I want to offer a trigger warning: This narrative includes S.A.

With that said, let’s dive in.

This phrase captures the era of the Judges, a time of severe lawlessness, chaos, and turmoil among the Israelites in their covenant with the God of their ancestors (also see Judges 17:6, 18:1, and 21:25). Ideally, a king would lead the people not only through military battle and political maneuvering but also in faithfulness to the covenant with God. Sidebar: Most of the later Israelite kings don’t do this.

But the point is that it’s a terrible time in Israel’s history, so it’s no surprise that this narrative will follow suit.

Verse 1 continues:

Here, we have two unnamed Israelites whose relationship is based on concubinage. If we read through verses 2-10, we get a brief window into the complexity of their relationship. But for this post, I want to draw our attention to verse 11 and following:

The couple and their servant had just left the concubine’s father’s home. They were on their way near Jebus (later Jerusalem), and the servant made a reasonable suggestion. After extensive travel, it would make sense to stop at a nearby place to get some rest.

But the Levite doesn’t want to spend the night among the Jebusites because they’re not Israelites. That also makes sense. You can imagine how much “safer” they’d feel among their kin than among the Jebusites. Not to mention, the Jebusites were among the Canaanites the Israelites were instructed to drive out. It all seems too risky, right?

So they attempt to set up shop in Gibeah, a Benjaminite town. But the hospitality is subpar until we read:

The old Ephraimite man for the win! Leave it to the Ephraimite elder among the Benjaminites to show hospitality to a Levite man, a Judahite woman, the unidentified servant, and the donkeys. We can’t forget the donkeys!

Echoes of Genesis

The lack of hospitality from the Benjaminites toward the guests sets the tone for what’s to come next.

WHAT IS HAPPENING? The men of the city swarm the house, intent on assaulting the Levite guest. But wait…haven’t we seen something like this before? Absolutely. This takes us back to Genesis 19:

As the men of Sodom desire to assault Lot’s guests, the men of Gibeah desire the same for a guest of the old man. The parallels don’t stop there, and it gets worse.

The old man tries to reason with the men, begging them not to commit this atrocity. In an attempt to protect his Levite guest, he makes a horrific “offer” to appease the crowd—he “offers” his daughter and the Levite’s concubine for the crowd to “do whatever” they want to them instead of the Levite.

In other words, the old man is willing to put two already vulnerable women in exponentially greater danger to demonstrate his extreme hospitality toward his male guest.

If this makes you sick to your stomach, good. It’s supposed to. This isn’t the only thing that’s supposed to happen in your reaction. Genesis 19 is supposed to come back to mind.

Let’s list some parallels between Genesis 19 and Judges 19 at this point:

• A man not native to a town shows hospitality to other foreigners.

  • Lot, a foreigner in Sodom, takes in the two angels

  • The old man, a foreigner in Gibeah, takes in the couple, the servant, and the donkeys

• The men of the city intend to assault the guests

  • The men of Sodom surround Lot’s house

  • The men of Gibeah surround the old man’s house

• The host begs the crowd not to act “wickedly”, from the Hebrew root ra’a’

  • “Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing (ra’a’).” — Genesis 19:6-7

  • “The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile (ra’a’). Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing.” – Judges 19:23

• The host endangers two women to protect male guests

  • Lot endangers his two daughters

  • The old man endangers his daughter and the concubine

But there’s a significant difference between the narratives. There are no angels on the scene to rescue anyone. Because the crowd didn’t listen to the old man, the Levite throws his concubine out to the crowd to save himself. This evil act compounds the atrocious evil the crowd commits against the woman throughout the night, and is followed by his continued evil against her in the rest of the story (see vv. 25-30). All of this leads to a civil war in Judges 20.

The parallels and contrasts between Genesis 19 and Judges 19 highlight a major point:

Gibeah is a new Sodom.

Like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, many Benjaminite cities were set ablaze in Judges 20 as an act of judgment.

The Israelites were called to be a light among the nations. But this story shows how far Israelite society strayed from its covenantal ways. These evil ways were supposed to be purged from the land, but instead they took root among the Israelites as well.

There’s no way I can think of to land this plane on smooth ground. We’re supposed to be disturbed. At the same time, these kinds of narratives in the Scriptures are an invitation not to run away but to dig deeper in the tension.

Similarly, I really appreciate it when biblical authors do the same. Biblical literature is a massive collection, and it’s easy to get lost in the sauce. But there are times when the plot of a given book is revealed at the start, which helps me have a general sense of the reading journey I’m about to embark on.

The Book of Judges is one of them.

When we turn toward the end of Judges 2, we read:

The passage continues through verse 23, but the point I want to make is that throughout the book, the Israelites follow a cycle of rebellion, being handed over to their enemies by God, crying out to God, and God raising up a leader to rescue them. Rinse and repeat.

Calling All the Deliverers

As I was reading verse 16, something struck me. The Israelites are under the thumb of others. But God calls and empowers a leader to deliver them, leading to a period of freedom.

This reminded me of Moses.

In other words, the Judges seem to function as new Moses figures, leading through mini-exodus moments and guiding the Israelites back to faithfulness to God.

Another thing that struck me in verse 16 was the word “deliver.” The root word for “deliver” in verse 16 is yasha’, which is used in Exodus 14:

Through Moses, God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian oppression. Now, through the Judges, God delivers the Israelites from more oppressors.

However, like their ancestors on the other side of the parting of the waters, the Israelites fall into bad habits, especially idolatry. The very land their ancestors were promised was now filled with covenantal chaos.

Giving Rest to the Land

Okay, so the Judges are appointed by God to deliver their fellow Israelites. Got it. So, what happens next? The Israelites experience periods of shalom. Interestingly, the number of years in these periods strikes another chord of the Exodus melody. Let’s take a look at some examples.

The first judge we’re introduced to is Othniel, who delivers Israel from King Cushan-rishathaim. We read:

How many years of rest? 40. The same number of years that the Israelites were in the wilderness. Notice the pattern: God raises a leader. They deliver the Israelites. 40 years pass, and then the leader dies.

During the Exodus, God raised Moses. He rescued the Israelites, led them for 40 years in the wilderness, and then he died. Here, God raises Othniel, who rescues the Israelites and leads them through a 40-year period of rest. He then dies.

But there’s an interesting flip side to this story. Under Moses’s leadership, those 40 years in the wilderness were packed with challenges for many reasons. One is that the wilderness was never meant to be the final stop. But other reasons include grumbling, rebellions, testings, and more.

Even when the Israelites finally settled in the promised land, they still carried some of their ancestors’ wilderness habits with them. But Othniel acts as a new Moses, guiding the people into a different kind of 40-year journey—one of rest and peace in the land.

Let’s briefly look at a few more:

After Othniel died, the downward spiral returned. So, God raised Ehud, who rescued his people from the Moabites. At the end of his story, we read:

The land rests for 80 years, twice as long as before! Let’s keep moving.

Later, we get to one of our favorite biblical aunties—Deborah! After she delivers her people from King Jabin, she and Barak sing a song. Then, we read:

One more.

After the tale of Deborah, we’re introduced to Gideon. At the end of his story, we see:

That said, these repetitive periods of time are not happenstance, in my view. They help us to see the events in the Book of Judges through the lenses of what we have read before. In this case, through the lens of the Exodus story.

Every detail matters.

Moses serves as a foundational leader for the Israelites, so we can expect his story to be echoed in later narratives about Israelite leaders. Similarly, the Exodus from Egypt is a core event for the Israelites, making it unsurprising to encounter new Exodus moments later on.

The Book of Judges is no exception.

Happy Monday, fam.

On the Third Day

Joshua is the new leader of Israel. He’s empowered and emboldened by God, and now it’s go time. So, what does Joshua decide to do first? He organizes the people for a special event:

Notice the specific time frame. “Within three days.” Special things often happen on the third day in the biblical story. Maybe it’s just me overthinking, but this reminds me of a special event that occurred under Moses’s leadership in Exodus 19.

Moses led the Israelites to Mount Sinai, and God instructed him to prepare the people for a divine encounter there. Let’s observe what Moses says to the people:

Like Moses, Joshua prepares the Israelites for a significant event on the third day. Again, maybe I’m stretching here, but Joshua’s leadership seems to flow smoothly from Moses’s. I won’t beat a dead horse, so let’s move on, lol. Maybe the next example will present more buy-in for you.

Spies in the Land

What’s Joshua’s next move? He sends spies into the land, as we read:

This is a play from Moses’s book. A wise play, in fact. Don’t just barge into the land. Go scope it out.

But notice that Joshua doesn’t send 12 spies as Moses did; he sends only two. Furthermore, how many of the 12 spies Moses sent returned with a positive report? Two, one of whom was Joshua!

Maybe Joshua sent only two spies because of what had happened in Numbers 13-14. Who knows. But all in all, both of Joshua’s spies returned with a good report, bringing the Israelites one step closer to the land.

The Parting Waters

Organize and prepare the people for entry? Check. Successful spy mission? Check. What’s next for Joshua? It’s time to cross into the land of Canaan. But there’s a problem: the Jordan River is in the way. So, Joshua says this to the Israelites:

Then, we read:

I’m assuming you already know what’s coming next, lol. The splitting of the waters is no new thing for the Israelites at this point, as we read backward:

Enough said, right? Let’s move forward.

Take Those Sandals Off

Before the Israelites head into Jericho for battle, Joshua encounters a mysterious being with a sword in hand. We read:

This sounds familiar, right?

In Exodus 3, Moses was appointed by God at Mount Horeb. A battle was about to take place in Egypt that would liberate the Israelites from enslavement, and Moses was chosen to lead the one-sided battle.

But in this appointment, Moses encounters a mysterious being.

A particular messenger of God appears in the burning bush. From the bush, the messenger/God speaks:

Both Moses and Joshua found themselves in the presence of an extraordinary being, leading them not only to take off their sandals but also to turn their faces in reverence. In each case, the appointed servant knows his place in the presence of the Holy One.

Speaking of servants, let’s close out with one more parallel.

Servants of the LORD

As soon as we open the Book of Joshua, we’re told that Moses was “the servant of the LORD” (Josh 1:1). Whatever the LORD instructed Moses to do, he did it…for the most part. Now, the question is whether Joshua will be a faithful servant of God, like his predecessor. Moses left some big sandals to fill.

So, throughout the Book of Joshua, we witness the journey of Joshua’s leadership. Entry into the promised land. Miracles. Warfare. Tribal divisions of the land.

Then, at the end of the book, Joshua’s time on earth draws to a close. Before he passes on, he gathers all the people for a final speech, as Moses did. In doing so, Joshua leads them in a covenant renewal and then dismisses them (Josh 24:1-28).

