The Park Forum

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Numbers 36 Listen: (2:15) Read: 1 Corinthians 10 Listen: (4:04)

Scripture Focus: Numbers 36.5-9

5 Then at the Lord’s command Moses gave this order to the Israelites: “What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right. 6 This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within their father’s tribal clan. 7 No inheritance in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors. 8 Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of their ancestors. 9 No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.”

Reflection: Limiting Our Freedom

By John Tillman

Earlier in Numbers, Zelophehad’s daughters, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah, from the tribe of Manasseh, came to Moses requesting to inherit land in their father’s name because he had no sons. God not only granted this request, but made this a law for all of Israel. In this chapter, Manasseh’s tribal leaders brought concerns to Moses.

Each tribe’s land was part of a sacred promise and laws protected tribes and individuals from losing land. For example, moving a boundary stone was a capital offense. Additionally, the year of Jubilee provided a “reset button,” returning land to its original tribal owners. This protected families against spiraling downward into generational poverty if bad luck or bad decisions caused individuals or tribes to sell or lose their land.

The tribal heads of Manasseh realized that if the daughters married outside the tribe, one promise of the law would cancel out the other. When Jubilee came, instead of lost land being restored, land promised by God would be lost. The provision of land to the daughters would undermine the provision of land to the entire tribe.

To protect one freedom from canceling out another, God limited the women’s freedom in order to better their tribe. Instead of marrying whomever they wished, they were told to marry within the tribe to preserve the fair distribution of land to all tribes.

Scripture is written for us but not to us. This means that all scripture is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3.16) however, most of scripture was written to particular people in particular situations. This passage doesn’t dictate economic or marriage policy to us but it can inform how we use the freedom that God has given us.

Like the women, we have a great inheritance of freedom, power, love, and knowledge in Jesus. How are we using it?

Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah limited their freedom to benefit their tribe and nation. Paul warned the Corinthian church against exercising freedom in ways that harmed others.

Does our freedom cause others to be in bondage? Is our power stripping others’ rights? Is our benefit paid for by another’s loss?

We must limit our freedoms when exercising them harms others. Let us be careful that we do not cancel someone else’s blessing by using our own.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Open my eyes, that I may see the wonders of  your law. — Psalm 119.18

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime

 by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Freedom For, Not From

Let us think about our freedom in the way Paul did, not as a way to benefit ourselves but as a way to benefit others.

Read more: Inheritance of Rachel’s Daughters

As Jesus looked to a greater law than Moses, he grants to men and women a greater inheritance than any land or property.

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Numbers 32 Listen: (5:22) Read: 1 Corinthians 6 Listen: (3:03)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Read: Numbers 33 Listen: (4:53) Read: 1 Corinthians 7 Listen: (6:09)
Read: Numbers 34 Listen: (2:59) Read: 1 Corinthians 8 Listen: (1:54)

Scripture Focus: Numbers 32.14-24

14 “And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel. 15 If you turn away from following him, he will again leave all this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.” 16 Then they came up to him and said, “We would like to build pens here for our livestock and cities for our women and children. 17 But we will arm ourselves for battle and go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until each of the Israelites has received their inheritance. 19 We will not receive any inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan.” 20 Then Moses said to them, “If you will do this—if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for battle 21 and if all of you who are armed cross over the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven his enemies out before him—22 then when the land is subdued before the Lord, you may return and be free from your obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will be your possession before the Lord. 23 “But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out. 24 Build cities for your women and children, and pens for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”

Reflection: Don’t Rage Out or Tap Out

By John Tillman

Even Moses had flaws and one of his was his temper.

In Numbers 20, the people grumbled about water. God instructed Moses to bring forth water by speaking to a rock. Moses lost his temper, yelled at the people, and struck the rock instead. (Numbers 20.8-12) Because of this, God told Moses he would not enter the Promised Land. Moses remained bitter about this. Near the end of his life, Moses continued to blame the Israelites for provoking him and making God angry with him. (Deuteronomy 3.25-27)

In Numbers 32, three groups of Israelites, Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, came to Moses and requested to take their inheritance of land on the east side of the Jordan. Moses snapped. Moses had just spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness because the fathers of these tribes refused to go into the land. Now, it seemed to Moses these leaders were repeating that mistake. Moses said that they were making the Lord angry. But was that true?

The tribes’ intention was not to refuse to go into the land. They intended to make a vow to lead the military campaigns, fighting for their brother tribes until they all secured their promised land. God must have known what was in their heart, but Moses misunderstood their intentions and leapt to a conclusion in anger. After further explanation, Moses approved their plan and their vow.

There are at least two things to learn from this.

Don’t rage out. Anger has a corrosive effect on our perceptions of things, events, and people. Holding a grudge or a grievance hardens our heart. The angrier we become and the longer we stay that way, the more likely we will be to have misunderstandings and respond with angry outbursts.

Don’t tap out. We mustn’t tap out early when there is still work to be done. When we have secured God’s blessings for ourselves, we mustn’t “tap out” and rest. We must press on, for the good of others, even when we have reached our reward. Just because we have secured God’s blessings for ourselves, obeyed the gospel, experienced freedom of religion and conscience, and are free from want or poverty, doesn’t mean there is not more to do on behalf of our brothers and sisters.

Keep listening to better understand others. Keep working to bring the blessings of our promised kingdom to as many people as will receive it.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Search for the Lord and his strength; continually seek his face. — Psalm 105.4

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime

 by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Who Needs Anger?

