Under Grace?

Usually this is where I add something that the Lord taught me while reading through the Bible, but today, my time in Leviticus 26 left me with more questions than anything else. Read Leviticus 26 for yourself, and answer these question, if you would. . .

Is it different for us because we live "under grace" and they didn't?

(That is of course outside of the obvious that these statements are for Israel and not for us today.)

How is it different?

I know, in my head, the difference between being under the law and under grace, but what does it look like when it comes to our actions?

Right of Ownership

It's interesting in Leviticus 25 when the Lord is talking about how He defines ownership.  Today, we have a pretty different view!  Today, if I own something, it's mine.  It's mine from the minute I purchase it until I decide that I no longer want it, and if I give it up and later decide I still want it, I can again claim it as mine.  Mine!  Mine!  Mine!

By the Lord's standards, He's the only one with the right to claim, "Mine."  He maintains that right over both property and people.  It's His.  If it get's sold, it's still His.  If it gets purchased back, it's still His. If it get's tired and worn out, it's still His; and He will see that it is maintained and cared for.  In the Old Testament times, it truly wasn't Mine! Mine! Mine! - but rather, His! His! His!

How would our lives be different if we viewed all we had as belonging to Him?
All we had - including ourselves?

But I Want to Serve. . .

It was quite interesting, and a bit sad, reading in Leviticus 21 that the sons of Aaron who were "blemished" would not be able to serve before the Lord.  It is understood that the blemish that is being referred to is a physical deformity of a type, but still, by the Lord's standards, that person could not serve Him before the people of Israel.

Sometimes today, we find that we would like to serve in some capacity to which the Lord seems to say "No." Maybe due to physical challenges, we aren't able to serve as fully as we would like, and it doesn't seem fair.  Honestly, it may not seem very encouraging to know that the Lord has set aside certain people for certain jobs within the body of believers, but what is encouraging is Leviticus 21:21b-23a.

He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. 

          He may eat the most holy food of his God, 

          as well as the holy food; 

yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar,

Due to this blemish, they were not able to give food to the Lord, but He would still give food to them.  Not just any food, but holy food.  They were not able to serve the Lord as they no doubt truly desired, but He would still care for them.

It is true that is passage was an instruction manual for the priests, but what a wonderful reminder for those of us who desire to serve Him today.  It's a comfort to realize that the Lord truly knows our hearts, and even when we desire to serve and are not able to, He still will give us of His richest blessings if our hearts are serving obediently in the tasks we are given to do.

"I am the Lord your God"

I noticed something interesting in Leviticus 19 - after just about every command they were given, the phrase, "I am the Lord your God." is included.  It may have done this earlier in the book, but it was just in this chapter that it really seemed to stick out to me.

Mixed in with the requirements that the Lord has given, comes the very clear reminder of the ultimate reason why God is able to make the statements He does.  A short statement of His power and authority over every aspect of human life.

As with the obedience of the Israelites, for us to understand the "why?" isn't important, but for us to understand the "WHO" makes all the difference in the world.

Reasons for Obedience

The deeper I get into the full reading of Leviticus, the more I have come to believe that the obedience expected by the Lord back then had several purposes - just as it does for us today.

Back then, the Lord had them follow strict requirements to keep them safe from the physical world around them.  Today, I think that complete obedience also keeps us safe from the world, but it's not the physical world, so much as it is the spiritual world. Their obedience also showed that they were set apart as children of the Lord, just as our obedience does the same thing today.

With all of those rules and requirements, I'm guessing it did set them apart from the rest of the people around them, and, in truth, isn't that exactly how we should be today?

Lessons in Leadership

Leviticus 8-10 has so many interesting lessons in spiritual leadership that, although it was intended for the Israelites and the Levites, the principles can still be applicable to us today.

-  The Lord gives direct leadership responsibilities to some - like Moses.

-  The Lord often has them pass on some of that leadership responsibility in order to more effectively carry out His work - like Moses did to Aaron and his sons
.
-  The job of leadership isn't always a pretty one.  Sometimes leaders have to get dirty - like when Aaron and his sons stood before God and the people and had part of the blood offering sprinkled on them.

- The Lord holds leaders up to a high standard as others are looking to them for direction - like Aaron's two sons who offered their way instead of God's.

