I note that my passage cutoff's aren't as even as they should be. At approximately 30 chapters a day I'm overlapping Leviticus and Numbers as books that could almost be read in one sitting. Ah, well that's alright. Now SHH. It's time for me to get reading. But not before I make one more observation: Leviticus has become my favorite Old Testament book. So this is a special treat for me today.

As a pastor it is significant to me that the Leviticus reading begins with sacrifices for a priest who sins. Someone once wrote, "If a solitary man sins, he destroys himself. If a family man sins, he destroys his family. But if a Pastor sins, he unravels his whole church." That's a sober warning to myself and to any pastors reading this. Men we have got to draw near to Jesus Christ!

As I read through Leviticus it occurs to me that "sin is costly". My wife and I bought a 1/2 a cow last year which is now only partially remaining in the freezer. It was expensive. It was cheaper than buying all that meat from the grocery store for certain but it was still expensive. The sin offerings were bulls and goats (and birds for the poorest) but the overwhelming sense I get is that sin is costly.

I've had to fight through some of my own addictions in the past but it makes me wonder if we had to slay a bull instead of hitting our knees would our addictions find a harder time sticking? - at least once we were truly committed to repenting I mean.

It's dawn and the ESV Literary Study Bible awaits. This morning I begin in Exodus with the Exodus. God has just finished hammering the nation of Egypt with "10 mighty blows" which the ESVLB says is the meaning of the original Latin for "plague".
From the opening salvo of the passage on through the end of the Pentateuch (heck include the rest of the Bible) the major theme present is the glory of God in delivering his people. This is the penultimate old testament moment of salvation. It is met with worship first because people love to see God work but soon afterward the cycle of murmuring and judgment sets in.
A key moment for me was actually the salvation of Jethro, Moses' father in law.

Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” -Exodus 18:11 ESV

For me it's a significant quote for a couple of reasons. First it is the salvation moment of a human being who turns and recognizes that there is no God above YHWH. Second, thanks to Michael Heiser I've been thinking allot lately about the gods of the nations surrounding Israel. I'm not going to replicate his work you can read it for yourself. Many of the gods which the nations worshiped are what we would recognize as demons - that is, fallen angels. Jethro's comment opens up a world of cultural understanding when we combine it with God saying that he executed judgment on the gods of Egypt through the plagues. (Exodus 12:12, Numbers 33:4) God wasn't merely attacking the mentality of the Egyptians in the plagues, he was rendering judgment on the spirit beings behind the idols which Egypt worshiped.

For Dan's sake I'll respond to the point of his

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Dan Phillips poses a tough question today on Pyromaniacs: When you don't "get" a verse.

I had a wonderful letter in my inbox this morning,

Subject: Leviticus

I am really looking forward to studying Hebrews later this year (personal study) so when I read about