legacy of loss

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 21:13-15

Lev 21:13 And he will take a wife in her virginity.
Lev 21:14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he will not marry. But he will take as his wife a virgin of his own people,
Lev 21:15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, because I am Yahveh who sanctifies him.”

legacy of loss

If a priest were to disobey this rule, he would be excluded from the priesthood, and his choice would bring dishonour on himself and his family. His children would carry around the disgrace of someone who had a responsibility to God, and let self get in the way of that responsibility.

Today all believers are priests to God under the new covenant. This rule does not apply to us, but the principle behind it always applies. We must make our life choices according to the Lord’s wishes for us. If we choose selfishly, we will lose out, and pass on the legacy of that loss to our children.

LORD, give us the wisdom to choose well, and pass on a legacy of your blessing to our children.

Posted in children, discipleship, kingdom of God, loyalty, self-control | Tagged | 1 Comment

avoid any dead souls

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 21:9-12

Lev 21:9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she will be burned with fire.
Lev 21:10 “The priest who is most influential among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, will not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes.
Lev 21:11 He will not go near any dead souls nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother.
Lev 21:12 He will not go out of the sanctuary, or else he profane the sanctuary of his God, because the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am Yahveh.

avoid any dead souls

It is in the context of rules governing priestly consecration that we find this restriction. The priest who is active in his role must avoid any dead souls. In other words, if he has a relative who dies, he cannot leave the sanctuary to attend the funeral. To do so would be coming in contact with a dead soul, and thus becoming ceremonially contaminated. This is only one of the numerous passages in scripture which refute the common notion of immortal souls. By definition an immortal soul cannot die. So, if you must hold to Plato’s philosophical view of human immortality, at least do so with integrity. Do not claim that you hold that view because it is biblical. Human beings are only potentially immortal. When we die, all of us dies. When Christ raises believers from the dead, then we will have immortal souls.

LORD, the fate of our souls is in your hands; thank you for the promise of eternal life.

Posted in conditional immortality, dependence upon God, eternal life, mortality, resurrection | Tagged | 1 Comment

exclusive dedication

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 21:5-8

Lev 21:5 They will not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their skin.
Lev 21:6 They will be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they offer Yahveh’s fire offerings, the bread of their God; therefore, they will be holy.
Lev 21:7 They will not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither will they marry a woman divorced from her husband, because the priest is holy to his God.
Lev 21:8 You will sanctify him, because he offers the bread of your God. He will be holy to you, because I, Yahveh, who sanctify you, am holy.

exclusive dedication

The Israelites were to exclusively dedicate their priests to the LORD, because the priests were responsible for the worship at the temple. The priests offered the bread of their God — the bread of the manifest presence. Because the LORD exclusively dedicated the whole people to himself, the priests were to reflect the LORD’s holiness.

Under the new covenant, all believers are priests. We are a kingdom of priests. We have been given the means of reflecting God’s image, and manifesting his presence, because we have been given his Holy Spirit.

LORD, thank you for the means of reflecting your glory, your Holy Spirit within us.

Posted in commitment, glory, holiness, Holy Spirit, priesthood of believers, sanctification | Tagged | 2 Comments

divine responsibility

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 21:1-4

Lev 21:1 And Yahveh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, no one will make his soul contaminated among his people,
Lev 21:2 except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,
Lev 21:3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself contaminated).
Lev 21:4 He will not make himself contaminated as a husband among his people and so profane himself.

divine responsibility

The priesthood was so regulated that a priest could not even take time off to go to a friend’s funeral. He could only allow himself to become ceremonially contaminated by coming in contact with a corpse if it was that of a close relative. Why such a strict rule? Well, the priest was to live “as a husband among his people” (21:4). He had a responsibility to take care of the whole community. So, during his time assigned for work at the tabernacle, that was to be where he was and what he was doing.

LORD, give us a sense of divine responsibility, to match the call you have given us.

Posted in commitment, leadership, ministry, priesthood of believers, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

they did all these things

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 20:22-27

Lev 20:22 “You will therefore keep all my prescriptions and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to stay may not vomit you out.
Lev 20:23 And you will not walk in the prescriptions of the nation that I am driving out before you, because they did all these things, and therefore I detested them.
Lev 20:24 But I have said to you, ‘You will inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am Yahveh your God, who has divided you from the peoples.
Lev 20:25 You will therefore separate the pure beast from the contaminated, and the contaminated bird from the pure. You will not make your souls detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have divided for you to consider contaminated.
Lev 20:26 You will be holy to me, because I Yahveh am holy and have divided you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
Lev 20:27 “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer will surely be put to death. They will be stoned with stones; their blood will be upon them.”

they did all these things

The nations being evicted from the promised land had offended God by their practises, the very things that Israel was being commanded not to do. He divided the light from the darkness, and he divided his holy people from the depraved. The pagans listened to their mediums and necromancers and were led into sin, thus the land vomited them out. The LORD warned his people that they also were in danger of losing the promised land, if they listen to the wrong voice.

LORD, guide our ears, so that we listen to your voice, and avoid sin and judgement.

