I completed my Fall 2023 seminary class on prayer and worship yesterday. It’s always a mix of emotions to complete a class because the learning is rich, and the class became part of my schedule, a routine I will miss. Probably most important to me, a small seminary class is like having a a semester-long small group where we learn from our professor and other students, the Bible text, books we read, and the rigorous study producing projects and papers. Taking a class where we are able to share our thoughts and learn truth from the biblical text and each other during the class is rare, as so many of my college classes were large and lecture-style, with little to no professor and student interaction.
I enjoyed the community we built for a semester and thank God that this seminary is one where the leaders and professors value getting to know the students and enjoy seeing the students build community during the class. It was gratifying to hear everyone’s final projects and encourage one another in each person’s creative work, as God gifted each person in our class uniquely for His purposes. I will miss these people and thank God for what they offered me and taught me this semester through their study and by sharing their lives with the class.
We completed a post-test for our class and I am writing here what I learned from Leviticus, Chronicles and Psalms so I will remember it for the future and hopefully help you learn important “meat” from these fascinating books in the Word of God. I’ll start with what I learned from Leviticus.
Lessons Learned from Leviticus
Leviticus is a very important book teaching God’s ordinances, and its message from God is “be holy as I am holy.” Moses received this book from the Lord in Sinai; God spoke to Moses in the “tent of meeting.” (Lev. 1:1) This book teaches God’s orderliness and how He values obedience to His commands. God’s desire for regulations and rules seen in Lev. 11-12 is not because He is a killjoy, task-master, policing God. His regulations bring order and ascribes honor to Himself as our holy God, and creates health and safety for individuals and their communities. God IS serious about his commands. We learn in Leviticus 10 that Moses’ brother Aaron’s two sons were killed when they offered fire that God did not authorize, possibly happening because they were drunk.
“Atonement” is the word God uses to summarize the purposes of sacrifices throughout the text. The theological concept of atonement is one of the most important throughout scripture, as God is teaching how the source of life is in its blood (Lev. 17:13-14). When we link this truth to the New Testament we understand Jesus Christ died as the Messiah (which means “savior”) to atone for humanity’s sin against God. He was sinless, born of a virgin, and God Himself, and therefore was the only one who could satisfy God the Father’s requirement for a “perfect sacrifice.” In Leviticus we learn how God required sacrifices for different purposes, including sin and purification. If someone was wealthy they would be able to purchase a lamb for a specific sacrifice, but if they were poor, like Jesus’ mother Mary, and earthly father Joseph, God allowed them to choose something they could afford, like a pair of doves to bring for sacrifice for purification after giving birth.
From Leviticus we learn that the Jewish calendar is a bit different from ours. The first month in the Jewish calendar is called “Nisan” and is in the spring. The Jewish Passover occurred on the 14th day of Nisan each year, which changes year to year and is based on the first night after the full moon after the spring equinox. This is fascinating to me because of the history we know when we read Exodus, when God led the Jewish people from captivity in Egypt to freedom. I encourage you to read the full story in Exodus 12 and more about Passover in this article.
I love how much we learn about what happened in Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and even Pentecost from the Old Testament. In Leviticus 23 we learn how events in Jesus’ life correspond to the Jewish calendar. The Sabbath is taking a day of rest each week after six days of work. It is a day to focus on God’s goodness and praise Him individually, and as families and in worshiping communities for all He is and all He has done and provided for us. The Passover and festival of unleavened bread can symbolize Jesus’ death on the cross for our sin, as God “passed over” families who had blood on their doorposts and did not kill their firstborn. This was a sign to the Egyptians that Israel’s God was the true God as sadly all of the Egyptian families lost their firstborn because they did not place blood of a lamb (symbolizing Jesus’ blood over believers as forgiveness from sin) over their doors. What a horrific time for these Egyptian families, and I pray many of them turned to the Lord as their God after what they experienced.
The festival of weeks is 50 days after the sabbath after Passover (which is Easter, when Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death for all); in the Christian faith we celebrate Pentecost 50 days after Easter. Pentecost is when people were given the Holy Spirit, who is the third member of the triune God given to all who place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as savior for our sins, asking Him to lead our lives as our Lord.
In Leviticus 26 we learn of God’s promises of rewards for obedience such as fruitful land and families, and discipline or punishment for disobedience seen in exile to a foreign land and destruction of their own land. Look at Psalm 137 to hear their devastation during exile after disobedience, and their loyalty to God desiring to never forget their beloved Jerusalem.
