Leviticus

So, Im working on reading the bible through chronologically (I like stories that go in order :). So far it hasn't been too bad. With saying that I've also not gotten very far yet. :) Im getting there... slowly. Something that has really helped me is having an outline. I went to www.biblestudytools.com and it has been a HUGE help with keeping me on track. I just made it through BORING Leviticus. I probably shouldn't say that... but I was EXTREMELY bored while reading it. I think its because I am not a detail oriented person AT ALL! And this whole book is God telling Moses what to tell the people. He told them exact proportions for building, what kind of animal is good for offerings, He even went as far as explaining how to cleanse one self from infectious skin diseases! ew! It really was a struggle to stay focused.
One question I found myself asking, and Im not even sure if it matters, but I caught on to it. What is the difference between offering a Sheep and Goats, herd and flocks, and male and female offerings? I realized it mentions both but I didnt catch on to the difference between the two (besides the obvious oppositions).

I read the last two chapters tonight and honestly I TRULY enjoyed ch. 26. God is so evident and "real" in this chapter. He tells how He will be with the people and bless them if they continue to honor and worship Him.

Lev. 26:9-13"I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you, You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you, I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high."

And then..... He gives the other option... dun ...dun....dun...! If you don't follow me life will royally suck for you!

Lev. 26:14-17 "But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring upon  you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you."

Well if that isnt Honest I dont know what is! As I read this I was in awe! In awe of who God is and what He promised He would do. What a great parent He is to us. A father who sticks His grounds and follows through with discipline. But this isnt all... He continues!

Lev. 26:40-45 "Buy if they will confess their sins and the sins of their fathers- their treachery against me and their hostility toward me, which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies- then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. For the land will be deserted by them and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected my laws and abhorred my decrees. Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the LORD."

And this is where we stand in awe, humbled by Gods GREATNESS! And say with all that we are, "Thank you!"