Lord God,
help us to know your ways;
teach us your paths.
Lead us in your truth, and teach us,
for you are the God of our salvation;
for you we wait all day long.
Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
(based on Psalm 19:14)
I said that we would get back to stories today, but I didn’t tell you how heartbreaking they would be. I don’t know if it is because of the excitement of reading this together or simply because we are reading so much at once, but I found myself even more heartbroken and exasperated as I read these stories this time through. Sometimes people don’t like “the God of the Old Testament” (note: there is only one God, and God does not change), and I’m pretty sure it is passages like this that lead them to say that. Here are some thoughts on this reading:
It is interesting that in Numbers 11:18-20 Moses makes huge promises about how much meat God will provide, and then in the next verse he turns back to God and says, “How could that promise possibly come true?” This is a test of faith even for Moses, and God shows himself trustworthy – again. I also find it interesting that God can punish people by giving them exactly what they beg for.
When God’s anger burns against Aaron and Miriam, his response is very terse in Hebrew – one word that simply means, “and he left.” From the dialogue we know that God is near, but his presence is gone. From the big picture of the theme of God’s presence, we can see that this is a big deal.
The scene following the spies going into Canaan is packed with interesting things. I often used to think that if I was Moses and God told me to step back so that he could smite the people around me and fulfill his promises through me, I would probably obey and say something pious like, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Moses doesn’t do that. We often think of God’s covenant mainly in terms of the requirements on us (I know that had been my general focus), but (THIS IS IMPORTANT) God’s covenant puts requirements on him. This is a major theme. Because God is a covenant God, his people can hold him to his promises. God’s people can be like children who say to their parents, “But you said!” It happens a lot in the Psalms. Every time the Psalmist says to God, “where are you?” or “this isn’t fair!” it comes out of holding God to his promises. In Numbers 14:17-19 Moses holds God to his promises. Moses refers back to the stunning scene on Mount Sinai in Exodus 34:6 where God presents himself to Moses proclaiming his name, saying, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” This covenant identity of God will come up using these words over and over in the Old Testament, and even on into the New. In verse 17 Moses asks God to show his strength by being the compassionate and gracious covenant God. God relents, but in 14:20 and following forgiveness does not necessarily mean the lack of punishment or consequences. If you have ever felt like the consequences of your actions are a sign that God has not forgiven you, take this to heart: God always forgives you. The actions of Christ, the seal of the Holy Spirit, and the very nature of God and his covenant promises guarantee that God always forgives you.
In the meantime, the Israelites don’t seem to learn the necessary lessons, and the stories continue to be heartbreaking. For the next 56 days or so of our reading there will be a lot of ups and downs (and sometimes the downs are really down!), but God is faithful and I promise that the Good News that is coming is really good and totally worth the wait!
I’d better wrap this up. A few additional notes:
19:17 – this “fresh water” in Hebrew is “living water.”
19:20 – Notice that somehow the person’s uncleanness affects the tabernacle, which in turn jeopardizes God’s presence in the camp.
20:14 – Edom is the descendants of Esau, so Moses speaks correctly when says, “This is what your brother Israel says.” Jacob and Esau were brothers, and Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. Remember this as we hear about Edom over and over in our readings.
No comments:
Post a Comment