Daily Bible Reading: May 19th- 25th
Date Added: 5/19/2008 11:57:49 PM Daily Bible Reading: May 19th- 25th
May 19th
Reading: Leviticus 5:1-19
Chapter 5 of Leviticus continues the discussion of “sins through ignorance.” In each and every case, when the person is made aware of his sin, he is to seek forgiveness through bringing a sacrifice to the Lord. It may seem unfair in our minds that someone would be held guilty for doing something they were ignorant of knowing was wrong. But, this chapter makes it clear that the person is still guilty and needs God’s forgiveness. Verse 17 make it very clear:
“And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden
to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he wist it not
[though he did not know], yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.”
As believers, we should make a part of our prayer time, asking God to reveal to us any sin we are unaware of. Ask God to show you where you have fallen short of His law or broken His commandments. Our goal, as a child of God should always be to seek to please Him each and every day.
Ask God today to show you areas of your life where you are not obeying Him as you should.
May 20th
Reading: Leviticus 6:1-30
The first part of this chapter in Leviticus addresses what is to be done when someone gains property of another by deception; that is, lying. The rest of the chapter outlines the duties of the priests for the various offerings that are made.
The Book of Leviticus is like a law book for the priests so they know exactly how God wants them to perform their function. It also teaches them exactly what kind of sacrifice is required of the people for each type of sin they commit. Some of the sacrifices were completely burned; others had to be eaten in part or entirely by the priests. Anything that touched the sacrifice had to be holy. For the priest to be holy, he had to have made his daily offering. Also, his garments had to be washed.
All these specifics teach us that God is serious about sin and the need for all sin to be forgiven. They teach us that God is holy and does not tolerate sin in His presence. They also teach us of God’s willingness to make a way for sin to be forgiven so that people can enter into His presence and worship Him.
The Israelite of the Old Testament had much detail to deal with in order to be forgiven. We now have Jesus Christ as our high priest and can come to God through Him. He is our sacrifice; He is our offering. Pray to God and thank Him for His forgiveness of your sins through Jesus Christ.
May 21st
Reading: Leviticus 7:1-38
Chapter 7 of Leviticus continues to give instruction concerning the sacrificial system. The sacrificial system of Israel was their worship to God. What we should make note of here is that it is God who dictates how worship is to be done. Though we do not worship in this same manner, since Jesus has come, we should remember that we are to come to God on God’s terms and not our own. Just any manner of worship is not acceptable before. A very important reason we are to study God’s Word is to come to know how God desires us to worship Him.
Pray to God today that you would be enlightened by the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, to know how He desires you to worship Him.
May 22nd
Reading: Leviticus 8: 1-36
In this chapter we read of the anointing and sanctifying of Aaron and his sons. This was required of the Lord to prepare them for their calling as the priests of Israel. The priests were very important in Israel. As you have read in the past several chapters, the priest accepts the offerings from the people and perform the sacrifice. If the offering is acceptable then the priest makes an atonement for the person who brings the sacrifice. However, for the priest to bring the sacrifice to the Lord, the priest himself had to be acceptable before the Lord. This ceremony was to sanctify the priest, or make him ready to serve in his office.
God is a holy God and no sin is acceptable in His sight. But, God is also a merciful God and He makes the way for sinners to come to Him. Here in the Old Testament it was through the office of the priest and the bringing of sacrifices. Today, since the coming of Christ, it is through His Son, the perfect High Priest and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Thank God for His provision of an avenue to Him through Jesus Christ.
May 23rd
Reading: Leviticus 9:1-24
The instructions for offering the different sacrifices have been given and in the previous chapter Aaron and his sons were sanctified for their service as the priests of Israel. So, now it is time to offer the first sacrifices. In this chapter, the first sacrifices are offered. First, Aaron and his sons offer sacrifices for themselves. They offered a sin offering and a burnt offering. Then, Aaron offered the various offerings of the people. This included a sin offering, a burnt offering, a peace offering, and a meat offering.
All this was necessary for the people of Israel to be accepted before the Lord and for the Lord to be able to come into the presence of the people. All these sacrifices were pointing to the need for a more perfect sacrifice to come so that any people who put their faith in that sacrifice could be accepted before the Lord and the Lord could come into their life. That perfect sacrifice was Jesus Christ. All the sin offerings, burnt offerings, peace offerings, and meat offerings pointed to the need for Christ. Praise God for His Son Jesus Christ the perfect sacrifice for all your sins.
May 24th
Reading: Leviticus 10:1-20
This chapter begins with the shocking story of the death of Nadab and Abihu. These two men were sons of Aaron, so they were members of the priesthood of Israel. The Scriptures say that they “took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded not.”
It appears that they were attempting to burn incense as a part of the worship. However, what they did was called “strange fire” and was not what was commanded by the Lord. Some Bible commentators believe that the burning of incense was a duty given only to the high priest. The high priest at this time was Aaron. So, these two men were attempting to do a part of the ceremony that they had no authority to do. They were usurping the authority of the high priest and taking it onto them selves. Whether that is why what they did was wrong or there was some other reason, it is clear that they were acting outside of the commands of God.
God was not going to fool around with individuals who so brazenly stepped outside of the bounds of their duties and who did not pay strict attention to what He had commanded. This was, and is, especially true in such significant positions and the priesthood. These people represented the people to God and God to the people. Thus, when Nadab and Abihu did their sinful act, God sent fire out and killed them.
Elsewhere in the Scripture, God is called a consuming fire. If it was not for God’s mercy and love, all of us would be burned up like Nadab and Abihu. God used their sinful act and His judgment of them to warn us about His perfect holiness and how God requires perfect obedience to enter His presence. He also shows us His mercy and how He truly judges the heart of man and not just the actions, when we see how God through Moses responds at the end of the chapter. In verses 16-20 we read how Aaron and his sons did not eat of the sin offering as they should. Aaron says he was unable to eat of it because he was grieving the loss of his two sons. This Moses accepted. Apparently God Himself did as well.
God judges the heart, not just the actions. Pray that God would continue to give you a heart for Him and His Word.
May 25th
Reading: Leviticus 11:1-28
This very interesting chapter that you have begun today is the listing of what is called the dietary laws of Israel. God took time to state to Israel the animals that were considered clean and unclean. Those they are allowed to eat and those they were to refrain from eating. There are differences of opinion among theologians as to whether these laws have significance to us today. As in all things we need to let Scripture teach us.
First, all the laws of Israel, including these laws had a very significant spiritual purpose. They set Israel apart from all the other pagan and heathen nations. They were used to show Israel’s special place before God and that they were separated from the other nations, just as the clean animals were separated from the unclean animals.
Second, we read in Matthew where Jesus taught that it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out from the heart (see Matthew 15:10,11,16-20). Thus, eating the unclean foods do not spiritually corrupt a person.
Third, God had made a distinction between the clean and unclean animals long before he gave this law to Israel. Clear back in Genesis chapter 7, he had Noah make a distinction between the clean and unclean animals that he brought on the ark. Noah brought 7 of each clean animal, and only a pair of each unclean animal. Thus, the understanding of the distinction of clean and unclean was not meant just for Israel.
What can we conclude from all this. My conclusions, which we will revisit at different times in our study of Scripture, are these:
1) Any spiritual significance of the separation of the clean and unclean animals and avoiding of the unclean animals was given to Israel for a special purpose and is not applicable today.
2) Any health purposes that God may have been making between those animals that He identified as clean and unclean would still have effect today.
God is good to give us guidelines even for our own physical health.
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