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Chapter 11: My goodness, I am not sure what to write about.

• Should we talk about how Moses prays and how that affects the Lord?  When I pray do I really comprehend how that actually affects the Lord?  Verse 2: Moses prayed and the fire died down!
• Do we talk about complaining??  What in the world!!  Wait….that’s me.  All the Lord has provided and yet I still find things to complain about.
• My favorite….Moses’ conversation with the Lord!

The complaining has BEGUN.  The Lord has 2 plans.

1. He takes 70 elders to help share the burden of leading these people.  It’s like herding cats at this point.  The Lord gives 70 men the Holy Spirit so that they can help manage these whiner babies!  (How cool is it to see the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, so many of us think of it as a New Testament gift)
2. He is to give them what they ask for (we will see this MANY times as we continue to read….otherwise, we wouldn’t have the books of Kings!).  These people were given redemption, freedom, safety, food, shelter, AND the community with the Lord…and they wanted MORE!  Wanting it was one issue, But ACTING on it was another!

Chapter 12:  Find Moses, Aaron and Miraim.  They are siblings!

What in Sam Hill is going on here!  Miriam and Aaron call Moses’ wife a “Cushite” as a racial slur.  We do not know if this is Moses’ wife Zipporah (the Midianite) or if he has a different wife now (I think it is a different wife).

As much as I would love to say “that’s sibling rivalry”,  it’s not.  It is jealousy and pride.  Aaron is also very aware that Moses grew up in Egypt and married a non-Israelite.   The Lord inflicts Miriam with a skin disease that changes her “color”, the very characteristic she was using to instigate the issue of Moses’ wife.  Aaron was not inflicted because that would disqualify him from priestly service.   What does Aaron do?  He confesses.

“Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. ¹² Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”

Once again, Moses prays and God relents.

Chapter 13  HUGE HUGE CHAPTER!!

Let’s pull the two names out that we are going to follow: (Circle them in your Bible)

⁶ from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;

⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)

Joshua in Hebrew means “Salvation”.

The 12 spies went into the Promised Land.  They traveled 150 miles in 40 days.

Here is a panned out view

It is the Big BUTT Chapter!  It is everything the Lord Promised BUT

²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”

They might as well have said “BUT they are more powerful than the Lord!!”  

I want you to stop and think about the hardest prayer you have right now.  “Lord I need you to…”  think of the lost person in your life, the stronghold someone might have, the situation someone is gotten themselves into.  Pray for them.  When you are done did you say in your head after “ but they won’t change” “That won’t happen”….etc.  If you did,  you might as well have said “But they are more powerful than the Lord!”

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• This is exciting…the last day before we go into the world!! 

Chapter 8: The lighting of and continual burning of the lamps in the tabernacle symbolized the consecration of the Levites, who were to represent the whole nation as lights to the world. The high priest was in charge of the lampstand.  This is was the final task before the journey, setting apart the Levites as the priesthood.

Picture for a moment how dark it would be without the lampstand.  Have you ever lost power in your house.  You light a candle, and suddenly the whole room is lit. Without it you would sit in darkness.  We are spending so much time thinking about this tabernacle because it is a foreshadow of Jesus.  We are also spending so much time on the Priesthood because they are a foreshadow of believers.  The Levites are being set apart, as HIS.  This is you.

John 1:9 “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” (Jesus/Lampstand)

Matthew 5 ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.- 1 Peter 2:9

Finally…The anniversary of the Passover (Exodus 12).  It has been 1 year since they have been freed as slaves.  They spent time learning and now it is time to go into the world and be that light.  God graciously allows all to participate, even though some are considered unclean(exposure to a corpse), He always has a plan.

Chapter 10 Trumpets.

Don’t skim this part. this is a good one.  From here to the end of Revelation we are going to read about many Trumpet blows.  Actually 114 times.

The Lord said to Moses: ² “Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. ³ When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting…

⁸ “The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come. ⁹ When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies. ¹⁰ Also at your times of rejoicing—your appointed festivals and New Moon feasts—you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”

1 Thessalonians 4 (when the church is Raptured before End Times)

¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Should we even talk about the trumpets in Revelation!!  I CAN ALL DAY.  (But I have a lot of laundry to catch up on…so I won’t torcher you)   But a fun thing to do would be to circle them in your BIBLE as we keep reading.  One is coming up soon when we get to Jericho 😁)

BUCKLE UP! 

