Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. – Deut 19:21
We serve a just God. Since the very beginning, He has worked to keep His justice system in place, while still pouring out His love and upholding His commitment to bring humanity back to Him. In Genesis, it was impossible for Adam and Eve to remain in the good and perfect world that God created for them, for they were no longer good and perfect. They were tainted with sin and death. But it broke His heart to lose His children, so He made a way for them to live out full and meaningful lives, and to someday be eternally reunited with Him in a renewed good and perfect world.
When Abraham’s descendants were established into the nation of Israel, they found themselves tugged toward sin and disorder, godlessness and false-god worship. And so God gave them a nice set of very thorough, very just laws, such as the ones we read about today. Israel served a God of order and righteousness, and was to be a nation of order and righteousness—a beacon among the lawlessness that surrounded them. Some of the laws found within these chapters seem harsh to us today, but this was before Jesus was sent to justify us freely. There had to be a system in place to bring God’s people back to Him when chaos ensued, and to discourage such chaos from coming about in the first place.
The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He. – Deut 32:4
Fortunately, our God of justice and order is also a God of love and mercy. By making His Son Jesus our sacrificial lamb, we are saved. We need not impose justice upon our neighbor by repaying an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, or a foot for a foot. We, the guilty, have been justified—our debt paid. Jesus, the innocent, took our full punishment. He is our city of refuge, where even the most stained by sin can find rest and grace.
In Jesus, justice and mercy collide. The weight of the law, which once demanded life for life, was satisfied on the cross. Because of his sacrifice, we no longer stand condemned, but redeemed. Let us walk in the freedom he purchased for us, extending to others the same mercy we have received, and living as a reflection of God’s righteousness in a chaotic world.
-Isabella Osborn
Reflection Questions:
God’s justice required that sin be dealt with, yet His love moved Him to make a way for redemption. How does understanding both His justice and mercy deepen your relationship with Him?
In what ways can you extend the same grace and forgiveness to others that God has given to you?
Israel was called to be a nation of righteousness and order, standing apart from the lawlessness around them. How can you live as a reflection of God’s righteousness in a world that often rejects His order and truth?
Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.” – Deuteronomy 16:13-14
Today we read God’s commands to begin observing three major feasts: Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Each of these festivals was meant to be an intentional time set aside for remembrance (a recurring theme in Deuteronomy). The Israelites had witnessed God’s power and provision in so many ways… like so many. They were delivered from Egypt, provided for in the wilderness, and were finally being brought into the Promised Land—all of which included various miracles and supernatural occurrences. These celebrations were more than legalistic rituals—they were acts of worship and gratitude intended to continually remind God’s children of His unending goodness.
While most Christians today don’t keep these feasts in their traditional form, their purpose no doubt remains deeply relevant. We are still called to remember God’s goodness, rejoice in His provision, and keep His Kingdom promise forefront in our minds. Jesus, our Passover Lamb, has secured our ultimate deliverance, and we live in the hope of the final harvest when God will gather His people into His eternal presence. Not only must we live in hope, but in daily remembrance. Our hope is not a baseless one. We have a book full of stories and people and places that display our Father’s faithfulness. We live in a world uniquely and precisely designed for human life in ways that defy mere chance. We see glimpses of the Kingdom in small moments every day. These are the things that we must recognize and reflect upon on a daily basis.
Whether through communion, worship, prayer, or perhaps even partaking in some feasts or holidays, we are called to consistantly honor the God who has redeemed us, sustains us, and promises us a future. I pray today that we cultivate hearts of gratitude and remembrance, celebrating our Father’s steadfast love and infinite goodness in every season of our lives.
-Isabella Osborn
Reflection Questions:
God established specific times for Israel to remember His faithfulness. How can setting aside time for remembrance strengthen our faith? How might neglecting remembrance weaken faith?
How can you intentionally set aside time to remember and celebrate God’s goodness?
What are some specific ways God has delivered you in your life? Have you taken time to truly reflect on and thank Him for those moments?
