Today's Readings and Stuff --Monday, 08 February 2021

A day of thought and contemplation (and three loads of laundry as well).  

This whole "pandemic" thing, with all the lockdowns and rule by decree is having some real effects on people and their view of the world and of life.  Yes, some are increasing their intake of drugs and alcohol, as we've seen.  But I'm hearing that many are turning to the Lord and to the things eternal.  

Some of that has lead to some tough situations.  We got a call a little while ago from next-door niece.  She's been doing some work for a local outfit that does things like snow plowing, landscape work, lawn mowing, etc  etc.  The workers there are, well, what they are.  But she called to ask us to "watch" the kids on Saturday.  There's a funeral or memorial get-together or something.  They're going in support of one of the workers.  Seems that about 10 days ago, his brother overdosed on something and died.  Bad, very.  Then, today or last night, his father died.  After 25 years in the military, he got COVID after some heart surgery.  The VA stuck him into some sort of nursing home -- very much against the wishes of the patient and the family.  He contracted the COVID there and died, alone.  Oh, and his wife had cashed in their life insurance policy to buy herself a car a little while back.  So now, this worker who makes very very little, has lost a brother and a father in less than two weeks, and now has to scratch for money for funeral expenses.

And so far as I can ascertain, none of them knew the Lord.  Which is of course far more serious.  

There's a lot of all of this going on, I hear via my sources of more than a few cases, so there are many more.  Too many have lost hope, which will happen without the Lord.  Makes the bottle or the needle seem like an acceptable option.  This is not good.

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All these details, very detailed details in fact, seem strange and foreign to us.  And are.  But consider this:  they were very much different from the practices that were seen in  Egypt or in the lands and cultures around them.  Much different.  By getting very specific and detailed, the Lord was -- and is -- making it very clear that being like those around them was not acceptable.  And still is not.  They were commanded to "be a peculiar people", as we are.  Different.  That can be uncomfortable and  often is.  So?  

LEVITICUS 4

The Sin Offering

1Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 2“Tell the Israelites: When someone sins unintentionally  against any of the Lord’s commands and does anything prohibited by them —

3“If the anointed priest   sins, bringing guilt  on the people, he is to present to the Lord a young, unblemished  bull as a sin  offering  for the sin he has committed. 4He must bring the bull to the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the Lord. 5The anointed priest must then take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the tent of meeting. 6The priest is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times  before the Lord in front of the veil  of the sanctuary.  7The priest must apply some of the blood to the horns of the altar of fragrant incense  that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. He must pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering  that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8He is to remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering: the fat surrounding the entrails, all the fat that is on the entrails, 9and the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins. He will also remove the fatty lobe of the liver with the kidneys, 10just as the fat is removed from the ox of the fellowship sacrifice.  The priest is to burn them on the altar of burnt offering. 11But the hide  of the bull and all its flesh, with its head and shanks, and its entrails and dung — 12all the rest of the bull — he must bring to a ceremonially clean place  outside the camp  to the ash heap, and must burn it on a wood fire. It is to be burned at the ash heap.

13“Now if the whole community of Israel  errs,  and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly,  so that they violate any of the Lord’s commands and incur guilt  by doing what is prohibited, 14then the assembly must present a young bull as a sin offering. When the sin they have committed in regard to the command becomes known, they are to bring it before the tent of meeting. 15The elders  of the community are to lay their hands on the bull’s head before the Lord and it is to be slaughtered before the Lord. 16The anointed priest will bring some of the bull’s blood into the tent of meeting. 17The priest is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil. 18He is to apply some of the blood to the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. He must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 19He is to remove all the fat from it and burn it on the altar. 20He is to offer this bull just as he did with the bull in the sin offering; he will offer it the same way. So the priest will make atonement  on their behalf, and they will be forgiven.  21Then he will bring the bull outside the camp  and burn it just as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

