fortnight itch

Posted on August 21, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky devotions pics August 2016 (21)

Leviticus 13:29-37

Lev 13:29 “When a man or woman has a disease on the head or the beard,
Lev 13:30 the priest will examine the disease. And if he notices that it appears deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest will pronounce him contaminated. It is an itch, a leprous disease of the head or the beard.
Lev 13:31 And if the priest examines the itching disease and notices that it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest will shut up the person with the itching disease for seven days,
Lev 13:32 and on the seventh day the priest will examine the disease. If he notices that the itch has not spread, and there is in it no yellow hair, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin,
Lev 13:33 then he will shave himself, but the itch he will not shave; and the priest will shut up the person with the itching disease for another seven days.
Lev 13:34 And on the seventh day the priest will examine the itch, and if he notices that the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, then the priest will pronounce him clean. And he will wash his clothes and be clean.
Lev 13:35 But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing,
Lev 13:36 then the priest will examine him, and if he notices that the itch has spread in the skin, the priest need not seek for the yellow hair; he is contaminated.

fortnight itch

Another problem that tended to be misdiagnosed as leprosy is itching skin on the scalp. When people walked around scratching their heads raw, it tended to cause concern. So, the priests were instructed to isolate these victims of (probably) lesser skin conditions as well. After a period of seven days’ observation, the victim was instructed to shave all his hair, except the part on the scalp where the itch was located. After another seven days, it would be clear whether it was actually leprosy, or some lesser irritation. The whole thing — especially the shaving part — was an ordeal of humiliation and shame for an Israelite, but the seriousness of leprosy made it necessary.

Is there some problem you are having that is making you and those around you wonder about your spiritual health? Maybe you are not sure whether you should bother getting help for your problem, wandering whether it is really cause for concern. Why not try seeking help? A counsellor or pastor or Christian friend might be able to help you, and all it will take is a bit of humbling.

LORD, give us courage to seek help when we need it.

Posted in guidance, humility, restoration | Tagged | 1 Comment

from burn to worse

Posted on August 20, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 13:24-28

Lev 13:24 “Or, when a body has a burn on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, reddish-white or white,
Lev 13:25 the priest will examine it, and if he notices that the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, then it is a leprous disease. It has broken out in the burn, and the priest will pronounce him contaminated; it is a case of leprous disease.
Lev 13:26 But if the priest examines it and notices that there is no white hair in the spot and it is no deeper than the skin, but has faded, the priest will shut him up seven days,
Lev 13:27 and the priest will examine him the seventh day. If it is spreading in the skin, then the priest will pronounce him contaminated; it is a case of leprous disease.
Lev 13:28 But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest will pronounce him clean, because it is the scar of the burn.

from burn to worse

Scorch marks in the skin were particularly problematic for the Israelites. They often presented themselves with the same immediate visual symptoms of leprosy. In such cases, the priests were instructed to treat the burn marks the same as if the origin of the blemish were unknown. After the victim was isolated for six full days, the priest would make the determination whether the burnt skin was healing, or leprosy was advancing.

The new covenant community also has to deal with the danger of appearance of sin (1 Thessalonians 5:22). There will always be misguided souls who want to give everyone the benefit of a doubt. But there needs to be those among us with the prophetic insight to stop those who are walking too near the line.

LORD, give us the wisdom to listen to your prophets who are trying to help us stay away from every form of evil.

Posted in discernment, guidance, prophecy, sin | Tagged | 1 Comment

boils and scars

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 13:18-23

Lev 13:18 “If there is in the outer layer of someone’s skin a boil and it heals,
Lev 13:19 and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a reddish-white spot, then it will be shown to the priest.
Lev 13:20 And the priest will look, and if he notices that it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest will pronounce him contaminated. It is a case of leprous disease that has broken out in the boil.
Lev 13:21 But if the priest examines it and notices that there is no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest will shut him up seven days.
Lev 13:22 And if it spreads in the skin, then the priest will pronounce him contaminated; it is a disease.
Lev 13:23 But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest will pronounce him clean.

boils and scars

In cases of chronic leprosy, it was not always easy to tell if a person was experiencing a new problem, or scars of past infections. For such cases, the priests were told to prescribe a temporary isolation of the victim for seven days, so that he could tell whether the boil was healing or spreading.

