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FEBRUARY 26
Leviticus 19:1-20:21
The nice thing about a section
like this is that it seems so random, that you are constantly amazed at the
next thing. Don't break your head always trying to find a connection; but the
exercise will be good for you, and you might be surprised at what you find.
These two chapters seem to aim at the Ten Commandments with tangent, connecting
laws brought in.
Underline all the recurring
mentions of I am the Lord. There
might be some other things that stand out to you too, like the word holy.
Leviticus 19
Vs. 1-4 These laws, these words,
are the heart of what God is saying. The emphasis is on the people being holy,
which is separated to God. The issue isn't "cleanness" as much as it
is full trust and full devotion in a loving God.
Vs. 5-8 These verses are a case
in point of trusting and honoring God. The peace offering was to be eaten
within two days. It was to be enjoyed, and the time was to be given to God in
enjoying Him and this food. If you were too busy, or if you thought to keep
some food for later, you were in trouble. A person was to give full attention
and appetite and joy to this. This is where the cares of this world, or saving
something for a rainy day, were in contrast to simply being fully there for
God.
Vs. 9-18 All of these laws have
to do with neighbor to neighbor relationships, again, mirroring some aspect of
the last six commandments. You'll find the famous verse in this passage that
actually fulfills the law, according to Jesus and Paul. Notice what care they
were to have in their relationships, reasoning frankly with one another, never
bearing a grudge and never taking vengeance. They were commanded to love one
another. Boy, did that get lost.
Vs. 19-37 Enjoy the randomness
of this section. How many things do you find that surprise you? Most of these
laws were for the nation of Israel and those who dwelt in Israel. Some of these
laws seem to have a sense of being important for all people and times.
V. 19 I would say this was an
object lesson that Israel shouldn't mix with the laws and religions of the
Gentiles. There were daily reminders of separateness, i.e., holiness.
Vs. 20-22 Premarital sex was
against the law. The man is punished and had to seek forgiveness at the
tabernacle. The animal for the sacrifice cost him something.
As in many of the individual laws,
there is a precedent set that could be used in other cases. Here, notice that
the woman was not guilty because she was a slave. Apparently she would also not
have been guilty even if she had been married if she was still a slave,
although the owner would have been guilty of adultery and been guilty of a
capital crime. I make this comment here because I think that a king's
relationship to any female subject would have been similar. It is interesting
on that note that Bathsheba is never judged by God to be guilty of adultery.
Vs. 23-25 They were to remember
that everything was a gift from God and was to be devoted to Him. This waiting
would require patience and a spiritual perspective - another object lesson.
Vs. 26-28 This was most likely
copying the customs of other nations. It would be tempting to say that these
were "religious" customs, but most customs in those days had some
religious ties. God isn't saying don't do it for religious purposes. He just
says, "don't do it." They were to be separated unto Him in daily
living and custom.
Vs. 29-30 I understand that God
was against prostitution. Here He says it will bring the nation down. If so, we're
in trouble. Notice that this is linked to the Sabbath, the day on which no work
for living was done, in order to rest and enjoy the provision of God. Daughters
were prostituted for money. It was a way that a family could care for its
needs. I think that is the connection. It is a contrast to the provision of God
and trusting Him to care for them. Since God's sanctuary was in the land, to
pollute the land meant to pollute the things of God. Remember, on the Day of
Atonement, the second sacrifice was to cleanse the tabernacle from the sins of
the people.
V. 31 The idea was to seek God
in all things.
V. 32 The idea was to revere the
aged and wise and to seek wisdom.
Vs. 33-34 Notice that since they
had been oppressed and strangers in a foreign country, they were not just to be
courteous; they were to love foreigners among them.
Vs. 35-37 They were to be fair
in all things with one another out of honor and love for God.
Leviticus 20:1-21
Vs. 1-5 Notice here that the
people were to execute judgment. If they didn't, it would reveal their hearts
and God's punishment would be sent against them. Tolerating sin is everyone's
problem. Notice too, that God's name and sanctuary would be unclean and
profaned. To allow sin would push God out and make the people unable to find
forgiveness. This would be developing the same cultural sickness that existed
in Canaan.
In this connection, Solomon
followed these gods at the end of his life, bringing this poison into the life
of Israel. (1 Kings 11:4-8)
Vs. 6-9 Notice here that the
contrast is between seeking spiritual answers in the occult or living by God's
statutes. Again, a consecrated people are separated and holy unto God. They
keep God's Word and God nurtures and strengthens them. Because of their
relationship to God, their relationships among themselves, seen in the honoring
of their parents, show God's love.
Vs. 10-21 It seems to me that
there is a connection between idolatry and sexual perversion. The obvious
connection is that both involve rejecting God as the creator of creation and
man. The less obvious connection is that both have to do with a lack of
faithfulness to God driven by our desires. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul says, Or do you not know that the unrighteous will
not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually
immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor
thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will
inherit the kingdom of God. Notice how Paul begins with immorality and goes
on to idolatry and the sexual perversion. You see this same pattern in Romans
1:18. People gave up God for images and then polluted the relationship between
man and wife and went on to perversion.
V. 11 In the cases where both
persons die, it must mean that it was a willing act by both parties. In Genesis
35:22 only Reuben is seen as the guilty party. Bilhah was apparently innocent
and Reuben forced himself on her to show what he thought about the way his
mother had been treated. What Reuben did was punishable by death.
V. 17 Note that this forbids the
relationship between Abe and Sarah.
V. 21 This is why John the
Baptist could accuse Herod of breaking the law by marrying his brother's wife.
Notice that God calls all of the
things in this section, perversion and the result of depraved sexual desire.
Some of these are not punishable by death, but they result in God's strong
disapproval. A person who loved God would respect these and control their
passion. Here too, God was building object lessons into the culture to remind
the people what it meant to be wholly separated and devoted to the Lord who
loved them.
For us as disciples, in our
personal habits, it is always better to err on the side of honoring God. That
is hard in our world where some believers are as "free" as everyone
else. But it is before our Lord that we live, and our desire should be to be
wholly separated and devoted to Him. Our mission on earth is not to be happy
and experience pleasure, but to follow Christ into the harvest as the storm is
approaching. Now is the time to live for Him, reaching the lost and making disciples,
who make disciples.
Mark 8:11-38
Vs. 11-13 As Jesus was
concluding His tour through the Gentile parts of northern Israel, having just
fed the 4000, He crossed the Sea of Galilee to the Jewish side. There He was
immediately confronted by the Pharisees and unbelief. The irony of asking for a
sign is that the sign was to verify that Jesus was sent from God. Regardless of
the sign Jesus would have performed, the leaders had already set their hearts
to refuse to believe that Jesus was the Son sent from the Father. Later in John
9, unannounced, Jesus does give them a sign that creates a huge stir, but they
had already decided to reject Jesus. No sign could help them.
Vs. 14-21 The disciples should
have been puzzled or in thought regarding the cause of the Pharisees' unbelief.
Instead they were thoughtless, still not examining life and men through a
spiritual lens. When Jesus says something about yeast, they all freak out and
think about the carelessness of having no bread and now being in need. So, why
does Jesus remind them of the feedings and the baskets left over? They should
have been so completely secure in God's care as to devote their entire hearts
toward spiritual understanding and following Jesus. Instead, they were counting
pennies. They were absorbed by practical matters instead of being focused on
the issues. The cares of this world were choking them. As disciples, we need to
be secure enough in God's care, to still see the spiritual matters that move
around us.
Elsewhere Jesus says that the
leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy. The hypocrisy here was that they had
already made up their minds but tried to look correct, like they were really
seekers of God. This false kind of "seeking" and religion, if
imitated, would make it hard for people to come to Christ and to know the
truth. It is because of this kind of religious hypocrisy that Jesus will say
later that people enter the kingdom violently, having to fight their way through
that kind of dishonesty to finally see things clearly and come to faith in
Jesus.
One interesting note here is that
even though the disciples were struggling with a lack of faith, Jesus was not
impatient with it. The next thing we will see is Jesus leading them deeper into
their relationship with Him as disciples. We shouldn't give up either if the
people we are leading seem to stumble. The life of following in faith is not
easy.
Vs. 22-26 After this interesting
discussion at sea, the boat landed directly north at the inlet of the Jordan
into the Sea of Galilee. Bethsaida was the city that Phillip, Peter and Andrew
were originally from, and so, a very Jewish city, but it still had a Gentile
presence. I think this healing was an object lesson to the disciples and their
lack of understanding and spiritual vision.
Jesus didn't need the spit to
heal this man, but notice that as Jesus lays His hands on the man the second
time, it says the man "opened his eyes." Those words actually mean he
looked intently, possibly at Jesus' face. I think as the disciples saw this man
staring intently, they saw the look of satisfaction grow on his face showing
that his vision was fully restored and that he could now see clearly. The
disciples were like this man. Spiritually speaking, they saw everything as
trees walking. They needed to look intently into the face of Jesus.
