Nine days, 25 checked bags, 20 carry ons, 4,004 flight miles, 14 family members, 3 males 18 and upward and of eligible draft age, 3 males employed on a full time basis and 2 males semi-retired. OK, OK I’m counting the women! Four women employed on a full time basis and 2 women semi-retired.
Thus is the full accounting of our trip to Hawaii. Well, sort of, there were also whale sightings, beach walking, sun rises, family dinners and lots and lots of pictures.
As I read through the book of Numbers, the CPA in me relished reading the myriad of ways that families, property and leaders were accounted for. What was important and what was not considered not important enough to record.
But as you know from your reading, Numbers is more than just numbers. There are stories of wilderness wanderings, stories of grumbling and discontent among the people. There is the promise of land on the horizon and yet, the lack of confidence and trust by the people that YHWH will indeed provide. There is the “old” generation that is disobedient (that is those who were part of the original exodus from Egypt) and the “new” generation with a different spirit (Joshua and Caleb) who are the wave of the future.
Remember also, that most scholars believe that this book, in its final form is an exilic document (that is a text written down during the time of the 6th century exile) and the writers have used these older materials as a way to offer hope and theological reflection to those living in Babylon after the fall of the Temple in 586 BCE.
The Priestly writers remind the people to take seriously the disciplines of holiness and ritual cleanness. It is through the disciplines that the presence of the life-giving God is made known in the midst of the people. And, Walter Brueggemann says that, “the only way the Holy Land of the holy God can be
securely entered is by a holy people.” The vision of the land of promise is a vision of the land as a place of holiness and purity. Thus, the concerns of these disciplines are integral to the people of Israel. For the people waiting to enter the Holy Land for the first time and those in exile who are remembering and waiting to renter the land of promise, holiness, cleanness and purity are the ways to receive a land from the God who brings them forth into this land of milk and honey.
InJoy,
Suzy
Thus is the full accounting of our trip to Hawaii. Well, sort of, there were also whale sightings, beach walking, sun rises, family dinners and lots and lots of pictures.
As I read through the book of Numbers, the CPA in me relished reading the myriad of ways that families, property and leaders were accounted for. What was important and what was not considered not important enough to record.
But as you know from your reading, Numbers is more than just numbers. There are stories of wilderness wanderings, stories of grumbling and discontent among the people. There is the promise of land on the horizon and yet, the lack of confidence and trust by the people that YHWH will indeed provide. There is the “old” generation that is disobedient (that is those who were part of the original exodus from Egypt) and the “new” generation with a different spirit (Joshua and Caleb) who are the wave of the future.
Remember also, that most scholars believe that this book, in its final form is an exilic document (that is a text written down during the time of the 6th century exile) and the writers have used these older materials as a way to offer hope and theological reflection to those living in Babylon after the fall of the Temple in 586 BCE.
The Priestly writers remind the people to take seriously the disciplines of holiness and ritual cleanness. It is through the disciplines that the presence of the life-giving God is made known in the midst of the people. And, Walter Brueggemann says that, “the only way the Holy Land of the holy God can be
securely entered is by a holy people.” The vision of the land of promise is a vision of the land as a place of holiness and purity. Thus, the concerns of these disciplines are integral to the people of Israel. For the people waiting to enter the Holy Land for the first time and those in exile who are remembering and waiting to renter the land of promise, holiness, cleanness and purity are the ways to receive a land from the God who brings them forth into this land of milk and honey.InJoy,
Suzy
5 comments:
Suzy,
I just started reading your blog today. It is a terrific idea!! I am somewhat relieved to see that we are not so different from the Israelites so long ago. We are still rebellious. Perhaps if the commandments were stamped on our foreheads we would be better able to remember His words. Then, as is now, the choice to obey is ours.
The Old Testament has always been very difficult for me to understand. This is largely because I find no relation to what is happening in my life. The major themes such as "set aside for the Lord your God all the firstborn males" meaning that we are to give to God first are definitely present. However, I don't see how piercing a servant's earlobe with an awl will help me deal with tomorrow. Am I being too concrete in my interpretations?
Glad you've joined us! It is amazing that we really are not so different today that we were all those thousants of years ago. When we were flying to Israel in September, as the sun was rising, the more orthodox of the Jews would begin their morning prayers, and on their forheads was a box, attached by what I recall to be a leather strap that had in it the words of the Shema "Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is One." Maybe all of us would be live a day more aware of God's presence if we started our days in such a way!
InJoy,
Suzy
Final comment for the day...at least I think!!
Remember as you are reading, their are truths that apply to today and how we live our lives, such as the concept of giving first to God, being aware of the gift of life that we have been given, living in the abundance that Christ has come to give - these are just a few examples. But, also remember that we are also reading a theological history - and by that I mean, not a straight history like the history books that we study in school. So, for example as we are reading through Leviticus and Numbers we are reading a history of God's presence as understood by the Israelites and those writing to the Jewish people in Exile after 586BCE.
While piercing a servant's ear with an awl is not a present day experience. Maybe this calls us to think about the ways in which today we enslave people - it may not be as obvious as an awl in an earlobe, but are there ways that we oppress or enslave? Or what are ways that we enslave ourselves?
I'd be interested in anyone's comments on this - I can think of several ways.
The defining characteristic of freedom, it seems to me, is the ability to fail. Any thing we do to ourselves or others that removes that possibility, results in someone being enslaved.
Think of the classic Hebrew slave in Egypt: if he successfully built a home for his master, he was a slave; if he malingered or rebelled, he was still a slave, for those are all part and parcel of the slave world. There is no way to fail as a slave!
Today, we may enslave ourselves through fear (If I never try, I cannot fail.) or through complacency (If I set my standards low enough, I cannot fail.) or through the misuse of alcohol or drugs (An active alcoholic can do nothing to fail as a drunk, and any “failings” that others may see are really all part of successfully discharging the role of “Drunk.” It is not enough to say, well, he failed as a father or husband, because being a drunk precludes any other role in the first place! If his living describes him as a drunk, sadly, for many of us, that is what he is. Abandoning ethics and children and honor and self-respect are all part and parcel of the addiction world.) Fortunately, we serve a God who is able to make us into a new thing altogether.
On the other hand, we enslave others when we lock them into roles which preclude failure. Maybe they will be denied important responsibilities because of past “sins” or what we see as disabilities which don’t really ever go away; if so, we have assigned them to a role in which they no choice but to succeed, that of a failure! Sometimes this form of slavery is obvious; other times, insidious and patronizing. But whenever we deny full participation with its chance of failure, we enslave.
How awesome is God, though, that there is laid before us a path toward freedom! In both Moses and St. Paul, we see a murderer made into a new thing by the active grace of God. They were not limited in the eyes of the Almighty to their past, and God’s grace showed them to not limit themselves, and each took on roles bubbling with the possibility of failure, and through them God worked a crazy, mighty work.
Just my two bits.
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