Spread it with a little margin

I love reading the margins in my Bible. I'd guess I've read very nearly every footnote my Bible has to offer, on account of reading the marginal notes along with the actual text when I read. But I recently came across a good one in Numbers 4. The verse (23, for starters, in case you want to look it up, though actually, several verses in this chapter use this same word) was about entering in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

Well, instead of just being "service" right there, it's really the Hebrew root word for going out to war. And it sort of makes sense, since now-a-days it's not uncommon to hear someone say, "I was in the Service for six years back in the fifties." We call the military the Service these days, so I guess it makes sense that it all stems from each other.

But I just thought it was hilarious that the word was the same. I'm not typically one to grouse about work, but the point is, work is work. You may be in charge of animal sacrifices (like in this chapter), or you may be the person who checks the chlorine levels at the neighbourhood pool. Either way, sometimes crazy stuff can happen. Half the time it's like organized warfare.

The other thing I was thinking was this: you know how the Levites just did the tabernacle stuff, and didn't go out to war? Well, if this is sort of like war, then did they get to skip out of work for a year after they got married? Because the rest of the tribes got a get-out-of-war-free pass for a year after they tied the knot, so why not the Levites? Their version of war was service in the tabernacle, but hey, no fair that those young dudes from the tribe of Simeon got time off for finding a wife, and the Levites didn't, you know?

Not like life is fair. Or that it was "fair" for the Levites to be the only ones to be consecrated to the work of the Lord. They were just stand-ins, so to speak, for all the firstborn from all the tribes, after all.

So now, in my head, whenever the Levites got married, they were off work duty for a year. I'll get confirmation (or deconfirmation) of it when I get to Heaven, I'm sure, but the thought amused me. Quite frankly, I'd never noticed that verse before.

Isn't reading the Bible grand? Something new every day. I love it!

Apologies and vomit

I have no idea what was in my head as I was writing yesterday. Seriously, Nancy Pelosi was the best I could come up with? Not only that, but I wasn’t very polite about it. I don’t know her personally (uh, obviously) but I’m sure her job is very challenging and it’s not really her fault that her speech writers gave her a “verse from Isaiah” that isn’t legitimate. So anyhow, Nancy, if you ever read this, I’m sorry if I came off rudely.

In other news, well, nothing. I was in Borders with a bunch of army guys today, and they all held the doors for me, which was nice. Usually there’s one polite guy who holds the door open, but by walking through the open door I usually walk past him, and have to open the other door by myself. Not that I mind, actually, and I’ve never even given it a second thought until today, when I realized that if there are lots of polite men in one place, they can open all the doors at one time.

Oh, and I was reading this verse in Isaiah the other day about the priests and prophets who drank so much that they vomited all over the tables and there was no clean place. It’s when I read verses like that that I fully appreciate being able to make mental images in my head without the accompanying smells.

And then in Ecclesiastes there was this hilarious verse about Solomon looking for wise people and he could only find one in a thousand men that was wise, but he looked in a thousand women, and couldn’t find even a single wise one. First, I never noticed that before, and it caused me amusement, and I hope I have opportunity to bring that up one time.

Secondly, Solomon had a thousand wives (slash concubines). Coincidence that he used that number? Well, maybe. But my personal theory is that one time he realized that he was surrounded by countless women who were ALL DUMB! It’s bad enough when a guy realizes that his one and only wife is foolish, but to realize you’ve got a thousand of them?

No wonder the guy was so depressed!