Tag: Leviticus 16

What is Casting Lots Anyway?

Just a brief explainer for today.

We see casting lots pop up 25 times in the Bible. The first is God giving directions to Aaron in Leviticus 16:7-9, the final one is the nomination of Mathias in Acts 1:26, and the most secular is the dividing of Jesus’ clothes in Matthew 27:35, Mark 15:24-25, Luke 23:34, and John 19:23-24. I always sort of pictured is as drawing straws, but it was literally rolling dice, and that’s how the NET Bible translates it.

If this seems random to you, I can certainly understand why, but Solomon assures us:

The dice are thrown into the lap, but their every decision is from the Lord. 

Proverbs 16:33, NET

1 Chronicles 23-25 | 123/365

The Original Mold Remediator

A lot of what we read in Leviticus can seem bizarre and foreign to us. Which is not surprising since we are separated from those people and their circumstances not only by thousands of miles, but also thousands of years! The way we look at… everything… is so different. The way we look at family, at neighbours, at men, women, and children. How we look at work, religion, and even the difference in our quality and ease of living are so different that it can be tough to genuinely attempt to place ourselves in the shoes of an ancient near eastern Israelite.

But even in spite of some things needing a decent amount of contextualization and translation, others come shining through. The first part of today’s passage is a prime example of just that.

The priests are given instructions on what to do if they find mold or mildew on the wall of a house!

1) Clear everyone out. 2) Examine and quarantine. 3) Examine and clear OR… 4) Remove the mold and scrape down all the walls. 5) Examine and clear OR… 6) Tear down the house because it is beyond help.

God doesn’t want His people to be sick! Maybe you find this mundane, but I find it amazing. And if people in the “Dark Ages” had access to a Bible they would have known to take their… uh… waste… and bury it outside the city instead of throwing it out the window into the street. Europe might have avoided the bubonic plague.

Anyway! Be well today! God loves you.

Feb 21 | Lev 14:33-16:34 | 052/365