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Numbers 4-6: God's Moving Company

About This Episode

Before they leave for Canaan, God wants to emphasize his presence with them and their need for purity. God is intimately involved in how they travel, how justice is carried out, and how vows are taken and kept. And, of course, all of it is about Jesus.

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God's Moving Company, the Test of Adultery, and the Priestly Blessing

Show Notes

David Bowden and Seth Stewart continue their journey through the Book of Numbers, unpacking chapters 4 through 6. This episode moves from the practical logistics of transporting the tabernacle through the wilderness to the purity laws governing Israel's camp, the strange but purposeful test of adultery, the Nazirite vow, and the magnificent priestly blessing that sends Israel toward the Promised Land.

Packing Up God's House: The Levitical Moving Crew

Israel is still camped at Mount Sinai, preparing to march toward the Promised Land. The fighting men have been counted, the camp has been arranged, and now comes a pressing question: how do you move a holy place that cannot be touched? The tabernacle is God's dwelling, set apart and sacred. Its furniture and instruments are not ordinary objects. Only certain people, after certain preparations, are even allowed to enter. So when it is time to break camp and march, the logistics of moving it all become a deeply theological exercise.

Within the tribe of Levi, three clans are assigned distinct roles. The sons of Aaron, who serve as priests, go in first and wrap the most holy objects — the Ark of the Covenant, the lampstand, the table for showbread, the golden altar — in coverings of goat skin, blue and scarlet cloth. Poles are inserted through loops so the objects can be hoisted and carried without being touched. Only after this preparation do the Kohathites come in to carry these sacred items on their shoulders. They are given no oxen or wagons because these most holy objects are meant to be borne by human hands alone, a detail that will prove significant later in Scripture when Uzzah is struck down for mishandling the Ark after it was placed on a cart in violation of these very commands (2 Samuel 6). The Gershonites carry the curtains, hangings, and screens — the tent structure itself. The Merarites carry the beams, bases, tent pegs, and cords that hold the tabernacle upright. Each clan's assignment reflects concentric circles of holiness radiating outward from the presence of God.

The goat-skin coverings over the holy objects are themselves rich with meaning. These items that require sacrifice to approach are covered with the skin of a sacrifice as they move. This echoes the Garden of Eden, where God clothed Adam and Eve in animal skins as they left his presence to journey elsewhere. Here, as the Garden-like tabernacle moves from place to place, it too is covered in the skin of an animal — atonement layered upon atonement. These instructions underscore how deeply treasured and set apart God's dwelling place was. Yet in the New Testament, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4 that the light of the glory of Jesus now dwells in "jars of clay" — in us. The same presence that required golden furniture, careful wrapping, and consecrated carriers now inhabits ordinary, broken human beings. People who once would not have been permitted to touch the tent pegs have been made into the Holy of Holies itself, because the perfect sacrifice has come and made atonement for all.

The Purity of the Camp and God at the Center

Chapter 5 opens with God instructing Moses to send anyone who is ritually unclean — whether from a skin disease, contact with the dead, or a bodily discharge — outside the camp until they are clean again. This is not about moral failure or public shaming. These conditions were not sinful. They were part of the ritual purity system established in Leviticus, and they served a single overarching purpose: to impress upon every person in Israel that Yahweh lives in the center of the camp. A pillar of fire and cloud stood over the tabernacle at all times. Everyone could see it. And everyone remembered what happened when God's presence descended on Mount Sinai — the people themselves begged not to go near.

The arrangement of the camp told a story. The tabernacle was in the middle, surrounded by the Levites, surrounded by the twelve tribes, and beyond the camp's perimeter were those who were temporarily unclean. But even being on the outside did not mean being abandoned. God's presence remained the focal point for all of Israel, even those at the edges. The purpose was not exclusion but orientation — the entire nation was to live as though God were the center of their lives, because he was.

This makes it all the more striking that when Jesus, the Word of God who "tabernacled among us" (John 1:14), arrived, he went directly to the people outside the camp. He touched lepers. He raised the dead. He was approached by a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years — someone who, under these very laws, could never have become clean on her own. She did the wrong thing by coming toward him. But instead of her uncleanness contaminating him, his holiness healed her. Jesus was saying that the people who could never have made themselves clean were the very ones he came to restore. The whole system of purity pointed forward to the one who could make the permanently unclean permanently whole.

The Test of Adultery: God as Judge

One of the most unusual passages in all of Scripture comes next: the test for a wife suspected of adultery. If a man suspected his wife of unfaithfulness but had no witnesses — and Jewish law required at least two witnesses before any penalty could be carried out — the couple was to go to the priest. The husband would bring a grain offering, and the priest would prepare a drink made from holy water and dust from the tabernacle floor. The priest would then pronounce a conditional curse: if the woman was guilty, her body would suffer, her womb would fail, and she would become barren. If she was innocent, nothing would happen. The woman agreed to the test by saying "Amen, amen" — the first time the word "amen" appears in Scripture.

The curse was then written in ink, washed into the water, and the woman drank the mixture. This is where it is essential to distinguish what is happening here from the pagan practices of the surrounding cultures. In the Ancient Near East, similar tests existed, but the accused would be made to drink poison. The result was essentially a death sentence — the only way to survive was if the gods intervened. Here, the opposite is true. The drink is harmless: water, dust, and ink. It would taste unpleasant but would cause no physical harm. Any consequence that followed could only come from God himself. This is not magic. Magic assumes power is inherent in an object. The Bible has no place for that. The bronze serpent that God used to heal Israel in the wilderness was later destroyed when people began treating it as a magical object (2 Kings 18:4). All power belongs to God alone.

The deeper purpose of this test is to demonstrate that God is personally and actively involved in the justice of his people. He is not a distant lawgiver who set up a system and walked away. He is the judge. He is intimately involved in marital relationships, in the protection of women from the unchecked power of their husbands, and in the uncovering of hidden rebellion. If someone confesses their disobedience, the guilt offering provides a path of restitution. But if someone refuses to confess, God will find them out.

Jesus, the Bridegroom Who Drinks the Bitter Cup

The test of adultery carries enormous Gospel significance. God revealed his name on Mount Sinai as "a jealous God" — jealous for the faithfulness of his bride, Israel. Throughout the prophets, God accuses Israel of spiritual adultery, of chasing after other gods. In Hosea, God tells his adulterous bride that she will get exactly what she pursued — she will chase her false lovers and they will never satisfy her. The punishment fits the crime: those who broke the covenant designed for their flourishing lost the blessings of that covenant.

When Jesus came, he called himself the bridegroom and went straight to adulterous people. He met the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, a woman with a complex marital history. And in the story in John 8, where a woman caught in adultery is dragged before him, the parallels to Numbers 5 are striking. The Pharisees, jealous of Jesus' growing influence, bring him a test of adultery — but without the proper witnesses, without the husband present, without following any of the protocols the law required. They are asking Jesus to act as judge, which is precisely the role God held in Numbers. Jesus writes in the dirt — possibly evoking the oath written and washed into the dust — and then says, "Let anyone among you who has not committed disobedience throw the first stone." The accusers leave. The case is effectively a mistrial because of judicial misconduct. Jesus tells the woman, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."

But the reason Jesus can declare no condemnation is not simply procedural mercy. The curses of the covenant are real and deserved. Every one of us has broken the covenant designed for our flourishing. We should be excluded from its blessings. Yet Jesus himself drank the bitter cup of God's wrath — the curses of Deuteronomy poured into a cup and consumed to the dregs — so that the guilty could receive the blessings of the faithful. Seeing the Gospel through this passage is like shooting light through a prism: the same story of death, burial, and resurrection refracts into new and stunning colors.

The Nazirite Vow: Dedication, Distress, and the Ultimate Vow-Keeper

Chapter 6 introduces the Nazirite vow, a special form of dedication to God that seems to have already been a known practice in Israel. The text does not explain what a Nazirite is; it simply provides regulations for anyone who wants to take this vow. Three requirements define the Nazirite period: abstaining from wine and all grape products, not cutting one's hair, and avoiding contact with dead bodies. When the vow period concluded, the person would offer sacrifices and shave their head, burning the hair along with the offering.

Each requirement carries significance. Abstaining from alcohol connects to a pattern running through the covenants of Scripture. Noah's drunkenness led to shame. Lot's drunkenness led to the incestuous origin of the Moabites and Ammonites. Nadab and Abihu are widely believed to have entered the tabernacle drunk when they offered unauthorized fire. Each major covenant was interrupted by drunkenness, so it makes sense that someone entering a solemn vow with the God of life would abstain from the thing that repeatedly undermined faithfulness. Avoiding dead bodies follows the same logic: a vow with the God of life should have nothing to do with Death. The hair is harder to explain, but Scripture associates hair with identity and dignity — gray hair is called a crown in Proverbs, captives were humiliated by having their heads shaved, and anointing oil was poured on the head. Growing out one's hair may have served as both a public symbol of the vow and a personal offering of one's very identity to God, given over and then burned as a sacrifice at the vow's completion.

The Gospel turn here is powerful. In the ancient world, vows had four characteristics: they grew out of need or distress, they moved from humans toward God, they were conditional, and they concluded with a public offering. God's covenant with us in Jesus reverses every one of these. His vow to us did not grow out of need, because God has no need. It moved from God to humans, not the other way around. It is unconditional — "I will never leave you or forsake you." And instead of us making the concluding sacrifice, Jesus was the public offering that declared, "It is finished." We are the ones in distress and need who cry out for help, but we cannot keep the hundreds of requirements that would earn God's favor. Jesus fulfills the vow on our behalf, offering a sacrifice that frees us.

The Priestly Blessing: Grace, Peace, and the Road to Shalom

The episode concludes with one of the most beloved passages in all of Scripture: the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24–26. Moses was to teach this blessing to Aaron and his sons, who would then pronounce it over all of Israel. It comes at a critical moment — the camp is built, the laws are established, God is positioned at the center, and Israel is about to set out for Canaan. This is the last word spoken before the journey begins.

The blessing has a striking literary structure in Hebrew. The first line is three words: "The Lord bless you and keep you." The second is five: "The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you." The third is seven: "The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." The lines ascend in length, building in intensity until they arrive at the final word: shalom. Peace. Not merely the absence of conflict, but the proper working of all things in harmony — the state of Eden itself. According to Hebrew tradition, this was one of the rare occasions when the name Yahweh was actually spoken aloud rather than substituted with "Adonai."

The oldest physical copy of this blessing was discovered in 1979 during an archaeological dig in Jerusalem. Inscribed on a tiny scroll inside a phylactery, it dates to the seventh century B.C. — before the Babylonian exile — and matches the text we have today word for word. The preservation of Scripture across nearly three thousand years is remarkable in itself.

The New Testament is saturated with echoes of this blessing. Paul opens his letters with "grace and peace" — the very gifts named in lines two and three. In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul says that we now see with unveiled face the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus, fulfilling the promise that God would make his face shine upon his people. Jude writes that we are "kept" for Jesus — the same keeping promised in the first line. Jesus himself said, "Peace be with you," and the angels announced at his birth that he was bringing peace on Earth. The priestly blessing finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus, who blesses, keeps, reveals the face of God, extends grace, and brings shalom. And one day, when he descends from the clouds to make all things new, the words of this ancient benediction will be spoken for the last time — not as a hope, but as a completed reality.

Transcript

Intro: [gentle music] Welcome to the Spoken Gospel Podcast. This is our attempt to speak the gospel out of every corner of scripture. We believe every part of the Bible, Old Testament and New, is about Jesus, and this podcast is our experiment to publicly test that belief. Let's jump in. [upbeat music]

David: All right. Well, welcome everyone to the Spoken Gospel Podcast.

Seth: Welcome.

David: We, we are continuing, uh, in the Book of Numbers.

Seth: Counting away.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Counting down.

David: Counting down [laughs] to-

Seth: [laughs]

David: Oh, 'cause the nu-

Seth: 'Cause

David: I was confused. I was like [laughs]

Seth: Because of the numbers.

David: Because of the numbers.

Seth: Because of the numbers.

David: Yeah, so-

Seth: My voice is a little strange today, so-

David: It is

Seth: ... forgive me.

David: It's already sounding better.

Seth: It is sounding a little b-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... it's the hot-

David: The hot

Seth: ... it's the hot b-

David: The hot b-

Seth: ... bean water

David: ... water. [laughs]

Seth: Hot bean water.

