3/09/11
Leviticus 22-23
Leviticus 22:1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Direct Aaron and his sons to deal carefully with the sacred donations of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they may not profane my holy name; I am the Lord. 3 Say to them: If anyone among all your offspring throughout your generations comes near the sacred donations, which the people of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while he is in a state of uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord. 4 No one of Aaron’s offspring who has a leprous disease or suffers a discharge may eat of the sacred donations until he is clean. Whoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse or a man who has had an emission of semen, 5 and whoever touches any swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or any human being by whom he may be made unclean—whatever his uncleanness may be— 6 the person who touches any such shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat of the sacred donations unless he has washed his body in water. 7 When the sun sets he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat of the sacred donations, for they are his food. 8 That which died or was torn by wild animals he shall not eat, becoming unclean by it: I am the Lord. 9 They shall keep my charge, so that they may not incur guilt and die in the sanctuary for having profaned it: I am the Lord; I sanctify them.
10 No lay person shall eat of the sacred donations. No bound or hired servant of the priest shall eat of the sacred donations; 11 but if a priest acquires anyone by purchase, the person may eat of them; and those that are born in his house may eat of his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the offering of the sacred donations; 13 but if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced, without offspring, and returns to her father’s house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food. No lay person shall eat of it. 14 If a man eats of the sacred donation unintentionally, he shall add one-fifth of its value to it, and give the sacred donation to the priest. 15 No one shall profane the sacred donations of the people of Israel, which they offer to the Lord, 16 causing them to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, by eating their sacred donations: for I am the Lord; I sanctify them.
Acceptable Offerings
17 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 18 Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them: When anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens residing in Israel presents an offering, whether in payment of a vow or as a freewill offering that is offered to the Lord as a burnt offering, 19 to be acceptable in your behalf it shall be a male without blemish, of the cattle or the sheep or the goats. 20 You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable in your behalf.
21 When anyone offers a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, in fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering, from the herd or from the flock, to be acceptable it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. 22 Anything blind, or injured, or maimed, or having a discharge or an itch or scabs—these you shall not offer to the Lord or put any of them on the altar as offerings by fire to the Lord. 23 An ox or a lamb that has a limb too long or too short you may present for a freewill offering; but it will not be accepted for a vow. 24 Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the Lord; such you shall not do within your land, 25 nor shall you accept any such animals from a foreigner to offer as food to your God; since they are mutilated, with a blemish in them, they shall not be accepted in your behalf.
26 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 27 When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as the Lord’s offering by fire. 28 But you shall not slaughter, from the herd or the flock, an animal with its young on the same day. 29 When you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that it may be acceptable in your behalf. 30 It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall not leave any of it until morning: I am the Lord.
31 Thus you shall keep my commandments and observe them: I am the Lord. 32 You shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel: I am the Lord; I sanctify you, 33 I who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord.
Appointed Festivals
Leviticus 23:1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: These are the appointed festivals of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed festivals.
The Sabbath, Passover, and Unleavened Bread (Num 28.16—25)
3 Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a sabbath to the Lord throughout your settlements.
4 These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall celebrate at the time appointed for them. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to the Lord, 6 and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of unleavened bread to the Lord; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. 8 For seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire; on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation: you shall not work at your occupations.
The Offering of First Fruits
9 The Lord spoke to Moses: 10 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall raise the sheaf before the Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall raise it. 12 On the day when you raise the sheaf, you shall offer a lamb a year old, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 And the grain offering with it shall be two-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. 14 You shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears until that very day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements.
The Festival of Weeks (Ex 34.22; Num 28.26—31; Deut 16.9—10)
15 And from the day after the sabbath, from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering, you shall count off seven weeks; they shall be complete. 16 You shall count until the day after the seventh sabbath, fifty days; then you shall present an offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an elevation offering, each made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of choice flour, baked with leaven, as first fruits to the Lord. 18 You shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, one young bull, and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, along with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord. 19 You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of well-being. 20 The priest shall raise them with the bread of the first fruits as an elevation offering before the Lord, together with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 On that same day you shall make proclamation; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. This is a statute forever in all your settlements throughout your generations.
22 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.
The Festival of Trumpets (Num 29.1—6)
23 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 24 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of complete rest, a holy convocation commemorated with trumpet blasts. 25 You shall not work at your occupations; and you shall present the Lord’s offering by fire.
The Day of Atonement (Num 29.7—11)
26 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 27 Now, the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you: you shall deny yourselves and present the Lord’s offering by fire; 28 and you shall do no work during that entire day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. 29 For anyone who does not practice self-denial during that entire day shall be cut off from the people. 30 And anyone who does any work during that entire day, such a one I will destroy from the midst of the people. 31 You shall do no work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements. 32 It shall be to you a sabbath of complete rest, and you shall deny yourselves; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your sabbath.
The Festival of Booths (Num 29.12—40; Deut 16.13—17)
33 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 34 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, and lasting seven days, there shall be the festival of booths to the Lord. 35 The first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. 36 Seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire; on the eighth day you shall observe a holy convocation and present the Lord’s offerings by fire; it is a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations.
37 These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you shall celebrate as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day— 38 apart from the sabbaths of the Lord, and apart from your gifts, and apart from all your votive offerings, and apart from all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.
39 Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the Lord, lasting seven days; a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day. 40 On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You shall keep it as a festival to the Lord seven days in the year; you shall keep it in the seventh month as a statute forever throughout your generations. 42 You shall live in booths for seven days; all that are citizens in Israel shall live in booths, 43 so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
44 Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed festivals of the Lord.
Devotionals, Videos and more ...
by Bill Federer
On this date, March 9,1862, the historic Civil War battle took place between the Confederate iron-plated ship Merrimac, which had just destroyed two Union boats, and the Union’s ironclad vessel, the Monitor, designed by Swedish Immigrant John Ericsson. After 4 hours of bombardment, with cannon balls deflecting off their decks, the Confederate ship was crippled and withdrew to Virginia. Naval warfare was forever changed that day. When John Ericsson was offered payment for designing the Monitor, he replied: “Nothing could induce me to accept any remuneration… [It is] my contribution to the glorious… triumph… which freed 4,000,000 bondsmen.”
Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.
by D.H. Stern
A gossip goes around revealing secrets,
so don’t get involved with a talkative person.
Whoever curses his father or mother—
his lamp will go out in total darkness.
Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.
by Oswald Chambers
The time of relapse
Will ye also go away? --- John 6:67.
A penetrating question. Our Lord’s words come home most when He talks in the most simple way. We know Who Jesus is, but in spite of that He says—“Will ye also go away?” We have to maintain a venturing attitude toward Him all the time.
“From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.” They went back from walking with Jesus, not into sin, but they relapsed. Many to-day are spending and being spent in work for Jesus Christ, but they do not walk with Him. The one thing God keeps us to steadily is that we may be one with Jesus Christ. After sanctification the discipline of our spiritual life is along this line. If God gives a clear and emphatic realization to your soul of what He wants, do not try to keep yourself in that relationship by any particular method, but live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ. Never try to live the life with God on any other line than God’s line, and that line is absolute devotion to Him. The certainty that I know I do not know—that is the secret of going with Jesus.
Peter only saw in Jesus Someone to minister salvation to him and to the world. Our Lord wants us to be yoke-fellows with Him.
v. 70. Jesus answers the great lack in Peter. We cannot answer for others.
Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest
the Poetry of R.S. Thomas
Sea Christmas
This is the wrong Christmas
in the right place: mistletoe
water there is no kissing
under; the soused holly
of the wrack, and birds coming
to the bird-table with
no red on their breast. All
night it has snowed
foam on the splintering
beaches, but the dawn-
wind carries it away, load
after load, and look,
the sand at the year's
solstice is young flesh
on a green crib, product
of an immaculate conception.
R.S. Thomas - 1979
Berakhot 28a
The disagreement of Abaye and Rava works on two levels. In one sense, it is about the recitation of the Sh’ma. How can we make sure that a person recites the Sh’ma regularly, at the right time, in the right state of mind and the proper dress?
