The Parish Magazine July August 2022

the parish noticeboard — 3
On reflection: Numbers
By Elizabeth Spiers
felicia-buitenwerf, unsplash.com-
It’s holiday time for many of us and any trip we take at
home or abroad requires preparation; passports, currency
etc. In the book of Numbers, we read that the Israelites
were in the wilderness at the beginning of their journey to
the Promised Land. They had no idea what lay ahead.
In the first 10 chapters we are told how God, through Moses,
set about preparing his chosen people to be ready and able to
enter the Promised Land. Many times, we read ‘The Lord said
to Moses…’. Numbers may seem dry reading but preparation,
while not the most exciting thing, was essential to get the
people ready, practically and spiritually for their journey.
A census counted how many active soldiers they had. They
were split into tribes and told where to camp. The Levites
were authorised to be the priests. Rituals were established
and undertaken. Ceremonies were held to remind them of
their deliverance from Egypt and to set them apart as God’s
people. Finally, God’s presence dwelt among them continually
as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
UNTRUSTING
They were being prepared for their journey; counted,
organised, cleansed, blessed, and made ready to march
forward as an organised group with an identity and a
purpose, not like the group of slaves that escaped from
Egypt. God ensured that they had all the tools they needed to
make the journey successfully. But in chapter 11, the people
started complaining about Moses and his choice of wife, his
leadership, the monotony of the food, about Aaron, and the
lack of water. Even Aaron complained about Moses.
God became angry. In chapter 14: ‘The Lord said to Moses,
how long will this people spurn me? And how long will they not believe
in me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?’
Unfortunately, instead of being grateful to God they
sinned by complaining about everything. Instead of trusting
God — after all, he had proved himself faithful in every
miracle and provision he gave them — they complained.
And that is sin. Finding your creator or his representative
at fault isn’t a wise thing to do. God takes us through things
to strengthen our trust, to build our character and he walks
through it all with us.
Matthew 6:8 says that God knows what we need before
we ask. Philippians 4:19 tells us that God will supply all our
needs. What God won’t do is let disobedience and criticism of
him go unnoticed. Towards the end of Numbers, God meted
out some shocking punishments to the complainers: death
by fire or plague. We must never forget that God is the great I
AM. He doesn’t explain himself. This is who I AM is!
The Parish Magazine - July/August 2022 13
From the desk
of the editor
editor@theparishmagazine.co.uk
Taking God and his
church for granted
While hardly a day goes by without doing something
connected with editing this magazine — it might be a
conversation, an idea that comes to mind while doing
something else, or an enquiry about a forthcoming issue
— it is not until the first week of the month that I really
get stuck into producing the next issue. This meant,
of course, that when it came to this issue, the Jubilee
celebrations were a huge distraction.
On the Thursday and Friday, instead of sitting at my
desk writing and editing, there was the always excellent
scarecrow trail to take part in and to explore. While
doing so, it was a great pleasure to meet in person many
of our readers and visitors to the parish and our church.
It was particularly good to hear that what we are doing
is appreciated, and it was good to hear some ideas about
what we might write about in the future.
For example, one of the recurring comments from
visitors was about our wonderful stained glass windows
that were brightly lit by the sunshine that blessed most
of the two days. The windows are also often mentioned in
the comments in the visitors book and many people ask
about the history and age of them.
BECOMING TOO FAMILIAR
Like, I imagine, most of the regular members of the
church who attend week by week throughout the year, the
windows are a feature that we almost take for granted. If
I am honest, if someone changed one I probably would not
even notice! It's not that I don't admire them, it's like all
things that we are familiar with, we so often take them
for granted and lose sight of their beauty.
I also have to admit that I know very little about either
the history of stained glass or the windows themselves,
although I do know that in our magazine archives there
are, fortunately, a good number of references to them, and
I have been told recently about someone who may be able
to tell us more about the ancient art of both painting and
staining glass, and about how it is still done today. So to
all those who have asked me questions about the windows
recently, watch this space.
Taking things for granted, of course, is a common
habit for us all, which is why it has been good to have met
so many visitors recently — their delight in seeing the
windows and the other beautiful aspects of our church
building for the first time, reminds us of why we chose to
make St Andrew's 'our church' in the first place.
Taking things for granted is something we should
always be aware of avoiding. This, of course, is most
important when it comes to our relationship with God. He
is the reason why our ancestors built our church, and the
reason why we look after it for future generations who will
inherit it. Let's not take God or his church for granted.