If the Israelites Had Livestock in the Wilderness, Why Did They Need the Manna and Quails?

Good question. I don't have an answer.

Thankfully, I'm not the only one who can say that. But, here are some interesting thoughts on the subject.

Audio from Tonight's 'Read the Bible in a Year' Discussion

We talked about Numbers, chapters 16-36.

For more on the relationship between Numbers 21 and John 3:14, see here.

For more on Asclepius, from which the American Medical Association symbol is more directly derived, see here.

One known mistake is when cited 1 Corinthians 15, when I meant 1 Corinthians 11:29-30.

Audio from Tonight's 'Read the Bible in a Year' Discussion

The people of Saint Matthew Lutheran Church, the congregation I serve as pastor, is reading the Bible together in a year's time. That's about three chapters each day. Once a week, groups of us get together to discuss the readings of the preceding seven days.

Tonight, we discussed the first fifteen chapters of Numbers.

I made several mistakes during the discussion--like not remembering the derivation of Hannukah and forgetting the exact calendar relationship between Passover and Easter. I drew a complete blank when it came to Hannukah. Here's the background.

I also erroneously said that Greek Orthodox Christians don't accept the Apocrypha as being canonical. They do.

I also said that I hadn't remembered that Moses had children. He did have two sons: Gershom and Eliezer (see Exodus 2:16-22 and Exodus 18:2-4).

What bugs me is that I knew these facts and just plum forgot every one of them. 

Nonetheless, I hope you find this helpful.

God's Presence, Intimidating Blessing

At Saint Matthew, the congregation I serve as pastor, we're spending a year reading the Bible together. This week, we'll be starting on the Old Testament book of Numbers. It's a tough read! As my colleague and seminary classmate, Ken Pollitz, once told me, "You have to bear down pretty hard to get through Numbers." But it has real value and contains the Word of God.

Read what David L. Stubbs has to say about it:

One of the lessons of Numbers is that encountering God and the things of God is no light thing. God desires to bring blessing to his chosen people, to all nations, and to all creation, and central to this blessing is the gift of God's presence. For us sinful mortals, however, the warmth of God's life-giving presence is also a burning fire that tests us and ultimately cleanses us to make us holy. All this, in fact, is blessing.

I like that.