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Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. To all my fellow pastors, I've got a question for you. Does your city know that your church exists? Listen, I get it. You're preaching, you're leading, you're discipling, you're doing ministry. We are in the same boat. And let's be honest, social media and marketing, not your strong suit. Not mine either. And that's probably the last thing on your mind. And that's why we chose to partner with Church Candy marketing for our church. Plant the garden. We out here, y'all. They help churches get more actual guests walking through the doors on Sunday without your eye having to stress over ads or algorithms or trying to crack the social media code. Right now, church Candy is helping nearly 400 churches reach their communities with simple invite ads. And it works. It's super effective. I can tell you from firsthand experience. So if you're tired of being your city's best kept secret, how about you do this? Go to churchcandy.com Manny and book a free consultation book a discovery call. Their team will break it all down and show you how to start seeing new faces at your church this Sunday. I'm in the trenches with you trying to grow the church. And how about we just start a whole campaign? No more empty churches. So let's partner with Church Candy and get our churches full. The glory of Jesus. Let's go. We are making our way through the wilderness. I'm just going to keep saying that for the whole book of numbers. We're making our way through the wilderness because the. The better name for the book of numbers is through the wilderness. So we're making our way through the wilderness. And if you haven't done the reading, go do the reading. Read numbers chapters five through eight. And then for those of us who have done the reading, let's dive in. All right. Let's give some context clues. All right. I actually love how Tim Mackey talked from the Bible Project, talks about numbers chapters five, and kind of in the numbers chapter six, he says that numbers chapter five into chapter six contains four riddles. Okay. And they're riddles because they kind of seem random, like they're randomly placed. And so the first one is Numbers chapter 5 verse 1:4. The second one is Numbers, chapter 5, verse 5 through 10. The third one is Numbers, chapter 5, Verse 11 to 31. And then the last one is going to be the Nazarite vow. I'll tell you exactly when we get the Nazarite vow. It's numbers, chapter six, verse one to 21. Okay, so we get four of these. And honestly, they are random. Like they. There is no rhyme or reason. So let's tackle them kind of one by one. Numbers, chapter five, verse one through four, says this. Command the Israelites to send away from the camp. Okay. Expel. Okay. Cast out. Send away from the camp. Anyone who has a defiling skin disease or discharge of any kind or who are ceremonially unclean because of a dead body, send away male and female alike, send them outside the camp. I see. Hopefully you're getting the emphasis. Okay, the camp. So they do not defile their camp where I dwell among them. So I dwell here. To all these things that are. Don't make them morally impure, but ritually impure. They've got to be outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had instructed Moses. Okay, why is that there? Well, that is there because who was cast out? Remember, the tabernacle is a garden surrounded by wilderness. Who was cast out of the garden? You guessed it, Adam and Eve. Okay, so Numbers is wanting us to meditate on Adam and Eve, wanting us to meditate on Genesis. And so this first parallel is going to get made that in the same way that Adam and Eve had to be outside of the garden, cast out of God's presence, people who, dealing with ritual impurity are going to have to be cast out of the normal tent, the encampment of tents that surrounds the tent, not permanently, but they're going to have to be outside until they get purified and cleansed and can come back in. Okay, so Genesis is, like, on our minds. Okay, what's the next story in the book of Genesis? Oh, yeah, it's Cain and Abel. Okay, well, let's read numbers, chapter 5, verse 5 and 10, says the Lord said to Moses, say to the Israelites, any man or woman who wrongs another in any way and so unfaithful to the Lord is guilty and must confess the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution for the wrong they have done, add a fifth to the value to it and give it to the person they have wronged. But if that person has no close relative or to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord. It must be given to the priests along with the ram with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer. All the sacred contributions that Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him. Sacred things belong to their owners, but what they give to the priest will belong to the priest. And the nrsv, I just read the niv. It's not just about wrongs committed to random people, but the exact language is if you wrong your brother, God wants people to see all Israelites as their brother. So it doesn't just mean biological brother. Okay, the story. So we get a law that's supposed to make us think about Adam and Eve or meditate on Adam and Eve, or have Adam and Eve in our mind. Then the next story makes us have Cain and Abel on our mind. So the numbers is kind of leading us down this journey of reflecting on Genesis. Okay, then we're going to get a really, really long story. I won't read the whole thing. But again, these are like laws. Okay? These are. These are. But they're not organized in any way that are like, hey, here's seven laws. It's not like Leviticus, where it's like, hey, seven, seven, 14 laws on purity and then 14 laws on this. Or it's not grouped in a way that actually makes sense. Okay, here's the next one. If somebody think is jealous, if a husband is jealous, thinks that their wife maybe have cheated on them, they're going to go to the tabernacle and have the priest make this concoction. It's going to have water and dust, okay? Water and dust. And the woman's going to drink it. If she's guilty, her abdomen's going to swell, she's going to miscarry, she's going to be infertile from that moment on. It's clearly bad. Like, this is terrible. This is a. If she. If she says, you know, the vow that she has not cheated, but in fact she is lying and she drinks this stuff. It's kaputs. But if she is right, like, let's say she's actually innocent, then this would prove her innocence. Okay, so