Following this, we read:

The beginning of the book emphasized Moses as God’s servant, and now, at the end, Joshua is stamped with the same title. These bookends help frame Joshua as the New Moses. However, Joshua dies. So, who is going to carry the mantle forward? We shall see as we press on.

Until next time, friends. Peace!

That ain’t it, friends.

In many ways, the narratives in Joshua are about who will give or maintain allegiance to God and his ways, whether Israelite or not. Case in point, Rahab.

She’s the Canaanite who “unexpectedly” gives her allegiance to Israel’s God. But later on, there’s an Israelite who discards his allegiance to God. This too is “unexpected.”

This is Achan.

Making Trouble in the Camp

In Joshua 6, the Israelites arrive at Jericho and secure a military victory. As promised, Rahab and her family are spared. However, the Israelites receive specific instructions about certain items in Jericho.

Notice what would happen if the forbidden items were desired and taken. It would cause trouble for the Israelite camp. Put a pin in that for just a second.

As Joshua 6 concludes, everything seems to go as planned…until we flip the page.

Here, we’re introduced to Achan, whose name means “one who makes trouble.” Let’s return to the pinned thought again. In Josh 6:18, the desiring and taking of forbidden items would cause trouble.

The Hebrew word for “trouble” here is ‘akar (עָכַר), which resembles ‘akan (Achan, עָכָן). Even through Achan’s name, we are set up to see his actions as the cause of trouble in the Israelite camp.

Because of his actions, God’s anger burned against the people. We’re shown this in the following:

The Israelites’ loss to the men of Ai was God’s judgment against them. This didn’t make sense to Joshua, so he called out to God in distress for an explanation (vv. 6-9). God informed him that there was sin in the camp and that some of the forbidden items had been taken (vv. 10-15). That’s why they weren’t able to move forward. Judgment must now come upon the disobedient. They will be discovered through a process of elimination as they come before the Lord.

Through the process, everything gets boiled down to Achan (vv. 16-18). Now, what?

Rebellious Eyes, Hearts, and Hands

Joshua instructs Achan to confess his sin. But this whole scene is not merely a recounting of Achan’s rebellion. It is framed as a new rebellion in Eden.

The promised land is the new Eden, where God’s presence dwells among the Israelites. The Lord gave the Israelites commands. Obedience would lead to life, while disobedience would lead to death.

Notice what Joshua says to Achan:

Although the word for “hide” here is different from that in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve hid from God, the idea is similar. A line has been crossed in disobedience, and hiding is very easy in light of that. Like Adam and Eve, Achan is being confronted, but he is to refrain from hiding and blame-shifting as they did.

The parallels to the Eden story grow stronger in Joshua 7 as we keep going:

Achan admits his sin. He sees something good, desires it, and takes it. This is the pattern of rebellion in the Garden as well, with the taking of forbidden fruit.

In other words, the pattern is that the rebels see forbidden items as good and desirable, then take them for themselves. In doing so, God’s instruction is disobeyed, and judgment approaches.

If Adam and Eve’s rebellion led to their eventual deaths and expulsion from the garden, what will happen to Achan? Death and expulsion from the people of Israel. But this wasn’t the only consequence for Achan; his decision tragically affected his family, animals, and possessions. Death came to them all (vv. 24-26).

Conclusion

I don’t know how to end this post smoothly, to be honest. Lol. However, I will note that there’s more than meets the eye in the Book of Joshua. You move into the book from Deuteronomy expecting one thing, but get another. The contrasting experiences of Rahab and Achan dismantle expectations of a narrative pitting enemies against each other. Instead, they help develop and nurture expectations of narratives about allegiance to God. I hope this was helpful in some way.

Some of you know that I’m a Ph.D. candidate in New Testament, with a specific focus on the Epistle of James. Of all the people James could’ve emphasized as exemplars of faith-filled action, he chooses Abraham and Rahab (see Jas 2:21-25). Two people who were on opposite ends of the societal spectrum but shared an allegiance to the same God.

My studies in James led me back to Rahab’s story in Joshua 2. I was blown away by the details I hadn’t noticed before. Let’s look at a few things.

Rahab the Protector

Uncle Moses is dead, and Joshua now assumes leadership of the Israelites. It’s time to enter the promised land. But do they go in blindly, or does Joshua pull a play from Moses’s playbook? He does the latter, as Joshua 2 opens with:

Like Moses in Numbers 13, Joshua sends spies into the land. But Joshua doesn’t send 12 spies; he sends two. Interestingly, among the 12 spies Moses sent, Joshua was one of the two who remained faithful. But I digress.

The new spies find shelter at Rahab’s house, a house others in Jericho would have frowned upon because of Rahab’s vocation. So others would’ve known of the spies’ stay there. Let’s keep reading:

The king isn’t asking Rahab to hand over the spies. He’s demanding it. But for some reason, Rahab chooses to dupe the king’s messengers and protect the Israelite spies. She resists, like the Hebrew midwives who duped the king of Egypt in Exodus 1 to protect the newborn Israelite sons.

Should we then expect to hear echoes of the Exodus story? Absolutely.

Echoes of the Ten Commandments

If we skip ahead a bit in the narrative, Rahab gives the reasons for her protective actions:

She knows that the Israelites will soon inhabit the land of Canaan, and she submits to that. But notice what she says in verse 10. She claims to have heard reports of the LORD’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. This closely resembles the opening words of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:

Rahab continues:

Rahab confesses Israel’s God as the supreme God, the One over all creation. As a result, she gives her allegiance to this God, but there are strings attached. Rightfully so. She protected the spies and desires reciprocity for her family. She ain’t playing no games. In fact, she makes the spies swear by God’s name. This strongly resembles another commandment from Exodus 20:

The spies agree to protect her household. But this means they must uphold their promise, since they made it in God’s name. Failing to uphold this promise wouldn’t only be consequential for Rahab and her family but also for the spies themselves. God doesn’t take his name lightly.

Rahab continues:

She is not solely concerned with her own protection. She’s concerned for everyone in her family. By seeking her family’s protection, she is obeying God’s instruction to honor one’s parents, even as an “outsider” to the Torah.

Rahab truly honors her parents by trusting the God of Israel to ensure their protection. As a result, she is brought among the people of Israel (see Josh 6:22-25) and continues to live long in the land.

The Sign of Protection

Before we close, we have to go back to Josh 2:12b-13:

“Y’all gon’ have to give me something to mark this promise!”

Rahab requests a “sign” (Heb. ot) to cover her house for protection. What was the sign? A crimson cord.

In short, when the Israelite spies returned with the Israelite army to Jericho, they would see the crimson cord hanging from Rahab’s window as a sign that her household would be spared in the battle.

The Israelites were God’s instrument of judgment, which he was bringing against the Canaanites. However, there’s a “sign” that would protect Rahab’s household from the coming judgment. Does this sound familiar?

Let’s take a brief look at Exodus 12:

God had been unleashing multiple judgments upon Pharaoh and the land of Egypt through the plagues. But one more remained—the death of all the firstborns in the land. However, God provides a sign of protection—the blood of a lamb on a household’s doorpost. When God’s instrument of judgment, the destroyer, goes through Egypt and comes across a house marked with a lamb’s blood, that house will be spared from judgment.

Likewise, Rahab’s household is marked by a red sign, the crimson cord. They, too, will be spared.

Conclusion

God’s plans of rescue were not just for the Israelites. They are for anyone who puts their trust in him. As my friend Ari said to me, “God gives her a personal exodus.” While those in Jericho would have considered Rahab disposable, God sees her as worthy to join his family and to become an ancestor of Jesus.

One night of faith-filled action left a legacy that will endure forever. She faced a choice. She could respond to the Israelites’ “dreadful” presence with opposition, as did Pharaoh and the Egyptians (Exod 1:12) and Balak and the Moabites (Num 22:2-3). Or she could bless and partner with the Israelites.

She chooses the latter, and the rest is history.

1. I am super grateful to EVERY subscriber here. Y’all have truly given me so much encouragement throughout my two and a half years on this platform. I genuinely enjoy writing in this space and sharing my learnings about the biblical texts. Thank you for being here.

2. I realized I never formally announced it, but I started a YouTube channel about a month ago to further share biblical insights. There’s only so much that I can communicate in writing here on Substack or in a short-form video on my socials. So, I decided to also curate a space where I can share more in a longer-form video. By longer-form, I mean in the ballpark of 10-ish minutes. Y’all don’t need or want to hear me yap for an hour lol.

   1. I started a five-part series on “Reading the Bible as Literature,” expanding on the foundation of my learned literary approach to the Scriptures. If you’re interested, here’s Episode 1—it is more of an intro to the series. Here’s Episode 2 — more focused on understanding the complexity of biblical characters.

3. So far this year, I’ve been pressing through the narratives in the Torah, and I plan on hopping into the book of Joshua next! Thank you for your patience, engagement, and support. It doesn’t go in vain.

That is all, fam! See y’all next Monday!

I tend to imagine that there are many things one privileged with a lengthy life could say. Yet, ten times out of ten, I am moved when a person’s final words are a blessing for those around them.

There’s something about it that feels…right. A passing of the baton of sorts.

This is exactly why I refuse to skip or breeze through texts like Deuteronomy 33, a chapter full of Moses’s final blessing to his fellow Israelites. As Deut 33:1 states:

^{Deut 33:1} This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death.

Based on the wilderness experience, there were many things Moses could’ve fussed about on his way out. But instead, he ends on a high note—with familial blessing. Let’s dive into a few things.

Priest, Prophet, and King

Moses was a unique leader in ancient Israel’s history. Legendary, many would say. The quintessential leader, others would say. Why? One reason is the kind of roles he effectively served God in.

He served as a priest. He offered sacrifices to God, consecrated the Tabernacle and the Israelites, and ordained Aaron and his sons to the priesthood (see Exod 24 and Lev 8).

He served as a prophet, communicating God's words to the Israelites and calling them to live faithfully in fidelity to their covenant with God. He’s also held up as the prophetic prototype in Deut 18:15:

^{Deut 18:15} The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.

Interestingly, Deut 33:4-5 says this about Moses:

^{Deut 33:4} Moses charged us with the law

as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵ There arose a king in Jeshurun

when the leaders of the people assembled,

the united tribes of Israel.

Moses was a “king” of sorts. Not in the Saulic or Davidic sense of Israelite kingship, but in the sense of being the foremost authoritative leader among the Israelites.

Furthermore, Moses’s multi-role service sets the tone for later Israelite leaders to serve in a blend of roles as well. Consider Ezekiel, a priest whom God calls to be a prophet. Or think about David, a king who is later described as a prophet in Acts 2:30. And of course, Jesus—the greatest priest, prophet, and king.

