It is such a blessing to spend one’s time searching the wisdom that has directed our forefathers for centuries. If you aren’t aware, the biblical worldview has been the single largest contributor to the care of the poor, the rights of women and children, equal respect among the world’s ethnicities, and the material prospering of the globe. It has been the largest agent of peace and stability in this world. The modern West has only achieved great things when in submission to this text.

When we are spending time this way, we aren’t doing primarily an academic exercise. Rather, we are seeking spiritual unity with Christ and his people. This entire generation of biblically illiterate folks imagined themselves somehow to be one with Christ and his people. It is a strange thing to imagine if one doesn’t even know the canon. It would be like someone saying they are a Star Wars fan because they went to Disney World and saw Darth Vader, rather than if they had actually watched the movies.

This is how identity works. We are shaped in the image of that which we spend our time on. That is my prayer for you as you continue attending upon the scriptures with me: that you are, more and more, reshaped into the image of Christ. God bless you.

Numbers 1

On the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Wilderness of Sinai. He said: 

“Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. 

You and Aaron are to number those who are twenty years of age or older by their divisions—everyone who can serve in Israel’s army. 

And one man from each tribe, the head of each family, must be there with you. 

These are the names of the men who are to assist you: From the tribe of Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur; from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai; from Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab; from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar; from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon; from the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur; from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni; from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai; from Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran; from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel; and from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.” 

These men were appointed from the congregation; they were the leaders of the tribes of their fathers, the heads of the clans of Israel. 

So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name,  and on the first day of the second month they assembled the whole congregation and recorded their ancestry by clans and families, counting one by one the names of those twenty years of age or older, 

just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 

So Moses numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai: 

From the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, according to the records of their clans and families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, 

those registered to the tribe of Reuben numbered 46,500. 

From the sons of Simeon, according to the records of their clans and families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, 

those registered to the tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300. 

From the sons of Gad, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, 

those registered to the tribe of Gad numbered 45,650. 

From the sons of Judah, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, 

those registered to the tribe of Judah numbered 74,600. 

From the sons of Issachar, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, 

those registered to the tribe of Issachar numbered 54,400. 

From the sons of Zebulun, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, 

those registered to the tribe of Zebulun numbered 57,400. 

From the sons of Joseph: 

From the sons of Ephraim, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, 

those registered to the tribe of Ephraim numbered 40,500. 

And from the sons of Manasseh, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, 

those registered to the tribe of Manasseh numbered 32,200. 

From the sons of Benjamin, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, 

those registered to the tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400. 

From the sons of Dan, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, 

those registered to the tribe of Dan numbered 62,700. 

From the sons of Asher, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, 

those registered to the tribe of Asher numbered 41,500. 

From the sons of Naphtali, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, 

those registered to the tribe of Naphtali numbered 53,400. 

These were the men numbered by Moses and Aaron, with the assistance of the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family. 

So all the Israelites twenty years of age or older who could serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families. And all those counted totaled 603,550. 

The Levites, however, were not numbered along with them by the tribe of their fathers. For the LORD had said to Moses: 

“Do not number the tribe of Levi in the census with the other Israelites. 

Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it. 

Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to be pitched, the Levites are to set it up. Any outsider who goes near it must be put to death. 

The Israelites are to camp by their divisions, each man in his own camp and under his own standard. 

But the Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the congregation of Israel. So the Levites are responsible for the tabernacle of the Testimony.” 

Thus the Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Numbers 2

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron: “The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance from it, each man under his standard, with the banners of his family. 

On the east side, toward the sunrise, the divisions of Judah are to camp under their standard: 

The leader of the descendants of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab, 

and his division numbers 74,600. 

The tribe of Issachar will camp next to it. The leader of the Issacharites is Nethanel son of Zuar, and his division numbers 54,400. 

Next will be the tribe of Zebulun. The leader of the Zebulunites is Eliab son of Helon, and his division numbers 57,400. 

The total number of men in the divisions of the camp of Judah is 186,400; they shall set out first. 

On the south side, the divisions of Reuben are to camp under their standard: 

The leader of the Reubenites is Elizur son of Shedeur, 

and his division numbers 46,500. 

The tribe of Simeon will camp next to it. The leader of the Simeonites is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, and his division numbers 59,300. 

Next will be the tribe of Gad. The leader of the Gadites is Eliasaph son of Deuel, and his division numbers 45,650. 

The total number of men in the divisions of the camp of Reuben is 151,450; they shall set out second. 

In the middle of the camps, the Tent of Meeting is to travel with the camp of the Levites. They are to set out in the order they encamped, each in his own place under his standard. 

On the west side, the divisions of Ephraim are to camp under their standard: 

The leader of the Ephraimites is Elishama son of Ammihud, 

and his division numbers 40,500. 

The tribe of Manasseh will be next to it. The leader of the Manassites is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, and his division numbers 32,200. 

Next will be the tribe of Benjamin. The leader of the Benjamites is Abidan son of Gideoni, and his division numbers 35,400. 

The total number of men in the divisions of the camp of Ephraim is 108,100; they shall set out third. 

On the north side, the divisions of Dan are to camp under their standard: 

The leader of the Danites is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, and his division numbers 62,700. 

The tribe of Asher will camp next to it. The leader of the Asherites is Pagiel son of Ocran, and his division numbers 41,500. 

Next will be the tribe of Naphtali. The leader of the Naphtalites is Ahira son of Enan, and his division numbers 53,400. 

The total number of men in the camp of Dan is 157,600; they shall set out last, under their standards.” 

These are the Israelites, numbered according to their families. The total of those counted in the camps, by their divisions, was 603,550. 

But the Levites were not counted among the other Israelites, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 

So the Israelites did everything the LORD commanded Moses; they camped under their standards in this way and set out in the same way, each man with his clan and his family.

Numbers 3 

This is the account of Aaron and Moses at the time the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 

These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, then Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 

These were Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests. 

Nadab and Abihu, however, died in the presence of the LORD when they offered unauthorized  fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai. And since they had no sons, only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron. 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him. 

They are to perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, attending to the service of the tabernacle. 

They shall take care of all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting and fulfill obligations for the Israelites by attending to the service of the tabernacle. 

Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been given exclusively to him  from among the Israelites. 

So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.” 

Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 

“Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel in place of every firstborn Israelite from the womb. The Levites belong to Me, 

for all the firstborn are Mine. On the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They are Mine; I am the LORD.” 

Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying, “Number the Levites by their families and clans. You are to count every male a month old or more.” 

So Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he had been commanded. 

These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. These were the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: Libni and Shimei. 

The sons of Kohath by their clans were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 

And the sons of Merari by their clans were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites, according to their families. 

From Gershon came the Libnite clan and the Shimeite clan; these were the Gershonite clans. The number of all the males a month old or more was 7,500. 

The Gershonite clans were to camp on the west, behind the tabernacle, and the leader of the families of the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael. 

The duties of the Gershonites at the Tent of Meeting were the tabernacle and tent, its covering, the curtain for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, 

the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and altar, and the cords—all the service for these items. 

From Kohath came the clans of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites; these were the clans of the Kohathites. 

The number of all the males a month old or more was 8,600. They were responsible for the duties of the sanctuary. 

The clans of the Kohathites were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, and the leader of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan  son of Uzziel. 

Their duties were the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used with them, and the curtain—all the service for these items. 

The chief of the leaders of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest; he oversaw those responsible for the duties of the sanctuary. 

From Merari came the clans of the Mahlites and Mushites; these were the Merarite clans. The number of all the males a month old or more was 6,200. 

The leader of the families of the Merarites was Zuriel son of Abihail; they were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. 

The duties assigned to the sons of Merari were the tabernacle’s frames, crossbars, posts, bases, and all its equipment—all the service for these items, 

as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes. 

Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons were to camp to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, before the Tent of Meeting. They were to perform the duties of the sanctuary as a service on behalf of the Israelites; but any outsider who approached the sanctuary was to be put to death. 

The total number of Levites that Moses and Aaron counted by their clans at the LORD’s command, including all the males a month old or more, was 22,000. 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Number every firstborn male of the Israelites a month old or more, and list their names. 

You are to take the Levites for Me—I am the LORD—in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites.” 

So Moses numbered all the firstborn of the Israelites, as the LORD had commanded him. The total number of the firstborn males a month old or more, listed by name, was 22,273. 

Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 

“Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites belong to Me; I am the LORD. 

To redeem the 273 firstborn Israelites who outnumber the Levites, you are to collect five shekels  for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel of twenty gerahs. 

Give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for the excess among the Israelites.” 

So Moses collected the redemption money from those in excess of the number redeemed by the Levites. 

He collected the money from the firstborn of the Israelites: 1,365 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel. 

And Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons in obedience to the word of the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him.

Numbers 4

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take a census of the Kohathites among the Levites by their clans and families, 

men from thirty to fifty years old—everyone who is qualified to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting. 

This service of the Kohathites at the Tent of Meeting regards the most holy things. 

Whenever the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the Testimony  with it. 

They are to place over this a covering of fine leather, spread a solid blue cloth over it, and insert its poles. 

Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and place the plates and cups on it, along with the bowls and pitchers for the drink offering. The regular bread offering is to remain on it. 

And they shall spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover them with fine leather, and insert the poles. 

They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand used for light, together with its lamps, wick trimmers, and trays, as well as the jars of oil with which to supply it. 

Then they shall wrap it and all its utensils inside a covering of fine leather and put it on the carrying frame. 

Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with fine leather, and insert the poles. 

They are to take all the utensils for serving in the sanctuary, place them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine leather, and put them on the carrying frame. 

Then they shall remove the ashes from the bronze altar, spread a purple cloth over it, 

and place on it all the vessels used to serve there: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and sprinkling bowls—all the equipment of the altar. They are to spread over it a covering of fine leather and insert the poles. 

When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy objects, or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the Tent of Meeting. 

Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall oversee the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He has oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including the holy objects and their utensils.” 

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Do not allow the Kohathite tribal clans to be cut off from among the Levites. 

In order that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and what he is to carry. 

But the Kohathites are not to go in and look at the holy objects, even for a moment, or they will die.” 

And the LORD said to Moses, “Take a census of the Gershonites as well, by their families and clans, 

from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting. 

This is the service of the Gershonite clans regarding work and transport: 

They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with the covering of fine leather over it, the curtains for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, 

the curtains of the courtyard, and the curtains for the entrance at the gate of the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and altar, along with their ropes and all the equipment for their service. The Gershonites will do all that needs to be done with these items. 

All the service of the Gershonites—all their transport duties and other work—is to be done at the direction of Aaron and his sons; you are to assign to them all that they are responsible to carry. 

This is the service of the Gershonite clans at the Tent of Meeting, and their duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. 

As for the sons of Merari, you are to number them by their clans and families, 

from thirty to fifty years old, counting everyone who comes to serve in the work of the Tent of Meeting. 

This is the duty for all their service at the Tent of Meeting: to carry the frames of the tabernacle with its crossbars, posts, and bases, 

and the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes, including all their equipment and everything related to their use. You shall assign by name the items that they are responsible to carry. 

This is the service of the Merarite clans according to all their work at the Tent of Meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.” 

So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation numbered the Kohathites by their clans and families, 

everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting. And those numbered by their clans totaled 2,750. 

These were counted from the Kohathite clans, everyone who could serve at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron numbered them according to the command of the LORD through Moses. 

Then the Gershonites were numbered by their clans and families, everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting. 

And those numbered by their clans and families totaled 2,630. 

These were counted from the Gershonite clans who served at the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted at the LORD’s command. 

And the Merarites were numbered by their clans and families, everyone from thirty to fifty years old who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting. 

The men registered by their clans numbered 3,200. These were counted from the Merarite clans, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the LORD’s command through Moses. 

So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered by their clans and families all the Levites 

from thirty to fifty years old who came to do the work of serving and carrying the Tent of Meeting. And the number of men was 8,580. 

At the LORD’s command they were numbered through Moses and each one was assigned his work and burden, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Numbers 5

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body. 

You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.” 

So the Israelites did this, sending such people outside the camp. They did just as the LORD had instructed Moses. 

And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman acts unfaithfully against the LORD by committing any sin against another, that person is guilty 

and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution, add a fifth to its value, and give all this to the one he has wronged. 

But if the man has no relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the LORD and must be given to the priest along with the ram of atonement, by which the atonement is made for him. 

Every sacred contribution the Israelites bring to the priest shall belong to him. Each man’s sacred gifts are his own, but whatever he gives to the priest will belong to the priest.” 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him 

by sleeping with another man, and it is concealed from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she was not caught in the act), 

and if a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he suspects his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he suspects her even though she has not defiled herself— 

then he is to bring his wife to the priest. 

He must also bring for her an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, an offering of memorial as a reminder of iniquity. 

The priest is to bring the wife forward and have her stand before the LORD. 

Then he is to take some holy water in a clay jar and put some of the dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. 

After the priest has the woman stand before the LORD, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering of memorial, which is the grain offering for jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse. 

And he is to put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune to this bitter water that brings a curse. 

But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority and have defiled yourself and lain carnally with a man other than your husband’— 

and the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse—‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell. 

May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’ 

Then the woman is to say, ‘Amen, Amen.’ 

And the priest shall write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water. 

He is to have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and cause her bitter suffering. 

The priest shall take from her hand the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD, and bring it to the altar. 

Then the priest is to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar; after that he is to have the woman drink the water. 

When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people. 

But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be unaffected and able to conceive children. 

This is the law of jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority, 

or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he suspects his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest is to apply to her this entire law. 

The husband will be free from guilt, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”

3 John

The elder, 

To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth: 

Beloved, I pray that in every way you may prosper and enjoy good health, as your soul also prospers. 

For I was overjoyed when the brothers came and testified about your devotion to the truth, in which you continue to walk. 

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 

Beloved, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, and especially since they are strangers to you. 

They have testified to the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 

For they went out on behalf of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers for the truth. 

I have written to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not accept our instruction. 

So if I come, I will call attention to his malicious slander against us. And unsatisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers and forbids those who want to do so, even putting them out of the church. 

Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God. 

Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also testify for him, and you know that our testimony is true. 

I have many things to write to you, but I would prefer not to do so with pen and ink. Instead, I hope to see you soon and speak with you face to face. 

Peace to you. 

The friends here send you greetings. 

Greet each of our friends there by name.

I hope you enjoyed your catch-up day. I sat down to record this yesterday evening after a long meeting. My wife said, “What are you doing?” I knew she was going to be so mad that I had waited until the end of the day to do it. The woman gets flustered at bedtime trying to arranged our five mongrel children. Anyway, I was elated when she said I didn’t need to record. I hope you got caught up and enjoyed doing so.

Today’s readings come from the New Testament. Specifically, the first two letters of the Apostle John are in view. 1 John was a particularly influential book on John Wesley, whose language of ‘perfection in love’ comes from the theology espoused here. To my mind, it is rather advanced stuff, though the language is generally simple. Most folks in the faith want to jump to a 1 John faith without building up the groundwork of virtue and spiritual muscle memory. It is my sincere believe that 1 John can only be practiced in its fullness by very mature and seasoned believers. I wonder what your thoughts will be after concluding today’s reading?

The largest feeling I have from these letters is a gratefulness for the clarity they provide about the connection between saving faith and biblical obedience. It just doesn’t make much room for willful sin. We would do well to heed the counsel offered here.

1 John 1

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life. 

And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us. 

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. 

We write these things so that our  joy may be complete. 

And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 

If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.

1 John 2

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 

He Himself is the atoning sacrifice  for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 

By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. 

If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 

But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked. 

Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard. 

Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining. 

If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him. 

But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven through His name. 

