Year 1, Day 151: Numbers 36

Dividing Up the Land: Where’s Our Focus

At first pass this chapter leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.  I am naturally reacting quite strongly against this chapter’s intent.  You might ask, what’s so wrong with this chapter?  Well … simply put I think it is horrible advice.  The women have to marry from within their own tribe in order to preserve the inheritance?  Isn’t that a bit … restrictive and out-of-focus?

I’m not talking about this from a genetic angle.  Even if we divide the total population into the 12 tribes there is still a big enough population within each tribe to have a successful gene pool.  So that isn’t my big concern – or any concern, really – at all.

No, I’m also not looking at this from a “women’s rights” perspective, either.  The truth is that a ruling such as this affects women as much as men.  Think about it.  If no women who have any kind of land inheritance can marry outside their tribe, then no man can marry them, either.   Since marriage is between a man and a woman, if no women can do it then by definition no men can take them in marriage, either.  So this objection of mine has absolutely nothing to do with gender rights or even gender equality.  This passage is wonderfully balanced from a gender equality perspective.

Also, let me remind everyone at this point of the mistake I made when I wrote this blog post originally three years ago.  We’re not talking about all women, here.  A Hebrew woman could marry any other Hebrew man.  The woman would receive a dowry and then be sent off on her merry way to become a part of the new tribe’s family.  The only women we’re talking about here are women who have rights to land.  We’re talking about women who have no brothers to carry on their father’s family name.  Those are the only women about whom we’re speaking in this passage.

That being said, my strong reaction is to the concept of “maintaining the status quo.”  This rule of restrictive marriage is all about keeping the property in the “right clan.”  This rule is actually about establishing that “blood is thicker than water.”  This ruling is all about making sure that we take care of our own before we think about others.  That bothers me.  I’ll wrestle with this for a while because I know it is in the Word and I believe the Word is inspired unerringly from God.  But right now I still don’t have to like it.  {Ooooh, human rebellion is deep and strong, isn’t it?}

The Problems with the Advice of Numbers 36

Having declared the possibility that today I am a rebel against God’s Word, let me at least lift up a few legitimate reasons why.  Hopefully in seeing the reasons you’ll understand that I am sour to this chapter not because I desire to go away from the Word but rather to bring out nuances of perspective within the Word and how this chapter compares to New Testament agendas.

Here’s what I am wondering: Why it is more important that the twelve tribes maintain their boundaries within Israel than it is important that Israel as a whole maintain its integrity?  Is it really more important that each tribe of Judah maintain its land than having the land continue under the influence of the Hebrew people in general?  A ruling like this seems to enforce the belief that we have 12 different tribes banding together for a common goal rather than a united people under a single God.  That bothers me.

In a faith that is plagued by as many “Christian denominations” as we have, I tend to desire unity rather than schism.  I don’t think the answer is ever “form another denomination” – although sometimes the ways of the world force that unfortunate reality upon church organizations.  But I believe more in the body of Christ than I do in the division of denominations.  I would rather sit down and listen to someone tell me about what God is doing in their life than how their life is enriched by their denomination.  For me, unity in Christ through the Holy Spirit far outweighs any self-inflicted division we may put upon ourselves.

I think of the New Testament passages where we are told that there is no distinction among mankind (Galatians 3:28).  I think of the passages that enforce our status as priesthood within the new covenant over and above our worldly connections (1 Peter 2:5-9).  I know what you are saying.  Those are New Testament references and they come from a different perspective than the Old Testament.  Certainly they do.  But I think it is important here to state that there are subtle differences in perspective on the matter of property ownership – or even what’s really important in life – between the New Testament and the Old Testament.  I’m not saying one is absolutely right and the other is absolutely wrong.  I’m not trying to separate God’s Word.  I’m just saying there are multiple perspectives offered on certain topics.

Reaching Effects of Policy

This idea of what is really important bleeds into other aspects of life as well.  How many times are we as a church most interested in our “property concerns” before things like making disciples?  Or, how many times do you hear people saying “I can’t go worship there, I’m not Lutheran.”  (Or Baptist, Methodist, whatever).  We as human beings are naturally concerned about keeping our stuff and associating with people who are most like us.  I find that Jesus actually taught exactly the opposite.  We shouldn’t be concerned with our stuff and we should be willing to go to those who are different than us because they probably need us the most.  I find the fundamental thrust of Jesus’ teaching to be unconcerned with issues like “which tribe gets to keep the land in perpetuity.”  When we get tied up into policy, we easily lose sight of what is really important.

Any way, I struggle today with this passage.  From my perspective, what is important is that the land is God’s land rather than the actual tribe to which the land belongs.  But then again, from my perspective the fact that those are God’s chosen people is more important than knowing which individual tribe they come from. 

Personal Confession

Maybe I need to grow a little bit in my faith before I can understand why maintaining the individual land division among the tribes is important in the greater scheme of things.  After all, let’s say a woman marries into a different tribe – from the perspective of this chapter all of the offspring would be members of the joined tribe anyway!  They would still be Herew.  They would still have a chance of growing up in relationship with God. 

I don’t know.  Maybe that is the real heart of the issue.  I suppose after many years it might be possible for a tribe to eventually become non-existent if they have more female babies or if their male babies die young.  Maybe this chapter is about making sure that all twelve tribes continue to “exist.”  But even if that is the heart of the issue, I am left asking the question as to why a person’s tribal designation is more important than the fact that they are a member of God’s people in the first place!

For Christians, why is my denominational name more important than the fact that I am a Christian?  Every time we say we won’t go to a church because it isn’t _____, we are precisely saying that my denomination is more important than my place in the body of Christ. 

I don’t know.  I doubt I’ve been very helpful today.  I don’t think I’ve been very pastoral, either.  This chapter leaves me with far more questions than answers.  I hope you fared better than I.  But if you didn’t, at least today you get a chance to see my struggle.

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Year 1, Day 150: Numbers 35

The Levites

Okay, before we get into the concept of the cities of refuge, let’s talk a little bit about the Levites.  Remember that the Levites were the priestly part of the family.  They were never counted among the fighting men.  They did not receive land as a part of the inheritance.  They were to solely depend on the people who gave to God out of the abundance that God first gave to the people.  That being said, God did give the Levites 6 cities to be used as safe havens.  These cities were not so much for the benefit of the Levites – although they did get to use the land – as they were a benefit to the Hebrew people to ensure a fair trial. 

Here we see that God’s priestly people are not here to serve their own needs and desires.  God’s priestly people are here for the benefit of those around them.  As followers of Christ, we are all priests.  In following Christ, we are called to give up our self-serving agendas and pick up the agenda of God.  We are to be God’s agents into the world around us.

Cities of Refuge

So now we get to the cities of refuge.  This chapter primarily talks about the cities of refuge with respect to the concept of death.  If someone is involved in the death of another person, either by murder or by accident, they can flee to one of these cities and be held safely within until they have received a fair trial.  In many respects, this is the underlying principle to what we in America call “innocent until proven guilty.”

You will notice one significant difference, however.  In all cases the person fleeing the wrath of another is guilty of something.  The person who flees to one of these Levite cities is involved in the death of another person whether by accident or by intent.  So it isn’t quite the same as innocent until proven guilty.  Everyone involved is guilty.  The question is actually a question of intent.  Rather than “innocent until proven guilty” the cities of refuge are “manslaughter until proven murder.”

Intent Always Trumps the Effect of an Action

This leads me to a point I have made on this blog before.  With God, motivation is usually far more important than action.  That doesn’t mean God doesn’t care about action – because all actions have consequences and many actions lead to communal sin.  But it does mean that for as much as God cares about what we do, He cares even more about why we do it in the first place!

For example, let’s look at this passage.  Numbers 35:16-21 speaks about the person who killed with intent.  That person hit someone with an object knowing it would kill the other person.  Or the person waited to entrap someone knowing that they could kill them in surprise.  These verses are verses dealing with what we would call premeditated crimes.  These are crimes that indicate planning and preparation.  These are crimes that at the very least indicate a recognition of the knowledge that the course of action will likely result in the death of another.  You’ll notice that in these incidents fleeing to the city does not save the person.  They receive a fair trial and then receive the punishment of death.

On the other hand, Numbers 35:22-29 speak to us about the person who kills without intent.  Notice that the person is still guilty of the death of another person.  Death occurred, there is no denying that.  But if the death occurred without intent, the person can continue to live so long as they remain confined to one of these Levite cities.  They can actually continue to live in peace so long as they stay within the border of the city of refuge.  There is still punishment for the crime – the perpetrator has his or her life greatly reduced in flexibility.  But because the death occurred without intent, there is an easement of the penalty.  The perpetrator need not die when there is no direct intent.

In this passage we can see that while our actions matter, the intent of our heart matters even more.  Yes, sin is sin.  Actions done in sinful behavior are horrible in God’s sight.  But sin also exists in the heart, and the sin that lives within our heart is far more dangerous than any sin that manages to escape into action.  Our thoughts and our desires poison our life far more regularly than do our actions.  However, because we can see our actions and the consequences of our actions, we associate our actions with sin most often.  Rather, I believe and teach that the sinful heart and a sinful mind are far more subtle and dangerous than the sinful actions we do.

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Year 1, Day 149: Numbers 34

God’s Idealism meets Our Human Reality

Today we get to read about the division of the land.  I’ll be the first to confess that this chapter isn’t the most exciting or interesting to read.  It’s also not the world’s most inspiring text upon which to blog – as evidence by the shortness of the post here today.

But …

Here’s something really interesting for us to ponder.  Do you realize that even the whole way through the reign of David and Solomon that these borders mentioned here are never realized?  In Numbers 34 God tells the Hebrew people of His plan.  The ultimate goal is never reached.

Here in this chapter we understand this to be God’s ideal division of the land.  As long as the Hebrew people went into the land, followed God’s direction, and did not stray from His path this would have been the proper division of the land. 

But this was not to be.  The Hebrew people, like us, never realize God’s ideal.  We get stuck somewhere in between doing God’s will and being tempted away from God by the world.  It is just a poor statement of the reality of the human condition.  Our sinfulness often keeps God’s ideal plan from taking place.

Today I don’t have much else to say.  I’m going to spend the rest of my day pondering just how far my life pales in comparison to God’s ideal for my life.  I’m not going to do it in a pity-party kind of way, but in a realization that there is so much more territory out there that God wants me to claim for Him – yet like the Hebrew invaders into Canaan I just can’t quite seem to get there.  I’m going to ponder how I’ll always have my Philistines, my Tyre, and my Sidon around to show me that I have work to do.

In the end, I am no better than these Hebrew invaders of Canaan.  I suppose we’ve all got work to do.  We’ve all got issues in our life that we just can’t seem to conquer.  We’ve all got areas in our life that we just can’t muster up enough internal drive to do what it takes to give that area to God.  Lord willing, someday we shall all get to see the ideal of God.

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Year 1, Day 148: Numbers 33

70 Palm Trees.  Really?

Today I bring you a small sampling of humor before a larger more in-depth look at the end of this chapter.  First, let me deal with forty-some versus quickly.  The list given in Numbers 33 is fashioned to be 42 places, arranged in 6 groups of 7 places each.  You no doubt see that the inherent dynamic of 7 places within in each group reminds the people that God was within the journey.  However, as for the humor – I couldn’t help but laugh at Elim in verse 9.  It says here that there were 70 palm trees and 12 springs of water.  And I have to ask, what are 70 palm trees to a multitude that the Bible reports as 600,000+ men, not counting the women and children?

In some respects, though, that attempt at humor brings us back to the provision of God.  It is nigh impossible for a single person to survive in a desert-type wilderness.  A single person has trouble finding food, water, shade, etc.  The fact that God can sustain any kind of community for 40 years in the wilderness should cause us to pause and contemplate God – even if we do snicker while asking what good 70 palm trees are among a million or so people.

God’s Breadth and Depth

Moving past the list, we come to a section at the end of the chapter that allows us to do some deep contemplation about the Hebrew people and about us.  The Hebrew people were told to drive out the native inhabitants of the land.  As a New Testament Christian, this passage bothers me. 

These kinds of statements seem at odds with the God of Jesus who speaks of turning your check and giving up your tunic.  These kinds of statements seem at odds with the God of Paul who walks into Athens and uses their culture to bring them to God rather than using their culture to condemn them – which, for the record, Paul could have easily done.  I’m not saying that God is wrong here, but I am lifting up the fact that these stories show the vastness of God.  The same God who sent out Jesus to turn the other cheek and who sent out Paul to evangelize to Athens also sent forth the Hebrew people to drive out the Canaanites before them in mass genocide.  It is the same God, as difficult as that truth may be to grasp.

Love and Righteous Judgment

This brings me to a place where I must accept both the love of God as well as His righteous judgment.  God is love, and God is certainly willing to forgive all who repent.  However, God is also capable of judging when a person – or people – is not going to repent and who therefore need some judgment thrown their way.  In fact, I would argue that God is the only one capable of bringing about such judgment. 

Both aspects are within God, and it is important for me to acknowledge this.  As I reflect upon this, I believe it is also worth saying that the Bible seems to push us forth into the direction to love all people while only condemning and judging people at His direct movement.  I haven’t thought that last sentence through, but initially I am fairly comfortable with it.  We are to be a people of love all the time; a people of judgment only at His direction.

An Ominous Ending

The other tidbit I would like to bring out today is this last ominous verse.  Boy is it ominous!  “And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”  Here’s the cold truth.  The Hebrew people do not drive out all the Canaanites as we will see in the readings over the next few months.  The Hebrew people will allow the ungodly to remain in their midst and it is the Hebrew people themselves who eventually become corrupted.  God brings up the Babylonians and the Assyrians and does drive out the Hebrew people from the land.  This last verse in this chapter is one that God fulfills in a very harsh manner.

Why is this important to us?  Well, we are a people called to proclaim God’s grace, love, mercy, and judgment to the world.  We are to be “in the world” but not “of the world.”  That puts us in the very same precarious place that we find the Hebrew people as they go into the Promised Land.  Yes, we are to come in contact with worldly people!  We are to get to know them, testify to them, proclaim love to them, and invite them to know God.  That is what we are commanded to do.  But we are also to do it all the while reminding ourselves that if we go into the world and allow the world to corrupt us as Canaan corrupted the Hebrew people, then God will do to us what He thinks to do to the world.  That, my friends, should keep us all awake tonight.  Do you want God to do to you as He plans on doing to the world?

No, I’m not really trying to scare anyone.  Please know that I am not trying to make anyone doubt their salvation.  But I am trying to call us all to a serious note about following God.  It is so easy to become corrupted in the world.  It is easy to find ourselves a mile away from God’ path simply and unknowingly by taking multiple single steps to the side.  So I don’t call you to doubt, but I do call us all to evaluate.  Right here, right now.  Take an assessment of your walk with God.  Do you walk more with God or with the world?

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Year 1, Day 147: Numbers 32

Two Sides to Every Story

I often hear the debate both among Christian circles and even within my own head as to whether or not it was right for some of the Hebrew people to request land outside of Canaan.  Does it show laziness in simply taking what is available rather than going through the work to get what God has promised?  Does it show fear in being afraid to conquer Canaan?  Does it show faithlessness in God in God’s ability to provide a better land than they found here across the Jordan?  Does it show a materialistic bent on behalf of these tribes to take what they can get their hands on?

