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.