Verse for the Day, 29 January 2015.

Leviticus 23:33-44  And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,  (34)  "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the LORD.  (35)  On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.  (36)  For seven days you shall present food offerings to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.  (37)  "These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day,  (38)  besides the LORD's Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD.  (39)  "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.  (40)  And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.  (41)  You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.  (42)  You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths,  (43)  that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."  (44)  Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the LORD.

Leviticus 23 gives further details and commandments concerning the various feast and Sabbaths that God called on the people of Israel to observe. The last of the instructions given in this chapter relates to the Feast of Booths. What makes this section worthy of particular mention is that it speaks about something which has not yet become a full reality. The people of Israel are still camped around Mount Sinai and they believe that in the very near future they will enter into the Promised Land. The rebellion recorded in Numbers 14 has not yet taken place. Therefore the booths (temporary structures) in which they were living, was not understood by them to be a long term dwelling place. The manna and quail, the protection, provision and guidance of God, would be there for a short time and then they would no longer need it as they would be in the land of milk and honey, living in cities they did not build.

What was meant only to be temporary, became a permanent reality for them, they would live out their lives wandering in the wilderness, living in booths, feeding off of manna and quail and constantly dependent upon God for all things for the next 40 years. They had to exercise this faith and dependence upon God every single day. They did not know what we now know, that God would not abandon or forsake His people. It is an incredible truth to know that for some 14600 days God supplied their every need, every day the pillar of cloud, every night the pillar of fire. Six days of the week manna and quail, countless miraculous provisions of water and numerous victories in battle. God was entirely faithful to His people.

The Feast of Booths would have been a wonderful and encouraging annual reminder of God’s salvation and God’s faithfulness. This reminder would be made all the greater when they considered that fact that whilst their fore-fathers rebelled against God, God did not treat them in a similar manner, but continued in His faithfulness. Furthermore this feast took place shortly after the harvest and that in itself would be a reminder of God’s faithfulness towards them. This Feast was designed to be a time of great worship, adoration of God, thankfulness and joy, for they were being reminded, they were celebrating God’s salvation, God’s provision in the wilderness and God’s continuing faithfulness.

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we all have a similar testimony to that of the people of Israel. We too rebelled against God, yet God continued in faithfulness to us throughout the years we continued in our rebellion. God was not just faithful to us, He saved us from slavery to that rebellion, He saved us from death, He gave us a whole new life, with a new future, a future that is filled with hope. God has continued with us, faithfully providing, guiding and protecting us, we are filled with His Spirit each and every day, and this shall be our daily experience until we enter into heaven itself.

Sadly we can be so quick to forget all these wonderful truths, we find ourselves in the midst of hardships, trials, ill-health, family crisis, spiritual distress and such, these problems seem so much bigger, they cast a Mount Everest like shadow over our lives and our faith. We seem to lose sight of all that God is and all that God has done, we suddenly start to doubt the goodness or faithfulness of God, when God has never proved to be anything other than good and faithful. It is as though we need to have a daily Feast of Booths, whereby we constantly remind ourselves that God has brought us safely thus far and He will not abandon us. We need to look at past trials and remember how God worked faithfully then, we need to think upon the miracle of our salvation. We need to then look forward and remember that our names stand written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that a place is being kept for us in the Kingdom of God and that a room has been prepared for us in the Father’s house. This will enable us to persevere through the difficulties to come, knowing that God will once again work in grace and prove Himself to be faithful, loving and good.

Most merciful Father, how we thank You today that You are so faithful towards us. There has not been a day since the dawn of creation that You have failed to be faithful and good towards all that which You have created. Forgive us for being so quick to forget all Your past acts of faithfulness, especially our salvation through Christ. We pray that You might help us on a daily basis to be mindful of who You have been, who You are and who You will remain to be to us, the eternally faithful and good God. We thank You once again for Your goodness and favour towards us. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 26 January 2015.

Leviticus 22:17-21, “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,  (18)  "Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the LORD,  (19)  if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats.  (20)  You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you.  (21)  And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfil a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it.”

If we were called upon to sacrifice something, what is it that we would sacrifice, what would we be willing to sacrifice and how costly would that sacrifice be to us? Many of us would willingly sacrifice those things that we don’t really want or like, that which is of little value to us. But when it comes to that which we treasure and love, we hold on to them, unwilling to give them up. We are not willing to give that which is costly to us, that which is truly sacrificial. Ultimately selfishness and greed lies within all our hearts. We are happy to give the broken, the worthless, but we are not willing to give that which we treasure most.

What would have happened if God had not given such specific commands about what animals could and could not be sacrifice, and the condition of those animals? We know what would have happened, the animals that were diseased, maimed, those which were marked, blemished, those which had been hurt or wounded by other animals, would be offered up as sacrifices. It would have been seen as an “honourable” and “godly” way to get rid of the livestock you did not want. The healthy livestock, the prize lamb, goat, sheep or bull would not be brought to be sacrificed, that would be kept back.

In commanding the people of Israel to bring only the very best of their livestock to sacrifice, was God being cruel and selfish? Was God seeking to deny them the potentially great profits than could be made from a prize animal?

