Numbers 1

Numbers 1

Numbers 1:1 Yahveh[1] spoke to Moses in the open country[2] of Sinai, in the conference tent, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land[3] of Egypt, and this is what he said,

Numbers 1:2 “Take a head count of all the congregation[4] of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, by the number of names, every male, head by head.

Numbers 1:3 From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who can go to war, you and Aaron will list them, by their armies.”[5]

Numbers 1:4 And there will be with you a man, a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.

Numbers 1:5 And these are the names of the men who will stand with you. From Reuben, Elitsur, the son of Shedeur;

Numbers 1:6 from Simeon, Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai;

Numbers 1:7 from Judah, Nachshon the son of Amminadab;

Numbers 1:8 from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar;

Numbers 1:9 from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;

Numbers 1:10 from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamliel the son of Pedahzur;

Numbers 1:11 from Benjamin, Abidan, the son of Gideoni;

Numbers 1:12 from Dan, Achiezer the son of Ammishaddai;

Numbers 1:13 from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran;

Numbers 1:14 from Gad, Elyasaph, the son of Deuel;

Numbers 1:15 from Naphtali, Achira the son of Enan.”

Numbers 1:16 These were the ones called out from the congregation, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

Numbers 1:17 Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by their names,

Numbers 1:18 and on the first day of the second month, they collected.[6] the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by patriarchal families, according to the number of names from twenty years old and higher, head by head,

Numbers 1:19 just like the Yahveh had commanded Moses. So, he listed them in the open country of Sinai.

Numbers 1:20 The people of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:

Numbers 1:21 those mustered from the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.

Numbers 1:22 Of the sons of Simeon, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their patriarchal houses, those of them who were mustered, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:

Numbers 1:23 those mustered of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

Numbers 1:24 Of the sons of Gad, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:

Numbers 1:25 those mustered of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

Numbers 1:26 Of the sons of Judah, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:27 those mustered of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

Numbers 1:28 Of the sons of Issachar, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:29 those mustered of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

Numbers 1:30 Of the sons of Zebulun, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:31 those mustered of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

Numbers 1:32 Of the sons of Joseph, namely, of the sons of Ephraim, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:33 those mustered of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.

Numbers 1:34 Of the sons of Manasseh, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:35 those mustered of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

Numbers 1:36 Of the sons of Benjamin, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:37 those mustered of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

Numbers 1:38 Of the sons of Dan, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:39 those mustered of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

Numbers 1:40 Of the sons of Asher, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:41 those mustered of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

Numbers 1:42 Of the sons of Naphtali, referencing their historical lineage, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

Numbers 1:43 those mustered of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

Numbers 1:44 These are those who were mustered, whom Moses and Aaron mustered with the help of the generals of Israel, twelve men, each representing his father’s house.

Numbers 1:45 So all those mustered of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel–

Numbers 1:46 all those mustered were 603,550.

Numbers 1:47 But the Levites were not mustered along with them by their ancestral tribe.

Numbers 1:48 Because Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Numbers 1:49 “The tribe of Levi is the only exception you will not muster, and you will not take a head count of them among the sons of Israel.

Numbers 1:50 But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the reminder,[7] and over all its furniture, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furniture, and they will take care of it and camp around it.

Numbers 1:51 When the tabernacle is set out, the Levites will take it down, and when the tabernacle is pitched, the Levites will set it up. And if any outsider comes near, that person will be put to death.

Numbers 1:52 The sons of Israel will camp by their companies, each man in his camp and each man by his standard.

Numbers 1:53 But the Levites will camp around the tabernacle of the reminder so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the sons of Israel. And the Levites will keep guard over the tabernacle of the reminder.”

Numbers 1:54 This is what the sons of Israel did; they did according to all that Yahveh had commanded Moses.

[1] יָהְוֶה = Yahveh. Numbers 1:1, 19, 48, 54; 2:1, 33, 34; 3:1, 4, 5, 11, 13, 14, 16, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 51; 4:1, 17, 21, 37, 41, 45, 49; 5:1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 16, 18, 21, 25, 30; 6:1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26; 7:3, 4, 11; 8:1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 23; 9:1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 23; 10:1, 9, 10, 13, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36; 11:1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, 25, 29, 31, 33; 12:2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14; 13:1, 3; 14:3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 26, 28, 35, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44; 15:1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 30, 31, 35, 36, 37, 39, 41; 16:3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 28, 29, 30, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 44, 46; 17:1, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13; 18:1, 6, 8, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29; 19:1, 2, 13, 20; 20:3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 16, 23, 27; 21:2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 14, 16, 34; 22:8, 13, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, 35; 23:3, 5, 8, 12, 16, 17, 21, 26; 24:1, 6, 11, 13; 25:3, 4, 10, 16; 26:1, 4, 9, 52, 61, 65; 27:3, 5, 6, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23; 28:1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 24, 26, 27; 29:2, 6, 8, 12, 13, 36, 39, 40; 30:1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 16; 31:1, 3, 7, 16, 21, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 47, 50, 52, 54; 32:4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 29, 31, 32; 33:2, 4, 38, 50; 34:1, 13, 16, 29; 35:1, 9, 34; 36:2, 5, 6, 10, 13.

[2] מִדְבָּר = open country. Leviticus 16:2, 13, 14, 15.

[3] אֶרֶץ = land, ground. Numbers 1:1; 3:13; 8:17; 9:1, 14; 10:9, 30; 11:31; 13:2, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32; 14:2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23, 24, 30, 31, 34, 36, 37, 38; 15:2, 18, 19, 41; 16:13, 14, 32, 33, 34; 18:13, 20; 20:12, 17, 23, 24; 21:4, 22, 24, 26, 31, 34, 35; 22:5, 6, 11, 13; 26:4, 10, 19, 53, 55; 27:12; 32:1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 17, 22, 29, 30, 32, 33; 33:1, 37, 38, 40, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55; 34:2, 12, 13, 17, 18, 29; 35:10, 14, 28, 32, 33, 34; 36:2.

[4] עֵדָה = congregation. Numbers 1:2, 16, 18, 53; 3:7; 4:34; 8:9, 20; 10:2, 3; 13:26; 14:1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 27, 35, 36; 15:24, 25, 26, 33, 35, 36; 16:2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 16, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 40, 41, 42, 45, 46; 19:9; 20:1, 2, 8, 11, 22, 27, 29; 25:6, 7; 26:2, 9, 10; 27:2, 3, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22; 31:12, 13, 16, 26, 27, 43; 32:2, 4; 35:12, 24, 25.

[5] צָבָא = army, war, on duty. Numbers 1:3, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 45, 52; 2:3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32; 4:3, 23, 30, 35, 39, 43; 8:24, 25; 10:14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28; 26:2; 31:3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 21, 32, 36, 48, 53; 32:27; 33:1.

[6] קָהַל = collect. Numbers 1:18; 8:9; 10:7; 16:3, 19, 42; 20:2, 8, 10.

[7] עֵדוּת= reminder. Numbers 1:50, 53; 4:5; 7:89; 9:15; 10:11; 17:4, 7, 8, 10; 18:2.

Numbers 1 quotes:

“Numbers is structured by the positioning of the two census records, in Numbers 1 and Numbers 26, respectively. On this basis, chaps. 1-25 are speaking of the Exodus generation, and chaps. 26-36 of the next generation (Milgrom 1989: xiii-xv).”

Levine, Baruch A. Numbers 1-20 : A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. First edition, Doubleday, 1993. p. 59.

“It would be a mistake, however, to hurry beyond these opening chapters in the hope of stumbling across something more interesting. Here are people in community, recalling their roots. All this may not be quite as far from the contemporary scene as it first appears. The fascination with family history and genealogy is fast becoming an obsession. Over 80,000 internet websites are devoted to it and, if the number of hits is anything to go by, the subject is second only to sex in popularity. People are interested in their past. These Israelite registers preserve the convictions and ideals of the world’s most significant people; here in narrative form is an exposition of their God-given theology of an ideal spiritual community.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 26.

“When we call the fourth book of the Old Testament “Numbers,” we are following the Septuagint. (The Septuagint is a translation of the Old Testament Hebrew into Greek and was made about 285 B.c.) The Septuagint translators wished to indicate that the book records several numberings of the children of Israel.”

