Numbers 4 – 6
Verse 4:8 is part of a section that describes the duties of the sons of Kohath:
Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles.
I find it interesting how this group of Levites is given a specific duty. It appears they are to prepare the tent of meeting for the next worship. It’s interesting how these chapters get into the details of the day to day operation where most of the other tribes duties are not specified.
Verses 5:2 – 3 seem cruel on the surface:
2 “Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead. 3 You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.”
Basically they are exiling the people from their families and friends. This seems horribly unfair, until you realize it is all for the safety of the people. Maybe infectious diseases would be more readily handled of the people just isolated them today. One of the little “pet peeves” I have is people coming to work sick. For whatever reason people think it’s more important to get the job done, then to remain at home and recover. The problem is they never isolate themselves and end up infecting half the office.
If only we would take this serious and remove ourselves from contact with others to limit the spread of the disease.
Chapter 6 deals with the vow of the Nazirite. I find this interesting and should be read trough to see if I am missing something. But it really gives no detail on what the vow is, but rather what one should do when taking the vow. Verse 6:2 talks about the oath, but does not give the details of what:
“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,
I often wonder if this is a generic vow of service to the Lord. It doesn’t matter what the Nazirite is doing, just that they will separate themselves from to the Lord for some period of time.
This gets into another subject on how long this period of service is. Some readings I have done imply this vow could be a lifetime, but the chapter is very clear in from verse 13 on what happens when this vow is over. I find it interesting how the Christian faith tends to wash over this vow and seems to not spend too much time with it. Why is that? Seems like this would a great guideline for those entering mission work for a period.