Numbers 1-2, Mark 3

Numbers 1 is the counting of the Israelites by tribe: 603,550 in all. Numbers 2 is the instruction of how they should line up and camp. While it is kind of interesting, I'm unclear as to the wording they use. Before each number of each tribe they say "All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were counted and listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families." This, by itself, is not curious to me, but that it was repeated over and over is.

One of the stories of Mark 3 is the pharisees accusing Jesus of being possessed by Satan and that is what empowers him to drive out demons. Jesus responds that this doesn't make sense, a house divided against itself cannot stand. Then he says that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is a sin without forgiveness.

What? There is a sin without forgiveness? I've read this passage before, but still didn't feel like I understood it so I started looking at commentaries online and googling and ran across this blog post that helped me to understand. The unforgivable sin

Here's an exerpt:

"So in my opinion, the unforgivable sin, the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, consists in misusing one’s training and education in the Scriptures to publicly and knowingly slander the Holy Spirit by misleading people into thinking that He is Satan. Clearly no one who does this can be forgiven, because it is through the Holy Spirit that we are forgiven. Also, no one who thinks that the Holy Spirit is Satan will permit himself to be guided by Him or filled with Him or given gifts by Him. So just as pulling the main breaker in your house means that you can never receive electricity, blaspheming against the Holy Spirit means that you can never receive forgiveness, because it turns off the tap through which forgiveness flows!"

We are to live the exact opposite. Our life is meant to exist to bring glory to God! I just want to learn how to do that better.