In the community of Israel, leprosy had to be taken seriously, and that meant sometimes making a judgement call that temporarily resulted in someone’s loss of personal freedom. In the new covenant community, we often have to make such judgement calls ourselves. Sin is a serious problem, and while freedom is important to us, we sometimes have to put that important principle aside, to deal with the more important issue of holiness.

LORD, give us courage to make tough decisions about who we associate with. Keep us from being contaminated by sin.

Posted in church, fellowship, freedom, judgment | Tagged | 1 Comment

chronically contaminated

Posted on August 18, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky devotions pics August 2016 (18)

Leviticus 13:9-17

Lev 13:9 “When a human is afflicted with a leprous disease, he will be brought to the priest,
Lev 13:10 and the priest will look. And if he notices there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling,
Lev 13:11 it is a chronic leprous disease in the outer layer of his skin, and the priest will pronounce him contaminated. He will not shut him up, because he is contaminated.
Lev 13:12 And if the leprous disease breaks out in the skin, so that the leprous disease covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see,
Lev 13:13 then the priest will look, and if he notices the leprous disease has covered all his body, he will pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is pure.
Lev 13:14 But when raw flesh appears on him, he will be contaminated.
Lev 13:15 And the priest will examine the raw flesh and pronounce him contaminated. Raw flesh is contaminated, because it is a leprous disease.
Lev 13:16 But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he will come to the priest,
Lev 13:17 and the priest will examine him, and if he notices the disease has turned white, then the priest will pronounce the diseased person clean; he is pure.

chronically contaminated

Two interesting details of this prescription stick out to me. First, when dealing with chronic leprosy, the priest would not require the victim to be isolated. It is an advanced stage of the disease, and the victim is no longer contagious. He still has the disease, and it is still a problem for him, but not for those around him.

Secondly, in this stage of his contamination, he can still become contagious again, and when he does his flesh will become raw. He can recover from this, going back to the advanced, dormant stage. In which case, the priest can declare him pure — but only in the sense of no longer contagious.

There are realities about sin that correspond to these details as well. Chronic sin changes us. After a while, a sinful activity tends to pervade our existence, and there seems to be no hope of any immediate cure. By then, we are usually absolutely convinced that the activity is wrong, and are ashamed of it. We do not want to even talk about our problem, because we are ashamed of it. At this stage, we usually do not wish to pass this sin on to others. We realise what it has done to us, and just want to hide.

Interestingly enough, hiding is not prescribed. A Chronic leprous person was not to be isolated. He could rejoin society ostensibly, since he was not contagious. But such a person would usually prefer self-isolation because of the stigma that the disease has put on him. By not prescribing this isolation, the priest made sure that the community saw the lasting affect of this terrible disease.

LORD, there are many around us who have been ravaged by chronic sin. Help us to embrace them, not fearing their sin, nor condoning it, but trusting that your gospel of grace can prevail even in their case.

Posted in compassion, gospel, grace, sin | Tagged | 1 Comment

deeper than the outer layer

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 13:1-8

Lev 13:1 Yahveh spoke to Moses and Aaron, and this is what he said,
Lev 13:2 “When a human has on the outer layer of his skin a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the outer layer of his skin, then he will be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests,
Lev 13:3 and the priest will examine the diseased area on the outer layer of his skin. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the outer layer of his skin, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he will pronounce him contaminated.
Lev 13:4 But if the spot is white in the outer layer of his skin and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest will shut up the diseased person for seven days.
Lev 13:5 And the priest will examine him on the seventh day, and if he notices in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest will shut him up for another seven days.
Lev 13:6 And the priest will examine him again on the seventh day, and if he notices the diseased area has faded and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest will pronounce him clean; it is only an scab. And he will wash his clothes and be clean.
Lev 13:7 But if the scab spreads in the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he will appear again before the priest.
Lev 13:8 And the priest will look, and if he notices the scab has spread in the skin, then the priest will pronounce him contaminated; it is a leprous disease.

deeper than the outer layer

Leprosy could not be tolerated in a people who were intended to show forth the perfection of the LORD. It was a particularly insidious disease, because it was a deep infection that spread and defiled wherever it went. That made it particularly helpful as a warning against rebellion and sinfulness.

