Numbers 26

It looks like the time of wandering - or more precisely of living outside the Promised Land - is finally over. Today's reading covers a second census, much like the one back in Numbers 1, but this time after those who refused to go into the Promised Land have died off (with a couple of special exceptions). It is interesting to note that the population of men above the age of 20 has decreased, which would normally be the opposite of what would be expected - but several thousand have died in various plagues and other tribulation brought on by their disobedience.

When one looks at the breakdown of the tribal populations, most either gained or lost a few thousand - but there are exceptions. A couple gained in excess of 10,000, and one tribe lost a massive number to offset those gains. The tribe of Simeon went from 59,300 to only 22,200; a loss of nearly two thirds the group's original size! It makes me wonder if they were some of the worst offenders at various points, and were therefore the hardest hit by God's wrath. No details are really given on that point that I can find, though.

I am hoping that soon we will get an account of the taking of the Holy Land, as I could use a bit of action :)

Numbers 25

Today's reading was quite short, but further reinforces two of the commandments God had given the Israelites: do not commit adultery, and do not have any gods before Yahweh. This is a theme we will see recur throughout the history of the nation of Israel - they will be tempted away by other peoples around them (whether sexually or otherwise) and then that leads to worship of foreign gods, which incurs God's wrath. On this occasion that resulted in over 24,000 deaths by plague; I suspect in the future the punishment may be even more severe.

Numbers 24

Today's chapter is the final one in the story of Balaam, and the third time he speaks mirrors the first two from yesterday - though he goes even further this time and prophesies the end of the nations who brought him forth to curse Israel.

One verse here stands out, and I think its sentiments are found in other locations in the Bible as well: "Blessed is the one who blesses you [Israel], and cursed is the one who curses you!" (verse 9, NET). Many people these days think we should keep our noses out of the conflicts in the Middle East, but even if nothing else in the Bible touched on the subject this alone would be enough for me to believe confidently that we should always be ready to support Israel and fight at her side.

Numbers 23

Today we get more of the story of Balaam, this time focusing on the words God gave him to speak about Israel. It is rather funny how many times King Balak tries to get him to curse Israel, despite the insistence of Balaam that he can only say what God has determined already - and furthermore that God does not change His mind. We are left with a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, as Balak asks for a third time that Balaam curse the Israelites; I assume that the outcome will mirror the first two attempts, but we'll have to see...

Numbers 22

This chapter contains the first half of the story of Balaam, including the popularly-known tale involving his donkey. I've always found this story interesting, as it is the only place I am aware of where we are told that God gave an animal the ability to talk. Such ability has been the topic of many movies and books, but here we have it in real-life! Also, the fact that before the donkey is given speech it acts in an intelligent manner does lend credence to the idea that some animals have a level of understanding we might not always appreciate.

It is also noteworthy that Balaam seems to revere God, though he is not from among the Israelites. I wonder why that is, and how someone from a different nation and people knew of Yahweh - and moreover had contact with Him!

Numbers 21

Ah, now this chapter is more to my liking! The middle half talks about the route the Israelites used in their journeys, and yet another minor rebellion on the way, but the beginning and end both cover battles in which they defeated other peoples and occupied their lands. What I found most interesting here was that they not only conquered people on their travels but they also occupied their enemies lands. I was under the impression that the time between the Israelites refusing to enter the Promised Land the first time and their eventual entrance was spent in constant wandering, but it seems I was wrong. I wonder how long they spent in each of the countries they took?

There were also two other interesting references in this section:

- Verses 24 and 25 contain an excerpt from "the Book of the Wars of the Lord"; I wonder if that is something that modern Jewish scholars have found, or if it has been lost to history. Sounds like it would have been an interesting read.

- The last verse, 35, notes that with at least one of the nations the Israelites conquered they left "no survivors" (NET). That level of total war is often looked down upon today, and considered barbaric, but I would argue that based on this and several other passages in the Bible it is sometimes appropriate. The trick is that in these wars the Israelites had God directing their actions, and telling them when and when not to spare their enemies - today we do not have the same level of divine guidance.

Numbers 20

Ah, yes, today we have the account of why Moses and Aaron did not get to enter the Promised Land. Moses disobeyed God's command, and so sealed his fate. What is most interesting here is that when God told them it was time for Aaron to die, and to pass the mantle of priesthood on to his son, Aaron went so willingly. How must it have felt to know the hour of your own death? Perhaps by his age, and with the things he had lived through, it was a blessing to die peacefully like that.

Numbers 19

The chapter today deals with rules regarding cleanliness again, as many past chapters have. I think I've mentioned it before, but I will say again that I don't really understand the reasoning God would have had for such procedures - what would it be about touching a dead body, or being in a tent with someone when they died, or any of the other myriad of things that made one "unclean" was so problematic? Was it purely to teach the Israelites to respect the Lord their God, or was there something scientific or health-related to it? Specifically at times of war and the like I can't imagine how the cleansing rituals were maintained reliably; imagine thousands of troops all needing to be sprinkled with water on a constant basis because they were in battle daily?

Numbers 18

This chapter covered the use of all kinds of offerings made to the Lord as the sustenance of the Levites, the priests of Israel. It is very similar to how tithing works in churches today - we give a portion of what we make so that the pastor and other church staff can be paid, and so that the facilities can be maintained. It is quite a logical setup, and when done correctly it scales quite well: with more people, more ministers are needed and larger buildings... but more money is also provided. I imagine the same was true in Israel: as the community as a whole grew, so would the Levite population and the amount of offerings that they were given as their portion.

One other interesting thing to note here is that the Levites were not to have any other part of the inheritance with their brothers. I wonder if that meant they could not own land at all, or if it just meant that when the time of the Year of Jubilee rolled around they had no "native" lands of their own.

Numbers 17

The chapter today is short, but contains a very cool miracle. Just in case God's direct statements to the Israelites that Moses was to lead them, and His confirmation of such things time and again, He gives one more proof here by causing Aaron's staff to bloom from among several placed before Him. I wonder if this will really put the people's doubts behind them for good - only time (and the remaining chapters) will tell...

Numbers 16

Ah, the rebellion of Korah - I remember this story from High School (I went to a private Christian school, and courses in Biblical history were standard fare). The number of times that the Israelites themselves or members of their community attempted to rebel, complain, or otherwise disrespect the God that saved them from slavery amazes me; that Moses stuck up for them in spite of it all even more so. On this occassion, though, Moses called for God to destroy Korah and his followers (verses 28-30).

One thing I remember reading before, but which struck me particularly when going over the chapter tonight, was that the entire families of those who strayed were consumed with them: as the text describes it, they "stationed themselves in the entrances of their tents with their wives, their children, and their toddlers" (v 27) and then "the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households" (v 32). Having a young child of my own it is hard to swallow that mistakes I make could affect his very life - but that is how the world works.

Numbers 15

After the preceding passages, I wasn't really expecting the reading today to drop back into rules and regulations about sacrifices. The section demonstrating the differences between unintentional and deliberate sins is quite interesting, though, and a good reminder to us today that intentionally violating God's laws is a very serious matter. In older times it would have been a death sentence, but now with the gift of Jesus' sacrifice for us it is not quite so lethal any more - but that does not mean we should take our freedom lightly or for granted.

Numbers 14

Today we read about the results of the folly from the previous chapter. I'm not sure how the Israelites could be so cowardly after everything God had done for them! I wish the things I needed to do in life were as simple as taking a massive army and attacking a land God had promised to give me :/ Or perhaps they are, and I just don't see it?

I'm also amazed that Moses hasn't taken God up on the offer given in verse 12: "I will strike them with the pestilence, and I will disinherit them; I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!" (NET). This isn't the first time that God gave Moses this option, but I gues by this point Moses had given a lot for the Israelites and must have cared for them a great deal. I wonder how history might have been different, though, if he had accepted...

Numbers 13

Today's chapter covers a classic story - the spies being sent in to scout out the Promised Land. Unfortunately, the majority of them were cowards and reported that the land would be too hard to take; so far we've only heard that Caleb spoke out in favor of going in and claiming the land God was giving to them. If I'm not mistaken we will see that Joshua, one of the other spies, will also side with Caleb (and God); but that is for a future chapter.

One of the reasons given by the rest of the spies for not invading was that descendants of the Nephilim were there - presumably giants, from the description they gave. That, in tandem with another reference in Genesis, has always interested me; furthermore, they are called here the "sons of Anak". I think later books will tie this name in again with Goliath, which fits with the idea that they were giants (as he was). If they were accurate in their description of these as real Nephilim, then it indicates that that race existed both before and after the flood - again fitting with the lines in Genesis 6.

Numbers 12

The short chapter today is interesting on several levels. For starters, Moses' siblings - Aaron and Miriam - who were helping to lead the Israelites seem to have become jealous of Moses on some level. They complained of his marriage to an "Ethiopian", but then switch tracks and suggest that they too have been given the gift of prophesy and should be qualified to lead. God has Moses' back in this, though, and gives them both a stern talking to. Furthermore, he strikes Miriam with leprosy... though at the behest of Moses he makes it temporary, rather then a permanent ailment.

What stood out to me was as follows:

- The description of Moses as "very humble, more so than any man on the face of the earth." (verse 3, NET). This is especially odd to find here, as I thought that Numbers was written by Moses himself; perhaps God insisted that he include this, or maybe his scribe (if he was dictating) added that touch.

- Miriam was struck with leprosy, but Aaron was not. I wonder why God didn't strike them both? Actually, now that I think about it I bet I know the answer: Aaron was the high priest, but having leprosy would have made him ceremonially unclean and not fit for his post.

