Transcendence 3

One: Holiness and Purity

God lived among the Israelites. Up close and personal. Sometimes we ask, "Why doesn't God just come down and tell us exactly what He wants? Why isn't He more personal?" Well, this book may explain why. He definitely was up close and personal then, living right there among the people. He was like a fire, more powerful than the atom. He blessed them, fed them, loved them, and protected them. Along with that though, He had mighty expectations for the people He chose to protect. He wanted His people to be set apart, to walk pure, holy lives. They were mere humans, with human minds and to be quite honest, there were a lot of rules to follow. The precise handling of every detail was tough for the people. It took a ton of discipline. Kind of like handling an atomic bomb, if the details weren't followed exactly everything could blow up in an instant. Every tiny detail was very important! Maybe they didn't understand why they couldn't cut corners, or make things easier, but God knew the dangers of not following protocol. He could see the big picture! He knew what they didn't. All the rules were to protect them. Like a caring parent telling a child no, he can't see why but the dad knows. God knows. He only gave rules that would help them in the long run.

Learning how the Israelites lived everyday life in the intimate presence of God is important in understanding His expectations of those He wants to protect and bless.

A few years had gone by since the Israelites had left Egypt. They were living in the hostile conditions of the desert. The memory they had of that day long ago when they fled slavery, the joyous feeling of an awesome adventure ahead as they marched out of Egypt began to fade out. The advantages they felt from freedom from slavery started to dim in their minds the longer they lived among the heat, snakes, scorpions and drought. They forgot how bad slavery had been and began to think about they many things they no longer had.  They missed the spices of Egypt. They missed the everyday comforts, the guarantee of water, the various foods and the feeling of safety. Even though they had been slaves, they began to remember it as an easier life than the one they came to know in the desert. They began to grumble. They rebelled because they were tired, restless, and very unhappy. The inimical desert melted their once hopeful spirits. The march that should have taken two weeks had been carrying on for two years at this point and they were wore out! ( Two years felt like an eternity - little did they know it was only the beginning - in all it took forty years!)

God told Moses to take a census of the whole Israelite community. The lists were long but in short form:  From the tribes of Israel Reuben was the first born and of his descendants at that time there were 46,500. Simeon's were 59,300. Gad's were 45,650. Judah's were 74,600. Issachar's were 54,400. Zebulon's were 57,400. From the sons of Joseph: Ephraim's were 40,500, and Manasseh's were 32,200. (Although Joseph was one of the twelve, his father, Israel, had adopted his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh as his own- thus Joseph got a double portion of the family inheritance- and technically there are thirteen tribes of Israel. The tribe of Levi was not counted in this census because there were caretakers of God's tabernacle and were not eligible for draft.) Benjamin's were 35,400. Dan's were 62,700. Asher's were 41,500. Naphtali's were 53,400. Bringing the total to 603,550 excluding Levites. ( Studying these numbers we would count over two and a half million people counting women and children: Scholars have a hard time wrapping their head around that number - astounded that a number that huge could leave Egypt in one day and survive in the desolate desert for so many years. Some Scholars argue that Hebrews had a different means of counting and the word translated 'thousand' could have a different meaning. Regardless, everyone agrees it was a very large band of people wandering around in the desert for a very long time.)

Each tribe had an assigned place in the camp, it was a very organized. In the center was the tent of meeting of the tabernacle - a visual reminder each time they pitched their tents of what should be the center of their lives.