The Chapter-A-Day thread.

[bcmom]

I'm glad we decided to read Numbers.
I wanted more insight into Numbers 2 so I read this commentary and I thought it was worth sharing, I hope you agree.

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary Numbers 2

"The order of the tribes in their tents.

The tribes were to encamp about the tabernacle, which was to be in the midst of them. It was a token of God'sk gracious presence. Yet they were to pitch their tents afar off, in reverence to the sanctuary. The children of Israel put themselves in their posts, without murmuring or disputing; and as it was their safety, so it was their beauty. It is our duty and interest to be contented with the place allotted to us, and to endeavour to occupy it in a proper manner, without envying or murmuring; without ambition or covetousness. Thus the gospel church ought to be compact, according to the Scripture model, every one knowing and keeping his place; and then all that wish well to the church rejoice, beholding their order, Colossians 2:5."
"Colossians 2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ."

 

[brinny]

Today's chapter is Numbers 2 - The Arrangement of the Tribal Camps - Bible Gateway

Thanks for the commentary.......

verse 33 is most interesting because these were not numbered as everyone else was:

33 But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses.

 

[bcmom]

Thanks for the commentary.......

verse 33 is most interesting because these were not numbered as everyone else was:

33 But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses.

Good insight; this isn't the first time God not did not count the Levites with Israel.

Numbers 1:47 The ancestral tribe of the Levites, however, was not counted along with the others. 48 The Lord had said to Moses: 49 “You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. 50 Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle of the covenant law—over all its furnishings and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and encamp around it. 51 Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who approaches it is to be put to death.

 

[bcmom]

Here's an excellent commentary on what we can learn from the tribe of Levi...

"S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries
The patriarch, Jacob, gave each of his twelve sons a blessing just before he died. The twelve sons were the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the blessings contained prophetic information about the future of each tribe. In the case of the tribe of Levi, which was paired in the prophecy with the tribe of Simeon, Jacob prophesied about him and his brother at the same time: "Simeon and Levi are brothers-their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel" (Genesis 49:5-7). In addition to referring to the future of the tribe of Levi, the prophecy contains within it several lessons for all of us.

Jacob pronounced a curse upon Levi's (and Simeon's) anger partly due to their treacherous and violent destruction of the Shechemites (Genesis 34:24-30). Levi's anger was evil because it was characterized by deeds of fierceness and cruelty. Righteous anger and indignation, the kind Jesus exhibited in cleansing the Temple, for example, is never characterized by cruelty. The swords of Levi, which should have been only weapons of defense, were weapons of violence (v. 5), to do wrong to others, not to save themselves from wrong or to protect the innocent.

Jacob's pronouncement, "I will scatter them in Jacob, and disperse them in Israel" certainly came true. The tribe of Levi was scattered through Israel. But they became, by God's grace and through their loyalty to God (Exodus 32:26-29), the priestly tribe and residents of the cities of refuge. They never possessed their own designated region, as the other tribes did, but Levi's priestly office was certainly a privileged one.

As Christians, we learn from the tribe of Levi that unrestrained anger is the cause of a great deal of sin. Anger leaves devastation in its wake, often with irreparable consequences. Jacob's statement, "let me not enter their counsel; let me not join their assembly" is a lesson for us as well. We are not to take the counsel of angry people because they are unstable and exhibit an inability to control their passions. When anger is a defining trait in another's life, it is an indication of the lack of the spiritual gift of self-control which characterizes all believers (Galatians 5:22-23). An angry person makes a poor counselor and in fact, his company should be avoided, especially when the sin of anger is unconfessed and there is no attempt to deal with it in a godly manner.

Finally, the ultimate lesson in the tribe of Levi, for Christians, is that of restoration of the sinner to the privileged position of children of God. Through the high-priestly intercession of Christ, who exchanged His righteousness for our sins on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21), we become a nation of priests in our own right. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9)."

