Archive for the ‘Leviticus-BibleTrekToday’ Category

Dear Friends,

Greetings on this another day of rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ.  He shed His blood on the cross for us that we might be freed from sin, guilt, and eternal death.  His blood was the only sacrifice that could actually make atonement for our sins.  Our church family celebrates the Covenant Meal of Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month as a way to remember the powerful blood and its work for sinners.

“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” (Leviticus 17:11)

God laid out some strict rules for blood sacrifices to cleanse Aaron and the priests who handled the sacred duties of meeting with God and interceding for God’s people.  Aaron’s sons died before the Lord when they carelessly neglected to follow God’s instructions about how to approach Him.  They offered strange fire before the Lord and died instantly!  (Leviticus 10:1-2)  There is some implication that they had been drinking alcohol and were impaired when they did this. (Leviticus 10:8-10) They neglected the blood sacrifice of a sin offering and paid a terrible penalty.

God chose blood because the life of a creature is in the blood.  Blood is an amazing creation.  Our blood carries food and oxygen to each cell of the body.  It also picks up waste products and they are filtered out of the blood by the liver.  Our blood carries clotting agents if we are wounded and antibodies in the blood attack disease organisms and protect the body from attack.  Our blood contains everything our bodies need for life.  When we lose a certain part of our blood, we die.

Christ’s blood is powerful because He alone was without sin.  His blood was not tainted by original sin.  His blood carried the power to cleanse us completely from the penalty of sin and the power of sin to enslave us.  Take time today to think about the blood of Christ and its amazing power.  Holy Communion reminds us of this special sacrifice.  Have a great day of rest and reflection!

Cleansed by His Powerful Blood, Pastor John

Scripture reading for February 6th: Leviticus 16-17

Sin has devastating consequences for human beings.  Sin permeates all humans from birth because of Adam’s original sin.  (Romans 5:12)  Sin separates man from God and God cannot look on the sinners or hear them. (Isaiah 59:2)  Sin holds men in its power and they cannot escape from its grip with any human effort or good works. (Isaiah 64:6)  Sin ultimately ends in eternal separation from God in the lake of fire, which is called the “second” death.  (Revelation 20:14-15)

Right after the death of two of Aaron’s sons because of failure to approach the Lord in a proper way, God gave instructions for the Day of Atonement.  This was to be one day each year when the high priest went into the presence of the Lord behind the veil and offered blood sacrifice for himself and then for the nation.  First, a young bull was to be offered as a sin offering for Aaron’s sins.  Then two goats were also brought before the Lord. One of them was chosen to be sacrificed for the sins of the nation. That goat was slaughtered and Aaron was to take the blood into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood on behalf of the people.

The second major sacrifice that day was the scapegoat.  This goat was selected by lot and presented alive before the Lord.  (Leviticus 16:10, 20-22) Aaron was to lay both hands on its head and confess all the sins, wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites over this live goat, symbolically putting them on the goat’s head.  This goat was then led away in the presence of all the people and taken into the wilderness.  The people would watch it disappear from view.  This goat symbolized God removing their sins away from them, as far as the East is from the West! (Psalm 103:12)

God used these object lessons to help the Israelites visualize what was necessary to remove sin from their lives.  These sacrifices are a picture of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary.  There He became sin for us.  God the Father laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  (2nd Corinthians 5:21)  He shed His own blood as the “sin offering for us”.  He did not need a sacrifice for Himself!  He was crucified outside the camp and His death took sin away.  As we look to Him as our scapegoat, our sins are atoned for!  What a plan!

Scripture reading for February 5th: Leviticus 11-15

Is what we eat really of concern to the Creator?  Is a skin rash or mildew on clothing really a big deal to God?   Is it really appropriate for God to talk about our bodily discharges?    Isn’t God getting a little too personal talking about childbirth and  a woman’s periods?  These chapters of Leviticus cover some very personal topics and specific conduct that was given to the Israelites by God for their good and protection.  They are really evidence of God’s love and care and His very personal understanding of our bodies and health!

Holiness starts with a good diet!  If we are to have healthy bodies, we must watch what we eat.  Some animals have the potential to spread disease and create problems for us.  God directed His people as to which animals could be eaten and which were unhealthy for them.  (Leviticus 11:1-43)  “I am the Lord you God; consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy.  Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. (Leviticus 11:44)

Holy offspring must come from pure sexual relations.  A woman’s period makes her unclean and she should not have sexual relationships for a prescribed time after her period or the birth of a child.  God was looking out for the health and well-being of His children and their parents.  Burnt offerings and sin offerings were required for cleansing before sexual contact was allowed.  (Leviticus 12:1-8)

Skin rashes indicated an infection in the body that might cause disease or spread to others.  Love dictated that people with rashes be quarantined until the infection was cleared up.  God was concerned for infections and even mildew that could make His people unclean and ill!  (Leviticus 13:1-8) (Leviticus 13:47-59)

Men with discharges were unclean.  An emission of semen caused a man to be unclean until evening and after a bath.  (Leviticus 15:16)  Sexual intercourse with an emission of semen caused both the man and woman to be unclean.  (Leviticus 15:18)  These rules were all to help God’s people to be holy and separated from the ways of the world.  God was concerned for the people’s health and welfare.  His love and intimate knowledge of what was best and most healthy for them caused Him to write these rules!  What an interesting God we serve!

