Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "moses"
What's the difference?
Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, (Jesus) explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures [Luke 24:27].
"All the Scriptures" teach about Jesus in some capacity, whether about His Person or about His ministry. This is infinitely so when it comes to the various offerings in the Law of Moses. For our purposes today we will limit our discussion to the sin offering and the guilt offering.
The question at hand, then, is what's the difference between sin and guilt? Since these were two different offerings, a difference must needs exist to mandate two different offerings. In seeking an answer, we mustn't forget Jesus' words quoted at the start of this post. These two offerings, as well as all the offerings, were picture stories to teach aspects of Jesus' Person and/or ministry.
Over the centuries many varying attempts have been made to define this difference. For instance, some folks thought the sin offering was directed toward God, while the guilt offering was directed toward man. But a cursory reading of Scripture reveals that some of the sins which required the guilt offering had to do solely with God. Man had no part in the matter.
Several other theories also exist. This issue is a deep one, requiring much thought and prayer for an answer. I believe I have the correct understanding, and I share it in detail in my book on Leviticus. A full vetting of the various theories, as well as a presentation of my explanation, requires considerable space.
This post is not the place to copy a large portion of my book! To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. For more info please visit these sites to purchase my books:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly ShoesLeviticus
"All the Scriptures" teach about Jesus in some capacity, whether about His Person or about His ministry. This is infinitely so when it comes to the various offerings in the Law of Moses. For our purposes today we will limit our discussion to the sin offering and the guilt offering.
The question at hand, then, is what's the difference between sin and guilt? Since these were two different offerings, a difference must needs exist to mandate two different offerings. In seeking an answer, we mustn't forget Jesus' words quoted at the start of this post. These two offerings, as well as all the offerings, were picture stories to teach aspects of Jesus' Person and/or ministry.
Over the centuries many varying attempts have been made to define this difference. For instance, some folks thought the sin offering was directed toward God, while the guilt offering was directed toward man. But a cursory reading of Scripture reveals that some of the sins which required the guilt offering had to do solely with God. Man had no part in the matter.
Several other theories also exist. This issue is a deep one, requiring much thought and prayer for an answer. I believe I have the correct understanding, and I share it in detail in my book on Leviticus. A full vetting of the various theories, as well as a presentation of my explanation, requires considerable space.
This post is not the place to copy a large portion of my book! To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. For more info please visit these sites to purchase my books:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly ShoesLeviticus
Hot and Cold - Part 1
Moses…saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So…he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand…(The Lord said), “Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me… I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” [Exodus 2:11-12; 3:9-11]
The lives of the men and women of God are recorded in the Bible to teach us. Sometimes we learn from them positively, other times negatively. Sometimes we learn by their example what to do, other times by their example what not to do!
We took a brief glimpse at the life of Jacob/Israel in our last study. We learned from his life both what to do and what not to do. Even more, we saw that it’s not how we begin the race but how we finish it. We learned that we must forget what lies behind and press forward to what lies ahead, ever onward to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
The life of Moses is another fascinating case study of how to go from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity. God is our heavenly Father. It is His job to rear His kids into spiritual adults. And He does! Sometimes He succeeds simply through His Word, other times not so much. If we listen and learn from His Word, and then obey what we learn, we needn’t visit the wood shed with Him.
As we saw with Jacob’s life, so too with Moses’ life. The several verses from Exodus 2-3 with which we began this study illustrate this. Moses made his choice to be a part of the people of God, rather than be an adopted Egyptian. He was raised in Pharaoh’s palace as Pharaoh’s daughter’s son. But Moses learned of his Hebrew ethnicity and of his being God’s deliverer to the Hebrew slaves. Moses rejected the palace for the high calling of God.
Trouble was, Moses didn’t know God enough to understand Him. Moses hadn’t an inkling of what God wanted or how he was to go about it. Moses simply rushed into the fray headstrong and slapdash. He would deliver the Hebrew people from their slavery. The first item on the agenda was to kill an Egyptian taskmaster because he used his whip on a Hebrew slave.
Having done that Moses figured the Hebrew people would embrace him in their arms as God’s gift to them. Turns out Moses was wrong. The Hebrew slaves saw Moses as a Hebrew wannabe, a spoiled little rich kid from Pharaoh’s palace. They wanted nothing to do with him. Moses put himself between Scylla and Charybdis. On one side were the Hebrews who rejected him, on the other Pharaoh who wanted to kill Moses for killing the Egyptian slave master. What to do?
It didn’t occur to Moses to consult God before he took it upon himself to kill the Egyptian. And now when he stepped in it he again didn’t think to consult God about what to do. You see, it takes a certain measure of spiritual maturity to even know of our necessity to consult God for His will in all matters.
So Moses made his own decision once again. He hied off from Egypt to parts unknown on the other side of the Sinai Peninsula, where he lived for the next forty years. He was in Midian, where married a Midianite woman and had two sons by her. The names he gave his sons are revealing. They show that Moses figured he’d never be back in Egypt again, and that he would never see his people again. He was now a Midianite! Thenceforth Midian was home.
Let’s pause here and allow the food to feed our spirits. We’ll continue this topic in our next study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
The lives of the men and women of God are recorded in the Bible to teach us. Sometimes we learn from them positively, other times negatively. Sometimes we learn by their example what to do, other times by their example what not to do!
