Daily Scripture Reading Leviticus 22:32 - 23:21
Mary arrived at church at 10:35 AM. The service had started at 10:30. She grabbed a latte at the coffee bar and slipped into the back row. She pulled her phone out of her purse and posted a note on social media claiming how much she loved her church.
After the singing, she began scrolling on her phone during the message. From time to time, she focused on the sermon long enough to come up with the content of another social media post. As soon as the sermon was over, she left the building during the final song in order to beat the traffic out of the parking lot.
Mary appears to be a faithful church attendee. Physically, she is in church most weekends. However, her mind is usually elsewhere. There is nothing in her attitude or behavior that indicates she has any sense of the holiness of God.
We will see in today’s passage that Yahweh required the Israelites to gather together multiple times a year. He used the word “holy” to describe those gatherings. The gatherings were holy because Yahweh Himself is holy.
Likewise, Yahweh commands Christians to gather together. Since Yahweh is holy, and we gather together in the name of the holy Jesus, perhaps we should be intentional about treating our gatherings as sacred and holy.
The 22nd chapter of Leviticus specifies the characteristics of acceptable sacrifices. Animals brought to Yahweh needed to be without blemish. The Israelites could not offer their worthless animals to Yahweh. They had to bring their best.
Lev. 22:32 ¶ “And you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be treated as holy among the sons of Israel; I am Yahweh who makes you holy,
The word “holy” appears three times in this verse. Yahweh’s name is holy. Yahweh Himself is holy. The Israelites are holy.
Lev. 22:33 who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh.”
Lev. 23:1 ¶ And Yahweh spoke again to Moses, saying,
Lev. 23:2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The appointed times of Yahweh which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:
A convocation is a gathering. Yahweh was specifying the times the Israelites were required to gather together.
Don’t miss the word “holy”. The gatherings of the Israelites were not simply called convocations. They were called holy convocations. They were special and needed to be treated as special.
Lev. 23:3 ¶ ‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to Yahweh in all your places of habitation.
The Sabbath was identified as a holy convocation. The Sabbath was not merely a day of rest. It was a holy day of rest.
The emphasis in this verse is on resting, not on gathering in the same building. Nevertheless, by the time of Christ, going to the synagogue on the Sabbath was a standard practice in Judaism.
Lev. 23:4 ¶ ‘These are the appointed times of Yahweh, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them.
Lev. 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Passover of Yahweh.
The Passover commemorated the night Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.
Lev. 23:6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to Yahweh; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
Lev. 23:7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.
Lev. 23:8 But for seven days you shall bring near an offering by fire to Yahweh. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.’”
The Feast of Unleavened Bread lasted 7 days, but resting was only required on the first and last days.
Lev. 23:9 ¶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev. 23:10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.
Don’t miss the word “first”. The first of the harvest went to Yahweh. Human tendency would be to fill the storehouses first and then give some to Yahweh. However, Israel was required to do the opposite. The first of the harvest went to Yahweh and after that they started filling their storehouses.
Lev. 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
Lev. 23:12 Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without blemish for a burnt offering to Yahweh.
Lev. 23:13 Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to Yahweh for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine.
Lev. 23:14 Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your places of habitation.
The Israelites could not eat any of their harvest until they had taken their offering to Yahweh.
Lev. 23:15 ¶ ‘You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths.
Lev. 23:16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall bring a new grain offering near to Yahweh.
Lev. 23:17 You shall bring in from your places of habitation two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to Yahweh.
Lev. 23:18 Along with the bread you shall bring near seven one year old male lambs without blemish and a bull from the herd and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahweh.
Lev. 23:19 You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
Lev. 23:20 The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with two lambs before Yahweh; they shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest.
Lev. 23:21 On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; it shall be a holy convocation for you. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your places of habitation throughout your generations.
Just as the Israelites had required convocations, so too Jesus commanded believers to gather together. And just as the Israelite convocations were holy, so too church gatherings must be orderly.
Paul criticized the Corinthians because when they gathered for the Lord’s Supper there were divisions among them. Furthermore, some people were getting drunk while others went hungry. It appears the wealthy people in the congregation had no concern that some of their members barely had enough food to eat.
Paul also told the Corinthians that their gatherings had to be orderly. Multiple people speaking at once was not permitted. The gift of tongues was only allowed when someone was able to interpret the language. That way everyone could be edified.
Paul also wrote an entire letter to Timothy that is devoted to explaining how Christians ought to behave in the household of God.
Furthermore, multiple verses in the New Testament use the word holy in regard to our lives as Christians and our gathering together as believers. Romans 12:1 tells us to present our bodies as holy sacrifices. Paul told the Romans to greet one another with a holy kiss (Romans 16:16). 1 Corinthians 3:17 tells us we are a holy sanctuary of God. Ephesians 1:4 says God chose us to be holy. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:22 that Jesus presents us holy and blameless.
If our bodies are holy sanctuaries of God, and if Jesus intends to present us as holy, perhaps when we gather together as a church we should behave in a holy manner and in a manner that conveys the holiness we should aspire to achieve.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”