Devotionary

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Ep 713 – Leviticus 13-14 Nov 29, 2018

Show notes

Leprosy. Not exactly something we worry about today. But in the book of Leviticus, chapters 13-14, God spends a great deal of time warning the people of Israel about the dangers of this deadly disease and providing very detailed instructions regarding how to spot it in their midst and deal with it. While we don't have to worry about leprosy in our day and age, there are some valuable lessons we can take away from these two chapters. The threat of leprosy was an ever-present reality for the people of Israel. And it was a non-discriminatory disease. Anyone could get it, whether they were rich or poor. Which sounds a lot like sin. Except that sin infects each and every human being. It is the equal-opportunity spiritual disease of the soul. And just as the people of Israel were to take leprosy seriously, so we should take sin seriously. Leprosy was a threat to the whole corporate community. It was dangerous and deadly. So is sin. And while the symptoms of sin are not always as evident as leprosy, it is not to be taken lightly.

Ep 712 – Leviticus 12 Nov 28, 2018

Show notes

Holy. Unholy. Clean. Unclean. Pure. Impure. The book of Leviticus is full of these contradictory concepts. The whole sacrificial system was designed to take those who were separated from God because of their impurity and provide a means by which their sins could be atoned for and their relationship with God restored. The impure had to be made pure. The unholy, separated from God because of their sin, had to be cleansed so they could once more be separated to God for His use. Purification from sin is a constant theme in the book and, in Leviticus 12, we see that even a woman who delivered a child was required to go through purification because of her contact with the blood of childbirth. And her male child could not be circumcised until she did. God takes purification from sin seriously. He places a high priority on holiness. And His greatest desire is that His people stand before Him as pure and spotless. Which is why He sent His Son to die on our behalf.

Ep 711 – Leviticus 10-11 Nov 27, 2018

Show notes

Any time we read of God striking someone dead, we get a bit uncomfortable. It seems to go against our modern sensibilities and our preferred image of God as all-loving and all-forgiving. But we tend to forget that He is holy and has a strong hatred for sin. All sin is an act of rebellion against Him. Sin is not simply a mistake we make, but a willful choice on our part to disobey God. It is to live our lives counter to His commands and in keeping with our own self-centered agendas. We sin because we tend to think we know what is best. We do what we feel like doing. We willingly fulfill our desires, in direct violation of God's commands, just because it feels good. And in Leviticus 10-11, we are going to see two priests who make the same mistake and lose their lives because of it. God doesn't threaten to physically kill us when we sin, but our sin always results in death. Sin kills our joy. It robs us of our intimacy with God. It destroys our witness and brings God's discipline. But the amazing thing is, that if we will simply confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us. Just like that.

Ep 710 – Leviticus 8-9 Nov 26, 2018

Show notes

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like for Moses or Aaron to see the glory of God? For most of us, that kind of experience seems far-fetched and unachievable. In fact, few of us ever anticipate going through anything remotely like what those two men experienced. And yet, in Leviticus 8-9, we are going to see the entire nation of Israel see the glory of God. Why? Because they did what He had commanded them to do. As a result of their faithful obedience to His commands regarding the sacrifices, He appeared before them in all His glory, just as He had promised to do. This wasn't business-as-usual. What they experienced that day was out-of-the-ordinary and mind-boggling. In fact, it left them shouting with joy and falling down on their faces in reverence to God. This was like nothing they had ever experienced before. And it happened because they had been obedient. They had offered their sacrifices just as God had commanded. And He showed up in all His glory.

Ep 709 – Leviticus 6-7 Nov 25, 2018

Show notes

God knows how to share. He is far from a selfish or self-centered God. And the gracious gift of His Son should be ample proof of this fact. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans, "Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else?" In today's passage from Leviticus 6-7, we see that God has always been a gracious and generous God, even allowing His people to share in the bounty of the peace offerings made to Him. Each and every peace offering given to God was to be shared by those who gave it. They could enjoy the very meat of the sacrifice they made, as long as they did it according to God's terms. There were stipulations attached. And if these requirements were violated, the original value of the offering was negated. It became unacceptable to God. God, in His generosity, was allowing His people to join Him in the enjoyment of the sacrifice. He enjoyed the pleasing aroma of the burnt offering, while they enjoyed the meat that was left over. Their willingness to make this voluntary offering to God was met with God's gracious willingness to share it with them.

