Wow, I can’t believe it has been three months since I’ve posted to this blog. As you can imagine I have been busy and if you’re following me on Facebook or Twitter, you’re aware I have had some amazing opportunities over the past three months that I hope to post on in the near future. Needless to say I am quite a ways behind and though I have kept up with our daily readings as much as possible, I am in the process of going back and re-reading the books of the Bible so I can provide a complete post rather than merely writing about things I remember from three months ago. In short, I have updated on my right hand column some of the places I’ve visited in the last three months and they were all very exciting and filled with the wonder of God’s creation. For the time being, I am going to begin posting where we left off and that is with the book of Joshua.

We learned in Deuteronomy that Joshua was to succeed Moses upon Moses’ death. In the transition, Moses presented Joshua with the Law in a book and passes on the command that Joshua is to read it periodically not only to himself but to the nation of Israel. In fact this principle is reiterated in Joshua 1:7-8 and God clearly states not only to read the law but they “shall meditate on it day and night.” It was this time in the history of the Israelites that the nation of Israel began their conquest and settlement of the promised land. If you recall, God made three major promises to the Israelites beginning with Abraham approximately 500 years earlier (Genesis 12:1 – 3) and it was now under the leadership of Joshua that the nation of Israel would obtain their inheritance.

I’m not sure if I mentioned this in the book of Deuteronomy but Joshua is believed to have been a personal assistant to Moses. Having spent the 40 years wandering the wilderness and having been one of the 12 spies sent out before the nation to bring back fruits of the promised land, it is evident that Joshua was closely involved with the workings of the nation of Israel. With that being said, we also know that Joshua ascended Mount Sinai with Moses as shown in Exodus 24:13 and he was an obedient man as he was one of the only two spies to stand up for pressing forward in conquering the promised land before the nation was cast into the wilderness. Through these examples we can be certain that God had been working through Joshua throughout his involvement in the nation of Israel and it was at the age of 85 that Joshua succeeded Moses. For six years they fought to overtake the land of Canaan and Joshua spent the remaining 19 years he lead Israel governing the twelve tribes. What we learn from Joshua is that he listened and obeyed God and honored God throughout his success in settling the land of Canaan. Joshua did so by remaining close to and focused on the Word of God which was documented in the book of law handed him by Moses.

One of the main items that caught my attention while reading Joshua Chapter 2 is the faith Rahab had in the God of Israel as outlined in Joshua 2:10-11. Having no association with the nation of Israel, Rahab had observed the miracles performed by God and believed in Him as the one and only true God. Interesting how someone outside of the ranks of Israeli privilege could see what so many Israelites failed to see throughout its history. The other interesting point that I took from this chapter is that even though God explicitly commanded the nation of Israel not to dwell among the Canaanites nor make covenants with them, the very first two spies sent into the Promised Land by Joshua make a covenant with a prostitute there by the name of Rahab. I found this particularly interesting because in such a situation, where one is being sought after and the only apparent self-preservation requires such a covenant, I would say that most every individual today would do the very same thing. Of course, it was against God’s commandment and yet God was faithful and blessed the nation of Israel upon their entrance and attack on Jericho. The only other thing that stood out to me within this chapter was the use of a scarlet cord to mark the safe home of Rahab per the covenant they had made. This scarlet cord seemed to resemble the color and placement of the passover blood used in Exodus 12.

Upon receiving the good report from his spies, Joshua decides to cross the Jordan and begin their conquest of the Land of Canaan. Though my knowledge of the area is limited, it is my understanding that the Jordan is a wide and perhaps deep river with who knows what kind of current. Needless to say, it would be a daunting task to cross with all of your supplies and not lose anything. The great miracle of Chapter 3 occurs when God speaks to Joshua and clearly lays out the plan and path for crossing the Jordan. In great faith, the people of Israel follow Joshua’s orders and to their amazement, and you can imagine the amazement of the Canaanites, when the nation of Israel follows God’s orders (flowed down through Joshua) the Jordan becomes merely another dry path to walk upon. As the feet of the Levites who carried the Ark of the Lord entered the water, God caused the Jordan to cease flowing and dried up the river bed before them. In a great demonstration of God upholding His promises, He leads them into the Promised Land and safely carries them across great obstacles. This miracle was such a profound moment for all the land that Joshua obeyed in placing memorial stones at both banks of the river to mark the historic location and to be a memorial for generations to remember God’s great work on their behalf.

Setting up camp on the west side of the Jordan at a place called Gilgal, the nation of Israel settled for the first time in the Promised Land. It was from here that they began to conquer the land of Canaan and this location served as a headquarters for them. On the fourth day, after crossing the Jordan, the nation of Israel observed the passover. If you recall, the passover and its associated feast of Unleavened Bread were performed in the spring. Lasting seven days, the passover commemorated Israel’s exodus from Egypt and served as a mark of the beginning of the religious year. It is only fitting that the nation of Israel entered the Promised Land at the time of the Passover which signified the deliverance from Egypt and the entering of a new period with God. More-so, the day after the passover, God’s great provisions, in the form of manna, ceased. This signified the ending of the 40 years in the wilderness and God’s special provisions He granted them. The nation of Israel was now given the provisions of the Promised Land which God promised would flow of milk and honey for their survival. As we close out chapter 5 we see that God presents before Joshua the Commander of His army. God provides the commander of His army as a sign of confidence to Joshua and encourages Joshua in obeying God in overtaking Jericho.

In Chapter 6 we see the clear instructions for Joshua to overthrow Jericho and through obedience to His orders, the nation of Israel observes another great miracle in which Jericho falls by the direct intervention of God. In the process of overthrowing Jericho, Joshua issues clear commands as to the cities devotion to destruction. He instructs the Israelites that besides the household of Rahab, the entire city is devoted to destruction and identifies in Joshua 6:18 that by taking or keeping anything devoted to destruction within the camp of Israel in turn devotes the camp of Israel to destruction. Another important note is the curse placed upon Jericho by Joshua as he declares that anyone who rebuilds the city of Jericho will be cursed and the city as well.

Chapter 7 is an important chapter within the book of Joshua because it serves as the first moment in Joshua’s leadership that the nation of Israel is disciplined. As we saw in Chapter 6, Joshua declares all of Jericho as devoted to destruction and it is amazing to see how quickly the Israelites disobey. Immediately following two miraculous events (crossing the Jordan and the fall of Jericho) we see that people of Israel broke faith with the Lord and one individual kept “some of the devoted things.” As a result, in a battle with Ai that clearly would have been given to Israel, the nation receives a dreadful defeat. In great shock and despair Joshua bows before the Lord and God explains the reason for such a defeat. This chapter shows that although God is continuously faithful in His promises and protections, He intends for His people to obey Him. This served as a very clear reminder of God’s expectations. The nation of Israel had thus become devoted to destruction and brings me to another point of this chapter that I find profound. Throughout the remainder of chapter 7 we see that through a series of tiers, the exact person responsible for Israel’s destruction is called out by name without God having told that name to Joshua previously. More profound is that Joshua and the Israelites, in the face of pain-staking required action, obeyed God by bringing Achan and all he had to the vally of Achor. In obedient action they stoned not only Achan but his sons and daughters and everything he owned and burned them as commanded by God. What a difficult action to take and yet what devotion they showed.