We took a brief glimpse at the life of Jacob/Israel in our last study. We learned from his life both what to do and what not to do. Even more, we saw that it’s not how we begin the race but how we finish it. We learned that we must forget what lies behind and press forward to what lies ahead, ever onward to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
The life of Moses is another fascinating case study of how to go from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity. God is our heavenly Father. It is His job to rear His kids into spiritual adults. And He does! Sometimes He succeeds simply through His Word, other times not so much. If we listen and learn from His Word, and then obey what we learn, we needn’t visit the wood shed with Him.
As we saw with Jacob’s life, so too with Moses’ life. The several verses from Exodus 2-3 with which we began this study illustrate this. Moses made his choice to be a part of the people of God, rather than be an adopted Egyptian. He was raised in Pharaoh’s palace as Pharaoh’s daughter’s son. But Moses learned of his Hebrew ethnicity and of his being God’s deliverer to the Hebrew slaves. Moses rejected the palace for the high calling of God.
Trouble was, Moses didn’t know God enough to understand Him. Moses hadn’t an inkling of what God wanted or how he was to go about it. Moses simply rushed into the fray headstrong and slapdash. He would deliver the Hebrew people from their slavery. The first item on the agenda was to kill an Egyptian taskmaster because he used his whip on a Hebrew slave.
Having done that Moses figured the Hebrew people would embrace him in their arms as God’s gift to them. Turns out Moses was wrong. The Hebrew slaves saw Moses as a Hebrew wannabe, a spoiled little rich kid from Pharaoh’s palace. They wanted nothing to do with him. Moses put himself between Scylla and Charybdis. On one side were the Hebrews who rejected him, on the other Pharaoh who wanted to kill Moses for killing the Egyptian slave master. What to do?
It didn’t occur to Moses to consult God before he took it upon himself to kill the Egyptian. And now when he stepped in it he again didn’t think to consult God about what to do. You see, it takes a certain measure of spiritual maturity to even know of our necessity to consult God for His will in all matters.
So Moses made his own decision once again. He hied off from Egypt to parts unknown on the other side of the Sinai Peninsula, where he lived for the next forty years. He was in Midian, where married a Midianite woman and had two sons by her. The names he gave his sons are revealing. They show that Moses figured he’d never be back in Egypt again, and that he would never see his people again. He was now a Midianite! Thenceforth Midian was home.
Let’s pause here and allow the food to feed our spirits. We’ll continue this topic in our next study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Hot and Cold – Part 2
Moses…saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So…he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand…(The Lord said), “Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me… I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” [Exodus 2:11-12; 3:9-11]
Moses figured he was now a Midianite. He was born a Hebrew and became an Egyptian and tried to rejoin the Hebrews, and now he was a Midianite. Talk about a cockamamie life! Boy, was Moses’ life whacky.
“Not so fast, Moses my man,” said the Lord. “You may graze sheep in Midian and Sinai, but you cannot go far enough away to escape Me!” So there was Moses and there was a burning bush and there was the Lord in the bush. He told Moses that He chose Moses to be His mouthpiece to Pharaoh. “So get yourself on back to Egypt, Moses, and I’ll tell you what to do and say. I’m ready to deliver My people Israel from slavery and fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant by giving them the Promised Land as their national habitation.”
Forty years prior Moses was champing at the bit to deliver the Hebrews from Pharaoh’s enslavement. Now he couldn’t squirm hard enough or stammer long enough to express his utter lack of desire to go back to Egypt. You see, he was young, brash, and impulsive forty years prior. He was like a teenager—you know, knows it all and doesn’t need to learn. Fast forward four decades: Moses finally understood that HE wasn’t able to deliver the Israelites.
Still, Moses hadn’t yet learned of the necessity for depending on the Lord for direction and strength. Moses heard the Lord’s words, but he understood them as requiring that he carry them out in his own power and by his own reasoning. It actually took the Lord to twist Moses’ arm several times and give in to Moses’ need to cling to Mommy Aaron’s apron strings, before Moses was ready to obey the Word of God. Moses was still that spiritually immature.
In fact it wasn’t until the fourth plague that Moses finally began trusting the Lord enough to confront Pharaoh without clinging to Mommy Aaron’s apron strings. This is an extremely important principle we are to glean from the life of Moses, as well as from the other men and women of God in the Bible. Just as we have to grow by steps in the sphere of nature, so too must we grow step by step in the spiritual sphere.
We mustn’t hie off half cocked to serve the Lord. First we must sit at His feet with Bible opened and allow Him to teach us. We send our kids through twelve grades of school and even on to college and beyond. We ourselves need to go to school at the feet of the Lord Jesus for a lifetime because we never fully know Him or His Word. Notwithstanding this, after seriously attending school with Headmaster Jesus for a few years, we should be spiritually mature enough to grow in discipleship. We should become ardent servants of our Lord. But it takes baby steps at first and then bigger steps as we go along.
Let’s examine our lives, our hearts, and our minds. How long have we been born again? How many times have we read the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible? How often do we spend time alone with Jesus, and for more than a few minutes at that? Are we really desirous of knowing our Lord and Savior? Or are we putting it off until we get to heaven?
Tough questions, these. Let’s tackle them once and for all, shall we? Lord Jesus, have your way in each of our lives, we pray. Amen.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Moses figured he was now a Midianite. He was born a Hebrew and became an Egyptian and tried to rejoin the Hebrews, and now he was a Midianite. Talk about a cockamamie life! Boy, was Moses’ life whacky.
