Leviticus 12: The Blood & The Curse

04/10 – 04/14/2016 Leviticus 12: The Blood & The Curse

Update: Leviticus 12 is the most difficult passage I’ve ever had to preach a sermon on. Not because of language/translation struggles or theological complexity. With regard to those things it’s quite a simple passage. The difficulty with Leviticus 12 is the “What on earth factor!” This week’s devotions will not re-cover the explanations etc. that took place during the sermon, so I’d really encourage you to listen to it soon. http://www.redeemeratlanta.org/sermons/
If you are not familiar with the content and rituals of Leviticus already, because it contains so many things that are foreign or alien to us, I would strongly encourage you to:

1. 
   Have a Study Bible on hand when you are doing the devotions – especially if you are haven’t yet listened to previous Sunday’s sermon. We’ll try to touch base on some “explanation” in the Reflections Questions section, but we can’t cover everything.
   
2. 
   Keep up with the sermons on-line if you are out of town on a Sunday. It is worth it, but Leviticus requires a lot of work. In the Daily Devotions, we won’t be able to cover all the details, explanations, and reasons. You’ll have to lean on the sermons for those. If you have difficulty downloading the sermons from our website, just let me know.
   
3. 
   Trust that, as the week unfolds, the devotions will cover/explain many of the things in the passage, i.e., don’t get paralyzed by having to understand what everything means on Monday.
   

Song for this week – You Alone Can Rescue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UracNSSlfTo
Where possible we will use songs that are live recordings of our worship singing at Church of the Redeemer. You should be able to access them by clicking the link. You can also download them to your computer, phone, etc. (Please copy & paste rather than drag & drop).
Some Recommendations

The goal of the study/reflection questions is to help you get into the text and meet Christ in it, i.e., to worship and meet with God. Avoid engaging with these questions as if it’s a “quiz” where the goal is to get the “correct answer” and then move onto the next question. My prayer, goal, and hope is that the questions will help open up the Word of God – what it means and what it is saying – in order that you might meet God, experience Christ, and hear from the Holy Spirit.
1) I do recommend the full liturgy for each day.

2) The “Bible Study” reflection questions for each day of the week are inserted towards the end of this document. Most often the questions will require time of reflection and pondering in order to find answers or to let the answers sink in to our souls. Be prepared to not rush through them. The goal is to experience/hear from God.

3) Sing the song! (Really) Each week we focus on two songs. Download them to your phone or iPod so you can listen repeatedly during the day. When we sing, our mind, body, heart, emotions, and will are all engaged in worship! If this week’s songs do not appeal to you, substitute a personal favorite.

Opening Prayer

O God, Eternal King and Father of all mercies,

whose light divides the day from the night

and turns the shadow of death into the morning:

To know you is eternal life

and to serve you is perfect freedom:

Drive far from us all wrong desires,

incline our hearts to keep your law,

and guide our feet into the way of peace;

that we may do your will with cheerfulness during the day,

and when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks;

through Jesus Christ, our risen and reigning Lord,

to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.
Confession (from Psalm 51)

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
Most holy God, you call us to be holy as you are holy. But we fall short every minute of every hour of every day.

We do not wholly honor you with our lives, but instead we make excuses for our sin and presume upon your forbearance and mercy.

We presume upon your forbearance and mercy by not taking your holiness seriously.

Forgive us for leaning upon such cheap grace rather than realizing that sin requires death.

You desire for us to consecrate ourselves to you completely so that you might purify us in your holy fire, ridding us of all our sin.

Most holy God, accept our humble confession, consume it as our sacrifice to you, and direct our hearts to the Cross of Jesus Christ where your holy wrath was poured out wholly and completely so that we might be accepted before you.

Absolution (Hebrews 9:11-14)

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) ¹² he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Intercession

Pray this week for your own self, your community, church, city, and this world to know the resurrection of Jesus in accepting the good news of the gospel. Pray by name those you want God to bring into his kingdom.
Scripture Readings & Reflection

See notes above in yellow. If you haven’t/don’t listen to this week’s sermon, this week’s devotions might not make a whole lot of sense.

Main Points of Leviticus 12 & this week’s devotions:

• 
  God is so very holy that imperfection, sickness, and brokenness cannot enter into his presence.
  
• 
  As joyous and celebrated as it is and should be, childbirth is also broken and cursed because of the Fall.
  
• 
  We have a hard time when things don’t feel “fair” or “not our fault.”
  
• 
  All human beings struggle with shame because of sin and brokenness. God gave his people rituals to help deal with that.
  

Monday:

1. 
   Read Genesis 3:1-19. This is essential background for Leviticus 12. It’s probably very familiar to you, but/so try to stay focused!
   
2. 
   v16 What is the curse on the woman (and how is it also a curse on men)?
   
3. 
   V17-19 What is the curse on man (and how does this also impact all women)?
   
4. 
   Was it fair/just for God to curse Adam and Eve, and therefore all mankind, in this way? (That’s a serious question). Take some time to think about this.
   
5. 
   Read Psalm 51:3-5 before reading Leviticus 12.
   
6. 
   Without Genesis 3:1-19 and Psalm 51:3-5, how might we react/respond to Leviticus 12?
   
7. 
   What difference should/could your time with God today make in you and in the day ahead?
   

Tuesday

1. 
   Yesterday we set the context for understanding one essential part of what Leviticus 12 is about: that childbirth is a great joy, a blessing from God, a true honor AND it is also broken and cursed by the Fall. When a child is born into, another sinner is introduced into the world. Today we turn our attention to the difficult, but important topic of “shame.”
   
2. 
   What are the first two “sins” (aspects of brokenness mentioned in scripture, and what does it tell us they are reference “before” the fall)? See Gen 2:18 & 25. (N.B. The first one is deeply related to shame).
   
