Message: InChapter 11 of Acts Peter
finds himself having to explain himself to the other believers when they all
found out that he went inside the home of a gentile and also ate the forbidden
foods. It’s interesting to read this while we are at the same time reading
though Leviticus because it helps to understand that these weren’t just snobby
judgmental Jews learning how to be nice. This was a very serious law that they
had lived their entire lives. In Leviticus 10 we also read that Aaron’s two
sons who had just been ordained were killed by God because they burnt up unholy
and unauthorized sacrifices in their firepans. The law was no light matter. It
was what God required of them for generations and after Jesus fulfilled it once
and for all by presenting himself as the sacrifice, it was no longer required.
This was tough for them to navigate through.
Command: Don’t call common or unholy what I
have called clean. God didn’t change his mind about the law. They were called
for a time to obey it and it was serious. Jesus came and ended that time when
he became the sacrifice.
Promise: Jesus fulfills all that he promises
in the right time.
Warning: You can do the right thing in the
wrong time. There are things God has called for us to do at different times and
seasons. (This is not to be confused with sin-which is always wrong in every
season).
Application: This reminds me of a few women I’ve
known that kept their sexual purity all the way up until the day of their
wedding. After their wedding they felt like they were doing something wrong
because even though they knew it was right within marriage, they had lived this
way for so long. Their purity had been protected and kept especially for the
marriage just like the law was protected and kept until Jesus came to be that
final sacrifice. This topic seems to get confusing because Christians don’t
know what to do with the law. It’s important for us to read about it in the
bible because understanding what the Jews were required to do helps us
understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us. The law was never intended for those
of us who were not born Jews. If we were born in those times, we would have
been the dirty gentiles that the Jews were required to stay away from. God didn’t
change his mind about the law. It was very serious, and he fulfilled it by
providing Jesus as the final sacrifice for all. What a fitting devotional read
for the week of resurrection Sunday!
