Leviticus 16:29-18:30
As you read this, remember one thing. No one
was forced to live in Israel. Even the Israelites who didn't want to live as
God's people could have just packed up and gone back to Egypt. Once they were
in the land, no one kept them from moving to one of the surrounding countries.
But, if you wanted to be called one of God's people and claim the promise given
to Abraham, you entered into this covenant of blessing. So keep in mind that in
reality, individuals or families could have defected. But if you wanted to
belong to God, it is only rational to understand that you had to belong to Him
His way.
The issues, of course, are really life or
death in their consequences. God's way is the only way. Our sin tells us
something different and that is irrational. To think that gravity should be
suspended because we don't agree is crazy. These people were saved by their
faith in the promise for a savior, now expressed in the promise to Abraham that
all nations would be blessed through him. I was reading this morning, and it
hit me that in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man is in Hades,
but Lazarus is in "Abraham's bosom." Just as Hades is a place,
Abraham's bosom is a place and not Abraham's lap. Abraham's bosom is the
designation for the dwelling place for all those who were saved before Christ.
It was called Abraham's bosom, because their faith was in God who promised a
savior, and that savior would come through Abraham and the nation that would
spring from him. That is why the place isn't called "Moses' bosom,"
or the "Law's bosom."
Leviticus 16:29-34
Israel's first month would have been March.
It is notable that this is the only Sabbath in Israel's year where the people
had to fast during the Sabbath. The fasting or "affliction" would
have been in preparation for the receiving of forgiveness before the Lord.
Those with a heart of faith would have found great meaning in this, but those
without faith would have just seen this as a religious ceremony.
Can you understand that this event and the
Passover were to be two of the main events of their year? All of the males in
Israel were supposed to be on hand for both of these events. Note that John 8
& 9 take place during this Day of Atonement and the Feast of Booths which
followed.
Just think of all the reminders God built
into the year and culture of the Jews. But what were they reminders of? As
disciples, we have even more reminders and things to keep us focused. The
greatest of these reminders is our commission to follow our Lord into the
harvest. Can you understand what the harvest is supposed to vividly remind us
of?
Leviticus 17
As you read this chapter, notice the recurring
phrases, you shall say to them, and any one of the house of Israel. These
will help you see where a new directive begins.
Vs. 1-7 This was an educational commandment
that seems to be given for the time they were living in the camp. The people had lots of livestock. We think of them only
having manna to eat and that was their main dish. But they did bring animals
with them. God provided rotisserie quail on occasion, and I'm sure they were
able to buy from passing merchant caravans. Since they were all tented around
the tabernacle, God said that if they slaughtered an animal, even for food,
they had to bring it to the tabernacle and offer it as a fellowship offering.
This would have served many purposes. The people would have gotten used to
offering to the Lord. It would have been shared with the priests. It would have
been shared with the poor and with their families.
V. 7 And it would have gotten them out of the
bad Egyptian habit of making pagan sacrifices out in their fields.
Vs. 8-9 This was the design of what God was
doing during those years. Of all the existing religions of the world, the Jews
were the only ones who could offer on only one altar. Why do you think that
was? What was it meant to create?
Vs. 10-16 We've talked about the theme of this
section. God makes a big point about blood. Verses 10-12 are the clearest
explanation of the importance of blood. One interesting thought here is
regarding God giving blood so as to make atonement. I wonder if, as God created
life, blood was created as a symbol for what would eventually be necessary in forgiveness.
When we have immortal spiritual bodies, I doubt that blood will be necessary
for life. It makes you think. Since this reminder about not drinking blood is
mentioned here, it might also be that the drinking of blood was associated with
pagan religion. In any case, blood was to be seen as precious.
Vs. 13-14 This had to do with wild animals
that could be eaten. Here also, they could not drink the blood. The blood had
to be drained and poured out. Being cut off could either mean being sent out of
the covenant community or it meant being punished by death. I think, more often
than not, it meant death. Again, if you didn't like God's rules, all you had to
do was move, thereby removing yourself from God's covenant people.
Vs. 15-16 Apparently it wasn't against the
law to eat road kill, but it did make you ceremonially unclean.
Leviticus 18
Vs. 1-5 After reading vs. 1-5, it is probably
a good idea to read 18:24-30. God was not speaking theoretically here. Notice
what He says of Egypt in v. 3. Note that God told the people what to expect.
Thirty-eight years from this point, Israel will reestablish their commitment to
the covenant just before they go into the land. No one had to say, "I
do."
God was not only giving them regulations, He
was keeping them from the excesses that already existed in the world around
them.
Just as a note of trivia, Paul quotes v. 5 in
Romans 10:5. Paul knew Leviticus.
Vs. 6-18 As you go through the list, you see
that all of this had to do with sexual intercourse. Uncover nakedness was a figure of speech having to do with
violating someone sexually. Some of what is forbidden here is incest and child
abuse. This means that what is forbidden here was normal in Canaan.
Notice that both Abraham (v. 11) and Jacob
(v. 18) would now be out-of-bounds.
V. 19 This is specifically dealing with a
sense of respect that God wanted to instill in Israel.