Sadly, as great as Moses was, his time is drawing to a close. Many of the Israelites standing before him only know life with Moses as their leader. A priest, prophet, and king. So, can you imagine how weighty his words of blessing were for them?

Final Words of the Elder

It’s not lost on me that both the first and last books of the Torah end with a final speech by a significant figure. First, Jacob in Genesis 49, and now Moses in Deuteronomy 33. So, you know, I have to ask. Are there any connections between the final speeches of Jacob and Moses?

YES. There are many things to note, but for the sake of brevity, we’re going to compare and contrast two things regarding Jacob’s and Moses’s words.

First, let’s notice what each leader says regarding Joseph.

Jacob:

^{Gen 49:26} The blessings of your father

are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains,

the bounties of the everlasting hills;

may they be on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

Moses:

^{Deut 33:16} with the choice gifts of the earth and its fullness

and the favor of the one who dwells on Sinai.

Let these come on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

“Joseph” can refer to all under the umbrella of Jacob’s son Joseph:

• Joseph himself

• Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh

• The Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh

But why does “Joseph” receive this kind of special blessing from both Jacob and Moses? Because Joseph inherited the status of the firstborn among his brothers. Why? Because Reuben, the literal firstborn brother, “defiled his father’s bed” by sleeping with Bilhah (see Gen 35:22 and 1 Chron 5:1-2). So, the firstborn blessing was bestowed upon Joseph, the firstborn of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel.

Although Judah becomes the head of the royal Israelite tribe, Joseph still possesses the firstborn blessing upon his “brow,” meaning crown or “top of the head.”

Now, secondly, let’s note the reversal of Levi's position between Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33.

Jacob:

^{Gen 49:5} Simeon and Levi are brothers;

weapons of violence are their swords.

⁶ May I never come into their council;

may I not be joined to their company,

for in their anger they killed men,

and at their whim they hamstrung oxen.

⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,

and their wrath, for it is cruel!

I will divide them in Jacob

and scatter them in Israel.

Jacob’s final words to Levi (and Simeon) were very negative because of their slaughter in Shechem in defense of their sister Dinah (see Gen 34). Notice that Jacob curses their anger and pronounces division and scattering over them. It’s no surprise, then, that the Levites were later scattered throughout the promised land among the other tribes, without a specified inherited land like the others.

However, things change for Levi in Moses’s final words:

^{Deut 33:8} And of Levi he said,

“Give to Levi your Thummim

and your Urim to your loyal one,

whom you tested at Massah,

with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah

…

10 They teach Jacob your ordinances

and Israel your law;

they place incense before you

and whole burnt offerings on your altar…”

Moses calls Levi God’s “loyal one.” Why? I assume a significant reason is that the Levites remained loyal to God during the Golden Calf episode (see Exod 32:25-29). As a result of their loyalty, they became the priestly tribe. As the priestly tribe, they were responsible for teaching the others the Torah and serving at the Tabernacle.

Although they were scattered among the tribes, they were gathered at the holiest space among the Israelites—the Tabernacle.

Conclusion

As always, there’s so much more than I’d like to unpack. But the final point I want to note is that Jacob’s final words were spoken in Egypt after leaving Canaan, whereas Moses’s final words were spoken after leaving Egypt, as the Israelites were about to enter Canaan.

If you ask me, Moses’s farewell blessing is way more than words on a page. There’s something beautiful about receiving a final blessing from your leader as you prepare to experience a long-awaited promise from God. It’s emotional. It’s powerful. It’s timeless. Bless y’all.

This journey has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. Liberation from enslavement. Up. Roaring grumbles against Moses and Aaron. Down. Receiving food, drink, and a covenant from God. Up. Idolatrous worship. Down.

You get the point.

But before the chapter closes for Moses, he leaves the Israelites with more instructions, including the most central of them all: the Shema.

As we turn to Deuteronomy 6, Moses challenges the Israelites to obey God across generations. If they obey, they will continue to experience God’s blessings in the land promised to their ancestors. Then we read:

^{Deut 6:4} “Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! ⁵ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

The opening word in Hebrew here is shema, which means “to hear/listen” or “to obey.” Of course, this is stated right after Moses’ exhortation for the Israelites to “listen” and “do” the commands of the Torah (v. 3).

To truly listen to God is to obey what he says. The Israelites’ obedience to God’s instructions would demonstrate their allegiance to and love for him. Although this instructive declaration began in the wilderness, it carried forth through the Scriptures, even into the New Testament.

Let’s briefly explore how.

What is the Greatest Commandment?

The streets of Jerusalem are buzzing in preparation for Passover. As Jesus makes his final rounds, teaching in public, the opposition intensifies. Many Jewish groups confront Jesus to “trap” him.

Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees, and the scribes. But Jesus doesn’t fold.

In one of these confrontations, we read:

^{Mark 12:28} One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”

Seems like a fair question in general, right? There are many heavy-hitting commands in the Torah.

Do not kill. Honor your parents. Remember the Sabbath. Don’t worship idols. Leave some of your harvest for the poor and foreigners to glean.

Just to name a few. But we read:

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Jesus points to the Shema as the first among all the commandments. No surprise there. Allegiance to the LORD is primary, and all the other commands flow from it. But he doesn’t stop there.

³¹ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

SHEESH.

In response, the scribe agrees with Jesus, and no one dared to question him any further.

As we shall see, the Shema’s legacy continues onward through Jesus’s disciples as well.

The God of All Peoples

In the days of the wilderness ancestors, the Shema was a declaration of the Israelites’ allegiance to the Most High God. Within the declaration is a claim that the LORD is their God, the God to whom they belong and whom they will worship.

But is the LORD only the God of the Israelites and their descendants? No. People from all tongues, tribes, and nations will also give their allegiance to the God of Israel, especially during the days of the Apostles.

In Paul’s letter to the Roman believers, he articulates that through faith in Christ one is redeemed and justified (Rom 3:21-28). Then, he says something intriguing:

^{Rom 3:29} Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰ since God is one, and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

In Jesus, both Jews (a subset of Israelites) and Gentiles give their allegiance solely to the LORD, because God is one. The echoes of the Shema are loud and clear in Paul’s words. In their shared allegiance to one God, both Jews and Gentiles experience justification through their shared faith in Jesus the Messiah.

The Shema is a declaration by which those who are naturally Israelites and those who have been brought into the “commonwealth” of Israel identify with the LORD.

But let’s make one more stop in the New Testament.

Even the Demons Believe

In his letter to those in the Diaspora, James emphasizes the interdependence of faith and action (Jas 2:14-26). He argues that without action, one’s “faith” is dead. To support his argument, he offers an extreme example:

^{Jas 2:19} You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.

In the first sentence, James alludes to the Shema. It’s great for those in his audience to uphold the ancestral belief that God is one. However, James’s point is that if this right belief doesn’t affect how they live toward others, their belief is dead.

If you believe in the Shema, you should also love your neighbor as yourself. This was Rabbi Jesus’s point that James is carrying forward.

So, James gives a case study in the second sentence of the verse. Demons have the right belief about God being the Most High, but they shake in terror because their belief is dead. Why? They live in a manner contrary to what God commands. They contribute to darkness, chaos, and destruction.

One must not follow the path of demons. Instead, truly believing that God is one requires one to contribute to light, order, and the building up of others in love. In other words, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.

Conclusion

Here we are centuries later in the timeline, yet the instruction remains: Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. As members of the Rabbi’s community, we show our love for God by obeying the Rabbi’s instructions, which include loving our fellow humans. The way of love is the instruction we need to pass down from generation to generation, as inheritors of God’s covenantal promises in the Messiah.

Shoutout to Deuteronomy for paving the way. Bless y’all.

For too long, I arrogantly believed that if God revealed the future consequences of my current choices, I would automatically change how I live now. In other words, I thought I could handle it if God put me through the heavenly “Scared Straight” program.

I believed that the fear of negative consequences would be enough motivation for me to follow God’s instructions. While that fear often influenced my decisions not to sleep around, live violently, or verbally hurt others, my heart still didn’t fully align with God’s ways. These desires still lingered in my heart to some extent, but I feared what might happen if I acted on them. I needed spiritual heart surgery.

All of that to say, as I continue to read the Scriptures, I see the shared human experience between myself and many of the biblical characters. In many cases, God was kind in revealing what would happen in a person’s or people’s lives if they chose to obey or disobey his instructions, especially the Israelites.

For example, when Moses gathers the new generation of Israelites before they enter the promised land, he says the following:

^{Deut 28:1} “If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth; ² all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God.

He goes on to list the blessings the Israelites will experience if they obey (see vv. 3-14). But what’s the other side of the coin?

¹⁵ “But if you will not obey the Lord your God by diligently observing all his commandments and decrees that I am commanding you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.

Through Moses, God reveals two paths for the Israelites: the path of obedience and blessing or the path of disobedience and curse. However, God’s reveal of future outcomes doesn’t guarantee the Israelites will choose the better path. More on that in a second.

Blessing and Cursing

Where have we seen the elements of blessing and cursing so far in the Torah? If we look back to the middle book of the Torah, we see that Moses announced the blessings and curses that would befall the older generation of Israelites in Leviticus 26. But if we go further back to the beginning of the Torah, we’ll notice a few things.

When examining the Eden story, we see the garden as a place of blessing—filled with shalom, abundance, and divine presence. The same promises God made to the Israelites in the promised land. Blessing in the garden would continue to be experienced by its human inhabitants if they obeyed God’s instruction regarding the forbidden tree.

If you’re familiar with the Eden story, you know it takes a drastic turn when the humans eat the forbidden fruit. And what happens as a result? God issues curses.

The two paths that lie before the Israelites in Deuteronomy did not originate there, but began in the Eden story—the first biblical story of human choice to obey or disobey God.

Life and Death

The parallels between the Eden story and the Israelites’ approach to entering the land are further highlighted as we read:

^{Deut 30:15} “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. ¹⁶ If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you do not hear but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, ¹⁸ I declare to you today that you shall certainly perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

The path of obedience and blessing is directly linked to life. The path of disobedience and cursing is layered with death. Does this remind you of the Eden story at all? Let’s travel back once more.

After God plants the garden, we read:

^{Gen 2:9} Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.

And later:

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

Adam is given access to all the trees in the garden, except one. Sounds pretty generous if you ask me, especially as the Tree of Life is one of the accessible trees! Eternal life is accessible to him from the jump. But the forbidden tree would lead to death.

The paths of life and death lay before him.

Now, if we flip back over to Deuteronomy, what do we have to compare between the two narratives?

(1) The land of Canaan was a “special land” promised by God to the Israelites, paralleling the “special land” of the garden, planted by God.

(2) There are conditions for residing in the promised land and in the garden—obedience to God’s instructions.

