[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY FEBRUARY 3

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR THURSDAY FEBRUARY 3

WORD OF WISDOM

The future is changing, it now gets here a lot quicker than it used to.

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DAILY DEVOTION

"If the World Hate You"


If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye
were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of
the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not
greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute
you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
John 15:18-20

A lot of people say that if Christians would just stop being against sin
people would like them. They call us judgmental and old-fashioned and
bigoted. But the real reason the world hates the people of God is not what
they believe or preach, but to whom they belong. The world hates us because
it hated Jesus, and the more closely we follow Him, the more fiercely their
contempt and anger toward us will be.
The history of the early church tells us that all the disciples except for
John were martyred, and even he was tortured. The persecution they faced was
so intense and the death of believers was so common that Tertullian, one of
the earliest writers of theology after the completion of the New Testament
said, "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church." Through the
centuries that followed, men and women continued to die rather than give up
there faith. And though those of us in America and much of the Western world
have not experienced it, persecution is still alive and well in many
countries today.
Though we should be kind and gracious as Jesus was when we interact with
others, we should never expect that they will love us. The only way to
achieve the love and praise of the world is to abandon the truth and stop
following Jesus. Though there are some churches and some professing
Christians who have adopted that approach, we must stand firm for the truth.
We should not expect the world that crucified Jesus to be loving toward
those who follow Him.

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DAILY BIBLE READING

Leviticus 13-15 New King James Version
The Law Concerning Leprosy
13 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 "When a man has on the
skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the
skin of his body like a [a]leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron
the priest or to one of his sons the priests. 3 The priest shall examine the
sore on the skin of the body; and if the hair on the sore has turned white,
and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous
sore. Then the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him [b]unclean. 4 But
if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body, and does not appear to
be deeper than the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the priest
shall isolate the one who has the sore seven days. 5 And the priest shall
examine him on the seventh day; and indeed if the sore appears to be as it
was, and the sore has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall isolate
him another seven days. 6 Then the priest shall examine him again on the
seventh day; and indeed if the sore has faded, and the sore has not spread
on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a scab,
and he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 7 But if the scab should at all
spread over the skin, after he has been seen by the priest for his
cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again. 8 And if the priest sees
that the scab has indeed spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce
him [c]unclean. It is leprosy.

9 "When the leprous sore is on a person, then he shall be brought to the
priest. 10 And the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the swelling on
the skin is white, and it has turned the hair white, and there is a spot of
raw flesh in the swelling, 11 it is an old leprosy on the skin of his body.
The priest shall pronounce him [d]unclean, and shall not isolate him, for he
is unclean.

12 "And if leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all
the skin of the one who has the sore, from his head to his foot, wherever
the priest looks, 13 then the priest shall consider; and indeed if the
leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean who has the
sore. It has all turned white. He is clean. 14 But when raw flesh appears on
him, he shall be unclean. 15 And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and
pronounce him to be unclean; for the raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy. 16
Or if the raw flesh changes and turns white again, he shall come to the
priest. 17 And the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the sore has
turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean who has the sore. He
is clean.

18 "If the body develops a boil in the skin, and it is healed, 19 and in the
place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a bright spot,
reddish-white, then it shall be shown to the priest; 20 and if, when the
priest sees it, it indeed appears deeper than the skin, and its hair has
turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore
which has broken out of the boil. 21 But if the priest examines it, and
indeed there are no white hairs in it, and it is not deeper than the skin,
but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him seven days; 22 and if it
should at all spread over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him
unclean. It is a [e]leprous sore. 23 But if the bright spot stays in one
place, and has not spread, it is the scar of the boil; and the priest shall
pronounce him clean.

24 "Or if the body receives a burn on its skin by fire, and the raw flesh of
the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white or white, 25 then the priest
shall examine it; and indeed if the hair of the bright spot has turned
white, and it appears deeper than the skin, it is leprosy broken out in the
burn. Therefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous
sore. 26 But if the priest examines it, and indeed there are no white hairs
in the bright spot, and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then
the priest shall isolate him seven days. 27 And the priest shall examine him
on the seventh day. If it has at all spread over the skin, then the priest
shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore. 28 But if the bright spot
stays in one place, and has not spread on the skin, but has faded, it is a
swelling from the burn. The priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the
scar from the burn.

29 "If a man or woman has a sore on the head or the beard, 30 then the
priest shall examine the sore; and indeed if it appears deeper than the
skin, and there is in it thin yellow hair, then the priest shall pronounce
him unclean. It is a scaly leprosy of the head or beard. 31 But if the
priest examines the scaly sore, and indeed it does not appear deeper than
the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate
the one who has the scale seven days. 32 And on the seventh day the priest
shall examine the sore; and indeed if the scale has not spread, and there is
no yellow hair in it, and the scale does not appear deeper than the skin, 33
he shall shave himself, but the scale he shall not shave. And the priest
shall isolate the one who has the scale another seven days. 34 On the
seventh day the priest shall examine the scale; and indeed if the scale has
not spread over the skin, and does not appear deeper than the skin, then the
priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes and be clean. 35
But if the scale should at all spread over the skin after his cleansing, 36
then the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the scale has spread over
the skin, the priest need not seek for yellow hair. He is unclean. 37 But if
the scale appears to be at a standstill, and there is black hair grown up in
it, the scale has healed. He is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him
clean.

