READING FOR OCTOBER 8, 2024: NUMBERS 18, ACTS 22, PSALM 105:26-36 NUMBERS 18 God told Aaron that he and his sons, the priests, are responsible for everything connected with the tabernacle sacrificial system, including the furnishings and altar. If they do anything not according to God’s commands, they will bear the guilt. They, however, will have the assistance of the Levites with the tent of meetings. Levites must not venture into the work and territory of the priests, nor should non-Levites try to do the work of the Levites. Intruding into non-designated areas would cause death. The current expression, “stay within your lane” certainly applies in this case. A New Testament application would be to serve within one’s area of spiritual giftedness (1 Cor. 12). With so many needs and so few workers available to help in most small churches, though, probably the admonition to shoulder our responsibility is more needful for us than the part about not intruding into other areas of responsibility.
Through the sacrificial system, God built a process for the material sustenance of priests. The people in their sacrificial offerings to God indirectly enabled the priests to have a variety of food for their families. The Levites were supported by the tithes of the people. By doing basic math, if the 12 tribes gave 10% of their income, there would be more than sufficient support for the Levites. One other economic factor is that the Levites, “shall have no[land] inheritance among the sons of Israel.” A New Testament passage that is appropriately used to advocate for financial support for those in ministry is 1 Timothy 5: 17-18: “The elders who lead well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing,’ and ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages.’” Today’s pastor is the rough equivalent to the elder who preached and taught in Paul’s time.
ACTS 22 Paul spoke to the Jewish mob in Hebrew, which seemed to surprise and quiet them. He gave some background information about himself, including that he was a student of Gamaliel, whose wisdom we ran into in Acts 5:34. Paul also mentioned that he himself was a former persecutor of Christians, even pursuing them to their death. Thus, his opening remarks were entirely given over to identifying with his hostile audience. (Perhaps this is good communication practice.) Then he proceeded to give a factual and unadorned account of his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. An interesting detail Paul provides of the encounter is that Jesus considers those who persecute His followers as persecuting Him. Jesus connects completely with his followers, especially their pain.
Paul spoke of Ananias with appreciation for his being a devout Christian while also respected by the Jews. It’s possible to love Jesus while having a good relationship with nonbelievers. All of us, even Paul, need an Ananias to guide us, especially when starting our Christian walk. Do
READING FOR OCTOBER 8, 2024 CONTINUED: ACTS 22, PSALM 105:26-36 we have such a person in our lives and are we that key guide for someone else? Consider this carefully. What adjustments might be necessary to find such people and be such people. In Paul’s account, Ananias prayed over him and gave him marching orders: Be a witness for Jesus to all people. Then Ananias gave him a little tough love: He told him to get up and get going. What was Paul’s operational definition of getting going? It included praying in the Temple. Nothing of Godly value happens without prayer. While he was praying, he saw another vision of Jesus. Remember Peter’s vision while he was praying on the housetop (Acts 10:9-17)? Might be a pattern here. As Paul continued his account, the moment he spoke the word “Gentiles” to the crowd they asked for his execution.“Lord, may we never hate any group of individuals so that the very name of that group causes us to be unloving, let alone murderous.”
The commander immediately ordered that Paul undergo extreme interrogation to find out the cause of their anger. (By the way, dishonesty, threats, and torture are still interrogation techniques used today, but can’t be reconciled with Christian values as listed in Gal. 5:22-23.) Just before they began the torture, Paul asked if it was lawful to treat a Roman citizen this way. This set off a minor panic and led to Paul’s immediate release. What criterion should cause us to never consider mistreating someone physically or verbally? “With it [the tongue] we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people made in God’s image. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so” (James 3:9-10).
PSALM 105:26-36 This is a ten-verse whirlwind account of the ten plagues of Egypt. For those Baroque fans among you, here is a wondrously jumpy rendition of “The Land Brought Forth Frogs” by George Handel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av_f0hb0pjk Speaking of “wondrously,” the Psalmist said Moses and Aaron performed wondrous acts among their enemies. Of course they were damaging, painful, and eventually deadly, but still, they call for wonder. Do we find our Lord wonderful? Think of the Hebrew people. Enslaved for hundreds of years, mistreated by their oppressors, and without a voice to give hope for the future. Yet, they were liberated in a manner that was unforeseeable. Now, fast forward thousands of years later to another liberation: Lincoln’s visit to Richmond after the South’s surrender: "Such wild, indescribable ecstatic joy I never witnessed," Charles Coffin described the scene in the Boston Journal. As Lincoln walked from the river toward the state Capitol, he was surrounded by "a surging mass of men, women and children, black, white and yellow, running, shouting, and dancing. Yesterday morning most of the thousands who crowded the streets and hindered our advance were slaves. Now they were free and beheld him who had given them their liberty." Now let’s behold Him who liberated us from much greater oppression to a much great future: “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:13-14).
