Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

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 23:1-14.  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 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.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 19:11-22.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 19:11-22 (NIV)
11  “‘Do not steal. “‘Do not lie. “‘Do not deceive one another.
12  “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
13  “‘Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. “‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.
14  “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD.
15  “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly…….

On verses 11-22:  What do we do with a passage like Leviticus 19:11-22?  On one hand, the first half (verses 11-18) lists commands that are easy for us to understand and that we can easily see applying just as much today as in Moses’ time: do not steal, do not lie, do not pervert justice, do not slander others, etc.  You’ll find that in verses 11-18, every other verse is punctuated with the statement “I am the LORD”, encouraging us to remember who it is who gives these commands and who it is we are accountable to – not just anyone, but God Himself.

But then in the second half (verses 19-22) we come across commands that may sound strange and foreign to us.  For example, verse 19 says to not plant two kinds of seed in the same field.  Is it wrong for you to plant tomatoes AND cucumbers in your backyard?   And how about this: do not wear clothing woven with two kinds of material (verse 19)?  Is God offended if I wear a shirt that is 50% cotton and 50% polyester?

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 18:19-30.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 18:19-30 (NIV)
19  “‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.
20  “‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her.
21  “‘Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
22  “‘Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.
23  “‘Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion…….

On verses 19-30:  Here we learn one of the reasons why God was ousting out the nations that occupied Canaan and bringing the Israelites to occupy Canaan in their place, which is that these other nations had, in God’s eyes, become defiled by their idol worship (which included sacrificing their children to the god Molech) (v21) and sexual practices which displeased God (v19-20, 22-23).  Rather than seeing themselves as subject to God’s commands, these other nations carried on life with an attitude of entitlement, thinking, “It’s my life and my body and I can do whatever I want with it.”  In carrying on these practices, verses 24b and 27 say that these other nations defiled themselves, defiled the land that they lived in, and thus were cut off and vomited out of the land.  The Israelites are told not to make the same mistakes as these other nations as they get ready to occupy that same land.

What can we learn from this?  When we live with an attitude of entitlement, thinking, “It’s my life and my body and I can do whatever I want with it”, we make ourselves the centre of our own universe and push God to the wayside.  We think that living this way is the key to our happiness, when in fact living with an attitude of entitlement eventually brings us misery, causing us eventually to be cut off from God’s presence and God’s blessings.