Daily Bible Devotionals

“You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and I abhorred them. And I promised you: You will inherit their land, since I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who set you apart from the peoples.” Leviticus 20:23-24 (HCSB)

Here’s a joke for you.  

Q: What did the fool say just before he died?

A: Hey, y’all! Watch this!

Q: What did his best friend say just before he died?

A:  Aww, I can do that better than he did!

It has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Doesn’t that sound like us? The Lord saves people, yet many folks turn back and begin sinning in the same ways they did before they were saved! It is as if they are repeating those sins, hoping they will somehow lead to fulfillment instead of disappointment.

God informed Israel that He would deliver them to Canaan and told them how He would drive out the Canaanites. He also told Israel WHY the Canaanites were being driven out: their sinful ways.

That information, alone, should have been enough to teach Israel to honor the Lord, ensuring their perpetual possession of the Promised Land. God went further and instructed the Israelites to separate themselves from the ways and beliefs of the Canaanites.

Why would Israel turn to the ways of Canaan’s former inhabitants? Perhaps it is because of their concept of “blessing.” Maybe they got into the land, and conditions were more challenging than Israel thought they might be. I think this may have been the case because God informed the children of Israel that the Promised Land would be “flowing with milk & honey.”

I have four children. I am aware that milk does not flow from a mother until after the painful delivery of the baby. I have also seen how honey is harvested, contending with nagging, stinging bees!

Could it be that God was telling Israel that Canaan would be fruitful but that cultivating the fruit would involve nagging, stinging, painful work? Doesn’t that remind you of the joy we receive after employing the discipline of living holy and separate lives unto God in our generation? Discipline is what being a “disciple” is all about, and it seems fruitless if we lose sight of the goal of our laboring. We are called to honor the Lord, longing to enter into the place He has prepared for us, receiving His great commendation, “Well done!”

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the Lord your God.’” Leviticus 19:1-4 (NKJV)

I find it interesting how chapter 18 deals with the sinful behavior that caused the Canaanites to be expelled from the land. Chapter 19 begins as chapter 18 ends with a challenge to be holy, that is, “separate” from other nations and customs.

Also intriguing is how immediately following God’s reason for expelling the Canaanites from the land and His command of holiness, God reminds Israel of the 5th commandment.

“Honor your father and mother, so that you may LIVE LONG IN THE LAND which the Lord is giving you.” Exodus 20:12 (HCSB) (Emphasis mine)

The beautiful irony is that the 5th commandment is the only commandment with a promise directed towards longevity in the land.

So, let me clarify:  Sexual sin becomes increasingly more perverted and eventually leads to expulsion from the land. Honoring your father and mother ensures longevity in the land.

Perhaps we should look closer at what it means to “honor” your father and mother.

Honoring one’s parents means more than simply “obeying” them. You bring honor to your parents when you honor the Lord. For instance, if both your parents are unbelievers and strongly oppose your belief in Jesus, the best way to “honor” them is by disobeying their wishes and becoming a believer! Your following the Lord brings honor to your mother and father, even if it goes against their wishes.

“Sexual sin” and “honoring your parents” are diametrically opposed because God is concerned with both familial and spiritual legacies. The fruit of sexual relations is in our offspring. When we honor the Lord with our lives, we ensure that we produce not only good works unto the Lord but also that our offspring will do so, as well. Obedience to God and the continuation of a God-honoring legacy throughout the generations are inseparable.

From holy people come children who, when raised in a God-honoring environment, grow into a strong community that honors God.   Carnal people bear offspring who, outside of God’s intervention, will continue in a downward moral spiral.

So, be holy! Surrender yourself to the Lord and His ways, and let Him establish your legacy of holiness. And your first step is to surrender to Messiah Jesus.

“Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves by all these things. The land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances. You must not commit any of these detestable things—not the native or the foreigner who lives among you. For the men who were in the land prior to you have committed all these detestable things, and the land has become defiled.” Leviticus 18:24-27 (HCSB)

History tells us that just before the fall of every major empire, there was a “libertarian” view towards sexuality throughout the culture—one of the last allowances being open acceptance of homosexuality.

