I tend toward quietness in a crowd. Or, to put it another way, I tend to let others speak while I determine the tenor of the conversation. Staying out of controversy interests me more than the attention it brings.

So I slow down as I read this stipulation: If anyone sins because they do not speak up when they hear a public charge to testify regarding something they have seen or learned about, they will be held responsible.

Tucked into instructions regarding offerings for unintentional sins, this teaching smacks of my potential negligence. When I know I should speak up—but it’s easier on me not to—and I turn quietly away, then I’ve committed the sin referred to.

Most of the time it’s wise to hold your tongue. More so today with the social media mob standing ready with pitchforks and torches. But in certain situations, failure to speak is the wrong strategy. Or more to the point—failure to speak offends God and harms your neighbors.

When these situations arise (and we’ll know them because of our temptation toward hiding), truth and justice requires our voice.

Speak up.

Leviticus 5 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by davide ragusa

The book of Leviticus carries loads of information about various offerings the children of Israel presented to the Lord.

The instructions are surprisingly detailed. Grain offerings, for instance, might be prepared in an oven, or on a griddle, or cooked in a pan. All three methods are mentioned as options.

Every grain offering was made without yeast or honey. The deletion of yeast makes symbolic sense, a reference to the Israelites fleeing Egypt so quickly their bread didn’t have time to rise. Honey? Not so clear—perhaps it started the decay process too early?

Then there’s salt. Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.

Salt preserves food, so its addition likely symbolized the enduring nature of God’s covenant with Israel. Since that time, salt has been used to bind covenants in other cultures, but it’s unclear how this practice carried down through time.

After burning some of the bread on the alter, the priests took the rest as part of their compensation for service. Maybe this recipe made for better meals? Perhaps the practice of drizzling honey over pizza crust started here?

Regardless of the questions, the Lord clearly cared about these instructions, and if the Lord pays attention to bread recipes, he pays attention to the details of our lives as well.

Leviticus 2 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Nadya Spetnitskaya

The unknown writer of Hebrews speaks of Jesus as the son of God, heir of all things, creator of the world and exact imprint of God the father, who upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Such a claim is impossible for me to comprehend. Jesus, present when the worlds formed, today keeps the worlds from drifting away into nothingness simply by his word of power.

Does he say, “whoa, drift back into orbit there, Neptune,” or “straighten up, stars?”

Take a look at the night sky and try to consider such an idea. It’s not easy nor intuitive.

I often wonder—does the size of the God I picture in my head match the size of the God who made my head?

Can I even begin to fathom the immense power of the person of Jesus?

Wonderfully, along with corralling the universe, Jesus finds space for you and me and the rest of the world. Which is maybe the most unfathomable idea of all.

Hebrews 1 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Image from Unsplash

I’m always impressed with the honesty David expressed when he was frustrated. None more so than asserting his displeasure with former colleagues attacking him without cause, repaying friendship with evil behaviors.

David starts strong:

Let an accuser stand at his right hand…

May his days be few…

May another take his place of leadership…

Then David really winds up and delivers:

May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow…

May his children be wandering beggars…

May strangers plunder the fruits of his labor…

Then the coup de grâce:

May he blot out their name from the earth…

Finally David turns to the Lord, and we better glimpse the deep feeling of betrayal he experienced:

I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

I have no idea if any of these curses materialized. I just appreciate David’s honesty before the Lord. If we can’t complain to the Lord, who else do we have?

It seems David kept up a running dialogue with his God—honest, open, uninhibited. Probably ok for me to do so as well.

Psalm 109 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Katerina Pavlyuchkova