Okay, so I'm reading through Numbers right now and I just sat down and started reading chapter 15. I don't get very far into it before I come across a very interesting passage. In this passage a man is caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath. The people arrest him and inquire of the Lord what ought to be done with him. God answers through Moses that he is to be put to death. Now I believe that every word is inspired and profitable and that God is infinitely holy and just and righteous. But I looked at this passage through the eyes of an unbeliever and someone of the world. At first glance it looks like God just went haywire and started going all crazy on people and killing them left and right. In fact, there are some chapters in this book that just start off with God launching a plague or fire or something within the camp and totally killing a few thousand people. What's going on with this. Especially this story. The dude was just trying to gather some sticks on a Saturday. What could possibly be wrong with that? I mean we don't go around killing people today because of that. I could see that person who looks at this passage totally blowing God and Christianity off as old and unprofitable and totally false. They wouldn't want to serve a God like that. We see this especially on all the tv shows that try to bring down Christianity by bringing up the (on the surface) crazy laws in the OT. So what's going on here? How can we answer this question?
I started thinking about it and at first the "easy" answer is that he broke one of the commandments of God and because of that he must be punished. And because God is infinitely holy and just, his sin required a punishment that was swift and brutal. We don't deserve mercy, we all deserve to die for even the smallest sins that we commit. This guy was just one that didn't get the mercy of God for his sin, but received a just retribution by the wrath of God.
That's all true, but I didn't find it completely satisfying. Don't get me wrong, this answer should be taught and it lays the groundwork for what I believe is the greater reason behind his death. In Hebrews it talks about the people of God receiving a rest (Heb. 3:7-4:13). In this section they reference the creation and how God rested from his works on the seventh day thereby establishing a sabbath rest that we all should follow. However, Hebrews doesn't stop at the physical requirements of taking a day off of work. It looks beyond that to see the spiritual meaning of our perfect and eternal rest with Christ. Hebrews 4:8-10 reads:
"For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his." (emphasis mine)
The Sabbath rest that God instituted was to point us forward to the rest that comes in Christ both now (though not fully realized) and in heaven for eternity (fully realized). We are to rest from our works. We are to fully trust in God to provide for us the way of salvation. We are to find our joy and justification in Christ alone and that is to be our rest. When we come to true salvation we find rest for our souls from the endless and wearying toil of trying to make God happy through continual legalistic and religious ritual and rule. We must rest from our works. When we sin, we don't go though penance. Penance is a foul stench in God's nostril because it denies the Sabbath rest he promises us in Christ. We must rest from our works. The man in Numbers 15 didn't rest from his physical works and didn't trust in God to sustain him and protect him physically and therefore, because of that lack of trust in the mercy and grace of God, God put him to death. This is a great and terrible sign for us that if we don't trust fully and completely in the grace and mercy of Christ and rest from our works then we too will face the retribution and wrath of our just God. Praise God for his mercy and grace that we can find true rest for our souls. Seek the rest that comes from Christ and don't keep running to the chains of slavery to legalism and works. I need this most of all. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus for saving my soul and giving me rest.
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5 comments:
Yes bu tyou are missing the pioint here. The people asked Moshe first and then Moshe inquired of YHWH. Rememmer, YHWH knows the heart of a man. This man clearly knew that he was not to work on Shabbat. His occupation was a carpenter. He was gathering stick to work and defy YHWH Himself. When we look at the Hebrew text, the term "Sticks" is equivilant to death. So the man was litterally committing suiside. He knew that he was not suppose to do this kind of work. Moshe could not see this becaouse he is only a man. YHWH could, can, and does. So when we ty to make excusses of why we cannot celebrate the commandments. We had better think twice.
I understand what you're saying and I agree with it. When we disobey God we deserve the ultimate punishment of death. My point was not just to examine why the man deserved death but rather to examine why God considered the Sabbath as seriously as He did. When we look at the totality of Scripture the overall story shows us that God instituted the Sabbath to point us forward to the spiritual rest from our works that the God-man Jesus brings us. And so the account in Numbers is a perfect physical example of the spiritual reality of what really condemns us. We rely on our own righteousness and our own way of getting to God and our own rules. When we embrace the rest we have in Christ then we find our freedom in following the commands of God from a heart of love.
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Hey mate, just stumbled across your blog and thought I'd let you know you've got some great stuff in here.
This point about the sabbath is a great truth. I also believe that God instituted the Sabbath to the Israelites as a direct contrast to their lifestyle in Egypt. When enslaved they made bricks 24/7. Their worth came from what they produced. But God wants them (and us) to know that our worth does not come from what we do but rather who we are.
God Bless
Grant
Wow, thank you for your thoughts about breaking the Sabbath. I actually had googled for the answer of the man being executed for picking up sticks on the sabbath. I am a serious Bible student, and totally agree with everything you said. Thank you for pointing us to the True Rest which we receive only in Jesus Christ, who made the only acceptable sacrifice in Himself so that we would be acceptable to God -- through faith in Him.
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