it's a story about someone who has taken a woman who they're not supposed to take and somebody else and the actual husband is jealous. And then you get water and dust. So the dust of the earth and water. So you get this mixture of. You have an element of water in here, and you have an element of earth in here, which really should make us think of angels who saw the daughters of men and had sex with them when they weren't supposed to, created Nephilim. And now God has to send one water to clean the earth, the dust of the earth. Ah, got it. We have here, like a flood story. We, we, we have a law. So what, what the author of Numbers is doing is connecting laws back to narrative accounts from Genesis and actually leading us in order now. So these laws don't just exist in a vacuum. They're in conversation with the rest of the Torah. Once the flood is over, per se, Noah is going to plant a vineyard. He's going to get drunk. And because of that one mistake of getting drunk, his son is going to either. There's only three options, really only is either going to castrate him, anally penetrate him, or have sex with his wife. Okay, have sex with Noah's wife, which would be his mother. But those, those. That is what uncovered nakedness means. Uncovered nakedness is a euphemism. It does not mean that. That the boy saw his dad naked. That. That ain't what it means. It. It means that Noah was either either anally penetrated by his son, that he was castrated by his son, or that his son had sex with his wife, which would be his mother. Okay, none of that would have happened had Noah been sober. Had, had Noah not been drunk, that whole situation would have been avoided. So what is this next story about? It's a Nazarite vow. It says, hey, if anybody wants to live like a Levite, if you want to live like the high priest, you can. But here we go. Chapter six, verse three. They must abstain from wine and other fermented drink, and must not drink vinegar made from wine or. Or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins as long as they remain under the Nazirite vow. They must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins. Okay, so in order to be a Nazirite, you can't do what Noah did at all. No getting drunk? No. No getting drunk. No consuming alcohol at all. It's actually a great way to talk to leaders about consuming alcohol, because consuming alcohol is not a sin. And I really have an issue when churches say that it's a sin. But I would say, man, if you're going to be a leader, then you got to hold yourself to a different standard. If you're going to be a leader, then you know what? I have no issues with saying, you know what? Pastors are modern day Levites. They're modern day nazarites and the Bible does say that there are different rules that apply to different people based on your level of responsibility and influence and leadership. And so when I've pastored or when I've led, I, I never tell people serving in ministry that drinking alcohol is a sin because that is a recipe for destruction. Actually, all that person has to do is find out that it's not a sin. And now they don't trust me anymore and they don't trust church and they don't trust leaders and now they're deconstructing. And anyway, it's, it's easier to actually communicate the truth. And the truth is that God always sets people apart to have a something about them that, that is strict. And that doesn't mean that that thing has to be a sin in order for God to say, just put on the altar, like, don't do it. Restraining. Restrain yourself from, from doing that. Bible Department family, it's Dr. Manny Arango. And first thing I want to say is that I'm proud of you for completing the New Testament. You did it. And now that we're in the Old Testament, I hope that looking at Genesis and Exodus from an ancient perspective and worldview has kind of like opened your eyes. Well, I got news for you. If you've enjoyed some of the interpretations that I've brought to the table from Genesis, then that's just the tip of the iceberg. This entire book, Crushing Chaos, was written from an ancient hermeneutic. I'm looking at stories like the Flood, Adam and Eve from the perspective of an ancient person. And we've got an event coming up on April 26th where I'll take a lot of the content from, from this book and I'll turn that content into live lectures. You don't want to miss it. You can actually register for that event right now. The link is in the description. And more than content, I think what you'll find as we gather together in Nashville are like minded believers and friends in a community of people that you don't just watch content with online that you can get to know in person. I'd love to see you in Nashville. I'd love to hug you, high five you. And I'd love to nerd out together for one day as we come together in Nashville to learn about how to crush chaos. I'll see you in Nashville. Peace. So the Nazarite vow. In order to understand the Nazarite vow, there's two verses from the Bible that you really do need to understand. Genesis, chapter 9, verse 20 and 21. Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. So he's drunken naked in his tent. Okay, I've been in the south too long. I just said naked. He's drunk and naked in his tent. And he wouldn't have never been vulnerable for his son to attack him or rape his wife or him had he been sober once. Nadab and Abihu die. Okay, remember, on the day that Moses is dedicating the tabernacle, they're offering the first. They're offering incense for the first time. Nadab and Abihu are consumed by the fire and die. This is what God has to say. Following that, this is Leviticus, chapter 10, verse 8 and 11. Then the Lord said to Aaron, you and your sons are not to drink wine or other ferment, to drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance. Get this for the generations to come so that you. So now let me tell you why you don't need to be drunk, why you don't need to consume alcohol. So it doesn't say you can't get drunk. It says you and your sons are not to drink wine. If this is not about drunkenness, it's about drinking. Consuming wine so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, and so you can teach the Israelites all the decrees that the Lord has given them through Moses. I need you to be sober so that you will have wisdom, so that you can discern, so that you can know the difference between holy and the common, and so that you can teach the Israelites. Okay, so the office of priestly duties, pastoral duties, teaching duties require sobriety. That's