Hate Crimes, A New Understaning

Numbers 33:40-35:34

One of the things I love about reading through the Bible in a systematic way is how it forces you to rethink and reexamine what you thought you new and you interact with issues in the real world.  Today I came across a deeper understanding of what murder really is.  Today I understand why Jesus said,

²⁰ For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.   
²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder,^[a] and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause^[b] shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. (Matthew 5:20-22, New King James Version)

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 5:21 Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17
2. Matthew 5:22 NU-Text omits without a cause.

Why would just being angry be equivalent to murder from God’s point of view?  Why would I be in “danger of the council,” for my feelings toward someone who has wronged me and I have not released because after all God, You just don’t know …” Isn’t that what we say while we struggle with our emotions, or at least I do as I constantly seek God’s mercy and grace until forgiveness in my heart truly shows up.   My answer is here in midst of this Numbers passage,

 ^9-15 God spoke to Moses: "Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When you cross the River Jordan into the country of Canaan, designate your asylum-cities, towns to which a person who accidentally kills someone can flee for asylum. They will be places of refuge from the avenger so that the alleged murderer won't be killed until he can appear before the community in court. Provide six asylum-cities. Designate three of the towns to the east side of the Jordan, the other three in Canaan proper—asylum-cities for the People of Israel, for the foreigner, and for any occasional visitors or guests—six asylum-cities to run to for anyone who accidentally kills another.
 ¹⁶ "But if the killer has used an iron object, that's just plain murder; he's obviously a murderer and must be put to death.
 ¹⁷ "Or if he has a rock in his hand big enough to kill and the man dies, that's murder; he's a murderer and must be put to death.
 ¹⁸ "Or if he's carrying a wooden club heavy enough to kill and the man dies, that's murder; he's a murderer and must be put to death.
 ¹⁹ "In such cases the avenger has a right to kill the murderer when he meets him—he can kill him on the spot.
 ^20-21 "And if out of sheer hatred a man pushes another or from ambush throws something at him and he dies, or angrily hits him with his fist and kills him, that's murder—he must be put to death. The avenger has a right to kill him when he gets him.  (Numbers 35:9-21, The Message)

The first “hate” crime on the books of heaven was enacted by God.  I’ve always wrestled with “hate” crime laws because I’ve considered all crime as “hate” because why would we harm someone we truly love?  I've just received understanding and the reason why.  God Is good and his answers are always available, you just have to ask, knock and seek.  

God’s Favor is Upon All Who Call On His Name

 ^9-12I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there—all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing, dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and the Lamb and heartily singing:

   Salvation to our God on his Throne!
   Salvation to the Lamb!
All who were standing around the Throne—Angels, Elders, Animals— fell on their faces before the Throne and worshiped God, singing:

   Oh, Yes!
   The blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving,
   The honor and power and strength,
   To our God forever and ever and ever!
   Oh, Yes!  (Revelation 7:9, The Message)

Amen and Amen

When a Curse is Not a Curse

Numbers 24-25:18

This passage and the one before it, Numbers 22:21-23:30, show that it is not what others are doing on the outside that can destroy us, but what that man/woman is doing who looks back at us in the mirror that counts.

 ¹ Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times, to seek to use sorcery, but he set his face toward the wilderness. ² And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
³ Then he took up his oracle and said:     

      “The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, 
      The utterance of the man whose eyes are opened,
 ⁴  The utterance of him who hears the words of God,
      Who sees the vision of the Almighty, 
      Who falls down, with eyes wide open:
 ⁵  “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob!
      Your dwellings, O Israel! (Numbers 24:1-5, New King James Version)

 Too often, especially in this country, we rant and shake our little fists at the “other” believing that they are bring our “community” of believers down, but it is what is in our own camp that destroys us. Then when we do see what is bringing us down, we fail to act decisively to root out what is destroying our community.

 ¹ Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove,^[a] and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. ² They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³ So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel.
⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the LORD, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.”   
⁵ So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.”   
⁶ And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. (Numbers 25:1-6, New King James Version)

Footnotes:

1. Numbers 25:1 Hebrew Shittim

               

Sin in the “camp” is a no-no, and is a sure fire way to step out from under the protection of God.  There is no amount of figure pointing toward the “other” that will bring the protection back.  We just need to make sure we understand what is considered inside the camp and what is considered the “other.” 

                

Leadership and Leadership Positions

Numbers 15:17-16:40

This continued pattern of rebellion against leadership shows how contagious it is.  First Miriam and Aaron, then the leadership appointed by Moses to spy out the land, ten of the 12 came back with a bad report (Numbers 13:17-33), and then encouraged the folks to rebel against the Word God had sent and against Moses, who they had wanted and agreed to have lead them (Exodus 20:18-20).  Moses appointed by God to lead and confirmed by the people, now finds his leadership rejected.

Because of their rejecting of the Promise God told them,

²⁷ “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. ²⁸ Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: ²⁹ The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. ³⁰ Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. ³¹ But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. ³² But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. ³³ And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. (Numbers 14:27-33, New King James Version)

Three Levites from the Tribe of Levi, of course, Korah, Dathan, and Abriam not only challenge Moses’ leadership, being themselves in leadership position, not only want to stand in the office of Priests, but begin stirring up the rest of the folks to join their Posse, bad move, deadly move. 

