Feb 11: Numbers 3:33 –
5:22
I found the division
of labor to be quite interesting. It must have been an amazing feat to move the
tabernacle and all that was associated with it. Did you notice that most of the
items from inside the tent were originally wrapped in blue fabric then covered
with sea cow pelts, while the ark of the Testimony was covered first with the
hides and only then covered by blue fabric? In my research I couldn’t find any
good reason for this, other than to be sure the ark was clearly identified as
separate so no one inadvertently looked upon it.
But of course
the most shocking text today takes place near the end. I couldn’t stop at verse
22 and had to read on to the end of the chapter. Did this text bother you too?
I read
several commentaries looking for more information. Most said this concoction of
water, dust, and ink was probably not poison in any way and they suspected
results were psychosomatic. Interesting that this was the direction they went
as opposed to God causing the reaction because he knew the truth.
While the texts
referred to Jewish traditions stating that there must be some cause for the
husband to bring his wife to the priest, I can only imagine that some were just
overly jealous or were angry at their wives and wanted to embarrass them and
cause suffering. I was rather angry that there were no repercussions for false
accusations and there seems to be no effort to deal with any man involved in
the indiscretion. Plus, what did a wife do if she suspected her husband was
unfaithful?
Commentaries
indicated that the bottom line was the significance of remaining true to a
covenant of marriage, just as the Israelite should remain true to their
covenant with God. This text just bothered me because it seems rather unfair.
But God didn’t ask me. I’ll chalk this up to one more discussion I can have
when I get to Heaven.
TOMORROW’S
TEXT: Numbers 5:23 – 7:59
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment