Day 39. Numbers 1-3

Numbers 1-3

Numbers 1

¹And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

Numbers is the fourth book of the bible. In Hebrew the book is called Bəmidbar meaning "in the desert". The book is traditionally ascribed to Moses.

²Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;

³From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

So, the numbers in Numbers are of men of fighting age.

⁴And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.

Additionally, the book contains the list of men who are appointed to be the leaders of the tribes.

Reuben, Elizur
Simeon, Shelumiel
Judah, Nahshon
Issachar, Nethaneel
Zebulun, Eliab
Ephraim (Joseph), Elishama
Manasseh (Joseph), Gamaliel
Benjamin, Abidan
Dan, Ahiezer
Asher, Pagiel
Gad, Eliasaph
Naphtali, Ahira

You'll note there is no listing for Levi, that's because Moses and Aaron were the leaders of them.

¹⁹As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

Reuben, 46,500
Simeon, 59,300
Gad, 45,650
Judah, 74,600
Issachar, 54,400
Zebulun, 57,400
Ephraim (Joseph), 40,500
Manasseh (Joseph), 32,200
Benjamin, 35,400
Dan, 62,700
Asher, 41,500
Naphtali, 53,400

⁴⁵So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel;

⁴⁶Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

There were 603,550 men who were of fighting age in the group.

⁴⁷But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.

So not only did the Levites not have to work for food, they also didn't have to go out and fight.

⁵⁰But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.

It's odd that the Levites didn't have to go out and fight, Levi was one of the guys who killed the city in Genesis 34.

Numbers 2

²Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.

In the second year, Moses finally put the defense of the camp into effect.

On the east of the camp is Judah. He also commanded Issachar and Zebulun.
On the south is Reuben.He also commanded Simeon and Gad.
On the west is Ephraim. He also commanded Manasseh and Benjamin.
On the north of camp is Dan. He also commanded Asher and Naphtali.

³⁴And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers.

The 600,000 fighters were protecting the tabernacle and all the other properties.

Numbers 3

¹These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD spake with Moses in mount Sinai.

Levi didn't get counted (yet), but we do get the sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Remember Nadab and Abihu got killed for the fire.

¹²And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;

¹³Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD.

If god wanted the firstborn, why did he choose Levi? If god wanted the firstborn he should have claimed Reuben.

¹⁵Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.

Finally Levi gets counted.

¹⁷And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.

Aaron and Moses fell under two parts of Levi. Their mother was Jochebed who in Exodus 6, we are told is Levi's daughter. She is the half sister of Kohath. Kohath is the father of Amram, Amram married Jochebed. So Levi was Moses grandfather and also great grandfather. With that much inbreeding, it's no wonder Moses had horns.

Next is a list of responsibilities for the Levites regarding the tabernacle.

Gershon carries the tent, covering, hangings and other things.

Kohath carries the ark, the table, the candlestick, and the rest of the gold things.

Merari carries the boards, the bars, the pillars and other vessels.

³⁹All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.

Because the Levites were special, they were counted from a month and up. There were only 22,000 of them. The next smallest tribe was Manasseh except if you count Manasseh and Ephraim together they were the second largest tribe.

⁴¹And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the LORD) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.

Again, Moses seems to care about the firstborn, even though they never seem to care about the firstborn: Isaac instead of Ishmael, Jacob instead of Esau, Ephraim instead of Manasseh, and now Levi instead of Reuben.

⁴³And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen.

So it wasn't just 22,000 it was 22,273.

⁴⁷Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:)

Moses actually charged the people five shekels to count.

⁴⁸And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons.

Here, have some money.

Points to ponder:

1. Moses makes the firstborn seem much more important than any of the previous patriarchs. Also, he is the leader of the people, and he isn't the firstborn.

2. The numbers above are just men who were fighting age, that didn't include their wives and children under 20 or people who were too old to fight, or their servants. The number of people in the wilderness had to have been in the millions. There were more than a million people in the wilderness, and no archaeological evidence in the desert has ever been found. People claim there's evidence... but there really isn't.

3. Again, it's so nice that Moses set up his nephews for all eternity. The god of the bible didn't even take care of his favorite people as well as Moses set up the levites.

Day 38. Leviticus 25-27

Leviticus 25-27

Leviticus 25

¹And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,

Moses is still up on Mount Sinai. Well, probably not still, there's been several things that have happened in the camp, a couple of people have been killed, and there's been sacrifices. So Moses had been going up and down the mountain several times.

