Numbers 15:1 - 20:29

9/27/09?? (Apparently. I totally forgot I wrote this!)

Wow. Has it really been more than 2 weeks since I last blogged? It doesn't seem that long ago. I guess time flies when you're a procrastinator.

It's pretty obvious to me that I should be doing my homework right now instead of blogging. At least I have a solid reason. I don't want to.

Both weeks have been really really good to me. Thank God! I was due. Not due in an "I am owed" sort of way, but due in a "good grief, quit your bellyaching" [as my mom would say] kind of way.

Oh, oh! I got to see the President 2 Thursdays ago! That's him - on the jumbotron and at the podium [the tiny blip of black and white]. Hand's down, best part of my month. The whole day was freaking awesome. We woke up and left before the sun came up - the whole morning was given up to waiting, and hanging out with good friends. His speech was inspiring and meaningful and [a little] lacking in substance. He spoke about health care. I'm intrigued - but I wish he would have delved deeper. I want to believe in universal health care - I truly do. One of my best friends has cystic fibrosis. She once exclaimed in an extremely matter of fact way that she simply could not allow herself to be hospitalized that year. Her reasoning: it just costs too much money. But, I have another friend whose boyfriend is a doctor. She says that he is against the President's plan because if it came into existence, his office would lose massive amounts of money. And he'd have to lay off nurses and other employees - and that's not going to help the economy.

Personally, I don't have insurance. There is no reasonable way we can afford to get it right now. With Jermaine's unemployment we "make too much" to qualify for government assistance. Sadie has it - but not us. If we got sick we would be up the proverbial creek.

Honestly, universal health care, if done correctly, makes a whole lot of sense to me. And I've been dreaming of it ever since I became a sociology major - before President Obama was even elected. I know that a lot of my close friends adamantly disagree with me - and I understand where they are coming from. But I've lived below the poverty line for the past 10 years. I've waited for hours at health departments surrounded by people far worse off than myself. I've studied poverty in school for the past 3 years. I know 2 things for sure. #1 - The current system ISN'T working. #2 - Poor people AREN'T lazy. I think that some sort of change is necessary. But I don't feel like I know what I'm talking about enough to completely agree with the President. I admire his courage, though.

Oh goodness me. You didn't come here to learn about my politics [or lack thereof]. What's this blog about? Oh, yes. Something about the Bible . . .

The Skinnay:

Chapter 15 - A word about offerings - when you get to the promised land and when the nation unintentionally sins. Also - defiant sinning punishable by death [complete with a real live example - a man gathering wood on the Sabbath is stoned to death]. Small PS. God commands the Israelites to put tassels on the corner of their garments as a tangible reminder of who they are and to whom they belong. Chapter 16 - Yikes! Korah, Dathan, and Abiram raise up a Levite rebellion against Moses. They, of course, die. Or rather, the earth swallows them up. Moses is very angry with them - but at the same time he seems to have pity on their followers - pleading with God not to kill everyone for the sins of these guys. God does kill their 250 followers. Finally Moses and Aaron scramble to make atonement for their sins so that more people won't die. Chapter 17 - To further drive the point home that God decides who is in charge, God has the tribes line up 12 staffs - one for each tribe. Aaron's staff sprouted, blossomed and produced almonds. I'm not sure I understand the significance of the nuts. At the very end of the chapter the Israelites lose it - exclaiming that they are all going to die. Which, in all fairness, is very true. Chapter 18 - This seems like a really good time to go over the priestly Levite duties. And so God does. Chapter 19 - God commands the Israelites to sacrifice a red heifer without defect. I'm not sure exactly why - I think it has something to do with cleansing. There is a lot of talk of clean and unclean. Chapter 20 - Aw, man. This one always gets to me. The Israelites are complaining that they have no water and that they are going to die, blah, blah, blah. Moses and Aaron plead with God and God tells them to use their staff and speak to a rock to get water. They screw up big time - taking the credit for getting the rock to bring forth water. As punishment, God tells them that Moses is not going to make it into the promised land [eventually, he tells Aaron the same]. Very sad stuff. Next the scene switches, Moses is trying to talk the leaders of Edom into letting them pass. Edom flat out refuses. The chapter wraps up with the death of Aaron, followed by a period of mourning.

Is it just me or does this blog already seem way too long? Oh well. What can I say, except, "Thank you very much!" if you are still reading this far in. :)

Okay, let's get to the good stuff to grow on . . .

4/8/10 (!)

Ha. This is so interesting! I mean, considering, here we are, 6 1/2 months later with the new health care reform and all.

At first, I was just going to keep the skinny and scrap the rest - I thought'd it be outdated, but - wow - it's actually quite timely. :)

Ah, but enough politics, for rizl. Feel free to comment about healthcare, though! I don't think my views have changed enough to warrant a whole other section (and this blog is going to be loooong enough without it).

Let's get back to that good stuff to grow on . . .

Chapter 15: I feel like the tassels on the garments are significant in some way, but I'm not sure how. If you know - please enlighten us (JM??).

Can we take a moment to talk about the guy who got stoned to death for working? Really? That's just nuts.

I've been reading Rest by Keri Wyatt Kent (review coming soon on my other blog!) and it's all about the Sabbath - the day's importance to our soul (although, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't advocate stoning). I've been really focused lately attempting to have a time to be productive and a time to rest and sort of sifting through what that looks like in my life.

So, I when I reread this passage the other night, these verses in chapter 15 popped out at me.

Then my mind wandered to Jesus - the Sabbath breaker he was - and for the first time I really feel for the those high up churchy guys (the pharisees, sadducees, etc) - I mean, COME ON, if the penalty for working on the Sabbath was stoning, I'd be concerned, too!

I'm going on way too long about one little part, so I'm going to move on now. But, I think I sort of get why the penalty was so severe. Sort of.

Chapter 16 - 17: Uhmm, yeah. This is hard for me to read. But not exactly in the way you might think. These passages are like proof positive that God has specific tasks for each of us. There's definitely a part of me that is afraid that what I want to do with my life (aka: be a pastor) and what God wants me to do will not line up. Even though I KNOW that God's plan is infinitely better than anything I could ever dream of, and the fact that I have these desires inside of me could very well be an indication that God is on board, aand when these dreams came about I had a very strong sense that it was God leading me toward them - these fears still haunt me. Because, really, I think one of the worst things a person can do is be an unauthorized pastor. You're just asking for trouble.

Chapter 18: There's a line in verse 19, "Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring." I've added the emphasis here, because, I don't know exactly what it means. Anybody?

Chapter 20: Miriam dies at the beginning of the chapter. :( Aaron dies at the ends. ): And when he dies, everybody mourns for 30 days.

Yeah. That bugs me (that he gets more mourning time (or any at all)). But you probably knew that already.

OKAY. It's time to wrap this up! :) One last little blurb. So, as you started to see (from the beginning of this blog), morale was low last semester. Spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally - I was kind of a wreck. I had essentially entered into a season of wilderness (to use some Christianese).

Things are looking up! And they have been since about Christmas. Our life situation hasn't changed all that much (well, in some ways it has, but it hadn't during the time that I felt I was leaving the proverbially wilderness).

I won't bore you with the details, I just wanted to thank you for being with me during that time in my life. And to let you know that I am doing better. :)

Thank you for reading this ridiculously long blog!! Good. Night.

Finally: Day 7!

What can I say? I've missed you guys. It's been a long awkward pause. I loved being gone. Visiting my hometown and loving my long lost family members.

But still, it's good to be back in Merryland. I missed my dog. ;)

The Skinny:

Chapter 29 - God tells Moses how to consecrate Aaron and his sons. It's gross. Chapter 30 - More instruction - the Altar of Incense, Money from men once they come of age, Basin for washing, Anointing Oil and Incense [fabulous holy perfume]. Chapter 31 - God calls these two guys out, Bezalel and Oholiab - the Spirit of God shows up for the first time, and instruction on the Sabbath. Chapter 32 - A horrible scene involving a golden calf. Chapter 33 - God is so mad he tells the people to go ahead to the promised land, but that he's not coming, because they're a "stiff-necked" people and if he comes he'll probably end up killing them all. Moses has this unique and bold dialogue with the Lord and talks him into coming. Chapter 34 - New stone tablets with the laws because Moses broke the first ones during the golden calf incident. Moses's face begins to radiate from spending so much time with God. Chapter 35-40 - Stuff starts to happen just as God commanded, beginning with the Sabbath. People give so much, it ends up being too much! Finally Moses inspects everything. And the Glory of God covers the Tent of Meeting. God dwells with his people. When the cloud leaves [or fire], the people know it's time to follow.

Ai. Not a bad attempt at making The Skinny skinnier. I'm really thankful and surprised to find myself this far along on this blog already. You know, you put something off for long enough and it becomes a monster of a task. It's only 1:15am! And that, by my standards, is early. :)

Plus, I always, the following is the fun part for me. Once I get here, I always feel confident I can finish.