V. 20 This is the seventh commandment. Not
only would you have been unclean, but you would have committed a capital
offense.
V. 21 So why do you have the mention of
Molech in this verse? I don't think that God is now talking about religion, but
He is talking about the outcome of uncontrolled sexuality, babies. Since the
beginning of man's lust for sexual freedom, unwanted pregnancies have been a problem.
Molech was a pagan society's version of abortion. Because of the very loose
sexual behavior back then, sexual intercourse was a part of pagan worship
(Baal, for example), and there were a lot of unwanted kids. Figuratively
speaking, in this society of perverted morality, where you had the temple of
Baal on one corner, you also had a temple to Molech on the other. In Molech
worship you offered the baby in sacrifice, throwing it into the "mouth of
Molech," which actually was a flaming pit with a mouth-like opening. Even
Solomon did this at the end of his life. They didn't have abortion back then,
but they did have unwanted babies because of Baal worship, so they needed
Molech. “He is also called Molech (Lev. 18:21, 20:2-5), Milcom (1 Kings 11:5, 33),
and Malcham (Zeph. 1:5, KJV). This god became Chemosh among the Moabites.” (from
Eaton Bible Dictionary)
The issue here is not pagan worship. God is
saying that Molech wasn't the answer to unwanted babies. Following God's rules
was the answer.
Vs. 22-23 Notice that homosexuality is
forbidden, as is having sex with animals.
Vs. 24-30 These laws are more than ceremonial
laws for Israel. There is a universality to all of them, except maybe v. 19.
That God allowed certain things in different cultures (for example, Abe's
marriage to Sarah), at different periods of time, does not mean He approved
them. These laws tell you what He approves of. The fact that God adds words
like perversion and abomination shows you that these are not "object
lessons" for Israel, but real social and moral laws.
Notice how often God mentions that the
nations who dwell in Canaan were doing these things.
Mark 7:24-8:10
Mark 7:24-37
So why is this story here? It has a lot to do
with where Jesus is, where He is healing, and what the response is. Jesus has
been unofficially rejected by Israel. He knows that He will be rejected and
that the gospel will go to the Gentiles. Jesus is now introducing His disciples
to working with Gentiles. This wasn't going to be easy. They were true-blue
Jews. When we get to the book of Acts, we'll see that God went to great lengths
to help the apostles go beyond their deep-seated prejudice against the
Gentiles.
This wasn't the first time that Jesus had
healed Gentiles. It is mentioned that great multitudes from Tyre and Sidon came
into Galilee and Judea to be healed. But now, Jesus was in Gentile territory.
Vs. 24-30 Notice that Jesus was trying to
stay out of sight. Again, He is showing the disciples how to be flexible when
the Father changes your plans. We have talked about this story in Matthew.
Since the woman addressed Jesus in Matthew 15:22 as the Son of David, Jesus
knew she had faith. The real lesson and even His treatment of her was to show
her faith to the Twelve. The Gentiles could have great faith in their Lord.
Vs. 31-37 Again, this story is important
because of where Jesus is. This is the area that was prepared by that other
disciple, who was not only clothed and in his right mind, but was glorifying
God all over the place.
If this man was a Gentile, what the apostles
were seeing was symbolic of what would happen later in the book of Acts. The
Gentiles would not only hear, but would proclaim the gospel.
Mark 8:1-10
Jesus didn't have to feed large crowds twice
to prove He could do it. And the gospel writers didn't have to mention Him
feeding two large crowds. The difference, again, is where this happened. Most
of the people in all of these stories were Gentiles.
The Gentiles are coming to Jesus. Jesus is
still making His offer to the Jews, but it is already obvious that He is
welcoming all nations to salvation. I think it is so interesting that Jesus
saves us to be like Him. And working in the harvest, getting our hands dirty,
reaching the lost and making disciples is so like Him.
Psalm 41
It's hard to know when David wrote this. This
psalm has the feel of when David was running from his own son Absalom, and some
of David's trusted friends turn on him.
Vs. 1-3 One hallmark of David's faith was his
protection of and help to the poor. During the years he ran from Saul, David
was still protecting Israel's towns and bringing them money and livestock. I
suppose in this situation, David was the poor man that was being treated
wrongly. In fact, it looks like David may have been sick.
Vs. 4-9 If this was written as David is
running from Absalom, the sin mentioned is his taking of Bathsheba and killing
of her husband Uriah.
Vs. 6-8 This seems to show that David was
sick, and everyone was hoping God would take David through this illness.
V. 9 This could be referring to Ahithophel,
David's chief counselor. This verse is an allusion to Jesus' betrayal.
Vs. 10-13 This is David's confidence in God's
love for him.
Proverbs 10:15-16
Seems like a dark proverb, unless the man is
rich because of working in righteousness, and the poor man is in poverty
because of pursuing gain from doing wrong.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't
work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/
and click on “Every
Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are
following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple,
following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship
culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging
each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make
disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our
growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here
or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some
explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My
comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on
Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups
will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with
and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the
harvest.
If you would like a complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is
still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's
keyed to the NIV, so the result is the commentators are constantly telling you
what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in
fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is
encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the
comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding,
that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but
only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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