What stood out to you in what you just read? Was there anything that surprised or bothered you?
What similarities and/or differences did you notice between Numbers and Leviticus? (e.g. tone, content, themes, etc.)
Do you find the idea that biblical narratives can reveal clues about the underlying rhetorical interests of their authors intriguing or challenging? Why?
Applying the Text:
Questions about power and authority play a large role in the narratives we find in Numbers. How do these themes continue to shape our churches today?
Dr. Baden suggested that some of the rituals explained in Numbers may have served more as preventative ‘threats’ rather than regularly used practices. Thinking about your own ritual or liturgical traditions, how might you interrogate their origins further given this notion? Are there traditions with which your church or others have done this kind of discernment work?