Read: Numbers 9:1-9:23; Mark 13:14-37; Psalm 50:1-23; Proverbs 10:29-30
The priests were to set the menorah up so that the light shone in front of it. God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). It always shines in front of us and goes before us. The menorah that Moses made looked just like the one in heaven.
The Levites were a picture of the Church in the New Testament. They replaced the first born of the people and were to be set apart to the Lord. We are first born as a natural person, but once we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, we are “born again” thus making us second borns. Jesus made a way for the first borns to become second borns when he came to earth and died for our sins. The priests stood for the ones prepared to hear the good news.
The Levites were to be actively working in the Tabernacle until the age of 50. This was a literal age that stood for a spiritual state of being. Fifty is the day of jubilee when everything returns to its rightful owner. The owner of the priests is the Lord so it is saying that a priest works all his days until he dies then he reaches 51 where his work changes. Then he is an assistant in heaven to the priests on earth. We don’t stop working when we go to heaven, but we are no longer toiling on earth. Our ministry changes to praying and assisting those on earth.
Passover is a picture of salvation so those who have not died in their sins will have a second chance once we are taken.
God led them just like he leads us today. He shines his light in the darkness and shields us during the day. His Holy Spirit is both the fire and the cloud.
In Mark, Jesus is referring to the time of tribulation when the church will be gone from the earth. It will be a dreadful time and there will be no prophetic voice on the earth to tell them what is coming, so they will not know when Jesus is coming back. God will show them signs in the sky but they will have to know how to interpret them.
Lord, thank you that your way is a refugee for the righteous. We will never be uprooted!
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Tues.’s Devo - The Nazarite Vow
Read: Numbers 6:1-7:89; Mark 12:38-13:13; Psalm 49:1-20; Proverbs 10:27-28
The Nazarite vow was a voluntary setting apart of oneself to the Lord. Today, I would equate that with giving up social media for a month or going on a fast or setting apart more time out of your day to spend in prayer. Once you promise something to the Lord, he will hold you to it. If a person made a Nazarite vow and accidentally defiled that vow, he would have to start over.
The word Nazarite means an unpruned vine so the purpose of making the vow would be to develop discipline. The three requirements of a Nazarite vow were to abstain from anything that came from the grapevine, to have no razor used on his head and not to go near a dead body. The grapevine represents joy or pleasure. The hair represents rebellion and a dead body represents death and the unclean. So, the vow was to uncover all the hidden sin in a person’s life so they could face it and get rid of it. It was a time of cleansing.
God also had offerings that he required. Every tribe was required to give the same amount to the Lord when the altar was anointed. The altar represented the cross and silver was the price of redemption so everything they offered had to do with Jesus sacrifice on the cross.
In Mark, Jesus watched as the people brought their sacrifices into the temple treasury. He commented on the two copper coins of the poor widow. She had given more than all the rich people proportionally to what she owned. It all went back to the heart.
Jesus looks at our sacrifices and rewards us according to how much of our heart is in it. Everything we have is given to us by the Lord and our gifts show how much we believe that.
The disciples asked Jesus when the destruction of the temple would come. He gave them a long list of things that would happen before the end of the world. The stones of the temple represented the structures of this world. One day, they will all be destroyed.
Lord, may we learn from our Psalm today about the futility of life and the promise of eternity.
The Nazarite vow was a voluntary setting apart of oneself to the Lord. Today, I would equate that with giving up social media for a month or going on a fast or setting apart more time out of your day to spend in prayer. Once you promise something to the Lord, he will hold you to it. If a person made a Nazarite vow and accidentally defiled that vow, he would have to start over.
The word Nazarite means an unpruned vine so the purpose of making the vow would be to develop discipline. The three requirements of a Nazarite vow were to abstain from anything that came from the grapevine, to have no razor used on his head and not to go near a dead body. The grapevine represents joy or pleasure. The hair represents rebellion and a dead body represents death and the unclean. So, the vow was to uncover all the hidden sin in a person’s life so they could face it and get rid of it. It was a time of cleansing.
God also had offerings that he required. Every tribe was required to give the same amount to the Lord when the altar was anointed. The altar represented the cross and silver was the price of redemption so everything they offered had to do with Jesus sacrifice on the cross.
In Mark, Jesus watched as the people brought their sacrifices into the temple treasury. He commented on the two copper coins of the poor widow. She had given more than all the rich people proportionally to what she owned. It all went back to the heart.
Jesus looks at our sacrifices and rewards us according to how much of our heart is in it. Everything we have is given to us by the Lord and our gifts show how much we believe that.
The disciples asked Jesus when the destruction of the temple would come. He gave them a long list of things that would happen before the end of the world. The stones of the temple represented the structures of this world. One day, they will all be destroyed.
Lord, may we learn from our Psalm today about the futility of life and the promise of eternity.
Monday, March 5, 2018
Mon.’s Devo - The Truth Will Set You Free
Read: Numbers 4:1-5:31; Mark 12:18-37; Psalm 48:1-14; Proverbsl 10:26
Within the Levites were families that had different jobs in the Tabernacle. All of the furniture was to be covered with blue cloths except the bronze altar with was covered with a purple cloth. Blue means spiritual but purple means nobel and royal. The burnt altar was a picture of Jesus on the cross.
Amazingly it took 8,580 men to tend to all the dealings of the tabernacle. They had the most important job of the people and they did their job exactly as it was to be done.
Next, God gives us the procedure of what to do if a man suspected his wife of committing adultery. He was to bring her to the priest and he would take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust form the tabernacle floor into the water. She was to let her hair down and hold in her hands the reminder offering. The priest would hold the bitter water and have the woman agree with the curse she was about to speak over herself. If she was innocent nothing would happen and she would bear children. If she was guilty, her thigh which means her womb would shrivel up and her womb would swell as if there was a baby but she would miscarry.
This may sound like a horrible test but really it was a wonderful tool for the woman to be vindicated if she was innocent and for the husband to know the truth. I wonder what would happen if we did that today?
In Mark, the Sadducees asked a masked question but Jesus answered the real question. They were trying to trick Jesus but they were really asking about the resurrection. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection. Jesus told them they were badly mistaken. God was not the God of the dead, but of the living. When one of the teachers of the law heard how Jesus answered their question, he decided to ask Jesus which was the most important law. His answer was to love God first, then others as yourself. The teacher agreed with Jesus and Jesus told him he was not far from the kingdom.
This man didn’t ask with the desire to debate, he asked with sincerity and hunger. Jesus saw his heart.
Lord, help us to walk in righteousness, free of guilt.
Within the Levites were families that had different jobs in the Tabernacle. All of the furniture was to be covered with blue cloths except the bronze altar with was covered with a purple cloth. Blue means spiritual but purple means nobel and royal. The burnt altar was a picture of Jesus on the cross.
Amazingly it took 8,580 men to tend to all the dealings of the tabernacle. They had the most important job of the people and they did their job exactly as it was to be done.
Next, God gives us the procedure of what to do if a man suspected his wife of committing adultery. He was to bring her to the priest and he would take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust form the tabernacle floor into the water. She was to let her hair down and hold in her hands the reminder offering. The priest would hold the bitter water and have the woman agree with the curse she was about to speak over herself. If she was innocent nothing would happen and she would bear children. If she was guilty, her thigh which means her womb would shrivel up and her womb would swell as if there was a baby but she would miscarry.
This may sound like a horrible test but really it was a wonderful tool for the woman to be vindicated if she was innocent and for the husband to know the truth. I wonder what would happen if we did that today?
In Mark, the Sadducees asked a masked question but Jesus answered the real question. They were trying to trick Jesus but they were really asking about the resurrection. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection. Jesus told them they were badly mistaken. God was not the God of the dead, but of the living. When one of the teachers of the law heard how Jesus answered their question, he decided to ask Jesus which was the most important law. His answer was to love God first, then others as yourself. The teacher agreed with Jesus and Jesus told him he was not far from the kingdom.
This man didn’t ask with the desire to debate, he asked with sincerity and hunger. Jesus saw his heart.
Lord, help us to walk in righteousness, free of guilt.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Sun.’s Devo - Let Praise Lead You
Read: Numbers 2:1-3:51; Mark 11:27-12:17; Psalm 47:1-9; Proverbs 10:24-25
The tribes were to camp around the Tent of Meeting in the shape of a cross. God would look down from heaven and see a huge cross full of his people in their divisions. They marched in a certain order with Judah leading. Judah means “praise” so praise led them. We will not fall to depression or defeat if we let praise lead us in every situation. Our Psalm today is a great declaration of praise.
Every tribe had its own meaning, purpose and gifts. The tribes were a picture of the Body of Christ moving in their gifts. We are unified and unbeatable when we march in our places.
The last tribe would be Dan which means “judgement”. Judgement is the last thing that God does.
Within the Levite tribe, the different families had different purposes. The Levites were the ones fully given to the Lord. They were now to take the place of the first born sons. These are the ones God had chosen to represent his remnant. There were not enough Levites to represent all the first born males of the tribes so they had to buy back 273 of them.
