Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Numbers, Chapters 3-4 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Numbers 3: 5-10; … 10 [bold/underlined] : … [God Calls His Priesthood] … 5 The Lord said to Moses,6 "Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him.7 They are to perform duties for him and for the whole community at the tent of meeting by doing the work of the tabernacle.8 They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, fulfilling the obligations of the Israelites by doing the work of the tabernacle.9 Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to him. 10 Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests; anyone else who approaches the sanctuary is to be put to death."
My Journal for Today: There is a simple, but powerful, premise which should never be ignored when studying God’s word; and that is the redundancy principle. Quite simply, when God repeats something, especially in the detail we see in Numbers, Chapter 3, concerning the establishment of God’s Priesthood, we should take notice and see if/where the passage applies in our own lives.
Earlier this month in these blogs (specifically on Feb. 15, 2012), I was studying this same scenario in Leviticus, Chapter 8, where God set aside the tribe of Levi, the Levites, as His servant Priests, with Aaron and his sons becoming the High Priests. You can go to this link to study that journal entry if you like. I’ll not go into the great descriptive detail here about this matter. But in that 2/15 blog, I showed the Old – to – New Covenant comparisons with God’s anointing ALL BELIEVERS as a Royal Priesthood after the shedding of the blood of the Lamb of God (see 1st Peter 2: 5, 9).
Yes, now we, who know we’re born again believers in Christ as our Messiah, Lord, and Savior, are now the anointed priesthood for God’s people; and this role in the Tabernacle (i.e, in Christ) is to be taken VERY SERIOUSLY. You can go back and read what I wrote about concerning these matters in the earlier 2/15 blog [using the link above]; but I will just say here that God has made a serious point about His Priesthood by repeating the description of the establishment and appointed roles of God’s priests to be His servants and witnesses in the Tabernacle; and this means – at least to this humble student of God’s word – that I’m to take my role in the a royal Priesthood very seriously, … being God’s representative to believers and the people’s representative to God when they need His service. I am now grafted into the role of Levite in the New Covenant; and if you’re a Christian, so have you.
I hope all who read here with me are reading and meditating on this subject with the seriousness of implication which these passages have for us as Christians. As God’s Priest, what am I going to do TODAY to serve Him as He tabernacles in my heart?
My Prayer Today: … Lord, I am one of Your Priesthood; and may I take this role seriously as I am being trained to serve You as a witness to Your children. Amen
Showing posts with label royal priesthood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label royal priesthood. Show all posts
Friday, February 24, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
February 20, 2012 … Purity in Priestly Practices
Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Leviticus, Chapters 22-23 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Leviticus 22: 1 - 3 : … [Purity of the Priesthood] … 1 The Lord said to Moses,2 "Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane My holy Name. I am the Lord. >>> … 3 "Say to them: 'For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, that person must be cut off from My presence. I am the Lord.
My Journal for Today: Here I am today, led to read in Leviticus 22 – 23 in my chronological Bible reading plan; and we have more instructions being chronicled in God’s Book of the Law, concerning the Priesthood and the Festivals of worship which the priests and the people were to carry out on an annual basis. And in these instructions, one cannot help but be impressed with how much detail God, through Moses, was giving the people, and especially His Priesthood, about their practices and principles of worship.
And I’ve singled out another of the instructions to Aaron and his descendents, concerning how serious it was that the priesthood be perfected in their worship practices because the royal Priesthood had to represent God to man and man to God. And the God of His chosen people wanted to insure that HIS people were called out to be separate from all the pagan people with whom His chosen ones would have to confront in their future. Worship of the one, true, living God … YAHWEH – JEHOVAH … was to reflect His holiness; and therefore His Priests had to be appointed and anointed to handle this worship with perfected practices. And the people were to come to the festivals of remembrance and celebration, outlined in Leviticus 23 with great reverence and very strict religious regularity and regulations.
Now I shift gears to remember, as I’m reading through the above passages, as well as the rest of the two chapters I was led to re-study today, that I AM PART OF GOD’S ROYAL PRIESTHOOD [documented for Christians in 1st Peter 2: 9-10, to which I’ll link you here for repeated reflection].
