Leviticus 18

There is to be no uncovering nakedness. Of anyone considered a relative their nakedness is not for an Israelite to know. I think this means looking, or trying to get to a place of nakedness between two people, not the actual act of having sex. I only say this because in verse 20 it states differently 'sexual intercourse' as not to be done with the neighbor's wife. The rest of the chapter is about not having sex with those like you in gender, or animals. Those are called abominations and perversions.
I wonder though if the loose interpretation of looking at a neighbors wife but not having sex with her is how David gave birth to sin, and sin to death, with Bathsheba? Isn't it so true that what we most often do is not deliberately break a law of the LORD but conform it to our minds. Which is the exact opposite direction God apparently wants our minds conformed, "therefore be transformed by the renewing of your minds...". A line Paul utters in his letter to the Romans, a book that is wrought with Christ's idea regarding the heart. Jesus states almost redundantly the call of God is to the heart, for change and renewal.
We will see later in the new testament that Jesus states that even if a man look upon a woman with lust for her in his heart, he commits adultery. We, as men, should regularly think on this truth. In light of this chapter about the lewdness of uncovering the nakedness of a relative, let's revisit what our hearts, through our eyes, are delighting in. Maybe it's just me, but lust seems to have a new face with the same motives, even after marriage.

"You are to keep my charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced
before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am the LORD your God."

Satan Has Been Right All Along

Leviticus has proven to me how right Satan has been for so very long. Even the most devout believer has to agree with the evil one in this case. If you have not felt this way then you are a better man than I.
Praise the Lord for his creation of Lucifer. Knowing that he would fall away and lead many astray, God endured a rebellion of heavenly proportion. How would you feel if your celestial palace was being challenged right before your face. Your response would be like God's. Throw the Bastard out and reveal your plans. What a magnificent thought that from the foundations of celestial creation there has always been a plan.
As a believer in, faith alone in Christ alone, for an eternal relationship with this God of great power and plans, I find myself needing lots of reminders. I need for these reminders to be great in quantity and deep truths. I am writing this as a challenge; if you are even for a second bound in the trap, or if you ever regard salvation as Satan regards salvation. If you do, don't fret. Well, fret if this doesn't hit your heart. For if your heart is not impacted then i fear for Satan's grip on you. You're waiting for the part where i explain what or how Satan has been correct for so long right?
Well as you know music sometimes peacefully, deeply speaks to me. Embracing Accusation is such a piece that I wept the first time I heard it. I gathered that it was about my spiritual condition. My thoughts about God were not worthy of God, I was caught in idolatry. Have you also ever thought about how unworthy you are of God's salvation? Yes! Well good to know you are no better a man than I am. And there it is. Satan is right and we both agree whole-heartedly with him. We do not often talk about when Satan is right in church and certainly not to other believers, lest they want to evangelize us, again. I am trying to get to the point directy, but I do not want us to miss out on the point.

We do not believe God!

You, me and the rest of the followers of Jesus out there. Is this disbelief as great a sin as any action of poor moral judgment? Damn right it is! If we so much as entertain the way that Satan is correct regarding our view of God, then we of all people are to be most harshly examinied. If I would so malign the work and plan of God for Satan's truth, I pray for another chance to realign my beliefs with God's. Oh, I forgot you are still wondering the Satanic truth that we fall into... Sorry.
When you feel accused of poor performance as a believer. When you actually live to perform that you might then gain God's pleasure. When you believe that working about life differently will curry the renewed favor of God. You, like I, fall head long into Satan's accusation. Don't confuse what I am saying. You will perform poorly as a believer. God's pleasure with us and His favor on us enables living differently. BUT never does our action give us the right to that pleasure or favor. If we believe different from this we Embrace the Accusation.
We embrace the Truth of Satan when He tells us the penalty for sin is death and stops there. Or when in self loathing we regurgitate the statements of the unrighteous: I am not good enough, I can not do this life, especially alone; I will never measure up to the standard of God, never; I should just stop trying... YES! Please, by the blood of Jesus Christ stop trying. The cross is not a platform to walk out on, to stand on, or to spring board ourselves into some heavenly spotlight revealing our efforts as worthy of God's affection. Please for the sake of your soul being drained beyond replenishment STOP believeing you are gaining favor with God by being or doing...anything. Christ came to seek and save the lost.

