Sun.’s Devo - The Levites Set Apart

Read: Numbers 8:1-9:23; Mark 13:14-37; Psalm 50:1-23; Proverbs 10:29-30 The large menorah was to be placed so that the light panned out to illuminate the whole room. It was made of one piece of gold beaten by a hammer into its shape. It had buds of the almond flower on its arms. God told Moses to take the Levites and cleanse them by sprinkling water on them and shaving all of their flesh. They were to wash their own clothes and make themselves clean. Then they were to take a bull with flour and oil and another bull for the sin offering and offer them in front of all the people. The people would put their hands upon the Levites and transfer their sin to the Levites. The Levites would then put their hands upon the sin offering and transfer all of their sins to the bull. The other bull would be for the Levites to set them apart from the other people and atone just for the Levites. The Levites were then offered to Aaron and his sons to be an offering to the Lord. The Levites would be separate from the children of Israel and the Levites would be the Lords. I think of this as being how Jesus died for the world represented by the first bull, but he set apart his chosen remnant and they got to enjoy the atonement of his death which was represented in the second bull. God had designated the first born as his, but now he substituted the Levites for them. After their ceremony, the Levites began assisting Aaron in the service of the Tabernacle. Once we are saved and sanctified we can minister in God’s work. The age of service was 25-50 and when they retired they were guards but could not officiate in the service. They were to celebrate the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan which was the first month of the religious calendar and the seventh month of the civil calendar. They were to be ceremonially clean to celebrate, but a group of men had buried a person making them ceremonially unclean. They came to Moses to ask if they could participate. Moses took their request to the Lord and God said that they could wait and do it the same day the next month. If they were clean and chose not to celebrate the Passover, they would suffer the consequences of their guilt. The Passover was the foreshadowing of the cross. What they did then was a ceremony to cover their sins for a year. The cross took away our sins forever as long as we believed. When they finished setting up the Tabernacle the glory of God rested upon it in the form of a pillar of a cloud. When it lifted and moved, they broke camp and followed it. In Mark, Jesus warned them of a day that a very unsecured object would be standing where it should not be and when they see that happen they were to run to the hills. That very thing happened years later when Antiocus Ephiphenes offered a pig on the altar in the Temple. It will also happen in the very end of time in a different way. It seems that this act will mark the beginning of the Great Tribulation. Calamities would be rampant and false messiahs and false prophets would rise up. After the anguish of that time was over the sun would be darkened and the moon give no light. The stars will fall from the sky and the powers in the heavens would be shaken. Then everyone will see Jesus coming in the clouds in great glory. He will send out his angels to gather the chosen from the earth. When this begins to happen it will mark the last generation Jesus ended it with a story to remind them to always be watching and waiting for these signs to happen. Keep spiritually awake. Lord, thank you for signs that you give us to wake us up and to show us that your Word is true. May we stay alive and awake in you.

