One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Friday, March 4th
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Israel had been on their way to the Promised Land for more than year now, and had assembled pretty much any way they wanted. Now the Lord organized them into four groups around the tabernacle leaving plenty of space from the tabernacle.
"Since the tabernacle was symbolically the presence of God with them, this meant all order in Israel began being centered around God Himself." (Guzik)
In the ancient near East everything was oriented toward the east toward the rising sun. The tribe of Judah had substanitally more people than the other 11 tribes, and was the tribe from where Jesus descended. Also Judah led the way into the Promised Land, with a banner many said was a "lion" also known as the line of Judah. They along with two other tribes faced east toward the rising sun.
A few conclusions from this chapter.
1. God is a God of order, not disorder.
2. God orders things according to His wisdom not ours.
3. The tabernacle, where God's dwelt by His presence, was the center of community of Israelites. All of the tribes were organized around God, not in relation to each other.
The next part of the ordering of God's people, was the order of the priesthood by the sons of Aaron and Moses. Aaron had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, but Nadab and Abihu died while offering unauthorized fire. This left only two, Eleazar and Ithamar. Not only were these two men called to serve as priests, but all of the other Levites, were also to serve as assistants in the temple. They performed sacred duties in the taberacle and also maintained the furnishings in the tabernacle. The Levites were also charged with teaching God's word to the Israelites.
"Carefully observe and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you; just as I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do." Deuteronomy 24:8
The next verses breakdown the 22,000 Levites by their families and divvy up their duties as described abolve. The Lord claimed the Levites as his first born, just as he claimed the first born bosy, when the Israelites came out of Egypt. The number of firstborn sons who were one month old or older was 22,273.
"God’s order and organization extends to certain jobs for certain people to do. The families of the Levites had certain callings they were to fulfill. There was no one man or family to do everything; God made them dependent on one another to accomplish the work." (Guzik)
Jesus began to speak to them in parables, and most of them were directed at the Jewish leaders. Sometimes parables can be confusing, but this one is pretty easy to interpret. The landowner is God. The tenants were the Israelites. His servants that he sent one by one who were beaten were the prophets. Last of all he sent his Son (Jesus) and they beat him saying, "This one is the heir, let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours."
How then will the landlord respond? He will kill those wicked tenants and rent it out to other tenants. Then Mark quoted from Psalm 118 which said, "The stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone." The rejection by the Jews led to the gospel being shared with the Gentiles, who accepted it. Their faith in Jesus became the cornerstone of the future church.
The chief priests got the plain meaning of the parable, and knew it applied to them. So they looked for a way to kill Jesus but it was not yet time.
Both the Pharisees and "Herodians", those who worked for the government, conspired to trap Jesus. They asked him whether or not the Jews should pay taxes to Caesar. If Jesus said "no", he would be guilty of law breaking. If he said "yes", he would be seen as being sympathethizing with the Romans. But instead of being trapped, Jesus took a coin and asked them whose image was on it. When the answered Caesar, he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar, and give to God's what is His".
Here is a great explanation of what just happened.
"Sometimes it doesn’t matter how good an answer you give; some people will still twist your good words. They did this to Jesus, yet God’s truth prevailed. In the answer of Jesus, God was glorified, Caesar was satisfied, the people were edified, and His critics were stupefied." Guzik
"What Now" Study Questions:
The Levites were set aside by God for work in the Temple. As believers we have all been set aside to live as His priests. How can you live as a priest in the world?
Are you facing a storm in your life? In the midst of the storm, remember to stand firm in God's strength!
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