Sun.’s Devo - The Feasts

Read: Leviticus 22:17-23:44; Mark 9:30-10:12; Psalm 44:1-8; Proverbs 10:19 God gave them instructions about what kinds of offerings would be acceptable and which would not. Voluntary offerings had a wider category than sin offerings and covenant offerings. He told them all of this before he told them about his feasts when they would bring the offerings. The feasts were set times God chose to meet with his people. They would be rehearsals for events that would happen on these days then and in the future. They were looking forward to the future. The feasts were in three different harvesting seasons. The Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits were in the season of the wheat harvest in the spring. It looked forward and was a shadow of Jesus death, burial and resurrection. The next feast was Pentecost or Feast of Weeks. It was 50 days later and celebrated the barley harvest. It was looking forward to the day that God would give his Holy Spirit to the Church. The last three feasts were in the fall. They were Roshashana or Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippor or Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles. They look to the events of the Rapture, the Judgement Day and the Second Coming of Christ. Every year they were to celebrate these feasts exactly like God said because the details explained what would happen when they were manifested in the future. Every year the events at the time would give them hints to his plans. We still see that today. We see the harvest of souls in the spring and in the fall around the events we call Easter and Thanksgiving. We go through the seasons of planting seed and watering the seed of the Word in people’s hearts. During those times it doesn’t look like anything is happening because it is happening in the heart. We have to be patient farmers and wait for harvest times. But in the last days the harvest will come in such abundance that the plowman will overtake the sower. People will be coming into the kingdom all year long. That is what we are entering into right now! In Mark, we see Jesus tell his disciples again that he is about to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies, and killed, but in three days he would rise from the dead. Once again, they didn’t understand this because they had it in their minds just how it was going to happen. They were going to go to Jerusalem and Jesus was going to become the king of the Jews just like the prophets said. Jesus perceived that his disciples had been discussing who would be the greatest in the Kingdom that Jesus was about to set up. Jesus sat them down and explained that his kingdom was an upside down kingdom and the greatest would be the servant. Whoever welcomed and honored the least or smallest would be welcoming and honoring him and his father. John told him that someone else had been caught casting out demons in his name and they made him stop. Jesus told him to let the man use his name to do a miracle because it was impossible to use his name for good and then to speak evil of him. He warned them of the punishment of causing someone else to sin or be deceived. The penalty was hell. In the end our works will all be tested with fire and what in our lives will come through the fire as gold or will be burned up as wood, hay and stubble. The Pharisees came to Jesus with a trick question. They wanted to know if a man should divorce his wife. The law of Moses clearly gives a man the right to do this if he writes her a writ of divorcement legally taking care of her expenses. The way they were divorcing then was just putting their wives out and not doing it legally and taking no responsibility for their livelihood. Jesus explained that God gave them the way out only because their hearts were hard and they could not choose to love or forgive. Divorce was never God’s will. Since they were not legally divorcing their wives, they were causing both parties to commit adultery. Lord, may we honor the least and choose to serve. Advancement in your kingdom comes from you and you look at the heart. May our hearts be broken for others and for You.

Sat.’s Devo- The Office of the Priest

Read: Leviticus 20:22-22:16; Mark 9:1-29; Psalm 43:1-5; Proverb 10:18 The Lord warned the Israelites not to do the wicked things that the previous people had done. They cross-bred, sacrificed children, worshipped many gods and participated in many other detestable things that the Lord hated. If they did these things the land would literally vomit or spew them out. God told his children that they were not to eat unholy animals but make a distinction between what is holy and what is not. They were not to consult mediums or people who consult spirits of the dead. This means that we cannot take into our minds and spirits any other spirit but Christ. Our food is God’s Word, not the word of anyone who is not of Christ. God gave the priests even more instructions because these were the people who would minister to Him for the people. It was extremely important that they stay close to the Lord and keep themselves holy. They were not to touch a dead person unless they were their own flesh and blood. To me this means that we are not to have fellowship with darkness unless that darkness is in our own family. They are the ones we are responsible for. They were not to even marry a woman who was not a virgin. This speaks of us not making a covenant with anything that has been defiled. The high priest has the highest position and Jesus became our high priest. He was not to ever leave his hair uncombed or tear his clothing. Hair has to do with the covering on our head. God was Jesus’ covering. Jesus spent hours with his Father getting his instructions. He was totally submitted to his authority. None of Jesus’ clothing was torn. This would show blasphemy. The priests would tear their robes to protest something that opposed God. The high priest was to only marry a virgin which is what the Bride of Christ will be. She will be dressed in white and pure. The high priest was to be spotless and blameless. Jesus had no sin; he was the spotless lamb slain for the sin of the world. God told Aaron that he and his sons were to be very careful with the sacred gifts that the people gave to him. The priests that offered the people’s gifts had to be clean in their hearts. They had to be completely pure in what they did with the gifts because they were responsible for the gifts are offered to God. I think about our gifts we bring to our churches. We give them to the Lord, but it is the staff of the church that must decide how to use that money for God’s purposes. It is not our responsibility to make sure they do this; it is theirs. They will be responsible for using God’s money rightly. The gifts given to the priests were only to be consumed by them and not any other person who was not a priest. God’s gifts are for his body of priests and are not for non-believers. I think this is talking about our spiritual gifts. Jesus talked about throwing your pearls before swine. The easiest way not to do this is to walk in the spirit and then you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh and you will be doing God’s will. Anyone who violates this was required to pay the priests 20% plus what he stole. I think there is about to be a great reset of the balance as the ones who have stolen the children’s food are going to have to repay. In Mark, Jesus had just asked his disciples who they thought he was. They answered correctly so he took the three that were his closest up on a mountain and showed him his glory. Elijah and Moses stood with him. Elijah stood for the prophets and Moses stood for the law. Both of these agree that Jesus is Lord. God spoke from heaven and told his disciples that, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.” Only Jesus remained on the mountain. Jesus told them not to tell anyone what they had just seen until he had risen from the dead. They didn’t get the “rising from the dead” part but they did keep it to themselves. They asked him why the scriptures said that Elijah had to come before the Messiah came since they didn’t see Elijah before Jesus had shown up. Jesus explained that he did come. He came in the body of John the Baptist. When they returned to the people, they were all gathered around a boy who had an evil spirit that the disciples had been unable to cast out. Jesus commented that they were a faithless generation. The demon immediately manifested in the boy. Jesus turned to the father and demanded that the father have faith. The man declared his faith and prayed for even more faith. Jesus cast the demon out because the crowd was growing. When the disciples asked him later why they couldn’t cast out the demon, he told them that this kind can be cast out only by prayer and fasting. In other words, the person casting out this kind of demon must come prayed up and empty of the world. Lord, we see through a glass darkly. Help us to see more clearly. May we be ready for every task you send us on filled with the Holy Spirit and power. Empty us of ourselves.

Fri.’s Devo - Holiness to Personal Conduct

Read: Leviticus 19:1-20:21; Mark 8:11-38; Psalm 42:1-11; Proverbs 10:17 God called the people to holiness because He was holy. It wasn’t that it was impossible to obey these laws because Joshua and Moses and many of the people did obey the law. It was that the law could only cover their sins. It could not take away the guilt feelings. It was a perpetual sacrifice that they had to do year after year. They were always reminded of their sin. The law could not change their hearts. It was an act of their will. It is an act of our will also to accept Jesus and turn from our sins but only the blood of Jesus takes away sin and cleanses our hearts. Jesus’ sacrifice was a total finish to all the sacrificing we will ever need to do. It was a finished work and has power to save, deliver, heal, set free and empower us to live holy lives. We also have the Holy Spirit that seals us and empowers us to be witnesses. Some of the things that stood out to me was God’s compassion for the poor, his insistence on judging fairly and his love for family and right relationships. God also hated mixture because that meant defilement whether it was in material things or living things. Even the land they were going to was defiled so they couldn’t eat fruit from trees they planted for five years. The fourth year the fruit was to be consecrated to the Lord and in the fifth year it could be eaten. The fifth year speaks of redemption. God also hates unfair business deals. He hates sacrificing children to Molech. This was spiritual prostitution which would cause the families to be cut off from the community. Putting trust in anything but the Lord would bring the same punishment. It was a capital offense to not honor your parents, to commit adultery or to have sex with anyone except your spouse. One of them was punishable by fire and that was to have sex with both mother and daughter. All of these had to be put to death before a life could be formed from their union. Some of the sexual offenses reaped death, others were punished by being cut off from the community and others by becoming sterile and unable to produce life. I see these as three penalties for sin. The highest level of sin brings eternal death, the next brings separation from God and others and the lowest level means we will not produce life. None of them are good. Righteousness through Jesus brings us the opposite: eternal life, an invitation to God’s throne and right relationship with him, and the ability to spread the life Jesus has given us to others. In Mark, Jesus was exasperated that the teachers of the law, the Pharisees kept asking him for a sign from heaven that he was the Messiah. Jesus told them that no sign would be given them and yet everything Jesus did was a sign, it just wasn’t the one they wanted to see. Having eyes, they could not see. In the boat, Jesus talked to his disciples about the wrong teaching (the yeast) of the Pharisees. Then Jesus reminded them of the bread that he gave them. It had yeast and yet it multiplied into an abundance for good. The Pharisee’s bread brought death and lack. The number of Jesus’ leftovers were 12 and 7. Twelve speaks of government and seven speaks of complete. God’s government and his kingdom that Jesus was bringing was perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Jesus healed a man who saw in part until Jesus touched him again and then he saw clearly. This is the process of the kingdom. It comes to us in part but one day we will see face to face. Jesus asked his disciples who people thought that he was. Then he asked them who they thought he was. The people saw in part but they saw clearly. Peter proclaimed, “You are the Messiah.” Jesus mission was complete. He came to open the eyes of a remnant who would share it to the world once he was gone. He then told them that he would die and rise from the grave three days later. Peter had a hard time with this but Jesus rebuked him and the Satanic spirit that was speaking through him. He told Peter that he was not using his spiritual eyes to see. Jesus called to anyone who would listen and told them that they would have to take up their cross also if they wanted to save their soul. He was giving his mantle and commission to whoever would take it. Lord, may we take your mantle and wear it without any fear of our earthly lives. We are living for eternity.

