“[From the tribe of Judah]…son of Mahalalel, of the family of Perez.”
Nehemiah 11:4c NLT
Last time we looked at the next two listed descendants of Attaiah, grateful for what Yah has promised, and how He judges anything which goes against Love. Today we see the final descendant’s name and the family from which they come.
The final name is Mahalalel, whose name means “Praise of God,” from el – God, mighty, strength and mahalel – fame, shine, celebrate, commend, give light, boast, rave, worthy of renown. This name has not been in our previous study of Ezra and Nehemiah, but I adore its implications.
What comes to mind when you think of someone or something worthy of celebrating? Worthy of fame, shining, raving? Is there anything consistently worthy of renown? Anyone who always gives light, we can boast in with steady and true dependability? Humanly speaking, I know not one.
But divinely speaking? There is One.
I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things
Isaiah 45:5-7
This Attaiah, our provincial leader settling in Jerusalem, comes from the family of Perez, who was the son of Judah and Tamar. Do you know this story? It’s straight out of a TV drama, a woman at the mercy of selfish men who rob her of children and a future.
Eventually, Tamar decides to help one man, Judah, face his hypocrisy. She disguises herself, he takes the bait, and she becomes pregnant. Just as he’s about to burn to death his former daughter-in-law for being unwed and with child, she pulls out his personal items, declaring the owner of them is the father. He ends by declaring, “She is more righteous than I…”
What a fascinating family lineage to be celebrating in our own verses. And what an interesting name for their son. Perez comes from parats – to break through, break down, destroy, employ violence, urge. Yes, it seems his parents understood these things. We do, too.
Because of His mercy, what is broken down can emerge brilliant in a break through. What has been brutalized through physical, emotional, or verbal violence, can be remade in His power. What is not of His Spirit can be destroyed at the urging of a fresh movement, new wineskins, hope.
We get to imagine brighter days, not just in eternity, but in the Kingdom that is here, now. We can embrace our promised suffering while we cling to the right to experience His joy in the thick of it. We can experience personal breakthrough as well as corporate revival. We can destroy what is evil in His sight as we work toward Shalom that all may benefit.
Nothing is beyond His mercy and everything we touch with His Spirit’s power is to be the Praise of God. Amen. Let it be.
“[From the tribe of Judah]…son of Amaraiah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the family of Perez.”
Nehemiah 11:4b NLT
Last time we looked at two of Attaiah’s descendants and their name meanings, reveling that our strength is in Yahweh and He remembers. Today we continue on with the descendants of our first listed provincial leader making his home in Jerusalem.
First is Zechariah’s father, Amariah, whom we have seen in both Ezra 10:43 and Nehemiah 10:4 in our study. Amariah means “Yah has promised,” a significant meaning, encouraging us to ask ourselves what, indeed, Yahweh has promised His people.
He has promised we can take heart, for He has overcome the world. And greater is He Who is in us than he who is in the world. The God of Angel Armies fights for His people, and the world will know we are His by how we love one another.
It’s enough, isn’t it? And clinging to what He has promised will help us when expectations are not met for things He never did.
Amariah is the son of Shephatiah, who is listed next in our lineage. This name has appeared in Ezra 8:8 and Nehemiah 7:9, and means “Yah has judged” from Yah and shaphat.
Synonyms for shaphat include “argue our case, defend, deliver, execute judgment, freed, plead, avenge, reason, rule, vindicate, contend, pronounce sentence.” If you’re like me, you are a fan of the ones like “argue our case, free, and vindicate.” And not so much for “execute judgment, avenge, and pronounce sentence.”
But we know a God of perfect Love must hate things opposed to love. We want a God Who executes judgment on evil, avenges His glory, and pronounces a guilty verdict on those who violate love. Our sense of justice demands it, an imperfect reflection of a God of Perfect Justice.
Oh, praise Him He took our judgment as Jehovah-Tsidkenu on the cross. But as God continues to bring forth things that violate love in our nation, and refine His Church, may we as believers hate what is evil and cling to what is good.
“[From the tribe of Judah]…son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the family of Perez.”
Nehemiah 11:4b NLT
Last time we had a quick recap of our place in the story of Nehemiah, and saw the first of the provincial leaders named who would settle in Jerusalem – Athiah. Today we see the names of his descendants and their meanings.