• For Adam and Eve, it was the instruction not to eat from the forbidden tree.

• For the Israelites, it was obedience to the commands given through Moses.

(3) Disobedience leads to exile.

• For Adam and Eve, they were exiled to the east of the garden.

• For the Israelites, they were exiled to the east in Babylon.

Change of Heart

Moses exhorts the Israelites to choose the path of obedience, blessing, and life (Deut 30:19-20). But he already told them that they weren’t going to do that:

^{Deut 4:26} I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy; you will not live long on it but will be utterly destroyed. ²⁷ The Lord will scatter you among the peoples; only a few of you will be left among the nations where the Lord will lead you. ²⁸ There you will serve gods made by human hands, objects of wood and stone that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

However, not all hope is lost—God always provides hope. God’s people will obey the Lord and experience his blessing and life, but not because of a fear of the consequences if they did the opposite. But because God will perform spiritual heart surgery:

^{Deut 30:6} “Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.

May we choose the path of life today. May we receive the transformation of our hearts. Our world needs it, as it always has.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Next.

But a couple of years ago, I spent some time studying Numbers in depth, and I was struck by how interconnected the Balaam narratives are with other parts of the Torah. So, let me share a few insights I learned that you might find interesting, too!

Frightened King, Dreaded Foreigners

The Balaam narratives begin with:

^{Num 22:1} The Israelites set out and camped in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho. ² Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³ Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were so numerous; Moab was overcome with fear of the Israelites.

If you’re familiar with the structure of the Torah, you might know that Numbers is set up as a mirror scroll to Exodus in many ways. In other words, the narratives of Exodus often share parallels with those in Numbers.

I mention this to ask, could the opening in Numbers 22 be paralleling something from Exodus?

In Exodus 1:1-7, we learn that the Israelites grew in great numbers and filled the land of Egypt. But then we read:

^{Exod 1:8} Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. ⁹ He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we.”

What does the Egyptian king decide to do? He reacts out of fear and oppresses the Israelites by enslaving them. But his actions do not stop God’s blessing on the Israelites:

¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

The Pharaoh and Egyptians’ dread of the “numerous” Israelites laid the groundwork for Balak and the Moabites to build upon. In both Exodus 1 and Numbers 22, the number of Israelites in the land was seen as a threat to each nation.

But the question is: how will Balak respond?

Will he choose to seek to harm the Israelites like Pharaoh? Or will he decide to partner with and bless the Israelites as they travel through Moab toward the promised land?

^{Num 22:4} And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ He sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is on the Euphrates, in the land of Amaw, to summon him, saying, “A people has come out of Egypt; they have spread over the face of the earth, and they have settled next to me. ⁶ Come now, curse this people for me, since they are stronger than I; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.”

Balak tragically chooses the path of Pharaoh. He summons Balaam, the prophet-sorcerer, to curse the Israelites. If we focus on the parallels between Exodus and Numbers here, we can assume that this won’t work out well for Balak and the Moabites, just as it didn’t for Pharaoh and the Egyptians.

Blessings and Curses

Let’s revisit what Balak says about Balaam at the end of Num 22:6:

“for I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.”

Have we heard something like this before? Back in Genesis 12, God had a convo with good ol’ father Abraham, and said:

^{Gen 12:3} “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Although Balak hires Balaam to curse these descendants of Abraham, he has NO IDEA that God will hit him with the Uno Reverse card. In one sense, Balaam will “do” the thing that Balak assumes he can do: those whom he blesses will be blessed. In another sense, what Balak doesn’t know is that Balaam will do the opposite of what he hired him for.

At this point, it seems like Balaam is caught in the middle of something he didn’t ask for. So, God pulls up on him:

^{Num 22:12} God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” ¹³ So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the officials of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” 14 So the officials of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

But later on, God permits him to go, and everything unravels.

God’s Promises Never Fail

In the narratives, Balaam delivers seven oracles…of course, there are seven 😏. There is a lot to analyze in his oracles, but to keep this brief, I want to highlight three examples of how these oracles relate to blessings and promises in Genesis.

In his first oracle, Balaam acknowledges that he cannot curse a people whom God hasn’t cursed. He also states:

^{Num 23:10} Who can count the dust of Jacob

or number the fourth part of Israel?

Let me die the death of the upright,

and let my end be like his!”

The Hebrew word for “dust” here is ‘aphar, which is used in God’s promises to Abram and Jacob, respectively:

^{Gen 13:16} I will make your descendants as plentiful as the dust (‘aphar) of the earth, so that if anyone can count the dust (‘aphar) of the earth, then your descendants could also be counted.

^{Gen 28:14} and your offspring shall be like the dust (‘aphar) of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.

The large number of Israelites that sparked Balak's fear in the first place shows that God is fulfilling his promises to their ancestors.

Lastly, in the middle of his fourth oracle, Balaam states something very interesting:

^{Num 24:17} I see him but not now;

I behold him but not near—

a star shall come out of Jacob,

and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;

it shall crush the foreheads of Moab

and the heads of all the Shethites.

There is debate over whether Balaam is referring to David and/or the Messiah. But let’s focus on Balaam’s reference to the “scepter.” The word for “scepter” here is shevet, which is first used when Jacob gave his blessing to Judah, and said:

^{Gen 49:10} The scepter (shevet) shall not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until tribute comes to him,

and the obedience of the peoples is his.

The Ruling One whom Balaam is prophesying about aligns with the blessing of Jacob. Both David and the Messiah rise from the tribe of Judah, but I’ll leave that there.

I love this stuff.

Conclusion

I don’t know if you think this, too, but I’ve found that these kinds of passages are often where many of the gems in biblical literature are found. That’s not to say that gems aren’t found in other sections of Scripture. I’m just saying this whole Balaam situation is wild, lol. I’d encourage you to spend some time meditating on Numbers 22-24 and to share what you discover as well.

Onward to Deuteronomy, next time. Bless y’all.

Without further ado, let’s dive in.

^{Numbers 2:1} The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ² “The Israelites are to camp around the tent of meeting some distance from it, each of them under their standard and holding the banners of their family.”

On the surface, this might appear to be a simple recount of where the tribes were to rest their heads around the Tabernacle. As we will see, the narrative portrays the Israelites’ encampment through militaristic lenses. Like other Ancient Near Eastern cultures, the Israelites would surround their King's (God’s) tent as they marched through the wilderness. The militaristic undertones are evident as we read:

³ On the east, toward the sunrise, the divisions of the camp of Judah are to encamp under their standard. The leader of the people of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab. ⁴ His division numbers 74,600.

⁵ The tribe of Issachar will camp next to them. The leader of the people of Issachar is Nethanel son of Zuar. 6 His division numbers 54,400.

⁷ The tribe of Zebulun will be next. The leader of the people of Zebulun is Eliab son of Helon. ⁸ His division numbers 57,400.

⁹ All the men assigned to the camp of Judah, according to their divisions, number 186,400. They will set out first.

The numbers listed for each tribe are the number of soldiers recorded in the census in Numbers 1. For example, Numbers 1:26-27 state:

^{Numbers 1:26} From the descendants of Judah:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. ²⁷ The number from the tribe of Judah was 74,600.

So, it’s likely that the narrative in Numbers 2 uses the military totals from the census to frame the tribes’ encampment as an organized, defensive perimeter around the King. But there’s another point to note about the placement of the tribe of Judah.

Restoration From the East

Notice that the tribe of Judah is positioned on the east side of the Tabernacle, with the tribes of Issachar and Zebulun following. In the biblical story so far, the eastward direction has been strongly emphasized:

• Adam and Eve were exiled to the east (Gen 3:24)

• Cain moved to the land of Nod, which is to the east of Eden (Gen 4:16)

• Babel was established in the east (Gen 11:2)

• Lot traveled eastward from the land of Canaan (Gen 13:11)

In these stories, what happened after these characters moved east was not good—Cain murdered Abel, Cain’s line became increasingly violent, the Tower of Babel was built, and Lot had to be rescued from Sodom. All of this occurred as humans continued to move farther from the Garden of Eden. So, these narratives contributed to the hope in God's restoration of humans to Edenic life from the east.

This is why the entrance to the Tabernacle faced eastward (Exod 27:13-16; Num 3:38). To enter the Tabernacle was to symbolically reenter Eden.

What does this have to do with the tribe of Judah? They were positioned to the east of the Tabernacle and possessed the royal line from which the Anointed One would arise, the One through whom God would restore the Israelites, the broader humanity, and the cosmos at large.

Don’t Forget About the Matriarchs

Not that the other tribes aren’t worthy of having their details explored in Numbers 2, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll summarize their positions around the Tabernacle:

• On the south side: Reuben, Simeon, and Gad (vv. 10-16)

• In the center of the camp, directly around the Tabernacle: Levi (v. 17)

  • For more details on the Levites, see Numbers 3.

• On the west side: Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin (vv. 18-24)

• On the north side: Dan, Asher, and Naphtali (vv. 25-31)

But have you noticed that the tribes' groupings correlate with the ancestral matriarch they descend from?

• Leah’s Boys

  • Eastside: Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun are the last three sons of Leah (Gen 29:35; 30:17-20)

  • In the Center: Levi is Leah’s third-oldest son (Gen 29:34)

• Leah + Zilpah’s Boys

  • Southside: Reuben and Simeon are Leah’s first two sons (Gen 29:31-33).

    • Gad is the oldest son born to Leah’s servant, Zilpah (Gen 30:9-11)

• Rachel’s Boys

  • Westside: Ephraim and Manasseh are the sons of Joseph, Rachel’s firstborn son (Gen 30:22-24)

    • Benjamin is Rachel’s last-born son (Gen 35:16-18)

• Bilhah + Zilpah’s Boys

  • Northside: Dan and Naphtali are the sons of Rachel’s servant, Bilhah (Gen 30:4-8)

    • Asher is the youngest son of Leah’s servant, Zilpah (Gen 30:12-13)

Raise Your Standard

As stated earlier, around God’s tent are four main military units, each led by a representative tribe. Judah was the representative on the east, Reuben on the south, Ephraim on the west, and Dan on the north.

Each unit had a main “standard,” which is another word for “banner” or “flag.”

Without getting into the weeds of early and later rabbinic/Jewish interpretive streams, some interpretations of Numbers 2 argue that each unit had a symbol on its banner, although Numbers 2 doesn’t explicitly state this.

The interpretive stream holds that Judah’s banner featured a lion, Reuben’s a man, Ephraim’s an ox, and Dan’s an eagle. This interpretive stream links the Israelites’ arrangement around God’s Tabernacle to the living creatures surrounding the throne of God in Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 1:5-10). For example, we read:

Ezekiel 1:10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.

