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¹⁹“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)

Earthly trousseaus include things like linens and dishes and home accessories – treasures a young woman wants to take into her marriage. Yes, it’s an old fashioned idea and I don’t know anyone who does it anymore – at least not anyone in America – but it symbolizes the young bride’s hope for a beautiful life with her future prince.

Christ tells us not to worry about storing up earthly treasures, but to build up our trousseaus for our marriage to the King of Kings. What treasures would honor our future husband? What treasures should we be storing up in heaven? I read this passage a few months ago and these questions tickled in the back of my mind.

Before I share my thoughts on the question, let me approach it differently. There is a startling verse in Matthew 18:

And [Jesus] said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 
Matthew 18:3 (NIV)

We are to become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. This is so counter-culture to us and we often skip over this verse. Becoming childlike will be the topic of some future blog. For today, I just want us to understand that God values childlikeness. When we receive Christ, we become His children:

¹²Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—¹³children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
1 John 1:12-13 (NIV)

Let me ask you, then, what treasures do parents store? They store the precious attempts by their children to do things that are beyond their ability. The indistinguishable picture gets hung on the refrigerator. The nearly dead flowers that have been clutched too tightly in chubby little hands are placed in a vase in the middle of the table. God is no different from earthly parents. Well, yes, actually, He is quite different. But you get my point – He treasures our attempts to be like Him, even when those attempts fall short. Here are some of the things that build fill up our trousseau in heaven:

• Every act of mercy
• Every self-sacrificial act
• Every act of humility – giving credit to others when you could have put the spotlight on yourself, showing deference to others
• Every stand against satan, even those in which we get beat up a bit
• Every act of forgiveness
• Every act of kindness
• Every step taken by faith, especially when there was no sight

I have come to believe that these things are greater treasures in God’s eyes than the writing of a tremendous book, leading a great organization or preaching the perfect sermon – all of which receive great acclaim within the Christian community. I’m not saying writing these things aren’t treasured by God – they are, and they will carry forward into eternity. I am saying that God honors what is done in secret and what is done at great personal expense without expecting glory in return.

Lord, help us to embrace the secret, sacrificial acts that bring glory only to You.

There is one other thing that I know builds up our heavenly trousseau. Read these verses from the book of Revelation:

⁸And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

~~~~~~

³Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. ⁴The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.
Rev 5:8, 8:3-4 (NIV)

Our prayers are so valued by God that they are stored up as incense in golden bowls in heaven. Our prayers for others, for revival, for the lost are sacrificial acts of mercy and humility. They take stands against satan and represent faith that overcomes lack of sight.

This week…pray for opportunities to build up your heavenly trousseau – and then walk through those open doors.

¹Now the LORD said to Moses, ²“Make two trumpets of beaten silver to be used for summoning the people to assemble and for signaling the breaking of camp.
Numbers 10:1-2 (NLT)

I didn’t get very far in today’s Resting at the River’s Edge reading. I started with Numbers 10:1. I ended with Numbers 10:2. Sometimes God interrupts us after only a verse or two. That’s OK! Don’t rush past the whisper of God. Pause and camp out a bit! You can always catch up on your reading tomorrow or the next day or over the weekend. Never push to finish reading when God highlights a verse and speaks into your spirit.

That’s what happened to me this morning. I read verse two and my mind exploded a bit:

“Make two trumpets…to be used for…for signaling the breaking of camp.”

When the trumpet sounds pack up your things, saddle up your horses (donkeys, camels, minivan, whatever) and let’s move! This place you’re at now – it’s just your current campsite. God is going to blow the trumpet and it’ll be time to move on.

That is as true today as it was during the time of Moses. God immediately brought this passage to mind:

¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever. 
1 Thess 4:16-17 (NLT)

When the trumpet sounds, there will be no packing up of our things or saddling up of our horses – we will rise from our graves or be caught up in the clouds supernaturally to meet the Lord in the air! Whew! I remember a dream I had about thirty years ago. I was a relatively new Christian. Studying the rapture was all the rave then. I had one of those dreams that are so realistic when you wake up you can’t believe you were dreaming. We were in swirling winds that had the force of a tornado but wasn’t being at all destructive. We were initially frightened, but then instantly had a knowing that this was the rapture – that we were being transported to be with the Lord. Our fear immediately turned to incredible excitement and joy! Wow!

