Having been away from this reflective stuff for almost a week, it seemed appropriate to finish off the rest of Numbers so that I can change my focus for Holy Week. These final chapters cover quite a range of material but - conveniently perhaps - chapters 33-38 are essentially a summary of the main events with a few loose ends tied up.
Women's Vows
In this very clearly patriarchal society, women had very few powers. Daughters were subject to the authority of their fathers, wives to that of their husbands. So what was the status of a vow made by a woman? Indeed, I suppose, were women permitted to make vows at all? The key seems to be initial ignorance on the part of the man and then willingness to allow the vow to stand once it comes to light, Widows and divorced women (who have neither protector nor overlord) are responsible for thier own vows, even if they are deemed to be 'foolish utterances'.
It does all seem rather strange, and is presumably concerned mainly with the honour and inhertance of the men. What might happen if a husband or son made a rash vow is not mentioned...
Ugly Battle
The book of Numbers nears its end with a rather ugly battle with the Midianites, at the end of which the men have been killed and all women and children captured. What happens next is a horrific act that echoes, the experience of the Israelites in Egypt... all the male children and all the married women are taken out and killed. The girls and unmarried women are fair game for the returning warriors.
Religious justification is something we struggle with; Biblical battles raise more questions than they answer. Here the persecuted nation seems to have readily become a persecuting nation. Those whose own children had been murdered are long gone, a new generation only knows the stories. This could be a horror story of our own day - men killed, women raped or enslaved or both, children orphaned and abused.
To read this story is to be reminded of how little changes over countless centuries.
Misunderstanding?
The Reubenites and Gadites are animal farmers and ask permission to settle in land that is ideally suited to that purpose. Moses is furious, interpretting this as a desire to avoid participating in future battles. No, they say, we will play our part and then return.
I can certainly be like Moses at times. I get the wrong end of the stick and blow up over nothing. Moses is so focussed on the overall trajectory, so devoted to his cause that he sees everything through a very narrow lens. Fortunately no harm is done, and the agreed position is recorded to prevetn future misunderstandings.
Or did Moses misunderstand? Was he in fact correct and did he catch them out? Was their response prompted by the uncovery of their guile? Sometimes I am pretty sure that I have read a situation correctly, even if it's uncomfortable. Perhaps on those ocassions I need to learn how better to name what I discern and find a contructive, positive next step.
Murder and Accidental Death
The cities of sanctuary are there to try to ensure that anyone accused of murder has the opportunity of a fair trial. Means of murder - mainly by bludgeoning - and of accidental death are defined. To prevent the situation escalating out of control, the accused may seek sanctuary until such time as a trial can be arranged. The death sentence, where imposed is to be carried out by the person seeking to avenge a death.
It is this last bit that strikes me most. I am, and always have been, totally opposed to captial punishment, but not for the reason that this chunk of scripture would give me. Confronted with a person who had killed my loved one, and handed a rope or a rifle or a lethal injection, I cannot imagine that I would ever be able to execute them. I wonder if that was, in some part, the point?
The need for clarification about what is murder and what isn't seems to suggest that a lot of pople were meeting untimely deaths at the hands of others, and that the ambulance-chasing, litiginous behaviour of our own time has some kind of ancient precedent.
Accidental death, culapable homicide, manslaughter, whatever name we might give it, here incurs pretty much a life sentence - the accused must remain in the city of sanctuary for the rest of their life unless the incumbent priest dies first. Known for what they did, maybe many years ago, these people are effectively prisoners, denied liberty to travel or to be with their family and friends. No parole, no appeals process... it cannot have been an easy life.
Tying up the Loose Ends... -ish
The extended summary of the whole story brings the scroll to its close. Some loose ends are tidied up, notably about the land inheritance granted to Zelophedad's daughters and then the scroll ends simply with these words:
"These are the commandments and the ordinances that the Lord commanded through Moses to the Israelites in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho."
At the end of his physical and metaphorical journey, the work of Moses is complete. The book has a somewhat untidy ending - we know that Moses is to die without entering the land but we are left waiting for that to happen. To tidy up that loose end, we must turn to the final pages of Deuteronomy:
Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. The Lord said to him, ‘This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your descendants”; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.’ Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigour had not abated. The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.
Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequalled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
Perhaps, though, the loose ends are a good thing, a reminder that the story carries on, that "in every end is a new beginning". Perhaps it reminds us that this is not, afterall, our story even if we have spotted some similarities. Moses is not me, or you, or anyone else; each of us is in some measure Aaron or Miriam, Joshua or Balaam... everyone can be "stiff necked" or short-tempered sometimes.
This journey through scripture has given me much to ponder - for that I am grateful. At the same time, it is nice to reach this staging point, to look back and say "I did it" to those 78 chapters, before a step into the very differnet world of Holy Week and Easter.
PS if the typing is worse than ever, it's because I have a cat resting her head on the keyboard, so I haven't even tried to proof read yet!
