Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Identity
- Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father. Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.
At first glance, this chapter is a pretty dry read. If you want some inspirational thoughts on
the subject of tithing, I’d invite you to follow the link above to the
theological commentary. But for this
post, we’re going to look at identity.
By now, we know that our identity does come best from God. Furthermore, we also understand that we need
to be balanced in our life with respect to our relationship with God (UP), our
relationships with our spiritual family (IN), and our relationships with the
rest of the world (OUT). Combining these
two together shows that while our identity comes from God, it should therefore
naturally flow into our IN and OUT (spiritual family and mission,
respectively.) Our identity should be
visible in whom we hang around and in what ministry we perform.
Look at Numbers 18 in the big picture. A few chapters ago we heard about the
Korahite rebellion. The Levites were
having an identity crisis. They wanted
to be involved in the central workings of the tabernacle. God punished those who rebelled. But here in this chapter – once God settles
once and for all whom He has chosen to be the spiritual leaders – we see that
God gives the Levites their identity in both their spiritual community and
their mission. They are to be the
support for the priests. That’s their
IN. They are to guard the tabernacle to
ensure that such a rebellion does not happen again. That’s their OUT.
Rooted in God, their identity comes from Him. In being Levites, they are able to put their
identity into practice by serving the priests and guarding the temple for God.
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