Category: Numbers - Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry

Numbers 21:4-9 - Lectionary for Holy Cross Day

9/6/2021

9/6/21
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Our reading from Numbers 21:4-9 describes a very low point in the life of Israel. As they were being rescued from slavery in Egypt by the power of God, they became impatient and distrustful. They wanted to know why God had Moses bring them into the wilderness. They were not satisfied with the heavenly bread he was giving them day by day.

God's response was that the faithless people could die in their unbelief. This may seem harsh on the surface, but it is consistent with reality. If you don't accept what is given to you, you will suffer the consequences of not having it. If you reject the provision of God, you get to continue without it.

In this instance, the people of Israel are confronted with serpents. The serpents should remind them of the role of snakes in Egyptian culture, as well as the role of the serpent in the Garden. Through the serpent, humanity was introduced to death.

There's an interesting conept at work in this passage. Moses is commanded to make a model of the serpent which will be reaised up on a pole. Those who look to it, believing, will be safe. It seems a cryptic idea, but J. Rendel Harris' The Teaching of the Apostles (Johns Hopkins, 1887, 62-77) describes this as a concept which was readily accepted and commented on in early Christianity. In effect, the thing which brings death can be used to bring life. Here, the deadly serpent can protect from other serpents. In much early Christian commentary and in Jesus' own teaching, the serpent raised up in the wilderness is a sign of Christ being raised up on a pole, the deadly human put to death so the fatally sinful human can be given life.

This is the heart of the passage in Numbers. Death itself is raised up, put on notice of its end, and replaced by life.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Numbers 6:22-27 - Lectionary for the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus

1/7/2021

1/7/21
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Numbers 6:22-27 is a passage of blessing we frequently use, especially at the end of a church service. Specifically, the threefold blessing in verses 24-26 comes out of our mouths regularly, usually accompanied by making the sign of a cross over a congregation.

We don't often think about the impact of such passages, but it pays to do so at least once in a while.

First, the passage is Trinitarian in nature. There are three specific movements in it, all having to do with the acts of the Lord. Any time we see a group of three in the Bible, we want to consider whether it is a sign of the Trinity. Here there is little doubt. The Lord's title is repeated very deliberately.

Second, we want to realize that Hebrew poetry is normally based on some sort of parallelism. Here, each of the lines has two elements. It's a triangle of parallels. Often when we see parallelism, it's in couplets - groups of two. Here, however, we have a group of three.

Notice the first element of each is very similar. Blessing, making his face shine, and lifting up his countenance, all are the same action. When God looks upon his people, he brings good. He is the God of blessing. He looks at us to see what would be good to do for us. This should give us great comfort.

The second element of each of the three lines shows a strong similarity as well. God keeps us, is gracious to us, and gives us peace. These are the ways he blesses us, and they are very similar to each other. How does he keep us? He keeps us in his grace. He keeps us in peace.

Apart from the Lord's blessing, we have no light of God shining on us. We have no confidence that we will be guarded in all our life by his presence. But with the Lord's name being placed upon us in blsssing, we can trust that he will be with us, watching over us, giving us all his blessings, all our life.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Numbers 21:4-9 - Lectionary for Easter 6

5/11/2020

5/11/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

In Numbers 21:4-9 we have a brief description of a brief plague. God’s people began complaining against God and His provision. We remember that this provision is a daily dewfall of heavenly bread, enough for everyone to eat that day. All they needed to do was to pick it up.

Somehow we are never content with the provision God has given us. We always want more. Our plans are better, at least to our thinking. While that’s the same kind of thinking that makes us inventive, a creative society that can bring great advances, it can easily turn against the living God. We want to do it ourselves, thinking that our plans are better than God’s plans.

God’s response, a plague of serpents which proved deadly in nature, caused the people of Israel to call out for help. Was there a complaint in their cry for help? Possibly so. The plague certainly attracted the attention of the people and turned their attention to the simple fact that they were unable to survive without God’s help.

The response of God is very interesting. The very God who has condemned the idea of making a “graven image” to worship has Moses make a “graven image” not to worship but to be a sign for the people. This one is lifted up on a pole. The significance is easy to miss. I’ll just point out a few ways this action is important. First, the image is of that which kills them. Christ, who became sin for us, is a visible image of the sin-bearer, a representation of what kills us. Second, it is not a real serpent on the pole. Jesus is not a real sinner, though he is a real human. The sin is transmitted to him, though he is unable to walk in it. Third, the serpent is lifted up on a pole. This is what you do when you want everyone to know something has been killed and is on display. Christ was crucified for our sin, lifted up on a pole, and was placed on display for us all.

