The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 58: A Chosen People (2024)

Episode Date: February 27, 2024

Fr. Mike breaks down the purpose of the various offerings during the dedication of the tabernacle. We are also reminded that the people of Israel are God's chosen people because they have a key mission. Today's readings are Numbers 7, Deuteronomy 7, and Psalm 92 For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 58. So we are reading today, keeping on with our numbers, reading Numbers chapter seven and Deuteronomy chapter seven. We're also going to be praying from Psalm 92. As always, I am reading from the

Bible translation of the called the revised standard version, the second Catholic edition. As always, I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in the Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. And if you have not yet subscribed in your podcast app, please do that. That way you can receive all of your daily updates. Today, once again, it's day 58. We're reading Numbers chapter 7, Deuteronomy chapter 7, and Psalm 92.

Numbers chapter 7, Offerings of the leaders. On the day when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle and had anointed and consecrated it with all its furnishings, and had anointed and consecrated the altar with all its utensils, the leaders of Israel, heads of their fathers' houses, the leaders of the tribes who were over those who were numbered, offered and brought their offerings before the Lord. Six covered wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two of the leaders and for each one an ox. They offered them before the tabernacle. Then the Lord said to Moses, Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the service of the tent of meeting, and give them to the Levites, to each man according

to his service. So Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service, and four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they were charged with the care of the holy things which had to be carried on the shoulder. And the leaders offered offerings for the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed. And the leaders offered their offerings before the altar. And the Lord said to Moses, They shall offer their offerings, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar. He who offered his offering the

first day was Nashon, the son of Anamidadab of the tribe of Judah, and his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, one gold dish of 10 shekels full of incense, one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering, one male goat for a sin offering, and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nashon, the son of Aminadab. On the second day, Nethanel, the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, made an offering. He offered for his offering one silver plate, whose

weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, one golden dish of ten shekels full of incense, one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering, one male goat for a sin offering, and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nethanel, the son of Zuar. On the third day, Eliab, the son of Halon, the leader of the men of Zebulun, his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, one golden dish of 10 shekels full of incense,

one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering, one male goat for a sin offering, and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab, the son of Halon. On the fourth day, Elisur, the son of Shadur,

the leader of the men of Reuben, his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, one golden dish of 10 shekels full of incense, one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering, one male goat for a sin offering, and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elizur, the son of Shedior. On the fifth day,

Shilumiel, the son of Zerushadai, the leader of the men of Simeon. His offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for cereal offerings, one golden dish of ten shekels full of incense, one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old for burnt offering, one male goat for a sin offering, and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Shulmiel, the son of Zerushadai. On the sixth day, Eliasaph, the son of Deuel, the leader of the men of Gad. His offering was one silver plate whose weight was

130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, one golden dish of 10 shekels full of incense, one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering, one male goat for a sin offering, and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph, the son of Deol. On the seventh day, Elishema, the son of Amihud, the leader of the men of Ephraim. His offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels,

one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, one golden dish of ten shekels full of incense, one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering, one male goat for a sin offering, and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elishema, the son of Amihud. On the eighth day, Gamaliel, the son of Pedazur, the leader of the men of Manasseh. His offering was one silver plate whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, one golden dish of ten shekels full of incense, one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old

for a burnt offering, one male goat for a sin offering, and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel, the son of Petejour. On the ninth day, Abidon, the son of Gideoni, the leader of the men of Benjamin. His offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, one golden dish of 10 shekels full of incense, one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering, one male goat for a sin offering, and for the sacrifice of peace offerings,

two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abedan, the son of Gideonai. On the tenth day, Ahiezar, the son of Amishandai, the leader of the men of Dan. His offering was one silver plate whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, one golden dish of ten shekels full of incense, one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering, one male goat for a sin offering, and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezar,

the son of Amishadai. On the eleventh day, Pagiel, the son of Okran, the leader of the men of Asher, On the eleventh day, Pagiel the son of Okran, the leader of the men of Asher, his offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, one golden dish of ten shekels full of incense, one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering, one male goat for a sin offering, and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel, the son of Okran. On the twelfth day, Ahira, the son of Enan, the leader of the men of Naphtali. His offering was one silver plate,

whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, one golden dish of ten shekels full of incense, one young bull, one ram, one male lamb, a year old, for burnt offering, one male goat for a sin offering, and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira, the son of Enan. This was the dedication offering for the altar on the day when it was anointed from the leaders of Israel, silver plates, twelve silver basins, twelve golden dishes, each silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and each basin seventy, all the