- The first complaint leveled against Moses in the opening verses is that he married an Ethiopian, but I thought that his wife Zippora (sp?) was from Midian. Perhaps she was of Ethiopian descent, though, or maybe just darker skinned like someone from that region - or could Moses have married a second time?

Numbers 11

Wow, an interesting chapter today! I suppose one could take this as a warning against gluttony, as well as against complaining about what God has provided. Often in our lives God may provide what we need, but we still desire other things in our sinful nature - and perhaps we should look to the example of the Israelites here as a lesson not to. Not only did God choose to give them what they wanted in excess quantities, but He also struck many of them down with a plague. While God doesn't seem to act in quite such direct methods today He is certainly active in our lives, so we should be careful what we wish for :)

That is something I should work on: wishing and praying for God's will to be manifest in my life, rather than the things I selfishly want. I'm sure I'd be happier and healthier if I pursued that goal instead of my own.

Numbers 10

Not a whole lot to comment about today, as the chapter largely concerned the marching order for the Israelite tribes as they traveled. However, the last few verses were interesting - the main reason Moses used to appeal to his in-laws, with the goal that they should travel with the Israelites, was that his father-in-law would know of good places to camp. This seems to fly in the face of God's instructions the day before, though, which said that His cloud would guide them and tell them where to stay and for how long. I wonder, then, if this was an appeal to Moses' father-in-law's ego - or perhaps just a nicety aimed at getting them to come along. I'll be curious to see if they are ever mentioned again, though, as the forty-year delay that is coming would likely have put a damper in any enthusiasm they might have had for the Promised Land.

Numbers 9

It is pretty crazy to think that a year has now passed since the events of early Exodus! This chapter covers the second Passover celebration - or more precisely, the first celebration since the real Passover in Egypt. This recognition of God's work was so important that even those ceremonially unclean were allowed to participate!

There is also a description of the way that God led the Israelites in their wanderings, and if it isn't sacreligious to say so it reminds me of the game "Red Light - Green Light". When God's presence lifted, they traveled - when it settled, they camped. Quite elegant, really :)

Numbers 8

The concept in this chapter, which was referred to in earlier sections of this book, is rather interesting. When God destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians - at the Exodus - He basically took the firstborn of the Israelites as His own (instead of killing them). Then, in trade for those He took just the Levites to serve in the Tabernacle. It almost seems like it mirrors the way that God has set apart us - as Christians - to be His followers.

The cleansing ritual He ordained for them was also pretty straightforward, at least compared to many of the ceremonies outlined in previous chapters.

Numbers 7

Hmm, how can I say this politely? This chapter was the best example of repetition I've yet seen in Scripture - the same exact phrases, over and over; 12 times in total (once for each of the leaders of the Israelite tribes). I'm sure this conveyed how important the dedication offerings they brought were, but when readnig it today it seems so unnecessary.

Oh well - at least it sounds like the next chapter should be interesting. We are left with a cliff-hanger at the end of the reading today: "Now when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the atonement lid that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. Thus he spoke to him." (verse 89, NET) Wow, 89 verses!

Numbers 6

Today's chapter covers the rules of Nazirite vows, like those that Samson was under which will be covered in the book of Judges. I guess the rules themselves are plain enough, but what I can't gather from the verses is for what reasons someone might put themselves under such a vow. Perhaps it was just if one felt indebted to God - but if there was any further social or religious reasoning it seems to have been left out.

The last part of the chapter is also pretty cool, as it is a blessing the priests were to put on Israel. I didn't know it at the time, but growing up my best friends' family used this blessing as a nighttime prayer - I thought it odd at the time, but in hindsight that was pretty cool.

Numbers 5

Wow, we went from rather mundane chapters about who had what responsibility in caring for the Tabernacle to a very interesting, and very controversial, test for a women suspected of infidelity. There are several things that come to my mind reading over this section of Scripture:

- We must remember that this is indeed Scripture, and as such cannot be dismissed as we would the idea of a witch trial. God put this law in place for a reason, and there is something we can learn from its inclusion in the Bible.

- That being said, this does seem to run a different course than many laws. Most deal with punishments for crimes or sins, but this one talks about a test for use in situations where wrongdoing was suspected but there was no proof or witnesses. That alone makes it stand out, but the methodology of the test is even more odd.

- The way it is described almost seems shamanistic, or magical, but we must remember that God can do anything. The only conclusion I can come to is that God would honor this test if used, and actually step in and make the mixture affect or not affect an accused woman as appropriate (since of course He knows all events, motives, and thoughts).

- It is also possible that the threat of this 'curse', on a woman who had committed adultery, might have been enough to get a confession from the vast majority of people rightly accused. I suppose the traditional punishment for adultery was death, so maybe this isn't correct, but it is something to consider. Also, those who were truly innocent would have nothing to fear if they believed that God was indeed in charge.

- For some reason, this test is only described as applying to a woman... what if a wife suspected her husband of cheating? Why was that left out, or will it be dealt with in a later section?

Numbers 4

Further info today on clan assignments for transporting the Tabernacle. It sounds like there were enough men employed in that line of work that they could easily take shifts as they traveled, so as not to have a few bear too much burden. I wonder if these responsibilities were carried over into service in the Temple when it was constructed under Solomon - but I'm sure we'll get more details when the time comes.

Numbers 3

Today's reading included a census of the Levites, who were left out of the previous chapters' counts. Nothing much stood out to me as being of particular import, but it was interesting to see how much detail God went into about responsibilities - giving each family their own part of the tabernacle to take care of, and a different side of it to camp around.

Numbers 2

There isn't much to say about the chapter today - just a description of where the various Israelite clans would camp relative to each other. It does remind me of how important their family ties were, though, which was something fairly common among ancient cultures that has largely been lost in modern American society. I wonder why they felt the need to identify themselves with a far-removed ancestor so much, to the point where if a woman married into another 'clan' she was now identified with them, rather than her genetic relatives. It seems to me that it artificially created barriers where none need exist.

Numbers 1

Ah, a new book of the Bible! This first chapter was rather repetetive, but I like the topic: a census of the men capable of fighting; effectively a count of the army that Israel could muster. At over 600,000 men, it rivals the size of our standing army today - that must have been quite large for that time period!

It is interesting that here God commanded Moses to make the count, but later in David's reign I think God forbids the same thing. I suppose a lot of that has to do with motivations; here I suspect God was showing the Israelites that they had the manpower to take the land He was leading them to, but in David's time God wanted him to remember that it was God who fought for him and assured vistory, not the numbers of his troops.

Leviticus 27

This chapter was by far the most strange, or at least the most foriegn, part of the Bible I've ready yet. I know that probably sounds like an odd way to refer to any part of the Bible, but I'm currently a bit weirded out by it - especially verses 28 and 29:

"But nothing that a man owns and devotes to the LORD - whether man or animal or family land - may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD. No person devoted to destruction may be ransomed; he must be put to death." (NIV)

The whole idea of devoting something to the Lord by a vow in this chapter seems disconnected from the preceding chapters, but assuming that there was a good reason that people would do this then I really don't get the last line quoted above. Did people really dedicate themselves or their family members to God with the result of them being put to death? I truly hope that something is just not making the translation to English clearly, or that there was a cultural understanding about this which we simply lack today. I know that many times in the Bible people devoted children to the Lord's service, but they all were simply servants of God during their lives - so what is the "devoted to destruction" bit about? I consulted several translations and tried to find online commentary, with little beneficial results. If anyone out there has some insight on this, or can point me to a good resource for more info, I would appreciate it :/

Leviticus 26

Wow, this chapter describes both beautiful blessings for the Israelites if they obey God and horrifying punishments if they turn against Him. As we will see later on, they do indeed fall away from God from time to time throughout their history - and many sadnesses befall because of that. In fact, I sometimes wonder if things as recent as the Holocaust might have been a portion of this; the imagery about fleeing constantly and being consumed in the lands of their enemies in particular remind me of the stories from the oppressed Jews in World War II. They are now back in their land, though, the land God promised them so many ages ago. I am pretty sure that God's hand can be seen in that too :)

Leviticus 25

Today's reading was all about Sabbath years for letting fields lie fallow, and Jubilee years. I've always been fascinated by the practice of giving back land to its ancestral owners, as the Israelites did every fifty years; in a capitalist society it seems so backwards, but as we have come into a period of financial crisis here in the US I can very much appreciate the idea of a periodic "reset" of assets. Returning land and freeing Israeli slaves would allow even the poor among their people to have a chance at getting back on their feet, but it only happened rarely so that people wouldn't become lazy and dependent on it. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at the novelty and effectiveness of such a policy, though - after all, it was God's idea :)

Leviticus 24

More laws in this chapter, along with an example of God's laws in action. I wonder why the man who was stoned was not named, though, especially as his mother and tribe were named. The reminder that God's name is holy and should be revered is very good, though; all too often in modern society we see people disrespecting it, and thereby Him.

Leviticus 23

The special instructions given in this chapter for the holy-days of the Israelites are pretty specific, and involve lots of sacrifices and offerings. What stuck out to me, though, was two things:

- Many of these were to be "perpetual statute[s] throughout your generations in all the places where you live." (v 31, NET) I wonder if the modern Jews still follow the exacting requirements given here, especially things like living in temporary shelters during the Feast of Booths. Furthermore, I wonder if Messianic Jews (those of Jewish lineage who follow Christ as their Messiah) maintain all of these laws, or if they take the New Testament teachings as making these obsolete.