²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.

³Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;

⁴But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

Not only is there a Sabbath day, there is also a sabbath year.

Sounds pretty straight forward, after 6 years, give the land rest. The last sabbatical year was 2007. People still follow the law. They follow the letter of the law, but in no way do they follow the spirit of the law.

Farmers who observe this biblical law run the risk of going out of business, as they lose a year of profit. Some choose to raise crops in boxes of soil raised above the earth: a loophole to get around the law. The Sephardic chief rabbi has ruled that Jews may symbolically sell their land to Arabs as a way of avoiding the law (the Arabs have no obligation regarding the sabbatical year and therefore the land can be harvested). However, many ultra-Orthodox Jews do not accept this sabbatical sale. Many Israeli farmers don’t or can’t comply with the sabbatical year, so some Jews choose not to buy any produce from the land of Israel during a sabbatical year, in compliance with the law not to eat harvested produce.

An all powerful god who told the people to do this wouldn't let them go out of business... would he?

⁸And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.

⁹Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

The seventh seventh year is a jubilee year.

¹³In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.

In the jubilee year, you have to let jewish slaves go.

²⁰And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:

²¹Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

See, god said he'd provide extra in the 6th year.

²⁹And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it.

God built in an indian-giver law.

³⁸I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

Don't forget that.

Then there are some rules about buying and selling hebrews.

Leviticus 26

¹Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.

Did you read that Effingham, Illinois?

Just because you have a cross that's covered in aluminum siding, doesn't make it ok.

What about you, Monroe, Ohio?

³If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

If/then...

⁶And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.

Lack of peace in the land is directly caused by not following the commandments. Note, they are commandments, not requestments.

¹¹And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.

¹²And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

Israel doesn't have a temple... is their god still walking among them?

If the people don't follow the commandments...

¹⁶I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

¹⁷And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.

Just wait until we get to Jeremiah!!!

²²I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.

DINGO ATE MY BABY!!!

²⁴Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

Perry Stone likes to do biblical math. He also likes to say things, and then throw a bible verse location behind it. For example he'd say something like this:

There will be dingo's eating babies, Leviticus 26:22.

The best part of doing it like that, is most people don't have the ability to look up the referenced verse as quick as he says it. So, there's no telling how much of the actual verse he's using.

³²And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

It's like Moses wrote Lamentations.

³⁵As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.

All because they didn't let the land sit for a year.

⁴⁰If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;

If you remember back to this later, you will wonder if it was added as it was happening.

Leviticus 27

²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation.

What is a singular vow?

³And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

⁴And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.

We still don't know what it is, but it costs men 50 shekels and women 30 shekels to get out of it.

The rest of the chapter is other prices that can be paid to get out of the singular vow, if a person doesn't have the silver.

We still aren't told what a singular vow is. I like to think of it as a person who is in trouble and says "God, if you get me out of this I PROMISE..."(to be a better person, to go to church, to give to charity, to be a better husband...) There is actually a price sheet for getting out of that.

Thus ends Leviticus. So what did you think of Leviticus? You probably thought you wouldn't like it. Most of it doesn't apply to you, you aren't a Levite. Honestly, if you aren't a born Hebrew (Jew) the rest of it doesn't apply to you either. According to Hebrew tradition, the only laws that apply to non-jews are the 7 Noahide Laws. I follow five of the seven, the two I don't are Blasphemy and Idolatry (I don't have a god, so I can't put Jehovah above everything else).

Today is February 18, the 49th day of the year, I'm only 11 days behind.

Points to ponder for today:

1. Do you follow the sabbath year? What would the world look like if everyone took a year long vacation every 7th year?

2. You may claim you follow the bible, all of it, but do you have a cross around your neck? That is a graven image.

Is the only way that people know you are a christian because of the thing around your neck, or your lapel pin? Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, how many people surprised you by showing up to work with ash on their heads, did they make you say "wow, you are a catholic, I never would have guessed". I guess strippers need Jesus too.

3. How much of Leviticus do you follow? Don't you just wish we could kill homosexuals? Do you believe there can be a gay christian?

Day 37. Leviticus 22-24

Leviticus 22-24

Leviticus 22

²Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD.

Remember how much god hates the wrong fire, he killed Nadab and Abihu for it.

³Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD.

Having his uncleanliness could be many things, it could just be that he had sex.

⁴What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;

⁵Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;

⁶The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.

