Leviticus 19
Instructions in holinessverses 1-2
And the LORD spoke to Moses saying
Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel
and say to them – YOU shall be HOLY
FOR I the LORD your God am HOLY
Honor parentsverse 3
You shall fear every man his mother and his father
and keep MY Sabbaths – I am the LORD your God
No idolsverse 4
Turn You not to idols – nor make to your selves molten gods
I am the LORD your God
Offer and eat peace offering properlyverses 5-8
IF You offer a sacrifice of peace offering to the LORD
You shall offer it at your own will
It shall be eaten the same day You offer it – and on the morrow
and IF ought remain until the third day
it shall be burnt in the fire
and IF it be eaten at all on the third day – it is abominable
it shall not be accepted
THEREFORE every one that eats it shall bear his iniquity
BECAUSE he has profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD
and that soul shall be CUT OFF from among his people
Leave corners of fields for poorverses 9-10
WHEN You reap the harvest of your land
you shall not wholly reap the corners of your fields
neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest
you shall not glean your vineyard
neither shall you gather every grape of your vineyard
you shall leave them for the poor and stranger
I am the LORD your God
Do not…verses 11-19
YOU shall not steal – neither deal falsely – neither lie one to another
and You shall not swear by MY name falsely
neither shall you profane the name of your God
I am the LORD
YOU shall not defraud your neighbor – neither rob him
the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with you all night
until the morning
YOU shall not curse the deaf – nor put a stumbling block before the blind
BUT shall fear your God – I am the LORD
YOU shall do no unrighteousness in judgment
you shall not respect the person of the poor
nor honor the person of the mighty
BUT in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor
YOU shall not go up and down as a talebearer among your people
neither shall you stand against the blood of your neighbor
I am the LORD
YOU shall not hate your brother in your heart
you shall in any wise rebuke your neighbor
and not suffer sin upon him
YOU shall not avenge – nor bear any grudge
against the children of your people
BUT you shall love your neighbor as yourself
I am the LORD
YOU shall keep MY statutes
you shall not let your cattle gender with a diverse kind
you shall not sow your field with mingled seed
neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen
come on you
Lying carnally with slaveverses 20-22
WHOSOEVER lies carnally with a woman – that is a bondmaid
betrothed to an husband – and not at all redeemed
nor freedom given her – she shall be scourged
they shall not be put to death
BECAUSE she was not free
And he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD
to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation
even a ram for a trespass offering
And the priest shall make an ATONEMENT for him with the
ram of the trespass offering before the LORD
for his sin which he has done
and the sin which he has done shall be
FORGIVEN him
Freshly planted treesverses 23-25
WHEN You shall come into the land
and shall have planted all manner of trees for food
THEN You shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised
three years shall it be as uncircumcised to you
it shall not be eaten of
BUT in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be HOLY
to PRAISE the LORD withal
AND in the fifth year shall you eat of the fruit thereof
that it may yield to you the increase thereof
I am the LORD your God
Do not…verses 26-29
YOU shall not eat anything with the blood
neither shall you use enchantments – nor observe times
YOU shall not round the corners of your heads
neither shall you mar the corners of your beard
YOU shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead
nor PRINT any marks on you – I am the LORD
DO not prostitute your daughter – to cause her to be a whore
LEST the land fall to whoredom
and the land become full of wickedness
Keep the Sabbathverse 30
YOU shall keep MY Sabbaths – and reverence MY sanctuary
I am the LORD
Do not use mediumverse 31
REGARD not them that have familiar spirits
neither seek after wizards – to be DEFILED by them
I am the LORD your God
Respect the elderlyverse 32
YOU shall rise up before the hoary head
and honor the face of the old man – and fear your God
I am the LORD
Do not mistreat foreignersverses 33-34
IF a stranger sojourn with you in your land – you shall not vex him
BUT the stranger that dwells with you shall be to you as
one born among you – and you shall love him as yourself
FOR you were strangers in the land of Egypt
I am the LORD your God
Use honest scalesverses 35-36
YOU shall do no unrighteousness in judgment – meteyard
weight – measure – just balances – weights – ephah – hin
shall you have
I am the LORD your God
which brought you out of the land of Egypt
Keep the rulesverse 37
THEREFORE shall you observe all MY statutes – judgments
and do them – I am the LORD
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 18 You shall not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. (157 “love” [ahab] means act of being a friend, affection, beloved, or like)
DEVOTION: Again, the LORD gives a list of statues and judgments that the children of Israel were to obey. These were to get them prepared for the Promised Land. If they practiced them while in the wilderness it would be easier once they arrived in the Promised Land.