- The idea of a 7-day week has been present in the Bible since Genesis, and it is still the most basic measurement of time we use beyond "days". I find it quite interesting that the Bible gives a very good explanation for why 7-day weeks exist, and I wonder if atheists have any non-religious reasoning to explain why humans measure time thusly.

Leviticus 22

This chapter covers laws about how priests are to deal with the portion of offerings that belonged to them as food, as well as some commands about certain types of sacrifices the Israelites made. What I liked here - and what I recall seeing on occasion in previous chapters - is that there was a clause for someone who accidentally ate the priests' food if he wasn't supposed to. God knows we are human, and far from perfect, and He set up His laws accordingly.

Also, it sticks in my memory that at some point David had his men eat from the food dedicated to priests (when he was on the run, I think). I can't pinpoint where I remember reading that, but when I get into those later books of the Bible I will have to keep that in mind and see if I can find it.

Leviticus 21

Today's reading covers rules for priests, and I noticed that the Israelite priests were able to take wives. This surprised me some, as I figured that the Catholic ban against priests being married might have come from old Israelite traditions - but apparently not! I wonder, then, why they do have that restriction...

Leviticus 20

More today on sexual regulations, along with some prohibitions on worshiping other deities and consulting mediums/spirits. The only new thing that stood out to me here was that having sex with a woman during her period is so strongly rebuked; presumably even if that woman is ones wife. I really wonder about that, as it makes so logical sense to me - but then I suppose God doesn't have to conform to human logic. This seems especially odd, though, since earlier we were just told that this made someone unclean until the next morning. I'd be very interested in any comments or insight readers might have on this subject.

Leviticus 19

I rather like this section of the Bible, as it is neat to see the various laws God put in place for His people. Many of them I don't understand, and I wonder if the translation into English just misses some of the cultural implications of the time period. For example, what does it mean to "not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard" (verse 27, NET)? I didn't know my hair had corners :/

The main principles of the laws God put forth are great, of course - it was God giving them after all. In particular I like the regulations about fairness and impartiality (v 15, 35, 36). Here are some others that stand out, for one reason or another:

- "You must not wear a garment made of two different kinds of fabric." (v 19) Does this mean that all our modern clothes made with varying percents of different materials are somehow wrong? Obviously we don't have to follow all of the Law any more (as Christians), but why would God care about something like this?

- "You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake." (v 16) This is a slightly different take on the verse in the NET than other translations I've read, but if accurate I really like it. It would seem to me to be evidence against pure pacifism.

Leviticus 18

Today's reading largely covers laws about sexual relations. Of particular note I found the following:

- Verse 22 is a pretty straight-forward prohibition against homosexuality. However, it only addresses male (gay) sex - the female equivalent (lesbian) is not mentioned here. There are other passages later in the Bible that also deal with this topic, so I will have to remember to see if both forms of sex are addressed or not.

- Some things that I would think are pretty straightforward, like not having sex with your own mother, are expressly forbidden here. Since the purpose of this chapter is to prevent the Israelites from falling into the same debauchery that the Egyptians and Canaanites had partaken in, there much have been some pretty twisted people in both of those cultures.

Leviticus 17

More on sacrifices today, along with a prohibition on eating blood. I guess vampires were not allowed in ancient Israel - and that is a good thing! Not meaning to take much of a side trip, but I am not pleased with the re-casting of vampires in a good light (no pun intended) recently. It seems to me that the lines between good and evil are being blurred more and more in popular media, and in culture in general.

Leviticus 16

Wow, today's reading covers the most interesting of the ritual regulations so far in Leviticus (at least to me). Most unique here is the presentation of two goats: one for an offering to the Lord, the other to be set free in the wilderness. On the face of it that isn't too amazing, but the mysteriousness surrounding why that is done and the wording used to describe are very strange: "He must then take the two goats and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 16:8 and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel." (v 14-15, NET)

I could go into more depth here, but not being an expert on the subject the best I could do would be paraphrasing the work of others - so I would just recommend reading verses 3-10 and 20-22, and then consulting a good study Bible or other resource. The notes on the NET Bible for that section are worth reading, and give further direction if you want to go deeper.

Leviticus 15

More of the same regulations for cleanliness and offerings today, but we do get a little insight into why these rules were in place. In verse 31 we are told the following: "Thus you are to set the Israelites apart from their impurity so that they do not die in their impurity by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst." (NET) These instructions were followed for quite a while after the tabernacle was no longer used, of course, and I'm sure that at some point God considered the temple a replacement for it - but without a temple in modern days I suppose the Israelites may not follow these laws any longer. Does anyone out there with Jewish friends or family happen to know if that is the case?

Leviticus 14

I wonder what the "leprosy" that affected houses might have been. I would imagine some sort of mold or something, but the visual description given in the chapter doesn't really line up with what I though mold looked like. Also, how odd is it that attonement had to be made for a building that had become unclean?

Leviticus 13

Today's reading was quite long and repetitive, as much of Leviticus has been, but perhaps this is teaching me patience. Also, I'm beginning to think that the Israelite priests should have been on that TV show - Dirty Jobs. They had to deal constantly with sacrifices involving blood and guts of animals, and in addition they had the task of inspecting humans for leprosy. I'm sure that serving the Lord was an honor as well, but with my modern sensibilities I don't think I could have handled the sort of work they did.

Leviticus 12

Today's section was short, and there isn't a whole ton to it, just instructions for purification following the birth of a chile. I do find it odd, though, that the length of time a woman was unclean lastest longer if the baby was a girl than a boy - twice as long, to be precise. I'd love to know what that is supposed to signify.

Leviticus 11

The passage today cover the food rules that God gave the Israelites. I've always been fascinated by these, as the reasons behind the rules often seemed odd. For example, why only livestock that have cloven hoofs and chew their cud? What sort of logic is there to that? I can only figure that either the rules were arbitrary and God simply wanted them followed, or that they were for health reasons and just happened to be easier to describe with physical characteristics. Someday I plan to ask :)

Oh, and I'm glad these no longer apply: I don't think I could live without pork!

Leviticus 10

Quite an interesting account today - two of Aaron's sons, the recently anointed priests, offer improper gifts to God... and are punished. It just occurred to me that the only times in the Bible where God directly kills an individual or small, specific group are when they are people who were supposed to be His: either Israelites or Christians. We have these two men in Leviticus, Korah and his followers a little later on, a man who reached out and touched the Ark of the Covenant in David's time, and Ananias and Saphira in the early church period. I'm sure there are others, but all the ones that come to my mind share that common thread. I'm not sure what they means, but perhaps it should serve as a warning that while God is loving He also has rules and expectations for us that we need to respect and obey - especially since we as His followers have been entrusted with the knowledge of what we should and should not do.

Leviticus 9

From the text today it sounds as though the ceremonies surrounding the Tabernacle and the beginning of the priests' work is drawing to a close. One thing that occurred to me while reading this evening was that maybe some of the complexity in the offering system was actually God meeting a 'need' of the Israelites. When all He asked was that they follow Him out of Egypt and not worship other gods, they failed. Maybe they needed more pomp and ceremony that they could focus on. After all, they would have doubtless seen the Egyptians making all manner of sacrifices to their pantheon of gods - maybe the expectation of such things was culturally bred into them at that point. I could be completely off base here: maybe God had symbolic or other reasons for the requirements He put in place.

Leviticus 8

Today's reading covers the ordination of Aaron and his sons as priests, and the anointing both of them and the various instruments to be used in the Lord's service. Pretty straightforward, though the reference to the "Urim and Thummim" is interesting. I've heard those names before, and when they are mentioned later in the Bible I may do some more research into what they were. The part about putting blood on the priests' ears, fingers and toes was also a bit odd - but I'm sure it signified something at the time.

Levititus 7

I think we are drawing to the end of this section on the offering regulations, and I am not going to miss it. Most of the specifics of these rules go over my head anyways; it seems that a familiarity with animal anatomy and ancient foodstuffs is necessary to fully understand a lot of what was written.

Instead of talking about the reading, though, I'd lik to take a moment to reflect on my own walk with Jesus. I know I'm not where I need to be in many respects, and I am working on that with things like this daily reading. However, the thing I struggle with the most is how I am to show Christ's love to the world. I am not afraid to talk about my faith, and I think I am well-equipped with knowledge, but what I lack is two-fold: the understanding of when and how to approach people, and the love that I should have for all of humanity. There are so many people groups that I don't feel any compassion for: criminals of certain varieties, outspoken people of alternative lifestyles, and some others. I know I should love them as Jesus loves everyone, but something in me is blocking that.

I'm not sure how I will get over that, but I know I need to. It isn't a huge block to my witnessing right now, though, as I don't really interact with anyone in those categories; what is blocking me, I think, is my hesitation to broach the topic of Christianity with people I do know. I'm always second-guessing myself: what if I speak at the wrong time, or in the wrong way? What if I should just be an example of Christ a little longer before I talk to someone? What if... those two darned words...

Leviticus 6

More regulations for the various sacrifices and offerings. As I've said before, this all just makes me glad that we no longer have to go through all of these motions and sacraments. The first section of the reading relates to the guilt offerings that were discussed yesterday, though, and it I found interesting. Specifically the requirement that a thief (or other person who has sinned by taking what is not theirs) give back what they took along with an additional fifth is very interesting. In some ways that seems like letting someone off easy, but at the same time it might be enough to make someone think twice before committing a crime.

