At the consecration of Aaron and his sons, the Lord tells Moses to assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting, so they can see this blessed event.
Moses washes Aaron and his sons with water and dresses them in their sacred robes and ephods and turbans. Moses pours anointing oil onto their heads as well as on the tabernacle and the altar and its utensils.
And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him.
Leviticus 8:12 ESV
This passage reminded of Psalm 133.
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.
Psalm 133:1-3 ESV
Dear Heavenly Father, what a beautiful gift it is to dwell in unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I pray for unity within my local body of believers as well as unity of purpose in the global body of Your church. I pray that our unity would dwell within Your truth and holiness. Make us Your priests, anointing and washing others in the water of the Word and the gospel of Jesus Christ. By the grace of Jesus Christ we pray.Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 years: Levititus 4:1-5:13
The Lord here provides specific directions for how to atone for unintentional sins, sins of ignorance.
This reminded me of so many other passages, like Paul’s beautiful testimony from 1 Timothy 1:12-16
“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”
Listen to Jesus’s words when He was being crucified,
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Luke 23:34
But what about when you continue willfully in sin? How about those who have heard the gospel again and again and yet they choose to turn their back on God?
“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Hebrews 10:26-31
Rather than questioning what God will do with those who have never heard the gospel, we ought to ask ourselves these two questions:
Am I prepared to meet God?
Have I been faithful to share the good news with the people that I know?”
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, I, for one, am not ignorant. I once was lost, but now I’m found. Even when I was darkness, running away from You, You had written Your law on my heart. I knew that it was wrong to lie. I knew that it was wrong to say hateful things about other people. I knew that it was wrong to slander and gossip. I knew it, but I did it anyway. Thank You for saving me while I was yet a sinner. Thank You for sending Jesus to die in my place, to be the sacrificial lamb who died outside the camp, who bore my sin and shame. Now let me take this knowledge and share it with others, so that they will not meet You in ignorance. I pray also for those who have heard the truth and have willfully rejected it, who are intentionally running away from You today. Please, Lord, save them! Draw them to Yourself. Send Your Word, Your angels, and Your children into their path. May Your courts be filled with people from every tribe and tongue from around the globe. In the Name of Jesus Christ, the only Name that saves, Amen.
Read Through the Bible in 2 years: Exodus 35:30 – 37:29
Why did God lead Moses to list all these details in His Holy, Inspired Word?
Why do we need to know all about the curtains and the rods and the clasps and the ark and the table for the bread and the table for the incense?
Why do we need all these details about the lampstands and the altar and the basin?
Well, here’s one blessing made more clear by the amount of detail Moses shared:
He made fifty loops on the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set. The loops were opposite one another. And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to the other with clasps. So the tabernacle was a single whole.
Exodus 36:12-13 ESV
The tabernacle was made of all these various unique things, things that were donated and constructed by various unique people, yet the tabernacle was a single whole. God wanted all these golden clasps, wooden frames, silver bases, and blue and purple curtains to fit together perfectly to make the tabernacle a single whole.
The perfect unity of Father-Son-Holy Spirit, One God eternally exists in Three Persons.
There is only one bride of Christ – made of thousands and millions of individual, unique souls coupled together by God’s Holy Spirit and washed in the blood of the One Lamb Jesus Christ to be perfectly one in Him.
The tabernacle was a single whole, made of many parts, and so is the body of Christ. Are you a member of that very special body? If not, what is holding you back?
If so, how then shall you live?
Heavenly Father, Thank You for making me Your bride, for inviting me into this holy union between You, Holy Almighty God, and Your bride. Thank You for the beauty that is found in communing with You. It is a precious, priceless gift of infinite worth. I pray that I would be eager to contribute to the building of this sanctuary – to spend my time, talents, treasures, and testimony for the building up of this body, Your bride. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
“Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed– on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” –
Revelation 21:9-14 ESV
“The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day–and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
“Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me.”
Exodus 25:2 ESV
The Lord had provided for the Israelite people by turning the hearts of the Egyptians to freely give to them. Now the Lord is asking the Israelites to freely contribute to Him. They had freely received and now they are being asked to freely give.
Sometimes … oftentimes …. it’s hard to give.
It’s hard to give our time.
It’s hard to give our stuff.
It’s hard to give our children.
We feel like these things belong to us, forgetting that everything that we have is a gift from God, our good Father, the giver of every good gift.
