They shall be mine: I am the LORD.

Numbers 3:11-13

They shall be mine: I am the LORD. Numbers 3:13

I continue my study of Numbers, and in the text today 3:11-13, where the Lord speaks to Moses and shares how the Levites are His.  Here are my observations using the Sword Bible Study Method. 

• What do we learn from the text about God?: The text describes how the Levites, among all the tribes in Israel, were taken by God to be His representatives to Him and they were His possession (vv12-13).  As with all scripture, this text points to Jesus and how with His shed blood, all believers (all of Creation) are a "chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).  God wants us to draw near to Him, personally, and not let anything or anyone stand in our way - He is our #1 priority.  
• What do we learn from the text about people?: The Levites, and ultimately all believers, were chosen from among the people to serve in the priesthood and they belong to God.  When you belong to God, you are designed to serve His will, for His glory.  
• Is there anything from the text God wants us to obey (SPEC: Sins to avoid, Promises to claim, Examples to follow, Commands to obey?): Avoid thinking that you exist to serve self or anything/anyone above God.  Claim the promise that, as a believer, you were purchased by His blood for a price, and you are a royal priesthood called out of darkness into His marvelous light.  Follow the example of the Levites and proclaim the excellencies of Him.  

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves and saves.  I am not deserving of how You love and save.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Revelation 20

Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. Revelation 20:6

I wrapped my D-Group's study of Revelation - using Stephen Witmer's commentary and study guide - for week 9, which looks at Revelation 20:1-15. In review of this week, I see several key takeaways:

• I am reminded that while the unsaved earn their fate because of both what they did - their deeds - and because of their failure to submit and accept Jesus and repent, believers, including myself did nothing to earn our salvation. We are included in the book of life only through the grace of God. (Ephesians 2:8)
  
• The connection between the first and last Adam becomes more clear. Sin and death entered the world through the first Adam and it leaves the world through Christ - reversing the curse. (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)
  
• I am also reminded of my role as a priest in God's kingdom. (Revelation 20:6)
• While Satan does have power, God retains an upper hand and we know that God has already defeated sin - only that Satan's influence persists until Jesus returns.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an incredible awesome God who is full of amazing grace - You gave me eternal life and life to the full now here on earth, protecting me from sin and death and blessing me indescribably.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such a God.  My sin is daily and it continues.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace.

Leviticus 10

Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace. Leviticus 10:3

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing with chapter ten - Our Response to God's Holiness - covering Leviticus 10:1-20, looking specifically at the theme - God's People Accept Responsibility to Represent Him.  Here, the commentary looks closely at the role of the priests in both the Old and New Testament.  In the Old Testament, the Levites served as priests, mediating between God and the Israelites - specifically here in Leviticus 10, Aaron and his sons served as priests.  The commentary discusses how the priests were held to a higher standard and had a "special level of responsibility [(]to lead worship according to God's directions and to represent God accurately[)] relative to the Israelite congregation at large.  In the New Testament, all believers in Christ now share that "special responsibility" as "ambassadors" of Christ.  My post from a few days ago looks at how Christ offers a covenant that He "mediates is better" than that of the first covenant (from the Old Testament). The commentary unpacks v10:2 where it says "Aaron held his peace," to highlight how Aaron restrained his sorrow for his sons Nadab and Abihu and how difficult this must have been. According to the commentary, "[t]his was a defining moment.  The refusal to mourn would make the point that nothing, not even a cherished child, is as important as God Himself or as important as treating Him as holy.  If Aaron and the other priests had mourned the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, it could have appeared that they did not accept God's judgement or that they had greater sympathy for the sinners than they had for God's holiness.  People were watching them, and their loyalty to God was a bigger issue than loyalty to family."  For another scriptural example of how God seeks loyalty to Him above anybody else, the commentary refers us to the wickedness of Eli's sons and God's judgement on both Eli and his sons in 1 Samuel 2:22-36, and 1 Samuel 4:17-20. 

Another key takeaway from the the commentary this morning is that the "death of Nadab and Abihu is a warning not to trifle with the commands of God or misrepresent the glory of God.  When God speaks, there is no room for innovation; we must not corrupt God's Word by what we say or what we do."  Just as people watched the Levites, including Aaron and sons, in the Old Testament, people are watching believers in Christ and we must be holy as we represent God as ambassadors.  

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are indeed Holy and worthy of my obedience to Your commands.  Thank You for sending Your Son to live in my heart and life to bring about obedience as I am unable to do this in my own power.  Yet I am undeserving of such a blessing.  I worry and I have other sins.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Leviticus 8

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - ending my time with chapter eight - Are You Ready to Serve - covering Leviticus 8:1-8:36, looking specifically at the theme - Enjoy Communion with God in Serving.  Here, the commentary wraps the chapter by looking at v31 where Aaron and sons are commanded by to God to eat an ordination meal at the entrance of the tent of meeting, "a space that represented the presence of God.  Therefore they were eating in the presence of God.  Eating with someone symbolized fellowship...[and] friendship." The commentary then describes how a friendship or close relationship can develop into something where one of the friends who is not a believer may see "something" about the other friend who is a believer and this something is Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit working in the believer's life.  As this chapter of the commentary wraps its look at how we are to serve, just as Aaron and his sons did, we are encouraged to look at how believers are to serve in all areas in our life, including in our relationships, as all believers are part of a "royal priesthood" (see 1 Peter 2:9). 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who has placed many, many believers in my life who acted in their "priestly duties" by submitting their lives to Jesus, and allowing Jesus to work through them as I and others saw this - all so that myself and others became drawn to God.  Amazing indeed - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You have orchestrated all of this.  My sin, of anger, worry, etc. continues.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

 

In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience[.]

Romans 15

In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience[.] Romans 15:17-18a

This morning, I continued my study of Romans.  Using my commentary - Exalting Jesus in Romans (eBook) - I continued with chapter nineteen Great Commission Christians, which covers Romans 15:14-15:33.  My focus today is v15:16-18, which my commentary refers to under the heading "See Life and Mission Through the Lens of Worship."  Building on my post yesterday, where Paul's focused on characteristics of a healthy gospel-centered church, in this morning's verses, Paul moves to describe his role in preaching the gospel to the Gentiles and how Paul attributes the growth of the church through the Gentiles to God working through him.

My commentary highlights how Paul's words describe a "priestly service" (v15:16) to the Gentiles. He was a Jesus "worshiper who sought to make more worshipers.  He was a living sacrifice who sought to see more living sacrifices."  We are encourages to "see our mission through this lens of worship." 

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who has brought disciple makes into my life to develop me into more of a disciple - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of this and the many other blessings You pour out for me.  My sin of worry and other sins continue.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God.”

2 Chronicles 26

They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God.” v18

In verses 16-17, Uzziah's pride became his downfall and Azariah and the other priests confronted Uzziah. 

We must remember that as believers we are part of a Royal Priesthood:


But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9


As part of this Royal Priesthood we must take a stand for proclaiming truth.

Yes we are called to submit to earthly authorities placed over us but our first and foremost call is to God.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who is the way, the truth and the life and You provide life abundantly!  I am blessed - thank You Jesus.  Yet I am undeserving.  Please forgive me Jesus for my worry and other sin.  Help me turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior. Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.