Category: 1 Year Bible Reading Plan

In Numbers 4 we learn of the three major clans of the Levites: the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites. We read of their duties, which are listed in great detail. At the end of the chapter God charges Moses to number or count the clans. In Numbers 5 we read a brief description of how the purity of the Israelite camp was to be maintained by sending any “unclean” persons out of the camp. Then follows a long explanation of how to test for an unfaithful wife. As 21st century readers, we might wonder why there was no test for an unfaithful husband. Remember, in this time women did not have many rights, while men held most of them. This was true in most cultures, and was true of the Israelites, as well. As we see in Numbers 6, though, a woman could take a Nazarite vow, and in other places we find they could take various types of vows. The difference between men and women in this case, was if a woman was not married, her father had to approve the vow, and if she was married her husband had to approve the for her to be able to follow through on it.

The description of the Nazarite vow is detailed extensively as we have come to expect with any command given by God. When we get to the book of Judges, we will meet one of the most famous or infamous Nazarites: Sampson. At the close of Numbers 6 we read what is often called the Aaronic blessing, which is used as a benediction at various types of worship services: ²⁴“The LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV) Remember the blessing was given in the context of commands about purity, and making vows to the Lord. The people of Israel were a people “set apart,” collectively, within various clans, and even as individuals through their taking of vows. The result of their separateness, would be God’s blessing.  While our goal is not to separate ourselves from others in an isolationist fashion, the idea of setting ourselves apart to serve God is common to every era in biblical history. It is a principle we all do well to adopt for ourselves. We live in the world, but we are not to be of it when it comes to following the ways that lead us to a deeper love for and obedience to God.

John 5 starts with Jesus healing a man near the Pool of Bethsaida. The man had been paralyzed for nearly four decades, which makes Jesus’ original question to him seem strange, “Do you want to get well?” The man answers with an excuse. He is paralyzed and he has no one to help him get to the pool.  The people thought when the waters of the pool “stirred,” an angel was there and the first person in the pool at such times would be healed.  Jesus wasn’t concerned with any of that. He wanted to know whether the man wanted healing. That question is so vital for all of us. Jesus offers us healing of body, soul, and spirit. The question is, “Do we want to be healed?” Jesus stands ready to work in our lives, but we must be ready to say, “Yes!” to Him.

After the healing, the religious leaders respond with typical disdain. This time, because Jesus has healed on the Sabbath.  He seemed to have done that frequently. The resulting argument between Jesus and the religious leaders remind us religion never gets us into relationship with God. Even though the religious leaders of the Jews had the opportunity to know and serve the one, true, living God, and never more so than when Jesus was standing right in front of them, they preferred focusing on the rituals and traditions of the faith rather than knowing their God personally. This serves as an important warning for us, because no matter how close we are to God, the danger always exists that the relationship could degenerate into religion. The way to ensure that doesn’t happen is through daily interaction with Him through reading His word, prayer, and then applying what He tells us. After all, obedience is the kind of worship God affirms the most in His word.

The Book of Numbers is so named, because in it God orders Moses to count the people of Israel. The book continues the account of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, and shows us why the wandering required an additional forty years to complete. In Numbers 1 Moses counts the men of fighting age in each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Levites are neither included in the list of the names of the twelve tribes, nor numbered, because God orders they not be counted.  Numbers 2 tells us of how the tribes were to camp around the Tabernacle. Three tribes were to camp on each side, so the Tabernacle was surrounded by the Israelites. The order was significant, because when the Israelites broke camp to move to the next location God directed them, they would break camp in the specific order God presented. The logistics of moving more than 600,000 fighting men, along with their families must have been challenging in a day with no communication technology but rams’ horns. Yet, the accomplished the task by following God’s directions.

Numbers 3 tells us of the Levites’ place among the Israelites. First, they were to serve Aaron and his sons in the priestly ministry. This work was vital, and required diligent effort. The second “task” of the Levites was to serve as substitutes for the first born sons of all the rest of the Israelites. God required the first born son of every family as His, but in order to keep the families from having to give up their sons to Him, God accepted all the male Levites as substitutes. When all the first born sons were counted, it was determined that a shortage of 273 Levites existed. The solution was an offering of 1365 shekels of silver was given to make up the difference.

