Category: Leviticus-BibleTrekToday
Trek through Leviticus
Rejoicing in a Holy God!
Scripture reading for February 1st: Leviticus 11-14
Key Scriptures: Leviticus 11:44-45 “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.”
We can rejoice that our God is holy! His holiness and perfection are far beyond human comprehension. In His desire to dwell in the midst of His people, He called them to live a holy life, separated from anything that would hinder their enjoyment of His holiness! He led the Israelites out of Egypt to show the world a people marked by holiness!
Cause for rejoicing: God makes us holy by the blood of Jesus Christ so that we can be a people marked by His holy presence. “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)
The Fear of the Lord!
Scripture reading for January 31st: Leviticus 6-10
Key Scriptures: Leviticus 10:1-3 “Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to His command. So fire came out from the Presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when He said: “Among those who approach Me, I will show Myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.””
Our holy God demands obedience and honor among those who serve Him. These two young men were careless in coming before the Lord. Alcohol and intoxication may have been involved. (Leviticus 10:8-10) A healthy fear of the Lord is needed among His people to keep them from doing that which displeases Him.
Thankful for a holy fear: The Holy Spirit is a ‘Spirit of the Fear of the Lord’. (Isaiah 11:2-3) “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”” (Hebrews 12:28-29)
Thankful for Christ’s covering!
Scripture reading for January 30th: Leviticus 2-5
Key Scriptures: Leviticus 5:5-6 “When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned and as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the Lord a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.”
When a person committed an unintentional sin under the Old Covenant, they must confess their sin and bring a sin offering. This was an animal, without blemish, to sacrifice to cover the sin. The priest confessed the sin over the animal and killed it, taking the blood and sprinkling it before the Lord. In this way sin was covered over.
Thanksgiving: We are so thankful that in Christ Jesus, we have the perfect blood already sprinkled on Heaven’s Mercy Seat. He is our High Priest as well! “How much more then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:14)
The Glory of His Presence!
Scripture reading for January 27th: Exodus 37-40, Leviticus 1
Key Scriptures: Exodus 40:34-37 “Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the Cloud had settled upon it, and the Glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the Cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the Cloud did not lift, they did not set out–until the day It lifted.”
God would go with His people and lead them by the Cloud of Glory of His Presence. They were only to move when He moved and stay when He stayed. God’s Presence guided them, protected them and marked them, as they followed, obeyed and worshiped!
Overflowing joy: God’s Presence is with all those who believe on His Son, Jesus Christ! “Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
The year of Jubilee!
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. No one was to work the land 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!
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” was a reference to “Jubilee”! Jesus is our Jubilee! He died to bring us into God’s family and restore our inheritance. One day the trumpet will sound, and the restoration will be completed at the final “Jubilee”! “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are 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.” (1st Thessalonians 4:16-18)
Proper attire to meet with God!
Scripture reading for February 8th: 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, but what was it like in Moses day?
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 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 was 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 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)
Today we know holiness is not determined 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 can reflect a flippant heart attitude. Our God is still a holy God and those who approach him must come with modesty, humility and holy respect.
Not all “connections” are blessed!
Scripture Reading for February 7th: Leviticus 18-20
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 bless a holy people who are to have children blessed by knowing God.
Incest dishonors your father or mother and you if you initiate it. (Leviticus 18:17) Sex with close relatives 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!
God’s people are to be markedly different! They are to be holy because God is holy. (Leviticus 19:2) 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) Jesus taught that this was one of the great commands of God. (Matthew 22:37-39)
America today needs our prayer and intercession! Its sins are like those described 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 those who rebel against God’s word and know better!
“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
The “scapegoat”!
Scripture reading for February 6th: Leviticus 16-17
Man is always looking for someone to blame for his sin. It was the “woman you gave me” for Adam. Eve became his “scapegoat”! It was the “serpent” for Eve. God Himself was blamed by both of them as the ultimate problem. Amazingly, God had already planned to provide a “scapegoat”!
God set apart one day a year when the High Priest could go behind the curtain of the Holy of Holies in the Tent of Meeting. That day was called the Day of Atonement. The term “atonement” simply means a “covering”. On this day, the Israelites would have a yearly “covering” for their sins.
