Tag: God’s holiness

Sin & Guilt

Old Testament Reading: Leviticus 5 & 6
Psalms Reading: Psalm 49
New Testament Reading: 1 Corinthians 2

We all love to read a good book full of rules. This is what makes Leviticus the perfect bedtime story. Just kidding, unless if you actually enjoy reading pages of laws… but the majority of us don’t. It can be easy to skip over a book like Leviticus without gathering any insightful information because of how long, repetitive, and honestly boring it can be. But this begs the question, why did God have Moses write it? And why do we need to read it? At first it may seem like God set all the rules in place to restrict us and make life hard. But, through the law, He offered a way for His people to draw closer to Him. The laws found in Leviticus regarding the different offerings are there for the purpose of revealing WHO God is. God is holy. And in order to be in His presence… we must be holy too.

The book of Exodus closes with Moses not being able to enter the tent of meeting, because “the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” Moses was not able to be in the presence of God because there was no system in place that made humans clean. The continual theme throughout Leviticus is that humans are unclean. And unfortunately, there are so many tiny things that can make us unclean and keep us from God. This is why the book of Leviticus is so important to the Israelites. It offered a way for the Israelites to enter into the presence of their God. This is a major development of God’s plan of having a personal relationship with us.

Chapters 4, 5 and 6 describe the occasions when sin offerings and guilt offerings were necessary. The difference between a sin offering and a guilt offering is that a sin offering is when the sin only affects yourself, and a guilt offering is when your sin affects others. Therefore, guilt offerings included a 20% reimbursement to the person who was wronged. God designed it this way so that relationships could be restored between the Israelites. The sin and guilt offerings demonstrated that the life is in the blood. Being able to see the blood being poured of the innocent sacrifice allowed the Israelites to understand the concept of a substitute for their sins.

Not only does Leviticus remind us of the holy attributes of God, but it ultimately shows the drastic differences between us and God by revealing all the sin that separates us. Even though we are no longer bound to the offerings and laws, the theme of Leviticus is just as important for us now as it was for the Israelites. God is holy and therefore we need to be holy in order to be in God’s presence.

-Makayla Railton

Reflection Questions

  1. What makes you unclean? What makes you clean? What do you do with your sin and guilt?
  2. What does it mean to you that God is holy? And that even in His holiness He still wants a relationship with you?
  3. What else can we learn about God and His attributes and His heart in our reading of His word today?
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Not Forsaken

Jeremiah 51 & 52

As a junior high teacher, there have been a couple of times when a student’s behavior warranted their removal from the classroom, even after multiple redirections and warnings. The school administrator would assign a consequence, such as on-campus suspension for one to three days, and then the student would return to reintegrate back into our class community.

While this scenario isn’t a perfect analogy to what we read in Jeremiah chapters 51 and 52, it has a few similarities.

Throughout generations, Israel had been warned over and over about what would be the consequences if they failed to be obedient to God’s decrees. And yet the kings over God’s people and the people themselves rebelled, they did evil in the eyes of the LORD. And God cannot tolerate sin. There had to be consequences. 

So God allowed Babylon to capture Israel. God allowed for His dwelling place, the temple built by Solomon, to be ransacked and destroyed. This was the consequence of decades of disobedience. 

But throughout this time, God never stopped loving His people. He longed to see them be restored. And so He made a way. The very kingdom that had caused destruction to Israel, would eventually face its own consequences and be brought down by its enemies. God’s people would be released from captivity. 

What we read in Jeremiah 51 and 52, describes what no doubt was a rough patch for Israel, to put it mildly. And it even foretells what it might be like during the time leading up to Christ’s second coming.

But we can also read it through the lens of how God must deal with us as individuals. Because He is the Holy One of Israel, there must be consequences to our sin. We are destined to be separated, exiled, from Him because our sin and His holiness cannot coexist. But God longs to be in a relationship with us. And so God provides for a way, through Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, for this relationship to be restored. So even though our lives are “full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel”, we will not be “forsaken by our God, the LORD Almighty”.

-Bethany Ligon

Today’s Bible reading passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway.com here – Jeremiah 51-52 and James 4

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A Way was Made

Leviticus 1-2

At the end of Exodus, after the Tabernacle has been finally built, God’s glory comes to rest in it, but Moses is unable to enter (Exodus 40:35). However, at the beginning of the next book, Numbers, Moses is speaking with God in the Tabernacle (Numbers 1:1). This middle book, Leviticus, is the explanation about what is necessary to come into God’s presence and enjoy His fellowship. Since God is so holy and separate from us, there are things that we are expected to do in order to come into His presence. Thankfully, out of His love, mercy, and desire to be with us, God provided a way for us to come before Him, both for the Israelites back then and for Christians today.

