February 13 - Numbers 26:1-65

In the last reading we learned that 24,000 die of the plague, but no one dies in the war.  Isn't that strange?  Or should I say miraculous.  Maybe not.  When God is in charge, miraculous things happen.  When we seek to live our own lives without Him, we invite death.  The difference between dying in a plague or living through a war is God.

So many have died in the various plagues.  All of those who were forbidden to enter the Promised Land have died out.  It's time to start fresh.  So they start by numbering the people.  It probably shouldn't be a surprise that the tribe of Judah is greater in numbers and is, in fact, the largest of the tribes.  It also should probably be no surprise that Rueben and Simeon are fewer.  What is it that the Bible said in an earlier reading?  Punishment will be visited on the third and fourth generation.  Does that mean our direction as a family as parents and as children sets the tone and begins the cycle for the next generation of young people.

To this layman's simple understanding, there doesn't seem to be a major revelation in this reading.  Or, at least, no major revelation at this time in my life.  I've learned the Bible has a way of speaking to people in different ways...depending on where you are in life.

There is one thing I'm sort of curious about.  Amid the list of so many sons and fathers, they mention a couple of women.  Is it just that Zelophehad and Asher didn't raise any sons and so their daughters are mentioned instead?  Or is it because these women were extraordinary in some regard?  The Bible doesn't say.  Just mention their names.

Did you notice that one of Zelophehad's daughters was named Noah?  I guess Noah was a girl or boy's name.  He also had a daughter named Hoglah.  Let's hope they didn't shorten that one.

February 12 - Numbers 25:1-18, 31:1-54

Ok, apparently Balaam's plan is to have the Moabite women seduce God's people (or, at least the men).  Maybe Balaam realizes that the only way his people will defeat God's chosen people is to separate them from their God and sexual immorality would do this.  Balaam wasn't counting on forgiveness.  God won't turn his back on His people.  He will forgive but His forgiveness comes at an extremely high price (as forgiveness always does).  It requires blood.  Another plague will visit Israel and 24,000 die.  Such a waste of life.

Great, your name gets in the Holy Bible.  That would normally be a really, really cool thing.  Unless your name is Zimri and Cozbi.  Zimri is from the family of Simeon.  Apparently Zimri wasn't familiar with the family history.  Simeon had a problem with foreign men marrying his sister.  Now, one of his descendants is punished for a relationship with a foreign woman.

Now Israel fights and kills the five kings of Midian and all the men.  But they spare women and children.  Eleazar will correct this.  Note that 24,000 die due sexual immorality but not one man dies during the battle.

Time and time again, Israel will be directed to utterly destroy every one and every thing in a land that they're conquerer.  Why such senseless killing of innocents at the urging of a loving God?  We'll discover in a few readings from now that it's not because of Israel's righteousness that they win against nations like Moab.  Israel is the instrument for punishing the other nations.  The Moabites must have been responsible for something exceedingly wicked.

And so we're left to trust that God is God and He knows what He's doing.

February 11 - Numbers 22-24:25

Do you have a problem with God speaking to Balaam?  Does it bother you at all?  He's not one of the Chosen People and he practices divination.  Deuteronomy seems to suggest that God has major heartburn over folks who practice divination.  Not only does God speak to Balaam, but Balaam doesn't seem particularly surprised by it.  Like this isn't the first time.  [Of course, this is the guy who's not surprised when the donkey starts speaking to him either.  Balaam has obviously seen some weird mojo.]

Given Balaam's reaction and the fact that he obeys God, I tend to think this isn't the first conversation Balaam has had with God.  Maybe that's why he has a reputation for having the power to bless or curse and have it stick.  Maybe Balaam gets his power from God.  I know we have a problem with Balaam's profession.  But God often speaks and deals with people outside our comfort zone.  He interacts with thieves on the cross, prostitutes, lepers, the insane, even Republicans (Oops, sorry, I meant publicans).  God speaks to and saves who He will.  Let's never presuppose what God will do.  Odds are we'll guess wrong.

God speaks to Balaam and he obeys.  How many of us can say that?

Even when Balaam attempts to push God a little and see if he can accept some of the riches he's being offered, God corrects him instead of killing him.  That's significant.  I don't think God is just using Balaam to achieve His purposes.  There's something more here.  Balaam has the courage to speak out for God when it's not popular.  He defies the king's wishes when he speaks for God and curses the Moabites.  He does it three times.  God even puts a prophecy of Christ's coming in Balaam's mouth.

All of this makes it even odder when, in the readings yet to come, Balaam will plot to seduce God's people.  What happened to Balaam?  He knows how powerful God is.  He's had a brush with one of the Lord's angels and has prophesied to the King regarding God.  So why does he try to go against the Lord?  Is Balaam the prototype preacher gone bad?  What was he thinking?

February 10 - Numbers 20:1-29, 21:1-35, 33:1-49

Miriam and Aaron die. Moses and Aaron will not be allowed to enter the Promised Land because they [actually Moses] struck the rock instead of just speaking to it as God commanded.  Again, I think it's more a matter of the heart.  Because Aaron is punished, too, and he didn't even strike the rock.  It's not the act but what the act betrays about the actor's heart.  In this case, perhaps the two got a little holier than thou.  One of the pitfalls of leadership is pride.

I wished I could have been present at Aaron's death.  Other than walking with God and being no more, Aaron's death seems a good way to go.  The manner of his death seems to underscore my conviction that even though God may punish people on this earth, it's not necessarily an indicator of our ultimate destination and judgement.  There is such a sense of peace about Aaron's passing.  Moses goes with his brother into the mountain.  I imagine the whole community watching as they ascend.  Aaron in his priestly garments.  Those garments are ceremonially stripped from him and his son Eleazar is arrayed in them.  I'm certain that Aaron was proud to see his son literally assume his father's mantel.  To fill his shoes.  Interesting that Aaron probably falls because of pride and is rewarded by seeing his son take his place and his fatherly pride sustained.  

Did Aaron feel some sense of sadness and regret along with the joy of seeing his son take his place?  Sad that he would not join his people in the Promised Land after so long a journey and so many obstacles overcome?  Or did he understand, accept God's judgement and, then, that very day make the journey to the ultimate Promised Land in heaven?  Aaron is laid to rest.  Moses and Eleazar descend the mountain together.  I wonder what they talked about?  Did Moses tell Eleazar what Aaron was like growing  up?  How well did they actually know each other since Moses was raised in Pharoah's household?  But I hold on to the fact that Aaron saw his son take his place.  And so it's not sad at all.  there is an overwhelming sense of peace to it.

Once again the people murmur about the food and water.  You'd think they'd figure out what was in store by now.  But then, aren't we just like them?  We forget what all the Lord has done for us and how we should be so happy.  Venomous snakes are sent by God and the people are bitten and many die until the bronze snake is lifted up.  Is this Plague 5?  A visitation of poisonous snakes?

Then we have Moses' journal of the nation's travels as commanded by God.  so, God's into journaling.  Well, we know he loves the word.  So His interest in journaling only makes sense.

February 9 - Numbers 16:1-50, 17:1-13, 18:1-32

There are those who challenge Moses' leadership.  I don't know how God could be more obvious that Moses is His guy.  The people overhear God talking to him.  Moses' face glows with God's glory.  Hey, there's a pillar of smoke over the Tabernacle.  What does it take?  We believe what we want to believe no matter how obvious the signs are around us.  

The rebels learn Moses is God's guy the hard way.  They're swallowed up by the Earth.

Plague 4 -- God's wrath is evident in the death of those who try and oust Moses and Aaron.  A total of 14,700 die because of this plague.

February 8 - Numbers 12:1-14:45

Miriam and Aaron are rebuked by God for not showing respect to Moses.  They didn't approve of his Cushite wife.  Typically, God wasn't excited when you took a foreign wife.  Were Miriam and Aaron jealous?  Where they doing that thing we do when we think it's unfair that someone is put in authority when they're so obviously fallible?  Leadership is not about perfect but how a failed person deals with their failure.  It's not about our sin.  It's about God's grace.  Our leaders are not perfect.  But the God they follow should be.  

Moses leadership is not because he's perfect.  It's because he has a relationship with someone who is.  And God reaffirms that this relationship is different.

He says, "When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams.  But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house.  With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord."

Is God inferring here that His relationship with Moses is superior to that of the dreamer Joseph?  

You know, we'd think it was pretty awesome of God spoke to us in dreams.  Many of us long for that kind of communication with the Father.  But there's something superior to visions.  There is plain sight.  Moses had a relationship that was more direct, more personal and less mystic.  He had a face to face relationship with God.  So what did the Lord's face look like to Moses?  Is looking at the face of God like staring up into the skies?  And what's it like to see your reflection in His eyes?

God's Eye -- The Helix Nebula.

The people don't have confidence that they can conquer...even with God.  They're looking for another way.  They're looking for something that doesn't require as much commitment, that doesn't force  you into looking into the eyes of God.  Only Caleb and Joshua give a good report and plead with the people to heed God.  (Oh, and by the way, Caleb is from the House of Judah.)

Plague 3 -- The spies who came back and gave a negative report are visited by a plague and die.

