Isaiah 1:1-9

Readings Leviticus 5, Romans 1

Memory Verses: Isaiah 40:31

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

I am excited to be starting a new book, Isaiah is probably one of the most quoted books in the New Testament.  We will find many things that apply to our Christian lives written in these verses, it will be a long journey through Isaiah, but I think that we will all enjoy it tremendously.  I have considered starting a new reading to add to the Old Testament reading.  I understand that most of us are doing the current study, and reading one chapter out of the Old Testament.  I am going to add one more chapter out of the New Testament, just to see how it goes.  Let me know what you think, I use this study as my personal study, and feel the need for a broader base of reading in my personal life. I am not going to comment on the New Testament reading, it is a bonus used strictly for personal background. 

There are so many interesting things in Isaiah that it would take several days just to point them out in an overview.  One thing that is interesting is that the name Isaiah means "Yahweh is Salvation", and when you look at this prophetic book, that is interlaced throughout the entire book.  The looking forward to the coming Messiah, and His reign on earth is just a few of the themes that is written through this book.  Isaiah is believed to have died a brutal death by being sawn in two, Hebrews 11:37.  If you have a good study Bible, check out the introduction, it is quite lengthy, and helps in understanding the book. If you don't, check on www.crosswalk.com and look at the Bible tools, they have several reference books which might be helpful. I am going to ignore most of it for the sake of keeping the study relatively short. 

Isaiah 1:1-2 In Exodus 19-20 Israel entered a covenant with God. Picture the vision of Isaiah to be a courtroom scene, where the kings are gathered to make a decision on Israel.  The word for revolted basically means that a contract had been broken.  They were merely rebellious children, ones who were raised, and who chose to turn against their Father.  Look at all who are called as witnesses, all the heavens, and the earth.  The Lord is speaking, and indicates that everyone is to listen, He is just about to pronounce judgment.  Several word pictures are used to help us understand how God feels concerning the rebellion of Israel in this chapter.

1:3  The charges are stated, Israel has completely forgotten the contract that they had entered into with God.  First, they had less sense than a dumb ox, who knows his owner, and is the picture of submissiveness.  The second character type used is that of a donkey, who is characterized by stupidity, yet it is wise enough to know where its food comes from.  Israel has turned stupid and ignorant in respect to its relation to God.

1:4  The character of Israel is completely characterized by rebellion, even to the point that they seem as if they had never entered the covenant to start with. 

I cannot help at this point but to point out that this is also the state that we as Christians enter when we walk from the Lord.  How often in our lives have we walked from the Lord, and these characteristics typify our lives?  I know that when I walked from the Lord and turned my back on Him, years ago, when I was walking in rebellion, or "backsliding" you could have pasted this verse on my forehead as absolute truth.  It isn't worth the weight of the guilt regarding sin, or the separation from the Lord, it isn't worth despising the Lord our God and turning away from Him just to have the lust of our flesh satisfied.  In today's society and church, we have a real hang-up with rights.  We feel that we have rights which must be met, and when they aren't met, we will turn from the Lord to follow our own ways.  God isn't concerned with our "rights", He is concerned with being Lord of our lives. 

1:5-6  To help understand how wicked the people of Israel has become they are likened to someone who has a severe sickness, and who has been severely wounded.  Taking the position of verse 4 above, when people walk from the Lord, they are in a miserable state, have you ever noticed that when you walk from the Lord, or follow your own way, that the first thing to depart is the joy?  Perhaps the reason is that when you are severely sick, it's kind of hard to laugh.  Imagine how you would feel if you were covered with raw wounds, a headache, and having a heart attack all at the same time.  This is the perpetual state that we live in when we walk from God.

1:7-9  Spiritually speaking the life of the one who has turned from God is a virtual wasteland.  Imagine how lonely it would be to live in a temporary structure erected in a cucumber field.  Spiritually Israel is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, totally spiritually bankrupt. 

