One Year Bible, February 21

LEVITICUS 11:1-12:8
God is interested in what we eat. Actually, in whatever we put into our bodies or minds, whether it is material or spirit. We have to distinguish between "clean" and "unclean" - and what is unclean cannot be picked up, touched or carried without infecting us for that day. This isn't just talking about food. If anything unclean touches anything that is sanctified (my property, my children, my home, etc.), it (the sanctified thing) must be "made holy" or destroyed. It is "made holy" by washing it with water. If it can't pass through the water, it must be destroyed.

Demons are attracted to death, filth and blood. And so, a woman having her menstrual cycle was considered "unclean" too!  Thank God that Jesus came to fulfill all the prophetic significance of that! He even allowed a "flowing" woman to touch Him (Mark 5:25-34). We have been freed from the "Law of Sin and Death" (Rom 8:2) and don't observe these laws any more, however, in the OT type, all of these laws probably prevented disease and death. You see, the "Law of Sin and Death" is stronger than anything that would try to overcome it, and that's why we need deliverance by the "Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus".

RESPONSE:    I love lobster and shrimp. They don't have fins or scales and live in the sea. Thank God for Jesus! "Everything is permissible for me-but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me"-but I will not be mastered by anything. Food for the stomach and the stomach for food" (1 Cor 6:12-13) However, I draw the line at bugs! I know missionaries who have eaten locusts, grasshoppers, and even termites. But I don't want to eat anything that isn't dead yet! Actually, I don't want to eat ANYTHING that the Holy Spirit tells me not to --- and that includes doughnuts. If we can eat "junk" or take in anything we know to be "unclean" without feeling guilty, there is something wrong with us! We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit about everything!

MARK 5:21-43
Twelve Years: Jesus took a walk and healed two females. We know that a woman in menstrual flow was considered "unclean", and the rabbis of Jesus' day enforced the laws concerning that. So this poor woman, who had bled for 12 years was a social pariah. Jesus did not rebuke her for making Him unclean; He nullified the rabbinical law that said menstruation was a curse from God. Jesus called it "plague", or "scourge" (V.34) which is a type for "sin and death", the real scourge of the earth. This becomes significant when Jesus goes on to heal the young girl who was 12 years old.

In the Bible, no measurement, no numbers, no words are wasted or written for no reason. It is significant that both women had 12 years attached to them. Jesus was touched by a woman made "unclean" by blood, and a girl made "unclean" by death. Jesus came, and fulfilled the LAW in both cases, freeing us from the "plague" of "sin and death"! Twelve is the Bible number for dominion and government. (12 tribes, 12 disciples, 12 gates)

RESPONSE:   Jesus loves people, and isn't afraid to show it. Love triumphed over law. Jesus isn't squeamish or "turned off" by anything that might seem offensive to some. People are important to Him. Would I be willing to embrace someone I thought was "unclean"? I don't know.

PSALM 38:1-22
This Psalm is traditionally read on the Day of Atonement. You can see why. David was miserable, physically ill, deserted by his ungrateful friends and relatives, chased by cruel enemies, and overwhelmed by his own sin. First he blamed God for his misery (v.1,2), then he acknowledged "my sin", "mine iniquities" (v.3-4), "my foolishness" (v.5) to be the cause of all his troubles. He wrote that he deserved all this and had brought it upon himself..."because of my foolishness." 

Two things are required in repentance:- (v.18) Confess, and Be sorry (afraid, fear of God, a natural consequence of sin). Sin should grieve us, not just for what it can do to us, but because it is rebellion against God. Two things we plead for: (v.21-22) God's Presence, and God's help.

PROVERBS 10:8-9
Here the contrast is between the fool and the wise. Wisdom has its foundation in God and is imparted to those who "fear Him". This wisdom is the essence of Life and to be without it is to walk in the way of death and destruction. The fool is one who is thoughtless, careless, conceited, self-sufficient, indifferent to God and His Will, and who scoffs at wise instruction (Isa 32:6). He exposes his own foolishness by the way he talks and the way he lives (walks).

RESPONSE:   Sometimes I remove all doubt about my foolishness when I open my mouth. That's why I have the husband I do - he is quick with the elbow to TRY to shut me up! We give away what's in our hearts by what we say and how we live. Anyone with real wisdom can listen to us and know whether we are a fool or not. If we are wise, we will listen to instruction, commandments, rebukes, and correction so we don't have to be fools any more.