silver of the vessels two thousand four hundred shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary, the twelve golden dishes full of incense weighing ten shekels apiece according to the shekel of the sanctuary, all the gold of the dishes being a hundred being 120 shekels, all the cattle for a burnt offering, 12 bulls, 12 rams, 12 male lambs a year old with their cereal offering, and 12 male goats for a sin offering, and all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings, 24 bulls, the rams 60, the male goats 60, and the male lambs, a year old, sixty. This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed. And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was upon the

ark of the covenant from between the two cherubim, and it spoke to him. to him. The book of Deuteronomy chapter 7, a chosen people. Moses continued, when the Lord your God brings you into the land which you are entering to take possession of it and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than yourselves. And when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you must utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not make marriages with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he

would destroy you quickly. But thus shall you deal with them. You shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and hew down their asherim and burn their graven images with fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love upon you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath which he swore to your fathers that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage,

from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know, therefore, that the Lord your God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and merciful love with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations and repays to their face those who hate him by destroying them. He will not be slack with him who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the ordinances which I command you this day.

Blessing for obedience. And because you listen to these ordinances and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the merciful love which he swore to your fathers to keep. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your cattle. And the Lord will take away from you all sickness and none of the evil diseases of Egypt,

which you knew, will he inflict upon you. But he will lay them upon all who hate you. And you shall destroy all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. Your eyes shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you. If you say in your heart, these nations are greater than I, how can I dispossess them? You shall not be afraid of them. But you shall remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out.

So will the Lord your God do to all the people of whom you are afraid. Moreover, the Lord your God will send hornets among them until those who are left and hide themselves from you are afraid. Moreover, the Lord your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is in the midst of you, a great and terrible God. The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you, but the Lord your god will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed and he will give their kings into your hand and you shall make their name perish from under heaven not a man shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them

the graven images of their gods you shall burn with fire you shall not covet the silver or the Psalm 92 You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is an accursed thing. Psalm 92, Thanksgiving for Vindication. A psalm, a song for the Sabbath. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High, to declare your merciful love in the morning and your faithfulness by night. To the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work. At the work of your hands I sing for joy.

How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep. The dull man cannot know, the stupid cannot understand this, that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever. But you, O Lord, are on high forever. For behold, your enemies, O Lord, for behold, your enemies shall perish. All evildoers shall be scattered. But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox. You have poured over me

fresh oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies. My ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord. They flourish in the courts of our God. They are planted in the house of the Lord. They flourish in the courts of our God. They still bring forth fruit in old age. They are ever full of sap and green to show that the Lord is upright. He is my rock

and there is no unrighteousness in him. Father in heaven, we thank you so much for bringing us here again today. Lord God, you are faithful and you keep us coming back to you. You help us to be faithful because you are so good. Lord God, this is day 58 and you have brought us to this day. You brought us to this morning, to this midday, to this afternoon, to this evening. Lord, you've brought us to this moment because you are faithful.

Even when we are unfaithful, even when we forget, you are faithful and you never forget your children. Lord God, help us, help us truly to belong to you. Help us to remain faithful, not just by reading your word and letting it be proclaimed to our ears and our minds and our hearts, but also, Lord God, like yesterday, we prayed, help us to hear, O Israel, that we belong to you, that we love you with everything we have. Lord God, help us to love you with everything we have, even when we are weak, even when we struggle, even when we stumble, even when we sin.

Lord God, help us. We know that you will never abandon us or give up on us. And so, Father, in Jesus' name, we trust in you, we praise you, we thank you, and we ask for your continued faithfulness. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So as we're praying through Numbers chapter 7, one of the things that strikes us is the

repetitive nature of Numbers chapter 7. Like, oh my goodness, we had to go through all those? Yes, we did, because it is the word of God and it is a gift to all of us. One of the things that it shows is, okay, this is Numbers chapter seven, but the events of Numbers chapter seven actually happened before the events of Numbers chapter one. Why? Because it's the dedication of the temple. So this is basically, or sorry, not the temple, but the tabernacle. So before all the worship of the tabernacle has happened or begins, the 12 tribes of Israel with the representatives of the 12 tribes of Israel have come to Moses and Aaron, and they have brought all of these gifts for sacrifice and all these gifts for the Levites. And so one of the things that we note is we kind

of did a little time traveling here as we are recounting what had happened prior to the events of worship in the tabernacle in Numbers chapter one. So just keep that in mind, that's just kind of a little recap of what happened before that. Now, one thing to be able to draw our attention to when it comes to Numbers chapter seven

with the offerings of the leaders, one is that every single tribe contributed to the worship of the tabernacle. Every single tribe brought the same thing. In fact, that's why it was so repetitive. But that shows us the humility of the people of Israel. It shows us that sense of, okay, Judah is not bringing more than Manasseh. And it's a sense of, okay, here is what the Lord has asked of us. So that's what we're all going to bring. We're all going to bring. We're all going to bring a silver platter.

