For the record, olive oil does not burn. I tried. Why do I start with these sentences? In chapter 24:1-2, the LORD tells Moses to "bring the clear oil of pressed olives for the light to that the lamps may be kept burning continually." So, being the good scientific person I am, I went up into the kitchen, grabbed myself some EVOO, poured it into a bowl, and brought the flame of my lighter to the oil. What was I hoping for? I think I was expecting a soft, blue flame to gently flow across the oil. What did I get? Nothing. Perhaps God did not have my particular olive oil in mind, or maybe the olive oil of those days was just more flammable.
Today's reading covered the LORD's commands regarding unacceptable sacrifices, the Sabbath, the Passover, the offering of the firstfruits of the harvest, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, the type of food to be set at the table before the LORD in the tabernacle, the story of a blasphemer who got stoned (like beaten to death with rocks, not baked) after making the sacred name of the LORD profane, and the Year of Jubilee regulations. There was a lot of stuff in this reading.
I was struck by how much celebrating has been commanded so far. I am sure more ceremonies are to be instituted as I read more, but I was struck at how often the whole community took time off to rest, celebrate, reflect on the way God worked in their lives, and look to him for forgiveness and favour.
There are a lot of ceremonies, but I want to focus on the Year of Jubilee. If I understand it correctly, it was like the ultimate wealth re-distribution procedure. In that year, all slaves were freed, all debts were canceled all land and possessions taken from people sold into slavery or servanthood was reinstated to the original owners. Many other social welfare practices are mandated. For example, Lev. 25:35-38 says, "If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you. Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your country man may continue to live among you. You must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God." When I read this I thought that this was beautiful. It strikes me that not only is this a social welfare institution, but it also seems like an object lesson. When God says, "... but fear your God... I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God", it seems to me like God was saying, "Only because I brought you out of slavery, cleared the land, and let you settle here, you have anything. So, remember that ultimately I own everything, and everything you own is a gift."
Again, the concept of the "fear" of the LORD came up today in the context of making sure that Israelites who owned slaves did not "treat them ruthlessly" (Lev. 25:43) and making sure that they did not "take advantage of each other" but to "fear [their] God" (Lev. 25:17). God says to fear Him, because, after all: Who had the power to wash death over Egypt, summon darkness for days, part seas and pull them together, etc.? It is is like God is reminding them of His absolute, incredible-ness, Much of what I'm trying to capture is shown in this video, called BASIC.Fear.
I feel like I am seeing a pattern develop where, through this Scripture, I am learning that if I actually met God, I would be terrified. I think I need to learn the lesson He is trying to teach me: that I am nothing before Him, but I mean everything to Him and that He is my only true hope, that, like He did for the Jews- He will provide for my life, and that I will have nothing in my life without His grace. I cannot even control my own heart beat or whether I will wake up tomorrow morning. Everything I am and have is a gift.
Who am I to boast?
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