Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 26-27.
Leviticus 26 outlines certain blessings and curses the Israelites could receive from God. Whether they received the one or the other would be conditioned upon their actions.
“If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out…” (Leviticus 26:3).
If the Israelites obeyed God, He promised to bless them greatly with prosperity, peace, freedom, and fellowship with God (Leviticus 26:4-13).
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 24-25.
“If a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death. The one who takes the life of an animal shall make it good, life for life. [...] Thus one who kills an animal shall make it good, but the one who kills a man shall be put to death. There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 24:17-22).
This is a reminder of penalties that were already given. The punishment for murdering another man was death (Exodus 21:12). When a neighbor’s animal was killed, restitution was to be made (Exodus 21:33-36), but a man who killed an animal was not to be put to death. There are some lessons we can learn from this law:
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 22-23.
In Leviticus 22, instructions were given regarding who could and could not eat of the gifts that were offered to the Lord. One of these rules affected the daughters of the priests:
“If a priest’s daughter is married to a layman, she shall not eat of the offering of the gifts. But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no child and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s food; but no layman shall eat of it” (Leviticus 22:12-13).
A rule was given that no layman was to eat of this food that was dedicated to the Lord. This food was reserved for the priests. A priest’s daughter could eat only under certain conditions.
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 19-21.
Sadly, helping the poor is a contentious issue in our society. It is not so much that people do not want to help the poor – most good, moral people want help to be provided. The issue is over how to best help the poor and whether this help should come from individuals, churches, charities, or government agencies.
The Law of Moses contains a way to help the poor and the stranger among the people. While we do not live under the same Law or with the same circumstances, there are principles that should help us determine how we can best help those in need.
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 16-18.
As God gave His Law to Moses to pass down to the people, He explained how the people were to conduct themselves compared to the other nations.
“You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord” (Leviticus 18:3-5).
There are a couple lessons to be learned from this passage. First, God’s people are obligated to live according to His standard, not the world’s standard. You must follow the Lord, even if those around you do not. Paul writes, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 14-15.
The Law of Moses contained very specific instructions regarding leprosy and those who had the disease. It can be tempting for us today to quickly skim over these sections, but there are still lessons to be learned.
“The Lord further spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: ‘When you enter the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a mark of leprosy on a house in the land of your possession, then the one who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, ‘Something like a mark of leprosy has become visible to me in the house’” (Leviticus 14:33-35).
The main point of this passage has to do with a priest inspecting a house for leprosy. But a statement is made in passing that can help reinforce our faith in God’s promises.
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 11-13.
“For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44-45).
This chapter goes into great detail showing the Israelites which animals were clean and which ones were unclean. One of the reasons for these commands was so the Israelites would be a peculiar people, distinct from the nations around them. When God called them out of Egypt, He set them apart as His people. Therefore, they were to be holy just as God is holy.
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 5-7.
If one of the Israelites under the Law of Moses sinned, he was to offer a sacrifice.
“He shall also bring his guilt offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin” (Leviticus 5:6).
Specific instructions were given regarding this sacrifice. But what if one did not have this to sacrifice? Would he be exempt? Would be unable to have atonement made for his sins? No, God made a provision for one who was not able to produce this sacrifice.
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Calvinism teaches that man is saved unconditionally, solely through the actions of God. This would make it appear as though God would be directly at fault for all those who would be lost. Few Calvinists will admit this. But when you make salvation wholly attributable to God, then likewise damnation is wholly attributable to God.
Below is a clip from the Bible Talk radio program by the South End church of Christ in Louisville, KY. Aaron Erhardt, the host of the show, had a caller who was obviously a Calvinist. Aaron posed a simple question to the caller: Why aren’t the lost saved? Listen to the exchange at the link below.
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