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- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
- [00:05]
B
Hey, this is Shelby and Scott, and this is our final day in the Book of Numbers. We made it. So we're going to Talk through chapters 34 through 36 today. Take it away, Scott.
- [00:18]
A
All right. So, you know, I've mentioned this already, but these last several chapters are really preparatory material for once they enter the promised Land. And, yeah, we're really just talking about the lands as we close out the Book of Numbers. You know, you had that last. Last chapter about Zelophehad's daughters, for example, which revisits something from chapter 27 has to do with each tribe's land allotment. And then in chapter 34, God lays out the boundaries of the promised Land and then assigns different people to portion out the land to the. The different tribes when the time comes, which we'll get to in Joshua. But I find chapter 35 especially fascinating, though.
- [00:56]
B
Yeah, same. So we're talking about murder a lot in chapter 35. Can you help us understand that?
- [01:03]
A
Yeah, this feels CSI, the promised land, like so. Okay. The reason for all this stuff about blood and murder is found, I think, at the last two verses of Numbers 35, because what ultimately makes this land so good is that God will dwell with the Israelites in this land. And so because of that, they need to avoid defiling the land and making it unclean, which bloodshed would do. And so you think back to Genesis 4, after Cain kills Abel, God tells Cain that Abel's blood is crying out to him from the ground. And this chapter is basically saying that if blood is shed, it has to be atoned for. And the only way it could be atoned for is with blood being shed. And so now if someone intentionally murders someone, atonement for the land will be made by shedding the murderer's blood. But then you have these moments where somebody accidentally kills someone. What do you do then? And they could retreat to what's called a city of refuge, and they would stay there until the person serving as the high pries died. And so catch that. I think it's important. Like, even if you unintentionally caused someone's death, blood still had to be shed so that the land could be purified, it could be atoned for. But in this case, if you unintentionally killed someone, God allowed the high priest's death to be a substitute for the person who accidentally killed someone. And so isn't that interesting? Like, whenever the high priest of Israel would die, his death would provide atonement for people who are in these cities. Of refuge, which sounds a lot like someone else I read about in the Bible once. Jesus, whose death atones for our sins and allows us to enjoy the promised land to come, which is a whole new earth.
- [02:44]
B
Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so we're wrapping up the Book of Numbers. Any final thoughts or just kind of takeaways from reading through this entire book?
- [02:53]
A
Yeah, Numbers has covered a lot of ground. Like, it began with the Israelites about to leave Mount Sinai to go take possession of the promised Land. It ends with them about to take possession of it 40 years later. So they've been in the wilderness for a long time. You know, in between the beginning and the end, Israel has been complaining. They've been rebelling against God. They've experienced his judgment on more than one occasion. Despite all that, though, God has still been faithful to them, here they are about to enter this land that's been promised to them. And I was reminded of Ezekiel 18:23, where God says, do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? Instead, don't I take pleasure when he turns from his ways and lives? And I thought of that because God is just so faithful and patient in Numbers, and he treats the Israelites way better than they deserve. And as someone who just continues to sin daily, I need that reminder that God's arms are open to me. He takes pleasure in forgiving a repentant heart.
- [03:57]
B
Yeah, that's surely one of my takeaways from Numbers as well. I think another big takeaway from this book is the details of scripture are there for a reason. And so we got to see the way many of those small details connect to New Testament passages or other passages in the Old Testament. Thank you for making those connections for us, Scott. But I think I'm just reminded of the perfection of God's Word. I'm reminded of the weight of God's Word. And I'm reminded it that it's good even when I'm having a hard time understanding it or even when it takes a little work to make sense of it. So all that to say it's a great reason to keep reading the year, the Bible in a year. And so we're going to be in Deuteronomy tomorrow, and we're excited to jump into that book with all of you.