Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Numbers chapter 11 verses 10 through 17:
10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and Moses was displeased. 11 So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child, to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors’? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. 15 If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favor in your sight—and do not let me see my misery.”
16 So the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you. 17 I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself.
Moses is learning to be a leader in today’s Lesson. In the Exodus out of Egypt it was largely a one man show — or two if you count Aaron who, though he was supposed to be the primary speaker, appears largely silent. It was Moses who led the people. It was Moses who took on Pharaoh.
But here in the Wilderness Moses begins to recognize that he can’t do it alone. He begins to see that the task is too much for him, and that he needs help. And we see that what the LORD is doing through Moses’ fatigue and inadequacy is actually raising up a group of leaders who will help lead the people into the Promised Land.
One person can lead us out of somewhere old, but it takes a team of leaders to lead a group somewhere new. And the irony for Moses as he becomes a great leader is his necessary acceptance of his own shortcomings in leadership. He must accept the limits of his time, age, and energy, and inabilities in order that he can enable others. In other words, the manifold strength of God in Israel must be revealed through the accepted and acknowledged weakness of Moses.
NOTE: We’re reading the whole Bible together this year. Monday’s Lesson will be from Numbers chapters 14-20 and Psalm 90.
Friday, February 28, 2020
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Daily Lesson for February 27, 2020
Today’s Daily Lesson is from Numbers chapter 9 verses 6 through 22:
6 Now there were certain people who were unclean through touching a corpse, so that they could not keep the passover on that day. They came before Moses and Aaron on that day, 7 and said to him, “Although we are unclean through touching a corpse, why must we be kept from presenting the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?” 8 Moses spoke to them, “Wait, so that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”
9 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 10 Speak to the Israelites, saying: Anyone of you or your descendants who is unclean through touching a corpse, or is away on a journey, shall still keep the passover to the Lord. 11 In the second month on the fourteenth day, at twilight, they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute for the passover they shall keep it. 13 But anyone who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet refrains from keeping the passover, shall be cut off from the people for not presenting the Lord’s offering at its appointed time; such a one shall bear the consequences for the sin. 14 Any alien residing among you who wishes to keep the passover to the Lord shall do so according to the statute of the passover and according to its regulation; you shall have one statute for both the resident alien and the native.
15 On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant;[d] and from evening until morning it was over the tabernacle, having the appearance of fire. 16 It was always so: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. 17 Whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, then the Israelites would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the Israelites would camp. 18 At the command of the Lord the Israelites would set out, and at the command of the Lord they would camp. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they would remain in camp. 19 Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the Israelites would keep the charge of the Lord, and would not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud would remain a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they would remain in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they would set out. 21 Sometimes the cloud would remain from evening until morning; and when the cloud lifted in the morning, they would set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they would set out. 22 Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, resting upon it, the Israelites would remain in camp and would not set out; but when it lifted they would set out.
Waiting is the hardest part.
So said Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. And they were right; waiting can itself be a heartbreaker.
But the Journey through the Wilderness is not a race. It’s purpose is not to get the people anywhere fast. It’s purpose is rather to form a people deeply, to teach them to pray and listen and learn to obey.
The Psalmist says, “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”
We want to go. We want to get there. We want to know, and decide, and up and move out, and move into the Promised Land today. But the LORD tells us to wait, to keep camp, to not be too hasty in crossing over Jordan. For we still have things to learn here in the wilderness; and chief among these is learning to trust the LORD’s wisdom and timing and not our own . . .
NOTE: We’re reading the whole Bible this year. Tomorrow’s Lesson will come from Numbers chapters 11 through 13.
6 Now there were certain people who were unclean through touching a corpse, so that they could not keep the passover on that day. They came before Moses and Aaron on that day, 7 and said to him, “Although we are unclean through touching a corpse, why must we be kept from presenting the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?” 8 Moses spoke to them, “Wait, so that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”
9 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 10 Speak to the Israelites, saying: Anyone of you or your descendants who is unclean through touching a corpse, or is away on a journey, shall still keep the passover to the Lord. 11 In the second month on the fourteenth day, at twilight, they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute for the passover they shall keep it. 13 But anyone who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet refrains from keeping the passover, shall be cut off from the people for not presenting the Lord’s offering at its appointed time; such a one shall bear the consequences for the sin. 14 Any alien residing among you who wishes to keep the passover to the Lord shall do so according to the statute of the passover and according to its regulation; you shall have one statute for both the resident alien and the native.
