Reading for Today:
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Numbers 1:1
Chapter 1 1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
–2:34
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Psalms 29:7-11
7 The voice of Jehovah cleaveth the flames of fire. 8 The voice of Jehovah shaketh the wilderness; Jehovah shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to calve, And strippeth the forests bare: And in his temple everything saith, Glory. 10 Jehovah sat `as King' at the Flood; Yea, Jehovah sitteth as King for ever. 11 Jehovah will give strength unto his people; Jehovah will bless his people with peace. Psalm 30 A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House. `A Psalm' of David.
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Proverbs 10:26-29
26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, So is the sluggard to them that send him. 27 The fear of Jehovah prolongeth days; But the years of the wicked shall be shortened. 28 The hope of the righteous `shall be' gladness; But the expectation of the wicked shall perish. 29 The way of Jehovah is a stronghold to the upright; But it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.
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Mark 7:14-37
14 And he called to him the multitude again, and said unto them, Hear me all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing from without the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man. 16 `If any man hath ears to hear, let him hear.' 17 And when he was entered into the house from the multitude, his disciples asked of him the parable. 18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, `it' cannot defile him; 19 because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? `This he said', making all meats clean. 20 And he said, That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness: 23 all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man. 24 And from thence he arose, and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered into a house, and would have no man know it; and he could not be hid. 25 But straightway a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. And she besought him that he would cast forth the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. 28 But she answered and saith unto him, Yea, Lord; even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. 29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the demon is gone out of thy daughter. 30 And she went away unto her house, and found the child laid upon the bed, and the demon gone out. 31 And again he went out from the borders of Tyre, and came through Sidon unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis. 32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to lay his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue; 34 and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. 35 And his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. 36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it. 37 And they were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well; he maketh even the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.
Notes:
Numbers 1:2 a census. In
Exodus 30:11
11 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
–16, the Lord had commanded that a census of the males in Israel over 20 (excluding the Levites) be taken for the purpose of determining the ransom money for the service of the tabernacle. The result of that census is recorded in
Exodus 38:25
25 And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
–28. The total number, 603,550 (Ex. 38:26), equals the number in 1:46.
Numbers 1:3 go to war. The purpose of this census was to form a roster of fighting men. The Book of Numbers looks ahead to the invasion of the land promised to Abraham (see Gen. 12:1–3).
Numbers 1:51 The outsider. This word often refers to the “alien” or “stranger.” The non-Levite Israelite was like a “foreigner” to the transporting of the tabernacle and had to keep his distance lest he die.
Mark 7:19 Since food is merely physical, no one who eats it will defile his heart or inner person, which is spiritual. Physical pollution, no matter how corrupt, cannot cause spiritual or moral pollution. Neither can external ceremonies and rituals cleanse a person spiritually. thus purifying all foods. By overturning the tradition of hand washing, Jesus in effect removed the restrictions regarding dietary laws.
Mark 7:20 What comes out of a man. A person’s defiled heart is expressed in both what he says and what he does.
DAY 2: Did Moses perhaps inflate the numbers of Jews in the wilderness?
Twice during the wilderness wanderings a census of the people of Israel was taken (
Numbers 1:46
46 even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.
; 26:51). Each time the resulting total count of fighting men exceeded 600,000.These numbers indicate a population for Israel in the wilderness of around 2.5 million people at any time. Viewed naturally, this total appears too high to sustain in wilderness conditions.
Before concluding that Moses inflated the numbers, several factors must be considered. First, the Lord supernaturally took care of Israel for 40 years (Deut. 8:1–5). Miraculous provision of food was a daily event. Second, God also spelled out sanitary practices that prevented the kind of health crises that might have occurred under those conditions. Third, while Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, they only moved camp about 40 times. Spending about a year in each campsite allowed for some normal life without creating a permanent settlement. This preserved some grazing for the herds while keeping the people’s pollution to a manageable amount. Each census was meant to be an accurate accounting of God’s people. They ought to be taken at face value.
From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.
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