Thurs.’s Devo - Mixture

Read: Leviticus 16:29-18:30; Mark 7:24-8:10; Psalm 41:1-13; Proverbs 10:15-16 The tenth day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It is a day all Israel was to fast and offer sacrifices to purify themselves and their nation. It was a day of atonement and the only day the high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies to pray for the welfare of the nations. God had given them laws pertaining how he wanted them to offer sacrifices to him and if a foreigner that lived among them did it differently, they were to cut them off from their community. To eat or drink blood in any form is a sin and that person must be cut off from their community. God explained that the life of the body is in the blood. They were to offer living animals and their blood was to be given in exchange for their life. The nations that served other gods drank the blood of the living while the sacrifice was still living. This is detestable and God did not want them to do that in any way. If they killed an animal while hunting, they were to drain the blood and bury it because that blood represented that animal. God does not want us mixing bloods or semen; both produce life and he wants life to be sacred and holy. God gave a whole list of people that a man was not to have sexual relations with because it would mix bloods that were not to be mixed. Life is in the blood and it was our atonement. Jesus’ blood was pure and undefiled and we are to be an example of this. God told them that the land they were going to take was full of people who had mixed bloods to produce giants and powerful people. This was not his plan and not what he wanted of his set apart ones. The land they were going into was full of people who were giants and had so mixed their DNA with animals and creatures that they had produced their own version of humanity. God wanted all of that erased from the earth. He wanted humanity to return to his design. In Mark, Jesus is approached by a Syrian Phoenician woman who had a daughter that was possessed by an evil spirit. Jesus used this woman to teach the people about how to move God’s hand. Jesus explained that he had come first to the Jews, but her answer moved his heart. She understood she was not the native born, but she was willing to get the scraps that fell from the children’s plates. In other words, she knew there was more than enough and that God was bigger than just being a God to the Jews. Jesus commended her for her answer because truly he was sent to the world. He gladly answered her prayer. She was a forerunner to things to come. When Jesus died, his message went to the world. Jesus went to the coast of the Decapolis which was a circle of ten cities known as the “heathen circle”. He healed a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. He put his fingers into his ears and spit and touched his tongue with his own saliva. Jesus put his DNA inside this man’s mouth. It produced life! Jesus told the man’s ears to be opened. He could hear and the ligament of his tongue was loosed. Jesus told them not to spread this but they did. Another crowd had formed and the people became hungry. Jesus took seven loaves and a few fish and fed the 4,000. They picked up seven large baskets of leftovers. Once again, Jesus was showing his disciples that God was enough for all of their needs. The kingdom of God was for all people. Lord, help us to get the mixture of the world out of our lives. Help us to desire holiness in every area of our lives. Show us what does not please you and cleanse our thoughts. May we walk in your holiness and truth.

Tues.’s Devo - Ceremony for Cleansing

Read: Leviticus 14:1-57; Mark 6:30-56; Psalm 40:1-10; Proverbs 10:11-12 There was a ceremony that was to be done over anyone who was cleansed of leprosy. This was the ceremony that Jesus told the men he healed of leprosy to go to the priest and let him do. The truth was that this ceremony had never been done because no one had ever been healed of leprosy. Only the blood of Jesus can take away our sins. This was the ceremony: they were to take two live birds that were clean, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn and a hyssop branch. One bird was to be slaughtered over a clay pot filled with fresh water. The live bird, the wood, the yarn and the branch was to be dipped into the blood and that blood was to be sprinkled seven times on the person purified. The live bird was to be released in an open filed to fly away. The birds represented Jesus’ death and resurrection. All of the objects were present at the cross. The person being purified is anyone who comes to Jesus to be cleansed of their sins. All his hair was then shaved and his clothes washed. That is the picture of sanctification. All our sins are gone. On the eighth day, the purified people were to bring a sacrifice and they were presented before the Lord clean. A sacrifice is done and its blood is placed on the lobe of the right ear, the right thumb and the right big toe of the person being cleansed. The eight day begins the new week of that person’s salvation. They are born again and start their week as a new person - a priest of the Lord. They are given the same ceremony as a priest because they are a priest to the Lord now. He is also anointed with oil for service. The Lord told them that when they came to the promised land of Canaan, He might contaminate some of the houses with leprosy so they would need to empty the houses so that the priests could go in and examine them. If there is leprosy in the house, it must be left in quarantine for seven days. If after the seven days, the leprosy has spread, they were to scrape the entire house and dump the scrapings outside the town. Other stone were to be brought in to replace the others and the walls replastered. If leprosy still grows there, the whole house is to be taken down and the stones taken out of town and designated as unclean. This is a picture of a house built of wrong teachings and curses. It will never prosper but has to be totally dismantled with new stones, new words, new covenants. It is like a family or a church that turns into a cult and there is nothing worth saving. If the leprosy doesn’t return, then the house is purified by the same ceremony of the birds and it is now clean. Our house is also our body. God has given us a way to totally change and restructure ourselves through his blood, but we have to change the stones or the doctrines that have supported us. If we will do that then God can totally make a new structure for us. In Mark, Jesus had been preaching all day so the disciples advised Jesus to let the people go home to eat. Jesus asked them to feed the crowd. They were baffled and told Jesus it would take months to earn enough money to feed this huge crowd. So Jesus asked them what they did have. They could scrape up five loaves and two fish. Jesus then showed them how it doesn’t matter how little you have or how big the problem was. If you just give what you have, God can multiply it. God did multiply their gift and the bread and fish fed 5,000 men plus their families. If that wasn’t enough to boost their faith, that night the disciples were in the boat alone on their way back across the sea to the land of the demoniac Jesus had set free the last time. Once again they met with a demonic force trying to keep them away. Jesus was on the mountain praying and saw with his spiritual eyes what was going on out in the sea. He walked on the water to the other side but was sighted by the disciples. They called out for help and he came over to the boat. The minute he stepped into he boat, the waves calmed. When they got to Gennesaret, the people that had thrown him out the last time were lining the shore to be healed. The testimony of the demoniac had done its work. Lord, help us to never see the little we have but help us to see the greatness of our God. All you ask of us is what we have and you can multiply our gift to reach thousands. You can multiply our prayers to reach thousands. Great are You Lord!

Mon.’s Devo- Laws of Leprosy

Read: Leviticus 13:1-59; Mark 6:1-29; Psalm 39:1-13; Proverbs 10:10 Skin diseases have to do with sins of the flesh. Once we come to the cross and are cleansed of our sins, we are completely made whole. We are a new creature. What happens after that is determines by this picture of skin diseases. The priest that we come to is Jesus. We come for him to examine our hearts. If he finds roots of bitterness and spreading diseases caused by unrepented sins, he pronounces us unclean and we must be put out of service until we repent. Bitterness like a leprosy is spreadable and it will spread to everyone we talk to. Out of the heart the mouth speaks. No matter how much of the body is covered with leprosy, as long as it is not contagious, they are clean. It will turn white when this happens showing that though your sins be as scarlet, they will be white as snow. If there is still open sores, they are unclean which means they have things they have not dealt with and put under the blood of Jesus. When a person is clean the priest will declare, “you are clean!” That goes for boils, burns and sores on the head or chin. If there was mildew or leprosy on the clothes, the priest would take the article and watch it to see if it spread. The garment would be washed and if the leprosy was cleansed from it, it would be clean but if it came back, after 7 days, the garment must be burned. This has to do with our works. If our works are unclean at the end of our lives, they will be burned up. The seven days have to do with our lifespan. It gives us three types of cloth that we are made from: woolen, linen or leather. Woolen is probably the pliable people whose hearts can be softened. The linen are the righteous and the leather are the hard of hearts. In Mark, Jesus went back to his hometown and they had a hard time believing he was anything but a carpenter, Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon. Because of their unbelief, Jesus couldn’t do many miracles there. Jesus began training his disciples to go out two by two to do the things they had seen him do. Word about Jesus and all he was doing reached the king, Herod Antipas. He was afraid because he thought he was John the Baptist that he had had beheaded to please his wife. His wife, Herodias had hated John the Baptist because he told her new husband, Herod that it was unlawful for him to have married her since she was his brother’s wife. She didn’t like being told she was wrong so she plotted John’s death. Herod had been out-witted by his unlawful wife and it had cost John his head, so Jesus’ appearance was a big threat to him. Lord, give us eyes to see what is happening in the world and how to respond correctly to it.