15 On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant;[d] and from evening until morning it was over the tabernacle, having the appearance of fire. 16 It was always so: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. 17 Whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, then the Israelites would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the Israelites would camp. 18 At the command of the Lord the Israelites would set out, and at the command of the Lord they would camp. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they would remain in camp. 19 Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the Israelites would keep the charge of the Lord, and would not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud would remain a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they would remain in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they would set out. 21 Sometimes the cloud would remain from evening until morning; and when the cloud lifted in the morning, they would set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they would set out. 22 Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, resting upon it, the Israelites would remain in camp and would not set out; but when it lifted they would set out.
Waiting is the hardest part.
So said Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. And they were right; waiting can itself be a heartbreaker.
But the Journey through the Wilderness is not a race. It’s purpose is not to get the people anywhere fast. It’s purpose is rather to form a people deeply, to teach them to pray and listen and learn to obey.
The Psalmist says, “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”
We want to go. We want to get there. We want to know, and decide, and up and move out, and move into the Promised Land today. But the LORD tells us to wait, to keep camp, to not be too hasty in crossing over Jordan. For we still have things to learn here in the wilderness; and chief among these is learning to trust the LORD’s wisdom and timing and not our own . . .
NOTE: We’re reading the whole Bible this year. Tomorrow’s Lesson will come from Numbers chapters 11 through 13.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Daily Lesson for February 26, 2020
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Numbers chapter 7 verse 89:
When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he would hear the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the covenant from between the two cherubim; thus it spoke to him.
The Mercy Seat in the tent of meeting was the cover of the Ark of the Covenant which was later placed inside the curtain within the Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple. The cover was decorated with two cherubim, in between which the LORD was said to sit. The Mercy Seat was known as God's footstool on the earth; and it was from above there that Moses could hear the voice of the LORD speaking to him during the journey of the Exodus.
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the 40 Day Christian journey towards Lent, reflecting the 40-year journey of the Israelites to the Promised Land. It is a time for entering into the holy place we call prayer, where we are surrounded by angels, and met by the LORD.
The journey ahead this year will be long and very difficult. We must be spiritually prepared for what is ahead. We must be seeking the voice of the LORD, and listening to it also.
The LORD is waiting for us in the Holy Place, and will meet us here at the Mercy Seat, and will speak to us about this journey that is journey that is before us.
"Be not afraid," the voice says. "Be not afraid for I am with you."
NOTE: We’re reading the whole Bible this year. Tomorrow’s Lesson will come from Numbers chapters 8 through 10.
When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he would hear the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the covenant from between the two cherubim; thus it spoke to him.
The Mercy Seat in the tent of meeting was the cover of the Ark of the Covenant which was later placed inside the curtain within the Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple. The cover was decorated with two cherubim, in between which the LORD was said to sit. The Mercy Seat was known as God's footstool on the earth; and it was from above there that Moses could hear the voice of the LORD speaking to him during the journey of the Exodus.
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the 40 Day Christian journey towards Lent, reflecting the 40-year journey of the Israelites to the Promised Land. It is a time for entering into the holy place we call prayer, where we are surrounded by angels, and met by the LORD.
The journey ahead this year will be long and very difficult. We must be spiritually prepared for what is ahead. We must be seeking the voice of the LORD, and listening to it also.
The LORD is waiting for us in the Holy Place, and will meet us here at the Mercy Seat, and will speak to us about this journey that is journey that is before us.
"Be not afraid," the voice says. "Be not afraid for I am with you."
NOTE: We’re reading the whole Bible this year. Tomorrow’s Lesson will come from Numbers chapters 8 through 10.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Daily Lesson for February 25, 2020
Today's Daily Lesson come from Numbers chapter 5 verses 11 through 22. TRIGGER WARNING: This Lesson deals with issues of punishment and forced abortion against women.
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12 Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13 if a man has had intercourse with her but it is hidden from her husband, so that she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her since she was not caught in the act; 14 if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself; or if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself; 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16 Then the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord; 17 the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 The priest shall set the woman before the Lord, dishevel the woman’s hair, and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. In his own hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse. 19 Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, “If no man has lain with you, if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings the curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had intercourse with you,” 21 —let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse and say to the woman—“the Lord make you an execration and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your uterus drop, your womb discharge; 22 now may this water that brings the curse enter your bowels and make your womb discharge, your uterus drop!” And the woman shall say, “Amen. Amen.”
Today's Lesson is difficult and even disgusting, and certainly not uplifting. Yet as we are reading the Bible together this year, I have chosen it to highlight the complexities of what we find in the Bible, and also the insanity of claims that we need to "get back to the Bible".