HE continually reminded the people that HE was holy and they were supposed to be the same. They were set apart from the rest of those who lived in the world. They were different. Why? Because they were following the ONLY true God in the universe.
A section of the chapter deals with relationships with neighbors. Remember that the LORD Jesus Christ explained that our neighbor is anyone we come in contact with. That means whether we know them or not. If we meet them, they are our neighbor.
The LORD doesn’t want us to be a respecter of persons. It should not matter if our neighbor is rich or poor. We are not to gossip about our neighbors. We are not to hate our neighbors. We have a responsibility to correct our neighbor as we would a close friend. If our neighbor mistreats us we are not to seek revenge. We are not to hold a grudge.
The LORD wants us to forgive our neighbors. The LORD especially wanted the children of Israel to forgive their fellow Israelite. The children of Israel were commanded to be a friend to their neighbor and not an enemy.
We are not to sin against our neighbor. So often we can know bad things about our neighbor or fellow believer that we don’t have to share with others. We are to confront sin with our neighbor one on one but not spread it around. We find that it is our responsibility to keep a relationship going. We need to leave that in the LORD’S hands regarding any judgment in the future. HE does a much better job than we will ever do.
Our responsibility is to be a friend to our neighbor. Remember that we are still sinners. In the New Testament we are told that if we are members of a church and someone sins against us, we can bring another individual with us to settle the problem and if they don’t listen to the two then we can take it to the church.
These can be two different types of relationships. Our neighbor might not be a member of a local church. Our neighbor might not be a follower of the LORD. Our lives witness to the neighbor how the LORD wants things done in this world. Can the neighbors around us tell that we are different? Do they think we are honoring the LORD with our actions?
CHALLENGE: Ask your neighbor if they see Jesus in you? Ask the rest of your family if they see Jesus in you? Does your family and your neighbors know that you care about them?
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 28 You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks on you: I am the LORD. (7085 “marks” [qa’aqa] means incision, imprintment, tattoo, a wound made by cutting, a non-verbal communication of mourning or a mark branded on the skin)
DEVOTION: Should a believer mark up his/her body with tattoos according to this verse? What was the purpose of tattoos in the days of the children of Israel? We have to look at what was happening then and what is happening today.
In the day of this time period pagan people marked or cut their bodies to honor the god of the dead. They were working to make sure that their loved one was accepted by the god of the dead.
When they marked their bodies they were worshiping a false god. It was not the God of the Bible. The children of Israel learned this belief from the time they were in Egypt. They carried false beliefs with them into the wilderness. God had to warn them that they were not accepted by HIM.
Marking their bodies didn’t improve the standing of their loved one who had died. Each person stands or falls on his/her relationship with the LORD. Once they were dead they had to stand before the LORD for judgment.
Today the same is true in our world. Marking our bodies to worship a false god is wrong. Marking our bodies in worship to false beliefs is wrong. Who are we honoring when we put tattoos on our body? Is it honoring the LORD? Do people see us as true worshipers of Jesus Christ?
Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. All that we put in our bodies and on our bodies should bring glory to HIM.
We are not to be part of the latest fad because when we get older some of those markings might not honor HIM.
CHALLENGE: Is it a sin to get a tattoo? That has to be answered by the individual and their attitude when they get it. Who are you honoring with your body today?
: 31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God. (3942 “regard” [liphnay] means to the face of, turn, look for, take a direction, join, attach, pay attention to, or to turn in another direction.)
DEVOTION: What do you think about when I mention Harry Potter? What do you think about when I mention the Hobbit? What do you think about when I mention Living Dead?
Today we are seeing more and more programs that promote life beyond the grave. They also promote movies that use wizards and familiar spirits. Is it wrong for a Christian to watch such things? Are they breaking this command of the LORD?
