Mon.’s Devo - The Seven Feasts

Read: Leviticus 22:17-23:44; Mark 9:30-10:12; Psalm 44:1-8; Proverbs 10:19 All sacrifices were to be without defects. Jesus was the sacrifice and he was sinless. God is a holy God and he requires holy gifts. To not obey God’s commands brought shame on his holy name. God had rescued them from Egypt to be his holy people. God had special days for holy assembly. One was the Sabbath which was every seventh day. It was a day of complete rest because God rested on the seventh day and we will rest on the seventh millennial. (A day is as a thousand years to the Lord.) In addition to the Sabbath were the seven feasts to be celebrated at the proper times. They began with Passover which was the fourteenth day of the first month of their religious calendar which occurred in the Spring. Passover was a picture of the cross and our salvation so the first feast is our birth into the family of God. The next day on the fifteenth begins a whole week of celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread. During the week daily gifts are offered to the Lord because once we are saved we daily offer ourselves to the Lord. On the first and seventh day the people stop their work and observe a day of holy assembly. This week represents our whole life as a Christian and God’s sanctification process. God doesn’t require work from us when we first get saved. Then we serve him the rest of our lives until the end where we once again learn to rest in him. The third feast was the Feast of First Fruits. When they entered the land and harvested their first crop, they were to bring a bundle of the grain from the first cutting to the Lord. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest would lift it up before the Lord so that it would be accepted on their behalf. This was a picture of Jesus rising from the dead the day after the Sabbath. His resurrection made us acceptable to the Lord. He was the first fruit to rise from the dead. They were to count 50 days or seven full weeks after that day and present an offering of the new grain to the Lord. This would mark the end of the wheat harvest. They were to bake two loaves of bread from their grain. These loaves would have yeast in them. The priest would wave them before the Lord. Sacrifices were offered at every feast. This feast was called the Festival or Weeks or Pentecost. In the autumn the last three feasts were celebrated. They have yet to be fulfilled. The first day of the seventh month on the religious calendar (Tishri 1) they were to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets. This will be the day of the Rapture of the Church. It was to be celebrated with loud blasts on the trumpet. Ten days late they were to celebrate the Day of Atonement which was the most holy day of the year. It was the day the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies and offered incense and blood on the Ark of the Covenant. From the day that the church is taken to the Day of Atonement the people will have space to repent. After that day, their fate is sealed. On the fifteenth day, they were to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles or Shelters. The land was to be harvested by then (all souls were harvested for the kingdom). They were to gather certain branches to make temporary booths to live in for the week. This was to represent Jesus Second Coming where he sets up his kingdom on earth. This will be temporary because after the 1,000 years, he will bring in a new heaven and a new earth. The children of Israel were to practice these feasts so that they could remember God’s ultimate plan for the earth. In Mark, Jesus had to teach his disciples that to be the greatest in the Kingdom was to take last place and be the servant of everyone else. Anyone who takes the name of Jesus is his disciple and can do the things Jesus did. There is no clique in Jesus’ body. He taught his disciples that they were responsible for what they taught others and whatever causes us to sin, we need to get rid of. We are all tested with trials. The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus with a question about divorce. To understand Jesus answer we have to understand that there was the “putting away” of a wife which what what they were practicing and there was the legal act of divorce which is what Moses wrote about. They were just putting their wives away and not legally divorcing them. So when they went to marry another woman they were committing adultery because they hadn’t legally divorced their first wife. If the woman that had been put away wanted to remarry, she would be committing adultery also because she had not been legally divorced. Only a man could legally divorce a wife so the fault fell on the man. Jesus addressed this. The whole lesson went back to the fact that they were living life by their man-made laws and had ditched God’s Law given by Moses. Jesus kept bringing them back to God’s Law. Jesus explained that the only reason God gave a concession for divorce was because their hearts were hard and they couldn’t forgive or be satisfied with their wife. When God brings two people together they should not end in divorce. When people marry outside of God’s will they need to seek God’s direction. Divorce might be the right thing for them. That is the beauty of the Holy Spirit; He will lead you into all truth and illumine your steps. Lord, may we lay down our lives today for your kingdom. Use us however you need.

Sun.’s Devo - Life From Death

Read: Leviticus 20:22-22:16; Mark 9:1-29; Psalm 43:1-5; Proverbs 10:18 God wanted his people to be able to stay in the land he was sending them. If they didn’t learn what was holy and what was unholy, they would be vomited out of their land. He wanted them to clearly understand what was holy and what was unholy so all his laws taught them this. What they ate and what they consulted for wisdom was to be sanctioned by him. The priests represented the Christians of the New Testament. They were not to touch a dead body unless it was a close relative. Today that would mean to have close relationships only with those who were Christians. We are suppose to love and be friendly to everyone but to be close with people of the world only leads to compromise. The exceptions are the members of your own blood relatives that are closely related to you. The laws says that if a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she also defiles her father’s holiness, and she must be burned to death. Spiritually that means that if a Christian defiles herself or himself by worshipping other gods or taking evil things into his or her heart then he must come to the cross and allow the fire of God to burn that out of them and be cleansed. To burn to death means to repent. A great description is given of the high priest which our high priest now is Christ. He may marry only a virgin. Jesus is coming back for a spotless bride. She must be from his clan. Jesus was from the tribe of Judah which means “Praise”. She must be a bride who lived in praise of God. A priest with a defect could not serve as high priest and enter into the Holy of Holies because of his defect. He was allowed to eat the food of priests. Spiritually that is talking about what hinders our prayers from being heard. Some of the things that hinder our prayer life is unbelief, sin, unforgiveness, sadness which keeps us from being able to praise (we enter into his presence with praise), being spiritually blind. Verse 18 gives us a list. Being lame has to do with our “walk”. If we are not walking upright then we can’t approach God’s altar because of shame. Being disfigured deformed or with a broken foot or arm also has to do with not being balanced in our walk. To be hunchbacked is not being able to stand upright before the Lord. Having a defective eye has to do with how we see God. Having skin sores or scabs has to do with sins of the flesh. Damaged testicles has to do with sins of reproduction. We are to reproduce life. A person with any of these problems could not offer food to God but they could receive food from God. In other words, they should not be in positions of authority in the Church to give out teaching, preaching, prophecies but they are free to be taught, preached to and prophesied over. They need to repent and be healed, then they can offer to God and the body of Christ what they have been given. In Mark, Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a mountain alone. Before their eyes, Jesus transfigured into his glorified body. Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter wanted to make three shelters for each of them to commemorate them. A cloud overshadowed them and God’s voice said, “This is my beloved Son, hear him.” Elijah was the prophet and Moses was the law all preparing God’s people to meet his son, Jesus. Elijah and Moses all spoke of Him but now he was come and Jesus superseded them all. The disciples asked Jesus why the scriptures said that Elijah had to come first. Jesus said that Elijah had to come first to restore all things. Elijah was the prophet who contended with the prophets of Baal. First there had to be a showdown between good and evil. We are witnessing that showdown right now in the world. Jesus reminded them that they treated Elijah with great contempt just like he would be treated and just like we will be treated by the world. What would happen to Satan was demonstrated in the boy they brought to Jesus. He was possessed by an evil spirit that tried to kill him. Even the disciples couldn’t cast it out. The demons threw the child into a violent convulsion and he fell to the ground writhing and foaming at the mouth. Jesus rebuked the spirit that made the boy unable to hear or speak and cast it out never to return. The child went into convulsions then lay there looking dead. Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up. Jesus was demonstrating what he came to do. He came to give sight to the blind, open deaf ears and give life to the dead. He came to overcome the works of the devil and give salvation to all who wanted it but to live you have to first die then the Lord would raise you up. Lord, may we die to ourselves and live to you. May our lives demonstrate your power.

Sat.’s Devo - Deeper Truths

Read: Leviticus 19:1-20:21; Mark 8:11-38; Psalm 42:1-11; Proverbs 10:17 All of God’s laws were built around the truth that God is holy and he wanted a holy people. He gave them laws and told them exactly how they could follow them. He made it very easy for them to obey. Today we read what we call the 10 Commandments with more details. Every law had spiritual insight for us today. For example. In 19:9 instructions are given for harvesting your crops. You were not to harvest along the edges or the corners of your fields or pick up any that was dropped because they are to be left for the poor and the foreigner. That law kept Ruth and Naomi alive. Spiritually, it means that the uttermost parts of the earth will not be judged or reaped until the end of time. (Ezekiel 7:2-4). Jeremiah 9:25-26 gives us nations that are in the four corners that will be judged last. Judah is listed as being uncircumcised in their heart. One of the laws that needs to be in effect today is: “Do not make your hired workers wait until the next day to receive their pay.” Waiting two weeks to get paid is absurd to me especially for someone who is living hand to mouth and has children to feed.” God gives us a definition of spiritual prostitution in 20:6. It is putting trust in mediums or in those who consult the spirits of the dead. God lists everything that is a capital offense punishable by death. Two of them will leave you childless: A man who has sex with his uncles’ wife and a man who marries his brother’s wife. Both have to do with brothers. The first has to do with his father’s brother and the other has to do with his own brother. I think these have to do with sinning against a fellow Christian brother. John the Baptist came down upon Herod for taking his brother Phillip’s wife. Yet, if the brother is dead, the living brother is required to marry the wife of the dead brother and raise up seed for the dead brother. In Mark, Jesus warned them of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. Herod was breaking so many of the laws of the Jews. The “yeast” of the Pharisees has to do with the doctrine of the Pharisees. Instead of getting the point, the disciples worried that they only had one loaf of bread. Jesus rebuked them and asked them if they didn’t remember the miracles of the 5,000 and the 4,000. Bread was not a problem when you are walking with the Bread of Heaven. Jesus encountered a blind man and he took him to a remote place to heal him. Once again used his own spit to heal him and told him to go straight home and not to the village. Jesus asked his disciples who the people thought he was. Then he asked who they thought he was. Peter said, that he was the Messiah. Jesus warned them not to tell people that because he had to die first. Peter was not happy with that but Jesus rebuked that spirit out of him. Jesus told us how to be his follower: to take up our cross and follow him. Lord, we desire to do just that.

