Rules and Mercy

It's been an incredibly long and difficult week. I hate not having the time to write, but it has been one of those weeks. I know my life is out of balance when I cannot dedicate the time to this discipline, but there it is.

This morning, in the OT, I was going through more of God's rules for His people, and I came across a question. The people, knowing that it would be common for them to be ceremonially unclean, given the difficulties of life and the multiple ways that uncleanliness could occur, asked how they could celebrate Passover if they were unclean. God's answer was to state that they could celebrate it later, when they were clean. However, He also reminded them that if there were no excuse not to celebrate Passover, then the people who didn't celebrate it would be cut off from the community. Plus, He allowed foreigners to participate in the celebration. (Numbers 9:4-15)

It seems that so many of the commandments given so far are described in ways in which a person will be cut off from the community for not following them. At least, that is one interpretation. However, the information about celebrating Passover later was not given until asked. And when it was asked, it was asked by people who *wanted* to celebrate God's mercy to them. It seems like the subtext here is that God will answer those with a penitent heart, who truly worship Him, and want to abide in Him. Not all has been revealed, yet, and God stands ready to receive the questions of those aligned in His Kingdom.

To me, this means that maybe all is not already written. Can I, with penitence and desire, yet receive instruction from God, even if He has not already written it down? And if that is the case, how should the instruction be tested? It should be interpreted in light of the structure that already exists. Once the answer was given that Passover could be celebrated later, the admonition that followed immediately was that those who could celebrate, and refuse, were cut off. This was a consistency with the previous commandments. So, a new response must be tempered in light of the structure of God's revealed path. Only then can it make sense.

It seems to branch into the NT feel of things. We can seek God, and gain inspiration, but it has to be in God's chosen structure. This once again creates the yin/yang, push/pull, of new versus old, an energy which seems to feed faith as it grows.

I believe that when people approach God the way these Israelites did, with an honest desire to celebrate Him and live in His life, He answers. The times that I have felt like I have heard Him clearest were these times in my life. I wish these times were not so few and far between.