In John 4 we read an extended account of Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman. As we read the account we find Jesus asked the woman for help. This would have been unprecedented for a Jewish rabbi. First, the person was a Samaritan, and the Jews detested the Samaritans considering them “half-breeds,” who had defied God’s commands. Second, she was a woman. Rabbis didn’t speak with women in public in Jesus’ day. Finally, the woman was immoral having been married five times, and was currently living with a man who was not her husband. This “trifecta” of disqualifiers didn’t stop Jesus from entering into conversation with the woman, asking her for help, and ultimately leading her into a relationship with Him. Because of her faith in Jesus, she called the rest of her village to come and meet Jesus, with the result that they all believed He was the Messiah. John 4 shows us how Jesus’ influence in one person’s life can transform many. This is good news for each of us as we share our faith in Jesus with one other person at a time. we never know when the one person God uses us to lead to Jesus, will lead many others to Him as well!

At the end of John 4, Jesus is encountered by a “royal official” who asked Jesus to heal his sick son. Jesus challenged the man by saying that unless he saw a miracle he would not believe. The man persisted to plea on behalf of his son. Jesus told him to go that his son would be healed. It happened exactly as Jesus said. When the man returned home his son was well. The entire family believed in Jesus. Once again we see how much impact one person’s healing can have, and that came from one person’s persistence in calling on Jesus.

Leviticus 26 offers us the blessings God would provide the Israelites if they obeyed His commands, and the punishments they would receive if they disobeyed.  The cause and effects relationship between obedience and disobedience was clear. As we move through the Bible, we will see this clear cause and effect between obedience and disobedience remains stable, although exceptions start to appear. Job, the most righteous man of his age, suffered a great deal, despite his righteousness. King David often complains in his Psalms that the unrighteous prosper, while the righteous suffer. By the time we get to the New Testament, righteous suffering is modeled most clearly by Jesus, yet others are also martyred for their faith in Him. The principle of blessing for obedience and punishment for disobedience is still valid, but we must remember exceptions do occur.

Leviticus 27 closes out the book with a list of valuations of people based on their ages and gender when it came to redemption or vows. In addition,  valuations for property and types of animals that could be offered in these situations is provided. The chapter is one which doesn’t have much present day application, but was quite important among the Israelites in that moment.  While the Bible is all true, and it is all the word of God, parts of the Old Testament are superseded explicitly by statements of Jesus, and others were relevant mainly to their moment in history. As always principles can be drawn from the truth, such as here, we see once again how important it is to give God our best.

John 3 is perhaps one of the best-known chapters of the Bible. In it Jesus has His famous conversation with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who came to Jesus at night. The night time meeting was surely because Nicodemus didn’t want to be seen with Jesus, but the truth Jesus offered Nicodemus has transformed the world. Jesus told Nicodemus to inherit eternal life we must be “born again.” In our day, the concept of “born again Christians” has become controversial, yet as I often point out unless we are born again, by Jesus’ definition, we are not Christians. Jesus invested a great deal of time with Nicodemus in making clear how important spiritual birth is in our lives. His explanation confused Nicodemus, a spiritual leader, so it isn’t surprising we can also get confused in our “sophistication.” The concept of being born again is quite simple, because it is simply spiritual birth, which is parallel to physical birth, but when we think too much about it, we can make it difficult. Jesus point was the only way to gain eternal life is to receive the spiritual life He alone offers. That life means having the Holy Spirit in us from the moment of our rebirth. As with physical birth and growth, spiritual birth also requires growth. Thankfully, the entire Bible gives us guidance in what it means to live the new life Jesus lived, died, and rose again to bring us. The key is to believe in Jesus, receive the new life He gives, and then live it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Leviticus 23 tells us of the appointed festivals of the Israelites. They include Passover, the Feast of First Harvest, the Fest of Harvest, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Shelters or Booths. Most of the feasts or festivals were tied in with the harvest of various crops, but the two most important festivals: Passover and the Day of Atonement were tied to God’s deliverance of the people from slavery in Egypt and from slavery to sin. While we don’t typically celebrate these festivals, feasts or holy days, our celebration of Easter is tied to the celebration of Passover, because Jesus died as our “Passover Lamb,” and His institution of the Lord’s Supper was a reinterpreting of Passover. While Passover started the process of the Israelites becoming God’s people according to the Mosaic Covenant, Jesus’ changed Passover to the Last Supper and instituted the “new covenant,” which was sealed the next day in His blood.

