The Lord said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has a defiling skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”
Numbers 5:1-3
Having read the New Testament before, I find the Old Testament difficult to read. The New Testament was centred on Jesus’ birth, where he grew up to draw crowds, teaching humanity love and forgiveness, healing the sick, such as making the blind see, and driving leprosy away by the touch of Jesus’ hand.
Jesus represented a God who was loving, kind, forgiving, and inclusive. However, in the Old Testament, God seems to be completely different. In the reading above, God commands driving lepers away so the camp where God dwells is not defiled. What was up with God before? Why the sudden change? And what happened to the lepers who were sent away? Did they eventually die?
Jordan Peterson, in his book 12 Rules of Life, touches on this, too. He argues that the God Moses talked to is very different from the God Jesus represented. It makes you really think about what has changed. They seem to be inconsistent.
I don’t have an explanation for why this is the case. Today’s reflection, however, is that Jesus reminds us that we shouldn’t drive away people we don’t like in favour of an elite group (e.g., the camp with priests, as per the Numbers chapter). Jesus teaches inclusivity and love.
Action Points:
- Be inclusive.
- Stop favouritism and call it out if you see it.
Happy Thursday!
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