22“When a leader   sins and unintentionally violates any of the commands of the Lord his God by doing what is prohibited, and incurs guilt, 23or someone informs him about the sin he has committed, he is to bring an unblemished male goat  as his offering. 24He is to lay his hand on the head of the goat and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering  is slaughtered before the Lord. It is a sin offering.  25Then the priest must take some of the blood from the sin offering with his finger and apply it to the horns of the altar of burnt offering.  The rest of its blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26He must burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the fellowship sacrifice. In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf for that person’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

27“Now if any of the common people  sins unintentionally by violating one of the Lord’s commands, does what is prohibited, and incurs guilt, 28or if someone informs him about the sin he has committed, then he is to bring an unblemished female goat as his offering for the sin that he has committed. 29He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering. 30Then the priest must take some of its blood with his finger and apply it to the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He must pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31He is to remove all its fat just as the fat is removed from the fellowship sacrifice. The priest is to burn it on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf, and he will be forgiven.

32“Or if the offering that he brings as a sin offering is a lamb,  he is to bring an unblemished female. 33He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 34Then the priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and apply it to the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He must pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35He is to remove all its fat just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the fellowship sacrifice. The priest will burn it on the altar along with the fire offerings to the Lord. In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.

LEVITICUS 5

Cases Requiring Sin Offerings

1“When someone sins in any of these ways:

If he has seen, heard, or known about something he has witnessed, and did not respond to a public call to testify, he is responsible for his sin. 

2Or if someone touches anything unclean  — a carcass of an unclean wild animal,  or unclean livestock, or an unclean swarming creature   — without being aware of it, he is unclean and guilty. 

3Or if he touches human uncleanness  — any uncleanness by which one can become defiled  — without being aware of it, but later recognizes it, he is guilty.

4Or if someone swears rashly  to do what is good or evil — concerning anything a person may speak rashly in an oath — without being aware of it, but later recognizes it, he incurs guilt in such an instance. 

5If someone incurs guilt in one of these cases, he is to confess  he has committed that sin. 6He must bring his restitution  for the sin he has committed to the Lord: a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement  on his behalf for his sin.

7“But if he cannot afford an animal from the flock, then he may bring to the Lord two turtledoves or two young pigeons  as restitution for his sin — one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. 8He is to bring them to the priest, who will first present the one for the sin offering. He must twist its head at the back of the neck without severing it.  9Then he will sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood is to be drained out at the base of the altar;  it is a sin offering. 10He must prepare the second bird as a burnt offering according to the regulation.  In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.

11“But if he cannot afford  two turtledoves or two young pigeons,  he may bring two quarts  of fine  flour   as an offering for his sin. He must not put olive oil or frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12He is to bring it to the priest, who will take a handful from it as its memorial portion  and burn it on the altar along with the fire offerings to the Lord; it is a sin offering. 13In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf concerning the sin he has committed in any of these cases, and he will be forgiven. The rest will belong to the priest, like the grain offering.” 

The Restitution Offering

14Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 15“If someone offends  by sinning unintentionally  in regard to any of the Lord’s holy things,  he must bring his restitution offering to the Lord: an unblemished ram from the flock (based on your assessment of its value in silver shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel ) as a restitution offering. 16He must make restitution  for his sin regarding any holy  thing, adding a fifth of its value to it,  and give it to the priest. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf with the ram of the restitution offering, and he will be forgiven. 

17“If someone sins and without knowing it violates any of the Lord’s commands concerning anything prohibited, he bears the consequences of his guilt. 18He must bring an unblemished ram from the flock according to your assessment of its value as a restitution offering to the priest. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the error he has committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven. 19It is a restitution offering; he is indeed guilty before the Lord.”

LEVITICUS 6

1The Lord spoke to Moses: 2“When someone sins and offends the Lord by deceiving  his neighbor in regard to a deposit,  a security,  or a robbery;  or defrauds  his neighbor; 3or finds something lost and lies about it;  or swears falsely  about any of the sinful things a person may do — 4once he has sinned  and acknowledged his guilt  — he must return what he stole or defrauded, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost item he found, 5or anything else about which he swore falsely. He must make full restitution for it and add a fifth of its value to it.  He is to pay it to its owner on the day he acknowledges his guilt.  6Then he must bring his restitution offering  to the Lord: an unblemished  ram from the flock according to your assessment of its value as a restitution offering to the priest. 7In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf before the Lord, and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt.” 

