WARNING!! … This is a long one! But please stick in there with me. You may be blessed by what God has given me to share today. And please see my BLOGGER'S NOTE below.
Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Exodus, Chapters 22-24 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Exodus 24: 1-8 … : … [God’s Covenant Patience] ... 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2 but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him."
3 When Moses went and told the people all the Lord's words and laws, they responded with one voice, "Everything the Lord has said we will do."
4 Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar.7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, "We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey."
8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words."
My Journal for Today: Today, in reading through and meditating on Chapter 22-24 of Exodus [linked for your reading above] in my chronological Bible reading plan for 2012, I encounter, along with God’s instructions through Moses to His people after presenting them with The Ten Commandments (in Exodus 20), the instructions God gives to His children about how they must live to be festivals of living sacrifice. If you go back to my journal entry for Feb. 3, 2012 at this linked website, you can read how God wanted His people to remember what the Lord had done for them in delivering them from bondage in Egypt and how their lives should become “living sacrifices” in faithful remembrance of His redeeming faithfulness. And here in these chapters – for today’s reading – we read of how God gave His children specific instructions as to how they must live to become the living remembrance to Yahweh’s faithful deliverance and His patient, covenant love.
Now, in today’s highlight passage, copied above, we read of the ceremony which God presented for the people, through Moses, Aaron, and the Elders of the twelve tribes. However, in this elaborate covenant ritual, Moses was the only one whom God would allow to approach the altar of worship. And then note the corporate response of God’s chosen people when God’s instructions were presented to them by Moses. They said in accord, "Everything the Lord has said we will do." Well, I’m no Bible scholar; but I have read through THE BOOK, and I’m sure you know as well as I that these people would not live up to their part of God’s deal for them.
Yes, God, being our omniscient Lord, knew that His children, still under the influence of their Adamic nature, would fail Him; but He still needed to establish the ground rules for the game of life, re-establishing and ceremoniously re-setting in motion God’s part of His deal with His people. And in part of this ceremony, which we read about in today’s highlight passage, we see the importance of “the blood” in this covenant ritual. And now, being New Covenant believers, from our reading of God’s completed “Book of the Law,” our Bible, we know all about what was being pictured in this re-establishment of God’s Covenant with His people.
We know (or should know) that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of or redemption from sin [see Hebrews 9, especially verse 22; and this ceremony, we read about above, was God’s way of giving a ceremonial picture, which He established through the rituals of blood sacrifice in the Old Testament times, to foreshadow what was to come when His Son would become the Messianic blood sacrifice, the Lamb of God, shedding His blood, once and for all, to “seal the deal” God was making with His people from the Old Covenant.
And now we who are established and sealed by the New Covenant blood sacrifice, will live with our Lord and Savior forever because He, as the final blood sacrifice, the Lamb of God, shed His blood to cover us and release us from our past bondage to our sin nature.
If you’re reading along with me, can I get a resounding “HALLELUJAH?!!”
However and hopefully, we can be more faithful to our part of the New Covenant fulfillment than God’s children were when they declared that they would be obedient to God’s original covenant. Prayerfully, we can live as living sacrifices more in remembrance of God’s promised and fulfilled sacrifice than did those in Moses’ time when the people saw His glory and yet balked in trying to fulfill their covenant promise to their God.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, though we are sinners and don’t deserve Your blood, You shed it for me, and all who receive Your blood in faith, that we may be saved by Your grace and mercy, through our faith in the shedding of Your blood for our forgiveness. Oh, Yahweh, …thank You … and … HALLELUJAH!!! Amen
Blogger’s Note: I want to declare here, for any who might be willing to read along with me, that God is giving me far more than I prayed for … and WAY MORE than I deserve … as I’ve been reading through His word this year. In the beginning of 2012, I desired – and prayed for – God to fill me up with His wisdom as I made the commitment to do the chronological reading plan which our local church was promoting for 2012. But to be quite honest, I felt under obligation – more than real commitment – as an Elder in our church to model this reading plan. But nonetheless, I prayed that God would give our church flock – and me too – His wisdom, light, and direction from this reading of His word. And if you know God’s promised from both Psalms 37: 4 and James 1: 5-6 as well as Isaiah 55: 11, seeking to know God and His mind through the study of His word will ALWAYS be productive – WAY MORE than we could fathom [see Eph. 3: 20]! … And that has truly been the result of my reading thus far, chronologically, through the Bible this year. So, as with today’s journaling above, I’m more than encouraged – I’m excited! – to continue on being filled up every day by reading, studying, and meditating on God’s word. Oh, how I pray others will find the Ps. 37: 4 treatment as well from committing and reading through the Bible in 2012.