Kuske Paul W. Numbers. Northwestern Pub. House 1990. p. 5.

The NUMBERS shelf in Jeff’s library

Leviticus 27

Leviticus 27

Leviticus 27:1 Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Leviticus 27:2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, if anyone makes a special solemn pledge to Yahveh involving the valuation of throats,

Leviticus 27:3 then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old will be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

Leviticus 27:4 If the person is a female, the valuation will be thirty shekels.

Leviticus 27:5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation will be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

Leviticus 27:6 If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation will be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation will be three shekels of silver.

Leviticus 27:7 And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male will be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

Leviticus 27:8 And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he will be made to stand at the face of the priest, and the priest will value him; the priest will value him according to what the maker of the solemn pledge can afford.

Leviticus 27:9 “If the vow is an animal that may be offered as an offering to Yahveh, all of it that he gives to Yahveh is sacred.

Leviticus 27:10 He will not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute will be sacred.

Leviticus 27:11 And if it is any contaminated animal that may not be offered as an offering to Yahveh, then he will stand the animal at the face of the priest,

Leviticus 27:12 and the priest will value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it will be.

Leviticus 27:13 But if he wishes to redeem it, he will add a fifth to the valuation.

Leviticus 27:14 “When a man dedicates his house as a sacred gift to Yahveh, the priest will value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it will stand.

Leviticus 27:15 And if the donor wishes to redeem his house, he will add a fifth to the valuation price, and it will be his.

Leviticus 27:16 “If a man dedicates to Yahveh part of the land that is his possession, then the valuation will be in proportion to its seed. A homer of barley seed will be valued at fifty shekels of silver.

Leviticus 27:17 If he dedicates his field from the year of liberation, the valuation will stand,

Leviticus 27:18 but if he dedicates his field after the liberation, then the priest will figure out the price according to the years that remain until the year of liberation, and a deduction will be made from the valuation.

Leviticus 27:19 And if he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he will add a fifth to its valuation price, and it will remain his.

Leviticus 27:20 But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it will not be redeemed anymore.

Leviticus 27:21 But the field, when it is released in the liberation, will be a sacred gift to Yahveh, like a field that has been devoted. The priest will be in possession of it.

Leviticus 27:22 If he dedicates to Yahveh a field that he has bought, which is not a part of his possession,

Leviticus 27:23 then the priest will figure out the amount of the valuation for it up to the year of liberation, and the man will give the valuation on that day as a sacred gift to Yahveh.

Leviticus 27:24 In the year of liberation the field will return to him from whom it was bought, to whom the land belongs as a possession.

Leviticus 27:25 Every valuation will be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs will make a shekel.

Leviticus 27:26 “But a firstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to Yahveh, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is Yahveh’s.

Leviticus 27:27 And if it is a contaminated animal, then he will buy it back at the valuation, and add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it will be sold at the valuation.

Leviticus 27:28 “But no devoted thing that a man devotes to Yahveh, of anything that he has, whether human or animal, or of his inherited field, will be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most sacred to Yahveh.

Leviticus 27:29 No one devoted, who is to be devoted for destruction from humanity, will be ransomed; he will surely be put to death.

Leviticus 27:30 “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is Yahveh’s; it is sacred to Yahveh.

Leviticus 27:31 If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he will add a fifth to it.

Leviticus 27:32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, will be sacred to Yahveh.

Leviticus 27:33 One will not differentiate between good or bad, neither will he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute will be sacred; it will not be redeemed.”

Leviticus 27:34 These are the commandments that Yahveh commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Leviticus 27 quotes:

“Sometimes vows are made in the heat of the moment. When the crisis is over the vow may seem foolish and unnecessary and a person may be tempted to forget it. Part of the purpose of Leviticus 27 was to discourage such rash vows by fixing a very high price on freeing oneself from a vow and exacting stiff penalties on those who changed their minds. For instance, if a man substituted an animal different from the one promised, he forfeited both animals, or if he wished to redeem the property he had vowed he would have to pay the value of the land plus an extra twenty percent.”

Lenz, Mark J. Leviticus. Northwestern Pub. House, 1988. p. 236.