The priests first job was to decide whether the spot was merely a temporary scab, or a growing disease. In other words, the priest had to determine whether the victim was healing, or getting worse. By visually observing the victim after a period of isolation, the priest was to determine whether the blemish was deeper than the outer layer.

Sin is deeper than we think. It is rooted in our weakness, and takes advantage of our ignorance. To properly deal with sin in our lives, we will need a healer who knows what is really going on with us.

LORD, thank you for being aware of all our needs, especially the ones that are so deep, we often fail to admit them

Posted in depravity, discernment, sin | Tagged | 1 Comment

she will be clean

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 12:1-8

Lev 12:1 Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,
Lev 12:2 “Speak to the people of Israel, and this is what you should say, if a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she will be contaminated seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she will be contaminated.
Lev 12:3 And on the eighth day the foreskin of his penis will be circumcised.
Lev 12:4 Then she will stay for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She will not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.
Lev 12:5 But if she bears a female child, then she will be contaminated two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she will stay in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.
Lev 12:6 “And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she will bring to the priest at the entrance of the conference tent a lamb a year old for an ascending offering and a pigeon or a turtledove for a mistake offering,
Lev 12:7 and he will offer it in Yahveh’s sight and provide reconciliation for her. Then she will be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female.
Lev 12:8 And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she will take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for an ascending offering and the other for a mistake offering. And the priest will provide reconciliation for her, and she will be clean.”

she will be clean

Life begins at conception, and the entire process of bringing another life into this world is a miraculous thing. But these instructions also draw our attention to the fact that even this miracle is tainted by original sin. Thus, the process of ritual purification of the mother is a reminder of our need for reconciliation from the very beginning of our lives. There is no age of innocence where God in his holiness does not hold us accountable for depravity. There is only the grace of our God who offers cleansing because he loves us, even while we are still sinners.

LORD, thank you for your grace, which begins to touch us long before we draw our first breath, and offers forgiveness for the sin we are born with, as well as the sins we commit.

Posted in grace, reconciliation, sin | Tagged | 1 Comment

wash and wait

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 11:39-47

Lev 11:39 “And if any animal which you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass will be contaminated until the evening,
Lev 11:40 and whoever eats of its carcass will wash his clothes and be contaminated until the evening. And whoever carries the carcass will wash his clothes and be contaminated until the evening.
Lev 11:41 “Every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable; it will not be eaten.
Lev 11:42 Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you will not eat, because they are detestable.
Lev 11:43 You will not make your souls detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you will not contaminate yourselves with them, and become contaminated through them.
Lev 11:44 Because I am Yahveh your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You will not contaminate your souls with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.
Lev 11:45 Because I am Yahveh who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You will therefore be holy, because I am holy.”
Lev 11:46 This is the law about beast and bird and every living soul that moves through the water and every soul that swarms on the ground,
Lev 11:47 to divide between the contaminated and the pure and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.

wash and wait

The word “soul” does not indicate a separate disembodied self. The soul is the self. That is how an Israelite’s soul could be contaminated by the soul of a prohibited animal, or even by an animal that is allowed, if the Israelite touches its dead carcass. Here the reason for these restrictions is laid out. Touching a prohibited animal, or a dead animal, leads to contamination of the soul by that animal’s soul. A living, non-prohibited animal may be appropriately slaughtered and eaten for food, and such does not contaminate the human soul. But a non-living soul (a dead soul) contaminates, and a prohibited soul contaminates.

Religions are constantly getting the soul wrong. To take one’s theology from Plato, and assume that souls are immortal, just destroys the purpose of this text. You cannot be contaminated by a dead soul if the soul never dies.

The Bible says that God breathed life into Adam and Eve, and they became living souls. Then it says sin made them mortal, and they died — not just their bodies, but their whole souls. That is why our souls need a Saviour. If they were immortal, they would not need a Saviour.

The prescription for soul contamination was to wash one’s clothes and wait until evening. This wonderfully demonstrates the process of the Holy Spirit’s sanctification.

LORD, thank you for giving us an answer to the problem of sin’s contamination.

