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Purity and the Nazarite Vow

Numbers 4-6

The Kohathites, Gershonites and Merarites have specific tasks to perform as part of their duties as Levites.

Moses provides a process for a husband to determine if his wife has had sexual relations with another man, specific process and details. I don’t believe there is a law written for the other way around. Interesting.

The Nazarite vow is applicable to men and women and demonstrated by abstaining from wine and other fermented drink plus “no razor may be used on their head.” They are also to avoid dead bodies, even family members.

In the midst of this narrative we see the wonderful Aaonic benediction, one I hear frequently growing up as a Presbyterian:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace Numbers 6:24-26

The Lord wants to bless his people, to set them apart from the rest of the world. I pray, as those who profess Christ as our savior, we would freely offer this blessing to others from the Lord.

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The Census

Numbers 1-3 and Psalm 23

The census was for those 20+ who were able to serve in Israel’s army: 603,550 men; probably over 2 million in total (NIV Study Bible notes). That’s a lot of people wandering around in the desert!!

Enormous emphasis is given to men and male children. No wonder we have a male dominated society and significant resistance to female leadership or pastors. It’s interesting how we pick and  choose the parts of ancient lifestyle to apply to modern living. Just thinking out loud (dangerous, I know). Forgive me if I’ve spoken out of turn and out of place; these are idle thoughts of a father of four daughters.

Given the large population, Moses must be commended for exceptional organizational management skills. The lessons learned from Jethro (Exodus 18) have blossomed into a well-defined protocol for who camps where, when, etc. I can’t even come close to imagining what it must have been like for 2 million people to break camp and move in any direction. Incredible!

The the tent of meeting and the camp of the Levites will set out in the middle of the camps. They will set out in the same order as they encamp, each in their own place under their standard. Numbers 2:17

Where is the Tent of Meeting in my life?

Church is setup in the middle of each camp…nice! The Levites were prominently placed in “town center” for each camp. Wouldn’t it be great if churches were the center of our towns today? How do we become the center? We don’t have the capacity to fix every problem, but we do have an eternal solution. Help us remember that!

 

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More Laws and Feasts; Final Tabernacle Preparation

Leviticus 20-27

The theme of Leviticus might be this:

Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy. Leviticus 20:7-8

As a nomadic people, their first question may have been, “how can we show the Lord our appreciation?” Instead of looking at this as a long list of things you must do (or be put to death), perhaps we should look at this narrative as an answer to prayer. So many times I ask God, “what should I do next?” What if I learned two words from Leviticus today:

Be Holy

“You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.” Leviticus 20:26

There are many festivals listed that help the people engaged throughout the year, a calendar of events to keep reminding everyone. The purposes listed in the NIV Study Bible provide a great summary for us to use as a model:

  • Sabbath: Rest for people and animals
  • Sabbath Year: Rest for land
  • Year of Jubilee: Help for poor; stabilize society
  • Passover: Remember Israel’s deliverance from Egypt
  • Unleavened Bread: Remember how the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt in haste
  • Firstfruits: Recognize the Lord’s bounty in the land
  • Weeks: Show joy and thankfulness for the Lord’s blessing of harvest
  • Trumpets (later: Rosh Hashanah): Present Israel before the Lord for his favor
  • Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur): Atone for the sins of priests and people and purify the Holy Place
  • Tabernacles: Memorialize the journey from Egypt to Canaan; give thanks for the productivity of Canaan
  • Sacred Assembly: Commemorate the closing of the cycle of festivals
  • Purim: Remind the Israelites of their national deliverance in the time of Esther

 

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Day of Atonement

Leviticus 16-19 and Psalm 22

The scapegoat is introduced (Leviticus 16:8-10). Allowed to escape sacrifice, the scapegoat is set free into the wilderness. The rules are harsh from our perspective, but it seems that God has a significant battle to change the hearts of these people.

I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. Leviticus 18:2-3

There’s a long list of “do nots” with reference to sexual relations in chapter 18. There must have been some weird practices in those days…perhaps not so different in this age! “Everyone who does any of these detestable things–such persons must be cut off from their people.”

Chapter 19 includes a variety of laws that provide for a sense of order and discipline for the Israelites. It seems these rules will define the Israelites as different, unique among the other nations. God is working to transform these people from slaves to a nation of God-fearing, people loving people.

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Purification

Leviticus 14-15

Cleansing: skin diseases, molds and discharges. Rules and procedures. The takeaway for me is being “unclean” marks you as an outcast, an untouchable. This might last until evening, a week or more depending on what unclean event has occurred. While there were probably practical reasons for all of these rules, it seems important to appreciate how the Jewish mindset is established with this heritage. By the time Jesus appears on the scene, people have spent hundreds of years incorporating various laws that identified those seen as clean and unclean. (It’s interesting that the opposite of clean is not dirty, yes?)

For 430 years the people that Moses was leading were slaves in Egypt, they had learned Egyptian ways, slaves born of slaves. God allowed this to continue for a very long time (in earthly terms), now he is reshaping his people. I don’t understand the remediation of the unclean events, but I can appreciate the need for order and discipline.

