“Here is a list of the names of the provincial officials who came to live in Jerusalem. (Most of the people, priests, Levites, Temple servants, and descendants of Solomon’s servants continued to live in their own homes in the various towns of Judah, but some of the people from Judah and Benjamin resettled in Jerusalem.)

From the tribe of Judah:

Athaiah son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the family of Perez.”

Nehemiah 11:3-4 NLT

Wow, it has been a while. God has been so kind in bringing me face to face with my sin these past 7 months. His Word continues to penetrate, judging the thoughts and attitudes of my heart. And He’s not finished revealing to me my need of Him. Maybe to you, too.

I desperately needed a refresher on where the heck we were at in the book of Nehemiah. And in case you do, too, I thought we’d catch back up with a big picture review.

We likely remember the first section of the book: Nehemiah returning to the city of his people and the wall being built – amidst much opposition – in a record number of days, causing the peoples around to fear Yahweh. With the city of God more secure, Nehemiah obeyed God’s prompting to register the people by family genealogy and help populate Jerusalem.

In the seventh month, in accordance with the Law, the people gathered and Ezra opened the Book of the Law of Moses and began to read to the people. The Levites were there giving the sense to the common folk, translating for a formerly-exiled audience who knew little of Torah. As they listened and understood, they began to weep and mourn at how far short they had fallen.

Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest, and the Levites encouraged the people that the joy of the LORD was their strength. So they obeyed God and celebrated, observed the Festival of Booths, and listened to the Book of the Law.

On the eighth day, all the people gathered in sackcloth with dust on their heads, and “confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.” Then the whole assembly stood to praise Covenant Yahweh, recounting the centuries of His faithfulness and their corresponding rebellion, ending with this confession:

“In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; 

you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. 

Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors 

did not follow your law; they did not pay attention

to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep.”

Nehemiah 9:33-34

Whew, still with me? All of that led up to what we had been previously studying:

“In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, 

putting it in writing, and our leaders,

our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”

Nehemiah 9:38

The people made a covenant and signed it, promising to obey God, and we had been looking at the specifics. Things such as not marrying those who worship other gods and promising to observe the Sabbath and God’s holy festivals. Giving the land a break and cancelling all debts every seven years, mirroring a God of mercy. Sacrificing offerings and providing wood for the fire, extending firstborns and relinquishing first fruits. And bringing the tithe into the storehouse, for

“We will not neglect the house of our God.”

Nehemiah 10:39b

Doesn’t such a recap stir something in you? That we would sit corporately under Holy Writ, confess our sins and the sins of our ancestors, and acknowledge the ways in which we have acted wickedly.

We are a deeply divided nation and our refusal to do the above has brought us to this present moment. Make no mistake: as a country we are not like the nation state of Israel in the Word. America’s democracy is not the same as God choosing a people to represent Him. The Church serves a Savior Whose kingdom is not of this world.

But our inability to acknowledge truth in the Church in this country is crippling us. God is purifying His Bride, exposing idols, offering to tear down strongholds, willing to heal generational sin, and giving us time to let His kindness lead us to repentance. We get to examine the fruit of our ways and, if rotten, uproot and replant.

The interesting thing to me is what I’m doing as I type this. I laid down on our couch with gum in my mouth during a break teaching online school yesterday. When the school day was over, I realized I had gum on my pants, shirt, and the couch. Today? I have to put ice on one section, scrape what has hardened enough to pull up, then move onto the next section. Then repeat, as there are deep layers involved in gum stuck to fabric.

It’s doable, friends. Those of us who follow Jesus have the Spirit inside us – the One Who is powerful enough to take a dead Person and make Him alive. Resurrection is possible if we are willing to cooperate.

But let’s dig into the verse for today. Last time we saw a casting of lots and one out of every 10 people settling in Jerusalem in order to help populate the capitol. Today we are looking at a list of leaders of the province whose duty it was to lead from Jerusalem. Leader is rosh – head, bodyguard, captain, chief, leader, and province is medinah – realm, judgeship, jurisdiction, from diyn – to judge, defend, dispute, execute judgment, govern, plead, vindicate.

Those whose job was to be the head of a realm settled in the capitol city. Theirs was the responsibility to execute right judgements, defend those whose who needed it, and govern with justice. America is not Israel, but all leaders will stand before God and give an account for how they handled the responsibility of governing their jurisdiction. And when our execution of judgments disproportionately disadvantages the poor and marginalized, we will be held accountable.

These leaders of the province didn’t just visit Jerusalem, they settled (yashab – to abide) there. What we are abiding in? From where does our nourishment come? Asking myself at the same time: are we more interested in being right than loving? In our loving, are we more focused on the good of others or what is most comfortable? Do we care more about peace keeping or peace making? Are we as believers obeying the command to pray for governmental leadership? Are we willing for those prayers to include a tearing down of idols and a trampling down of high places rather than the most vulnerable?

“Of the children of Judah, Athaiah the son of Uzziah.”

Athaiah is up first and his name means “Yah has helped,” from Yah and uth/ush – to help, sustain, hasten, speak in season, to lend aid, assemble oneself. This verse is the only occurrence of his name.

I am struck by the part of the definition of help being “to speak in season.” When I speak only in my own strength, I reap the consequences of not speaking in season. It is not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit. And yet the reverse can be true as well. When it is time to speak up, holding our tongues should not be a response to injustice.

And can I be honest? I believe those whose season it is to speak are those who have been warning us all along of consequences of white supremacy and Christian nationalism. All the microphones should be given to those who understand what it means to be marginalized and have the spiritual authority to speak to us in our national moment.

I’m grateful our first provincial leader’s name means Yah has helped.

Indeed, Yahweh, help us.

“Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten of them to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns. The people commended all who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.”

Nehemiah 11:1-2

Last time we saw the final vows our group took to uphold the Law of God. Today we see the group’s next step in establishing a community that honors Yahweh to a watching world.

The leaders (sar – chief, captain, commander, officer, official, general, governor, a head person [of any rank or class]) of the people (am – folk) settled (yashab – to abide, remain, dwell, stay, wait, endure, continue, establish, to sit down [specifically as judge. In ambush, in quiet) in Jerusalem.

First we see the leaders making the choice to settle in Jerusalem. This word for leader means anything from captain to general to governor to a person of any rank or class who is the head. These are the ones with the title and position, designated officials to govern the rest. And the fact that they remained, endured, waited, abided in the capital city is significant for stability, protection, and fulfilling the vows they just declared and signed.

Leaders, how does this sit with us? Those of us who bear a position in any portion of life are being looked at to see whether we are abiding as we should. If our judgements are just, like our Father’s.

No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
    I’ll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing
    people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
    Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
    so I don’t have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
    Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
    Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
    Go to bat for the defenseless.

Isaiah 1:15-17 MSG

If we endure in speaking out, particularly when human lives are on the line. If, like me, we are given privilege that could allow us to ignore injustice, but choose not to. 

And it must be said: when black people are being murdered in the streets, are we using our positions of influence to call such crimes evil? No, are we handing over the microphone to black leaders who have lived with gross injustice all their lives and leading the rest of us in this time? And then following their leadership?

The rest of the people in our passage were not from Jerusalem and had homes elsewhere. Rest for “rest of the people” in Hebrew is shear – other, remnant, survivors. Those who had returned from exile and settled in, built their homes, began to work the land. Those without designated titles of leadership but vowing to obey Yahweh all the same.

This group of the people cast lots to see which one-tenth of them would live in Jerusalem. You might remember, Nehemiah had already had the people enroll in a genealogy to see whose pre-exile ancestors dwelt in the capital. Apparently, to continue on in this inhabiting of Jerusalem, one out of every ten families was also to join those making the city their new home. To do this, they were to cast lots.

Cast is naphal – fall, lie, allot, cast down, divide by lot, fail, die; and lots is goral – allotted portion, territory allotted, pebble, portion, destiny. And this was to see who would dwell in the holy (qodesh – apartness, consecrated, sacred, things dedicated) city.

So the group is rolling the dice, tossing pebbles, to find each family group’s territory, allotted portion, destiny in the sacred city. Perhaps you are like me and, while having a title of leadership in a certain area, overall your daily life is one of ordinary folk. You aren’t a governor or senator, the president of a company or a pastor of a church. And, also perhaps like me, you are dumbfounded at the way we get to participate in the holy, the sacred things.

May we never, ever forget human lives are sacred. We know this because we are pro-life. We believe that all life is precious. And one way we are invited to participate in the holy on our watch is to make sure black lives matter in our police system, governing laws, and our own hearts.

This country was founded on the opposite: casting our lots by making territory that does not belong to us ours through violence, genocide, and forced relocation of native peoples, then enslaving human beings like chattel in order to keep and expand that land. And now? Using violent force to ensure its protection. Manifest destiny? Or a history with which we must reckon in ourselves and before the God Who Sees?

The final section of our verses is all the people commending (barak – kneel, thank, abundantly bless, salute) those who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. Volunteered is nadab – to incite, freewill offering, willing, to volunteer as a soldier, to present spontaneously. The people who were to return to their homes thanked those who willingly offered themselves to help populate the holy city.

It makes me smile because they weren’t exactly volunteering, it was the luck of the dice, the lots cast. And yet, they were going to fulfill their duty, perhaps leaving homes they recently built, transferring possessions, beginning the work of making a new home from scratch. 

I’ve got to ask those of us who – whether we feel like it is true or not – have been born into privilege whether we are willing to fulfill our duty? We might need to be honest about the cost we must count, but it helps to keep in mind our brothers and sisters who count the cost daily living in our divided culture. When overt racism and white supremacy come out from the shadows in which they have always lingered, we must take a stand. This is not about a difference of opinion, it is calling evil, evil. Then it is taking it a step further to learn from and support those doing the work day in, day out.

May we bow before the Creator of all and willingly offer ourselves to righteousness.

“Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and olive oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work.

A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury.

The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and olive oil to the storerooms, where the articles for the sanctuary and for the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the musicians are also kept.

“We will not neglect the house of our God.”

Nehemiah 10:37-39

Last time we saw the community vow to bring the firstfruits of their crops, fruit trees, flocks and herds, and their sons – holding open their hands to the Father of Heavenly Lights, from Whom every good and perfect gift comes.

Today we begin with a few more firsts, including first of the dough or ground meal. First here is reshith – beginning, chief, choice; of dough, and dough is arisah – course meal.

This one is interesting to me as it is simply the difference between bringing grains fresh from the field and ground meal or prepared dough to sacrifice. And the thing that honestly popped into my head was, “Haven’t they already offered this grain to God?”

It reminds me of quibbling about tithing net or gross income, or a tax return. And it strikes a chord at our greed, my greed.

Sheesh, how much does God want?

How much sin can I get away with?

How little can I think of others in my decision making?

Holy Writ is in such contrast:

“… walk in the way of love..“

“…find out what pleases the Lord…”

“For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”

Apparently God is very interested in us offering the work of our hands in every form. Not just reaping and sowing, but the more intimate grinding to bake, sell, or store. The baking of bread for nourishment of self and others. This, too, is an offering to God. It pleases the Lord.

Next is offerings of new wine and oil. Offerings is terumah – contribution for sacred uses, heave offering, shoulder, lifted up from rum – to be high or exalted. Isn’t that interesting? Do you picture something heavy being shoved onto shoulders to hand up to someone?

Sometimes what is given us to offer up is heavy. Weighty offerings that require our all. Good thing we can lift our eyes to the hills, knowing where our help comes from.

The group also assured in their covenant they would bring these offerings to the proper place: the storerooms of the house of Elohim. Storerooms is lishkah – room, chamber, hall, cell, parlor. We’ll get into that more in a second.

The group was also to bring the tithes (masser – tenth part/tithe) of land to the Levites. The reason? “For they should receive the tithe in all communities (iyr – city, excitement) of our farming (abodah – labor, service).

This, too, seems a different command than firstfruits of a crop with the understanding more will come. Instead, it is a tenth of everything they sow in all the lands of God’s people.

For a people whose parents were the first to return from exile, where obedience to the law was minimal without Temple, this would likely seem a weighty command.

How about you? Were you raised to give a tenth to God? If so, this may be a given. If you weren’t, or never have, it could seem like a hefty chunk to give each paycheck. Like that weighty boulder on your shoulders.

And, it, too, can turn into a form of bondage:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

Matthew 23:23

So even God in the flesh says we shouldn’t neglect the tithe, but, instead, should not assume it is all that is needed to walk in the way of the kingdom. To ensure God has our hearts, allegiance. We can write that tithe check – or have it automatically given – each time, then mosey on ignoring systemic injustice, participating in slander of our brothers and sisters, and loving only those who agree with us. Seem like missing the point to you? Me, too. Apparently to Jesus as well.

Let’s keep going, though, because the way in which this tithing was to go down was also vowed by our group: a priest from the descendants of Aaron was to be with the Levites when they received the tithes from the people. Then the Levites were to bring up (alah – go up, ascend, climb, exalt, offer, arise) a tenth of the tithes to the house of Elohim to the rooms of the treasury (otsar – treasure, store, armory, cellar).

So a priest was to be with the Levites, then a tenth of the tenth was to go into the treasury. And the rest?

“I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting.”

(Numbers 18:20-25)

“And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.”

Deuteronomy 14:22-29

“Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps [of tithe from the people]; and Azariah the chief priest, from the family of Zadok, answered, ‘Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the Lord has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.’

Hezekiah gave orders to prepare storerooms in the temple of the Lord, and this was done. Then they faithfully brought in the contributions, tithes and dedicated gifts.”

2 Chronicles 31:9-12

The tithe was similar to sacrifices in that the Levites were given the grain and dough and wine and oil to eat since they were given no land to farm. In exchange for serving in Temple, these tithes and offerings were their paycheck.

This next part is interesting to me: “For the storeroom is where the articles of the sanctuary were.” Articles here is keli – utensil, vessel, earthen ware, jar, jewel, pottery, tool, yoke; and sanctuary is miqdash – a sacred place, chapel, holy place, hallowed part.

The storeroom was also where utensils used to serve in the holy place were kept. The tithe belonged there among such sacred articles. This giving to the LORD matters. Malachi agrees:

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

Malachi 3:10

And finally from today’s vow:

“We will not neglect the house of our God.”

Neglect is azab – loose ourselves from, forsake, leave destitute. The group promised to not loose from themselves these vows to serve Temple. Likely with the full understanding that it was not simply for God’s sake, but for their own good.

May we not neglect the house of our God in our day – whether protecting our vulnerable brothers and sisters, opening our hands when He says give, or refusing to compare and compete with the family of God.

“We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree.

As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there.”

Nehemiah 10:35-36

Last time we saw the group create a schedule for when to bring wood for the altar fire, making sure we know which things to lay down and offer up that God calls sin. Today we see our community vowing to honor the Law in bringing God all their firstfruits.

Firstfruits in Hebrew is bikkurim – first things, ripe fruit, hasty fruit; from bakar – to bear new fruit, first born, giving birth, early fruit of woman or tree, to give birthright. And ground is adamah – land, country, dirt, farming, fields, soil, husband, from adam – mankind, common sort, human being.

Don’t those phrases take you back to the basics of it all? Soil, earth, naturally bringing forth life. Humankind being fruitful and multiplying. The word fruit from “every fruit tree” is peri – foliage, offspring, produce, product, results, reward, fruit – literal or figurative.

Don’t you love the fruit can be literal or figurative? Even if there is no ripe fruit from a garden or ministry or relationship, we can bear much through the Vine. Though there is a pandemic and relationships are affected – by distance, from a variety of opinions on proper responses, through illness and death – His Spirit is still at work to produce an orchard of godliness:

“It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community.

I could go on.

This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.

But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”

Galatians 5:19-22 MSG

I believe these things to be true whether we’re in a weird phase of figuring out public life or in a prison cell writing letters to encourage baby churches under an unsympathetic government. They are true when we have crystal clear clarity regarding our future plans, and when we can only see today and trust He can help us get from morning to noon, from noon to night, from night to morning. Those seasons are real, you know. And many of us may be in them today. And still, these promises are true.

That’s a beautiful thing about God. He can see all the nuances we’re just realizing or are still oblivious to. He can pinpoint the hurt and sin in our hearts with equal love. He can see back in time and forward to infinity without taking His eye off the sparrow. And so, His promises are Truth.

What the community in our verses was promising to bring was the first of their crops and trees to the house of Yahweh year by year. Each year, whether their firstfruits were meager or abundant, lush or nonexistent. They would bring what they had to God.

Not only their crops and fruits, but the firstborn (bekor – oldest) of their sons (ben – son [as a builder of the family name], in the widest sense [of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition]; anointed one, appointed, arrow).

The Lord said to Moses,

“Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”

Exodus 13:1-2

While there are various explanations for this command, they all point to the people of God bowing down and making their “offspring, produce, results, rewards” His.

How does that sit with you? Do you work with integrity then genuinely give the results to Him? Do you hold children or other precious relationships with open hands, peeling back fingers as needed? Are your projects, paychecks, promotions His?

I’m right there with you if it’s hard or seems unfair. And I feel for you if, particularly in these difficult days, there is no paycheck or relationship to offer. And yet, nothing could be more crucial to our genuine joy than opening our hands to whatever they hold.

The final first fruit categories are cattle and the first born of their herds (baqar) and flocks (tson – sheep, goats, lambs, small cattle).

It all belongs to Him – flocks and herds, too. Big animals and small. Every first born, not just the one. All this they promised to bring “to the priests who minister (sharath – wait on, serve) in the house of Elohim.”

This was indeed their offering to God and display of His authority and their trust. It was also a gift to those who served in His Temple. Those who wait on the people of God, seeking to honor Him in their service.

I’m thankful for the continued example to open our hands. And with a gratitude that sometimes crushes me, I’m so glad our Father gave His firstborn, His only Son He loved, the Lamb of God, to be the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.

“We—the priests, the Levites and the people—have cast lots to determine when each of our families is to bring to the house of our God at set times each year a contribution of wood to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law.”

Nehemiah 10:34

Last time we saw our group promise to take responsibility for holy things, reminding ourselves to not underestimate our small acts of faithfulness during confusing times. Today we see how our group dealt with making sure the offerings had wood on which to burn.

Our group, not just the priests and Levites, but the regular folk, cast lots to make a schedule for who would bring a contribution of wood. Contribution here is oblation – something brought near the altar.

Friends, I think we know there are some things we need to set on fire and offer to a holy God in our time right now. Ways we need to die our rights, lay down our lives for the sake of others, reimagine the public good, and repent.

White supremacy must be burned down. Hatred, bigotry, an evil spirit of patriarchal power and dominance, ageism, ableism, racism, the dangerous form of nationalism, classism, sexism – and every thing which is the opposite of

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done

On earth as it is in Heaven.

It needs to be over. Or from today’s verse “to burn on the altar (mizbeachfrom zabach – to slaughter for sacrifice, slay, offer) of Yahweh our Elohim.” Lay it down, offer it up. May our diabolical ideals be what is slain over fellow image bearers.

I was reading this morning how Wisdom was with God at the beginning, laying the foundations of the earth. She was His daily delight, rejoicing before Him always.

Wisdom is crying out still. At the crossroads she now takes her stand:

“The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.”

A reckoning is coming and we don’t want to be anywhere near the side of evil and injustice when it does. May we listen while there is time to repent.

I appreciate these lots were cast so the people could bring their contribution each year at set times. Set here is zaman – fixed, appointed.

It’s true for us all, you know. We may not be casting lots to determine our month to bring wood to Temple, but we are where we are for an appointed time. When He set these times for us He knew we would be experiencing this pandemic, these losses, this particular evil in our day. This is both comforting and intimidating, as He believes we are up to the challenge in His strength and by His Spirit.

The phrase “as it is written in the Law” is kathab (decree, describe, record) in torah.” The community coming together to bring practical necessities for sacrifices for individual and communal sin was decreed in Torah. Their obedience made it possible to stand before God in right relationship.

May our obedience in our day draw others to Him as well.

“[We have accepted responsibility for]…

the holy offerings;

for sin offerings to make atonement for Israel;

and for all the duties of the house of our God…”

Nehemiah 10:33d

Last time we looked at the final three feasts in Leviticus 23, creatively reimagining structures in our nation and grateful that, because of Jesus, our atonement is finished. Today we will see offerings and maintenance for which our returned exiles also took responsibility.

First up is responsibility for the holy things. Holy here is qodesh – apartness, sacredness, most holy, sanctuary, sacred gifts, things dedicated. In the NIV, this is translated “holy offerings,” and in The Message it is “Dedication Offerings.” But in the Hebrew it is simply “holy things.”

I appreciate the conflation of things with offerings. When set apart and dedicated to God, any simple thing moves to an offering. In Jesus, all things, each aspect of our lives, can be dedicated to Him, a sacred gift.

