Numbers 15:24-41.
THERE should be the same law for the children of Israel, and for the stranger that dwelt in their land. And if they did anything ignorantly, that is, when they did not know it was wrong, they were to offer sacrifices, and their sin should be forgiven; but if any one sinned presumptuously, that is, willfully, God did not say they might offer a sacrifice for him, that person was to be put to death, because he had despised the word of the Lord, and broken His commandment.
The man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath day was stoned to death; his was a presumptuous sin (verse 30), for God had repeatedly said,
“Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein.” Leviticus 23:3.
The fringes in the edges of their clothes, and the blue ribbons, were to be seen by faith as reminders of the heavenly character of God’s people. Christians are apt to forget that they not only are going to heaven, but that they belong there now. Heaven is their home, and heavenly ways, heavenly thoughts, should be theirs.
ML 02/17/1924