Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Leviticus, Chapters 16-18 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Leviticus 16: 1-5; … 34 : … [Priestly Preparation for Atonement] … 1 The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the LORD. 2 The LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover. >>> 3 “This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. >>> … 34 “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.” And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses.
My Journal for Today: There are several good lessons to which I’m drawn to comment in this blog for my devotional journal today from these three chapters in Leviticus which I’m led to study and meditate upon today during my chronological reading plan. Certainly the teachings in Leviticus 18 about sexual sin would be grist for my blog, especially since I was called by God many years ago to found and co-lead a ministry to help Christians find healing and restoration from patterns of sexual sin. However, the section upon which I was drawn to blog today is that at the outset of this three chapters, having to do with God’s instructions to Moses and Aaron about how the Day of Atonement was to be carried out annually, especially the preparations Aaron, as the High Priest, was to make to carry out this ritual of propitiation for sins, i.e., the atonement sacrifice.
The Day of Atonement was to be the most necessary and carefully observed of all of the religious remembrances God had set up in the Levitical system for the Israelites. And at this time it was the only way that God’s people could be “covered” for their sinful nature and practices. God was setting up a way for these sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, with their sinful natures, to have their sins “covered” in a carefully calculated celebration of God’s love, mercy, and grace. And if, in preparing for this ceremony of propitiation, Aaron – or any subsequent high priest – were to try to enter the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle for this blood ”covering” ritual, he would die, … Aaron’s preparation showing the people just how serious was this atonement ceremony annually.
I’m drawn to meditate on this today because God is so careful with His Old Testament details when He, The LORD, is painting pictures which foreshadow the coming work of His Messiah for His children. When God is showing His children how their sins can be “covered,” He is painting pictures of what His Son, the Lamb of God, would do with His blood sacrifice to atone for the sins of mankind. And actually this picture of the atoning grace of God, through Christ’s sacrifice, began to be painted with the “covering” of the ark which Noah was asked to build.
You may have noticed above that each time I typed the term “covered” or “covering,” I emphasized it with bold type and quotations. I did that because the same term in Hebrew, ”kaphar.” which we find used in Genesis 6: 14 [linked here] as instructions for the tar or pitch which God instructed Noah to use to cover the ark, which was to save mankind through Noah’s family, is the same term used in Leviticus to describe the ceremony of atonement which was to be used to save God’s people through the “covering” they would received by the atoning blood sacrifice in the Holy of Holies, so carefully offered by Levitical High Priesthood from the line of Aaron.
And we know – or should know and reverently remember – that we Christians are now of that line of royal priesthood, and our sins have been ”covered” - “kaphar” in Hebrew – with the atoning blood of the Lamb of God. That’s why these pictures in Levitcus, no matter how boring they may seem as we read through them over and over, are such rich word pictures of the One Who came and died on that cross so that you and I could have our sinfulness ”covered” FOREVER by the atoning blood sacrifice of God’s perfect Lamb.
Our sins are ”covered”; and we can – with proper cleansing and preparation – enter the Holy of Holies, which now resides in our hearts, anytime and anyplace and we can be cleansed and made right before God’s throne of grace. And that is because of the ”kaphar” of our Lord and Savior on that cross. His blood ”covers” us all; and I am His priest, coming into His Holy of Holies to remember His atoning grace today. Come with me, dear one; and let’s pray >>>
My Prayer Today: … Most Holy,… Lamb of God, we come into Your presence today knowing that You have shed Your blood – once and for all - that our sins are ”covered” forever by Your sacrifice of atoning grace. Amen
Showing posts with label atonement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label atonement. Show all posts
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
February 13, 2012 … All That Sacrifice!
Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Leviticus, Chapters 1-4 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Leviticus 1: 1-3 … : … [Animal Sacrifice]… 1 The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the LORD, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock. >>> 3 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD.
=============
LEVITICUS 2: 1; 11-13; … : … [Grain Offering] … 1 “‘When anyone brings a grain offering to the LORD, their offering is to be of the finest flour. They are to pour olive oil on it, put incense on it …
11 “‘Every grain offering you bring to the LORD must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in a food offering presented to the LORD. 12 You may bring them to the LORD as an offering of the firstfruits, but they are not to be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma. 13 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.
===============
LEVITICUS 3: 1, 5, 6, 11, 17; … : … [Peace Offering] … 1 “‘If your offering is a fellowship offering, and you offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, you are to present before the LORD an animal without defect. … 5 Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering that is lying on the burning wood; it is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
6 “‘If you offer an animal from the flock as a fellowship offering to the LORD, you are to offer a male or female without defect. … 11 The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering presented to the LORD.
17 “‘This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.’”
===============
LEVITICUS 4: 1-3; … : … [Sin Offering] … 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’s commands — 3 “‘If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. … ”
===============
My Journal for Today: Ugh! I know. Leviticus. All those rules and regs that God puts forth in the Old Testament for His chosen people. Seems like boring reading, doesn’t it? But if you haven’t used my link above to read and study through the first four chapters of this book, at least I hope you take in what I’ve copied and pasted above to highlight the presentation, in these first chapters, of some of the sacrificial system which God set up for His followers once they had built and dedicated the Tabernacle, … the place where all these offerings would be brought for sacrifice.
And one has to be impressed with how much blood and work would be produced with over two million people, … nomad cattlemen, shepherds, and farmers, who were asked to bring their best animals and their first-fruits to the Levite Priests for various sacrifices to their God, … the God Who had established residence in their midst, … and the God Who loved them enough to set up a system whereby they could atone for their natural sinfulness and selfishness, allowing them to find redemption in this elaborate scheme of sacrifices and offerings.
AND … they probably did not recognize it in those times; but it also was giving them a picture of the perfect sacrifice Who would come in the perfect Person, the perfect Lamb of God, their promised Messiah, Who would come to BE the fulfillment of all of the sacrifices we read commanded by God to atone for the sins and spiritual enmity of God’s very fallible and sinful people. Ouch! That’s me we’re also talking about, as well!
And we see that the sacrifices demanded of God were to be the best and the most perfect the people had to offer to their God. If it were to be a bull, it was to be a PERFECT bull. If a lamb, a PERFECT lamb was offered. If it were a grain offering, no yeast would be involved and salt would be added to complete the sacrifice as a covenant sacrifice. All the offerings were to be the first and the best the people could bring to the Priests to be able to bring themselves back into a right relationship with a Holy God, Whose relationship with His chosen people demanded perfected blood or provisional sacrifice to the only One Who could redeem them from their sin.
And as New Covenant Christians, having the advantage of “the rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey used to say, we know that Jesus, The Christ, came to be our perfect sacrifice and atoning offering for the sinfulness which demanded all of these rituals and sacrifices under the Old Covenant. But are we, who’ve been covered by the blood of Jesus, off the hook when it comes to sacrifice to our God? And I harken back to the word of God through the Apostle Paul in one of my favorite, and most convicting, NT passages – Romans 12: 1-2, where we are exhorted (actually COMMANDED) to become “living sacrifices,” with the way we live being our blood sacrifice (i.e., our atoning blood flowing from the way we live) to the Holy God Who has redeemed us and atoned for our sin. God gives us, through the once-and-for-all perfect blood sacrifice of His Son, the sanctifying and enabling grace to live as first fruits and perfected blood sacrifices for God’s holiness. The question is: “Are we living as sacrifices, pleasing to our God.”
My friend, … anytime we choose to avoid sin and come away from the cross and follow what Christ demanded in Luke 9: 23, we become, under the New Covenant, what was symbolized by these commanded sacrifices in Leviticus, Chapters 1-4. So, my fellow Christian, let’s go out today and be living sacrifices for our Lord on His altar of grace with His Tabernacle being with us in our hearts, provided for by the Lamb of God.
My Prayer Today: … Oh, my LORD, may I be a sacrifice of worship in the way I live for you. Amen
Leviticus 1: 1-3 … : … [Animal Sacrifice]… 1 The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the LORD, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock. >>> 3 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD.
=============
LEVITICUS 2: 1; 11-13; … : … [Grain Offering] … 1 “‘When anyone brings a grain offering to the LORD, their offering is to be of the finest flour. They are to pour olive oil on it, put incense on it …
11 “‘Every grain offering you bring to the LORD must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in a food offering presented to the LORD. 12 You may bring them to the LORD as an offering of the firstfruits, but they are not to be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma. 13 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.
===============
LEVITICUS 3: 1, 5, 6, 11, 17; … : … [Peace Offering] … 1 “‘If your offering is a fellowship offering, and you offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, you are to present before the LORD an animal without defect. … 5 Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering that is lying on the burning wood; it is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
6 “‘If you offer an animal from the flock as a fellowship offering to the LORD, you are to offer a male or female without defect. … 11 The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering presented to the LORD.
17 “‘This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.’”
===============
LEVITICUS 4: 1-3; … : … [Sin Offering] … 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’s commands — 3 “‘If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. … ”
===============
My Journal for Today: Ugh! I know. Leviticus. All those rules and regs that God puts forth in the Old Testament for His chosen people. Seems like boring reading, doesn’t it? But if you haven’t used my link above to read and study through the first four chapters of this book, at least I hope you take in what I’ve copied and pasted above to highlight the presentation, in these first chapters, of some of the sacrificial system which God set up for His followers once they had built and dedicated the Tabernacle, … the place where all these offerings would be brought for sacrifice.
And one has to be impressed with how much blood and work would be produced with over two million people, … nomad cattlemen, shepherds, and farmers, who were asked to bring their best animals and their first-fruits to the Levite Priests for various sacrifices to their God, … the God Who had established residence in their midst, … and the God Who loved them enough to set up a system whereby they could atone for their natural sinfulness and selfishness, allowing them to find redemption in this elaborate scheme of sacrifices and offerings.
AND … they probably did not recognize it in those times; but it also was giving them a picture of the perfect sacrifice Who would come in the perfect Person, the perfect Lamb of God, their promised Messiah, Who would come to BE the fulfillment of all of the sacrifices we read commanded by God to atone for the sins and spiritual enmity of God’s very fallible and sinful people. Ouch! That’s me we’re also talking about, as well!
And we see that the sacrifices demanded of God were to be the best and the most perfect the people had to offer to their God. If it were to be a bull, it was to be a PERFECT bull. If a lamb, a PERFECT lamb was offered. If it were a grain offering, no yeast would be involved and salt would be added to complete the sacrifice as a covenant sacrifice. All the offerings were to be the first and the best the people could bring to the Priests to be able to bring themselves back into a right relationship with a Holy God, Whose relationship with His chosen people demanded perfected blood or provisional sacrifice to the only One Who could redeem them from their sin.
And as New Covenant Christians, having the advantage of “the rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey used to say, we know that Jesus, The Christ, came to be our perfect sacrifice and atoning offering for the sinfulness which demanded all of these rituals and sacrifices under the Old Covenant. But are we, who’ve been covered by the blood of Jesus, off the hook when it comes to sacrifice to our God? And I harken back to the word of God through the Apostle Paul in one of my favorite, and most convicting, NT passages – Romans 12: 1-2, where we are exhorted (actually COMMANDED) to become “living sacrifices,” with the way we live being our blood sacrifice (i.e., our atoning blood flowing from the way we live) to the Holy God Who has redeemed us and atoned for our sin. God gives us, through the once-and-for-all perfect blood sacrifice of His Son, the sanctifying and enabling grace to live as first fruits and perfected blood sacrifices for God’s holiness. The question is: “Are we living as sacrifices, pleasing to our God.”
My friend, … anytime we choose to avoid sin and come away from the cross and follow what Christ demanded in Luke 9: 23, we become, under the New Covenant, what was symbolized by these commanded sacrifices in Leviticus, Chapters 1-4. So, my fellow Christian, let’s go out today and be living sacrifices for our Lord on His altar of grace with His Tabernacle being with us in our hearts, provided for by the Lamb of God.