38 "If a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the body,
specifically white bright spots, 39 then the priest shall look; and indeed
if the bright spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it is a white
spot that grows on the skin. He is clean.

40 "As for the man whose hair has fallen from his head, he is bald, but he
is clean. 41 He whose hair has fallen from his forehead, he is bald on the
forehead, but he is clean. 42 And if there is on the bald head or bald
forehead a reddish-white sore, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head
or his bald forehead. 43 Then the priest shall examine it; and indeed if the
swelling of the sore is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald
forehead, as the appearance of leprosy on the skin of the body, 44 he is a
leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him
[f]unclean; his sore is on his head.

45 "Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his
head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!' 46
He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is
unclean, and he shall [g]dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the
camp.

The Law Concerning Leprous Garments
47 "Also, if a garment has a [h]leprous plague in it, whether it is a woolen
garment or a linen garment, 48 whether it is in the warp or woof of linen or
wool, whether in leather or in anything made of leather, 49 and if the
plague is greenish or reddish in the garment or in the leather, whether in
the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather, it is a leprous
[i]plague and shall be shown to the priest. 50 The priest shall examine the
plague and isolate that which has the plague seven days. 51 And he shall
examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the
garment, either in the warp or in the woof, in the leather or in anything
made of leather, the plague is an active leprosy. It is unclean. 52 He shall
therefore burn that garment in which is the plague, whether warp or woof, in
wool or in linen, or anything of leather, for it is an active leprosy; the
garment shall be burned in the fire.

53 "But if the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in
the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of
leather, 54 then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which
is the plague; and he shall isolate it another seven days. 55 Then the
priest shall examine the plague after it has been washed; and indeed if the
plague has not changed its color, though the plague has not spread, it is
unclean, and you shall burn it in the fire; it continues eating away,
whether the damage is outside or inside. 56 If the priest examines it, and
indeed the plague has faded after washing it, then he shall tear it out of
the garment, whether out of the warp or out of the woof, or out of the
leather. 57 But if it appears again in the garment, either in the warp or in
the woof, or in anything made of leather, it is a spreading plague; you
shall burn with fire that in which is the plague. 58 And if you wash the
garment, either warp or woof, or whatever is made of leather, if the plague
has disappeared from it, then it shall be washed a second time, and shall be
clean.

59 "This is the law of the leprous plague in a garment of wool or linen,
either in the warp or woof, or in anything made of leather, to pronounce it
clean or to pronounce it unclean."

The Ritual for Cleansing Healed Lepers
14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "This shall be the law of the
[j]leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest. 3
And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him;
and indeed, if the [k]leprosy is healed in the leper, 4 then the priest
shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean
birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. 5 And the priest shall command that
one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. 6 As for
the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the
hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was
killed over the running water. 7 And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him
who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and
shall let the living bird loose in the open field. 8 He who is to be
cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in
water, that he may be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, and
shall stay outside his tent seven days. 9 But on the seventh day he shall
shave all the hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows-all his hair
he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water,
and he shall be clean.

10 "And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one
ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine
flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil. 11 Then the
priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean,
and those things, before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
12 And the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass
offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the
Lord. 13 Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin
offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place; for as the sin offering is
the priest's, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy. 14 The priest
shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall
put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the
thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 15 And the
priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his
own left hand. 16 Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that
is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger
seven times before the Lord. 17 And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the
priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be
cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right
foot, on the blood of the trespass offering. 18 The rest of the oil that is
in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed.
So the priest shall make [l]atonement for him before the Lord.

19 "Then the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him
who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the
burnt offering. 20 And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the
grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and
he shall be clean.

21 "But if he is poor and cannot afford it, then he shall take one male lamb
as a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, [m]one-tenth
of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, a log of oil,
22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford:
one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 23 He shall
bring them to the priest on the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of
the tabernacle of meeting, before the Lord. 24 And the priest shall take the
lamb of the trespass offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave
them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 Then he shall kill the lamb of
the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the
trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be
cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right
foot. 26 And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own
left hand. 27 Then the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of
the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord. 28 And the
priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right
ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the
big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass
offering. 29 The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put
on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before
the Lord. 30 And he shall offer one of the turtledoves or young pigeons,
such as he can afford- 31 such as he is able to afford, the one as a sin
offering and the other as a burnt offering, with the grain offering. So the
priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the Lord.
32 This is the law for one who had a leprous sore, who cannot afford the
usual cleansing."

