How Do You Start a Nation?

Men who found nations begin by positioning armies at the borders. God begins by telling people WHAT TO EAT!  And then? After food, God gives laws addressing dead animals, skin diseases, and mold!  So unexpected!

As with the well-known dietary laws, God provides “hygiene” laws that would later be confirmed by science.  If unclean animals or insects are found dead on wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or a tool, “it is to be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening” Leviticus 11:32.  Do you see how that protects people from the germs from such things as a dead mouse? No one had heard of germs.  But Leviticus required washing long ago.

Next, God provides guidance for those with possible skin diseases—they are to be quarantined for a time while their health is evaluated.  This approach was confirmed later when we learned that skin diseases, such as leprosy, are highly contagious.

The Bible then addresses mold and mildew in “wool or linen fabric, … or in leather… it is to be shown to the priest” Lev. 13:47-49.  Next, God gives laws for handling mildew spreading in a house: “the stones with the contamination must be pulled out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city.… If the contamination reappears, it is a harmful mildew; the house is unclean. It must be torn down….” Lev. 14:40-45.  But who would be afraid of a mold? Yet science proves some molds can kill.

The lesson here is the Israelites who obeyed God—though they did not understand the reason behind the laws—were rewarded with better health.  In the same way, we must obey God’s laws even when we do not understand the reason behind them. God’s rules may appear old-fashioned or may hurt our feelings, but He is God and we must obey and trust him by faith.  Someday his ways WILL make sense.  Until then, He deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Dear God, help us obey and trust you by faith, even when we do not understand.

ΑΩ

God is in the Details.

In the late 1960s, 14,000 workers were dying on the job each year. Combined with disabling injuries and work-related diseases, going to work had become increasingly dangerous.  Thus, US politicians drafted the Occupational Safety and Health Act.  President Nixon signed the bill into law in 1970 and here’s where it gets interesting … the details. Do we require ironworkers to wear a harness and rope at thirty stories high? What if they are only three stories high? What about residential roofers?  Who must wear ear protection, steel-toed boots, and dust masks?  It is an incredible undertaking, reshaping the landscape of US industry.  And politicians, mostly lawyers and economists, can’t help. What do they know about welding safety?

But the Occupational Safety and Health Act created the Occupational Safety and Health ADMINISTRATION.  Imagine a new office building in Washington, with branches across the nation.  These offices filled with people—the Administration—will address the details.  Thousands of people will sit at desks drafting rules to greatly reduce every conceivable workplace injury.  This is how modern nations address complex problems: pass a law containing general principles, then create an agency of thousands to figure out the details: Who must wear a hard hat and how strong must it be?

God did not run Israel that way. God Himself DICTATED the most down-to-earth details.  Where US politicians draft general laws, leaving the specifics to others, the GOD OF ISRAEL took on the specifics.  God DICTATED food rules. God DICTATED rules for washing dishes, pots, ovens. God DICTATED rules for cleansing after childbirth. God DICTATED rules for swellings, burns, boils, and skin diseases. God DICTATED rules for mildew in fabrics, walls, and the stones of houses. See Leviticus 11-14.  

These four chapters—a small portion of the practical laws God dictated—are lengthy discussions, dull reading for most.  But it is amazing to consider that the God who created the universe is interested in the details of our lives.  God does not simply give His people general principles like “love everybody” and then leave it up to us to figure out the specifics.  The Bible is INCREDIBLY SPECIFIC. 

We simply need to read it.

ΑΩ

Worship Means Recognizing God’s Holiness.

“Holy” means “other.” God is OTHER than us, He is different, He is perfect. He embodies TOTAL TRUTH and PERFECT PURITY.  He must be FEARED and RESPECTED.

After a lifetime witnessing miracles, Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu were ordained as priests through a week-long process of sacrifices.  How did they respond?

“Now Nadab and Abihu took their firepans, put fire and incense in them, and put the fire before the Lord, contrary to God’s instructions. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died.  Then Moses said, ‘This is what the Lord spoke, saying ‘I must be treated as holy by those who come near Me, and before all the people I will be honored.’” Leviticus 10:1-3.

Aaron’s sons acted with pride. Rather than fearing God’s holiness, the two put their eyes on how special THEY were. They brought pride into God’s holy presence, and they were struck down.

Not only that—Aaron could say nothing about it!  “Moses said to Aaron and to his surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, ‘Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you do not die… for the Lord’s anointing oil is upon you” Lev. 10:6-7. Moses says in effect, “during this week of ordination, you three will say and do nothing but keep your focus on the holiness of God.  His holiness is more important than your grief.”

