Year 1, Day 130: Numbers 15

What’s the Point of a Promise?

First, notice that twice God tells the Hebrew people to remember to follow His ways after they enter the Promised Land.  This may seem a bit strange.  Why say these things to a people who are staring down the barrel of wandering through the wilderness for 40 years?

The answer is surprisingly simple.  It is a promise.  They may have to endure the wilderness for 40 years, but God does not abandon His people.  They will one day go into the land.  It might be a promise with a bit of a sting in it – because the current Hebrew people will all die before going into the land, except Joshua and Caleb.  But it is still a promise nonetheless.  God may punish the current generation, but He does not forsake the people entirely.

Unintentional Sin

Next, we hear about the unintentional sin.  I like these verses.  They remind us that unintentional sin still has a consequence, but it doesn’t seem like God is too overly concerned.  I mean, sure, He is absolutely concerned because it is sin.  It must be atoned.  But it isn’t like God demands exile or death for the one who unintentionally sins.  I find that comforting.  So long as I don’t intentionally go against God, God is more than willing to forgive my repentant heart. 

I struggle as I reread that last paragraph, because the lawyer inside of me says, “You didn’t stand up for the ways of God in that last paragraph like you should have!  Every sin is worrisome, intentional and unintentional alike.  Yes, I acknowledge the truth in that.  Any violation of God’s ways is dangerous and wrong – regardless of how big or small.  But there is also a time when we get too worried about every little sin that it prevents us from moving forward with what God will have us do in our life.  I think that is the balance I am trying to say.  So long as our sin is unintentional and we acknowledge it, God wants us to truly repent and move forward.

Intentional Sin

On the other hand, we next turn to the intentional sinner.  We turn to the person who intentionally violates God’s holiness (separateness).  Here we are given the example of the guy picking up sticks. 

So we ask, is picking up sticks really all that bad?  And the answer is absolutely not.  There is no harm in picking up sticks.  But here’s an important question:  is it the BEST thing he could have been doing?  It may not be inherently wrong on a non-Sabbath, but on a day that God wants us to be holy, is it the best thing he could be doing? 

I think in that quandary we find truth.  This man is executed because the best thing for him to do is to remember that God wants us to be separate (holy) on the Sabbath.  When we intentionally choose to not remember that God is holy and has called us to be holy, then where will our rebellion against God stop?  It might seem like making a mountain out of a mole-hill at first, but I hope you understand what I am trying to bring out as I reflect upon that portion of this chapter.

The point isn’t to make a semantic argument about how big or how small the sin is.  The point is to acknowledge that any intentional sin is defiance from God.  Small intentional sin inherently leads to bigger intentional sin.  Soon intentional sin leads to blatant disobedience.

Blue Cord

Finally, we come upon the tassels with the blue cord.  This is a neat section of scripture.  You might wonder what the deal is with this blue cord.  Well, remember in Exodus 39:22 that Aaron’s ephod was made of blue fabric.  The blue cord is every Hebrew person’s reminder that there was a high priest in charge of maintaining the religious purity of the camp.  But perhaps even more the blue cord was their reminder that they had their own part to play in maintaining their own individual ritual purity. 

I find that in this we have a great foreshadowing to the concept of the priesthood of all believers that Jesus and Paul give us in the New Testament.  Yes, we each have spiritual people who can speak truth into our lives.  But we are all also responsible for our own actions and our own purity.  We may have spiritual giants who go before us and who invite us to metaphorically stand upon their shoulders.  But when our time before God comes, we will each answer about ourselves.  And we all have the ability to take that priestly duty with us and go into the world and invite others to see God through this relational lens as well.

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