Leviticus Chapter 24 tells the Israelites of their obligation to provide pure olive oil for the lamps in the tabernacle and holy bread for it daily. Such details, show us once again of God’s call to holiness. The remainder of the chapter is devoted to an example of the just punishment of a man who blasphemed the name of the LORD in the middle of a fight. The punishment was death at the hands of the people.

Leviticus 24 outlines the rules for the Sabbath year, which was to occur every seventh year, and the year of  Jubilee which occurred every fiftieth year. During these special times the land was to be given “rest” from being planted, and during the Jubilee, the any land which had been sold was to be returned to its original owner. In addition, slaves were to be freed during the Jubilee. This radical concept shows us God is the ultimate owner of everyone and everything, and His desire is for us to live in freedom. Jesus becomes our redeemer through His fulfillment of the Law as our once-and-for-all sacrifice. He sets us free from sin and death, which is the ultimate Jubilee.

In John 2 Jesus performs His first miracle. A couple of points about the miracle: 1) He didn’t want to do the miracle; and 2) the miracle itself was turning water into wine.  Jesus was pushed into performing the miracle by Mary, His mother. The problem was Jesus, His disciples, and mother were attending a wedding and the wine ran out. This was a major social faux pas. Mary told Jesus about the situation, and He said it wasn’t time for Him to do a miracle. Nevertheless, He obeyed His mother and did the miracle. That’s quite a statement about the importance of honoring our parents! What about the miracle being to provide wedding guests with wine? Many contend the wine was “non-alcoholic,” but the context tells us that isn’t true. When the steward of the event was given the wine Jesus had “made” he said most people serve the best wine first, then once the guests are drunk, the cheaper wine would be served. The steward wondered why they had saved the best wine for last? We would expect anything Jesus made to be the best, but why contribute wine to a party? Many answers have been offered. Perhaps none is better than Jesus was obeying His mother and doing a culturally appropriate service to the family. He was helping. Jesus never did a miracle for His own benefit or aggrandizement. We can be sure this was not an exception, because the result was the situation was corrected, Jesus obeyed His mother, and His disciples believed in Him as a result.

Leviticus 19 starts with this command: ¹The LORD also said to Moses,
²“Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. Leviticus 19: 1-2 (NLT)  The entire chapter is devoted to various commands promoting personal holiness. In Leviticus 19:18 we read:  ¹⁸“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:18 (NLT) “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Thousands of years later when Jesus would be asked, “What is the greatest commandment in the Law?” He would respond, “Love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength. This is the first and greatest commandment, and a second one is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus took that command from Leviticus 19:18.  While Leviticus as mainly rules about sacrifices, Leviticus chapter 19 reminds us all the commands in Leviticus were designed to shape Israel into a holy people, who would reflect the holiness of their God. We find no more practical command in pursuing personal holiness than this one to love our neighbors as ourselves. When we share the love of God, which we have received, with one another, the natural outcome is lives of personal holiness.

Leviticus 20 offers the punishment for various forms of disobedience. Many of the offenses listed required capital punishment. This extreme punishment shows how serious God was about personal and corporate holiness for the Israelites. While Jesus would later tell us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, God told Moses to show no mercy to those who broke the Law, and the judgment for the crimes listed in Leviticus 21 was either death or being “cut off” from the people. Some see two different Gods in Jesus and the God of the Old Testament, but there is only one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The same God who pronounced judgment on the Israelites for committing specific sins, judges us for our actions. Jesus reminded us we will give an account for every idle word we speak. The grace and mercy of God is much more obvious in Jesus, although we find it all through the Old Testament. In the same way, the New Testament makes it clearl we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ when this life is over. Thankfully, that judgment won’t mean death, because Jesus paid that penalty, but when we read the Bible, we dare not think of one God of the Old Testament and Jesus a different God of the New Testament. There is one God who is holy, and who calls His people to holiness.

