Today my Bible students and I waded through...yes waded through Gen 23. It is interesting that few commentators have dealt with this chapter and yet if one mines the truths herein there is a wealth of information that is not only intriguing but also worthwhile.

Within this chapter we learn of the death of Sarah. Trivia question: who is the only woman whose death is recorded? You are right if you said Sarah! Who is the only woman whose age is recorded? If you said Sarah you are right again! How about her place of burial? Sarah again. And what woman in the Bible is the only one whose name was changed? Yes, Sarah again. Sarah must have been pretty important for us to glean these points about her life. We might also add that Sarah is the only woman to have birthed a child after the age of 90+.

But in this chapter only 3 verses deal with the death of Sarah. The rest of the chapter is about the burial bargain Abraham struck with Ephron the son of Zophar which ended up being the most costly cemetery plot in all of biblical history. Note limited to biblical history! Many cemetery plots have cost more in dollars and cents but this one cost more than any other plot of ground in the entire Bible. In fact, Abraham ended up paying 400 shekels of silver for a cave, a field, the trees in the field and the boundary line. In addition, he also had to pay the taxes on this property from this time onward. In sharp contrast King David spent only 50 shekels of silver for the land belonging to Araunah for the plot of land that would house the Temple. Jeremiah only spent 7 shekels of silver for his plot of ground.


So what is the significance of this story in the Bible? First it shows that purchasing of a cemetery plot is vital to mark the site of a death. Secondly, where the plot is located is irrelevant to us but to Abraham it demonstrated that he had "moved on" from Haran to Canaan and trusted God for the future. Thirdly, family plots are not a new thing and in fact this is the first family plot and the first place that the word grave is used in the Bible. In this family plot not only would Sarah be buried but also Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. Jacob's first love, Rachel would be buried in Bethlehem and her son Joseph would be buried in Shechem and our Savior in Jerusalem. Fourthly, Abraham knew that he needed to own a burial plot not borrow it. Jesus was laid in a borrowed tomb but He needed it only for 3 days. Abraham needed a grave for posterity! To take it as a gift from Ephron meant that he now owed him something in return or if he borrowed a grave from another it would have to be returned. Fifthly, if Abraham only owned the cave and Ephron's field was sold to another the entrance then might be restricted thus cutting off a family inheritance's entrance. And lastly and most importantly, Abraham's purchase revealed his faith in the Promises that God gave him about the land being a gift from God to his descendants.

So what questions are we to ask based upon this story? First have you planned for your death and/or do you plan like Abraham to wait for death of your loved one to occur? The story is told of a man who had two cemetery plots, one on the east coast and one on the west coast. The man's son seeing that the end was near asked his father which grave he would like for his son's to choose. The man answered: surprise me. Is that your choice?

Are you prepared as Abraham to purchase a plot for a high price or will you go to the bargain basement for your loved one?
Important questions to consider.

Trivia point: King Herod erected an edifice over the Cave of Machpelah to protect it. Today the Palestinians control this edifice. They have set up centopahs for each of the deceased in the cave but have closed off the cave. The centopah's are memorials draped in green cloths which are embroidered in gold.One wonders what Abraham would have said to all of this "show". We know he is not there as recorded in Luke 16 where the rich man speaks to him across the chasm and now in the presence of the God he love having been taken there when Jesus took the saints from Paradise to Heaven!

God has a secret place; a place in which He hides me. It is called the cleft of the rock and His shadow covers me as He passes by. When I am in that secret place as His child I can be sure that my prayers are heard by Him for He is my avid listener. As I wait in the secret place my heart grows fonder for I know that He is nearby. It is here that I find I can seek forgiveness and ponder His character. It is here hidden from the world that I can hear Him say “I am compassionate and my love is steadfast in my lovingkindness”. In this secret place I can hear His Voice which is powerful and majestic like a rushing mighty waterfall. It is here that I can sing, praise and give Him thanks for His eye is upon me. This is my place of refuge when in a moment my life can come tumbling down. It is here that I cry “Abba Father.” What is my secret place? It is my place of prayer and adoration, confession and thanksgiving where I can be transparent and vulnerable and away from the probing eyes of others and the noise of the world. I can pour out my musings and my inner heart thoughts. I love my secret place...in my prayer chair where I meet God each day. Where is your secret place?