David: Yeah. [laughs]

Seth: It's the miracle cure.

David: It is. And so, uh, last week we talked about the census numbers, and we got really granular. [laughs]

Seth: We did. We did.

David: So if we lost you there-

Seth: I th- and I came off sounding like a heretic once.

David: Did you?

Seth: Yeah, 'cause I was like, "I don't really care that, uh, if it's truthful numbers."

David: [laughs]

Seth: And I was like, as I've been thinking about that-

David: Oh

Seth: ... I was like, "I feel like I should've said that differently." [laughs]

David: Well, w- here you go. Here's your chance to make your concession.

Seth: I wish I'd have said it differently. [laughs]

David: There you go. Well, there. It's on record now. [laughs] So-

Seth: And taken context-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... it makes sense, but just don't sound bite me.

David: Just don't sound bite. I don't care if the Bible's true-

Seth: [laughs]

David: ... said Stuart.

Seth: [laughs] Because then that would hurt my job.

David: That would, and your feelings.

Seth: As a, as a pastor, and my desire to see the truthfulness of God's word upheld. [laughs]

David: Right.

Seth: Every corner of it.

David: Exactly.

Seth: Okay.

David: So that-

Seth: I'm done

David: ... that, that didn't happen.

Seth: [laughs]

David: But it did.

Seth: But it did.

David: No.

Seth: So-

David: So we're continuing [laughs] with Numbers.

Seth: The Kohathites, the Gershonites, the Merarites.

David: Mer- Merarites.

Seth: Mera- Merarites.

David: Merarites.

Seth: Merarites.

David: Yeah, that's a hard one. Uh, anyway, yeah, so this l- this section we're about to get to, we've counted the fighting men.

Seth: Right.

David: Right?

Seth: So the g- what's happening in-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... Numbers in general-

David: Right

Seth: ... is they're about to go into the Promised Land.

David: Yes.

Seth: So these are all, all, this is all the prep work.

David: We're still at Sinai.

Seth: We're still at Mount Sinai. This is all the prep work that's needed th- for them to get to the Promised Land.

David: That's right.

Seth: That's what's happening.

David: And that's r- that's right. So they've counted the fighting men, who are gonna go in and take over the land.

Seth: They've city planned out the new nation.

David: That's right, yeah.

Seth: And the t-

David: Who's gonna, who's gonna march where when they-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... when they march, and then they've counted the firstborn of Israel and the firstborn of the Levites, and they've-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... done atonement and replacement for them. And now we get to, um, really what, what's cons-

Seth: Pa- the, the packing crew.

David: The packing crew, yeah. [laughs]

Seth: [laughs]

David: So, like-

Seth: The movers

David: ... think about-

Seth: The professional movers

David: ... y- y- if, yeah, if you remember back in Exodus, it's like you, you, you, we read all this stuff that goes into the tabernacle, right?

Seth: Yeah.

David: But this is a tent, and they're about to move with this tent.

Seth: Right.

David: And it's a very holy, set apart place.

Seth: Yeah.

David: You can't just walk in there willy-nilly doing whatever-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... you want. Uh, only if a certain kind of person is allowed in a certain kind of place after performing certain kinds of sacrifices. [laughs] And so, uh, the, the, the problem is, how do you move something-

Seth: That's holy

David: ... that can't be touched? [laughs]

Seth: Right.

David: Like, [laughs] you can't touch the holy, like, the, the, the Ark of the Covenant. So if you can't touch it, how do you move it?

Seth: Right.

David: Right? People, certain people aren't allowed inside the tabernacle. Well, if they're not allowed inside of it, whenever it's all folded up, are they allowed to touch the curtains and stuff?

Seth: Right.

David: Like, isn't it holy still?

Seth: And then even if you're not talking about the sacred things like the temple or the lampstand or the basin-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... you're still talking about things that encase the holy things-

David: Yes

Seth: ... like the beams and the curtains and the-

David: And the, the tent pegs that hold-

Seth: The tent peg

David: ... the ropes that hold up the curtains.

Seth: It's like these things are all very in close proximity-

David: Right

Seth: ... to the Lord's presence, so how do you deal with that?

David: Right.

Seth: And so essentially, the plan is they're, so there's, within the tribe of Levi, not everybody is a priest, right?

David: Uh, yes.

Seth: In, like, the, the sense of-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... cutting the animal's throat-

David: Right, right, right

Seth: ... helping provide atonement.

David: Yes. Right.

Seth: But everybody in the tribe of Levi, uh, the, all the men-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... in the tribe of Levi have a role in ma- in maintaining the temple grounds.

David: That's right. Yep.

Seth: And so these three families, the Kohathites, the, or clans or tribe, clan-

David: They're the three, they're the three sons of Levi.

Seth: Okay.

David: And then they're, and then their, so Levi had three sons, and then his, those sons had a bunch of kids, and so now those are clans, uh, and they're-

Seth: Clans

David: ... they're named after the sons of Levi.

Seth: Yeah. They have their own tartans.

David: Tartans?

Seth: Yeah, like clans in Scotland.

David: Oh.

Seth: I've-

David: Oh

Seth: ... like, you know-

David: Yes

Seth: ... the kilts.

David: The kilts.

Seth: The, the, they have their tartan, uh-

David: Oh

Seth: ... uh-

David: Is it like a family seal, like a crest, or-

Seth: No, the tartan.

David: Oh, you looked so offended when I said [laughs] that.

Seth: What? [laughs] The tartan. It's like the plaid. It's the plaid for each family.

David: I've never seen you look-

Seth: Some are green and yellow and black

David: ... so offended. [laughs]

Seth: How did you not know what a tartan was?

David: It sounds like, it sounds like, uh, that thing they ride in, on Hoth in Empire Strikes Back in s- in Star-

Seth: A tauntaun?

David: A tauntaun. [laughs] That's what I thought of.

Seth: How culturally insensitive you've been.

David: [laughs] To all our Scottish listeners, I'm so sorry.

Seth: A tartan is the, uh, the, the, the pattern-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... of basically plaid-

David: Oh

Seth: ... for each family that the kilt will, kilt will be made out of.

David: Oh.

Seth: And you also have a family crest.

David: Okay.

Seth: So mine's a swan feeding its young, the Stuart clan.

David: Oh, wow.

Seth: And it says, "Strength grows from a wound," in Latin.

David: Whoa.

Seth: So.

David: That's intense.

Seth: That's very intense.

David: There's a story behind that, I bet.

Seth: Uh, yes. [laughs]

David: Goodness.

Seth: So anyway, these are the clans [laughs]

David: These are the clans with their-

Seth: ... of Levi

David: ... with their tauntauns.

Seth: Their, [laughs] their tart-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... their tartan tunics. [laughs] And each t- and each tartan... This is ridiculous.

David: Uh, okay, yeah. So we have all these clans, and each of them are given different jobs. And so, um, the first thing we, we see is that the sons of Aaron, right-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... which are not any of these three, are the ones that are gonna be working inside the temple, and they're the ones who are allowed to prepare the most holy objects, like the Ark of the Covenant, the lampstand-

Seth: Right

David: ... the, uh, table for showbread, the utensils that are used to, like, put coals on the fire, all this stuff.

Seth: Yeah. They essentially wrap them all.

David: They wrap them all. And, um, with-

Seth: The blankets

David: ... yeah, and so, yeah, with the, yeah, so the, the-

Seth: Holy blanket

David: ... the Ark of the Covenant, right, the Ark of the Covenant gets, um, a special covering, um, as well as the table for the showbread. They, they both get, um, like, a goat skin covering and, like, a blue cloth or a scarlet cloth, and, um, and then they're put, the poles are put on them, like, poles covered in gold. ... are kind of fed through loops-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... to hoist these things up so that you, the, the people who move them aren't actually touching the Ark or the table.

Seth: I had this [laughs] do you, like, that picture of a hobo?

David: A ho- oh-

Seth: With, with like a-

David: With a bindle?

Seth: With, is that the, the stick with the little bag on it?

David: Yeah, a bindle.

Seth: I just imagined, like, giant bindles. [laughs]

David: [laughs]

Seth: Like, you have this whole clan just [laughs] like, just holding bindles.

David: They just put everything in the little sack on it.

Seth: Is that what it's called?

David: I think so, yeah.

Seth: Oh, cool. Like, I just call it, like, a hobo backpack or something.

David: A hobo backpack. [laughs]

Seth: You know? Just-

David: That's very culturally insensitive of you, [laughs] Seth.

Seth: [laughs]

David: And so, um, yeah, so they're each given, uh, they're, they, they, they wrap all these things up. They wrap up the lampstand, the Golden Altar, and, um, everything is covered with cloth. Some things are covered with goat skin, um, you know, everything like this. And, um, and then the tribe of Kohath is allowed to come in and carry the stuff, uh-

Seth: So it's prepared

David: ... only after it's been-

Seth: Right

David: ... covered. Right.

Seth: It's prepared by priests doing the mediating work.

David: That's right, Aaron's sons.

Seth: Aaron's sons-

David: Yep

Seth: ... and then the Kohathites come in-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and they-

David: And they would carry the stuff. And then the Gershonites, which are the sons of Gershon-

Seth: Oh, and we should mention here-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... as well, in just a second, the, there's gonna be gifted to the temple several oxen and wagons.

David: Right.

Seth: And they're actually given to everybody except the Kohathites-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... because the, the, uh, these sacred objects are not meant to be carried by animals.

David: That's right.

Seth: They're meant to be carried by humans.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: That'll come up later in the book, uh, of-

David: Joshua, right?

Seth: ... Joshua-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... when Uzziah, Uzzah, Ahza-

David: Yep, the guy who-

Seth: What's his name?

David: ... the guy when it's falling and he tries to stop it.

Seth: Well, they put it on a cart first-

David: Oh, right

Seth: ... and then it falls off the cart and he tries to protect it.

David: Oh.

Seth: So, like, he, he's breaking all the commands that tribal members-

David: I don't think I've ever noticed that.

Seth: Yeah, so he's breaking all the commands that are s-

David: Yeah, interesting

Seth: ... they're supposed to wrap it. They're supposed to carry it on poles.

David: All these things were broken.

Seth: And he-

David: It wasn't covered. It was on a cart.

Seth: It was w- dri- driven by oxen. It's like-

David: Crazy

Seth: ... so anyway, that, they're breaking-

David: Oh

Seth: ... 'cause that's what it's supposed, they're supposed to carry it by hand.

David: That's helpful.

Seth: And then you have the Merar- Merarites-

David: Oh, sorry, but the Gershonites, though.

Seth: And the Gershonites.

David: Yeah, so the Gershonites are the, are next, and they are supposed to carry the curtains, um, and the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the hangings and the screens.

Seth: Right, and so imagine, like, you have a really large tent. I mean, how, how big is this thing?

David: I mean, it's not that big.

Seth: I, I forget, but I mean, if you have a tent made of goat skins-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... that's heavy.

David: Yep.

Seth: It's just heavy. It's gonna be a heavy tent, and it's larger than 2,000 square feet. So it's just a-

David: It's a big tent

Seth: ... it's a, it's a lot, it's big.

David: Yeah.

Seth: It's just gonna require some movers.

David: Right. Yeah, and so they carry the, the, the, like, the things that make up the temple structure. The, its curtains, its hangings, everything like that. And then, um, the sons of Merari, M- Mer-

Seth: Mer

David: ... Merara, Merari-

Seth: Mer, Mer

David: ... Merari?

Seth: Mer-

David: Ferrari?

Seth: Mer, Mer, Mer-

David: Ah, [laughs] the Mer-

Seth: The Mer people. [laughs]

David: The Mer people. I, I like that. The, the, the Mer people, they carry, uh, everything that keeps the tabernacle up, right?

Seth: There you go.

David: So the cords and the bases and the pegs, you know, tent pegs and stuff. They carry that.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And so you can see that there's these concentric circles of holiness for what people-

Seth: Oh, right, right, right, right, right

David: ... are allowed to touch, right? You have the sons of Aaron, who actually get to prepare the stuff.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Then once it's all covered up, then the sons of Korah, they get to carry the most holy objects, and then you get the, the tem- the tent itself, which are carried by the Gershonites, and then the Mer, the Merm- the Mer people.