Shalom from Tennessee! This is Stephanie Schlegel writing this week as we continue through the Bible. We lived in Israel for 25+ years where our five children were born and raised. So I’ll be adding in some extra thoughts and pictures from and about Israel. 🙂
The first verse of Numbers 21 caught my attention as it still relates to today! The king of Arad fought against Israel and took some captives! :0 I’ve been reading the news of the current captives slowly being released and talk of what to do with Gaza. Surprisingly, three times in chapter 21 Israel fought against their enemies and destroyed their cities and took possession of them. For a LONG time Israel has had to contend with those against them, including up to today!
In their travels they got thirsty, hungry, and cursed the manna God provided for them! It also says they spoke against God and Moses, their leaders. Thus, God sent fiery serpents among them, in which many were bitten and killed. So they asked forgiveness, and that Moses would pray to God to remove them.
Included is a picture from the ABEKA Bible Flash-a-Card Series 3 of the life of Moses. These sets have many great pictures of Bible stories not normally seen in children’s books. We used them in our congregation’s children classes in Israel as they were taught in Hebrew. They’re great for home use as well for children and grandchildren.
Complaining about what one eats is a good lesson for all ages! Bites from deadly snakes is a rough punishment in the desert. There was a period of time while raising our children that if they complained about the food I made for dinner then they’d be doing the dishes afterwards! The complaining stopped quickly! Actually, I wasn’t even sure if they liked what I made or not as they ate it with no comments. Haha! Occasionally, after a new recipe I’d let them vote after dinner on the count of three with a thumbs up or down (or sometimes in the middle), so I could get some feedback. 🙂
One of the teachers/moms in our children’s class in Israel made a “bronze serpent” on an upside down mop with paper twisted around the top of it and then covered with duct tape and spray painted it bronze. It was a good visual aid for the kids! (I couldn’t find a picture of it since it was before the days of cell phones).
Jesus recalled this incident in John 3:14,15, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Thankfully, we can look to Jesus during troubled times and after we’ve failed and need forgiveness. May God help us not to complain but to repent and give thanks.
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Cor. 10:31
-Stephanie Schlegel
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. What was the Israelites punishment for complaining? Did the punishment seem just or too harsh? What are some things that you’re complaining about that perhaps need to be addressed?
2. How does complaining against God, leaders, and food hurt us? What’s something we can do to change that?
3. The bronze serpent that they looked at to be saved eventually became an idol! Is there something in your life that has helped you that now has turned into a negative effect that maybe you should break away from? We can pray and ask God to show us and help us to turn from it.
Back in 1847 a doctor named Ignaz Semmelweis noticed that, through several events, women who had died of postnatal fever had been attended during the birth by doctors who had just done autopsies. Semmelweis came up with the idea that doctors should wash their hands between autopsies and births. And all of us collectively think… well yeah! Of course! But this was not part of the course of a doctor’s day at the time. In fact, many doctors were offended at the suggestion they weren’t clean. Semmelweis was absolutely ridiculed and eventually driven mad. He was placed in an asylum where he died within two weeks, ironically from an infection, after being beaten by prison guards. Perhaps these doctors should have referred to today’s reading. After discussing the duties of the Levites in Numbers 18, Numbers 19 discusses being “unclean” for 7 days after touching a corpse for any reason. Definitely something these doctors should have taken note of.
Much is said about what is clean and unclean in the Pentateuch. The Israelites certainly benefited physically from not touching dead bodies or eating pork. Some issues of cleanliness could not be helped, such as touching the dead or having a monthly period. In these cases, people were unclean for a time and then had to wash themselves in special ceremonies and offer sacrifices. But God did not delineate what was clean and unclean just for hygiene’s sake. God also wanted the Israelites to be set apart, different than the rest of the world, holy.
We are to come before Him with clean hands and pure hearts (Psalm 24: 4). But there are times when we become unclean and need someone who can wash us white as snow. Praise God for providing the sacrifice that completely cleans us, His Son, Jesus Christ.