The cloud is moving!  Amazing that they follow without knowing the destination.  God tells them to go, and they do.  Faith.  Trust.   One of my favorite scriptures is Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for.”

At the end of the reading, we have this beautiful conversation between Moses and his Father in Law.

²⁹ Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place about which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.”

Reuel has been a constant comfort to Moses.  When Moses fled Egypt, Reuel took him in for 40 years.  Moses marries his daughter Zipporah.  Years later, when Moses is in danger in Exodus 18, he sends his wife and kids back to Reuel for safety.  Reuel reunites them at Mt. Sinia when the coast is clear.  Reuel is a Midianite, which is a distant cousin to the Moses’ family (from Keturah) that’s why she knew to circumcise, remember the flint knife/penis moment 😂 , however, they will become enemies to the Israelites over time.

The cloudy pillar stood over the tabernacle.   It lifted and in the tribal arrangement order, they marched.  The GPS says: you will reach your destination in 11 days!  The cloud leads them toward Kadesh Barnea.

As the nation left Mt. Sinai, the people were at their strongest spiritually, having received the Law and having committed themselves to follow it faithfully.  What could go wrong??

“Rise up, Lord!
    May your enemies be scattered;
    may your foes flee before you.”

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• It is only one chapter, BUT it is the SECOND LONGEST chapter in the book.  (Psalm 119 is the longest)
•  (if anyone grew up catholic you will get this-) “Forgive me Father, for I have sinned, it has been 40 years since my last confession.  After reading Nashon’s offering,  I skimmed today”. 😉

Numbers 7:

Today’s chapter describes the offerings the tribes of Israel made for the tabernacle.

The process of altar dedication takes twelve days, and offerings by a leader representing each of the tribes are made on each of these sacred days. The offerings:

The leaders who make the offerings are the same as those who assist with the census in Num 1:5–15, but there is a distinct order of offering.

Here in Num 7:1–88 the order of offering is influenced by the order of encampment given in Num 2, not birth order like it usually is.

(Jennifer H. I put this picture just for you.  ❤️) 

In case you “skimmed”, like me.  (Evidently, my husband has not skipped a word, but I think he is a liar!)The chapter ends with a large summary of all the offerings and donations given for the tabernacle.  Plates, basins, dishes, bulls, rams, lambs, grain offerings, goats.

The tabernacle itself is anointed when it is dedicated.

89 And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him.

Once it was dedicated, Moses entered the tent of meeting and the LORD spoke to him from the mercy seat.

What a moment!!!  Time to start packing our bags…we are so close to getting on the road!  Only a few things left to do…

• • • Remember that they are to be the light of the world
    • Commemorate where they were 1 year ago (slaves)
    • Blow the trumpet (gather the people)

AND THEN IT IS TIME TO GO!!!

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• Thanks for the prayers.  The headache is almost gone.

• In biblical law, this is the only kind of case in which the Lord Himself renders the verdict through a spiritual procedure.
• The Israelite court was made of all-men, and God knew that men would naturally side with a man who suspected his wife of unfaithfulness. and women would have difficulty attaining a fair hearing.
• When a woman would pass the test, her husband could have full confidence in their marriage.
• Unfortunately, if she failed, her “womb” (not baby) would miscarry, becoming infertile.
  

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The Nazarite Vow:

The Nazarite vow is taken by a man or woman who has voluntarily dedicated themselves to God.  The Hebrew word nazir means “to be separated or consecrated.”  I love that we read this during Lent (some will know what that is)

1. It is voluntary
2. can be done by either men or women
3. has a specific time frame,
4. has specific requirements and restrictions
5. at its conclusion, a sacrifice is offered.

Three guidelines are given to the Nazirite:

•  abstain from wine or any fermented drink, nor was the Nazirite to drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins, not even the seeds or skins.
• the Nazirite was not to cut his hair for the length of the vow.
• he/she was not to go near a dead body, because that would make him ceremonially unclean. Even if a member of his immediate family died, he was not to go near the corpse.

