Tag: Numbers

Scripture Focus: Numbers 19.11, 16
11 “Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days.

16 “Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.

Reflection: Caring for the Dead
By Erin Newton

There is, in fact, a sting to death. It is painful and cruel. It rends our hearts with each new loss. Within the mortal body was someone dearly loved. With a final embrace, a closing of eyes—we often seek to lay their bodies to rest with gentleness and care.

In the ancient world, such contact with the dead led to a week’s worth of impurity. Those defiled by contact with death could not enter the Temple until they were cleansed. Death could not reside within the presence of God. Death is the antithesis to a Creator God.

Numbers 19 details purification through the washing of water mixed with the ashes of a red heifer. The ash-mixed water with other cleansing agents was sprinkled on those defiled by contact with the dead. This law, combined with the natural trajectory of life, meant this practice occurred quite frequently.

Respect and care for the dead could not be avoided, even if the cleansing ritual was inconvenient. Even in death, each person is an image bearer of God. Each mortal body must be treated with dignity and honor.

When Jesus died upon the cross, Joseph of Arimathea requested his body so he could be buried before the Sabbath. John tells us that it was Nicodemus who brought the burial spices and helped wrap the body in linen. Joseph and Nicodemus willingly entered a week of impurity. We do not hear from them again.

It is fascinating to consider the crucified Lord, having been prepared for burial and causing two men to enter a state of impurity, would choose to join with his disciples three days after his death. This same God who declares the uncleanliness of death is now content to meet with them, dine with them, and let them touch his body. They are at no risk of defilement; Jesus is no walking corpse. He is alive.

The purity laws are always reversed with Jesus. No longer does the impurity of death or bleeding pass from one person to another. Now it is purity that moves from the Son of God to mere mortals. The ashes of a heifer could outwardly clean, but the blood of Christ does so much more (Heb 9:12-14).

How we honor our dead continues to reflect the value and dignity of each person. But no longer does death stand between our intimacy with God. Death has no victory.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Small Verse
Let me seek the Lord while he may still be found. I will call upon his name while he is near.

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 19 (Listen 3:39)
1 Thessalonians 1 (Listen 1:27)

Read more about The Staggering Dead and the Glory of God
One day, as Lazarus and our dear Christ, himself…we will leave our grave clothes behind. That is the glory of God.

The Staggering Dead and the Glory of God

Read more about The Broken Power of Death
For those in Christ, death is a toothless predator, a limbless wrestler, who cannot hold us down for long.

The Broken Power of Death

Scripture Focus: Numbers 8.16
16 They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn, the first male offspring from every Israelite woman.

Reflection: Becoming Firstborns
By John Tillman

Levites were set apart among those set apart. God makes covenants, within covenants, within covenants.

God promised Eve, and all humanity, that her son, the snake-crushing savior, would come. (Genesis 3.13-15) Within that covenant, God promised Abraham that his children, the Israelites, would bless the entire world, (Genesis 12.2-3) becoming a priestly nation. (Exodus 19.5-6) Within that covenant, God set apart the Levites.

God chose the entire tribe of Levi as the “firstborn” of Israel to be dedicated to him. Dedicating the firstborn to the Lord was common. Usually, an animal was sacrificed and the family would take the child home as normal. But two things are unusual. Levi was not Israel’s firstborn—Reuben was. Also, life for the tribe of Levi does not go on as normal. They serve and are set apart in a unique way. 

God routinely calls those born out of order or in the wrong family to be his and act as his firstborn. Hannah’s firstborn son, Samuel, was not a Levite (1 Samuel 1.24-28) but he served in the Tabernacle for life and God called him by name. (1 Samuel 3.10) Mary’s firstborn son, Jesus, was not a Levite but he was God’s son (Luke 9.35) and was made a priest for eternity. (Hebrews 6.19-20) Jesus sacrificed himself to create a new Tabernacle into which all of us are called. (John 2.19-22; 1 Peter 2.4-5)

Jesus, our high priest, is the “firstborn” of creation and from among the dead. (Colossians 1.15-18) He is the one at the center of all of the covenants. God’s covenants narrowed, becoming more and more exclusive, until Jesus. Then the covenant exploded in exponential expansion.

In Jesus, we join a ministry greater than the Tabernacle of Moses or the Temple of Solomon, or the Temple of Jesus’ day. All can now enter because the way has been opened. Despite being born in the wrong order and the wrong family, we are adopted through Jesus. Despite being unworthy, we are judged by the worth of Jesus. Despite being sinful, we are seen as sinless in Jesus. 

Jesus makes us his Levites—his priests and ministers. We are set apart in a unique way. Life does not go on as normal for us.

As servants of the snake-crushing priest, we have no battle to fight. Only a victory to announce.  We have no enemies to defeat. Only conscripted soldiers to set free.

We are set apart to proclaim that outsiders can become insiders and orphans can become firstborns.

