Numbers 7, 8, 9 Cloud by Day and Fire by Night

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By Numbers 9, the Israelites had already spent two years getting to know God.  In addition to learning, that they, of all the nations on the earth, were chosen by God to receive his blessings, they began to understand the extent of their sin.  God showed them that He was absolutely holy and as such unapproachable.  However, because He loved Israel and made an everlasting covenant with the sons of Jacob, God instituted the process of atonement.

Even after numerous sin offerings, fellowship offerings, burnt offerings, God continued to emphasize that He was still a Holy God who the people had to behold reverently.  The sacrificial offerings did not make them buddies.  In Numbers 9: 15 -23, after the Tabernacle was set up, a cloud covered it by day and and something with the appearance of fire covered it by night.  Here the Hebrew word for cloud, עָנָן (`anan), refers to a real nimbus or thunder cloud.  At night, something that appeared to be fire, but obviously not fire because nothing burned up, settled over the tabernacle.  God’s Presence rested on the tabernacle in the form of recognizable phenomenon, but different in that the cloud and fire did not behave as clouds of fire ordinarily do. 

I wonder if God was teaching Israel not to trust exclusively in their senses when beholding God, but rather to trust in God’s verbal revelation of Himself.  

Also, the camp of the Israelites did not move until the cloud lifted from the Tent.  According to the Scriptures, the cloud rested on the Tent for variable periods of time ranging from a few days to a year.  And, no matter when it lifted, during the day or night, Israel had to break camp and set out.

It appears to me that God was teaching Israel to trust in His timing, no matter how inconvenient or difficult it was to move on. 

Numbers 4,5,6 God Bless You

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Yesterday, I had the privilege of worshipping with my husband’s relatives from Texas in the Great Auditorium, in Ocean Grove, NJ.  Though Phil Smith, principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic, played trumpet solos during worship and a magnificent choir regaled us with rich voices, it was the very last benediction that reverberated most powerfully through the enormous building.

Dr. Mitch Glaser, president of ChosenPeopleMinistries.com, chanted the parting benediction, first in Hebrew and then in English, Numbers 6: 24 – 26:

            “The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”

In Hebrew, this blessing poured over my heart like anointing oil.  Even though I only actually understood the very last word, “shalom”, this benediction just felt sacred, holy, and powerful.  Now, even though I’ve heard this blessing before, I didn’t clearly remember where the text came from.  So, I was greatly surprised to see it in today’s readings and I really do feel led to reflect on those words.

So, what dos “bless” mean?  Webster’s dictionary begins the definition of the word  bless by indicating its origins in an Old English word blōdisōian, meaning to be consecrated by blood. Again, in Webster’s, the most common current usage of bless is to make or pronounce something holy; the second meaning is to confer happiness; other meanings include to guard, to protect, and to praise or glorify.

According to Strong’s Concordance to bless, in Hebrew בָּרַךְ (barak), is associated not only with abundance and prosperity but also with the ability to kneel before God in worship and adoration.  That creates a compelling dimension.

When Aaron and his sons, the only Levites who were permitted to serve as priests, recited this blessing dictated by God to Moses ( Numbers 6: 22 – 23), they were not only invoking God’s beneficial attributes upon the people, but they were also invoking the spiritual sight Israel needed to glorify God; to praise Him for His works; to thank God for His hand in their lives; to kneel before Him in awe; to know that there is no god like the God of Israel.

The blessing invoked prosperity as well as the ability to humbly kneel before God and the ability to gratefully receive His favour.   I think that it is amazing that God Himself told Moses how Aaron and his sons, were to bless Israel.  With the blessing, God taught Israel what to desire and how to receive it.

Numbers 1,2,3 God Chooses Leaders

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 Sometimes you meet a rare person who just seems to know you. Conversations are uncanny because both of you say the same words simultaneously. You just know that this person understands and knows you. And, doesn’t it just feel comfortable to be in that person’s company?

So, in the very first chapter of the Book of Numbers, God is recorded as telling Moses who to appoint as a leader of each tribe. Moses didn’t get to choose; the tribe didn’t get to vote someone in; God chose the man for the job by name. I think that this is amazing.

