The book of Leviticus gets its name from the tribe of Levi who made up the priesthood; it means
“pertaining to the Levites.” Leviticus is all about how the Levitical priests were to go about their
service in representing the people of Israel to God, and God to the people of Israel. On this
side o...

It is interesting to learn that the priests had certain foods that they were commanded to
eat by God. It’s a detail that is easy to overlook, the dietary laws specific to the priesthood.
God was not giving laws without reason; He created all things and seems to delight in rich
meaning. So, if the...

As we read the book of Leviticus, we need to remember that this represents Israel being
formally established as a nation. They had moved from a family unit who worshipped God
into a tribal nation who now needed more structure to make sure that the worship of God
continued. God was setting up a fo...

When we pay attention to the details of the Bible, it seems like many things changed after the
flood. We can compare the ages of people before the flood and after, and we see the years
getting less and less. We’re also told that after the flood, God put the fear of man into the
animals and gave p...

It’s interesting to see how the Levites, in Leviticus 14, were supposed to handle people with
skin diseases in ancient Israel. There were very specific procedures that were supposed to take
place. We see that the way we handle healing is important. It is not just that we are well that is
importan...

In the book of Leviticus, the law of God was presented so that the Israelites could understand
it. God expected the priests and the people to consider offerings to Him as holy. God was
different from the world, He was not just another god in a vast pantheon, He was THE God
who created all things....

In Greek, the title Leviticus means “pertaining to the Levites” and in Hebrew it means “and He
called.” The overall idea is that Leviticus contains God’s instructions to the tribe of Levi, as they
were to be the priests of God and caretakers of the Law, the Tabernacle, and eventually the
Temple. ...

As we finish reading the book of Leviticus, we can really get a feel for how God was directing Israel. Before God gave them His Law, they did not have a concrete guide on how to approach God, or how to treat each other in light of their relationship with God. We also have to remember that the law...

The book of Numbers takes us with the Israelites wandering through the wilderness. It is titled for the two times that Israel was counted or numbered. A census was first taken at the beginning of their journey at Mt. Sinai, and then a census was taken at the end of their wandering on the plains
o...

Numbers 6 covers the interesting Nazirite vow. This was a vow that a person could take if they wanted to separate themselves for a special time of dedication to the LORD. This was a good thing, and the time of separation was marked by distancing yourself from some of the normal things of life; th...

In our reading today, God spoke to Moses, directing him to send out a man from each tribe of Israel to spy out the land of Canaan. By doing so, the men would witness the power needed to overcome the people of Canaan. The men did witness this, but their courage melted completely. It is staggering ...

Numbers 15 records the details of the offerings that were to be given once the people of Israel were living in the Promised Land. It is interesting because the offering centered its attention on God’s work in bringing the people into the land. Though the Israelites did the physical fighting, it w...

What God calls us to is so important. Have you ever considered that you are called by God? Aaron did. God called Aaron and the tribe of Levi to carry the burden of the Tabernacle. What does that mean: The burden of the Tabernacle? God told Aaron that he and his tribe would now be under the direct...

When I read through the Old Testament, I am always astounded by how spiritual ancient people were. That is not the world that I grew up in. I remember growing up in the 60’s and 70’s and seeing many of my schoolteachers making fun of anyone who they found out were religious. In one school year I ...

Although Balaam could not curse the people of Israel, he introduced a temptation that would get Israel to curse themselves. The men of Israel were tempted by the women of Moab and began engaging in sexual relationships with them. These relationships involved the men offering sacrifices to the Moa...

Never in history has there been a nation of people who were named by God, called by God, and whom God allowed to be destroyed, only to be returned by Him as a nation in the same place they were assigned thousands of years ago. God is trying to tell us something. Of course, I’m speaking about God’...

One of the great challenges for a nation made up of twelve tribes was navigating shifting lands. In other words, when daughters would marry men from other tribes, the land would become part of the tribe she married into if the daughters were given the ownership of the land. This was the case with...

He was one hundred and twenty years old, and it seemed like he would survive forever! But the great leader Moses was now about to die. Most of the older generation had died off in the wilderness wandering. Deuteronomy is the account of Israel’s covenant with God renewed—words written to this next...

Israel was a new nation. It started out as a family of about seventy people who went to Egypt during a famine. God had made a way for them to survive (GENESIS 45-50), and now they had expanded to a nation of several million people (CF. E XODUS 12:37). This nation did not start with a place, but w...

The modern world is so lost in its discoveries and distractions that it has lost its meaning. Hollywood has been famous for inventing new forms of entertainment, and it seems we are rapidly coming to an end to that invention. Many in the new generation are giving up on the so-called answers that ...