Day 33: Decisions, Debts, and a Way Forward

Today we read Exodus 9, Leviticus 7, and Psalms 49. The story of Exodus and Leviticus seem to incrementally feel more uncomfortable and seem strange. But, it’s important not to give up on these very important parts of “the story” that is unfolding. Dr. Tim Mackie describes Exodus as a foundation story which is really important for the storyline in the Bible where we are being drawn into our need for a Savior in a clearer way than ever before. When we compare the Exodus story to the Noah’s Ark story in Genesis, we see here that God is confronting the wicked at the same time that He is commissioning His people to go when in the Noah story, we only read that God commissioned Noah and His family and the story does not say that God confronted, denied, or invited the wicked to change their heart. Dr. Tim Mackie describes reading Leviticus like eating our vegetables, it is good for our bones, for our spiritual bones. We also have to remember that one of the reasons this part of the story line feels so foreign to us is that this is a very foreign culture to us. Therefore, instead of just turning away, we keep reading and focusing on what God is doing in, through, and despite the culture, the people, and the situations. There is where wisdom can be found. For example, animal sacrifice is hard to read, but we are also reading about the “why” it is a sacrifice that covers our sin debt. It is God making a way to atone for us that will ultimately be fulfilled in the New Testament through Jesus.

Resources:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings (March, 2017), A Kingdom of What? (40 minutes), Retrieved from https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/25 

Give an overview of the book of Leviticus.

A Kingdom of What? Presentation (PDF)

Discussion Video for BEMA 25

Leviticus: A Call to Priesthood (Sermon Series) — Real Life on the Palouse - Paule Patterson

Dr. Tim Mackie and John Collins, https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/exodus-1-18/ 

 

Dr. Carmen Imes, Exodus Class - Exodus 1-40, (14 hours) Bible Project. https://bibleproject.com/classroom/overview/exodus-overview/ 

Credits:

Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.