Thoughts on Leviticus

A sentence that would summarize Leviticus, would be “You should therefore be sanctified and holy, like unto the Lord.”

    To be sanctified means to fully accept Christ’s atonement, by word, and by deed.  This means to remain pure and clean in thoughts and in actions, and to seek out ways in which to serve the Lord.  Jehovah commands us to be sanctified so that we can more fully understand all that he has to offer.  We must be pure to do so.

  One of the things that has stuck out at me the most with my reading in Leviticus is all the myriad of details the Lord gives to his children.  At some points, they seem so redundant, when he describes exactly how something should look, or how something is to be prepared.  However, the modern day application is that we DO need to follow the Lord with exactness.  He may not always give us divine details regarding how we should follow his commandments.  But when he does, it is important that we do it precisely as he says.  We may not know why, but that’s more the reason to put our trust in Him. 

In Leviticus 18: 4-5, the Lord exhorts us to adhere to his statutes and judgments; Keeping the commandments falls right in with those verses with its similar wording.  He promises that by doing so, we will “live in them”, which to me means that we will be able to dwell with his Spirit and feel that strength that comes from following his command.

Other Commandments the Lord gives us in Leviticus 19 and 20 are; *Honor parents, *Keep the Sabbath, *Don’t turn to idols, *Don’t steal, *Don’t lie, *Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, *Don’t defraud thy neighbor, *Don’t curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, *fear thy God, *don’t judge unrighteously, *Don’t gossip, * No revenge, *Love thy neighbor, *Don’t hate others in your heart

I think one of the hardest of these commandments to keep is not gossiping and judging unrighteously.  It’s easy to see others doing wrong, or perceive that they are doing wrong because WE personally wouldn’t do things their way.  And of course, we usually want to talk about it with others, which leads to gossip.  I really want to try better to not gossip.  In the past five months, I have struggled more with neighbors than I ever have in my 18 other homes in the past 15 years.  It’s brought things to my eyes and ears I never comprehended that people really would do.  Though, I am reminded in Leviticus 19:17 that it’s okay to rebuke them (if it directly affects me), I need to be careful not to hate them and to still “love my neighbor.”  And it would help me with this if I refrained from gossiping about it, no matter how absurd or true the story is.  It will be hard, but I will try.

Quotes

QUOTE I really like:  “God will not favor us if we put him in second place in our lives and if we follow after worldly things regardless of what they may be."

For some reason, I think of our military when I read this.  I would be a lot less worried about my husband, when I send him off to battle, if I thought all the soldiers fighting next to him took this quote to heart.  Sadly, I see the things that are placed above the Lord.  Two years ago, before my husband deployed for a year, a friend of ours who happens to be an LDS chaplain expressed his concern after a very disappointing gathering of Officers in the Army.   "God is not with us." is what he said.  "How can we expect his hand watching over us, when we don't even TRY to show our love for him?"  He was asked to pray over a meeting where horribly inappropriate behavior took place, and was depressed over the mockery of it all. 
  I just think this quote needs to be available for all of us to reflect on regularly.  This doesn't mean that we'll be saved from pain, but it does mean that the Lord will not leave us comfortless.
  Those are my simple thoughts on the matter anyways. . .

Love One Another. . .

Exodus 20:3-17

A.  The Ten Commandments:
    1-No other Gods before me.
    2-No graven images.
    3-Do not take the Lord's name in Vain
    4-Keep the Sabbath Day Holy
    5-Honor thy Father and Mother
    6-Don't Kill
    7-Do not commit Adultery
    8-Do not steal.
    9-Do not bear false witness (don't lie)
    10-Do not covet.

The two greatest commandments above all others; "Love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." and "Love thy neighbour as thyself."

If I were to divide all ten commandments and place them under one of these two commandments, I would place the first five under Loving the Lord, and the next five under loving thy neighbor.  


