Soul Kitchen

In Numbers 4:17-20, God is assigning the duties of the Levites for taking care of the tabernacle - how to move it, etc. The Kohathites were to be the ones to carry the most holy things after Aaron and his sons covered them and prepared them for travel.

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, "Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die."

Holy things. We don't really get it. To us, things are just things. We have a hard time understanding why someone would die just by looking at something. A cup is just a cup. A bowl is just a bowl.

And they are just cups and bowls... until God says otherwise. The only reason these particular cups and bowls are holy is because Gods says they are. And when God says something is holy, it's holy. Who's going to be the first one to take a peak?

And the holiness of the thing changes it and its relation to the world around it.
The holy thing has a decisive effect on its world.

Once a thing is just a thing. Then God declares it to be holy. God imparts holiness to it. It is no longer the same.

Why? These are God's things. He is holy. A reminder to the Israelites. God is holy. They are not. Don't mess with holiness.

Now what -in these New Covenant days, the age of grace that we live in? Things are just things, but...

Once a person is just a person. Yes, created in the image of God, but just like every other person. Then God declares that she is holy through his Son who gave his life for her. God imparts his holiness to her. She is not the same.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him... Colossians 1:21-22

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience... Colossians 3:12

And the holiness of the woman changes her and her relation to the world around her.
The holy woman has a decisive effect on her world.