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. 

I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. 

I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. 

I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. 

I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. 

The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever. 

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour. 

They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us. 

You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 

I have not written to you because you lack knowledge of the truth, but because you have it, and because no lie comes from the truth. 

Who is the liar, if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son. 

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well. 

As for you, let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If it does, you will also remain in the Son and in the Father. 

And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life. 

I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 

And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught. 

And now, little children, remain in Christ, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming. 

If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.

1 John 3

Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. 

Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. 

And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure. 

Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness. But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. 

No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him. 

Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. 

The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 

Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 

By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother. 

This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 

Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous. 

So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. 

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. 

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer. 

By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 

If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him? 

Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth. And by this we will know that we belong to the truth, and will assure our hearts in His presence: 

Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things. 

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. 

And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us. 

Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us.

1 John 4

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. 

By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and 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. 

You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 

They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them. 

We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit  of truth and the spirit of deception. 

Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only  Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. 

And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice  for our sins. 

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. 

By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. 

If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 

And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 

In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him. 

There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love. We love  because He first loved us. 

If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 

And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.

1 John 5

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him. 

By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. 

Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 

This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ—not by water alone, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies to this, because the Spirit is the truth. 

For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and these three are in agreement. 

Even if we accept human testimony, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony that God has given about His Son. 

Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son. 

And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 

I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 

And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 

And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him. 

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he should ask God, who will give life to those who commit this kind of sin. There is a sin that leads to death; I am not saying he should ask regarding that sin. 

All unrighteousness is sin, yet there is sin that does not lead to death. 

We know that anyone born of God does not keep on sinning; the One who was born of God protects him, and the evil one  cannot touch him. 

We know that we are of God, and that the whole world is under the power of the evil one. 

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 

Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

2 John

The elder, 

To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I alone, but also all who know the truth—because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: 

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, will be with us in truth and love. 

I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father has commanded us. 

And now I urge you, dear lady—not as a new commandment to you, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 

And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the very commandment you have heard from the beginning, that you must walk in love. 

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 

Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded. 

Anyone who runs ahead without remaining in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever remains in His teaching has both the Father and the Son. 

If anyone comes to you but does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home or even greet him. Whoever greets such a person shares in his evil deeds. 

I have many things to write to you, but I would prefer not to do so with paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come and speak with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. 

The children of your elect sister send you greetings.

All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. - Matthew 11:27

Woe on unrepentant towns & the Father revealed in the Son. This week we finished chapter 11 of the Gospel of Matthew.

Many people know that the bible often uses the number seven, but they do not necessarily understand the way that is reflected in the way that time is observed and the way the land is cared for. Moreover, the ways in which the Hebrews were instructed to navigate the ancient realities of slavery and property are pretty interesting when one dives in. Is it wrong for land to change hands? Are all people entitled to something that is theirs forever. Or is that just for the Jews?

Reading this stuff leads even a casual reader to questions of what is often called Covenant Theology. Specifically, the questions concerned are whether the covenant, the deal, God made with Israel is now replaced and universalized by the Christian faith. Or was this rather something that was and perhaps still is only applicable to Jews as God’s chosen people? These and others are good questions to keep asking as we tread our way through together. I’m glad to have you with me!

Leviticus 24

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually. 

Outside the veil of the Testimony  in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps continually before the LORD from evening until morning. This is to be a permanent statute for the generations to come. 

He shall tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD continually. 

You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf, and set them in two rows—six per row—on the table of pure gold before the LORD. 

And you are to place pure frankincense near each row, so that it may serve as a memorial portion for the bread, an offering made by fire to the LORD. 

Every Sabbath day the bread is to be set out before the LORD on behalf of the Israelites as a permanent covenant. 

It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place; for it is to him a most holy part of the offerings made by fire to the LORD—his portion forever.” 

Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 

The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse. So they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 

They placed him in custody until the will of the LORD should be made clear to them. 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take the blasphemer  outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole assembly stone him. 

And you are to tell the Israelites, ‘If anyone curses his God, he shall bear the consequences of his sin. 

Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD must surely be put to death; the whole assembly must surely stone him, whether he is a foreign resident or native; if he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death. 

And if a man takes the life of anyone else, he must surely be put to death. Whoever kills an animal must make restitution—life for life. 

If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him: 

fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Just as he injured the other person, the same must be inflicted on him. 

Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a man must be put to death. 

You are to have the same standard of law for the foreign resident and the native; for I am the LORD your God.’ ” 

Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. So the Israelites did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Leviticus 25

Then the LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD. 

For six years you may sow your field and prune your vineyard and gather its crops. But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to the LORD. 

You are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard. 

You are not to reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untended vines. The land must have a year of complete rest. 

Whatever the land yields during the Sabbath year shall be food for you—for yourself, your manservant and maidservant, the hired hand or foreigner who stays with you, and for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. All its growth may serve as food. 

And you shall count off seven Sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven Sabbaths of years amount to forty-nine years. 

Then you are to sound the horn far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. You shall sound it throughout your land. 

So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan. 

The fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you; you are not to sow the land or reap its aftergrowth or harvest the untended vines. 

For it is a Jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You may eat only the crops taken directly from the field. 

In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his own property. 

If you make a sale to your neighbor or a purchase from him, you must not take advantage of each other. 

You are to buy from your neighbor according to the number of years since the last Jubilee; he is to sell to you according to the number of harvest years remaining. 

You shall increase the price in proportion to a greater number of years, or decrease it in proportion to a lesser number of years; for he is selling you a given number of harvests. 

Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God; for I am the LORD your God. 

You are to keep My statutes and carefully observe My judgments, so that you may dwell securely in the land. 

Then the land will yield its fruit, so that you can eat your fill and dwell in safety in the land. 

Now you may wonder, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow or gather our produce?’ 

But I will send My blessing upon you in the sixth year, so that the land will yield a crop sufficient for three years. 

While you are sowing in the eighth year, you will be eating from the previous harvest, until the ninth year’s harvest comes in. 

The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me. 

Thus for every piece of property you possess, you must provide for the redemption of the land. 

If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his nearest of kin may come and redeem what his brother has sold. 

Or if a man has no one to redeem it for him, but he prospers and acquires enough to redeem his land, he shall calculate the years since its sale, repay the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and return to his property. 

But if he cannot obtain enough to repay him, what he sold will remain in possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee, however, it is to be released, so that he may return to his property. 

If a man sells a house in a walled city, he retains his right of redemption until a full year after its sale; during that year it may be redeemed. 

If it is not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house in the walled city is permanently transferred to its buyer and his descendants. It is not to be released in the Jubilee. 

But houses in villages with no walls around them are to be considered as open fields. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee. 

As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the cities they possess. 

So whatever belongs to the Levites may be redeemed—a house sold in a city they possess—and must be released in the Jubilee, because the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the Israelites. 

But the open pastureland around their cities may not be sold, for this is their permanent possession. 

Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you. 

Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you. 

You must not lend him your silver at interest or sell him your food for profit. 

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. 

If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor. 

Let him stay with you as a hired worker or temporary resident; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 

Then he and his children are to be released, and he may return to his clan and to the property of his fathers. 

Because the Israelites are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves. You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God. 

Your menservants and maidservants shall come from the nations around you, from whom you may purchase them. 

You may also purchase them from the foreigners residing among you or their clans living among you who are born in your land. These may become your property. 

You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But as for your brothers, the Israelites, no man may rule harshly over his brother. 

If a foreigner residing among you prospers, but your countryman dwelling near him becomes destitute and sells himself to the foreigner or to a member of his clan, he retains the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his brothers may redeem him: either his uncle or cousin or any close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he prospers, he may redeem himself. 

He and his purchaser will then count the time from the year he sold himself up to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale will be determined by the number of years, based on the daily wages of a hired hand. 

If many years remain, he must pay for his redemption in proportion to his purchase price. 

If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he is to calculate and pay his redemption according to his remaining years. 

