I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 14-15.

The idea that many of the sacrifices were consumed as celebratory feasts makes sense out of the offerings made for being declared clean after having a skin disease.  The offering was a celebration of healing.  Those who could afford it gave a lamb to the priests and celebrated with a second lamb.  Those who were two poor for that celebrated with a lamb which they split with the priest.  But in both cases they celebrated God’s goodness in providing them with healing.

I have seen Chapter 15 be misinterpreted in several ways.  It seems obvious that Chapter 15 reflects the risks of spreading infection that being exposed to someone else’s bodily fluids entails.  In recent times we have seen a few diseases which became serious threats to public health because of promiscuous sharing of bodily fluids between near strangers.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 10-12.

After the death of two of Aaron’s sons, Moses was angry with Aaron’s two remaining sons for not following eating the goat of the sin offering as the rules for the sin offering instructed them to do (Aaron was also guilty of this, but Moses appears to have confronted his sons, not Aaron).  Aaron responded that the loss of two of his sons justified he and his remaining sons not celebrating the sin offering by eating the portions intended for them.  Moses found this answer satisfactory.  This shows us that we need to make allowances for special circumstances.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 8-9.

Over the last few years I have had a growing awareness that the times of offering sacrifices was also a time of feasting.  With a few notable exceptions, each offering was divided into three portions.  One portion was burned on the altar, one portion went to the priests (this portion was where most of the food for the priests came from), and one portion was eaten by those who offered it (and their households).  In this passage today, the offering for their ordination was only to be eaten by the priests.  However, for the seven days of the ordination the priests being ordained were to remain at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, where the people could come and meet with them.  It seems to me that the intention was for the people to be able to interact with those who were about to become priests so that these newly ordained priests would understand the people to whom they would minister.  At the end of the seven days on the eighth day, the newly ordained priests would offer sacrifices for all of the people…sacrifices which would be the basis for a feast and celebration for the people.  So, the sacrifices formed a bond between the people who offered the sacrifice, the priests who performed the sacrifice, and God.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 1-4.

I find it interesting that if the grain offering was baked before being offered it was to not include any yeast.  I thought I fully understood why the Passover bread was to be made without yeast: because the Israelites did not have time to allow it to rise on the first Passover.  However, the fact that these offerings were required to be made without yeast suggests that there was more to it than that.  Unfortunately, I do not know what that something more was.  I did an Internet search on the question, but I did not consider any of the results which I found satisfactory.  I have never before given this much thought, and now it has become something to which I would really like to know the answer.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 26-27.

God promised the people of Israel blessings if they obeyed His commands and the punishments they would suffer if they failed to obey.  Some people read these blessings and conclude that godliness leads to wealth.  There is some truth to this, but it misunderstands what this passage promises.  First, God’s promise here is for the people of Israel, not everyone.  More importantly, these promises are for an entire people, not for individuals.  I believe that any large group of people who faithfully follow God’s commands will experience blessings similar to those recorded here, and any such group which violates God’s commands will suffer the punishment.  I believe that God built this into the world when He created it.  Having said all of that, I believe that choosing to obey God brings joy and choosing to rebel against God will bring pain.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 24-25.

I think the ideas presented with the Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee have real lessons for us.  The Sabbath Year solves a problem which modern farmers address by crop rotation and leaving fields fallow every so many years.  However, academia and mission organizations have adopted the idea of a sabbatical year from this concept.  The idea of the Year of Jubilee is to level the economic stratification which happens in society every so many years.  The idea being that everyone should have equal chances in life.  I do not see any way we could make the idea of the Year of Jubilee work in a non-agrarian society, but we should keep its ideal in mind.  Even in this passage there is an exemption made for property within cities.  The Year of Jubilee reminds us that we should seek ways to give those who suffer from the bad economic decisions of their parents, or even their own bad economic decisions, a chance for a fresh start.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 22-23.

At the beginning of the passage it discusses the need for priests to maintain both spiritual and physical holiness.  The passage then goes on to command that flawed animals are not acceptable offerings to God.  Every time I read this I think about what this means when we make offerings to God today by donating to charitable causes.  When we make an offering to God it must be perfect not used, not our castoffs.  That does not mean that we should not donate such things that still have use to charity.  It just means that we should not think of that as an offering to God.  If we have clothes which no longer fit us but are still in good repair, it is a good thing to donate it to a thrift store or other charity, but doing so does not qualify as an offering to God.

From time to time someone comes to the conclusion that Christians can benefit from paying closer attention, perhaps even from celebrating the festivals God commanded the Israelites to observe.  There is some merit to the idea.  Yet in every case I am aware of, they start the discussion with the Festival of First Fruits.  Oh, they mention the Sabbath in passing, but they start their discussion with the Festival of First Fruits.  However, I think we should pay more attention to that very first of the festivals which God established for the people of Israel.  I do not believe it matters whether we celebrate that Festival on Saturday or Sunday.  The important thing is that we should gather once a week to celebrate God.  Which brings up another point, our Sunday services should be a celebration.  They are not an obligation which we grudgingly spend an hour or two fulfilling.  No, they should be celebrations which we eagerly look forward to taking part in and regret when they come to an end.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 19-21.

There are a lot of very basic, good life rules in today’s passage. 

1. do not deceive and cheat
2. do not twist justice to favor the poor or show partiality towards the rich
I think it is worth noting that this command spells out our human tendency to twist justice in favor of the poor when we don’t twist it to gain favor with the rich and that both are wrong.
3. Do not spread slanderous gossip
4. help people when they are in danger
5. do not nurse a grievance, instead confront the person directly whom you believe to have wronged you

All of these represent good rules to follow and are summed up by the one which Jesus listed as the second most important command (which is in this passage): Love your neighbor as yourself. 

There are more rules that are worth noting in chapter 19, then I see a kind of transition and a series of rules with a different focus in chapter 20.  While the rules in chapter 20 can also be summed up by loving others as you love yourself, I see a somewhat different common thread among them.  I am not quite sure how to summarize these rules, but I think they are tied together.  Here God forbids sacrificing children, attempting to communicate with the dead, dishonoring your parents, and a laundry list of sexual acts.  All of these involve putting yourself and your own pleasure over the best interest of others.