LEVITICUS 3-4:
Yesterday in the beginning chapters of Leviticus, we heard about burnt offerings and grain offerings. In the first chapter, did you happen to notice how many things were being done by the person bringing the offering, not the priest?

Andrew Bonar states about Leviticus:
"There is no book in the whole compass of that inspired Volume which the Holy Spirit has given us, that contains more of the very words of God than Leviticus. It is God that is the direct speaker in almost every page; His gracious words are recorded in the form wherein they were uttered."

Note this in our reading in Leviticus today: By and large, the sacrificial system was set up to forgive unintentional sins. (Some small exceptions will be noted in tomorrow's reading in Leviticus.) It is good to draw a distinction— as the book of Hebrews does, between unintentional and intentional sins. Each of us should feel uncomfortable because each of us can look back and remember sins we committed intentionally. Let us make the firm commitment to never trample upon our Savior's kindness by sinning intentionally. But we can praise the Lord for this verse spoken by Paul in Acts 13:

38-39 NET "Therefore let it be known to you, brothers [and sisters//0], that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you."

PSALM 11:
Psalm 11 is a song of trust in the Lord.

LUKE 8b:

Yesterday we read the parable of the sower or different kinds of soil. Jesus taught about the importance of hearing and doing what is in God's Word, and that was echoed again when his mother and brothers came to see him.

LEVITICUS 1-2:
Yesterday in the final chapter of Exodus, the worship in the completed and the dedicated tabernacle was started.

Leviticus is a continuation of Exodus, in the same way, that Exodus is a continuation of Genesis. Leviticus also starts with the word 'And'. The title once again comes from Latin Vulgate which was based on the name in the Septuagint. So the name does not come from the Hebrew. But because of the name Leviticus with its obvious relationship to the Levites, many think that this book is a handbook only for the priests. Not so. Wenham (from Constable) states:

"It would be wrong, however, to describe Leviticus simply as a manual for priests. It is equally, if not more, concerned with the part the laity should play in worship. Many of the regulations explain what the layman should sacrifice. They tell him when to go to the sanctuary, what to bring, and what he may expect the priest to do when he arrives. Most of the laws apply to all Israel: only a few sections specifically concern the priests alone, e.g., chs. 21—22. The lay orientation of the legislation is particularly noticeable in ch. 23, where the whole emphasis lies on the days that must be observed as days of Sabbath rest."

Many New Testament concepts are foreshadowed in this book, such as the seriousness of sin in God's sight, the necessity of atonement of sin, the holiness of God, and the necessity of a mediator between God and Man. H.C. Mears summarizes the themes of the first three books of the Bible,

"In Genesis we see humanity ruined, in Exodus, humanity redeemed, and in Leviticus, humanity worshipping."

One can't read this book without being thankful to Christ Jesus for His sacrifice which fulfills for us the incredibly detailed laws about sacrifice under the old covenant.

PSALM 10:
E.C. Olsen says this Psalm has "a triple theme: the silence of God, the despair of the humble, and the pride of the wicked." This Psalm doesn't give us all the answers, but we know God understands how we feel about these things.

LUKE 8:
At the end of Luke 7, we read about how Jesus was anointed by a sinful woman, and how Jesus answered the silent criticism of Simon, the Pharisee.

EXODUS 40:

Yesterday in Exodus we read about Bezalel making the outside articles for worship— like the altar for burnt offerings. There was a listing of materials used, and then we heard of the making of the priests' clothes— all according to how Moses was instructed by God. Moses inspected everything and blessed the people. The stage is set for the start of worship according to God's instructions.

PSALM 9:

Psalm 9 is a song celebrating God sitting on his throne and judging justly.

LUKE 7b:

Yesterday we read about Jesus healing a favorite slave of a Roman officer and the raising of a widow's son from death. We start today's rereading where Jesus was speaking about John the Baptist.

In our reading today at the end of Luke 7, Jesus says to a woman who has been forgiven many sins, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Jesus said, "Your faith has saved you." I want to emphasize again: Jesus did NOT use 'faith' to mean such things as inner fortitude, vague hope, blind trust, denominational faith, or many other meanings. Remember that in Greek, 'faith' is simply the noun form of 'believe'. So Jesus' statement can be translated, "It is because you believe in Me that you've been saved."

Then Jesus told the woman, "Go in peace." Have you ever thought of what 'peace' means in a place like this? Jesus wasn't telling her that she would have absence of war. You would be right in telling me that this is a spiritual peace. But if you told someone, 'Go with spiritual peace', it kind of sounds hollow. What we're talking about is an inner peace that one can have even in the midst of the world falling apart all around you. After much discussion, what we came up with for the Indonesian language is, 'go with the feeling of calm in God's protection' or another way to say it, 'go with the calm assurance of being sheltered by God'. This is the realistic kind of inner peace that we who love the Lord have according to Romans 8:28.