What this passage and my dream remind me is that we are just passing through this life. This is our (very) temporary camping place. Phil did a study on heaven and in preaching called this life a “cheap motel” compared to the home that awaits us. He’s right. We’re just living in a temporary, cheap motel, folks.

And one day…ONE DAY…We shall hear the trumpet sound and whether we’re dead or alive, we will rise to meet Him in the air…and remain with Him forever! Did you catch that part of the verse, too – we will remain with Him forever. That won’t be a temporary camp. That’s our permanent home.

¹⁹“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)

So while we’re living here on earth, while we’re living in this temporary home, don’t load yourself down with stuff you have to pack and carry when it’s time to break up camp. Instead, build a trousseau for your marriage to the King of Kings – build up treasures in heaven.

Tomorrow’s blog – How do we do that? How do we build up treasures in heaven? Stay tuned…In the meantime, travel light because one day the trumpet will sound!

Palm Sunday marks Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It was a time of great celebration. I was fascinated to learn this week that there was almost a mingling of Jewish festival celebrations and a foreshadowing of heavenly celebrations in that single event. In Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, we see elements of the Passover celebration, the Festival of Tabernacles, and heavenly worship.

First a brief review of Passover and the Festival of Tabernacles.

Passover
In the Old Testament, the Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians, and God sent Moses to deliver them. Moses repeatedly went to the Pharaoh with a message from God: “Let my people go so that they might worship me.” Well, we know that Pharaoh had a hard heart – he didn’t care about God or what god wanted. So God sent the ten plagues to try to convince Pharaoh to change his mind. There were plagues of frogs, gnats, boils and all manner of other unpleasant (and deadly) plagues. The first nine didn’t go very far toward softening Pharaoh’s heart.

The tenth one, however, was the most significant. It was a plague of death to the firstborn of every person and animal. While the Israelites experienced most of the plagues along with the Egyptians, they were protected from this one. God gave them very specific instructions to kill a lamb that was without spot or blemish and they were to take some of blood from that lamb and put it at the top and sides of their door. When the death angel saw the blood of the lamb on the door, he would pass over that house and no death would come to it. From that time on, the Jews celebrated the festival called Passover. It was a time when they remembered that the angel of the death passed over their home, saving them from death and bring deliverance from the Egyptians.

Festival of Tabernacles
The Festival of Tabernacles is in the fall and it remembers the time when God lead the Israelites through the desert to the Promised Land. It celebrates His provision for them –food, clothing, shelter and good health. This festival is the biggest celebration of the year. Here’s how the festival begins:

the first day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. 
Leviticus 23:40 (NLT)

Two Festivals Intermingle in the Celebration as Jesus Enters Jerusalem

So, again, we have these two festivals that the Jews celebrate.

• Passover, representing the time when the blood of a lamb was put on the doorposts of the Jewish households and the angel of death would pass over that household.
• Festival of Tabernacles celebrated by the waving of palm branches with great rejoicing for seven days. It commemorates God’s provision for the Jews as they wandered in the wilderness, and ultimately bringing them victory after victory as they came into the Promised land.

The symbolism of two events come together in the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The Gospel of John gives this account:

¹²The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

    “Hosanna!”
    “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
    “Blessed is the King of Israel!”
John 12:12-13 (NIV)

People were in town to celebrate Passover – what they would experience was Jesus being that Passover lamb – as He was crucified and bled from the crown of thorns on His head and the nail through His feet and two more nails through His hands. Just as the Israelites had to apply the blood of the lamb to their doorposts to be passed over by the death angel, so we have to apply the blood of the lamb of God to the doorposts of our heart to pass from death to life. We have to say “Yes, Lord – You did that for me – Save me – I will follow You!”

But before the actual observance of Passover, Jesus came into town riding on a humble donkey. It is unmistakable that the crowd recognized Him as the Messiah they were waiting for – the One who would save and deliver them. Yet He didn’t come into town riding a horse or chariot. He came in riding a donkey. He was sending a message that they didn’t yet understand. He was sending the message that He was the Messiah who came to serve, not conquer. He came to be the lamb of God who would be slain so that the death angel could pass over all who would apply his blood to their hearts and souls.

They didn’t understand that yet. But their celebration makes it clear that they recognized Him as their Messiah.

“Hosanna to the Son of David!” They shouted. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

“Hosanna” means “save us now!”

“Son of David” is a phrase that had come to mean the Anointed Messiah – the One who would deliver them.

 So they cut palm fronds and waved them. And threw down their coats and the palm branches before Jesus as he rode into town. They were honoring Him as they would celebrate and honor a king.

What I found fascinating is that cutting palm fronds and celebrating with them is exactly what they did every fall when they celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles. They celebrated God’s provision and their deliverance through the desert to the Promised Land with palm fronds. Now God was providing their ultimate deliverer and they instinctively used palm fronds to celebrate!

The Celebration with Palm Fronds Continues
What I also found fascinating is that this celebration was a precursor of things to come. This was the earthly celebration that preceded the heavenly one. Jesus knew this celebration would be short lived and He would soon die on the cross. He knew that in just a few days He would become the Passover lamb whose blood protected all who took shelter behind it.

Christ became that perfect sacrifice so that we might have eternal life. We look forward to next Easter when we’ll celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. In the book of revelation, John the Apostle was taken up to heaven. This is part of what he saw:

⁶Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders…⁸And…the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb….⁹And they sang a new song:
    “You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
    because you were slain,
    and with your blood you purchased men for God
    from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Rev 5:6-9 (NIV)

Hallelujah! Even in heaven, Christ bears the look of the Lamb who was slain and they are worshipping Him because He was slain and His blood, shed on the cross, made salvation possible for men and women from every tribe and language and people and nation. If you know Christ, if you have applied His blood to the doorposts of your heart, you will be among those people who worship Christ in heaven.

And let me show you one more thing. A few chapters later in Revelation John writes this:

⁹After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰And they cried out in a loud voice:

    “Salvation belongs to our God,
    who sits on the throne,
    and to the Lamb.”
Rev 11:9-10 (NIV)

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the people waved palm fronds and laid them at His feet. They shouted “Hosanna” – “Save us Now!” There is a day coming when saints from every nation, tribe, people and language will stand before the throne of God – stand in front of the Lamb who was slain but is alive. And we will wear white robes, which symbolizes that our sins have been washed away, and we will be holding palm branches in our hands. And we will sing in a loud voice “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.” Hallelujah!

The celebration of the crowd as Jesus entered Jerusalem is a dim reflection of the celebration we will be a part of in heaven. What a glorious time that will be, friends. We will worship like we have never worshiped before. With palm fronds from earth, we will worship in heaven. With full understanding that Christ Jesus is the fulfillment of every Old Testament promise and practice. With the experience of a new life that lasts forever.

This is Holy Week and I encourage you to reflect and celebrate the week. Celebrate Christ’s rule and reign today – that is, the ruling and reigning of Christ in and through your life. And celebrate knowing that there is a day to come when we will celebrate Christ together in heaven.

Hosanna! Save us now, Lord!
Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord

And blessed are those who call on His Name. I hope you’re one of them.

Special thanks to Real Life Blog for the image. Check it out here.

Resting at the River’s Edge provides an opportunity to participate in reading through the Bible in a systematic way. Here’s more details about the plan and our schedules.

Join the conversation as we read together each month. E-mail me, leave a message on the Apprehending Grace Facebook page, or post a comment at the end of any blog. Let’s share the treasures God drops in our spirits as we read!

Also, NEW in 2012 are our RARE bookmarks. Click on the link below to download them.

Use the tracking method that works best for you – the schedule provided in this blog, the downloadable half-page PDF or bookmark. All provide the same schedule.

Above all, enjoy God as you read! Let Him speak to you!
Sandy

Download All 2012 Bookmarks Here

Download a Half-Page PDF of the April Reading Plan Here

Here’s April’s reading plan:

Just Released: More than a Fish Story, God Moving on Behalf of a City and a Man – Lessons in Obedience, Faith and Compassion from the Book of Jonah

I’m excited to announce the release of my Bible study on the book of Jonah. More than a Fish Story: God Moving on Behalf of a City and a Man, is being released as a PDF ebook and we’re making it available for free exclusively at ApprehendingGrace.com for a limited time. You can download the PDF here.