My Prayer Today: … Oh, my LORD, may I be a sacrifice of worship in the way I live for you. Amen
Thursday, February 09, 2012
February 9, 2012 … Pondering Important Questions
Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Exodus, Chapters 30-32 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Focus Passage of the Day #1: Exodus 30: 11-16 : … [Payback for God’s Atonement] … To study this passage, go to this link -
Focus Passage of the Day #2: Exodus 31: 12-17 : … [Keeping the Sabbath]
… To study this passage, go to this link -
Focus Passage of the Day #3: Exodus 32: 1-6 : … [The Golden Calf]
… To study this passage, go to this link -
My Journal for Today: I’m going to blog this morning’s devotional time a little differently than I have during my chronological read through the Bible and my journal entries thus far in 2012. To this point I’ve asked God to highlight one passage from each day’s study/meditation, blogging about that passage from a personal or teaching point of view, letting God give me something FOR ME, personally, or maybe something He, The Holy Spirit, wants me to share with others. However, today three passages, documented with links above, stood out for me; and there’s no way I could journal on all three and not overburden you, … especially given my tendency toward wordiness (i.e., my logorrhea – I hope you’re smiling right now ;>).
So, I’m simply going to ask you to read – AT LEAST – the three focus passages to which I’ve linked you above. But before you do, pray seriously and ask God, the Holy Spirit, to really give you HIS MIND and HIS WISDOM (as He promises He will in Isaiah 55: 11 and 2nd Timothy 3: 16-17 and James 1: 6-7). Ask the Lord to let one or more of these passages be a light unto your path, trusting COMPLETELY as believers in Christ are instructed to trust in His word - see Prov. 3: 5-6 and Psalm 119: 105. And then see what God’s Spirit gives you this morning. And below, I’m going to take each one of these focus passages and give you a few questions for you to ponder (I promise that’s all I’ll write!) … points upon which God’s Spirit was causing me to dwell today. And if you’re so led, maybe you might take a few moments and journal what you think God is leading you to consider. The latter is up to you; but I can promise – from experience – that if you do the latter, God will bless you with HIS ministry of enlightenment, enablement, or empowerment.
Focus Passage of the Day #1: Exodus 30: 11-16 : … [Payback for God’s Atonement]
WRB Comments: What do we owe God from our 24/7 life of worship? How do I need to live to be the “living sacrifice” of Romans 12: 1-2? Do I give enough to my church – joyfully … as instructed in 2nd Cor. 9: 6-7 - to account for my atonement and Christ’s sacrifice?
Focus Passage of the Day #2: Exodus 31: 12-17 : … [Keeping the Sabbath]
WRB Comments: Do I really keep THE SABBATH? And when I don’t, what does God say that I deserve? But what has He made provision for me from 1st John 1: 9 and Prov. 3: 5-6?
Focus Passage of the Day #3: Exodus 32: 1-6 : … [The Golden Calf]
WRB Comments: Have I built any “golden calves” in my life? If so, how can I tear them down and come back to a surrendered worship of my Yahweh, … my LORD and Savior? And again, how can I be or become the “living sacrifice “ of Romans 12: 1-2?
Well, my friends, those are some question which God has me pondering over this morning; and they are pretty serious issues, at least for me. What about you? Well, I’ll leave you and God together to deal with those questions in your life and for your worship of the God Who saved you - as He has me.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, as I pray so often, … shine the light of Your word on Your will that I may surrender and follow You as Your “doulos” (i.e., Greek for “slave”). Amen
Focus Passage of the Day #1: Exodus 30: 11-16 : … [Payback for God’s Atonement] … To study this passage, go to this link -
Focus Passage of the Day #2: Exodus 31: 12-17 : … [Keeping the Sabbath]
… To study this passage, go to this link -
Focus Passage of the Day #3: Exodus 32: 1-6 : … [The Golden Calf]
… To study this passage, go to this link -
My Journal for Today: I’m going to blog this morning’s devotional time a little differently than I have during my chronological read through the Bible and my journal entries thus far in 2012. To this point I’ve asked God to highlight one passage from each day’s study/meditation, blogging about that passage from a personal or teaching point of view, letting God give me something FOR ME, personally, or maybe something He, The Holy Spirit, wants me to share with others. However, today three passages, documented with links above, stood out for me; and there’s no way I could journal on all three and not overburden you, … especially given my tendency toward wordiness (i.e., my logorrhea – I hope you’re smiling right now ;>).