Sat.’s Devo - Set Apart

Read: Numbers 6:1-7:89; Mark 12:38-13:13; Psalm 49:1-20; Proverbs 10:27-28 God gave instructions on how to take a voluntary Nazarite vow. “Nazarite” means “separated” so it was a vow to separate oneself unto the Lord. They were to restrict themselves by not eating or drinking anything that came from the vine, not cutting their hair nor defiling themselves by going near a dead body. It had to do with what went into the body, what was covering the body and what was around the body. It was all to remind them that God was the essence of their existence. He was what sustained them, protected them and surrounded them. The person who entered into the vow chose how long they would separate themselves. John the Baptist lived under a Nazarite vow. He kept it till his death. Jesus was from Nazarus and yet he touched dead people and brought them back to life. He drank wine with sinners, and at his last supper with his disciples. I don’t know about his hair, I don’t remember reading anything about it. God gave the priests a special blessing to give the people and when they did it in His name, he would bless them also. On the very day that Moses set up the Tabernacle, he anointed it and set it apart as holy. The tribal leaders of every tribe brought the same gift to the Tabernacle. They put them on six wagons - two tribes per wagon along with 12 oxen - one for each tribe. Then for the next 12 days, they offered their offerings one a day. Everyone’s gifts were exactly the same and there was no competition or favoritism. After the Tabernacle was anointed and dedicated to the Lord whenever Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak to the Lord, he would hear God’s voice speaking to him between the two cherubim above the Ark’s cover. In Mark, Jesus exposed the religious leaders for their fraud. They were rich but their money came at the expense of the widows that they were supposed to be taking care of with the offerings. Instead, they taught that their wealth was a picture of their piety and favor with God. Jesus said they would be more severely punished for their sin. Jesus then called the attention to the widow who put in her last two mites. She was more righteous in her small amount of giving than they were in their great amount of giving. Her proportion was greatly more than theirs and her heart was right and theirs were wicked. Man looks on the exterior but God looks on the heart. Jesus and his disciples left the Temple one day and the disciples pointed out the great buildings and the massive stones in the walls. Jesus looked into the future and saw all of the stones and the buildings torn down. He told them what he saw. They asked him when this would happen, and what would be the sign that this will be fulfilled. Jesus answered both of their questions. First they would see people claiming to be the Messiah, then nations would go to war against other nations. There would be earthquakes and famines. These signs would only be the first of the birth pains. More would come. Jesus’ followers would be brought before the councils, beaten in the synagogues and stand trial before kings and governors. This would be their opportunity to witness about Jesus. God would tell them what to say because the Holy Spirit would be talking through them. People in their own household would turn them in and they would be hated because they followed Jesus. Those who endured to the end will be saved. May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace. Thank you Lord, for your protection, your smile, your goodness, your favor and your peace.

Fri.’s Devo - Q & A’s

Read: Numbers 4:1-5:31; Mark 12:18-37; Psalm 48:1-14; Proverbs 10:26 The men who were eligible to serve in the Tabernacle had to be 30-50 years of age. The three clans or families were the Kohathites, the Merarites, and the Gerhonites. The family of Kohath were in charge of the things that related to the most sacred objects: the Ark of the Covenant, its curtains, the furniture in the Holy Place and its coverings and instruments and the burnt altar. They were to carry all the furniture on poles and never touch it. Eleazar, Aaron’s son was responsible of the oil and the incense. He was responsible for the Kohathites. Aaron was responsible to see that they never do anything that would cause the Kohathites to die, like looking at the Ark. The Geshonites were responsible for the general severe and carrying loads. They carried all the furniture after the Kohathites covered it with its designated cloths. They reported directly to Ithamar, Aaron’s son. The Merarite division carried the frames of the Tabernacle and the building material for the outer Tabernacle. They were also directly under Ithamar. There was repercussion for doing anything wrong to another person. If they confessed of their wrong, they were to pay the person full restitution and add a fifth to it. They also had to make it right with the Lord by offering him a sacrifice. If a husband suspected his wife of being unfaithful but had no witnesses to prove it there was a ceremony to find out if she was guilty or not. This was to protect the innocent and to rightly judge the guilty. She was to stand trial before the Lord. The priest would take some holy water from the laver in a clay jar and pour dust into it. The priest would write the curses of adultery on a piece of leather and wash it in the water. The woman was then to drink the water. The priest would make a sacrifice on the altar of the flour. The water would bring a curse to her body if she was guilty and would not be able to if she was innocent. The curse was that her abdomen would swell up like she was pregnant but there would be no baby inside. She would have an immediate reaction to the water. Her womb would shrink making her sterile. There would be no question as to if she was guilty or innocent. If she was innocent she would have no affects from the water and be able to bear a baby. In Mark, Jesus continues to be examined. The Sadducees came to him with a question about the resurrection which they did not believe in, but they wrapped it in a question about marriage and death. Jesus saw straight through their question and answered both. He told them they were grossly wrong in their belief about the resurrection because Moses spoke of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as being alive. Jesus also answered their question about marriage. We won’t marry each other in heaven. A non-Sadducee leader saw how wisely Jesus had answered their question and had one of his own. He wanted to know which of the commandments Jesus thought was the most important. Jesus nailed that one also. He said that the greatest was to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind and strength and the next greatest was to love your neighbor as yourself. Those two commandments covered all the rest of the commandments. When the man agreed with Jesus, Jesus perceived that this man was sincere and told him that he was not far from the Kingdom of God. He was not far from believing. The last question they asked Jesus was about the synagogue teaching that the Messiah would be the son of David. Jesus dispelled this teaching by quoting David calling the Messiah his Lord. How could his Lord be his son? Lord, may were have eyes to see and understand your Word like you meant for it to be understood.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Division of the Tribes

