The events of this chapter occurred during the first month of the second year after the children of Israel left Egypt. There’s the provision for a “makeup Passover” for those unavoidably out of the country or “unclean” at the time of Passover and purification of the Levites as the primary “firstborn” of Israel in God’s eyes.
Daniel elaborates on the chiastic structure of 2nd Samuel 15–20 by showing a couple of simpler chiastic structures in Numbers 7, which was discussed during the Torah study.
The one in 2nd Samuel is the largest chiastic structure that Daniel has presented so far. However, the focus of this chiastic structure, as in most chiastic structures, is the Messiah. God places these chiastic structures in the Bible to reveal clues about the role of the Messiah or events that will occur in the Messiah’s life on earth.
This chapter gives us an example of unity and diversity. Each tribe had its function in regards to the dedication of the temple but each tribe was required to bring the exact same number of items in a set pattern over the course of 12 days. Within the tribe of Levi, each family had their functions and received different gifts to fulfill that function. Their individual functions did not dilute their unity as the people of Israel. All the tribes had to participate to accomplish the dedication of the altar.
This chapter is one of those chapters we read and question the modern day relevance. There’s lots of accounting in this chapter, giving an account of individual tribal offerings and adding them up overall. It also gives the names of individual tribal leaders we don’t know.
Seven days after Israel left Egypt after the first Passover, the new nation went through the Red Sea. The salvation of the LORD was on display. God said that “from generation to generation” we are to remember the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is easy not to remember this time because the world’s system purposefully distracts from this time and ignores it as much as possible. God proved His sincere desire to redeemed mankind when He commanded His Son to die for us.
Part of Yeshua’s calling was to heal the sick and there was no disease that caused more Jews to tremble than the prospect of leprosy. Once a priest diagnosed a person with leprosy, that person was an outcast, shunned in the community and compelled to live a life of loneliness. Healthy people who came into contact with a leper were considered unclean, too. Yeshua’s healing of these lepers is very significant because he not only healed them with his words but with his touch. Some claim that Yeshua’s cleansing of lepers in this fashion was a rebuke and a refutation of the Levitical system but Yeshua’s healings actually uphold the Levitical system because he commands the lepers to go back to the priests to have their healing confirmed so they can rejoin the community of believers.
Matzah is the culinary focus of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and we eat it every day for seven days. That’s the physical reality of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. However, if we aren’t careful, we can miss the spiritual reality of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Just as matzah’s simple mixture of flour and water (with no salt, leavening or seasonings added) is a “back to basics” food, on a spiritual level, God is calling us to get back to the basics of sincerity and truth in our spiritual life, too. If we miss out on sincerity and truth, all we get out of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is constipation.
We know that Yeshua loves us and we love Yeshua. Sometimes God the Father is left out of the loop of affection. We forget the fact that everything Yeshua ever did was because of His Father. We don’t think about the fact that God loves us even more. Yeshua did nothing that was not approved by the Father. God has set aside this time as a time of protection and sanctification. He gives us His sincerity and His truth. We don’t become unleavened because of us but because of Him.
Richard also presents his views on the role of Yeshua in Creation and the identity of the Holy Spirit.