Fri.’s Devo - Jesus, Our High Priest

Read: Leviticus 16:29:18-30; Mark 7:24-8:10; Psalm 41:1-13; Proverbs 10:15-16 The tenth day of Tishri is the Day of Atonement which was the only day the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies. He made atonement for himself and his family first then for the people. Hebrews 7 tells us that the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did. Jesus was the surety of a better testament. The priests of the Old Testament died but Jesus’ priesthood continues forever. In the Old Testament the priest had to offer up sacrifices daily for their sins and the sins of the people. Jesus offered up himself once and for all and his blood never loses its power to cleanse, heal and deliver. It gives us eternal life. They were told not to offer animals as sacrifices anywhere but the Tabernacle and by the priests. To do so would be considered murder. They were never to eat an animal without first draining the blood from it. Its life is in its blood and to drink it would be to bring its life into them. God gave them a whole lists of the people they were not to have sex with. Semen was like blood carrying life in it. Today, we would say it carries their DNA. DNA is not to be mixed or mingled or tampered with except how God intended. A marriage covenant needs to be made for it to be legal and even marriage had to be one sanctioned by God. They were never to offer their children to Molech which brings shame on the Lord. He is our God not Molech. Having sex with animals is perversion. All these practices he told them not to practice were the things the people who lived in the land did. He was driving them out so they could take the land and make it clean again. If they did practice the evil things the people did before them the land would vomit them out too. This is what is happening in our day. The land is vomiting out the ones who practice these things. We are witnessing a cleansing of the land. In Mark we read the story of the Syrian Phoenecian woman who brought her daughter who was possessed by an evil spirit to Jesus. She begged him to cast it out of her. Jesus told there that he came first to the Jews and then the Gentiles. She said that even the dogs (which was a name they called her people) got to eat the scraps that fell from the table. Jesus commended her on her answer. It was like he needed her to plead her cause first. She did and then he could meet her need. The girl was delivered. When the man came to him who was deaf and couldn’t speak. Jesus took him aside. He spit on his own fingers and touched the man’s tongue with his spit. Was he not transferring his DNA to this man? That would have been forbidden by the law and considered unclean. In our day that would have been frowned upon. The man was instantly healed. Once again, the people were hungry and Jesus wanted to feed them. They had seven loaves and a few fish. Jesus blessed them and told the disciples to distribute them. The disciples saw the multiplication happen in their own hands this time. They fed 4,000 men and had seven baskets of leftover food. Immediately, Jesus had to get out of there and went across the lake to the region of Dalmanutha. Lord, please cleanse our land and bring a revival to our nation and the nations of the world. Thank you that you are our High Priest forever.

Thurs.’s Devo - Our Atonement

Read: Leviticus 15:1-16:28; Mark 7:1-23; Psalm 40:11-17; Proverbs 10:13-14 Today we read about discharges of a man and a woman. Both have to do with eggs that won’t be fertilized to bring life. Both make the person unclean. A discharge is when something on the inside comes out in the open. Spiritually this could be a manifestation of the heart that leads to death instead of life. Our words are that powerful - they either lead to life or death. “Life and death is in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” Proverbs 18:21. Once again, I am reminded of the woman with the issue of blood that we read about Tuesday. She had not been allowed in the Temple for 12 years because of her uncleanness. She was a picture of all of them. They were all unclean because of their sin, they just weren’t aware of theirs as much as she was. In Chapter 16, Aaron got the instructions about the Day of Atonement even though it doesn’t label it here. This was the one day of the year when the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies and atone for himself and the sins of the people. He was to offer his sacrifice first for himself and his family and then for the people. Two similar goats were chosen and lots were chosen to decide which would die for the sins of the people and which would go free. A counterfeit of this was done as Jesus and Barabbas stood before the crowd and the crowd chose the one to die and the scapegoat. Jesus was chosen to die and Barabbas was chosen to go free. Barabbas didn’t carry our sins from us. Jesus was both the lamb that was slain and the one who took our sins away. Aaron was to go through a whole day of rituals and if he did it right he would live and the sin of the nation would be atoned for for the year. Aaron was to sacrifice the first goat as a sin offering then sprinkle its blood over the atonement cover. He would do this throughout the entire Tabernacle. Then he would come out and sprinkle blood on the burnt altar and its horns. Next he would put his hands on the head of the scapegoat transferring all their sins to this goat and it would be taken into the wilderness. Everyone officiating must wash and be clean. In Mark, the Pharisees were upset that Jesus’ disciples weren’t obeying their man-made laws. When they asked Jesus about it he called them out for being hypocrites. They worried so much about traditional rituals but cared nothing about the heart. They ignored God’s laws and substituted their own. Jesus went on to show them another way they did this. God’s commandment says to honor your father and mother but they were teaching the people that it was more honorable to give their money to the Temple than to care for their elderly parents. He told them that this was only one example of a whole list of abuses. Then Jesus said, “it is not what goes into your body that defiles you: you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” It isn’t food that defiles us it is our thoughts and what we do with them. Lord, may our hearts be clean. Thank you for the blood of Jesus that makes us righteous.

Wed.’s Devo - The Ceremony for Leprosy

Read: Leviticus 14:1-57; Mark 6:30-56; Psalm 40:1-10; Proverbs 10:11-12 Yesterday we read what constituted leprosy and today we will read about the ceremony of cleansing for leprosy. It is the same for sin. If the person was declared healed of leprosy by the priest, then he would perform a purification ceremony where he would take two live birds, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn and a hyssop branch. The priest would order that one bird be slaughtered over a clay pot filled with fresh water. He would take the live bird, the cedar stick, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop branch and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. The priest would sprinkle that blood of the dead bird seven times on the person being purified and then release the live bird in the open field to fly away. The bird chosen to be slaughtered was Jesus. He came in a the flesh (a clay pot) and was filled with fresh water (filled with the Holy Spirit.) The cedar stick represented the cross, the scarlet yarn was the blood and the hyssop branch was offered to numb the pain but Jesus refused it. Jesus blood is sprinkled over us making us clean from sin. The person being cleansed must wash their clothes, shave off their hair and bathe themselves in water and then they would be ceremonially clean. They had to remain outside the camp for seven days and on the seventh day they would shave again all their hair and wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. Then they will be ceremonially clean. Once we are saved, we then get baptized washing off the sin we committed before we got saved. We live outside of heaven the rest of our lives but when we die, we are washed again of all the sin we committed after we were saved. Then we enter heaven inside the camp. This is also referring to the end of the ages when we will all appear before the judgment seat and be declared righteous or unrighteous. On the eighth day which means after the judgment we will purify the earth and all the people who were declared righteous on judgment day. We as God’s priests will not only be cleansed but anointed with oil. The oil was placed on the right lobe, the right thumb and the right big toe of the priest being anointed for service. That means that our hearing will be anointed, the things we do will be anointed and our walk and foundation will be anointed. God then gave Moses and Aaron instructions of how to cleanse the houses they lived in in Canaan in case they had mildew. We will come back to this earth after the judgment day and live a thousand years with Jesus as the King. We will live in houses we didn’t build and some of them would have been used for sinful acts. If we happen to live in one of those houses and find that it is full of spirits from its past we will need to cleanse the house. If it is filled with materials that are evil, they will need to be brought out of the house and destroyed. The insides of the house will need to be scraped and dumped and built with other stones. This reminds me of what they have to do with crack houses. If the mildew returns, the house will be declared defiled and must be torn down to the ground. There is nothing worth saving. If the mildew doesn’t return then the same ceremony with the birds has to be done for the house. In Mark, Jesus fed the crowd of 5,000 with two fish and five loaves and then put his disciples in their boat and sent them back to the place where he had delivered the demoniac not so long ago. Again, they were faced with a storm but this time Jesus was not with them. It was a test to see if they would do what Jesus told taught them to do. They didn’t have the faith yet so Jesus had to come and save them again. When they got to Gennesaret, the very place that the people had thrown him out of the first time, the people lined the shores. They had seen the miracle of the demoniac as he went from town to town sharing his testimony and now they were ready to receive Jesus. Lord, expand our faith to believe you and to walk in the power that you walked in because you are in us.