What Mask Are You Wearing Today?

There is a saying “know thyself”. Interestingly David did not quite agree with that statement as he wrote: Psa 139:23 Examine me, and probe my thoughts! Test me, and know my concerns! Only God knows us and we fool ourselves before we fool anyone except God alone. We fool ourselves because our heart is desperately wicked: Jer 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else.." But, God has a way of bringing home His revealed pearls of wisdom and although we would rather keep those pearls hidden in our oyster of protection, He opens it and drops in a grain of sand to show us the falseness of what we think and how we act. He is gracious to reveal it in glaring color so that we may be “taught, reproved, corrected and/or trained in righteousness" to be more Christ-like.

There are two stories that are similar in length, ideas, and patterns and from those we see how this truth of 2Tim 3:16 is so very true. Analysis shows us two very similar families with two brothers under the same roof. The first set of sons in the OT are about 15 yrs apart in age. The age of the set of sons in the NT is not revealed. Age is really irrelevant in either story. What is relevant is the outcome, the unrevealed and then revealed behaviors with similar reactions. What is also intriguing is what triggered that same reaction.

In Gen 21 we meet the two boys who have the same father, but different mothers. The parentage again is irrelevant to the outcome but God has given us that nugget of information to reveal to us that one was called the son of the flesh and the other the son of promise. We know very little of the first 15 yrs of the oldest son’s life other than he was the son of a man of God and a Egyptian handmaid. We also know that this son was born when the man of God was very old and his first wife was barren. A third detail is that he was circumcised at age 13. Since he was the son of a later life we can make some assumptions: he was pampered and was the delight of his father’s life. Enter into the equation a son of promise that the man of God had clearly heard spoken of in conversations between he and God and yet had not yet been revealed. He enters the scene at approximately 15 yrs after the first son’s birth. Move ahead approximately 3 yrs when the second son is weaned and a huge celebration is held in his honor. Now the pampered first son reveals what perhaps had been hidden due to the sole attention he had received prior. He begins to mock and ridicule the little one. In fact the mocking was serious enough to gather the attention of God who spoke to the man of God and said listen to your first wife and send the son away. And without a word, the man of God obeys.

Fast forward to the NT and we see a similar situation in a home of a doting father and two sons. The one is a rebel and he insists on his inheritance early and he leaves the home and wanders the world, squandering his inheritance until none is left. The second son has remained at home, obediently tending the farm day after day. But, one day the “rebel” appears on the scene as a rag-a-muffin, dirty, unshaven, and hungry. The father seeing him afar off runs and draws him into an embrace. Next we see the father planning a huge celebration. As the older son returns from the field he hears music and asks a servant: what is going on? The servant reveals that his brother has returned and the father has planned a huge celebration. Now we see the true character revealed as he angrily speaks to his father: Look! These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet you never gave me even a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ Luke 15:29

What do we see in each of these older brothers? Both had been submissive to their parents, had been obedient and had received the sole attention of the father while the other son was not a part of the family scene. But, when the second son arrives and receives attention the pampered son reveals what was truly in his heart: jealousy, anger and selfishness.

What do these two stories have to teach us? First we all have that carnal nature within and we cover it with a false façade. But, when attention is given to another when we feel it should be given to us, our false façade falls away and reveals what is truly within us. James tells us the fruit of jealousy: Jam 3:16 "For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice." May we beware of the sin of jealousy and learn from these stories so that we do not fall victim as these two brothers did. Where today have you felt the spark of jealousy in your heart? Slay the enemy of jealousy so that there is peace and harmony.

A Love Letter's Signature

[Lev 26-27] A Love Letter’s Signature:
We all have received letters signed with a dramatic signature and flowing script;

With All My Love, _______.

