The LORD spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. – Numbers 1:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 17, 2018): Numbers 1

The musician Warren Zevon (1947-2003), once commented that “We love to buy books because we believe we're buying the time to read them.” Zevon is probably best remembered for his hit “Werewolves of London.” And I have to admit that I know he is right. I have many books in my library that I know I will never find the time to read. Zevon’s magical extension of time was not guaranteed with the purchase. My problem is that I don’t know which ones are the unlucky ones that will be left behind. Time passes, at times too quickly, and sooner or later the dream of reading everything begins to fade.

I do read a lot, but not enough, at least for me. I love to get lost in a story and just experience the excitement held within the pages. I have never understood why parents want to limit the number of books that their children get to read. I hope that my grandchildren will learn the art of getting lost in a book early in their lives and that the art never leaves them. There are too many lessons to be learned and adventures to be had that are given to us in the pages of our books. Multiple lifetimes can be lived within their stories and within a short period of our lives. Time passes, and it is only these stories that are left behind.

Numbers continues the story of Moses, but a note needs to be made about the passage of time. In the first two chapters of Exodus, eighty years pass. But then time slows down. The rest of Exodus sees only a single year pass by in the life of Israel. For the book of Leviticus, times slows down even more. The entire book of Leviticus takes place within a single month.

But then time speeds up once more. Numbers encompasses a lifetime for Israel. Somewhere around thirty-eight years pass by in the pages of the book. Children grow up and assume the mantle of leadership in the nation. And a generation of people who left Egypt filled with hope, die. They might have wished for more time, but none is given. No book every published expands the number of their days on this planet.

By the time that the thirty-eight years of Numbers draw to a close, only Moses, Joshua and Caleb, and the very young of Israel at the beginning of Numbers, and those born during the pages of Numbers will remain. And yet, even then, the days will continue to march on.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 2