Discernment: The First Rule, by Dr. Jeff Mirus

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture, Dec 04, 2020

Jeffrey Mirus holds a Ph.D. in intellectual history from Princeton University. A co-founder of Christendom College, he also pioneered Catholic Internet services. He is the founder of Trinity Communications and CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.

Sometimes when reading the Pentateuch—that is, the first five books of the Old Testament attributed to Moses—one has to be either an actuary or a liturgist to appreciate the text. This is because there is so much in these books which describes population sizes and rituals. Here we find the details of priestly service, the adornment and treatment of the Ark of the Covenant, rules regarding ritual purity, and the nature of the offerings and sacrifices—in addition to the population figures for each of the family groupings which made up the Jewish people in the Exodus period.

When reading for the tenth or twentieth time, one begins to skim for particular elements in the text which jump out as having greater application to our lives today. One thing I noticed recently was the mechanism for discernment which . This mechanism is spelled out in Numbers, chapter 9, verses 15-23. Here it is explained that from the time the tent of the covenant was set up, a cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire was over it by night. This was a sign of God’s Presence, of course, but it was also a means of discernment for the people:  ….