Here we can see the difference between watching fiction and worshiping fiction. False gods are presented in most of these movies. However, when you watch a movie regarding the battle between good and evil this is what this passage is talking about. It is talking about going in the direction of evil.
God doesn’t want HIS people worshiping false gods that are used by these individuals to cause people to move away from the teachings of the Word of God to the teachings of the enemy.
To try to bring up the dead is going against the Word of God. Our direction should be only always toward the LORD. If we are going toward the LORD we don’t need to talk to the dead or seek advice from the dead. We serve a living God.
Once you open the door to Satan’s world you are asking for trouble. If you have opened the door ask the LORD for help to close it and only open the Word of God to you through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
There is an evil world out there that is trying to suck you in to its belief system. Its belief system is away from the LORD.
CHALLENGE: You need to acknowledge the fact that you have a choice each day which door you are going to open in your life.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 32 You shall rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear your God; I am the LORD. (7872 “hoary” [seybah] means old age, gray hairs, advanced age, or an older person understood in terms of gray hair)
DEVOTION: Respect is hard to come by today. No one seems t respect anyone. It seems that even religious leaders are not as respected as they used to be thirty years ago. Some people think that they don’t have to respect anyone who hasn’t earned their respect. The standard is different it seems for everyone.
The Bible makes it plain that we are to respect our elders. There are some older people who have a problem because of their actions, but the majority should be respected.
The children of Israel were to respect those who had gray hair. They were to honor those who were older when they entered the room. They were to make sure that their needs were met as soon as they possibly could on any special occasion.
In the Asian culture those who are younger were to bow before those who were older until they were told to raise their head. Not sure if this was told to me because I didn’t know the culture.
Many older people still respect someone who is a pastor or priest when they enter the room but the younger people don’t understand this command. If the LORD is going to be glorified in our world, we need to respect those whom the LORD tells us to respect.
Once respect is earned there can be better communication between the teacher and the student. If we respect the LORD, we will obey HIS commands. This is one command our young people need to understand if they are going to move ahead in the righteous life the LORD wants them to live.
CHALLENGE: No one should have the attitude that they don’t need to learn from their elders.
:37 Therefore shall you observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the Lord. (4941 “judgments” [mishpat] means 1 judgment, justice, ordinance. 1a judgment. 1a1 act of deciding a case. 1a2 place, court, seat of judgment. 1a3 process, procedure, litigation (before judges). 1a4 case, cause (presented for judgment). 1a5 sentence, decision (of judgment). 1a6 execution (of judgment). 1a7 time (of judgment). 1b justice, right, rectitude (attributes of God or man). 1c ordinance. 1d decision (in law). 1e right, privilege, due (legal). 1f proper, fitting, measure, fitness, custom, manner, plan. [Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship])
DEVOTION: God here divides His law into the statutes and the judgments. These judgments reflect God’s wisdom on how life is to be lived. This is the same term we use for the decisions of a judge in a court in our country. It is the application of the wisdom of living from the compiled laws in the land. The best-known compilation of God’s judgments about life are written in the book of Proverbs.
Today people are less and less concerned about God’s judgments about life. They think that they can figure out how to live their lives by themselves without any help from anyone else. The problem is that when things do not turn out the way that they want, then they blame the results on God. How much better it would have been to have started out with the God’s perspective before making the decisions they made. Often, God’s judgments sound countercultural to us (such as serve, be humble, or give).
We see in the Old Testament that God’s ultimate judgments on the people of Israel were to punish them for their disobedience towards Him. Their disobedience usually started with syncretism with the gods of the peoples of the Promised Lands. The final judgment on the children of Israel came at the Babylonian deportation. Years later, they were again punished by being crushed by the Roman armies in AD 70.
