Chapter 5: verse 1... God must get rid of ALL impurities before He can be present, because God is holy and cannot tolerate sin... this passage, though does help clarify why the disciples would have a misunderstanding about sin and its effect on infirmities and vice versa (see John 9:1-3)
verse 2...why unclean because of dead bodies? How did they care for the dead if no one could touch them without becoming unclean? Who took care of this? Where they eternally unclean, then, or did they have some kind of "free" pass because of the job they were assigned to? or what???
verse 6... whenever we sin against man, we are actually and ultimately sinning against God, Himself.
verse 7...the person must confess before restitution can be made... there are 3 steps to forgiveness (we just learned this in church today!)... the first, is to love the person despite their sin; the second, is to release the debt... both of these first two parts are done unconditionally and do not require repentence; they are done with or without a repentence heart... the third step is different though, in that it requires a change in the other party... the third step is Restoration, and it can only be acheived when the person repents and confesses of their wrongdoing (see Matthew 18:15-35, and Luke 17:3-4)... God requires all three to take place on our behalf, too... the first two are done by God, but the third part, the repentence heart and the confession of our guilt, is required of us for restitution to be made between us and God (see Acts 3:19, Romans 10:9-10, Luke 24:46-48)
verse 11 and on... ok, my first question is "what about the test and punishment of unfaithful husbands?!"... but as I got thinking, maybe there wasn't the same standard for men because if a man wanted more wives he could just take them, so if a man cheats, it could be with another wife, which would be a mess (a whole Jerry Springer thing)... also, in that case, he knows the baby is still part of his lineage, but if a woman cheats (and women were not allowed more than one husband), then the lineage of the baby would be unknown... God seems to place alot of clout on the lines of ancestory, so the unknown paternal line would be a big problem since this is how the clans, etc, where traced, divided up for responsibilities, etc.... anyway, that is me trying to be gracious about what appears to be an anti-women's lib rule from first glance.... however, the study notes suggest that this law was put in place as a deterrent and a way of keeping harmony within the family groups so that there were no riots or whatever (jealous male testosterone and all)... so it was a safety net for the woman because she had nothing to fear from a holy and just God, if she was innocent, but without the test for her innocense, she had a lot to fear from a jealous husband... not to mention that God hasn't instituted any bouncers onto the scene, so if a fight broke out it might be hard to put it to rest.
Also, study notes suggest that this chapter is more about how destructive the private sin of adultery is, and how God knows all... even if no human has witnessed our "private sin", God still always knows what we have done, are doing, and will do.
verse 15 is also interesting, as the husband, who wants to go around accusing his wife, must pay for his accussation... also, he has to pay for her, even if he is the one that was wronged by her... this probably helps keep people from going around making random and erroneous claims, and also this pays the priests for his efforts and time, since part of it, at least, is a wave offering (verse 25), I think that means the priest can eat it later.
verse 19 reminded me at first of the Salem Witch Trials where they would burn women and assume that if they were a witch they wouldn't burn and so free themselves, but that didn't make sense because they'd be burning perfectly innocent women, and if there was a witch among them, then they'd really be in for it... but then, after a second look at this passage, this is not an unfair and ridiculous trial like the witch hunts.... instead, it is a safety net pf assurance and comfort to the woman (who is probably scared to death at this point), because the curse only applies if she is guilty (verse 28), so if she is innocent, then she has nothing to worry about and so hopefully that would help put her at ease (although I would not want to have to be the first woman to undergo this law and be the guinea pig to try it out)
verse 31... at first I was kind of frustrated by the fact that the man was not punished because of a false accussation, but I guess that the man should receive some kind of kuddos as he didn't kill anyone and instead should self-control in handling the matter in an orderly and God-ordained manner.
Chapter 6: Question... is "Nazarite" where Nazareth gets its name? What is the origin of the root word? And important meaning? Just wondered. :)
Similar rules for priests as for Nazarites (see Leviticus 21)
Famous Nazarites are Samuel and Samson.
verse 2... interesting that a man OR a woman could become a Nazarite... are there any references to women Nazarites in the Bible?
verse 5-8... hair length is a symbol of consecration to God and shows holiness.