Those who looked to the serpent on the pole were rescued from the venom. Those who look to the crucified Christ for salvation are rescued from sin. When we see trials all around us, then, when we realize we are unhappy with something in this life, let us look to Christ for us. We look to him realizing that this earthly life would be unsustainable without his grace. We look to him in eager anticipation of his promise of eternal life and salvation. We look to the savior we need.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29 - Lectionary for Pentecost 19B

9/25/2018

9/25/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

In Numbers chapter 11 the people of Israel have escaped from Egypt but are still in the wilderness. They are concerned for their food supply. Although the Lord had been providing manna each day, they missed the abundant variety they had in Egypt. They also showed their distrust of Moses. What could be done? The anger of the people provoked Moses to become angry with God. It also provoked God’s anger. What would He do? Moses may well have been justified in his desire that the Lord would go ahead and kill him. Everyone was miserable.

God’s response was threefold. He provided the people with what they were desiring. “Do you want meat? I’ll give you birds. So many you will be eating them for am onth. You will be sick.” Sometimes in God’s mercy He lets us have what we want even if it is not good for us. Will it drive us back to trusting God’s desires? That’s certainly the intent. Manna sounds really good compared to eating birds so as to avoid being overrun by birds. A second act of God is to provide seventy elders. These people could govern along with Moses. If the people felt poorly represented they could speak with the elders. Neither Moses nor the people needed to feel alone. God’s third act here is to draw attention to himself by making the elders temporarily into prophets. This was a show of the power and wisdom of God. He was able to speak with authority. This let the poeple of Israel know that God was indeed listening to them and that he could communicate.

In all this passage, we see God’s wisdom and power to guard His people. He is certainly the God who is with them.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Numbers 21:4-9 - Lectionary for Lent 4B

3/6/2018

3/6/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

In Numbers 21, the people of Israel have sinned against God by their grumbling. They show that they don’t trust God’s provision, even though he has shown them again and again that they are perfectly safe due to his care.

God provides a solution which makes absolutely no sense to our logic. He has Moses create a bronze replica of the snakes which are killing the people. It is to be raised up on a pole. When people look at it, they will live. As I said, the solution makes no sense. There is no earthly reason to think this would work.

What’s the sign of God’s glory? The solution he prescribes does work. Even though it’s something that really can’t work, it does. There are only two ways we can understand this passage. One way is to discount it as a the foolish babbling of primitive people who didn’t know that venomous snake bites aren’t cured by looking at a piece of sculpture. That’s an irresponsible way to consider people in antiquity. I have said it many times throughout my career as a teacher of ancient things. People in antiquity weren’t stupid. They knew that this was not a solution that should do anything. They did it anyway. Why? Because they know what a miracle is.

A miracle, after all, is an action that would not normally happen. It’s considered miraculous when the unexpected, or even impossible happens. That’s precisely what we see in our Old Testament passage. God prescribes a way in which lives will be preserved and the ill effects of a venomous snakebite will be reversed, in this one instance. It works. It’s miraculous.

In the Bible God describes a number of situations which we must consider miraculous. When he creates the world out of nothing it’s a miracle. When he says that guilt for disobedience is inherited by future generations of Adam’s race, it happens. When he says that a perfect sacrifice can take away the guilt of sin, it’s a miracle.

How, then, do we deal with the miracle of Christ’s death on our behalf, to take away our sin? It’s the way of salvation for us created by God’s decree. It works. Why? Because he said so. So Christians urge everyone to look to Jesus in faith, expecting that he will, indeed, accomplish salvation on our behalf. Yes, it’s impossible. But it’s real.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Worship in the Wilderness

1/2/2018

Tuesdays are for the Old Testament
1/2/18

Lessing, R. Reed & Andrew E. Steinmann. Prepare the Way of the Lord: An Introduction to the Old Testament. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2014. Chapter 6, “Numbers” pp. 115-130.

