Tag Archives: Jesus

Leviticus 23; Jewish Feasts and Jesus

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Wow! I’ve enjoyed looking into the feasts that God instructed Old Testament Jews to observe. Nothing God commanded His people to do didn’t point to Jesus. He is in every moment of every one of these feasts. And it’s so beautiful! I want to give you a little taste of the feasts (pun intended). What I am going to share is just a fraction of the truths that are connected with them.

Instructions concerning the Sabbath, although it isn’t usually counted as one of the feasts, begins this chapter. It was a day of Rest, like God modeled for us after six days of creating the universe. John tells us Jesus was with God before creation and, in fact, IS the Creator Himself. Jesus used the words, “I AM” (the name of God) in reference to Himself, like in John 8 when he said, “before Abraham was even born, I AM.” Then in Matthew 11 He clearly says, “I will give you rest.” Yes, Jesus is seen in the Sabbath.

  1. The Feast of Passover (Redeemed). Remember the blood of the perfect lamb protected the Jews from certain death. That lamb’s death bought the Israelites their freedom. And it’s Jesus’ blood, our own Perfect Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, that purchased our redemption, our freedom from the chains of sin. Jesus is seen in the picture of the lamb, it’s blood painted on the doorposts. When I look at the blood dripping down that wooden cross, I see my Redeemer.
  2. Feast of Unleavened Bread (Remember). This feast started the day after the Feast of Passover. They were to eat bread with no yeast and remember how God had provided the mana to His children in the desert. Didn’t Jesus tell us He is the Bread of Life? We who are His children by accepting His work on the cross, are provided with our daily bread. When He gave the bread to His disciples there the night before He died, Jesus said, “Take. Eat in remembrance of me.” We remember.
  3. Feast of First Grain or First Fruits (Risen!) This feast was to be held at the beginning of the harvest. They were to bring the first of what they reaped and give it to the Lord. Jesus said “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24) Jesus died, and lives again! His resurrection is still producing fruit today. The Old Testament Jews were blessed by the harvest. We are blessed by the risen Lord!

Ok. That’s enough for today. I’m going to keep looking into the remaining Feasts and share later. This is good stuff, y’all (to quote my dear pastor.)

Leviticus 21-22; No Fear Of Death

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It was a very big deal how the Old Testament priests handled death. They were not permitted to be in the vicinity of a dead person unless it was a close biological family member. Even then, they were considered unclean, and had to go through the requirements of cleansing in order to regain their position as priest. Plus, they had to control their outward expression of mourning.

What does that have to do with the 21st century kingdom of priests? It gives us reason to rejoice!

More than once, Jesus raised a dead person by touching them. In Matthew 5 he took Tabitha’s hand. In Luke 7 He touched a coffin. The Jews must have been horrified! That just was not done.

But Jesus was demonstrating that He has dominion even over death. I Corinthians 15:54-57:

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:”Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where O death, is your victory?
 Where O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Next week we will celebrate Jesus’ victory over death. He’s alive! We don’t need to fear death. Death has no power over us who know Christ.

Dead in sin, alive in Christ. Absent from the body, present with the Lord.

Yes, Jesus is alive. And because He lives all fear is gone! We don’t mourn like those who have no hope. We have hope!

Thank you, dear Jesus!

Leviticus 13-14; Free To Fly

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You don’t have to dig very deep in order to see Jesus through the laws God gave Moses for the children of Israel. He’s in there!

One of my favorite pictures of Christ within the Old Testament Law is found in Leviticus 14:1-7. It’s actually about how a person healed from a disease is able to be pronounced clean. If you read this you’ll find water and blood, wood, hyssop and scarlet yarn, life and death… and life.

It’s about two birds. One bird is killed and its blood dripped into fresh water. The other bird is kept alive, tied to cedar wood with hyssop and red thread, then dipped seven times into the mixture of water and blood.

Then (and this should make your heart soar) the bird still dripping with the bloody water, is released, free to fly the heavens once again.

We know Jesus died on a wooden cross, His blood shed, water poured out of His side. We know He took our sins on Himself, the perfect sacrifice… and then He flew! With Him He took my sin away as far as the east is from the west, never to be remembered ever again.

It’s a picture of me: dead in sin, alive in Christ, free from the chains of sin, free to fly.

Leviticus 2-4; Many To One

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Maybe it’s because we are approaching Easter. But I can’t help but think of Jesus as I read the instructions for the Old Testament Jews’ sacrifices for sins. The yeast, the oil, the lamb without defect, the blood.

So much blood.

The sinner had to lay his own sacrifice on the altar. And so do I. My godly mother’s faith couldn’t save me. I had to obey God myself.

The dear people in the Old Testament had to repeat those sacrifices year after year. There were many, many sacrifices made on those altars. But Jesus fulfilled the requirements for the forgiveness of sin with His own precious blood.

Jesus became my sacrifice that day He hung on the cross.  One perfect sacrifice.

I am overcome with love and gratitude for my Savior.

Leviticus 1; Smelling Like Jesus

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There is a restaurant on this island that serves the best steaks. It’s not a fancy restaurant. It looks like an old barn. The interior is rustic, the tables worn. But, oh that food!

This restaurant happens to be on the only road going north/south on the island. So any time I want to go anywhere, I pass Bennie’s Red Barn.

When I read, “…an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord,” I get it. I’ve been known to slow down and roll down my window when I pass Bennie’s just to get a whiff of that meat on the grill. That is a pleasing aroma to me.

The Old Testament sacrifices hold so many precious reminders of Jesus, the fire of God’s holiness, the Blood, the Sacrifice of the Spotless Lamb. Jesus’ work on the cross was and is a pleasing aroma to the Father.

Paul says, in 2 Corinthians 2:15:

For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

I’m wondering if that’s true of me. Am I the pleasing aroma to God that Jesus is?

I have a friend whose husband absolutely demands that she never, ever eat garlic. I’ve never met anyone who can eat a bite of food with garlic in it, then reek of garlic afterward like she can. Not just on her breath. It pours out her pores like a garlic diffuser.

That has me thinking this morning. Is what I am ingesting coming out as a pleasing aroma to God, or not so much? Do I spend time with Him, read and think about His Word, communicate with Him, so that I give God the same pleasure His Son does? Does God want to roll down the windows of heaven to get that whiff of me? Or do the windows go up because I smell like the world?

I want to be a pleasing aroma to God. And I want to be a pleasing aroma to people around me, too. Because I want to spend so much time with my Savior, that they’ll be drawn to to the scent of Him pouring out of me.

I want to smell like Jesus.

 

Exodus 39-40; Not For Show

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The shewbread or “bread of the face,” or “bread of the Presence” has never really caught my attention before. But after doing a bit of research, I am thanking God for the precious truth that loaf represents.

Twelve loaves of bread, baked with the finest flour, were arranged every week on the table in the Tent of Meeting. It was there as a display, set out representing the Presence of God among the twelve tribes of Israel. The bread, however, was not to be eaten by anyone, no matter how hungry they might be.

Then, after a week, new loaves replaced the old ones, and the priests ate the week-old bread on the Sabbath. It serves as another example of Jesus.

Before the cross, God was accessible to only a few chosen people, and only periodically. Oh, His Presence was visible. Just not touched.

Then Jesus said, “I AM the Bread of Life,” and “Take, eat…” God is no longer out of reach to those who accept Him.

Fill me, Lord. Thank You for Jesus, the Bread of Life. Thank You for making Yourself accessible to us through Your Holy Spirit. Thank You for being everything I need for life and eternity. I want more of You. Fill me, Lord.

Exodus 35-38; The Prefect Tabernacle

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Since God inspired Moses to write down the intricate details of the building of the tabernacle, I figure it must be important. So, not being one who can picture it from the words, I went to Google.

Not all artists renderings are exactly the same, but I can see that structure was amazing. For one, the colors must have looked spectacular against the backdrop of the desert.

And all that gold!

I love how God inspired them to construct the courtyard around the tabernacle, to protect it and set it apart. And I love how the Israelites built their tent cities around the place where God lived on earth.

God took His dwelling place seriously, and so did the Jews. How could the neighbors not recognize it, too? It had to be quite a testimony.

The New Testament tells us Jesus dwelt, or tabernacled, among us. Hebrews talks about a more perfect tabernacle not made of hands. Every detail of the Old Testament tabernacle is realized in the person of Jesus Christ. Think of it. He is the Gate, the Door, the Sacrifice, the Atonement, the Bread, the Light, the One who cleanses and intercedes. And when Jesus died on the cross, the veil that up until that time separated us from the Holy of Holies was ripped in two, giving us access to God Himself any time, any day.

So I don’t want to gloss over the tiny details of the tabernacle Moses built. It’s a picture of my Jesus. I want to build my life, my city of tents so to speak, around Him. I want to honor Him, worship Him, and recognize what a truly awesome God He is. And I want to stand out as His follower as obviously as a colorful tent in the desert.

Exodus 30-31; Five Bucks. Five Bucks.

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Each Jewish adult was required to pay a ransom for his or her life. (30:12) The price was half a shekel, or about 8 grams of silver. So by today’s standards, a life was worth about five bucks. (chabad.org)

A rich person wasn’t worth more than a poor person. A poor person’s debt wasn’t simply forgiven for lack of funds. Men didn’t pay more than women. Healthy not more than the sick.

Five bucks.

This says two things to me. 1) We are all equal in God’s eyes. That may give you warm fuzzies, but the reality is we are all equally guilty in God’s eyes. We all have sinned. We all are his enemies. We are all in need of redemption. But…

2) Jesus paid it all!!

Jesus went to the cross and died once for all. My ransom cost Him exactly what yours did. The wages of sin is death. Jesus died. I’m no more special than you, no more chosen than you, no more loved than you.

Jesus paid my ransom at the same time and in the same way He paid yours. I am forgiven because I’ve accepted His work on the cross and claimed it for my own. I pray you have done the same.

Exodus 27-29; A Step Further

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There were a lot of hoops Aaron and his sons had to jump through before they could do the work of the priests. From the top of their heads to the tip of their toes, from what they ate to where they ate it, from what animal they used in the sacrificed to what they did with every inch of the animal, nothing was left to chance. Their instructions, which were many, were clearly spelled out so the Jews could have their sins forgiven.

But after all that, even if carried out to the letter, the ceremony and sacrifices could only cover their sins, none of it could actually take those sins away. (Heb 10:4)

Only Jesus can do that. (Heb 9:15, 26; Romans 3:23)

Scripture tells us that when Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice, He washed our sins away, removed them as far as the east is from the west, buried them in the deepest sea, and promises never to remember them ever again.

What we read in Exodus is a picture of the intricate details Jesus fulfilled. But He went a step further. And I am praising Him today because He did!

Exodus 19-20; Good Folk

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I love knowing that all the Jewish people gathered around the mountain that day actually heard God’s voice. It must have been an incredible and terrifying experience. I love that God spoke to them in their own language, and I love that He came down to them to meet with them on their level. God is so personal.

We Christians know the Law God gave to the Jews wasn’t given as a recipe for acceptance. I am reminded that God was speaking to His already saved people. He had already rescued them from Egypt, and they were already free. They were already the children of God’s promise to Abraham.

The Law was given as a guide for living in Canaan, and ultimately to point them to Jesus. Following the Law has nothing to do with salvation. Oh, it’s a result of salvation. But it can never fulfill the requirements for salvation. It was never intended to.

So when people say they hope they’ve lived a good enough life to get to heaven, or if they are convinced they’re ok because they aren’t as bad as some mass murderer, they are wrong.

The Jews were saved when the blood was applied to their doorposts. It was the blood alone that saved them.

And it’s the Blood still today.