9/8/2008 8:18 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Touching
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Leviticus 11:24-43
Message of the verses: “24 ‘By these, moreover, you will be made
unclean: whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening, 25 and whoever picks up any of their carcasses
shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.
26 ‘Concerning all
the animals which divide the hoof but do not make a split hoof, or which do not
chew cud, they are unclean to you: whoever touches them becomes unclean. 27
‘Also whatever walks on its paws, among all the creatures that walk on
all fours, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean
until evening, 28 and the one who picks
up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; they
are unclean to you. 29 ‘Now these are to you the unclean among the
swarming things which swarm on the earth: the mole, and the mouse, and the
great lizard in its kinds, 30 and the
gecko, and the crocodile, and the lizard, and the sand reptile, and the
chameleon. 31 ‘These are to you the unclean among all the
swarming things; whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until
evening. 32 ‘Also anything on which one of them may fall
when they are dead becomes unclean, including any wooden article, or clothing,
or a skin, or a sack—any article of which use is made—it shall be put in the
water and be unclean until evening, then it becomes clean. 33 ‘As
for any earthenware vessel into which one of them may fall, whatever is in it
becomes unclean and you shall break the vessel.
34 ‘Any of the food which may be
eaten, on which water comes, shall become unclean, and any liquid which may be
drunk in every vessel shall become unclean.
35 ‘Everything, moreover, on
which part of their carcass may fall becomes unclean; an oven or a stove shall
be smashed; they are unclean and shall continue as unclean to you. 36
‘Nevertheless a spring or a cistern collecting water shall be clean,
though the one who touches their carcass shall be unclean. 37 ‘If
a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing which is to be sown, it is
clean. 38 ‘Though if water is put on the seed and a
part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.
39 ‘Also if one of
the animals dies which you have for food, the one who touches its carcass
becomes unclean until evening. 40 ‘He too, who eats some of its carcass shall
wash his clothes and be unclean until evening, and the one who picks up its
carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. 41
‘Now every swarming thing that swarms on the earth is detestable, not to
be eaten.
42 ‘Whatever crawls
on its belly, and whatever walks on all fours, whatever has many feet, in
respect to every swarming thing that swarms on the earth, you shall not eat
them, for they are detestable. 43 ¶ ‘Do not render yourselves detestable through
any of the swarming things that swarm; and you shall not make yourselves
unclean with them so that you become unclean.”
This section
is about touching things that are unclean, but Moses also adds some more
animals that must not be eaten in verses 29 & 30. The question that must be asked is what does
this have to do with me, or why is it good for me to study this at all? It is part of God’s Word in the first place,
and in the second place there are a couple of good reasons to try and
understand what this is all about. The
first reason is for health, that is physical health, for it is not good to go
around touching dead animals without washing ones hands afterwards, and for
that matter ones clothes should also be washed or anything that comes into
contact with the dead animal. The
physical reasons for reading this can mean the difference between life and
death, but there are also spiritual reasons for reading this and they can mean
the difference between heaven and hell.
There are spiritual applications for reading and understanding this, and
for most of the children of Israel they seemed to miss the spiritual meaning
that comes from this and therefore thought they could have a right relationship
with the Lord by following all of these laws that Moses gave in the physical
way and therefore they missed the spiritual aspect of these laws.
God is very
plain in telling what is sinful and what is not and when someone begins to
reclassify sin they are falling into a trap that could cause them, or someone
else, a lot of trouble, trouble that could actually send them to hell. Satan is the father of lies and it was a lie
that he told to Eve, a reclassifying of sin, that when she believed it, along
with her husband, plunged the whole world into sin, something that is still
going on today.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Warren Wiersbe points out that the word
unclean is found thirty-two times in this 11th chapter of Leviticus
and in the AV the word abomination is found ten times. I mostly read the NAS95 version of the Bible
and the word detestable is used instead of abomination. The Hebrew English dictionary gives this
meaning for the Hebrew word, “detestable thing or idol, an unclean thing, an
abomination, detestation.” The word
“idol” is one of the words to describe the meaning of this Hebrew word, and for
sure an idol is a detestable thing.
I know that
from time to time I am tempted and fall into things that are unclean and at
this time in my walk with the Lord should not fall to these temptations that
come my way for I know that they are an abomination to the Lord. I am thankful for the forgiveness that I have
through Jesus Christ my Lord, but I miss out on a more spiritual walk with the
Lord and a more fruitful ministry for the cause of Christ.
My Steps of Faith for
Today:
- Not fall for the schemes of the devil by relying on the goodness of the Lord.
- Give myself to the Lord for service and worship today.
- Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
- Trust the Lord will teach me and that I will learn contentment.
Memory verses for the week: Exodus
20:7-10
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
- but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God, in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
9/8/2008 9:26 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment