We learned yesterday that when it comes time for the Israelites to journey, three Levite clans (Kohathite, Gershonite, and Merarite) are responsible for transporting the tabernacle. Aaron and Moses take down the most holy things in the tabernacle and cover the items with badger skins and cloth. “And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is set to go, then the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; but they shall not touch any holy things, lest they die.” God is so holy that he tells Aaron and Moses, regarding covering the holy items, “but do this in regard to them, that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things… But they shall not go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, lest they die.” Remember, we are separated from the Lord because of our sin. The fact that the Kohathites will die if they touch or watch the covering of the holy items of the sanctuary highlights God’s holiness and our need for a mediator. The Lord is making a way for the Israelites to have a relationship with Him, and He is sending His Son, the ultimate Mediator. But for now the priests will serve as mediators between the Lord and the people. 

So the Lord instructs Moses to count the Levites from thirty years old to fifty years old who will be eligible for the work of the tabernacle. The job of caring for and transporting the tabernacle requires mature men who are physically eligible for the strenuous work. We read in Numbers 8:24-26 that Levites “twenty-five years old and above one may enter to perform service in the work of the tabernacle of meeting; and at the age of fifty years they must cease performing this work, and shall work no more. They may minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of meeting, to attend to needs, but they themselves shall do no work.”  Per most commentaries, the five year difference between twenty-five years old in Numbers chapter 8 and thirty years old in Numbers chapter 4 is likely because there was a five year apprenticeship before actually doing the work of the tabernacle described in chapter 4. Later in the story, when preparations are being made to build the temple for the Lord, there will no longer be a need to transport the tabernacle, and King David will reduce the age to be eligible to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord to twenty years old in order to provide for all the needs that the new temple will require (1 Chronicles 23:24-26). 

Lastly we read about protecting marital faithfulness. The Lord says regarding a husband “if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, although she has not defiled herself – then the man shall bring his wife to the priest.” The priest will give the wife a drink of bitter water that will bring a curse upon her if she is guilty of adultery that will make her thigh rot and her belly swell. This ritual is the Lord’s protection of faithful wives. The Lord loves women and is providing protection from a man falsely accusing his wife of cheating on him, shaming her, and kicking her out of the home. But in case a woman is considering being unfaithful, this bitter curse drink would be a good incentive not to go down that road because we know that no woman wants a fat belly and a rotten thigh. 

The Lord knows that infidelity breaks marriages, harms children, and destroys relationships with others. It hurts both those committing adultery and those surrounding them. Therefore, the Lord desires to protect us from that deep pain. Also, God values marriage! He is the One who created it back in the garden with Adam and Eve, and the marriage union is to be a demonstration to this lost and dying world of Christ’s love for the church (Ephesians 5:22-24). Therefore, the Lord is protecting the marriage union by not allowing a spouse to divorce based on their own selfish desires and not based on what God has said through His word. This is why the Lord holds leaders of the church to a higher standard regarding marriage and divorce. Leaders are to set an example for the people by having marriages that are in alignment with God’s word which reflects His love for His church. When churches do not hold their leaders to a higher standard laid out by the Lord in His word, it causes confusion and disunity within the body of the church. 

Keep reading because tomorrow the children of Israel pack up and move. (Numbers 4:1-5:31)

Today the Lord organizes the campgrounds for the children of Israel around the tabernacle. He breaks the twelve tribes into four groups and positions them in the order in which they will march, with Judah’s group leading the march:

East side – Judah, Issachar, Zebulun

South side – Reuben, Gad, Simeon

West side – Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh 

North side – Dan, Asher, Naphtali

The Lord tells Moses to “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him.” The Levites are responsible for guarding the tabernacle and performing the work of the ministry at the tabernacle. “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the Lord.’” God is substituting the Levites to Himself instead of all the firstborn, similar to the Lord substituting a lamb instead of the firstborn during the Passover at the Exodus of Egypt. Both substitutions point to the substitutionary work that will be performed by the ultimate High Priest and final Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

Then the Lord instructs Moses to count the male Levites one month and older for the substitution of the firstborn of all the Israelites, and organize them by clans; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The Lord positions the Levites closest to the tabernacle and assigns specific duties to each clan:

South side – Kohathites who guard and carry items inside the sanctuary. “Their duty included the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, the screen, and all the work relating to them.”

West side – Gershonites who guard and carry the tabernacle coverings, hangings, and screens for the doors.