The book of Numbers, as noted by its Hebrew title, “in the wilderness,” takes place in a desolate area, not capable of sustaining humans (Lessing 2014, 115). The Greek version took the name of numbering from the accounting in various places of the book. The book makes many references to Moses receiving God’s words and writing. However, critics observe the lack of direct claims of Mosaic authorship.

Lessing notes the difficulty of deriving one definitive outline from the book (Lessing 2014, 116). The book can be subdivided in several coherent ways. The events in the book occur between 1446 and 1406 B.C. (Lessing 2014, 118). The first ten chapters deal with a two month period. The next 14 chapters cover 39 years. Lessing summarizes the different travels of Israel in Nubmers briefly (Lessing 2014, 119).

The census events in chapters one and 26 count men of military age (Lessing 2014, 120). The first census can be used to derive a total population of about three million. Lessing asks some important logistic questions, including why a large nation would fear small armies and nations (Lessing 2014, 120). He concludes that the numbers do seem to be intended as literal, though slightly rounded, numbers (Lessing 2014, 121).

There are various encounters with foreigners recorded in Numbers. In these encounters, “those who bless Israel are blessed while those who curse God’s people are cursed” (Lessing 2014, 121). Lessing details these encounters.

Among theological themes of Numbers, the primary discussion is the role of the Levites (Lessing 2014, 124). They are set aside for God’s service, though not all in the priesthood. Another important theme is the passing of the old generation and the growth of a new generation who would claim God’s promised land (Lessing 2014, 125). The unbelief of the old generation condemned it to death in the wilderness. A third important theme is Moses’ sin, which prevented his entrance into the promised land (Lessing 2014, 127). Lessing observes his claim of a miracle done by him rather than God (Numbers 20:10). Further, in the same passage, when told to speak to a rock, Moses struck the rock. Lessing considers Moses’ gestures and actions to be similar to the motions of the pagan magicians, which could also confuse people about the source of the miracles.

Jesus may be seen in Numbers as the people confess their sin and then look to a bronze serpent lifted up on a pole for salvation (Lessing 2014, 128). Jesus fulfills this role as the one lifted up for his people. He claims to be the bread from heaven, the fulfillment of the manna which Israel ate. The prophecies of Balaam in Numbers 23 make references to the Christ.

In Numbers Israel repeatedly wishes to return to Egypt, counter to God’s promise. God repeatedly shows grace and forgiveness (Lessing 2014, 128).

Numbers 11:24-30 - Lectionary for Pentecost, Series A

5/30/2017

5/30/17
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

In Numbers chapter 11 a number of the elders of Israel receive a special outpouring of the Spirit of God. The text in verses 24-30 says that they received “some of” the Spirit given to Moses. They responded by some sort of prophecy. We don’t know the content of their message, nor the duration. It does say that they didn’t keep prophesying.

Moses’ response was that the elders of Israel, and even the people who are not elders, should speak as prophets. As we survey the work of prophets in the Bible, most of their time is spent telling of God’s greatness and of how His Word urges us to depend on Him. This is activity which knows no bounds of ordination. It depends relatively little on the kind of training someone has.

Do we know God’s Word as revealed in the Scripture? Are we willing to trust that God can put those words into our mouths in a timely manner? Are we willing to speak God’s Word charitably, wisely, with the right attitude and for the good of others? Then we too can trust that the Spirit of God will speak through us. This is decidedly a good thing.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Numbers 6:22-27 - Lectionary for the Circumcision and Naming of Christ

12/27/2016

12/27/16
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our Old Testament reading for January 1, the Circumcision and Naming of Christ, is from Numbers 6:22-27. In this passage, normally referred to as the Aaronic blessing, God calls for the blessings of his name to be placed on his people.

In circumcision, as in baptism, God’s name is placed on his people. This is an important event. Not only are they identified with God in a formal way, but the blessing of God is placed upon them. When God has commanded to bless his people we should expect that he will keep his word. The people are blessed. The Lord will guard them. The Lord will indeed look upon his people. He will show mercy to them. The Lord’s attention will be drawn toward his people and he will give them peace.

The day of Christ’s circumcision and naming reminds us that Jesus himself, God the Son, receives the name commanded by the angel. He is both a partaker of God’s blessing and the one who brings God’s blessings to all nations. As God had promised, in the seed of Abraham all nations would be blessed. This is a sure and certain promise.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.