Wed.’s Devo - God is Faithful

Read: Leviticus 16:29-18:30; Mark 7:24-8:10; Psalm 41:1-13; Proverbs 10:15-16 Yesterday we read how the high priest was to come into the Holy of Holies and today we read when he was to do that. It was on the 10th day of the seventh month on the Day of Atonement. This would be the day every year when he would make atonement for the nation. *** Anyone who killed an ox, lamb or goat in their house or outside the camp and did not bring it to the tent to offer it as a gift to the Lord was considered a murderer and was to be cut off from his people. We see in verse 7 that they were sacrificing to goat demons but this was no longer going to be tolerated. This law went to the foreigners also. *** They were also not to eat blood. When they hunted for food, they were to make sure the animal was dead before they ate it. They were not to eat any animal they found already dead. If they did, they were to wash their clothes, bathe in water and be unclean until the next day. If he didn’t do this he was to bear his iniquity. *** This is important for us to consider. If we have ancestors who sinned and did not repent or become Christians, then they passed their sin on to their posterity. We can clean our blood line and repent for the sins that our ancestors sinned and stop the cycle. *** The next part we read is about “uncovering nakedness” which is another way of saying “having sex with.” Remember how Ham saw the nakedness of his father and was rebuked for uncovering his father’s nakedness. We read in these verses that the way he uncovered his father’s nakedness was by having sex with Noah’s wife. It is believed that she had a son from that union named Canaan and that is why he was cursed by Noah. Ham did this to usurp his father’s position and be the head. Noah cursed Canaan and said he would serve his other son’s. *** Moses reminded them that they had come out Egypt where they practiced idolatry and he was giving them the land of Canaan where they practiced idolatry. In the wilderness, they learned God’s ways and God’s laws and they were to take that into the land and make it a nation that honored God. *** In Mark, Jesus was in a heathen place - Tyre and was approached by a heathen lady whose daughter had an unclean spirit. She came to Jesus and begged him to cast it out. Jesus told her that the children had first rights to deliverance and healing it wasn’t right to take their bread and give it to dogs. The woman was not giving up. She agreed but added that even the dogs eat the scraps that the children drop under the table. Jesus was so impressed with her answer he sent her on her way and told her her daughter had been delivered. When she returned home she found her daughter healed. *** Jesus came back to Galilee and a man who was deaf and dumb came to him begging for healing. Jesus took him aside and put his fingers into his ears. He spit and touched the man’s tongue with his spit and prayed that his mouth be opened. His ears and tongue were opened and he could hear and speak plainly. People were amazed that he could make the deaf hear and the mute speak, just like Isaiah had prophesied. *** Jesus fed 4,000 hungry people who had come to hear him with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. Seven baskets were filled with leftovers. I find it interesting that the Syrophoenician lady talked about crumbs falling from the table and Jesus demonstrates how much left-overs they have. It would be the ministry of his disciples to take the crumbs to the Gentiles. *** Lord, may we never give up believing in your promises. These people had waited for years for deliverance and it finally came. May we have patience to wait on your deliverance for our bodies and our nation. You are our only hope, and you do not disappoint.