⁷And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.

here's a list of things that make you unclean: having the sin skin disease, an ooze, touch a dead thing, have sex, touch a creeping thing, touch someone who was unclean.

¹⁰There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.

Now we get a list of who can and can't eat the offerings.

Can't: strangers, daughter who marries a stranger.

Can: Priests slaves; priests daughter who is a widow, divorced, and has no child, returned to her father.

God then says that offerings have to be perfect, they can't have faults.

²²Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.

God likes perfection, and if you are making the rules to feed your family, I'm sure you do to.

³²Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,

³³That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.

He keeps mentioning that he brought them out of Egypt, at this point, the people really aren't happy about that.

Leviticus 23

This chapter is feasts.

Sabbath
³Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.

Passover
⁵In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.

Day of Atonement stuff
²⁴Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.

²⁷Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Tabernacles
³⁴Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.

Booths

⁴¹And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

⁴²Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:

Leviticus 24

²Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.

Continually, of course, that would require either a tabernacle or a temple, neither of which are currently going.

⁹And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute.

That's a major assumption to make, going out that someone will want to be the chief priest, generations into the future. Of course, why wouldn't you want the job?

¹⁰And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp;

¹¹And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:)

This is a rather odd story to just toss in, while Moses is saying that they are to have oil in the candles continually.

¹⁴Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

¹⁵And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin.

This is a time when the wages of sin actually was death.

²⁰Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.

Exactly why this is repeated from Exodus 21:24, I'm not sure.

²²Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.

Except, there isn't the same law. All the laws are for neighbors, which are people like you. Not for the stranger.

Points to ponder:

1. Nepotism is awesome, if you are the one benefiting from it.

2. Cleanliness is next to godliness, but it's not cleanliness, it's not-UNcleanliness. Being good isn't necessarily the same thing as being NOT BAD.

3. Quit complaing that you haven't done anything wrong, when frankly, you haven't done much of anything.

Day 36. Leviticus 19-21

Leviticus 19-21

Leviticus 19

²Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.

We are going to be getting a lot of those leviticacisms.

³Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.

Not just honor, but also fear. According to Eastons Bible Dictionary, this isn't the "I'm scared" kind of fear, but it means

4. (n.) Respectful reverence for men of authority or worth.

Sometimes fear does mean both reverence and abject terror. Like fear of the LORD.

⁴Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

This seems to be a retelling of the ten commandments. Honor father and mother, no false idols, remember sabbath...

⁵And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will.

⁶It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the fire.

⁷And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.

Ok, that doesn't follow the ten commandment outline. Offerings must be used in the first two days, the third day it's an abomination.

⁹And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.

If you are a farmer, you are supposed to not harvest the corners of the field. You also aren't allowed to go back and pick up anything you missed. That's for the poor. Additionally, you aren't allowed to pick every grape from your vineyard.

¹¹Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

Back to the 10 commandments. Here is an express prohibition against telling a lie to each other. The 10 commandment "bear false witness" was for in court, not just don't tell a lie.

¹⁴Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.

Even though it's fun, you shouldn't trip a blind person.

¹⁵Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

That didn't say "judge not". That said judge righteously. Often when you hear someone yelling "judge not" they leave off the important part.

Matthew 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

If you judge, you just need to be prepared to be held to the same standard yourself. If you are prepared for judgment, then there really isn't a problem with judging others.

¹⁹Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.

No succotash fields.

But here we have the prohibition against mixed fiber garments. A blend is an abomination in the eyes of the god of the old testament.

How to be the biggest abomination: on a Sunday, wake up early; have sex with your wife while she's on her period; then go do some office work that you brought home with you; it doesn't matter if you shower you are unclean until even; have a bacon, egg, chicken breast, and cheese sandwich for breakfast; get dressed in a shirt that is a cotton/poly blend; then go to church; go to Red Lobster afterward and get the shrimp/lobster combo. I think that covers most of it.

²³And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.

When they go into Israel, the fruit planted by the current inhabitants was unclean.

²⁶Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

That doesn't mean, don't have a calendar. Observe times is actualy augury, which means to divine (fortune telling) based on the flights of birds.

²⁷Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

Orthodox Jews don't cut their sideburns, and don't shave their beards. My belief about the meaning of this verse, is that it is a prohibition against looking like an Egyptian.

