Category: Weekly Highlights

Lots of ceremonial and interpersonal relationship instructions this week.  Once again, there is complaining, disobedience, jealousy – all the usual human reactions when we humans don’t get what we want. The people make progress toward the Promised Land and are on the edge of Canaan but the end of this week’s reading.

Key people this week:

• Moses
• Aaron and Miriam
• The tribal leaders

Key events this week:

Leviticus

• The Lord gives instructions for ceremonial holiness and also more specific instructions on how to love one’s neighbor as oneself.
• Penalties for transgressions are listed.
• God gives instructions on the use and acceptability of offerings
• God gives instructions on the festivals and the lamp and bread for the tabernacle:
  • Sabbath, Passover, Unleavened Bread
  • First Fruits
  • Festival of Weeks
  • Festival of Trumpets
  • Day of Atonement
  • Festival of Booths.
• Blasphemy and its punishment are outlined.
• God gives instructions for a sabbatical year in which the land rests.
• The Year of Jubilee (50^th year) is described.
• God warns the people against idolatry and lists rewards for obedience and penalties for disobedience (these are repeated in greater detail in Deuteronomy 28).
• Vows and their attendant offerings are described.

Numbers

• First census is taken.
• The people are told how to arrange themselves when in camp and the order they are to proceed when they depart.
• Instructions for the Levites are provided as well as instructions for unclean persons, making restitution, unfaithful wives.
• Requirements of nazarites (men who separate themselves for the Lord for a time) are listed.
• Tribal leaders present offerings for the tabernacle.
• God gives instructions for the consecration of the Levites.
• The Israelites celebrate Passover at Sinai.
• The cloud and fire over the tabernacle indicate when the people are to stay and when they are to leave.
• God gives Moses instructions to make two silver trumpets and how they are to be used.
• The Israelites leave Sinai and set off for Canaan.
• The people complain about their misfortunes in the wilderness, remember a rose-colored view of life in Egypt, and crave meat – thus angering the Lord.
• Aaron and Miriam become jealous of Moses but God sets them straight.

Special Notes

Priestly blessing.  The Lord himself gives the priestly blessing to Aaron to speak over the Israelites:  “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”  What a precious gift!

This week narrates the continuing journey to the Promised Land, the giving of the 10 Commandments, and specifications for the Tabernacle and priests.

Key people this week:

• Moses
• Aaron
• Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law
• Joshua

Key events this week:

• The people continue to grumble when they come up against a seeming obstacle – this time a lack of food – as if God wouldn’t provide.  They continue to look back to their life in Egypt, forgetting the harshness of their slavery, and remembering only the good things about it.  Not trusting God will be a continuing theme.  Paul said that these things were written “to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope,” (Romans 14:4).
• God provided quail to eat in the evening and manna in the morning with instructions to gather only what they needed for that one day except the 6^th day when they could gather enough for the Sabbath, as well.
• The Sabbath is instituted.
• God provides water from a rock.
• The Israelites, led by Joshua, defeat the Amalekites – winning as long as Moses kept his hands up.
• Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law advises Moses to set up a hierarchy of judges over the people, bringing only the difficult cases to Moses, so he would not be worn out.
• God gave the Law, the 10 Commandments, written on tablets of stone to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

• God provided additional instructions on idols, altars, Hebrew servants, personal injuries, protection of property, social responsibility, justice and mercy, the Sabbath.
• God instituted three annual festivals.  These are the three festivals of the year that all Hebrew men had to appear before the Lord – the ones that later they would have to go to Jerusalem to celebrate.
  • Festival of Unleavened Bread (Immediately follows Passover),
  • Festival of Harvest (first fruits),
  • Festival of Ingathering (end of harvest). 
• God specifies the borders of the Promised Land (Ex. 23:31).
• God confirms the Covenant.
• God provides instructions for constructing the Tabernacle and its furnishings, including the Ark of the covenant.
• Aaron and his sons set apart and consecrated as priests plus description of the priestly garments.

• The infamous Golden Calf incident.  Moses was so mad that he smashed the tablets with the 10 Commandments.  [Did I select the photo of the Golden Calf on Wallstreet on purpose?  Yes.]

• Moses pitches the “tent of meeting” outside the camp for anyone who wanted to inquire of the Lord.
• Moses asked the Lord, “Show me your glory,” (Ex. 33:18).
• Moses goes up on the mountain again and God gives him new stone tablets.
• God chose men with great skill to build the tabernacle – Bezalel and Oholiab – and the tabernacle was constructed.

This week is momentous!  All of Jacob’s family moves to Egypt where they reside, growing into a great multitude, become slaves, and then God brings them back up out of Egypt, crossing the Red Sea on dry land. 

