365 Reflections

Deuteronomy 21 ends with three obscure laws that have zero meaning to us if not for the Cross of Christ and His work to make us God's people. The first is the law of the firstborn son. Basically, if a man has two wives and prefers one (obviously the second wife as no one would prefer the first wife or the second would not exist!), he is NOT to show preferential treatment to the son of his preferred wife. The firstborn inheritance goes to the firstborn regardless of his emotional state. This law looks strange as it seems to allow polygamy. Of course, this is not promoting polygamy but drawing constraints around it so that Israel would not do as they wished in less-than-godly situations. The point to be drawn from here is that God understands how often we let our emotions do the talking. We get irrational and unfair in these moments. Think for instance of the unloved woman's son. He would have to bear the consequence of something between his father and mother. God will not ha...

Numbers 16:43–47 (ESV) And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun.” 47 So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. In this strange moment we see something revealed through Moses to teach us about Jesus. Incredibly, after the Earth opens and swallows the rebels from the beginning of this chapter, the people of Israel have the audacity to complain against Moses for "killing" the Lord's people. How unreal.  The Lord ...

Leviticus 17:10–11 (ESV) 10 “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. This command to not eat blood clearly illustrates that God has designated blood sacrifice as the means of atonement for sin. God has established that blood flowing from a body in death is the sign by which a person has access into His presence again. It was to be made clear for Israel, they were not to assume that blood was for immediate and physical benefit. Think of this in an ancient world context removed from the scientific data we have available to us today. Blood may have looked nourishing and immediate. Where as meat had to be butchered and cooked, blood could have simply been boil...

Leviticus 16 is the climatic moment - the day of Atonement. This would be the day Israel's national sins would be remitted, cleansed, and taken away through a long and arduous process performed MOSTLY by one man - the High Priest of Israel. The first facet of the procedure we should note is the high priests change of clothes. Leviticus 16:3–4 (ESV)   But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. The High Priest had two outfits. One of glory as he bore the names of Israel on his heart and the holiness of God in front of the nation. These garments made the Priest look glorious and powerful, a representation of God to man. The second set of garmen...

Exodus 30:11–14  (ESV)   The Lord said to Moses, 12 “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. 13 Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord . 14   Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the LORD’s offering. Exodus moves from describing the Temple, all it's instruments and designs to the census tax upon those 20 years old or more.  The people of Israel were to know that they were worth something. They had to give a ransom each for their lives whenever they were counted by God's leader. What's also interesting is that the money came into the tabernacle as a sort of tax. They brought the value of their lives to the tabernacle wh...