God was preparing Israel for thousands of years of nationhood. When Moses and Aaron were long gone, the nation would continue to observe God’s sacrifices and the worship of a holy God.  Consequently, several times in the early years, those who violated God’s holiness were struck down, setting a striking example for future generations.

Do we respect God’s holiness? Or do we worship while telling ourselves how special WE are?

The Bible says, “Be holy, even as I am holy.” See Lev.11:44; 1 Peter 1:16.

God, teach us to walk in holiness, to worship you in holiness and humility, to fear and respect you every moment.

ΑΩ

Mercy and Holiness.

What if your son treated a loaded gun like a toy? What would you do? Some things require an absolutely sober seriousness, right? It’s not about the child, but the NATURE OF THE OBJECT. Guns, by nature, command sobriety and respect. They are DIFFERENT than other things. They are SET APART.

Aaron’s sons brought “unauthorized fire” to the altar and fire shot out and killed them both. Leviticus 10:1-2.

Wait, what? They were fulfilling their duties as priests and God struck them down? But they ignored God’s instructions. This was in the Tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies. You can’t go in there and treat things casually. God established clear rules and they ignored them. What were they thinking? They obviously never saw RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. You don’t mess with the ark—or anything else God deems holy. I’m kidding, of course, but the two had witnessed all the miracles in Egypt and the years since. They saw the fire by night and cloud by day. They collected manna six mornings a week. They were familiar with God’s power and holiness. But they treated it carelessly.

I wrote that guns are different, “set apart.” And that’s what “holy” means. It literally means “different” or “set apart.” God is holy and He wanted His people to recognize that. The things of God are to be treated with respect, with some seriousness, like a loaded gun. That does not mean you have fear or that you don’t walk in joy. “The joy of the Lord is [always] your strength.” But we can benefit from a better understanding of holiness. 

And if you know the Lord, YOU are holy. YOU are set apart, different, special. God sees your heart as perfect and pure, worthy of entering the Holy of Holies at even your lowest moments, because of the blood of Jesus. We are covered in mercy and grace—so blessed to live under the New Covenant. But remember, God NEVER changes. And don’t buy the lie that the Father is “mean” and Jesus is “nice.” Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”

ΑΩ

Be Not Drunk With Spirits, But Filled With the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18.

Few subjects in America are more controversial than alcohol.  It is not so in Europe.  C.S. Lewis spoke often of “having a pint.” He saw no problem with drinking. But 100 years after Prohibition, Americans remain divided.  We outlawed the sale of liquor to address a serious problem.  Then we made it legal again because the prohibition proved unenforceable.  Rather than a blanket prohibition (as in Islam and Mormonism), the Bible assumes people will drink, but offers rules to control it.  Jesus turned water into wine.  He drank wine at the Last Supper and said He would not drink again until He drank in Heaven.  Imagine: we will drink in Heaven.  That should give us pause.

The Bible mentions alcohol often, but much of that is in the context of a warning about the horrible things wine will do to you.  Everyone knows the devastation.  Minor problems include absenteeism, poor work, or missed deadlines.  Serious problems follow, such as fathers who drink their paychecks and fail to provide for their families.  The risks are real; the Bible contains hundreds of warnings.  And why is it Nazirites like Samson were not only required to avoid wine, but to avoid even eating a grape?

“The Lord spoke to Aaron: ‘You and your sons are not to drink wine when you enter the tent of meeting, or else you will die” Leviticus 10:9.

“It is not for kings to drink wine … lest they forget the law … Give wine to the man who is perishing so he can forget his trouble” Proverbs 31:4-7.

No drinking for Nazirites. No drinking for priests on duty. No drinking for kings. But give wine to the poor man so he can feel relief.

Highlighting these texts alone oversimplifies the more nuanced message of scripture.  But it works for me: I choose not to drink because I would rather be the king with responsibilities than the poor man who needs relief from his problems.

God, give us wisdom about everything we put into our bodies.

ΑΩ

P.S. Drinking is a nuanced issue with plenty of gray areas and room for reasonable minds to disagree. Remember the history of Prohibition in the United States: many churches and denominations took rigid positions on one side or the other–and those positions tend to persist a century after Prohibition was repealed. My conclusion is: Jesus drank wine and miraculously provided it to others. Who am I to say it is wrong? Yet dozens of Bible passages warn of the ill effects of drinking. We must do as Paul says, “let each man have his own conviction” (Romans 14:5) and “judge not” (Matthew 7:1). Finally, If you drink often, consider fasting often. Fasting moderates appetites, ensuring we will “Be not drunk on spirits, but filled with the Holy Spirit” Ephesians 5:18. https://dadsdailydevotionals.com/2023/04/06/its-not-if-but-when/

New York State of Mind.

New Yorkers are known for being tough, argumentative, even rude—common traits in a densely populated city. But they have another trait that may not seem to fit: they don’t want to get involved. If a purse is stolen, it’s “I didn’t see nuthin,’ I don’t know nuthin.’” No one wants to help.

But sometimes justice requires you to step up. You can’t be an honest person and keep secrets when you know something that may help. Justice is a worthy goal—if you can get us there, God expects you to speak up.

“Now if a person sins after he hears a public order to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his punishment” Leviticus 5:1.

Yesterday a man came to court in shackles and an orange jumpsuit. He was in trouble already for refusing to testify. He sat on the stand and answered every question the same way: “I refuse to testify.” In the end, the judge added 18 months to the man’s prison sentence because of his refusal to cooperate. (The witness neither possessed nor asserted a fifth amendment privilege—his testimony would not have put him at risk.)

Can you see the problem? We need to hear the truth before we can render a just verdict. His refusal may mean the jury renders an unjust verdict. A murderer may go free because this witness won’t tell us what he knows. (All the witnesses appear to have been threatened; one of them testified about threats he received.)

You will probably never see a murder or have to risk your own life to tell the truth. Still, it can be scary. There are always ramifications, consequences. But INTEGRITY CREATES COURAGE as I have said before. Be honest, live a life of integrity, and God will give you courage when you need it.

THANK YOU, GOD, for the Bible and the amazing, PRACTICAL laws that guide us and our society. Help us walk in honesty, integrity, and COURAGE. Bless America’s criminal justice system with GOOD results. Bless our nation today. 

ΑΩ

The Role of Old Testament Law in Health.

Jesus redeemed us from the law.  However, Old Testament laws continued to serve an important purpose, because many of them protect people from dangers science would not discover for centuries. Here are examples in addition to the recently mentioned hand washing and burying of “night soil”:

  1. Don’t eat fish without scales and fins. Reason? The shrimp, crabs, lobsters, catfish, eels, and even sharks—are “bottom feeders” consuming carcasses of dead fish and animals, and a great deal of “fish poop,” making these the riskiest of underwater meals.  The even, “all-over” cooking provided by modern kitchens greatly reduces the risk, but may not eliminate it entirely.
  2. Don’t eat animals unless they both chew the cud and have split hooves—and pork is particularly unclean. Reason? The unusually high parasite load.  Before modern cooking, people often picked up roundworm infections from not only pork, but “bear, walrus, and horse” (quoting mayoclinic.org).
  3. Don’t eat blood. “Life is in the blood, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh” Genesis 9:4. Reason? The high bacteria and iron count pose health risks.
  4. Don’t eat fat. Reason? Science has only recently discovered the health risks of too much animal fat in our diets. Not only “marbleized steaks,” but ground beef and pork products, especially bacon, are loaded with animal fat, leading to heart disease, stroke, etc.  Animal fat can take years off your life.  And God warned us in the Old Testament:

“All FAT belongs to the Lord. This is a PERMANENT statute throughout your generations, wherever you live: you must not eat any fat or any blood” Leviticus 3:16-17.

This is why we should study ALL the scriptures. The “boring” O.T. law remains relevant. In fact, God promised to protect us from many diseases if we followed His laws:

“If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, … and keep His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians” Exodus 15:26.

God, teach us to honor your law.

ΑΩ

None of These Diseases, Part 2.

Recently I wrote to you about Exodus 15:26:

“If you will listen to the voice of the Lord … and keep all His statutes, then I will put NONE OF THESE DISEASES on you...”

God promises His people that if they obey, they will not have the diseases of the pagans. For example, those who ate pork often became infected with roundworms. But God’s dietary laws protected the Israelites.

Today I read about additional dietary restrictions: God’s people are not allowed to eat blood. God says “the lifeblood belongs to Me.” Eating blood is unhealthy. Even people who do not intend to eat blood must wash their hands after butchering animals. As a matter of fact, researchers believe AIDS began when men in Africa killed and ate monkeys. They ate with blood on their hands and the AIDS virus was transmitted from monkeys to men.

There’s another curious rule.

