“You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by your own hearts and eyes.”
~ Numbers 15:39
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you know sin? Do you sin? Do you know how a guy, gal or kid sins? Disobedience is sin. Breaking a law of the land is sin. Breaking an established rule is being disobedient. Do you break established rules? Every guy, gal and kid who has lived, is living and will live on planet Earth – except Jesus Christ, has, is and will sin. Sin has been, is and will be a given and a constant in the life of every guy, gal and kid who has lived, is living and will live on planet Earth. Every guy, gal and kid has broken and will break rules. Sometimes a guy, gal or kid will break a rule or law because he or she thought that it was okay not to obey the rule or the law. Sometimes a guy, gal or kid will end up breaking a rule or law because he or she did not know that what he or she was doing was against the rule or the law. Sometimes a guy, gal or kid will break a rule or law because he or she wants to defiantly disobey the rule or the law. Is there a rule in your house that you have ignored and/or not obeyed – even though you knew that you should obey the rule? Is there a rule in your house that you did not obey – because you did not know that it was a rule that you were to obey? Is there a rule in your house that you have deliberately, defiantly disobeyed – even though you knew that there would be a harsh consequence for purposely, rebelliously disobeying the rule if you were caught? Ask your dad if he ever broke a house rule when he was a kid like you. What do you think that life would be like if there were no rules or laws? If kids – like you, could do whatever they wanted to do, how would kids know what was right and what was wrong to do when they are older? Learning to obey rules and laws is part of becoming older.
God gave His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group’s guys and gals, rules and laws that He expected them to obey. God expected His specially chosen guys and gals to make animal sacrifices to Him. God’s specially chosen guys and gals did not make God happy when after they had made an animal sacrifice to Him, that they did not make another offering to Him – such as an offering of fine flour and oil or an offering of wine. God was not happy when a guy or gal – who was an alien or foreigner who was living among His specially chosen guys and gals did not do what God wanted or expected him or her to do because he or she – because of being an alien or foreigner, did not know what God wanted or expected him or her to do. What God especially did not like at all was having one of His specially chosen guys or gals go out of his or her way to defiantly disobey something that He expected that His specially chosen guys and gals to observe because of knowing the rules or laws that He had passed on through Moses to them – such as keeping one day a week holy as a day of rest. Moses wrote in Numbers 15 about one of God’s specially chosen guys who went out to collect firewood on the designated day of rest – which was called the Sabbath day. What would you have done with this guy who collected firewood on a day that was to be used to just rest? Moses asked God what to do. God told Moses to have His specially chosen guys take the guy outside the Israelite people group’s camp and stone the guy to death. God was very serious about wanting and expecting His specially chosen guys and gals to follow and obey His rules and His laws. Do you think that a guy should be killed today if the guy did not obey a rule and a law that God expected him to obey?
There will be times when you will do something unintentionally that will break a rule or a law. What do you think will happen to you if you were to unintentionally break a rule or a law? You will suffer the consequences for unintentionally breaking a rule or a law. Before your grandpaa moved to Delaware where your grandpaa would marry your grandmaa, your grandpaa decided to live and work in the Minneapolis area. It took a little while but your grandpaa finally ended up with a job sandblasting car heater parts. Your grandpaa moved to Minneapolis in the fall. While driving to work one morning – after it had snowed some the night before, your grandpaa caught up with a slow moving car. Your grandpaa saw a second car’s left blinker come on – as it prepared to pass the slow moving car. The passing car was about a hundred feet or so ahead of your grandpaa’s car. What your grandpaa did not know was that the car that was passing the slower moving car was planning to make a left hand turn. Your grandpaa at the time – along with the other two cars, was going around a curve. When your grandpaa got around the curve, your grandpaa found the passing car stopped – waiting for oncoming cars to pass so that it could turn left down a street. Your grandpaa had lots of time to stop but . . . the snow on the street made the street very slippery. Your grandpaa can still feel the car that he was driving sliding and sliding down the street – until his car hit the stopped car. The driver’s side fender on your grandpaa’s car got pushed up some, the hood got crinkled and the grill got pushed into the radiator. Your grandpaa’s car insurance covered the cost of repairing the damage to the car that your grandpaa’s car smashed into. The car that your grandpaa’s car hit did not suffer that much damage but . . . your grandpaa could no longer drive his car as it was too badly damaged. Because the accident was your grandpaa’s fault – even though the accident would not have happened if the street had not been snow covered, your grandpaa had to accept the responsibility for what happened. God did not want any of His specially chosen guys and gals disobeying any of His rules or His laws so in verse 39 God told them through Moses, “You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by your own hearts and eyes.” The house rules that your dad and ma have for you to obey are teaching you to be obedient to God.
Numbers 15 (255)