He shall be treated like a man hired from year to year, but a foreign owner must not rule over him harshly in your sight. 

Even if he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children shall be released in the Year of Jubilee. 

For the Israelites are My servants. They are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 26

“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God. 

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

If you follow My statutes and carefully keep My commandments, I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. 

Your threshing will continue until the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have your fill of food to eat and will dwell securely in your land. 

And I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to fear. I will rid the land of dangerous animals, and no sword will pass through your land. 

You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. 

Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. 

I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish My covenant with you. 

You will still be eating the old supply of grain when you need to clear it out to make room for the new. 

And I will make My dwelling place  among you, and My soul will not despise  you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. 

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk in uprightness. 

If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments, and if you reject My statutes, despise My ordinances, and neglect to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant, then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. 

And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you. 

And if after all this you will not obey Me, I will proceed to punish you sevenfold for your sins. 

I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze, and your strength will be spent in vain. For your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit. 

If you walk in hostility toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times, according to your sins. 

I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate. 

And if in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but continue to walk in hostility toward Me, then I will act with hostility toward you, and I will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 

And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 

When I cut off your supply  of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied. 

But if in spite of all this you do not obey Me, but continue to walk in hostility toward Me, then I will walk in fury against you, and I, even I, will punish you sevenfold for your sins. 

You will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters. 

I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you. 

I will reduce your cities to rubble and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will refuse to smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices. 

And I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who dwell in it will be appalled. 

But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste. 

Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. 

As long as it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not receive during the Sabbaths when you lived in it. 

As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them. 

They will stumble over one another as before the sword, though no one is behind them. So you will not be able to stand against your enemies. 

You will perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies will consume you. 

Those of you who survive in the lands of your enemies will waste away in their iniquity and will decay in the sins of their fathers. 

But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me— and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 

For the land will be abandoned by them, and it will enjoy its Sabbaths by lying desolate without them. And they will pay the penalty for their iniquity, because they rejected My ordinances and abhorred My statutes. 

Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or despise them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. 

But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their fathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the LORD.” 

These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws that the LORD established between Himself and the Israelites through Moses on Mount Sinai.

Leviticus 27

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When someone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the value of persons, if the valuation concerns a male from twenty to sixty years of age, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. 

And if the person is from five to twenty years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 

Now if the person is from one month to five years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be five shekels of silver, and for the female three shekels of silver. 

And if the person is sixty years of age or older, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels  for the male and ten shekels for the female. 

But if the one making the vow is too poor to pay the valuation, he is to present the person before the priest, who shall set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford. 

If he vows an animal that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any such animal given to the LORD shall be holy. 

He must not replace it or exchange it, either good for bad or bad for good. But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy. 

But if the vow involves any of the unclean animals that may not be brought as an offering to the LORD, the animal must be presented before the priest. 

The priest shall set its value, whether high or low; as the priest values it, the price will be set. If, however, the owner decides to redeem the animal, he must add a fifth to its value. 

Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, then the priest shall value it either as good or bad. The price will stand just as the priest values it. 

But if he who consecrated his house redeems it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it will belong to him. 

If a man consecrates to the LORD a parcel of his land, then your valuation shall be proportional to the seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed. 

If he consecrates his field during the Year of Jubilee, the price will stand according to your valuation. 

But if he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, the priest is to calculate the price in proportion to the years left until the next Year of Jubilee, so that your valuation will be reduced. 

And if the one who consecrated the field decides to redeem it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it shall belong to him. 

If, however, he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold it to another man, it may no longer be redeemed. 

When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the LORD; it becomes the property of the priests. 

Now if a man consecrates to the LORD a field he has purchased, which is not a part of his own property, then the priest shall calculate for him the value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the man shall pay the assessed value on that day as a sacred offering to the LORD. 

In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom it was bought—the original owner of the land. 

Every valuation will be according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel. 

But no one may consecrate a firstborn of the livestock, because a firstborn belongs to the LORD. Whether it is an ox or a sheep, it is the LORD’s. 

But if it is among the unclean animals, then he may redeem it according to your valuation and add a fifth of its value. If it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation. 

Nothing that a man sets apart  to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD. 

No person set apart for destruction may be ransomed; he must surely be put to death. 

Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. 

If a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he must add a fifth to its value. 

Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD. 

He must not inspect whether it is good or bad, and he shall not make any substitution. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute shall become holy; they cannot be redeemed.’ ” 

These are the commandments that the LORD gave to Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.

Psalm 17

Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer— it comes from lips free of deceit. May my vindication come from Your presence; may Your eyes see what is right. You have tried my heart; You have visited me in the night. You have tested me and found no evil; I have resolved not to sin with my mouth. As for the deeds of men— by the word of Your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent. My steps have held to Your paths; my feet have not slipped. I call on You, O God, for You will answer me. Incline Your ear to me; hear my words. Show the wonders of Your loving devotion, You who save by Your right hand those who seek refuge from their foes. Keep me as the apple of  Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me. They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance. They have tracked us down, and now surround us; their eyes are set to cast us to the ground, like a lion greedy for prey, like a young lion lurking in ambush. Arise, O LORD, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword, from such men, O LORD, by Your hand— from men of the world whose portion is in this life. May You fill the bellies of Your treasured ones  and satisfy their sons, so they leave their abundance to their children. As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied in Your presence.

Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. Without speech or language, without a sound to be heard, their voice  has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun. Like a bridegroom emerging from his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course, it rises at one end of the heavens and runs its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth. The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart; the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true, being altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them indeed Your servant is warned; in keeping them is great reward. Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults. Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless and cleansed of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

"Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you." Who is John the Baptist? This week we started chapter 11 of the Gospel of Matthew which deals with John the Baptist.

Matthew Chapter 10: 16-40. In this video we finish the last section of chapter 10 of the Gospel of Matthew. "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles."

More levitical law today. And more New Testament theology overlayed.

I have continued to struggle with a sinus infection, which means I’m not sleeping well. I actually fell asleep in the middle of reading. More than once. Thank you for bearing with me.

My wife found a really helpful diagram of the different kinds of sacrifices. Surprisingly helpful! If you’re viewing this on Substack, you should see it here:

Leviticus 21

Then 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, except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother, or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband. 

He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself. 

Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies. 

They 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. 

A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 

You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart. 

If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire. 

The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose  or tear his garments. 

He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother. 

He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD. 

The woman he marries must be a virgin. He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,  so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.” 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God. 

No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed; no man who has a broken foot or hand,  or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle. 

No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God. 

He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food,  but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’ ” 

Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

Leviticus 22

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings that the Israelites have consecrated to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name. I am the LORD. 

Tell them that for the generations to come, if any of their descendants in a state of uncleanness approaches the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from My presence. I am the LORD. 

If a descendant of Aaron has a skin disease  or a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man who has an emission of semen, or whoever touches a crawling creature or a person that makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be— the man who touches any of these will remain unclean until evening. He must not eat from the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water. 

When the sun has set, he will become clean, and then he may eat from the sacred offerings, for they are his food. 

He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD. 

The priests must keep My charge, lest they bear the guilt and die because they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them. 

No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it. 

But if a priest buys a slave with his own money, or if a slave is born in his household, that slave may eat his food. 

If the priest’s daughter is married to a man other than a priest, she is not to eat of the sacred contributions. 

But if a priest’s daughter with no children becomes widowed or divorced and returns to her father’s house, she may share her father’s food as in her youth. But no outsider may share it. 

If anyone eats a sacred offering in error, he must add a fifth to its value and give the sacred offering to the priest. 

The priests must not profane the sacred offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD by allowing the people to eat the sacred offerings and thus to bear the punishment for guilt. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.” 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites and tell them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or any foreign resident who presents a gift for a burnt offering to the LORD, whether to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering,  must offer an unblemished male from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for it to be accepted on your behalf. 

You must not present anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf. 

When a man presents a peace offering to the LORD from the herd or flock to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without blemish or defect to be acceptable. 

