PROFESSIONAL MINISTERS: WORTHY OF THEIR HIRE (Numbers 18)

Wow, I didn't expect to find such a feast in Numbers 18. Maybe the first verse I noticed today would be the key to the chapter: "You and your sons, along with your father's family, are responsible for taking care of the sins having to do with the Sanctuary; you and your sons are also responsible for sins involving the priesthood."

The chapter goes on to detail several privileges, payments, and responsibilities (and punishments for failure) pertaining to the priesthood.

Their responsibilities included:

• Instilling reverence for holy  things: They had to make sure the other Israelites didn't touch or mishandle the holy things in the Tabernacle. If someone touched something that should remain offlimits, both the lay person and the priest received a death penalty. 
• Care for holy things, so that God's anger would be averted.
• Tithing the tithe they received from the people (who received it or what happened to it isn't specified, except that the animal and grain offerings were killed and burned).

Their payment included:

• Specified portions of the offerings to be eaten.
• The money paid in offerings.
• No land.  God told them "I am your plot of ground."
• As noted above, they were in turn to give one-tenth of what they received. 

Their privileges?

• Their work. Only they served in the sanctuary. 
• A unique relationship with God. "I am your inheritance," God told them. 
• All their needs provided.

The principles still hold true today, don't you agree? Let's see. We still expect our ministers to teach us about holy living and to maintain holiness in their own lives. We expect them to be generous with their time and money.

We pay them (usually) so they can work for the church "full time."

They rarely remain fixed in one place long enough to call it their "home."

They are called to be our pastors, teachers, leaders.

One final thought:  The work of the priesthood was God's exclusive gift to Aaron and his sons; it couldn't be delegated.

Whatever work God has called us to is exclusive; what we don't do remains undone, and it can't be delegated to someone else.

For a writer, I take joy and peace in knowing no one else can or will write the stories God places on my heart. When jealousy threatens to get the better of me (still a struggle for me), I cling to this truth. God's plan for me is unique and exclusive, and I have no business comparing myself to others.

Of course, that also means I'd better get busy--and write the stories God gave me.

ON PAROLE: SIN STOPPERS (Numbers 15)

Back on February 14, I wrote about sin served three ways, and the provision God made for deliberate, willful rebellion against God.

So today when I read that a person who sins defiantly must be kicked out of the community. Ostracized. Excommunicated, although that word isn't used. I was surprised.

Perhaps it's a matter of continuing in willful rebellion, choosing a different lifestyle than the one God gives in the law.

When a few verses later, I read about adding blue tassels to their garments, to remind them of God's commandments, my mind said "ahah! This is about practical ways to avoid temptation."  In God's words, "not get distracted  by everything you feel or see that seduces you into infidelities."

In fact, the instructions reminded me of rules for parolees from jail: Don't associate with former friends and criminals. Stay away from them. As God told the Israelites, remove them from your vicinity.

And how about those nifty ankle bracelets that some parolees have to wear? That's a visual clue to stay within the confines of the law.

Are there people who tempt me to sin? Should I stay away from them?  Do I need to use a rubber band to train my thoughts away from a sinful path? How about posting a Bible verse during the day? A necklace with a religious symbol? What are visual clues I can give myself to remain in God's will?

Let's join God's sin-stopper program, and accept His forgiveness when we fail.

A STUDY IN CONTRASTS (Numbers 13; Mark 5)

I was arrested by God's words to Moses today, after the 10 of the 12 spies discouraged the people of Israel from entering the promised land: "How long will these people treat me like dirt? How long refuse to trust me?"

The idea of treating God like dirt--and how our lack of faith makes God feel--struck me as a rich subject.

But then I read today's portion from the New Testament, about the woman who touched the bottom of Jesus' garment: How excited Jesus sounds!  "Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you're healed and whole. Live well, live blessed!"

Let's compare the two occasions.

• In Numbers, they are deciding whether or not to declare War. Their Commander-in-Chief, God, has already given the command. But the people refuse to ratify the declaration of war. 
• In Mark, the woman had a very personal problem, one that kept her unclean and away from mainstream society for 28 years.  I had a hysterectomy after I have a couple of months of heavy bleeding. I was exhausted. I can't imagine living with it for 28 years! 
• The Israelites had seen God's power displayed over and over again. The ten plagues, crossing the red sea, manna, meat, water, defeating the Amalekites. What more did God have to do to prove Himself trustworthy?  (Nothing, obviously)
• The woman had heard reports of Jesus' healing power, but had no personal experience.
• The spies were chosen for the task. Interesting note: not the same men as were chosen for the census in chapter 2, who led in giving in chapter 7.   (would their response have been any different?)
• The woman was an outcast, no one of influence
• The spies' lack of faith (with the exception, of course, of Joshua and Caleb) caused an entire nation to lose faith and cursed an entire generation to die in the wilderness.
• The crowd didn't believe in the case of Jesus and the woman either. How did Jesus know someone had touched Him? How dare this woman come near the master?
• The woman's faith led both to healing and to Jesus' giving her a benediction of blessing.
• The spies trumpeted their opinions to the crowd.
• The woman came secretly. 
• The spies saw a risk doomed to failure.
• The woman saw a risk with a sure reward.

How often do we let the crowd sway our faith, or lack thereof? 

What are we willing to risk for our faith?  

TIMING and GOD'S WILL (Numbers 9)

This morning, I read "Night of day, it made no difference--when the Cloud lifted, they marched."

My mind scrambled to take in the scene, especially at night time. As a writer, I try to imagine describing the scene, and I have a dozen questions.  Who knew that the Cloud lifted? Did they have an organized watch for that special purpose? I would guess the Levites, or even Aaron and his sons, kept watch. They were in charge of blowing the trumpets, announcing the move. And they camped next to the Tabernacle, where the Cloud must have dominated the sky overhead. They were in the best position to see it move.

It would be even more difficult during the day. What if the children were at play? The parents at work? How do you survive living on the road as they did?

How long does a group of 600,000 men plus women and children stretch? How much space did their camp take?

How much time passed from the time the Cloud lifted until it moved? Was it always the same length of time? Where did God drawn the line between adequate time to prepare to move and dawdling?

God gave them visual clues (Pillar of Cloud/Pillar of Fire) and verbal clues (trumpet blasts) to announce the time to move on. They couldn't make a mistake.

There are days that I want God to make the direction He wants me to move in as clear as He did for the Israelites. Sometimes He does. This spring, I am preparing several different book proposals. They vary greatly; one is nonfiction, one is contemporary romance, a third is a self-publishing endeavor for novellas, and another is historical romance for a new publisher that I hope to work with long term.

I have great hopes for all four of them--and know from experience they probably won't all get a green light. This morning I prayed for God to make His will clear, to close the wrong doors and open the right ones. I should also have asked for God to open the right door at the right time. I sent in a proposal this morning. If the answer is "yes," I trust God will let me know when I need the information.

Almost five years ago, God lifted a pillar from Denver and forced me out. I lived in and loved Colorado for almost twenty years. Then in 2008 my daughter died. I didn't know that among other losses, it started the avalanche of moving me on. A job I had enjoyed for ten years wouldn't let me take a long scheduled vacation to see my first grandchild. My mother's health failed, and she needed to move into a nursing home. I couldn't afford to rent an apartment by myself. Day by day, I became convinced the time had come for me to move.

The bottom line application from today's passage: When God tells us to move, it's time to start packing.

LEADERSHIP IN GIVING (Numbers 7-8)

In the first chapter of Numbers, Moses appointed one man from each tribe of Israel to assist in taking the census.

By chapter 7, we see that those men had grown into leaders. They worked in a clearly coordinated, planned, effort, to present offerings for needs they perceived in beginning Tabernacle worship.

In chapter 8 we read the repetitive list of silver and gold vessels, grains, incense, livestock. Each tribe gave exactly the same items, none of which were commanded by God. They gave willingly and in a coordinated effort.

But back in chapter 7, they began with a very practical need: wagons to carry the furnishings of the Tabernacle, and oxen to pull them.

Their offering flummoxed Moses. I can see him now, scratching his head, asking God what he was supposed to do with the unexpected offering. He must have been puzzled, because God had to spell out the answer: "Receive these so that they can be used to transport the Tend of Meeting."

I love it. Men recognized as leaders, acting under Moses's direction, and then acting on their own initiative. And the first thing they wanted to do was to give back to God. They did nothing to puff themselves up.

May our leaders today do the same.

LIBERATED OR NOT (Numbers 5)

Today is another test of my commitment to write about what I read, no matter how hard: the test for an unfaithful wife.

My objections are purely social and egalatarian in nature, the product of being an American woman, "liberated," in the sense that while I recognize the difference between the sexes (viva la difference!), I don't feel held back or rated as a second class citizen because of my gender.

So, as I said, a test where a husband can prove his wife's guilt or innocence in cases of adultery, without a similar provision for a jealous wife, offends my sensibilities.

I did something I very rarely to: I read the commentaries, and it did give me some new things to think about. So here are my thoughts on this unusual chapter.

• Faithfulness in marriage is central to God's will. 
• The Jewish commentaries say the husband must have some reason for suspicion; not proof, however, or else his wife would be stoned.
• The Jewish commentaries also say that if the husband is guilty of the same sin, his belly will swell at the same time his wife's does.
• -----So my concerns about fairness were apparently felt by minds who studied the law before the birth of Christ.
• The woman stands "in the presence of God" during the trial. All of our sins are uncovered in God's presence; His light reveals them all.
• The test provides a way to prove her innocence. The wife doesn't have to bear her husband's unjust suspicions.
• God called Israel His lover who had gone whoring after other gods. Marriage infidelity is a "type", or a picture, of God's relationship with His people; He is our husband, and believers today are the Bride of Christ.  God is never unfaithful; but we often are. Perhaps this test is restricted to the wife because of the role of marriage in describing our relationship to God.

As a footnote--in my fiction writing this week, I had to decide whether a male mentor would counsel a female. The answer is no; the temptation is real, innuendo and sin do exist; and the best strategy is to avoid the appearance of evil.

WORD OF GOD (Numbers 3)

A very familiar phrase crept into today's reading: Moses turned over the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, as he was commanded by the word of God. (Numbers 3:51, MSG)

I did a quick search, and the only earlier reference to the "word of God" comes in Genesis 15, where the word of God said, "Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your shield. Your reward will be grand!"

In addition to the fact that God inspired the Bible, the word of God, God dictated much of the Pentateuch word-for-word. In some ways, I'm surprised that I haven't run across the phrase "the word of God" before now. I ask myself, why here? why in connection with this command? what does it mean? 

The redemption money referred to is the tax the people of Israel had to pay, to make up the difference between the total number of first-born males and the total number of Levites. The Levites as a tribe took the place of the first-borns, but there was a slight imbalance.

In the New Testament, believers are redeemed, bought with the blood of Jesus Christ--the other Word of God.

So does the word of God in Numbers refer to another command and nothing more?
Does it foreshadow the Word which would pay the redemption price?
Did the Word of God Himself speak the command to Moses?

Or all three?