Seder 114: Numbers 15:32-36---The Sabbath Gatherer

 The events recorded in Numbers 13-14 take place in the middle of year 2 of Israel's time in the wilderness.  By chapter 20, we are at the beginning of year 40.  Only a handful of events from the intervening years are described in the biblical narrative.  

One is the episode of the "Sabbath gatherer" described briefly in Numbers 15:32-36.  The wording and placement of this incident in the text can help us learn some lessons from it.  

First, note that those who confronted the man for his sin "brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation," wording similar to Numbers 13:26, where the leaders who had visited the land brought back their report.  The similarity in wording invites us to compare Israel's responses to the two incidents.

In Numbers 13-14, Israelites are led astray by the bad report of ten of the leaders.  Many would like to return to Egypt, rejecting God's deliverance and his covenant.  Some call for Moses to be stoned to death and replaced by a new leader.  

On the other hand, the Israelites in Numbers 15 seem to have learned a lesson.  Instead of turning against Moses, they are zealous for the teachings of Moses.  Instead of being led astray by sinners, they root sin out of their midst.  Instead of calling for the stoning of Moses, they stone the violator.  

Second, this incident is mentioned in Numbers 15 immediately after a warning about defiant sins, suggesting that the man's sin fell into that category.  The word for "gathering" in Numbers 15:32, qasas, is an uncommon one in the Bible, appearing elsewhere in the Torah only in Exodus 5:7, 12.  The verses in Exodus are about Israelite slaves in Egypt being forced to gather straw to make bricks.  The similarity in wording invites us to compare the gatherer's activity with that of the earlier slaves.  

The Sabbath commandment that the gatherer was violating is an important sign of the covenant (Ex 31).  By openly gathering instead of resting on the Sabbath, the man was showing, in effect, that he preferred slavery in Egypt to being in covenant with the God who had delivered him from Egypt.  And since the Sabbath also pointed forward to a coming spiritual rest in the land (Heb 4), the man's actions implied a rejection of the land and that future rest.  These things help explain why the man was executed.  He was not someone who had slipped up and accidentally violated the Sabbath.  Instead, he was someone who was rejecting God and opting out of his covenant and Israel's divine calling.  

Third, the placement of the incident shortly after Numbers 13-14 suggests that the gatherer be seen as a representative of the older generation of Israelites who refused to enter the Promised Land.  In contrast, the younger generation was more anxious to get there.  

We can illustrate this contrast with a Jewish tradition about the unnamed gatherer.  It was suggested by Rabbi Akiva that the man was Zelophehad, one of the older generation who had "died for his own sin" in the wilderness (Nu 27:3).  His daughters, part of the younger generation of Israelites, were eager to inherit property in the Promised Land.

Seder 114: New Testament Connections with Numbers 15---the Unpardonable Sin, Tassels

 Numbers 15:30-31 warns against defiant sins, those committed with a "high hand."  The New Testament contains analogous warnings.  For example:

1 John 5:16---"If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life---to those who commit sins that do not lead to death.  There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that."

Heb 6:4-6---"For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt."

Mark 3:28-30---"Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"---for they were saying, 'he has an unclean spirit'. "

The New Testament also contains a number of references to the tassels worn on the corners of Israelite garments.  

Matthew 14:35-36---"And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick and implored him that they might only touch the fringe the fringe of his garment.  And as many as touched it were made well."

Many see here a fulfillment of Malachi 4:2.  

Jesus also criticized the wearing of tassels for show:

Matt 23:5---"They do all their deeds to be seen by others.  For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long." 

Seder 114: Numbers 15---Instructions that Send a Message

 The book of Numbers deals with the final 39 of the 40 years that the children of Israel spent in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. Chapters 1-14 take place during year 2 of the wilderness sojourn, and chapters 20-36 cover events from year 40.  

That means that everything we are given about years 3-39 is in chapters 15-19.  In terms of narrative, we are only told about a few events from those years:

• a rebellious man (Num 15:32-36);
• Korah's rebellion and the ensuring plague (Num 16);
• the budding of Aaron's rod (Num 17).

