Arms Reaching

Today’s text comes from Leviticus 8-10. Chapter 8 details the Ordination of Aaron and his sons, and they begin their ministry in chapter 9. Today’s text ends with the deaths of Nadab and Abihu in chapter 10. You can find today’s text at:

https://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/beginning/2023/02/03?version=NIV

Things to Ponder – Day 34

What did Nadab and Abihu do wrong?

From Day 29: From the aftermath of the Golden Calf incident Moses repeatedly intercedes on behalf of the Israelites. Does Moses get the Lord to change his mind?

There are two points of view regarding whether or not God changes his mind. Those that support a literal reading of the bible, believe that this passage demonstrates that God changed his mind regarding the Israelites because of Moses’s pleas. They believe this an example of how prayers for intercession can cause God to change mind. But did God change his mind? Or did he just delay judgement to allow the Israelites an opportunity to repent?

Others believe that God is unchanging and unchangeable. Numbers 23:19 says “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” They point out that God had already promised Abraham and Jacob that their descendants would be a numerous as the stars in the sky, and that destroying the Israelites at Mt. Saini would break that promise. Therefore, God wanted Moses to intercede on the Israelites behalf and provided an opportunity.

Additionally, we must make a distinction between conditional and unconditional declarations of God. In Jonah, when God said, “I will destroy Nineveh in forty days,” He was speaking conditionally upon the Assyrians’ response. After the Assyrians repented, God did not destroy Nineveh. God did not change His mind; rather, His message to Nineveh was a warning meant to provoke repentance, and His warning was successful.

This is a tough passage no matter how we attempt to understand it. Indeed, there are many things which God does where He does not explain the motivation behind His actions. We need to accept the fact that we cannot know certain things about Him. This is certainly something that warrants further study!

From Day 32-33: When describing the sin offerings, the Lord says “sins unintentionally” does this mean the Lord views unintentional sins different than intentional sins?

The book of Leviticus required different offerings based on whether a sin was intentional or unintentional. The meaning behind unintentional is committing a sin by straying or by accident. In these cases, a sin offering could be made for forgiveness. However, as we will see when we get to the Book of Numbers 15:30-31, “Anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or foreigner, blasphemes the Lord and must be cut off from the people of Israel. Because they have despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, they must surely be cut off; their guilt remains on them.” Those who rebelled in committing intentional sin were to be cut off or separated from the people. Fortunately, as Christians, Christ was born, lived among us, and died on the cross as the payment for our sins.