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God’s message to me: Be fair in your dealings with others. Treat others well even if you don’t know them or they have disabilities. Your not so perfect yourself and the next time you get the impression “everybody knows you, try getting out of the rut your in and going somewhere new.
Promises: God has given us the opportunity to be an example to the world. By living up to that responsibility we can become an example of the blessings he gives to the faithful. for those who think all those blessings are in heaven, name for me one major bible hero we have studied up until now that God didn’t make rich. In point of fact everyone so far has been seen as among the most wealthy people in the land if not in the world.
Commands: more laws. See below
Timeless principles: Sexual immorality, homosexuality, perversion I don’t even care to discuss and all the fantasy scenarios you heard as a teenager have been around for thousands of years and their not going away. The bible didn’t change to suit the times then and it won’t change now. Those things are still sin and should still be treated as perversion.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Have you ever been cut off in traffic and looked down to see a bumper sticker with a Christian message on the car that did it? don’t be “That Guy”. Live your life as though you were wearing a big sign that said “Christian” on it. Then do your best to be the best example of Christianity you know how to be.
more to learn for in-depth study: Up until this point it was not uncommon to marry a cousin or even a sister. Abraham was married to his sister Sarah. It is at this point that God set rules regarding what we now call incest. Science tells us this is the way to ensure stronger genetics.
Lot’s daughters had children with their father. Nimrod(mentioned in Genesis as building Babylon) married his mother. Both activities became incest with this part of the law. Reuben didn’t sleep with his mother but he did sleep with his fathers wife which is also a no-no. You can’t have that relation ship with your sister, your grand daughter, your aunt or uncle, your son in law or daughter in law, your sister or brother in law(widowed is a different story on that front), and, obviously, your not allowed to have a woman and her daughter or her grand daughter and the fact that the scripture repeats that idea tells me it was not unheard of. Yes that rule applies even if you aren’t a blood relative of any of them and I say that because I have known people who consider the idea and would look for a loophole.
Adultery, is next and for those who don’t understand the reference to the fires of Molech, that is child sacrifice. Molech was a popular false god of the time. Worship of Molech involve sacrificing your children. In case someone missed it, Leviticus 18:23 is a clear and unambiguous prohibition of homosexual relations followed immediately by a prohibition of bestiality. For those offended by the term pervert when applied to those who engage in one or more of those acts I suggest you look at verse 23. God calls it perversion.
The bible says these sins defiled the land and that the land itself was rejecting the previous inhabitants for such acts. God set these rules, not only to keep us from sin and perversion but to set us apart from the crowd. Hate the sin and love the sinner doesn’t mean accepting those who live in unrepentant defiance of God. He wants us to stand out in a crowd and be an example of doing right. We cannot be that example when we continue to stand in acceptance of what God calls perversion and abomination.
We also see laws for charity. Leaving the gleanings(part of the harvest that got missed or fell of the wagon) and not harvesting to the corners of the field so that part of the crop is left for the needy to gather for themselves. Disabilities, the blind and the deaf are not cursed by God, acting against them can bring a curse on the person who does it though. Obviously, God seems to think they should be treated well.
After reiterating a number of laws we should all be familiar with by now God goes on to list more. Rules regarding the fruit of the land have little bearing today, or do they. How many food borne illnesses have we suffered through in recent years because of the unhealthy farming practices in some parts of the world. Perhaps it makes some sense to give the ground a few years to recuperate from such mishandling before we trust the food it produces.
Vampirism and fortune telling are definitely bad ideas. So is going to fortune tellers and seeking familiar spirits(trying to talk to the spirit world/spirit guides) Self mutilation, tattoos and some of the other strange cosmetic customs of the pagans may seem harmless but it’s hard to stand out in the crowd if you look like everyone in it. Prostitution is known as harlotry in the bible and prostituting someone is known today as being a pimp. One is sin, the other promotes a sin and is easily as bad.