All of these questions are legitimate, but they only present one side of the story.  I used to think shamefully upon Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh for settling for land outside the Promised Land.  But today I think differently.  Here’s when my thought process began to change, and I’ll hint that it begins with Calvin.

Calvin argues at the very least that in giving the trans-Jordan land to the tribes, the scope of the land is increased.  At the very least, by the Hebrew people claiming this land in addition to Canaan they actually set up a demonstration on how gracious God is.  When it is all said and done, God has in fact delivered Canaan and the trans-Jordan lands into the hands of the Hebrew people.  God even exceeds His own promises.  So here with the help of Calvin we can see a different side to the question of the morality of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh.

Moving beyond Calvin’s point, let’s look at the promise that these tribes make.  If we look closely at 32:17 we can see that while most Bibles translate this passage as “we are ready to go before the people of Israel.”  But that’s not really what the Hebrew indicates.  The verb that many English translations have as “ready” actually means to make haste or to hurry.  These people who are receiving their inheritance across the Jordan are rushing to prepare their cities and sheepfolds so that they can lead the battle in Canaan!  

In many respects, what I hear them saying is something like this.  “Since we have our inheritance, we want to put ourselves at the front of the battle so that we will make quick work of what the Lord has for us so we may return home.”  While there is the possibility of some kind of selfishness in that thought, the reality is that they put themselves first in the line of battle.  They would take the highest casualties in that position.  That does not sound like the lazy and unfaithful attitude of a people who want to claim their inheritance rather than fight.  That sounds like a people who are excited about claiming the inheritance and going ahead with God’s promise.

Now, to be fair I think we do have to acknowledge that the intentions of the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh may not have been genuine at first.  If they were genuine at first, I don’t think Moses would have had to give them the lecture about how if they don’t go into Canaan to fight they will sin against God.  The fact that Moses had to give the lecture tells me that in Moses’ mind he had a little doubt as to the true purity of these trans-Jordan tribes.

But the reality is that once they hear Moses’ argument they are chastened and convicted of the right thing to do.  They do the right thing.  I really give these tribes some serious credit for the personal growth we can see developing in this story.  Their desire to possess the land demonstrated an overabundance of God’s promise.  Their ability to listen to Moses’ argument shows rational thought.  Their ability to be inspired by Moses’ thought shows a desire to contemplate and a willingness to be chastened.  Their assertion to go before the Israelites and be at the front of the battle shows commitment to the plan.

Sure, these trans-Jordan tribes may have caused us to question their work ethic, their loyalty to their kin, and their faithfulness to God in the beginning.  But in the end they demonstrate true character by rising to the challenge.  They give us a good role model to follow.  Sometimes we ourselves might have a hint of laziness about us.  Or sometimes people might question our motives.  But those times are opportunities to step forward and embrace the challenge of actually following God with purpose and see what God can do with us.

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Year 1, Day 146: Numbers 31

Holy War

For most of us modern American Christians, Numbers 31 is a bit of a difficult passage to read.  We are not often given the command of the Lord to begin a holy war.  We have a tendency to balk a bit when we hear the command from Moses – who got it from God – to kill not just the men but also the young boys and any women who were no longer virgins.  That is a difficult decree for many of us modern and civilized Christians to hear.  It may strike us a bit too close to the concept of jihad or other suck expressions.

However, faith is not easy and there are many lessons that we should learn whether they are comfortable for us or not.  As we get to the conquest of Canaan in the book of Joshua we are going to have many such lessons.  Part of our problem in dealing with these passages is that while we have conditioned ourselves to know that we cannot judge a person’s guilt, innocence, or their true nature – God can and does.  God can know a person’s guilt.

Return of Balaam

Now, with respect to the specifics of this passage – let’s take a brief overview.  We’ve already begun to speak of the effects of the war, so let’s pick up two more tidbits.  Balaam is slain and the text seems to indicate that not a single Hebrew soldier is lost in the process.  The issue of Balaam is another hard pill for me to swallow, because ultimately in the end he did offer blessings and not curses upon the Hebrew people a few chapters ago.  Yet, he did remain a Midianite.  He did return to his home with Balak and the other princes after blessing Israel.  We also know that he was really in it for the money anyways.  So ultimately I see why he was killed among the Midianites. 

I guess I struggle with this part of the story because here is a man who has all the evidence of the true God – he even gets prophetic messages from God – yet Balaam refuses to come to terms with God and come over to God’s side.  Perhaps I struggle with Balaam so much not because I see any great injustice done to him as much as I see so many people in this world who are in the same boat as Balaam and it saddens me.  We have all the evidence of God we could ever need, yet we run from God so often.

No Loss of Hebrew Life

The other interesting tidbit of the beginning of the war is that the report is no loss of Hebrew life.  This would be utterly amazing.  But when you think about it, what better way for God to begin the conquest of the land?  What better way for God to indicate Himself to this new Hebrew nation immediately after hearing of the final demise of the last of the wicked generation?  I think in those terms, this story makes a ton of sense.

