Week 8 Day 1 and 2

Leviticus 1-6

Here is my chance to get almost caught up. :) Since we are in a new chapter, the first day is just reading the introduction in my Bible. That took 2 minutes. Now I am working on the next "day" which is 6 chapters. Gulp!

Have to admit, I have been dreading Leviticus. A LOT of rules and regulations. A LOT. I know that. I also know why this was important. There were a lot of people wandering in the wilderness. They needed rules and regulations. I know in my classroom of 20 little people that we need rules and regulations. Now imagine all of the Israelites camping out together. You know that they needed some. (This was also God's chance to show the people that no matter what they did, they could NOT live up to the rules...they needed a Savior!) But even knowing all of this doesn't mean I am ready to just jump in and read every chapter. I will just start with 6...

Chapter 1
Chapter 1 involves rules regarding the burnt offering (must be whole, male, unblemished). The rules go into details about what the people can bring for the offering, where to take it, and what the priests will do with them. I have to admit. I got queasy reading this chapter. I can handle a lot of things (I am a mom after all) but the descriptions on here...ugh. This is why I am not a hunter. I can barely kill a fly much less a sheep. So I will move on to chapter 2...

Chapter 2
The grain offering. I have to admit, I didn't remember this (other than talking about it at church). I always think of the offerings involving the killing of an animal. In this case, the actual offering is some sort of grain. There are several ways the people can do this (bringing something bake, bringing the grains, etc.). A few guidelines include using only fine flour, NO yeast, and salt must always be sprinkled on top to stand for their agreement with God that will last forever.

The other thing that sticks out in this chapter is that these chapters keep referring to the burnt offerings as a smell pleasing to the Lord. For some reason, that strikes me funny, just because I don' t think of God as smelling something burning on an altar as being "pleasing". That is just my human way of thinking though...

Chapter 3
The Fellowship Offering. Okay, I did okay with the Grain Offering. There was no killing or blood involved. But now we are back to the whole animal thing and a step by step instruction on what to do with the parts. And again, I feel queasy. A couple things different from the offering mentioned in chapter 1: the animals brought before the priests could be male or female. And apparently burning the fat from these animals provided a pleasing smell to the lord.

Chapter 4
The Sin Offering:
We actually just talked about this in church the other day. We weren't reading Leviticus though, we were reading Hebrews.

The sin offering is for when a person sins by accident and does some things that the LORD has commanded not be done. Over and over it says the person is guilty.

So even when done by accident, they were guilty of the sin.

Thus, the sin offering.

This chapter breaks down the animals to use, who the offering is for (an individual, the whole nation, a ruler, etc), and how the sacrifice is to be carried out. And once again, my tummy feels queasy...

Chapter 5:
In this chapter, I learned some types of accidental sins, such as not telling in court what he/she knows, accidentally touching something unclean, or forgetting a promise made to the Lord (with my memory, I would be in big trouble on that one!). The chapter then goes on to give detail yet again about the type of animal that may be used as an offering as well as specific details about how the priest should kill it. And again, my stomach turns...

The second part of the chapter is the penalty offering which is when a person does something against the holy things of the Lord (even accidentally).

Chapter 6:
This chapter continues telling about the penalty offering. It also discusses "restitution" of sorts especially if something is stolen.

One year our house was robbed. Thankfully Mark came home and interrupted the burglary (not in the house but rather the driveway) so the thieves didn't get away with a whole lot. But they did get away with some. And out of that some, we only ever got one item back. I really hoped for restitution much like this chapter discusses. But apparently the time in jail cancelled our restitution? Unfortunately, that didn't bring our stuff back either...Maybe I am living in the wrong time...

The Whole Burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offerings:
More details about the offerings.

The thing that really sticks out to me is how extensive the job of the priest is. I am tired just reading all of this!

Tomorrow's reading: Leviticus 7-10

Goodnight!
Reba