You may subscribe yourself at the Ascension site here and receive notifications in your email, or just follow along on my blog. Bible in One Year Readings Index
Chapter 21: The Journey of the New Generation to Transjordan
In this fortieth year out of Egypt, the new generation of Israelites warriors take center stage in the Transjordan campaigns after the people arrive at Nahal-Zered (Num 21:12).
Numbers 21:1-3 The Canaanite Attack and Defeat
The Negeb was Canaanite territory located north of Kadesh. The Canaanite army of king Arad followed the Israelites from Kadesh by way of Atharim (ha'atarim) and ambushed them at Mt. Hor.
Question: In their petition to God to give them victory, what did the Israelites collectively pledge to God?
Answer: They pledged not to take any booty in their victory but to give over everything to God.
The Sign of the Bronze Serpent
Numbers 21:4-9 The Complaints of the New Generation and God's Judgment
Israelites turned away from the border with Edom and took the road that led to the Gulf of Aqaba.
The people began to complain about their hardships and spoke against God and Moses-accusing God and His covenant mediator of conspiring to lead them to die in the desert by not providing food and water for them.
As their punishment for such a great sin, God allowed poisonous serpents whose bite burnt like fire to afflict the people to call them to repentance before dissatisfaction led to full-scale revolt.
Question: How was the new generation of Israelites' response to Yahweh's redemptive judgment different from their father's generation?
Answer: They immediately acknowledge their sin, repented their sin, and asked for divine intervention.
Question: What was God's response to the people's repentance and Moses' petition?
Answer: He provided a means of salvation if they had the faith to look up to the sign Moses provided and to believe they were healed.
They had to look to an image of their judgment which was also an image of the accusation they made against God.
Question: Isn't this image in violation of the commandment in Exodus 20:4-5?
Answer: God commanded that the covenant people must not worship any graven images, but He did not prohibit images that He commanded be made or images that symbolized the promise of salvation, like the cherubim over the Mercy-Seat of the Ark of the Covenant or the bronze image of the snake in this event, or the two great winged cherubim statues whose wings spanned the walls of the Holy of Holies in Solomon's Jerusalem Temple-none of which were worshipped: Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim (CCC 2130).
Question: Was it the bronze serpent that had the power to heal? Read Wisdom 16:5-7.
Answer: No, the bronze image of the serpent had no power in itself. The healing power came from God if the people had the faith to look up and believe that God could heal them. The inspired writer of Wisdom saw this event as a sign for the people to recall the Law which commanded the people to be obedient to God and to have faith and trust that God had the power to protect them as He had promised.
Question: What became of the image of the bronze serpent? See 2 Kng 18:1-4, also see Ex 20:4-5a; Lev 19:4; Dt 4:15-20; 5:8; 27:15.
Answer: During the time of the divided kingdom, the people began to worship the relic of the image of the bronze serpent in violation of the Law. As part of his religious reforms, King Hezekiah destroyed the image.
In the Gospel of St. John, Jesus referred to the bronze serpent as a sign of the universal salvation promised by God, and He linked His own crucifixion to this event when speaking to Nicodemus in John 3:10-17 and to the people in John 8:27-30. Jesus said
- ... as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him (Jn 3:14-15).
- When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am He [he is not in the Greek text] and that I do nothing of my own accord (Jn 8:28).
Numbers 21:10-20 The Israelites Traveled by Stages to the East Side of the Jordan River (Transjordan)
This section records a summary of the Israelite's encampments on their march through the Transjordan. It is recorded in more detail in Numbers 33:41-49. The battle with the Amorites clearly took place prior to Israel's arrival at the Jordan River Valley, so chronologically Numbers 21:21-35 precedes 21:10-20. According to the text, this section is from a poetic work called the Book of the Wars of Yahweh (verses 14-15). Included in this section is a "well song" they sang when they reached Beer (literally "well").
Numbers 21:21-35 The Conquest of the Transjordan
Moving north along the eastern edge of Moab, the Israelites sought peaceful passage through the Amorite kingdom of Sihon, promising to stick to the King's Highway.
Question: Who were the Ammonites? See Gen 19:30-38.
Answer: They were the descendants of Abraham's nephew by Lot's incestuous union with his younger daughter.
Question: Why was it that conquering the region of the Jabbok River must have had great historical significance for the Israelites? See Gen 32:23-33.
Answer: It was in the Jabbok valley that Jacob wrestled with God's messenger and received the name "Israel" (Gen 32:23-33).
Question: Who were the Amorites and the Moabites? See Gen 15:16; 19:31-37; Num 13:29, 21:12, 33 Dt 1:7, 27.
