141.) Leviticus 20

John 14:15 — Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

Leviticus 20:1 – 27   (NRSV)

Penalties for Violations of Holiness

20)  The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²Say further to the people of Israel: Any of the people of Israel, or of the aliens who reside in Israel, who give any of their offspring to Molech shall be put to death; the people of the land shall stone them to death. ³I myself will set my face against them, and will cut them off from the people, because they have given of their offspring to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name. ⁴And if the people of the land should ever close their eyes to them, when they give of their offspring to Molech, and do not put them to death, ⁵I myself will set my face against them and against their family, and will cut them off from among their people, them and all who follow them in prostituting themselves to Molech.

Psalm 72:4 (New International Version)

He will save the children.

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⁶If any turn to mediums and wizards, prostituting themselves to them, I will set my face against them, and will cut them off from the people.

⁷Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the Lord your God. ⁸Keep my statutes, and observe them; I am the Lord; I sanctify you.

1 Peter 1:13-16 (New International Version)

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

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from Praying in the Wesleyan Spirit, by Paul Chilcote:

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal.
–Philippians 3:12

God of Perfect Love,

You call me to be perfect even as you are perfect.  That is a monumental claim upon my life.  Despite the fact that this call to be completely conformed to the image of Christ–to be absolutely Christlike in my life–is offensive to many, I will strive to open my life to the transforming power of your perfecting love.  My prayer is that I might become daily more and more like Jesus, your Son.

The perfection to which you call me certainly does not mean that I will ever be free from ignorance or mistakes or infirmities or temptation; neither is it a call to absolute perfection, for only your unconditional love is perfect in this sense.

Rather you call me quite simply to develop such a close and loving relationship with you that I would never want to do anything to separate myself from that love or withhold it from anyone else.  You call me to be loving as Christ was loving, in every relationship and at all times.  And if I live by your grace in this way, then I will always be able to look you in the face without fear and with love in my eyes.

So I pray sincerely that the blood of Christ might cleanse me from all sin.  I know that you are ready to forgive all the darkness of my past and that you are able to fill my heart with your life-transforming Spirit.  I know that Jesus is my advocate, a liberator who frees me from the bondage of my past and sets my course for a future filled with reconciling and liberating love.  Purify me from pride, from self-will, and from anger.

Grant me courage to press on toward the mark for the prize of your high calling in Jesus Christ, not because I can make it my own, but because you have made me your own.   Amen.

_________________________

⁹All who curse father or mother shall be put to death; having cursed father or mother, their blood is upon them.

¹⁰If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.

Reflections on adultery:

“The evils of the body are, murder, theft, and adultery; of the tongue, lying, slander, abuse, and idle talk; of the mind, covetousness, hatred, and error.”
–Buddha

“You know, of course, that the Tasmanians, who never committed adultery, are now extinct.”
–William Somerset Maugham

“He and I had an office so tiny that an inch smaller and it would have been adultery.”
–Dorothy Parker

“I love songs about horses, railroads, land, Judgment Day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak, and love.  And Mother.  And God.”
–Johnny Cash

“Sin cannot tear you away from Christ, even though you commit adultery a hundred times a day and commit as many murders.”
–Martin Luther

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¹¹The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.

¹²If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed perversion, their blood is upon them.

¹³If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.

¹⁴If a man takes a wife and her mother also, it is depravity; they shall be burned to death, both he and they, that there may be no depravity among you.

–Hard to believe they needed a command to say, “Don’t marry your mother-in-law”!

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¹⁵If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he shall be put to death; and you shall kill the animal. ¹⁶If a woman approaches any animal and has sexual relations with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.

¹⁷If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people; he has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, he shall be subject to punishment.

¹⁸If a man lies with a woman having her sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow and she has laid bare her flow of blood; both of them shall be cut off from their people.

¹⁹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to lay bare one’s own flesh; they shall be subject to punishment. ²⁰If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall be subject to punishment; they shall die childless. ²¹If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.

²²You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and observe them, so that the land to which I bring you to settle in may not vomit you out. ²³You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. ²⁴But I have said to you: You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God; I have separated you from the peoples.

²⁵You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; you shall not bring abomination on yourselves by animal or by bird or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. ²⁶You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine.

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Music:

The hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” was written in 1826 by Reginald Heber, a bishop in the north of India for the Church of England and a prolific hymn writer.  It is a true classic — sung  here by Hillsong United.

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²⁷A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death; they shall be stoned to death, their blood is upon them.

Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp in Florida

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

obedience training.  http://www.animalmotel.net/images/hmpg2.jpg

Zulu children.  http://www.figo2009.org.za/photogallery/Culture/ZuluChildren.jpg

this little light.  http://media.photobucket.com/image/be%20%20holy/TCocuzzo/zzinspi1h.gif

lipstick on collar.   http://clippernolan.wordpress.com/2008/02/07/10-songs-about-cheating/

mother-in-law cartoon.  http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/awh/lowres/awhn204l.jpg

Cassadaga.   http://image.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/cassadaga6_thumb.jpg

140.) Leviticus 19

“Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” — Leviticus 19:2

Leviticus 19:1 – 37   (NRSV)

Ritual and Moral Holiness

19)   The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

³You shall each revere your mother and father,

Exodus 20:12 (English Standard Version)

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

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and you shall keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.

Exodus 20:8 (English Standard Version)

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

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⁴Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the Lord your God.

Exodus 20:4 (English Standard Version)

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

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⁵When you offer a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, offer it in such a way that it is acceptable on your behalf. ⁶It shall be eaten on the same day you offer it, or on the next day; and anything left over until the third day shall be consumed in fire. ⁷If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination; it will not be acceptable. ⁸All who eat it shall be subject to punishment, because they have profaned what is holy to the Lord; and any such person shall be cut off from the people.