Along those lines, notice that the people actually do what the Lord commands of them.  Four times in this chapter that expression is used!  (Numbers 31:7, 31, 41, 47)  What an incredible contrast to the rebellion of the prior generation.  In spite of strict orders, the people follow God’s command.  When we add this dynamic to the fact that the prior generation is dead, I think the fact that the text reports no Hebrew casualties makes even more sense.  At this point, the people are right in line with God.  Why shouldn’t things go well for them?

Return to Sacrifices

Finally, I’d like to talk a little bit about the sacrificing going on after the Midianite war.  First, notice that the soldiers were made to follow the cleanliness policy.  They killed – even at the direction of God! – and were subsequently unclean. 

That doesn’t mean they sinned.  Sin is going against God’s ways and clearly the people did not do this.  I think that this is one of the things that we really lose sight of in our modern way of thinking.  There are really two scales of judgment: holy and unholy as well as clean and unclean.  As we see here, a person can be holy and still be unclean.  A person can be separate from the world and following God’s direction but still become unclean because of their interaction with the world.  We must always be careful to not bring the idea of “sin” into the determination of “clean and unclean.” 

Sin more rightly belongs in the determination of “holy and unholy.”  When we sin, we go against God and are unholy – no longer separate from the world.  Yet just because a person is acting in a holy way – separate from the world – does not imply that their cleanliness is maintained, either.

This is important.  People assume that if they just follow God then they are great.  In one sense of the comment that is absolutely true.  So long as we follow God we are certainly one of His children and a child of the promise.  In that sense, we are holy – separate from the world.  But just because we follow God does not mean that we are ready to do anything for God.  Let me give you a real life situation leading up to one of the worst Sunday worship services I have ever led.

Several months after my ordination, Cara and I were in bed reading late one Saturday night.  Suddenly, we heard a car zoom past our house and we could tell that they were in no way obeying the speed limit.  About a quarter mile after our house was a sharp turn to the left.  We heard tires squealing and the horrible sound of a crash.  We lived in a pretty rural area and didn’t expect that many people heard this incident.  So we jumped out of bed and into our car and arrived quickly on the scene of an accident.  The car was overturned, there was broken glass everywhere, there was a huge smear of blood on the road, and the driver was nowhere to be found.  We called it in and began looking for the man until the police and emergency response team showed up.  Even after that we continued to help.  The man was eventually found, received the medical care he needed, and there was no loss of life.

Now, certainly that was something that I can lift up and say that Cara and I were acting in righteousness.  We demonstrated God’s care and compassion for the driver of the car.  However, the events of the night left me with little sleep and a mind that was not ready to focus on worshipping God during the service the following day – much less leading other people to worship God! 

Certainly there was no sin involved in the act of helping the driver, but at the same time I was not ready to do what God called me to do as a worship leader.  I was distracted mentally and spiritually.  I was worn out mentally and spiritually.  I was not burdened with sin from the event, but being out in the world had made me unfit for service in God’s worship.  It would have been better for someone else to lead that morning.

I hope this story helps bring about an understanding of what I am trying to say here.  Just because we are righteous does not mean we are clean.  Just because we do what God calls us to do does not mean that we are in a place to do anything we want for God.  Sometimes we need to follow God and realize that in following God we have made ourselves unfit for other aspects of following God.  So like the Hebrew warriors, we sit outside the camp purifying our minds and our bodies from our righteous interaction with the world.

I hope my point here comes across, and I hope this will give you something to ponder as you go through this day.

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Year 1, Day 145: Numbers 30

Gender in Vows

As we get to the chapter here on vows, there are a few things that jump out at me.  First, the section on male vows is short and sweet.  If a man vows to do something, then he should do it.  There is no back-up plan.  There is no escape route.  He does what he says.

On the other hand, if a young or married woman makes a vow, the bow can be broken if the father or husband denies the vow on the day that he hears about it.  There isn’t really anything that can be said about the differences other than it comes from a patristic nation where things like inheritances and ownership of land passed through the male rather than the female.  Because of this, the man is often considered the “head of household” and with that concept there is a check so that if a married woman or a young girl makes a vow then the head of household has the opportunity to deny the vow.  Essentially, this law honors the cultural understanding that the man is the one responsible for the economic welfare of the family so he gets last say on all matters that might impact the economy of the family.

However, notice that this chapter does say that if a widow makes a vow, it stands.  There is no escape clause for the widow.  Her word is capable of standing for itself because in this case she is the head of the household.

You see, this chapter is not about establishing the dominance of men over women as much as it is about establishing that those that the Bible expects to uphold the needs of the family have the ability to do so.  As we can see in this passage, women who are in a place in their life to be in control of their own things are freely able to make a vow as a man would make.

Keeping Our Word

There is another line of thinking that is much more significant than the “men vs. women” debate.  Here in this passage we are expected to follow through with our word.  In other words, this passage is not just about saying what we mean but it is also about meaning what we say.  Everyone knows that this passage tells us that if we make a promise to God (or anyone else) then we should keep it.

However, what we often forget is that God calls us to not just keep our promises but also to stop and think about our promises before we make them.  We should live our life as though any promise that comes out of our mouth will be fulfilled.  We should be careful when making commitments.  We should be careful when promising things to our children.  We should be careful when declaring things like allegiances.  We should be mindful of the declarations that come out of the mouth!

