Numbers 29

Numbers 29:1

'Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.  It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets.

What is the significance of the seventh month?  All the festivals and events I can recall are linked to some specific occurrence, or to remember how something happened.  But this just seems to be called for no particular reason.  It's like if God were to say to us that July would be a month of holidays, just because it's time for a break.

I wonder what the significance of the trumpets was.  I'm assuming this is the origin of the Feast of Trumpets, which is one of the feasts I don't know much about.  From what little is written here, it doesn't look like anyone knew much about it.  What do the trumpets represent?  Are they just to call the attention of the people to God, as a way to start the month with many holy days?  If so, why not blow the trumpets on each of the special days, rather than just the first?

Numbers 28

Numbers 28:18

On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.

What is meant by laborious work?  This is always one of those questions that I can't recall a clear answer for.  While there have been many people I've heard what did or did not count as laborious work, most of their definitions come from the Pharisaical laws of Jesus' day, not the original law from Moses' time.

The reason this really caught my eye is that the second day was the day of the feast.  However, the Jewish day is sunset to sunset, so that second day is what we would consider the evening of the first.  How are you supposed to prepare a feast if you can do no laborious work?  Does it mean that preparing food is not considered laborious?  Or is there some special dispensation for it, not listed here?  Or perhaps is the feast supposed to be prepared after sunset?  I don't know, but I'm guessing the first answer, that preparing is not considered labor, is the closest to correct.

Numbers 27

Numbers 27:7

"The daughters of Zelophehad are right in their statements.  You shall surely give them a hereditary possession among their father's brothers, and you shall transfer the inheritance of their father to them.

This verse just kinda caught in my head, and I'm not quite sure why.  I guess it's because God is often criticized by nonbelievers for being such a major patriarch, with little or no consideration given to women.  In their eyes, God's goal is for women to be completely dominated by and subjugated to men.  Maybe it's because I'm the only son of an only son, with both my parents having three sisters, but that reasoning always annoyed me.

This is not the case.  This verse doesn't really tackle the supposed issue directly, but if the critics were rights, God would have just said, "No, there is no way these mere daughters should inherit their father's property.  It should go to his brothers."  Many good old patriarchal dynasties operate on that principle.  However, God says instead that the daughters' complaint is valid, and orders that they be permitted to inherit the estate.  He decrees that the women do have the same value as the sons, albeit in this fairly narrow issue.  But I'll take whatever arguments I can get to show the misinformed that they are wrong.

Numbers 26

Numbers 26:11

The sons of Korah, however, did not die.

A small verse, but notable.  When Korah and those with him died, their tents and all around them were swallowed up by the ground.  Everyone was warned away from their tent before it happened, but their families went with them to death.

It appears that although Korah rebelled, his children were wiser than he, and did not support him.  Because they did not support their own father, they lived, and that loyalty to/faith in God was recognized.  He did not kill the righteous with the disobedient.  Only those who were at fault died for their unbelief.

Numbers 25

Numbers 25:9

Those who died by the plague were 24,000.

This seems like a simple verse, but something caught my attention.  The term used here is plague.  However, there is no plague mentioned elsewhere in the passage.  It talks about harlotry, and the Lord's anger against the people, but it doesn't say that there was any plague brought by God.

Instead, God gives Moses an execution order.  He tells Moses to have all those who have fallen to Baal executed.  While I understand this would result in a serious death toll, it's not a plague in the normal illness definition I've come to understand.  Did God send a plague among the people until they had carried out His orders, or was the plague just a term for man-produced in this case?  I can't say I like to think about a plague in terms of mass executions, but I can't come up with another explanation.

Numbers 24

Numbers 24:11

Therefore, flee to your place now.  I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, the Lord has held you back from honor."

I like how Balak blames God for not getting his way.  In this moment, he really sounds like a kid having a tantrum.  He knew the conditions going in, but assumed that he would still get what he wanted anyway.  While he is a king, and therefore probably unaccustomed to not getting his way, it's still interesting to read.  It's also interesting how Balak never threatened Balaam, even though he was spelling out Balak's doom.  There was never any suggestion of retribution.

