Leviticus 21:5-6 Holy Men!

 5Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies. 6They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the offerings made by fire, the food of their God, they must be holy.

Must nots! The Lord didn’t want His priests to follow any of the pagan practices.

They must be holy!

But can a man actually be holy? Not in a world with sin that is decaying before our eyes!

A man can appear holy on the outside but inside he can be evil. 

Look what Jesus said to the holy men!

Matthew 23: 27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

If man could be holy we wouldn’t have needed Jesus to save us from death!

God loves you and wants you to spend eternity with Him! 

Try to live your life with the love of Jesus and when you fail and sin, repent and ask for forgiveness and restart your life by trying to live your life with the love of Jesus!

We are all sinners and the best we can do is make an effort and sin-less.

Be holy and try to sin-less.

Will you give it a try?

Blessings, David 

Worry and Anxieties!

 Worry and Anxieties!

With the second wave of Covid-19, aka Wuhan flu, aka ChiNa flu on the rise, why are you anxious?

Look at what the Bible says about worrying.

Matthew 6:31 BSB Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

Matthew 6:34 BSB Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

Psalm 139:23 NLT Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Ecclesiastes 2:22 NLT So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety?

Luke 10:41 BSB “Martha, Martha,” the Lord replied, “you are worried and upset about many things.

Luke 12: 22Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds!

25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?c 26So if you cannot do such a small thing, why do you worry about the rest?

27Consider how the lilies grow: They do not labor or spin.d Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith!

29And do not be concerned about what you will eat or drink. Do not worry about it. 30For the Gentiles of the world strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek Hise kingdom, and these things will be added unto you.

In the beginning the scientific experts said there was no need to stop or restrict flights from foreign countries. They also said masks don’t work. But now we have actual studies that show flight restrictions helped stop the spread. More studies say N95 masks help but pull up face wraps, homemade masks don’t.

The studies also show the virus can enter through your eyes. And that heating and ventilation systems help spread the virus so shields don’t help.

If the POTUS, FLOTUS and their son can get the virus 🦠 with daily testing and everyone they come in contact with are tested prior, what can we do to keep from getting the virus?

This verse tells us what to do.

Philippians 4:6 BSB Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Pray about your anxieties, pray for protection, pray if you get sick and pray some more.

We can also be smart, stay informed and don’t do anything that puts you at risk. Keep your distance, don’t congregate in groups, if you believe masks help then wear them, wash your hands, use anti bacterial hand soap and hand sanitizer. 

Do you pray about your anxieties or do you let your anxieties have control over you?

Blessings, David

Leviticus 21:1-4 Purity and Separation!

 1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people, 2except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother, 3or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband. 4He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself.

Purity and separation!

Death is the result of sin in this world.

It’s a picture of sin’s result especially the rapid decay. 

The Lord required purity and separation but allowed for the priests immediate family.

Luke 14: 1One Sabbath, Jesus went to eat in the home of a leading Pharisee, and those in attendance were watching Him closely. 2Right there before Him was a man with dropsy. 3So Jesus asked the experts in the law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”

4But they remained silent.

Then Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. 5And He asked them, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?”

6And they were unable to answer these questions.

Notice in Luke 14, “One Sabbath”, “watching Him closely” and “Right there before Him was a man with dropsy.”

Do you believe any of this was a coincidence? 

I believe they were trying to set Jesus up so they could arrest Him. 

Jesus came to heal (rescue) a world full of sin and death. 

John 3: 16For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The Lord gave us free will, it’s your choice to believe or not to believe.

That is the question!

https://thebiblicalprophets.com/believe-not-believe-question/

Do you believe?

Blessings, David

Leviticus 20:22-27 Nations, Set Apart and Distinguish!

 22You are therefore to keep all My statutes and ordinances, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out. 23You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.

24But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance—a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the peoples.

25You are therefore to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and birds. Do not become contaminated by any animal or bird, or by anything that crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you. 26You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own.

27A man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist must surely be put to death. They shall be stoned; their blood is upon them.’ ”

Nations (Canaanites), set apart and distinguish!

Some of us might think it was cruel to drive them out of their homes and land but look at why! “Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.”

“I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance”.... this is why He has set them apart from the peoples! (From the rest of the world, from the gentiles)

“distinguish between clean and unclean animals and birds.” “Do not become contaminated by any animal or bird, or by anything that crawls on the ground;”

“You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart (distinguished) from the nations to be My own.”

You are to be holy! 

The same is true with Christians! We are set apart, distinguished, marked and adopted into His family as His children (My own.) 

The Holy Spirit is in us!

Are you set apart and distinguished as one of His own?

Blessings, David 

Leviticus 20:10-21 Sexual Immortality!

 10If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.

11If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

12If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both must surely be put to death. They have acted perversely; their blood is upon them.

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

14If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is depraved. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that there will be no depravity among you.