We’ve come a long way since 1847. Hand washing is the first skill nurses have to demonstrate before moving on to other skills. As you wash your hands today, keep in mind the One who cleans you completely!
-Maria Knowlton
Reflection Questions
What can we learn from Ignaz? What can we learn from the doctors who ridiculed Ignaz, believing that they themselves were clean?
Does God still want His people today, the church, to be clean, holy and set apart? What does that look like? What does it look like to have a church that is dirty/stained, unholy and blending in with the world?
Are there any common practices today that you think might be making many Christians unclean before the Lord?
What is the only way you can come before God clean? If you accept Jesus as Lord of your life, are there still things you do that make you clean and unclean? How might Numbers have been preparing God’s people for Jesus?
Ok quizzers and especially National Quizzing Director, Jacob Ballard, hear me out! Numbers 7 should be part of the quizzing materials next year! I mean, while it is the longest chapter in Numbers, you really would only need to memorize 5 verses!
Numbers 7 is very repetitive because all 12 tribes of Israel come to present their gifts to the Tabernacle, and they all give almost exactly the same thing (apparently there was no Tabernacle gift registry 😉). But that was actually on purpose as God wanted all of the people to praise and participate in the rights and responsibilities equally. He wanted every tribe to be fully devoted to Him no matter the size of the tribe. That is a reminder to us that even if we are all of different socio-economic statuses, we all bring the same thing to God, our hearts and our devotion.
Numbers 8 describes how God set the descendants of Levi apart as royal priests. Whenever I have read about the jobs of the Levites, I’ve been glad that was not my calling. These guys were not standing around praying all day. They were working hard as they had to do a LOT of butchering. Like. All. Day. Long! My husband used to work in the meat department at our local grocery store. It is a lot of bloody, messy work. Ugh… and don’t get me started on cleaning all the tools! But these priests understood the importance of their jobs, helping God’s people atone for their sins through the sacrifice of the animals they raised. And it wasn’t a one-time thing for each person; it was continual for all of each person’s life. This reminds me of how thankful I am that we don’t have to do that anymore because of what Christ did for us (Hebrews 10). Besides eternal salvation, we also don’t have to spend a great deal of our time butchering animals and barbequing them!
Numbers 9 discusses God’s decrees on celebrating the Passover and then their “moving” protocol. Growing up in the Air Force, I think I can understand never knowing how long you would be in any given spot. Sometimes God would have the Israelites stay for a few days, sometimes for a few years. I don’t know if this is the reason, but I suspect God did not want them to become too comfortable where they were and wanted them to remember their current position was not their home. We too would be wise to remember that where we are now is not our permanent home and we should not become too comfortable within the world.
-Maria Knowlton
Reflection Questions
Have you ever moved at God’s command – or stayed put at His command?
How do we tell today when and where He wants us to go – or stay?
What are you learning about God in Numbers so far?
Once upon a time, I had to take a statistics class. It was awful! I am not a numbers person at all and the professor was dry and would trail off while he was talking. Every class was an exercise in trying to stay awake for an hour and 15 minutes! But I do think he could have spiced things up a bit if he had thrown in some fun or shocking stories in between the equations. For example: “So in this case p is equal to the sum of the number of participants in the study, which was looking at the correlation between owning a machete and a ninja outfit and ending up in the emergency room.”
So when I was reading the first two chapters, I was getting flashbacks of that statistics class. They are purely numbers and logistics. The 12 tribes of Israel had left Egypt about a year before and God was now “parking” the tabernacle in the desert, with the 12 tribes in specific stations around the tabernacle.
God had Moses and Aaron count all the men in the tribe. Boring! I like how Chuck Swindoll put it in his commentary, “Numbers takes the reader on a long and winding path through a desert of excruciating detail.” But then I hit chapter 3 and Aaron’s two eldest sons, Nadab and Abihu fall dead because they offer God an “unauthorized fire” and they had no children, WHAT??? That got my attention! Why was the fire “unauthorized”? Why did God strike them dead? So many questions??? But the biggest question the story starts to answer is WHY Numbers is included in our Bible.
Besides its historical significance, Numbers speaks of the importance of obedience to God and God’s intolerance of sin. Leviticus 10:1-2 gives a little more detail on what happened to Nadab and Abihu, but it was basically just straight up disobedience to God. We may think this was a pretty minor issue, but it points to the fact that God does not tolerate sin of any kind. No matter how “good” you are, you will not live a life of perfection and will at some point deserve the punishment Nadab and Abihu received. Goodness, do we need a savior! THANK GOD for JESUS!
So, yes, much of this book is boring, especially today’s reading, but unlike that statistics class, you will find application for your own life in this book.
-Maria Knowlton
Reflection Questions
God has a plan for His people, even for where each tribe was to park around the tabernacle. How might He share His plans today?
Why is God looking for, and expecting, obedience from His people during the time of Numbers? What does God’s desire and expectations look like today? Does the sacrifice of Jesus mean obedience isn’t required any more?
What application can you find for your life from Numbers 1-3?
If you ask anyone about what Jesus taught his followers to do, there is usually a wide variety of responses: however, most of the answers you will receive will focus on his command to “love your neighbor”. Indeed, this was considered the second greatest commandment by Jesus:
“The greatest commandment is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:29-31 NASB1995
However, most people today would be shocked to learn where Jesus got this second greatest commandment from: the book of Leviticus!! In Leviticus 19:18, we find out that God has always desired His people to love their neighbor as themselves, even in a book that most modern readers want to throw away because it doesn’t seem “relevant” anymore. While we don’t have animal sacrifices and aren’t bound to certain ritualistic laws found in this book any longer, it is still a relevant book for Christian living: in the book of Leviticus, we not only find the second greatest commandment (according to Jesus), but also what loving our neighbor as ourselves looks like. How are we supposed to “love our neighbor as ourselves”?
Beginning in chapter 17, we begin a new section within Leviticus, oftentimes called the Holiness Code: in this new section, God stops directing instructions to the priests and begins addressing the people of Israel directly. In this Holiness Code are very relevant and practical ways that we can “love our neighbor as ourselves”. Among the descriptions in chapters 18 and 19 are:
Not pursuing improper sexual unions (still relevant today)
Not sacrificing your children to other false gods (still relevant today)
Showing reverence for your parents (still relevant today)
Leaving some of your wealth for the poor and needy (still relevant today)
Not stealing or lying (still relevant today)
Not withholding pay from someone you hired (still relevant today)
Having fair judgment in court (still relevant today)
Not hating or bearing a grudge against your neighbor (still relevant today)
As we can see, most of the Holiness Code is still proper for us to practice under the New Covenant (if not all of it), as we seek to love our neighbors as ourselves. There is one more part to loving our neighbor that we need to focus on and re-learn in our society today, but may be difficult to hear.
“… you may surely correct your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.” – Leviticus 19:17b NASB1995
When I’ve made some bad decisions in my life, there have been people who have called me out on it and tried to correct my actions: in the moment, I didn’t enjoy it at all and felt “attacked”, but I learned quickly that they were only concerned, loved me deeply, and wanted me to do better. True love for our neighbor doesn’t turn a blind eye to their sins or allow them to continue down a dangerous road because we don’t want to “hurt their feelings”: true love is difficult, because it is hard to warn someone when they are doing the wrong things that could hurt them or others. Jesus knew this and commanded us to do the same thing.
“If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” – Luke 17:3
In our current world where we are very sensitive towards the emotional needs of our friends and family (which is good), we cannot ignore the clear commands from Scripture to step into their lives and help them see their need for change. If you want to truly love your neighbor as yourself and fulfill the second greatest command in Scripture, you MUST call your loved ones out when the moment calls for it: it is super uncomfortable and can feel damaging at first when they inevitably get upset, but could be the most life-changing and loving thing you ever did for them. Nobody has everything figured out perfectly until Jesus comes back, and if we are Christians, we will want to live the best we can until that Day comes: however, sometimes that comes with the pain of admitting we were wrong.
