Numbers 6: Outward Behavior + Inward Heart -> Active Holiness

We often hear that “it’s the heart that matters before God.”

It is true, but let’s be aware of the downside of this statement.

Summary

The law of the Nazarite was given to the Israelites. The Nazarites were those, men or women, who made a special vow to dedicate themselves to the LORD. The Nazarites were to remain holy to the LORD during all the days of their separation (Numbers 6:8): by abstaining from drinking anything made out of grapes; by having no razor over their head; and by not going near a dead person.

When the days of their separation were fulfilled, they shall bring the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting. Their offerings were to comprise a burnt offering, sin offering, peace offering, grain offering, and drink offering. The Nazarites shall shave their dedicated head, and the priest would present the offering to the LORD.

The chapter ended with the LORD’s instruction on how Aaron and his sons were to bless the Israelites.

The Nazarites and the Levites: Remember the LORD your God

There are some similarities in outward regulations between the Nazarites and the Levites. Therefore, the message and the effect conveyed by the lives of the Nazarites on the Israelite society would have been similar to that of the Levites.

What was the role of the Levites? The Levites were given a special task by the LORD to be in charge of taking care of and moving all the equipment pertaining to the tabernacle. Three Levite clans, the Kohathites, the Gershonites, and the Meratites, had different roles in overseeing the tabernacle. Therefore, the primary, practical function of the Levite was to set up a tabernacle and move it in a proper manner whenever the Israelite camp was guided to march by the LORD in the wilderness.

The Levites’ primary, practical function of overseeing the tabernacle in the wilderness was to transform to a slightly different role of reminding each Israel tribe of the LORD after the LORD gave the land of Canaan to the Israelites. Unlike other tribes, who received their dedicated lots, the presence of the Levites spread out to 48 cities throughout the land of Israel. The presence of the Levites would facilitate the remembrance of the LORD to each Israel tribe by their specially dedicated lives.

Consider Nazarite in a similar role as the Levite – more at the community level than at the national level. The Nazarites, as those wholly dedicated to the LORD God, would be easy to be recognized as they would have long hair and abstain themselves from any drink made out of grapes. People would be reminded of the LORD in the presence of the Nazarites just as each Israel tribe would be reminded of the LORD by the presence of the Levites.

Consider Nararite not as a regulation, but as an opportunity for non-Levite Israelites to dedicate themselves like priests and live out their full life or a limited period of their lives as priests. Note the inclusivity of this opportunity: both men and women were allowed to dedicate themselves to the LORD (Numbers 6:2). Also, this was strictly voluntary.

Outward Regulations Matter

It is often said among Christians that “it’s the heart that matters before God.”

This statement is true, but could pose a potential danger if one separates the heart from the outward behavior. As Morpheus in the Matrix movie said “the body cannot live out the mind,” the heart and the outward behavior is not distinct, but one. A heart fully dedicated to the LORD God, but without commensurate outward behavior (not saying that we have to be perfect in our daily lives) dedicated to the LORD God, is not a truly dedicated heart.

For that reason, a few outward regulations, which may seem outdated, such as abstaining from grape-made drinks, keeping long hair, and staying away from a dead body can actually help the Nazarites to set up their hearts dedicated to the LORD. Some restrictions on the outward behavior can help people to maintain the appropriate posture of the heart.

What are some restrictions on your behaviors that can help you set up the right posture of the heart before the LORD?

Active Holiness

At the center of Nazarite life is holiness (Numbers 6:8). The Nazarites were to remain holy to the LORD during all the days of their separation. We know from the text that what the Nazarites were not to do (Numbers 6:1-8), and what the Nazarites were to do at the end of their dedication time (their offering before the LORD and the priests in Numbers 6:13-21)

But what about their daily lives as the Nazarites? What does it mean to live a life of holiness? Does it comprise reading and meditating on the word of God and worshipping Him? Yes, but more.

Many concrete examples of holiness are given in chapter 19 of Leviticus. The chapter starts by “You shall be holy for I the LORD your God am holy (Leviticus 19:3).” Then, the chapter provides many example holiness: honor your mother and father; in your harvest time, leave the grain and grapes for the needy and for the stranger; you shall not steal falsely; you shall not oppress your neighbor; do not be partial to the poor; you shall have just balances and weights in your business transactions.

If the person who took a vow to be a Nazarite happened to be wealthy, that person was to exercise generosity by leaving grains for the needy during the harvest time. If that person was in business, he/she needed to be honest in business transactions. Inside their family, they need to honor their father and mother even more as they made a vow to be a Nazarite dedicated to the LORD.

Although not explicitly stated in Numbers 8, the Nazarites were to live out a holy life as stated in Leviticus 19. Holiness is an action, not a status.

God wants to bless you

The chapter ended with the blessing. The bottom line is that God wanted to bless the Israelites. Being a Nazarite is a blessing and opportunity for the Israelites, especially to the non-Levites, to be close to the LORD God, the very embodiment of life.

Let this chapter of the law of Nazarite be an opportunity for you to be nearer to the LORD your God.

Judges 17: Ignorance + Sincerity =?

What happens if we focus exclusively on the gifts over the giver? I don’t expect that relationship with that person to last long.

Likewise, If we focus on the blessings over God Himself, then that would eventually lead us to form a distorted worship practice centered around the blessings, which would eventually serve ourselves.

This chapter shows a danger of this kind of practice.

From chapter 1 to 16, the story of the book of Judges centered around Judges. Starting from chapter 17, the story shifted to (some shocking) events associated with a few Levites.

Summary of Judges 17

A man named Micah stole his mother’s 1,100 pieces of silver. Mother uttered a curse, and Micah returned all the stolen silver pieces to his mother. Mother blessed Micah and used 200 silver pieces to make a graven, molten image in her dedication to the LORD God. Micah consecrated one of his sons to be his priest.

Micah recruited a young Levite who was seeking a stable employment. Michah agreed to pay him and took him to be his priest. With a great certainty, he believed that he would prosper because he obtained a Levite as his priest.

Family Obsessed with Blessings/Curses

The scene took place in Micah’s family. Micah stole 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother and returned it to her when he heard the cursing of her mother. Because silver coins were returned, his mother blessed him. Then she used 200 pieces of silver to build a molten, graven image to honor the LORD God. It is very difficult to make logical sense of this family dynamic.

What I see in Micah’s family was a family value obsessed with the blessings/curses of God – but not the LORD God Himself. If Micah had any respect for the LORD God, he would not have dishonored his mother (a violation of the fifth commandment in Exodus 20:12) by stealing 1,100 silver pieces (a violation of the eight commandment in Exodus 20:15) to begin with. However, as soon as he heard the cursing of his mother, he returned the silver. His fear was based on the blessings/curses, not the LORD God Himself.

His mother’s value seemed to be the same as that of Micah. If she had the fear of the LORD, she would have rebuked her son in order to teach him the right way (Proverbs 26:12, 29:15). However, instead, because she was obsessed with blessings/curses, she instead decided to bless her son.

Exclusive Focus on the Gifts over the Giver

Micha’s family’s great obsession with blessings/curses of God can be written out in a different way – an exclusive focus on the gifts over the giver. Because his family’s exclusive focus on the gifts, but not the giver, a series of strange actions took place.

Ignorance + Sincerity = ?

This focus on the gift led to a strange subsequent action. As Micah returned her silver, Micah’s mother decided to use 200 silver coins to make a molten, grave image dedicated to the LORD. What does honoring the LORD have to with the graven, molten image? There is no connection between the two whatsoever. Neither Micah nor his mother knew anything about the LORD God. We call this ignorance.

However, there was plenty of sincerity within the Micah’s family. She dedicated close to 20% of her entire wealth (please note that 20% of wealth, not income), 200 out of 1,100 pieces of silver to make a molten, graven image. Have you ever dedicated 20% of your entire wealth to do something? Without an incredible sacrifice, or sincerity, this would be a hard act to follow. Therefore, I believe that the Micah’s family had plenty of sincerity.

Let’s see how the summation of ignorance and sincerity played out.

Digression: Unexpected Boost in Idol Manufacturing Industry

Collateral damage refers to unintended damage caused to civilians as a result of military operations. In this chapter, we see a “collateral benefit” to a silversmith who gained extra income due to manufacturing of a molten, graven image, as a result of a sincerely ignorant Micah’s family.

