Make God An Offering He Can't Refuse
- So, forty years from now, some of these folks are going to live in the land God promised. Yay?
- When they do, there will be some rules. Oh, go on…
- God says that grain and drink offerings are supposed to be paired with animal offerings. More side dishes for bigger animals.
- All Israelites are supposed to do this and, if non-Israelites living among them want to, that's cool with God, too. He treats everyone the same.
- God would also like the people to donate a loaf of bread to the priests every time they bake a batch. Sounds delicious.
- If the people accidentally break one of these laws that God has told them about, they can present an offering and things will be good again. Individual sinners can do the same.
- But if you purposely break a law and don't really care, then you're cut off from the community. So, sorry. Better luck next time, sinner.
Everybody Sinners Must Get Stoned
- Quick story—while the Israelites are wandering around in the wilderness, they catch a guy collecting sticks on the Sabbath. That's considered doing work on the Sabbath and it's a no-no.
- The people aren't sure what to do with him, but then God tells Moses to go ahead and have the people stone him to death. And so they do.
- Um, let that be a reminder to you. Collect your sticks on a Thursday.
- God also tells Moses that the Israelites should put cool blue fringe cords on their clothes. God hopes this will remind them to follow his law instead of sinning their little hearts out. Fingers crossed.