Numbers 16:36-18:7 Dear RTB’ers, More grumbling against Moses and Aaron… Yesterday we lost Korah, Dathan, and Abiram when the earth opened up and swallowed them and their households and possessions, plus another 250 who burned with fire from the Lord. Then today we see the grumbling continuing and another 14,700 dying from a plague. So …
Author Archives: Fred
February 21 / Numbers 16:1-35
Numbers 16:1-35 Dear RTB’ers, Today’s reading is widely known as “Korah’s Rebellion”, even though he is one of four men named, along with Dathan and Abiram and On. (There is no more mention of “On” except in today’s first verse.) Korah’s prominence is because he was a Levite, one of the Kohathites, in fact, who …
February 20 / Numbers 15
Numbers 15 Dear RTB’ers, I had noticed the word “sojourner” (or stranger or alien) appearing seven times in today’s reading, and the laws that applied to the Israelites applied also to the sojourners. The Lord speaking: For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a …
February 19 / Numbers 14:10b-45
Numbers 14:10b-45 Dear RTB’ers, Today, the Lord’s response to the failure of the people to trust God for His Promised Land – and it seems a harsh response: forty years for forty days, one year for each day, death in the wilderness, and a plague consuming the unfaithful ten. It seems harsh, but again, God …
February 18 / Numbers 13:1-14:10a
Numbers 13:1-14:10a Dear RTB’ers, When I think of the book of Numbers, it’s today’s story that comes to mind. It’s not the census of the tribes, not the tabernacle and the cloud and fire, not the grumbling – it’s the story of Joshua and Caleb and ten other heads (leaders) searching/spying out the Promised Land. …
February 17 / Numbers 11-12
Numbers 11-12 Dear RTB’ers, Now the rabble that was among them… (v. 11:4a) Made me laugh. There was rabble among them, even among the Israelites, God’s chosen people. And Moses and Aaron had to deal with “the rabble”. Nothing’s changed! Grumbling… Thankfully, Carol and I have not spent time in grumbling churches. Yeah, people often …
February 16 / Numbers 9:15-10:36
Numbers 9:15-10:36 Dear RTB’ers, Sorry for the late post, folks, but what a day…! We’ve gone from a flooded, impassable driveway to skipped-church, JIT annual meeting, to a wonderful parish brunch, to a 7-hour, 450-mile drive! I am finally a bit unpacked and ready to post! So you might be thinking – God really left …
February 15 / Numbers 8:1-9:14
Numbers 8:1-9:14 Dear RTB’ers, All priests were Levites, but not all Levites were priests. At Mt. Sinai and for many years afterward the priesthood was limited to Aaron and his descendants. [That had changed by the time that Jesus lived.] Scripture consistently distinguishes between Levites and priests. Recall Jesus’s parable of the Good Samaritan. He …
February 14 / Numbers 6:22-7:89
Numbers 6:22-7:89 Dear RTB’ers, I’m sure that the verses that end chapter 6 are familiar to many of us: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26) If you haven’t made the connection, these words …
February 13 / Numbers 5:1-6:21
Numbers 5:1-6:21 Dear RTB’ers, Two major topics today, separated into two chapters – the test for adultery and the Nazirite vow. The Nazirite vow is fairly straightforward – a man wishes to put himself under a vow in order to seek the Lord more fully. We have two New Testament occasions where Paul seems to …