Bible Babble

2011-10-16T20:15:00.001-04:00

Fool Me Once...
Numbers 23: 13-26

Undaunted, Balak continues. Look- I'll take you somewhere new where you can see the Israelites- and we'll try this thing again. Remember... we're looking for a curse here. Balak builds seven new altars and sacrifices a bull and a ram on each of them.

Balaam tells him, stay with your sacrifices while I go talk with God. God gives another message for Balak once again in poetic form.

Listen up Balak,
Zippor's kid.
God's not a man- He doesn't lie.
God's not human, He's not gonna change His mind.
It's not like He acts without thinking.
It's not like He promises and backs out.
God has commanded me to bless.
I can't change God's command.

Jacob is looking prosperous.
Things are rosy with Israel.
God's with them.
He's cheering them on.
He brought them out of Egypt
and they are as strong as oxen.
There's no witchcraft working against Jacob,
no evil spells haunting Israel.
People will look at Jacob
and at Israel and say- look what God has done!
These people are like lions,
they won't rest until they devour their prey
and drink the blood of their victims.

This was not the message Balak was looking for. He says- look if you're not gonna curse them, at least don't bless them.

Balaam says, don't shoot the messenger. I told you I have to do what God says.

OK, all sympathy for Balak is pretty much gone. Wouldn't he have figured out the first time that this whole curse Israel thing isn't going to work? Maybe he's just invested so much in this plan that there's no other option. It's like the Cubs and Alfonso Soriano.

I think what's significant here is how loyal God is to His people. They've whined, and He's punished. They are unfaithful and ungrateful but still when another offer comes along, God says, these are my children, and I'm sticking with them.

A comforting idea to consider as God's children of this generation.

2011-10-11T18:18:00.000-04:00

The Old Bait and Switch
Numbers 23: 1-12

So Balaam begins his work as Balak's lackey. It seems the motivation here for Balak is to manipulate God and lure Him away from the Israelites. Balam stands by his, "I can only tell you what God allows me to" spiel.

But Balaam has Balak help him build seven altars and on each altar they sacrifice both a bull and a ram. Then Balaam exits to a high place to talk with God. He tells God of the sacrifices and God tells him His message to deliver.

Balak is salivating- this is it- we've done it. He's like Wile E Coyote thinking that the ACME company has finally come through. He can almost taste the road runner... and then the boulder falls from the sky.

Balaam delivers the message (written in Numbers as poetry). So- Balak the king brought me here- and said c'mon man- curse Jacob- denounce Israel- all the cool kids are doing it.
But how can I possibly curse or denounce people that God hasn't?
I go to the hilltop and I can see them.
They keep themselves away from the other nations.
And you can't even count them.
You couldn't even count a fourth of them.
I hope my death will be righteous like their's will be.

Balak realizes he has been crossed. What are you doing? I said CURSE them, not bless them.

Balaam says- dude, I told you- I'm only saying what God tells me to.

While elements of this story are amusing- the enemy of God who thinks he's clever gets double-crossed and Israel is blessed, there's also an element of false pretense. Balaam has to know that things aren't going to work out the way that Balak intends, yet he lets him go through the motions of travel and altar building/sacrifice in vain. Balaam was up front about his message though, if you bring me, I'll only speak God's words. Since Balak insisted, perhaps the fault lies there. Carnivorous Vulgaris, indeed.

It is interesting that Balaam promises nothing other than to speak God's words and lets Balak hoist himself by his own petard. Maybe that's the lesson here, to deal with those who are potential enemies with God's messages and let any damage that comes be self-inflicted.

2011-10-08T18:01:00.000-04:00

Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Numbers 22: 21-41

This passage is an interesting mix of bizarre and enthralling.

So Balaam gets up in the morning and heads out with the Moabite officials as God has told him to do just verses ago, however- this makes God angry. I'm not sure why. Balaam's donkey possessing some extra sensory perception is able to see an angel wielding a sword in the path and diverts into a field. Balaam isn't a fan of this route and struggles to get the donkey back on the road by beating him. The ASPCA is not happy.

So a little further down the road this happens again. Only this time, there was nowhere for the donkey to turn, so when he tried to turn he crushed Balaam's foot against a wall. So Balaam beats the donkey again.

The angel appears a third time down the road a piece, and having no place to turn, the donkey just drops to the ground. This gets Balaam a bit perturbed. So he takes out his staff and beats the donkey a third time.

But this time, God opens the donkey's mouth and allows him to have a conversation with him. Donkey (sounding nothing like Eddie Murphy) says, Why are you hitting me? I'm a pretty decent donkey and all- there's no need continue to pummel me.

Balaam, not apparently phased by his animal's verbosity replies You made a fool out of me. You're lucky I don't have my sword because if I did, I'd do more than beat you.

Which would have been a shame, because I'm thinking this donkey could make a bundle at carnivals and such. I wonder how good a singer he was.

The donkey makes a strong argument. On a roll and happy to not be Hee-Haw-ing he continues, "Dude, I've been your donkey for a while. Do I do this kind of thing ordinarily?"

Balaam pauses and says, "I don't suppose so."

At this point, God opens Balaam's eyes and he too sees the angel with his sword drawn and Balaam instantly loses all of his bravado.

The angel repeats the donkey's question- Why did you beat your donkey? He saved your life. I came to stop you from heading down this reckless path. If he hadn't turned away I would have killed you- but I would have spared the donkey.

Balaam is beyond repentant. I have sinned! I didn't know you were there! I'll go back if that's what you want.

But the angel says, "No, go with them, but speak only what I tell you" - which is what the plan was in the first place. There's no word here about Balak's official's reaction to all of this scene. Did Balaam just seem like an LSD addict? Did they hear the donkey speak too?

When they get there, Balak comes to meet them, apparently a little annoyed. Balaam, didn't I send an urgent message? What's the delay? Where have you been? You do want this reward, right?

I'm here now, Balaam replies, but I'm not able to speak my mind. Only what God tells me to say.

Balak makes some sacrifices and gives some of them to Balaam and the officials and then he takes him to where he can see the outskirts of the Israelite camp.

One thing that makes this story weird is not just that there's a talking donkey, but that no one seems at all phased by it. An argument ensues between a donkey and a man. The donkey makes more sense and the man doesn't seem to find the exchange odd.

Second, God sends an angel to stop someone from doing what He tells him to do. And then tells him to do it after all. The most sense I can make of this is that perhaps some chronology is off in Moses' storytelling. Maybe Balaam leaves for the trip and this is the conversation alluded to verses earlier. However, even in that reading some of the details don't make a whole lot of sense.

I also think that this story is foreshadowing Christ. A wise creature in lowly form comes to stop wayward man from a path that leads to destruction. In the process he is beaten, but without his connection to God, man would be killed.

And while the intention may not be a lesson about kindness to animals, there is clearly subtext about being overconfident in your own wisdom. We can't make it alone.

2011-09-02T13:51:00.000-04:00

That Ole' White Magic

Numbers 22: 1-20

Some interesting storytelling technique on Moses' part. We leave the Israelite perspective and travel to Moab. I'm not sure how Moses had access to the backstory here, but it opens the door for some questions that may be a little new to me.

So Balak is a little worried, having heard about all the carnage left in the wake of Israel- and at the size of the group out wandering and conquering. In fact, his dread is even verbalized (in a quite odd way)- "“This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Mmm, grass licking.

Doubting the Moabites ability to take them on directly, he calls for his favorite magician. Penn and Teller weren't available, so he settled for Balaam. Balak tells him (through the elders)- look- there's this mass of people coming from Egypt and they've settled in right next door. They're too much for me to handle... unless you can do one of your infamous curse thingies. I know that when you bless someone, they actually are blessed, and when you curse someone- they better look out, because bad stuff is coming.

It seems like Moses is setting up a variation on the let's see whose God is stronger theme. My staff/snake will eat your staff/snake. But Balaam takes the narrative in a different direction. He says- give me the night- let me check with the LORD and see what He thinks about it.

Huh? So the Moabite sorceror (Probably played by Alan Rickman or Samuel L. Jackson in the film version) who just screams "bad dude" is checking in with Jehovah for direction. Does this mean that God was with non-Israelites back in the day as well? Were there other Jehovah inspired parts to the big picture plan that never made it into our canon? How did a Moabite magic man have a direct link to the creator and why did God allow Himself to be used for someone's hocus-pocus schtick?

God tells him directly- You don't want to mess with Israel . I've blessed them.

So Balaam returns to the Moabite elders and says- you may as well go home. God tells me to not go with you.

The elders return saying that Balaam had turned them down. Not one to be deterred, Balak ups the ante. He sends more and more important officials to persuade him- saying- look Balaam, if this is about money... don't worry about it, we're gonna take care of you. C'mon- you know you wanna curse these guys. All the cool kids are doing it.

Balaam says, look- you could give me all the silver and gold in the world and it still wouldn't be a good idea for me to cross God. But I tell you what, spend the night, I'll talk to him again and we'll see if He has more to His message.

So God responds, since they're here and so eager for you... go ahead and go. But only do what I tell you to.

Intriguing. God still seems to be working for His chosen people, but He seems to have other followers in other places who He uses to accomplish to His goals. It's not totally out in left field to assume that He still does.

2011-08-31T13:42:00.000-04:00

All That Jahaz

Numbers 21: 21-35

And the traveling continues.

Israel seeks permission from the Amorite king to pass through promising to keep on the King's Highway- staying out of vineyards and wells along the way. King Sihon makes a bad decision and instead of allowing passage, decides to confront the Israelites. So a battle ensues at Jahaz and the Israelites do well (having God on their side and all). They overtook all the cities of the Amorites and moved themselves in, including Heshbon where Sihon lived.

Perhaps mockingly Moses quotes a poem recounting Sihon's previous victory in taking Hashbon for the Amorites from the king of Moab. The poem describes the great victory and restoration of the city to come under Sihon. But here, Israel is the new inhabitant. The poem may even be included to stress that Israel didn't just conquer some psuedo-army. This is a force mighty enough that their battles resulted in poetry. This is an army of legendary status... and they fell when confronted by God's chosen.

Spies went out into Jazer and the Israelites overthrow there too, driving out the newly relocated Amorites likely still reeling from the loss and destruction recently handed to them.

Not detered by the Israelite victory, King Og of Bashan marched out with his army to meet the Israelites as they appraoched his city. God tells the Israelites to buck up- I'm going to deliver him and his land just like I did the Amorites. So the Isralites enter into battle and it's not pretty. The Israelites don't leave a single survivor and take the land.

It seems that this passage illustrates the beginning of God's promise coming true. He's delivering on this whole land thing and God's people may be starting to see the fruits of the generations of wandering in uncertainty.

It's hard for me. though to not consider the perspective of the slaughtered here. This context is so foreign to where we are and how we live that it's perhaps impossible to understand the concept of slaughter in God's name. Maybe these were bad people, but the reading here suggests that they were folks defending what was their's- and the Israelites don't just displace them- they follow them to their new home and drive them out of it, too.

I like this story much more as a metaphor of God's promises than as a reality of pain, death, and woe. But regardless, it can serve as a reminder of God following through on what He promises and the folly of getting in His way.

2011-08-19T17:48:00.000-04:00

Well, Well, Well
Numbers 21:10-20

This passage might be interesting if you're a scholar of bible geography. I am not.

Most of the section seems to deal with the route of the Israelites- they hit Oboth, Iye Abarim, the Zered Valley, and near the Arnon which is the border between Moab and the Amorites. This mini travelogue ends with an odd reference to "The Book of the Wars of the LORD." I have no idea what this book is- but I'm surprised there isn't a really bloody movie based on it.

Then they travel on to Beer where God gives them water- which seems like a practical joke. And when they reached the city called Prime Rib, God gave them some baloney.

But does this reference mean they traveled all of this way without water? It might make it easier to empathize with their complaining spirits if they're going days without something to drink- especially days spent on the road. They may not have dared to complain with the snakes around- and their throats may have been too dry to whine too much.

They are so happy to get water they write a song about it- or at least sang one:
Spring up, O well!
Sing about it,
about the well that the princes dug,
that the nobles of the people sank— the nobles with scepters and staffs.

To my knowledge, this was only a local hit, not getting much airplay internationally. It was slightly more successful than their anthem about animal sacrifice called "Talkin' Dead Ram Blues" off the album "Blood on the Altar".

The section ends with more travel information. They made it to Mattanah, Nahaliel, Bamoth, and finally ended up in "the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland."

I hope this is setting up something big, it doesn't seem to have much meat on it's own.

2011-08-17T21:48:00.000-04:00

Snakes Alive!
Numbers 21: 4-9

How quickly the tone changes. Verses ago they vanquish the enemy with the Lord's help, here they're back to complaining. The Israelites head toward the Red Sea in attempt to avoid Edom- which is interesting in itself. We'll ask for help to demolish entire cities, but these Edomites are a little too much for us.

But they got impatient on the long path, perhaps a bit grumpy from the realization of their own cowardice, and start shouting out things like- Are we there yet? Why did we leave Egypt? Just to die in the wilderness? Moab won't stop poking me! There's no bread or water! Can we take a bathroom break? This food is terrible!

God reaches His breaking point and does more than just pull the car over and take off His belt. He sends venomous snakes among them resulting in many Israelite deaths. It seems like most of them should be dead by now with all of this killing.

Not surprisingly, the Israelites change their tune. Umm, Moses- we might have been a little hasty with that whole we love Egypt bit. In fact, we've sinned. Could you maybe do something about these snakes? Put a good word in for us with that whole prayer thing?

So Moses prays, but instead of God removing the snakes, He tells Moses to make a snake and put it on a pole- and if you get bitten, look at the snake and you'll live. So Moses makes a bronze snake that serves as healing for the poisoned travelers.

This is a weird story. Why not just get rid of the snakes? Or the Israelites?

Perhaps God wants to cut down on the whining. Removing the snakes would allow them to quickly fall back into complain-mode but an occasional bite on the ankle and glance to the bronze reminder might just keep them in check.

And maybe our prayers work this way too. We pray for deliverance- but God may not end our problems. Instead, He may create a way for us to deal with them. And when we look at the snake, or the cross, or whatever balm has come our way we find peace and hopefully remember who supplied it.

2011-08-17T08:29:00.000-04:00

Totally Arad
Numbers 21: 1-3

Short section today that starts out a bit like Little Red Riding Hood. The Israelites are skipping down the road to Atharim when the big bad wolfish king of Arad hears about it, attacks and captures some of them. So Israel makes a deal with God: “If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities” (like, totally).

So God does...and they do. And they named the place "destruction."

This is a weird little story. First, we're miles behind the whole turn the other cheek thing that will come into play much later. But it's troubling that not only do the Israelites think it's a great idea to annihilate these people, God's right on board with it, too. The destruction is the bargaining chip. If you release our people for us, we'll kill these people for you (at least that's how I'm reading it). Why would this be appealing to God? Maybe it's to teach neighboring communities that you don't mess with Israel, maybe it's to prove the devotion of His followers- but it seems like there could have been much less brutal problem solving method to the situation.

Second, The Israelites aren't just following orders- they come up with this master plan- and they sell it. They are able to bargain with God. Millions have tried since, with varied results- but here it's clear that God was willing to work out a deal with them. I'm not sure what the implications are for us, I still think it's dangerous ground, or maybe less than smart. God offers what we need by asking, I'm not sure pledging grand, hard to live up to gestures makes these requests any more likely to come true.

God, please forgive my sins is much better than- God, if You forgive my sins I'll never do it again.... words I may not be able to live up to. God certainly wants our commitment, but we don't need to haggle with Him for His blessings.

2011-08-15T14:51:00.000-04:00

The End of an Aaron

Numbers 20: 22-29

So the group makes it to Mount Hor- and God has a less than happy announcement. He tells Moses and Aaron to have Aaron and his son Eleazor go up the mountain- this is the end of the line for Moses' brother. There's no indication that Aaron is sickly, or close to dying- he simply is not going to be allowed to enter the promised land because of that whole water striking incident. Aaron's clothes are to be removed and put on his son. This seems to be a passing-of-the-baton ceremony. I think these ceremonies are more dignified when they don't require old men to take their clothes off.

This punishment is especially interesting because I'm not really sure what Aaron did. All the action mentioned earlier in the chapter is Moses centered, but Aaron is punished- and punished before Moses. Maybe this is because Moses is doing the telling. Is he simply taking all of the blame as a "humble" narrator and we don't have a real sense of how Aaron was actually involved?

This must have been unsettling to Moses on two levels. Not only is he about to lose his brother, but he has to guess that bad things are coming to him, too. We're both to blame..he's about to die- now I just wait to find out my own fate.

Moses, his brother and nephew go up the mountain, but only Moses and Eleazar come down. When the community hears of Aaron's death, they mourn for about a month.

This is a difficult passage to dig a moral out of. Sin will get you in the end? God doesn't forget? Even God's leaders are prone to fall? Not even Aaron can get to the promised land?

Maybe the bigger lesson is Jesus appreciation. Without Him, we may find ourselves with the same fate as Aaron, dying on a mountain after struggling so long in the wilderness.

2011-07-05T16:24:00.000-04:00

Authorized Personnel Only
Numbers 20: 14-21

So the Israelites reach the city of Kadesh which is occupied by the people of Edom. This presents a dilemma- in order to progress, they have to cross land owned by other people. So Moses sends a letter to the king, hoping, apparently to butter him up.

He writes the letter from Edom's "brother, Israel." You remember us, king. We're pals.

He then gives some exposition that we've heard before. Our ancestors lived in Egypt, the people there weren't very good to us, but God heard us and sent an angel to lead us out. Which brings us to you... see we've come to Kadesh and we know it's your land. So... we're hoping you'd let us skedaddle on through. We promise to keep out of fields and vineyards and we'll keep away from wells. We aren't looking for any kind of handout, we just want a peaceful jaunt through the city. We won't wander off the King's Highway until we pass through your territory. Sincerely, Moe.

Edom's response was less kind. Ummm... nope. If you try, we'll march out with swords. Lasting friendships will not be the result.

So the Israelites tried again.

Look, if our livestock drinks any water- we'll pay for it. This could be great PR for you. All we want is to march through on foot. C'mon, be a pal.

But the response remained, No means no!

So Edom came out with a large army and the Israelites turned away.

My initial reaction here (and perhaps the correct one) is that this is an Israelite mistake. They didn't wait for God and tried to take manners into their own hands. And when things got heated, they forgot the power of their God and backed down. Oh ye of little faith.

And while this may play out in what comes later (I don't remember where this story leads), it may be that this is an opportunity for that rare sighting of Old Testament grace. They could have marched through with trumpets blaring smiting Edomites all willy-nilly. But instead, they attempted a peaceful approach. This wasn't the crusades, it was a way to reach out with the hopes of peace for all involved. And when that wasn't accepted, a retreat to regroup and plan was the next step.

And maybe instead of "standing up for truth" with fire and brimstone on our lips and judgment on our hearts, tactful dialogue aimed at understanding, compromise, and enhanced relationships is a better goal for outreach. All I am saying is give peace a chance.

Since these folks often have God's direct voice, it's easy to assume they always do. Maybe God's silence left confusion as to the way to best approach the situation. And this is Moses improvising. At least, at this point, no one has died in the encounter. I have a feeling God's people won't be denied forever.

2011-07-04T12:50:00.000-04:00

Strike Two
Numbers 20:1-13

So the Israelites arrived at the Desert of Zin- a happening place, I'm sure- lots of hot spots. For a month, they stayed at Kadesh, and during this time Miriam died and they buried her there.

As you might expect, a desert wasn't the most opportune place to access water for the community. So the people started whining. "Why didn't God strike us dead, too? Couldn't we have just died where we were? If we were gonna die anyhow- at least we wouldn't have had to walk so far. There's no grain or figs or grapes or pomegranates- oh and did we mention... NO WATER?"

So Moses and Aaron bowed down at the entrance to the tent of meeting. God told Moses to take his staff, and he and Aaron together were to gather the assembly. He was to speak to the rock "before their eyes" and water would pour out for both the community and their livestock,

Moses seems to be a little agitated by all of this. He took the staff and they brought the group together and he berates them a bit: "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" Then he struck the rock twice and water poured out.

This was perhaps a little more drama-filled of a scene than God wanted- and he chastised Moses about it. God said, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

So you have to feel for Moses here. First off, he's recently lost his sister. Second, he's had to listen to a lot of complaining- and although ultimately the complaining may have been geared toward God- some of it was likely about Moses. As God's spokesman, it would be easy to take the complaints personally even if they weren't directly pointed at you. And it's a pretty heavy punishment- not in comparison to those who were earlier struck dead, but still- all this wandering and you'll never get to the promised land.

