Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus 16:7-10.

“He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting.  Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat.  Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering.  But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.”  Leviticus 16:7-10.

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Scapegoat is defined by Dictionary.com as:
“1.  a person or group made to bear the blame for others or to suffer in their place.
2. Chiefly Biblical. a goat let loose in the wilderness on Yom Kippur after the high priest symbolically laid the sins of the people on its head. Lev. 16:8,10,26.”

“3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?”  Isaiah 53:3-8.

John the Baptist was a type of Christ who like the scapegoat was sent into the wilderness.

“Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”
Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist;  and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;  and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.”  Matthew 3:1-3.

Jesus Himself was sent into the wilderness.

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.  And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”  But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”  Matthew 4:1-4.

“But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”  Luke 5:16.

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;  so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.”  John 3:14-15.

The Apostle Paul was also sent into the wilderness.

“I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;  I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.  Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.  Who is weak without my being weak?  Who is led into sin without my intense concern?”  2 Corinthians 11:26-29.

The Psalmist poured out his heart to the LORD.

“I resemble a pelican of the wilderness;
I have become like an owl of the waste places.”  Psalm 102:6.

David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah, said:

“O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;
My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.”  Psalm 63:1.

We too may be sent into the wilderness for a while.

But, there is hope!

This same David continues with his story and testimony.

“2 Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
4 So I will bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.”   Psalm 63:2-5.

We may be led through the wilderness.  But, God’s lovingkindness is always with us.

There is a purpose for which we are led through the wilderness:  “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;  in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”  Philippians 3:10-11.

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;  we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;  perplexed, but not despairing;  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;  always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death works in us, but life in you.”  2 Corinthians 4:7-12.

In conclusion, Christ is the Chief Scapegoat.  But, we His children and followers, who bear His image, are also like scapegoats who are led through the wilderness.

“To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;”  Psalm 136:16.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus 16:1-6.

“Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died.  The Lord said to Moses:

“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die;  for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.   Aaron shall enter the holy place with this:  with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.  He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments).  Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on.  He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.  Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household.”  Leviticus 16:1-6.

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Today’s Scripture, by its reference to “the death of the two sons of Aaron”, first of all reminds us of the pure and strict holiness of God taught by the lesson of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, in Leviticus 10:1-3.

“Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.  And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.  Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying,

‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy,
And before all the people I will be honored.’”  Leviticus 10:1-3.

Then, the LORD gave the specific warning and commands to Moses to relay to Aaron that we read in today’s Scripture.

“The Lord said to Moses:

“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die;  for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.   Aaron shall enter the holy place with this:  with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.  He shall put on the holy linen tunic …”  And, the specific commands for what Aaron should do to prepare himself to make atonement continue from Verse 2 until at least Verse 6.

Hebrews 5:1-4 describes the meaning of today’s Scripture.

“For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins;  he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness;  and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself.  And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.”  Hebrews 5:1-4.

Hebrews Chapter 5 then continues by talking about Christ “being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.”  Hebrews 5:10.

“Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.”  Hebrews 6:1-2.

“And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”  And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.  For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.  In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”  Hebrews 6:11-20.

And so, we enter the veil as Aaron did to come to the thrice holy presence of God, but with so much more than the sin offering and burnt offering and holy linen tunic that Aaron brought.  We come to the presence of God with Christ as our forerunner for us, with Christ as our high priest, and with Christ as our source of all the promises summarized by the promise given to Abraham:  “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”  
 

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus Chapter 15.  Here is a link to this chapter – http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+15&version=NASB

I quote the following verse.

“Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.”  Leviticus 15:31.

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Leviticus Chapter 15 goes into great detail in explaining some of the ways how the people became unclean and how they should  separate themselves from their uncleanness.

As with the prior chapters, this Scripture is difficult to read.  But, compared with the leprosy of the prior chapters, which people may think that they will never get leprosy and may neglect to consider how sin is like leprosy, and thus more easily dismiss consideration of that Scripture, today’s Scripture presses us even more to consider our uncleanness and our need for a Savior.  We can’t keep ourselves from getting unclean by ourselves.  We can’t separate ourselves from our uncleanness.

We don’t need to just work harder.  We need “the working of God”.

“and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;  having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”  Colossians 2:11-12.

“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”  Colossians 3:3.

“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.  For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.  But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”  Romans 7:4-6.

