Numbers 15-18

I really appreciated the Eucharistic parallels. The bread of fine flower represented the body of Christ. The Oil represented that he is anointed of the Holy Spirit. The wine represented his blood. What is amazing is that this was open to both Jews and Gentiles. This shows that it was always God's intent to unify the Jews and the Gentiles, and he did in Acts 10 and 15, when Cornelius was filled with the Holy Spirit, and when the church declared that one did not have to be a circumcised Jew to be a Christian.

I also love the story of Aaron's Rod that budded. I think that this foreshadows the resurrection of Christ. Christ died, and was dead for three days. Then God raised Him from the dead. Christ our high priest.

It is also possible to see the rod as foreshadowing the Cross which brings life, as it says in the study notes.

Also, yesterday I wrote about the dangers of rebelling against our priest or bishop using Aaron and Miriam's example. Here we see more than a mere two person rebellion, but a genuine schism. 200 of Israel's leaders rebelled against Moses and led their people to do so as well.

They had the arrogance to refer to Egypt as the Promised Land(16:13).  They were punished for their rebellion. I think that this speaks of the dangers of following various clergy into schismatic sects that claim to be able to lead people to a Promised Land away from the church.

Numbers 11-14

My favorite part of everything was when the two men in the camp prophesied and Joshua the son of Nun tells Moses to forbid them from doing that. And Moses says are you jealous of them for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people might be prophets, when the Lord would put His Spirit upon them.

I think that this is ultimately a reference to the day of Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles like fire and they all spoke in tongues, and prophesied. And throughout the entire book of Acts the Holy Spirit would come up on them and they would prophesy. Even to this day holy men and women prophesy under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In fact Justin Martyr refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Prophecy. He seemed to understand the Holy Spirit's work mainly in the work of prophecy.

Of course we should not limit the Holy Spirit to prophesy. But the Apostle Paul says that the greatest spiritual gift that a person can desire is the gift of prophecy.

It is the Holy Spirit which inspired Moses to write the Torah. He also inspired the prophets to proclaim the Torah in the midst of a wicked generation. And it was the Spirit who pointed the way to the Messiah through their prophecies. The Spirit inspired the Apostles to write Scripture. And the Spirit preserves the Holy Orthodox Faith through the fathers. And it is the Spirit that leads and guides the Orthodox Christians when we study the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit of Prophecy. Whenever a person reads the Holy Scriptures, or teaches the Holy Scriptures, or even studies the Holy Scriptures they are engaging in a work of prophecy. "Would that all the Lord's people might be prophets."

Besides this beautiful display of the Holy Spirit, we also see a beautiful and fearful depiction of the Son of God. When Aaron and Miriam become arrogant because they have prophesied as well, God Himself corrects them.  He says that while other prophets may receive messages from the Lord, they receive messages through visions, or dreams. But Moses actually spoke to God face to face. God would even come down in a physical and embodied form. Nobody has that intimacy. 

I think that this is a healthy warning for anybody who wishes to challenge their priest or bishop. They serve in a unique and holy way as they minister the Eucharist. God comes down in the chalice at their prayers. This is an amazing truth. So do not speak against your priest, or your bishop.

I might expand on this later.

Numbers 7-10:10

Chapters 7-9 Do not contain very much devotional material. Chapter 7 deals specifically with the different gifts that were given by the covenant community with the expressed purpose of being used in the tabernacle. They are described. Chapter 8 deals with the lamp and the lamp stand in the tabernacle.

Chapter 8 deals with getting the Levites ceremonially clean. The process involved the sprinkling of the water of cleansing. (Another and more familiar way to say that is simply "Holy water.") The last thing that happens is they go through a laying on of the hands ceremony. This sounds eerily familiar with Christian initiation in the New Testament.

The Christian is washed with water, in the name of the Lord, and the have a laying on of hands, and the Holy Spirit comes upon them.

The second Passover is celebrated in chapter 9.  There are specific rules to be made, and this is a mandatory feast. There is an exception made for people who are unclean or away on a journey. It should be noted that the people who were away, or were unclean came and asked Moses if they could participate in the Passover feast. This is not something that people should feel is being "forced" on them.