“Not so fast, Moses my man,” said the Lord. “You may graze sheep in Midian and Sinai, but you cannot go far enough away to escape Me!” So there was Moses and there was a burning bush and there was the Lord in the bush. He told Moses that He chose Moses to be His mouthpiece to Pharaoh. “So get yourself on back to Egypt, Moses, and I’ll tell you what to do and say. I’m ready to deliver My people Israel from slavery and fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant by giving them the Promised Land as their national habitation.”
Forty years prior Moses was champing at the bit to deliver the Hebrews from Pharaoh’s enslavement. Now he couldn’t squirm hard enough or stammer long enough to express his utter lack of desire to go back to Egypt. You see, he was young, brash, and impulsive forty years prior. He was like a teenager—you know, knows it all and doesn’t need to learn. Fast forward four decades: Moses finally understood that HE wasn’t able to deliver the Israelites.
Still, Moses hadn’t yet learned of the necessity for depending on the Lord for direction and strength. Moses heard the Lord’s words, but he understood them as requiring that he carry them out in his own power and by his own reasoning. It actually took the Lord to twist Moses’ arm several times and give in to Moses’ need to cling to Mommy Aaron’s apron strings, before Moses was ready to obey the Word of God. Moses was still that spiritually immature.
In fact it wasn’t until the fourth plague that Moses finally began trusting the Lord enough to confront Pharaoh without clinging to Mommy Aaron’s apron strings. This is an extremely important principle we are to glean from the life of Moses, as well as from the other men and women of God in the Bible. Just as we have to grow by steps in the sphere of nature, so too must we grow step by step in the spiritual sphere.
We mustn’t hie off half cocked to serve the Lord. First we must sit at His feet with Bible opened and allow Him to teach us. We send our kids through twelve grades of school and even on to college and beyond. We ourselves need to go to school at the feet of the Lord Jesus for a lifetime because we never fully know Him or His Word. Notwithstanding this, after seriously attending school with Headmaster Jesus for a few years, we should be spiritually mature enough to grow in discipleship. We should become ardent servants of our Lord. But it takes baby steps at first and then bigger steps as we go along.
Let’s examine our lives, our hearts, and our minds. How long have we been born again? How many times have we read the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible? How often do we spend time alone with Jesus, and for more than a few minutes at that? Are we really desirous of knowing our Lord and Savior? Or are we putting it off until we get to heaven?
Tough questions, these. Let’s tackle them once and for all, shall we? Lord Jesus, have your way in each of our lives, we pray. Amen.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Janus the Baptist? – Part 1
For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John [Matthew 11:13].
It’s Final Four week, that time of the year when the four best men’s college basketball teams go at it to determine a national champion. Consider how men’s college basketball games are structured. There are two halves, with each consisting of twenty minutes, for a total of forty minutes per game.
Once a college player graduates, if he is fortunate enough to move on to the NBA, he discovers he must make some changes in his perception of the game. For one thing there are no more “halves”, and for another the game no longer lasts forty minutes. The NBA game is divided into quarters, with each consisting of twelve minutes, for a total of forty-eight minutes per game.
And then there is the matter of how many games are played in a season. For the college ranks the number hovers around thirty, but for the NBA it soars to eighty-two. Hmm. “30” versus “82”. That’s a lot of difference! So no longer are there around 30 games per year, each consisting of only forty minutes. Suddenly the one-time college player must play 82 games of forty-eight minutes each. Think those guys are worn down by the end of the regular season?
I thought about this when I read the quoted text which began our study today. College rules apply for a time, then suddenly new and entirely different rules apply for the NBA. So it was with the Covenant of Law versus the Covenant of Grace.
Jesus noted how long the Covenant of Law lasted when he declared, “all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John”. That would be the John of John Baptist fame. UNTIL JOHN, i.e., up until the time of John the Baptist, the Law and the prophets were in effect. The Old Covenant was God’s rule of Law for Israel.
Then suddenly the forty minute games became forty-eight minutes long, and the two halves transformed into four quarters. What once consisted of about 30 games suddenly metamorphosed into 82 games. Things were drastically different, you see, once John the Baptist came on the scene.
This calls to mind the Roman god Janus. Janus had two faces, with one facing behind and the other facing forward. The name “Janus” is where our month “January” derives its name. Janus looked to the past and to the future at the same time. Just as January 1 begins a new year by looking backward and then going forward, so to did the Roman god Janus. Janus signified the end of one thing and the start of another.
Oh, dear. We’ve come to the end of the line already. Let’s call it a day and begin afresh tomorrow. Some time alone with Jesus sounds about right just now. Won’t you join in?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
It’s Final Four week, that time of the year when the four best men’s college basketball teams go at it to determine a national champion. Consider how men’s college basketball games are structured. There are two halves, with each consisting of twenty minutes, for a total of forty minutes per game.
Once a college player graduates, if he is fortunate enough to move on to the NBA, he discovers he must make some changes in his perception of the game. For one thing there are no more “halves”, and for another the game no longer lasts forty minutes. The NBA game is divided into quarters, with each consisting of twelve minutes, for a total of forty-eight minutes per game.
And then there is the matter of how many games are played in a season. For the college ranks the number hovers around thirty, but for the NBA it soars to eighty-two. Hmm. “30” versus “82”. That’s a lot of difference! So no longer are there around 30 games per year, each consisting of only forty minutes. Suddenly the one-time college player must play 82 games of forty-eight minutes each. Think those guys are worn down by the end of the regular season?
