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May 01, 2023 06:00am

The Bible Recap: Days 43-49

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(The following are reflections from the writer’s personal journey through The Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble – a Bible reading plan to read the Bible chronologically in one year. To learn more about The Bible Recap, visit thebiblerecap.com.)

Day 43: Read Exodus Chapters 39-40

My Takeaways:

You guys, you did it! You finished another book of the Bible—great job! Be proud of yourselves! And if you have fallen behind, give yourself some grace and get back on track. You are probably reading the Bible more than you have before—so don’t give up!

Today, we see all those holy objects being set up anointed. We also see Aaron and his sons being anointed as well. In Scripture, if something is repeated, it’s important. If it’s being repeated several times, we ought to take note!

Today, the phrase “They had done just as the Lord commanded” and “Moses did everything the Lord commanded him” caught my eye. It was mentioned at least 12 times!

Why is this important?

God had a plan for His abiding place on earth, and it was to be followed to a “T”….and His people, who were worshipping a golden calf a few pages ago, obeyed. All throughout Scripture, God values obedience! He is after hearts that love Him, listen to Him, and obey Him. And, because they obeyed His plans, His presence was among them—this is huge! Remember how He said they wouldn’t have His presence anymore because of the whole golden calf debacle?

God is so good to us sinners! He doesn’t give up on us—He gives us second and third and fourth chances to get it right. Yes, we will have consequences to bear for our actions like the Israelites, but He grows us from our mistakes if we are willing to surrender to Him.

Day 44: Read Leviticus Chapters 1-4

My Takeaways:

Okay, friends, this is where the rubber meets the road now! Leviticus focuses much on God’s standard of living and boundaries to keep His people holy. It’s tempting to want to glaze over sections that seem repetitive, but hang in there! Look for something to take away from each reading—even if it’s obvious or little.

The sin offering grabbed my attention. You guys, it’s all about the blood. It’s all about the blood of these animals to cover the Israelites’ sins. It’s all about an innocent, unblemished animal’s life that would take their place. What foreshadowing of Jesus!

It reminds me of the song “There’s Power in the Blood” I grew up singing but never really got as a adolescent:

Would you be free from your burden of sin
There’s power in the blood power in the blood
Would you o’er evil a victory win
There’s wonderful power in the blood
There is power power wonder working power in the blood of the lamb
There is power power wonder working power in the precious blood of lamb
Would you be whiter much wither than snow
There’s power in the blood power in the blood
Sin’s stains are lost and its life giving flow
There’s one flicker power in the blood

Oh friends, sin grieves the heart of God! But, He, in His grace and mercy, made a plan for us sinners! That is scandalous! Who would give up something innocent and pure for a rebellious people? I wonder, would we see sin differently if we saw a dear lamb of ours slaughtered for it, like they did in the Old Testament? Would we see sin differently if we were at the foot of the cross?

Or, do you see sin differently when you have made a grievous mistake and someone forgave you?

Sin separates, but thank God, the blood unifies us to God and purifies us in the same process.

Leviticus may not be your fav book of the Bible, but look for that one thing that can reveal something about God. You might just see this book differently when we are done!

Day 45: Read Leviticus Chapters 5-7

My Takeaways:

Offerings and sacrifices are our focus today! We have burnt offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings, ordination offerings, and the fellowship sacrifice. (If you wondered why it took Moses 40 days and nights with God, all these readings and details show you what they were doing!)

Did any of these sacrifices or God’s rules about them stand out to you? I love what Tara-Leigh said in her God Shot about how often we sinners can run away from God when we sin, but God says to draw nearer amid our sin. For the Israelites, these sacrifices and offerings were about drawing nearer, turning to God for forgiveness. God didn’t want His people simply going through the motions—it was about repentance. He used these practices to change their heart.

It was about seeing God as their Redeemer.

Day 46: Read Leviticus Chapters 8-10

My Takeaways:

Today is all about preparing Aaron and His sons to serve as priests. And we have all the offerings—sin offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings.

