The king of Moab hired Balaam son of Beor to curse Israel. Instead, he blessed the Israelites, foretold the coming of Messiah, and spoke a cryptic prophecy of the ultimate death of the sons of the Titans.
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?
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.
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.