Immediately in Leviticus 1 and 2, we find descriptions of different animal sacrifices and what is necessary to perform certain rituals in God’s presence. Since we don’t have a Tabernacle or Temple to worship in, and we don’t perform animal sacrifices anymore, how is this really relevant for us?

In Leviticus 1:4, we are told that these animals are dying in the place of the person who is offering it to God. The truth of these sacrifices is simple: sin is serious and deserves death. Whenever you do something that is contrary to God’s laws, both minor and major, it is offensive to the One who gave you life in the first place, and we deserve death for it. The mantra of our age that “everyone is naturally good in their own way” is simply not true; we are all broken, sinful, and corrupt human beings in need of God’s saving grace. For the Israelites back then, the answer to the problem was an animal sacrifice to cover their offense against God; for us today, it is the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ that is sufficient.

The New Testament continues the teaching that sin is serious, offensive to God, and deserves death: “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a) We cannot forget the seriousness of our situation, because when we do, we lose the power of the gospel. The good news for us is that we don’t have to die for the things that we did; Jesus died in our place, like the animal sacrifices in Leviticus. “… but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b) The sacrifice of Jesus was sufficient to cover over every sin that we have ever committed or will commit (Hebrews 10:10). We need to thank God for providing a way out for our sinfulness, both in Leviticus and today through Jesus Christ. Through this sacrifice, we can enter the presence of God and enjoy fellowship with our heavenly Father (Hebrews 4:16).

-Talon Paul

Links to today’s Bible reading – Leviticus 1-2 and Psalm 4-6

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God’s Glory & Forgiveness: Then & Now

1 Kings 8 & 2 Chronicles 5

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Once the temple was finished, they brought in the ark of the covenant.  It was brought into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Holy of Holies.  When the priests (who had sanctified themselves) had come out, and the group praised the LORD, His glory filled the temple and the priests couldn’t perform their service because of His great glory.

That concept of how great the glory of the LORD is hard to comprehend for me.  On one of our Zoom calls for the youth group recently, we watched a video on holiness.  There were some interesting points in it, and a good analogy on how to better understand God’s holiness and why we can’t be too close (watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9vn5UvsHvM).  We cannot get too close to God because we are impure, and He is perfect.  People had to purify themselves to come into the temple.  And for the Holy of Holies, or Most Holy Place, separated by a veil, the purified high priest could only enter once per year on the Day of Atonement when the whole nation asked God for forgiveness of their sins.

The good news for us is that we live in a time after Jesus interceded.  When he died, that veil was torn, and we can now come to God instead of the high priest, and we can come without having to go through those same purifying rituals.  I forget sometimes what a blessing that is.  Because of Jesus being our mediator, we can go to God and receive forgiveness from our sins by request, not through sacrificial offerings.  We have never had to live in a time where it was different, but can you imagine it?  Thinking of this helps to remind me of how amazing Jesus’ sacrifice was.

If you haven’t already, you can stop reading in 1 Kings 8 at verse 12 and pick up there tomorrow to read a similar account in 2 Chronicles.

 

~Stephanie Fletcher

 

Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+8%2C+2+Chronicles+5&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s reading will be 2 Chronicles 6-7 and Psalm136 as we continue on our 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

 

Seek

Numbers14-15 cain

No matter how many times I read the story, it is hard for me to digest the betrayal of the Israelites in chapter 14. After they saw the land that He promised them, they wanted to return to being slaves in Egypt? What shocks me even more is that we do the same thing today. What do you think Jesus meant when he said this in Luke 9:62, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God”? This is alluding to a plow man tilling the ground to prepare it for planting. If the plow man were to look back behind him the rows would be crooked and off course. Jesus is saying that we are like plow men and if we look back and do a poor job then we aren’t fit for the kingdom. What does this have to do with Numbers 14? We can look back today the same way the Israelites did in Numbers 14. They were liberated from slavery in Egypt and given the promise of a new land that was “exceedingly good”. We were liberated from slavery under sin and given the promise of a perfect new earth. The Israelites looked back at their life in slavery and wanted its comforts once again, even knowing they would return to slavery. We can look back at our life of sin and wish we could go back to it, even if we know it will kill us in the end. Sometimes our desires can turn from God and pull us towards a life of sin.

The last two verses of chapter 15 tell us exactly what God desires from us. “Remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord your God.” Replace the phrase “land of Egypt” with “sin” and apply this to our lives today. Let’s not miss out on our promises because we want to look back to our old life of sin and return to slavery. Let’s keep our eyes on the goal of the kingdom and remember the God who saved us from sin and is bringing us to an “exceedingly good land.” I enjoy looking at the big picture in scripture and seeing how God works on a grand scale. Like how we see God working out the same goal for us and for the ancient Israelites.

Psalm 90 is a chapter that gives us a big picture view of the world and plainly relays potentially complex ideas into understandable language. When I read Psalm 90, a few things are clear to me. God is eternal. He views time differently than us. He sees our sin and He loves us despite our sin. Sometimes we need reminding of these big picture ideas because they help us understand the world and make us realize what is actually important. We can easily get lost in our everyday activities and bury our minds in worry, but in reality, God is still in control and willing to show us His favor.

Thank you for reading our devotions on Numbers this week. Hopefully we walked away with a renewed respect for God’s holiness, an awe for the awesome work He did in the people of Israel, and a reassurance that He is leading us towards a promise that is better than anything we can imagine. Numbers may sound like a boring math book, but in reality it is a rich record of God’s dealings with His people. As you continue to read through the book of Numbers, see how God deals with His people and make a connection to your life. Where God’s word and application meet, there is life change and understanding.

Josiah Cain

 

 

Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+14-15%2C+Psalm+90&version=NIV

Tomorrow’s reading will be Numbers 16-17 as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

Poor in Spirit

Free Theme – Beatitudes – Matthew 5:3

Matthew 5 3 niv

Having just finished Revelation I thought it would be beneficial to revisit Jesus’ teaching for the next six days. There really is no better place to do this than the Sermon on the Mount. In my opinion this is the most important teaching that Jesus gave us. We will be expanding on six of these beatitudes over the course of the next week. Hopefully, a beatitude a day will keep the doctor away and make us spiritually healthy. And yes, my corniness knows no bounds.

So today let’s explore the first beatitude found in Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Let’s start with this first word “Blessed”. What does blessed actually mean? The debate over this topic is varied but I think we can generally assume it simply means happy. I don’t think it means momentary happiness. I believe what Jesus is aiming at here is long term, lasting happiness, the kind of happiness where you know all you are doing and being is worth it.

Now, for the command “poor in spirit”. For the longest time, like longer than a decade, this phrase left me confused. I have talked to all sorts of different pastors and people seeking an explanation but always walked away unsatisfied. I was left feeling like their definition was somehow incomplete. Finally, I heard it defined as spiritual brokenness and this finally made sense. But what does that really mean, right? This story may help.

When I was twenty years old my sister and I swapped vehicles because I was doing a lot of driving and had a truck with terrible gas mileage. My little sister wasn’t driving a lot and she wanted to drive my truck because well, it was really awesome. It was jacked up with a wicked exhaust system. Basically, it was every teenage boy/country girl’s dream truck. One super early Saturday morning my dad woke me up saying “There is something wrong with your truck” and hands me his cell phone with my sister on the line. He then left the room and probably went back to bed.

Much to my surprise on the other end was my now “frantic and scared for her life” sister. She explained to me how the truck had just stopped moving. Even though the engine was still running. Now this probably wouldn’t have been an issue if it was a normal situation but it wasn’t. The truck broke down during the middle of morning traffic on one of the few bridges that stretches for miles across the Hudson River with no shoulder or pull off at all. Even this would have been fine if it had been bumper to bumper traffic which is typical in New York City but it wasn’t. Traffic was moving well, really well actually and cars were flying past her at 60+ mph. She was stuck in the right hand lane of traffic literally praying to God that they would miss the truck.

In this moment she was experiencing the hopelessness of my truck’s brokenness with danger coming fast directly behind her. It is the same way with spiritual brokenness. Without God we are spiritually broken and helpless. The honest truth is that we are in danger and that without God and Christ our “trucks” are not moving on the middle of a highway, that if we were to stay there – it would end in our deaths.

We adopt this attitude of being “poor in spirit” when we realize how much we need God, his son’s sacrifice and how broken we are without him. We acknowledge God’s holiness and that we don’t deserve his grace or his love. We realize there was/is nothing we can do to earn any of what he has done for us. This isn’t condemnation for the sake of making ourselves feel ashamed or worthless rather it is acknowledgement of how much we need him and all that he has done for us. You can look at your sin and say “I suck” or you can look at your sin and say “I have a great, merciful God who loves me more than I understand.”

This is summarized well in the quote “Those who feel their spiritual need.” by Goodspeed.

So, let’s adopt this attitude of brokenness and helplessness before God because not only will we be happy but we will also have the kingdom of God as well.

 

Dan Wall

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