Honoring and revering the elderly and treating strangers like family is not only good manners it’s God’s law. So is honest business dealings. I’m fascinated by people who use the term “Jewed them down on the price”. The Jewish law requires honest measures. It commands you pay an honest price and charge an honest price. There is nothing wrong with pursuing a fair price but to imply that you bargained to pay less than the reasonable price by saying you “Jewed them down” is to show complete ignorance of the rules Jews live by. The same rules Christians should live by. For the record. I consider the comments in quotes to be racist and prejudicial and anti-Semitic. Hence my fascination with people who use such an absurd line.
tomorrow: Leviticus chapter 21-23
Showing posts with label example. Show all posts
Showing posts with label example. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Leviticus chapter 10-12
God’s message to me: The Lord is Holy and what is brought to Him should be holy.
Promises: God is holy and wishes His people to be holy. He doesn’t create these laws to impede our lives but to set us apart as holy and chosen by Him.
Commands: God must be seen as Holy by those who come before Him. They must not give just anything to the Lord but only that which is Holy, and proper and called for.
This can easily be applied to worship. Many people have fallen into the music trap. They find many songs that move them and some concentrate their efforts on the music service and “worship” then forget the rest. Some have even moved to a service of only worship music rather than teaching the word and sharing the gospel and leaving a time for God to call his harvest.
Worship is proper in it’s place. Preaching is proper in it’s place. Prayer is proper in it’s place. To everything there is a time and place but to bring the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong place with God is wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong... For this reason the sons of Aaron were killed as an example.
Timeless principles: Offering God the things he has asked for is good. Bringing Him what is profane is not. Bring my tithes to church, Singing His praises in their time, even enjoying a fellowship meal afterwards are proper and good and pleasing to God. Donating my heavy metal collection to the church does nothing to honor God. Singing uplifting and feel good music from the Beatles may send a message of loving your fellow man but, by glorifying humanism and denigrating Theism I insult God. Offering up a pig roast with an open bar and George Michael Music on the stereo might be a good time and get folks together for some fun but it is hardly the fellowship of the saints that God had in mind.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Remember Who it is I am worshiping and make my worship appropriate to Him.
more to learn for in-depth study: It was also commanded that the priests not drink anything intoxicating before entering the temple. The sons of Aaron made a bad judgment call. By always being sober in the temple the priests were more able to distinguish between what was right and what was not.
Kosher Laws: There was plenty to eat under the kosher laws but plenty was off the menu as well. All forms of shellfish were out as were skin fish. No catfish, Lobster or clams for God’s chosen. Looked at from a serious standpoint, these are bottom feeding, carrion animals. Many would be considered the insects of the sea. the same could be said of the land animals on the list. Some were pleasant little herbivores, like the Hare(rabbit), but a rabbit is still a rodent. Strangely, Locusts and Grasshoppers were on the menu while all other flying insects were off it. I could go in depth but, like the temple study, it takes more space than I should use and has been better done by others.
The basic concept is one of sanitation. These laws kept the Israelites away from foods that were higher risk for disease and ordered their kitchen sanitation to reduce the chance of illness. The Kosher laws were not meant to impede the Israelites, in fact eating kosher can open a wide variety of new foods to you. They were meant to glorify God by keeping his chosen people healthy.
Ritually unclean. Chapter 12 is of the ritually unclean. I won’t even attempt to explain why as this Ritual standard no longer applies. As I mentioned yesterday, God told Peter what He made clean was clean and the Grace overruled ritual. It’s also important to note the circumcision was held until the 8th day after birth. Modern science shows us that this is the time period necessary for the babies body to improve it’s immunities and healing processes. It is also the optimum time for clotting as the clotting agents in the blood are not well developed before 8 days. This makes 8 days the optimum time for the circumcision.
One more thing: I usually make a point of not naming names no matter how much I don’t like a person or their policies. I’ll make an exception when it comes to someone attacking religion and calling for legal action to interfere with the practice of religion.
There is a movement out there, led by people like Dr Dean Adell, to get rid of circumcision. I have two things to say. Thousands of years of experience trumps their scientific theories. That experience shows lower rates for disease and complications and that ill effects don’t actually exist. Second, these people need to reexamine the first amendment before jumping to the law to try and ban a religious practice that is over 4000 years old and crosses multiple faiths and cultures. I won’t say the procedure isn’t painful but it’s less a problem then many other “elective” surgeries and with far less concern of complication. Christians, Jews, Muslims and others who practice circumcision have just as many rights as those who worship at the alter of “science”.
