The Wood Gatherer (Part III)

The Bible has a large number of passages that just make me squirm. These bitter pills don't make me doubt my faith in God, nor question His goodness or love. But they are difficult to swallow nonetheless. In Part 1 I resolved not to deny or diminish such passages, but instead to dig for meaning and Truth.

Currently I'm struggling with Numbers 15:32-36 where God has the assembly of Israelites stone a Sabbath breaker who was collecting wood. In Part II there is good reason to believe that this man was engaging in active, intentional and defiant rebellion against God. It's clearly not a case of unintentional sin, but a man who held contempt for the Living God.

But even if we ascribe the worst intentions, the most malice, the hardest heart of rebellion to the wood gatherer, we're still faced with the stiff reality that God had this man killed. And, even more, God commanded the assembly of people to do the actual deed. This was no fire from heaven episode, supernatural plague, or hailstones cast from the hand of God. But this man died, bloody blow by blow with stones cast from the hands his tribesmen, brethren, people he travelled with. Were family members present? Close friends? How long did the people who participated keep the image of the dying man's face in their minds? Did they see him in their sleep years later?

This passage joins a Biblical pharmacy of other bitter pills that are tough to swallow:

--Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10)
--Korah and company (Num 16)
--Uzzah (1 Chron 13:9-10)
--Anybody not named "Noah" or immediately related in his time (Gen 6:5-8).

And before we broad-brush the New Testament as being the "nice part of the Bible", let's remember:

--Annanais and Saphira (Acts 5)
--Most any moment within the Great Tribulation (Revelation)
--The guy Paul delivered to Satan for the destruction of his flesh (1 Cor 5:1-5)
--Jesus teaching more about hell, eternal torment, weeping, gnashing of teeth than anybody else in the Bible.

So how do we reconcile the God who is love having wrath? Grace with judgement? Heaven with hell? Jesus the gentle Lamb of God also the coming King who will destroy his enemies with His breath?

The answer might come by thinking about what might have happened if God didn't act as He did. What if God let the sin, rebellion, and contempt go unchecked? What if the wood-gatherer went out on the Sabbath and nothing happened? Probably not much would change. For a time. But sin tends to grow, both within the heart/mind of a person and through his community. One broken law leads to another. One law breaker leads to another.

But, we might say, "Well, so what if one sin leads to another? Nobody got hurt when he gathered his sticks. Maybe even some good came out of it, because he could feed and warm his family." But the Lord instituted the Sabbath out of love and concern for his people. Think of the grace involved in dedicating a day to rest and worship. A life without rest and worship is not without consequence, both to communities and individuals. The argument is even more clear with the other commands related to living in community (lying, adultry, murder). If the Sabbath Breaker has no consequence for his sin, he's more likely to move down the list of offenses. If he goes unchecked. We know this in our lives, that sin unchecked breeds more sin. Not until we repent and the Holy Spirit convicts can we bear fruit for the Lord.

Just look at the Philistines to get a picture of sin left unchecked: immorality that stained the very earth (Lev 18:25), sacrificing their own children to the false god Molech (Lev 18:21) as a few examples.

"Well and good," we might say, "But still, isn't stoning too harsh? What about a slap on the wrist? Or a time out? Or taking away the wood-gatherers Xbox for a week?"

To me, the issue comes down to three main points:

The Wages of Sin
Romans 6:23 seems to hit the nail on the head. Not understanding the wages of sin, is to underestimate the true ugly offense of sin, the cost, the insult to a holy God. The price paid for sin is death, both in spiritual separation from God and in the physical destruction of our bodies. The price paid for sin is ruin and discord in families, marriages, between parent/child, siblings, friends. There is separation and alienation between people in any organization greater than 1 in size. The cross of Jesus is the culmination of the wages of sin. God's own Son dying for our sin. The wood-gatherer's death is not the marvel, but the norm. When a sinner dies, it is a "dog bites man" story. But the true wonder and marvel is when mercy is shown to a sinner and he is forgiven by the blood of Jesus and given new life. This is a "man bites dog" story and really worthy of wonder.

"But why wasn't the wood-gatherer shown mercy? Why wasn't God patient with him?" By understanding the passage in context, it is very likely that this wood-gatherer did experience a life of forbearance, patience with God. He was delivered from Egypt and shown miracles that should've turned any heathen to a believer. Yet he decided rebel. And his time was up. The piper must be paid, but from whose pocket? Mine? Yours? Or do we let Jesus pick up the tab for our sin?


The Holiness of God
God's hate for sin is the other side of His love for us. Because He is good, then His very nature is to squash evil. Otherwise, He would not be good. The policeman that allows the bank heist to proceed isn't a good cop. Nor the fireman who turns his back on the blazing inferno, consuming the house with his own family. When the Bible says that "God is Holy" it means that he is entirely separate and set apart from sin. There is no co-mingling. For a time God is allowing sin and evil to proceed for the sake of the salvation of the elect. But a time will come where all evil is destroyed, all unrighteous cast out, every tear wiped away, every hurt healed, even death itself will be cast in the lake of fire. And those who die without faith in the one true living God will also perish. They could not tolerate his majestic glory with the stain of sin. When we are washed clean of sin, rebellion, and evil then will be able to bask in His holiness, see His face, dwell in His full glory. But only because Jesus paid the wages of our sin by his death to satisfy the Holy God and Father.