This was a picture of the transfer of choice. One day, the Lord would reject his chosen people, the Jews, as his consecrated people to the Gentiles but many Jews would be bought back also.
In Mark we see the total rejection of Jesus by the Pharisees. They were the evil tenants that God had placed over the people to teach them about God. Instead, they had led the people astray and killed the owner of the vineyard (Jesus).
Lord, we thank you that went the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever.
The tribes were to camp around the Tent of Meeting in the shape of a cross. God would look down from heaven and see a huge cross full of his people in their divisions. They marched in a certain order with Judah leading. Judah means “praise” so praise led them. We will not fall to depression or defeat if we let praise lead us in every situation. Our Psalm today is a great declaration of praise.
Every tribe had its own meaning, purpose and gifts. The tribes were a picture of the Body of Christ moving in their gifts. We are unified and unbeatable when we march in our places.
The last tribe would be Dan which means “judgement”. Judgement is the last thing that God does.
Within the Levite tribe, the different families had different purposes. The Levites were the ones fully given to the Lord. They were now to take the place of the first born sons. These are the ones God had chosen to represent his remnant. There were not enough Levites to represent all the first born males of the tribes so they had to buy back 273 of them.
This was a picture of the transfer of choice. One day, the Lord would reject his chosen people, the Jews, as his consecrated people to the Gentiles but many Jews would be bought back also.
In Mark we see the total rejection of Jesus by the Pharisees. They were the evil tenants that God had placed over the people to teach them about God. Instead, they had led the people astray and killed the owner of the vineyard (Jesus).
Lord, we thank you that went the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever.
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Sat.’s Devo - Bought With a Price
Read: Leviticus 27:14 - Numbers 1:54; Mark 11:1-25; Psalm 46:1-11; Proverbs 10:23
The children of Israel who were devoted to the Lord did not consider their houses, land, or first born children to be theirs. They were lending them to God for a price. The priest set the price and if the person wanted to redeem it for themselves they added a fifth to the price. It was valued by the amount of seed could be planted on it. In other words, the field, house, etc. stood for a soul. They could pay the price themselves or not. If they chose not to it went back to the priest and they would never be able to buy it back. This would be a person who chose not to follow Christ and take their lives into their own hands.
The person devoted to destruction has to do with a person whose seed is the seed of Satan. He may not be ransomed but must be put to death.
A tithe was required of all the herd so the shepard would hold up his rod and while the sheep were passing under it, he would count them. When he came to “ten” he had to separate this animal for the priests. He could not trade it for another.
Then, the tribes were to count their members and the head of each family was to help them with the census.
I know this sounds weird and cruel of God, but he is trying to teach us his way of selection. He has a remnant that he has chosen from the foundation of the earth to overcome and be his children. Just as he chose Abraham out of all the people on the earth, he chose us out of all the people to be born in our generation. It is very humbling. There are many scriptures about this but here is one: “Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he made us accepted in the beloved.” Ephesians 1:4,5.
Numbers is a book about…numbers! God loves numbers and they all have meaning. He also loves names and their meanings. For example: Rueben was the first son of Jacob and his name means “see a son”. This is the first thing we do when we come to the Lord, we behold his Son and really understand who he is. His sons were Elizur and Shedeur. They mean “God of the rock” and “spreader of light”. These all describe Jesus. He is the rock of our salvation and the one who gives us light. The tribe of Reuben numbered forty and six thousand and five hundred. There is a reason the Bible breaks up the numbers because each of them is important to describe that tribe. The tribe of Reuben represents our first step into the new life of Christ. Forty means their rule is tested. A new Christian has chosen a new king so that choice will be tested. Six thousand means that that man will mature to his full stature or purpose. And, five hundred means that his service or ministry will receive a full reward.
In Mark, Jesus entered Jerusalem as the passover lamb and was praised as the Messiah. Jesus cursed the fig tree because it was not producing fruit for his arrival just as Israel as the fig tree didn’t recognize their Messiah had come.
Jesus cleansed the temple of its idolatry and pronounced what his temple was suppose to be - a house of prayer.
Thank you for choosing us to be your children. May we express your kingdom through our lives.
The children of Israel who were devoted to the Lord did not consider their houses, land, or first born children to be theirs. They were lending them to God for a price. The priest set the price and if the person wanted to redeem it for themselves they added a fifth to the price. It was valued by the amount of seed could be planted on it. In other words, the field, house, etc. stood for a soul. They could pay the price themselves or not. If they chose not to it went back to the priest and they would never be able to buy it back. This would be a person who chose not to follow Christ and take their lives into their own hands.
The person devoted to destruction has to do with a person whose seed is the seed of Satan. He may not be ransomed but must be put to death.