First up for Athiah’s descendants is Uzziah, whose name means “my strength is Yah.” We have seen this name before in our journey of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in Ezra 10:21. It is also the name of a king from Isaiah’s time.
What a meaning to cling to right now. If we are experiencing loss, sickness, confusion, relational challenges, and future uncertainty, the idea that our strength is in Yahweh will give us perspective. One of my favorite things about this name is its covenant implications – He has bound Himself to a covenant with us. First through the nation of Israel, then through the blood of Jesus for all who receive the invitation into a new kind of Kingdom. And the most beautiful part of such a covenant is its binding is in Him, the One of perfect character Who cannot betray His own faithfulness.
Where do you need to cling to the promise that your strength is in Yah? For me it is in a desire to listen to those used to being marginalized and then taking that information and being helpful with it rather than hurtful. And opening my mouth when I see an opportunity to pass on what I’ve learned.
How much peace it can give me in failure that my strength is in Yah. A perfect Teacher, He allows me chances to try and fail, then try again. He teaches me what to say despite my resistance. He turns my eyes to obeying Him. And, as ever, in the middle of cultural turmoil,
The descendant of Uzziah listed next is Zechariah whose name means “Yah has remembered.” We have seen the name as a prophet when our exiles first returned and were rebuilding Temple.
It is not lost on me that we are in the study of leaders of the province of our returned exiles at a time when those in leadership in my own country are dealing with a lot. To be sure, America is laughably far from the center of the world or all that God is doing, but it is the culture in which I find myself. And we have a transfer of leadership coming up this very week.
If the amount of melanin in your skin more closely reflects mine, we have experienced a very different America than those with more. And if we aren’t following people of color on social media, or reading books with their wisdom, it will be harder for us to see some of the gravity of our current times.
To be sure, our current times are not to be our main focus. We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. But we are all being discipled about current events in one way or another: news, social media, talk radio, podcasts, conversations. May we seek how the Word can shape the way we both see and engage what God is remembering in our cultural moment.
And for those of us, like me, who prefer to not have conflict and agree to disagree, may we take courage that Yah has remembered. He sees the pain of those who have been afflicted, but even in His boundless grace, He requires confession before a moving forward in relationship.
If we in the Church genuinely desire unity, we must realize the wrongs have to first be addressed. There is no unity without confession and repentance, only insistence on keeping certain topics quiet. But the second part of our Remembering God can calm our hearts for the first.
While it is difficult to recount or bring to mind past individual and communal sins, the reason we can move forward is the promise of His character to not hold them against us. And after confession and genuine repentance, the doorway is open for healing among image bearers.
I wrote before of remembering the first time I heard confession explained using the Greek definition: homologeó – to speak the same, to agree. If to confess our sins to God means to agree with Him that they are not what is best – for us, for others, for Shalom – the heart can follow.
Indeed Yah has remembered. Not because He is spiteful but because He is merciful.
“Here is a list of the names of the provincial officials who came to live in Jerusalem. (Most of the people, priests, Levites, Temple servants, and descendants of Solomon’s servants continued to live in their own homes in the various towns of Judah, but some of the people from Judah and Benjamin resettled in Jerusalem.)
From the tribe of Judah:
Athaiah son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the family of Perez.”
Nehemiah 11:3-4 NLT
Wow, it has been a while. God has been so kind in bringing me face to face with my sin these past 7 months. His Word continues to penetrate, judging the thoughts and attitudes of my heart. And He’s not finished revealing to me my need of Him. Maybe to you, too.
I desperately needed a refresher on where the heck we were at in the book of Nehemiah. And in case you do, too, I thought we’d catch back up with a big picture review.
We likely remember the first section of the book: Nehemiah returning to the city of his people and the wall being built – amidst much opposition – in a record number of days, causing the peoples around to fear Yahweh. With the city of God more secure, Nehemiah obeyed God’s prompting to register the people by family genealogy and help populate Jerusalem.
In the seventh month, in accordance with the Law, the people gathered and Ezra opened the Book of the Law of Moses and began to read to the people. The Levites were there giving the sense to the common folk, translating for a formerly-exiled audience who knew little of Torah. As they listened and understood, they began to weep and mourn at how far short they had fallen.
Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest, and the Levites encouraged the people that the joy of the LORD was their strength. So they obeyed God and celebrated, observed the Festival of Booths, and listened to the Book of the Law.
