Speak ye unto the rock

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Numbers 20:1–13, “Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.”

Even though Miriam was Moses older sister and had been told to watch him while he was is the ark among the bulrushes,she eventually died. Until today, every person who was born can look forward to dying one day. There will be some alive when the Lord returns but no one can actually claim to be certain that they will never die. The people started their complaining again. They had already seen the Lord provide water for them but as soon as they struck a dry period they began to complain rather than trusting the Lord to do what He had always done. There were about two million people and they probably had about ten million head of stock altogether but, by this stage, they should have realised that that was just a small issue for the Lord. After all, He made all the water and He made people so that they needed water so He knew exactly what they needed every day that they were in the wilderness. Moses and Aaron went to the Lord and prayed again. They knew that they Lord was the only Person able to solve the problem so they brought it straight to Him. The Lord Moses to speak to the rock and the water would come out but he was angry and struck the Rock with his rod. The Lord honoured Moses but refused to let him lead the people into the Promised Land. This was very hard for Moses but the Lord knew that Joshua would not be able to properly lead the people if Moses was still alive. However, Moses chose to disobey the Lord and the Lord dealt with him accordingly.

Bodies

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Numbers 19:11–22, “He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him. This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean. And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even. But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean. And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even. And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.”

One of the first things we learn about dead bodies is that they start to smell after a relatively short time. This is because the bodies begin to decay and anyone who touches a body can easily become contaminated himself. There is an added danger when someone has died from some kind of disease for the disease can be passed on from a dead body to a living body. Unless the proper procedures are followed and bodies dealt with in an appropriate way an entire population can be contaminated by the products of decay and then the people will be decimated through an epidemic. The Lord also understood that death was the consequence of sin and the contamination of sin could also destroy an entire population. There was spiritual as well as medical benefits to making sure that bodies were dealt with in an appropriate and timely fashion. Sin could also destroy the work that the Lord planned to do with Israel as the source of blessing to all the families of the earth.

A red heifer

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Numbers 19:1–10, “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke: And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times: And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even. And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin. And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.”

This sacrifice was even more significant than any of the other sacrifices. Not only did the sacrifice have to be a heifer withouts spot or blemish, it had to be red as well. There is special symbolism in this fact because red is also the colour of blood. The blood of this special sacrifice was sprinkled on the altar for the forgiveness of sin. The heifer was then burnt and then cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet was added to the fire. The cedar tree is the symbol of Lebanon, even today. This wood was known for its long lasting properties and was resistant to insects and decay. It was one of the most valuable kinds of wood available in the region at that time. Hyssop was a smaller plant with flowers that grew in bunches at the end of its stems. The Israelis used bunches of hyssop to paint the blood onto their doorposts and lintels during the first Passover (Exodus 12:22, “And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.”) so hyssop was associated with blood and life in that culture (Genesis 9:4 , “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.”) A scarlet thread was used when twins were born to show which of the twins was the firstborn (compare Genesis 38:28–30, “And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez. And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.”) All these add up to show that this sacrifice was even more special and had more dignity than the other sacrifices. The ashes were later placed in water that was used for purification for sin. Sin could not be dealt with unless blood was shed, the blood had to come at great cost from a rare and precious place and be part of a sacrificial offering. This showed the high price that was placed on the sacrifice for sin.

No inheritance

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Numbers 18:20–32, “And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die. But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance. But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe. And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress. Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD’S heave offering to Aaron the priest. Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it. Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress. And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation. And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.”

We saw before, that Aaron and his tribe were dedicated to serving the Lord as long as the nation existed with the Tabernacle and, later, the Temple. They were not given any farming land, like the other tribes, so that they would not be distracted from serving the Lord. They were given a tenth of all the produce and trade of the other tribes as they worked their own inheritance and prospered in the Land that the Lord had given them. On the other hand, no member of the other tribes was allowed to come to Tabernacle or the Temple and offer priestly service. This meant that anyone involved in the Lord’s service should be at least as prosperous and the average person in the rest of the nation. The Lord understood that the priests and Levites would need to be in a position where they were not corrupted by too much wealth and not forced into sin because they were constrained by poverty (compare Prov 30:7–9, “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain”). The Lord did require that the rest of Israel make their offerings from their best produce rather than their worst produce.

This shall be thine

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Numbers 18:8–19, “And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever. This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons. In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee. And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it. All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee. And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it. Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine. Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the LORD. And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine. All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.”

Representing the Lord to Israel and Israel to the Lord was an important task and took up a significant amount of time. This prevented the priests from taking full time employment elsewhere so Israel was to support the priests in this job. When someone offered a gift to the Lord the Lord passed that gift on the the Levites so that they wouldn’t become impoverished in their service to the Lord. The other issue concerned the firstborn of Israel. They were delivered from slavery at the cost of the Egyptian firstborn so the Lord claimed the firstborn in Israel for His own. The tribe of Levi were chosen to represent the firstborn and they were dedicated to the Lord’s service. However, a price had to be paid for all the firstborn, both of people and animals. Sacrificial animals could not be redeemed but the had to be offered to the Lord.

The priest's office

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Numbers 18:1–7, “And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness. And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die. And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you. And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel. And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.”

The Lord had just demonstrated that Aaron and the tribe of Levi were specially selected to act on His behalf for Israel and to act on Israel’s behalf for the Lord. They were to deal with the issue of sin by offering sacrifices to the Lord. This was an hereditary task and would always belong to this tribe. If anyone from another tribe tried to act as a priest or a Temple servant they would be rebelling against the Lord. They were entirely responsible for all the ceremonial aspects of Israel’s religion. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned mankind was tainted by sin. The Lord was offended by mankind’s sin and no one could presume upon His goodness. The Lord freely gave of His grace and sought to effect reconciliation with mankind but this could only be done on the Lord’s terms. The entire sacrificial system was devised to allow Israel to deal with sin and be the means whereby the Lord would use them to bless all the families of the world. However, this could only happen because the Lord is gracious and merciful and acted from His own goodness. We cannot demand that the Lord deal with us on our terms but come to Him on His terms.

Almonds

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1

Numbers 17:8–13, “And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he. And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?”

Moses asked all the tribal leaders in Israel to put the Lord to the test to see who were the approved leaders of the nation. They were asked to put their walking sticks in the Tabernacle of witness and see what happened. When they looked at the walking sticks the next morning they discovered that Aaron’s stick had produced fruit. The dead walking stick was alive and even producing seeds for the next generation. The Lord made sure that everyone understood He supported Moses and Aaron as leaders and no one else. The fact that the Lord brought almonds reminds us of another event that happened many years later. When the Lord called Jeremiah to be a prophet to Judah just before they went into exile He gave the prophet a vision. The vision was of  a rod from an almond tree The Lord said, at that time that he would hasten His word to perform it (Jer 1:11–12, “Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.”) The almond tree was known to be the first tree to flower in time for spring. It was know as the tree that heralded the coming of the spring. In the same way the Lord was watching over His nation, Israel, and making sure that His word would be kept. He was removing any people who may prevent His will from happening.