So, I’m simply going to ask you to read – AT LEAST – the three focus passages to which I’ve linked you above. But before you do, pray seriously and ask God, the Holy Spirit, to really give you HIS MIND and HIS WISDOM (as He promises He will in Isaiah 55: 11 and 2nd Timothy 3: 16-17 and James 1: 6-7). Ask the Lord to let one or more of these passages be a light unto your path, trusting COMPLETELY as believers in Christ are instructed to trust in His word - see Prov. 3: 5-6 and Psalm 119: 105. And then see what God’s Spirit gives you this morning. And below, I’m going to take each one of these focus passages and give you a few questions for you to ponder (I promise that’s all I’ll write!) … points upon which God’s Spirit was causing me to dwell today. And if you’re so led, maybe you might take a few moments and journal what you think God is leading you to consider. The latter is up to you; but I can promise – from experience – that if you do the latter, God will bless you with HIS ministry of enlightenment, enablement, or empowerment.
Focus Passage of the Day #1: Exodus 30: 11-16 : … [Payback for God’s Atonement]
WRB Comments: What do we owe God from our 24/7 life of worship? How do I need to live to be the “living sacrifice” of Romans 12: 1-2? Do I give enough to my church – joyfully … as instructed in 2nd Cor. 9: 6-7 - to account for my atonement and Christ’s sacrifice?
Focus Passage of the Day #2: Exodus 31: 12-17 : … [Keeping the Sabbath]
WRB Comments: Do I really keep THE SABBATH? And when I don’t, what does God say that I deserve? But what has He made provision for me from 1st John 1: 9 and Prov. 3: 5-6?
Focus Passage of the Day #3: Exodus 32: 1-6 : … [The Golden Calf]
WRB Comments: Have I built any “golden calves” in my life? If so, how can I tear them down and come back to a surrendered worship of my Yahweh, … my LORD and Savior? And again, how can I be or become the “living sacrifice “ of Romans 12: 1-2?
Well, my friends, those are some question which God has me pondering over this morning; and they are pretty serious issues, at least for me. What about you? Well, I’ll leave you and God together to deal with those questions in your life and for your worship of the God Who saved you - as He has me.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, as I pray so often, … shine the light of Your word on Your will that I may surrender and follow You as Your “doulos” (i.e., Greek for “slave”). Amen
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
February 7, 2012 … Building The Tabernacle
Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Exodus, Chapters 25-27 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Exodus 25: 8-9, 40 … : … [God’s Place of Residence] … [Yahweh’s Instructions to Moses] … 8 “Then have them [i.e., specially selected craftsmen from God’s people] make a sanctuary for Me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. … 40 See that you make them [i.e., everything in the tabernacle] according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."
==========
Exodus 26: 31-33 … : … [Setting the Holy Place] … 31 “Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. 32 Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. 33 Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the covenant law behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place."
==========
Exodus 27: 1 … : … [God’s Altar of Sacrifice and Atonement] … [More of God’s Instructions to Moses] … 1 “Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide."
==========
My Journal for Today: Okay, … for those who’ve taken your time to read what God (I believe) has given me to write in this blog through Exodus, admittedly the second book of Moses can get a bit tedious; but that doesn’t detract from it’s importance. For example, in the next few days I’m going to be plowing through God’s description – to Moses and to God’s people – of how they should build THE TABERNACLE, … that place where God was going to reside as God’s people journeyed to the promised land. And there was great detail in Yahweh’s description through Moses and his scribes to the craftsmen who would do the building of the Tabernacle. And this detail can seem – on the surface – as tedious and non-essential reading. But stick in there and read these chapters (linked for you as usual above); because there are several reasons for the importance of all of this description. And the commentary that I use as I read along in my chronological study this year describes these three reasons why all of this is important. Therefore, quoting from the Parsons Online Commentary, it offers the following description as to why God gave such detailed instructions for His dwelling place.