Tues.’s Devo - The Laws of Leprosy

Read: Leviticus 13:1-59; Mark 6:1-29; Psalm 39:1-13; Proverbs 10:10 God gave the laws for leprosy which is a disease of the skin. Sin is a disease of the flesh so leprosy is a picture of sin. It gives us several different types of leprosy and I will interpret them as I see it. One was swelling in the skin which I would think meant pride since pride makes you think you are better than you are. Another leprosy produced a rash which I would think would be the sin which so easily besets us. This would show up differently in people. To some it might be lust for sex but to others it might be lust for things. It might be a rut that we go to instead of going to Jesus. A boil would be dealing with anger since it makes us boil in the inside. A burn might indicate an offense that someone does to another. They might burn them in a business deal or with a relationship which would leave a mark. A sore on the head or chin might be stubbornness since the top of the head is really hard and the jawbone is something you set when you have made up your mind. All of these are my interpretations but the remedy is the same. First you go to the priest and let him examine you. That would be us going to the Lord and asking him to examine our hearts. If he sees that our sin is not healing but causing an affect outside of ourselves we have become contagious and need to be isolated. In other words, if we haven’t brought it to the cross and allowed Jesus to heal our hearts, we need to do some work. Some of these take time to change and get over so we go into isolation which is God’s school of forgiveness or deliverance. It might take years before we graduate and are proclaimed clean. Our job is to surrender to God’s process. If we don’t then we will spread our sin to others. Leprosy could also be in inanimate objects like mildew. If it is in clothing it is a picture of the garments we are wearing. God said that we are clothed with righteousness which comes from Jesus’ finished work on the cross. If we have allowed our garments to become dirty we need to clean up our outward appearance whether that is the words that come out of our mouth, the things we ingest or the company we keep. In Mark, we see how leprosy grew and what it produced. When Jesus went to his hometown and preached it brought out the stubbornness in them. They couldn’t believe that someone from their own town could be used by God so mightily. They were not healed because of their unbelief. Jesus gave his disciples authority to heal and cast out demons and sent them out to the people. He told them that any place that wouldn’t receive them they should shake its dust from their feet to show that they had abandoned the people to their own fate. Herod had the leprosy of pride and lust. His lust had led him to take his brother’s wife and be enticed by the lustful dancing of his wife’s daughter. He was hooked into killing John the Baptist because of his pride. Sin causes us to become trapped in a web that only Jesus can set us free from but the Good News is - He can and He will. Our Psalm is perfect for this lesson. Lord, we ask you to examine our hearts and see if there be any wicked way in us and deliver us from evil. Our hope is in You.

Mon.’s Devo - Life From Death

Read: Leviticus 11:1-12:8; Mark 5:21-43; Psalm 38:1-22; Proverbs 10:8-9 God gave Moses instructions about which animals and living creatures they could eat and which ones were unholy for them to ingest. They were not to eat animals that didn’t both chew the cud and have split hooves. Every law had a spiritual meaning to us now. (Romans 7:14) To chew the cud would mean to meditate on the things you were bringing into your life before you decided to swallow it and believe it. To have split hooves means to be standing on the Word which is rightly divided. It means to have stability and know right from wrong. They were not to eat anything that a dead unclean carcass touched. If an unclean dead animal fell into a clay pot everything in the pot would be defiled. The pot must be smashed. Anything that was in the pot would be considered unclean. The clay pot is humanity. Anything that is dead is anything not of God. God is life. Sin corrupts the whole body. Paul said it well when he said, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” 1 Corinthians 15:33. If death contaminates the clay pot, the pot must be smashed. Paul explained this in 1 Corinthians 15. He said that what we sow doesn’t come to life until the seed dies. All flesh is not the same and every body is give its own seed. Those who have nourished God’s seed in them will be raised to incorruption, glory and power. All small animals that scurried along the ground were detestable and were not to be eaten. These represented people that were earthly and not spiritual. They walked according to the world. We are to avoid consuming their doctrine. Chapter 12 deals with a woman giving birth to a son or a daughter. If it is a son, then she is clean after 33 days. If she bears a daughter she continues in the blood of her purification 66 days. This reminds me of the woman who came to Jesus who had been bleeding for 12 years which is two 6’s. She was instantly healed. The woman was to then offer a lamb as a burnt offering and one for purification so she would be clean. This is nothing other than applying the salvation of the cross and the cleansing power of the blood to make a person righteous before God. In Mark, we read of this very woman who had been bleeding for 12 years and of a girl who was 12 years old and dying. They all point to the same thing. There is no hope for anyone without the blood of Jesus. Jarius’ daughter had to die so the seed in her could live. She was a picture of how salvation works. When Jesus spoke to her she rose and walked. The first thing Jesus told them to do for her was to feed her. Isn’t that what Jesus told Peter… “feed my sheep”? Lord, thank you for the principles of life. We have to die to our sin to bring forth your righteousness. We have been crucified with you so that we might be raised with you. Thank you for your resurrection life that we can walk in. Give us your overcoming grace for today.

Sun.’s Devo -God’s Holiness

Read: Leviticus 9:7-10:20; Mark 4:26-5:20; Psalm 37:30-40; Proverbs 10:6-7 Today we read of the disobedience of Aaron’s sons Abihu and Nadab and then of Aaron’s and how they were dealt with by God. It was the Day of Atonement when the high priest would offer the sin offering for himself and then for the people. The people brought their offerings and the priests offered them to the Lord. Aaron went through the whole ritual of offering the burnt offering, the sin offering and the peace offering. Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle and when they came back out, they blessed the people and the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community. Fire blazed forth from God’s presence and the consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. The people responded by shouting with joy and praise, then falling on their face on the ground in worship. When Aaron’s two sons Nadab and Abihu saw the response of the people. They put coals of fire in their censors and offered it before the Lord which He had commanded them not to do. Immediately the fire of the Lord consumed them and they died before the Lord. They must have entered into the Holy of Holies to do this which was only designated for the high priest. I assume that they wanted the same response from the people that their father had gotten. Instead of praise and worship, they got judgment. Were they looking for the praises of the people above the praises of God? We aren’t really told but we see their actions. Moses told Aaron that he could not show outward signs of grief over their deaths. He gave Aaron further instructions that he and his sons must never drink wine or any other alcoholic drink before going into the Tabernacle or they would die. They had to distinguish between what was sacred and what was common, what was unclean and what was clean. They were to teach the people all the decrees that the Lord had given them. Then Moses told Aaron to take his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar and they were to eat the portion of the sacrifices given by the people. Instead they burnt them. When Moses found out, he was very angry with them. It seemed like Aaron’s sons couldn’t get anything right. When Moses asked Aaron why his sons didn’t eat the meat, he said that he didn’t believe the Lord would be pleased if they ate it in the midst of their tragedy of losing their brothers and his sons. Moses was satisfied with his answer and apparently God was too because they lived. So what is the difference between the two sins. One was done publicly and would have been an example to the people that you didn’t have to obey God’s exact laws. The other was done privately and was done from a totally different heart. The first was done out of a seemingly desire for praise of man. The second was done from a broken heart of grief. God is merciful and kind and knows the heart of every man. He judges the heart. In Mark, Jesus gave two more parables about the kingdom of God and it had to do with the seed and how it grows in people’s hearts and is manifested on the earth. In the end they will be harvested. We already know that the seed is the Word of God and we will be judged in the end by if we put it in our hearts and let it manifest on the earth or if we let our sinful nature manifest on the earth. Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables but he explained them to his disciples. Jesus and his disciples crossed the lake to get to the region of the Gerasenes. The principality of the area tried to stop them with the storm but Jesus spoke to it and it calmed. This was a precursor to what he was going to do with the principality. He was about to shut it up also. When they got to the other side, the man with legions of demons met them. He recognized who Jesus was right away. Jesus cast out the unclean spirit and told him to go home to his family and tell them everything the Lord had done from him. The man went to all 10 cities in his region telling them what Jesus had done for him. Lord, thank you for your merciful kindness. Search our hearts and see that there is no wicked thing in us. Thank you for the blood of Jesus that makes us righteous.

Sat.’s Devo - The Ordination of the High Priest

Read: Leviticus 7:28-9:6; Mark 3:31-4:25; Psalm 37:12-29; Proverbs 10:5 Reading all these requirements for Aaron and his sons seems boring and tedious but God is giving us an inside look at what happened when Jesus rose from the dead to be our high priest. He was the offering for sin, trespass, guilt and peace that he offered on the cross. He fulfilled all the requirements to be our high priest. God put the tunic and tied the sash around Jesus waist. He dressed him in the robe, placed the ephod on him and placed the chest piece on Jesus. He put the Urim and the Thummim inside the chest piece. He placed the turban on Jesus head and attached the gold medallion, the badge of holiness in the front of the turban. God then anointed all the pieces in heaven making them holy. He sprinkled Jesus blood on the altar and anointed all the utensils and furniture. Lastly, he anointed Jesus head making him holy. Next, God presented Jesus’ sons which would be the people that would do the work on earth. He clothed them with tunics, tied sashes around their waits and put their special head coverings on them. Ephesians six talks about this. It is our robe of righteousness, our belt of truth and the helmet of salvation. They then offered sacrifices on the cleansed altar of heaven. On the eighth day Moses performed the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering telling them that on that day the Lord would appear to them. The people brought their offerings to the entrance of the Tabernacle and waited to hear from the Lord. This is a picture of what will happen on the eighth day after the Feast of Tabernacles. The Jews call it Simbat Torah. On that day, they start over reading the Torah because the reading for the year is completed. They celebrate the Torah with dancing and celebration. Then they enter the new year with joy. In the last day it will be the new millennium where Christ will rule from Jerusalem. In Mark, Jesus made it clear that everyone was the same to him. Not even his family were above the rest. That is good news to us as Gentiles. We are not the step-child but the same as if we had been born a Jew. Jesus explains this further with his parable. This is the parable of all parables. If you do not understand this parable, you will not be able to understand any of the others. The seed is God’s Word, The soil is our hearts. If we have hearts that are ready to hear the Word it will grow in us and we will be like the light on the hill. Where we are, we will illuminate truth. Hidden sin is exposed because of the light we carry. The more we draw near to God and listen to his voice, the more we will hear. Revelation will be given to us as we read God’s word and want to know God more. The ones who refuse to listen will become more and more deceived. Lord, thank you for your Word. Thank you for the hunger you have given us to seek you and know more about you. Thank you for revelation and life.

