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The Festivals

Fri, 11/02/2011

Leviticus Chapters 22 to 23

LEVITICUS 22

Commentary

The book of Leviticus reveals to us God’s loves for the children of Israel. God was very particular and concerned about them leading pure and holy lives, to ensure this he gave them clear guidelines to help them reconcile with Him whenever they sinned or were disobedient to his word. He knew that the children of Israel were not perfect and would sometimes make mistakes and fall into sin but he was a step ahead of them and gave detailed and precise instructions on how to reconcile with Him. When they fell, these guidelines would help strengthen His relationship with them to ensure they benefit and receive all His well laid out conditional promises.

Leviticus 22
Here God gave the priests a lot of specific guidelines and instructions on how they should handle the precious gifts given to Him by the children of Israel. He gave them specific instructions to ensure that they were always clean and what to do if they became unclean to ensure that they do not interfere and make unclean the precious gifts and offerings to be presented to Him.

We also learn that God likes perfect gifts; He likes to be given nothing but the best. To guarantee that the people knew what He liked, God gave clear instructions about the condition of the animals that He would accept as an offering or gift. He would not accept any gift (animal or grain) that either had a physical defect or was imperfect in any way. Imagine how life would have been for the children of Israel if they did not have all these instructions, they would be offering a lot of gifts some of which would be imperfect and would not be pleasing to God. This would have been a wasted effort.

In the same vein, God requires us to give Him our best, gifts that are of value and worth. He wants us to give Him our life and things that are valuable to us, our time, our talents and abilities, our love, our worship to mention a few. He gave us a gift of inestimable value in His Son as a sacrifice for us all.

Leviticus 23
it was as if God knew that the Israelites would get busy with life and soon neglect their relationship and communion with God. To guarantee that this did not happen, He planned weekly and annual days dedicated to rest, worship and communion with Him.

He created opportunities for His children to fellowship with Him; to grow in their relationship with Him and avenues for them to express their gratitude and appreciation to Him for His provision and all he had done for them as a nation, in their families and as individuals.

God planned for them to have a weekly Sabbath, a day of rest dedicated to the restoration of body, soul and communion with Him. He also planned for them to have well spaced out festivals, times of celebration throughout the year. Festivals such as the Passover to commemorate the deliverance of Israelites from the hands of the Egyptians, the Festival of First Fruits an opportunity for the Israelites to present to God the first crop of the harvest.

Today, God still expects us to observe similar celebrations and festivals as they are opportunities for us to show our heartfelt gratitude to God for all that he has done for us.

Gboyega Adedeji

MATTHEW 6:19 - 21

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Called Apart

Thu, 10/02/2011

Leviticus Chapters 19 to 21

LEVITICUS 19

Various Laws

Commentary

God calls his chosen people to be holy, it is his desire that they be holy and as a result he provides the means by which this holiness can be achieved. These rules some of which closely mirror the ten commandments detailed day by day instructions regarding how a person might treat his neighbour, a stranger, his own body, his slave and even commands regarding the thoughts he should entertain. In chapter 20 God reiterates his call that his people be holy, he also lays down the rules prohibiting human sacrifice, rules on family relations and prohibiting certain sexual relations. God further adds that these laws are for their own good and it was as a result of the lifestyle these rules prohibited that he had removed the former occupants of the lands that Israel was now coming into possession of. In chapter 21 God lays down strict rules regarding the priest's conduct ranging from their outward appearance to who they could marry and to issues of cleanliness. Chapters 19-21 show the level of importance God places on being holy and living holy lives, not just as a Sunday phenomenon but in day to day living and dealings with others. Too often people have an issue with practical Christianity, they can read and superficially understand what the bible says but are unable to apply such to daily personal situations. The bible says in 1 Peter 2:9 NIV 'you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light' God requires that his people's lives stand out against the shifting values of societal norms, whilst we might not have the rules he gave to the Israelites he has written his laws in our heart so that we can indeed be holy in every situation (Hebrews 8:10-13) coupled with that he has given us his spirit to guide us into all truth (John 16:13).

Wole Olufon

GENESIS 26:12

¹² Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him.