Okay! Let's get right into the good stuff.

The Holy Spirit makes an entrance

I love firsts. My first puppy. My first kiss. The first [and only as of right now] time I gave birth. Sadie's first steps. These events really get me all choked up. So, obviously, I took notice when I first discovered this first [I think James-Michael told us in Bible study]. What's even more interesting is who gets to be filled - artists! You know, the dreamy type that can often be found doing something that, on the surface, seems trivial, fruitless, unproductive - yeah, them! They get God's wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft. Loooove it!

A word about detail

This stuff seems so boooring, right? What the heck is the point? I think I got this one [er, well, How to Read the Bible Book by Book has this one, anyhow]. One of the unique attributes about this Hebrew God is that he dwells with his people. And he is telling them how to make his throne. One of the Big Deals is that God's throne is in a tent! Not only is it modest [as compared to a temple], it's mobile! God goes with his people. He leads them. He interacts with them. This is HUGE.

I think the details and the beauty have something to do with what I call Extravagant Love [other people may call it this, I'm sure I didn't coin the term]. All the fuss. It's important. And necessary. There's a great example in the Gospels, where the woman comes and pours perfume on Jesus's feet. His disciples don't get it. They think it's a waste. He does, though. And he is moved by her gift of Extravagant Love [it also has something to do with this holy incense and oil business, I believe].

While my daughter was away I promised her I'd send her cookies. Days passed and for whatever reason, the cookies didn't get sent [I made a batch and they went bad before I could send them]. So I finally finished a second batch. I decorated the big ones with her favorite frosting and added sprinkles because I know she loves them. I went to the post office to send them. I had to overnight them so they'd get to her on time [before she came back to Maryland!]. It ended up costing $25. $25! We don't have that! I thought about it while I stood in line. Should I do this? It seemed almost ridiculously wrong. But, deep down in my gut I felt this tug toward Extravagant Love. Yes, it was silly. But I don't get the opportunity to love like this everyday. And so I plunged into the silliness for Love's sake.

Well, it ended up becoming somewhat of a nightmare for my dad, who had to drive all over town looking for the post office that they'd been shipped to the next day. It made him late picking Sadie up [and frazzled]! And some of the cookies broke and stuck together - even the tin broke! I felt so bad, second guessing myself - feeling foolish.

Then, my mom, who would have ordinarily gasped in horror at the amount I spent to mail cookies, lovingly offered to pay for them. And so, a Cookie Near Fiasco turned into two different opportunities for Extravagant Love.

The golden calf

Oh my. This story is bad on so many levels. I think I'm only going to focus on one. Because I've read this story many many times, and this time around, what struck me the most was not the people's disobedience, but God's [and Moses's] anger. Because I live in a world where I'm taught that God is loving, and kind, and forgiving. And because shortly after this whole horrible scene, we have God's "self-revelation" proclaiming that he is indeed all of these things. Right after all these people were killed [by the swords of the people who are "for the Lord"].

And I get it. Well, no, I don't actually. But, I get it intellectually. I get that the whole construction of the calf thing is just screaming a lack of faith. I get that what God was telling Moses on that mountain was extremely important and that they ended up doing one of the very things God explicitly told them not to - and additionally, it was the very first thing he warned against. I get that we were made to worship God and that we end up in terrible danger when we put our faith in anything other than God.

I get it - I do! But, still, the punishment seems so . . . harsh. And, honestly, it scares me. Because I'm quite sure I could have done something equally as bad, if I haven't done it already. And just how do you reconcile with the God of the Old Testament? I want to. I really do. But, honestly, this is where I am on my journey at the moment - and I think it's a good place to be - wrestling with God over these difficult things. I'll let you know if I get any leads. And please, feel free to share your wisdom with me! Especially via comment. :)

The Sabbath

There is so much to say here. But, in an effort to try to keep this blog short[er] I won't even attempt to say it all. I do want to encourage you to research and practice the Sabbath. I don't, I must confess. I have tried/am trying. I have a deep conviction that there is a rhythm to all of our lives, and that a day of rest has been intricately woven into the fabric of this rhythm and, therefore is unquestionably important. I am working on this. And repenting my ludicrous busyness for the sake of arbitrary accomplishment. I am not implying that this is your struggle, too. But I believe in my heart that if we all practiced the Sabbath [though I think it could possibly look different to each person], we'd be doing some of that bringing heaven to earth stuff Jesus was talking about.

Good night, lovely reader. Thank you for reading from the bottom of my heart.

Tomorrow's reading: Leviticus 1:1 - 14:57. We've finished two books!