Numbers 6 – Nazirite vows - nazir means “set apart
as sacred, dedicated.” Those who take the vow may not drink wine or strong
drink (anything from grapes). He may not cut his hair or enter where a dead
person is—even family. If someone dies
suddenly in his presence he must cut his hair seven days after, bring two
turtle doves or pigeons to the priest to offer as sin offering and holocaust
and renew his vow.
When the period of
dedication is over, he shall go to the Meeting Tent, bring a yearling lamb for
a holocaust, and unblemished yearling ewe for a sin offering, a ram as a peace
offering along with cereal offering and libations with unleavened cakes and
wafers. He shall then shave his head,
collect his hair and put it in the fire that is under the peace offering. He shall then take a part of each offering
and give it to the priest. Then he may
drink wine again.
Moses
passes on a priestly blessing from the Lord for Aaron and his sons to use: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord let his face shine upon you and be
gracious unto you. The Lord look upon
you kindly and give you peace” (6:24-26).
Numbers 7 – The princes
(“exalted leaders” in Schocken) of the twelve tribes present their gifts—six
baggage (litter) wagons (one for every two princes) and twelve oxen to pull
them (for transporting the Tent and everything). Then follows the individual
offerings of individual princes for the dedication of the altar (7:88)—one each
day--emphasizes the importance of the ceremony, but is repetitious. It describes
the offerings and the sacrifices given by all the tribes over a period of
twelve days.
Of
special interest is Moses’ entrance into the Dwelling in verse 89 and his hearing of God’s voice speaking from the
ark between the two cherubim that decorate the ark. As the prophet of the Lord, Moses has access to the voice of the Lord and
it is to this voice that Moses continually
resorts for guidance.
Numbers 8 – The setting up of
the lampstand and purification of the
Levites. Only the priests were “consecrated”—made sacred and set aside for
the Lord. Purification meant being “sprinkle[d] with the water of remission [hattat or decontamination]” (8:7); then
they must shave their whole body and wash their clothes; make a sin offering.
When the community is assembled before the Meeting Tent, they shall “lay their
hands” on the Levites before the Lord.
The Levites themselves
are a “wave offering” (elevation-offering) made
on behalf of the people (8:11). Then
the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls – one a sin offering, the
other a holocaust “in atonement for the Levites.” Then they shall enter into service, as
substitutes for all the first-born rightfully considered God’s - those saved in
the passover. They served from age 25 to
age 50.
Irenaeus of Lyons
(c.180 AD)
Selections from the Work Against Heresies
Book III – The Faith
in Scripture and Tradition
The Apostolic
Tradition
5 – Irenaeus begins his
discourse with an examination of the Writings of “those apostles who recorded
the gospel.”
These
apostles did not “name any other being as God.” There is only One who is Lord
of all. And they did not, as the Gnostics claim, “adjust their teaching to the
capacity of their hearers, . . . telling blind fables to the blind according to
their blindness, to the sick according to their sickness, and to those who were
going astray according to their error, and to those who thought that the
Demiurge was the only God declaring that this was the case, but to those who
can understand the ineffable Father expounding the unspeakable mystery by
parables and riddles.”
“The
is not the behavior of those who heal and give life, but rather of those who
aggravate disease and increase ignorance.” “The apostles were sent to find
those who were lost, and to bring sight to those who did not see, and healing
to the sick, and so they did not speak to them in accordance with their
previous opinions but manifestation of the truth.”
The
Lord “displayed the Son of God to those of the circumcision, the Christ who was
predicted by the prophets—that is, he showed himself, who restored freedom to
men and gave them the heritage of incorruption. Then the apostles taught the
Gentiles that they should leave the vain sticks and stones which they thought
of as gods, and worship the true God, who had established and made the whole
human race, and by his ordinance nourished, increased, and preserved them, and
gave them their being; and that they should look for his Son Jesus Christ—who
redeemed us from the apostasy by his blood, that we also might be made a holy
people—who is to come down from heaven in the power of the Father, and who is
to execute judgment upon all, and give the good things that come from God to
those who have kept his commandments.”
No comments:
Post a Comment