Showing posts with label Lamb of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lamb of God. Show all posts
Monday, February 06, 2012
Thursday, November 18, 2010
2010 – November 18 – The Perfect Passover Lamb
Study from God’s Word… Documentation of Christ’s Passion from selected/edited chronological passages from Matt 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19 – the crucifixion, death, and burial of Jesus at Golgotha (i.e., Calvary) … Passage for Reflection: John 19: 33 … NIV But when they (the Roman soldiers) came to Jesus and found that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
My Journal for Today: And why is this latter fact (in today’s text) so important – i.e., that Jesus’ bones would not be broken as was the practice to hasten death at a crucifixion? Well, we know that Jesus was God’s Lamb, the perfect paschal Lamb being sacrificed for mankind at the ultimate Passover; and according to Jewish law, the selected Passover lamb had to be perfect, with no broken bones (see Exod 12: 46 or Num 9: 12). And in Ps 34: 20 we have the Messianic prophesy of no broken bones at the time of Messiah sacrificing for mankind. Hence, when the Jewish leaders asked that the Romans hasten Jesus’ death to avoid having to take down the body on the Sabbath, the soldiers went to break his legs but discovered that he was already dead; and this allowed for God’s Passover Lamb to be bruised, but not broken [see also Is 53: 10].
Many times, being an Elder in our church I’ve been called upon to serve the Eucharist; and during the service, offering up the bread, I have said, “Christ’s body, broken for you.” But from now on, I will not say that, learning this small, but very important detail. I’m now led to say, “Christ’s body, bruised for you” to be more in accord with Scriptural truth. Oh, well … moving on >>>
The more one reads, studies, and meditates upon Christ’s passion, the Christian has to come away in awe of how all of the events fit together to cry out the truth that of that fate-filled day; and, having been prophesied by many Old Testament prophets, God, the Father, sacrificed His beloved Son as the perfect Passover Lamb so that the sins of all mankind would be propitiated. And if you’ve seen the Mel Gibson portrayal in movie version of The Passion of The Christ, you probably wept, as I did, during the visual representation of the mocking, the cruelty, and the degradation of the cross; and that it happened all for you and for me, is almost overwhelming.
A couple of years ago I was in Jerusalem; and our pilgrimage group was led to the place where archeologists strongly believe they’ve uncovered where Jesus was nailed to the cross. I stood on those very stones; and looking down at my feet on the place where the Roman soldiers pounded those three nails into Christ’s wrists and feet; and I wept – almost uncontrollably; because I realized that it was MY SIN which nailed my Lord and Savior to that cross; and it was for MY SIN for which He hung on that tree; and it was for MY SIN that He died, was buried, and was resurrected again … to save ME from MY SIN.
Yes, again I say … HALLELUJAH !!!
My Prayer for Today: You became God’s Lamb FOR ME! Praise Your Holy Name!!! Amen
My Journal for Today: And why is this latter fact (in today’s text) so important – i.e., that Jesus’ bones would not be broken as was the practice to hasten death at a crucifixion? Well, we know that Jesus was God’s Lamb, the perfect paschal Lamb being sacrificed for mankind at the ultimate Passover; and according to Jewish law, the selected Passover lamb had to be perfect, with no broken bones (see Exod 12: 46 or Num 9: 12). And in Ps 34: 20 we have the Messianic prophesy of no broken bones at the time of Messiah sacrificing for mankind. Hence, when the Jewish leaders asked that the Romans hasten Jesus’ death to avoid having to take down the body on the Sabbath, the soldiers went to break his legs but discovered that he was already dead; and this allowed for God’s Passover Lamb to be bruised, but not broken [see also Is 53: 10].
