Day 50 – Leviticus 19-21
Rebuke: to strongly correct someone for doing something wrong.🗣️☝️
Did I accidentally earn the death penalty for cussing at my parents? 😳⚖️Because I have done that.
The answer is no (thank goodness). “Curse” here means to deliberately call down evil, destruction, or divine judgment on your parent. Whew.
⚖️💀Lots of capital punishment up in here. Some of it I understand. Some of it… yikes! Have to remember ancient Israel was not operating under modern American criminal law. This was a theocratic covenant nation , where religious rebellion, family order, sexual conduct and civil law were all intertwined (that’s about as scholarly as we are going to get on BBB. If you want to dig deeper into that stuff, I recommend you start with Luke Timothy Johnson. Just Google him. That dude knows some stuff….). Some acts we would categorize today as “sinful but not criminal” were actual punishable crimes under Israel’s covenant law.
Not gonna pretend 21:16-23 doesn’t bother me. Excluding people with physical impairments from approaching the altar/veil, etc… I don’t know how I feel about that. TLC says in her recap it’s about pointing out God’s perfection. It does make me feel better than they can receive the holy food, but just can’t offer it. If the Lord had a Twitter account,📱🔥😂 He would be trending and getting hammered by the political Left right now…. just sayin’. Sophie Cunningham hain’t seen NOTHIN’…. 🏀🤣
Day 51 – Leviticus 22-23
Tara-Leigh and I became BFFs at the 5-minute mark of her daily. In fact, I’m going to write a book called “Me & Tara-Leigh”. In stores near you…. 🤣
I am not trying to remember all this stuff. I’m laying eyes on it because I want to touch, see, read, hear and feel the word of God. I see foreshadowings of Jesus in a lot of these things. I’m also reading all these rules with gratitude that God gave us Jesus so we wouldn’t have to stress out over living by all these complicated restrictions and requirements. I guess if you grow up abiding by them, you know them by heart, but for me – a Gentile – who grew up eating bacon and playing in the dirt and sometimes eating dirt and playing in the bacon – I am overwhelmed by the detail.
Next.
Respectfully, of course.
Day 52 – Leviticus 24-25
24:21 – …”but the one who kills a person shall be put to death.” I only note this so I can speak intellectually about “what the Bible says about capital punishment”. Because it comes up. Our society is pretty obsessed with true crime documentaries and such, and I want my opinion to be educated when I opine with my worldly wisdom on Facebook….🤣
At times, it may seem like I am an unserious person, but that’s just not the case. Please enjoy some Mary Chapin Carpenter while I re-read today’s passages…. 🎶“We’re talkin’ ’bout Jubilee”🎶
Day 53 – Leviticus 26-27
It’s not that memorial stones are prohibited. It’s WORSHIP of or bowing down to a stone that is prohibited. Like the cross necklace you wear. People are so concerned about trinkets and jewelry being “graven images”. Stop it. I am not worshipping my necklace. I’m worshipping the man the necklace represents. 🪨
❤️Uncircumcised heart – a heart that is resistant to God.
Women are cheaper or less valuable?👩💰 No. You read that wrong. Think of it like a buyout. The amount was based on the amount of work someone of that age and sex would typically have been able to do. It’s a buyout price, not a human worth price. A man between the ages of 20 and 60 can carry more wood than a woman of the same age, or a child, or an elderly man….
These priests seem like judges and tax assessors. Because remember from yesterday, at this time Israel was a covenant theocracy.
And now we are done with Leviticus. Congratulations! You’ve read four books of the Bible already!! Genesis, Job, Exodus, Leviticus! We are doing WORK. 💪🔥
Day 54 – Numbers 1-2
Even the narrator in my Bible app reader sounded bored today. All the men were numbered. All who were able to go to war. Except the tribe of Levi. They were in charge of the Tabernacle.
Day 55 – Numbers 3-4
Purple and scarlet cloth again – to cover the Ark of the Covenant. Same as the robes on Jesus. See Week 6, Day 38.
I didn’t get much else here. But again. I read it and laid eyes on it. If God wants me to see something here, He will have to hit me next time.
Day 56 – Numbers 5-6
We had an evening Sunday School class back when I was in junior high that was taught by my friend Shannon’s dad, Mr. Mart Miller. We always ended the class with Numbers 6:24-26. I will always think of him when I hear these words. I have no idea what Bible version that is below, but that’s how I remember it from forty years ago.
The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make His face to shine upon you,
And be gracious unto you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.