¹⁰ and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also? ¹¹ Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD. And what is Aaron that you complain against him?”   
¹² And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up! ¹³ Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should keep acting like a prince over us? ¹⁴ Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”   
¹⁵ Then Moses was very angry, and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”   
¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company be present before the LORD—you and they, as well as Aaron. ¹⁷ Let each take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.” ¹⁸ So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron. (Numbers 16:10-18, New King James Version)

Keeping to my theme that within these Five Books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are the patterns for successful living, as well as the highlighting of issues of life all men face, these particular chapters of Numbers are showing us where “rebellion” begins.  Social discourse, how we treat each other, the respect or lack thereof, begins with those in leadership positions.  We place and or accept leadership knowing full well who and what they are.  It only takes about 15 minutes of observing someone to know who and what they are, especially if they are trying to get a posse to follow them.   Are they humble, are they prideful, are they crooks, and the list goes on and on.  If you really want to know who and what they are take them to lunch/dinner even if they have more money then you because it will not be an expense but an investment into you, your family, community and country's future. 

 ²¹ The purity of silver and gold is tested
   by putting them in the fire;
The purity of human hearts is tested
   by giving them a little fame.  (Proverbs 27:21, The Message)

When you rebel against the information you were given (hanging out in the Desert for Forty Years came from God not Moses), don’t complain when it takes Forty Years.

Everything New is Old Again

NUMBERS 11:24-13:33

Our country, the United States of America, is facing a “dis-ease” of epidemic proportion, obesity.  Approximately one out of three of its citizens are obese, based on published studies of statistics taken between 2003/04. (JAMA).  These statistics do not even mention how many of the remaining 2/3^rd of the population is overweight.  Fat kills, and there are multitude of studies to prove it.  Gluttony killed those in the dessert too.

   
³¹ Now a wind went out from the LORD, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground. ³² And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. ³³ But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was aroused against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague. ³⁴ So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah,^[a] because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.   
(Numbers 11:31-34, New King James Version)

Footnotes:

1. Numbers 11:34 Literally Graves of Craving

I once heard a minister, whose name escapes me, state that everything we need to live a successful Christian life can be found in the first five books of the Bible.  I am finding out the longer I live; he was and is absolutely right. 

Mean What You Say and Say What You Mean 

We may say some things but what is the real reason why we say them.  Miriam and Aaron tried to get a “posse” together to challenge Moses’ leadership.  Their verbal rational for their challenge was,

² So they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it. (Numbers 12:2, New King James Version)

However, the true reason was something completely different,

 ^1-2 Miriam and Aaron talked against Moses behind his back of
because his Cushite wife (he had married a Cushite woman). They said, "Is it only through Moses that God speaks? Doesn't he also speak through us?"

   God overheard their talk.  (Numbers 12:1, The Message)

Beware the folks looking to put together a posse.  Ye better know why they are trying to stir up your passions.   

Going to War in Your Promise Land

Numbers 10:1-11:23

We have this assumption, and by “we“, I mean the Christian Community, that when we get to our “Promise” land, the milk and honey will flow without conflict, not true.  If we are called to believe in the scriptures as being the complete Word of God, which is to be “rightly divided” [2 Timothy 2:15 KJV Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.] then we must hold up what we believe to the measuring rod of God’s Word. 

⁹ “When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. (Numbers 10:9, New King James Version)

This does not just remain as an Old Testament “thing” because the Apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the church at Corinth to,

 ^1-5Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God's fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God's wonder and grace didn't seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.

 ^6-10The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—"First the people partied, then they threw a dance." We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.  (1 Corinthians 10:5-7, The Message)

Israel’s wondering in the desert, their trials, there missteps, their experiences, should be used as a road map in living our lives and not just seen as some story from long ago.  The pillar of fire and the cloud to them was the leading of the Holy Spirit to us.   

When you get to your promise, make sure your fighting clothes are on. 

The Choice is Ours

In reading today’s Old Testament passage, I became fascinated with the 26th chapter. So many of us want to throw off the restraints of God and go our own way, thinking that it is better to be enslaved by our own desires than to be enslaved by God. But God offers so much more,

^3-5 "If you live by my decrees and obediently keep my commandments, I will send the rains in their seasons, the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. You will thresh until the grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting time; you'll have more than enough to eat and will live safe and secure in your land.
 ^6-10 "I'll make the country a place of peace—you'll be able to go to sleep at night without fear; I'll get rid of the wild beasts; I'll eliminate war. You'll chase out your enemies and defeat them: Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand and do away with them. I'll give you my full attention: I'll make sure you prosper, make sure you grow in numbers, and keep my covenant with you in good working order. You'll still be eating from last year's harvest when you have to clean out the barns to make room for the new crops.
 ^11-13 "I'll set up my residence in your neighborhood; I won't avoid or shun you; I'll stroll through your streets. I'll be your God; you'll be my people. I am God, your personal God who rescued you from Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I ripped off the harness of your slavery so that you can move about freely. (Leviticus 26:3-13, The Message)

When we go our own way, we suffer in “freedom,

^14-17 "But if you refuse to obey me and won't observe my commandments, despising my decrees and holding my laws in contempt by your disobedience, making a shambles of my covenant, I'll step in and pour on the trouble: debilitating disease, high fevers, blindness, your life leaking out bit by bit. You'll plant seed but your enemies will eat the crops. I'll turn my back on you and stand by while your enemies defeat you. People who hate you will govern you. You'll run scared even when there's no one chasing you.
 ^18-20 "And if none of this works in getting your attention, I'll discipline you seven times over for your sins. I'll break your strong pride: I'll make the skies above you like a sheet of tin and the ground under you like cast iron. No matter how hard you work, nothing will come of it: No crops out of the ground, no fruit off the trees. (Leviticus 26:14-20, The Message)

The choice is ours.