Taking a vow for a certain period of time, dedicating oneself to God, was a common practice not only among the Jews, but among other religions of the time. The shortest allowed period for a Nazarite vow was 30 days.
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~~~~~Lesson: Numbers: Chapters 5-7
In the beginning of chapter 5, multiple people are expelled from the camp because they are "unclean." And they are unclean mostly because of skin disease or a discharge that isn't their fault! Question: Can you think of a reason God would expel them for something that was beyond their control? (Even scholars have trouble with a good answer...so, there is no wrong answer! Just take a shot in the dark and see what we come up with) Would it be right to expel someone from church because of these reasons? In 5:5-10, we learn that if someone cheats someone else (either by accident or on purpose), they must not only confess their sin, but also pay back the amount plus one fifth. Question: If we followed this rule today, would the world be a better place? Why or why not? Do you think confession of sin is important? Why or why not? Next we learn of the "Nazirite vow" and how someone dedicates themselves to God for a certain time frame. Question: Have you been on any type of retreat? Did you feel closer to God during that time? Do you think the concept of dedicating yourself to God for a certain time frame is practical today? Why or why not? ~Reading: Numbers: Chapters 5-7- Due to the length of this reading, we'll be doing the reading first and the lesson on a different day!
(5: 1-10) The Lord said to Moses: "Order the Israelites to expel from camp every leper, and everyone suffering from a discharge, and everyone who has become unclean by contact with a corpse. Male and female alike, you shall compel them to go out of the camp, they are not to defile the camp in which I dwell." The Israelites obeyed the command that the Lord had given Moses; they expelled them from the camp. The Lord said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites: If a man (or woman) commits a fault against his fellow man and wrongs him, thus breaking faith with the Lord, he shall confess the wrong he has done, restore his ill-gotten goods in full, and in addition give one fifth of their value to the one he has wronged. However, if the latter has no next of kin to whom restoration of the ill-gotten goods can be made, the goods to be restored shall be the Lord's and shall fall to the priest; this is part from the atonement ram with which the priest makes amends for the guilty man. Likewise, every sacred contribution that the Israelites are bound to make shall fall to the priest. Each Israelites may dispose of his own sacred contributions; they become the property of the priest to whom he gives them." -ordeal for a suspected adulteress also explained- (6:1-8) The Lord said to Moses: "Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When a man (or woman) solemnly takes the nazirite vow to dedicate himself to the Lord, he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he may neither drink wine vinegar, other vinegar, or any kind of grape juice, not eat either fresh or dried grapes. As long as he is a nazirite he shall not eat anything of the produce of the vine; not even unripe grapes or grapeskins. While he is under the nazirite vow, no razor shall tough his hair. Until the period of his dedication to the Lord is over, he shall be sacred, and shall let the hair of his head grow freely. As long as he is dedicated to the Lord, he shall not enter where a dead person is. Not even for his father or mother, his sister or brother, should they die, may he become unclean, since his head bears his dedication to God. As long as he is a nazirite he is sacred to the Lord." -further rules for Nazirites- (Chapter 7: paraphrased) Before leaving Sinai, the "prince" of each tribe made an offering to the Lord on behalf of his tribe. These "princes" where the ones that we heard of as leaders during the census. 3UMFJ2JF85FC Ignore that- I need it as a claim token for a site.
A question for my readers while I'm going through the long task of slowly switching over the lessons and readings from the old site to the new site. Is there anything else you would like this site to cover? Such as -Christian view on current events -Missionary work and how we can help from home -Reputable charities -history of Christianity- high points in the last 2,000 years? Or any ideas of your own? Let me know! I love history and especially Biblical and Christian history. God's blessings this day, and thanks for your patience while I transfer this site! Jennie In order to consecrate something to God’s service, it was anointed with oil. The implements that were designed for use in the Temple were all anointed with oil in order to dedicate them to the Temple. People could also be consecrated- prophets, priests, and kings. They were anointed to separate them for service before God. The prophet spoke God’s words to the people, the priest stood before God representing his people, and the king established God’s laws throughout the land. A person who had been anointed had authority and was to be obeyed.
(From “Everyday Living: Bible Life and Times” (2006). Thomas Nelson, Inc. New York, NY.) ~~~~~ Lesson: Numbers: Chapters 3 & 4 (reading after lesson)
Both chapters again today are pretty straight-forward. They lay out the reason for the Levites being in charge of the Dwelling and spells out their specific duties- in great detail! Note the difference between the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated priests allowed to enter the temple, and normal Levites, who are purified, and allowed to help transport and take care of the Dwelling. Again, I'm going to throw out a couple of un-related discussion topics for us: To live your life for Christ, you must believe in your need of: 1) training and study 2) prayer and action 3) God's grace and a living union with Him 4) a rule, a way of life. Question: Which of these is your strongest area? Which of these is your weakest area? Question: Are you a mediocre Christian right now? Have you been in the past? By putting one question in the forefront of your mind, you can fulfill God's glory for you: "What else can I give you, Christ?" Question: What else can you give? (From "On Fire with Christ" by Frank Holland, Sr.) ~Reading: Numbers: Chapters 3 & 4 (3:1-13) The following were the descendants of Aaron and Moses at the time that the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. The sons of Aaron were Nadab his first-born, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests who were ordained to exercise the priesthood. But when Nadab and Abihu offered profane fire before the Lord in the desert of Sinai, they met death in the presence of the Lord, and left no sons. Thereafter only Eleazar and Ithamar performed the priestly functions under the direction of their father Aaron. Now the Lord said to Moses: "Summon the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest, as his assistants. They shall discharge his obligations and those of the whole community before the meeting tent by serving at the Dwelling. They shall have custody of all the furnishings of the meeting tent and discharge the duties of the Israelites in the service of the Dwelling. You shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been set aside from among the Israelites as dedicated to me. But only Aaron and his descendants shall you appoint to have charge of the priestly functions. Any layman who comes near shall be put to death." The Lord said to Moses, "It is I who have chosen the Levites from the Israelites in place of every first-born that opens the womb among the Israelites. The Levites, therefore, are mine, because every first-born is mine. When I slew all of the first-born in the land of Egypt, I made all the first-born in Israel sacred to me, both of man and of beast. They belong to me; I am the Lord." The rest of chapter 3 and all of chapter 4 go on to explain in detail what each section of the tribe of Levi is in charge of: some take care of the tent and its coverings, others the statuary, others the gold, etc. Feel free to read the two chapters in full if you want to know the details. The book of Numbers is called “In the Wilderness” by Jews. The Hebrew title is more meaningful than the English, as the book is the account of the wilderness wandering after the Israelites arrival and Sinai.
