It's been a long day. My daughter has pink-eye, which meant a trip to the doctor's and then hanging out in Walmart for 45 minutes waiting for the prescription to be filled before we could go home again and let her be miserable in her own space. She actually bears up under it fairly well, until it's time to clear her eyes or put medicine drops in them. Taking care of a sick child can take a lot out of you. It's days like this, where you feel a little beaten, very tired, and maybe even a little discouraged that you wonder what a book like Numbers can bring you. You rather wish you could be in Psalms, where David's laments might at least make you feel you're not alone, or remind you how good you really have it. Or you might wish for an encouraging word from Paul in the New Testament, and be very tempted to go looking for it... But instead, you're "schlepping" through the OT, reading laws and regulations that seem to have nothing to do with you.
Reading the laws, though, you find that anyone who is unclean is required to set themselves aside, to refrain from religious practices and meals, and even leave the camp until such time as they are made unclean. (Too many references to count, but you could check out Leviticus 12, 13, and 15 for some examples.) Remember, those with infectious skin diseases were even required to call out their uncleanness so that everyone would know to avoid them. I felt like I had a small taste of that today. Walking around Walmart, waiting on eyedrops, I felt my daughter's gunky, green-goopy eyes were about as ostentatious as if I'd gone around calling out, "Pink eye! Pink eye! Steer clear!" I kept a disinfectant wipe on hand the whole time in case we should need to wipe something down, though I didn't let her touch anything. Though the few people who spoke to me were generally friendly and sympathetic, I felt as if just as many people were looking at me, wondering why on earth I had her out at all and why didn't I go home. Because of her pink eye we neither went to church or to youth group today. I missed Sunday school, what sounds as if it were a good sermon, and a chance to hang out with our teenagers as I didn't want to spread the infection giving my daughter so much discomfort. I did feel a bit of a leper. And I felt more so for her.
And here we have Numbers, a passage on the Levites and on the Passover. And I understood how a few of them felt: a contingent (I have no idea how big or small) came to Moses and Aaron because they were being kept from observing the Passover due to uncleanness from touching a dead body. Why, they wanted to know, could they not be allowed to observe the Passover, when they earnestly wanted to? Here were Israelites eager to do as the Lord commanded, and couldn't! The word the Lord sent Moses commanded that they could in fact. It doesn't necessarily say that anyone who is unclean could keep the Passover despite uncleanness, but at least this type could. I felt like asking for a special dispensation, too: I would have liked to go to church, especially as the weather this week promises to keep us further at home from Bible studies and the like. But then, I do have my Bible on hand. I do get to read from it, from the book of Numbers and live with the Israelites as they learned what it took to live in the presence of a Holy God. (Yeah, have you seen the next passage? I'm looking forward to it tomorrow: I wouldn't mind seeing a visible evidence of God's presence in our midst.) It teaches me that I should be grateful for what I have. I may not have been able to fellowship with other believers, but I certainly have the opportunity to fellowship with my God.
Tomorrow's Reading: Numbers 9:15-10:36
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