And by now, because I’ve brought it up several times during our read in Leviticus, we – who are gloriously under a NEW COVENANT – the perfect covenant from the perfect Lamb of God – our Lord, Jesus. And we must realize that, though we don’t have to live under the ceremonious religious practices of the Old Covenant, we do have to recognize that we are to be living reflections of God’s royal priesthood because God’s tabernacle is in the heart of Christians; and we are to be living sacrifices, worshipping our God by the way we live our lives. I’ve touted it before this month, dear ones; but have you memorized and/or internalized Paul’s instructions concerning New Covenant worship in Romans 12: 1-2, also linked here for those who don’t have it memorized.
We, my brothers or sisters, are PRIESTS – grafted descendents of Aaron’s Royal Priesthood; and everyday and in every moment of our lives, we are to be reflections of ALL of the festivals of worship described in Lev. 23. And as God’s royal priesthood, we are to take – VERY SERIOUSLY – what the Apostle Paul wrote about in Romans 12: 1-2.
SO … self inventory time (as reminded we are to do in 2nd Cor. 13: 5)! And in asking myself, … “Bill, are you being an willing and able priest, representing God to all to whom you witness your faith; and are you leading a life which is a festival of worship to the One, true, and holy God?” … I have to admit that I’m not taking my duties as a PRIEST of God seriously enough. And when I’m honest, I must say that I need to come under the truth of 1st John 1: 9 and cleanse myself for my priestly practices of living worship today.
How about you?
My Prayer Today: … Lord, I come to the Holy of Holies, which You have opened for me as Your priest, wearing the Robes of Righteousness which You, Lord, give freely for me; and I’m an consecrated for worship by Your blood and my confession this day, ready to be Your priest of living worship.
Leviticus 22: 1 - 3 : … [Purity of the Priesthood] … 1 The Lord said to Moses,2 "Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane My holy Name. I am the Lord. >>> … 3 "Say to them: 'For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, that person must be cut off from My presence. I am the Lord.
My Journal for Today: Here I am today, led to read in Leviticus 22 – 23 in my chronological Bible reading plan; and we have more instructions being chronicled in God’s Book of the Law, concerning the Priesthood and the Festivals of worship which the priests and the people were to carry out on an annual basis. And in these instructions, one cannot help but be impressed with how much detail God, through Moses, was giving the people, and especially His Priesthood, about their practices and principles of worship.
And I’ve singled out another of the instructions to Aaron and his descendents, concerning how serious it was that the priesthood be perfected in their worship practices because the royal Priesthood had to represent God to man and man to God. And the God of His chosen people wanted to insure that HIS people were called out to be separate from all the pagan people with whom His chosen ones would have to confront in their future. Worship of the one, true, living God … YAHWEH – JEHOVAH … was to reflect His holiness; and therefore His Priests had to be appointed and anointed to handle this worship with perfected practices. And the people were to come to the festivals of remembrance and celebration, outlined in Leviticus 23 with great reverence and very strict religious regularity and regulations.
Now I shift gears to remember, as I’m reading through the above passages, as well as the rest of the two chapters I was led to re-study today, that I AM PART OF GOD’S ROYAL PRIESTHOOD [documented for Christians in 1st Peter 2: 9-10, to which I’ll link you here for repeated reflection].
And by now, because I’ve brought it up several times during our read in Leviticus, we – who are gloriously under a NEW COVENANT – the perfect covenant from the perfect Lamb of God – our Lord, Jesus. And we must realize that, though we don’t have to live under the ceremonious religious practices of the Old Covenant, we do have to recognize that we are to be living reflections of God’s royal priesthood because God’s tabernacle is in the heart of Christians; and we are to be living sacrifices, worshipping our God by the way we live our lives. I’ve touted it before this month, dear ones; but have you memorized and/or internalized Paul’s instructions concerning New Covenant worship in Romans 12: 1-2, also linked here for those who don’t have it memorized.