 

[bcmom]

I love how the Bible is THE LIVING Word and is interconnected. What applied 4000 years ago still applies today and will again in another 4000 years, if The Lord doesn't return. If I'm making any sense at all. The Truth will always be the Truth.

 

[bcmom]

Today's chapter is Numbers 3 - The Levites - This is the account of - Bible Gateway

 

[brinny]

I love how the Bible is THE LIVING Word and is interconnected. What applied 4000 years ago still applies today and will again in another 4000 years, if The Lord doesn't return. If I'm making any sense at all. The Truth will always be the Truth.

Excellent commentary on the tribe of Levi, by the way....

Yes, it IS the LIVING Word, and it is un-changing in relevance throughout the ages....

when i read Psalms and of the ups and downs of David, His words apply to me, the needing God, the questions, the affirmations and his praises of God, minister to me......God mooooves through them to me just as He did with David.

Yes, the Truth will always be the Truth.

 

[brinny]

Today's chapter is Numbers 3 - The Levites - This is the account of - Bible Gateway

Wow, God takes the Levites unto Himself for the priesthood...it almost reminds me of an example of redemption.

And here again in verses 2-4 Aaron's sons are mentioned about how they offered "strange fire" before the Lord. (Could that possibly mean "magic" or sorcery, i wonder?) And God strikes them dead instantly. Hmmmmm....i dunno about AAron....when Moses was up with the Lord getting the ten commandments, Aaron took gold etc and made the people idols, etc. and now here are his sons offering "strange fire" before the Lord......

2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office.

4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.

....just noticed, that the Levites are numbered separately here.

 

[bcmom]

Wow I did a google search on Nadab and Abihu and I found a lot of information but it's all too long to post here or it's too short to answer any real questions. There's entire sermons dedicated to your question ( smart question ).

I did find this commentary but I'm not sure if it really answers your question.


"The sin and death of Nadab and Abihu.

Next to Moses and Aaron, none were more likely to be honourable in Israel than Nadab and Abihu. There is reason to think that they were puffed up with pride, and that they were heated with wine. While the people were prostrate before the Lord, adoring his presence and glory, they rushed into the tabernacle to burn incense, though not at the appointed time; both together, instead of one alone, and with fire not taken from the altar. If it had been done through ignorance, they had been

allowed to bring a sin-offering. But the soul that doeth presumptuously, and in contempt of God's majesty and justice, that soul shall be cut off. The wages of sin is death. They died in the very act of their sin. The sin and punishment of these priests showed the imperfection of that priesthood from the very beginning, and that it could not shelter any from the fire of God's wrath, otherwise than as it was typical of Christ's priesthood. (Le 10:3-7)"

 

[bcmom]

Excellent commentary on the tribe of Levi, by the way....

Yes, it IS the LIVING Word, and it is un-changing in relevance throughout the ages....

when i read Psalms and of the ups and downs of David, His words apply to me, the needing God, the questions, the affirmations and his praises of God, minister to me......God mooooves through them to me just as He did with David.

Yes, the Truth will always be the Truth.

Of the people if the Bible, I've always felt I'm most like David: struggling with sin but loves God with every fibre of his/my being and singing praises to God from deep in his/my soul.

 

[bcmom]

Today's chapter is Numbers 4 NIV - The Kohathites - The LORD said to Moses - Bible Gateway

 

[bcmom]

Today's chapter is Numbers 5 NIV - The Purity of the Camp - The LORD said - Bible Gateway

 

[brinny]

Wow I did a google search on Nadab and Abihu and I found a lot of information but it's all too long to post here or it's too short to answer any real questions. There's entire sermons dedicated to your question ( smart question ).

I did find this commentary but I'm not sure if it really answers your question.


"The sin and death of Nadab and Abihu.