"For the law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near." Heb. 10:1

We have only one boast of action. If the penalty for sin is death, then death is mine. Halelluia. The best I can do is take on the death of Jesus Christ. His death is mine. I must die. Allegorically, metaphorically, eventually literally to the culture of this world, in every way all the time.

-B

p.s. - listen to the song Embracing Accusation by shane and shane from the pages album.

Speaking of Tattoos...

So is a spot on your skin, a boil, a scab, a mark of yellowish color with white hair or any of the flaws mentioned in Leviticus 11-14 considered Leprosy? I thought leprosy was when your nerves slowly diminished so that you began to rub the endings of your digits off.? Psshhhh, Whatever...
What does this have to do with a Tattoo you ask, well obviously not much. But what better way to break the ice for a conversation about marks on your skin that caused a person to be unclean than to begin with a quick note to skin art. (remember, it's permanent - Crawl from Son-In-Law) So all throughout these chapters the identification and care for these gross little skin infections is discussed. It is even clarified more so that there be no confusion in what is a mark of uncleanness and just a mark to get you thrown out of the tent for the night. [Sidenote: Sleeping with the camels has got to be yucky. Plus the dust of a desert blowing into your wounds, as if God was saying, "be more careful about how you take care of yourself." I mean, would you rather... Have dust in open sores while sleeping outside all night, up to a week long, then have to clean them and get inspected by a priest. OR, treat your skin however you'd like and probably get skin disease, sleep inside and most likely be struck down by God in the form of thunderous lightening crashes burning the flesh off your body front of your family and friends. I know what I'd choose.]

The real point of this article is to talk about chapter 14. If you were to reference Jesus healing a leper in the gospels, Luke 8 I think, you'd find Jesus saying to the guy, "go show the priest." Or something like that. I think it is unbelievable that in His healing of the leprous guy that he was significantly pointing out this exact chapter of Leviticus. I think it was because He wanted to tell the guy, without telling the guy, who He was. You see the cleansing process is the most intriguing one i have seen thus far in the book. There is a really cool duty for the cleansed person and the priest to do together. One cool thing is the handling of the wood, scarlet string and hyssop and the two birds, showing the symbolism of the cross, and the payment of Christ on the wood. The other is the redemption of the one bird's life by the blood of the other bird. One bird is killed and its blood poured over the wood, scarlet string, hyssop and other bird while held over running water. The now blood covered and then washed second bird is set free in the forest.

Go read up to this yourself or read it again if you've passed it and read Luke 8 also if you have time. Fascinating how God is in every detail of how He acts towards His Son and His people. Nothing is insignificant in scripture.

b

Leviticus 10 - Began writing before thanksgiving...

"...it is what the LORD spoke saying, 'by those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored'"

This is what I do. I read more than I should because I've come across extra time. Well that ends now. Reason: I have a job.
With gas going to be below $1 by next year, terrorists attacks in Pakistan and India and the economy in the pits for most I call out loudly, "the end is near, repent!" Metanoeo! To change your mind for something radically better seems to be a reassuring thought. I hope none would change for worse. I must confess my thoughts of our God are (present tense) not worthy. Forget my actions. Don't even consider the way I treat my wife. Let not there even be a mention of what my eyes look to and my mind wanders after. What thoughts do I consider, regarding God, that are not worthy of Him? Well, I'll tell you a couple... I feel so very catholic in this moment. My confession is that the verse at the top of this post has struck a cord with me, and we thought Leviticus would be a bore.
"By those who come near...", whoa! So two things jump out of the page. Some can come NEAR and SOME can come near. Only those selected by God could venture near him. Election in the old testament--- Calvin is very relieved I'm sure. But, also there is an oddness of being near to God. Was it different then than now? It has to have been. I think I've been near to God for along time now. Wait. I have rarely been dumped face down as I've read about an encounter with the presence of God, or had a glowing face as He passed me by, metaphorically.