I thought about this when I read the quoted text which began our study today. College rules apply for a time, then suddenly new and entirely different rules apply for the NBA. So it was with the Covenant of Law versus the Covenant of Grace.
Jesus noted how long the Covenant of Law lasted when he declared, “all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John”. That would be the John of John Baptist fame. UNTIL JOHN, i.e., up until the time of John the Baptist, the Law and the prophets were in effect. The Old Covenant was God’s rule of Law for Israel.
Then suddenly the forty minute games became forty-eight minutes long, and the two halves transformed into four quarters. What once consisted of about 30 games suddenly metamorphosed into 82 games. Things were drastically different, you see, once John the Baptist came on the scene.
This calls to mind the Roman god Janus. Janus had two faces, with one facing behind and the other facing forward. The name “Janus” is where our month “January” derives its name. Janus looked to the past and to the future at the same time. Just as January 1 begins a new year by looking backward and then going forward, so to did the Roman god Janus. Janus signified the end of one thing and the start of another.
Oh, dear. We’ve come to the end of the line already. Let’s call it a day and begin afresh tomorrow. Some time alone with Jesus sounds about right just now. Won’t you join in?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Janus the Baptist? – Part 2
For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John [Matthew 11:13].
We concluded our last study by observing how the Roman god Janus signified the end of one thing and the start of another thing. This concept has great bearing on the text quoted to begin this study. The Covenant of Law lasted until John Baptist arrived on the scene. Suddenly the Covenant of Grace took center stage, whether it was evident to folks at the time or not. Can anyone say “Janus the Baptist”?
The period of time from John the Baptist until the day of Pentecost fifty days after Jesus rose out of death was a sort of transition period. God sent His Son Jesus into the world, Jesus the God-man, in fulfillment of His promise to provide mankind with the seed of the woman. Jesus is Israel’s promised Messiah. Jesus is the prophet like Moses (Deut.18:15). Jesus is the One who implemented the Covenant of Grace (John 1:17).
John the Baptist was the person sent from God to identify the Messiah. John baptized people as a sign of repentance, in order to prepare them for the Messiah when He appeared. Then John identified Jesus as the Messiah, after which he directed people to follow Jesus their Messiah.
This means John began his ministry while Israel was under the Covenant of Law, but he departed this earth after the Covenant of Grace was being proclaimed by Jesus. Ergo, the time of John the Baptist was a transition period between the Covenant of Law and the Covenant of Grace. This made John the Baptist a sort of Janus. Janus the Baptist… Has a nice ring to it.
The transition period ended and the Covenant of Grace came in full force, when the Church was born on Pentecost. The birth of the Church signified the temporary setting aside of the nation of Israel as the people through whom God would carry out His plan for the earth. From that time until the Rapture of the Church at the end of the Church Age, the Church contains the people through whom God is carrying on His work on earth.
The Law came through Moses and was given to the Israelites as the legal code for the Promised Land while Israel dwelt there. Grace came through Messiah Jesus and is given to the Church during the Church Age.
This is why Jesus declared that the the Old Covenant was preached until John the Baptist came on the scene. John introduced Jesus the Messiah to Israel under the Law. Jesus did several things as the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world (i.e., the seed of the woman). Here are some of them:
1. He fulfilled the Law for Israel
2. He died on the cross to pay the penalty for mankind’s sins
3. He rose out of death to provide forgiven sinners with new life
4. He ascended to heaven as the high priest for redeemed men
5. He sent the Holy Spirit to give birth to the Church
So why would anyone in his right mind want to put himself under bondage to the Law and the prophets again? That’s lunacy! Jesus freed us from bondage to the Law, enabling us to freely live for Him in holiness.
The Law and the prophets lasted until John the Baptist. John’s long been gone. Now is the day of grace. Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We concluded our last study by observing how the Roman god Janus signified the end of one thing and the start of another thing. This concept has great bearing on the text quoted to begin this study. The Covenant of Law lasted until John Baptist arrived on the scene. Suddenly the Covenant of Grace took center stage, whether it was evident to folks at the time or not. Can anyone say “Janus the Baptist”?
The period of time from John the Baptist until the day of Pentecost fifty days after Jesus rose out of death was a sort of transition period. God sent His Son Jesus into the world, Jesus the God-man, in fulfillment of His promise to provide mankind with the seed of the woman. Jesus is Israel’s promised Messiah. Jesus is the prophet like Moses (Deut.18:15). Jesus is the One who implemented the Covenant of Grace (John 1:17).
John the Baptist was the person sent from God to identify the Messiah. John baptized people as a sign of repentance, in order to prepare them for the Messiah when He appeared. Then John identified Jesus as the Messiah, after which he directed people to follow Jesus their Messiah.
This means John began his ministry while Israel was under the Covenant of Law, but he departed this earth after the Covenant of Grace was being proclaimed by Jesus. Ergo, the time of John the Baptist was a transition period between the Covenant of Law and the Covenant of Grace. This made John the Baptist a sort of Janus. Janus the Baptist… Has a nice ring to it.
The transition period ended and the Covenant of Grace came in full force, when the Church was born on Pentecost. The birth of the Church signified the temporary setting aside of the nation of Israel as the people through whom God would carry out His plan for the earth. From that time until the Rapture of the Church at the end of the Church Age, the Church contains the people through whom God is carrying on His work on earth.
The Law came through Moses and was given to the Israelites as the legal code for the Promised Land while Israel dwelt there. Grace came through Messiah Jesus and is given to the Church during the Church Age.