So, the period of separation is the time period during which the person has dedicated themself to God... any idea how long that traditionally was for?
verse 11... interesting thought that the person sinned, just by being in the presence of a dead body... why? because death represents sin, so they are symbolically unclean? or ???
verse 12... so, if the person gets defiled, then they have to start their days over again, back to day one of the consecration vow period? Wow, I would hope no one gets defiled on their last day as a Nazarite, and have to "go back to start"!
verse 21... so, the person must give all they have to God as payment for their service, and as a payment to then leave the service of the Lord?... Also, I like how it says that the person "must fulfill the vow" that they made to the Lord... God does not take it lightly when we say we are giving our lives to Him.
verse 24-27... I like this blessing because we did it in Perspectives, and liked it so much that we incorporated it into our training for the Discipleship Walk... we would turn to someone that we do not know, hold their hands, look them in the eyes, and insert their names in after the "you", as we read the blessing to them... it is really powerful to have someone bless you in this way and really moving to be able to bless someone else... you should try it sometime if you never have.... also, I want to note in verse 27, that whatever God puts His name on will be blessed? So, I know I do not want to start something that God has not ordained/put His name on, because without the blessing of God it is like building a house on sand and the first high tide wash it away or the first strong wind will knock it down.
Chapter 7: I guess I thought the tabernacle was already set up since we've talked so much about it up to this point... shocked me that it was just getting up and going.
verse 9... the Kohathites had to carry the stuff on their shoulders... that included the lampstand and alters and things (see Numbers 3:31)... they had to be some strong guys to carry that a good distance without a wagon or pack animal.
verse 11-83...The order of the offerings line up with the order of the camps given in Numbers 2... ok, just wondering, why, if all the tribes gave the same things, why give the details over and over instead of just saying they all brought the same gifts or whatever... why include all these verses, instead of just leaving it at the summary in verse 84-88? The study notes comment that these gifts were to help the Israelites identify with the tabernacle, and that the identical gifts were important to help build unity between the tribes... also it would help them concentrate on the reason behind the gift giving instead of worrying about who got off "easy" in their gift giving and who had to "bear the load" or whatever... I guess I can see that because our kids sometimes complain like that... for example, we always try to divide the household chores up evenly between kids and make it fair according to age, abilities, previous jobs, preferences, etc, but no matter how hard we try to be fair, there are just some days when they want to complain that things are just not fair... if they all had the same job, then maybe they'd complain less? It is always worth hoping for, but my guess is they'd complain that the younger one had to do the same as the older one, or something... isn't it funny how we can always find something to complain about? (I mean funny "sad", not funny "haha")
verse 89... so, this was the first time that the tabernacle was put to use? If that is the case, then God is REALLY thorough in preparing before He takes action!... I wonder, how does that apply to me and the work He is wanting to do through me? Am I still in preparation stage? How close am I to being "dedicated" into His sevice? How close do I want to be?... Kind of cool to think of hearing the voice of God coming out from between two angels above the cover to the box that was His "house"... even cooler to think about how Moses spoke to God!... I know that God speaks to me, too, but it is in a totally different way than to audibly hear His voice... also, why did Moses just hear God's voice and not see Him face to face like He had in the past when he talked to God? Maybe he only heard God's voice then, too?
Chapter 8: verse 1-4... see Exodus 25:31-40 for instructions on making lampstands, and Exodus 27:20-21 on other instructions about the burning of the lamps, and finally, Exodus 37:17-24 for further instructions on making, etc, of lampstands.
verse 6... "useable" Levites totalled 8,580 (see Numbers 4:48)...
verse 10... the Isrealites lay their hands on the Levites... so they are dedicated by the people they are making atonement for and will be working on behalf of... adds a new dimension to the offerings/sacrifices that were given when you make it about the people.
verse 11... so they are a wave offering... that wave offering thing is coming in handy... it is a way of sacrificing something without burning it up, so it can still serve a purpose beyond its place as a sacrifice.... in this case, so that the Levites will be ready to work for the Lord... reminds me of how on construction sites and things, the men wave to each other when they are ready to do something, to signal their readiness... kind of like the priests were waving to God and saying, "all ready to go here, boss"
verse 12... had a thought about burnt offerings and fire and such: fire makes atonement for sin, so, is that why Hell is a pit of fire? To burn off the eternal sin from those who refused to confess and repent of it? If a lifetime was not enough to remove it, will it take an eternity to remove such impurity from a soul?
verse 15-19... brings clarification to the why? questions posed in Numbers 3 and fulfills the requirement to give the firstborn in Exodus 13 (which did apparently have to do with the death of the Egyptian firstborn in Exodus 11... so every action of God on our behalf has a consequence for it? or just this time? is this a universal truth, or does it just apply to that particular situation?)
verse 24... I thought the age to serve was thirty? (see Numbers 4:3)... maybe they needed five years to learn everything and then didn't start serving until they were 30?
verse 25... so here is our answer to yesterday's question about what happened after they turned 50... they do retire, at least from "regular service" and "no longer work"
verse 26 says they can "assist"... does that mean they then can serve in supervisory positions as opposed to manual labor?... the study notes suggest that this early retirement age might reflect that the nature of their work was hard and difficult and required younger men to safely perform it?
Keep on reading... we'll be back to the interesting narratives soon enough!
In His Love,
sandJ
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