The Bible Challenge: Day 40

The scriptures read are Leviticus 10-12, Psalm 34, and Mark 7.

Leviticus 10. Big shock right up front in this chapter. Aaron's sons offer God "strange" fire (could also be translated fire "from outside") and they are burnt up. It sounds like they didn't use the coals from the altar but from somewhere else, thus breaking the meticulous instructions they were given. Also shortly after this, God forbids the priests to drink alcohol. No connection is made explicit but perhaps Nadab and Abihu were careless with the fire because they were not sober. Aaron is dumbfounded. But he and his other sons are still on duty so relatives have to handle the mourning duties.

Leviticus 11. The kosher rules begin. Certain animals can be eaten, others can't. Cows and goats are OK, but not rabbits, pigs or camels. Fish are OK but not, say, shellfish. Fine by me since science has confirmed that lobsters and shrimp are in the same family as spiders and cockroaches. Calling them "bugs" is prescience on the part of Keys folk. Certain insects are OK though, others aren't. Same with birds. Can't eat lizards and can't say that bothers me. Also no touching their dead bodies and their carcasses make things unclean. Again, a sensible rule. Why the food restrictions? Not sure but basically if it is acceptable as a sacrifice to God, it is acceptable to eat. There is some evidence that some of the unclean animals, like the pig, were offered to pagan gods.

Leviticus 12. Childbirth makes a woman unclean for a certain number of days. That means even her husband can't touch her. Nor during menstruation. I have read that Orthodox Jewish women like this. Gives them a break from horny husbands once a month. And the ritual baths of purification (not mentioned here) are like spa days.

Psalm 34. A psalm of praise but also an acrostic psalm, that is, each verse starts with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Great verses are 8, 9, and 19. 20 acknowledges that the righteous can suffer many misfortunes but God will protect them in the end.

Mark 7. There's one indisputable fact: you can keep all the kosher laws and still be evil. So Jesus says it's not what goes into you that makes you unclean; it's what comes out of you. The products of an evil imagination and heart make you unfit for God's presence.

Jesus heals a deaf mute and does a bit of pantomime to let the guy know what he (Jesus) is doing--clearing his ears and loosening his tongue. Jesus meets people where they are.