We, my brothers or sisters, are PRIESTS – grafted descendents of Aaron’s Royal Priesthood; and everyday and in every moment of our lives, we are to be reflections of ALL of the festivals of worship described in Lev. 23. And as God’s royal priesthood, we are to take – VERY SERIOUSLY – what the Apostle Paul wrote about in Romans 12: 1-2.
SO … self inventory time (as reminded we are to do in 2nd Cor. 13: 5)! And in asking myself, … “Bill, are you being an willing and able priest, representing God to all to whom you witness your faith; and are you leading a life which is a festival of worship to the One, true, and holy God?” … I have to admit that I’m not taking my duties as a PRIEST of God seriously enough. And when I’m honest, I must say that I need to come under the truth of 1st John 1: 9 and cleanse myself for my priestly practices of living worship today.
How about you?
My Prayer Today: … Lord, I come to the Holy of Holies, which You have opened for me as Your priest, wearing the Robes of Righteousness which You, Lord, give freely for me; and I’m an consecrated for worship by Your blood and my confession this day, ready to be Your priest of living worship.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
February 15, 2012 … God’s Priesthood – Plan B!
Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Leviticus, Chapters 8-10 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Leviticus 8: 1-5 : … [Priests Set Aside for Holiness]… 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering,[a] the two rams and the basket containing bread made without yeast, 3 and gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” 4 Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the tent of meeting. … 5 Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the LORD has commanded to be done.”
============
LEVITICUS 10; 1-2; 8-11; … : … [Aaron’s Disobedient Sons] … 1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. …
8 Then the LORD said to Aaron, 9 “You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, 10 so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so you can teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses.”
My Journal for Today: Today in the passages of my chronological reading plan which stood out to me, God was teaching about the Priesthood, which was set aside – BY GOD – in a special way, to watch over the flock of God’s people. And in Leviticus, chapters 8-9, we read of the elaborate ordination scheme, in which God made plain that the priesthood was to represent God to man as well as man to God and the Priests were to be the picture of holiness to the people.
But actually this was God’s “Plan B” for the priesthood.
Earlier this year in Exodus 19: 5-6, I read about God’s “Plan A” for His Priesthood, which reads as follows, [God to Moses about His chosen people, the descendants of Joseph] 5 “ ‘ Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you [God’s chosen nation] will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
For you bible students, does that passage ring a bell of connection for you with the New Testament? What about 1st Peter 2: 9-10 [?], which reads … 9 But you [God’s church] are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Yes, my fellow disciples of Christ, we – you and me – are God’s PLAN A for His priesthood. And we are the fulfillment of God’s original plan for His chosen people to become a nation of priests, set aside for holiness, and sanctified for God’s glory. But in those OT days, after the establishment of God’s Tabernacle, as God’s sinful peoples were being prepared for their 40-year purging in the wilderness, God knew that He was going to have a Plan B for the Priesthood; and so we have the ordination of the Levites as Priests, set aside by this elaborate ordination ceremony in Leviticus to be God’s representatives to the people and their representatives to God.
But as you read in Chapter 10 of Leviticus, even the first of these ordained priests couldn’t hack it; and Aaron’s sons lapsed into selfishness and disobedience and away from God’s commission of holiness. And we read how God purified the priesthood by fire, consuming those who would not follow His commandments, as His Priesthood, and could not be God’s representative of holiness to others of God’s chosen as well as their representative to Him.
My dear ones, do we see the implication? WE are God’s royal priesthood now that Christ has come to be the Chief Priest. He has ordained and anointed any and all who are truly born-again believers to be His Royal Priesthood; and it is the shed blood of the Lamb of God which has purified us for this New Covenant Priesthood. And we, representing God to man and man to God, must be committed to living in obedience and holiness as God charged Aaron and his sons to be. And if we cannot, we are subject to the penalty experienced by Aaron’s sons and that is the death of our Spiritual life [i.e., our witness as God’s representatives] which is consumed in disobedience and sin. We won’t lose our promised eternal life because of our sinfulness; but we can – and would – lose our effectiveness and power as witnessing Priests if we cannot live up to God’s charge of grace empowered holiness.