The Christian Passover is celebrated every day in both the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. The Eucharist is how we participate in this Passover. Jesus is the bread of life. His blood is the fourth cup. He sustains us with his own true presence in the Eucharist.

Chapter 9 also speaks of the Cloud of the Lord. The Cloud of the Lord "overshadowed" the tabernacle. Numbers 9:18 is significant to Christians because it is a type of Mary. Just as the Spirit of the Lord overshadowed the tabernacle in the wilderness, that same Spirit of the Lord overshadowed Mary. Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, and Christ was conceived.

Chapter 10-10:10 finish up this section of Numbers. The Lord commands Moses to make two trumpets, and these trumpets were used to signal when it was time for everyone to pack up and move on.

Numbers Intro - Chapter 6

Book: Numbers
           The Septuagint, (the greek translation of the Old Testament) names the book "arithmoi. Which in English is translated "Numbers." The book was named Numbers because of the two censuses mentioned in the book. To be fair, the book has a lot of numbers. But I think to name  the book numbers is to miss our on the main theme of the book. In Hebrew, the name is"b'midbar" which means "in the desert." I think that this more accurately reflects the message of the book, because this book of the Torah chronicles the time that Israel spent traveling from Egypt to the promised land. There is considerably less law in this book than Leviticus, though there is still law, but there is still considerably less narrative than Genesis, though much more than Leviticus had. There will be more devotional material in Numbers than there was in Leviticus.
              
Author: Moses
Date: According to a traditional date, Numbers would have been written around the same time as the rest of the Torah, at 1440 BC. I reject the documentary hypothesis, and the late date (approximately 400 BC) that it proposes. 

General outline:

I.    At Sinai (1:1-10:10)
    A. The First Census (1:1-54)
    B. The Arangement of the Camps. (2:1-4:49)
    C. Legislation (5:1-8:26)
    D. Final Events at Sinai (9:1-10:10)
II.  From Sinai to Edom (10:11-20:21)
    A. To Kadesh (10:11-12:16)
    B. At Kadesh (13:1-20:21)
III. From Edom to the Jordan. 
    A. Aaron's Death (20:22-29)
    B. The Destruction of Arad (21:1-4)
    C. The Bronze Serpent (21:5-9)
    D. The Journey to Moab (21:10-20)
    E.Initial Victories (21:21-35
    F. The Plains of Moab (22:1-36:13)

This brief commentary will begin with an explanation of the purpose of the Nazarite vow, and a brief exposition of the Priestly blessing and it's theological significance in Christianity. 

The Nazarite Vow is described in chapter 6:1-21. As we have seen in Exodus and Leviticus, the ministers were essentially Levites. Now, it is often said that Israel had a priesthood, but now we are all priests. And that's not entirely accurate. Every Israelite was a priest, in a sense, just as every Christian is a priest. But there was a specific group of Israelites that were considered priests in an exclusive sense. Just as there is a specific group of ministers who have special duties in the church. The major distinction was that the Levites were born into their priesthood. But what if a person wanted to separate themselves for God's exclusive service? 

The Nazarite Vow would fulfill that specific purpose. A person who took on the Nazarite Vow could do so either permanently, or temporarily. They were to abstain from three things. 1) Cutting their hair. 2) Eating or drinking anything from the vine. So no grapes, no wine, no olives, no oil. 3) They could not come into contact with anything or anybody dead. As long as these three conditions were met, this person could serve the Lord in a special capacity, though he is not a priest.

So who in scripture has taken a Nazarite vow? Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist all were very important characters in biblical history who have taken the vow from their birth. But there were others who have taken the Nazarite vow. Paul did in Acts 18:18, Four Christians with Paul took the vow in Acts 21:23-24, 26.

Now, many have mistakenly said that Jesus Christ had taken a Nazarite vow. This is a common mistake. Jesus was a Nazarene. A Nazarene was a person who was from Nazareth a city.

