Stand Your Ground. Stay the Course.

26 “You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes. 27 You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.

29 “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. 30 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

31 “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.

32 “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

35 “You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. 36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:26-37 ESV

When the Israelites finally arrived in the land of Canaan, they would find themselves facing a myriad of temptations that would put a strain on their relationship with Yahweh. This section of laws was designed to regulate the choices they would make when they inevitably had to interface with the pagan nations of Canaan. They would be entering a land whose preexisting occupants were not followers of Yahweh. According to Deuteronomy 7, when Israel was preparing to enter Canaan for the first time, the land contained seven different nations: The Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

These distant relatives of the Israelites were the descendants of Ham, one of the sons of Noah, but they had long ago abandoned their worship of Yahweh. As Moses prepared the people of Israel to enter Canaan for the first time, he warned them about the “detestable customs” of the land’s occupants.

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft,  or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. 13 But you must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things.” – Deuteronomy 18:9-14 NLT

So, God took time to reemphasize those laws that specifically dealt with the problems associated with Canaan. Verses 26-28 cover behaviors that God has already addressed but that would prove to be very tempting in the land of Canaan because they were prevalent among the seven nations that lived there. God’s ban on the consumption of blood was not practiced by the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, or Jebusites. In fact, many of these groups had their own elaborate religious rituals where they offered blood sacrifices to false gods like Baal and Molech. As part of these rites, the drinking of blood was actually encouraged because it was believed that the blood could endue the worshiper with energy or power. 

God warned the Israelites about incorporating any of these cultic practices into their worship or daily lives. Each of the admonitions contained in this passage deals with behaviors that were common practice among the Canaanites and were associated with the worship of their false gods.

“Do not eat meat that has not been drained of its blood. Do not practice fortune-telling or witchcraft. Do not trim off the hair on your temples or trim your beards. Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:26-28 NLT

Superstition and an obsession with the dead pervaded the Canaanite mindset, taking the form of fortune-telling and witchcraft. Ancestor worship and attempts to communicate with the dead were common among the Canaanites. But the Israelites were to have nothing to do with such practices. They were not even to emulate the fashion and hairstyles of their Canaanite neighbors. The reference to trimming the hair of their temples and beards was probably a warning against copying the look of the cultic priests. The Israelites were forbidden to take on the outward characteristics of the pagans, including disfiguring their bodies through ritual scarring or the use of tattoos. All of these things were closely associated with the idolatrous worship of the Canaanites.

“According to Babylonian-Assyrian religion, gods who represented the superior natural forces could be directly influenced by charms and spells to direct their power against evil demons who sought to work ill. This was sacred magic, and embraced under its scope, enchantment, sorcery, incantation, and witchcraft” – W. Carleton Wood, “The Religion of Canaan: From the Earliest Times to the Hebrew Conquest,” Journal of Biblical Literature, 1916, Vol. 35, No. 1/2 (1916), pp. 1-133

Magic, potions, bodily disfigurement, worship of the dead, and the consumption of blood were just a few of the pagan rituals the Israelites would find themselves confronting in the land of Canaan. And God knew they would be tempted to incorporate many of these pagan practices into their worship of Him. But God demanded distinctiveness among His people. He found the practices of the Canaanites abominable and unacceptable because they were associated with the worship of false gods. Everything about these rituals and rites was an affront to Yahweh’s status as the one true God and His chosen people were to have nothing to do with them.

God even had to go so far as to ban Israelite fathers from allowing their daughters to become prostitutes. This is most likely a reference to the practice of cult prostitution that was prevalent among the Canaanites.

“A peculiar feature of the Mesopotamian and Canaanite culture was ritualistic prostitution. To the temples of the goddesses of fertility (Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte) were attached bordellos served by consecrated women who represented the goddess, the female principle of fertility… The existence of sacred prostitutes shows that the individual worshipers received in this way communion with the divine principle of life and a renewal of their life forces.” – Eugene J. Fisher, Cultic Prostitution in the Ancient Near East? A Reassessment. Biblical Theology Bulletin

That Israelite fathers might even consider doing such a thing is an affront to our modern sensibilities. But it simply reveals the moral decline that had taken place among the nations of the earth by that time. In humanity’s flight from God, they had abandoned all reason and made the pursuit of personal pleasure their highest priority. The apostle Paul describes this moral descent in far-from-flattering terms.

Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. – Romans 1:22-26 NLT

God knew that anything done in the name of religion could become a gateway to all kinds of sins and excesses. Cultic prostitution would not stop at the temple but would make its way into the very fabric of Israelite life. If one could justify sin by spiritualizing it, it was just a matter of time before it pervaded every sphere of daily life.

That’s why God reemphasized His law concerning the Sabbath. That one day of the week had been set apart for the exclusive worship of Yahweh. It was to be a regular reminder that He was the one and only God, and He alone was worthy of worship, glory, and honor. There was no place for mediums or necromancers among God’s people. They didn’t need witches and diviners. They had the all-powerful God of the universe dwelling in their presence and providing for their every need. There was nothing they could gain from the pagan magicians and cultic priests of Canaan.

Instead, God’s people were to honor the elderly, show care and concern for the foreigners living among them, and treat one another with honor and respect. There was no room for deceit or dishonesty among God’s chosen people. Those were the ways of the pagans. Their false sense of piety was marked by moral decay and pervasive sin. But God had given His people His law so that they might stand out from the crowd. That’s why God ends this section with the admonition: “You must be careful to keep all of my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice. I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:37 NLT).

The real test would come when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan. When that day came, the true battle would be for the hearts and souls of God’s people and not for the land. Gaining control of Canaan would be relatively easy because God would give His people victory over their enemies. But winning the battle against moral compromise and ethical accommodation would be far more difficult. To defeat the urge to concede moral ground to the enemy was going to require obedience to God’s commands. The Israelites were going to have to pursue holiness more than their own happiness. They would need to make pleasing God a higher priority than seeking personal pleasure. The world of Canaan would offer a host of alluring options but the people of God would have to stand their ground and stay the course. They would need to heed the words God used to open this chapter: “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2 ESV).

