August 22

Journey-through-the-Bible-with-us

READING FOR AUGUST 22, 2024: LEVITICUS 12, LUKE 13, PSALM 85                                  LEVITICUS 12 Motherhood Purification Details:  

  • A mother of a newborn boy is unclean until his circumcision on day 8, then she stays at home for 33 more days to complete her purification. 
  • A mother of a newborn girl is unclean until day 14. Her purification takes an additional 66 days. 
  • The mother then brings the priest a lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or dove for a sin offering. 
  • Poor families may bring pigeons or doves for the burnt offering. This is what Mary brought for Jesus.

It is possible to see these childbirth laws in action by reviewing Jesus’s infancy: “And when eight days were completed so that it was time for His circumcision, He was also named Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And when the days for their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord: ‘Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord'),  and to offer a sacrifice according to what has been stated in the Law of the Lord: ‘A pair of turtledoves or two young doves”’ (Luke 2:21-24). 

During the period of Jesus’s infancy, prior to the cross, the Mosaic Covenant was still fully in effect without change. Jesus’s birth was, according to conservative scholars, at least 1,400 years after Leviticus was written. Israel went from wandering in the desert to being a colony of the Roman Empire. That many years before 2024 would be 624. The United States was still over 1,000 years from coming into existence. Certainly, cultures can change drastically in that amount of time. Yet, God directed that “THE WRITTEN LAW OF THE LORD” be exactly followed for Jesus as prescribed in Leviticus. If Jesus needed to obey this law from so many years before, how can we today contend that the New Testament is culturally irrelevant to us? 

Peter believed what the prophet Isaiah said centuries earlier was still true: ‘”The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (1 Pet. 1:24-25). Paul told Timothy to expect those who discount the relevance of the Bible but encouraged Timothy to hang on, not go along: “But evil people and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 3:13-15).  Because of Jesus, of course, mothers are no longer impure after childbirth. Jesus fulfilled these aspects of the law (Matt 5:17). The blood of Jesus cleanses us, not the blood of lambs or pigeons (1 John 1:7). This is the Gospel.

Luke 13 This chapter begins with the words, “On that very occasion.” Thus, Jesus is addressing the same huge crowd as in chapter 12. Much of what He teaches here has some connection to the question of who will be in the Kingdom. Let’s focus on this currently controversial issue. 

READING FOR AUGUST 22, 2024 CONTINUED: LUKE 13, PSALM 85                                     Hypothetical situation from a well-known current pastor: “A Hindu, Jew, or Muslim woman has heard a bit of the Christian Gospel, remained unpersuaded yet positive about Jesus, and continues to trust in God and seeks to do God’s will as she has been taught it by her parents and religious instructors. She bows, prays, studies, helps the poor, seeks to walk in humility, lives a life of service and gives sacrificially.  In her heart, she loves God, but is not persuaded, based upon the Christians she has met and heard from, that Christianity is the truth. Is there any hope for this person? I believe that God, who is just and loving, sees this woman’s heart... and that it is possible that she will be saved.”

In verses 1-3 we learn about Galileans (from the same area as Jesus) who practiced sacrifices and even died for their faith. Perhaps they might meet the pastor’s standard above, but they perished according to Jesus. Some Jews died in a tower accident. Jesus said they too perished but weren’t worse than the rest of Jerusalem or His present listeners unless they all repent. The synagogue leader in verse 14, like the non-Christian woman above, sought to do God’s will as taught by his parents and instructors and even quoted the commandments. Jesus called him a hypocrite. In the example above, the pastor says the woman seeks to walk in humility, but in verse 24 Jesus says many will seek to enter the kingdom but won’t be able. What’s their problem? They did not have a relationship with Jesus: “‘I do not know where you are from” (vs 25). 

In verse 34, Jesus said that He longed to have a relationship with Jerusalem, but they were not persuaded, like the woman above. He said they are desolate unless and until they acknowledge Jesus as coming in the name of the Lord (vs.35).  The fictional woman above appears to be a fine woman by human standards, but we can’t be saved by works. The best of us fall short of God’s standard: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23).  The author says she knew about but rejected Jesus: “The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). 

PSALM 85 In verses 1-3 the Psalmist looks back in history when God restored Israel after a period of sin and experiencing God’s wrath. The Psalmist, sensing Israel’s current spiritual struggles, prays for revival again. The Hebrides Islands off Scotland experienced such a revival in 1949-1953. Sisters Peggy and Christine Smith were the instruments of revival prayer God used. Peggy was blind and Christine homebound with arthritis. Where can Yorktown find such giants today? This prayer is so real to the Psalmist that he envisions what God will say and do for them. In this time of revival, he sees four virtues of God reigning over His people:  Graciousness, Truth, Righteousness and Peace (vs. 10). There is no historical record of a previous revival at our church, but let’s pray verse 6 anyway: ”Will You not revive us again, so that Your people may rejoice in You?”