3. 
   Read the following two passages and consider the various dynamics of shame, i.e.,
   

• 
  What does shame sound/feel like?
  
• 
  What kinds of things does shame say?
  
• 
  Who desires us to feel shame?
  

1. 
   Psalm 44:15-17
   
2. 
   Psalm 69-19-20.
   

4. 
   Guilt refers to how/what we feel when we have done something wrong. But the voice of shame says, “There’s something wrong with you.” Consider how the ritual and process of Leviticus 12 helps address the true reality of shame (not the demonic and destructive lies of shame) but also deals with/answers shame. (We will delve more into this tomorrow)
   
5. 
   Consider the following statement for your own life and your “inner-dialogues:” Denying that we know shame isn’t just futile, but actually strengthens the crippling power of shame. How have you sought to silence, avoid, or deny shame in your own life and how has that worked for you?
   

Wednesday

1. 
   Today we turn our attention to the end/goal of the process of Leviticus 12: the embrace and purification of the gospel.
   
2. 
   Read Leviticus 12:1-5.
   
   1. 
      Try today to put yourself in the shoes of the mother for the 40/80 day process. What would that have been like? What would it have felt like? You watch your family go to and from the sanctuary without you. You can’t touch any of the holy items or eat the food that comes back from the sanctuary (because it’s holy).
      
3. 
   Now, imagine yourself in the shoes of the mother at the end of the process, i.e., the very day she starts walking to the sanctuary - Leviticus 12:6-8.
   
   1. 
      The “burnt offering” is more accurately called the “ascension offering.” Through it the woman is carried up/ascends into the very presence of God and is accepted/embraced.
      
   2. 
      The “sin offering” is more accurately called the “purification offering.” Through it the woman is purged and purified from the pollution of sin and brokenness. She is made clean.
      

How must it have felt, after a period of separation, to be embraced and cleansed by God?

4. 
   In the birth of Jesus Christ and in his life, death, and resurrection, the problem Leviticus 12 addresses was dealt with and the goal of the sacrifices fulfilled eternally. We have been brought close to God and all of our sins, weaknesses, brokenness (of our hearts, minds, and bodies) have been dealt with! But without rituals and processes to flesh out these truths, shame can and does find its way back in and, without regular purging through ritual cleansing, it grows in power. Think about your life and spiritual practices: How might you see them afresh as a way to deal with and exorcise the reality of shame (both the truth of the shame we should feel and the lie of shame that the devil whispers to cripple us)?
   
5. 
   What would it take for you to enter into day with shame having been deeply answered and exorcised by the gospel?
   

THURSDAY

1. 
   This week we’ve focused mainly on “the curse” of Genesis 3 as it relates to the process in Leviticus 12. But there’s another (related) aspect of Genesis 3 that shows up in Leviticus 12 (and other parts of Leviticus), i.e., blood, physical brokenness, and un-health.
   
2. 
   Read through Leviticus 12 and highlight underline all the places that the mothers bleeding is identified as “the problem.”
   
3. 
   Pregnancy and giving birth to a child is a precarious situation. Especially before the advent of modern medicine mothers and children regularly died during and after childbirth. Following a “safe” and “successful” delivery mothers still today suffer bleeding that can last for several weeks. If that bleeding doesn’t cease, the mother can die. As we will see as we continue Leviticus, people who were bleeding, sick, or in a state of un-health could not enter into the sanctuary. Why? Because, God is so very holy that no aspect of imperfection or result of the Fall can come close to him. We might think of this as “unfair,” e.g., “The mother didn’t choose to keep bleeding” or “The Leper didn’t choose leprosy.” However, sickness and un-health are results of the Fall.
   
4. 
   Close today with reading and meditating on 1 Corinthian 15:40-58. As you consider the reality of our weak and broken physical bodies, allow yourself to look forward to and anticipate your resurrected body. Consider how the broken and imperfect aspects of your body and health might increase your longing for heaven.
   

FRIDAY

1. 
   This week we considered the topic of shame in a more focused way. Consider the dynamics and the demonic & crippling voice of shame in the following passages. Focus in on how shame operates, what it sounds like, and what it suggests:
   
   1. 
      Genesis 3:1-13
      
   2. 
      Matthew 4:1-11
      
   3. 
      1 Corinthians 5:1-5 & 2:1-7
      
2. 
   Ask God to open your eyes to see how Satan may have gained a foothold in your heart/mind through shame and to give you ears to hear what the voice of shame sounds like.
   

Song - You Alone Can Rescue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UracNSSlfTo

Who, oh Lord, could save themselves,
Their own soul could heal?
Our shame was deeper than the sea
Your grace is deeper still

Who, oh Lord, could save themselves,

Their own soul could heal?
Our shame was deeper than the sea
Your grace is deeper still

You alone can rescue, You alone can save

You alone can lift us from the grave
You came down to find us, led us out of death
To You alone belongs the highest praise

You, oh Lord, have made a way

The great divide You heal
For when our hearts were far away
Your love went further still
Yes, your love goes further still

You alone can rescue, You alone can save

You alone can lift us from the grave
You came down to find us, led us out of death
To You alone belongs the highest praise (x2)

We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes

You’re the Giver of Life (repeat)

You alone can rescue, You alone can save

You alone can lift us from the grave
You came down to find us, led us out of death
To You alone belongs the highest praise (repeat)

To be transformed by God's mercy and grace into a community of priests engaged in his redeeming work in Atlanta and the world.

Directory: wp-upload -> devotions
devotions -> Conditional Belief & Awe-Inspired Faith
devotions -> Glory, Unity, and Submission
devotions -> Leviticus 17: Blood, Life, & Gratitude Church?
devotions -> Lent Week 1: Pride
wp-upload -> The Forward Prizes for Poetry 2012