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Saturday, July 28 2007
by Wayne Blank
Offerings to The Lord were based upon ability. While the wealthy were not in effect punished (as some governments do to their most prosperous citizens with "progressive" taxation rates) for being financially successful (i.e. tithing was a flat 10 percent), special vows were made equal according to one's productive capability, the reason that Jesus Christ said that a poor widow gave more than the rich did i.e. "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty" (Mark 12:43-44 RSV)
"The Lord said to Moses [see also The Trysting Tent], "Say to the people of Israel, When a man makes a special vow of persons to The Lord at your valuation, then your valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels [see Biblical Weights and Measures] of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. If the person is a female, your valuation shall be thirty shekels. If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, your valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. If the person is from a month old up to five years old, your valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver. And if the person is sixty years old and upward, then your valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. And if a man is too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall bring the person before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the ability of him who vowed the priest shall value him." (Leviticus 27:1-8 RSV)"All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is The Lord's; it is holy to The Lord. If a man wishes to redeem any of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. And all the tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff, shall be holy to The Lord. A man shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, neither shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed."
These are the commandments which The Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai." (Leviticus 27:30-34 RSV)
Numbers Chapter 1
Bible History also provides practical information such as census counts because The Lord instructed the Israelites to do so. Part of the counting was to determine the number of military age males, "from twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go forth to war."
"The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai [see also The Wilderness of Sin], in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, "Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by families, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head; from twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go forth to war, you and Aaron shall number them, company by company. And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers." (Numbers 1:1-4 RSV)
The exception were the Levites whose duties were entirely to The Lord (although the Levites had frequently demonstrated their ability and willingness as deadly warriors). Only specific Levites were permitted to touch the Holy things; anyone else would be put to death by The Lord i.e. "the Levites shall set it up. And if any one else comes near, he shall be put to death" (see also Raiders Of The Lost Ark)
"Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel; but appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony [see also The Lines Of Eleazar and Ithamar], and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it; they are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall tend it, and shall encamp around the tabernacle. When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any one else comes near, he shall be put to death." (Numbers 1:49-51 RSV)
Numbers Chapter 2
The order of the camp around the Tabernacle was also specified by The Lord:
"The Lord said to Moses [see The Education Of Moses] and Aaron, "The people of Israel shall encamp each by his own standard, with the Ensigns of their fathers' houses; they shall encamp facing the tent of meeting on every side." (Numbers 2:1-2 RSV)
Prior to the Exodus, the Israelites had been feared by the Egyptians because of their great number. The census confirms why the Pharaoh would have been concerned about such a large force of foreign military-age males within his borders i.e. "all in the camps who were numbered by their companies were 603,550"
"These are the people of Israel as numbered by their fathers' houses; all in the camps who were numbered by their companies were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. But the Levites were not numbered among the people of Israel, as The Lord commanded Moses.Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that The Lord commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, every one in his family, according to his fathers' house." (Numbers 2:32-34 RSV)
Fact Finder: Is there yet to come a future "camp of the saints"? What permanent city will replace it?
See The Camp
Today's Word
The Holy Bible was primarily written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. Today's Word examines the pronunciation and literal meaning of one of those actual words of the Holy Scriptures and how it is usually translated into English-language Bibles.
The Hebrew word pronounced owb means water bottle or someone who talks to the dead. It is most often translated for use in English language Bibles as vessel, bottle or familiar spirit.
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This Day In History, July 28
1540: King Henry VIII of England married Catherine Howard, his fifth wife.
1586: The first potatoes arrived in England from Colombia, brought by Sir Thomas Harriot.
1588: Numerous Spanish galleons were destroyed when Admiral Howard sent English fire ships into the Spanish fleet, which was anchored off Calais, to try to stop their attempted invasion of Britain.
1615: French explorer Samuel de Champlain discovered Lake Huron on his seventh voyage to the New World.
1656: The Battle of Warsaw in the First Northern War began when Charles X of Sweden invaded Poland.
1794: Maximilien Robespierre was guillotined with four political allies. Known as "The Incorruptible," he played a leading role in the French Revolution and launched the "Reign of Terror."
1809: The British under Sir Arthur Wellesley defeated the French under Marshal Victor at the Battle of Talavera, southwest of Madrid.
1821: Peru declared itself independent of Spain.
1835: King Louis Napoleon of France survived an assassination attempt by Giuseppe Maria Fleschi, who rigged 25 guns together and fired them all with the pull of a single trigger.
1858: The first use of fingerprints as a means of identification was made by William Herschel of the Indian Civil Service at Jungipur in India. He took the print of Rajyadhar Konai on the back of a contract.
1868: The 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, granting citizenship to the black people of the USA.
1914: Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia after the June 28 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. This led to further declarations of war, leading to the First World War.
1941: During The Second World War, 30,000 Japanese troops invaded French Indochina.
1945: A US B-25 bomber, lost in clouds and fog, slammed into the side of the Empire State Building in New York City. The "skyscraper" building withstood the powerful impact. 14 people were killed.
1976: A magnitude 7.9 earthquake completely destroyed the city of Tangshan in China; it killed an estimated 242,000 and injured more than 150,000 - the highest quake casualty toll of modern times.
1981: Prince Charles married Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral in a ceremony televised around the world and watched by an estimated 700 million people. It was called "the stuff fairy tales are made of." They separated 11 years later in 1992, and were divorced 15 years later in 1996. Dianna was killed in a car crash in 1997.