The Israelites then return to defeat Ai. After the defeat of Ai, following what Moses had commanded Joshua in Deuteronomy 27, at Mount Ebal Joshua erected an altar in roughly the same place Abraham had 600 years earlier. Here, Joshua read the Book of the Law to the people of Israel and honored God. Immediately following Joshua’s renewing of the covenant, they were deceived by the Gibeonites and Joshua entered a covenant with them which went against God’s commandment before. In an interesting twist, however, even though the covenant was made against God’s commandment, God guided the nation of Israel to uphold that covenant and resulted in one of the great battles of this time. Joshua and Israel come to the rescue of Gibeon which had now been under attach by Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. The famous battle of Gibeon and further west is known for God’s great provision of causing the Sun to stand still for an entire day. This provision enabled Joshua’s victory. Probably the most profound part of this section is that the occurrence of the sun standing still was the result of Joshua, in what appears as him commanding the lord, speaks to the Lord and says in Joshua 10:12: “… Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”

All in all, the nation of Israel conquered a long list of the kings of the south and the kings of the north (31 in total) though small pockets of Canaanites remained. Though not as evident in Joshua, these pockets of Canaanites will serve disastrous for the nation of Israel. Throughout the remaining chapters, specifically Chapters 13 through 22, we see the division of the Promised Land according to tribe. Out of the inheritance there were also six cities of refuge and 48 cities for the Levites which included 13 cities for the priests. In Chapter 22 we do see a bit of contention between some of the tribes of Israel. In remembering the powerful lesson the nation of Israel learned in Chapter 7, when 10 of the tribes heard of an alter built by the two and 1/2 on the East of the Jordan they immediately rose to confront those responsible. Not only is this a profound message of the lesson they learned but also a message of how we too should confront those in our midst, those who claim to be of the same family of Christ yet who perform actions against Christ. For in this instance, we see that they approach the 2 and 1/2 tribes and make known the image perceived by their building this alter. They make known that they are approaching them in query of their motivations and clearly identify the consequences of said actions. It is through dialogue and the mending of hearts that only God can do that we see the intent of such an alter was to forever mark the unity of the nation of Israel even though 2 and 1/2 tribes resided outside of the Promised Land (which was granted them by God through Moses). What a beautiful representation.

In Chapters 23 and 24 we close out the Book of Joshua with Joshua’s farewell message. Joshua charges the nation of Israel and in particular the leaders of Israel with some very important statements. The main principle of these charges relates to the practice of idolatry. Joshua understood the practice of Idolatry performed by the Canaanites and knew that such a lure of personal indulgence of passions and desires would be very difficult to withstand. Joshua warned of the temptations and he reiterated the Book of Law. More-over, Joshua added his own book to the book given him by Moses as demonstrated in Joshua 24:26. In an even greater attempt to ensure the nation’s obedience, Joshua wrote the book on stones to be a witness and to be prominently displayed for all to read. Joshua was set on obeying God and warned of Israel’s struggles and charged them to continue reading, meditating, and above all else, obeying God’s Word. Joshua renewed the covenant of the Lord and instilled in the hearts and minds of the elders the importance of obeying and serving the Lord. Joshua died at the age of 110 having served the Lord as leader of Israel for 25 years. After Joshua’s burial, Israel continued to serve the Lord “all the days of the elders who outlived joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.”

ESV Daily Reading Bible Halley’s Bible Handbook
ESV Study Bible

In an attempt to publish a blog post on the book of Deuteronomy before my upcoming trip to Japan, I decided that I’d just go ahead and do it. With that being said, I’ll do my best to not summarize too much yet still complete this post with as much information as I can muster.

Having concluded the book of Numbers, we’re now at the conclusion of the book of Deuteronomy. If you recall from my previous blog posts titled “The Bible – An Introduction” and “‘In the beginning…’ – The book of Genesis” the first five books of the Bible are known as the Pentateuch or the Torah. These five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) fit within the Historical group of books in the Bible and detail the revelation of God to man, the fall of man in sin, the genealogy of Adam to Abraham, and ultimately we see the unveiling of God’s plan for salvation. One of the most prominent parts of the last couple books out of these five is the numerous laws issued to man through the nation of Israel. In all practicality the vast majority of the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers issue countless laws the nation of Israel is to abide by and thus it is fitting that the name of these five books (the Torah) is Hebrew for law.

Fitting as it may be, Deuteronomy – the title, comes from the Greek translation of the Bible and means “second law” or “repetition of the law.” One of the interesting notes about Deuteronomy, however, is that it is not merely a recounting of the laws issued previously but, set in the context of that time period, it is a forward looking recounting of the law. Deuteronomy is written at the period of time where the nation of Israel has reach the border of the Promised Land (the land of Canaan). Based on information in Halley’s Bible Handbook, the book of Deuteronomy is actually constructed much like a formal treaty was in that time period only this treaty is between God and Israel. The book of Deuteronomy is a treaty that identifies the laws handed down from God to the Nation of Israel and specifically implicates how these laws apply to Israel upon settling in the land of Canaan.

Chapters 1 begins by identifying who the author is and on what grounds he has the authority to proclaim such a treaty. Keeping in mind from my previous posts that Moses wrote all five of these books, it is clean in Deuteronomy 1:1-5 that Moses is the author of this treaty and more-so has the authority granted him by God to declare the following information to the nation of Israel. Immediately after this, we flow into a reiteration of the relationship between Israel and God through Deuteronomy 1:6 – 3:29. Interestingly enough, In Deuteronomy 3:23-25 we see that Moses pleads with God to allow him to enter the Promised Land. If you recall from my previous post titled “Numbers,” Moses was barred from entering the Land of Canaan due to his lack of faith in the Lord and failure to give praise to the Lord for His provisions. Needless to say, God maintains faithful to His word and denies Moses’ request but knowing that God was about to bring Moses into a far greater inheritance as Moses would soon be brought up to heaven.

The meatiest part of Deuteronomy lies within Chapters 4 through 26 as these chapters outline the stipulations and lists the obligations the Israelites are to obey. Chapter 4 proclaims the importance of obeying God’s commandments but to not only obey them, to teach them to their children and to prevent corruption of their people by refusing to succumb to idolatry. A reiteration of the Ten Commandments occurs in Chapter 5 with the Greatest Commandment declared in Chapter 6. Halley’s Bible Handbook points out that Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is the Jewish confession of faith. Of course, verse 5: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” is the Greatest Commandment as re-iterated by Jesus and is repeated five or six times in the book of Deuteronomy. The nation of Israel was to fasten scripture to their hearts, doorposts, foreheads, and were to forever live for the Lord in all that they did, all they said, and what they taught. Many of these principles are alive and very true to the core of who I am today and my struggles revolve around lack of this idea. Though physically we may not see this occur today (at least not in our society) it is something we should all strive to do – fasten scripture to our heart and fill our mind with God’s Word.

In Chapter 7 we see another reiteration of the sorrow and grief that would be brought to the Lord by the sin of idolatry. Some very important points within Chapter 7 revolve around verses 6-11 in which God makes it clear and evident that the nation of Israel will not overcome the inhabitants of the Promised Land nor would they prosper within the land of Canaan due to their own righteousness rather it is merely due to their being chosen by God. It is only through God that they have survived the wilderness and it is only through God that they will be blessed and most of all be a blessing to every nation. Another interesting note (not to jump around too much) is verses 2-5. In these verses God plainly commands the Israelites not to make any covenant with the inhabitants of the land nor intermarry with them. I point this out because I’ll be referencing it later in a post on the book of Joshua so file it away in your memory.

Deuteronomy 8 -10 recounts the events of the past several years. From declaring the wonders of God and the provisions He made to sustain the Israelites (~2.5 Million people at this point) in a land that was harsh and barren to the consistent and persistent rebellion by the people of Israel. These chapters reiterate again how little Israel earned yet how faithful and loving God was to His chosen people. Even in the face of great rebellion, God showed mercy and compassion towards the Israelites. This is immediately followed by a declaration of the blessings that come from loving and serving the Lord and indicates God’s desire for their devotion and obedience to Him and His Word.

Through Deuteronomy 12 -15 we see that there are various laws related to what is clean and unclean, tithing, observance of the Sabbath year, slavery, offerings of first fruits, yet first there is a reminder of the importance of and warnings toward idolatry which again demonstrates how important this was to God. So Chapter 16 leads us into a recount of the various feasts that were to be observed. I wrote more about these in detail within my post titled “Leviticus.” Some things to keep in mind are that these feasts were to maintain God as the center of the nation through not only their observance of His laws but through submission to His provisions and recognition of His blessings.

A very interesting thing occurs in Chapter 17. Up to this point in time, the nation of Israel is a Theocracy. For those who are unaware of what that means, much like democracy – which essentially means ruled by people, theocracy means ruled by God. As we’ve read through the Bible to this point every decision and the direction of the chosen lineage of God has been directed by God. God has given specific instructions and provided the necessary provisions to accomplish His direction should they faithfully follow Him. In Chapter 17 we see a foreshadowing of and instructions by which Israel will have a King. I point this out because though Abraham and the descendants who followed lead their homes and Moses was a great leader of the Nation of Israel, all were directly in tune with, faithfully followed, and performed what God had declared (with some minor mistakes along the way). In all cases, they were a “leader” of their people but not a ruler over their people. To appoint a king implies that their is an individual who has latitude and freedom to make their own decisions in the best interest of the nation. This appears to be a big shift in the personal relationship with God and the transition to human control. Part of this image of transition comes from Deuteronomy 17:14 where God permits the Israelites to “…set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me.” This is one area where God is giving permission for the surrounding nations to influence the way of life of His chosen nation. The beauty of this passage is that God quickly follows up this apparent latitude by declaring that the appointed king must be one of their brothers and more importantly must “…write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left…” God clearly identifies that to appoint a leader is fine and they shall rule over those who appoint him so long as he maintains the Word of the Lord, the commandments of the Lord, and humble himself to the people whom God has chosen all of. This is a lesson I believe most of our world should seriously evaluate and allow to guide their leadership within all of our society. Some prominent personnel listed in the Bible Handbook who believed in reading the Bible (the law) each day included Billy Graham, George Mueller of Bristol, D.L. Moody, Abraham Lincoln, W.E. Gladstone, George Washington, Daniel WEbster, Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, Charles A. Dana, Thomas Huxley, Patrick Henry, U.S. Grant, Horace Greeley, Andrew Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Lord Tennyson, John Quincy Adams, Immanuel Kant, Charles Dickens, Sir William Herschel, Sir Isaac Newton, Goethe.

Chapter 18 declares again the provisions set aside for Priests and Levites who serve the Lord as they have been called to do and then reiterates to the Israelites that they should not fall victim to doing as the other nations do but to live according to the law. In the very same chapter we see a very important prediction. That predication occurs in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. We see here that God will very well raise up a prophet like Moses from the Nation of Israel who will “…speak to them all that I [God] command them.” This will be a prophet that God will place His words within His mouth. Though there is some debate over who this prophet is as there were other prophets such as Isaiah and Joel, there is a strong indication that this passage refers to only one and that one would be the Messiah – Jesus. The belief is that God foreshadows the Messiah as the one who will speak to all nations the words of God Himself.

Again there is a reiteration of various laws throughout Chapters 19-26 ranging from war to rebellious sons to divorce. Most of these we’ve discuss previously without much to note here. Something interesting is that in Chapter 27 we see that an altar is to be erected at Mount Ebal. The instructions dictate that the day they cross the Jordan into the promised land they are to erect stones with plaster and inscribe on them the words of this law. This altar is to be erected on Mount Ebal. The book of laws that Moses refers to is a book that he himself has written (the first five books of the Bible) and that has been written for the nation of Israel to have and to persistently read and mediate upon. This book will be handed to Joshua who as we’ll see succeeds Moses as the leader of Israel. As Chapter 27 concludes we see a listing of curses to be declared to the Israelites. Chapter 27 served as the declaration of storage and instructions for public reading of the treaty.

Chapter 28 serves the purpose of laying out how God will respond in obedience and disobedience to the treaty that is being enacted. Therefore, the chapter identifies and lists out the blessings and curses associated with Israel’s actions regarding the observance and obedience to God’s commandments. This chapter is the foundation for many of the references to Israel’s impending doom found in almost all of the prophetic writings and clearly demonstrate the beauty and promise of restoration to all the world. These verses in essence summarize what has been observed throughout the Bible to this point: God honors His commitments and promises regardless of the obedience or disobedience of His people. The important aspect of this is that Israel must repent of their disobedience and turn back to the Lord their God. This principle is reiterated in Chapter 29 and 30 with the renewing of the covenant as well as the descriptions given regarding repentance and forgiveness. Deuteronomy 30:15 states clearly God’s perspective: “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days…”

Thus we near the conclusion of Deuteronomy with the declaration that Joshua shall succeed Moses and the illustration that Moses writes the Law in a Book which serves as the early Israeli Bible. Along with the book, Moses instructs Joshua to read it periodically to the people of Israel which serves as a constant reminder and resetting to their hearts. For as we read the Bible today to ground ourselves in the Word of the Lord our God that we may know what God has to say about situations and temptations we may find ourselves in, the Nation of Israel was to read God’s Word to prevent corruption and influence from surrounding nations. Moses departs from our story by writing a song that Israel could sing as a constant reminder and method for writing the law upon their heart. Moses also blesses the tribes of Israel and provides a prediction of their future prior to climbing Mount Pisgah. It is an item to note that Moses, at the age of 120, was still strong enough to climb a mountain and upon seeing the Promised Land, the Lord took Moses from the earth. It’s amazing to see that God took Moses without anyone else around and without Israel having any knowledge of his bodies whereabouts. It is noted in my studies that this is potentially a method of God’s to prevent the Israelites from creating an Idol of Moses’ remains remembering that from the very beginning of the nation of Israel, God declared that Moses was to be God to Aaron and the people of Israel. As such, they most certainly worshipped Moses as a God and God foretold of the disarray that the Nation would become upon his death in Chapter 31 verses 16-18.

I hope I didn’t do too much injustice to the enormous amount of information that exists within the book of Deuteronomy. There are significant items within this book that you may not have gotten earlier and I most certainly urge you to read through Deuteronomy. I wanted to take this opportunity to say congratulations on completing daily readings thus far. The first five books of the Bible are a very important set of books and make up approximately 1/4 of the Old Testament and nearly exceeds the entire length of the New Testament. I pray that you continue through your daily readings and encourage you to post any comments or interesting notes that you’ve found within your readings as part of this blog.

ESV Daily Reading Bible Halley’s Bible Handbook
ESV Study Bible

For those of you who have been keeping up with the daily readings thus far, you’ll know that we’ve read through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and now Numbers. One of the exciting parts about reading through Numbers and now as we enter into Deuteronomy is that we’ve almost completed the entire first quarter of our Through the Bible in a Year plan. Of course we have a couple days remaining but I want to congratulate all of you on making it this far!!!

I’m not entirely sure how much you’ve dug into the Bible over the past quarter and regardless of that particular metric, I sincerely hope that God has moved your heart to see and understand the things He has placed out in front of you to see. If you’ve been reading my blog long you’ll know I’ve always struggled with many areas of my life and in sitting down to follow this annual plan of reading through the Bible, I have seen so much about who God is and the relationship with us He longs for. One of the greatest gifts we can ever receive is the gift of God’s grace and love through Jesus Christ. The struggle I’ve had in receiving this gift and one that plagues most of the discussions I’ve had with various individuals is that it is such a grand gift which none of us deserve. For me, this was a large hurdle and when I truly chose to receive the gift that only God can give, I personally broke down in tears and was filled with warmth, peace, and most of all – His love. There are still days that I truly meditate on His Word and in these moments I can’t hold back the tears that come to my eyes. I pray that God open your heart and show you what you need to see, that you may experience His love and truly receive His gift of grace and redemption.

Diving right in, we’ve read through the book of Numbers over the past three weeks. As I mentioned above, God is an ever loving God and He showers us with His grace even when we disobey Him. We see throughout the Israelites journey from Egypt to the land of Canaan (the promised land) that they, as we do, constantly battled with their obedience to God’s will and rebelled against God. Though we’ve seen a number of instances where God disciplines the people of Israel, we do consistently see how God’s grace is renewed over and over. In the book of Numbers, we see the journey of Israel and we see some important details of the forty years in the Desert.

Chapter 1 begins with a Census at Mount Sinai. We see that there are approximately 603,550 males over the age of 20 with the Levites being exempted from the census. Though this chapter is a bit mundane and difficult to engage in, we find that the people of Judah is the most populous at 74,600 and the people of Manasseh was the least with 32,200. The number of people in each tribe is important as we begin to see the layout of the nation around the tabernacle. Chapters 2 through 4 provide insight into the layout of the nation and their respective position around the tabernacle. In relation to the number of individuals within the census we see that Judah (with the most) is on the eastern most part of the camp and also the one who lead the march as the nation transitioned from camping to traveling. Each section of the camp contained a specified leading tribe with Judah on the East, Dan on the North, Reuben on the South, and Ephraim on the West. Interestingly enough, the largest part of the camp was to the East followed by the South, the North, and then the West. Laid out on the page in my Study Bible is a diagram which shows the camp laid out respectively and the entire camp resembles a cross with the tabernacle located at the crossing point of the two directional timbers. Of course, the Levites are identified as having responsibility for the tabernacle and are given the task of carrying the segments of the tabernacle within the various other tribes for protection.

Next we see a couple of laws relating to unclean people and adulterers. Additionally, we see a quantitative value for restitution which equated to one fifth of that value of which one committed the sin. I personally didn’t see too much within this section that stood out except that in general we’ve seen priests as the one who evaluates and judges on leprosy while the evaluation and judgement of adultery lies within the water of bitterness and a curse that is written. I thought it was interesting how the priest was not deemed to have judgment over a persons intents but rather the physical response or exhibition of a disease.

In Chapter 7 we see a series of offerings. Interestingly enough, the offerings were all identical in nature. Regardless of the size of tribe, each offered the exact same offering and they were offered in the same manner which clearly signifies that these offerings were to be solemn, strict, and serious offerings that each was obliged to perform. This also indicates that not one tribe was more or less than another. These offerings served to anoint the altar. This lead straight into the sacrifices and cleansing of the Levites. Stripped clean of all their clothing and all the hair upon their body, they were placed before the congregation, before the Nation of Israel and there was performed a sin sacrifice and a burnt offering. These offerings were to make atonement for the Levites who were cast into service of the Lord through the direction of Aaron and the priests. In doing so, the Levites were separated from the whole nation and presented as a cleansed and holy people to serve the Lord directly in the place of the first born of which the Lord commanded. Interestingly enough, however, is that Levites were ordered to retire from doing service at the age of fifty. Though they continued to minister, they were not allowed to perform service (meaning to me – labor).