When you think of God being a personal God, this takes it to another level. God is not just personal but He knew each man in Israel and He knew who He wanted to serve as leaders. Moses’ job was to find these men and then, to officially, give them the position. In these chapters God demonstrates that He knows each person by name and that He knows the heart of each person.

Although this happened so long ago, I don’t believe that God’s deep knowledge of men ceased to function at that time. God continues to know each of us intimately, to know each of us by name, and to call each of us to Himself. While God calls each of us to a job He has prepared for us to do, we can’t accept the appointment unless we first heed His call and receive His forgiveness.

Leviticus 25, 26, 27 The Sabbath Year

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Did anyone ever tell you “Don’t worry about it – trust me, it’ll be fine.”?   Many times, when faced with problems or pending disasters, I’ve heard such phrases.  Usually, they don’t inspire much calm or hope.  People who’ve told me such things are not gods or supernatural sorts – I never really felt that I could trust anyone in the matter of “things” turning out just fine.  Usually, it’s glib, wishful thinking.

However, in Leviticus 25, God is telling Israel to let the land lie fallow every seventh year.  To an agricultural society, this must have sounded like a death wish.  If farmers don’t sow seed and then reap during the harvest, there would be no grain with which to feed themselves or their animals.  In Leviticus 25: 20 – 22, God addressed these very worries about “what will we eat, if we don’t plant crops?”  God reply was a promise that He would send such a blessing on the sixth year, that there will be enough grain to feed the nation for three years.

This is a really amazing passage in that God gave a command and then supplied the people with a way of obeying His Word. God told them up front just how much they would be blessed. There was no guesswork or speculation here.  So, in this case, it is God who said, “Don’t worry about it – trust me, it’ll be fine.” 

Sometimes, trusting God with the outcome of standing obediently on His Word may  seem counter-intuitive or irrational.  But, our Sovereign God wants men to trust in His character, in who He is.  Trusting in God is the essence of obedience.  There are times when we do the right thing but at the wrong time. Unfortunately, that’s s statement about not trusting in God’s character.

God is continually reaching out to us as much as to Israel in the past, saying that we need to do things His way.  God will bless our work and our lives mightily when they are according to His will.  When we do things God’s way, we are glorifying the King of this Universe, our Sovereign God.  Obedience brings blessing even when it doesn’t make any earthly sense.

Leviticus 22, 23, 24 Feasts of the Lord

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Over the years, as I was planning to go on vacation or planning to attend an event such as a party, friends would typically say things like "Have a good one" or "Enjoy yourself".  Now, in relation to Leviticus 23, these good wishes seem pallid by comparison.

In Leviticus 23, God mandated that Israel have set times to celebrate as they bask in their relationship with God, King of the Universe, Creator of the Universe, Sovereign over All. Up until this point, Israel heard injunctions relating to unholy behaviour and consequences of sin. And now, God wanted them to recognize who they were in relation to Him.  Families always celebrate achievements and milestones together.

In Leviticus 23, God told the sons of Jacob, to celebrate and memorialize God's hand in Israel's history. Yes, Israel was told to do no work - but when is having a rollicking, good time ever about work? When the Sabbath was observed on the seventh day,  Israel honored and remembered God's act of Creation.   The Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread celebrated God's redeeming hand as He brought Israel out of Egypt.  Nestled between Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, The Feast of Firstfruits, when the first sheaf of the harvest was cut and presented to the Lord, was perceived as God's pledge for a full harvest later.  Occurring fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot  originally celebrated the wheat harvest and later the giving of the Law to Moses.

Israel reveled and partied during the spring Feasts as they rejoiced in God's provision and trusted in His future provision.  It was a time of national prayer when everyone praised God and glorified His Holy Name - God's promises for the future were so real that Israel thanked God for them beforehand.  As a nation, Israel convened to glorify God and to grow in their assurance of God's deliverance.

However, the autumn feasts, occurring in the seventh month, a sabbath month,  Tishri, were more solemn in nature. God ordained that, in the sabbath month,  Israel would first engage in extensive self-examination and penitence. And later in Tishri, Israel enjoyed the most festive of all feasts, Sukkot.

