Tag: obedience

Clearing Out the Garbage (Numbers 31-33)

September 10

talon-sat

By Talon Paul

As the Israelites are preparing to finally enter the Promised Land after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, God commands them in 33:52 to “drive out all the inhabitants of the land” (not kill them all) and “destroy all their molten images and demolish their high places.” The very first thing that God commands them to do after driving out everybody is to completely destroy their false gods. God wants nothing but Himself as the divine authority of the Israelites’ lives, and He wants only Himself as the divine authority of our lives as well.

YHWH God says in v. 55 and 56 that if they do not do these things, then those people and their false gods will trouble them in the land. As we know from the rest of the story, the Israelites did not listen and they suffered the consequences for not obeying. They later on begin to follow these false gods and God punishes them for their actions.

But just like the Israelites who needed to clear out the ‘garbage’ of the Promised Land before inheriting it, we as Christians need to do the same. We need to take out the ‘false gods’ in our lives, whether that be a bad relationship, an obsession, an addiction, or anything that keeps us from giving complete devotion to our Heavenly Father. If we don’t, those things can come back and trouble us for the rest of our lives, just like they did to the Israelites. We need to be diligent and active in removing the ‘garbage’ from our life so we can give everything that we are to our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus.

An Amazing Gift (Leviticus 26-27)

Monday, August 29

rebecca mon

By Rebecca Dauksas

I have a family member with a birthday coming up next week. I have already bought and wrapped the gifts.  Of course, the purpose of giving a gift allows us to tell that person that they are special, that they are loved, appreciated, remembered,…

God is definitely a Giver.  After all He showed us His love by giving us His only begotten Son. He gives us so much including life. He offers us so many gifts in the present and in the life to come.

In Leviticus 26 God offered the people His blessings for their obedience.  If they obeyed Him, He would have provided what they needed. He would have given them prosperity and peace. He would have given them victory even when others attacked them.  They would also have received the ultimate gift of His presence. He said to them, “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.” Leviticus 26:12

Just as blessings and rewards motivate us to do what is right, consequences also motivate us to avoid wrong. God presents a very graphic description of the consequences of rejecting Him to His people. Sadly, this description reads like a history book for the Israelites. Thankfully, God granted the Israelites the gifts of grace and forgiveness after the punishments of their disobedience.  But hold on a minute, we have another gift from God.  He gives us the gift of the text we are studying because we can learn from their example.  We do not want to follow in their footsteps. Yes, the Israelites were taken back and used by God, but many individuals as we have been discovering are missing out on the blessings in the meantime.  They are missing the blessings because they are rejecting the One that wants to bless them.  In this chapter we see so clearly, what happens as a result of rejecting God. And even though we can receive forgiveness for our sin, it is so much better to choose God in the first place. Choosing God results in His blessings!  Sure there will still be all the hardships we go through in this fallen world, but we can lean into our God.  We can rely on His Promise that He will be with us and be our God. That is an amazing gift!

 

 

 

 

In the Lord’s Presence (Leviticus 24-25)

Sunday, August 28 – Start of Week 6

rebeccca sun

By Rebecca Dauksas

What a contrast we have going on in the Hebrew camp in Leviticus chapter 24!

God is explaining what is required to honor Him through priestly worship.  We visualize the tent of meeting and the priest in charge of the oil lamps. We can imagine the light radiating as Aaron tends the lamps on this golden lampstand continually throughout the night.

This huge, extraordinary lampstand with its seven lamps would light up the table of pure gold. I imagine the showbread and the smell of the incense placed beside the two stacks of bread. Each Sabbath the bread was set out on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. Aaron and his sons would eat it in the sanctuary because it was a most holy part of their share of the food offerings presented to the Lord. I imagine the awesome communion with God in this very special place.

 

Yet outside a fight broke out in the camp. An Israelite was fighting with a son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father. The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse. The just punishment for blasphemy of the Name of God was the death penalty.  This man chose to insult God and he suffered the consequences.

The Hebrews had a choice, just like we do. They could chose obedience or disobedience, right or wrong, to go God’s way or their way.  God was giving instructions (even including holidays of joyous festivals) and showing His presence to everyone in the camp.  One man chooses to insult Him, but others choose to learn of Him. We are also choosing to learn of Him as we move through the scriptures.  We can look to God, spend time with Him, learn His requirements for our lives and make our relationship with Him our top priority.  We can throw ourselves into God’s work and be followers of Christ. His promise for us doing this is His Love and Blessing!