⁹When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.

Ruth 2:2 (New Living Translation)

One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.”

Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.”

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¹¹You shall not steal;

Exodus 20:15 (English Standard Version)

“You shall not steal.”

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you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another.

¹²And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord.

Exodus 20:7 (English Standard Version)

“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”

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¹³You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning.

¹⁴You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

Luke 14:13-14 (New International Version)

“But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

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¹⁵You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.

1 Timothy 5:21 (New International Version)

I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.

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¹⁶You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

Psalm 15:1-5 (New International Version)

LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?

He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart

and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman.

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¹⁷You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.

Galatians 6:1 (The Message)

Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.

_________________________

¹⁸You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

¹⁹You shall keep my statutes.

You shall not let your animals breed with a different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; nor shall you put on a garment made of two different materials.

“Treat yourself to a spot of everyday luxury with this handsome, luxurious ‘casual’ shirt cut from a fine blend of 45% silk and 55% cotton.”

²⁰If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave, designated for another man but not ransomed or given her freedom, an inquiry shall be held. They shall not be put to death, since she has not been freed; ²¹but he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram as guilt offering. ²²And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he committed; and the sin he committed shall be forgiven him.

²³When you come into the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall regard their fruit as forbidden; three years it shall be forbidden to you, it must not be eaten. ²⁴In the fourth year all their fruit shall be set apart for rejoicing in the Lord. ²⁵But in the fifth year you may eat of their fruit, that their yield may be increased for you: I am the Lord your God.

²⁶You shall not eat anything with its blood.

You shall not practice augury or witchcraft.

²⁷You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.

²⁸You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord.

But I want a tattoo like this!!!

²⁹Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, that the land not become prostituted and full of depravity.

³⁰You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

³¹Do not turn to mediums or wizards; do not seek them out, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

Do not enter.

John 6:68 (New International Version)

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

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³²You shall rise before the aged, and defer to the old; and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

Proverbs 16:31 (Contemporary English Version)

Gray hair is a glorious crown

worn by those

who have lived right.

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³³When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. ³⁴The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Philippians 3:20 (New International Version)

But our citizenship is in heaven.

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³⁵You shall not cheat in measuring length, weight, or quantity. ³⁶You shall have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

³⁷You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and observe them: I am the Lord.

_________________________

Music:

Psalm 51:10-12 (New King James Version)

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

“Lord, Make Me Pure in Heart”  by Lenny LeBlanc.  Click on the link below to hear it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZx0x9ETFYg&feature=player_embedded

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Holiness.   http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xO-dVZY1Xk8/R_l_iTW1VbI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/s5aLcz86p1Y/s400/Holiness1.jpg

Ten Commandments tablet.  http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/SUE/SUE108/FRCL0263.jpg

Ruth gathering grain.   http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/Pictures/Standard%20Bible%20Story%20Readers,%20Book%20Four/images/scan0016.jpg

parking sign.  http://www.myparkingsign.com/MPS/images/ada_symbol.gif

shirt.   http://www.savilerowco.com/content/products/2/2/8/228nag_a_p.jpg

tattoo.  http://lh5.ggpht.com/likethisfree/R5NkB6uOwSI/AAAAAAAAASI/tHnboniE-wI/s1600/Full%20Body%20Tattoos3.jpg

psychic sign.    http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_36/1135876254WLqc05.jpg

older couple.   http://blondedays.com/Websites/karangleddie/Images/couple.jpg

Statue of Liberty.  http://wirednewyork.com/landmarks/liberty/images/liberty.jpg

139.) Leviticus 18

The fundamental issue behind all these prohibitions is the concern to honor God’s procreational commission to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28).

Leviticus 18:1 – 30   (NRSV)

Sexual Relations

18)   The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: I am the Lord your God. ³You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes. ⁴My ordinances you shall observe and my statutes you shall keep, following them: I am the Lord your God. ⁵You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord.

⁶None of you shall approach anyone near of kin to uncover nakedness: I am the Lord.

All these people you cannot marry!  “To uncover nakedness” is a euphemism for sexual relations.

⁷You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness.

⁸You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is the nakedness of your father.

⁹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born abroad.

¹⁰You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness.

¹¹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by your father, since she is your sister.

¹²You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh.

¹³You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s flesh.

¹⁴You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.

¹⁵You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law: she is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness.

¹⁶You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.

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Music:

All these complicated rules — but they prevent even more more complicated family relations!  Ray Stevens sings “I’m My Own Grandpa.”

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¹⁷You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are your flesh; it is depravity.

¹⁸And you shall not take a woman as a rival to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.

¹⁹You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness.

²⁰You shall not have sexual relations with your kinsman’s wife, and defile yourself with her.

²¹You shall not give any of your offspring to sacrifice them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

Psalm 72:4 (New International Version)

He will save the children.

_________________________

²²You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.

This verse has been cited for thousands of years in the Judeo-Christian tradition to support the view that homosexual activity is sin.

²³You shall not have sexual relations with any animal and defile yourself with it, nor shall any woman give herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it: it is perversion.

²⁴Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for by all these practices the nations I am casting out before you have defiled themselves. ²⁵Thus the land became defiled; and I punished it for its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and commit none of these abominations, either the citizen or the alien who resides among you ²⁷(for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled); ²⁸otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

²⁹For whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from their people. ³⁰So keep my charge not to commit any of these abominations that were done before you, and not to defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.