Overall, this is an excellent example of how God does not always want what would seem to be the best for us.  He wants us to follow His path, not the path of the world.  All Balaam had to do was say the right words, make it look good, and he would have been set for a long time.  But God wouldn't have that.  Instead, he had to go home empty-handed, but having done what God commanded.  We don't know what happened to him after this, but somehow I doubt that Balaam ever really looked back on all that money he had been promised with longing, wondering if he'd done the right thing.

Numbers 23

Numbers 23:26

But Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'Whatever the Lord speaks, that I must do'?"

 I first remember this verse sticking with me when I was at camp, before my freshman year of high school.  It was what happened to be my daily reading, and something about being out in the Black Hills helped me to focus more than usual on my "meditations."  At the time, I considered making this my life verse.  Later one, as I got further into my Bible classes in high school, I realized that this probably wasn't the best idea, given the type of person Balaam was. One of my textbooks called him a prophet for hire.

However, this simple declaration still stuck with me all these years.  I can't say that I've managed to come close to keeping the integrity that Balaam shows here.  However, I've always had this in the back of my head, with the hope that one day I'll be able to say that, while I was certainly not perfect, that God would use me as He did Balaam at that moment that counts.  I still have that hope, and pray that prayer regularly.  I only hope I know what that moment is before I meet Him.

Numbers 22

Numbers 22:22

But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as an adversary against him.  Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

Why is God angry here?  He has just told Balaam that he should go with them, and so he goes.  Now he's going, and God's mad at him for following His instructions?  I've read this many times, and this part always drives me nuts trying to figure out what's not being said.  The conclusion I was always taught is that Balaam is going, but he's going because he can make money, not because he's obeying God.  That never settled right with me, because it seems to be reading too much into the text that isn't there.

My own interpretation is a little more generic.  God told him to go, but to only speak what He told him to speak.  My guess is that Balaam's planning a little embellishment on what He's going to be told, trying to split the difference so that neither side can really be mad at him.  He doesn't have a chance of succeeding, of course, but I think that may have been his goal.

The other thing that I'm curious about is what happened with these servants.  They may never have seen the angel, but did they hear the donkey?  Were they astonished when it spoke, and how Balaam answered?  Did they understand that Balaam was then talking to an angel, and not to the donkey?  If they were riding, did their animals react similarly?  I always wonder what the "little guys" are experiencing, who just barely appear in the story, and are never heard from again.  How were their lives affected by what they were witness to, that we can only read about?

Numbers 21

Numbers 21:5

The people spoke against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?  For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food."

OK, this is getting somewhere between old and funny.  First they ask yet again why Moses brought them from Egypt, when they well know the answer.  They know where they were going, and they decided they couldn't do it.  They've been told that their children will get there, but they have to pay for their transgressions first.

Then, they bring the reason for their complaint, and it's contradictory.  They say they have no food, then they say they just don't like the food.  So which is it, that they don't have the food, or don't like the food they have.  I can understand one or the other, but the engineer in me gets annoyed at trying to say both at once.  Even if they said they didn't have water, that at least makes sense.  But the food argument fails immediately, and they then pay for the complaints.

Numbers 20

Numbers 20:24

"Aaron will be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.

Odd reasoning, in my opinion.  Aaron is about to die, and he won't make it into the promised land.  That much I understand, and makes sense.  He certainly messed up a couple times, so his being banned from entering the land isn't unreasonable.

However, why is the reason for his punishment given as because he rebelled at Meribah?  According to the text earlier in the chapter, Moses is the one who rebelled.  Moses struck the rod on the rock, not Aaron.  Did Aaron not stop him when he had the opportunity?  is Aaron's death a punishment upon Moses, losing his brother?  I just don't understand the reasoning here.

Numbers 19

Numbers 19:9

Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin.

The mechanics of this are what confuse me.  Is this saying that the heifer is to be used as water is used for purification?  Normally, water is either sprinkled on someone, or they are supposed to bathe in it, to become clean.  Somehow I don't see that working out well, and it would mean that they'd always be having to find new red heifers to sacrifice, which are apparently very rare.

The other option I can see is to treat the ashes as they would purification water.  That water is carefully protected and maintained, because any contamination would render it useless.  Maybe this is what is meant?  The ashes are to be looked after, ensured they remain pure.  Perhaps by their mere presence the ashes allow some kind of purification to occur.  Honestly, I don't know this time.

Numbers 18

Numbers 18:26

"Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, 'When you take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe.

I'm not quite sure why this verse caught my attention.  Maybe it was the poetical phrase at the end.  On further consideration, though, there's just something about this idea I really like.  Even though the Levites are engaged in God's special work, they still must give him the reverence due him.  There is no special dispensation given them, and they must give the best back to God, just as the rest give it to God through them.

It always bugs me when you see someone who's spent his life in Christian ministry, and has nothing to show for it.  I've known several former pastors or missionaries who come to retirement age and are completely burned out.  They've given everything they've ever had to Him, and now have nothing to rest upon, nothing to enjoy.  They have, in many ways, given too much and kept to little for their sustainment.  On the other hand, there are the Christian ministry millionaires, typified by the televangelist:  those who live in mansions and still beg for every dollar you can send in.  They have perhaps done the work, but have given little back to God.  The proper place is somewhere in the middle, though I can't say I know exactly where.  There must be enough kept to remain useful, but not so much as to lose sight of where it came from.

Numbers 17

Numbers 17:10

But the Lord said to Moses, "Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die."

Interesting progression here.  First, after God shows His favor is with Aaron, He commands that that sign not be taken away from the tabernacle.  All the rest apparently went back to the tribes' leaders' homes, and probably became ordinary household implements again (I have no clue what a rod might have been used for).  However, Aaron's is made a symbol, so that the people remember that he is chosen by God.

Then we are told why it is needed to be a symbol.  It's there so that the people stop grumbling and challenging Moses, Aaron, and especially God.  Now when they wonder why Aaron is the head priest, they can look and see how God has chosen him.  Then, finally, we learn why it's important to stop grumbling.  They're killing themselves with their grumbling.  In a two-day span of grumbling, thousands died.    From the top of my head, without looking at the actual numbers, I think that was several percent of the total population.  Much more of this, and they wouldn't have been there anymore to complain, and God really would have had to start fresh with Aaron and Moses.

Numbers 16

Numbers 16:45

"Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly."  Then they fell on their faces.

Very bad couple of days for the people of Israel.   Twice in as many days, God wants to totally destroy them, and start over with just Moses and Aaron.  To many, perhaps even most of us, that would be two strikes, and they've already had several.  We'd understand perfectly if God just decided to wipe the slate clean, and start over like a small-scale Noah.  However, he doesn't do that, and it seems to be for one reason.

God tells Moses and Aaron to clear out both times, and both times they disobey.  That's the other thing that caught my attention.  God gives them very specific orders, and they don't even seem to consider obeying either time.  This especially sets them apart from many of the patriarchs in Genesis, who were commended for their obedience to God, even when it doesn't make sense, like Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac.  Instead, here Moses and Aaron disobey God, and intercede on behalf of the people.  Does this still happen today, where we are told something by God and are supposed to challenge him?  I don't have an answer to that question, but it sure makes me wonder what the correct circumstances might be for us.

Numbers 15

Numbers 15:39

It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot,

 In the movie Martin Luther, while Luther is in hiding/exile, the man who takes his place becomes a zealot, even to the point of demanding that the people destroy any crucifix, painting, or sculpture that could be considered a "graven image."  When Luther returns after the riots that follow, he criticizes the people for attacking something that could help a man in his devotions.  Until I saw that, I never really liked all the "Christian decor" some people surround themselves with.  I still don't like it, but at least now I can somewhat understand it.

I think of this instruction about tassels in the same way.  The tassels aren't anything sacred or special, but they do have a purpose.  They're there to remind the people of the commands they have been given, so that they may not stray.  For most people I know, there is some visual symbol that can keep them from wrongdoing if it's there at the right time.  Be it a cop, a flag, or a Bible, most people have something that they see, and realize they need to change their ways.  If it's part of their clothing, that just makes it more likely they'll see it and remember.

Numbers 14

Numbers 14:18

'The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.'

A wonderful statement of God's nature.  First off, it places his mercy.  He will not act capricously, or run out of patience.  He will not condemn us at our first mistakes, or even subsequent ones.  He will, however, still judge us for our failures, and that judgment is part of our inheritance.