B.   I personally believe that the three most neglected commandments in our time are no adultery, no lying, and not coveting.
  In regards to adultery, it is blatant everywhere.  Just yesterday, I saw an article that was mocking a female olympian because it proclaims that she (along with football player Tim Tebow) are both virgins.  The world has become such, that people (and even children in high school), can and will be ridiculed for honoring this commandment.  I heard somewhere that one half of all children born in the U.S, are born to unwed parents. It makes it even more important that we are preparing our own children with the knowledge and testimony to face the persecution in the battle for purity.
  When it comes to coveting, all you have to do is look at magazine covers in the checkout aisle of your local grocery store, and see what the world all wants and is jealous of.  Fancy celebrities with their fancy clothes and belongings are pasted over the front.  Even their "fancy bodies" are displayed to send a message of "don't you wish you had this?"  We are a culture very based on things and gadgets, and needing to own the latest and greatest.  Sadly, "keeping up with the Joneses" is not considered necessarily to be a bad thing (even among the LDS), and we need to be careful of not buying into that coveting behavior.
  And of course, lying seems to only be considered wrong if YOU are the one being lied to.  It seems commonplace to just accept that people are not being truthful.  All you have to do is look at all the paperwork that has to be done in a business transaction, just so you can get someone to sign their name to something they have said, so they will be more truthful later.  I wish we could be back in the day, when a handshake was enough to keep a mans words.
  
  It's hard to imagine a world when all of these commandments were honored.  I picture peace, happiness, joy, and very little suffering in the world.  There would be no broken families, no families torn apart by war, or infidelity.  The world would not be what we know it to be now.  Yet, I still believe we can achieve a great deal of the same peace within the walls of our own home if we take on the commitment ourselves to live the commandments to the fullest of our abilities.   

Murmuring in the Wilderness

Exodus 15:23-27; 16-17

What did the children of Israel murmur about? Identify all the examples you can find.

--No water to drink.  -- Not enough to eat.  --No water (again)/ being thirsty

*And some may not consider this murmuring, but I felt that when they failed to heed the word of Moses and Aaron, it was the same as murmuring:  Examples: Gathering ALL the manna each day and don't leave it til morning.  Not honoring the Sabbath by not collecting manna on that day, etc.

How did the Lord respond to their murmuring?

 After Moses would appeal to him, he would usually ease the "suffering," but would have a miracle performed to show it is truly from God.   Sometimes he became angry with them.

Why do you think people murmur against God and those He has chosen as His leaders? (See 1 Nephi 16:1-3.)

One of the best quotes from this scripture reference is in verse 3.  It says "If ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth . . . " 

This made me think about a situation that happened five + years ago.  Sister Julie Beck gave a talk at general conference entitled "Mothers Who Know".  There was a group of women that became very offended by it, and actually wrote a "rebuttal" . . . to a talk at GENERAL CONFERENCE, and sent it to newspapers to have published

.  It made me sad, that they missed the message of love being shared.  The Lord was giving counsel of what we should be striving for, and what we are getting away from, and some chose to "murmur" and become offended because it wasn't what they wanted to hear (instead of learning from it)

I also think that we tend to believe (or want), our leaders to be perfect, and it’s hard to accept that they aren’t.  We had a friend tell us about a time he was inactive for a few years, because he had been offended by a leader in the church.  One day, he was at the grocery store, and witnessed the bishop of his ward, getting “chewed out” by his wife in the parking lot.  He said, it was then that it dawned on him, that the bishop wasn’t perfect, and neither are any of the leaders within the church.  IT was unfair for him to hold them to an unachievable status, and base his testimony on that.  It was then that he started going back to church and strengthening his own testimony again.

What does murmuring usually lead to?

            Apostasy.  Pure and simple.  When we murmur, we are allowing our justified/ and un-justified frustrations to interfere with the perfect elements of the gospel and hinder ourselves from increasing our spiritual growth.

Read 2 Nephi 27:35. Describe in writing what Nephi suggested as an antidote for murmuring.

            Read and LEARN.  The more we learn, the more knowledge we have that will give us the wisdom to see past imperfections and hardships, so that we don’t allow ignorance to step in with complaints and hinder our own growth.

What counsel would you give to a friend or a family member who murmurs against the commandments of God?

