Coronavirus and Greed. God had a commandment on that.

Leviticus 19:9-10  – Social Order Basics Part II – On Greed

Day 12 of our 14-day self-quarantine and today’s passage seems so relevant to the madness we have experienced lately with respect to hoarding of consumables like toilet paper and household disinfectants. Read on.

The Passage

⁹ ‘Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

Thoughts on the Passage

Most of us are not into farming these days, yet we so appreciate those who are, especially these times. In the days of the Israelites, farming was big as there were no supermarkets to go and get your vegetables or flour to bake your bread. So, God is telling His people not to try and pick up every morsel that their fields of harvest, or every last fruit that their vineyards, yield. And his reason is simply this – they were to leave them for the needy and the strangers in their land.

The lesson here is not to say “well, that does not apply to me because I’m not into farming” but rather to fully grasp the attitude we are to have towards those in need. Whatever we do for a living, however we get paid or compensated, we are to remember those in need. We are to give of our gain to those that have a need. Many of us do that through the support of our churches and missions, through the support of various charities, or directly to those that God has placed in our paths.

And it’s not always about money. These days, in the midst of the coronavirus situation, it may be time – time to make a phone call or to Skype or Facetime with them, or to write a letter. Or, as God allows, it may be to volunteer in a riskier way. For others, it may be that all you can do is to pray for them and to let them know that you are.

And again, why is it that God wants us to do this? There are two reasons. First, remember, this whole chapter is about “social order”.  The fact is that there are those in our world that are in need.  And in order to have “social order”, they must be taken care of.

So, let’s remember this when we are in the grocery store next time and there are only three packages of soap left on the shelf.  Do we really need all three right now? Have we got enough faith in God to believe that when we really need soap, He will provide?  I hope so.

Life is not always fair. Today, billionaire David Geffen tweeted from his yacht (complete with pictures) the following: “Sunset last night. Isolated in the Grenadines avoiding the virus. I hope everybody is staying safe.”  That’s despicable, arrogant, and ignorant. And that is the kind of person God may have had in mind when He gave Moses this commandment for us to follow. We are not to be insensitive to the needs of others as Mr. Geffen seems to be.

Finally, you may ask, “why do I need to remember the needy?” Well, God tells us again, at the end of the passage, for “I am the Lord your God.”  Period. No other reason is required for the believer. But it also makes great sense with respect to keeping social order.

Hang in there. God’s plan is unfolding.  Let us stay alert and be in tune with His heart.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

The Clergy, Coronavirus, and You -- what we need to remember.

The Preparation of the High Priest

Leviticus 16:1-5

Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. ² The Lord said to Moses:

“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. ³ Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on. ⁵ He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 

Thoughts on the Passage

Today, I am in my fourth day of a 14-day self-quarantine (at the request of our government) after having returned from the U.S. recently. I understand that YouTube has been inundated with churches scrambling to stream their services live since it is now forbidden for them to hold meetings of large numbers. In some states, they are limited to no more than ten people meeting together. Many clergy, pastors or priests, were neither prepared nor trained, for such a delivery. When the scare of Covid-19, the virus that originated in Wuhan, China late last year is all over, I wonder what the collateral damage to churches will be from the gap in live services they have had to undergo during this time. We’ll find out, I’m sure.

Leviticus 16 tells us how God prepared His priests in the Old Testament for their duties.  There is a stark difference between His approach and what we do today.

We note first that these instructions came after Aaron’s two sons had died trying to approach “the presence of the Lord” without proper invitation, instruction, and preparation. That’s important. No one should be choosing the priesthood – God should be choosing them, instructing them, and preparing them. What such a person should be doing is willing to be chosen, agreeing to being chosen, following the instructions, and applying themselves to the preparation.

Being a priest, clergy, pastor or minister of God is not a “career-option” that you can pick from a slew of choices. It is a true “calling”.  And yes, you better hear it, know it in your head, feel it in your heart, and revere it with every bone of your body. Especially once you commit to it. Woe to you if you get it wrong.

In this passage, God has clearly chosen Aaron to be the High Priest for the Israelites. But He tells Moses to warn him not to enter the “holy place” until God appears in the cloud over the mercy seat (verse 2).

And when he does enter at the appropriate time, he needs to be well equipped with two animal sacrifices (vs. 3). He needs to be properly attired and be properly bathed or washed – he needs to be clean (vs. 4).  All this, before he varies out the sacrifices (his role).

So, pastor, priest, clergy, minister, are you truly called? Are you equipped? Are you properly attired with the armor of God? Are you clean?

And lest we get to think the rest of us who are not so called to this kind of service for God, we need to remember that elsewhere in Scripture we are told we have all been made priests (Revelation 1:6 and 5:10).  So those same questions apply to us.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.