-Numbers 21:8. Why, why, why did God tell Moses to make a graven image after He so specifically forbade that sort of thing?! On top of that, God had Moses tell the people to look toward the serpent (graven image) for healing. What's with that?!
-Numbers 22:29 always amuses me. Balaam wasn't phased AT ALL by his donkey talking to him. No. As a matter of fact, he entered into a conversation with it! Makes me wonder if animals talked at various times or if he was just SO angry that the strangeness of the situation blew past him.
-Numbers 31. Now THAT'S an impressive conquest! When you have thirty-two THOUSAND people left over... not just people; virgin women! All the men, all the boys, all the married women had been killed leaving 32k female virgins. How many did they kill?!
I also wonder if Moses had to kill in-law family members, seeing as his wife came from Midian.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Day 11: Numbers 8:15 - 21:7
-Numbers 9:10. The thing I find so fascinating here is that Passover is SO important that even if you were considered unclean and/or physically absent, you were still required to keep the Passover.
-Numbers 10:22-23 has an interesting bit. There really isn't a tribe of Joseph, but there are tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. What I found curious is that Joseph's sons' tribes are listed in reverse birth order, just as they had been blessed by Jacob; Ephraim first and Manasseh second.
-Numbers 10:29 makes a reference to Moses' father-in-law as Raguel the Midianite. Wasn't his name Jethro in Exodus?
-Numbers 11:21-22 proved Moses to be still human. After all the first-hand witnessing and execution of God's awe-inspiring miracles and provisions, he STILL questions God's ability to provide - in this instance, meat for the complaining children of Israel. "And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou has said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month. Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?"
-Numbers 14:24 made me question something. What does it mean when God said, "But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully..." What is this other spirit? Or is it possibly a reference to the fact that Caleb did not follow along with the Israelites general rebelling and murmuring.
-Numbers 20:14. Wasn't Edom where Esau was; Jacob/Israel's brother? The one whom Jacob was afraid to come back to? The one who now refused Jacob/Israel's descendants to pass through the land? Hmmm....
-Numbers 20:24. Aaron was the first to die because of when Moses struck the rock to get water instead of speaking. It makes me wonder what Aaron's part in that tableau was, for him to die before Moses, who committed the actual act of rebellion.
-Numbers 10:22-23 has an interesting bit. There really isn't a tribe of Joseph, but there are tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. What I found curious is that Joseph's sons' tribes are listed in reverse birth order, just as they had been blessed by Jacob; Ephraim first and Manasseh second.
-Numbers 10:29 makes a reference to Moses' father-in-law as Raguel the Midianite. Wasn't his name Jethro in Exodus?
-Numbers 11:21-22 proved Moses to be still human. After all the first-hand witnessing and execution of God's awe-inspiring miracles and provisions, he STILL questions God's ability to provide - in this instance, meat for the complaining children of Israel. "And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou has said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month. Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?"
-Numbers 14:24 made me question something. What does it mean when God said, "But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully..." What is this other spirit? Or is it possibly a reference to the fact that Caleb did not follow along with the Israelites general rebelling and murmuring.
-Numbers 20:14. Wasn't Edom where Esau was; Jacob/Israel's brother? The one whom Jacob was afraid to come back to? The one who now refused Jacob/Israel's descendants to pass through the land? Hmmm....
-Numbers 20:24. Aaron was the first to die because of when Moses struck the rock to get water instead of speaking. It makes me wonder what Aaron's part in that tableau was, for him to die before Moses, who committed the actual act of rebellion.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Day 10: Leviticus 26:27 - Numbers 8:14
-Numbers 1:3 states that 20 is the age which is considered as battle-worthy; and the age at which census counting begins... men only.
-Numbers 2:12 showed me something interesting; don't know if it means anything. Aaron was the firstborn in his family and is the father of the Levites, whom God took for Himself instead of the children of Israel's firstborns.
-Numbers 2:39-40 has male firstborns counted from one month old up, as opposed to the 20 years of age everyone else was counted at. It is also interesting to note that the Levite one-month-olds were matched up against the rest of the one-month-olds.
-Numbers 7. Why, why, why is it so necessary to list each of the twelve princes' offerings in such detail when they're all exactly the same?? Exactly. Not only that, but at the end of the chapter, the twelve offerings are summarized, making sure the reader knows the total of the twelve identical offerings.
