LEVITICUS – Chapter THIRTEEN & FOURTEEN: “LEPROSY: A SEVERE SKIN & SIN PROBLEM”

Contributing commentaries by pastors Sonny Islas, Albert Lopez and James Fire

Complete Study of Leviticus by pastor Chuck Smith 

LEVITICUS 13 & 14: “LEPROSY: A SEVERE SKIN & SIN PROBLEM” – by Sonny Islas, Facebook video. 

INTRODUCTION: In order for us to understand and appreciate the Old Testament, especially books like Leviticus, we need to understand that God, that is, Yahweh was the King over this people group: Israel. This type of government is known as a Theocracy. Here’s a basic definition of a Theocracy: A Theocracy is a form of government in which a deity of some type (in this case it’s the One true God) is recognized as the supreme ruling authority, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries (in this case, Moses and the priests of Israel) that manage the day-to-day affairs of the government. – Wikipedia’s Definition

Another thing to keep in mind is that Leviticus means: The Duties of the Levites or Priestly Duties. One of their main duties was to upkeep the Tabernacle (the tent of meeting/worship), to pray and to perform animal sacrifices. But here in Leviticus 13 and 14 we find that they had the responsibility of examining bodies that may be infected with Leprosy or other severe skin conditions. They were in a sense – public health officers, like our modern CDC: Center for Disease Control (Only they didn’t have to deal with Dr. Fauci! … if you know what I mean).

It was their job to prevent an outbreak of leprosy in the camp – very much like it is a pastor’s job to not allow flagrant sin to spread in the church. And the main way in which the pastor does that is to pray against it, to preach against it and to carefully counsel those who are infected by it (to the point of being overcome by it).

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LEVITICUS – A HOLY PEOPLE’s ACCESS to The HOLY GOD – Chapter THIRTEEN & FOURTEEN

Contributing commentaries by pastors Sonny Islas, Albert Lopez and James Fire

Complete Study of Leviticus by pastor Chuck Smith 

LEVITICUS 13 & 14: “LEPROSY: A SEVERE SKIN & SIN PROBLEM” – by Sonny Islas, Facebook video. 

INTRODUCTION: In order for us to understand and appreciate the Old Testament, especially books like Leviticus, we need to understand that God, that is, Yahweh was the King over this people group: Israel. This type of government is known as a Theocracy. Here’s a basic definition of a Theocracy: A Theocracy is a form of government in which a deity of some type (in this case it’s the One true God) is recognized as the supreme ruling authority, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries (in this case, Moses and the priests of Israel) that manage the day-to-day affairs of the government. – Wikipedia’s Definition

Another thing to keep in mind is that Leviticus means: The Duties of the Levites or Priestly Duties. One of their main duties was to upkeep the Tabernacle (the tent of meeting/worship), to pray and to perform animal sacrifices. But here in Leviticus 13 and 14 we find that they had the responsibility of examining bodies that may be infected with Leprosy or other severe skin conditions. They were in a sense – public health officers, like our modern CDC: Center for Disease Control (Only they didn’t have to deal with Dr. Fauci! … if you know what I mean).

It was their job to prevent an outbreak of leprosy in the camp – very much like it is a pastor’s job to not allow flagrant sin to spread in the church. And the main way in which the pastor does that is to pray against it, to preach against it and to carefully counsel those who are infected by it (to the point of being overcome by it).

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AT TWILIGHT’s LAST GLEAMING – The Former Then The Greater Beacon of Hope

~ By James Fire

LOOKING AT THE TOUGH TRUTH

Patrick Henry (whose famous quotes are well known by American patriots, “Give me liberty or give me death” and “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country”) when addressing the President of Colonial America said the following regarding the seriously grave situation concerning the British forces that assailed the barefoot American soldiers,

“For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.” (For an article FROM The MIND of FIRE, that speaks about Patrick Henry and liberty, go here.) 

In other words, he was willing to look the facts squarely in the eye, no matter how painful or unpleasant they were. It could be the most reprehensible, offensive list of facts that we really don’t want to hear but need to hear!

This is what we need to do in this late, dark hour in our American history.

I’ve been listening to the teachings of the late pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa (these were recorded back in 1979); I’m currently in the book of Jeremiah, who was known as ‘the weeping prophet’ – because it was his lot to witness the demise of his beloved nation of Israel.

He witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem, the abject ruin of its streets and venues; I can well imagine he looked down the street where he once lived and saw nothing but ashes and wreckage. He had warned and warned the king, the government, the nobles and all the people, but to no avail. He told the king countless numbers of times:

“This is the judgment of GOD! Babylon is coming because we have refused to repent of our sin and turn to the LORD! Don’t resist Nebuchadnezzar’s armies, don’t fight! Submit to this and at least you will survive. But if you rise up and wage war, you’ll be fighting against the LORD GOD Himself and you’ll be destroyed!”

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CROSSING The ‘T’s TTUF STUDY 1st THESSALONIANS Ch. Four Cont’d & Five

~ by James Fire

For another great teaching in 1 Thessalonians, check out pastor Pat Lazovich from Calvary Chapel Sierra Vista! 

1st THESSALONIANS Chapter Four Cont’d & Five

INTRODUCTION: We don’t see miracles every day; they are by definition uncommon. That is their nature. If they happened all the time they would be considered mundane, not miraculous!
Yet the Bible is full of miracles and every time they happen, people react with utter astonishment.

Miracles are of two sorts: the first sort is the suspension of the laws of physics, and the direct intervention of GOD Who performs an act that would be considered by modern day science as ‘impossible’. Enoch’s translation from this planet and into the domain of GOD is such an example. The raising of Lazarus from the dead is another. The LORD Jesus walking on water.
And there’s the other sort where GOD will sovereignly use natural law to accomplish His purposes, such as the Flood with rain falling (an unprecedented event at that time) and tectonic-pressured geysers issuing millions upon millions of tons of water that covered the Earth.

Rain falling from the skies was rather a weird notion in Noah’s day.
The weird notion of today is the rapture of the church: the catching away of both the living and the dead “in Christ” who will be instantaneously transported from this world and “caught up” to meet the LORD “in the air” and from there, on to our Father’s house where JESUS has prepared for us mansions (JOHN 14:2; that He has conceivably been working on for perhaps the entire 2,000 years since He left the Mount of Olives at the ascension?)!

It's truly a bizarre idea that this world looks upon with incredulity, even mockery and derision, and yet even in the realm of today’s science, quantum physicists have been able to teleport electrons from one point to the other without traversing the distance between them. Granted, those are mere electrons, teleported only a few inches apart, a tiny brick wall separating those two points; but conceptually, that would represent a kind of ‘rapture in miniature’.

And if GENESIS 1:1 is taken literally – that GOD created all things from absolutely nothing [the Hebrew word barah means exactly that] other than His spoken Word – then transporting people from one dimensional reality to another isn’t so far-fetched at all!
With a little use of some imagination we can even accept such a thing as theoretically possible, every time Captain Kirk asked Scotty to “beam me up!”.

We’ll be getting into this controversial subject of the rapture and related issues in this study!

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LEVITICUS – A HOLY PEOPLE’s ACCESS to The HOLY GOD – Chapter ELEVEN & TWELVE

Contributing commentaries by pastors Sonny Islas, Albert Lopez and James Fire

Complete Study of Leviticus by pastor Chuck Smith

 
LEVITICUS 11 & 12: “DO’S AND DON’T’S TO BE KEPT CLEAN” – Albert Lopez, Facebook video not available for this teaching.

INTRODUCTION: Last time we were in Leviticus, during Pastor Sonny’s teaching, we heard about the “Jaw-Dropping Pleasure” God displayed and also about a Jaw-Dropping DISpleasure God displayed. Both, I am sure were Jaw dropping if you were there to see it all and even if you weren’t there, just reading about them and imagining it is.

We read in: 

LEVITICUS 10:10-11:
And to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through Moses.

This summed up what the purpose of the Lord was: giving his people the statutes and any instruction that came with it. We found out after the jaw dropping display of displeasure (in keeping in the theme of ‘eating’) the surviving sons of Aaron who were supposed to eat, were not really hungry; but Moses said that the Lord had commanded this.

We need to remember that God’s presence was with his people but in order for God’s presence to remain with them, any sin, in any form of disobedience or rebellion against what God had already ordained in certain, specific ways, needed to be covered and paid for.
Fortunately for them (the Israelites) the animals paid the price, not themselves. Fortunately for you and me, Christ paid for the sin as he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, not we ourselves. With this, we move on to Leviticus 11 and 12 where the Lord’s instructions continue in a very clear and specific way. As we read, may we observe that we serve a God of order and not a God of confusion.

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IS AFGHANISTAN FOUND IN BIBLE PROPHECY? From LAMB & LION ministries with Nathan Jones

To view this article in its original form, click here.

Watching the news has been horrific lately, hasn't it? Afghanistan has fallen to the ultra-fundamentalist Taliban. Iran's Ayatollahs remain hellbent on developing a nuclear weapon to annihilate Israel. Islam's might continues to rapidly spread and threatens the entire world!

The Biden Administration's hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan has caused a mass exodus of people trying to flee the country after the Taliban retook the government, meeting almost no resistance. For a long 20 years now, the United States has been waging a war against terror, and in the process losing many American and allied lives in order to bring the Afghani people freedom from the Taliban and to make the West safer. But, now the Taliban are back in force, killing Christians and American allies along their meteoric rise to national power.

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