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Banished or Burned

40 “If a man’s hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean. 41 And if a man’s hair falls out from his forehead, he has baldness of the forehead; he is clean. 42 But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased area, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. 43 Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprous disease in the skin of the body, 44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.

45 “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.

47 “When there is a case of leprous disease in a garment, whether a woolen or a linen garment, 48 in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin, 49 if the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin or in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, it is a case of leprous disease, and it shall be shown to the priest. 50 And the priest shall examine the disease and shut up that which has the disease for seven days. 51 Then he shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, the disease is a persistent leprous disease; it is unclean. 52 And he shall burn the garment, or the warp or the woof, the wool or the linen, or any article made of skin that is diseased, for it is a persistent leprous disease. It shall be burned in the fire.

53 “And if the priest examines, and if the disease has not spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, 54 then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the disease, and he shall shut it up for another seven days. 55 And the priest shall examine the diseased thing after it has been washed. And if the appearance of the diseased area has not changed, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean. You shall burn it in the fire, whether the rot is on the back or on the front.

56 “But if the priest examines, and if the diseased area has faded after it has been washed, he shall tear it out of the garment or the skin or the warp or the woof. 57 Then if it appears again in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire whatever has the disease. 58 But the garment, or the warp or the woof, or any article made of skin from which the disease departs when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and be clean.”

59 This is the law for a case of leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, to determine whether it is clean or unclean.” – Leviticus 13:40-59 ESV

The presence of disease is not an indication that the ill person has sinned. But sin is the reason disease is present in the world. All illness is a direct result of the fall. Its very existence is tied to the original sin committed by Adam and Eve in the garden. Their fateful decision to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit doomed all their descendants to lives characterized by sin and cursed by death. The apostle Paul explains the grave implications of what the first couple did in the garden, but he lays all the blame at the feet of Adam – the one to whom God had given His order to stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. – Romans 5:12 NLT

For Adam’s sin led to condemnation… – Romans 5:16 NLT

For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. – Romans 5:17 NLT

Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone… – Romans 5:18 NLT

Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. – Romans 5:19 NLT

Adam’s failure to adequately warn his wife about the dangers of the tree made her susceptible to the temptations of the enemy. And Adam’s decision to join his wife in her act of disobedience sealed their fate. Rather than reject the fruit she offered him, he was willingly complicit in her sin. And the rest, they say, is history.

Their sin led to condemnation. God’s holiness demanded action and it resulted in the immediate expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden. And when God cast them out, they were banned from His presence. No longer would they enjoy intimate and unbroken fellowship with their Creator. Their sin made them unclean and unworthy of basking in His glory and benefiting from His goodness. And, in time, the entire creation began to experience the effects of sin’s presence. Atrophy set in. Paul states that “death spread to everyone.”

But Adam and Eve did not die immediately. Instead, death took the form of decay, a slow-moving deterioration of all things. The first couple began to age. In time, disease entered the scene. The entire creation, once declared “very good” by God, was placed under a curse and doomed to the ravages of time and the dilatory effects of sin. Once again, the apostle Paul provides insightful commentary on the implications of sin’s entrance into the world.

Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. – Romans 8:20-22 NLT

Death and decay are everywhere and their effects are unavoidable. Chapter 13 of Leviticus emphasizes just a few of the symptoms of their presence, including a variety of unsightly and uncomfortable skin disorders.

As the Israelites made their way from Sinai to Canaan, they would experience many of these painful pathologies of the skin. It was inevitable and unavoidable. And these lesions, boils, sores, and skin disorders were not new to them. They had plenty of experience with these kinds of ailments, but now, God was informing them that these common conditions were cause for greater concern. Because the Israelites were God’s chosen people, the presence of these skin disorders could them unclean and impure before God. They would not be condemned to death for having a rash or a boil. But the presence of disease would result in their banishment from the community and their inability to enter God’s presence.

God wanted them to understand the seriousness of sin. Its entrance into the world had damaged God’s creation beyond repair. All that God had made was in a constant state of decline that would ultimately result in death. And this decay, disease, and death were antithetical to the will of the life-giving God of the universe. The one who gave life to all that is in the world stands opposed to the very idea of death. Yes, God sovereignly decreed death to be the penalty for man’s sin (Romans 6:23), but His original intent was for His creation to experience life in all its fullness.

…then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. – Genesis 2:7 ESV

He himself gives life and breath to everything… – Acts 17:25 NLT

And His Son came to earth so that He might provide new life to all who were under the curse of death.

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” – John 10:10 ESV

God’s detailed instructions concerning everything from baldness to boils were intended to show the people of Israel the damaging influence of sin on their lives. They were surrounded by the effects of sin’s presence. It infected everything they touched, and it took the form of disease and decay. Hair fell from their heads, leaving them bald. Lesions appeared on their skin, causing discomfort and pain. Rashes and boils could show up without a moment’s notice or any explanation. And even their garments could become infected through contact with these disorders. And everything had to be closely examined and carefully cleansed so that the purity of the community could be maintained.

Any infection deemed unclean required immediate, yet temporary banishment.

“Those who suffer from a serious skin disease must tear their clothing and leave their hair uncombed. They must cover their mouth and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean. They must live in isolation in their place outside the camp.” – Leviticus 13:45-46 NLT

But the goal was the eventual restoration of the banned individual. Their isolation was intended to protect the wholeness of the community. The disease and its treatment were intended to serve as a metaphor for sin and its influence on God’s people. Disease was not to be taken lightly, and neither was sin. 

Even garments that had come into contact with any of these skin disorders were to be considered unclean and in need of purification. The presence of mildew or mold was to be taken seriously and dealt with immediately. All of these things would render the wearer of the garment unpure and unworthy of entering God’s presence. So, cleansing was mandatory. The infected item was to be closely examined and subjected to a stringent purification protocol.