This is the charge that God has against Israel, that they have bankrupted themselves, and became totally spiritually desolate.  They have reached a point in their lives where they are sick, and totally unhealthy spiritually.  I think that it is not a far stretch to compare that to today, and our Christian churches, where we have abandoned the first Love that we had when we accepted Christ, and have clung desperately to denominationalism, rules and regulations, which were set up by man and not by God.  We cling to more of a country club religion rather than a personal faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, time has caught up with me, if you wish to add please feel free to do so.

Leviticus 5  More on the sin and guilt offering, the unintentional sin.  Notice the strict rule in verses 17-19, if a person sins, even if he is not aware of it, he is still held accountable.  How often do we think of this?  Praise God that He has given us the Holy Spirit to live within our hearts so that we can be made aware of our sin, enabling us to confess our sins and make our hearts right with Him. 1 John 1:9.

Lord, as we consider and study Your word today, I ask that You will show each one of us how to abandon the spiritual wasteland and come into an abundance of life in You.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

 

Isaiah 1:10-20

Readings Leviticus 6, Romans 2

Memory Verses: Isaiah 40:31

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

Focusing upon Isaiah is an extremely interesting study, and very applicable to our lives today.  I am going to hit all the high points that I see, if you wish to add your observations, feel free to post to the study on the Bulletin Board, or to email the reply to me, I will post it for you.  One of the things that I failed to mention in the introduction yesterday was the penalty for a prophet if he was wrong.  You could act as a prophet, but if your words did not come to pass, you were stoned to death, or killed in some way.

1:10 The idea of comparing them to Sodom and Gomorrah is continued.  Isaiah is insulting the people by saying that they are totally unrepentant, and deserving of death, in the same manner. 

1:11-15 God is sick and tired of the phoniness of Israel.  He is watching them go through all the motions of the law, yet within their hearts, they are utterly sinful, and totally rebellious.  Try to picture this in your mind, God is sick and tired of the religion that has become a religion of actions. He wants to see people serve him out of sincere hearts.  Ones that are not steeped in sin.

Look for a moment at the incredible disgust that God has toward the people.  v. 11  "What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?"..."I have had enough"..."I take no pleasure"  v. 13  "worthless offerings"..."Incense is an abomination"  etc, etc, God makes it very clear that He has become tired of the false religion that has developed with Israel. 

1:11 Indicates that God is not impressed with their sacrifices, or the temple sacrifices that are taking place.

1:12 Indicates that God feels that they are just invading His house, being imposters in His court.

1:13-14  Indicates that God considers the offerings to be worthless, and the festivals to be empty and useless.  I am reminded when I read of this of the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4.  When you look at that story, why was it that the grain offering was rejected?  Wasn't it because of the attitude of Cain was wrong?  God warned him that sin was waiting to master him, and along the same lines, his offering was of the wrong motive, therefore God rejected it.  Where as Abel's offering is implied to be of the right attitude, and therefore was accepted by God.

1:15  Again God refers to the repeated prayers, just as He referred to the repeated sacrifices in v. 11, Jesus hated this and referred to it in Matthew 6:7, it is simple, God does not put pleasure in prayer that is offered from a sinful, non-repentant heart.  If we harbor sin, and only play church, then we stand in the same state as Israel did.  We look back on these verses and shake our heads, but Paul addressed the same thing in Romans 2:17-24, and if we even casually look at our churches we see the exact same situation alive and well in our churches today. 

1:16-17  God is pleading with the people to return to the basics.  It doesn't have to be complicated, and everyone knows what they are to do to straighten out their lives.  The Jews knew very well where they were in error, and how they had strayed from the Lord.  He simply ask them to abandon the rebellion that had made itself evident in their lives.  Most of us, just like Israel know exactly what we have been doing wrong, we know what ways that we have abandoned the straight and narrow path.  You don't have to tell someone who is dabbling in sin that they are a sinner, they know it very well. 