I've always heard this story was about Moses striking the rock instead of speaking to it as God instructed, but I'm not so sure. God tells Moses to take the staff. If striking is a no-no, it seems like God is setting him up by putting the staff in his hand. What is it for, then? There's also precedence. God has had him strike rocks for water before. You probably remember our lively discussion four years ago found here: http://chiphall.blogspot.com/2007/06/moses-rocks-exodus-17-1-7-so-they-leave.html

So God tells him to take the staff and has previously instructed him to strike the rock. It seems like God would point out..."but don't strike it like last time," if that was so important. I think the key might instead be in what Moses says to the people (and more importantly what that statement says about how Moses views himself). He asks them "must we bring you water out of that rock?" (italics mine). God and I?

Maybe the point is that Moses isn't saying, "praise God from whom all blessings(and water) flow"- but instead "you're lucky you have the two of us, God and I, to take care of your problems." Maybe the message from God is- hold on there, Moe- you aren't quite all that you think you are.

And maybe the lesson for us as we go about striving to do go works is to remember that the good we can do shouldn't elevate ourselves (even though in a very real sense we may be sacrificing, working, loving, devoting). The focus should still be God. Our gifts shouldn't feel like crumbs off of the king's table for the peons lucky enough to be nearby- but instead should be given through humility, through compassion, and for God's glory (even if His name is never mentioned).

I think it's important to note that even when Moses' attitude was lacking, the rock still poured water. The people weren't penalized for Moses' disposition. God still uses us even when we aren't on our "A" game.

The section ends pointing out that these waters were the waters of quarreling. Moses points out that although the Israelites fought with God here- He was proven holy. Even Moses couldn't prevent that from happening.

2011-06-21T21:22:00.000-04:00

Splish Splash
Numbers 19

And so we return to the latest edition of things that make you unclean. I think we've covered this before- but this passage deals with the consequences of touching a dead body (for the living person, the dead guy doesn't seem to mind much).

First off, it seems that just in case you might come into contact with a dead body (and who knows, there do seem to be quite a few of them around) you or someone in the community need(s) to take a red cow to Eleazar the priest. Eleazar will watch as the cow is escorted outside of camp and slaughtered. Eleazar will then get some blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the tent of meeting. Then Eleazar is to stick around and witness the cow being torched: it's hide, flesh, blood, and intestines. Then he's supposed to take some cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and put them on the burning cow. I have no idea why.

After the priest and the man doing the burning wash their clothes, they can come back into camp, but they are both still ceremonially unclean until evening.

Then somebody clean comes and gathers the ashes and takes them somewhere clean (ceremonially clean- not just tidy)in the camp to be stored until needed. I get the impression that these are community ashes, not just a jar carefully labeled with your(or your cow's) name. The ash-gatherer also needs to wash his clothes and is unclean until evening.

These ashes are to be used for the water of cleansing- which is for purification for sins. So, if you touch a corpse (as you may be wont to do) you purify yourself with this water on the third and seventh days following your contact; because what gets you cleaner than water mixed with cow ash? This seems to be a sprinkling- for ceremony not literal cleaning. People who aren't purified after shaking hands with a corpse (or any other contact) are to be cut off from Israel- they remain unclean. They have defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. Those getting purified are clean after seven days.

Then come all the scenarios for all you what-iffers out there. If someone dies in a tent? Everyone in the tent and anyone who enters is unclean- so are all open jars.

You are unclean if you...touch someone killed with a sword, touch someone who died of natural causes, touch a human bone, or touch a human grave. In all of these cases, if you use the water you are only unclean for seven days.

Finally we find out how the process works- because we were all on the edge of our seats. If you're unclean you put some of those ashes into a jar and pour some fresh water over them. Then you find someone who is clean (but don't touch them or they will become unclean) and get them to dip some hyssop into the mixture and sprinkle everything that was involved with the dead body- the tent, furnishings, all the people who were there, and anyone who touched those things listed above. This is to happen on the third and seventh days. On the seventh day he is to purify them.. I don't know what this would involve for the clean person except maybe just declaring them pure. The unclean person is to bathe with water and wash his clothes on the seventh day.

The human sprinkler is to wash his own clothes- and anyone else who touches this water is also unclean until evening as is anything an unclean person touches and everyone who touches something an unclean person touched.

If you're in the vicinity, you're probably unclean.

I'm not sure I'm too enriched after reading this passage except for appreciating Jesus making all of this unnecessary. And really appreciating my job- I wouldn't have enjoyed being the community ash-gatherer.

2011-06-11T22:24:00.000-04:00

Meta-tithes
Numbers 18: 8-32

God seems to be emphasizing to Aaron that the Levites are getting a pretty good deal out of this servants of the temple thing. First off, they get grain, sin, and guilt offerings. The people bring them as a sacrifice to God - and God gives the most holy part of the sacrifice kept from the fire to Aaron's family. These are to be treated as holy- and every male needs to eat from them.

Plus- they get wave offerings, and the best olive oil and new wine and grain brought as the first-fruits of the harvest. Anyone who is ceremonially clean can dig in. Plus- all firstborn from every womb belong to them- however they must redeem all human firstborn and unclean animals. At a month of age they are to accept five shekels of silver for them.

But cows, sheep, and goats? Splash that blood on the altar. Burn the fat as an offering and enjoy the steak for yourself. He refers to this as an "everlasting covenant of salt" which is a bit confusing to me- but regardless this seems to be intended as a long term arrangement.

However, this is it- they don't get another inheritance. The Levites get all the tithes in exchange for all the work they will do- but THEY must do the work. Israelites must no longer go near the tent of meeting or they will die.

Now the Levites are to take the tithes, and give Aaron ten percent of them. They are to offer grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. It should be the best and holiest of what they were given. By offering the best, they will be free to enjoy the rest of the blessing without defiling what was offered.

I think it's interesting that the people serving God weren't exempt from paying tribute to Him. Although their payment came from other's work, God still expected sacrifice from them, too. Maybe the lesson here is to remember that now matter how noble our work may be- no matter what level of service we label our work with, what we're given in exchange (no matter how large or small) still comes from God. And us such, He expects us to sacrifice (whether financially and/or otherwise).

2011-06-10T23:30:00.000-04:00

Family Responsibilities
Numbers 18: 1-7

Perhaps in an effort to make the point more clear, God speaks to Aaron instead of Moses and says- "Your family is responsible for any mishaps regarding the sanctuary- and you and your sons will bear the guilt for any transgression involving the priesthood. Bring the Levites to help you They are accountable to you- and can help with all the tent duties, but they've got to keep away from the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar. If they come near them, both they and you will die. They will help with all the tent work, but that's it- no one else can come near where you are."

"This set-up is to prevent another situation like we just had- I'm trying to spare the Israelites from My wrath. I'm giving you the Levites as a gift which I selected for you. But remember, anything inside the curtain or near the altar is just for you and your sons. This priesthood is a gift- anyone else who comes near is to be put to death."

So this massive responsibility is a gift? Can I just get a gift card to Outback instead? Would they have viewed this massive undertaking with the potential for death as a blessing? Or would they too be longing for the slavery of Egypt?

What I find interesting here is the group punishment idea. Both the lawbreakers and Aaron's family die if these commandments aren't kept. If it happens too often, wouldn't they run out of priests?

It seems like the shared responsibility would be an effective tool in keeping the law. I think that people may be less likely to engage in individually risky behavior if they are reminded that this behavior will result in the death of innocent parties.

It seems like a similar mentality to what a kidnapper does to influence behavior- if you don't follow my rules, your loved ones will get it. I'm not very comfortable with God being a kidnapper in this metaphor, but perhaps this if you won't do it for Me or yourself, at least do it for others mentality was just the next step in getting people to realize that sin has consequences beyond the sinner.

And in fact, perhaps it's simply a way for us to see that our sin does that too. We aren't responsible for each other's sins- but if we are aware of the ripple effect- the pain my lies, my greed, my lust, my pride all cause other people, maybe I'll be more conscious of keeping those things in check.

Fat chance, but it's a lovely thought in theory.

2011-05-30T09:27:00.000-04:00

Almond Joy
Numbers 17

So God tells Moses that He's going to put an end to all of these chest pumping, I'm God's vessel complexes the Israelites seem to be having. He has Moses collect a staff from the leader of each tribe. After the leader's name is written on each corresponding staff, they are placed in front of the ark of the covenant. The man He chooses will have a staff that has sprouted.

So the next day when Moses goes to check on the staffs. Aaron's has not only sprouted, but has budded, blossomed, and produced almonds. Moses shows the staffs off and returns the non-blossoming staffs but God tells him to return Aaron's where it had been near the ark. This is to serve as a "sign to the rebellious."

He says it will "put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die."

However, instead of bringing peace, it freaks the Israelites out. We're doomed! You can't go near the tabernacle and live! Is this it for us? Are we going to die?

I'm struck by how different God's mood is here, just one chapter later. Earlier Moses pleads with God to spare the camp and in His wrath He sends the plague. Here, without any recorded solicitation from Moses, God has a plan to spare them from future wrath. He wants to stop their grumbling so they won't be the recipients of future wrath.

God wants us to be spared- God wants us to be at peace with Him- and while prayer is an amazing opportunity to bond with Him- He (at least here) is looking for ways to spare us future pain whether we're looking for those ways or not.

Second- what God intends as relief, the Israelites turn into stress. This fig leaf from God- this clarity of His will- doesn't make things easier for them... instead they freak out.

Can we take things God intends as blessings and make them not only worthless, but thorns in our sides- opportunities that we resent, relationships that we take for granted, gifts that we squander and use in ways He never intended? God may be giving us everything we need- but because of our lacking in wisdom we miss the big picture.

Instead of seeing His gift of peace, we assume we're going to die.

2011-05-27T17:33:00.000-04:00

You Can Take it with You
Numbers 16

This chapter is a bizarre story that I don't remember. So you have these three guys- Korah, a Levite, and Dathan and Abiram who are Reubenites. They are a bit sick of Moses so they get 250 other guys, some of them community leaders to stand up against Moses and Aaron. They said, "Who do you think you are? God is with ALL of us, not just you. Where do you get off being so 'holier than thou?'"

Moses is really hurt by this accusation and falls face down. But it kind of seems that it's his pride that's really hurt (at least after my initial reading). He tells them- "We'll see who God wants near him. Tomorrow we'll have a community incense burning and we'll see who God picks. We'll see who God thinks is holy."

He continues, "Levites, hasn't God done enough for you by separating you from the rest of Israel letting you be near Him to do His work? Where do you get off griping at Aaron? You're actually complaining against God, anyhow."

Moses then summoned Dathan and Abiram who responded, "No, we're not coming- you're not the boss of us. Isn't it enough that you teased us with that whole milk and honey inheritance? We're still waiting on this promise. Are you hoping to treat us like slaves?"

Moses then made a little prayer against them. Speaking to God, he says, "Don't accept their offering. I haven't accepted anything from them not even a donkey-and I haven't wronged them either.

Then Moses sets them up, "Everyone take your censer and fill it with incense- and Aaron will join you." When they were gathered, God warned Moses and Aaron, "You two step back, I'll wipe out the whole group at once."

But Moses and Aaron suddenly soften. They fall down on their faces (a popular position this chapter) and cry "You who created everything- will you punish everyone for the sins of one man?"

God seems to reconsider and tells them to have the assembly move away from the other three. So they do- saying- "Back away! Don't even touch anything that belongs to them or you'll be swept away for their sins." So the three instigators stand in front of their tents with their families and await their doom.

Moses can't resist a little speech. He says "Here's the litmus- here's how you know that I speak for God. If these three die a natural death, than I am not from God- but if the Lord creates this new thing... if He opens up the earth and swallows them up alive with all of their possessions (is he riffing here?) and they enter the realm of the dead still living (how will they verify that?) then you know that these three have been disrespectful to God."

Instantly, the ground opened and swallowed them up. The three of them and their families and all of their possessions changed zip codes. Once swallowed, the earth closed back up over them.

Understandably, this freaked people out. They assumed the earth was still hungry and that they would also taste pretty good.

Then God sent out fire and killed the 250 who had been offering incense. God had Aaron's son Eliazor to get the censers out of the remains- they are still holy. He's to spread the charred remains some distance away- but to hammer the censers into sheets to put over the altar. They will be a sign. This was to remind them that only Aaron's children could offer incense before God or they would receive a similar fate.

This whole scenario wasn't much of a morale boost. They approached Moses and Aaron and accused them of killing the LORD's people. God had had enough- so He told Moses to stand back- I'm going to take them all out.

Moses told Aaron to quickly get his censer and incense and burning coals and go make atonement. He realized that a plague had started. Aaron ran and made atonement but in the meantime 14,700 additional people died from the plague. Once the plague stopped, Aaron came back to the entrance of the tent of meeting.

So what to make of this?

First off- I'm reminded that not too long ago, Moses referred to himself as the most humble man alive (or something similarly extraordinary). For someone so humble, he seems to not be perceived by others that way.

Second, I think that some of the details help make sense out of the whole. They aren't just saying- Moses, we're sick of your mouth- they're saying- we've been made promises- they haven't come true- we're through listening to you- we're calling our own shots now. I think Moses is right, they are defying God, not just Moses.

While Moses does seem to set them up- they seem to be breaking one of God's laws by sitting around with the censers. Moses isn't just challenging them to see who God picks. He's saying God said only Aaron's family can offer sacrifice- God set us apart- see what happens if you defy God's law.

Finally, Moses seems to waver in his desire for justice and his desire for mercy. And I think this principle rings true. He prays for God to not take the sacrifice- but He's sorry when God's wrath is stirred up. Vengeance doesn't seem so sweet in practice. Grace and mercy are much easier to live with in the long term. Easy to see here... sometimes hard to recognize in the heat of rage.

2011-05-27T09:35:00.001-04:00

The Israelites Graduate
Numbers 15: 37-41

God tells Moses to attach a tassel with a blue cord on the corners of their garments. This is to happen from generation to generation and is supposed to serve as a reminder to follow God's commands. God ends the command by reminding them that He has the authority to command it- He is God who brought them out of Egypt.

I really like the idea of utilizing a physical reminder of who you are, or are trying to be- I've used one before- a special coin that was in my pocket. In tough times just a hand in my pocket feeling the coin was a help to steer me straight. In my case, it was even more of a way to help me remember that I'm not who I was- that the past is behind- that this God I follow has forgiven me. But whether a coin in your pocket, a note on your bathroom mirror, a cross on your rear view mirror (unless you're too attached to the fuzzy dice), or a blue cord on a tassel, a visual reminder to stay true to God's commands and that He is in control can certainly be a good thing.

2011-05-25T15:34:00.000-04:00

Black Sabbath
Numbers 15: 32-36

So while the Israelites are in the wilderness, one of the party decides to that the Sabbath would be a good time to gather wood. As this is clearly work- this was not acceptable behavior. So, a community of narcs grabbed him and brought him to Moses and Aaron- (which is apparently not work?) and held him in custody to see what to do with him.

The verdict? Death by stoning. God says that the whole assembly must take him outside the camp and stone him to death.

This is quite troubling to me. First, the punishment seems quite harsh. Death for gathering wood on the Sabbath. It seems as this is the ultimate sin that could have been committed- I guess they could have tortured his family, but there's not much beyond this they could do to him.

Our culture would think of Woody as industrious, a go-getter, a hard-worker. God is clearly not rewarding that mindset here. Is He trying to stress the need for reliance on Him? No need to work that hard to provide for yourselves... I'm on it.

Is He stressing that His laws, all of them, are non-negotiable? Is there grace in this story anywhere?

Second, this seems like a punishment for the community, too. I don't want to be any part of a group stoning. I'm not interested in lining up for my throw at the blasphemous Sabbath worker. Such an experience would be life-altering and scarring. It certainly wouldn't be a morale builder.

And as someone who spends much of the year working hard on weekends, it worries me a bit that God's plan might be a little different. However- the three months off help to balance that out. Those can be my Sabbaths... right? I don't think that as non-Jewish, post resurrection followers, God plans for us to be subject to Sabbath laws- but certainly there must be some principle of resting that He's set precedent for.

It's also hard to balance this with Jesus' statement (it won't come up in our discussion here for quite some time) about Sabbath being for man and not man for Sabbaths.

So what's the story here? I don't really have an explanation- other than a comparative sigh of relief to not have been born Jewish in the time of Moses.

2011-05-20T14:32:00.002-04:00

Oops!

Numbers 15:22-30

God says that if the entire community accidentally sins and isn't aware of it- the whole community is to offer a bull, a goat, a grain offering and a drink offering. I'm reading this as one offering from the whole community not each person offering an individual one, but I could very well be wrong. I'm not sure what kind of sin would be a "community" sin. Oops, we built this idol by accident. At the same moment, we all accidentally lied. Seems like it would take a pretty odd occurrence.

If just one person sins unintentionally, he brings a year old female goat to be sacrificed, the priest makes atonement and the person is forgiven. This is for both the native and the foreigner.

But if someone sins out of defiance, God has been blasphemed- and there is no forgiveness. This person is to be cut off from his people. This seems odd to me. Wouldn't most sins fall into this category? I guess I don't ordinarily view mistakes as sin.

If I give the wrong answer, I haven't lied- but if i try to deceive I have. I guess there are instances when I do something and it results in sin I didn't intend- but I feel like most of the time when I do wrong, I know I'm doing it- I'm just acting out of my own selfish desires or ambitions. So under the old law- I'm forever lost with no hope... at least until Jesus comes.

2011-05-06T13:45:00.002-04:00

Pulp Non-Fiction

Numbers 15: 1-21

While these 21 verses are pretty boring in isolation- I'm puzzled by them within their context (ok, they're still kinda boring, but bear with me). God has just clearly expressed his displeasure with the Israelites in chapter 14 and made it fairly clear that they wouldn't be entering the promised land. But here, just a few verses later he lays out laws for them to follow when they enter the promised land. Huh?

He details what to include in grain offerings, burnt offerings, drink offerings, and food offerings. He specifies that this applies to both natives and foreigners, and that these offerings apply to food eaten in the new land. But if they can't enter... then who and what is this for? I've come up with three possible motivations but I'm not really happy with any of them.

First- has God changed His mind? He was angry- He vented to Moses- and now He's rethought the harshness of the punishment? Maybe He accepted that these imperfect humans that He's created will consistently let Him down and He'll help us along by cutting us some slack. He expressed His displeasure, but here's some grace to go with it.

I guess we'll see how this one plays out- somehow, I don't think they get to enter.

Second- is Moses going Tarantino on us and telling us the narrative out of chronological order? Did God go through this list before the doubt discharge- but once again for a reason we'll discover later on only getting around to telling us these laws here? Is Bruce Willis going to turn up in chapter 16 as a character who died back in Exodus? Once again, doubtful- but I guess we'll see. Zed's dead, baby.

Third, and this is where I'm leaning at the moment- are these laws told WAY in advance. So in 40 years when you(if you're a kid now) or your children finally get to enter the promised land- these are the laws to follow. You've got lots of time to learn them and to incorporate them into your oral traditions.

This still seems odd, but of the three it's the one that seems the most consistent. Perhaps God is not only stressing with generations to come what their relationship with Him will be like but stressing to the Israelite Idiots how much they've missed out on by doubting Him. Remember when we had this type of relationship? Now I'll have it with your children- and you can hear about how it's going to be.

Perhaps the key is what is lost when we don't trust.

2011-05-03T11:24:00.003-04:00

Manipulative Moses
Numbers 14
Mob mentality ensues. The defeatist dialogue dampened the Israelite's spirits- and they are ready to call it a day. In fact, they begin to weep and trash Moses and Aaron. They ask, why did God bring us here if we're just going to be killed anyhow? Our wives and children will become plunder for the enemy. Let's just choose a new leader and head back to Egypt.

So in a short span of time- they have rejected the Promised Land, rejected Moses and Aaron, and rejected God. Not a good long term plan. I don't understand the desire to trek back to captivity- but I do understand the fear they must have felt. It seems silly to think that they would doubt God's care after seeing what He'd taken them through- but I can imagine words of such negativity from leaders would strike fear deeply- especially regarding issues like death of myself and the potential capture, abuse, torture and death of my loved ones.

Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb speak up. Don't be so rash- if God's happy, He'll give us this land. As they tore their clothes they spoke of the greatness of the land- and God's providence. Their plea was to not rebel against God- and to be confident- with God, they could totally devour the inhabitants of the land.

Their reaction was to consider stoning the four- but God stepped in and He was none too pleased. In disbelief , He asked Moses, "What do I have to do to get these people to trust Me? They doubt Me even after all the signs? I'm done! I'm sending a plague down and I'll build a nation through you- a better nation than they are."

But Moses disapproves. "If You do this, it'll get back to the Egyptians and it will look like You couldn't do what said You could. Everyone knows about Your relationship with these people. If You reject them now- it'll just seem like things got too hard for You so You just slaughtered them. Instead- just do what You promised- let the world see Your strength. Forgive these idiots- just like You've been forgiving them from the beginning."

