Tues.’s Devo - Ceremony for Cleansing

Read: Leviticus 14:1-57; Mark 6:30-56; Psalm 40:1-10; Proverbs 10:11-12 There was a ceremony that was to be done over anyone who was cleansed of leprosy. This was the ceremony that Jesus told the men he healed of leprosy to go to the priest and let him do. The truth was that this ceremony had never been done because no one had ever been healed of leprosy. Only the blood of Jesus can take away our sins. This was the ceremony: they were to take two live birds that were clean, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn and a hyssop branch. One bird was to be slaughtered over a clay pot filled with fresh water. The live bird, the wood, the yarn and the branch was to be dipped into the blood and that blood was to be sprinkled seven times on the person purified. The live bird was to be released in an open filed to fly away. The birds represented Jesus’ death and resurrection. All of the objects were present at the cross. The person being purified is anyone who comes to Jesus to be cleansed of their sins. All his hair was then shaved and his clothes washed. That is the picture of sanctification. All our sins are gone. On the eighth day, the purified people were to bring a sacrifice and they were presented before the Lord clean. A sacrifice is done and its blood is placed on the lobe of the right ear, the right thumb and the right big toe of the person being cleansed. The eight day begins the new week of that person’s salvation. They are born again and start their week as a new person - a priest of the Lord. They are given the same ceremony as a priest because they are a priest to the Lord now. He is also anointed with oil for service. The Lord told them that when they came to the promised land of Canaan, He might contaminate some of the houses with leprosy so they would need to empty the houses so that the priests could go in and examine them. If there is leprosy in the house, it must be left in quarantine for seven days. If after the seven days, the leprosy has spread, they were to scrape the entire house and dump the scrapings outside the town. Other stone were to be brought in to replace the others and the walls replastered. If leprosy still grows there, the whole house is to be taken down and the stones taken out of town and designated as unclean. This is a picture of a house built of wrong teachings and curses. It will never prosper but has to be totally dismantled with new stones, new words, new covenants. It is like a family or a church that turns into a cult and there is nothing worth saving. If the leprosy doesn’t return, then the house is purified by the same ceremony of the birds and it is now clean. Our house is also our body. God has given us a way to totally change and restructure ourselves through his blood, but we have to change the stones or the doctrines that have supported us. If we will do that then God can totally make a new structure for us. In Mark, Jesus had been preaching all day so the disciples advised Jesus to let the people go home to eat. Jesus asked them to feed the crowd. They were baffled and told Jesus it would take months to earn enough money to feed this huge crowd. So Jesus asked them what they did have. They could scrape up five loaves and two fish. Jesus then showed them how it doesn’t matter how little you have or how big the problem was. If you just give what you have, God can multiply it. God did multiply their gift and the bread and fish fed 5,000 men plus their families. If that wasn’t enough to boost their faith, that night the disciples were in the boat alone on their way back across the sea to the land of the demoniac Jesus had set free the last time. Once again they met with a demonic force trying to keep them away. Jesus was on the mountain praying and saw with his spiritual eyes what was going on out in the sea. He walked on the water to the other side but was sighted by the disciples. They called out for help and he came over to the boat. The minute he stepped into he boat, the waves calmed. When they got to Gennesaret, the people that had thrown him out the last time were lining the shore to be healed. The testimony of the demoniac had done its work. Lord, help us to never see the little we have but help us to see the greatness of our God. All you ask of us is what we have and you can multiply our gift to reach thousands. You can multiply our prayers to reach thousands. Great are You Lord!