Moses recounts wandering around the wilderness for 38 years. God puts prohibitions on who Israel is allowed to engage in conflict with. Why is God good to the children of Esau? What does God’s gifting nature to other nations tell us about Him? What does it mean for God to hate someone? What is going on with nations of giant people? Chad and Daniel discuss all of this. Have a listen!
Moses recounts the people's refusal to trust God when the report comes back from the promised land. A crazy accusation is made against God. Moses reminds the people how God has acted as a Father to them and carried them along. Why do we refuse to trust the promises of God? Why are we so forgetful of His faithfulness? Is it a good thing when God gives people what they want? Chad and Daniel discuss all of this. Have a listen!
Chad and Daniel begin the journey through Deuteronomy. After some introduction to the book, we see Moses start addressing the second generation of Israel and take a shot at those who came before them for the journey taking so long. Why is the Holy Land Holy? Who does it belong to? Why does Moses appoint Judges? Why is showing partiality so frequently spoken against? All this and more is discussed in this first episode in Deuteronomy. Have a listen!
Chad and Daniel wrap up Numbers. Cities of refuge are established. There are rules and commands for “blood redeemers.” What does the Old Testament concept of being a brother tell us about Jesus. What is going on with commanded polygamy? All this is discussed as Numbers comes to an end. Have a listen!
Law & Gospel In Action Pre-Order
What does the common old testament phrase “before the Lord” really mean? God is everywhere, but is He everywhere in the same way? Why does Moses insert a travel log toward the end of Numbers? God commands that all the false gods and worship sites be destroyed before they settle in a land. And we are introduced to the phrase “a thorn in your side.” Chad and Daniel discuss all of this. Have a listen!
Moses is going to die soon, but first the Israelites must go to war with Midianites. Many people are killed, including woman and children, as well as Balaam. How are we supposed to understand battles like this? What is all this judgment and death pointing to? Texts like this are hard but Chad and Daniel do their best to get you to the cross of Christ. Have a listen!
Chad and Daniel discuss the feast days and calendar of Israel. Why does God give people days to observe? What does it mean to participate in holy days then and now? Moses instructs the people on making oaths and being a people who do what they say. How does this fit with what Jesus says about making oaths? Does God want us to trap Him with His own words? Have a listen!
Chad and Daniel discuss the purpose of genealogies and how the promised land relates to Eden, the great commission and the new heavens and new earth. Why are the Levites scattered throughout the land? What happens when a man dies and he has no sons to inherit his possessions? Moses cannot enter the promised land, so who will lead the people when he is gone? Have a listen!
Balaam gives his final oracle. He speaks of a star and scepter rising out of Israel in the future. How do Jesus and perhaps the wise men from the east fit into this? The men of Israel start marrying the woman of Moab and worshiping their gods. God is not pleased and Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, responds in a shocking and bloody way. Chad and Daniel discuss all this and more. Have a listen!
Balaam has Balak build seven altars to make sacrifices on before he goes to speak for God. Balak is not pleased with the word that Balaam gives him and decides to repeat the cycle two more times. Why seven altars? Is Balaam operating in faith or fear? Does God put true things in the mouths of false prophets? Chad and Daniel discuss all of this. Have a listen!
We are introduced to a strange character named Balaam. Out of fear of their numbers, king Balak summons Balaam to curse Israel. Balaam asks God twice if he should go. God is angry and sends an angel to stand in Balaam’s way. Balaam’s life is saved by his talking donkey. It’s a very odd and funny passage, Chad and Daniel discuss it all. Have a listen!
Israel comes to Edom and requests to travel through their land. The king of Edom refuses and threatens them. Israel moves on and Aaron dies on a mountain where the office of the high priest is transferred to his son. Moses is likely the last remaining person that left Egypt. Israel wins two battles on their way to the promised land. Chad and Daniel discuss all this and more. Have a listen!
Miriam dies and is buried. A lot of time has passed and most of the generation that left Egypt has died but that hasn’t stopped the people from complaining. There is no water and Moses and Aaron are again accused of bringing the people into the wilderness to die. God tells Moses to speak to a rock to bring forth water. Moses is angry with the people and strikes the rock twice with his staff. God tells Moses he will not enter the promise land. Chad and Daniel discuss all of this. Have a listen!