You are not to present to the LORD any animal that is blind, injured, or maimed, or anything with a running sore, a festering rash, or a scab; you must not put any of these on the altar as an offering made by fire to the LORD. 

You may present as a freewill offering an ox  or sheep that has a deformed or stunted limb, but it is not acceptable in fulfillment of a vow. 

You are not to present to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut; you are not to sacrifice them in your land. 

Neither you nor a foreigner shall present food to your God from any such animal. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and flawed.’ ” 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “When an ox, a sheep, or a goat is born, it must remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as an offering made by fire to the LORD. 

But you must not slaughter an ox  or a sheep on the same day as its young. 

When you sacrifice a thank offering to the LORD, offer it so that it may be acceptable on your behalf. It must be eaten that same day. Do not leave any of it until morning. I am the LORD. 

You are to keep My commandments and practice them. I am the LORD. 

You must not profane My holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy among the Israelites. I am the LORD who sanctifies you,  who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD.”

Leviticus 23

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘These are My appointed feasts, the feasts of the LORD that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. 

For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD. 

These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times. 

The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth  day of the first month. 

On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread  to the LORD. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 

On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any regular work. 

For seven days you are to present an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work.’ ” 

And the LORD said to Moses,  “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest. 

And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD so that it may be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 

On the day you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a year-old lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD,  along with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour  mixed with oil—an offering made by fire to the LORD, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter hin of wine. 

You must not eat any bread or roasted or new grain until the very day you have brought this offering to your God. This is to be a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live. 

From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you are to count off seven full weeks. 

You shall count off fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. 

Bring two loaves of bread from your dwellings as a wave offering, each made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with leaven, as the firstfruits to the LORD. 

Along with the bread you are to present seven unblemished male lambs a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the LORD, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 

You shall also prepare one male goat as a sin offering and two male lambs a year old as a peace offering. 

The priest is to wave the lambs as a wave offering before the LORD, together with the bread of the firstfruits. The bread and the two lambs shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 

On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly, and you must not do any regular work. This is to be a permanent statute wherever you live for the generations to come. 

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap all the way to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident. I am the LORD your God.’ ” 

The LORD also said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly announced by trumpet blasts. 

You must not do any regular work, but you are to present an offering made by fire to the LORD.’ ” 

Again the LORD said to Moses, “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You shall hold a sacred assembly and humble yourselves, and present an offering made by fire to the LORD. 

On this day you are not to do any work, for it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. 

If anyone does not humble himself on this day, he must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on this day. 

You are not to do any work at all. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live. 

It will be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to keep your Sabbath.” 

And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles  to the LORD begins, and it continues for seven days. 

On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly. You must not do any regular work. 

For seven days you are to present an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you must not do any regular work. 

These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for presenting offerings by fire to the LORD—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its designated day. 

These offerings are in addition to the offerings for the LORD’s Sabbaths, and in addition to your gifts, to all your vow offerings, and to all the freewill offerings you give to the LORD. 

On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to celebrate a feast to the LORD for seven days. There shall be complete rest on the first day and also on the eighth day. 

On the first day you are to gather the fruit of majestic trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees and of willows  of the brook. And you are to rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. 

You are to celebrate this as a feast to the LORD for seven days each year. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come; you are to celebrate it in the seventh month. 

You are to dwell in booths  for seven days. All the native-born of Israel must dwell in booths,  so that your descendants may know that I made the Israelites dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’ ” 

So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed feasts of the LORD.

Hebrews 11

Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see. This is why the ancients were commended. 

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. 

By faith Enoch was taken up  so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. 

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going. 

By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 

For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 

By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised. 

And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 

All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 

Now those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 

Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. 

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son,  even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” 

Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death. 

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. 

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his bones. 

By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were unafraid of the king’s edict. 

By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 

He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin. 

He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward. 

By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible. 

By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch Israel’s own firstborn. 

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned. 

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. 

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient. 

And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,  who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,  quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight. 

Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 

Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 

They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated. 

The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground. 

These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. 

God had planned something better for us, so that together with us they would be made perfect.

Hebrews 12

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. 

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author  and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: 

“My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” 

Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 

If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 

Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live? 

Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness. 

No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace  to those who have been trained by it. 

Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. 

Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. 

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness  springs up to cause trouble and defile many. 

See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright. 

For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He could find no ground for repentance, though he sought the blessing with tears. 

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm; to a trumpet blast or to a voice that made its hearers beg that no further word be spoken. 

For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” 

The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.” 

Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 

See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven? 

At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.” 

The words “Once more” signify the removal of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that the unshakable may remain. 

Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. “For our God is a consuming fire.”

Hebrews 13

Continue in brotherly love. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 

Remember those in prison as if you were bound with them, and those who are mistreated as if you were suffering with them. 

Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. 

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: 

“Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” 

So we say with confidence: 

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” 

Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 

Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted to them. 

We have an altar from which those who serve at the tabernacle have no right to eat. 

Although the high priest brings the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, the bodies are burned outside the camp. 

And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate, to sanctify the people by His own blood. Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore. 

For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. 

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name. 

And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account. To this end, allow them to lead with joy and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you. 

Pray for us; we are convinced that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. And I especially urge you to pray that I may be restored to you soon. 

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with every good thing  to do His will. And may He accomplish in us  what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 

I urge you, brothers, to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have only written to you briefly. 

Be aware that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. 

Greet all your leaders and all the saints. 

Those from Italy send you greetings. 

Grace be with all of you.

It gets a little more interesting today. A prolonged section on biblical sexual ethics is in order, as well as warnings about the eating of blood. Both of these things are explicitly reinforced in the New Testament.

Our Hebrews reading today explains why the New Covenant blood sacrifice is superior to the Old Covenant’s Levite priesthood. It’s okay if this stuff is lost on you the first or second time. Just ponder these things and ask questions that you can return to on your next reading. Talk to others of the faith about these things. When you piece it together, it is an amazing experience!

Keep up the good work! Even if you haven’t done good work, just keep going. Keep covering that ground. Seek the Lord while he may be found!

Leviticus 17

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them this is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, a lamb, or a goat in the camp or outside of it instead of bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD before His tabernacle—that man shall incur bloodguilt. He has shed blood and must be cut off from among his people. 

For this reason the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they have been offering in the open fields. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and offer them as sacrifices of peace to the LORD. 

The priest will then sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 

They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons  to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’ 

Tell them that if anyone from the house of Israel or any foreigner living among them offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice but does not bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD, that man must be cut off from his people. 

If anyone from the house of Israel or a foreigner living among them eats any blood, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from among his people. 

For the life  of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. 

Therefore I say to the Israelites, ‘None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner living among you eat blood.’ 

And if any Israelite or foreigner living among them hunts down a wild animal or bird that may be eaten, he must drain its blood and cover it with dirt. 

For the life of all flesh is its blood. Therefore I have told the Israelites, ‘You must not eat the blood of any living thing, because the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it must be cut off.’ 

And any person, whether native or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean. 

But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, then he shall bear his iniquity.”

Leviticus 18

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am the LORD your God. You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. You must not walk in their customs. 

You are to practice My judgments and keep My statutes by walking in them. I am the LORD your God. Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD. 

None of you are to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD. 

You must not expose the nakedness of your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her. 

You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father. 

You must not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere. 

You must not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for that would shame your family. 

You must not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister. 

You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative. 

You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s close relative. 

You must not dishonor your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations with her; she is your aunt. 

You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you are not to have sexual relations with her. 

You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would shame your brother. 

You must not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. You are not to marry her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives; it is depraved. 

You must not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is still alive. 

You must not approach a woman to have sexual relations with her during her menstrual period. 

You must not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife and thus defile yourself with her. 

You 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. 

You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination. 

You must not lie carnally with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion. 

Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves. Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. 

But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you. 

For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled. So if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it spewed out the nations before you. 

Therefore anyone who commits any of these abominations must be cut off from among his people. 

You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”

Leviticus 19

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. 

Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. 

Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God. 

When you sacrifice a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it for your acceptance. It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it, or on the next day; but what remains on the third day must be burned up. 

If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is tainted and will not be accepted. Whoever eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to the LORD. That person must be cut off from his people. 

When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 

You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God. 

You must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another. 

You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. 

You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. 

You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand. 

You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD. 

You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 

You must not go about spreading slander among your people. 

You must not endanger the life  of your neighbor. I am the LORD. 

You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him. 

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. 

You are to keep My statutes. You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock; you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed; and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material. 

If a man lies carnally with a slave girl promised to another man but who has not been redeemed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. But they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. 

The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting as his guilt offering to the LORD. 

The priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the LORD with the ram of the guilt offering for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven the sin he has committed. 

When 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. In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering to the LORD. 

But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit; thus your harvest will be increased. I am the LORD your God. 

You must not eat anything with blood still in it. 

You must not practice divination or sorcery. 

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

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

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

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

You 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. 

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

When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. You 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. 

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

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

Leviticus 20 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “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. 

And 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. 

And 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,  then 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. 

Whoever 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. 

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

If 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. 

If 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. 

If 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. 

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

If 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. 

If 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. 

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

If 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. 

If 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. 

If a man lies with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her, 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. 

You 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. 

If 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. 

If 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. 

You 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. You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. 

But 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. 

You 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. 

You 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. 

A 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.’ ”

Hebrews 9

Now the first covenant  had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was prepared. In its first room were the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread. This was called the Holy Place. 

Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 

Above the ark were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now. 

When everything had been prepared in this way, the priests entered regularly into the first room to perform their sacred duties. 

But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 

By this arrangement the Holy Spirit was showing that the way into the Most Holy Place  had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. 

It is an illustration for the present time, because the gifts and sacrifices being offered were unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper. They consist only in food and drink and special washings—external regulations imposed until the time of reform. 

But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made by hands and is not a part of this creation. 

He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption. 

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean, 

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our  consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God! 

Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 

In the case of a will, it is necessary to establish the death of the one who made it, because a will does not take effect until the one who made it has died; it cannot be executed while he is still alive. 

That is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 

For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” 

In the same way, he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle and all the vessels used in worship. According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 

So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 

For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God. 

Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 

Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 

Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment, so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.

Hebrews 10

For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 

If it could, would not the offerings have ceased? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt the guilt of their sins. 

Instead, those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: 

“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight. Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll: I have come to do Your will, O God.’ ” 

In the passage above He says, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor did You delight in them” (although they are offered according to the law). 

Then He adds, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 

Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. 

Since that time, He waits for His enemies to be made a footstool for His feet, because by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified. 

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First He says: 

“This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds.” 

Then He adds: 

“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 

And where these have been forgiven, an offering for sin is no longer needed. 

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place  by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 

Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. 

Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 

If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries. 

Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 

How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 

For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 

Remember the early days that you were in the light. In those days, you endured a great conflict in the face of suffering. 

Sometimes you were publicly exposed to ridicule and persecution; at other times you were partners with those who were so treated. 

You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you yourselves had a better and permanent possession. 

So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward. You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For, 

“In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.” 

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

I have been sick. It started with allergies and seems to have developed into an infection. I’m quite miserable. You may or may not want to just read the text rather than dealing with my haggard voice and demeanor.

Even so, I made this commitment. I intend to uphold it, even if it means I have to force myself. It is indeed much easier to attend upon God’s word when I feel good. When I feel bad, I just want to be in bed and suffer through it.

My brother Bob is struggling on his deathbed. His loving daughter is attending to him. My heart hurts for him. I wish I could take his suffering upon myself. His daughter shared with me today that, despite his lungs failing and pain rising to vex him, prayer and scripture is constantly on his lips. That gives me joy, though I am praying for a swift release from pain.

Until today, I had been under the impression that the program I use to do the slides did not integrate with the Berean Standard Bible. I have therefore spent hours and hours copying and pasting, reformatting and proofreading, in order to make sure it all shows up correctly. I discovered today that only a short process was required to integrate the BSB into my slides automatically. I am a fool.

Leviticus 13

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “When someone has a swelling or rash or bright spot on his skin that could become an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest. 

The priest is to examine the infection on his skin, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a skin disease. After the priest examines him, he must pronounce him unclean. 

If, however, the spot on his skin is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days. 

On the seventh day the priest is to reexamine him, and if he sees that the infection is unchanged and has not spread on the skin, the priest must isolate him for another seven days. 

The priest will examine him again on the seventh day, and if the sore has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is a rash. The person must wash his clothes and be clean. 

But if the rash spreads further on his skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he must present himself again to the priest. 

The priest will reexamine him, and if the rash has spread on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; he has a skin disease. 

When anyone develops a skin disease, he must be brought to the priest. The priest will examine him, and if there is a white swelling on the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, 

it is a chronic skin disease and the priest must pronounce him unclean. He need not isolate him, for he is unclean. 

But if the skin disease breaks out all over his skin so that it covers all the skin of the infected person from head to foot, as far as the priest can see, 

the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the infected person clean. Since it has all turned white, he is clean. 

But whenever raw flesh appears on someone, he will be unclean. When the priest sees the raw flesh, he must pronounce him unclean. The raw flesh is unclean; it is a skin disease. But if the raw flesh changes and turns white, he must go to the priest. 

The priest will reexamine him, and if the infection has turned white, the priest is to pronounce the infected person clean; then he is clean. 

When a boil appears on someone’s skin and it heals, and a white swelling or a reddish-white spot develops where the boil was, he must present himself to the priest. 

The priest shall examine it, and if it appears to be beneath the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a diseased infection that has broken out in the boil. 

But when the priest examines it, if there is no white hair in it, and it is not beneath the skin and has faded, the priest shall isolate him for seven days. If it spreads any further on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is an infection. 

But if the spot remains unchanged and does not spread, it is only the scar from the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean. 

When there is a burn on someone’s skin and the raw area of the burn becomes reddish-white or white, 

the priest must examine it. If the hair in the spot has turned white and the spot appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a diseased infection. 

But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot, and it is not beneath the skin but has faded, the priest shall isolate him for seven days. 

On the seventh day the priest is to reexamine him, and if it has spread further on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a diseased infection. 

But if the spot is unchanged and has not spread on the skin but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest is to pronounce him clean; for it is only the scar from the burn. 

If a man or woman has an infection on the head or chin, 

the priest shall examine the infection, and if it appears to be deeper than the skin and the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a scaly outbreak, an infectious disease of the head or chin. 

But if the priest examines the scaly infection and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days. 

On the seventh day the priest is to reexamine the infection, and if the scaly outbreak has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it, and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, 

then the person must shave himself except for the scaly area. Then the priest shall isolate him for another seven days. 

On the seventh day the priest shall examine the scaly outbreak, and if it has not spread on the skin and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, the priest is to pronounce him clean. He must wash his clothes, and he will be clean. 

If, however, the scaly outbreak spreads further on the skin after his cleansing, the priest is to examine him, and if the scaly outbreak has spread on the skin, the priest need not look for yellow hair; the person is unclean. 

If, however, in his sight the scaly outbreak is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, then it has healed. He is clean, and the priest is to pronounce him clean. 

When a man or a woman has white spots on the skin, the priest shall examine them, and if the spots are dull white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin; the person is clean. 

Now if a man loses his hair and is bald, he is still clean. Or if his hairline recedes and he is bald on his forehead, he is still clean. But if there is a reddish-white sore on the bald head or forehead, it is an infectious disease breaking out on it. 

The priest is to examine him, and if the swelling of the infection on his bald head or forehead is reddish-white like a skin disease, the man is diseased; he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean because of the infection on his head. 

A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ As long as he has the infection, he remains unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp. 

