Sermon - Audio
Lev 26-27 - Audio
Lev 26-27 - Daily Reading
Daily Insights - Please Comment
Chapter 26: There is a contrast between how blessed their lives would be had they observed God's commands and how cursed their lives could become because they fell short of observing God's law.
v. 3-13 - If Israel chose to be faithful to God, then they would have blessings and abundance; rain, abundant crops, rich harvest, and protection from enemies. Also remembering His covenant, God will make them to be fruitful and multiply.
v. 14-33 - On the other hand if Israel is unfaithful to God, devastation of all kinds would be upon them; disease, punished by wild beasts, deliverance to the enemy and destruction of their cities and land.
v. 34-39 - If the people were not obedient to keeping the Sabbath, they would be evacuated from the land. Then the land would enjoy its' Sabbath (a time of rest).
v. 40-46 - God's rejection of Israel is not final. If the people repent, confess their sins, and walk humbly before God, then He will deliver them from exile and restore them to the land of promise. (ESV)
Chapter 27: This section is talking about voluntary gifts that were vowed to God for use to make needed repairs, purchase equipment and support the Levites in their work in the tabernacle.
v. 1ff - With all of these vows, if a person wanted their gift back, they could purchase it from the Levites at 120%...ouch!
v. 1-8 - There could be the possibility that a person wanted to dedicate himself or a member of his household to serve God full time at the tabernacle. Since such service was restricted to Levites, those who wanted to serve (but could not) showed their devotion by giving a gift to the temple. The amount of the gift reflected a person's physical strength and ability to do temple work. So a child was less, a man in his prime was much more.
v. 9-13 - Animals could also be given. Unclean animals were accepted and then either used in some area of service in the temple or sold. God accepts unclean animals in this kind of giving because a person's wealth may come from unclean animals (i.e. donkey) and God does not want to exclude this person from supporting the tabernacle.
v. 14-15 - Certainly this is one of the largest gifts. To give a house to the tabernacle that could be sold and the proceeds used for running the tabernacle was no small thing.
v. 16-21 - A person could give a field. The value of the field was that according to the size of the field and the number of years until Jubilee. If the field is sold by the priests to someone else the than can not be reclaimed at Jubilee.
v. 22-25 - Since the field given was one bought according to the Jubilee set up, it does not really belong to the person who has given it. Therefore when Jubilee comes, it is returned to its' original owner.
v. 26-27 - You can't give to God what is already His.
v. 30-33 - A tithe of everything that comes from the land belongs to God.
6 comments:
The part about punishment for disobedience: Is this where the fear of God should come from? I always thought that fearing God meant that we fear what our lives would be without Him in it because we love Him so much but not the actual punishment for not obeying. This makes me fear Him in a way that an abused person would fear their abuser. Help me understand what fearing God should look like.
Hi Rebecca,
The fear of the Lord is an important and central concept in the Bible. We find it both in the Old and New Testament. That's important to remember since some people want to hold that in the Old Testament people fear God but in the New Testament they love God.
When it comes to fearing God we have to recognize that fearing God means a number of different things. First, it is awe, wonder, reverence and devotion based on the greatness and majesty of God. We see this kind of awe and reverence in many places but perhaps no greater place than in the last chapters of Job where Job ends his questioning of God when he sees his majesty.
When people are directly confronted with the majesty of God it often leads to the emotion of fear and terror because God is so amazing and holy and we are not. This is reflected in places such as Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1-2 and Revelation 1. We want to make sure that we don't forget that God's majesty is so overwhelming that to confront it is to often crumble before it.
Living in awe and reverence before God or having the fear of God leads to three things in life.
1. A life of obedience and righteousness.
2. A life of worship
3. A fear of God's discipline that keeps us from sining against him.
It is this last one that you are concerned about in Leviticus. Do we fear God like we fear an abuser? The answer to that is that we don't because God is a God who loves us and wants the best for us. This best shows itself in God disciplining his children (See Hebrews 12.7-10) so that they return to the path that brings them life. An abuser abuses without love and without care. God disciplines out of his love and his desire for us to follow the path of life. It is the difference between an abusive father and a loving father (or for that matter an abusive mother and a loving mother--think of how you tell your kids not to touch a hot stove or how you discipline them so they grow up to be healthy and whole people).
