July 2 ▪ Day 183

Scripture Readings

Psalms 86:11
Numbers 3–4
Matthew 2
Habakkuk 2

Verse Focus (Psalms 86:11)

Teach me your way, LORD,
     that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
     that I may fear your name.

Meditation

Ta dah! Today is the official half-way point, at least in terms of number of days. So congratulations, once again, for completing one half year. 🙂

Our verse focus today comes from Psalms 86:11. As the ESV says, “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” I especially love the second part of this verse. As the NIV phrases it, “Give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name.”

I think this is often our problem — that we have a divided heart. Part of us wants to seek God. Yet part of us still loves sin. By sin, I don’t mean, necessarily, that we love evil things (although we may). I think the bigger struggle is with where we rank our hopes, desires, and wants. We always want to come first. And as we grow and mature, we learn to put self second. But our divided heart comes from that part of ourselves that wants to put self first.

That’s why I’ve always loved this prayer. I want God to fix me — to give me a united heart, one that desires Him first and foremost.

I also love the prayer for God to teach me His ways. And I like how the NIV puts it — “that I may rely on your faithfulness.” That’s part of walking in truth. And I do so long to walk in a manner pleasing to God. I want to grow in the knowledge of Him. I want to become more and more faithful myself. And I want to love Him with my whole and completely undivided heart.

Father God, this verse is my prayer today. Teach me your way. Let me walk in your truth. May I rely on your faithfulness. Thank you that you are always faithful! Please give me an undivided heart so that I may fear your name. Through Jesus Christ your Son, Amen.

Numbers 3 records a special census that was taken of the Levites. Even though they were not enumerated in the census of fighting men, now the Levites are counted so that they may officially take the place of the firstborn of Israel. As the LORD says in verse 13, “On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the LORD.”

So all the males who are one month old or older are numbered, for each of the three Levite tribes. The Gershonites counted 7,500 males (v. 22); the Kohathites numbered 8,600 males (v. 28); and the Merarites numbered 6,200 males (v. 34). Verse 39 tells us that the total number of Levite males is 22,000. Of course, those who are paying attention will realize that the numbers don’t add up. Using the counts given for each of the Levite tribes, it adds up to 22,300 males.

Commentators assume either one of two things, neither of which can be proven. Some assume that there was a copyist’s error in the manuscript. If the Kohathites were actually 8,300 instead of 8,600 men, then it would add up properly (this assumes just one little mistake was made, as opposed to multiple copyist mistakes). Or if the number of Gershonites was really 7,200 men, instead of 7,500. However, others suggest that the 300 not counted in the total are actually the firstborn among the Levites — since they are firstborn, they already belong to God and could not be used in exchange. Of course, one problem with this theory is that it seems like the number of firstborn Levites is too low. The second problem is that the text doesn’t say anything at all about not substituting firstborn for firstborn. So it’s entirely a matter of speculation.

Regardless of why the counts don’t match, 22,000 is the number of Levites that were taken in place of the firstborn of Israel. According to another special count, Moses determined the number of firstborn for all the other tribes to be 22,273 (v. 43). And so money was collected to redeem the the 273 firstborn who were in excess of the Levites. The redemption money was given to the sons of Aaron for their use.

Numbers 4 records yet another special census of the Levites. This time, they were numbering the men who were of age to serve in the sanctuary — men between the ages of 30 and 50 years old. Each tribe was given specific duties with respect to the transport of the Tabernacle and its belongings. The priests have special responsibility to wrap up and cover the holy articles for transport; after they are covered, then the Kohathites may carry them. But verse 15 warns that the Kohathites “must not touch the holy things, lest they die.” Similarly, the priests must assign the Kohathites the specific things they are to carry, lest they look upon the holy things even for a moment — for then they would die (v. 20).

This time, when the Levites who are to serve in the sanctuary are counted, the individual tribe counts match the total number of serving men: 8,580 Levites (v. 48).

In addition to these censuses, we also learn where each tribe will camp, who the leaders are, and what they will be responsible for during moves.

In Matthew 2, we have the story of the three wise men coming to honor Jesus. The holy family flees to Egypt to escape Herod, and Herod slaughters all the boys two years old and younger in Bethlehem and its vicinity. Later, the holy family relocates to Nazareth.

