Posted on

Just being present…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 17:1-2 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘This is what the Lord has commanded:

Sometimes the Lord calls us to be still so loudly it’s hard to argue. That happened this morning when the power went off at 6am in the middle of my shower. “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10).

Leviticus 17:3-4a Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord—that person shall be considered guilty of bloodshed;

So instead of scurrying around, packing in preparation for leaving our NoLa rental, I sat in the dark with a cup of coffee (thankfully, a half pot brewed before the power went out), talking with sisters, laughing, and just being present.

Leviticus 17:4b they have shed blood and must be cut off from their people.

Precious Savior, Thank You for a truly lovely morning, being still, being present, just being. Thank You for a 2-hour power outage that was a huge blessing instead of a massive inconvenience. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 17:5 This is so the Israelites will bring to the Lord the sacrifices they are now making in the open fields. They must bring them to the priest, that is, to the Lord, at the entrance to the tent of meeting and sacrifice them as fellowship offerings.

Have a blessed day. 

Posted on

10/3 Devo Reflection

Leviticus 16:32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments 

The last sentence of today’s scripture stands out to me: “And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.” I love the Lord, and I try to do as He guides, but I am the world’s worst for trying to anticipate and control and “make it better.” Ridiculous, I know.

Leviticus 16:33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.

I am thankful that God knows my heart, and I routinely pray the prayer of the father in Mark 9:24, “…I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Leviticus 16:34a “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.”

Precious Savior, My attempts to anticipate and control are to try to be helpful, but I’m afraid they might speak to unbelief, implying I trust You, but…. Help me to act as Your hands and feet, as Your heart, in total belief that You are the sovereign God. That is who *I* say You are. Help me overcome any unbelief. Amen.

Leviticus 16:34b And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Have a blessed day.

Posted on

Trying to “make it better”…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 16:32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments

The last sentence of today’s scripture stands out to me: “And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.” I love the Lord, and I try to do as He guides, but I am the world’s worst for trying to anticipate and control and “make it better.” Ridiculous, I know.

Leviticus 16:33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.

I am thankful that God knows my heart, and I routinely pray the prayer of the father in Mark 9:24, “…I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Leviticus 16:34a “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.”

Precious Savior, My attempts to anticipate and control are to try to be helpful, but I’m afraid they might speak to unbelief, implying I trust You, but…. Help me to act as Your hands and feet, as Your heart, in total belief that You are the sovereign God. That is who *I* say You are. Help me overcome any unbelief. Amen.

Leviticus 16:34b And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Have a blessed day.

Posted on

A contrite heart…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 16:28 The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp.

Commentary posits that the absence of a sacrifice when atoning “detracts from the divine character” of God. The God that I believe in is loving and compassionate, not some Volcano god, demanding a sacrifice to keep from erupting.

Leviticus 16:29 “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you—

To my way of thinking, that makes Him more holy, not less. I think our broken and contrite hearts are what God wants (Ps 51:17).

Leviticus 16:30 because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.

Precious Savior, I am the first to admit that there is so much I do not know about you. Help me to understand You better and know You more every day. Amen.

Leviticus 16:31 It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance.

Have a blessed day. 

Posted on

God’s word…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 16:24 He shall bathe himself with water in the sanctuary area and put on his regular garments. Then he shall come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people. 

The commentary that I read as I go through these verses has often bothered me in its subtle poking at other religions and other denominations. I think I intentionally read it so that I don’t get lost in an echo chamber of my own thoughts, but the jabs still bother me.

Leviticus 16:25 He shall also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

I don’t think that’s what God ever intended for His word. I don’t think He is threatened by other denominations or other religions. He is the one true sovereign God. He encourages us to love Him and love each other, pointing others to Him. No where does it say ridicule and shame are part of His philosophy.

Leviticus 16:26 “The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp. 

Precious Savior, We live in a world where it is shockingly easy to tear other people down in order to build ourselves up. I just don’t think that’s necessary or preferred. Help me to love You above all and love others as myself. Help me to shine Your light for all to see. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 16:27 The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh and intestines are to be burned up.

Have a blessed day. 

Posted on

The glow of God’s hope…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 16:20 “When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. 

Commentary talks in today’s verses about folks wanting certainty about this act of atonement with the sacrificial goat and the scapegoat. I am reminded that in this life there is no certainty, there is only hope, which brings to mind Hebrews 11:1, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” 

Leviticus 16:21 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. 

For me, the absence of hope is dangerous and leads me to some really scary places. To combat this tendency, I lean heavily on Psalm 71:14, “As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.” Do I know any of this for certain? No. Do I hope with all of my being? Absolutely.