I think that is a lesson worth gleaning.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:37 (and James confirms in James 5:12) that we should avoid oaths and let our yes be yes and our no be no.  We know what it is like to be human.  We know what it is like to have other people say something to us that we expect them to uphold and they don’t.  

If we are willing, we also confess that our tendency is to run our mouth and make bold and grandiose plans and follow through upon so few.  The wisdom of Jesus, James, and this passage is simply that we should stop and think about what we are saying before saying it.  It isn’t that we shouldn’t make plans or share dreams, but we should do it meaningfully.  We should do it with thought, not just with passion.

God is Our Witness

I have one final thought. I hit upon this earlier a bit.  Remember that God expects us to keep our vows, oath, and promises.  What we sometimes forget is that God is a witness for every promise, oath, and vow that we make.  That is why we are to take them seriously.  Other people may not hear us – or if they do they may not know the intent in our hearts.  But God knows both, and He expects us to be people of our word.  If you really think about that, it can be a scary thought.  God expects us to live up to our word so that when we speak about Him people assume that they can trust us.  When we make a promise, God expects it to be kept so that people see us as believably and trustworthy witnesses to Him.

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Year 1, Day 144: Numbers 29

So, as promised yesterday, today’s reading has a lot to do with sacrifices and we have said plenty about them.  Most of what I said yesterday could be repeated today for it applies just as equally to this chapter as to the last. 

Devotion and Submission and Leadership

Just like yesterday, rather than talking about sacrifices I am going to take a part of the Bible and go very deeply within the passage.  I’m going to speak again about the last verse in this passage.  Moses told all of the people the things about God and then he did just as the Lord told him to do.

Let’s take both parts of that passage in turn.  Moses said everything that he knew to the people.  Moses communicated the wisdom of the Lord to the people.  Moses was the teaching leader that God desired.  I think that is an important aspect for us to remember.  God has called us to be public proclaimers of our faith.  We are to be God’s mouthpiece.  When we aren’t proclaiming our faith, we aren’t being very good Christian leaders.

The second part of this passage is that Moses did what he was expected to do.  God told Moses to lead the people and remind the people of their responsibilities in worship.  Moses did that.  Moses demonstrated good leadership.  Moses demonstrated proper guidance.  Moses was a good role model.

But Moses was more than that.  Moses was trustworthy.  Moses was demonstrating to God that Moses was His servant.  In many respects, that’s what I really like about this passage.  Moses was God’s servant, and Moses demonstrates this by doing what God asks.  Moses demonstrates this by submitting to God.

There is a part of me that really wishes Moses had spoken to the rock instead of striking it with the staff.  I really like Moses.  The man did so many good things and in so many ways from my perspective he “deserved” to get into the Promised Land.  I really wish he had been able to get in – even though I know in my mind he would have had to die sooner or later and seeing the Promised Land is really unimportant when compared to the promise of life with God eternally.

Thus, as I finish up this reflection upon Moses, I am reminded of something very important.  Regardless of what happened here on this earth, Moses is no doubt with God and easily counted among the righteous.  So in a sense he did get to see the Promised Land – just maybe not the Promised Land here on this earth.  In the greater scheme of things, that’s really what matters.  I am coming to a great new understanding of Moses as I have spent the last 3 ½ months with him in God’s Word.  I hope you have enjoyed these stories and have come to a greater understanding of what he brought to the table from a leadership perspective as well as from a compassionate man of God.

In Moses we can truly see a man who was occasionally flawed.  He was a man who had a greater burden of leadership upon his shoulders.  But he was a man who was genuinely interested in the things of God way more than he was interested in the things of man.  He was submitted to God – as it really should be.

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Year 1, Day 143: Numbers 28

Didn’t We Already Cover This?

Okay, most of this material – and the material for tomorrow – summarizes what we have already read in Leviticus about the individual sacrifices.  So I’m going to take this in a slightly different route, knowing that we’ve already spoken of the sacrifices no more than a month ago.

Much Sacrificing

Does anyone know how many sheep, goats, and oxen would be sacrificed in order to keep each of these weekly, monthly, and annual sacrifices for a single year?  Does anyone know how much flour and wine would be consumed in the sacrifices?  Yes, it is a realistic number – especially for a nation.  But it is a significant number.  And no, I’m not going to tell you.  You can figure it out for yourself if you want.

But let’s recognize that it is a significant amount of sacrificing going on.  Even if we just look at the daily sacrifices, that’s over 700 lambs a year alone!  And let’s remember, these are just for the nation and don’t count among them any sort of individual sacrifice for forgiveness.  So, what does that mean?  Is God an unjust God who demands more sacrifice than the people can bear?

Absolutely not!  What this system of sacrifices does is demonstrate the wonderful wealth of God’s provision. 

God’s Provision

God does require great sacrifice – even from us today.  But God gives even more abundantly.  God’s grace and mercy is plentiful.  If we take all that we have and compare it to what God asks of us, it is not too big of a deal.  If the Hebrew people took all that God had provided them with and compared it to what He asks of them it would be no big deal.  Yes, it is significant, but not even close to unbearably so.  God’s provision always outweighs His demands.