Seth: The Mer people. [laughs]

David: I like that. They, they just carry the tent pegs and the ropes. And so-

Seth: And the beams.

David: And the beams.

Seth: So the-

David: Yep

Seth: ... I mean, that's a pretty big deal.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Well, it's important, like, like-

Seth: As in, like, structurally a big deal.

David: Right, yeah. [laughs]

Seth: As, as-

David: Structurally a big deal

Seth: ... structurally-

David: It just, it feels symbolically important. Uh, and so later on you'll see the sons of-

Seth: I don't think, do you mean to say that the, I don't think you mean to say that these jobs are-

David: Less important

Seth: ... less, less and less important-

David: No, no, no

Seth: ... as they go out. It's just-

David: But-

Seth: ... the idea, we've seen concentric-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... circles of holiness going out-

David: Yep

Seth: ... already.

David: Yes.

Seth: And so we're just seeing this even structured-

David: Right

Seth: ... in a way that-

David: Well-

Seth: ... people carry out-

David: Exactly

Seth: ... the rebuilding and deconstruction of the temple.

David: Yes, and it's like the, the Gershonites, the only thing that's covered, um, like the holy objects inside the temple, is the, the entrance to the tent of meeting is covered up.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Everything else is just carried.

Seth: Right.

David: And then nothing is covered up-

Seth: On wagons

David: ... for, uh, yeah, yeah-

Seth: The wagons carry all that stuff

David: ... and, and nothing's covered up when it, when it comes to the pegs and the, and the, and the baseboards and the beams and stuff.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And it's just to show that, like, you don't need a goat skin to cover this up.

Seth: Right.

David: And it's supposed to show different levels of holiness, but it is important because the, one of Korah's sons, um, uh, or Kohath's son, sorry, who is Korah-

Seth: Yeah, yeah

David: ... in, in, in number 16, he is offended that he, he doesn't, that him and his tribe don't get to offer the sacrifices-

Seth: Right

David: ... and he gets jealous-

Seth: Right, right, right, right, right, right

David: ... of Aaron's sons. And so he basically forms a coup and is like, um, "I think I should be in charge."

Seth: He's the one-

David: And, and, you know-

Seth: ... whole thing that comes up.

David: Yeah.

Seth: I'm excited about that one.

David: Oh, yeah, it's gonna be a good one.

Seth: Um-

David: Yeah, but-

Seth: And what I thought, what I li- I'm in the middle of packing my house right now.

David: Oh, yeah.

Seth: And so like, I have all my boxes, and I label all my boxes, "Books."

David: All your boxes are labeled, "Books?" [laughs]

Seth: "Books."

David: That's all you have? [laughs]

Seth: I say, "Books A through C. Books-"

David: Oh

Seth: ... "uh, C through F."

David: Yeah.

Seth: You know, like, I have, like-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... the, my books are out-

David: Your grading system

Seth: ... my, they're, they're alphabetized.

David: The good ones-

Seth: [laughs]

David: ... you get the A through B rating.

Seth: Except my commentaries. My commentaries are by book-

David: Of course they are

Seth: ... everything else is alphabetized. Anyway, I mark all my boxes, pantry, you know, whatever else.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And so they also have a census of all the items.

David: Oh, right. Yep.

Seth: And so they have, like, a list of, to make sure that everything, nothing goes missing, which I was like, oh, that makes sense.

David: Yep.

Seth: You have a large structure. You don't wanna lose anything. They're made of gold and brass.

David: Yeah.

Seth: These are valuable things. Anyway.

David: Yeah, I think an interesting, I think two interesting things. One is why are these things covered in goat skin? You know, like, I just thought that was interesting that the things that require sacrifice to get to then have, like, a symbol of sacrifice over them in order to carry them out.

Seth: Yeah.

David: It's like, it's just all atonement. They just-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... everything's atoned for.

Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: Uh, so I think that was interesting. And then the other thing was you just, you feel as you read this how holy this place is.

Seth: And, and-

David: Yeah, go ahead.

Seth: Um- Go back to the Garden of Eden.

David: Oh, sure.

Seth: Adam and Eve, when they leave the Garden of Eden, they're, an animal's killed, and they're covered in clo-

David: Oh, right

Seth: ... covered in the skin of an animal-

David: In the skin of an animal

Seth: ... to cover their shame, but also as they leave God's presence, and they move to elsewhere-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... into, hopefully, a new promised land. They're covered in, uh, goats- maybe not goats, but, like, they're covered in-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... the skin of an animal.

David: Right.

Seth: So I wonder, too, even here, there's all this Garden of Eden imagery.

David: Oh, right.

Seth: So as the Garden of Eden moves, they're also-

David: Mm

Seth: ... covered in the skin of an animal as-

David: Yes

Seth: ... it moves out and into the next place where the-

David: Right

Seth: ... presence of God will fall.

David: Yeah, definitely. I think that could be something that, that the biblical author's pulling on. The other thing that I was just, like, struck by was, as you read this, you're like, "Man, this stuff is really holy. It's really set apart, and it's really treasured." You know? Like-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... why? Well, because this is God's house.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Like, Yahweh comes and dwells here. It's a big deal.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Right? And yet when we get to the New Testament, [laughs] where does Yahweh come and live? In jars of clay. [laughs]

Seth: Nazareth. [laughs]

David: Like, no, but I mean-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... like, yes, but like-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... in us.

Seth: In us.

David: Like, it's like we now have this treasure.

Seth: Mm.

David: 2 Corinthians 4, what's the treasure he's referring to? The light of the glory of Jesus Christ, [laughs] right?

Seth: Right.

David: So that's the presence. That's the presence that Moses saw on, on the, on Mount Sinai that came into the tabernacle. That's what he's pulling on, all that language from Exodus.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And then he says, "Now where does that presence live? Not in this tabernacle-

Seth: In us

David: ... where everything has to be wrapped up and taken care of." He's like, "They're, it's in earthenware vessels. It's in-

Seth: Earthenware vessels

David: ... jars, jars of clay." You know? It's like-

Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah

David: ... it's not in, like, a gold place that has to be carried by poles and covered carefully in goat skin and scarlet cloth. It's like-

Seth: Right

David: ... it's in us, and I'm like...

Seth: I never thought about the fact that we are holy temples, like, like temples to the Lord, as a way to get to us, to the preciousness of human life. Like-

David: Mm

Seth: ... the sacredness of human life, like the sanctity of human life. I always say we're made in the image of God by God's divine fiat. He made us-

David: Right

Seth: ... good in one sense, and we fell, but anyway, like, he made us very good.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And we are imbued with a certain sense, uh, uh, of, like, of significance and-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... value based solely on God's creative work, but even the fact that we now exist as temples of the Holy Spirit adds to our value-

David: Definitely

Seth: ... in a, in a sense-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... in a way, too.

David: So I just think it's interesting that, like, the, the presence of God which set apart this holy temple, so much so that the, the furniture in it had to be carried a certain way, right?

Seth: Yeah.

David: Um, and it, covered with goat skin. Now that the perfect sacrifice has come and made atonement for us and covered us-

Seth: Right

David: ... even the crappiest jars in the world, you know, the worst furnit- fur- furniture-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... in the world can be the new place where God dwells, that-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... it's not just the sons of Aaron that get to come close to this thing, nor is it the Kohathites or the Gershonites or the Mer people, right? [laughs]

Seth: Right.

David: It's the people outside the camp.

Seth: Yeah.

David: It's the people farthest away. Those most unworthy to come near have now-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... been brought not only to the place where they can move the furniture.

Seth: Right.

David: They've been made the Holy of Holies-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... because God dwells in them, and I'm just like, that juxtaposition-

Seth: It's good

David: ... of, like, don't even touch the furniture-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... to I now come in you, like-

Seth: Right

David: ... as, and make you-

Seth: And-

David: ... holy furniture

Seth: ... even, like, uh, Korah, who's gonna rebel in a second.

David: Mm-hmm. Yep.

Seth: Like, what he wants is actually what we get in the New Testament.

David: Oh, yeah. Right.

Seth: He wants to be in the temple-

David: Yes

Seth: ... in God's presence.

David: Right.

Seth: And he's doing it out of covenantal turn.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And, but we get what Korah never was able to have.

David: Right.

Seth: I was also thinking for, like, so many of us, like, we struggle with a sense of value, whether we're worth it, whether, whether or not we, like, um, are not just worth God's attention, but, like, other people's attention as well, and to have this i- to have this sense that you are covered by a sacrifice so mu- and you are one of the most precious things in all of Israel.

David: Mm.

Seth: Like, in all of Israel, you are God's most treasured possession. I was... Have you ever heard of that thing called kintsugi?

David: No.

Seth: The Japanese, um, pottery form?

David: No. No.

Seth: [laughs]

David: Oh, wait. Is that the one that is, is-

Seth: It-

David: ... it's pieced together with gold?

Seth: Yeah.

David: Oh, yes. I have.

Seth: So it's like you have a piece of pottery.

David: Right.

Seth: It's a jar of clay. Like, it's something that's-

David: Right

Seth: ... very fragile, something that's broken.

David: And it, it, that jar-

Seth: It-

David: ... gets broken.

Seth: It's broken, like-

David: Right

Seth: ... accidentally.

David: Uh-huh.

Seth: Um, and what's done is, and so, like, I think a lot of us can relate to that image. Like, we're jars of clay. We're fragile.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: We're, we're, our egos are easily bruised.

David: Right.

Seth: We're often broken.

David: We sometime don't, we sometimes don't feel like the most valuable thing in the house.

Seth: Right.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And then what the, the art form was to take it and then to mend all the broken piece of pottery with gold.

David: Right.

Seth: And it's, they're beautiful.

David: They're gorgeous.

Seth: You can, you can look it up online, and it's this celebrated piece of, um, like, this art form in-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... in Japan, so much so that people would start breaking pots intentionally-

David: Just to-

Seth: ... just to make these things.

David: Right.

Seth: And so anyway, I was, as I've just been, like, that's us. Like, we-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... are these broken, fragile vessels-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... but we're covered by the presence of the Lord in God's house. We are treasured possessions, and he takes those broken pieces of us and fills them in with gold.

David: Mm.

Seth: He makes us far more valued to him and to ourselves based on his presence-

David: Right

Seth: ... than we ever were without it.

David: Yeah, he takes people who should just be in charge of the tent pegs and makes them into the Holy of Holies.

Seth: Yeah.

David: It's pretty cool. [gentle music] Okay, so now we kind of get what feels like a, not necessarily a hard reset, but definitely a new section of focus, and it's really focused on the, the purity of the camp, and it's highlighted by the fact that right at the top of chapter five, God tells Moses that, um, anyone who's unclean, like from a leprous disease or anything like that, basically look back at Leviticus, and-

Seth: Right

David: ... it gave you all the things. It told you what was unclean.

Seth: Right.

David: And he's like, "Make sure all those people who are unclean according to L- to Leviticus now go outside the camp until they're ritually clean. Then they can come back in."

Seth: Right.

David: Like, that's-

Seth: Yeah, it's like there are some people that might be there for longer if you have-

David: Uh-huh

Seth: ... like, a, a chronic skin disease.

David: Right.

Seth: Or there might be people that are there just for the camp.

David: Overnight.

Seth: Yeah, over the night.

David: Right.

Seth: So what would that have look... I was thinking about, like, what would that have looked like?

David: Yeah.

Seth: Was it just, like, hotels outside the-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... like, unclean hotels? Like... [laughs]

David: Un- the unclean hotel.

Seth: Nobody wants to go there [laughs]

David: That'd be the motel, but yeah.

Seth: [laughs]

David: Yeah, I don't know.

Seth: I know, I mean-

David: I mean, they have tents, and they probably just go outside the-

Seth: Do they have their own, like-

David: The circle pu-

Seth: ... bindle with a tent, and it-

David: The bindle's back

Seth: ... the, the bindle's back [laughs] and they carry their own, like, unclean tent.

David: Yeah, probably.

Seth: It's like, I don't know.

David: Yeah.

Seth: But they-

David: And they just go set up camp. I mean-

Seth: For the night, yeah

David: ... they're living in tents anyway.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So it's just where the tent is. So it's not like you're living inside, like, the cushy home inside the ca- the camp, and then when you go out, you're roughing it.

Seth: Right. [laughs]

David: It's like, you're roughing it regardless.