If you’re like me, that can be a challenging thought in a season of shelter in place. Sometimes it feels like passing the time or waiting until something changes. More mundane than sacred. And yet, I have experienced more spaces operating like as sanctuaries. The rare moment when everyone is occupied inside and I get to take a lap around the block alone. Or the whole block is outside in the sunshine and I can lay with my puppy on the couch in its beams.

But the sacred extends to unexpected connections with students from afar or being entrusted with difficulties by someone near. A surprising, “Thanks, Mom,” along with overhearing Dad’s challenge to learn something new. Trying a recipe, heart to hearts on the phone, practicing a skill, and praying for a world in need are most holy.

So is grief at loss, anger toward injustice, and lament over how far away from Shalom we roam. Irritation at those nearest and an ache for the furthest. Frustration over one more socially distanced meeting and hollering hello to neighbors on a walk. It is set apart when it’s done for Him, a holy offering in a confusing time. Keep on, friends.

The next responsibility listed is sin offerings. Sin here is chatta’ah – sinful, habitual sinfulness. Oh dear. Sin is hard enough, but the reminder of habitual sinfulness is rough. Can you relate? Ways you know from experience you don’t want to live, yet continue to pursue, only to reap consequences?

Well, the next section is for us. After all, this responsibility isn’t for sin, but rather a sin offering. And why were such offerings necessary? To make atonement (kaphar – appease, cover over, pacify, make propitiation, cleanse, forgive, be merciful, pardon, cancel, purge away, make reconciliation.)

An atonement offering was necessary for the same reason making up with someone is important: there is no other way to sustain a genuine relationship. Forgiveness must be sought before pardon can be bestowed. Repentance, and reparations before reconciliation and restoration. The need for cleansing to cover us when we want to dig in our heels or run. Love requires it and our hearts were made for love.

The final responsibility in our verse today is for “all the work (melekah – business, cattle, labor, project) of the house (bayith) of Elohim.”

The priests and Levites had a big job, friends. Grain offerings, peace offerings, drink offerings, slaughtering animals and cooking portions for their pay. There was serious work going on in the House of Elohim. The same is true now, even in our virtual existence.

Those to whom God has entrusted the shepherding of His people have a big job. I see so many pastors and worship leaders and staff members and group leaders creatively loving their people. But let’s remember the responsibility it is and show gratitude, serve them and their families, and pray diligently.

Because holy surrounds us all.

“We accept the responsibility for…

…offerings for appointed feasts…”

Nehemiah 10:33c

Last time we dove into the Offering of First Fruits followed by the Feast of Weeks. We saw the way Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection beautifully fulfilled Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Offering of First Fruits. Then at the celebration of Feast of Weeks, 50 days (pente) after First Fruits, the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost. Glory.

Today we will examine the final three festivals listed in our Leviticus 23 passage.

First up is the Feast of Trumpets:

The Lord said to Moses, 

“Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blast. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’”

Leviticus 23:23-25

We have moved from the month of Sivan (May-June) into the beginning of fall, the 7th month of the Hebrew calendar, Tishri. We have talked on here before about this month’s significance. The beginning of the month (which spans the Gregorian calendar months of September and October), the people of Israel were to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets, also known as Rosh Hashanah. source

This Feast begins with a trumpet blast, signaling for the nation it was time for some introspection. Who had they sinned against? What wrongs needed to be made right as the priest was to enter the holy place soon and atone for the community’s sins?

I wrote before: “Seems to me most nations could use some individual and communal introspection these days as well. Spending time thinking through wrongs we can make right, ways individual and systemic sins are perpetuated, acknowledgement of how we are complicit, and recognition of how society treats the most vulnerable would do much to usher in Shalom to our broken world.”

Sure sounds like something we could be doing during a global pandemic, yes? In our desire to return to normal, are there areas in which we would rather not return to the status quo? If you cannot think of any, consider yourself privileged – those for whom the system was designed. It would be wise for all of us, in our desire to return to normal, to ask: who benefits from this norm? Are those the ones pushing for it? Upon whom is being trampled in it? And what do we owe each other as we find these answers?

What could be reimagined during this time? Education, healthcare, poverty, food deserts, minimum wage, housing, rentals and evictions, public transportation could all be up for restructure. As I told a friend, my problem is I don’t know what the answer is for all these issues, but I believe they need to be had. If there are areas where those in power are knowingly using that power to tread upon others, there is time to repent, but there will be a reckoning.

What would you change if you could reimagine sections of our public life together? What if we asked God for that and worked toward that end? May we not waste this worldwide opportunity to examine and change.

Ten days after the Feast of Trumpets is our next Feast, the Day of Atonement, also called Yom Kippur:

The Lord said to Moses,

 “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God..

…The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement.  He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community.”

Leviticus 23:26-28; 16:32-33

God’s people were to hold a sacred assembly, observe the day with Sabbath rest, and offer a food sacrifice to God as the priest makes atonement for the nation’s sins on which they had been contemplating.

Our small group was talking (virtually) last night about one of the reasons this virus and our situation is difficult is how acutely aware we are of our finiteness. I can get frustrated with how we will often communally listen to everyone but the actual experts who study epidemiology. Then my friend reminded me those experts disagree with one another, too.