-Numbers 2:12 showed me something interesting; don't know if it means anything. Aaron was the firstborn in his family and is the father of the Levites, whom God took for Himself instead of the children of Israel's firstborns.
-Numbers 2:39-40 has male firstborns counted from one month old up, as opposed to the 20 years of age everyone else was counted at. It is also interesting to note that the Levite one-month-olds were matched up against the rest of the one-month-olds.
-Numbers 7. Why, why, why is it so necessary to list each of the twelve princes' offerings in such detail when they're all exactly the same?? Exactly. Not only that, but at the end of the chapter, the twelve offerings are summarized, making sure the reader knows the total of the twelve identical offerings.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Day 9: Leviticus 14:33 - 26:26
Fascinating topics, this reading has(!).
-Leviticus 19:19 brings up an interesting point; one which I'm sure many of the companies out there would not like to hear. "Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind; thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come upon thee." Do you have any idea how many diversification and mingling there are out there?! To say nothing of mixed-fiber fabric!
I do know one little tid-bit. Mixed-fiber fabric doesn't allow skin to breathe as easily as un-mixed fabric fibers. Guess God knew what he was talking about.
-Leviticus 19:28 makes me wonder if this is a holy injunction against tattoos. What about writing notes on your hand? Hmmm....
-Leviticus 20:6 states that anyone who turns after those who have familiar spirits (mediums) and wizards will have God's face set against them. How should we apply this to today's popular reading culture of wizardry, sorcery, magic, and vampires? Will God's face be set against those who read Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and Twilight? Something VERY important to think about. I, for one, am turning my face from these.
-Leviticus 20:27 goes back to the issue of turning after mediums and wizards. What is interesting to note here is that God says they should be put to death; no discussions or beating around the bush - a very direct consequence.
-Leviticus 19:19 brings up an interesting point; one which I'm sure many of the companies out there would not like to hear. "Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind; thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come upon thee." Do you have any idea how many diversification and mingling there are out there?! To say nothing of mixed-fiber fabric!
I do know one little tid-bit. Mixed-fiber fabric doesn't allow skin to breathe as easily as un-mixed fabric fibers. Guess God knew what he was talking about.
-Leviticus 19:28 makes me wonder if this is a holy injunction against tattoos. What about writing notes on your hand? Hmmm....
-Leviticus 20:6 states that anyone who turns after those who have familiar spirits (mediums) and wizards will have God's face set against them. How should we apply this to today's popular reading culture of wizardry, sorcery, magic, and vampires? Will God's face be set against those who read Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and Twilight? Something VERY important to think about. I, for one, am turning my face from these.
-Leviticus 20:27 goes back to the issue of turning after mediums and wizards. What is interesting to note here is that God says they should be put to death; no discussions or beating around the bush - a very direct consequence.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Day 8: Leviticus 1:1 - 14.32
So many details...
-Leviticus 2:11 says not to burn honey. I wonder why.
-Leviticus 6:28 talks about breaking earthen vessels that became unclean. It is interesting to note that non-porous vessels were scoured and reused having become clean. Porous vessels, which are impossible to completely clean by scouring, were to be broken; completely destroyed.
-Leviticus 7:24-26 tells what not to eat of meat and I find it interesting to note that fat and blood were specifically forbidden. Did you also know that the life of any being is in the blood? Did you further know that the toxins of any being are stored in the fat? Something to think about.
-Leviticus 12:2-5 had me wondering. Why is it a woman is unclean for only 40 days after giving birth to a male child, but is unclean for 80 days (twice as long) after giving birth to a female child? I wonder indeed... it seems so strange.
-Leviticus 2:11 says not to burn honey. I wonder why.
-Leviticus 6:28 talks about breaking earthen vessels that became unclean. It is interesting to note that non-porous vessels were scoured and reused having become clean. Porous vessels, which are impossible to completely clean by scouring, were to be broken; completely destroyed.
-Leviticus 7:24-26 tells what not to eat of meat and I find it interesting to note that fat and blood were specifically forbidden. Did you also know that the life of any being is in the blood? Did you further know that the toxins of any being are stored in the fat? Something to think about.
