Sandy is still dealing with illness in their household, so I will jump in with a quick post for today.
Numbers 28 and 29 seem to be just a repeat of what we already read in Leviticus. I like Rev Robert Rayburn's summary on this....
putting this material here is a powerful confirmation of God’s assurances that Israel will take possession of the Promised Land and will enjoy prosperity there. If you add up the sacrifices stipulated in the following two chapters you come up with this.
“Every year in future the priests will have to sacrifice 113 bulls, 32 rams, and 1086 lambs and offer more than a ton of flour and a thousand bottles of oil and wine. Clearly Israel is destined to be a prosperous agricultural community. These laws about sacrifices then contribute to the note of triumph that grows ever louder as the border of Canaan is reached.” [Wenham, 197]
It would not have been possible for Israel to maintain this schedule in the wilderness. They wouldn’t have had the wherewithal to supply all the sacrifices necessary. But soon she will be settled in a fertile country and will have assumed ownership of large herds and large areas of cultivated fields, orchards, and vineyards.
Speaking about the sacrifices and the rituals of faith, he adds...
every one of the sacrifices – the burnt offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, and the peace offering – began with a worshipper placing his hand on the animal’s head, transferring his sins to the animal that then was killed in his place and its blood in some way sprinkled or poured on or about the altar. In every one of these acts of worship, and they are called worship, the matter of human sin and God’s provision of atonement is front and center. But it is precisely this reality that has largely disappeared from much of evangelical worship today.
I was interested to see what he thought about Chapter 30, especially in regards to husbands being able to nullify their wife's vows.
Numbers chapter 30 is typical of many passages in the Old Testament that, at first glance, strike modern readers – especially modern American and European readers – as very odd, if not offensive, but on closer examination can be rather easily seen to be not only eminently sensible but directly related to the great interests of biblical ethics and human life. Indeed, though the point would be put somewhat differently, we have similar laws today in 21st century America. Obligations undertaken by a child are usually the responsibility of parents and obligations undertaken by a wife, if not met, become the legal responsibility of her husband and vice versa. We accept that the family is a unity and that this has implications for the payment of obligations. This chapter concerns questions such as these.
You can read his sermon in it's entirety here.
And just a quick note on our Luke passage. I love Mary's steadfast faith and her absolute willingness to be used of God in this way. Yes it was a tremendous honour to be chosen to be the mother of the Saviour of the world, but it would also involve tremendous heartache. I don't think Mary was naive about that when she agreed to this. I think she simply trusted in God and His plan for her life. That's the kind of faith I want too!
3 comments:
Very good points, Tammy. I am always impressed with Mary's answer to the angel Gabriel. She was so young, not yet married, naive in many ways, but still believed that what God wanted her to do was what was best for her and accepted, perhaps not without some hesitation, but certainly with true faith that she would have what she needed when she needed it in order to carry out God's plan. I'm getting better at that, but still sometimes have that tendency to think I know better what's best for me.
I love the points about the worship involved in the sacrifice and transfer of sin. I agree that the reality of confession and worshipping God through our repentance has largely disappeared from much evangelical worship today.
This verse stuck out for me:
Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: “This is what the LORD commands: When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.
I think as a parent (and a teacher) I try to mean what I say and say what I mean and God is commanding the same thing here. We should honour our commitments to God and each other.
I also admire Mary's faith and belief that she could trust God to handle all that came with her situation.
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