a requirement. Okay, now, is this insinuating that Nadab and Abihu may have been kind of under the influence when they. When they made a dumb move and got consumed by the fire of the Lord? Could be. But I have seen alcohol and alcohol consumption do more damage than good. If you're a leader and you're listening to this podcast, I'm not. I'm not anti drinking. I'm not anti alcohol consumption, but I am pro wisdom. I'm all about wisdom. And I would say that alcohol is never a net positive. So it's either a net negative or net neutral. And Paul says, man, all things are permissible. So I would put consumption of alcohol in the category of things that are permissible, but not all Things are beneficial. So God is going to give Moses these instructions. Hey, anyone who wants to be a Nazarite, all right, look at Noah, look at Nadab and Abihu. Like, if you're going to be a Nazarite, then this needs to be something that you're going to put on the altar. All right, so we get this first story, Numbers five, verses one through four, that is really going to correlate to Adam and Eve. And then numbers 5, 5 through 10, which is going to correlate to Cain and Abel. And then numbers 5, 11 and 31, which is going to correlate to the Nephilim and the Flood. And then numbers, chapter six, verses one through 21, which is a Nazarite vow, which is going to correlate to Noah and his. The issue that he has with Ham, Shem and Japheth and then Nadab and Abihu. So the Bible is always causing us, asking us, inviting us to. To look at what's happening here in context of something else. Let me give you some nerdy nuggets. Okay? Numbers, chapter 6, verse 22, all the way to Numbers, chapter 8, verse 4 is actually one single literary unit. And in the middle you're going to have Numbers, chapter seven. So nerdy nugget. This is the longest chapter in the entire Torah. A lot of verses in Numbers, chapter seven. I'll actually tell you exactly right now, like, how many verses? 89 verses. Okay? Tons of words. So this is actually a little mini chiasm. So numbers, chapter six, verse 22 is what's called the Aaronic blessing. Okay, I'll read it. And the Lord said to Moses, tell Aaron and his sons, this is how you are to bless the people. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his foot face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. So a big emphasis on the face of God illuminating the life of the people. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face towards you. So the Lord want, we're praying that God would turn his illuminating glorious face towards in your direction and give you light, shine the light of his glory on your life. That's the blessing. Then you get a chapter where the people are generous. Okay? The people are. Are giving towards the things that are needed for the tabernacle. And the reason that the author hasn't told us this before, because this content could have been in Exodus, the people had to get counted in order to tell us that the leaders that were counted were the people who were giving. So where as a prayer for God's face to shine on us then? The people of Israel being generous and giving towards the house of God and the things of God. And then you're going to get this odd little instruction in chapter eight, okay, The Lord said to Moses, speak to Aaron and say to him, when you set up the lamps. Lamps, keyword lamps. This is the seven branch menorah. When you set up the lamps so that they face, okay, face towards on the lampstand, just as the Lord commanded Moses. This is how the lampstand was made. It was of hammered gold. The lampstand was made exactly in the pattern the Lord God showed Moses. What? What? Why do we have this content about lamps? Well, it's the exact man mirror of the blessing that Aaron is supposed to speak. Okay, so what's happening in the holy place? Remember, you have the holy of holies. The holy place in the outer court. Holy of holies, inner court. Outer court. So in the inner court or the holy place, not the most holy place, but the holy place, you are going to have a lampstand. And what is it shining on? If you have a diagram of the tabernacle in your head, which you should, because you're a Bible nerd, you would realize that opposite the lampstand is the table of showbread. Okay? And there are 12 loaves of bread on that table. So the lamp is shining on What? On the 12 tribes of Israel. So symbolically, what's happening in the holy place is mirroring what the priests are now supposed to pronounce over the people, that the light of God's face, that the same way that God met with Moses, one on one, face to face, and his face, Moses face was. Was shining as a result of it, that the same thing would happen to the whole nation. And that then as the nation would turn and interact with people, that the glory of Yahweh would evangelize the nations of the world, which leads seamlessly into our timeless truth, that your time in God's word. The Bible says this is a light unto your feet and a lamp unto your path. As you spend time with God in His Word. Our prayer is that light would illuminate your life. The Bible says that the eyes, your eyes are the lamp of your life. And if your eyes are dark, everything in you will be dark. So the goal is for a transference of light. The same way that Moses sat in front of the glory of God and his face was illuminating our prayer is that as you sit in front of the wisdom of God's Word that your eyes become bright and that you begin to see things differently. C S Lewis says this I don't believe in God because I can see God. I believe in God because by his light I can see everything else. And so the goal is that the Word of God and the wisdom of God would illuminate your life to the point that by it, it's not that you just see God, but that you can see everything else in your life clearly. That's our timeless truth for the day. And with that, we close this section on Numbers chapters five through eight. I'll see you right here tomorrow as we look at numbers chapters nine through 11. Hey, if you're on a streak, don't break it. If you're not on a streak, today's a good day to start. All you gotta do is add tomorrow to today and then you're on a two day streak. I love you. I'm so proud of you. I'll see you right here tomorrow as we continue our trek through the wilderness. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department Podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebible department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.go. come. We'll see you back here tomorrow.