Lessons Learned from Chronicles
Both the books of Chronicles and Kings share important stories of kings within the Bible. First Chronicles focuses on genealogies: first from Adam to Israel, then Israels 12 tribes, and finally the returning exiles and King Saul (reference Tony Evans’ Study Bible). The reign of King David is the second focus of First Chronicles, detailing his anointing, and bringing the ark to Jerusalem which helps explain the origin of some of the Psalms. Chronicles focuses on the kings of Judah and has added information we do not see in the books of First and Second Kings.
Three major prayer and worship events are recorded in Chronicles: The entry of the ark to Jerusalem, the Passover, and the dedication of the temple.
In my class our professor compared 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21-22:1 and we learned that David was incited to take a census by either the Lord because of His great anger toward Israel or Satan. This census greatly displeased the Lord, and God punished David and Israel, and David took responsibility for his sin only wanting the punishment to fall on himself and his family, rather than other Israelites or the land. Today Christians, Jews, and even Muslims see Jerusalem as a holy place of worship because of David building an altar to the Lord, and later his Son Solomon building the temple there; Solomon was chosen for this important task because David had too much blood on his hands from wars and battles.
In Chronicles we learn about other kings, such as King Asa, whose problems stemmed from not seeking the Lord and brutally oppressing people. King Manasseh is known for being an evil king, reigning 55 years!! But in 2 Chronicles 33 we see him praying to God, and humbling himself before God, and God listening to him and bringing him back to his kingdom. Manasseh got rid of foreign gods and altars he had built, and restored The altar of The Lord, and told Judah to only serve the Lord our God. This is who each of us is called to serve and worship today, as there is only one true God!
In the last chapter of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 36) Solomon’s temple was destroyed, and Israelites were exiled to Babylon because they didn’t listen to God, they despised His words, and mocked His messengers. This incensed God, and if you want to read further please check out the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations. In Micah 6:8 we see how God requires us to live: acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with the Lord. We have all “messed up” and sinned toward God by not acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God at times, and that is why Jesus came to show us how to love and forgive us for our sin toward God, so we could be made right with God through His death, and have hope of eternal life through His resurrection.
Lessons Learned from the Psalms
There are 150 Psalms or songs/poetry in the Bible; these psalms are divided into five books. I wanted to share an article here that describes the reasons for the division of books, and also some cool facts about themes within the give books of Psalms. A majority of the Psalms were written by King David and the Sons of Korah, with others being written by Asaph, Solomon and even Moses. David is called “a man after God’s own heart” and it is evident within the Psalms how incredible his relationship was with God; he praises God and cries out to Him. The psalms he and others wrote are used in our worship services today as we pray, speak and sing psalms corporately, and can do the same in our individual time with God, helping us grow in intimacy with Him.
The shortest psalm is Psalm 117, and the longest is Psalm 119. Interestingly, if you divided the Bible in half you would be in Psalm 118. Psalms 120 through 134 are known as the “Psalms of Ascents.” Some believe these psalms were sung by worshippers as they ascended the road to Jerusalem for the three Jewish festivals. I love how we can carry on this heritage today by singing psalms as our worship. In a previous post I linked some songs written to psalms that I enjoy.
We can learn of history and God’s character through the psalms. Reading Psalm 136, a psalm of praise and remembrance, we see how God delivered Israel from Egyptians, and how His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 139 speaks of God’s omniscient and omnipresent character; He knows all of our lives from before conception, to conception, until our last day and is always present, noted in verses 7-10, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go… you are there.”
Lastly, Psalm 150 is a beautiful psalm of praise. Maybe God wanted to “wow” us and help us remember His goodness, and how, where, and who can praise Him. We can praise him in the sanctuary, and in the heavens someday, and we can praise him with our voices and any instrument such as pipes, harps, trumpets. Dancing our praise to God is a beautiful way of blessing God. In verse 6 we know all of humanity is called to praise the Lord, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”
Although I was in choirs growing up and sang many worship songs in church, it is this season of my life where singing praise fills my spirit with joy and takes away any anxiety or worry as I lean in and trust Him, and praise Him for His goodness.
Thank you for reading these lessons I learned from my class and The Word of God. I pray you will continue seeking God through His word, prayer, worship and community and we will each grow deeper in our knowledge and love of Him each day.
Know Your True Worth 