February 12, 2006 - Leviticus 13 and Matthew 26:26-50
Leviticus 13 moves us from the dietary laws to the laws about leprosy. We move from unclean food to unclean people. This is such a serious subject, because anyone found to have leprosy was sent out of the camp or out of the city to dwell alone. (v.45-46) I know that God did not make this command lightly, because He did not design people to live alone. Therefore, it must be very serious.
What is leprosy? I am not a doctor, and I know this word can apply to various skin conditions. However, leprosy was a fatal condition that was able to be spread to other people by physical contact and by unsanitary conditions. Therefore, God's laws were designed to keep the leprosy from spreading and thus to prevent more people from dying. All diseases in this world are the result of sin. When sin came, it corrupted everything, even the cells of the body. All of us see the results of sin as our bodies break down and they are attacked by diseases God never intended for us to experience. This should cause us all to hate sin more and to see that God is doing what He can to lessen the physical and spiritual effects of sin. The only complete healing is salvation by grace through faith. Then, when this body ceases to function, we have a new body and a new home in heaven with the Lord for eternity. That is the goal. It was God's goal for the lepers in the Old Testament, too. They might have to live outside the camp for several years, but they could live in heaven forever if they would come to trust Him.
The other thing about chapter 13 that is insightful is that God showed Moses how to determine a disease before people really knew about germs and infections. The Bible is not a science book, but it contains a lot of science. All of its science is true. It comes from the Creator and Designer of all things. This should make us realize that the Bible is God's Word. It should cause us to praise Him for His wisdom and His love for us.
The passage in Matthew 26 is very convicting, too. Jesus reveals Himself fully in the Last Supper through the bread and the wine. Then, He tells His disciples that they will be caused to stumble that night. (v.31) Peter and the others confess that they will not deny Him even if they have to die. (v.35) However, they can't even stay awake and watch as Jesus prays in the garden. What is the problem? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. (v.41) Notice that is the human spirit, not the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew they would fail, because they were not filled with His Spirit at this point. That would come later. He knew that the only way to have the strength to follow Him through trials like this was the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. They needed to learn this lesson quickly. It was a painful lesson, but the pain could have helped them learn it well. In the end all of them died for the Lord. However, at this point they were afraid, and the flesh was too weak to overcome.
How about you? Have you learned this lesson yet? Have you told the Lord you would be faithful to Him and then failed to do what you said? Do you know it takes the Spirit? It takes growing in the Spirit? It takes allowing the Spirit to fill you? It takes abiding in the Spirit. If you say, "what does all of that mean?", then that is your problem. You must make it a priority to give your life over to the Lord and surrender control to the Spirit who lives in you if you know Jesus as Lord and Savior. You must live in the power of the Spirit each day. Once you do that a while, God will begin to build spiritual strength in you, so you can be able to follow Him even through the difficult trials. Let this passage be a lesson to all of us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 14 and Matthew 26:51-75.
What is leprosy? I am not a doctor, and I know this word can apply to various skin conditions. However, leprosy was a fatal condition that was able to be spread to other people by physical contact and by unsanitary conditions. Therefore, God's laws were designed to keep the leprosy from spreading and thus to prevent more people from dying. All diseases in this world are the result of sin. When sin came, it corrupted everything, even the cells of the body. All of us see the results of sin as our bodies break down and they are attacked by diseases God never intended for us to experience. This should cause us all to hate sin more and to see that God is doing what He can to lessen the physical and spiritual effects of sin. The only complete healing is salvation by grace through faith. Then, when this body ceases to function, we have a new body and a new home in heaven with the Lord for eternity. That is the goal. It was God's goal for the lepers in the Old Testament, too. They might have to live outside the camp for several years, but they could live in heaven forever if they would come to trust Him.
The other thing about chapter 13 that is insightful is that God showed Moses how to determine a disease before people really knew about germs and infections. The Bible is not a science book, but it contains a lot of science. All of its science is true. It comes from the Creator and Designer of all things. This should make us realize that the Bible is God's Word. It should cause us to praise Him for His wisdom and His love for us.
The passage in Matthew 26 is very convicting, too. Jesus reveals Himself fully in the Last Supper through the bread and the wine. Then, He tells His disciples that they will be caused to stumble that night. (v.31) Peter and the others confess that they will not deny Him even if they have to die. (v.35) However, they can't even stay awake and watch as Jesus prays in the garden. What is the problem? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. (v.41) Notice that is the human spirit, not the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew they would fail, because they were not filled with His Spirit at this point. That would come later. He knew that the only way to have the strength to follow Him through trials like this was the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. They needed to learn this lesson quickly. It was a painful lesson, but the pain could have helped them learn it well. In the end all of them died for the Lord. However, at this point they were afraid, and the flesh was too weak to overcome.
How about you? Have you learned this lesson yet? Have you told the Lord you would be faithful to Him and then failed to do what you said? Do you know it takes the Spirit? It takes growing in the Spirit? It takes allowing the Spirit to fill you? It takes abiding in the Spirit. If you say, "what does all of that mean?", then that is your problem. You must make it a priority to give your life over to the Lord and surrender control to the Spirit who lives in you if you know Jesus as Lord and Savior. You must live in the power of the Spirit each day. Once you do that a while, God will begin to build spiritual strength in you, so you can be able to follow Him even through the difficult trials. Let this passage be a lesson to all of us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 14 and Matthew 26:51-75.