THE CARRYING COMPANY

Posted on January 28, 2025 by randscallawayffm

“Carry your weight!” What does this American idiom really mean? We use it to remind others working with us that each person needs to do their assigned part, filling one’s responsibilities to whatever is being done by a group of people. For example:

“I know I’ve been sick, but I’ll carry my weight on the project, don’t worry.”

“If you don’t carry your weight; our presentation will never be finished on time.” “He needs to start carrying his weight around here, or we’ll have to let him go.

The idiom can also mean that certain people of importance can influence others in decision making.  For example:

“Your argument does not carry a lot of weight with me.” “The senator’s testimony carried a lot of weight with the council.”

But what tops the charts in defining “carrying your weight” is that each person in any group, family, or company must do one’s share to fulfill completion of any project.  For example: “The weight is the burden that is the responsibility of someone.” “Tom, you must be more helpful around the house; we each have to carry our own weight.” 

God commands Moses and Aaron to now count the men from thirty to fifty years of age to carry the weight of the Tent of Meeting.  If they follow God’s guidelines, no man will be overloaded with too much to bear. God is in the details, for sure. What God has declared holy must remain holy unto Him. So, God directs each family group of men with WHAT and HOW to carry the weight of all that is connected to the Tent of Meeting.  All guidelines as directed by the appointed sons of Aaron must be obeyed—it’s a matter of life or death! 

Numbers 4

The Kohathites

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 “Take a census of the Kohathite branch of the Levites by their clans and families. 3 Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting.

4 “This is the work of the Kohathites at the tent of meeting: the care of the most holy things. 5 When the camp is to move, Aaron and his sons are to go in and take down the shielding curtain and put it over the ark of the covenant law. 6 Then they are to cover the curtain with a durable leather, spread a cloth of solid blue over that and put the poles in place.

7 “Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes and bowls, and the jars for drink offerings; the bread that is continually there is to remain on it. 8 They are to spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover that with the durable leather and put the poles in place.

9 “They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand that is for light, together with its lamps, its wick trimmers and trays, and all its jars for the olive oil used to supply it. 10 Then they are to wrap it and all its accessories in a covering of the durable leather and put it on a carrying frame.

11 “Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth and cover that with the durable leather and put the poles in place.

12 “They are to take all the articles used for ministering in the sanctuary, wrap them in a blue cloth, cover that with the durable leather and put them on a carrying frame.

13 “They are to remove the ashes from the bronze altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 Then they are to place on it all the utensils used for ministering at the altar, including the firepans, meat forks, shovels and sprinkling bowls. Over it they are to spread a covering of the durable leather and put the poles in place.

15 “After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, only then are the Kohathites to come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the tent of meeting.

16 “Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, is to have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering and the anointing oil. He is to be in charge of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including its holy furnishings and articles.”

17 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 18 “See that the Kohathite tribal clans are not destroyed from among the Levites. 19 So that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go into the sanctuary and assign to each man his work and what he is to carry. 20 But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die.”

The Gershonites

21 The Lord said to Moses, 22 “Take a census also of the Gershonites by their families and clans. 23 Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting.

24 “This is the service of the Gershonite clans in their carrying and their other work: 25 They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, that is, the tent of meeting, its covering and its outer covering of durable leather, the curtains for the entrance to the tent of meeting, 26 the curtains of the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and altar, the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard, the ropes and all the equipment used in the service of the tent. The Gershonites are to do all that needs to be done with these things. 27 All their service, whether carrying or doing other work, is to be done under the direction of Aaron and his sons. You shall assign to them as their responsibility all they are to carry. 28 This is the service of the Gershonite clans at the tent of meeting. Their duties are to be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest.

The Merarites

29 “Count the Merarites by their clans and families. 30 Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting. 31 As part of all their service at the tent, they are to carry the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts and bases, 32 as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, ropes, all their equipment and everything related to their use. Assign to each man the specific things he is to carry. 33 This is the service of the Merarite clans as they work at the tent of meeting under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest.”

The Numbering of the Levite Clans

34 Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the Kohathites by their clans and families. 35 All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting, 36 counted by clans, were 2,750. 37 This was the total of all those in the Kohathite clans who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

38 The Gershonites were counted by their clans and families. 39 All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting, 40 counted by their clans and families, were 2,630. 41 This was the total of those in the Gershonite clans who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord’s command.

42 The Merarites were counted by their clans and families. 43 All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting, 44 counted by their clans, were 3,200. 45 This was the total of those in the Merarite clans. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

46 So Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted all the Levites by their clans and families. 47 All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to do the work of serving and carrying the tent of meeting 48 numbered 8,580. 49 At the Lord’s command through Moses, each was assigned his work and told what to carry.

Thus they were counted, as the Lord commanded Moses.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Each group of men carried their share in specific ways.  Poles were put into place by the priests; then and only then, could the men pick up the poles at the priests command and put them on their shoulders for carrying their heavy, assigned part of the Tent of Meeting.

Camping is exhausting unless—

If you have ever been camping with your family we will more readily understand this concept of each person carrying their weight as we “break up camp”.  We must do our part as we take down the tent, fold it carefully so it will fit back into the bag.  We must dig up all the tent stakes so they are not lost. Ashes from the campfire must be dosed with water and sand for safety.  The area around our campsite must be free of debris making it “better than the way we found it.”  We take down the lines for drying clothes, pack the cleaned kitchen utensils and pots, repack any leftover foods, put more ice in the chest for storing cold food for the trip home, and then finally put our duffle bags into the vehicle.  Our family of five each had specific tasks according to their age and strength.  We were a well-oiled machine when each person did their part and didn’t quit until the job was done!  Camping taught our young kids great lessons of responsibility.  As adults, they know how to carry their weight!

As committed believers to Jesus and to the church Jesus built upon the shoulders of his disciples like Peter, John, and later Paul; we can see readily now how all of what we have learn today in Numbers applies to our lives now!  We have learned from past experiences of working together in any group situation how carrying our own assigned weight is important to fulfilling the command Jesus gave to all of us!  (Matthew 28:20) And yes, it IS a matter of life or death for lost souls seeking a Savior!

Jesus gives every believer a part of His work to carry out with a detailed assignment to fulfill within the congregation and beyond the church building for perfectly holy reasons—

“He (Jesus) makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” Ephesians 4:16, NLT

Pause to reflect before responding… Am I carrying my weight as God’s Holy Spirit directs? 

Need more help? Read the entire book of Ephesians written for the church that proclaims Jesus as Lord.  Paul, inspired by God, gives us specific ways to carry our weight as we influence others for Jesus!  It is a matter of life or death for lost souls!

Lord,

Thank you for all you teach us with specific ways to carry our weight.  You lead us from our comfort to compelling actions that will lead others to you and your saving grace. Show me my part to carry with your wisdom and strength to fulfill what you say.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

In Jesus Name, Amen

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COUNTING THE APPOINTED SERVERS

Posted on January 27, 2025 by randscallawayffm

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:

‘When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.’

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:4-8, 11-13

God appointed, anointed, consecrated, and ordained Aaron and his family to serve the Israelites as priests who would be the ones who would come before God to atone for their sins.  God then told Moses to reserve the whole tribe of Levites as His servants for the temple to assist the priests.  God gifted the Levite clan with abilities to care for the Tent of Dwelling and Meeting place for God on their journey through the wilderness.  Only those born into the Levite clan were allowed to serve.