-Leviticus 12:2-5 had me wondering. Why is it a woman is unclean for only 40 days after giving birth to a male child, but is unclean for 80 days (twice as long) after giving birth to a female child? I wonder indeed... it seems so strange.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Day 7: Exodus 29:1 - 40:38
They say the Devil is in the details, but I would have to disagree.
Anyone, spending even the briefest of moments perusing the book of Exodus would be compelled to notice the intense level of details God imparts to Moses regarding something as small and simple as a snuff dish or a curtain rod!
-Exodus 29:20. Of great curiosity to me is why the right ear, thumb, and great toe had to have blood sprinkled on them to consecrate Aaron and his sons to be priests in the new tabernacle.
-Exodus 30:23-24 gives the recipe for making the holy ointment to be used in the tabernacle and the Holy of Holies... and it was apparently a big recipe! It calls for, by my best calculations, 37.5 POUNDS of spices and about five LITERS of olive oil! That's a lot - but then, God called for a lot of holy ointment usage.
I also find it interesting that God explicitly states this ointment is NOT to be used or poured on human flesh because it is holy.
-Exodus 30:38 carries the commands for the holy ointment a bit further by commanding that no "rip-off" scents be made; nothing that even smelled a little like the holy ointment was to even be attempted.
-Exodus 31:2, 6 seems to indicate that only two men did all the actual building and making of things for the tabernacle. I see many people made the fabrics, threads, etc., but it appears only the two men Moses named actually did all the work for the building of the tabernacle
-Exodus 32:23 paints Aaron in a rather silly light (or guilty, as the case may be). When accosted by Moses to give account for what he had done with respect to the golden calf, Aaron not only blamed the people for demanding and idol, but said that after he had thrown all their gold into the fire, "there came out this calf." What?!
-Exodus 32:19 is yet another example of Moses losing his temper and ruining something God had for him. In Egypt, he killed a man in his anger, putting a forty-year hold on God's plan for releasing the Israelites. On Mount Sinai, Moses' fury at the Children of Israel was revealed as he broke the tables of the new law, just given and engraved BY GOD.
Later, Moses' anger would eventually be his undoing when he struck a rock instead of speaking to it. For this mistaken choice, Moses would never get to set foot in the Promised Land.
-Exodus 33:1-3 tells just how angry with the Children of Israel God was; He sent an Angel before them in lieu of being with them Himself. Why? He was so angry with them, He seemed to think He might just kill them all for their stiffneckedness and flip-flopi-ness. It seems His Angel was a good solution; the people would be led, God would not have to endure their heels.
Anyone, spending even the briefest of moments perusing the book of Exodus would be compelled to notice the intense level of details God imparts to Moses regarding something as small and simple as a snuff dish or a curtain rod!
-Exodus 29:20. Of great curiosity to me is why the right ear, thumb, and great toe had to have blood sprinkled on them to consecrate Aaron and his sons to be priests in the new tabernacle.
-Exodus 30:23-24 gives the recipe for making the holy ointment to be used in the tabernacle and the Holy of Holies... and it was apparently a big recipe! It calls for, by my best calculations, 37.5 POUNDS of spices and about five LITERS of olive oil! That's a lot - but then, God called for a lot of holy ointment usage.
I also find it interesting that God explicitly states this ointment is NOT to be used or poured on human flesh because it is holy.
-Exodus 30:38 carries the commands for the holy ointment a bit further by commanding that no "rip-off" scents be made; nothing that even smelled a little like the holy ointment was to even be attempted.
-Exodus 31:2, 6 seems to indicate that only two men did all the actual building and making of things for the tabernacle. I see many people made the fabrics, threads, etc., but it appears only the two men Moses named actually did all the work for the building of the tabernacle
-Exodus 32:23 paints Aaron in a rather silly light (or guilty, as the case may be). When accosted by Moses to give account for what he had done with respect to the golden calf, Aaron not only blamed the people for demanding and idol, but said that after he had thrown all their gold into the fire, "there came out this calf." What?!
-Exodus 32:19 is yet another example of Moses losing his temper and ruining something God had for him. In Egypt, he killed a man in his anger, putting a forty-year hold on God's plan for releasing the Israelites. On Mount Sinai, Moses' fury at the Children of Israel was revealed as he broke the tables of the new law, just given and engraved BY GOD.