Facial Hair (Specifically Beards) in Ancient Egypt

Nevertheless, early in the Dynastic period, shaving seems to have become fashionable, at least amongst the noble elements of society. Later, shaving spread to the rest of the population, which had a rather understandable tendency to follow the customs of higher society

In death, the kings were frequently portrayed wearing the divine Osird form of the beard, which was a long, narrow beard of several strands plaited like a pigtail with the end jutting forward...

That pretty much describes a goatee. Looking at the context of the people leaving Egypt, and attempting to leave behind the Egyptian ways, it makes sense to tell the people that they can't look like an Egyptian.

²⁹Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.

Um, they needed a law for that?

³⁵Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.

³⁶Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Have correct measurements.

Leviticus 20

²Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

If you sacrifice your child to another god, you will be killed.

⁶And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

Which is why Lamentations was written, because god promised to cut off a small infected part before it overtook the entire body... oh wait.

⁹For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.

What is the punishment for breaking "honor thy father and mother"? Death.

What is the punishment for adultery?Death.

¹⁰And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

What is the punishment for sleeping with your dad's wife (not your mother)?

¹¹And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Also, with your daughter in law.

¹³If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Previously we learned that homosexual sex was an abomination. Now we learn that it is a crime punishable by death. Jesus didn't change that law.

²³And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.

Not only is there the prohibition against doing the Egyptian things, there's also commands to not do the same thing as the current inhabitants of the land. The people have to come up with their own culture.

²⁵Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.

remember, Noah, didn't have that list. He didn't have the prohibition against clean and unclean (of course he didn't eat flesh), so how did he know the clean/unclean animals?

²⁷A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.

Except when they are important to the story.

Leviticus 21

This chapter is some rules for Aaron and his sons.

⁵They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

No tattoos.

⁷They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.

That seems like there was a problem with whores in the area. Also of divorces.

⁹And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.

Burn girls that sleep around. (but only if they are Aaron's granddaughters)

¹³And he shall take a wife in her virginity.

¹⁴A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.

He only gets to marry a virgin.

¹⁷Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.

Offspring of Aaron who have ... um... issues, aren't allowed to be priests.

¹⁸For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,

¹⁹Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,

²⁰Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;

²¹No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.

Those people aren't allowed to give the offerings to god. They can't go inside the vail. God doesn't really want to see any of the cast of Freaks offering him sacrifices. He is holy, he is clean, he doesn't want anyone who isn't to go near him.


Especially not the black worm guy in the center of the first row.

Points to ponder:

1. Do you fear the god of the old testament? You should. If you don't fear him, you should at least fear his followers.

2. If you believe/follow/value the bible, why don't you kill homosexuals?

3. If you believe/follow/value the bible, do you wear mixed fiber clothes?

Day 35. Leviticus 16-18

Leviticus 16-18

Leviticus 16

¹And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died;

Remember, back in Leviticus 10, god killed Nadab and Abihu for burning god's favorite incense with strange fire.

God then tells Moses that Aaron isn't to go behind the vail, or he'll die. He's supposed to offer a bullock and a ram as offerings. And he's to offer two goats and another ram.

⁷And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁸And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

One of the goats is actually the scapegoat. The first scapegoat was a ram. It was the one that was stuck in the thicket when Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22. That scapegoat wasn't as lucky as this one.

⁹And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.

¹⁰But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

This scapegoat gets released into the wilderness.

¹⁵Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:

I think I'd rather be the scapegoat who gets released than the sacrifice goat who gets killed.

¹⁶And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

¹⁷And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.

Remember, this is the punishment that Aaron has to do, so he can continue to be the high priest. He is forced to atone for the sins of his sons, even though the sons were killed for their sin, it wasn't enough, god wanted more killed.

²¹And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:

²²And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

Wow, something doesn't get killed in this whole blood bath. It's still amazing. The picture is The Scapegoat, by William Holman Hunt, 1854.

²⁹And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:

³⁰For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

This is a part of Yom Kippur. the Day of Atonement.

³³And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.

³⁴And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.

Having a scapegoat is the ultimate lack of responsibility. Not only are you not punished for your own faults, someone/something innocent is given the blame. Many christians believe Jesus is the scapegoat. He died for their sins. Do you teach your children that it is ok for them to do whatever they want?

Leviticus 17

³What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,

If you kill an animal...

⁴And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people:

⁵To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the LORD.

You HAVE to offer some of it to god. For every killed animal, a piece of it must go into the tabernacle.

⁷And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.

This is the first use of the word devil(s).