Read: Numbers 2:1-3:51; Mark 11:27-12:17; Psalm 47:1-9; Proverbs 10:24-25 When the Israelites set up camp, they were to camp under their banner in a certain order. They were divided into four groups with three tribes in each group. Moses and the Levites were to camp with the Tabernacle in the center of the groups. On the east were Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun which were all blood brothers of Leah. On the south were Reuben, Simeon and Gad. Reuben and Simeon were Leah’s sons and Gad was Zilpah’s. On the west was Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin who were all Rachel’s children. To the north were Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. Dan and Naphtali were Bilhah’s sons and Asher was Zilpah’s. I think it was wise that God put blood brothers to live together when possible. From heaven, the camp made the shape of the cross. God called forth the whole tribe of Levi to serve as Aaron’s assistants. They would serve the whole community in performing the duties in and around the Tabernacle. Aaron and his sons would do the duties of the priesthood. God made a substitute for the firstborn. He substituted them for the Levites. When the counted the number of firstborn and the number of Levites, there were 273 more firstborn’s than Levites. To account for them, they were to collect five pieces of silver for each of them to redeem them back. To count the people was to call the people to an account of their lives like God will do at Judgment Day. That is why they had to be bought back. We were bought back with the blood of Jesus. Later, we will read how if they wanted to count the people they had to take up this same amount to pay for their souls so that when they counted. That would keep them from being judged with a plague. David would forget this law when he asked for a count and it would cause a plague to fall on the people. In Mark, Jesus is being tried before the religious leaders and the people, just as the Passover lamb was being inspected by the priests. The religious leaders demanded to know who gave Jesus the authority to do and say the things he said. Jesus turned it on them and asked them who gave John his authority. They couldn’t answer because it would cause them to lose the favor of the people. Then Jesus told them the parable about them. They were the wicked tenant farmers who God had left the responsibility to to teach the people about his Word. They were the ones who had killed the prophets God sent and were about to kill God’s heir, his son. They knew it too. When they tested him in their political views, he nailed them there too. Every answer Jesus gave them proved that he was the sinless lamb. Lord, thank you that when the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation. You are our lasting foundation!

