Leviticus 15:18
I wonder if this verse helps to contribute to the idea that many people have that sex is dirty and wrong.
Leviticus 17:11
It is in the blood that the life of the flesh resides. That is why blood is required for the offerings and the sacrifices that are made to God for atonement.
Leviticus 18
What exactly does the phrase "Uncover someone's nakedness" mean?
Leviticus 18-19
After almost all of the commands that God gives to the Israelites, God says "I am the LORD your God", as if that is the reason for the statutes and regulations, but also as a reassurance that when they follow these commands, God will recognize them as the chosen people, set apart and distinct from all of the other nations around them.
Leviticus 20:6
The term "prostituting oneself" is an interesting one, but very descriptive and, I think, very applicable.
Leviticus 21
The priests, the representatives of the people before God, were held to a higher standard than the rest of Israel. What does this mean for pastors and church leaders today, even though our role for the community is different from that of Aaron and his sons?
Mark 3:11-12
I had always wondered why Jesus had told the unclean spirits not to make him known. But now I understand: If Jesus wanted people to truly understand and believe that He was the Son of God, the Messiah, then the testimony couldn't come from people who were possessed by unclean spirits and demons. It wouldn't be a believable testimony. It would have been rejected as crazy.
Mark 4: 22
Everything that is secret will eventually become known. I don't believe that Jesus wanted some people to to be ignorant of his message while others knew and understood, I just think that come people weren't ready to ear and understand. Some people just needed more time or guidance to reach a level of understanding.
Mark 4:39
I wonder if part of Jesus' command of "Peace! Be still!" was for the sake of the disciples, to stop them from freaking out and worrying if they were going to die in the storm.
Mark 5:17-20
I find it interesting that they were afraid of Jesus or by what he had done, but when the man who had been possessed spoke to them about the incredible things that Jesus had done, they were amazed.
Today's Ponderments:
When we prostitute ourselves to practices or ideas, we give ourselves to them in exchange for little or nothing that benefits ourselves. It is not a relationship that we cherish or treasure, or one that means anything at all. Whatever we give ourselves to, that thing takes from us whatever it wants, whatever we are offering, and doesn't regard us as anything of importance.
This is the total opposite of God's relationship with us, how God wanted to be in relationship, in covenant, with the Israelite people. God wanted them to live their lives in a certain way, to worship God and respect the boundaries that God had for their lives, but it wasn't a one-sided relationship. God would bless them, protect them, save them, make them prosper, and through them bless the entire world.
God knew that they would be tempted by false gods, by other nations and their ways of life, by actions and decisions that would bring them temporary satisfaction but in the long run ruin them. God always kept the promises that were made to the Israelites. It was the Israelites who prostituted themselves to other gods, to sorcerers, to nations outside of their own, just to get a quick fix, a momentary and perverted glimpse of the true reward and blessing that God had promised to them.
And the Israelites are not the only ones.
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