I was reminded of a beautiful passage in 2 Corinthians 9 when Paul was taking up a collection for some needy believers. Let’s take these words to heart – not merely listening to the Word, but doing what it says.
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 ESV
Heavenly Father, You have given to me so abundantly. I have more than I need. I have more food and more clothing and more home than I need. I have more free time than I need. You have blessed me with a husband who loves me and four incredible children as well as a son-in-law and a daughter-in-law and two little granddaughters. Thank you, Lord! I pray that I would be generous with all of these good gifts. Help me also to be generous with sharing my testimony and the Word that I have stored up as treasure in my heart. You have been so, so generous to me. Give me the strength to be generous toward others as a gift of gratitude to You. Inthe name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Exodus 12:29-50
I love the end of Exodus 12 where the Lord explains to Moses that strangers can join in with the congregation of Israel by choosing to be circumcised. It may not be easy, but it can be done. God has always had a heart for the nations and He always will. Do we?
“If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”” (Exodus 12:48-49 ESV)
Acts 3:25 — You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’
Galatians 3:8 — And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
Colossians 3:11 — Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Heavenly Father, I pray for all the nations of the world to know you and to worship at your feet. I pray that you would use each of us to share the gospel with those in our corner of the world and around the world. Make us herald and ambassadors of the good news. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Exodus 7:14-8:32
I’ve always had a heart for the nations. As a little girl, I wanted a “rainbow family” of a dozen children adopted from all different nations. As a middle schooler, my closest friends were from the Middle East and the Far East. When I graduated high school, I spent a month in France putting those four years of French classes to use.
But all those years I was an atheist. I wasn’t trying to share the good news with anyone. I just liked traveling and trying new and interesting things.
Fast forward to my present stage in life, and God has fanned into flame my heart for the nations – because it’s His heart, too. Our Father God loves people from every different tribe and nation and tongue, every hair color and skin color and eye color. All are equally sinners in the sight of a perfectly holy God, and all are equally precious in the sight of a perfectly loving God.
“The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
Exodus 7:5 ESV
God has dual purposes in bringing the plagues upon the people of Egypt. He is going to rescue His own people out of slavery, but He is also going to show Himself to the Egyptian people – that they will know that He is Jehovah, the Great I Am, the Lord God Almighty.
God has purpose for everything He does. Sometimes we can be so self-focused that we think that the things happening in our lives are all about us, forgetting that God is also showing Himself to the people around us through the trials and joys that we are in.
For me, losing a baby wasn’t just about me. It was also about my husband, and my older daughter, my in-laws and my neighbors, my friends at church and the people I’d meet twenty years later at the grocery store, and especially about a little boy who was going to be born halfway around the world and need a family.
Friends, if you know Jesus, then your life is no longer your own. You’ve been bought with a price so you can glorify God in your body. You have been made holy and acceptable to God through the sacrifice of His son, now let your life be a living sacrifice – an offering that keeps on offering itself day after day – back to Him, that all the nations might know that He alone is God. (See 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Kings 8:60, Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19-20)
Let’s pray together.
Heavenly Father, what a blessing and honor to be called Your child and to be used by You to accomplish Your purposes here on earth. Help us to remember that we are no longer our own, that we have been bought with a price – not with worthless things like gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God. We love You and we thank You for your mercy and grace. We pour our praise back to You with hearts full of gratitude. In the Name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad.
Exodus 1:12a
I recently read a quote that went something like, “When the authorities loosen their grip, the gospel spreads … and when the authorities tighten their grip, the church is trained and becomes more disciplined … but always we are in God’s hands.”
Today in reading the story of the persecution of the young Hebrew nation in Exodus 1, I saw the Lord’s hand in both spreading and training His people, but in this case, persecution is actually what caused the people to spread abroad.
Isn’t that what happened in the dispersion of the new disciples of Jesus Christ who were persecuted for their faith? And how about what happened when God confused the people’s languages at the tower of Babel in Genesis 11? God’s people were dispersed over the face of all the earth as a result of their suffering and hardship, but all the time they were in God’s hands.
