Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘After you enter the land I am giving you as a home …’

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 31, 2018): Numbers 15

There used to be a process that we called “layaway.” At this time of year, “layaway” became an important part of our lives. The idea was that there would be times when we would want to buy someone a Christmas gift, but we wouldn’t have the money to pay for the gift. But, if we made the decision early enough, we could have that gift put away while we made payments on it. And so, between now and Christmas, we would make our payments and if we planned our budget right, we would walk out of the store with the gift before Christmas Day.

Now we are much more likely to put that gift on our credit card and worry about paying for it in January. And for a lot of us, we really don’t mean January. Our credit card debt is so high that there is no realistic plan to them off in a year, let alone a month. And because our credit card debt is hopeless, we just keep making purchases, adding to the debt, and maybe pray that we will be the ones in possession of a winning lottery ticket.

I have admitted that I don’t like debt. I am afraid that our debt is the legacy that we are leaving for our children. What scares me is that our debt may change their world drastically in the wrong direction. I am not comfortable living a comfortable life, knowing that my comfortable life is going to cause my children and grandchildren hardship. I want a better life for them, but our debt doesn’t seem to make that much of a possibility. Maybe it is time for us to take the hardship, to make the sacrifice so that they can live that better life.

This might be the lowest moment in the life of Israel. God has taken them out of Egypt, organized them, and set them on a journey toward a land that God intended for them. And then, Israel rejected the vision of God. For a moment, and it really was only a moment, they grew afraid of the giants in the land and lost sight of all of the giants that God had already helped them to overcome. They took their eyes off of the prize and forgot to trust God. And as a result, they were not going to enter the land that had been promised to them.

But their children would. And God reaffirms that promise. Even though a generation was going to die in the desert over the next thirty-eight years, God was still promising that Israel would walk into the Promised Land. At this moment when it must have seemed that everything was being taken away from them, God was promising that the day was still out there when Israel would inhabit Canaan. But now Israel became a nation that was willing to make the sacrifices so that their children could take part in the promise. And they were comforted by the knowledge that life for their children and grandchildren would include a Promised Land and an easier life than what was available in the desert.

The gift was on “layaway,” awaiting the payment that would be made over the next thirty-eight years, until the time when the children of Israel would enter the land that God had already declared would be theirs.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 16

Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. – Numbers 14:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 30, 2018): Numbers 14

In the church of my childhood, it was the Sunday morning ritual. The people would gather in the sanctuary, often with the soft background music which was produced by the organ which sat in the corner of the sanctuary. There was a hush that seemed to take over the room. And then, when the time was right, the pastor, choir director and other dignitaries emerged from a space off to the side of the platform, and they would walk out, pause, and kneel in front of the grand cushioned chairs, which we called the throne chairs, that were spread out in front of the choir loft. Until the platform staff knelt in prayer, the service couldn’t start.

Jesus taught that we need to be careful not to make prayer an act of theater. Admittedly, the scene that I watched every Sunday morning had an element of drama attached to it. But it was also a reminder that everything that would happen that morning was dependent on the will of God. The service itself was an act of performance, but we were not the intended audience. God was.

By this time, Moses and Aaron were the likely the oldest members of the nation of Israel. And they, maybe more than anyone, knew that the origin of the journey that they were on was God. He had been the God of the burning bush, the one who had orchestrated the plagues in Egypt, and the one who had split the Red Sea during their perilous escape from the country. He was the God of the mountain and the law. He was the one who had built the nation around a spiritual focus symbolized by the tabernacle. He had taken them from being a group of slaves and molded them into a nation.

So when the grumbling started to rise against God in this new nation, Moses and Aaron fell on their knees in front of the nation. Maybe more than anyone else, Moses and Aaron understood the gravity of the situation. The nation was in danger, and it might not survive the next few moments. And Moses and Aaron understood that something needed to happen quickly.

Were the leaders falling facedown in prayer in front of the nation a piece of drama? Most definitely. And sometimes we need to find a private place for our prayer times. But sometimes, we need to make our prayer public. Sometimes it is very appropriate to show the nation, or the congregation, just who it is on whom we are depending. And on whom the solution for our problems really depends.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 15

These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.) – Numbers 13:16

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 29, 2018): Numbers 13

J. R. R. Tolkien, in his conclusion to the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, includes this dialogue between Frodo and Sam. “But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.” Salvation always requires sacrifice. It is a lesson that Frodo has to learn the hard way. He wanted to save the Shire, and there is no doubt from the very beginning of the tale that Frodo intended to save the Shire for himself. But that was impossible. Someone has to lose so that the others can win.

The comment is part of the Christian message that fills the Tolkien’s Trilogy, specifically that Jesus had to lose so that we can win. There is no way that we could do this for ourselves. We do not have the power to save ourselves. We deeply depend on a Savior who will come to save us. Salvation always requires sacrifice, and the message of Christianity is that Jesus sacrificed himself so that we would not have to pay the penalty of our sin.

Moses changed Hoshea’s name. And there was probably a good reason for the change. Hosea means “Salvation.” But Joshua, literally Ya-Hoshea, means that “Yahweh is Salvation.” It probably didn’t happen, but in my imagination can see the first meeting between Moses and Hoshea. Hoshea would walk up to the great leader of Israel, bow in respect, and say something like “Hi, I am Salvation.” In my imagination, Moses has a twinkle in his eye as he responds to this future leader. “No, none of us are Salvation. Ya-Hoshea - Only Yahweh is Salvation; only God can save.”