From Chapter 6:22-27 we find a very beautiful priestly blessing. Let's break it down a bit.

"The LORD said to Moses: Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them:

The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!

So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.

The first thing that is obvious is that Aaron and the priests are to pronounce this blessing. This is a blessing that is within the context of covenant worship. The priest here stands in the place of God, to the people. Aaron is not the source of the blessing, but is the vessel that God is using to announce this blessing.

The three parts of this blessing all begin with the divine name. YHWH. Translated above as LORD. It is imperative to understand that the name of the LORD is being invoked over the people in covenant setting. Notice also that this can be seen as a sign of the Trinity in the Old Testament. This is significant.

From a Oneness Pentecostal perspective, David Norris argues that the name of the Lord is being invoked over the believers and in fact, the name of the Lord is being called down over the Israelites. He connects this verse with Acts 2:38, where he would place an importance of the name of God being called down in baptism, that name being Jesus, as it means "YHWH saves."

But using the same argument, a trinitarian can look at the same verse, and see in it that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all share the same name, that is YHWH. They could see this same portion of scripture and baptize in the Name of Yahweh the Father, and of Yahweh the Son, and of Yahweh the Holy Spirit. 

Leviticus 20-27

Through these last 7 chapters, there is not much devotional material. But there is this line that repeats itself over and over. "I am the LORD who sanctifies you."

Now this is a very significant thing especially when you consider the whole book. Through the book we learn of various ceremonies that a person goes through to become sanctified. Sacrifices and washings, and feasts oh my. These people were to live lives striving towards holiness. And if one were to look at it with an overly "Lutheran" view of the text, they would be earning their sanctification. Yet, God thunders repeatedly "I am the LORD who sanctifies you."

The participation of these Israelites in their sanctification does not imply that they are sanctifying themselves, by their own power and ability. God is the one who sanctifies.

So this is the tension that Arminians and Calvinists live in.

I would make clear, that God was the one who delivered them from Egypt. And these rules and stipulations and laws are given after they were delivered, but nevertheless, these are God's house rules for their time period.

Are there still house rules today? Are there still punishments for the violation of those house rules?

Jesus and Leviticus 19

Jesus interprets Leviticus 19 very well, I believe in Matthew 5:43-48. This is my own translation of this text. 
You have heard it said, “Love your countrymen”,and detest the one who hates
you. But, I say to you, love the one who hates you, speak well of those who
speak ill of you, do good to those who detest you and pray for those who falsely
accuse you and slander you. so that you may be sons of your father in heaven,
for he causes the sun to rise on the evil ones and the good ones, and rain on the
just ones and the unjust ones. for if you love the lover of you, what reward do
you have? Even the tax collecters do the same, don’t they?and if you greet your
brother alone, what more are you doing? Don’t even the the other nations do
that? So be Perfect, just as your father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5: 43-48
You have heard it said, “Love your countrymen”,and detest the one who hates
you.

A few things right out. First, you’ll notice that I have opted for the word
countrymen instead of the word neighbor. Now this does have significance. For
Jesus is doing two things. One, presenting the teachings of the Pharisees, and
two, presenting his own teaching on the matter. Now, I chose the word
countrymen for a purpose. To the Jews, the commandment “Love your
neighbor” referred not to the Gentiles and especially not to the Sammaratins.

To the Jews, the word neighbor referred to ones own nation. I.E. Other Jews.
Now, this is important. Because they are quoting a scripture here. “Love your
countrymen.” This is found in Leviticus 19:18. Now I find it very interesting,
that just a few verses earlier, Jesus teaches about retaliation. And in the context
of Leviticus 19, verses 17 and 18 speak directly to the issue of retaliation. A while ago My Pastor, Dave Bucy spoke about how the commandment found in Leviticus 24:20
“eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.” was not a commandment to get even, but
rather, if you do decide to “get even” make sure that the punishment fits the
crime. If a person hits you, do not be like Lamech, and kill them. Rather, if they
gouge out your eye, gouge out theirs, and ONLY that one eye, and nothing else.
It was a law of limitation. But here, we see in Leviticus 19:17-18 the proper
response to a disagreement. The one that the Torah actually encourages, and not
just allows. “You shall not hate your brother… You shall not take vengeance or
bear a grudge” so Jesus begins to teach the better way.