On the eighth day, all the people gathered in sackcloth with dust on their heads, and “confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.” Then the whole assembly stood to praise Covenant Yahweh, recounting the centuries of His faithfulness and their corresponding rebellion, ending with this confession:
“In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous;
you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly.
Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors
did not follow your law; they did not pay attention
to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep.”
Nehemiah 9:33-34
Whew, still with me? All of that led up to what we had been previously studying:
“In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement,
putting it in writing, and our leaders,
our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”
Nehemiah 9:38
image via Pixabay
The people made a covenant and signed it, promising to obey God, and we had been looking at the specifics. Things such as not marrying those who worship other gods and promising to observe the Sabbath and God’s holy festivals. Giving the land a break and cancelling all debts every seven years, mirroring a God of mercy. Sacrificing offerings and providing wood for the fire, extending firstborns and relinquishing first fruits. And bringing the tithe into the storehouse, for
“We will not neglect the house of our God.”
Nehemiah 10:39b
Doesn’t such a recap stir something in you? That we would sit corporately under Holy Writ, confess our sins and the sins of our ancestors, and acknowledge the ways in which we have acted wickedly.
We are a deeply divided nation and our refusal to do the above has brought us to this present moment. Make no mistake: as a country we are not like the nation state of Israel in the Word. America’s democracy is not the same as God choosing a people to represent Him. The Church serves a Savior Whose kingdom is not of this world.
But our inability to acknowledge truth in the Church in this country is crippling us. God is purifying His Bride, exposing idols, offering to tear down strongholds, willing to heal generational sin, and giving us time to let His kindness lead us to repentance. We get to examine the fruit of our ways and, if rotten, uproot and replant.
The interesting thing to me is what I’m doing as I type this. I laid down on our couch with gum in my mouth during a break teaching online school yesterday. When the school day was over, I realized I had gum on my pants, shirt, and the couch. Today? I have to put ice on one section, scrape what has hardened enough to pull up, then move onto the next section. Then repeat, as there are deep layers involved in gum stuck to fabric.
But let’s dig into the verse for today. Last time we saw a casting of lots and one out of every 10 people settling in Jerusalem in order to help populate the capitol. Today we are looking at a list of leaders of the province whose duty it was to lead from Jerusalem. Leader is rosh – head, bodyguard, captain, chief, leader, and province is medinah – realm, judgeship, jurisdiction, from diyn – to judge, defend, dispute, execute judgment, govern, plead, vindicate.
Those whose job was to be the head of a realm settled in the capitol city. Theirs was the responsibility to execute right judgements, defend those whose who needed it, and govern with justice. America is not Israel, but all leaders will stand before God and give an account for how they handled the responsibility of governing their jurisdiction. And when our execution of judgments disproportionately disadvantages the poor and marginalized, we will be held accountable.
These leaders of the province didn’t just visit Jerusalem, they settled (yashab – to abide) there. What we are abiding in? From where does our nourishment come? Asking myself at the same time: are we more interested in being right than loving? In our loving, are we more focused on the good of others or what is most comfortable? Do we care more about peace keeping or peace making? Are we as believers obeying the command to pray for governmental leadership? Are we willing for those prayers to include a tearing down of idols and a trampling down of high places rather than the most vulnerable?
“Of the children of Judah, Athaiah the son of Uzziah.”
Athaiah is up first and his name means “Yah has helped,” from Yah and uth/ush – to help, sustain, hasten, speak in season, to lend aid, assemble oneself. This verse is the only occurrence of his name.
I am struck by the part of the definition of help being “to speak in season.” When I speak only in my own strength, I reap the consequences of not speaking in season. It is not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit. And yet the reverse can be true as well. When it is time to speak up, holding our tongues should not be a response to injustice.
And can I be honest? I believe those whose season it is to speak are those who have been warning us all along of consequences of white supremacy and Christian nationalism. All the microphones should be given to those who understand what it means to be marginalized and have the spiritual authority to speak to us in our national moment.
“Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten of them to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns. The people commended all who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.”
Nehemiah 11:1-2
Last time we saw the final vows our group took to uphold the Law of God. Today we see the group’s next step in establishing a community that honors Yahweh to a watching world.
The leaders (sar – chief, captain, commander, officer, official, general, governor, a head person [of any rank or class]) of the people (am – folk) settled (yashab – to abide, remain, dwell, stay, wait, endure, continue, establish, to sit down [specifically as judge. In ambush, in quiet) in Jerusalem.