This is why Jesus declared that the the Old Covenant was preached until John the Baptist came on the scene. John introduced Jesus the Messiah to Israel under the Law. Jesus did several things as the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world (i.e., the seed of the woman). Here are some of them:
1. He fulfilled the Law for Israel
2. He died on the cross to pay the penalty for mankind’s sins
3. He rose out of death to provide forgiven sinners with new life
4. He ascended to heaven as the high priest for redeemed men
5. He sent the Holy Spirit to give birth to the Church
So why would anyone in his right mind want to put himself under bondage to the Law and the prophets again? That’s lunacy! Jesus freed us from bondage to the Law, enabling us to freely live for Him in holiness.
The Law and the prophets lasted until John the Baptist. John’s long been gone. Now is the day of grace. Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
An Army of Phinehases – Part 1
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “ Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘ Behold, I give him My covenant of peace...because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” [Numbers 25:10-13]
Have you ever read those words before? I’m not being sarcastic. Honest! Most Christians have yet to read the Bible. Oh, many read parts of the Bible—favorite verses, chapters on the Christmas story, Psalms and Proverbs. But read Genesis through Revelation, an entire Bible book at a time? Sadly, but not too many do so.
This is why I asked you whether you ever read the words of our text before. Well, it makes for a never you mind for our purpose today. Whether you did or didn’t, when you read them now, what questions pass through your mind…aside from the foreign names, that is? I’ll suggest a few for you.
1. How can a mere man turn away God’s wrath?
2. How can a mere man have God’s jealousy?
3. What is God’s jealousy anyway?
4. How can a holy God kill people in jealousy and still be holy?
5. How can a mere man make atonement for other men?
Hmm. Those are some stimulating inquiries. I bet we’re in for a smorgasbord of spiritual victuals today. I hear the dinner bell, so we mustn’t dawdle. Let’s wash our hands, recline at the table, and get to eating!
To help us get a handle on the issue involved, perhaps a story or two for illustration purposes will benefit us. We all know the one about the preschooler and the cookie jar, don’t we? It goes like this.
Mom walks into the kitchen and discovers little Johnny boy on the step ladder, his hand deep in the cookie jar which reclines atop the kitchen cabinet. Mom grabs Johnny off the ladder, before he is startled by her presence and winds up falling off. As she places him on the floor, Johnny looks up in her face wearing a whimper sort of expression. A tear or two drops out of the corner of his eye as he whines, “I’m sorry, Mommy.”
Well, if we could play Johnny’s private thoughts on the TV screen at that moment, we’d be cut to the quick by his real mindset. He was sorry all right, but not because he disobeyed Mom by invading the domain of the cookie against her express instructions. No! We’d hear this:
I’m sorry, Mommy, that you came in when you did. If you’d only have been a few seconds slower, I’d have a handful of cookies out back, chowing down and having the time of my life! Why couldn’t you have just waited a few moments, Mommy? Why’d you have to go and spoil my life again? I never get to have any fun. Wish you’d chill and let me be for once.
We will continue the tale on the morrow. Let’s pause a while and spend time with the Lord now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Have you ever read those words before? I’m not being sarcastic. Honest! Most Christians have yet to read the Bible. Oh, many read parts of the Bible—favorite verses, chapters on the Christmas story, Psalms and Proverbs. But read Genesis through Revelation, an entire Bible book at a time? Sadly, but not too many do so.
This is why I asked you whether you ever read the words of our text before. Well, it makes for a never you mind for our purpose today. Whether you did or didn’t, when you read them now, what questions pass through your mind…aside from the foreign names, that is? I’ll suggest a few for you.
1. How can a mere man turn away God’s wrath?
2. How can a mere man have God’s jealousy?
3. What is God’s jealousy anyway?
4. How can a holy God kill people in jealousy and still be holy?
5. How can a mere man make atonement for other men?
Hmm. Those are some stimulating inquiries. I bet we’re in for a smorgasbord of spiritual victuals today. I hear the dinner bell, so we mustn’t dawdle. Let’s wash our hands, recline at the table, and get to eating!
To help us get a handle on the issue involved, perhaps a story or two for illustration purposes will benefit us. We all know the one about the preschooler and the cookie jar, don’t we? It goes like this.
Mom walks into the kitchen and discovers little Johnny boy on the step ladder, his hand deep in the cookie jar which reclines atop the kitchen cabinet. Mom grabs Johnny off the ladder, before he is startled by her presence and winds up falling off. As she places him on the floor, Johnny looks up in her face wearing a whimper sort of expression. A tear or two drops out of the corner of his eye as he whines, “I’m sorry, Mommy.”
Well, if we could play Johnny’s private thoughts on the TV screen at that moment, we’d be cut to the quick by his real mindset. He was sorry all right, but not because he disobeyed Mom by invading the domain of the cookie against her express instructions. No! We’d hear this:
I’m sorry, Mommy, that you came in when you did. If you’d only have been a few seconds slower, I’d have a handful of cookies out back, chowing down and having the time of my life! Why couldn’t you have just waited a few moments, Mommy? Why’d you have to go and spoil my life again? I never get to have any fun. Wish you’d chill and let me be for once.
We will continue the tale on the morrow. Let’s pause a while and spend time with the Lord now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
An Army of Phinehases – Part 2
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “ Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘ Behold, I give him My covenant of peace...because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel’” [Numbers 25:10-12]
Johnny boy was caught red-handed, his hand still in the cookie jar. Straightway he went on the offense, feigning contrition in an attempt to wring pity from Mom.