Fri.’s Devo - The Kingdom of God

Read: Leviticus 6:1-7:27; Mark 3:7-30; Psalm 37:1-11; Proverbs 10:3-4 God hates sin but he made a way for man to atone for every sin he committed and he made a way for man to make himself acceptable to him. God has always been about the mission of redemption and restoration. In the Old Testament everything was legal and formal. The New Testament focused more on the heart and the spirit of the sin. One thing was for sure, the priests needed to know their jobs and do them by the book or their lives were at stake. We need more of the fear of the Lord in our day. God is the same yesterday, today and forever and his laws are still important to him. I wonder how many times we are sick or people die because they violate these laws and never connect the dots. The peace offering was an expression of thankfulness to the Lord. Our songs of praise and prayers of adoration and thanksgiving are like offering peace offerings. It puts peace in our hearts to do it and it puts us in a position of peace with the Lord. The peace offering was totally voluntary. Another reason they would offer a peace offering was if it was a vow they chose to offer to the Lord. It could be bread with yeast which was the only offering acceptable with yeast in it. The offering offered voluntarily came with less restrictions. No one was to consume blood. In Mark Jesus went to a lake to teach the people and minister to their needs. The demons recognized who he was but the ones who should have recognized him didn’t. They were people of his own family who thought he was out of his mind and the religious leaders who claimed he was possessed by demons. Jesus explained to them that Satan could not cast out Satan. If he was from Satan, why would he be fighting against his own kingdom? Of course, they had no answer. Jesus went on to explain that if a strong man came to plunder a house and take its goods, who would win? The stronger would win. He was plundering Satan’s kingdom because he was stronger. We can plunder Satan’s domination on earth because Jesus is in us. Lord, we declare Satan’s kingdom to fall in America and your kingdom to come. May your children rise and declare your kingdom.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Guilt Offering

Read: Leviticus 4:1-5:19; Mark 2:13-3:6; Psalm 36:1-12; Proverbs 10:1-2 Today we read about the instructions on how to deal with those who sinned unintentionally by doing something that violated one of God’s laws. If it was the high priest then his sin brought guilt upon the whole community. In our day that would be like a pastor committing a sin and it bringing guilt upon the whole church. For the sin of the high priest, the blood of his sacrifice was taken inside the Tabernacle and sprinkled in front of the inner curtain and on the horns of the altar of the incense table. The rest of the blood was to be poured out at the base of the altar for the burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. The remaining parts of the animal that was not burnt on the altar must be carried outside the camp and burnt there. The same was done if the entire nation sinned. If one of Israel’s leaders sinned unintentionally, he was still guilty. If a common person sinned unintentionally he was still guilty. When any of these realized their sin, they were to bring their sacrifice to the priest and its blood was sprinkled on the horns of the burnt altar outside the Tabernacle curtain as well as poured at the base of the altar. This process purified the people making them right with the Lord and they would be forgiven. Jesus died for the whole world. His blood was shed inside the Temple where he was beaten. And, his blood was poured out at the base of the cross as he bled there. The rest of his body was taken outside the camp and laid in a tomb. If you are called to testify about something you have seen or know about and you refuse, then that is a sin. We make a public confession of faith when we come to Jesus which becomes our testimony. Jesus said not to put our light under a bushel but to let it shine to the world. To refuse to testify about the good news is also a sin. God made an offering for guilt also. If you didn’t know you had sinned but felt guilty and didn’t know why, you could offer a guilt offering. If you didn’t feel guilty but wanted to cover your bases anyway, you could offer this offering. We ask the Lord to forgive our sins when we don’t know what they are just because we have a sin nature and our thoughts need to be purified. This is God’s way of making the way easy for us to come to him. We will be responsible for our sins even if we don’t know they are sins if we don’t cover them with the blood. In Mark, Jesus called Levi or Matthew the tax collector to be his disciple. Jesus chose people to be his disciples that the rabbis would have never chosen. He chose the simple, the poor and the sinner and he still does today. The religious leaders questioned Jesus choice of friends and Jesus told them that it was the sick that needed a physician. They questioned why his disciples didn’t fast like John’s disciples did and Jesus told them that he was pouring new wine into new wineskins. He was doing something new and only the ones who were ready for new would be able to receive it. He was questioned about letting his disciples break off heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath. The Pharisees called breaking off a few heads of grain - harvesting. Jesus told him that the Sabbath was made to meet the needs of the people instead of the people needing to meet their requirements. The straw that broke their backs was when Jesus went into the Temple and healed the deformed man’s hand demonstrating what was suppose to happen on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a picture of Jesus’ rule during the millennium when all tears will be erased, and all people will be healed and restored. Jesus was saddened to see their hard hearts. The religious leaders left to plot his death. Lord, may we be ready at any time to give a testimony to what you have done for us. Thank you for your blood that makes us righteous and takes away the guilt of sin.

Wed.’s Devo - The Burnt and the Peace Offerings

Read: Leviticus 1:1-3:17; Mark 1:29-2:12; Psalm 35:17-28; Proverbs 9:13-18 Leviticus is a book for the priests with all their instructions. Levi means “joined” as in joined to the Lord. Leviathan is Satan’s messenger and his name means “their union”. Satan has a counterpart to everything God has. Other meanings of Leviathan include “their burrowing and a coiled animal”. So their union is under the surface, hidden, secret and twisted. Leviathan shows up in secret societies and underground meetings. Today, we read the instructions God gave Moses about the burnt offering and the peace offerings. There were three levels of offerings you could give determined by what you had. If you were blessed with animals you gave of your flock. If you didn’t have animals you could bring a bird. If you had neither, you could bring grain. All were considered pleasing offerings to the Lord. Both the burnt offering and the peace offering was burnt on the altar. There were warnings that if you brought grain you could not present it with yeast or honey. If you brought a live animal you were never to eat the fat or the blood. Yeast is what activates the bread and raises it. Jesus had not risen from the dead. Blood represents life and these sacrifices could not give eternal life until Jesus rose from the dead. Honey and fat have to do with excess and sweetness which only comes from Jesus. Everything God had them do was a picture of what was coming in the future. They had been promised a land of milk and honey when they got to their promised land. We are promised that in God’s Kingdom. In Mark, we read that Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law and he healed people he didn’t know. When he healed the man with leprosy, Jesus told him to go and present himself to the priest and let it be a testimony to them that the Messiah had come. Jesus had come first to the priests which were the ones ruling the house of Israel. Instead, the man went and told everyone and didn’t go to the priests. This opened a floodgate of people who came to Jesus to be healed. Jesus wanted to go through the right channels of authority on the earth but this made it impossible so he had to stay in secluded places to survive. When Jesus returned to Capernaum, there were so many people crowding to see him that four men carrying a paralyzed man had to dig a hole through the roof and lower the man down to where Jesus was. The first thing Jesus said to the man was that his sins were forgiven. There are reasons for sickness and one of them is sin. This was the case in this person. Either he or someone in his ancestry had opened a door to sin that ended up causing him to be paralyzed. The religious leaders were there observing and thought it blasphemy for a person to forgive sins. Jesus perceived their thoughts and asked them “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ’Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk”? So to prove he had the authority to forgive his sins, he told him to stand up and walk and he did. Jesus had come to give them ears to hear spiritually so he naturally opened deaf ears. He came to give them eyes to see spiritually so he healed blind eyes. He came to forgive them of their sins so he did that and healed their walk. Everything Jesus did in the natural was what he was doing in the spiritual. Many received only the natural healing and later cried “Crucify him!” Others got it both naturally and spiritually and went on to spread the good news after Jesus resurrected. Lord, help us to be able to see what you are doing in our lives to open our ears and eyes and hearts to the Kingdom. May we respond rightly to your discipline and your leading. We surrender everything to you.