If any fabric is contaminated with mildew —any wool or linen garment, any weave or knit of linen or wool, or any article of leather— 

and if the mark in the fabric, leather, weave, knit, or leather article is green or red, then it is contaminated with mildew and must be shown to the priest. And the priest is to examine the mildew and isolate the contaminated fabric for seven days. 

On the seventh day the priest shall reexamine it, and if the mildew has spread in the fabric, weave, knit, or leather, then regardless of how it is used, it is a harmful mildew; the article is unclean. 

He is to burn the fabric, weave, or knit, whether the contaminated item is wool or linen or leather. Since the mildew is harmful, the article must be burned up. 

But when the priest reexamines it, if the mildew has not spread in the fabric, weave, knit, or leather article, the priest is to order the contaminated article to be washed and isolated for another seven days. 

After it has been washed, the priest is to reexamine it, and if the mildewed article has not changed in appearance, it is unclean. Even though the mildew has not spread, you must burn it, whether the rot is on the front or back. 

If the priest examines it and the mildew has faded after it has been washed, he must cut the contaminated section out of the fabric, leather, weave, or knit. 

But if it reappears in the fabric, weave, or knit, or on any leather article, it is spreading. You must burn the contaminated article. 

If the mildew disappears from the fabric, weave, or knit, or any leather article after washing, then it is to be washed again, and it will be clean. 

This is the law concerning a mildew contamination in wool or linen fabric, weave, or knit, or any leather article, for pronouncing it clean or unclean.”

Leviticus 14

Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is the law for the one afflicted with a skin disease  on the day of his cleansing, when he is brought to the priest. The priest is to go outside the camp to examine him, and if the skin disease of the afflicted person has healed, 

the priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed. 

Then the priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water  in a clay pot. 

And he is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. 

Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the skin disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and release the live bird into the open field. 

The one being cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; then he will be ceremonially clean. Afterward, he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days. 

On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean. 

On the eighth day he is to bring two unblemished male lambs, an unblemished ewe lamb a year old, a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour  mixed with olive oil, and one log of olive oil. 

The priest who performs the cleansing shall present the one to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 

Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and present it as a guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil; and he must wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. 

Then he is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy. 

The priest is to take some of the blood from the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 

Then the priest shall take some of the log of olive oil, pour it into his left palm, dip his right forefinger into the oil in his left palm, and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD. 

And the priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. 

The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD. 

Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering 

and offer it on the altar, with the grain offering, to make atonement for him, and he will be clean. 

If, however, the person is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour  mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil, and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 

On the eighth day he is to bring them for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD. 

The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. 

And after he slaughters the lamb for the guilt offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 

Then the priest is to pour some of the oil into his left palm and sprinkle with his right forefinger some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the LORD. 

The priest shall also put some of the oil in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot—on the same places as the blood of the guilt offering. 

The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD. Then he must sacrifice the turtledoves or young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the LORD for the one to be cleansed. 

This is the law for someone who has a skin disease and cannot afford the cost of his cleansing.” 

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a contamination of mildew  into a house in that land, the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘Something like mildew has appeared in my house.’ 

The priest must order that the house be cleared before he enters it to examine the mildew, so that nothing in the house will become unclean. After this, the priest shall go in to inspect the house. 

He is to examine the house, and if the mildew on the walls consists of green or red depressions that appear to be beneath the surface of the wall, the priest shall go outside the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days. 

On the seventh day the priest is to return and inspect the house. If the mildew has spread on the walls, he must order that the contaminated stones be pulled out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city. 

And he shall have the inside of the house scraped completely and the plaster that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the city. 

So different stones must be obtained to replace the contaminated ones, as well as additional mortar to replaster the house. 

If the mildew reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house has been scraped and replastered, the priest must come and inspect it. 

If the mildew has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew; the house is unclean. It must be torn down with its stones, its timbers, and all its plaster, and taken outside the city to an unclean place. 

Anyone who enters the house during any of the days that it is closed up will be unclean until evening. And anyone who sleeps in the house or eats in it must wash his clothes. 

If, however, the priest comes and inspects it, and the mildew has not spread after the house has been replastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the mildew is gone. 

He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house; and he shall slaughter one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. 

Then he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 

And he shall cleanse the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn. 

Finally, he is to release the live bird into the open fields outside the city. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean. 

This is the law for any infectious skin disease, for a scaly outbreak, for mildew in clothing or in a house, and for a swelling, rash, or spot, to determine when something is clean or unclean. This is the law regarding skin diseases and mildew.”

Leviticus 15

And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Say to the Israelites, ‘When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean. This uncleanness is from his discharge, whether his body allows the discharge to flow or blocks it. So his discharge will bring about uncleanness. 

Any bed on which the man with the discharge lies will be unclean, and any furniture on which he sits will be unclean. Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. 

Whoever sits on furniture on which the man with the discharge was sitting must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. 

Whoever touches the body of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. 

If the man with the discharge spits on one who is clean, that person must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. 

Any saddle on which the man with the discharge rides will be unclean. 

Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening, and whoever carries such things must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. 

If the man with the discharge touches anyone without first rinsing his hands with water, the one who was touched must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. 

Any clay pot that the man with the discharge touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil must be rinsed with water. 

When the man has been cleansed from his discharge, he must count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe himself in fresh water, and he shall be clean. 

On the eighth day he is to take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, come before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest. 

The priest is to sacrifice them, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for the man before the LORD because of his discharge. 

When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until evening. 

Any clothing or leather on which there is an emission of semen must be washed with water, and it will remain unclean until evening. 

If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening. 

When a woman has a discharge consisting of blood from her body, she will be unclean due to her menstruation for seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. 

Anything on which she lies or sits during her menstruation will be unclean, and anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. 

Whoever touches any furniture on which she was sitting must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. 

And whether it is a bed or furniture on which she was sitting, whoever touches it will be unclean until evening. 

If a man lies with her and her menstrual flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies will become unclean. 

When a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days at a time other than her menstrual period, or if it continues beyond her period, she will be unclean all the days of her unclean discharge, just as she is during the days of her menstruation. 

Any bed on which she lies or any furniture on which she sits during the days of her discharge will be unclean, like her bed during her menstrual period. 

Anyone who touches these things will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. 

When a woman is cleansed of her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean. 

On the eighth day she is to take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 

The priest is to sacrifice one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her before the LORD for her unclean discharge. 

You must keep the children of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling My tabernacle, which is among them. 

This is the law of him who has a discharge, of the man who has an emission of semen whereby he is unclean, of a woman in her menstrual period, of any male or female who has a discharge, and of a man who lies with an unclean woman.’ ”

Leviticus 16

Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence of the LORD. 

And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place  behind the veil in front of the mercy seat  on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. 

This is how Aaron is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 

He is to wear the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments. He must tie a linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are holy garments, and he must bathe himself with water before he wears them. 

And he shall take from the congregation of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 

Aaron is to present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household. Then he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 

After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat, he shall present the goat chosen by lot for the LORD and sacrifice it as a sin offering. 

But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement by sending it into the wilderness as the scapegoat. 

When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. 

Then he must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and take them inside the veil. 

He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat above the Testimony, so that he will not die. 

And he is to take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the mercy seat. 

Aaron shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and bring its blood behind the veil, and with its blood he must do as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it. 

So he shall make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the impurities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting which abides among them, because it is surrounded by their impurities. 

No one may be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he leaves, after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel. 

Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. 

He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites. 

When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he is to bring forward the live goat. 

Then he is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task. 

The goat will carry on itself all their iniquities into a solitary place, and the man will release it into the wilderness. 

Then Aaron is to enter the Tent of Meeting, take off the linen garments he put on before entering the Most Holy Place, and leave them there. 

He is to bathe himself with water in a holy place and put on his own clothes. Then he must go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering to make atonement for himself and for the people. 

He is also to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. 

The man who released the goat as the scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp. 

The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; and their hides, flesh, and dung must be burned up. 

The one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and afterward he may reenter the camp. 