If a man offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and doesn't take any of it to the tabernacle, that guy is kicked out.

¹¹For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

¹²Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.

Blood makes the atonement, it is how you absolve yourself in front of god. It's the only way to get back into the good after doing a wrong.

¹⁵And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean.

Eating something that dies on it's own will only make you unclean for the rest of the day. That's not so bad.

Leviticus 18

³After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.

Don't do the things that they did in Egypt. Be your own people.

⁶None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.

This is the prohibition against incest... kind of. It's not stated to not have sex, it just says don't see then naked, but that really means "don't have sex with them".

Here's the list:
Father, Mother, father's wife (not mother), sister, half sister, niece, granddaughter, aunt (both mother and father's sister), uncle, uncle's wife, daughter in law, sister in law, woman and her daughter (regardless of your fantasies), woman and granddaughter (regardless of if she's a GILF), woman and sister (damn), woman on her period, neighbor's wife.

²¹And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Apparently sacrificing (burnt offering) children to Molech was common.

²²Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

This is the verse that says that it's not ok to be gay. Leviticus 18:22 is the "don't be gay" verse. How anyone who is gay can justify being a christian is beyond my ability to comprehend. The two do not go together. I'm not advocating kicking gay men out of church, I wonder how a gay man could ever think that a religion that uses the bible was correct.

²³Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.

Don't have sex with animals. The verses are back to back. Bestiality is as bad as homosexuality; the punishment is the same. (not my opinion, it's straight from the bible)

²⁹For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

According to the bible, gay men are an abomination. This law was never repealed. Jesus didn't do away with the law. People will claim he did away with the "ceremonial" law, but not the "moral" law.

³⁰Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

Was having sex with the entire family a common practice in Egypt?

Points to ponder:

1. Is having a scapegoat shirking responsibility?

2. It's convenient how the religious leader was also the secular leader (was there an actual separation or were all law violations sins directly aimed at god?) and therefore, were able to receive a part of every animal that was killed.

3. Do you believe Christianity and Judaism can coexist with a homosexual? How do you justify that? If you reject Leviticus 18:22, what other parts do you reject? If you are gay, how can you chose to worship a god who has said that you are an abomination?

Day 34. Leviticus 13-15

Leviticus 13-15

Leviticus 13

²When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:

Leprosy, all my parts are falling off of me...

Except, this isn't real leprosy.

Leprosy is also called Hansen's Disease. It's a disease cause by Mycobacterium leprae. According to Wiki, leprosy does not cause body parts to fall off, but they can become numb and/or diseased. Real leprosy isn't contagious.

The word used in the Hebrew bible is Tzaraath, there isn't an English word for that, so early translators used the word leprosy.

³And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.

Tzaraath apparently means "smiting". The disease is a punishment for sin.

When did Moses get to be an authority on skin diseases? Oh, he's not an authority, the Torah was given to Moses word for word on mount Sinai. Or, there's a tradition for treatment that's been passed down from generation to generation.

If you are unclean, you are stuck in your house for seven days. If the infection doesn't spread, you get seven more days of lockup. If after that time, the plague turns into a scab, the person is clean.

If the infection spreads the person is unclean.

¹⁴But when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean.

eeew.

¹⁵And the priest shall see the raw flesh, and pronounce him to be unclean: for the raw flesh is unclean: it is a leprosy.

Or it's a punishment from god.

²⁹If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard;

I'd say a bearded lady is a plague...

³⁰Then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.

A yellow hair?

³⁸If a man also or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots, even white bright spots;

³⁹Then the priest shall look: and, behold, if the bright spots in the skin of their flesh be darkish white; it is a freckled spot that groweth in the skin; he is clean.

Freckles are not unclean.

⁴⁰And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean.

⁴¹And he that hath his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, he is forehead bald: yet is he clean.

Going bald is not unclean.

⁴²And if there be in the bald head, or bald forehead, a white reddish sore; it is a leprosy sprung up in his bald head, or his bald forehead.

Having sores on your bald head, that is unclean.

⁴⁵And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.

The covering is a veil that goes down to the upper lip. The person must announce to others that they are unclean, so clean people don't accidentally bump into them.

⁴⁷The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woollen garment, or a linen garment;

Clothes can also be diseased.

⁵²He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woollen or in linen, or any thing of skin, wherein the plague is: for it is a fretting leprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire.

Diseased clothes, that don't heal within a week, get burned.