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Ephesians 3:14-19 (New International Version)

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

gender symbols.  http://www.justenoughblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/1069414_gender_symbols.jpg

marriage chart.   http://www.evangelical.us/images/leviticus-18-22-nlt.jpg

children of the Philippines, photo by Jasper Llanderal.  http://i.pbase.com/u42/jllanderal/upload/27615818.ChildrenSmiling.jpg

two guys.  http://www.merinews.com/upload/thumbimage/1223032715981_homosexuals_t.JPG

cross with heart, made by the Benedictine Monks of the Weston Priory in Vermont.   http://www.westonpriory.org/esales/images/WC01-400.jpg

138.) Leviticus 17

Leviticus 17:1 – 16   (NRSV)

The Slaughtering of Animals

17)   The Lord spoke to Moses: ²Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them: This is what the Lord has commanded.

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“The introductory address in 17:2 suggests that the responsibility for holiness cannot be fully upheld by either priests or laity alone.  It is a reciprocal responsibility; if either the priests or the laity fail to attend to what God expects of them, all efforts toward holy living will be diminished.”

from Leviticus, by Samuel E. Ballentine

NOT like this: !

_________________________

³If anyone of the house of Israel slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp, ⁴and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, he shall be held guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood, and he shall be cut off from the people. ⁵This is in order that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and offer them as sacrifices of well-being to the Lord. ⁶The priest shall dash the blood against the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and turn the fat into smoke as a pleasing odor to the Lord, ⁷so that they may no longer offer their sacrifices for goat-demons, to whom they prostitute themselves. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.

⁸And say to them further: Anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to sacrifice it to the Lord, shall be cut off from the people.

Eating Blood Prohibited

Many foods contain blood as an ingredient:  blood sausage (above), blood soup, fried blood, blood pancakes, black pudding . . .

¹⁰If anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut that person off from the people. ¹¹For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar; for, as life, it is the blood that makes atonement. ¹²Therefore I have said to the people of Israel: No person among you shall eat blood, nor shall any alien who resides among you eat blood.

from 40 Days to Your Best Life:  A Spiritual Journey to Contentment for Nurses, by Suzanne Tietjen (Honor Books):

“For the life of any creature is in its blood.”  –Leviticus 17:11

The patient sways the first time you assist him to dangle his legs over the edge of the bed.

“Tell me what’s happening.”  You help him to lie flat; then reach for his pulse, which is swift and thready.

“Just a little lightheaded,” he says.

You check his dressing.  Dry.  Once you’re sure he isn’t in immediate danger, you call the doctor for orders.  A few hours later your patient is much improved after receiving a transfusion.

Downstairs in the ER, trauma nurses recycle blood from a hemothorax back to the patient so he won’t bleed out.

Every nurse knows that life is in the blood.  A 10 percent loss puts the patient into shock, the slippery slope toward death.  A 25 to 30 percent loss can be fatal.  In a very real sense, lack of blood flow is part of every death.

Our spiritual lives depend on blood as well–the blood of Jesus.  Not only did his death put believers into a right relationship with God, his sacrifice goes on cleansing us from the wrong things we do.  Just as the cells of our body depend on the flow of blood to bring oxygen and nutrients and take away waste products, we depend on God from moment to moment to guide us and to pardon our shortcomings (some people might call them sins–and they’d be right).

Peroxide take a blood stain out of your uniform.  The blood of Jesus works like that when we admit we’re wrong and ask forgiveness.

It costs us nothing.

It cost him everything.

_________________________

¹³And anyone of the people of Israel, or of the aliens who reside among them, who hunts down an animal or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. ¹⁴For the life of every creature—its blood is its life; therefore I have said to the people of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.

_________________________

These ancient requirements in the Old Testaments were God’s devices for teaching the people the value of blood as the carrier of life.  With that idea firmly ingrained, Jesus presents his own blood as true life –

John 6:52-56 (English Standard Version)

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.”

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¹⁵All persons, citizens or aliens, who eat what dies of itself or what has been torn by wild animals, shall wash their clothes, and bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening; then they shall be clean. ¹⁶But if they do not wash themselves or bathe their body, they shall bear their guilt.

_________________________

Music:

We just read that blood is precious to the Lord because “the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar.” Moses and the Israelites did not know that the sacrificial blood of animals would later be replaced with blood even more precious.  “Nothing but the Blood” by Matt Redman.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

nails.  http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3231/3119407066_744c77095d.jpg

blood sausage.  http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/images-blood-sausages/blood-sausage-links.jpg

blood bag.   http://www.scansmart.com/SATO/images/blood-bag-label.jpg

Jesus offering his body and blood.   http://kingdavid.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/animated_jesus_wine_bread_hg_clr.gif

137.) Leviticus 16

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Leviticus 16:1 – 34   (NRSV)

The Day of Atonement

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The first mention of this solemn day of Sabbath rest and prayerful self-examination came to Moses from God when they were together on top of Mount Sinai.  Now the Jews call this day Yom Kippur; it is one of the Jewish high holy days.  It is the supreme act of cleansing, and the very heart of Leviticus.

Exodus 30:10 (New International Version)

Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the generations to come. It is most holy to the LORD.

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16)   The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died. ²The Lord said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron not to come just at any time into the sanctuary inside the curtain before the mercy seat that is upon the ark, or he will die; for I appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.

³Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and shall have the linen undergarments next to his body, fasten the linen sash, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy vestments. He shall bathe his body in water, and then put them on.

⁵He shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷He shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting; ⁸and Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. ⁹Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin offering; ¹⁰but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

¹¹Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house; he shall slaughter the bull as a sin offering for himself. ¹²He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of crushed sweet incense, and he shall bring it inside the curtain ¹³and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the covenant, or he will die. ¹⁴He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵He shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the curtain, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat.

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2 Corinthians 5:21 (New Living Translation)

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

The first goat is to be sacrificed and its blood sprinkled upon the mercy seat (their sins are forgiven) . . .