God commands them to do this because of what He desires to teach the people. Firstly, He is reminding them of His holiness, only that which is pure, spotless and perfect is acceptable in His sight. God is to be worshipped in holiness, purity and perfection, anything less would be to dishonour God. Secondly, He wants them to know that if they are seeking to offer up an animal that is to function as a substitute for their sin, for that sacrifice to bear their sin, then that animal must be perfect, it must not have any sin of its own to bear. How can an animal sin? It is not that an animal can sin, rather an animal can bear the marks, the consequences of sin. Everything was created as perfect, spotless and without blemish, all of creation was entirely pleasing and acceptable to God, God saw it as being good. Sin has impacted and stained this perfect creation. As a result of sin there is now disease, infirmity, and death, and much of creation bears the marks of our sinfulness. Only that which is perfect and pure, only that which doesn’t bear the marks of sin can be offered up to God as a sacrifice. Thirdly, God wants to teach the people of Israel that sin is destructive, costly and deadly. Think of the battle within as you take your prize bull to be slaughtered and then consumed by fire on the altar. Yet it served as a powerful reminder of how serious sin is, that God will demand payment, God’s justice must be satisfied and His glory, honour and holiness vindicated. Fourthly, and most importantly it was designed by God to point to the Lord Jesus Christ. For us to have true forgiveness from sin and to be made acceptable in God’s sight, we need more than just a spotless animal, we need a spotless, sinless, perfect, pure, blameless and holy man. Jesus Christ comes as that man, so as to atone, pay for our sin thus setting us free from sin and its eternal consequences.

How grateful we should be that God has designed such things to teach us about Him, ourselves and our great need. We should be all the more grateful to know that God not only teaches us all this, but He also works so as to supply our great need, the need of a Saviour. Jesus Christ the perfect God-man, the sinless sacrifice, the one who satisfies the justice of God and brings us true and eternal salvation.

Lord Jesus God, Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, how we praise and adore You today, for You willingly laid down Your perfect life for our sin. You paid what we owed, You endured the punishment we deserved, and You gave to us what was rightful Yours. Thank You that You have been our sinless and perfect sacrifice, thank You that You have brought us full forgiveness and thank You that You have made us pleasing, acceptable and holy in the Father’s sight. To You belongs eternal praise. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 22 January 2015.

Leviticus 21:1-8, “And the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people,  (2)  except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,  (3)  or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean).  (4)  He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself.  (5)  They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body.  (6)  They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the LORD's food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.  (7)  They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.  (8)  You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.”

In this chapter we have instructions and commandments given specifically to the priests and their families. They are urged to keep these commandments as failure to do so will result in them being removed from their office of priest and unable to serve in the temple. These various commandments are very specific, even more stringent than those given to the nation as a whole. Therefore we ask, why does God raise the standard even higher for the priests and their families?

The reason why, is because of who the priests are, what they do and who they seek to approach. The priests have been set apart by God specifically for the work and the privilege of serving Him in the tabernacle. No one else in all of Israel will have the kind of access to the tabernacle and to serve God like the priests would. For certain priests, who were chosen to be the high priest, or those who have been anointed with the oil, they were to be all more cautious and diligent in keeping the Law as they had been set apart, consecrated and anointed with the holy oil in order to offer up the various sacrifices and do certain acts of service in the tabernacle.

The priests and their families needed to constantly understand the importance of their work, and the fact that to serve in the tabernacle was to be serving in the very presence of God. This meant that they were serving in the presence of the One who is absolutely holy, therefore their lives, their work, duties and service all had to reflect this attitude of reverence, humility and holiness. They need to be pursuing after personal holiness, seeking to live in obedience before God, so that God would be pleased by their service and accept the sacrifices that they offer up to Him on behalf of others. Their lives need to reflect that God whom they serve and whom they represent to the people and they need to know the importance of preparing themselves to worship and serve God in the right manner. They had to guard against taking their responsibilities lightly, not seeing their sin as serious, and not to think that they could merely walk into the tabernacle, into God’s presence without any thought or regard for what they were doing and before whom they were doing it.

This chapter highlights a very important and much neglected practice, the practice of preparing ourselves to worship God. As believers in Jesus Christ we may not have the same limitations and restrictions of Old Testament worship, but that doesn’t mean that we should take it lightly. It is a disturbing reality that most Christians arrive at church on a Sunday having given almost no thought to what they are about to do, nor have they taken time to prepare themselves as individuals and their family as a whole. Furthermore, many of us have little regard for God during the week, we use our lips to speak lies, to swear, curse, insult or even blaspheme. We raise our hands in anger, or use them to carry out our sinful desires. Our mind, heart and flesh indulges in sin time and time again in the course of week. Do we then think that we can with no fore-thought, no preparation, no searching of the heart, no repentance, simply come into church to worship God corporately? We sing songs of praise to God through unrepentant lips, we raise our hands in worship, hands still with the dirt of sin upon them, we pledge our love and submission to God with harden hearts and minds. Do we think God takes pleasure in such worship?

It is of vital importance that we develop the daily habit of preparing to worship God, whether it be worshipping God in the quiet of our own home during our devotional time, or if it is in preparation for a Sunday service. We need to demonstrate that we understand who God is, who we are and how we are to approach Him in worship and service. Our desire should be to worship God in truthfulness, humility and holiness. In order to do so, we need to spend time asking God to cleanse us, forgive us of the many times in that day or week that we have strayed. We need to spend time meditating on who God is, why it is that we are able to worship Him and why it is that we want to worship Him. We need to spend time preparing our heart, soul and mind so that we can give ourselves completely to the worship of God. Let us stop taking the worship of God so lightly, rather let us restore it to its rightful place in our lives and within the church.

All-glorious and majestic God, You alone are worthy of all the worship. But we have to confess that we spend so little time worshipping You, and even less time preparing our hearts to worship You. We pray that You might help us to change, so that we give ourselves to worship You daily, and worship You in a manner that is true and pleasing in Your sight. May we understand the importance and the benefit of preparing our hearts to come before You in worship, and may we set ourselves to doing this constantly. Most of all we thank You that You have turned us from the worship of ourselves, back to the worship of You, through the work of Christ. Thank You that because of Christ, You now take delight and pleasure in our worship and You invite us into Your presence and blessing. May we understand all the blessings that have been made ours through Christ, and may that cause us to worship You all the more. Amen.