Click here to read Numbers 28 on BibleGateway.com
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to really trust? We’ve probably all played that game at work retreats or youth groups wherein someone stands with their back to another person and then just falls over, trusting the other person to catch them. How many of us actually let ourselves fall straight back? I know I always gave up about halfway through my descent, throwing a foot out behind me. Fully trusting someone is one of the hardest things to do, especially if that someone is your friend who thinks it’d be funny to watch you bounce off the carpet.
Did you notice in today’s reading how many sheep/bulls/etc were sacrificed to God in a given year? 2 a day every day, plus 2 more on each Sabbath, plus 10 for each new month, plus 10 for the Passover, plus 10 for the Feast of weeks, etc etc etc. That’s almost a thousand animals every year, by my count. And that’s just for starters; there’s all kinds of other sacrifices prescribed throughout the rest of the Pentateuch. That’s a large chunk o’ change, no matter who you are. Going by the price of hamburger at the grocery store, I can only image what the price for a whole cow is.
I WILL GLADLY PAY YOU BACK TUESDAY
How easy would it have been for the Israelites to look at these requirements and think “no way, I can’t afford that. My family needs to eat them critters, not burn em up.” Don’t we do the same thing? “I can’t afford to tithe/give an offering this week; the heating bill is due. I’ll make it up to God next paycheck.”
The Israelites saw this principle more clearly than we do, but it’s still applies even though we have to work a little harder to see the connection. Who ultimately provided the livestock for the Holy BBQ? Doesn’t it all come from God anyway? If we give our whole paycheck to the missionary that visits church, will God just forget about us as we eat cardboard? If we offer our livelihood to God, do we really think that He won’t be able to afford to pay us back?
IN GOD WE TRUST
What’s the underlying assumption when we say things (or think them) like this? Isn’t it really saying that God may not provide for us? “I can’t quit my job and do ministry; how will I make house payments? How will my family eat?” Not to say that everyone should quit their job and do ministry, but what is our motivation? Is it because we honestly feel we’re doing what God wants us to do, or is it because we don’t trust Him to provide?
Are you able to give up your own provision and trust God?