Numbers 26
This is one of those chapters that we read very quickly through, since it lists the names of the people counted in the census. What I stress with my kids, is that God is documenting the people and the time that this was happening, so unbelieving historians won't say that these people and events didn't take place!
Numbers 27
The big thing in this chapter is the part about inheritance laws, and the daughters of Zelophehad. Normally, when a man dies, he leaves the family estate to his male heirs or the next male kin. In the case of these daughters, there was no such avenue. They petitioned Moses to have him grant the estate to them, and their husbands by the father of the daughters to adopt the son-in-laws.
This is HUGE if we look forward to the situation around Jesus.
In Jer 22:30, God puts a curse on the king and ancestor of Jesus...that no man of Jeconiah's blood would rule as king and prosper. Satan must have been jumping for joy, thinking that God's anger got the better of Him, and He cursed His own plan for man's redemption! If Jesus was later to be a descendant of Jeconiah, then this curse would have applied to Him, and His legal right to the throne would have been for naught.
I read the genealogy of Jesus in both Matthew and Luke...most of it is the same except for one key point.
In Matthew, the kingship goes from David to Solomon, and eventually down to Joseph, the husband of Mary.
In Luke, the genealogy goes from David to his other son, Nathan, and down to Mary.
God has made it possible for Jesus to be the heir to the throne through Solomon, but He doesn't have the blood of Joseph since God had the Holy Spirit make Mary pregnant...the Immaculate Conception!
However, Jesus does have David's blood in Him, since Mary is a descendant of Nathan, David's other son!
So we have the royal line intact through Solomon to Joseph, and the bloodline without a curse through Nathan to Mary! Isn't it awesome how God planned that out?!?
So the daughters of Zelophehad did all this, so God could establish the adoption of Jesus by Joseph, with the inheritance of the throne without the blood curse!
The Bible is not a collection of stories and events...it is 66 books, with over 40 authors, spanning over 1,000 years...all speaking of the same thing...Jesus Christ!!!
Numbers 28-33
These chapters cover the offerings and legal issues for the people of Israel. I suggest you find out what your kids are interested in, and explore them more, since God didn't put them in there unless He wants us to study and learn from them!
Thanks for one of the most coherent explanations of the different geneologies presented in the gospels. Now I can easily explain to people that this isn't a contradiction at all but a planned event.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it awesome how God did that?!? It always amazes me how much more we grow in the LORD once we make the commitment to study His Word. Most of the time, we read the Bible quickly, but when we take the time and listen to accredited Bible teachers to point out things, the Word comes alive! All we need to do, is ingest the info, and look it up for ourselves, and let God confirm or deny what's been taught. (Acts 17:11) Thanks for giving me your input Brother!
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