This is to be a permanent statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall humble yourselves  and not do any work—whether the native or the foreigner who resides among you—because on this day atonement will be made for you to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD. It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute. 

The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest shall make atonement. He will put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the assembly. This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement once a year for the Israelites because of all their sins.” 

And all this was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Hebrews 7

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness.” Then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 

Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time. 

Consider how great Melchizedek was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder. 

Now the law commands the sons of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers—though they too are descended from Abraham. 

But Melchizedek, who did not trace his descent from Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And indisputably, the lesser is blessed by the greater. 

In the case of the Levites, mortal men collect the tenth; but in the case of Melchizedek, it is affirmed that he lives on. And so to speak, Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham. 

For when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the loin of his ancestor. 

Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on this basis the people received the law), why was there still need for another priest to appear—one in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron? 

For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well. 

He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests. 

And this point is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not by a law of succession, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is testified: 

“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” 

So the former commandment is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. 

And none of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath, but Jesus became a priest with an oath by the One who said to Him: 

“The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’ ” 

Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. 

Now there have been many other priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office. But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. 

Therefore He is able to save completely  those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them. 

Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 

Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself. 

For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Hebrews 8

The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who ministers in the sanctuary and true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. 

And since every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, it was necessary for this One also to have something to offer. 

Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer gifts according to the law. 

The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 

Now, however, Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry, just as the covenant He mediates is better and is founded on better promises. For if that first covenant had been without fault, no place would have been sought for a second. 

But God found fault with the people and said: 

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide by My covenant, and I disregarded them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will each one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.” 

By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

Today we get to approach the kosher dietary laws. Most people know that Jews aren’t supposed to eat pork. They don’t know there are actually many other animals they aren’t allowed to eat, and the reasons are stated here.

Also, Hebrews starts to explain the mechanics of how it is that Jesus our great high priest is able to atone for our sins. Everyone knows that Jesus’ death on the cross is the act that atones for our sins, but Hebrews lines out specifically how that works.

Enjoy!

Leviticus 9

On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.

He said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and present them before the LORD.

Then speak to the Israelites and say, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb—both a year old and without blemish—for a burnt offering, an ox and a ram for a peace offering to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil. For today the LORD will appear to you.’”

So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the whole congregation drew near and stood before the LORD.

And Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering to make atonement for yourself and for the people. And sacrifice the people’s offering to make atonement for them, as the LORD has commanded.”

So Aaron approached the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself.

The sons of Aaron brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and applied it to the horns of the altar. And he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

On the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver from the sin offering, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

But he burned up the flesh and the hide outside the camp.

Then Aaron slaughtered the burnt offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he sprinkled it on all sides of the altar.

They brought him the burnt offering piece by piece, including the head, and he burned them on the altar.

He washed the entrails and the legs and burned them atop the burnt offering on the altar.

Aaron then presented the people’s offering. He took the male goat for the people’s sin offering, slaughtered it, and offered it for sin like the first one.

He presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the ordinance.

Next he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning’s burnt offering.

Then he slaughtered the ox and the ram as the people’s peace offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he sprinkled it on all sides of the altar.

They also brought the fat portions from the ox and the ram—the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver—and placed these on the breasts. Aaron burned the fat portions on the altar, but he waved the breasts and the right thigh as a wave offering before the LORD, as Moses had commanded.

Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having made the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, he stepped down.

Moses and Aaron then entered the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.

Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

Leviticus 10

Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.

So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the LORD.

Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.

Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come here; carry the bodies of your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary.”

So they came forward and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses had directed.

Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become disheveled and do not tear your garments, or else you will die, and the LORD will be angry with the whole congregation. But your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may mourn on account of the fire that the LORD has ignited.

You shall not go outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, or you will die, for the LORD’s anointing oil is on you.” So they did as Moses instructed.

Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink when you enter the Tent of Meeting, or else you will die; this is a permanent statute for the generations to come.

You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean, so that you may teach the Israelites all the statutes that the LORD has given them through Moses.”

And Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that remains from the offerings made by fire to the LORD and eat it without leaven beside the altar, because it is most holy.

You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your share and your sons’ share of the offerings made by fire to the LORD; for this is what I have been commanded.

And you and your sons and daughters may eat the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution in a ceremonially clean place, because these portions have been assigned to you and your children from the peace offerings of the sons of Israel.

They are to bring the thigh of the contribution and the breast of the wave offering, together with the fat portions of the offerings made by fire, to wave as a wave offering before the LORD. It will belong permanently to you and your children, as the LORD has commanded.”

Later, Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked,

“Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the congregation by making atonement for them before the LORD.

Since its blood was not brought inside the holy place, you should have eaten it in the sanctuary area, as I commanded.”

But Aaron replied to Moses, “Behold, this very day they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD. Since these things have happened to me, if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been acceptable in the sight of the LORD?”

And when Moses heard this explanation, he was satisfied.

Leviticus 11

The LORD spoke again to Moses and Aaron, telling them, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Of all the beasts of the earth, these ones you may eat:

You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.

But of those that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.

The rock badger, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.

The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.

And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.

You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

Of all the creatures that live in the water, whether in the seas or in the streams, you may eat anything with fins and scales.

But the following among all the teeming life and creatures in the water are detestable to you: everything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales.

They shall be an abomination to you; you must not eat their meat, and you must detest their carcasses.

Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales shall be detestable to you.

Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, any kind of falcon, any kind of raven, the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.

However, you may eat the following kinds of flying insects that walk on all fours: those having jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground.

Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket, or grasshopper.

All other flying insects that have four legs are detestable to you.

These creatures will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, and whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening.

Every animal with hooves not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. Whoever touches any of them will be unclean.

All the four-footed animals that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, and anyone who picks up a carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.

The following creatures that move along the ground are unclean for you: the mole, the mouse, any kind of great lizard, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the skink, and the chameleon.

These animals are unclean for you among all the crawling creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening.

When one of them dies and falls on something, that article becomes unclean; any article of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or any implement used for work must be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean.

If any of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean; you must break the pot.

Any food coming into contact with water from that pot will be unclean, and any drink in such a container will be unclean.

Anything upon which one of their carcasses falls will be unclean. If it is an oven or cooking pot, it must be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you.

Nevertheless, a spring or cistern containing water will remain clean, but one who touches a carcass in it will be unclean.

If a carcass falls on any seed for sowing, the seed is clean; but if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

If an animal that you may eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean until evening.

Whoever eats from the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening, and anyone who picks up the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening.

Every creature that moves along the ground is detestable; it must not be eaten.

Do not eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it crawls on its belly or walks on four or more feet; for such creatures are detestable.

Do not defile yourselves by any crawling creature; do not become unclean or defiled by them.

For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.

For I am the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt so that I would be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

This is the law regarding animals, birds, all living creatures that move in the water, and all creatures that crawl along the ground.

You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.’”

Leviticus 12

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be unclean for seven days, as she is during the days of her menstruation.

And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised.

The woman shall continue in purification from her bleeding for thirty-three days. She must not touch anything sacred or go into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are complete.

If, however, she gives birth to a daughter, the woman will be unclean for two weeks as she is during her menstruation. Then she must continue in purification from her bleeding for sixty-six days.

When the days of her purification are complete, whether for a son or for a daughter, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering.

And the priest will present them before the LORD and make atonement for her; and she shall be ceremonially cleansed from her flow of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or to a female.

But if she cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. Then the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”

Hebrews 5

Every high priest is appointed from among men to represent them in matters relating to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is beset by weakness.

That is why he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.

No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.

So also Christ did not take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high priest, but He was called by the One who said to Him: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.”

And in another passage God says: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.

Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered.

And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him and was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.

Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!

For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness.

But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 6

Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

And this we will do, if God permits.

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age— and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.

For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God.

But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.

Even though we speak like this, beloved, we are convinced of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation.

For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.

We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.

Then you will not be sluggish, but will imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.”

And so Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise.

Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument.

So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath.

Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.