The directions of each face would correspond to the directions of the Israelite banners. The lion face was on the right, matching the east banner of Judah. The ox was on the left, matching the west banner of Ephraim. The human and eagle faces were on opposite sides, matching the north and south banners of Reuben and Dan, respectively.

In other words, the living creatures guard the throne of God in the heavenly realm, while the Israelites guard the throne (via the Ark of the Covenant) in the earthly realm.

Conclusion

Who would’ve thought that an ancient arrangement of ancient Israelites could be so interesting?! Am I right?! 😏 😂

As I said at the beginning, I won’t push my luck by doing much more on Numbers for now lol. However, can we endure one more exploration for next time?

To my surprise, my appreciation for these censuses increased over time. Although they were recorded at specific moments for particular purposes in the biblical storyline, I was taught to see the narratival value in the censuses. Rather than viewing them as hindrances or obstacles, I was encouraged to see them as an integral part of the narrative.

As we turn to Numbers 1, we read:

^{Numbers 1:1} The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: ² “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. ³ You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army. ⁴ One man from each tribe, each of them the head of his family, is to help you.

Okay, hang in there with me, fam. All the tribes, except Levi, were counted in the census. The total was 603,550 men (Num 1:46).

What about the other census? The second census, recorded in Numbers 26, was taken about 38 years later and totaled 601,730 (v. 51). This census counted the new generation of Israelite warriors preparing to enter the Promised Land.

You might be thinking, “Okay, Hakeem… why should I care?” If we pay attention to specific details between the censuses, we can uncover interesting connections to the narratives in Numbers and the Torah at large.

Here is a summary of the totals for each tribe in both censuses. The first total for each tribe is from Numbers 1, and the second is from Numbers 26:

• Reuben: 46,500 // 43,730

• Simeon: 59,300 // 22,200

• Gad: 45,650 // 40,500

• Judah: 74,600 // 76,500

• Issachar: 54,400 // 64,300

• Zebulun: 57,400 // 60,500

• Ephraim: 40,500 // 32,500

• Manasseh: 32,200 // 52,700

• Benjamin: 35,400 // 45,600

• Dan: 62,700 // 64,400

• Asher: 41,500 // 53,400

• Naphtali: 53,400 // 45,400

HANG IN THERE WITH ME, FAM. Let’s take note of a few details.

Did you notice that the total of the Simeonite warriors dropped by more than half? Or that the tribe of Manasseh experienced a significant increase? While I cannot speak definitively, it seems the tribes’ totals symbolize “status” among the tribes. The higher one’s count is, the higher one’s status is. The status of the tribes of Simeon and Manasseh may be linked to specific events in Numbers. Let’s take a look.

The Tribe of Simeon

Could Simeon’s drop be tied to the event described in Numbers 25?

Numbers 25:1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

What does this have to do with Simeon? Let’s scroll down a bit in the narrative:

⁶ Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁷ When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand ⁸ and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach.

Still… what does this have to do with the tribe of Simeon?! Let’s take a closer look at the man who took the Midianite woman into the tent.

¹⁴ The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.

If I understand the honor-shame dynamics in ancient Israelite culture correctly, it’s safe to assume that Zimri’s actions left a significant stain of shame not only on his father’s household but also on the tribe as a whole. This could be symbolized by the “lowering” of the Simeonite tribe’s status, as evidenced by the significant decrease in Simeonite warriors between the first and second censuses.

The Tribe of Manasseh

So, what about the large increase of warriors in the tribe of Manasseh? One of the most courageous stories in Numbers is found in Numbers 27:

^{Number 27:1} The daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah. They came forward ² and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders and the whole assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said, ³ “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among Korah’s followers, who banded together against the Lord, but he died for his own sin and left no sons. ⁴ Why should our father’s name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s relatives.”

⁵ So Moses brought their case before the Lord, ⁶ and the Lord said to him, ⁷ “What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father’s relatives and give their father’s inheritance to them.

These sisters were bold and courageous in their advocacy, not only for their father's legacy but also for themselves. Due to the inheritance practices of this period in Israelite history, daughters did not typically inherit property. Instead, the inheritance was passed to the sons to keep the property within the family.

However, the daughters of Zelophehad saw a major issue that would leave them financially vulnerable and their father’s inheritance to others. They understood that they were the rightful heirs! God himself even declared this to be true! What models of boldness they were in advocating for what is right and good! So much so that it led to God establishing inheritance rights for daughters in the Torah (see vv. 8-11).

Could this be connected to the “elevated” status of the tribe of Manasseh in the latter census? These sisters were examples of righteousness and faithfulness, leaving an honorable mark on the tribe of Manasseh.

Conclusion

It’s not lost on me that the census in Numbers 26 is situated right in the middle of the narratives we just worked through. That’s some strategic placement if you ask me!

Side note: Did you notice that the tribe of Judah remained the largest in number in both censuses? If we think about the blessings of Jacob in Genesis 49, Judah received one of the largest blessings. This is the tribe from which the Messiah would come. So it makes sense that they would have the largest number, or the “highest status.” There’s so much more I wanted to share, but for the sake of not boring you, we’ll cut this short.

All of this to say, don’t give up on Numbers or its censuses. There’s no such thing as “wasted space” in the Scriptures. There’s always something to investigate further, revealing how intricately woven this masterful literature is.

In fact, one of the most interesting narratives in the Torah for me is in Leviticus 10, because it reminds me of my favorite story—the Garden of Eden story. Let’s unpack this a little bit.

Structure of Eden and the Tabernacle

Before we get to Leviticus 10, it’s important to discuss the setting in which the narrative unfolds. But to do that, we have to go back to Eden.

On the surface, one might not notice that the Eden story begins with a kind of structuring by God. In Genesis 2, we read:

^{Genesis 2:8} Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. ⁹ The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Garden of Eden is God’s structured overlap of heaven and earth, where God dwelt with humans and animals in shalom. However, you might be wondering how this is related to structure. When I say structure here, don’t think of right angles and level buildings. Rather, think of concentric spaces. There are three sections presented here: (1) the land of Eden; (2) the garden in Eden; and (3) the middle of the garden, where the two special trees resided. Here’s a diagram to visualize:

However, if you keep reading the Eden story, you'll see that Adam and Eve disobey God’s instruction under the serpent's influence, causing significant consequences. One of them was exile from the garden:

^{Genesis 3:23} So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. ²⁴ After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Because of their rebellion, Adam and Eve were barred from the Tree of Life, which had been placed in the garden for them to eat from and would have granted them eternal life. Not only that, but eternal life is God’s sharing of his own divine life with humans.

Now that humans would dwell outside the Garden, God crafted a new overlap between heaven and earth to dwell among humans. This is the Tabernacle.

Like the Eden story, the Tabernacle also has a three-part structure: (1) the courtyard; (2) the Holy Place; and (3) the Most Holy Place, where the divine presence of God resided. Here’s a diagram to visualize:

To make the point even clearer, the Tabernacle also contained elements that symbolically connected to the garden. A few examples are:

• The lampstand in the Holy Place was shaped like a tree, paralleling the Tree of Life.

• The most central section of the Tabernacle was the Most Holy Place. This space hosted God’s presence, which paralleled God’s divine life (via the Tree of Life) in the middle of the garden.

• The veil separating the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place had cherubim embroidered on it, paralleling the cherubim that guarded the way to the Tree of Life.

• The entrance of the Tabernacle faced east. So when the priests exit the Tabernacle, they go eastward, in the same direction Adam and Eve were ushered out of the garden.

To enter the Tabernacle is a “return” to Eden. To leave the Tabernacle is to “exit” the new Eden. But if you don’t find that compelling, let’s finally turn to the first couple of lines of Leviticus 10.

Crossing a Forbidden Boundary

^{Leviticus 10:1} Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. ² So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. ³ Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said:

“‘Among those who approach me

I will be proved holy;

in the sight of all the people

I will be honored.’”

Aaron remained silent.

Welp, uh… one would hope for things start off well. Things turned sour quickly, like the Eden story. Yet, reading these verses in English might hinder a reader from recognizing a few key Hebrew words describing Nadab and Abihu’s actions, which are also used in Genesis 3:6. Let’s take a look at a few:

• The priests “took” their censers. The Hebrew word for “took” here is laqakh, the same word used in Gen 3:6 for Eve’s taking of the forbidden fruit.

• They “put” fire in their censers. The word for “put” here is natan, the same word used in Gen 3:6 for Eve’s “giving” of the fruit to Adam.

• The fire “consumed” the priests. The word for “consume” here is ‘akal, the same word used for Eve and Adam’s eating of the fruit in Gen 3:6.

The Leviticus 10 narrative uses language from the Eden story (“took,” “put/give,” and “eat”) to show that Nadab and Abihu’s actions crossed a forbidden line, as Adam and Eve’s did. What was the consequence of the priests’ boundary crossing? Death. The same consequence for Adam and Eve outside the garden. As seen here, the Eden story is often used as a template by later stories to show how people cross a line that leads to demise.

All of that to say, don’t give up on Leviticus friends. Peace to you!

At least, that was my experience during my freshman year of college. I was reading through the Bible cover to cover, and, best believe, I had no idea what was going on. What didn’t help was hearing so often that these sacrifices were now “irrelevant” in light of the New Testament. In other words, I was taught that “all that sacrificial stuff doesn’t matter anymore.”

While it’s true that Jesus offered his life as the ultimate sacrifice, that doesn’t mean we should throw Leviticus to the side. What if a deeper appreciation for the Levitical sacrifices is necessary for a fuller appreciation of some of the sacrificial imagery in the New Testament?

Let’s unpack this a little bit.

A Soothing Aroma to the Lord

In Leviticus 1-7, we encounter five major categories of sacrifices that the Israelites were to offer to God at different times and for different reasons (sometimes overlapping). These are the burnt offerings, grain offerings, well-being offerings, purification offerings, and reparation offerings.

Some sacrifices have an atoning function; others do not. Some sacrifices were reserved for God alone; others were partially eaten by the priests, and the remainder was offered to God. In some cases, the laypeople also ate the sacrificed animal.

Yet, in many of the sacrificial instructions, we encounter an interesting description: the sacrifices would rise to the Lord as a “soothing aroma” (Hebrew: nikhoakh reakh). For example, in the instructions for the burnt offering, we read:

^{Leviticus 1:9} Its entrails, however, and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer all of it up in smoke on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the LORD.

On the surface, it sounds like God likes the smell of BBQ, lol. But this description is a metaphor for God’s acceptance of the offering. Yet, this description doesn’t originate in Leviticus, but in Genesis.

Noah, the Priest

After the floodwaters subside, we read this in Genesis 8:20-21:

^{Genesis 8:20} Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took some of every kind of clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ The LORD smelled the soothing aroma, and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.