Leviticus 5

This chapter has more about sin and guilt offerings, a followup to the last reading. What I find most interesting here is that there is a sliding scale, if you will, of offerings. There are three tiers of what someone can afford, which I'm sure the poorer Israelites appreciated. I guess God was ahead of the times ;)

Leviticus 4

The regulations in this chapter cover "sin offerings" - which were apparently special for circumstances in which a person or group had fallen into sin unintentionally. Once that was discovered, this type of offering would be made to cleanse the affected person/people.

What really surprised me here were two things:

- It seems that every time one sinned accidentally this was to take place. If that is correct, and was followed to the letter, I would expect a non-stop stream of people coming to give offerings day and night!

- For the way things are phrased, at least in the NIV I was reading tonight, it sounds like one wasn't considered guilty of the sin until one had realized it had happened. This was backwards of what I thought previously: I always assumed that once one committed a sin (intentionally or not) one was guilty of it; this, though, makes it seem that guilt traces back to the moment of realization of the sin. I suppose that could be instantly after - or even during - the sin, or it could be days, weeks, or years later.

How interesting these items are! Furthermore, I wonder what one was to do as restitution if one sinned willfully...

Leviticus 3

The concept of a 'peace offering', as described in the text today, is rather unfamiliar to our modern culture. We see sacrificial offerings in movies, and the idea is related closely to Christ's death on the cross for our sins. Doing a little research, though, it appears that the peace offering was a representation of the relationship between God and a worshiper; it was done after any other offerings, and as best as I can put it showed that God and the individual were on okay terms. That is kind of a cool idea, but I'm glad we don't have to go through all of the ceremony the Israelites did to demonstrate it.

Leviticus 2

In today's readings about how to offer grain sacrifices to the Lord three things stood out to me:

- The offerings had to be prepared without yeast or honey. The idea of leaving yeast, or leavening, out of foods that were part of religious ordinances was also present in Exodus, and I think is throughout the Bible. This is even used in Jesus' teachings in the New Testament.

- It was also required that salt be included in any baked offerings, which again is reminiscent of New Testament ideas. There we, as Christians, are to be the salt of the Earth; here, the salt is somehow representing the covenant between the Lord and the Israelites.

- Lastly, I noticed that only a small part - a "handful" of the offerings were to be burned. The rest was given to the priests, so I assume that was part of how they were provided for. That seems pretty cool :)

Leviticus 1

Today we have the instructions for burnt offerings, or as the text puts it "gift[s] of a soothing aroma to the Lord" (NET). I am very thankful that we no longer need to do such animal sacrifices - with Christ's atonement on the cross that ended, and we now are washed clean through His blood rather than through that of livestock. Praise the Lord!

Exodus 40

And the story of the Exodus from Egypt draws to a close with the assembly of the Tabernacle. I am excited to see where the next book goes, as I'm not sure I've ever read much in Leviticus. The last thing I noted in this section of scripture was that God's presence now rested on the Tabernacle, but was manifest in the same way as the pillar of cloud/fire that initially led them out of Egypt. I sometimes wonder how large a fire and cloud this is talking about; I mean, it must have been pretty sizable if the Israelites could see it from a distance, but it also must have been small enough to effectively sit atop of the tent of meeting. How awesome it would be to have seen that! I wonder if there will be slide shows in Heaven... ;)

Exodus 39

After all their previous failings and departure from God's instructions, when it came time to make stuff the Israelites were apparently spot-on. That is quite refreshing, after the earlier parts of Exodus where they continually questioned Moses and God. I suppose that a couple of lessons could be drawn from this: 1) when God has a work to do in your life, if you do it wholeheartedly He will ensure that it is completed according to His wishes; 2) obedience to the Lord brings blessings (see the last verse).

Exodus 38

You may have noticed that yesterday's post was a little late in coming. It was done last night, but our internet connection was down so it didn't get posted till I got home from work today.

Today's reading was more of the same - descriptions of the way parts of the Tabernacle were made. It seems to be over, though, and the tally at the end of how much gold, silver and bronze were used is kind of cool to see. It might be fun to translate the weights into current-day values to see what the metals would cost to recreate this today (not counting all the linen and hides, of course).

Exodus 37

It looks like the final touches are being made in terms of the tabernacle and its accessories. The making of the ark in particular is covered in this chapter, which leads to a question I've wondered about. We will see later on that the ark is so sacred that even touching it brings instant death (hence the polls to carry it with). I wonder, though, when that starts: obviously it did not kill anyone working on the construction of it. I suspect that edict will go into effect when God's presence comes and settles on the ark, but I guess the Scriptures might say more when we get to that section.

Exodus 36

I know this sounds horrible, but the tedium of repetition in the last few chapters is getting to me. We've gotten at least two descriptions of how the Tabernacle was made, and two recaps of the major laws handed down by God to the Israelites. I'm sure the extra accounts are for emphasis or some other important reason, but I'm afraid it is lost on me at present.

I will note, though, that the fact that the needs of the Tabernacle were met and the Israelites were still giving is pretty cool. Maybe after everything they had been through the people finally felt like giving back to God for all He had done for them.

Exodus 35

The neatest thing about the gathering of goods God arranged for His tabernacle is that it was all voluntary: the text repeats in many places that only those who felt it appropriate gave donations, and that was what Moses relayed as God's instructions. How many other ancient religions do you suppose made giving to their gods optional? Even today, groups and cults like Scientology basically require giving of their members - but every church I've gone to portrays tithing as optional. Mind you, in that case God does command it (both in the old and new testaments); the difference, though, is that no one but you and God know how much or how little you give in church. You won't get kicked out of any real Christian church for not giving, though you may find that God will bless you tenfold for donations that come from the heart.

Exodus 34

Today's passage covers the re-making of the tablets containing the ten commandments. Moses broke the originals when he saw the Israelites worshiping the golden calf a few chapters back, and now God is providing replacements. What I find very cool about this is that God Himself is the one writing on the tablets. Moses lived such an amazing life: seeing God, hearing God, and carrying the very literal words of God on the tablets! He was so close to God when they spoke that Moses' face actually glowed. I suppose the lesson here is that as Christians we should be striving to be so close to the Lord that our lives shine in a way that others around us - both fellow believers and the world - can see Him through us.

Exodus 33

One of the things I've noticed over the past few chapters is that Joshua has been present, if not a major player, ever since Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. I had not remembered him being mentioned this early on - I know he will play a larger part when they arrive at the Promised Land, and then again after they wander in the desert... but it is neat to see where he got his start. His work under Moses and being so close to the Lord with him probably was a big part of his personal faith and strength later in life.

Exodus 32

It hasn't even been forty days since the Israelites heard God's voice and promised to serve Him and obey His commands - and already they have turned to idolatry. I always shake my head when reading this chapter, as it seems so absurd that people would fall away so quickly... but today I am reminded that I can be speaking to God in prayer one minute and sinning the next. I suppose that makes me no better than those people were; after all, we are all fallen humans.

The lessons here I think are really that God's grace is infinite, and that we need someone interceding on our behalf before Him. For the Israelites that was Moses, for us today it is Jesus. Just because we have a God who is ever-forgiving, though, does not mean that we have carte-blanche to go on sinning intentionally. In the same way that the Levites obeyed Moses and killed over 3,000 of their brethren in the aftermath of this incident, so we too must cut out the parts of ourselves that continually bring us back to wickedness.

Exodus 31

Oops - looks like I accidentally read ahead yesterday when I posted! God specifying craftsmen to head up the Tabernacle project is here in chapter 31, so I apologize for any confusion from those who read my last post.

The other main topic of today's reading is the Sabbath, which has been mentioned before as well. I've often struggled with this myself: does this still apply today? I know many Christians who won't do much at all on Sundays, taking that to be the modern Sabbath, but I myself find it hard to avoid any kind of work for a whole day. Don't get me wrong - I'd love to be lazy, I just have so much going on that I cannot imagine go 24 hours without getting anything done.

There is a phrase here that pertains to this question, though: verse 16 says "The Israelites must keep the Sabbath by observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant" (NET). That only speaks to the Israelites, and while Christians are sort of the spiritual descendants of Abraham we are not (or at least many of us are not) directly related to them by blood. Does that mean that a modern Messianic Jew would need to observe the Sabbath, but the rest of us do not? I suspect I'll have to wait till I get to the New Testament to answer this in more depth.

Exodus 30

I think we are drawing near the end of God's instructions to Moses. The things I find interesting and cool about the chapter today are that God provides very specific ingredients for the incense and anointing oil - finally some instructions I would stand a decent chance of following, given their simplicity - and He calls out the names of two craftsmen that He endowed with the skill needed to make all of the things for the Tabernacle. How cool to have God Himself describe your abilities like that, and acknowledge that He gave them to you!

Exodus 29

As with the preceding chapters, I am not getting much out of this. The idea of a real blood sacrifice being in any way necessary for worship of God is pretty far removed from our modern culture, and the requirements of what to do with various bits of the animals is especially confusing to me. Why do some parts need to be burned on the altar, some eaten, and some burned outside the camp? What does it all represent? I had always assumed it was the sacrificing of a live creature, especially one that had a monetary value in society, that was important - but there seems to be a lot more to it than that.

Exodus 28

The things I noticed in this chapter were the repetition of the colors for use in priestly garments and the use of gemstones in connection or as representations of the twelve tribes of Israel. I wonder if there were specific meanings behind the colors and the particular stones for each of the tribes, but the text does very little to illuminate any reasons other than that this was God's will. If any readers out there have thoughts or know of resources on this topic, please leave a comment.

