Malcom: Welcome to Immerse: the Daily Bible reading Experience.
Day 100 and 36
then the Lord said to Moses, now set the Levites apart from the
rest of the people of Israel and make them ceremonially clean.
Do this by sprinkling them with the water of P purification and have them shave
their entire body and wash their clothing.
Then they will be ceremonially clean.
Have them bring a young bowl and a grain offering of choice flour
moistened with olive oil, along with a second young bowl for a sin offering.
Then assemble the whole community of Israel and present the Levites
at the entrance of the tabernacle.
When you present the Levites before the Lord, the people of Israel
must lay their hands on them.
Raising his hands.
Aaron must then present the Levites to the Lord as a special offering
from the people of Israel, thus dedicating them to the Lord's service.
Next, the Levites will lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls present,
one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to purify the
Levites and make them right with the Lord.
Then have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons.
And raise your hands and present them as a special offering to the Lord.
In this way, you will set the Levites apart from the rest of the people of
Israel, and the Levites will belong to me.
After this, they may go into the tabernacle to do their work
because you have purified them and presented them as a special offering.
Of all the people of Israel, the Levites are reserved for me.
I have claimed them for myself.
In place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites, I have taken the Levites as
their substitutes for all the firstborn males among the people of Israel are
mine, both of people, and of animals.
I set them apart for myself.
On the day I struck down all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians.
Yes, I have claimed the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons of Israel and
of all the Israelites I have assigned the Levites to Aaron and his sons.
They will serve in the tabernacle on behalf of the Israelites and
make sacrifices to purify the people so no plague will strike them
when they approach the sanctuary.
So Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel dedicated the Levites carefully.
Following all the Lord's instructions to Moses, the Levites purified themselves
from sin and washed their clothes, and Aaron lifted them up and presented
them to the Lord as a special offering.
He then offered a sacrifice to purify them and make them right with the Lord.
After that, the Levites went into the tabernacle to perform their
duties, assisting Aaron and his sons.
So they carried out all the commands that the Lord gave
Moses concerning the Levites.
The Lord also instructed Moses.
This is the rule the Levites must follow.
They must begin serving in the tabernacle at the age of 25, and they must retire
at the age of 50 after retirement.
They may assist their fellow Levites by serving as guards at the tabernacle, but
they may not officiate in the service.
This is how you must assign duties to the Levites.
A year after Israel's departure from Egypt, the Lord spoke to
Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the first month of that year.
He said, tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover at the
prescribed time at Twilight on the 14th day of the first month.
Be sure to follow all my decrees and regulations concerning this celebration.
So Moses told the people to celebrate the Passover in the wilderness
of Sinai as twilight fell on the 14th day of the month, and they
celebrated the festival there just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
But some of the men had been ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, so they
could not celebrate the Passover that day.
They came to Moses and Aaron that day and said, we have become ceremonially
unclean by touching a dead body.
But why should we be prevented from presenting the Lord's
offering at the proper time with the rest of the Israelites?
Moses answered.
Wait here until I have received instructions for you from the Lord.
This was the Lord's reply to Moses.
Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.
If any of the people now or in future generations are ceremonially unclean at
Passover time because of touching a dead body, or if they are on a journey and
cannot be present at the ceremony, they may still celebrate the Lord's Passover.
They must offer the Passover sacrifice.
One month later at twilight on the 14th day of the second month, they
must eat the Passover lamb at that time with bitter salad, greens,
and bread made without yeast.
They must not leave any of the lamb until the next morning, and they
must not break any of its bones.
They must follow all the normal regulations concerning the Passover,
but those who neglect to celebrate the Passover at the regular time, even
though they are ceremonially clean and not away out, a trip will be cut
off from the community of Israel.
If they fail to present the Lord's offering at the proper time, they will
suffer the consequences of their guilt.
And if foreigners living among you want to celebrate the Passover to the Lord?
They must follow these same decrees and regulations.
The same laws apply both to native born Israelites and to
the foreigners living among you.
On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered it.
But from evening until morning, the cloud over the tabernacle
looked like a pillar of fire.
This was the regular pattern.
At night, the cloud that covered the tabernacle had the appearance of fire.
