Numbers 4 deals with the moving of the tent of meeting and its contents when the people of Israel break camp. Specific clans and ancestral houses of the tribe of the Levites are assigned to the different tasks. Male members of those clans form thirty to fifty years of age are selected for this important duty. The tent of meeting and its contents are to be carried by hand as it is moved from place to place. It is assumed that the members of the clans trade places while they are carrying the items. There are over eight thousand men in total assigned to carrying the Tent of Meeting.

The clan of the Kohathites is responsible for carrying the holy things from the sanctuary. Most of these are fixed with poles so that the men do not touch these things. Only Aaron and his sons are able to touch the items in order to pack them up. If anyone else touches or even looks at these things he will die.

Numbers 5 primarily deals with those who are defiled either by illness or by sin. Much attention is given to an unfaithful wife. If a man suspects his wife of being with another man he brings his wife to the priest along with a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance which brings iniquity to remembrance. The priest combines some holy water with dust from the floor of the tabernacle. The woman takes the oath of the curse and is forced to drink the water. If she is guilty she will become very sick: unable to conceive and suffering from dysentery and pain.  If she is innocent she will not suffer any illness after drinking the water.

I have taken youth to Mexico for short term mission trips. We were always cautioned to keep our hands and eating and drinking implements clean and free of dirt. Sometimes folks would allow their thermoses lay in the dirt. If they were unable to clean the dirt completely from the thermos they would ingest a little of it. Several times these people would get very sick with dysentery, often resulting in hospitalization. This punishment seems very realistic given my experience. God certainly must have known of the woman’s innocence in order to protect her from disease.

In Acts 15 a dispute arises regarding whether Gentiles must be circumcised in order to be saved. After much discussion Peter reminds them of the fact that God has chosen these people and they are saved through the grace of Jesus. It is decided to accept their salvation without circumcision but to require that they abstain from things polluted by idols, from fornication, form whatever has been strangled, and from blood. Barsabbas and Silas accompany Paul and Barnabas to take the letter to the Gentiles and to instruct them in the faith.

Paul and Barnabas get ready to return to the cities they had visited before. Barnabas wants to take John Mark with them but Paul still harbors anger at john Mark for leaving them. Paul and Barnabas part ways and they go to different churches.

Even in the early church disputes arise. Differences of opinion about the practice of the Christian faith have always been with us. Just as Peter reminded the apostles and elders, God continues to be in control. It is through the grace of Jesus Christ that we have been chosen by God to be a member of the kingdom. God does this regardless of the “rules” we may feel are so important. We must come to some consensus in how to live peaceably and accept that God might be doing a new thing.