Category: Matthew

Leviticus 19:6-7 It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up.  If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted. 

Last night at Bible study we looked at Matt 18:21-35, The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant. A comment was made about Matt 6:12 “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” I have always read that as “Forgive us our sins as [in the same way that] we forgive others,” meaning if we forgive much, we will be forgiven much.

Leviticus 19:8 Whoever eats it will be held responsible because they have desecrated what is holy to the Lord; they must be cut off from their people.

But the question was raised that if we don’t/can’t forgive, will God rescind His forgiveness of us as the king in the parable does. The consensus was no. A friend posited: What if Matt 6:12 is really saying “Forgive us as [even while we struggle to] forgive others.” That interpretation, to me, speaks of God’s infinite grace.

Leviticus 19:9 “ ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 

Precious Savior, In Matt 5:48, You tell us to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” yet You know perfection is out of our grasp. Thank You for this reminder that we are to continue to be like You, even as we fail in trying to be like You, that our efforts help to bring us closer to You all the same. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 19:10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.

Have a blessed day. 

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. 

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.