www.laurareimer.net
| |

Wait a minute….did I read that right?

www.laurareimer.net

Several of you have let me know that you are either reading through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation or using a reading plan. I am delighted to hear any and all reports! 

I am guessing whatever method you are using, it most likely did not begin in Leviticus; which is where I am right now and where many a goal to read through the Bible has probably died a slow, pathetic death for none too few of us. 

Today’s readings focused on the various laws concerning the diagnosis and cleansing of skin diseases and I am once again affirmed in my decision many moons ago to avoid any kind of work in the medical field. 

As I try not to gag (picture person here, so always trying to conjure a visual for what I am reading…yuk….) and process all the various possibilities of how a sore on the skin might progress for the Israelites, I finally moved on the the laws concerning mold and mildew in houses and on fabric and such. 

Which is moderately better, but tedious and this is where I encourage you to NOT skip reading passages or slip into autopilot because if I had done that I would have missed this intriguing  bit of information. 

In Leviticus 14: 33-34 Scripture records this:

The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron: “When you enter the land of Canaan that I am giving you as a possession, and I place a mildew contamination in a house in the land you possess…”

CSB

Ok. You may have closed one eye to read that because you thought it would be gross so I am going to restate that and ask you to read it the way I re-read it and went to numerous translations to be sure this wasn’t a glitch in the one I use to read each morning….

The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron:

WHEN you enter the land of Canaan that I am giving you as a possession (the Promised Land…the land flowing with milk and honey…the land where I will be blessing the socks off of you. The land where you will able to settle and build houses and prosper and be victorious and have all the stuff you are missing as you travel through this desert with a bunch of griping and ungrateful people) …

AND….

I (I, God Almighty, Yahweh… Jehovah…I AM who has been with you this whole time)…

PLACE (put, allow, strategically let happen)…

a mildew contamination in a house in the land you posess…

Can you let that sink in for a minute?

I have all kinds of thoughts and questions. 

Because I assume that when I finally get to whatever “place” I think is the end goal of what I thought God was doing, everything is going to be peachy-keen unless the devil throws a wrench into it or somebody messes up.

I can be completely guilty of forgetting to transfer a load of wash to the dryer, so I understand how I could be the cause of mildew in our home…

But evidently…God sometimes places mildew in the middle of my Promised Land. 

And I need to deal with it. 

I need to come to terms with His Sovereignty and my humanity and reconcile that while His ways are higher than mine, sometimes they look unkind and unfair. 

I am reminded of something Jesus said to His disciples when one of His teachings seemed gross and uncivilized and people began to say thanks, but no thanks.

The band of followers who had left everything swallowed hard and mentioned that even they were finding His words difficult to process in light of their hopes and dreams and understanding of Him to that point. 

He asked them if they would also like to turn back and their response is precious and has become something I have committed my own heart and mind and life to echo no matter what….

Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?” Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were complaining about this, asked them, “Does this offend you?” …. From that moment, many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?” Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”

John 6: 61-69 CSB

We will come to passages that are difficult and we will be called to make some choices. 

To quit, to turn back, to look away, to pretend we didn’t see it, or hope that’s not what He said…or to face what we are reading and realize we lack understanding. Through prayer and listening and studying, only then will we be able to see what God is revealing about Himself and about us in His word. 

Bless you as you continue your journey in His word <3

Share and Save: