Remember God's Commands

Renewing their covenant before entering the land 

Deuteronomy 5:22 The LORD spoke these words to all of you assembled there at the foot of the mountain. He spoke with a loud voice from the heart of the fire, surrounded by clouds and deep darkness. This was all he said at that time, and he wrote his words on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

So far the book of Deuteronomy has been about remembering, God's people need to Remember God's Blessing as his redeemed children and we need to Remember God's Purpose as his redeemed children. Moses wants God's people to stay focused on God and keep on remembering him as they enter the Promised Land.

Now Moses turns their attention to remembering God’s commands, beginning with the foundation found in the Ten Commandments. It seems the commandments had not been applied very well in the wilderness, the people seem to be doing whatever they want as they continued to worship idols, grumble, and refuse to trust and obey. 

The Life Application Study Bible raises a pointed question: 

What good would the Promised Land have been if Israel became just as wicked as the nations they were replacing?

As Israel stands on the threshold of the Promised Land, Moses understands that victory will not come simply because they are God's chosen people. They cannot cling to sin and expect to enjoy God's blessing. 

The judgment that is about to fall on the Canaanites is not evidence of God's favoritism toward Israel but of His holy and righteous character. If Israel forgets the Lord, abandons His covenant, and walks in disobedience, they too will experience His discipline. Two truths that we must also remember: God does not change and his justice is as constant as his mercy.

The prophets, together with the fulfillment of their words, remind us that God is faithful to everything He has spoken. He does not overlook sin because of a person's identity, heritage, or privilege. His dealings with both Canaan and Israel reveal the same unchanging truth: God is holy, and He desires a people who reflect His holiness.

The people’s fearful response leads to Moses becoming their mediator.

Deuteronomy 5:23-24 "But when you heard the voice from the heart of the darkness, while the mountain was blazing with fire, all your tribal leaders and elders came to me. 24 They said, 'Look, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak to us humans, and yet we live!

God's message at Sinai was unmistakable. No one doubted who was speaking "from the heart of the fire, surrounded by clouds and deep darkness." The people knew this was God's mountain and these were His commandments. 

 Confronted with His overwhelming holiness, they responded correctly with fear and reverence. Recognizing God's glory and greatness, they asked Moses to go before the Lord on their behalf and promised that they would obey whatever He commanded.

What they did not yet understand was the depth of their own sinfulness and inability to keep that promise. Their fear produced a sincere emotional response, but emotion alone could not produce long lasting reverence or faithful obedience. 

The people’s fearful response isn't always reverence and obedience.

Deuteronomy 5:29 Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever.

Deuteronomy 5:33 Stay on the path that the LORD your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

God knew that their passion at Sinai would not last. The first generation boldly declared, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do" (Exodus 19:8; 24:3, 7), yet they repeatedly chose unbelief and disobedience. And then just before the next generation entered the land, God told Moses they too would turn away and break their covenant with God just as their parents did. (Deuteronomy 31:16-27).

The problem was never God's law—it was the human heart. Sinai revealed God's holiness and man's inability to keep the covenant. That is why in the New Testament the book of Hebrews points us to a better mountain.

A tale of two mountains.

Hebrews 12:18 You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. 

Hebrews 12:22 No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering.

Hebrews reminds us of the terror of Sinai, where the people stood at a distance and begged God to stop speaking. That mountain revealed God's holiness and man's separation from Him. It also exposed a problem that Israel could never solve: sinful people could not keep a holy covenant by their own determination.

Fear can make us back away from the fire, but only a transformed heart can keep us walking on the path. As Hebrews 12:22-24 points us to another mountain of God, Mount Zion. 

Through Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, we are no longer kept at a distance but are welcomed into God's presence. His blood speaks forgiveness and removes our judgment, and through Him God gives us the new heart that Israel lacked.

As Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land, they renewed their commitment to obey God. Yet history proved that good intentions were never enough.

Our hope is not in making better promises to God, but in trusting the One who fulfilled the covenant for us and is transforming us from the inside out.

Remember God's Purpose

Living faithfully so the nations can see God's glory.

Deuteronomy 4:1-2 "And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you.

In my previous post, we looked at Moses' first lesson for Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, Moses wanted God's people to know that they needed to remember God's blessings so that they would trust and obey him enough to cross the Jordan River and face "the giants in the land."

You see the giants are still there, they didn't go anywhere in the past 40 years, and I am sure that the Israelites did what we would all do. They often focused on the negatives, whether it's the giants in the land or the hardships of the wilderness instead of focusing on God's faithfulness.

But this is exactly how God works. He often leads His people into situations where their own strength is clearly not enough. Why? So they can see His power, His faithfulness, and His love more clearly.

Now Moses reveals the only strategy Israel would ever need for success in the Promised Land. They didn’t have superior military strength or better weapons but that is okay because they didn’t need them.

God's strategy to overcome the "giant" problem was remarkably simple:

1. Listen carefully.
2. Obey faithfully.

If Israel would hear God’s Word and obey it wholeheartedly, they would experience His blessing. But those blessings were never meant to end with Israel. God blessed His people so they could become a blessing to the nations.

From the moment God called Abraham, His purpose had always been bigger than one family or one nation. Israel was chosen to reveal the one true God to a world that did not know Him. Their obedience would serve as a living testimony that drew other nations to the Lord.

Three visible blessings the nations would recognize in faithful Israel:

1. Wisdom and Discernment

Deuteronomy 4:5-6 "Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

6 Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, 'How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!'

Before repeating the Law given at Mount Sinai, Moses wanted the new generation to understand why God had given it. These commands were not arbitrary rules. They were the revelation of God’s own wisdom for their good and His glory.

Israel would never look more attractive to the world than when they faithfully obeyed God’s Word. Their wisdom wouldn’t come from human achievement, but from living according to God’s perfect wisdom.

2. Intimacy With God

Deuteronomy 4:7 For what great nation has a god as near to them as the LORD our God is near to us whenever we call on him?

Israel’s greatest privilege wasn’t just possessing God’s Law—it was that His Law made intimate fellowship with Him possible. God didn’t redeem them simply to give them rules. He redeemed them so they could know Him personally.

