This is the Bible Book Club.

And we're in the book of numbers.

Welcome to the club.

When last we left you in this episodic adventure that we are in in numbers, that was chapters

three and four, and God instructed Moses to finish the census by counting the

Levites two different ways. First, by taking account of the males, over one month of age,

every male would serve the Lord in place of the firstborn son of all the other tribes.

And then the second count was the number of the Levite males between 30 and 50 who were

mature enough to serve the tabernacle,

which we know was a very big job. And each tribe was assigned specific tasks to pack the

tabernacle and to protect it. Okay. So the ordering, numbering, and structuring of the camp

is finally complete. The people have been counted for and their purpose made clear.

The 12 tribes are going to fight for the land and protect the people. And the Levites will serve

in the tabernacle and protect the holy thing. So everybody has their orders. These next two

chapters provide a few final words on issues of impurity.

I know you thought we were done with that in Leviticus.

But these have to be addressed because it could distract them from the fight ahead of them.

So they're kind of an add-on.

And if they distracted them, it would disturb the camp purity. And they cannot have that

camp disturbed right now. Based on how these impurities are inserted here in numbers, rather than

with the other impurities in Leviticus, we can assume that these may have become common problems in the

camp that needed to be specifically addressed. So here's our quick purity review

...