Heralds Digest

  “Those that are blind or broken or maimed, or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to the Lord.” ‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭22:22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The emphasis on seasoned sacrifices is on the preparation of blameless offerings with all the necessary ingredients and through the acceptable procedures. Normally, this line of preparation and procedures will appear strenuous; but God looks more on the heart of obedience and willingness to offer a desirable aroma to the Lord. With a single heart of affection for the Lord, it is easy to realize that sacrifices to God are always simple. It is the same principle of consecration to God that screened out sacrifices with defects (i.e., blind or broken or maimed, or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs). Therefore, it is the responsibility of everyone, who is determined to make sacrifices to God, to prepare his instrument of sacrifice; and get them cleaned, healed, blameless, and ready. ...

  “No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.” Leviticus‬ ‭21:21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ One of the significant differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament is that the former revealed God as the Symbol of holiness, while the latter revealed God as the Source of our holiness. Now, at the splitting of the veil of the temple by our High Priest - Jesus Christ, anyone with the vilest of his defect can approach the throne of grace for mercy. Notwithstanding, the principle of righteous representation of the presence of God by anyone, called by the Lord, remains the same. We need to be purged of our defects before the Holy God can be truly represented in our relationships with this world. Sometimes, the oven for this purging is the home-front with all the challenges against our peace and prosperity. At another time, the theatre for t...

  “You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ‘Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them: I am the Lord.’ ””‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭19:36-37‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ If service to humanity is generally conceived as service to God, all honours will be honest and honourable. Unfortunately, the pursuit of honesty with honour is like climbing on the back of a steep and sleepy mountain. Honour in business activities, career progression and promotion, ministerial accomplishments, and even in family relationships often come with dishonest games, suspicious calls, and cruel cheating. Those who trade in the market for these types of fake honours win their followers by flagging their highly esteemed worldly standards and lifestyles. Whereas, the pursuit of righteousness and honest honour can only be undertaken by those who are satisfied with conviction that the Lord is simp...

  “This is the law for any leprous sore and scale, for a swelling and a scab and a bright spot, to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.”Leviticus‬ ‭14:54, 56-57‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Just as the law of leprosy, commitment to a consistent study of the word of God without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is boring. Notwithstanding, the law of leprosy provides illumination and a sense of caution or carefulness against contamination. Anyone who has been subjected to an isolation treatment or quarantine knows how boring but mandatory for him to carefully read through and understand the guidelines and protocol for screening or discharge from the ‘red zone’ facility. Normally, people are always more careful to avoid reinfection after discharge; not because of the fear of the diseases, but because of the stress of reviewing the boring guidelines and protocol. Likewise, the living law of God illumines the hearts against the corruption of sin and unrighteousness. A...

  ““Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.” ‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭13:45-46‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Isolation treatment or quarantine has always been the indispensable way of controlling the spread of contagious diseases. As recently adopted globally to arrest the devastation of COVID-19 pandemic, anyone who tested positive under the theocratic screening for leprosy among the children of Israel must not only get quarantined outside the camp; he must take additional responsibility of warning others to stir clear, crying ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ . Today, this additional responsibility would be a shameful service, because no one is proud of any form of isolation treatment. Whereas, abiding alone often offers undiluted access to treatment and an opportunity for sp...

  “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Leviticus‬ ‭11:44‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The battle for loyalty is real in different shades and systems of life. Even in our homes, parents battle to buy their children’s loyalty, sometimes through the provision of lifestyles that undermines their devotion to God. Needless to mention the struggle for loyalty by our excellence in physical fitness, financial breakthrough, administrative prowess, political supremacy, etc. While dominion over other creations of God and their beauties is the central purpose of God for humanity, disloyalty to God at the expense of our social, physical, and healthy lifestyles is an obvious corruption of a divinely-inspired dominion. Unfortunately, when we consecrate ourselves to these lifestyles primarily, it is like the same as making the creeping thing that creeps on this...

  “Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying: ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.’ ”So Aaron held his peace.” Leviticus‬ ‭10:1-3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ One of the beauties of complete consecration and sacred sacrifice upon the altar is the eventual release of the final fire from the Lord. It was a solemn experience in the camp of the Israelites, “ and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces ” (Leviticus‬ ‭9:24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). Whereas, before the release of the final fire upon the altar of believer’s sacrifices, diverse energies and intentions are m...