BUT … we can be purified priests every day and in every situation of our lives, if we keep short accounts of cleansing with our God through confession/contrition (again see 1st John 1: 9). And when we do, also choosing to receive and use God’s purifying and enabling grace, we can be God’s Royal Priesthood, His PLAN A of holiness to the sin-ridden world, … letting God’s pure light of redemption shine through us to a world which desperately needs more chosen ones in His Priesthood.
My Prayer Today: … Oh, LORD, let me be Your Priest today as I’m cleansed and purified by my confession and Your forgiveness. Amen
Leviticus 8: 1-5 : … [Priests Set Aside for Holiness]… 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering,[a] the two rams and the basket containing bread made without yeast, 3 and gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” 4 Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the tent of meeting. … 5 Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the LORD has commanded to be done.”
============
LEVITICUS 10; 1-2; 8-11; … : … [Aaron’s Disobedient Sons] … 1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. …
8 Then the LORD said to Aaron, 9 “You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, 10 so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so you can teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses.”
My Journal for Today: Today in the passages of my chronological reading plan which stood out to me, God was teaching about the Priesthood, which was set aside – BY GOD – in a special way, to watch over the flock of God’s people. And in Leviticus, chapters 8-9, we read of the elaborate ordination scheme, in which God made plain that the priesthood was to represent God to man as well as man to God and the Priests were to be the picture of holiness to the people.
But actually this was God’s “Plan B” for the priesthood.
Earlier this year in Exodus 19: 5-6, I read about God’s “Plan A” for His Priesthood, which reads as follows, [God to Moses about His chosen people, the descendants of Joseph] 5 “ ‘ Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you [God’s chosen nation] will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
For you bible students, does that passage ring a bell of connection for you with the New Testament? What about 1st Peter 2: 9-10 [?], which reads … 9 But you [God’s church] are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Yes, my fellow disciples of Christ, we – you and me – are God’s PLAN A for His priesthood. And we are the fulfillment of God’s original plan for His chosen people to become a nation of priests, set aside for holiness, and sanctified for God’s glory. But in those OT days, after the establishment of God’s Tabernacle, as God’s sinful peoples were being prepared for their 40-year purging in the wilderness, God knew that He was going to have a Plan B for the Priesthood; and so we have the ordination of the Levites as Priests, set aside by this elaborate ordination ceremony in Leviticus to be God’s representatives to the people and their representatives to God.
But as you read in Chapter 10 of Leviticus, even the first of these ordained priests couldn’t hack it; and Aaron’s sons lapsed into selfishness and disobedience and away from God’s commission of holiness. And we read how God purified the priesthood by fire, consuming those who would not follow His commandments, as His Priesthood, and could not be God’s representative of holiness to others of God’s chosen as well as their representative to Him.
My dear ones, do we see the implication? WE are God’s royal priesthood now that Christ has come to be the Chief Priest. He has ordained and anointed any and all who are truly born-again believers to be His Royal Priesthood; and it is the shed blood of the Lamb of God which has purified us for this New Covenant Priesthood. And we, representing God to man and man to God, must be committed to living in obedience and holiness as God charged Aaron and his sons to be. And if we cannot, we are subject to the penalty experienced by Aaron’s sons and that is the death of our Spiritual life [i.e., our witness as God’s representatives] which is consumed in disobedience and sin. We won’t lose our promised eternal life because of our sinfulness; but we can – and would – lose our effectiveness and power as witnessing Priests if we cannot live up to God’s charge of grace empowered holiness.
BUT … we can be purified priests every day and in every situation of our lives, if we keep short accounts of cleansing with our God through confession/contrition (again see 1st John 1: 9). And when we do, also choosing to receive and use God’s purifying and enabling grace, we can be God’s Royal Priesthood, His PLAN A of holiness to the sin-ridden world, … letting God’s pure light of redemption shine through us to a world which desperately needs more chosen ones in His Priesthood.
My Prayer Today: … Oh, LORD, let me be Your Priest today as I’m cleansed and purified by my confession and Your forgiveness. Amen
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