SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 24 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have…
the kingdom of God is a party
SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 23 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing…
serious, sincere worship
SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 22 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” [Matthew 23:25-26] In today’s reading,…
set apart to serve
SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 21 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. [John 17:15-16] Our goal is not to escape the world, but to be a set apart people in the…
I do not condemn you
SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 20 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: He said to them, ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ [John 8:7] As I read this chapter, I think about the time when Jesus was asked about whether the adulterous woman should be stoned [John 8:2-11]. According to this chapter, this…
laws and the Law of Jesus
SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 19 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. [Matthew 5:18]. All of these laws, the least stroke of the pen, somehow find their fulfillment in Jesus. He is…
sexual inferno
SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 18 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. [Matthew 5:28]. Sex, like fire, is a beautiful gift. In the fireplace, it provides warmth and comfort. But outside of healthy boundaries, that is, when it jumps from the fireplace to the…
one with Jesus
SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 17 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my…
its curtains for the curtain
SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 16 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. [Matthew 27:50-51]. In the tabernacle (temple), between the people and God there was a…
taking God seriously
SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 15 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. [Matthew 10:28] It seems that the deeper lesson behind these purity laws was how the people approached God. They were to go out…