So we don’t know to whom to turn, in what to place our decisions. It all feels so shaky, so human. It seems to me this would be a positive thing, and potentially one goal from the contemplation of wrongs done and the need for atonement.

We all know we’re guilty, don’t we? Need only to look at the mistakes of our past week, without allowing ourselves to blame shift or justify, to know we need someone to rescue us. And a similarly-faulty priest can not make absolute atonement on our behalf. Only our Great High Priest can once for all.

And, while not chronologically in sync with our current calendar month, I found myself delighted by rereading this thread from a while back during Yom Kippur. And the joy which can flow through us in our awareness of sins and their release. We can glory in being small, at our place in creation, and our need for a Rescuer. Obsession with our mistakes can be replaced with joy; focus on our sins can be drowned out by the light of His holiness and perfect love.

Rounding out the month of feasts, and our Leviticus 23 commands, is the Feast of Tabernacles. While all these feasts were commanded and significant, only three required pilgrimage each year to Temple in Jerusalem. Passover, The Feast of Weeks, and this one, The Feast of Tabernacles.

The Lord said to Moses, 

“Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work…

“‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest.

On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month.

Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

Leviticus 23:33-36; 39-43

If you remember, our exiles had already observed this festival since rebuilding Jerusalem. Here they were simply promising to keep it regularly.

As I wrote before, after national introspection, “on Tishri 15-21, an abrupt about-face was commanded, and the people of God were to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles – with joy. This Feast reminded the Israelites how the LORD had sustained them in the wilderness until they entered the Promised Land.

As they lived in tents in the wilderness, so His people were to remember each year by dwelling in temporary shelters or booths. In Hebrew this feast is called Sukkot, which means booths. These booths were to be made with two and a half walls and a ceiling made from “something that grew from the ground and was cut off.” So things like tree branches, corn stalks or sticks. These days, Orthodox Jews will use wooden two-by-fours. (See this informative site.)”

Not only that, but He commands joy:

“Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your Feast – you, yours sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. For seven days celebrate the Feast to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.”

Deuteronomy 16:13-15

Communal partying is again commanded by the God of the Universe. Pretty great, huh? Perhaps not right now if this virus situation has you unemployed, more likely to be exposed than others, or is disproportionately affecting your ethnicity. And, yet, it’s a communal feast. Meaning we don’t need to be coming to the table with everything, and those with more have the opportunity to share.

Yes, let’s. May we reimagine normal, brainstorm creatively, make self-sacrificial change, and honor the dignity of all. He will sustain us.

“We accept the responsibility for…

…offerings for appointed feasts…”

Nehemiah 10:33c

Last time we looked at Passover and The Feast of Unleavened Bread, the first appointed festivals commanded to Moses. Today we will visit the next two in detail.

Let us begin with the Offering the First fruits, listed next in our Leviticus chapter from last time:

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first (reshith – chief, beginning, choicest, finest, foremost; from rosh – head, rank in order, master, topmost) grain you harvest (qatsiyr – harvest from qatsar – severed, to reap, mourn, cut down, grieve). 

He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf (ratson – favor, goodwill, acceptance, delight, desire); the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering (ishsheh – an offering made my fire) presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. 

You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.”

Leviticus 23:9-14

So as soon as our Israelites are out of Egypt, out of the desert, and settled in the Promised Land, they have their instructions for how to honor God with their harvest. Interesting, huh? Why do you think that is?

I have an initial suspicion. After watching a miraculous passover by the angel of death, a change of heart from a hard-hearted Pharaoh, a sea separated by the Hand of God when his heart changed back, and bread – just enough for the day – falling from the sky in the desert, I do believe our beloved Israelites, after working their new fields (previously tended by others), would be temped just like me: they would gather in their first harvest, and somehow believe they were the reason it grew.

God is good, is He not? He put it right in the instructions that as soon as their first produce came, they were to wave it before Him. To remember who makes the sun shine on the righteous and unrighteous alike. The Creator of the fields and rain, the seed bearing plants and every animal on ground and sky.

They weren’t to even eat of the grain – in any form – until they had brought the first fruits and offered them to God. In doing so, they would not only remind themselves of Yehovah-Jirah, their Provider, but the sheaf would be accepted before God as the priest waved it.

Accept here is ratson – favor, goodwill, acceptance, delight, desire. So why would God need to accept and delight in the people’s harvest?

Well, since He’s relentlessly after our hearts, likely it had to do with the surrender of it. Anything can become our idol, but productivity and results are particularly tantalizing. We feel we have worked, therefore we have worth. Our product speaks for itself and we are willing to protect it (and therefore our identity) whatever the cost.

But what if we bowed and offered the work of our hands – and any harvest – to Him? Seems to me it would look a lot more like that verse in Habbakuk:

Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

I was struck by the Hebrew definition for harvest: qatsiyr, from qatsar – severed, to reap, mourn, cut down, grieve. Our cycles of life – every season, each birth, all seed planting, dying, blooming – speaks of first mourning. Mourning what we let go of, grieving what must die in order to live, allowing the Vinedresser to severe branches and call it pruning. Yes, it yields all the more, each of these processes. I’m just grateful for the Hebrew which points to truth of the emotion involved.

As long as we’re talking about death and resurrection, did that phrase “first fruits” ring any bells to New Testament ears?

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

1 Corinthians 15:20-23

The order of Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, then Offering of First Fruits is remarkable. I remember first learning about it in this study as I watched John lean against the Savior at the Passover meal.