The Law Concerning Leprous Houses
33 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 34 "When you have come
into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and I put the
[n]leprous plague in a house in the land of your possession, 35 and he who
owns the house comes and tells the priest, saying, 'It seems to me that
there is some plague in the house,' 36 then the priest shall command that
they empty the house, before the priest goes into it to examine the plague,
that all that is in the house may not be made unclean; and afterward the
priest shall go in to examine the house. 37 And he shall examine the plague;
and indeed if the plague is on the walls of the house with ingrained
streaks, greenish or reddish, which appear to be [o]deep in the wall, 38
then the priest shall go out of the house, to the door of the house, and
[p]shut up the house seven days. 39 And the priest shall come again on the
seventh day and look; and indeed if the plague has spread on the walls of
the house, 40 then the priest shall command that they take away the stones
in which is the plague, and they shall cast them into an unclean place
outside the city. 41 And he shall cause the house to be scraped inside, all
around, and the dust that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean
place outside the city. 42 Then they shall take other stones and put them in
the place of those stones, and he shall take other mortar and plaster the
house.

43 "Now if the plague comes back and breaks out in the house, after he has
taken away the stones, after he has scraped the house, and after it is
plastered, 44 then the priest shall come and look; and indeed if the plague
has spread in the house, it is an active leprosy in the house. It is
unclean. 45 And he shall break down the house, its stones, its timber, and
all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them outside the city to an
unclean place. 46 Moreover he who goes into the house at all while it is
shut up shall be [q]unclean until evening. 47 And he who lies down in the
house shall wash his clothes, and he who eats in the house shall wash his
clothes.

48 "But if the priest comes in and examines it, and indeed the plague has
not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall
pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. 49 And he shall
take, to cleanse the house, two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. 50
Then he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water;
51 and he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living
bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and in the running water,
and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 And he shall [r]cleanse the house
with the blood of the bird and the running water and the living bird, with
the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet. 53 Then he shall let the living
bird loose outside the city in the open field, and make atonement for the
house, and it shall be clean.

54 "This is the law for any leprous sore and scale, 55 for the leprosy of a
garment and of a house, 56 for a swelling and a scab and a bright spot, 57
to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of
leprosy."

The Law Concerning Bodily Discharges
15 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 "Speak to the children
of Israel, and say to them: 'When any man has a discharge from his body, his
discharge is unclean. 3 And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his
discharge-whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped
up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. 4 Every bed is [s]unclean on
which he who has the discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall
be unclean. 5 And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe
in water, and be unclean until evening. 6 He who sits on anything on which
he who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and
be unclean until evening. 7 And he who touches the body of him who has the
discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until
evening. 8 If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he
shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 9
Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean. 10
Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening.
He who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in
water, and be unclean until evening. 11 And whomever the one who has the
discharge touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his
clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 12 The vessel of
earth that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every
vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

13 'And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he
shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and
bathe his body in running water; then he shall be clean. 14 On the eighth
day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come
before the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and give them to
the priest. 15 Then the priest shall offer them, the one as a sin offering
and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make [t]atonement for
him before the Lord because of his discharge.

16 'If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in
water, and be unclean until evening. 17 And any garment and any leather on
which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until
evening. 18 Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of
semen, they shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

19 'If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood,
she shall be [u]set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be
unclean until evening. 20 Everything that she lies on during her impurity
shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean. 21
Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be
unclean until evening. 22 And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall
wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 23 If
anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it,
he shall be unclean until evening. 24 And if any man lies with her at all,
so that her impurity is on him, he shall be [v]unclean seven days; and every
bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

25 'If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the
time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of
impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her
customary impurity. She shall be unclean. 26 Every bed on which she lies all
the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and
whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity.
27 Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes
and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

28 'But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for
herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. 29 And on the eighth
day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and
bring them to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 30 Then
the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt
offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for
the discharge of her uncleanness.

31 'Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness,
lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile My tabernacle that is
among them. 32 This is the law for one who has a discharge, and for him who
emits semen and is unclean thereby, 33 and for her who is indisposed because
of her customary impurity, and for one who has a discharge, either man or
woman, and for him who lies with her who is unclean.' "

Footnotes
Leviticus 13:2 Heb. saraath, disfiguring skin diseases, including leprosy,
and so in vv. 2-46 and 14:2-32
Leviticus 13:3 defiled
Leviticus 13:8 defiled
Leviticus 13:11 defiled
Leviticus 13:22 infection
Leviticus 13:44 altogether defiled
Leviticus 13:46 live alone
Leviticus 13:47 A mold, fungus, or similar infestation, and so in vv. 47-59
Leviticus 13:49 mark
Leviticus 14:2 See note at 13:2
Leviticus 14:3 Heb. saraath, disfiguring skin diseases, including leprosy,
and so in vv. 2-32
Leviticus 14:18 Lit. covering
Leviticus 14:21 Approximately two dry quarts
Leviticus 14:34 Decomposition by mildew, mold, dry rot, etc., and so in vv.
34-53
Leviticus 14:37 Lit. lower than the wall
Leviticus 14:38 quarantine
Leviticus 14:46 defiled
Leviticus 14:52 ceremonially cleanse
Leviticus 15:4 defiled
Leviticus 15:15 Lit. covering
Leviticus 15:19 Lit. in her impurity
Leviticus 15:24 defiled