Interestingly, chapter 18 is devoted almost entirely to sex and its perversion. Then the Lord warns Israel to stay away from those things because He is expelling Canaan’s inhabitants because of those very same perversions! God says they have defiled the land, causing it to vomit them out.

Leviticus is about the calling out of a people to be separate. It was not enough to call Israel out of Egypt. God also commanded Israel to drive “Egypt” out of itself!  

This is not dissimilar to our situation as believers today. First, we are called out of the World to follow Jesus.   Next, we are called to live “holy and presentable to God.” Many followers of Jesus take a passive view of morality. I often hear from believers, “My salvation is secure, so I can live however I wish.” That is not true.  

While the true believer’s salvation is secured by God’s righteousness (not their own righteousness), the one who sins deliberately and habitually should do some healthy self-examination to determine if they are genuine believers at all. Believers are not sinless, but they should desire to sin less…and less as they progress in their relationship with Him.  

In the days of the prophets, the Lord drove Israel out of the land because they failed to heed His warnings to be separate, choosing, instead, to follow the ways of the pagans.

Likewise, Jesus shared a conversation that will take place between Himself and “pseudo-Christians” at the end of time: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven.” Matthew 7: 21 (HCSB)

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Therefore, I said to the children of Israel, ‘none of you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.’” Leviticus 17: 11-12 (NKJV)

If you ever travel to Israel, one thing you’ll find out quickly is how awful the beef tastes! Why? It has been drained of all its blood and stripped of most of its fat. It must be so to be certified “kosher” by the rabbis who inspect the meat processing plants and restaurants.

Unlike the laws of clean & unclean animals (Acts 10:9-15), the command to “not eat blood” has never even been suggested to have been repealed by the Lord. At least, Scripture does not indicate such. Perhaps this poses a challenge to us:  How rare can we get that steak before it’s considered “eating blood”?

As a young follower of Jesus, I wondered, “What’s the deal with all of the talk and focus on the ‘Blood’ of Jesus?” I understood suffering, and I get how He paid the penalty we deserve. I understood resurrection, proving the power and will of God to do miracles. But the blood…?

In today’s passage, we find some clarity. The practice of shedding animal blood for sin atonement was given to Israel by God. Why? Perhaps the best explanation is that “blood sacrifice” provides a vivid picture of the serious deadliness of sin observed by the individual worshipping. It lets them consider how their sin looks to God and the punishment awaiting them if their sin is not atoned for.  

Almost everyone thinks their children are saints compared to everyone else’s kids. We justify our sin to ourselves but condemn others. Sometimes, it is good to separate from ourselves and get a detached, elevated, and objective view of our lives...a view from God’s perspective of how we measure up to His standard.  

In what seems like cruel performance art, God shows Israel (and now us) that sin sheds blood. And it is OUR blood that sin sheds. By choosing to sin, we are literally killing ourselves. Apart from Messiah, we work toward sinful goals, and the wages of that labor are death.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Jesus, our Lord.” Romans 6:23 (NKJV)

In His gracious mercy, God allows us to view sin as He sees it through the commandment of the blood sacrifice. He has given life in blood. Because Jesus is eternal, through Jesus’ blood, we are offered eternal life. When we consider the Roman cross on which Jesus died, we see what WE deserved yet were spared through Jesus’ atonement. And we understand the urgency of sharing the gospel with non-believers!

Grab your Bible & experience the Groundworks Ministries Podcast as Steve Wiggins leads us through the full chapter of Leviticus 16. Click the links below to watch or listen now!

“When a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days…”  Leviticus 15:25a (HCSB)

From a chapter that has made 8th-grade boys snicker throughout the ages, we find the setup for one of the most profound miracles of Jesus’ ministry on earth.

