Today's Readings and Stuff -- Monday, 15 February 2021

Happy Monday to all.

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LEVITICUS 20

Molech Worship and Spiritism

1The Lord spoke to Moses: 2“Say to the Israelites: Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech  must be put to death; the people of the country are to stone him.  3I will turn  against that man and cut him off from his people, because he gave his offspring to Molech, defiling My sanctuary  and profaning My holy name.  4But if the people of the country look the other way when that man  gives any of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5then I will turn  against that man and his family, and cut off from their people both him and all who follow  him in prostituting  themselves with Molech.

6“Whoever turns to mediums   or spiritists  and prostitutes himself with them, I will turn  against that person and cut him off from his people. 7Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am Yahweh your God. 8Keep My statutes and do them; I am Yahweh who sets you apart.

Family and Sexual Offenses

9“If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death.  He has cursed his father or mother; his blood is on his own hands. 

10If a man commits adultery  with a married woman — if he commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife — both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 11If a man sleeps with his father’s wife, he has shamed his father.  Both of them must be put to death; their blood is on their own hands.  12If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law,  both of them must be put to death. They have acted perversely; their blood is on their own hands.  13If a man sleeps with a man as with a woman,  they have both committed a detestable thing.  They must be put to death; their blood is on their own hands.  14If a man marries a woman and her mother,  it is depraved. Both he and they must be burned with fire,  so that there will be no depravity among you. 15If a man has sexual intercourse with  an animal, he must be put to death; you are also to kill the animal. 16If a woman comes near any animal and mates with it, you are to kill the woman and the animal.  They must be put to death; their own blood is on them. 17If a man marries his sister,  whether his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and they have sexual relations,   it is a disgrace.  They must be cut off publicly from their people. He has had sexual intercourse with his sister; he will bear his punishment. 18If a man sleeps with a menstruating woman and has sexual intercourse with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood.  Both of them must be cut off from their people. 19You must not have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister,  for it is exposing one’s own blood relative; both people will bear their punishment. 20If a man sleeps with his aunt, he has shamed his uncle;  they will bear their guilt and die childless. 21If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is impurity.  He has shamed his brother;  they will be childless.

Holiness in the Land

22“You are to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.  23You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and I abhorred them.  24And I promised you: You will inherit their land, since I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.  I am Yahweh your God who set you apart from the peoples. 25Therefore you must distinguish the clean animal from the unclean one, and the unclean bird from the clean one. Do not become contaminated  by any land animal, bird, or whatever crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you.  26You are to be holy to Me because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be Mine. 

27A man or a woman who is  a medium or a spiritist must be put to death. They are to be stoned; their blood is on their own hands.” 

LEVITICUS 21

The Holiness of the Priests

1The Lord said to Moses: “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them: A priest is not to make himself ceremonially unclean for a dead person among his relatives,  2except for his immediate family: his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother. 3He may make himself unclean for his young unmarried sister in his immediate family. 4He is not to make himself unclean for those related to him by marriage  and so defile himself.

5“Priests may not make bald spots on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies.  6They are to be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God.  For they present the fire offerings to Yahweh, the food of their God, and they must be holy. 7They are not to marry a woman defiled by prostitution.   They are not to marry one divorced  by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8You are to consider him holy since he presents the food of your God. He will be holy to you because I, Yahweh who sets you apart, am holy. 9If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by promiscuity,   she defiles her father; she must be burned up. 

10“The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained  to wear the garments, must not dishevel his hair  or tear his garments.  11He must not go near any dead person or make himself unclean even for his father or mother.  12He must not leave the sanctuary or he will desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him;  I am Yahweh.

13“He is to marry a woman who is a virgin. 14He is not to marry a widow,  a divorced woman,  or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people, 15so that he does not corrupt his bloodline  among his people, for I am Yahweh who sets him apart.”

Physical Defects and Priests

16The Lord spoke to Moses: 17“Tell Aaron: None of your descendants throughout your generations who has a physical defect  is to come near to present the food  of his God. 18No man who has any defect is to come near: no man who is blind, lame, facially disfigured, or deformed; 19no man who has a broken foot or hand, 20or who is a hunchback or a dwarf,   or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs,  or a crushed testicle.  21No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to present the fire offerings to the Lord. He has a defect and is not to come near to present the food of his God. 22He may eat the food of his God from what is especially holy as well as from what is holy. 23But because he has a defect, he must not go near the curtain  or approach the altar. He is not to desecrate My sanctuaries, for I am Yahweh who sets them apart.”  24Moses said this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

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this is what it's about.  And timely, as we are about to enter into the season of Lent.  While I don't really "get into" some of these practices of the Romans, it's not really a bad idea to spend a period of intentional prayer and focus on what this means to us personally and to the world.  This passage, and those before it and after it, need to be part of that focus and prayer time.

Matthew 28:1-20

MATTHEW 28

Resurrection Morning

1After the Sabbath,  as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb. 2Suddenly there was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it.  3His appearance was like lightning, and his robe was as white as snow.  4The guards were so shaken from fear of him that they became like dead men.

5But the angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.  6He is not here! For He has been resurrected, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay.  7Then go quickly and tell His disciples,  ‘He has been raised from the dead. In fact, He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there.’ Listen, I have told you.” 

8So, departing quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell His disciples the news. 9Just then  Jesus met them and said, “Good morning! ” They came up, took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him.  10Then Jesus told them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see Me there.” 

The Soldiers Are Bribed to Lie

11As they were on their way, some of the guards came into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12After the priests  had assembled with the elders and agreed on a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money 13and told them, “Say this, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole Him while we were sleeping.’ 14If this reaches the governor’s ears,  we will deal with  him and keep you out of trouble.”  15So they took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been spread among Jewish people to this day. 

The Great Commission

16The 11 disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them.  17When they saw Him, they worshiped,  but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  19Go, therefore, and make disciples  of  all nations,  baptizing  them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember,  I am with you always,  to the end of the age.”