Day 38: Leviticus 25, 26 and 27

What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops? (Leviticus 25:20).

Why is it so hard for us to trust God? In my fifty plus years there have been times I have been faithful to God and times I have been unfaithful. There have been times I trusted him and times I did not. But I can say with certainty, there has never been any wavering with God – God has always been faithful; God has always been trustworthy.

The Israelite people suffered from that same lack of trust. Even though God had assured them he would provide – they’d seen it with their own eyes – they felt the weight of providing for themselves and their families as if that responsibility rested on their shoulders alone. God had shown himself to Abraham as Yahweh-Yireh (God my provider) in Genesis 22:14, a story treasured by all Abraham’s descendants. Traditionally, as this word was being delivered to the people, they were eating their fill of quail and bread every day (including the Sabbath when they were restrained from gathering manna). They had a ready example of God’s faithful provision.

And yet whether it’s the odd Israelite out collecting manna on the Sabbath, or planting crops in the seventh year, or David counting his fighting men, or us worrying about our bills, lack of trust seems to eclipse even our imagined lack of resources.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Does trust come hard or easy for you? How will you show faith in God’s provision this week?

Day 37: Leviticus 22, 23 and 24

Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me (Leviticus 22:2).

This is God’s command for Aaron and his family to be faithful with offerings brought to the tabernacle by the people of Israel. There was no denominational governing body to provide oversight, nor was there a Sinai Council for Financial Accountability.

When we bring our tithes and offerings and present them to God via the church, it’s good to know that those monies are not taken for granted, but appreciated and stewarded with respect as sacred. Congregations have many of the same bills as do families. They have to pay for water and for trash removal, a light bill and building maintenance costs. As corporations they also have to pay for salaries, insurance, and even unemployment.

Some of us are dreamers and visionaries, and some of us are nuts and bolts kind of people. That’s by God’s design. We can be thankful for those business minded men and women who watch over our facilities and finances to make sure we’ll be ministering and dreaming well into the years ahead.

Take comfort that God-ordained and equipped stewards are treating as sacred the gifts you bring to the church. It is a holy calling.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Did God make you a dreamer, or more of a nuts and bolts kind of person? …or maybe somewhere in the middle? What does that say for where you should be serving in your home church?

Day 36: Leviticus 19, 20 and 21

Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy (Leviticus 19:2).

I used to dread this verse as an impossible command, a requirement with which I could not comply. No matter how good my intentions or committed my effort, it never achieved the desired result. As C. S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, “No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good” [1]. The more I tried to change my behavior, the more frustrated I became. My efforts seemed doomed to failure.

New Testament scholar Paul Achtemeier writes of Romans 7:15 (…what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.): “What Paul describes in these verses therefore is the dilemma of all human beings who seek to follow God’s will apart from Christ” [2]. This is my experience when trying to conform to Scripture relying only on my own strength.

In his book Rebuilding the Real You, Pastor Jack Hayford invites us to receive this verse as a promise, rather than a threat. He illustrates how a child may inherit a receding hairline, big feet, or a cleft chin, from a parent. God is our parent, and God is holy. Holiness is in God’s DNA (so to speak). As his children, that DNA is our inheritance [3]. We don’t have to scuffle and scheme to be holy; we simply have to receive what, because of our parentage, is rightfully ours.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Meditate on the significance of sharing spiritual DNA with your heavenly Father? What’s that say for your potential?

Day 35: Leviticus 16, 17 and 18

On this day atonement will be made for you (Leviticus 16:30).

Chapter 16 is where we find instructions for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). This was the one day of the year when the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place (the Holy of holies), to make atonement for the nation’s sins. Yom Kippur, the most important day of the Jewish calendar, is the final day of a ten-day period of repentance beginning with Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashana falls in September on the western calendar.

The writer of Hebrews refers to the Day of Atonement and its trappings as copies of heavenly things (Hebrews 9:23). In other words, the Old Testament sacrificial system was as close as they could come to Christ’s saving work on the cross for a people living in pre-Incarnation times. God’s heart for reconciliation didn’t just begin with the coming of Christ. He has always been working to reconcile humanity to himself.

We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10). Unlike the offering brought by Old Testament priests, there was no need for Christ to repeat his sacrifice yearly. The cross, while absolutely necessary, was also completely sufficient to bring reconciliation between God and humankind.

Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30).

TODAY’S MEDITATION

What does it mean to you that Christ’s offering of himself was a once and for all sacrifice? As you reflect on that, can you thank him that “It is finished”?

