February 11, 2022: Day 32 – Numbers 1-5 and III John

And so we begin Numbers.  If any book of the Bible has a description of itself in the title, Numbers would definitely be one of them.  I guess most of them do.  Genesis means the beginning.  Exodus is the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and across the wilderness and so on.  Numbers is an account of a census that the Lord has asked Aaron and Moses to take in order to number the Israelites.  The first chapter gives us those numbers and then ends with the statement that the Levites are not a part of those numbers because of their role with the tabernacle.

The second chapter gives the description of where the tribes are supposed to be overnight in relationship to the tabernacle and the tribe of Levi.  The third chapter gives more detail for the houses of Levi and the children of Aaron and what their responsibilities are in regards to the set up and the break down of the tabernacle.  This carries on into the fourth chapter.

In the fifth chapter we have regulations for husbands who are jealous of their wives and the excruciating test that they are allowed to put their wives under in order to ascertain whether they have been faithful or not.  Again, this is another example of how the wife is seen not much more than a possession and how they are not full participants in the covenant that up to this point has been established by God and the people of Israel.  Thanks be to God that Jesus brought a new covenant!

Third John brings us to a conclusion in these epistles of John.  Gaius is addressed although John does not know him personally.  He warns the church of false teachers and those whose actions bely that they are not really doing God’s will, but rather pursuing discipline and actions merely on behalf of their own self-interests.  Again, another warning for us in this day and age.