Tues.’s Devo - The Cloud

Read: Exodus 39-40:38; Mark 1:1-28; Psalm 35:1-16; Proverbs 9:11-12 On the first day of the second year, everything for the Tabernacle was ready and Moses put it all in its place just as the Lord had shown him on the mountain. If the people had any doubts, the cloud of God’s presence moved from where it was to the tabernacle and so filled it that they couldn’t see or enter it. This cloud filled with fire at night and led them through the desert to their promised land. God’s presence to them was visible and all could see it. We have been given the Holy Spirit that wants to be that visible in our lives. We walk by faith and not by sight but we are still being led by that invisible cloud. In Mark we read that the cloud that went before Jesus was sent in the man of John the Baptist. He was the one who prepared the road that Jesus would walk. He prepared the people’s hearts to receive him. He didn’t wear the smooth linen of the priests but wore rough camel’s hair. His belt was not the finely sewn sash of the priest but a belt of leather. He didn’t eat from the sacrifices of the people and the holy shewbread and the wine but he ate locusts and honey. And, he didn’t live in the Temple in special rooms but he lived under the stars out in the desert. He baptized people who wanted to repent of their sins. He washed their sins in the Jordan River and when Jesus arrived on the scene, he baptized him also. John witnessed God’s cloud like a dove come and rest on Jesus and knew he was the one God had sent to redeem them back to Him. Soon after this, John was arrested and thrown in prison. Jesus continued John’s message as he preached that the time God had promised had come at last. Jesus called his first three disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John. He began preaching in the synagogues on the Sabbath. He preached with authority and even the demons knew who he was. They spoke to him one day after preaching. They wanted to know why he was here and if he wad coming to destroy them. Jesus cast this evil spirit out of the man to the shock of the crowd. They had never seen a person with total authority over the spirit world. We read yesterday that the authority Jesus had, he gave to us after he resurrected. Lord, give us wisdom to use the authority you gave us with precise wisdom. May we declare your kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. May we declare it to come to our nation and the nations of the world.

Mon.’s Devo - The Furniture in the Tabernacle

Read: Exodus 37:1-38:31; Matthew 28:1-20; Psalm 34:11-22; Proverbs 9:9-10 Today we read about the construction of the Ark of the Covenant, its cover with the angels on it, the menorah, the table of incense, the bronze altar and the basin. The thing that sticks out to me is the smallness of these pieces. The Ark was only 45” long, 27” wide and 27” tall. It doesn’t tell us how high the angels were but it had to be portable so it couldn’t be too large. The table of incense was only 18” square and 3’ tall. The menorah was impressive in that it was made of 75 pounds of gold. The bronze altar was the largest piece which was 7 and a half feet square and 4 and a half feet wide. It was where the animals were sacrificed. The Ark of the Covenant and the incense table were made of wood and covered with gold. The bronze altar and the bronze basin were made of wood and covered with bronze. They were all carried with poles so that they would not be handled by man’s hands. The bronze basin was made of the mirrors donated by the women. How appropriate since the basin stands for sanctification and how do we know we need cleansing except that we behold our self in a mirror. James talks about that in his first chapter. The walk through the tabernacle is our approach to God. We enter his gates with thanksgiving and praise. We stop at the brazen altar and allow the atonement of Jesus’ blood atone for our sins. We wash our sins in the basin and enter into communion with the Lord through the curtain into the Holy Place. There we sit at his table and eat the shewbread which is the Word of God. We are illumined by the Holy Spirit and his menorah. We offer prayers to God for ourselves and others at the table of incense and we enter into the Holy of Holies and meet with God in the Holy of Holies. His angels protect this place with their wings and we are overshadowed by his presence. The angels on top of the Ark protected it just as the angel who came down and rolled the stone away and sat on it in Matthew. It sure scared the guards but not enough to keep them from accepting a huge bribe to lie about it later. The two Mary’s saw the angel and it spoke to them and told them not to be afraid but Jesus had risen from the dead and was going ahed of them to Galilee. They could see him there. What a turn of events! Jesus met them on their way to tell the men. He confirmed what the angel had said. The eleven disciples went to meet with Jesus in Galilee and saw him but it said that some of them doubted. I wish it would have told us more about that. Jesus gave them all authority in heaven and on earth. They were commissioned to go and make disciples out of all the nations. He promised to be with them to the end of the ages. Lord, may we remember our authority and use it to bring your Kingdom to earth.

Sun.’s Devo - The Crucifixion

Read: Exodus 35:10-36:38; Matthew 27:32-66; Psalm 34:1-10; Proverbs 9:7-8 Everyone had the opportunity to give of their things or of their talent to making the things for the Tabernacle. God had anointed Bezelel and Oholiah to teach others their skills in design and craftsmanship. All who wanted could participate. The people gave so much that Moses had to tell them to stop giving because they had more than enough. They began with the curtains which would go all around the yard where the tabernacle would be set. It was made to be one continuous curtain with cherubim embroidered on them. This yard was to represent the garden of Eden. In Matthew, they were leading Jesus to the cross. They had forced Jesus to carry his own cross until they came to Simon and made him carry it the rest of the way. He had been prepared his whole life to carry Jesus cross just as we have been. Everything about Jesus crucifixion was made to make a mockery of Jesus. He was crucified on Golgotha which means “Place of the Skull”. They gambled for his garments and hung a sign above his head that read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” The people passing by mocked Jesus telling him to come down from the cross and rebuild the Temple that he said would be destroyed. Even the men being crucified with him mocked him. At noon the whole sky became dark for three hours. When the light came back Jesus quoted from Psalm 22 which describes what was happening. Jesus cried out his last cry and the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom. The earth shook and rocks split apart. Tombs were opened and many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection and went into Jerusalem and appeared to people. The Roman soldiers were terrified by the earthquake and all that was happening. They recognized that Jesus must truly be the son of God. That evening, Joseph of Arimathea, who had become a believer in Christ went to Pilate and asked for his body. He was granted it and wrapped Jesus in white linen and laid him in his own tomb that had been hewn out of a rock. He rolled a stone in front of the grave. In Isaiah 58 it says that he would be buried with the rich in his death. Joseph was definitely the rich. He borrowed his tomb for three days. Mary and Mary Magdalene observed where they put him. Pilate sent guards to secure the tomb. They stationed guards and had a wax seal placed so they would know if anyone stole his body. They wanted to make sure he didn’t get credit for resurrecting but they only confirmed it with the guard and the seal. Lord, thank you that everything you say you will do, you do. Thank you, Jesus for all the suffering you endured for our sakes.

Sat.s’ Devo - Yahweh

Read: Exodus 34:1-35:9; Matthew 27:15-31; Psalm 33:12-22; Proverbs 9:1-6 God had Moses chisel out two more stones just like the ones he smashed and meet him again on the top of Mt. Sinai. God called out his name, Yahweh, then told him what it meant. He was the God of compassion and mercy who was slow to get angry and full of unfailing love. He lavishes his love to a thousand generations and forgives their iniquity and rebellion, but he does not excuse the guilty. The sins of the parents will affect their children up to the forth generation. Moses fell to the ground and once again begged God to travel with them. He told Moses that he would perform miracles that they had never seen in all the earth so that the people around them would see the power of the Lord. He promised to go before them and drive out the inhabitants of the land: the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. He warned them not to ever make a treaty with any of them. God told Moses exactly what would happen if they intermarried. God told Moses that three times a year they were to celebrate his feasts starting with Unleavened Bread. It marked their departure from Egypt just as our journey in Christ begins the day we accept him as our Lord and ask him into our hearts. God told him the importance of observing the Sabbath every 7th day. They were to stop working even in plowing and harvest time (in other words, even when there was much work to be done.) They were to celebrate the first fruits and the end of harvest which would be Pentecost. Harvests represented souls coming into the kingdom so they were to celebrate the first and the last to come into the kingdom. When Moses returned, his face glowed which made the people afraid to come near him. He had to put a veil over his face when talking to the people. He told the people what they could offer to the Lord to make the things for the tabernacle. In Matthew, it was Pilate’s custom to pardon a prisoner at Passover. How appropriate since Passover was about Jesus pardoning all our sins. He assumed they would choose Jesus since he was innocent and had done the people so much good, but the people asked for Barabbas to be released instead and for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate’s wife had had a terrible dream the night before and sent word to her husband not to have anything to do with Jesus. Pilate washed his hands in front of the crowd to say that he had no part in this and put the responsibility on them. He ordered Jesus flogged and turned him over to the Roman soldier to be crucified. They took Jesus, put a robe and crown of thorns on him and mocked him as the King of the Jews. Then they led him to be crucified. God could have called a legion of angels to save Jesus but this was his plan. In our own lives, sometimes suffering is the plan for a much greater result. Lord, we trust your plan for our lives and our nation. Help us to do our part when we are to move and to stand and trust when we are to do nothing. Thank you for the suffering you endured for us on the cross.