Sun.’s Devo - Purification

Read: Leviticus 11:1-12:8; Mark 5:21-43; Psalm 38:1-22; Proverbs 10:8-9 God gave the laws for that day that would speak of spiritual things in our day. In Romans 7:14 it says, “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” So the law is spiritual for us. Knowing this we can look at God’s law for the food they could eat and learn what he is telling us to eat spiritually. We are to eat things that are spiritually balanced (split hoofs). We are also suppose to mull over a doctrine until we understand it which would be like chewing the cud. Animals from the water were to have both fins and scaled for them to be able to eat. To us that means that we need to be balanced (fins) and have a spiritual covering (scales). They were not to eat birds of prey. We are not to spiritually consume things that are bought at others expense. Insects with wings to fly but walk on the ground were prohibited unless they had jointed legs and could jump. I think of this as spiritual laws that are not given power to implement. The scribes and the Pharisees were like these. They had the law but no understanding to teach them so others could benefit. If they touched the dead carcasses of the animals that were forbidden, it would make them unclean also. If they did touch one they had to wash their clothes and be unclean until evening which started the new day. If any of these small unclean animals fell into a clay pot, everything in the pot would be defiled. The pot had to be smashed and anything it touched would be defiled. People are the clay pots and if a demon is in a person, they have to be broken, repent and be cleansed. Their whole surroundings have to be cleansed whether that means changing friends or circumstances. The animals with many feet that scurry around or crawl on their bellies were unclean because they moved like Satan does. He is always running from being identified and everything he does is earthly instead of spiritually freeing. When a woman gave birth to a son, she was unclean for 33 days and if she gave birth to a daughter, she was unclean for 66 days. My guess is that the male represented God so he got the number of God doubled. The daughter represented the church so she go the number of a man doubled. At the end of her time, she would bring a sacrifice of two turtledoves or two young pigeons and one would be for a burnt offering and the other for a purification offering. Then she would be clean. In Mark, Jesus left the country of the Gadarenes and went back across the water to the Jewish side. When he got there he was met by Jairus, the leader of the local synagogue. He fell at Jesus feet begging him to come and pray for her and heal her. On his way to Jairus’ house, a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, touched his hem and was healed. Jesus felt the healing virtue leave him and turned around and asked who had touched his robe. The woman admitted with fear and trembling. Jesus told her that her faith had made her whole and she was to go in peace and be made whole. Why did Jesus single this woman out? I think it was because she was a well-known outcast because of her bleeding. Jesus wanted to let everyone know that this woman was now healed and could now enter the sanctuary and be accepted back into society. While Jesus was talking to this woman, news came that the daughter was dead. Jesus told Jairus, “Don’t be afraid, just have faith.” Jairus had just witnessed what this woman’s faith had done for her, so that had to help him with his. Jesus took Peter, James and John with him to the house. He arrived amidst the mourners. When he told them to leave because she wasn’t dead, only sleeping, they laughed at him. Jesus took the girl’s parents and his three disciples into the room where she was lying. He took her hand and raised her up. She was twelve years old, the same number of years that the woman had been bleeding. Twelve is the number of government which was saying that God’s government was coming to earth and it had power over sickness and death. Lord, thank you that your power is greater than death. You are the resurrection and the life.

Sat.’s Devo - The Power of God

Read: Leviticus 9:7-10:20; Mark 4:26-5:20; Psalm 37:30-40; Proverbs 10:6-7 Moses told Aaron to first offer a sin offering and burnt offering to purify them as priest, then offer the same for the people. He did both of them just as he was told. Aaron stretched forth his hands over the people and blessed them then offered the sin offering, the burnt offering and the peace offering and stepped down. Moses and Aaron went it to the Tabernacle and when they came back out, they blessed the people again and the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community. Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu disobeyed and put incense in their burners and sprinkled the incense over the people. This was not what the Lord had said to do, so fire blazed forth and killed them both. Moses told Aaron that God would display his holiness through those who come near to him and his glory before all the people. Aaron watched in silence as Moses called Aaron’s cousins, Mishael and Elzaphan forward to carry the bodies outside the camp. Moses told Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s last sons that they were to show no signs of mourning for their brothers. If they did, they would also die. They continued the ceremony but Aaron or his sons could not eat the goat of the sin offering. When Moses found out he was outraged until Aaron explained that after what happened they didn’t think God would be pleased if they consumed the offering of this sin. Moses understood and was satisfied. In Mark, Jesus explained how the kingdom of God starts out really small like a seed but after time it grows by itself into a field of corn or a huge tree with many branches. Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, but explained the meaning to only his disciples. That night, he told his disciples to get in the boat and take him to the other side. Other boats followed but during the middle of the night a huge storm arose which began tearing up the boat and filling it with water. Jesus was asleep and they woke him up in a panic. Jesus awoke and silenced the waves and told them to be still. Then he asked the disciples why they were so afraid and had no faith. The disciples were now more afraid of him than the storm. When they reached the other side they met a man possessed by demons. He lived in the caves and when they tried to chain him up, he broke the chains. He spent his time wandering in the burial caves and hills howling and cutting himself with stones. He ran and fell at Jesus’ feet begging him not to torture him. He was full of the principality of the region. His name was Legion because there were so many of them. The demons begged to go into he swine so Jesus gave him permission to go into them. There were 2,000 of them and when the demons left the man and went into the pigs, they ran and jumped off the cliff and drowned in the water beneath. Fellow herdsmen saw what had happened and ran and told everyone in the area what they had witnessed. When the people arrived they saw the man who had been naked and possessed, sitting in clothes and perfectly sane. This scared them so much they begged Jesus to leave. It is amazing that they were more afraid of the miracle than the crazy man. Lord, prepare us to see the miracles you have in store for us to walk in.

Fri.’s Devo - The Sanctification of the Priests

Read: Leviticus 7:28-9:6; Mark 3:31-4:25; Psalm 37:12-29; Provers 10:5 The peace offering was brought by the person offering it and he was to wave the fat and the breast before the Lord. Then the priest was to burn the fat on the altar and Aaron and his sons could eat the breast. The right thigh was given to the priest who offered the blood and the fat. This concluded the instructions for the different offerings. Aaron and his sons where to bring their sacred garments and anoint the priests and their clothes with oil. A special offering was made for them. Aaron was to be washed with water then dressed in his special high priest garments. Moses anointing oil and anointed the Tabernacle and everything in it. This made them holy. He sprinkled the oil on the altar seven times and anointed all the utensils and furmiture. Aaron’s head was anointed. The anointing oil stands for the Holy Spirit that we are sealed with when we come to Christ and present ourselves to him. Moses offered an offering and sprinkled with altar with blood making the altar holy. Then Moses presented the ram for Aaron and his sons. They placed their hands on the ram transferring their sins to its head. Then it was sacrificed to take their sins away. The blood of the ram was applied to their right ears, the thumbs of their right hands and the big toes of their right feet. Then the rest was splattered agains all the sides of the altar. The fat, the rump, and all the fat around the internal organs, the liver and the kidneys with the right thigh was offered with unleavened bread upon the altar. Moses burnt the pieces of the ram but lifted up the bread as a wave offering. The burnt offering stood for Jesus’ death and the raising of the bread showed his resurrection. The last thing Moses did was to take anointing oil and blood and sprinkle them on Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments. The blood and ht oil made them holy. The rest of the meat was to be boiled at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Any meat or bread that was left over had to be burned. They were to stay their seven days. and then their ordination was completed. This ceremony for Aaron and the priest is the same ceremony we go through as followers of Christ. We have to come to the cross, accept Jesus sacrifice on the cross and present ourselves as a living sacrifice. Then we are sprinkled with Jesus’ blood and his Holy Spirit. We stay at the entrance of his Tabernacle all the days of our lives (seven days). We see this same pattern in Mark. Jesus was inside the house and Mary and his brothers were standing at the entrance. They asked for Jesus to come out and talk to them. Jesus came out and talked to all of them because Jesus doesn’t have favorites. We are all special to him. He taught the parable about the seed and the sower which all the parables rest on. If you don’t get this one, you will not be able to get the rest of them. The crowd heard the parable but the disciples asked him when they were alone. He told them that he would tell them the secret because they were children of the kingdom and this parable was how to enter that kingdom. It was not meant for those who were not meant to enter. The farmer stands for God. The seed he scatters is the Word. Satan is the stealer of the seed. The future of the seed is determined by the soil which is the heart of man. The seed is successful when it falls upon hearts that listen with their hearts and accept God’s word. They will produce a harvest of thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was planted. Lord, may our hearts be tender and our ears be attentive to your voice.

Thurs.’s Devo - Offerings

Read: Leviticus 6:1-7:27; Mark 3:7-30; Psalm 37:1-11; Proverbs 10:3-4 There were many different reasons for bringing an offering to the Lord. The first is the guilt offering. It was given when a person sinned against another, like an associate, by cheating in a business deal, stealing, committing fraud or lying under oath. The penalty was to restore what you stole with an additional 20%. On the day you made restoration you were to bring a quilt offering to the Lord and make it right with the Lord also. The offering would be a ram without defects. This was a burnt offering, so the priest were to leave the ram on the altar burning all night long. The next morning the priest would clean out the ashes of the offering and carry the ashes outside the camp. This was a picture of that sin being completely forgiven and taken care of not to be brought up again. When people gave a grain offering it was to be mixed with oil, flour and frankincense. A portion of it was burned on the altar and the rest was used by the priest to make the shewbread which was eaten in the Tabernacle. This grain offering was presented to the Lord the day Aaron and his sons were ordained as priest. It was offered for every priest throughout the generations. Jesus was the bread sent from heaven who was burned on the altar for our sins. He is also our daily bread that we eat every day. That is what this represented. The instructions for the sin offering required an animal which would be a burnt offering. This is the most holy offering because that was the purpose of the cross: to take away our sins. A portion of it had to be eaten by the priests. If any of its blood splattered on the priests clothing, his clothing had to be washed in a sacred place. Any instrument used in this ceremony had to be broken or scoured clean. Any person responsible or who took a part in Jesus crucifixion (which is all of us) must be broken and cleansed. This describes repentance. If the blood from this animal was used to sprinkle on the pieces in the Tabernacle for purification, this animal must be completely consumed on the altar because only the blood of Jesus can cleanse our sins and he was completely consumed on the altar of the cross. The guilt offering was also holy. The animal was killed and its blood splattered against all the sides of the altar. the fat was removed and burnt on the altar. The meat from this offering could be eaten by the priests. The peace offering was an offering of thanksgiving and praise. It is voluntary and represents our offerings of thanksgiving and praise we give from our lips. There was also the offering to fulfill a vow which was also voluntary. The blood and the fat were forbidden to eaten by the people in the community. The word “fat” in the Hebrew means the marrow. Life is in the marrow and in the blood and to eat an animals marrow and blood was to eat its life. It is to lower ourselves to a lower species and add its blood to ours. We are to remain holy and human. The priests were to get a portion of the peace offering for themselves. They were to eat the breast and the right thigh. To me that speaks of the heart and the strength. When we receive God’s peace, our heart is enlivened and our strength is renewed. In Mark, the demons knew who Jesus was but the scribes and Pharisees refused to recognize him. They blasphemed by saying that he came from hell and got his power from Satan. Jesus chose his twelve disciples. Jesus says that all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven except one who blasphemes the Holy Spirit. He will never be forgiven but have eternal consequences. That is a sobering thought. Lord, You are the righteous judge who judges the thoughts and intents of our hearts. May we cleanse our hearts daily through your Word.