Seth: [laughs]

David: This is just a proximity issue.

Seth: It's those... It, it really is those concentric- Right

David: ... holiness rings.

Seth: Right.

David: Where it's like the tabernacle's in the center, then there's the camp of Israel, but then outside the camp of-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... Israel are where the unclean people go.

Seth: And that can feel exclusionary.

David: Right.

Seth: But that's not the point. The point is that the people of G- all of Israel knows that God lives in the middle-

David: Right

Seth: ... of the camp. There is a pillar of fire and a pillar of smoke-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... in the center of their camp all the time, every time. So, and we know that when the pillar of fire fell on Mount Sinai, what did everybody say? "I don't wanna go near that."

David: Uh-huh, yeah.

Seth: Like, they're... Like, if there's a pillar of fire next to you, and the pillar of fire told you, "Don't come near to me if you're unclean-

David: Right

Seth: ... because that's dangerous for you," I would probably want to be out.

David: Yeah.

Seth: You'd be like, "I-"

David: You'd be like, "Great, I'll be over there." [laughs]

Seth: "I'll be over there for a day and a half, and I'll come back in fear and trembling." [laughs]

David: Yes.

Seth: Like, I feel like, I think it's, the point here isn't that-

David: Public shaming

Seth: ... public shaming.

David: Right.

Seth: The point is God's presence is with his people, and everybody knows it.

David: Yep.

Seth: And so w- they are trying to live with God in his presence, and the, the better thing is to be near him.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: But when they cannot be near him, it's good to obey him.

David: Right.

Seth: You know? [laughs] It's like-

David: Yeah, 'cause the things that are talked about here, like a leprous disease or being in contact with the dead or having a discharge, these aren't sinful acts.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: So we're not talking about, like, "Oh, you t- your mom died. You can't be here for a while."

Seth: Right.

David: It's like, whoa, that's messed up.

Seth: Yeah.

David: That's not what's happening. This is about maintaining the ritual purity of the camp as-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... set up by Leviticus-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... all for the purpose of, of saying publicly and weaving into the fabric of Israel-

Seth: Right

David: ... the fact that God is set apart.

Seth: And it's not like God's presence wasn't on the outside of the camp.

David: Oh, right, yeah, God's everywhere, yeah. [laughs]

Seth: It's like, it's like God's presence is in the middle of Israel.

David: Yeah.

Seth: So even if you're on the edges of Israel-

David: You're still closer than anyone else. [laughs]

Seth: You're still... God's still in the middle of the entire nation.

David: Right.

Seth: Like, you're s- He's still the focal point-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... of everything. The point isn't your relative shame-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... or whatever, it's... The point is that God's in the middle, and he rules over all of you. So let's r- let's live in such a way as if God is the center of our lives.

David: Right. Which just... This, this kind of stuff makes it just so crazy that when Jesus came, when the Word of God tabernacled among us-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... that he went to people outside the camp.

Seth: Right.

David: Right? That he went to lepers, that he went and touched dead bodies.

Seth: This is-

David: Like-

Seth: It goes back to why w- and that-

David: Like, oh, like the, the, the woman... Sorry, the woman-

Seth: No, no, no

David: ... with the bodily discharge for-

Seth: Right

David: ... 20 years or whatever, he touched all of these people [laughs]

Seth: Yeah

David: ... and he was the tabernacle of God.

Seth: What's crazy with the woman with the discharge of blood, she comes into God's presence.

David: Yep.

Seth: Like, she was-

David: Oh, and she does the wrong thing

Seth: ... she, she does the wrong thing.

David: [laughs]

Seth: She comes towards him.

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Seth: And what p- Jesus is probably doing is he's reversing... We al- we think, like, that's must be really exclusionary. There must be a lot of shame involved. Not necessarily.

David: Mm.

Seth: But that is what happened.

David: Yes.

Seth: Like, in history, in time, as people went to the margins-

David: Yep

Seth: ... they stayed in the margins.

David: That's right.

Seth: Like, they... And there was shame associated-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... with being unclean.

David: The sin and human heart corrupted God's good law and its intent.

Seth: Right.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And so what Jesus is doing is he's saying, like, "You were never meant to be out of my presence."

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: "You were meant to be... This was a way for you to live back in my presence."

David: Right.

Seth: "So when you are unclean, the goal is, the hope is, that you will be made clean-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and be with me again."

David: Yeah, but it's also interesting, it's like none of these people who came to him or that he went to were, were made clean. You had people with a, a lifelong leprous disease, you had a dead person-

Seth: Right

David: ... and then a woman who's been, had this j- discharge of blood for years and it never stopped.

Seth: Right.

David: And so these are people who, like, "It doesn't matter how long I stay outside the camp, I'm never gonna be clean."

Seth: Mm.

David: "I'll never be allowed to be back in."

Seth: Yeah.

David: And that's what Jesus is saying in these miracles, is he's like, "I am able on Earth to forgive sins," like he says in Mark.

Seth: Right.

David: "I am able to make clean those who never could've been clean. I'm able to bring close those who have al- al- always would've had to been far."

Seth: Yeah.

David: So it's like, that's just so cool.

Seth: That is good.

David: So anyway, so then we get, um, after, after this, this command to send out the unclean, um, we also get this, like, retouch-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... on the guilt offering.

Seth: So what I think is happening here, so we keep saying it, like, God is in the center of the camp.

David: Yeah.

Seth: This is, these are blueprints and preparations for the new life that they're gonna have in, uh, the land of Canaan-

David: Right

Seth: ... for the new Eden. So the idea that we keep coming back to is that God is the central part of life in Israel.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Everything is done in connection to him.

David: Yes.

Seth: Even the way some laws are carried out, God is personally involved in the restitution, in the justice process. Like, it's not as if God set up a justice system, set up a system of governance, said, "Okay, Moses, run it."

David: Right.

Seth: God is actually actively involved in all issues of adultery-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... of justice, of restitution, of reciprocity.

David: Right.

Seth: And, like, he is an active agent in the ju- the system of justice of the camp.

David: Right.

Seth: Does that make sense?

David: Yeah, so, like, what you're saying is, like, that's why sometimes whenever people say, like, "Hey, so we read this law, but there's this provision that's come up in our life circumstance."

Seth: Right.

David: "How does it apply here?" And Moses goes, "I don't know. Let me go ask God."

Seth: Yeah, so that happens in-

David: And then come in, in, in the Passover, in, in chapter 9, it happens there

Seth: ... chapter 9, yeah.

David: Yeah.

Seth: A bunch of people are unclean from touching a dead animal.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And the law has already said if you're unclean-

David: You can't eat the Passover

Seth: ... you can't do anything.

David: Oh, right, yeah.

Seth: You can't do anything, so but this particular instance was never mentioned.

David: Oh, right, right, right. Yep.

Seth: So it's like, oh, but-

David: What about the Passover?

Seth: ... it's like the central-

David: Right

Seth: ... defining moment of my whole salvation.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Our, our nation's salvation.

David: Right.

Seth: So, like-

David: Can't we do that?

Seth: Like, like, I was dead in Egypt.

David: Right.

Seth: Now I'm alive. Doesn't this make sense that I should be able to-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... celebrate? And, like, the Lord says, "Yes."

David: Yes.

Seth: "It does."

David: Yeah, so God is actively involved in the law, how it applies, how it's adjudicated, how it's carried out, how the punishments are led or not.

Seth: Right.

David: Okay.

Seth: And so in, in ch- the beginning of chapter 5, you have this, somebody making a public confession of their sin and then offering restitution, and then in- The test for adultery, which is crazy, which we'll talk about in a while

David: We'll talk about, yep

Seth: ... basically has the opposite. Somebody is not confessing their sin.

David: Right.

Seth: So what if you, what do you do if somebody confesses their sin?

David: Oh, I see.

Seth: You do this.

David: Yeah.

Seth: God's actively involved in this process in this way.

David: Yeah.

Seth: What if somebody doesn't confess their sin?

David: Interesting.

Seth: Here's how we do-

David: Okay

Seth: ... here's how it looks.

David: So before we dive in then-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... let me make, 'cause I've never seen it like that and that's really helpful. So what we're saying is-

Seth: Sail hammer

David: ... sail hammer.

Seth: [laughs]

David: Man. So there's two things happening here. Um, we're ta- we're concerned about the ritual purity of the camp. One of the things other than just uncleanliness of the body, you know, that- that would- would, you know, violate the purity of the camp is sin-

Seth: Right

David: ... when you do something wrong. And one of the ways it's dealt with is through the guilt offering, uh, or the sin offering, and you come, you make a confession of your sin, and you make restitution, and you make an offering. But what happens whenever someone sins and no one knows about it, but you start to suspect-

Seth: Right

David: ... that this person is in sin? Well, we- we're not gonna go into every instance that that might happen.

Seth: Like here's-

David: Like, "I think he stole my goat," you know, like stuff like that.

Seth: Right, right, right.

David: But, uh, but the- the point is, and we're gonna talk about adultery, that um, um, a husband thinks that his wife has been having an affair.

Seth: Right.

David: And what- what- w- we're gonna dive into that one, but over the top of it, I think what's- what at least I think I hear you saying is the point is even if you don't confess your sin and make restitution, you will be found out.

Seth: Yeah. God is involved.

David: God- God knows. He's involved.

Seth: [laughs] He's involved.

David: And e- a- and- and if you don't make it right-

Seth: The ultimate judge-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... is God. [laughs]

David: Right? So if you don't make it right, he- like, he's gonna find you out, and you're going to bear your own iniquity.

Seth: Yeah.

David: You're going to. And so let's look at this specific test, um, the test of adultery. [gentle music]

Seth: So if you haven't read the test of adultery before listening to this podcast, it'd probably be helpful for you to go and read it because it is, it is a fascinating little interlude in the sc- [laughs] in scripture.

David: Yep.

Seth: So essentially, the story is a man suspects his wife is having an affair, but in Jewish law, you need at least two witnesses-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... to, for anything to be, um, like acted on

David: Like a pen- a penalty to actually, yeah

Seth: ... a penalty. Like-

David: Yeah, he can't just do it on a hunch.

Seth: Right.

David: Which is a big, like a big change in the justice system of the, of that day.

Seth: Right.

David: 'Cause husbands had unilateral power back then-

Seth: Right

David: ... to be like, "I, I bet my wife's cheating on me. Kill her."

Seth: This, yeah, so this is a way to protect women.

David: Protect women.

Seth: To protect women.

David: Yes.

Seth: Although, as you get lost in the weeds, it can feel a little different, but it's, the, the purpose is to protect women-

David: Right

Seth: ... from husbands who are trying to use their control to divorce them-

David: Right

Seth: ... sleep around-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... do whatever they want.

David: Right.

Seth: So he suspects that his wife is having an affair.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And so what he's supposed to do is he's supposed to bring an o- a grain offering-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... to the priests, and the priest then is gonna offer that grain offering to the Lord. But he's also going to make a bitter drink, and it's gonna be water from the basin of holy water-

David: Right

Seth: ... and some dirt from the ground of the tabernacle.

David: Yep.

Seth: And he's gonna mix it up, it's a little dirty water.

David: Yep.

Seth: And then he's gonna make this curse, an oath, a vow.

David: Right.

Seth: And he says, essentially, "You agree, woman, that if you have, uh, committed adultery, your womb is gonna shrivel up, your thigh is," I think it's, "Your thigh will fall away."

David: Your thigh will sag or fall away.

Seth: And-

David: It's a euphemism for the reproductive organs-

Seth: Right

David: ... will cease, will start to fail.

Seth: And then, and-

David: You'll be barren.

Seth: But if you-

David: Or you'll miscarry.

Seth: Or you'll miscarry, but if you, um, are innocent, nothing's gonna happen.

David: Right.

Seth: And the woman says, "I agree to this test."

David: Yeah, she says, "Amen. Amen."

Seth: Amen. Amen.

David: It's the first time amen is used in the Bible.

Seth: Are you serious?

David: Yeah. [laughs] It's right here.

Seth: Oh, 'cause it means so be it.

David: So be it.

Seth: So be it.

David: Yep.

Seth: 'Cause that, it's like, "You are guilty. So be it."

David: So be it.

Seth: It's like, it's like-

David: Yeah, I agree to this test

Seth: ... I agree to this test.

David: Right. And so yeah, and, and doesn't he, he writes down the curse-

Seth: And he-

David: ... like a contract

Seth: ... so he s- she says amen-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... then she, he writes it in ink.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And then he washes the ink with water.

David: Uh, and pour, and that, and that inky water mixture falls into the cup that's also has the, the water and the dust from the tabernacle. So it's this inky, dusty water, which if you drank, it wouldn't taste good, but it wouldn't hurt you.

Seth: Right, so-

David: It's not poison. [laughs]

Seth: The first thing that I had to overcome as I was reading this-

David: Yes

Seth: ... and then, then after you drink it, if you are, uh, innocent, it does nothing to you.

David: Nothing will happen.

Seth: It just tastes bad.

David: Yep.

Seth: If you drink it and you start feeling intense pains and cramps, you are c- you are guilty of adultery.

David: Right, which, which, uh, w- I, I think we have to be careful there. It's not like this immediate pain that takes over. It's, it's most likely you leave, you live your life, and y- you start to miscarry, you start to be barren. Like, these pains and cramps are things associated with the reproductive health of a woman, and so that's, I think that's what's going on here. It-

Seth: You don't think it happens in that moment? Because the pu- purpose of it is a judge, like, we need to figure out if my wife has-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... committed adultery.

David: Right.

Seth: So I would assume that there would have been a reaction-

David: I don't think so

Seth: ... in somewhat real time-

David: Because-

Seth: ... so the husband would then have grounds to-

David: The, the, the problem is that, um, the, the, the, the punishment for adultery is, is stoning.

Seth: Right.

David: And that's never brought up here.

Seth: Oh.

David: The, the, the punishment-

Seth: Right

David: ... because there's no witness. It's all an assumption.

Seth: Right.

David: So even if-

Seth: It was found out

David: ... it was found out, or, or even if she, like, wa- she did exhibit the symptoms that, that said she was guilty, the symptoms of being barren and having a miscarriage, those, that is the punishment itself.

Seth: Right.

David: There's not an additional one because there were no witnesses.

Seth: So would the husband be free to divorce then? I mean, it's like-

David: I don't know

Seth: ... never mentioned here.

David: It's not mentioned here. That'd be one of the things that they have to go ask God for.

Seth: [laughs] Um, okay. So one of the things I had to get over-

David: Right

Seth: ... as I was reading this was like, this just feels like magic.

David: Right.

Seth: This, like, as I was reading it, I had in the back of my mind, like, these shamanistic, animistic rituals-

David: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm

Seth: ... where you have somebody in a mask kind of dancing around, chanting or making an omen, somebody drinking something, going into convulsions on the ground.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: Like, all this felt very magical, very pagan.

David: Right.

Seth: And I, I don't th- that's not what's happening here, but that was my f- my first read of it was like, "Is this magic?"

David: Right.

Seth: Like, [laughs] that's what I kept thinking.

David: Right. The thing I thought of, uh, was Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Seth: Yeah. [laughs]

David: Yeah, you know, like, there's that scene where, um, they're, they, they, they think they've found a witch-

Seth: [laughs]

David: ... and they do all these tests, these inane tests that have no-

Seth: Does she weigh as much as a duck?

David: Yeah, yeah.

Seth: [laughs]

David: They, they figure out like, ah, let's throw her in the water, and if she floats, then she's a witch. If she sinks, she's not.

Seth: [laughs]

David: But either way, either if she floats, she's gonna be killed, but if she sinks, she drowns-

Seth: [laughs]

David: ... so she's dead either way.

Seth: Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: And then they're like, "Well, if she floats, she must weigh as much as wood. What weighs as much as wood? Maybe a duck. Well, if she weighs as much of a, as a duck, then she must be a witch."

Seth: [laughs]

David: And it's like, "Wait, what?" And so like, that's what I felt like was [laughs] going on here, ah, was like it d- it, it, it felt really archaic and, like, really old.

Seth: It does.

David: And what I think we have to realize is there were things in the Ancient Near East that were the shaman dancing around, and you drink this thing, and if you die, you die, and you were guilty, and if you live, you must've been innocent. But the things they would make them drink were poison. Like, they were harmful-

Seth: Oh

David: ... to the body.

Seth: Oh, the actual poison.

David: And so it was actually going to hurt you. And so the only... And so everyone was guilty [laughs] and the only way you could survive and be innocent was if the gods saved you from that poison.

Seth: Fascinating.

David: Here, the opposite is happening.

Seth: Yeah.

David: You're drinking something innocuous, and so the punishment that would come on you must only have been from God.

Seth: Right, and that's the big difference between-

David: Huge difference

Seth: ... it's also the, the, the primary difference between magic and-

David: Spirituality

Seth: ... spirituality.

David: [laughs]

Seth: Magic assumes that there's something inherent within the object-

David: Yes, that's correct

Seth: ... that-

David: That's correct, yep

Seth: ... has a certain power. And so that's why even in the early version, the, the early Christianity, even during the Catholic Church-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... like, certain icons or images or f- like, pictures of Jesus on a piece of toast, like that's the cra- you know, that's the majority.

David: Right, or, or like a, a, a, a shard of, of wood from the cross.

Seth: Right. These are magical things-

David: Yes

Seth: ... that if you come n- close to-

David: Near them, touch them, pray to them

Seth: ... you get, you get power.

David: That's right.

Seth: That's... The Bible does ha- not have any place for magic.

David: No. In fact, in Numbers, when we read about the, the gold serpent, we're gonna read about it later.

Seth: Right, right, right.

David: Later on in the text, it becomes a magical thing in the history books-

Seth: Right

David: ... and God demands that it be destroyed.

Seth: Right.

David: Like, because when something starts to s- distracting from God's power-

Seth: Right

David: ... and becomes about the object itself, God says destroy it.

Seth: Nothing has power in its own right.

David: That's right.

Seth: Just because it w- was near God's presence at one time doesn't mean it has inherent power.

David: Nope.

Seth: All power comes from God alone.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: So again, the purpose of this test of adultery is to show that not that this bitter water has some magical properties-

David: Not at all

Seth: ... or that the priest kind of acts like a shaman.

David: It's a covenant.

Seth: It's a covenant.

David: [laughs]

Seth: And God is directly involved-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... in the justice of his people.

David: That's right.

Seth: Actively involved in the protection of women, actively involved in marri- marital relationships that are on the rocks and where people are cheating.

David: Yep.

Seth: There's nothing in the camp that God is not involved in and God's not intimately actually acting in. And all of these symbols and all this washing and all this other kind of stuff, it is meant to point Israel, Israeli people, Hebrew people to the pagan practices-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... but only so much to see is how different their god is.

David: That's right. Yep.

Seth: Right. That's the only reason it look, might look similar to surrounding-

David: Yep

Seth: ... pagan cultures.

David: Exactly, and that... Yeah, exactly right. I- it, just like the creation narrative, just even the, the temple system, all of this stuff-

Seth: Reading the numbers in the stars

David: ... even the numbers in the stars, all this stuff was meant to look similar but with key differences to show the falsehood of every other f- God, but to show, like, that the Yahweh is different.

Seth: Yes.

David: Yeah, and yeah, and, and so I just, I mean, [laughs] getting to Jesus in this text, uh-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... I think is important, one.

Seth: It is.

David: But two, it might feel difficult. [laughs] But I think what we have to see here are two really important things exegetically first.

Seth: Right.

David: Like, what, what is this text about? And one, it's about the cleanliness of the camp-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... that God is concerned with the purity of his people, and one of the things that is in-

Seth: And God as lawgiver and judge.

David: Yes, that's right.

Seth: Like, judge. Right, right, right.

David: Yep, yep, yep. And so, and one of the things that's integral to the purity of the camp is marital fidelity. Like, marital fidelity is of a very high importance to God. In fact, um, and, and, and what's the, what's the basis of this whole thing taking place, this whole test taking place? The man gets jealous.

Seth: Right.

David: The jealousy, jealousy arises in a man, and he's not condemned for that.

Seth: Yeah.

David: He's not judged for that. Uh, it's not seen-

Seth: Well, it does-

David: ... as a bad thing.

Seth: The only thing that I was trying to figure out is in the very last verse, it says, uh, "The man shall be free from iniquity."

David: Right.

Seth: "But the woman shall bear her iniquity."

David: Yep.

Seth: Assuming, like, the man could be jealous in a wrong way, but if he's proven right, he doesn't bear his iniquity?

David: But I think you would then have to say that if he was wrong, then he does bear his iniquity, but that's not true.

Seth: Okay.

David: And so I don't think that's... I think this is supposed to remind us of w- God's name that he revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Seth: Yeah, he's jealous.

David: He said, "I'm... What's my name? I'm gonna tell you my name on Mount Sinai, and it's a long name, but part of that name is, 'I am the Lord your God, a jealous God.'"

Seth: Yeah.

David: He's jealous for his bride, Israel.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: And he does not want them to be adulterous. And what's gonna happen in the prophets? He's gonna call them adulterers, [laughs] like-

Seth: Right

David: ... and he's gonna get jealous, and they're going to drink the bitter cup of his wrath, right?

Seth: Yeah.

David: And then, but when Jesus comes and he calls himself the bridegroom-

Seth: And, and-

David: Yeah, go ahead

Seth: ... just like, just like here, like adultery, the punishment kind of fits the crime. If you wanna sleep around and violate the marriage covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, the Edenic covenant-

David: Yep

Seth: ... where you gotta be fruitful and multiply-

David: Yes, oh, yes

Seth: ... here-

David: This is very important, yeah

Seth: ... you actually don't get to experience-

David: Yes

Seth: ... what... You broke a covenant that was meant for your flourishing-

David: Yep

Seth: ... your multiplication, and your growth.

David: Yep.

Seth: You broke that covenant, which is pictured in marriage-

David: Yep

Seth: ... so you don't get to partake in the blessings-

David: That's right

Seth: ... of that marriage.

David: Yep.

Seth: And so the f- punishment fits the crime.

David: Yes.

Seth: And that's exactly what happened to the prophets.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: I've been studying Hosea recently.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Hosea gets exactly what she asked for. She wants to go chase after other lovers to give her wool and flax and all the things that she thinks she needs, so God says, "Sure, I'll hedge up your way so that your only option is to pursue those false lovers, and they'll never give t- I promise they'll never give you what you want."

David: Right.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Hosea's wife.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Yeah. Um, and so yeah, when Jesus comes, he calls himself the bridegroom. And he is the one, and, and like he comes to adulterous Israel, even goes to adulterous women.

Seth: Yeah, I was thinking-

David: Right? Like the woman at the well in John 4.

Seth: And even, I mean, in John 8, even though-

David: Oh, right

Seth: ... we don't necessarily know if it's canonical.

David: Right.

Seth: Like, it's... But I actually think there's a lot of parallels between this story, the more I think about it-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... in that story, because I mean, one, there's, the Pharisees are jealous-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... of Jesus' power and in- growing influence, so they come to him with a test-

David: Right

Seth: ... of adultery. You-

David: And it's not for their own wife, it's for-

Seth: F-

David: ... some random woman

Seth: ... for some random woman, who there's, they say there's a wit- there are witnesses to, but the hus-

David: But where are they?

Seth: But where are they?

David: Yeah. [laughs]

Seth: The husband is not even present for it.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And so what is Jesus being asked to do? He's being asked to judge.

David: Be the judge

Seth: ... just like God would have been the judge.

David: Which is ironic-

Seth: Which is [laughs]

David: ... that they're actually saying, like, "Hey, you take the place of Yahweh and make this judgment for us."

Seth: Right. It's like, it's funny-

David: That is ironic

Seth: ... because it's like they're trying to prove that he's not who he s-

David: Not God

Seth: ... says he is.

David: But by going to him as judge in, in the case of adultery-

Seth: [laughs]

David: ... they're saying he is God.

Seth: He's like, "So d-

David: That's really interesting

Seth: ... determine." And Jesus is kind of in an impossible situation, because-

David: Oh, right

Seth: ... if he says she's not guilty, they'll say, "Look, your rabbi doesn't-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... obey the law." If he says she is guilty, "Look, your rabbi has no mercy."

David: Yep.

Seth: But what does he do? He gives a... He like, "What? I wonder if writing in the dirt." He's writing the oath-

David: Right

Seth: ... that's written here.