Video: “The Last Will Be First” — The Bible Project

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
God looks down from heaven upon us all, to see if there is any who is wise, if there is one who seeks after God. — Psalm 53.2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 8 (Listen 3:37)
James 3 (Listen 2:38)

Read more about If You Can’t Say Anything Good
When we learn to control our tongues, we can bring great teaching, healing and joy to many.

If You Can’t Say Anything Good— Readers’ Choice

Read more about Supporting Our Work
We need your help to support ad-free content that brings biblical devotionals to inboxes across the world. Consider becoming a donor.

Supporting our Work

Scripture Focus: Numbers 5.5-8
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord is guilty 7 and must confess the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. 8 But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer.

Reflection: Are There Ashtrays in Your Elevators?
By John Tillman

God’s law is clear. Harming others is sin against God. There is no way in which a person can be harmed that is not connected to sin. Thinking about systemic sin and harm to others always reminds me of ashtrays in elevators. 

If you happen to see an ashtray in an elevator, I’d recommend taking the stairs. That elevator is old.

When smoking was viewed as innocuous, even healthful, it was incorporated into every aspect of life. From the 60s to the 80s, ashtrays were a ubiquitous normality of architecture and design. They appeared on every surface like not-so-secret compartments with nifty little sliding, rotating, or opening panels. Like light switches, they were built into the walls of hallways, offices, and hospital rooms. They were in desks and bathroom stalls and above every urinal. Some cars had more ashtrays than seatbelts. Airlines installed them in armrests both in terminals and in planes. But most memorable to me, for some reason, were the ones in elevators. Not even for the brief time of riding in an elevator, could people do without an ashtray.

Even as society realized that smoking was literally killing people, this didn’t change. We clung to personal freedom in defiance of scientific revelations. It was only when we recognized that cigarette smoke was not only harmful to the smoker but to everyone else in the elevators and other public spaces, that smoking “rights” began to be curtailed.

Is smoking a sin? Perhaps. But sin is absolutely like smoking. 

In the individualistic West, we think of sin mostly as personal choices that only affect the individual. However, there are no sins that only harm ourselves. Sin is not just what happens inside our minds, souls, or bodies. Sin creates a transcendent cloud of tangible and intangible damage that may be physical, economic, or cultural. Sin poisons everyone in our atmosphere.

Like ashtrays in elevators, there are always systemic, tangible, widespread, societal enablements of sins, especially if we think of them as innocuous. Let’s examine ourselves with sober judgment.

Are there ashtrays in your elevators? What in your life indicates an enabling of sin?
What sins do you think of as innocuous? Are you using personal freedom as an excuse for actions which harm others?

What harm to others do you need to repent of? What support structures of sins need to be ripped out of the walls of your life?


Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Righteousness shall go before him, and peace shall be a pathway for his feet. — Psalm 85.13

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 5 (Listen 4:39)
Acts 28 (Listen 4:56)

This Weekend’s Readings
Numbers 6 (Listen 4:04), James 1 (Listen 3:26)
Numbers 7 (Listen 12:51), James 2 (Listen 3:32)

Read more about The Sins Behind Sexual Sins
Many times sexual sins are a symptom of other sins such as greed, selfishness, inequality, and oppression.

The Sins Behind Sexual Sins—Readers’ Choice

Read more about Seeing And Believing
What personal experience have we had with Jesus that points to a transformative experience in our lives today?

Seeing And Believing

Scripture Focus: Numbers 4.47-49
47 All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to do the work of serving and carrying the tent of meeting 48 numbered 8,580. 49 At the Lord’s command through Moses, each was assigned his work and told what to carry.

From John: The church I attend places an emphasis on sending out members to plant new churches more than growing bigger and bigger in one location. (Today’s image is from one of our church plants.) During this time of year, we collect special offerings that go to church planting. New churches, often meeting in temporary spaces, tearing down and setting up each week, are one of the nearest analogues we have of how the Jews traveled with the Tabernacle. As we look back at this post from 2021, pray for church planters and mobile churches around the world and consider donating toward church planting efforts.

Reflection: Maintaining Sacred Space
By John Tillman

All across the United States, and in places around the world, God’s people worship in rented or temporary spaces. They worship under the open sky. They worship in tents. They worship in rented theaters, schools, or hotel conference rooms. They worship in private residences.

Church workers and volunteers in these mobile churches can uniquely identify with the tasks described in preparing the Tabernacle to move to a new place. The tools and equipment related to each other are packed up together. You’ll never have to go looking for batteries for the lapel microphones, because they are packed in the storage tub with the microphones. You’ll never have to look for a mallet to stake down a welcome tent, because it is packed in with the stakes and the tent.

This labor may seem at first to be all a matter of having a strong back, stout limbs, and a careful checklist. However, like the work done by the tribes who packed and carried the Tabernacle, this work is holy work which makes holy space for people to encounter a holy God.

The Tabernacle is made after the pattern of the heavenly Temple which Moses sees on the mountain. It is filled with artwork representing it as an artificial Garden of Eden where God once again meets with humans. Making sacred space where humans and God can interact is a priestly duty. It is also one each believer bears today.

