March 1, Day 60 – Would You Ask for That?

"Lost In My Woods" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Oil on Canvas

Leviticus 2-4: Psalm 27; Mark 10:1-34

In Leviticus 2-4, we see the grain offering which typifies Christ as the Bread of life and the perfect sinless Man, Who, like bread – fills and sustains us (cf., Psalm 16:11). The grain offering was to be made of fine flour, oil, and incense – a blend that portrays the Son and the Spirit working together to produce a fragrant aroma in the life of the believer. Yeast and honey – ingredients that work primarily by inherent fermentation to have a degenerating effect – were not to be used in this offering. In Leviticus chapter 3, we see the peace offering (also called the fellowship offering) which pictures Christ as the sacrifice Who establishes, enables, and restores our peace with God. This offering could be a male or a female animal – without defect – a lamb or a goat from the herd or the flock. Fellowship is not limited by gender; God establishes this truth in the peace offering. The animal must not be defective – a picture of Christ’s sinless humanity and sacrifice. This chapter relates to Psalm 85:8-10, where we read, “He promises peace to His people, His saints … love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.” Chapter 3 ends with the prohibition, “You must not eat any fat or any blood” (verse 17). Chapter 4 reveals to us the sin offering and it reflects Psalm 22 and Mark’s gospel. This offering related to intentional and unintentional sin, and depending on the nature of the sin – whether individual or corporate – it required the sacrifice of a young bull, a goat, or a lamb – all without defects. We wonder, “Why did God require so many detailed specifics for a mere offering or sacrifice?” This question summarizes the whole purpose of the book of Leviticus. The Israelites had to follow all these procedures without deviation, so the answer is, Will the people obey these laws? This explains why people avoid the book of Leviticus – it is too convicting!

In Psalm 27, David says that we find “light, salvation, and strength in the LORD” (verse 1), and he asserts that “God is our “stronghold” (verse 2). David says that we can be confident that “though an army besiege me – though war break out against me,” with the LORD as our stronghold, they all “will stumble and fall” (verse 2). Consider this question: If you could ask one thing of the Lord, what would you request? The Bible contains five “one-thing” statements (Psalm 27:4; Mark 10:21; Luke 10:42; John 9:25; and Philippians 3:13). Here in Psalm 27, David addresses the first of the “one thing” statements. He requests of the LORD “to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days” of his life (verse 4). Why? “To gaze upon the beauty of the LORD” (verse 4). Would you ask for that? David contends that God’s “beauty” is worth forsaking everything else. Here we see that this Psalm addresses our priorities – the things we believe are important. For David, it was a priority “to dwell with Him” (verse 4); “to gaze upon His beauty” (verse 4); “to make music to the LORD” (verse 6); and “to learn the ways of God” (verse 11). Truly, the Word of God reveals His beauty.

In Mark 10:1-34, Jesus addresses three topics we have already seen earlier in Matthew’s gospel. Here, we see again His teaching on divorce, encouraging little children to come to Him, and the rich young man who desired eternal life – where we see the second “one thing” statement of Scripture (cf., Mark 10:21). The rich young man lacked “one thing” (verse 21), and he is prototypical of us all – without Christ – we all lack the “one thing” we need the most. These teachings serve the purpose of preparing people for the message of the gospel of grace as far superior to the impossibilities of the Old Testament Law. Jesus said, “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law” (verse 5). In this section, we see a lot of hardness – “hard hearts” (verse 5); hardness toward children by “hindering them” from coming to Christ (verse 14); and “hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (verse 25). Jesus is that beauty of God that David longed to gaze upon – and upon Whom we can gaze forever. We need to guard our hearts against hardness and recognize that Christ can soften all our hardness.