Today's Scripture Reading (November 26, 2021): Numbers 2
Nineteenth
Century poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde, once said that “you can never be
overdressed or overeducated.” I am not sure that the Christian Church would
agree. It is not the overdressed comment with which we seem to have an issue,
it is the overeducated. I first ran into the education bias of the church when
I was working toward my Master’s degree. It started with students who seemed to
disagree with the position of some of the professors at the seminary. Their
theological positions were sometimes written off as a product of their overeducation.
But since then, I have had the education argument thrown at me. If you disagree
with me, it might just be because I have too much education.
I
don’t really believe that. I have always believed that everyday life gives us
the opportunity to learn something, and I believe that every day I we need to
take advantage of that opportunity and learn something. Learning something and
thinking critically through the biblical record does not mean that I am not a
person of faith. I think it actually indicates that I take my faith very
seriously.
As
God begins to list where the tribes are to set up camp, the second tribe that
is mentioned is Issachar. Issachar was the ninth son of Jacob; his mother was
Leah and he was the fifth son out of the six that were born to Jacob’s first
wife. As such, he would not have been one of the more influential of the sons
of Israel. But the tribe was given the honor of being the second one mentioned
as the tribes were instructed as to where they would place their tents and also
the second tribe to bring to bring the offering of dedication for the
tabernacle (Numbers 7:18-23). And the reason they were given this honor was likely
that they were the most educated of the Tribes of Israel. Issachar is thought
to have been a tribe that was made up of scholars, to which the Book of
Chronicles seems to allude when it describes the Tribe of Issachar as
consisting of “men who understood the times and knew
what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32).
According to Rabbinic literature, the Tribe of
Issachar was made up of scholars. Babylonian Rabbi Abba ben Joseph har Hama (c.
280 – 352 C.E.), also known as Rava and writing on a passage in Deuteronomy,
argues that “You do not find a young Torah
scholar who gives halakhic instruction (instruction pertaining to the Jewish
law and jurisprudence) unless he comes from the tribe of Levi or from the tribe
of Issachar” (Yoma 26a). Of all the tribes outside of the Tribe of Levi whose
fundamental task was to know the law, Issachar was the best educated, and for
that they found honor from God.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Numbers 3
No comments:
Post a Comment