The book of Leviticus is a love letter from the Father to His children. He has bestowed upon them His privileged love, His private land collection, His wealth, His possessions and more. As we read this we are struck by His reminder of “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of bondage”. Over and over He has told the Israelites of this fact so that by now it is imprinted upon their mind. They have heard it and heard it and heard it until they sleep hearing it, eat hearing it, walk hearing it, work hearing it. One would think that by now they would be saying it along with God…but wait…Numbers is but ahead as is Judges, the Kings and Chronicles. All present a history of the children who heard yet chose to reject.

Today as I walked into the Assisted Living place to teach my precious senior saints whom I have grown to love deeply, as my passionate love letters, I looked for one in particular. Not finding him I went looking for him. I asked him if he was coming only to hear once again, “I don’t think so”. He has heard the gospel over and over, he has seen and felt my love for him and yet to my grief he has chosen to not have any interest in spiritual matters. My heart, like God’s, is heavy. He has seen the blessings that God has poured out upon him just as God said “I send the rain upon the just and the unjust”. Why? Because He is not willing that any should perish. That is why He sent his son, His only son. The tears are heavy on my eyelids as I am sure they are on God’s.

Chapter 26 is God’s farewell letter of His instructions to the children of Israel. It is His signature of His thoughts to them. It is His way of saying, I have done all I could to, I have told you all I could tell you, now it is up to you to choose. If there was ever a clear cut conclusion to a “letter” or to a “book” this is it. As we have been reading each day through God's Love Letter of Leviticus we have been told that we are to be holy as He is holy and now God says without holiness there will be the consequences.

Are we listening? Or are we like the Israelites who are there living in the Presence of the Most Holy God and yet becoming dull of hearing? Where are you today? It is my prayer that this verse describes you.

1Cor 3:2-3 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone, revealing that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets of human hearts.

Service with a capital "P".

Feb 21 [Lev 24-25] Throughout the book of Leviticus we have been confronted with these words “thou shall be holy as I am holy”. Holiness should be our ongoing view towards our destiny Heb 12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, for without it no one will see the Lord.
As Aaron and his sons worked inside the Tabernacle they were brought face to face with the visual reminder of their need for purity and holiness in the private areas where they tended the lampstand, the incense altar, and the table of shewbread as well as themselves. Outside, the people, who never saw this area, knew that by providing the pure beaten olive oil and the loaves of unleavened bread, they were demonstrating their understanding of the pre-eminence of the Holiness of God and the position of Aaron and his sons. They were charged with these tasks that they may participate in the purity and holiness surrounding the Tabernacle where the Presence of the Lord God dwelled.
Centuries later Malachi, as God’s prophet, called the people to account for forgetting not only their act of service but also their disdain of the sacrificial system. Thus they had lost sight of their destiny! They questioned its purpose, its plan, and its provision. They did not understand their position as a people holy to the Lord God, chosen to be his people, prized above all others on the face of the earth. (Deut 14) Instead, Malachi charged them for their faithlessness by treating the table of the Lord as if it is of no importance.
How quickly we lose sight of our part in the service for the King of Kings and as Malachi notes we are saying: ‘How tiresome it is.’ or, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements?”
OR are you of the group that recognizes this error, those who respect the Lord---these are the ones that the Lord notices and records their service in His scroll of remembrances.
How do you see the service you offer to your church, your pastor, your Sunday School teacher? Do you see it as an offering of beauty and purity or do you see it as a tiresome task? Do you see it as a sign that you are chosen by Him as His peculiar people? Can you recognize with Paul: that your labor is not in vain in the Lord?
Application: Today see your gift of beaten oil or your unleavened bread as your offering to the Lord to assist those in leadership that they may equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, (Eph 4). See yourself as God’s chosen generation to carry forth His word. (Ps 78)

What part of "NO" do we not understand?