Music:

“Jesus Paid It All” sung by Kristian Stanfill, worship leader at North Point Community Church, Alpharetta, Georgia.

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¹⁶Thus he shall make atonement for the sanctuary, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel, and because of their transgressions, all their sins; and so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which remains with them in the midst of their uncleannes ¹⁷No one shall be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.

¹⁸Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement on its behalf, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on each of the horns of the altar. ¹⁹He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and hallow it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.

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Luke 18:13 (New Living Translation)

‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’

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²⁰When he has finished atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ²¹Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task.

. . . and the second goat is to to be released into the desert (their guilt is carried far away).

²²The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness.

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as the goat carries the sins of the people away into the wilderness–

1 Peter 2:24 (New International Version)

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.

Psalm 103:12 (New Living Translation)

He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.

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Moretto da Brescia – “Christ in the Wilderness” (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

In the Wilderness

by Robert Graves  (English poet, 1895-1985)

Christ of his gentleness Thirsting and hungering, Walked in the wilderness; Soft words of grace he spoke Unto lost desert-folk That listened wondering. He heard the bitterns call From ruined palace-wall, Answered them brotherly. He held communion With the she-pelican Of lonely piety. Basilisk, cockatrice, Flocked to his homilies, With mail of dread device, With monstrous barbèd stings, With eager dragon-eyes; Great rats on leather wings And poor blind broken things, Foul in their miseries. And ever with him went, Of all his wanderings Comrade, with ragged coat, Gaunt ribs — poor innocent — Bleeding foot, burning throat, The guileless old scape-goat; For forty nights and days Followed in Jesus’ ways, Sure guard behind him kept, Tears like a lover wept.

“Graves imagines in his poignant poem that an exiled goat saw Jesus, recognized in him a kindred being, and followed him the entire forty-day stint, guarding him and sharing his trials.  The scapegoat had been driven out of the settlement; Jesus, on the other hand, was led out by the Spirit.  The goat was to be the symbolic atonement for Israel’s sins; Jesus to atone for the sins of the world.  Both of them were outside the city boundaries, away from the solace that others of one’s kind can be.  Both of them were there because of the sins of others rather than their own.”

–from Echoings, by J. Ruth Stenerson

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²³Then Aaron shall enter the tent of meeting, and shall take off the linen vestments that he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there. ²⁴He shall bathe his body in water in a holy place, and put on his vestments; then he shall come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, making atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵The fat of the sin offering he shall turn into smoke on the altar.

²⁶The one who sets the goat free for Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward may come into the camp. ²⁷The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp; their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be consumed in fire. ²⁸The one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward may come into the camp.

²⁹This shall be a statute to you forever: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall deny yourselves, and shall do no work, neither the citizen nor the alien who resides among you. ³⁰For on this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord. ³¹It is a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall deny yourselves; it is a statute forever. ³²The priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the linen vestments, the holy vestments. ³³He shall make atonement for the sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

³⁴This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the people of Israel once in the year for all their sins.

And Moses did as the Lord had commanded him.

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In Leviticus 16 and the observance of the Day of Atonement, we see Jesus.

The shedding of blood was necessary . . .

Hebrews 9:22 (New International Version)

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

. . . but animal blood was not enough.

Hebrews 10:4 (New International Version)

It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Christ’s sacrifice is complete in every way and accomplished everything that God required!

Hebrews 9:28 (New International Version)

Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.

Christ’s sacrifice opens the door (or tears down the curtain) that separates us from God!

Hebrews 10:21-22 (New International Version)

Since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Jesus paid it all.  http://www.canyon-church.com/images/JesusPaidItAll.jpg

Aaron in the Holy of Holies.   http://media.photobucket.com/image/Jesus%20High%20Priest/tracyyoungtv/HighPriestatHolyofHolies.jpg

goat for sacrifice.   http://www.pathlights.com/theselastdays/images/lev16ful.jpg

goat to the wilderness.   http://www.cofac.org/takeaway.jpg

Moretto.   http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_11.53.jpg

136.) Leviticus 15

Advisory!   Do not read today’s blog while eating.

Leviticus 15:1 – 33   (NRSV)

Concerning Bodily Discharges

15)   The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ²Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When any man has a discharge from his member, his discharge makes him ceremonially unclean. ³The uncleanness of his discharge is this: whether his member flows with his discharge, or his member is stopped from discharging, it is uncleanness for him.

⁴Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean; and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. ⁵Anyone who touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. ⁶All who sit on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁷All who touch the body of the one with the discharge shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁸If the one with the discharge spits on persons who are clean, then they shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁹Any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean. ¹⁰All who touch anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening, and all who carry such a thing shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹¹All those whom the one with the discharge touches without his having rinsed his hands in water shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹²Any earthen vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken; and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

¹³When the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, he shall count seven days for his cleansing; he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in fresh water, and he shall be clean. ¹⁴On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. ¹⁵The priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord for his discharge.

¹⁶If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water, and be unclean until the evening. ¹⁷Everything made of cloth or of skin on which the semen falls shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹⁸If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

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Genesis 2:21-24 (New International Version)

So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs  and closed up the place with flesh.  Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib  he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

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¹⁹When a woman has a discharge of blood that is her regular discharge from her body, she shall be in her impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁰Everything upon which she lies during her impurity shall be unclean; everything also upon which she sits shall be unclean. ²¹Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

²²Whoever touches anything upon which she sits shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening; ²³whether it is the bed or anything upon which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁴If any man lies with her, and her impurity falls on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

²⁵If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness; as in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. ²⁶Every bed on which she lies during all the days of her discharge shall be treated as the bed of her impurity; and everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her impurity. ²⁷Whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

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“Femme touchant Jesus” by Swiss artist Corinne Vonaesch, 2001.

Mark 5:24-34 (New Living Translation)

Jesus went . . . and all the people followed, crowding around him.  A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding.  She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse.  She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe.  For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”  Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.

Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”

His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

But he kept on looking around to see who had done it.  Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done.  And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”

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²⁸If she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count seven days, and after that she shall be clean. ²⁹On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting. ³⁰The priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the Lord for her unclean discharge.

³¹Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.

³²This is the ritual for those who have a discharge: for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby, ³³for her who is in the infirmity of her period, for anyone, male or female, who has a discharge, and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean.

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Music:

A cute parody of the Beatles’ “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.”  Now I don’t mean to be preachy, but in this age of the H1N1 flu, and considering that 10% of American women and 25% of American men do not wash their hands after using the restroom (!)  — “You Better Wash Your Hands!”

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Advisory picture.    http://yotamak.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341c145e53ef01156fa390c9970c-800wi

bed.   http://media.photobucket.com/image/messy%20bed/stacilayne/2009%20from%20May%20on/messy-bed.jpg

No Spitting sign.   http://www.lostlaowai.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/no-spitting-sign.jpg

washing hands.   http://www.danville-va.gov/upload/images/Utilities/wash.jpg

man showering.    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/06/22/article-1194791-0570A7EE000005DC-426_233x371.jpg

Adam and Eve.  http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/UNC/UNC189/u15039902.jpg

washer and dryer.  http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/cm/goodhousekeeping/images/GE-Profile-Frontload-Pair_Steam-and-SmartDispense-fb-61619284.jpg

Vonaesch.    http://www.c-vonaesch.ch/06_07.html

135.) Leviticus 14

Map showing the world distribution of leprosy in 2003. Most cases to least reads pink, red, orange, yellow, green.

Leviticus 14:1 – 57   (NRSV)

Purification of Lepers

14)   The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²This shall be the ritual for the leprous person at the time of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest; ³the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall make an examination. If the disease is healed in the leprous person, ⁴the priest shall command that two living clean birds and cedarwood and crimson yarn and hyssop be brought for the one who is to be cleansed.

Psalm 51:7 (New American Standard Bible)

Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

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⁵The priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in an earthen vessel. ⁶He shall take the living bird with the cedarwood and the crimson yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. ⁷He shall sprinkle it seven times upon the one who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease; then he shall pronounce him clean, and he shall let the living bird go into the open field.

⁸The one who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall live outside his tent seven days. ⁹On the seventh day he shall shave all his hair: of head, beard, eyebrows; he shall shave all his hair. Then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.

¹⁰On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish, and a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, and one log of oil. ¹¹The priest who cleanses shall set the person to be cleansed, along with these things, before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

¹²The priest shall take one of the lambs, and offer it as a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and raise them as an elevation offering before the Lord.

“Lamb to the Slaughter” by Australian artist Dawn Lim

¹³He shall slaughter the lamb in the place where the sin offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered in the holy place; for the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest: it is most holy. ¹⁴The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot. ¹⁵The priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand, ¹⁶and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. ¹⁷Some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. ¹⁸The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed.

Then the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the Lord: ¹⁹the priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterward he shall slaughter the burnt offering; ²⁰and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement on his behalf and he shall be clean.

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Mark 1:40-45 (New Living Translation)

A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.

Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said.“Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.  Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.

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²¹But if he is poor and cannot afford so much, he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be elevated, to make atonement on his behalf, and one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering and a log of oil; ²²also two turtledoves or two pigeons, such as he can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.

²³On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the Lord; ²⁴and the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall raise them as an elevation offering before the Lord. ²⁵The priest shall slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering and shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot. ²⁶The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, ²⁷and shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord. ²⁸The priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot, where the blood of the guilt offering was placed. ²⁹The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement on his behalf before the Lord. ³⁰And he shall offer, of the turtledoves or pigeons such as he can afford, ³¹one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a grain offering; and the priest shall make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one being cleansed.

³²This is the ritual for the one who has a leprous disease, who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing.

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Music:

Psalm 103:2-3 (New International Version)

Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases.

“Jesus, You Are My Healer”  sung by Don Moen.

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Purification of Leprous Houses

“A leprous disease”  (perhaps mold or mildew)  in a house is a health hazard.

³³The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ³⁴When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, ³⁵the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, “There seems to me to be some sort of disease in my house.” ³⁶The priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, or all that is in the house will become unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house. ³⁷He shall examine the disease; if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, ³⁸the priest shall go outside to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days.

May I suggest — BLEACH!

³⁹The priest shall come again on the seventh day and make an inspection; if the disease has spread in the walls of the house, ⁴⁰the priest shall command that the stones in which the disease appears be taken out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city. ⁴¹He shall have the inside of the house scraped thoroughly, and the plaster that is scraped off shall be dumped in an unclean place outside the city. ⁴²They shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and take other plaster and plaster the house.

Drawing by Annie Vallotton for the Good News Bible.

⁴³If the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it, ⁴⁴the priest shall go and make inspection; if the disease has spread in the house, it is a spreading leprous disease in the house; it is unclean. ⁴⁵He shall have the house torn down, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house, and taken outside the city to an unclean place.

⁴⁶All who enter the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening; ⁴⁷and all who sleep in the house shall wash their clothes; and all who eat in the house shall wash their clothes.

⁴⁸If the priest comes and makes an inspection, and the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, the priest shall pronounce the house clean; the disease is healed. ⁴⁹For the cleansing of the house he shall take two birds, with cedarwood and crimson yarn and hyssop,

Israelite cleaning products:  cedarwood, crimson yarn, and hyssop!

cedarwood — an aromatic wood.  God often calls for fragrant offerings.

crimson yarn — looking forward to the blood of Christ and forgiveness.  “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord.  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be as wool.”  –Isaiah 1:18

hyssop — often used in purification rites in the Bible.  In the Passover story, hyssop was used to apply the blood of the sacrificed lamb to the doorpost.