That's 130 shekels. You're all going to bring a bowl that weighs 70 shekels. One thing though, that is unique. There is one family here that gets some special attention. We saw that when the tribes of Israel brought forth the oxen and the carts, the four wagons and the eight oxen, that Moses gave them to the family of Gershon and gave the family of Merari for their service. So they have now two wagons, four oxen, the sons of Gershon, and then four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari. But it says to the sons of Kohath, he gave none. Why? Because remember what the job of the sons of Kohath was. The jobs of the sons of Kohath, he gave none. Why? Because remember what the job of the sons of Kohath was.

The jobs of the sons of Kohath were to carry the holy objects, were to carry the sacred objects. And so those objects, if you remember back when they had to design them, they were made of acacia wood, overlaid with gold. And then those special objects had rings through which poles of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, were put through the rings. They were never to be put on a cart or on a wagon. They were only to be carried. And so it's such an interesting thing that out of all the objects of the tabernacle,

sons of Kohath, you don't need any dedicated wagons. You don't need any dedicated oxen because these things are so holy, so set apart that you are going to carry them yourselves. And that's just, I just think that, I don't know, it's pretty neat because it does show the uniqueness of holy things. And that's worth noting. Now, with that being said of Numbers chapter seven, we have to say one quick note on Deuteronomy chapter seven. And that quick note is a difficult note because it has to do with the injunction to have no mercy on the people into whose land the people of Israel are going to go, right? They're going to go to take the land, take possession of it. And when they do that, they are not to spare them. They're not to have mercy on them.

Now, we're going to talk more about this as time goes on, but the most important thing, you might say, why is this? And it's highlighted incredibly clearly in Deuteronomy chapter seven, and it's going to be repeated multiple times throughout the course of Deuteronomy. And also what we're going to get when we get to Joshua and when we get to, man, well, actually virtually every book of the Bible is going to Joshua. And when we get to, man, well, actually every, virtually every book of the Bible is going to reveal why the Lord God was taking such a hard stance against that intermingling with the peoples of the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Jebusites and the Canaanites. Why? Is because you're going to want to be, this is the Lord God essentially saying, you're going to want to be

like the people around you. I know you already. Like again, remember this is Deuteronomy. Moses has already led these, he's lived with these people for their entire lives. They've been in the wilderness for 38 years. And Moses is saying, I know you. When you go into the land in which you're to occupy, you're going to want to marry them. You're going to want to live among them. You're going to want to be like them, but you can't be like them. Not because you're special, he even says, not because you're special, but because the Lord loves you. This is so important.

This can seem so problematic to us, right? That it seems that God is commanding no mercy. And yet let that not, we're going to look at that more deeply later on. I just trust me on this. that more deeply later on. Just trust me on this. But the core of this is you can't be like the other people in the promised land because you're the people that I love. Not that I don't love them, but this is a particular kind of love. It is through you. It's through your faithfulness. It's through this covenant, this relationship that we have, that the entire world is going to be blessed. But before that, before that, you're going into a place that is dangerous at such a place that if you don't hold onto your faith on purpose, if you don't know my great love for you

and never ever forget it, you are going to let go of it. And if you let go of this, if you let go of your faith, if you let go of your faith, if you let go of your uniqueness, then the world will not be blessed. If you let go of this, then my plan to bless the entire world through you will be thwarted. And so again, it's not because you're the best. That's what Moses says to the people of Israel. The Lord says through Moses to the people of Israel, not because you're great, not because you're amazing, not because you're the best, but because I love you and I've chosen you to be my instrument, to be a blessing to the world. But first you have to hold on to your faith. You cannot sacrifice it by intermarrying with people

who do not believe what you believe, who are not in covenant with me, because you will let go of the covenant. He will not be who the world needs you to be. You have to be unique. You have to be different. You can't let that go because if you do, the world will not be blessed. See, God's playing the long game here. His long game is one, as I immediately love you now and I've chosen you now. But that also means right now you have to be faithful. Ultimately, we're going to bless the world. Right now, you have to be different than the world. That can be a hard word, but at the same time, it's a true word. And it's the word that we're going to keep walking with.

And so it's not the final word. It is just the true word that we're going to keep walking with. You guys, I am praying for you, especially when we get to hard readings or difficult readings. We're going to read about battles. As I mentioned before, we're going to read about violence, and that is a reality of life. And it's a reality of our ancestors, the people of Israel, whom the Lord has chosen, but he's chosen them for a very particular role in salvation history. And that is that they need to be faithful so that ultimately God can bless the world.

I bless you right now in Jesus' name. Pray for his protection over you, his blessing over all of you, and ask you for your prayers for me as well. This is such a great journey. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you all tomorrow. God bless. you