In about a month, the PDF will be offered at its regular sale price of $4.99. In today’s marketplace it would more typically sell for $8.99 or more, but I am strongly committed to offering Bible study materials at prices that are accessible to everyone.

Don’t wait for the regular price to kick in – download your copy today by clicking here, entering your email address, and then downloading the file.

Today’s additional reading in the Resting at the River’s Edge schedule is the book of Jonah. If you read it, you’ve already completed the first assignment in the book. The book provides six lessons in obedience, faith and compassion from the book of Jonah. The lessons are great for individual or group study.

Out of respect for the copyright and hard work that went into creating this Bible study, please encourage your friends who are interested in the book to come to this website to download the book for themselves. (It is a violation of the copyright to simply email your copy of the book to them.)

An email address is required to download the book, but we promise that your email address will not be sold or given to any other organization.

I am confident that you will be challenged and blessed by the Bible study and look forward to hearing your comments about it. Feel free to comment below or on my Facebook page.

“If you keep my laws and are careful to obey my commands…
Leviticus 26:3 (NLT)

Blessings Follow Those Who Obey God
Leviticus 26 is all about the consequences that the Israelites would experience if they kept their covenant with God. Let’s briefly look at what He promises to those who kept His laws and obeyed His commands

I will send the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees will produce their fruit….
Leviticus 26:4 (NLT)

The Lord promises provision – abundant provision.

⁶“I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep without fear. I will remove the wild animals from your land and protect you from your enemies…
Leviticus 26:6 (NLT)

The Lord promises protection – from those who might do harm, whether man or animal.

“I will look favorably upon you and multiply your people and fulfill my covenant with you. 
Leviticus 26:9 (NLT)

The Lord promises enrichment of your family and the fulfillment of all His promises.

¹¹I will live among you, and I will not despise you. ¹²I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. 
Leviticus 26:11-12 (NLT)

The Lord promises His presence living among His people. This is an awesome promise to those who keep their covenant with God. It is a promise that continues to this day. The Apostle Paul repeated this passage in 2 Corinthians. In encouraging the Corinthians to separate themselves from unrighteous people and things, he said this:

And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
2 Corinthians 6:16

God’s presence follows those who live the way He instructs them to live.

Curses Follow Those Who Turn From God’s Ways
Leviticus continues:

“However, if you do not listen to me or obey my commands, ¹⁵and if you break my covenant by rejecting my laws and treating my regulations with contempt, ¹⁶I will punish you.
Leviticus 26:14

Just as there are blessings for obedience, there are punishments for disobediences. I’m not going to spell out the punishments – you can read them for yourselves. They’re not pretty.

When faced with such clear delineation of the consequences of our actions, you would think we would never choose anything but blessing. But the Israelites did and so do we. But God loves us so much, that He gives us still another chance:

⁴⁴“But despite all this, I will not utterly reject or despise them while they are in exile in the land of their enemies. I will not cancel my covenant with them by wiping them out. I, the LORD, am their God. ⁴⁵I will remember my ancient covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of Egypt while all the nations watched. I, the LORD, am their God.”
Leviticus 26:44-45

God will remember His covenant and He will continue to be their God. He will continue to be our God. If you have turned your back on Him, He still waits for you to return. Waits with open arms. Waits with forgiveness. Waits to pour out the blessings of Leviticus 26:4-13.

A generation later, Joshua challenged the Israelites saying “choose today whom you will serve.” (Joshua 24:15) We each face that decision daily. I’m siding with Joshua who said “as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15) I’m siding with the Lord.

Is the Book of Leviticus Relevant Today?
I hope this series of blogs on the book of Leviticus has helped you to answer that question affirmatively – yes, the book of Leviticus is relevant for us today. Perhaps not in the same way that some other books are, but relevant none the less. It is a book that encourages us to be holy, as God is holy. It is a book that shows us God’s heart to bless us. It is a book that shows us how to worship in a greater way. I need those lessons.

¹The LORD said to Moses, ²“Give the Israelites instructions regarding the LORD’S appointed festivals, the days when all of you will be summoned to worship me.
