READING FOR SEPTEMBER 3, 2024: LEVITICUS 20, LUKE 21, PSALM 90:1-11 LEVITUCUS 20 This is another chapter with laws; some are repeated from before. Let’s try to use the interpretive grid developed by Jay Sklar to understand how these laws might impact us today. The two major considerations to keep in mind are 1) Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial, food, and cleansing regulations and 2) Capital punishment listed no longer appliesbecause Israel was a theocracy (religious state) and the United States has never been nor will ever be one.
Giving children to Molech. This violates the command to love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself which Jesus upheld. It’s a Category 1 law. It also violates secular law against murder. Some might argue folks today violate the spirit of this law by sacrificing time with their children to idols, their careers.
Seeking out mediums and spiritualist. This is also a Category 1 law: ”The cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). ”Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery... I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19-21). If a church member won‘t stop this behavior, she/he should be asked to leave, according to 1 Corinthians 5. Cursing father or mother. This is a Category 1 law, but the father‘s role is considered: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise) so that it may turn out well for you, and that you may live long on the earth. Fathers do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Eph. 6:1-2). Sexual laws in verses 10-21. These were discussed at length in chapter 18 and would fall into Category 1. The phrase, ”uncoversnakedness” is considered a euphemism for sexual relations. Here is one New Testament passage mentioning one of these behaviors: ”It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, namely, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst” (1 Cor.5:1-2). Notice the action Paul expects. Some hold the menstruation case mentioned in verse 18 should be a Category 3 law because Jesus fulfilled the cleansing requirements. Because of its context, this writer believes it belongs in Category 1. Notice in verse 23 God said other nations did all these things and He found it disgusting. Food laws (Cat. 3) set Israel apart as God’s distinct people. READING FOR SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 CONTINUED: LUKE 21, PSALM 90:1-11 LUKE 21 Do we find it comforting or concerning that God looks at life differently than we do? How many college buildings are named after people who give out of their poverty rather than their huge portfolio? Yet, God sees and will reward based on His criteria, not the world’s. Notice, even though the widow was poor, she gave two coins instead of keeping one for herself. Wow. Speaking of a wow factor, the temple at that time must of have been impressive: “it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendor, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun's own rays” (from Flavius Josephus). Jesus’s comment that this temple would soon be destroyed led to his extensive discourse about future events.
Jesus’s prophecies are a truncated version of Matthew 24 and Mark 13. Verses 10-24 appear directed to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 (e.g.,“Jerusalem will be trampled.” vs.24), while verses 25-36 relate more to the second coming (e.g., “They will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud.” vs.27). Yet, a strong case could be made that Jerusalem’s destruction is a localized foreshadowing of the global second coming. Thus, the need for the disciples to persevere with endurance (vs.19) will be even more necessary for those alive at the end times (vs.36). Verse 24 tells us we are currently in the time of the Gentiles (Rom. 11:25). Our job is to stay alert, pray, and not get weighed down with the follies and cares of this life (vs. 34-36).
PSALM 90:1-11 Moses had quite a life. He led a nation out of captivity, conveyed a legal system to Israel that still exists, and interacted uniquely with God. His perspective on life is likely worth more than most. His advice for us on September 3, 2024 is to spend time contemplating God’s eternity in the midst of the extremely brief time we have. He says we likely have only 70 or 80 years to live. Many of us are really living on borrowed time now, like soccer games that go into extra minutes at the end. We have these precious moments to live either for the values of a fallen world or, as his writes in verse one, to dwell in God, to enfold our smaller reality into His eternal one. Lawgiver (or maybe conveyer is more accurate) that he is, he knows something about our guilty deeds and God’s righteous wrath. When he says, “We have been consumed by Your anger,” he isn’t kidding. All those who were men of war (age 20 and above) upon leaving Egypt with the exception of Joshua and Caleb died in the wilderness (Joshua 5:8). Yet, Moses also witnessed God’s leading His people out of slavery and keeping His covenant with Israel. As Moses suggests in verse 11, let’s take this God seriously and live in light of all His attributes. The God who exists and revealed Himself in his word is much greater than one we might construct in our imagination.