Wed.’s Devo - Laws for Unintentional Sin

Read: Leviticus 4:1-5:19; Mark 3:7-30; Psalm 36:1-12; Proverbs 10:1-2 There were ceremonies they were to do for any sin they might commit unintentionally. Even if they didn’t realize they were sinning, they were still guilty. When they realized they had sinned, they were to lay their hand on a bull to transfer their sin to it. The bull was sacrificed and offered for their atonement. It was done according to the instructions for the sin offering. If the entire Israelite community sinned but they didn’t realize it, they were still guilty. When they realized they had sinned, the priest was to offer a bull for a sacrifice. He was to lay his hand upon the bull to transfer his sin to the bull. Its blood would be sprinkled on the curtain seven times in front of the inner curtain and blood was applied to the horns of the altar of incense. The rest of the blood would be poured around the base of the burnt altar where they did all the sacrifices. This showed that sin affects heaven and earth. If one of the leaders sinned but didn’t realize it, he was still guilty. When he realized he had sinned, he would lay his hand upon a goat’s head and it was sacrificed. Its blood was only put on the horns of the altar and the rest poured around the base of the altar. Sin on earth was atoned for. If any of the common people sinned unknowingly and then realized what they were doing was sin, they were to bring a female goat or a female sheep. They would lay their hand upon its head transferring their sin upon it and it would be killed. The blood would be put on the horns of the altar and the rest around the base of he altar. If you were called in as a witness and you refused to tell what you had seen, you would be punished. If you realized you had sinned in any way and refused to acknowledge it, it would be held against you. If you said something that you realized was not true, you must admit your guilt and correct your sin. If you could not afford the sheep or goat, you could bring a bird. If sin was done against the Lord’s property which is earth, the person must bring a guilt offering. The offering must be a ram of their choice. Restitution for what was damaged must be payed plus an additional 20%. When payment was done, you would be made right with the Lord. In Mark, Jesus saw Levi, sitting at the tax-collectors booth and told him to follow him. Levi got up immediately and became a follower, leaving his business behind. Since tax-collectors were considered the scum of the earth, Jesus took a lot of flack for having dinner at Levi’s house that evening. When Jesus was questioned about his choice of friends, he replied that it wasn’t the healthy people who need a doctor. He had come to save sinners. This flew in the face of the religious leaders since they only hung out with the ceremonially righteous. The religious leaders also questioned why Jesus’ disciples didn’t fast. Jesus explained that a person should fast while waiting for something, but that something was here. He was the “something.” Jesus disciples also broke their laws about working on the Sabbath by breaking off grain growing in the fields on the Sabbath. When the religious leaders challenged that, Jesus replied that the Sabbath was made to meet the needs of the people and not for the people to meet their requirements. I bet this made them furious! They got mad when Jesus healed the man’s deformed hand on the Sabbath. It saddened Jesus that they could be so hard in their hearts. This was the last straw for the Pharisees. They met with supporters of Herod to begin plotting Jesus’ death. Lord, may we not become so short-sighted that we miss what you are doing on the earth. Give us compassion on those you are giving compassion on and require payment to those who you are requiring payment from.

Tue.’s Devo - The Offerings

Read: Leviticus 1:1-3:17; Mark 1:29-2:12; Psalm 35:17-28; Proverbs 9:13-18 The procedures for the burnt offering were given. This animal was to represent them as well as Jesus. The animal was to replace them and his death would purify them and make them right with him. The animal was a place holder till the perfect sacrifice was given. Those who couldn’t afford an animal could give a bird and it would have the same power to cover their sins. The grain offering was another offering that could be given. It would be mixed with oil, flour and frankincense to be a sweet smelling aroma to the Lord. The offerings given in the Old Testament appealed to all of the senses. You could see with your eyes the killing of animals, the pain, the blood, the goriness and yet the relief of the weight of sin. You could smell the cooking of meat, the smell of incense and the burning of fat. You could sing with your family and rejoice. Salt was to be added for flavoring and yeast was never to be a part of the ceremony. Jesus told us that we are to be the salt of the earth that adds the flavoring to life. We are warned against the yeast of the Pharisees - the wrong teachings. It was important that your sacrifice have no defects and that it be the very best that you had. The person presenting the animal had to lay their hands on the animal showing that they identify as the animal. They are passing all their sins to the animal and then allowing it to be consumed on the altar. Jesus became sin for us and took it all to the altar of the cross and it died with him. In Mark, Jesus left with the disciples and went to Peter’s house. His mother-in-law was lying sick in bed. Jesus went and healed her. She was completely healed and immediately got up and fixed a meal for them. Jesus healed many in that town. That night, Jesus went on a mountain to pray and spend time with his father. I sometimes wonder if the only time Jesus slept was on the boat. When the disciples came to him saying that everyone was looking for him, he did not give in to the crowd. He had gotten marching orders from God and told his disciples that they needed to go to other towns. They needed to hear and have an opportunity to turn to him. Jesus healed a man with leprosy, which had never been done before. Jesus told him to go and present himself to the priest like the law of Moses said but instead he went and spread the news to the people. This made it impossible for Jesus to go to the towns so he went to the outskirts and the people came to him. Jesus went back to Capernaum where he had been kicked out when he delivered the demoniac of all his demons. They had seen the transformation of them and and now, everyone wanted to hear what Jesus had to say. They brought a man who was paralyzed and Jesus not only healed him but forgave his sins. This seemed blasphemous to the teachers of the law. They thought they were the only ones who could atone for sin. But they could not heal anyone so they were so jealous of Jesus. Lord, may we be the salt of the earth and the city set on a hill shining your truth.

Mon.’s Devo - The Glory is Coming

Read: Exodus 39:1-40:38; Mark 1:1-28; Psalm 35:1-16; Proverbs 9:11-12 The craftsmen made the garments for Aaron, the high priest and his sons, the priests just like instructed. They finished all the other elements for the tabernacle and on the first day of the new year they set it up. They started from the inside and went out so anyone who wanted to see what was behind the curtains could see. First they placed the Ark of the Covenant inside then they put the curtains around it. Then they brought in the tale of shewbread, the lampstand and other lamps. The gold incense altar was placed in the right place in the Holy Place then the curtain was placed around it. Lastly, they placed the altar of incense and the washbasin outside the Holy Place and filled the washbasin with water. They anointed the all the furnishing in the Tabernacle with anointing oil. They presented Aaron and his sons dressed in their sacred garments and anointed them with oil. They were set apart to be priests from generation to generation. This was done the first day of the new year. On the first day of the second year, they set up the Tabernacle and then brought the pieces of furniture into their place being carried by their poles. Moses took the stone tablets with the covenant and placed them inside the Ark. and placed the cover on top. He proceeded to carry each piece of furniture into the Tabernacle then have the curtain placed around it. This time he burned incense and lit the Menorah and set up the washbasin and burnt altar outside. When they had hung the last curtain the glory of the Lord covered the Tabernacle and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tabernacle because the cloud was so thick. Whenever the cloud lifted, the people would set out on their journey and follow it. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a visible cloud to know when to move, but we do have that cloud - it’s the Holy Spirit in our hearts that tells us which way to walk. In Mark, instead of the cloud, they had John the Baptist. He was prophesied by Isaiah that he would be a voice shouting in the wilderness to tell them to prepare their hearts because the Messiah was coming. The people went out in droves to hear his message, repent and be baptized. He told them that the one who was coming would not baptize them with water as he had done, but he would baptize them in the Holy Spirit. Jesus appeared at the Jordan where John was baptizing and was baptized by John. When he came out of the water, the heavens split apart and the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove and a voice from heaven announced, “you are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” Jesus was then led into he wilderness to be tempted by Satan. He was there for 40 days among wild animals, but angels protected him. (I wonder what that looked like!) John was arrested and Jesus took up his message. His message was to repent because the time promised by God has come at last. Repent and believe this. God is saying that same thing about our generation. We are in the time promised by God. As Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two fishermen, Simon and Andrew. He called to them to come and follow him because he would make them fishers of men. They were in the process of throwing their nets into the water and immediately left their nets at once and followed. He went down the shore a little further and called to two more bothers: James and John. They were repairing their nets, When Jesus called to them they left their father, Zebedee in the boat and immediately followed him. He took them to the synagogue that next Sabbath and began teaching. They had never heard anyone preach with authority. It was so unlike how the teachers of the law taught. When the Spirit shows up, it rattles spirits of Satan and sure enough one began to manifest in one of the people there. The evil spirit spoke from the man’s mouth and said, “Jesus of Nazareth, Have you come to destroy us? We know who you are.” But Jesus quieted the spirit and cast it out of the man. It came out screaming and throwing the man into a convulsion, but it came out. Fear gripped the people and news spread quickly about Jesus. Something had definitely changed. Lord, this is exactly what is happening in our day. Help us to stand strong and declare that your kingdom is coming to earth and nothing Satan can plan can stop it. Prepare our hearts to receive you.

