Leviticus

Leviticus 19:1-22:16

“you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.” Leviticus 19:18

The word says to love your neighbor as yourself. But how can you love your neighbor if you don’t love yourself? And furthermore, how can you love yourself if you don’t know who you are? And if you don’t know who you are how can you ever feel secure if the foundation you’re building your identity on is a shakable one. For example;

I find my identity in my job as a teacher. I know this because I make statements like, “I am a teacher”. However, suddenly the school I work for let’s go of several teachers and I’m one of them. For reasons I can’t explain or understand I can’t find another teaching job and I’m forced to work at a restaurant as a waitress. Now my “I am” statement is forced to change from “I am a teacher” to “I am a waitress.”

The foundation of my identity has changed, changing me and my view of myself in the process. This kind of instability creates a Fear inside me that is very difficult to battle, because it often goes unrecognized.

An unstable foundation is what Satan uses against us in order to push our Fear button and cause us to run in the opposite direction from where God wants us. In order to fulfill the command to love thy neighbor, we must 1^st love ourselves. But first we’ve got to establish an unshakable foundation on which to build our identity. In order to do this we must first understand who God is. He is an unshakable, unchangeable foundation and our source. The next step is to build ourselves upon Him with materials that can withstand the test of fire. So that when the storms of life hit we do not fall flat like a house built on sand. With our identity firmly founded in Christ, it is possible to have no fear of drought or storm. Because no matter how many shingles blow off our roof, or how much of our hair turns silver, our foundation will never change. The thing that makes me, me, will always be the same.

Luke 12:32 (HCSB) “Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom.”

Matthew 9:22 (HCSB) “But Jesus turned to her and saw her. ‘Have courage, daughter,’ He said, ‘Your faith has made you well.’ And the woman was made well from that moment.”

Revelation 1:17&18 (HCSB) “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. He laid His right hand on me and said, ‘Don’t be afraid! I am the First the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look – I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

Mark 10:49 (HCSB) “Have courage! Get up; He’s calling for you.”

Daniel 10:19 (HCSB) “Don’t be afraid, you who are treasured by God. Peace to you; be very strong!”

Luke 1:28 & 30 “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you! … Do not be afraid, (insert YOUR name here), for you have found favor with God.”

Mark 5:36 (HCSB) “Do not be afraid. Only Believe.”

Leviticus 5:14-8:36

“Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them.” Leviticus 8:10

In chapter 8 of today’s Word of the Day we read about the consecration of Aaron and his sons. The ritual used to initiate them into the priesthood so that they could offer up sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. In verses 10, 11 & 12 we find the words “consecrated them”. And I found it curious that it was ALWAYS connected with oil. Why?

The ceremony that we read about today was their initiation into a position of great honor. These men were the ones accepting the people’s gifts on God’s behalf. They were the ones who got to go into the Holy of Holies and tend to the sacred things that no one else ever got to even see, let alone touch. To be a priest of the LORD was a very big deal. And it all started with a little bit of oil.

The oil is what sealed the deal for them. It wasn’t the special clothes they got to wear that set them apart from the crowd, the ceremonial bath didn’t consecrate them either, it was the oil.

Throughout the Bible oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and His anointing, healing, and empowering ability covering an individual in order to help them achieve whatever task the LORD had given that individual to accomplish. This story is no different. God had ordained these men to be His ministers, His chosen representatives here on earth.

In Hebrew the word “consecrate” used in this passage finds it’s roots in the Hebrew word “kodesh” which mean holy, set apart, sacred. This very same word is in the name of the Holy Spirit, “Ruach Ha Kodesh”. And in English the word consecrate is used of the Eucharist in changing the wine into Jesus’ blood and the bread into His body. This word fascinates me in it’s depth of meaning. That while it means, in both Hebrew and English, that the object or person that is consecrated has been set apart, there is also a connotation of that object, once being set apart, becoming different from the way it began. Not necessarily in outward appearance as much as in an inward way that is understood but not seen.

Once consecrated, it becomes special.

In John’s gospel, chapter seventeen verses twelve through nineteen we hear Jesus praying:

“While I was with them (the Disciples), I kept them in Your name, which You have given Me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word,”

My precious ones, that’s you!

While Jesus was with the Disciples, He guarded them from the Enemy and “not one of them was lost”. It is written that “no one will snatch [you] out of [Jesus’] hand. [The] Father, who has given [you to Jesus], is greater than all and no one is able to snatch [you] out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:28-29)

The words that Jesus spoke, those words of love and complete forgiveness of sins, His words are meant to bring you peace and to fulfill your joy.

And then Jesus says something amazing. “I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.” We are in the world because the world needs us. However, while in the world we ARE under the protection of our Father who is in Heaven, whose name is hallowed. That very same name we are given through Christ. The name that calls us Children of God, adopted as sons and daughters through His blood on the cross. Jesus consecrated Himself so that we too may be consecrated as well. And what is it that consecrates us? The TRUTH.

The truth is that we are the Beloved Children of God. Jesus paid the price to adopt each and every one of us as His very own brother or sister and all we need do is accept that gift. It’s ours to have and to hold from this day forward and even after death we shall not part.

Jesus loves you my friend. More than you could ever know. And THAT is the God’s honest Truth. It’s a Truth that keeps you safe from Evil and away from the harms of the world. It’s a Truth that heals and helps and fills us with tremendous joy because it is GREAT NEWS!

1 John 3:1 “See what kind of love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of god; and so we are.”

Isaiah 43:1 (HCSB) “Now this is what the LORD says – the One who created you, Jacob, and the One who formed you, Israel – ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.'”

John 12:15 (HCSB) “Fear no more, Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming.”

Proverbs 29:25 (HCSB) “The fear of man is a snare, but the one who trusts in the LORD is protected.”

Leviticus 1:1-5:13

“If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering if he offers an animal from the heard, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD. And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar.” Leviticus 3:1-2

OK, I’ve got a confession to make; Leviticus is not one of my favorite books in the Bible. I’ll admit, it’s a pretty hard one for me to get through. So I can’t say that I was that thrilled this morning when I picked up my Bible and turned to Leviticus. But that didn’t last long. One after another the scriptures were leaping off the pages at me, screaming of sacrifice and peace, offering and forgiveness.

While these very words spoke of ritual and regulation to the Jews, They tell us about what has already been done. These were so much more than a list of things to do for the Jews, they were a lifestyle. And yet to us, it’s a list of things that Jesus has done, for us.

Over and over in the Word of the Day today it repeated the phrase, “male without blemish” – Jesus. The One who knew no sin that became sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

If you haven’t read today’s Word of the Day I encourage you to take the time to read it, realizing that every single requirement laid out in these pages has been performed and fulfilled by the hands of God on your behalf; in order that you might have peace, and a life filled with the abundant presence of God Almighty through His Holy Spirit.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” Hebrews 10:17-18

“I will lie down and sleep in peace for You alone, O LORD make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8

“the LORD said to him, ‘Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.'” Judges 6:23

“O man, greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” Daniel 10:19

“On the evening of that day, the 1^st day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.'” John 20:19