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Nadab and Abihu and Holiness

Leviticus 10-13 and Psalm 21

“Aaron remained silent” after Nadab and Abihu were killed by fire for their unauthorized offering. Sadly, they defied orders and died as a result. Aaron was left with two sons that made another mistake, but apparently not at the same level of significance. Moses was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, but Aaron spoke in their defense:

“Today they sacrificed their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, but such things as this have happened to me. Would the Lord have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?” When Moses heard this, he was satisfied. Leviticus 10:19-20

Clean and Unclean Food

Lots of rules about what you can and cannot eat, for example, “you may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud…creatures living in the water…that have fins and scales,” etc.

Purification After Childbirth and Regulations About Defiling Skin Diseases and Molds

The narrative here seems to be one of a practical nature. It’s interesting that these ancient ancestors are fully aware of all kinds of diseases. Given that they are living in a wandering communal environment, I suppose these are all really useful rules that limit the spread of disease or contamination. It would be interesting to know how medical professionals read this section.

 

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Priests Ministry Begins — Ordination of Aaron and His Sons

Leviticus 8-9

The eloquent speaker for Moses, Aaron, along with his sons become the first official priests for the Israelites. The ceremony requires a series of required steps for consecrating, purifying, etc., all of which required Moses to perform with precision as detailed in the previous chapters. Moses did these things, not servants or those that worked “for” Moses–he did them himself–in front of the assembly of people.

The Lord was pleased with the process, apparently everything was performed exactly as prescribed.

…and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown. Leviticus 9:24

There was joy in the camp.

Reading through the processes followed by Moses, I have a better appreciation for the Roman Catholic church, for their adherence to rituals, robes, ornaments and the like. I’ve personally known many who love Jesus, who fully profess Christ as King. They are indeed our brothers and sisters in Christ. Following rituals doesn’t make me a Christian, I get that, and I hope that is clear, but there is something to be said about being obedient. Perhaps the point of reading these relatively ancient stories is to appreciate they were, in their time and in their space, being completely obedient to what God called them to be and do.

Todd Wilson echoes this theme in his excellent work, More, and the Be-Do-Go framework he built on Ephesians. Lord, help me to hear your voice clearly, to be who you called me to be, to do what you want  and to go where you called me.

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Offerings (Leviticus begins)

Leviticus 1-7 and Psalm 20

Several offerings are defined in the beginning of Leviticus. The following synopses are from the NIV Study Bible, p.164:

  1. The Burnt Offerings:
    1. Voluntary act of worship
    2. Atonement for unintentional sin in general
    3. Expression of devotion
    4. Commitment and complete surrender to God
  2. The Grain Offering
    1. Voluntary act of worship
    2. Recognition of God’s goodness and provisions
    3. Devotion to God
  3. The Fellowship Offering
    1. Voluntary act of worship
    2. Thanksgiving and fellowship (it included a communal meal)
  4. The Sin Offering
    1. Mandatory atonement for specific unintentional sing
    2. Confession of sin
    3. Forgiveness of sin
    4. Cleansing from defilement
  5. The Guilt Offering
    1. Mandatory atonement for unintentional sing requiring restitution
    2. Cleansing from defilement
    3. Make restitution
    4. Pay 20% fine

Season all your grain offerings with salt to remind you of God’s eternal covenant. Never forget to add salt to your grain offerings. Leviticus 2:13

The note in the grain offering to add salt is interesting, though I’m not sure I appreciate the significance.

If anyone sins because they do not speak up when they hear a public charge to testify regarding something they have seen or learned about, they will be held responsible. Leviticus 5:1

What a concept! This is a great lesson for all to hear, something that I hope I can learn from.

The priests have lots of responsibilities to carry out in implementing all of these offerings. They (and their family) are able to eat a portion of the sacrificed items and receive some of the income in the way of fines, but it seems it is enough to keep them going. No one is getting rich by being a priest!

These ceremonies were taken quite seriously, especially when considering mixing the clean and the unclean (that which is defined in great detail). Failing to follow these rules would result in excommunication: “must be cut off from their people.”

 

 

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Work on the Tabernacle and the Ark

Exodus 35-40

Those who were willing and had the ability to do the work joyfully committed themselves to making the Tabernacle a work of art. “Those who were willing…” appears several times. For what it’s worth, the New Living Translation is much easier to read through this section. They convert cubits to feet and weights to pounds. It may seem trivial, but 150-foot wall means more than a wall of 100 cubits. I have a small brain.

36 Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. 37 But if the cloud did not rise, they remained where they were until it lifted. 38 The cloud of the Lord hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and at night fire glowed inside the cloud so the whole family of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys. Exodus 40:36-38

The closing words of Exodus conclude the tribute to those who willingly worked to build the Tabernacle, Moses’ blessing on them and the Lord’s response was to be with them in the cloud.

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God’s Presence; New Tablets

Exodus 33-34

The Tent of Meeting, Moses and the Glory of the Lord, The Radiant Face of Moses.

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Exodus 33:11

I’m letting those words just wash over me, amazed at the relationship between the Lord and Moses. This relationship is available to all who come to Christ. There are times when I have prayed for discernment, in particular, and I believe I have seen the radiance of God in the eyes of those who call him Lord. That might sound a bit bizarre, but I don’t dwell in that place for long, but perhaps I should. I imagine Moses looked forward to the Tent of Meeting, an opportunity to be with God. Still, Moses never had any misunderstanding that, though there was friendship, God was still God. He will not let the wicked go unpunished, nor the righteous go unnoticed. Sometimes we dwell too much on the former, well, I certainly want to see the wicked get what they deserve! Perhaps that’s why I’m not in charge!!

 

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