Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 16-18.

I am going to do something I almost never do today.  My first thought when I read the prohibition against eating blood this morning was of the communion service we had Sunday morning during our worship service.  In particular, one man stood up afterwards and shared that he had never before that morning made the connection between communion, eating the symbolic representation of Christ’s body and blood, and the priest’s eating the meat of the sacrificed animals as described here in Leviticus.  Christ was the ultimate Passover Lamb and when we partake of communion we are partaking of His body and blood, much as the Israelites partook of the body of the Passover lamb.  So, as I read today’s passage I was struck by the fact that we partake of Christ’s blood of sacrifice, while the Israelites were forbidden from eating the blood of their sacrifices.  Here God told them that they must not eat the blood because the life of the being (animal or human) is in its blood.  So, when we drink Christ’s blood as part of communion, and thus partake in the sacrifice He made on the Cross, we are drinking His life.  And through drinking His life we join ourselves with His life.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 14-15.

What am I going to write about today?  Today’s passage starts with the offerings which should be made when one is cleansed of a defiling skin disease.  It continues to discuss the offerings to be made when a house is cleansed of defiling mold.  From there it discusses how bodily fluids are a vector for the spread of disease.  OK, it doesn’t say that.  What it does say is that anyone who has a discharge of bodily fluids is unclean until the discharge ends and they wash themselves and any clothes which might have been exposed to the discharge.  Based on what we know today about the spread of infectious diseases, these commands regarding the discharge of bodily fluids seem wise.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 10-12.

The timing here of when two of Aaron’s sons died for using unconsecrated fire in their censers is unclear.  However, as I read this, it happened on the first day after the ordination of Aaron and all of his sons was complete.  Moses commanded Aaron and his remaining sons not to openly mourn for the two who had died.  However, Moses encouraged all of the rest of the Israelites to mourn for the loss of two of Aaron’s sons.   We do not know why the two men did what they did, but the passage tells us that they used “unauthorized fire” to burn the incense resulting in fire coming out from the presence of the Lord and killing them.  So, if nothing else, their failure was an unwillingness to wait for instructions from the Lord.  I would add that it seems to me that perhaps their failure was an attempt to conduct worship according to their own ideas of what it should be rather than follow God’s instructions.  God had not yet given instructions on how to use the incense in His worship.  There is one more point to be made.  Moses was mad at Aaron’s two remaining sons because they burned up the priestly portion of the sin offering rather than eating it.  However, he was mollified when Aaron pointed out that he and his sons were in mourning for the death of his other two sons that very day.  So, while the priests were not allowed to visibly mourn while carrying out their duties, they were allowed to mourn the loss of family.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 8-9.

At the end of Exodus, God told Moses to setup and consecrate the tabernacle, then to consecrate Aaron and his sons.  Exodus goes on to say that once Moses had consecrated the tabernacle, the glory of God entered it in the form of a cloud and that cloud was so dense that Moses could not enter it.  Then Leviticus begins with God giving Moses instructions regarding the various sacrifices which were to be offered: how they were to be offered and what the priests’ share would be.  Finally, in this chapter God once again tells Moses to consecrate Aaron and his sons before the assembly of the people.  Actually, I don’t think  God told this to Moses for a second time.  I think this was a different recounting, with more details, of what God told Moses at the end of Exodus.  Once Moses had completed and consecrated the tabernacle, God gave him the instructions for the sacrifices which needed to be made there and for consecrating Aaron and his sons.  Moses immediately consecrated Aaron and his sons and had them begin the practices of offering the sacrifices.  It occurs to me that this gives us a great model for teaching people.  Give people instructions and immediately encourage them to put them into practice.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 5-7.

Today’s passage tells us that we can be guilty of sin, even if we are unaware of committing the sin when it happens, and in another place that we can be guilty of sin, even if we did not intend to commit the sin.   “I didn’t know” is not an excuse for doing wrong.  A little further on this passage requires that if anyone dishonestly gains at the expense of another, they must make restitution to their victim.  As I read this, I see it is not enough to repent of our sins, we must also seek to make right the injury we have caused to others.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 1-4.

In the last chapter of Exodus which I covered yesterday, God instructed Moses to set up the tabernacle and then consecrate Aaron and his sons as priests.  Then it tells us that when Moses finished setting up the tabernacle that the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle and that Moses could not enter it because the cloud had settled on it.  Here, the Book of Leviticus begins by telling us that the Lord called to Moses from the tent of meeting and gave him instructions for the Israelites.  One of the things which this passage brought home to me was the way in which the composer of these books (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) intersperses describing the activities of the Israelites moving through the wilderness into the various Laws which God gave them through Moses.  I do not know if this was a literary device which the writer(s) used to break up the monotony of the laws, or if the laws were given spread out like this as events occurred to the Israelites.  Certainly today’s passage seems like the latter, as it contains instructions concerning the sacrifices which they were to offer following the setting up of the tabernacle, but preceding the ordination of Aaron and his sons.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.