Leviticus 16:22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.

Precious Savior, This life is impossible without hope as by the time I get to see You face-to-face to ask all the questions I have, either I will already know the answers or I won’t care any more. I believe in You with my whole heart, that You are good, that You are sovereign, that You are holy and loving and compassionate. Help me to live, always, in the glow of Your hope. Amen.

Leviticus 16:23 “Then Aaron is to go into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments he put on before he entered the Most Holy Place, and he is to leave them there.

Have a blessed day. 

Posted on

God’s loving presence…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 16:15 “He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. 

Again I am struggling with making this scripture relevant. It feels very distant from my daily life. So this morning, I again turned to Google AI to see if it could cut through the clutter and help me latch onto these verses in a way I couldn’t perceive. 

Leviticus 16:16 In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the tent of meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 

Once again, the goodness of God’s word, the specificity of my prompt, and the assist of AI helped me connect by reminding me that “there is no amount of human messiness, internal chaos, or spiritual distance that God is unwilling to work through to get to you”. It is an important reminder, no matter how I get there.

Leviticus 16:17 No one is to be in the tent of meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel.

Precious Savior, Thank You for the ability to use tools to help me understand Your word and make it relevant. Help me not to take Your word out of context or spin it to my worldview but to simply recognize Your loving presence and to draw closer to You. Amen.

Leviticus 16:18-19 “Then he shall come out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

Have a blessed day. 

Posted on

Things have changed…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 16:11 “Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. 

I did some AI Googling for today’s verses as they are just not sticking. One sentence jumped out at me about the ritual performed by the priest during this time and that sentence dealt with “the heavy cost of bridging the gap between a holy God and a broken people”. 

Leviticus 16:12 He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain. 

Again I find myself thinking of priests in a modern context with their crisp, clean white chasuble over a black cassock. But the reality of priests during the time of Leviticus was that they dealt daily with a lot of blood and gore. 

Leviticus 16:13 He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant law, so that he will not die. 

Precious Savior, I’m honestly not sure what to do with this observation other than to remember that things have changed substantially, both in the role of priests in worship and in the barriers to You, especially for individuals. Thank You that we now have a smoother path to You. Help me to walk that path often, to sit at Your feet, to soak in Your presence. Amen.

Leviticus 16:14 He is to take some of the bull’s blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover.

Have a blessed day. 

Posted on

Scapegoats…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 16:6 “Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. 

I’m sure I knew that the term scapegoat was originally used in this context and meant, quite literally, the goat that escaped death and was sent into the wilderness, symbolically carrying the sins of the community, but when I read this passage, all I can see is the modern meaning, which, according to Google means: “a person or group unfairly blamed for the mistakes, problems, or misdeeds of others”.

Leviticus 16:7-8 Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. 

And I can’t help but think that a lot of people who use the Bible to blame and hate and ostracize are using the Bible as a scapegoat, unfairly blaming the words in the Bible for the way the person chooses to interpret and use those words. It is imperative that we remember God’s heart.

Leviticus 16:9 Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. 

Precious Savior, You are the epitome of love. You left the 99 to find the one lost soul. It hurts my heart that people use Your word to justify hatred and ostracization of Your children. Help us to be honest with ourselves about how we use Your Word. Help us to be true to Your heart when we do so. Help us, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 16:10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.

Have a blessed day. 

Posted on

Rest for my soul…. (devo reflection)

Leviticus 16:1-2 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord. The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.

Once again I am reminded that context matters when reading scripture. In Leviticus, God is laying down rules (through Moses) to help the Israelites see what’s acceptable and preferred in worship because they spent 400 years in captivity in Egypt where everything was different and where many unacceptable things to God were acceptable when worshipping Egyptian gods. 

Leviticus 16:3 “This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 

Leviticus is a period of retraining, “If you want to worship Me, here is how you gain access.” But Jesus opened wide the door to God, giving us free, unrestricted access. Through Jesus, God says, “Come to Me, no matter Your worries or burdens or sins. Come to Me, and I will give you rest, a rest so deep that it reaches your soul” (my paraphrase of Matt 11:28). 

Leviticus 16:4 He is to put on the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. 

Precious Savior, You know how I love some rules. They make things easy as I know exactly what to do and when and how. But I am so very thankful for the fact that even if I break all the rules, even if I have messed up 50 ways from Sunday, I can still come to You, dragging all my fears and burdens, and You will still give me rest. Thank You. Amen. 

Leviticus 16:5 From the Israelite community he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

Have a blessed day.