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- [00:00]
Scott
Foreign.
- [00:06]
Shelby
Hey, you're listening to A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace. I am Shelby, and this is Scott. And today we're talking through numbers 19 through 21. But first, I said this a couple episodes ago. I feel like you have to celebrate a lot when you're reading the Bible in a year, especially if it's your first time, because it's an everyday commitment. So today's day 45.
- [00:25]
Scott
It's a good round number.
- [00:26]
Shelby
Yeah, that is a good round number. I thought that I saw that little note, I was like, man, let's celebrate day 45. So high five wherever you're at. Way to go. Even if you're reading day 45 on day 50, day 60, day 75. Keep going, keep going. Okay, numbers 19 through 21. What's going on in these chapters?
- [00:45]
Scott
Yeah, some pivotal moments. We reach, I think, a big turning point. So to back up a little bit, back in chapters 13 and 14, the Israelites had rebelled against God by refusing to go into the land of Canaan. They were freaked out. God told them they would be punished by wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. And then by the time we get to chapter 20, the 40 years are almost over. So it's like the Bible doesn't really say a whole lot about what happens in those 40 years, but we get. You know, we start to see signs of those 40 years coming to an end, a transition happening. Moses, Sister Miriam passes away in these chapters. Aaron passes away as well, in response to his sin. And then you have this moment with Moses, whose defiance against God causes him to miss out on entering the promised lands with the Israelites. And it's also important in these chapters to point out that you see some early military victories for the Israelites. So they defeat the Canaanite king Arad. Then later, they defeat the kings Sihon and Og. And the defeats of those two kings, Sihon and Og, will be referred to several more times throughout the Old Testament. But before they even enter into the promised land, we see that God is showing them that if they trust in him, he will give them victory.
- [01:59]
Shelby
Yeah. So he's kind of even answering their fears and doubts with this really tangible victory they're having. But they're not exactly responding in faith. They're still complaining. They're still struggling with God's commands.
- [02:11]
Scott
Yeah. You know, the new generations feels a lot like the old generation in these chapters, because in chapter 20, they encounter a very familiar problem. They need water. We've seen this before. And even though they've seen God provide for them in this kind of scenario before. They complain and they're like, we're going to die. And then the same thing happens again in chapter 21. They. They need food and water. They get impatient. They wonder why Moses brought them out of Egypt to just die in the wilderness again. Wouldn't it have just been simpler to kill them off in Egypt? And this is when God judges them by sending snakes among them to bite them. Which would be my greatest fear totally. But Moses prays for them. And I love. This is an interesting moment where God provides a means of healing by having Moses make a bronze snake, put it on a pole, and that anyone who looks at it will find healing. And here's what I love about this scene. One of the most fam verses in all of the Bible is John 3:16. You know, for God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son. Immediately before that verse, though, Jesus refers to this moment. Jesus says that just as the serpent was lifted up, so will I be lifted up. And the idea is that anyone who looks to Jesus like that serpent will be saved. And that's such a comforting reminder to me because, I mean, let's be honest, Shelby, we've talked about this. It's easy to judge the Israelites, but we complain, too. We do the same thing. We are blockheads like them, who continually repeat our sins. And yet God lifted up Jesus so that looking at him, our sins may be forgiven. And I think there's also comfort in the fact that Israel is regularly spared a judgment because Moses intercedes for them. He prays for them and the New Testament. That just reminds me of the New Testament where it shows us that Jesus intercedes for us. You and I shall. We are being prayed for constantly, and our needs are continually being brought before our Father who enjoys helping us.
- [04:09]
Shelby
Yeah, I mean, that. That never ceases to amaze me, that fact and that we know that. That we know that Jesus is doing that for us. I think my takeaway from this is when we're thinking about the bronze snake, like the Israelites had to literally look up at it like there was an action involved in that. And we have this correlation in the New Testament where those who look at Jesus will be, I'm so thankful for my salvation. I'm also so aware of the daily ways in which I sin. And so my takeaway is having those moments of looking to Jesus and saying, lord, forgive me for the ways I've sinned today. And thank you so much for your grace and your mercy. And for my salvation in you. And so just that tangible looking up, I think, is what I'm taking away from today. Okay. I mean, we're moving through numbers. We're starting to near the end, and so we'll have another episode tomorrow.