CHALLENGE: Our goal today should be to learn God’s judgments and obey them. (MW)
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Sabbathsverses 3, 30
Sacrifice of peace offeringverse 5
Offer of you own free willverse 5
Trespass offeringverses 21, 22
Door of the tabernacle of the congregationverse 21
Priestverse 22
Reverence MY sanctuaryverse 30
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Keep statutesverses 19, 37
Observe judgmentsverse 37
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD (Jehovah)verses 1-5, 8, 10, 12, 18, 21, 22, 24, 25, 28, 30-32, 34, 36, 37
God (Elohim)verses 2-4, 10, 12, 14, 25, 31, 32, 34, 36
I amverses 2-4, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 25, 28, 30-32, 34, 36, 37
LORD your Godverses 2-4, 10, 25, 31, 34, 36
Holyverse 2
I the LORD your God am holyverse 2
I am the LORD your Godverses 3, 10, 25, 31, 34, 36
I am the LORDverses 12, 14, 16, 18, 28, 30, 32, 37
Brought Israel out of Egyptverse 36
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Strangerverses 10, 33, 34
Neighborverses 13, 15, 16, 17
Land of Egyptverses 34, 36
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Idolsverse 4
Make molten godsverse 4
Abominable to eat sacrifice on third dayverse 7
Iniquityverse 8
Profane peace offeringverse 8
Reaping corners of cropverse 9
Gather gleanings of harvestverses 9-10
Stealverses 11, 13
Deal falselyverse 11
Lieverse 11
Swear falselyverse 12
Profane name of Godverse 12
Defraud neighborverse 13
Curse the deafverse 14
Place stumbling block before blindverse 14
Unrighteous judgmentverses 15, 35
Respect of personsverse 15
Talebearerverse 16
Hate the brotherverse 17
Sinverses 17, 22
Avengeverse 18
Grudgeverse 18
Not gender cattle with a diverse kindverse 19
Mingle seed in a fieldverse 19
Mingle linen and wool in garmentverse 19
Lie carnally with a womanverse 20
Trespassverses 21, 22
Uncircumcised fruitverse 23
Eat bloodverse 26
Use enchantmentverse 26
Observe timesverse 26
Round corners of your headverse 27
Mar beardverse 27
Print any marks on fleshverse 28
Prostitute daughterverse 29
Whoreverse 29
Wickednessverse 29
Familiar spiritsverse 31
Wizardsverse 31
Defileverse 31
Vex strangersverse 33
Unrighteousness in judgmentverse 35
Meteyard
Weight
Measure
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Holyverse 2
Fear mother and fatherverse 3
Keep Sabbathsverses 3, 30
Turn from idolsverse 4
Willingly offer sacrificesverse 5
Leave gleanings for poor and strangerverse 10
Fear the LORDverse 14
Judge righteous judgmentverse 15
Stand up for neighbor in battleverse 16
Love your neighborverses 18, 34
Keep statutesverses 19, 37
Redeemedverse 20
Atonementverse 22
Forgivenverse 22
Fruit holyverses 23, 24
Praise the LORDverses 23, 24
Reverence sanctuary verse 30
Honor the elderlyverse 32
Fear the LORDverse 32
Treat stranger wellverse 33
Love strangerverse 34
Do righteousnessverse 35
Just balances – weights – ephah – hinverse 36
Observe judgmentsverse 37
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Mosesverse 1
Congregation of the children of Israelverse 2
Rules of harvestverse 9
Not reap corners of the field
Not gather gleanings of harvest
Leave for poor and stranger
Trespass offeringverses 21, 22
Door of the Tabernacle of the congregationverse 21
Not eat planted food for three yearsverse 23
Uncircumcised
Holy in fourth year
Eat in fifth year
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Cut offverse 8
Put to deathverse 20
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QUOTES regarding passage
19:31 The Israelites were not to turn to mediums or spiritists169 who sought communication with the dead. This was a common Canaanite practice (19:31; see Lev 20:6, 27; Deut 18:11; 1 Sam 28:3, 9; 2 Kgs 21:6; 23:24; Isa 8:19; 19:3). The word “medium” (ʾōbōt) is used of the pit from which the spirits are called up, the spirit of the dead, or as here the necromancer. The Septuagint nearly always translates ʾôb with the Greek word eggastrimuthos, “ventriloquist.” This translation may indicate a deception used on the part of the necromancer to deceive others into thinking he was actually calling up the dead.172 This command was violated by King Saul in 1 Sam 28:3–25.
