Day 42 (Saturday) - Numbers 3:33-5:22

Most people know that there were actually 13 tribes in Israel, but the 13th tribe, Levites, was not given land, but temple duties. But few know that this 13th tribe was actually broken down into 3 divisions (4 if you include Moses and Aaron). Each division had a specific duty. I love this passage because it reminds me of all the people at Hillcrest that do work behind the scenes. From setting up coffee early Sunday morning to those that vacuum the floors and clean up the smashed Goldfish in the nursery. We have a great group of Levites at Hillcrest!

If you’re at all like me, you didn’t stop at 5:22, you had to read to the end of chapter 5. That was weird to say the least. I am so glad that Jesus has come to redeem us and forgive us and be our priest. I don’t think I could do this stuff or keep a straight face through it. It’s obvious that God takes marital faithfulness very seriously. The water mixed with dust from the Tabernacle floor seems so strange to have the woman drink and the spoken curse, written on the leather and stirred in the drink…all so strange. I think if she were innocent that husband would be in for some serious trouble when he got home!

Day 41 (Friday) - Numbers 1:42-3:32

So were you wondering about the title of Numbers, what could this book be about? I guess chapters one and two made you fear that the book stay true to its title for the next 36 chapters! Well, don’t worry. There is a numbering and census of God’s people but it is mixed in with much more.

Most censuses done were for military purpose, but there were other reasons as well, like land distribution in chapter 26. This census is the first formal census recorded in the Bible…the next one will come 38 years later (ch 26). The total numbers for the people was 603,550, and remember that it only included the men over 20, so we are talking well over 2 million people!

Now I don’t mean to burst your bubble about these numbers, but most biblical scholars agree that these numbers are an exaggeration by a multiplier of 10! They have all kinds of fancy reasons they spell out. It is true that it seems impossible for 2 million people to survive in the desert for 40 years and to be sacred of any people group in the land of canna since the total population was only 900,000! Not to mention the amount of sacrifices and Tabernacle ministry a population like that would require. The tabernacle would seem very under sized. If you hold to this interpretation, that means there were 60,000 men and a total population of around 200,000 people. You decide…

Day 40 (Thursday) - Leviticus 26:14-27:34; Numbers 1:1-41

Leviticus 27 takes off from the comments I made yesterday about the ransom. It is difficult to fully understand this section because we know so little about the details surrounding the dedication of things to God, as they were done in the days of Leviticus. In case you were confused, people regularly dedicated persons and animals to God. Instead of actually giving them over to the priests for use in the Temple (Tabernacle) work, sometimes (actually most of the time) they would pay an agreed upon amount instead. This afforded the ministry with labor and financial resources.

Maybe Hillcrest should add this to our baby dedication services. We keep the baby to assist us in folding mailings, licking stamps and cleaning out gutters or the parents pay 5 shekels of silver ($27 or 2 oz of silver). Maybe not.

Day 39 (Wednesday) - Leviticus 24:1-26:13

Just when you thought Leviticus was going to do you in with rituals and repetition, we get to stone someone! If I understand this correctly, a man cursed God while fighting with another man and as a result, he was imprisoned and stoned. Apparently the same fate awaits those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit (the unforgivable sin) that the New Testament talks about. It is interesting that Israel didn’t actually follow through with the death penalties listed in Leviticus 20-24 as we will see in some examples of in Numbers 35. There was usually a “ransom” offered in place of the death penalty. If you were unwilling to offer a ransom, well, here come the stones! Who is your ransom?

I can’t let this day pass by without mentioning that Leviticus 25 is the passage that helped Hillcrest give away $100,000 to Sioux Falls. My prayer is that the Jubilee changes not only those that receive from it but those that obeyed in doing it. It has and always will be true…it is better to give than to receive!

Day 38 (Tuesday) - Leviticus 22-23

I think Vincent Willem van Gogh nailed our passage in this painting!

Every Festival was about the Sabbath. It was about taking a time to rest and celebrate God as well as remember what he had done. It was something for them to look forward to. I think we would do well in celebrating these feasts today; to remember and get ready for times of celebrating God. Times of rest and set vacations would do our souls good. Sunday is coming and it’s a Sabbath…how do you observe it? Is there any rest for your soul this week?

Day 37 (Monday) - Leviticus 18:19-21:24

I’ll be honest with you today. I don’t like these chapters. I don’t like the tone of them and I know that sounds strange. I don’t want to be one of those teachers that just try to explain away the difficulties or try to tell you that it is a different era (New Testament vs Old Testament). God does not change. I agree that the way we observe or practice holy living may change, but the character of God does not change.

I like things like 19:9-10 because it has a great message for us to allow those with less to share in our abundance. But then in chapter 20, everyone is put to death for all kinds of reasons. Some just killed and others burned. Sure, the list is rough, but death? This isn’t eye for an eye kind of thing, it’s a disobey God and die kind of thing. This is the part of God none of us like. This is the heaven and hell reality.

God is God and he does not require us to agree with his ways. He is a holy and just God and if he says do this and live or do that and die, that’s just the way it will be. What do you think about these verses? We may want only the warm and fuzzy parts, but that’s not God.

Day 36 (Sunday) - Leviticus 15:1-18:18

I am struck on this Sunday that the Scriptures forbid the drinking of blood because the life is in the blood. This by itself seems like just another protective limitation to ward off the possibility of spreading a blood borne pathogen or other disease. But today it hits me a bit differently. Jesus has asked us to drink his blood…it’s part of the communion instructions. There were parts of the sacrifice that were unique and special and they remind me of Jesus’ words:

John 6:53-57 (NLT)
(53) So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. (54) But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. (55) For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. (56) Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. (57) I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me.

The 5th Sunday in August is Communion Sunday. Even now, prepare yourself for the great privilege you have as a redeemed child of God as a result of the sacrifice of Christ. As you symbolically drink his blood you share in the richness of his life.