            Humble yourself.  Just as an earthly parent doesn’t prevent any hardship or punishment that may befall their child, our Father in Heaven with perfect wisdom cannot, and will not either.  He knows how to help us best to grow.  Complaining will only hurt us.  None of us are perfect, and need to remember that.  If you use your energy you spent on complaining on productivity, miracles can and will happen. D&C 1:28 reminds us “And inasmuch as they were humble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time.”

Joseph in Egypt

Choice 3 –

A.  Birth Order for Jacob’s sons: 

1. Reuben

2. Simeon

3. Levi

4. Judah

5. Dan

6. Naphtali

7. Gad

8. Asher

9. Issachar

10.  Zebulun

11. Joseph

12.  Benjamin

B.  Jacob was so obvious about his favoritism of Joseph.  In all reality, I think most of us would feel envy if our parents were very clear in their preference for one of our siblings over ourselves.  No one likes being told by a person that they like someone else best, especially if that person is a parent. 

  I’m sure it didn’t help the envy situation when Joseph told his brothers that one day they would bow down in front of him either.  (My older brothers never liked it when I told them that either.  Ha ha)

C.  Challenges: 

--Joseph’s father shows him favoritism by giving a gift (this causes envy from brothers)

--Joseph has a dream that he will lead his 10 older brothers one day (this causes anger from brothers towards him)

--Joseph is sent to check on brothers and is “stript” of his coat, and thrown in a pit

--Joseph is sold to Ishmaelites as a slave

--Joseph is forced to leave his home and his family.

--Joseph is sold by the Midianites to Potiphar in Egypt

     I’m sure Joseph became frustrated at times.  Though it doesn’t say that he did, one could sense that weariness he must have been experiencing when he pleaded with the Butler in prison, to not forget about him, and remember what he had done for him. 

    Not many young people today face being sold into slavery and sent to Egypt.  However, I think it’s very easy for envy and hatred to abound among family and friends.  With all of the materialistic aspects of our lives, who’s to say that envy won’t be aimed in their direction because they have something that someone else doesn’t. 

  Another similar challenge is the need to stand alone in one’s beliefs.  When Joseph was sold into Egypt, he was suddenly a lone boy without friends or family, and had to not only decide what he believed, but be convicted enough to those beliefs to not be swayed by any outside influences.

D.    

*The phrase “The Lord was with Joseph” continued throughout chapter 39, because Joseph continued to make choices that would keep that very spirit close to him.  I would guess that Joseph had made the decision when he was young to be morally clean.  I say this, because he is described as not even swaying a little bit, and that is generally associated with decisions that have already been decided before they take place.

* In verse 21-23 of chapter 39, the Lord shows that he was still nearby helping Joseph gain favour in the sigh of the prison keeper, thus putting him in a position to lay the proper steps to rise above his situation.  By this appointment, he was able to meet all the other prisoners, and thus learn of the dreams that he was able to interpret (In Chapter 40).

*Some of the things that impressed me the most about Joseph, is that he never became bitter at God despite the longevity of his trials and severity of them.  He was thrust into a very difficult position and at such a young age.  Many of us endure strife or disharmony with our families, but Joseph’s family was downright dysfunctional.  I don’t do well when I can tell someone is angry with me, or doesn’t like me.

   I’m sure he felt that he had absolutely no one, since even his own siblings did not want him near.  However, these are the times when an ordinary person would become bitter, and embrace the bitter side of life.  Joseph did not, and continued to seek out the Lord’s comfort and seek for the Lord’s approval.  At a young age, he understood that the Lord’s approval mattered more than any one else’s.  It mattered more than his brothers, a pretty girls, a disheartened baker, etc. 

                It was because of his quest for the Lord’s approval, that the Lord was able to use him as an instrument to save thousands of lives later on, including his own family who had betrayed him. 

                If nothing else, I think this is a wonderful reminder to all of us, to take our bad circumstances, and try to handle them in a way that we know would be pleasing to our Heavenly Father.  It is in this, that we will gain the most satisfaction, and the greatest eternal rewards.

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