The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 66: Forbidden Forms of Worship (2024)

Episode Date: March 6, 2024

Fr. Mike discusses the forbidden forms of worship explained in Numbers 17, and why it's important for us to understand how God desired to be worshipped in the Old Testament. Today's readings are Numbers 17, Deuteronomy 17-18, and Psalm 98. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. Today is day 66, and we are reading today from Numbers chapter 17, as well as from Deuteronomy chapter 17 and chapter 18. We're also praying Psalm 98. As always, I am reading from the Bible translation of the Revised Standard Version,

Second Catholic Edition, using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You can also feel free to subscribe to this podcast if you haven't yet. It's been 66 days, roughly, exactly. And maybe it's time. Maybe it's time to commit and subscribe to this podcast by clicking subscribe. But as I said, today is day 66. We're reading Numbers chapter 17, very short chapter today, as well as Deuteronomy 17 and 18 and Psalm 98. The book of Numbers chapter 17, the blossoming of Aaron's rod. The Lord said to Moses, speak to the sons of Israel and get from them rods, one for each father's house, from all their leaders, according to their father's houses, twelve rods.

Write each man's name upon his rod and write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father's house. Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the covenant where I meet with you. And the rod of the man whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they murmur against you. Moses spoke to the sons of Israel and all their leaders gave him rods, one for each leader, according to their father's houses, 12 rods. And the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the tent of the covenant. And the next day Moses went into the tent of the covenant and behold the next day Moses went into the tent of the covenant,

and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the sons of Israel, and they looked, and each man took his rod. And the Lord said to Moses, Put back the rod of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept as the sons of Israel said to Moses, we perish. We are undone. We are all undone. Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord shall die. Are we all to perish? Deuteronomy chapter 17 and chapter 18, chapter 17, forbidden forms of worship. You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect, whatever, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God. If there is found among you, within any of your towns which the Lord your God gives you,

a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing his covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven which I have forbidden, and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abominable thing has been done in Israel, then he shall bring forth to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses, he that is to die shall be put to death. A person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. The hand

of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from the midst of you. Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns which is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the lord your god will choose and coming to the levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days you shall consult them and they shall declare to you the decision

then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place which the lord will choose and you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you according according to the instructions which they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict which they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. The man who acts presumptuously, by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again. Limitations of Royal Authority When you come to the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it, and dwell in it,

and then say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me, you may indeed set as king over you him whom the Lord your God will choose. Run from among your brethren, you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you who is not your brother. Only he must not multiply horses for himself, or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you, you shall never return that way again. horses, since the Lord has said to you, you shall never return that way again. And he shall not multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he multiply for himself silver

and gold. And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, from that which is in the charge of the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it in all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brethren, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children in Israel. Chapter 18. Privileges of Priests and Levites.

The Levitical priests, that is, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the offerings by fire to the Lord and his rightful dues. They shall have no inheritance among their brethren. The Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them. And this shall be the priest's due from the people. From those offering a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. The first fruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first of your fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. For the Lord your God has chosen

him out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever. And if a Levite comes from any of your towns out of all Israel where he lives, and he may come when he desires, to the place which the Lord will choose, then he may minister in the name of the Lord his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand to minister there before the Lord. They shall have equal portions to eat, besides what he receives from the sale of his patrimony. Abominable Practice is Prohibited When you come into the land which the Lord your God gives you,

you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination, a soothsayer, an augur, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominable practices, the Lord your God is driving them out before you. Lord. And because of these abominable practices, the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you are about to dispossess give heed to soothsayers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among

you, from your brethren. Him you shall heed. Just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die. And the Lord said to me, They have rightly said all that they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not heed to my words, which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the

name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, how may we know the word which the Lord has not spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. Psalm 98. Praise the judge of the world. A psalm. Oh, sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory. The Lord has made known his victory. He has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord. All the earth break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody, with trumpets and the sound of the horn. Make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord. Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the world and those who dwell in it. Let the floods clap their hands. Let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity. Father in heaven, we thank you and give you praise. Lord, your psalmist sings your praise and praises you better than we could because it

is your word. It's your Holy Spirit, Lord, that helps us to pray. We ask you, please, today, help us to pray because on our own, we cannot pray as we ought. And so, Lord, help us. Help us give you praise. Help us to see your wisdom in your word and to let it transform our minds and our hearts.

And we give you thanks because you are good and you do good because you are our Father and we are your children. Thank you so much for claiming us as yours. And we claim you as ours, as is our right. We claim our rights in the name of Jesus. Amen. In the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Okay, so we had probably one of our shortest chapters of this entire journey on day 66 in Numbers chapter 17, where there's the story of, again, with rebellion after rebellion, we have the people of Israel being put to the test, essentially, where the Lord says to Moses, okay, take all these rods, mark the names of the fathers of each household, all 12 tribes on them, including Aaron, bring them into the temple of the Lord or tent of meeting, the tabernacle, the holy place. And Aaron's rod is the one that blossoms. And so that means, okay, no, listen, I know you all want to serve in the temple.

