forgiveness – Be Still…

Isaiah 53:6 – All Have Sinned

“All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

That’s a true statement. All have sinned, not just those other people. We have all sinned and strayed away from God’s perfect plan for our lives. It’s inevitable, but our doom is not forever because of the promise we can claim in this verse.

Context (Isaiah 53): This chapter of Isaiah’s prophecies speaks of Jesus, pointing directly to the one who gave himself for us. The truths that Isaiah was given to share can break our hearts when we read them and picture Jesus doing all of this for us. This chapter contains so many images that would play out and be fulfilled by our king Jesus. How do we respond to such a sacrifice? Continue reading “Isaiah 53:6 – All Have Sinned”

Leviticus 24:10-23 – That’s Justice

Read Leviticus 24:10-23

Here, the LORD is giving Moses examples of what to do to punish certain sinful behaviors. Was it an honor or a curse that God gave Moses the authority to bring justice to the people? I can certainly see the “fairness” in these laws. I wonder what sort of pushback Moses got. I’m sure people today would revolt.

God felt it necessary to set guidelines and establish criteria for handling circumstances that he knew would come up. The example he gave first was about blasphemy, showing disrespect for God. Of course, that is the most personally hurtful to God, so I can understand why he addresses it first. Were you surprised at the punishment? What if that was a law in effect for us today? There might not be many people still alive! Continue reading “Leviticus 24:10-23 – That’s Justice”

Leviticus 16:1-34 – Day of Atonement

Read Leviticus 16:1-34

Once a year, the high priest (starting with Aaron) would enter the most holy place where God’s presence was found. The process of forgiving sins would begin. Atonement is a big “churchy” word that means payment for sins to get right with God. As we see in our text, the Day of Atonement is when animals would be sacrificed to cleanse the people from their sins.

As Christians, we know that Jesus has accomplished this work for us, and the atonement for our sins is complete in him. Before Jesus came, this yearly process was repeated year after year for the forgiveness of sins. Today, the Jewish community still celebrates this holy day, now known as Yom Kippur. Animals are no longer sacrificed, but it is a day of fasting when Jews reflect on the past year and ask God for forgiveness for their sins. Continue reading “Leviticus 16:1-34 – Day of Atonement”

Leviticus 13:47-59 – Contaminated Garments

Read Leviticus 13:47-59

What do you do when you see mold on your clothes? Maybe you’ve led a sheltered life and never experienced that. We had a problem in our last rental with a closet that held moisture – unbeknownst to me at least. Once I discovered my moldy clothes, they went immediately to the washing machine. Sadly, there were a few items that never came clean. I never thought to burn them!

When we come across passages like this, we can only marvel at how God thinks of everything. It opens our eyes to see the types of “issues” that people in Bible times had to deal with. If their climate was at all humid, it’s not surprising that mildew would set in. But I always picture the Promised land as dry and desert-like. Where did the mildew come from? Continue reading “Leviticus 13:47-59 – Contaminated Garments”

Job 14:7-22 – What’s Next?

Read Job 14:7-22

Job seems to be questioning life, at least the end of life and what happens next. He uses the familiar example of a tree, showing his understanding of that side of nature. But what about death? A fallen leaf is replaced the next Spring, but for humans, what happens after we die?

Job imagines we must evaporate, never to rise again. That’s true in the sense of our physical bodies. They will be laid to rest and will rot in the grave. I’ve never personally exhumed a body but seen plenty of reenactments to know it’s not a pretty sight. When we have the hope of heaven that Jesus ushers in for us, death loses a lot of its mystery. Continue reading “Job 14:7-22 – What’s Next?”