1:18-20  The Lord has established the case against Israel, that they have abandoned His ways, now He is pleading with Israel to return to Him, to return to reason.  If they do return to the Lord, look at all the benefits, first, He will forgive their sins, then they will eat the best of the land.  But if they choose to ignore the Lord further, He must judge, He will cause them to be devoured by the sword.  Israel will one day be restored, to the Glory of God, not to man's glory, Ezekiel 36:20-28. 

Don't mis-understand what is going on here, in reasoning with man, God is not stepping to man's level asking for a compromise.  What He is doing according to the Hebrew is pleading a case, the word for reason is a term used to denote arguing, or convincing, that man is wrong, and God is right.  If Israel recognizes that God is right and they are wrong in their lifestyles, and are willing to abandon the wrong living, because of God being right, then they would be forgiven.  It is a call to Holiness, a call to step forward and live according to the high standard that God requires. 

Leviticus 6  In this chapter there are various instructions as to sacrifices even to the point of instructing them as to how to dispose of the ashes from the alter.  One thing that is interesting is that Christ Jesus is the guilt offering that is ordered here in this chapter, where a person has been accidentally harmed or injured by sin.  In the requirement of the Law for a sacrifice to be made in addition to the restitution to God or man, Jesus fulfilled that requirement for us on the cross, Isaiah 53:10-12.

Lord, as we study Your word today, open each one of our minds so that we can understand just how much that You hate sin, and double standards.  Impress upon each one of our hearts how that we can move closer to You, and how that we can hold closely to holiness.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

 
I was struck with the image of God as the Father (as in Parent) of Israel. I imagine his original plan of instituting the laws, sacrifices, rituals, was for the 'kids' benefit. You know, help them to grow strong, keep a healthy father/son relationship, and turn out gracious, wonderful kids. Right? Wrong. Even God had problems with His children. I have to chuckle. He was weary, fed up and angry with their sacrifices, (read, insolent ugrateful behavior.) Anyone have kids?

The blessing for me in this is knowing that our children are responsible to God and not me in the end. If God can't MAKE them be good, what makes me think I can?

I know what I said might be construed to mean parents don't need to try. Our children are our responsibility given to us by God, and we need to take that responsibility seriously. We can also let go when our children don't go where we want them to.

 
Quote:
Eph 6:4
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
1Ti 3:12
Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
Tit 2:4
that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children



Rituals & sacrifices, are they BAD in themselves? I taught in a Catholic Church school for two and a half years and totally enjoyed the sacraments and rituals of the mass. I was in love with God, and He was Holy. The solemnity afforded Him in the Mass was right. (I thought.) I was a member of a non-denom church that didn't have much ritual or solemnity to it, so it provided me with a balance for my spiritual needs. Key word: icon_cool.gif Balance

Last thought. Verse 6
God's children are described like walking aids patients, and I note that there isn't much pity in Isaiah's prophetic word. God is loving and kind, yes. He is also just. Earthly parents have the tendency to want to FIX everything that's wrong with their children because we love them. Sometimes we can't.
_________________
Working on my Serve,
Cat Leonard

 
Leviticus 6 - the little sin of lying ...

Okay I made a whole 'lotta' notes - what do I have here:

6 takes off where chapter 5 ended. Where 5 dealt with the trespass of concealing knowledge, swearing and touching unclean things, 6 deals essentially with deceit . Eastons says about the guilt offering - (Heb. 'asham, "debt"), sin as a "debt" pervades this legislation. The asham, which was always a ram, was offered in cases where sins were more private. JFB clarifies the offender was enjoined to make restitution of the articles to the rightful owner, along with a fifth part out of his own possessions. But it was not enough thus to repair the injury done to a neighbor and to society; he was required to bring a trespass offering, as a token of sorrow and penitence for having hurt the cause of religion and of God. That trespass offering was a ram without blemish, which was to be made on the altar of burnt offerings, and the flesh belonged to the priests. This penalty was equivalent to a mitigated fine; but being associated with a sacred duty, the form in which the fine was inflicted served the important purpose of rousing attention to the claims and reviving a sense of responsibility to God.

