Numbers 15

In Leviticus 1-7, God provided instructions on how each type of offering was to be brought before Him. In Numbers 15, He specified the particular amount of flour, oil, and wine that were to accompany certain sacrifices once the people entered the Promised Land. For the Israelites, who had just received word that many of them would die in the wilderness, these commands from God assured them of no less than three things: 1) God had not deserted them, 2) God still intended to provide His people with an inheritance, and 3) the land that was to be given to them would yield abundant resources (enough, and more, to meet the laws regarding these offerings). In other words, at a time when the congregation may have been tempted to think God was no longer on their side (or at the very least, not endeared toward them), the LORD was reminding His people of His steadfast faithfulness. 

Verses 21-29 address laws for unintentional sins, and as you recall from Leviticus 4, a sin offering was to be sacrificed for “the person who makes a mistake” (v. 28). However, “the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him” (vv. 29-30). Plainly, the individual who intentionally and willfully defied God’s laws was to be excommunicated from the Israelite people. There was no hope for restoration; only exclusion. 

But then almost 1,500 years later, Jesus Christ came to earth, dining with sinners and tax collectors, and telling those who set out to keep the Law perfectly that He came “not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:16-18). Friends, His blood paid for all of our sins, unintentional and intentional, and because of that, every person who still has breath in their body can have hope of forgiveness, justification, and reconciliation to God. However, there is a qualification to receiving this gift. We must acknowledge that we have gone astray and need His love, grace, mercy, power…His full ministry…so that we may be saved.

Today’s reading closes with God telling Moses that the people were to “make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after” (vv. 38-39). The ESV Study Bible notes that, in “the ancient world, tassels were worn by nobles and other high-class people. In Israel they are to be worn by everyone as a mark of their status as a chosen people…the blue threads reminded the Israelites that they were a ‘kingdom of priests and a holy nation’ (Ex. 19:6).”[i]

What is it in your life that constantly reminds you that you are not your own, but were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)? That you no longer live, but Christ now lives in you (Galatians 2:20)? That you are a citizen of Heaven and not of this world (Philippians 3:20)? By the way, this doesn’t have to manifest in the form of clothing or other attire we wear, but may often be made apparent through rhythms and life choices we make, such as practicing the Sabbath (note in Numbers 15:32-36 how seriously God takes His people keeping this weekly discipline), how we raise our children, how husbands and wives treat each other, the content we take in (or abstain from), stewardship of our time and resources, or opting for contentment with what God has entrusted to us in this season instead of trying to keep up with the latest trends and fashions. I wonder how far those visual reminders would go in helping us rise to God’s call to be a set-apart, royal priesthood that is devoted fully to the Lord Jesus. 

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Journal responses to the following prompts:

·       Has there been a time in your life when God reminded you of His faithfulness when you thought He had deserted you (or at the very least, was not endeared toward you)? 

·       What is it in your life that constantly reminds you that you are not your own, but were bought with a price? That you no longer live, but Christ now lives in you? That you are a citizen of Heaven and not of this world?

[i] ESV Study Bible