After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, The Feast of Trumpets, memorialized on the first day of the seventh month, became Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year. Ten days later, Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement, was the one day ancient Israel fasted while atonement was made for the nation.  After the atonement, when Israel was reconciled to God, it was time for the Feast of Booths in which God tells Israel to "rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days," Leviticus 23: 40.  After heartfelt penitence, they were told to party.

In Leviticus 23, God instituted festivals which allowed Israel to use  their senses as well as emotions to relate to God.   I think of this as God telling us, yet again, that He created us and that He knows how to engender a knowledge of Him is a world that defies and denies Him relentlessly.

Leviticus 19, 20, 21 Be Ye Holy, for I AM Holy

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Whew! Reading these chapters brings to mind Westerns where a group of vigilantes go after some law breaker in order to hang him or just kill him outright.  However, I don’t really believe that God condoned mob rule.   Rather, God is cataloguing sin and reminding all of Israel that sin is punishable by death.

So, how does one escape the inevitable punishment of death?  In prior chapters, individuals were told to the Tent of Meeting, lay a hand on the head of the animal to be sacrificed, confess their sin, and allow the animal to be sacrificed by a consecrated descendant of Aaron, as a sin offering.  The sin that was repented of, God forgave.  Unconfessed and unforgiven sin separated a person from God, both in this life and for eternity.

While we tend to think of sin as varying in degree – some not too bad; some socially acceptable; some indisputably heinous, God  regards all sin as loosing one’s way.  According to these chapters, all sin required punishment.

Fortunately, from yesterday’s readings, we saw how adamant God was about extending forgiveness to a people who deserve death.  So, God put an extra responsibility for holiness upon the Levites because this tribe was charged with representing God’s judgment in Israel.  But, all of Israel was charged with Leviticus 20:26:

“Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.

Holy is the Hebrew קָדוֹשׁ (qadowsh) meaning to be set apart or hallowed or consecrated.  The nation God created was designed to have a special witness to Him before the world.  Israel alone saw God  in the pillar of fire and saw His redemptive hand as He supernaturally delivered the sons of Jacob out of Egypt.  Only Israel holds God’s unilateral everlasting, covenant promises (Genesis 17). 

Only Israel still stands, different from all other nations, and holy to God.

Leviticus 16, 17, 18 Yom Kippur

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The importance of sin being atoned for is again underscored in these chapters where Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement,  became a permanent statute for Israel. In earlier chapters, God addressed the sin problem and sin offerings.  Before the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, Yom Kippur was probably the most important  event in the Jewish religious calendar.  This was the day that the nation got right with God, as it were.  Once a year, on the tenth day of the seventh month, Tishri 9 and 10, the consecrated High Priest who already made sin offerings for himself, entered the Holy of Holies to apply the blood of the sacrifice onto the mercy seat.  As recorded in Leviticus 16: 30,31:

"For it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you shall be clean from all your sins before the Lord.  It is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute."

The priest had sacrificed the animals and covered the mercy seat with their  blood. According to God, all sin is punishable by death.  When Adam and Eve sinned, the curse placed upon them was the introduction of death into the world.  Though their sin brought death into this world, God said that all of the sin of Israel could be “covered” or atoned for, through blood, following God’s strict directions.  Any deviation from His plan, resulted in an unacceptable sacrifice without atonement. In Leviticus,  God repeated His directions for the sacrifice so frequently  that He precluded the possibility of anyone accusing Him of ambiguity.

But what I think is so compelling here is that atonement “is made for you” on a “Sabbath of solemn rest”.  During Temple times, the Israelite was expected to accept God’s cleansing for him;  he was not supposed to do anything to make the atonement better, more perfect, more acceptable, etc.   Essentially, God Himself atoned for His people so that no one person could boast of being holier than another, for it was God who effected the cleansing from sin.  Israel was ordered to rest, in Hebrew שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbathown), meaning that it was a special Sabbath that was synonymous with rest from all work.  No-one, on his own strength, could become extra good so that God would take notice of him.  Rather, God chose to cleanse all of Israel annually by the sacrificial system He instituted.  Israel was told to simply rest in God's love for the nation.