The Old Testament agreement (or covenant) between God and his people required special intermediaries—the priests. Now, Christ is the only intermediary needed for forgiveness of sins. We can go straight to him and ask for forgiveness and He delivers us from our sins forever!  Jesus fulfilled The Law as our one and only “High Priest”. Jesus, God’s Son, God in flesh, has authority to gift each believer with abilities to serve Him by helping others find and follow Jesus, too!  God has given us specific ways to serve as the Body of Christ called church for our good and His glory!

Numbers 3

The Levites

3 This is the account of the family of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai.

2 The names of the sons of Aaron were Nadab the firstborn and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 3 Those were the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests. 4 Nadab and Abihu, however, died before the Lord when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before him in the Desert of Sinai. They had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.

5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him. 7 They are to perform duties for him and for the whole community at the tent of meeting by doing the work of the tabernacle. 8 They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, fulfilling the obligations of the Israelites by doing the work of the tabernacle. 9 Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to him. 10 Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests; anyone else who approaches the sanctuary is to be put to death.”

11 The Lord also said to Moses, 12 “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, 13 for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the Lord.”

14 The Lord said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai, 15 “Count the Levites by their families and clans. Count every male a month old or more.” 16 So Moses counted them, as he was commanded by the word of the Lord.

17 These were the names of the sons of Levi:

Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

18 These were the names of the Gershonite clans:

Libni and Shimei.

19 The Kohathite clans:

Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

20 The Merarite clans:

Mahli and Mushi.

These were the Levite clans, according to their families.

21 To Gershon belonged the clans of the Libnites and Shimeites; these were the Gershonite clans. 22 The number of all the males a month old or more who were counted was 7,500. 23 The Gershonite clans were to camp on the west, behind the tabernacle. 24 The leader of the families of the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael. 25 At the tent of meeting the Gershonites were responsible for the care of the tabernacle and tent, its coverings, the curtain at the entrance to the tent of meeting, 26 the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and altar, and the ropes—and everything related to their use.

27 To Kohath belonged the clans of the Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites and Uzzielites; these were the Kohathite clans. 28 The number of all the males a month old or more was 8,600. The Kohathites were responsible for the care of the sanctuary. 29 The Kohathite clans were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. 30 The leader of the families of the Kohathite clans was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. 31 They were responsible for the care of the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used in ministering, the curtain, and everything related to their use. 32 The chief leader of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest. He was appointed over those who were responsible for the care of the sanctuary.

33 To Merari belonged the clans of the Mahlites and the Mushites; these were the Merarite clans. 34 The number of all the males a month old or more who were counted was 6,200. 35 The leader of the families of the Merarite clans was Zuriel son of Abihail; they were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. 36 The Merarites were appointed to take care of the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts, bases, all its equipment, and everything related to their use, 37 as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs and ropes.

38 Moses and Aaron and his sons were to camp to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, in front of the tent of meeting. They were responsible for the care of the sanctuary on behalf of the Israelites. Anyone else who approached the sanctuary was to be put to death.

39 The total number of Levites counted at the Lord’s command by Moses and Aaron according to their clans, including every male a month old or more, was 22,000.

40 The Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn Israelite males who are a month old or more and make a list of their names. 41 Take the Levites for me in place of all the firstborn of the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites. I am the Lord.”

42 So Moses counted all the firstborn of the Israelites, as the Lord commanded him. 43 The total number of firstborn males a month old or more, listed by name, was 22,273.

44 The Lord also said to Moses, 45 “Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites are to be mine. I am the Lord. 46 To redeem the 273 firstborn Israelites who exceed the number of the Levites, 47 collect five shekels for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. 48 Give the money for the redemption of the additional Israelites to Aaron and his sons.”

49 So Moses collected the redemption money from those who exceeded the number redeemed by the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the Israelites he collected silver weighing 1,365 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel. 51 Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, as he was commanded by the word of the Lord.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“The work is too much for you,” Moses’ father-in-law told him. “Divide the work into smaller pieces and appoint those gifted to handle their part of work.”  This wise counsel came from God through Jethro to Moses.  And God is doing it again—giving others in the Levite clan specific tasks as ways to help the priests in their work. 

As a congregation of believers, we should seek God first, ask Jesus for specific ways we can help the mission of His church, and wait for His answer. Jesus will answer this sincere prayer with opportunity for sure!  As God/Jesus/Holy Spirit leads us, tell someone in leadership!  God will lead leaders to match the teachable and willing to the right place to serve! 

Know the difference between MEinstry of our own making vs. God-led ministry of serving in His church.  When we self-appoint, we will become frustrated in the work. If it is God-led we will thrive, learn, grow, and be helpful to the mission of the redemption of lost souls seeking a Savior. Disagreements may arise, but solutions come as the Holy Spirit of God molds and shapes each one of us for our good and His glory!

The Honesty Factor:  The difference between MEinstry and ministry can be seen when God calls us to do what we feel we not equipped or qualified to do but we do it anyway knowing God will gift and equip us along the way.  It is in the being and doing that we realize we are fully reliant on God.  Then, no cause to boast, says Paul, when God leads—all glory goes to Him!  Be honest.

The Maturity Factor:  Paul’s expresses the goal of maturity; “so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” 

How Is Maturity Is Expressed?  We see evidence of maturity emerging in our lives when:

  • Our concern for others outweighs our concern for ourselves.
  • The presence of evil or danger is detected before it is obvious.
  • We have more than high ideals; we have discipline to carry them out.
  • Emotions are tempered by responsibility and thoroughness.
  • Awareness of needs are matched by compassion and involvement.
  • There is not only an understanding of a task, but also the fortitude to stay at it until it is done.
  • There is a willingness to change are teachable.
  • There is the ability to grow spiritually as we seek wisdom from God.

The entire nation of Israel was to be a “kingdom of priests” before God (Exodus 19:5-6).  God appointed a special priesthood to help His people obey His law and bear witness of His goodness. The Levites were God’s gift to the priests, substitutes for the redeemed firstborn sons of Israel who already belonged to God. The Levites did for the Lord and the priests the service that the firstborn sons would have done, for the Levites ministered in their place.

“All this information about the ministry of the Levites reminds us that our God is concerned with details and wants His work to be done by the people He has chosen and in the way He has appointed. Nothing in the camp of Israel was left to chance or human contrivance. Each Levite and priest knew his responsibilities and was expected to “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28). Caring for the tabernacle was serious work, a matter of life and death.” Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe Study Bible

We are likened unto the firstborn at our rebirth when we repent of our sins to Jesus, our High Priest, who paid the price with His sacrifice for all the sins of the world.  We who believe belong to God.  We are gifted to serve Jesus, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords forever and ever, Amen!  Yes!

Lord,

Lead me. I’m yours and I’m listening.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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TIME TO LINE UP!

Posted on January 26, 2025 by randscallawayffm

“It’s time to get in line, it’s time; you in front and me behind, it’s time” … These are the opening words I used to sing when lining up my pre first class of boys and girls.  I learned that to sing directions to these little ones got their attention and made them smile. I also learned that order alleviated their fears and promoted good behaviors such as kindness for each other.  I learned that when order in my classroom was created and maintained with guidelines and consistent boundaries; the environment gave my students a sense of peace with less fear. I would see in their eyes and body language.

God is a God of order. Creation would be chaotic without His order and control.  Less learning takes place in chaotic situations.  God knows that about the humans He created in His image.  So, God is now teaching His People how to line up so they can keep moving in an orderly fashion on their journey to the promised land they seek.  God’s way of order will keep the hundreds of thousands of people safe as they pick up their things and leave for the next camp site. 

