Rev. Don Campbell
Numbers 8-10
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019
AN EXCEPTION TO A RULE DOES NOT NEGATE THE RULE
The Levites have been cleansed and appointed to the service of the tabernacle. It is time for the nation to celebrate the Passover. God said to Moses, “Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it” (Numbers 9:2-3). The record says, “So the people of Israel did (v.5).
However, not all of them kept the Passover. Some men could not keep it because they were unclean from touching a dead body (vv.6-7). Moses inquired of the Lord who said, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any one of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord. In the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight they shall keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any of its bones; according to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it” (Numbers 9:10-12).
Since there are exceptions to the rule of keeping the Passover on the 14th day of the first month, one could choose not to celebrate the Passover in the first month, preferring, perhaps because of better weather, to partake of it in the second month. Right? WRONG! “But if anyone who is clean and is not on a journey fails to keep the Passover, that person shall be cut off from his people because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin” (Numbers 9:13).
Guilt is not imputed by God based only on the action, but also on the motive behind the action. Looking ahead in our readings to Numbers 15, we read: “But 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.30-31).
What God meant is made clear as we continue reading: “While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.’ And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the Lord commanded Moses (vv.32-36). One man picked up sticks on Friday and was not condemned. Another picked up sticks on Saturday and was stoned. The act was the same, but the attitude was different. The one followed God’s instructions; the other reviled God, despising his word.
CONNECTIONS Acts 1:15-26, Galatians 1:14-16
1. In the name of Christian liberty, many believe it is acceptable to follow one’s own opinion in such things as the keeping of the Lord’s Supper. Perhaps God will grant an exception, but why would we base God’s approval on an unstated exception when we have a clear example?
2. Peter, through inspiration, gave the qualifications for one to be an apostle to replace Judas (Acts 1:15-26). Paul did not fit these criteria, as he persecuted the church for several years after Peter spoke. Who made the exception? (Galatians 1:14-16)
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