What a life!

My girls played animal hospital today. That's it there, in case you were wondering.

Twinkle Toes is on the right and you can just see Measle's toes on the left.

I suppose this is the waiting room. You can tell Horse is not feeling well.


So this would be the overflow waiting room? Or maybe this is recovery.

I have no idea what Duck is doing here, but doesn't she look lovely?



Meanwhile somebody had more important things to do. I love his choice of reading material!

Christ, Our Redeemer

Here it is less than two weeks from Christmas and I haven’t even made it out of the Pentateuch! Yikes! I just couldn’t go on without covering the idea of ransom in the Old Testament.

In Exodus 13 we are introduced to the law of the firstborn which demanded that the Israelites sacrifice the firstborn male offspring of their animals (clean only), in remembrance of God passing over His people during the plague of the firstborn before rescuing them out of Egypt. As an even more personal reminder, all firstborn men among their sons had to be redeemed by the blood of a lamb. Two times in a matter of verses the reason for these provisions is made clear, “It shall be as a sign… for by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.” (Exodus 13:16) The law of the firstborn served as a reminder to the Israelites that they should have been robbed of their firstborn that fateful night in Egypt, but for the great mercy of God that spared them by accepting the blood of a perfect lamb in their place. In other words, their firstborn really belonged to God and they had to “buy them back” so to speak. Psalm 49:7 makes it clear that even the most wealthy man “cannot redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him”. But verse 15 affirms that it is God who will redeem our souls from the power of the grave. In other words, we know that the Israelites didn’t really think they were buying back their firstborn, but by “redeeming” them with the blood of a lamb they were acknowledging that they belonged to the Lord and they also remembered His mighty works when He freed them from slavery in Egypt.

Exodus 30 tells of another type of redemption, that of ransom money paid by Israel for Israel. The ransom money is a payment made by the people of Israel to the Levites for the operation of the Tabernacle. The amount of money paid depended on the number of Israelite men over the age of 20, ½ shekel each was due. I find it interesting that the rich and poor paid the same amount, reinforcing to me that God sees both rich and poor alike in terms of value. We are both made in His image and of equal worth to Him, so we must pay the same amount of ransom. And although this later came to be known as the Temple tax, you see that it’s not like any tax we recognize. I’m pretty sure ½ shekel per person is a very reasonable price, especially since it was not thought to be burdensome even for the poor to pay. The ransom money serves three purposes according to Exodus 30: 1.) as atonement money, 2.) for the service of the tabernacle, and 3.) as a memorial.

Many passages in the Old Testament (Leviticus 25 is a thorough one) explain that property, animals, land, and even people were routinely ransomed by in Israel. For example, if you got into debt and lost your land, your brother or uncle or whoever had pity on you could ransom your land for you and return it to you. (Remember Boaz became Ruth's kinsman redeemer, even though he was not her nearest kinsman.) Every 7 years the Year of Jubilee would cancel these losses or debts so the ransom price was fixed according to how far away the Year of Jubilee was from the point of redemption. Anyway, Israel had an intimate understanding of redemption.

The teachings on redemption and ransom in the Old Testament Scriptures point us to the coming Messiah, especially since man cannot ultimately redeem a living soul. Both Mathew 20:28 and Mark 10:45 tell us that, “the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.” And "we were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold,… but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1 Peter 1:18-19) What should our response to this blessed realization be? “For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:20) “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” (1 Corinthians 7:23) I take these to mean simply that when Christ shed His blood for us on the cross, He bought us back from death, which is what our bondage to sin had earned us. When Christ redeemed us, He gave us new life in Him. We are God’s, we belong to Him and exist to glorify Him. Soli Deo gloria. What more worthy goal could we aspire to this Advent season?

And the Winner is....