“Those of us who have been in the church life for a number of years may have become old, so we all need to have a new start. I would entreat all of us to drop all of our traditional knowledge and background from Christianity. We should just practice what the Bible teaches. To practice the biblical way, we have to begin every morning with the Lord to get ourselves revived anew (Lam. 3:22-23). We also need to devote ourselves to the Lord. In the recent winter training on Leviticus, we saw from Leviticus 27 that the Lord desires that we devote all that we are and have to Him. Devote is a stronger word than consecrate because it implies making a vow to the Lord. We should tell the Lord, “Lord, I vow to You to devote myself to You for Your biblical way.””

Lee, Witness. The Excelling Gift for the Building up of the Church. Living Stream Ministry, 1989. p. 58.

“Leviticus 27 draws attention to pledges or agreements between people. The first eight verses deal with a man pledging his services to work out a debt. Moses detailed the going rate by maintaining that any man between twenty and sixty years of age has a certain monetary value attached to his service”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 61.

LEVITICUS in Jeff’s library

Leviticus 26

Leviticus 26

Leviticus 26:1 “You will not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you will not set up a sculptured stone in your land to bow down to it, because I am Yahveh your God.

Leviticus 26:2 You will keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am Yahveh.

Leviticus 26:3 “If you walk in my prescriptions and observe my commandments and do them,

Leviticus 26:4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land will yield its increase, and the trees of the field will yield their fruit.

Leviticus 26:5 Your threshing will last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will last to the time for planting. And you will eat your bread to the full and stay in your land securely.

Leviticus 26:6 I will give peace in the land, and you will lie down, and none will make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword will not go through your land.

Leviticus 26:7 You will chase your enemies, and they will fall at your face by the sword.

Leviticus 26:8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall at your face by the sword.

Leviticus 26:9 I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you.

Leviticus 26:10 You will eat old store long kept, and you will clear out the old at the face of the new.

Leviticus 26:11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my throat will not grow tired of you.

Leviticus 26:12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you will be my people.

Leviticus 26:13 I am Yahveh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

Leviticus 26:14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments,

Leviticus 26:15 if you spurn my prescriptions, and if your throat grows tired of my judgments, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant,

Leviticus 26:16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with terror, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the throat fade away. And you will plant your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.

Leviticus 26:17 I will set my face against you, and you will be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you will judge you, and you will run away when none pursues you.

Leviticus 26:18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again seven times for your failures,

Leviticus 26:19 and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your sky like iron and your land like bronze.

Leviticus 26:20 And your strength will be finished in vain, because your land will not yield its increase, and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.

Leviticus 26:21 “Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, seven times for your failures.

Leviticus 26:22 And I will let loose the wild living things against you, which will bereave you of your children and eliminate your animals and make you few in number, so that your roads will be deserted.

Leviticus 26:23 “And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me,

Leviticus 26:24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you seven times for your failures.

Leviticus 26:25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that will execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

Leviticus 26:26 When I break your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and will dole out your bread again by weight, and you will eat and not be satisfied.

Leviticus 26:27 “But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me,

Leviticus 26:28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you seven times for your failures.

Leviticus 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.

Leviticus 26:30 And I will exterminate[1] your high places and eliminate your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my throat will grow tired of you.

Leviticus 26:31 And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pacifying aromas.

Leviticus 26:32 And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who end up staying in it will be appalled at it.

Leviticus 26:33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land will be a sinister desolation, and your cities will be a waste.

Leviticus 26:34 “Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.

Leviticus 26:35 As long as it lies desolate it will have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were staying in it.

Leviticus 26:36 And as for those of you who remain, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight, and they will run away as one runs away from the sword, and they will fall when none pursues.

Leviticus 26:37 They will stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you will have no power to stand at your enemies’ face.

Leviticus 26:38 And you will be destroyed within the nations, and the land of your enemies will eat you up.

Leviticus 26:39 And those of you who remain will rot away in your enemies’ lands because of their violation, and also because of the violations of their fathers they will rot away like them.

Leviticus 26:40 “But if they confess their violation and the violations of their fathers in their act of betrayal against me, and also in walking contrary to me,

Leviticus 26:41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies — if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their violation,

Leviticus 26:42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Leviticus 26:43 But the land will be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they will make amends for their violation, because they spurned my judgments and their throat grew tired of my prescriptions.

