Thoughts on Numbers 19 & Hebrews 13

Today's reading: Numbers 19; Hebrews 13

Hebrews 13 is the kind of chapter I expect to write something different about any and every time we run into it in the reading plan because it is just a scatter shot of instructions and ideas as the author is wrapping up the letter, so I have a lot to pick from. Since I'm not trying to be exhaustive in these daily posts, that really means I'm just going to be writing about whatever piece of that scatter shot most strikes me that day. And this morning, what strikes me most is driven by what we also read this morning in Numbers 19, so let's start with that today.

Thoughts on Numbers 19

Numbers 19 is all about death, specifically how to cleanse the camp of Israel from it. It’s kind of interesting when you stop and think about how seriously God takes this. Yes, there are sacrifices, offerings, and rituals associated with cleansing from other things as well, but the rituals for cleansing someone for touching a dead body kind of stand apart from the rest. Multiple times it is insisted that the two cleansings be carried out on exactly the right days but then we are also told that if they failed to be cleansed on the right days, there was no make-up, they were to be cut off from the people.

This strikes me as odd because this is not how other uncleanness is treated, and when we see something odd like this it should make us stop and ask why it’s there. Here, the difference from other rituals is that death has no place in Yahweh’s domain. When we think about other things that cause a person to be unclean, there is a categorical difference here. Take something like childbirth, for example. Childbirth, and things associated with it (like sex or menstruation) made a person unclean, but childbirth is something designed and created by God Himself. I think the reason it made a person unclean is that, while it was created by God, it was corrupted by the Fall, so it was no longer exactly what God intended it to be. 

Contrary to childbirth though, which was ordained by God as the means by which His human imagers would be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it, death was never God’s intention for His children. Death is not the corruption of something good, death is itself the essence of corruption, and it has no place in Yahweh’s domain. So while, yes, death still existed in Israel, since Israel was God’s territory, when death did occur it had to be properly and promptly cleansed from the land. If Yahweh, the God of life, was going to continue to make His home there among them, there couldn’t be something so directly contrary to His person and nature continuing there among them.

This goes along with what we’ve talked about in other posts on Leviticus and Numbers, that God was teaching the Israelites about Himself and His character by what was prioritized in the life and worship of the nation of Israel. So the object lesson here, with these cleansings being so much of a priority and having such greater consequences than other cleansing rituals, is that while death exists, it is abhorrent to God from the ground up, and it ultimately has no place in His kingdom.

Thoughts on Hebrews 13

Because I was thinking about death after reading Numbers 19 this morning, what stood out to me most in Hebrews 13 is the simple statement, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”

I feel like the reality that this life, and everything in it, is fleeting was a very present reality to the original audience of this letter, but is a reality that we are pretty distanced from today. We are much more separated from death and ruin today than at any other point in human history. For much of history, a bad enough couple years for the crops may very well have meant starvation, but today we have enough control of the food supply that we have largely insulated ourselves from famine. For much of history, if misfortune befell your family, you could lose everything in a moment with no recourse, but today we have insurance, bankruptcy laws, etc. to insulate ourselves from the longest lasting consequences of such misfortune. For much of history, if you were badly injured, you were much more likely to die from the injury or an infection, or to be out of work afterward if you did heal, but today we not only have the ability to heal many serious injuries, but even if the injury stops you from performing your previous job, we have government programs in place to support you and help you find new work despite the injury. And for much of human history, if someone was dying, whether from illness, injury, age, or anything else, they remained at home and were cared for by their family, but today, when someone is too sick or dying, they are generally cared for in a hospital or a nursing home, out of sight from and not burdening their family with their care.

My point here is that this idea, that “here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come,” would have been meaningful and motivating to them, because it was a very present reality of life for them. This life is transient. We are here on this earth for a short time, and after that we move on into eternity, and for followers of Jesus, it is an abundant, exciting, perfect, and joyful eternity we are looking forward to, with none of the suffering, death, or transience of this life. And knowing where we are going should free us up to live this life more boldly, because we know that building our own little kingdom here on this side of heaven is not the end game for us.

So part of that recognition, according to the author of Hebrews, is that it should free us up to do good and to share what we have with others while we have it, as a pleasing sacrifice to God. Knowing that everything in this life could be lost in a moment, but that we have an unshakable foundation in heaven should mean we don’t need to scrape and hoard like those without that same hope, and so we can be free to live a life that glorifies God by caring for others in significant, sacrificial, and sometimes difficult ways.

But when I look around, I don’t think this is the mentality for a lot of Christians, at least not in America. Rather than recognizing the short time we have on this earth as a stewardship from the Lord and using our time, energy, resources, etc. to love others and glorify God with what we have, we tend to live for building our lasting city here in this life just like those who don't know the Lord. We build up our investment portfolio, we buy newer and bigger houses, we invest in advancing our careers, increasing our standard of living, and just generally establishing our ideal life here. Now, I don’t list these things to say that having investments, a nice house, or a good career are necessarily sinful or wrong, but the question we should be asking is, “Why am I pursuing these things? Is it to glorify God, or is it to establish my own little ‘lasting city’ here in this life?”

Modern life, with all its controls and conveniences, gives us the false impression of permanence, and that leads us to live our lives as though this is our permanent home. Even Christians, who theologically recognize that this world is not our ultimate home, can easily live as though this is it, and rather than laying up a firm foundation and treasure for ourselves in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves don't break in and steal, we work our entire 60-90 years in this life girding our foundation here. Regardless of our theology, we live like the man Jesus laments who builds bigger barns for all his excess even though his very life is required of him that night.

This is a mentality we have to actively fight for in our modern lives. So to that end, take a couple minutes today to think about your life as you prioritize and live it today. What does the way you spend your time, energy, resources, money, and anything else you have say about where you are looking for a lasting city? Are you working for this life as though it is the ultimate goal, or do you see this life as a stewardship by which you are laying up a firm foundation for eternity in heaven?

Father, we need to you open our eyes to recognize what we are living our lives for. It is so easy for us to get distracted by the present realities of life and lose sight of the fact that you are taking us to something so much better. Show each of us, today, what it would look like to live today slightly more with a view toward heaven than we lived yesterday.