Their obedience wasn’t cold religion. It was the expression of a loving relationship with the God who had rescued them. As the nations watched Israel walk closely with the Lord, they would be drawn to a God so near to His people.

3. God's Way Is The Best

Deuteronomy 4:8 And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?

God’s commands were never meant to make life miserable. They were given so His people could flourish. His instructions reflected His holy character and showed that His ways are always good, always right, and always best.

When Israel lived according to these righteous ways, the surrounding nations would clearly see that the Lord’s way of life was superior to anything their false gods could offer.

A Life That Points Others to God

Moses wanted Israel to understand that their lives mattered. After forty years in the wilderness, it would have been easy to feel that their story had been wasted.

Many had grown up knowing nothing but desert wandering. Even Joshua and Caleb, though faithful, had shared in the nation’s long season of discipline.

They must have felt like all of their days were meaningless, but Moses wanted Israel to know that the wilderness was not wasted time.

The Life Application Study Bible brings up a good point:

What good would the Promised Land have been if Israel became just as wicked as the nations they were replacing? The journey was a painful but necessary part of their preparation.

Through it God taught the Israelites who he was: the living God, the Leader of their nation. He also taught them who they were: people who were fallen, sinful, and prone to rebellion and doubt.

He gave his rebellious people the law to help them understand how to relate to him and to other people

There wasn't any reason to allow God's people to exercise God's judgment over wicked nations if they were no better. They needed to be different so that the Canaanites would see their testimony and their victories and turn to God.

God was preparing His people.

• He taught them who He is, the living God who faithfully leads His people.
• He also taught them who they were, fallen people who desperately needed His grace and His guidance.
• He prepared them to become a holy people living under the rule of a holy God.

God has always desired more than outward obedience. He desires a relationship with His people that transforms the way they live.

The same principle applies today.

God's commands are still an expression of his love. They are an invitation to know him more deeply, experience his blessing, grow in holiness, and display his goodness to a watching world.

We are called to be distinct from the world, not as a requirement for salvation and not as an unnecessary burden. The purpose of our uniqueness as God's people is so that others might come to know and draw near the God who has drawn near to us.

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Reluctant Believers

God's people continue to have problems being loyal to him.

Numbers 25:1-5 While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. 2 These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. 3 In this way, Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the LORD's anger to blaze against his people.

4 The LORD issued the following command to Moses: "Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the LORD in broad daylight, so his fierce anger will turn away from the people of Israel." 5 So Moses ordered Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death the men under your authority who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor."

In my recent post we saw that God was in control of situations and protecting his people at times that they didn't even know about. Israel wasn't aware at all that King Balak was trying desperately to have God's chosen people get "unchosen" with a curse from Balaam. The king was desperate to keep his job because he saw the success of the Israelites in recent battles but God never changed his mind about Israel despite the fact that they changed their mind about him.

• God was not reluctant to bless Israel, he went to great lengths in dealing with Balaam to bless Israel and to announce one of the first prophecies about Jesus.      
• Balaam was reluctant to bless Israel, he didn't care about the people he was asked to curse and he was careless about his own life because of the greed in his evil heart.       
• Israel was not reluctant to give in to their neighbors when they received an invitation to join them in worship, despite God's loyalty to them.

In Balaam's last prophecy he told about Israel's amazing future and the coming Messiah but right after he tells about it they are sinning against God the same way their ancestors did at Mt Sinai. I started to compare the two eventsfound in Exodus 32 and Numbers 25.

Comparison of the Rebellions at Sinai and Moab

1. Both of these rebellions took place immediately following a great display of God’s care for His people. 

• At Sinai, He performed miracles to deliver them from Egypt and brought them through the Red Sea. 
• At Moab, He reaffirmed their blessed future by turning Balaam’s intended curse into an amazing blessing.

2. Both of these instances reveal the wickedness of our hearts, our desire to worship but our lack of wisdom about worship, that's why the first of the Ten Commandments told us to worship the one and only real God. 

3. In both instances worshiping false gods led to immorality, the Bible shows us a very strong link between satisfying our desire to worship the wrong way and satisfying our desire for physical pleasures the wrong way.

4. Moses ordered the death penalty in both situations. The reaction of certain people to this command proved their loyalty to God and earned them a special place of service in the temple.

• At Mount Sinai, the Levites' killed the people involved and they were designated as the tribe that the priest would come from. It is important to know that all priests were Levites, but not all Levites were priests, just the Levites that were sons of Aaron.
• At Moab, Phinehas was the zealous priest, a grandson of Aaron, that executed judgment. Moses had just told the judges to judge but before they could start judging somebody comes along and jumps to the front of the line to be executed.

5. What a contrast between Phinehas and his grandfather. Aaron was responsible for bringing judgment on God's people due to his role in the creation of the gold calf but Phinehas quickly reacted to the man's sin and killed the Israelite man and the woman both at the same time. 

As you can see, it only took them one generation to forget about the rebellion at Sinai and do it all over again at Moab, this pattern continued throughout the Old Testament as God's people were reluctant to trust and obey. Breaking the first commandment caused so many deaths in the wilderness and it was the reason that God's people were in exile before Jesus' arrival.

God's People Continue To Be Reluctant

Matthew 11:2-3 John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, "Are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?"

Even a man as great as John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11) was not immune to wavering in his faith when Jesus actions were so confusing. Early in his ministry John stated that his reason for coming was to reveal the Messiah to Israel (John 1:29-31) but he was still overcome with doubt as he sat in prison without any assistance from his cousin. I'm sure that John had no idea how true his words were when he said "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30)

Even the twelve men that gave it all up to follow were not sure about Jesus and struggled with faith even as they were experiencing him in supernatural ways. Jesus did miraculous things that prove his identity but nobody was as sure as the evil spirit that Jesus cast out. The evil spirit knew but a few chapters later the disciples are asking "Who is this man?" (Mark 1:23-28, 4:35-41)

We Are Reluctant Disciples

Even today with all of the evidence we have in God's word:

• We are reluctant to worship properly. It is easy to look back at the people that God chose back in the Old Testament and be amazed that they worshiped wrong after all of their supernatural experiences with God but we are the same.
• We are reluctant to trust and obey. Doing things our way will never measure up to God's ways and his plans, it is so hard to let go of absolutely everything and acknowledge that God is in control, instead we want our way just as much as Balaam and Jonah did. 
• We are reluctant to get rid of our pride. As we look at our evil hearts and see the darkness within, it should help us defeat our pride but instead we embrace it and it is a strong proof that Jesus was right when he told Nicodemus that we love the dark. (John 3:19)

Our own lives prove to us what the Bible shows: the ongoing struggle to trust and obey God. We are just like the people in Scripture, but the good news is that God is just as faithful as He was back then. Their imperfect faith and God's perfect, gracious response to it should be a great source of encouragement for us today when we struggle to fully believe.