Well, good for the idol industry, but not so good for the society. From an economist’s perspective, 200 pieces of silver could have been invested in a more productive way.

My Priest vs. God’s Priest

Outcome from a sincerely ignorant Micah’s family continued to “bloom.” Micah consecrated one of his sons to be his priest (17:5). Micah recruited a young Levite, who was seeking a stable living, and he consecrated the young Levite as his priest (17:12).

Priests belong to God and Levites were to be a sign that points to God. Priests should not be appointed by Micah for his own interest – a truly puzzling outcome.

Comical Scene

Although the daily life of Micah and his household after having a young Levite as a priest is not described in the Bible, let’s try to imagine this worship service, a scene that would be truly comical.

At the center of the worship service of the Micah household, in which they assert themselves to be serving the LORD the true God, would be the molten, graven image that cost 200 pieces of silver. The shape of the image would be up to your imagination. The young Levite would be leading the worship service, with the help of a son of Michah. Because both of them were consecrated and employed by Micah, they would dare to say anything that would displease Micah. Because of their obsession with the blessings, the worship service would almost always begin and end with blessings to seek more blessings from the LORD God – putting in a different way, an extreme version of the Prosperity Gospel.

The worship was conducted in whatever way Micah wanted. Indeed, “in those days, Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit (Judges 17:6).” Here, king means the LORD God.

Lessons

Many applicable lessons are embedded in this chapter. What is our main focus of worshipping God the LORD? To receive the gifts, or to know the giver? In what ways are we similar to Micah’s family, who had sincerity, but very ignorant in the true knowledge of and fellowship with the LORD God?

Let us examine our hearts and pray that God will try and test our hearts.

Deuteronomy 31: Division of Labor

Friday April 19, 2019

Good Friday. Many followers of Christ commemorated His crucifixion. Some members of the Korean Bible Study group attended the Good Friday service at their respective home church to honor Christ. For those who did not have home church assembled to press on to finish the last portion of Deuteronomy in the University of Maryland College Park campus. Praise the LORD for the great weather again – a mild temperature in the mid 60s with occasional breeze.

Deuteronomy 31

Let’s make sure, first, we are reminded of the author’s background: Moses. Although he was 120 years old, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated (Deut. 34:7), and he knew his death was imminent. A man of 120 years old, who knew God face to face and was still full of vigor, must have had many godly wisdoms to impart to the younger generation. In a situation like this, he would declare the most important messages and wisdoms that he accumulated over his entire 120 years of life, especially from the last 40 years, during which he had led the Israelites from Egypt to the east of Jordan River. Therefore, even for the readers in the 21st century of the Deuteronomy 31 have a strong reason to heed the last words of Moses.

This chapter presented many diverse instructions specific to each group or person. Therefore, I divided the instructions by categorizing them into distinct speaker-listener combinations. They are summarized in the table below.

Category – Speaker/Listener	Moses to All Israelites (v.1-8)	Moses to Joshua (v. 7-8)	Moses to the Levitical Priests(v. 9-13)	The LORD to Moses (v.14-22, 24)	The LORD to Joshua (v. 23)	Moses to the Levites(v. 23-29)
Old Leadership	Moses won’t be able to lead you any longer.			Moses will die soon (repeated twice)
New Leadership	The LORD your God and Joshua will lead you.	Be strong and courageous because Joshua will lead them to land.		Call Joshua that the LORD may commission him.	Be strong and courageous and you (Joshua) will bring the Israelites into the land I promised
“Steadfastness” of the Israelites				Israelites will fall away and the LORD’s anger will be kindled.		The Israelites will fall away.
Steadfast and Inclusive God	Be strong and courageous for the LORD will not fail you nor forsake you.	THe LORD will not fail you, nor forsake you.	Assemble everyone in Israel, including all the aliens, and teach the word to them to hear, learn and fear the LORD. Educate the next generation. Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priest	To Moses, write a song and teach it to the Israelites that show faithfulness of God and unfaithfulness of Israelites		Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD God.

