Numbers

Whereas chapter 18 focused on the priests and the Levites and their role in keeping the Tabernacle (YHWH’s place of residence among the people) from becoming unclean, there were still risks that came from the ordinary people. Specifically, this chapter focuses on how to restore cleanliness in the presence of death. The book of Leviticus… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 19

“Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of YHWH, shall die. Are we all to perish?” Chapter 17 ends with this question as the people take stock of their situation after a series of rebellions and tests of the unique role of the priesthood. They should neither grumble against those who YHWH… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 18

Chapter 17 contains the third round of YHWH’s validation of both the leadership of Moses and Aaron but also the need for an established priesthood. God established the role and responsibility of the priests for a specific purpose and those who have attempted to subvert that are intruding upon His specific intention and His choice… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 17

One of the things that the tassels from chapter 15 were supposed to remind the Israelite people of was, “…do all of my commandments and be holy to your God.” (Numbers 15:40). This holiness, coupled with the call for them to be a “…kingdom of priests, a holy nation” from the Exodus narrative, is the… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 16

Some see the transition from chapter 14 to 15 to be abrupt and misplaced. Chapter 14 ended with God’s command that those who went all in on not believing that YHWH would deliver them into the land He promised would wander the wilderness  they love so much until it was time for their kids to… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 15

The fear-mongering of chapter 13 has worked and the rabble is sufficiently roused. The people weep and wail and grumble against Moses and Aaron (a familiar tactic from not only this journey but also the journey from Egypt to Mt. Sinai). Keeping consistent with the form of their greatest hits (grumblings) from those episodes, they… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 14

Chapter 13 begins with YHWH instructing Moses to send out one person from each tribe of Israel to go scope out the land. We are told in v. 17 that they are to validate whether there are folks in the land, whether the are strong or weak, whether the land is good or bad, whether… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 13

Chapter 12 presents an interesting accusation from an interesting set of people, all flowing out of what’s occurred in chapter 11. There, the people complained, then Moses complained because they were complaining. God solves this by providing His Spirit to 70 elders to that they could be capable of helping Moses watch over this group… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 12

If the first 10 chapters were a fair indication, we’d expect smooth sailing for the Israelites as they head out from their 1 year squat at Mt. Sinai while God was teaching them what it looks like to live in right relationship with Him and  each other and how to fulfill their responsibility of being… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 11

Finally, the Israelites are ready to head out, leaving Sinai with the presence of YHWH Himself leading the way. First, a matter of organization. This is a large camp, remember, so the odds of being able to direct folks easily by just shouting about the place seem pretty low. So, a couple of trumpets are… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 10

Chapter 9 starts with a reminder that people of Israel are to continue the celebration of Passover, an annual reminder that YHWH had delivered them out from the Egyptians. This is an important reminder as they are just about to set out, once again, under God’s personal escort, to a land that will fulfill what… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 9

Chapter 8 continues picking up on some of the activities that occurred once the tabernacle was completed. We pick up this part of the conversation with the setting up of the lamps on the fancy lampstand (menorah) that was instructed to made out of hammered gold in Exodus 25. We’ve seen the instructions, we’ve seen… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 8

Exodus 40 all the way through Leviticus and through chapter 6 of Numbers covers just a single month of time, from the original consecration of the temple and the month that follows. Numbers 7 takes us back to the beginning of that month again to show us some of the goings on that, after reading… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 7

The theme of holiness continues in chapter 6, this time covering those who wish to intentionally set themselves apart in service to YHWH. These folks would be distinct, of course, from the priests, whose tribe and thus life are committed to a specific service to God as well as adherence to certain physical behaviors or… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 6

The christening of the Levites complete, chapter 5 of Numbers shifts to a familiar topic from book of Leviticus, the holiness of the people. In the context of Yahweh’s covenant with His people, they are selected to be a holy people, set apart as a nation through which He will bless the rest of the… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 5

Chapter 4 represents another census of the Levites, different than the one described in chapter 3. The previous census was executed to count the male Levites a month old and older and compare that to the number of first born males in all of Israel to see whether the number of Levites was sufficient to… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 4

The next two chapters of Numbers focus on counting Levites, two different censuses (censi?) for two different purposes. But it opens with an account of the sons of Aaron, or more broadly, the line of priests. Although Aaron is from the tribe of Kohath, a Levite tribe, the priests should be thought of differently than… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 3

This is where text would be if I had written anything for chapter 2.

In Numbers chapter 1, we follow the same format that has persisted in the end of Exodus through Leviticus, which is Yahweh speaking to Moses at Mt. Sinai. The instructions are for a census to be taken. But the goal isn’t just to know how many folks are around these days, the count is specifically… Read more: Numbers | Chapter 1

The English title of this book, Numbers, is translated from the Greek title “Arithmoi”, meaning, you know, numbers (we obviously see this same root word in our modern “arithmetic”.) This is certainly titled as such in reference to the multiple censuses that occur, including at the very beginning of the book. The Hebrew title, “bemidbar”,… Read more: Numbers | Introduction