Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Today’s passage is Leviticus 11:1-47.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 11:1-47 (NIV)
1  The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
2  “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat:
3  You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.
4  “‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you.
5  The coney, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you.
6  The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you…….

On verses 1-47:  What was God’s criteria for determining that certain creatures were clean and permissible for the Israelites to eat while calling other creatures unclean and forbidden to eat?  Over the centuries people have tried to come up with different explanations, but it seems that the best explanation for why certain animals were considered clean and certain animals were unclean is simply this:  God said so.  In other words, it wasn’t necessarily because there was anything inherently wrong, evil, inferior or dangerous about the “unclean” animals or anything especially good, healthy or beneficial about the “clean” animals.  Rather, it was simply a distinction God in His wisdom chose to make and expected the Israelites to follow.

What can we learn from this?  The first lesson is that sometimes God will tell us to do something where we do not or cannot understand His reasons why.  That is where faith and humility come in. Instead of insisting that we must understand or agree with God’s reasoning before we will obey, we are to trust God that He knows better than we do.  Our obedience to God’s commands is not conditional on our understanding of God’s commands.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 10:1-7.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 10:1-2 (NIV)
1  Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command.
2  So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.

On verses 1-2:  In Leviticus 9, we saw that when the Israelites assembled together and collectively acknowledged their sin, and when Aaron the high priest painstakingly obeyed God in giving the required offerings and had a heart to bless the people, that’s when the glory of the Lord appeared to them all.  Fire from God’s presence, representing God’s favour and blessing, consumed the offerings.  In other words, what led to God powerfully showing up among His people was unity and humility on the part of the people, and obedience and a heart to bless on the part of the high priest.  And when God showed up, the people rejoiced and fell down in worship.

Isn’t that the result every church leader wants?  Don’t we all want God’s glory to show up and for everyone at church to rejoice and fall down in worship?  But Leviticus 10 teaches us an important lesson: HOW you get there is important.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 8:18-36.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 8:18-21 (NIV)
18  He then presented the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.
19  Then Moses slaughtered the ram and sprinkled the blood against the altar on all sides.
20  He cut the ram into pieces and burned the head, the pieces and the fat.
21  He washed the inner parts and the legs with water and burned the whole ram on the altar as a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the LORD by fire, as the LORD commanded Moses.

On verses 18-21:  After sacrificing a bull as a sin offering on behalf of Aaron and his sons (v14-17), here Moses presents a ram as a burnt offering for Aaron and his sons.  You may be wondering: what is the difference between the sin offering, the burnt offering and the guilt offering in terms of their purposes?  When you read Leviticus 1-7, the purposes and effects of these 3 types of sacrifices do seem to overlap.  All 3 types are used to make atonement for a person’s sins (see Leviticus 1:4 (burnt offering); 4:20, 26, 31, 35 and 5:6 (sin offering); 5:16 (guilt offering)).  The burnt offering (see Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17) and the sin offering (see Leviticus 4:31), as well as the grain offering described in Leviticus 2 and the fellowship offering described in Leviticus 3, all result in “an aroma pleasing to the Lord”.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 7:22-38.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 7:22-27 (NIV)
22  The LORD said to Moses,
23  “Say to the Israelites: ‘Do not eat any of the fat of cattle, sheep or goats.
24  The fat of an animal found dead or torn by wild animals may be used for any other purpose, but you must not eat it.
25  Anyone who eats the fat of an animal from which an offering by fire may be made to the LORD must be cut off from his people.
26  And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal.
27  If anyone eats blood, that person must be cut off from his people.'”

On verses 22-27:  Even as I am writing this I am eating a leftover steak with an obvious layer of fat on it. The day before, I was eating this same steak (medium rare) and there was blood on the steak.  How can I eat like this when Leviticus 7:23 says “Do not eat any of the fat of cattle, sheep or goats” and Leviticus 7:26 says “And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal”?  It’s because the dietary regulations of Leviticus have been replaced by a new paradigm in the New Testament, where Jesus declares all foods clean (Mark 7:19) and Christians are not bound by the dietary regulations of the Old Testament (Acts 10:9-15).  Thank God for that because I really like steak!

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 6:14-30.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 6:14-18 (NIV)
14  “‘These are the regulations for the grain offering: Aaron’s sons are to bring it before the LORD, in front of the altar.
15  The priest is to take a handful of fine flour and oil, together with all the incense on the grain offering, and burn the memorial portion on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
16  Aaron and his sons shall eat the rest of it, but it is to be eaten without yeast in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.
17  It must not be baked with yeast; I have given it as their share of the offerings made to me by fire. Like the sin offering and the guilt offering, it is most holy.
18  Any male descendant of Aaron may eat it. It is his regular share of the offerings made to the LORD by fire for the generations to come. Whatever touches them will become holy.'”

On verses 14-18:  In these verses God stipulates that after a select portion of the grain offering was burned on the altar, the rest of the grain offering was for the priests to eat.  Here we see God’s heart to provide materially for those who dedicated their working hours and working lives to serving God “full time”.  The timeless principle here is that God intended that those who serve Him full time in the church should be able to live off of the offerings given by the people.  That’s a very practical reason why it is so important for Christians to be faithful in giving their tithes (10% of their income to the church).  If Christians are not faithful in tithing to the church, those who work hard to serve God and God’s people in the church on a full-time basis are the ones who will suffer, not to mention their families.