Wed’s Devo - Dedication

Read: Leviticus 27:14-Numbers 1:54; Mark 11:1-26; Psalm 46:1-11; Proverbs 10:23 A person could choose to dedicate their possessions to the Lord, but if they changed their mind and wanted it back it would cost them a fifth of the cost. The number ‘five’ has to do with redemption. If we dedicate anything to the Lord, then decide to take it back into our hands, it will cost us. That is why we need to consider what we do before we do it. Once we give a matter to the Lord, it needs to stay in his hands. The first born were not negotiable…they were the Lord’s. The only first born’s that could be bought back were the unclean animals. The ones that were specially set apart for the Lord, whether a person, an animal, or family property, must never be sold or bought back. The Jews believed that there were three types of people: the totally wicked, the totally righteous and the in-betweeners. These laws tend to prove this is true. The totally righteous would be the first borns and the specially set apart ones. The ones that could be bought back from the Lord could be the in-betweeners. In verse 29 it says that no person specifically set apart for destruction may be bought back. Such a person must be put to death. That sounds like the totally wicked. Then God talked about the tithe - the 10%. If you bought that back it would cost you an additional 20%. That doesn’t sound like smart financing to not pay your tithe. Numbers is a book of numbers. LOL! The first thing they numbers were the names of the warriors by their clans and families. They were taken from all the tribes except the Levites. The Levites were to tend to the Tabernacle and ministering to the Lord. The New Testament tells us the same thing. Our weapons are not carnal but they are powerful through God to the pulling down of strongholds. We do not fight in the conventional way; we fight on our knees. Every tribe had their own banner and designated area to camp and to march into battle, just like in the Body of Christ - we all have our designated areas to minister from. In Mark, Jesus told his disciples to go into a village and get a donkey that had never been ridden. As they were ’stealing’ this donkey, the owner asked them what they were doing. When he heard who was going to ride it he let them have it. A donkey is the most stubborn animal and they hate to be ridden and yet Jesus sat on this donkey who had not been trained to carry a person and it took him into Jerusalem. That was a miracle in itself. As Jesus was entering from the southeast to Jerusalem, the Temple lamb was coming into Jerusalem from the northwest. People were ascending upon Jerusalem from all directions. They were carrying palm branches and singing the Hallel in Psalms 112-118. They laid down their branches and sang the part that says “Hosannah! Blessed are they who come in the name of the Lord.” Psalm 118:25-26. Jesus went to the temple and observed what was going on. He then was able to curse the fig tree. The fig tree was Israel and when he came, they were not ready to receive him. They were not ripe in season and out of season. So Jesus cursed them so that no one would eat from their fruit again. Jesus came back to Jerusalem the next day with vengeance and drove out the buyers and sellers and the money changers. He told them that they had made the house of prayer into a den of thieves. This made the Pharisees and leaders of the synagogue even more determined to kill Jesus. When the disciples passed the fig tree the next morning, it had withered from its roots just like Jerusalem had. Jesus used it to teach his disciples how to bring down Satan’s kingdom. We have the authority to bring down mountains and throw them into the sea. Lord, we bring down this mountain of idol worship and Satanism in our nation. We cast it into the sea of forgetfulness and we pray that this nation will be called a House of Prayer for your name sake.

Tues.’s Devo -The Power of the Blood

Read: Leviticus 25:47-27:13; Mark 10:32-52; Psalm 45:1-17; Proverbs 10:22 God gave his people the right to redeem themselves back from slavery if they had had to sell themselves out to a foreigner. Anyone from their extended family could buy them back also. They would then go to the owner and negotiate the price of the man they wanted to buy back. The price would be based on the number of years until the next Year of Jubilee when everyone is free. They would pay the owner how much work their man would have done until Jubilee and paid him the price. Once he was bought back he could choose to stay and work for the man and receive a salary as a free man. God bought us back from the enemy with the blood of Jesus but as God’s children, we have to appropriate it. We can buy back blood relatives through prayer. We reap what we sow so just because we get saved, we still have to reap the things we did before we got saved. It may take a while to get out of the entanglements that we have gotten ourselves into, but freedom will come eventually. God reminds them of two of his commandments. The second Commandment was: don’t set up carved or graven images. The fourth Commandment was to keep the Sabbath day of rest to show reverence for His sanctuary. Obeying these two commandments would bring about the blessing of rain in the right seasons and bountiful harvests that overlap each other. It also brings security and peace in the land. God said He would chase their enemies and always give them victory. He promised his favor upon them and that they would multiply in people and in crops. God promised to live among them and put his favor on all they did. If they refused to follow God’s commands, the opposite would happen. They would be punished seven times over for their sins. If they repent, God will heal their land and remember his covenant of peace with them. If someone wanted to make a vow to dedicate someone to the Lord by paying the value of that person, the cost of the man ages 20-60 was 50 shekels of silver. A woman would be 30 shekels of silver. A boy ages 5-20 would be 20 shekels of silver and a girl 10 shekels. A man older than 60 was valued at 15 and a woman 10 shekels of silver. If you can’t afford to pay that amount you could appeal to the priest who would give you a price based on what you could afford. Animals could also be used in this way and bought back. The value would be set by the priest plus 20%. Jesus bought the world back with the redemption price of his blood. No amount of money could be counted to amount to the value of his blood. In Mark, Jesus tells them again everything that is about to happen to them so they will understand. We know they didn’t understand then, but they did later. James and John took Jesus aside and asked it they could sit in honor on his left and right side when he came to his kingdom. Jesus explained to them that they didn’t know what they were asking. Those places would be reserved for ones that suffered and died like he did. God would determine who sat in those places. The other disciples found out what James and John had requested and were indignant. Jesus explained that it was the one who served others and gave his life as a ransom for many that would be exalted in heaven. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus gave us a picture of what he had just said to his disciples. Bartimaeus was blind and could not see and yet he would not give up asking Jesus for mercy. When Jesus asked him what he wanted him to do for him, Bartimaeus called Jesus his Rabbi and told them he wanted to see. Jesus gave him that because he believed in faith. Bartimaeus then followed Jesus down the road. That was the message Jesus wanted to get to his disciples. Jesus had spent his three years trying to make his disciples see spiritually and just follow him in faith. Who is on his left or his right determines how they did these things. Lord, give us eyes to see and a heart to follow your. May we put our faith out there no matter what we see with our natural eyes.