I know everyone wants to be a priest, but it's only going to be from the family of Aaron of the tribe of Levi. And so that's our shortest chapter in number 17. Hopefully that will subdue the people and hopefully that they will just accept the authority that God has given them. He said, ironically, we're going to see what happens in the next couple of days with a quick break tomorrow, of course, to talk about the Levitical priesthood once again, because once again, it's so important for us to understand how vital service is, meaning service in terms of worship.

And that is so important. But today we looked into Deuteronomy chapter 17 and chapter 18, and there were talks about forbidden forms of worship. So things not just like turning to other gods, but also what kind of thing can we offer to God? And so if there was a defective sheep or ox or cattle, whatever it was, that defective thing is not given to God. And that reminds us so clearly of the fact that we give God our best.

And that's what we're called to do. If someone does turn away, as chapter 17 says, if someone does turn away and worship false gods, the sun or moon or whatever, the justice of God is so clear here because it's spelled out in the law that if that person is accused by one person that, nope, that's not good enough. They have to have two or three witnesses who can testify, I have seen this person commit idolatry. And not only that, it can't just be one person, someone with a grudge against someone falsely accusing, so he said versus he said, it has to be two or three witnesses. But even then, the penalty being capital punishment, the penalty being death, it's so just brilliant. I mean, it's harsh, but it's brilliant that the person throwing the first stone has to be one of the accusers, has to be one of the witnesses. to be the one of the accusers has to be one of the witnesses in terms of, yeah, I can't just pawn this off to someone else. And again, remember, this is a rough time and these people are being brought from, uh, having virtually no law who might makes right, you know, strength makes the

winner to saying, no, this has to be just, and this is that step. Hi for I tooth for tooth. And even this saying like, okay, not just he said versus he said, but it has to be two or three witnesses. And even then the witnesses are on the line because sure, I can, I can give false witness and then, you know, let me go. But to give false witness and then to be the first person to throw the first stone in this person's death, that costs a lot from a human being. And I think that's, again, the part of the wisdom of God. It's, It's a brutal wisdom, but I do believe it is still wisdom. Going on, just one last, two last things. Even in chapter 17,

we have the limitations of royal authority. Now, Israel doesn't have a king and for a long time, Israel is not going to have a king until King Saul. This is gonna happen like in a while from now. We're gonna go through the period of Joshua. We're gonna go through the period of Judges and Then finally in 1 Samuel, we're going to enter the area of kings. But there's instructions here in Deuteronomy that say, when you come to the land,

the people are going to ask for a king. Here's what the king has to do. The king can't collect horses for himself. That would be like amassing an army for himself and that your sons and daughters are now at his disposal. Also, he should not multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away. That is such a clear, clear line. Because what happens? We have King Saul in the future. Then we have King David. Then we're going to have King Solomon. And Solomon will have 300 wives and 700 concubines. And here is the word of God saying that the king will not multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away. And that is literally exactly what happens to King Solomon, which is 300 wives and 700 concubines. His heart turns to serve other

gods. And that's one of the reasons why in this chapter, right in this next section, it says that that king, when he sits on the throne, he will keep that law to himself and read it every single day so that he's reminded of God's law and doesn't turn away from the Lord. But that is what happens, that Solomon turns away from the Lord, his God. Now, the last, very last note in Deuteronomy chapter 18, we have this. Not only are the abominable practices prohibited, like turning to a sorcerer or a wizard or diviner or necromancer, all these things. But God then promises,

the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me, says Moses, from among you, from your brethren, and you shall listen to him. Ultimately, oh my gosh, ultimately, that prophet like Moses is our Lord Jesus. It is incredible. This is one of the prophecies of Jesus, one of the future foretellings of our Messiah, of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is a prophet like Moses. And it's just remarkable that here we are way back in Deuteronomy chapter 18. Moses is promising the days are going to come when the Lord raises up a prophet like me.

Now, there are other prophets as well, incredible prophets that were like Moses, but Jesus is the one who ultimately fulfills this prophecy of being the fulfillment of that great role of prophet. Jesus Christ is the final, essentially in some ways, the final prophet that leads into a nation of prophets. We know that those who are baptized are anointed, priest, prophet, and king. We talked about that before, but he's the one. It's his prophecy that we share. It's in his power, his role, his ability that we share. We're going to continue in the next couple of days looking at the Levitical priesthood again. And I just want to encourage you to stick with this because it is important for us to understand here is how the Lord desired to be worshipped in the past, and it reveals something even more deeply about how the Lord desires to be worshipped in the present.

I'm praying for you every single day, and I ask that you please pray for me, but also pray for each other because, again, as I've said a thousand times now, roughly 66 times because this is day 66, we are not alone. You are not alone on this. We need to encourage each other and walk with each other and lift each other up. My name is Father Mike, and I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.