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⁵⁰and shall slaughter one of the birds over fresh water in an earthen vessel, ⁵¹and shall take the cedarwood and the hyssop and the crimson yarn, along with the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵²Thus he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the fresh water, and with the living bird, and with the cedarwood and hyssop and crimson yarn; ⁵³and he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field; so he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.

⁵⁴This is the ritual for any leprous disease: for an itch, ⁵⁵for leprous diseases in clothing and houses, ⁵⁶and for a swelling or an eruption or a spot, ⁵⁷to determine when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the ritual for leprous diseases.

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All this is part of our fallen world . . . humans and nature . . .

Romans 8:22   (NIV)

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

map showing world distribution of leprosy.    http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Lepra_2003.png&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lepra_2003.png&usg=__iPR-dd_pjdiS-XtOQgYXnNJ5oTQ=&h=628&w=1357&sz=21&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=b1wEKr1IF3DATM:&tbnh=69&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dworld%2Bdistribution%2Bof%2Bleprosy%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

hyssop.  http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/images/orimaruelongatedflowers.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/orimaru.htm&usg=__K9sfvMUCF0YjYAEEBNfXgZ5upSI=&h=218&w=355&sz=21&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=BN62x2YwYw-2JM:&tbnh=74&tbnw=121&prev=/images%3Fq%3Doriganum%2Bmaru%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Jesus cleanses a leper.   http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2135/jesuscleansesalepersmbi9.jpg

Lim.  http://www.dawnlim.com/art/2007%20works/lamb%20to%20the%20slaughter.jpg

mold.    http://www.a1floodandfire.com/Logos%20and%20Pictures/Pictures/jpg%20files/Field%20Pictures/black-mold.jpg

bleach.   http://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/uploads/image/Clorox%20Bleach.jpg

Vallotton.  http://membres.lycos.fr/eikon26/1Theb/Lev01_27_Regulations_laws/source/22.htm

cleaning supplies.   http://cozyhousekeepers.com/cleaningsupplies2.jpg

134.) Leviticus 13

Baby skin, so new and soft.

Leviticus 13:1 – 59   (NRSV)

Leprosy: Varieties and Symptoms

13)   The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: ²When a person has on the skin of his body

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Skin:

The largest organ in your body is . . . your skin!  It makes up 6-8% of your total body weight.  Skin holds your body together, covering and protecting your bones and muscles and other organs.  It helps keep your body at the proper temperature, and it enables you to have a sense of touch.  Your skin keeps out bacterial invasions, and it has cells which can make Vitamin D out of sunlight.

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a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a leprous disease on the skin of his body, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. ³The priest shall examine the disease on the skin of his body, and if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous disease; after the priest has examined him he shall pronounce him ceremonially unclean. ⁴But if the spot is white in the skin of his body, and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall confine the diseased person for seven days. ⁵The priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if he sees that the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall confine him seven days more. ⁶The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the disease has abated and the disease has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption; and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean. ⁷But if the eruption spreads in the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest. ⁸The priest shall make an examination, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease.

⁹When a person contracts a leprous disease, he shall be brought to the priest. ¹⁰The priest shall make an examination, and if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is quick raw flesh in the swelling, ¹¹it is a chronic leprous disease in the skin of his body. The priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not confine him, for he is unclean.

Feet of a leper, photographed by Candace Scharsu, who writes, “Deformities are caused by accidents because lepers lose their sense of touch due to nerve damage. Fingers are caught on fire, cut, stabbed, stubbed, and broken till they’re chiseled to nothing; toes are nibbled off by rats as they sleep.”

¹²But if the disease breaks out in the skin, so that it covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, ¹³then the priest shall make an examination, and if the disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; since it has all turned white, he is clean.

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“Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague.”
–Leviticus xiii.13.

“We, too, are lepers, and may read the law of the leper as applicable to ourselves.  When a man sees himself to be altogether lost and ruined, covered all over with the defilement of sin, and in no part free from pollution; when he disclaims all righteousness of his own, and pleads guilty before the Lord, then he is clean through the blood of Jesus, and the grace of God.  Hidden, unfelt, unconfessed iniquity is the true leprosy; but when sin is seen and felt, it has received its deathblow, and the Lord looks with eyes of mercy upon the soul afflicted with it.  Nothing is more deadly than self-righteousness, or more hopeful than contrition.”

from Morning and Evening, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

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¹⁴But if raw flesh ever appears on him, he shall be unclean; ¹⁵the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease. ¹⁶But if the raw flesh again turns white, he shall come to the priest; ¹⁷the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean. He is clean.

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Music:

A “skin” song!  “Dancing Cheek to Cheek” — sung with attitude by jazz singer Jane Monheit!

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¹⁸When there is on the skin of one’s body a boil that has healed, ¹⁹and in the place of the boil there appears a white swelling or a reddish-white spot, it shall be shown to the priest. ²⁰The priest shall make an examination, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; this is a leprous disease, broken out in the boil. ²¹But if the priest examines it and the hair on it is not white, nor is it deeper than the skin but has abated, the priest shall confine him seven days. ²²If it spreads in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is diseased. ²³But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil; the priest shall pronounce him clean.

²⁴Or, when the body has a burn on the skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, reddish-white or white, ²⁵the priest shall examine it. If the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, it is a leprous disease; it has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. This is a leprous disease. ²⁶But if the priest examines it and the hair in the spot is not white, and it is no deeper than the skin but has abated, the priest shall confine him seven days. ²⁷The priest shall examine him the seventh day; if it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean. This is a leprous disease. ²⁸But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin but has abated, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; for it is the scar of the burn.