February 7 - Numbers 10:1-34, 9:15-23, 10:35-36

Ok, another thing to chalk up for Judah being the favored tribe -- as they set out traveling, "the divisions of the camp of Judah went first, under their standard...."  They're the point tribe.

Hobab is asked to guide the great multitude as they travel.  This is the original brother-in-law job [literally].  How much leading does he really do?  Isn't God as a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night actually doing the leading?  So what's Hobab really doing?  

Oh, I think we go that way.  Why Hobab?  Because that's the way the pillar of fire is traveling.  Gotcha.

  

Hobab is a great symbol of how it's really God that does any job we take credit for.  You think Hobab took pride and bragged at all that he was leading the camp?  Everyone around him would have been rolling their eyes because they all know God is really doing the work whether Hobab gives Him the credit or not.  It sounds absurd given God's leadership was so obvious and dramatic.  But was Hobab any more absurd than we are today?  God is obviously leading us and blessing us and empowering us and we take pride in what we've accomplished.  Father, forgive us.

Plague 2 - God is visiting plague's on the people as they doubt and grumble and show such little faith.  Do these plagues remind them of the plagues He  rained down on the Egyptians to free His people?  Are these plagues intended to free them, too.  How many plagues will there be and will they parallel in any way the plagues in Egypt.  We'll have to take a look and see.  Here, the Lord strikes them with a "severe plague" because of their grumbling about manna and their desire for meat.

February 6 - Numbers 3:14-39, 4:1-49, 3:40-51

Unlike our family packing to move, the Israelites have a system.  Each tribe is responsible for packing and moving something different.  Whole lot of sea cow being used to wrap things here.  I've posted a sea cow here if  you're wondering.  It's like a manatee.  So where did they get a hold of sea cow skin in the desert?  Someone have a pond and farm-raising sea cows?  

I wonder how the Merarites felt about their duty.  Nothing exciting about what they're lugging.  No warnings that if they touch it they'll die or anything.  They're in charge of tabernacle infrastructure.  You know, the frames and crossbars and posts and bases and tent pegs and ropes people.  They're sort of responsible for the behind-the-scenes stuff.  [You know, it takes a tribe to build a tabernacle.]  They probably had to wait until all of the curtains and stuff were taken down before they even could get started on what they were doing.  

Do you think all of these tribes help one another even though they were assigned different things?  Or were they legalistic or like a labor union in Chicago:  "I'm sorry we can't help you with that.  You'll have to get the Gershonites for that.  We're Merarites.  All we do is frames and crossbars and posts and bases and tent pegs and ropes and such.  That's what we do."  Or, maybe, they just said, "Sorry, can't help you.  That's not my gift."

February 5 - Numbers 9:1-12, 1-2:34

The tribes of Israel are numbered in this reading.  Guess which one is the biggest?  Well, at least, has the most men 20 years and older with 74,600?  Judah.  I wonder if it's because Judah was one of Jacob's more admirable sons?  He comes back to see if he can get Joseph out of the pit only to discover he's been sold.  He tells Jacob to hold him and even his children accountable if Benjamin is not returned.  His will be the line from which a savior will arise.

Judah's blessing is more than descendants.  This tribe is shown favor in other ways.  Judah is encamped  East of the tabernacle:  "On the east, toward the sunrise, the divisions of the camp of Judah are to encamp under their standard." [Numbers 2:3]  More ways than one, Judah is encamped toward the sunrise.  The sun [or son] will shine on this tribe first.  

Note too that Joseph and Benjamin's descendants are camped together.

February 4 - Numbers 3:1-13, 8:5-22, 7:1-8:4

Ok, so why is this recorded in the Bible?  A good deal of this reading describes the various tribes' offerings.  And it's pretty redundant since all of them, except the Levites, brought the exact same thing.  Maybe it's not written for us.  I'm sure in early Hebrew time it was interesting.  Or maybe these scriptures will  help prove something a thousand years from now just like there are scriptures today that we have a greater understanding of then they did in the day they were written.  Like the verses that tell us the Earth hangs on nothing.  They wouldn't have understood this.  We do.  Or maybe an archeologist will find something -- one of the silver sprinkling bowls weighing seventy shekels (according to the sanctuary shekel) and filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering -- and it will just be one more indicator among so many that the Bible is true.  But without these verses that silver sprinkling bowl wouldn't have any significance.

Who knows?  Well, God knows.  And He knows why these verses are here. 

Toward the end of today's reading, Moses hears God's voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim on the ark.  God's appearance varies.  He's in the pillar of smoke and the pillar of fire.  He appears as a being to Abraham and Jacob.  He's in the burning bush.  He takes on so many visual identities.  But Moses would have known him from His voice.  He's the voice in scripture.  Jesus is the word.