If someone you love is making choices that are damaging to their life (and spiritual life), don’t be afraid to say something: it is the most loving and difficult thing you can do for them.
-Talon Paul
Reflection Questions
Suppose we do a really good job of loving God – why would He care if we also love others or not? Have you ever met anyone who did a really good job of loving God but wasn’t very loving toward others?
Who has been there to love you by correcting you? Looking back, is there any time in your life when you wish someone would’ve shown love to you by correcting you – even if you might not have appreciated it at the time?
Are you aware of any current situations where God might want you to love your neighbor by lovingly correcting – speaking the truth in love? What might that look like? Is it a job you have been trying to avoid? What happens if we don’t do it? There is a lot of sin in the world. Does God want us to spend all of our time correcting? How do I decide when it is the loving thing to correct?
Two of my favorite foods to eat are bacon and shrimp (sometimes together): I absolutely love the smell, taste, and feeling of crunching into a crisp piece of bacon. Shrimp is a delicacy that I enjoy in all different styles of cooking: fried, grilled, or even cold with a side of cocktail sauce. And yet, when I read through today’s Leviticus passage, I find out that the Israelites weren’t supposed to eat either of these very popular items: they are said to be “unclean” for them and were to be avoided… Am I sinning against God by enjoying these dishes?
We must understand the concept of “cleanliness” and the purpose behind the food laws in this book to answer that question. First, what does being “clean” mean in Leviticus? According to scholar Walter Kaiser, “being clean makes a person fit and suitable for entering into the worship of God.” Being clean simply meant that you are in a proper position to enter into God’s presence: it didn’t necessarily mean that you had sinned against Him and were guilty of punishment (although, sinning would certainly make you unclean). For example, in Leviticus 12, a woman who recently gave birth was considered “unclean” until seven days had passed by. Did the woman sin by giving birth to a child, which God commanded for humans to do? (Genesis 1:28) Of course not: this is just one example that being “unclean” didn’t necessarily mean that you had sinned, but that you were just not allowed in God’s holy space for a period of time.
With that understanding, we need to look at the purpose behind the food laws in Leviticus. We are told:
“For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.” – Leviticus 11:44-45 NASB1995
“I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.” – Leviticus 18:2-3 NASB1995
The entire purpose behind the food laws was for the Israelites to be “holy”, which means “set apart” or “different”: since they worshiped and represented a completely holy God, they were supposed to live differently than the people around them. Although all the animals were given to humanity for food (Genesis 9:3), the Israelites were supposed to look different than those around them. Why? So that people would notice and begin pursuing their holy God. The entire purpose is so that others would come to know the one true God and follow His ways.
So are Christians sinning against God by deliberately disobeying these food laws? Well, Jesus in his ministry redefined what it means to be “clean” and “unclean”: it is no longer based on the food we eat, but the condition of our hearts and behavior towards others. What matters the most is what’s inside the person’s heart, not what they take into their stomach.
“He said to them, ‘Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he was saying, ‘That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.’” – Mark 7:18-23 NASB1995
Christians have the same command as the Israelites: to be “holy” like their heavenly Father is holy (Matthew 5:48). However, how we fulfill that command is different: under the New Covenant, we are supposed to be focused on making sure our hearts are pure, rather than our plates, if we want to be useful for God in this world. So, although we are now allowed to enjoy bacon and shrimp, Christians must ask themselves: “has my behavior brought glory to God, or am I unclean and unuseful because of the choices I’ve made and the words I’ve said today?”
-Talon Paul
Reflection Questions
“Has my behavior brought glory to God? Or am I unclean and unuseful because of the choices I’ve made and the words I’ve said today?”
What was the prescription for how the Israelites would get clean again in Leviticus?
According to the New Covenant how do Christians get clean again?