Really? Have they read this stuff? Do they really think we should make women eat the dust of the sanctuary at the whim of their jealous husbands? Do they know the Bible actually prescribes this as a form of divine-sanctioned and induced abortion?
So here are some general comments.
1. The Bible should not be read as a book of Divine Laws. It should be read as a catalogue of the early history and development of HUMAN-MADE Laws.
2. It is important to understand that the Laws in the Bible which we sometimes now view as draconian were in their time in their time somewhat progressive. An example: "An eye for an eye" was a Law which actually LIMITED retribution. This is an example of punishment being made to fit the crime, rather than exceed it. Perhaps today's Lesson is also of this nature. However repugnant and also patently patriarchal, the so-called "trial" did at least bring in a priest and a certain form of due process which took the Law out of the hands of the jealous husband. This gave a decent priest an opportunity to intervene for the sake of the woman and perhaps the fetus within her.
3. The Hebrew Bible Laws were indeed patriarchal in nature. Generally Laws like this governing women's bodies in today's Lesson have no cognate relative to men and their bodies. This historical inequality continues to shape our own Laws today. We must open our own eyes to this injustice and work to make the Law more equal for all sexes and genders.
The Bible is a catalogue. It's a Law Library. And getting "Back to the Bible!" is seriously problematic. It's demagogic and patriarchal. And it's downright scary.
Woe to the people that buy into it.
NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible this year, sometimes critically. Tomorrow's Lesson is from Numbers 7.
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12 Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13 if a man has had intercourse with her but it is hidden from her husband, so that she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her since she was not caught in the act; 14 if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself; or if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself; 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16 Then the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord; 17 the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 The priest shall set the woman before the Lord, dishevel the woman’s hair, and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. In his own hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse. 19 Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, “If no man has lain with you, if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings the curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had intercourse with you,” 21 —let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse and say to the woman—“the Lord make you an execration and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your uterus drop, your womb discharge; 22 now may this water that brings the curse enter your bowels and make your womb discharge, your uterus drop!” And the woman shall say, “Amen. Amen.”
Today's Lesson is difficult and even disgusting, and certainly not uplifting. Yet as we are reading the Bible together this year, I have chosen it to highlight the complexities of what we find in the Bible, and also the insanity of claims that we need to "get back to the Bible".
Really? Have they read this stuff? Do they really think we should make women eat the dust of the sanctuary at the whim of their jealous husbands? Do they know the Bible actually prescribes this as a form of divine-sanctioned and induced abortion?
So here are some general comments.
1. The Bible should not be read as a book of Divine Laws. It should be read as a catalogue of the early history and development of HUMAN-MADE Laws.
2. It is important to understand that the Laws in the Bible which we sometimes now view as draconian were in their time in their time somewhat progressive. An example: "An eye for an eye" was a Law which actually LIMITED retribution. This is an example of punishment being made to fit the crime, rather than exceed it. Perhaps today's Lesson is also of this nature. However repugnant and also patently patriarchal, the so-called "trial" did at least bring in a priest and a certain form of due process which took the Law out of the hands of the jealous husband. This gave a decent priest an opportunity to intervene for the sake of the woman and perhaps the fetus within her.
3. The Hebrew Bible Laws were indeed patriarchal in nature. Generally Laws like this governing women's bodies in today's Lesson have no cognate relative to men and their bodies. This historical inequality continues to shape our own Laws today. We must open our own eyes to this injustice and work to make the Law more equal for all sexes and genders.
The Bible is a catalogue. It's a Law Library. And getting "Back to the Bible!" is seriously problematic. It's demagogic and patriarchal. And it's downright scary.
Woe to the people that buy into it.
NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible this year, sometimes critically. Tomorrow's Lesson is from Numbers 7.
Monday, February 24, 2020
Daily Lesson for February 24, 2020
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Numbers chapter 1 verses 1 through 4:
The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 Take a census of the whole congregation of Israelites, in their clans, by ancestral houses, according to the number of names, every male individually; 3 from twenty years old and upward, everyone in Israel able to go to war. You and Aaron shall enroll them, company by company. 4 A man from each tribe shall be with you, each man the head of his ancestral house.
2020 is a census year in America and a time for carrying out the Constitutional mandate to count the number of people in our communities that fair representation in governance and equitable distribution in benefits might be ordered.
As the Israelites made their way through the Wilderness the LORD also ordered a census. Its purpose was essentially the same, to figure the overall populace and then determine representation of the people by the priests in the Holy Temple. The census count was also the mechanism by which the Israelites determined regimental order and the various duties related to the care and protection of the Tabernacle as it traveled through the wilderness.
