Sunday, February 6, 2011

numbers 3-7

Just a few notes on Sunday night.....my condolences to all of my Steeler friends like Duane.   Tomorrow night I will probably be offering condolences to all of my MU Tiger friends.  Thanks to all who participated in the All Church Conference.  I hope and pray that our decision to sell the parsonage will be perfectly in line with God's preferred future for Faith and that we will be able to discern and be obedient to all that he calls us to.  In the meantime here a few random thoughts related to today's readings.

Note that there is a difference between the Priestly line and the levite line.  To be a Priest in the nation of Israel meant that you had to be a descendent of Aaron.  Levites were descended from the tribe of Levi.  God gave he Levites the responsibility to care for the tabernacle and all of its furnishings.  The would be similar to our Trustees.  The Priests ministered to God.  The received the peoples' offerings and made the necessary sacrifices.  It was the Priest that could enter into the Holy of Holies.  None other were allowed to enter into this sacred place or to perform the sacred ceremonies that God had called for.

Chapter 5 is a hard chapter, but the thing that I take away from it is the call to impurity.  Our God is a holy God and anything less that purity is unacceptable.  The ritual sacrifices and offerings were to atone for imperfections and to make a way for Israel to walk in the presence of God.  Impurity was to be removed from the camp if God was to remain with these people.  Often we read passages such as the one about the unfaithful wife and we say, "that's not fair.  what about the husband?"  What we fail to see is that God is setting up a limit for human abuse.  The procedures that he establishes provide ceilings and containments to prevent men from abusing those who were weaker than they.

The 6th chapter introduces us to the Nazerite; a person set aside for God....someone who fully dedicated themselves to God and service to God.  The requirements set them apart from the rest of society and made them easily distinguished from the rest of the population.  Some examples of Nazerites in the bible in Samson, John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul.  Note that women could also be Nazerites.

Finally, the overriding impression of chapter 7 is the tremendous generosity of the people as they brought their offerings to the temple and how those offerings provided for every need of the temple and of the Levites.  Remember that this great wealth was a gift from God when he created a scenario as Israel left Egypt where the Egyptians gave their gold and silver to the departing Israelites.  God provided a way for Israel to build and equip this marvelous place of worship that became the center of their camp in their 40 year journey to the land of milk and honey.

I pray that your new week is filled with blessing and that your Bible reading will edify your soul and fill you with wonder and awe at all that God has done and is doing. 

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