Did you know I was having a giveaway? Then you're not alone because I didn't either :)


I decided to do something a little different with my gift card giveaway this time. Instead of asking for comments I decided to take a look at my faithful commenters and choose a winner who's encouraged me this month. It's hard to choose just one, but I have to pick Debi, otherwise known as BoufMom9, at Who says 8 is enough?. I know these Advent posts have been a little hard to wade through, trust me, they've been even harder for me to write! Debi has encouraged me this month by commenting on multiple posts in my Advent series. What a blessing that was for me to read!


So, Debi.... I hope you're out there. You've won a giveaway you didn't know you were entered in. You can choose whether you would like a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card or a $25 Chilis/On the Border/Macaroni Grill/Maggiano's gift card. Email me your address and which gift card you would like at spidel@suddenlink.net . And thank you for putting some spring in my step this month.


Thanks also to all you wonderful friends out there in the blog world who have been taking time out of your busy days to read my Advent posts. They've meant more to me than anything I've posted on thus far. I really appreciate those of you who have shared your thoughts with me!


Oh, and what will I do with the gift card Debi doesn't want? Hmmm, any suggestions? I think another giveaway is definitely in order. Check back for details, or maybe I'll just surprise you.

The Trespass Offering

Up until about a week ago I thought sins and trespasses were the same thing. I still don’t know the difference between them, just that there must be one. If you know the answer to this question please tell me.

In this, my last post on the sacrifices, (sigh of relief), I’m going to focus on several exciting observations from the chapters in Leviticus and Numbers that deal with trespass offerings.

Up until now the sacrificial offerings have shown us our guilt in a very general sense. We are all sinners, so we’re all guilty of breaking any one of God’s laws in some way. Now the sins, or trespasses whichever the case may be, start to get specific. Some of the sins listed include bearing false witness or lying under a variety of different situations, touching any unclean thing even if unaware of it, sins of the mouth such as speaking without thinking and unconsciously entering into oaths that may not be kept, sinning unintentionally regarding the holy things of the Lord, and extorting from a neighbor, and even taking something as your own that was lost by a neighbor. (What? Finder’s/keeper’s isn’t lawful?) Again, the unintentional nature of these sins does not excuse the offender, he is still guilty. I wondered why this particular list of sins is given. It seems to me that it may be because they are sins that don’t seem like such serious sins. I mean everyone knows how bad murder and adultery are, right? But a little lie? Accidentally entering into an oath that you may or may not be able to keep? Picking up a tool found by the side of the road and, not seeing anyone to claim it, taking it? These are things that we justify in our everyday life. Maybe that’s why this list is given. This cautions us to be on the look-out for ways we have sinned against the Lord. I’m reminded of David’s prayer to God in Psalm 139. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” We must first acknowledge our sins before God can forgive us of them.

Herein lies my next observation, these chapters mention forgiveness more than all the previous ones dealing with sacrificial offerings. I counted 8X that some variation of the phrase, “so the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him” is repeated in Leviticus chapters 4-6 dealing with the sin and trespass offerings. I may have missed one, but I didn’t see forgiveness even mentioned in chapters 1-3 at all and not in chapter 4 on the sin offering until verse 26. There seems to be a shift in emphasis away from our guilt, although our guilt is still mentioned, to atonement and forgiveness. Leviticus 5:5 also reminds us that confession must accompany the sacrifice in order for atonement to be made. “And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; and he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed.”

There is also a precious provision for the poor in verses 7-13 that demonstrate that forgiveness is available for all who confess and repent. Those who couldn’t afford a lamb, could bring turtledoves or pigeons, those that couldn’t even afford two birds could bring 1/10 of an ephah of fine flour. What a wonderful reminder that God is an impartial and gracious God. We’re all guilty before Him and forgiveness is open to all who have a penitent heart.

And finally there is the concept of restitution brought up in the trespass offerings. It’s not enough to just acknowledge our guilt, where possible restitution should be made. Now, restitution is not possible in every case, but in cases of property or money, it is. And it’s interesting that the amount of restitution is the amount of that taken or damage done, plus 1/5. We’ve come a long way from this way of thinking, haven’t we? Instead, now we pay to house and feed and medically insure and guard the very ones that owe us restitution!

I want to end on this thought of restitution. Isn’t God gracious that when we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9)? Of course, there is no way we could make restitution to the Lord for our sins. Even our righteous acts are like filthy rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6). So, how does this work? Christ is the propitiation for our sins, meaning He satisfies God’s righteous requirement for justice. He makes restitution to God for our sins. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:1) Again, we end with a great reason to celebrate His coming this Advent season! Not only has He taken away our guilt, but He has also made restitution for our sins. What a magnificent Savior we have!

The Sin Offering

In continuing with my theme of the sacrificial offerings and how they prepare us for Christ’s advent, I want to now focus on the sin offering. I want to take this opportunity to confess to you that I am far from an expert in these matters, but that I’ve been enjoying my journey this Advent season of studying how Christ fulfilled so many types and shadows in the Old Testament of the Bible.

The sin offering is more complicated than the previous offerings we’ve looked at. The exact protocol of the offering differs depending on who has sinned. I don’t pretend to understand all the depths of riches in the sin offering, but I have made a couple of observations in my brief study that I want to share with you.

The first observation is that of the guilt brought by the commission of unintentional sins. Four times in Leviticus 4, the pattern of sinning unintentionally against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything brings guilt that must be atoned for. At first glance this might strike us as harsh. I mean, how can we be held responsible for doing something we don’t know is wrong? But, we can, and we are. I think this may be a lost doctrine in many churches today. We have a way of justifying and softening our sins, but to God our sins are reprehensible, even when committed in ignorance. (Romans 1 gives a good argument that none are truly ignorant, but that we suppress the truth in unrighteousness).

I think this cuts right to the chase. We are all guilty before God. “There is none righteous, no not one.” (Romans 3:10 quoting from the Psalms) We have to stop excusing our sin and come to terms with the fact that our sins have brought guilt upon us. I don’t mean guilt like feeling bad about what we've done, I mean guilt like as in a guilty sentence. “For the wages of sin is death,” and don’t you just love the second half of that verse, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

The next observation that struck me is that of the bull being taken outside the camp to be burned (in the sin offerings for the High-Priest or the congregation). The blood was first sprinkled before the veil and poured around the base of the altar, showing once again that atonement comes only by the shedding of blood. But why take the bull outside the camp to burn its remains? Why not just throw it on the altar used for burnt offerings? The following excerpt from Charles Spurgeon in his sermon Suffering Outside the Camp sheds some light on this.

“You know that when the High Priest offered the sin-offering, because it typified sin, it was so obnoxious to God that it might not be burned upon the great altar, but it was always burned outside the camp, to show God’s detestation of sin and His determination not only to put it away from Himself, but also to put it away from His Church.” (Spurgeon, 1858)

And Hebrews explains to us how Christ became our sin offering and also suffered outside the gate for us. “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.” (13:12) So, once again we see the pattern that Christ becomes the sin offering for us.

It seems to me there must also be some significance related to cleansing or purification in this act of taking the bull outside the camp. Lepers, menstruating women, those deemed “unclean” were sent outside the camp in order to keep Israel pure. In reality, He has removed our sins from us much farther than just outside the city gates. He has removed our transgressions from us “as far as the east is from the west”. Isn’t it wonderful that contemplating our guilt before God causes us to contemplate of God’s great mercy toward us? Maybe this was the idea, as it takes us full circle back to the praise of God. These offerings were in effect, worship. And what better way to spend our Advent season.

Creative Play

My children have LOTS of toys. In fact, we have them coming out our ears! You know that old saying that with each child your toys increase exponentially? I believe it! We've been trying to simplify lately, but we have a LONG way to go. We still have WAY too many toys. But I just love it when my kids find creative ways to play. Here's the baby, or Bandit, as we should call her with a couple of pairs of her big siblings' goggles. And yes, when I caught her in the act, she exclaimed proudly, "Goggles!" Yesterday I saw her running out of the bathroom with a fancy black shoe in each hand (her sisters were taking a shower). She was frantically trying to find a place to hide her booty and settled on the bookshelf in our bedroom. When she realized the shelf was too full, she started methodically taking the books out one by one to make room to hide her prize. OK, so maybe this isn't the kind of creative play I should encourage. It's pretty cute when they're one, though.