A census is an important undertaking. So important, in fact, that some are willing to cheat at it for their own political purposes. So let us be reminded that when we're talking about a census we're talking about a sacred and God-ordained thing. So its not something to be manipulated or exploited.
A people count is holy because, well, people count — all of them.
And so does God . . .
The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 Take a census of the whole congregation of Israelites, in their clans, by ancestral houses, according to the number of names, every male individually; 3 from twenty years old and upward, everyone in Israel able to go to war. You and Aaron shall enroll them, company by company. 4 A man from each tribe shall be with you, each man the head of his ancestral house.
2020 is a census year in America and a time for carrying out the Constitutional mandate to count the number of people in our communities that fair representation in governance and equitable distribution in benefits might be ordered.
As the Israelites made their way through the Wilderness the LORD also ordered a census. Its purpose was essentially the same, to figure the overall populace and then determine representation of the people by the priests in the Holy Temple. The census count was also the mechanism by which the Israelites determined regimental order and the various duties related to the care and protection of the Tabernacle as it traveled through the wilderness.
A census is an important undertaking. So important, in fact, that some are willing to cheat at it for their own political purposes. So let us be reminded that when we're talking about a census we're talking about a sacred and God-ordained thing. So its not something to be manipulated or exploited.
A people count is holy because, well, people count — all of them.
And so does God . . .
Friday, February 21, 2020
Daily Lesson for February 21, 2020
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Leviticus chapter 25 verses 10 through 17:
10 And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you: you shall not sow, or reap the aftergrowth, or harvest the unpruned vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you: you shall eat only what the field itself produces.
13 In this year of jubilee you shall return, every one of you, to your property. 14 When you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not cheat one another. 15 When you buy from your neighbor, you shall pay only for the number of years since the jubilee; the seller shall charge you only for the remaining crop years. 16 If the years are more, you shall increase the price, and if the years are fewer, you shall diminish the price; for it is a certain number of harvests that are being sold to you. 17 You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.
The original vision for the Israelites coming into the Promised Land was for there to be an assurance that the land could never fall into the hands of only a few into perpetuity, nor could an Israelite fall into perpetual slavery either. What was prescribed to ensure was the act of Jubilee, an every-50-year release of the land back to its original clan ownership, and emancipation of the citizen slaves back to a state of freedom. Jubilee therefore ensured that wealth would remain relatively distributive throughout the tribes and that no family would fall into permanent poverty and/or slave bondage.
There is no record of the Israelites ever have actually practiced Jubilee. And it was one law in the Bible I never hear the Fundamentalists say we need to get back to. Maybe that’s because the Fundamentalists owned so much land. Though in an increasingly-less agrarian society it’s hard to say how this could practically work anyhow. And maybe that’s why the Israelites apparently never tried it. It was too hard.
But nevertheless the Law is still there, set as a kind of judgment upon us as a people, while our divide between the haves and the have nots widens.
There is the increasingly mass-conglomeration of land, and farms, and wealth in the world and the prospect of permanent generational poverty of so many; and there is also the Jubilee, a vision of equity for all generations to come, and the ultimate grounding conviction that both the land and the people belong to God and no one else.
And the vision remains . . .
NOTE: We’re reading the whole Bible this year. This weekend we finish out Leviticus and start Numbers. Monday’s Lesson will be from Numbers chapters 1 through 4.
10 And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you: you shall not sow, or reap the aftergrowth, or harvest the unpruned vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you: you shall eat only what the field itself produces.
13 In this year of jubilee you shall return, every one of you, to your property. 14 When you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not cheat one another. 15 When you buy from your neighbor, you shall pay only for the number of years since the jubilee; the seller shall charge you only for the remaining crop years. 16 If the years are more, you shall increase the price, and if the years are fewer, you shall diminish the price; for it is a certain number of harvests that are being sold to you. 17 You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.
The original vision for the Israelites coming into the Promised Land was for there to be an assurance that the land could never fall into the hands of only a few into perpetuity, nor could an Israelite fall into perpetual slavery either. What was prescribed to ensure was the act of Jubilee, an every-50-year release of the land back to its original clan ownership, and emancipation of the citizen slaves back to a state of freedom. Jubilee therefore ensured that wealth would remain relatively distributive throughout the tribes and that no family would fall into permanent poverty and/or slave bondage.
There is no record of the Israelites ever have actually practiced Jubilee. And it was one law in the Bible I never hear the Fundamentalists say we need to get back to. Maybe that’s because the Fundamentalists owned so much land. Though in an increasingly-less agrarian society it’s hard to say how this could practically work anyhow. And maybe that’s why the Israelites apparently never tried it. It was too hard.
