Tag: Sadducees

Week 10

March 5-11, 2011¹

This is the “One Year Bible Challenge:” to read the entire Bible in one year. Assuming a normal reading level, this can be done by spending about 10-15 minutes per day, each and every day. It is NOT TOO LATE to join the Challenge! Start with today’s reading and keep reading with us through the end of this year. You’ll have to read a bit more at the beginning of next year to finish. See ReadTheWholeBible.COM for more information. If you would like details so you can join us, or if you have any other questions, please call Tom Truex. Or send an email by using the CONTACT form on K-Line.ORG.

Themes and stories: God continued to direct the specifics of the census of the divisions of the Levites. God described their duties relating to moving and reconstructing the Tabernacle as the Israelites moved from place to place. Only men in the Levite families who were aged 30 to 50 were qualified for Tabernacle work. The ages might be different now, since modern men are in much better physical condition at age 50, than in Bible times.

God told Moses to keep the unclean (leprous, contact with a dead body, etc.) outside of camp. God directed that if a man committed a wrong against another, he must pay restitution of full damages, plus 20%. God directed a procedure to determine if a women has committed adultery, in suspected cases where there was no proof. The particulars of the test are unclear today. The gist of the procedure was that God revealed to the priest whether the woman was guilty or not.

God gave rules to Moses for the Nazirites. Being a Nazirite required a commitment to refrain from drinking wine or other alcoholic drinks, and cutting one’s hair Nazirites could not touch a dead body, even if it was a relative.

God told Moses how they were to bless the Israelites (Numbers 6:24-26, RSV):

[24] The LORD bless you and keep you:
[25] The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:
[26] The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

The Israelites dedicated the Tabernacle. They presented an offering to God each day. It took twelve days. The Israelites celebrated their second Passover. Some of them were away during the passover, or were unclean from having touched a dead body. God let them celebrate Passover a month later. God directed Moses to have two silver trumpets made, for the purpose of various summons and signals to the Israelites.

According to God’s command, the Israelites broke camp and moved when the cloud moved from above the Tabernacle. The people complained. God was angry at their complaining and sent fire to burn some of the outlaying areas of the camp. Moses prayed to God for relief. The fire abated.

The “rabble among them” wanted meat to eat:

[4] The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, ” Who will give us meat to eat?  [5] “We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic,  [6] but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.”  [7] Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. [Number 11:4-7 (NASV)]

Manna had been fine when the Israelites were hungry and had nothing to eat. People are quick to forget God’s blessings. Some of them even complained they shouldn’t have left Egypt, where they had better food to eat. God was not pleased with their ingratitude, but He promised to give them meat:

 [19] ‘You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,  [20] but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”‘”

God provided quails from the sea for the Israelites to eat.

God also sent a plague to kill the people who had been so greedy in their demands of Him.

Aaron and his sister, Miriam, complained about Moses wife, who was a Cushite woman. God gave Miriam leprosy as punishment. Moses begged God to forgive them for their bickering. God removed her leprosy after 7 days.

God told Moses to send out spies to explore the land of Canaan. Each tribe of the Israelites sent one man. After 40 days, the spies returned. The spies reported that Canaan was indeed a land that flowed with milk and honey. However the inhabitants were large, numerous and strong. The Canaanite’s towns were well fortified. Even their fruit was huge. A single cluster of grapes could only be carried on a pole, suspended between two men. Their raisin pies must have been really big and tasty. One of the spies, Caleb, recommended the Israelites go and conquer the land. But the other spies, excepting Joshua, were afraid to fight against the inhabitants of Canaan. Once again, the people bitterly complained:

[2] And all the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! [3] Why does the LORD bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” [4] And they said to one another, “Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt.” Numbers 14:2-4 (RSV).

God did not appreciate the Israelites ingratitude and lack of faith. Moses asked God not to destroy the Israelites. God did not destroy the Israelites, but he condemned them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Only Joshua and Caleb, who had remained faithful to God, would see their nation enter the promised land.

When the Israelites realized what they had done, they changed their minds, and wanted to enter the promised land. But by this time, they were too late. Moses told them to forget it. They could not prevail in taking the promised land unless God went with them. They had missed the opportunity that God had given them.

The Israelites caught a man violating the Sabbath by gathering sticks. They followed God’s law and stoned the man to death.