Sun.’s Devo - The Tabernacle Furniture

Read: Exodus 37:1-38-31; Matthew 28:1-20; Psalm 34:11-22; Proverbs 9:9-10 Bezelel made the Ark, the chest that would represent the Temple of God. It was only 45” x 27” x 27”. It had rings attached to carry it by and was made of wood and covered with gold. A separate cover was made which was called the mercy seat because it was here that atonement happened. On top of the mercy seat sat two angels facing one another with their wings spread to touch one another. It was made just like Moses had seen in heaven. The lamp stand or menorah was made with almond blossoms, buds and leaves on it. It had a middle stem which the six branches extended from. It was made of 75 pounds of hammered gold. The incense altar was made which was 18” x 18” x 36”. It always amazes me how small these pieces were. It was made of wood and covered with gold.. They made the altar for the burnt offerings. It was 7.5’ square and 4.5’ tall. It had horns on each of its corners. It was made of wood and covered with bronze. All of its utensils were made of bronze. It had a grate and was like a huge bar-b-que. The bronze washbasin was made of mirrors donated by the women. It was a huge basin where the priests would wash before and after sacrificing on the bronze altar. The courtyard where the people would stand was only 150’ x 50’. This would definitely not hold all the people which reminds me of the scripture: “Many are called, few are chosen.” This courtyard was bordered in curtains and its entrance was 22.5’ wide. The curtain on the entrance was beautifully embroidered in blue, purple and scarlet thread. The curtains were 30’ tall so there was no way you could stand outside and see into the Tabernacle. The gold that was collected totaled 2,193 pounds. The silver was the cost of the redemption of the people. How fitting! Everyone gave an offering and was counted. This is the picture of the finished work of Christ. In Matthew, the Roman officers had sealed the tomb and were standing guard so that none of Jesus’ disciples could steal his body and say he resurrected. No problem for God! He just shook the ground, sent two angels to move the huge stone and opened the door so all could see that he had resurrected. The guards shook with fear and fainted. The ferocious patriots of Jesus were two women, two Mary’s. The angel spoke to them and told him that Jesus was not here but risen just as he promised. He was going to Galilee where he would meet them there. The Mary’s ran with joy to tell the disciples. They ran into Jesus on the way. He told them the same thing. Meanwhile the guards went to the city and told the priest what had happened. The priests held a meeting to plan their statement. They decided to bribe the soldiers into silence and ordered them to tell the story that Jesus’ disciples came during the night while they were sleeping and stole his body. This sounds like today’s politicians and main-stream media! They took the bribe and people still believe the lies today. The disciples, minus Judas, left for Galilee. Jesus told them that He had been given all authority in heaven and on earth. They were to go and make disciples of all the nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They were to teach them everything they had been taught and He would be with them. Lord, thank you for that commission and the promise that you will never leave us.

Sat.’s Devo - Signs That Make Us Wonder -

Read: Numbers 19:1-20:29; Luke 1:1-25; Psalm 56:1-13; Proverbs 11:8 God gave Moses and Aaron instructions for the sin offering for them and the people. It was to be a red heifer killed outside of the camp. The blood of the animal would then be sprinkled on the door of the Tabernacle and his body burned on the altar along with a stick of cead, a hyssop branch and some scarlet yarn. These are the same instruments used in the ceremony of the healing of leprosy. The ashes of the heifer would be put in a special place to be used for the purification ceremony. Anyone in the future who touched anything dead would use those ashes mixed with pure water. A hyssop branch would be dipped in the water and sprinkled on the tent of one who died or the person who touched a human who died. This is a picture of sanctification from the world of death. We are constantly being bombarded with things that pertain to sin and death. We can cleanse our soul from what defiles our soul by loosing it off ourselves and applying the sanctification of holiness that Jesus died to give us. It is the ashes of his death that we can be clean. In the first month of the year according to their religious calendar, which would be Nisan, Miriam died and was buried. The people had arrived at the same place that God had done a miraculous sign and given them water from the rock. This new generation started complaining just like their parents had. Moses and Aaron were beside themselves and went to inquire of God. God told them to assemble the people and Moses was to speak to the rock and it would pour out water enough for the whole community and their livestock. Moses did what he was told and assembled the people but his anger came out and he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. In Corinthians 10:4 we read that that rock was Christ who was struck once for our salvation and now we speak and pray to receive the grace to be saved. Water did gush from the rock but both Moses and Aaron were reprimanded for this and refused entrance into Gods promised land. With great position comes great responsibility. While the people were drinking the water, Moses sent ambassadors to the king of Edom to ask permission to pass through their land. They promised not to drink their water or harm anything. The king refused them entrance and threatened them with war if they tried. The children of Israel were forced to turn around and go another way. They came to Mt. Hor where Aaron died and was buried. Aaron’s high priesthood was passed on to his son Eliezar. Aaron was able to see into the promised land but never go. Luke is a letter written to a young man named Theophilus. Luke wanted to write the account of Jesus in the order in which it all happened. Theologians say that Luke was written to the Greeks and proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of Man. Luke starts way before Jesus’ birth at John the Baptist’s birth. John was his cousin but also the one who would announce his coming and prepare the way for him. John would be the last Old Testament prophet. John’s father was a priest named Zachariahs whose wife, Elizabeth was barren so they had no heir. They were now very old. The priests all took a month of service and this was Zachariahs’ turn. When he went into the Temple to offer incense, he was met by an angel standing on the right side of the altar of incense. He told them to not be afraid because God had heard his prayers and would give them a son. They were to call him John and that many would rejoice at his birth. He would be great in the Lord’s eyes and never drink strong wine or drink. He would be filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb. He will turn many back to the Lord and would be like Elijah, turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just and to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Zachariah’s doubt caused him to be dumb and unable to speak until the prophesy was fulfilled. When Zachariah came out of the Temple, the people knew something had happened. Just like the angel said, Elizabeth became pregnant and hid for five months.

Sat.’s Devo - The Veils

Read: Exodus 35:10-36:38; Matthew 27:32-66; Psalm 34:1-10; Proverbs 9:7-8 God set the craftsmen to work building all the things for the Tabernacle. The people gave in abundance the materials they would need. God so gifted Bezalel and Oholiab with the gift to make the things needed but also the gift to teach their craft so others could help. The people gave so much that they had to be asked to stop giving. The curtains to surround the Tabernacle and be the walls were massive. They were 45 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Eleven of them were sewn, then Bezalel embroidered them all. They were attached with 50 clips each. The tent itself was covered with a layer of tanned ram skins and a layer of fine goatskin leather. Inside the Tabernacle the curtains were special. They were decorated with cherubim and had gold clasps instead of bronze. Everything in the Tabernacle was to look like Eden and represent our opportunity to enjoy the presence with the Lord. In Matthew, Simon was made to carry Jesus’ cross. Jesus was offered vinegar to numb the pain but refused. The soldiers nailed him to the cross then gambled for his robe. A sign was put above his head which read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Two other revolutionaries were crucified on either side of him. People passing shook their heads and mocked him. The leading priests also mocked that he claimed to save others but couldn’t save himself. The two men hanging beside him mocked him also. At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three. When the light came back Jesus called out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” He was quoting David’s son found in Psalm 22:1. The whole song is his death on the cross. Jesus was referring them to this so they would know that this was foretold. Jesus then released his spirit and died. The veil of the Temple between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was rent in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart and godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They went into Jerusalem after the resurrection and appeared to people. The Roman officer and other soldiers were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened and realized that truly Jesus was the Son of God. Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and asked for Jesus body. Pilate allowed him to take Jesus body from the cross and wrap it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed Jesus in his own tomb, rolled a stone across the entrance and left. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary watched as he did this. The next day on the Sabbath, the leading priests went to Pilate and asked him to seal the tomb since they had heard Jesus say he would rise on the third day. They said they didn’t want the disciples to steal his body to make his prophecy come true but I wonder if they weren’t afraid Jesus would truly rise again. Pilate ordered that the tomb be sealed and that armed guards stand watch over it. As if man can stop what God has ordained! We have read about the different veils. The one over Moses’ face so that the people didn’t have to look on the glory of God. The veil or curtains of the Tabernacle. Some were to be a boundary for the people to stay in and some to keep them out. Then there was the veil in the Temple that was to keep the people from going in where the holy presence of the Lord was. That was rent when Jesus died. They were all rent. We now have access to the presence of the Lord anytime we want. Lord, I thank you that your power supersedes anything man can devise. Thank you for giving your son to die for us and thank you, Jesus for laying down your life for us. We are eternally grateful.