Frodo – and Tolkien – are right. To save something means that someone has to give them up and lose them. Someone loses something so that others can keep them. As we minister a God who is Salvation to the world who desperately needs to know him, it might be that this sense of loss is important. I am not convinced that Jesus wanted to die on a cross. It was a sacrifice. I am convinced that he knew his death was important to save the world. He died so that we could win. But in a sense, he also won with us, defeating the powers of evil forever. There are very likely some things, like traditions, biases, and music, that we might have to give up so that the world God loves can be saved. The reason why we don’t is often that we believe that we should not be made to sacrifice so much. And yet, this is not about us, the Christians. This is about a world that stands in need of God. How much is too much for me to ask you to sacrifice so that they might be saved; and so that all of us can ultimately win

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 14

The LORD replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” – Numbers 12:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 28, 2018): Numbers 12

Have you ever noticed that evil characters in our fiction tend to be ugly? For example, just think about the difference between the witches in “The Wizard of Oz.” The Wicked Witch of the West and East have long noses and long chins and somehow look, and sound, like they are evil (See the Wicked Witch of the West in the Top Image.) But Glinda (Bottom Image), the Good Witch of the North is portrayed as a beautiful princess, complete with a crown. As the story is portrayed to the viewer, the inner beings of the witches match the way that they look on the outside.

Of course, “The Wizard of Oz” is a fairy tale. But what if that was the way that life worked? What if your inner thought life reflected on your outer self? That thought is not a pleasant one for any of us. What if every bitter feeling, or critical thought, made an unmistakable mark on the way that our external self was presented to the world in which we live? What if our outer ailments, the marks on our faces, the length of our noses or the curve of our backs, was in direct relationship with the sins of our inner self? Or, conversely, what if the beautiful people in our lives were also beautiful on the inside. What if the old Northern Pikes Song “She Ain’t Pretty (She Just Looks that Way)” didn’t make any sense when compared with the world in which we live? (Come on, you know that every time you hear the Northern Pikes Anthem, you can identify the person in the song with someone that you know in the real world.)

Essentially, God’s sentence of Miriam was that, for one week, her inside appearance would match her outside appearance. The sentence is straight out of our fairy tales. But it is equally important to understand the other side of the situation. God was also promising that he would be active in healing Miriam. If she were condemned to be a leper for the rest of her life, then she would have been excluded from Israel for the rest of her life. But that is not what God commands. He sets the punishment, but also includes a time limit. After one week, Miriam would be healed and once again be included within the community of Israel. But until that time of healing, her inside would match her outside, and the world would know that she had taken a stand against the God of Israel.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 13

Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. – Numbers 11:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 27, 2018): Numbers 11

“Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won't make us happier.” Randy Pausch spoke these words in his speech entitled “The Last Lecture,” which later became a book that Pausch co-authored. The story behind “The Last Lecture” was that Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2006, and by August 2007 he received the terminal diagnosis that he was expecting. In the words of Pausch’s doctor, Pausch had “three to six months of good health left. Pausch was forty-six years old. “The Last Lecture” was given at Carnegie Mellon University on September 18, 2007. Randy Pausch lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008, at the age of 47. There is no doubt that Pausch reaction to life could have been that he had received a raw deal. But he also knew that complaining about his illness was not going to allow him to accomplish his goals. Complaining was a waste of his finite time and energy.

There used to be a saying that “a squeaky wheel gets the grease.” It has been given as the excuse to keep complaining, to make your voice heard, because, in the end, maybe, you will get what you want just to shut you up. But the advice is out of date. We don’t grease a squeaky wheel anymore; we replace it. And I see it all of the time on Social Media. The complainers in our society are not given what they want. They are discarded and forced to live on the edges of our world. In today’s culture, Pausch is right; complaining does not work as a strategy.

Israel had forgotten all that they had received from God. They left Egypt as an unorganized group of slaves who had been mistreated in Egyptian society. They had no power over their future, and they existed only on the margins of Egyptian culture. And then God, and Moses, stepped forward and worked for the release of the Israelite slaves. God had protected them during the time of their escape from Egypt. He gave Israel a sense of order. He organized their society in a way that worked. He placed his blessing on the nation and called them his people. He placed his presence at the center of their society and gave them a future in Canaan that they had not possessed since the days of Jacob and his sons.

But there is also no doubt that their nomadic life in the desert was not fun, but then again, neither was life in Egypt – and being forced to make bricks without straw. Israel’s response to everything that God had given to them was to complain about their nomadic life. And God’s response to the complaints of Israel was not to give in to their wants. Instead, God drew a line that revealed to Israel that complaining would not work in his kingdom as a viable strategy for getting what they might want. All Israel’s complaining had accomplished was to arouse the anger of God.

