Tues.’s Devo - The Allotment for the Priests

Read: Ezekiel 44:1-45:12; 1 Peter 1:1-12; Psalm 119:17-32; Proverbs 28:8-10 Yesterday we read where the Spirit of God entered into the Temple by way of the eastern gate. God commended that their gate would remain closed and never be opened again because He had passed through it. Only the prince was allowed to sit inside this gateway to feast in the presence of the Lord, but he had to come and go through the entry room or porch of the gateway. God rebuked them for bringing uncircumcised foreigners into his sanctuary and paying them to take charge of his sanctuary. God’s law says that only those circumcised and have surrendered themselves to the Lord can come into his Temple. The Levites who had turned away from the Lord to worship idols must bear the consequences of their unfaithfulness. They may still be guards and gatekeepers and help in the slaughtering of the animals brought for burnt offerings and help the people but that was all. They may not approach the Lord and minister as priests. They may not touch any of my holy things. The sons of Zadok remained faithful to the Lord so they would continue to minister to him. When they ministered as priests they were not to wear any wool, only linen. The wool would cause them to sweat. When they finished and returned to the outer courtyard, they must take their clothes off and leave them in the sacred rooms and put on other clothes so that the holiness of their clothes didn’t transfer to the people. They were to keep their hair trimmed and not drink wine before entering the inner courtyard. They had to choose wives from among the virgins of Israel or the widows of the priests. They were not to mix the holy with the unclean. The priests were not to have property or possessions of common land because God was to be their special possession. Everything they had was to come from the offerings of the people. The priest would have land around the Temple where they would build their homes. Around the priest’s land would be a section set apart for anyone who wants to live there. Two special sections will be set apart for the prince. One section will border with the sacred land of the east and the other land would be on the border of the west. In this way, the prince will have his own land and not be able to take the people’s land from them. God also set liquid and dry measurements so that there would be no more cheating. All of this is happening right now as God is cleaning out all the old system and giving us new government, new money, new laws and new leadership. God’s holiness will be honored on the earth once again. We are God’s holy priests if we have committed our lives to him and we minister to God and to the people. God will always take care of us and provide for our needs. We have no need to worry or fear. Peter wrote a letter to the churches in Pontus, Galtia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bitynia. In his letter he reminded them and us that God, by his Spirit has made us holy. Christ’s blood cleansed us and God continues to give us grace and mercy. We now live with great expectation because we have a priceless inheritance that is kept in heaven. Our final salvation will be revealed in the last day for all to see. Our trials will last for a while and test us as gold is tested that we may show that our faith is genuine. We trust in what we cannot see but our reward will be worth the wait and all the trials of this world. The prophets told of the salvation and the suffering we would endure but they couldn’t comprehend it. They are now watching from heaven as their prophecies unfold through us. Even the angels are eagerly watching also. We really do have a cloud of witnesses cheering us on like Hebrews 12 talks about. Lord, may we do our part in this great story of yours. May we see that our lives are nothing but an offering to you. May we know how to offer it to you in a way it furthers the Kingdom of God.