Our bodies are our “tents” into which we invite the Holy Spirit of God, promised to us by Jesus. They are temporary, holy vessels in which we are united in Christ and united to God. Peter calls the church a Temple of living stones. Paul calls us members of the body of Christ.

Through spiritual disciplines and practices, we maintain and carry with us sacred space. Prayer, Bible reading, meditation, and intercession, are our tabernacle walls, frames, and sacred tools. We can access this sacred space wherever we go. In our priestly role, we can invite others into this sacred space as well, allowing them to encounter and experience God through us.

How are you preparing to make sacred space for yourself? In your schedule? In your home? In your work life?

How are you preparing to make sacred space for others, inviting them to encounter God through you?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
Your testimonies are very sure, and holiness adorns your house, O Lord, forever and forevermore. — Psalm 93.6

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Reading
Numbers 4 (Listen 6:11)
Acts 27 (Listen 6:09)

Read more about The Hand of Providence
Let this hope be our anchor in the midst of the tempestuous seas…we weather the storms not by our wisdom but by his providential hand.

The Hand of Providence

Read more about Supporting Our Work
Please consider becoming a donor to support ad-free content that brings biblical devotionals to inboxes across the world.

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Readers’ Choice Month:
In August, The Park Forum looks back on our readers’ selections of our most meaningful and helpful devotionals from the past 12 months. Thank you for your readership. This month is all about hearing from you. Submit a Readers’ Choice post today.

Today’s post was originally published, April 29,2021, based on readings from Numbers 6.
It was selected by reader, Jon Polk from Hong Kong
“Oh how our world needs to see Christians as agents of blessing! So many of our loudest voices are selfish, hurtful, and negative towards others. To be fair, I don’t believe all Christians act that way, in fact, I don’t believe that most Christians act that way, but many who get the most air time in public do act in less-than-kind ways. Our world desperately needs to hear a voice of compassion and blessing from us as followers of Christ. This passage relates to the Aaronic blessing, but when we look back at the covenant with Abraham, he is called to be a blessing to all people. So too, we must use our voices and actions to be a blessing not only to other Christians, but even to those who are not.”

Scripture Focus: Numbers 6.22-27
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 
24 “ ‘ “The Lord bless you 
and keep you; 
25 the Lord make his face shine on you 
and be gracious to you; 
26 the Lord turn his face toward you 
and give you peace.” ’ 
27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Reflection: Praying Priestly Blessings — Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

Through the Aaronic blessing, God puts his name—his identity—on the Israelites. As followers of God today, a part of our identity is as carriers of the blessings of God that are intended for the world.

One of the primary purposes of humanity, upheld throughout the entirety of scripture, is being a blessing to others.

Adam and Eve’s charge was to cultivate and spread God’s blessings.
Abraham was called to bless all people through his offspring.
Through Moses, God began building a nation intended to share with the world the blessings of God’s wisdom and justice.
Sounding over and over within the societal laws of Israel is a drumbeat of blessing and caring for others, even foreigners, as members of one’s family.
The prophets, time and time again, spoke of spreading God’s blessings and the light of truth to the gentile nations.
Gabriel’s annunciation of Christ’s birth and Mary’s song about it later both put at center stage blessings for all of humanity.

Blessing others is a baked-in quality of the Imago Dei in all people. When we refuse to bless others, we are shoveling dirt over the image of God in us, burying our treasure in the ground and refusing to invest it out of selfishness and fear.

Only in Christ, however, can that Imago Dei be brought fully to life and empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Then, blessing others may go beyond simple kindness as we take on our role as a royal priesthood.

Just as the family of Aaron were priests under Aaron, we are priests under Jesus, our high priest. We are charged, as the Aaronic priests were charged, to pronounce God’s blessing.

If we were to rewrite the Aaronic blessing for Christ’s order of priests, using images and teachings from Jesus, to put his identity on us, it might look something like this:

Like a mother tending to her children,
A shepherd tending sheep,
Or a gardener cultivating a garden,
May our Father bless and protect you.
May our Father’s eyes shine on you
Delighting in you as his child, showing you grace and love.
May our Father’s face be raised to you,
Welcoming you in his presence, bringing you peace.

Through this blessing, God puts his name, his identity, on those who will accept it. May we pronounce this priestly blessing not with words alone, but in how we live and walk through our world.

Music: “The UK Blessing” — Churches from all across the UK sing “The Blessing” over their country.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. — Psalm 118.23

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 23 (Listen – 4:18) 
1 Corinthians 4 (Listen – 3:15)

Read more about Becoming a Blessing
From Abram, you made a great nation
Through Abram, you promised to bless the nations
Make us, O Lord, a blessing in our nations

Becoming a Blessing

Read more about Identity Lost, Identity Gained
God, our father, is greater and more loving than Isaac…No one who comes to him will need cry, “Do you have only one blessing, my father?”

Identity Lost, Identity Gained