Epiphany
We know the word: a moment of piercing awareness, the sudden jolt of understanding. This is the season of Epiphany, a season celebrating the revelation of the Savior, the light of the world. Throughout the season we focus on the ministry of Jesus: the calling of the disciples, the teachings of Christ, his miracles, and finally his transfiguration. The epiphany of Epiphany is that this is no mere teacher or prophet— this is the Son of God, the Messiah. Epiphany calls us to live God’s mission, announcing the good news of Christ’s arrival to every culture and to those who live across the street. We, the church, are sent out as the manifestation of Jesus to a watching world (from Seeking God’s Face by Philip Reinders).
- Calling -
O Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim Your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia!
The Lord hath manifested forth his glory:
O Come, let us adore Him.
- Constitution -
Read/Listen, Meditate, Pray, and Contemplate on God’s Word, remembering that God is with you and ready to speak to you because he loves you.
Leviticus 14
[1] The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] “This shall be the law of the leprous person 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 look. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, [4] the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. [5] And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water. [6] He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. [7] And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field. [8] And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into the camp, but live outside his tent seven days. [9] And on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair, and then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.
[10] “And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, and one log of oil. [11] And the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and these things before the LORD, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. [12] And the priest shall take one of the male lambs and offer it for a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. [13] And he shall kill the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary. For the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy. [14] The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. [15] Then the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand [16] and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the LORD. [17] And some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. [18] And 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. Then the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD. [19] The priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. [20] And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
[21] “But if he is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil; [22] also two turtledoves or two pigeons, whichever he can afford. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. [23] And on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the LORD. [24] And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. [25] And he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering. And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and 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] and 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 lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, in the place where the blood of the guilt offering was put. [29] And 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, of the turtledoves or pigeons, whichever he can afford, [31] one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a grain offering. And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for him who is being cleansed. [32] This is the law for him in whom is a case of leprous disease, who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing.”
[33] The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, [34] “When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, [35] then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘There seems to me to be some case of disease in my house.’ [36] Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, lest all that is in the house be declared unclean. And afterward the priest shall go in to see the house. [37] And he shall examine the disease. And if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, [38] then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days. [39] And the priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the disease has spread in the walls of the house, [40] then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the disease and throw them into an unclean place outside the city. [41] And he shall have the inside of the house scraped all around, and the plaster 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 plaster and plaster the house.
[43] “If the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it, [44] then the priest shall go and look. And if the disease has spread in the house, it is a persistent leprous disease in the house; it is unclean. [45] And he shall break down the house, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them out of the city to an unclean place. [46] Moreover, whoever enters the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening, [47] and whoever sleeps in the house shall wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
[48] “But if the priest comes and looks, and if the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the disease is healed. [49] And for the cleansing of the house he shall take two small birds, with cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop, [50] and shall kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water [51] and shall take the cedarwood and the hyssop and the scarlet yarn, along with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times. [52] Thus he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the fresh water and with the live bird and with the cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn. [53] And he shall let the live bird go out of the city into the open country. So he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.”
[54] This is the law for any case of leprous disease: for an itch, [55] for leprous disease in a garment or in a house, [56] and for a swelling or an eruption or a spot, [57] to show when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law for leprous disease.
Leviticus 15
[1] The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, [2] “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. [3] And this is the law of his uncleanness for a discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is blocked up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. [4] Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. [5] And anyone who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. [6] And whoever sits on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. [7] And whoever touches the body of the one with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. [8] And if the one with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. [9] And any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean. [10] And whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries such things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. [11] Anyone whom the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. [12] And an earthenware vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.
[13] “And when the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes. And he shall bathe his body in fresh water and shall be clean. [14] And on the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the LORD to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. [15] And the priest shall use them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD for his discharge.
[16] “If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening. [17] And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. [18] If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening.
[19] “When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. [20] And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean. [21] And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. [22] And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. [23] Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. [24] And if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be 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, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her 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 everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. [27] And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. [28] But if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. [29] And on the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. [30] And the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her before the LORD for her unclean discharge.
[31] “Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.”
[32] This is the law for him who has a discharge and for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby; [33] also for her who is unwell with her menstrual impurity, that is, for anyone, male or female, who has a discharge, and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean.
Leviticus 16
[1] The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the LORD and died, [2] and the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. [3] But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. [4] He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. [5] And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
[6] “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. [7] Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting. [8] And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel. [9] And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering, [10] but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
[11] “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. [12] And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil [13] and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. [14] And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
[15] “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. [16] Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. [17] No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. [18] Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. [19] And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.
[20] “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. [21] And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. [22] The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
[23] “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. [24] And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. [25] And the fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. [26] And he who lets the goat go to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. [27] And the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. Their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned up with fire. [28] And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
[29] “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. [30] For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins. [31] It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. [32] And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. [33] He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. [34] And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Psalm 119:73–96
Yodh
[73] Your hands have made and fashioned me;
give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
[74] Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice,
because I have hoped in your word.
[75] I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous,
and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
[76] Let your steadfast love comfort me
according to your promise to your servant.
[77] Let your mercy come to me, that I may live;
for your law is my delight.
[78] Let the insolent be put to shame,
because they have wronged me with falsehood;
as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
[79] Let those who fear you turn to me,
that they may know your testimonies.
[80] May my heart be blameless in your statutes,
that I may not be put to shame!
Kaph
[81] My soul longs for your salvation;
I hope in your word.
[82] My eyes long for your promise;
I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
[83] For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,
yet I have not forgotten your statutes.
[84] How long must your servant endure?
When will you judge those who persecute me?
[85] The insolent have dug pitfalls for me;
they do not live according to your law.
[86] All your commandments are sure;
they persecute me with falsehood; help me!
[87] They have almost made an end of me on earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.
[88] In your steadfast love give me life,
that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.
Lamedh
[89] Forever, O LORD, your word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.
[90] Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
[91] By your appointment they stand this day,
for all things are your servants.
[92] If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
[93] I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have given me life.
[94] I am yours; save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
[95] The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,
but I consider your testimonies.
[96] I have seen a limit to all perfection,
but your commandment is exceedingly broad.
- Communion -
Pray for yourself, others, our church, our neighbors, and the world.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer & the collect of the week
Our Father who art in heaven...
Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us
the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known
to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns
with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
for ever. Amen.
- Commission -
After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. (1 Peter 5:10-11)
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and our neighbors.