First, the Passover Lamb is put to death. The next day, beginning the Feast of Unleavened Bread – bread without leaven or spoilage – the sinless Lamb is buried. Then at the Offering of First Fruits comes the resurrection of the Messiah. And that’s not all…

The next festival in our Leviticus 23 passage is all tangled up with the Offering of First Fruits. It’s called the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot. The Israelites were to count off seven weeks from the day they waved their first fruits, then celebrate Shavuot.

“Shavuot…falls seven weeks after Passover (6 Sivan), at the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest [May-June on Gregorian calendar]. The Bible (Deut. 16:10) describes this…as the occasion on which new grain and new fruits are offered to the priests in the Temple. (Source)

From Leviticus:

“‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord.

From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord. Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering.

The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’”

Leviticus 23:15-22

Did you notice how many days they were to count until they were to present the offering of new grain? Fifty. And do you know the word for 50 (or 5) in Greek? Pente. Sound familiar?

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

Acts 2:1-2

So we have the resurrection of Jesus on the Offering of First fruits, then fifty days later, His disciples were clothed from on high by His Spirit. I love that God doesn’t waste a good gathering of His people. The masses were in Jerusalem when He came in flesh to be sacrificed. And they were gathered once again for Feast of Weeks – Pentecost – when He showed up again. Brings particular significance when juxtaposed with the Deuteronomy passage:

Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you. And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you…

Deuteronomy 16:10-12

The Spirit coming at Pentecost showed us where He chose as a dwelling for His Name – us. Sons, daughters, workers, helpers, foreigners, fatherless, widows. Us. He has chosen the human heart to dwell. May we never get over it. May we celebrate with abandon, a feast of His goodness.

And may we never leave out the last instructions for the Feast of Weeks:

“You shall not reap the very edges…leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you.”

Why?

“I am the LORD your God.”

“We accept the responsibility for…

…offerings for appointed feasts…”

Nehemiah 10:33c

Last time we looked into some specifics about the offerings for Sabbaths and New Moon celebrations for which the group vowed to take responsibility. Today we will look at two more feasts in detail.

The phrase in today’s verse is “appointed feasts.” The Hebrew for appointed is moed – appointed time, place, or meeting; appointment, definite time, fixed festival, set time, appointed sign, solemn feast, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose, season).

These were the feasts God’s people had been commanded to observe at the same time each year. Leviticus 23 spells out each of these set festivals. We’ll start with the second one first.

The Festival of Unleavened Bread is intertwined with Passover in our Leviticus 23 verse. So we’ll first look at a more detailed description in Exodus 12:

“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”

Exodus 12:17-20

The preparation for Passover includes removing this leaven. “To this very day, this regulation is observed with rigor. Before the day of Passover, the observant family spends weeks cleaning house…Breadcrumbs under the refrigerator are sought out and eliminated. Coat pockets are emptied out. Couch cushions overturned and vacuumed. Cupboards are emptied and cleaned. Anything defined as leaven is removed from the house…” (Source)

Then the festival itself begins the day after Passover, though over time this is thought to have evolved:

“Most scholars believe the two holidays [Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread] were eventually combined in 622 B.C.E. — when, on the orders of Josiah, the king of Judah, a national celebration emerged, which had at its heart a pilgrimage to the Temple and the killing of a Paschal lamb.” (Source)

But now we’re just getting ahead of ourselves.

While this removal of yeast was originally symbolic of how the Israelites left Egypt in a hurry, giving the bread no time to rise, it is also a representation of staying pure to God’s Law.

“Bread is ‘puffed up’ by the process of leavening…It is also a metaphor for our own feelings of being ‘puffed up.’

“What is the process of leavening?  It is the process of fermentation.  Fermentation takes place as grain or fruits spoil…Thus, leavening is spoiling.  We are removing from our homes anything that is, or could be spoiled, from the previous year and replacing it with unspoiled (unleavened) produce…”

“…[These appointed times are] opportunities to examine ourselves for anything that is spoiled in our behavior, our attitudes, our relationships with others and with the world around us and to take it far from our homes, from our workplaces and from our communities.” (Source)

Interesting, huh? Just as followers of Jesus sacrifice in Lent and examine ourselves before partaking in Holy Communion, this appointed time is set aside to observe and repent.

Next up is the Passover:

The Lord’s Passover (pesach) begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. 

Leviticus 23:4

Passover originates in the exodus of God’s people from slavery in Egypt. Perhaps you remember the story of the Hebrews being under the thumb of Pharaoh for 400 years. After Moses killed a man in his anger, fled to Midian, and hid out for awhile, God called him back to Egypt through a bush ablaze.

After some bartering with I AM, and being allowed his brother, Aaron, to join him, Moses stood before the mighty Pharaoh with the request, “Let my people go.” If you know the story, it doesn’t work out so well at first. Especially for Pharaoh.

The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob sends plagues, the final one being the angel of death, taking the firstborn of every household. Except those who killed a lamb and put its blood on their doorposts. The angel of death passed over those homes, thus the name Passover.

And this movement of Yahweh was to be remembered at a set time each year:

“While the Israelites were still in the land of Egypt, the Lord gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron: ‘From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you. Announce to the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice, one animal for each household...