This makes me think of how often
God takes the long approach with us to do something that should have been very
easy. The growth of our faith and our dependence on Him is more important to
Him than giving us a quick victory.
It's interesting that Jesus told
the man not to enter the village from which He had led him. Jesus was more
interested in people understanding who He was than having His fame spread for
the things He could do.
Vs. 27-30 Jesus and the
disciples walked about 30 miles north to Caesarea Philippi. That would have
given the disciples some privacy and time to process what had just happened in
all of their Gentile travels.
There must have been a crowd there.
Luke 9:18 tells us that as Jesus was praying alone the disciples were with Him.
That probably meant that this time, Jesus couldn't get away very far because of
the people. When Jesus finished praying, He asked them the question that was on
everyone's hearts. Who was He? Once again, Peter spontaneously said what was on
his heart. Peter didn't understand a lot, but he knew this for sure.
V. 30 One of the reasons for
forbidding them to tell anyone would be demonstrated in the next verses. They
had a totally false understanding of the mission of the Messiah. What could
they share other than ignorance?
Vs. 31-33 Now that they
confessed Him as the Christ, Jesus told them what the Christ would do. Peter
spontaneously puts his foot deeply in his mouth. I don't think Satan put these
words in Peter's mouth. Peter was simply being a satan (adversary). Notice that
he was focusing on the things of men.
Vs. 34-38 This is the
Discipleship Manifesto. Notice that a crowd was there.
In order to be a disciple and set
our hearts on the things of God, we must deny ourselves and take up the cross.
That is one thing. It is the willingness to give all.
Vs. 35-37 This spells out the
real issues in denying ourselves and taking up our own cross. It is giving
ourselves fully as opposed to holding back.
What is interesting to me in
Mark's Gospel is v. 38. This definitely means that Jesus expects His disciples
to live a "telling" life. Tradition says that Mark spent a lot of
time with Peter and that Peter's memory was the basis for these facts. That
might explain why Mark has v. 38. Mark 9:1 is connected to this verse to
complete it.
Psalm 42
When you read this, you might
think that it was written by David, but it is written by the sons of Korah.
Whatever the background of the writer, you can feel that he had known hard
times. The psalms, or songs, of the sons of Korah, will have some other big
hits, but this psalm is the best known.
Vs. 1-2 This is the key to why
the Lord takes us through hard times. He doesn't just want us to wait for Him;
He wants us to long for Him.
V. 3 It is interesting to think
that the Lord allowed him to remain in this situation to develop that longing.
V. 4 This is what both the
psalmist and the Spirit are recommending to us. We are to encourage ourselves
and make ourselves strong in our remembrance of God's love and blessing.
V. 5 It is interesting to find soul here with all Jesus just said about
our souls. God never changes, so we are to hope in Him. Our emotions change,
but God remains the same.
Vs. 6-8 You can almost visualize
this man standing in the middle of a storm. During the day he is focused on
God's steadfast love; and at night he
is singing songs that remind him of God, songs which naturally lead him into
prayer.
Vs. 9-10 Yet there are still the
present, persistent fears and threats.
V. 11 But God is telling us that
those things will pass. We need to wait in courage on the Lord.
I don't know what the Lord took
this man through, but aren’t we happy He did? This range of emotion and need is
what everyone goes through, and the psalmist gives us hope and directs us to
hope in, and wait on, the Lord.
It's interesting to be thankful
that the Lord made this psalmist go through this despair, so that we benefit
from the expression of his faith and hope in God. As disciples, God does the
same with us; or should I say, to us, so that we can comfort others with the
same hope and encouragement that helped us.
I remember receiving a call from
one of my daughters who is in Germany serving with OM. When she began to tell
me about some recent discouragement, almost involuntarily, I began to comfort
her with things the Lord did, and has done in my life. The neat part is that He
is the comfort. In some respect, what we share and suggest is about how we
found Him while we were in the mess, how we learned something about Him that
brought our hearts to a place of insight and peace and rest. The simple answer
is, "Trust in the Lord," but each of us shares with others how God
has led us through the maze of our fear and discouragement or anger, to find
Him again.
Proverbs 10:17
For a disciple making disciples,
this is vital truth. Often in our arrogance, as we teach, we pass on our
"attitude" rather than the love of Christ. Read Luke 6:37-42. We
actually can lead people astray teaching them about the Lord if we are
log-ridden disciples. This is written as a warning to disciples making
disciples. The disciple maker needs to be the guy from the first part of this
Proverb, not from the second part.
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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