“Keep all arms and legs inside the ride at all times!  Keep a close watch on your family so they will not be separated and get lost.”  These directions given by most amusement parks are like the reasons that God orgainizes His people—for their own good and safety!  When we do what Organizers say; we will be protected. 

Where God guides; He provides for every part of the journey with all He knows we will need. Trust the Organizer for He knows what comes next on the journey!

Numbers 2

The Arrangement of the Tribal Camps

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 “The Israelites are to camp around the tent of meeting some distance from it, each of them under their standard and holding the banners of their family.”

3 On the east, toward the sunrise, the divisions of the camp of Judah are to encamp under their standard. The leader of the people of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab. 4 His division numbers 74,600.

5 The tribe of Issachar will camp next to them. The leader of the people of Issachar is Nethanel son of Zuar. 6 His division numbers 54,400.

7 The tribe of Zebulun will be next. The leader of the people of Zebulun is Eliab son of Helon. 8 His division numbers 57,400.

9 All the men assigned to the camp of Judah, according to their divisions, number 186,400. They will set out first.

10 On the south will be the divisions of the camp of Reuben under their standard. The leader of the people of Reuben is Elizur son of Shedeur. 11 His division numbers 46,500.

12 The tribe of Simeon will camp next to them. The leader of the people of Simeon is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. 13 His division numbers 59,300.

14 The tribe of Gad will be next. The leader of the people of Gad is Eliasaph son of Deuel.[a] 15 His division numbers 45,650.

16 All the men assigned to the camp of Reuben, according to their divisions, number 151,450. They will set out second.

17 Then the tent of meeting and the camp of the Levites will set out in the middle of the camps. They will set out in the same order as they encamp, each in their own place under their standard.

18 On the west will be the divisions of the camp of Ephraim under their standard. The leader of the people of Ephraim is Elishama son of Ammihud. 19 His division numbers 40,500.

20 The tribe of Manasseh will be next to them. The leader of the people of Manasseh is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. 21 His division numbers 32,200.

22 The tribe of Benjamin will be next. The leader of the people of Benjamin is Abidan son of Gideoni. 23 His division numbers 35,400.

24 All the men assigned to the camp of Ephraim, according to their divisions, number 108,100. They will set out third.

25 On the north will be the divisions of the camp of Dan under their standard. The leader of the people of Dan is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. 26 His division numbers 62,700.

27 The tribe of Asher will camp next to them. The leader of the people of Asher is Pagiel son of Okran. 28 His division numbers 41,500.

29 The tribe of Naphtali will be next. The leader of the people of Naphtali is Ahira son of Enan. 30 His division numbers 53,400.

31 All the men assigned to the camp of Dan number 157,600. They will set out last, under their standards.

32 These are the Israelites, counted according to their families. All the men in the camps, by their divisions, number 603,550. 33 The Levites, however, were not counted along with the other Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.

34 So the Israelites did everything the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way they encamped under their standards, and that is the way they set out, each of them with their clan and family.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God is not the creator of confusion and chaos; He is the God of order.  Look at a leaf closely and see the pattern of veins with a purposeful way to feed the plant. Look at a single snow flake under a microscope and observe the beautiful unique, symmetrical pattern.  There are patterns and order to our numerical system which give us glimpses of all things created by God.  This is called the book of Numbers or more than one reason but the greatest truth to learn is: God likes order for our good and His glory!

When the motions of the pillar of cloud over the tabernacle announced that the camp would move, it would have been difficult if not impossible to break camp and start the march quickly and efficiently without some kind of order in the camp. “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40) Paul wrote the early churches as an admonition for God’s people in every age, “for God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33).

The twelve tribes had to be careful not to camp too close to the tabernacle, for that area was reserved for the priests and Levites. To venture too near to the sacred tent could mean death. Also, each tribe was to display its standard and each family its banner.  

Sidebar:  Solomon wrote, “Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love.” (Solomon 2:4) Solomon wrote a sonnet of true love between a bride and groom but parallels the relentless love of God that Jesus demonstrated as he gave his life for our sins.  Believers in Jesus have a banner which declares the standard of Christ the waves over the family of God.  This banner of love identifies all who believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord!  That’s why we sing the song, “His banner over me is love”…

We can’t help but see Israel’s camp as an illustration of what God’s church ought to be in this world: people on a pilgrim people following the Lord, with His glory at the heart of everything and His presence leading the way. Israel was one people, united in the Lord and to each other. Yet each separate company was recognized by God, displayed its own unique banner, occupied its own special place, and marched at the Lord’s command!

Under whose banner do we identify in our world? 

To what drumbeat do we march daily? Is it the heartbeat of God or someone/something else? 

“Choose this day who you will serve,” will be proclaimed by Joshua who will later follow in Moses footsteps as leader. Joshua 24:15) Joshua leads God’s People to a time of decision:  Are you on the Lord’s side or not?  “As for me and my house, we will worship the Lord.”   

Today, we still only have two real choices: God who sent His Son to redeem us and set us free; Or the evil one who distracts, confuses, divides, deceives, deconstructs our faith and unity with the goal of death forever to all who believe in Jesus. 

Our response:  Choose this day whom you will serve.  Our responses to life’s circumstances will reflect who we truly believe and serve.  Having the choice of living in confusion and chaos; I choose the peace of Christ that is above all things and in all things as God’s gift to us.

Lord,

You chose me. I choose you.  I offer my life to you, all of it.  Mold and shape me into all you have created me to be and then do.  I’m yours and I’m listening.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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COUNTING

Posted on January 24, 2025 by randscallawayffm

Our entire lives involved counting!  We count how many days until a special occasion.  We count how many dollars are needed to reach the end of the month expenses.  We count how much to tithe, put in savings for emergencies, and then budget for food and other needs each month.  We count how many people will come to our home on any given holiday and then budget with enough food to feed them well. 

We count steps we walk to keep our hearts pumping for good health.  We count the “reps” we perform with goals to increase the count as we stretch our limits in exercise of our bodies. We count how many glasses of water we drink each day. We count calories as if our lives depended on it.  We count how many steps need to be added to account for the brownie we just consumed.

We count time spent on tasks and relationships like a stingy store owner who does inventory daily to make sure no one is stealing from his profits!  We count groups.  We count by twos, fives, and ten.  We are always counting something and comparing the count to other counts!

We count the time the preacher takes to deliver a sermon. We listen but our focus drifts to counting while listening when we count the minutes it takes to receive the message.  We count how many minutes the worship team takes.  We count how much time it will take to get our kids from class.  We count how many we brought to church and hope that the count is the same when they all get into the car to go home.  We count how many green lights we get on the way to church.  Then we count how much time it will take to get something to eat after church.  Jesus tells us to “count the cost” of being a true disciple.  How holy is our counting? (Asking for myself.)

The first thing we teach our babies is counting numbers!  “One bite, two bites, three bites,” we say as we feed them.  We count in races to see how fast our toddlers can pick up toys and put them away.  We count runners’ abilities to beat their best time down to a nanosecond. 