The Burnt Offering

8 The Lord spoke to Moses: 9“Command Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the burnt offering; the burnt offering itself must remain on the altar’s hearth all night until morning, while the fire of the altar is kept burning on it. 10The priest is to put on his linen robe and linen undergarments.   He is to remove the ashes of the burnt offering the fire has consumed on the altar, and place them beside the altar. 11Then he must take off his garments, put on other clothes,  and bring the ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place. 12The fire on the altar is to be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest will burn wood on the fire. He is to arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat portions from the fellowship offerings  on it. 13Fire must be kept burning on the altar continually; it must not go out.

The Grain Offering

14“Now this is the law of the grain offering:  Aaron’s sons will present it before the Lord in front of the altar. 15The priest is to remove a handful of fine flour and olive oil from the grain offering, with all the frankincense that is on the offering, and burn its memorial portion on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 16Aaron and his sons may eat the rest of it.  It is to be eaten in the form of unleavened bread  in a holy place;  they are to eat it in the courtyard  of the tent of meeting. 17It must not be baked with yeast; I have assigned it as their portion  from My fire offerings.  It is especially holy, like the sin offering  and the restitution offering. 18Any male among Aaron’s descendants  may eat it. It is a permanent portion   throughout your generations from the fire offerings to the Lord. Anything that touches the offerings will become holy.” 

19The Lord spoke to Moses: 20“This is the offering that Aaron and his sons must present to the Lord on the day that he is anointed: two quarts  of fine flour as a regular  grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening. 21It is to be prepared with oil on a griddle; you are to bring it well-kneaded. You must present it as a grain offering of baked pieces,  a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 22The priest, who is one of Aaron’s sons and will be anointed to take his place, is to prepare it. It must be completely burned as a permanent portion for the Lord. 23Every grain offering for a priest will be a whole burnt offering;  it is not to be eaten.”

The Sin Offering

24The Lord spoke to Moses: 25“Tell Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the sin offering.  The sin offering is most holy and must be slaughtered before the Lord at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 26The priest who offers it as a sin offering is to eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place,  in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. 27Anything that touches its flesh will become holy, and if any of its blood spatters on a garment, then you must wash that garment  in a holy place. 28A clay pot in which the sin offering is boiled must be broken; if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it must be scoured and rinsed with water. 29Any male among the priests may eat it; it is especially holy. 30But no sin offering may be eaten if its blood has been brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place; it must be burned up.

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Be ready!

MATTHEW 25

The Parable of the 10 Virgins

1“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins  who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom.  2Five of them were foolish and five were sensible.  3When the foolish took their lamps, they didn’t take olive oil with them. 4But the sensible ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps. 5Since the groom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6“In the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him.’

7“Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 8But the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’

9“The sensible ones answered, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell, and buy oil for yourselves.’

10“When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived. Then those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. 

11“Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, ‘Master, master, open up for us! ’

12“But he replied, ‘I assure you: I do not know you! ’

13“Therefore be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour. 

The Parable of the Talents

14“For it is just like a man going on a journey.  He called his own slaves and turned over his possessions to them. 15To one he gave five talents;  to another, two; and to another, one — to each according to his own ability. Then he went on a journey.  Immediately 16the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. 17In the same way the man with two earned two more. 18But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

19“After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. Look, I’ve earned five more talents.’

21“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy! ’ 

22“Then the man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. Look, I’ve earned two more talents.’

23“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy! ’

24“Then the man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a difficult man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed.  25So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you have what is yours.’

26“But his master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy slave!  If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, 27then  you should have deposited my money with the bankers. And when I returned I would have received my money  back with interest.

28“ ‘So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents. 29For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  30And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness.  In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’