Answer: The Moabites were the descendants of Abraham's nephew from Lot's incestuous union with his elder daughter. The different Amorites rulers controlled various areas from the hill country of Canaan to the Transjordan. Scripture suggests they were the most numerous of the inhabitants of Canaan.
King Og of Bashan was an Amorite. He and his people are what the reconnaissance team reported seeing in Numbers 13:32-33 as men of enormous size (Amos 2:9), which is probably why Yahweh prepared His holy warriors by having Moses tell them not to be afraid and their victory was assured.
Numbers 22:1 The Israelites then set out and pitched their camp in the Plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.
The Israelites have arrived at their destination to begin their preparation for the conquest of Canaan!
Chapter 22: Miscellaneous Domestic Laws
The chapter begins with a series of ten laws concerning domestic life within the community. The use of the word "brother" refers to a member of the covenant community. In their writings, the Church Fathers taught that Sacred Scripture calls the people of God to live in harmony with man and nature. We must treat something that is found as a trust (St. Clement of Alexandria), and if we ought to help animals, how much more should we help our covenant brothers and sisters who are in need (St. Caesarius of Arles).
Deuteronomy 22:1-12 Laws Associated with Daily Life
Deuteronomy 22:13-21 The Virginity of a Bride
The demand for sexual purity in an unmarried woman was unique to the Israelites. Other ancient Near Eastern nations required fidelity in marriage and there were penalties for adultery (including the death penalty), but there was no requirement for virginity in a young previously unmarried woman prior to marriage. In this case, a bride is accused of not being a virgin by her bridegroom. As in all judicial matters, the family takes a central role in the defense or prosecution of legal disputes. In this case it is the father's responsibility to defend his daughter's virtue by keeping in his possession evidence of her virginity from the bridal bed. The evidence is shown to the town fathers at the gate-the normal place where community disputes were addressed.
Question: What is the penalty for a man who has unjustly defamed a virgin of Israel?
Answer: He is arrested and publicly flogged. He is fined 100 silver shekels, which is given to the girl's father, and he can never divorce the girl.
Question: What happens if she has no proof of her virginity?
Answer: She will be publicly stoned before her father's house. Her husband's testimony and the lack of evidence are the two witnesses against her.
Deuteronomy 22:22-23:1/22:30 The Punishment for Adultery and Fornication
Question: Why is the phrase You must banish this evil from among you/ from Israel repeated three times in verses 21, 22 and 24?
Answer: The repetition emphasizes the serious nature of the offense-it isn't just an offense against the person directly involved (the bridegroom, the betrayed party in an adulterous marriage, or the unfaithful betrothed woman); sexual misconduct within the covenant community is an offense against God.
This legislation concerns a virgin who is forced. Legislation on the violation of a virgin who has willing engaged in fornication is given in the Covenant Code in Exodus 22:15-16/16-17. In those regulations, the man who seduces a virgin but who is not formally betrothed to her by her family will pay the bride-price to her father and make her his wife, if her parents agree to the marriage. If her father refuses to let him marry the girl, the man must still pay the father the sum equivalent to the bride-price of a virgin.
Question: If sex is "natural" and part of being "human," why are God's laws so rigorous about demanding sexual purity outside of marriage?
Answer: Sexual activity is "nature" for animals but God intended that it should be holy for humans. It is the first blessing given to man (Gen 1:28). It is the gift God gives to men and women to allow them to become partners with Him in creating the next generation and therefore is a gift that should never be taken lightly.
Baptized Christians are called to chastity. For unmarried Christians who desire to marry or who are engaged to be married, chastity moderates desire by abstention until they get married. For those who resolve not to marry, the desire is sacrificed entirely in chastity, in imitation of Christ who lived a chaste human life. See CCC 2348-2350.
+++
A Daily Defense
Day 69 “This Generation Will Not Pass Away”
DEFENSE: “These things” does not refer to the end of the world. Jesus gives a number of warnings concerning events that the disciples will face before the fulfillment of his words.
This statement occurs after Jesus made a prediction about the temple: “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down” (Mark 13:2). Afterward, “as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign when these things are all to be accomplished?’ ” (Mark 13:3–4).
The disciples did not ask about the end of the world, but the destruction of the temple. Jesus answered that his generation would not pass away before the temple was destroyed, and he was correct. The Gospels record the speech occurring just before the Crucifixion, which most likely took place in A.D. 33. The temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 by forces under the command of the Roman general Titus.
There would have been many people of Jesus’ generation who were still alive when the temple was destroyed.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
No comments:
Post a Comment