Fri.’s Devo - Our Redeemer

Read: Exodus 34:1-35:9; Matthew 27:15-31; Pslam 33:12-22; Proverbs 9:1-6 God told Moses to chisel out two new tablets and meet him on top of the mountain and he would write the laws on them again. Moses met the Lord with his tablets and God came down in a cloud proclaiming himself to be Yaweh which means Jehovah - the one who was, who is and who is to come. God explained that he was the God of compassion and mercy. He is slow to anger and forgives iniquity, rebellion and sin. But he is also a judge to the unrepentant guilty. Moses fell down and begged the Lord to go with them. He promised to go before them and drive out their enemies. He warned them to not make a covenant with the people living in the land. He gave Moses the requirements for the feasts they were to remember to celebrate each year. These were future events they were to rehearse. When Moses came down from the mountain his face shone from being in God’s presence. The glory on Moses’ face made the people afraid of him so he had to wear a veil when he talked with them. Moses called them all together and gave them the commandment about the Sabbath and told them that if they worked on that day thymus be put to death. They were not even to light a fire in their homes on that day. Then he asked for gifts of the long list in 35:5-9. Those with generous hearts were to give of what they had in abundance to the Lord. God told them that every first-born animal was His. They could buy back a donkey but if they didn’t, they had to break its neck. But, there was no option for their first-born sons - they had to buy them back. This has to do with redemption. The first-born has to do with our first birth. We are born in sin and have to be bought back. Jesus did that for us when he came but this was before that. The donkey was known as being totally stubborn. If they didn’t redeem him, he had to be killed. The donkey was the unrepentant person who, like Pharaoh had a hard heart. God gave them the rules for the rest of the feasts. The feasts always came at harvest times giving the people an offering to bring to the Lord. They were to bring the Lord the best of the harvest. Moses presented the people with the second stone tables. When he finished he covered his face but when he went into the Tabernacle he took his veil off. The people were the ones whose refused to see, so he refused to show them God’s glory. Moses gave the leaders the rules about the Sabbath and they were to make sure they were instituted. He told them to ask the people to voluntarily give to the Lord the things they would need to build and furnish the service of the Tabernacle. In Matthew, The governor customarily released a prisoner every year during the Passover celebration. I guess that was his gift to the Lord. He took a man named Barnabas which was the total opposite of Jesus in every way and gave the crowd the option. He thought that for sure they would choose Jesus to be released. The religious leaders instigated the crowd to ask for Barnabas to be released and Jesus to be crucified. Jesus would be the scapegoat. The Roman soldiers did their mockery of Jesus and finally led him to be crucified. Lord, it is hard to read the cruelty that you went through on that day to buy back our salvation but we are truly grateful. Thank you for taking the veil away that we might see. Help us to see even clearer.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Golden Calf

Read: Exodus 32:1-33:23; Matthew 26:69-27:14; Psalm 33:1-11; Proverbs 8:33-36 Moses stayed on the mountain so long that the people began to think he wasn’t coming back. They pressured Aaron into making them a god to worship. Aaron caved to their requests and told them to all bring one of their gold earrings. He took the earrings and melted and molded them into a calf. He proclaimed that the next day they would have their own festival. The next day they did celebrate just like the people of Egypt celebrated. It turned into a wild orgy and the sound reached God’s ears. God told Moses and wanted to destroy them all. God interceded for the people and begged God to forgive them. What would the other nations think if He destroyed the very people he delivered were all destroyed in the desert. God listened and repented of his sentence. Joshua, who had come halfway up the mountain with Moses met him as he was coming down. Joshua warned Moses that it sounded like the people were in a war. Moses told him it was not the shout of victory or defeat, it was the sound of celebration. They walked right into the party and Moses got so angry he threw the stone tablets to the ground making a resounding crash. He took the golden calf they were worshipping and burned it then ground it into powder and threw it into the water and forced the people to drink it. Moses turned to Aaron and asked him what happened. Aaron’s explanation is laughable. He explained that he threw the gold into the fire and out popped this calf! Moses saw that the people were completely out of control and it was entertainment to their enemies. Moses made them choose sides. The ones on the Lord’s side were to come to Moses. All of the Levites gathered around Moses. He told them to take their swords and kill the others. Three thousand were killed that day. They had to kill their own sons and brothers. Moses told them that this was their ordination into God’s service. Moses went back on the mountain and repented for the people. God sent a plague to punish the rest of the people for what they had done. God sent Moses back with his commission to keep going to the Promise Land. God would not go with them because of their rebellious hearts. He knew he would end up killing them. Instead, He would send his angel to go with them. This angel would help them conquer their enemies. The people were so repentent they took off their jewelry and fancy clothes and refused to wear them again. Shame does this to people. They no longer felt like kings and queens. The fear of the Lord came upon the camp and the people would watch from the entrance of their tents as Moses went into the Tabernacle with the cloud of God’s glory following him. God promised to personally be with Moses because he knew him by name. He showed Moses his glory because he asked him to. This story helps me to understand that God is so willing to make himself known to those whose whole hearts are toward him. It is our choice as to how well we want to know the Lord. In Matthew, we see man’s intentions fall like a house of cards. Peter denies Jesus three times. Judas realizes his sin and tries to repent only to find out it is too late. He gives back the money and hangs himself. They take the money and use it to buy a field to bury foreigners in. Jesus is taken to Pilate, the Roman governor where he is questioned. Jesus doesn’t defend himself which surprises the governor. All of the pieces are falling into place even though it looks like a total loss. It often looks the worse right before the victory. That is where we are right now in history. What looks like disaster is just the end of the cards falling. It is time to sing a new song of victory because God has already won this! Lord, thank you for these stories that show us the frailty of man and the power of our great God. Thank you that you are the God of Victory.

Wed.’s Devo - Our Tabernacle

Read: Exodus 30:11-31:18; Matthew 26:47-68; Psalm 32:1-11; Proverbs 8:27-32 God told Moses that when he took a census he was to collect a price for each person. This price was a small piece of silver which would be their redemption price. It was a picture of the price of Jesus’ life that bought our salvation. To take a census was too number or count the people. It was a ceremony of accountability. We will all meet before God on the Judgment Day for this census and be judged according to our works. If we have our silver, our symbol of redemption, we will not be counted but be redeemed. This ceremony of redemption was to keep the plague from striking the people as they were being counted. The blood of Jesus is our ransom price for our soul. Everyone, rich or poor pays the same amount. Everyone is worth the same in God’s sight. Sanctification, purifying ourselves from our sin is pictured in the basin of water that the priests would wash their hands and feet. Hands represent the things we do - our work. Feet represent the way we walk with the Lord. If those things are pure then we can approach God. God gave them the recipe for the incense and oil to use as the anointing oil to anoint the things in the Tabernacle and the priests. A different recipe for incense was used to light on the Table of Incense. This was a symbol of our prayers that go up to the Lord as a sweet aroma. He called this incense “most holy” because that is how God looks at our prayers. The Lord chose Bezalel as the master craftsman to make the furniture, engrave the gemstones and carve the wood. His name means “under God’s shade”. He would be in God’s presence the whole time he worked. His helper was Oholiab which means “tent of his father”. He was anointed to help built the tent of God for the people. Together they made all the things for the Tabernacle just like Moses had seen them on the mountain. They were a replica of what Moses saw in heaven. Then God gave them the gift of the Sabbath and its regulations. It was the seventh day, set apart to rest and be restored and renewed for the coming week. It was to be a holy day dedicated to the Lord. When Moses finished speaking he gave the people the two stone tablets written by the finger of God of all his commandments. In Matthew, Jesus was betrayed with Judas’ kiss. His disciples scattered just like the prophet said. Jesus put the soldier’s ear back on, because he didn’t want his disciple to be held accountable. Then, Jesus was taken to Caiaphas’ house to be tried before an illegal assembly and a mock trial. When none of the false witnesses could agree, they caught him on truth. When Jesus refused to defend himself, it just made them madder. Isaiah 53 says that “he was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her sharers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.” When the high priest demanded he tell them if he was the Messiah or not, Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The high priest tore his clothing and cried “Blaspemy!” Then the others shouted, “Guilty!” They spit in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. In the Old Testament we have the building of the Tabernacle in all its beauty and in the New Testament we have the defiling of the true Tabernacle of God. Lord, we are the tabernacle of Jesus on the earth. May we honor each other’s Temple and not judge one another. May our words be to build up and not to tear down.

Tues.’s Devo- Sanctifying the Priests

Read: Exodus 29:1-30:10; Matthew 26:14-46; Psalm 31:19-24; Proverbs 8:14-26 Moses was give the ceremony they were to perform to consecrate Aaron and his sons as the priests. We can look at what they went through and see how God sanctified Jesus as our High Priest and how he sanctifies us as his holy priesthood. They were to take a young bull and two rams with no defects along with unleavened bread spread with oil to the entrance of the Tabernacle. Aaron and his sons were to be washed with water to sanctify them. Aaron was to be dressed in his priestly garments and then his sons were to be dressed in theirs. The bull was then presented and Aaron and his sons were to lay their hands upon it transferring the sins of the world to the bulls head. The bull was then sacrificed at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Blood from the bull was put on the horns of the altar and the rest poured out at the base of the altar. The fat was to be burned and the rest taken outside the camp as a sin offering. This Next they laid their hands on the head of one of the rams. He was also killed and his blood sprinkled on the sides of the altar. The ram was cut into pieced and laid out on the altar where it was burned as a sweet aroma to the Lord. This was the ram for the sins of the nation. The other ram was brought forth and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. It was killed and its blood placed upon the right earlobe, the thumbs of their right hands and the big toe of their right feet. The rest was poured on the sides of the altar. This ram was for the sanctification of the priests. The blood on their earlobe was to anoint their ears so they could hear God’s voice for the people. The blood on their right thumb was to anoint their hands so they could do the work God appointed them to do on the earth. The blood on their right big toe was to anoint their walk with God. The thumb and the big toe are fundamental in the functioning of the rest of the hand and the balancing of the foot. That is what the leadership does for the Body of Christ. Then the bread was offered and their portions of the meat were offered up to the Lord. They then ate their portion of the meat and the bread. As they ate the meat that represented Christ’s body they were identifying with the body of Christ. For seven days they were to wear their garments and sanctify the altar with oil. Each day of this week they were to offer daily sacrifices the morning and the evening. The morning sacrifice would be accompanied by flour and oil and the evening sacrifice with flour and wine. Moses was told to have constructed another altar for incense. It was to be placed right outside of the curtain that leads to the Holy of Holies. Aaron was to burn incense there in the morning and evening. Once a year he was to purify the altar with blood on the horns of the altar. This is the Lord’s most holy altar. This altar stands for the intercession that Christ does for us and the intercession we do. In Matthew, while Judas was preparing for Jesus death, Jesus sent his disciples to prepare for their last supper - the Passover seder. At the supper, Jesus told them about what Judas had done and why. He had to die to fulfill the Scriptures and God’s will. Judas would suffer greatly for what he did. Judas even had the nerve to ask Jesus if he was the one he was talking about. Jesus answered, “you have said it.” By his own words, he condemned himself. Jesus broke the bread and told them that this was his body and that the wine represented his blood. This was the covenant between God and man. He left them with the fact that after he was raised from the dead, he would meet them in Galilee. Peter, who can’t keep his mouth shut said that he would never deny him. Jesus told him that he would deny him three times before the cock crowed. Then Jesus took them to Gethsemane. Here is where Jesus fought his battle of his will. This was Jesus’ hardest night. This is where Jesus forgave his enemies and gave in to the will of his father knowing what it was about to cost him. Obviously, his disciples were oblivious to his struggle as they could not stay awake. Lord, help us to strengthen our spirit to go the distance of what is coming in the next leg of our journey. May we not lose heart or give up on the promises of God. God is still the God who delivers us.

Mon.’s Devo - The Sacred Garments

Read: Exodus 28:1-43; Matthew 25:31-26:13; Psalm 31:9-18; Proverbs 8:12-13 God called forth his priests that would minister to him. They were to wear beautiful sacred garments. The craftsman was to be full of wisdom to do the work. Aaron, as the high priest was to be distinguished apart from the other priests. He would wear a chest piece, an ephod, a robe a patterned tunic, a turban and a sash. They were to be made of thread of gold and blue, purple, and scarlet thread. The ephod was to be woven of linen and embroidered with old, blue, purple and scarlet. It was to have two pieces: one for the front and one for the back fastened at the shoulders. A sash was made of the same colors. Two onyx stones were attached at the shoulders. On one was engraved the names of six of the tribes and on the other six tribes. This was so that God could look down and see the names of the people the priest would be praying for. It was also symbolic of how the high priest carries the prayers of the children of Israel on his shoulders. The high priest represents Jesus and he is the mediator between God and man. He makes intercession for us continually. The chestpiece had a pocket where the Umin and the Thummin were. One of them meant ’No” and the other meant “Yes”. The high priest would use these in determining God’s will for the people. On the front of the chestpiece were the stones of each tribe mounted in rows of three stones each. In this way the children of Israel would be close to his heart when he prayed for them. Each tribe was represented with a different stone. Every stone was surrounded by gold. The chestpiece was attached with gold cording. All of this garment was to show the beauty and splendor of the risen Christ who is our High Priest. The robe was made of a single piece of blue cloth. Jesus robe he wore on earth was red and it was made of a single piece of cloth. His robe changed colors when he ascended because it is no longer covered with blood but the color of heaven and royalty. At the bottom of the gold were alternated bells and pomegranates. The bells were sounds to let the people know that the high priest was moving. Pomegranates represent the Word of God. They are fruit made of seeds and they have the same number of seeds (613) that the Word of God has laws. The benefits of the seeds of pomegranates are many. They also represent family and prosperity. A gold medallion engraved with the words, “Holy to the Lord” was attache with blue cord in front of Aaron’s turban. All his thoughts were to be holy. Aarons tunic was to be made of fine linen decorated with colorful embroidery. Aaron’s sons were to have tunics, sashes, and special head coverings that were also beautiful. They were to be anointed, consecrated and ordained. They were to wear linen breeches like boxers under their robes. They were to be worn whoever they entered the Tabernacle or approached the altar in the Holy Place. We as holy priests unto God are covered with the robe of righteousness and we wear the same garments in the spirit. Ephesians talks about our armor which is our priestly garments. We are anointed by the Holy Spirit , consecrated to righteousness and ordained to do good works for Christ. In Matthew, Jesus was teaching about the end judgment day. Everyone will gathered into his presence and then he will separate the sheep from the goats. He will explain that it was those who recognized his presence on the earth in people and treated them as they would treat Him. The other ones will be thrown into the eternal fire that is prepared for the devil and his demons. The righteous will go into eternal life. Jesus reminded them that it was two days from Passover and he would be handed over to be crucified. As Jesus was saying this, the high priest, Caiaphas was meeting with his minions plotting his crucifixion. While Jesus was in Bethany at Simon’s house eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster far full of expensive perfume. She poured it over his head to anoint him for what was going to happen. The disciples thought it was a waste and the money for the perfume could have been better spent for the poor but Jesus rebuked them for criticizing her. He stay that whenever the truth was preached, what she did would be remembered. Lord, may we dress everyday in the garments of praise and holiness.

Sun.’s Devo - The Pure Oil

Read: Exodus 26:1-27:21; Matthew 25:1-30; Psalm 31:1-8; Proverbs 8:1-11 The fine detail and careful consideration of all the construction on the tabernacle makes me think of the way God made us. The curtains and the animal skins are like our epidermis. The frames are like our bones and the blue, purple and scarlet thread reminds me of our veins and our corpuscles. Psalm 139 says that we were knit together in our mother’s womb. The Holy of Holies is like our heart or our spirit. The Holy Place where the table of incense, shewbread table, and menorah is like our mind. We read God’s Word, understand it and receive its light in our mind. It moves to our spirit and we commune with God. The outside of the tabernacle was the same proportion of the human body. We are the tabernacle and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The people were commanded to bring pure oil to light the menorah in the tabernacle. We are to put pure oil in our lamps so we can be able to see clearly what the Holy Spirit is saying through his Word. Our light must keep burning from generation to generation. In Matthew, we see this same oil. The oil is the Holy Spirit in our lives. We must allow him to fill our lives or we will grow weary in the end. That was what happened to the virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom. Some of them lost heart and stopped filling their lamps with oil, but five of them kept the faith and were ready when the bridegroom arrived. God has given us all promises for our families, our churches and our nation and we can not give up hope just because it tarries. Hope must be kept alive by faith. The second parable was about a wealthy landowner who left for a far country. He left his goods in charge of three servants. One of them invested and used his master’s goods to create more. He was praised as faithful and promised to be made ruler over many things. He was also blessed with joy. The second doubled his also and was commended by the master with the same blessing as the first. But, the third had hid his because he knew it would not benefit him personally. He didn’t want to bless his master with a profit. He was rebuked. The least he could have done was to put it in the bank where it would have gained interest. His talent was given to the first man. Jesus explained that the person who gains wealth from God’s kingdom will be blessed with more. The one who doesn’t eat of God’s table will not prosper but end in poverty. One day, we will stand before God and give an account for how we lived our life he gave us. The ones who gave up their lives for Jesus will be rewarded and the ones who lived their lives for themselves will be cast out. Love, may we freely give all you have given us without worrying about the opinion of man. May we walk in the fear of the Lord.

Sat.’s Devo -The Covenant

Read: Exodus 23:14-25:40; Matthew 24:29-51; Psalm 30:1-12; Proverbs 7:24-27 The Passover that they ate the night they left Egypt was to be commemorated year after year so God told them exactly how to do that. The Passover would be celebrated to remember their great deliverance from bondage. Three feasts were to be celebrated in the spring to remember their deliverance. The Festival of Unleavened Bread would last 7 days where they were to eat only unleavened bread. Everyone must bring an offering. The last would be the Festival of Harvest (Feast of Weeks, Pentecost). They were to celebrate it at the end of the harvest season to thank the Lord for their bountiful harvest. God sent an angel to go before them and to protect them on their journey. They were to pay close attention to everything he said because he would be God’s representative and he would not forgive their rebellion. As long as they obeyed, he would help them but if they started worshiping other gods, he would be an enemy to them. When they entered the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, they were to completely destroy them and and their idols. If they served the Lord only, he would protect them from illness and there would be no miscarriages or infertility in their land. They would live long lives. God would send terror ahead of them to make the people afraid of them. He would drive out their enemies slowly giving them time to occupy the land. They were not to make any treaties with the people or their gods or they would lead them away from the Lord. The Lord called Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of Israel’s elders to the mountain. They could only go so far but Moses would go alone to the top. Moses took all these instructions down to the people and they agreed to do all of them. Moses built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve pillars or each tribe. He had men present burnt offerings on the altars and sprinkled the altar with blood. He read to them the law and the people agreed to obey it. Then Moses sprinkled the blood over the people. The covenant had now been made with God. Moses and the men climbed the mountain and they all saw the glory of God standing on a clear blue surface. They ate the covenant meal in his presence. Then God gave Moses the law etched on stone tablets. Moses told the men to stay there while God called him up further. He remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. The Lord told Moses to let the people offer their gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goat hair for clothes, ram skins and fine goatskin leather, acacia wood, olive oil and spices, onyx stones and other gemstones. These were the spoils of Egypt. From them he would make the tabernacle, the furniture for the tabernacle and all the tools and clothes for the priests. God gave Moses exact dimensions of the furniture. He was to make a bronze altar, an incense altar, a giant menorah, a table of shewbread, a basin and the ark to hold the covenant. In Matthew, Jesus continued his explanation of the end times. The last sign would be the sun darkening and the moon giving no light. The stars will fall from the sky and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. The last plague of Egypt before the passover night was total darkness. They could watch the fig tree and when it begins to bud, they would know that the time was getting close. The fig tree is Israel. When Israel begins to wake up to the Messiah, they will know that the time is close. It will be like in the days of Noah when the demons were mating with humans and producing super humans. The people were oblivious to the flood that was about to end them. God admonishes us to watch and not be like the people of Noah’s time. Then, Jesus gives us a parable about a sensible servant that does his job of managing his life and his family well. This servant maintains what it important in life and doesn’t get side-tracked into the pleasures of the world. The wise servant will keep the fear of the Lord in his focus and stay true to the Word of God. Lord, this is our prayer. We accepted your covenant of blood on the cross and are your special possession. We will keep our hearts on you and live focused on what it important to you.

