03/01/10

Numbers 18-21

In chapter 18, the LORD spoke to Aaron, and told him that he and his sons "and your father's family" will bear the responsibility for any offenses against the sanctuary, and that he and his sons will bear responsibility for any offenses against the priesthood. The other Levites have been given to do the work of the Tent of Meeting, but only he and his sons may serve as priests at the altar and inside the curtain - anyone else would be put to death. With their burdens and responsibilities, they will also be supported by the offerings of the people. He and his sons are to have "\the part of the most holy offerings that is kept from the fire." The LORD gives them that as their portion. That also means that they "will have no inheritance in their land...I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites." They are to have "all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance."

Numbers 19 describes the water of cleansing. A red heifer "without defect or blemish" is to be sacrificed and burned, with cedar, hyssop and scarlet wool tossed on while its burning. The ashes are to be gathered by someone clean and put in a ceremonially clean place outside camp. The ashes, placed in a clean jar with clean water forms the water of cleansing, which can be used to clean unclean people and things.

In chapter 20, Miriam dies and is buried at Kadesh. Then the company grumbles against Moses and Aaron again, because there is no water. Moses and Aaron "fell facedown" in the Tent of Meeting, and "the glory of the LORD appeard to them." He told Moses to gather the assembly and to speak to a rock, and "it will pour out its water." So Moses speaks to the assembly, calls them rebels, and strikes the rock with his staff, and water gushes out. But the LORD was angered with Moses "because you did not trust in me enought to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites," and he told him that he would not lead the people in to the promised land.

Moses sent messages to the king of Edom, telling him about the promises the LORD had made and how he had brought them out of Egypt, and asked permission to pass through Edom. But the Edomites refused and threatened to attack them if they tried. The Israelites sent back word that they would stay on the main road, and take nothing, not even grass or water, but again the Edom said no, and "came out against them with a large and powerful army." So Israel turned away.

After that they left Kadesh and came to Mount Hor, where the LORD told Moses and Aaron that "Aaron will be gathered to his people." At the LORD's command, they went up Mount Hor with Eleazar and transferred the priestly garments on to him, and then Aaron died on top of the mountain. The whole of Israel mourned for 30 days.

Numbers 21 starts with a story of the Canaanite king of Arad capturing some Israelites as they traveled the road to Atharim. Israel pledged to GOD that if he would "deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities." The LORD heard, and gave the Canaanites over to them and they destroyed the cities.

But, as they traveled the Red Sea route around Edom, they again grew miserable and grumbled against Moses and against the LORD. The LORD sent venomous snakes among them and many died, but Moses prayed, and the LORD told him to "make a snake and put it on a pole." Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, and anyone who was bitten could look at the bronze snake and live. They continued on towards Moab, and the book describes places along the way. It also references another book, apparently now lost, called the "Book of the Wars of the LORD."

As they had done with Edom, the Israelites sent a message to Sihon, king of the Amorites, that they would take nothing if allowed to pass through, but, also like the Edomites, Sihon refused. He mustered his army and marched out to attack. The Israelites won, and "took over his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only as far as the Ammonites." They captured all of the cities of the Amorites and occupied them. Moses then sent spies to Jazer and captured its settlements and "drove out the Amorites who were there." They then turned towards Bashan, and Og, kind of Bashan, marched to meet them with his entire army. The LORD told Moses that "I have handed him over to you," and they struck him down and his whole army, "leaving them no survivors," and "took possession of his land."

Thoughts, questions, issues

• Among a nation set apart from other nations, the descendants of Aaron are set apart yet again, as a priesthood among the nation of priests. That seems a heavy burden.
• Ps 51:7 - "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."
  
  I've recited that many times, as we read the 51st psalms as a prayer of confession before the Lord's Supper at Park Street. But I never understood the context for it. Now I do. It's a reference to Numbers 19 and the water of purification. The ashes from the purification offering, with clean water, are sprinkled using hyssop. And there was hyssop burned as part of the purification offering. The ritual was to be performed to make the unclean clean. So this is a prayer for ritualistic cleansing as the LORD commands.
• It's difficult to be sure what, exactly, Moses did that angered GOD at Meribah. My best guess reading is that Moses said "must we bring you water out of this rock" rather than "must the LORD bring water out of this rock" but I don't know that for sure. I may be misreading. If that's it, again, it seems harsh to treat Moses that way after the service he's given (albeit, not without some grumbling of his own along the way.) Maybe that's part of the lesson. "With GOD all things are possible" and failing to acknowledge the work of the LORD is a sin. And all sin, and fall short, and are in danger of judgement. If Moses can be kept out of the promised land for mis-speaking at this point and in this way, how could any of us possibly think we've "earned" our way in to heaven?
• Aaron's death seems...unseemly. I guess that it makes sense, if dead bodies are unclean, that you don't want him dying in the priestly garments, but the passage reads cold. Aaron also gave good service to the LORD.
  
  But again, all sin, all fall short. Even Aaron, even Moses.
• As some point, you assume that you're going to stop reading things like this:
  

  They quarreled with Moses and said, "If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! Why did you bring the LORD's community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place?

  But no. No amount of convincing seems to work. Here, in chapter 20, complaining about their conditions.
  
  And here again in chapter 21:
  

  ...they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"

  It's understandable why the LORD was angered against them.
• Yes, GOD told them to make the bronze snake while they made the golden calf on their own, but that strikes me as dangerously close to idol worship. And it's definitely the kind of thing that leads to idol worship - "hey, that bronze snake can protect you from snake bites!"
• It seems likely that Numbers 21 marks the actual start of the conquest of Canaan, which is predominantly documented in the book of Joshua.

