Day 52

A couple of years back, 3 or 4, I attended an event with some teenage girls; you should have seen the look on their faces when we told them we didn’t have mobile phones back then or the internet. It seemed like we fell from the stone age. It was epic!

The more I read on the laws, the more I have accepted that I would never fully understand what it was like then — the culture, the people etc. I can’t compare today’s living, what I have lived so far or what I am experiencing to how it was for the Israelites centuries ago. I can’t even wrap my head around some of my parents’ experience, which is less than 70 years.

One of what I struggled with today was the stoning of the boy, and I wondered how in a few sentences away, I see how God is protecting people.

I listened to a commentary on Leviticus, and here is a summary of what I got: If there is no sin, there is no need for sacrifice. What God wants is no sin because it separates us from God. The sin offering is for anyone who has sinned. The ritual is tedious enough and time-consuming. The process is a reminder of what sin does. So naturally, when you keep going through the process repeatedly, you are reminded of the weight of your sin and probably also check yourself, so you don’t have to keep doing it every time.

It is kind of when we are confessing sins. When you keep apologising for the same sin, you probably begin to tell yourself you need to grow. It is a good thing we have a saviour who isn’t complaining. We sometimes get frustrated when they are sorry for the same thing every day for those who have kids. I sometimes tell my daughters that if they are genuinely sorry for some of their repeat actions, I would see their effort to be better. Repeatedly saying sorry without an effort is what I am not pleased with.

Finally, even the land was to observe ‘rest’ (fallow) 25:2–3. This, in the end, benefits the Israelites. Rest is for our good.