Fri.’s Devo - Birth Pains

Read: Exodus 21:22-23:13; Matthew 24:1-28; Psalm 29:1-11; Proverbs 7:6-23 In the law it gives the laws concerning violence, animal control, the responsibility for property, moral and ceremonial principles and justice for all. The laws were just and fair and called for everyone to be accountable for their actions and responsible to others. There were laws in behalf of the land. It was to be able to rest the seventh year so that the nutrients could replenish. One of the laws that stood out to me was “You must not allow a sorceress to live.” I think about Balaam who was hired to curse Israel. God would only allow him to bless Israel but he advised Balaam to use his sorceresses to entice the men of Israel (Numbers 25) to worship their gods and engage in all sorts of sexual worship of their gods. They ended up intermarrying with them and it caused a plague to come upon their nation. Eventually, Balaam came and lived among them. If they had killed the sorceresses, they wouldn’t have brought the curse upon themselves. In Matthew, we read the birth pains before the coming of Christ. Many will be deceived, there will be threats of war, famine, earthquakes. Many of Christians will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. They will be hated all over the world. False prophets will arise to deceive and sin will be rampant everywhere. The love of many will be cold. The Gospell will be preached throughout the whole world so all nations will hear it. Then the end will come. There will be sacrilegious object that will stand in the Holy Place. When this happens, people need to flee to the hills. This will mark the worse time in the history of the earth. We have seen the birth pains for a long time and will continue to see these things until the time of the end is here. There is a blessing for those who endure till the end - they will be saved. Lord, help us to be ready for the season we are in. Thank you that we don’t have to panic or be afraid because you have planned this from the beginning.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Giving of the Law

Read: Exodus 19:16-21:21; Matthew 23:13-39; Psalm 28:1-9; Proverbs 7:1-5 On the third day, a cloud came down upon the mountain along with thunder and lightning. There was a long trumpet blast that grew louder and louder that came from heaven as God was calling his people together. Moses stood at the foot of the mountain and the Lord descended in the form of fire and smoke. The whole mountain shook violently. God’s voice called Moses to the top of the mountain. God told Moses to go back down and warn the people not to break through the boundaries that they had set around the mountain or they would die. Even the priests had to purify themselves or they would be destroyed. Moses was told to go get Aaron and bring him with him. Then the Lord gave them the instructions that we call the Ten Commandments. The second commandment was to make any idol or image of anything they saw from the earth, sky or in the sea. Whoever did this, their sin would be passed down to their children and the entire family line would be affected even to the third and fourth generations. But to those that loved the Lord, their blessing would be passed down for a thousand generations. They were not to misuse the name of the Lord. The rest of them are self-explanatory. The people trembled with fear at the display of God’s glory. Moses told them that God had come to put fear in their heart to do good and not to disobey God’s commandment. It was the fear of the Lord which would help them choose good over evil. God gave them instructions of how to make an altar. It had to be made with uncut, unpolished stone. God would not allow man to take away from or add to his word. The stone represented his Word which was not to be polished or altered in anyway by man. They were also not to have steps to approach his altar. There is no formula or scholarly degree required to approach God or to serve in his kingdom. God gave them the regulations for treating a Hebrew slave. He was only to serve six years then be set free. He would leave the way he came. Anything you gave him while he was a slave would be yours when he left. He could decide to stay forever to maintain what you gave him. If he decided to stay, he was to go through a ceremony where his ear was nailed to the door and then he would served for you for life. This is the picture of our lives that God gives us. Before we are Christians we are slaves to sin and this world. If we choose to become a child of God we are crucified with Christ and then we are fee to have all that God gave us as his child, not his slave. God gave laws about murder, kidnapping, or dishonors his father or mother. These are all punishable by death. In Matthew, Jesus nailed the scribes and Pharisees. He called them the hypocrites that loved the approval of man more than the approval of God. They pretended to be righteous all the while they were the vilest of sinners. The spirit they had was the same spirit that the leaders had that killed the prophets in the Old Testament. They had the greatest among them and they were plotting to kill him. Lord, help us to not be so blind that we misinterpret what you are doing. May we stand for justice and righteousness.

Wed.’s Devo - Righteous Judges

Read: Exodus 17:8-19:15; Matthew 22:34-23:12; Psalm 27:7-14; Proverbs 6:27-35 While the Israelites were enjoying the water they had received from the rock, the warriors of Amelek attacked them. Moses told Joshua to select some of their warriors to go out and fight them. Moses stood on top of the hill to watch with his staff in his hand. Whenever the enemy looked like they were getting the advantage, Moses would stretch forth his hand. When Moses could no longer hold his arms up, they found a stone for him to sit on and they stood on each side of him holding up Moses’ hands. At sunset, the battle was over and they had won. God told Moses to write it on a scroll that God would erase the memory of the Amelekites out of the earth. God gave them another one of his names because he had revealed himself to them as Jehovah-nissi, “God is my banner.” As Moses lifted his hands as a banner for them, God was a banner for them. Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law brought Zipporah and Moses two sons to meet Moses. He had heard all the things that had happened in Egypt but now he heard them first-hand from Moses. He was delighted to hear the stories and realized himself that God was the god above all other gods. Jethro observed Moses’ day and how he spent the whole day settling disputes among the people. He advised Moses to appoint some men to help him. They must be men who were honest men, knew God’s laws and hated bribes. (That needs to be a requirement for our judges.) Moses took his advise and selected judges for the people. He would handle only the big cases. It is interesting to me that Moses knew God’s decrees and instructions even before the “Law” was given. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil taught them the difference between the two. The test was to choose the good. On the first day of Sivan, the third month, the children of Israel came to Sinai. Moses called them together and told them that if they obeyed the Lord and kept his covenant with them they would be God’s special treasure. They would be a kingdom of priests and His holy nation. They agreed to do this even before they got the requirements. God said that he would engulf Moses in a cloud, but the people would be able to hear what He was telling Moses. The people were to sanctify themselves, their clothes and their hearts for the third day. They were to set a structure so that the people could not touch the mountain. When the trumpet sounded, they were all to come to the mountain. In Matthew, Jesus had silenced the Pharisees and the Sadducees so now an expert in the law came to try to trap him. Jesus asked him what he thought about the Messiah and whose son he was. The expert answered that the Messiah was the son of David. Jesus asked him why David had called the Messiah “My Lord” if he was his son? None of them could answer so they stopped asking questions. Jesus then nailed the teachers of the law. He told the crowd that the religious teachers and the Pharisees had been give the ministry of teaching the law. They could listen to what they said but not look at their lives as examples. They were the hypocrites who tried to look holy on the outside when inside their hearts they were full of pride and self-worship. He warned them against calling anyone “Father” because they were all equal. We are all part of a body of believers where Jesus is our head. We all have gifts and none are more important than the other; our gifts are for each other to help each other advance as one. Lord, help us to become one new man in Christ. Help us to honor one another gifts and the gift that is inside each of us. Grant us righteous judges for our nation who hate bribes.

Tues.’s Devo - This is Just a Test

Read: Exodus 15:19-17-7; Matthew 22:1-33; Psalm 27:1-6; Proverbs 6:20-26 Miriam took up her tambourine and led the women in praise and dancing over their victory. Moses led the people from the Red Sea to the desert of Shur. Shur means “a point of observation.” In that desert they came to an oasis called Marah (bitter). The water was not drinkable. So what were they suppose to observe and learn there? Moses threw a piece of wood into the water and the water became good to drink. The wood represented the cross. Life is bitter until you come to the cross and put all your sin there. Then life becomes good and “drinkable.” God promised them that if they listened carefully to his voice and did what he said, they would not suffer any of the diseases he sent on the Egyptians because He is the god who heals. They next came to an oasis called Elim which means “mighty ones.” There were 12 springs and 70 palm trees. God always has mighty ones in his kingdom. He had 12 tribes, 12 disciples, and 12 apostles. He sent out 70 to do the works he did. These are God’s mighty ones. From Elim they journeyed to the wilderness of Sin and arrived the fifteenth day of the second month where the children of Israel complained…again. They were hungry and all they could think about was all the food they had in Egypt, forgetting the bondage and oppression. God told Moses he was going to rain down manna. He gave them instructions to only collect the manna for the day and whatever they collected would be enough. Then he told them on the sixth day to collect enough for two days because the seventh would be a day with no work. It would be the Sabbath. The Sabbath was God’s gift to them and to us. It would represent the seventh day of creation and the 7th millennium. The instructions were a test to see if the people would obey and not fear. This is our test today. Will we obey the Lord, trust in his good plan and choose not to fear, and most of all, not complain when things don’t happen when and how we think they should. The people were tormented by thirst and blamed Moses. God told Moses that they were not really blaming Moses but they were complaining against Him. He told Moses to take his staff and He would stand on Mt. Sinai. Moses was told to strike the rock, and when he did, water gushed out. Moses named the place “Massah which means “test” and Mariah which means “arguing.” In Matthew, Jesus tells the story of the king’s great wedding feast. I have always though it had to do with the end of the ages but I see that Jesus was talking about them right then. They were the ones who had the bridegroom with them and they were the ones who refused to come to the party and believe Jesus was who he said he was. They refused the invitation, so Jesus went to the outcast and even the Gentiles. They came. At the feast, there was a man who had refused to wear the right wedding garments. He was thrown out into darkness or hell. These were the Pharisees that kept following Jesus even though they had no intention of joining or believing. They just wanted to see what he would do. The Pharisees knew he was talking about him and plotted to trap him. They tried to trap Jesus in his political views so they asked him about taxes. He showed them a child and asked whose picture was on it. He told them to give to Caesar what belongs to him and give to God what belongs to him. They were astonished at his answers. It was the Sadducees turn to trap Jesus. Since resurrection was their pet doctrine they asked a question that would include it in a round about way. They didn’t believe in the resurrection but the Pharisees did. Jesus saw through the smoke and went straight to the real question and proved that there was resurrection. Boom! Lord, you are our light and our salvation so who is there to fear!