“A woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years had endured much under many doctors. She spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. Having heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His robe. For she said, ‘If I can just touch the hem of His garment, I’ll be made well!’  Instantly, her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was cured of her affliction.”  Mark 5:25-29 (HCSB)

Doctors are not healers. They are keen observers. Modern medicine is the byproduct of centuries of medical & scientific observation. Persistent observation leads to improved diagnosis and treatments, resulting in heightened probabilities of recovery. Yet, even before the insurance papers are processed, it is God Who allows the healing to happen.

None of us would willingly select civil-war-era dentistry, much less 1st-century Church-era medical practices! Can you imagine the methods of treatment this woman had undergone before she connected with Jesus?

While there is much to say about this woman’s healing (and Jesus’ response to it), I want to focus on one item:  Having reached the end of the World’s options, she had nothing to lose by reaching out to Jesus in faith.   In a word, she was “desperate.”

In this observation of her desperation, we are reminded of the great “constant” of evangelism: People do not come to faith in Jesus because of convenience but rather out of desperation. Ask yourself, what circumstances led you to reach out to Jesus in faith? (That is, given that you have reached out to Him.)

People only accept a savior when they recognize they need salvation. I go surfing quite often. Every time I walk into the surf with my surfboard, I try to make eye contact with the lifeguard. I generally wave as I walk by. I want him to know I’m in the water in case I need him later. Having identified the lifeguard (and knowing he has acknowledged me), if I were drowning in the surf, you’d better believe I would call out to that lifeguard!!! And I wouldn’t be ashamed if, while I was drowning among dozens of skilled surfers, He asked, “Which one of you guys called out to me?”  

That is how illogical our fear of reaching out to Jesus is. Why not reach out to Him today? Salvation is only a prayer away for those who are humble enough to admit they need it, for those who are faithful enough to call out. When we call to Him, we are simply asking Him to do what He came to do: save people who realize they’re drowning in sin to the point where they are willing to humble themselves and call out for Him to rescue them.

“The Lord spoke to Moses: ‘This is the law concerning the person afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing. He is to be brought to the priest, who will go outside the camp and examine him. If the skin disease has disappeared from the afflicted person, the priest will order that two live clean birds, cedarwood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop brought for the one who is to be cleansed.’”  Leviticus 14:1-4 (HCSB)

We need to understand that the procedures outlined in today’s passage do not constitute a cure for leprosy. The verse describes a ceremony to restore a person who has already been healed. Only God can cure a person, not a ritual. That is what separates voodoo from true religion.

In what may seem like an otherwise benign ritual concerning skin disease (something we would defer to a dermatologist today), we actually have a clear picture of Jesus’ suffering on the Roman cross. Let’s examine the elements.

First off, the whole act was to take place outside of the camp:

“Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that He might sanctify the people by His own blood.” Hebrews 13:12 (HCSB)

Next, the birds and articles (required for the ceremony) were not provided by the leper himself. The priest summoned the articles to be brought. Otherwise, the articles would be unclean for the priest to touch. Similarly, Jesus was the substitute for our sin offering. Atonement comes completely from His gracious provision and not from our good works, what we “bring to the table,” so to speak.

The scarlet wool and hyssop are symbols of the Passover lamb, which was sacrificed, and its blood “painted” on the Israelites’ doorposts with the hyssop branches. It is also a picture of Jesus, our Passover lamb. (1 Corinthians 5:7)

The cedar wood evokes the image of the cross.

In verse 5, one of the two birds is to be killed. Then, the living bird (along with the other articles) was to be “washed” in the blood of the sacrificed bird. This is meant to show a contrast to the other bird, which was allowed to live, thus representing the state of death from which the leper had escaped. This reminds us of how we are “washed in the blood” of Jesus, who atoned for our sin so that we may live. (Revelation 7:14)

Running water (literally: living water) in verse 5 symbolizes mikveh (baptism), being washed clean. Jesus said to the woman at the well, “If you knew to Whom you are speaking, you would ask, and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10

Finally, in verse 7, the leper is pronounced clean, and the living bird is let go. So, too, are we free, indeed, through Messiah Jesus! (John 8:36)

“The person afflicted with an infectious skin disease is to have his clothes and his hair hanging loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ He will remain unclean as long as he has the infection; he is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.”  Leviticus 13:45-46 (HCSB)

Sociologists have described this generation (especially the 18-25 yrs) as the “most narcissistic” in history. That is to say, everything in our culture is focused on the individual. Our “I-centered” culture is quickly losing all sense of Biblical community.

