Leviticus 4:1-5:19 ~ Mark 2:13-3:6 ~ Psalm 36:1-12 ~ Proverbs 10:1-2
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Old Testament - Today in Leviticus we read about the Sin Offering and the Guilt Offering. Combine this with our readings from yesterday and we've covered the 5 major Old Testament sacrifices - which I'll recap below from the NIV Study Bible. I'd recommend taking a good mental note of these 5 Sacrifices, as we'll keep reading about them this year in various capacities in the OT:
1. Burnt Offering - Voluntary act of worship; atonement for unintentional sin in general; expression of devotion, commitment and surrender to God. Bull, ram or male bird is offered - wholly consumed no defect.
2. Grain Offering - Voluntary act of worship; recognition of God's goodness and provisions; devotion to God. Grain, fine flower, olive oil, incense, baked bread, salt offered - accompanied burnt and fellowship offering.
3. Fellowship Offering - Voluntary act of worship; thanksgiving and fellowship as it included a communal meal. Any animal without defect from herd or flock offered.
4. Sin Offering - Mandatory atonement for specific unintentional sin; confession of sin; forgiveness of sin; cleansing from defilement. Young bull for high priest & congregation offered. Male goat for leader. Female goat or lamb for common person. Dove or pigeon for the poor. Tenth of an ephah of fine flower for the very poor.
5. Guilt Offering - Mandatory atonement for unintentional sin requiring restitution; cleansing from defilement; make restitution; pay 20% fine. Ram or lamb offered.
(above 5 points from the NIV Study Bible p. 151)
Chapter 4 verse 29 contains something new I learned recently, again from NIV Study Bible: "They are to lay a hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered." The sin offering included confession (see chapter 5 verse 5) and the symbolic transfer of guilt by laying hands on the sacrifice, as we see here in verse 29. It's only recently that I've understood that the laying on of hands on the offering symbolically transferred guilt to the offering.
Chapter 4 verse 21 foreshadows Jesus' death on the cross outside the gates of Jersusalem at Golgotha: "The priest must then take what is left of the bull outside the camp and burn it there, just as is done with the sin offering for the high priest." Here's how Hebrews chapter 13 verses 11 through 14 looks back at this verse in Leviticus: "The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come."
Bible.org's commentary on Leviticus chapter 4 and the Sin Offering is at this link and commentary on chapter 5 and the Guilt Offering is at this link.
New Testament - Today we read about Jesus calling Levi / Matthew from his tax collector booth.
Jesus' teaching in Mark chapter 2 verse 27 is very wise for each of us to keep in mind: ""The Sabbath was made to benefit people, and not people to benefit the Sabbath."
Commentary on Mark chapter 2 is online at bible.org at this link.
Psalms - I love Psalm 36 today! There are some powerful verses in this Psalm... Starting off with verse 1 being a scary & true verse... "Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God to restrain them." Wow. I'll admit - I've been there. I know what it is like to have sin whispering deep within my heart. Thank God for the gift of Jesus - the savior of my world... Thank God for the gift of the fear of God. And thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit who directs us along the narrow path - the path of life and light. I pray that verse 1 does not ring too true for you today - but if it does, please pray to Jesus to instead fill your heart with Jesus' Spirit, which is the only power that can truly dispel the whisper of sin within.
Verses 5 & 6 reminded me immediately of the Third Day song "Your Love Oh Lord", which borrows nicely from these verses. "Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths." I believe Third Day won the Grammy for their CD "Wire". Great CD. Thanks to TD for their ministry!
Verse 9 just has so much simplicity in it's truth... I love it... I hope you believe this too - "For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see." Are there really any other lights by which we may see? Are there really any other fountains of life?
Proverbs - We start Proverbs chapter 10 today, with the reminder that we're currently reading Proverbs of King Solomon, the son of David. Verse 2 is another great reminder for each of us... "right living can save your life." Do you believe this? Do you practice this? Below is a portrait of King Solomon by artist Guy Rowe:
Worship God: Based on my reflection above in Psalms about "Your Love, Oh Lord" by Third Day, here's a live version below. Enjoy!
Do you know the Love that reaches to the heavens? Click here and meet the One that created the skies!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture this week: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 NIV
Comments from you & Question of the Day: Psalm 36 verse 1 is a sobering verse: "Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God to restrain them." Have you ever felt sin whispering to you? Do you think that sin can indeed whisper to our hearts? Can it whisper from within our hearts? Do we need more that just fear of God to restrain us from sin? Has Jesus freed you from the whisper of sin within your heart? Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless,
Mike
Hello,
Evelyn, good to hear from you and know that you are walking with me as we trek through Leviticus!
Mike, thank you for summarizing the types of offerings (ala the NIV study Bible). It helps me wrap my mind around things when I am swimming through "the blood and bulls" ; )
My husband and I are reading through this plan together this year--which has been such a blessing already, even if we stopped reading today. Anyway, we were talking last night and he was commenting that to him it's odd how the Lord sees every sparrow that falls to the ground and that He also somehow found the burning of these animal sacrifices as "a pleasing aroma." Of course, we realize it's more complex than the physical sacrifices themselves, that the Lord was concerned with the heart of His people to seek Him, but it is weird all the same!
For me, Leviticus brings to mind our recent studies of South American cultures--the Aztecs and Incas particularly and their bloody evil sacrifices. Of course, I am IN NO WAY suggesting that the Lord approved or was anything but disgusted by any of that...but I know that the pagan cultures around Israel did these detestable things too. It's all just weird to me...any kind of sacrifice.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is a HUGE disconnect for me when we start talking about butchering up animals and burning them.
Just being honest here, as I plod through ; )
Posted by: Elizabeth | February 17, 2009 at 08:17 AM
Wow, what a great read today. I sure appreciate it Mike you leading us through the readings like this. Leviticus is hard to understand ( IMO) and I appreciate you commentary and input. What really hit me in the readings today came out of Psalm 36: 7 which says " How exquisite, your love, Oh God! How eager we are to run under your wings." As a person that visualizes I so love the picture that comes with these words. I've been blessed by them today!!!! Have a wonderful and blessed day.
Posted by: Alexis | February 17, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Thank you for your great care in making sure we realize the value of paying attention to Leviticus and learning the discipline to go through it. What an amazing resource oneyearbibleblog.com is; thank you so much!
Posted by: Anna Katherine | February 17, 2009 at 11:28 PM