Leviticus 21 takes the command for personal holiness directly to the behavior of priests. In general, priests were prohibited from becoming “unclean” by touching dead people, although exceptions were made for close relatives. In addition, the priests weren’t to marry a woman who had been divorced or had engaged in prostitution. When it came to the high priest, he was not permitted to become unclean by touching any dead person, even his father or mother. In addition, he was only permitted to marry a virgin woman from within his own clan. Once again, these commands might seem strange to our ears, but the goal was to ensure those who administred the law and rituals of the faith of the Israelites modeled behavior that reflected holiness.

Leviticus 22 applies the holiness rules to the offerings presented to God, and to which priests would be counted worthy to eat the portions of the offerings devoted to them. The key phrase is “without defect.” In other, words, the people were to bring their best to God. We see this principle throughout Leviticus and is a principle that applies to us today. In Philippians 2:12-13, the Apostle Paul reminded us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling–obviously meaning we are to offer God our best. He concluded the thought by adding: for God is at work in you to will and to work for His good pleasure. The amazing difference for us is because Jesus fulfilled the commands of the Law, both in dying in our place as the once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins, and in being perfect in every way, we receive that inputed holiness from Him when we are born again. We can live in His power through the Holy Spirit. That does not negate the need for our effort. We must do all we can do, and give our best to God., but that will fall short. God makes up the difference through His work in us. What an incredible truth!

Today, we turn to the Gospel of John. After reading through Mark’s Gospel twice, we will embark on two readings of John, before moving to a double reading of Matthew and finally a double reading of Luke. One of you asked me, “Why are we reading each gospel twice, when we have to get through the whole Bible in a year?” The short answer is: I want us to have a thorough introduction to the life, ministry, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus. We will read through the entire Bible in a year. Yet, my goal is not simply for us to get through the Bible. I want to get the Bible through us.  As we’re reading through Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, it would be easy to forget these books point toward Jesus, if we weren’t reading the Gospels at the same time. In addition, we won’t get to the New Testament until day 288 in our day-by-day readings. Without a companion reading from the Gospels each day, it would be easy to give up on our quest to read through the Bible in a year. I know many who have done so. Many folks have told me they “tried” to read through the Bible from beginning to end, but when they got to Leviticus or Numbers it was too hard, or didn’t make sense, or was boring.  The daily companion posts are intended to help by explaining some of the connections between the daily Old Testament readings and the New Testament. They’re also intended to explain some of the passages in a bit of detail, although not as a scholarly commentary would do. My goal is to help us live the Bible. The daily gospel readings help us to stay anchored in the life of Jesus all through the year.

John 1 is unlike the beginning of any of the other gospels. While Matthew and Luke tell us about Jesus’ birth, and Mark starts with the ministry of John and Jesus’ baptism, John offers us a theological explanation of Jesus being with God from the beginning. John’s gospel was written last, and John’s goal was much more to show Jesus is God, and as he tells us in chapter 20 he wrote so we may believe Jesus is the Messiah and have life in His name. In John 1 we’re also told Jesus was full of grace and truth. This powerful combination is what brings us from the judgment of the law, which was truth without grace, to the freedom of new birth in Jesus! Much more about this in the days ahead.

In Leviticus 16, we read about The Day of Atonement. This vital day continues to be celebrated among the Jews to the present. Atonement is an interesting concept, because the word literally means “at-one-ment,” or being put at one with God.  The instructions for atonement included many sacrifices, and the placing of blood from the sacrifices strategically in the Tabernacle and on the priests and people. It also involved a “scapegoat,” a goat on which the sins of the people were pronounced. It was then driven into the wilderness. As with all the commands in Leviticus, the detail is minute, but in this case, the specific Day of Atonement was set aside as an annual practice of being made one with God. When Jesus died on the cross, He atoned for our sin and set us at one with God–once and for all!

