Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 16:1-34.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 16:1-19 (NIV)
1  The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the LORD.
2  The LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.
3  “This is how Aaron is to enter the sanctuary area: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
4  He is to put on the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on…….

On verses 1-19:  In the tabernacle where the Israelites would gather to worship and give their sacrifices to God, there was, curtained off and closed to the public, a smaller room called the “Most Holy Place”.  In the Most Holy Place would be the ark of the covenant, which was an ornate gold-covered box that contained the stone tablets bearing the 10 commandments.  The Most Holy Place and the ark represented God’s presence among the people of Israel.  For more on the Most Holy Place, the ark and the tabernacle, see Exodus 25 and 26.

In these verses we learn that Aaron the high priest of Israel could not enter the Most Holy Place whenever he wanted (v2).  Rather he could only enter the Most Holy Place once a year and to do so had to offer a number of specific sacrifices to make atonement for the Israelites, for himself, and even for the things like the place where they gather to worship and the equipment they used.  

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 15:1-15. Let’s go!

Leviticus 15:1-15 (NIV)
1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean.
3 Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness:
4 “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean.
5 Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.
6 Whoever sits on anything that the man with a discharge sat on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening…….

On verses 1-15: What discharge is Leviticus 15:1-15 talking about? Many scholars believe that the discharge is probably gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease. The fact that God’s Word would touch on such an issue shows that God is concerned about the private areas of our lives, those parts of our lives which no one else would know about unless we told them. When we experience hurt or discomfort in a secret area of our lives, God does not turn a blind eye; rather, His heart is for you to experience healing, cleansing, and restoration.

Speaking of cleansing, it was not until the 1800s with the revolutionary work of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis that Western medicine realized the importance of washing with water when treating patients. Yet notice how much these verses emphasize washing with water. (The idea of washing or bathing with water comes up no less than 9 times in these verses.) In this respect the Bible was thousands of years ahead of the medical industry — just one more example of how God’s Word is ahead of its time.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 14:19-32.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 14:19-32 (NIV)
19  “Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering
20  and offer it on the altar, together with the grain offering, and make atonement for him, and he will be clean.
21  “If, however, he is poor and cannot afford these, he must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, together with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, a log of oil,
22  and two doves or two young pigeons, which he can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering…….

On verses 19-32:  Leviticus 14:1-32 is talking about the process by which a leper who was once quarantined from the community due to his skin condition could be restored to the community.

Verses 10 through 18 talk about the sacrifice that the now restored leper is to bring, consisting of two male lambs and a one year old female lamb (also called an ewe).  But what if the leper was poor and could not afford two male lambs and a female lamb?  Verses 19-32 allow the leper instead to bring one single male lamb and two birds (either doves or pigeons) as the leper’s sacrifice.  The one single male lamb would serve as the leper’s guilt offering (v21) and the two birds would serve as the leper’s sin offering and burnt offering (v22).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 13:40-59.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 13:40-46 (NIV)
40  “When a man has lost his hair and is bald, he is clean.
41  If he has lost his hair from the front of his scalp and has a bald forehead, he is clean.
42  But if he has a reddish-white sore on his bald head or forehead, it is an infectious disease breaking out on his head or forehead.
43  The priest is to examine him, and if the swollen sore on his head or forehead is reddish-white like an infectious skin disease,
44  the man is diseased and is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean because of the sore on his head.
45  “The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’
46  As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp.

On verses 40-46:  In Leviticus 13:45-46 we read of the way in which people with leprosy were kept away from the rest of society: they would need to tear their clothes, cover their faces, cry out “unclean!” whenever anyone came near, and live alone outside the camp away from everyone.  Sadly, for the protection of the rest of the community, lepers were treated as the untouchables of Israelite society.

Given this, it is amazing to read about the way Jesus treated lepers.  In Luke 5:12-16, a man covered in leprosy sees Jesus and falls with his face to the ground and begs Jesus, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus’ response is, literally, touching.  The Bible says Jesus reached out his hand and touched this man, who probably had not felt the touch of another human being in a very long time.  When no one else was willing to get near him, let alone touch him, Jesus touched and said, “I am willing.  Be clean!”  And when Jesus touched the leper, the leprosy left him immediately.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 13:1-17.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 13:1-17 (NLT2)
1  The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
2  “If anyone has a swelling or a rash or discolored skin that might develop into a serious skin disease, that person must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons.
3  The priest will examine the affected area of the skin. If the hair in the affected area has turned white and the problem appears to be more than skin-deep, it is a serious skin disease, and the priest who examines it must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean.
4  “But if the affected area of the skin is only a white discoloration and does not appear to be more than skin-deep, and if the hair on the spot has not turned white, the priest will quarantine the person for seven days…….

On verses 1-17:  What does it mean to be ceremonially unclean in Leviticus?  When someone is ceremonially unclean, it means that he or she, from a ceremonial worship standpoint, is unable to participate in the community worship activities of the Israelites for as long as he or she is “unclean”.  When the period of being “unclean” is over, that’s when he or she can then join the rest of the community in its community worship services.