Fri.’s Devo - God’s Presence

Read: Exodus 32:1-33:23; Matthew 26:69-27:14; Psalm 33:1-11; Proverbs 8:33-36 Aaron fell to the pier pressure of the people when Moses didn’t come back in the time they thought he should. Aaron told them to take off the gold earrings they wore and he melted them down and fashioned a calf. He declared that this calf brought them out of Egypt. The people bowed down and sacrificed to it and had a huge orgy to celebrate. This was the way the Egyptians worshipped their gods. The Lord told Moses what they were doing and told him he wanted to destroy them all. He would make a new nation out of Moses’ descendants. Moses pled with the Lord not to destroy them. All the nations that had seen what he did to Egypt would think he brought them out just to kill them. He told God to remember the promises he gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that he would make their descendants as numerous as the sands on the shore and the stars in the sky. God listened to Moses reasoning and changed his mind about the disaster he had threatened to bring to the people. This shows me how important our prayers are to change things. We think the God has everything in control but he expects us to take an active part in the decisions. We remember his promises and repeat them back to Him. God wants our input. He wants to work with us and he wants us to work with him. When Moses came down and saw just how idolatrous they had become, he threw the tablets down in anger and broke them. He ground the golden calf into powder and made the people drink it in water. When Moses asked Aaron for an account of why he did this he gave him the most flimsy excuse ever. I think that it is was noteworthy to see that all their enemies were watching and amused. Moses told the Levites to kill everyone who had who had participated and didn’t repent. They killed 3,000 people of their own flesh and blood. God honored them for being so faithful to him. Moses told the people he would go back up the mountain and atone for their sin and beg God for forgiveness for them. God sent a plague to those who had worshipped the calf but he told them that he would send his angel to lead the survivors. The children of Israel had left Egypt wearing the fine clothes and jewelry of the Egyptians. They no longer wore this from this time forward. Moses met with God every day in the Tent of Meeting. One day Moses asked God if he was personally going with them. God told Moses that he would go with him but an angel would lead the people. Moses was not okay with that. He told God that he didn’t want to go another step unless God promised to go with all of them. It was his presence that set them apart from all the other people on the earth. God agreed to go with them because he so favored Moses. Moses asked to see his glorious presence and God let him see him from behind. He knew that the glory of his face would be more than even Moses could bear in his natural body. In Matthew, Peter denied Jesus three times while Jesus was being tried by the Sanhedrin. Judas realized that the Jews planned to crucify Jesus and tried to give the money back. They could care less about his conscience. He ended up throwing the money on the floor of the Temple and hanging himself. The priests used the money to buy the potter’s field for a cemetery for foreigners. Next, Jesus was taken before the Roman governor, Pilate and tried. He asked him if he was the king of the Jews and Jesus replied, “You have said it.” When Jesus didn’t defend all the accusations against him Pilate was surprised. Jesus was the spotless lamb that had to be inspected to see if there was any spot on him. All they could find was truth. Lord, may we pray for others like Moses prayed for the people. May we turn your heart to mercy instead of judgment and may we live a life like Jesus that was blameless before you. Thank you for your Holy Spirit and the blood of Jesus that makes us righteous before you. It is your presence that makes us different than any other religion so please walk with us.

Thurs.’s Devo - Betrayed With a Kiss

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 of the people and counted them that they had to each bring an exact amount of money to the Tabernacle to purify themselves making them right with him. It was the ransom for their soul. To be counted was like appearing before the Lord at the end of our lives and being judged for our lives. The money they gave was to go for the care of the Tabernacle. Instructions was given for the bronze washbasin that was placed on a stand between the Tabernacle and the altar. It was to be filled with water and it would be where the priests would wash their hands and feet before they entered the sanctuary and before they burnt offerings on the bronze altar. The bronze altar and the washbasin was placed outside of the Holy Place but within the tent of meeting. All the people would be able to participate in watching what happened on them. They represented the cross and our salvation and baptism and our sanctification. The holy anointing oil was a formula given to the priests which was never to be replicated. It was to be treated as holy and used on the altar inside the first curtain in the room they called the Holy Place. Only the priests could offer this. This incense represents the prayers of the saints. God anointed Bezalel as a master craftsman to do all the work with gold, silver and bronze. He was to engrave and mount the gemstone and carve the wood for the tabernacle. His name means “in God’s shade”. Oholiab was to be his assistant. His name means “tent of his father”. The Sabbath day was to be a day of the week that was to be totally set apart to the Lord. No work was to be done on this day and it was to be observed forever. God rested on the seventh day and so it was a gift to man to do the same. God spoke all this to Moses then gave him the two stone tables where everything he said was written by his finger. In Matthew, Jesus was betrayed with a kiss from Judas. In John we read that Peter tried to defend Jesus by cutting off one of the soldier’s ears. In Luke 22:50,51 it tells us that Jesus healed it right there. Everyone of the gospels tell about this and from each of them we learn a new part. Mark tells us that this man was a servant of the high priest. This act by Peter was prophetic of how the religious people had cut off their own ear, their hearing from God by rejecting God’s Son. Jesus told Peter to put away his sword because those who kill will be killed. At this point all his disciples scattered and deserted him just as Jesus said would happen. Peter followed at a distance to the high priest’s courtyard. Inside, the priests and the entire high council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus and give them a reason to put him to death. They finally found someone to do that, only they caught him saying the truth. Jesus had said that he was able to tear down the Temple and rebuild it in three days. When they demanded that Jesus tell them whether he was the Messiah he said that in the future they would see the Son of Mans seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven. The high priest tore his robe in dramatic fashion and cried, “Blasphemy!” to the truth. He proclaimed him guilty and sentenced him to die. So Jesus would die for the truth. Lord, thank you that you are the truth. Thank you for being our atonement for sin.

Weds.’s Devo - The Priestly Atonement

Read: Exodus 29:1-30:10: Matthew 26:14-46; Psalm 31:19-24; Proverbs 8:14-26 The priest had to go through an elaborate ceremony to cleanse them as priests. It seems elaborate until you think of what Jesus had to go through to become our High Priest. His cleansing was the trials of his life. That is how we are cleansed. We choose Jesus as our Saviour, accept the atonement of his blood on our lives to take away our sins then we go through the lifelong ceremony of cleansing our minds and our habits. One of the reasons we do the Lord’s supper continually is to remind us of what Jesus did on the cross and our responsibility. I realized while reading today’s reading that I take my salvation for granted in so many ways. It is so easy to be saved now. We don’t have to take a lamb to the priest to sacrifice it for us. It is left to us to lay down our lives daily and follow him. God has placed the decisions in our hands whether we honor him with our lives or not. Aaron’s garments were to be passed down to his sons just as our lives make a difference in our children. Our lives are our garments. They are open for all to see. We will pass down the habits and lifestyles we model for the next generation but it is up to them to put on the garments we pass down or discard them. Daily, Aaron was to offer sacrifices to the Lord and daily we are to lay down our desires and lives for the Lord. An altar for incense was made and the priest was to maintain the lamps and offer fresh incense on the altar. At night he was to do the same. Incense represents our praise and intercessions. We are to live in constant communion with the Lord and let our lives be a sweet fragrance to those we meet. Once a year Aaron was to purify the altar by smearing its horns with blood from the offering made to purify the people from their sin. This was done on the Day of Atonement. This was a national day of repentance and prayer for the nation. In Matthew, Judas was the one chosen by Jesus who would betray him. Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples. During this meal Jesus exposed the one who would betray him. They seemed to miss this just like they missed so many things they told him. Jesus explained that the wine they drank represented his blood that would be poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. Jesus had laid out everything that was going to happen so that they should not have been surprised. He gave them another piece of the puzzle when he told them that that night, they would desert him and that Peter would deny him three times. He took his disciples to Gethsemane, but specifically took Peter, James and John with him to pray. Jesus prayed God’s will even though he would have loved not to have to go through the suffering awaiting him. He came back to find his disciples asleep. He left them three times and each time he came back and they were asleep. He must have felt all alone in his trial. He saw Judas coming and announced that the time had come. Lord we pray for your wisdom and for the fear of the Lord to rule our lives. Thank you for your sacrifice. May we live dead to ourselves and alive to You and Your will. Thank you that you never leave us or forsake us.

Tues.’s Devo - The High Priest

Read: Exodus 28:1-43; Matthew 25:31-26:13; Psalm 31:9-18; Proverbs 8:12-13 Moses called Aaron and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar to tell them what God wanted them to wear as priests. Aaron’s garments were to be glorious and beautiful and were to distinguish him as the high priest. He was to wear a chest piece, an ephod, a robe, a patterned tunic, a turban, and a sash. They were to be made of fine linen with gold, blue, purple and scarlet thread. He would represent God’s high priest in heaven who was Melchizedek at the time. Melchizedek would be succeeded by Jesus once he ascended to heaven after the cross. The ephod was like a vest that Aaron was to wear over his robe. It would have stones engraved on it with the names of the tribes of Israel. Each stone was different to represent that tribe and they were arranged in rows of three across and in the birth order of Jacob’s sons. Two big onyx stones were engraved to sit on the shoulders of Aaron. On one would have six of the names of the tribes and six on the other side. So the names of the tribes could be seen by the people across his chest and as God looked down from heaven he could see them on the shoulders. The priests literally carried the children on Israel across his heart and on his shoulder as he represented them before God. Every piece of Aaron’s garment and the colors were sacred. The colors represented the royal colors of heaven. He wore a turban on his head to cover his head to show that he was under the authority of God. He wore linen so he wouldn’t sweat because he was to be the picture of rest and peace. Jesus rose to be our high priest and he carries us on his shoulder and across his heart. First Peter 2:9 says that we are a peculiar people and a royal priesthood before God. As a part of the priesthood of God, we do the same. We carry the Ecklesia in our hearts and on our shoulders. We pray and intercede for one another and even for the world. Aaron’s robe was to be made out of a single piece of cloth like the robe that Jesus wore. There were to be bells and pomegranates alternated around the hem of his garment that tingled when he walked. Bells announced his coming and pomegranates represent the Word of God since every pomegranate has the same amount of seeds and the number of laws in the Bible. The priest walked out the Word. Even their undergarments were made of linen to show that there was no hidden sin in them. In Matthew, Jesus continued explaining the end of time and the judgment. the ones who will live eternally were the ones that recognized Jesus in his followers and acted as priest for them. Jesus told them that the Passover was in two days and he would be turned over to be crucified. At that very moment, the leading priests were meeting and plotting his death. They planned to wait until after the Passover but God had other plans. You can tell by the next scene that the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus had told them. A woman came in with expensive perfume and poured it over his head. The disciples were indignant over the waste. They couldn’t get out of the natural into the spiritual. Jesus said that she was preparing his body for burial. They didn’t get that either. This woman did what her heart told her to do and is now a part of the salvation story. Everyone of us play a part in God’s story. All we have to do is to obey and do what we feel is the right thing to do. Little did this woman think she would be remembered for generations for her obedience. Lord, may we walk as priests in this world having our garments cleansed with your blood. May our obedience further your Kingdom.

