Numbers 1: On Repetition.

       I love how God reveals Himself in the Old Testament. In Numbers, God is BIG and HOLY. Not only that, but you will read of the big and holy things people did out of zeal for God’s holiness and out of zeal for God’s people. Sometimes the accounts seem harsh. Sometimes you will see great mercy.

       True, in Numbers you will find genealogies, and lots of them. Some are phenomenally repetitive. In our bible study class, we discussed reasons for this. The bible scenes and accounts were first an oral tradition. Repetition helps the listener to remember the story. Also, there were literary devices familiar to the Hebrew tongue, devices that don’t always translate well. These are often in patterns of repetition.

       “But repetition is boring,” you say? Hmm, how do I say this lovingly? Get over it. God wants you to be able to read Numbers. If He wants you to do something, He'll help you. See what He says in Deuteronomy 30:11-14.

         For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

       In the days before blu-ray, DVD, VHS and even television or radio, children everywhere loved stories. They still do. Anyone who has had a child or cared for one knows that sometimes there was one story, a favorite, that you had to read over and over and over and over. Talk about boring.

       But then, something happens. There comes a point when that story becomes so familiar that you move past the boring to actually enjoying it with the child.

       I have favorite songs that never get old, some albums, too. I can watch Ben Hur over and over and over. Sure, I know Messala comes to the same nasty end, but his dying words to Judah are still just as horrific: “Look for them in the valley of the lepers.” Messala has won. (Or has he?)

       Many of us, if we're really honest, look forward to A Christmas Story, that crazy retro celebration of blue-collar Christmases. For several years now, a television station has been playing it for 24 hours straight at Christmastime. And we complain because the bible is repetitious. Ouch!

       Look at that: a whole page and I haven’t even started a study on Numbers. Let me remedy that:

       Numbers 1 gives a census of every Israelite who could go to war. The total number was 603,550. For the detail lover, the census numbers wax and wane through the course of Israel's history. (I've never tracked them.) The Levites were not counted in this census. Their principle duty was to the tabernacle. They were to pitch round about the tabernacle that there be no wrath [Puq qetseph] upon the congregation of Israel.

         Selah.

Blessings and Curses, Part 2 of Leviticus 26

Part 2.

Leviticus 26:14-15

But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:

       Brace yourself for a litany of fates far worse than a thousand camels infesting your sleeping bag.

       First, please remember that these awful results come from despising [oam ma'ac] God’s statutes and abhorring [leg ga`al] His judgments [jpvm mishpat]. The choice to follow God’s ways and the choice to not follow His ways are yours and yours alone.

       Verses 16-39 describe the awful consequences of actively going against God’s laws, among them are fear, sorrow, illness, triumph of one’s enemies. There won’t even seem to be logic to it, such as fleeing when no one is pursuing.

       Were I to dump all obedience to God, were I to dump everything to defy Him, what would bother me most are verses where God says things like “I will set my face against you” and “my soul shall abhor you.” I am reminded of (and sobered by):

Hebrews 6:4+
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

       Regardless of how you feel about “eternal security,” (the permanence of salvation by faith), the writer of Leviticus 26 spends a large amount of time describing the imminent dangers of deliberately tossing out God’s commands.

       Were these imminent dangers applicable to the Israelites? Yes, the Bible tells us so. History also tells us so. The cannibalism in verse 29 is also forewarned in Deuteronomy 28, Jeremiah 19 and Ezekiel 5. It is described as having happened in II Kings 6 and Lamentations 4.

       Does this passage apply to us as well? If so, how on earth do we apply this warning in Leviticus 26? First, I should do all I can to not despise God’s laws. Second, if I’m experiencing any of these consequences, is it not worth self-examination? Am I ridiculously nervous? phobic? No matter what I do, am I still losing? Does heaven seem like iron when I pray?

       My faith, our faith, is not a game. It is a war. I am not going to let a particular theology stand in the way of getting myself right before God. When unmistakably bad stuff is happening in my life, I shall ask God to show me where I’m despising His statutes and abhorring His judgments. It’s worth a shot and it might save my life.

       Furthermore, it is definitely pleasing to God when we say,

Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

       In part 3, we will come full circle and meet the God who remembers.