Daily Thoughts From God's Word

“And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ‘Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time’” (9:1-2).  And so it has been throughout the centuries that God’s people have paused, at Passover for Israel and at the Lord’s Table for us, to remember his great deliverance.  How much we have to remember, and how great are God’s mercies to us!  The Passover reme

God gives additional instructions regarding cleanliness, restitution, and adultery before stipulating the “Nazirite Vow” – “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. . . . All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. . . . All the days that he separate

The book of Numbers, of course, is so named because of the census of fighting warriors taken:  “All those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel— 46 all those listed were 603,550” (1:45-46).  Other censuses were taken, also, for example:  “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘List all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking the number of their names’” (3

The Lord said to Israel, “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season . . . And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. . . . “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will visit you wit

God continues to instruct Israel regarding the Sabbath, the Passover, and various feasts and festivals:  The Feast of Firstfruits, The Feast of Weeks, The Feast of Trumpets, another word on the Day of Atonement, and The Feast of Booths.  God also continues to instruct regarding the Tabernacle and its furnishings – the lamps and the bread – and also gives laws concerning blasphemy and how to mete out justice.  One of the best known biblical phrases is found here:  “eye for eye

The next two chapters in Leviticus deal with the place of sacrifice, laws regarding the eating of blood, and sexual relationships.  Coming to chapter 19, my Bible has the topic headings:  “The Lord is Holy” and “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.”  Regarding the latter, God instructed the Israelites, when harvesting, not to take every last bit from the fields but to leave a bit for the poor and the sojourner, or traveler, to glean:  “You shall leave them for the poor and for the

The Day of Atonement.  Aaron, the high priest, was to go into the most holy place of the Tabernacle on this day, the Lord explaining, “I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat” (16:2).  And there, in the most holy place, in the presence of the Lord, Aaron offered the required sacrifices for cleansing and atonement for himself, the altar itself, and for all the people just as the Lord instructed:  “’He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonem

The Lord gave to Israel laws about how to deal with leprosy and about other hygienic matters including the cleaning of houses.  About leprosy, I have seen the scourge of leprosy up close in leper colonies in India.  Paul has been there with me, and we have held those people in our arms and spoken to them about Jesus and sung to them (Leprosy pretty much requires close, consistent contact over several months.).  It’s a terrible disease.  It’s part of this fallen world in which

A very dark episode is told, which included Nadab and Abihu, priests who “offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them” (10:1-2).  The Lord was not pleased, and “fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the LORD has said: Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’  And Aaron held his peace” (10:2-3).  A couple

The theme of “blood” is found throughout these chapters.  Moses took the bull of the sin offering, killed it, and put its blood on the altar.  Then, Moses killed the ram of the burnt offering and threw its blood against the sides of the altar.  Then, the other ram, the ram of ordination:  Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head and Moses killed it and put some of its blood on Aaron in order to consecrate him along with the altar, against which Moses threw more blood. 

The Tabernacle, along with all its furnishings including the altar of burnt offering, was finished.  Now, the Lord speaks to Moses and gives instructions for the use of the Tabernacle, beginning in chapter 1with instructions for the burnt offerings.  The manner of making burnt offerings was important.  The one bringing the offering was to bring to the tent of meeting a male without blemish.  The person would then lay his hand on the head of the animal, signifying a transfer o

The book of Exodus closes by telling of the completion of the Tabernacle along with its contents, the Ark of the Covenant, the table of showbread, the lampstand, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering, the bronze basin, the court, and the priestly garments.  “And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it.  Then Moses blessed them” (39:43).  And “the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (40:43).   David

The Sabbath.  Contributions for the Tabernacle and its construction.  About those offerings, I did a little bit (just a little) of research and saw estimates of the total value of the offerings in today’s dollars to be anywhere from $50 to $125 million.  Wherever the actual number falls, that was a LOT for a people who found themselves wandering in the wilderness.  Now, of course, their possessions were greatly increased in value because of their plundering of the Egyptians (

The golden calf.  Who doesn’t know about the golden calf?  What a debacle this was as Aaron, the high priest of all people, led the people to build an idol from gold!  The Lord saw, and he sent Moses down the mountain to see.  The Lord said, “’They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it’ . . .  And the LORD said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people’” (32:8-9).  The Lord’s intention was to destro

God has always provided leaders for his people whether that be Israel or the church.  Though written in the context of confusion within the congregation regarding the use of tongues and spiritual gifts, Paul’s instruction is timeless:  “God is not a God of confusion” (1Corinthians 14:33).  And so, God established Moses’ brother, Aaron, as priest and, along with others, they formed the priesthood.  The priests’ work had two broad directions, the first being toward God:  “Now t