DAY TEN (Leviticus 26:27 – Numbers 8:14)

Probably not a surprise that the first few chapters of a book called Numbers would include a good bit of counting!

The number of Israelites sure has grown from Joseph (about 70) until now (close to 2 million).

There is something to be said for given very specific instructions and reading Numbers 4:32 made me wonder if Moses would have been called a control freak.  Probably.

They had a very interesting way to test for infidelity! (Numbers 5:16-22)

One of the things I miss from growing up in the Methodist church was hearing the choir sing the benediction after each service.  There’s a lot of good stuff in it! (Numbers 6:22-26)

DAY NINE (Leviticus 14:33 – 26:26)

Getting pretty pumped about the idea of blitzing through Leviticus in just over 2 days of reading.  This book has great truths about the holiness of God and how we need to approach that, but it’s a tough one for me to get through.  Just a few of the passages and thoughts that jumped out at me:

It’s always good to leave room in our resources (budgets) for others who may need some of what we’ve got (Lev. 19:9-10)

I’m not sure that it’s possible to read this book full of regulations that were put into place in order to prevent the holiness of God from destroying the people He loved and not think of what an awesome act the sacrifice of Jesus was on our behalf.  That one act allowed us access to God’s presence without fear, and should keep us always aware of how precious that access is.  It is not to be taken for granted by living our lives for our pleasures and desires alone.

DAY EIGHT (Leviticus 1 – 14:32)

And so, after a week of pretty consistent reading, we hit what I have always called “the speed bump” of the Bible.  Leviticus is an extremely important book, just because of the detail it goes into to make sure that the people of God remained clean and able to be near God.  There are, of course, lots of excruciating laws and regulations and procedures and that can get hard to plow through, but every time I get overwhelmed reading Leviticus, I try to remember two things: I’m reading it, but they had to live it, and Jesus took every bit of the need for these laws on Himself when He died in our place.  The cross was a big deal, and I’m so thankful for it.  How I live now doesn’t earn me anything, but it sure does reveal whether or not I understand the incredible price that was paid and sacrifice that was made.

May not be many observations in this book, but here are a few:

After all the explanations about how the sacrifices should be made, what the priests should wear and when they should perform the tasks, they finally offered them to the Lord.  The result? His glory filling the place and the people with their faces on the ground. Yes, Lord! (Leviticus 9:24)

Leviticus 10:6 seems harsh, and yet I cannot try to fit a righteous, holy, “altogether greater than me” God into the small box of my perception of goodness and fairness.

Jesus was born into poverty. (Leviticus 12:8; cf. Luke 2:24)