Wed.’s Devo - The Mercy Seat

Read Ex. 25:1-22 God gave instructions on the making of the tabernacle. He was to tell the people they could build a sanctuary and God would live in it. They could give an offering toward this sanctuary if they gave with a willing heart. Then he told them what they would need for the tabernacle: gold, silver, brass, and blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen, red-dyed rams’ skins and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood; oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for sweet incense, onyx stones, and other stones for the ephod and the breastplate. God showed Moses the pattern of how it should look like. First they were to make an ark (where’s Noah?) of shittim wood (acacia) two and a half cubits by one and a half cubits. This is about 3 and 3/4’ long x 2 and 1/4’ wide x 2 and 1/4’ tall. It was to be overlaid with pure gold on the inside and outside and a gold crown should go around the top. They were to attach pure gold rings for the corners so that the gold poles could go through them to carry it. Inside the ark was to be put the tablets that God wrote. On top of the ark was to be made a lid called the mercy seat. It was the exact measurement of the ark. On it was to have two golden cherubim’s facing one another with their wings spread toward each other. Their faces were to be bowed looking at the mercy seat. This lid with the cherubim’s on it was to be put on top of the ark and between the cherubim’s was where God would meet with them. This ark was a picture of the throne of heaven. This piece of furniture would go into the Holy of Holies and be the most holy of places on the earth. The gold stood for the glory and purity of God’s presence. This tabernacle was to be a picture what went on in heaven to the people. When Jesus died and was put in the tomb, Mary came to see him. When she got there his body was gone but she saw two angels: one at the head and one at the feet where he had be laid (John 20:12). This was the exact position of the angels on the tabernacle. So the tabernacle was the body of Jesus which embodied the Word of God. Lord, your Word never ceases to amaze me. You gave us pictures all through your word that all end up at the feet of Jesus. We worship you our King!

Mon.’s Devo - Blessings of Obedience

Read Ex. 23:20-33 God sent them an Angel (capital “A”) to not only lead them but make sure they stayed “in the way” and made it to the desired end. An angel has been assigned to each of us to do that very thing: keep us walking with God and make sure we make it to our destiny. Isn’t that comforting? This Angel is to bring them right to the enemy and cut them off so they can’t hurt them. While they are in the land of their enemies they are not to let them influence them in their idol worship, but they are to overthrow them and bring their gods down. If you serve the Lord then he will bless your bread and your water and take sickness away from you. Your women will not miscarry their babies or be infertile. You will live all your days. Your enemies will fear you and they will be destroyed before you. God will send hornets to drive the Hivites, Canaanites, and the Hittites out of the land little by little so they will be able to occupy the land as they leave. Don’t make any compacts or covenants with them or their gods. If you let them stay in the land they will cause you to sin and be a snare to you. All this is promised to us if we walk in God’s ways and choose to be holy. We have unseen enemies in our land like anger, jealousy, envy, unforgiveness, hatred, unbelief, and deceit. If we trust in the Lord, he will drive it out little by little so we can occupy our land (our minds). We want instant change, and sometimes God does that, but usually it is little by little. Now I know why. If he does it all at once then we have too much unoccupied land that the “beast of the field multiply against thee”. This means that if you are instantly delivered of a sin that occupies your thoughts most of the time then you have a huge gap in your thinking and you have to replace it with something. If you aren’t prepared for that you might be tempted to fill it with another vice just as bad, where if you are delivered little by little then you learn to replace the thoughts with scripture or good things till you are completely thinking godly thoughts. Lord, help us to walk in these blessings as we train our bodies to submit to your ways.

Fri.’s Devo - The Next Four Feasts

From the time of the first group of feasts and the next feast there were 50 days. The next feast was Pentecost. It was when the harvest was over and they would come to the temple and celebrate God’s goodness in giving them a bountiful harvest. This was to represent the day God would pour out his spirit upon all men and give them the same power Jesus had to be witnesses and do the things he did on the earth. This happened in Acts 2. The third group of feasts occurred during the fall harvest. The first of them was called Roshashana or feast of trumpets. On this day they were to blow trumpets and celebrate the New Year. It looks forward to the day that the trump will sound and Jesus will come down to earth for his 2nd coming. It will truly be a new year! The 6th feast is Yom Kippor or the Days of Awe. That will be the days that the unrighteous on the earth will endure much tribulation and oppression. They will have a short time to repent and turn to God before the last feast which is Feast of Tabernacles. It will be the last great harvest. In that feast we will all come back to earth and live for 1,000 years of millennium where we will tabernacle with the Lord. This is a very condensed version of the seven feasts and what they represent. God gave them physical pictures of what was to come so they wouldn’t miss it when it came, but most of them have and will. Sadly. Lord, help us not to miss what you are doing now and in the future and what you have done in the past. May we live with eternity in our foremost thoughts.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Feasts of Israel