We hear today, “what part of NO do you not understand”. Jehovah asks “what part of defilement do you not understand?” In Lev 18 “You must not have sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman; it is a detestable act”. In other words, homosexuality is not only wrong but it is detestable in the eyes of Jehovah. What we read in Lev 18 is spoken about in Romans “For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men...” Jehovah is reasoning, no He is commanding!!! His people and us in the 21st century. Lev 18:24-25 “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations which I am about to drive out before you have been defiled with all these things. Therefore, the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants.” Did you grab that? It is not only a detestable act but it defiles the person AND the land. In the NY Times there was an article titled “Gay Marriage, Passed, Awaits Veto by Christie” with a picture showing those in the Assembly rejoicing over the passage of the same sex marriage law. Excuse me! Paul wrote Eph 5:11-12 “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For the things they do in secret are shameful even to mention” and yet here we see that our governmental leaders who should be examples of godliness revealing that even though “they fully know God’s righteous decree …they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.” In essence they are thumbing their noses at God and openly and flagrantly disobeying Him. End result? We are beginning to see the effects of this defilement in the people and now in the land. How much longer will God’s mercy be upon us? We need strong leaders around the world to stand against this mockery and defilement. We need to protect our next generation (Ps 78) or we will stand accountable because we refused to stand and proclaim His truth. Principle: We are to love the sinner but hate the sin. May we be bold today! Pray for our leaders! Pray for our nation! Pray for those who are blind to the truth!
A good article on the truth; http://bible.org/article/homosexuality-christian-perspective

Is instant gratification biblical?

Is instant gratification biblical? Lev 15 In this section God gives the prohibitions, the instructions for cleansing and the once again “separate but not equal rule” for those whose bodies have had a discharge. In the middle of this chapter we come across the discharge from a woman in particular with all of its drama of adding the “unclean, unclean” status. But, let’s put our focus on the woman in particular because Jesus meets such a woman in the gospels. This is a woman who, like the Samaritan woman at the well, is clearly revealed as one who faced the rejection and maybe even persecution from the physical and spiritual community.

She has each day to choose where she goes, with whom she interacts, the times she goes to the well to gather water for the washing, which has for twelve long years, not achieved the intended purpose. She feels their stares, their whispered words behind her back, and her feelings of abandonment. She has seen the Dr.’s now for 12 yrs who have sapped not only her energy but her bank account. She is perhaps homeless, family-less, friendless, and without hope. Her priest has declared her unfit for worship and this is the longing of her heart. She, like the Jews of WWII, wears a Yellow Star defining her as “unclean”, rejected, contaminated. She hears, like them, “Unclean Jew”. She is not only personally unclean, but all that she touches is considered unclean, and whoever comes in contact with her is contaminated.

In the midst of this she hears the rumor that that Jesus the healer has come to town. She hears the whispering women speaking of how just a touch will bring about an instant cure. Really? And so a plan is set into motion with covert actions, a plan to disguise her as a person, the hiding of the Yellow Star, a scarf to conceal her anonymity from the crowd and the Master. She quickly and with some effort, melds into the crowd searching for Him, pushing to gain a position by where she can just touch the hem of his garment. And then it all happens…and the world stands still. She touches and instantly like the speed of light, a snap of a finger, a blink of an eye the rushing fire of His power moves through her being and she knows without a shadow of doubt that she is healed! Healed! As her mind gathers momentum to what this will mean she is brought back to reality with the words of the Master: “Who touched my garment”. But, Master, look at the crowd, they are all pushing against you! NO, one has touched me, Who is it? In a moment as all eyes move about the crowd silence is deafening. She discreetly with fear and trembling breaks free of the crowd, who now recognize her as the “unclean woman”, and a hush and whispers follow her. But, as she falls at his feet and bears her heart she hears not condemnation but "My daughter, your faith has healed you…go in peace”. Eight days later, following the rules and instructions of Lev 15, we see this same woman now clothed in new garments as she walks into the same priest who declared her unclean. She brings two offerings; a turtledove and a pigeon and offers to have her status of “unclean” revoked. The Yellow Star is torn from her old garments and it is tossed upon the brazen altar…Priest listen to my testimony! I met the Master and I am clean!

As this woman was unclean and in need of cleansing, so are we unclean in our state of sin. It is only the Master’s touch that will instantly cleanse us. We have sought counselors, Dr’s, sage friends, but it is only Jesus that can cure us! How desperate are you? Are you bold to seek instant healing? Come to Jesus!