“I have been crucified with Christ;  and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;  and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.  I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”  Galatians 2:20-21.

“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;  for he who has died is freed from sin.”  Romans 6:4-7.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus Chapter 14.  Here is a link to this Scripture – http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+14&version=NASB

I quote the following verses.

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. Now he shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go out to the outside of the camp.  Thus the priest shall look, and if the infection of leprosy has been healed in the leper, then the priest shall give orders to take two live clean birds and cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop for the one who is to be cleansed.  The priest shall also give orders to slay the one bird in an earthenware vessel over running water.  As for the live bird, he shall take it together with the cedar wood and the scarlet string and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was slain over the running water.  He shall then sprinkle seven times the one who is to be cleansed from the leprosy and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the live bird go free over the open field.  The one to be cleansed shall then wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe in water and be clean.  Now afterward, he may enter the camp, but he shall stay outside his tent for seven days.  It will be on the seventh day that he shall shave off all his hair:  he shall shave his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair.  He shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and be clean.”  Leviticus 14:1-9.

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“Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”  Psalm 51:7.

“For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.”  And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood.  And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”  Hebrews 9:19-22.

“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;  and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”  Hebrews 9:11-14.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus Chapter 13.  Here is a link to this Scripture – http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2013&version=NASB

I quote the following verses.

“1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling or a scab or a bright spot, and it becomes an infection of leprosy on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests.  3 The priest shall look at the mark on the skin of the body, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is an infection of leprosy;  when the priest has looked at him, he shall pronounce him unclean.  4 But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body, and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has not turned white, then the priest shall isolate him who has the infection for seven days.  5 The priest shall look at him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the infection has not changed and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days.  6 The priest shall look at him again on the seventh day, and if the infection has faded and the mark has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean;  it is only a scab.  And he shall wash his clothes and be clean.”  Leviticus 13:1-6.

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As disgusting and alienating and deadly that leprosy is, our sin is much more disgusting, alienating, and deadly.

But, there is hope!

Our LORD has compassion.

“And a leper *came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”  Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and *said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”  Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.”  Mark 1:40-42.

And, our LORD can do more than heal people of their leprosy and other diseases;  our LORD forgives our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness and embraces us.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1:9.

“remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”  Ephesians 2:12-13.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus Chapter 12.

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying:

‘When a woman gives birth and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days, as in the days of her menstruation she shall be unclean.  On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.  Then she shall remain in the blood of her purification for thirty-three days;  she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed.  But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her menstruation;  and she shall remain in the blood of her purification for sixty-six days.

‘When the days of her purification are completed, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting a one year old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering.  Then he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood.  This is the law for her who bears a child, whether a male or a female.  But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering;  and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”  Leviticus Chapter 12.

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Happy Mother’s Day?

Today’s Scripture is a shocking contrast to the pretty presentation of motherhood that Hallmark presents.  But, I think the following Scriptures will show the purpose of the LORD’s commands in today’s Scripture.

Mothers are sinners.  Fathers are sinners.  And, their children are sinners even at the point of conception.

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.”  Psalm 51:5.

Purification and atonement led the sons of Israel to consider this important fact that Reformed Doctrine expresses in “Total Depravity”, the “T” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.  And, “Total Depravity” is the opening doorway to salvation.  “For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.”  Romans 11:32.  “But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”  Galatians 3:22.

In addition, purification and atonement particularly gave the mothers the necessary humility which gives hope.  “But He gives a greater grace.  Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  James 4:6.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus Chapter 11.  Here is a link to this Scripture – http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+11&version=NASB

I quote the following verses from it.

“44 For I am the Lord your God.  Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.  And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth.  45 For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

46 This is the law regarding the animal and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, 47 to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.”  Leviticus 11:44-47.

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Today’s Scripture makes mention of many different animals “to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.”   Verse 47.

In a recent prior devotion on April 16, 2014, in Acts 11:5-18, we saw how God used a dream of unclean animals to convince Peter that He cleansed the Gentiles, a people previously considered unclean, and granted them repentance and salvation as he did the Jews.

But, God certainly did not save every Gentile person as He also did not save every Jewish person.  And, the meditation of this devotion does not concern the distinction between Jew and Gentile, but rather the meditation of this devotion concerns more generally the distinction between the saved and the unsaved.

If God so sharply and precisely distinguishes and separates the clean animals from the unclean animals, then it should help us believe that God can and does so sharply and precisely distinguish and separate the saved from the unsaved.