Chapter 9 reiterates the importance of keeping the passover according to the prescribed manner but gives a slight variation to the Israelites as some were on travel or unclean. In Chapter 9 we see that the Lord provides provisions for observing the Passover to those who were unclean or on long journey. Importantly, it is strict and clear that only those who are unclean or on a long journey could wait until the second month on the 14th day and obey all the same prescribed methods. If someone were to postpone observance of the Passover without being unclean or on a long journey, they would be cut off from their people and the land which God had provided them. Last item of note in Chapter 9 is the reiteration of the pillar of cloud and fire which signified God’s presence among the nation of Israel. As discussed before and again stated here, it was God’s direction and commandment that the people of Israel would camp until He departed from them and they would then travel until He settled. Through this direct indication, they knew where they were to be and for how long, though perhaps not in advance. The important thing to note is that God directed them and they did not decide for themselves where they were to camp and for how long. God’s plan was laid out before them and they obeyed.

After one year at Mount Sinai, the Lord directed the nation of Israel to depart and He did so not only by lifting the cloud (His presence) from the Tabernacle but also through the sounding of the two silver trumpets that He directed them to make. The priests were to sound the alarms according to God’s command and these would signal the congregation to depart or to settle according to His plan. Thus the nation of Israel departed from Mount Sinai and travelled with the Lord before them in a pillar of cloud or column of fire as was the case in the Exodus from Egypt. As was the nature of the people, they complained. In clear instances where the Lord provided, the nation of Israel desired the luxuries of Egypt and complained about the direction and length of time that the Lord had placed before them. Taberah was the name given to the place where the Lord’s anger was kindled and fire was cast around parts of the camp. It is evident through the complaints from the Israelites that to follow the Lord was not easy nor was it pleasant compared to the pleasures of this world. Just as we struggle today to maintain our focus on the Lord our God as guide and director of our life, the Israelites struggled. Never-the-less, God was faithful and provided for the Nation of Israel manna as previously discussed. An interesting set of events transpired here where Moses cries to the Lord asking “Why?” as it relates to the Lord’s appointment of him over the Israelites. Moses seeks refuge from the people of Israel and raises his own complaint to the Lord for casting such a responsibility upon him. Moses seeks to provide for the people himself, to give them meat in order to silence their weeping for his own benefit and comfort. Why he does not raise the burden to the Lord and declare the Lord’s provisions to the people of Israel I do not know for he of all people would have known the splendor and power of the Lord. In either case, there are elders appointed by the Lord to aid Moses in dealing with the Israelites and the Lord provided quail to the people. It was with the quail that the Lord brought a plague to the people for they craved more and were unsatisfied with the plan of the Lord.

Now in Chapter 12 we see that there is animosity brewing within the nation of Israel. Miriam and Aaron rise against Moses and speak words which diminish him who has been chosen by God to lead the Israelites. Here we see that Moses was a “meek” man, more so than any other in the nation of Israel, and a man whom God entrusted with great responsibility. Through Chapter 12 we see that Moses was more than a prophet as the Lord dictated that He spoke with Moses mouth to mouth rather than through dreams and visions. Numbers 12:8 states: “With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord.” Due to their actions, Miriam was cast out of the camp and was leprous. After seven days, as was the custom, she was brought back in and they departed from Hazeroth.

Upon nearing the land of Canaan (The Promised Land) the Israelites decided to send 12 spies before them. Men travelled forth and evaluated the land of Canaan and brought back with them fruit from the land. Unfortunately the spies provided great reports of the land but scared the congregation by providing reports of the people as large and numerous. Thus the people of Israel rebelled against Moses declaring that they would not travel forth to overcome the promised land. The people cried out about the luxuries of Egypt and condemned Moses for bringing them into the wilderness to die. They proposed to choose a new leader who would bring them back to Egypt. It was then that Joshua and Caleb who had accompanied the spies of the land spoke up declaring that the land was exceedingly good and proclaiming that if the Lord delights in the people of Israel and commands them to travel onward, they shall do so. The Lord then declared to Moses that He would rid the world of the rebellious nation of Israel and bring forth to Moses a nation greater and mightier than they. Moses, however, prays for the people of Israel and pleads with God to forgive the rebellious people. God pardons them but declares that they shall never see the promised land; only Joseph and Caleb who spoke truthfully of God’s capability would enter the land God had promised to them. It was here that the people of Israel were to turn back and wander the desert for forty years. In the nation’s ignorance and self-confidence they rose against the inhabitants of the land of Canaan and departed for battle against the words of Moses only to be defeated and pursued them out of the region. Out of 600,000+ men over the age of 20 would enter Canaan and they would be Joseph and Caleb.

Throughout Chapter 15 we read about various laws related to sacrifices, unintentional sins, sabbathbreakers, and tassels on garments. We see in Chapter 16 that another individual, by the name of Korah, also rises against Moses and attempts to claim himself equal or greater than Moses. Throughout this Chapter we see God again confirm Moses by opening the earth and swallowing the followers of Korah and his family. As the congregation rose up in anger about the death of these men, the Lord set a plague among them and in a quick furry Moses directed Aaron to make atonement for them by placing incense on his cistern with fire from the altar. Immediately the plague was halted. 14,700 people had died in that plague in addition to the deaths of Korah and his people. In an attempt to declare with unwavering evidence the leader and head of the congregation, the Lord commanded Moses to gather a staff from each of the 12 tribes of Israel and deposit them in the tent of meeting. It was here that the Lord declared whichever staff sprouted would be declared the head of the nation. Aaron’s staff budded and sprouted indicating God’s choice for the head of the nation of Israel. Beneath Aaron was the tribe of Levi. It is in Chapter 18 that the duties of the priests and Levites is reiterated.

Chapters 20 through 33 cover the forty years of wandering in the desert. Through the Halley’s Bible Handbook, there is documented an estimated 38 years between Chapter 19 and Chapter 20 which covers the time period between the first arrival at Kadesh and the final departure from Kadesh for Canaan. Chapter 33 lists out approximately 40 encampments from Egypt to the Plains of Moab with 18 of them being between Rithmah and Kadesh. It is believed that Kadesh served as a sort of home base with the nation of Israel traveling between these 18 other encampments as God directed them to do. In Chapter 20 we see a very important act performed by Moses. Again the nation is in need of water to drink, not merely as a means of comfort but more importantly for survival of the people and their flocks. God commands Moses to strike a rock and provide water for the Israelites as he had done before. Extremely important to note, however, is that in this occasion we see that Moses and Aaron sin before the congregation. Numbers 20:10 – 13 describes the events as they transpired. Key points are that Moses said to the congregation: “Here now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” This very statement indicates that Moses and Aaron performed this act for the Lord but sought to receive the credit for this deed by declaring “we” rather than giving praise to the Lord. In addition, there is some thought that because Moses struck the rock twice this signified his lack of faith in the Lord to provide the water with only one strike against the rock. In either case, through these verses we see that the Lord was displeased with Moses and thus declared that he and Aaron would not bring the people to the Promised Land and would therefore never see it themselves.

Edom refused passage to Israel which is in line with the ever lasting battle between the descendants of Esau and Jacob that I wrote about before. Both Miriam and Aaron died in Chapter 20 with Miriam being 130 years old and Aaron being 123 years old. Eleazar succeeded Aaron as the high priest of Israel. In Chapter 21 we see the fabrication of a bronze serpent set before the people of Israel as a means for redemption from being bitten by a poisonous snake. Much like Jesus Christ is our savior from sin, this bronze snake was a savior from being bitten by the poisonous snakes in the desert. It is noted in the Bible Handbook that the nation of israel began to idolize this snake and burn incense to it which led to it’s destruction by King Hezekiah 700 years after it was made by Moses (2 Kings 18:4).

Israel defeated three nations throughout Chapter 21 and leads to the summon of Balaam by Balak in Chapter 22. What we see throughout Chapters 22, 23, 24, and 25 is that God continues to favor the chosen people of Israel even in their wickedness and rebellion towards Him. Faithfully He remains true to His promises and what He says comes true as a faithful God. Through the oracles of Balaam Israel is blessed even though Balak sought their destruction. Balaam’s prophesies predicted greatly the influence that the nation of Israel would have through a star that would come from Jacob as depicted in Numbers 24:17. This “Star” as we know Him is Jesus Christ. Through their success, Israelites settled in Shittim and began to “whore with the daughters of Moab.” Through their interactions the people began to bow down to other gods and anger the Lord. As a result, 24000 Israelites died in a plague cast down by the Lord. I find it important to note that Phinehas – son of Eleasar the High Priest – was the man who rose against the people of Israel out of jealousy for God and thus God gave him the covenant of peace and perpetual priesthood to him and his descendants.

Chapter 26 is a second census that was performed. Out of the 600,000+ males of the first census only 2 remained alive. The tribe of Judah remained the largest with 76,500 and the tribe of Simeon was the least with 22,200. The nation of Israel consisted of 601,730 males above the age of 20 yet only 2 remained from the first census indicating that the wilderness was harsh and taxing on the people of Israel.

Joshua is finally chosen to succeed Moses as Moses is barred from entering the Promised Land and will surely die at the age of 120 years old prior to Israel’s entrance into Canaan. We close out the book of Numbers by recounting the offerings Israel is to perform, revealing laws regarding vows by men and women, and recounting Israel’s journey to the Promised Land. The boundaries of their inheritance are identified in Chapter 34 with the inheritance of the Levites declared as cities among all tribes rather than secluded individual land.

For those keeping up with the daily readings, we have also completed the book fo Deuteronomy and I’ll be posting about that book in the next few days. May the Lord speak through His Words to your heart and provide direction to your life. I pray that you open the Scripture with an open heart, one ready to receive the word of God and that He may plant a seed that only He can grow. God bless!

ESV Daily Reading Bible Halley’s Bible Handbook
ESV Study Bible

First and foremost I wanted thank you for visiting my site. I have had this particular website for a number of years and though it originally started as a rolling blog of my life (what I was doing, personal writings – poems & stories, the struggles I faced, et cetera) I have committed myself to seeking out God and living a life that glorifies Him. In doing so, I have spent many a day struggling with the very items I believe we all struggle with. At the heart of these struggles is the mere commitment we’re willing to make to Him over our own personal desires.

Though an item of much contention and various theories on how to do this, I have spent numerous hours in prayer and within the pages of the Bible – God’s Word. I say all of this merely for your information and as a foundation for my apology. For those of you who know me – and if you don’t, I”d be happy to meet you sometime if you’re in the Houston area or you can follow me on twitter – I have struggled recently with a direction in my life. A number of months ago I had felled compelled to run for the United States Senate. In doing so, I found that my daily readings and spiritual life had withered slightly and that, above all else, is a good indication I was shifting my priorities around in a negative manner. Needless to say, I have been a little negligent of my commitment to posting here and so I’d like to apologize to those of you who frequent this page with a bit of frustration.

To move on from there, I will post here some information about Leviticus (the entire book) and try to get caught up on where we are in our daily reading plan (should be Numbers, Chapters 12 & 13). This may be a long post but I’ll try to be cognizant of that.

As we closed out Exodus, we learned about the Tabernacle. One thing that I’d like to continue coming back to is the Tabernacle as the importance of this “structure” is clear due to the enormous amount of detail about how it was constructed and planned out. Over the next couple of books we’ll see that a lot of what is written revolves around the Tabernacle and the nation of Israel’s responsibility for maintaining it as the place of God’s presence within their people.

Leviticus – meaning “about, or relating to, the Levites” is an important book for our understanding of the structure and how the Israelites served the Lord. Throughout the book, we learn about the laws of Sacrifices, the Priesthood, and their Sacred Feasts. If you recall, back in Exodus, God issued a number of plagues over the land of Egypt. The last plague was where God cleansed the land of all the firstborn except for those who had followed His command (ref. Exodus 11, 12, & 13). What you will see in these chapters is that God took the firstborn of all the Egyptians and in return for His deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, He commanded that “… you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb.” This meant that all the firstborn sons of the Israelites and all the firstborn animals belonged to God. Though the firstborn animals were sacrificed, the firstborn men were redeemed by being bound into service of the Lord. God, instead, declared that the Levites were to take the place of all the firstborn to serve God. Out of the Levites, there was the son of Levi – Aaron – who would serve as Priest and all his sons would serve the same duty. All the other Levites were to be assistants to the Priests and to serve the Lord by watching over the Tabernacle, carrying it and maintaining it, setting it up and tearing it down.

Throughout the first seven chapters of Leviticus we learn about the many offerings the Israelites would perform and the specific details of how each offering was to be performed before the Lord. Starting off we have the Burnt Offering which was a voluntary act of worship to the Lord showing one’s devotion, commitment, and complete surrender to God. This offering also served as a means of atonement for any unintentional sin in general. The Burnt Offering was performed with a bull, a ram, or a male bird without blemish which was completely consumed by fire. Next was the Grain Offering. The Grain Offering was a voluntary act of worship which acknowledged God’s great power and His hand in providing for the offeror. It was a sign of devotion to God by bringing forward grain, flour, olive oil, incense, baked bread, and salt. The Grain Offering was not to include yeast or honey and was often performed in conjunction with a burnt offering or a fellowship offering. The Fellowship Offering was a voluntary act of worship and thanksgiving which included much fellowship through the means of a communal meal. This particular offering included a meal of any animal without blemish along with a variety of breads and drink. The next major offering was the Sin Offering. When one would commit a specific sin, whether intentional or unintentional, they would offer an offering based upon their stature/class within the community and the offering would serve as confession of their sin and would cleanse them of their sin, providing forgiveness. Based upon an individual’s stature/class within the community: High Priest – Bull, Leader – Goat, Common Person – Female Goat or Lamb, Poor Person – Dove or Pigeon, and Very Poor Person – a tenth of an ephah (~2.2 liters) of fine flour. Lastly, the Guilt Offering was provided as a means for mandatory atonement for sin requiring restitution. This offering was typically done with a ram or a lamb that met a certain monetary value (of which I’m uncertain).