Man in a leper hospital in India.

²⁹When a man or woman has a disease on the head or in the beard, ³⁰the priest shall examine the disease. If it appears deeper than the skin and the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an itch, a leprous disease of the head or the beard. ³¹If the priest examines the itching disease, and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall confine the person with the itching disease for seven days. ³²On the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch; if the itch has not spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin, ³³he shall shave, but the itch he shall not shave. The priest shall confine the person with the itch for seven days more. ³⁴On the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch; if the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes and be clean. ³⁵But if the itch spreads in the skin after he was pronounced clean, ³⁶the priest shall examine him. If the itch has spread in the skin, the priest need not seek for the yellow hair; he is unclean. ³⁷But if in his eyes the itch is checked, and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed, he is clean; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

³⁸When a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, white spots, ³⁹the priest shall make an examination, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is a rash that has broken out on the skin; he is clean.

⁴⁰If anyone loses the hair from his head, he is bald but he is clean.

⁴¹If he loses the hair from his forehead and temples, he has baldness of the forehead but he is clean. ⁴²But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased spot, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. ⁴³The priest shall examine him; if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, which resembles a leprous disease in the skin of the body, ⁴⁴he is leprous, he is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean; the disease is on his head.

⁴⁵The person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, “Unclean, unclean.” ⁴⁶He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

The separation of the infected persons from the general population served to protect the community. Leprosy, then, became a metaphor for the defilement and separation caused by sin.

⁴⁷Concerning clothing: when a leprous disease appears in it, in woolen or linen cloth, ⁴⁸in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin, ⁴⁹if the disease shows greenish or reddish in the garment, whether in warp or woof or in skin or in anything made of skin, it is a leprous disease and shall be shown to the priest.

⁵⁰The priest shall examine the disease, and put the diseased article aside for seven days. ⁵¹He shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the cloth, in warp or woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, this is a spreading leprous disease; it is unclean. ⁵²He shall burn the clothing, whether diseased in warp or woof, woolen or linen, or anything of skin, for it is a spreading leprous disease; it shall be burned in fire.

⁵³If the priest makes an examination, and the disease has not spread in the clothing, in warp or woof or in anything of skin, ⁵⁴the priest shall command them to wash the article in which the disease appears, and he shall put it aside seven days more. ⁵⁵The priest shall examine the diseased article after it has been washed. If the diseased spot has not changed color, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in fire, whether the leprous spot is on the inside or on the outside. ⁵⁶If the priest makes an examination, and the disease has abated after it is washed, he shall tear the spot out of the cloth, in warp or woof, or out of skin. ⁵⁷If it appears again in the garment, in warp or woof, or in anything of skin, it is spreading; you shall burn with fire that in which the disease appears. ⁵⁸But the cloth, warp or woof, or anything of skin from which the disease disappears when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and it shall be clean.

⁵⁹This is the ritual for a leprous disease in a cloth of wool or linen, either in warp or woof, or in anything of skin, to decide whether it is clean or unclean.

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The NIV calls this contamination “infectious skin diseases” when it is found on people and “mildew” when it is found on items of clothing.  Many scholars doubt whether any of the various the skin-related problems described above actually refer to modern leprosy (Hansen’s disease).  Rather, the term covers a whole variety of skin diseases.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

baby skin.   http://www.askamum.co.uk/upload/24246/images/babyskincare.jpg

leper feet.    http://www.candacescharsu.com/new%20scharsu%20pics/Concerned%20/LeperFeet2a.jpg

power of the blood of Jesus.  http://www.lightoftheworldministrieschurch.com.au/en-au/Portals/_default/Skins/LOTW/images/lotw_04.jpg

leper in hospital.   http://crmin.org/02india/images/SH%2031%20leper.jpg

bald head cap.   http://rlv.zcache.com/my_bald_head_is_cuter_than_your_bad_haircut_embroidered_hat-p233117174993203287a1j3b_400.jpg

quarantine sign.    http://www.australiasigns.com.au/gal/safetygal/thumbs/lrg-181-rbw-quarantine.jpg

133.) Leviticus 12

Leviticus 12:1 – 8   (NRSV)

Purification of Women after Childbirth

12)   The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Our grandson, William Patrick Arwood, was born October 30, 2008.  We call him Liam, and here he is at 3 months old.

²Speak to the people of Israel, saying: If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. ³On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed.

Sugar and spice and everything nice . . .

⁵If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days.

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Psalm 127:3 (Contemporary English Version)

Children are a blessing

and a gift from the LORD.

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⁶When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. ⁷He shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement on her behalf; then she shall be clean from her flow of blood.

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a sin offering – not that the act of sex for the purpose of creating a child is sinful, but rather that the woman, aware of her own sinfulness, asks God to let it be that her baby is born from a forgiven sinner.

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This is the law for her who bears a child, male or female. ⁸If she cannot afford a sheep, she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf, and she shall be clean.

Joseph and Mary observed this “law for her who bears a child” — there’s Simeon holding the Baby Jesus as Mary smiles,  while Anna is  looking on and Joseph is bringing the pair of doves as an offering.