David: And it's like a, it's a mix of he's-

Seth: Right

David: ... writing the curse, and it's in the sand.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So it's like the sand from the Holy of Holies and the curse that was written. That's, that's a really strong argument in that.

Seth: And so, and so, and then-

David: Interesting

Seth: ... what, and what does he say? What, what, what does he say in John 8?

David: Oh, he's like, yeah, he's like, "If, uh, who, who among you has not sinned, let him cast the first stone."

Seth: Right.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And so I don't know how that one necessarily correlates here, but the, what happens is all the accusers go away.

David: Go away.

Seth: The jealousy is dissipated.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: The test is no lon- like, he doesn't have to make a decision. [laughs] They make a decision for him.

David: Right. And, and she was guilty, and she w- she-

Seth: Well, we don't know that.

David: Well, I mean, he tells her, "Go and sin no more."

Seth: Wow.

David: "I don't condemn you either. Go in..." Like, I bet she, like, I think she, I think the whole point of the story was to presume guilt.

Seth: Mm.

David: Because, and like, and even if she wasn't guilty of adultery, she was guilty of something, or else-

Seth: Right

David: ... he wouldn't say, "Sin no more." He would say, "Keep on not sinning."

Seth: Keep on, [laughs] yeah.

David: [laughs] She was guilty, and she deserved punishment, but he ended up, like, drinking the bitter cup himself.

Seth: Mm.

David: You know, and that's what he-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... that's what Jesus says, "I'm gonna drink a cup."

Seth: Yeah.

David: "Can you drink that cup?" You know, like...

Seth: And I mean, even before we get to the Jesus drinking the cup of water-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... it's like Jesus is acting justly in that moment.

David: Yes.

Seth: Like, he is being the perfect-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... lawgiver of Israel.

David: Right.

Seth: Israel has all these laws that are meant to be com- to be kept.

David: Yep.

Seth: And the people accusing her are not following the proper protocol.

David: Right.

Seth: So he's actually, he's saying, he's throwing the court case out because of misconduct-

David: Yep

Seth: ... because of judicial misconduct.

David: Yep.

Seth: Like, we would do the same thing. That evidence, that-

David: Like a mistrial

Seth: ... mistrial.

David: Yep.

Seth: He's like, this is actually a mistrial. So he's acting as the-

David: Interesting

Seth: ... perfect judge of Israel-

David: Mm

Seth: ... like God was in the Book of Numbers.

David: Yes.

Seth: I don't think we necessarily have to get to the cross to say he drinks the bitter cup, although he does.

David: He does, yes.

Seth: He's, what he's saying is, "This is a mistrial."

David: Yeah.

Seth: "Go and sin no more, because there is a trial coming that you c- like this"-

David: Oh, yeah

Seth: ... "this could have happened to you"-

David: Right

Seth: ... "but this is a mistrial."

David: That's interesting.

Seth: Like, so I think that's probably the better way to read that.

David: Yeah, that's really helpful. Um, but I also think that, like-

Seth: And he's a more merciful, like, he's the most merciful-

David: He is very, yeah, he's very merciful. Uh, I'm just like, but only, like, the, the thing that gives him the right to const- to throw out every court, or to-

Seth: Right

David: ... throw out every, everything as a mistrial, or, or, or, you know, or not even that, but to-

Seth: Right

David: ... to, like, he-

Seth: Well, to say, "Neither do I condemn you"-

David: That's the thing

Seth: ... in order to say that-

David: Right

Seth: ... all punishment needs to be, all of Israel's sins-

David: Yes

Seth: ... need to be punished.

David: Yes.

Seth: They need to be atoned for.

David: Right. And so he's, and, and so I just think that, like, the curses are true of us. Like, we should get them. We should be excluded from the, the, the covenant blessings promised to those who would keep the law. We should be excluded from them. And yet Jesus drinks the curse himself so that we might have the blessings, so that we could be included, and it's just, it's amazing. Like-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... I just think all these... That's what I love about seeing Jesus in all of scripture, is you get to, like, it's a prism, you know, and as you shoot the light-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... of the gospel through it, you see different colors.

Seth: That's right.

David: And it's the same story.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Like, it's the gospel. It's the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, that to our cold, calloused hearts can grow f- too familiar, dangerously familiar. And, um, and it's like thinking about the, the curses written in the Book of Deuteronomy-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... pouring into a cup, right?

Seth: Right.

David: And then Jesus drinking that to the dregs.

Seth: The water, washing it into the... Yeah.

David: Yeah. And it's like, that's a beautiful picture of him-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... taking the punishments we deserve, that I've never had in my brain before. It's like-

Seth: Right

David: ... I get to inhabit a new imaginative world that the gospel-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... is building for me as I read the scr- as I read the Bible-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... and see Jesus in all of it. So anyway-

Seth: It's good

David: ... that, that's, uh, that's the case for adultery. Uh, now let's look at the famous Nazarite vow. [instrumental music] All right, and then the last thing in this section that is focused on the purity of camp is the Nazarite vow.

Seth: So what is a Nazarite?

David: A Nazarite is, is not a person. [laughs]

Seth: Is it a place?

David: Nope. [laughs] That's Nazarith.

Seth: Nazarine.

David: Which is not anywhere on Israel's radar right now.

Seth: So Nazarith-

David: Na- a Nazarite vow and a Nazarene, o- of which Jesus was, are not related-

Seth: What?

David: ... in any way, shape, or form.

Seth: I was expecting this to be a really easy Jesus story.

David: [laughs] I wish.

Seth: It's the Nazarite vow. Jesus is the Nazarene. Done.

David: It's done. Nope, not the case. And, um, and so, uh, the Nazarite vow seems to be something that people of this time were already familiar with, because it's just, like, not even explained. Like, whenever you wanna take a Nazarite vow, do this.

Seth: [laughs]

David: And it's like, uh, what? [laughs] You know? And it's so, it's been very confusing for scholars, because we don't have a lot of information about this vow. But it seems to have been something that was already in existence-

Seth: Right

David: ... that people wanted to do, that they wanted to be part of.

Seth: And we already have categories for vows-

David: That's right

Seth: ... in the end of Leviticus.

David: Yes. Yep.

Seth: Where basically it was take a vow-

David: Carefully

Seth: ... carefully.

David: Don't rush into one.

Seth: And so this is actually a prescribed vow, or, like, almost like- Yeah, it's like a prescribed vow. It's like-

David: This is a, it's a very particular... It's a vow with, that has its own, um-

Seth: Expectations, yeah

David: ... rules and expectations. Yeah. It's like a, it's like a, a, an, all, like, it, you know, maybe every other vow, va- vow is a la carte, and you kinda do it how you want.

Seth: Yeah.

David: This is prefixed. [laughs] You know? [laughs]

Seth: [laughs]

David: So this is, it, this is a, this is supposed to be a very, um, prestigious vow. And so, i-

Seth: Samson takes it.

David: Samson takes it. I think it's also, is, is it-

Seth: Samuel takes it

David: ... Samuel takes it, yep.

Seth: Uh, and there's one more person, I can't remember.

David: The, those are the two.

Seth: Those are just two?

David: Those are the big two.

Seth: The big two.

David: The big two. Uh, now in the a- in the ancient Near East, the, there's four things that we should be thinking about when it comes to vows that, um, not only were-

Seth: I like how you always have lists.

David: So yeah.

Seth: I have four things.

David: I have four things I wanna say about this. [laughs]

Seth: And normally, I only have three-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... 'cause I can, know, I know two.

David: And I can make up one.

Seth: I can make up a third-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... normally. [laughs]

David: But, uh, these aren't mine. I got these from a commentary.

Seth: Whittum.

David: And so, uh-

Seth: My favorite

David: ... uh, actually, it, I think it w- it, it's funny. It, it wasn't a Whittum com- commentary, but I'm pretty sure he was quoting Whittum-

Seth: [laughs]

David: ... in this part, which, yes, Gordon Whittum is one of my favorite commentators. But, um, no, so, uh, in, in, in the ancient Near East, vows w- were these four things. One, they grew out of need or distress.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: So we see that, um, in Samuel in, in, you know, where it's like she was barren-

Seth: Right

David: ... in, in Samson. They, they wanted a kid, and they were willing to take a vow and dedicate their kid for life-

Seth: Right

David: ... if they, if God would give them what they, what they were asking for. So it comes out of need or distress. Two, it is from humans to the gods, or in this case of Israel, God alone. Uh, three, it is conditional, so if you do this for me, then the vow will take place.

Seth: Okay.

David: Or, I will do this for as long as blank, or, you know, it's not unconditional-

Seth: Right

David: ... or never ending. And then four, when that condition is met or the time placed on it has ended, um, there's a public offering that's given upon completion.

Seth: Yep.

David: Okay, so w- we'll talk about all this. Uh, but just s- while the list is fresh in everyone's head, I do just wanna make a quick Jesus turn.

Seth: Okay.

David: 'Cause this is cool.

Seth: Do it from the list.

David: I will. So one, uh, instead of a gr- uh, a vow growing out of need or distress, G- Jesus and God, they have covenanted with us. They, y- Jesus makes vows to us that he will always be with us, that he will save us, that he will be our, our brother, our savior, our intercessor. He's-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... he's promised so many things to us. So here's, here's four things about God's vows to us. Right? One, they did not come out of need or distress-

Seth: Right

David: ... 'cause God has no need.

Seth: Yeah.

David: He did not have to make a vow with us-

Seth: Right

David: ... but he did. Two, um, it wasn't from humans to God. It was from God to humans, so it's completely flipped. Three, it's not conditional. It's unconditional. I will never leave you or forsake you. Right? All those kinds of things. And then four, um, instead of us offering a public offering that, um, showed its completion, m- making a sacrifice that we'll read about here in a second, um, instead, Jesus was the public offering that was offered to say that it is finished.

Seth: Mm.

David: The vow has been solidified. It is done. So I just think it's cool.

Seth: That is cool. Like, regardless of the vow-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... and we, I think we even talked a little bit about this-

David: Any vow at the end of Leviticus, yep

Seth: ... at the end of Leviticus, is like, Jesus is the ultimate vow-

David: Keeper

Seth: ... keeper.

David: Yes.

Seth: Yeah.

David: So good.

Seth: That's so good.

David: Anyway, so let's talk about this vow in particular. Um-

Seth: So what's unique about this one-

David: Yep

Seth: ... is absence from alcohol-

David: Yep

Seth: ... and no cutting of your hair.

David: Of your hair, yep.

Seth: So the no absence from alcohol one-

David: And, and no touching dead bodies

Seth: ... no touching dead bodies.

David: Is a big one.

Seth: Well, I thi- and those, those, the first and last one make sense to me. The no alcohol makes sense to me-

David: Uh-huh, right

Seth: ... because throughout scripture so far, throughout the Pentateuch, alcohol is normally associated with just bad things.

David: Right.

Seth: Like, in Leviticus, Nadab and Abihu are, offer strange fire-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and, uh, they're burned up, and the command that comes immediately after that is the priests should not be drinking strong drink or be drunk with wine.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: So that's not a direct parallel, but-

David: Right

Seth: ... a lot of people assume the reason why Nad- Nadab and Abihu were punished is because they were drinking alcohol, which would also make s- and so they went into the temple drunk.

David: Right, yep.

Seth: Which would also make sense because Lot was drunk and slept with his daughters.

David: Yep.

Seth: Uh, Noah was drunk in the whole thing with his son.

David: Yep.

Seth: So, like, there's this, there's this history in the covenantal, like, the c- different covenants that God makes with humanity-

David: Yep

Seth: ... that each one is interrupted by drunkenness.

David: Right.

Seth: And so it makes sense that he's abstaining from the thing that has inhibited the, the covenant in the past.

David: Right.

Seth: And interestingly, fun fact.

David: Mm.

Seth: So Lot sleeps with his daughters when he's drunk.

David: Yes.

Seth: And those clans-

David: Oh

Seth: ... are the Moabites and the Ammonites.

David: Yeah.

Seth: At the end of the book, Balaam-

David: Yep

Seth: ... a, a disowned or, like, not a son of the covenant.

David: Right, he's a-

Seth: A son of-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... of drunkenness.

David: Yeah.

Seth: A son of-

David: He's a Moabite

Seth: ... a son of sin-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... is the one who's pronouncing blessings over Israel-

David: [laughs]

Seth: ... as Israel is failing their covenant on the ground.

David: That's crazy.

Seth: Yeah, irony.

David: Irony.

Seth: Irony.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Uh, so that one makes sense to me. Then it a- that's, no touching dead bodies makes sense to me, because we've had s- we've talked a lot about what that means, and so maybe it doesn't make sense to you, but we've talked about that a lot.

David: Yep.

Seth: Um, like, G- the God of life, if you're gonna enter into a covenant with the God of life, a deal with the God of life, a vow with the God of life, you should not have anything to do with death.

David: Yep.

Seth: The hair one [laughs] does not make-

David: It's a weird one

Seth: ... it's not, so what do you, what's your take on-

David: Yep

Seth: ... the hair?

David: My take on the hair is that it was a public symbol that they were currently undergoing the Nazarite vow.

Seth: So it was basically for other people's edification.

David: Mm-hmm, yeah.

Seth: So then why burn it?

David: What?

Seth: At the very end of the Nazar-

David: Oh, it's a sac- yeah, it's a sacrifice at the end.

Seth: But why the-

David: The, like, I don't know. [laughs]

Seth: I, I, I thought a little bit more. Okay.

David: So, hold on. People might not understand what we're saying here.

Seth: So-

David: You're, you would grow your hair out. You wouldn't, you wouldn't shave it. You couldn't cut it, couldn't take a razor to it until the vow is over, and then you shave your head-

Seth: Yes

David: ... and you burn your hair along with the rest of your offering.

Seth: Right.

David: Okay. Why?

Seth: Why? And so, so you're saying, like, one, throughout the ti- the whole time of your Nazarite vow, you're gonna have this long, you're gonna have long hair.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: It's probably gonna form into dreadlocks unless you're washing it frequently.

David: [laughs] Right.

Seth: But, like, you're- You're living in the dirt.

David: Right.

Seth: I'm assuming dreadlocks.

David: Yeah, sure. Why not?

Seth: John the Baptist, he's the other Nazirite.

David: No.

Seth: No?

David: We'll talk about it.

Seth: What?

David: We'll talk... We'll get there.

Seth: Oh.

David: It's so super debated.

Seth: Oh, wow.

David: We'll talk about it.

Seth: Okay. Anyway, I had forgot where I was going. [laughs]

David: [laughs] Dreadlocks.

Seth: Dreadlocks. I don't even know where I was going with that. [laughs]

David: So you have these dreadlocks, and then, and then it's like, and then you cut them off, and you burn them.

Seth: Right.

David: And so, like, why this prohibition against cutting your hair, you know?

Seth: Oh, and you-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... so you said it was for a public symbol-

David: Maybe

Seth: ... of what is. I was thinking too-

David: One option

Seth: ... that, so there's one in the New Testament-

David: Mm

Seth: ... or in, in the Psalms, David describes, uh, an old man's hair as his crown.

David: Oh, right.

Seth: And so-

David: I... Yeah. It, yeah, isn't it, like, uh, uh, gray hair is a crown?

Seth: Gray, gray hair is a crown.

David: Right.

Seth: And so I was just thinking about, like-

David: Is that Proverbs or Psalms?

Seth: Oh, I've-

David: It might be Proverbs.

Seth: Probably Proverbs.

David: Anyway, yep.

Seth: And so I've just been thinking about, like, hair as a crown.

David: Okay.

Seth: As a symbol of who you are-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... and your dignity as an image-bearer of God. So, like, even just, like, like, we take great care with our hair. Like, our hair is an expression of our personality, the way that we style it.

David: Mm.

Seth: Like, all these things are important part of being a human with hair. [laughs]

David: Yeah.

Seth: Like, it's, or even if you're, don't have hair, like Bruce Willis.

David: Right. That's a statement.

Seth: That's a statement.

David: If even if you don't take care of your hair, that's also a statement.

Seth: That's, it's like-

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah

Seth: ... hair is a statement about who you are.

David: Sure.

Seth: And even, like, in old-time movies, like, when somebody would go off to war, what would the woman do? She'd, like, cut off a lock of her hair.

David: And give it to the soldier.

Seth: And give it to the soldier.

David: Yeah.

Seth: It's like, it's a symbol of who she is.

David: It's weird.

Seth: It is weird.

David: It's a really weird thing we do as humans.

Seth: Yeah, and over and over again in the text, it'll say, like, "Consecrate your head." Like, it, the hair is talked... Oh.

David: The head especially.

Seth: The head.

David: Yeah.

Seth: The head. Like, the hair, the head. Like, so I'm just wondering, like, if part of the reason the hair is so important is because it's recognizing the hair is a symbol of the person. When Israel would go into battle, one way that they would humiliate their captives-

David: They'd shave their heads

Seth: ... is by shaving their heads.

David: Yep.

Seth: Jesus's beard is pulled out as a way of-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... like shaving their heads.

David: Right.

Seth: Levites or, like, other people had to shave their head before-

David: Mm

Seth: ... they enter into a particular time. So I'm wondering-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... if, like, there's a symbolism with hair. It's like it is actually a representation of who you are.

David: Right.

Seth: It's-

David: And the fact that it comes from the head is also probably very significant.

Seth: Right.

David: The head was highly important-

Seth: Right. Although-

David: ... back then

Seth: ... the heart-

David: The heart's also very important.

Seth: Yeah.

David: But the head, what, like, that's where crowns go and-

Seth: Right, right, right.

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah, and that's where you pour anointing oil and, you know.

Seth: So I was, I was, like, the hair-

David: The, uh, the head's important for different reasons than-

Seth: For-

David: ... it's important for moderns.

Seth: Right. For us, it's like, that's the center-

David: The brain

Seth: ... of reasoning.

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Seth: Anyway.

David: No, different, different reasons.

Seth: So I was then wondering, like, if one of the reasons why the hair is important, it's because, like, you're g- a symbol of yourself-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... is being given over to the Lord.

David: Yeah. Maybe.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Maybe. It's really hard to tell. Anyway, but this, this Nazirite vow is, is just strange, and someone might just take it... They wanna take a very serious oath. If you wanna take a super serious oath, if you wanna beg God for something-

Seth: Right

David: ... take the Nazirite vow, and, like, you can do this.

Seth: Right.

David: Now, with John the Baptist-

Seth: Uh-oh

David: ... okay, John the Baptist, um, uh, like, I-

Seth: So that's where we would, like, traditionally-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... you might get through Jesus through John the Baptist because John the Baptist, a lot of people assume, took a Nazirite vow.

David: Well-

Seth: I thought he did until this moment.

David: Yeah, no. So I, I, I wanted to make that turn in the-

Seth: Oh

David: ... in the devotionals.

Seth: Okay.

David: And I, and I hint at it.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And I say it's debated.

Seth: Right.

David: And, um, and because we're not told that he abstained from strong drink.

Seth: Mm-hmm.

David: Um, we're not told that he didn't cut his hair. Like, all the, like, those are two of the big things.

Seth: Right.

David: I don't even think we're told that he stayed away from dead bodies.

Seth: Mm.

David: Uh, we're, all we're told is that he w- like, that he went out into the wilderness [laughs] and ate-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... locusts and honey.

Seth: Right.

David: And so it's like, uh, we don't really know. Now, it's possible. Uh, like, uh, his mom, you know, was barren.

Seth: Right.

David: But God came to them, you know?

Seth: Right, right, right, right, right.

David: And so it's kind of this vow reversal thing. Um, but the interesting thing that, uh, if he did take a Nazirite vow, you know, or even if he didn't and we're just supposed to be thinking of the Nazirite vow-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... um, I think this is really interesting.

Seth: Okay.

David: That the Nazirite vow, whenever it's over, right, when the conditions are met, you would come and make offerings.

Seth: Right.

David: And that would signify that the vow has been completed, and your time as a Nazirite is done.

Seth: Is over.

David: Okay? Um, if, uh... [laughs] It was so-

Seth: That was so rough

David: ... Seth just threw his phone.

Seth: [laughs] Angry.

David: Um, if, if, uh, if John was a Nazirite, and his whole purpose for being, taking this vow, setting himself apart, right, all this stuff-

Seth: Right

David: ... was to prepare the way for Jesus, whenever he sees Jesus, what does he say? He uses sacrificial language, and he says-

Seth: Oh

David: ... "Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." And then his ministry's over.

Seth: Hmm.

David: And it's like, it's just interesting that it's like his, his vow time-

Seth: Right

David: ... ends in a sacrifice, but it's not of an, of an animal.

Seth: Right.

David: It's the Lamb of God ends his time of sacrifice. So I do think that is interesting.

Seth: Fascinating.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And those are probably some of the reasons why people assumed he's making the Nazirite vow.

David: Yep.

Seth: I also learned this too-

David: I think we also really want a Nazirite vow in the New Testament, but we have one. We do have one.

Seth: Yeah. I've heard, uh-

David: I'll show you

Seth: ... historically, people, I think, got confused between Nazirite and Nazarene, like we said before.

David: Oh, big time, yeah.

Seth: Which is why Jesus has long hair in a lot of the old pictures.

David: Oh, really?

Seth: I think, I think-

David: You're probably right

Seth: ... historically-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... that's why. I don't know.

David: That's really funny.

Seth: It's like people assume, "Oh, he w- he was, he took a Nazarene vow at some point."

David: A Nazarene vow. [laughs]

Seth: A, a Nazirite vow at some point, so that's why he has lo- long hair in all the pictures.

David: Yes.

Seth: I'm like, "That's funny."

David: Um, but, uh, we do have an example of probably what is a Nazirite vow in the, in the New Testament. In the Book of Acts, um, Paul is talking, and he says that they have four men, um, under their care. So this is in Acts 21, uh, 23, and there are four men under their care who have made a vow. They're under a vow, and, um, in verse 24, he says, "Take these men and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads." 'Cause the shaving of the head would be-

Seth: Right

David: ... the end of the vow.

Seth: Right, right, right.

David: And, um, ac- according to, um, other texts from this time, we know that people under Nazirite vows would often have sponsors So like, and the sponsors would pay for all the offerings that concluded the Nazarite vow, and in a sense-

Seth: Oh

David: ... could kinda be shoehorned in to the piety associated with that vow.

Seth: So the idea is, like, "I don't really wanna make a vow-

David: Right

Seth: ... but I want to pay for somebody else to think about on my behalf."

David: Yeah.

Seth: And so I can l- maybe get what God wants... Well, I could get what God, what I want God to give me based on your piety-

David: Right

Seth: ... not my own.

David: And that would be the negative way to view it. The other way is like, "Man, this guy did this vow, and he's poor, can't really afford the end of his sacrifice. I'll pay for it."

Seth: Oh.

David: There's a nice way to think about it, too.

Seth: Or it's like, it's like, you know, like a non-prof.

David: Yeah, a non-profit.

Seth: Like a non-

David: Yeah, yeah.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Or like, yeah, it- it's just someone wanted to-

Seth: Or a missionary-

David: Right

Seth: ... or something like that. Yeah, yeah.

David: Yeah, and so there, here we have four people who were probably under the Nazarite vow who, uh, Paul wanted it to end, um, so they could, you know, continue their ministry with him. Maybe they needed to be going to parties where they could drink-

Seth: Oh

David: ... and maybe be a more effective ministry- min-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... missionaries or something, you know?

Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: So anyway, there is a Nazarite vow in the New Testament. There it is. Um, uh, anyway, so we've already kind of done a couple of our how do we see Jesus in this. A- any other observations-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... you wanna make?

Seth: Yeah.

David: Uh, this is, this is the end of this section.

Seth: Man, I really don't know. I was, I was struggling to get to the Nazarite vow- [laughs]

David: Yeah

Seth: ... [laughs] to Jesus, but I think we did it. Like, this is a-

David: We did. Yeah, with the vow.

Seth: It's a, it's a form of vow.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: And it's like, it's like, in the same way that the test of adultery is, like, an archetypal picture of the fact that God is involved in the community when people do not-

David: Right

Seth: ... confess sin, this is an archetypal picture of what it looks like to take a vow. It begins with a request from God-

David: Yep

Seth: ... and ends with a sacrifice to God. And ultimately, it's not necessarily about the specifics, but it's about what a vow is in general. It points us to Jesus.