Many times, being an Elder in our church I’ve been called upon to serve the Eucharist; and during the service, offering up the bread, I have said, “Christ’s body, broken for you.” But from now on, I will not say that, learning this small, but very important detail. I’m now led to say, “Christ’s body, bruised for you” to be more in accord with Scriptural truth. Oh, well … moving on >>>
The more one reads, studies, and meditates upon Christ’s passion, the Christian has to come away in awe of how all of the events fit together to cry out the truth that of that fate-filled day; and, having been prophesied by many Old Testament prophets, God, the Father, sacrificed His beloved Son as the perfect Passover Lamb so that the sins of all mankind would be propitiated. And if you’ve seen the Mel Gibson portrayal in movie version of The Passion of The Christ, you probably wept, as I did, during the visual representation of the mocking, the cruelty, and the degradation of the cross; and that it happened all for you and for me, is almost overwhelming.
A couple of years ago I was in Jerusalem; and our pilgrimage group was led to the place where archeologists strongly believe they’ve uncovered where Jesus was nailed to the cross. I stood on those very stones; and looking down at my feet on the place where the Roman soldiers pounded those three nails into Christ’s wrists and feet; and I wept – almost uncontrollably; because I realized that it was MY SIN which nailed my Lord and Savior to that cross; and it was for MY SIN for which He hung on that tree; and it was for MY SIN that He died, was buried, and was resurrected again … to save ME from MY SIN.
Yes, again I say … HALLELUJAH !!!
My Prayer for Today: You became God’s Lamb FOR ME! Praise Your Holy Name!!! Amen
Saturday, February 20, 2010
2010 – Feb. 20 – Chasing Away Scapegoats
Study from God’s Word - Exod. 23: 14-17, 34: 23; Deut. 16: 16-17; Exod. 34: 24; Exod. 34: 18; Deut. 16: 1-7; Num. 9: 13-14; Lev. 23: 4-8; Num. 28: 16-17; Deut. 16: 8; Num. 28: 18-25; Deut. 16: 9-12; Lev. 23: 9-14; Exod. 34:22; Lev. 23: 15-21; Numb. 28: 26-31; Lev. 23: 23-25; Num. 29: 1-6; Lev. 16: 1-5; Lev. 16: 6-34; Lev. 23: 26-32; Num. 29: 7-11; Lev. 23: 33-43; Num 29: 12-38; Deut. 16: 13-15; Lev. 23: 37-38, 44; Num. 29: 39-40 … Passage for Reflection: Leviticus 16: 22; … NIV The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert.
My Journal for Today: Well, my guess is that you didn’t likely follow me by reading all of the verses to which my Bible Reading guide has led me to read yesterday or today. When I saw what was asked of me to read/study today in my devotional bible series, I thought of the times when, staying overnight with grandparents, my grandmother would give me medicine, several teaspoons of Castor Oil, when I had an upset stomach. I remember that the second and third of those teaspoons, once having tasted the first, became terribly “yukky,” as she would say to me, “Now, young man, you take this because you need it!”
Well, my devotional guide today was having me study God’s instigation of the various FEASTS which were established by God to help God’s people remember and worship their God, helping them to remember what He had put them through and saved them from in their past. It was God’s way in those days to help God’s children retain their focus of worship in the One True God, Who had established an everlasting covenant with His people.
Well, it was tough reading; but it was good medicine for me to realize that we, of the New Covenant, can – and do – celebrate all that ancient Israel celebrated in our worship of Jesus Christ, Who, by becoming the sacrificial lamb, allow us to become the scapegoat and to run free, our sins having been atoned for by His blood sacrifice.
And it is this latter element of celebrated worship upon which F. LaGard Smith focuses in his highlighted verse for today from Leviticus 16: 22, which describes how, during the Day of Atonement, now called “Yom Kippur,” the priest laid his hands on the head of one of lambs, which was then sent out into the wilderness as a symbol of God laying all the confessed sins of His people on the head of another, perfect lamb. And it was this second, perfect lamb, who, by lot, became the blood sacrifice for the sins of all of God’s people.
I know it can seem so contrived that God would create such an elaborate way for God to give His people a way of celebrating what God had done for His people; but it was also God’s way of painting a picture of what would one day be the very real and final way for God to set His people free from their sins. And I’m sure it’s not difficult for Christians today to see whom has become the scapegoat and Whom was the perfect Lamb of sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. Our sins, of course, were laid on the head of the Lamb of God, our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ; and we become the scapegoat, running free into the wilderness as the Lamb of God became the atoning blood sacrifice for our confessed sins.