North side – Merarites who guard and carry the tabernacle bars, pillars, sockets, utensils, pegs, and cords.

East side – Moses and the priests who guard the tabernacle sanctuary and meet the needs of the Israelite people. Only the descendants of Aaron are priests, but the entire tribe of Levi are to serve the priests. 

We end the reading with the Lord redeeming the firstborn sons of Israel. Moses compares the count of all the firstborn males, one month and older, from the children of Israel to the number of Levites. There are 273 less Levite males leaving 273 Israelites without a Levite to take their place. So the Lord assigns a monetary value for the 273 additional firstborn males to be paid to Aaron the priest. “And Moses gave their redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.”

Tomorrow we will learn more about the responsibilities assigned to the Levites, and Moses will take a second census of the Levites to identify the men eligible for the work of the tabernacle, so keep reading. (Numbers 2:1-3:51)

Today we finish the book of Leviticus with the Lord’s instructions on redeeming gifts offered to Him. Part of the instructions include assigning values to a person based on their age and usefulness to society and to their property. This would be sort of like a modern day insurance plan. So in the book of Leviticus the Lord gives instructions and laws to the Israelites to teach them how to approach a holy God, how to live holy lives, and how to exist well in community with one another. The book also gives structure to the priesthood and establishes a relationship between the priests and the people. We end Leviticus with the Lord saying, “These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.” 

The book of Numbers begins with Moses taking a census on the “first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt” of every male “from twenty years old and above – all who are able to go to war in Israel.” The census highlights God’s promise to Abraham, that He would make him a great nation. The seventy Israelites that came to Egypt during the famine have grown to what most scholars believe to be over two million Israelites. Today, Aaron and Moses take a head from each tribe and then count the men over twenty years old eligible for war. Judah, the tribe of the coming Messiah, is the largest tribe. Jacob’s blessing of Joseph’s younger son over the older son is displayed in the census as Ephraim, the youngest son, has a greater tribe than Manasseh, the older son. And we see that the Levites are not included in the census with the other tribes of Israel because they are to be set apart for the work of the tabernacle.

Tomorrow our orderly God further organizes His people for the wilderness journey, so keep reading. (Leviticus 27:1-34, Numbers 1:1-54)

Today we read the blessings for obedience and punishments for disobedience in Leviticus 26. Did you notice that 13 verses are dedicated to the blessings and 32 verses are dedicated to the punishments? The Lord is a good Father! He is warning His greatly loved children of the punishments for their disobedience just like we warn our own children. (Ex. If you stay in the backyard, we will go for ice cream later. If you disobey me, there will be no ice cream, you will be sent to your room, you won’t get to play with your friends, I’ll take away all your games and anything else dear to you, and so forth.) Why do we do this as parents? Because we know the dangers that could come upon that child if he or she leaves the backyard without us. God’s love for His children is far greater than anything we can give our children, and His ways are far greater than anything we can imagine, so we can trust Him with His discipline. The writer of Hebrews will later say, “we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:9-11).

The Lord’s desire has always been for His children to walk by faith, trusting Him and trusting that His word is good. We saw this back in the garden with Adam and Eve. He told them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because He knew what would happen if they did. They chose to disobey His word, and sin entered the world breaking man’s relationship with God. But the Lord didn’t abandon His children; He is working a plan to save guilty sinners through the newly liberated Israelites whom the Lord brought out of Egypt. He is now training Israel how to walk with Him by faith and to be His people. The Lord says if they obey Him, “I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you… I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.”

Then the Lord gives a long list of what will happen if they disobey, one being “I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you. I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.” 

The punishment is to bring His children to repentance so they will turn back to Him and be restored. Therefore, the Lord goes on to say “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt— then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land. The land also shall be left empty by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; they will accept their guilt, because they despised My judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes. Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.”

The Lord is merciful to those who are humble:

• “For you will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks” (Psalm 18:27). 
• “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5)

Later in the story, the proud Israelites will be humbled by their enemies because of their disobedience; and after seventy years in captivity in Babylon, the Lord will bring them back to their land. God is faithful, and He will keep His covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob regarding their descendants and the land. But before we get to the Captivity and Return Eras, there is more to unfold in God’s incredible story, so keep reading! (Leviticus 25:24-26:46)

“Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.” God modeled the seventh day of rest during creation. The Sabbath is not just for rest but also a day of holy convocation, meaning a day to gather together as a congregation to worship the Lord, pray, and hear teaching by the Levites from God’s word. In addition to the weekly sabbath, there will be a Sabbath Year – “Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord.” The Lord says there shall be a sabbath year after seven cycles of seven years (forty-nine years) called the Year of Jubilee. In this year, all slaves are to be released, debts forgiven, possessions returned, and rest from work for the people and the land. This is a beautiful picture of the rest to come in Jesus.