In Leviticus 17, we read of God’s prohibiting the Israelites from sacrificing animals anywhere but at the Tabernacle. This would ensure no aberrant sacrificial systems were set up, and that no one would establish himself or herself as God’s priest, outside of God’s ordered process. The punishment for failure to uphold this law was death. God also prohibits the Israelites from eating blood, any kind of animal blood. God tells the people the life is in the blood, and therefore, no one is to eat it. Failure to observe this law would result in being cut off from the people of Israel.

Leviticus 18 offers prohibition against forbidden sexual practices. Most of the practices involved what we would term incest, having sexual relations with a near relative. God also prohibited sexual intercourse with one’s neighbors, with animals, and between two men. In this list of forbidden sexual practices is a prohibition against sacrificing a child to Molech, a foreign god. Many in twenty-first century America see these prohibitions as prudish, primitive, and unnecessary. Others say these prohibitions are similar to the dietary laws and no longer apply post-Jesus. The question becomes, “Why were they instituted in the first place?” Certainly, such commands would ensure the general concern for “cleanliness,” in this case both physically and morally was enforced. In addition, the relational and procreational aspects of the commands are evident. The prohibition of the forbidden sexual practices would ensure biological families would live in more harmonious relationships, and would also provide a benefit the Israelites would not have known at the time: protection from genetically transmitted defects. The prohibition from homosexual sexual relationships, would ensure the purity of the sexual relationship for God’s intended purpose, which was between a husband and a wife in marriage (See Genesis 2).

As we return to Mark 16, we note again this account of Jesus’ resurrection is the shortest and least detailed of those found in the four gospels, particularly if you agree with the assumption of many biblical scholars that only the first 8 verses of Mark 16 are original to it. Even those verses tell us Jesus rose from the dead, and the women who went to the tomb encountered an angel.  The longer ending of Mark 16 offers us a resurrection encounter with Jesus and Mary Magdalene, as well as a meeting with the apostles and His instruction to them to go into all the world and preach the good news to all the creation. Mark 16 offers us some specific information about the signs that will accompany the apostles as they carry out their work of preaching in the nations: exorcism of demons, speaking in tongues, picking up poisonous snakes without negative effect, drinking deadly poison without harm, and laying hands on sick people and healing them. That’s quite a list, isn’t it? So, did Jesus really say that? And are we really to believe we can do those things?  The short answer is: Yes, and yes. Jesus said those things or they would not be included in the Bible. Our goal here is not to “prove” the Bible is true. (Many have undertaken that task quite effectively. One of the better books on the topic, which also includes explanations for many other beliefs we hold as Jesus’ followers is I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist.) We trust the Bible is true. As for the signs that accompany Jesus’ followers as we carry out His mission in the world, and whether they still do: I have seen or experienced all of the signs except the snake handling and poison drinking without harm. I have a friend who was given poison repeatedly while on a mission in Africa, and suffered no ill effects, so I have no doubt each of Jesus’ promises is true in this chapter. The key for us is to accept the task of preaching the good news in all nations, and to trust Jesus to provide whatever we need to carry out the process.  None of these signs was given for us to “test” whether we are Jesus’ followers, but rather to confirm the gospel message is true. In the example I mentioned about the pastor friend who was given poison repeatedly while on a mission in Africa. The purpose was to kill him and his team, but when they suffered no ill effects, the village opened to the gospel and many were saved.

In Leviticus 14-15 we read more about serious skin diseases, how they were to be treated and the sacrifices to be offered for those who were healed; the treatment of contaminated houses; and how bodily discharges from men and women made them unclean. As we read through the two chapters, we might wonder, “What is the point of all this?” Leviticus 15:31 gives us an answer to that question:  ³¹“This is how you will guard the people of Israel from ceremonial uncleanness. Otherwise they would die, for their impurity would defile my Tabernacle that stands among them. Leviticus 15:31 (NLT) All the rules and regulations concerning uncleanness were to protect the people. God’s concern for the people’s holiness was real and extended into every area of their lives. God is holy and He was calling forth a holy people. While we might not understand the seemingly OCD-like obsession with cleanliness, we do well to remember in the 1800’s it was the simple addition of hand washing to the protocol of practicing medicine that reduced the number of deaths in hospitals drastically.  If physical cleanliness contributes to physical health, that would be reason enough for God to establish it among His people, but in the case of the Israelites, God had the additional desire to guide His people to spiritual cleanliness and wholeness.