Scripture reading for February 4th: Leviticus 8-10

We all have our own idea of what a great job might look like.  For some it might be leadership of a major company making lots of money.  For others it might be an easy job with little work or effort but great honor.  Some people think that being a minister or priest would be an easy job.  Let’s consider the priesthood that God appointed to represent the people before Him and see if this job would be one that we might enjoy!

The first command of God brought Aaron, the high priest elect, and his four sons before the Tent of Meeting.  They were to bring their garments, anointing oil, a bull for a sin offering, two rams, a basket of unleavened bread and the entire assembly of Israel to watch them.  They were stripped down and bathed and then dressed in the holy clothes.  Aaron had the ephod and breastpiece placed on him, as well as the turban with the gold plate.  Next Aaron was anointed by pouring  the sacred anointing oil on his head.  Then the bull was sacrificed with Aaron and his sons placing their hands on its head before death.  Moses did this and poured the blood out before the Lord, offered the fat and kidneys, sprinkled the altar and burned the body outside the camp.  (Leviticus 8:1-17)

Next the ram for the burnt offering was sacrificed in the same manner as the bull.  This time Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar and burned the whole ram on the altar.  The second ram was for ordination.  Aaron and sons laid their hands on its head before Moses slaughtered it.  He took some blood and put it on the right earlobe, thumb of the right hand and big toe of the right foot of Aaron, and the sons. Their garments were anointed again with blood from the last ram and anointing oil.  (Leviticus 8:22-31)

This was all a prelude to their serving in this same manner each day before the Lord on behalf of the people.  It was not an easy or clean job!  It also had it’s dangers!  Two of the sons died when they did not follow God’s instructions!  (Leviticus 10:1-2) Serving God and His people requires holiness and cleansing by blood.  God demands obedience from those who are given much!  Those who are great in God’s Kingdom become servants of all!

Scripture reading for February 3rd: Leviticus 4-7

We are wired by God with an inner moral compass called a conscience.  This conscience tells us when we are off base morally.  Sin is disobedience to God’s commands or instruction. We experience guilt feelings when we sin or violate God’s basic laws.  If we repeatedly sin and fail to take action to seek forgiveness and change our behavior, our conscience can become seared and we no longer experience guilt feelings.

God made a required way for His people to deal with unintentional sin and the resultant guilt.  They had two prescribed offerings that were specifically designed to cover sin and remove guilt.  The first offering was called the “sin offering” because of its obvious purpose.  In this offering the guilty sinner must bring a young bull without defect before the Lord and present it at the door of the Tent of Meeting.  He must lay his hand on the bull’s head and then slaughter it.  The anointed priest was to take blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the curtain in the sanctuary.  The priest then took more blood and anointed the horns of the incense altar and poured the rest of the blood out before the Lord.  The fat and kidneys were burned on the altar as an offering and the rest burned outside the camp in a clean place.

This elaborate offering for unintentional sin speaks of Jesus Christ.  He was a young man in His prime, offered before the Lord.  He poured out His blood willingly for sinners and for the guilty to cleanse them from sin and guilt.  His heart and kidneys were offered to God–perfect inner obedience and willing sacrifice!  Jesus body was offered outside the camp on Golgotha!  He went through the fires of God’s judgment on our behalf while hanging on the altar of the cross!

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22)

Scripture reading for February 2nd: Leviticus 1-3

Do you like spinach?  What about brussel sprouts?  How about Leviticus?  It has lots of strange offerings and laws written in it.  Much of it is foreign to our culture and our way of thinking and it’s sometimes hard to see how it is relevant to our lives today.  But as spinach and brussel sprouts contain essential nutrients for our body’s growth and maintenance, so Leviticus contains some spiritual truths that can nourish our souls!

Leviticus was written by Moses as instructions for the Levites who would serve the Lord in the tabernacle.    They were chosen by God to do the job of caring for the tabernacle and helping the Israelites with worship and prayer.  Moses and Aaron were Levites.  This book details what was required for those who served and how a sinful people must approach God in order to have fellowship with Him.