Day 34: Leviticus 13, 14 and 15

You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean (Leviticus 15:31).

This is, I’m afraid, a rather difficult reading pertaining to infectious skin diseases, mildew and… discharges. Let’s bring this to where we live.

A while back some people I know were quarantined in their apartment because of viral pneumonia – complete with a sign on their door and everything. The health department hadn’t gotten a handle on the infection and didn’t want it spread to the schools where the kids attended.

When’s the last time you heard about meningitis spreading through a college dorm? With all those kids living in close contact, that’s one of the health concerns of the 21^st century… a fertile breeding ground for germs and disease.

Here we have the account of thousands and thousands of people traveling through the wilderness in close community – anything infecting one member could easily and quickly spread to others. Two things which scared any Ancient Near East people were leprosy and mildew. Infected people could not cohabit with healthy people, and infected homes could not be inhabited at all. So, in a sense, once these things got rooted in a group of people, this very effectively broke community, and God’s all about community.

That was then; this is now. What infections can break our God-given community in the church? Immorality? Gossip? Dissension? Resenting those in leadership?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

What can one person do to guard against anything that threatens community?

Day 33: Leviticus 10, 11 and 12

Would the Lord have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today? (Leviticus 10:19).

Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, offered fire before the Lord in a manner contrary to what had been prescribed. The consequence for this unauthorized fire was a death sentence by fire from God’s presence.

After the tragic deaths of his children, Aaron and his two younger sons were not only forbidden to take the day off from their work in the tabernacle; they were barred from showing any sign of mourning at all. Later in the day, Moses found that a goat sacrificed as a sin offering had been completely consumed by the altar fire, along with a burnt offering, even though a portion of the sin offering was specifically to be eaten by the priests. Aaron defended himself and his sons by reminding Moses they had been faithful to carry out their duties that day in spite of the loss they had endured.

It is probable the three men did not eat because of their grief over the deaths of Nadab and Abihu. They did not display their mourning by calling in sick to work, or by tearing their clothes, but they may have been too burdened or heart-sick to eat.

Having heard Aaron’s explanation, Moses was satisfied that the digression was birthed out of sincere hearts, and not meant as an offense against God.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Have you ever had to defer grief? If so, you know how Aaron and his sons felt. If you’re in that situation now, where you’re hurting but life must go on, ask for strength and make an appointment to grieve later.

Day 32: Leviticus 7, 8 and 9

If anyone who is unclean eats any meat of the fellowship offering . . . Anyone who touches something unclean . . . and then eats any of the meat of the fellowship offering belonging to the Lord must be cut off from their people (Leviticus 7:20, 21).

When I read this passage, I have to admit it makes me think: God is so strict. I mean, being excommunicated for what basically amounts to unwashed hands?

But maybe the attitude problem isn’t God’s. Maybe it’s mine. Could it be that I don’t take seriously enough God’s holiness and his desire for me to reflect that holiness?

After the exiles return to Jerusalem, the prophet Haggai confronts the priests: If . . . that fold [of your garment in which you are carrying consecrated meat] touches some bread or stew . . . does it become consecrated? (Haggai 2:12). The answer is no. Then he turns it around: If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled? (2:13). The answer is yes. Apparently, in this analogy, uncleanness spreads passively by contact. Holiness is never passive… never follows the path of least resistance.

[Our fathers] disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness (Hebrews 12:10). God intentionally works holiness into our lives. But it’s a gift. He won’t force it on us if we don’t want it.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Is there anything in your life you’ve dismissed as insignificant, but God calls sin?

Day 31: Leviticus 4, 5 and 6

When anyone sins unintentionally… (Leviticus 4:2).

When Leviticus uses the phrase sins unintentionally, it might be better rendered as wanders away into sin, or does wrong. Ignorance of the law was no excuse. If anyone engaged in actions or behaviors and only later found out those things were infractions of the law, he was (they were) still guilty. The real difference between the sin offering and the guilt offering was that the sin offering was for more general sins, while the guilt offering included restitution for harming or injuring another person.

Whether between persons, or between humanity and God, these laws are for maintaining relationship and restoring that relationship once it has been broken.

An interesting component of this passage is the concept of community sin. Too often we think of sin as only the individual’s offense rather than allowing for sin shared by an entire community. The church is not innocent of wrongdoing. Whether it’s the crusades, the Inquisition, genocide of native peoples in the name of manifest destiny, dehumanizing women, races, religions and now gays and lesbians, or our misguided attempt to force an Evangelical system of government on the rest of America [3]; the church… the Christian community is not innocent.

