Archive for March 2024

Numbers 12-14, Psalm 53, Matthew 23:1-12, Romans 5:1-11 Numbers 12-14: Why is it so much harder to believe that God intends good for us rather than that some nefarious evil will befall nonetheless? We are given by our fallen nature to be more likely to believe the worst of God’s intentions than to humbly receive them as best.…

Numbers 9-11, Psalm 52, Matthew 22:34-46, Romans 4 Numbers 9-11: The Passover is celebrated (9:1-14), and is to be celebrated even by those who are ceremonially unclean (9:6-12) and by the sojourner who wishes to celebrate as well (9:14). All this is done according to the Lord ’s command (9:5), and that emphasis on following God’s Word continues…

Numbers 7-8; Psalm 51; Matthew 22:15-33; Romans 3  Numbers 7-8: The tabernacle, having been completed in terms of its setting up, is now consecrated (7:1) with generous, costly offerings to the Lord by the heads of the tribes of Israel (7:2-3). Chapter 7 details the extent of these offerings as consecration of the tabernacle, and…

Numbers 5-6; Psalm 50; Matthew 22:1-14; Romans 2 Numbers 5-6:   The test with which these chapters begin seems passingly strange—a test for adultery (5:11-31) that would not hold up in any court of law, or judgment of peers, or public opinion in any modern context. What is more, the necessity of drinking this “bitter” drink…

Numbers 3-4; Psalm 49; Matthew 21:33-46; Romans 1:18-32 Numbers 3-4: These chapters consist of more organizing and logistics. This time there is some extra particular theological rationale: as God redeemed his people at the Passover, so his people are to live like redeemed people. The firstborn son which is, in a sense, Israel, redeemed by…

Numbers 1-2; Psalm 48; Matthew 21:23-32; Romans 1:1-17 Numbers 1-2: The Book of “Numbers” describes how God’s people journey in the wilderness, first to the border of the Promised Land, and then, because of their disobedience, in the wilderness another forty years instead of entering the Promised Land. The Hebrew title, then, for the book…