The Bible Recap - Day 066 (Numbers 28-30) - Year 5

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible recap. Yesterday, we updated our senses to count the number of current Israelites about to enter the Promised Land, and we got a new law allotting land to women. I hope that those of you who feel like scripture doesn't hold women in high regard are starting to see God's heart toward women a little bit more. Today we covered a passage that might have made you bristle a bit, but we're going to talk about that and I hope it will help to smooth over any rough patches. But before we get there, we have two chapters of laws and feasts. There are a lot of things that stood out to me in this section. First, in 28, 3, 2, 4, I noticed that each of Israel's days are book-ended with worship. They offer a sacrifice at twilight and in the morning.

Starting point is 00:00:52 And here's something interesting that isn't necessarily clear in this passage, but it shows up elsewhere in Scripture, as well as in any Jewish literature and culture. The Jewish Day starts at sunset. That's why in Genesis 1 the flow of the passage says there was evening and there was morning the first day. There was evening and there was morning the second day and so on. This is going to be important as we continue getting to know this family, seeing how they live and how things play out even with Jesus and his life. One of the practical ways this

Starting point is 00:01:22 comes into play is with the Sabbath, which is when they're not supposed to work. As we've talked about before, the word Sabbath is the Hebrew word for our English word Saturday. Our Saturday technically starts at midnight, even though it's not morning yet, and their Saturday or Sabbath technically starts at sundown on Friday, which will vary based on what time zone you're in and what season you're in. For the Israelites we're in the desert with, it would be around 8pm at the latest and around 4.30pm at the earliest, depending on the time of year. So for instance, in winter when the sun sets at 4.30pm on a Friday, that's when their Sabbath day of rest, their Saturday, would start. And it would continue through the night, on till the morning, through the day, and end at 4.30pm the next day, when their Sunday would begin.

Starting point is 00:02:09 If you ever happen to be in Jerusalem right before the Sabbath starts around 2pm on a Friday, you'll see people rushing around like crazy trying to get things done. Then after the Sabbath starts, you don't see any traffic on the streets. Stores and restaurants are closed, and the city is calm and resting. Then, once the sun sets again on the next day to end the Sabbath, there are parties and celebrations in the street, stores open back up, music pours out of windows, the whole town comes alive again. They still live out this ancient principle handed down to them by God. The reason I'm describing

Starting point is 00:02:45 this at length is because as you may have noticed, God brought it up again today. We can hardly get through any chunk of laws without him saying, don't forget, rest. Hey, remember, one day a week, stop working. And it's not just a day about doing nothing. It's a day about reconnecting with him. We see evidence of that in our reading today when he commands twice the sacrifices on the Sabbath as on any other day of the week. Sacrificing isn't considered regular work, it's considered worship. All these sacrifices may have seemed extravagant. After all, they were killing their food and their clothes and their source of income in mass quantities. But by requiring sacrifices,

Starting point is 00:03:25 God was reinforcing that he has a plan for continual provision. He provides all that he requires of us. Even though we no longer offer sacrifices, we still need to be reminded of this and trust that he's providing for us. Two of the things in our lives that can still serve this purpose are giving to the church and Sabbath. And here's an interesting thought. We each have 168 hours in our week.

Starting point is 00:03:50 If you sleep 7-8 hours a night on average, that means you're awake for 16-17 hours each day. So by taking one of those 16-17 hour days and setting it aside for rest each week, you're giving back 10% of your time. By giving back a portion of our time and money, we demonstrate our trust in the God who provides for and sustains us. Then we hit a potentially confusing or frustrating section for some of you, regardless of gender. Let me set up chapter 30 for us. Sometimes when people were in dire straits, they would make a vow to God. These vows often involve sacrificing something

Starting point is 00:04:29 of financial value. Think of something along these lines. God, if you'll just give me a child, I will sell everything we own and give the money to the sanctuary I swear. Or God, if you'll help me win the lottery, I promise. I'll give half the money to my church. When men made vows like this before God,

Starting point is 00:04:47 there were no outs for them, no get out of jail for e-cards. And if you're a man, that might frustrate you. Because if a woman made the vow, the man in her life could let her off the hook for it, if he renounced it. A woman might feel a little bit disrespected when that happened, but ultimately,

Starting point is 00:05:03 this was a protective measure for the woman, letting her off the hook for something she might not have been able to pay, but just offered up in a moment of desperation. When someone makes a vow to the Lord and has to break it or cancel it, there's always sin involved. In chapter 30, verses 5, 8, and 12, deal with the forgiveness and iniquity related to this. And I want to point out, the text doesn't say, women can't make vows because God doesn't take women seriously.

Starting point is 00:05:30 Silly women, women did make vows and they were meaningful and important. The heart behind this law is to help and protect, not restrict. This option also served to protect the man of her household who would also suffer financially if she fulfilled her vow. Even though these laws aren't still in effect for us today, many of us still have people in our lives who serve these kind of vow-canceling roles for us. Or at least we should.

Starting point is 00:05:56 The kind of person who says, are you sure you wanna go out with that guy? Or listen, I know you wanna spend all our tax refund on tickets to Cabo, but maybe we should pay off the car first. It's important to have people in our lives who see our blind spots and speak into them, who can catch us before you make a foolish decision. What was your God shot today? I loved seeing him repeat yet again his command to honor the Sabbath.

Starting point is 00:06:22 Of all the things people think about God and his so-called do's and don'ts, very few people ever treat it like he's handing out more than a big long to-do list. People miss the mark on his heart. Of all the 10 commandments, there are two things he keeps repeating over and over again. You shall have no other gods before me and rest. What other God commands rest? Most of our idols demand more of us, more striving,

Starting point is 00:06:48 more trying, more doing. He says, nope, not my people. The people of false gods run themselves ragged, but my people are provided for even when they take a day off to spend with me. He's where the rest is, and he's where the joy is. If you have questions that you want to ask your group of listeners, our Patreon discussion group is a great place for those. It's open to all levels of Patreon support starting at $3 a month. Check out today's show notes for a link or visit the Patreon link on our website, thebibelrecap.com. Today's episode is brought to you by Way Nation. If you want to laugh, learn, or be encouraged, click the Way Nation link in today's show notes.

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The Bible Recap - Day 066 (Numbers 28-30) - Year 5

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