February 14, 2005

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Leviticus 2:1-4:35; Matthew 25:31-26:5

Weekly Memory Verse: Romans 5:1

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Numbers 9 (NASB95)
¹ Thus the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ² “Now, let the sons of Israel observe the Passover at its appointed time. ³ “On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall observe it at its appointed time; you shall observe it according to all its statutes and according to all its ordinances.” ⁴ So Moses told the sons of Israel to observe the Passover. ⁵ They observed the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did. ⁶ But there were some men who were unclean because of the dead person, so that they could not observe Passover on that day; so they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. ⁷ Those men said to him, “Though we are unclean because of the dead person, why are we restrained from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?” ⁸ Moses therefore said to them, “Wait, and I will listen to what the Lord will command concerning you.” ⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If any one of you or of your generations becomes unclean because of a dead person, or is on a distant journey, he may, however, observe the Passover to the Lord. ¹¹ ‘In the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight, they shall observe it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ¹² ‘They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute of the Passover they shall observe it. ¹³ ‘But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet neglects to observe the Passover, that person shall then be cut off from his people, for he did not present the offering of the Lord at its appointed time. That man will bear his sin. ¹⁴ ‘If an alien sojourns among you and observes the Passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its ordinance, so he shall do; you shall have one statute, both for the alien and for the native of the land.’ ” ¹⁵ Now on the day that the tabernacle was erected the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony, and in the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle, until morning. ¹⁶ So it was continuously; the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. ¹⁷ Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. ¹⁸ At the command of the Lord the sons of Israel would set out, and at the command of the Lord they would camp; as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped. ¹⁹ Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the sons of Israel would keep the Lord’s charge and not set out. ²⁰ If sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, according to the command of the Lord they remained camped. Then according to the command of the Lord they set out. ²¹ If sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would move out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out. ²² Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they did set out. ²³ At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out; they kept the Lord’s charge, according to the command of the Lord through Moses.

Exodus 40:2 (NASB95)
² “On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.

Exodus 40:17 (NASB95)
¹⁷ Now in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected. ^[1]

The Passover was observed as the first real festival in the Tabernacle.  God considered it to be very important and one of the core truths that the Jews held on to.  Consider, in the previous chapter, God had given instructions concerning how that the Levites were set aside commemorating the way that God had passed over the Jews.  Yet God required the tithe of the ones  who would have died. 

In this chapter, God is reminding the Jews that the Passover was to be a lasting ordinance, and He was holding them responsible to carry out the tradition.  Some found it a concern that they could not participate since they were unclean due to death.  God made a provision for this which allowed them to celebrate the Passover one month later.  This held all the same stipulations that the original Passover ritual contained with one exception.  Since God had made an exception which allowed everyone to participate, those who did not participate were to be cut off from Israel.  Provision was also made for aliens to participate if they had complied with the statutes.

Place yourself in the shoes of the Jews for a moment.  God directed them by either removing the cloud from the Tabernacle or by placing it on the tabernacle.  The Bible is very specific to point out that they did not know how long or how short the span of time would be.  Therefore they had to be ready to mobilize at a moments notice, and be prepared to stop at a moments notice to rebuild the Tabernacle.  Some estimates say that the tabernacle was erected in as little as two hours.  This could be possible considering the short time frame that God had given them. 

To spiritualize this passage, God intends for His people to move at His bidding.  We aren't to make excuses, but are to be ready to follow His leading.  If Jesus is truly the head of the church as Paul indicates in his writing, doesn't Jesus direct the entire body of Christ just as God directed the entire body of Israel?  Doesn't a head tell the body where to travel? We have forgotten how to watch the moving of the glory of God to  a certain extent.  Forgotten may be too strong of a word since we never knew how in the first place, perhaps it would be better to say that we need to start watching for God's leading. 

Romans 9:4-5 (NASB95)
⁴ who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, ⁵ whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. ^[2]

When you read this passage, ask yourself what set Israel apart from the other nations and what set God apart from the other gods.  The most obvious thing during the Exodus was that God was intimately involved with His children, He intimately led His children, He caused His Shekinah Glory in the form of a cloud to hover over them by day, and directed every single step that they took as a nation.  God was a God who cared about His people and who instructed them as to how they were to worship Him.  It was clear to the surrounding nations that the God of Israel was alive and actively involved with His people.  Perhaps John was thinking about Jesus as the Shekinah glory of God that led His people in this passage:

1 John 1:1-5 (NASB95)
¹ What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— ² and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— ³ what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. ⁵ This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. ^[3]

I am going to close here, Valentines day has been tremendous for my wife and I.  We are enjoying our time together and pray that each of you make it a point to build romance in your lives today.

Father, as we consider Your word today, make each of us sensitive to Your leading in our lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.