God seems to calm down a little and says, " I have forgiven them- but listen up, there's no way that any of them that saw My signs and tested me ten times will see the promised land. The people who treated Me with contempt will never see it. But Caleb is another story- he follows Me completely. His people will get the land. Tomorrow you need to turn back and head toward the Red Sea. Because of the grumbling- none of you 20 years or older will enter the land- except Caleb and Joshua. They were worried about their children being taken hostage? These same children will be the ones to get the land- in 40 years after the rest have died. They'll shepherd one year for each of the 40 days of the land exploration. Those 20 or older will die in the wilderness."

Moses reports back and the spies who offered skepticism are struck dead. Only Joshua and Caleb survived. The people all mourned but apparently thought they could change God's mind. The next morning they said, "What were we thinking? We can take this land with God's help."

Moses said, " You dummies! Weren't you listening? This won't work! God is NOT with you! You will fail!" But they went on- without Moses- without the ark of the covenant- and they were beaten by their enemies all the way to Hormah.

I'm struck again by the emotional capacity we see in God's personality. We think of God's love and anger and forgiveness- but here we see some of that emotion in action. God is irate! He plans on wiping out His people. It doesn't seem at this point like He's following the script of some predetrmined plan- He's letting His emotions make decisions for Him. And Moses is able to convince Him to change His mind. He seems to use flattery- and then logic. He uses logic to make God change His mind. Is this odd to anyone else? Had God not considered this viewpoint already?

Granted, once again Moses is painting himself as the hero- but there's something to this, right? God's plan has been altered- and then he is calmed down based on His interaction with His creation.

And the people- they try to change God's mind too- but in a more stupid way. They just act assuming God will relent. They assume everything will be ok if they only act now the way God wanted them to before. The window had closed. And it may be that our impulsive action does the same thing. When we bull our way through despite God's will we may end up with similar fate- and perhaps wondering where God was throughout it all.

Perhaps the lesson to learn here is timeliness. God adapts His will depending on context and circumstance. I would have done this- but now since We find Ourselves here, this is where I want things to go. I'm not suggesting that God changes his expectations for us, but that perhaps what we are expected to do may change depending on where we find ourselves. Sometimes action may be necessary- strong action trusting God is with us. Sometimes it may be important to recognize that the window for action has passed- and to act strongly may only cause harm to myself and others- and when this happens I can wait, and pray, and look for the next opportunity.

2011-04-30T15:55:00.002-04:00

Maybe the Wilderness isn't so Bad After All

Numbers 13: 26-33

So the leaders come back from scouting this land- the land they've been waiting for all this time and the people gather to hear the report. This must have been a meeting filled with amazing anticipation. Way back in Exodus they were promised this land flowing with milk and honey- and finally, here it is.

So they gather- and the news isn't what they hoped it would be. With Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly before them the leaders report... "well, yeah- there's the whole milk and honey bit-in fact here's some fruit so big we had to carry it in on poles- but the dudes that live there are crazy tough. I saw one of them get in a fight with a tree- and he won. The cities are huge- there are so many of them living there. And these guyss are huge- like Shaq huge- like Incredible Hulk huge- their kids were as big as that guy in The Green Mile.

They spelled out who the people were that lived there- some of whom are the very people God told them would inhabit the land He was going to lead them to back in Exodus. In the midst of the fear mongering, Caleb stands up, silences the crowd and does his best impersonation of Gene Hackman in Hoosiers. We got this- let's take what God has promised us.

But his enthusiasm is shot down by the other leaders. Are you serious? These people make John Wayne seem like Seth Rogan. We felt like grasshoppers among these people- and they looked at us like we were grasshoppers.

This must have been demoralizing. After walking for years, when it looked as if it was finally time to reap the benefits of all the labor- the carpet is pulled out from beneath their feet.

And while it's easy to wonder how this group so easily forgets the Red Sea rendezvous and doubts deliverance, it's easy for us to forget how we've been taken care of in the past and to stress about what is to come.

2011-04-28T09:12:00.002-04:00

The Hills Have Spies
Numbers 13: 1-25

So God tells Moses to send out some leaders to scout out the land. So he does- and in this passage he lists each one by name and clan. While it doesn't make for interesting reading there are a couple of things about it that I do find interesting. Knowing what is to come in regards to these explorers, I wonder how Moses chose the order of listing them. Joshua and Caleb are tucked in the middle of the list- is Moses building suspense? Are they listed based on geography? Age of traveler? I'd like to think it's a literary device- although much of Moses' writing style works agaisnt that theory.

Second, while this might at first appear as a list of honor...these men were so well thought of that they are forever immortalized in sacred text... perhaps the opposite is true. Since the expedition (as we'll find out soon) doesn't go so well, perhaps this is a list of shame. Maybe it's a constant reminder that our leaders can let us down, can make mistakes, are far from perfect- and can't be the litmus of our own faith. If my spiritual stability is dependent upon church leaders, then I'm in trouble- because when they mess up (as they will- as I do...) my faith is damaged. I have to recognize the fallibility of us all and trust in God's grace- not in the models of leaders.

So Moses instructs them to go up through the Negev into the Hill country. He wants them to find out some particulars of the area- things like what the land is like- demographic information- how tough are these guys? What are the towns like? Good restaurants? How's the night life? Do they have trees? He instructs them to bring back some fruit. It happened to be grape season during the expedition. You know what that means... lots of grape juice.

So they came to a valley where they cut off a cluster of grapes to carry back on a pole- along with some pomegranates and figs. This was such an important moment that the valley was named the valley of cluster (Eshkol). Must have been a slow news day.

After forty days they returned home. Hope the grapes were still fresh.

2011-04-24T19:13:00.002-04:00

Moe's Foes

Numbers 12

In this edition of Life in the Wilderness, sibling rivalry rears its ugly head. Aaron and Miriam start to talk smack about Moses- "God speaks through us, too," they proclaim. They seem to be none too happy being the supporting players anymore. Seems like Paul's tempted to break up the Beatles. Or more like Ringo is.

What strikes me most interesting about all the detail here is perspective. We're told the cause of this skirmish is that Moses has taken a Cushite wife. I'm not aware of any regulation against the marrying of foreign born partners, but it seems Moses' clan was none too keen on for'ners. And this skirmish has nothing to do with Moses, after all- as verse three tells us, Moses was "more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth."

It seems like the fight is very one sided, jealous siblings hungry for power- and maybe I've been reading too much into Moses' character in previous readings. While he seems to be getting too big for his caftan, the scripture here is clear- Moses is humble... until you consider that the scripture is written by Moses. So, Moses is the self-proclaimed most humble man on earth. I doubt the Book of Miriam would have chronicled the interaction quite this way.

This is interesting to me and raises a question that might be fundamental to understanding all scripture. Does inspiration remove the biases of the chronicler or is Moses really humble and it would have wounded his pride to have to write about it if he had any pride in the first place. I tend to think that there's lots of Moses in the telling of these stories- I don't think he fell into a trance and woke up to find scrolls scribbled that he had no memory of.

Regardless, God comes down and calls the three of them out and sets them straight. First He lets them know that things are a little different between He and Moses. He implies that Aaron and Miriam may be prophets- and He speaks to prophets in dreams and visions- but there's no mystery when He talks to Moses. With Moses it's face to face, with no riddles- so, He asks, why didn't it scare you to trash him to the camp?

Once again, this might be Moses talking again. Don't you see how tight I am with God? Nothing like what the two of them have relationally. But it certainly creates some questions. Does God talk to some of us more directly than others? Do you get a direct voice, and I get a weird dream, but someone else gets nothing? Why does God send puzzling messages to prophets? Why not make His will plain? And does He keep talking to us until we get the message- or if we don't solve the riddle, does He move on to the next contestant?

So God gets angry and Miriam (notice not Aaron) is struck with leprosy- or at least some disease that turned her skin white. Maybe Miriam was pretty and Aaron wasn't so a skin disease would have meant more to her, but more likely this is just some old testament time misogyny. Aaron sees the disease, and perhaps feeling a bit guilty, begs through Moses to not hold their sin against them. He asks to not let her be like a "stillborn infant coming from its mother's womb with its flesh half eaten away." This is a difficult image to picture- but apparently Miriam didn't make People's most beautiful list this year.

Moses cries out to God to heal her and God does, but not immediately. He tells Moses, "“If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days?"

So she is put out of the camp for a week while she healed and everyone stayed put (which would have made the issue public, I would think). After this they moved on to the desert of Paran.

God's justice here is a little troubling. Is He slow to forgive us too? Or did He forgive instantly but continue to teach Miriam (and Aaron indirectly) by this disease? And how does that translate into our forgiving each other?

In the meantime, how would you like to be this Cushite wife- already an outsider- talked about by family and now perhaps feeling guilty for the fate of her sister-in-law. Would this have made the relationship worse? Awkward Thanksgiving dinner? And in contrast how much pain would have been spared by open and accepting spirits?

2011-04-02T09:39:00.002-04:00

Bread and Whine

Numbers 11: 4-35

So the Israelites have been feasting on manna for some time now. God blessed them with this coriander seed-like substance in abundance that they would cook in a pot or make into loaves. It had a taste of olive oil to it. I'm picturing bread from Romano's Macaroni Grill- although I'm sure that's a faulty analogy. Plus unlike at Romano's, instead of coloring on tablecloths while the bread is brought to you, they have to gather and create this food.

Instead of being grateful for the bread, a faction of Israelites Moses refers to as the "rabble" start to squawk. Give me some meat! I could go for for a big ol'e steak burrito! Anybody else wish we had watermelon? I'd even take a salad over this endless supply of bread! They complained of missing meat, and cucumbers, and melons, and leeks, and onions, and garlic.

This sounds like when I'm dieting and being a little pouty about it and start to talk about all the food I wish I was having. Oh- I could go for some Moose Tracks ice cream about now. I saw an ad for all you can eat wings...too bad I'm on a stupid diet. Instead of realizing that they have all that they need- and their needs are being met with a high-quality food, grumbling becomes a coping mechanism.

So- the source of the gift, God, is none too pleased with the reception of his bread. It's like I went home to dinner at my parent's house. Mom's cooked up something special for me and after it's put before me, I ask for something else. They don't just complain about the manna- they reminisce about the free fish they had back when they were slaves. They don't just not want mom's spaghetti, they want to eat someone else food as a slave. If your children tell you that being a slave is a better option than eating dinner at your house, you probably shouldn't be waiting by your mailbox for a mother's day card.

God gets angry- and Moses gets worried. In fact Moses reverts into martyr mode. God, why are You doing this to me? What have I done to deserve this? Why have you put this burden on me? They aren't my kids- why am I forced into being their nursemaids? Why do I have to baby them all the way to the land You said You'd give their ancestors? How am I supposed to get meat for all of these people? This is too much! If you love me, and this is how You're going to treat me- why don't You just go ahead and kill me?

Seems like Moses has already started down the path toward the infamous striking rock chapter of his life. He seems to view himself as the center of suffering- instead of as a servant to help alleviate it. I also sense a lot of "playing God" subtext in his diatribe. Where am I going to get meat? Moses... the same place you get the manna perhaps? Why do I have to get them to the land that You promised them? It seems like he's saying, "God, you created this mess with Your long overdue promise- why do I have to bail You out? (ital mine)

What Moses is doing here strikes me as being pretty similar to what these meat-starved bread eaters are engaged in; parading in self-pity.

It's easy to be hard on them- ingrates... you've been rescued, God is providing- stop your whining, but I think I would react similarly (though perhaps a bit more passive-aggressively). I love bread... but if that's all I had to eat, I would probably start to grumble. Bread is great, especially covering a cheeseburger, or sopping up gravy, or as a pastry after eating some ribs. I get their complaining. Don't misunderstand- they're still ungrateful, spoiled brats. I'm just saying that I'm one too.

And Moses- he's turned his life upside down to follow this path that God has directed him toward. He could be rich and living luxuriously. Instead he's leading a bunch of less than pleasant people through a desert. With all that walking I'm sure he has ample time to contemplate vocational decisions. Of course he's playing a martyr. His life has become cleaning up these people's messes. He's in charge of God's people. Once again- this isn't admirable... but I'd be throwing a pity party too- and you'd all be invited.

But God responds to both whines. First He tells Moses to gather together 70 elders he knows as leaders and officials and He'll divert some of the spirit from Moses' shoulders and make the burden a bit lighter.

He's a little less gentle with the Israelites. You want meat? I've heard you whining- and I'm going to give you meat. Oh, we miss Egypt- we want meat. Alright you ungrateful babies- I'm going to give you so much meat it will be coming out of your noses. You'll get meat for a month and you will be so sick of it- you'll run to the nearest city and join their chapter of PETA. You'll hate meat. This is all because you rejected Me.

Moses is skeptical. Um God? Maybe you haven't noticed but there are quite a few people here... like 600,000. Where are you going to find a month's worth of meat? Even if you gave them all the fish in the sea would that even be enough?

Umm Moe, did you miss the whole parting of the Red Sea thing? Maybe you didn't realize that I supply the manna already? Did you happen to catch that plague thing back in Egypt? If not, they replay it from time to time on the History Channel. God asks "Is my arm too short?" Moses, what have I yet failed to do?

So Moses gathered the 70 together and the spirit was shared and these 70 prophesied... but only once. So this solution to help ease Moses' burden was only a short term solution. Is this because the 70 didn't want to step on Moses' toes? Was God making a point about His will being questioned? Is God subtly telling Moses to stop being a baby? Did God view this one night off as enough of a break? It seems odd that such elaborate measures were taken for such a small solution. Moses seems happy to get what he could.

Two other elders were nearby, outside the tent where the big event was happening and the spirit rested on them as well. So- even though they weren't of the 70, they started prophesying too. Joshua sees it and runs to report it to Moses, asking him to stop them. And Moses disagrees with the plan of action. He asks Joshua- are you feeling jealous because you think that I'll be jealous. Are you kidding? I wish the whole camp had gotten the spirit and started prophesying.

Maybe he's wishing the joy of spiritual gifts on them all- but it reads to me like Moses is saying- if they could all prophesy, I could wash my hands of it. The more who jump in, the less I need to do. And while I think there is something admirable about wanting everyone to be involved in God's work- this seems to be foreshadowing Moses' meltdown.

Finally, the quail came. God sent a wind that brought the quail from the sea. There were so many that when the people went looking for it- no one found less than 1 3/4 tons of quail. I'm not sure how they would have carried this quail back to the camp- but regardless, they had plenty of bird. They sat around eating quail- but God seeing it all had His anger restirred and before they even finished chewing- He sent a plague down on them.

They named the place "Grave of Craving" (very bad for local real estate agents) because they ended up burying people who had craved other foods.

This blunt reaction from God is frightening and puzzling to me. I'm not sure what they did here that God didn't expect. He gave them the quail- He knew that they had been grumbling. Is it because they enjoyed it too much? Did they brag about convincing God? Were they just being gluttonous?

The bottom line is that God expects gratitude for what He's given. I think the key here may be attitude. Maybe when we grumble- we should be careful if we get what we ask for.

2011-03-27T22:00:00.002-04:00

That Burns Me Up

Numbers 11:1-3

So the Israelites start whining (as Israelites tended to do) and it got back to God and He was none too pleased. In fact, He was riled up enough that fire "burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp." But apparently they had a change of heart when they felt their nose hair singeing and ran to Moses (as Israelites tended to do). Moses prayed, the fire died down and they named the place "Burning".

It's easy for me to identify with God on this one- it's hard to handle ingratitude. When you've given and given and it doesn't seem to be thought of as enough you can feel the fire build up inside. You start to wonder why you've even bothered and you might start letting the verbal molten lava flow (as actually burning things might seem a bit extreme or get you into legal trouble).

But while it's easy to think I'm lining up with God here, it's more likely that I'm the whiny Israelite wanting better perks, more money, more time for myself, less stress, and fewer demands. Instead of being grateful for what I've been given, I too often look at what I lack (even though that list is quite short when compared to most of the world). And it might be that Moses here is hinting at what Jesus is doing for me all these years later.

Father, I know he's acting like a spoiled brat...but don't get angry. Remember Your love for him, your promises. Be patient.

And while the thought of God being angry enough to spew actual fire is pretty unnerving- the idea of his calming down because of (presumably) a prayer from Moses is comforting. And even more comforting still knowing that Jesus is right there on our behalf.

2011-03-09T20:33:00.002-05:00

Just Deserts

Numbers 10:11-36

On February 20th of year two the cloud rose and the caravan began. The Israelites said goodbye to the beautiful and luxurious Desert of Sinai and traveled to the surely equally scenic Desert of Paran. The Lord commanded them to leave through Moses.

The next fifteen verses or so detail the order in which they traveled and named the leader of each camp or unit. It's hard to see what use this detail is for us- but maybe closer to the writing of this description people would have taken pride in seeing their family names in the list. You know son, that Shelumiel was your great uncle's great, great father-in-law. ...And that, my boy, is why Zuar is still a family name.

Toward the end of the chapter, Moses has an interesting exchange with his brother-in-law, Hobab. Hobab was a Midianite and when Moses explained they were setting out for the promised land, and that if he tagged along he would be treated well, Hobab wasn't too keen on the idea.

Nope, he said, thanks anyhow Moe, I'm headed back to my own people who don't follow clouds and blow silver trumpets every few days.

Moses knew what Hobab could add to the expedition and begged him to stay. You know all the cool places to camp. Stay and you can be our eyes and we'll share whatever good things God gives us. We'll even call you Good-Eye Hobab.

So apparently he stayed and after three days of following the ark, they settled in.

When the ark set out, Moses would say,

“Rise up, LORD!

May your enemies be scattered;
may your foes flee before you.”

And whenever they rested it he would reply,

“Return, LORD,
to the countless thousands of Israel.”

It's interesting to me to consider the apparent responsibility Moses seems to feel for his traveling companions. He appeals to God on behalf of them all and seems to be reverent and concerned. We're a long way from the staff, rock, and water at this point.

2011-03-08T19:17:00.002-05:00

Heavy Trumpetting
Numbers 10: 1-10
So Moses is told to create two trumpets out of hammered silver and that these trumpets would replace the Israelite batsign, or ambulance siren, or whatever notification system they happened to have in place at the time. God sets out a code for the Israelites for their Gillespie-ian mode of communication.

Both horns being blown indicates a meeting of the whole community at, approopriately enough, the Tent of Meeting. If only one horn is blown, the community leaders will come to where the people are for said meeting.

Now if the horns are blown with a certain signal, they indicate the need to set out from home. One blast means people in the east are to head out- the second blast means that the southern folks do the same. I'm guessing the trumpet blasts would usually be disruptive to the routine of the Israelite life. You've worked a long day and you're looking forward to a bowl of cheetos and an hour of The Is-real World and suddenly a change of plans, pack up the tent and head out. But maybe this is part of the point- a reminder that your days are not your own. You're not calling the shots- and your role is to be at the ready.

Then comes the part I think is the coolest. Aaron's sons are to be the trumpeters- and this ordinance is to be handed down. Now, when the Israelites are in battle and things aren't going so well- a blow from the trumpet indicates that you need a little help in the whole smiting department... God will remember you and rescue you- whether any smiting happens is unclear- but the trumpet blast brings relief.

I think it's pretty cool to think about Louis Armstrong (or just music in general) being a conduit to get help from God- but even more significantly, it's very interesting to think about this "magic horn" that will alert God to trouble and bring on His salvation. It does lead to some questions though. Would this be an easy thing to abuse? If you don't leave us alone, I'll blow this trumpet and then you'll be sorry. I guess limiting who can blow the horn would help with that issue.

Would it be easy to shift faith in God to faith in the trumpet? As long as we have the horn and breath to blow it, we'll be ok is a very different sentiment than as long as we have God we can overcome anything.

Why does God need a trumpet blast to remember me? Isn't He looking down already? Doesn't He know my needs before I ask them? Is the trumpet then just a symbol to remind them that God is there ready to help? It's a musical placebo. The only value there is that it gives the warriors confidence reminding them that God remembers them.

Finally, the trumpets serve as celebratory tools. they are to be used for rejoicing and festivals and feasts. They are to be sounded over burnt offerings and fellowship offerings and memorials. Aah, the power of music (even two trumpets) to raise spirits, create mood, bring people together, and invoke response from God.

Anyone for some Miles Davis?

2011-02-15T10:15:00.002-05:00

Seeing Red
Numbers 9:15-23

So- when the tabernacle was set up, it was covered by a cloud- a cloud that from evening to morning looked like fire. The Israelites were instructed to follow the fiery cloud. When it moved, they picked up camp and followed. When it stayed put, so did they. It might be just overnight- or it could stay in one place for a year- whatever the length of time, the cloud indicated when to pack up and leave.

