Day 10: That Fuzzy "NEW" Math

By Ori229 , Mosaic Tile of the 12 Tribes and their emblems.

Numbers 1

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁵ “These are the tribes and the names of the leaders who will assist you:

Tribe	Leader
Reuben	Elizur son of Shedeur
6 Simeon	Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai
7 Judah	Nahshon son of Amminadab
8 Issachar	Nethanel son of Zuar
9 Zebulun	Eliab son of Helon
10 Ephraim son of Joseph	Elishama son of Ammihud
Manasseh son of Joseph	Gamaliel son of Pedahzur
11 Benjamin	Abidan son of Gideoni
12 Dan	Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai
13 Asher	Pagiel son of Ocran
14 Gad	Eliasaph son of Deuel
15 Naphtali	Ahira son of Enan

¹⁶ These are the chosen leaders of the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.”

Last night was a horrible night for me. I worked an overnight shift, and it's always hard to readjust my sleep schedule when that happens. Needless to say, my brain is in a fog today, and I was really dreading the book of Numbers. I wondered if I would find anything in the first 8 chapters to blog about, and wouldn't ya know, I found something right off!

This isn't the first time that the thought has crossed my mind, but it is the first time I decided to try and wrap my brain around it. Funny thing to do when you're functioning on so little sleep. But seriously, it just wasn't adding up for me! Joseph had 12 sons, and there are 12 tribes of Israel, but two of the tribes are named after two of Joseph's kids! Doesn't that make 14? Arrrgh, I'm telling ya, that new math is kinda fuzzy!

So I went back and counted all of the sons of Jacob. Yep, there's 12. and I counted the 12 tribes of Israel. Yep, there's 12 there, too! But something was missing.

Joseph. And Levi.

I had to do a little digging. Oh, the wonderful world of web. I found the answer here. And it even makes sense! I already knew that the priests were Levites, descended from Jacob's son, Levi. I also knew that they didn't have any land of their own. Their provisions came from the people of the other tribes. 


Of course, this stuff is covered later in the chapter, but I did mention that my brain was in a fog, right? So the chart provided at the link, and the brief summary above the chart, were really helpful to me. I like things nice and concise. I like things laid out in little charts. I understand better when I'm able to visualize.

I knew that Jacob had blessed each of Joseph's sons. I didn't realize that he'd effectively cut out his favorite son's name from the family line. On one hand, that seems kinda sad to me. But on the other, I realize that Jacob didn't leave his boy out. Rather, he doubled Joseph's blessing, giving inheritance rights instead to his two sons. So, everything that would be Joseph went to one of his sons, and everything that would have been Levi's went to Joseph's other son... The allocation of land and tribal names remained 12. 


Of course, Levi's name was still preserved because of the priesthood. They never had to go to war, which was a pretty nice way of preserving them, but they were God's... He took that whole family line in place of the first born of every family. They had to work for it though. Each family that descended from the Levites was responsible for some part of ministry, which included carrying around all the poles and tables and utensils, the curtains, the covers, the badger skins... On top of killing all the sacrifices and stuff.


And as for Joseph, well, his son's may have gotten the blessings, but Joseph's name certainly was never forgotten.

Day 3: The Cup Half Full

Dante's vision of Leah and Rachel, 1855

Genesis 29:32-35

New Living Translation (NLT)

³² So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,^[a] for she said, “TheLord has noticed my misery, and now my husband will love me.”³³ She soon became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Simeon,^[b]for she said, “The Lord heard that I was unloved and has given me another son.”³⁴ Then she became pregnant a third time and gave birth to another son. She named him Levi,^[c] for she said, “Surely this time my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!”³⁵ Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She named him Judah,^[d] for she said, “Now I will praise the Lord!” And then she stopped having children.

I am so grateful that today's reading was the story of Jacob. I can never tire of reading about his life. I had a great deal of worry on my breakfast plate this morning, and had my reading been anything other than the story of Jacob, I may have been unable to focus. As it is, I am just now getting around to blogging about it.

There's so much in the story of Jacob I could post about. The amazing way God works to bring things into His will even when we act out of his will, (the deception regarding his brother's blessing), the unfairness of being suckered into marrying Rachel's sister first. Perhaps even more, the story of the mandrakes, and how Leah "purchased" Jacob for the night. Can you imagine how poor Jacob must have felt, coming home from the field, tired and dirty, only to see one of his wives running up to him telling him he had to perform sexual favors for her that night because she had bought him with some mandrakes?  And to think, people often think women were treated as chattel back then. Men weren't always treated any better!

But I decided to write about Leah's attitude, instead. Not the demanding attitude after the mandrakes, but the attitude of unfailing hope. She wasn't loved by Jacob. I suspect he resented her for more than one reason... He never wanted to marry her in the first place, then she's the one that keeps having kids, while the wife he loves is barren. Year after year, Leah kept giving birth to sons. And with each new bouncing baby boy, Leah came up with a name that expressed hope that this new child would be what would make her husband finally love her.

Of course, it never worked. He was good to her, but it was out of duty, not out of love. Still, she never gave up. And her hope wasn't placed in her son, it was always placed in God. Each new baby was a blessing from God, a gift to bring her joy, and a hope of loving affection.

As sad as it is, I have to admire her for that constant hope. She never gave up.