Leviticus Day 1

Leviticus is next! Doesn't that just fill you with excitement? We are heading into three books that are typically considered long, dry, and dull. Why would God include books of rules and genealogies for us to plod through? Hang in there for a couple of weeks and you'll see that there's actually some pretty cool stuff in there...and you may even find Jesus hiding among the verses!

Leviticus has 27 chapters. We'll cover five per day, and you can read the last two on your own before class Sunday.

Today's reading Lev 1-5.

Today's devotion: Lev 5:13-17

Context: Leviticus 1-5 explains the requirements for burnt, grain, fellowship, sin, and guilt offerings to the Lord.

Text:

7 " 'If he cannot afford a lamb, he is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the LORD as a penalty for his sin—one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. 8 He is to bring them to the priest, who shall first offer the one for the sin offering. He is to wring its head from its neck, not severing it completely, 9 and is to sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering against the side of the altar; the rest of the blood must be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. 10 The priest shall then offer the other as a burnt offering in the prescribed way and make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
11 " 'If, however, he cannot afford two doves or two young pigeons, he is to bring as an offering for his sin a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He must not put oil or incense on it, because it is a sin offering. 12 He is to bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful of it as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar on top of the offerings made to the LORD by fire. It is a sin offering. 13 In this way the priest will make atonement for him for any of these sins he has committed, and he will be forgiven. The rest of the offering will belong to the priest, as in the case of the grain offering.' " (NIV)

taken from www.biblegateway.com

Leviticus makes me appreciate Jesus more than any other book in the Bible. In these five short chapters I am overwhelmed by the requirements to obey the laws. I know that I would have presented my offering and then gotten right back in line (behind about a million other people) due to conscious and unintentional sin. I'm sure it wouldn't have taken long to kill off my entire flock!

While his rules are strict, I appreciate God's awareness of the poor even in his requirements for sacrifice. He wanted people to give what they had, not to spend their time finding or creating great and marvelous things to give him. He didn't value a perfect ram more than a perfect pigeon, dove, or scoop of flour. It was a person's heart he was really after.

Oh, I also wanted to point out a diet challenge I found in these passages. If you follow Leviticus 3:17 (and spend forty years wandering around in the desert), I'm sure you will be a lean and mean fighting machine!