Dr. Smith’s question today hits deep after I took my “medicine” and read through all that God did in ancient Israel to paint a ceremonial picture of what would take place when the perfect Lamb of God would be taken outside the city and sacrificed, becoming the sacrificial Lamb, shedding His blood so that I can live and go free, having confessed my sins and letting the Lamb of God take upon Himself my sins; and paying for my sin debt with His blood. Dr. Smith’s question is this: ”Does my gratitude match the extent of Christ’s love when He willingly became a scapegoat for the sins I will commit even this very day?”
As we enter the season of lent – the 40 days prior to Easter – we have to answer that question by the attitude we hold about what we’re willing to do to remember what God did for us by providing His Lamb to become both the scapegoat and the sacrificial lamb, taking our sins upon Himself and shedding His blood so that we can live and walk free for eternity. I’m glad I took my medicine today and read these passages to remind me of just how much I take for granted.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I’m totally convicted by my sinfulness and so grateful for Your sacrifice. Amen
My Journal for Today: Well, my guess is that you didn’t likely follow me by reading all of the verses to which my Bible Reading guide has led me to read yesterday or today. When I saw what was asked of me to read/study today in my devotional bible series, I thought of the times when, staying overnight with grandparents, my grandmother would give me medicine, several teaspoons of Castor Oil, when I had an upset stomach. I remember that the second and third of those teaspoons, once having tasted the first, became terribly “yukky,” as she would say to me, “Now, young man, you take this because you need it!”
Well, my devotional guide today was having me study God’s instigation of the various FEASTS which were established by God to help God’s people remember and worship their God, helping them to remember what He had put them through and saved them from in their past. It was God’s way in those days to help God’s children retain their focus of worship in the One True God, Who had established an everlasting covenant with His people.
Well, it was tough reading; but it was good medicine for me to realize that we, of the New Covenant, can – and do – celebrate all that ancient Israel celebrated in our worship of Jesus Christ, Who, by becoming the sacrificial lamb, allow us to become the scapegoat and to run free, our sins having been atoned for by His blood sacrifice.
And it is this latter element of celebrated worship upon which F. LaGard Smith focuses in his highlighted verse for today from Leviticus 16: 22, which describes how, during the Day of Atonement, now called “Yom Kippur,” the priest laid his hands on the head of one of lambs, which was then sent out into the wilderness as a symbol of God laying all the confessed sins of His people on the head of another, perfect lamb. And it was this second, perfect lamb, who, by lot, became the blood sacrifice for the sins of all of God’s people.
I know it can seem so contrived that God would create such an elaborate way for God to give His people a way of celebrating what God had done for His people; but it was also God’s way of painting a picture of what would one day be the very real and final way for God to set His people free from their sins. And I’m sure it’s not difficult for Christians today to see whom has become the scapegoat and Whom was the perfect Lamb of sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. Our sins, of course, were laid on the head of the Lamb of God, our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ; and we become the scapegoat, running free into the wilderness as the Lamb of God became the atoning blood sacrifice for our confessed sins.
Dr. Smith’s question today hits deep after I took my “medicine” and read through all that God did in ancient Israel to paint a ceremonial picture of what would take place when the perfect Lamb of God would be taken outside the city and sacrificed, becoming the sacrificial Lamb, shedding His blood so that I can live and go free, having confessed my sins and letting the Lamb of God take upon Himself my sins; and paying for my sin debt with His blood. Dr. Smith’s question is this: ”Does my gratitude match the extent of Christ’s love when He willingly became a scapegoat for the sins I will commit even this very day?”
As we enter the season of lent – the 40 days prior to Easter – we have to answer that question by the attitude we hold about what we’re willing to do to remember what God did for us by providing His Lamb to become both the scapegoat and the sacrificial lamb, taking our sins upon Himself and shedding His blood so that we can live and walk free for eternity. I’m glad I took my medicine today and read these passages to remind me of just how much I take for granted.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I’m totally convicted by my sinfulness and so grateful for Your sacrifice. Amen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