Anger is out of control in our society. Two of the main reasons why are that anger feels good and anger is profitable.

Read more: Anger Industrial Complex

Anger will rule us or we will rule it. We must ask, “Why am I angry?” and “How can I turn anger toward loving action?”

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Numbers 31 Listen: (5:52) Read: 1 Corinthians 5 Listen: (1:58)

Scripture Focus: Numbers 31.1-8

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.” 3 So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites so that they may carry out the Lord’s vengeance on them. 4 Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.” 5 So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. 6 Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling. 7 They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man. 8 Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

Reflection: Not Our Business

By John Tillman

Vengeance is associated with justice in scripture.

Vengeance is repayment to wrongdoers for their treatment of others. The violent suffer violence. The greedy suffer poverty. The powerful suffer enslavement. The abusive suffer abuse. The vain suffer humiliation.

We are often uncomfortable witnessing vengeance in the scripture but we usually don’t mind it in vengeance-themed films and stories, like John Wick. One reason is that vengeance films work very hard to show us how horrifically bad the villains are and how noble and honorable the vengeance-takers are. As soon as we see the gangster kill John Wick’s puppy, all the violence Wick commits in order to kill that gangster seems justified.

God judged the Midianites’ actions as worthy of vengeance. Why does our culture cringe at vengeance on the Midianites when our ticket-buying frenzy turned John Wick into a franchise with three film sequels, a videogame, and a television spin-off series?

The Bible doesn’t play by the storytelling conventions of vengeance films. We don’t see the Midianites kill the Israelites’ puppy, but we do see them attack Israel when they are vulnerable on their wilderness journey.

They attacked them with spiritual means, attempting to curse them. They attacked them with psychological means, seducing them into the sexual practices of a false god. They attacked them with military means in battle. They consistently acted as Israel’s enemies, intending to harm them. Like Balaam, they persisted despite warnings and despite hearing the words of blessing God forced Balaam to declare.

However, we must not misuse or misunderstand passages about vengeance. However justified vengeance is in a passage of scripture, Israel’s wars are not a model for ours. We don’t have “Midianite” enemies to enact vengeance on. We don’t have enemies of flesh and blood at all!

Rather than crucify our enemies, we are to carry our cross. Rather than carry out vengeance on sinners, we are to carry the gospel to sinners. We have been commanded to set down the sword of vengeance and take up the plow of cultivation.

God’s vengeance is holy. Ours is vain. God’s vengeance is on behalf of victims. Ours is on behalf of ourselves. Our pride. Our anger. Our hero complexes.

Vengeance is God’s business, not ours. We must make room for it, (Romans 12.19) but we must not attempt to enact it ourselves. If we do, we may end up a target of God’s vengeance in the future.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lesons

Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5.6

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime

 by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Our Vengeance is Repentance

Though we and our nation may suffer as violence and extremism gain more ground, we have hope. This hope transcends vengeance on our enemies.

Read more: Abandon Human Vengeance

Vengeance drives a machine of violent rhetoric which leads to physical violence…Christians have a responsibility to break the machine.

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Numbers 30 Listen: (2:20) Read: 1 Corinthians 4 Listen: (3:15)

Scripture Focus: Numbers 30:2, 9

2 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.

9 “Any vow or obligation taken by a widow or divorced woman will be binding on her.

Reflection: Weighing In but No Way Out

By Erin Newton

During the final weeks of each academic year, I contemplate quitting the program. The hours of reading, stress of studying and writing, and the financial burdens tempt me to give it all up. Then some dear friend reminds me of why I started in the first place. As most attest, those in seminary generally feel “called” to be there. So, instead of giving up, I hunker down and finish the term.

Numbers 30 speaks of vows made to God by both men and women. In the context of the preceding chapters that spoke of festivals, feasts, and offerings, it’s likely that these vows are offerings of sorts, usually with some economic importance tied to them. Numbers 30 reminds the people that what they have vowed to give to God they must see to completion.

Of course, there are some caveats with the vows—as we read that some vows could be reversed depending on the decision by a woman’s new husband or existing father, a.k.a. head of household. To our modern ears, this sounds rather patriarchal and antiquated, but what is fascinating here is the clear and unabashed freedom women could have over finances (at least in some circumstances). Such insight is a welcomed relief to many today.

Apart from these few exemptions, Numbers 30 sets forth the rule: give what you said you’d give to God. The people are said to be bound by these vows. They are seen as more than suggestions. They are not empty words dumped in a fit of brainstorming.

The binding nature of the vows also meant that the people should be careful with their words. It would not do to quickly pledge a large sum or valuable resource to God without understanding its impact on one’s personal life.

Such a vow was both a barrier to impulsivity and a motivator in times of weariness. People would need to think about their resources and their current life situation and then follow-through despite what the future may actually hold.

As Christians today, we also make vows to God, all the time. We tell him that we will devote our lives, time, money, or energy to him—if he will grant us some blessed measure to do so. But we are also tempted to give up and look for a way out.

Let us bind ourselves to our vows after taking the time to weigh the costs.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Let us make a vow to the Lord our God and keep it; let all around him bring gifts to him who is worthy to be feared. — Psalm 76.11

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime

 by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Called to More

Beware rash vows, but consider: Is the Holy Spirit stirring you to something “more?” Is there a “vow” you are called to?

Read more: Your Net Worth

All of our lives, the work of our hands, the proportion of our gifts are dearly valued by God.