Leviticus 26:44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I grow tired of them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, because I am Yahveh their God.

Leviticus 26:45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am Yahveh.”

Leviticus 26:46 These are the prescriptions and judgments and instructions that Yahveh made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai.

[1] שׁמד= exterminate.

Leviticus 26 quotes:

“It is sometimes thought that the Old Testament reveals a God of law and punishment and anger, in contrast with the God of grace and forgiveness and love found in the New Testament. But such a contrast does not exist; God has not changed. The Old Testament is filled with examples of God’s grace and love. The Law of Moses was itself a gift of grace; God raised up priests and prophets to help the people follow the law so that they might thereby receive God’s blessings (Leviticus 26:3-13). Throughout history, God has desired to bring good to His people.”

Hale, Thomas, and Stephen Thorson. The Applied Old Testament Commentary. 1st ed, David C. Cook, 2007. p. 119.

“As far as content is concerned, Leviticus 26 especially is intended as a concluding point. In the ancient Orient, legal collections and contracts, though also private agreements documented in written form, usually concluded with imprecation formulae that were supposed to place the agreements under the sovereignty of the gods and prevent legal breaches. These kinds of contract curses follow the schema: “May the gods punish anyone who violates these agreements.”! In the present instance, a brief benediction is inserted that applies if the divine prescriptions are faithfully followed (cf. Deut. 28).”

Gerstenberger, Erhard S. Leviticus : A Commentary. 1st American ed, Westminster John Knox Press, 1996. p. 399.

“Leviticus 26:1—13 promises Israel total success in the Promised Land if they obey God’s Word (see 26:3). The same kind, saving God who gave them dignity (26:13) will establish them in the land. What must they do? By now the answer is clear. They must believe in one God (26:1) and worship Him as they have been commanded (26:2). What will be the results? They will enjoy a fruitful land (26:3-5), peace (26:6-8), and, most importantly, a genuine and transforming relationship with the Lord (26:9-13). God’s past acts on their behalf should reassure them of His future kind intentions (26:13).”

House, Paul R. Leviticus/Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 1999. p. 52.

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, January 29, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, January 30, 2018

LEVITICUS in Jeff’s library

Leviticus 25

Leviticus 25

Leviticus 25:1 Yahveh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, and this is what he said,

Leviticus 25:2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, when you come into the land that I give you, the land will keep a Sabbath to Yahveh.

Leviticus 25:3 For six years you will plant your field, and for six years you will prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits,

Leviticus 25:4 but in the seventh year there will be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to Yahveh. You will not plant your field or prune your vineyard.

Leviticus 25:5 You will not reap what grows of itself in your harvest or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It will be a year of solemn rest for the land.

Leviticus 25:6 The Sabbath of the land will provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired worker and the guest who lives with you,

Leviticus 25:7 and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield will be for food.

Leviticus 25:8 “You will count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years will give you forty-nine years.

Leviticus 25:9 Then you will sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Reconciliations, you will sound the trumpet throughout all your land.

Leviticus 25:10 And you will consecrate the fiftieth year and cry out “liberty” throughout the land to all those who stay there. It will be a liberation for you, when each of you return to his property and each of you will return to his clan.

Leviticus 25:11 That fiftieth year will be a liberation for you; in it you will neither plant nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines.

Leviticus 25:12 Because it is a liberation. It will be sacred to you. You may eat the produce of the field.

Leviticus 25:13 “In this year of liberation each of you will return to his property.

Leviticus 25:14 And if you make a sale to your associate or buy from your associate, you will not wrong one another.

Leviticus 25:15 You will pay your associate according to the number of years after the liberation, and he will sell to you according to the number of years for crops.

Leviticus 25:16 If the years are many, you will increase the price, and if the years are few, you will reduce the price, because it is actually the number of the crops that he is selling to you.

Leviticus 25:17 You will not oppress — a man against his associate, but you will fear your God, because I am Yahveh your God.

Leviticus 25:18 “Therefore you will do my prescriptions and keep my judgments and perform them, and then you will stay in the land securely.

Leviticus 25:19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and stay in it securely.

