Leviticus 26 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence           This is one of two places in the Law of Moses, along with Deuteronomy chapter twenty-eight, in which blessings are pronounced upon Israel for their obedience to the law and curses are pronounced upon them for their disobedience. They were told that if they kept God’s laws then He would give them their seasonal rains resulting in abundant crops and fullness of bread.  He would give them peace…

Leviticus 25 by Pastor David Groendyk If I could pick one word to describe this chapter, it would be ‘freedom’. In a few different ways we see how God sets laws in place “to prevent the utter ruin of debtors” by offering them freedom (Gordon Wenham). Debt is something of a hot topic right now. Just a couple days ago, I was curious about the US’s national debt, and I saw that it’s up over…

Leviticus 24 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson 24:1-9      Rules for the Tabernacle 21:10-23  Rules for Blasphemy Or 1          Introduction 2-9      Laws about the Holy Place             2-4      Lampstand             5-9      The bread of presence 10-23 The Case of Blasphemy             10-12 The offense             13-22 The judgment of God             23       Execution by the people             Commentators struggle to understand how this chapter fits with the surrounding chapters and book.  You will see…

Leviticus 23 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence          In ancient Israel, the Lord determined the calendar for His holy people to remind them that He is the only sovereign over time and space.  But he also gave them a number of feasts to remind them of how He had saved them and provided for them as their God, continually reiterating His covenant of grace with them and pointing them to the savior who was to come. …

Leviticus 22 by Pastor David Groendyk   The very end of the previous chapter explained how blemished priests were not allowed to offer sacrifices but that they were still allowed to eat of the sacrifices. Verses 1–9 of today’s chapter explain under what circumstances those certain priests couldn’t even eat of the sacrifices: ritual uncleanness. All of these ritual uncleannesses have been described earlier in the book. None of these are new. But the principle…

Leviticus 21 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson 21:1-9      Restrictions on mourning and marriage for ordinary priests 21:10-15  Restrictions on mourning and marriage for high priests 21:16-24  Physical impediments for priests               We see in Lev 21 and 22 the holiness, not of regular people, but the priests.  We commonly find that leaders are held to higher standards than others.  This should not surprise us since we intuitively factor that in to most leaders. …

Leviticus 20 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence   This chapter addresses a number of heinous sins in the sight of the Lord including: child sacrifice, fortune telling, cursing one’s parents, adultery, incest, homosexuality and bestiality.  The punishment for such sins in ancient Israel was severe indeed.  Those who transgressed God’s holy law in any of these ways were to bear their iniquity and to be cut off from God’s people.  In some cases they were to…

Leviticus 19 by Pastor David Groendyk   You may have found this chapter an unexpectedly interesting read today. By my count, I see quite explicitly at least nine of the Ten Commandments (vv. 3, 4, 11, 12, 16, 17, 20, 29) (the only exception being the tenth commandment—do not covet—which you can find implicitly throughout this whole chapter). This chapter also contains part of Jesus’ famous summary of the law: “You shall love your neighbor…

Leviticus 18 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson 1-5       Exhortation to avoid heathen customs 6-18     Unions regarded as incestuous 19-23   Canaanite customs (sexual) to avoid 24-30   Warning of the consequences of neglecting these rules             This chapter loosely resembles the covenant-treaty form (see Ex 20) 2          Preamble: “I am the Lord Your God” 3          Historical Perspective: “Egypt, where you have been living.” 4          Basic Stipulation: “Do my laws.” 5          Blessings: “He will enjoy life.” 6-23     Detailed…

Leviticus 17 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence              In the Presbyterian Church we seek to follow the regulative principle of worship, which, simply put, states that we ought only to do in worship what God commands and requires of us.  We do not have the freedom to worship God in any way we please.  God has revealed not only who He is, but how He is to be worshipped, thus any innovation on our part…

