Leviticus 19

Law as a Window into the Heart of God

Leviticus 19:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.  ³ Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father….⁹ “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. ¹⁰ And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God….

¹⁷ “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. ¹⁸ You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

¹⁹ “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

Darius, King of Persia at the time of Haggai’s ministry

What stood out to you from Sundays sermon on Haggai?
Have any of you ever had good or bad experiences with a Home Owners Association (HOA)?
On Wikipedia it is noted that, “In the United States, a homeowner association (or homeowners association) (HOA) is a corporation formed by a real estate developer for the purpose of marketing, managing, and selling of homes and lots in a residential subdivision.” So, an HOA is about real estate development.
The LORD’s HOA dictates that he will always have a home within his real estate and among the other home owners. Positively he will enjoy being with his neighbors and bring blessing to the entirety of the real estate through them. Negatively, he will not be kicked out of his own neighborhood.

Israel Under Saul, David and Solomon

How does the LORD’s possession of a house among humanity influence the development of his real estate (creation) in the Garden of Eden? What about among Israel during the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon?
What was the building of the temple communicating in the days of the post-exilic prophet Haggai (520 BC)?

Read Ephesians 2:11-22
In 2:20 it says that Christ is the cornerstone of the temple being built by God today. John Stott writes that, “the cornerstone is of crucial importance to a building. It is itself part of and essential to the foundation; it helps to hold the building steady, and it also sets it and keeps it in line…As a building depends for both its cohesion and its development on being tied securely to its cornerstone, so Christ the cornerstone is indispensable to the church’s unity and growth. Unless it is constantly and securely related to Christ, the church’s unity will disintegrate and its growth either stop or run wild.”

The world we live in has several conflicting HOA’s with God’s HOA. Tim mentioned several ways our local HOA is in conflict with God’s HOA:
– We may have houses for gods but they must remain general so therefore the cornerstone must be something other than Jesus Christ OR we need to have several cornerstones that include all gurus, religious leaders, etc.
– The houses of gods will not be at the center of the neighborhood because they will not serve as the main resource for real estate development.
– Greater attention will be given to the construction of commercial buildings that to religious buildings because they bring in more money which is ultimately the source for greater real estate development.
– The houses for gods will not have any say regarding the development of the government, education, economic endeavors or any other aspect in the neighborhood.
– Attendance at the house of gods is completely voluntary and non-attendance will not warrant fines from the HOA (in contrast to non-attendance to school).

Can you think of other differences between the world’s HOA and God’s HOA regarding the building, location and importance of God’s international temple in Christ?
What most bothers you about the world’s HOA?

How are you, in Christ and by the Spirit, disregarding the world’s HOA?

What would happen if you used the Word of God as a resource for planning, executing or evaluating at work? Would you receive “a fine” from the HOA? How could your flouting the HOA at work actually help to develop God’s real estate despite the fine you receive?

Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (604 – 562 B.C.)

LEADER: Please choose 2-3 readers for the evening and print out copies of the following for all participants. Do not feel that you work through every question. Weigh which questions will be appropriate for your group. Take time to work through the questions the group is especially interested in or challenged by.

Read 2 Kings 25:1-12

• The Babylonian exile of the Southern Kingdom (or Judah) took place in 586 B.C.
• Obadiah was written after the Babylonian exile to address the injustices waged by the Edomites (a local nation) against Judah while they were being exiled.

Read Obadiah 1-16 – God Reassures the Rattled of Retribution

• Why would the survivors of the exile be rattled or unsettled because of the Edomites?
• Are you ever “rattled” when watching the news? Does seeing the mercilessness and pride of man unsettle you?
o How might praying after newscasts be a means of God’s reassurance of his retribution and grace?
o What are other ways you can be reassured by God of his fair retribution upon evil?
• How has God brought retribution to injustice through Christ’s death?
• How will God bring retribution to injustice at Christ’s return?

Martin Buber, a 20th century Jewish theologian, wrote of himself and Jewish people in general, “we will never recognize Jesus as the Messiah Come, for this would contradict the deepest meaning of our Messianic passion. In our view, redemption occurs forever, and none has yet occurred. Standing, bound and shackled…we demonstrate with the bloody body of our people the unredeemedness of the world. For us there is no cause of Jesus; only the cause of God exists for us.”
• How would you respond to Buber? How does Jesus’ work in the past and the future counter what Buber said?

Model of Second Temple made by Michael Osnis

Read Obadiah 17-21 – God Reassures the Rattled of Restoration

• What are the four P’s? (Pe_ p _ _; Pl_ _ _; Pr_ s_ _ _ _; Pu_ _ o _ _)
• Where do you see the 4 P’s mentioned in Obadiah 17-21?
• Obadiah promised that one day Mount Zion would be made holy. Essentially he is prophesying the holy presence of God would yet be among his people in their own place for the purpose of their mission to be a light to the world.

Patrick Fairbairn wrote in his wonderful book The Interpretation of Prophecy that, “the prophets necessarily thought and spake of the future under the conditions of their own historical position; so that it was not the image of the future which threw itself back upon the past, but rather the image of the past which threw itself forward into the future – the things which were, and had been, gave their form to the things which were yet to be.”

Read 1 Peter 2:4-10

• Have you grasped that the church is the temple of the Holy Spirit?
• What has the Church done to earn or deserve such a gift?
• How does it matter that God’s people are the temple of the Holy Spirit? What difference does that make in life today?
• How would people’s truly grasping that the holy presence of God is within the Church change world politics?