Ah-ha, "I will be treated as holy...". Treating God as distinct, separate and set apart can not be separated from this true experience. I am beginning to glimpse the fuller message here. But I still know that the approach towards the Almighty requires a careful process.

In conclusion, I apologize for I know there is rambling in this post. The striking absolute power and purity of the Lord just has not allowed me to brush past the honor of standing in His presence at the sacrifice of Jesus.

This is the painting called "The Return of the Prodigal Son" by Rembrandt. It is one of the most fascinating pieces of art I have ever seen. Not in person, but in life size print. I drew it one time with pencil, and focused on capturing the son and father mainly. If you can take a look at it for a bit and remember that we are the other son so often. I get mad about what God doesn't do for me, or what I am missing out on b/c God isn't acting like I want. Then again, I find my self other times feeling like I can only come to Him like the tattered, torn prodigal. The blessing of conviction for the awful posturing I tried to enter the Lord presence with. Just like the sons of Aaron only there is a mercy and grace that was not present before the time of Christ. If you think about it Christ allows us to treat God like trash. He apologized and felt the unbelievable wrath of our inconsiderate will towards the God who would save us.
b

Leviticus 10, 16

Merry Christmas.  The celebration of our savior's birth is a wonderful time of reflection.  As Emily and I have just experienced new life and the excitement mixed with pain, sleeplessness and gross stuff it is amazing to think that our heavenly father would put our Messiah through all of that. But praise God for allowing Jesus to endure the world as we know it.  We have a path of righteousness laid out before us that will lead us to the promised land.  All we have to do is walk with Him.

Leviticus continues to paint a vivid picture of God's holy righteousness and mans futile attempts to live a life that is pleasing to him.  In chapter 10 Aaron losses two son's due to their inability to follow God's commands.  they are careless and show disrespect to their maker and instantly they are in the presence of their king, no longer on earth but now dead.  Let us take every opportunity to show the Lord reverent fear.  Pray that the Lord would remove the calluses that prevent us from fully understanding our depravity and need for atonement.  My prayer for you is that the presence of the Holy Spirit will not be squelched, that the your sin will not be a hindrance preventing you from hearing his call, "come to me, die to self, I will lift you up".  Faithfulness, obedience and sacrifice these are the characteristics of Christ-likeness that I want to live out and pray that you would walk in the ways of the Lord as well.

w

Levit 8-9

Gentlemen, 

This morning was a very beautiful picture of the Lord's presence extended.  I woke up rested, alert and eager to dive into God's word and spend time in prayer.  Unfortunately, this is not the norm but I know it is the way God intended our commune to be.  Sin is an ugly enemy but when we walk in the light and bath ourselves in the truth sins grip begins to loosen ever so slightly and that is a time of rejoicing and utter fear, for you know it is at this very moment that sad bastard is pinning his ears back and preparing for a full-on assault.  Bring it on!  I am victorious in Christ, no one has power over me.

I really enjoyed my studies this morning as Moses begins to unveil God's commands to Aaron and his sons.  The attention to detail is mind-blowing.  Moses is God's chosen servant to convey his message to the people of Israel but he is not responsible for shouldering the entire load. God is ordaining Aaron as high priest and his son's as heirs to the position.  The chain of command was very interesting to me.  God is clearly in control and he choses to speak to one person, Moses.  Moses is responsible to pass along the very words of God to Aaron and his sons who in turn are responsible for leading the entire nation of Israel through the santification process.  Could you imagine the weight Aaron is feeling?  The pressure to know God's commands and follow them out would be overwhelming.  But, Aaron and his son's listen and follow the lead of Moses who walks them through the entire process before handing over the reigns.

