1 Chronicles 22-29

David passes the throne of kingship to his son, Solomon. He prays that God will give Solomon "prudence and discernment" so that Solomon may rule wisely and follow God's law. David counsels Solomon: Be brave and steadfast; do not fear or lose heart. And to the leaders among the people, David exhorts them: Devote your hearts and souls to seeking the  Lord your God.

David assigns responsibilities to various tribes and groups, making them responsible for a variety of religious tasks--the Levites, the priests, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the rest. David then calls to Jerusalem all of the leaders of Israel, and reminds them again to be faithful to God and keep His commands. To Solomon, David speaks these inspiring words:

Know the God of your father and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing soul, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the mind's thoughts. If you seek him, he will let himself be found by you.

This is the most sophisticated formulation of the relationship between God and man we have seen so far in the Old Testament. The relationship th God is about keeping is commands, but with David there is a shift in emphasis toward what is in one's heart.

Numbers 15:22-20:29

This passage contains numerous examples of disobedience, distrust of the Lord, grumbling, complaining, and outright rejection and rebellion against God, His promises, and His appointed priests and leaders. Time and again, individuals or groups forget God's laws and His faithfulness and power, doubting and questioning Him. There is the sabbath-breaker, who collects wood on the sabbath and is stoned by the community at God's direction. There are those among the Levites who question why the sons of Aaron are singled out as priests, rather than the Levites. For this, Korah, Dathan, Abiram and more than 200 others pay with their lives. Indeed, Dathan and Abiram and their families are swallowed up by the earth in front of the Israelites in a scene that spreads horror and panic throughout the community. 

The Lord reinforces His choice of Aaron and his sons and their ancestral house as set apart for the priesthood. God explains "I give you the priesthood as a gift." Indeed, the priesthood is a gift to Catholics as well. There is no escaping that the priesthood and priests are a source of some controversy today as well. Some bad actors have spread horror by their actions, although the vast majority are surely committed and good (although, like the rest of us, imperfect). But they are our counselors, mediators, examples--indispensable gifts to us. 

This section ends with the powerful story of the Israelites--grumbling again, complaining that Moses and Aaron and God have led them out of Egypt only to perish. At the Lord's direction, Moses, in front of the whole assembly at Meribah, uses his staff to strike a rock, from which water springs--enough water to slake the thirst of the Israelites and their livestock. Significantly, Moses must strike the rock twice, and this seems to denote some lack of faith in God's power on the part of Moses and Aaron.  The Lord chastises them, telling them that their lack of faithfulness will be punished, and that they will not personally lead the people into the promised land.  I must confess that I am puzzled by this scene, as I do not grasp how the conduct of Moses is unfaithful. But God's ways are mysterious, I suppose. At this point, at least, there is no complaining by Moses and Aaron about their punishment. Some time later, Aaron dies, and the whole community mourns him for 30 days.

Leviticus 15:1-18:18

The Lord institutes the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), on which the priest confesses "all the sinful faults and transgressions of the Israelite community" in order to make "atonement for himself and his household as well as the whole Israelite community." It is a day of fasting  to be observed on a set day each year, "so that you may be cleansed of all your sins before the Lord." On that day, the priest places the sins and transgressions of the community on the head of a live goat that is then sent away to the desert. I did not know until now that this is where the concept of a scapegoat came from! The Lord instructs Moses about the sacredness of blood, since "the life of a living body is in its blood." The Lord is very explicit about not partaking in blood, making me wonder if this might be a contrast to other religious rituals of that time. The Lord instructs Moses regarding the sanctity of sex, although it is essentially a list of sex one may not have, rather than a positive discussion. Not exactly John Paul II's Theology of the Body. In this section, however, there is also this powerful statement: Keep, then, my statutes and decrees, for the man who carries them out will find life through them. I am the Lord. Jesus the Lord ultimately fulfills the law and is the Way to new life. 

Leviticus 8-13:39

Aaron and his sons undergo the ceremony of ordination, the details of which were commanded and carefully prescribed by God to Moses. At the end of the ceremony, Aaron "raised his hands over the people and blessed them. Then the glory of God was revealed to all the people." God reveals His glory through the priest-mediator. This is a concept that continues to this day. Jesus of course is the ultimate Priest and Mediator. In some ways, so too is Mary--a mediatrix who intercedes for us in a special way. Catholic priests have a mediating role as well.  Their special, integral role in the sacrifice of the Mass, established through their ordination, becomes the medium through which we can eat and drink Christ's body and blood. I am not sure, though, what to make of the brief story of Nadab and Abihu, two of Aaron's sons. Consecrated as priests, they make the mistake of burning incense not approved by God, and because they offered up before the Lord a "profane fire", the Lord causes a fire to come forth and consume them. Moses attempts to explain the Lord's ways to Aaron, but he says nothing in response. As I said, I am not sure how to understand this. It seems an incredibly harsh punishment for an act that I do not see the evil in. Perhaps Aaron's silence reflects an inner conflict between love for his sons and his respect and trust in the ways of the Lord. But I wonder if Moses, who repeatedly challenged and questioned God, would have stayed silent had it been two of his sons. Another aspect of the priest's role as mediator is captured in the following direction that God gives directly to Aaron: You must be able to to distinguish between what is sacred and what is profane, between what is clean and what is unclean; you must teach the Israelites all the laws that the Lord has given them through Moses.  So, the priest does not simply mediate the sacrifices that cleanse sins, but also must teach the law and must discern between clean and unclean and good and evil.  Priests are called to these very weighty responsibilities in the Church today as well. Finally, Aaron and the other priests are given an important role in diagnosing leprosy, which is a focal point of a long section in Leviticus. This section suggests to me that leprosy serves as a metaphor for sinfulness. It is a disease that eats away at the body just as sin eats away a person's spirit.  At my spirit.  Like leprosy, sin has a social dimension as well, as both can be contagious and can infect and negatively impact a whole community.

Leviticus 5-7

The Lord continues to instruct Moses as to the proper means of making holocausts, sacrifices, and offerings. The priests serve as the intermediaries for those who have sinned and have come to offer sacrifice--"the priest shall make atonement for the sin [using the offering brought by the sinner] . . . and it will be forgiven." But through this mediation the sins are forgiven. Similarly, Jesus as High Priest is the mediator for our atonement. His dying on the Cross was the sacrifice that atoned for the sins of all of us.   

Is it too simplistic (or worse, condescending) to note that the Old Testament, up to this point, makes me think about God as a parent and the Israelites as children? God tells Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. He doesn't explain why, just as you don't explain to your toddler why not to eat food off the floor or why you shouldn't put a fork in an electric socket. As the story of the Chosen People continues, God is very directive and prescriptive about what the Israelites are to do--explaining why in some instances--just as you would with an older child. It is possible that God needed to lay the groundwork gradually for what was ultimately to come many hundreds of years later. Now, perhaps my reaction is a function of my ignorance of Biblical scholarship or reflects my lack of sophistication, but no criticism is intended. It just that the tone of much of what I have read so far feels so parental to me.  

Exodus 30-32

Ok, perhaps my favorite all-time movie is Raiders of the Lost Ark. Goofy, I know.  But when I would come home from college, I would often take my younger brothers to the movies. We had no idea what this would be about the day we went, and it had a cool title. We were blown away, and saw it many times together. Relevance? When I try to draw a mental picture of the very vivid descriptions in this section of Exodus, all my mind's eye can see is the scene in Raiders where Indiana Jones finds the ark of the covenant and carries it out of the cave, only to be thwarted at the last moment by the bad guys.

In this section, God establishes the annual atonement rite, and lays out the rules for cleansing the priests must abide by before approaching the altar. In the New Testament, we read the Christ is the law or the new law. The Magi presented him with frankincense at the Nativity scene. Here, God instructs Moses that the priests are to use frankincense to honor and consecrate the sacred altar and the Commandments that He has given to Moses for the people. God lays down the law of the Sabbath, calling it "an everlasting token" between God and HIs people, and then gives Moses the stone tablets containing the commandments "inscribed by God's own finger." 

Meanwhile, in Moses' absence, God's people have strayed, prevailing on Aaron to create a golden calf for them to worship. Much revelry ensues. (I guess we see here why God chose Aaron only to be Moses' spokesman with Pharaoh, but not to also have the responsibilities he entrusted Moses with.)  How quickly the Israelites have forgotten all of the wonders God has done for them. (Sounds familiar: I forget all the time to my regret, so I am in no position to judge them harshly.) God's anger is enflamed, and He contemplates wiping them out entirely and starting over with a "new" people for Moses to lead. But Moses reminds the Lord of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and God relents (at least for now). Moses returns to the people, and challenges them to choose whether or not to side with the Lord, Who brought them out of Egypt. The Levites choose the Lord. Moses then instructs them to take up the sword and kill all of their kinsmen and neighbors who have not made that same choice. Three thousand are slaughtered that day. Wow. Afterwards, the Lord tells Moses to go forth and lead His people, but adds "when it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin."  Ominous. The Old Testament God is frightening to me at times. He remembers His promises for generations, but also the peoples' sins. I hope and pray He chooses not to remember mine. 

Exodus 28-29

God establishes the priesthood in the persons of Aaron and his sons. Much of this section is spent describing with great precision the vestments they shall wear and the rite of consecration that makes them priests of God. It is these priests who may enter the sanctuary that contains the ark and the altar, clearly serving as mediators in some fashion between God and His people. Although God explains that He will dwell in a special way at the altar and in the meeting tent, that explanation ends with a beautiful passage about God's relationship with all of His people:  

I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites and will be their God. They shall know that I, the Lord, am their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt so I, the Lord, their God, might dwell among them.

This seems to apply so clearly to us today, to me personally.  It is not enough for God that He is our God, He wants us to know it--to know that He has saved us and called us out of slavery. The wording is interesting here: He has called the Israelites (that is, us) out of Egypt (that is, out of slavery), so that He might dwell in our midst.  In other words, being called out of slavery is in some ways a pre-condition for that special type of dwelling among us that God has in mind.  Thus, each of us must be called out of slavery--whatever we are personally enslaved by--in order for Him to dwell in our midst.  I am sure He never leaves us, but we must clean the house, clear the path, make straight the way, allow ourselves to be brought out of slavery, so that He can fully dwell in our midst.  Powerful stuff.

Genesis 14:14-18:8

There are many echoes of what has already come, and what is to come, in this section of Genesis. Abram is the soldier, foreshadowing David, who rescues his nephew, Lot, from his captors. Melchizedek, the great priest of God Most High, prefiguring Jesus at the Last Supper, offers bread and wine to commemorate Abram's victory.  The great priest also blesses God the Most High, who delivered Abram's foes into Abram's hands--as God, through Jesus, delivers us from our enemy, sin. As with Noah, God promises Abram that he will have countless descendants, but instead of likening the number to particles of dust (as with Noah), God compares them to the multitude of stars on the sky. Abram fathers Ishmael, with Sarai's maid, and then God promises Abram that Sarai will bear him a son herself. As he did with Noah, God also makes a covenant with Abram, promising that He will be the God of Abram and his descendants forever--an "everlasting pact." This covenant is fulfilled in Christ.  As a sign of the covenant, God renames both Abram (Abraham) and Sarai (Sarah), and instructs Abraham that circumcision will be the human mark of the covenant. God then reiterates his promise that Sarah will bear him a son, who shall be called Isaac.