Drawing Closer to THE Law

Scripture: Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of families who were the tribal leaders in charge of those who were counted, made offerings. They brought as their gifts before the Lord six covered carts and twelve oxen—an ox from each leader and a cart from every two. These they presented before the tabernacle. The Lord said to Moses, “Accept these from them, that they may be used in the work at the tent of meeting. Give them to the Levites as each man’s work requires.” Numbers 7:2-5

Observation: As the tabernacle and all its items are completed, and the work of maintaining the transporting the tabernacle has now been assigned to the Levite tribes, the 12 tribes of Israel present the Levites with carts and oxen teams.

There is a unique circumstance at play here. Up until now, the work and elements associated with serving and worshipping the Lord have been instructions that originate with the Lord, are given to Moses, who then orders Israel what to do, and they do it. That doesn't happen here. At no time did Moses tell the tribal leaders to make carts and give oxen to pull them. Instead, the leaders came up with this on their own upon seeing the labor involved in managing both the daily work and regular transportation of the tabernacle. And when they present this gift, the Lord immediately steps in and instructs Moses to accept it and assign these resources to the Levitical teams.

This is significant because it shows that Israel was becoming attuned to serving the Lord and giving to him what was necessary, instead of waiting for orders. The Lord seems to have responded with understanding, quickly telling Moses that yes, indeed this is right and accept the gesture, as it could have been easy for Moses to question the gift since the Lord hadn't asked for it. Instead, this represents a move toward maturity by Israel ... not only are they quickly responding to the will of the Lord, but they are themselves becoming attuned to that will and proactively responding without orders from Moses or Aaron.

Application: I saw an interesting and very short commentary about "The Law" yesterday. The person said that the true "law" was simple ... love and obey the Lord, and love others. The Jews failed, so then they were told a short list of clear commands that exemplified how to comply with that law, and the Jews failed. That was when they had to be given over 600 complex and prescriptive instructions. (Spoiler alert: The Jews failed.) In other words, since they refused to just listen to the Lord - to love and obey him on a moment-by-moment basis - they needed a massive compliance checklist. This is why "The Law" is described as insufficient; It was never intended by the Lord to be what it became, but exists in that form because mankind rejected the only real law we ever needed.

All that said, we see today what happens when people begin to move toward embracing the true law. When people love the Lord, desire to serve him, and have compassion on others, the dynamic changes. Instead of the Lord issuing orders and everyone complying, people see a need and respond to it, and the Lord accepts it. The result will be that life is easier for everyone ... the Lord's tabernacle will be honored, most of the Levites will have the tools they need to perform difficult work, and when the Israel camp moves it won't be impeded by the transportation of the tabernacle.

Of course, the Jews are just the example of all mankind. We all fail to obey the true law, and we all fail to comply with the basic commandments, and we all fail to execute on whatever list of proper daily behavior the Lord would ever create for us. And yes, I could and should replace "we all" with "I".

I would like to remember that, when I simply love the Lord, love others, and then take actions that reenforce those two core tenants of my life ... the Lord is honored, and everything will get better and easier for everyone. That is so basic and fundamental, and that is what living into the Lord's will looks like. And that is what living like the kingdom of heaven is here on earth is like, too.

Prayer: Lord, every day I am presented with situations where, if I simply considered what would demonstrate your love to both you and to others, my resulting action would improve my worship, my life, the life of others, and the overall pleasantness of this world. I know I will fail at complying with your laws and precepts and instructions and commands. However, I wish I would better comply with THE law every day. Amen.