At the end of Exodus, after the Tabernacle has been finally built, God’s glory comes to rest in it, but Moses is unable to enter (Exodus 40:35). However, at the beginning of the next book, Numbers, Moses is speaking with God in the Tabernacle (Numbers 1:1). This middle book, Leviticus, is the explanation about what is necessary to come into God’s presence and enjoy His fellowship. Since God is so holy and separate from us, there are things that we are expected to do in order to come into His presence. Thankfully, out of His love, mercy, and desire to be with us, God provided a way for us to come before Him, both for the Israelites back then and for Christians today.
Immediately in Leviticus 1 and 2, we find descriptions of different animal sacrifices and what is necessary to perform certain rituals in God’s presence. Since we don’t have a Tabernacle or Temple to worship in, and we don’t perform animal sacrifices anymore, how is this really relevant for us?
In Leviticus 1:4, we are told that these animals are dying in the place of the person who is offering it to God. The truth of these sacrifices is simple: sin is serious and deserves death. Whenever you do something that is contrary to God’s laws, both minor and major, it is offensive to the One who gave you life in the first place, and we deserve death for it. The mantra of our age that “everyone is naturally good in their own way” is simply not true; we are all broken, sinful, and corrupt human beings in need of God’s saving grace. For the Israelites back then, the answer to the problem was an animal sacrifice to cover their offense against God; for us today, it is the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ that is sufficient.
The New Testament continues the teaching that sin is serious, offensive to God, and deserves death: “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a) We cannot forget the seriousness of our situation, because when we do, we lose the power of the gospel. The good news for us is that we don’t have to die for the things that we did; Jesus died in our place, like the animal sacrifices in Leviticus. “… but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b) The sacrifice of Jesus was sufficient to cover over every sin that we have ever committed or will commit (Hebrews 10:10). We need to thank God for providing a way out of our sinfulness, both in Leviticus and today through Jesus Christ. Through this sacrifice, we can enter the presence of God and enjoy fellowship with our heavenly Father (Hebrews 4:16).
-Talon Paul
(Originally posted February 15, 2021 for SeekGrowLove)
Reflection Questions
What were the duties or responsibilities of the Israelites to come before God to be forgiven? What are the duties or responsibilities of the Christians to come before God to be forgiven?
How many times do you find the phrase ‘without defect’ or blemish? Why was that important to God for the Israelites? How does that apply to Jesus as sacrifice?
As Christians we can bring (living) offerings and sacrifices to God, not to earn salvation and forgiveness, but to thank God and show we live for Him and He has first place. What would you like to offer/sacrifice to God and how can you do it?
I’ve been a pastor for 35 years (actually, 40 now, as this was written in 2020). I’ve pastored local congregations. I’ve served on the mission field in a different country. I’ve served as a hospice chaplain with people who have been diagnosed with life ending diseases and as a hospital chaplain with people who are very sick, or having surgery, or recovering from surgery or recovering from pneumonia, or have attempted suicide or are struggling with mental health issues and need extra support. I preach each week to people in the nursing home and those who are suffering from Alzheimers and other forms of dementia. I’ve stood at the bedside and prayed with families whose loved one is about to die or who has already died. I’ve prayed blessings over newborn babies and people over 100 and everywhere in between.
The one common need I find over and over again is the need of the person going through crisis to know that God is with them. Everyone goes through challenges and difficulties, losses and pains in life. It’s not a question of, “Will bad things happen?” or even, “Why do bad things happen?”, it’s more a case of, “When bad things happen what resources do you have to draw from to help you get through it?”
As God’s people, Israel was being transformed from slaves to the people of God who were to be a light to all nations, they were going to face many challenges on that journey of transformation. They had a desert to cross. They had numerous enemies to face who all wanted to prevent them from reaching the promised land, and once they arrived in the land, there were enemies who wanted to take the land away from them and turn their hearts away from undivided loyalty to God.
To get through these challenges Israel needed regular assurance that God knew them and that God was with them. If you’ve been a Christian for most of your life, it is likely that you know these things already. You know that God knows you by name, that before He formed you in your mother’s womb he knew you. You know Jesus’ promise that he will be with you always, to the end of the age, right? There’s no way you would ever forget that God knows you and that Jesus is with you, right? (More about that in a minute).