So, would this blatant indicator of God's will make things easier or harder? There's little room for misunderstanding- we go where the cloud is. I don't have to figure out what's meant by language choices or decipher the context... I simply follow the big red cloud. But even then, could there have been debate about what the cloud meant. Hmm- it looks like it's moving more east than southeast to me. No... we need to move another 500 feet before camping. Are you sure this is the right cloud?

Clear direction often removes ambiguity but it also creates greater expectation. We may still follow the "red cloud" where It leads- but sometimes it's hard to know where it's going.

2010-08-04T08:59:00.002-04:00

Numbers 9: 1-14

So God tells Moses to enforce the observance of the Passover celebration. It's to happen on January 14th (or their equivalent- month one, day fourteen). So Moses passes the word along and they worship as commanded.

However there were some who were excluded from the celebration because they were unclean because of contact with a dead body. So they approached Moses and said- "Hey, why should we miss out on this party just because we're unclean?"

Moses says. "Hmmm, let me check on that for you- I'll see what God says."

God agrees with the unclean man- He says "people shouldn't be excluded from the celebration. If an Israelite is unclean on the big day or on a journey, he should celebrate on February 14th at twilight." He is to eat lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs. He's not to leave any of it until morning or break it's bones.

However, if you're not unclean or on a journey, you must celebrate on the first day (God's offering is due). This isn't a pick your more convenient feast day kind of deal. If you don't celebrate the first day and you don't fit this exemption, you are to be cut off from your people. It seems that your sins will not be forgiven.

If an alien (person from another country, not outer space) decides to celebrate- they can, but they must follow all the same rules.

This passage intrigues me. There seems to be some pretty deep revelation here.

First off, the idea of forced celebration is odd. It seems like a mandatory party wouldn't always be that much fun. But I think the idea is more that sacrifice is due- and perhaps "observe" is a better word than "celebrate" for what actually is happening.

But a bigger deal is the exception made. God makes a law- and someone says, yeah, but what if...?

And God rethinks it and makes exceptions. Beyond what was even asked.

So why hadn't God already realized the conflicting rules?

And what does this mean for God's laws now? Are there times when what He's asked is impossible to fulfill? When telling the truth would hurt an innocent party? When two rules have to be considered and one chosen?

I don't think we should enter deliberation assuming that we're the exception. I think it's easy to find reasons to not do what God wants, but we may end up finding ourselves there. And when we do- like Moses, we talk to God about it- and proceed the best way that we can.

And maybe it's partly because of this issue that Jesus later boils it all down to "love God and love your neighbor." These take precedent over them all.

2010-07-25T13:28:00.002-04:00

Israeli Mosh Pits

Numbers 8: 5-26

Moses received the task of making the Levites ceremonially clean. To make this happen, he was to sprinkle the "water of cleansing" on them (which kind of sounds like what I might just call "water"). Then they were to shave their bodies and wash their clothes.

Then come the offerings- a young bull with its grain offering, and another bull for a sin offering. After that the Levites are brought to to the community where the Israelites lay hands on them. Is this the Holy Land version of a rock star sighting? Bono comes out and slaps some hands before heading back to isolation and getting to work?

Aaron then presents them as a wave offering. Before this happens, the Levites lay their hands on some animals that are then used as sacrifices (sin and burnt). They facilitate sacrifice and then become a sacrifice- not in a burned at the stake, ritualistic, creepy, drink the kool-aid cult kind of way- but in a giving up a life spent with the other Isralites and devoting yourself to the work of God kind of way.

God says that receiving them as a sacrifice replaces the need for the Israelites to give their firstborn to God. When He struck down the firstborn in Egypt, He had them in mind for the Isrealite part of it all. He takes ownership of all firstborn, whether man or animal.

Levite men are to be devoted to the work of God from age 25-50. After that, they can assist their brothers in the work, but they can't do it themselves.

I wonder if when every crop of Levites were cleansed- when the Israelites were laying their hands on them, they consciously thought- if it weren't for these guys, my son would be dead. If these Levites didn't sacrifice- I would lose so much.

And I think of my need to ponder the same thought more often. Without the sacrifice of another infamous firstborn, I would lose so much more.

2010-07-18T22:16:00.003-04:00

Don't Even Consider That Whole Under the Bushel Thing

Numbers 8: 1-4

God tells Moses to tell Aaron that the lamps are supposed to illuminate the area in front of the lampstands. Aaron makes it happen. The lampstands are made the way God commanded.

That's it.

It seems fairly intuitive. Were they much into back lighting in this era? Maybe it wouldn't have been obvious to light the area in front of the lights, but if not any doubt is removed.

Maybe the key here is to establish a pattern of communication. God speaks to Aaron through Moses- even for things like where to point the light.

2010-07-18T20:19:00.004-04:00

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Numbers 7

It is evident to me that Moses never took a creative writing course.

This chapter repeats ad nauseum the offerings of the different families at the tabernacle. This wouldn't be so bad (well, maybe it would) if the offerings weren't all identical. Still, though, Moses finds it necessary to spell it all out.

After he sets up the tabernacle, anoints it and consecrates its furnishings, the heads of the families got together (an obvious influence on the Godfather films)- each family brought an ox- and every two families offered a cart- this went to the Levites.

They split the oxen and carts up as needed- Kohathites got none, because they were supposed to carry things on their shoulders. To dedicate the altar, each day one family leader would come with their offerings. Moses tells us whose day it is and then says

"13His offering was one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels,^a and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels,^b both according to the sanctuary shekel, each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; 14one gold dish weighing ten shekels,^c filled with incense; 15one young bull, one ram and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;16one male goat for a sin offering; 17and two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old, to be sacrificed as a fellowship offering."

Then he reminds us again whose day it was. He does this twelve times. No twists. No build. No excitement.

I'm not sure why we need such detail. Maybe this was an attempt to stress that all the families were equally dedicated. No one needs to get all Cain and Abel on anyone else.

Maybe this was a repetitive device to help them remember what was sacrificed- although I'm not sure how far after the fact they'd be reading this. It could have been a moot point by then.

Maybe Moses just needed a better editor.

He ends the chapter with a cool image- when Moses enters the Tent of Meeting to talk with God, His voice comes from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the testimony.

This must have been an amazing experience- to talk to God, and to actually hear him talk back. To have a physical place to go and literally have a conversation with God.

Why he spent 88 verses on the sacrifices and one on the conversation is frustrating.

2010-07-05T10:43:00.002-04:00

My Breakfast with Blessings

Numbers 6:22-27

Really short section consisting primarily of instructions for Aaron and his sons on how to bless the Israelites.

The blessing is short and commonly known:

²⁴ " ' "The LORD bless you

and keep you;

²⁵ the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;

²⁶ the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace." '

It's interesting to me that the blessings come from God. So essentially God wishes his own blessings on the Israelites. At first it seems a little silly to me. If God wishes his face to shine upon them, why doesn't He just do it? But maybe from his perspective He's wishing that the Israelites be the kind of people He would shine his face upon.

But regardless, He is claiming the Israelites for Himself. He goes on to say "they will put My name on the Israelites." He wanted them- He was looking to lavish them with blessings.

And as His people today, I'm confident He wants the same for us.

So today- my wish for you is that God blesses you and keeps you. That his face shines blindingly bright on you and His grace pours down on you. May God turn His face on you and may you receive peace.

2010-07-03T19:18:00.003-04:00

Almost Cut My Hair

Numbers 6:1-21

So, if you're an Israelite youth who's clamoring for a little more law in your life- the Nazirite vow might be for you. Apparently this is a vow to help you go above and beyond the requirements of the typical child of God. It seems that this vow could be taken by either a man or a woman.

After taking this vow, there are several things that must be avoided:

No wine. In fact no vinegar made from wine. In fact no grape juice. Or grapes. Or raisins. Nothing from the grapevine- not even seeds or skins.

No cutting hair.

No going near a dead body. Not even if someone in your immediate family dies.

If someone dies in your presence- and defiles your hair (I guess this happens by just being in the presence of a dead body? Maybe contact with the body and your hair which would be kind of weird anyhow?) you've got to shave it on the day of your cleansing (apparently the seventh day). On the eighth day the Nazarite is to bring two doves or pigeons to the priest. One is a sin offering, the other a burnt offering- the burnt offering seems to be to make up for being near the corpse.

Following the period of separation- not sure how long that period is- the rules change. He brings a bunch of things for the priest to sacrifice- a one year old male lamb, a one year old ewe lamb, a ram, grain offerings, drink offerings, a basket of yeast-free bread, and cakes and wafers with oil.

The bread and the ram are a fellowship offering. At the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the Nazirite is to shave off his hair and burn it in the fire beneath this fellowship offering. The priest makes a wave offering using a boiled shoulder of the ram, a wafer and a cake. The priest gets to keep much of the meat as well as the waved cake and wafer.

After this, the Nazirite can start drinking wine again. This is all offered in addition to anything else the Nazirite can afford.

This whole concept puzzles me. As best I can tell, this vow is totally voluntary. Who could look at the burdens of the law and think- you know what, I'd like a little more law in my life? It seems a bit like an attempt to show God how great you are.

God, not only can I not steal, lie, covet- etc... but look what else I can do. Pardon me while I flip my hair.

And I have this same hangup. Instead of accepting grace- I try to make things a little harder for myself. It isn't enough that I'm sorry for my sin, that I've prayed about it, that I've tried to stop committing it- I try to punish myself more. It's like I'm saying, God, look how sorry I am. Let me show you why you should forgive me, because deep down, I'm not convinced that you already have.

So let me impress you with all I've done to make up for the wrong I've committed. If I wasn't truly sorry, I wouldn't have gone through this much effort. Get the grace ready, because I'm about to check off the box that will release the grace lever and send it pouring down on me.

And the end result might be best summed up by John Prine, "Jesus Christ died for nothing, I suppose."

Maybe the Nazirites had noble reasons for taking this extra vow. My struggle is to keep cutting my hair, and truly believing that His grace is enough- no extra credit needed.

2010-06-28T09:24:00.002-04:00

She Turned Me Into a Newt

Numbers 5:11-31

A rare passage in Numbers that I find fascinating. Disturbing and odd, but fascinating.

So, if a man suspected his wife of being unfaithful- there was a sure fire test to determine her guilt. It sounds like it comes straight out of the Salem witch trials. He is to bring his wife (and a grain offering of barley flour) to the priest. The grain offering is because of jealousy.

The priest mixes some holy water with dust from the tabernacle floor. He loosens her hair and puts the dust water (in a clay jar) into her hands. He holds onto some bitter water. He puts her under oath... I'm not sure what she had to put her hand on to make this happen- and says the following to her:

""If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. ²⁰ But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have defiled yourself by sleeping with a man other than your husband... may the LORD cause your people to curse and denounce you when he causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell.²² May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away."

I'm not sure what the oath was for, since the woman isn't asked any questions regarding her guilt or innocence. She is supposed to say "Amen. So be it."

The priest writes the curse down and washes the words off into the bitter water and gives it to the woman to drink. So the curse literally enters the woman's body. Then the priest burns the grain offering and the woman drinks the holy water that he was holding.

The result will be a wasting thigh, which sounds a little like leprosy to me- and the inability to have children. If she bears a child, she is innocent and cleared of all charges.

This seems like it's all set-up for problems. What if a woman was already unable to bear children- is she then to pay the penalty for adultery? What if the husband shoots blanks? Maybe God wouldn't allow this scenario to take place.

What about a man who refrains from sex with his wife because he assumes she has been sleeping around and he's still hurt over the whole thing? Seems like that might prevent the birth of a child, too.

Sadly interesting that there is no scenario to punish a man who falsely accuses his wife. It seems like if she is found innocent the scene is more like "oops, my bad."

There's also not much room here for grace. We aren't told about a woman's ability to plead her case. What about rape? Or just a mistake? Can there be no reconciliation?

And why wouldn't a guilty woman just confess instead of going through this process? Just to buy her a little more time before she's found guilty? Does she think maybe there's a way out in the meantime? Maybe she doubts God's power to make the curse work?

This passage seems to illustrate God's hand in the administering of justice. If nothing else, it shows that God's not too fond of adultery. And while it seems like God is making sure justice occurs- I'd much rather have grace.

2010-06-27T08:24:00.002-04:00

The Impossible Dream

Numbers 5:5-10

God tells Moses that when someone wrongs someone else in any way, that person is guilty and must confess his sin. He must make financial atonement for the sin adding one-fifth of the value to make up for it. If the wronged person has no close relative (I guess assuming the innocent party has died) the restitution belongs to God and goes to the priest- with the addition of a ram used for atonement. He ends with "Each man's sacred gifts are his own, but what he gives to a priest will belong to the priest." I'm not sure what to make of the distinction.

This is an issue that ties me in knots over and over. There are so many elements that make this hard to deal with.

First, you have to be aware of the sins committed. If they unknowingly wronged someone, were they condemned simply because they didn't realize their actions? Or is this part of the command more about a refusal to humble self and bend will? I realize I've sinned, but I won't admit it.

Second, every wrong demands restitution. So does that mean if I tell you a story and exaggerate a detail, suddenly now I owe you money and must confess my sin? What financial value gets placed on non-financial sins? Does every sin demand restitution?

Third, what about sins that happened so long ago, the details are fuzzy. I have so many of these memories and they eat me up. Am I supposed to look up people from my past and let them know sketchy details of how I wronged them a decade ago? Do their puzzled looks and awkward responses somehow make something better? Is this really what God wants?

Fourth, who is the confession made to? When he says every sin is confessed, does that mean confessed to God? To the person you sinned against? To another person who can pray for you? To a priest?

Fifth, are there times when confession can make things worse? If a person doesn't realize a wrong, can an apology hurt someone's feelings or hurt a relationship? If I apologize for harsh comments when a person thought I was joking, has my confession caused more harm?

Sixth, when does it end? For every ancient, inconsequential wrong I can dig up and try to apologize for, I can think up two more. Is this to be my life's work?

But the two most important questions in my mind:

One, is this what God wanted? It kind of seems like He's talking about confessing to the actual person wronged- except that he talks about the no-close relative clause. Certainly in those instances such confession was impossible. Was it even desired?

Two, is this what God wants for us? Is the principle more, as I sin, be aware of who I've hurt and when possible and beneficial, confess to them? Always confess to God, but not in a legalistic if I don't remember every one I'm going to Hell kind of way.

I once had a conversation with a friend about trying to go back and amend for a complicated wrong from years ago. It would have involved hunting down someone I had only met a few times who lived in a different state. His comment was "that's what Jesus is for"(Or something like that).

And hopefully that's the key. We have Jesus' blood to cover us. I don't need to live in constant dread because I have a handful of wrongs I can think of that I've never made amends for.

And if that's not the case, it's gonna be a long road. I better look up my college friend who I haven't spoken to in a decade and let him know that I lied about why I wanted to borrow his car.

Long road, indeed.

2010-06-24T21:56:00.002-04:00

Dishonorable Discharge
Numbers 5:1-4

God tells Moses to oust people who make the camp unclean. These include people we talked about before: contagious skin desease carriers, anyone who has a "discharge" of any kind, or anyone made unclean by contact with a dead body. Much of this was covered back in Leviticus 13.

This may qualify as one of the world's worst jobs. "Excuse me, I'm checking for skin diseases...any discharges I should know about?"

Two things of note here- God isolates them. He gives them a little direction for re-purification procedures back in Leviticus 21- but at least for now- they're not to be physically part of the camp. God apparently treats the camp as holy, and imperfections have no place.

However, this next phrase says a lot. He wants them out of the camp- beyond defiling range "where I will be with them." He doesn't desert them. He's there on the journey back to purification.

When we're in that state- he does no less. When I mess up (over and over...and over), I'm still His child, He's still my Dad. I'm not banished from His presence. He takes us as we are and loves us in every state we're in.

Festering sores and all.

2010-06-20T17:29:00.002-04:00

Feel Like a Number

Numbers 4: 34-49

This section is low on plot and interesting insight. Basically- Moses and Aaron follow through with the census commanded earlier. Before you keel over in anticipation- here are the results.

They only counted men between 30-50 years of age- working age for whatever their clan was assigned to.

2,750 Kohathites

2,630 Gershonites

3,200 Merarites

8,580 total. You can check it with your calculator.

Once again- it could have just worked out that way- but fairly round numbers for all three- especially for the Merarites. I don't know if these numbers are approximations or handled by the anal retentive. I'm not sure what difference it makes.

I'm also not sure what to take from this section. Maybe the idea that while at times we are significant individually in the work we do- sometimes what matters more is that we become part of a group larger than ourselves and pursue God's work.

Or maybe just that Numbers is boring.

2010-06-12T12:40:00.002-04:00

See Previous Post

Numbers 4:29-33

This section seems to be a slight variation on the last one. The names have been changed to protect the boring.

Another census- this time to see how many Merarites there are frame-carrying age. Ithamar continues his power trip assigning the specific tasks. No Blazzar! I said you carry the northwest corner tent pegs! C'mon...listen!

The Merarites are in charge of lugging frames, posts, bases and the like.

It strikes how arbitrary this all is. Hmm, now the Merarites seem naturally inclined to be post people... keep them away from the curtains. You know how they are around curtains.

This is not assignment based on skill, or likely even on merit. This is an organizational attmept to make sure everything gets done. Because of my fabric expertise, I might be more inclined to cover the table, but since I'm a Merarite, I'm not put in that position, even though I know in my heart I could serve better there. Carrying crossbars is my lot.

In the same way that arbitrary things like your family name, notoriety, or economic status open doors for some, they close them for others. This isn't saying life should work this way- it just does. If I'm a Merarite, I can dream all day of being a Gershonite- but I'm still carrying posts.

I'm not suggesting that a person can't break through unfair circumstances- but maybe understanding that sometimes my position has nothing to do with who I am, but instead criteria beyond my control can help me deal with the situation I'm in. Post carrying isn't always a punishment. If I don't view it as such, maybe I can better deal with my self-worth whether I like my job or not.

2010-06-11T14:07:00.002-04:00

Carry On My Gershonite Son

Numbers 4: 21-28

Short section about the group assigned the duty of lugging stuff related to: "the care of the tabernacle and tent, its coverings, the curtain at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, 3:²⁶ the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and altar, and the ropes—and everything related to their use."

And that's really all there is to it. Aaron's son Ithamar (who sounds like he had lisping parents) was in charge of assigning them specific tasks. They lugged around curtains and sea-cow hide. This was their sacred assignment.

It would be easy to feel a little less than important if your task for God was simply carrying around curtains- like you were nothing more than the flunky for a spiritual interior designer.

Maybe what we can learn from the Gershonites (besides the benefit of taking claim of the legal right of name changing) is to be content with your "calling." I'm not really comfortable with that word, though I hear it used often enough. But simply put, whatever position you find yourself in regarding service to God, be it with or without status or prestige- find the value. The guy that mows the lawn at the church building is important (and not likely to be me). The person who volunteers childcare, the person who shows kindness to neighbors, the political activist speaking for the voiceless, the international missionary, the mother teaching her child to read, the guy making dinner for a family going through hard times, the guy carrying the curtain... are all important. Whatever you figure out to do... find the value in it- and own it.

Carry the curtain, wayward son. There'll be peace when you are done.

2010-06-11T11:08:00.002-04:00

Got it Covered

Numbers 4: 1-20

So as we learned way back in Numbers 3, the Kohathites were in charge of "the care of the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used in ministering, the curtain, and everything related to their use."

Moses is to take a second census- this time to see how many Kohathite males are between 30-50 years old who are able to serve in this capacity. I'm not sure what makes these ages magic- maybe they wanted to make sure the workers were old enough to take it seriously and young enough to not be as apt to drop something. Because when you hit 50...

So, Aaron and his sons are to cover everything- the ark with the shielding curtain, hides of sea-cows, and blue cloth; the table of presence with a blue cloth, then the plates, cups, etc., then a scarlet cloth and then sea-cow hides; lampstands and accessories get covered with blue cloth and then wrapped in sea-cow hides; gold altar gets the blue cloth, sea-cow hide treatment as do the ministering articles. The Bronze altar gets its ashes removed and a purple cloth placed over it- then its utensils get placed on it and its covered with the sea-cow hide. All poles are also put in place.

They must have had quite a collection of sea-cow hide.

Once Aaron and Aaron-spawn finish this task, the Kohathites do the lugging. That's right boys, you were chosen- but chosen for grunt work. Congratulations. The covering must be thorough- if the Kohathites touch anything directly, they will die. In fact, it says at the end of this section that if they even look at the holy things, even for a moment, they will die.

Aaron's son, Eleazar, is put in charge of the tabernacle and of everything in it- things like oil and certain offerings are singled out.

God tells them to make sure that the Kohathites aren't cut off from the other Levites. This is a little puzzling- what about this work would cut them off? It seems to have something to do with the sacredness of the work, because He follows up with precautions about contact with the holy items. Aaron's sons are to assign who carries what and the Kohathites carefully carry with their eyes closed and their breath held... just in case. Oh maybe not, eyes closed might heighten the chance of messing up.