There are sins for which our communities (countries, political parties, religions, denominations, ethnic groups, congregations, genders, etc.) need to repent.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

How will you, as a member of the church, encourage or facilitate repentance in (or on the part of) your Christian community this week?

Day 30: Leviticus 1, 2 and 3

Season all your grain offerings with salt (Leviticus 2:13).

The inclusion of salt in grain offerings was probably linked to salt’s preservative properties. In the absence of their Egyptian Frigidaires, the traveling Israelites preserved their food supplies with salt. Salt in the grain offering signified the lasting nature of the covenant between Israel and Yahweh.

One of the attributes of humans is that we have long memories when someone offends us and short memories when we make a promise. As the years pass, our firm commitments lose their significance and seemingly don’t hold as much weight as they once did.

By adding salt to their offerings, the people of Israel were reminding themselves that they could trust God to keep his promises. These laws were traditionally enacted at Sinai where Israel camped the first year after leaving Egypt. Seventy years later in his farewell address, Joshua reminds the nation that God has been faithful from the time of the exodus right up to when each family received their promised inheritance in Canaan. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled (Joshua 23:14).

And perhaps God was reminding them it was also important for them to keep their promises. Salt does more than raise our blood pressure and flavor our food. In Israel’s case it was intended to reinforce their commitments.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Do you need to forget an offense? Do you need to remember a promise? Ask God’s help to follow through with a promise this week.

Day 38: Leviticus 25, 26 and 27

What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops? (Leviticus 25:20)

Why is it so hard for us to trust God? In my fifty plus years there have been times I have been faithful to God and times I have been unfaithful. There have been times I trusted him and times I did not. But I can say with certainty, there has never been any wavering with God - God has always been faithful; God has always been trustworthy.

The Israelite people suffered from that same lack of trust. Even though God had assured them he would provide (they'd seen it with their own eyes), they felt the weight of providing for themselves and their families as if that responsibility rested on their own shoulders. God had shown himself to Abraham as Yahweh-Yireh (God my provider) in Genesis 22:14 – a story treasured by all Abraham's descendants. Traditionally, as this word was being delivered to the people, they were eating their fill of quail and bread every day (including the Sabbath when they were restrained from gathering manna). They had a ready example of God's faithful provision.

And yet whether it's the odd Israelite out collecting manna on the Sabbath, or planting crops in the seventh year, or David counting his fighting men, or us worrying about our bills, lack of trust seems to eclipse even our supposed lack of resources.

How will you show your faith in God’s provision this week?

Day 37: Leviticus 22, 23 and 24

Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me. (Leviticus 22:2)

This is God’s command for Aaron and his family to be faithful with the offerings brought to the tabernacle by the people of Israel. There was no denominational governing body to provide oversight, nor was there a Sinai Council for Financial Accountability.

When we bring our tithes and offerings and present them to God via the church, it's good to know that those monies are not taken for granted, but appreciated and stewarded with respect as sacred. Congregations have many of the same bills as do families. They have to pay for water and for trash removal, the light bill and building maintenance costs. As corporations they also have to pay for unemployment, insurance and salaries.

As I have shared in other venues, some of us are dreamers and visionaries, and some of us are nuts and bolts kind of people. That's by God's design. We can be thankful for those business minded men and women who watch over our facilities and finances to make sure we'll be ministering and dreaming well into the years ahead.

Take comfort that God-ordained and equipped stewards are treating as sacred the gifts you bring to the church. It is a holy calling.

Are you a dreamer or a nuts and bolts kind of person? Or maybe somewhere in the middle? What does that say for where you should be serving in your home church?

Day 36: Leviticus 19, 20 and 21

Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. (Leviticus 19:2)

I used to dread this verse as an impossible command, a requirement with which I could not comply. No matter how good my intentions or committed my effort, it never achieved the desired result. As C. S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, “No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.” [1] The more I tried to change my behavior, the more frustrated I became. My efforts seemed doomed to failure.

New Testament scholar Paul Achtemeier writes of Romans 7:15 (…what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.): “What Paul describes in these verses therefore is the dilemma of all human beings who seek to follow God’s will apart from Christ.” [2] This is my experience when trying to conform to Scripture relying only on my own strength.

In his book Rebuilding the Real You, Pastor Jack Hayford invites us to receive this verse as a promise, rather than a threat. He illustrates how a child may inherit a receding hairline, big feet, or a cleft chin, from a parent. God is our parent, and God is holy. Holiness is in God’s DNA (so to speak). As his children, that DNA is our inheritance. [3] We don’t have to scuffle and scheme to be holy; we simply have to receive what, because of our parentage, is rightfully ours.