Whenever the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel
would break camp and follow it, and wherever the cloud settled, the
people of Israel would set up camp.
In this way, they traveled and camped at the Lord's command
wherever he told them to go.
Then they remained in their camp as long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle.
If the cloud remained over the tabernacle for a long time, the Israelites stayed
and performed their duty to the Lord.
Sometimes the cloud would stay over the tabernacle for only a few days,
so the people would stay for only a few days as the Lord commanded.
Then at the Lord's command, they would break camp and move on.
Sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and lifted the next morning.
But day or night, when the cloud lifted, the people broke camp and moved on.
Whether the cloud stayed above the tabernacle for two days a month
or a year, the people of Israel stayed in camp and did not move on.
But as soon as it lifted, they broke camp and moved on.
So they camped or traveled at the Lord's command and they did whatever
the Lord told them through Moses.
Now the Lord said to Moses, make two trumpets of hammered silver for
calling the community to assemble and for signaling the breaking of camp.
When both trumpets are blown, everyone must gather before you
at the entrance of the tabernacle.
But if only one trumpet is blown, then only the leaders, the heads
of the clans of Israel must present themselves to you When you sound the
signal to move on, the tribes camped on the east side of the tabernacle
must break camp and move forward.
When you sound the signal a second time, the tribes camped
on the south will follow.
You must sound short blasts as the signal for moving on.
But when you call the people to an assembly, blow the trumpets
with a different signal.
Only the priests errands.
Descendants are allowed to blow the trumpets.
This is a permanent law for you to be observed from generation to generation.
When you arrive in your own land and go to war against your enemies who attack
you, sound the alarm with the trumpets, then the Lord your God will remember
you and rescue you from your enemies.
Blow the trumpets in times of gladness too, sounding them at your annual
festivals and at the beginning of each month and blow the trumpets over your
burnt offerings and peace offerings.
The trumpets will remind your God of his covenant with you.
I am the Lord your God.
In the second year after Israel's departure from Egypt on the 20th day
of the second month, the cloud lifted from the tabernacle of the covenant.
So the Israelites set out from the wilderness of Sinai and traveled on
from place to place until the cloud stopped in the wilderness of paren.
When the people set out for the first time following the instructions,
the Lord had given through Moses Judah's troops led the way.
They marched behind their banner and their leader was Nashan, son of Amab.
They were joined by the troops of the tribe of Issachar, led by Nathaniel
son of Zu, and the troops of the tribe of Zebulon, led by Elia, son of Helen.
Then the Tabernacle was taken down and the Gersen Knight and Maite divisions
of the Levites were next in the line of March, carrying the Tabernacle with them.
Ruben's troops went next marching behind their banner.
Their leader was Eliza, son of Shadier.
They were joined by the troops of the tribe of Simeon, led by
Shaio, son of Zuru, Shadi, and the troops of the tribe of Gad.
Led by Eliasoph, son of duel.
Next came the Koha fight division of the Levites, carrying the
sacred objects from the tabernacle.
Before they arrived at the next camp, the Tabernacle would already
be set up at its new location.
Ephraim's troops went next marching behind their banner.
Their leader was Alima son of am Maud.
They were joined by the troops of the tribe of Manasa, led by Emilio son of Pza,
and the troops of the tribe of Benjamin.
Led by a Biden, son of Gioni.
Dan's troops went last marching behind their banner and serving as the
rear guard for all the tribal camps.
Their leader was Aiser son of Emma Shadi.
They were joined by the troops of the Tribe of Asher, led by pa, son of
Akron, and the troops of the Tribe of Naftaly, led by Ajara, son of Enon.
This was the order in which the Israelites marched division by division.
One day Moses said to his brother-in-law, Hoba, son of rule, the Midianite.
We are on our way to the place the Lord promised us for.
He said, I will give it to you.
Come with us and we will treat you well.
For the Lord has promised wonderful blessings for Israel, but Hoba
replied, no, I will not go.
I must return to my own land and family.
Please don't leave us.
Moses pleaded.
You know the places in the wilderness where we should camp.
Come be our guide.
If you do, we'll share with you all the blessings the Lord gives us.