The Name of God
Though I'm still squeamish about the "smite button" on God's remote control, the resolution of the love/wrath questions also lies in the name of God. Exodus 34:5,6,7 captures it perfectly (and is easy to remember because of the 3, 4, 5, 6, 7!). This is the passage that is commonly called the John 3:16 of the Old Testament:

Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”

If the Hebrews played football back in the day, a sign with this verse would be held up behind the goal posts.

I believe that we will spend eternity learning the full meaning of His name, the depth of His character, the breadth of His love, the glory of His holiness. I pray for courage to learn about these things now in His scripture, even in a wood-gatherer.

The Wood Gatherer (Part II)

In part 1 of looking at Numbers 15:32-36 I decided to dig into a very unsettling passage of the OT rather than deny it exists or somehow diminish it's message:

While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. And the Lord said to Moses, "The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.". And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the Lord commanded Moses.

[taking deep breath, spitting in hands, picking up shovel, beginning to dig...]

To begin with, I want to gather some facts... Wait, backup. To begin with I want to pray to the same God who thousands of years ago issued this judgement on a man to be killed for gathering wood.

Lord God Almighty, Father in heaven, I'm having a very difficult time looking at this passage and then looking at you. I'm frankly more comfortable right now with your Son who saved an adultress from being stoned to death. I'm more comfortable with the Spirit who softens hearts of stone. But you, Father, issued a death warrant to somebody doing light duty work on the Sabbath. Isn't this the type of thing your Son rebuked the Pharisees for? Father, please give me eyes to see and ears to hear. I love you and want to know you more, but I'm more than a bit uneasy with this snapshot of you in your word. Show me the Way, Guide me into the Truth, give me fullness of Life. In Jesus name. Amen.

Now to begin gathering facts from the passage:

The setting: Sinai desert, not far the Jordan River.

The time: An unspecified Sabbath day, soon after the nation of Israel was turned back from the promised for inciting rebellion. Within a few months or perhaps a few years after being set free from Egypt.

The players: 1) wood-gatherer; 2) God; 3) people who found the wood-gatherer; 4) Moses; 5) Aaron; 6) the assembly or congregation of the Israeilites.

The text doesn't give much info up about the wood-gatherer other than he's a man. We can safely assume a Hebrew. Moving beyond that, we need to play Sherlock Holmes with deduction. He most likely endured slavery in Egypt under the torment of the Pharoah. Was there ever blood on his hands from the slaughtered Passover Lamb? Did he peak his head out of the window to see the destroyer killing the Egyptian firstborn sons?

He might have stuck his hand into the wall of water that towered on either side of him as he crossed the Red Sea on dry ground. He likely sang the song of Moses when they reached safety and saw the destruction of Pharoah's army. Did this man also gather wood to melt the gold to make the golden calf idol when Moses was on the mountain? He probably saw the lightening, heard the deafening thunder of God on the mountain.

Did he mourn the deaths of Nadab and Abihu when they were killed by God in the temple for another seemingly minor infraction (Lev. 10)? Did he grumble about not having food in the desert, then grumble about the mana after a time, then grumble about the quail that God brought? He surely saw the pillar of fire and cloud as God led Israel in the desert. Did he tremble in fear when the scouts delivered a bad report of the promised land? Then pick up stones to kill Joshua and Caleb who delivered the good report of the promised land? Did God personally stay the hand of this man to keep Joshua from being stoned?

He heard the reading of the Law by Moses given by the Lord. He saw numerous miracles and knew God's awesome power firsthand. God's holy standards cannot be argued to be a surprise to the wood gatherer. Especially the command to rest on the Sabbath.

To bring these events into clearer focus, let's look at the passages immediately before and after for context.

In the passages before, God gives instructions for unintentional sins committed by the people (Num 15:22-29) and, more importantly, for intentional, defiant sins (vs 30-31):

“ ‘But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the Lord's word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.’ ”

The wood-gatherer passage is followed immediately by another horrible episode where Korah leads a rebellion against Moses and Aaron, he gets torched, along with 250 other rebels, then 14,700 people get killed by a plague because they sided against Moses and Aaron and ultimately against God.

These before and after bookends shine interesting light and the author of Numbers is probably sending a message in the arrangement: the wood collector wasn't just some guy who forgot that it was Saturday, an absent minded bumbler who accidentally strayed. If it was unintentional then there would be atonement (vs 22-26).

But the Lord had such a strong reaction that we can conclude that this man was being defiant, knew exactly what he was doing, he's despising the Lord's word. This might have been a regular pattern or habit of breaking the Sabbath. Or perhaps the first time, but with an "in your face God!" attitude.

The man who sees the mighty power of God displayed countlessly, who knows first hand His righteous and holy law yet still spits in God's eye is indeed treading on thin ice. Was he a husband and father, setting a bad example and leading his family into sin? Was he an elder of his tribe and leading the community to despise the Lord's commands?

Is it too much of a stretch to say that what seems like a small, minor infraction (getting wood) was more likely a serious transgression (participating in a wider rebellion against the Holy Living God)? The context certainly draws this conclusion. And from this we can learn quite a lot about this simple wood gatherer. But the next question is what can we learn about God from His reaction to the wood gatherer?

In Part 3 I'd like to chew on what it means that the sovereign God would kill somebody for violating the Sabbath. What does that reveal about His character, His personality, His name? And how does this mesh with His more popular and "likable" qualities of being loving, forgiving, and gracious?