If you don't
have a One Year Bible or prefer something online, this link will take you to
the day's reading, http://oneyearbibleonline.com/daily-oyb/. This
site allows you to select from several languages and several English
translations.
FEBRUARY 23
Leviticus 14
Vs. 1-9 This is the initial public cleansing of the leper to bring him
back into the community. The use of the two birds is interesting and might
symbolize death and life. It is also interesting that he had to live outside of
his tent for a week. That would have been very public. People could have
brought over casserole dishes and come and talked with him or her.
The shaving looks like it was everything, from the head to the top of
the big toe. The person would have had less hair than a newborn baby.
Vs. 10-32 This is the ceremonial cleansing to be invited back into the
worship of Yahweh. Verse 21 repeats everything for the situation of a poor
person, yet in both descriptions of cleansing for a leper, at least one lamb
had to be offered. This is a very interesting situation in that it is like the
ordination of a priest, but even more elaborate in one detail, the
“commissioning to service” with oil.
V. 14 There is the same applying of blood to the right ear, right thumb
and right big toe, that there was with Aaron and the priests. These two places
are the only places in the Bible. So it makes me wonder about the connection.
What did a priest and a cleansed leper have in common? The only thing I can
come up with is that a leper was "dead" in a figurative sense, being
a walking symbol of sin and separation from God. The healing and being made
clean would symbolize life from the dead. In the consecration of Aaron, the
meaning of the blood seemed to be that all of his life: thoughts, doing and
going were to be devoted to God in ministering the blood, or leading people to
God for forgiveness and cleansing. My sense is that the leper, now redeemed
from death, was to be consecrated to God and was to live his life under the
"direction" of that blood, giving testimony to lead others to the
forgiveness and cleansing of God.
V. 17 But here the leper is anointed with oil in the same way he was
anointed with blood. And then the oil was poured on his head. In a way, it
looks to me like a commissioning service to live a life of testimony to the
congregation. The oil represents the anointing to a task, but symbolically, oil
represents the Holy Spirit. In some sense, it makes me think of the demonic guy
with the legion who, having been set free, wanted to follow Jesus. In sending
him home, Jesus commissioned him to be a living testimony to the power of God.
As a disciple, it seems to me that we've been lepers. We've been made
alive and forgiven and cleansed by the blood. All our thoughts and doing and
going should be led by that blood. And we've been anointed by the Spirit,
commissioned to the harvest. We live to follow Christ and give testimony and
lead others to the forgiveness and cleansing of God, making disciples, who make
disciples, who make disciples.
In Mark 1:40-45, Jesus told that leper, the first Israelite leper we
ever know of (besides Miriam) to be healed, to go and present himself to the
priest. The priest would have had to publicly pronounce this man
"clean." That would have been a great public testimony by a priest
showing that Jesus had done the work of God. It would have been an amazing
public event. The guy did his own thing, disobeyed, and caused problems for
Jesus.
Sometimes it is best to obey God in the system, following Christ as He
desires.
Vs. 33-57 Now, there is a lot in this section regarding cleansing and
sacrifice and houses. I suppose the purpose is to show the people that all
growing manifestations of rot and decay, spiritually, physically and
culturally, are deadly and unclean. This clearly was an object lesson. When you
read this section, pay attention to the beginning verses. They tell you that
there must have been a purpose.
Vs. 46-47 Notice that whoever is in the house is ceremonially unclean.
Vs. 48-53 Notice the cleansing ceremony with the birds symbolizing
death and life.
I never understood this stuff about leprous material or a leprous house
until I lived in Texas during all the black mold stuff in 2001 and we
discovered it in our house. We didn't just have black mold, but yellow and red
and green. Some of it was actually very pretty stuff….cough, cough, cough.
Mark 6:30-56
Vs. 30-44 It's interesting that Jesus tries to teach the disciples the
importance of getting into isolation after a draining time of ministry. It's
also interesting that it doesn't work. Instead of being able to relax, they are
pursued; and Jesus, moved with compassion, teaches the people. He probably did
some healing as well, and the disciples probably helped organize the people
into lines. The result was that this was not rest and relaxation for the
disciples. It is interesting to think that the disciples got to watch Jesus
respond to the Father changing His plans. Jesus was the perfect, flexible Son
of God, living only to respond to what the Father was doing. I probably would
have gotten mad and blown up trees and thrown mountains into the sea.
