Samuel 16:7

"Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Thought his was a beautiful verse and wanted to share.

Joshua

Just a quick thought.....It was very difficult for me to get through Joshua. The violence throughout was often hard to swallow as was the stoning that God ordered. I have to admit it is difficult for me to believe God would order the stoning of a man and/or woman. It goes against the very core of what we have been taught to believe as Christians (well at least me throughout my Catholic upbringing, did I ever mention I have 25 years of Catholic schooling under my belt?).

Day 10: Leviticus 27-Numbers 8

Hello, Book of Numbers.

But first, the final thought from Leviticus: the book closes by introducing the concept of redemption. The Lord gets the firstfruits of everything, and the first born, both man and animal. So if the people wanted to reclaim their things that first went to the Lord, they would have to redeem them. Redemption means to reclaim or repurchase.

Numbers

• Hey, let's take a census! The total number of Israelites was 603,550, not including the Levites. The Levites were not counted, but instead were appointed to be in charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony.
  
• The Levites were the priest tribe of Israel. Aaron was the high priest, and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar were anointed to serve as priests. There were 22,o00.
  
• 3:40 Here we have an example of the Levites acting in a future propitiation capacity. Previously, the first born were declared the Lord's. But now, the Levites were to be taken in place of the first born. The Levites were declared to belong to the Lord.
  
• 6 - the introduction of the Nazarites. The Nazarites took special vows of separation for special purpose of the Lord. He had to abstain from wine, grape juice, raisins, could not cut his hair, and avoid dead bodies. Future Nazarites were Samson and Samuel.
  

Day 9: Leviticus 14-26

More, more, more Leviticus.

• Discussion about cleanliness, in terms of leprosy and bodily discharge. Along with the dietary discussion, these elements are designed to further separate the nation of Israel from the rest of the people, so that there are visible, physical differences.
• Day of Atonement - this is known today as Yom Kippur. It happens on the 10th day of the 7th month. They weren't allowed to work. On this singular day, the priests would make atonement for the entire people.
• 18:21 - First mention of Moloch. The Israelites were forbidden to use this type of sacrifice, which is believed to be a form of infant sacrifice for the atonement of peoples' sins.
  
• 19:23 - when they plant new trees, God says that for the first 3 years the trees are considered "uncircumcised," and not to be eaten. In the fourth year they are considered holy and can be eaten.
• 19:26 - One of many places where it forbids the consumption of blood. Blood is obviously essential to human life, but is also a sign of sacrifice. Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness.
  
• 35-36 - a call to be honest business men.

And to the favorite part - the food!

• Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread
• Feast of the Firstfruits
• Feast of Weeks
• Feast of Trumpets
• Feast of Tabernacles

25:10 Year of Jubilee - every 50 years, liberty is declared.

That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. ¹² For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.
"In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress one another.

Day 8: Leviticus 1-14

I'll be forthright - Leviticus is not my favorite book, and I found it difficult once again. I felt like I was slogging through it.

The first things we get introduced to are the different types of offerings:

The Burnt Offering

• This is an offering of atonement
• it is a male animal that is without blemish
• It appears that it can be a bull, or livestock, or bird
• It is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
• The type of animal appears to be immaterial - the important thing is the heart of the person who is making the sacrifice.
  

The Grain Offering

• It is of fine flour, oil, and frankincense
• the grain can be baked into a cake, which is then broken and sacrificed.
• the offering must be unleavened, to remember the Passover
• It must be seasoned with salt - salt is a mark of the covenant with God.
• It is an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

The Peace Offering

• Animal can be of the herd or the flock.
• Specific animals mentioned - lambs and goats.
• This offering is made by fire, but it is made for food.
• Specific mention that the people are not to eat either blood nor fat.

The Sin Offering

• This offering was for unintentional sin for individuals, priests, and groups.
• The sacrifice is a bull.
• The blood is drained and sprinkled.
• The fat is burned on an altar in the Tabernacle.
• The rest of the bull is taken outside of the camp and burned.
  

The Trespass Offering

• This covers: the withholding of testimony of an oath, the touching of something unclean, swearing
• The sacrifice standard is a female animal - either a lamb, or a bird (turtledove/pigeon)
• If the person can't afford those, they can offer a sacrifice of grain.
  
• If it is a trespass against the holy things of the Lord, then the sacrifice is a ram.

This section is also noteworthy as it marks the official beginning of the Priesthood for the Levites, and lays out the laws for clean and unclean food.

Deuteronomy

My first comment and it's very short. Just a thought I do not want to forget. How come no one has mentioned Deuteronomy is written in a different person? The speaker does not write in the third person but rather as "I and we." I thought this was interesting. Happy Reading!

Day 7: Exodus 29-40

Moses has been spending time on the mountain talking to God, and the people below are getting restless. Here is an easy way to see which people in the OT had a heart for God, and which ones did not. After a time had passed, the people waiting for Moses got impatient, wondering what had become of him. So they told Aaron to make them a golden calf to worship. They couldn't even wait for Moses to return. Contrast that with the amount of time the patriarchs would wait - Abraham waited 100 years for his first born. Jacob worked for Laban for 14 years just to marry his wife. Those who have a heart for the Lord wait on the Lord.

Moses intercedes on behalf of the people again, begging God for mercy to spare them from worshiping the calf.

In a somewhat humorous vein, Aaron puts forth what is quite possibly the 2nd worst excuse known to man (right behind the ever popular "wasn't me" defense):

31:23-24 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”

I put the gold in, the calf popped out. Brilliant!

But on a serious note, in the midst of all this it was the sons of Levi who refused to participate in the violation of God's law. As such, they eventually became the tribe of priests.

33:17-23
So the LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”
And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” ²⁰ But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” And the LORD said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”

I especially like this passage because you can see that Moses has a passion to know God in a more intimate way, and God honors his heart's desire. It also establishes the nature of God's sovereignty in whom He chooses to save. It also communicates the fact that God's holiness falling on the sinner means death; but by God's act alone can he cover man's sin with himself, and thus when God sees man, he sees Himself. The sinner is spared.