(Rooker, M. F. (2000). Leviticus (Vol. 3A, p. 263). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
31. Regard not them that have familiar spirits—The Hebrew word, rendered “familiar spirit,” signifies the belly, and sometimes a leathern bottle, from its similarity to the belly. It was applied in the sense of this passage to ventriloquists, who pretended to have communication with the invisible world. The Hebrews were strictly forbidden to consult them as the vain but high pretensions of those impostors were derogatory to the honor of God and subversive of their covenant relations with Him as His people.
neither seek after wizards—fortunetellers, who pretended, as the Hebrew word indicates, to prognosticate by palmistry (or an inspection of the lines of the hand) the future fate of those who applied to them. (Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Le 19:31). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.)
19:26–31. These prohibitions seem to relate to pagan religious customs which should be avoided, including pagan mourning rites (vv. 27–28), cultic prostitution (v. 29, in contrast with proper worship of the Lord, v. 30), and necromancy (v. 31). (Lindsey, F. D. (1985). Leviticus. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 202). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
19:31 mediums or spiritists. Mediums are humans who act as “go-betweens” to supposedly contact/communicate with the spirits of the dead, who are actually impersonated by demons. Cf. 20:6, 27. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Le 19:31). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
Ver. 31. Regard not them that have familiar spirits, &c.] The word used signifies bottles, and that sort of diviners here intended go by this name, either because what they sat on when they divined was in the form of a bottle, or they divined by one, or they were swelled and inflated as bottles when they delivered out their answers, or spoke as out of a bottle or hollow place; hence they are called masters or mistresses of the bottle: they seem to be the same with the ventriloquists, and so the Septuagint version here calls them; such whose voice seemed to come out of their bellies, and even the lower parts of them; and such was the Pythian prophetess at Delphos, and very probably the maid in the times of the apostles, who had a spirit of divination, or of Python, Acts 16:16 and so the words may be rendered here, look not to the Pythons, or those who have the spirit of Python; so Jarchi from the Misnaho interprets the word here used, Baal Ob or the master of the bottle, this is Python, one that speaks from under his arm-holes: neither seek after wizards; such as pretend to a great deal of knowledge, as the word signifies; such as are called cunning men, who pretend to know where lost or stolen goods are, and to tell people their fortunes, and what will befall them hereafter: to be defiled by them; for by seeking to them, and believing what is said by them, and trusting thereunto, and expecting events answerable to their predictions, they would be guilty of a gross sin, and so bring pollution and guilt on them; according to the Jewish canons, such sort of persons as are cautioned against were to be stoned, and they that consulted them to be reproved; I am the Lord your God; who only is to be regarded and sought unto for advice and assistance; see Isa. 8:19. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 1, p. 650). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
31. The devotion of faith, which would manifest itself in obedience to the commandment to keep God’s Sabbaths and to reverence His Sanctuary (v. 30), is the true preservative against the superstition which is forbidden in this verse. The people whose God was Jehovah were not to indulge those wayward feelings of their human nature which are gratified in magical arts and pretensions. Cp. Isa. 8:19.
familiar spirits] Literally, bottles. This application of the word is supposed to have been suggested by the tricks of ventriloquists, within whose bodies (as vessels or bottles) it was fancied that spirits used to speak. In other cases the word is used for the familiar spirit which a man pretended to employ in order to consult, or to raise, the spirits of the dead. See 1 S. 28:7, 8. (Barnes, A. (1879). Notes on the Old Testament: Exodus to Ruth. (F. C. Cook & J. M. Fuller, Eds.) (p. 158). London: John Murray.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
THE POST-CHURCH CHRISTIAN
by J. Paul Nyquist and Carson Nyquist
Carson – the son:
Following our culture’s values, we are less judgmental, more tolerant, and will virtually accept anyone as a friend. (p. 43)
Michael Frost talks about this pattern of living in terms of the “third place.” We all have our first two spaces, home and work. The third place is the area of our life where we spend time after home and work. In our experience, it was usually a Christian third place. (p. 45)
Our generation is changing this mindset. We see the third place as a primary way to connect with those outside the church. Instead of having sporadic “evangelistic” outings to such places, we choose to live with unbelievers and develop friendships without obvious intentions to “convert” them. This leads us to spend time at coffee shops and bars, providing the opportunity to develop relationships with those outside the church. (p. 45-46)
Separation became the standard for Christian community, as it has for so many generations before us. (p. 46)
Holding on to morality as my foundation for faith had left me stranded. Being “good” and following the behavioral expectations of the church brought nothing but frustration and legalism. (p. 48)
God has placed us here to live faithfully and love others, even if we live and love in unconventional ways. (p. 51)
Romans 13
The Christian is to obey the government and love his fellow man.
