I'll just be honest: I'm having a really hard time concentrating on this today. It's not that the passage is entirely uninteresting: can you imagine the scene when the staffs are brought back to the tribal leaders and upon examination, every sees that Aaron's staff has not only budded, but flowered and produced almonds? Did anyone else wonder why the people's immediate response was how they were going to live in the vicinity without dying, when the entire point of the Law in Leviticus and Numbers was to show the people what they must do to live in the presence of the holy God? Or the fact that their immediate response was despair, though God had shown mercy in His righteous anger again and again (after all, they're still breathing, aren't they)? Chapter 18 is also quite important, though it's full ramifications may not be felt until Joshua. Joshua chronicles Israel's entrance into the Promised Land and what was to be their conquering mission (which they did not really fulfill), but also the assignment of each tribe's land inheritance. This was their inheritance in the promise to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob that they would be granted that land from the Lord. However, the Levites didn't receive an inheritance (this, Jacob himself saw in Genesis 49). Rather, they were to be scattered among the people, both as a result of their forefather's hasty revenge but also because they were willing to fight for the Lord in the Golden Calf incident (Exodus 30ff). They were consecrated to the Lord for His service and to serve in the Tabernacle, as we've seen throughout Leviticus and Numbers. Instead, as their inheritance, the Levites were given cities, known as Levitical cities, and the portions of the offerings and sacrifices that the Lord describes in this chapter are their inheritance. As they did not own land, they could not farm; as they served in the Tabernacle, they did not conduct business; the offerings were their support and livelihood. If you were a Levite, this was an important matter as this was how you knew you and your family would be provided for. If you were an Israelite from another tribe, this would have been important to you to help you understand how your sacrifices and offerings were to be properly used. (Admit it, we all like to know our taxes are going to good use as well, right? Very different purposes, but we have similar feelings.)
That may seem more than enough to be saying about a passage, but... There's plenty of info, but not a lot of life application. I guess I could boil it down to as an example of how God provides for His people, and that I can take it as a promise that He will always provide for me. It's definitely true enough, though it didn't take much thought of effort on my part. I guess I just never want to take that kind of thing for granted: or take the "easy road" on application. After all, I want to my Scripture reading to have an impact, I want to meditate on it and internalize it. But I'm just not there tonight. A failing on my part, obviously. Holy Spirit, I just pray that I don't take this reading lightly, that I don't treat this as a daily check-list. I want to know Your Word and to know You better through it. I want to be a better disciple because of it.
Tomorrow's Reading: Numbers 19:1-20:21
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