Once Aaron and his sons are ordained Moses calls them to duty and their first task is a simple one: offer three sacrifices on behalf of the nation of Israel.  But the first thing Aaron and sons do is offer sacrifices for their own sin.  If we are ever going to be effective workmen for God's kingdom we must first cleanse our own lives.  Aaron and sons did this very thing.  We are so eager to help others, to teach others, to give advice to others but what about you.  Are you clean?  Have you sought atonement for your own sin?  The call to Christianity is way more selfish than I think most make it out.  We serve a very selfish God.  He wants us and expects all of us.  He doesn't want a part or portion he wants our complete surrender and worship.  If we want to be an impact player for the kingdom we must be most concerned with keeping ourselves in the game.

wg

Life in General

Well boys, this is not a cry for help but a cry for PRAYER. We all need to pray for our leaders in this country. As the market continues to fluctuate (more down as today's 680 point drop) we can see how even the best country can be foiled. I am reading also in Revelation and this weeks chapters are speaking of the fall of Babylon. This is in reference to the spiritual Babylon that is ongoing in this world. By this I mean the piling up of sin and ungodly things that happen all around us day by day. These things become all consuming and we cannot keep ourselves away from them. These things ultimately lead to destruction! In the same way this is what is actually going on in our country. We like sheep have fallen off the cliff and have no direction as to what right is anymore. Our value system has become so skewed that we no longer see God as the only way and the only one we can rely on. This country was founded on Christian freedoms (which we still have thankfully) but today the deviancy of our citizens is causing even the Christians to have a worldly view. I am concerned not only about what our lives will be like in the next 20 years, but what will our children be exposed to and what will our freedoms be like then? We need to remember that God's will may be for ultimate destruction of the USA, but we can still have a role in doing what God has set out for us to do here and now. I challenge you all to pray fervently for each other to look not at the menial trials that we face each day, but to focus on winning souls and reaching out to those that are spiritually burdened. This is a huge task, but why don't we do it? I am the world's worst at letting opportunities slide by because I don't want to offend anyone. That is not acceptable. God made us and brought us together to spur one another on, and so lets do it. Go ahead, talk to someone about the real things in life, not the weather.

Thanksgiving Starvation

The Lord's grace is sufficient but I do not like taking it for granted.  How do we become so in love that we recognize our starvation for Christ?  I spent very little time with the Lord the past four days and I knew heading into a break from routine that it would be an issue.  But, I was so grateful for the Lord's willingness to accept me at any time, under any circumstances, for any length of time.  If you will surrender your heart to the Lord, you will reap a harvest.  

Let's dive back in. Leviticus 6

Now that the Lord has established the sacrificial system he returns his attention to the priests and making sure that they are fully aware of their role's.  As a former vocational minister I am aware of the responsibilities that are placed upon us to shoulder the wait of God's people.  Ministry sounds fun and easy but that is not how it was designed.  God has very high expectations for the priests.  They are the go-between for God and his people and the responsibility they carry is not to be taken lightly.  I think they have a healthier understanding of the sanctity of worship than anyone else and God is trying to make it clear to us that he is to be served with honor and reverence.  The Tabernacle was a place of worship and a earthly housing for God.  Everyone new what it was there for and had a reverence toward it.  What is your tabernacle?  It should be our bodies.  The Holy Spirit resides with us and we no long have a veiled relationship with our creator but we may approach the throne of grace with freedom and confidence.  Praise God for granting us access at anytime, place or under any circumstances. 

"Lord, I pray that you who continue to give me eye's that view life through an eternal perspective.  I want to see you for who you are and fall more deeply in love with you."

w

Happy Thanksgiving

Ladies and Gents, Playa's and Pimps have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and please tell your family that the Glenn Family says hello.  It is neat that we have now been friends for at least 10 years now.  I feel like I have known you all forever and love every minute of it, especially coming out of our rooms in tightie-whities ready to rumble with our main man Goldberg.  I love you guys, look forward to visiting.

