Leviticus 7, Mark 6:7-29

I love how God provides for the Israelites. People gave of themselves freely how they felt God leading them and it always filled a purpose in God’s work. I pray that I can live like that. All of these offerings dedicated the tabernacle. It got it set up for it’s use in the beginning by offerings. This is much like how we function today as well. We offer God money to build the church, then we offer money to get it started in ministry. Each of these leaders gave of what he had, probably collected from the tribes, and didn’t grumble or complain or mourn the loss of his stuff. Our society is so focused on stuff and we miss out on the work of God sometimes because of it. Each tribe took a day in order of their size it looks like within their groups. Starting in the east and moving clockwise around the tabernacle. These sacrifices were a symbol of these people dedicating the tabernacle to God, bringing him into their presence. That was the whole purpose of the tabernacle, to make God tangible among his people. Without a sense of the presence of God, religion is pretty empty.
Today we are reading about Jesus sending the disciples out without him to do His work. There are many things we can learn from this. First of all, no one should ever have to just go out and do ministry without the support of others and some guidance. If someone is called to do something, we as a church should support them as best we can biblically and help them to achieve what it is that God is calling them to do. Secondly, the Jesus didn’t just send them out and say go do what I’ve been doing. First he took them along with him for awhile. Then when he sent them out on their own, he sent them in pairs for support. He also gave them detailed instructions of how to do what they were being asked to do. Despite being with Jesus, the disciples were pretty slow at catching on to what Jesus was trying to accomplish. Giving them directions and expecting them to take part in the work for him made them focus on what it was he was trying to do.
Jesus also teaches them to depend solely on God in their mission. The things they faced during the beginning of the church would be helped by their having this experience and knowing how to rely solely on God for provision and strength. They were to show faith and humility in their mission. Relying on the generosity of people was key and not “trading up” for a place to stay showed that they were not motivated by their flesh. I also love the part where Jesus talks to them about brushing the dust off their feet when they leave a town that rejects Jesus. This was a very common Jewish custom when leaving a heathen town. This was a lesson by Jesus to show that things were changing. It was no longer about the law and circumcision, it was about following Jesus. If a town didn’t want to do that, they were as bad as the heathens in God’s eyes. They would have to face the consequences of their rejection of the truth.
Mark puts the story of John’s death back in here to remind us of why John came. It was to prepare the way for Christ. People began to confuse who John was and who Jesus was. Herod because of his guilt thought Jesus was John raised from the dead. He was reminded of his crime against John. Herod knew the truth, but in his desires to do what he wanted, he sinned not only against John but against God. Herod married his brother’s wife and John called him on it. Herod didn’t like that, so he imprisoned him to shut him up. Herodias was not satisfied with that. John had insulted her and smeared her name. You know what they say about “a woman scorned”. She wanted John dead. The passage doesn’t go into details too much but Herodias obviously sent her daughter in to a group of drunken men to please them. Especially in the Roman culture that would have had a sexual nature to it. The king was brash in offering anything to her. We often make offers to others without thinking through what might be asked of us. This was the chance Herodias was waiting for to get what she wanted and she got it. I pray that I will continually be aware of what I am offering to people and what the impact of that will be on my walk with God. I don’t want to be caught between the lesser of two evils.
Tomorrow’s reading is Numbers 8-9 and Mark 6:30-56.