中文 | English
|
| « Prev | Next » | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 |
| Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | |
Weekly Guide：Week 25
June 28, 2020
Week 25 Day 1: The Priests Ordained ⇧ ⇩
Question
How are God’s priests ordained?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
-
The second part of the Book of Leviticus. Records the regulations on ordination of the priests and their service. Chapter 8 and 9 are about Aaron and his sons being ordained as well as the first offering.
-
Everything followed God’s regulation when Aaron was ordained.
-
God showed His glory and His fire consumed the offering when Aaron the high priest completed the first offering. The people shouted for joy as God was pleased.
Meditation: My Story
-
Walking with God - The process of ordaining the high priest is long and complex. The high priest needs to be cleaned, consecrated, wait for 7 days and makes a sin offering for himself before he can serve. Nowadays, Jesus Christ is our high priest. What are the differences between Aaron and Jesus Christ? How does this help me understand the salvation of Jesus Christ?
-
Identity - The people shouted with joy when they saw God was pleased with Aaron’s offering. This shows that God had accepted Aaron as high priest. God showed His pleasure numerous times when Jesus came to earth in the New Testament. Pray to God to help us shout in joy with Jesus Christ’s offering!
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Week 25 Day 2: The Priests Sinned ⇧ ⇩
Question
How important are the responsibilities of priests in God’s eyes?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
-
Not long after Arron and his sons Nadab and Abihu served as high priest and priests, the two sons were killed as they did not obey God’s command. The priest’s responsibilities are to obey what God commands and not do anything God did not command. The holiness of God cannot be taken lightly.
-
God’s priests need to focus completely on Him. They cannot drink wine and lose self-control. This is so that they can set apart the holy from unholy, the clean from unclean, and teach the people.
Meditation: My Story
-
Walking with God - We are royal priests chosen by God. God wants us to be holy because He is holy. What does Nadab and Abihu’s incident tell me about being holy?
-
Identity - It must have been extremely shocking and painfully sad for Aaron that his two sons were killed on the job. Yet, Aaron “remained silent.” Moses was satisfied with Aaron’s explanation when he was angry with Aaron’s remaining sons for not eating the sacrificial meat. This indicated Aaron’s attitude was pleasing to God. Think about Aaron and what he said. What satisfied Moses?
-
Community - Moses commanded Aaron’s relatives and all Israelites to mourn for Nadab and Abihu while Aaron and his sons must keep proper attire and remain on the post. What should our attitude be when fellow Christians or Christian leaders have sinned? What does Moses’ command remind me of?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Week 25 Day 3: Regulations on Cleanliness ⇧ ⇩
Question
What cleanliness is acceptable to God?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
-
The requirements for cleanliness regarding food and childbirth.
-
Key verses, 11:44-45: “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.”
-
These regulations helped Israelites their sanitation and health after the formation of their nation.
Meditation: My Story
-
Walking with God - These regulations are not applicable today and we don’t need to follow to the letters. However, it is important to note that the fine details of these regulations were God’s way to help the Israelites differentiate what was pleasing to God and what was not. In today’s world, how do I differentiate the right and wrong with the help of God’s word?
-
Integrity - God said to the Israelites, “Be holy, because I am holy”, “I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt.” God still wants us to be holy today because He who brought us out into light from darkness is holy. He does not want us to isolate ourselves to stay away from the unclean. So, how do I ask God for the wisdom to keep me clean and be holy?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Week 25 Day 4: Care of Skin ⇧ ⇩
Question
What were the regulations on taking care of the Israelites’ skin?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
-
Continued with regulations to keep Israelites holy in order to worship God.
-
Skin diseases such as the horrible leprosy are easily transmitted. The priests took great care when examining skin diseases. Anyone contracted skin diseases needed to go through a long and elaborative cleansing and offering process.
-
Israelites not only had to keep their skins clean, their clothes and houses also needed the same attention.
Meditation: My Story
-
Identity - Transmittable skin diseases such as leprosy often being assimilated to man’s sin. Cleansing and offering are assimilated to reconciling with God. Putting blood on ear lobe, hand, toe, and thumb are likened to the consecration of the priests. Jesus had already redeemed us through His blood and completely satisfied all necessary cleansing and offering. His sacrifice was complete and perfect. Let me pray and thank Him for everything He had done for me.
-
Integrity - The source of skin diseases is not limited to skin but the cloth we wear and the house we live in, as well. Same can be said about sin. It may come from anything around us. How does the cleansing process in these two chapters remind me?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Week 25 Day 5: Day of Atonement ⇧ ⇩
Question
What are the other regulations to keep the Israelites holy?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
-
More regulations to keep the Israelites holy so they may worship God.
-
Chapter 15 is about bodily discharges. It was aimed to keep the Israelites “separate from things that make them unclean.” This is so that “they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place.”
-
Chapter 16 is the regulation for the Day of Atonement. During this day, all Israelites need to keep sabbath, deny themselves, cleanse, and atone for all their sins.
Meditation: My Story
-
Identity - All offerings and cleansing were to help the Israelites to become a nation of holiness. It was to separate them from the unclean. The holy God promised to walk with me and asks me to be holy. What does this remind me?
-
Integrity - God established the annual Day of Atonement. Israelites could restart from a new beginning with their sins forgiven. But this did not mean that they could take their sins lightly. My sins were forgiven because of Jesus Christ. How do I view my own sins?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Week 25 Day 6: Holiness of Conduct ⇧ ⇩
Question
What behaviors does God forbid?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
-
God told the Israelites that in order to be holy, they need to behave holy.
-
Chapter 17 was about blood. Blood is holy. In the covenant God made with Noah, animal’s meats were edible “but you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it” (Genesis 9:4) “for the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar.” (Leviticus 17:11)
-
Chapter 18 is about adultery. Marriage is holy. “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” (Hebrews 13:4) God warned the Israelites not to defile themselves by conforming to the unclean culture of the Canaanite in the land they were to enter.
Meditation: My Story
-
Identity - God said, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar.” The blood of animal can only clean a man’s sins temporary. Only Jesus Christ’s blood can cleanse forever. We have to atone our sins in front of God in order to receive the cleansing blood. How should I live to show my respect to Jesus’ precious blood?
-
Community - God established marriage and we all need to respect that and keep it holy. God warned Israelites not to conform to the Canaanites. Nowadays, marriage is currently being attacked from all fronts in the world we live in. How do I keep myself holy within my marriage and not conform to the society?