>>> “First, the high quality of the precious materials making up the Tabernacle shows God’s greatness and transcendence. >>> Second, the curtain surrounding the Most Holy Place shows God’s moral perfection as symbolized by his separation from the common and unclean. >>> Third, the portable nature of the Tabernacle shows God’s desire to be with his people as they traveled.”
Those truths are worthy enough for us to pay attention as God also gives us a physical description of the most important reason He was building this tabernacle for His dwelling; and that was as a picture of the place His Son, Jesus, … the Messiah, … would dwell one day in the hearts of believers like you and me. And in this description, which we’ll be reading about in the next chapters of Exodus, we begin to see that Yahweh, as the the Messiah, would one day dwell in the hearts of His disciples as our place of worship and sacrifice.
Think about it, fellow Christian. As Parson’s Commentary again puts it, ” When Jesus Christ died on the cross, the curtain in the Temple (which had replaced the Tabernacle) tore from top to bottom (see Mark 15:38), symbolizing our free access to God because of Jesus’ death. No longer did people have to approach God through priests and sacrifices.”
… And now, dear one, because of Jesus, the living tabernacle, we can come into the Holy of Holies anytime, any place, for anything. I have the Tabernacle and the High Priest, in Person of Christ, in my heart; and I don’t need a human high priest to bring my blood sacrifice to God’s altar of grace. No, every day … every moment … becomes my living sacrifice on God’s holy altar of worship in my heart; because Jesus made the ultimate - and last - blood sacrifice on Calvary so that He could (and does) tabernacle in my heart, which is His Holy of Holies.
ISN’T THIS MAGNIFICENT!! And it certainly brings pertinence and power to the reading in Exodus of all the details of God wanting His tabernacle for His people to be so perfect and infinitely special.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, thank You for dwelling in the Tabernacle of my heart where I can become and be a living sacrifice before Your altar of grace. Amen
Exodus 25: 8-9, 40 … : … [God’s Place of Residence] … [Yahweh’s Instructions to Moses] … 8 “Then have them [i.e., specially selected craftsmen from God’s people] make a sanctuary for Me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. … 40 See that you make them [i.e., everything in the tabernacle] according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."
==========
Exodus 26: 31-33 … : … [Setting the Holy Place] … 31 “Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. 32 Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. 33 Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the covenant law behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place."
==========
Exodus 27: 1 … : … [God’s Altar of Sacrifice and Atonement] … [More of God’s Instructions to Moses] … 1 “Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide."
==========
My Journal for Today: Okay, … for those who’ve taken your time to read what God (I believe) has given me to write in this blog through Exodus, admittedly the second book of Moses can get a bit tedious; but that doesn’t detract from it’s importance. For example, in the next few days I’m going to be plowing through God’s description – to Moses and to God’s people – of how they should build THE TABERNACLE, … that place where God was going to reside as God’s people journeyed to the promised land. And there was great detail in Yahweh’s description through Moses and his scribes to the craftsmen who would do the building of the Tabernacle. And this detail can seem – on the surface – as tedious and non-essential reading. But stick in there and read these chapters (linked for you as usual above); because there are several reasons for the importance of all of this description. And the commentary that I use as I read along in my chronological study this year describes these three reasons why all of this is important. Therefore, quoting from the Parsons Online Commentary, it offers the following description as to why God gave such detailed instructions for His dwelling place.
>>> “First, the high quality of the precious materials making up the Tabernacle shows God’s greatness and transcendence. >>> Second, the curtain surrounding the Most Holy Place shows God’s moral perfection as symbolized by his separation from the common and unclean. >>> Third, the portable nature of the Tabernacle shows God’s desire to be with his people as they traveled.”