The count is important to us but more important to God.  God tells Moses to count the men from each of the Twelve Tribes (Sons of Jacob) who are on the journey to the promise land.  God already knows the count but wants the leaders to know so they can be organized according to their clans. The Levites are exempt because their purpose is to care for The Law and The Tabernacle.  God is building an army among the them in the count.  God knows what lies ahead for His people.  Will they trust and obey God?  Can His people be “counted on” to fulfill His purpose for their good and His glory?  We shall see…

Numbers 1

The Census

The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: 2 “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. 3 You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army. 4 One man from each tribe, each of them the head of his family, is to help you. 5 These are the names of the men who are to assist you:

from Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;

6 from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;

7 from Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;

8 from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;

9 from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;

10 from the sons of Joseph:

from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud;

from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;

11 from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

12 from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

13 from Asher, Pagiel son of Okran;

14 from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;

15 from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”

16 These were the men appointed from the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes. They were the heads of the clans of Israel.

17 Moses and Aaron took these men whose names had been specified, 18 and they called the whole community together on the first day of the second month. The people registered their ancestry by their clans and families, and the men twenty years old or more were listed by name, one by one, 19 as the Lord commanded Moses. And so he counted them in the Desert of Sinai:

20 From the descendants of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families. 21 The number from the tribe of Reuben was 46,500.

22 From the descendants of Simeon:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were counted and listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families. 23 The number from the tribe of Simeon was 59,300.

24 From the descendants of Gad:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 25 The number from the tribe of Gad was 45,650.

26 From the descendants of Judah:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 27 The number from the tribe of Judah was 74,600.

28 From the descendants of Issachar:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 29 The number from the tribe of Issachar was 54,400.

30 From the descendants of Zebulun:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 31 The number from the tribe of Zebulun was 57,400.

32 From the sons of Joseph:

From the descendants of Ephraim:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 33 The number from the tribe of Ephraim was 40,500.

34 From the descendants of Manasseh:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 35 The number from the tribe of Manasseh was 32,200.

36 From the descendants of Benjamin:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 37 The number from the tribe of Benjamin was 35,400.

38 From the descendants of Dan:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 39 The number from the tribe of Dan was 62,700.

40 From the descendants of Asher:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 41 The number from the tribe of Asher was 41,500.

42 From the descendants of Naphtali:

All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 43 The number from the tribe of Naphtali was 53,400.

44 These were the men counted by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family. 45 All the Israelites twenty years old or more who were able to serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families. 46 The total number was 603,550.

47 The ancestral tribe of the Levites, however, was not counted along with the others. 48 The Lord had said to Moses: 49 “You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. 50 Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle of the covenant law—over all its furnishings and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and encamp around it. 51 Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who approaches it is to be put to death. 52 The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each of them in their own camp under their standard. 53 The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle of the covenant law so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the covenant law.”

54 The Israelites did all this just as the Lord commanded Moses.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

More than two million Israelites were anticipating entering Canaan, conquering the inhabitants, claiming the land, and enjoying their promised inheritance. But before all of this could happen, Moses had to organize this assembly of former slaves who had been enjoying their freedom for only a year—and it wasn’t an easy task.

God’s preparation for conquest involved four stages: numbering the soldiers (Chapter 1), organizing the tribes (Chapter 2), assigning the priestly duties (Chapters 3-4), and celebrating the Passover (Chapter 9:1–14).

The Book of Numbers opens with a count of all the fighting men over the age of twenty in the camp. They were counted, but they couldn’t be counted on, because all but two of them died during Israel’s march through the wilderness. Then the new generation was counted, and they were people that the Lord could count on. They trusted His Word, entered the Promised Land, and claimed it for their inheritance.  Ah, spoiler alert!  But there is much to learn in the journey!

Studying the Book of Numbers can help us better understand how God directs His people, why being faithful to Him is important, and how we can grow spiritually in the difficulties of life. We don’t have to fail as did that first generation; instead, “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).  Cling the message Paul wrote in Romans as we enter the wilderness journey with God’s Chosen.

Maybe you are experiencing difficulties even now on your own life journey.  I pray that in reading Numbers we will see our own story in the story of God in ways that build our faith in God who desires His best for us and will do what He says He will do—Provide where He guides

Lord,

Thank you for Word—all of it—that teaches us more about You with each passage of Truth. Thank you for helping us see the importance of counting for organization to fulfill your purpose in and through us; not just for the sake of counting or merely relying on the count to decide our worth.  May we be “counted on” as you lead us to be with you, hear you, then do what you say.  This is our response—to believe and to follow you.  We know we can count on you!

In Jesus Name, Amen

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NO TAKE BACKS!

Posted on January 23, 2025 by randscallawayffm

Playground games we enjoyed as kids come to mind as I read God’s regulations of vow keeping for His people.  Wait, what, now?  Consider this; as children, we would naturally gather to play a game of tag, kickball, Red Rover, Mother May I, tether ball, etc. but sometimes we would become board with these known games and make up games with our own created rules—most rules were made up as we played the game!  The rules would change often to suit our team’s advantage until someone on the other side would shout, “Hey, no take backs!”  “You said the rule was…” and then an argument would ensued which seemed to be part of the game’s fun—until the teacher came over to set us straight.

God is the Teacher of His People. God does not promise what He will not deliver and fulfill.  God is teaching His people to be more like Him in this way by instructing them how to keep a vow holy and deliver on the promise of the vow with a pure heart.  This is not as much about giving to God, although tithing is taught, as it is keeping a promise (vow) made that has been pronounced holy to God by the priest.  No take backs!

Leviticus is ending with teaching vow keeping rather than with an account of a special demonstration of God’s glory and holiness. It might seem odd to us until we dig deeper.  Our promises to God must be as firm as His covenant with us. “Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few” (Ecclesiastic 5:2). “It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, and afterward to reconsider his vows” (Proverbs 20:25).

Leviticus 27

Redeeming What Is the Lord’s

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the Lord by giving the equivalent value, 3 set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel; 4 for a female, set her value at thirty shekels; 5 for a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels and of a female at ten shekels; 6 for a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekels of silver and that of a female at three shekels of silver; 7 for a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels and of a female at ten shekels. 8 If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, the person being dedicated is to be presented to the priest, who will set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford.

9 “‘If what they vowed is an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the Lord, such an animal given to the Lord becomes holy. 10 They must not exchange it or substitute a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one; if they should substitute one animal for another, both it and the substitute become holy. 11 If what they vowed is a ceremonially unclean animal—one that is not acceptable as an offering to the Lord—the animal must be presented to the priest, 12 who will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, that is what it will be. 13 If the owner wishes to redeem the animal, a fifth must be added to its value.

14 “‘If anyone dedicates their house as something holy to the Lord, the priest will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, so it will remain. 15 If the one who dedicates their house wishes to redeem it, they must add a fifth to its value, and the house will again become theirs.

16 “‘If anyone dedicates to the Lord part of their family land, its value is to be set according to the amount of seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed. 17 If they dedicate a field during the Year of Jubilee, the value that has been set remains. 18 But if they dedicate a field after the Jubilee, the priest will determine the value according to the number of years that remain until the next Year of Jubilee, and its set value will be reduced. 19 If the one who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, they must add a fifth to its value, and the field will again become theirs. 20 If, however, they do not redeem the field, or if they have sold it to someone else, it can never be redeemed. 21 When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the Lord; it will become priestly property.

22 “‘If anyone dedicates to the Lord a field they have bought, which is not part of their family land, 23 the priest will determine its value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the owner must pay its value on that day as something holy to the Lord. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field will revert to the person from whom it was bought, the one whose land it was. 25 Every value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.