Leviticus 25:20 And if you say, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year, noticing we may not plant or gather in our crop?’

Leviticus 25:21 I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years.

Leviticus 25:22 When you plant in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you will eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.

Leviticus 25:23 “The land will not be sold in perpetuity, because the land is mine. Because you are guests and temporary residents with me.

Leviticus 25:24 And in all the country you possess, you will allow a redemption of the land.

Leviticus 25:25 “If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer will come and redeem what his brother has sold.

Leviticus 25:26 If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it,

Leviticus 25:27 let him figure out the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property.

Leviticus 25:28 But if he does not have sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold will remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of liberation. In the liberation it will be released, and he will return to his property.

Leviticus 25:29 “If a man sells a house where he stays in a walled city, he may redeem it until a year is finished.[1] For a full year he will have the right of redemption.

Leviticus 25:30 If it is not redeemed within a full year, then the house in the walled city will belong in perpetuity to the buyer, throughout his generations; it will not be released in the liberation.

Leviticus 25:31 But the houses of the villages that have no wall around them will be classified with the fields of the land. They may be redeemed, and they will be released in the liberation.

Leviticus 25:32 As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem permanently the houses in the cities they possess.

Leviticus 25:33 And if one of the Levites exercises his right of redemption, then the house that was sold in a city they possess will be released in the liberation. Because the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the people of Israel.

Leviticus 25:34 But the fields of pastureland belonging to their cities may not be sold, because that is their possession permanently.

Leviticus 25:35 “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you will make him strong[2] as though he were a foreign guest and a temporary resident, and he will live with you.

Leviticus 25:36 Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you.

Leviticus 25:37 You will not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.

Leviticus 25:38 I am Yahveh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

Leviticus 25:39 “If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you will not make him serve as a slave:

Leviticus 25:40 he will be with you as a hired worker and as a temporary resident. He will serve with you until the year of the liberation.

Leviticus 25:41 Then he will go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers.

Leviticus 25:42 Because they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they will not be sold as slaves.

Leviticus 25:43 You will not judgment over him ruthlessly but will fear your God.

Leviticus 25:44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you.

Leviticus 25:45 You may also buy from among the temporary residents who are guests with you and their clans that are with you, who have been given birth to in your land, and they may be your property.

Leviticus 25:46 You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a permanent possession. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you will not judgment, one over another ruthlessly.

Leviticus 25:47 “If a stranger or temporary resident with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the foreign guest or temporary resident with you or to a member of the temporary resident’s clan,

Leviticus 25:48 then after he is sold, he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him,

Leviticus 25:49 or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or an actual close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he grows rich, he may redeem himself.

Leviticus 25:50 He will figure out with his buyer from the year when he sold himself to him until the year of liberation, and the price of his sale will vary with the number of years. The time he was with his owner will be rated as the time of a hired worker.

Leviticus 25:51 If there are still many years left, he will pay proportionately for his redemption some of his sale price.

Leviticus 25:52 If there remain but a few years until the year of liberation, he will figure it out and pay for his redemption in proportion to his years of service.

Leviticus 25:53 He will treat him as a worker hired year by year. He will not judgment ruthlessly over him in your sight.

Leviticus 25:54 And if he is not redeemed by these means, then he and his children with him will be released in the year of liberation.

Leviticus 25:55 Because it is to me that the people of Israel are servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am Yahveh your God.

[1] תָּמַם = finish. Leviticus 25:29; 26:20.

[2] חָזָק= make strong.

Leviticus 25 quotes:

“The Day of Atonement is an annual holiday, but Leviticus stipulates that every 49 years, the sound of the shofar on the Day of Atonement marks the beginning of a Year of Jubilee.”

Lawrenz, Mel. Jubilee : A Season of Spiritual Renewal. Regal Books, 2008. p. 75.

“Studying Leviticus 25 and related scripture texts, especially the fourth chapter of Luke’s Gospel and the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, and reading contemporary commentators on Jubilee, I have become convinced that Jubilee provides avenues for educating religiously and interreligiously and that instead of being an obsolete set of pathways belonging exclusively to an ancient people who never really tried them (as some argue), it is — or can be — a richly textured, vital response to the challenges of our era and the complex issues of contemporary life.”