This is all a little odd to me. Why all the ceremony surrounding these items. I guess that paying this much respect to them kept them and the ceremony surrounding them fresh and special. It would be hard to sleepwalk through service if you knew it might mean death- although I would suspect that at some point it would reach a monotonous state anyhow.

The emphasis seems to be- these things are holy... you are not- so keep away from them. This seems a bit demeaning- it would be easy to get a complex, feeling like you weren't even good enough to be in the presence of God's dishes- but maybe the reaction should be the opposite- even though you're full of sin- even though you rarely get it right- even though you aren't holy... I love you anyway- you are still My children.

2010-05-29T08:43:00.002-04:00

Levites 501, 502...

Numbers 3

A little family time with Aaron and Moses.

Moses gives us a brief recap of Nadab and Abihu... those "strange fire" guys- you can read our original discussion of it here:http://chiphall.blogspot.com/2009/09/strange-fire-leviticus-10-day-one-of.html

As a result of these firemen's escapade, Aaron was left with two sons to serve as priests. Nadab and Abihu were childless, so Aaron's line continues completely through Eleazar and Ithamar.

God tells Moses to "bring" the Levites to Aaron- they are his to aid in tabernacle duties- including furnishing the Tent of Meeting. Only Aaron and his sons can approach the sanctuary- anyone else who does is to be put to death. I assume this would allow for sanctuary duties for male offspring of Eleazar and Ithamar, but it's pretty ambiguous.

God takes claim to the Levites. He says that since He struck down the Egyptian firstborn, all firstborn in Israel, man and animal are His. He's claiming the Levites instead of the Israelite firstborn.

So, apparently to make sure that He claimed the right number of them, he institutes a Levitical census. And then the structure of the tribe is laid out. The opposite of fascinating.

Levi had three boys, so there are three groups in the tribe which each have separate clans. It's like reading taxonomy in biology class.

Gershon had the Libnites and Shimeites- 7500 males. They were to camp west of the tabernacle. Eliasaph was in charge. They were "responsible for the care of the tabernacle and tent, its coverings, the curtain at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, ²⁶ the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and altar, and the ropes—and everything related to their use."

Kohath got the Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites and Uzzielites- 8600 males. Elizaphan was in charge. They took care of the sanctuary and camped south of the tabernacle. They were "responsible for the care of the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used in ministering, the curtain, and everything related to their use."

Finally, Merari got the Mahlites and the Mushites- 6200 males. Zuriel was in charge. They camped north of the tabernacle. They were "appointed to take care of the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts, bases, all its equipment, and everything related to their use, ³⁷ as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs and ropes."

Moses, Aaron and their children camped to the east. They took care of the sanctuary.

So every male a month or older totaled 22,000. So to make sure He claimed enough of them, He had Moses count the firstborn Israelite males a month or older. When Moses did, he got 22,273. So God told them to take up a collection to make up for the 273 firstborn not accounted for- five shekels per extra firstborn.

So Moses did, and as commanded, the money went to Aaron and his sons.

What's weird to me about this passage is that the Levite numbers seem to be rounded off. It would be weird if all three tribes had round numbers of males. This rounding wouldn't be odd if they weren't being compared to Israelite firstborn whose numbers obviously weren't being rounded off.

Maybe it was just a weird coincidence and those numbers are exact. Maybe the individual clan numbers are rounded- but when you add the actual numbers, they come out to the round total. Maybe Moses realized after the Levite count that an exact sum was needed, and paranoid about ripping off God, he gave the exact numbers of firstborn Israelites.

Whatever the reason, God seemed to be ok with it all.

2010-05-19T16:28:00.002-04:00

Rand McMoses

Numbers 2

Lots of recapping from last chapter. As exciting as it was the first time, it was even less so this time.

What's added here is the blueprint of camping for the tribes. East part of the camp is for Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. They set out first.

On the south is Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. They're second.

On the west, Manasseh, Benjamin, and Ephraim. They go third.

On the north, Dan, Asher and Naphtali. They go fourth.

In the middle is the Tent of Meeting and all of the Levites.

The chapter also points out who is in charge of each tribe. I'll spare you that list.

That's it. Chapter two is action packed!

I am curious, though, as to the mindset behind who went where. Was it an attempt to balance the population? Looking at the numbers, they're kind of balanced- although the western flank has fewer people.

Did God try to group people who would get along? Joesph and Benjamin's offspring are together, so that could be part of it.

I wonder what the reaction was. It feels kind of like preparation to me. After all the talk of soldiering in chapter one, I would wonder, were I an Israelite youth, if this structure was war preparation.

Or maybe it's just like assigned seats the first day of school.

Either way, it's not too exciting.

2010-05-15T14:05:00.002-04:00

The Bible for Obsessive Compulsives

Numbers 1

Buckle in folks, Numbers may be a bumpy ride. If you are fascinated by counting, if you're a bit OCD, or if you don't have an affinity for dramatic build- this might be the book for you.

So- On February 1st on the second year of Egyptian freedom (or the equivalent based on our calendar), God tells Moses that it's census time. There's a master list to be created of every man categorized by clans and families. Surprise, surprise- they apparently didn't count the women.

It seems the main motivation may be to count the number of men fightin' age. Anyone twenty or older who could serve in the army is to be counted.

Someone from each tribe is assigned to help with the counting of that tribe- each appointed man is the head of his family. Apparently, even then, the gender stereotype was that boys were better at math.

I bet you can't wait for the results. Here they are:

From Reuben: 46,500

From Simeon: 59,300

From Gad: 45,650

From Judah: 74,600

From Issachar: 54,400

From Zebulon: 57,400

From Ephraim: 40,500

From Mannasseh: 32,200

That's 72,700 from Joseph for all of you math nerds.

From Benjamin: 35,400

From Dan: 62,700

From Asher, 41,500

From Naphtali: 53,400

So- the total of men to serve... 603,550. And I checked the math. Gold star, Moses. It works out. Care to look at my checkbook?

Levi wasn't counted. They were exempt from army service. Instead they were to be in charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony. They dealt with set up, carrying, etc. Any contact with the tabernacle was through them. If anyone else went near, it would mean a death sentence.

The Israelites were to set up camp by divisions- each man in his own camp. I assume this means tribes, though I suppose it could be military divisions. Levites weren't part of this- they set up camp around the tabernacle.

A few random observations:

Benjamin's tribe wasn't too prolific. Perhaps mostly female offspring? Was he so much younger than the rest that his offspring would have had less time to procreate? However, using this logic it would seem like Reuben would have many more. Maybe Benjamin himself had fewer children which made the tree branch more slowly.

Interesting that the priests were cleared of military service. Is this a statement about a contrast between holiness and combat? Is it a bestowing of honor to a special tribe? Is it all about Jesus coming from that tribe (and what implications exist as a result of that?)?

The census seems to be a military decision. Is there a reason that God wasn't interested in knowing how big his non-fighting squadron (women, children, aged men, Levites) was?

Why did God need a count to be made- if he knows how many hairs are on my head (a less challenging calculation daily) why didn't he know how many Israelite men there were?

Was this simply an exercise to show the Israelites how powerful they were- and by counting themselves they'd be more impressed by it?

Was it simply a test of obedience?

Something doesn't add up.

Oh, let the math puns begin.

2010-05-10T21:30:00.002-04:00

Accounting for Israelite Finance

Leviticus 27

The book of Leviticus ends just as interestingly as it began (not very). Here we get the low-down on tithing- and it's no joke. They don't really do IOU's- or approximate, or round down- if they don't have the cash, God still gets what's His.

First, apparently they could vow on behalf of people. It's a bit vague, but the best I can tell, if they didn't have the money for their tithe, they could pledge people to God; maybe slaves, family members, unruly children. I'm not sure how your life changes if you've been pledged to God by someone else, but the chapter spells out the monetary values of these pledges. The best rate comes for a 20-60 year old male- you get much less for a one month- five year old female.

I'm not sure if it's more troubling that people could be pledged by someone else, or that there's a sliding scale based on your age and gender. If the person paying for the vow can't make the payment, they can present the person and work out a price with the priest. This is really confusing to me- I'm not sure what purpose the money and the vowed people serve- but I think I'm pretty glad to not be dealing with it on a regular basis.

If the vow is paid for with an animal, it becomes holy. Once it's submitted, it's submitted- you can't switch out a good one for a bad one or a bad one for a good one. If you try to, both animals become holy. If the animal is an unclean animal- it's presented to the priest to work out a fair price. Whatever the priest determines, is the price. If you want to buy it back, add 20%.

Same deal with your house. If you dedicate it, the priest sets the value. If you want to buy it back, add 20%.

If you dedicate land, the value is determined by how many seeds it takes to plant the land. The price will also vary depending on how close to Jubilee it is. The land can be bought back for 20% beyond what was credited. If the field is not redeemed or is sold, it can never redeemed- at Jubilee, it becomes the property of the priests. If the land was not from the seller's family, at Jubilee it returns to the original family.

Firstborn cannot be offered (Hooray for firstborns), because the LORD already owns them.

Now it seems there is another level of dedication- a "devotion" of something to God. Anything devoted cannot ever be redeemed. If a person is "devoted", they cannot be ransomed, they are to be put to death.

Everything is tithed. No keeping the best. One tenth of everything goes to God.

This is a pretty hard core system. I tend to be much looser with what I "devote" to God. I don't often think of it in percentages, and when I do, I think about post tax, in my wallet, after the insurance came out and I've already gotten a couple of Route 44 diet vanilla cokes at Sonic. This system doesn't really allow for such approximation. One tenth of the vanilla syrup isn't mine.

All frivolity aside (or at least most, all is awfully hard with me), this idea of tithing, or dedicating in our context is fuzzy at best. What constitutes a gift to God? Is it strictly what goes into a collection plate, or is the five bucks you give the homeless man part of the math problem? How about the big tip you leave at a restaurant, the money you send to help with the latest natural disaster?

I certainly don't have all the answers, but I do like to think of our context being much less about the legalistic ten percent dogmatism, and more about having a giving spirit. However, it may all just be wishful thinking.

I don't think what I spend at Itunes goes toward it, unfortunately.

2010-04-04T16:48:00.002-04:00

Expecting Pain

Leviticus 26: 14-46

Lots of brimstone here.

So after telling his people the goodness in store for them if they obey God's commands, He let's them know what's in store if they don't follow His commands. No time-out chair is involved.

These punishments come in stages:

Stage One: Sudden terror, wasting diseases, and blinding fever. Farming will be unproductive because enemies will eat their food. Enemies will prevail- in fact they'll be paranoid enough to run even when no one is after them.

Stage Two: Throughout God speaks of punishment for sins seven times over- I'm not sure if each stage is another x7, but the point is- you thought things were bad... but just wait. God will break down their pride. The sky will be like iron (I'm not sure what that means- maybe just a barrier between God and man?), and the ground like bronze- not such a good environment for growing crops. Crops won't grow- trees won't grow fruit.

Stage Three: Wild animals will steal their children, and destroy their cattle. Animals will devour enough of them to make the roads deserted.

Stage Four: God will bring the sword upon them (maybe just a metaphor to express death?). Even when they withdraw into the cities, a plague will follow them. Enemies triumph and capture. And then this puzzling curse-

"When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied."

I guess it means that there will be so little bread that they can all cook it at once in one oven. They'll have to ration it- skinniest person gets the most since he's the closest to wasting away. Even so- you'll still be hungry.

But wait, there's more:

Stage Five: They will resort to cannibalism and eat their sons and daughters. mmm, undernourished offspring. High places will be destroyed, incense altars cut down, dead bodies piled on idols- He will abhor them.

Cities will be in ruins, sanctuaries laid waste. Offerings will not smell good to Him. Israelites will be scattered among the nations and God will pursue them.

While it's hard for me to come to peace with the harshness of the message, it becomes even more complicated when you consider all God has to lose in the deal. These are His people, His children, if He's willing to essentially destroy them, then what purpose does His creation serve? Would He have started over? Would he have grabbed Moses and Aaron and their families and let them repopulate the earth? Would he have washed His hands of us? Would it have caused Jesus to come sooner than He did?

Interestingly, if this comes about- the land will then get its sabbath. It'll be desolate and resting. So even if they neglect the commanded land sabbath, the land will get some rest one way or another. Seems like God is showing concern for the other parts of His creation here too. If you won't care for My land... I'll still see that it's cared for.

People who are left at this point in their enemy's lands will be scared enough by the sound of a blowing leaf to start running. Even if no one is chasing them, they'll be running. While they're running away, they'll trip over each other like the Keystone Cops, but less funny. The enemies lands will devour them- for their sin and their father's sins.

Dying for the sins of their fathers is a pretty hard idea to fathom- but their own sins are part of the equation here, too, so it's hard to argue injustice.

It's easy though to argue harshness. It's scary to think of Abba Father (or Dad) as being a Being willing to threaten severe torture, pain, death, and worst of all hatred. One thing is certain, our God is an emotional being. Our actions matter to Him. He wants our love and obedience and feels rejection in a very personal way. But He's also a God of mercy, love and compassion-

He ends by saying if they'll confess their sins and their father's sins- once they're humbled (or rather once their "uncircumcised hearts" are) and they've paid for their sin (how?), God will remember the covenant with Isaac and Abraham. Even while they're in their enemy's lands paying for their sins, He will remember the covenant.

This must have been a fun message for Moses to report back to the Israelites. It seems like it would have caused them to walk on eggshells and constantly feel paranoid that God's wrath could strike at any time.

Even under our covenant, it's hard for me to come to peace with this God- and the God that Jesus calls Father. I know it's the same Entity- and that Jesus Himself makes a big difference in it all. But even as I type this on Easter day- understanding that Jesus makes the difference, I fear the God who threatens to devour the ones he loves. In the face of such a daunting punishment, it's hard to not respond with legalistic attempts to do everything right and ultimately end the process having failed- discovering it's impossible to get it all right.

It's a good thing the tomb was empty.

2010-04-03T17:39:00.002-04:00

Expecting Rain

Leviticus 26:1-13

God forbids idols, images, sacred stones, or carved stones for bowing down to. He commands Sabbath observances and reverence for the sanctuaries.

So in a world overrun with television, photo albums, facebook, and trinkets (and that's just in my house) what qualifies as an idol? Is the literal worshiping of it the key- or were sculptors of the day not admired for their talent? And what does it all mean for us?

He goes on to tell them what's in it for them if they comply.

1. Rain. Lots of it. Enough to keep the crops coming. They'll have all the food they want. He says they'll still be eating last year's harvest when they have to move it out to make room for this year's. Grapes are specifically mentioned, so perhaps they'll not be thirsty either.

2. Safety. Lots of it. God will give them peace in the land. They won't need to be afraid when they sleep. If they have enemies, the enemies will not be victorious. Five Israelites are enough to match up with 100 of the enemy. 100 could chase off 10,000.

3. Virility. They'll be fruitful-and God will keep His covenant with them.

4. His love. God's dwelling place will be among them. He will walk among them. And in a huge case of understatement- or perhaps an issue in translation... He won't abhor them.

This last bit is kinda scary. Obey me and I won't hate you. This is a bit different than the "God is love" description we get later on. However, pre-Jesus, this God of fear and trembling paints a quite imposing picture.

And on the eve of Easter, perhaps it really illustrates what our fate would be before our maker were it not for our Savior putting our shortcomings on his shoulders.

2010-03-28T15:14:00.002-04:00

Own to Rent

Leviticus 25: 8-55

So this Sabbath year bit continues for seven sets of seven years (49 years for those of you arithmetically challenged). Year 50 is the Jubilee. Seems like it's an extra Sabbath year- so they get two years back to back. No work for two years in a row. So on July 10th (on our calendar) a trumpet blows- this is the Day of Atonement. No sowing no reaping.

In addition, on this 50th year, anyone who has sold property goes back to where they used to live. They reclaim their house keys and put the couch back in the living room. No matter when you sold it, it reverts back to you. God tells them- you don't really own it- so you can't permanently sell it. You can let someone use it for awhile- but when Jubilee comes, it goes back to the original "owners".

He also warns about price gouging. Your price should reflect how close it is to jubilee when you sell the property. Year one sales should be much higher than year 47. Actually this price gouging is only mentioned in reference to buying from and selling to fellow Israelites. If you're selling to a foreigner... than buyer beware.

In regards to food for that 50th year, God says there will be major abundance in year 48. In fact so much that three years worth of food will be produced. There will be enough to eat until the harvest of year 51 comes in.

If someone is hurting financially and sells their property in order to make ends meet- his nearest relative should come buy it back. If he doesn't have any relatives, but wins at the track, invests well, or somehow comes into money- he can go and get the land back. He is to evaluate the worth of the land and pay the difference to the person he sold it to. If he can't do that- he gets it back at Jubilee anyhow.

Rules are different in a walled city. If you sell property, you get a year to come back and reclaim it. After that, the buyer keeps it. It does not go back to the original buyer at Jubilee.

Levites can always get their property back (this process in all of these contexts is referred to as redeeming). The town's pasture land, though, cannot be sold.

If a fellow citizen hits hard times- you are supposed to help him. No interest charged- no profiting on food you sell to him. If he sells himself to you, treat him like an employee, not as a slave. The motivation here seems to be that you do everything you can to help him be able to keep living among the Israelites.

If he's sold himself to you- he is released on the year of Jubilee- and he goes home. All is returned to as it was.

If you get slaves, they should come from surrounding areas. They can also come from temporary residents. They can be willed as property and are slaves for life. I wish I could just pretend this little section didn't exist here, but it does. Troubling, indeed. I get that God's people here are chosen by race and that this set-up changes with the coming of Jesus. But even under that context, the idea of it being okay to have slaves that are outside of "God's fold" doesn't seem to fit with ideas of love and humility.

If you sell yourself as a slave to a foreigner- you can be "redeemed" by your relative at anytime- once again figuring out the price based on when Jubilee is. If that doesn't happen, you are free at Jubilee time.

This year of Jubilee thing is amazing. No matter what mess you've made of things over the last few decades- if you can just hang on till Jubilee- you get to start over. You're free! You get your land back! You go home!

And maybe just the promise of it all- the knowledge that you just have to hang on until year 50 would be enough to help them hang on- help them deal with whatever tight spot they found themselves in.

I think you see where I'm going with this.

Hmm- feels a little like Jubilee around here. This redemption stuff really works.

2010-03-25T10:40:00.002-04:00

Random Harvest
Leviticus 25: 1-7

So in addition to the other sabbaths set up to observe- there is also a sabbath for the land. Odd. For six years, they were to sow, prune, and gather. On year seven, not so much. On this seventh year there is to be no sowing, no reaping, no pruning, no harvesting. Whatever the land happens to produce is fair game to be eaten- but it's not business as usual for that year.

This certainly makes the job of farmer a lot more appealing. Every six years you get a year off. Sweet. No early mornings, no back breaking weeding, oops- no spinach grew, guess I'll have to have some more twinkees instead.

It certainly makes reliance on God much more necessary. If I give up complete control of food production, and perhaps my livelihood (the year off wasn't a paid year off I would assume) and I totally depend on God to provide for me, how does that change my perspective of my relationship with Him- and how does it change my appreciation for His gifts?

In our day and age, what does that look like? How does we give the land a sabbath? I'm the opposite of a farmer (although I'm a pretty good consumer)- is it good for the land to get a year off? Is the world of agriculture improved by not overproducing food that doesn't get eaten? Is God telling us that as great as His creation is, we need to treat it with moderation?

Or is this more about our need to depend on Him? But how does that work in our context? Quit your jobs for a year? No grocery shopping for a year? No vegetables for a year? I'm leaning toward that one. Maybe our culture has become so complex and busy that stopping anything for a year would make our whole way of life crumble. And maybe that's the point.

2010-03-24T17:21:00.002-04:00

Everybody Must Get Stoned
Leviticus 24: 10-23

Wow- an interesting yet quite troubling story. So you've got this Egyptian and Israelite who get into a fight. And apparently in the midst of it all, the Israelite emits a curse against God (blasphemed the Name with a curse). The needle drags across the record, the jukebox is quiet, all conversation stops- everyone knows something bad has just happened. So they get this guy in custody until God's will becomes clear to them. At this point, the story sounds pretty good- people of God waiting for a sign of what to do to this person who cursed.

Then the answer comes- Take him out of camp and stone him. Everyone who heard it puts their hand on his head (to hold him down?) and the whole assembly is to stone him to death. God tells Moses anyone who curses God is responsible and all who blaspheme the name of the LORD will be put to death. I think we've found a solution to our overpopualtion problems. As if the death itself weren't gruesome enough, the entire assembly does the stoning. So I hear the curse and now I'm legally obligated to be involved in physically killing someone. That'll ruin your day.

