Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. After yesterday's demonstration where God validated Aaron's position as high priest, God addresses Aaron directly today. This is rare. God usually addresses Moses and has him pass things along to Aaron, but there are a few times where God speaks directly to Aaron, and this is one of them. He sets out some new rules and reiterates existing rules about how the priests and the Levites are supposed to care for the tabernacle. The priests, Aaron and his two sons, are to guard the tabernacle on the inside near the holy vessels, and the Levites are to guard the tabernacle on the outside to keep everyone out. And God makes it clear, if a Levite passes into the part reserved for priests, they'll both die. God tells them all this in an effort to spare them the wrath he has to pour out when they rebel against him. God also unpacks something he's hinted did that before. The Levites will have no inheritance among the people of Israel. No land and no cattle and nothing to bank their futures on apart from the promise of God that he would provide for them through his people.

The other twelve tribes brought a tithe, which literally means one-tenth of their income to the Levites. Of that tithe, the Levites gave 10% back to God, who said it should be given to the priest. This was God's plan of provision for everyone. The Levites are giving their lives to serve the people, taking of them, and the people are giving back their tithe to the sanctuary, taking care of the Levites. In chapter 19, we get a few more laws, particularly laws pertaining to death and being clean afterward. This is timely, not just because of all the death that happened recently in the camp, but also because we're at the onset of roughly 2 million people dying in the camp over the next 38 years. They need to know how to handle it. A lot of time passes between chapter 19 and chapter 20, roughly 38 years. We're almost at the end of the Israeli's time in the wilderness, and you're probably breathing a sigh of relief to hear that. But a lot of sad stuff happens in this chapter as we prepare to finish out their time. First, Miriam dies. She was a prophetess and the highest regarded woman among the tribes.

After her death, the people encounter another spot where there's no water and they complain again. But for most of these complainers, it's likely their first time complaining. The older generation is mostly dead now. Even though they've inherited their parents grumbling and they long for an Egypt they barely knew, if at all, their complaint is real. There is no water. So God tells Moses and Aaron how to handle it. Go get the staff, likely Aaron's budded staff, from before the Lord, likely the Ark of the Covenant, then take all the people to the Rock. Then, while they're all watching, speak to the Rock and tell it to release water. Easy peasy, right? So they get the staff and gather the people by the Rock, and Moses tells all the rebels to pay attention, then he becomes the rebel because he strikes the rock twice instead of speaking to it. As a leader of the people, he lets his anger and frustration, and honestly, probably his sheer exhaustion, take the wheel. He's 120 years old at this point, and it seems like this younger generation is repeating the same errors of their parents. So Moses disregards God's words, either casually or blatantly.

Maybe he even halfway reasoned that this is what he had done before and it worked. Because the last time we were in this situation, back in Exodus 17, God told him to strike the rock. But the instructions are different this time, and Moses hedges. God still gives the people water, but Moses' disobedience and unbelief cost him dearly. God shows his goodness by being kind to sinners who rebel against him. But there are consequences, even for slight disobedience. As a result, Moses and Aaron are prohibited from entering Canaan, too. As they make their journey toward Canaan, they need to pass through Edom. We haven't talked about Edom in a while, so here's a refresher. The Edomites are the descendants of Esau. He was the son of Isaac, the grandson of Abraham, and the older brother of Jacob, whom all the Israeli are descendants of. So the Edomites are essentially the Israeli's closest living relatives. Moses has messengers ask the king of Edom if they can pass through their land, and he says no. It's a reasonable response. With as many Israelis as they are, even passing through on their highway instead of their fields that deplete a lot of the natural resources the Edomites needed to live.

So Israel had to take a longer way around, per usual. More on that tomorrow. In our final paragraph today, Aaron dies and is succeeded by his son Eleazar as the high priest. What was your God shot? I noticed how his character is so consistent. Over and over again, we keep seeing how he makes his rules, his people disobey them, and while they have to deal with the consequences of their sins, ultimately, he is so merciful, even in those consequences. From clothing Adam and Eve, but banishing them from the garden, to letting Moses continue to lead the people, but banishing him from Canaan. God calls sinners into his family, and then he works with what he's got. His mercy is such a comfort to me because I know the wickedness of my own heart. But with the bits of wisdom he's given to sinners like me, it's wisdom enough to know he's where the joy is.

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Of all the people in the Bible, I most closely relate to the Shunamite woman in Second Kings 4:8 because she has a persistent hope.

My friends at Hope Nation created a quiz called, Which Bible Character Are You? To help you find out which person in scripture you relate to most. Click the link in the show notes to check it out.