Next to Moses and Aaron, none were more likely to be honourable in Israel than Nadab and Abihu. There is reason to think that they were puffed up with pride, and that they were heated with wine. While the people were prostrate before the Lord, adoring his presence and glory, they rushed into the tabernacle to burn incense, though not at the appointed time; both together, instead of one alone, and with fire not taken from the altar. If it had been done through ignorance, they had been

allowed to bring a sin-offering. But the soul that doeth presumptuously, and in contempt of God's majesty and justice, that soul shall be cut off. The wages of sin is death. They died in the very act of their sin. The sin and punishment of these priests showed the imperfection of that priesthood from the very beginning, and that it could not shelter any from the fire of God's wrath, otherwise than as it was typical of Christ's priesthood. (Le 10:3-7)"

Great commentary, thank you. I'm also thinkin' that Aaron as their father must've been lax in his training of his sons and not dealt with what must've been obvious in their attitudes that they were not fit to serve in those positions...what i'm thinkin' is that there was a problem that originated with Aaron himself, which perhaps is most glaring with his agreement to make false idols for the Israelites from the gold took he from them to make the idols.

There's another priest mentioned in the old testament with two sons that served in the temple and they were corrupt and were as they were because this priest (their father) let them do as they wished, without any regard for the living God. I can't remember the name of the priest....

 

[brinny]

Of the people if the Bible, I've always felt I'm most like David: struggling with sin but loves God with every fibre of his/my being and singing praises to God from deep in his/my soul.

i have also....i can soooo relate to David and it brings to mind that God called him the "apple of His eye" and he was described as a man after God's own heart because David loved God with all that was in him and he expressed it, like when he danced with all his might before God.

 

[brinny]

Today's chapter is Numbers 4 NIV - The Kohathites - The LORD said to Moses - Bible Gateway

that's a lot of work, mon

 

[brinny]

Today's chapter is Numbers 5 NIV - The Purity of the Camp - The LORD said - Bible Gateway

Wow, i wonder what happens if a woman suspects her husband of adultery...is there a jealousy offering for her?

 

[bcmom]

Wow, i wonder what happens if a woman suspects her husband of adultery...is there a jealousy offering for her?

I wonder about this? Why did God declare it?

 

[bcmom]

I found this on Numbers 5...

This law would make the women of Israel watch against giving cause for suspicion. On the other hand, it would hinder the cruel treatment such suspicions might occasion. It would also hinder the guilty from escaping, and the innocent from coming under just suspicion. When no proof could be brought, the wife was called on to make this solemn appeal to a heart-searching God. No woman, if she were guilty, could say to �Amen to � to the adjuration, and drink the water after it, unless she

disbelieved the truth of God, or defied his justice. The water is called the bitter water, because it caused the curse. Thus sin is called an evil and a bitter thing. Let all that meddle with forbidden pleasures, know that they will be bitterness in the latter end. From the whole learn, 1. Secret sins are known to God, and sometimes are strangely brought to light in this life; and that there is a day coming when God will, by Christ, judge the secrets of men according to the gospel,

Ro 2:16. 2 In particular, Whoremongers and adulterers God will surely judge. Though we have not now the waters of jealousy, yet we have God's word, which ought to be as great a terror. Sensual lusts will end in bitterness. 3. God will manifest the innocency of the innocent. The same providence is for good to some, and for hurt to others. And it will answer the purposes which God intends.

 

[brinny]

Thanks for the commentary....

i'm thinkin' that only the righteous in heart would be able to administer this to a woman, because it could easily be used abusively, if a husband were to falsely accuse his wife.

Wondering if there are consequences if a husband falsely accuses his wife of adultery....

 

[bcmom]

Thanks for the commentary....

i'm thinkin' that only the righteous in heart would be able to administer this to a woman, because it could easily be used abusively, if a husband were to falsely accuse his wife.

Wondering if there are consequences if a husband falsely accuses his wife of adultery....

Let's continue on the with rest if the Bible to find out, ok?


Today's chapter is Numbers 6 NIV - The Nazirite - The LORD said to Moses, - Bible Gateway