The rest of Num 15-19 contains instructions much like those given in the book of Leviticus.  The book of Numbers as a whole has an unusual structure.  Sections of narrative are interspersed with sections of instruction.  The first time one reads the book, the organization can seem rather random.

To discern the full message intended in each section of instruction, we should pay close attention to the placement of those sections within the book.  Commentator Roy Gane identifies a chiastic structure in the first 21 chapters of Numbers:

A.  Organization for conquest (ch 1-10)

       B. Corpses at the "graveyard of greed" (ch 11)

             C.  Moses leadership, prelude to rebellion (ch 12-13)

                    D.  Rebellion (ch 14)

                          E.  Loyalty:  inadvertent versus defiant sin (ch 15)

                    D'.  Rebellion (ch 16)

               C' Aftermath of rebellion; Aaron's leadership (ch 17-18)

        B'.  Corpse contamination (ch 19)

A'. Conquests (ch 20-21)

Chapter 15, in the middle of the chiasm, sends some important messages.  It comes right after chapter 14, when the Israelites show they are not ready to enter the Promised Land and consequently learn that they will be spending 38 extra years in the wilderness.  So it is significant that Num 15:1-21 deals with offerings that will be made when the Israelites reach the Promised Land.  This is an affirmation that they will indeed reach the land, and that they will be blessed there with abundant grain, wine, and oil.  They will have bountiful harvests and offer the firstfruits of those harvests to God.  

They will continue to commit sins, including some pretty serious ones.  But if they remain loyal to God, those sins can be forgiven.  It is only when people defiantly reject God and the covenant that God cannot work with them (vv 22-31).  

Verses 32-36 give an example of the kind of defiant sin described in verses 30-31.  A man deliberately breaks the Sabbath and continues doing so when confronted about the matter.  The Israelites seek God's guidance on how to handle the situation, and God gives a sentence of death by stoning.  

Verses 37-41 instruct the Israelites to wear tassels on the corners of their garments.  The tassels will include a cord of blue.  The blue was (and still is) made with a valuable and expensive dye from murex snails.  This color was also part of priestly and royal garments.  In the tassels, it carried a message that the Israelites constituted a "royal priesthood and holy nation."  They should remember who they were are live accordingly:  

"And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after" (v 39). 

Verse 39 contains a reference to the rebellion in chapter 14.  The Hebrew word for 'follow after" means to "spy out" (see the ESV footnote).  The Israelites should live by faith in God, not by fear and human desire.  

There are lessons here for all the people of God during their time of sojourning.  Blessings are ahead if we remember who we are and walk in faith and loyalty to God.  

Seder 114: Psalm 54---A Confident Prayer for Rescue

 Psalm 54 is one of a handful of Psalms linked by its superscription to a specific episode in David's life--the time "when the Ziphites went and told Saul, 'Is not David hiding among us? ' "  The reference here is to 1 Sam 23:19.  Ziph was in the territory of Judah (Joshua 15:55), west of the Dead Sea. 

The midrash on Psalm 54 comments that the bad behavior of King Saul led to further bad behavior among his subjects, based on the principle stated in Proverbs 29:12:  "If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked."

The midrash also observes that if you are being pursued by the king, as David was, there is no one to turn to but the King of the Universe.  And David did just that. "O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might," he prayed (Ps 54:1).   God's name is associated with his faithfulness and saving activity on behalf of his people.

An additional comment in Midrash Psalms 54 associates God's "might" with God's instruction.  David is pictured saying to God that since escaped slaves are not to be returned to their masters (Deut 23:15-16), how much more should a prince like David not be turned over to the king who wants to kill him.  

"For strangers have risen against me," David continues (v 3).  Some manuscripts have "insolent men" rather than "strangers."  The two are really very similar.  "Strangers" can be those who have become estranged from God by their disobedience or insolence.  These are people who do not recognize God's authority.  

David is confident that God will protect him and sustain his life (v 4).  He is also confident that those who seek to kill him will receive the punishment due to them for their actions (v 5).  He looks forward to bringing an offering in gratitude for his deliverance and celebrating God's goodness with the community of faith (vv 6-7).