Leviticus 24-25

Day 41  

Okay....look at this.....    1:30, 2:30, 3:30-4:30, and 5:30....no, no, no...these are not scriptural references, though I wish they were. They are times...times that SOMEONE was up in our house last night.  Did I hear somebody say "yawn?"  JJ was in and out of our bed, HannaLee had a snotty nose, couldn't breathe and I think is trying to get teeth, so....we had a crazy night.

Chapter 24  Not much holiness here.  In fact, its a contrast to holiness!    This chapter starts off with the bread and the oil.  The lampstand functioned as a symbol of the people as a light to the nations, spreading the gospel to through the energizing power of the Holy Spirit.  In case you missed the point of how often the lampstand is to burn...it is to burn CONTINUALLY. The bread of presence was the consecration to God of the labor and work of the Israelites' hands....just like from the grain offering in chapter 2.  This is not an individual offering like in that chapter, but this is a communal offering from the whole people of their fruits and labors.  

Now, the not so holy part.  Blasphemy is not just cursing the Lord.  It is completely challenging the honor and authority of God.  In a day where swearing against the Lord is all too common, that law against this in Leviticus is startling!  They were stoned to death by the entire community.  This causes impurity within the community and chips away at the core of their foundation...which is supposed to built on faith and a reverence to the Lord.  Severe punishment is not only deserved....it is necessary for the protection of God's people.  

Chapter 25   This chapter is full of too much math for me! :)  7 Sabbaths for 7 years that equals forty-nine years and then add a year for the fiftieth year to be consecrated to the Lord.  Call this year the Year of Jubilee.  Its about freeing the slaves, canceling the debts, and everyone returns home.  This keeps people from taking advantage of one another and to keep the rich from getting richer and the poor from getting poorer.  We have social justice and social worship all wrapped up into the year of Jubilee.  We must have love and mercy for our neighbors....whether homeland inhabitants or aliens among us...not real aliens...they aren't in the Bible.  Aliens the foreigners.  Just to clarify!  We have all been recipients of God's grace....let's extend it to those around us! 

Grace, grace....God's grace......