First we see the leaders making the choice to settle in Jerusalem. This word for leader means anything from captain to general to governor to a person of any rank or class who is the head. These are the ones with the title and position, designated officials to govern the rest. And the fact that they remained, endured, waited, abided in the capital city is significant for stability, protection, and fulfilling the vows they just declared and signed.
Leaders, how does this sit with us? Those of us who bear a position in any portion of life are being looked at to see whether we are abiding as we should. If our judgements are just, like our Father’s.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.
Isaiah 1:15-17 MSG
If we endure in speaking out, particularly when human lives are on the line. If, like me, we are given privilege that could allow us to ignore injustice, but choose not to.
And it must be said: when black people are being murdered in the streets, are we using our positions of influence to call such crimes evil? No, are we handing over the microphone to black leaders who have lived with gross injustice all their lives and leading the rest of us in this time? And then following their leadership?
The rest of the people in our passage were not from Jerusalem and had homes elsewhere. Rest for “rest of the people” in Hebrew is shear – other, remnant, survivors. Those who had returned from exile and settled in, built their homes, began to work the land. Those without designated titles of leadership but vowing to obey Yahweh all the same.
This group of the people cast lots to see which one-tenth of them would live in Jerusalem. You might remember, Nehemiah had already had the people enroll in a genealogy to see whose pre-exile ancestors dwelt in the capital. Apparently, to continue on in this inhabiting of Jerusalem, one out of every ten families was also to join those making the city their new home. To do this, they were to cast lots.
Cast is naphal – fall, lie, allot, cast down, divide by lot, fail, die; and lots is goral – allotted portion, territory allotted, pebble, portion, destiny. And this was to see who would dwell in the holy (qodesh – apartness, consecrated, sacred, things dedicated) city.
So the group is rolling the dice, tossing pebbles, to find each family group’s territory, allotted portion, destiny in the sacred city. Perhaps you are like me and, while having a title of leadership in a certain area, overall your daily life is one of ordinary folk. You aren’t a governor or senator, the president of a company or a pastor of a church. And, also perhaps like me, you are dumbfounded at the way we get to participate in the holy, the sacred things.
May we never, ever forget human lives are sacred. We know this because we are pro-life. We believe that all life is precious. And one way we are invited to participate in the holy on our watch is to make sure black lives matter in our police system, governing laws, and our own hearts.
This country was founded on the opposite: casting our lots by making territory that does not belong to us ours through violence, genocide, and forced relocation of native peoples, then enslaving human beings like chattel in order to keep and expand that land. And now? Using violent force to ensure its protection. Manifest destiny? Or a history with which we must reckon in ourselves and before the God Who Sees?
The final section of our verses is all the people commending (barak – kneel, thank, abundantly bless, salute) those who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. Volunteered is nadab – to incite, freewill offering, willing, to volunteer as a soldier, to present spontaneously. The people who were to return to their homes thanked those who willingly offered themselves to help populate the holy city.
It makes me smile because they weren’t exactly volunteering, it was the luck of the dice, the lots cast. And yet, they were going to fulfill their duty, perhaps leaving homes they recently built, transferring possessions, beginning the work of making a new home from scratch.
“Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and olive oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work.
A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury.
The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and olive oil to the storerooms, where the articles for the sanctuary and for the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the musicians are also kept.
“We will not neglect the house of our God.”
Nehemiah 10:37-39
Last time we saw the community vow to bring the firstfruits of their crops, fruit trees, flocks and herds, and their sons – holding open their hands to the Father of Heavenly Lights, from Whom every good and perfect gift comes.
Today we begin with a few more firsts, including first of the dough or ground meal. First here is reshith – beginning, chief, choice; of dough, and dough is arisah – course meal.
This one is interesting to me as it is simply the difference between bringing grains fresh from the field and ground meal or prepared dough to sacrifice. And the thing that honestly popped into my head was, “Haven’t they already offered this grain to God?”
It reminds me of quibbling about tithing net or gross income, or a tax return. And it strikes a chord at our greed, my greed.
Sheesh, how much does God want?
How much sin can I get away with?
How little can I think of others in my decision making?