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

death is bad, resurrection is good

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 11:29-38

Lev 11:29 “And these are contaminated to you among the swarming things that swarm on the ground: the mole rat, the mouse, the great lizard of any kind,
Lev 11:30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon.
Lev 11:31 These are contaminated to you among all that swarm. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be contaminated until the evening.
Lev 11:32 And anything on which any of them falls when they are dead will be contaminated, whether it is an container of wood or clothes or a skin or a sack, any container that is used for any purpose. It must be put into water, and it will be contaminated until the evening; then it will be clean.
Lev 11:33 And if any of them falls into any clay pottery container, all that is in it will be unclean, and you will break it.
Lev 11:34 Any food in it that could be eaten, on which water comes, will be contaminated. And all drink that could be drunk from every such container will be contaminated.
Lev 11:35 And everything on which any part of their carcass falls will be contaminated. Whether oven or stove, it will be broken in pieces. They are contaminated and will remain contaminated for you.
Lev 11:36 Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern holding water will be pure, but whoever touches a carcass in them will be contaminated.
Lev 11:37 And if any part of their carcass falls upon any seed grain that is to be planted, it is pure,
Lev 11:38 but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is contaminated to you.

death is bad, resurrection is good

Most of the restrictions concerning unclean ground swarmers has to do with death: restrictions about eating things or coming into contact with their carcasses. There is, however, an interesting exception. Any carcass coming into contact with a seed does not necessarily contaminate it. That is because once a seed is buried, it will be resurrected into a new living plant. Conclusion: death is bad, resurrection is good. That sounds utterly simplistic, but the fact is most Christians still believe that death is a reward. The Bible is clear on the subject. Death is a consequence of sin, and an enemy, not a friend. Resurrection is the true believer’s hope.

There is also an exception to the exception. If a seed is in standing water, and a carcass falls on it, it is contaminated. Perhaps this is a foreshadowed warning about believer’s baptism. Let no one presume that baptism alone will save him, if he is still dead in his sin. Baptism symbolises death to the old self, and resurrection to a new, repented self.

LORD, thank you for the gospel hope of a resurrection unto eternal life.

Posted in baptism, resurrection | Tagged | 2 Comments

foot and mouth disease

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 11:26-28

Lev 11:26 Every animal that parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is contaminated to you. Everyone who touches them will be contaminated.
Lev 11:27 And all that walk on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are contaminated to you. Whoever touches their carcass will be contaminated until the evening,
Lev 11:28 and he who carries their carcass will wash his clothes and be contaminated until the evening; they are contaminated to you.

foot and mouth disease

When the Israelites lived in Egypt as slaves, they never had to worry about which animals were OK to eat. They rarely had the chance to eat anything other than the domesticated animals they had raised. But now, in the wilderness, far from anyone telling them what to do, they needed some guidelines. The question was not whether it was healthy to eat all those other creatures. The issue was what diet would identify them as followers of the LORD. So, the guidelines about what the animal’s foot looks like, and what it did with its mouth were a helpful way for them to discern which were appropriate to eat.

Freedom is a wonderful gift from God. But if we are not careful, our freedom will make us just like everyone else — free from slavery, but in bondage to sin. Under the new covenant, it is the Holy Spirit who gives us the guidance that we need, so that we can discipline ourselves. He is the Spirit who produces self-control. He teaches us not to eat meat if it defends our weaker brother. But, otherwise all foods are clean for us.

LORD, thank you for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Posted in consideration of others, discernment, Holy Spirit | Tagged | 1 Comment

pests on the plate

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Jefferson Vann

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Leviticus 11:20-25

Lev 11:20 “All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you.
Lev 11:21 Yet among the winged insects that go on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to hop on the ground.
Lev 11:22 Of them you may eat: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind.
Lev 11:23 But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.
Lev 11:24 “And by these you will become contaminated. Whoever touches their carcass will be contaminated until the evening,
Lev 11:25 and whoever carries any part of their carcass will wash his clothes and be contaminated until the evening.

pests on the plate

Certain insects are a delicacy in many parts of the world, providing food in places where there is little opportunity for domesticated animals to thrive. Often these pests swarm at certain times of the year, providing a predictable harvest. So, while most insects were off limits to the Israelites, God made exceptions even to this rule. He loved his people and always found ways of taking care of them.

LORD, thank you for your provision.

Posted in dependence upon God, providence | Tagged | 1 Comment