Luke 2:22-24 (New International Version)

When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”, and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

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Music:

Speaking of children:  One of my very most favorite hymns (it was sung at my wedding) is something of a lullaby.  “Children of the Heavenly Father,” written by the Swedish poet and hymn-writer Caroline V. Sandell Berg,  is sung here by Plumb (Tiffany Arbuckle Lee) and is harmonized in a beautifully haunting fashion.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

maternity cartoon.  http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/sbt/lowres/sbtn16l.jpg

baby girl.   http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NxuaPm5UfsY/Rr5d8YIF25I/AAAAAAAAA1w/s8E2nJJtoHc/s400/BLACK%2BBABY%2BGIRL.jpg

children.   http://dcf.wisconsin.gov/bcs/images/children.png

Mary and Joseph bring the purification offering.  http://www.jesusmafa.com/anglais/imag3a.htm

132.) Leviticus 11

Leviticus 11:1 – 47   (NRSV)

Clean and Unclean Foods

11)   The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them: ²Speak to the people of Israel, saying: From among all the land animals, these are the creatures that you may eat. ³Any animal that has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed and chews the cud—such you may eat.

⁴But among those that chew the cud or have divided hoofs, you shall not eat the following: the camel, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you.

You may not eat camel. (Don’t laugh — I ate a camel burger in Syria. Very stringy meat, as I remember!)

⁵The rock badger, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. ⁶The hare, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. ⁷The pig, for even though it has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed, it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. ⁸Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean for you.

Pork chops are out, too. And forget about bacon!

⁹These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the streams—such you may eat. ¹⁰But anything in the seas or the streams that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and among all the other living creatures that are in the waters—they are detestable to you ¹¹and detestable they shall remain. Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall regard as detestable. ¹²Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

No shrimp cocktail, either.  Also no fried catfish, lobster roll, calamari, turtle soup, or clam chowder.

¹³These you shall regard as detestable among the birds. They shall not be eaten; they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, ¹⁴the buzzard, the kite of any kind; ¹⁵every raven of any kind; ¹⁶the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; ¹⁷the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸the water hen, the desert owl, the carrion vulture, ¹⁹the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.

Bat soup is a specialty for the people in the Palau Islands.  What a shame — the Israelites would not have been permitted even to try it!

²⁰All winged insects that walk upon all fours are detestable to you. ²¹But among the winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to leap on the ground. ²²Of them you may eat: the locust according to its kind, the bald locust according to its kind, the cricket according to its kind, and the grasshopper according to its kind. ²³But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.

Generally speaking, all insects are considered unclean. Even your favorite chocolate-covered brandied beetles!

Unclean Animals

²⁴By these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until the evening, ²⁵and whoever carries any part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.

²⁶Every animal that has divided hoofs but is not cleft-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean for you; everyone who touches one of them shall be unclean. ²⁷All that walk on their paws, among the animals that walk on all fours, are unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until the evening, ²⁸and the one who carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean for you.

²⁹These are unclean for you among the creatures that swarm upon the earth: the weasel, the mouse, the great lizard according to its kind, ³⁰the gecko, the land crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. ³¹These are unclean for you among all that swarm; whoever touches one of them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening.

Read the remainder of these instructions while thinking about this dead mouse in your home!

³²And anything upon which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether an article of wood or cloth or skin or sacking, any article that is used for any purpose; it shall be dipped into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening, and then it shall be clean. ³³And if any of them falls into any earthen vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break the vessel. ³⁴Any food that could be eaten shall be unclean if water from any such vessel comes upon it; and any liquid that could be drunk shall be unclean if it was in any such vessel. ³⁵Everything on which any part of the carcass falls shall be unclean; whether an oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces; they are unclean, and shall remain unclean for you. ³⁶But a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, while whatever touches the carcass in it shall be unclean. ³⁷If any part of their carcass falls upon any seed set aside for sowing, it is clean; ³⁸but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

Cleanliness is next to godliness!

³⁹If an animal of which you may eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening. ⁴⁰Those who eat of its carcass shall wash their clothes and be unclean until the evening; and those who carry the carcass shall wash their clothes and be unclean until the evening.

⁴¹All creatures that swarm upon the earth are detestable; they shall not be eaten. ⁴²Whatever moves on its belly, and whatever moves on all fours, or whatever has many feet, all the creatures that swarm upon the earth, you shall not eat; for they are detestable. ⁴³You shall not make yourselves detestable with any creature that swarms; you shall not defile yourselves with them, and so become unclean. ⁴⁴For I am the Lord your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming creature that moves on the earth.

⁴⁵For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall be holy, for I am holy.

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Music:

The overwhelming message of Leviticus is the holiness of God — “Be holy, because I am holy.”

“Holy, Holy, Holy”  by Messianic praise and worship musician Paul Wilbur.

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⁴⁶This is the law pertaining to land animal and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms upon the earth, ⁴⁷to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.

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Acts 10:9-15 (New Living Translation)

The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon,  and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.  He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners.  In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds.  Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.”

“No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.”

But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

What’s for dinner?  http://stacysrandomthoughts.com/http://stacysrandomthoughts.com/wp-content/2011/08/Dinner1.gif

camel meat shop.   http://image36.webshots.com/36/0/69/49/322006949FbNsNR_ph.jpg

pork chops.    http://www.womansday.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/wd2/content/food/recipes/perfect-pork-chops/251573-1-eng-US/Perfect-Pork-Chops_featured_article_628x371.jpg

shrimp cocktail.   http://www.lehighlive.com/sections/restaurants/restaurants_images/ShrimpCocktail.jpg

bat soup.   http://www.uglyfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/bat_soub_whole_bat.jpg

chocolate-covered beetles.  http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/2713239159_109047fc3e.jpg

unclean foods chart.  http://itodyaso.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/unclean.jpg

dead mouse.   http://farm1.static.flickr.com/198/507464793_1e716c8946.jpg

woman with bucket.   http://www.flyingneedle.ca/flnblog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/cleanliness.jpg

Peter’s vision.  http://www.wcg.org/lit/bible/acts/tuvision.gif