In the past when I have read numbers I wondered if they census taker was rounding numbers off.  How could it be that every tribe just happens to have numbers that round off to the hundreds?

The census here servers two purposes according to my study bible to show that the promise to Abraham was fulfilled in the number of his decedents and to show the fighting force of Israel, both should give confidence to the people as they enter the promise land.

Any way back to the numbers, they must have been exact counts because when the count is given for the Levites the number is 22,273; it would make little sense to round of all the other numbers.  Anyway this is the first time I really noticed this although I have asked this question every time I have read this before.

It donned on me that I have done very little in the way of trying to see Christ in all the scriptures like I said I wanted to and this section of scripture didn’t do much more for me…

Num 6

24The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

This is one of my favorite passages in scripture, it was the closing of almost all of my Lutheran services, our regular benediction.  One thing I loved about those services is that most of them were the same.  I can still repeat the liturgy almost all of the way through.  ( I may write more about this another time)

At any rate, I have taken to repeating this blessing as a prayer every night over both of my daughters when I lay them down to sleep.  I now some people don’t care much for prayers that aren’t improvised but my daughters are memorizing scripture every night and it will help to tie them to the word and tradition that Christians have enjoyed for generations.

Warning: this article is more for me than public consumption.  I want to come back to study this point but don’t have time at the moment.

Leviticus gets a bad wrap as far I am I concerned.  Sure, it is one of the few books full of do’s and don’ts but it also shows just the depth of depravity humans will stoop to.  It is a kind of snapshot of the troubles with all humanity.  After all there were and still are in some occasions,really people looking to do the things God forbid.

But one passage I really struggled with was the passage of the death of Nadab and Abihu.  They were the sons of Aaron who offered up unauthorized or strange fire before the Lord.   As a result of not following God’s prescription for his own worship they were struck down instantly.

This passage is a major proof text for those who believe in what is called the Regulatory Principle.  If you aren’t familiar with the Regulatory Principle of Worship it is summerized in the idea that the Bible tell us explicitly how we are to worship God and implicitly excludes everything else.  So if the Bible doesn’t say it we can’t do it.  Taken to the extreme this would mean we can sing only the psalms, and can not sing the name of Jesus.

I really don’t know much past that and while I don’t believe it is a sin to sing the name of my savior I do wonder if there is still a particular way in which God desires to be worshiped?  I always seem to be writing in a hurry and I wish I had more time to study these types of things out.

Don’t Stop Reading in Exodus :: Desiring God.

This is  a great reminder of why we should read the Old Testement and not just skip forward to the new.

It can really get hard this time of year in Bible reading, the emotion is gone no longer pushing you forward, the cool stories are past leaving you with the law but to fully understand Jesus coming you need to know the OT.

I have to tell you if I am going to crap out on my way through the Bible reading this is where it starts.  Exodus wraps up the narrative out of Egypt and begins some of the books of the law.  It makes me very thankful that are no longer under the law because of Christ.  It also increases my greatfulness for the grace of God because I see how seriously God takes sin.

There was a lot of blood that had to be shed to cover over the sins of the people of Israel.  Far to often we, as Christians, we stop thinking of our own sinfulness.  Maybe once we get the “Big” sins out of the way(You know the ones others can see) we assume we are fine.  But the Christian life is to be one of constant repentance.  I think we don’t repent because we don’t understand the severity of our sin.

As I read through the Law, I want to understand how serious God is about sin.

Closing out Genesis is always bitter sweet when I read the Bible.  I know that I have made a big step but I also know the rest of the Pentateuch isn’t nearly as interesting.

There are several interesting stories at the end of Genesis.  And I wanted to talk about Joseph and his trials.  Who was responsible for the things that happened to Joseph?  Were his brothers solely responsible?  Was God in charge the whole time and caused or allowed Joseph to be treated the way he was.  If so will his brothers be held responsible for their actions, after all they were simply doing God’s will right?

I don’t know if I am qualified to answer these questions but they are things that come to my mind as I read these passages.

Particularly Genesis 50

Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

The Bible clearly states that God intended this, now as always when quoting a quote you can make the argument that Joseph said it and the Bible records it accurately but it may not be ultimately true.

But God, being sovereign, us in ultimate control of even human sin isn’t he?  After all he didn’t just hope that Jesus would be crucified but planned it from the foundations of the world.  The greatest sin ever committed, the murder of the holy Son of God, was ordained by the sovereign God of the universe right?

So it all boils down to how much control God has over the universe.  We call him sovereign but then say he can or will not work against human free will, which makes man sovereign doesn’t it?  I hope to someday work out my thoughts on the sovereignty of God but this isn’t the day.

Any thoughts?

This week we covered some very familiar ground if you have ever tried to read the Bible before or if have attended church on a regular basis.

Of course as I mentioned before and as some of you agreed it is difficult to read familiar texts without taking them for granted.

As I have said this year I am attempting to see Christ in the old testament more than I ever have and the story of Abraham and Isaac is one that I am trying to look at things differently.

Most of the time when I have heard this passage preached it is about the obedience of Abraham and his willingness to give up his only son (which the Bible calls his him even though there is another son).  However I also wanted to look at the willingness of Isaac.  Did he know what was going on?  He asks but was it a rhetorical question?  Sure he carried the wood for his own sacrifice just like Jesus but is he a type of Jesus because after all he wasn’t sacrificed.

I think the ram in the thicket was the best analog of Christ because it provided by God in order to save Isaac just as Christ’s sacrifice saves us.

Thank you Lord for providing your own son to save me from my sins.

Get it Job we finished Job this week?  OK I didn’t sleep much last night.

I still say I am not sure how to read Google.   I am trying to read the Bible this year with a Christ centric approach but I don’t see it in Job.  This is similar to the answers I was able to find.  But this particular site also says Noah was a type because he was the only just man in his world, which I don’t particularly believe is true:

Job, suffering the most profound grief of soul, seeing nothing but a miserable death before him and robbed of all human consolation, fell down on the ground, praying and humbly resigning himself to God’s will.  In this he is a type of our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane –http://www.communityofhopeinc.org/Types%20of%20Christ%20and%20Misc..html

I suppose we can look at Job this way but do we need all those chapters of people spouting off at each other back and forth?  I love the end when God shows up and I often hear His words when I begin to question God.

“Where were you when I hung the stars….”