Read Ex. 23:14-19 God reveals his total plan in pictures throughout the Bible, but I don’t know a more clearer precise picture than the feasts. They are the plan from beginning to end. There were three times a year that the children of Israel were to set aside for God. These were rehearsals for scheduled appointments God had with earth. The first time of feasting was the in the month Abib which was the same month they came out of Egypt. Abib means “green; a young ear of grain”. This would represent God’s people - young and green. They were to eat unleavened bread for 7 days. The second time would be a time of harvesting the first fruits, and the last would be the feast of ingathering at the end of the year. These three times the men of the house were to appear before the Lord for their families. During these feasts they were not to offer sacrifices with blood but with unleavened bread. All the fat was to be eaten and not left till the next day. Everyone should bring the first fruits of their land to God. These feasts are broken down in Levitcus 23. There are 7 of them in all. The first 3 have to do with what Jesus did for us on Calvary - unleavened bread, passover, and first fruits. In a nutshell: unleavened bread had to do with cleaning out their hearts and repenting of their sins to be able to receive the gift of Jesus’s blood. They were to clean their house and diet of all leaven. John the Baptist came preaching repentance before Jesus could come on the scene and show them the way to salvation. The next feast was the next day - passover. This looked back to when the children of Israel put blood on the doorposts so that they would be saved from the death the angel was bringing. It looked forward to when Jesus would hang on the cross and his blood would save us from eternal death. The third feast was two days later called the feast of first fruits. It was the day they were to bring their first fruits of their fields to the temple. It looked forward to when Jesus would be the first of the earth to raise from the dead and appear before God. These three feasts appear during the spring harvest. I’ll explain the rest tomorrow. Lord, thank you for always being faithful to your plan. You are dependable and true and we can always trust in your kindness and mercy.

Wed.’s Devo - Practical Living

Read Ex. 23:1-13 I love how the Bible is a living book with practical daily living advice. Today’s chapter tells us not to lie about another person, not to follow the crowd if they are doing wrong. If you are on the witness stand, don’t change your testimony just because you feel sorry for the person because he is poor. Defend the innocent but convict the guilty. If you find something that doesn’t belong to you - return it. If someone needs help - help them. Don’t take bribes. Don’t be prejudice against a stranger because we are all strangers in a foreign land. For six years you will work this land, then you will let it lie still. The poor and the wild beasts will eat it. The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” We will be on this earth for 6000 years and Jesus will come back. Then we will enter 1000 years of millennium. Rev. 20 says that the devil will be bound a thousand years then set free for a little while. This will be our time of refreshing and peace. After that, God will create a new heaven and a new earth. We are never to worship nor say the name of any god but the only true God. Lord, this sounds like Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Help us to honor you and love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Tues.’s Devo - Miscellaneous Laws

Read Ex. 22:22-31 God is very compassionate towards the widow, the fatherless, and the poor. God protects and provides for them and hears them when they cry. James 1:27 says, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” We are to lend to the poor and not ask interest. Verse 28 is interesting: we are not to make light of or curse the leader of our country… Ooooops! I would think that that means not to tell jokes about our president even if it seems appropriate or funny. God says that he places leaders in authority. 1 Tim. 2:1 says, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” So instead of complaining we are to be praying. God gives us the leader we deserve. Verse 29: our first fruits of our labor and our children are the Lord’s. Your first oxen are to stay with their mother till the 8th day then they are to be sacrificed to God. The number “eight” means “to put off ( as in putting off the old man). We stay with our mother, which in this case, would be our natural birth - the natural man - till it is time for us to put it off and give our lives to God. Then we are to be holy and not eat the blood of the deeds of darkness anymore. Lord, help us to be always aware of the ones who are hurting and in need. Help us to pray for the men and women who are in authority over us. Give them your wisdom.

Tues.’s Devo - The Laver, The Anointing Oil, and the Perfume

Read Ex. 30:17-38 The Lord told Moses to build a bronze laver (which is a basin) so the priests could wash their hands and feet as a sign of cleansing themselves before they approached God. According to Ex. 38:8 it was made from the bronze mirrors of the women. The Word is compared to a mirror that we use to see ourselves in. It reveals our hearts to us. If the priests didn’t wash they would die. Since we are under a much better covenant, we are all called priests and all can enter into God’s presence; but we too must be cleansed. James 4:7,8 says “7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” We don’t do this with natural water but by the water of the Word. (Eph. 5:26) God also gave Moses the recipe for making holy anointing oil. This oil described the Holy Spirit. It was invisible, sweet-smelling, soothing, and calming. The Holy Spirit is to be out Comforter, our invisible support and our peace-bringer. He is very sweet and sensitive. Every vessel, piece of furniture and priest had to be anointed with this oil. No one was to try to copy this recipe or make it themselves because the Holy Spirit cannot be duplicated; there is only one Holy Sprit. God also gave Moses the recipe for a special perfume to be put before the testimony in the tabernacle. It was not to be duplicated also. If we walk in the anointing of the Lord, we have a sweet fragrance that we extend to all who come in contact with us. This perfume and anointing oil covered the stench of the sacrifices just as the Holy Spirit make the cross a sweet fragrance to those who are saved by it. Lord, may your anointing be on us today that others might smell your sweetness and come to know you.