Mon.’s Devo - Jubilee

Read: Leviticus 24:1-25:46; Mark 10:13-31; Psalm 44:9-26; Proverbs 10:20-21 In the Holy Place, the part in front of the Holy of Holies where the ark was there was a table called the Table of Shewbread. On this table were placed 12 loaves of unleavened bread for the priests to eat. It was their meal they had with the Lord and it was an expression of God’s eternal covenant with them. God calls us to come and dine with him so this was the picture of what we do when we sit and open God’s Word and eat it with the Lord. One day, a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father cursed the Name of the Lord. He was brought before Moses to be judged. Moses sought the Lord and the Lord said he must be stone by all who heard his words. He would stand for any Israelite or foreigner who did this in the future since he stood for both. This was a violation of the third Commandment. Next he dealt with the fifth Commandment: Thou shalt not murder. The penalty was death whether you were an Israelite or a foreigner. God explained the fourth Commandment and extended the Sabbath to the land. The land was to enjoy a Sabbath Year every seven years. This would give the land time to replenish its minerals and strength it had given the six years of planting. God promised to give them an abundance of crops the sixth year so it would carry them into the ninth year! They would replant the eighth year and harvest the ninth. God proved he could do this with the manna he had sent them from heaven. This would extend to years also. Every seven Sabbath Years were to be counted off. That is every fifty years. On the Day of Atonement every 50 years, they were to celebrate the Year of Jubilee. (I don’t remember ever reading where they did this. We will have to pay attention this year to see if we see that happen.) In the year of Jubilee everyone was to return to the land that belonged to their ancestors. All slaves were set free and all debt was forgiven. The price of a slave or land was determined on how far away this day was. It was God’s financial reset. The land was never sold on a permanent basis because the land was the Lord’s. We are just travelers passing through. Land in a walled city was different than land in a field. Land in a walled city represents people who live with walls enshrined in religion and man-made laws. Those who live free live under heaven’s laws. Levites, the set-apart ones always had the right to buy back a house even sold in Levite towns. They were the only ones who had permanent possessions. Selah! They were given strict instructions on how to treat people who were poor and forced into slavery. God made it clear that the people of Israel were his servants who he bought out of slavery and they were not to be sold as slaves again or treated harshly. They were only allowed to treat foreigners as slaves, but never their brothers and sisters. Foreigners represent demon spirits. They are to serve us and we are not to be enslaved by them. They have to bow because we carry the name of Christ. In Mark, once again, Jesus used the children to explain the kingdom. The disciples wanted to shoo them away but allowed a rich man to run up to him. Jesus showed that it wasn’t the rich he came to save though it was totally possible through God, it was the poor and child-like. The ones who can come into the kingdom are those who give up all this world has to offer and want something that they cannot see. Lord, help us to choose what is greatest to You. May we love what you love and hate what you hate.