Leviticus 10

This is what the Lord said, "  ...  I will be proved holy ..."

The Lord's goal for His priest, " ... so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean ..."

Lord, let my life prove You holy.  Help me to distinguish between the holy and the common, the clean and the unclean - that I may prove You in my generation to be who You say You are. 

Leviticus 9

Lord God, this must have been an anxious time for these recent slaves.  One year of freedom under their belts, a tabernacle freshly built, begging for another person to tell them what You wanted and now waiting for Your glory to appear to them - if the sacrifices go well.  Yikes!  No wonder they fell down when Your Shekinah glory consumed the offerings.  I'm not sure I could have stood up in that moment.

I am grateful for being born after You, Lord Jesus; but I don't want my preferences to cause me to miss this huge part of Your children's lives.  You gave them a way to approach You and You met with them.  Your glory displayed for these former slaves who had built treasures for another people and their gods.  How amazing to me that You chose to come in this glorious array and not as a man or any other way.  They had seen Your power, they had benefited from Your wisdom and provision; but they needed to see You in holiness and glory.  And You came, just as You promised.

Help me to not be so casual with my approach to You, with my relationship with You, Sovereign Lord.  You are just as holy and righteous and glorious now as You were then - I pray, help me tremble in Your presence, at Your word.  Help me remember and live from the very distinctive truth that You are not like me; even though You have made greatly available the opportunity to be Your child, to be Your handmaiden.  Let me never forget that You alone are high and lifted up and Your glory fills completely.  And thank You for coming just as You promised then and in Christ and in the Holy Spirit.  You are worthy to be praised and worshiped and bowed down to.

Leviticus 8

As Moses dressed Aaron in the priestly garments, my mind pictured the Lord Jesus dressing me in His righteousness, holiness and salvation.  Aaron could not dress himself, nor can I clothe myself.  Thank You, Precious Lord Jesus for arraying me in Yourself.  I could not do it myself; nor would I know to do so, if You had not drawn me to Yourself.  Thank You for Your love which made me a royal priestess in Your Kingdom. 

I thank You Lord God that in these sacrifices, the kidneys and the liver are Yours.  You take for Yourself the human filters and You provide us with Your vision and a greater revelation of Yourself.  Lord God, let me never filter my life, rather may You always provide me with Your holy view and purpose.  Please help me to daily offer  my filters and my tendency to want to see things my way to You - that they would be completely consumed on the altar of living sacrifice.  May I look only to You and Your Kingdom for the unfolding of my life, the lives of those who influence me and those I influence.  Your Kingdom come, Your will be done in me and my life as You please.

Leviticus 7

Father God, I thank You for Your provision of these sacrifices.  You taught and brought reconciliation, holiness and purity in worship.  I praise You that the sacrifices were beneficial to both the priest and the supplicant, in addition to accomplishing the purpose for which they were offered.  You wasted nothing, You showed them how to approach You and how to relate to each other.  Lord, how incredible that You would give them these directions to show them how to worship and how to shed the pagan traits they may have acquired in bondage. 

Lord, I look for You to do that in my life.  I cannot praise You enough for the gift of ultimate sacrifice Your precious Son has given me; but please let me live in the purpose, position and power His life has paid for.  Continue to purify my worship and my motives, let my view of You increase in majesty, holiness and awe. Let me come open-handed and open-hearted that You may have full access to me - that nothing would be kept from You, that nothing would be wasted and that no bondage would be maintained; except for my heart, my mind, my life to be Yours.  To the praise of Your very great Name.

Leviticus 6

You must make restitution by paying the full price plus an additional 20 percent to the person you have harmed. On the same day you must present a guilt offering.

Thank You, Father God, for showing the urgency of taking responsibility to resolve a sin-situation.  We have earthly consequences we need to address and on the same day we need to be in Your presence regarding this very matter.  I praise You, Holy Spirit, that You speak to us before, during and after a sin - lighting the way to You, that we may know the right way to step in such dark matters.  I thank You that often Your holiness, love and truth discourages many a sin before it is even fully thought out.  I am so grateful You are with me everyday; thank You for doing such a tedious job and for purifying Your handmaiden.

I thank You, Sovereign Lord of the Universe that You are the One who, in these ancient times of wilderness-wandering, supplied the wood for the fire, the perfect, blemish-free animals and the grain.  I confess I get caught up and am tempted to skim over the bloody aspects ... consequentially, I have always overlooked the fact that You ask for the spotless animals and You were the One who supplied them.  Just as they needed.  I wonder what would have happened to Your children had they suddenly no available animals meeting Your requirements - would they have tried harder to not sin?  Would they have just fallen away from Your words?  Would they seek You more? Would they have run back to Egypt?   I thank You that You did not choose to teach them in that fashion, nor have You provided less than a Perfect, All-sufficient Sacrifice for me.  I don't have to wonder what if ... I know that the debt has been paid and You are worthy of all my love and honor and obedience.  Let me walk in the full awareness of all You have done and are still doing - give scope for Your vision.  To the praise of Your Name.

