't you think that the retirement age for all working people today....should be FIFTY?!?!? 

Yeah, me, too!!!

~~~Nazarites....to become a Nazarite was a voluntary act.  The word "Nazarite" actually means "to separate"....or to set apart for the Lord.  They were to refrain from all alcoholic drink....could not cut their hair....and could not come in contact with a corpse, not even a family member!!!

Who was one of the most famous Nazarites?

Remember.....if they cut his hair he would loose his strength.....Sampson!!!

(okay, I know...I'm gettin' way ahead of myself, huh?)

~~~It took 6 wagons and 12 oxen to transport the Tabernacle and all it's furnishings!!! 

That's a lot of stuff to haul!!!

~~~Once again (just like us today), the people  complained about their hardships.  It made the Lord mad, so He sent fire and destroyed some of the people on the outskirts of the camp.  The people screamed for help and Moses prayed to the Lord and the fire stopped.

~~~Again they complained (enough already).....about all they had to eat was manna and how they missed the good fish and veggies they had when living in BONDAGE in Egypt. 

(I see so much of myself in these people!!!)

Moses got a little fed up with having to listen to them gripe and complain (no wonder)....so he told God he  could no longer care for these people.  So....God told Moses to choose 70 men to help him with the people...and He gave the people some of the Spirit that He had given Moses.  Then....He gave the people meat...but He told them it wouldn't be meat for just a few days...it would last for a month and they would get sick of it.   He sent a wind that brought quail from the sea....and all you could see for miles in every direction....were quail about 3 feet above the ground.  No one gathered less than FIFTY BUSHELS of the birds.

(now...I love quail....because my Dad used to hunt and Mom would fix them for us...but that's a lotta quail!!!)

While the people were eating it, the Lord sent a plague on them because of His anger

(that they were never satisfied...good thing He doesn't do that today....or I'd have been gone a long time ago!!!)

Anyway....the place was called a name that meant "graves of gluttony" because they buried the people there who had craved meat from Egypt.

~~~Miriam and Aaron were critical of Moses because he had married a Cushite woman.  One commentary said they disapproved of him marrying a non-Israelite, or could have been jealous of her influence on him. 

But....God sent all 3 of them to the Tabernacle and He descended in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance.  He told Aaron and Miriam to step forward and he told them that Moses was His chosen one....His servant....and asked them were they not afraid to criticize Him because of that?!?!  The Lord was very angry with them and He left.  As the cloud moved from the Tabernacle, Miriam was standing there white as snow form leprosy.  Aaron was scared and he cried to Moses, asking that they not be punished for the sin they had committed.  Moses cried to God to please heal her.  God said to keep Miriam outside the camp for 7 days and after that she would be accepted back.

In God's time....in His time!!!

Here's another quote I found that really spoke to me: 

"Just as the Israelites were not intended to pass 38 years in journeying from one place to another in the wilderness, so the Christian is not expected to have prolonged wilderness experiences through disobedience....The book of Numbers is....a warning against indulging in the kind of sin that brought death to a whole generation of Israelites so long ago."

R. K. Harrison

Until next week....happy reading!!!

Blessings to you!!!

In His Most Precious Love....and with mine!!!