Day 45: Number 19, 20 and 21

Bring . . . a red heifer without defect or blemish (Numbers 19:2).

The red heifer was different from all the sacrifices detailed in Leviticus. First, most sacrificial animals were males; the red heifer was female. Second, sacrificial animals were normally not burned whole; the red heifer was. And third, the red heifer was not sacrificed; it was slaughtered – outside the camp – nowhere near the bronze altar.

The finished product, for which the ashes of the red heifer were the main ingredient, was cleansing water. This water was formulated by adding cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool to the burning heifer and its purpose was to restore ritual cleanness after a person came into contact with a dead body. This was a gift of grace, allowing a family member to minister to the deceased, knowing that their own cleanness could be restored.

Hebrews 9:13,14 explains how, as the ashes of the red heifer cleansed the ceremonially unclean allowing them to continue in relationship with the community, the blood of Christ cleanses us from our uncleanness restoring us to community with God and his children.

135 years ago Robert Lowry put it better than I ever could:

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus
O precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know

Nothing but the blood of Jesus [5]

 

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Sin breaks community. Community has been restored by the cross. Where would you be without it? How can you show your gratitude for it?

Day 44: Numbers 16, 17 and 18

Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly? (Numbers 16:3).

Korah, member of an influential Levite family, became envious of Moses’ position of leadership. He brought 250 of his closest friends to challenge the authority of Aaron and Moses. What is perhaps more disturbing is that these 250 were appointed council members who were supposed to serve the community, obviously persons of influence in their own right.

How could Moses be so misunderstood? He didn’t have a self-serving bone in his body. He had left the luxuries of Pharaoh’s palace to defend the nation of Israel. He had placed himself between God’s wrath and the people, interceding for them on more than one occasion.

What precipitated this uprising? Was it the failed incursion into the Promised Land, or the resulting defeat at the hands of the Amalekites and Canaanites? Or was it the Sabbath breaker whose execution was ordered by Moses (speaking for the Lord, of course)? Or was it something completely different?

Basically what we have here is one of the most tragic business meetings in church history. Democracy is a beautiful thing, but works better when those in the majority lobby for the good of the assembly rather than their own selfish interests. So much for getting out the vote.

If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God (1 Peter 2:20).

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Have your best motives and efforts ever been misunderstood? What is God teaching you?

Day 43: Numbers 13, 14 and 15

We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt (Numbers 14:4).

After the spies came back from their Canaan reconnaissance, they couldn’t spread their bad news fast enough: We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them (13:33). After infecting their neighbors with fear, they tried to organize a “return to Egypt” movement. We should choose a leader.

Obviously, in spite of their complaint, the problem here was not the lack of a leader, but the lack of followers. Of the twelve spies sent into Canaan, ten saw only the problems, while Joshua and Caleb saw the possibilities. And, as usual, the naysayers carried the day.

When I stand before the judgment bar of God, I pray that I’m not counted among those who stopped the forward momentum of the church because they saw their glasses as half empty.

The Israelites wanted to choose a leader who would take them, with their tails between their legs, back to Egypt. In other words, they were looking for someone who would take polls and follow majority rule. That’s not leadership. Leaders don’t let a group turn tail because of fear; they confront that fear and find one way or another to move the group forward.

In his incredible book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, Mark Batterson writes that our greatest opportunities “usually come disguised as insurmountable problems” [4]. Rather than fomenting fear, God wants us to catalyze those in our sphere of influence to do great things.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

If you’re presently facing a crisis, what are the potential problems? …the possibilities?

Day 42: Numbers 10, 11 and 12

Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife (Numbers 12:1).

Moses enjoyed a special relationship with God and others not only took notice of it, but became envious. Miriam (Moses’ sister) is an important player in the exodus story: She helped save Moses’ life when he was an infant, looked after him even after he was pulled from the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter, and led the women in a song of deliverance on the heels of their Red Sea crossing.

Only someone we love can betray us, and such a betrayal is a painful wound. Miriam was apparently the impetus behind this attack on Moses, although his African wife was clearly not the real issue. The problem was that she felt like Moses was getting more of the attention than he deserved. She wanted to share the limelight. Notice how, rather than defending himself, Moses left the response to God.