The wilderness is still God's classroom where he leads us into situations that give us opportunities to exercise our faith, helping us become less reluctant to believe and trust Him. We will always have room to grow in this area, it's a slow, lifelong process that we can't simply check off of our to-do list and move on.

Mark 9:23-24 "What do you mean, 'If I can'?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes." The father instantly cried out, "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!"

Just like the believing father that desperately wanted his son to be healed, our belief will always be tested with some degree of unbelief that we should pray to overcome. Despite our imperfections and inconsistant faith, we can expect the same grace and faithfulness that God offered His people long ago as he takes us to the Promised Land.

Experience The Direction Of God

The only navigation equipment Israel needed was the Lord's presence.

Numbers 9:23 So they camped or traveled at the LORD's command, and they did whatever the LORD told them through Moses.

Numbers 10:11-12 In the second year after Israel's departure from Egypt-on the twentieth day of the second month-the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle of the Covenant.

12 So the Israelites set out from the wilderness of Sinai and traveled on from place to place until the cloud stopped in the wilderness of Paran.

13 When the people set out for the first time, following the instructions the LORD had given through Moses,

Numbers 10:33-36 They marched for three days after leaving the mountain of the LORD, with the Ark of the LORD's Covenant moving ahead of them to show them where to stop and rest. 34 As they moved on each day, the cloud of the LORD hovered over them.

35 And whenever the Ark set out, Moses would shout, "Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered! Let them flee before you!" 36 And when the Ark was set down, he would say, "Return, O LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel!"

It has been a busy year since God redeemed his people from Egypt and took them to Mount Sinai to meet with them. Sinai would be the place where God would help his new people adjust to their new life. As we will see, getting his people out of Egypt was easier than getting Egypt out of his people.

God's people had a lot to learn about him and about the kind of people that he wanted them to be. God wanted his people to became a nation that looked very different, they would worship different, they would eat different and they would be governed different. The only way they could enjoy this special relationship between a governor and his people is for them to know the rules. 

The big bonus that should have motivated them was that knowing and obeying God's rules was the only way that they were going to be able to make it to the Promised Land. They are going to need God's presence to guide and protect on the way and the only way to have that is to live his way.

God's Itinerary 

God's people had to do what their forefather Abraham had done hundreds of years before when he left home. Once again God is asking for blind faith as he tells his people to take the next step without the details.

God didn't give Moses a brochure with an itinerary about the trip and he didn't share an online calendar or GPS coordinates to help them know the way. The way to the Promised Land is God's way and the only way to know his way is to have a relationship with him.

God's people obeyed his orders that he gave in the beginning of the book of Numbers, as a result they moved out in the formation that God demanded and they walked for three days following God.

Watching The Cloud

They didn't have any doubt about what the cloud looked like, this is the same cloud that led them away from Egypt, from the very beginning of this trip God's presence was manifest in the cloud to show them the way.

Even in darkness the presence of God could be seen and enjoyed. The light of God in the cloud overcame the darkness, it revealed the next step of the path when they traveled and it gave them protection when they camped.

Watching a cloud and paying attention to the details about where it is going is something that you probably would not do for very long. We don't pay much attention to clouds before we lose our focus and get distracted.

Listen For Trumpets

To ensure that everyone was ready to break camp and move, God's people also had an audible warning, the trumpets got the attention of anyone that didn't know that the cloud moved. I have to wonder about the size of the cloud, maybe the entire nation could not see the cloud so maybe that is the reason that God told them to use the trumpets. 

It seems that God loves trumpets, after the nation moved into Canaan the trumpet was used as the signal for special days on God's calendar. Don't forget that God has promised us that another very special day is on the way that will include the blast of a trumpet.

Matthew 24:31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world-from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

The most anticipated trumpet blast is the one that will lead us to the Promised Land that Jesus said that he is preparing.  The trumpet sound we are waiting for will not be a signal for war, when this trumpet sounds the Promised Land will be ours, the only war that will be started is the final battle between God and Satan. 

VIDEO: Promised Land by TobyMac

Just like God's pilgrim children in the wilderness, we are also pilgrims, just passing through as we wait for God's signal to move to our heavenly home. Until that day we have the Holy Spirit in us as our guide, the Word of God before us to light the way and our Savior above us interceding before God's throne on our behalf. 

The entire trinity is at work to keep me safe and guide me as I travel this wilderness waiting for my Promised Land.

Going With God

In the wilderness with God is better than going somewhere without him.

Exodus 32:34-35 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Look! My angel will lead the way before you. And when I come to call the people to account, I will certainly hold them responsible for their sins." 35 Then the LORD sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshiped the calf Aaron had made.

Exodus 33:1-4 The LORD said to Moses, "Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt. Go up to the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I told them, 'I will give this land to your descendants.' 2 And I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites."

3 "Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way." 4 When the people heard these stern words, they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes.

God's people are on the way to the Promised Land after hundreds of years in Egypt, that's where God sent his people to save them from famine and then after the government turned on them, God took them out of the kingdom of darkness to lead them to their new homeland.

We don't always see God at work, they didn't realize it, but God was probably using all of the events in Egypt to prepare them for this trip. All of the difficulty they endured, all of the miracles they witnessed, should have produced a people that were strong in faith and ready to bless the nations because of the blessing they has received.

It is amazing that this is the same people that just saw God's mighty power through the ten plagues in Egypt, they saw proof that their God is the only one that can control the weather, the animal kingdom and he even has the power of life and death.