Tomorrow: Leviticus chapter 13-14
Promises: God is holy and wishes His people to be holy. He doesn’t create these laws to impede our lives but to set us apart as holy and chosen by Him.
Commands: God must be seen as Holy by those who come before Him. They must not give just anything to the Lord but only that which is Holy, and proper and called for.
This can easily be applied to worship. Many people have fallen into the music trap. They find many songs that move them and some concentrate their efforts on the music service and “worship” then forget the rest. Some have even moved to a service of only worship music rather than teaching the word and sharing the gospel and leaving a time for God to call his harvest.
Worship is proper in it’s place. Preaching is proper in it’s place. Prayer is proper in it’s place. To everything there is a time and place but to bring the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong place with God is wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong... For this reason the sons of Aaron were killed as an example.
Timeless principles: Offering God the things he has asked for is good. Bringing Him what is profane is not. Bring my tithes to church, Singing His praises in their time, even enjoying a fellowship meal afterwards are proper and good and pleasing to God. Donating my heavy metal collection to the church does nothing to honor God. Singing uplifting and feel good music from the Beatles may send a message of loving your fellow man but, by glorifying humanism and denigrating Theism I insult God. Offering up a pig roast with an open bar and George Michael Music on the stereo might be a good time and get folks together for some fun but it is hardly the fellowship of the saints that God had in mind.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Remember Who it is I am worshiping and make my worship appropriate to Him.
more to learn for in-depth study: It was also commanded that the priests not drink anything intoxicating before entering the temple. The sons of Aaron made a bad judgment call. By always being sober in the temple the priests were more able to distinguish between what was right and what was not.
Kosher Laws: There was plenty to eat under the kosher laws but plenty was off the menu as well. All forms of shellfish were out as were skin fish. No catfish, Lobster or clams for God’s chosen. Looked at from a serious standpoint, these are bottom feeding, carrion animals. Many would be considered the insects of the sea. the same could be said of the land animals on the list. Some were pleasant little herbivores, like the Hare(rabbit), but a rabbit is still a rodent. Strangely, Locusts and Grasshoppers were on the menu while all other flying insects were off it. I could go in depth but, like the temple study, it takes more space than I should use and has been better done by others.
The basic concept is one of sanitation. These laws kept the Israelites away from foods that were higher risk for disease and ordered their kitchen sanitation to reduce the chance of illness. The Kosher laws were not meant to impede the Israelites, in fact eating kosher can open a wide variety of new foods to you. They were meant to glorify God by keeping his chosen people healthy.
Ritually unclean. Chapter 12 is of the ritually unclean. I won’t even attempt to explain why as this Ritual standard no longer applies. As I mentioned yesterday, God told Peter what He made clean was clean and the Grace overruled ritual. It’s also important to note the circumcision was held until the 8th day after birth. Modern science shows us that this is the time period necessary for the babies body to improve it’s immunities and healing processes. It is also the optimum time for clotting as the clotting agents in the blood are not well developed before 8 days. This makes 8 days the optimum time for the circumcision.
One more thing: I usually make a point of not naming names no matter how much I don’t like a person or their policies. I’ll make an exception when it comes to someone attacking religion and calling for legal action to interfere with the practice of religion.
There is a movement out there, led by people like Dr Dean Adell, to get rid of circumcision. I have two things to say. Thousands of years of experience trumps their scientific theories. That experience shows lower rates for disease and complications and that ill effects don’t actually exist. Second, these people need to reexamine the first amendment before jumping to the law to try and ban a religious practice that is over 4000 years old and crosses multiple faiths and cultures. I won’t say the procedure isn’t painful but it’s less a problem then many other “elective” surgeries and with far less concern of complication. Christians, Jews, Muslims and others who practice circumcision have just as many rights as those who worship at the alter of “science”.
Tomorrow: Leviticus chapter 13-14
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