Numbers 9, Psalm 45,Song of Songs 7, Hebrews 7

Date	Version	Reading Plan
@May 2, 2024	ESV (2016)	M’Cheyne Plan 2024

Numbers 9

Numbers 9:22–23 (ESV) 22 Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. 23 At the command of the LORD they camped, and at the command of the LORD they set out. They kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by Moses.

The people remained encamped as the cloud covered the tabernacle but, whenever it lifted, the people set out after it and took up camp where it next remained. Num 9:22 seems to indicate that the amount of time they would stay at a particular location was both variable and entirely unknown. They were simply to follow God’s lead as He brought them through the wilderness. It is a wonderful picture of the type of obedience we are to have. While we no longer have a physical cloud to follow, we are to be fervent in our prayer, sensitive to the Spirit’s guidance, moving when He moves.

Psalm 45

Psalm 45:6–7 (ESV) 6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; 7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

The psalmist reflects on the eternal throne of God and that His scepter (a symbol of power and authority) is one of uprightness. These verses are quoted by the author of Hebrews in Heb. 1:8-9 in which he says, “But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom….’”. As the Believer’s Bible Commentary states, “God addresses His Son as God”, making this “one of the clearest proofs of the deity of Christ in the entire Bible.”

Song of Songs 7

Song of Solomon 7:10 (ESV) 10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.

The woman continues her discourse of adoration toward her husband but also speaks of its reciprocation. There is mutual belonging and desire for one another. An interesting technical note is that the same Hebrew word for “desire” is used Gen. 3:16. In the context of Song. 7:10, it references a positive sexual desire, but in Gen. 3:16 the word is used negatively, indicating the woman’s desire for control and usurping of authority.

Hebrews 7

Hebrews 7:11 (ESV) 11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron?

There are couple of things worth noting here. First, that the author’s rhetorical question referring to the Levitical priesthood assumes that they were unable to produce perfection. If they had, there would be no requirement for a better priest. Second, the High Priestly office of Jesus did not arise after the order of Aaron but after Melchizedek. Herman Bavinck in his book, “The Wonderful Works of God” offers an explanation:

Christ is a priest not after the order of Aaron but after that of Melchizedek, because He is at the same time a king, because He is perfectly righteous and sinless—a king of righteousness, because He remains priest permanently and is never supplanted, because He brings an offer of His own body and blood not of bullocks and goats, because by this sacrifice He achieves a perfect salvation for His people, and, finally, because He thus brings an eternal peace into being and is a king of peace (Heb. 7:10)

Carson on Numbers 9

In any complex system of laws, sooner or later different laws will lay down competing or even conflicting claims. The result is that such laws must be laid out in some hierarchy of importance…Minds that think only on the legal plane may not grasp the direction in which laws point. Organize them aright, Jesus says (and Paul elsewhere makes the same point in other ways), and you discover that they point to him (John 7:24).

Carson makes an important point regarding the laws as they were given in the Old Testament. The Israelites were commanded to follow the laws and organize them properly in a hierarchy of importance but, in doing so, needed to look beyond mere legalistic adherence to the One in whom all law is flawlessly fulfilled.

Justin Houtz