Exodus 27

I'm sorry I don't have much to say about the chapters I've been reading, but we are in a section that consists largely of instructions on the making of things that are no longer used (either by the Israelites of today, or by Christians). I suppose there are probably things that can be drawn from the text, but with all the talk of sizes, colors and materials I must be missing them. My mind sort of goes blank when reading this stuff, and I need to work on that.

Exodus 25

Not much to say about today's reading. I might have more thoughts if I had the knowledge of carpentry and design to understand how everything described would come together and look when built - but alas I don't. I will say, though, that the descriptions seem quite thorough and specific. I sometimes wonder why God would be so particular about such a place, but His tie to that physical place (and the temple, later on) must have been a lot stronger than to the various churches and places of worship we use today.

Exodus 25

Today's reading, and likely the next few chapters, is about the things God told to Moses while up on the mountain. In particular, we get the specifications for building the Ark of the Testimony (or Covenant) - the same one that is referred to the Indiana Jones movie.

I'm sure I will read a lot more about this item as I make my way through the Old Testament, so I may come back to this subject again, but the topic of the current whereabouts of the Ark has always interested me. Some think it is hidden away somewhere here on Earth, as the movies tend to depict, and some religious groups even claim to know the location. But I've also heard that many think God has taken it to heaven; it does appear there in the book of Revelation, so perhaps it is already waiting there. If any readers of this blog have ideas or personal theories I would be curious to hear them :)

Exodus 24

During this early part of the history of Israel, there are a lot of accounts of God revealing himself to His people - and this chapter has one of the most vivid descriptions of that yet. Seventy of their leaders, along with Moses, Aaron, and his sons, "saw the God of Israel" (verse 10, NET) and all of the people saw God's presence "like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in plain view" (verse 17). I think I mentioned this a few posts ago, but I cannot wait to get such a glimpse of the Lord; it is a great comfort and joy to know that is awaiting me someday.

Exodus 23

This chapter has some additional laws, along with guidance for observing the Sabbath and annual feasts. Toward the end there is also a description of how God will deliver the promised land to the Israelites, and it is a pretty amazing account. It is too bad that the Israelites didn't stick to the plan, or they would have had a fantastic existence: no miscarriage, full lifespans, no sickness, and enemies that would flee before them. Unfortunately they did not follow through with God's commands, as we will see in the coming chapters and books.

Exodus 22

More laws today, this time covering possessions and various moral issues. It is interesting how many of these things carry a death penalty, and how squeamish modern society has become about such punishment. I'd really like to hear what folks reading this think about that issue, as it is a heavily debated topic in many political and social circles.

Exodus 21

This isn't the most enjoyable chapter to read, as it is basically a list of laws God gave to the Israelites, but it certainly is an interesting section. Here are things I gleaned, in short form:

- Possible evidence against abortion in verses 22-25

- Apparently the life of a slave was not worth the same thing as that of a free-man; this is especially interesting as God could have simply forbade slavery entirely, but He did not, and He most definitely limits their rights here

- An action or result itself is not the only thing considered when a crime or accident happens: any fore-knowledge is also taken into account. This is seen in the difference between manslaughter and pre-meditated murder (verses 12-14) as well as in the punishment for attacking a slave (20-21) and injury caused by an animal (28-30)

Exodus 20

Ah, a classic - the 'ten commandments'. These are pretty well known to most folks, and are a part of the foundation of modern Western law. The bits that particularly stand out to me on this reading are as follows:

- 'Thou shalt not murder' (verse 13): I don't know precisely how it comes across in the original Hebrew, but to me it seems that this only forbids unlawful killing - 'murder', as we call it today. Some people use this to say that all taking of human life is wrong, but I am convinced that things like the death penalty and warfare are not being discussed here. If you feel otherwise, please leave a comment with details on why.

- Keeping the Sabbath (verses 8-11): This is something I have actually pretty much given up on in my own life, but I wonder if I should re-evaluate that. I had somehow figured that this was obsolete, but then we don't assume the other commandments in this passage have expired - so why this one?

In that same section we get the reasoning for the Sabbath's importance: "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day" (11a). I take that to be further proof for a literal, six day creation; otherwise why would it may sense to translate that to our 7-day week?

Exodus 19

Wow - that is about all that can be said about this chapter. Imagine seeing what the Israelites saw: God's glory, encompassing a whole mountain, and the Lord Himself speaking out of the clouds and thunder to Moses. What an amazing sight! But then think of what we will see someday in heaven; not just God's glory shrouded in cloud, but the fullness of it for us to see. Thank goodness that we will have new, perfect bodies or I'm sure we couldn't survive the experience!

Exodus 18

This passage was both very cool and somewhat confusing. I really like how Moses' father-in-law comes alongside him and offers advice, which Moses takes despite the fact that he himself is over 80 years old. Delegation of duties here is shown to be a good idea, and it illustrates the fact that as humans we should be careful yo put ourselves under too much stress.

The confusing part, though, is that it seems that Moses' wife and children were not with him in Egypt. Here his father-in-law brings them to him, but I thought for sure that they took the journey with Moses and Aaron to Egypt after the burning bush incident. I may have to go back and re-read that to see if I missed something.

Exodus 17

Today's section of Scripture was two-fold, but there is a specific thing I picked up on in the second half that I want to write about. Here we have a battle going on between the Israelites and a group that attacked them, and whenever Moses raised the staff of God the battle would go in their favor. If he lowered it, though, they would begin to lose. This showed that God was the one in charge, and He was fighting for them. In a similar way we need to depend on God to fight for us when we alone are not strong enough - and just like Moses, when we grow tired we need godly friends whom we can depend on to help us through and support us. Community is really an important theme in the Bible, and we need to work together as Christians to build each other up and reach out to those who don't know Jesus. We are each just a part of the body of Christ, and by ourselves cannot do much - but together, with Jesus as the head, we are invincible.

Exodus 16

Today we see how God providentially fed the hosts of Israel while they traveled in the desert - which will extend for forty years. It is a pretty amazing thing, the way manna is described, and the fact that God was doing this for them every day (except Sabbaths) for so long ought to have been a good demonstration to them of His power and authority... but they will still disobey from time to time, as we'll see in the rest of Exodus.

The stand-out things today to me were as follows:

- God rationed out the manna, so that each person ended up with just the amount they needed. I bet gluttony was a hard vice to find among the Israelites in that era, simply because they didn't have anything excess to eat!

- Some manna was set aside to be preserved for viewing by future generations. Was that perhaps the first time-capsule? I suppose it was never intended to be opened, though, especially once it was placed inside the Ark.

Exodus 15

I'm sure it losses something in translation to English, but the song from today's chapter is very cool nonetheless. At least for a short time it looks like the Israelites understood God's power and His love for them, though they will continue to doubt and sometimes fall away from His way.

I also noticed that Miriam is mentioned here as being Aaron's sister, rather than Moses' (or both). I wonder why that was - after all, weren't Moses and Aaron brothers? Maybe she was a sister-in-law or some such.

Exodus 14

Today's chapter is one of the better-known stories of the Old Testament, and one of God's more dramatic miracles. I wonder if the loss of a whole army is covered anywhere in Egyptian history, and moreover I wonder if Pharaoh himself was drowned with his troops or if he had stayed on the far side of the sea and just ordered his men in.

I'm also curious how many troops Pharaoh brought. The Israelites got very squeamish when they saw the Egyptians following them, and yet we know there were 600,000 men in the Exodus. Assuming even just a third of those were able-bodied and ready to fight it is still a large host - and yet they nearly wanted to turn back and enter slavery again! It is amazing how little faith we humans have in God, even when He shows all manner of signs and miracles in our lives.

Exodus 13

I think the coolest thing about the reading today is the section at the end - where it describes how God led the people of Israel. We often are told to follow God's will for our lives, but here th people literally had a pillar of cloud or fire to follow. I often wish God's plan for my life could be that clear-cut, and the sight of that must have been amazing.

Exodus 12

Wow, a long chapter today - and a sad one for the Egyptians. Having a son myself now I can say that it would be a terrible thing to lose him like this. In fact, if you take the "firstborn" rule to include adults who were the first children in their families then I, my wife, and my son would all have died.

This is a happy time for the Israelites, though, as they are not escaped from slavery! It was also the start of the Passover tradition, which extends to this day. 430 years to the day they were in Egypt, and the 70 people who were a part of Jacob's household have now grown to be 600,000 men along with their wives and children! Quite impressive.

Exodus 11

The final plague is approaching, and this chapter foretelling it is very short. Two things stand out to me, though:

- It seems that everyone but Pharaoh thinks highly of Moses and the Israelites at this point - perhaps because of fear from the things that have passed. God tells them to use this opportunity to ask for valuable goods from the Egyptians, but at the same time is about to kill all the firstborn in the land. That seems rather harsh :/

- Moses spoke to Pharaoh to warn/threaten him about this final plague, but in the last chapter Pharaoh had effectively said he would kill Moses if he saw him again. Pharaoh's words don't hold much power at this point, but Moses himself seemed to agree (not that he would die when he saw Pharaoh, but that he would not see him again). Maybe that was just posturing on Moses' behalf, or maybe there is something in the way it is translated that doesn't come through right, but it struck me as odd.

Exodus 10

I suspect we are nearing the end, as the plagues upon Egypt can't get much worse. This is very reminiscent of some of the plagues in the end times, talked about in Revelation. When I get there in a couple of years I will try to remember to refer back here and compare them.