Even though my beloved husband had been trying to show me, only very recently had it truly been impressed upon me that I am a liar - practiced in self-deceit which pervades to lying to God and to others and, important to acknowlege, even to my beloved. This is not an easy realization to face - especially in light of the Word which plainly says God is not at all pleased with this practice. I must be honest with myself, with God, and everyone else; to this end, I have prayed. So this text has particular interest for me. See how much focus is placed upon lying and deceit - and the distinctive subtleties. Five main words/phrases struck me, as follows (definitions derived from the KJV Old Testament Dictionary - I've highlighed some of the more interesting descriptors). Seeing these defined greatly helped me put the text in context.

sin Chata'(v2) - miss, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt, forfeit, purify from uncleannes;s to miss; to sin, miss the goal or path of right and duty; to incur guilt, incur penalty by sin, forfeit

tresspass Ma`al (v2) - unfaithful or treacherous act, trespass against man, against God - used 3 times in Leviticus (5:15, Le 6:2, 26:4) and most often in the old testament also translated as transgression

lie Kachash (v3) - to deceive, lie, fail, grow lean, be disappointing, be untrue, be insufficient, be found liars, belie, deny, dissemble, deal falsely - to cringe, feign obedience

deceive `ashaq (v3) - to press upon, oppress, violate, defraud, do violence, get deceitfully, wrong, extort (6:2,4; 19:13) which comes from a word that means 'to strive, contend, quarrel'.

sweareth falsely Sheqer (v3) - from a word that means to do or deal falsely, be false, trick, cheat (6:3,5; 19:12)

 
Covering v25-30, JFB wrote:
This is the law of the sin offering, if an earthen vessel had been used, it being porous and likely to imbibe some of the liquid particles, it was to be broken; if a metallic pan had been used it was to be scoured and washed with the greatest care, not because the vessels had been defiled, but the reverse--because the flesh of the sin offering having been boiled in them, those vessels were now too sacred for ordinary use. The design of all these minute ceremonies was to impress the minds, both of priests and people, with a sense of the evil nature of sin and the care they should take to prevent the least taint of its impurities clinging to them.


In Acts 10 with vessels, we are shown with Peter not to call unclean what God has made clean.

2Ti 2:21 says If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
In 1Th 4:4, it says That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
Of Paul it was said Ac 9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
While it was said Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also - Mat23:25, 26.

Whatever it takes, break and scour me Lord that no taint of inpurity would cling to me; make me a person who is thoroughly honest that I would become pleasing to you and a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
_________________
In Whose I am & Whom I serve,
Normzrib

Isaiah 1:10-20 -vain oblations

God (like we as parents that Catherine mentions) gets down right sick of what his children 'we' are doing sometimes! Here he scoffs at our vain Shav' (emptiness, vanity, falsehood) oblations Minchah (gift, tribute, offering, present, oblation, sacrifice, meat offering). See more on Minchah in my Leviticus 2 post. There is a focus here on the offering of our selves in insincerity and, also untruth (imbedded in our readings today of Isaiah 1:10-20, Leviticus 6, and Romans 2 if you look at my Leviticus 6 post). The difference of an offering from Cain and from Abel. What do you or I offer up - to others? to God?

v10 hear and give ear - God tells us throughout the word, even over and over again in the final book Revelation: If any man have an ear, let him hear - Re 13:9. Not only listen, but take it in and make it a part of you - act on it.

Of the abomination Tow`ebah (disgusting thing) of our vanity, God says it is iniquity 'aven (from an unused root perhaps meaning properly, to pant - hence, to exert oneself, usually in vain) - v14 my soul hateth, they are a trouble (burden) unto me; I am weary to bear them.

v15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Talkin to The Hand, as used in slang, of God.

The fix: Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil.

To what conclusion: In the process we will have communion with God to Come now, and let us reason together (Yakach - to prove, decide, judge, rebuke, reprove, correct, be right) though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Wash, put away and cease with that self we offer up, and be true unto our Lord.
_________________
In Whose I am & Whom I serve,
Normzrib
Here, the Lord calls his own people "rulers of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah" [v. 10]. This is a stinging rebuke as Genesis says of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah: "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly [Gen. 13:13]; And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous" [Gen. 18:20]. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because the people lived unto themselves as if there were no God. Indeed, for Abraham's sake God would have spared these cities if only 10 righteous people could be found [Gen. 18:32]; but they could not be found: "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none" [Eze. 22:30].

