Category: Matthew

Leviticus 11:31 Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. 

Verse 33 is what jumps out at me today. I’m glad that’s not God’s attitude towards me when I mess up: “Break the pot”

Leviticus 11:32 When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean. 

Part of my devotional reading today was Matt 5:44-45, which involves loving and praying for your enemies because, and I’m paraphrasing here, they are God’s children, too. Don’t break the pot.

Leviticus 11:33 If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot. 

Precious Savior, It’s tough to love your enemies and pray for this who persecute you (Matt 5:44-45), but when I think about breaking the pot when something unclean falls on it (Lev 11:33), and praying for my enemies as a way of not breaking the pot, I can at least find some peace there. Thank You for perspective and for not breaking the pot. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 11:34 Any food you are allowed to eat that has come into contact with water from any such pot is unclean, and any liquid that is drunk from such a pot is unclean.

Have a blessed day. 

Leviticus 9:5 They took the things Moses commanded to the front of the tent of meeting, and the entire assembly came near and stood before the Lord. 

Today’s scripture has me thinking about why there is so much blood in Leviticus. It’s truly hard to stomach. I came across a video that talked about intentional and unintentional sin and the fact that both required a sin offering, and all the thoughts that that video inspired put me in mind of Matthew 5:21-22. 

Leviticus 9:6 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”

The verses in Matthew talk about the fact that both murder and anger are sins, and sins on the same level, which has always baffled me. However, in light of the video, I see that both sins required the same sacrifice–the death of a blameless, sinless animal, so even though, in my mind, there is a vast difference between murder and anger, the cost, the sin offering, would have been the same–death of an innocent creature. 

Leviticus 9:7 Moses said to Aaron, “Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people; sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.”

Precious Savior, Leviticus has been difficult for me, yet I feel like You are using it to help me understand more of Your word, more of Your essence. Thank You for giving me eyes that see and ears that hear (Matthew 13:16). Help me, always, to seek to understand You better. Amen.

Leviticus 9:8 So Aaron came to the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself.

Have a blessed day.

Leviticus 7:32 You are to give the right thigh of your fellowship offerings to the priest as a contribution. 

Today’s verses bring to mind the idea of community. There is community involved in this sacrificial system. Yes, God is there, as are the priests, but the penitent is there as well. 

Leviticus 7:33 The son of Aaron who offers the blood and the fat of the fellowship offering shall have the right thigh as his share. 

This idea of community brings to mind Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” When we gather, God is with us. Honestly, when we are alone, I think God is with us as well, but this reflection is about community. 

Leviticus 7:34 From the fellowship offerings of the Israelites, I have taken the breast that is waved and the thigh that is presented and have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons as their perpetual share from the Israelites.’ ”

Precious Savior, Thank You that You made us for community, for gathering in Your name, for supporting and up lifting each other. You know I am rather solitary in my ways. Help me to remember that You are found in community, too. Thank You. Amen.

Leviticus 7:35 This is the portion of the food offerings presented to the Lord that were allotted to Aaron and his sons on the day they were presented to serve the Lord as priests.

Have a blessed day. 

Leviticus 6:15 The priest is to take a handful of the finest flour and some olive oil, together with all the incense on the grain offering, and burn the memorial portion on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 

Verse 18 has my attention this morning, and the fact that whatever touches the food offerings presented to the Lord will become holy. It speaks, in my mind, to the tranferent power of faith and belief. This reference put me in mind of Matthew 9:20-22, the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years and thought “to herself, ‘If I only touch [Jesus’s] cloak, I will be healed’” (Matt 9:21).

Leviticus 6:16 Aaron and his sons shall eat the rest of it, but it is to be eaten without yeast in the sanctuary area; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. 

Jesus said to her, “Take heart, daughter…your faith has healed you” (Matt 9:22). The power of her faith in Jesus meant that a simple touch of His garment allowed His healing power to transfer to her, to stop her bleeding after twelve long years. I want that kind of faith. 

Leviticus 6:17 It must not be baked with yeast; I have given it as their share of the food offerings presented to me. Like the sin offering and the guilt offering, it is most holy. 

Precious Savior, I know Your power isn’t an enchanted wand to magically make all the bad in my life go away. But I want a faith strong enough that even touching the hem of Your garment will allow me to not only endure the toughest times, but will allow me to feel Your healing peace in the process. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 6:18 Any male descendant of Aaron may eat it. For all generations to come it is his perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord. Whatever touches them will become holy.’ ”

Have a blessed day. 

Leviticus 5:16 They must make restitution for what they have failed to do in regard to the holy things, pay an additional penalty of a fifth of its value and give it all to the priest. The priest will make atonement for them with the ram as a guilt offering, and they will be forgiven.

I am so incredibly aware of my imperfections and fallibilities. Matthew 5:48 (Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.) has always been tough for me because I am so disastrously far from perfect that I know I can never measure up. 

Leviticus 5:17 “If anyone sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, even though they do not know it, they are guilty and will be held responsible. 

It took me years (and years and years) to truly believe, down to my soul, that God loves me EXACTLY as I am, which means He knows of alllllllll my failures and shortcomings and idiosyncrasies, and He loves me anyway because I am His deeply, fiercely, completely loved child. Period.

Leviticus 5:18 They are to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for them for the wrong they have committed unintentionally, and they will be forgiven. 

Precious Savior, You know I fight feeling “not good enough” on a daily basis. Thank You for whispering to my heart, every single day, that I am Yours, deeply, fiercely, completely loved. Period. I am eternally grateful for Your love and grace. Amen.

Leviticus 5:19 It is a guilt offering; they have been guilty of wrongdoing against the Lord.”

Have a blessed day.