Leviticus 5

Sin offerings and guilt offerings - for things done and later recognized as sinful or unfaithful or bringing guilt.  

In the close community of these wilderness travelers, I wonder how anything really transpired without a witness or two.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit, Who was not living in them, whispered their transgression to them, maybe He stirred their conscience, and perhaps He encouraged accountability amongst God's children by their close associations.  I can see that the Israelites would understand that when sin was in the camp, it was not a good thing ... and they would be motivated to purity and confession.

Now, what does this say to me?   I need to be in relationships where accountability is at the forefront.  I can be deceived or completely miss something.  The Holy Spirit does speak to me about my actions or non-actions;  He can also implement the compliant heart of a friend to echo truth to me, as well.

The problem is today's culture is not so accountability-oriented - rather it's more tolerant of self-expression.  And, the problem is it's hard for me to receive a correction or even gracious words of discipline.  But, one thing I know:  I need this.  And I need to be receptive and humble to those that the Lord has chosen to use to grow me up in Him, to purify me, to just teach me the right way of good choices; otherwise I will scare off any who cares enough to invest in thoughtful words.  

God help me be humble that I may receive more of Your grace; let me not pursue a prideful life which causes You to resist me.  Please continue to show me where I am blowing it regarding sin, guilt and faith - Let me be more teachable and resilient to Your cultivation.  Please strengthen those that would speak into my life that they would be blessed by their obedience.  Please give me ears to hear, a heart soft enough to receive and a mind willing to change to bring You greater glory.  Protect me from spurious comments, let me not be swayed by swaggering blather - let me recognize Your words when they come to me.  And please help me to be useful to You, if You would desire to use me, to speak loving and prayerful truth to others for Your Kingdom's benefit.  God, I want to honor You.  Teach me Your ways.

Leviticus 4

Unintentional sin.  How did the unintentional sin get figured out ... an accident, perhaps or an illness, "misfortune" ... ?  From the results or circumstances which appeared less than optimal - not the blessed life?  This makes me wonder; yet I am not sure that the nature of an unintentional sin really matters.  What does matter and what so encourages me is God has a provision for this situation.  He knew we would blow it, at times, unintentionally.

So, in imagining if I lived back then and I had committed unintentional sin - which would  be perhaps unknown to me, the perpetrator.  And somehow, the matter comes to comes to my attention.  What do I do about this? 

My response - no matter if I was common person, priest, leader or part of the whole - must be humble and willing to take the steps which lead to me appropriating the atonement which has been provided through this process by my God for me.  Sure, I can live in denial for a time; but what found me out will still be sitting on my doorstep and heart until I rightfully tend to the matter.  And I am pretty sure I left "de Nile" back in Egypt. (=})

Another very compelling characteristic of this provision is the matter is not dealt with privately nor circumspectly.  This was a very public resolution.  Which makes it very obvious to the me and community  that the matter is completely resolved in God's presence.  No self-doubt, no worries that I did it wrong, no 90 day probation to test a heart, no lingering talk or gossip because the remedy was applied and accepted.  

The fact that the burnt portion of this offering is offered like the peace offering as God described it blesses me even more - suggesting that this part of the ceremony is to bring peace, restore the rightness of relationship within the community and with the Lord, re-establish well-being of the perpetrator - me.   

The carcass of the sacrificed animal was to be taken out of camp and permanently disposed of - what a picture of the sin being removed from the presence of the offender and the community.  God's forgiveness and atonement leaving peace and a sweet fragrance amidst the blood.  Never forget the blood - as even unintentional sin much be paid for, at great cost.

I have a tendency to read quickly through these sacrifices as the killing and blood are hard to dwell on.  But, that's the point.  Sin brings death.  Life is lost due to sin.  Even unintentional sin.  Life must pay sin's debt.  

Lord Jesus, my Messiah, I cannot thank You enough for paying for even my unintentional sin.  Thank You for Your life for mine.  It was Your blood which was poured out at the altar.  Your life for mine.  You paid for my heinousness and my screw-ups.  You bring peace; peace with You and peace with my peers.  I praise You that my efforts may be suspect; but Your atonement is perfect and sufficient.  No need to wonder.  I thank You for the gracious teaching You gave Your newly freed children to purify their worship, to know they could approach You and to comprehend holiness.  You chose them and  they were Yours, as am I.   The belonging You arranged and kept in place.  The sacrifices were to reconcile - not make them more Yours.   Please help me to walk in the boldness and grace that belonging to You brings.  I love You.