V. 35 According to John, this was in March, just before the Passover,
and these crowds were probably on their way to Jerusalem. The disciples
recognized the problem. It was late and would get dark quickly, and there were
lots of people in the middle of nowhere. (There is actually a small city in
Texas called "in the middle of nowhere," Midlothian, Texas,
which now has a Wal-Mart and no longer lives up to its name.)
V. 37 When I think of the disciples here, it is really the same
scenario as the first days of the Exodus. How is God going to feed all these
people in the middle of nowhere? Imagine the disciples coming off of this
spiritual victory. Now, instead of resting, they were serving even though they
were tired; and then, after hours of serving and hearing Jesus teach they are
very, very tired. Then Jesus says, You
give them something to eat. What is interesting is that there is a story in
the OT of God doing something like this with Elisha the prophet, so with both
the manna in the wilderness and with the prophet Elisha, there was a precedent
for feeding crowds.
So, what lesson do you think the disciples learned from this event? We
talked about some of this in Matthew.
Vs. 45-52 Elsewhere we learn that Jesus sent the disciples away as a
decoy. The people knew Jesus was still up on the mountain, and so they waited
for Him in order to take Him captive and make Him king.
The disciples still haven't rested. Jesus tells them to get into the
boat and they just do it, now fighting the wind.
The thing I get from all of this is that there are times God pushes us,
in our following, to exhaustion, to teach us in that tiredness to exercise our
faith. It is easy to follow, and it's easy to have faith, and it's easy to be
joyful when you are well rested. You test the real depth of learning or
training under duress, and sometimes it takes a long time to get us to that
teachable moment.
So how do you explain the last part of this? They were terrified and
astounded….because they did not understand about the loaves. What didn't they
understand there, that led them to be terrified here?
I think it has to be some connection they missed regarding Jesus and
who He was. And in that connection, something they missed with regard to the
manna. God is preparing them to understand who Jesus is. Immediately after this
boat ride, we have John 6:24-71. Jesus' words in John 6 tie this all together.
Peter's words in John 6:68-69 show you that they finally understood about the
loaves. Jesus was the bread that came down from heaven.
Vs. 53-56 It is amazing to think that many of these people who are
pursuing Him will turn from Jesus when He gets to Capernaum. I guess the
question is, "Do you want Him, or do you want what He can give you?"
It's not the same thing.
Psalm 40:1-10
Again, this is a psalm that my heart latches onto. These are only the
first ten verses, but what great verses. Laura and I have memorized these, and
they are comforting and challenging. They are exactly what I think a leper was
supposed to do after he was cleansed.
This psalm is "after the fact," in that David had already
received the deliverance he cried out for. I like the crying out and waiting.
You have to notice the frequency of these words in The Psalms and get the idea
that this is what God wants us to do. We might be tempted to say, "But
things aren't that bad." Maybe we don’t feel it, but in reality, things
are always worse than they seem, considering that our planet is on course for a
bad day.
Vs. 1-3 Notice that the new song
didn't come until after the deliverance. We don't have to feel guilty about not
having the new song, if we are still waiting for the Lord. He will give it when
it is time.
Vs. 4-5 This is a part of that new song.
Vs. 6-8 These verses are quoted regarding Jesus in Hebrews 10:5. The
word "ear" is taken together with "body" in Hebrews 10 to
mean both a body and the understanding of what to do with that body. It's
interesting that we're reading so much about sacrifice and offering in Exodus and Leviticus, and here it says
the opposite. Verses 7 and 8 are the answer, and this was probably the answer
back when Leviticus was penned.
Vs. 9-10 These verses show precisely why God allows us to get into bad
scrapes, so He can deliver us, and so we can give genuine, heartfelt praise and
testimony to God. We’re back to the cleansed leper again.
Proverbs 10:11-12
You can really see the design of these verses, the mouth of the righteous being a fountain of life that issues from a heart of love that covers
sins. The mouth of the wicked conceals
violence, motivated by a heart of hate that stirs up strife.
Do you recognize the second half of v. 12? You hear it all the time,
and it's quoted in James 5:20 and in 1 Peter 4:8. Maybe the way it is used here
helps us understand what it means in the NT.
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are 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, that is, 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 and important discipleship manual we have and it is the 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, or whom we are to be following. 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, as disciples, 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,
making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive
commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
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. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are
reading. Remember, the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a
supplement, a disciple’s commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we
will keep following our Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making
disciples, who make disciples. Being in
the Word every day, sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the
essential essence of being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
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