That truth should comfort us.

God does distinguish and set apart us, His elect, clean and holy people, to guide, protect, and bless us with every spiritual blessing.

God did not set forth conditions when the unclean animals could be eaten such as if they somehow behaved in a certain way or were somehow cleansed in a certain way or were somehow killed in a certain way.  Each species was simply either clean or unclean.

Likewise, God did not set forth conditions on whom He would save among His elect.  “Unconditional Election”, the “U” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation, teaches us that God’s election of certain people to be saved is not based on any condition supplied by man, but rather God’s election of certain people to be saved is based on His will alone.  “For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.”  So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”  Romans 9:15-18.

We get this similar sense of sharp distinction from other Scriptures such as Matthew 7:17-18:  “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.”

“… “The Lord knows those who are His,” …”  2 Timothy 2:19.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;  and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish;  and no one will snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all;  and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”  John 10:27-29.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  and these whom He predestined, He also called;  and these whom He called, He also justified;  and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”  Romans 8:28-30.

Like God distinguished and set apart the clean animals from the unclean animals, God distinguished and set apart His elect (His people, the saved people) from the unsaved people.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God;  you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”  1 Peter 2:9-10.

God made this sharp distinction “… to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”  Romans 9:23-24.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  …”  Ephesians 1:3-4.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus 10:16-20.

“But Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up!  So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, “Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place?  For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord.  Behold, since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you should certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded.”  But Aaron spoke to Moses, “Behold, this very day they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord.  When things like these happened to me, if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of the Lord?”  When Moses heard that, it seemed good in his sight.”  Leviticus 10:16-20.

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It may have been that Aaron and his sons did not eat the sin offering that day, because they did not feel that it was right to exercise their privilege to do so considering that their relatives (Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron) had been shockingly consumed by fire from the LORD that very day for offering strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.

And, it may have been that when Moses heard the explanation of Aaron of such restraint from exercising their privilege, it also seemed to him the right thing to do.

But, in any event, we do know the following Biblical principles.

“To do righteousness and justice Is desired by the Lord more than sacrifice.”  Proverbs 21:3.

“But go and learn what this means:  ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Matthew 9:13.

So, there is a lesson for us today.  Are we motivated more by liturgy than by love?  Do we care more about how self-righteous we appear to fellow church members than how much we righteously, justly, and compassionately serve others?

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus 10:12-15.  My next devotion, God willing, will be on Tuesday, April 22, after I return from my 4 day cruise to Cozumel.

“Then Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the Lord’s offerings by fire and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy.  You shall eat it, moreover, in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due out of the Lord’s offerings by fire;  for thus I have been commanded.  The breast of the wave offering, however, and the thigh of the offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you;  for they have been given as your due and your sons’ due out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the sons of Israel.  The thigh offered by lifting up and the breast offered by waving they shall bring along with the offerings by fire of the portions of fat, to present as a wave offering before the Lord;  so it shall be a thing perpetually due you and your sons with you, just as the Lord has commanded.”  Leviticus 10:12-15.

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There were certain “dues”:   the grain offering that is left over from the Lord’s offerings by fire, the breast of the wave offering, and the thigh of the wave offering.  Today’s Scripture emphasizes five times that all these were “due” Aaron and his sons as priests:  “so it shall be a thing perpetually due you and your sons with you, just as the Lord has commanded.”  Verse 15.

These “dues” make us think of the free gift in comparison.

“Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.  But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven,
And whose sins have been covered.
“Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”  Romans 4:4-8.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:23.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9.

To open this free gift and take a peak inside, click the tag “Heaven” at the top of this page.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus 10:8-11.

“The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying,  “Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die—it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations— and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.”  Leviticus 10:8-11.

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The Apostle Peter made “a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean”, and he said:  “I was in the city of Joppa praying;  and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came right down to me, and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air.  I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’  But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’”  Acts 11:5-8.

“But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’  This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky.  And behold, at that moment three men appeared at the house in which we were staying, having been sent to me from Caesarea.  The Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings.  These six brethren also went with me and we entered the man’s house.  And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;  and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’  And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning.  And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’  Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”  When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”  Acts 11:9-18.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.  For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;  and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;  having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.  When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,  having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come;  but the substance belongs to Christ.  Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?  These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”  Colossians 2:8-23.