Leviticus 1:1-3:17 ~ Mark 1:29-2:12 ~ Psalm 35:17-28 ~ Proverbs 9:13-18
Today is the 16th day of February. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian if you haven’t figured that out by now, and it’s great to be here with you for this next step. It’s like a big step today. We’re moving into the third book of the Bible. We finished the book of Exodus yesterday, which brings us to the book of Leviticus. So before we dive into that, let’s just do a little flyover and understand what we’re going to encounter.
Introduction of a New Book (Old Testament)
Leviticus, like I just said, is the third book of the Bible, but it is the third book of the Pentateuch, the Torah, and it was written to the children of Israel. We’re in the middle of the desert at this point in the story and God is establishing the terms of the covenant between himself and the nation of Israel that is being formed from the dust of the wilderness. It’s been about a year since they’ve been out of Egypt and the law is being given. As we pay close attention, we’ll see this sort of subtheme, this theme emerge out of the laws and statues, that all these things lead to a fellowship with God through holiness.
Holiness is a huge thing. God tells them I’m holy, therefore you as my people will be holy. And holy, of course, means being set apart to God. God is saying if we’re going to commune together and enjoy fellowship with one another, it will be through holiness.
If you just read Leviticus at face value you find a lot of blood in this book because there is a lot of animal sacrifice in it. If you approach the Old Testament, a work inspired millennia ago, from the perspective of the culture you live in right now, it’s going to seem somewhat barbaric and hopelessly antiquated and maybe even gross and irrelevant. But it’s not. It’s not. You may wonder why they would just start sacrificing animals and why God would want such a thing and to find the answer we have to go back to the beginning six weeks ago. We were just talking about that yesterday, how fast it’s passed. Six weeks ago we read the account of the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve’s fall and from that moment all of mankind was separated from God and worthy of death spiritually and physically. When God comes into the Garden in the cool of the evening looking for Adam and Eve they hide. They eventually tell God what they were afraid of. It was because they were naked. And what God does is telling. He covers them with the skins of animals. So it was God who set this precedent of atonement and covering. It cost something to cover man and woman. It cost the life of an animal.
We live in a culture after Christ where atoning sacrifice is no longer required. However, we just read the account of the crucifixion in Mathew and it is barbaric and it is ugly and it is bloody and it is terribly sad. The more that we fall in love with Jesus, the more that we see Jesus in our lives, the more we will realize that this didn’t happen to someone we don’t know. This happened to our closest friend. But his sacrifice was once and for all. All that we needed. He took it all, blameless, willingly and we no longer need any other atonement. The children of Israel do not have that luxury. God is showing the children of Israel that to cover their sin comes at a great cost and requires the shedding of blood. It comes at a great price.
So we’ll see God sowing this into the fabric of the culture he is establishing. We’ll see the burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, and how they are to be given. We will see the way things are to be consecrated and the consecration of priests and priest’s families. We’ll learn what is considered clean and unclean in the culture. We’ll discover the different festivals or feasts that must be observed and the blessings and cursings, all against the backdrop of the utter holiness and sovereignty of the Lord.
So maybe you’ve made it this far in the Bible before. Maybe you’ve made it all the way up to Leviticus and this is where you’ve laid your Bible down thinking you really don’t relate to this stuff. Embrace it. You are witnessing the establishment of a culture by a sovereign God showing a fallen man the great price of sin and its consequences juxtaposed against his utter holiness. This is all happening in the harshness of desert wastelands here there is no McDonald’s down the street. There is no Target. There is no mall to resupply. This is where we find ourselves as we begin the book of Leviticus. So we begin, reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible this week, Leviticus 1:1 through 3:17.
Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for this rhythm and here we are, six weeks into this looking forward to the remaining 46 that we have together as we work our way through the scriptures. We thank you for the way that you lead us through the scriptures. As we see the Bible unfolding before us in its context, the stories become beautiful. And we see the redemptive thread emerging that you will not simply abandon humankind. Every page of this beautiful gift that you’ve given known as the Bible shows us that, that there is no Bible without you in it and there is no Bible without people in it. So this shows us that we are intertwined and that you are involved because you love us. So we thank you. As we move into the book of Leviticus and we see the way that you established the culture and issued decrees and laws that are to be obeyed and customs that are to be observed, the rhythm of the culture that you are establishing, help us, Lord, see the rhythms of our own lives that you have established. We live at different times, so the way in which we go about things is different, but at the core, at the heart, you have called and invited us to be holy through Jesus, to be set apart as holy to you. So as we read of the ways in which you did this in the past, we realize that hasn’t changed. The atoning sacrifice of Jesus has certainly covered us, but we still have to participate in this holiness. So come Holy Spirit, because truly, truly without you there is no hope of that. We can’t set ourselves apart or we would have done that at the Tower of Babel or we would have done that in the Garden of Eden or we would have done that at any point in human history. We can’t do that. You can and your Holy Spirit, the spirit of the living God indwells us, is within us, is a part of who we are, so with you all things are indeed possible. So we collaborate with you today. We give ourselves to you today. We ask that you set us apart and make us holy today and that this day be consecrated to you and that this day is a holy day. We ask that you help us realize that every morning when we open up our eyes, we are invited to participate in a holy day because we are holy people. Come Holy Spirit. We pray in the name of Jesus that you make these things so, that you make them true of us. We ask this in your precious and mighty name. Amen.
