Links for today’s readings:
Read: Leviticus 7 Listen: (5:13) Read: Acts 4 Listen: (5:15)
Links for today’s readings:
Read: Leviticus 8 Listen: (5:06) Read: Acts 5 Listen: (6:49)
Read: Leviticus 9 Listen: (3:18) Read: Acts 6 Listen: (2:35)
Scripture Focus: Leviticus 7.35-36
35 This is the portion of the food offerings presented to the Lord that were allotted to Aaron and his sons on the day they were presented to serve the Lord as priests. 36 On the day they were anointed, the Lord commanded that the Israelites give this to them as their perpetual share for the generations to come.
1 Samuel 2.12-17
12 Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. 13 Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled 14 and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. 15 But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”
16 If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”
17 This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.
Reflection: Organizing Against Corruption
By John Tillman
Leviticus introduces “organized religion” to God’s people. People introduced corruption.
The Bible’s first “priest” is the mysterious Melchizedek, to whom Abraham gave a tithe of all his plunder after a battle. Other than that one moment, we don’t read of God-followers in the Old Testament seeking God through priests. They went to God directly.
Yet, in Leviticus, God instituted a system of worship managed by a specifically-called group of people. The priests’ first jobs were all physical in nature. They made the sacrifices, divided and placed the animals on the altar, disposed of the waste, and maintained the Tabernacle and its furnishings with the help of their tribe, the Levites.
In return for this service, God gave them a share of the food offerings that were not burned up. Eventually, the priests’ role expanded to teaching and interpreting the law and ministering to spiritual needs through prayer, counsel, and charity.
Centuries later, Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, broke the regulations in today’s passage by taking more meat than designated and violating the order of the ritual. (1 Samuel 2.12-17). In addition, they violated young women who worked at the Tabernacle. (1 Samuel 2.22-23) God put Hophni and Phinehas to death in a battle in which the Ark of the Covenant was lost. God punished not just the individuals but the entire system of worship.
Any organization is vulnerable to corruption, even ones instituted by God. Priests, prophets, kings—none of them are invulnerable.
Ezekiel prophesied against wicked shepherds, the kings of his day, that abused power, enriched themselves, and increased the poor’s suffering. God stood “against the shepherds” and pledged to be the good shepherd the people needed. (Ezekiel 34.1-4; 10-16)
Corruption is one of the primary reasons “organized religion” has a poor reputation. Wherever there is corruption in the system, God shares the disgust of those who discover corruption and sets himself against those who would deny it or perpetuate it. We shouldn’t be shocked when God punishes not just corrupt individuals, but organizations.
Those in Christ are part of a specifically-called group of people, the Church. We are “organized” into Christ’s body and called to meet spiritual needs through prayer, counsel, and charity.
We cannot ignore or overlook corruption but we also cannot abandon our posts. Despite, and even because of, corruption, we must fulfill our calling faithfully. We must organize against corruption.
We honor Jesus, our high priest, when we oppose corruption and serve honorably.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Worship the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion;
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed your children within you. — Psalm 147.13-14
– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more: Offal Leaders
Malachi describes a de-commissioning…feces from the animal would be smeared on their faces, representing impurity and death.
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