April 28 ▪ Day 118

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 16:18
Leviticus 13–14
Acts 15
Psalms 118

Verse Focus (Proverbs 16:18)

Pride goes before destruction,
     a haughty spirit before a fall.

Meditation

Today’s proverb is one that has become part of our English language and culture, albeit in a somewhat bastardized version. Proverbs 16:18 tells us, in the ESV, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Our English proverb has shortened this to, simply, Pride goeth before a fall.

We know that pride is dangerous. When we quote the proverb in English, we mean, simply, that those who are arrogant or overconfident are likely to fail. Hubris leads to ruin and loss. But on a spiritual level, this proverb speaks about the root of original sin — the pride that believes we know better than God, the pride that wants to be God. This type of arrogance will inevitably be humbled. Sometimes God will punish pride directly; other times, we set the seeds in motion ourselves through our arrogance.

Although we sometimes use the word “pride” in a positive manner — for example, being proud of a child’s accomplishments, the word “haughty” is always seen as negative. The dictionary gives two definitions for haughty. The first is “blatantly and disdainfully proud.” The second definition of haughty is “having or showing an attitude of superiority and contempt for people or things perceived to be inferior.” In this respect, there are some who interpret the “pride” to be a sin against God as you put yourself above the Creator, while the “haughty spirit” is seen as sinning against people as you put yourself above others.

The warning in today’s proverb is not one we should take lightly. We have all experienced minor examples of the truth of this proverb and can share stories of humiliation that came in the wake of excessive pride. Perhaps an academic honor or a job promotion you were sure would come to you was given to someone else. Perhaps it was simply the pride you felt in your appearance, that you were exceptionally gorgeous and good-looking that day — but then an accident ruined your dress. These small moments of being humbled are nothing compared to what might happen if we let our pride get the best of us. As Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary, “Let us not fear the pride of others, but fear pride in ourselves.”

Father God, please enable us to curb our tendency towards pride. Let us be Christlike in our humility, and strive always to honor others above ourselves. Thank you for the Holy Spirit’s help in this matter. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Leviticus 13 and 14 considers the topic of leprosy in people and in things. In more modern terminology, we would speak of infectious skin diseases and mold and mildew. In some ways, the laws seem excessive and harsh; on the other hand, managing public health in ancient times would have been much more problematic without laws like these.

I had to laugh when I read verse 40: “If a man’s hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean.” And verse 45’s “he shall cover his upper lip” made me think of the need to wear masks during this pandemic.

But it is verse 46 that gives the true horror of leprosy: “He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” The loss of community would have been a terrible blow — to be so rejected and isolated, and to never be allowed to participate in worship. Even worse would have been the perception that you were under direct punishment from God. After all, it’s not like we have the ability to control whether or not we get a skin disease (although, with precautions, one can reduce the possibility of infection). In this respect, it is inevitable that the community would consider you cursed. Jesus taught that this is not how we should necessarily interpret such calamities, but our understanding of God’s purposes is often quite narrow.

Fortunately, the laws for leprosy concerned not just the diagnosis of leprosy, but the procedure to take when leprosy was gone. It wasn’t necessarily a permanent diagnosis for people. For things, however, it could be temporary or permanent.

I remember as a child reading these laws and thinking how extreme it sounded to throw away fabrics that had become mildewed. I had some towels that had a pattern that I particularly loved — blue roses. But they developed mildew and my mother told me to throw them out. Most of the towels did get tossed, but I saved one because I couldn’t bear to have them all gone. Of course, the mildew didn’t leave no matter how many washings the towel received. It always smelled, and never could be used again. So I understand now much better how such extreme measures may be necessary.

In fact, the first time I ever read about molds and mildews in houses was here in Leviticus. So it did sound strange that you would pull out the stones and scrape it down, and replaster the house. Even more shocking was the idea that the whole house could be destroyed. But now that I’m older I’ve seen more news stories of toxic mold, and I understand the wisdom that is recorded here in Leviticus.

Leviticus 14 details the procedure for pronouncing someone clean of leprosy. First, the priest would out of the camp to see the leper — no breaking quarantine until the leprosy was considered gone! When the leper is first declared healed, the priest would conduct a ceremony with two birds. One would be killed, but the other would be set free. In a very symbolic way, one life is gone, but a new life begins. I can just imagine watching that bird fly away and feeling like your life has also been set free. Of course, there were still seven more days of quarantine. At this point, the leper could come into the camp, but they were not allowed to go into their own tent until the sacrifices and ceremony on the eighth day.

The rituals for a leper to become clean involved three different sacrifices — the first, and in some ways most significant, was the guilt offering. Even when a leper was poor, the animal for the guilt offering was the most expensive one. In addition to the guilt offering, there would also be a sin offering and a burnt offering (and the grain offering and oil that accompanied all these offerings). Three lambs, two males and a female, were for the regular offerings, but if the leper could not afford this, then one lamb and two birds would be offered.