An important thing to note is for all of these offerings, the individual was required to bring the offering to the priest, to lay their hand upon the head of the animal and to have the priest acknowledge their offering to the Lord. Thus, the following chapters address who were to be the priests. Looking back, we can see a clear progression in the formation of the nation of Israel. Initially, all offerings were performed by the head of the family. As the nation of Israel became more organized, the Lord prescribed a place for offerings to occur, a specific manner in which these offerings were to be performed, and now He prescribes who shall oversee these offerings. As I mentioned before, Aaron was appointed as the High Priest and all of his descendants were to serve as priests. Following the pattern of the firstborn, Aaron’s firstborn was to succeed him as High Priest when that time came. Through chapters 8 & 9 we observe the solemn ceremony of the consecration of Aaron as High Priest that was detailed in Exodus Chapter 29. Aaron is dressed in the garments of the High Priest that were detailed by God in Exodus Chapter 28. Throughout Chapters 8 & 9 we see that Aaron is consecrated as well as his sons who were to serve with him in the priesthood. Aaron’s sons were clothed and partook in the sacrifices that were to be performed for their acceptance by God as priests.

One of the great demonstrations of God’s ordinances comes in Chapter 10. In Chapter 10 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu decided to offer an offering to the Lord that was “… unauthorized …” and that “… he had not commanded …” Through this small yet distinct demonstration, God swiftly engulfed Nadab and Abihu in fire, consuming them. Their death before the Lord and before all the congregation was a warning to all the world about the importance of keeping God’s will within our hearts. It was a warning to all that no one, not even the priests of the nation of Israel, is to distort God’s commandments and Words. We are not to distort the Lord’s Word nor the Gospel of Christ with human additions or traditions.

Chapters 11 through to the end of Leviticus cover a various set of additional laws that governed the nation of Israel. Many of these revolved around cleanliness and specifically the cleanliness of animals, women after childbirth, and skin disease. As we come to Leviticus 16 we read about the day of atonement. Falling on the tenth day of the seventh month (modern day Yom Kippur) this was the most holy day of the year. There were strict rules about when the High Priest could enter before the Lord and the mercy seat. If these rules were not followed, the High Priest would surely die. The day of atonement served as a mark on the removal of sin for the nation of Israel lasting one year. More importantly, the day of atonement foreshadows the sacrifice of Christ for our eternal salvation and through His death on the cross, Jesus serves as our sacrificial atonement and replaces all as our High Priest and mediator – bridging the gap between our sinful nature and God’s divine purity.

Interestingly enough and a matter of some discussion within my circle of friends is that there is mention of great sins in Leviticus 18. Many people I have spoken with come to the conclusion that these are stated here due to the sinful behavior of the Israelites. Through further research, I found that many have come to the interpretation that these were the behaviors common in the land of Canaan, not by the Israelites but by their many neighbors. Therefore, this section is laid out as God specifically addresses that which may influence the nation of Israel and His chosen people. This same though applies to Chapters 19-20 but also indicates to us how much God was a part of all aspects of their lives. God laid out the frame-work for defining the Nation of Israel and how His chosen people were to live as people who loved God and obeyed Him. On top of these laws, Chapters 21 and 22 identify God’s expectations of the priests and how they are to maintain themselves as clean above all the people of Israel.

Thus we come to the feasts of Israel outlined in Leviticus. Before we get into the details of the individual feasts, it is interesting to note (thanks to Halley’s Bible Handbook – and you may have noticed this trend slightly) that the number seven is a significant number within the Mosaic time period. Halley’s Bible Handbook outlines the following:

Every Seventh Day was a Sabbath
Every Seventh Year was a Sabbath Year
Every Seventh Sabbath Year (7 x 7) was followed by a Year of Jubilee
Every Seventh Month was especially holy, with three feasts
There were Seven weeks between Passover and Pentacost
The Passover Feast lasted Seven days
The Feast of Tabernacles lasted Seven days
At the Passover, 14 lambs (7 x 2) were offered daily
At the Feast of Tabernacles, 14 lambs (7 x 2) and 70 bullocks were offered daily
At Pentacost, Seven lambs were offered.

We’ll revisit the number seven in the book of Revelation as well. Specifically related to what we’re reading here in Leviticus, however, is that in Chapter 23 we see that there is the Feast of the Sabbath and though the Bible doesn’t specify what is to be eaten, it does specify that every Sabbath is an appointed feast.

The Feast of the Passover is performed in conjunction with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Done to commemorate Israel’s deliverance from the land of Egypt in Exodus. Performed in spring, beginning in the first month on the 14th day, the feast of the Passover was performed. Immediately following the feast of the passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread began on the 15th day of the first month. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was performed to commemorate the exodus of Israel from the land of Egypt. As they were commanded in Exodus, they were to take with them unleavened bread and they were to eat this bread for seven days, each day raising the bread up before the Lord in thanksgiving to His provisions. The feast of the passover and the feast of unleavened bread were celebrated at the beginning of the religious year.

The Feast of Firstfruits is also known as the Feast of Harvest and the Pentacost. This feast occurred seven weeks after the day after the feast of passover which equated to 50 days after the Passover. The premise of the Feast of Firstfruits lies directly in line with the Feast of Weeks and often these two feasts are group together as one. As the Lord commanded, all Israelites were to bring forth an offering of their crop and the increase of their flock/livestock as an offering to the Lord in thanksgiving for His provisions. These particular feasts are a very important link between another topic we’ve discussed in Genesis and Exodus which is the Tithe. What we see in the Feast of Firstfruits and the Feast of Weeks is that God commanded the people of Israel and this applies to us today that they put – God First! In this particular section of the Bible we see that God gave no option for the Israelites in that none of their crop or flock would be eaten until they offered to the Lord their tithe. In addition, we see in Leviticus 23:20 that these tithes were to be provided to the Lord who would grant them to the priests for their livelihood; that “… they shall be holy to the Lord for the priests.” I must clarify that this feast is not intended as the tithe itself as Leviticus 23:37-38 indicates that these feasts are performed in addition to the nominal tithe/offering. I merely wanted to identify the similarity of this feast with the tithe and how we are to give to God first. Another very important note in this section is Leviticus 23:22 which clearly supports the principle that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves and that we are to provide for the poor. In this paragraph, God commands the Israelites to refrain from gathering all their crop for themselves and to leave some for “… the poor and for the sojourner …” This feast lasted one day.