INSIGHT
Love is the central characteristic of the Christian. In Matthew 22:37-40, a lawyer asks Jesus which is the greatest commandment. Jesus says: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Then the Lord gives the second greatest commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul writes that love is the greatest characteristic-even greater than faith or hope. Now in Romans this theme is picked up again. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the Law. God is love. If we are to be like Him, we also must love.
(Quiet Walk)
Frank Borman commanded the first space mission that circled the moon. He wasn’t impressed. The trip took two days both ways. Frank got motion sickness and threw up. He said being weightless was cool—for thirty seconds. Then he got used to it. Up close he found the moon drab and pockmarked with craters. His crew took pictures of the gray wasteland, then became bored.
Frank went where no one had gone before. It wasn’t enough. If he quickly tired of an experience that was out of this world, perhaps we should lower our expectations for what lies in this one. The teacher of Ecclesiastes observed that no earthly experience delivers ultimate joy. “The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing” (1:8). We may feel moments of ecstasy, but our elation soon wears off and we seek the next thrill.
Frank had one exhilarating moment, when he saw the earth rise from the darkness behind the moon. Like a blue and white swirled marble, our world sparkled in the sun’s light. Similarly, our truest joy comes from the Son shining on us. Jesus is our life, the only ultimate source of meaning, love, and beauty. Our deepest satisfaction comes from out of this world. Our problem? We can go all the way to the moon, yet still not go far enough. By Mike Wittmer (Our Daily Bread)
WALKING IN THE LIGHT
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1 John 1:6-7
John is fond of the phrase, “walking in the light”; how often this idea occurs in his Gospel, and here it is again. It is not obvious on the very surface that if you take this in an absolute literal sense it can mean only one thing, and that is absolute perfection. If to walk in the light as God is in the light is taken strictly literally, as it is expressed here, there is only one deduction to draw: As Christians our only hope of forgiveness and therefore of being Christians at all is that we should be absolutely perfect as God Himself is perfect.
But clearly that is impossible! Which of us is perfect? Which of us is without sin? “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (verse 8); we cannot, therefore, be absolutely perfect. So immediately we find that this phrase of walking in the light as God is in the light must be interpreted in terms of the way in which John customarily employs this picture. And the key to that is to be found in the phrase in 1 John 1:6 where we read about walking in darkness: “If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.”
We interpret this verse about “walking in the light” as the antithesis and the exact opposite of “walking in darkness.” Therefore it does not mean that I claim absolute perfection; but it does mean that I claim that I now belong to a different realm, to the kingdom of light and to the kingdom of God.
A Thought to Ponder: I now belong to a different realm, to the kingdom of light.
(From Fellowship with God, pp. 126-127, by Dr. MARTYN Lloyd-Jones)
Receiving from the Word
“Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word.” (Psalm 119:65)
The good that comes from the hand of the Lord is “according unto thy word,” a common phrase in Psalm 119 that occurs in 11 of the 22 stanzas.
Interestingly, the psalmist twice emphasizes that it was important for him to be “afflicted” before he learned something of the gracious provision of the Lord (Psalm 119:67, 71). The Hebrew word anah is used widely in the Bible, the most famous passage prophesying about the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4).
Although affliction does not necessarily come because of personal disobedience (even though that surely happens among us), often the Lord uses an occasion to drive home a concept of holiness or obedience (according to His Word) that will bring His favor or, more properly, bring us in line with His Word so that we may experience the “peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11).
Three times the psalmist asked his Lord to teach him or let him learn from the Word about the eternal principles of righteousness (119:66, 68, 71). Three times he insisted that he will keep and delight in the holy laws and principles of which he is aware (119:67, 69, 70).
The core theme of this simple message focuses on the passionate commitment of the psalmist to learn and obey the Word of God. No past history can negate God’s faithfulness. No present difficult circumstances can thwart God’s promises. Thus, “the law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver” (Psalm 119:72).
(HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
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