26 “‘No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the Lord; whether an ox or a sheep, it is the Lord’s. 27 If it is one of the unclean animals, it may be bought back at its set value, adding a fifth of the value to it. If it is not redeemed, it is to be sold at its set value.

28 “‘But nothing that a person owns and devotes to the Lord—whether a human being or an animal or family land—may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the Lord.

29 “‘No person devoted to destruction may be ransomed; they are to be put to death.

30 “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 31 Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. 32 Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. 33 No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’”

34 These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The principle behind the regulations in this chapter is that of substituting money for something given in dedication to God (a person, an animal, or a piece of property), and giving that money to the priests for the upkeep of the sanctuary. These vows were strictly voluntary and were expressions of the worshiper’s gratitude to God for His blessing.  God sees our hearts and knows our motivations to give. 

I’m reminded of what happened to members of the early church as told in the book of Acts.  Everyone was so caught up in the living lives for Jesus, desiring to be like Him, while doing what Jesus said to go and teach others.  The people, though persecuted because of their zeal of knowing and living for Christ, “gave all they had” in gratitude to God for saving their souls.  One storehouse was formed with the purpose to share goods with anyone in need. What a grand movement of building churches that spread the Good News of Jesus’s salvation while meeting the needs of everyone involved!  God Holy Spirit was indeed moving in the hearts, minds, and souls of His people committed to Christ and His work. 

However, there was this one couple who so wanted to be like the others in giving up all for God; that they vowed to do the same—almost.  Here’s the true story:

“Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.”  Acts 5:1-2

Their action seemed almost reasonable until they both lied about the transaction…Here’s the rest of the story—

“Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.” Acts 5:3-11

Ananias and Sapphira represent just how much we humans do not trust the truth. They sold a piece of property and gave half the money to the church. They lied to Peter and the apostles, claiming that the land sold for the amount they gave. Their sin was not in holding back some of the money for themselves; it was in misrepresenting the truth. Their deceit resulted in their deaths. Great fear of God followed.

Death seems harsh but to make a vow to God you have no intention in keeping affects all other relationships, too.  Death might not be physical; but lying certainly erodes trust with others who we say we love and care deeply.  According to Jesus, the two greatest and most important commandments of Love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul and love your neighbor like you love yourself are the foundational to our relationship with God and others.  Jesus added, “Love each other like I have loved you.”

With God there is no room for deceit in hearts, minds, and souls committed to God.  Max Lucado writes; 

“It seems to me that the wages of deceit are still death. Not death of the body, perhaps, but the death of:

  • a marriage—Falsehoods are termites in the trunk of the family tree.
  • a conscience—The tragedy of the second lie is that it is always easier to tell than the first.
  • a career—Just ask the student who got booted out for cheating or the employee who got fired for embezzlement if the lie wasn’t fatal.
  • faith—The language of faith and the language of falsehood have two different vocabularies. Those fluent in the language of falsehood find terms like “confession” and “repentance” hard to pronounce.

We could also list the deaths of intimacy, trust, peace, credibility, and self-respect. But perhaps the most tragic death that occurs from deceit is our witness. The court won’t listen to the testimony of a perjured witness. Neither will the world. Do we think our coworkers will believe our words about Christ when they can’t even believe our words about how we handled our expense account? Even more significantly, do we think God will use us as a witness if we won’t tell the truth?” –Lucado’s Encouraging Word Bible.

Be careful.  Dishonesty can affect—and infect—every aspect of our life.  Make a vow to God with an honest, contrite heart with a committed intention and discipline to keep your promise. 

Lord,

Thank you for another lesson in Leviticus that at first glance we might have missed. Cleanse our hearts and remove all deceitfulness. Renew our minds. Transform our thinking and behaviors to be more like you.  Refresh our repentant souls with your tender mercies.  Restore the joy and peace of your salvation always at work within us who believe and trust you.  You are Life!  I seek you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!

Posted on January 22, 2025 by randscallawayffm

How many times in our young adult years did we rebel against parental authority and guiding advice that was delivered often for our good because we really thought we were old enough to know best what we needed?  From age 12 through 20 something, we knew our parents’ advice was so out of date that surely it didn’t apply to our current situation.  At that age and stage of our lives; we couldn’t imagine them being the age we were then, much less understand us; so we went our own way, leaving the protection and safety net provided by our parents.  As we parted, we heard, “but it’s for your own good!” but that didn’t stop us, did it?

Sometimes, we got “lucky” and avoided the pitfalls of bad decisions while doing our own thing without the benefit of experience to guide us.  Or, maybe our “luck” was a result of our parents desperately praying for our safety as we embarked on our own in a world that did not care what would happen to us.

God is asserting his “holy authority” with specific, detailed ways of obedience so the Israelites will know what is for their own good as they declare His glory by trusting Him alone.  “I am the Lord your God” is proclaimed often because His people are not grasping God’s loving desire to deliver gracious intervention into their lives for the purpose of their protection and provision.  God is the parent we all desire to be for our kids—we want what is best for them so they will thrive!

God outlines His gameplan of trust and obedience while pointing out the consequences.  If His people obey; they will be rewarded.  If they do not trust and obey, His people will be on their own, fighting battles without God’s protection, as their own pride takes over which will lead to their fall.  “You’re either for me or against me,” says God here and throughout His Word.

Notice that God also references the consequences of the Israelites’ choice to disobey His command of allowing the land to remain fallow every seven years with redemption for His people on the fiftieth year—which, as far as we know, was ignored.  Go your own way, but suffer the consequences of stepping out from under the protective wings of God. 

Leviticus 26

Reward for Obedience

26 “‘Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

2 “‘Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

3 “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4 I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. 5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.

6 “‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. 7 You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

9 “‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. 10 You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. 11 I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

Punishment for Disobedience

14 “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, 15 and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. 17 I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.

18 “‘If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. 19 I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. 20 Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.

21 “‘If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve. 22 I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted.

23 “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, 24 I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. 25 And I will bring the sword on you to avenge the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. 26 When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

27 “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, 28 then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. 29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. 30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you. 31 I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. 32 I myself will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. 34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

36 “‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them. 37 They will stumble over one another as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies. 38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you. 39 Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’ sins they will waste away.

40 “‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, 41 which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43 For the land will be deserted by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected my laws and abhorred my decrees. 44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the Lord their God. 45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

46 These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai between himself and the Israelites through Moses.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The presence of the Lord was the greatest blessing promised, because every other blessing depends on it. No other nation had God “walking among them”! 

To worship anyone or anything other than God led to the murder of their own children when they turned from God to the old idols of their past that demanded the sacrifice of their own flesh and blood to appease the gods!  We say we would never do that. But consider all the things in our lives that we crave that become our idols.  Without God, we are easy prey for the Enemy. Out from under God’s protection, we can fall for lives of abusive, self-destructive behaviors lived out in front of our children who are “sacrificed” to lack of care by us. 

When we lose the sense of the Lord’s presence and the privilege it is to serve Him, then we begin to despise His Word and disobey His commandments.  God doesn’t understand what I am going through, we think, as we suffer needlessly.  But there’s good news!  All have sinned but all can be forgiven by Jesus who died to redeem us from all sin and make us right with God!  God may punish His people, but He will never reject them or cast them away—read Romans 11 for proof! In fact, one reason for His chastening and discipline is to bring His erring people back into His arms of love, where He can enjoy them and bless them once again! Hebrews 12:1–13.

So, we learn there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that we have done that God will not forgive. God is not a rejecting God but a relational God! God wants us to love Him back!  Every passage we read from Genesis to Revelation shouts this truth about God!

