Why Doesn’t Eleazar Die in the Wilderness?

What does the entrance of Aaron’s son Eleazar into the promised land say about the curse upon the generation which rebelled at the edge of the promised land? We see him in Numbers 3, Numbers 4 (apparently as an adult), Numbers 16, in Numbers 19, and we see him taking over Aaron’s office in Numbers 20. Unless another Eleazar is meant, he doesn’t die until Joshua chapter 24. Based on the curse in Numbers 14 “your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward” are we to conclude that Numbers had described Eleazar as assisting with priestly service at some age younger than twenty, or is this an indication that the curse isn’t to be taken literally, and that some men from that generation other than Joshua and Caleb survived?

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Transcript of the Eighth Day of Christmas: Pharaoh and the Magicians

One of my supporters has very kindly transcribed this video, the eighth of my series for the twelve days of Christmas. I don’t have time to transcribe my videos myself, so anyone willing to volunteer to transcribe one video every week or fortnight would be greatly appreciated! The transcript is very lightly edited at a few points for the purpose of comprehension.

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Transcript for the Sixth Day of Christmas: Herod, the Wronged Villain

One of my supporters has very kindly transcribed this video, the seventh of my series for the twelve days of Christmas. I don’t have time to transcribe my videos myself, so anyone willing to volunteer to transcribe one video every week or fortnight would be greatly appreciated! The transcript is very lightly edited at a few points for the purpose of comprehension.

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Human Sacrifice and Divine Wrath in 2 Kings 3

I was reading 2 Kings 3 which discusses the war with Moab, and I was struck by how the story ends – Elisha seems to prophesy success, at least he counsels engagement, Israel does succeed, but at the end King Mesha sacrifices his son and “great wrath” comes against Israel, driving them back. Two questions arose from this ending. What do you think is going on in this story, as it ends abruptly and unexpectedly? And how do you make sense of the victory that seems directly linked to child sacrifice? The ESV study Bible comment claims that this great wrath must have been the wrath of the Moabites, but that interpretation doesn’t sit well with me given the way the text invoked a kind of “divine passive” of sorts. Do you think there is some sort of real demonic response here? How might that affect the way we view the competing gods of the Old Testament and the competing spiritual practices of the present day?

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The Ninth Day of Christmas: Foreigners in Search of Wisdom

Over the Christmas period, I am posting videos exploring biblical echoes and symmetries in the stories of the nativity in the gospels. In this ninth video I discuss connections between the wise men and the Queen of Sheba. I have more to say about these themes in my book, Echoes of Exodus.

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The Eighth Day of Christmas: Pharaoh and the Magicians

Over the Christmas period, I am posting videos exploring biblical echoes and symmetries in the stories of the nativity in the gospels. In this eighth video I discuss the court of Herod and its relationship to the struggle of the book of Exodus. I have more to say about these themes in my book, Echoes of Exodus.

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The Seventh Day of Christmas: Herod, the Wronged Villain

Over the Christmas period, I am posting videos exploring biblical echoes and symmetries in the stories of the nativity in the gospels. In this seventh video I discuss the villain of the account, Herod, and the complicated history that lies behind him. I have more to say about these themes in my book, Echoes of Exodus. I also reference Peter Leithart’s recent commentary on Matthew’s gospel.

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Theopolis Podcast: First Sunday After Christmas

In this episode of the Theopolis Podcast, Peter Leithart and I discuss the readings for the fourth Sunday of Advent: Exodus 13:1-3, 11-15, Colossians 3:12-17, and Luke 2:22-40.

You can follow the Theopolis podcast on SoundcloudiTunes, and on most podcast apps. You can read show notes over on the Theopolis podcast website. You can also see past episodes I have contributed to by clicking the ‘Theopolis Podcast’ link in the bar above.