“It is very likely that the crime mentioned in this verse was not punished by burning alive, but by some kind of branding, by which they were ever after rendered infamous.... Branding with a hot iron would certainly accomplish every desirable end both for punishment and prevention.” (Adam Clarke)

15If a man lies carnally with an animal, he must be put to death. And you are also to kill the animal.

16If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

17If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered the nakedness of his sister; he shall bear his iniquity.

18If a man lies with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her,d he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from among their people.

19You must not have sexual relations with the sister of your mother or your father, for it is exposing one’s own kin; both shall bear their iniquity.

20If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered the nakedness of his uncle. They will bear their sin; they shall die childless.

21If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity. He has uncovered the nakedness of his brother; they shall be childless.

Sexual sin and sexual immorality!

Sin is sin and the Lord can forgive it all. 

The Woman Caught in Adultery John 8:1-12

John 8: 11“No one, Lord,” she answered.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.”

King David committed sexual sin and murder and the Lord forgave him, but he still had consequences for his sins.

Repent (confess your sins to the Lord) and be forgiven.

“Now go and sin no more.”

Did you know human trafficking has become an epidemic in our country?

A new national center has been developed to stop it.

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/10/20/dhs-launches-new-center-countering-human-trafficking

Blessings, David 

Leviticus 20:9 Children are accountable!

 9If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him. BSB

“Anyone who dishonors father or mother must be put to death. Such a person is guilty of a capital offense. NLT

Children are accountable for their actions!

This was not the outburst of a small child or adolescent but a curse from an adult child. The parents couldn’t carry it out, it had to be brought to the judges of the city.

Most likely was calling down a death curse on one’s parents.

“Elaborate curses, many of which appear to have the nature of magical spells, were current in the ancient Near East, and amongst superstitious people often worked with devastating effect since in the eastern mind the curse carried with itself its own power of execution.” (Harrison)

Deuteronomy 21: 18If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined, 19his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown, 20and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”

21Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

What would our country be like today if rebellious adult children were stoned to death and the evil was purged from among us?

I suspect we wouldn’t have any riots!

Do you hold your children accountable for their actions?

Blessings, David 

Leviticus 20:7-8 Free Will!

7Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. 8And you shall keep My statutes and practice them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

Free will!

The Lord will not force you to follow and to be separated to Him! 

He does the work but we have to yield our will to Him!

Do you yield your will to Him?

Blessings, David 

Leviticus 20:6 Mediums, Spiritists and Discernment!

 6Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists to prostitute himself with them, I will also set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.

1 Samuel 28: 7Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.”

“There is a medium at Endor,” his servants replied.

8So Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes, and he set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me. Bring up for me the one I name.”

I am teasing you with these two verses about Saul. To find out what happened you will need to read the chapter yourself!

1 John 4: 2By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time.

Discernment! 

1 John 4 tells us how to discern the Spirit of God verses the spirit of the antichrist!

“It should be noted that the spirit a medium conjures is not the spirit of a deceased person (the case of Samuel speaking to Saul was a rare exception). Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:18–31 gives strong evidence that, once a person is dead, his soul remains in either heaven or hell.”

https://www.gotquestions.org/what-is-a-medium.html

1 Kings 22: 21Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’

‘By what means?’ asked the LORD.

22And he replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’

‘You will surely entice him and prevail,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’

23So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has pronounced disaster against you.”

Lesson for today to His children is: don’t seek out mediums or spiritists!

If a spirit communicates with you, test the spirit as in 1 John 4:2; “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God”!

Have you prostituted yourself by consulting mediums or spiritists?

If so, confess and ask the Lord to forgive you. He loves you and sent Jesus Christ in the flesh to cleanse the sins of the world!

Blessings, David 

Leviticus 20:1-5 Molech!

 1Then the LORD said to Moses, 2“Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him. 3And I will set My face against that man and cut him off from his people, because by giving his offspring to Molech, he has defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name.

4And if the people of the land ever hide their eyes and fail to put to death the man who gives one of his children to Molech, 5then I will set My face against that man and his family and cut off from among their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.

Leviticus 18: 21You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

Molech was worshipped by heating a metal statue representing the god until it was red hot, then by placing a living infant on the outstretched hands of the statue, while beating drums drowned out the screams of the child until it burned to death. (Guzik)

1 Kings 11: 7At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites. 8He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

2 Kings 16: 3Instead, he (Ahaz)walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

2 Kings 17: 17They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

2 Kings 21: 6He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

Up to the days of King Josiah of Judah, Molech worship continued, because he destroyed a place of worship to that idol.

2 Kings 23: 10He (Josiah) also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnoma so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.

Who could do that to their own child?

Let’s look at today, our present time period. 

Do we raise our children in the Lord, or do we let our government raise them?

What are they being taught in school?

We were hyperactive in our sons education to the detriment of the school administrators. He had special needs and several schools failed to follow his learning plan. You’d be surprised how fast they reacted when you caught them and filed a complaint with the state.