Tim Keller explains this final rest through Jesus Christ in his book Hidden Christmas – “Finally we learn from the genealogies that Jesus is the ultimate rest. At the end of the genealogy, Matthew makes much of the numbers of generations. In Matthew 1:17 he says there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen generations from David to the exile in Babylon, and fourteen generations from the exile to Christ. So there have been “six sevens” of generations, and that makes Jesus the beginning of the seventh seven… The seventh seven, the Sabbath of Sabbaths, was a foretaste of the final rest that all will have when God renews the earth (Romans 8:18-23, Hebrews 4:1-11).” How amazing is that?! We have an orderly God who is working His perfect plan for our ultimate rest! Under the New Covenant with Christ, everyday will be a day of rest for Christians. We can rest knowing that our salvation is secure through the completed work of the Lord by His Son Jesus Christ.

God also gives instructions for seven annual feasts which the children of Israel are to celebrate in remembrance of His goodness, faithfulness, and provisions He provided and continues to provide for His people: 

1. The Passover – To be celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month in remembrance of God’s delivery of His people from Egypt and how the wrath of God passed over those under the blood of the lamb. 
2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread – To be celebrated along with the Passover starting with the fifteenth day of the first month and lasting seven days. They are to eat unleavened bread, (bread without yeast), as a testimony of how the Lord quickly brought them out of Egypt and an illustration of how God desires his people to be pure, as yeast is symbolic for sin in the Bible (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
3. The Feast of Firstfruits – A day celebrating the harvest once the Israelites enter the promised land. It is a day to show gratitude to the Lord for the harvest once a year on the day after the Sabbath that ended the Passover and began the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
4. The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) – A celebration at the end of the grain harvest, fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits, giving thanks to the Lord for the harvest. While giving the instructions for the Feast of Weeks, the Lord reminds the Israelites to leave the corners of their fields for the strangers and the poor to harvest. We will see later in the story, in the Judges Era, that this provision for the strangers and the poor is how a Moabite widow, Ruth, is going to meet Boaz and become a relative of Jesus Christ.
5. The Feast of Trumpets – The first day of the seventh month is to be a day of rest and memorial blowing of trumpets to gather the people for a holy convocation.
6. The Day of Atonement – On the tenth day of the seventh month, offerings are made to atone for the sins of the people. 
7. The Feast of Tabernacles – On the fifteenth day of the seventh month and for seven days the Israelites are to rest, worship, and offer sacrifices to the Lord. This feast is to be a rejoicing celebration of God’s provisions. Per Jewish tradition, the priest took water from the Pool of Siloam and brought it back to the altar and poured the water in a basin while the people sang Psalms 113-118. The people camp together in booths for seven days in remembrance of the wilderness living. On the last day of this feast, when Jesus arrives on the scene, He is going to shout to the crowds, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38).

Each of these feasts points to the arrival of Jesus. He is the coming Lamb of God who will be slaughtered on the Passover and buried during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus will rise from the dead during the celebration of the Firstfruits, becoming the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20). Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to heaven, on the day of Pentecost, Jesus will pour the Holy Spirit upon His people, which seals our salvation and restores us to the Lord. And one day Jesus Christ will return again. One day the trumpets will sound, pouring out God’s wrath upon the world. However, anyone under the final atoning Lamb, the blood of Christ, will experience eternal rest which is foreshadowed in the Feast of Tabernacles. 

Tomorrow the Israelites receive the blessings for obedience and the punishments for disobedience. Keep reading. (Leviticus 23:1-25:23)

The Lord instructs Moses to tell the Israelites, “Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.”

Molech worship involves child sacrifices. God takes very seriously the sacrifice of children, whom He created, and He commands the community to punish by death those who are killing babies. But if the community fails to carry out justice on the ones sacrificing children, God ensures that He will serve justice to those doing this sort of practice. The Lord also addresses the worship of mediums, cursing your parents, and sexual sin. If a person violates any of His commandments, that person will either be cut off from the people or killed.