A tithe was required of all the herd so the shepard would hold up his rod and while the sheep were passing under it, he would count them. When he came to “ten” he had to separate this animal for the priests. He could not trade it for another.
Then, the tribes were to count their members and the head of each family was to help them with the census.
I know this sounds weird and cruel of God, but he is trying to teach us his way of selection. He has a remnant that he has chosen from the foundation of the earth to overcome and be his children. Just as he chose Abraham out of all the people on the earth, he chose us out of all the people to be born in our generation. It is very humbling. There are many scriptures about this but here is one: “Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he made us accepted in the beloved.” Ephesians 1:4,5.
Numbers is a book about…numbers! God loves numbers and they all have meaning. He also loves names and their meanings. For example: Rueben was the first son of Jacob and his name means “see a son”. This is the first thing we do when we come to the Lord, we behold his Son and really understand who he is. His sons were Elizur and Shedeur. They mean “God of the rock” and “spreader of light”. These all describe Jesus. He is the rock of our salvation and the one who gives us light. The tribe of Reuben numbered forty and six thousand and five hundred. There is a reason the Bible breaks up the numbers because each of them is important to describe that tribe. The tribe of Reuben represents our first step into the new life of Christ. Forty means their rule is tested. A new Christian has chosen a new king so that choice will be tested. Six thousand means that that man will mature to his full stature or purpose. And, five hundred means that his service or ministry will receive a full reward.
In Mark, Jesus entered Jerusalem as the passover lamb and was praised as the Messiah. Jesus cursed the fig tree because it was not producing fruit for his arrival just as Israel as the fig tree didn’t recognize their Messiah had come.
Jesus cleansed the temple of its idolatry and pronounced what his temple was suppose to be - a house of prayer.
Thank you for choosing us to be your children. May we express your kingdom through our lives.
Friday, March 2, 2018
Fri.’s Devo - Redemption
Read: Leviticus 25:47-27:13; Mark 10:32-52; Psalm
Leviticus makes it clear that God is all about redemption. He gives laws about redeeming land, servants, family, and animals. Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
If a man was poor and needy he was able to mortgage his land and himself so that his family would be provided for until the Year of Jubilee when it would all go back to him. He could be redeemed before the Year of Jubilee by an uncle or his uncle’s son if they were willing to pay the price.
We were all poor and needy with no hope until we were redeemed by the blood of Jesus. God is our uncle since our brother is the Jew and his father is God. Our uncle’s son is Jesus. Jesus paid the price for our redemption.
God called the children of Israel: servants, but Jesus said in John 15:15, “From now on I don’t call you servants, because the servant doesn’t know what his lord is doing: but I have called you friends; for everything that I have heard of my Father I have told you.”
In Leviticus 26, God gives them all the promises and blessings of obedience. He also gave them a detailed picture of what would happen if they disobeyed. Unfortunately, they fell under the latter too many times.
In Chapter 27 God told them the amount of taxes they were to pay. The youngest had to pay the least because they had no income. The men that fell between 20 and 60 had to pay the highest taxes because they were the working class. Men paid more than women, etc. and the older people were honored with a tax break. It was God’s fair tax plan.
In Mark, Jesus kept trying to prepare his disciples for what was ahead but they couldn’t get it. They kept getting side-tracked by what they thought should happen. Jesus taught that servanthood was higher than worldly position.
They came to Jericho and a man kept shouting for Jesus’ attention. Jesus healed his blindness and he became a follower. I can’t help but remember Joshua who came to Jericho as his first city into the Promised Land. He also shouted and the walls came down. They smashed their clay jars and everyone could see their light.
Lord, help us to remember that we carry light in earthen vessels that the world needs to see. May we let our lights shine.
Leviticus makes it clear that God is all about redemption. He gives laws about redeeming land, servants, family, and animals. Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
If a man was poor and needy he was able to mortgage his land and himself so that his family would be provided for until the Year of Jubilee when it would all go back to him. He could be redeemed before the Year of Jubilee by an uncle or his uncle’s son if they were willing to pay the price.
We were all poor and needy with no hope until we were redeemed by the blood of Jesus. God is our uncle since our brother is the Jew and his father is God. Our uncle’s son is Jesus. Jesus paid the price for our redemption.
God called the children of Israel: servants, but Jesus said in John 15:15, “From now on I don’t call you servants, because the servant doesn’t know what his lord is doing: but I have called you friends; for everything that I have heard of my Father I have told you.”
In Leviticus 26, God gives them all the promises and blessings of obedience. He also gave them a detailed picture of what would happen if they disobeyed. Unfortunately, they fell under the latter too many times.