“All fat belongs to the Lord. You must not eat any fat or any blood.” Leviticus 3:16-17.

God says don’t eat FAT. Did you know that? I remember a cousin who would slice the fat from the edges of a steak and eat that first. Yuck. I can’t imagine. And what do doctors tell us? Fat—the famous “marbling” in a steak—is the most unhealthy thing in meat. Chicken is healthier than red meat because red meat has more fat. (Particularly meat from cattle that were “finished” in a CAFO); by contrast, grass-fed cattle (who did not spend their final six months eating corn) are healthier because their meat is less fatty.

Modern medicine has discovered the point behind God’s rules. If you obey, you will be healthier. Fat causes heart disease. Blood spreads AIDS and more. Pork causes worms. And the list goes on: avoid fish without scales, animals without split hooves, meat eaters and scavengers, etc.

Generations followed God’s laws by faith, without understanding that God was protecting them. But in Exodus 15:26, He made it clear: If you obey My rules, I will put NONE OF THESE DISEASES on you.

ΑΩ

Finders Keepers.

You’ve heard the code of the schoolyard: “Finders-Keepers, Losers-Weepers.” Is that the law?  Can you simply keep things you find, telling yourself they must have been abandoned?

No.  That is not the law.  Britain actually retains a criminal charge known as “THEFT BY FINDING.”  It is possible to find something and be accused of theft because you made no attempt to locate the owner.  The state of Texas has a similar law, requiring (in simplified terms) finders attempt to locate owners. 

The Bible is incredibly practical, filled with detailed laws involving everyday events like losing and finding, and what to do about it.  And Moses did not derive these practical laws from some abstract principle He learned from God, such as the Golden Rule.  Instead, these practical laws were dictated directly from God to Moses:

“THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES: ‘When someone sins and offends the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit, … or FINDS SOMETHING LOST AND LIES ABOUT IT … he must return what he stole, … or the lost item he found….  He must make full restitution and add a fifth of its value to it’” Leviticus 6:1-5.

God cares about practical details like what to do about lost and found items.  I find that fascinating.  Too many people think God is so “High and Lifted Up” that He does not care about little things.  Many people don’t pray about “little things” for that very reason.  But God does care.  He sees.  He notices.  He understands the details of life on earth—the mundane, ordinary, little details.  Jesus even told parables about a lost coin and a lost sheep.  When you lose something God DOES care about it.  Consequently, He gave Israel laws to ensure that lost things would be returned to their owners.

Never think that God is so “High and Lifted Up” that He does not care about the nitty-gritty, ever-practical details of life.  Talk to Him about your details!

ΑΩ

Here’s to the Cooks.

We elevate religious leaders.  But the preacher is not a different breed.  My childhood pastor was a gifted orator and a man with nearly irresistible leadership qualities.  Yet, he was humble and chose to be called “Brother John”—an equal.

Preachers, elders, and priests are your equals.  So are doctors, lawyers, bankers, statemen.  But you know who deserves special consideration?  Cooks.  We eat three times a day.  That’s 21 meals a week for every man, woman, and child on earth.  With nearly 8 Billion on earth, someone has to cook 24,000,000,000 meals every week.  Who will do all that cooking?  Cooks: some paid, most unpaid, none paid enough.

You could spend days studying scriptures on food preparation and people eating.  Jesus ate after fasting. He ate at the wedding at Cana. He ate with tax collectors and sinners at Matthew’s house. He was anointed during a meal at Simon’s house. He fed the 5,000. He fed the 4,000. He ate with Mary and Martha. He told a parable about a banquet. He ate with Zacchaeus. He ate at the Last Supper. He ate following the road to Emmaus. He ate fish on the beach with the disciples.  He will eat in Heaven at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9).

Eating is a huge part of life—and God is interested in it.  Look at the varieties of food, the infinite ways to prepare it, the globe covered in filling staples and flavorful herbs and spices.  The Bible steers us toward healthy options and away from the unhealthy.  And entire chapters concern the sacrificial system whereby priests prepared “meals” for God, complete with butchered and seasoned lambs, bulls, doves, grains, and more.  See Leviticus 1-4.

The Bible is a book of doers, men of action, from carpenters and builders to craftsmen and cooks.  God is not interested in “religious people.”  God is interested in PEOPLE.  Busy, hard-working, productive people.  People who get things done. 

The next time you cook a meal, think about the literally billions of meals prepared every single day.  Cooks keep humanity going.  Cooks make the world go ‘round. 

ΑΩ