All about skin diseases and mildew again today. In particular, an ancient Israelite, upon having their skin disease heal, could undergo a purification ceremony which, of course, involved sacrificing some animals:
If the priest finds that someone has been healed of a serious skin disease, he will perform a purification ceremony, using two live birds that are ceremonially clean, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch. The priest will order that one bird be slaughtered over a clay pot filled with fresh water. He will take the live bird, the cedar stick, the scarlet yarn, and the hyssop branch, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over fresh water. The priest will then sprinkle the blood of the dead bird seven times on the person being purified of the skin disease. When the priest has purified the person, he will release the live bird in the open field to fly away.At least only one of the birds is killed? Unlike the quarantining and inspections, this part seems to only have ceremonial value. The process of washing oneself and waiting before reentering the camp seems much more useful.
New Testament
Jesus took the fies loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share.After all this commotion, Jesus asks for some time alone to pray. Later that night, and Jesus walks on water to calm the story and rescue the disciples from the wind and waves. The disciples
were totally amazed, for they still didn't understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.What we do not have in this version is an account of Jesus calling Peter to him. That version of the story, where Peter's faith allows him to take some steps on water before sinking seems almost inconsistent in intent with this version, where the disciples are described as too hard hearted to understand the miracle.
Psalms and Proverbs
Same old, same old: God rescues people from despair. People will be amazed by what God has done, and those who are favored by the Lord feel joy. We do get one interesting verse though:
You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings.Now, given that we are in the midst of Leviticus for our Old Testament reading, I can say, with certainty, that someone is confused here. In Leviticus, God seems to take plenty of delight in sacrifices and offerings and seems to demand them with great regularity. This psalm directly contradicts that image of God. Ooops.
Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand --
you don't require burnt offerings or sin offerings.
One of two verses in today's Proverbs reading has some useful advice:
Hatred stirs up quarrels,I am not sure I would go so far as to say that love makes up for all offences, but it can help a lot.
but love makes up for all offenses.
Two observations:
ReplyDelete(1) It is clear from the gospels that none of the disciples understood the reality of Jesus and His necessary death and resurrection until after the event itself (John 12:16). To be sure, many believed Jesus to be the Messiah, but few grasped the fact that the Messiah must die and pay for sin according the Old Testament Scriptures. Peter made some great statements about the Christ, but also had some incredible failures. While Peter stepped out in faith to trust Jesus to walk on the water toward him, his faith was not steady when tested against the circumstances around him. We see this especially in the events leading up to the crucifixion when he tells Jesus he will die with him, but then soon thereafter betrays him three times when his own life was at risk. How did Jesus describe Peter's faith, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31)
(2) The whole point of the Levitical sacrificial system was to foreshadow the human sacrifice of the coming Messiah (Hebrews 10:1-2). Thus the system was temporary. The sacrifices of the best unblemished bulls and goats were never a satisfactory payment for sin, but rather a covering or atonement for sin and a way of acknowledging their sin with a tangible reminder that all sin results in death (Hebrews 10:3-4). Despite being faithful to the ritual, the people of Israel were hardened in their hearts, missing out on the true significance, meaning and purpose behind the sacrifices (Hebrews 10:5-9). The offerings and sacrifices were no longer accompanied with repentance, but done out of obligation and tradition. The heart of the nation was far from God (see Isaiah 1). This is why God no longer delighted in the sacrifices and offerings because they were meaningless and fruitless toward turning the Israelites back to Him. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was the final one-time satisfactory payment for sin or propitiation (1 John 2:2, Hebrews 10:11-12). Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law and the final sacrifice required by God as He had completely satisfied the wages of sin for all humanity for all time as evidence by His sitting down at the right hand of God. Accepting this final sacrifice was difficult for most within the nation of Israel, but accepted by many throughout the whole world.
Scott, I think that your interpretation is a reasonable one given what the New Testament claims, but I am not sure that the claims of the New Testament are necessarily consistent with the claims of the Old Testament. But we'll see. I obviously haven't finished this project yet. =)
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