Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone Book

Maps viii

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

Numbers 1:1-2:34 Finding Yourself in Your Family Story 6

Numbers 3:1-5:4 God's Claim on Levi 9

Numbers 5:5-31 Breaking Faith 12

Numbers 6:1-27 The Lord Bless You and Keep You 15

Numbers 7:1-8:4 Provision for the Sanctuary 18

Numbers 8:5-9:14 God's Flexibility 21

Numbers 9:15-10:36 The Journey Actually Begins 24

Numbers 11:1-35 On Missing Garlic 27

Numbers 12:1-15 Miriam the Prophet, Aaron the Priest, Moses the Teacher 31

Numbers 13:1-14:38 A Spy Story 34

Numbers 14:39-15:41 The Intentional and the Unintentional 37

Numbers 16:1-17:13 Dealing with Ambition 40

Numbers 18:1-19:22 Provision and Purification 44

Numbers 20:1-13 One Fatal Mistake 47

Numbers 20:14-21:3 Two Very Different Attitudes to War 50

Numbers 21:4-35 Snakes, and Progress, and Another Attitude to War 52

Numbers 22:1-23:4 A Story about Several Asses 56

Numbers 23:5-24 God Doesn't Go Back on a Promise 60

Numbers 23:25-24:25 Beautiful Tents, Jacob 63

Numbers 25:1-26:51 How It All Goes Wrong (Again) 66

Numbers 26:52-27:11 Five Pushy Women 70

Numbers 27:12-23 On Appointing a New Leader 73

Numbers 28:1-29:40 Eating with God 76

Numbers 30:1-16 Negotiations and Love Songs 80

Numbers 31:1-34 Unfinished Business 83

Numbers 32:1-42 On Mutual Support 87

Numbers 33:1-34:29 Land, Promises, and Politics 89

Number 35:1-36:13 Ensuring Justice 92

Deuteronomy 1:1-45 Moses Begins His Last Sermon 96

Deuteronomy 1:46-3:29 No, But... 99

Deuteronomy 4:1-49 The Attraction of Images 103

Deuteronomy 5:1-15 Not with Our Parents 106

Deuteronomy 5:16-33 If Only... 110

Deuteronomy 6:1-25 Listen, Israel 114

Deuteronomy 7:1-6 On Killing Enemies 117

Deuteronomy 7:7-15 On Election 121

Deuteronomy 7:16-9:3 Little by Little 124

Deuteronomy 9:4-10:22 You Don't Deserve It 128

Deuteronomy 11:1-32 It Never Rains in Southern California 131

Deuteronomy 12:1-32 On Not Following Your Instincts 134

Deuteronomy 13:1-18 False Prophets 138

Deuteronomy 14:1-29 You Are What You Eat 141

Deuteronomy 15:1-18 Helping People Get Back on Their Feet 145

Deuteronomy 15:19-16:17 The Rhythm of Pilgrimage 149

Deuteronomy 16:18-17:13 Justice and Only Justice (Absolute Faithfulness) 152

Deuteronomy 17:14-18:22 Kings, Priests, Levites, Prophets 155

Deuteronomy 19:1-20:20 How to Make War (or How to Make War Impractical) 158

Deuteronomy 21:1-23 Murder Desecrates the Land 162

Deuteronomy 22:1-12 On Keeping Things Separate 165

Deuteronomy 22:13-30 Sex in the City 167

Deuteronomy 23:1-25 Attitudes to Egyptians (and Others) 171

Deuteronomy 24:1-22 On Sacred Inefficiency 174

Deuteronomy 25:1-19 Maintaining the Family Name 178

Deuteronomy 26:1-19 A Wandering Aramean Has Become a Great Nation 180

Deuteronomy 27:1-28:68 Curses and Blessings and Curses 183

Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20 The Mystery of Obedience and Disobedience 187

Deuteronomy 31:1-32:47 Moses' Last Song 190

Deuteronomy 32:48-34:12 On Dying outside the Promised Land 193

Glossary 199