Deuteronomy 15 - 29: Business, honeymoons, & the ultimate consequence

- Taking care of business:  Lots of practical guidelines here for the people of Israel. We take these things for granted, but God gave much needed words of guidance and advice in a time of evil and lawlessness. Areas he covers include:

• setting up a legal system, including laws, judges, and procedures (Deut 16, 19). For example, prosecutors had to have more than one witness, and judgment could be handed down only after a thorough investigation. No twisting of the law or bribery, ever.
• checks & balances for a future monarchy (Deut 17:14-17)
• military advice (Deut 20)
• liability issues (Deut 22:6-7)
• farming (Deut 22)
• issues surrounding rape and guidelines to protect women (Deut 22)
• sanitation (Deut 23:12-14)
• a long honeymoon! Newlywed men got a year off: "He gets one year off simply to be at home making his wife happy" (Deut 24:5).
• financial matters & interest (Deut 24)
• charity (Deut 24)
• fair business practices and employment rules (Deut 24-25)
• and much more....

- All together now:  At the end of this setting out of guidelines, Moses had the people do a group verbal recitation of the rules (Deut 27).
- The ultimate consequence:  Moses warned the people that if they didn't follow God's ways, that "God will ship you back to Egypt by a road I promised you'd never see again. There you'll offer yourselves for sale, both men and women, as slaves to your enemies. And not a buyer to be found" (Deut 28:68).
- Not to worry:  If the people followed God's rules and took care of their responsibilities, Moses promised that "God will take care of the hidden things" (Deut 29:29).

Elena's verse of the day:  "The Lord must give you a change of heart before you truly understand what you have seen and heard" (Deuteronomy 29:4).

Leviticus 7 - 19: Blood, laws, & the goat in the wildnerness

- Offerings galore:  More offerings described, including the votive-offering, freewill-offering, fire-gifts, contribution-offering, wave-offering, and ordination-offering. This is a whole study in itself.
- Blood:  So much blood used in annointing and purifying. This seems so foreign to us. In our culture we rarely see blood.

- Laws:  God gave very specific dietary laws (no eating rock badgers because the chew their cud but don't have a split hoof) to help set his people apart from the surrounding peoples. These laws helped to keep the Israelites healthy, too.
- Hygiene:  Interesting laws instructed the people on how to deal with poisonous mildew and fungus--something we still deal with, such as killer molds.
- Medical care:  God also gave basic but detailed instructions about how to spot and contain diseases.
- The goat in the wilderness:  Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, Aaron was to put all of the people's sins on a goat's head. Then it was sent into the wildnerness (Lev 16:20-22). The people were to fast and refrain from work. "In the presence of GOD, you will be made clean of all your sins. It is a Sabbath of all Sabbaths" (Lev 16:29-31). A beautiful and vivid picture of Christ's redemptive work, still far in the future.
- Precious blood:  The people are forbidden to consume blood, on pain of death and banishment. Why? "The life of the animal is in the blood. I have provided the blood for you to make atonement for your lives on the Altar; it is the blood, the life, that makes atonement" (Lev 17:10-12). Blood = life, and it is precious.  
- Do not conform:  God tells the Israelites straight out not to live like the Eypgtians or the Canaanites. "Don't do what they do" (Lev 18:1-5).
- Sex laws:  It seems strange that God had to spell out all of these forbidden sexual practices in such detail, but these things must have been happening or God wouldn't need to make such laws. The worst? Child sacrifice. Almost unthinkable, but it was going on regularly around them.
- Strong words:  "Dabbling in the occult pollutes your soul" (Lev 19:31).
- A good reminder:  "Show respect to the aged" (Lev 19:32). This was a good nudge for me. My mom lives with me and sometimes drive me crazy :/
- This says it all:  "Be holy because I, God, your God, am holy" (Lev 19:1).

Elena's Verse of the Day: "The Lord appeared to the people in all his glory...they shouted and fell to their knees to worship the Lord" (Leviticus 9:23-24)

I'm sharing a few thoughts from each day's reading. Feel free to jump in and share your own!