Verse for the Day, 8 October 2014.

Exodus 30:22-38  The LORD said to Moses,  (23)  "Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of aromatic cane,  (24)  and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil.  (25)  And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil.  (26)  With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony,  (27)  and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,  (28)  and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the basin and its stand.  (29)  You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will become holy.  (30)  You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.  (31)  And you shall say to the people of Israel, 'This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations.  (32)  It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you.  (33)  Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.'"  (34)  The LORD said to Moses, "Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part),  (35)  and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.  (36)  You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you.  (37)  And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the LORD.  (38)  Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people."

The instructions for the tabernacle that God gives to Moses are intricate, specific and go right down to the last detail. There is nothing vague, such as make some incense, or make some anointing oil. Moses is told exactly how the incense and anointing oil is to be made, what its composition is to be. Why does God give such detailed instructions to Moses and the people, and why are they prohibited from making this same incense or anointing oil for themselves?

The reasons for this, is that everything about the tabernacle was to be unique, it was to be one of a kind, as unique as God is unique. Secondly, the manner in which God was to be worshipped was also to be unique. It was not uncommon for people who worshipped idols to make incense, perfumes or oils that were all used in the worship of their idols. The people of Israel were not to take of such incenses or oils and then use them for the worship of God. Thirdly, this incense and anointing oil was to be made in a unique manner and was only to be used in the and for the tabernacle, because it would be regarded as holy. Everything used to worship God had to be holy and used exclusively for the worship of God. This incense and oil was only to be made for use in the tabernacle or by the priests, and was only ever to be used worship and service of God. When they smelt the incense, it would remind them of God and how they were to worship Him with their lives and the joy they had in being able to approach God in prayer, through the priesthood and the tabernacle. Every time they saw the anointing oil being used it served to show them that the object or the person being anointed had been set apart by God for a specific reason and purpose, and was therefore considered to be holy to the Lord. The incense and the oil was to be exclusively for God, for the glory of God, and to move man to worship God, it was not to be used for the glory of man.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we don’t need to use incense and oil in our worship of God, but we should be a diligent and careful in the manner that we approach God in worship. These items were designed to instil in the people of Israel a reverence for God, to help them understand that God could not be approach nonchalantly. We must prepare ourselves, our hearts, minds and lives, we must think about who we are approaching and how we are to approach God in worship. We are to seek to offer our best to God and we are to offer our worship and our lives exclusively to God. We should want our lives to be a fragrant and pleasing aroma to God, and it should be our desire to set ourselves apart to serve God in holiness.

Most importantly, this incense and oil point to Christ, as Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:2, “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Christ was set apart, anointed by God the Father for the work of being our great High Priest. (See Psalm 2, and Isaiah 61.) Jesus comes as the one set apart, anointed by the Father, Jesus comes as the holy one, and then offers up His own life. This sacrifice is a pleasing aroma to the Father, because Christ offers up His life in obedience to and love for the Father, for the glory of the Father, so as to satisfy the justice of the Father against sin and to then pour out the love and grace of salvation upon all who would believe. For those who believe, every time we approach God in worship we come “covered” as it were with the fragrance of Christ and are therefore pleasing and acceptable in God’s sight. We no longer need the incense and the oil, we have something far better and greater, Jesus Christ!

Heavenly Father, thank You that You in eternity past set aside, anointed God the Son to come and offer up His life on our behalf. Thank You, that You accepted that offering, that You were pleased by it and now offer grace and salvation to us. Lord Jesus Christ, we worship You today, for Your willing obedience to the Father, Your love for Him and for us. Thank You that You have made us pleasing in the sight of God through Your sacrificial work. Holy Spirit, we pray that today You will enable us to rejoice in our unique position, and to live lives that show, that give off the fragrance of Christ, so that God may be glorified all the more. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 2 October 2014.

Exodus 29:38-46, “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly.  (39)  One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.  (40)  And with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering.  (41)  The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.  (42)  It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.  (43)  There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory.  (44)  I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests.  (45)  I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God.  (46)  And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.”

In the above verses God gives to the people of Israel the instruction to offer sacrifices at the start and the end of each and every day. They are commanded to do this every day and to do it continuously, through all their generations. Why does God give this instruction, especially considering the value of a lamb?

There are several reasons as to why God institutes this practice. Firstly the people are to learn that God is to be worshipped from sunrise to sunset, their day begins and ends with worship, it is to be framed by worship. They need to learn that worship is not just what takes place on the Sabbath or during particular festivals and feasts, rather their worship of God is to be continuous. They are to worship God as much in the temple courts as they do in their homes or places of work. They are to seek to glorify, honour, obey and trust God in all things and in all places. They are to be a people who give themselves whole-heartedly and daily to the worship of God.

Secondly it is to remind them that God is worthy of worship and worthy of receiving that which is first, best and that which is of great value. They start the day by first giving praise to God, by first offering up food offerings before they partake of food, and again at the end of the day in thanksgiving for God’s daily provision of their needs. Its purpose is to put the people’s perspective in the right place at the start of the day and at the end of the day. God is first, God’s receives thanks first, God receives from us first and God is to be thanked and worshipped for all that He gives to us.

