like historians. Find a section in today’s Scripture where the writer of Leviticus sounds like a prophet.
| NUMBERS 1–3; PSALM 38 | Week 7, Day 6 |
The Book of Numbers gets its title from the first census of Israel, which is contained here. If it were titled for its most significant event, however, a cynic might well call it the Book of Retreat, because it is in Numbers that we read the sad story of the Israelites coming within reach of their land of promise, then retreating into their fears. But more of that later.
There is a sense of family lineage among many ancient peoples that we in America seem to have lost until recently. The Israelites are told to make a census in clans, by ancestral houses, so the people will know their origins. I think this was also part of a movement to establish their pride. A people who have lived in slavery for over four centuries need to know that they have proud roots of heritage.
What we mentioned earlier about Joseph is now established: Joseph is phased out, and his descendants are named through Ephraim and Manasseh (1:32-35). The tribe of Levi shall not be enrolled but shall have responsibility for the tabernacle (1:48-53).
The people are set up in orderly fashion, with three tribes to north, south, east, and west. At the center of the encampment is the tribe of Levi with the tent of meeting. The place of worship is at the center of life. The Levites have their role “as substitutes for all the firstborn among the Israelites . . . ; and the Levites shall be mine. I am the LORD” (3:45).
PRAYER: Let me be a Levite, Lord, remembering that whatever I have and whatever I gain is yours, as I am; in Jesus’ name. Amen.
List some of the duties of the Levites related to their care of the Tabernacle.
| NUMBERS 4–6 | Week 7, Day 7 |
Clergy sometimes complain that they have to do all sorts of routine tasks unrelated to preaching and pastoral care. If so, they are in the biblical tradition. Part of the calling of the Levites was to assemble and disassemble the tabernacle as the Israelites moved from place to place. It wasn’t glamorous work, but it was essential; and from the scriptural point of view it was holy—like cooking a church supper.
The process for settling a marital suspicion is known as trial by ordeal. It was to be used in instances when suspicion was felt but there was no evidence. In a male-dominated culture, it was probably a woman’s best defense against a jealous husband.
Chapter 6 is a bright spot in this book. One admires the nazirites for their desire to dedicate themselves to a special pursuit of God. It is the kind of commitment some make during Lent. It’s easy to discredit such acts as meaningless or superficial; but if they are performed earnestly, they have a positive effect. God honors the seeking heart, and probably the discipline is good for our character.
The blessing with which this chapter ends is a good model not only for benedictions but for our general lifestyle. These beautiful words sent persons on their way under the glow of faith and hope. In a world where people seem so easily to curse and damn others, we ought to be ones who bless. Thus, in some measure, we help God’s kingdom to come.
PRAYER: Help me this day to bring blessing to someone by a word of love and grace, spoken in your name and in your Spirit. Amen.
How and where are nazirite principles preserved in the church today?
Prayer Time
Here are some days of celebration in my life for which I want to give thanks:
Here are some people who, to my knowledge, don’t have too many reasons to celebrate. I will pray daily for them:
How the Drama Develops LEVITICUS 14—NUMBERS 6
The drama of life is lived out in daily (indeed, momentary) encounters—encounters with God, with humankind, with nature, and with the secret places of our own souls. Some of these encounters are of such proportions that everyone recognizes them as crucial and life-changing. Those are the ones around which poets and novelists weave their plots. Most of our encounters are so routine, however, that we hardly notice them. Yet these encounters, in total, are the material, ultimately, from which the full drama is made. The so-called life-changing events are usually only the routine come to full fruition.
So the Hebrew law pays a great deal of attention to the routine. There are regulations for harvesting the fields to be sure there is provision for the poor (Leviticus 19:9-10), and for the way day laborers are paid to protect them against insensitive abuse by those who might not understand the degree of their poverty (19:13). Grudges are a way of life for some people and at times a test of character for all of us—trivial, yes, but significant in the fabric of our lives; so the Law deals with them (19:17). And always there is the reminder that these laws come from the One who brought the Israelites “out of the land of Egypt” (19:36). The Source of the laws has a claim on their lives because they owe their freedom to him.
But lest routine sound dull, let me hasten to note that Leviticus presented a way of life that was highlighted by a series of recurring holy days. The people celebrated! Sometimes it was in occasions of awe, as with the Day of Atonement. But more often there were events of gladness, such as the harvest festivals and the new year. These events must surely have taught the people that life is more than an assignment to be fulfilled; it is a gladness to be exulted.
Celebrations are part of the plot line of life and of eternity. We are creatures with birthdays, anniversaries, memories. Our handling of our days is influenced by the blessed interruption of special days; without such special days we would quickly become less than human. Perhaps, in a sense, celebrations are reminiscent of the Eden we have lost and a prodding toward the heaven we seek.
When the Israelites remembered where they had come from, they knew there was reason to celebrate. If you sometimes feel Leviticus is dull, ponder this wonderful sentence: “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be their slaves no more; I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect” (26:13). The sabbath—the weekly festival—reminded them they were no longer slaves. Slaves must work at all times at their owner’s bidding; the sabbath reminded the people that we are not slaves to our work; we can “walk erect.”
The quality of blessing seems to appear in these books of the Pentateuch in unlikely places. Numbers begins with the census data that gives it its name, then moves into issues of law and priestly procedure, when—almost out of the blue, it seems—there is a blessing: “The LORD bless you and keep you” (Numbers 6:24-26).
In a world where there is so much cursing, both spoken and implied, Israel walked under a blessing. And so should we.
Seeing Life Through Scripture
I wonder how our culture would handle the rules laid out in Leviticus 25. There is first of all a law that ought to gladden our ecology-conscious age: Each seventh year, the people were to let the land rest. It was a simple, sound system of soil conservation; but people would obey it only if they were free of the grasping nature that wants to get as much as it can as soon as it can.
