Leviticus 16-20: Vomited Out

“‘Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.
 “‘Everyone who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be cut off from their people. Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the LORD your God.’”  - Lev. 18:24-30 NIV

God was very explicit in his warning to Israel.  They should not become conceited because they were inheriting the land from a people who didn't know the Lord God.  If the Israelites failed to follow God's commands, they would be subject to the same consequences as the previous occupants of the land...they would be vomited out of the land.  God's decrees and laws had to be kept, not only by the Israelites, but by the native born and aliens living along side the children of Israel.  God's laws are God's laws.  Detestable practices in God's sight defiles not only the people committing those acts, but the land as well.

History has shown this to be true.  Through successive generations, those who once lived under God's favor became less God like and more like the natives and aliens of the land they inhabited together.  Whenever that has occurred, God's people have sprung up in other lands that have not become defiled by what God has defined as detestable practices.

2010 Post - Leviticus 16-20:  Set Apart

Leviticus 12-15: Search Me

The Israelites knew what it was to be unclean.  They knew how an infection left untreated could spread through the camp and make anyone that came near it unclean.  They had to be ever vigilant for any sign of harm that could spread throughout the camp.  Their only defense was the priest who was trained to spot the unclean, whether it be a sore or spreading mildew.  Once it was identified, there was no recourse, but to banish the infected person or object from the camp.  God was serious about them remaining clean. “‘You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.’”  - Leviticus 15:31 NIV

We have forgotten what it means to be unclean.  With all of our disinfectants, hand sanitizers and antibiotics, we have built a line of defense that keeps the unclean out, or so it seems.  But sometimes, just as it was with the Israelites, it is difficult to tell the difference between the clean and unclean.  Now, however, it's a matter of the heart, what is inside, rather than what is on the outside.  God's dwelling place is now within us.  We still need a priest to determine if we are pure, the great High Priest who can search our hearts, if we give him permission, and discover if there is anything that needs to be cast out. It was the Psalmist who knew that God, and God alone, determines the condition of our heart who cried,  Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me,  and lead me in the way everlasting. - Psalms 139:23-24 NIV

Our cry must be, 'God, search my heart, for you alone can determine if I am clean.  Search me and root out any thing that would cast me away from your presence.  Wash me and make me whole.'

2010 Post - Leviticus 12-15:  Purity

Leviticus 9-11: Fighting Fire with Fire

Do we understand what it means to be consumed by the fire of the Lord?  The Israelites didn't.  One minute they're shouting for joy and falling face down in amazement when they witnessed the glory of the Lord and his fire consuming their burnt offering.  The next minute they're stunned when such a simple thing as adding incense to the fire that is offered before the Lord causes Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, to be consumed by fire.  That old proverbial saying, 'You can't fight fire with fire.' is untrue.  God can and will fight fire with fire, and his fire is all consuming.  We have no  modern day grasp of God in this image.  One who is so holy, that anything that approaches him must keep entirely to his rules, not our own.  If it were not for the sacrificial death of his son, we would all be in danger of perishing by fire.  Some of our modern worship songs sing of calling down fire from heaven.  Just like the Israelites, who rejoiced when they first saw the fire of the Lord, do we really know what we're singing about. 

010 Post - Leviticus 9-11:  Aaron is Silent

Leviticus 5-8: Sin is Sin

Unintentional sins carry the same consequence as intentional sins as far as God is concerned.  That includes not speaking up when a person has witnessed a wrong, unknowingly touching something unclean, or taking a thoughtless oath. Pretty innocuous sins by today's standards, but not in God's sight. “If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’s commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible. He is to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the wrong he has committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven. It is a guilt offering; he has been guilty of wrongdoing against the LORD.” - Lev 5:17-18 NIV  God's universe does not allow for exceptions.  There can be no pleas of insanity or self defense.  All sin is wrongdoing against the Lord and as such all sin requires a sacrifice. 

2010 Post - Leviticus 5-8:  No Exceptions

Leviticus 1-4: The Perfect Sacrifice

I am an animal lover, so it is difficult to read of the sacrifices of innocent animals as an offering to God.  Perhaps I can imagine sacrificing a bull, but a perfect, innocent lamb?  It's much easier to put cash or a check in the offering plate every Sunday than give a live creature that you've personally nurtured from birth.  It's even more difficult to imagine an offering where the sacrifice demanded is supposed to be perfect, without defect, from a people wandering around in the desert with few resources for food other than their daily allotment of manna.  It didn't matter if it was a fellowship offering or a sin offering, it always had to be without defect and to make matters worse, not only were they required to make the offerings, they were the ones that were to slaughter the animal in front of the Tent of Meeting.  A perfect sacrifice slaughtered by one's own hand. 

I think if I faced the prospect of having to offer one of my animals whenever I sinned, I might consider my actions more carefully.  But the Israelites proved that was not the case.  The requirement of a blood sacrifice did not change their hearts and as the years progressed, their sins became more flagrant and insulting to God.  Eventually, no sacrifice was sufficient to compensate for their sins.  So it was left to God to offer a solution, the perfect sacrifice that none of us could make.  Imagine offering one's own perfect son as a sacrifice, not for your own sins, but for the sins of everyone else.  What mercy, what love and what grace. 

2010 Post - Leviticus 1-4:  Offerings

Exodus 36-40: A Dwelling for God's Glory

God's demanded nothing but the best from the Israelites for the building of the tabernacle.  The finest gold, silver, precious jewels, linen, wood, and even the finest craftsmen were to be used to build God's dwelling place.  When the tabernacle was finally finished, Moses inspected the work and saw that it was done just as God had commanded.  All the preparations, the sacrifices and washings, were complete and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.  Not even Moses could enter this sacred place.  It was only for the Lord.  The people gave of their best and it pleased God to dwell there. 

How much of our best do we give God today.  Do we give him the most costly of our gold and silver, or does he get the left-overs.  The builders of the great cathedrals recognized that God was worthy of the best.  Can we say the same about the prefab church structures of today?  Is God worthy of more than we are giving?

In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.- Ex. 40:36-38 NIV

God rewarded the faithfulness of the Israelites in building his tabernacle by being faithful in return.   Are we losing his guidance because we have brought him down to our own level and no longer recognize the sacred nature that demands only the finest and best for his glory.  Just asking.

2010 Post - Exodus 34-39:  The People Give

Exodus 33-35: Show Me Your Glory

'I know you by name', God told Moses, and Moses' reply was, 'If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.  Remember that this nation is your people. - Ex.33:13 NIV

Moses was much more to be trusted than the rest of the Israelites, and it wasn't just because he saw the burning bush. Moses knew what it was to trust in his own doing and how that had failed.  The years had humbled him.  He had matured from the impetuous favored child of Pharaoh's daughter to one who could not do it on his own. He had become one who would ask for the impossible, one who would tell the Lord:  “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
 And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” - Ex. 33:15-18 NIV

What a far cry from most of our prayers today.  Give us this, provide this, heal this, save this.  When, all along we should be asking the one thing that draws God's heart to our own.  Go with us.  We can't do this on our own.  Go with us, across any river we have to ford, through whatever desert we must crawl through, up whatever mountain we have to climb.  Go with us.  And on that journey, show us your glory.  Not our glory, not what we can accomplish, but show us your glory.