You might remember that we said bye-bye to Barbie a couple of months ago. Here you see a happy little effect of that. The girls have resorted to making their own paper dolls! You can see which one Twinkle Toes made, can't you? The others were created by the Measle. She named them all with such unusual names, too. I hope I don't have granddaughters named Foon and Qwilla someday.

Meanwhile, while I was reading this morning Mr. Monk was working a puzzle of the United States. For a few days now we've been having a giant puzzle party at our house. Our organization project has reminded the kids how much they enjoy working puzzles. They've been tucked away out of sight in their drawers for so long we had forgotten about them! Anyway, so the kids have been working this states puzzle and quizzing their dad and me on the capitals. (I'm so glad I'll re-learn them next year with the kids when we study American history and geography!) So, this morning I'm reading and all of a sudden Monk inserts matter-of-factly, "We live in a desert." He's heard his dad complaining about our dearth of trees for years, but it took staring at a puzzle for him to get it. (I prefer to think of our home as being on the great plains, not in a desert, but I know some think differently.)

The Peace Offering

The peace offering is similar in many respects to the burnt offering, so it might help to start there if you haven’t read that post. I’ll focus on the distinguishing aspects of the peace offering for tonight’s post.

The first thing that sets the peace offering apart, although the burnt and grain offerings were “free will offerings”, is that the occasion of peace offerings is left to the worshippers. Peace offerings weren’t prescribed to be offered on a daily basis, but on more special occasions or when moved to do so. The sacrifice of peace offerings, also called fellowship offerings, can be found alongside many celebratory events in the Bible such as dedications, festivals, and coronations. Peace offerings were to be offered for thanksgiving (Leviticus 7:15), as a vow (Leviticus 7:16), or as a voluntary offering (Leviticus 7:16).

Interestingly, the peace offering is the only offering of meat that the worshipper was allowed to eat a portion of. (My husband said he’d be giving LOTS of peace offerings;). Seriously, I’m sure this did encourage the Hebrews to remember to be thankful for God’s Provident hand in their lives and to take joy in the peace or fellowship with the Lord that had been purchased for them (in an already, not yet sense). The manor in which the peace offering was sacrificed was the same as the burnt offering until the carving of the meat. At this point the breast and right thigh were consecrated for the priests. The blood was sprinkled around the altar, as with the burnt offering, signifying the means by which their peace with God had been secured, and the fat was burned and not eaten. For some reason that I cannot imagine, leftovers of the peace offering for thanksgiving were not allowed to be eaten, but in the case of a vow or voluntary peace offering, the leftover meat could be eaten the second day.

The next interesting detail to me is that while unleavened cakes were to be offered as before, leavened bread was also included in the peace offering. I think this is because the worshipper was allowed to eat part of the offering, so it was not “most holy” as the grain offering had been described. It also served as a reminder that although they could enjoy peace with God, it was not because they were without sin. Surely the leavened bread that they would eat, along with the blood sprinkled around the altar would serve as a picture of the blood of the sacrificial lamb providing the peace that they, sinners though they were, could enjoy with the Lord. Peace with God was His doing, not theirs.

So, getting back to Advent, how is the peace offering fulfilled by Christ? “Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” (Romans 5:9-11) Ephesians 2:14 says it more plainly that Jesus Himself is our peace.

We have a little tradition in our family that my mom started years ago of memorizing Luke 2 and saying it on Christmas Eve before unwrapping presents. Two years ago we started having our kids memorize Luke 2:8-15, to spell her for a few verses, and last year they also recited it along with a few other children at our Christmas Eve candlelight service at church. When the angels praise God in v. 14 saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace,” this is the peace they’re talking about. Finally, the long awaited Messiah has come, He who will make peace between man and God! Now that’s an exciting thought for Advent!