Leviticus 2-3 What We Can Learn From Yeast, Honey, Salt, Fat, and Blood

Along with the burnt offering, Israelites had two other voluntary offerings they could make.  The grain offering consisted of bread or the ingredients used to make it.  The person offering it was acknowledging God’s bounty in providing the good things of life, my commentary said.

Such an offering could never contain yeast or honey, and always had to include salt.  Although the offeror prepared the offering at home, God, being all-knowing, would know whether these instructions had been followed or not!

The fellowship or peace offering was handled much like a burnt offering, but instead of the animal being consumed by the fire, parts of the animal were burned on the fire, parts were kept by the priests, and the rest was returned to the offeror to be used as a feast with other Israelites.  One law was included in these instructions:  “You must NOT eat any fat or blood.”  Those parts belong to the Lord, and no matter whether the food was being prepared as an offering or for a meal at home, they were not to eat the fat or the blood.  My Bible says, “This law will continue for people from now on.”  God probably wanted us to understand that these parts were not good for us.

Father, You are wise and all-knowing.  Even in simple things like these, our sin-nature will react and say, “Throw some yeast or honey in, or leave out the salt, and see if God notices or does anything!”  Or even, “If He says not to eat the blood or fat, then I’ve got to try it!”  That’s the very nature of sin – rebellion against God – and even if we’d gain nothing from it, it still infects our thoughts and actions.  Father, please help me to remove such thoughts the instant I feel them coming in.  Don’t let me explore the what-ifs of sin, even in my thoughts.  The devil is regularly trying to establish a foothold in my life, and I don’t need to be aiding my enemy!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Leviticus 1 -- Not A Nice Thing

In the introduction to this book, Max Lucado says it’s like being given a field, but to get the deed transferred, you have to get the rocks out of the field.  It turns out to be an impossible task.  Once you admit that, you’re given a field with the rocks already removed.

Leviticus is about holiness, and our inability to ever achieve it on our own.

I think it would be great for every Christian to have to offer a whole burnt offering once in their lives – to have to pay for the finest bull, then take it to the Temple and go through the procedures described here.  To see it standing there trustingly beside us … to place our hand on its head, understanding that God is placing our sin upon it … Then to have to kill it ourselves and watch as the priests collect the blood and sprinkle it on the sides of the altar, seeing the spots of blood – representing our sin – desecrating the beauty of that altar.  Then we’d have to skin the animal and butcher it, watching as the priest laid the head, the fat, and other pieces on the wood in the fire.  Then the bad part – we’d have to wash the inner organs with water, along with the animal’s groin area, before these parts were also added to the fire.

It would be enough to have to do that ourselves.  But then what if we were fourth in line, or 500^th?  To have to watch, and smell, and hear it all? 

I think about the look on the priest’s face.  You’d think it would be one of reverence and helpfulness, much like that of a pastor’s during an invitation.  But this is a dirty job, and it never ends.  The first time he places an animal’s head on an altar, he probably feels that.  But what about 3 years into the job, and after seeing the same person each year having to make this atonement for his sin?  Would he still feel the same?  Or would he feel more like a butcher at a grocery store?  Would there be any reverence left as the next head gets laid on the fire, or is he looking at how many people are left in line before he can go home?  And when he sees the repeat customer, does he want to tell him to stop sinning so much that he has to return so often?

I think after the third or fourth time that I brought an offering and went through these procedures, I’d feel pretty hopeless.  I’d see that it wasn’t producing holiness in me.  Instead, it was only highlighting my own sinfulness and inability to obey God.  I’d see that I needed more.  I’d need a Savior.

Father, it might indeed be good for us to have to see the waste that our sin causes and the death that sin brings with it.  But I wouldn’t like the hopelessness that would follow.  Thanks for sending me a Savior.  Thanks for offering the perfect sacrifice in Your own Son.  I’m totally unworthy, but I’m infinitely grateful.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Revelation 21-22 -- What An Ending!

My commentary makes sure to distinguish between the Millennium – the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth – and the Eternal State.  In the Eternal State, we have a new earth, but we also have a new heaven, it says!  In the Millennium, sin and death are still present, but not in the Eternal State.

When the New Jerusalem descends from Heaven, my commentary noted that the Bible never actually says that it lands.  It’s possible that it hovers, it says.  But regardless, it is lit by God’s glory and God resides with His children on earth.

Father, the end makes the journey all worthwhile.  Whatever we experience or endure on this earth will pale in comparison to spending eternity with You in our resurrection bodies.  Keep me ready for Your Son’s return and for living with You for all eternity!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Revelation 19-20 -- What Awaits Those Who Don't Believe

A lot happens in these chapters.  The Tribulation is past.  It’s time for the marriage of the Lamb.  The church will not be simply His bride any longer, but His wife.

Jesus comes from Heaven riding a white war horse.  He brings His armies with Him, but they never have to fight.  He handles it all Himself.  The saints return to earth with Him.

The beast and the false prophet are captured and hurled alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur.  Then an angel comes down from heaven, seizes Satan, and locks him in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years.  He cannot go out and deceive the nations.

Once Satan is released, he rebels against God for the last time.  Fire comes down from heaven and consumes his troops.  The devil is cast into the lake of fire, joining the beast and the false prophet, who’ve been there for the thousand years.  (My commentary said this disproves the idea that we are annihilated when we die.)

Those whose names are not listed in the Book of Life are judged, with all of them headed to hell.  The judgment is not to decide heaven or hell – that’s a foregone conclusion.  Instead, it determines the degree of punishment each will receive in hell.

With the unbelievers and Satan – their boss – taken care of, the rest of Revelation can tell about Who wins.

Father, hearing what awaits the unsaved, I am all the more thankful that You reached out and saved me.  It also makes me keenly aware of the importance of telling others about Your Son’s sacrificial death on their behalf, for only through accepting His death for our sins can we have any hope of eternity in heaven with You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Revelation 17-18 I Don't Know WHAT To Write About This

I don’t know what to write about this.  It’s certainly not Babylon in Iraq that is being addressed.  I don’t really believe it’s a to-become-wealthy-in-the-future city either. 

I believe this entity exists now.  It is worldwide.  It has amassed incredible wealth for itself, yet hoards that wealth rather than using it to help the poor as the Bible commands.  Yet most importantly, it has used its power to trick men into following it rather than following God.  It is guilty of persuading millions to believe something other than what the Bible says, and because of this, untold millions have ended up in hell rather than heaven for accepting what they thought was truth.

Father, I don’t know if I’ve understood You correctly or not.  I’ve always thought this was future, but what You tell me this morning indicates that it represents both the past and the present as well.  Please lift the veil from the spiritual eyes of those entrapped by this belief.  Allow them to come to You in Truth and in Light.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Revelation 14-16 NOT A Good Time

Boy, this describes a time when it would definitely be better to be dead than living on earth!  The last seven disasters of the Great Tribulation are turned loose:

1)       Ugly and painful sores cover everyone’s body.

      2)      The sea turns to blood, killing all life in it.
      3)      The rivers and springs of water turn to blood.  No one will be able to satisfy their thirst.
      4)      The sun flares up, causing severe burns.
      5)      Darkness covers the entire kingdom of the beast
      6)      The Euphrates River dries up, opening the way for land forces from the kings of the east to     head toward Israel.
      7)      Flashes of lightning, noises, thunder, and the worst earthquake ever cause Babylon to split into 3 parts, every island and mountain vanish, and great hailstones weighing about 100 pounds each slam into the earth.

It will be an incredibly miserable time for those still left behind.  Yet those people still left on earth have allowed their hearts to become so hardened that, even in the midst of all this incredible misery, they still sin greatly, and they curse God rather than calling to Him for help!

Father, you have every right to send the judgments upon mankind for our rebellion and sin against You.  Yet in Your mercy You say that You will have removed Your people from all of it, keeping us safe.  I pray that the horrors of this time will so pervade my conscience that I will do everything possible to bring people to You, for I do not want those I love to have to endure that time.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Revelation 13 -- AMAZING What We'll Believe!

“Then the whole world was amazed and followed the beast … It was given power over every tribe, people, language, and nation.  And all who live on earth [as opposed to living for heaven?] will worship the beast – all the people since the beginning of the world whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life.” 

My commentary said, “Those who are not true believers … are given over to error.  They would not believe the truth; now they believe a lie.”

This is saying that people will become so deluded in their own minds that they will readily follow someone and be unable to discern that he is truly evil.    I believe this is already happening in one form today.  There are those who have bought into the lies about a global consciousness and a global vision for the world – that all people will act in a noble way, desiring the best for everyone and willingly sacrificing their own freedoms and resources to accomplish this.  Yet the heart is basically evil without Christ.  Even Christians struggle to not let selfishness get a handhold.  Our very sin nature will not allow such a condition in the world to exist.  But people become so blinded, believing in a utopia and desiring to be part of it that they’ll believe anything they’re told.

Father, please continue to grant us discernment.  Don’t allow us to be fooled by such trickery.  Keep our eyes on You as the days draw near.  Give us the knowledge we need to not get caught up in the hype.  Instead, keep us focused on the Truth.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford