Posts tagged ‘mosaic law’
Numbers 15 – Sabbath Breaker Stoned
We have laws for the benefit of all in society. Justice is supposed to be blind, but too often, it has been overruled by the rich and powerful, who work for outside influences. The tide needs to turn back to the rule of law as outlined by the Constitution of the United States of America.
Mosaic Law was Overwhelming and It was Meant to Be
In Numbers 7, we learn about the dedication of the Tabernacle. The entire process took twelve (12) days to complete! A great many animals were sacrificed in the process as well. Finally, when everything was in place, the Lord took up residence above the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies and spoke to Moses from there (Numbers 7:89). Consider just how many animals needed to be sacrificed in order to complete the dedication of the tabernacle. No less than 12 bulls, 71 rams, 72 lambs a year old, 72 goats, and 24 oxen were sacrificed over a period of the twelve days. This does not even include the shekels, the flour and grain also offered during the dedication of the tabernacle.
Constancy of Offerings Under Levitical System
In the Old Testament, salvation came to people the exact same way it comes to us; through faith (Hebrews 11). However, also during the Old Testament times, the sacrificial system played an important role in ensuring that people understood that sin was reprehensible to God. Drastic measures (death of animals, which often necessitated sacrifice by owners were needed because the sacrifice was taken from their flocks, meaning one less animal or more to have for financial purposes). This was done by the penitent to remain in fellowship with God.
Deuteronomy: Application of the Law
The idea to love God was foreign to the Israelites’ way of life and understanding. It is something that needed to be developed within them. Why did Moses urge the Israelites to love God? Simply because love – true love – creates a desire to please the object of that love, from the heart. Without love, things done for another are done mainly out of fear or duty. Moses wanted the Israelites to go well beyond this where God was concerned. He wanted them to love God so that their actions and words toward Him would flow from a heart overflowing with appreciation and awe.
Leviticus: The Law and Sacrificial System
It cannot be stressed enough that just as the Israelites were expected to eschew evil and live lives that extolled the virtues of holiness before a holy God, Christians are to do the same thing. We are to flee from all sinful desires and endeavor to live holy lives (in His strength), from the time we receive salvation to the very moment He takes us home to be with Him in eternity. Of course, it is impossible for the Christian to live a perfectly sinless life because of the inherent sin nature within us. Sinless perfection is something that will only become reality for the Christian when the sin nature is excised from us and that will not occur until we pass through the door of death.
Not All Jews Believe in Any God
Fellow Christian, it is not going to get easier. It is going to become more difficult. Life will separate immature, carnal Christians from those who take fellowship with God seriously. If you are not walking in fellowship with God, you are not being empowered to stand against the evil that is becoming openly prevalent today. Without being in fellowship with God, you will see people as “enemies” instead of as people who need the only salvation that is available today, in Jesus. They are not our enemies. They are enemies of the cross, but even so, our job is to present to them the gospel that saves.
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