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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. Hey, this is Shelby and Scott, and we are here to break down numbers seven through nine. Now, just for my read through, Scott, these chapters seem pretty important. We've got a lot happening at the tabernacle. We have the observance of the second Passover, and then we have God's visible guidance and presence with them in smoke and fire once again, we also saw that in Exodus. So can you walk us through these few chapters?
- [00:31]
B
Yeah. There's a comment in the study for this day that I particularly loved and wanted to highlight, which is that while we might wonder why Moses includes all the details he does in chapter seven, we need to remember that. And this is a quote from the study. When something is repeated in the Bible, we can be sure that it is important. I was like, yes, absolutely underline that phrase. Because in this case, we see all the tribes of Israel are united, making equal provisions for the work of the altar. And, you know, we might find this tedious, this chapter, chapter seven. But again, I cannot stress this enough. The tabernacle is a very, very big deal. God is once again dwelling among his people. And I think, just you see that their eagerness to supply everything that is needed for the priests to be able to carry out their duties and offer sacrifices to God on their behalf shows that they grasp the importance of the tabernacle. And it shows their commitment to worshiping the God who's chosen to dwell among them. Something else I want to point out, though, is that the tribes bring carts and oxen. And so remember, the tabernacle is a tent, so it's portable, which means the cart and the oxen were there to help transport the tent as the Israelites would travel. And there's this command in number seven, nine that the holy things like the Ark of the Covenant were to be carried and not carted around.
- [01:48]
A
That's a very interesting thing to point out, Scott. So why exactly does that stand out to you?
- [01:53]
B
Okay, so there's a moment in 2 Samuel, chapter 6 that always used to confuse me when I would read it where David is having the Ark of the Covenant brought to Jerusalem. And on the way, the oxen start to stumble, and the ark is about to fall off the cart. It's on when a guy named Uzzah reaches out to touch the ark to steady it, and God strikes him dead for touching it. And I used to think, okay, what's up, God? Like, this guy's just trying to help. Like, help. Give him a break here. But I think you see the problem here in number seven with what happens there? Like, why was it on a cart in the first place? The ark would not have been tipping over if it was being carried like God had commanded. And so this passage, I think, in Numbers, helps explain what used to be a really, really confusing passage.
- [02:38]
A
To me, that was also a very confusing passage for me. And so I'm glad you've brought that up. And it is so important because we might have just skipped over that detail, but that's actually really important to help us interpret Scripture later. And so thanks for pointing that out. Okay, then later in these chapter have this cloud, and it kind of like rises and then settles on the tabernacle. Can you walk us through the significance of that?
- [03:03]
B
Sure, yeah. At the end of nine, you have the summary. The cloud would cover the tabernacle, rise up, indicating it was time to break camp and move on. We saw the cloud for the first time way back in Exodus chapter 13, when God was leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Then at Mount Sinai, thick cloud covered the top of the mountain. And then in Exodus 24, when Moses goes up to the mountain to meet with God, we read that the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it for six days. And I mentioned that because then at the end of Exodus chapter 40, the cloud then rests on the tabernacle. And so I mentioned yesterday how the tabernacle was kind of like a miniature Garden of Eden in a sense. In the same way, a lot of scholars will point out how the tabernacle is also a portable Mount Sinai, like everything the Israelites saw on the mountain, like the fire and the smoke and the cloud is now going with them as they travel. And this just reminds me of a couple of passages from the New Testament. One is in John 1:14, where we read that the word talking about Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. Literally, the language means that he tabernacled among us. So Jesus took up residence. God took up residence by coming to live among us. And then in Acts, I think this is really cool. Like, when Jesus ascends to heaven in Acts 1, Luke describes him as going into a cloud. And so there's this little indication. I used to think that was just a detail included. But like, I think what he's showing us is that Jesus is entering the cloud of God's presence. Jesus is now going into the presence of God as our high priest to bring our needs to God himself. And then he sent the Spirit to dwell in us, now to tabernacle in us and lead us and So I think that section at the end of numbers 9 is just such a comforting reminder to me of God's nearness in my life and of the ways he continues to lead me as I travel through this life.
- [04:59]
A
Yeah, that's such a great reminder. And so I've got a couple of takeaways. One is that anything that's repeated in Scripture is repeated for a reason. Even that detail you brought in the end about Jesus ascending into a cloud, that might have been like a detail that we just skipped over, but that was included intentionally. And so that encourages me to look a little more closely, especially as we're in the Book of Numbers, where my eyes tend to glaze over. Same, just a little bit. Same thing, but also just the truth that Jesus is with me. You know, you go throughout your day and you have joyous moments, you have challenges, challenging moments. And just speaking for myself, it's usually near the end of the day when I'm like, lord, you know, shooting a prayer, like a slingshot prayer, like up to heaven in. But here we see that God is with his people, and in Christ, we know that we are with him at all times. And so that is a comforting reminder. And I'm glad that came out in these chapters. All right, that wraps up numbers seven through nine. We will be back tomorrow for more from the Book of Numbers.
- [06:05]
C
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