There were three voluntary offerings that could be brought by an Israelite in order to approach God.  The first was the burnt offering which was to be an animal from the flock or herd.  This animal must be perfect and must be  slaughtered at the door of the Tent of Meeting.  The sons of Aaron were to take blood and sprinkle it on the altar and then arrange the wood and the pieces of the animal on the altar to be burned.  (Leviticus 1:3-8)  All of it was to be burned as an offering to the Lord.

The second offering was the grain offering.  It was to be offered with oil and incense and burned on the altar before the Lord by the priests.  It must be without any yeast or honey and was seasoned with salt.  (Leviticus 2:11-13)  The third offering was the fellowship offering.  This offering was for anyone who just wanted to have fellowship with the Lord.  This was to be an animal without defect, offered in sacrifice.  Here the fat, kidneys, and choice parts were burned and then some of the meat could be eaten in God’s presence in fellowship with Him.

God desires fellowship with each of His people.  We can now approach God through Christ’s blood, which was the final offering needed for us.  (Hebrews 10:19-23)  He is pictured in each of these voluntary offerings as giving his blood (burnt offering) and body (meal offering) so that we might have fellowship with God.

Scripture reading for February 10: Leviticus 24-27

In our culture, Golden anniversaries are special.  When a couple has been together 50 years there is always a celebration!  God also uses the 50th year as a special year.  He called it the year of Jubilee!  It was a year of freedom and restoration for all of God’s people.  On the 50th year, debts were to be forgiven and property that was taken or bought from the original owner was restored and given back.  On this year, no one was to work the land.  The land would be left to rest and whatever grew without any human effort was to  be used for food for the people.  It was a blessed time that the people looked forward to.  It pictured the reign of Messiah, when he would come and restore the fortunes and possessions of his people and vanquish their enemies.

The Jubilee was the culmination of 7 periods of 7 years.  After 6 years, the Israelites were to rest their land for a year.  God promised to provide enough for them in the 6th year to carry them through until the harvest of the 8th year.  There were to be 7 cycles of 7 years and following the 49th year, on the Day of Atonement, the priests were to sound the trumpet and announce the beginning of the Year of Jubilee! (Leviticus 25:8-10) What a joyous occasion!  God giving us a picture of his amazing restoration and rule of grace!

The problem was that the Israelites never took the Sabbath years every 7th year and they never did have a Year of Jubilee.  They knew about it because of Leviticus but failed to do what God asked.  When we fail to obey, God always has his way.  The Israelites went for 7o years of captivity in Babylon so that the land where they had lived and neglected God’s command could have it’s rest! (2nd Chronicles 36:20-21)  God has the final word!

In the New Testament we find the Jubilee in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4, verses 18-19.  Jesus announces his calling and ministry by reading from Isaiah 61:1-2.  The proclamation of the “year of the Lord’s favor” is a reference to “Jubilee”!  Jesus is our Jubilee!  In him, we have restoration and a return of our stolen property.  God wants us to find our food, fulfillment, and blessing from his grace, not our own efforts!  Jubilee is a picture of Jesus’ provision for every person who trusts in Him by faith!

This is good news for us today as well!  We rest in what Jesus Christ has done for us.  We take a sabbath rest every six days!  We can remember the year of rest every seven years and be blessed with God’s grace to provide for us in supernatural ways.  When we think of Jubilee–God’s promise of restoration and provision for his people, we can be happy and celebrate!

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds  to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage each other with these words. 1st Thessalonians 4:16-18

Scripture reading for February 9th: Leviticus 21-23

Today, people seem to want to come to church in the most casual attire possible.  They are very individualistic in their tastes and often want to stand out because of some unusual hair style, color, tattoo or piercing.  Some shave off all their hair and others wear various hair pieces.  Some wear jeans and others dress in suit and tie.  A few years back, almost everyone dressed up for church and put on their most special clothes.  What was it like in Moses day?

According to our reading today, priests had very strict dress and behavior rules.  God was holy and they must be holy too or they might die!  (Leviticus 22:9) For me, this is a good enough reason to pay attention to God’s rules!

In Chapter 21, God warned his priests not to shave their heads, cut the edges of their beards, or cut their bodies. Their appearance was somehow connected with holiness. These men had to present offerings to the Lord each day. The High Priest who had been anointed with the holy oil could not let his hair become unkempt or messed up! He could not touch a dead body, even that of his mother or father! He was under strict rules because of his position and responsibility before God.

The priests could not marry just anyone either. They could only marry a virgin from among their own people. They could not marry a widow or divorced person or anyone engaged in prostitution! The reason given is that this would defile the offspring and make them unfit to serve in the priesthood and handle the holy offerings. (Leviticus 21:7-8, 13-15)

Priests could not serve and handle offerings if they had a skin disease or had been near a dead body. If they did handle the offerings knowingly when they were unclean, they must be cut off from God’s presence and never allowed to offer sacrifices again! God looked at these requirements with great seriousness and did not allow for levity or laxity! (Leviticus 22:1-4)

So, what does this mean for us today in the twenty-first century? Holiness is not determined today by how we dress outwardly. Jesus fulfilled the law. We must be dressed in His righteousness and cleansed by His blood to be clean. However, our dress outwardly often reflects our heart attitude. Many are lax about their approach to God. If they are seeking more to be noticed by others or to express their individuality and right to expression by modifying their bodies or displaying them inappropriately, then beware! Our God is still a holy God and those who approach him must come with humility and holy respect.