Interesting that after commanding taking part in putting someone to death for blasphemy, the next section talks about the death penalty for whoever takes the life of a human being. Doesn't that create an endless cycle? Kill John, he blasphemed. Kill Peter, he killed John... etc. Is this why the whole assembly is doing the stoning? We don't know which rock actually killed him so we don't know who actually did it... It seems like this could create a society of snitches looking for an excuse to throw a rock or two.

Killing an animal results in restitution. If you injure your neighbor- same thing happens is done to you. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. I know Gandhi's famous line, but I like a tooth for a tooth and we're all gumming applesauce. Notice that there's no mention of intent here. Sorry I ran over your mailbox... go ahead and back your car into mine. It's like a sort of mandated karma- except even that involves intent.

In both instances, the alien receives the same punishment as the native born.

So they take the blasphemer out and stone him.

This is troubling to me on two fronts. First... stoning? Killing someone for cursing? What does that entail exactly? Just saying "God" or "Yahweh"? Does the curse translate? I rarely say "Yahweh" at all, so am I safe on the name in vain front? Especially since "god" and "lord" are English words in different contexts, does that suggest that these English words don't qualify here? Regardless- seems a bit steep. And if we lived by this, how many of us would still be alive? The concept of God's people being violently engaged in frontier justice is hard for me to swallow. Maybe God was a little more blatantly involved in the prosecution process- but it seems like it would be a pretty easy thing to manipulate ala "The Crucible".

Second, maybe it's bad that hearing God's name as a curse doesn't put the sort of anger or rage in me that it seemed to in their context. Honestly, hearing God's name in vain does get under my skin (OMG, GD, etc.- you get the idea)- but certainly not to the point where I feel compelled to become a vigilante. I think it's important to point out that this "cursing" here is related to God's name exclusively and not cuss-words which seem to me to be highly cultural in both their existence and usage.

I'm not suggesting I should be wishing people dead whenever I hear God's name cursed, but maybe it should bother me more. Maybe it suggests a lack of sanctity for things holy- maybe it suggests a numbing of conscience, maybe it suggests yet another example of conflict avoidance in my life- but I don't have any desire to stone people to death for such usage any more than I wish to lay down on an altar for my slips.

This passage certainly paints a contrast between God's wrath and God's grace. Not quite the go your way and sin no more mentality I cling to in the NT. But in the midst of it all, maybe there's a lesson about the need for discipline in our attitude to God- if misusing His name resulted in death, maybe I should treat it holy too.

2010-03-14T17:07:00.002-04:00

Eternal Flame

Leviticus 24: 1-9

Nine verses, but not a lot of content. The Israelites are commanded to bring another couple of things.

First, olive oil- to be used as fuel for the lamps on the pure gold lamp stand in the tent of meeting outside of the curtain of testimony. These lamps are to be always lit from evening to morning. Aaron is in charge of making sure they stay that way. I'm not sure why they need to be constantly lit. The most obvious metaphor that comes to mind deals with letting your light shine before men- but maybe this is more like an open sign- an indication to the Israelites that there isn't a time that they can't come before Aaron (or God) with their testimony- or prayer- or whatever. Maybe God is saying, Look- Aaron's going to be up keeping the lamp lit anyhow- don't worry about bugging him- you are always welcome here.

Second, bread. Lots of bread. Twelve loaves each Sabbath (total, not per person) to be put on the golden table. This is part of Aaron's family's share- though they are to eat it in a holy place. There is also supposed to be incense placed on the table to represent the bread. The bread apparently gets eaten, the incense offered to God.

Open all night- dispersion of bread- seems like an Isreali Krystal. That's some pretty serious clashing of cultures.

2010-03-12T11:49:00.003-05:00

Table or Booth?

Leviticus 23: 33-44

Five days later the festivities continue. Apparently coinciding with the end of harvesting, this marks the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles, one week in length. Day one... you guessed it, a day of rest- no regular work. They were supposed to pick fruit and rejoice. The day following the celebration (day eight for those of you doing the math) is also a day of rest. Day eight consists of a sacred assembly and fire offerings, no mention of fruit consumption. It is referred to as the closing assembly.

All the days in between consist of fire offerings to the LORD as well. Being an Israelite would be a pyromaniac's dream. This festival is to be a lasting ordinance- for generations to come.

Finally they are admonished to live in booths for these seven days. I have no idea what this means. Are they hanging out at Wendy's? What would these booths be? Whatever they are, God wanted future generations to know that He had the Israelites live in booths after coming out of Israel.

I'm sure these booths are significant in some way. But I haven't a clue how.

2010-03-12T09:36:00.004-05:00

Atone Deaf

Leviticus 23: 26-32

Nine days later there is to be another day of resting- this time a day of atonement. Atonement is really a difficult concept for me to get my mind around. Making amends- or fixing your wrongs. Even in this legalistic context, the Israelites were unable to undo the terrible things they had done- and with all of the specific regulations, there was surely a great need for atonement in every home.

God's arrangement here is a fire offering, fasting, and rest- This is the same prescription as the feast of trumpets- but hanging over this day is the need to be reconnected to God.

Atonement is a word, if not a concept that isn't too common in our culture. Atonement doesn't seem to be the same thing as forgiveness. It implies a making up for wrongs- unless I'm misunderstanding. So, if I get the implication here- and much later with Jesus' gift - the sacrifice is more than forgiving us for messing up countless times- it's rectifying it for us- it's making up for it-

Maybe this is minutia- maybe it's all in my head- maybe I'm saying the same thing in multiple ways- but it all speaks to the enormity of Christ's gift to us. No fire offering, no fasting, no day off, necessarily- but a system where he covers our lacking- he not only forgives, but in a cosmic, spiritual sense- he undoes. The wrong is gone- made up for- erased- over.

2010-02-17T10:45:00.002-05:00

Satchmo the Israelite

Leviticus 23: 23-25

Incredibly short section. God tells the Israelites that on the first day of the seventh month there is to be a sacred assembly - a day of rest, trumpet blasts will mark the occasion. And since July 1st is my anniversary, it's especially cool.

A fire offering is also to be made.

I love the idea that a day of rest is commemorated with a trumpet blast. Give me a Saturday and some Louis Armstrong on my ipod. The fire offering, I'm not so sure about.

2010-02-11T10:31:00.003-05:00

Offerama

Leviticus 23: 15-22

So, seven weeks and one day later (or 50 days for those of you arithemetically challenged) they were to bring a new grain offering. This offering was two loaves made with about four quarts of fine flour- actually baked with yeast. This was to come with seven one-year-old, defect-free, male lambs, one young bull and two rams. Somehow this combination of items would comprise a burnt offering, a grain offering, and a drink offering- not sure what they'd be drinking.

They were then to sacrifice one male goat and two one-year-old lambs as a fellowship, or peace offering. The priest (who is obviously in good shape) will wave the lambs as a wave offering. There is to be a sacred assembly proclaimed on this day- and no work is to be done.

Finally- they are instructed to not reap to the edges of their fields or go back and pick up what they missed- they're supposed to leave that for the alien and the poor. So I'm guessing it was ordinary to see strangers in your field getting food to tide them over. Far from the land of gated communities and welfare reform.

Maybe it's because I'm in the middle of Francis Chan's Crazy Love right now, but I'm really hit by the focus on giving back to God. In the last section I was struck by God getting the best and the first and us getting what was left over. But it seems like even more than that. How much would be left over? After all of these sacrifices, days off from work, and profits squandered to help the poor, what would be left?

Maybe some of the message isn't just give Me the best- but focus on giving to Me- you don't need to keep much for yourself. This life isn't about getting stuff- it's about Me, and focusing on what I've done and will do for you.

That's really hard to make tangible. What does it mean to let go and trust God? Empty my bank account? Sell my car? Open up my guest room to a stranger? Live on the street? Can I have a tv? An ipod? At what point am I being materialistic and selfish and not giving God and others what I could or should?

I can find tons of excuses (some of them valid) to not do specific things. If I sell my car, I can't get to work and then I become one of the poverty stricken in need of help..., etc. But I can't find excuses for the principle- you don't need stuff. Sacrifice and help the poor.

What's harder to determine is how.

2010-01-08T13:30:00.002-05:00

Temporary Atkins Diet
Leviticus 23: 9-14

Seems like a lot of ground we've covered before. When the first harvest happens, they are to bring a sheaf of the first grain harvested and give it to the priest. The priest will wave it as an offering the day after the Sabbath. On that same day, a one-year old lamb (without defect) gets sacrificed as well. At the same time a mixture of flour and oil gets offered- and supposedly it smells pretty good... "a pleasing aroma." And the offering extravagnza is topped off with a drink offering (a quart of wine).

Until this offering was made, they weren't to eat any bread or new or roasted grain. This was a permanent law- for generations to come, wherever they happened to live, promised land or not.

What strikes me here is the focus of sacrifice. They didn't just give a percentage- or even save out the best at the end- the offering came first and they got was left over. Not just the best, but also the first.

The application seems fairly obvious and hard to live up to. It's even hard to figure out what the best and first is. I think it's a far cry from dropping a check in a plate passed around where all of your church folks can witness and approve. It may have a lot more to do with how we treat each other, how we look out for each other, how we love each other. Maybe I'm missing the point a little, but in short, sacrifice seems to be all about love. You're more important than me- so let me make your life better by sharing- my money, my goods, my time- or perhaps most importantly (not that the others aren't crucial, too) my heart.

2009-12-02T20:37:00.002-05:00

Crack-er Houses
Leviticus 23: 4-8

Another short section detailing specifics of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. On day fourteen of the new year Passover begins at twilight. The next day marks the start of the Feast of Unleavened Bread- one week of matzo-city. On the first day they are to hold a "sacred assembly" and to refrain from working. For that week they are to present offerings by fire daily building up to day seven- another sacred assembly- another day off from working.

And so began the tradition of national holidays. Mandatory days off. I wouldn't want to do the work they had to do in between, but I like the idea of days with NO work. Sign me up.

2009-11-04T09:44:00.002-05:00

And I Thought Sleeping Through Sermons was a Bad Thing

Leviticus 23:3

Here's one of those odd one verse sections. Basically, God says work for six days- rest on the seventh, no matter where you live. He refers to the day as a day of sacred assembly- and that's the phrase I find particularly interesting. I guess not the phrase itself, but that it's found in this sabbath section. Not that we rest. Not that our assembling is sacred. But that these two ideas are interwoven.

Our worship should be a period of rejuvenation. We should feel rested as a result of the time we spend together praising. That's an interesting concept- and difficult- especially if you've been wrestling with three kids, taught a bible class, belted out some harmony, and fought off hunger pains.

It's not about punching a clock with your eye on your watch waiting to check your service off of a list- but instead looking forward to shared time as a respite from the rest of the week.

Challenging mindset... amazing payoff.

2009-11-02T11:31:00.002-05:00

Animal Testicles, Warts, Running Sores, and Other Dinner Conversation

Leviticus 22:17- 23:2

God tells Moses that any sacrifice- either to fulfill a vow or simply as a freewill offering must be an unblemished male from your cattle, sheep, or goats. Nothing blind, injured, or maimed, nothing with warts, or festering or running sores will be accepted. If it's a freewill offering you can bring an ox or sheep that is deformed- but only as a freewill offering- not if it's a vow fulfillment. I'm guessing this is since the freewill offering is above and beyond what was required.

God goes on to specify:

Don't offer an animal with bruised, crushed, torn, or cut testicles. They will not be accepted.

Don't offer an animal until it's eight days old. Keep it with it's mother for a week first. Don't slaughter a cow or sheep and it's young on the same day. This is an odd rule- is it to reduce trauma for the bovine clan? Maybe to reduce a rash decision regarding slaughtering for freewill offerings? I thought giving everything was a good choice- but maybe if i do it gradually I'll determine exactly what I want to offer. Perhaps, but seems a little fuzzy. I'm not sure about the why.

What's sacrificed must be eaten that day. Nothing is to be left until morning.

And to sum it all up, He says: Follow My commands, don't profane My name, The Israelites MUST acknowledge Me as holy. I make you holy- I brought you out of Egypt to be your God.

And this seems to be the key. I'm God- show me honor by giving Me the best and treating Me as holy. Remember what I've done for you? Give me what I deserve.

Finally He sets up the next section- description of feast days. Get ready for some rollicking discussion of unleavened bread.

2009-10-24T13:22:00.003-04:00

So Who Delivers the Eulogy?

Leviticus 21- 22:16

So God gives Moses a list of rules for Aaron and his spawn to follow as they take care of priestly duties. First off, they can't make themselves unclean out of mourning practices- unless they are mourning a relative. For mom, dad, son, daughter, brother, or unmarried sister, he's welcome to become ceremonially unclean- but NOT for an in-law. Interesting that wife doesn't make this list. It's kind of implied that this kind of mourning for a wife would be natural- since the reason he can mourn for his unmarried sister is because she has no husband- but the wife,for whatever reason, is omitted from the Master's master list.

No shaving of the head, no cutting of the edges of the beard, they'd fit right in at a ZZ Top concert. Every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed priest.

They also cannot cut their bodies. Sounds like a good rule of thumb, priest or not.

They can't marry former prostitutes or divorced women. This is to maintain their sanctity because they prepare God's food.

If a priest's daughter becomes a prostitute, she gets burned in the fire. I'm guessing it would be an amazing day for an Israelite community if they were able to abstain from killing a community or family member. Hooray- we all survived!

The high priest has even more restriction. He must keep his head covered. And he can't be in the presence of a dead body. He can't make himself unclean- even for a parent. He can't leave the sanctuary- or defile it. He has to marry a virgin- so no ex-prostitutes, no divorcees, no widows. This virgin must also be from his own people. This is so he doesn't defile his offspring among his people.

These Israelites were a tad ethnocentric. Let's keep those bloodlines pure. The major contextual difference between these folks and contemporary racists is the motivation. At this point the gospel is not for all. God's inclusive kingdom hasn't been established yet- and this physical kingdom was made of God's chosen people. If the Jewish folks hadn't kept this priestly family pure- I'm guessing it would complicate things when it came time to open the doors- it would be harder to establish a Jewish rejection of all things Jesus.

I get it. I see (at least in part) why things were this way. It's still awfully hard for me to swallow. How'd you like to be the young girl from the next village over with a pure heart, in love with a priest- but sorry- not Jewish.

Next up an equally troubling section. If a priest has any kid with a physical defect- blind, lame, disfigured, deformed, crippled hand or foot, hunchbacked, dwarfed, eye defect, festering sores, damaged testicles (nope, didn't make up any of those) then keep him away from God's food. He can still eat the priest's food- but don't let him near the altar or curtain.

So like this kid isn't going to have enough to deal with? Not only can you not play on the lacrosse team- not only are the kids gonna make up cruel names for you (anyone know a Hebrew word that rhymes with fester?), but even at home, you'll be treated as less than the rest of us. Keep that club foot out of the sanctuary.

Same thing for descendants who catch a skin diseases (like leprosy), has a bodily discharge, has touched something defiled by a corpse or someone who has had an emission of semen. They are to stay away from the sacred offerings until they are made clean again. They can't even eat the priest's food until they are made clean again. He'll be clean at susnet- and then he can eat. He can't eat anything a wild animal has torn apart.

It's funny to think that Jesus treats these people totally differently. The marginalized folks in all of these categories are the people who would have flocked to Him- the former prostitutes, the divorced, the widowed, the scorned gentile, the physically disabled- these are Jesus' people! He even touched the lepers.

And maybe this criteria is setting up a religious context that makes the work of Jesus even that much more remarkable.

Finally, God specifies that the priest food is for the priest's family- no one else. Not a guest, not a hired worker. The exception would be a slave- either bought by the priest or one born into his house. If a priest's daughter marries a non-priest... no more priest food, unless she is widowed or divorced before she has children and comes back to live with her family. Then she can eat it.

If you accidentally eat the priest's food (hmmm, I wonder who this charred piece of meat belongs to? Oh well, finders keepers) you have to repay it to the priest adding an extra one fifth of the value to it. And the priests are forbidden from scamming people into eating their food. Here taste this lamb... mmmm, oh wait- that was mine...where's my extra 20%?

I guess even these holy men of God needed to be kept in line. And maybe this last rule helps to expose the potential any of us have to fall in unthinkable ways. Nice to know that we have Jesus and don't need to stand in that long line at the tabernacle.

2009-10-20T15:08:00.002-04:00

Everybody Must Get Stoned

Leviticus 20

And now the ramifications of not following the laws spelled out in the last few chapters.

Anyone who gives his child to Molech will be put to death. The community is supposed to stone him. I would not have liked to be in this take the law into your own hands kind of society. It seems like it would be very easy for someone who didn't like you to find a reason that would warrant stoning... he entered his house 38 minutes before the mold expired... STONE THE HERETIC! This system leaves little room for grace and mercy... which I think is kind of the point.

If the community closes it's eyes against the Molechian and doesn't break out the stones, God will cut him off from his people.

People who turn to mediums and spirits are cut off from their people.

If you curse your mother and father- you are to be put to death.

If a man commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, they are both to be put to death.

If a man sleeps with his father's wife- they are both to be put to death (the son and father's wife- the father is just embarrassed and likely depressed).

If a man sleeps with his daughter in law... yep you guessed it- both put to death.

Male homosexual sex is punishable by death.

If a man marries both a woman and her mother- the three of them are to be burned.

Sex with an animal? Both the man and the animal are to be killed.

If a woman "approaches" an animal for sexual purposes- they are both to be killed. First- what is this "approaches"? Come-on lines to a hedgehog? And secondly, and equally odd is the follow up- their blood will be on their own hands. I get the woman's blood being on her hands- but the animal's? That spotted owl should have known better?

If a man marries his sister and it is consummated, they are to be cut off from their people.

If a man has sex with a woman while she is on her period, they are to be cut off from their people. They have exposed the source of her flow. That's some fine detective work, Israelites.

If a man sleeps with his aunt or marries his brother's wife, they will be childless.

Finally , God sums it all up. Look- you can't follow the customs of the people who used to have this promised land. If you do, you'll get vomited out of it like they did. So keep the clean and unclean straight.

And finally, He adds, a medium or spiritualist among you must be put to death. Get to stoning.

I can't understand why people view the Old Testament as harsh and violent.

Hang on Israelites, a new day is coming.

2009-10-20T13:32:00.002-04:00

Etc., Etc., Etc.

Leviticus 19

So we've reached the...oh, and another thing section. Here God gives Moses a list of commands- it's basically a laundry list of how to do good.

Respect your parents and obey the sabbaths. No idols- don't turn to them, don't make them. When you sacrifice a fellowship offering, do it right- you can only eat it for two days- after that it's impure (and potentially pretty nasty anyhow). If you eat it on day three or later- you are to be cut off from your people.

When you collect your crop- don't go to the edge of your land. Don't go over the land a second time- don't pick up grapes that you dropped. Save some for the poor and alien.

Don't steal, don't lie, don't deceive each other.

Don't swear falsely by God's name.

Don't cheat or rob your neighbor. Don't hold back someone's wages over night.

Don't curse the deaf (they might not know, but don't do it anyhow), don't put things in the path of the blind that they might stumble over.

Show justice- don't favor the poor or the rich- be fair.

Don't spread slander- don't endanger your neighbor's life.

Don't hate your brother- rebuke your neighbor so you won't be guilty too. Is God commanding them to police each other? This is a tough concept- am I responsible for the wrong someone else has done? Are you responsible for me? If so... sorry.

Don't seek revenge- don't bear a grudge- love your neighbor as yourself.

Don't mate different kinds of animals- so much for koala-parrot experimentation. Don't plant multiple kinds of seed on your land. Don't wear clothing of two types of fabric.

If a man sleeps with a slave girl who is promised to someone else but is still a slave- he's to be punished for it. No putting to death though- she was a still a slave. The man has to bring a ram as a sin offering to atone for it. Two ways to read this- she was only a slave- not a very serious sin... or she was a slave and couldn't say no- she shouldn't punished as severely. My head says the former, my heart says the latter. Since the man is the one bringing the ram- and since this society is way patriarchal, I think it's another case of women as property- or certainly of less stature. Bothersome.

When you plant a fruit tree in the new land- you're growing "forbidden fruit". For three years eat none of it. Year four is a holy year- all fruit is for sacrifice. Year five, eat away. This seems part sacrifice, part horticulture lesson. As a result, your harvest will increase.

Don't eat blood in the meat. No divination or sorcery.

Don't cut the hair on the sides of your head (did the Israelites resemble Krusty the Clown?), don't trim your beard.

No self-mutilation in mourning for the dead. No tattoos.

Don't make your daughter a prostitute. The land will be overrun with prostitutes if you do.

Observe the sabbaths- have reverence for the sanctuary.

No mediums or spiritualists.

