Author Archive for: meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 23:26-44.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 23:26-32 (NIV)
26  The LORD said to Moses,
27  “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire.
28  Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God.
29  Anyone who does not deny himself on that day must be cut off from his people.
30  I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on that day.
31  You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
32  It is a sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”

On verses 26-32:  Verses 26-32 describe the Day of Atonement, a day when the people remembered how God atoned for their sins so that they could be forgiven.  Why was God so strict about people not doing any work on the Day of Atonement?  In part it was to emphasize that we cannot work for and earn our atonement.  Rather, our atonement was and is God’s work, something He does on our behalf so that we could receive it freely.  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 23:15-25.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 23:15-22 (NIV)
15  “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks.
16  Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.
17  From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of first fruits to the LORD…….

On verses 15-22:  Leviticus 23 is basically the Israelites’ event calendar, listing out all the biggest holidays that God wanted the Israelites to celebrate during the year.  It starts with the weekly Sabbath day, meant as a day of rest (Leviticus 23:3).  Then there’s the Feast of Unleavened Bread, also called Passover (Leviticus 23:4-8), meant to commemorate the day when God spared (“passed over”) every firstborn Israelite male by sacrificing a lamb instead and had everyone eat bread made without yeast in preparation for their swift escape out of Egypt.  Then there’s the Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14), which is all about giving God the first part of the harvest, recognizing that their land belongs to God and that God is their provider.  Some consider the Feast of Firstfruits part of the Passover since the Feast of Firstfruits happens during the Passover.

This leads us to verses 15-22, which describe the Feast of Weeks.  What is the Feast of Weeks?  The Feast of Weeks also known as Pentecost.  Pentecost was one of the big three festivals in the Jewish calendar (the other two being the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 23:1-14.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 23:1-14 (NIV) 
1  The LORD said to Moses, 
2  “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. 
3  “‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.
4  “‘These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: 
5  The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. ……

On verses 1-14:  When you read in Leviticus 23of all the various feasts that God told the Israelites to observe, let it be a reminder that God loves to party.  Notice that in Leviticus 23God doesn’t tell the people to stop and complain about everything that’s wrong with their life or wrong with the world.  (That’s something we do quite naturally without anybody telling us.)  Instead, God tells the people to stop what they’re doing and celebrate!  It’s like God’s saying, “Focus on the good things I have done in your life and have a celebration.”  In fact, God is so much about celebrating that He tells His people to schedule it into their calendars.

Certainly there are times we need to weep and mourn (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4), but as our lifestyle and as a daily habit, the God of the Bible much prefers that we rejoice always and celebrate (give thanks) in all circumstances (1Thessalonians 5:18).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 22:17-33.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 22:17-25 (NIV) 
17  The LORD said to Moses, 
18  “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘If any of you–either an Israelite or an alien living in Israel–presents a gift for a burnt offering to the LORD, either to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, 
19  you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf. 
20  Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf. ……

On verses 17-25:  Once again we see that God’s holiness requires that almost all sacrifices need to be without defects in order to be acceptable in God’s sight.  This reminds me that:

–        When we serve God, let’s give God our very best – not the leftovers, but the first portion.

–        While we were unable to give God a perfect offering because we ourselves are not perfect, God would send His perfect Son Jesus to be the perfect atoning sacrifice for us.

When food is left over, it spoils.  By eating all the thanksgiving food right away and completely, we keep it from spoiling.  In the same way, when we don’t give thanks to God right away and completely, our thanksgiving “spoils”.  That is, over time we will be tempted to explain away God’s hand on our lives, giving the credit to ourselves, attributing it to our own efforts or to luck or to coincidence, or simply forgetting altogether that anything good happened.  Don’t let your thanksgiving spoil.  Don’t ziplock it and save it for another day.  Instead offer your thanks to God right away and completely.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 21:1-24.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 21:1-4 (NIV)
1  The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die,
2  except for a close relative, such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother,
3  or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband–for her he may make himself unclean.
4  He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage, and so defile himself.

On verses 1-4:  Leviticus 21:1-4 says that a priest could not touch or get near a dead person unless that person was a close relative, lest he become ceremonially unclean himself and unable to approach God.  Amazingly, in contrast, in the gospels we see Jesus’ touching dead people and making them alive.  Rather than Jesus being negatively affected by other people’s “deadness”, Jesus’ “aliveness” made dead people come to life.  In Jesus Christ we have a high priest like no other.

Leviticus 21:5-6 (NIV)
5  “‘Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies.
6  They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the offerings made to the LORD by fire, the food of their God, they are to be holy.