After leaving Egypt they have seen the signs of his presence as he led them to cross the Red Sea on dry ground in an area of the sea that was deep enough to drown their enemies. God continued to lead them through a cloud by day and a fire at night. (Exodus 13:18, 21)

God's people were sustained by supernatural food and water from Heaven, this too was a test for them that they would fail. (Exodus 15:25, 16:4, Deuteronomy 8:2, 16 Psalm 78:24 ) Later on they would fail the test by storing up more than their daily bread and after that they would grumble about the menu and fail the test. 

God took them to Mount Sinai where he would display his glory so they could learn even more about him. While they were at the mountain they received God's commandments, which they were thrilled to get and they agreed to God's terms wholeheartedly. To ratify the covenant, over seventy of their leaders ate a covenant meal where they could see that they were up close to God.

It really looks like God's people have learned enough about trusting him to keep them from looking for a better god, but right after the meal, God called Moses further up the mountain to continue receiving instructions on how to be God's people they immediately they act like they never knew anything about God. (Exodus 24:1-18)

Exodus 32:1 When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. "Come on," they said, "make us some gods who can lead us. We don't know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt."

After all of that! Within the forty days while Moses was up the mountain the people break their covenant by asking Aaron for a god that can lead them. The only god that Aaron could possibly create would be a powerless man made god just like the gods that was proved to be worthless back in Egypt. (Exodus 32:1-35)

We are told that God's people were very upset when God told his people to continue the journey to the Promised Land without his presence to guide them there. Out of mercy God wasn't going to be intimate with these "stiff necked" people. Their reaction is a good sign that they are not too far gone but they still need to learn more about God. (Exodus 33:1-4)

God's people need to learn:

1. The peril of God’s presence 

This is probably more difficult for God's people today to understand, the idea that God is not safe isn't a popular concept in a world full of teaching that God is love. We tend to think of God in the New Testament as a different God or a new version of God that Jesus was able to pacify but the book of Revelation proves that the wrath of God still exist.

2. The privilege of God’s presence 

Somehow Moses knew more than anyone else that being with God was a privilege and he knew that he needed a special place reserved to meet with God. Even before the Tabernacle or the Temple was ever built Moses had a tent where he could maintain his relationship with God and intercede for the nation.

3. The priority of God’s presence 

If we truly love God and have an awareness of his glory then we will desire to have his presence more and more. We will prioritize our time and energy to be in God's presence and we will be hesitant to make a move without him going along. Having a guardian angel may be good but how much more incredibly better is it to have God going in fellowship with you?

4. The promise of God’s presence 

It is a shame that out of the thousands that left Egypt to go to the Promised Land, no one else enjoyed God's presence like Moses did. God didn't grant everybody the same level of access, that was reserved for those who find favor in His sight. God's people had so much experience with him in the past that they were without excuse.

The outline above is from "God’s Presence: Dangerous, But Essential" with some of my own thoughts mixed in.

God's Man Wants More 

Exodus 33:11 Inside the Tent of Meeting, the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.

Exodus 33:15-16 Then Moses said, "If you don't personally go with us, don't make us leave this place. 16 How will anyone know that you look favorably on me-on me and on your people-if you don't go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth."

With all of the experiences that God's people had with him you would think that more of them would desire to know, at a deeper level, the only God that has done so much for them. Why would you not want to maintain your relationship with someone who has treated you so well?

The only person that developed a chose relationship with him as a result of these supernatural experiences was Moses. Everyone else was upset that God wasn't going to personally lead them to the Promised Land, but they only wanted to know God the way they already knew him, but Moses desired to know more. (Exodus 13:18, 21, Exodus 33:18-20)

The same man that began to know God deeper at the burning bush kept on pushing their relationship to the next level. Moses knowledge and his faith in God continued to grow so that he would become the bold, mighty and faithful leader for God's people.

This is both the longing of the redeemed and the goal of their redemption—to behold the glory of God!

-A. W. Pink, Gleanings in Exodus

It is amazing that God treats his people so abundantly gracious and kind and very few of his people really get it.

1 Corinthians 10:3-6 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did,

We are just like the pilgrims in the wilderness, this is not our home, we need to travel with God and nurture the desire to know him more before we reach the Promised Land.

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Do Not Do As Egypt Or Canaan

It is easy to imitate the ways of this world but God wants his people to be like him.

Leviticus 18:1-5  Then the LORD said to Moses,  2  “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the LORD your God.  3  So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life.

4  You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the LORD your God.  5  If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the LORD.

Leviticus 18:30 So obey my instructions, and do not defile yourselves by committing any of these detestable practices that were committed by the people who lived in the land before you. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 19:1-2 The LORD also said to Moses, 2 "Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

Leviticus 20:7-8 So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the LORD your God. 8 Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the LORD who makes you holy.

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The good news is our holy God loves us so much that he wants to have a close intimate relationship with us. But the bad news is because he is holy we cannot have an intimate relationship with him. But we don't have to live in the reality of the bad news!

Holiness is the most important truth that you must comprehend about God, it is a huge kindness on God's part to give us his instructions on how to safely draw near to him. The book of Leviticus is the first record that we have on how to live to please God. 

I have to wonder how God's people knew what God's standards are before the exodus from Egypt when he began teaching them at Mount Sinai. It seems that somehow people knew about God and what he expects from mankind before the law was revealed. 

How did:

• Abel please God and how did Cain know what was right and yet he chose the wrong way?
• Enoch have close fellowship with God so that he would be taken directly to Heaven? 
• Noah know how to have God's favor when everyone around him missed the boat?

God's people today have the luxury of looking back at thousands of years of history that God has preserved for us in the Bible to give us a clear picture of how to have his favor. 

The Old Testament shows us a very clear picture of the difficulty mankind has in living up to God's standards. By the end of the book of Genesis (Genesis 46:1-34, 47:1-12) we see that God's people wound up in Egypt for their own good so they would escape the famine in Canaan, but later on we see that while they were in Egypt they started to live like Egyptians.

God's people are conformed to the world when they leave Egypt, their character was proven very quickly and with great repetition. After 400 years of Egyptian influence, God's people didn't look much like God's people, Israel needed to get out of Egypt but God knew that he needed to get Egypt out of Israel.

Deuteronomy 18:9  “When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there.

Perhaps that is the reason God did not take them directly to the Promised Land. (Psalm 106:35, Ezekiel 20:7-8, 23:8) God used the wilderness to get his people away from everyone else so that they could be taught how to live by his rules so that they could live long, prosper and be a blessing to the other nations. 

God's people need to be transformed, this goes way beyond nonconformity to the world, this is way more than withdrawing from the world or living by a list, this is a rebirth that comes from a new nature.

Romans 12:2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

A change of character is exactly what God requires for his people but don't be confused, the change is not a requirement to have a relationship with him but rather it is proof that you do have a relationship. Your obedience will be a natural outcome of the transformation of your character.

God is perfect in holiness to the point that all of his divine attributes are holy attributes, because he loves us and wants the best for us, God wants us to also be holy. This is a condition that mankind doesn't long to achieve, our carnal minds are more concerned about happiness and pleasure, we want ease and comfort.

Everybody has a choice to make, we can behave like Egypt or Canaan or we can be renewed with a new nature by the power of the Holy Spirit so that we will be a reflection of God for the world to see. We struggle with this decision because we want God to solve our problems and carry our burdens, we want our best life now and that doesn't include a God that demands control our lives and a huge change in our character.

Ephesians 4:17, 23-24  With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God-truly righteous and holy.

Paul repeats the warning from Leviticus in his letter to the Ephesian church, it was still an issue hundreds of years later, as long as we are in this world we will struggle with this decision. God's people still need the encouragement to make the right choice:

• Will we allow the Holy Spirit to renew our thoughts and attitudes? (Ephesians 4:23)
• Will we desire to put on our new nature which was given to us to make us like God? (Ephesians 4:23)

Instead of saying "don't do as the..." it's still a good idea to ask yourself, WWJD? Jesus is the only man that God fully approved so that makes him the perfect example for us to follow. (Matthew 3:17)

We will mess up as we continue to grow, the Bible makes it clear that God's people will not automatically or perfectly implement the practice of being like God, it takes time to change our minds about the ways of Egypt and Canaan. We must remember that God is just as patient with us as we wonder around in our wilderness on the way to our Promised Land.

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The Hope Of God With Us

God's people don't need to look for hope in anything or anybody other than him.

Isaiah 7:10-14 Later, the LORD sent this message to King Ahaz: 11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.” 12 But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the LORD like that.”

13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? 14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

God's people are in the Promised Land, but they are not living the lifestyle that they promised. God's chosen people have turned their backs on God's way to live which they enthusiastically promised just a few hundred years earlier. (Exodus 24:1-18)

If they made the right choices their obedience would continue the special favor that they had already received from God. They would continue to receive so many blessings including security and abundance so that all the nations around them would glorify God. (Deuteronomy 33:26-29)

Pleasing God is the most important thing in the world and the only way to please him is to become like him and that means being holy. Not only are they not holy but God's people are just as bad as the nations around them.

Isaiah 1:4 Oh, what a sinful nation they are- loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

Their lack of holiness will bring about their ruin, the nation has already split into two and God has promised that he will discipline his people. They will be "cut down" until there isn't any visible signs of life. But God would keep his promise to bring Messiah through the lineage of King David. God will cut his people down but out of the tree stump a holy branch will appear. (Isaiah 6:9-13, 11:1)

King Ahaz had a great opportunity to do the right thing when the alliance of Syria and Israel threatened to come after Judah to force them into their coalition. The alliance of Rezin, of Syria, and Pekah, of Israel, will fail to force Judah to join them and they will also fail against the Assyrians. (2 King 16:5-20, 17:5-18 and also in 2 Chronicles 28:5-27)

God gives his people hope in spite of their disobedience.

(Isaiah 7:1-9)

King Ahaz was afraid of the future like trees shaking in a storm (Isaiah 7:2) and fear of the wicked schemes of man. (Isaiah 7:4-6) His fears sent him to Assyria for help instead of trusting God. Ahaz still gets another chance, even though he went to Assyria to get help, God still tells Ahaz through Isaiah that the threats coming against Judah will never be successful despite the fact that he didn't trust God for his future.

The nations can plot to come against God's people but it is God who decides the victory. Isaiah tells us what God thinks of their plans very clearly in Isaiah 7:7-8, 16. Don't be like Ahaz, he relied on his own wisdom instead of listening to the message from Isaiah that the feared invasion isn't going to happen. He should have accepted God's word as his source of hope and joy but if you don't have faith in God then you will have nothing but fear of the future. (Isaiah 7:9) 

God gives his people a sure sign of the hope of Messiah.

(Isaiah 7:10-16)

But God didn't just tell Ahaz that the plot against Judah would not succeed he also gave him a rare opportunity to ask God for any sign whatsoever that would prove what God said was true. Ahaz said that he wouldn't test God but he wasn't being strong in his faith, he had already tested God's patience by putting his faith in the strength of Assyria. 

Jon Courson's Application Commentary - “The Lord will indeed give you a sign,” Isaiah said. The word “you” is plural. Therefore, it speaks not only to Ahaz, but to all humanity through all of history. You who feel threatened, intimidated, pressed upon, worried, anxious—the Lord will give you a sign: A virgin shall conceive and bear a Son whose name means “God with us.”

At least 700 years before Jesus birth God gave a sign for his people to know that he is with them back then and will be in the future when the Messiah finally arrives. 

The folly and sin of seeking hope in man's wisdom.

(Isaiah 7:17-25)

Israel and Syria are described as smoldering sticks that are not going to exist much longer. Both of these countries would lose their military strength and become useless for protection. In Ahaz' lifetime he would see the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel but Judah would still survive.

Isaiah 2:22 Don't put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?

Isaiah 8:13 Make the LORD of Heaven's Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble.

Assyria would prove to be the enemy of Judah and would destroy her but the promised survival of Judah would eventually lead to Hezekiah, a future Godly king that would lead the nation back to God.

God with us restores our hope.

The loss of "God with us" back in the Garden of Eden was restored for brief moments in the history of God's people. 

God was with his people when he:

• Moved them to Egypt to save them from famine. 
• Took them out of Egypt and made a nation of them.
• Gave them unexplainable military might.

God has always been with a chosen people that have known his presence in their lives but now we can celebrate the most wonderful news of "God with us" in a more personal way.

Matthew 1:22-23  All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

The son of God came as it was promised long ago to give us victory over our enemy! King Ahaz received the promise of victory over his enemy and now with the arrival of Jesus we can celebrate our own victory.

The New Testament writers quoted Isaiah more than any other prophet, Matthew makes the connection with the prophecies of Isaiah at least a dozen times to prove that Jesus is our God and also our savior.

God with us gives us eternal hope

The "God with us" doesn't have to end! God is with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we put our hope in Jesus, our Messiah, we will receive God with us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5:5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

God's chosen people have never deserved the privilege that God has offered to us. We don't deserve it any more than the people we read about in the Old Testament. Our friendship with God has been restored by God's mercy and grace through our savior so that we can have victory over our enemy because God is with us. (Romans 5:1-11)

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The Priest Govern God's People

God's people need leaders to show them how to be clean and acceptable to God.

Leviticus 10:10-11 You must distinguish between what is sacred and what is common, between what is ceremonially unclean and what is clean. 11 And you must teach the Israelites all the decrees that the LORD has given them through Moses."

Leviticus 18:3-4 So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life. 4 You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 19:1-2, 37 The LORD also said to Moses, 2 "Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. "You must be careful to keep all of my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice. I am the LORD."

Also see: Leviticus 20:23-24, 26 and Leviticus 22:31-33

Malachi 2:5-7  “The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. 

6  They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin.  7  “The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies."

---

From the very beginning God's people have wanted to do things their own way, man chose to eat what he wanted (Genesis 3:1-19), which led to choosing how he wanted to worship (Genesis 4:1-16), which eventually led to total wickedness and evil until God destroyed the planet. (Genesis 6:5)

But wait, there's more, we are so bad that even after the flood the world rebelled again very quickly. The grand children of Noah are probably around to tell their children and grandchildren about God's judgment yet they still refused to do what God told them to do. (Genesis 11:1-9) 

So God chose one man from out of the millions of people on earth to begin a new people that would be called out of slavery to live by a different set of rules that govern how they worship, how they treated each other and even what they were allowed to eat.

The book of Leviticus tells us about the priest and the rules that they would use to govern God's people. God would be their king and the priest would govern under his authority. The nation of Israel would have a far better king that any other nation but later on they would demand to be like the other nations with their imperfect kings. (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

Deuteronomy 28:9-10 “If you obey the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways, the LORD will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. 10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.

It may be difficult to read every rule of the book of Leviticus in your quiet time, but don't worry, you don't need to know all of the rules but you do need to be aware of the rules and understand the purpose of them. (The Threefold Use of the Law ligonier.org)

God wanted a distinct people that were set apart, eager to love what he loves, a people that would show their loyalty to him and showed his goodness to the rest of the world. (Psalm 1:2, 40:8, 119:162, Hebrews 8:9-10)

The priest are supposed to use the rules that God gave even though some of them don't make any sense from our point of view. We might wonder:

• Why would it make you unclean to kill an animal to make dinner but killing an animal at the altar in the temple made you clean?
• Why would God say that you cannot eat a pig or a horse but you can eat a cow? 
• Why would God say that normal physical relations between a husband and his wife make them unclean? 
• Why would a skin disease that you did nothing to cause be treated like you were being punished?

God wants us to do what he tells us to do just because he said to do it! The best reason for some of these rules is just so that you can prove your allegiance to the God that saved you from slavery and gave you your freedom. The best way to prove your belief in God and your loyalty to him is to conform your thinking to God's standards even when the rules don't make sense. (John 14:21-24)

God never tells Israel why something is clean or unclean. Think about God’s choice of Israel as a nation. Is there some reason why God chose Israel as opposed to the Canaanites? Did he choose the Israelites because they were so spiritually pure? It was just God’s choice. -The Clean and Unclean on Bible.org

The book of Leviticus helps us know that God's people were supposed to be a peculiar kingdom, their government organization and the ruling hierarchy would be very different, their laws would be peculiar, their worship and even what they would not eat would be peculiar.

God's people would be led by ordinary men that God set apart as holy despite their shortcomings, once again it is a matter of God said so and that should settle it. They had a sacred responsibility that required more of them, they couldn't perform their duties and live to tell about it if they were ceremonially unclean, higher privilege required higher standards. (Luke 12:48)

Jesus came to be our High Priest so that we can all be priest that do God's work, we are to go to the Holy of Holies to ask for forgiveness, we are to carry out the task of revealing God to the rest of the world as a royal ambassador and we are supposed to take a stand for holiness in this unclean world. (2 Corinthians 5:20 / 1 Peter 1:15, 2:5, 2:9-10)

If we live up to the task we have been given then the world around us will take notice and check us out to see why we are not conformed to this world. (Romans 12:2)

If God's people would cooperate with him and live by his rules, then his glory and honor would be seen and praised around the world, just as it will be at the end of time. 

God's people in the church era are all priest that have the awesome privilege to work under the great High Priest, the heart and purpose of the Old Testament priestly ministry should be adopted by each of us. 

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The Priest Begin To Fail

God's people will never measure up without obeying him.

Leviticus 10:1-3 Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the LORD by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded.

2 So fire blazed forth from the LORD's presence and burned them up, and they died there before the LORD.

3 Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD meant when he said, 'I will display my holiness through those who come near me. I will display my glory before all the people.'" And Aaron was silent.

---

It is amazing how quick the gift of the priesthood and the benefits of "God with us" that the priesthood made possible was turned into a curse. It's no different than the way we treated the presence of God in Eden or how God's people turned their abundance in the promised land into a curse.

In the previous post we saw that God's glory was displayed when God's people were obedient in worshipping him but, like everything else that God gives us, we will see today that God's good gifts have always been rejected or perverted. 

It seems like Nadab and Abihu worked together in their sinful actions. Instead of listening to God and worshipping him correctly they found within each other the same prideful spirit that would make them boldly disobey God. Disobedience in general is a bad thing but to disobey God in worship is a very callous behavior that God has already addressed on several occasions. 

The two dead priest had many advantages in their lifetime, they were there when God rescued his people from Egypt, they were there when the Egyptians drowned, they were there when God descended on Mount Sinai and they were there when God shared a covenant meal with them. (Exodus 24:1-18) They were also there when their father made the golden calf for the people to worship.

 A casual reading of the story in Leviticus 10 doesn't make it very clear just how wrong their actions were. This list compiled from the Warren Wiersbe Bible Commentary shows us clearly how wrong their behavior was:

• They were the wrong people to be handling the incense and presenting it to the Lord. This was the task of their father, the high priest. (Exodus 30:7–10). 
• They also used the wrong instruments, their own censers instead of the censer of the high priest, sanctified by the special anointing oil. (Exodus 40:9). 
• They acted at the wrong time, for it was only on the annual day of Atonement that the high priest was permitted to take incense into the Holy of Holies, and even then he had to submit to a special ritual. (Leviticus 16:1)
• They acted under the wrong authority. They didn’t consult with Moses or their father, nor did they seek to follow the Word of God, which Moses had received. 
• They used the wrong fire, what Scripture calls "strange fire". The high priest was commanded to burn the incense on coals taken from the brazen altar. (Leviticus 16:12) 

Serving God isn't something to be done by our own rules and by our own power. We cannot bring honor to God by our disobedience. If we truly believe that God is perfect and his ways are perfect then we should seek to follow his perfect ways so that we will become more like him.

We can't explain adequately why God gave Aaron a second chance to worship correctly (Exodus 32:1-25), a mercy that was also extended to Cain (Genesis 4:1-16) but Nadab and Abihu were killed immediately just as we also see in the early church. (Acts 5:1-11)

Divine justice is difficult for us to understand, from our point of view it seems to be administered unfairly, only God knows why mercy and grace are given in some circumstances but not always. God has the right to give to any of us whatever he wants and we have no right to complain or accuse him. (Matthew 20:1-16)

Luke 12:5 But I'll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he's the one to fear.

Our world has reduced God to love and mercy so that they, and most of the church as well, can avoid the attributes of God that are seen as less perfect than the others. Jesus himself made it clear without apology that God's perfections includes his wrath, his justice and the right to elect those that would know him and be with him for eternity.

The failure of the Old Testament priest shows us the need that couldn't be met by an imperfect High Priest. The failures of the Old Testament priest grew so much that when Jesus comes to earth the High Priest and the priest under him are only holy in their own eyes.

1 Corinthians 10:11-13 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. 12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

God's word shows us plenty of stories of human failure and tragedy so that we can learn from their mistakes and live for him. God knows that we will not turn from our own ways until we lose hope in our ways. 

The hope that the world gives is nothing more than hype. Their lies will get us nowhere in this life and it cannot stand next to the hope of the gospel that gives us a right relationship with God despite our failures.

Do you know the perfect High Priest that has the power to save and give you peace with God?

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The Priest Begin Their Work

God draws near when his people worship him correctly.

Leviticus 8:34 Everything we have done today was commanded by the LORD in order to purify you, making you right with him.

Leviticus 9:5-7 So the people presented all these things at the entrance of the Tabernacle, just as Moses had commanded. Then the whole community came forward and stood before the LORD.

6 And Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded you to do so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you." 7 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering to purify yourself and the people. Then present the offerings of the people to purify them, making them right with the LORD, just as he has commanded."

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We saw in the previous post that the Priest are supposed to be radically different people, holy, cleansed and anointed for service. We learned that God's people today are supposed to be just as radically different so that they can also serve God and the people around them. We should be like priest working under the leadership of our Great High Priest.

A seven day ordination ceremony was completed in that post and now in our scripture today it is time to begin on the eighth day. The eighth day is used in the Bible to suggest the beginning of something new, a day of completion of a process having to do with dedication, purification or cleansing.

It is a long process to become ceremonially clean, imagine going through the same routine for seven days without anything miraculous happening, hopefully the priest realized through this long process how incredibly far away we are from God's standards and how serious he is about our holiness.

There must have been great anticipation as the priest finally begin their work. The reason they told Pharaoh that they needed to leave Egypt was so that they could worship God but they had no idea that it would be delayed for so long and what would be involved. 

They are probably thinking about the last time the glory of the Lord was seen. God took the first step towards his people when the Tabernacle was completed and now it is time for his people to draw near to him.

But they must have been a little nervous about this worship service, this seems to be the first worship service since the golden calf worship experience, when three thousand people died. God's people were quick to go back to the way of worship they learned from the Egyptians despite the miracles that God performed that proved that the Egyptian gods were no God at all.

God's Awesome Glory Revealed

Leviticus 9:22-24 After that, Aaron raised his hands toward the people and blessed them. Then, after presenting the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, he stepped down from the altar. 23 Then Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle, and when they came back out, they blessed the people again, and the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole community. 24 Fire blazed forth from the LORD's presence and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When the people saw this, they shouted with joy and fell face down on the ground.

God's people listened to God when he told them how to worship and because they did they saw God's approval manifest among them. Back in the day, it was much easier to know when God accepts your offering, his pleasure was displayed in powerful ways that cannot be mistaken. 

The people that God chose to be his own people have connected with him in a real and personal way. It is interesting that the awesome display of God's power somehow did not cause fear, this must be a sign that the people were forgiven of their sins and they knew they were in right standing with God.

The pagan nations around them had priests and sacrifices, but they didn’t have the glory of God.

-Warren Wiersbe Old Testament Commentary

If God's people performed these rituals with the proper attitude then they would see the glory of God and be assured that their God is real, he is loving and he is powerful to protect them. This should have given them great courage when it comes time to enter the Promised Land.

God's word has made it clear that we need an intercessor to allow us to have an intimate relationship with our holy God. The picture of the High Priest in the Old Testament points to the ultimate fulfillment of the High Priest.

God's Perfect High Priest Revealed

Matthew 24:30-31 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world-from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

The ultimate revelation of God's glory is on the way! Do you have a great High Priest that will allow you to experience this magnificent occasion with great joy or will you meet him in anguish? Are you set apart as one of his children so that you can be with him forever in the Promised Land? 

My High Priest is also the holy sacrifice for my sins, he allowed himself to be brutally murdered to satisfy the holy justice of God so that I can have peace with God. Although I have not attained it yet, my position in Jesus is holy because the most holy sacrifice was made for me. (Deuteronomy 33:3, Revelation 1:6, 5:10)

Because of this, I am commanded to live a holy life, I am a priest serving under the Great High Priest to point others to God. I must be free from sin, holy and set apart so that I won't be disqualified to serve. (1 Peter 1:15-16, John 17:19, Titus 2:14)

My position as a royal priest was given to me so that I can be the connection between Heaven and Earth that points others to God's glory so that he will also be revealed to them. (1 Peter 2:5, 9-10)

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The Priest

My relationship with God requires a great High Priest.

Leviticus 8:1-5 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 "Bring Aaron and his sons, along with their sacred garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of bread made without yeast, 3 and call the entire community of Israel together at the entrance of the Tabernacle." 

4 So Moses followed the LORD's instructions, and the whole community assembled at the Tabernacle entrance. 5 Moses announced to them, "This is what the LORD has commanded us to do!"

Exodus 28:1-3 "Call for your brother, Aaron, and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Set them apart from the rest of the people of Israel so they may minister to me and be my priests. 

2 Make sacred garments for Aaron that are glorious and beautiful. 3 Instruct all the skilled craftsmen whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom. Have them make garments for Aaron that will distinguish him as a priest set apart for my service.

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When we think of the word priest we think of a messy occupation that would gross us out if we had to do it today, we think that priest are no longer needed and we are so thankful that we don't need to provide an animal sacrifice anymore. But the work of the priest is much more than that, we need to expand our thinking of who a priest is and what they do so that we can see why we still need priest today.

The history of God's priest in the Bible shows us that the qualifications for the job has changed many times. The first time that the function of a priest is mentioned is way back in the garden when God shed the blood of animals to extend forgiveness and to make clothing for Adm and Eve. 

Outside of the garden a little later Cain and Abel would be acting as their own priest and then Noah, Abram, Isaac, Jacob and also Job were all making sacrifices to God. First the Bible shows us individuals functioning as their own priest and then later it shows us the head of the family doing this work. (Genesis 8:20, 12:7, 13:4 26:25, 31:54, Job 1:5).

After God chose a people for himself he gave them rules about how to live a new way to please him that would make them different from the rest of the world. They would have a new worldview, a new civilized way of loving God and their neighbor, new food rules and also new rules about how to worship.

God's rules for worship began with the worship leaders back in the book of Exodus, next he gave them his rules about how to worship, including the sacrifices in Leviticus 1-7, and now they are ready to ordain the first High Priest and the first priests that will serve under him.

The preparations for the ordination:

• Washed (Leviticus 8:6)
• High Priest Garments (Leviticus 8:7-9)
• Anointing (Leviticus 8:10-12)
• Priest Garments (Leviticus 8:13)

The offerings for ordination:

• Sin offering (Leviticus 8:14),
• Burnt offering (Leviticus 8:18)
• Ordination offering (Leviticus 8:22)
• Wave offering (Leviticus 8:25-29)

God's priest are ordinary men that need to be forgiven and cleansed before they can put on their priestly garments. The priest must be sanctified by the Sin Offering and the Burnt Offering before their special Ordination Offering and Wave Offering. These rituals would last for seven days and Aaron and his sons would have to stay at the Tabernacle the whole time.

The fact that Aaron was chosen as the first High Priest is an amazing symbol of God's mercy and grace, as the leader of God's people while Moses was away, Aaron led the people to idol worship. But instead of being disqualified, by God's grace he was elevated to a position of honor that he didn't deserve.

Malachi 2:5-7  “The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. 

6  They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin.  7  “The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies."

God's chosen people (the nation) would have a chosen people (the priest) to be the ambassador between God and his people. They will lead them in worship, teach them truth and govern their everyday life. The priest would focus on helping the people maintain a clean and holy life that would please God and bring him glory that would be seen among the nations.

There Is A New High Priest

Hebrews 9:11-12 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood-not the blood of goats and calves-he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

As I said earlier in this post, the priesthood has changed, it was originally the work of the individual or the head of the family, later it became an official occupation of a few men but now it has changed again. Because of Jesus the priesthood that God initiated in Exodus and Leviticus is now obsolete.

Jesus would die as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, but he wasn't just the perfect lamb that covered our sins, because of his sacrifice and resurrection from the dead he is now our ultimate High Priest that was chosen by God and because of his perfect obedience he is now interceding for us at God's throne in Heaven.

If you know your Bible a little bit you may wonder "how can Jesus become the High Priest if he is from the tribe of Judah? Didn't the priest come from the tribe of Levi?"

Melchizedek and the Priesthood of Christ is a great essay that explains how and why Jesus replaced Aaron's lineage. Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the High Priest, he met all of the credentials, but he came from the tribe of Judah through the lineage of the kings. (Psalm 110:1-7, Hebrews 7:11-28)

God's People Serve As Priest

1 Peter 2:9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

All of God's children are a chosen people that live as members of a holy nation that serve as royal priest so that the people that are not a part of this holy nation can see the goodness of God.

I think that it is a shame that most of us think about ourselves when we hear that we are priest or we hear about the priesthood of the believers. We think about the fact that we don't need to go through another human in order to talk to God or to receive forgiveness. But if we are true to the original priest in the Old Testament and apply their job description to ourselves then we will see things differently.

Direct access to God is just one of the benefits that we have as priest that are working under the great High Priest.

We are supposed to be:

• A set apart people that live to serve God and others.
• A light to the dark world around us so that they can God's goodness.
• A blessing to our neighbors and family, helping them to know how to please God.
• A multiplying people, making more and more priest to serve God and others.
• An encouraging people, nudging others to good works and holiness.

Salvation is a free gift but, as you can see from this list, it is so much more than a fire insurance policy. Obedience to God's commands should be a natural reaction when you understand how tremendously ugly your sin is next to God's holy standard. If you don't feel an urgency to live God's way then you may not be his child.

Titus 2:14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. 

1 Peter 1:15-16 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, "You must be holy because I am holy."

The proper Old Testament priest were radically different people, holy, cleansed and anointed for service. Shouldn't we be just as committed to the same high standards? 

The Old Testament commands to be holy are repeated in the New Testament so why don't we consider holiness as a requirement in our own lives?

RELATED ARTICLES

In the Beginning God Created a Priest (crossway.org)

Were Adam and Eve Priests in Eden? (bibleproject.com)

10 Things You Should Know about the Priesthood of Believers (crossway.org)