Wednesday, 10 February 22021

I hope to flesh this out in the morning..  Hope to.  We shall see.  Some heavy thoughts and unavoidable "got to do" stuff ate the day.  

Watchman duty as specified in Scripture, and our failed duties in that matter, is among those thoughts.

I've tagged some songs here that struck me, hard, while going over these passages and looking at our world.  Hit me hard.  The last one shown, "Alabaster Box", is one of those that is inspired by the reading in Matthew today, one that I had long sort of skimmed over.  Which was a mistake.  It's come to mean a lot, so much so that it was in my mind all night long in a mostly sleepless night.  Put yourself in that woman's place.  But the same applies to the others shown.  Esther, another of those books frequently skipped over, is important.  She was "just a girl", sure.  But uniquely placed to accomplish much as the Lord directed.  And, finally, "Almost Persuaded" is a quote that could describe the attitude of so many around us who are dying without the Lord, a truly tragic thing.  There are some passaged describing the duties and role of the watchmen upon the cities' walls, and the condemnation due them should they sleep or slumber or fail to sound the alarm.  Sounds like all too much of Western Christendom.

For Such A Time As This

Almost Persuaded

Alabaster Box

===========

Leviticus 10 - 12

LEVITICUS 10

Nadab and Abihu

1Aaron’s sons Nadab  and Abihu  each took his own firepan,  put fire in it, placed incense on it,  and presented unauthorized  fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them to do. 2Then fire came from the Lord  and burned them to death before the Lord.  3So Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord meant when He said:

I will show My holiness  

to those who are near Me, 

and I will reveal My glory  

before all the people.”

But Aaron remained silent.

4Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan,  sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel,  and said to them, “Come here and carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.”  5So they came forward and carried them in their tunics outside the camp, as Moses had said.

6Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar,  “Do not let your hair hang loose  and do not tear your garments,  or else you will die, and the Lord will become angry  with the whole community. However, your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may mourn  over that tragedy when the Lord sent the fire. 7You must not go outside the entrance to the tent of meeting or you will die, for the Lord’s anointing oil  is on you.” So they did as Moses said.

Regulations for Priests

8The Lord spoke to Aaron: 9“You and your sons are not to drink wine  or beer  when you enter the tent of meeting, or else you will die; this is a permanent statute  throughout your generations. 10You must distinguish  between the holy and the common,  and the clean and the unclean,  11and teach the Israelites all the statutes  that the Lord has given to them through Moses.”

12Moses spoke to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar: “Take the grain offering that is left over from the fire offerings  to the Lord, and eat it prepared without yeast beside the altar, because it is especially holy. 13You must eat it in a holy place because it is your portion  and your sons’ from the fire offerings to the Lord, for this is what I was commanded. 14But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution in any ceremonially clean place, because these portions have been assigned to you and your children from the Israelites’ fellowship sacrifices. 15They are to bring the thigh of the contribution and the breast of the presentation offering, together with the offerings of fat portions made by fire, to wave as a presentation offering before the Lord. It will belong permanently  to you and your children, as the Lord commanded.”

16Later, Moses inquired about the male goat of the sin offering, but it had already been burned up. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s surviving sons, and asked, 17“Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the sanctuary area?  For it is especially holy, and He has assigned it to you to take away the guilt  of the community  and make atonement for them before the Lord. 18Since its blood was not brought inside the sanctuary, you should have eaten it in the sanctuary area, as I commanded.” 

19But Aaron replied to Moses, “See, today they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. Since these things have happened to me, if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been acceptable in the Lord’s sight? ” 20When Moses heard this, it was acceptable to him. 

LEVITICUS 11

Clean and Unclean Land Animals

1The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2“Tell the Israelites: You may eat  all these kinds of land animals.  3You may eat any animal with divided hooves and that chews the cud. 4But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves you are not to eat these:

the camel,  though it chews the cud,

does not have divided hooves — it is unclean for you;

5the hyrax,   though it chews the cud,

does not have hooves — it is unclean for you;

6the hare, though it chews the cud,

does not have hooves — it is unclean for you;

7the pig, though it has divided hooves,

does not chew the cud — it is unclean for you.

8Do not eat any of their meat or touch their carcasses — they are unclean for you. 

Clean and Unclean Aquatic Animals

9“This is what you may eat from all that is in the water: You may eat everything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or streams. 10But these are to be detestable to you: everything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales among all the swarming things and other living creatures  in the water. 11They are to remain detestable to you; you must not eat any of their meat, and you must detest their carcasses. 12Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales will be detestable to you.