The people of Israel were spiritual babies. They were just starting to learn about who this God is and to get used to the idea that God would stay with them and not abandon them. They needed a lot of reminders. So, in addition to having a tent of meeting constructed in their midst (see yesterday’s devotion) they needed to know that they had representatives who would go before God regularly on their behalf. So God set aside a group of men who would serve as priests. They had a special calling and were set apart or consecrated to do the work of a priest.
Today’s reading describes the various pieces of clothing that the priests wore and the purpose of each item- ephod, breast piece, robe, tunic, turban, urim and thummin, gold plate, sashes etc… of all of these descriptions in Exodus 28 one in particular stands out: “Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings and fasten them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the Lord.” (11-12). So when the priest went before God, he went bearing the names of the sons or tribes of Israel. This was a reminder that they were there on behalf of the entire people of God. The message for the people was that the priests would bear on their bodies a constant reminder to God of His beloved people.
We might ask the question,” if God is perfect and all knowing, why would he need such a reminder? ” I would say that the reminder wasn’t for God as much as it was for the people to have the assurance that they were being constantly brought before God. Prayer works the same way for us. When someone prays to God on our behalf, they aren’t exactly bringing new information to God’s attention. God knows our needs before we ask. One of the benefits of intercessory prayer is to remind us that we are not alone in the midst of our needs. When I was first diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery and radiation lots of people were praying for me. It brought me great comfort and encouragement to be reminded regularly that people were remembering me before God’s throne.
In Exodus 29 it provides a description of the rituals that were used to consecrate or set apart the priests for their duties of bringing the people before God. Notice how the consecration involved sacrifices and blood. In order for the priests to go before God on behalf of the people, their sin and guilt had to be covered over by blood. In fact, every day, morning and night, a lamb was to be sacrificed to God. “For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. There I will meet you and speak to you; there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.” (42-43)
This served as a constant reminder that God was holy and sinless, and that human beings are sinful and needed to be cleansed and forgiven of their guilt in order to come near to God’s presence. As a result: “Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.” (45-46) These daily sacrifices served as a constant assurance to God’s people that He was their God and that He was with them.
As Christians, we are not required to sacrifice a lamb day and night in order to be assured that God is with us. Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He, as the high priest and the sacrificial lamb, went into the most holy place with his own blood and offered a sacrifice that covers over all of our sins once and for all. (Once you read the book of Exodus, the book of Hebrews in the New Testament is much easier to understand… check it out). When Jesus was first prophesied in Isaiah 7 it was said that he would be a sign that God is with us (Immanuel means God is with us). In the name of Jesus we can be assured that God is with us – not because we are perfect or sinless, we are no more sinless than the nation of Israel was, but we have been made holy by the blood of Jesus.
Earlier I asked the question: “There’s no way you would ever forget that God knows you and that Jesus is with you, right?” The fact is, we all have times when we forget that God knows us and that Jesus is with us. This is a danger when everything is going well in our lives- when we are busy enjoying the blessings that God gives us and are on a roll, we can get so caught up in enjoying the gifts that we forget to worship the one who gives them to us, God. It is also a danger when things are tough and we are hurting and feel all alone or worry that God isn’t answering our prayers. When we go through spiritual depression or the dark night of the soul we can forget that the Lord promised never to leave us. We need constant reminders, in the good times and the bad times. That’s why we need to gather regularly with other believers to find encouragement and strength, so we don’t forget. That’s why we need to regularly break bread and drink the cup at communion, to help us remember. You and I need ongoing reminders that God is with us, that God remembers us. We need to know others are bringing our names before God in difficult times, and we need to remember to bring others before God during their difficult times. We may not have to wear ephods and robes and rub lamb’s blood on us, but as Christians we are all priests and we all need to go before God regularly on behalf of each other and on behalf of people in the world, in the name of Jesus. Don’t forget to remember, God is with us and God will never forget you.
Seek Grow Love 