Those truths are worthy enough for us to pay attention as God also gives us a physical description of the most important reason He was building this tabernacle for His dwelling; and that was as a picture of the place His Son, Jesus, … the Messiah, … would dwell one day in the hearts of believers like you and me. And in this description, which we’ll be reading about in the next chapters of Exodus, we begin to see that Yahweh, as the the Messiah, would one day dwell in the hearts of His disciples as our place of worship and sacrifice.
Think about it, fellow Christian. As Parson’s Commentary again puts it, ” When Jesus Christ died on the cross, the curtain in the Temple (which had replaced the Tabernacle) tore from top to bottom (see Mark 15:38), symbolizing our free access to God because of Jesus’ death. No longer did people have to approach God through priests and sacrifices.”
… And now, dear one, because of Jesus, the living tabernacle, we can come into the Holy of Holies anytime, any place, for anything. I have the Tabernacle and the High Priest, in Person of Christ, in my heart; and I don’t need a human high priest to bring my blood sacrifice to God’s altar of grace. No, every day … every moment … becomes my living sacrifice on God’s holy altar of worship in my heart; because Jesus made the ultimate - and last - blood sacrifice on Calvary so that He could (and does) tabernacle in my heart, which is His Holy of Holies.
ISN’T THIS MAGNIFICENT!! And it certainly brings pertinence and power to the reading in Exodus of all the details of God wanting His tabernacle for His people to be so perfect and infinitely special.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, thank You for dwelling in the Tabernacle of my heart where I can become and be a living sacrifice before Your altar of grace. Amen
Saturday, February 13, 2010
2010 – Feb. 13 – Disinherited Children
Study from Numbers 26; Passage for Reflection: Numbers 26: 65 … NIV For the LORD had said of them [Moses and Aaron after the first census], “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” So there was not left a man of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
My Journal for Today: Here we are, coming out of 40 years of wandering in the wilderness; and God is about to activate His covenant to His children, … giving them entrance into the “Promised Land.” And as we know, from Biblical accounting and historical study, two men [and their families] from the original census of Israel will be benefactors of God’s covenant; and they are Caleb and Joshua, … the two who came back with reports based on faith and promise when Moses sent 12 spies into Canaan over a generation earlier.
So, God is about to begin the process of turning His Promised Land over to His Children; but note that those who will receive the bounty of that promise are those who come from the “Children of faith” and those who remained obedient to God from the beginning to the end of the covenant. Even Moses and Aaron would not physically step into the promised land because of acts of disobedience, which disinherited them from receiving the initial benefits of God’s ultimate covenant.
So, what do we learn from the Book of Numbers and this accounting of God’s people in Chapter 26. Well, God speaks loudly to this humble follower of God’s Son, Jesus, that it is the living out my faith in Christ’s New Covenant act of atonement which will bring me into His eternal Kingdom. I have no doubt that I will be an inheritor of God’s promise because all of His promises of atonement have been fulfilled by God’s Son, Jesus, on the cross and through His resurrection, ascension, and His being re-established on God’s throne of grace. Therein lies my faith; and therein lies the hope of my salvation.
Oh how patient, loving, and merciful God has been in providing me – or you – with a way to eternal inheritance in glory; and Moses will be there as well. He may not have been able to physically walk into the “promised land” with God’s children from the original census of Israel or even from the second census; but God has provided a way that His faith will justify him, … just as it did for Abraham and others of faith in the original covenant God made with His children. Faith, and the humble obedience which marks that faith, is the key which opens God’s gates into glory.
I pray that anyone who reads this has lain their faith in the Lordship and saving grace offered by God through His atoning blood shed by the Lamb of Gold on the cross, … having faith – the faith of Caleb, Joshua, or even one who had sinned, like Moses – that God will provide a way for all who believe in His saving grace to be saved and be given entry into God’s eternal Promised Land.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You have provided THE way; and that way comes through faith in Your redeeming plan of salvation, which was completed by my Savior and Lord, Jesus, on the cross at Calvary. Amen
My Journal for Today: Here we are, coming out of 40 years of wandering in the wilderness; and God is about to activate His covenant to His children, … giving them entrance into the “Promised Land.” And as we know, from Biblical accounting and historical study, two men [and their families] from the original census of Israel will be benefactors of God’s covenant; and they are Caleb and Joshua, … the two who came back with reports based on faith and promise when Moses sent 12 spies into Canaan over a generation earlier.