Leviticus 14

²This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest:

He has to take two birds, with cedar and scarlet, and hyssop, and kill one of the birds. Then the rest of the stuff (including the live bird) have to be dipped into the blood of the killed bird. Then they let the blood loose.

⁸And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days.

We see that they are still living in tents here.

On the last day, the guy has to shave off all his body hair, and wash, and he's finally clean.

¹⁰And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil.

Then the priest kills most of the animals.

¹⁴And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot:

This was the same ritual that Moses did to Aaron and his sons. The hear, do, go cleansing ritual.

If the guy is poor, then one of the lambs can be two doves.

³⁴When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;

³⁵And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house:

This seems to have been translated by someone who is very poetic. He's also almost apologetic to have to bother the priest about his house.

"It seems to me, there is, as it were, a plague in the house".

³⁷And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall;

³⁸Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days:

It seemeth to me, as it were, that the house has mold, possibly black mold, as it were.

After a week, if the plague spreads, the house will be disassembled, and then rebuilt with other building material.

If it comes back, the plasce is unclean.

⁵⁴This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy, and scall,

⁵⁵And for the leprosy of a garment, and of a house,

⁵⁶And for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot:

⁵⁷To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy.

If you are going to be a levitical priest, I recommend studying the law of leprosy. If you aren't, then it's really not that important.

Leviticus 15

²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When any man hath a running issue out of his flesh, because of his issue he is unclean.

Whoo hoo, leviticacisms!

If you are oozing, you are unclean. Don't touch anyone, don't leave your house, wash your bed and your clothes, take a bath.

For most of these issues, to get to be clean, you need to wash with water, usually running water. Even after washing, you are unclean until even (evening). So, for the rest of the day, you are unclean.

¹⁴And on the eighth day he shall take to him two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before the LORD unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and give them unto the priest:

Having an oozing sore is a sin, for that you must sacrifice two birds.

¹⁶And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.

Having sex, to climax makes you unclean.

¹⁸The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.

Women who have sex are also unclean.

¹⁹And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.

Having your period makes you unclean. Everything a woman touches while she is having her period becomes unclean. Anyone who touches a woman on her period becomes unclean.

²⁴And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean.

If you have sex with a girl while she is on her period, you are unclean for seven days, just like she is.

²⁵And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean.

If her period lasts longer than a week, she's unclean that whole time.

²⁸But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.

²⁹And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Having a period longer than a week isn't a medical issue, it's caused by sin.

³¹Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.

So, the reason that god gave these laws was so that no one who is unclean will go and defile the tabernacle.

³²This is the law of him that hath an issue, and of him whose seed goeth from him, and is defiled therewith;

³³And of her that is sick of her flowers, and of him that hath an issue, of the man, and of the woman, and of him that lieth with her that is unclean.

The leper laws were mostly for priests. The oozing laws are for everyone.

Points to ponder:

1. Do you go to church when you have a running sore? Does a bandaid or other bandage make you clean?

2. Do you go to church when you are on your period?

3. Do you believe that women during their period are unclean?

4. Do you believe the whole bible to be correct and as valuable to everyday life today as it was 3 thousand years ago? If so, do you not touch other people during the week of your period?

Day 33. Leviticus 10-12

Leviticus 10-12

Leviticus 10

¹And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.

Going through what we've read so far, I don't see the exact specifications for god's incense.

²And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.

God ate them. Burning the wrong incense will get you devoured by god.

The drawing to the right is apparently before they were consumed.

³Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.

Aaron didn't express any outrage that his sons were killed. Moses made sure of that.

⁴And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.

⁵So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said.

Again, we see that Aaron's sons were still of a higher class than anyone else. Aaron's sons couldn't carry out their dead brother, it took some cousins to do that. But then, priests aren't supposed to touch any dead thing.

⁶And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled.

Moses doesn't even let the brothers cry for their dead.

⁹Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:

It is kind of a leviticacism, but it deals directly with the levites.

Next, is the story of one day when there was too much food left over. Well, of course there's going to be leftovers, two of the people who were supposed to eat were killed by god.

¹⁶And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron which were left alive, saying,

¹⁷Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD?

Why wasn't Moses back there feeding his face day in and day out?

¹⁹And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD; and such things have befallen me: and if I had eaten the sin offering to day, should it have been accepted in the sight of the LORD?

²⁰And when Moses heard that, he was content.