The darkness that falls on Egypt in the later parts of this chapter is especially creepy, and really hard to imagine. Sometimes when I read things like this in the Bible I think it would make for a pretty amazing TV show - and that would be a pretty cool outreach tool, if done well.

Exodus 9

Today the plagues on Egypt go from bad to worse. The ones recounted in the last two chapters were quite annoying, I'm sure - but not overly destructive or deadly; the ones in this passage are quite the opposite.

The Israelite slaves must have really been a key component of the Egyptian economic structure for Pharaoh to have stood up to all of this in order to keep them. I would say that I wonder what it will take to get him to budge, but we will see soon enough.

On an interesting side note, the last plague (hail) seems strange to me. Obviously hail can be quite damaging by itself, if in a large quantity and good-size chunks, but the storms God used must have been something really special. In addition to the hail itself, there was rain and thunder - which are quite reasonable - and fire (Ex 9:24). The mere fact that fire rained down is remarkable enough, but the fact that it accompanied hail and rain seems quite miraculous. Of course God can do that, but I wonder if it might actually be a reference to something like lightning. If they didn't have a word for such phenomenon at the time (perhaps it was not common in their climate?) it would seem feasible to call that fire.

Exodus 8

Frogs, gnats, and flies - oh my! More plagues for the land of Egypt, because Pharaoh does not learn his lesson. What I find interesting here is that the magicians of Pharaoh's court manage to mimic the first plague (as they had with previous miracles that Moses and Aaron had done), but not the second. On the third, we don't even get told that they tried; perhaps they finally realized how out-classed they were :) After all, they did admit to Pharaoh that "this is the finger of God." (Ex 8:18b, NIV)

Exodus 7

Ah, today we start to see some real action in the struggle between Moses/Aaron and Pharaoh! How amazing must it have been to see a staff turned into a snake - and then to see it take on other snake/staffs and 'swallow them up'? Or how terrifying to see all the water in a river turned to blood? Such miracles are not seen anymore, though as we'll see in a couple of years their like and worse will happen again someday.

In spite of these things, Pharaoh's heart was hard against the request to let the Israelites go. We know from previous chapters that this was actually God's doing, so that He could demonstrate His power and sovereignty in freeing His people, but I wonder what the Egyptians thought of all of it? At what point did the average Egyptian wish that Pharaoh would just let them go - or in that day did the main populous even know of what was going on? Surely they all were affected by the changing of the river Nile into blood, but I wonder if they actually knew the whole story of how it happened and why.

Exodus 6

Today's chapter is a little odd, in that it splits right in the middle of a narrative and drops into a family tree for most of the rest of the passage. The story picks up again in the last couple verses, but it doesn't really go anywhere. I suspect the next chapter should be interesting, though, as the last thing we read today is Moses once again calling into question his ability to go before Pharaoh. It is a good thing that God is patient, as I imagine that all of Moses' whining was getting old.

Exodus 5

Moses and Aaron finally make their case for the Israelites leaving to Pharaoh, and of course he rejects it. What I find interesting is two things:

1) Moses asks only to let the Israelites take a 3-day journey to worship God, not to leave Egypt forever. That is of course the eventual goal, but God had instructed them to ask for this first. It seems to me like it nearly borders on lying - but we'll have to see how it turns out when Pharaoh eventually grants this request.

2) As a punishment of sorts, Pharaoh demands that the Israelites must continue to meet their work quotas - but now must do so without the aid of straw to make bricks. This tells me that either the making of bricks itself or the building of things with them was a primary task of the Israelites in captivity, and we get some confirmation of that in earlier chapters when it was mentioned that they built two cities in Egypt. I am curious about this method of brick production as well: making them with straw hardly seems to me like it would a strong, effective 'brick', but such manufacturing is not a strong point of my knowledge.

Exodus 4

Today we see the conclusion of the burning bush story, and God's gift to Moses of three signs by which the Israelites will know that he was indeed sent by the I Am. I've got to admit, those were pretty cool too - especially the snake one. We also are told that Aaron, Moses' brother, would go with him to speak on his behalf. Apparently Moses wasn't confident in his public speaking ability, and there wasn't time to send him to Speech 101 ;) It looks like he may have even had a speech impediment, but I couldn't tell for sure if that was the case.

The later half of the chapter covers a very odd story about something that happened while Moses and company were traveling to Egypt. "Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him [Moses] and sought to put him to death." (Ex 4:24, NASB) How is that for a conundrum - God sent Moses on an important journey, and then on the way nearly kills him. Apparently Moses had not followed the covenant of Abraham by having his son circumcised, which I imagine he knew full well needed to be done. I guess it just seems like odd timing to me: why wait till he was already en route? Why not deal with it before, at the burning bush? Oh well, another one of those questions to ask someday...

Exodus 3

Todays reading was the first half of the burning bush story. God speaks to Moses out of a fire that is burning in the midst of a bush, but which does not consume it. That gets Moses' attention, and Gid then sends him on a mission to free the Israelites in Egypt. Most folks know the story, and it has been featured in many movie and TV accounts of the story of Moses, but still I wonder a few things:

What does God sound like? The voice here was clearly an audible thing, not just God speaking to Moses in his heart, and so I wonder what He sounds like.

Would the fire have burned Moses if he put his hand into it? I mean, was it just the appearance of a fire that God was using to get Moses' attention, or was it a real fire and God was miraculously keeping the bush from being burned up?

What would have happened if Moses just kept walking. The text says that Moses saw the bush and turned aside to investigate, and at that point God used the opportunity to speak to him. Had Moses been like 'eh, whatever' and kept on going, what other miraculous sign might God have used to get his attention?

Exodus 2

So I read today's passage to my son, Gus - and while I don't think he got much out of it (he is only 1 month old, after all) it was kinda fun. Perhaps reading scripture each day will eventually become something we do together :)

Anyways, today we are introduced to Moses, who will play a key part for the next couple of books (if memory serves). We see that his birth was in defiance of Pharaoh's decree that Hebrew male children not be allowed to live, and that it was his own daughter who saved Moses' life. How ironic! That also gave him a privileged upbringing, which he forsook when he killed an Egyptian who was harassing one of his fellow Hebrews.

This almost seems like the start of a good comic-book hero story, but Moses flees from Pharaoh's wrath shortly thereafter instead of going on a crime-fighting spree. He'll be back to 'finish the job' someday, though (not by his own planning either!).

Exodus 1

Thus begins the account of the great exodus from Egypt: A new Pharaoh, who fears the strength of the Israelites and the threat they could become, orders that all their male children be killed. Hmm, that sounds familiar - I suspect I'll run into another king with similar paranoia in the early parts of the Gospels.

Other than that, not much to tell here. I do wonder, though, how long it was between Joseph saving the Egyptians and a king rising there who didn't know of him, and in trade for his great help in the past enslaved his family's descendants?

Genesis 50

The first book of the Bible draws to a close with the passing of Jacob, and then Joseph. Both are embalmed, per Egyptian custom, which I found interesting. Per his request, Jacob's body was taken with great ceremony (I wonder what folks who saw that processional would have thought!) to be buried with his forefathers, and I suppose that in order for remains to make such a journey that would pretty much be required. If it were not so, surely Jacob would have brought Rachel's body to be buried in his family's tomb rather than laying her to rest as they traveled.

After they return from burying their father, Joseph's brothers once again get paranoid that Joseph might seek revenge on them. Of course he has no such interest, and calms them down, but it is surprising how much their actions haunted them over their entire lives. I guess that should serve as a warning to us that we should be careful of what we do so that we don't regret things or live in fear our entire lives.

When Joseph nears death, he too shows a desire to be buried in the promised land - and makes his family swore that they will do so when God brings them up out of Egypt. I wonder if he realized how long it would be before that happened...

Genesis 49

Just as Jacob blessed Joseph's sons in the last chapter, so now he is blessing the rest of his children. The metaphors used throughout this passage are often interesting, and I'm sure would make much more sense if one had a command of the original language. However, I would like to note a couple that are outstanding.

Judah: To this son, and his family line, the throne of Israel was given (even here, hundreds of years before they would have a king). An allusion is also made to Jesus, in the phrase "until he comes to whom it [the scepter] belongs; the nations will obey him" (NET) - and sure enough, He was born into the tribe of Judah.

Reuben: Because of some rather incestuous acts that were briefly mentioned earlier, Reuben is stripped of much of his rightful position as firstborn. I am almost sad about this, as he was the one who kept the other brothers from killing Joseph early-on.

Simeon and Levi: The revenge they took by killing a whole city earlier in Genesis is remembered here, and they are chastised for it. This description of them as being violent is interesting, since it is from Levi's tribe that the priests would be chosen later on - usually service to God and His temple is seen as being separated from violence (for example, in David not being permitted to actually build the temple because he was a man of war).

Genesis 48

Jacob is nearing the end of his life, at the ripe old age of 147. We see in this passage that he wanted to bless Joseph's two sons, but contrary to the norm of the day he blesses the younger son more than the firstborn. I wonder if this was done because he himself was not the firstborn child to his father? It seems to catch Joseph off-guard, but when he tries to correct it Jacob is quite firm in his choice.

Other than that there isn't much to say here. We are drawing near the end of Genesis, and I am looking forward to the more active first few chapters of Exodus!

Genesis 47

This portion of scripture covers three things: the settling of Israel in Egypt, the success of Joseph's plans to feed Egypt, and Jacob's desire to be buried with his fathers back in their promised land. Of those, the bit that stuck out to me most during this reading was the middle one.

Joseph seems to set up a socialist economy - he manages to get all of the people's money, then livestock, and then even land in trade for the food they need to survive. At that point, then, the citizens of Egypt are little more than tenant or servants to Pharaoh, but the system seems to work. He also implements a 20% tax, as he says that 1/5th of the goods produced should go to Pharaoh, while the remainder is to be kept by the workers to feed themselves and their families. That seems like a pretty fair tax rate, all things considered, but I should probably stop myself before I go into a rant about taxation. That is better left for one of my other blogs ;)

I wonder if one could go back in other historical records and identify this 1/5th tax. It is noted in the passage that it was in effect still at the time that was written, which at best must have been a few hundred years later.

Formating Change

It is now official - I will no longer be linking to each chapter at the end of each post. I haven't done this for a while, and I may even go back and remove it from the first few posts to make things more uniform. Instead, I now have permanent links to the online resources I use - you can see them one the right hand side of this page, a little below my profile. Hopefully that is helpful enough, but if you find it problematic (or if you have additional sites you think I should link to) please let me know.

Genesis 46

This chapter is mostly a listing of Jacob's descendants who went with him to Egpyt, but it does have a couple of interesting things. One is the promise God gives to Jacob that He himself will lead Jacob's offspring back out of Egpyt, after making them a great people there. This of course will come to pass in Exodus, and not without a bit of persuasion - but God is true to His word.

The other odd fact is from the last verse - "everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting to the Egyptians.” Similar language is used back in chapter 43, when Joseph sits down to eat with his brothers - we are told that the Egyptians find it disgusting to eat with Hebrews. It must have been a cultural issue of some sort, but I wonder what it was.

Genesis 45

Ah, the finale!  Joseph put on quite a show, and I think it would be priceless to see the faces of his brothers when he revealed himself.  In fact, I bet a good MasterCard commercial could be made out of that:

"Being sold into slavery: 0 silver.

Being promoted to Pharaoh's side: 1,000 silver.

Saving Egypt from famine: 1,000,000 silver.

Seeing your brother's faces when they think you will kill them: Priceless."

Or something like that :)  We can tell from the rest of the passage that his biological brother Benjamin was particularly close and important to Joseph, and the reunion with his father in the next chapter promises to be good as well.

Genesis 44

Revenge of the Joseph - Part 3!

Two things interesting to note here:

1) Joeseph has a 'divination cup'? I mean, sure - he interprets dreams... but that is a gift from God (as he has already awknowledged). I wonder, then, if this was just to fake his brothers out; or perhaps it was more of a cup used for offerings to God? Either way, the use of the term seems odd given how much against witchcraft and the like God is.

2) I had not realized that Judah played such a big role among the sons of Israel. He is the main actor in these last few chapters, not counting Joseph.

Genesis 43

Joseph does such a good job of keeping up the pretense that he does not know the sons of Israel, and credit must be given where it is due. I especially like the small touches like seating them in order of age when dining - little things to mess with his brothers' heads :)

I wonder how long they left their brother Simeon in the prisons of Egypt? Judah indicated in verse 10 that they could have made the round trip to Egypt twice, so unless he was exaggerating then it must have been a fair length of time. I wonder if Simeon thought they had abandoned him, or if he would not have expected them to return because of Jacob's protective attitude toward his youngest son (Benjamin)? So many interesting questions...

Genesis 42

Joseph finally gets to teach his brothers a lesson for the way they treated him! I imagine it must have been very conflicting, though: on one hand getting back at them, even in a small way, probably felt good - but at the same time it had been so long that he may just have wanted to burst forth and hug them. I think the way he went about things was very wise, though, and worked out well.

Reading this section makes me want to rent Joseph - King of Dreams.  It was made by the same folks that did Prince of Egypt, if memory serves, and I enjoyed that pretty well (despite some historical inaccuracies).  Has anyone else out there seen those movies?  If so, do you think they are worth buying or just renting?

Genesis 41

I'm not trying to make excuses, but I fell asleep with Gus in my arms at 2:30am last night. I've done the reading for yesterday - but there is enough to write about that I don't want to just rush it at this late/early hour. I'll update this post with my thoughts after I've had a chance to get some more rest.

*Update: 9/20/08 10:47pm*

More dreams, and more inspiration from God to help Joseph interpret them. This time around, though, the gift gets the attention of Pharaoh - and so impresses him that Joseph becomes his second-hand-man. This ends up largely sparing Egypt from the ravages of famine, and in turn will allow a way for Josephs father and brothers to also survive that difficult time.

What I spent a little time looking at after the reading was the age of Joseph during all these events. He was 17 at the time he first crossed his brothers (Gen 37:2), and is now 30 when he has his audience with Pharaoh. That means about 13 years in servitude/prison in Egypt, and then another 14 at least as ruler of Egypt (7 during the years of plenty, and 7 more during the famine). His brothers will come to see him during the famine, so it will have been at least twenty years since they last saw him - no wonder they didn't recognize him! But I get ahead of myself...

Genesis 40

Today we have the first two recorded dreams that Joseph actually interprets (with insight from God). These are done while in prison, and of course reality follows exactly has predicted. What else do you expect when the God of the universe is the one both creating the dream and providing the meaning? ;)

As a side note, the earlier dreams that Joseph had - which got him in trouble with his brothers in the first place - didn't get an official interpretation (or at least, it wasn't recounted in the Bible). Instead, the folks Joseph told about the dreams seemed to instantly know what they meant. I wonder if it was just that those dreams were more transparent, or if the 'gift' that Joseph had from God was actually shared among the whole family.

Genesis 39

Poor Joseph! He has a great life at home, and his brothers sell him to slavers. Then he works his way up in his master's house, and because he refuses the advances of his boss' wife he ends up in jail. It is cool to see that Joseph doesn't despair of these things, though, but instead works hard in every situation and is blessed by God. What a great encouragement!

I would like to say, though, that if I had been in Joseph's shoes I would have gone to my boss about his wife's inappropriate solicitations. I'm sure that would have caused some marital strife, and might still have gotten him tossed in prison (that was God's way of getting him where he needed to be, after all) - but I don't like taking things like that lying down (no pun intended).

Genesis 38

Well, I guess my post yesterday was a bit presumptuous - the meat of Joseph's story doesn't start until chapter 39. Today we have an odd account, in which God kills a man for being evil (we don't get an explanation of what he did), and then kills another man for withholding a child from the first man's wife. These were both sons of Judah, who then goes and pays a prostitute for sex who turns out to be the woman in question: his daughter-in-law! That, though, does not seem to warrant God's wrath - or at least not the same level of punishment. This seems odd to my sensibilities, but I suppose that is just further proof that God alone should be the judge of people's actions and motivations.

Genesis 37

Ah, the coming few days should make for very good reading! Here we have the start of the saga of Joseph, Israel's favorite son - how he flaunted his dreams in front of his brothers (bad idea - they outnumbered him), badmouthed them to their father (did they deserve it?) and then got sold into slavery.

It is interesting to note that Reuben, the eldest brother, was able to keep the others from killing Joseph; whats more, he seems to have had plans to return him to their father. I wonder if that was an attempt to repair his relationship with Issac, which was presumably strained when he slept with one of his father's concubines (a fact I failed to mention in my post on Genesis 35).

Anyways, the following chapters tell a story that is quite familiar to me - and probably to most that grew up in a church. I will do my best not to just recount the events, but instead to comment on them. Perhaps I will notice something new that I managed to miss in the past, which is always a joy and wonder :)

Genesis 36

Wow - lots of names today, many of which I can't pronounce. Being that almost the whole of this chapter is a genealogy there isn't much to say, but there is one item of note. In the first few verses we see that Esau and Jacob had so many possessions between the two of them that they couldn't occupy the same area. I'm not sure if it was reasoning Esau thought of or not, but because Jacob was the heir to Abraham's covenant he was to stay in the land of the promise while Esau and his folk left for other lands. It is also cool to see that, though Esau and Ishmael were not the heirs to this promise God still made them fathers of great peoples.

Genesis 35

In today's reading we once more have an affirmation of the covenant between God and Abraham's descendants, along with a second proclamation that Jacob's name shall be changed to Israel (the first was when he wrestled with God). Prior to this Jacob/Israel instructed his family and followers to dispose of all the old idols and pagan symbols they had, which he buried; I guess Laban never got his 'household gods' back!

There is also a lot of death in this chapter: Rachel's nurse, then Rachel in childbirth, and finally Isaac at a good old age. Poor Israel - Rachel was the woman he fell in love with, and yet she was the first of his wives/concubines to die. It definitely explains why Benjamin, the son she had as she passed away, became his favorite: he was his last memory of her, and also his youngest son.

Genesis 34

I've always been fascinated by the story in this passage - and somewhat horrified. Those of you who know me well probably know that when it comes to matters of military and war I tend to agree with the use of force in situations I think are right, but there are some instances in the Bible where the reaction of one group or person seems overkill. This is definitely one such place!

We find that a prince among the people who live in the area Jacob and his sons moved to falls in love with, and apparently rapes, one of Jacob's daughters. He then asks for her hand in marriage, which is backwards in terms of proper order but at least seems to indicated that his feelings for her are real. Unfortunately we never find out what Dinah thinks of all this, but her brothers obviously do not approve. Rather than just fighting for her honor then and there, which I could see as a legitimate reaction, then feign agreement with the proposal and ask in exchange that the men of the region be circumcised. That is a lot to ask of a whole culture, but they go through with it - and then while they are in pain and less able to defend themselves the brothers (Simeon and Levi at least, maybe more) come through and slaughter them.