As Christians, complaining should not be our strategy for life either. We are commanded to be the salt of the earth. We are to be the builders, not the ones who tear down. And Paul makes this comment:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Ephesians 4:29-32).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 12

On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the covenant law. Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran. They set out, this first time, at the LORD’s command through Moses. – Numbers 10:11-13

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 26, 2018): Numbers 10

On April 19, 1775, war broke out between Great Britain and the thirteen North American Colonies allied with France. Essentially, the war was over taxation in North America. Initially, the colonies tried to find a diplomatic solution and stop the fighting, but their efforts were rejected by King George, who issued a Proclamation of Rebellion on August 23, 1775. The effect of the proclamation on the North American colonies was to increase their resolve to move toward independence.

The war continued through the first part of 1776, but in July the nature of the war changed. On July 4, 1776, the colonies declared their independence from King George. On that day, the civil war between Great Britain and her colonies ended, and the war between Great Britain and the United States began.

While the United States declared its independence from Great Britain on July 4th, it wasn’t until July 9^th that the independence declaration began to be known among the citizens of the colonies. On July 9^th, General George Washington read the declaration to his troops in New York City. Following hearing the declaration, the people rioted in the city, tearing down all of the signs that made reference to the royal authority of King George, as well as destroying all of the statues of the King in the city, melting down the metal and turning them into bullets for the army of the United States. With the stroke of a pen, an army of rebellion was turned into a national army of defense waging war against invading forces. And that change was significant.

Israel left Egypt as a group of rebellious slaves. They began their time in the desert as a ragged group of people. But now all of that had changed. They arrived at Sinai in fear of what was behind them, and now they were preparing to leave Sinai with excitement about what it was that lay ahead – the Promised Land. For the first time, this group of slaves was preparing to march as a sovereign nation. Their declaration of independence from Egypt had been filed. They had been changed. The mob that had left Egypt was now fully behind them and the proud nation now prepared to march on into, what should have been, its bright future.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 11

Have the Israelites celebrate the Passover at the appointed time. Celebrate it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month, in accordance with all its rules and regulations. – Numbers 9:2-3

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 25, 2018): Numbers 9

Some of our holidays, or holy days, are actually arbitrary in nature. In less than a week, we will celebrate Halloween, or more precisely “All Hallows Eve.” Historically, Halloween is the eve before a Christian Feast that dedicated to the memory of all of the saints and martyrs who have died in days past. Remembering the dead, especially heroes of the faith, is a sacred act, but no sacred command says that this celebration of the saints must happen on November 1. Later in November, the United States will celebrate Thanksgiving, but again while the date is consistent, it is once again fairly arbitrary. After all, Canada celebrates their version of the holiday, complete with Thanksgiving Football games, on the second Monday in October, a month and a half before their southern neighbors. Christmas is on December 25 every year. But, to the surprise of many, Jesus was not born on December 25. We chose the date as a companion holiday to the pagan Winter Solstice celebrations that take place three to four days earlier. Jesus was likely born in mid to late September or early October, although many other dates have been suggested. But the date is not mandated anywhere.

The argument becomes important with the celebration of Lent. The one argument that I hear almost every year from various Protestant believers is that Lent, this period of fasting that precedes Good Friday, is not mandated in the Bible anywhere. And it isn’t, just as a Christmas celebration is not mandated. So, does the fact that the celebration is never commanded make it less important? Maybe. But the most important factor is simply this; Is this a holiday that fits in with my personal preferences?

As far as the Passover was concerned, the date is not arbitrary. The date was set, and the celebration was commanded by the law. Israel was instructed to celebrate Passover at a specific time every year. If anyone questioned the celebration, there were places in scripture that could be pointed to that gave the instructions for the celebration.

But maybe the bigger question is, did the command to celebrate Passover make a difference in the regularity with which the holiday was celebrated? The answer is not really. As much as I hear people question Lent, and occasionally even Christmas because of the arbitrary nature of the date of the celebration, there were long stretches of time when Passover was not celebrated in Israel, even though the celebration was mandated within the law and the rest of scripture. When it comes down to it, we celebrate what is important to us.

Maybe this principle is stressed perfectly by this dialogue from the television situation-comedy “The Conners.” Darlene, played by Sara Gilbert, offers this advice as the game plan for the coming holidays. "I say we follow the Conner tradition -- spend every dime we have on Halloween, then we have nothing to be thankful for, or buy gifts with." What we celebrate tends to follow our wants, desires, and what we think is important. The reality is that Celebration begins inside each of us.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 10

To purify them, do this: Sprinkle the water of cleansing on them; then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes. And so they will purify themselves. – Leviticus 8:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 24, 2018): Numbers 8

Leo Tolstoy wrote that “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” Maybe the more pertinent problem is that we have no better idea about how to change ourselves than we possess an understanding of how to change the world. There are many times in life when I wish there were a reset button that could be pressed. Often I feel like the disciples of Jesus in “Jesus Christ Superstar” begging to be able to start again, please. But life doesn’t seem to work that way.

The reality of my life is that I make mistakes. I wish I didn’t, but the truth is that things don’t always go my way. And these moments of wrong take on a cumulative nature; they seem to build up over time. Over the past decade of writing this blog, I can’t count the number of times that I have had moments of “do I really have to relive that time in my life?” Some of those moments are worse than others but amazingly, decades later, they still can cause me pain. Could we start again, please?