Harris, Maria. Proclaim Jubilee! : A Spirituality for the Twenty-First Century. 1st ed, Westminster John Knox Press, 1996. p. 2.

“But it was more than just a rest for the land, for everyone was to return tothe property that by heredity belonged to their family (Leviticus 25:10). The implications of this were profound. To make it possible for everyone to be able to return to their original homesteads, all indebtedness had to be removed. Thus, every fifty years the economic structures of the community _ were to be adjusted so that there would be no debts or capital loans…”

March, W. Eugene. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Abingdon Press, 2012. p.65.

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, April 5, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, April 7, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, January 26, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Saturday, January 27, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, January 25, 2018

LEVITICUS in Jeff’s library

HIS WINGS

HIS WINGS

Psalm 91 NET.

¹ As for you, the one who lives in the shelter of the sovereign One, and resides in the protective shadow of the mighty king — ² I say this about the LORD, my shelter and my stronghold, my God in whom I trust —

³ he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter and from the destructive plague. ⁴ He will shelter you with his wings; you will find safety under his wings. His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. ⁵ You need not fear the terrors of the night, the arrow that flies by day, ⁶ the plague that comes in the darkness, or the disease that comes at noon. ⁷ Though a thousand may fall beside you, and a multitude on your right side, it will not reach you. ⁸ Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes — you will see the wicked paid back. ⁹ For you have taken refuge in the LORD, my shelter, the sovereign One. ¹⁰ No harm will overtake you; no illness will come near your home. ¹¹ For he will order his angels to protect you in all you do. ¹² They will lift you up in their hands, so you will not slip and fall on a stone. ¹³ You will subdue a lion and a snake; you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent. ¹⁴ The LORD says, “Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he is loyal to me. ¹⁵ When he calls out to me, I will answer him. I will be with him when he is in trouble; I will rescue him and bring him honor. ¹⁶ I will satisfy him with long life, and will let him see my salvation.

There is no superscription in today’s Psalm, which means we don’t know who wrote it or why it was written. Based on the content of the Psalm itself, we can assume that the priests may have used it to encourage and comfort believers facing challenges in their lives. I chose to title today’s sermon “HIS WINGS” from the statement in verse four, which says, “He will shelter you with his wings; you will find safety under his wings.” The imagery is that of a mother bird covering her young with her wings to protect them and keep them from harm. I like that picture because it shows that we are vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks, but that God has invested Himself in protecting us.

This Psalm is Hebrew poetry, so we should expect repetition as we read it. What we see throughout this Psalm is that the same principle, stated in metaphor: “He will shelter you with his wings,” is restated five times in different words.

God will rescue.

In verse three, the believer is assured that God will certainly rescue him “from the snare of the hunter and from the destructive plague.” This does not mean that the believer will never face problems. Instead, it suggests that the enemy (Satan himself) will attack the believer in at least two ways: by setting traps and spreading plagues. Satan aims to hurt us and make us victims of epidemics and pandemics. The priest assures the believer not that he will never encounter a trap, but that God will rescue him or her from it. Similarly, the priest does not promise that the believer will never catch a disease, but that God will actively deliver him or her from it.

God’s promise for believers in this Psalm is found in verse fifteen: “When he calls out to me, I will answer him. I will be with him when he is in trouble; I will rescue him.” This is a promise from God, but also some advice and a challenge for us. The rescue is not supposed to be automatic. It involves something on our part. He will rescue, but first, we must call out to him.

We have already encountered this idea numerous times in the Psalms:

“To the LORD I cried out, and he answered me from his holy hill.” (3:4).
“When I call out, answer me, O God who vindicates me!” (4:1).
“The LORD responds when I cry out to him.” (4:3).
“I call to you for you will answer me” (17:6).
“I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I was delivered from my enemies.” (18:3).
“In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried out to my God. From his heavenly temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help.” (18:6).

The word appears twenty-eight more times in the Psalms we’ve already read. The main idea is that God is present and eager to rescue us from danger, but he waits for us to take prayer seriously. By praying earnestly to God, we show him we mean it. This is what God wants. He wants to be there for us. His wings are ready to cover us, but he will stay distant if he never hears a peep from us.