At the same time, this verse explains the problem many have with God.  How can He both forgive iniquity, yet in the same breath punish someone's great-great-grandchildren for it?  How can he be abundant in lovingkindness, but not clear the guilty?  The way I tend to answer this is that we are given the chance to repent and change our ways, and if we do God will forgive us our mistakes.  However, if we do not, then we have chosen our own fates, and He is simply giving us what we have asked for.

Numbers 13

Numbers 13:30

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it."

Caleb's action caught my attention.  He didn't just wait for his turn to report.  They were already grumbling and making noise.  He had to quiet them before he could even talk.  Order and discipline had already broken down.  It's unclear from this verse whether he was addressing just the spies and whatever leaders were with Moses, or if this was a general meeting of all the people.  Either way, things were already going bad before Caleb even got a chance to speak.

The other thing I notice is that Caleb made no reference to God.  If I were there, listening to this, I don't know that I would have been convinced, either.  Caleb doesn't dispute the claims made by the others about how formidable the inhabitants were, or how many, or how well-defended their cities were.  All he said was that they could do it.  You wonder if, had Caleb invoked God's assistance in their effort, the people might have been convinced.  Maybe not, given the previously status ruckus, but it makes me wonder.

Numbers 12

Numbers 12:3

(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)

I remember someone in a Bible study I was in once (can't remember which) saying how funny he found this verse.  According to tradition, Moses wrote Genesis-Deuteronomy.  That means he had to put down on parchment that he was the most humble man that lived, and it was still true.  Since that Bible study, I always had a picture in my head of Moses pausing at this point in the "dictation," looking upwards, and saying "are you sure about that one, Lord?  Really, me?  No way.  Seriously?  Can we skip this sentence, because I'm already feeling silly just thinking about writing this."

I'm sure I've been guilty of the exact opposite from time to time.  I'm a fairly quiet guy, try not to be too presumptuous or arrogant, and had most of my pride knocked out of me rather forcefully back in middle school.  However, this is a claim that at any serious moment I could not even come close to labeling myself with.  I'd like to think I'm closer to humility than pride or arrogance on the spectrum of such things, but nowhere near the most humble.    I guess that's the goal to aspire to:  faith like a child, and humility like Moses.

Numbers 11

Numbers 11:23

The Lord said to Moses, "Is the Lord's power limited?  Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not."

There were several verses in this chapter that caught my eye, and I'm not quite sure why this one stuck out more than the others.   I guess it's because this is the first time that God has to really prove his control to Moses.  Up to this point, I believe that all His miracles have been what I would call supernatural.  He's done amazing things, but they were all out-of-this-world-ly.  The Plagues, the Red Sea, manna, punishments... all of them were definitely miracles, but they all had no plausible explanation besides God.  Even manna apparently new, something never seen before.

But now the people want meat, and Moses immediately starts thinking in terms of logistics.  The number of animals necessary to feed 600,000 people, the population of Boston proper, for a month of gluttony would be immense.  Yet that is what God has promised, and Moses doesn't see how it could be done.  God has to remind him that, even in natural matters, His power is not constrained to natural logistics.  In this case he apparently doesn't make the meat out of thin air like he did manna, but he still causes what would be an impossibly improbably feat to occur, to bring the quail to the camp.  This may be the best object lesson on the "cattle on a thousand hills" verse that I can recall occurring in Scripture.

Numbers 10

Numbers 10:13

So they moved out for the first time according to the commandment of the Lord through Moses.

It is the beginning of the true journey for the Isrealites.  They have received their instructions, they (literally) know their marching orders.  Now it's time to set out and do what the Lord has commanded them to do.

It seems appropriate to read this verse on New Year's.  Given this is the time when people make resolutions on how they're going to change their lives, it is often seen as the beginning of a journey.  That leads me to ask, what will I do?  I've made a few resolutions/goals myself.  I can't say with any confidence that I'm going to be able to keep some of them, but I need to at least give my best effort.  I sometimes think my best effort isn't all that impressive, or that I give it often.  However, I've been told to try, and that's what I'm going to do.  I only hope that I am able to keep God centered in my life, and that He will help me to achieve what I can't do alone.