*Numbers 8:18 - "And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel." - Why were the Levites in plac eof firstborn? Wasn't Levi the 3rd born? Reuben was the firstborn.

Why are so many of the passages through here so repetitive?

*Numbers 12:10 - "When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam - leprous, like snow." - Why was only Miriam punished? Aaron sinned, too, by speaking ill against Moses?

*Numbers 16:31 - "As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with the

*Leviticus 27:2 - dedicating persons to the LORD - what does that entail? Is it like commiting your life to serve Him? Like a monastery or nunnery?

*Numbers 5:11-31 - "The Test for An Unfaithful Wife" - why do they only bring up issues when the wife sins? Do the men not get punished when they do the same things? Was it okay for a man to be unfaithful? He probably already had several wives... Reading about these tests made me think about the old witch hunts when they did things to see if women were witches or not.

*Numbers 6:9,11 - "If someone dies suddenly in his presence, thus defiling the hair he has dedicated, he must shave his head on the day of his cleansing - the seventh day...The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burn offering to make atonement for him because he sinned by being in the presence of the dead body." - If someone just fell over dead in your presence, how are you sinning? This is confusing to me.

*Leviticus 18:18 - "'Do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.'" - What about Jacob, Leah, and Rachel (Gen. 29:15-30)?

*Leviticus 19:29 - "'Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute...'" - What about Lot and his daughters? When the men of the city came to his door to have sex with the angels, and Lot offered them his daugthers instead (Gen. 19)

*Leviticus 21:17-21 - "'Say to Aaron: "For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; no man with a crippled foot or hand, or who is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the offerings made to the LORD by fire. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God.'" - I think this is sad. These people can't help what afflictions they were born with. I wonder if it made them feel that they were less of a person because of this.

*Leviticus 9: 23 - "Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people." - Again, I wonder what the glory of the LORD looks like. :)

*Leviticus 10:2 - "So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD...Aaron remained silent." - Of course Aaron remained silent...what could you say after something like that??

*Leviticus 12:2-5 - "The LORD said to Moses, 'Say to the Israelites: "A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period.

*Exodus 29:24 - "Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and wave them before the LORD as a wave offering." - what is the purpose of a wave offering?

*Exodus 32:1 - "When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain..." - How long was he gone?

*Exodus 32:24 - "...and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!" - So weird that he tried to side-step all responsibility.

*Exodus 32:35 - "And the LORD struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made." - I wonder what the plague was for them.

*Exodus 33:20 - "'But,' he said, 'you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.'" - I wonder what He looks like. :)

*Exodus 16:10 - "While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud." - I wonder what the glory of the LORD looks like.

*Exodus 16:12 - "'I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, "At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'" It amazes me that they still question Him and that He has to keep proving Himself to them.

*Exodus 16:18 - "And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed." - I think that is so cool that they each had exactly what they needed.

*Exodus 2:7 - "Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, 'Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?'" - Did Pharaoh's daughter know Miriam? If not, I wonder if she found it strange that a little girl just happened to be there to offer help.

*Exodus 4:10-12 - "...I am slow of speech and tongue. The LORD said to him, 'Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.'" - How often do we underestimate what we could do if God is working through us and we are His instruments?

*Gen. 41:16 - "'I cannot do it,' Joseph replied to Pharaoh, 'but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.'" I love how Joseph give the glory to God. We should all do this so much more than we do. We tend to take credit for things, when we should really be crediting God.

*Gen. 45:5,8 - "And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you...So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God." It's amazing how God works, and how sometimes, we have to go through rough times to get to the times when we can make a difference - how God works through us is amazing.

*Gen. 31:10-13 - Is this a real dream that he had, or is it just another one of his manipulative lies?

*Gen. 35:11 - "And God said to him, 'I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number.'" - I just thought this was entertaining - as if he didn't already have enough kids! "Have more! More! More!" :P

*Gen. 35:27 - "Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed." In Gen. 27, you get the feeling that Isaac is on his deathbed, but here it is at LEAST 14 years since Jacob left, and Isaac's still hanging on.

*Gen 38:26 - "Judah recognized them and said, 'She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn't give her to my son Shelah.'" How is she more righteous?

*Gen. 19:4 - "Before they had gone to bed, ALL the men from every part of the city of Soddom - both young and old - surrounded the house." - Even married men?

*Gen. 19:19 - "...But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die." - Interesting to note how he had JUST been saved from a city marked for destruction, yet, he still didn't think that he would be safe in the mountains. Did he have so little faith in God, that he would think that God would let him jump from the frying pan into the fire, so to speak?

*Gen. 20:17-18 - "Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abielech, his wife and his slave girls so that they could have children again, for the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech's household because of Abraham's wife Sarah." I find it odd that the "victim" of the scam is the one paying the consequences. Seems that since Abraham told Sarah to lie, that he would be the one to deal with the consequences.