Today's Scripture Reading (December 23, 2021): Numbers 28
Twice, I have preached Jesus's "Sermon on the Mount." Not from the sermon, but the discourse itself with no commentary added. To get a fresh look
at the sermon, I preached the "Sermon on the Mount" from Eugene Peterson's "The Message" both times. But don't ask me to do it now. I have forgotten most of the
exact language. Both times I preached the sermon, I spent long hours just
repeating the sermon over and over again. My method for memorizing the sermon was to start with the first line, "You're
blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of
God and his rule" (Matthew 5:3, The Message), before going on to the next.
Line by line, I would learn a section of the sermon and then section by
section, always returning to the beginning to make sure that in learning the
most recent portion, I didn't forget the earlier ones. The process was repeated
over and over again until I could stand and quote the entire sermon. Then I was
ready to preach the sermon.
I find
that I learn best by repetition, followed by doing it. With most things, I need
to practice whatever it is that I am learning to really understand how to
complete the task. My children and I like to play games, but I have to admit
that I have to play the game a couple of times before I begin to understand the
strategy behind the contest. So, when learning something, I repeat and do, and
then usually repeat the process again.
This
section outlines a repetition of the daily sacrifices that had already been given
to Israel. But the problem was that it didn't appear that Israel had been
practicing the art of sacrifice. Forty years in the desert had been hard on the
flocks, and there just weren't any to sacrifice. As well, they hadn't stayed in
one place long enough to grow the grains necessary for the grain sacrifices.
The prophet Amos puts a fine point on life in the wilderness when he asks the
question, "Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness,
people of Israel" (Amos 5:25)? Amos's point was that even though they had
not brought sacrifices to God in the desert, that didn't mean that they weren't
the people of God. In the same way, simply bringing sacrifices would not make
them the people of God either. God demanded something more.
The sacrificial system was one way of recognizing that they
were the people of God, and a reminder that everything that they would find and
grow in this new land belonged to God. But while the nation had not brought
sacrifices in the wilderness, sacrifices were something that God would require
of them as they entered the Promised Land. So, the instructions for sacrifice
needed to be repeated so that the nation could go and do.
And Numbers makes it clear that this was not the will of
Moses, who would not be with them in the Promised Land. These instructions came
from the throne of God and were spoken with his voice. The God who would go
before them as they took land had these expectations for his people. And if
they were to prosper, these were instructions that the people needed to hear,
and they had to understand that the instructions came from God.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Numbers 29
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