Since today is a "bonus" day, with no reading listed, we thought you might like to view this short 8 minute summary (by a nine year old) of the Bible. Thanks to Vicki for sending this to us quite a while ago. There are a couple of things the little boy missed. He said that Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Life. They ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He mentions the 400 years of silence. The only "silence" is that things were not printed on our modern Bible. There are many books written, and canonized, but do not appear in our Bible. They are the apocryphal books. Other than those things, he is right on! We especially like his insight at the end concerning the importance of reading the entire Bible!!! Have you heard that from us before???

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu0NVSXM9cY

Provisions are made in Scripture for the avenger of blood. The avenger of blood was the next of kin of the person who had been killed. The avenger of blood was the one to punish the offender.

Reminds me of the revenge attitude of so many people today. "I don't get back, I get even." Not a very godly attitude.

Cities of refuge were to be established where a person who has accidentally killed someone could flee to and be safe. Think about all the times in Scripture that God is described as being our refuge, our safety, our shield and protector.

Jesus was very clear how He felt about that kind of attitude.
Matt 5:38-39
You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

If we have an attitude of revenge in our hearts, we are following the crowd in doing wrong like we have been warned about before. It's so much easier to follow the crowd than to stand out in a crowd. But as Believers in Jesus, we are called to be different and to stand out!

There were many restrictions concerning kings in today's reading.

Deu 17:14-17 You will enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you. You will take possession of it and live there. You will say, "Let's have our own king like all the other nations around us." Be sure to appoint the king the LORD your God will choose. He must be one of your own people. Never let a foreigner be king, because he's not one of your own people. The king must never own a large number of horses or make the people return to Egypt to get more horses. The LORD has told you, "You will never go back there again." The king must never have a large number of wives, or he will turn away from God. And he must never own a lot of gold and silver.

Yet two of the greatest kings, David and Solomon had great numbers of horses, multiple wives, and great wealth.

What kind of country would we have now if our leaders obeyed the following guidelines of a king?

Deut 17:18-20
When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

The two witness rule is listed in today's reading. Any sin must be testified to by at least two witnesses.
Deu 19:15
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be made sure.
Interestingly, a Jesus' "trials" there were no two witnesses who agreed on the charges brought against Jesus.

What a packed verse this is, “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.” Exo 23:2a

What are the ways that we as Christians might follow the crowd in doing wrong? Sometimes following the crowd may be just to speak a careless word, just as the rest of the crowd does.

Matt 12:36
But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
Ouch!

DISCUSSION SESSION

Don't forget - Monday night, February 27 at 7:00 pm - our house. We have lots to discuss!

Numbers 6 lists the requirements for the Nazarite vow. From Scripture we know that there were at least three important Biblical figures that have taken the Nazarite vow. They were Samuel, Samson, and John the Baptist. Others, such as Paul may have taken a temporary Nazarite vow.

Acts 18:18
Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken.

Lev 27:10a
Don't exchange or substitute animals, a good one for a bad one or a bad one for a good one.

Jesus was quick to demonstrate how dishonest it was to substitute sacrificial animals in the temple area for profit.
John 2:14-15
And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money-changers sitting. And when He had made a scourge of small cords, He drove them all out of the temple, also the sheep and the oxen. And He poured out the money-changers' money and overthrew the tables.


Leviticus and Deuteronomy list rules pertaining to vows of dedication.
Deut 23:21-23
If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the LORD your God with your own mouth.

Some have stiff punishment for not fulfilling a vow that has been made. Just ask Jephthah.
Judg 11:30-35
And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands. He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon. When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break."

Lessons to be learned here???

The following verses show us another connection between the Old and New Testaments.

Lev 12:7-8
"'These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.'"

Luke 2:22-24
When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"),and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons."

The atonement offering was given by Mary for her purification after the birth of Jesus. Since they gave either two doves or two pigeons, it meant that Mary and Joseph most likely couldn’t afford a lamb.

When we read the regulations concerning uncleanness when touching a dead body during Passover, we couldn't help but think about Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Because they would have been considered unclean after touching Jesus' body, they would not be allowed to celebrate Passover.

After reading about all the rules and regulations for leprosy cleansing in Lev 14, it adds a whole new dimension to the story in Luke about the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus. All Jesus said to them was “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” It sure involved a whole lot more than just making an appearance.