Stand up when old people are around. Show them respect.

Treat immigrants like you do natives. Love them as yourself. Don't force them to learn your language or perform menial tasks that no natives would want to perform. Never say to them love it or leave it. Oh wait, I added that last part. First two sentences came from God, though.

Use honest scales and weights. Don't cheat each other.

Basically- be kind and loving to each other- and obey my commands. There's some weird stuff in there like mixing seeds and counting years for fruit and slave sex penalties- but mostly this is basic how to be good stuff. Treat each other the way you would want to be treated. Pay heed to My laws. Throughout the chapter He repeats I am the Lord your God.

Love God and love your neighbors as yourself. Sounds familiar.

2009-10-19T08:46:00.002-04:00

Let's Talk About Sex... Listen up, Oedi

Leviticus 18

If Jake Gittes had read Leviticus 18, Chinatown might have been a much shorter film. So, I guess, I'm kinda glad he didn't.

In this chapter, God lays out all laws concerning sexual activity. If followed correctly, these laws will make for a much less bawdy family reunion. If you're planning an amorous evening, don't read this post until tomorrow. You'll thank me later.

Do not have sex with your mom (it will dishonor your father and... she's your mom. God seems to almost be saying, come on people... she's your mom!). No sex with dad's wife- so step mom's are right out too. Forget about your sister- half or full sister. Even if she didn't grow up in your home. Sex with your grand daughter would dishonor you. No sex with aunts, daughters-in-law, or sisters-in-law.

Don't have sex with both a woman and her daughter- or a woman and her grand-daughter. Don't take your wife's sister as a rival wife- don't have sex with your wife's sister while your wife is living. Don't approach a woman for sex while she is on her period. No sex with the neighbor's wife.

And then in the middle of it all: Don't give your children to be sacrificed to Molech. I'm assuming that there was something sexual that was part of the sacrificial process. Not that God would be okay with it otherwise- it just seems out of place in this passage if sex wasn't involved in some way.

Don't lie with a man as one lies with a woman. No sex with animals. The sex with animals is the first of these laws to specifically address women. Women can't present themselves for sex with animals either.

I would assume that the female equivalent of these other laws would, however, also be true- I think that the lack of specificity says more about a stifling patriarchy in that culture than allowable female promiscuity.

God frames these laws around the idea of being different from surrounding nations. Don't be like Egypt, don't be like Canaan. If you defile this land it will vomit you out like it did the former inhabitants.

It's easy to write this chapter off as disgusting and obvious. Only the most depraved would... fill in the blank. But post-flood, sexual partners would have been at a minimum, especially in a culture that allowed polygamy. And even as the population grew, in a time before cars, telephones, or even singles.com- how much more difficult would it have been to meet someone who wasn't related to you in some way?

Maybe God is saying- this kind of thing was never ideal. Enough generations have gone by...stop it.

2009-10-15T18:55:00.002-04:00

There Will NOT Be Blood

Leviticus 17

So apparently the Israelites have a thing for offering sacrifices to goat idols. I don't know what a goat idol is... but I do know that it sounds pretty silly. To combat this tendency, God decrees through Moses that anyone who sacrifices an ox, lamb, or goat instead of bringing it to the priests as a sacrifice is guilty of bloodshed. He will be cut off from his people. No one to hang out with but the goat idols. And they don't talk much.

God refers to this practice as prostitution. Perhaps prostitution was part of their idolic ritual- but at the very least God metaphorically equates the two concepts. Worshiping a false god is the same as whoring yourself.

The other major issue in this chapter is blood eating. Anyone who does it is to also be cutoff from his people. Maybe he can go hang out with the goat worshipers too. If you kill something that is lawful to eat, you must drain the blood out of it before eating it. The blood must then be covered with earth.

God explains why. The life of the creature is in the blood. And it's what is used for atonement. This law goes for the Israelite or the alien.

This sounds like not so big a deal. Of course I wouldn't eat blood. That's pretty nasty. We're not barbarians. But I'm guessing in a culture this legalistic, it was painstaking to ensure that all the blood was removed. I would think a medium-rare sirloin really wasn't much of an option. Although that sounds really good right now.

So what's changed for us? The life is still in the blood. It's not animal blood, it's Jesus' blood- and He encourages us to drink it. And I'm guessing that slaughter houses don't spend much time draining blood and burying it in the earth. Does this change in covenant release us from this burden? If not, perhaps the only option would be vegetarianism- or to kill your own food and prepare it carefully.

Or perhaps this is another contrast section- and between Peter's vision making everything clean and Christ's directive to drink His blood- the stigma is gone. I certainly hope so.

Finally, anyone who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash his clothes and bathe with water- and he will be unclean until evening. If he doesn't, he will be held responsible. Ah, the Israelite road-kill clause. Happy eating.

2009-10-09T15:17:00.002-04:00

Escape Goat

Leviticus 16

The day of atonement is coming. And God tells Moses what Aaron needs to do. First off, he shouldn't be heading into the Most Holy Place all willy-nilly. God will be there in a cloud over the atonement cover of the ark and being in His presence will kill him.

He's to put on his linen underwear, sacred linen tunic, tie a linen sash around him and put on a linen turban. Basically, when in doubt, linen is the right answer for him. Before he puts them on, he's to take a bath. He is to get a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. And then from the Israelites, he's to get two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

The bull is for his own atonement and his family's. The goats seem to be for atonement for the community. Aaron is to cast lots and one goat becomes a sin offering- the other is to be released into the desert as a scapegoat (or as a former debater of mine calls it, an "escape goat"... I was so proud), or a goat of removal.

This is an interesting concept. He lays hands on the goat and confesses all the Israelite sin and then the goat is sent out into the desert with the help of an appointed Israelite. So atonement is made here without the need for bloodshed. There's still a sacrifice with the other goat- but this goat carries the sins into the desert. I'm not sure what to make of this. Is God trying out another system to see how it works? Is it that killing the one goat wasn't enough and God's showing that even upping the ante isn't enough to take care of it all? Jesus will still be necessary.

So Aaron can go behind the curtain to the Most Holy Place to make atonement. He's to take a censer of burning coals from the altar and two handfulls of finely ground fragrant incense when he goes. The incense goes on the fire making a fragrant shield of sorts between him and God's presence. This will keep him from dying... so he should probably be sure to remember it.

He's to sprinkle blood on the atonement cover- and then blood before it seven times.

He's to do the same with the goat for the Israelites' sins. He is to also sprinkle the tent of meeting with goat blood. Not the decor I would have chosen. The tent of meeting must be vacant except for Aaron while he's in the Most Holy Place and the tent of meeting. Blood from the bull and goat go on the horns of the altar and get sprinkled on the altar too.

Then Aaron goes into the tent of meeting and takes off the linen garments and leaves them there. He is to bathe with water in a holy place and put his regular clothes back on. Then he comes out in front of the people and makes the sacrfiice for himself and also for them. So sacrfice and sprinkling privately, cooking in front of the group.

The man who is in charge of the scapegoat has to wash his clothes and take a bath before returning back into camp. The remains of the bull and goat used are to be taken outside of camp and burned up. The person who does this must wash his clothes and take a bath before returning to camp.

This is a long term practice. It happens once a year on the tenth day of the seventh month. It's a sabbath- no work is to be done.

So lots of boring detail- the invention of the scapegoat- and perhaps most important of all- a clear sign that God takes this sin stuff seriously. It's hard to get rid of it- killing the animals, sending them into the desert- even burning them outside of camp ultimately won't be enough. It'll take Jesus.

2009-10-04T21:24:00.003-04:00

Dealing with the Navy and Aunt Flo

Leviticus 15

And you thought the last several sections were disgusting.

Chapter 15 is a fun stroll through the world of bodily discharges, including but not necessarily limited to sexual secretions and menstruation. This is an entry you might not want to read out loud.

The passage covers three types of secretions. The first is described vaguely. If any man has a bodily discharge, he is unclean. That could mean a lot of things. He has a cold? He urinated? Sneezed? Was sweating? I've ruled out sexual and menstrual secretions since they're mentioned later.

Since it specifies a continual flow or blockage, I'm going to surmise that it's talking about open sores... and you thought it would be something gross.

So, if you've got them, you're unclean. Any bed you lie on and anything you sit on is unclean. If someone touches the bed of the puss-laden or sits where they sat, he is unclean.

Don't shake hands while you're in this state- if you touch anyone, he or she is unclean until evening. The same is true if you have these sores and you spit on someone. This is a lovely thought. If I don't have a gaping wound, I guess it would be okay to barrage you with a storm of loogies.

A number of other things will make you unclean if you come into contact with "Open-Sore Man". First off, if he sits on something while riding, it's unclean. If you touch anything that was under him while riding, you're unclean. If you pick up any of these things, you must wash your clothes and bathe with water...and you're still unclean.

If he touches a clay pot- it must be broken. Anything made of wood he touches must be rinsed with water. Once he's clean- he is to wait seven days. On the eighth, he takes two doves or pigeons to the priest for atonement sacrifices.

And we move onto semen. After an emission, a man's whole body must be washed and he is unclean until evening. Any article of clothing that gets any semen onto it must be washed- it is unclean until evening. If the discharge is from a sexual union, both the man and woman are unclean until evening.

Next, everyone's favorite topic of discussion, menstruation. When a woman's flow comes, she is unclean for seven days. Anyone who touches her is unclean. Anything she lies or sits on is unclean. Anyone who touches anything she sits on, bed or otherwise is unclean and must wash his clothes and bathe with water.

An ambiguous directive follows which may imply sexual activity with a woman on her period. If this happens, the man is unclean for seven days. The other possible interpretation here is if the two share a bed and the man comes in contact with the discharge.

If the discharge lasts longer than the seven days, she in unclean until it stops. It seems at least most if not all of the rules regarding her still apply in the prolonged period period as well.

When she's cleansed, she counts off seven days and then she is ceremonially clean. That means a woman is not often ceremonially clean. If she is flowing for seven days and purifying for seven more, then she is unclean two weeks of every month.

She then does the doves/pigeons bit with the priest.

Finally God tells Moses to keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling His dwelling place which is among them.

Keep them away from sores, sex, and menstruation? How? I guess that would also include leprosy and mildew. I wonder how much of this is a sanitation issue and how much a purely spiritual one. And I wonder how these people ever did anything but cleanse themselves of impurities and make sacrifices... and be paranoid about what they forgot to do.

2009-10-03T09:24:00.002-04:00

Dew That to Me One More Time

Leviticus 14: 33-56

So, another fun-filled passage about how to clean the unclean. In this episode, we see the travails of keeping that house clean. Not in the dirty laundry on the floor kind of unclean but in the mildew is spreading and the priest has condemned my house kind of unclean. That'll make for an awkward dinner party.

The first order of business when you notice the mildew is to contact the priest. The priest then orders the house to be emptied before he inspects it. This way, if the house is declared unclean, all the things in the house won't be.

This seems a little odd to me. As long as the priest doesn't see it, it doesn't matter if the household items actually have spreading mildew. Hide them before the inspection! I guess it would be in your best interest to get rid of those contaminated things anyhow or the mildew would come back- and maybe there's a section coming up in a chapter or two dealing specifically with mildew plagued chifferobes.

The priest goes in- if the mildew looks green or red and deeper than the surface of the walls, the house gets closed up for seven days. After seven days he comes back to reinspect, if the mildew has spread, he orders all the contaminated stones be ripped out and deposited in an unclean place outside of town. Then they scrape the walls and the unclean shavings get dumped outside of town too. They replace the stones and replaster the house.

If the mildew comes back- the house is unclean. It's to be torn down and added to this toxic landfill beyond the town's city limits. Property values there... not so good.

If you go in the house while it's closed up, you are unclean until evening. If you sleep or eat in the house, you must wash your clothes and you may not be very smart. Or maybe you're very desperate. Losing your house is a big deal. What do you do for the couple of weeks your house is in limbo? What if you don't have family? What if your friends don't have any room? What if you can't afford a suite at Israelite Inn?

If the house has no mildew spread after the replastering, the priest proclaims it clean. Then to purify it, they do that whole two birds, cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet yarn ritual. Blood of the dead bird gets sprinkled on the house seven times which doesn't sound at all sanitary. The live bird is released into open fields... emotionally scarred, but still alive.

Then comes the weird(er) part. In this way, atonement is made for the house. Atonement for the house? Has the house created some horrible evil? Is this Amytiville, Israel? This coupled with early in the passage where God says that these things should happen were He to "put a spreading mildew in a house" seems to imply that perhaps this mildew is a punishment for something done wrong. God put it there and the house needs atonement.

Although this flies in the face of what Job and his friends experience(d) - later in Job (but earlier in history). Maybe God is saying, you're bound to have done something wrong, this house cleansing is a wonderful opportunity to get it all taken care of.

Either way, I'm glad to not live close to the mildew depot in the next town over.

2009-09-29T16:54:00.002-04:00

Another Passage Veggie-Tales Won't Cover

Leviticus 14: 1-32

OK, this is a bizarre section. I would expect to find this in an explanation of voodoo practices and not so much in a Levitical discussion of leprosy cleansing. If the diseased person is proclaimed healed (by the priest leaving camp and checking him out) the priest decrees that two live clean birds, some cedar wood, some scarlet yarn and hyssop (a minty, European herb) all be brought for a cleansing ceremony.

So you take the birds and kill one of them over a clay pot of fresh water. Then you dip the live bird along with the wood, yarn , and hyssop into the blood of the dead bird. The formerly leperous person is then sprinkled seven times. I have no idea how, or with what. Do they wave the live bird now covered in dead bird's blood over this guy? Is it all mixed together and sprinkled? Is there any scenario where this isn't totally crazy?

The soon-to-be-clean guy shaves his hair, washes his clothes, and bathes in water. Perhaps doing this more regularly would have helped with his problem in the first place. It would at least have made him a little more popular. At this point he can enter camp- but not his tent for seven more days. Then he shaves the rest of his hair- his head, beard, eyebrows, and the rest- like Bob Geldoff in The Wall. More clothes washing, more bathing- and finally he's clean.

Then come the post cleansing sacrifices. He brings two male lambs and one ewe lamb, some of a flour and oil mixture and two-thirds of a pint of oil. In one way or another this covers the guilt offering and the wave offering.

More weirdness. Some of the blood from the guilt offering goes on the right ear lobe, right thumb, and right big toe of the one being cleansed. Then the oil gets sprinkled seven times (from the priest dipping his right index finger in oil pured into his left palm). Then using his palm, the priest uses oil to cover the blood on the ex-leper's earlobe, thumb and toe. The rest of the oil goes on his head.

Then a sin offering and a burnt offering. There's a reduced rate for the poor involving one lamb and doves or pigeons instead of so many lambs. A very similar process happens for the poor man to make him clean.

There maybe some metaphoric significance to the sacrifices or the ritual or the ear lobe- but it seems to me like more burdening for a group of people who are already quite burdened at this point. But perhaps if you were relieved of the prospect of finishing out your days in isolation as a leper, this procedure would seem like next to nothing in comparison.

I'm glad I'm not an Israelite.

2009-09-29T09:15:00.003-04:00

Don't Do the Dew

Leviticus 13: 49-62

So even if you're pronounced "clean" your clothing might not be. And not unclean in the this is third day I've worn these jeans, they're starting to smell bad kind of unclean- more like go and burn those jeans before their retched-ness is spread throughout the community. You know, that kind of unclean.

So, the clothing is treated pretty much like people were in the last section. If they have mildew, take them to the priest, and he checks them out. He'll isolate it for seven days and then re-examine. If it's spreading, it's time to hit the tunic sale at JC Penney's- oh and you have to actually burn the infected piece of clothing.

If it hasn't spread, you can wash the clothing (what a novel idea). Then seven more days in isolation. If the stain hasn't changed, it goes to the fire. If it has faded and not spread, you can just tear that part of the clothing out. So you can keep the shirt, there'll just be this pesky hole when you wear it.

If the spot shows back up, into the fire.

It seems perhaps that this clothing quarantine can be looked at as a metaphor. At the risk of seeming a brimstone spewer- maybe the message is without Jesus, who can permanently cleanse our stains (that whole "whiter than snow" idea)- we're destined to a future in fire.

Or maybe it's marketing for Israelite laundry detergent.

2009-09-25T18:05:00.002-04:00

Infection is Only Skin Deep

Leviticus 13: 1-46

A passage not for the squeamish...or the easily bored.

God spells out requirements for folks who potentially have skin diseases. In general, when rashes or odd skin developments occur, they are to consult priest-types. It's become sort of a tabernacle/health clinic. Although, there's not much treatment going on...just the determining of clean or unclean.

Without getting into too much detail- if you have a rash- go see the priest. If it's a swelling, rash or bright spot, and if the hair has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep- bad news- you are contagious. The priest declares you to be ceremonially unclean. You are isolated for seven days. If there's no change, seven more days of isolation. If it's gone away at that point, you're clean again. If not, you are unclean- and you must live alone outside the camp.

Other scenarios are similar. If disease covers you head to foot, you are clean- but once raw flesh appears you are unclean. When the raw flesh turns white, you are clean again...congratulations.

If you have a boil that heals and it leaves a white mark or a reddish-white mark- you have to go to see the priest. If it seems more than skin deep or there's white hair in it- you're unclean. The priest can check again in seven days. Close to the same thing for burn victims.

If a man or woman has a burn on his or her head or chin- and it seems deep and the hair in it is thin and/or yellow, that's gross. And you're also unclean. In fact, it's an unclean itch. But if it's just skin deep and there's not too much black hair in it- you can just be put into isolation- instead of out of the camp. After seven days, if things are looking better, you have to be shaved except for the infected area and then put back into isolation for another week. If it spreads, the priest doesn't even need to look for yellow hair- you're unclean... and probably not too happy about it. But if black hair has grown back in, the itch has healed- and you are clean.

Dull white spots are a harmless rash- get checked out, but you're clean.

Balding men are clean- and quite distinguished, I'm discovering. However, if you have reddish-white sores on your forehead or bald head- uncleanness awaits you.

So the priests are somehow qualified to make medical determinations. And these determinations impact not just the health of the person and the community, they dictate the future of the infected person. The person who is suffering isn't usually helped- just relegated to more suffering.

As long as you are infectious- you must wear torn clothes and not take care of your hair (easy if you're bald) cover the lower part of your face and shout UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN! when people approach. You also live alone outside of the camp.

This to me is the heart of this passage. What a terrible shock to discover that you've got something on your skin. There aren't a lot of health options for you. And if the priest declared you as unclean, life as you know it drastically changes. You leave behind your family, your friends, your livelihood, in fact everything. Every interaction is a reminder of your unclean state- there's little hope of ever returning to how things were. Life moves on without you.

And maybe it's all a metaphor. Without a savior our boils are infectious- we are truly unclean. We are outcasts who can't repair the state of our damage. Granted, these people haven't caused their state through sin- and much of this seems to be to avoid contagion- but in a very real sense if we were, like they were, without the Messiah- we are isolated, scarred and damaged.

But with Him, the health plan just got a whole lot better.

2009-09-24T12:21:00.003-04:00

Pregnant Pause

Leviticus 12

So it was a bad time to be a woman.

God tells Moses the purification procedure following childbirth. If she has a son, she's ceremonially unclean for a week. On day eight, the boy is to be circumcised- plenty of life left for the trauma to be reduced. Then she has 33 days to wait for purification from the bleeding. She can't touch anything sacred during this period of time. If she has a daughter, she has a two week period of uncleaness followed by a 66 day wait to be purified.

After this period of time, she is to bring a year old lamb to the tent of meeting for a burnt offering and a dove or pigeon as a sin offering. If she can't afford the lamb, she can bring two birds instead.

My puzzlement comes not from the need for purification- I think I get the whole sacredness of the blood thing (at least in part). My bigger question is the differing purification times for the gender of the child. So, having a daughter makes you twice as unclean? Is this simply a reaction to cultural norms of the time? Is God making a statement of some kind about gender? Surely bleeding in the mother wouldn't differ depending on the gender of the child? It reads almost like punishment for producing a less desirable gender. This is troubling for two reasons (at least). First, it's beyond the mother's control- and second, and more importantly, it suggests that a male child is a more desirable alternative.

In my mind this is just one of a number of troubling passages concerning gender differences...and apparent misogyny...and misogyny might be too strong of a word, but certainly a different standard and value being placed on gender.

Contrast this issue with the New Testament concept of their being no male, and no female in Christ.

2009-09-24T11:01:00.003-04:00

Wilbur's Hey-Day

Leviticus 11

God tells Moses and Aaron about the food they need to keep out of their systems...actually even out of their hands. Just touching the carcasses results in being unclean.

As far as land animals are concerned, a good rule of thumb is if it has a split hoof and chews cud, dinner is served. If it's only one and not the other- stay away. So no camels, and avoid rock badgers, rabbits, stewed or otherwise, and...the killer...no pigs.