Key people this week:

• Jacob/Israel
• Jacob’s 12 sons – Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Dan, Naphtali, and Benjamin – and especially, Joseph
• The Pharaoh of Egypt
• Moses
• Aaron, Moses’ brother
• Miriam, Moses’ sister

Key events this week:

• Jacob’s sons return to Egypt for food a second time, taking with them the youngest, Benjamin
• Joseph sets a trap for his brothers to detain Benjamin and Judah offers himself in Benjamin’s place for the sake of Jacob
• Joseph reveals himself to his brothers
• Jacob brings his whole family to Egypt, 70 people in all, and they settle in the land of Goshen
• Near death, Jacob blesses Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim
• Jacob blesses all of his sons and dies at 147, making his sons promise to bury him in the land of Canaan
• Joseph dies at 110 years of age after which a new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph
• As the Israelites grew to a huge number of people, the Egyptians enslaved them for 400 years
• The Egyptians feared the Israelites because they were so prolific and told the Hebrew midwives to drown all the boy babies in the Nile
• Moses was born, his mother hid him in a basket where the daughter of Pharaoh found him and adopted him as her own son
• When he was grown up, Moses killed an Egyptian who was mistreating a Hebrew and had to flee to Midian
• God speaks to Moses out of a burning bush and calls him to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt and lead them to the Promised Land
• Pharaoh is stubborn and God causes ten plagues to come upon Egypt
• The Passover is instituted at the 10^th plague, the death of the firstborn males, to protect the Hebrews so that the firstborn of the Israelites, both human and animal, were “passed over” by the angel of death
• Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt with God leading them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night
• The  Pharaoh changes his mind about letting the people go and follows them to recapture them
• God parts the Red Sea and the Israelites cross on dry land and when the Egyptians follow them into the Red Sea, God restores the waters and the Egyptians all die
• The people celebrate with the song of Moses

This week we will be reading Genesis 22-42, the story of the beginning of the 12 Tribes of Israel.  How did your reading go last week?  Did you fall behind?  Get ahead?  What did you learn?  How did your reading impact your relationship with God?

Key people this week:

• Isaac and Rebekah
• Jacob and Esau
• Keturah, Abraham’s 2^nd wife
• Laban, Rebekah’s brother
• Jacob’s wives and concubines – Leah, Rachel, Zipah, and Bilhah
• Jacob’s children by Leah:  Reuben (first born), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dinah
• Jacob’s sons by Zipah (Leah’s servant):  Gad and Asher
• Jacob’s sons by Rachel:  Joseph and Benjamin
• Jacob’s sons by Bilhah (Rachel’s servant):  Dan and Naphtali
• Tamar, wife of Judah’s son(s)
• Potiphar and his wife
• The Pharaoh of Egypt

Key events this week:

• God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac
• Sarah’s death and burial
• God helps Abraham’s servant find a wife for Isaac
• The marriage of Isaac and Rebekah
• Abraham marries Keturah
• Death of Abraham
• Birth of Jacob and Esau
• Esau sells his birthright
• Isaac passes off Rebekah as his sister
• Jacob steals Esau’s blessing
• Jacob sent to Rebekah’s brother, Laban, in Paddan-aram
• Jacob marries Leah and Rachel and has 11 sons and one daughter
• Jacob takes his family and flocks back to Canaan
• Jacob wrestles with God and is renamed Israel
• Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, is raped by Shechem and her brothers avenge her
• Rebekah gives birth to Jacob’s 12^th son and dies in childbirth
• Death of Isaac
• Joseph dreams of greatness
• Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers
• Judah and Tamar
• Joseph lands in prison, interprets dreams, and rises to power
• Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt because of a famine

Recap – Key facts about the Book of Genesis:

• Author:  Moses
• Date Written:  1450 – 1410 BC
• Original Audience:  People of Israel
• Geographical Location:  Middle East
• Purpose: To record God’s creation of the world and the beginning of the Hebrew people (Israelites), whom God chose to set apart to worship Him and to be a witness for him in the world.
• Note:  the names of people in the Bible are descriptive of who they are.  God sometimes renamed people – Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel.  That is where the name Israel comes from.

Recap – High-Level Outline of Genesis:

1. Story of Creation (1:1-2:3)
2. The Fall and Repercussions (2:4-5:32)
3. The Flood and its Aftermath (6:1-11:32
4. The Story of Abraham (12:1-25:18)
5. The Story of Isaac (25:19-28:9)
6. The Story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah, and Jacob’s 12 sons (28:10-36:43)
7. The Story of Joseph (one of Jacob’s 12 sons) and how Jacob’s whole family ended up in Egypt (37:1-50:26)

Bibliography

Life Application Study Bible: New International Version.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan  and Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2019.

This week we will be reading Genesis 1–21 at the rate of 3 chapters per day.  Genesis is a fairly easy read.  There aren’t even too many sections of hard-to-pronounce names.  The most important thing to remember is to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your reading and understanding of His written Word.

Key people this week:

• Adam and Eve – first humans
• Cain, Abel and Seth – first siblings
• Enoch – walked with God and did not die – God took him
• Methuselah – lived to be 969 years old, longest living human
• Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth and their descendants
• Abram/Abraham and Sarai/Sarah
• Lot, his wife and daughters
• Melchizedek – priest of God Most High and King of Salem (Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek – see Psalm 110:4 and Hebrews 7:17)
• Hagar and Ishmael

Key events this week:

• Creation – two versions in Genesis 1 and 2
• Fall – the first sin and its effect on the serpent (Satan), men and women, and the earth as well as a promise of a redeemer
• The first murder
• The Flood and God’s covenant with Noah
• The Tower of Babel
• God’s call of Abraham
• God’s unconditional promise to Abraham that is still in effect today:  “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3)
• A son promised to Abraham
• Birth of Ishmael
• Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed
• Birth of Isaac

Bibliography

Life Application Study Bible: New International Version.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan  and Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2019.