God will shelter.

This is another way the psalmist describes how God covers us with His wings. He is our shelter and stronghold (verses two and nine). He will protect us (verse four). The Hebrew word used here is also used for building a fence.

Psalm 5:11 says, “But may all who take shelter in you be happy! May they continually shout for joy! Shelter them so that those who are loyal to you may rejoice!” It suggests a preventative measure in which God builds a shelter around the believer so that he can find happiness and joy.

I was once told that if I wanted to see happy children, I should look at a house where the parents have built a fence around their play area. The idea is that kids feel free to play and enjoy life because they are protected from anything that might endanger them. I did not like that idea at first because, to me, a fence suggested that the kids were in bondage, like slaves. But I soon realized that children are okay with fences as long as they know the fences are there to keep them safe.

God will protect.

God’s wings symbolize His faithfulness, which “is like a shield or a protective wall” (verse four). The LORD promises, “Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he is loyal to me” (verse fourteen). The imagery behind this word is that of a tower, elevating someone high enough to prevent harm from touching them. A shelter acts as a fence, keeping danger away. A tower places the believer securely on high.

“Indeed, you are my shelter, a strong tower that protects me from the enemy” (61:3).
“The name of the LORD is like a strong tower; the righteous person runs to it and is set safely on high” (Proverbs 18:10).

The tower of God’s protection is Himself. He doesn’t just cover us with His wings; He lifts us into the lofty heights of His own presence.

God will honor.

God promises believers not only that He will rescue us but also that He will honor us (verse 15). This needs some explanation because the root idea is to make someone heavy. Most of us don’t need God to make us heavier; we can handle that ourselves. All it will take is a few more trips to the diner on Sunday afternoons!

No, the idea of honor in this text is to earn the respect of others—to maintain a good reputation and personal dignity. God does not want to protect us from harm just for the sake of protection; he wants to bless us.

God will satisfy.

The Psalm concludes with the LORD promising to satisfy the believer with a long life. He doesn’t just answer our prayers for protection when we are in danger; he wants to bless us with a satisfied life and enrich our lives. The Lord Jesus said that he came that we might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).

Now, here is where we, who are the recipients of God’s promises, often prevent the abundance that he offers. We become satisfied in the wrong way. We settle. God wants to satisfy us, but we are okay with just having a small bit. We get by with a nibble when God wants us to feast.

One of the stories in the Gospels tells of ten lepers who came to Jesus for healing. One of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He fell with his face to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?”

He said to the man, : Get up and go your way. Your faith has made you well” (Luke 17:11-19).

Ten lepers came to Jesus for healing. All ten were cleansed of their leprosy, but only one was made well. All ten were healed, but only one was satisfied. His gratitude enabled him to receive another blessing beyond the answer to his prayer.

That is a lesson for all of us. We need to learn how to follow through on our prayers for healing. In our Sunday evening Bible studies, we are discovering that in the Book of Acts, every miracle of God’s power for the early church was more than just a blessing; it was an opportunity to share the gospel with those who saw the miracle.

Similarly, God wants to answer our prayers for healing, but he doesn’t want it to end there. He desires every miracle to become a way of worshiping him and to inspire our testimonies of his goodness. When that Samaritan leper returned and thanked Jesus, he received the chance not only to regain a normal life but also to experience an abundant one. That is the difference that satisfaction makes.

Today’s Psalm also hints at prophecy. The author speaks of the believer seeing God’s salvation. Of course, this can refer to deliverance from trouble or salvation from sin. But I think in this context, the Psalmist is talking about ultimate salvation. In several places in the Psalms, the NET translators render this word as “saving intervention” (42:5, 11; 43:5).

The outcome of God’s blessing on believers is witnessing His great salvation through our resurrection at Christ’s return. We don’t have to choose between an abundant life now and eternal life at the second coming; we can have both. The wings of our rescuing and protecting God will keep us safe from harm now and carry us into our final destiny when Christ returns.

Month: December 2025

Numbers 1

Numbers 1

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Numbers 1 links:

Leviticus 27

Leviticus 27

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Leviticus 26

Leviticus 26

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Leviticus 25

Leviticus 25

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HIS WINGS