“After examining the affected spot, the priest will put the article in quarantine for seven days. On the seventh day the priest must inspect it again. If the contaminated area has spread, the clothing or fabric or leather is clearly contaminated by a serious mildew and is ceremonially unclean.” – Leviticus 13:50-51 NLT

And if, after the garment was quarantined, the mildew, mold, or contamination remained, the garment was to be burned.

“It must be completely burned up, whether the contaminated spot is on the inside or outside.” – Leviticus 13:55 NLT

But if the spot disappeared, the garment was to be declared clean and restored to its former use. It was ceremonially pure. And that is the entire focus of the chapter. God was letting His people know that impurity would be a constant threat to their relationship with Him. Any form of impurity could render them unclean and unworthy of entering the presence of a holy, sinless God. They were not to offer blemished, diseased, or lame animals for sacrifice. They were not to come before God bearing any kind of skin disease or disorder. Their clothes were to be clean and free from mold and mildew. And all of these requirements were in keeping with God’s command concerning holiness.

“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” – Leviticus 19:2 ESV

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Purified For His Presence

22 “You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), 23 and one loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord. 24 You shall put all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 25 Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering, as a pleasing aroma before the Lord. It is a food offering to the Lord.

26 “You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion. 27 And you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priests’ portion that is contributed from the ram of ordination, from what was Aaron’s and his sons’. 28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual due from the people of Israel, for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the people of Israel from their peace offerings, their contribution to the Lord.

29 “The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them. 30 The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, shall wear them seven days.

31 “You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. 32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but an outsider shall not eat of them, because they are holy. 34 And if any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

35 “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them, 36 and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.

38 “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly. 39 One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. 40 And with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering. 41 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. 42 It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43 There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. 45 I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.” – Exodus 29:22-46 ESV

God has revealed how Aaron and his sons were to be prepared for their roles as priests. They were to be washed, dressed, anointed, and atoned for, all before they could even enter the front gate of the Tabernacle complex. But even then, God mandated three separate sacrifices offered over a period of seven days to fully consecrate these men. By the time this elaborate ceremony was complete, Aaron and his sons would be drenched in oil and covered in blood, a sight that would have left an impression on all those who saw them.

“They were washed with water. They were robed in righteousness. They were anointed with oil. They were sprinkled with blood. They were purified, sanctified, anointed, and justified, and in this way there were consecrated for the holy service of God. In a word, they were ordained.” – Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved For God’s Glory

With this elaborate procedure completed, Aaron and his sons would be considered holy and officially ordained for service.

“He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.” – Exodus 29:21 ESV

What happened next is significant and should not be overlooked. God commanded that His newly consecrated priests make yet another offering that would complete their ordination.

“…take the fat of the ram, including the fat of the broad tail, the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat around them, along with the right thigh. Then take one round loaf of bread, one thin cake mixed with olive oil, and one wafer from the basket of bread without yeast that was placed in the Lord’s presence. Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons to be lifted up as a special offering to the Lord.” – Exodus 29:22-24 NLT

After the final lamb was sacrificed and dismembered, the fat, liver, kidneys, and right thigh were to be placed in the hands of Aaron and his sons, along with bread from the Table of Presence. This rather grotesque-sounding ceremony had a purpose. Placing these elements in the hands of the consecrated priests was a sign of ownership. The best parts of the animal were given to Aaron and his sons but they were to offer them back to God as “a special gift for him” (Exodus 29:25 NLT). These elements were placed on the Bronze Altar and burned with fire, creating a pleasing aroma to God. This gift was given by Aaron and his sons, a sign of their commitment to give their best to God.

But God would reward them for their service. Aaron was allowed to keep the breast of the ordination ram, but only after lifting it up to God as a wave offering. In doing so, he acknowledged God’s ownership of all things, including himself and his sons. The breast of the ram was to be seen as a gracious gift from God. And Aaron’s sons would also receive a gift, in the form of the thigh of the ordination ram. These gifts, originally given by the people, were to become a form of divine compensation for Aaron and his sons. God would take care of His servants by meeting their physical needs. 

“This was God’s permanent provision for the priesthood. The people brought their offerings to God, and God in turn gave the priests their share.” – Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved For God’s Glory

These gifts from God were reserved solely for the priests. No one else was allowed to consume any part of the ordination ram or the bread of the presence.

“Then Aaron and his sons will eat this meat, along with the bread in the basket, at the Tabernacle entrance. They alone may eat the meat and bread used for their purification in the ordination ceremony. No one else may eat them, for these things are set apart and holy.” – Exodus 29:32-33 NLT

These men were to be considered completely holy. From their outer robes to the literal inner recesses of their bodies, they were fully consecrated to God. They were covered in robes of righteousness, anointed with the oil that represented the Spirit of God, sprinkled with blood that atoned for their sins, and filled with food from the table of God. There is tremendous symbolism in this ritual. It pictured the future consecration that would be experienced by all those who placed their faith in Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29 ESV).

Jesus would later describe the process by which someone could experience the transformation from a sinner to a priest of the Most High God.

“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.” – John 6:53-58 NLT

And the apostle Peter provided further insight into this remarkable transformation.

…you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

“Once you had no identity as a people;
    now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
    now you have received God’s mercy.” – 1 Peter 2:9-10 NLT

For a Christian, this process is immediate and permanent. It is a one-time event that never needs to be repeated. But for Aaron and his sons, the sanctifying process was to last seven days and required repeated sacrifices to atone for the sins of the people and to purify the altar of God. Sin would be a constant problem for the people of Israel and, therefore, the sacrifices would be an ongoing necessity.

“These burnt offerings are to be made each day from generation to generation.” – Exodus 29:42 NLT

And the author of Hebrews explains the reason for this perpetual and never-ending cycle of sacrifice for sanctification.

The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.