Announcements
Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what is going on around here. It is the More Gathering. It is time for the More Gathering for Women that is coming up this April 6-9. This will take place I guess about an hour outside of Atlanta in the southern Appalachian Mountains just a little bit north of Atlanta. Gorgeous setting. Very serene, contemplative. Beautiful new life springing forth. It’s amazing. So ladies, man, if this kind of keeps blipping on your radar and you feel drawn, then take the invitation. Take the invitation of the Lord to go away with him for a couple of days, to set yourself apart as holy, to devote yourself to the deep contemplation, the kinds of things that we just never have time to think about because we’re too busy with all kinds of things. Having a few days to not be that, to actually reacquaint yourself with your own heartbeat and to find God there is a beautiful thing. It can alter the trajectory of the rest of your year for sure. So you can check out the More Gathering for Women at www.DailyAudioBible.com. You won’t have to look hard. You’ll find it pretty easy. All of the details that you would every want to know, everything that you need to know you can find there. So looking forward to seeing you in Georgia shortly. Check that out.
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And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.
And that’s it for today. I’m Brian. I love you. I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports
Good morning Dabbers. It’s the 12th of February and I’m Andre from Nottingham and I actually wanted to call, I felt compelled. As a divorced man, I want to reach out and pray and comfort those who may be going through separation and divorce right now. It may be immediate or they are in the aftermath of that. You know, your life isn’t over. Your life has not ended even though it seems at times. We all go through a grieving process, almost like somebody has died through the process of divorce and separation. Of course, we feel the guilt and shame for our children if we have any in that situation. I want to pray for you all as a divorced man, knowing that what seems to be the end is just the beginning. Lord, we just thank you for second chances. We thank you for opportunities and we thank you through failure, through difficulties that we experience, success in life, the Lord really is our teacher. We pray for those who may be going through divorce or separation or contemplating it right now. Give them strength, the wisdom and the help. Give them the peace of mind, the right counsel, and be surrounded by people that love them and support them. I pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Love you all. Brian and your family, we praise you, in Jesus’ name. All my Dabber family, I appreciate you. This is Andre from Nottingham and love you all. God bless. Bye-bye.
Hi, this is Elaine from Victoria. I heard Bill this morning. It’s Sunday, February 12th. So Bill, I have you on my heart. And also I heard that you have heart problems and breathing problems and in the hospital in San Antonio. So Lord, you be his breath for him. You be his heart for him. Lord, just take this brother and heal him in mind and body, from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. While I’m talking about heart things, my mother who will be 100 this year has also a weak heart they discovered when my sister took her to the hospital and her legs are filling up with fluid. I pray comfort for her, but my wish is that if she is going, that I would be with her to hold her hand. I feel like you, Brian, with the mother that had such a heart for her children and I just want to just be there for her. So this is my prayer. Thank you for praying, Daily Audio Bible. I pray for you and this ministry too, Brian. I love you all. Bye-bye.
Hi DAB family. This is Will from beautiful Bozeman, MT and I just want to rejoice with Gigi. Father, thank you so much for Gigi and how you have healed her and given her new strength and you allowed her to see through the enemy’s tricks and his lies and deception and we thank you so much, Jesus, that you are our living hope. Thank you, Father, for the blessing that she has. I pray, Father, for continued strength in her body, for continued renewal. Thank you, Father, for continued healing in her body. Thank you for the encouragement she is to us. Thank you so much, Father, for your love for her and thank you, Jesus, that Lord she is a strength to us all, Lord. And I lift up Bill B., Lord, and pray for his healing, for his breathing. We pray, Father, that you would restore him and renew him, Father, and that you would pour out your spirit mightily upon him. God, we know that you love him. Lord, bless and keep him. in the holy and righteous name of Jesus I pray and we thank you so much, Lord. We love you, Father. We love you, Lord. Brian, we love you. Gigi, we love you. Bill B., we love you. God loves you. Take care. This is Will from beautiful Bozeman, MT.
Good morning DAB family. I’m a burning bush that will not be devoured for the glory of our Lord and King, calling from Charlotte, NC. What a beautiful day it is today. I think it is probably like 70 degrees out, going for a walk. Listened to DAB. Gigi, I love you so much. You are family, man. I mean, you are family and your praise report just fills my heart with joy and I just will continue believing God with you and continue praising God with you and just for your faith. That is more valuable than anything. Thank you. Thank you for sharing this with us. I love you all and I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.
Hello Daily Audio Bible community. This is Ken from Costa Mesa, CA. I’m new to Daily Audio Bible. What a wonderful resource this is for our hearts and minds, to get us close to God and to bring us together as a people though we’re scattered throughout the world. I need prayer. I’m a new journey with God. I’ve been a Christian for many, many years, but have more recently become more dedicated on a daily basis. My prayer is to draw closer to him, to be genuine, and to make it real. To have prayer and time with him for the sake of being with him and no other reason. Also please pray for my finances. I’m __________ a very difficult time right now, need to get through this and a new relationship. I place it in God’s hands to help me to just let go of all my struggles and difficulties and place them in God’s hands for real. Thank you, community. God bless you. Have a great day.
Hello Daily Audio Bible. This is my first time calling in. I started this wonderful app the beginning of this year. Today is Sunday the 12th, 2017, and I heard a lady speaking about that her husband had an affair and she is going through a divorce. I never would have called into this. I just listen and cherish all the prayers, but I myself have gone through this with my husband and there were 36 years of marriage and I found out he had been unfaithful. I just want to let you know that I’m praying for you. My husband and I have worked it out. We’ve gone before the Lord and trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he’ll direct your path. I know you’re going through a divorce. I’m going to be praying for you. God can do all things, anything, so I pray for whatever path you’re on. Just know that I am praying for you and for anybody out there who has gone through this as a husband or a wife, take that chance to trust the Lord and know that things can be beautiful again in your marriage. Things can be healed. There can be reconciliation. There can be a wonderful moment of being completely, totally in love again through forgiveness, grace, grace, grace, lots and lots of grace. I love you all so much and just trust the Lord. Thank you so much.