It is not God’s desire that we perish because of our sins but that we live with Him forever with His help to guide us to all the is good and best for us.  God made a Way for us to come back to Him—Jesus!  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

Since the Word never changes and God’s character never changes, we have every encouragement to come to Him and make a new beginning. 

“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way…”

Lord,

Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls, and restore the joy of your salvation at work in our hearts. To you be the glory!

In Jesus Name, Amen

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GIVE IT A REST!

Posted on January 21, 2025 by randscallawayffm

When I read God’s Word while seeking who God is; He amazes me with something new each time!  As we read Leviticus, God holy standards for living with each other and with Him; God reveals His heart of compassion. It is in the reading for understanding that we observe how God demonstrates His care for all people while displaying His abundant wisdom and care.  God commands the Israelites to live lives that do not take advantage of another’s downfall.  God says to give the land a rest—a Sabbath—so that the land and the managers of the land can renew and be fruitful by God’s design. 

The Year of Jubilee is a specific way to level the playing field for all His people who will live in a the promised land that God will provide for them.  He is setting up behavioral standards with specific guidelines to follow every seven years. God reminds them that the land they possess was given to them by Him. God owns the land.  His People are merely “renters” with specific guidelines for the care of the land God owns.  This is not their final destination.  This world is not our final destination!  (Who we live for now is where we will be later!  Too much, too soon?)  All we have and hold right now, God owns.  ALL we possess now and seek to possess later, belongs to God.  All we borrow to gain what we possess now still belongs to God.  Pause and let this truth sink in.

If we truly believe who God is and what He says, we will eventually internalize this “ownership” truth.  What God has given to us is the means and the ability to steward (manage) what He has so graciously given to us.  God has guidelines for us to follow in managing what He has given to us to care for long with standards of behavior that will not match the standards of the world of business.  Those of us who think we rose to the top as “self-made” men and women and feel we deserve all that have worked so hard to gain will probably not understand the following wisdom of the Lord—to give it all a rest! 

Leviticus 25

The Sabbath Year

The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. 6 Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, 7 as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

The Year of Jubilee

8 “‘Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. 11 The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. 12 For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.

13 “‘In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property.

14 “‘If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other. 15 You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And they are to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. 16 When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops. 17 Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God.

18 “‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. 19 Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. 20 You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” 21 I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. 22 While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.

23 “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. 24 Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.

25 “‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold. 26 If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27 they are to determine the value for the years since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property. 28 But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.

29 “‘Anyone who sells a house in a walled city retains the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time the seller may redeem it. 30 If it is not redeemed before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and the buyer’s descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. 31 But houses in villages without walls around them are to be considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee.

32 “‘The Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the Levitical towns, which they possess. 33 So the property of the Levites is redeemable—that is, a house sold in any town they hold—and is to be returned in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the Israelites. 34 But the pastureland belonging to their towns must not be sold; it is their permanent possession.

35 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. 36 Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. 38 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

39 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. 40 They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors. 42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. 43 Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.

44 “‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

47 “‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48 they retain the right of redemption after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives may redeem them: 49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper, they may redeem themselves. 50 They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years. 51 If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. 52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly. 53 They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.

54 “‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, 55 for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

In the Year of Jubilee, the social hierarchy is put aside with the slate wiped clean of debt.  What does this tell us about God? 

  • God cares for His people even when it seems impossible.  All fields were allowed to rest. No farming permitted. The fallow land could recover from forty-nine years of planting and harvesting.  God provided enough food during the year of rest.
  • God is a redeeming God.  Anyone who had been sold into slavery or who had sold himself into slavery to pay off debt was released. Bondage ended.
  • God is compassionate and merciful.  Families might lose their land through calamity, sickness, or even laziness. The Jubilee provision guaranteed that every family, at least twice a century, would have the opportunity to get back on their feet.
  • God’s wisdom is beyond all human thinking.  This Year of Jubilee was intended to prevent a permanent underclass of poverty and slavery. People could still be rich, very rich, but they could not build their wealth on the backs of the very poor.  “Do not take advantage of each other, fear God, I am the Lord, Your God.”
  • God’s love never changes and His grace is unending for those who belong to Him.  “Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, for the Israelites belong to me…”  “I am the Lord, your God.” 

We belong to God.  All we have belongs to God.  We are His children, joint heirs with Jesus who redeemed us from our debt of sin, the sin that held us in bondage.  Jesus who came to earth to seek and to save the lost ultimately took our deserved punishment, paid our debt in full, freeing us forever!  Slate clean!  Jesus came to declare “the year of the Lord,” providing a “jubilee-like” redeeming relationship with all who believe!

“The year of the Lord’s favor” found in Luke 4 describes, perhaps more than any other words, Jesus’ radical commitment to the poor and restates the standards God set forth to the Israelites in the Year of Jubilee’s redemption. In Luke 4, Jesus advanced the significance of His mission as He read these words out loud while announcing the Truth of who He was;

“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to readand the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”—Jesus, Luke 4:

As far as we know, the people of Israel never practiced the Year of Jubilee, which is sad, really. Still, Jesus alluded to it in His opening statement of who He is and why He came. God’s heart for us is demonstrated by His Son.  God values a level playing field. God’s favor rests on those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.  God does not play favorites among those who believe.  Kingdom thinking and behaving does not take advantage of another person’s misfortune nor does it think less of people in distress.  We love and serve as we follow the example of the One who Redeemed us.  We point all to Jesus! 

Lord,

Hallowed is Your Name.  Great are You, Lord.  May Your Kingdom come and dwell in our thinking and behaving.  May Your Will be done in all the details of our lives as we seek to follow in Your ways.  Lead me, Lord.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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LIGHT AND BREAD

Posted on January 20, 2025 by randscallawayffm

Jesus, God in flesh, made seven I AM statements as recorded in the John’s gospel;

  • I am the bread of life. 6:35, 48, 51.
  • I am the light of the world. 8:12; 9:5.
  • I am the door of the sheep. 10:7, 9.
  • I am the good shepherd. 10:11, 14.
  • I am the resurrection and the life. 11:25.
  • I am the way, the truth, and the life. 14:6.
  • I am the true vine.

The fact that this “I am” statement is given before the Savior’s earthly ministry emphasizes that Jesus Christ would fulfill his divine mission to atone for the sins of humankind.  It is interesting to me that the first two I AM statements of bread and light parallel the priests’ work of keeping the lights burning continually with sustaining bread always available “as lasting covenants” between God and His People.  Jesus came and declared HE was the Light of the World that dispels all Darkness.  He is the Bread of Life that sustains all who believe and hunger and thirst for righteousness.  With Jesus; there is no reason to stumble around in the dark!

When God gives a name for His people to call Him it conveys His dominion over all things, the source of His power, and His eternal nature: I AM. He is the self-sufficient, self-sustaining God who was, who is, and who will be. This eternal nature is conveyed better in the Hebrew than in the English.

I AM, God spoke to Moses.  Remember the time Moses fled Egypt and lived in Midian for forty years? It was in Moses’ self-imposed exile that God came to him and spoke through a burning bush. Moses asked God for His name, so he will have an answer when the people of Israel ask. In English, God’s answer is translated as “I AM WHO I AM … tell them I AM has sent me to you.”  I AM also means I exist, I have existed, and will always exist.  The name of I AM is how God chose to introduce himself, becoming so sacred that in Judaism, the name is not to be spoken. The significance of God’s self-given name encompasses all that He is, and how we are to relate to Him.  So, it is no wonder the punishment is harsh when anyone curses God by His Name. 

