Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Dec 27, 2024, 4:41 AM
Passage Read: Leviticus 11-14
Meditation Verses: 14:34-35
Thought
It's interesting that God takes responsibility for the mark of leprosy in the house. What about in clothing or on a person? The Lord is sovereign over all and does control or oversee all that happens in the earth.
Dec 26, 2024, 4:43 AM
Passage Read: Leviticus 7-10
Meditation Verse: 10:3
Thought
Those who represent the Lord, those who draw nearest to Him, must hold closest to His Word and ways. He is holy and His holiness will be on display to those who draw nearest to Him, but that means those that draw nearest to Him must be most diligent to know and treat Him with the utmost honor.
Dec 25, 2024, 12:14 AM
Passage Read: Leviticus 3-6
Meditation Verse: 5:4
Thought
Anyone who thoughtlessly swears any oath, whether good or evil, is guilty of sin and must offer a sacrifice. It did not matter if he was aware of it or not. As soon as he is made aware, he must seek the Lord's forgiveness and offer sacrifice.
Dec 24, 2024, 12:16 AM
Passage Read: Exodus 39 - Leviticus 2
Meditation Verses: Leviticus 1:11-13
Thought
This aspect of the priest's job sounds pretty gruesome. They're not unlike a butcher, except they're only cutting the offering into smaller parts for burning, not carving it up to sell as meat. Killing, draining blood, skinning, cutting it into sections, gutting, cleaning, burning.
Dec 22, 2023, 1:10 AM
Passage Read: Leviticus 27 - Numbers 3
Meditation Verses: Leviticus 27:14-15
Thought
To consecrate something to the Lord is to lose ownership of it to the Lord. You could still use it, but it technically belonged to the Lord, even to the point where in the year of Jubilee actual control and ownership would pass to the priests. If the one who consecrated the item to the Lord wanted it back, to have full control and ownership, he had to pay a fifth more than the original valuation to buy it back from the Lord.
Dec 21, 2023, 1:11 AM
Passage Read: Leviticus 23-26
Meditation Verses: 26:40-45
Thought
The Lord promises ever increasing punishment on the people if they refuse to obey Him and turn away from His statutes. He promised to send punishment, and if that doesn't turn them back in humility to Him and His ways, He will increase their punishment, again and again, until they are driven out of their land and living in fear in the land of their enemies. Yet even then He promises not to forget His covenant with their forefathers.
Dec 20, 2023, 1:12 AM
Passage Read: Leviticus 19-22
Meditation Verses: 19:16-18
Thought
This section of commands speaks of loving a neighbor. We are not allowed to hate a neighbor or plan any evil against him. No vengeance, no slander, no grudge, no character assassination. If he has done wrong or done evil, he surely must be rebuked, but he may not be hated in any way. To love him is to point out his error, but not to plot evil against him or rally others to hate him.
Dec 19, 2023, 1:14 AM
Passage Read: Leviticus 15-18
Meditation Verse: 16:16
Thought
Our sin and our uncleanness disgust God and defile His sanctuary. Even if all the unclean people are kept away from the sanctuary, still once a year it would need to be cleansed and atoned for by blood sacrifice. The nearness of sinful people and unclean people corrupt God's sanctuary. In Ezekiel's vision of the new Israel, God puts a gap between His sanctuary and the people, to keep their uncleanness from defiling His tabernacle.
Dec 18, 2023, 1:15 AM
Passage Read: Leviticus 11-14
Meditation Verse: 14:57
Thought
The Israelites needed to know when they were clean and when they were unclean for the sake of their neighbors and for the sake of God's sanctuary. No one was allowed in the sanctuary when they were unclean; they weren't allowed to corrupt God's holy house. Likewise, they were supposed to be considerate of their neighbors, so as not to corrupt or infect them and make them unclean. To love a neighbor meant protecting them from whatever disease might have come upon you or something you possessed.
Dec 17, 2023, 1:17 AM
Passage Read: Leviticus 7-10
Meditation Verses: 7:12-18
Thought
Not every offering was a direct reminder of sin, not every offering had to do with seeking forgiveness. The peace offering could be for thanksgiving or in response to a vow or just freely given in delight over the Lord. Animals didn't have to be sacrificed only because a person had done wrong, but they could also be offered in gratitude or celebration of the Lord and His goodness. It seems over the course of history, the sacrifices became mainly sacrifices for sin from people who were not even determined to repent.