I was surprised that Solomon was influenced by some of his foreign wives and built a high place for these false gods! He knew the one true God and was blessed by Him!

Blessings, David 

Leviticus 19:35-37 Dishonest Measures!

 35You must not use dishonest measures of length, weight, or volume. 36You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah,e and an honest hin.f I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

37You must keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and follow them. I am the LORD.”

36 e An ephah  is a dry measure of approximately 20 dry quarts or 22 liters.

36 f A hin  is a liquid measure of approximately 0.97 gallons or 3.67 liters.

 Dishonest measures!

We’ve all been there and been shorted in measures during our lifetime, either unintentional or intentional, by man or automated equipment.

Recently I purchased a big bag of Snickers, bite size and had a handful of the candy that were prematurely cut and improperly sealed. I called them and gave them the lot number, plant and date from the package. They eventually mailed me coupons for free products as a replacement.

But have we’ve been on the other end and intentionally performed dishonest measures? Shorted someone in length, weight, volume or quantity? 

The Lord is telling us in this verses “you must not” which tells us it’s a sin.

Thank God we have Jesus to take away our sins. 

It’s best we keep short accounts with Him on a daily basis.

Lord I’m sorry I committed (this) sin today, please forgive me and help me not to commit this sin again. In Jesus name I pray.

Blessings, David

Leviticus 19:33-34 You must not oppress!

 33When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. 34You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

To those living on our southern border this can be a touchy subject. For years our government did nothing to curb illegal immigration. It was labeled by some as catch and release. Cities being overrun, healthcare bankrupted, school resources stressed and the list goes on.

But all this doesn’t negate the Lords command! 

You must not oppress and......love him as yourself.

I’ve always tried to give them water if they were thirsty, food if they were hungry and called 911 if they needed medical attention.

Ask yourself, what would the Lord want me to do?

Blessings, David 

Leviticus 19:32 Show Respect!

 32You are to rise in the presence of the elderly, honor the aged, and fear your God. I am the LORD. BSB

"'Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD. NIV

“Stand up in the presence of the elderly, and show respect for the aged. Fear your God. I am the LORD. NLT

We’ve read about it in the news or seen the videos of an elderly person walking the streets in NYC and a young man walking up from behind and punching them in the side of their head knocking them to the ground and seriously injuring them.

We wonder, what’s wrong with the world?

How have we’ve gone from respecting to assaulting?

My father in law used to say, “the world has gone to hell in a hand basket”!

I’m unsure where this phrase originated from.

I remember being taught to respect the elderly and stand up when an elderly person entered the room.

Were you taught this command?

Blessings, David

Leviticus 19:26-31 Must Nots!

 26You must not eat anything with blood still in it.

You must not practice divination or sorcery.

27You must not cut off the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.

28You must not make any cuts in your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.

29You must not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity.

30You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.

31You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.

Must nots!

Some of these verses are pretty straight forward and easy to understand but the one about hair is baffling to me. 

Could it be that it leads to pride?

“To do this was to imitate pagan customs of that day; today, Jewish orthodox men are conspicuous by their untrimmed beards and long, curly locks on the sides of their heads.” (Guzik)

Mediums or spirits....

“Not only are all real dealers with familiar spirits, or necromantic or magical superstitions, are here forbidden, but also all pretenders to the knowledge of futurity, fortune-tellers, astrologers, and so forth.” (Clarke)

You must keep My Sabbaths. 

Does God require Sabbath-keeping of Christians?

https://www.gotquestions.org/Sabbath-keeping.html

These must nots were required because the Lord wanted His chosen people to be set apart from the rest of the world. He wanted them to be recognized by the world that these chosen people were His.

Can the world tell you are a Christian?

Blessings, David 

Leviticus 19:23-25 Maturing Fruit!

 23When you enter the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you shall regard the fruit as forbidden. For three years it will be forbidden to you and must not be eaten. 24In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering to the LORD. 25But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit; thus your harvest will be increased. I am the LORD your God.

“The reason for this law is not stated, but it does reinforce to the Israelites that the land is the Lord’s and that he is giving it to them as a gift.” (Rooker)

“Most gardening books stress the importance with young apple trees of picking off any fruit lets that form in the first few years after planting. The reason for this is to encourage the tree to develop its full branch framework before fruiting begins. 7”

First fruit (@ maturity) are the Lords. 

Nehemiah 10:35 We promise to bring the first part of every harvest to the LORD’s Temple year after year—whether it be a crop from the soil or from our fruit trees.

There is also a spiritual application, the disciples walked with Jesus three years while learning and maturing in the faith. It wasn’t until the resurrection did they fully understand and came into spiritual maturity.

Paul (Saul) comes to mind during his conversion.

Galatians 1: 15But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased 16to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood, 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came before me, but I went into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

18Only after three years did I go up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days.

I will keep maturing in the faith until I leave this earth.

Will you?

Blessings, David