Moses didn't stop to think that god was killing people he didn't like, so since Aaron wasn't killed yet, god obviously wasn't too angry.

Leviticus 11

²Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.

Here we get the list of edible and non-edible animals. Well, the others are edible, just not for Hebrews.

³Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.

Animals that are clovenfooted include pigs, deer and sheep.

⁴Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

Camels don't have split toes.

⁵And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

⁶And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

Coney's are rabbits. Hares are also rabbits.

⁷And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.

In order to be eaten, it has to pass both of the criteria, cloven footed AND chews cud. If it only does one, it's unclean.

You'll note this is the first time where the list of unclean animals is presented, it is roughly 1334. Yet somehow, Noah knew the difference back in 2348.

⁸Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.

Don't eat them, don't touch their dead bodies.

⁹These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.

Fish with fins and scales are clean.

¹⁰And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:

Catfish are an abomination. Shellfish are an abomination.

Next is a list of the birds that are unclean/abominations.

Eagle, ospray, vulture, raven, owl, hawk, swan, pelican, stork, heron, lapwing...

bat.

¹³And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; ¹⁹And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

That's right, if you didn't know this, bats are fowl.

Next is a list of insects that you can eat.

²¹Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth;

Locust, beetle, grasshopper... Wait, did that say that these animals had 4 legs?

²⁹These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind,

Don't eat them.

³⁰And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole.

No more escargot. No more... chameleon soup.

Next is a warning to not touch any of the unclean animals dead bodies.

³⁹And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even.

You will be unclean if you touch the dead body of a clean animal. Even means when the sun goes down.

⁴²Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

⁴³Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby.

Something with more feet is abominable.

⁴⁴For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Exactly what kind of defiling are we talking about?

⁴⁵For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

God likes to harp on the Egypt thing. Which is odd, because he's telling these people as they are wandering. They are still eating quail and manna, I'd assume they'd kill for a pig right about now.

⁴⁶This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth:

⁴⁷To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.

So, now we see that this is the law of the clean and unclean animals. How did Noah know?

Leviticus 12

²Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.

Childbirth makes one unclean. Being unclean is a sin. Therefore giving birth is a sin.

³And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

Don't forget to do that.

⁴And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

After giving birth to a boy, a woman is basically unclean for 33 days.

If she gives birth to a girl, she's unclean for two weeks, and needs to be purified for 66 days. Giving birth to a girl is twice as sinful as giving birth to a boy.

⁶And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:

A woman who gives birth must bring a sin offering. There, you see, giving birth is a sin. If she can't afford a lamb, she can bring two turtledoves.

Points to ponder:

1. I've asked you to ponder this before, but think about it again... Where did Noah get the list of unclean animals 1000 years before?

2. Giving birth is a sin.

3. What kind of incense produces an essence that will incense god to kill?

Day 32. Leviticus 7-9

Leviticus 7-9

Leviticus 7

¹Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy.

Looks like this chapter is going to be more of how to kill things.

²In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass offering: and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar.

Leviticus 1 was about the burnt offering, this is more about the trespass offering.

The priest is to offer the fat, the rump, the fat on the innards, the fat on the kidneys. The caul above the liver and the kidneys themselves are not to be burned.

⁵And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a trespass offering.

We don't know how well done it's supposed to be.

⁶Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy.

Of course they get to eat it.

⁸And the priest that offereth any man's burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered.

The skin doesn't get burned, the skin doesn't get thrown away, the skin belongs to the priest. The priest gets the leather.

⁹And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it.

The priest gets the bread.

¹²If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.

¹³Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.

If it's a thanksgiving offering, then leaven is acceptable.

²⁰But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that pertain unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

An unclean person can not eat offerings.

²³Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.

Right there, in the middle of the rules for the offerings, we have another leviticacism. Don't eat the fat.

²⁴And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye shall in no wise eat of it.

You can use the fat for other things, but not for eating. Other uses are... um... grease maybe?

²⁵For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people.

Eating fat of offerings will get you kicked out. Looks like we are back to offerings again.

²⁶Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.

Nope, it was just one verse about eating the fat of offerings.

²⁷Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

Don't eat blood. You will be kicked out.

²⁹Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the LORD shall bring his oblation unto the LORD of the sacrifice of his peace offerings.

And, back to offerings.

³¹And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar: but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons'.

³²And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings.

Chris Rock said daddy gets the big piece of chicken. Aaron's sons get the big piece of meat.

The right shoulder goes to the priest who did the cutting.

