A Work in Progress….

Leviticus 3:1 “ ‘If your offering is a fellowship offering, and you offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, you are to present before the Lord an animal without defect. 

Once again these chapters in Leviticus make me thankful that the bloody business of repentance is not what it once was.

Leviticus 3:2 You are to lay your hand on the head of your offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash the blood against the sides of the altar. 

But the graphic nature of the blood and sacrifice brings into sharp focus the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice for my sins.

Leviticus 3:3 From the fellowship offering you are to bring a food offering to the Lord: the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, 

Precious Savior, Thank You doesn’t seem to touch my gratitude for Your sacrifice. I don’t understand it. I could never deserve it, but I am eternally grateful for You. Amen.

Leviticus 3:4 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you will remove with the kidneys.

Have a blessed day. 

Leviticus 2:13 Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.

I wonder what the response was to this scripture. Were the Israelites diligently scribbling to be sure they got everything just right?

Leviticus 2:14 “ ‘If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, offer crushed heads of new grain roasted in the fire. 

Were they grunting and groaning like petulant teenagers? Did they see the need for specific instructions for these relationships they have never had?

Leviticus 2:15 Put oil and incense on it; it is a grain offering. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for Your time and attention, for guiding and directing us so that we can interact with You in a way that brings You joy. Draw us closer. Amen.

Leviticus 2:16 The priest shall burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and the oil, together with all the incense, as a food offering presented to the Lord.

Have a blessed day. 

Leviticus 2:9 He shall take out the memorial portion from the grain offering and burn it on the altar as a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 

I chuckle a bit when I read about aromas “pleasing to the Lord” because, as a retired high school teacher, I’ve smelled some aromas in my day–straight up body odor and flowery lotion over sweat being two of the worst. 

Leviticus 2:10 The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings presented to the Lord.

And while it would be novel to claim I don’t know what aromas are “pleasing to the Lord,” I know what’s not–my grumpiness, my frustration, my anger, my fear. Thankfully, He doesn’t disown me for these, but He knows they aren’t good for anyone.

Leviticus 2:11 “ ‘Every grain offering you bring to the Lord must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in a food offering presented to the Lord. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for the reminder that I need to keep my moods in check. While it is human to feel grumpiness, frustration, anger, and fear, they aren’t pleasing aromas to You, and I can’t adequately be Your hands and feet in that headspace; therefore, they are not emotions to set up camp in and stew in. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 2:12 You may bring them to the Lord as an offering of the firstfruits, but they are not to be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma.

Have a blessed day. 

Leviticus 2:5 If your grain offering is prepared on a griddle, it is to be made of the finest flour mixed with oil, and without yeast. 

The Israelites spent 400 years in Egypt. Everyone who went into captivity knowing God as “Israelites outside of captivity” died before they ever had a chance to leave. Every Israelite that left Egyptian captivity did not know God outside of Egypt, which had its own gods and rituals.

Leviticus 2:6 Crumble it and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. 

From my understanding, Exodus and Leviticus were specifically to reestablish the connection between God and the Israelites, without Egyptian practices or influences. All these rules and specifics were to reestablish “This is how we do it, this is how we connect to God as Israelites free from Egyptian influence.”

Leviticus 2:7 If your grain offering is cooked in a pan, it is to be made of the finest flour and some olive oil. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for the reminder that our connection to You is personal and unique. Thank You for the practices and rituals that help us to remember that this is how we connect to You. Draw us closer. Always. Amen.

Leviticus 2:8 Bring the grain offering made of these things to the Lord; present it to the priest, who shall take it to the altar.

Have a blessed day. 

Leviticus 1:14 “ ‘If the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, you are to offer a dove or a young pigeon. 

While chapter 1 of Leviticus feels pretty bloody and brutal to me, one thing I appreciate about this chapter is that offering sacrifices for repentance isn’t just for the rich. There is this tiered system that allows all people to offer a sacrifice that will be “pleasing to the Lord.” 

Leviticus 1:15 The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. 

I think that’s one of the really frustrating things about today’s society–there is this really clear sense of the haves and the have nots, and there is no real way to cross that divide. I’m thankful that God doesn’t play that game.

Leviticus 1:16 He is to remove the crop and the feathers and throw them down east of the altar where the ashes are. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for not propagating a system that welcomes the haves and shuts out the have nots. Help us to see each other as people, deeply loved children of God, and help us to act accordingly towards each other. Help us, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 1:17 He shall tear it open by the wings, not dividing it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the wood that is burning on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

Have a blessed day. 

Leviticus 1:10 “ ‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, you are to offer a male without defect. 

Today’s verses, especially the end of verse 13, bring Isaiah 55:8 to mind: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” 

Leviticus 1:11 You are to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. 

Nothing about this description sounds pleasing, and yet, God finds the obedience and repentance, bloody and odiferous as it is, pleasing. His ways are far beyond anything we can imagine, indeed. 

Leviticus 1:12 You are to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 

Precious Savior, Forgive me when I try to make sense of this world through my own idea of what makes sense. Help me to draw closer to You, to give You praise and glory, to trust You, even when You lead me on a path I would never choose myself. I am Your deeply, fiercely, completely loved child. Help me never to doubt that. Amen.

Leviticus 1:13 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of them and burn them on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

Have a blessed day. 

Leviticus 1:6 You are to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. 

When I think of priests and religious officials, I think of clean, well dressed persons. Leviticus shows that that role has definitely changed from the time of Leviticus to today. Atoning for sins was a bloody, ugly business. I am thankful that I do not have to sacrifice animals to seek redemption.

Leviticus 1:7 The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 

But it makes me think of students who have no clue how easy they have it with digital research because they have never had to plow through dense tomes and transfer knowledge to index cards of varying sizes. They just have no idea how much they have been spared because they have never had to do it in the first place. I feel that.

Leviticus 1:8 Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 

Precious Savior, Thank You that You took my place and offered Yourself as a permanent substitute for my sins. Even though I don’t know the anguish of shedding the blood of sacrifice with my own hands, help me never to take for granted Your great sacrifice for me. Thank You is so inadequate, it’s all I’ve got. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 1:9 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

Have a blessed day.