Mon.’s Devo - Investing in the Kingdom

Read: Exodus 26:1-27:21; Matthew 25:1-30; Psalm 31:1-8; Proverbs 8:1-11 God was very particular and wordy in his instructions for making the tabernacle and every detail in it. I see it as a picture of how he created man and made every detail of our make up. The curtains are like the sinews and protoplasm of our bodies. The embroidered angels are like the threads of our DNA and the curtains over the top and the leather skins is like the epidermis of our bodies. The structure with the poles and all the sockets are like our bone structure because we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. We are wonderfully and fearfully made. The Ark of the Covenant which was the very presence of God went into the deepest part of the Tabernacle which is our heart. The altar of incense was made to stand before the ark of God’s presence. It was where the priest would offer his prayers for the people and himself to God. It was to have four horns to stand for the four corners of the earth and for mercy. I wonder if this isn’t in reference to our consciousness. We pray and repent of what we are conscious of. Outside in the courtyard was the bronze altar where the animals were sacrificed. This stood for the cross where Jesus shed his blood for our sins. All the people could watch and see the lambs slain for their sins. The courtyard had curtains for boundaries and a gate where the people could enter. All who entered that gate were entering into the gates of salvation. The courtyard was not big enough for all the people to come in which says to me that only the ones who wanted to participate would. Salvation is free to anyone who wants it but it has to be sought by the person individually. In Matthew, Jesus gave them several parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. The first was about ten bridesmaids who were waiting for the groom to come. Five kept renewing their oil and five let their oil run out. The bridegroom came at midnight and only the five with oil could go out and meet him. The others had to go and buy oil and it was too late. When they came to the door, the groom wouldn’t allow them to enter because he said he didn’t know them. We put the emphasis on the running out of oil but I wonder if the emphasis doesn’t need to be on the part where the groom says, “I never knew you.” Their hearts were not ready because they didn’t have a relationship with the groom to begin with. The next parable is the same. The man left on a long trip and entrusted his treasures to three men. The first two men invested well and had a good return to give their master. The third hid his and his excuse was that he knew him to be a harsh man who harvested crops he didn’t plant and gathering crops he didn’t cultivate. The owner is God and that was this third man’s view of God. He thought God to be a harsh God who used men as his slaves to earn him money he didn’t deserve. This man had nothing to give God at the end of his life. He was like the foolish virgins who had no oil. God gave that man’s gifts to the ones who invested well. We are given one life to choose if we are going to invest into the Kingdom of God. What we do with our lives shows how much we value the things of the God’s Kingdom. Our great reward is not on this earth but at the end of our lives. Lord, may we make decisions for our lives based on your Kingdom and your will on earth. May we invest well.

Sun.’s Devo - The Signs of His Coming

Read: Exodus 23:14-25:40; Matthew 24:29-51; Psalm 30:1-12; Proverbs 7:24-27 God told his people that three times a year they were to join in celebrating his feasts. The first was the feast of Unleavened Bread which consisted of Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. This feast was in the spring during the harvest of the barley. The second was the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost which would happen 50 days after Passover during the wheat harvest and the last three would happen in the fall during the harvesting of the olive and the grave. Those consisted of the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. These feasts would pinpoint events on God’s timeline for Israel which would affect the whole earth. If they celebrated these feasts in the way God instructed, he would protect them and bring them into the land he had given them. He would drive out the people living there who worshipped idols and false gods. They were to be careful not to worship any of these gods or make any treaties with them or their gods. God called Moses to come with Aaron, his two oldest sons Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the elders. They were to worship from a distance but Moses was to come near to God. Moses told the people and they all agreed they would do everything the Lord said. Early the next morning Moses built an altar and set up 12 pillars to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. He had some of the men present burnt offerings and sacrifices on them. Moses read the Book of the Covenant aloud to the people and they agreed to obey the terms of the covenant. Moses climbed up to a place that had blue lapis lazuli under his feet. The men with him ate a covenant meal there in the presence of the Lord. Only Joshua went with Moses as his assistant. Moses stayed on the mountain for 40 days and nights. God gave Moses a list of the things the people could offer to him to be used in the tabernacle. He also gave him instructions first on the ark of the covenant and its covering. Then the instructions for the incense table and the menorah. All of the furniture in the tabernacle had meaning and purpose. God showed Moses the picture of the tabernacle in heaven and he was to proportionally build the same thing here on earth. In Matthew, Jesus was telling his disciples what the end would look like. He told them that by looking at the fig tree they would know when he was coming. The fig tree is Israel and it will be the sign of when Jesus is coming. When the Jewish people begin to bud and sprout we will know Jesus is about to come on the scene. That would look like many Jewish people waking up to the realization that Jesus is the Messiah. No one will know the day of his coming but his coming is not the rapture, it is the Second Coming which will be after the rapture. Those on the earth when the rapture comes will be aware it is about to happen. Jesus said that he wasn’t coming as a thief to them. The time of his return will be like the days of Noah. In those days there was no righteousness on the earth except a small remnant in Noah’s family. Man’s DNA will be mixed with demonic blood and the world will be filled with cyborgs just like it was in the days of Noah (Genesis 6). Lord, may we walk righteously in this evil world. May our light shine as a beacon of salvation and hope to the earth.

Sat.’s Devo - God’s Laws

Read: Exodus 21:22-23:13; Matthew 24:1-28; Psalm 29:1-11; Proverbs 7:6-23 God gave them specific instructions about how to handle every situation they would come up against. His laws were just and fair. They took into account the circumstance and the intent of the heart. These were the problems of the people that Moses had spent all day deciding. He taught these laws to the men he trusted and they were able to help govern the people so there was peace. One of the laws that stood out to me was the one about taking bribes. God said that bribes would make a person ignore something that he clearly saw and it would make even a righteous person twist the truth. We see this distortion in our government and it it so true. I pray for the fear of the Lord to be upon myself and our nation. In Matthew, Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds with his disciples. They were pointing out the different structures of the Temple when Jesus said that the day would come when they would all be torn down. The disciples asked when this would happen and what would be the sign of his return and the end of the world. They believed that he would set up his earthly kingdom while they were alive. When he died he would one day come back and it would be the end. They had their timeline a little messed up. He gave them the signs of his return. First the kingdom had to be preached to every nation. The Temple would be defiled by some sacrilegious object and when that happened the remnant would need to flee to the mountains. Things will get so bad that God will have to cut the time short to save anyone. Many false prophets and false Messiah’s will pop up and they were not to follow them. Discernment will be key during those times. Lord, you are king forever. You give us strength and you bless us with peace.

Fri.’s Devo - God Gives His Laws

Read: Exodus 19:16-21:21; Matthew 23:13-39; Psalm 28:1-9; Proverbs 7:1-5 On the third day, the cloud that they followed covered the mountain while thunder and lightning filled the sky. There was a blast of the ram’s horn that grew louder and louder and wasn’t blown by a human. God came down on top of Mt. Sinai and called Moses up to him. God had told Moses not to let the people come up to the mountain and even touch it or they would die. God told Moses to go back and bring Aaron with him but not the priests or the people. Moses went down and told them what the Lord had said. God gave Moses what we call the Ten Commandments. Jesus summed them up with two. The first was to love the Lord with all your heart - then you wouldn’t have any other got but Him or make an idol or image of him or misuse his name and you would observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. The second was to love your neighbor as you love yourself which would cause you to honor your parents, not murder or commit adultery or steal or testify falsely against your neighbor or covet your neighbor’s things. All the sounds and sights scared the people greatly. Moses explained that God came in that way so they would fear him and not sin. He spoke to them directly from heaven so they would know that God doesn’t talk through idols, but directly to their hearts. God told them to make an altar of uncut stones and without steps. The altars of Egypt were carved with figures and ornaments that lead to superstition and all sorts of occultist practices. It was not to have steps as for the sake of decency since the priests wore loose, wide, flowing garments. Jesus warned the people not to be impressed with the long fancy prayers of the Pharisees because their hearts were naked before him and evil. As priest before God, we can’t fool God with our self-righteousness because we are naked and exposed before him. We come as we are, humbly with no pretense and he accepts us and clothes us with his robe of righteousness. Then God gave Moses rules for relationships with slaves, their families, and spouses. He gave them the laws about what to do with evil-doers and their punishment. One that got my attention was the one about if a master gave a wife to a slave. At the end of the sixth year if he decided he didn’t want to leave his wife and children, he would choose to remain a slave and have his ear pierced to the door and serve his master his whole life. That is what Adam did in the garden. He was given a wife by the Lord and when she was deceived he could have chosen not to sin and stayed in the garden while she was exiled. Instead he chose to stay and be a slave to sin his whole life because of his love for his bride. Jesus did the same. God gave him a wife, us, and he chose to be the sacrifice for our sin so that we could be restored to relationship with him. We have to make that same choice to leave this world and be pierced to the door which is Christ and live our lives as slaves to him. The better news is that Christ doesn’t consider us slaves but friends of him and his bride. In Matthew, Jesus nails the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and religious leaders. They were so concerned with appearances but their hearts were wicked to the core. They not only hurt themselves but kept the people from the truth that was entrusted to them. They would be held responsible for the blood of all the murders from Abel to Zechariah (A to Z). They would be held responsible for rejecting the Messiah. Lord, we treasure your commands and hide them in our hearts that we won’t sin against you or our fellow man.