Some of the Israelites’ leaders rebelled against Moses. They were apparently jealous of his power. God opened up the ground beneath the troublemakers. It swallowed them up, together with their households.
Discussion points: Why did the Israelites refuse to go into the land of Canaan after Caleb and the other spies brought back their report?
Psalms: Psalm 48:1-54:7
Proverbs: Proverbs 10:26-11:6

Themes and stories: Some of the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, tried to trick Jesus. They asked him a question about a widow, who married her late husband’s brother, according to law. She married each of the seven brothers in succession, as they each died. The Sadducees asked Jesus who she would be married to in heaven. Jesus told them, they were wrong and did not understand the scriptures nor the power of God. The rules on earth don’t work the same in Heaven. “He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

Jesus taught about the two most important commandments:

[29] Jesus answered, “The first is, `Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; [30] and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ [31] The second is this, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31 (RSV)

Jesus also warned against the religious leaders who made a show of their religion, but actually were trying to benefit from their positions. A poor widow who gave a small amount to the Temple really gave more than most other people, because she gave all that she had.

Jesus warned about difficult times in the future. Jesus said he would return. He told the people to be ready for that day. We should be ready for Jesus’ return at all times, because no one, except God, knows when that day will be.

A woman anointed Jesus with a costly perfume. Some of the people scolded her for such a waste. The perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus responded:

[6] … “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. [7] For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me. [8] She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying. [9] And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” Mark 14:12-9 (RSV).

Judas Iscariot went to the chief priest to betray Jesus. Jesus and his disciples gathered to eat at Passover. This was to be their last supper together. Jesus told the disciples that one of them would betray him. Jesus also broke bread and poured out wine for them saying, “Take; this is my body;” and “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

After the last supper, Jesus went to pray in the garden called Gethsemane. Peter, James and John went with. Jesus told them to stay awake, but they kept falling asleep. Jesus noted, “…the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

The chief priests sent men with swords and clubs to arrest Jesus in the garden. Judas pointed Jesus out to them.

They took Jesus to Caiaphas, the high priest. They presented perjury against Jesus, but his accuser’s stories didn’t match up. Finally, Caiaphas asked Jesus if he was the Messiah. Jesus answered, “I am; and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Mark 14:62. The high priest had a fit. He accused Jesus of blasphemy because of this answer. Of course, Jesus’ answer would have been blasphemy, except that it was true.

Peter denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed twice—just as Jesus had predicted.

The religious leaders turned Jesus over to the Romans. They wanted to kill Jesus, but the Roman law did not permit them to do so. The Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, could find no crime committed by Jesus. There was a custom of releasing one prisoner at the Passover. Pilate, asked the mob if he should release Jesus or the criminal, Barabbas. Pilate gave them an opportunity to release Jesus. But the chief priests incited the mob into shouting to crucify Jesus. Pilate wanted to satisfy the mob, so he turned Jesus over to be crucified.

The Roman soldiers mocked Jesus and subjected him to great pain before leading Christ to be crucified on the cross. When Jesus, weakened by his pain, could not carry the cross, the Romans conscripted a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross. They walked to the place called Golgotha, which means “the place of the skull.” The soldiers cast lots to divide up Jesus’ garments. They nailed Jesus on the cross at 9 o’clock in the morning, between two thieves. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” At noon, darkness fell.

At 3 pm Jesus cried out, “E’lo-i, E’lo-i, la’ma sabach-tha’ni?” which means, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Mark 15:34 (RSV). The Roman centurion who witnessed Jesus’ death recognized that Jesus was the Son of God. Pilate gave Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Jewish Council, permission to take Jesus’ body. Joseph took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid in a tomb hewn in the rock. A large rock was placed in front of the entrance to the tomb.

Discussion points: Why did Jesus say, “E’lo-i, E’lo-i, la’ma sabach-tha’ni?” which means, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

• Why were individuals deemed “unclean” to stay outside the Israelites’ camp?
• Who were the Nazirites, and what role did they play Bible history?
• What purpose what served by the two silver trumpets described in Numbers 10:1-10?
• Why didn’t the Israelites what to go into Canaan, after receiving the spies’ report?
• The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection. So why were they asking Jesus about the widow who married 7 brothers in succession, after each one died?
• In Mark 12:40, what is wrong with the scribes’ prayers?
• What did Jesus mean when he said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

The discussion notes ( PDF / TEXT ) for breakfast on Saturday, March 12, 2011 are now online — ”Milk and Honey”. This week we read about the Israelites’ plans to enter the Land of Canaan. It didn’t go well for them. In the New Testament, we’ll discuss what Jesus meant when he said from the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Discussion verses: Numbers 13:21 to 14:4; Mark 15:33-37. This week’s BACKGROUND is Wycliffe’s Bible.

A women’s study group meets in Davie, FL on the 2nd Friday morning of the month. Contact Janet Truex, or use the Contact tab at CONTACT form on ReadTheWholeBible.COM.