For God, there is a process of consecrating and ordaining His priests to serve as God’s mouthpiece.

Perhaps each step of the ordination process was meant to prepare their hearts to serve God wholeheartedly?

You see, Aaron has a history of fudging the truth and idolatry. But, something must have happened in his heart because when God killed two of his sons for an inappropriate offering, we have this four word statement:

“And Aaron remained silent.”

To remain silent when your sons were burnt on the spot shows restraint and respect to God. Our reaction would be to cry out, weep, and wail…perhaps even point fingers, questioning God.

Yet, Aaron leans in to silence. Later on, he doesn’t eat the sin offering because it wouldn’t be right, given what had just happened to his boys.

Like any parent, he is hurting too…but he honors God in that pain. He doesn’t turn away from God. I so admire him. Because as a mama, it would be so easy to give way to all those hurt feelings! As we find out later, he turns to God and continues to serve Him.

Every incident and circumstance we face in life we have a choice to turn to God for help, strength, provision, compassion, or intervention…or turn away from Him. Aaron, in the midst of losing his two oldest sons, turns to God and receives compassion through Moses’ response. Aaron, and his family, will be blessed for future generations to serve God.

It’s all about the heart, even in Leviticus where it feels like it’s all about the rules. But what I am finding out is this: obedience to God’s rules is meant to mold our hearts to follow Him. God is after people who love and respect Him so much, it shows in their actions and words.

Aaron has that—our reading today shows that.

Day 47: Read Leviticus Chapters 11-13

My Takeaways:

My overall thought in today’s reading was this: God is trying to draw boundaries to keep His people clean. Whether it’s what to eat (or not), mildew in clothing, giving childbirth, or skin conditions, God is actually protecting the masses!

And He said: “Be holy because I am holy” which was like saying: Be set apart because I am set apart. When other nations looked at the Jews, they saw a people who did what their Father wanted them to do. Just like parents draw boundaries for their kids to be safe, God does the same!

So, my God Shot today was this:

Boundaries = Protection (Isn’t this something we try to tell our kids, too?)

Day 48: Read Leviticus Chapters 14-15

My Takeaways:

It’s all about being clean today. And let me tell you, getting clean was a process! This had to have kept Aaron busy, especially for skin diseases!

What grabbed my attention was that blood was always used in the cleansing process. That didn’t change in New Testament times, either.

And some of these cleansing processes were to keep the people healthy, like discharges and menstrual cycles. (And listen, we can get that as ladies…there were no Kotex machines then.)

As detailed as these processes were, God revealed His reason at the end of the reading in Leviticus 15:13:

“You (I am assuming this was Moses) must keep the Israelites from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling my tabernacle that is among them.”

Remember Aaron’s sons’ deaths? That is what God is trying to avoid—so He sets rules and processes in place to keep His people clean on the outside, and ultimately clean on the inside, too. Like Tara-Leigh said, it’s all about drawing near to God in our uncleanness. And, it was about purifying their hearts with these practices.

Day 49: Read Leviticus Chapters 16-18

My Takeaways:

I wonder if any of these topics stood out to you?

Yom Kippur
Scapegoats
The blood
Rules for sexual purity

What questions or God Shots do you have?! What did you learn from today’s Recap?

Every year, I have a woman, a friend and a Messianic Jew, come speak to my freshmen about Judaism when we read the book Night. She talks about Yom Kippur—that day of fasting and praying. She says that Jews even go as far as approaching people that they have wronged the last year and asking for forgiveness—that when they do that, they feel they can get forgiveness from God. Though it’s not stated in the Bible by God, I think the idea is about repentance. It’s a somber day that reminds them of their sin—they own up to it.

I love how God gives His people reminders to reflect—reflect on His goodness, His interventions, His provision, and His sacrifice for their sin.

It makes me wish we had more days like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter to remember God’s presence in our lives. Though Yom Kippur isn’t probably one of their favs, it’s a stark reminder that we all struggle with sin. That, through God, we have Jesus as our scapegoat who takes away our sin…without Him, we would all be breaking rules and sacrificing animals.