It's almost Christmas! And that means 40 Minutes in the Old Testament and 30 Minutes in the New Testament are coming together again. Daniel, Chad, and Erick take a look at the 2nd chapter of Matthew and the passages he cites from Micah and Hosea. Bethlehem is blessed and God will call His Son out of Egypt. How are we to understand these things and why should they increase our joy? Have a listen and a merry Christmas!
Chad and Daniel discuss why God commands a certain sacrifice involving an unblemished red heifer. Why does the color matter? Why do the ashes matter? What does all of this have to do with sin and death? How does the new testament connect all this to Jesus and a sacramental application of His work? Have a listen!
The people are now angry with Moses and Aaron and come up with a very old Adam reason that everything is Moses’ fault. Moses prays but God has had enough and strikes the people with a plague. Aaron runs down into the middle of death to stand between the wrath of God and the people. And a strange test involving staffs is done resulting in something that the church has connected to the nativity. Chad and Daniel talk about all of this.
A rebellion is organized against Moses. His response is both sorrow and anger. We see the difference between power and authority. Somebody has gone too far and God is going to decide who it is. The rebels won’t go to Moses and make insane statements about the goodness of Egypt. A contest is entered and the earth swallows some sinners. Chad and Daniel talk about all of this. Have a listen!
God wants everyone to experience forgiveness and sets up ways for the non-Jews to come in. Where are examples of this happening elsewhere in the Bible? There is a certain kind of sin that stands above others. Is it sinning intentionally or is it something else? The Law doesn’t budge on sin as a man is stoned for breaking the Sabbath. Tassels are sown on the edges of everyone’s garments and there is quite a bit going on there. Chad and Daniel discuss all of this. Have a listen!
God forgives Israel but there are pretty heavy consequences for their rebellion. In what way is Numbers 14 a better example of the sinfulness of man than Genesis 3? What does God mean that He has been tested 10 times? God says Caleb and Joshua are the only adults that will enter the promised land. Some of the men try to redeem themselves and it doesn’t go well. But God still makes promises to their children. Chad and Daniel discuss all of this. Have a listen!
30 Minutes In The New Testament
God asks “How long will the people reject Him?” Moses argues that the name of God will be defamed if He destroys the Jews and in a very Christ-like moment intercedes for those trying to kill him. What does the boldness of Moses and other prayers in the Bible teach us about prayer? Are we allowed to pray very human prayers? Chad and Daniel discuss this in this episode. Have a listen!
Spies are sent out to check out the land God has promised them. It is everything God promised but the people who live there are enormous. Caleb wants to go in and take it but the rest of the spies are terrified and begin speaking against Moses and Aaron. And the people make a plan to go back to Egypt. Chad and Daniel talk about all of it. Have a listen!
This is a live recording from the 2018 Here We Still Stand Conference. Chad and Daniel are joined by guests Erick Sorenson and Michael Heiser to discuss Numbers 21:4-9. The people are complaining and God brings judgment in the form of deadly serpents. The cure is to have a bronze snake put on a pole. Why is this happening and how does it point to Christ and explain John 3:16? They talk about it in this special episode. Have a listen!
Miriam and Aaron get a little big for their britches and speak against Moses. What does this have with Moses’ Cushite wife and the fact that others are prophesying? God isn’t pleased with this at all and acts swiftly. God makes an important distinction between Moses and other prophets and Miriam becomes leprous. The one sinned against intercedes for the transgressor and God responds in mercy. Chad and Daniel talk about all of this. Have a listen!
The “riff-raff” start complaining about the food situation in the wilderness and the people start demanding meat. What was mana like? Was it really that bad? Moses gets frustrated and asks God to kill him. God refuses and appoints 70 elders to help him instead. And God gives the people an insane about of quail as a strange form of judgment. Chad and Daniel discuss all of this. Have a listen!
Israel is marching through the wilderness led by a cloud of fire. We get some information about the instruments used in worship. Why are trumpets blown over certain sacrifices? How is worship a sort of time traveling? Moses asks an unlikely man to go with them on their journey to the promised land. And just as things seem to be going well, the people start complaining. Chad and Daniel talk about all of this. Have a listen!