Here, God provides a reset button for those called to be workers in the temple. And the button was to go back to the beginning. In Jesus conversation with the Pharisee Nicodemus in John 3, Jesus insists to this teacher of Israel that “no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:3). Nicodemus’s reply seems to catch Jesus off guard. “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born” (John 3:4)! Jesus surprise may have been that, while this was not what Jesus was trying to get at, the law does contain a way to be “reborn."

The one who wishes to hit the reset button ceremonially is to wash his clothes and shave all of the hair off of the body. The idea is to return to the body to its original state as a hairless baby with clothes that are clean and welcoming to the newborn infant. Then, even as adults, they could emerge from the womb and start life all over again.

As Christians, we believe that in our baptisms we are new creations, that the old has been left behind, that we have been forgiven, and that we get to greet the future as if we had hit the reset button. We get a chance to start again and to move into the rest of our lives possessing the innocence with which we started this life. Satan will still try to remind us of the old stuff, but the reality is that that has been buried deep in our past. We are new creations in Christ, even if we didn’t shave off all of our hair.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 9

His offering was one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels[a] and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each filled with the finest flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering; one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; - Numbers 7:13-14

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 23, 2018): Numbers 7

Some years ago I worked for a gentleman who was shaped by the depression of the 1930’s. While he was an excellent boss, the marks that the depression had left on his being were evident more than a generation after that part of our history had ended. Although he had more money than most of us would ever be able to attain, he was very careful with everything that he had; every penny was counted, and every piece of scrap was saved for another use. It was a hoarding mentality that stemmed from a time when there was not enough; a time when eating was not a guarantee and shelter was a question. Whether he understood it or not, he had been shaped by this period of famine and want that he had lived through during his own adolescent years. And it was a mold from which he was unable to break free.

Israel, as a nation, had developed while they were largely slaves to a more a powerful nation. The days of Joseph as an influential leader within the king’s court had been long forgotten. They were a powerless people, scraping just to get by. They were a people who had gotten used to doing without the necessities of life.

But that was not where God wanted them to exist. He desired a people who would be generous with what they had, and so the lesson started early. Every leader’s offering started with a silver plate, weighing about three pounds, a silver bowl, weighing about two pounds, and a gold dish, weighing about four ounces. The silver plate and bowl were to be filled with the finest grain and the gold dish with incense. And this was just the start of the offering which would also include some animals to be sacrificed. For a group of people who had been recently released from their slavery, there is no question that the offering was generous. But there was also a purpose behind the generosity.

Slaves by their nature are takers. They scrap and save everything they can because the provision of necessities is never guaranteed. They are never sure about what their masters will be willing to give to them in the future. But for Israel, God wanted this experience left the past. The people who God wanted them to mature into were a generous people, and that generosity was enabled by their trust in God who would provide for their needs. And the lesson began here with a silver plate and bowl and a gold dish.

Our ability to be generous is a direct result of our willingness to trust in the one who provides. If that trust is placed in ourselves, then there are reasons for our frugality. But if our trust is truly in a God who promises to provide for all of our needs, then we too can be the generous people who God has designed us to be. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 8

Then at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the Nazirite must shave off the hair that symbolizes their dedication. They are to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering. – Numbers 6:18

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 22, 2018): Numbers 6

Confession time. I used to wear a mullet (for those who have no idea what that is, now is the time to google “mullet haircut.”) The truth is that I wore the mullet long after it had ceased to be fashionable. Some good people tried to convict me of my sin, but I wasn’t listening. One good friend tried to convince me that my position in the church meant that I should shave off the mullet and go for a more businesslike cut. I did not react well to the idea. Another actually tried to bribe my hairdresser to cut it all off while she had me in the chair. According to the rumor, I wasn’t there at the time, my hairdresser’s response was that “he wouldn’t be Garry without the mullet.” And so the mullet continued to shine on my head.

But then my hairdresser died, and I had to go and find someone else who would care for the demands of my mullet. And my new hairdresser decided to confront me about my mullet. Why was I so attached to a hairstyle that had become an object of ridicule? It was a question that I honestly couldn’t answer. The reality was that my hair probably, somehow, connected me with my youth. And my youth was not something that I was sure I wanted to give up. And so the hair continued. But my new hairdresser convinced me to change the style. Her words were that I should trust her. “If you don’t like the hairstyle I will give you; your hair will grow back.” I had to admit that that was the truth. My hair is always growing.

And so I replaced the mullet for a shorter, and spikier, hairstyle. (That one lasted until another hairdresser sat me down and told me that I was too tall to wear a spiky look. Ah, but that is a story for later.) And the mullet has not, as of yet, decided to make its return.

There are a lot of reasons that we might have for the way that we cut our hair. Memories, ease of care, laziness, a phobia about people with sharp scissors messing in the vicinity of our heads, or a myriad of other reasons. But this passage speaks of a ceremonial reason. In ancient times, if a person wanted to make a vow of dedication to God, then they might take a vow to live as a Nazirite. For a short period, this person would make some significant sacrifices in their lives, which included abstaining from alcohol, remaining ceremonially clean, and allowing their hair to grow, without cutting or shaping it, for the period of the vow. We know now what ancient people didn’t know. Our hair contains a history of who we are, what our health might be, and what drugs we have taken. There is a story contained in our hair. And for a Nazirite, that story belonged to God.