David: Yeah. And you could look at it from this way, too. We're all in distress and in need, and we all need to cry out to God-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... for help, which is what someone would do when they took a vow. And, um, uh, but we can't live up to the requirements that would allow us to, like, earn God's favor. We, you know-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... yeah, we could abstain from alcohol, not cut our hair, and stay away from dead bodies, but the list of things that we need to abstain from is not three long. It's hundreds long.

Seth: Yeah.

David: It's the law, and it's God's perfect character. It's his glory. We've fallen short of that, and so we, we, we don't uphold the vow that we've cried out for. God help me. Save me. I need help. I don't wanna die. And yet we can't escape death from our own, by our own good works. And so Jesus comes and fulfills the vow for us, offering a sacrifice that frees us from the vow, you know, in a sense-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... and ends the vow. And, and I just think that's really interesting. There's a lot there, I think, actually. But the most really beautiful part of this section is at the end of chapter six, and it's-

Seth: The benediction

David: ... the benedict-

Seth: If you're-

David: The priestly bless, the priestly blessing.

Seth: If you're from a more traditional church, uh, or a more liturgical church, you probably end your church services-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... with this.

David: With this. Yep.

Seth: "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 your countenance, uh, lift, lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."

David: Yeah. And so this is something that, um, that Moses was to say to Aaron and his sons, and then Aaron and his sons were supposed to say to all the people.

Seth: Yeah.

David: And, and so whereas we just talked about a blessing probably for a particular person who took the-

Seth: Right

David: ... Nazarite vow, now God's saying, "I'm gonna bless all of Israel."

Seth: And here's what it looks like.

David: Yeah, and here's what it looks like.

Seth: And it makes-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... sense right here because essentially you've done all the city planning.

David: Yep.

Seth: Everything is ready for them to go into the new Eden.

David: Right.

Seth: And so the camp has been built.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: The laws have been established. God is in the middle of all justice and all promise-keeping.

David: Yep.

Seth: He's there in the middle of it. Now, let's go.

David: Right.

Seth: And so-

David: And yeah, that's a really good point, actually. This does kind of end the, the time at Sinai, um-

Seth: Right

David: ... and, and it would feel like that if it wasn't for seven through nine, chapter seven through nine, but those are a flashback-

Seth: Right

David: ... to Exodus. And so actually, this is the last thing said before they set out-

Seth: Right

David: ... to head toward Canaan. So we need... Yeah, that's, I've never actually thought about it like that. So this is it. So, "The Lord bless you and keep you."

Seth: What's fun, uh, some behind-the-scenes magic.

David: Oh, yeah?

Seth: So, like, in Hebrew, these are ascending. So in-

David: Oh, yes. I, yeah-

Seth: ... Hebrew-

David: ... I read about this.

Seth: So there's three words. "The Lord bless you and keep you" is three words in Hebrew. "The Lord make his face shine upon you" is five words.

David: Yep.

Seth: And then, "The Lord lift up his countenance" is seven words.

David: Yep.

Seth: So it's just ascending order-

David: Uh, by two

Seth: ... by two of, um, of blessing, of like just-

David: Yep, more and more blessing upon, line upon line it grows.

Seth: Yes.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And it is, I thi- I, I don't, I'd have to do a little more study, but I think historically or at least traditionally, Hebrew people would not speak the name of God-

David: Right

Seth: ... except when they would say this blessing.

David: Oh, wow.

Seth: So, like, like, so, like, normally they would, like, say Adonai instead of Yahweh.

David: Oh, yeah, yeah.

Seth: But except the once or twice a year they would say this blessing.

David: Yeah.

Seth: They would say, "Yahweh bless you and keep you, Yahweh."

David: Yeah.

Seth: So, like, that's not scripture.

David: Right.

Seth: But that's, like, Hebrew tradition-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... would reserve the speaking of the name of Yahweh for this blessing alone.

David: This is, this is a, a very important blessing to the people of Israel.

Seth: Yeah.

David: The oldest, uh, so back in 1979, there was an archeological dig in the old city of Jerusalem.

Seth: Okay.

David: Okay? And they found a phylactery.

Seth: Yeah.

David: Which-

Seth: The, the phylactery.

David: Phylactery.

Seth: With the thing they put on their heads and their hands.

David: And there's little scrolls in them.

Seth: Right.

David: Right? They're, like, about the size of a cigarette, you know? And, uh, and in that, it's the oldest one we've, we've found, and it was dated to the seventh century BC. So we're talking, like, pre-exilic period is, is, like, people are saying, like, where this came from.

Seth: So before, before Babylon took over Israel.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: And, and so, and they're saying, like, and so, and, and, uh, in it were two scrolls, and one was the full version of this blessing, and it matches the Masoretic Text that we have today.

Seth: Masoretic.

David: The, the Aramaic, isn't that the Aramaic version of the Old Testament that the Jews of Jesus' day probably would've been reading? I think that's it.

Seth: I'll, I'll take your-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... word on it.

David: I think that's right. Uh, and but it matches what we have today word for word.

Seth: Okay.

David: So it's like the preservation of the Bible, first off-

Seth: Right

David: ... is insane. Seven hundred, or eight hundred years before Jesus.

Seth: Amazing.

David: It's, it's crazy-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... that that text had been preserved like that. Um, and then the second scroll was a abridged version of this, like, a one you could just say in a, in a brief second, you know, like a quick little prayer. Uh, which this one's pretty short anyway, but I guess they loved it so much that they-

Seth: Like, instead of like the, it, it would be like, "The, the Lord keep, be gracious, and give me peace."

David: Yeah, something like that.

Seth: Oh, yeah, yeah.

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, um, this was a highly important prayer to the people of Israel. Um, and so i- it's, uh, and it's beautiful. I, I pray it over Ezra, my son, every, every single night.

Seth: Yeah, I've heard this one associated with, like, nighttime prayers.

David: Yeah.

Seth: Yeah, yeah.

David: Yeah. I, yeah, I say it, I say it over Ezra every single night, and it, it's a beautiful prayer. It's asking for God's blessing, which is the covenant-

Seth: Mm-hmm

David: ... that, that they would be fruitful and multiply, that he would keep them, keep them safe, keep them in the land, keep them in his presence-

Seth: Yes

David: ... uh, maintain their lives, give them long life, right?

Seth: Yeah.

David: So this is about life, multiplication, and inheritance.

Seth: Jude will pick up on that, like, you're kept for faith in Jesus Christ.

David: Yes, absolutely, right? And then, um, that he would make his face shine upon them and be gracious. What, this is what Moses saw on the mountain, may you see.

Seth: Yes.

David: May you see the glory of God. May you always be in his presence. And, uh, yeah.

Seth: It's what, uh, Paul talks about in first cr- in-

David: Second Corinthians 3

Seth: ... Second Corinthians 3-

David: Yep

Seth: ... when he says, like, we have it on our, we see with unveiled face-

David: Yep

Seth: ... the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ.

David: That's right.

Seth: So we have, like... And so what Paul will do, is doing here, is he's taking something that's about Yahweh alone-

David: Mm-hmm

Seth: ... and making it Trinitarian.

David: That's right.

Seth: And then the third, the Lord lift his countenance upon you and give you peace, like, we're told that the Holy Spirit is the peace bringer.

David: Yeah.

Seth: The comforter.

David: Right.

Seth: Like, so, like, I think in more liturgical services, you have the benediction at the end, which would be this, and you also have, um, what's, uh, a call to worship at the beginning.

David: Oh, right.

Seth: Both of wh- the first will be explicitly Trinitarian.

David: Mm-hmm.

Seth: This one is implicitly Trinitarian, even though that's not what Numbers is intending-

David: Oh, sure

Seth: ... to communicate. But-

David: Right. And I just think it's am- and it's, and it's supposed to, apparently, the rhythm of the Hebrew-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... is supposed to build and build and build until you get to the word shalom, peace.

Seth: Mm.

David: And it's all supposed to lead to peace, you know?

Seth: It's to Eden.

David: Yeah, to Eden.

Seth: What, what is per-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... what, like, this is, this is the chant on the way to Eden, and where, what, what, what, how is Eden described? As a peace, a, a place of shalom.

David: Mm.

Seth: Every, it's not just no wars. It's everything working correctly.

David: Together in harmony. Yeah.

Seth: So-

David: 'Cause shalom is about harmony and about-

Seth: Har-

David: Yeah, yeah

Seth: ... it's like, yeah, yeah-

David: Wow

Seth: ... the proper inner workings. So at the last words of it is shalom.

David: Yeah.

Seth: And it-

David: Dude, check this out. How does, how does-

Seth: Dude

David: ... Paul in- end and begin so many of his letters?

Seth: Grace and peace.

David: Grace and peace to you.

Seth: Mm.

David: That's, that's line two and line three, that he might be gracious to you, line two, and then he might give you peace. And then, um, Jesus, full of all grace and truth-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... came, in John 1. Uh, peace be with you, Jesus would say. Like, uh, I've come to bring peace, Jesus says, I think, in the, Luke's, Luke's account of the gospel when the angels come and say what he's bringing-

Seth: Yeah

David: ... peace to man, right?

Seth: Yep, yep, yep, yep.

David: And so it's like, he, w- like, who, who has, who brings the blessing, keeps us, carries the face and countenance of God himself, is gracious to us, and brings peace on Earth? This is Jesus.

Seth: This is Jesus.

David: The only one who accomplishes the priestly blessing.

Seth: And he's the one who will come again-

David: Yes, and say these words

Seth: ... and bring shalom.

David: And bring shalom forever.

Seth: We will say this again-

David: [clears throat]

Seth: ... before the new heavens and the new Earth.

David: Wow, yeah.

Seth: When Jesus is coming down from the clouds to recreate the world, we will say, "The Lord has blessed us-

David: Yeah

Seth: ... and kept us. The Lord has made his face to shine upon us, and he has been gracious to us.

David: Hmm.

Seth: The Lord, we see his countenance-

David: His, yeah. [laughs]

Seth: ... and he is bringing peace."

David: Yeah, that's beautiful. Well, guys, thank you so much for joining us, um, on this episode of the Spoken Gospel Podcast. Uh, it's a lot of fun, Numbers. Uh, we're gonna do Flashback next week. We're gonna go, go back to Exodus for a second-

Seth: Ooh, Flashback

David: ... in chapter 7 and 9, and then we're off. And then we'll be out of these, this law section and into the-

Seth: Yes

David: ... the narrative, which we-

Seth: I thought you were like, "We're off," like we're taking a break?

David: No.

Seth: I don't know about this. [laughs]

David: No, no, no. We're off like a, like a jet, like a rocket. And, uh, and then we get into the action movie of Numbers, and it'll, it gets really, really interesting. So, uh, this has been great. Thank you for joining us, and we'll see you next week. [upbeat music]

Outro: Thank you for listening to the Spoken Gospel Podcast. Spoken Gospel is a nonprofit dedicated to creating free gospel-centered media that speaks the gospel out of every corner of scripture. So to join us in our mission and view our resources, we invite you to visit spokengospel.com. [upbeat music]

Related Resources

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God's Moving Company, the Test of Adultery, and the Priestly Blessing

Show Notes

Packing Up God's House: The Levitical Moving Crew

The Purity of the Camp and God at the Center

The Test of Adultery: God as Judge

Jesus, the Bridegroom Who Drinks the Bitter Cup

The Nazirite Vow: Dedication, Distress, and the Ultimate Vow-Keeper

The Priestly Blessing: Grace, Peace, and the Road to Shalom

Related Resources

Introduction to Numbers

View our devotional on Numbers: 1:1-1:46

Ready to study a different book?

Listen to the Numbers Introduction podcast

Listen to the Numbers 1-3: The Census podcast

Listen to the Numbers 4-6: God's Moving Company podcast

Listen to the Numbers 7-9: Flashback to Exodus podcast

Listen to the Numbers 10-12: Power Struggle podcast

Listen to the Numbers 13-15: The Spy's Disbelief podcast

Listen to the Numbers 16-19: The Priest's Disbelief podcast

Listen to the Numbers 20-21: Moses' Disbelief podcast

Listen to the Numbers 22-24: Balaam and His Donkey podcast

Listen to the Numbers 25-27: The New Generation podcast

Listen to the Numbers 28-30: Holy Time and Rash Vows podcast

Listen to the Numbers 31: Holy War podcast

Listen to the Numbers 32-36: Before The Promised Land podcast