Yep. Been there, done that. You too, right? That’s me personally and that’s my kids too. It comes from the sin nature inside each of us. We won’t tolerate any outside right and wrong. What we feel inside is right for us, so it is right! Begone with morality then and let us be.
Now let’s hear the way the story should be played out—no doubt occasionally it actually does happen this way. Johnny is a real kid, so in this story he’s still on the step ladder with his hand in the cookie jar. Mom is a real mom, so she by happenstance makes her way into the kitchen at just the right moment to bust Johnny in the act of cookie filching.
From the floor Johnny hangs his head in shame, unable to even look Mom in the face. This time more than a couple of tears drop from one eye. Too many to count pour out of both eyes. He tries to apologize, but his emotions run amuck and his cries are too copious to allow speech to flow smoothly. In broken words and sentences Johnny thinks and tries to say,
I’m sorry, Mommy. You told me to leave the cookies alone until after supper, but I didn’t obey you. All the love you show me, always being there when I need you. You never do me wrong. You help me make it in school and in life. I never have to worry about being rejected or deserted. You never give up on me, call it quits, and walk out.
And here I go and do the one thing you told me not to do. I have no excuse, Mommy. I did wrong. Will you please forgive me? I know I must be punished, but I need your forgiveness first. Please forgive me, Mommy.
I embellished Johnny’s lament a bit…no, quite a bit! I know it’s too adult for a preschooler. But to whatever extent the kid could reason about right and wrong, that is what he would say, if he was truly sorry for doing wrong and not just sorry because he got caught and had to pay the piper.
Time to call it a day. I’m going to meditate on what we’ve been taught today, as I sit at the feet of Jesus. See you tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Johnny boy was caught red-handed, his hand still in the cookie jar. Straightway he went on the offense, feigning contrition in an attempt to wring pity from Mom.
Yep. Been there, done that. You too, right? That’s me personally and that’s my kids too. It comes from the sin nature inside each of us. We won’t tolerate any outside right and wrong. What we feel inside is right for us, so it is right! Begone with morality then and let us be.
Now let’s hear the way the story should be played out—no doubt occasionally it actually does happen this way. Johnny is a real kid, so in this story he’s still on the step ladder with his hand in the cookie jar. Mom is a real mom, so she by happenstance makes her way into the kitchen at just the right moment to bust Johnny in the act of cookie filching.
From the floor Johnny hangs his head in shame, unable to even look Mom in the face. This time more than a couple of tears drop from one eye. Too many to count pour out of both eyes. He tries to apologize, but his emotions run amuck and his cries are too copious to allow speech to flow smoothly. In broken words and sentences Johnny thinks and tries to say,
I’m sorry, Mommy. You told me to leave the cookies alone until after supper, but I didn’t obey you. All the love you show me, always being there when I need you. You never do me wrong. You help me make it in school and in life. I never have to worry about being rejected or deserted. You never give up on me, call it quits, and walk out.
And here I go and do the one thing you told me not to do. I have no excuse, Mommy. I did wrong. Will you please forgive me? I know I must be punished, but I need your forgiveness first. Please forgive me, Mommy.
I embellished Johnny’s lament a bit…no, quite a bit! I know it’s too adult for a preschooler. But to whatever extent the kid could reason about right and wrong, that is what he would say, if he was truly sorry for doing wrong and not just sorry because he got caught and had to pay the piper.
Time to call it a day. I’m going to meditate on what we’ve been taught today, as I sit at the feet of Jesus. See you tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
An Army of Phinehases – Part 3
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “ Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘ Behold, I give him My covenant of peace...because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” [Numbers 25:10-12]
If only we puny humans would submit to the Holy Spirit, we would be Johnny #2 and simply come clean with our sins. Instead we have a doctorate in rationalizations. We are Johnny #1. We make excuses and wheedle in an effort to gain pity for ourselves.
In 1 Corinthians 11:31 the Apostle Paul explained to the troublesome Christians in the church of Corinth that, if they judged their own sins, the Lord wouldn’t have to judge them. This concept is quite apposite to the situation in Numbers 25, dear friends.
The Israelites were on the east bank of the Jordan River opposite Jericho. They were delivered from Egyptian slavery by the Lord their God. The Lord led them through the wilderness for forty years and brought them to the plains of Moab on the east bank. They were on the verge of crossing the Jordan to the west bank and receiving their landed inheritance, the Promised Land.
Well, the folks who lived on the west bank weren’t too keen on the thought of this happening. Neither were the folks on the east bank who attacked the Israelites and were exterminated in the doing. Israel now owned all their lands.
Israel’s neighbors on the east bank weren’t much enthused with the new tenants either. These neighbors included the Moabites and their partners the Midianites. So those two folks wanted to evict the Israelites, preferring them dead over expelled.
First they tried to arrange a military conquest of the Israelites. The first step in doing this was to hire a false prophet named Balaam to curse Israel. That way the Israelites would be too weak to stand their ground against the enemy coalition. But the Lord blessed Israel and repulsed Balaam’s attempts, forcing him instead to acknowledge the blessing of God upon Israel.
So Balaam concocted another scheme: if attacks from the outside failed, try attacks from the inside. Balaam directed the Midianites to bedeck their loveliest honeys in alluring attire. Then dispatch them to the camp of Israel to seduce the pubescent Israelite boys.
Once in the embrace of the Midianite babes, those boys would worship the Midianite gods without even knowing it. Then the Lord God of Israel would be furious and kill the Israelite men. What a plan! The Moabites and Midianites wouldn’t even have to kill the Israelites. Their own God would do the job for them!
Oh, dear. Outta time again! I can’t wait to find out how Balaam’s devilish machination came out. But we’ll have to…until tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
If only we puny humans would submit to the Holy Spirit, we would be Johnny #2 and simply come clean with our sins. Instead we have a doctorate in rationalizations. We are Johnny #1. We make excuses and wheedle in an effort to gain pity for ourselves.
In 1 Corinthians 11:31 the Apostle Paul explained to the troublesome Christians in the church of Corinth that, if they judged their own sins, the Lord wouldn’t have to judge them. This concept is quite apposite to the situation in Numbers 25, dear friends.
The Israelites were on the east bank of the Jordan River opposite Jericho. They were delivered from Egyptian slavery by the Lord their God. The Lord led them through the wilderness for forty years and brought them to the plains of Moab on the east bank. They were on the verge of crossing the Jordan to the west bank and receiving their landed inheritance, the Promised Land.
Well, the folks who lived on the west bank weren’t too keen on the thought of this happening. Neither were the folks on the east bank who attacked the Israelites and were exterminated in the doing. Israel now owned all their lands.
Israel’s neighbors on the east bank weren’t much enthused with the new tenants either. These neighbors included the Moabites and their partners the Midianites. So those two folks wanted to evict the Israelites, preferring them dead over expelled.
First they tried to arrange a military conquest of the Israelites. The first step in doing this was to hire a false prophet named Balaam to curse Israel. That way the Israelites would be too weak to stand their ground against the enemy coalition. But the Lord blessed Israel and repulsed Balaam’s attempts, forcing him instead to acknowledge the blessing of God upon Israel.
So Balaam concocted another scheme: if attacks from the outside failed, try attacks from the inside. Balaam directed the Midianites to bedeck their loveliest honeys in alluring attire. Then dispatch them to the camp of Israel to seduce the pubescent Israelite boys.
Once in the embrace of the Midianite babes, those boys would worship the Midianite gods without even knowing it. Then the Lord God of Israel would be furious and kill the Israelite men. What a plan! The Moabites and Midianites wouldn’t even have to kill the Israelites. Their own God would do the job for them!
Oh, dear. Outta time again! I can’t wait to find out how Balaam’s devilish machination came out. But we’ll have to…until tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
An Army of Phinehases – Part 4
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “ Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘ Behold, I give him My covenant of peace...because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” [Numbers 25:10-12]
Balaam squeezed some demon juice from his brain and fed it to the Moabites and Midianites. Let them bedeck their lovely lasses in alluring attire, then dispatch them to the camp of Israel to seduce the puberty-afflicted Israelite boys…of all ages! That’ll get them worshiping Baal, and force the Lord to kill them.
So bedecked became the Midianite femme fatales, and off to the camp of Israel they went. Straightway the camp was filled with pubescent Israelites, ambling along with Midianite sirens on their arms…and into the tents they went.
No sooner were they in the tents than a plague from the Lord struck and killed 24,000 Israelites. Balaam’s plan seemed to be working to a T. Why, even after all this, some clueless dufus Israelite actually walked out in front of Moses and the leaders of Israel, as they were praying to the Lord at the tent of meeting on behalf of the Israelites.
This dufus had a Midianite lassie on his arm, and he was the son of an Israelite leader! He called out to dad in front of all Israel’s leaders,
Hey, Dad. I’m taking my new girlfriend back to the tent to play and have fun. So stay away a while, okay?
Then off to the camp on the south side the two went. Moses and the leaders had to place an order for a crane to come and lift their jaws off the desert floor! Such temerity, such chutzpah was beyond belief. No one could be that anile…could he?
The son of the high priest, Phinehas by name, knew what the situation demanded. Thousands of Israelites were dying by the minute from the Lord’s plague, and all because dufuses like this boy sinned with heathen women.
The job of the priest was to intercede with the Lord on behalf of the Israelites. The Lord was in the process of judging the Israelites for their sin. In order for the priest to petition the Lord to cease and desist, first the sin had to be atoned for.
So how was sin to be atoned for? Well, the wages of sin is death, so the Lord put them to death. To stop the plague, first the Israelites needed to stop sinning, and secondly those who sinned needed to be put to death.
We’ll find out tomorrow how this was accomplished. For today let’s muse on what we’ve already learned. The prayer closet is a good place to do so. See you there.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Balaam squeezed some demon juice from his brain and fed it to the Moabites and Midianites. Let them bedeck their lovely lasses in alluring attire, then dispatch them to the camp of Israel to seduce the puberty-afflicted Israelite boys…of all ages! That’ll get them worshiping Baal, and force the Lord to kill them.
So bedecked became the Midianite femme fatales, and off to the camp of Israel they went. Straightway the camp was filled with pubescent Israelites, ambling along with Midianite sirens on their arms…and into the tents they went.
No sooner were they in the tents than a plague from the Lord struck and killed 24,000 Israelites. Balaam’s plan seemed to be working to a T. Why, even after all this, some clueless dufus Israelite actually walked out in front of Moses and the leaders of Israel, as they were praying to the Lord at the tent of meeting on behalf of the Israelites.