When the vow came to an end, the person would then come to the entrance to the tent of meeting, shave off the hair – the story of their time with God – and burn the hair as an offering to God. For that period, God had been the driving force behind the story. And so the story and the hair belong to God. And because it belonged to God, it had to be treated in a holy manner. In this case, the hair became the fellowship offering of the Nazirite to his God, and a memory of the time that they had spent together.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 7

… then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour on her behalf. He must not pour olive oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a reminder-offering to draw attention to wrongdoing. – Numbers 5:15

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 21, 2018): Numbers 5

“Stand by Your Man” is an adage that has lost its luster in recent days. Women who stood by their men, yes we are talking about you Hillary Clinton, Camille Cosby, and Melania Trump, have come under fire for their unwillingness to take their significant others to task for their behavior. Hillary Clinton was so tarnished by her relationship with Bill during the dark days of his presidency that, at least in the eyes of some, she became less likable and less fit for office during her run to become President of the United States in 2016. It is easy to dissect her 2016 campaign failure and blame it on James Comey and the FBI investigation, or a rise in global nationalist thinking, music to which Donald Trump was willing to dance. But the harsh reality was that it was more than just these factors. It was a perfect storm of things of which the “Stand by Your Man” philosophy of Hillary, in reaction to her husband’s infidelities during his presidency, played a part. In the case of each of these women, and many more, the “Stand by Your Man” philosophy is one way to preserve the relationships into which they are invested.

The truth is that the point that a relationship breaks down is at the point of accusation. This is probably why we try to avoid accusations of wrongdoing directed at the people that we love. We know that once the accusation has been made, the relationship is damaged. And so, even in the face of mounting evidence, we try to avoid that point of accusation; we try to avoid damaging even further the relationship that we hope can remain strong even through the stress of the current circumstances.

But, sometimes, the time of accusation does come. The “Law of Moses” specifically addresses this moment between a husband and wife. In this case, it is the woman who has been unfaithful. Her husband brings her to a priest along with some barley flour. Nothing is to be added to the flour. Both oil and frankincense were thought to sweeten the offering, and there is nothing sweet about this moment; there is nothing beneficial about this moment of accusation.

The law recognizes that there are two possible outcomes. Someone is wrong and is existing in sin. If the woman is innocent of the charges, then the husband is guilty of jealousy, and this is a jealousy offering. If the woman has been unfaithful, then this offering is a reminder offering that brings attention to that wrongdoing. But either way, the relationship is damaged. It might be possible to rebuild the relationship, but it won’t be easy.

I understand the Hillary’s, Camille’s and Melania’s of this world. And often our criticisms of them are often misguided. After all, they have more invested in their relationships than we do, and no matter what action they decide to undertake, they deserve our love and support more than our criticism. They do not share in there husbands guilt, but rather are the caretakers of a relationship that sin has left in tatters.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 6

When the camp is to move, Aaron and his sons are to go in and take down the shielding curtain and put it over the ark of the covenant law. Then they are to cover the curtain with a durable leather, spread a cloth of solid blue over that and put the poles in place. – Numbers 4:5-6

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 20, 2018): Numbers 4

There are many places that none of us will ever see. Some places we will never see because they no longer exist. I mourn the artifacts that we have lost. One such place is the Amber Room, a room constructed of amber or fossilized tree resin in 1701 and originally built to be placed in Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin. But in 1716, the room was gifted to the Russian Tsar, Peter the Great, and it was placed in the Catherine Palace near St Petersburg, Russia. During World War II, the Amber Room was taken away from the Russians, dismantled, and brought back to Germany to be displayed back in the land of its creation. And it is here that the mystery begins. The Amber Room was lost. Many believe that it lies on the bottom of the Ocean, having been placed on a torpedoed ship. Others believe that it is hidden in an abandoned mine, or buried somewhere. What we know is that it has never been found. A room of historical significance has been lost and likely destroyed by those who lusted after it, depriving the generations that followed of its beauty.

I would love to visit Varosha, Cyprus, but while the city exists, it remains a forbidden place on the earth. When Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, Varosha was abandoned. The Turkish army placed a fence around the city and ever since then the city has existed abandoned and stuck in time. It is likely that if we could get back into Varosha, we would find much of what it meant to live in the city in 1974. Car Dealerships would still have the new 1974 car models sitting on their showroom floors. Of course, nature is beginning to reclaim Varosha. Buildings are beginning to fall, and the streets are being reclaimed by plant life, but the city is still a place stuck in time and forbidden to any who might want to walk her streets.

The tabernacle of Israel was filled with forbidden sights, such as the Ark of the Covenant. While the Kohathites were charged with the care of the most holy things, even they were not allowed to see it or touch it. Before the Ark of the Covenant could be moved, the sons of Aaron, the High Priest, were charged with the task of removing the curtain and separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the Tabernacle and placing it over the Ark, wrapping the Ark so that it was shielded from curious eyes that might want to see it as it was moved with the rest of the Temple furnishings. Once the curtain was placed around the Ark, the sons of the High Priest would wrap it in leather and then finish off the procedure wrapping it one more time with a blue cloth. And then they would put the poles in by which the sons of Korah would carry the Ark.