³⁷This is the law of the burnt offering, of the meat offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecrations, and of the sacrifice of the peace offerings;

³⁸Which the LORD commanded Moses in mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations unto the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai.

So, we've had burnt offerings, meat (flour) offerings, sin offerings, trespass offerings, and peace offerings. Moses was apparently on mount Sinai when that happened. That's odd, because it doesn't seem like the conversation has moved from anywhere. The last place we were told anyone was was in Leviticus 1:1 And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, and now, they are on mount Sinai.

Leviticus 8

God continues to talk to Moses.

²Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread;

³And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Moses must have really liked his nephews. We don't get to hear at all about what happened to his own kids.

So Moses gathers everyone, washes Aaron and his sons, and then dressed him.

¹⁵And he slew it; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it.

Aaron was probably thinking, how come I get in trouble for making a golden calf, and in the meantime, you get to kill a real calf and sprinkle it's blood around like it is something all mighty.

¹⁸And he brought the ram for the burnt offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.

¹⁹And he killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.

Then they killed the ram.

²²And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.

²³And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.

Then they killed the other ram. Moses took some of the blood and put it on Aaron's right ear, right thumb, and big toe of right foot.

There seems to be a bunch of crap on the internet about why there was blood put on those places. This guy says: the ear symbolizes that we should be careful for what we hear. The thumb symbolizes what we do; the toe symbolizes where we go. Apparently that's the common theory behind it. The Blood of Consecration by Henry Morris. It seems like people are trying to give meaning to a weird ghastly ritual.

Then Moses put some of the bread on the altar, and gave some to Aaron and his boys.

³⁰And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons' garments with him; and sanctified Aaron, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him.

That's the holy hallucinogenic oil.

³³And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you.

Is James Arthur Ray related to Moses?

³⁶So Aaron and his sons did all things which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

You really have to wonder why Aaron had so much allegiance for Moses. Moses is relatively new to being a Hebrew, remember, he didn't find out until he was at the burning bush. Aaron probably knew about his brother, but I'd expect some sort of resentment from him, with his brother who grew up entitled suddenly coming to the family and then leading them off into the desert. But, we never see Aaron questioning Moses. He seems to follow him blindly.

Leviticus 9

After the 7 days in the sweatlodge, Moses calls out Aaron, and gives them a calf and a baby ram to eat.

⁴Also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD; and a meat offering mingled with oil: for to day the LORD will appear unto you.

Also a full cow, and adult ram, and some bread.

⁹And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him: and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar:

You probably picture the Aztec altar where there were human sacrifices as bloody altars, places that had body parts laying around, where cadavers were just flung and left where ever they landed. The altar in the tabernacle was probably just as gruesome. There are priests with blood over them, an altar with blood, blood poured around it, it's smokey, and if you are inside, you are probably tripping on holy anointing oil.

Anyway, they killed everything, and put it on the altar.

²²And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings.

²³And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people.

²⁴And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

God personally consumed the offering with fire. The people saw it, they believed... it won't last.

Points to ponder:

1. They have been in the wilderness for just over a year now, they are already sacrificing animals that have been born on the trip.

2. I really find it odd that the Levites became the entitled class. It's especially odd considering Jacob's blessing, that also went to Simeon.Genesis 49:⁶O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.

⁷Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

That doesn't seem like Levi will never have to work. It says they will be scattered. Levi was scattered, but not as a punishment, they were placed in part of everyone else's land. They got it easy. (but that's later on)

3. You will often hear people claiming verses are taken out of context (especially if they disagree with the verse). Many people believe there are verses that can stand alone, and verses that you need to see what comes before and after in order to understand. John 3:16 is an example of a stand alone verse, why? because it's a happy verse. Happy verses don't need anything further around them. Verses that espouse hatred and violence always seem to need some sort of context. There are many verses that we'll come across in Leviticus that the verse in front and the verse behind have nothing to do with anything else. Like in Leviticus 7, where it jumps from offerings, to don't eat blood.

If you look at the context of John 3:16, (John 3:17) it might change your perception of the verse. John 3:17 says that god didn't send his son to the world to condemn the world, but that the world could be saved. It doesn't say that Jesus won't condemn the world, it just says that wasn't his only mission. You are still probably going to go to hell. Like Daniel Tosh said, "what would Jesus do? So I lit him on fire and sent him to Hell"Context only matters if you don't like what a verse says.