Psalms 24

Another psalm of praise, of acknowledgment of the LORD and the debts we all owe to him. "The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it..." But again, we see the Jewish perspective of ritualistic cleansing, of following the law, as preparing a man to "ascend the hill of the LORD." The Christian perspective is that none of us can ever prepare to ascend that hill on our own, that no amount of works or cleansing can enable a man to follow the law well enough to earn that. Only Jesus could ascend that hill, and we can only do it in him.

One of Handel's wonderful Messiah choruses is the last four verses of this psalm.

Psalm 24
Of David. A psalm.
1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

2 for he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters.

3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false. [a]

5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.

6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob. [b]
Selah

7 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

8 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

10 Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.
Selah

02/26/10

Numbers 10-14

Chapter 11 relates how the Israelites, almost immediately upon leaving Mount Sinai, demonstrated ingratitude towards the LORD again. They "complained about their hardships" and the LORD was angered and sent fire among the outskirts of the camp which consumed some of them. They cried out to Moses, who prayed and the fire stopped.

"And again the Israelites started wailing," complaining that they had no meat and were tired of the manna. The LORD got "exceedingly angry" but Moses was troubled, asking the LORD why he had to deal with all of the burdens of the Israelites. The LORD had him gather seventy elders "who are known to you as leaders" and he put the spirit on them to help carry the burdens. Two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, did not join them, but the spirit "also rested on them." When Joshua heard them prophesy, he encouraged Moses to stop them, but Moses was pleased to have more of the people with the spirit. Then the LORD sent a wind which drove quail in from the sea, three feet deep around the camp in all directions. The people gathered and ate, but the LORD was angry with them and "struck them with a severe plague." From there, which they named Kibroth Hattaavah, they traveled to Hazeroth.

In chapter 12, Miriam and Aaron began to speak against Moses because he had married a Cushite. The LORD spoke to all three to come to the Tent of Meeting, then he "came down in a pillar of cloud." He told them that he normally communicated with prophets through dreams and visions but with Moses he speaks face to face, and wonders why they aren't afraid to speak against him. When the cloud lifted, Miriam was leprous, like snow, but Moses cried out to the LORD to heal her. She was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she came back. They then left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.

In Numbers 13, the Israelites near the promised land, and Moses, at the LORD's command, sent one man from each tribe into Canaan on a scouting mission, to find out about the land and its inhabitants. They went and explored, and brought back grapes and pomegranates and figs, returning after forty days. They reported that the land was flowing with milk and honey but that the people living their were giants, and too strong to attack.

Again, in chapter 14, the people of Israel rebelled against the leadership of Moses, fearing destruction if they tried to enter the promised land, and telling one another that they should choose a leader and go back to Egypt. Joshua and Caleb, from among those who had explored Canaan said that the land was good and the LORD would give it to them, but the people talked about stoning them. The LORD came down and threatened to destroy the people and make a new nation out of Moses, but Moses, arguing in part that the Egyptions would scoff, talked him out of it. The LORD forgave the people, but decreed that none of those who had come out of Egypt and then disobeyed in the desert would enter the promised land, except for Caleb and Joshua. The rest would stay in the desert, their children being shepherds, for forty years, and "in this desert your bodies will fall." The men who had explored Canaan and returned a bad report were struck down by a plague and died - of the men that explored, only Caleb and Joshua survived. When Moses told the LORD's decree to the people, they "mourned bitterly" and acknowledged their sin. Then they determined that they would go up to the promised land, but Moses told them that they were disobeying again and couldn't succeed. They started towards the hill country, "then the Amalekites and Canaanites...came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

Thoughts, questions, issues

• It must be unpleasant to wander in the desert. It would tiresome to eat the same thing every day. When we don't have meat, we want meat. But. For the Israelites of all people, having seen what they had seen, being rescued from captivity, to show so little faith seems astounding.
• Seems. If we stop and examine ourselves, truthfully, it is not, perhaps, as astounding as it seems. Which of us does not quickly become accustomed to good things, to the point of taking them for granted? Which of does not resent an injury, or even an inconvenience, not matter how small? It's part of the sinful nature of humanity.
  
  God wanted to set Israel apart as an example for other nations. Reading this book, would anyone argue that they aren't?
• What is the lesson of the story of Eldad and Medad? Is it that GOD will bestow his blessings where he will, and we need to recognize and accept them? Is it simply to reinforce the description of Moses as "more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth"?
• Certainly, part of the lesson that one can take from is that there is no indispensible man. GOD uses Moses, but he can use others among the Israelites, and will.
• The Israelites have provoked GOD, and pay the price. Some are killed by fire, others by plague, and, when Moses argues against the destruction of the people, all those who came out of Egypt but disobeyed are prevented from entering the promised land.
• Human nature has not changed in the last 3000 years. How many times have we resisted something that was asked of us, or ignored it, only to do it defiantly after it was too late or we were told not to? Some of the Israelites did that, only to find, again, that their plans did not work if the were not obeying the LORD's word.

Psalms 22:12-31

I noted the despair in the first half of this prayer yesterday. It continues. This whole psalm is a cry of despair, a cry to the LORD from the depths. The psalmist is surrounded by bulls, dogs, roaring Lions, evil men. Yet in the end, faith remains, trust in the LORD.

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.

In his pain, the way out, the comfort and strength, is the LORD, the promises of the LORD and the righteousness of the LORD.

In this psalm, many see the clearest foreshadowing of the crucifixion in the Old Testament.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me...my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death...a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet...They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

Psalm 22 is a yearly reading during Holy Week services.

12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.

14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.

17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.

18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.

19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.

23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

24 For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.

25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,

28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.

30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.

31 They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn—
for he has done it.