I really do cherish our friendships and hate to hell that we can't spend more time together.

w

Vayikra (Leviticus in Hebrew)

Can I just take you all to the place where things came together in a heavy way for me. By heavy I mean the weight of glory. By glory I mean God's presence, and boy do I really not "get it".
It is very easy to answer or regurgitate "God's glory",...blah, blah, blah, right? I totally am not at present in a spiritual place where this weight holds me down to worship. And I think it should. Not the manifestation of the Glory, just the idea.
Moses, Aaron and his sons are in the front of the tent of meeting. Moses says, "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you". By the way this is all the way up in chapter 9. However, it is the purpose for the all laws previously stated regarding sacrifice and offering. The end of chapter 9 states, "...when all the people saw it [glory], they shouted and fell on their faces." What the hell did they see? I can tell you some visible ways God has caused people to get down before him. A.K.A. - burning bush, mighty angels, all consuming mountain fire. Again, I digress.
Where I find myself not fitting in is, the understanding of coming before my LORD. These high priest brought the Presence of the LORD to the people, you'll read. So I am trying to figure out how my High Priest, Jesus, is doing this for me. Then comes the truth, crystal clear and ringing in my hollowed head like a shout in the Grand Canyon. The people came and followed Moses and Aaron. The presence was not a 24/7 ongoing experience for the Israelite. The LORD was always represented in the form of high priests and sacrifices, but His glory he reserved for when he wanted it revealed. Like a miracle of Jesus, gift of the Holy Spirit, or vision from the prophets the weight of the glory of God comes when He wishes to administer it to His people.
So as we read, we wait. A week. A year. A lifetime? I have already read and experienced enough of God's grace to be saved and acknowledge Him as God. There is nothing else I must have. He will never owe me any glimpse of Light. But still he lavishes His truth to those who do not suppress the knowledge of God.
I think I am learning about how to worship God again. Not to mean I understand worship. But I do mean that I have a sacrifice to bring, a Christ to follow and a God whose glory I long to shout and fall over for. So I'll wait, until He desires to rush in and crash into me.

wheww...
B

First Post Ever

I am trying this out for the first time. I did my reading and have to agree with the other posts that there is repetition to show how important it is for us to be holy when coming before our Lord. There is sooooo much of the same when it comes to the sacrifices and I am super glad that we can have the freedom to just ask for forgiveness. We truly are blessed to have our spiritual freedom, but it is too easy to just ignore the blessings we have.
Liebs

Worship

Chapters 2 & 3 seem to be a repetitious continuation of God's instruction on worship.  But, I think there is something more, I think God is teaching us that there are many ways to connect and communicate with Him.

Our worship should not be mundane, repetitive or half-hearted but the act of worship is a combination of many different elements.  In order to approach the throne we must be presented as holy before the Lord (thankfully, confession has replaced animal sacrifice) and Christ has fulfilled those requirements for us.  We have full access to God and our time of worship should be spent meditating on who God is and what he has done.  It is so easy to fall into a rut of focusing on our own struggles, wants and needs.  Our worship has good intentions but it ends up being all about "ME".  The very act of worship should be "God focused" and a reflection/meditation on the very nature/character of God.  

The fellowship offering is a clear indication of how we are able to connect to the Father.  Our God is unlike any other.  He desires intimacy with his people.  He is a God of blessing, promise, forgiveness and acceptance.  How often do you reflect upon his goodness and show gratitude? God doesn't ask much of us but it is amazing how little we give him. Worship is not about us, it's about Christ Alone.

w

The HOLY Place

The tent of meetings. The Holy of Holies.  The place God resides.  God is a holy and just God, without blemish, stain or sin yet willing to pursue a filthy people who are disobedient and selfish.  Why would God put up with our arrogance?  Why would he allow a group of self-righteous individuals to proclaim his name?  

Leviticus makes it clear that the right to proclaim the name of the Lord comes at a cost = sacrifice.  The Same is true today.  We may not slaughter living animals but we are told to take up our cross and lay down our lives.  The very word sacrifice indicates letting go of something of value.  How is it that we have come so far in our casual approach to God that even reading about true sacrifice seems so foreign?  The animal or grain used in these sacrifices was the most valuable asset they possessed.  Not only were they willing to lay it down before the Lord but they had no back up resource to replace them.  Trust, Faith and belief were the driving forces behind their sacrifice.  