Perhaps that is why “community” ranks high on the aspirations of so many people. “Me-centric” worlds promote profound loneliness. Who can you trust to have your best interest in mind when everyone lives only for himself? Perhaps a more important question is: Does God most value the individual or the community? I say both.

Jesus prayed for all believers, “I wish that they were one, as You and I are One.” John 17:22b-21a (NKJV)

Given our breakdown of community, is it any wonder why chapters like this one in Leviticus seem so foreign? We tend to feel sorry for the individual and picture ourselves running through the streets screaming, “Unclean!”

Try taking an elevated view of what God is doing for a moment. He is protecting Israel, preserving the PEOPLE (community) of the promise. He is also showing the importance of separating sin from the community. He is teaching the importance of accountability and, perhaps more importantly, making provisions for restoration.

Jesus told His disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” Matthew 16:6 (NKJV)

Leaven is a symbol of sin, which spreads. Perhaps Leaven is more synonymous with a philosophy than an action because it grows secretly. An excellent picture of “leaven” is mold or a virus…something you cannot see, yet grows to a point where it cannot be denied.

There are times when people with persistent sinful philosophies, ideas, and willful actions MUST be put out of the church…hopefully, for just a season. It protects both the COMUNITY and the INDIVIDUAL. Individuals are then to be observed by the leaders. Unrepentant or unbelieving people will never return to a Godly community.

True believers cannot survive long-term, away from a Godly community. Eventually, they will repent. Godly church leaders should recognize true repentance and receive the returning prodigal with great joy. A repentant sinner, restored, is now a potentially productive member of the community.

“When her days of purification are complete, whether a son or a daughter, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering.” Leviticus 12:6 (HCSB)

Chapter 11 is a reminder of our fallen World and man’s dealings with it. It describes a World of clean and unclean, a World in which many of its parts must be shunned because they are not clean. But don’t forget that it is also a World in which many of its parts are wholesome and good for men. Man can avoid the unclean and be “holy,” set apart to God. And (to some extent) men can be like Him.  Provision had been allowed by God to counter the effect of the fall, as far as mankind was concerned.

Here, in chapter 12, comes a reminder of another consequence of the fall: How the fall affected womankind. Childbirth was now inevitably connected with ‘uncleanness.’ Through the discomforts of childbirth, God chooses to remind women of Eve’s part in the fall (Genesis 3:16). It stands as a reminder that every time a child is born, another sinner is born into a sinful world.

So, in every case of childbirth, there was no avoiding uncleanness. It was not a question of choice. It was something that had to be endured. Birth inevitably involved sin because the birth process had been affected by sin, and the child born into the world was now subject to sin. Indeed, he (or she) being born is a sinner by nature. (Compare: Romans 5.14; Psalm 51.5; 58.3) Therefore, the very process of birth falls short of perfection and must be deemed ‘unclean.’ That is why the woman, being in the process of producing a sinner, was prevented from approaching the holiness of God. She had to be purified, along with the child.

Any person observing or participating in the birth of a child can see God’s point quite clearly. When a child is born, it is covered with blood and mucus. It comes out ‘unclean.’ This does not contradict the (Luke 2:23) statement that “every child who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.” The latter verse communicates that the first newborn child is seen as set apart for Yahweh’s service, not that it is ‘ritually holy’ at the point of birth. In the grace & mercy of God, while it enters the world ‘unclean,’ the firstborn is also set apart as His.

Because of the grace of God, it was recognized that the uncleanness of a woman during childbirth would be temporary and not permanent. Therefore, by following God’s command, the woman and the child could come out of their period of uncleanness in childbearing and return to “cleanness” and the light of God’s holiness, with all traces of sin being put behind them. That is the process described in today’s passage. It is also a picture of salvation through Jesus and the necessity of being “born again.” (John 3:16)