- Sometimes leaders may disagree, but they need to be open to listen to each other as the Lord may have given insight to one of them - like when Moses reprimanded Aaron and his sons for not eating of the sin offering given for his first two sons, and Aaron responded with a statement of truth and a question for Moses.

Being a leader is not an easy business, but the Lord will give all the strength and grace needed to handle the responsibilities.

Lord, please help me to have the true heart of a leader - the heart of a servant, and the heart of a follower of You.

Provided For - on the Lord's Terms

As God continues to use Moses to instruct both the Israelites and the Levites in the procedures of the various sacrifices, two things seem to be extremely evident:

1.  The Lord was extremely detailed in exactly how all parts of the sacrifice were to be handled.
2.  The Lord supplied abundantly for His servants.

The Lord will take care of those in His service, but the service is to be done on His terms - not ours.

Lord, help me to do your work with the spirit of a servant - serving not in the tabernacle, but before your living temples, entrusting to you the meeting of my daily spiritual, physical, and emotional needs.

Pleasing Aroma to the Lord

One thing that I found interesting when reading about the sacrifices is how often the statement "an offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord" is repeated.  In the midst of the blood and burning meat, a statement that peaceful and serene just doesn't seem to fit.

But when you consider that our sense of smell has the greatest "memory," and that it is individual to everyone (no one smells or remembers smells exactly the same), it seems a fitting statement.  The Lord is choosing to see this aroma as pleasing.  I can only imagine that hundreds of years later when it was His Son serving as the sacrifice - once for all - that the memory of all those offerings came to His mind.

Today, may the offerings of my heart be a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

For Me

Leviticus 1:4

He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 

When the Isrealites gave a sacrifice as a burnt offering for sin, they had to physically place their hands on the animal; in essences they were placing their sin on that animal.  They would then have to actually kill the animal before the priest could offer it as a sacrifice.  WOW!  Today we take sin so casually.  It's almost as if we do all we can to disassociate ourselves from the sin.  How much greater would our awareness of the cost of sin be if we were close enough to place our hands on the Son of God before driving the nails in His hands and feet - transferring our sins to the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?

Every sin I choose to commit was carried by Christ to the cross, 
yet He chose to stay there for me.

Serving in the Lord

Exodus 38:22-23
Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses; and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.

Sometimes we forget that serving the Lord isn't just the job of church leadership. These two men, Bezalel and Oholiab, were so crucial to the building of the tabernacle because they had skills and abilities that the Levities didn't. God made us all unique in our gifts - not for our benefit, but to serve Him and to bless and build up others.

How well am I doing at using my special, God-given talents in the service of the Lord?

Didn't Even Know

Exodus 34:29b  

Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone

because he had been talking with God.

Moses had spent more time, yet again, with the Lord during the second getting of the law.  He was up there for 40 days and 40 nights.  It even said that he didn't eat or drink during that time, which helps to show where his focus really was.  Spending that much time with the Lord had an impact on Moses.  What about me?

Is my connection to the Lord so close and so intimate, that I reflect Him without even knowing it?  

So Much Harder

Exodus 34:28
So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

compare with

Exodus 31:18
And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

The first time through the commandments, God wrote them and Moses just listened.  After reacting to the Golden Calf by throwing down the tablets, God had Moses come back up to 'get another copy;' the only trouble was, this time it was Moses that had to do the writing.

When we do it our way instead of God's way, it's often much more difficult

Knowing Names

Exodus 33:17-19
And the LORD said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 

There is nothing more amazing than knowing that God knows me by name, and that He desires for me to know Him with that same profound intimacy.

Dear Lord,
Help me to be open to You so that you can know me "by name" - and develop in me a sense of Your name (who You truly are).

My Tent of Meeting

Exodus 33:7
Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting.  And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tend of meeting, which was outside the camp.

Where is my tent of meeting?  Do I have a place set aside for worship that is "far off from the camp" of my daily worries and busyness?  If Moses had such a place - - how much more would I need one.

Dear Lord,
Please help me establish a "tent of meeting" within my heart, so that I may seek you in the midst of my busy world.

How to Pray

Exodus 32:11-14

Moses was pleading for his people as the Lord had said He was going to destroy them (after the golden calf incident).  Moses' prayer is quite unique, and a good reminder of what our prayers are to look like today.

Reminding God of who He is, isn't for His benefit - it's for mine.