If you don't
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the day's reading, http://oneyearbibleonline.com/daily-oyb/. This
site allows you to select from several languages and several English
translations.
FEBRUARY 25
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 their personal/cultural sexual
practices and 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 much 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 the 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.
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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