Holy Writ is in such contrast:
“… walk in the way of love..“
“…find out what pleases the Lord…”
“For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”
Apparently God is very interested in us offering the work of our hands in every form. Not just reaping and sowing, but the more intimate grinding to bake, sell, or store. The baking of bread for nourishment of self and others. This, too, is an offering to God. It pleases the Lord.
Next is offerings of new wine and oil. Offerings is terumah – contribution for sacred uses, heave offering, shoulder, lifted up from rum – to be high or exalted. Isn’t that interesting? Do you picture something heavy being shoved onto shoulders to hand up to someone?
Sometimes what is given us to offer up is heavy. Weighty offerings that require our all. Good thing we can lift our eyes to the hills, knowing where our help comes from.
The group also assured in their covenant they would bring these offerings to the proper place: the storerooms of the house of Elohim. Storerooms is lishkah – room, chamber, hall, cell, parlor. We’ll get into that more in a second.
The group was also to bring the tithes (masser – tenth part/tithe) of land to the Levites. The reason? “For they should receive the tithe in all communities (iyr – city, excitement) of our farming (abodah – labor, service).
This, too, seems a different command than firstfruits of a crop with the understanding more will come. Instead, it is a tenth of everything they sow in all the lands of God’s people.
For a people whose parents were the first to return from exile, where obedience to the law was minimal without Temple, this would likely seem a weighty command.
How about you? Were you raised to give a tenth to God? If so, this may be a given. If you weren’t, or never have, it could seem like a hefty chunk to give each paycheck. Like that weighty boulder on your shoulders.
And, it, too, can turn into a form of bondage:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
Matthew 23:23
So even God in the flesh says we shouldn’t neglect the tithe, but, instead, should not assume it is all that is needed to walk in the way of the kingdom. To ensure God has our hearts, allegiance. We can write that tithe check – or have it automatically given – each time, then mosey on ignoring systemic injustice, participating in slander of our brothers and sisters, and loving only those who agree with us. Seem like missing the point to you? Me, too. Apparently to Jesus as well.
Let’s keep going, though, because the way in which this tithing was to go down was also vowed by our group: a priest from the descendants of Aaron was to be with the Levites when they received the tithes from the people. Then the Levites were to bring up (alah – go up, ascend, climb, exalt, offer, arise) a tenth of the tithes to the house of Elohim to the rooms of the treasury (otsar – treasure, store, armory, cellar).
So a priest was to be with the Levites, then a tenth of the tenth was to go into the treasury. And the rest?
“I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting.”
(Numbers 18:20-25)
“And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.”
Deuteronomy 14:22-29
“Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps [of tithe from the people]; and Azariah the chief priest, from the family of Zadok, answered, ‘Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the Lord has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.’
Hezekiah gave orders to prepare storerooms in the temple of the Lord, and this was done. Then they faithfully brought in the contributions, tithes and dedicated gifts.”
2 Chronicles 31:9-12
The tithe was similar to sacrifices in that the Levites were given the grain and dough and wine and oil to eat since they were given no land to farm. In exchange for serving in Temple, these tithes and offerings were their paycheck.
This next part is interesting to me: “For the storeroom is where the articles of the sanctuary were.” Articles here is keli – utensil, vessel, earthen ware, jar, jewel, pottery, tool, yoke; and sanctuary is miqdash – a sacred place, chapel, holy place, hallowed part.
The storeroom was also where utensils used to serve in the holy place were kept. The tithe belonged there among such sacred articles. This giving to the LORD matters. Malachi agrees:
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
Malachi 3:10
And finally from today’s vow:
“We will not neglect the house of our God.”
Neglect is azab – loose ourselves from, forsake, leave destitute. The group promised to not loose from themselves these vows to serve Temple. Likely with the full understanding that it was not simply for God’s sake, but for their own good.
May we not neglect the house of our God in our day – whether protecting our vulnerable brothers and sisters, opening our hands when He says give, or refusing to compare and compete with the family of God.
“We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree.
As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there.”
Nehemiah 10:35-36
Last time we saw the group create a schedule for when to bring wood for the altar fire, making sure we know which things to lay down and offer up that God calls sin. Today we see our community vowing to honor the Law in bringing God all their firstfruits.
Firstfruits in Hebrew is bikkurim – first things, ripe fruit, hasty fruit; from bakar – to bear new fruit, first born, giving birth, early fruit of woman or tree, to give birthright. And ground is adamah – land, country, dirt, farming, fields, soil, husband, from adam – mankind, common sort, human being.