They marched for three days after leaving the mountain of the Lord with the Ark
of the Lord's covenant, moving ahead of them to show them where to stop and
rest as they moved on each day, the cloud of the Lord hovered over them.
And whenever the ark set out, Moses would shout, arise, oh Lord, and
let your enemies be scattered.
Let them flee before you.
And when the ark was set down, he would say, return, oh Lord, to
the countless thousands of Israel.
Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the
Lord heard everything they said.
Then the Lord's anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among
them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp.
Then the people screamed to Moses for help, and when he prayed
to the Lord, the fire stopped.
After that, the area was known astara, which means the place
of burning because fire from the Lord had burned among them there.
Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to
crave the good things of Egypt, and the people of Israel also began to complain,
oh, for some meat they exclaimed.
We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt, and we had
all the cucumbers, melons, leaks, onions and garlic we wanted,
but now our appetites are gone.
All we ever see is this manna.
The manna looked like small coriander seeds, and it was pale yellow like
gum resin that people would go out and gather it from the ground.
They made flour by grinding it with hand mills or pounding it in mortars.
Then they boiled it in a pot and made it into flat cakes.
These cakes tasted like pastries baked with olive oil.
The manna came down on the camp with the dew during the night.
Moses heard all the family standing in the doorways of their tents, whining,
and the Lord became extremely angry.
Moses was also very aggravated, and Moses said to the Lord, why are you
treating me your servant so harshly?
Have mercy on me.
What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people?
Did I give birth to them?
Did I bring them into the world?
Why did you tell me to carry them in my arms?
Like a mother carries a nursing baby.
How can I carry them to the land you swore to give their ancestors?
Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people?
They keep whining to me saying, give us meat to eat.
I can't carry all these people by myself.
The load is far too heavy.
If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me.
Do me a favor and spare me this misery.
Then the Lord said to Moses, gather before me, 70 men who are recognized as
elders and leaders of Israel bring them to the tabernacle to stand there with you.
I will come down and talk to you there.
I will take some of the spirit that is upon you and I will
put the spirit upon them also.
They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not
have to carry it alone and say to the people, purify yourselves for tomorrow.
You will have meat to eat.
You were whining and the Lord heard you when you cried.
Oh, for some meat we were better off in Egypt.
Now the Lord will give you meat and you will have to eat it, and
it won't be for just a day or two or for five or 10 or even 20.
You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it for
you have rejected the Lord who is here among you, and you have whined to him
saying, why did we ever leave Egypt?
But Moses responded to the Lord, there are 600,000 foot soldiers here
with me, and yet you say, I will give them meat for a whole month.
Even if we butchered all our flocks and herds, would that satisfy them?
Even if we caught all the fish in the sea, would that be enough?
Then the Lord said to Moses, has my arm lost its power?
Now you will see whether or not my word comes true.
So Moses went out and reported the Lord's words to the people.
He gathered the 70 elders and stationed them around the tabernacle, and the Lord
came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses.
Then he gave the 70 elders the same spirit that was upon Moses, and when the
spirit rested upon them, they prophesied.
But this never happened again.
Two men, l, dad and me, dad had stayed behind in the camp.
They were listed among the elders, but they had not gone
out to the tabernacle yet.
The spirit rested upon them as well, so they prophesied there in the camp.
A young man ran and reported to Moses.
L Dad and me dad are prophesying in the camp Joshua, son of none who had been
Moses' assistant since his youth protested Moses, my master, make them stop.
But Moses replied, are you jealous?
For my sake, I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord
would put his spirit upon them all.
Then Moses returned to the camp with the elders of Israel.
Now the Lord sent a wind that brought quail from the sea and
let them fall all around the camp for miles in every direction.
There were quail flying about three feet above the ground.
So the people went out and caught quail all that day and throughout
the night and all the next day too.
No one gathered less than 50 bushels.
They spread the quail all around the camp to dry.
But while they were gorging themselves on the meat, while it was still in
their mouths, the anger of the Lord blazed against the people, and he
struck them with a severe plague.
So that place was called Kira Eva, which means graves of gluttony because
there they buried the people who had craved meat from Egypt, from Berth Heva.
The Israelites traveled to Hazera where they stayed for some time.
This concludes today's Immer Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.