If we add to this fact that God is leading them into the Promised Land, then what we can see is that this “burden of sacrifice” is actually an incredible promise.  Here’s what I mean by this.  If God truly expects sacrificing to this level, He will have to prosper His people.  If God demands this level of devotion, God must be leading His people into a place where this level of devotion is absolutely possible.  By establishing this principle, God is assuring the people that they will be prosperous should they continue in their relationship with Him.

Faith

That leads me to the human side of this conversation: faith.  Giving is an act of faith.  Anyone can give out of their surplus – that is no act of faith.  But the one who tithes gives not out of their surplus but rather according to what God desires of them.  Remember Jesus sitting across from the offering boxes with His disciples as the poor widow puts in her “insignificant sum?”  She is praised because she gave out of her need, not out of her excess.  (See Mark 12:41-44)

They give not out of their surplus, but out of their first-fruits.  They give back to God trusting that God will take care of their needs.  The weight of this sacrificial system indicates the faith that there people had that God would provide for them.  After all, who gives up their best ox without trusting that God can provide over and above what that ox could have ever provided?

That is what the sacrificial system is all about.  It is a give-and take relationship between God’s provision and our faith.  That is what sacrifice is all about.  Trust in God; put faith in God on display!

What is it that Jesus said to His disciples?  Look at the birds and the flowers.  Does not God clothe and feed them with all they need?  Why should we then worry?  Trust God.  Have faith in His provision rather than our own ability to provide.  Worship Him in good faith.

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Okay, maybe I will share the result with you about the total sacrifices offered.  The yearly national offerings found in this chapter and the next must include 113 bulls, 32 rams, and 1,086 lambs, plus over a ton of flour and about 1,000 containers of oil and wine.  And remember, this is just for the national sacrifices.  This does not count any of the sacrifices for individual sin, and of the sacrifices made by the leaders of the people, or any thank offerings!

Year 1, Day 142: Numbers 27

Land Inheritance

Here in Numbers 27 we have two non-related stories.  The first of which is the issue of inheritance when there is no male heir.  Before I go too far, I need to remind everyone why this is not some chauvinistic law.  Ultimately it is not a chauvinistic law.  All children received an inheritance out of the father’s possession, not just the males.  We often forget this fact.  Women would receive a dowry, which is simply a fancy word for an inheritance given at the time of marriage.  Men typically received their inheritance after becoming an adult male – or more typically near the death of their father.  Women received their inheritance when they became an adult female – most typically when they were married.

So that puts the idea of chauvinism behind us as we are concerned with this passage and frees us to get to the real issue: the perpetuation of the tribes.  Here is what is at stake.  If this man who doesn’t have sons dies, who gets to control the land?  This is a fundamental point, because remember that under the Jubilee scenario all land reverts back to its designated owner every 50 years.  So we are talking about true perpetuation of the land.  These daughters are making sure that their offspring for generations to come will have land capable of supporting them.

With the law that is made, we have the understanding that this will happen.  If there is no legitimate offspring, the land ultimately goes to the closest kinsman.  The balance of the land will be held.  There will be no way for a few small people to gain majority control over all of the land and exploit the rest of the rest of the Hebrew people.  The land will stay in control of the many, not the few.

God truly is looking out for the orphan and the widow, here.  You know humanity as well as I do.  You know that humanity will always be persecuted by the few who desire to take advantage over the many.  These may be the rich, the elite, the silver-tongued, or the political giants.  And yes, people can fit more than one category.  But in human terms, there will always be the few who desire to take advantage of the many.  What God is setting forth here is an ordinance that will help to curb that flawed human tendency.

Joshua

The second story that we have here is the succession of Joshua.  The key for this passage seems to be in this concept of succession, not replacement.  As we will see, Moses will continue to lead the people until he dies.  To attest to this we still have to read Deuteronomy before we even get to Joshua!  Moses is told to give some – not all – of his power to govern the people to Joshua.  Joshua is the leader-apparent, but not yet the leader.

There are a few reasons why this is important.  First, In spite of God’s prohibition against Moses going into the Promised Land, Moses was a great leader.  He made a few mistakes, sure.  But he talked face-to-face with God.  Not too many people in the history of the world can claim to have done that.  Miracles happened at his touch.  Not too many people did that, either.  So it is fitting that Moses continues to lead these people until he dies.

From Joshua’s perspective, it is also good for him.  He has a great mentor.  He can learn a lot from Moses.

Far too many people want to jump too quickly at being the leader and stop being the mentee.  I know this is very too true for me.  I wish I had a few years to go back and be the mentee again.  Being second in command is not a bad place to be, and we often forget that in life.  Being first in command gets all the glory, but it also means that when the leader has to learn lessons the lessons are more costly for the whole community.  The more lessons a person can learn before they become the leader, the less difficult the lessons are for the whole community. 

I think it is good for Joshua to be appointed, but not assume full command here.  Let the skilled and capable among the leadership lead while those who are around them continue to learn and grow.  Their time to lead will be soon enough, and the more they learn before they are thrust into leadership the better their leadership will be.

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Year 1, Day 141: Numbers 26

Genealogy

Alright, we have another list chapter.  And that’s okay.  Read through the list.  In fact, you can probably skim most of this chapter (except the first and last paragraph) and not miss much.  But I will draw us to three quick conclusions.