After God schooled her about how Moses was no ordinary prophet, she was afflicted with leprosy. The fact that Aaron was not gives us a hint that Miriam was the ringleader of their little rebellion. Aaron pleaded with Moses to intercede for them (I wonder if he was sincerely thinking about his sister or his own potential punishment). Moses prayed for them and God answered his request.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Are you perhaps experiencing the sting of betrayal? If so (and if not, just wait), what’s the up side of leaving vengeance to God?

Day 41: Numbers 7, 8 and 9

They may assist . . . but they themselves must not do the work (Numbers 8:26).

If you read chapter seven, you probably join me in being thankful there were only twelve tribes. Am I right? Every day representatives brought offerings on behalf of their tribes. The first day Nahshon brought Judah’s gift. The second day Nethanel brought Issachar’s gift. The third day Eliab of Zebulon, the fourth day Elizur, the fifth day… and day after day another leader, another tribe, another gift for the tabernacle. After 12 tribes in 12 days and 89 repetitive verses, I have to admit I am always ready for chapter eight.

Chapter eight includes Israel’s blueprint for apprenticeship, career, mentoring and retirement. Notice that Levite men could start working at age 25. Then after a 25-year career, they encountered the Levitical retirement requirement. But they didn’t move to Florida to play shuffleboard the rest of their lives; they retired to teach. They initiated the age old mentoring formula: 1) I do; 2) I do, you help; 3) you do, I help; 4) you do. Hey, it still makes good sense.

Did someone come alongside you when you were getting your start, or did you just get thrown in the deep end of the pool? Congratulations on your appointment! Sink or swim! I know too often that’s the way we do things in the church. But every one of us should be recruiting and training our replacement. Who mentored you? Who are you mentoring?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

When you hang up your spurs, who’s going to take your place? Ask God to whom the mantle should be passed.

Day 40: Numbers 4, 5 and 6

The Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die (Numbers 4:20).

Like Leviticus, this section impresses upon the reader the holiness of God. The Kohathite clan (one of three family lines descended from the sons of Levi) was being told, “We’re getting ready to move out. It’s your job to pack and carry the Ark of the Covenant, but you’re not allowed to look at it or touch it.” Sounds like a disadvantage to me. They were charged with packing and carrying not only the ark, but all the holy furnishings and implements of the tabernacle.

Special instructions were given regarding the Ark of the Covenant. They were to take the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (between the Ark of the Covenant and the Altar of Incense, along with the Table and the Golden Lamp) and use it as the initial covering of the Ark. They would take the curtain and (probably walking backward) drape it over the Ark. Over that went two more layers of coverings: one rainproof and the other ornamental.

Why the drama? Was God being picky? On the contrary, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is no prima donna. This was to highlight the holiness of God and the special nature of anything (including not just things, but also persons, tasks and events) dedicated to his service.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Are you giving the things of God the respect they deserve? What does it mean that you are also set apart for his service?

Day 39: Numbers 1, 2 and 3

Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one (Numbers 1:2).

Many find Leviticus difficult to read with its endless instructions for sacrifices and observances. Upon its conclusion, those who don’t know better might breathe a sigh of relief… until they start reading the census in Numbers 1. The first (and last) chapters of Numbers make Leviticus look like Disneyland.

We’ve spent the last half of Exodus, all of Leviticus, and now the first portion of Numbers camped at Mt. Sinai. Twelve months have passed since the Israelites left Egypt. Chapters 10-25 cover highlights spanning the next 39 years, including fascinating episodes recounted from wilderness travels. But truth be told, the last ten chapters of the book (including a second census) can again get a little tedious.

What’s the point? That takes us back to the above verse. Every ten years the United States takes a census. We would be wise to remember that our country is not just one homogeneous group of people who look, act and think alike, but a nation of individuals. While Ancient Near East cultures were more about the group (clan, village, etc.) than they were the individual, the writer of Numbers reminds us right from the start that the Israelite community is composed of clans, families and individuals – and every story is important.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

What does it mean to know you are part of something bigger than yourself?