April 28: Numbers 15-17; Psalm 45; Romans 6

Numbers 15-17  The rules about the offerings make them occasions of banqueting, including meat, bread, and wine.  Note again the concern for aliens and Israelites having the same rules apply to their sacrifices.  Note also the language about sins of omission and sins committed unintentionally, and the difference between community failures and individual sins.
Notice, next, how seriously the community takes the sabbath; and the penalty of stoning a man who gathered sticks on the sabbath.  What do you think of that?

And then note the commandment for men to wear fringes on their garments "so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes" (15:39).

In Numbers 16 we have a philosophical controversy.  After all the special commandments about the treatment of the Levites in general and the Aaronites in particular, there was an uprising among the "sons of Korah."  They bring a bunch of demonstrators to Moses and say: "You have gone too far! All the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them.  so why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?" (16:3)  Good question! In some ways anticipating the NT idea of "the priesthood of all believers."  But Moses doesn't agree.  (For one thing, these people were accusing him of failing to deliver on the "land flowing with milk and honey," which was hardly fair) (16:13).

So once again God shows in a quite heavy-handed way who's boss.  The Korahites are all swallowed into a sort of sinkhole.  Fire consumed them and their incense.  The LORD tells Moses in 16:37: "The censers of these sinners have become holy at the cost of their lives."

This outcome seems so over the top that the whole Israelite community rebels against Moses and Aaron.  God gets even more angry: "Get away from this congregation," he says, "so that I may consume them in a moment" (16:45).  Aaron literally came between God and the people, again with a censer full of incense; but not before 14,000 people died of a plague.

Chapter 17 is another demonstration of the special role of the Levite line and Aaron's priesthood, as a member of each tribe presents a staff; and Aaron's staff was among them.  The staff of Levi produced blossoms. (17:8)

The Israelites saw God's hand in that sign; and they feared again for their lives in the presence of the LORD.

Psalm 45  This psalm appears on Tuesday mornings about once a month in the Daily Office of Morning Prayer.  It's a genre of psalm known as a "royal psalm" because of its concern with the Israelite monarchy.

Romans 6  A HUGEly important chapter of this letter!  Totally appropriately for the Easter season, about dying and rising with Christ.  I referred to this chapter in my easter sermon, as we got ready to baptize Maggie.