Thirdly, it is to remind them of the holiness of God and their own sinfulness. We cannot make it through a single day, or night without sinning in some way, shape or form, and thus there is the need for us to constantly approach God and seek after His forgiveness. The people of Israel were to offer up these burnt offerings each and every day as an acknowledgement of God’s holiness, their sinfulness and to then seek after His forgiveness. It was a daily reminder to them, of their great and constant need of God’s grace.

Fourthly, they were to offer up these sacrifices on a daily basis in joy and thanksgiving, because God was amongst them, He was their God, and they were His people. God had placed His special blessing upon them as a nation, and the tabernacle and the tabernacle worship served to constantly remind them of this fact. It is also served to warn them against sin and against taking this special position for granted. God was only present because of His grace, and not because of their greatness, therefore God could remove His presence and hand of blessing at any moment. Thus they were to live constantly conscious of the fact that they lived in the presence of God, and should therefore live in holiness, fear and trembling. They were to live in such a manner that their individual lives and their national life displayed their obedience and love towards God, and pointed the nations around them to the greatness, truth and glory of God.

For us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ the challenges and lessons are much the same. By God’s grace, we do not need to offer up sacrifices in the morning and the evening, because Christ is our great sacrifice, His one sacrifice is sufficient for every day. But it is just as important for us to start and end each day with repentance for sin and then with the worship, adoration and acknowledgement of God, of who He is, His provision, grace, faithfulness, holiness and goodness. This worship is to shape the rest of our day, whereby the chief desire of our hearts should be to live for the glory of God, not taking our special position as God’s children for granted, but rather wanting to give a good account. We desire to live so as to show that we live our lives in the presence and worship of God and it is our joy to daily point people to the glory and grace of God as revealed through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Holy Father, we come to You in humility and confess our sins, we know that we have strayed from You and Your ways in the past 24 hours, thus we ask once more for grace to cleanse us. Thank You that in Christ we have found and received this grace, thank You for the joy this brings us today. We pray that through the working of Your Spirit You will enable us to live lives of worship today, so that we will honour, obey and glorify You in all things and in doing so point others to the Lord Jesus Christ. May You and You alone be the centre of our lives today. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 1 October 2014.

Exodus 28:36-38, “You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, 'Holy to the LORD.'  (37)  And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban.  (38)  It shall be on Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.”

Exodus 28 is devoted to the priestly garments, with very precise instructions given. Though at first appearance it may seem to be a lengthy chapter filled only with instructions, there is in fact a great deal that could be drawn out of it. From the perfection and beauty of the complete garment, being a reflection of the beauty and perfection of God. The twelve precious stones mounted on to the breastplate with the names of the twelve tribes inscribed on these stones. This breastplate was put on over the heart of the priest, and could be seen as a symbol of how God had drawn the people of Israel near to His own heart, that He has poured out His love upon them and that they had a special position.

There are other elements that we could draw out, but there is one that stands out amongst them, and it is recorded in the verses above. A plate of pure gold, on which the words, “Holy to the LORD” were carved, was to be placed on the turban, which was then placed on Aaron’s head. This was to remind Aaron that God was holy, it was to remind the people that God was holy, and it was to remind them that if they desired to have fellowship with God, then holiness was required. God could not be approached in any other manner. It is also taught them that Aaron is consecrated by God, separated to serve as a mediator between God and man. Therefore, as one chosen by God, set apart and consecrated by God for this work, he is to be regarded as holy to the LORD. This did not mean that Aaron was sinless, for he himself had to offer up sacrifices for his own sin.

More importantly, Aaron was to function as the sin-bearer who sought to make atonement on behalf of the people before God. He would take these offerings for sin, from sinful people, and then place it on the altar, on behalf of the sinful person, and make atonement for them. In this sense Aaron would bear their sin, for he would take their offering, confessing their sin and place that sin upon the offering and then sacrifice it on the altar.

This serves as a shadow of Christ, who would become the great sin-bearer, he took our sin and then offered himself up as a sacrifice for our sin, making atonement for it. What makes Christ so much better than Aaron and any other high priest after him, is that Christ did not need to be made holy, he did not need to make any sacrifices for himself; Christ was holy, pure and guiltless. Therefore Christ offers up a sacrifice that is sufficient to take away our sin, once and for all. As a result of this, we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, are now regarded as holy to the LORD, we have been cleansed by Christ’s sacrificial blood, justified and counted as righteous. This then means that we have direct access to God, we no longer need a human priest, we no longer need sacrifices. Christ serves as our High Priest and leads us daily into the presence of God.

Lord Jesus our faithful and great High Priest, we thank You today for the work that You performed on our behalf. Thank You that You were willing to sacrifice Your life, so that now we might be counted as being holy to the LORD. Thank You, that through Your priestly work we can have full and constant access to the very throne of God. May You receive the adoration and the glory in our lives today, as we live and walk in Your grace. Amen.