Seize the Moment – Day 609
Welcome Home the Warriors!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, November 16.
I was a Captain in the US Army when 9/11 happened. I remember exactly where I was at Fort Carson, CO. For years to come, we sent warriors overseas to seek vengeance in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).
The warriors accomplished the task and Balaam along with every male was destroyed (7-8).
After the warriors achieved vengeance for Israel, Moses taught the nation how to welcome home their warriors. These warriors had become ritually unclean from dealing with death and they needed cleansing from the blood shed so that they could reenter the camp physically and spiritually, as well as mentally and emotionally.
In Numbers 31:19-24, Moses and Eleazar established the ritual cleansing for the warriors so that they could reenter the communities, holy and whole:
And you, camp outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day. You shall purify for yourselves every garment and every article of leather and all the work of goats’ hair, and all articles of wood. … And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may enter the camp.”
Every culture needs a way to welcome home their warriors! It is our job as a community to acknowledge that what they did was for us and is a heavy burden on them, and to be cleansed of that bloodshed so that they can reenter homes and workplaces, holy and whole.
Seize the moment and support veterans by showing them respect and helping them reassimilate back home.