The Feast of Trumpets was a symbolic day of memory. Occurring on the first day of the seventh month, the day was to be a day of solemn rest in which no one was to perform any ordinary work. In addition they were to present to the Lord a food offering. This particular day was a day that marked the new year (civil year versus religious year) and is celebrated today as New Year’s Day or Rosh Hashanah. There is no specific indication of what food offering was require and this feast lasted one day as well.

The Day of Atonement I wrote about above and previously with little more to add other than it was also viewed as a day of feast for the Lord. The Feast of Booths (also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Ingathering), however, occurred five days after the Day of Atonement and lasted seven days. For seven days the nation of Israel was to present to the Lord a food offering. On the eighth day, there was to be an assembly of the nation and a food offering provided but no ordinary work was to be performed. For the seven days of this feast, the offering of trees and various types of trees were to be offered and simultaneously the nation of Israel was to dwell in booths to commemorate the exodus from Egypt.

We close out the book of Leviticus with some additional laws and codes of conduct but without mentioning a couple items of importance. The Sabbath Year was a year of rest for the land and occurred every seven years. Anything that did grow during this year was left to the poor and sojourner much like that discussed earlier. The glory of this activity was that God promised to provide enough in the sixth year to sustain the nation of Israel for the Sabbath year and as He promised, He provided. Additionally, any debts held against other Israelites were to be cancelled and every seven Sabbath Years there would be a Year of Jubilee. In this instance, two Sabbath Years or years of rest would come together and would begin on the Day of Atonement. All debts, regardless of nationality, were cancelled and slaves were released and any lands that had been sold were redeemed. God established this provision to cleanse the land and ensure that the land remained with the people whom He had promised it to.

Chapter 26 is a phenomenal chapter. This particular chapter encompasses so much of what we’ve read about thus far and reassures us that God will keep His promises and walk with the people of Israel if they obey His Word and His commandments. What this chapter also does is it identifies that no man could provide for himself and his family without the Lord. It provides the foundation for why dependance upon the Lord is essential and identifies that anyone who attempts to live their own way, He will not provide for them and this entire section lists out the punishment for such attitude and action.

The book of Leviticus is a great book. One that shows how glorious God is through the plan He set forth in the Nation of Israel. So much of what we read here applies to us today. Put God First in all you do. Give to God the First of all His blessings to you. Summed up in the two greatest commandments: Love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.

ESV Daily Reading Bible Halley’s Bible Handbook
ESV Study Bible

The following post was put together by my dear friend Krista who spent a significant amount of time studying several sources and compiling words from the Bible as well as Beth Moore’s study – A Woman’s Heart. One of the wonderful things about talking to Krista as we read through Exodus is that as she began trying to put this post together, she kept finding out more and more details that fueled the fire in her heart. Of course, as you are aware with my posts, that can sometimes lead to excessively long paragraphs. She has tried to condense some of this information and provide you with a great overview of these sections. My understanding is that she is working on the other segments of the Tabernacle for a later post.

So the first thing I thought about was in Exodus 15: 25 (but the story starts in vs. 22) when Moses threw a log or wood into the bitter water to make it sweet. In 1 Peter 2:24 it states about Jesus: “He himself bore our sins in his body on a tree…” On a tree at Calvary were cast the bitter waters of all times. The tree in Exodus 13:25 was baptized by the bitter water, soaking up the bitterness and leaving the water sweet. Likewise, our savior instantly purified the bitter waters by His perfect sacrifice on a tree when all of humanity’s sins were heaped on him. (From Beth Moore’s study- A Woman’s Heart)

That’s just another example of God revealing to the Israelites and us about the coming Messiah… I think it’s pretty cool.

Manna:
To me, the glory of God truly speaks to me when God begins to send manna to feed the Israelites. If you think about it… he only sent it first thing in the morning. So that means you actually had to get up and collect it. God was providing, but the Israelites had to make the effort to get out of bed and receive it. Then, no matter how much they gathered, no one had too much or too little. You could not save it for the next day, it was only for the present (unless it was the Sabbath). Our time with God is still a lot like Manna. God provides what we need to get through every day… but we have to be willing to get up and ask for it, in the morning. Asking for our manna at the end of the day does not do us any good for the day is almost over. And when we do receive
our daily manna (aka: daily bread) He gives us exactly what we need… not too much, not too little.

So the Tabernacle:
The building of the tabernacle begins when the Israelites flee from Egypt. God gives them favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, so they send them away with (Ex. 12: 35-36) Gold, silver, clothing, and basically whatever they asked for. The actual directions of the tabernacle to be built begins in Exodus 26. They are required to use blue and purple and scarlet yarn. The blue represented sapphire so that it would constantly remind the Israelites of the tabernacles’ heavenly decent (Ezekiel 1:26, Isa. 54:11). The purple represents royalty, kingship, and elegance (Judges 8:26, Luke 16:19, Mark 15:17-18). The scarlet denotes bloodshed, pain, and sacrifice (Isa. 1:18). Seems pretty significant to me. As you read through the chapter, pay attention to those colors and remembering what they stand for will help you understand why God is so detailed in his instructions.

You will also see that they were to use acacia wood. This wood was known for it’s incorruptibility, it resisted decay. Some think that this wood represents Christ’s humanity. In Isa. 53:2 he is called “a root out of dry ground.” He is also called a “true vine” in John. Like the acacia wood, although He was “cut off out of the land of the living” (Isa. 53:8), His body never decayed. One of the most remarkable similarities between the acacia wood and Jesus was that it bore heavy, sharp thorns.

The Bronze Alter:
Bronze was chosen because it represents strength and judgment (Job 40:18, Num. 21: 5-9, Rev. 1:12-15). A horn at each corner served as the means by which the innocent sacrifice was tied down. Also see Gen. 22:13 for another animal caught by the horns to be a sacrifice. Christ is known as the horn of our salvation (Psa. 18:2), he is the one who was secured on a cross so that we could be secured in the book of life. Then in Lev. 6:12-13 you see that God lights the fire on the altar himself…however, it is up to the priests to fuel the fire and keep it going…another place that the tabernacle is connected to us and our hearts.

The Bronze Basin:
Also made out of bronze… remember what that represents? The basin is used for the priests to bathe before entering the Holy Place. If you look at a diagram of how the tabernacle is laid out, the basin is the last thing before the priests enter into the Holy Place. Ex. 38:8 states that the basin was made from mirrors, bronze and
mirrors. So as the priests are cleansing themselves, they are seeing their reflection, causing them to “reflect” on themselves before they are allowed into the presence of God.

So before you could enter into God’s presence, you had to go through the blood (the altar) and the water (the basin)… just as in John 19:34- “But one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear bringing a sudden
flow of blood and water”

How amazing God is!!