But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. – Hebews 10:1-4 NLT

Then he adds the fantastic news regarding Jesus’ once-for-all-time sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand… – Hebrews 10:10-12 NLT

Centuries ago, God made a provision for dealing with the sinfulness of His chosen people. In order that He might dwell in their midst, He provided an elaborate process for cleansing them from their sin and preparing them to enjoy the pleasure of His presence. His presence was predicated on their purification, and their purification was dependent upon the shedding of blood.

“Yes, I will consecrate the Tabernacle and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will live among the people of Israel and be their God, and they will know that I am the Lord their God.” – Exodus 29:44-46 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

All for the Glory of God

20 “You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.

1 “Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. 4 These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. 5 They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.” – Exodus 27:20-28:5 ESV

The Tabernacle was no ordinary structure. It was to be God’s earthly residence and, as such, it was to be built of the finest materials according to a divinely ordained plan. And within its perimeter fence and inner walls there were a number of unique pieces of furniture that set it apart as a temple or sanctuary. There was the Bronze Altar in the courtyard, designed for the offering of sacrifices to Yahweh. Located within the Holy Place were the Altar of Incense, Golden Candlestick, and Table of Showbread. And sequestered inside the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant with the Mercy Seat resting upon it. Each of these holy objects was designed to make this tent a temple to the worship of Yahweh and, like any temple, it required priests to serve as mediators between the people and their deity.

In the case of the Tabernacle, God assigned the priestly role to Aaron and his sons. Aaron would serve as the first high priest and his sons, Nadab and Abihu, would serve alongside him. Like the Tabernacle itself and all the elements contained within it, Aaron and his sons were to be set apart and consecrated for the service of God. 

Moses and Aaron were brothers and members of the tribe of Levi.

The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The descendants of Kohath included Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. – 1 Chronicles 6:1-3 NLT

When God had called Moses to deliver the people of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, He had agreed to send Aaron, the older brother of Moses as an assistant.

“Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.” – Exodus 4:14-18 ESV

Aaron served alongside Moses during their days in Egypt as they attempted to secure the release of God’s people, then he assisted his brother as they journeyed across the wilderness to Sinai. And it was at Sinai that God set aside Aaron to serve as the first high priest of Israel and assigned his tribe to the care and maintenance of the Tabernacle.

“Bring your relatives of the tribe of Levi—your ancestral tribe—to assist you and your sons as you perform the sacred duties in front of the Tabernacle of the Covenant. But as the Levites go about all their assigned duties at the Tabernacle, they must be careful not to go near any of the sacred objects or the altar. If they do, both you and they will die. The Levites must join you in fulfilling their responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the Tabernacle, but no unauthorized person may assist you.” – Numbers 18:2-4 NLT

  God’s house required careful attention. It was to be considered holy and treated with the utmost care. This was no ordinary structure so it required extraordinary measures to ensure that it remained holy and free from defilement. Every facet of its maintenance was assigned to Aaron and his relatives, with special emphasis placed on Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu. These men were to serve as intercessors for the people before God, with the sobering responsibility to keep themselves and the Tabernacle itself pure and holy.

The people provided the materials used to construct the Tabernacle and its accouterments, but it was Aaron and his sons who were responsible for the ongoing care and utilization of this sacred structure and its content. God commanded the people to supply “pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn” (Exodus 27:20 ESV). This oil would have been of the highest quality, carefully purified so that it would burn with a minimum of smoke. But it was up to Aaron and his sons to pour the oil into the seven lamps located on the Golden Lampstand within the Holy Place.

Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel. – Exodus 27:21 ESV

From this point forward, Aaron and his sons would no longer be free to live their lives according to their own wills. They belonged to God and were obligated to spend the rest of their lives serving at His behest. Their role was sacred and to be taken seriously because it ensured the ongoing presence of God.

The role of the priesthood of Israel was not just ceremonial in nature. It was both practical and essential for maintaining the purity of the Tabernacle so that God’s presence would remain among His people. Aaron and his sons had to ensure that the lamps in the Golden Lampstand were always lit and properly maintained. They were also responsible for preparing the bread of the presence that was located on the Table of Showbread in the Holy Place.

“You must bake twelve flat loaves of bread from choice flour, using four quarts of flour for each loaf. Place the bread before the Lord on the pure gold table, and arrange the loaves in two stacks, with six loaves in each stack. Put some pure frankincense near each stack to serve as a representative offering, a special gift presented to the Lord. Every Sabbath day this bread must be laid out before the Lord as a gift from the Israelites; it is an ongoing expression of the eternal covenant.” – Leviticus 24:5-8 NLT

And each Sabbath, when Aaron and his sons replaced the bread of the presence with fresh loaves, they were allowed to consume the leftovers, as long as they did so in a holy place. God shared what had been dedicated to Him with His servants. These men were expected to serve the Lord day and night. They were commanded to tend the Golden Lampstand “from evening to morning before the Lord” (Exodus 27:21 ESV), so that the flames would never go out within the sanctuary of God. And the people of Israel found great comfort in knowing that God’s house was always under the watchful eye of His servants.

Years later, long after the Temple in Jerusalem had superseded the Tabernacle as the primary house of God, the people of Israel would gratefully acknowledge the priests for their role in its care and maintenance.

Oh, praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
    you who serve at night in the house of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward the sanctuary,
    and praise the Lord.

May the Lord, who made heaven and earth,
    bless you from Jerusalem. – Psalm 134:1-3 NLT

The first men to serve in this illustrious capacity were Aaron and his sons. God hand-selected them to perform the sacred role of the priesthood.

“Call for your brother, Aaron, and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Set them apart from the rest of the people of Israel so they may minister to me and be my priests.” – Exodus 28:1 NLT

God had Moses “set them apart.” In a sense, He was commanding that these men be separated from the rest of the nation of Israel and given an assignment that was not to be fulfilled by anyone else. And to help accentuate the distinctive nature of their role, God commanded that they be given garments that would set them apart.

