Bob the Priest

Nearly every single drama that we've had features fictional characters. Even though they highlight real historical accounts, they often add new people to flesh out the story and illustrate important points. We're all familiar with that.

I do similar for myself. I've begun fabricating characters in the framework of Bible stories as a way to keep straight the lessons and whatnot. Sometimes though, as I go through my reading, I learn more details and tidbits that add more to these mental dramas and introduce further lessons. On very rare occasions however, my reading will lead me to a discovery that completely changes the moral of this invented drama.

On that note, allow me to introduce you to Bob the Priest.

In my personal Bible reading I was going through the arc of Leviticus-Numbers-Deuteronomy. There's a lot of laws, regulations, architectural designs, divisions of tribes and lands, etc. What I had an especially hard time with was the 12 tribes of Israel, specifically the Levites (like when I realized they weren't counted among the 12). See, you have the 12 tribes that have normal divisions of land, and then the Levites who are set apart for work relating to the Tabernacle (and later the temple) and all that. But the Levites are subdivided even further into three families: the Kohathites, the Gershonites, and the Merarites. But wait! In the family of Kohath is Aaron, who becomes the High Priest, and his descendants make up the priesthood.

So to simplify this for myself, I made two characters. Bob the Priest, and Doug the Levite. They are both of the tribe of Levi, both descended from Kohath, but Bob is from Aaron's line, so he is a priest and fulfills the role of a priest, while Doug is a Kohathite who does the work of a Levite.

Still a little confusing, yes, but it helped me keep the families and arrangements straight. So then anytime I read about the Levites transporting the Tabernacle, I see Doug helping out. When I read about a bull being sacrificed, that's Bob. This developed into a very useful memory aid. I even began adding short scenes of Bob and Doug's work overlapping (for example, the priests would cover the Ark of the Covenant, and would then turn it over to the Kohathites to carry it. Insert scene of Bob seeing his third cousin Doug and going “Hey Doug! How's the wife!” “Good, Bob. Thanks for asking.” “That patchy spot of skin clear up?” “Yep, no leprosy to be seen!” Etc.) It was pleasant and made for a lively way to go about Bible reading.

But then I came to the festivals, and the picture changed entirely, and in a way I was not at all prepared for. To understand the changed lesson, I must briefly summarize these festivals.

Many of them involved the Israelites gathering together into a central location (Jerusalem, eventually) and having a week of relaxation, spiritual instruction, association, all that fun stuff. So with this mental picture, I tried imagining Doug. What is Doug doing? Non-priestly spiritual duties. So maybe Doug is reading aloud from the Law to a crowd. Maybe he's singing praises with a group of other Levites. Whatever he's doing, it's fun. It's spiritual. It's encouraging. And he gets to do all this while enjoying the companionship of the Levites and other Israelite men, maybe friends he hasn't seen in a long while. It's a period of time for great enjoyment.

But. Then I thought about Bob. What would he, as a priest, be doing? Killing bulls and rams at the Tabernacle/temple, removing the skin and dung and intestines. In my head he's sitting outside the temple, hearing the singing and rejoicing off in the distance. Close enough to hear it, far enough that he doesn't get to join in on the fun. While his friend Doug is over there reading the Law aloud to a gathering of his closest friends, here's Bob cleaning an animal carcass, preparing to carry the dung outside the camp, only to return and begin the process again. Repeat dozens of times.

The lesson began forming in my mind from this point. See, from Bob's point of view, he could begin to develop a negative viewpoint of what he's doing. He could dwell on the monotony of it, how gross it is, how he's missing out on the association with his friends. But what would happen if he did? He might rush through his work so he could join them sooner, or maybe he wouldn't do his work to the best of his ability. The problem of course is that all his actions have significance. The sacrifices foreshadow Jesus and everything he does, so the work of the priests must be done exactly the way it was commanded or else it would be a gross disrespect of Jesus' sacrifice.

We know that. Bob doesn't. He probably doesn't get the intricacies and the full significance of what's going on. So how could he maintain the proper viewpoint of his work and not get negative about it?

Simply put, he just has to remind himself that Jehovah knows best. He has to acknowledge his lack of information and trust that if he does his best, Jehovah will be pleased. In my mind, Bob knows this, but he has to keep reminding himself. When he hears his friend Doug singing or reading to a crowd, and he hears the Israelites celebrating and enjoying themselves, he keeps reminding himself that he has his assignment and that he needs to do his best, even if it means sacrificing the fun he could be having.

This imaginary scenario resonates with me, because I've been both Bob and Doug in this setting. I've been the one organizing gatherings where we can have fun with one another and help each other relieve the stresses or worries life gives us. But then I've also been the one who gets invited out to do something, but has to turn it down so I can stay home and audit the congregation accounts. And let's be honest, the first option is way more fun. But the second one is just as important, even when it feels thankless and the friends you have just think you're being antisocial or a grump or something. I've found you just need to keep reminding yourself of the importance of what's being done, and that helps to prevent it from dragging you down. Instead, it becomes enjoyable and motivates you to give it your all, and eventually you find yourself getting even more joy from fulfilling your assignments than you would from going out to the gathering or whatever it is that threatens to distract you.

Of course, I still enjoy the opportunities to be Doug, whenever they come around. But I've found that now I'm okay with being Bob too.