With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that through Isaiah, the Lord delivers a strong rebuke to the nation of Israel; they are seeking the Lord in vain and He can no longer bear the religiosity of His people: "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me" [Matt. 15:8; Isa. 29:13]. This is not to say that the sacrificial system instituted by God was failing, but rather that God's people were failing the system because their continual sins made all of the ceremonies, sacrifices and festivals perverse. God took no delight in these observances because they were not done from a heart of contrition and repentance but rather pride and hypocrisy, which God hates [v. 14]. In effect, what the nation was doing was attempting to spiritualize their sins, thinking that God would turn a blind eye to their wickedness. Thus by keeping the letter and ceremony of the law and continuing to perform the sacrifices, feasts and Sabbaths, the Israelites became arrogant and begand to believe that they never had to turn away from the sins that was the reason for these oblations in the first place.

The Lord instituted the sacrificial system so that his people could make an atonement for their sins, but if there is no true repentance on the part of the people, then all that has been done is The killing of an innocent animal. In the same manner, the Israelite festivals were to celebrate and commemorate the history of Israel and its special relationship with God as his chosen people and his continual providence for them. Yet if the nation was not living righteously as it had covenanted to do, then they were in effect blaspheming the festivals and celebrations. Neither the sacrifices or the feasts and festivals were ever intended to be a blanket to cover the nation's sins so that they could continuously sin and yet claim to be preferred by God. As long as the nation continued to remain in rebellion against God and open sin against him, he would not hear or consider their prayers and turn his eyes from them [v. 15]. The only way to restore their relationship with the Lord was to repent. To turn away from their evil ways and to do right: "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow" [vs. 16-17]. The majority of these crimes constituted a breakdown of society. These were specific crimes that meant the law of God was not being followed by either those ruling the land or those living in the land. For if the laws of God were being followed, the provisions in the law for the poor, for the widows, and to ensure that justice could not be bought meant that God's righteousness and holiness ruled the nation, setting them apart from the pagan kingdoms. But by allowing society to disintegrate God's name was mocked among the heathen nations.

Yet despite all of the evil being committed by his chosen people, we see the tender mercies of God, as he pleads with them to come back to him "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" [v. 18]. God is not the some out of control, angry God that some who have not read the OT try to make him out to be. Yes, God is righteous and will judge, but he is also merciful and willing to forgive. "And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin" [Ex. 34:6-7a].

The problem we see here in ancient Israel is not to far removed from many in the church today. For some believe that God's grace allows them the freedom to continually sin and repent and sin again and repeat that pattern over and over and over again without ever having to stop. But this is a misunderstanding of what God's grace to which Paul speaks of in Romans: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" [Rom. 6:1-2].

When you accept God's grace by faith [Eph. 2:8] you enter into fellowship with Him. However, to remain in fellowship with him means that responsibility is entrusted to you to live in accordance with his Word and to repent when His spirit convicts you of being outside his will and not to continue being a great pretender. Otherwise one runs the risk of finding themselves on the same slippery slope that Isaiah preached about here in Chapter 1 and the writers of the New Testament speak to us today: "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" [1 Jn. 1:6, 8]
_________________
Reggie

Isaiah 1:21-31

Readings Leviticus 7, Romans 3

Memory Verses: Isaiah 40:31

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

As I studied through these verses today, I noticed a simple pattern in the verses.  The Hebrew Poetry is loaded with patterns, which help to understand and see more clearly the authors intent.  I will attempt to point these out as I see them.  The purpose behind the pattern is simple, it is to  relate better the idea that the author is trying to get across. 