The people would recognize the Ark as it was carried because of the blue cloth. They would see the wrapped up package, but never the Ark itself. It was Holy, and the sight of the Ark was reserved for the High Priest, and the High Priest alone.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 5

Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites are to be mine. I am the LORD. – Numbers 3:45

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 19, 2018): Numbers 3

Debt bothers me. I believe that debt is seldom ever warranted. Yet, First World nations seem to be in the midst of a debt crisis. And for some, that crisis is coming to a head. The debt has outstripped the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nations, and some are beginning to run to the end of their ability to borrow money at a rate that will allow the country to grow economically. On top of their inability to borrow money, the cost of what they already owe is consuming large chunks of income that they can take in with taxes. The result is a loss of services for the population.

Admittedly, maybe I am naïve. But it seems that if we didn’t have the debt, if we didn’t have to pay large chunks of money on the interest demands that are a direct result of our debt, we would have the money we need to spend on things like education and healthcare, as well as the care for our aging population. Part of the monetary crunch being experienced by the First World governments is directly attributable to the debt that we have incurred.

Recently I had a chance to talk to a local politician around the idea of governmental or public debt. And his chosen response was to paraphrase Ecclesiastes 3; There is a time for everything under heaven, and that would include a time to borrow and a time to pay back. My problem with the argument is that few governments, including this representative’s, want to endure the pain of living in a time to pay back. It is much more fun to be able to spend freely in the time to borrow. What scares me is that our governments are incurring so much debt, that my children and grandchildren are going to be the ones forced to suffer to pay back the debt for which we have experieinced the benefit.

As the journey of Israel continues, there is an acknowledged debt of the firstborn. There has been so much going on during the early years of the Exodus, that this debt seems to have been ignored. But now a time has come for an accounting. In reality, the terms were already known, but now the loan was being called, and the debt had to be paid. In exchange for the firstborn males that had been born to the nation during the early stages of the Exodus, God was taking a tribe of people who would be his. They would be the priests and the worship leaders. They would make up the support staff who would maintain the Tabernacle. When Israel came into the Promised Land, they would not receive any of the lands, but instead would be scattered throughout the tribes of Israel.

God was taking the Levites as his own, a substitute for the first-born. And it would be up to the people to make provision to care for the Levites as they cared for the Tabernacle. The Levites were God’s possession, and they would stand in the midst of the nation representing the presence of God in Israel.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 4

On the east, toward the sunrise, the divisions of the camp of Judah are to encamp under their standard. The leader of the people of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab. His division numbers 74,600. – Numbers 2:3-4

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 18, 2018): Numbers 2

Ali Attar, the founder of ListoGraphic, makes this argument concerning war. “It was a wonderful morning, 5:29 a.m. on July 16, 1945, when everything in the history of warfare changes – [the] first detonation of nuclear bomb by [the] U.S. in Jornada del Muerto. Since then, war becomes a situation of loss and loss, there is no win after all.” Once we entered into the nuclear age, there could no longer be a winner and a loser in war. All that is left in a military conflict is how much each nation will lose; there can be no gain. Increasingly, war in our post-modern reality is fought using terrorist methods and single strikes into enemy territory. To risk any more only ups the amount that we have to lose. And nuclear weapons are only good as a threat because if they are ever used by a country, it would just bring about the end of civilization.

Attar concludes that in spite of war’s lose-lose reality, the most powerful army belongs to the United States. But the strength of the U.S. military is a direct result of her to equipment and training of her soldiers. By the number of soldiers, the United States is well down the list. The largest military machine on the planet would appear to belong to North Korea, although the majority of her soldiers have little to no training. Following the North Korean army, with regard to fighting strength, are South Korea, Vietnam, India, Russia, and China. Only after these countries do we get to the United States and her soldiers. 

While this is the state in modern warfare, the reality is that in ancient times, how many soldiers a nation had at its disposal was often the deciding factor in who would win the war. A smaller army defeating a large one was thought to be an upset. The only way weaker armies could win was to hide behind military fortifications such as a city wall. And how many soldiers a country could use in battle depended on how many men the country had at its disposal.

For the first time in her history, Israel begins to organize herself. At the center of this organized structure was the tabernacle. But that was not the end of the organization of Israel. Up until this point, people simply camped anywhere. But from this point on, it would begin to camp according to tribe.

And the first tribe mentioned in this reorganization of Israel was Judah. Judah would take up its position on the East side of the nation, toward the sunrise and welcoming of the new day. Judah would become important to Israel. David and Solomon were both of the tribe of Judah, as Jesus would be centuries later. The symbol of Judah was reportedly a lion, one of the most dangerous beasts of the ancient world. But the importance of Judah here is still to come. At this point, the main consideration seems to be that it is Judah that has the largest number of men who could become soldiers in time of national distress. It is Judah who should be the military leader of the nation. Others would follow, but solely based on her population, Judah would have to take the lead in times of danger.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 3

The LORD spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. – Numbers 1:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 17, 2018): Numbers 1

The musician Warren Zevon (1947-2003), once commented that “We love to buy books because we believe we're buying the time to read them.” Zevon is probably best remembered for his hit “Werewolves of London.” And I have to admit that I know he is right. I have many books in my library that I know I will never find the time to read. Zevon’s magical extension of time was not guaranteed with the purchase. My problem is that I don’t know which ones are the unlucky ones that will be left behind. Time passes, at times too quickly, and sooner or later the dream of reading everything begins to fade.