What application is there for us in our lives?  We live “post-Jesus,” post-resurrection,” the myriad rules and regulations of the Torah seem excessive to us, and they are. But they weren’t excessive when Moses and the Israelites were being forged as a people, and being prepared by God to enter the Promised Land, where they would become God’s holy nation. For us, the lessons are many, but let’s focus on this one: We serve a holy God, who expects His people to obey Him. All too often, we treat God far more casually than He deserves. When I hear folks referring to God as “The Big Guy,” or “The Man Upstairs,” I wonder about the reverence being offered, or whether there is any.

In our relationship with God and how we live it out with each other, we always face the twin dangers of legalism at the one extreme and a casual forgetfulness of God’s holiness at the other. I have often said, “At new life our dress and language are casual, but no one takes God and His word more seriously than we do.” I understand those who are concerned, because we don’t “dress up” for church, or who think only a certain style of music is “appropriate” for worship.  Their goal is to honor God, but that can become the same kind of legalism Jesus condemned in the Pharisees. As we read through Leviticus, what we can take away is the absolute seriousness with which the book calls us to live in relationship with God. At the same time, we can praise God that Jesus made it clear we honor God most fully  with and through our hearts, and not through external observations alone.

As we return to Mark 15, we read again of Jesus’ trial, crucifixion, and burial. Every time I come to this chapter in Mark, or the accounts of Jesus’ trial, death and burial in the other three gospels, I’m reminded it was my sin that caused Jesus to go through that horrific sequence of events. Yes, Jesus suffered and died for the sins of the world, but He also died for my specific sins and yours. That memory causes me great pain, shame, and sorrow. Even so, all too often, I return to sin. My thoughts aren’t always pure, my words aren’t always constructive, and my actions aren’t always helpful. I sin by the things I do, and by those I fail to do–probably far more often, through the good things I fail to do. One of the biggest challenges of our faith, and one of the reasons many in our culture call us hypocrites, is even with our sorrow for Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, even with the new life we receive from Him, sin still often clings so closely to us.

Why? Isn’t that the question. Why do we continue to sin, when we know what a great sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf?  How can we read Mark 15 and the other gospel accounts of Jesus trial, death, and burial and not be motivated to holiness? The short answer is: our sinful natures are strong. Thank God for sending Jesus to suffer and die in our places. Thank God for His grace and forgiveness that restore us to relationship with Him through the shed blood of Jesus. Thank God, He continues to love us when our lives don’t exhibit the holiness Jesus died to bring us. But, let’s pause for a moment and ask ourselves, “How can I best honor Jesus’ suffering, crucifixion and death in my life, today?” When I ask myself that question, so many answers come flooding to my mind, and not one of them is: by continuing to sin.  In our home, when one of our girls did something wrong and offered, “I didn’t mean to do it,” as an excuse,  I would often respond, “Did you mean not to do it?” It’s a great question. Over time, turnabout became fair play, and when I did something wrong and said, “I didn’t mean to do it,” one of them would quickly ask, “Did you mean not to do it?

So often, we live on auto-pilot. We drift into actions and habits we lived out and held before our salvation, but once we have trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord, once His precious blood has washed away our sin, and we have received the Holy Spirit, He calls us to focus on Him and His ways. He calls us to mean to live in His ways. We won’t naturally live supernaturally in obedience to Jesus through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, but that’s His plan for us! As we focus on what Jesus has done for us, as we live into the reality of our salvation, we will mean to do what’s right and avoid what’s wrong, not out of a legalistic formality, but out of a heart-lived love and loyalty for Jesus.  My prayer for all of us is we will remember what we read in Mark 15, and let it motivate us to love and good works in Jesus’ name, in the power of the Holy Spirit and to God’s glory!