But what does it mean to be a neighbor? And this is where the rub comes. What does
it mean to be a brother? A Scribe in Luke’s gospel asked that question, and Jesus,
through a parable, says that everybody is your neighbor. Everybody is your brother.
But, I say to you, love the one who hates you, speak well of those who speak ill
of you, do good to those who detest you and pray for those who falsely accuse
you and slander you.

According to the Pharisaic interpretation of Leviticus 19:18, your neighbor was
limited to those who treated you good. So, they felt that if God commanded us
to love our neighbor, then God, implicitly declared the opposite to be true. That
is, Hate your enemy. However, when they did this, they completely ignored the
surrounding context where it says not to hold a grudge.

Jesus gives a better way. Love people, whether or not they love you. Speak
good of people, whether or not they speak good of you. Now this is a hard thing
to do. If somebody gets under my collar, I have a hard time saying two good
words about them, much less love them. Yet, this is what God tells us to do.

Love our neighbors, as yourselves. So that you may be sons of your father in heaven,

Jesus says that acting in this way is actually a reflection of God’s character.
When we act this way, people will look at us and say “wow, they truly are sons
of God.” When does God act this way though? Jesus gives an example from
nature.

For he causes the sun to rise on the evil ones and the good ones, and rain on the
just and the unjust.

My Father growing up taught me that this meant that God rains on the just and
the unjust. And the rain meant trials and tribulations. He thought that this was
like Job’s situation. That God pours out troubles on everybody. Now, that is
true, God is just to pour out his wrath on everybody, but that is not what Jesus
is getting at. In ancient times, rain was seen as a blessing, and not a curse. And
Jesus says about God, the sun comes up, and the rain falls, on both the
righteous and the unrighteous. God does not discriminate on who he shows love
to. He provides for the elect, and for the damned. He, in his sovereignty,
upholds the universe by the very word of his power, and yet he condescends to
the needs of fallen men who do not deserve the rain to fall, or the sun to shine.
Those whom are worthy of nothing but his wrath, God provides for every day.
Every time the sun shines, it shines on a world that is in enmity with God. It
shines on a world that has rebelled against the true source of light. When it
rains, it rains on a world that hoards its food instead of shares it. When it raints
it rains on a world that wastes the resources that God is providing. Yet God
does not stop pouring our lavish blessings on this pathetic little rock. And when
we receive the Holy Spirit, and God begins to change us from the inside out, he
begins to shape us into his image again. That fallen lump of clay begins to show
the light of the Almighty God who provides unselfishly. And we give of
ourselves the way that God gave. We give of ourselves a sacrificial offering.
We give money to the homeless man, even though we know that he may just
buy more booze. We trust people even though they have betrayed us countless
times. We love those who have abused us. We pity those who would seek to see
us harmed. And how do we give? Where do these resources come from? They
come from the Spirit who is alive in us, the very infinite Spirit that John
identifies as Love.

For if you love the lover of you, what reward do you have? Even the tax
collecters do the same, don’t they? And if you greet your brother alone, what
more are you doing? Don’t even the the other nations do that?

Jesus is speaking to Jews, and by extension, everybody who is of the seed of
faith. He is providing an ethic for the Kingdom. In Jesus Christ, God has started
a New Nation. A nation whose citizens are not unified by language, or race,
they are not unified by a flag or a constitution. They are not unified by a socio-
economical status. Rather, they are unified by God’s saving work through the
Messiah, Jesus.

So be Perfect, just as your father in heaven is perfect.