I am reminded again and again as I read through the scriptures that my ways are not God’s ways. So often the very thing that seems straight from the pit of hell is exactly what God uses for His glory and my good – if I only keep my eyes open to it. No matter what, I can trust that I am in God’s hands.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, Help us to trust You no matter what. Help us to believe that You are in control even when life feels out of control. You are always on Your throne. You are working all things together for good. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation for all who believe, both the Jew and the Gentile. Help us to want for the good even of those who persecute us and shame us and say all kinds of evil about us falsely on Your account. We love You and we trust You. Increase our faith, Father. In the matchless name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
The ending of Matthew’s very thorough account of Jesus’s life and ministry feels so sudden. After reading twenty-seven lengthy chapters, Matthew 28 contains only twenty verses, summarizing the resurrection of Christ, Jesus’s appearance to the Marys, the Jewish leaders’ bribing of the Romans guards, and concluding with some of Jesus’s final words to His disciples,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20 ESV
So, as we wrap up four weeks spent studying the words of Matthew, let these be my words to you.
Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. He can do it. Nothing is impossible for Him. You can trust Him. Therefore, you can go with confidence, under His authority, by the power of His Holy Spirit, and make disciples of all nations. He wants to use you. You don’t need to be a ordained minister to share the good news. You don’t need a seminary degree to tell people how to trust in Christ. His Spirit and His Word are all you need. He wants you to share the good news with those who have never heard. But don’t stop there – teach them to observe all that He has commanded in His word. Being a disciple is so much more than just being a fan.
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. If you’d love to join me in international ministry, leave a comment or send me a message. I’d love to help you get plugged in! Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, What a blessing it is to be a laborer in the harvest! I am so thankful for Your Holy Spirit who lives in me and gives me wisdom. I pray that Your Spirit would guide me to those who are hungering to hear the good news and those who need to be discipled in obedience to Your commands. In the powerful Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord we pray, Amen.
“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Matthew 16:13-16 ESV
How would you answer the question, “Who is Jesus?” It’s the most important question you’ll ever have to answer … And someday you will have to answer it.
Jesus never really lived. The whole Christian religion is all hype, made up by his followers.
Jesus was a good man who showed people how to live a moral life, but he never claimed to be God.
Jesus was a great teacher who lived in Israel in the first century. People should read the Bible to learn more about Him and so they can live better lives.
Jesus was the Son of God, born of the virgin Mary. He was the promised Messiah, the Savior of all who trust in Him. Jesus lived a sinless life and died on a cross to pay the punishment that our sins deserve. Only those who trust in Him will be saved from God’s holy wrath.
Will you pray with me?
Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to earth, to teach and live and die and be raised to life as the all-sufficient atoning sacrifice. He is that long-awaited Messiah, the Savior, that Your people had been waiting for. I pray for all those descendants of Abraham who missed Him and pray that You would draw them to Your side today. I pray for all those people who will warm seats in churches this Easter Sunday but whose hearts are still cold toward the gospel. Please ignite a fire in their hearts and open their eyes to the truth of Your Word. I pray for all those across our nation and around the world who have never heard a clear explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and ask You to send people to talk with them. Make us Your willing ambassadors today! In the holy name of Christ Jesus I pray, Amen.
When I read the story of Abraham offering Isaac in Genesis 22, I noticed in verse 8 that Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the Lamb for a burnt offering” and then in verse 14 that Abraham called the place, “the Lord will provide.”
“The Lord will provide” is the Hebrew name of God, “Jehovah Jireh.”
It really clicked in my mind, though, when I was teaching an ESL Beginners Bible class early this morning. We were learning about Matthew 6:26-33.
"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Well, that reminded me of Philippians 4:4-6
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
So, when I read Genesis 24 later in the day, I kept thinking about how Abraham trusted Jehoveh Jireh, the Lord WILL provide. Abraham was willing to offer up his only son, Isaac, because he had full confidence that God would provide. And again in Genesis 24, Abraham trusted that God would provide a wife for that very same son.
This, friends, is FAITH. Faith is trusting that God will provide whatever we need, whatever is best for us.
Will you pray with me?
Heavenly Father,
You own the cattle on a thousand hills. You are all-powerful and You are good. You see us. You hear us. You know our every need. You are a good Father who delights in giving Your children good gifts.
Again and again you force us to rely on You. Truly, Father, this is a severe mercy. We are thankful for our neediness, so that we can recognize our desperate need to rely on Your power.
We are such a weak and needy people. We need Your strength. We need our daily bread. We need breath and food and rest. We need wisdom. We need forgiveness. We need peace and hope and comfort and joy.
But what we need most, Father, is Your presence. Please, stay close to us, Father. Walk with us. Hold our hand. Abide with us and guide us by Your Spirit.
Thank You, Father, for providing everything that we need according to Your riches of glory in Christ Jesus.
Teach What is Good 
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