Reflections from April 12, 2011

Previously, God had excluded the Levites from the census because He had specific duties in mind for them supporting the tabernacle and the priests. God to Moses and Aaron in Numbers 3:12-13,
"Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine. I am the Lord."
Because God had sanctified the firstborn unto Himself, He had the right to claim them. His instructions for beasts were for Israelites to offer the firstborn of their flock to Him; however, they were not to do what He commanded Abraham to do, offer their firstborn son. Instead, God claimed the Levites as His, to compensate for all the firstborn of Israel. The Levites entered into service of the Lord from a very early age, working with Aaron and the priests in the care of the tabernacle. They became a special possession of the Lord; part of a special nation to the Lord.

These services are described in Numbers Chapter 4 and we summarize in Numbers 4:49,
"According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses, each according to his service and according to his task; thus were they numbered by him, as the Lord commanded Moses."
Each family within the tribe of Levi were given specific duties related to the tabernacle itself as well as the holy items. This was a huge effort, and required lots of organizing. And that is what God did through Moses; organized the work. Recall from Reflections from February 22, 2011, how intricate and delicate and detailed the construction of the sanctuary is; thus, it takes a lot of effort to dismantle, and reassemble when breaking camp and moving to a new location. This lesson of task organization was used by Paul in using the natural abilities of the congregation's members. We can learn as well by working together, planning systems and assignments carefully, and overcoming tendencies toward competition and conflict, thus rising to the challenge of managing projects in a way that honors the Lord.

Then God gives a major lesson to Moses, that serves us well today; Revenge belongs to God! Through His instructions on dealing with a woman that commits adultery, He takes the responsibility to invoke justice on the person, rather than the spouse. God effectively removes jealousy from the situation, and thus removes the desire for revenge. We read in Numbers 5:30,
"When the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife; then he shall stand the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute all this law upon her."
When people are hurt, angry or jealous, they are not likely to exhibit must justice. When wounded love is involved, a person is tempted to invoke vengeance rather than justice. Yet God says vengeance is His, and this can only belong to a holy righteous God. He is the only one that can be trusted to mete out an absolutely fair judgement.

Blessings to all