Unclean Birds

13“You are to detest these birds. They must not be eaten because they are detestable:

the eagle,   the bearded  vulture,

the black vulture,  14the kite, 

any kind of falcon,  

15every kind of raven, 16the ostrich, 

the short-eared owl,  the gull, 

any kind of hawk, 

17the little  owl, the cormorant, 

the long-eared owl,  

18the white  owl, the desert owl,  

the osprey,  19the stork, 

any kind of heron, 

the hoopoe, and the bat.

Clean and Unclean Flying Insects

20“All winged insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you. 21But you may eat these kinds of all the winged insects that walk on all fours: those that have jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground. 22You may eat these:

any kind of locust,  katydid, cricket, and grasshopper.

23All other winged insects that have four feet are to be detestable to you.

Purification after Touching Dead Animals

24“These will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean  until evening, 25and whoever carries any of their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening.  26All animals that have hooves but do not have a divided hoof and do not chew the cud are unclean for you. Whoever touches them becomes unclean. 27All the four-footed animals  that walk on their paws are unclean for you. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, 28and anyone who carries their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.

29“These creatures that swarm  on the ground are unclean for you:

the weasel,  the mouse, 

any kind of large lizard, 

30the gecko, the monitor lizard, 

the common lizard,  the skink, 

and the chameleon. 

31These are unclean for you among all the swarming creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening. 32When any one of them dies and falls on anything it becomes unclean — any item of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth,  or any implement used for work. It is to be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean. 33If any of them falls into any clay pot, everything in it will become unclean; you must break it. 34Any edible food  coming into contact with that unclean water will become unclean, and any drinkable liquid in any container will become unclean. 35Anything one of their carcasses falls on will become unclean. If it is an oven or stove, it must be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you. 36A spring or cistern containing water will remain clean, but someone who touches a carcass in it will become unclean. 37If one of their carcasses falls on any seed that is to be sown, it is clean; 38but if water has been put on the seed and one of their carcasses falls on it, it is unclean for you.

39“If one of the animals that you use for food dies,  anyone who touches its carcass will be unclean until evening. 40Anyone who eats some of its carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. Anyone who carries its carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening.

Unclean Swarming Creatures

41“All the creatures that swarm on the earth are detestable; they must not be eaten. 42Do not eat any of the creatures that swarm on the earth, anything that moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet,  for they are detestable. 43Do not become contaminated by any creature that swarms; do not become unclean or defiled by them. 44For I am Yahweh your God,  so you must consecrate yourselves  and be holy because I am holy.  You must not defile yourselves by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. 45For I am Yahweh, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God,  so you must be holy because I am holy. 

46“This is the law concerning animals, birds, all living creatures that move in the water, and all creatures that swarm on the ground, 47in order to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between the animals  that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.”

LEVITICUS 12

Purification after Childbirth

1The Lord spoke to Moses: 2“Tell the Israelites: When a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a male child,  she will be unclean seven days, as she is during the days of her menstrual impurity.  3The flesh of his foreskin  must be circumcised  on the eighth day.  4She will continue in purification  from her bleeding  for 33 days. She must not touch any holy thing or go into the sanctuary until completing her days of purification. 5But if she gives birth to a female child, she will be unclean for two weeks as she is during her menstrual impurity. She will continue in purification from her bleeding for 66 days.

6“When her days of purification are complete, whether for a son or daughter, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin  offering. 7He will present them before the Lord and make atonement on her behalf; she will be clean from her discharge of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or female. 8But if she doesn’t have sufficient means   for a sheep, she may take two turtledoves or two young pigeons,  one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin  offering. Then the priest will make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean.”

============

Matthew. 26:1-19

MATTHEW 26

The Plot to Kill Jesus

1When Jesus had finished saying all this,  He told His disciples, 2“You know  that the Passover takes place after two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” 

3Then the chief priests  and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,  4and they conspired to arrest Jesus in a treacherous way and kill Him.  5“Not during the festival,” they said, “so there won’t be rioting among the people.”

The Anointing at Bethany

6While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon,  a man who had a serious skin disease, 7a woman approached Him with an alabaster jar of very expensive fragrant oil. She poured it on His head as He was reclining at the table. 8When the disciples  saw it, they were indignant. “Why this waste? ” they asked. 9“This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.”

10But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for Me. 11You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.  12By pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she has prepared Me for burial. 13I assure you: Wherever this gospel  is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”

14Then  one of the Twelve — the man called Judas Iscariot — went to the chief priests  15and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you? ” So they weighed out 30 pieces of silver for him.  16And from that time he started looking for a good opportunity to betray Him.

Betrayal at the Passover

17On the first day of Unleavened Bread  the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare the Passover so You may eat it? ”

18“Go into the city to a certain man,” He said, “and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time is near; I am celebrating the Passover at your place  with My disciples.’ ”  19So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.