The things that bother me here are the deceit and the level of revenge: we don't know how many people were killed, but it was every male in a whole city - so I have to assume at least a few hundred. Further on in the Bible, when Israel the country is facing various enemies, God instructs them to be very complete in their slaughter... but it is one thing when God tells you to do something in order to avoid being corrupted later on by societies that worship false gods, and another to go on killing sprees because you feel that your family has been dishonored. Jacob's reaction is also rather interesting: he doesn't seem to tell his sons that they were morally wrong to do what they did, but that it would make them look bad to other nearby peoples.

Genesis 33

Compared to yesterday's reading there isn't much to say about this chapter. It is the logical conclusion to what we read yesterday, though I do find it odd that ,even after the great reception from Esau, Jacob still didn't go with him. Even if one assumes the excuse he gave about not wanting to drive the animals and young too hard was true, he didn't follow Esau to Seir but instead went to Succoth instead. Perhaps those locations are close together - I should try to find a map online to reference and see. Anyone know of any good Biblical maps available on the web?

Genesis 32

Ah, we have come to one of my favorite chapters in Genesis - and one of my favorite stories in all the Bible! There is a lot of good stuff here, so I'd best list it and try not to miss anything:

1) The very first verse, while lacking in details, is rather cool: "So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him." (NKJV) We don't know what was said, or what they looked like, or how many there were - but it still must have been an awesome experience.

2) When Jacob finds out that Esau, his brother, is coming to meet him he does not instantly run away, nor does he prepare to fight. Instead he sends gifts, showing that he is a peacemaker, and makes intelligent preparations so that if retreat is necessary he is ready - but moreover he trusts in the Lord to make good on His promises.

3) Few men have ever seen God, and even when you count Jesus' life and ministry the total is likely still in the tens of thousands. But as far as I know only one has actually wrestled (physically) with the Lord - and that would be Jacob. He carried the scar from it all his life (where God touched him on the hip), but I doubt that he regretted it even one second.

Genesis 31

I'm not sure what to say about this chapter, to be honest. Most of it is pretty straightforward: Jacob feels threatened by his father-in-law, who has mistreated him over the past twenty years, so he flees with his family and all he owns. Laban pursues him, and because he is not as burdened with young and possessions he catches Jacob and asks for an account of what happened. This is where it gets a little odd, though, as he claims that his idols were stolen when Jacob left. Rachel did indeed steal them, but due to a little bit of lying she manages to keep that fact hidden.

I really wish I knew why she even bothered to do that. Was it just to get back at her father for the way he had mistreated Jacob? Was it perhaps because she actually believed they had power? And would Jacob really have followed through with his promise that anyone found with the idols would be killed as punishment (if she had been found out)?

Toward the end of the passage we once more get an account of a peace pact, this time between Jacob and Laban. I guess these sorts of folks had enough possessions and people in their employ to the equivalent of small countries in that time period, and having that sort of status probably merited this kind of behavior.

Genesis 30

I think this section of scripture contains two of the strangest accounts I've come across yet - or so it seems to my "modern" sensibilities. First we have two sisters, both married to the same man, fighting over who bears him more sons. Apparently sending in their maidservants to do their dirty work is also fair game, as both do so. Leah is the more confusing one to me here, though: she seems to think that by bearing more sons she will garner more if Jacob's love, but she must have known full well that Jacob was slaving away not for her but for Rachel. She even trades goods for time in the sack with Jacob, which he goes along with without complaining. Doesn't that sound kind of backwards? A wife paying to be able to sleep with her husband... seems that the gender roles are a bit off, and since when does a wife need to pay someone to get her husband to sleep with her?

In the later part of the passage we see Jacob using rather odd practices to try and influence babies born to the flocks he is tending, such practices as we would easily laugh at with today's knowledge of science. Despite rather questionable methods, though, God seems to bless Jacob with increasing herds. I haven't thought of it this way before, but if anything this shows God's power: He was able to cause birth patterns in animals that should not have occurred given science and probability! It is a little thing next to many of the other wonders He works, but it is interesting to note nonetheless.

Genesis 29

Ah, young love! There is nothing like working for seven years for the girl of your dreams, only to have your father-in-law do a 'wife swap' on your wedding night and give you his other daughter. It makes me wonder if the reason Laban gave - that tradition insisted the older daughter marry before the younger - was really his reason. Perhaps he just wanted another seven years of work from Jacob, or maybe he was concerned that Leah wouldn't get married otherwise (there is an indication that she may not have been as visually appealing as Rachel).

Even more, though, I wonder how Jacob managed to sleep with Leah on his wedding night and not realize till the morning that he had been tricked! Maybe he was drunk, as Lot had been earlier in Genesis, but if he was that far gone then they used to brew some serious wine. If not, then I think he had some explaining to do his intended. Of course, Rachel must also have known what was going on - so perhaps she didn't care that she would have to share her husband with her sister. Things like this are a very strong reminder that life back then was quite different from what it is today.

Genesis 28

Here we have yet another instance of a favored son being instructed to take a wife from among Abraham's relatives, rather than the locals. This time, though, instead of sending a servant to find the bride Isaac sends the one to be married - Jacob. Along the way he has a bit of a dream, in which he sees and hears God speak to him.

It seems that God re-affirms his covenant with Abraham's bloodline over and over, but here we have the first occurrence of it with Jacob specifically. This shows, officially, that Jacob will be the heir of Issac through whom the covenant will be fulfilled - just as it came through Isaac rather than Ishmael.

A few interesting things to note from the passage:

- When Esau realizes that his parents dislike the women he married (due to their ancestry), he goes and marries another woman - a daughter of Ishmael. This is closer in to the family line, and so presumably an attempt to curry favor again with his father. I guess I am a little surprised, given all the events that transpired in the last chapter, that he is still concerned about impressing his father.

- After the dream that Jacob has, he promises to obey and serve God - but on the condition that he is kept safe on his journey. Given the vision he had just woken from, one would think that he would be best served not to try and 'make a deal' with God. I wonder what God thought of that...

New blog announcement

I just wanted to notify my loyal readers that I have started another blog. This brings the total to three, which hopefully I will be able to keep up on. In case you aren't aware of my other writing endeavors, here are descriptions and links to all three:

Read One Daily - A forum for my thoughts as I read through the Bible one chapter a day (you are already here!)

The George Family Post - Regular updates on my family, especially my new son Gus

Earth to William - Rants and ramblings about what I think is wrong with the world, and how it could or should be fixed

I know that not all of you will be interested in every one of these topics, which is why I chose to have multiple blogs rather than just one, but I wanted to make sure that no one misses out on stuff they might enjoy reading. I also really appreciate feedback on all three of these, so if you are out there please don't hesitate to comment!

A Question about Formatting

So I stated early on that I was going to provide links at the end of each blog entry to the chapter for that day. I did that for a while, but the last week or two I have been rather remiss in this task. It is largely because I have been posting from a variety of different computers (my desktop, my laptop, and my work computer) - and only the desktop currently has a native copy of the file where I stored the HTML code for the links.

What I wanted to ask, loyal readers, is whether that feature was/is actually useful to you? If it is I will endeavor to begin including it again, and to go back and correct the posts where it is missing. If not, then I can rest easy knowing that I am not leaving my friends at a loss. Please share your thoughts on this subject!

Genesis 27

Here we have the fulfillment of what God had told Rebekah about her sons when they were born. Esau already traded his birthright to Jacob in an earlier passage, and now Jacob (at the behest of his mother) deceitfully steals their father's blessing. It is no wonder that Esau is enraged, but I suppose God's will comes about one way or another. I wonder if Isaac had simply planned to bless Jacob rather than Esau, in accordance with the words God had said to Rebekah in chapter 25, what would have happened. I've always looked at this as a bad act on the part of Rebekah and Jacob, but perhaps Rebekah was acting this way because of what God had told her - trying, in her own way, to obey God. That is a rather odd way of looking at it, but without more details into what each person involved was thinking I suppose it is a possibility.

On a lighter note, how hairy must Esau have been that the best way to mimic his feeling was to strap goat hide to Jacob? Seriously, I've never seen or heard of anyone else with such an abundance of hair! Hairy backs and chests are one thing, but on his hands and his neck? Yikes...

Genesis 26

Well, the apple does not fall far from the tree they say - and it certainly seems true with Abraham and his son, Isaac. When Isaac moves into a new land he tries to pull the same "my wife is my sister" trick that his father used twice. Just the same as before, though, it falls flat. Will these guys never learn? The thing I find most odd about this, though, is that God does not chastise them for lying. I suppose in Abraham's case it was at least somewhat true (Sarah was his half-sister), but the same cannot be said for Isaac and Rebekah; at best they are cousins, if I read the preceding chapters correctly.

Much of the rest of this section is taken up by the digging of wells, the filling of wells, and arguing over wells. I suppose the important bit is that God led Isaac and his family to a region which was not contested, and where the covenant between them would be fulfilled. There is also a renewal of the peace treaty that Isaac's father had with the leaders of the Philistines.

At the tail end of this chapter we see that Esau married a pair of Hittite women, when he was around age 40, and this did not sit well with his parents. Because there isn't much in the way of details, I have to assume that their concerns were due to the region and people those women were from; I suppose it could also be that he married twice, but given the relationships their other son (Jacob) will have with a total of four women I doubt that is the problem.