Leviticus 16 by Pastor David Groendyk   This is the most central chapter in the book of Leviticus. It describes the Day of Atonement. Once a year, the high priest would enter into the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle and then offer a few sacrifices that would make atonement for all of Israel’s sin over the course of that year (v. 34). The crux of this yearly ritual is the two goats (v. 8),…

Leviticus 15 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson                 1              Introduction 2-18       Male Discharge                 2-12       Long term                 13-15                     cleansed by sacrifice                 16-17     Transient                 18                           and intercourse 19-30     Female Discharge                 19-23     Transient                 24                           and intercourse                 25-27     Long term                 28-30                     cleansed by sacrifice 31           Purpose of Law 32-33     Summary               It could be that the structure of this passage (chiasm – like an X) points us to the middle section. …

Leviticus 14 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence            Yesterday we learned about the laws of leprosy in determining whether or not a particular skin infection or eruption had risen to the level of making an Israelite unclean in the eyes of God.  Uncleanness did not necessarily imply that a particular sin was involved, but it always symbolized the need for purification and reconciliation with a holy God in order to enter into His presence.  We…

Leviticus 13 by Pastor David Groendyk As we continue in Leviticus through various cleanliness laws, the next two chapters discuss the disease of leprosy. Chapter 13 gives general rules for handling lepers while chapter 14 gives the rules for actually being cleansed from leprosy. The term “leprosy” used in these chapters included many different kinds of skin diseases, not just what we understand today as modern leprosy. The priests of God in ancient days were…

Leviticus 12 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson   1                              Introduction 2-5                          Uncleanness following birth                                 2-4          of a boy                                 5              of a girl 6-7a                       Sacrifice after birth 7b                           Summary 8                              Additional Provision for the poor                 We are in the section of uncleanness and its treatment according to the outline suggested by Wenham.  Here is see how long a woman is unclean after childbirth, and what she must do during this time.  Here is…

Leviticus 11 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence                   Clean and unclean animals were one way to distinguish between holy and unholy people in Old Testament Israel.  In this chapter, we see the beginning of a very strict diet code that was imposed upon the Israelites to set them apart from the surrounding nations and to help the Israelites themselves to see that they were in constant need of cleansing in a fallen world. Every creature…

Leviticus 10 by Pastor David Groendyk   The story of Nadab and Abihu is a tragic contrast to what we read in chapter 9. Whereas Aaron’s offering was accepted by God, Nadab and Abihu’s was not. A fly-by summary of this chapter is that Nadab and Abihu offer a bad sacrifice to God and are killed (vv. 1–3), Moses commands Aaron and his family not to mourn (vv. 4–7), God reaffirms Aaron’s role as priest…

Leviticus 9 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson   “Regulations explaining which sacrifices ought to be offered form the subject matter of Lev. 1-7.  But there was still no order of priests to carry out the ministry of atonement.  Chs. 8-10 tell how the priesthood was instituted and the first sacrifices offered.”  Wenham p 130.  One should reread Exodus 29 for an earlier explanation of the ordination of the priests.  This is a week long process. …

Leviticus 8 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence                   The purification requirements for the priests who would serve in the Lord’s tabernacle were considerable.  First, they had to be washed by Moses before they could put on their holy garments.  Then they had to be anointed with oil in consecration to God.  Afterwards, they needed to lay their hands on the bull of the sin offering while Moses cut its throat and spilled its blood and…

Leviticus 7 by Pastor David Groendyk   This is the last chapter that explicitly deals with the regular sacrifices for Israel. As Pastor Mark pointed out, the same five sacrifices in chapters 1–5 are being reiterated in chapters 6–7. The first time through, the instructions were mainly directed at the whole congregation; the second time through, the instructions are mainly directed at the priests. In our chapter, the guilt offering (vv. 1–10; from 5:14–6:7) and…

Leviticus 6 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson                   If you have been reading the first few chapters, this chapter may feel like déjà vu all over again (quoting Yogi Bera).  `I just read about these sacrifices.  Why is the author covering the same content?’  If you look at verse 8, you will notice something.  6:8 is the start of a new section.  This begins with, “ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 9 “Command…