Summary
Rather than a detailed, day-by-day summary, I’m going to continue to point you to resources that will help you unpack the daily readings. They will give you additional helps and insights for each day. Please continue to let me know any suggestions to make this as useful to you as you prepare as possible.
The Unfolding Story Podcast: This is a daily 3-5 minute podcast from Peyton Hill, pastor of FBC Prattville.
The Bible Recap podcast: Typically around nine minutes, this podcast from Tara-Leigh Cobble also provides a concise summary of the day’s readings, focusing on where you see God’s character in the readings.
Links to Blog Posts for this week’s readings from 66in52.com (this site):
- Day 050: The LORD Who Sanctifies (Leviticus 21:15)
- Day 051: A Festival for The Rest of Us (Leviticus 22-23)
- Day 052: Was Jubilee Ever Observed? (Leviticus 25)
- Day 053: The Land Will Have its Rest (Leviticus 26-27)
- Day 054: On Going to War (Numbers 1-2)
- Day 055: “My Father Was a Rabbi, and His Father Before Him…” (Numbers 3-4)
- Day 056: A Memorial and a Name (Numbers 5-6)
Discussion Questions:
Note to leader, especially if you are using this in Sunday School: Be sensitive to group members who may not have read or are not participating in the reading plan. Make sure you use the summary to help them get their bearings, and use the Scripture references in the parentheses so everyone can look up the passage. Don’t skip questions in bold.
- As you went through the reading this week, what stood out to you? Is there anything you noticed that you had not seen before ? What questions did the readings raise? (Allow group to share their highlights, but resist the temptation to comment, answer questions, or open it up for discussion. You want the group to get comfortable sharing their thoughts, without looking to you to be the expert on everything.)
- Ask group members to open their Bibles to Leviticus 19. Explain that there are three basic kinds of laws in the Torah: Moral Laws, which are true for all people, in all places, in all times; Civil Laws, which governed the Jews in their dealings with one another, and Ceremonial Laws, which were specifically related to Jewish worship. Look over Leviticus 19. Can you find examples of each?
- How does understanding the different kinds of laws help you answer people’s objections to Christianity, such as “aren’t you just picking and choosing which laws to follow? You’re against homosexuality, but you wear clothes of mixed fibers (see Lev. 19:19).”
- In your opinion, why do you think the Bible just lumps all these different kinds of laws together? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have all the moral laws together, then all the civil laws, and then all the ceremonial laws?
- There are 56 verses about the year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25. However, there is no mention of it actually being observed in all of Scripture. If it was never observed, what might have been the reasons?
- Compare Numbers 1:1 to Leviticus 1:1. What’s the difference between God speaking to Moses “from” the tent of Meeting, and God speaking to Moses “in” the Tent of Meeting? What made the difference?
- God caused the Levites to be the tribe of priests. He also divided the labor between the three clans of Levites. Do you think this caused any conflict? What kind of conflict?
- Numbers 6 lays out the guidelines for making the Nazirite vow. Who is the most famous Nazirite in Scripture? (Samson). How was his vow different from the way it is laid out in Numbers 6:1-4? (Samson was a Nazirite from birth, and his vow was intended to be permanent. In Numbers, it was a voluntary vow freely made by an adult for himself or herself, and was for a specified amount of time.) Do you think God intended Samson to point to Christ?
- As we wrap up, are there any questions you had about anything you read that we haven’t addressed? (Don’t stress if you don’t know the answer. For some questions, there may not be an answer! You can toss the question to the whole group, give your opinion, or promise to research before next week. And always encourage them to post questions in our Facebook group. Pastor James or someone else may have an insight or an answer).
- What action steps or changes do you sense the Lord is leading you to do next week as a result of this study?