I do read a lot, but not enough, at least for me. I love to get lost in a story and just experience the excitement held within the pages. I have never understood why parents want to limit the number of books that their children get to read. I hope that my grandchildren will learn the art of getting lost in a book early in their lives and that the art never leaves them. There are too many lessons to be learned and adventures to be had that are given to us in the pages of our books. Multiple lifetimes can be lived within their stories and within a short period of our lives. Time passes, and it is only these stories that are left behind.

Numbers continues the story of Moses, but a note needs to be made about the passage of time. In the first two chapters of Exodus, eighty years pass. But then time slows down. The rest of Exodus sees only a single year pass by in the life of Israel. For the book of Leviticus, times slows down even more. The entire book of Leviticus takes place within a single month.

But then time speeds up once more. Numbers encompasses a lifetime for Israel. Somewhere around thirty-eight years pass by in the pages of the book. Children grow up and assume the mantle of leadership in the nation. And a generation of people who left Egypt filled with hope, die. They might have wished for more time, but none is given. No book every published expands the number of their days on this planet.

By the time that the thirty-eight years of Numbers draw to a close, only Moses, Joshua and Caleb, and the very young of Israel at the beginning of Numbers, and those born during the pages of Numbers will remain. And yet, even then, the days will continue to march on.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 2

Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the LORD by giving the equivalent value’ … - Leviticus 27:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 16, 2018): Leviticus 27

I believe that each of us has something significant that we are gifted to do, a difference that we can make. I often teach that part of our challenge in life is to find that something. I cannot imagine going through life just putting in the hours and hoping that the weekend will come quickly. We spend so much time working that it makes sense that whatever it is that we do, we should enjoy it. And just a note to employers, life is too short for your employees to want to put up with abuse. Everything that we can do so that we can make the most of our work hours is repaid with productivity. Having a stress free workplace is important if you want to get the most of your workers.

I am a pastor. That means that at some point I felt a call to minister before God in a special way. The best advice that I have ever heard about entering into some kind of vocational ministry is that if you can do anything else, do that. But if the call to ministry is overwhelming, and good people agree that you have the gifts and temperament for the job, and you have rejected everything else, then and only then, take a position as a pastor.

Life in the pastorate hard, filled with stress and the temptation to be always on call. And the truth is that there are very few who can live the vocation throughout their careers. I have known many pastors that have walked away from the pastorate, and many that would never return to their positions in the church. People can be harsh taskmasters, and the demand to live up to their ideals is impossible to fulfill. But, for many of us, we are called, and we simply can’t conceive of doing anything else.

But in ancient Israel, not everyone could fulfill that kind of role in the religious life of the nation. If you were not of the tribe of Levi, you were forbidden to fill any kind of a vocational role in the Temple. If you felt the call of God on your life, the only way to fulfill the call was to give a specific amount into the Temple treasury voluntarily. In this way, you recognized God’s call on your life and your commitment to be totally available for him. This process could also be done for a child. To consecrate your child to God, an offering was made in the child’s name into the Temple treasury. It was the only way that a non-Levite could answer this kind of desire to serve God.

A radical (yes, really radical) modern extension of this idea might apply to all of us pastors who decide that we need to leave full-time ministry. By becoming pastors, we have been consecrated to God. What would it look like if to leave the ministry, we had to redeem our lives by buying them back? An unenforceable concept, but it might serve as a reminder about who it is that we are actually serving in our day to day lives, and in the mundane activities that make up our time in the church.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 1

These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the LORD established at Mount Sinai between himself and the Israelites through Moses. – Leviticus 26:46

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 15, 2018): Leviticus 26

Our contemporary system of International understanding began with a series of treaties signed between May and October 1648. The result of these treaties is known as the “Peace of Westphalia.” The peace ended a period of religious (Christian) war in Europe which caused the death of approximately eight million people. Specifically, the “Peace of Westphalia” ended the “Thirty Years War” (1618-1648) which saw Catholics and Protestants take up arms against each other within the realm of the Holy Roman Empire, as well as ending the “Eighty Years War” (1568-1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic. (On a personal note, it was at or near the end of the “Eighty Years War” that some of my ancestors left Europe and moved to New Amsterdam, or what is now New York City.) The Peace of Westphalia first instituted a move away from city-states toward an idea that nations held sovereignty to reign within their national border. The legacy of the Peace of Westphalia is found in the idea of the inviolability (or sacredness) of borders and the principle of the non-interference of nations in the domestic affairs of other sovereign states.

At the close of this section of the Law is the simple statement that these agreements were made at Mount Sinai. The implication is that these laws were handed down directly from God to Moses. While other laws and treaties would arise and disappear over time, these maintain the permanence of being between God and man. The process of Sinai began with a time when the people of Israel cried out to God as slaves in Egypt. They believed that God no longer cared for them because of their situation. At Sinai, God’s care for Israel and Israel’s worship of God was given an objective reality in these regulations. The Law of Sinai gave both responsibilities to the people about their relationship with God, each other and foreigners to the nation, as well as God’s responsibilities to the people. For Israel, these laws were to maintained throughout history.