God gives additional instructions for the priests and the high priest on holiness. Yesterday the Lord provided instructions to Israel as a nation for holiness in personal conduct. Today we see the priests are called to a greater standard of holiness and the high priest to an even greater level of holiness. One commentary said, “The threefold degree of holiness among the Israelites – people, the priests, and the high priest – corresponds to the graduation of holiness in the tabernacle – the outer court, the Holy Place, the Most Holy Place” (Rooker from Enduring Word). Since the priests are to represent the Lord to the people and mediate on their behalf, they are called to this higher standard of holiness and purification. That’s why the Lord says over and over again that they are not to profane His ordinances, the sanctuary, or the offerings “for I the Lord sanctify them.”

We end the reading with God describing acceptable sacrifices. The Lord says the offering “must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.” Hebrews chapter 10 explains that animal sacrifices only covered the sins of the people until Jesus’ arrival – “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect… But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.’ Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’… He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:1-10).

One day in this story, the Lord will do away with the sacrificial system, and His Son will do for us what animal blood can’t. In the meantime, God is working His plan for salvation through the Israelites. Therefore, we end the reading with the Lord saying – “you shall keep My commandments, and perform them: I am the Lord. You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctifies you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord.” Keep reading. (Leviticus 20:1-22:33)

Today the Lord gives His people the prohibitions against eating blood that we looked at a couple of days ago –  “And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” And it will be the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, whose blood will make the final atonement. 

God chose the Israelites as His people from whom the Messiah will come. He desires for His people to be set apart from the ones around them. Therefore, He commands them not to be like the people in Egypt where they left nor like the people in Canaan where they are going – “According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God.” 

The Lord instructs the Israelites not to uncover the nakedness of their father, mother, sister, aunt, uncle, and so forth. He also says to them, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.” The Lord explains that the people around them, the Canaanites, are engaging in these sexually deviant acts, and that His people are to be set apart as holy – “Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people.”

Remember the Canaanites are descendants of Ham’s son Canaan. They were cursed as a result of Ham’s perversion toward his father Noah. Apparently the Canaanite people have progressed in their sexual perversion, and the Lord does not want them to negatively influence His people. God desires for His people to be holy. That is why the Lord says to Moses, “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’” Then He gives them instructions on how to be honest, fair, and kind to one another. He says “you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” 

God establishes boundaries for His people, which will distinguish them from the people around them. He expects His people to exhibit self restraint and care for others, including the poor, blind, deaf, and strangers.  And why does God desire for His people to be holy and set apart from the people around them? So they can be a light in this dark world and draw others into His presence – “You are the light of the world… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

During the Conquest Era, we will read an amazing story of a Canaanite harlot who is drawn into the light and glorifies the Lord. And during the Judges Era, we will read about a Moabite widow who puts her faith in the Lord and benefits from God’s instructions for His people to leave the grain along the edges of their fields for the poor and foreigners living among them. So keep reading. (Leviticus 17:1-19:37)

Today the Lord gives Moses and Aaron instructions for the future regarding leprosy – “When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and I put the leprous plague in a house in the land of your possession… the priest shall go in to examine the house.” So we see that the Lord is sovereign over all things, including leprosy. We also see that God gives instructions to be applied in the present and distant future since the Israelites don’t currently own any homes in Canaan. So the priests will have another job once settled in the promised land, the job of inspecting leprous homes. 

Then the Lord gives specific instructions regarding bodily discharge, emission of semen, women’s customary discharge of blood, and discharge of blood that isn’t customary. Did you notice how God gives women a period of rest again before they are to re-engage? Yesterday He told the women to rest after childbirth, and today the rest is due to her period of customary discharge of blood. “And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean… But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.” 

Lastly, we read about the Day of Atonement. This is a very important day that occurs once a year when the high priest atones for the sins of the people in order for them to be in relationship with the Lord. It is the only day the priest can enter the Most Holy Place where the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat are. On this day, after Aaron sacrifices a bull for himself, he is to take two goats for the sins of the people. One is to be sacrificed and the blood sprinkled on the mercy seat, and the other is to be released into the wilderness – “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.” The goat released into the wilderness is the scapegoat, which is another foreshadowing of Christ, the once-and-for-all Scapegoat who is coming to bear our sins – “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). 

