An intro to Leviticus

A bonus for those who came to "Foundations for Life" - here is a very good introduction to Leviticus. I'll quote a little bit, but go to David Field's blog for the full piece.

With the building of the tabernacle, a new stage of God’s dealings with his people arrives. It’s like a new world – which is why there are “sevens” everywhere and why the tabernacle is like Eden in many ways. And at this point God has come to live nearer to his people than before – which is both wonderful and dangerous. Leviticus is, therefore, a book of house rules for God’s young children at that stage in history and it teaches them how to keep clean and tidy and how to grow in character like their father.

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The uncleanness laws of chapters 11-15 relate to death and the curse. It is not that uncleanness is itself sin but rather that God gave his children a picture system to teach them how to make distinctions. This would help them grow to be like their Father who also makes distinctions (as in Genesis 1). Clean animals, in chapter 11, are those which keep away from death and curse-dirt by wearing shoes and by digesting their food extra-thoroughly. Chapter 12 talks about childbirth and chapters 13 and 14 about 'leprosy'. Chapter 15 shows that what comes out of us is death until we are made new in Jesus.

Church is more exciting than you think!

Many local churches have their share of people who turn up on Sunday, slip away before coffee and are not seen until next week. There may be all sorts of reasons for this, good and bad. Maybe one reason is because people have not caught a vision of what the Church is called to be. Is is simply a feeding-station as we wait for heaven? Or a place to carry out our religious duties?

Ephesians is possibly the book to read to get a fantastic vision of the Church. Time would be well-spent simply pondering the different titles and descriptions we are given, such as 'saints' or 'God's household'.

A verse that continues to amaze me is Ephesians 3:10 -

God's intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms...

It takes a bit of digging around Ephesians to work out what this means, but basically it is saying that as the church demonstrates the unity we have in the Spirit (a unity of different races and backgrounds) God's wise plan (of bringing all things under Christ, see 1:10) is made known to the evil spiritual rulers and authorities (see 6:12). Go here to read a sermon by John Piper on this verse: it will transform the way you understand the purpose of church!

Enjoying the Bible

One-to-one work with other believers is extremely important, but I've often felt daunted at the prospect of doing all the preparation. Also, my experience is that they can often become a bit artificial, as one person asks the questions and the other answers.

But here's a pdf with a great idea by Ron Frost for reading the whole Bible through in 3-4 months with others!

The rules are simple. We selected a date for completing the project (in this case, four months from our commencement). We meet Tuesday morning for an hour. We chat for about 15 minutes and then begin to read verses that weíve underlined in our reading for the week. Each of us has 15 minutes to review as much as he can ñ thereís never enough time for all the verses. Then we share requests and pray. It may not sound dramatic, but it is the highlight of my week.

There's no need to keep pace with others - in fact, if one goes at a different rate it means together you go through the Bible twice! It also means you can meet other people without having to prepare separate studies for each one. What a great way to simply enjoy God's Word together.