Leviticus 11-13 could be summed up in one phrase: Distinguish cleanness from uncleanness. Remember, God’s purpose in Israel was to establish a holy nation, a kingdom “set apart” to Himself and for His purposes. That distinct nation would be different in every area of life, as we see in these chapters. In Leviticus 11, Moses tells the Israelites about clean and unclean animals or food. As always, the list is long an extensive concerning what animals one could eat and could not eat. We might not understand the reasons, and perhaps no one has ever understood the reasons. I have read many articles by scholars in different fields that demonstrate and defraud the idea that God chose the clean animals based on what would be good for the Israelites nutritionally and from a health standpoint. As with every debate regard what we should or should not eat, dividing fact from opinion is impossible. Some discount the list because it includes meat at all. Others, show the “unclean” animals have health benefits. These points are all moot on two counts: 1) God’s instruction always supersedes human opinion, and 2) Jesus pronounced all foods ceremonially clean in a debate with the Jewish religious leaders. For our purposes here, it is most helpful to remember God was establishing a holy people, and the concern of how that would get lived out included what the people were and were not to eat.

Leviticus 12 is a brief chapter concerning the purification of women after they bore children. Again, our “enlightened” sensibilities might be offended at the distinction between the times involved based on whether the child was a male or female, but God’s purpose was simple: providing for the purity of His people.

In Leviticus 13 we move on to the category of skin diseases. This will continue into tomorrow’s reading, but once again we see God was concerned with the “cleanness” of His people. Separating out people with contagious diseases, might not have been part of the original plan, but it would have been part of the impact. Given that God is all-knowing, it would be unlikely that this benefit of separating unclean people from the rest of the population during their times of healing was not part of the plan.

As we return to Mark 14, we’re reminded of the many incredibly difficult aspects of Jesus last moments leading up to His crucifixion. When He was anointed at Bethany, some argued at the “waste” of money, because the anointing oil was so expensive. Jesus understood the both the love of Mary, and the underlying purpose, of which she was unaware, of the anointing: preparing Him for burial. During the Last Supper, when Jesus announced one of the twelve would betray Him, each of them asked, “Me?”  We would think at least one of them would have been certain… Oh, that’s right. Peter was certain he wouldn’t turn against Jesus, yet that’s exactly what Peter did. He stood up when Jesus was arrested and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant, but when it came down to standing up for Jesus, he denied every knowing Him.  Sandwiched between Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s denial and the actual denial, were Jesus’ agonizing prayer time in Gethsemane, His arrest and His trial before the Sanhedrin–the Jewish religious leaders. If the account of Jesus’ life ended here, what a sad tale it would be. Even if it ended in chapter 15, with the crucifixion, the account would never have transformed history. Thankfully, we know the account continues through Jesus’ resurrection! That is why we keep reading day-after-day, and why we’re sure our lives can be changed by learning this truth and living it out in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The sequence of events in Leviticus 8-10 shows us an all too common sequence of events in the history of God’s people: 1) In Leviticus 8, we read of the ordination of the priests. As usual, the details concerning how the ordinations were to be carried out and how they were carried out are extensive. in the last verse of Leviticus 8 we read: ³⁶So Aaron and his sons did everything the LORD had commanded through Moses.  Leviticus 8:36 (NLT) The ordination process was perfect, every detail just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 2) In Leviticus 9, we read of Aaron and his sons starting  their work. They followed their instructions in minute detail. All went well. God offered a plan, and God’s plan was carried out to the letter. 3) In  Leviticus 10, Nadab and Abihu offer unauthorized fire and the LORD kills them. This is the all too common third step, which sometimes turns out being the first step in the Israelites’ interactions with God. God’s instructions are always clear. God’s expectations are always laid out step-by-step. When the Israelites follow the instructions and expectations the result is blessing. But then someone decides to “improve” on God’s instructions and expectations, or simply to ignore them altogether and disaster strikes.

What an important lesson we can take from this example. While we might be taken back by God’s extreme response to Nadab and Abihu’s disobedience, Moses’ response to Aaron and their remaining brothers is basically, “What did you expect? God is holy, and we must honor His holiness.” All too often, we who live on the resurrection side of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection add to the mix that we are not under law, but under grace. We assume God will be okay with whatever we do, because of that grace. While God’s response to disobedience was more immediate and obvious during the time He was forming His people, the Israelites, in the wilderness, God’s response to disobedience is always the same: judgment. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, we don’t bear the ultimate consequences of that judgment, but every time we disobey God we bear the consequence of our disobedience: Our relationship with God is fractured, and we must confess our sin, repent of it, and return to God. While we can’t lose our salvation by what we do or don’t do–because it is God’s gift to us–when we live in disobedience we lose fellowship with Him.