In Chapter 27 God told them the amount of taxes they were to pay. The youngest had to pay the least because they had no income. The men that fell between 20 and 60 had to pay the highest taxes because they were the working class. Men paid more than women, etc. and the older people were honored with a tax break. It was God’s fair tax plan.
In Mark, Jesus kept trying to prepare his disciples for what was ahead but they couldn’t get it. They kept getting side-tracked by what they thought should happen. Jesus taught that servanthood was higher than worldly position.
They came to Jericho and a man kept shouting for Jesus’ attention. Jesus healed his blindness and he became a follower. I can’t help but remember Joshua who came to Jericho as his first city into the Promised Land. He also shouted and the walls came down. They smashed their clay jars and everyone could see their light.
Lord, help us to remember that we carry light in earthen vessels that the world needs to see. May we let our lights shine.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Thur.’s Devo - The Sabbath
Read: Leviticus 24:1-25:46; Mark 10:13-31; Psalm 44:9-26; Proverbs 10:20-21
The Israelites were to keep their light burning just as Jesus told us to let our light so shine before men, that they would see our good works and glorify God.
A boy who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father blasphemed the name of God. God commanded that he be stoned. This story is a picture of a person who has not made God his father. If that was to happen today it would mean that we would not allow him to blaspheme God within our fellowship but we would disciple him and let the truth kill his old man. Then we can bring the “new man” into our fellowship.
God is all about teaching responsibility for our own actions. If you mess up, then you clean up your mess or you pay for it voluntarily or involuntarily.
God was very jealous over the Sabbath. Every seven days you were to rest from work and every seven years the earth was to rest from its work. This was so that people and the earth could replenish and renew. Our bodies refuel when we rest and so does the soil. On the fiftieth year, all land debt is over. It is the year of Jubilee and all property that had to be sold during the years went back to the original owner because that was their inheritance. Land was valued according to this law.
The Sabbaths taught the people the concept of self-control and trusting in the Lord. On the sixth year, the land would yield enough for three years. I imagine the temptation would be to want to get more and more and more instead of letting the land rest after working so hard. They wouldn’t harvest again until the eighth year. A harvest would come again in the ninth year.
We are in the sixth millennium and we are busy harvesting souls. We are about to have the biggest revival of souls the world has never seen because we are so close to the seventh millennium where no one will work or harvest souls. We won’t be harvesting souls again until the ninth millennium. It will be interesting to see what that looks like!
We have some great promises: we always have the right to redeem our inheritance and we can never be sold as slaves.
Jesus met a rich man who lived the law but was tied to this world and his possessions. Jesus didn’t say it was impossible for him to be set free he just said that with Him, all things were possible. Whatever we have to give up in this life will be given to us a hundred times over in the age to come.
Lord, give us eyes to see into eternity and live for the things that the world cannot take from us.
The Israelites were to keep their light burning just as Jesus told us to let our light so shine before men, that they would see our good works and glorify God.
A boy who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father blasphemed the name of God. God commanded that he be stoned. This story is a picture of a person who has not made God his father. If that was to happen today it would mean that we would not allow him to blaspheme God within our fellowship but we would disciple him and let the truth kill his old man. Then we can bring the “new man” into our fellowship.
God is all about teaching responsibility for our own actions. If you mess up, then you clean up your mess or you pay for it voluntarily or involuntarily.
God was very jealous over the Sabbath. Every seven days you were to rest from work and every seven years the earth was to rest from its work. This was so that people and the earth could replenish and renew. Our bodies refuel when we rest and so does the soil. On the fiftieth year, all land debt is over. It is the year of Jubilee and all property that had to be sold during the years went back to the original owner because that was their inheritance. Land was valued according to this law.
The Sabbaths taught the people the concept of self-control and trusting in the Lord. On the sixth year, the land would yield enough for three years. I imagine the temptation would be to want to get more and more and more instead of letting the land rest after working so hard. They wouldn’t harvest again until the eighth year. A harvest would come again in the ninth year.
We are in the sixth millennium and we are busy harvesting souls. We are about to have the biggest revival of souls the world has never seen because we are so close to the seventh millennium where no one will work or harvest souls. We won’t be harvesting souls again until the ninth millennium. It will be interesting to see what that looks like!
We have some great promises: we always have the right to redeem our inheritance and we can never be sold as slaves.
Jesus met a rich man who lived the law but was tied to this world and his possessions. Jesus didn’t say it was impossible for him to be set free he just said that with Him, all things were possible. Whatever we have to give up in this life will be given to us a hundred times over in the age to come.
Lord, give us eyes to see into eternity and live for the things that the world cannot take from us.
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