Aug 3, 2009

Texts:
Numbers 15 and 16
Luke 1:39-80

Numbers:
Did anyone notice in 15:15 when the Lord said, "you and the alien shall be alike before the Lord"?
On one hand, it suggests that people living among the Hebrew people should follow their customs and practices. On the other hand, however, it suggests that all people are alike in God's eyes. The implications of expecting people to follow your rules are that they then receive the same 'benefits' from God that you do.
Do we really want people to do as we do? Do we really want to share our blessings?

Then in vs. 32, there's a story of a man who was violating the Sabbath by collecting sticks. And he was stoned to DEATH. Perhaps we should all consider our Sabbath observance a little more closely.

Chapter 16 is an important one. Remember when I talked about different views of holiness in the Hebrew scriptures? Leviticus was all about "trickle down" holiness--God is holy, then the priests, and then we get our holiness from the priests. The story of Korah is perhaps the earliest "reformation" attempt in the church. He argued that everyone was holy and that the priests weren't so special. Judging by what happens to Korah and his followers, you can tell that the author of Numbers agrees with Leviticus about Korah's understanding of holiness. There's no "priesthood of all believers" in Numbers or Leviticus!

Luke
This continuation of the story of John the baptist gives us the story of his father Zechariah. When Zechariah had not believed the angel Gabriel, he was struck mute. But after John's birth, he names the child John, as directed by the angel, and gets his voice back. Immediately he prophesies.
Has there ever been a time in your life when you felt silenced, either literally or metaphorically? When you got your voice back, how did it feel?