Numbers

Lots of specific instances recorded in the book of Numbers.

People counted. Fighting men numbered(men 20 years or older that can fight = approximately 600,000). Levite tribe numbered by clans and assigned tasks associated with moving tabernacle. The following is my way of trying to remember which clan moved which part of the tabernacle. Kohath-all holy of holies articles(ark of covenant) and articles within the tabernacle(table with showbread, lampstand, stand with burning incense) I call this the heart, Gershon responsible for all fabric on all walls around all sides of tabernacle, I call this the skin, Merrari responsible for all posts and the bases they rest in to support the cloth walls and overhead cloth, I call these the bones. Kohath-heart, Gershon-skin, Merrari-bones.

Second passover takes place a year after the Exodus.

Passover regulations are readdressed.

Cloud of fire(manifestation of God's presence) leads the people.

People complain and fire of God consumes some.

People whine about no meat "only" manna. God sends quail and then judges the people.

70 elders get Moses' spirit(including two who remain in the camp).

People are judged with a plague.

Miriam and Aaron bad mouth Moses. Miriam gets leprosy as judgment. Moses begs for mercy for her.

12 spies sent.

10 spies lead the people into unbelief and rebellion.

God decides noone over 20 at Exodus will enter the promised land.

Next day people decide to go up without God and are slaughtered.

Regulations about no difference between Jew and alien sacrifices.

Regulations about difference between accidental and willful sin.

Story about man working on Sabbath and being sentenced to death.

Questioning of authority....

Korah's rebellion questions authority. God judges Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their families(ground swallows them up).

THE NEXT DAY!!! -- people rebel
God judges with a plague and 14,700 die.

One staff from each tribe is taken including one from Aaron. Aaron's staff buds and blossoms overnight to further establish God's authority rested on Aaron and his line.

Aaron, priests, and Levites given regulations about their care for temple and offerings.

Sacrifice of Red Heifer regulations.

Also in Numbers are the jealousy test for husbands who suspect their wives of unfaithfulness.
The account of Moses disobeying and being told he would not enter promised land.
Fighting and defeating people east of Jordan.
Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and 1/2 tribe of Manasseh claim land east of Jordan as their inheritance, but they take solemn oath to fight with their brothers on west side until they have conquered the promised land.

That's alot but I've missed a lot. As I said at the beginning, Numbers has a lot of specific events to learn about and consider. I always thought of Numbers as similar to Leviticus (thick with info, but not so much with historical info)but that is not true, Numbers is extremely thick with historical narrative.

One year wake up call

We are swiftly approaching the one year anniversary of that day in 2008 when we in America decided that the dynamic duo of Obama and Stuart Smalley could save the day. What exactly may lie ahead in the course of the coming year is quite honestly chilling. But first let's recap shall we... during the last year, we have passed well over 1.5 trillion(1,500,000,000,000) dollars in bailout funds (half of which was accomplished by our beloved Bush and his peeps). This is three times the amount that it took to fund Iraq and Afghanistan for the entire time we had been there up to this point(6 years or so). This has put our country perilously close to the international equivalent of bankruptcy because even the U.S. Gov has to pay someone. We must either print more money(devaluing our own dollar), borrow more money from the Chinese, or tax the people of the U.S.A. a bit more and more and more. The Obama administration has chosen doors one, two, and three.

Now, what lies ahead, you ask?? Well kids, the fun has just begun! In spite of the fact that roughly half(depending on whose stats you believe) of current healthcare costs are already being paid through government (or by taxpayer funds), we have been told that Obama and the dems sense a desperate need to saddle the taxpayers with a much, much bigger tax burden to "fix" our horribly broken healthcare system. Also, to see a preview of what "fixing" our horribly broken healthcare system looks like, please note the wonderful job the government has done "fixing" what was our horribly broken housing market. Roughly half the mortgages in the U.S. are currently underwritten by the U.S. government, 70-90% of all new mortgages during the last couple of years are underwritten by the U.S. government, and foreclosures are at all time high. Ra ra sis boom bah, goooooo Uncle Sam. Without going into detail, let's just consider some of the other purchases Obama has been making for us(the taxpayer). He has gotten us a couple of primo American auto companies(Chrysler and GM), multiple banks, and an awesome American Investment Group to help us manage all our new acquisitions. That's just the beginning. He has his eyes of the prize of American energy next, and if you think Obama's just another one of these greedy capitalist just all about the bling for him and us. Think again. In December, at the World Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, he is poised to begin a process of amazingly generous charitable donations to all the tyran....um....poor of the world on our behalf so that we don't have to feel guilty any more about all this wealth that we have.

Ok, the rant portion of this post is now over. Hopefully, it was somewhat enjoyable to some of you, and Lord knows it was therapeutic for me. :) Now for something a bit more constructive. I have some very specific ideas about actual things that we can do as individuals during the next 3-6 months that will actually be helpful and meaningful. The only preview I can give you is that it regards electing actual conservatives(financially, foreign policy, socially, and above all small government conservatives) during 2010 in the U.S. House of Representatives. This is the one area other than prayer, voting and pestering the mess out of our current reps that we can do, and the key is finding and supporting conservatives early enough in the process to hopefully make them the Republican that wins the Republican primary. Whether Dem or Republican, getting a conservative candidate MUST, MUST happen during the primary season of the election process. This means we've got to get cranking on finding and supporting ACTUAL conservatives during the next few months. I have ideas about this, and I promise to have some kind of explicit representation of those ideas with actual opportunity for people to respond with action within the next month.....for the record, even if you don't read this blog, I'll probably be on a recruiting mission with this one.

Smooches and sunshine to all(yes even to President Obama and the Dems, I don't hate 'em. I'm just mad at 'em.)

Leviticus

Specifics about sacrifices.

Much of it revolves around priest/Levite rules.

Meditate on symbolism of tribe without an inheritance of land but whose inheritance is the Lord.

Sacrifices--burnt, sin, wave, freewill, fellowship

Nadab and Abihu smote after offering unauthorized fire.

Regulations about public health issues.

Priestly duties regarding Atonement.

Sexual relations law specifics.

Lots of different mixture of laws and specific regulations near the end.

BE HOLY--(set apart).

Alaska