August 29

Journey-through-the-Bible-with-us

READING FOR AUGUST 29, 2024: LEVITICUS 17, LUKE 18, PSALM 89:1-18                                     LEVITICUS 17 This entire chapter is devoted to commanding the people not to offer sacrifices except at the tabernacle of God through the priests. It would seem that such a command could have been handled with a line or two.  Offering sacrifices in different places and ways must have either been their practice earlier or else God knew it would be a temptation.  A famous example happened when King Saul offered a burnt sacrifice his way. Hear Samuel’s reaction: “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue” (1 Sam. 13:13-14). As we have seen and need to relearn, no king, priest, president, or pastor disobeys God with impunity. Yet, we keep doing it. 

In verse seven, God commanded not to sacrifice to goats or demons, the Hebrew word “laś·śə·‘î·rim” can mean either. The New American Standard Bible renders it goat-demons. Paul even discussed inappropriate sacrifices: “I say that things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become partners with demons” (1 Cor. 10:20). Likely most of us have not been sacrificing animals or worshiping little images of goats lately. But idolatry is probably a bigger problem today than ever before: “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even as I weep, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who have their minds on earthly things” (Phil. 3:18-19). The relevant question for us: Is anything other than the Lord our functional God upon which we set our minds? These idols could be good things, such as family, career, and job. They turn into demons when we build our lives around them as our foundation. 

A related command is not to consume blood: “I will set My face against that person who eats the blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” (Lev. 17:10-11). The purpose was to make atonement(at-one-ment), to reconcile Israel with a holy God. This term is not used in the New Testament, except to refer to the Day of Atonement (Acts 27:9) and the atonement cover of the ark (Heb. 9:5). The concept of the blood representing life, in this case Jesus’s life, receives the highest emphasis in the New Testament, though.  As a symbol of even deeper intimacy, the Lord tells us to drink His blood:“When He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.’”(Matt. 26:27-28).

READING FOR AUGUST 29, 2024 CONTINUED: LUKE 18, PSALM 89:1-18                                                                                     LUKE 18 The Parable of the Persistent Widow.

  • Main point—We must keep praying to God and not give up even if we haven’t received a response.
  • Who’s who—We (Christians) are the persistent widow. God is the unjust judge (yes, a bit weird). 
  • Application—In verse 8, Jesus throws in this seemingly unrelated comment:  “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”  Maybe Jesus included it for us. In June, our average attendance was 71. We have room for several hundred more. Let’s persistently pray to our totally just God that He will use our church to bring more souls into His kingdom.                                                

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

  • Main point—When we exult ourselves before the Lord, we will eventually be humbled—perhaps at the judgment. When we humble ourselves before the Lord in repentance, we can be saved.
  • Who’s who—The Pharisee is anyone who doesn’t repent and has spiritual pride. The tax collector is anyone who repents and expresses spiritual humility. 
  • Application—Let's embrace the heritage and theology of John Wesley: “Ye were born in sin: Therefore, ye must be born again, born of God. By nature ye are wholly corrupted. By grace ye shall be wholly renewed. In Adam ye all died: In the second Adam, in Christ, ye all are made alive.”

Jesus said that we must encourage little children to come to Him. (Father/grandfathers, how’re we doing?) Also, we must receive Him like a child. Yet, 1 Corinthians 13:11 says, “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.”  In what sense should we receive Him like a child? Psychologist Erik Erikson taught that in the first stage of psychosocial development, children develop a sense of trust.  We as God’s children need to have childlike trust without being childish in our understanding.    Final points of the chapter:                                                                                                                 

  • Being a rich Christian is almost an oxymoron. Follow Jesus now for lasting riches and relationships.
  • For the third time in Luke, the disciples didn’t grasp Jesus’s death and resurrection. Are we this slow?
  • Isn’t it interesting that Jesus asked the blind man what he wanted? Jesus wanted him/us to say it. 

PSALM 89:1-18 Those who prefer to let our lives be a witness but stay quiet about our faith are out of synch with (the Holy Spirit inspired) Ethan the Ezrahite. This is especially the case when communicating cross-generationally (with kids and grandkids). Check out Ethan’s approach:

  • Ethan starts at a good place: God’s love and faithfulness vs.1-2.
  • Then he points to God’s covenant with David fulfilled in Jesus; a combo OT and NT never hurts vs.3-4.
  • He takes a trip to the heavenly spirit realm; maybe kids would like this more than Harry Potter vs.5-8.
  • Ethan says God rules the raging seas (even the winds and wave obey Him) and crushes Rahab (a multi-headed sea monster, a scarier Moby Dick or Sea Beast) vs.9-10
  • Then he hits origins: founding the world--creating north/south (who caused the Big Bang?) vs 11-13.
  • Then moral absolutes: righteous and justice (where does right and wrong come from?) vs. 14. 
  • He ends with a testimony: celebrating and rejoicing (what CRT calls “lived experience”) vs.15-18.