Later, Moses' anger would eventually be his undoing when he struck a rock instead of speaking to it. For this mistaken choice, Moses would never get to set foot in the Promised Land.
-Exodus 33:1-3 tells just how angry with the Children of Israel God was; He sent an Angel before them in lieu of being with them Himself. Why? He was so angry with them, He seemed to think He might just kill them all for their stiffneckedness and flip-flopi-ness. It seems His Angel was a good solution; the people would be led, God would not have to endure their heels.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Day 6: Exodus 18:19 - 28:43
Yay! I'm finally caught up! It seemed as if I was reading, thinking, and writing ALL DAY yesterday. Not a bad thing, mind you, but draining.
Today's insights:
-Exodus 15:27 provided me with my most amazing "Whoa!" moment. In this verse, it is explicitly mentioned that the particular place where the Israelites stopped had twelve wells and seventy palm trees. Why is this necessary or relevant?
Then I had a thought. What if the children of Israel, having exited Egypt, made specific mention of these things because they signified their origin as a nation. Perhaps the twelve wells represented the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel), each a head of the twelve tribes of Israel. Taking the comparison further, what if the seventy palm trees were significant in that when Jacob entered Egypt for the first time, he brought sixty-nine others with him... a total of seventy people were the start of the great nation of Israel.
-Exodus 18:1-6 I don't think I ever realized that Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, wasn't with him during the exodus from Egypt. He shows up, having tracked Moses down, and returns Moses' wife and two sons to him, who also had not been with Moses during the exodus.
-Exodus 20 is the giving of the Ten Commandments. What I found interesting was that God devoted so many more words to describing the command against graven images and the command to keep the Sabbath day holy. All the other commands are bare minimums.
-Exodus 21:6 talks of ear piercing as a mark of permanent servitude. I wonder if pierced ears still carry this stigma(?) of slavery to this day and we just have forgotten it.
-Exodus 22:28 struck me particularly as God, in the middle of a bunch of other instructions and laws, explicitly commands that we are not to make fun of the false gods and not to say derogatory things about our rulers. So mocking and deriding the gods of other religions is right out, as is criticizing our President and elected officials. Something to think about next time you want to forward that political cartoon or anecdote.
-Exodus 25 has what I would refer to as a translation inaccuracy, not necessarily mistake. The word "cherubims" is unnecessarily plural. In Hebrew, to make a word plural, the suffix "-im" is added. Therefore, one cherub, two cherubim... not cherubims. [even the spell check picks it up]
Today's insights:
-Exodus 15:27 provided me with my most amazing "Whoa!" moment. In this verse, it is explicitly mentioned that the particular place where the Israelites stopped had twelve wells and seventy palm trees. Why is this necessary or relevant?
Then I had a thought. What if the children of Israel, having exited Egypt, made specific mention of these things because they signified their origin as a nation. Perhaps the twelve wells represented the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel), each a head of the twelve tribes of Israel. Taking the comparison further, what if the seventy palm trees were significant in that when Jacob entered Egypt for the first time, he brought sixty-nine others with him... a total of seventy people were the start of the great nation of Israel.
-Exodus 18:1-6 I don't think I ever realized that Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, wasn't with him during the exodus from Egypt. He shows up, having tracked Moses down, and returns Moses' wife and two sons to him, who also had not been with Moses during the exodus.
-Exodus 20 is the giving of the Ten Commandments. What I found interesting was that God devoted so many more words to describing the command against graven images and the command to keep the Sabbath day holy. All the other commands are bare minimums.
-Exodus 21:6 talks of ear piercing as a mark of permanent servitude. I wonder if pierced ears still carry this stigma(?) of slavery to this day and we just have forgotten it.
-Exodus 22:28 struck me particularly as God, in the middle of a bunch of other instructions and laws, explicitly commands that we are not to make fun of the false gods and not to say derogatory things about our rulers. So mocking and deriding the gods of other religions is right out, as is criticizing our President and elected officials. Something to think about next time you want to forward that political cartoon or anecdote.
-Exodus 25 has what I would refer to as a translation inaccuracy, not necessarily mistake. The word "cherubims" is unnecessarily plural. In Hebrew, to make a word plural, the suffix "-im" is added. Therefore, one cherub, two cherubim... not cherubims. [even the spell check picks it up]
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