Is 1000 really 1000?

It has been really encouraging to run into many of our church members and hear about their positive experiences in reading through the Bible using The Daily Walk Bible, New Living Translation. One person asked me a question at a recent dinner that I could only partially answer on the spot so I went home and did a little research in my Hebrew class notes from Seminary, and on my computer Bible software, and this is what I found.

The question was: Are the numbers in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) inflated? For example, were there really 600,000 people who crossed the Red Sea (Ex. 12:37)? Or more technically speaking, does the Hebrew word “elep” in Joshua 7:3 and Exodus 12:37 really stand for the decimal number 1000?

By doing a search with Bibleworks (Bible computer software) on this Hebrew word “elep” I found the following:

Some times it is translated: the number 1000 (Josh. 7:3), some times it means cattle or herd, some times it means clans (Josh. 22:14), some times it means division (Num 1:16), some times it means family, some times it means ox(en) (Isa. 30:24) and some times it means tribe(s) (Num 10:4).

My Hebrew Professor, Dr. Doug Stuart, believes that in military contexts like Joshua 7 it stands for a military unit so the word could be better translated as “platoon” rather than as the number 1000. Like a herd with one male ox and a lot of cows, an “elep” could be one leader with a lot of fighting men (platoon). So an “elep” could mean dozens of men (20-50 men) rather than 1000 men.

Consequently, Dr. Stuart suggests only 200-300 men went to fight Ai rather than the NIV's “two or three thousand.” With this in mind, it makes sense why the number of casualties (36) was shocking to Joshua and the elders because this would have been 10-15% of the men who went to fight! This was even more shocking to Joshua because, in reality, there should not have been a single casualty. Joshua was leading a "Holy War" which meant God was doing the fighting for them and thus no one should have died. But, because of Achan's sin men died.

In the case of the Exodus, if we were to define this word in the terms of a "platoon" or a military unit or a subdivision of a tribe then this could greatly reduce the total number of people who crossed the Red Sea. As a result, the numbers could seem larger than they actually were.

In actuality, we don’t know for sure how many men went to fight Ai or how many people crossed the Red Sea. I tend to think that large numbers, especially in circumstances like the Exodus, are believable because remember what God told Abraham in Gen. 15:5. “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them … so shall your offspring be.” In the end, what we do know is that these events happened and that God, in his omniscience, knows the actual number and we can rest in that. The reality is we worship an omnipotent God who was able, no matter the size of his people, to fight and win amazing battles and to make sea-beds dry so that a whole nation could cross on dry ground.

May we take comfort in knowing that this same God who did these incredible feats is the God who gave us “the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15).

32nd Birthday celebrations

I know, I know, this post is almost 10 days old since my birthday happened on March 3rd but things have been busy and so I'm just getting to it. Oops!

After an all morning Church leadership meeting Cari picked me up and took me out to lunch to a neat little grocery/eatery in Staunton called Cranberries. Since we are on their mailing list they send you a birthday card with a coupon for a buy one get one free so that was yummy! Cari got an interesting smoothie called the "Lean and Green" and it tasted like cucumbers which was no surprise since that was an ingredient but wow, was it more cucumbers than green grapes or grape juice. Way to be brave! I stuck with the tried and true yumminess of "The Cranberry" smoothie, so good, soooo good.

Then it was off to the American Shakespeare Center at the Blackfriars Playhouse to see Much Ado About Nothing. Cari loves Shakespeare and we have been wanting to go for a long time and since this was a show we wanted to see it made sense.

The show was hilarious and they did a great job! I would definitely go back!

On our way home she surprised me with a trip to our favorite ice cream place, Klines, where I indulged in an Oreo and Smores 2 scoop ice cream in a waffle cone. It was soooooo good and that was our dinner. We took some ice cream to our next door elderly neighbor and celebrated with her which was fun.

Then on Saturday night some friends from the church and the neighborhood came over

for my favorite birthday combo...Chocolate Chip cookie cake and beer. Jacob and I enjoyed a growler of the Wild Wolf Brewing Co.'s Wild Wolf Porter and Cari surprised me with an awesome cake...

The big surprise of the night was in a tiny little box...a VW sticker on a round Lego piece. Little did I know that it was a piece for the bigger VW Camper Bus that Cari got for me...awesome!! What a fun gift!! Now if I could just have a weekend free to work on it!!

As always, Facebook was really fun to read with all the messages that were on my timeline and I loved all the text messages, phone calls and cards as well. It was a day filled with God's blessings!!

Household gods...

"Rachel stole her father's household idols and took them with her" (Genesis 31:19).

This verse, and the subsequent comments by a friend at our Men's Breakfast Bible Study, hit me really hard yesterday morning.  We talked about how these household idols or gods (NIV) were important to the family life and well-being, how they were a sign of inheritance and standing within the family structure, and how they were a crutch for Rachel b/c she clearly didn't believe that the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac, would protect and provide for her.

As we discussed these gods or idols one of my friends commented about the modern-day household gods that we have! What is it that we carry around with us? What do we worship? What do we put our confidence in? What is our most prized possession that supplants God in our lives?

This comment was used by the Holy Spirit to prompt me to think about my sermon on Sunday about the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives and Philippians 2:9-11. Do I bend my knee, and confess my tongue, to my "household gods"? Or to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

Great question! One I need to be asking again and again?

How about you? What are your household gods that you worship?

As you ask God to open your heart to his truth you might be surprised...I know I have been!