What a charge. What a hard thing to hear from Jesus. He tells us to be Perfect. Will
Jesus really give us a command that is impossible to live up to? Dave Norris gives a
good example in his book Big Ideas. A Farmer tills a field. He is going to grow a field
of corn. He has worked a long time pulling the weeds out, aerating, and fertilizing.
He hears the truck from around the corner, and he goes outside to pick up the seed
that is being delivered to him. The truck’s tailgate comes down, and he sees the seed.
“Perfect!” the man exclaims. The man plants the seeds, and comes out in about 8
days, and he sees little shoots pushing up out of the ground. “Perfect!” the man says.
And goes back into his home. After a few more weeks, the corn grows higher, and it’s
up to the farmers waist now. There is not corn on it, but the farmer looks at it. It is
not yet time for harvest, and no money could possibly be made from this little crop,
but it is appropriately grown, and appropriately mature so the man clasps his hands
together and declares “Perfect!”After a few more weeks, the corn is now taller than
this man, and there is actually a few ears of corn coming out of the plant, but it’s not
quite harvest time. The man rubs his hands together after looking at the stock and
announces “Perfect.” The Corn is now ready to harvest. There is so much corn that
the stalks are starting to bend from the weight of it, and it has truly reached it’s
perfection. It is fully grown, and fully mature.

Living the kingdom ethic is not something that happens over night. But we do have an
upward call in Christ Jesus. We are constantly growing. Constantly being conformed
into the image of Christ. Constantly being perfected, but at each stage of
development, God looks at his children, and examines their fruit, and hopefully he
exclaims “Perfect!”

Leviticus 18

Leviticus 18 deals with all forms of sexual misconduct. This is something that is very important specifically because this is something that speaks very much to our world today.

There are serious ethical issues involved in this hairy mess of homosexual marriage and civil unions. We know that the current system does not work. For example: Oftentimes hospitals have rules about visitation: "Family members only." Also, adding their lover to their health insurance is something that is important as well for homosexual couples. Well, they live together, eat the same food, pay bills together, share a roof, love each other. That sounds like family. 

But the issue comes with what does it mean to be married? Is it simply an issue of love and commitment? Or is it an issue of human nature and societal structures? Or is it an issue of religion?

Now, Dan Savage recently attacked the Bible and the church concerning sexual conduct and Leviticus, and he said "Why should we follow this one law only?" And he was referring specifically to where it says "A man shall not lay with another man as he would with a woman. (Leviticus 18: 22)" But there are some important factors to understand both biblically, and universally.

Marriage is an institution that has existed before Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. It is held in every culture, and in every part of the world. It is not a religious institution only.

Now, from a Judeo-Christian perspective, not everybody can or should get married. Marriage and sex is not for everyone. I can't marry and have sex with my sister. I can affirm that my sister is beautiful, and lovely, and wonderful person, and the only reason I would not consider marrying my sister is the fact that we are related. If I were to say something about incest like "That's sick, that's unnatural, and morally outrageous" I would be using the same exact words that people use against homosexual marriages. Leviticus also forbids these unions as well.

Can I not say the same thing of another man? He is handsome, responsible, a lovable person, and the only reason that I would not consider marrying him is that he is a man?

What about the issue of Polygamy. (This one is a little more slippery because many religions even to this day practice polygamy, so the analogy is imperfect.) Can I affirm that my friend is lovely, wonderful, and beautiful, and the only reason I would not take her is because I or she is already married to another person. This union is also generally forbidden in society as well as in Leviticus.

We can say the same things of other morally outrageous unions, such as marrying my mother, my step-mother, cousin or niece etc. (each forbidden in Leviticus and society in general. Also bestiality.)

Jesus takes it another step further. He says that people who have gotten divorced have surrendered their right to marry. So, now if I get a divorce (outside of specific circumstances), all marriages are forbidden to me. Yet society allows this union to this day.

So the question needs to come out. Where is the line drawn? A line WILL be drawn, and once that line is drawn, it will be pushed, even if it takes 8,000 years to push the line, it will be pushed. Either way, people should know that the Christian perspective (and overall religious perspective) is not "Only men and women can marry." It's actually "Only one human male and one human female who are not related, and have not engaged in the act of divorce from a previous marriage, are permitted to marry, though it is understood that some should never marry even if these criteria are met." This position doesn't leave just homosexuals out in the cold. It leaves a lot of straight people out in the cold as well.