Luke 17:12-14
As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.

An even greater message for us is found in the last part of verse 14... "And as they went, they were cleansed." The lepers were cleansed, as they went. It truly was an ACT of faith on their part. When Jesus cleanses us from our sins, it is up to us to ACT and remove ourselves from our life of sin. Remember the Hebrew word picture for repent is "to burn the house".

There have been some great questions in the last couple of days. While it is difficult to read through all the offerings, sacrifices, rules, and regulations, you are reading them! And for that we praise God. Here are a few of the questions and some responses.

QUESTION: When it says a person was turned out of the community for not doing the offering correctly , where did they go and for how long did they have to stay away?

RESPONSE: There are probably some specific Scriptures that address how long they were to say away and where they went, but we can’t call them to mind. If someone else knows the answer, let us know.

QUESTIONS: Were all these offerings we have been reading this week for each individual person, man or woman if they needed to do a sin offering or other offering ? Or , was it for each tribe or household? With all the thousands of people and only one tent of meeting, how could this be done for each individual? The priests would be busy 24/7 and with one altar, it would take all night to burn the body of one bull or goat, etc. How did they do this?

QUESTIONS: The last few days my eyes keep crossing. It seems like I'm reading the same thing over and over and over again. For any sin at all--kill somebody--steal--work on the sabbath--sneeze wrong, they had to make some kind of animal sacrifice to atone for it. OK fine, but it doesn't end there. A sacrifice each day, each month and then several for the handful of feasts. Then wave offerings, peace offerings, free-will offering... All done with animal sacrifices. Then just for fun let throw in some grain offerings and drink offerings.

Our eyes were crossing too (well maybe not Phil's eyes). It does get rather repetitive doesn't it? And remember the Chronological Bible combines the books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy when things overlap. So imagine reading each of those books separately. You are right about even the smallest sin had to be atoned for. There was a penalty to pay.

1.) How on earth did their flocks and herds not dwindle down to nothing with so many animals sacrificed? Especially those specifically one year old?

Quite possibly, God took care of that. Those animals probably reproduced in profusion. Remember God can supernaturally provide. Deuteronomy 29:

During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.

2.) How on earth did Aaron and his sons keep up with all this? I can just see in my brain the group of them having to quite literally set up an assembly line of animal sacrifices going thru the Tent of Meetings. How much of a mess it would have been to continually drop blood on the alter from all of those sacrifices. Not to mentions some of those animals are pretty darn big. Getting rid of the carcasses, the continual removal of the ashes. Continually replenishing the firewood for the fire. Seems as if they would be way busier than most of our mothers on Thanksgiving.

Again, God took care of dividing up the chores. Earlier Jethro, Moses' father-in-law suggested that Moses let others help him. He had many, many Levites to help him with the animal sacrifices.

Exo 18:24-26
And Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all times. The hard causes they brought to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
It is almost unfathomable to picture the mess, the burning of the animals, keeping the firewood, etc. Only God could have miraculously provided for all this.

3.) I keep seeing the phrase "...an aroma pleasing to the Lord". Surely He doesn't mean burnt animal fat, right? Surely there's some other meaning here.

While the burning of animal fat may not be pleasing to us, it was to God. Another thing to consider here is that no matter what the smell, it was the obedience of the people in making the sacrifices that was pleasing to Him. Just as your statement "All I can say is THANK GOD FOR JESUS!!" was without a doubt pleasing to the Lord.

4.) Along the same lines, the phrase "...offering made to the Lord by fire". This phrase also seems ... unusual.

For whatever the reason, God wanted some of the offerings completely burned.

All I can say is THANK GOD FOR JESUS!! If I were held to the same standards as the Isrealites, I wouldn't have made it to 21 let alone 43.

Heads of households did the sacrifices for the entire family, so each individual person didn't necessarily offer an animal for each sin committed. Some of the sacrifices were to be done weekly and some monthly, while others were during the special feast days. One major thing to consider concerning all the animal sacrifices...just because God commanded that these sacrifices be done, doesn't mean that all the people obeyed and kept the letter of the law. Think about our world today. How many truly committed Christians are there, following Jesus completely, doing everything He commanded us to do? Things were pretty much the same then as they are now. So, percentage wise, maybe there weren't such long lines all day and all night to offer up these sacrifices.
Thanks for listening,

Thanks for asking!