LEVITICUS 2 – 14
We left off with the burnt offering (gift that was brought near to God in order to enjoy his fellowship and blessing) which was the first offering of 5. The entire offering was to be burned up, or sent up to God, as an act of worship, and to bring forgiveness. Chapter 2 begins with the grain offering. The grain was to be offered as an act of worship also. It symbolized God’s dedication to the fruit of a person’s labor. All work should be done for the Lord, and He should receive our thanks for the food that we have. The specifications were for absolutely no yeast or honey in the offering or at the altar. Yeast and honey were used in fermentation, and that involves change or decomposition, which often symbolized evil.
Chapter 3-The fellowship offering is to be made before the Lord with an animal without defect. It is to be brought in order to give thanks to God, or to fellowship with Him. Here also is where the lasting ordinance was made to not eat any fat or any blood, because they are vital to live, and life belongs to God. This was sometimes called the Peace offering too.
Chapter 4-The sin offering was a requirement for those that sinned in weakness or unintentionally. Those that sinned on purpose were to be put to death, unless full restitution could be made. The person must confess their sin, and ask forgiveness. The blood that is shed in the sin offering should remind us of the blood that Jesus shed for us on the cross. I said the other day how thankful I am that we no longer have to do animal sacrifices, but just let me say it again. If I have to do this every time I sin in weakness or unintentionally, we might have run out of animals for food. Do you feel like that? Sometimes, no matter how hard I think I’m trying, satan is just pulling me down. I forget to give it to God, and I try to handle everything. Well, He doesn’t want me to do that, He wants to hear from me when I’m angry or hurting, so He can comfort me, and bless me with whatever I need at that moment. If I would do that, then I wouldn’t have those moments of weakness so much. But Oh My Goodness, Thank You Jesus for atoning my sins. You didn’t have to, You did it willingly, for me, a sinner. Please forgive me, and guide me with your wisdom. Help me to give you the honor and glory that You so richly deserve. I praise You, and I ask that you bring many blessings on all the people who are doing this 90 day journey through Your Word with me. I ask that hearts and lives will be touched forever, through the reading of Your Word Lord! In Jesus Name, Amen
Chapter 5- The guilt offering. This offering could be made when you intentionally committed a sin, but restitution could be made, or when someone disregarded property rights of another person. The person was guilty even if he didn’t know he had sinned.
The fellowship offering could be made with yeast because it did not have to be presented at the altar. In chapter 8, Aaron and his sons were ordinated into priests, to serve as a mediator between God and the people. This was a 7 day process.
Chapter 10 shows what happened to Nadab and Abihu when they rebelled against laws. As priests, they offered unauthorized fire, and God struck them down. Verse 2- “So fire came out from the presence of te Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.”
Chapter 11 talks about clean and unclean food. Without going into detail, because I’m sure you’ve read it, I’ll just share my daughters thoughts. As we were reading, I said Good News! God says we could have any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper to eat. She found no humor in that!
Chapter 12 discusses childbirth and purification of the woman after. The “discharges” associated with childbirth had to be treated as unclean, and we have to go back to Adam and Eve for that explanation. I’m not sure why the length of time is so different for the uncleanliness between a son and a daughter, so if anyone knows, please share that with me. I can only hypothesize that’s because the son would have more status in society, not exactly what I want to say, but I can’t think right now.
We close out today with discussion of regulations regarding infectious diseases. rather descriptive for the priest to know if isolation was needed, or what to do with the person.
I remember getting to Leviticus many times before in my yearly reading plan, and giving up. I’m not doing that now. This time I’m gonna go on until I finish the entire BOOK. I’m already seeing God’s touch in my life, and I hope you are too. See you tomorrow!