Don’t those phrases take you back to the basics of it all? Soil, earth, naturally bringing forth life. Humankind being fruitful and multiplying. The word fruit from “every fruit tree” is peri – foliage, offspring, produce, product, results, reward, fruit – literal or figurative.
Don’t you love the fruit can be literal or figurative? Even if there is no ripe fruit from a garden or ministry or relationship, we can bear much through the Vine. Though there is a pandemic and relationships are affected – by distance, from a variety of opinions on proper responses, through illness and death – His Spirit is still at work to produce an orchard of godliness:
“It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community.
I could go on.
This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.
But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”
Galatians 5:19-22 MSG
I believe these things to be true whether we’re in a weird phase of figuring out public life or in a prison cell writing letters to encourage baby churches under an unsympathetic government. They are true when we have crystal clear clarity regarding our future plans, and when we can only see today and trust He can help us get from morning to noon, from noon to night, from night to morning. Those seasons are real, you know. And many of us may be in them today. And still, these promises are true.
That’s a beautiful thing about God. He can see all the nuances we’re just realizing or are still oblivious to. He can pinpoint the hurt and sin in our hearts with equal love. He can see back in time and forward to infinity without taking His eye off the sparrow. And so, His promises are Truth.
What the community in our verses was promising to bring was the first of their crops and trees to the house of Yahweh year by year. Each year, whether their firstfruits were meager or abundant, lush or nonexistent. They would bring what they had to God.
Not only their crops and fruits, but the firstborn (bekor – oldest) of their sons (ben – son [as a builder of the family name], in the widest sense [of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition]; anointed one, appointed, arrow).
The Lord said to Moses,
“Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”
Exodus 13:1-2
While there are various explanations for this command, they all point to the people of God bowing down and making their “offspring, produce, results, rewards” His.
How does that sit with you? Do you work with integrity then genuinely give the results to Him? Do you hold children or other precious relationships with open hands, peeling back fingers as needed? Are your projects, paychecks, promotions His?
I’m right there with you if it’s hard or seems unfair. And I feel for you if, particularly in these difficult days, there is no paycheck or relationship to offer. And yet, nothing could be more crucial to our genuine joy than opening our hands to whatever they hold.
The final first fruit categories are cattle and the first born of their herds (baqar) and flocks (tson – sheep, goats, lambs, small cattle).
It all belongs to Him – flocks and herds, too. Big animals and small. Every first born, not just the one. All this they promised to bring “to the priests who minister (sharath – wait on, serve) in the house of Elohim.”
This was indeed their offering to God and display of His authority and their trust. It was also a gift to those who served in His Temple. Those who wait on the people of God, seeking to honor Him in their service.
I’m thankful for the continued example to open our hands. And with a gratitude that sometimes crushes me, I’m so glad our Father gave His firstborn, His only Son He loved, the Lamb of God, to be the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.
“We—the priests, the Levites and the people—have castlots to determine when each of our families is to bring to the house of our God at set times each year a contribution of wood to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law.”
Nehemiah 10:34
Last time we saw our group promise to take responsibility for holy things, reminding ourselves to not underestimate our small acts of faithfulness during confusing times. Today we see how our group dealt with making sure the offerings had wood on which to burn.
Our group, not just the priests and Levites, but the regular folk, cast lots to make a schedule for who would bring a contribution of wood. Contribution here is oblation – something brought near the altar.
Friends, I think we know there are some things we need to set on fire and offer to a holy God in our time right now. Ways we need to die our rights, lay down our lives for the sake of others, reimagine the public good, and repent.
White supremacy must be burned down. Hatred, bigotry, an evil spirit of patriarchal power and dominance, ageism, ableism, racism, the dangerous form of nationalism, classism, sexism – and every thing which is the opposite of
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven.
It needs to be over. Or from today’s verse “to burn on the altar (mizbeachfrom zabach – to slaughter for sacrifice, slay, offer) of Yahweh our Elohim.” Lay it down, offer it up. May our diabolical ideals be what is slain over fellow image bearers.
A reckoning is coming and we don’t want to be anywhere near the side of evil and injustice when it does. May we listen while there is time to repent.
I appreciate these lots were cast so the people could bring their contribution each year at set times. Set here is zaman – fixed, appointed.