God is the Giver of Life.  When another human decides to take a life God has created; God intervenes.  So, with these understandings, let’s read on…

Leviticus 24

Olive Oil and Bread Set Before the Lord

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. 3 Outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the Lord from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 4 The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord must be tended continually.

5 “Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf. 6 Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. 7 By each stack put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the Lord. 8 This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. 9 It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is a most holy part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord.”

A Blasphemer Put to Death

10 Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) 12 They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them.

13 Then the Lord said to Moses: 14 “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. 15 Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; 16 anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.

17 “‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death. 18 Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitution—life for life. 19 Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. 21 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death. 22 You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the Lord your God.’”

23 Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

In this chapter, the Lord gave Moses instructions concerning three holy things: the holy oil for the lampstand, the holy bread for the table, and the holy name of the Lord, which all the people were to honor.  We are reminded of one of the Ten Commandments given to Moses that specifically says; “Do not take the Lord’s Name in vain.”  Do not swear by God’s Name saying “God is my witness” for example, as explained in Exodus 20:7.

THE OIL – The people of Israel were to provide the oil for the priests to keep the lamps burning.  There was a method of extracting olive oil by heat, but beating or crushing the olives and straining out the impurities produced the best olive oil. The God of Israel deserves the very best.  God gave His best to us!

Warren Wierbe writes of the parallel of Jesus;

“Jesus is the light (Luke 2:32; John 1:4, 9; 8:12; 9:5), and only through Him can we see and appreciate spiritual things. The apostle John compared local churches to individual gold lampstands that are supposed to shine and bear witness in their cities (Revelation 1:12, 20. (See also; Matthew 5:16; Ephesians 5:8; Philippians 2:15).  Many a local church has had its light go out before both God and the world because of the unfaithfulness of the leaders and/or members. They failed to pray, give, and allow the Holy Spirit to use them. If the light is to be kept burning, somebody must provide the oil.” –Wiersbe Study Bible

THE BREAD – From the priest’s viewpoint, the loaves of bread sustained life and maybe reminded him that what God called him to be and do was basic, for real people. Being somewhat isolated in the tabernacle day after day; the priests could easily get “out of touch” with the people they were representing before God.  Isolation is easy prey for the devil to convince them of their importance as priests and lead them to believe that they were better than everyone else. 

Bread is common.  So, why bread on the table of the Lord God in the Holy Place? The presence of bread in the tabernacle assures us that God is concerned about the practical things of our lives and that there’s no such thing as “secular” and “sacred” in the Christian life. Believers live one life for God alone.

FUN FACT:  Later, we will read of young David who is escaping King Saul who has gone insane because God’s Holy Spirit was no longer on Saul.  David and his men were hiding out in the Temple and were hungry.  They ate the “holy bread”!  Read this story in 1 Samuel 21:1-6.  Yes, God’s Word ties together from beginning to end!  Fascinating!

The main emphasis of Leviticus 24 is: Our God is a holy God and we must honor Him, whether in bringing our offerings and gifts to Him or by respecting His very name. The Lord doesn’t execute blasphemers today, but there is coming a day of judgment when the secrets of all hearts will be revealed, and then God will “render to each one according to his deeds” (Romans 2:6). 

We must pause to respond to God with repentance followed by humbled praise for His forgiveness of all our sins.  God seeks hearts who seek Him to be made holy and pure. God’s Holy Spirit who lives in all believers of Jesus; calls us to repentance by convicting us of sin; confronts us with Truth; comforts us with healing; and then compels us to live life to the full with God in the lead!  As we respond to God in His way; His gift of peace descends and falls over our whole being.  What a great and gracious God we have!  Thank you, Jesus, for your mission to save the world, forgiving all who repent— of whom I am one of them.

Lord,

Thank you for who you are to us! Thank for reminding us who we are to you! Thank you for helping us see that you, dear Jesus, were there at the beginning and will be there at the end of the ages.  From Genesis to Revelation, you are the God who was, is and always will be.  And you are the God who is Present and sits beside me to guide my thoughts.  Lord, God of all; Come and fill all of me.

In Jesus Name, for our good and Your Glory, Amen!

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EVENTS TO REMEMBER AND CHERISH!

Posted on January 18, 2025 by randscallawayffm

I got up early yesterday morning and sat by the computer, fingers ready to pounce on the tab, “ticket sales.”  At ten in the morning the sales for a certain worship concert would begin.  I knew that this concert would be popular to my age group and older as these were popular artists from my past.  They are still going strong now! Their songs gave hope and encouragement as a younger adult in my growing faith.

Led by God’s Holy Spirit; their praises joyfully give glory to God!  Two groups are coming together to worship God in praise for all He has done. Memories are flooding back of all the many ways God provided and protected me over the years as soon as I saw the event published.  My heart gives thanks to God now with thanksgiving for all He is doing now in our lives! I thank Jesus for making me whole and presenting me acceptable to God with forgiveness of my sins.  I thank God’s Holy Spirit for keeping me focused, daily leading me to all that is Truth.  The concert will not happen for eight months but I have our tickets!  We have an event to look forward to with grateful hearts.  And did I mention, the date fell on my birthday?  Oh, yeah!

God directs His people to hold sacred events and celebrations as ways to remember all that He is to them as their Creator and Sustainer of life.  God wants all His people to celebrate all the ways in which He meets their needs as Provider.  God reminds His people that He is the Protector from all their enemies.  Most of all God is the Rescuer of their very lives.  God brought them out of the bondage and slavery they had live for centuries into a world where only God is to be their Lord who is Holy and will make them Holy.  God is their Master Teacher with lessons to guide them to all that is for their good and His glory.  God is Present with them.  God is to be the One and Only God they worship.  God is God.

Leviticus 23

The Appointed Festivals

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.

The Sabbath

3 “‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread

4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: 5 The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6 On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. 7 On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. 8 For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”

Offering the Firstfruits

9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, 13 together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah[a] of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

The Festival of Weeks

15 “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord. 18 Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 19 Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. 20 The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. 21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

22 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’”

The Festival of Trumpets

23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. 25 Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’”

The Day of Atonement

26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. 29 Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. 30 I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. 31 You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32 It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”

The Festival of Tabernacles

33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35 The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. 36 For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.

37 (“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. 38 These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the Lord.)

39 “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. 40 On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows, and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters 43 so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

44 So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME” are the words chiseled into the table placed in front of the pulpit.  The beautiful oak grained table never moved from it’s sacred place.  Upon it was a huge Bible, opened to Isaiah the prophet who announced the “coming of a Messiah” who would take away the sins of the world.  The Word of God was moved over or set aside on the days of communion when the table held the elements to be served.  But everyone who believed and followed Jesus in obedience to Him knew that we drank and ate the bread in remembrance of His blood shed and His body given as a sacrifice for our sins.  What a sacred and holy moment in the remembering! 

It is in the remembering that we realize God knows our hearts and knows exactly what we need.  God will still be God even if we do not thank Him or remember what He has done.  (Pause, let that sink in, but don’t read what I’m not saying.)  God commands these “remembrance” times for us who need to remember all the details of how God sent His Son to rescue us!  As believers who left the old life to obtains a forgiven new life with Christ; praise bursts forth in thanksgiving as we remember!  We can’t help but praise Him!  It’s in our new nature to do so as we remember.  When we praise Him with humbled thanksgiving in adoration, awe, and wonder for all He is and all He has done in and for us; a pleasing aroma ascends to God who is pleased.  Sabbaths, feasts, and celebrations for our own good and for His glory!  These times of focus on God are designed to consistently remember with a celebration to look forward to with God!  It’s all about God’s relationship with His beloved. 