Marriage is another area of disreguard in today’s culture. Adultery and fornication are regular practices of people who approach God and say that they love Jesus. Divorce and the breaking of vows made before God is a routine practice even among professing Christians. God does not take this as lightly as we do. He desires holiness and holy offspring! (Leviticus 21:15; Malachi 2:15)

Wow!  Leviticus really makes you appreciate what we have today because of Jesus Christ!  I know I would have had a hard time bringing all those animals to offer for my sins.  It’s hard to admit sin privately before the Lord.  I can’t imagine having to confess my sins to the priest and then offer an animal that would die right in front of my own eyes!  Sin might become detestable after a few times!  Maybe that was God’s intent!

Being a priest would have been difficult and very messy!  Killing animals daily and sprinkling blood and washing and lifting dead carcasses up before the Lord would have been gruesome work.  Going into the Tent of Meeting knowing that you might die yourself would also not be exciting.  I am sure that Aaron had his moments too.  He lost two sons who went into that Tent, probably under the influence of alcohol.  Can you imagine his thoughts each year as he had to go in with the blood of a bull for himself and his family and then the blood of a goat for the whole nation?  He had to go in alone and by faith make the acceptable sacrifice.  It was probably not something he took lightly!

We have it easy today!  Jesus has done it all!  He is our high priest and intercedes for us.  He sacrificed his own body and blood for our “atonement” covering of our sins.  Our sins are taken away and our consciences are cleansed!  It is finished!  He did not have to sacrifice for Himself, like Aaron, because He was without sin.  He ever lives to make intercession for us!  Take time and reflect on this past week’s reading and thank Jesus for fulfilling all the law!  Ask Him to make you holy, as He is holy.  By faith, claim His righteousness.  True Christianity brings rest and true joy!  God bless you and have a great sabbath rest!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  . . .”God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2nd Corinthians 5: 17, 21.

Scripture Reading for February 7th: Leviticus 18-20

SEX!  There, that got your attention!  God talks about sex and all it’s perverted variations in these chapters of Leviticus.  He tells his people that they are not to have sexual relations like the nation of Egypt where they were enslaved.  God’s people are to live differently from the world.  God’s laws about sexual conduct are designed to bring about a holy people who have children who will be blessed by God with His presence and power through a relationship with Him.  If we want this blessing, we must become a holy people as He is holy.

Honor is important in sexual relations.  Incest dishonors your father or mother and you if you initiate it.  God also states that it is wickedness.  (Leviticus 18:17)  Sex with close relatives (incest) is wrong and dishonors the family.  Sex with another man’s wife (adultery) defiles you! (Leviticus 18:20) Sex with the same sex, homosexuality or lesbianism, is “detestable” to God.  (Leviticus 18:22) Sex with an animal (bestiality) is perverted! (Leviticus 18:23)  God has designed man for one woman for life and has promised to bless that monogamous relationship.  (Genesis 2:24)

When you commit any of these sins, God says that you defile the land where you live.  God states that this defilement causes that land to “vomit” out people who do these sins!  (Leviticus 18:24-28)  In fact, this is why God has destroyed all of the great civilizations up to this point in history!  Wow!  This makes me afraid for the land we live in today!   When will our land begin to “puke” out those who are committing sins of incest, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and bestiality?   God’s Word is truth and will ultimately come to pass.  We may appear to get by but the consequences of sin always find us out. (Numbers 32:23)

God’s people are to be markedly different!  They are to be holy because God is holy. (Leviticus 19:2)  This holiness is to be walked out in love and respect for God’s laws and in our conduct towards others. Jesus said that if we love him, we will keep his commandments!  (John 15:10) The other laws of Leviticus 19-20 give details about our conduct that could be summarized as “love your neighbor as yourself”. (Leviticus 19:34)  The two great commandments taught by Jesus are: “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself!” (Matthew 22:37-39)   We find their basis here in the book of Leviticus among the laws for sexual purity for the nation of Israel!

America today needs our prayer and intercession!  Its sins are like those described here in our reading for today.  We are a nation who knows too much and applies too little.  These sins are prevalent in the church as well as in the nation we live in.  Take time today to repent and pray for God’s mercy.  The earth is ready to vomit!

“And if you defile the land,(with these sexual sins) it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.” Leviticus 18:28