But nevertheless the Law is still there, set as a kind of judgment upon us as a people, while our divide between the haves and the have nots widens.
There is the increasingly mass-conglomeration of land, and farms, and wealth in the world and the prospect of permanent generational poverty of so many; and there is also the Jubilee, a vision of equity for all generations to come, and the ultimate grounding conviction that both the land and the people belong to God and no one else.
And the vision remains . . .
NOTE: We’re reading the whole Bible this year. This weekend we finish out Leviticus and start Numbers. Monday’s Lesson will be from Numbers chapters 1 through 4.
Thursday, February 20, 2020
Daily Lesson for February 20, 2020
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Leviticus chapter 23 verses 39 through 43:
39 Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the Lord, lasting seven days; a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day. 40 On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You shall keep it as a festival to the Lord seven days in the year; you shall keep it in the seventh month as a statute forever throughout your generations. 42 You shall live in booths for seven days; all that are citizens in Israel shall live in booths, 43 so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Last April our family moved into a new house beside a lovely Jewish named the Isgurs.
Late last year the Isgurs invited us and several other friends and neighbors to join them for Sukkot, the annual celebration of the Festival of Booths, when Jews commemorate the Israelites’ 40-year journey to Promised Land through the wilderness in tents or “booths”. Though the Biblical injunction is to actually stay in the Booths for a whole week, most modern Jews like the Isgurs instead hold outside parties and invite friend, though I do have a Jewish friend who sleeps outside with his children in the tree house he made them.
The Isgur Sukkot party is a fun-loving time. Jews and Gentiles join together in laughter and story telling, and a little wine drinking. There is a small fire, though none of the neighbors seemed to stay past dark because while 50 is the new 40, nine is also the new midnight.
And I suppose that is the whole point of the Festival. It is a reminder to the Jewish people that life is fragile, that they came from nothing and nowhere, and are still tenting on this earth towards a Promised Land where they’ve never before been and don’t know how long it will take, and so need to look after one another — even look after the Gentiles — on the way.
And as for us Gentiles, I think we could learn something from our Jewish neighbors. Our ancestors too tabernacled in the wilderness. They came here — wherever here is — on horses, and in buggies, and on the backs or in the arms of big sisters. They too wandered, veered, feared, got lost, and found help. Somehow the manna fell, enough — barely.
We all came from survivors. And we’re survivors too. And we may yet have more to survive. And we will will with a cloud by day, and fire by night — and maybe a little wine and story telling to boot.
NOTE: Tomorrow’s Lesson will be from Leviticus chapters 24 and 25.
39 Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the Lord, lasting seven days; a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day. 40 On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You shall keep it as a festival to the Lord seven days in the year; you shall keep it in the seventh month as a statute forever throughout your generations. 42 You shall live in booths for seven days; all that are citizens in Israel shall live in booths, 43 so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Last April our family moved into a new house beside a lovely Jewish named the Isgurs.
Late last year the Isgurs invited us and several other friends and neighbors to join them for Sukkot, the annual celebration of the Festival of Booths, when Jews commemorate the Israelites’ 40-year journey to Promised Land through the wilderness in tents or “booths”. Though the Biblical injunction is to actually stay in the Booths for a whole week, most modern Jews like the Isgurs instead hold outside parties and invite friend, though I do have a Jewish friend who sleeps outside with his children in the tree house he made them.
The Isgur Sukkot party is a fun-loving time. Jews and Gentiles join together in laughter and story telling, and a little wine drinking. There is a small fire, though none of the neighbors seemed to stay past dark because while 50 is the new 40, nine is also the new midnight.
And I suppose that is the whole point of the Festival. It is a reminder to the Jewish people that life is fragile, that they came from nothing and nowhere, and are still tenting on this earth towards a Promised Land where they’ve never before been and don’t know how long it will take, and so need to look after one another — even look after the Gentiles — on the way.
And as for us Gentiles, I think we could learn something from our Jewish neighbors. Our ancestors too tabernacled in the wilderness. They came here — wherever here is — on horses, and in buggies, and on the backs or in the arms of big sisters. They too wandered, veered, feared, got lost, and found help. Somehow the manna fell, enough — barely.
We all came from survivors. And we’re survivors too. And we may yet have more to survive. And we will will with a cloud by day, and fire by night — and maybe a little wine and story telling to boot.
NOTE: Tomorrow’s Lesson will be from Leviticus chapters 24 and 25.
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