Thurs.’s Devo -God is My Banner

Read: Exodus 17:8-19:15; Matthew 22:34-23:12; PSalm 27:7-14; Proverbs 6:27-35 The people of Amalek came out to attack the Israelites. Amelek means “perversion”. God told Moses to pick some men to go and fight them and to stand on top of the hill holding the staff of God in his hand. Whenever Moses raised his staff they would gain the advantage but if he dropped his arms from exhaustion, they would start losing. God wanted them to know that they were only going to win if he helped them. Finally, Aaron and Hur held his hands till sun set up so they could win. God told him to write it down: God would erase the memory of the Amelekites from the earth. We will read later that God told Saul to do this very thing. God gave them another name for him: Yaweh-Nissi which means “God is my Banner”. Moses hands were the balusters that held up God’s invisible banner when they fought. Praise is our weapon against the enemy and when we raise our hands we are raising God’s banner. Moses then sent for his family to come and meet him. His two sons and his wife came. His first son was named Gerhom which means “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.” Moses had been raised by Egyptians and Midianites. He had lived as a stranger in a foreign land. His second son was named Eliezer which means “the God of my ancestors was my helper”. He recognized that it was the God of Abraham that had helped him and not the Egyptian gods he had been raised to worship. Jethro also came to meet him and to hear first hand how the Lord had rescued them out of Egypt. Jethro had been Moses’ mentor to teach him God’s ways. He was a priest in Midian and knew the Lord. He observed how Moses spend his whole day being the judge of all the people’s cases and told Moses he was going to wear himself out. He advised him to find men who hated bribes and teach them God’s ways. They could handle the small cases and he could just handle the hard ones. They came to Mt. Sinai exactly two months after they had left Egypt. God told Moses to tell the people to prepare to meet with Him. They were to wash their clothes and abstain from having sex until after He came because he was coming on the third day. In Matthew, the Pharisees took Jesus aside and tried to trap him again. They asked him what was the most important commandment in the law of Moses. Jesus told them to love the lord your God will all you heart, soul and mind and the second was equally important…to love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the other commandments would be met if they just met these two. Then Jesus asked them whose son they thought the Messiah was. They told him the son of David. So Jesus asked them why David called the Messiah his Lord in one of his Psalms (Psalm 110:1). They had no answer. Then Jesus nailed the Pharisees. He told the people to listen to what they say about scripture but not how they walk. They were nothing but hypocrites that did their worship for show when they hearts were far from God. Only the Messiah is the Good Teacher because he does what he teaches. Lord, you are our banner. May we raise you high and exalt your name in our lives.

Mon.’s Devo - Standing on Our Faith

Read Exodus 15:19-17; Matthew 22:1-33; Psalm 37:2-6; Proverbs 6:20-26 One of the miracles that we miss is that they walked across the Red Sea on dry ground. This was ground that had been at the bottom of the water for ever and God dried it in a few hours. When they saw the waves crashing down upon their enemies, Miriam took out her tambourine and led the women into a song and a dance praising the Lord. Moses led the people to Shur which means “beheld; a point of observation”. So what did they observe? They observed that there was no water in the wilderness and when they found some it was bitter. How true in life. In our wildernesses it seems like everything we try makes things worse. Moses found himself here but he cried out to the Lord and God turned the bitter water to sweet. That is what God does for us when we cry out to him in our wildernesses. The next place they went was a place in the wilderness of Sin between Elim and Mt. Sinai. Sin means “thorn; clay: mire. Elim means “mighty ones and Sinai means “my thorns”. So they were in the place where their sin was being exposed and they either had to let their sin be a thorn or rise above it and become one of God’s mighty ones. God gave them a test to see what they would choose. To be mighty in the Lord they would have to obey. The test was manna. They were to follow God’s instructions explicitly. They were just to pick up what they needed for that day and not a bit more. Those that obeyed were blessed those that didn’t had maggots and stench to deal with. Maggots and stench is exactly what we get when we do life our way. On the sixth day he told them to gather twice what they would need. They had to trust that it wouldn’t go bad even though they had seen it had in the past. Some of them did obey and some didn’t and had nothing to eat on the Sabbath. This was God’s first institution of the Sabbath and he told them that it was his gift to them. They wouldn’t have to work on this day. They then traveled to Rephidim with means “ballusters”. In other words they were walled in with no where to turn. Their dilemma was they were out of water in the middle of the wilderness. Every time they came to a problem they would resort back to their pattern of complaining and arguing. Every problem was a test from God and by complaining and arguing they were really saying, “Is the Lord here with us or not?” That is what we are saying to the Lord when we doubt him in the middle of our problems. In Hebrews 3:17-19 the Bible referred to the children in the wilderness and said that they could not enter into God’s rest because of unbelief. Our faith is what is tested all through our lives. Are we going to believe that God is with us or not. In Matthew, Jesus told the parable about a king who prepared a great banquet for his son and no one would come. They all had their excuses and were too busy with their own lives to come to the palace and enjoy a banquet. The king was furious and sent his army to destroy the murderers and burn down their town. Then he invited the everyday people good and bad and filled his banquet hall with people. These people he first invited represented the whole Jewish nation. The everyday people represented the Gentiles. One man was found without the proper wedding garments and had no answer for himself. Wedding garments would have been supplied by the king so this man was without excuse not to wear it. He was bound and thrown into outer darkness - hell. He is the picture of the person who is convicted of his sin, and given the opportunity to be saved, but never takes the time to do it. When he meets God, he will not be wearing the robe of righteousness we get from Jesus but he will be wearing his own righteousness which will not get him into heaven. The Pharisees met together to plot to trick Jesus over his teaching. They first tried to get him to say something against the Roman government so they could get their help. Jesus beat them at their game. The next was a question about the resurrection of the dead. They wanted to get the Sadducees against him but Jesus answer blew their belief out of the water also. Everytime they would lay a trap, they would be caught in their own trap. The questions of the Pharisees just opened the eyes of the people to their lies and showed them the truth in Jesus. Lord, thank you that you are truth and you are worthy of our trust.

Tue.’s Devo -Crossing Through the Red Sea

Read: Exodus 13:17-15:18; Matthew 21:23-46; Psalm 26:1-12; Provers 6:16-19 Jacob had made Joseph promise to bury his bones in the family plot and Joseph made the same request. He knew that one day God would take them back to their land and now 430 years later, God was doing it. It took the children of Israel days to get to the Red Sea. God had led them during the day with a pillar of cloud and at night the pillar became fire. God turned them back to camp by Pi-hahiroth. Pi-hahiroth means “mouth of the defiled”. It was across from Baal-Zehphon, the storm god of the north or the winter. He was the god who protected maritime trade so sanctuaries constructed to him were found around the Mediterranean sea. God dealt with this last god also as he took over the sea and let the wealth of Egypt pass through without a storm. He allowed that god to unleash his anger on the Egyptians instead of his people. When the Israelites were cornered with no escape in sight, God told them to stand back and see his salvation. He told Moses to pick up his staff and raise it over the Read Sea and divide it so the Israelites could pass through. I assume it was Michael who was leading them. He then went to the back and protected the very last one of them till they all passed over safely. When the Egyptians followed them into the sea, they realized God was fighting against them and for the Israelites. Not one of them made it out of the sea alive. When Moses raised his staff back over the waters, the sea completely covered them and they drowned. They saw God’s salvation on that day just like God said they would. Moses sang this triumphant song and taught it to the people. In Matthew, we get to see that the ones who were in authority on the earth were afraid of the people so it was really the people who had the power and didn’t realize it. The religious leaders questioned Jesus authority to do good. Jesus turned it back on them trying to force them into a corner. He asked them who’s authority John the Baptist came in. If they answered that it was from God then he would ask them why they didn’t believe him and if they answered that it wasn’t from God, the people would stone them. The same would happen if they said his authority wasn’t from God. Then Jesus told two parables. The first had to do with obedience which they had failed and the prostitutes and sinners had responded. The second was about the religious leaders who had been given a standard for worshipping God and leading the people. Israel was God’s vineyard that they had been given responsibility to protect and train in righteousness. Instead they had killed every prophet and now were about to kill the Messiah. He was the chief cornerstone that they were rejecting. Lord, you are the King of all the kings and the Lord of all the lords. You are the all-powerful, omnipotent God and we praise you. We accept you as our chief corner stone.