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Week 10  Psalm 69

Unexpectedly I thought about Judas today. I thought about him because last year when I was reading about his suicide in Acts 1 I made a note to myself to look at Acts 1 the next time I read Psalm 69. And I read Psalm 69 today.
The connection is that in Acts Peter told the disciples that they needed to replace Judas: it was necessary for the Scriptures to be fulfilled concerning Judas…This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David…in the book of Psalms, where it says, “Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it”.
And today I read David’s quote: may their homes become desolate and their tents become deserted.
Reading psalm 69 today I wasn’t think about Judas. I was thinking about David’s opponents (the people he’d been talking about in verses 4 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 18 19 20 & 21). And David hoped & prayed that his enemies’ homes would become desolate.
So then hundreds of years later Peter is saying that that verse applied to Judas…that it was a direct prediction about Judas.
I’m pretty sure that as far as David was concerned the ‘desolated houses’ referred to his preferred outcome for his own contemporary opponents. But now Peter says it also had an unexpected and unanticipated application to Judas.
But I’ll admit that reading psalm 69 today I never would have guessed it.

Note: quotes from Acts 1:20 & Psalm 69:25 (NLT)

Week 10  Deuteronomy 22-25

They likely begin in chapter 21 but I really start noticing them in 22. In 22 they’re getting pretty obvious and stay pretty obvious for the next four chapters.
In those four chapters – 96-verses in all – there’s about 34 different regulations laid out (maybe more…but at least 34). So that means one law / regulation every 2.8 verses.
That’s not a huge problem (after all the Ten Commandments only take up 16-verses – one commandment every 1.6 verses). A bigger problem is that the 34-rules are all-over-the-map. It’d be one thing if they were topically consistent – for instance 34-Domestic-Rules or 34-Community-Rules. But they’re rules about everything imaginable. (It’s a guess but I feel pretty confident saying that content classification was not on the writer’s mind.)
But even that’s not the most perplexing thing. What’s surprising is that a) some of the rules actually make pretty good sense but b) other rules sound absolutely wacky. Example a) if I build a flat-roofed house I need to install a guard rail so no one falls off. Example b) if two men are fighting and the wife of one of them grabs the opponents genitals then…she has her hand cut off.
One way to manage the diversity is to selectively categorize the rules according to (let’s say) contemporary Alberta standards (e.g. humane vs. inhumane rules). But I’m not sure how much that helps. So for now my preference is to look for absolutely universal laws…Permanent Fixtures. The rest will land wherever they land.

Note: see Deuteronomy 22:8 & 25:11

Week 10  Deuteronomy 19

There’s quite a bit of death & dying going on and it’s hard to figure out how all the pieces – murder & guilt & revenge & punishment & like that – fit together. But the Cities of Refuge (CoR) are a small part of that whole mix.
Before Israel ever got to the Promised Land Moses was making plans for three CoR. CoR were necessary because people killed other people. And these CoR catered specifically to people who killed someone unintentionally.
Moses gives the example of a couple of friends chopping down trees. Guy #1 swings his axe. The axe head flies off the handle…sails through the air…strikes and kills Guy #2. A tragic fluke. But Guy #2 is dead. So now his brother will be looking for revenge. Guy #1’s only option is to run to the closest City of Refuge – a safe haven from Guy #2’s brother.
But even though he’s safe Guy #1 is also stuck. The city really doubles as a kind of spacious & livable penitentiary. Guy #1 – even with his freedom – can never leave.
Moses admits that the death of Guy #2: had been an accident.  Guy #1 was not guilty. But the CoR were created to prevent revenge killings: that way you will prevent the death of innocent people in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
There’s lots of death & dying going on. And this is one of the mechanisms to manage and contain them.

Note: quotes from Deuteronomy 19:6 10 (NLT)

Week 10  Deuteronomy 17

Moses is talking about Israel’s leaders – the priests and judges – but he suddenly looks forward and predicts that Israel-in-the-Promised-Land will decide they want a king.
Wanting a king is okay. And it’s maybe inevitable. But the Lord has some guidelines. A future king is supposed to:
Be chosen by the Lord
Be a native-born Hebrew
Not collect a lot of horses
Not have a lot of wives
Not use his position to gain personal wealth
Keep a copy of the law on hand
Read that law…and obey it…and fear the Lord
Not be proud or arrogant.
Since I’ve read about the kings I know there’ll be trouble ahead. I think about the Big Three only – Saul-David-Solomon. They check the first two boxes. But look at the three “NOT” guidelines. David and Solomon had a bunch of wives. Solomon collected stables full of horses. And I don’t know how much wealth the others acquired but Solomon had buckets of cash. Fearing the Lord and not being arrogant are harder to assess. But it’s safe to say that Saul & Solomon fell seriously short in those categories.
So even in this short list it’s really only David who makes the cut (and I know the big majority of kings after Saul-David-Solomon fail too).
But the guidelines are there. And like all the other regulations it’s a matter of watching to see who pays attention to them.

Note: Moses’ guidelines for kings are in Deuteronomy 17:15-20.

 

Week 9  Deuteronomy 1-3

For one thing the bible is a book of history. It’s also a book of other things – legal and moral codes & prophetic content with current and future events & artistic/musical/poetic material & religious regulations & like that. But quite a bit of history.
The first three chapters of Deuteronomy are a kind of abbreviated Reminder History. Moses is retelling events from the Hebrew past. I remember a couple of years ago wondering why Moses omitted so many key events. The Exodus. Mount Sinai. The 10 Commandments. The Sea of Reeds. Manna. The Golden Calf. Nadab & Abihu.
It finally occurred to me this year that Moses was only going back 40 years – not all the way back. Just back as far as the (disastrous) Twelve Spies story and what happened since then. So it’s a very selective Reminder History with Moses mentioning The Spies & the Wilderness Years & Sihon & Og (plus a couple of other things). So I learned something. But I wonder about Korah Dathan and Abiram. And Balaam. I thought they were pretty important but they’re not even mentioned.
I wonder why Moses chose what he did and didn’t choose what he didn’t. I wonder about his selection criteria. Wonder if I’ll figure it out. Wonder if it matters very much.

Note: end of February reading report: 156 chapters in Moses + 60 psalms = 216 chapters. That’s ~18% of the bible read in ~17% of the year. So…I’m staying ahead. That’s better than lagging (no knowing what’s up ahead).

Week 8  Numbers 22-24

Balaam is the enigmatic shaman who ghosts into the book of Numbers and then ghosts back out again. Mystery Man or not I’m glad to find his little gem-of-a-story here in the middle of censuses & regulations & travelogues.
On the surface it looks like Balaam was the Lord’s Man of the Hour. The Lord communicated directly with him and then Balaam relayed four specific messages from the Lord to king Balak. He looks quite a bit like an real OT prophet. He comes. He speaks the Lord’s message. He leaves. Seven chapters later I find out about the real Balaam.
Israel had a battle with the five kings of Midian. They killed all five and in the process: they also killed Balaam son of Beor. It turns out that this wasn’t a case of poor-Balaam – a good guy caught in the crossfire. Balaam was executed because the Midianites had followed Balaam’s advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the Lord at Mount Peor.
Reading this is a bit of a shock. Balaam seemed like an okay-guy. But it turns out that he conspired with Balak – gave him advice on how to poison Israel.
I’ve had to read 210 verses before I find this sequel. The main story seemed to end with Balaam going home in the last verse of Numbers 24. But that wasn’t the end and I’d been left with a completely wrong impression.

Note: quotes from Numbers 31:8 16 (NLT)

Week 8  Numbers 21

If there’s an ordered list somewhere where someone ranks all the chapters of the bible from Most Subject Diversity (top) to Most Uniformity (bottom) I figure chapter 21 would be near the top. It ricochets all over the place – almost like the writer just jammed together a bunch of ideas he wasn’t sure where else to include. Not exactly a dog’s breakfast…but lots of diversity:
The account of King Arad
The bronze serpent
Wilderness campsites
A reference to The Book of the Wars of the Lord
The verse of a song
Sihon’s defeat
Og’s defeat
A short proverb
I wondered about the quotation from The Book of the Wars of the Lord. It said: the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the ravines; and the Arnon River and its ravines, which extend as far as the settlement of Ar on the border of Moab. The writer had already said the tribes had trekked out of the Sinai Peninsula as far north as the Arnon River: the Arnon is the boundary line between the Moabites and the Ammonites – then added the quote.
I look at a map. The Arnon River is east of the Dead Sea – Moab to the south. Ammon north.
But I don’t find out anything about The Book of the Wars of the Lord. Looks like maybe it’s a lost book. One item from the Number’s bibliography. But now gone forever.

