In reading Leviticus 12-15, I confess I wondered how can I blog about this? Then I thought about these instructions through the eyes of a people camped in the wilderness, millions strong. They needed rudimentary teaching in how to prevent the spread of disease, in the need for a new mother to have time with her newborn, in the distinction between how to honor the God who created them and not take part in practices they saw and would see in pagan nations with fertility rites. God is holy.

When I was a newly minted LVN, a seasoned RN noticed an area beneath my nose that needed consultation with the MD in the Clinic. I had been blowing my nose so much it was irritated so I applied ointment to soothe it. The perfect medium for bacterial growth. The MD, in trying to reassure me, told me his wife had done the very same thing! I had Impetigo. An infection usually seen in children! I had to leave work and couldn’t return until the MD cleared me. I thought about that when reading the chapters about rashes and diseases and defiling skin diseases. They matter and God was providing instruction so the people could prevent spreading infection. They seem foreign to us because of the language used. There are whole disciplines today dealing with identifying and treating skin lesions and infections.

The people were surrounded by nations worshipping gods that I bet never instructed their worshippers in how to prevent infection. Can we grasp that and thank God that He cares for every part of us?

Reading in The Chosen 40 Days With Jesus Book Two, Day 38 talked about The Just…{Jesus} entered the temple and {with a whip of cords} began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” Mark 11:15-17. He was teaching them respect in the temple for the worship of God just as surely as He was teaching about skin infection prevention. God teaches us. He loves us enough to teach us and His love is a light in the great darkness of ignorance. We need the illumination only His love can provide. We need Him teaching us. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:16. We are His children, His created, and He loves us enough to teach us just as we love and teach our own children. Be grateful for His love and teaching and open your heart to ask Him to help you understand what He would have you know. He’s here.