Justin Houtz

Numbers 34-36; Mark 11

DateVersionReading Plan
March 4, 2026ESV (2016)ESV Life Journal Plan – 2026

Numbers 34-36

Observation & Interpretation

The final three chapters of the Book of Numbers speak of the boundaries that are to be set in the land to be taken, listing of the tribal chiefs, the cities to be given to the Levites from some of the inheritance of the people of Israel, the cities of refuge that were to be setup for those who inadvertently killed another and that there was to be no inheritance transferred between tribes. A couple of features are particularly striking in these sections. First, the boundaries that the LORD spoke to Moses to command the people was of a land they had not yet taken. The amount of land to be obtained and its boundaries was set before they even began the campaign of its capturing. It would be easy to pass over this, but we should appreciate God’s sovereign rule in these details the surety of the land to be taken and the precision of its portioning to the tribes.

A second feature that emerges is in the Lord’s directive to Moses for the people to select cities of refuge to which a manslayer may flee when he unintentionally killed someone. The manslayer was to remain in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest (Num. 35:28), after which he may return to the land of his possession. The BBC makes an important observation of this account:

The death of the high priest brought freedom to those who had escaped to the cities of refuge. They could no longer be harmed by the avenger of blood. The death of our Great High Priest frees us from the condemning demands of the Law. How foolish this stipulation would be if one failed to see in it a symbol of the work of our Lord at the Cross!

What a wonderful connection this illuminates and with what gratitude we should respond to the One who, by His death, has redeemed and restored His people to the land in which we will dwell with Him forever.

Mark 11

Observation & Interpretation

In the opening verses of Mark 11, we read of how Jesus and His disciples drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of His disciples, telling them to go into the village in front of them and retrieve a colt tied on which no one had ever sat. If they were confronted by anyone of what they were doing, they were to say that the Lord has need of it and would send it back there immediately. Interestingly, the latter portion of what they were to say to someone questioning their actions is only included in Mark. The parallel account in Matthew (Matt. 21:3), records that they were to find a donkey tied, and a colt with her, and if questioned were to say, “The Lord needs them”, not including that the colt would be sent back.

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