No Increase In The Wilderness

First, compare the total number in this chapter verses that given in Numbers 1.  You’ll notice that the number does not go up.  That should be striking to us.  The Hebrew people spent 400+ years in Egypt and the Lord increased their number of men from 12 to 600,000.*  If you follow the asterisk below, you’ll find an argument presupposing that a birthrate of 3.4 children will accomplish this task, so it isn’t even a difficult task!  So here’s the point: if their numbers can go up so easily, we should take serious note when the numbers here don’t go up at all.

Yes, life in the wilderness is hard.  Yes, God said that all in the perverse generation would die before going into the Promised Land.  But the numbers still go down – even after the kids of the perverse generation are having their own kids and adding it to the tally.  My point is simple.  When we go against God, we should not expect His blessing.  The fact that there is a decrease to the numbers given in the two lists within the book of Numbers should point us to the implications of living a life without God’s blessing.  When we go against God, we should not expect increase, bounty, or even satisfaction.  It just isn’t going to happen.

Context of the Lack of Increase

Second, note that this list comes immediately after the story about the Midianite culture war.  The fact that we have a counting – an even worse, a blunt description that none of the previous generation were left – immediately after the Midianite culture war tells us the severity of the culture war.  The Midianite culture war was the tombstone of the perverse generation.  It was the end of them.  It was their final act of disobedience.  It is how they will be remembered.  They lusted after the world and didn’t take the time to care about God.  They died in their lusts while having false confidence in the label “God’s people.”

Culture War

I meant what I said yesterday.  Those who follow God are always engaged in a culture war.  The world is always attempting to corrupt us and pull us away from God.  The world is always giving us more important things to do than to be with God.  For the record, our own internal human nature is likewise doing the same thing!  We are not only at war with our culture, but we wage war within ourselves.  It is nothing to be taken lightly. 

Just as this list illustrates the tombstone of the previous generation, so will another list illustrate our tombstone.  One day, we too will die.  There will be a counting of those who enter into the Promised Land.  I wonder, how many of us will be on that list?  How important is it to us right now while we are alive and distracted by this world?  It clearly wasn’t very important to that particular generation of Hebrew people.

Joshua and Caleb and the People of Promise

Finally, notice that Joshua and Caleb are left in the promise.  Yes, we still have yet to go through the stories of the death of Moses.  But barring a few loose ends to wrap up, watch the marked change in the behavior of the Hebrew people here.  Nobody is perfect – and the Hebrew people will stumble from time to time.  But with the perverse generation behind us, notice how when we start Joshua that the people do much more listening.  God is not only a God of judgment and wrath, but He is a God of promise and hope to those who love Him and listen to Him.  That is something we can glean by noticing that God is true to His promise to Joshua, Caleb, and the younger generation.

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*For those of you wondering, this isn’t really even radical growth.  We can assume 20 generations (20 years for each male to become the age for being able to make an heir) in 400 years, and we know they were in Egypt for at least 400 years.  Doing a little math gives a simple equation: 600,000 = 12x²⁰.  In that equation, X represents the rate of growth.  Dividing both sides by 12, taking the log of both sides, dividing both sides by 20, and then taking that answer as an exponent to 10 gives the rate.  That rate is simply 1.7.  That’s an easy growth rate to accomplish, and the population size would not be large enough to begin to produce too many prohibitive factors against life (food quantity, living space, etc).  Oh, and for the record, we should remember that I’m dealing with only males, so that 1.7 birthrate actually means a 3.4 birthrate of children both male and female.  It is not uncommon at all to think of bronze age families having 3-4 children successfully reaching adulthood and producing their own offspring.

To illustrate this point, I drew up a little chart.  The first column shows the generation number.  The second column shows the total number of adult males who have already produced offspring in the community.  The third column shows the number of males ready to produce offspring.  The fourth column shows the number of viable male offspring reaching adulthood produced at a rate of 1.7 (I rounded to eliminate decimals, but the calculations are based on non-rounded numbers).  The fifth column represents how many adult males in the community have reached the age of death.  The last column gives the total number of adults by adding the second and third column while subtracting away the fifth column.  As you can see, this kind of population growth is not difficult to accomplish at the small levels of population presented here.  And yes, in the grand scheme of things 600,000 males was not terribly large even for the bronze age!

1	0	12	20	0	12
2	12	20	35	0	32
3	32	35	59	12	55
4	67	59	100	20	106
5	126	100	171	35	192
6	226	171	290	59	338
7	397	290	493	100	587
8	687	493	839	171	1,010
9	1,180	839	1,426	290	1,729
10	2,019	1,426	2,425	493	2,952
11	3,445	2,425	4,124	839	5,032
12	5,870	4,124	7,012	1,426	8,568
13	9,994	7,012	11,923	2,425	14,581
14	17,006	11,923	20,274	4,124	24,805
15	28,929	20,274	34,474	7,012	42,191
16	49,203	34,474	58,620	11,923	71,754
17	83,677	58,620	99,678	20,274	122,023
18	142,297	99,678	169,494	34,474	207,501
19	241,975	169,494	288,209	58,620	352,848
20	411,468	288,209	490,074	99,678	600,000