~~~~~Lesson: Numbers: Chapters 1-2 (reading after lesson)
Chapters 1 and 2 are very straight-forward and really don’t need any explanation. We have a census of everyone, organized by tribe. The tribes were sorted by the sons of Jacob. We also learn that the Levites are the priests. We will learn much more about the Levites at a later time. Due to the obvious nature of these chapters, and the lack of discussion material, I’m going to simply have some “unrelated” questions to allow for discussion. Individually too many people substitute materialism for Christianity; live in ignorance, indifference, or rejection of God; and seek fame, power, pleasure, or wealth as the goal of their life. As a society, this leads to wars, divorce, obscene literature; a basic perversion of human values; and a wide-spread loss of human dignity. Questions: Do you feel the world is more pagan (and further away from God) than it was 20 years ago? Why or why not? Many people have to hurt, trampled on, or ignored before they turn to God. Is that how you turned to God? If so, tell the story. If not, how did you find God? At the judgment, God is going to ask one question: "Did you live your life for Me?" What is your answer going to be? (From "On Fire with Christ" by Frank Holland, Sr.) ~Reading: Numbers: Chapter 2 (2:1-2) The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: “The Israelites shall camp, each in his own division, under the ensigns of their ancestral houses. They shall camp around the meeting tent, but at some distance from it. In the rest of chapter 2, it goes on to list the actual locations each tribe should live. Beyond the Bible- The Census from the view of scholars
(The following is direct quotation from the Commentary of St. Jerome) Critical scholars are unanimous in viewing the numbers given in this list as impossibly high and have proposed a number of theories to account for them. (1) Albright suggested that we have a record of a census taken at a later period, specifically, a variant of the census taken by David according to 2 Samuel 24:1-9. However, the numbers seem too high even for the time of David. (2) Others take the total figure of 603,550 as an example of gematria, i.e., play on the numberical value of the letters in certain words: the consonants in ‘bny ysr’l’, “sons of Israel”, add up to 603, and those in ‘kl r’ṧ’, “every head” add up to 550 if the quiescent aleph in r’ṧ is ignored. However, there is no evidence that the letters of the alphabet had these numberical values during the period in which the Priestly authors worked. (3) G Mendenhall built upon the fact that the Hebrew word for “thousand,” `elep sometimes refers to a subdivision within a tribe (e.g., Judges 6:15 and Micah 5:1). If the same word in our passage were taken to mean something like “contingent,” then the total given for Reuben, e.g., could be read as “46 contingents with a total of 500 men,” instead of “46,500 men.” This approach leads to results that are difficult to explain, for on its reckoning, the contingents from the tribe of Gad averaged 14 men while those from Simeon had only 5! In any case, the total given in v 46 requires that the word `elep be taken in its numerical sense. (4) Budd points to the fact that the Priestly writers were aware of older Yahwistic traditions which gave a round number of 600,000, presumably for the total population of the exodus generation. On the other hand, the Priestly calculation of the amount of silver required for the bases and hooks of the tabernacle came to 301,775 shekels. Uisng the postexilic rate of one-half shekel tax for each adult male leads to the figure 603,550. Having reached this total, the priests would have distributed the number among the twelve tribes in proportions that seemed plausible to them. Censuses were a common feature during Biblical times. Along with the census taken in the desert, David also later called a census. During Roman times, a census was taken every 14 years- the most well known being the one that required Joseph and Mary to return to Bethlehem.
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Jennifer Becker Landsberger
Who am I? Freelance writer (magazines, websites, & copywriting), Catholic, military wife, and Mensan. Double Bachelor's in History & Psychology. Witnessing by charity and love are above all. Studying the Bible and beyond helps me on this quest. Feel free to join my walk into the Bible.
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Oh creator of the universe, who has set the stars in the heavens and causes the sun to rise and set, shed the light of your wisdom into the darkness of my mind. Fill my thoughts with a loving knowledge of you, that I may bring you like to others. Just as you can make even babies speak your truth, instruct my tongue and guide my pen to convey the wonderful glory of the Gospel. Make my intellect sharp, my memory clear, and my words eloquent, so that I may faithfully interpret the mysteries what you have revealed. Categories
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To my readers & fellow writers,
I promise: 1. I will pray that God's grace helps illuminate all of our interactions- both those of simple reading and more active conversations. 2. I will communicate with you respectfully and civilly. These are (rightly) issues which we feel passionate about. But even in disagreements, I will respect you fellow "seekers of truth." 3. I will not fall into negative behavior or words, such as insinuations, exaggerations, blames, or personal attacks. I respectfully ask you to do the same. 4. I will pray we will all find the truth and strive to fulfill the two greatest commandments: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31) This site will occasionally feature paid posts! I always 100% verify everything I endorse. You will not see posts for products or sites I would not use myself.
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