It is interesting that guilt is the first thing dealt with. As a leper, one has guilt before God. The hows and whys of this guilt are not specified. However, even if you had not sinned against God before you had leprosy, chances are very high that you sinned against God while you did have leprosy. When the the guilt offering is slaughtered, the priest takes some of the blood from the animal and places it on the right ear lobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe of the leper. Later, the priest adds a dab of olive oil also to the right ear lobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe, and also puts oil on the top of the head. This is very similar to the rite for ordaining a priest — but, in this case, it is the individual who is being sanctified for a new life.

So far as I remember, it is only in these two cases that a person is anointed in this way — on the right ear lobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe. One is when a priest is being ordained; the other is when a person is declared clean of leprosy. Again, I think of the intimacy and the symbolism of this act. And how, for both, it really would feel like starting anew.

Acts 15 records the very first council held by the early church — historians call this the Jerusalem Council. It was here that the church considered the question of whether or not a believer must be circumcised. How much, if any, of the Mosaic law was to be upheld? This council was held circa 48 A.D., or roughly 15 years after Christ’s death and resurrection.

Paul and Barnabas were sent from Antioch to go to the church leaders in Jerusalem because of controversy over the issue of circumcision. There were people from Judea who were telling the church in Antioch that one could not be saved unless one became circumcised.

It is not surprising to learn that — at the council — it was believers from “the party of the Pharisees” who advocate that the Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses (v. 5). After the apostles and elders discuss this question at length, Peter addresses the assembly and describes how God had not discriminated against the Gentiles, but had granted them repentance and salvation through the gospel. As he summarizes things in verse 10, Peter asks, “Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?”

James, the half-brother of Jesus, is the one who suggests that the church should not make it difficult for Gentile believers. He gives a specific list of things to avoid: “from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood (v. 20).” The church agrees with this recommendation, and they draft a letter to go out to all the churches. They send Judas called Barsabbas and Silas to go with Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch with this message.

At the tail end of chapter 15, we learn that Paul wants to go back to check in on the believers who had converted on the first missionary trip through Asia Minor. However, Barnabas wants to bring along John also called Mark, and Paul disagrees since he felt that John had “deserted (v. 38)” them on their prior journey. It was such a “sharp disagreement (v. 39)” that they part company; instead, Barnabas and Mark leave to go to Cyprus, and Paul takes Silas with him as they begin the second missionary journey.

For modern readers, the list that James proposes for the Gentiles seems a bit odd. It looks like dietary laws are being given the same importance as moral laws. The prohibition against the meat of strangled animals seems particularly weird. It’s also a little confusing because we know from some of Paul’s letters that Christians have freedom in Christ to eat food that had been sacrificed to an idol — so, what’s going on?

The first prohibition — things polluted by idols — is how the NKJV translates the Greek. To be more literal, the Greek actually says to abstain from “the pollutions of the idols.” Although this can and often does refer to food, it is also a prohibition against worshiping idols (and suddenly this first prohibition makes a lot more sense!). We have no problems understanding the prohibition against sexual immorality — that makes sense to us. The final two prohibitions are actually related to the same thing: God’s commandment that people are not to eat blood.

A strangled animal is one that was killed without draining the blood. And so the blood is in the meat — this is why it is prohibited. In fact, the commandment against eating blood in Leviticus 3:17 is actually a repeat of a command that predates the covenant with Abraham, and the covenant with Moses and the Israelites. In Genesis 9, when Noah and his family come out of the ark, God tells them that they may now eat the flesh of animals (prior to this they were vegetarians). As he tells them in verses 3 through 5:

³Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
⁴But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.
⁵And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.

The Jerusalem Council is of enormous significance in the history of the church. It is the definitive moment — Christianity becomes a different religion, rather than Christians becoming merely a sect of Judaism. The requirements of Acts 15 should be binding for all Christians. For me, it was particularly illuminating to realize that Sabbath worship is not one of the requirements for Gentile believers. This removed a stumbling block for me as I was torn between Judaism’s worship on Saturdays and Christianity’s worship on Sundays. Indeed, we are not bound to the law in the way that Jews are; however, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t genuine benefit for us in keeping some of these laws voluntarily (such as keeping a weekly Sabbath rest).

Psalm 118 is a psalm of praise for victory, but, more importantly, it is a Messianic psalm. The beginning of the psalm seems like it could be talking about any believer — we all identify with the call to praise God because of His enduring faithful love. We also identify with needing to cry “out of my distress (v. 5).” “I was falling,” says verse 13, “but the LORD helped me.”

Suddenly, however, at verse 22, we recognize this psalm and its application to Christ: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” Indeed, as verse 24 continues, “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Verse 26 is the very psalm that was quoted at the triumphal entry to Jerusalem, on that first Palm Sunday: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!” Hallelujah!

Father God, we are so grateful that you created the day of salvation and redemption. Jesus is the stone the builders rejected; he is now the cornerstone of the living temple of God. This is indeed marvelous; we rejoice in this wondrous thing you have done — giving us your own Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Thank you for making a way for us to come to you. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you that you offer this redemption to the whole world. Thank you for your faithfulness and love that endures forever. In Jesus’ name, Amen.