1:21, 24, 27  All seem to relate to one another, the message in these verses is that the faithful city, has compromised it's great position, and God will buy her back.  First, v. 21 the city is related to as a harlot, who prostitutes herself out to all other forms of thinking, and religions, abandoning the Lord's Justice that she was once full of.  Where righteous once dominated, now murder dominates by comparison.  Second, v. 24, God has considered her to have become an enemy to Him, an opponent that deserves to be attacked.  Against the city, and the compromised positions, the whores, and the murderers that have taken over, God will wage war.  Third, v. 27  God will redeem His city of Zion, and return her repentant ones with righteousness. 

1:22, 25, 28  Notice that God has indicated that they have become corrupted like a fine metal that is loaded with impurities.  The way that impurities are removed from metal is by heating it up, causing it to be heated to such an extreme heat that it melts, and the dross is raised to the top.  Another analogy is that they will be crushed, which is a way of preparing the metal for heating, you beat it thin so that it melts quicker, and also so it loosens up the dross that is in  it. 

1:23, 26, 29  The progression in these verses is obvious, first, v.23, the corruption of the community is stated, second, v. 26, the restoration of the judges and counselors will take place, restoring the city to a state of righteousness, third, they are told that they should be ashamed of themselves, and embarrassed at the leadership which they have taken.

1:30-31 Seems to sum up this section, they are told that as a result of the extreme sin that they are living in, they are like a garden that hasn't been watered, and an oak tree that has dried up from the lack of water.  Then the strong man comes to try fix the problem, only to cause a spark which causes the entire garden and tree to be burnt up.  It ends in catastrophe.  It is a picture of what happens when lives are lived strictly upon the basis of religion, and not on a basis of a relationship with God.  The water, speaking of the word of God, or the Holy Spirit is absent from the lives of the believers, and therefore they dry up, and become useless, except for firewood.  I wonder as I read these verses if this is not a prophecy concerning the demise of Isaiah.  As He attempts to water the garden, and encourage the tree to be brought back to new life, it eventually turns on him and he is killed. 

Application of these verses in our lives is simple, God hates phony believers.  He hated the Jews when they lived their lives in a phony manner, and today, he hates phoniness in our churches.  We all know what it takes to be a Christian, and to live the victorious Christian life, it includes daily study of the Bible, daily prayer, daily application of the Word of God, as well as daily worship, daily living out the life that God has called us to.  Does God call us to be saved so that we can go to church on Sundays, attend church, then shelve the Bible until the next week, or the next prayer meeting?  In our lives, are we living out a form of religiousness, or are we living out our lives daily striving to submit ourselves to God, being willing to be conformed into His image?  In the drive to holiness, how do we match up?  Each one of us has to answer that for ourselves.  All of us knows exactly what it takes to live the abundant Christian life, yet how many are willing to do what it takes to get there?  In these verses, it is clear that God also wants holiness in the lives of His people.  The people have basically two choices, either submit to God, and follow Him, or wait for Him to heat up our lives, burning off the dross that is in our lives, and causing us to come crawling back to Him when all the garbage that we are interested in catches fire.  No, we are not under the Law, but we are still under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Romans 3:27-31.  Paul in his epistles called and screamed for holiness and devotion to the Lord by railing constantly against the sins of the world, and encouraging people to grow in Christ, exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit in our lives.  The message is applicable still today.

Leviticus 7 More on instructions regarding guilt offerings, and instructions on the dispositions of sacrifices, who may eat them, and who can't.  One thing that stood out to me as I read through this chapter was the practicality of God.  He demanded the sacrifices, and a lot of the prohibitions made very good sense nutritionally, as well as preventing illness from old food.  Remember, this was pre-refrigeration days.  God allowed most of them to eat some of the sacrifices that they offered, making it a practical restriction, and affording them some pleasure out of making the sacrifice.  In other words, the act of offering a sacrifice to the Lord was not just a drudgery, they reaped benefits from it as well.

Lord, as we focus upon how that You are sick of the phoniness of believers, show us our own hearts, and bring us into compliance with Your will.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

 

 
 
 
 
Last changed: 09/17/08