Yet, Abaye and Rava are also talking about human expectations, about the excuses that all of us give at one time or another. They are asking: How much can realistically be expected from a Jew? Both sages speak out of love for God, Torah, and the Jewish people, yet each with a particular emphasis. According to Rav Ḥin’na, the son of Rav Ikka, Abaye seems much more concerned with the legal implications. Even if it creates a hardship and involves great personal sacrifice, the law nonetheless must be upheld, lest the man recite the Sh’ma in an improper condition. Rava, however, tilts the scale more towards the human dimension. The Torah does not expect the impossible, and reciting the Sh’ma, at the last possible moment, while immersed in water up to one’s neck, is as much as Rava can demand from a person. Any prohibition beyond that is too much for him. After all, the Torah was not given to angels, but to human beings!
Every one of us, at one time or another, has said: “This is impossible, and I can’t do it!” More than one has quoted the Yiddish proverb “Shver tzu zayn a Yid—It’s hard being a Jew.” We may think: “What does God want from me? I’m only human!” When we feel overwhelmed, we tell the world: “I can’t do any more than this. Your demands on me are too much.” Milton Steinberg, a well-known rabbi and preacher, collected a series of his sermons in a work called Only Human—The Eternal Alibi.… His point was that we use this excuse to excess; we plead humanity when we really mean laziness, forgetfulness, or indifference.
Rava’s words, “The Torah was not given to the ministering angels,” can be a great comfort to us today. They remind us that anything demanded of us by Judaism must, by its very nature, be possible, for the Torah was not given to angels, but to humans. Nevertheless, Rava’s words are a two-edged sword. Our sense of comfort is limited by the realization that we cannot run away from these demands or beg off with the words: “It’s not humanly possible!”
Just as Rava comforts us, he also challenges us: If it seems impossible, it is not, for the Torah was not given to the angels. Therefore, everything in it is achievable, although sometimes with tremendous effort. To see that life’s demands, which may seem overwhelming, can in reality be attained is both a great relief and a tremendous challenge.
His inside is not like his outside.
Text / It was taught: On that day, they dismissed the doorkeeper and gave permission for the students to enter. For Rabban Gamliel used to announce: “Any student whose inside is not like his outside should not enter the study house.” That day, they added seats. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “There is a disagreement between Abba Yosef ben Dostai and the Rabbis. One said: ‘They added four hundred seats.’ The other said: ‘Seven hundred seats.’ Rabban Gamliel became upset and said: ‘Perhaps, God forbid, I have withheld Torah from Israel.’ He was seized by a dream in which he saw white jugs filled with ashes. But it was not so; that was only to appease him.”
Context / Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah is known to many as one of the rabbis mentioned in the traditional haggadah used at the Pesaḥ Seder. The Talmud, in the section immediately before our text above, relates what happened on “that day,” that is, the day he took over authority of the study house: Though Rabbi Elazar confessed to being “like a man of seventy years,” he was actually only eighteen years old at the time! Upon becoming head of the study house, he quickly learned about the awesome burdens of public office; his hair immediately turned gray and he remarked that he felt “like a man of seventy years.” Here is a case where, in a different sense, his inside was not like his outside: Rabbi Elazar was still quite young but looked (and apparently felt) quite old. Such is the price paid by many for leadership.
“That day” refers to the day on which Rabban Gamliel was overthrown as head of the study house in Yavneh and replaced by Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah. On “that day,” the students rebelled against Rabban Gamliel’s authority, installing this younger and apparently kinder teacher, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, in his stead. On “that day” there was a change not only of administration but also of attitude. Previously, admission to the study house had been highly selective. Rabban Gamliel had ruled that anyone whose qualities and attributes on the inside—his heart and soul—did not equal what was visible on the outside—his deeds and learning—should not enter the study house. A doorkeeper was posted to prevent undesirable students from entering. Rabbi Elazar changed that and allowed anyone who wanted to enter his school. On “that day,” hundreds of students took up his offer.
There is disagreement over the exact number of students, but it is clear that many new students came to the study house after Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah took over. Rabban Gamliel is saddened that his actions may have caused a decrease in Torah knowledge. His distress is lessened when he dreams of jugs filled with ashes. In talmudic times, dreams were often seen as signs or portents, and the image of ash-filled casks is taken by Rabban Gamliel to symbolize the new students. While their number may be great, they are not worthy students but hollow containers. However, the Gemara itself disagrees. Rabban Gamliel may feel better about his dream, but its meaning is not what he thinks. The purpose of the dream was only to appease Rabban Gamliel; the fact stands that he caused a diminution of Torah.
Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. (1998). Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday LIving
. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.by Diana Wallis
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. --- Psalm 103:13
Our children have our pity when anybody has wronged them. I have heard say that there are some men that you might insult, almost with impunity, and should you even give them a blow they would stop to ask the reason before showing any resentment. But if you put a hand on their children, you will see the father’s blood come up into his face, and the most patient man will, all of a sudden, become the most passionate. There was a livid blue mark where you struck the child, and the father looks as though he could forgive you if that were on his own body, but on his child—no, that he cannot endure. He turns it over and over, and he cannot resist his indignation that his child should be carelessly made to suffer. The wrongs of children call fondly for redress in the ears of every sensitive man or woman, but they are sure to awake a thrilling echo in a father’s heart.
“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?… I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.” There is no wrong done to his people but it is registered in God’s archives. “Whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye.” Christ seemed to sit still in heaven till he saw the blood of his saints shed, and then he stood up as in indignation when they stoned Stephen. You remember how he cries, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” It was he himself who suffered, though his saints were made to die. Leave, then, your wrongs with God. “ ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord,” and let your reply be always gentleness and kindness toward those who hate you, for righteousness’ sake. --- C. H. Spurgeon
Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers
Regulations for Holiness in the People: Leviticus 18–20
Sexual regulation (Lev. 18). Sex is God’s invention. It is He who created human beings male and female; He who told the first pair to be fruitful and to multiply. The New Testament even calls teaching that believers are to refrain from marriage, “which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth,” the teachings of “demons” and “deceiving spirits” (1 Tim. 4:1–5).
But sex has a specific and wonderful function in human experience. While pleasurable and exciting, sex is designed as a bonding experience: an expression of union and oneness to be known by a man and woman who commit themselves to each other for life. Outside of this context of lifelong union, and outside the context of intimate self-giving, sexual activity will be destructive rather than constructive.
Leviticus 18 reflects this and even goes beyond it. It identifies certain sexual liaisons as “detestable things” which defile not only individuals but the society (“the land,” Leviticus 18:27). Included are sexual relations with blood relations and in-laws, sexual relations with animals, and homosexuality (Leviticus 18:7–23).
This last practice, which the Old Testament text calls “detestable,” is an issue today as gay men and women demand not just civil rights but to be recognized by society as persons who practice an acceptable “alternative lifestyle.” There are even openly homosexual clergy, who demand that their denominations affirm them as ministers of God and give congregations into their care.
The prohibition against homosexuality is not found solely in this one passage. Leviticus 20 expands on the sin and decrees the death penalty “if a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman” for “both of them have done what is detestable” (Hebrews 20:13).
The New Testament Book of Romans speaks of homosexual acts as a “degrading of their bodies with one another” and calls such passions “shameful lusts” that lead to “indecent acts” (Romans 1:24–27). Whatever moderns say about homosexuality, the Bible clearly identifies this sexual practice as sin.
I believe scripture is clear; however, does it make sense for someone who dishonors their parents, engages in adultery, defrauds their neighbor, blasphemes God, kills, steals, lies ... to pronounce judgment on someone else? Isn't Jesus the One Who judges? I see all the half price sales at the optical stores, but none offer splinter, log, beam removal. Maybe we should keep our eyes on Jesus and work on removing the ungodly from our own life first.
As Christians, living in a secular society rather than in Israel’s “society under God,” we can take a moral stand on what is right. But probably we will not be able to criminalize homosexuality. As for those outside the Christian community who practice it, their real spiritual need is for Jesus Christ. With them, we need to keep the focus not so much on this sin as on the message of forgiveness for all sins that comes with personal faith in the Saviour.
But those who claim to be Christians and still demand a right to be homosexual must be challenged with a vision of our Holy God, who insists that all who have a relationship with Him depart from their iniquity, to live a holy and godly life.
Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The Teacher's Commentary
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