Do you look like your Father?

[1] C. S. Lewis. Mere Christianity (New York: Harper Collins, 1952).

[2] Paul J. Achetmeier. Romans. “Interpretation – A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2010.

[3] Jack Hayford. Rebuilding the Real You. rev. ed. (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2009).

Day 35: Leviticus 16, 17 and 18

On this day atonement will be made for you. (Leviticus 16:30)

Chapter sixteen is where we find instructions for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). This was the one day of the year when the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place (Holy of holies), to make atonement for the nation's sins. Yom Kippur, the most important day of the Jewish calendar, is the tenth and final day of ten days of repentance beginning with Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah falls in September on the western calendar.

The writer of Hebrews refers to the Day of Atonement and its trappings as copies of the heavenly things (Hebrews 9:23). In other words, the Old Testament sacrificial system was as close as they could come to Christ’s saving work on the cross for a people living in pre-Incarnation times. God’s heart for reconciliation didn’t just begin with the coming of Christ. He has always been working to reconcile humanity to himself.

We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10). Unlike the offering brought by the Old Testament priests, there was no need for Christ to repeat his sacrifice yearly. The cross, while absolutely necessary, was also completely sufficient to bring reconciliation between God and mankind.

Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30).

What difference does it make to you that Christ’s offering of himself was a once and for all sacrifice?

Day 34: Leviticus 13, 14 and 15

You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean. (Leviticus 15:31)

This is, I'm afraid, another rather difficult reading pertaining to infectious skin diseases, mildew and... discharges. Let's bring it up to date.

A while back some people I know were quarantined in their apartment because of viral pneumonia – complete with a sign on their door and everything. The health department hadn't gotten a handle on the infection and didn't want it spread to the schools where the kids attended.

When's the last time you heard about meningitis spreading through a college dormitory? With all those kids living in close contact, that's one of the health concerns of the 21st century… a fertile breeding ground for germs and disease.

Here we have the account of thousands and thousands of people traveling through the wilderness in close community (anything infecting one member could easily and quickly spread to others). Two things which scared any Ancient Near East people were leprosy and mildew. Infected people could not cohabit with healthy people, and infected homes could not be inhabited at all. So in a sense, once these two things got rooted in a group of people, they very effectively broke community. God's all about community.

What other infections could break their God-given community? The worship of false gods? Immorality? Gossip? Resenting those in leadership?

That was then; this is now.

What infections can break our worshiping community? Should we be any less careful in preventing their spread today?

Day 33: Leviticus 10, 11 and 12

Would the Lord have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today? (Leviticus 10:19)

Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, offered fire before the Lord in a manner contrary to what had been prescribed. The consequence for this unauthorized fire was a death sentence by fire from God’s presence.

After the tragic deaths of his children, Aaron and his two younger sons were not only forbidden to take the day off from their work in the tabernacle; they were barred from showing any sign of mourning at all. Later in the day, Moses found that a goat sacrificed as a sin offering had been completely consumed by the altar fire, along with a burnt offering, even though a portion of the sin offering was specifically to be eaten by the priests. Aaron defended himself and his sons by reminding Moses they had been faithful to carry out their duties that day in spite of the loss they had endured.

It is probable the three men did not eat because of their grief over the deaths of Nadab and Abihu. They did not display their mourning by taking off work, or by tearing their clothes, but they may have been too burdened or heart-sick to eat.

Having heard Aaron's explanation, Moses was satisfied that the digression was birthed out of sincere hearts, and not an offense against God.

Have you ever hurt so bad you didn't know how you could go on, but your responsibilities wouldn’t allow you to stop?

Day 32: Leviticus 7, 8 and 9

If anyone who is unclean eats any meat of the  fellowship offering . . . if anyone touches something unclean and then eats any meat of the fellowship offering . . . that person must be cut off from his people. (Leviticus 7:20, 21, 25, 27)

Whenever I read this passage, I have to admit, the thought comes to me: God is so strict. I mean, being excommunicated for what amounts to unwashed hands?

But maybe the attitude problem isn't God's. Maybe it's mine. Could it be that I don't take seriously enough God's holiness and his desire for me to reflect that holiness?

After the exiles returned to Jerusalem, God confronts the priests through the prophet Haggai: If . . . that fold [of your garment in which you are carrying consecrated meat] touches some bread or stew . . . does it become consecrated? (2:12). The answer is “No.” Then he turns it around: If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled? (2:13) The answer is “Yes.” Apparently, in this analogy uncleanness spreads passively by contact. Holiness is never passive… never follows the path of least resistance.

Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. (Hebrews 12:10) God intentionally works holiness into our lives.

Is there anything in your life that God calls sin, but you’ve dismissed as insignificant?

Day 31: Leviticus 4, 5 and 6

If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally... (Leviticus 4:2)

When Leviticus uses the phrase sins unintentionally, it might be better rendered as wanders away into sin, or does wrong. Ignorance of the law was no excuse. If someone (or a group) engaged in actions or behaviors and only later found out those things were infractions of the law, he was (they were) still guilty. The real difference between the sin offering and the guilt offering was that the sin offering was for more general sins, while the guilt offering included restitution for harming or injuring another person.

Whether between persons, or between humanity and God, these laws are for maintaining relationship and restoring that relationship once it has been broken.

An interesting component of this passage is the concept of community sin. Too often we think of sin as only an individual’s offense rather than allowing for the idea of sin shared by the entire community. The church is not innocent of wrongdoing. Whether it’s the crusades, the Inquisition, genocide of native peoples in the name of manifest destiny, dehumanizing women, Blacks and now gays and lesbians, or our misguided attempt to enforce an Evangelical system of government on the rest of America, the church… the Christian community is not innocent.

There are sins for which our communities (countries, political parties, religions, denominations, congregations, ethnic groups, genders, etc.) need to repent.

How will you, as part of the church, encourage or facilitate repentance in the Christian community this week?

Day 30: Leviticus 1, 2 and 3

Season all your grain offerings with salt. (Leviticus 2:13)

The inclusion of salt in grain offerings was probably linked to salt’s preservative properties. In the absence of their Egyptian Frigidaires, the traveling Israelites preserved their food supplies with salt. Salt in the grain offering signified the lasting nature of the covenant between Israel and Yahweh.

One of the attributes of humans is that we have long memories when someone offends us and short memories when we make a promise. As the years pass our firm commitments lose their significance and seemingly don’t hold as much weight as they once did.

By adding salt to their offerings, the people of Israel were reminding themselves that they could trust God to keep his promises. These laws were traditionally enacted at Sinai where Israel camped the first year after leaving Egypt. Seventy years later, in his farewell address Joshua reminds the nation that God has been faithful from the time of the exodus right up to when each family received their promised inheritance in Canaan. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled (Joshua 23:14).

And maybe God was reminding them that their promises were meant to be kept as well. Salt does more than raise our blood pressure and season our food. In Israel’s case it was intended to reinforce their commitments.

What promise will you keep this week?

Day 38: Leviticus 25, 26 and 27

What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops? (Leviticus 25:20)

Why is it so hard for us to trust God? In my fifty plus years there have been times I have been faithful to God and times I have been unfaithful. There have been times I trusted him and times I did not. But I can say with certainty, there has never been any waivering with God - God has always been faithful; God has always been trustworthy.

The Israelite people suffered from that same lack of trust. Even though God had assured them that he was their provider (they'd seen it with their own eyes), they felt all the responsibility of providing for themselves rested on their own shoulders. God had shown himself to Abraham as Yahweh-Yireh (God my provider in Genesis 22:14), a story treasured by all Abraham's descendants. Traditionally, as this word was being delivered to the people, they were eating their fill of quail and bread every day (including the Sabbath when they were restrained from gathering manna). They had a ready example of God's faithfulness to provide.

And yet whether it's the odd Israelite out collecting manna on the Sabbath, or planting crops in the seventh year, or David counting his fighting men, or us worrying about our bills, lack of trust seems to eclipse even our supposed lack of resources.

How will you show your faith in God's provision this week?

Day 37: Leviticus 22, 23 and 24

Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me. (Leviticus 22:2)

When we bring our tithes and offerings and present them to God via the church, it's good to know that those monies are not taken for granted, but appreciated and stewarded with respect as sacred. Congregations have many of the same bills as do families. They have to pay for water and for trash removal, the light bill and building maintenance. As corporations they also have to pay for unemployment costs and salaries.

As I have shared in other venues, some of us are dreamers and visionaries, and some of us are nuts and bolts kind of people. That's by God's design. We can be thankful for those business minded men and women who watch over our facilities and finances to make sure we'll be ministering and dreaming well into the years ahead.

Take comfort that God-ordained and equipped stewards are treating as sacred the gifts you bring to the church. It is a holy calling.

Are you a dreamer or a nuts and bolts kind of person? Or maybe somewhere in the middle? What does that say for where you should be serving in your home church?