It’s true for us all, you know. We may not be casting lots to determine our month to bring wood to Temple, but we are where we are for an appointed time. When He set these times for us He knew we would be experiencing this pandemic, these losses, this particular evil in our day. This is both comforting and intimidating, as He believes we are up to the challenge in His strength and by His Spirit.
The phrase “as it is written in the Law” is kathab (decree, describe, record) in torah.” The community coming together to bring practical necessities for sacrifices for individual and communal sin was decreed in Torah. Their obedience made it possible to stand before God in right relationship.
May our obedience in our day draw others to Him as well.
Last time we looked at the final three feasts in Leviticus 23, creatively reimagining structures in our nation and grateful that, because of Jesus, our atonement is finished. Today we will see offerings and maintenance for which our returned exiles also took responsibility.
First up is responsibility for the holy things. Holy here is qodesh – apartness, sacredness, most holy, sanctuary, sacred gifts, things dedicated. In the NIV, this is translated “holy offerings,” and in The Message it is “Dedication Offerings.” But in the Hebrew it is simply “holy things.”
I appreciate the conflation of things with offerings. When set apart and dedicated to God, any simple thing moves to an offering. In Jesus, all things, each aspect of our lives, can be dedicated to Him, a sacred gift.
If you’re like me, that can be a challenging thought in a season of shelter in place. Sometimes it feels like passing the time or waiting until something changes. More mundane than sacred. And yet, I have experienced more spaces operating like as sanctuaries. The rare moment when everyone is occupied inside and I get to take a lap around the block alone. Or the whole block is outside in the sunshine and I can lay with my puppy on the couch in its beams.
But the sacred extends to unexpected connections with students from afar or being entrusted with difficulties by someone near. A surprising, “Thanks, Mom,” along with overhearing Dad’s challenge to learn something new. Trying a recipe, heart to hearts on the phone, practicing a skill, and praying for a world in need are most holy.
So is grief at loss, anger toward injustice, and lament over how far away from Shalom we roam. Irritation at those nearest and an ache for the furthest. Frustration over one more socially distanced meeting and hollering hello to neighbors on a walk. It is set apart when it’s done for Him, a holy offering in a confusing time. Keep on, friends.
The next responsibility listed is sin offerings. Sin here is chatta’ah – sinful, habitual sinfulness. Oh dear. Sin is hard enough, but the reminder of habitual sinfulness is rough. Can you relate? Ways you know from experience you don’t want to live, yet continue to pursue, only to reap consequences?
Well, the next section is for us. After all, this responsibility isn’t for sin, but rather a sin offering. And why were such offerings necessary? To make atonement (kaphar – appease, cover over, pacify, make propitiation, cleanse, forgive, be merciful, pardon, cancel, purge away, make reconciliation.)
An atonement offering was necessary for the same reason making up with someone is important: there is no other way to sustain a genuine relationship. Forgiveness must be sought before pardon can be bestowed. Repentance, and reparations before reconciliation and restoration. The need for cleansing to cover us when we want to dig in our heels or run. Love requires it and our hearts were made for love.
The final responsibility in our verse today is for “all the work (melekah – business, cattle, labor, project) of the house (bayith) of Elohim.”
The priests and Levites had a big job, friends. Grain offerings, peace offerings, drink offerings, slaughtering animals and cooking portions for their pay. There was serious work going on in the House of Elohim. The same is true now, even in our virtual existence.
Those to whom God has entrusted the shepherding of His people have a big job. I see so many pastors and worship leaders and staff members and group leaders creatively loving their people. But let’s remember the responsibility it is and show gratitude, serve them and their families, and pray diligently.
Last time we dove into the Offering of First Fruits followed by the Feast of Weeks. We saw the way Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection beautifully fulfilled Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Offering of First Fruits. Then at the celebration of Feast of Weeks, 50 days (pente) after First Fruits, the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost. Glory.
Today we will examine the final three festivals listed in our Leviticus 23 passage.
First up is the Feast of Trumpets:
The Lord said to Moses,
“Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blast. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’”
Leviticus 23:23-25
We have moved from the month of Sivan (May-June) into the beginning of fall, the 7th month of the Hebrew calendar, Tishri. We have talked on here before about this month’s significance. The beginning of the month (which spans the Gregorian calendar months of September and October), the people of Israel were to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets, also known as Rosh Hashanah. source
This Feast begins with a trumpet blast, signaling for the nation it was time for some introspection. Who had they sinned against? What wrongs needed to be made right as the priest was to enter the holy place soon and atone for the community’s sins?