Water creatures are also discussed. If they have fins and scales- they're probably okay. Otherwise- you shouldn't just avoid eating them- you should also detest them.

The list of detestable birds includes eagles, vultures, black vultures, red and black kites, ravens, owls (horned, screech, little, great, white, and desert- if it's me, I'm just going to keep away from owls), bats, cormorants, gulls, osprey, storks, herons, and the belvoed hoopoes. As a Carson-Newman Eagle- I take the detestable comment a bit personally, but at least we shouldn't get eaten by any wayward Israelites.

Next comes a list of insects to avoid. In my way of thinking, this list is really not too important- I won't be ordering any fried termites anyhow. But maybe in this legalistic system something inadvertantly flying in your mouth would count. Here God just tells them the "OK to eat" ones: locusts, katydids, crickets and grasshoppers.

Before moving onto the crawling on the ground animals, there's a reminder about the whole unclean thing. Don't touch the carcasses or you are unclean until evening and you need to wash your clothes.

So of the crawling animals- stay away from the lizard (great, monitor, and wall), weasel, rat, gecko, the skink and the chameleon. So even if you saw what appeared to be a good eatin' skink, you'd still need to maintain your self-control. In fact, He goes on to say that all of these animals are detestable. These animals also make things unclean if they die on them. If they die on the shelf, the shelf is unclean, if they die in a clay pot- everything in the pot is unclean- and you need to break the pot. If they die in a spring, it's still clean, but if you touch the animal to remove it, you are unclean. If it dies on seeds, they are still clean unless they've been watered- then they're unclean.

Even if it's an animal you're allowed to eat, you are unclean if you touch the carcass- which I would imagine makes food preparation a little tricky.

So on top of all the sacrifice things you need to learn- here's a whole new list of things to be paranoid about. I'm guessing Egg McMuffins weren't the cleanest of choices.

I'm not sure what to take from this section except that being an Israelite would likely make you obsessive-compulsive.

2009-09-07T19:57:00.002-04:00

Strange Fire

Leviticus 10

Day one of the priesthood may have seemed pretty cool. Whatever day happens in Leviticus 10 surely seemed much less so. After all the careful instruction, two of Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu, thought they had a better approach to it all. I don't know if they just took a short cut through the proceedings, burned the wrong meat at the wrong time, didn't pay attention to the fat on the sacrifice or what- but the NIV describes the error as "unauthorized fire." It seems from Moses' explanation that whatever it was, God took it as irreverance. He says:

"...in the sight of all the people I will be honored."

The result, that fire that usually consumes the sacrifice- consumed them. Aaron loses half of his priestly staff. Two of his boys go from proud ambassadors of God to shame of the clan of Aaron. Moses instructs a couple of their cousins to carry the charred corpses outside of the camp... and Aaron's family is told to keep a stiff upper-lip. No visible signs of mourning. Keep that hair trimmed. Don't rend your clothing. Others can mourn...but not you- if you show signs of mourning, you will die- and God won't be happy with the community. They are also to stay put in the Tent of Meeting.

I've always heard this passage used to teach the authority of silence. If God didn't decree it, it must be forbidden. Some of this may come from the King James translating "unauthorized" as "strange" although both words can be read that way. Not approved by God. I think though, that there's a rebellion inherent in the actions of these two. And with so much detail spelled out regarding the ceremonial procedures, it seems more likely that God's law was ignored, changed, abbreviated, or rebelled against.

It may be that this wasn't a case where God didn't specify and people were free to interpret. This was specific and deliberate law breaking. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it all. Whichever the case, God wasn't happy and the suffering was great.

God then tells Aaron that they must not drink any wine while in the Tent of Meeting. They need to be able to distinguish between the common and the holy- between the clean and unclean- and they must teach the people God's laws. This makes the context even richer. Why does this decree follow the Nadab and Abihu section? Is it that their sins were violating just this? They treated the holy as common? They treated the unclean as clean? And now God says- look... get it right- you're the priests, if you can't keep it straight, who can?

Moses then tells Aaron that he and his two remaining sons (who must be terrified) should get their share of the food that's left. There's some grain offering that's yours, there's also some breast and thigh that belongs to you all. He specifies what to eat and where to eat it.

When he comes back and discovers that they haven't eaten it, he's a little ticked. In fact they not only don't eat it, they let it burn up. He asks them- what's up? This was supposed to make atonement for the community- what's wrong with you?

Aarons replies. You may have noticed, this hasn't really been a banner day for the priestly profession. Do you think we really earned our share today? You saw how angry God was, right? Do you really think he would have been happy if we'd chowed down as if we'd done something to deserve this sacrifice? Moses hears this and reconsiders.

As good as they must have felt in chapter nine, Aaron is surely doing some heavy soul searching here. Is he wishing he'd never let Moses get him involved in the great Exodus? Is he determined to get it right? Is he growing more and more petrified of his God? More paranoid about getting everything just so? Questioning his own parenting skills?

Or is he slowly realizing the challenge of serving God- the difficulty of denying self and becoming immersed in the will of One greater than you- the frustration of not being in control and the necessity of trusting in the justness of your Creator?

And is that what we should take away? That submission is the key. God isn't interested in sacrifice that makes us happy- our service is catered to His whims, His desires, His decrees. Anything else is strange fire.

2009-09-06T20:13:00.002-04:00

Rookies of the Year

Leviticus 9

So Moses calls Aaron, his sons and the elders and lets them know that opening day is imminent. He gives them specific instructions about their own sacrifices (bull calf for a sin offering, ram for a burnt offering) and what they are to tell the people to bring for their own sacrifices (male goat for a sin offering, one-year-old calf, and one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering, an ox and a ram for a fellowship offering, and a grain offering mixed with oil). Of course, these animals for the sacrifices are to be without blemish. This is happening because today, God makes an appearance.

So they do it- Moses gives us the play by play- details about blood on the horns, liver coverings, washing of inner parts, blood sprinkling and other gruesome yet somehow boring specifics of this slaughter-fest.

But it surely wasn't boring for them. I'm sure they were a bit unnerved keeping all the detail straight- but ultimately they were probably quite exhilerated. Finally, the work we've been training for- we're actually serving an amazingly important role for our community and more importantly for our God. We've found a way to truly make a spiritual difference in the lives of those around us and whatever inconvenience comes with it is totally worth it.

They're living the dream.

Moses and Aaron enter the tent of meeting and when they come out they bless the people. And the glory of the LORD appears to them all. Fire comes out of His presence and consumes the offerings. The people are awed- they shout for joy and fall face down.

All in all, a pretty good first day of work.

2009-08-17T18:53:00.002-04:00

A Dull Party, Indeed

Leviticus 8

Ordination time- signigcant? Yes. Exciting? Not so much.

The LORD tells Moses to gather Aaron and spawn, oil, bull, lambs, garments, and unleavened bread- and bring the whole assembly to the Tent of Meeting. Aww do we have to go? Yup, 'fraid so.

Then Moses leads a drawn out ceremony involving his brother and his brother's children. They were washed. Aaron dons the tunic, sash, ephod and robe (stand back ladies). Moses also puts the breastplate on him fully equipped with Urim and Thummim- because it wouldn't be a party without Urim and Thummim. He put the turbin on Aaron's head and put the gold plate in front of it. ZZ Top played in the background.

Then Moses gets a little crazy with the annointing oil- getting the tabernacle and everything in it. He got the altar with seven sprinkles, including sprinkling utensils, the basin and stand- and even Aaron's head. I'm guessing this was done reverently and solemnly- although it would be way cooler if there was a holy super soaker that he loaded with the annointing oil and let it fly.

Aaron's boys get tunics, sashes and headbands. Slightly less stylish, but only slightly.

Then, the bull for the sin offering- Aaron and his sons place their hands on it's head. Moses slaughters it, gets some blood on his finger and purifies the altar with it. It kind of seems a little Lord of the Flies-ish. The rest of the blood gets dumped. The liver covering, kidneys and fat around there- and some other fat all get burned in a sacrifice. The rest of the bull- hide, flesh, inedible stuff, all get burned up outside of the camp.

This isn't the first reference we've had to taking part of the sacrifice outside the camp. What's this for? Is the carcass so unclean that God doesn't want it anywhere near the tabernacle? Is it to emphasize the difference in the value of the blood (metaphorically powerful) with the value of flesh (metaphorically weak)? Is it simply a logistical means to combat a putrid smell?

Similar process for the ram. Hands on its head. Blood sprinkled on all sides of the altar. Ram cut into pieces. Pieces, head and fat all burned. The inner parts and legs get washed, the whole ram gets burned. This is the burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to God.

Then comes the second ram- for the ordination. Once again Aaron and his sons place their hands on its head. Moses slaughters it- and puts some blood on Aaron's right ear, right thumb, and right big toe. Huh? To sanctify what he heard, what he did and where he went? Doubt it, but it's the best I've got. The right side was maybe simply the dominant side. Lefties never get any breaks...except maybe Sandy Koufax.

Aaron's sons come forward and get the ear, thumb, and toe treatment. The altar gets more blood on all sides. Aaron gets the fat- around the inner parts, around the kidneys (and the kidneys), the tail, the liver covering and the right thigh- as well as the bread basket and "waved" it as a wave offering. The bread consisted of a cake of bread, one made with oil, and a wafer. Aaron combined them- making a fat/right thigh sandwich and commenced to waving.

Then it all got burned to God. Aaron also waved the ram's breast that was Moses' share of the offering as a wave offering.

Moses takes blood from the altar and sprinkles it on Aaron, his sons and their garments, consecrating them. Then Moses tells them to cook the meat at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and eat it with the ordination bread. Whatever they don't eat gets burned up. They need to stay in this entrance for a week, day and night. Moses says to do these things so that they won't die. This ordination is serious business.

This does seem like a very significant ceremony, but not a very pleasant experience. I wonder how the central participants felt about it. Specifically Moses. As he writes about this event way down the road, is there a sibling rivalry that enters into the story?

Is Moses bitter that he's sitting outside the promised land (SPOILER ALERT) writing about his brother who is going through an elaborate consecration process. Does he think- after all I did, stupid calf-building Aaron gets the pomp and I simply get to observe. Is he sorry he didn't just go to Pharaoh on his own when God first asked? Does he purposely include details about himself here so we don't lose sight of the role he played- he's careful to point out (in detached third person) Moses did this in the ceremony- and Moses threw the blood, etc.

Or is he thrilled that his brother gets this opportunity? Happy to see someone dear to him be such an important part of God's work.

Maybe a bit of both? I wish him all the success in the world, just a little bit less than me.

And I like that Aaron, an important figure that doesn't seem to fight for the spotlight gets his day. He's not a king, he doesn't throw the gauntlet down, he's got that whole golden calf debacle in his not too distant past, but he's still central to God's work.

And despite our own golden-calf moments, we can be too.

2009-08-15T10:23:00.002-04:00

The Birth of "The Wave"

Leviticus 7:28-38

God has Moses tell the Israelites that when they bring fellowship offerings, some of it goes to the priests. First off, they remove the breast from the animal and wave this breast before the LORD as a wave offering. I have no idea what the significance of "the wave" is. "hello, here's an offering for you." "Over here! The offering is over here!" Obviously not, but why a wave? It must have meant something.

So the fat is removed and burned for the LORD, and the breast and an additional thigh go to the priest as his share. This is to be for generations to come.

How much meat do the priests need? If everyone offering gives up a breast and a thigh to them, how much food are they eating? Seems like those holy robes would have to be continuously let out to allow for an ever growing sanctified gut.

Once again I'm struck by the enormous amount of detail they would have had to keep straight. And how time consuming all of this would be. And if these fellowship offerings were voluntary, this would make it so much easier to say...man, it's too much trouble, I stood in that line last week- and I really don't feel much like dismembering a carcass today.

But maybe these complications made the sacrifice an even greater expression of love for God. I'm willing to jump through all these hoops voluntarily because I recognize what You mean to me- and even with the sliver about You that I understand, I know enough to realize that I need You desperately.

And maybe our willingness to stick our necks out for each other, to complicate our lives to help someone else, to walk by faith when we don't know how it will work out does the same thing for us.

2009-07-24T01:04:00.002-04:00

101 Uses for Animal Fat

Leviticus 7:22-27

Short section. So God tells Moses to tell the Israelites to hold off on the fat consumption- in fact don't eat any of it. If you eat the fat from an offering, you're to be cut off from your people. I wonder if all these people who were cut off from their own people formed their own club: the ex-Israelites, Unclean Fat-eaters Anonymous. What happened to these people who could no lunger be part of the tabernacle clan? Were they pointed to lives of misery and wandering? Were they necessarily cut off from God- or just from their people?

They are also not to eat any blood. Same consequence... picture Laurence Olivier... "I have no son".

They are, however, permitted to use the fat of dead animals for other purposes. Like what? pillow stuffing? food fights? arts and crafts? Jana suggests oil for lamps and soap. She's so practical.

Anyhow- no fat, no blood- which makes those earlier passages about eating the offerings a little clearer- apparently they didn't eat the fat offerings.

The "why" of it all isn't specified. Could be a health issue. Could be a purity issue. I think, in part, it is to show reverance for the blood that did for them and will for others bring the forgiveness so desperately needed. It's got a use...and it's not a beverage.

2009-07-18T12:57:00.002-04:00

Jolly Good Fellow-ship Offerings

Leviticus 7:11-21

Fellowship offering regulations- they fall into two categories.

For expressions of thankfulness-along with the offering comes yeast free bread mixed with oil, yeast free wafers spread with oil, well kneaded cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and some bread with yeast. The priest who sprinkles the blood of his offering keeps all of these extras. All the meat must be eaten that day.

If the offering is because of a vow- or a freewill offering (in case they weren't getting their fill of slaughter already) they still eat it that day- but it's ok if there are some leftovers for the next day. But by the third day, anything left needs to be burned up. Any third day meat eaten is impure- if it's eaten, no sacrifice credit is applied- and the eater is responsible.

Finally, if the meat touches anything ceremonially unclean, you can't eat it. If anyone unclean eats any of this fellowship meat, he is to be cut off from his people. If anyone touches something unclean, whether this unclean thing is a person or animal or anything else, and then eats, he is to be cut off from his people.

So it seems like maybe these fellowship offerings are shared meals between the priest and the offerer. I'm not sure about this, but it seems to make sense with the eating regulations. The priests must have been some stout dudes- Friar Tuck looking.

All of these offerings are a bit overwhelming- and it seems odd that they would think, you know I just haven't offered enough livestock yet, let's go offer some more. But maybe if this was their way of life, it served a greater purpose. Was this how they interacted with their community? Did they get a spiritual sense of belonging by continually trekking to the tabernacle and offering?

Once again, I'm struck by how harsh the regulations are. So if I give a freewill offering- which apparently I didn't have to do- and I ate it on the wrong day- I'm gone, an outcast, on my own, perona non grata. With the stipulations in place and the severity of repercussions, I'd not be very likely to offer more than what was required.

But perhaps the idea of fellowship- the need to experience belonging- the urge to be part of a group was so overwhelming that they were willing to risk making a mistake in order to gain the feelings of worth and acceptance that come from inclusion.

And if they risked so much- doesn't it indicate that the rewards of strong relationships are worth the fear and vulnerability that deep friendships require?

2009-07-18T11:43:00.002-04:00

OOH Is That Genuine Goat Hide?

Leviticus 7: 1-10

There's not a lot of new in this section. There's a rehash of the guilt offering specifics. The slaughtering happens in the same place the burnt offering slaughtering does. Blood gets sprinkled on the sides of the altar. All the fat gets cooked- great detail is given to make sure fat cooking is optimized. The priests and male sons of the priests can eat the offering as long as they eat it in a holy place and the hide of a burnt offering is the priest's to keep.

The same laws apply to the guilt offerings that apply to the burnt offerings. The priest can keep them. Whether meat or grain, the offering will belong to the priest.

It seems like this might make for an awkward relationship between the priests and the other Israelites. Would part of them hope for sin so that they could get something out of the deal? It sure was cold last night, I could go for a good sin offering today.

Or was it a way for God to help these priests fight materialism. They had to eat, they had to wear clothes- but would they long to go hungry and be cold if it meant that less sin was happening? Did they feel guilty themselves when they ate the goat of a contrite sinner?

Can we fall into similar trappings? When someone else messes up, beneath the compassion is there sometimes an inner condescension? A holy gloating?

Or do we picture ourselves as one of the goat offerers? In an equal condition. We may be in line at the tabernacle for different reasons...but we're both in line- and both in need of what the sacrifice brings.

2009-07-17T20:39:00.003-04:00

I'll Have Two Sin Offerings and a Side of Potato Salad

Leviticus 6:24-30

So God has Moses tell Aaron to tell the priests about the sin offerings. There are some added details here though. The priest offering the sacrifice, eats it. This could turn into quite a feat. That's my seventh goat today, you people have got to stop sinning!

A little further into the section it says that any male in the priest's family could eat it- so I assume they had a pretty strict famliy exercise regiment to offset all the hearty meals. If I'm reading this right, these are the sacrifices where all the fat is cooked too, so it doesn't sound like the healthiest menu items for Israel's rock stars.

A few other specifics. It has to be eaten in a holy place in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. Does this indicate that this feasting is a spectator sport. Hey honey, let's go watch Aaron's kids eat all the goats. Years before Kobayashi, is Aaron's family offering the first food endurance competition?

The food also becomes a holiness conduit. In fact, anything the food touched becomes holy. If any blood gets on any garment, it has to be washed in a holy place. If the meat is cooked in a clay pot, it has to be broken. If it's a bronze pot, it has to be scoured and rinsed. If the blood of a sin offering is brought into the tent of meeting, you can't eat that offering. You have to burn it.

Apparently this offering is pretty significant. It's enough to cause pots to be destroyed, enough to cause food to be burned. And I guess that's the point of these rules. God is serious about the holiness of the blood. He's serious about sin too. He wants a public showing of the results of sin. Not so much a "yup, you sinned, and now watch us eat your livestock." But more, a way to keep the concept of the burdening of sin and the process of forgiveness in the minds of His people. But honestly, this is a rambling guess. The process itself is a bit head-scratching.

I have no idea about how much food or how many priests we're talking about. It could just be that this was how the priests were provided for. And maybe this is God showing us that He uses bad for good purposes. The people sinned- they had to account for their sins, but through their sins, the priests' physical needs are taken care of.

And maybe when I don't get it quite right, there are good results too. Don't misunderstand- there are also bad consequences, and sinning for the eventual good isn't a wise choice- it's that whole should we continue in sin so grace can abound idea- but sometimes when we sin we learn more about reliance on God, and each other. We grow stronger, a little more humble, and maybe even a little more understanding of others failing to get it right too.

2009-07-17T17:39:00.002-04:00

The Grain is to be Mainly Eaten Plain

Leviticus 6: 14-23

So God briefly rehashes rules about the grain offering with a little more detail. The priest is to bring the offering to the altar. He takes a handful of flour and oil with all the incense and burns it. He can keep the rest- but when he eats it, he can't eat it with yeast- and he must eat it in a holy place: the courtyard of the tent of meeting. Any male decendant of Aaron can chow down on it. These instructions end with the following observation: "Whatever touches them will become holy."

They're like spiritual Midases. What does it mean for something to become holy? Does it mean that these priests never were able to cut loose? Everywhere they went, everything they did was sacred, somber, quiet and without shoes? Does it mean that they were always "on duty"? How long would it take for an Aaron spawn to burn out? I just want to chill out and do something mindless- but now I'm holding holy diet pepsi.

Or does it mean that our perceptions of "holy" or quite different from God's? Can my softball game be a holy experience? Can I read a novel and be moved in a way that makes the experience "holy" in some way? It seems like this declaration of "holy-making" is a little different than these less tangible experiences, but it's hard to wrap my mind around what it does mean.

It seems like Aaron's family, at least the men, are kind of like Israelite rock stars. They're the priests. Everyone needs them, they wear special clothing, they make everything holy, they are set apart. What's cool though, is that in the second half of this section, they too, are instructed to sacrifice. It seems like a one time thing, but on the day a priest is annointed, he brings a quart or so of fine flour in the morning and another quart in the evening. The next-in-line priest (son of the one being annointed) mixes it with oil and cooks it in a griddle. It's burned completely and none of it is to be eaten.

Even though this is a once in a lifetime thing, perhaps it serves to remind these priests, however special you may be...you're not God. You still answer to me. Don't get too big for your linen britches- I'm still in control.

And perhaps at times we need that same reminder. Whatever your status or position, no matter who answers to you, whatever amount of respect people have or don't have for you, despite your income, social standing or tenure, no matter what car you drive...you're not God. You don't call the shots, you don't make the rules.

And just like everyone else, He wants you to acknowledge and accept it...and obey.