“Make sacred garments for Aaron that are glorious and beautiful. Instruct all the skilled craftsmen whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom. Have them make garments for Aaron that will distinguish him as a priest set apart for my service.” – Exodus 28:2-3 NLT

These “sacred garments” were meant to distinguish Aaron and his sons from the rest of the Israelite community. The Hebrew word for “sacred” is קֹדֶשׁ (qōḏeš), and it refers to that which is holy and set apart to God. The distinctive and beautifully crafted garments would serve as visual reminders to the rest of the Israelites that these men were agents and servants of God. They belonged to Him and were to be treated with dignity and honor. And these glorious and beautiful robes were also meant to remind Aaron and his sons that they were servants of the Most High God. In a sense, the clothes were intended to be signs of ownership and symbols of the sacred role of the priest.

“These garments were set apart for sacred duty: holy clothes for a holy calling. What the high priest wore showed that what he did – whether it was lighting the lampstand or offering sacrifices on the altar – was holy before God.” – Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved For God’s Glory

Like the Tabernacle in which he served, the high priest was robed in the finest fabrics. His garments were intended to reflect the glory of God. They were not a status symbol meant to inflate Aaron’s ego. Their glorious and beautiful design was a reflection of God’s majesty and transcendence. God’s house and servants were immaculately robed in splendor so that they might depict His glory and greatness among the people. As David later wrote in one of his Psalms, even the angels in heaven were created to bring glory and honor to God.

Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings;
    honor the Lord for his glory and strength.
Honor the Lord for the glory of his name.
    Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. – Psalm 29:1-2 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Mercy Seat

10 “They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11 You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it. 12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. 13 You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14 And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. 15 The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. 16 And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you.

17 “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. 21 And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. 22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. – Exodus 25:10-22 ESV

After communicating His command that the people build a sanctuary as His dwelling place on earth, God provided detailed plans for every aspect of its construction, but He didn’t begin with the structure itself. Instead, He focused His attention on the three pieces of furniture that were to occupy the inner recesses of the tabernacle.

The very first item He described was the Ark of the Covenant. This was to be a rectangular box constructed from acacia wood and overlaid with gold. It was to be carried by two gold-covered poles that were inserted into golden rings affixed to its side. Inside this coffin-like container, Moses was to place “the testimony” or stone tablets that God would eventually give him.

But why did God begin with this particular piece of furniture? If the sanctuary was to be His dwelling place, why did He focus His attention on this ornate box? It was because the Ark of the Covenant would be the most important fixture in the entire Tabernacle.

“It was the exact place where God descended to dwell with his people, which of course was the purpose of the building. The very center of God’s presence was the ark of the covenant, which was located in the Holy of Holies – the innermost tent in the tabernacle. By starting with the ark, God was working from the inside out. He was putting first things first, beginning with the holy place of his dwelling.” – Philip Graham Ryken,  Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory

On top of the Ark of the Covenant, Moses was to place the Mercy Seat. This was to serve as the lid for the Ark but, more importantly, as a “throne” for God’s presence. God informed Moses that this “seat” would be the actual place where His presence came to dwell within the Tabernacle.

“…you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.” – Exodus 25:21-22 ESV

“The purpose of the ark was to contain the tables of the law, ‘the Testimony.’ But more than that, it represented the presence of God in a very special way. God promised that He would appear in a cloud upon the mercy seat which was on the ark in the most holy place. Into that place, ‘the Most Holy Place,’ the high priest would enter one a year to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat in order that the sins of the people might be atoned (Lev. 16).” – Maxie D. Duncan, Exodus, The Preacher’s Commentary

Little did Moses know that he was being commanded to construct a miniature replica of God’s throne in heaven. On top of the ark, he was to place two gold Cherubim or ministering angels, whose wings were to spread out over the Mercy Seat. This description matches the one provided by the apostle John in the book of Revelation when he was given a vision of God’s throne room in heaven.

…a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
    who was and is and is to come!” – Revelation 4:2-8 ESV

And the prophet, Ezekiel, was given a similar glimpse into God’s throne room, where he saw the same scene, complete with Cherubim spreading their wings before God’s presence.

““above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” – Ezekiel 1:26-28 ESV

The Mercy Seat was intended to be God’s throne on earth. It was there that He would come to dwell among His people, sitting above the Law He had given them. And it was there that, once a year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would come to offer a blood sacrifice for the sins of the people.

“Each year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies and sprinkled the blood of animals sacrificed for the atonement of the sins of God’s people. This blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat. The point conveyed by this imagery is that it is only through the offering of blood that the condemnation of the Law could be taken away and violations of God’s laws covered.” – gotquestions.org

The Law, holy and righteous, would condemn the people of their sins. But the blood of the sacrificed animal, when sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, would atone or pay for those sins and purchase the people’s redemption. They would receive mercy rather than wrath. They would enjoy God’s forgiveness rather than condemnation. And all of this was to point to the greater sacrifice to come: Jesus Christ, the sinless Lamb of God. The apostle Paul explains how Jesus became the ultimate expression of God’s gracious gift of redemption from sin and death.

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. – Romans 3:21-26 NLT

And the author of Hebrews echoes Paul’s words when he writes of Christ’s atoning work on the cross that secured God’s mercy for sinful mankind once for all time.

So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. – Hebrews 9:11-15 NLT

The Mercy Seat in the Tabernacle was meant to foreshadow the future sacrifice of Christ that would atone for the sins of mankind. This simple, yet ornate, piece of furniture was to illustrate the unwavering righteousness of God through the presence of the two tablets of the Law. The golden cherubim were to be a reminder of God’s holiness and His worthiness to be worshiped by all His creatures. And the Mercy Seat was to be the very place where God’s presence came to dwell among His people and where their sins would have to be atoned for each year. They were an unworthy people who were incapable of keeping God’s holy law. But, in His grace and mercy, God had provided a means of receiving atonement and forgiveness. Not only would He grace them with His presence, but He would bless them with His merciful and undeserved removal of their guilt and condemnation. And it all pointed to Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice. – Hebrews 9:24-26 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Bitter-Sweet Assignment

1 And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” 9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. – Ezekiel 2:1-3:3 ESV

Ezekiel had been given a vision of God’s glory, and it left him face down on the ground in reverential fear and wonder. As this exiled young priest stood by the banks of the Kebar River in Babylon, the God of the universe made an unexpected and highly spectacular appearance.

Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. – Ezekiel 1:26-28 NLT

It is safe to assume that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Ezekiel. He had never seen anything like this before, and to have the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob appear to him in the remote recesses of the land of Babylon must have been a shock to his system. He was just a lowly priest who had been taken captive just like all the other residents of Jerusalem when the city had fallen to King Nebuchadnezzar’s forces.  Jehoiachin was the king of Judah at the time and, according to 2 Kings 12:9, “He did evil in the sight of the Lord as his ancestors had done.” Like most of his predecessors, Jehoiachin chose to use his royal power to promote idolatry that fostered unfaithfulness to God, and he suffered greatly for his refusal to honor the Almighty.

At that time the generals of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched to Jerusalem and besieged the city. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city while his generals were besieging it. King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his officials, and his eunuchs surrendered to the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, took Jehoiachin prisoner. Nebuchadnezzar took from there all the riches in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace. He removed all the gold items that King Solomon of Israel had made for the Lord’s temple, just as the Lord had warned. He deported all the residents of Jerusalem, including all the officials and all the soldiers (10,000 people in all). This included all the craftsmen and those who worked with metal. No one was left except for the poorest among the people of the land. – 2 Kings 12:10-14 NLT

Living amongst the exiled people of God, Ezekiel had firsthand experience with the apathy and complacency that had taken hold of them. A long way from home and no longer able to avail themselves of the temple and the sacrificial system, they had begun to lose interest in the things of God. Their circumstances had left them feeling abandoned by God and distraught over the far-from-ideal conditions of their captivity. With the passage of time, God had become out of sight, out of mind. They simply assumed He had turned His back on them and so, in time, they gave up hope and determined to make the most of their situation in Babylon.

But God had other plans that included appointing Ezekiel as the one who would deliver His message to the exiles. He had not forgotten about them. They had not been abandoned. Their exile had been intended to get their attention and to bring them to a point of repentance. Now, Ezekiel was going to be commissioned to serve as God’s spokesperson, delivering His call to repentance. 

Having gotten Ezekiel’s full attention through the grand display of His glory, God delivered the details of his new assignment.

“I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day. They are a stubborn and hard-hearted people. But I am sending you to say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’” – Ezekiel 2:3-4 NLT

God makes it painfully clear that Ezekiel’s new task would not be easy. He would have to deliver a message from God to a people who had a track record of stubbornness and insubordination. And God warns Ezekiel that his audience may not receive his message with open arms.

“And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for remember, they are rebels—at least they will know they have had a prophet among them.” – Ezekiel 2:5 NLT

There was no guarantee that Ezekiel would experience success. Despite the fact that he would be speaking the words of God, he had no way of knowing how the people would respond. In fact, God made it sound like his mission was doomed to certain failure.

What would you do if God called you to a task that He knew you were going to fail at? What if He even told you your efforts would be fruitless and non-productive? Most of us would bail. We would give up long before we got going. Because we're wired with one thing in mind – success – and failure is not an acceptable alternative. But when Ezekiel got his marching orders from God, he was also given the not-so-great news that his ministry would be unsuccessful because his audience was going to be unresponsive.  God even told Ezekiel to expect threats and animosity. This was going to be one difficult job assignment.

In a sense, God was foreshadowing failure, but demanding obedience. Ezekiel's success would not be measured by the number of callous, carnal Israelites he converted, but on his willingness to carry out God's assignment faithfully, even in the face of rejection, ridicule, and poor results.

Even the message God gave Ezekiel to share was anything but good news. In his vision, Ezekiel was given a scroll that was covered with writing front and back, from edge to edge. It's content?

"Funeral songs, words of sorrows, and pronouncements of doom." – Ezekiel 2:9b NLT

It was a veritable compendium of bad news. So, not only would Ezekiel have a non-responsive audience, he was given an unappealing message. But God fully understood the foreboding nature of Ezekiel’s assignment, and he knew that Ezekiel was already wrestling with whether to follow through with His command. The young priest was afraid of how he and his message might be received by the people, but God encouraged him to have faith.

"Do not fear them or their words. Don't be afraid even though their threats surround you like nettles and briars and stinging scorpions. Do not be dismayed by their dark scowls, even though they are rebels.” – Ezekiel 2:6 NLT

God was telling Ezekiel not to be frightened by the things they would threaten to do to him, the harsh words they might say about him, or the negative reaction they would inevitably have to him.

“Son of man, do not fear them or their words. Don’t be afraid even though their threats surround you like nettles and briers and stinging scorpions. Do not be dismayed by their dark scowls, even though they are rebels. You must give them my messages whether they listen or not. But they won’t listen, for they are completely rebellious!” – Ezekiel 2:6-7 NLT

Ezekiel was going to experience resistance. His message would not be well-received and the people would hold him responsible for its content. It was only a matter of time before they sought to kill the messenger. That’s why God warned Ezekiel to refrain from emulating the rebellious nature of his audience. He was not to reject God’s assignment just because it sounded difficult and more than a bit dangerous. God was open and above board as to the difficulty of the mission. He didn’t attempt to sugarcoat the assignment or paint a rosy picture of its outcome. Instead, God gave His newly appointed prophet all he would need to succeed.

“Son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not join them in their rebellion. Open your mouth, and eat what I give you.” – Ezekiel 2:8 NLT

God held out a scroll, upon which were written lamentations, mourning, and woes. In other words, it was filled with bad news. The sheer volume of disheartening content was so great that it covered both sides of the scroll. God’s indictment against His people was great and He commanded Ezekiel to consume every last bit of it. He was to take it all in so that he might regurgitate it, word for word, to the disobedient people of God.

“Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” – Ezekiel 3:1 ESV

But much to his surprise, Ezekiel found the less-than-appealing content of the scroll to be “sweet as honey.” (Ezekiel 3:3 ESV). There is a similar scene described in the book of Revelation. In it, the apostle John is given a vision of an angel who descends from heaven with a scroll in his hand. He presents the scroll to John and commands him to eat it.

“Yes, take it and eat it,” he said. “It will be sweet as honey in your mouth, but it will turn sour in your stomach!” So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach.

Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.” – Revelation 10:9-11 NLT

Both John and Ezekiel would find the words of God to be both sweet and bitter. When the truth of God is consumed, it is pleasant and life-giving, but it can also result in conviction and condemnation.

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. – Hebrews 4:12 NLT

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. – 2 Timothy 3:16 NLT

For Ezekiel, consuming God’s word was sweet to the taste, but declaring it to the people would be a bitter experience. They would find it distasteful and difficult to swallow. But God was calling Ezekiel to be faithful and fearless in declaring its truth regardless of the outcome.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Our Wholly Holy God

4 Who will not fear, O Lord,
    and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy. – Revelation 15:4 ESV

11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
    Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
    awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” – Exodus 15:11 ESV

13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
    and cannot look at wrong… – Habakuk 1:13 ESV

God is holy. In fact, the seraphim who surround God’s throne describe Him as holy, holy, holy. The prophet Isaiah was given a glimpse of that heavenly scene and he provides us with a vivid description of what he saw.

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!” – Isaiah 6:1-3 ESV

The apostle John was also given an opportunity to peek behind the heavenly curtain and see the throne room of God. And his description is very similar to that of Isaiah.

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
    who was and is and is to come!” – Revelation 4:8 ESV

These heavenly creatures weren’t content using one “holy” to describe God. They made sure to use the word three times and to do so without ceasing, day and night. This three-fold repetition is called a trihagion, and it was a common literary and linguistic tool used by the Hebrews to provide emphasis and force to a statement. It was like saying, “God is super holy.” Or “He is holier than holy.”

But what does it mean to say that God is holy? We’re familiar with the word, but do we fully understand the significance of what it says about God? In some ways, the word holy has become overly familiar to us. And yet, biblically, holiness is considered one of the primary and self-defining attributes of God. Tony Evans defines God’s holiness as “His intrinsic and transcendent purity; His standard of righteousness to which the whole universe must conform” (Tony Evans, Theology You Can Count On).

The Hebrew word that is used most often to describe God's holy nature is qodesh. It means “set-apartness” or “separateness.” God is unique and without equal. But it’s not just that God is one-of-a-kind. As Tony Evans points out, God’s holiness is tied to His purity. So, it’s not enough to say that God is different. What makes Him different is that He is holy – thoroughly righteous, without sin, and intrinsically pure in every way. He is The Holy One. As A. W. Pink puts it, “He is so because the sum of all moral excellency is found in Him. He is absolute Purity, unsullied even by the shadow of sin” (A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God).

But there is more to God’s holiness than His moral perfection. When the seraphim shout “holy, holy, holy” they are declaring far more than just His sinlessness. And they are not simply stating His separateness. There is no doubt that God stands alone, having no equal and being incapable of duplication or emulation. Man may have been created in God’s image, but that doesn’t make man a god. God remains set-apart and distinctly different from all that He has made. Which means He is transcendent.

When we speak of the transcendence of God, we are talking about that sense in which God is above and beyond us. Transcendence describes His supreme and absolute greatness. The word is used to describe God’s relationship to the world. He is higher than the world. He has absolute power over the world. The world has no power over Him. Transcendence describes God in His consuming majesty, His exalted loftiness. It points to the infinite distance that separates Him from every creature. He is an infinite cut above everything else. – R. C. Sproul, The Holiness of God

To consider and treat God as holy is to revere Him for who He is. It is to acknowledge His infinite greatness and incomparable otherness. “God’s holiness unlocks the door to understanding and making sense out of everything else about Him. This attribute infiltrates all the other attributes” (Tony Evans, Theology You Can Count On).

To treat God as holy is to recognize and revere His otherness – His set-apartness. It is to lift up and celebrate His extraordinariness. But if, in our attitudes and actions towards Him, we give the impression that He is ordinary in any way, we profane His character and defame His holy name.

When God consecrated Aaron and his sons to serve as priests before Him, He commanded them “to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean” (Leviticus 10:10 ESV). Later on, God would give a similar command to the Levitical priests: “They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean” (Ezekiel 44:23 ESV). They were to teach the people about what God meant by holiness or set-apartness. The tabernacle was to be considered holy. The sabbath was to treated as holy. They were to be a holy nation. God had set them apart for His service. They belonged to Him. And their lives were to reflect their unique status as His chosen people.

But back to God and His holiness. Unlike the tabernacle or the sabbath, God has not been set apart by someone else. He simply is set apart. He didn’t have to be consecrated, He always has been. God stands completely apart from the rest of the created order. Whether we are talking about angels or atoms, planets or people, there is nothing and no one who compares with God.

That is why it is why considering God as common or ordinary is one of the greatest sins a human can commit. Even worse yet is the audacity to treat God as non-existent. The great King David described the idiocy of discounting the existence of God.

Only fools say in their hearts,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;
    not one of them does good!

The Lord looks down from heaven
    on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
    if anyone seeks God.
But no, all have turned away;
    all have become corrupt.
No one does good,
    not a single one! – Psalm 14:1-3 NLT

How stupid can you be? And yet, we all have moments in our lives when we act as if God does not exist. We fail to acknowledge Him. We refuse to turn to Him. Rather than go to Him for strength, help, and hope, we ignore Him, relying on our own power, or placing our trust in someone or something else. God becomes a second- or third-tier option on our list of saviors, just another common and pedestrian source of potential rescue.

During the period of the judges, God got fed up with Israel’s propensity to treat Him as ordinary rather than extraordinary. They had treated Him with disdain, acting as if He was no more set-apart and holy as all the gods of the Canaanites. So, when they found themselves in trouble and called out to Him, He decided to refuse their cries for help.

“Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!” – Judges 10;13-14 NLT

If they weren’t willing to treat God as extraordinary and holy, they could seek help from one of their many false gods. Yahweh was not willing to play second fiddle to some pagan deity. And He wasn’t going to allow His people to treat Him as some ordinary, run-of-the-mill God. He was God Almighty, the Holy One.

When Isaiah was given the privilege of seeing the throne room of heaven and catching a glimpse of the seraphim pronouncing the holiness of God, he was awestruck and filled with fear. He was seeing the unimaginable and incomprehensible.  He describes the impact this vision had on him.

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” – Isaiah 6:4-5 ESV

Witnessing the holiness of God was too much for him. In the presence of the all-powerful, perfectly pure God of the universe, Isaiah was immediately struck with his own sin and insignificance. He was nothing when compared to God, the Holy One. In the presence of unblemished purity, Isaiah recognized his own sinful state and his unworthiness to stand before the throne of God. But, amazingly, the Holy God did a wholly unexpected thing.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” – Isaiah 6:5-7 ESV

The holy and wholly righteous God of the universe graciously atoned for Isaiah ’s sins, setting him apart for His own use. And when God asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”, Isaiah responded, “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8 ESV). And the Holy One simply said, “Go!”

Understanding God’s holiness is essential to our own usefulness. Until we fall on our knees before Him in awe of His holiness and in recognition of our own sinfulness, we will never be awed by His amazing grace. That the set-apart One would set us apart for His use should leave us stunned and yet stammering the words of Isaiah, “Here I am! Send me.”

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

New Wine.

Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39

"New wine must be stored in new wineskins. But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say.” – Luke 5:38-39 NLT

When it comes to reading, studying and understanding the Scriptures, context is everything. In other words, it is critical that we always look for what is going on in and around a particular passage. Lifting verses out of context is a recipe for disaster. It allows us to twist and manipulate the intended meaning to fit our own preconceived notions. So discovering the immediate context of a passage is essential to understanding what the author intended. And the greatest context we must always keep in mind when approaching the Word of God is that of God's holiness and man's sinfulness. From beginning to end, the Bible records for us this tension and how mankind has attempted to resolve it. The Bible makes it clear that God is holy and that man is completely sinful. And yet God commands man to be holy as He is holy. He even provides mankind with a set of divine rules and regulations that clearly articulate His expectations. But man is sinful and incapable of living righteously and holy as God demands. And the penalty for man's unrighteousness? Death. That is the context of Scripture. God is a holy God and He has holy expectations of man. Man is unholy and he has a serious problem. So as we read through the Scriptures, we see men attempting to find ways to somehow solve their problem and satisfy the just demands of a holy God.

When Jesus appears on the scene, the context is no different. In fact, it had only worsened with time. And it was particularly bad among the Israelites, who He had chosen as His own people. He had hand picked them and then given them His Law to keep. Their keeping of His law would have set them apart from all the other nations. But they had failed. They were still trying when Jesus came along, but there track record was not exactly stellar. So when the disciples of John approach Jesus and ask why His disciples didn't fast in the same way they and the Pharisees did, Jesus gives them an interesting and somewhat confusing answer – unless we remember the context. The fact that these men ask, "Why don't your disciples fast like John's disciples and the Pharisees do?" (Mark 2:18 NLT), reveals that this fasting was ritualistic in nature and tied to one of the many man-made laws that had been added to the Law of God. The fasting was tied to a form of righteousness based on human effort. Their fasting was performance-based and designed to bring them into good standing with God. So they can't understand why Jesus' disciples (and Jesus as well) are not doing the same thing. Didn't they want to keep God happy and satisfied. Were they "too good" to do what even the Pharisees did to stay right with God?

But Jesus, knowing the greater context, tells them that they are missing the point. And He does so by using some very interesting metaphors. He compares the activities of His disciples to those of wedding guests celebrating with the groom at his wedding. That's not a time for fasting, but for feasting and festivities. Jesus' very arrival on to the scene in Israel had changed the rules of the game. The groom had come. This was not a time for fasting. It was a time of celebration. He then uses the imagery of a new patch being sewed on to a piece of old clothing. Once washed, the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old clothing, leaving it destroyed and useless. Jesus is trying to convey that He had come to bring a new way of solving man's age-old problem of his sinfulness and God's holiness. But this new way wasn't going to be an add-on to the old way of doing things. It wasn't going to be based on merit, earning, performance, or rule-keeping anymore. Fasting as a form of self-righteousness was not the way to a right relationship with God. Jesus came to bring something completely new. It wasn't going to be about works or self-effort anymore, because that way didn't work.

Jesus' last metaphor seals the deal. He says, "no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins" (Luke 5:37 NLT). Jesus came to do something new. He came to present a new way to righteousness and a restored relationship with God. And that new way was not going to play well with the old way. The Pharisees, like old wineskins, were rigid and set in their ways. They couldn't handle the new way Jesus came to offer. His message of grace, mercy, and repentance didn't set well with them. They were satisfied with the old way, the old wine. They didn't want what Jesus came to offer. "'The old is just fine,' they say." (Luke 5:39 NLT). So Jesus says, "New wine must be stored in new wineskins" (Luke 5:38 NLT). In other words, His new message was going to require new hearts, and new lives transformed by the power of God. This was not going to be more of the same old thing, but something new altogether. Jesus was doing away with the old works-righteousness methodology and replacing it with something completely new that was going to work. Paul described it this way, "Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy" (Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT). New wine in new wineskins. The work of God, not man.

Father, mankind has suffered from the same old problem for centuries. And our solution has always been the same. We just keep trying to do good and live our lives in such a way that we might somehow please You enough to satisfy You and make You happy with us. But that was the old way and it never worked and it never will. So You came up with a new way, make possible through Your Son. You didn't change the context, You just came up with a new solution to the same old problem. Thank You! Amen.