‘Take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of this first month. Then the whole assembly of the community of Israel must slaughter their lamb or young goat at twilight. They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the animal. That same night they must roast the meat over a fire and eat it along with bitter salad greens and bread made without yeast...

‘On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord! But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you…’

Exodus 12:1-3,6-8,12-13a (NLT)

As noted in Leviticus, the Israelites were to celebrate Passover (Pesach) at sunset on the 14th day of Nisan. This year, it lines up with Wednesday, April 8. “Pesach is observed by avoiding leaven, and highlighted by the Seder meals that include four cups of wine, eating matzah and bitter herbs, and retelling the story of the Exodus.” (Source)

Of course, the timing of this verse and our Holy Week is beautiful. What Christians celebrate as the Lord’s Supper is a Passover Seder Jesus looked forward to eating with his closest friends.

“When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”

Luke 22:14-15

And do you not love this application of moed – appointed time? Indeed, our Rabboni had an appointment to fulfill as He was praised all the way into the City of God. Just not the appointment the crowd had in mind.

“…In First Century Judaism, Messianic expectations were running at an all time high. This expectation was only heightened at Passover. In the celebration of Passover, the Festival of Redemption, the people had an eschatological hope. It was believed that the Ultimate Redemption, which was to be brought about through the Messiah, would take place at Passover. Messiah is to be a second Moses who will lead Israel out from under the bondage of the nations…” (Source)

The crowd watched as He turned over tables and made claims to be God. He was not standing up to Rome as expected and in fact seemed bent on upsetting the powers that be in religious life.

Not only does the crowd turn on Jesus, but one of His closest friends turns Him over to be killed. His other friends scatter and Jesus’ blood flows from whippings and thorny crowns, from a heavy cross of torture and nails in His wrists. On the same day, the passover lambs – chosen for being without blemish or defect – were being killed.

“While the slaughter was being performed, the Levites in the Temple chanted the Psalms 113-118, the same Hallel which Yeshua and his disciples would have sung the night before (Pesachim 5:1-7)…” Source

Can you picture the passover lambs being brought to temple as the people chanted the following?

The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
 the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes.
 The Lord has done it this very day;
    let us rejoice today and be glad.

 Lord, save us!
    Lord, grant us success!

 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord…

Psalm 118:22-26a

Yes, the Stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone. The Messiah came in a renounced but necessary Way, His Kingdom not of this world, but His heart bleeding for it.

This Holy Week, may we praise our Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Because up from the grave He arose.

“We accept the responsibility for…

…offerings for the Sabbaths, New Moons…”

Nehemiah 10:33b MSG

Last time we saw how our group covenanted to rise up and meet the responsibilities of Temple, including the Bread of the Presence, Grain Offerings, and Whole Burnt Offerings. Today we see what else they are taking on.

The first is offerings for the Sabbaths, which we have seen before comes from shabath – to rest, cease, desist. This command is from Numbers:

“On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil. 

This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.”

Numbers 28:9-10

So every Friday from sundown until Saturday’s sundown, the people of God were to rest from their usual work. But the expectation was more than refraining from buying and selling grain and wares. The Israelites were to sacrifice two lambs each week on Shabbat.

I was wondering who provided the lambs, and learned the significance of those shepherds in Bethlehem. The ones who were keeping watch over their flocks by night when the angel declared good news of great joy. These were the ones who tended the sheep for sacrifice, making sure they were “a year old and without defect.” The shepherds then provided the priests with these two additional lambs each week, along with the regular offerings. So not only was the community to cease from working to earn, they were required to sacrifice more.

What an interesting command from God. If we didn’t know Him better, it would look almost unkind, self-serving. But because He’s incapable of having impure motives, we can assume this was for our group’s best. Rest and trust does not come easily, and the opportunity was provided to choose over and over each week. The desired goal? Deeper intimacy and lived experience in a God Who provides.

The next offering was for the new moon, Chodesh, literally the “head of the month.” The word comes from chadash – to renew, repair, restore, rebuild.

I tore off a page on our calendar yesterday, one day early, and actually uttered aloud, “I need a new month.” I think we all did. And I appreciate God commanded a special celebration at the start of each calendar turn.

We made it.

From chabad.org:

“In the Temple times, special animal sacrifices were brought in honor of the day, known as musaf (additional) offerings, and special celebratory trumpet blasts were added to the daily service.”

In contemporary services, several different aspects are part of this celebration including:

“The Song of the Day is followed by Psalms 104, which contains the words, ‘He made the moon to mark the seasons.’

And a personal fav tidbit: “…many women observe it by taking the day off from household tasks such as laundry and sewing.”

I adore we serve a Creator Who allows us so many new beginnings. New mercies each morning, new lunar cycles, fresh seasons and growth. New songs in our mouths, hymns of praise to our God.

It seems good to celebrate our seemingly small accomplishments right now. We are not in a business-as-usual season here, all the world together fending off a virus which escalates quickly and does not discriminate. We are out of our usual routine, no matter how at-home we were before. Because of all these factors, finding reasons to celebrate will help us keep our heads. So, congrats, you. You made it to April 2020! It’s enough.

But the hard truth is we didn’t all make it, did we? If you are full of grief today, perhaps from losing someone you love or fighting a difficult battle, please know He sees. And while He makes all things new, He does it with very real skin in the game. Your cries are prayers. May you be held tonight.