After Jesus’ crucifixion there will no longer be a need for animal sacrifices or for the annual scapegoat. Jesus will say, right before He dies while He is hanging on the cross – “It is finished” (John 19:30), meaning that the total fulfillment of God’s plan for salvation has been and is being completed through His Son Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow we learn whose nakedness we can’t uncover among other things, so keep reading. (Leviticus 14:33-16:34)

The Lord gives the Israelites instructions regarding childbirth. He tells women to rest forty days after the birth of a male and eighty days after the birth of a female allowing them a period of healing before re-engaging. The boy is to be circumcised on the eighth day as the Lord first told Abraham – “and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised” (Genesis 17:11-12).

Then the Lord lays out some pretty detailed instructions regarding skin diseases, identifying leprosy, protecting the community, and treating contaminated items. God provides guidance on how to properly handle people with skin diseases and leprosy in order to protect the person and the community. The priests are the ones who are responsible for caring for the people spiritually and physically. They are to use God’s word as a medical resource to examine the sick. Did you notice that God’s health care plan allows everyone to receive care? “But if he is poor and can not afford it he shall take one male lamb…” The Lord still requires the poor to pay something but not as much as those with more.

God also provides instructions on cleansing a leper who has been healed. Note that the cleansing doesn’t heal the leper; it’s a ceremonial purification where the blood of an animal will be shed on behalf of a leper who has been healed. The lepers should be healed before presenting themselves to the priest. We have read about the Lord turning Moses’ hand leprous and then back to normal (Exodus 4:6-7). And we will soon read about the Lord striking Miriam with leprosy and healing her seven days later (Numbers 12:10-15). 

When Jesus arrives on the scene, He too will supernaturally heal lepers. Jesus will not shy away from people with leprosy. He will actually draw close to a man with leprosy and put his hand on the leper and say be cleansed – “Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, ‘See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them’” (Matthew 8:4). And when Jesus encounters ten lepers, He will tell them “‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed” (Luke 17:14). So we see that Jesus is not made unclean when he encounters the lepers. Quite the opposite. The lepers are healed by Jesus before going to the priest for the cleansing. Jesus Christ obeys His Father’s instructions given in Leviticus 14 when he tells the lepers to go to the priest for the ceremonial cleansing. 

Jesus’ healing of the unclean lepers, who are separated from community, is a beautiful picture of why His Father is sending Him. Jesus is obediently coming as the final sacrificial Lamb to die in order to heal unclean sinners who are separated from His Father and to restore us back to Him. Tomorrow we learn about bodily discharge and where the name scapegoat originated, so keep reading. (Leviticus 12:1-14:32)

Today the priests offer sacrifices before the Lord just as the Lord instructed. “Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.” 

“Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. And Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the Lord spoke, saying ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.’”

The Lord instructed the priests in Exodus 30 not to offer strange incense to Him nor shall they make any for themselves, but it shall be holy for the Lord. The incident with Nadab and Abihu is another strong reminder that we must come to the Lord His way. God has laid out clear instructions for the high priests specifying how to approach Him, and any deviation from that will result in death. This might sound harsh to us, but this is how the Lord is revealing His holiness to the Hebrews whom He just brought out of idolatry filled Egypt. This is the first time the priests are offering sacrifices on behalf of the people, and God expects them to be humble and revere Him as holy. The Lord is not going to allow this blatant disobedience to set the stage for how to approach a Holy God. The Lord is working His plan to reconcile His people to Himself through the priests and the Israelites, through whom the Messiah is coming. Later in the story, after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, Paul will write about this reconciliation – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19). God’s plan of reconciling us to Himself is not something to take casually. Our sinful nature is so disgusting that it is going to require the horrific death of His only Son to satisfy the wrath that we deserve. God does not want us to take this lightly, as He didn’t want Nadab and Abihu to take His holiness and worship of Him lightly.

We end the reading with the Lord giving instructions on clean and unclean animals. Noah obviously knew which animals were clean as the Lord said to him before the flood, “You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female” (Genesis 7:2). Here, in Leviticus 11, God gives more detailed instructions to the Israelites. These rules regarding clean and unclean animals are intended for more than just health benefits for the Israelites. The Lord is setting His people apart from the people around them – “For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

Tomorrow, the Lord gives instructions for treating diseases. Our Creator knows best how to care for His people, and thankfully He has given us a resource to know Him and His guidance for our lives through the Bible – so keep reading! (Leviticus 9:1-11:47)