random thoughts about the old testament

I'm taking an Old Testament Survey class right now. Each class, we turn in a reflection paper on thoughts that we are wrestling with based on the class material. This is what I turned in tonight. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

In our discussion about Jacob and blessing, we talked about how, throughout his life, Jacob sought his own blessing (stealing the birthright and blessing from Esau and conniving the way to get the best flocks from Laban) until his experience at Peniel, when he finally asked God to bless him. I find it interesting that it was not until this point that Jacob took God as his own God. When God first showed Himself to Jacob at Bethel (Gen 28:10-22), Jacob made a vow with God that in essence said, “If You will be with me and let me return safely home, then You will be my God.” Throughout the years that passed between that experience and his return to Bethel, Jacob continued to seek his own blessing, and though he reaped his own deception from Laban, his wives, and his children, God was with him and blessed him. I think this is paralleled in the lives of God’s people today, in that children who are raised by Christian parents have to decide at some point to take their parents’ faith as their own, their parents’ God as their own. If we want our lives to have true meaning, we have to finally give up the pursuit of our own self-glorification and seek God’s blessing.

The notion that God’s original intent was for all of Israel to be priests was something I have never thought of before, but based on Exodus 19:16, I agree. I previously understood that only the tribe of Levi had this privilege, because Israel broke the covenant by the golden calf and Levi rallied to the Lord, but I now realize that it was never intended to be that way. The language of Exodus 19:16 is very similar to what the apostle Peter calls the Church: “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9). This makes even more sense in light of the failure of the golden calf of Exodus. God’s intent for Israel as a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” is fulfilled in the Church—everyone who is called out of darkness into His light—the people of God, built on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

The pattern in Scripture that God’s heart was always for all people is becoming more clear to me. Based on His covenant with Abraham, God chose Israel as His treasured possession, and the blessing of the nations would come through Abraham’s seed. The exclusion of other nations from Israel (for example, intermarriage) was because the nations served other gods and would lead Israel into their paganism, not because they were Gentiles. The inclusion of Rahab and Ruth (who pledged to follow Yahweh) points to this. The command against intermarriage is no different from Paul’s command to Christians, “do not be yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14).

In the same vein, within the tribes we see a similar pattern. As was said before, God chose the Levites for the priesthood, but Samuel was an Ephraimite who did the job of a priest and pleased God. God’s concern is for the heart, not for a specific tribe. But those who wanted to get the priesthood for their own gain (Korah—a Levite, Dathan, and Abiram) were destroyed.

I am also learning more about the grace in the Law, or the spirit of the Law. According to Leviticus 24:9, only the priests were allowed to eat the consecrated bread. In 1 Samuel 21, Ahimelech the priest gave it to David and his men without consequence, and later Jesus referred to this when His disciples were accused of breaking the Sabbath. The spirit of the law is to do good to those in need, and they were within that. Another example of this is when Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites for tithing down to their spices but neglecting justice, mercy and faithfulness (Matt 23:23). This is also apparent in Leviticus 19:5, “When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the LORD, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf” (cf. with Samuel’s words to Saul in 1 Sam 15:22b). In other words, a sacrifice could look good to the community and be accepted by the priest, but not be accepted by God because the person’s heart was not for God—he was neglecting justice, mercy and faithfulness, or doing the bare minimum that the law demanded. I have been challenged to look at my own life—am I being legalistic with other people, forcing them into a mold of spirituality, or am I giving grace to them, being merciful and faithful?