So, God is about to begin the process of turning His Promised Land over to His Children; but note that those who will receive the bounty of that promise are those who come from the “Children of faith” and those who remained obedient to God from the beginning to the end of the covenant. Even Moses and Aaron would not physically step into the promised land because of acts of disobedience, which disinherited them from receiving the initial benefits of God’s ultimate covenant.
So, what do we learn from the Book of Numbers and this accounting of God’s people in Chapter 26. Well, God speaks loudly to this humble follower of God’s Son, Jesus, that it is the living out my faith in Christ’s New Covenant act of atonement which will bring me into His eternal Kingdom. I have no doubt that I will be an inheritor of God’s promise because all of His promises of atonement have been fulfilled by God’s Son, Jesus, on the cross and through His resurrection, ascension, and His being re-established on God’s throne of grace. Therein lies my faith; and therein lies the hope of my salvation.
Oh how patient, loving, and merciful God has been in providing me – or you – with a way to eternal inheritance in glory; and Moses will be there as well. He may not have been able to physically walk into the “promised land” with God’s children from the original census of Israel or even from the second census; but God has provided a way that His faith will justify him, … just as it did for Abraham and others of faith in the original covenant God made with His children. Faith, and the humble obedience which marks that faith, is the key which opens God’s gates into glory.
I pray that anyone who reads this has lain their faith in the Lordship and saving grace offered by God through His atoning blood shed by the Lamb of Gold on the cross, … having faith – the faith of Caleb, Joshua, or even one who had sinned, like Moses – that God will provide a way for all who believe in His saving grace to be saved and be given entry into God’s eternal Promised Land.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You have provided THE way; and that way comes through faith in Your redeeming plan of salvation, which was completed by my Savior and Lord, Jesus, on the cross at Calvary. Amen
Saturday, January 30, 2010
2010 Day 30. Jan. 30 – Equality of Atonement
From Exodus 28-30 ... specifically from Exod. 30:15 – The rich are not given more than half a sheckel and the poor are no to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives.
My Devotional for Today: In God’s eye of justice each of us is equally guilty of our own sinfulness, and we must all pay atonement for our sin so that we can stand before the throne of grace having paid for our sins. And this atonement has nothing to do with our ability to pay. Rich and poor must all pay the price and only One – The Lamb of God – can pay that price; and He has done so forever – in propitiation for our sins - on the cross at Calvary.
The question now becomes the one my devotional author F. LaGard Smith asks today, “If God regards each and every soul as equal before Him, am I making class distinctions that really shouldn’t matter?” God sees you and me as the same at His Throne of Grace; but the ultimate sociological question becomes … do I see us as equals and do I treat you as equal to me in the judgment court which we call life?
Oh, how I pray that to be the case.
My Prayer for Today : Forgive me, Lord, if I see myself as better than others. Amen
My Devotional for Today: In God’s eye of justice each of us is equally guilty of our own sinfulness, and we must all pay atonement for our sin so that we can stand before the throne of grace having paid for our sins. And this atonement has nothing to do with our ability to pay. Rich and poor must all pay the price and only One – The Lamb of God – can pay that price; and He has done so forever – in propitiation for our sins - on the cross at Calvary.
The question now becomes the one my devotional author F. LaGard Smith asks today, “If God regards each and every soul as equal before Him, am I making class distinctions that really shouldn’t matter?” God sees you and me as the same at His Throne of Grace; but the ultimate sociological question becomes … do I see us as equals and do I treat you as equal to me in the judgment court which we call life?
Oh, how I pray that to be the case.
My Prayer for Today : Forgive me, Lord, if I see myself as better than others. Amen
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