Posted in animism, discipleship, ethnic Israel, holiness, purity, sanctification | Tagged | 1 Comment

just looking

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky devotions pics October 2016 (8)

Leviticus 20:17-21

Lev 20:17 “If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they will be eliminated in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he will be responsible for his violation.
Lev 20:18 If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them will be eliminated from among their people.
Lev 20:19 You will not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, because that is to make naked one’s relative; they will be responsible for their violation.
Lev 20:20 If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will be responsible for their mistake; they will die destitute.
Lev 20:21 If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they will be destitute.

just looking

The saying goes “Look but don’t touch,” but the LORD told the Israelites that there were some things they should not look at. Just looking at a woman you are not married to is a violation. The mind builds kingdoms of fantasy launched by a look. The LORD commanded his people to discipline their eyes, because the eyes are the horse that pulls the cart. What the eyes see, the body lusts after.

LORD, rescue us from the things we should not see.

Posted in adultery, pornography, sexuality | Tagged | 1 Comment

no immorality among you

Posted on October 7, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 20:13-16

Lev 20:13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they will surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
Lev 20:14 If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is an immoral act; he and they will be burned with fire, that there may be no immorality among you.
Lev 20:15 If a man lies with an animal, he will surely be put to death, and you will kill the animal.
Lev 20:16 If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you will kill the woman and the animal; they will surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

no immorality among you

Immoral sexual acts carried the death penalty in the Israelite community because the whole community had covenanted with the LORD to be pure and holy, reflecting his purity and holiness. Today, people look at texts like this, and hold them up as examples of cruel and inhumane punishment — examples of a barbaric religious extremism. But God gave these rules to his people to protect life, not to destroy it. What he wanted was a pure community so that all the lives could be protected and enjoy his best. The nations all around them were in decline and the land was expelling them because of their immorality. The only way to preserve their lives was for the Israelites to live differently.

A social battle is being waged within our societies, and within our churches today. We are being pressured to accept immoral actions and lifestyles as normal and healthy. Every time we do, we actually lose ground in the battle. The only way to prevent disaster is to establish communities of faith — and morality.

LORD, give us the courage to be morally pure.

Posted in commitment, depravity, homosexuality, purity, sexuality | Tagged | 1 Comment

both of them

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 20:10-12

Lev 20:10 “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbour, both the adulterer and the adulteress will surely be put to death.
Lev 20:11 If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them will surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
Lev 20:12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them will surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them.

both of them

All three of the instances of sexual immorality in these verses represent what in today’s society is called sexual activity between mature, consenting adults. We are taught that such activity should not be regulated by our governments at all. This cultural conditioning makes us somewhat embarrassed that the Bible not only regards such acts as immoral, but that here the death penalty is prescribed for those who disregard the rule. But if we dare to look at this from God’s perspective, we might see that this activity is not just a choice between mature consenting adults. It is a choice to pervert God’s plan. We can add many other ways that our society and culture today has chosen to rebel against God’s plan for the family. The fact is, the Israelites had covenanted as a nation to obey God’s law, as given by Moses. To rebel at this stage was not simply a personal choice of lifestyle. It was high treason. The death penalty for high treason is legitimate.

LORD, protect us from our liberty. Keep us from choosing to rebel against you together.

Posted in adultery, family, rebellion, sexuality | Tagged | 1 Comment

consecrate or curse

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 20:7-9

Lev 20:7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am Yahveh your God.
Lev 20:8 Keep my prescriptions and do them; I am Yahveh who sanctifies you.
Lev 20:9 Because anyone who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.

consecrate or curse

All of the prescriptions of the Mosaic law were linked. That is why the LORD required that the Israelites keep all the prescribed laws in order not to (for example) curse their parents. Ignoring some of the lesser laws would lead to committing a greater offence. He required consecration and he promised sanctification.

LORD, you have saved us by your grace through the death of your Son. Now show us how to consecrate ourselves so that we do not miss out on your sanctification.

Posted in commitment, sanctification, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

modern Molech

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky devotions pics October 2016 (4)

Leviticus 20:1-6

Lev 20:1 Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,
Lev 20:2 “Say to the people of Israel, any one of the people of Israel or of the foreign guests who are temporary residents in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech will surely be put to death. The people of the land will stone him with stones.
Lev 20:3 I myself will set my face against that man and will eliminate him from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary contaminated and to profane my holy name.
Lev 20:4 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death,
Lev 20:5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will eliminate them from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.
Lev 20:6 “If a soul turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that soul and will eliminate him from among his people.

modern Molech

The practise of sacrificing one’s child to Molech was a particularly evil work. It involved burning the child alive. And somehow, the Canaanites were convinced that such an act of cruelty would bring good fortune to the parent. The LORD detested the practise, because he values every life. He wanted to free the land from this horrible religious heresy, and the death it was causing. So, he warned his people not to do it, and not to close their eyes when other people do it.

This same LORD weeps when our modern world cruelly destroys its unborn children in the name of convenience or as an alternate to contraception. Those who have succumbed to the modern Molech need to repent and reform, because God has set his face against them. He intends to destroy Molech and all those who sacrifice to him.

LORD, rescue us from the tragedy of abortion. Heal our lands from this heresy.

Posted in abortion, children, destruction in hell, heresies | Tagged | 1 Comment