IT’S EASY to criticize the Hebrews of Moses’ day for their lack of faith. After all, hadn’t they seen the plagues that compelled Egypt to let them go, the parting of the Red Sea, and the manna that miraculously appeared six days a week?
WE’D LIKE to say that we planned to read about Israel’s first Passover celebration after leaving Egypt on this Passover weekend, but we didn’t. God’s scheduling is clearly much better than ours.
THE NAZIRITES were men and women set apart for God by a vow so serious that not only were they forbidden to drink wine, they couldn’t even eat grapes or raisins.
GOD CLAIMED for Himself the tribe of Levi in lieu of the firstborn sons of all Israel. We discuss the duties of the clans of the Levite and why it was imperative that only the high priest entered the Holiest Place.
ISRAEL PREPARES for war: This week, we study the arrangement of the tribes around the tabernacle and their order as they organize for the march to Canaan.
GOD MADE His promises to Israel contingent upon following His statutes and commandments. The blessings He promised for obedience were wonderful—harvests in abundance, peace and safety in the land—but the punishments for rebellion were severe.
SPEAKING WITH SPIRITS was strictly forbidden by God. This might seem to be a quaint and antiquated notion, but the fact that we encounter the prohibition three times in our reading today indicates that this was a serious issue in ancient Canaan.