The vow ended with a purification ritual that paralleled the consecration of the priests.  The vow allows an ordinary Israelite to enjoy a brief moment of exceptional closeness to God. ❤. However, there are a few in the Bible that were dedicated by their parents for life.

Who else will be a Nazarite in the Bible?

• Samuel
• John the baptist
• Samson
• also, Paul took a temporary vow possibly (Acts 18:18)

Ohhhh now the story of Samson will totally make sense when we get there!

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The Levites:

The tribe of Levi was set apart from the other tribes. They are to become the Priests:

⁷ They are to perform duties for him and for the whole community at the tent of meeting by doing the work of the tabernacle.

Let’s start out with a Trivia Question:  Look below.  Who were the black triangles and why are they not there now? (meaning what did they do)

God exempted the Levites from the military. He did this because He chose the whole tribe to assist the priests, Aaron’s “family” within the tribe of Levi, in the service of the Tabernacle.

The tabernacle responsibilities of each group were as follows:

• Gershonites-curtains and coverings
• Kohathites-furniture and utensils
• Merarites- boards and bars

A prominent emphasis in this book appears again at the end of this chapter:  Moses carried out the Lord’s commands exactly. (for now!)

Short Post!  Nice!!!  Have a great day.   Wash your hands… a terrible stomach bug going around this week.  All 3 of my kids have it. That’s why I am posting at 2:15 a.m. ☹️

This is a quick easy read.  If you do the audio, it is only 10 mins.  This is the one time I am going to say the blog is worth reading though.  So cool!

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My hope is that when you read these chapters they actually make some sense.  We know these are Jacob’s sons.  He has 12 sons.  Jacob’s name is changed to Israel: so we now know where the phrase “the 12 tribes of Israel” comes from.

• from Reuben
• from Simeon
• from Judah
•  from Issachar
• from Zebulun
•  from the sons of Joseph:
  • • from Ephraim
    • from Manasseh
•  from Benjamin
•  from Dan
•  from Asher
• from Gad
•  from Naphtali

Joseph is split Ephraim and Manasseh to replace the tribe of Levi that will not be in the fighting census.  (Which is their loss if you remember how ruthless the Levites were in the past). Trivia:  What 2 events am I referring to?

The Levites (the Priesthood) however have a special role.

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. 

Chapter 2- Tribal arrangement.  Ready for this!!!!

If you took a piece of paper and drew the ark in the middle (God).  Of course, you need a compass rose for direction in the corner of your drawing.  Now write the tribes and the numbers as dictated.

The ENTRANCE of the Tabernacle is EAST.  The ONLY way to enter God’s presence is through Jesus.  Jesus is born from the Tribe of Judah.  So which tribe will be arranged in the East?  JUDAH.

WAIT FOR IT!!!!  🤯 2 MIllion People are on the move.  They need to stay organized.  The largest tribe on each side would hold up a flag (like at kids camp). The largest tribes on each side are (and their Flag logo:

• Judah-Lion
• Rueben-Man
• Ephraim-Ox
• Dan-Eagle

The Tabernacle is a picture of God’s Throne.  When we get to Ezekiel we get a glimpse of God’s actual throne.  There were 4 creatures surrounding God:

Ezekiel 1:10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. ¹¹ Such were their faces

.

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THEN The Throne of Judgement is shown to John in Revelation 4:

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.

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If you are confused let me know.  That’s a lot.  If you are not confused, and your head did not just explode, then I don’t know if we can be friends. 😂

OK, if that did not move you, let’s try one more.  There are 4 Gospels.  Each one illustrated Jesus as a different characteristic:

• Matthew-as King-Lion
• Mark- as Servant-Ox
• Luke-his humanity-Man
• John-his divinity-Eagle

OK, I am done trying to explode your head.  This whole revelation is new to me today and I am on fire from it.  I never knew!  I was always in awe of just the view from God’s perspective looking down on Earth and seeing a Cross…but…this is a whole new concept for me.🤓

(I will pop these pictures into the Printables section up top in case you want them) Click here if you want to print now.

³⁴ So the Israelites did everything the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way they encamped under their standards, and that is the way they set out, each of them with their clan and family.

And you thought a census would be boring!