As in Leviticus, the Hebrew word for “soothing” here is nikhoakh, derived from the root nuakh, meaning “to rest.” This is part of the same root family as Noah’s name, noakh, meaning “rest.”

Do you think it’s a coincidence that the first time the phrases “soothing aroma” or “restful aroma” appear in the Bible is in a story about someone named “Rest”? I think not 😏.

Not only does this sacrificial phrase take us back to Genesis, but it also launches us forward into the New Testament.

The Aroma Continues

Before we explore a couple of New Testament texts, it may be helpful to see how the Hebrew words for “soothing aroma” were translated into Greek in the Septuagint (Greek OT). The Hebrew nikhoakh (“soothing”) is often translated as the Greek euōdia, and reakh (“aroma”) as osmē.

Now, let’s see how Paul uses these Greek terms (euōdia and osmē) to frame Jesus and others in aromatic sacrificial imagery:

^{Ephesians 5:1} Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; ² and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant (euōdia) aroma (osmē).

Christ is the greatest offering of all, who rose to the Father as a soothing aroma, like the OT sacrificial offerings. But Christ isn’t the only one to whom Paul applies these terms:

^{2 Corinthians 2:14} But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us reveals the fragrance (osmē) of the knowledge of Him in every place. ¹⁵ For we are a fragrance (euōdia) of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: ¹⁶ to the one an aroma (osmē) from death to death, to the other an aroma (osmē) from life to life.

As Paul and his missionary team spread the knowledge of Jesus (the gospel), they carried the aroma of Christ before God and others. Their lives were molded into Christ’s likeness, and they offered themselves in sacrificial service so others could place their allegiance in Jesus. As a result, they “smelled” like Christ.

But the aroma of Christ is not received equally by all people. Some perceive it as offensive—an aroma of death. Others perceive it as a delightful fragrance—an aroma of life.

The same could be said of us who seek to participate in spreading the knowledge of Christ in our spheres of interaction. In doing so, we share in the aroma of Christ before God and others as we live as living sacrifices.

Let’s look at one more text:

^{Philippians 4:17} Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek the profit which increases to your account. ¹⁸ But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant (euōdia) aroma (osmē), an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

In their participation in the way of Jesus, the Philippians practiced generosity toward Paul during his imprisonment. Their generous “offerings” were a fragrant offering to the Lord, as their act fulfilled the law of love.

As we can see, the description “soothing aroma” is not an empty, skippable phrase from the Levitical sacrifices. It is a thread that begins in Genesis, ramps up in Leviticus, and extends into the New Testament. Don’t give up on reading Leviticus.

In these moments, a conviction took root in my heart: that to truly understand the beauty of the New Testament, I must learn the beauty of the Hebrew Bible.

Therefore, when I’m asked where someone should start when reading the Bible for the first time, I’m quick to point them to page one—Genesis 1. But hey, I get that many would recommend starting in a gospel account, especially John. Please don’t hear me as being against that. I want the said person to read it all.

My point is that I believe our appreciation for the richness of the New Testament deepens when we read it with the Hebrew Bible in mind or in hand.

It’s not lost on many of us that the recommended Gospel of John begins with a significant nod to page one of the Scriptures. However, John 1 isn’t only nodding to the creation story of Genesis 1, but also to God’s tabernacle in Exodus. God’s tabernacle still matters. Let’s unpack this a little bit.

In the Beginning was the Word…

The Gospel of John begins with a well-known phrase: “In the beginning…” (John 1:1). As you may have heard many times before, your Genesis 1 senses should be tingling. In Genesis 1:1, we’re introduced to the main character of the biblical story—God.

Yet, in John’s remix of Genesis 1:1, we’re introduced to a divine figure called “the Word.” As we read:

^{John 1:1} In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

I’ll never forget the first time I read this verse. I didn’t know the Koine Greek behind these English words, nor did I know the background on “the Word” in Greek philosophy and “the Word” (a.k.a. The Memra) in the Aramaic Targums. But what floored me was that this figure was both distinguished from and identified as God at the same time. The Word was with God, and was God.

Not only does the opening verse of John’s Gospel speak of the Word as Creator, but so do the following verses:

² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Word not only holds but is the Light that the darkness of this world couldn’t conquer, just as the light pierced the darkness on Day One of creation in Genesis 1. So, what does any of this have to do with God’s tabernacle in Exodus?

The Word in a Tabernacle

Not only is John 1:1 well-known, but so is John 1:14, which begins with:

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

For many years, I read this sentence primarily to prove that God became human. However, I missed the connection between these words and the story of the Exodus.

The Greek verb for “made his dwelling” here is skēnoō, meaning “to pitch one’s tabernacle.” God the Word “pitching his tabernacle” fits the pattern of God’s dwelling among humans in the Hebrew Bible—from the Garden of Eden to the Tabernacle to the Temple, and now in human flesh.

After the covenant between God and the Israelites was confirmed in Exodus 24, God says this to Moses in Exodus 25:

^{Exodus 25:8} Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. ⁹ Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.

In the LXX version of Exodus 25, the Greek word for “tabernacle” is skēnē, related to the verb skēnoō in John 1:14. God gives Moses (and the Israelites) instructions for building the tabernacle, in which God would dwell among them (see Exod 25-31; 35-40). This tabernacle would be patterned after the heavenly tabernacle, which served as the blueprint.

Through the tabernacle, the heavenly realm would once again overlap with the earthly realm. God’s presence would dwell in the midst of his people in the wilderness. Yet in John 1, God takes this even further. The God of the heavens chose to dwell in an earthly body, in an ultimate sense, overlapping the heavenly and the earthly.

In other words, just as God dwelt among the Israelites in the tabernacle, the Word dwelt in a “tabernacle,” too. But not a cloth one, rather a human body.

The Glory Fills the Tabernacle

I must confess that most of my former quotations of John 1:14 would omit the latter half. I know better now lol. It reads:

¹⁴ …We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Greek root for “glory” here is doxa, which can refer to God’s majestic presence. Since the Word is God, wherever he is, God's presence is experienced. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the Word’s “tabernacle” was filled with his glory, which others marveled at—just as God’s glory (doxa) filled the tabernacle in LXX Exodus 40:

^{Exodus 40:34} Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Just as God revealed his glory by filling the tabernacle with his presence, God the Word reveals his glorious presence once again. This time, he does so in human form, pouring out grace and truth to everyone around him. The tabernacle described in Exodus 40 is awe-inspiring in its own right and deepens my understanding of the Word’s dwelling among humanity. God’s tabernacle still matters, even as its form has shifted.

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Many of us have heard or said these words from the Lord’s Prayer. What used to be a distant line in an ancient prayer in the first half of my life has become one of the most consistent requests I make to God.

At times, I’ve prayed these words because I’ve gone without meals. Other times, I’ve prayed these words because I knew millions would go without food that day, and it was my way of asking God to provide for them. At other times, I’ve prayed these words because I lacked the funds to pay the bills.

Although circumstances have varied over the past few years, asking the Father for daily bread for myself and others has been a way I’ve learned to trust the Father to provide for our needs. I come from an environment that instills self-reliance from a young age, where the prevailing belief was, “Ain’t nobody coming to save you; you gotta get it done yourself.”

So, when I became a disciple of Jesus, it took years to shake off this mentality. I was afraid to ask the Father for what I and others needed because I was accustomed to being let down.

I’ve come to realize that the Father is more reliable than I could ever imagine. What helped crack the can open was the realization that the request for “our daily bread” was not strictly individualistic but also communal.

It’s our daily bread. Not just yours. Not just mine. Ours.

God often provides for our needs through others. I have many stories I could tell about how this has played out in my life—in short, whenever I’ve shared with my community about my lack of resources, they've filled the gaps. Through my community, I experienced the Father’s provision. (I know not everyone’s experience with community has been great; that’s a conversation for another day.)

Jesus’s words in his prayer didn’t come out of a vacuum. They are built on the story he brings to its fullness. Let’s unpack this a bit.

Daily Bread From Heaven

What happened after God rescued the Israelites from enslavement? He led them into the wilderness—an environment where God often tested people’s trust in him.

So, the pump is primed for the Israelites, as the wilderness is also a place of significant scarcity. When scarcity arises, what is one thing humans begin to worry about? Food. But will the Israelites trust God?

We read:

^{Exodus 16:2} In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. ³ The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

The Israelites seem to have quickly forgotten how harsh their enslavement was and all that God had done before their very eyes, especially the fact that they had just walked through a sea. If God can split the waters, he can surely provide food.

Before we judge the Israelites too harshly, we must admit that we can find ourselves making similar complaints. God has rescued us from enslavement to sin, death, and the evil one. Yet there are times when we say:

• “I made more money when I was (fill in the blank).”

• “I know the Lord commands this, but I still haven’t seen the fruit of (fill in the blank).”

• “It sure seems like I’m getting the short end of the stick compared to (fill in the blank).”

Like the Israelites, we can allow a current felt need to cloud our memory of our former enslavement.

How does God respond to the Israelites’ grumbling?

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. ⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.”

God provides them with daily bread (and meat). Even so, the people continued to complain about their wants and needs. This shows us that physical sustenance does not ultimately satisfy us. We ultimately hunger and thirst for something that can satisfy us eternally.

But we’re ultimately longing not for a meal and drink but for a person.

I Am the Bread of Life

This person is Jesus.

The food we eat can only bring temporary contentment. But soon enough, our hunger will stir again, ready to consume more. As necessary as food is to our lives, it just won’t cut it.

After feeding thousands of people with bread and fish, Jesus said to the crowd:

^{John 6:26} Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

Following this, the crowd asks Jesus what sign he will perform so they may believe him, even pointing to the manna given to their ancestors in the wilderness (vv. 30-31).

Notice how they are repeating the patterns of their ancestors from Exodus 16. They have quickly “forgotten” what Jesus had just done before them, miraculously feeding thousands of them.

Then, we read:

³² Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Jesus continues to share a few more words with the crowd, eliciting this response from the crowd:

⁴¹ At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

The Greek root for “grumble” here is gonguzō, the same root used in the LXX version of Exodus 16:2, where the Israelites grumbled about hunger, as we read above. They repeat the patterns of their ancestors, even though the true Bread from Heaven stands before them.

A few verses later, we read:

⁴⁷ Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Jesus is the ultimate source of sustenance and life. He isn’t saying his followers will never miss a physical meal, but that their hunger for eternal life is satisfied in him. Our bodies hunger for food to sustain life, yet food cannot prevent death altogether. However, there is a kind of Bread that sustains us through death and into everlasting life—the Lord himself.

Final Thought

When we pray, “Give us today our daily bread,” we are not only asking the Father to meet our physical needs but also to give us more of the Bread of Life, whom he has given to the world.

Jesus is our daily bread, who grants us eternal life. There isn't a day that goes by that we don’t need him. So, while we travel through the proverbial wilderness of life, we feast not only on the Bread of Life (through the Eucharist), but also on his teachings.

As Jesus told the accuser during his testing in the wilderness, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4; Deut 8:3).

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Now, before you get upset with me, yes, I believe Jesus rescues us from the wrath to come, as Paul explains in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, for example. But there’s more to the story.

In the biblical story, the Exodus event serves as the essential model for “salvation.” It demonstrates not only God’s power to rescue people from captivity but also his desire to do so. Therefore, in the Jesus event, all of this reaches its ultimate fulfillment.

Let’s unpack this a little bit.

The Passover

In the Exodus story, God demonstrates “signs” through Moses that gradually tear down the Egyptian kingdom. These signs are also called “the plagues.” However, there’s a final “sign” that delivers the decisive blow—the death of the firstborn. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back, leading to the Israelites' release from captivity.

A flood of death nears, as we read:

^{Exodus 12:12} I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

God is fulfilling the warning that he instructed Moses to deliver to Pharaoh back in Exodus 4:22-23:

²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. ²³ So I said to you, ‘Let My son go so that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I am going to kill your son, your firstborn.”’”

Since Pharaoh was responsible for the tragic death of the newborn Israelite sons in Exodus 1, God now plans to turn this around by bringing a devastating strike to all the firstborn sons in Egypt. However, this plague will affect everyone in Egypt, not just Egyptians. Thankfully, God offers a way to stay safe, unlike Pharaoh, who refused to do so.

Any household could place the blood of a lamb or goat on their doorpost as a protective sign, preventing the Destroyer from entering that home.

The Departure

After the final strike in Egypt, the Egyptians hurried the Israelites out of the land, but they didn't leave empty-handed (Exod 12:35-36). Soon, Pharaoh and his army chased after the Israelites, determined to catch them. The Israelites then found themselves “trapped” between the advancing Egyptian army and the sea. As panic started to set in among the Israelites, Moses reassures them by saying:

^{Exodus 14:13} But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will perform for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, ever.

Moses was confident that God would save them.

Fun Fact: The Hebrew word for “salvation” here is y’shua, which is the Hebrew spelling of Jesus’s name. 😏

If you’re familiar with the story of Exodus, you'll recall how God empowers Moses to part the sea, allowing the Israelites to walk through. Interestingly, the same waters that were divided to save God's people are the ones that later swallow the Egyptians who chase after them. It's a powerful reminder of how divine intervention plays a crucial role in this story. So, we’re told:

^{Exodus 14:30} Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

The word for “saved” here is from the root, yasha’, which is the root of y’shua. Speaking of Yeshua, let’s see how his salvific work is framed as a New Exodus.

Jesus’s Passover and Departure

As we turn to the New Testament, God sends a new deliverer to overthrow oppressive rulers and set captives free. He sends his Son. But the Son wasn’t sent to overthrow the Romans, but to dismantle the kingdom of darkness.

As we discussed in the last post, Jesus does this in part by displaying “signs,” much like Moses did to dismantle Pharaoh’s rule. Jesus freed people from demonic powers, illnesses, death, and more—releasing people from the grips of darkness. However, there was still one final blow Jesus would deliver to the kingdom of darkness. This final blow would crack open the New Exodus, which is why we read this in Luke 9:

²⁹ As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. ³⁰ Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. ³¹ They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.

The Greek word for “departure” here is exodos, from which we get “exodus.” But you can’t have an Exodus without the Passover, right? Jesus deliberately heads to Jerusalem to be there in time for the Passover festival.

However, during this Passover, it’s not the firstborn sons of others who are struck down—it’s God’s Begotten Son who is struck. The Son offers himself as a lamb, whose blood protects all who take refuge in him.

But who is Jesus setting others free from? From the kingdom of darkness.

Salvation is Freedom

Just as God rescued the Israelites from Egyptian enslavement, he also saves anyone—whether Israelite or Gentile—who trusts in his Son from enslavement to the kingdom of darkness. As Paul states in Galatians 1:3-5:

³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Greek root for “rescue” here is exaireō, which is used in the Greek version of Exodus 3:8, where God states:

So I have come down to rescue (exaireō) them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

So, Paul frames “this present evil age” as the new Pharaoh, whose captivity Jesus has not only saved us from, but also defeated. We also see this in Colossians 1:13:

He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Final Thought

The point is that if we frame salvation merely as a means to avoid a particular afterlife, we miss the richness of Jesus’s salvific work in the here and now. He offers freedom from sin, death, and the evil one today, not just after we pass from this life. Similarly, God’s salvation of the Israelites wasn’t just about an “endgame” of reaching the promised land in their future. It was about God’s work to free them from captivity in their present! Similarly, Jesus offers us freedom now and assures us that enduring the wilderness of life will lead to entering the promised world.

But this requires us to trust him as the ultimate Deliverer, who leads us in the New Exodus.

However, my best friend in the neighborhood, Kevin, wasn’t intimidated by him at all. In fact, whenever Kevin showed up, my confidence shot up to the sky because I knew that he was there to liberate us from the bully’s tyranny.

Kevin served as an early example for me of Moses’s role in freeing his fellow Israelites from the oppressive rule of the Pharaoh. To bring liberation to captives, one must be willing and able to step into the captor’s domain. Kevin contributed to the crumbling of the neighborhood’s fear of our shared bully. Although not an exact comparison, this reminds me of the stories of Moses and Jesus, who respectively entered the domain of an oppressor and gradually dismantled that ruler’s kingdom.

Allow me to unpack this a bit.

Stepping into Pharaoh’s Arena

For centuries, the ancient Israelites endured brutal slavery under Egypt. Where was the God of their ancestors, who promised to give them a land of peace and abundance? To any observer, all that was visible was forced labor, murder, and more—a life far from peace and abundance.

Pharaoh was the biggest, baddest bully on the scene. Who would dare to challenge him? What could the Israelites really do to stop him? They cried out to the God of their ancestors.

^{Exodus 2:23} During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. ²⁵ So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

God heard their cry, and now it was time for freedom. But instead of just attacking Pharaoh from the outside, God plans to break down Pharaoh’s rule from within. How so? He calls Moses, an Israelite and a former member of the Pharaonic family.

Remember how Pharaoh’s daughter adopted Moses in Exodus 2:5-10? Little did the Pharaonic family know that they were bringing in God’s chosen one who would later bring down the Egyptian kingdom.

But before any of that could happen, Moses had to be prepared for the task at hand. We see this begin in Exodus 3-4, where God calls Moses to return to Egypt to free the Israelites. Moses repeatedly resists the call with excuses. One of them was that he wasn’t sure that his fellow Israelites would listen to him:

^{Exodus 4:1} Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

How does God respond? He gives Moses “signs.”

² Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

³ The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. ⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ⁵ “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

⁶ Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.

⁷ “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

⁸ Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. ⁹ But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”

God provides three signs: (1) Moses’s staff turning into a snake; (2) his hand becoming leprous; and (3) water turning to blood. These are the exact signs Moses was to perform before the Israelites to prove that God truly sent him. So, we read:

²⁹ Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, ³⁰ and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, ³¹ and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Moses goes back to Egypt—Pharaoh’s domain—and gets the Israelites on board through the signs. But freedom is not yet achieved, as Moses must go further into Pharaoh’s territory and specifically confront Pharaoh face to face. We see this in Exodus 5:

^{Exodus 5:1} Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”

² Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

This ultimately doesn’t go over well. Not only does Pharaoh refuse to release the Israelites, but he also increases their labor (Exod 5:5-21). Yet, God reassured Moses that liberation would come soon through his mighty hand (6:1).

So, God turns up the temperature:

^{Exodus 7:1} Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. ² You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. ³ But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, ⁴ he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. ⁵ And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

Following these words, God, through Moses, displays “signs and wonders” (what is commonly called “the plagues”) that gradually dismantle Pharaoh’s kingdom because of Pharaoh’s resistance to freeing the Israelite captives.

What was used to build the trust of the Israelites (God’s signs) will also be used to tear Pharaoh’s rule apart piece by piece simultaneously. So, how does this connect to the Jesus story?

Stepping into the Serpent’s Arena

Since the earliest human rebellion in the biblical story, humanity has been under the deceptive influence of the evil one. The evil one’s deceptions have led to strife, violence, and enslavement—like that in the Exodus story.

Like Pharaoh, the evil one was the biggest, baddest bully on the scene. Who would dare challenge him? What could humans really do to stop him? They cried out to the God of Israel.

God heard the cries of people throughout history, and now it was time for freedom. How will God achieve this? By sending his Son into the earthly realm as a human. Through the Son, liberation from the kingdom of darkness would be given to all who trust in him.

But to accomplish this, the Father empowers his Son for the task at hand. So, we read:

^{Matthew 3:13} Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

¹⁵ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

To complete his liberation mission, Jesus goes through the waters of baptism, and as he emerges, God’s Spirit fills him. The Father also affirms him before everyone present as his beloved Son. Little did everyone realize the blows this Son would bring to the kingdom of darkness, but they would soon see the evidence. How so?

Like Moses, Jesus performs many signs before his fellow Israelites, confirming that he is the Sent One from God who would lead them into a greater freedom than they imagined. We see broader claims of Jesus’s miraculous works, such as:

^{Matthew 4:23} Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴ News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

But we’re also told explicitly that Jesus performed “signs” (especially throughout John’s Gospel):

^{John 2:11} What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

A few things to note here. First, the word for “sign” here is sēmeion, which is also used in the Greek version of the Exodus passages mentioned above.

Secondly, what sign did Jesus perform in Cana? He turned water into wine. Hmm…where else have we seen water turn into another liquid substance? The Moses bells should be ringing! Lol.

Lastly, what is the outcome of Jesus’s sign? People believe in him, just as their ancestors believed in Moses, because of the signs he performed.

What was used to build the Israelites' trust (Jesus’s signs) will also be used to dismantle the evil one’s rule bit by bit, simultaneously. When Jesus delivers someone from demonic oppression or possession, heals a person from illness, or raises someone from the dead, he is snatching them from the grip of the dark kingdom!

However, there is a sign in both Moses’s and Jesus’s stories that gives a fatal blow to the respective rulers they faced head-on. But that’s for next time, peace fam.

I didn’t grow up in the church, but somehow, this VHS tape was always within my reach. That said, The Prince of Egypt was my introduction to the story of the Exodus. Even as a kid, I was captivated by the story—God rescues an enslaved and brutalized people from oppression by calling up an unexpected leader. That leader is Moses.

Years later, after I became a follower of Jesus, one of the first biblical books I turned to was the book of Exodus. What started as a quest to compare The Prince of Egypt to the biblical text quickly became the foundation for my understanding of salvation in the biblical story.

Over the years since then, I’ve learned that without a well-rounded understanding of the Exodus story, a person’s grasp of the salvific work of Jesus will have notable gaps. Much of how Jesus is portrayed in the New Testament is as a “New Moses” figure, leading a new Exodus to which all are invited to join.

Yet, understanding Jesus in this way requires one to revisit and re-read the story of the Exodus. Allow me to unpack a few things to clarify what I mean.

God Rescues Through a…Baby

The book of Exodus picks up right where Genesis leaves off. Jacob’s family (Israel) is living in Egypt, reunited with the “lost” brother, Joseph. The family grows, but as they expand, a new Pharaoh comes to power who views the Israelite family as a threat. So, what do you think a king would do when he feels endangered? He oppresses and enslaves them, sadly (Exod 1:1-14).

Part of Pharaoh’s plan was to execute all the newborn Israelite boys—an evil and heartbreaking scheme (Exod 1:15-22). Little did Pharaoh know that his plan would ultimately lead to the downfall of his kingdom. While he aimed to “preserve” his rule, God preserved a baby Israelite boy who was brought into Pharaoh’s household.

How did he get there?

^{Exodus 2:3} But when she [the mother] could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

Now, the princess has a choice to make—will she align with the treacherous plan of her father, or will she spare the baby? However, the baby’s sister was watching from a distance and responded with craftiness.

⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him.

Now, let’s observe a few things. First, notice that the princess offers to pay an enslaved person to nurse the child. This is not something she had to do. She could have simply demanded a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. Secondly, note the full-circle moment for the baby’s family. Although it’s not explicitly stated in the text, we can assume that his mother trusted God to protect her baby. Now, the baby is returned to her to nurse. Yet again, she is faced with the reality of letting her child go, as we read:

¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

The baby is named Moses because he was drawn out of the water. Now, what if this part of Moses’s story foreshadows what will happen to the people he will one day lead?

Moses is rescued through the waters of the Nile River and found among the reeds by the river. Later, Moses will lead the rescued Israelites through the waters of the Sea of Reeds, also known as the Red Sea (Exod 15). So, how does this connect to the Jesus story?

God Rescues Through a Baby…Again

In Matthew 2, we are introduced to a client-king of Judea named Herod, who is visited by foreign “wise men” seeking to worship the newborn “King of the Jews.” Now, one could imagine how Herod must have felt hearing this, as in his eyes, he was the king of the Jews. The arrival of a new king might seem like a threat, right?

Hmm…where have we seen a king feel threatened before? Back in the Exodus story.

So, can we expect that Herod will do something terribly drastic to preserve his rule? Absolutely. We read:

^{Matthew 2:3} When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler

who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

That doesn’t sound too bad, right? Herod wants to “worship” the child as well. Yeaaaaaahhhh no, Herod’s true intentions are soon to be revealed.

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The wise men are warned not to go back to Herod. Why? Well, let’s keep reading:

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁸ “A voice is heard in Ramah,

weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,

because they are no more.”

Similar to Moses, the young Jesus faced the threat of a paranoid and fearful king. Like the Pharaoh of Exodus, King Herod commands the execution of young Jewish boys in Bethlehem to “eliminate his threat.” But Jesus is preserved. Although Jesus isn’t rescued through waters, he is taken to the place where Moses’s story began—Egypt.

The parallels between the birth narratives of Moses and Jesus are very intentional. If Moses was preserved to one day lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, how much more was Jesus preserved to lead both the Israelites and Gentiles out of slavery to the kingdom of darkness.

As the angel told Jesus’s father, Joseph, in Matthew 1:21:

²¹ She [Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

The Greek word for “save” here is sōzō, which can also be translated as “rescue.” God appoints Jesus to rescue his people from their sins—a bondage that only he can break. Similarly, God appointed Moses to rescue his people from the bondage of Pharaoh. God’s rescue plan(s) begin with a baby—a tactic that only God was wise enough to come up with. But there’s more to unpack.

I look forward to next time.

“Am I reading this passage, right? If not, will God penalize me for it? If so, why should I be penalized for genuinely trying my best to read this stuff?”

These are the questions I would ask myself silently. I think part of this anxiety came from being trained to see the Bible through strict lenses. So, that also created a heavy pressure to “get it right.”

I had no idea how to handle the talking snake on page three, or the “poetic” speeches that the Prophets delivered in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and so on.

I was confused but still fascinated by this collection of ancient Jewish texts. Over time, I began to seek out friends who had spent more years with these texts than I had—those who could dig into the original languages and highlight aspects that English couldn't fully convey. I looked for friends patient enough to help me learn how to read like them.

One of these friends was Tim Mackie, who later offered me a job at BibleProject in 2021. Over the course of my four years working there, I developed a literary lens while reading the Bible. Yes, it is sacred. Full stop. And it is literature. It’s sacred literature.

I learned from my coworkers that one can appreciate the human literary techniques of the Bible while believing that God inspired it. Those are not mutually exclusive. It’s okay to say that the Bible is a product of ancient, genius Jewish storytellers who used the literary conventions of their culture and time to communicate truths about God, their family, and the world we live in. I was already 100% convinced of the divine aspects of these texts, but I was missing appreciation for their human aspects.

The literary lenses I developed transformed everything for me.

When I arrived at BibleProject, most of my workload involved reading and re-reading Genesis 1-11. What could repetitive reading of 11 chapters really achieve? MORE THAN I COULD EVER IMAGINE. I realized how these chapters laid out many themes and patterns that later biblical stories built upon.

Allow me to unpack a couple of examples.

Genesis 1

As many of you know, Genesis 1 is a beautiful account of seven days that describes God’s creation of the skies and land. What started as a dark and empty realm, filled with chaotic waters, became an ordered universe with inhabitants throughout every part of it.

But the account isn’t just a “forward sequence” of seven days where God worked and rested. It’s like literary origami, full of cross-connections across the days in the account.

For example, the third and sixth days are similar in many ways.

• On the third day, God causes the dry land to appear from beneath the chaotic waters. On the sixth day, he populates the dry land with various land creatures.

• Both days feature a “bonus act.”

  • On Day Three: God makes the land grow various kinds of plants, including fruit trees.

  • On Day Six: God creates humans in his image and likeness.

    • Can we recall a story that follows Genesis 1 and is about humans and fruit trees? 😏

But how do these parallels lay the groundwork for later biblical stories?

Consider some of the important events humans experience on the “third day” in later stories.

• God tests Abraham on the third day, and the result is a rescued, preserved life [Isaac’s life] emerges and continues (Gen. 22).

• God meets the Israelites on Mount Sinai on the third day, and a covenant is formed as a result (Exod 19).

• After the Israelites’ Golden Calf episode, Moses goes back up Mount Sinai on the third day, and a renewed covenant is established as a result (Exod 32-34).

• The fish spits Jonah out on the third day, and Jonah preaches to the Ninevites, leading to their repentance (Jon 2-3).

• Jesus rises from the dead on the 3rd day, and everything changes (Matt 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20).

Genesis 4

Many of you are familiar with the Cain and Abel story — it’s a tragic tale.

Not only do we meet the first siblings in the Genesis stories, but their tale also establishes several patterns and themes that appear in later stories.

One of the themes is sibling rivalry.

Consider many of the siblings who were in conflict or had tensions with one another in the biblical story.

• Ham // Shem & Japheth

• Ishmael // Isaac

• Esau // Jacob

• Leah // Rachel

• 10 Older Brothers // Joseph

• Miriam & Aaron // Moses

• Brothers & Sisters of Jesus // Jesus

Another theme is the preference for a later-born sibling over the firstborn, which relates to sibling rivalry because many of these rivalries started because the firstborn wasn’t the “chosen” one, whether by God or another person. This again begins with the Cain and Abel story.

For example, Ishmael was not the son that God promised to give to Abraham and Sarah. Still, God promised to care for Ishmael. However, Sarah did not like Ishmael or his mother, Hagar, so she urged Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away. She declared that Ishmael would not be an heir with her son, Isaac (Gen 21:8-10). Abraham was grieved, but guess who came to the rescue? God. God reassures Abraham that Ishmael will be taken care of (Gen 21:12-13).

Consider the sister-wives, Leah and Rachel. What began as a deception match between Jacob and Laban evolved into a family marked by conflict and rivalries.

Laban tricked Jacob into marrying Leah, and unfortunately, Jacob did not love Leah. But the Lord saw her suffering and opened her womb, and she started having children with Jacob (Gen 29:31-35).

Jacob also married Rachel, Leah’s younger sister, whom Jacob had loved ever since he first met her. She was the “chosen one.” However, Rachel’s womb was closed. This made Rachel jealous of Leah (Gen 30:1-2).

However, the tensions didn’t end with these sister-wives, as their children would later develop rivalries as well.

Genesis 8

One of the most intriguing sentences in Genesis 1-11 to me is found in first half of Genesis 8:1.

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark.

God remembered? Yes. Not because he forgets anything, but because he focuses his attention to act on something specific. I’m not making any major theological claims about God’s omniscience. My point is that the narrative presents God as taking action on something via “remembrance”.

Noah and his family were on the ark for a long time, and God “remembers” them. As a result, we read the second half of Genesis 8:1:

And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.

God causes the waters to chill out, eventually bringing the family back to dry land.

However, the idea of God “remembering” a person or a group of people in later stories can follow a similar pattern to the Flood story, where God rescues them from difficult circumstances.

Consider the story of God’s rescue of Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah following Abraham’s intercession.

^{Genesis 19:29} So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Or consider God’s rescue of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

^{Exodus 2:24} And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

Or recall Samson’s final plea to God, even after Samson broke his Nazirite vow and was captured by Delilah and the Philistines:

^{Judges 16:28} Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”

God answered him. Although Samson wasn’t saved from death, he was spared from a “dishonorable” death at the hands of Philistines.

Final Thought

I could discuss how the Eden story sets the stage for later biblical characters to face a choice: Will they trust God’s voice to experience what is good, or will they listen to their own voice or others' voices to pursue what they believe is good based on their own will?

I could also discuss how the Israelites are compared to the “floodwaters” of the Flood during their battle in Jericho. Just as God used the floodwaters as the vehicle of his judgment in the Flood, the Israelites serve as the vehicle of God’s judgment against the Canaanites in Jericho.

The point is that Genesis 1-11 is full of depth, and I can’t help but see its influence everywhere else. The Bible is a masterful collection of sacred, ancient Jewish writings. If we’re willing to slow down and pay attention to even the smallest details in a text, we’ll never run out of things to marvel at regarding how interconnected biblical literature is.