This dufus had a Midianite lassie on his arm, and he was the son of an Israelite leader! He called out to dad in front of all Israel’s leaders,
Hey, Dad. I’m taking my new girlfriend back to the tent to play and have fun. So stay away a while, okay?
Then off to the camp on the south side the two went. Moses and the leaders had to place an order for a crane to come and lift their jaws off the desert floor! Such temerity, such chutzpah was beyond belief. No one could be that anile…could he?
The son of the high priest, Phinehas by name, knew what the situation demanded. Thousands of Israelites were dying by the minute from the Lord’s plague, and all because dufuses like this boy sinned with heathen women.
The job of the priest was to intercede with the Lord on behalf of the Israelites. The Lord was in the process of judging the Israelites for their sin. In order for the priest to petition the Lord to cease and desist, first the sin had to be atoned for.
So how was sin to be atoned for? Well, the wages of sin is death, so the Lord put them to death. To stop the plague, first the Israelites needed to stop sinning, and secondly those who sinned needed to be put to death.
We’ll find out tomorrow how this was accomplished. For today let’s muse on what we’ve already learned. The prayer closet is a good place to do so. See you there.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
An Army of Phinehases – Part 5
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “ Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘ Behold, I give him My covenant of peace...because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” [Numbers 25:10-12]
So how was the sin of the pubescent Israelites atoned for? It happened like this:
Phinehas grabbed his spear and followed the dufus Israelite into his tent. Inside the tent Phinehas pinned both the Israelite boy and the Midianite girl to the desert floor with his spear, like a shish kabob. Then the plague on the Israelites was stayed.
You see, the Israelites judged the sin in their camp, so the Lord no longer had to do so. If we judge our own sins, we won’t have to be judged.
And this brings us back to the five questions we itemized at the start of this study. We just narrated how a mere man can turn away God’s wrath (answer to question #1). The mere man simply did what the Word of God commanded to be done. The Law of Moses was already given to the Israelites to govern their national existence. It afforded the answers for holy living and judging society accordingly.
This Law commanded the Israelites to follow the doctrine of separation: no intermingling with the heathen peoples of the world. The Law also forbade idolatry: no worshiping other gods. The priests were assigned to be God’s judges in Israel. Phinehas the priest judged the lawbreaker guilty and executed him according to the Law.
How can a mere man have God’s jealousy? Just the way Phinehas did. He didn’t get mad at the dufus Israelite for personal reasons and exact his personal revenge. Rather, Phinehas recognized from the Law that the Lord loved the Israelites as His own bride.
The Lord was betrayed by His bride, when the Israelites slept with the daughters of foreign gods and then worshiped those gods. This aroused the Lord’s righteous jealousy. So that is what God’s jealousy is (answer to question #3). When Phinehas acted on behalf of God’s jealousy, he displayed God’s jealousy (answer to question #2).
Because the Lord is always faithful, He never steps out on those with whom He is in covenantal relationship. The Lord expects the same in return. When His people play spouse-swapping and intermingle with the heathen gods, they forfeit any claims to being God’s people and willingly join the camp of the enemy.
The word “holy” means that God is the one and only. For a man to be holy means that he sides with God against all other gods or anything else. When a man doesn’t do so, then he is no longer holy and God cannot abide with him.
Yikes! That didn’t spell good news for those pubescent Israelites, did it? We’ll learn the specifics in our next study. Off to the Lord I’m going now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
So how was the sin of the pubescent Israelites atoned for? It happened like this:
Phinehas grabbed his spear and followed the dufus Israelite into his tent. Inside the tent Phinehas pinned both the Israelite boy and the Midianite girl to the desert floor with his spear, like a shish kabob. Then the plague on the Israelites was stayed.
You see, the Israelites judged the sin in their camp, so the Lord no longer had to do so. If we judge our own sins, we won’t have to be judged.
And this brings us back to the five questions we itemized at the start of this study. We just narrated how a mere man can turn away God’s wrath (answer to question #1). The mere man simply did what the Word of God commanded to be done. The Law of Moses was already given to the Israelites to govern their national existence. It afforded the answers for holy living and judging society accordingly.
This Law commanded the Israelites to follow the doctrine of separation: no intermingling with the heathen peoples of the world. The Law also forbade idolatry: no worshiping other gods. The priests were assigned to be God’s judges in Israel. Phinehas the priest judged the lawbreaker guilty and executed him according to the Law.
How can a mere man have God’s jealousy? Just the way Phinehas did. He didn’t get mad at the dufus Israelite for personal reasons and exact his personal revenge. Rather, Phinehas recognized from the Law that the Lord loved the Israelites as His own bride.
The Lord was betrayed by His bride, when the Israelites slept with the daughters of foreign gods and then worshiped those gods. This aroused the Lord’s righteous jealousy. So that is what God’s jealousy is (answer to question #3). When Phinehas acted on behalf of God’s jealousy, he displayed God’s jealousy (answer to question #2).
Because the Lord is always faithful, He never steps out on those with whom He is in covenantal relationship. The Lord expects the same in return. When His people play spouse-swapping and intermingle with the heathen gods, they forfeit any claims to being God’s people and willingly join the camp of the enemy.
The word “holy” means that God is the one and only. For a man to be holy means that he sides with God against all other gods or anything else. When a man doesn’t do so, then he is no longer holy and God cannot abide with him.
Yikes! That didn’t spell good news for those pubescent Israelites, did it? We’ll learn the specifics in our next study. Off to the Lord I’m going now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