Soon after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the question began to be explored about how the Laws of Moses might relate to people who were not a part of Israel. Some argued that the Law of Moses or the Peace of Sinai was intended for all people, no matter from what race or nationality they might arise. But parts of the Law, and especially circumcision, were offensive to these other people groups. A conflict started between the legalists who believed the Law of Sinai was for all and those who believed that the Law of Sinai was only for the people of Israel. As Gentile Christians, it seems that we sometimes forget that the issue was settled by the early church. The short statement is included in Acts 15 that should settle the question.

             The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

Farewell (Acts 15:23b-29).

While the Peace of Sinai may well still be in effect for Israel, for those of us who were not included in the Sinai agreement, the law boils down to Jesus command to Love God and our neighbor, and to “abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.” We would do well to do these things.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 27

In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property. – Leviticus 25:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 14, 2018): Leviticus 25

Lord Polonius offers his guests this advice in “Hamlet;”

Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true …

                                                (William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3)

The advice in our culture seems antiquated. And yet there is truth in the words. Husbandry, a word not used much in contemporary society, extends well beyond the agricultural meaning of “the care, cultivation, and breeding of crops and animals.” It indicates the level of control each of us has over the management and conservation of our resources. In a world of easy borrowing, often at a very high-interest rate, the need for the conservation of our resources seems to be often not worth the effort. And so we sell ourselves away. The personal debt level in the developed nations betrays that we have become accustomed of living on the money we borrow rather than preparing for the emergencies that will inevitably come through the conservation of our resources. It is a practice that can only end in disaster. Part of being true to ourselves is living within our resources, and conserving for the emergencies that are waiting just around the corner

On the international stage, this problem of a lack of husbandry is exhibited by a high level of foreign ownership and debt. Foreign ownership is considered, at least by some, to be a significant problem within the developed nations. The difficulty is revealed in that prices can often be driven up by foreign investors so that the national investor can no longer afford the commodity. A good example of this is found in the housing market in some North American cities. Foreign ownership of companies means that the largest share of profit for that company is not being reinvested or spent within the nation, but is being taken and invested somewhere else. And there is a significant amount of influence that is wielded by these foreign investors over domestic policies. And if we combine a high level of foreign ownership with foreign debt, then we begin to lose control of our own governments.

This is the warning shot that is being sounded in some developed nations. The United States, as an example, in the past has been very concerned about the amount of their debt held by China. Combine China’s holding of debt with Chinese foreign ownership in the country, and we have the beginnings of a significant problem of control within the nation. Each of us are slaves to whoever it is that we owe money. And if the fear mongers prediction of the national deficit of the United States reaching the yearly level of 1 Trillion dollars is even remotely true, then in the future American policy will be increasingly influenced by Beijing, no matter what the dance that the government performs for the American citizens might imply.

The biblical answer to the problem of debt was that it was simply was outlawed. There was to be a fifty-year cycle, and every fifty years the land was returned to its original owners. It was a reset on the economy of the nation, and it made foreign ownership illegal. No outside nation could own Israel. At best, they could be a renter of space in the nation. The amount of the investment in Israel was shaped by the place the nation was in the fifty-year cycle. Because at some point twice a century, your investment would be lost as the land reverted back to the original owners.

In the end, it was only God who could own Israel. And this was demanded by the law of God himself.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 26

Outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. – Leviticus 24:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 13, 2018): Leviticus 24

Fresh out of High School, and on a self-imposed break from University, I worked the night shift at a local department store. When everyone else was preparing for bed, I was going to work. There were usually five of us on duty, and we would meet up at various times during the night. Most nights, there was just the five of us. Every once in a while a supervisor would show up to make sure we were working in the middle of our shift, but not often. After all, what supervisor in their right mind wants to get out of a warm bed at three in the morning to check on a bunch of guys working at the store. When I worked the night shift, we were the lowest rung in the hierarchy of importance.

I remember working at a fast food restaurant (yes, I too am a graduate of McDonald’s) and the worst manager that I remember working under was one promoted from the night shift. She had faithfully spent her nights cleaning the store until her superiors decided that she deserved a promotion. So she was promoted from custodian to shift manager. But she had never really worked any of the shift stations. She became the only manager I worked under that didn’t have the slightest idea how to cook a hamburger, and considering that hamburgers are the main item on a McDonald’s menu, that was a problem.

Why this trip down memory lane? Because in my experience most people with seniority work hard to get off of the night shift. I know, there are a few people who would rather work when the rest of the world is sleeping but, for most of us, it is those with lower seniority who work the night shift; there are no bosses who are found tending the store in the middle of the night.

And yet, that is exactly what this passage seems to indicate. Aaron was the High Priest, the highest religious authority in the land. And encoded into the law is the idea that Aaron was to tend the lamps from evening until morning. The High Priest of Israel was instructed to work the night shift. It would be interesting to know how often the High Priest actually did work the night shift.

But it is also a powerful illustration of who we are supposed to be. The servants of God are always tasked with taking light into the darkness. Jesus was “the light of the world” (John 8:12). He carried the light into the darkness. He could have remained in the heavenly realms, in the light. But instead, he chose to come to us and be our light.

And that is also who we are. We are the ones instructed to be the light in the darkness. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

We are all called to work the night shift. Morning is coming. But until then, we are the ones who are charged with making a positive difference in the world, and to carry a light into the darkness of the night.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 25