What was the last sacrifice you made for the Lord?  Is waking up thirty minutes early the best we have to offer?  God demands our all.  The life of the sacrifice was taken, blood was shed.  The sacrifice was complete.  The individual no longer had access to the asset.  He had to LET GO completely.  What is so valuable that we will not let go.  We cling to so many areas of our life and wonder why God is not responding to our prayers.  God demands our best and complete sacrifice.

w

Public Enemy

I have read through chapter 7 now. Sorry to over achieve. I do not understand what is meant by, "do not write in thoughts". I re-read and I can only see that there might be grammatical error, sorry. I will try harder, that's what Israel said. Ha!
So, chapters 5-7 are a bit redundant at first glance it would seem. One reason I say "at first glance" is because I am certain that a more learned person would disagree. Also because as I, a less learned person, read there was some cool continuity. While the writings of Leviticus seem to go back and forth between types of offerings or who it is speaking: priests, common folk or Moses, I gather the repetition is for emphasis. I like the verse in chapter seven that hints at the purpose of the last several sections.

"This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the sin offering and the guilt offering and the ordination offering and the sacrifice of peace offerings, which the LORD commanded Moses at Mt. Sinai in the day that He commanded the sons of Israel to present their offerings to the LORD in the wilderness."

Just so we get a general idea about the area, here is where things took place that were commanded in Leviticus. The writing of the book may have happened elsewhere as they lived by oral tradition until the writings could be accurately recorded. Though, not too long afterward. I digress...

The reason I titled my post as I did was regarding the idea, that I saw, about bringing sin to light. As you read these chapters notice what the LORD has his people do when they realize they are in sin intentionally or unintentionally. They are to go then and do the obedient thing, which is offering and sacrifice. The great thing, I think, is that it is done publicly and there are consequences. However, this is how great God's relationship is with His people. He casts away sinful people until atonement is made. This is such a huge, anti-cultural idea both then and now. Other nations/cultures then could not get their heads around God dealing personally with His people or interacting with them. Albeit through human priests in Old Testament times. It is so amazing to see the way God uses His purposes to have his people stand apart. I see in reading this that when an Israelite had to confess, clean up and bring the offerings for sacrifice the public nature shows the connection to the community as well as the demand for purity not to be forgotten.
God has and is always acting on behalf of purity and holiness first, then on behalf of restoring relationship with broken people. It is a beautiful thing.

Ramblings over, thoughts...? (Please tell me if anything is unclear or if I might be wrong about a certain view.)

See, if your not careful you will have typo's. 

Here I am a first time blogger and feeling very uncomfortable.  I know, it will get easier, but that's what she said and she is right.  

Let's get this party started right.  We are covering three chapters a week so this week is 1-3 and B the over achiever/unemployed has already covered 4.  John I hope your trip to Cincy was swell and I am excited to hear about what you learned.  Liebs, technology is a wonderful thing, join us!!!!!

PS - please write in a way that we can understand.  Use grammar and punctuation.  Write in sentences not thoughts.  I'm not picking on BJ but for heaven's sack reread your posts.

W

Offerings: Peace to Sin

I found the first 4 chapters of the book quite punctuated with the theme atonement. Now, since we all know that, I wonder if we can also agree that the perspective of atonement from God's children in these passage might seem/feel very encompassing. As in, God is actively working to make sure that His people will all have access to full atonement. I think it is interesting to see the sacrifice move from burnt offerings to grain, from grain to peace and from peace to sin. Also within each set of strict guidelines there is a way for poor or rich to come. In the first chapter he moves down from bulls all the way to a bird. Who could not get a bird is the point I gather. From this there stems the idea that all need to bring offering to God. One, because he asks and is worthy. And Two, because we are all in need of what He offers. Past this idea of general offering for offering sake I see the differentiation in having peace with God and being viewed as righteous by God, even if only for a moment as an Israelite.
I think further reading will help to illuminate what I expect to find in the differences between offerings of spiritual atonement and offerings of law. Which is why, I think, Jesus came to fulfill the law not abolish it. Glad to chat. Thoughts...?

Leviticus and Me

Well I am the first to write. Now we can easily keep up, and post our thoughts, about how God is working in our lives and hopefully reinvest in each other through the study of our Holy literature.

love you guys