Leviticus 23:1-2 (NLT)

Imagine! The Israelites worshipped God not only on Sunday, but there were festivals throughout the year – “appointed festivals” – when they set apart time to worship God. I want to live in that society! Sure, we worship God every day…but how many days a year do we set aside to focus solely on Him?

You may work for six days each week, but on the seventh day all work must come to a complete stop. It is the LORD’S Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day to assemble for worship. It must be observed wherever you live. 
Leviticus 23:3 (NLT)

If you’re a regular reader, you know that I am a big fan of practicing a Sabbath. I’m a fan…but I don’t do it as well as I’d like. Now before you voice the objection, let me clearly state that I am also not that Sabbath be Saturday, as it is in Judaism. I prefer to call it a Day of Rest (DOR at our house), and in the Christian culture that’s often Sunday. You may call it the Lord’s Day. Call it what you want, and make it whatever day you want, just do it! Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater because we’re no longer under the Law. Scripture is full of injunctions about keeping the Sabbath – and I’m convinced it’s a principle God instituted that remains in effect.

Back to Leviticus 23:3. Words that strike me in this verse…“complete rest,” “worship” and “wherever you live.”

In Exodus 34:1 God instructs the Israelites to observe the Sabbath “even during the plowing season and harvest.”

No matter where you live,

No matter how busy you are…

Complete rest.

Lord, help me. Complete rest. Once a week. Even when my schedule is over-the-top. Help me get better at it, Lord.

I do pretty well with the “worship” part. I sometimes struggle to define “rest”. The word used there generally relates to occupational work and “creation” type work. Remember, the Lord practiced a Sabbath Himself – after creating the world we live in, He rested on the seventh day.

What Counts as “Rest”?
So, what kinds of activities can I be involved in that honor God? I am firmly convinced that visiting family falls within the boundaries of activities that would honor God on the Sabbath…but do they still honor God if they leave me drained? Somehow I don’t think so. So what needs to change – my perspective (so that I’m not so drained by visiting) or my activity (not visiting family on my day of rest)? I’m working on that one. (I mean no disrespect to family with this example – I have to travel an hour or more to visit family and doing so after church just makes for a long day that often tires me out.)

Is writing a blog a violation of the Sabbath? I am both energized and drained by writing blogs – I love hearing from God, but the act of getting the thoughts on paper is hard work. If I can write the blog, can I post it? While writing a blog is often enjoyable, posting it is drudgery.

Is mowing the lawn a violation of the Sabbath? Does it matter whether or not I enjoy mowing the lawn? Is taking a walk in the woods an acceptable activity? Is exercising? Is organizing a room if it gives me a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction?

I am not becoming legalistic about this…I understand the principle of staying God-focused and providing rest. I also understand the value of the Sabbath being a full day, not just the hours we spend in church or the day and an afternoon. Whether or not we like to admit it, our bodies were created to need down town. Our brains also work better when rested – and I don’t mean when we get the sleep we need. Our brains work better when they are given a break from thinking about the issues associated with our work, regardless of what that work is. I recognize that everyone’s work is different, so defining what constitutes not working will differ from person to person.

It’s important to recognize, though, that most of us are so un-Sabbath oriented, that our tendency is to violate the concept. I try to combat that by being very conscious of what I’m doing (and not doing) on my Sabbath.

Not only are we un-Sabbath oriented, we are as a culture to me-oriented. For example, a few paragraphs ago, I asked if I could organize a room on the Sabbath “if it gives me a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.” Do you hear how me-focused that is? The Sabbath is supposed to be God-focused. It’s not about my accomplishments – actually, it’s supposed to be an anti-accomplishment day! (I’m thinking organizing the room violates the whole Sabbath principle.) God commanded the Sabbath as a blessing for us – a time toget away from our world and enter into His. What a great God He is!

Festivals! More Occasions to Worship God
In addition to the Sabbath, God identified annual festivals:

• Passover
• The Festival of Firstfruits
• The Festival of Harvest
• The Festival of Trumpets
• The Day of Atonement
• The Festival of Shelters (or Booths)

Each of the festivals focused on a different element of God’s goodness. Each involved worshipping God, although in different ways.

What impressed me most about the establishment of the holy days is that they developed a culture of worshipping God in special ways throughout the year. They took the people away from their daily lives to focus on the God who delivered them, who provides for them, the God who forgives them. These festivals were in addition to the practice of the weekly Sabbath.

We have lost that culture. We rush through church to be off doing our own thing. We take vacations (designed to help us “vacate”) instead of setting aside days and weeks throughout the year in which we worship God. I know few people who set aside a day or more during their vacation to celebrate, worship and honor God.

God is most honored by His people honoring Him. In America, I’m afraid we honor our time more – insisting that it be OUR time that we schedule Him into.

I don’t have answers in this blog – just questions about how we ought to live in a way that honors God. We’re not required to keep the festivals God instituted in Leviticus. But I think they reflect an approach to living that keeps God at the forefront of our life, and that requirement remains for all Christians. Lord, challenge us to return to You.

Your thoughts? I’d love to hear your thoughts on my ramblings here. Comment below or on Facebook.

In the meantime…enjoy God!

Set Apart for Holiness

⁷So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I, the LORD, am your God. ⁸Keep all my laws and obey them, for I am the LORD, who makes you holy….

²³Do not live by the customs of the people whom I will expel before you. It is because they do these terrible things that I detest them so much. ²⁴But I have promised that you will inherit their land, a land flowing with milk and honey. I, the LORD, am your God, who has set you apart from all other people.
Leviticus 20:7-8, 23-24 (NLT)

While these chapters may seem tedious, there are several things that I really like about them:

• These chapters are all about God teaching the Israelites how to live a life worthy of being God’s chosen people. The repeated theme is “Be holy.” I love that God teaches us what we need to know. We aren’t expected to always know what is right and what is wrong. When we don’t know, we simply go to God who gives wisdom generously.
• God tells the Israelites, and us by extension, to “set yourselves apart to be holy.” We are to live differently. We are to be proactive about it – we’re not to go with the flow, join the crowd or do our own thing. We’re to follow God’s approach to living. Sure, many of the verses in these chapters don’t apply to us today…but their underlying principles do. We’re to live more circumspectly, always aware that our God lives among us and He is a holy God.
• Not only are we to set ourselves apart, God also makes it clear that He has set us apart. God is always the one who moves toward us first. He sent His Son so that we might have life…long before we were ever thinking of turning to Him. He set us apart to be His very own people…so we’re to set ourselves apart.

God is so good! He didn’t have to set us apart – He didn’t have to choose us. He doesn’t have to help me to become holy, but He does.

Loving Your Neighbor
These are the major principles of the chapters that I like, but there are also some individual verses that jump out at me. Did these verses wake you up as you read them?

“Never seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”
Leviticus 19:18 (NLT)

A few words catch my attention…Never…bear a grudge…against anyone…OK, Lord. You’ll have to help me with that sometimes. I’ll agree with you, but…please help!

Notice the second half of this verse – This verse didn’t originate with Jesus in the Gospels. He is quoting this verse. You won’t find the phrase “love your neighbor” anywhere else in the Old Testament. Pretty cool, huh? That buried in the midst of all these laws in Leviticus is the law Jesus said was the second most important one (Mark 12:31).

It’s a Life-Giving Law

If you obey my laws and regulations, you will find life through them. I am the LORD.
Leviticus 18:5 (NLT)

Obeying God’s laws brings life. The stereotype, of course, is that God’s laws are restrictive and lead to a life that lacks joy. Not so. They bring life – LIFE! I’m reminded of this verse in the book of James:

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:25 (NIV)

When are we going to get it through our heads (and hearts and wills) that making God-choices leads to blessing? I want the blessing. Lord, help me to make Your choices. Today we studied the book of 1 John with a group of friends. One of the promises this book carries is that if we pray anything according to God’s will, we can have confidence that He hears us and answers the prayer. (1 John 5:14-15) Asking God to help me make His choices is undoubtedly a prayer that is within His will. Praise God! I can have confidence that He is answering that prayer!

Living a set-apart life, pursuing holiness and seeking to make God-choices – three different ways of saying the same thing, actually – requires diligence and reliance on the Holy Spirit who is alive in us. He will teach us and enable us to live such a life. I want LIFE – how about you?

Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, is the holiest, most reverent day of the year for Jews. Leviticus 16 records God’s institution of this holy day. It is the only day of the year in which the High Priest went past the veil inside the Tabernacle (and later the temple) and entered into the Holy of Holies – the place where the presence of God dwelt. It was this veil that was torn in two from top to bottom when Jesus breathed His last breath on the cross (Luke 23:45). In the Old Testament, only the High Priest was permitted to enter the presence of God. Under the New Covenant, we are all welcomed to come boldly to God’s throne of grace. (Hebrews 4:16) Hallelujah! Only God could tear the heavy veil from top to bottom. Only God could remove the separation of His presence from His people.

On the Day of Atonement the priests wore only simple linen clothing instead of the more decorative, richly embroidered tunic and sashes and gold medallion (or plate) they typically wore. One writer interpreted this as a picture of Christ who laid aside His glory to be born as a child who would one day be crucified for our sins (Philippians 2:7).

The Day of Atonement also introduces the scape goat. Two goats are presented to the Lord. One is slaughtered as a sin offering for the people of Israel. The other is presented to the Lord alive.

²⁰“When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. ²¹He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. ²²The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert.
Leviticus 16:20-22

The High Priest lays both hands on the goat representing that he is placing the fullness of their sins on the goat. The following passage is a prophecy about Jesus:

⁵    But he was pierced for our transgressions,
      he was crushed for our iniquities;
      the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
      and by his wounds we are healed.

⁶    We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
      each of us has turned to his own way;
      and the LORD has laid on him
      the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 55:5-6

Just as the sin of Israel was laid on the scape goat, our sin, in its totality, was laid on Jesus. He has carried our sin away from us just as the scape goat carried the sins of the Jews away from their camp.

The symbolism and imagery in the Day of Atonement ceremony clearly point to Christ. The book of Hebrews was written to Jews who knew and followed the Law. Read this passage in light of Leviticus 16 and what we’ve learned about the Day of Atonement:

¹⁹When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. ²⁰He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” ²¹In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. ²²In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. ²⁵Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Hebrews 9:19-28

The copies of the heavenly things are the manmade tabernacle and everything used in it. They were required to be purified with the earthly sacrifices. The heavenly things required better sacrifices – the sacrifice of Christ, who died for our sins and appears before God on our behalf. The High Priests had to offer sacrifices on the Day of Atonement every year, but Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient to take away the sins once for all. Hallelujah! Do you see the cohesiveness of the whole Bible? The New Testament becomes so much richer when we understand more of its background. That background isn’t necessary for us to understand that Christ died for our sins, but it helps us understand the awesomeness of God as He unveils the mystery of His plan from beginning to end. The rituals of the Day of Atonement were repeated year after year – for over a thousand years. Then Christ came to earth and the ritual was fulfilled and a New Covenant was introduced. Again…Hallelujah!

Speaking of awesomeness – here’s a cool fact I learned. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known as the High Holy Days or Yammim Nora’im. Yammim Nora’im means “Days of Awe.” God reveals to us some of the mysteries of His presence and we are awed. Awed.

The laws given in these chapters are quite some laws! It is probably my least favorite portion of the Bible. I typically eat breakfast while reading my Bible in the morning…except when I hit these chapters. I move to the New Testament reading, perhaps even reading a bit ahead…until I find an evening to read through this material. I appreciate that God is giving the Israelites laws for cleanliness, some I believe for healthy living and some to identify the Israelites as set apart from the nations around them.

Those who serve the God of the Israelites are to live differently – we are to live differently. Sometimes that means abstaining from certain foods or drinks, sometimes it means abstaining from certain activities. Always it means being more loving toward one another than those who don’ know our God.

I’m studying the book of 1 John with the folks at a local nursing home. This week we were in chapter 4.

“Beloved, let us love one another.” 1 John 4:7a

F.F. Bruce wrote the following about this verse in his commentary The Epistles of John:

“The love which the New Testament enjoins involves a consuming passion for the well-being of others.”

“A consuming passion for the well-being of others.”  That’s a radical way to live! It’s a biblical way to live!

As you can see, sometimes God uses Scripture to teach me, encourage me, convict me, or inspire me using the direct meaning of the text. Sometimes, as in the case of these chapters, He uses it circumspectly – to teach a tangential or underlying point – reminding me of another teaching that He wants to reinforce. All Scripture is profitable…