I wrote before: “Seems to me most nations could use some individual and communal introspection these days as well. Spending time thinking through wrongs we can make right, ways individual and systemic sins are perpetuated, acknowledgement of how we are complicit, and recognition of how society treats the most vulnerable would do much to usher in Shalom to our broken world.”
Sure sounds like something we could be doing during a global pandemic, yes? In our desire to return to normal, are there areas in which we would rather not return to the status quo? If you cannot think of any, consider yourself privileged – those for whom the system was designed. It would be wise for all of us, in our desire to return to normal, to ask: who benefits from this norm? Are those the ones pushing for it? Upon whom is being trampled in it? And what do we owe each other as we find these answers?
What could be reimagined during this time? Education, healthcare, poverty, food deserts, minimum wage, housing, rentals and evictions, public transportation could all be up for restructure. As I told a friend, my problem is I don’t know what the answer is for all these issues, but I believe they need to be had. If there are areas where those in power are knowingly using that power to tread upon others, there is time to repent, but there will be a reckoning.
What would you change if you could reimagine sections of our public life together? What if we asked God for that and worked toward that end? May we not waste this worldwide opportunity to examine and change.
Ten days after the Feast of Trumpets is our next Feast, the Day of Atonement, also called Yom Kippur:
The Lord said to Moses,
“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God..
…The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community.”
Leviticus 23:26-28; 16:32-33
God’s people were to hold a sacred assembly, observe the day with Sabbath rest, and offer a food sacrifice to God as the priest makes atonement for the nation’s sins on which they had been contemplating.
Our small group was talking (virtually) last night about one of the reasons this virus and our situation is difficult is how acutely aware we are of our finiteness. I can get frustrated with how we will often communally listen to everyone but the actual experts who study epidemiology. Then my friend reminded me those experts disagree with one another, too.
So we don’t know to whom to turn, in what to place our decisions. It all feels so shaky, so human. It seems to me this would be a positive thing, and potentially one goal from the contemplation of wrongs done and the need for atonement.
We all know we’re guilty, don’t we? Need only to look at the mistakes of our past week, without allowing ourselves to blame shift or justify, to know we need someone to rescue us. And a similarly-faulty priest can not make absolute atonement on our behalf. Only our Great High Priest can once for all.
And, while not chronologically in sync with our current calendar month, I found myself delighted by rereading this thread from a while back during Yom Kippur. And the joy which can flow through us in our awareness of sins and their release. We can glory in being small, at our place in creation, and our need for a Rescuer. Obsession with our mistakes can be replaced with joy; focus on our sins can be drowned out by the light of His holiness and perfect love.
Rounding out the month of feasts, and our Leviticus 23 commands, is the Feast of Tabernacles. While all these feasts were commanded and significant, only three required pilgrimage each year to Temple in Jerusalem. Passover, The Feast of Weeks, and this one, The Feast of Tabernacles.
The Lord said to Moses,
“Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work…
“‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest.
On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month.
Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
Leviticus 23:33-36; 39-43
If you remember, our exiles had already observed this festival since rebuilding Jerusalem. Here they were simply promising to keep it regularly.
As I wrote before, after national introspection, “on Tishri 15-21, an abrupt about-face was commanded, and the people of God were to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles – with joy. This Feast reminded the Israelites how the LORD had sustained them in the wilderness until they entered the Promised Land.
As they lived in tents in the wilderness, so His people were to remember each year by dwelling in temporary shelters or booths. In Hebrew this feast is called Sukkot, which means booths. These booths were to be made with two and a half walls and a ceiling made from “something that grew from the ground and was cut off.” So things like tree branches, corn stalks or sticks. These days, Orthodox Jews will use wooden two-by-fours. (See this informative site.)”
“Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your Feast – you, yours sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. For seven days celebrate the Feast to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.”
Deuteronomy 16:13-15
Communal partying is again commanded by the God of the Universe. Pretty great, huh? Perhaps not right now if this virus situation has you unemployed, more likely to be exposed than others, or is disproportionately affecting your ethnicity. And, yet, it’s a communal feast. Meaning we don’t need to be coming to the table with everything, and those with more have the opportunity to share.
Yes, let’s. May we reimagine normal, brainstorm creatively, make self-sacrificial change, and honor the dignity of all. He will sustain us.