First, a bull was killed and the blood sprinkled for the High Priest as a sacrifice for his sins. Then two goats were brought before the Tent and lots were cast. One of the goats was sacrificed and the blood sprinkled by the High Priest behind the curtain for the sins of the people. (Leviticus 16:6-19)
The second goat was then brought forward. The High priest laid his hands on it and confessed the sins and rebellion of the Israelites. This goat was then led out away from the camp into the wilderness and left there. The Israelites watched the goat bearing their sins disappear in the distance, a symbol of their sins being removed from them by an innocent sacrifice. God provided a “scapegoat” who would take the blame for them! (Leviticus 16:20-28) This was a picture of the coming Messiah!
Jesus Christ came as God’s designated “scapegoat”! He offered Himself on the cross to make “atonement” for our sins. He shed His own blood to pay the penalty for our sins, once for all time! (Hebrews 9:11-14) He bore our sins and carried them away into a place of God’s forgetfulness, never to be remembered again! (Hebrews 10:17)
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV
Connecting to God’s diet for health!
Scripture Reading for February 5th: Leviticus 11-15
God was concerned about the health and holiness of His people and gave dietary laws to keep them from sickness and disease. ( Leviticus 11:44-45) What we eat affects our health and our ability to glorify God. God knew which animals could carry disease and cause sickness and He understood germs and parasites when man was unaware. Eating vultures, owls, osprey’s, bats, or hawks would be dangerous because they fed on carrion–dead animals. (Leviticus 11:13-19) God’s people were also not to eat any animal with the blood in it and the carrion was filled with blood and various germs and parasites!
The Israelites were not to eat the pig, either. (Leviticus 11:7-8) This prohibition was because the pig was also a scavenger, eating anything available. God did not want His people to be defiled or made sick by the meat. Because He knows everything and we can count on His wisdom.
Jesus declared all foods clean. (Acts 10:10-16) In a vision, Peter saw a sheet with all kinds of “unclean” animals on it. God told Peter to eat! When he protested like a good Hebrew, God told him a second time not to call anything impure that He had made clean. The Apostle Paul also taught this truth in 1 Timothy 4:4-5. All food is to be eaten with thanksgiving and prayer.
We need to use wisdom in this matter, though. If the Lord shows you that a certain food is not good for you to eat, don’t eat it! Anything not done out of faith is sin. (Romans 14:23) We must also be mindful not to cause anyone else to stumble. The law of love is our first test. Can I eat what I want to eat and do it to the glory of God? Will it be good for me? Will I cause anyone else to stumble? (Romans 14:19-21)
In conclusion, when you set down to a meal of ham and shrimp, be sure to pray! God’s blessing and sanctification are always to be sought! And be sure to eat with thanksgiving and in faith! If you can’t, that food might not be a healthy choice for you!
The drunken disconnection!
Scripture reading for February 4th: Leviticus 8-10
In today’s reading the sons of Aaron and nephews of Moses committed a “deadly” sin! They had experienced the miraculous deliverance of the plagues and seen God act in power at the Red Sea when the Egyptian army was drowned. They had witnessed the miraculous events of the journey, eaten the “manna” and heard God’s voice on the mountain. They were dressed, instructed, and anointed for ministry along with their father and other brothers. They were sprinkled with the blood of sacrifice. (Leviticus 8) But sometimes, those in ministry or close to it, become complacent. Worse yet, they behave disrespectfully towards God in front of others who were looking to them for spiritual leadership!
Nadab and Abihu had witnessed Moses and Aaron going into the Tent of Meeting and the visible Glory of the Lord appearing to the people. (Leviticus 9:23-24.) Fire came from the Lord and consumed the sacrifice. All the people shouted for joy and fell face down. Evidently, Nadab and Abihu were fascinated with the Tent of Meeting. They decided to go in there themselves and experience God. They took “strange” fire with them and God took their lives right on the spot.
It appears that these boys might have been drinking. In Leviticus 10:8-11, Aaron warned his other sons not to drink wine or any other fermented drink when they went into the Tent of Meeting! Paul the Apostle also gave the same warning to believers: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery, instead be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18) We can bring judgment on ourselves! (1st Corinthians 11:27-34) In Corinth, some were sick and others died because of improper conduct during the Lord’s supper!
Alcohol is not for those in the church! Alcohol has caused many to stumble and has destroyed many families and believer’s testimonies. We have the Holy Spirit and He lives in us! We are responsible to God for our witness and behavior before our family, believers and a lost world! Please meditate on these Scriptures today and allow the Lord to speak. God doesn’t want you to die or others because of your example! (2nd Peter 3:9)