Many of us struggle with the idea of God’s wrath and judgment, because we live under a mistaken understanding of grace. We see grace as license to do what we want. It is not. Grace is God’s incredible sacrifice on our behalf. He pays the penalty for our sin, through the precious blood of Jesus. He gives us the gifts of restoration and redemption. He gives them so we will draw closer to Him, not so we will reject His leadership in our lives and do what we want. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for Aaron to accept God’s judgment on his sons’ disobedience. I can see how the example would have been forever burned into my memory. That incident would have reminded me how vital it is to obey God. Dr. Dale Milligan, a mentor of mine, used to say, “To love God is to trust God enough to obey Him.” That saying has always stuck with me, because it takes our love for God out of the realm of mere feelings, and reminds us both that love for God requires action–obedience, and trust–recognizing God’s instructions and explanations are always best for us, even when we don’t understand them or disagree with them. When we fail to learn those lessons, the results can be devastating, but when we do learn them, our relationship with God grows.

As we return to Mark 13 today, we read once again of Jesus’ comments concerning the “end of the age,” the time of His return. We read of the expected trauma taking place in the age when Jesus returns: wars, famines, etc…. Because wars, famines, etc… have occurred in every age, people in every age have assumed Jesus would return in their age. The assumption is reasonable. After all, Jesus told us He would return soon, and the signs He said would accompany His return have been present in every historic period. Every time I read this passage, I’m reminded of Jesus’ final word: Watch! Watch. In other words, be ready, be expectant, don’t get caught by surprise. We can see how people would get caught by surprise. Jesus has not come back and we’ve been waiting nearly 2,000 years. Why would we assume He’ll come back now if He hasn’t come back yet? The answer is simple: The time of His return is closer than when we first believed. Every promise of Jesus is true, so His promise to return is true as well. As we go about our daily lives, we must watch. The best way to do that, as Leviticus 8-10 reminds us, is to do what He calls us to do faithfully. The good news is we all have the Holy Spirit to empower our obedience, if Jesus is Savior and Lord in our lives. While I understand people want to know exactly when Jesus will return, my greater priority is being ready when He comes. I pray that is each of our priority. Only then will we be found watching when He returns.

Leviticus 5-7 find us reading through many additional instructions regarding sin offerings, guilt offerings, grain offerings and peace offerings. While some of the rules seem to blend together, the purpose of them all is to assure that God’s people receive atonement for their sins by the shedding of blood, and have the opportunity to offer sacrifices to God, because He is worthy of them. Additional instructions involving the priests, and what they may and may not eat of the sacrifices make it clear what their role is. They are also instructed regarding the offering they- Sins that require a sin offering; Guilt offering – unaware  Leviticus 6 – Sins requiring a guilt offering; Further instructions for burnt offerings – fire must never go out ;  further instructions for grain offerings – never eaten with flour;  Instructions for the Ordination offering ; Further instructions for sin offerings – who may eat, what to do with containers; Leviticus 7 Further instructions for the guilt offering – same rules apply for guilt and sin offering; Further rules for the peace offering  ;  The forbidden blood and fat ;  A portion for the priests – breast and right thigh.

As we revisit Mark 12, we’re reminded during Jesus’ last week on earth, He was able to take time to interact with those who would have Him killed–the Jewish religious leaders. He told the Parable of the Tenants, which spoke directly to the intentions of those leaders regarding Jesus. He responded to their tests with amazing wisdom and clarity, whether regarding paying taxes to Caesar our marital status at the resurrection, which commandment is the greatest, or even how the Messiah could be both David’s son and His Lord.  While each encounter reminds us how much greater Jesus was than His eventual judges, at the close of the chapter, we find Him pausing to affirm the gift of a poor widow. While her offering was small in quantity, it was all she had. Thus, Jesus told us her gift was the greatest of all. What a vital reminder for us to consider the quality our gifts in Jesus’ name, and not just the quantity.