God established several holidays that symbolized the Israelites’ special relationship with him. He also gave rules that governed interpersonal relationships so His people would remember why coming before Him is a sacred act of denying self to be filled with all of God.

Therefore, special holidays like going to a concert remind us of the past ways God ministered to our needs by His Holy Spirit living in us. Holidays are designed for praise to God with grateful hearts.  Feasts, (we now call potlucks), help renew our commitment to God and to each other. In the New Testament, Jesus became the Lamb of the Passover, Messiah come!  The celebration of the Lord’s Supper reminds us of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross for our sins and calls us to renewed commitment.  What a sacred moment and that is why most pastors say not to take this lightly but to remember humbly.

Approach this Sunday as a real holiday to remember with gratitude. Celebrate it with all your heart. Remember the past. Allow God’s Holy Spirit to renew our minds for what lies ahead with expectant hope for the future. Jesus is risen! God has conquered death! Be glad.  Live like the redeemed people we are!  Celebrate, come on!

Lord,

Thank you for making us whole and holy by your forgiveness and grace—All made possible by your deeply, demonstrated love and sacrifice for all you have created.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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GIVING THE BEST WITH SINCERE HEARTS

Posted on January 17, 2025 by randscallawayffm

““Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” –Jesus, Matthew 23:23-26 

As we read through the detailed directions of God to his appointed, anointed, consecrated, and ordained priests who stood as mediators for God’s people, we wonder what went wrong over the centuries?  At what point in obediently doing their appointed work given to them by God did they lean more heavily on the rules and less on the relationship that God so greatly desired from His people?  First and foremost, God wanted His people to love Him back. 

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment.” Jesus said to one of the “experts” of The Law who was actually testing Jesus about performing of the Law. (Matthew 22:37) 

Then Jesus added, “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:39-40)  (Read the rest the story—there’s a twist to proclaim truth in the storyline!)

God, who is Love, tells Moses to tell Aaron how to treat all offerings to God with respect for God.  “I am the Lord” is repeated often because God knows mankind needs constant reminders of who God is and that He alone is Holy.  God is also teaching his priests that all that is given to God must be done with a sincere heart for God. 

Leviticus 22

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane my holy name. I am the Lord.

3 “Say to them: ‘For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord.

4 “‘If a descendant of Aaron has a defiling skin disease or a bodily discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed. He will also be unclean if he touches something defiled by a corpse or by anyone who has an emission of semen, 5 or if he touches any crawling thing that makes him unclean, or any person who makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be. 6 The one who touches any such thing will be unclean till evening. He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water. 7 When the sun goes down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the sacred offerings, for they are his food. 8 He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, and so become unclean through it. I am the Lord.

9 “‘The priests are to perform my service in such a way that they do not become guilty and die for treating it with contempt. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.

10 “‘No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired worker eat it. 11 But if a priest buys a slave with money, or if slaves are born in his household, they may eat his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions. 13 But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children, and she returns to live in her father’s household as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food. No unauthorized person, however, may eat it.

14 “‘Anyone who eats a sacred offering by mistake must make restitution to the priest for the offering and add a fifth of the value to it. 15 The priests must not desecrate the sacred offerings the Israelites present to the Lord 16 by allowing them to eat the sacred offerings and so bring upon them guilt requiring payment. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.’”

Unacceptable Sacrifices

17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘If any of you—whether an Israelite or a foreigner residing in Israel—presents a gift for a burnt offering to the Lord, either to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, 19 you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf. 20 Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf. 21 When anyone brings from the herd or flock a fellowship offering to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without defect or blemish to be acceptable. 22 Do not offer to the Lord the blind, the injured or the maimed, or anything with warts or festering or running sores. Do not place any of these on the altar as a food offering presented to the Lord. 23 You may, however, present as a freewill offering an ox or a sheep that is deformed or stunted, but it will not be accepted in fulfillment of a vow. 24 You must not offer to the Lord an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn or cut. You must not do this in your own land, 25 and you must not accept such animals from the hand of a foreigner and offer them as the food of your God. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and have defects.’”

26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “When a calf, a lamb or a goat is born, it is to remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a food offering presented to the Lord. 28 Do not slaughter a cow or a sheep and its young on the same day.

29 “When you sacrifice a thank offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. 30 It must be eaten that same day; leave none of it till morning. I am the Lord.

31 “Keep my commands and follow them. I am the Lord. 32 Do not profane my holy name, for I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the Lord, who made you holy 33 and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”—Jesus, Matthew 23:37-39 (Read Matthew 23 entirely for the full message of woes declared by Jesus to the Law keepers who added to the Law to gain power and wealth over the people, seeing only themselves worthy before God.)

We are appalled at the Pharisees and Sadducees’ behaviors when we read the woes Jesus pronounced against them until we look inside ourselves and observe our own hearts filled with pride.  We might recall our own judgement of people who come into our churches.  We “size them up” and judge them with merely a first impression based on human instinct.  We gossip with other rule keepers who agree with us.

The Holy Spirit who lives within us will confront and convicts us of being the very person that breaks the heart of God.  If we are listening, we will repent and transform.  If we go on about the business of doing all the churchy things required of us as our adopted habits of behavior, we might miss out on the beautiful, loving relationship that God loves to bless.

Am I making this too simple? Sometimes it is the simple, unnoticed sins of wanting to feel important that slowly erodes the motivation of a once pure heart for God.

The rules for the Levitical line of priests eventually became the “first and greatest commandments” and trumped the relationship God was seeking with His people.

We do the same if our hearts are not pure and our behaviors are mere performance.  

Jesus sought God’s direction often before doing anything significant on earth in his mission “to seek and to save” people.  Who are we to think that seeking God’s direction is not needed for us?  We might know all the church rules but without a growing relationship with our God who created guidelines of behavior that lead us to Him; we are useless to His Kingdom work.  Too strong?  I don’t think so after reading Matthew 23.

We not only need God’s detailed direction and guidance; we need constant reminders of WHY we do what we do—because we love God back and want to please HIM in all we think, say, and do.  This is the why than purifies and motivates our hearts. 

Jesus demonstrated this truth for us as He would “get away by Himself” to seek God first.  We follow his example by seeking God first before beginning each new day that is full of opportunities to love God back, love each other, and tell of His redemption.  His disciples caught on and ask Him to teach them to pray—which Jesus did.  “Hallowed be YOUR Name. May YOUR Kingdom come; May YOUR Will be done” was at the beginning of this profound but simple prayer that reaches the heart of God!

God is looking for us whose hearts are committed to Him!  “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9

God’s intentions for Aaron and his sons were to encourage people to give their best to the Lord. The priest who had respect for his ministry and high regard for the sacrifices of God would accept only those animals that met God’s requirements. To send a worshiper away from the altar with a false assurance of forgiveness would be to do great damage to his or her spiritual life.

Lord,

Doing what you say with a heart committed to you is key to our growing relationship with You as we tell others about you.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  Make us holy before you.  I love you, Lord with all my heart, all my mind, and all my soul.  Fill me with all of you.  Lead me, Lord.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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