Ep 708 – Leviticus 5 Nov 24, 2018

Show notes

"Guilty as charged." We're all familiar with this statement. It's typically spoken by a judge to an accused criminal, who stands in the courtroom awaiting the official declaration of his fate. And when those words are heard, the matter is settled. The accused becomes the condemned. The assumed innocence of the accused has been replaced with a sentence of guilt, and the guilt demands justice be served. A crime has been committed and restitution must be made. In the book of Leviticus, there are countless references to man's guilt before God. Mankind has been marred by sin and each and every human being carries a predisposition towards sin that causes them to disobey God's commands and leaves him standing before God guilty as charged. And while we can choose to deny our sin and ignore our guilt. God cannot and will not. Which is why He gave the people of Israel the sacrificial system. He provided a means by which their sins could be atoned. He made forgiveness possible. But first, guilt must be acknowledged and sins must be confessed.

Ep 707 – Levitcus 3-4 Nov 23, 2018

Show notes

In chapters 2-3 of Leviticus, we run into a strange litany of disturbing images describing the sacrifices required by God in order for the people of Israel to experience forgiveness for their sins. These pages are filled with vivid details of the various offerings the Israelites were required to make in order to maintain a right relationship with God. There are peace offerings and sin offerings, involving the blood sacrifice of innocent and unblemished animals. And all of it seems so strange to our modern sensibilities. And yet, if we can manage to slog our way through all the graphic imagery, we will find ourselves exposed to the themes of God's holiness and man's sinfulness. Repeatedly, we read that the Israelites were to present their offerings "before the Lord." These sacrifices were to be presented to the Most Holy One, as a pleasing aroma to Him. As the Israelites obeyed the commands of God concerning the sacrifices, they would be worshiping and honoring Him for who He is: The Holy God of Israel.

Ep 706 – Leviticus 1-2 Nov 22, 2018

Show notes

The book of Leviticus is actually the third section of the Hebrew Torah or Law. It is a continuation of the book of Exodus and contains requirements of the Mosaic Covenant that relate to the Levites, the tribe that had been set apart by God to serve as priests for the people of Israel. Essentially, the entire book has to do with God's commands concerning the proper worship of Himself. While primarily addressing the role of the priests, Leviticus reveals God's expectations regarding the tabernacle, the sacrificial system, and the part the laity were to play in the whole religious life of the nation of Israel. Two of the key themes found throughout the book are those of holiness and unholiness. The book intends to show how Israel was to fulfill its covenant responsibility to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation to the Lord. And while the content of the book speaks of a different dispensation than the one in which we live, it reminds us of God's desire that His people, no matter the time period in which they live, live lives that are set apart and distinct from all those around them.

Ep 705 – Philippians 4:10-23 Nov 21, 2018

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As Paul wraps up his letter to the believers in Philippi, he thanks them for a gift he had recently received from them, but he also lets them know he didn't really need it. Philippians 4:10-23 presents an interesting and somewhat confusing reaction from Paul. He is grateful for the generosity of his friends in Philippi, but he reveals that their gift was unnecessary. It's not that he didn't have any physical needs. It's that he was totally content with his circumstances because he was completely content with Christ. He lacked nothing. And as difficult as it is for us to comprehend that, it is exactly what Paul would have us believe and live out in our own lives. For the Christian, there is nothing in this life that we need, beyond Jesus. And, while we may nod in assent to that statement, our lives rarely reflect that we truly believe it. Yet for Paul, writing from house arrest in Rome, he was more than content with nothing more than Jesus.

Ep 704 – Philippians 4:1-9 Nov 20, 2018

Show notes

The world is full of distractions. And, while not all of them are bad, they're all capable of pulling the believer off course and into unchartered territory, where we quickly find ourselves struggling to maintain our faith and keep our focus. So, in Philippians 4:1-9, Paul provides us with more words of encouragement, designed to keep us from allowing the things of this world to distract us from our mission as ambassadors for Christ. Paul loved the analogy of the race. He used it repeatedly because it so well described the mindset a believer needs to have if they are going to make it through this marathon called life. If you're going to make it to the finish line, you can't allow the things of this life to lure you off course or tempt you to stop running altogether. And the worst thing you could do is allow the enemy to distract you with a detour that leads to a false finish line.

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