Note: quotes from Numbers 21:14-15 31 (NLT)

Week 7  Numbers 10

This chapter gives travelling instructions to the tribes. When they break camp Judah-Issachar-Zebulun are to leave first followed by Reuben-Simeon-Gad then Ephraim-Manasseh-Benjamin and finally Dan-Asher-Naphtali.
All the equipment & gear & furnishings of the Tabernacle have to be moved too and allowance is made for that – Gershon & Merari were responsible for transporting the structural & framing pieces of the Tabernacle…the Kohath family had the more delicate operation of moving the actual furnishings (which were treated with kid-gloves).
That meant when the priests were added-in the order of departure was Judah-Issachar-Zebulun & Gershon-Merari & Reuben-Simeon-Gad & Kohath & Ephraim-Manasseh-Benjamin & Dan-Asher-Naphtali.
I remember that travelling directions were given in Numbers 2 as well so I flip back to compare. The Judah-Issachar-Zebulun Reuben-Simeon-Gad Ephraim-Manasseh-Benjamin and Dan-Asher-Naphtali groupings are exactly the same. But in chapter 2 Gershon Merari & Kohath aren’t even mentioned. They’re named as a unit – the Levites – and positioned right in the middle of the pack: Judah-Issachar-Zebulun Reuben-Simeon-Gad THE LEVITES Ephraim-Manasseh-Benjamin & Dan-Asher-Naphtali.
Personally I wish there was just one list. Or else I wish the two lists were at least identical since now I’m stuck wondering about the discrepancy.
I guess chapter 2 could be considered a Rough Guide tipping off the twelve tribes about the basic sequence and with the Levites added in the centre. Chapter 10 then fine-tunes the instructions more precisely.
The difference doesn’t seem like a flat-out contradiction to me. But it’s a discrepancy I wish wasn’t there.

Week 7  Numbers 9

One of the Bible Reader’s Rules I’ve learned is: You Will Have Questions.
Questions can be managed by a) just forgetting about them and moving on or b) trying to make a best-guess.
So anyway I was wondering about the miraculous cloud hovering over the Tabernacle. It was a pretty obvious material signal that the Lord was right there in the camp. It also served the double-purpose of being a guidance-system for the tribes…signaling when to pack up and then pointing out where to go.
There might have been an Officially Designated Watcher assigned to keep-an-eye on the cloud. But I guess there would have also been any number of regular people who woke up asking: “do I have to get ready to leave today?” If I had lived in the camp I’d go out every morning and look over at the Tabernacle to see if the cloud was showing any signs of movement and so tipping me off about how to plan my day. Maybe hoping today was a travelling day. But maybe not.
The writer said that: if the cloud remained over the Tabernacle for a long time, the Israelites stayed for a long time but on the other hand sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and moved on the next morning.
But in spite of that day-to-day uncertainty the camp seemed to show some flexibility and willingness to do whatever the Lord told them.

Note: quotes from Numbers 9: 19 21 23 (NLT)

Week 6  Numbers 7

There are 89-verses in chapter seven and they describe the offerings that each of the twelve tribes brought to the Lord. They were expensive and elaborate gifts: silver bowls of flour, a gold bowl of incense, animals for sacrifice: bulls rams lambs goats oxen and rams. It takes five verses and ~92 words just to describe the gift that Judah brought.
Then it describes Issachar’s gift – flour incense bulls rams lambs goats oxen and rams. It takes five verses and ~92 words to describe the gift. It’s not only similar to Judah’s gift. It’s the exact same gift.
Then Zebulun’s gift is described in five verses with the exact same ~92 words as Judah’s and Issachar’s.
Ditto for Reuben Simeon Gad and like that…
I figure the writer could have just listed the twelve tribal leaders and then added something like: “and they each brought the same gift of…(then plug in the five verses and ~92 words)”. Readers would get the point. Plus chapter seven would be approximately 55-verses shorter.
Yesterday there was a lot of repetition in chapter one and when I checked a different bible I saw it had taken a short-cut and omitted most of the repetition. So I checked that bible today. But its chapter seven was 89-verses long too and it had twelve 5-verse paragraphs with ~92 words that were exactly the same.
I wondered why the editors had cut out the repetition yesterday but not today. Maybe their rule was: once isn’t enough.