Rambling Through Scripture

In this chapter we see three major sections. 1. God’s promise to those who keep his laws. 2. God’s curses for those who break his laws. 3. God will remember his promise. These are fairly straight forward when we look at this passage. We are blessed and reward because we obey God’s laws. We are in his favor. If we choose to disobey his laws there are consequences for disobeying. The consequences increase the more one refuses to deny God and walk away from him. What shows God is the same yesterday, today, and forever is the showing of grace and mercy he has. This was not a new concept because of Jesus coming we find an example of his grace in verse 40 through 46. God says that if the people will repent, confess their sins and humble themselves he will remember his promise to Abraham. Look at the end of this chapter. We see that though he forgives them there are still consequences for their sins. We often think that because we ask God to forgive us that he should immediately relinquish t...

In this chapter we are in general dealing with three sections. The year to honor the LORD, the Jubilee for the land and the jubilee for the people. The over lying them that I see in this chapter is that we must remember who’s we are and who truly owns all that we have. The year to honor the LORD was the first year that they were in the promised land. For this first year they were not to harvest. For the next 6 years they could harvest as normal. The seventh year was to be a year of Jubilee for the land. They were not to harvest or plant during this year. It was to give the land a time of rest. It is similar to working for six days and resting on the seventh. In this case it is a larger scale for the land by working the land for six years and letting it rest in the seventh. There are many other things connected to this year of Jubilee to include returning land to the one you got if from. The reminder that the Israelite did not have a permanent home but they were travelers with their onl...

Chapter 24 is divided into two sections. Section one is dealing with the duties in the tent, specifically dealing with the bread and the lamps. Section two deals with various types of punishment for various types of offenses. Most of the section deals with what requires capital punishment. The bread was to be made in a specific way with specific ingredients. The purpose of the bread was to be set aside as holy and was to be eaten only by Aaron and his sons. What strikes my interests the greatest is the fact that the lamps were to be remained lit from dusk to dawn. Providing a physical light in the physical darkness. Possibly a analogy to spiritual light in a spiritually dark world. Though I am glad that we live under grace and not under the law there is a part of me that can’t help but consider what kind of world would we have if we held to some of the laws. Specifically considering some of the punishments for ones actions spoken of in the second part of the chapter. We have a...

Leviticus 23 has three sections, “The Day of Worship,” “The Spring Festivals,” and “The Fall Festivals”. The first section is short dealing with the Day of Worship. It is simple guidance the Israelites are to work only six days and on the seventh day they were to rest. To do no work it is the LORD’s day of worship. As I consider the two festival seasons we can look at the details of each of the festivals in detail but I am not sure that is what is important here. I think what is important is the purpose of the festivals. As I read through these it is about celebrating God and worshipping him. Giving him the thanks and glory for the harvest along with seeking forgiveness for sins. Application We may not do the festivals as they had them then but we need to keep a Sabbath. It is difficult in this day and age for many people to celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday. Some, depending on their faith see the Sabbath on Saturday but even that is difficult to at times celebrate. I believe it is impor...

This chapter deals with both the animals that are acceptable for sacrifice and the guidelines that were put in place concerning the eating of the priest’s share of the sacrifice. When the sacrifice was brought to the priests a portion was given to them, kind of like pay. Since the priests only job was to serve in the temple they had to “earn a living” and thus they were given some of the sacrifice. What is of specific importance in this chapter is found in verses 31 – 33, “Carefully obey my commands, I am the LORD. Never dishonor my holy name. I will show my holiness among the Israelites. I am the LORD, who sets you apart as holy. I brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD.” Application Look at these verses what do you see. I see that we are to carefully to obey God’s commands. We are not to dishonor his name. He will show his holiness. He sets the Israelites apart as holy. He brought them out of Egypt. Notice that it is about God not about us. We...

This chapter involves the holiness of the priests and remaining holy and clean in order to come into the presence of the LORD. As I read through the list I am glad that we are bound by grace and not the laws because if we were bound by the laws then I would not be acceptable for the priesthood. The thing to remember when you read this is that though this was directed at a select group of people and we can also apply this chapter to modern day ministers and use it as a reminder that ministers are to be set apart as holy and are held at a higher standard than others because of being God’s representative to the people. It is kind of like when I was a military police officer. As a keeper of the regulations we were expected to not just adhere to the regs but to exceed the regs where we could. For example not just shine our boots but spit shine them. Ministers have a requirement to be holy. Not holier than thou type but holy to the LORD because they are God’s representative. Here is the catc...

When you read this chapter consider that fact that if it was not for the grace of God we would still be in this situation. People being killed for their sins. Instead Jesus died for all sins. This does not give us the right or okay to go out and practice these sins. The point is that God was making the Israelites to be a separate holy people. He was distinguishing them from those they were with and those who’s land they were going into. Look at some of the sins listed. God is making a point of the seriousness of the sin and specifically these sins. We may not put people to death for these sins anymore but it does not mean that they are less important. We have God’s grace. There is those that mistakenly think that God is less concerned about the sin. God does not change. If it was a sin then it is a sin now. Verses 22 – 26 speaks about being holy as God is holy. To be a separate people. There should be a difference between the Israelites and the other people. Application As ...