As I read the chapter today, I was considering what I learn about God from this passage. The first thing, of course, concerns the “wise men from the east (v. 1).” They ask Herod where is the one who has been born the king of the Jews. As they explain in verse 2, “For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Later, in verse 9, we read that the star goes before the magi until it comes to rest over the Christ child.

So, there are a few things we learn just from these details. We learn that God uses celestial events to give witness to the things He is doing. He maps the journey of a star so that it will shine brightly at just the right times to lead the wise men from the east to Jerusalem and then onward to Bethlehem or to wherever the child was then residing. Such planning! Such details. God orchestrates the heavens, and he orchestrates the lives of individuals. Even though we don’t know all the specifics — whether the wise men were seeking God first, or if they saw the heavens and then set out to understand their meaning, or if indeed they were looking for the Messiah to come to Israel and had been looking for the king of the Jews for a long time. Even though we don’t know what caused them to end up on this long journey, God knew them and He planned for them to come. And He arranged for them to gain knowledge, and orchestrated their arrival in Jerusalem. He knew what an uproar the wise men’s questions would cause. He knew what King Herod would do to the children.

Several times in this chapter we read of the fulfillment of prophecy. Not only did God arrange things with perfect timing, but He also arranged that there would be a witness from Scripture — from things written hundreds of years before Christ was born. So He was working in the lives of all the prophets, too. He spoke through their words — not just what they needed to hear at the time, but what Matthew and the other disciples would need to hear and later what we would need to hear.

Finally, we have God communicating with people through dreams. The wise men were warned not to return to Herod. Joseph was warned to flee with his family to Egypt. Later, he was told when it was safe to return to Israel. And then again, he was warned about settling in Judea and so Joseph and the family went to Nazareth.

So we see God communicating through multiple methods — through the heavens, through the Scriptures, and through dreams. And people are finding revelation, they are receiving guidance, and they are responding to what they learn from God.

In Habakkuk 2, the prophet determines to wait upon God for His response to Habakkuk’s second complaint. We do not know if Habakkuk had long to wait, but we learn of the LORD’s response in verse 2. He tells Habakkuk to write this vision down, to make it large and clear. The LORD tells Habakkuk that he must wait for the fulfillment of this oracle, but “it will surely come; it will not delay (v. 3).”

God speaks of one who is arrogant and conceited, one who does not have integrity. In contrast to this person, the one who is righteous will live by his faith. But the arrogant one is never satisfied, and never at rest. He continues gathering nations, and collecting peoples. In the context of this specific oracle, God is likely speaking of the King of the Babylonians. However, this could also be a prophecy about Satan, or about any wicked and covetous ruler.

The quote about the righteous one living by his faith in verse 4b is also significant. Paul quotes it twice (in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11), and Hebrews quotes it once (Hebrews 10:38). Not only is it the key to understanding our salvation in Christ — justification by faith — but it is also how one will survive when under the reign of a corrupt leader. Regardless of the impending disaster from the Chaldeans, the righteous one will live by faith.

Habakkuk 2 has five woes — those who are greedy, those who make dishonest gain, those who are violent, those who are drunk (or who take advantage of their neighbors through alcohol), and those who worship idols — they are all condemned and warned that they will receive the just punishment for these crimes.

There are a number of verses that I love in this chapter. Verse 2 is intriguing. The ESV says, “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.” But the AMPC says, “Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may be able to read it easily and quickly as he hastens by.” So we have two different meanings for this verse. In one meaning, the vision is made so large and clear that even one who runs by will be able to catch the entire message. In the other meaning, the vision is itself so important that it will cause someone to run. It is a message to be passed on as quickly as possible.

In verse 14, Habakkuk quotes Isaiah 11:9. “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” I have always loved this verse. In Habakkuk’s woe against those who are violent — those who govern with bloodshed and injustice — the prophet tells them that they will exhaust themselves for nothing because God will triumph in the end.

Similarly, in the woe against idolatry, Habakkuk concludes his remarks by saying, in verse 20, “But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

Father God, you are holy and righteous. Thank you that you desire to communicate with us, and that you have gone to great lengths to ensure that there are witnesses for you in more than one arena. Give us the wisdom to perceive these witnesses and to understand. Continue to speak to us through your Word, and through Jesus Christ. We pray in his name, Amen.