Overall observation of the chapter

The Wealth of the Nations, written by Adam Smith and published in 1776, starts with an interesting topic. The book’s very first chapter is about the division of labor. After making a series of keen observations of pin manufacturing processes, Adam Smith was awed by a significant increase in productivity in pin production when the division of labor was appropriately implemented. Somewhat – although a distant “somewhat” – Deuteronomy 31 reminded me of the division of labor instructed by the LORD to each stakeholder group within the Israelites. Some messages were given directly from the LORD to Moses and Joshua. Others were from Moses to all the Israelites and Moses to the Levitical priests. These messages, although distinct, have some common elements.

Old leadership and the remaining task

One of the major questions that came up when I was reading this chapter was why the LORD God decided to have a major change in the leadership at such a crucial juncture of the Israelites. Normally, this abrupt change in leadership before a major conquest war can be extremely risky. When the question was brought up to the bible study group, we started to brainstorm.

One potential reason that the LORD decided to change the leadership was because Moses was old, the LORD wanted to relieve him from this straining duty and burden (Imagine yourself having led 600,000 people for 40 years in the wilderness!) Yet, this reasoning may be weak because Deuteronomy 34:7 states that Moses was still full of vigor. Despite his advanced age of 120, Moses was very healthy. Note that not every person of God was healthy at the end of his/her life. King David, man after God’s heart, was frail when he was old and advanced in age (1 Kings 1).

The second possible reason could be that the LORD God knew that a new, younger leadership would be more suitable to lead the second generation Israelites. This reason seems plausible. To the most second generation Israelites, Moses was a reverent, fearful leader. Their parents disobeyed the LORD and Moses, and everyone of them, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, fell dead in the wilderness. Moses was the one who received godly revelation of the Law and Ten Commandments. To them, Moses was an epitome of a vertical leadership with charisma. On the other hand, Joshua could been considered a comrade and collaborate leader, which can be more appropriate to the new generation. If Moses had continued to lead, then the Israelites community would have been robbed of the opportunity to nurture the growth of new leadership. In addition, there could have been a danger of idolizing human leader over God.

The third possible reason that the LORD God decided to change the leadership was that He loved Moses too much. Although the nominal reason that Moses was not allowed to enter the land of Canaan was his disobedience to the LORD by hitting the rock with his staff instead of speaking to it (Numbers 20), the heart of the LORD may not have been entirely in anger. It was possible that the LORD detected the frailty in Moses and decided to relieve him from the duty. Instead of implementing punishment, the LORD’s decision to have Moses step down from the leadership before the conquest of Canaan could be an ultimate sign of the LORD’s deep affection for Moses. The LORD wanted Moses to come back to Him.

Moses knew when to let go and obeyed God. In April 2018, Omar al-Bashir, the ignominious leader of Sudan for nearly four decades, was forced to step down by the military. It is incredibly difficult to step down especially after many decades of having the top position. Moses did an excellent job of leading the grumbling, stiff-necked Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness. He taught the Law, the life-giving Law, to God’s people. He oversaw the building of the tabernacle. He completed his mission assigned by the LORD God. It was the time for him to step down – and that was good in the sight of the LORD.

New Leadership and Be strong and Courageous

God was grooming Joshua to be the leader. About 40 years ago, Joshua was the general that led the Israelites to fight the army of Amalek while Aaron and Hur helped Moses to hold his hand up until the sun set (Exodus 17). Not only was he capable of leading armies, he also had the discernment – only Caleb and he were able to see the land of Canaan with God’s perspective and power. The LORD made it clear – Moses would pass away, and Joshua would lead the people.

“Faithfully” sinful human

So far so good. However, Moses knew that the Israelites would continue to be unfaithful and rebellious (Deut. 31:27). Moses warned this to the Israelites, and soon they confirmed it. The book of Judges confirmed their rebellious attitudes and unfaithfulness. Many prophets in the kingdom of Judah and Israel rebuked their unfaithfulness. Our lives continue to reflect our sinful shortcomings.

Faithfully good God

God knew that the Israelites would lead themselves astray to serve other gods and idols of other nations. Despite fully knowing their stiff-necked attitudes, God still led them through the wilderness under Moses and still promised to lead them into the land of Canaan under Joshua. God continues to abide by His faithfulness.

Good Friday

That brings us back to Good Friday. Despite knowing that we would fall short, Jesus died on the cross. Deuteronomy 31 continues to remind us of God’s faithfulness. Good Friday reminds us of faithful Christ.