One last note: we are told in 1 John that perfect love casts out fear. John is speaking here of the fear of final judgment. We never have to fear that judgment when we belong to Christ.
Learning about Leviticus I now have a better understanding of the priests position and the calling that was. Not always a pretty one. How does priesthood in the OT compare to the NT? In the NT there wasn't any animal sacrifices right? We also live under the new covenant, so is the calling simular to what our pastors do today? How are they the same and different from today?
Leviticus 26 makes me ask myself if I have "set up a figured stone" as I set up my entertainment systems, and then: have I "erected an image" as I watch tv and movies on my "figured stone"?
God has used documentaries to increase my wonder and praise of Him (BBC's deep sea creature footage), movies to show me how to relate to Him and His people better (Lord of the Rings, Narnia...) and other shows to enjoy being joyful (Veggie Tales...) so I don't think that all entertainment is evil, but in my heart and before my LORD, have I allowed things and/or people to be an idol to me?
I also love how God keeps repeating, "I am the LORD your God" and "I am the LORD". Almost like it is easy for us to forget that He is my LORD and I am not my own...
Yes, I must admit that it is easy for me to forget that. I think it is easy because I am easily deceived into thinking that I am independent - I can hop in my car and go almost anywhere, though there are times when money is tight I still have pretty much everything I could ever want, and if I want to talk to someone I just reach into my pocket and pull out my own personal phone. There is so much I can do independent from God that I do need to be reminded that He is my LORD, my Jehovah Jirah :) I only have these things because of His mercy, grace and provision anyway. I guess that is why we are to pray continually - singing our praises to the LORD because we don't know how much good it is going to do us ~ it will remind us that God is our LORD. We are not God, neither is my neighbor, my tv nor my car. A vacation does not offer me salvation, only my LORD offers me my salvation.
Praise God that He is all we really need :)
I just love being able to read what you all have said...it is like being in a Bible study together! I get to hear what is on your hearts.
I echo what Pastor Larry has said about fearing God, (Great question Rebecca!)And Thank you Larry!
I had to work through that understanding in my life before I could trust Him...and be able to read the Old Testament without disliking Him. Because I saw Him in reflection of my earthly father, who was not able to love me as a father should. So my picture of my heavenly Father was tainted by all that I knew of a father.
My mind changed when I did a study on the names of God....only then was I able to see how caring He was for His people. And that we, his people are at fault...not God.
Lev. 26 is one of those chapters I now can read and understand (for the most part)...because I know Him better.
These chapters remind me that we let things get in between us and God, and don't talk to Him about them...confessing and repenting from them....The next thing we know we don't want to talk to Him at all or hear from Him (read His Words) because there are things between us...wether we put them there or others did. Even though we do not have to do the sacrafices...Thank You Jesus for paying and fulfilling the Law for us.....we still need to get right with God by recognizing that stuff that gets in the way of our relationship with Him.
As Kristin pointed out with the stone set up....it reminded me of "You shall have no other gods before Me". Our God is a jealous God.
Hi Rochelle,
You are right that in the New Testament there are no more animal sacrifices. Christ becomes the sacrifice by his death on the cross. The book of Hebrews says, "11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, 5 then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify 6 for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (chapter 9).
The question about how Levites and pastor's compare, I believe it is better to think of pastors in terms of the work of the apostles in the early church. The apostles in Acts 6 say, 4 "But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” In the Christian Reformed Church pastors have as their central task the ministry of the Word and Sacraments. This has more the flavor of the apostles than of the Levites.
It is also worth noting that in the New Testament all believers take on the role of prophet, priest and king. The Heidelberg Catechism says,
Q. But why are you called a Christian?
A. Because by faith I am a member of Christ
and so I share in his anointing.
I am anointed
to confess his name,
to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks,
to strive with a good conscience against sin and the devil
in this life,
and afterward to reign with Christ
over all creation
for all eternity.
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