March 15, 2012

You Shall Not Worship the Lord Your God in That Way (3/15)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Deuteronomy 11-13.

Yesterday we noticed a warning about forgetting God in the midst of prosperity. Today we see another warning to the Israelites, but this one has to do with their worship to God.

“When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

“Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it” (Deuteronomy 12:29-32, ESV).

Though the other nations would be driven out of the land, there was a danger in being too curious about what they did in their worship to their gods. Curiosity is not bad in itself. But the warning to the Israelites was about learning their ways so that they could do the same in their worship to the Lord. God gave them a pattern to follow and they were not to borrow anything from the worship practices of these other nations.
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February 24, 2012

"From a Month Old and Upward" (2/24)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Numbers 3-4.

In the previous reading, we noticed that the men of Israel, “from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war” (Numbers 1:3), were to be numbered. The exception to this was the tribe of Levi because they had a special duty to perform for the Lord (Numbers 1:49-50).

However, when we get to chapter 3, we find instructions given regarding the numbering of the Levites:

“Number the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number” (Numbers 3:15).

Instead of numbering the males who were twenty years old and upward, as was done with the rest of the tribes, the Lord wanted the Levites to be counted beginning at one month old.

Furthermore, instead of being counted for war, the Levites were set apart and counted for a spiritual work.
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February 23, 2012

The Levites Were Not to be Numbered (2/23)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Numbers 1-2.

The book of Numbers begins with a census being taken of certain ones from among the people: “From twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall number them by their armies” (Numbers 1:3). But those of one particular tribe were exempted.

“The Levites, however, were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe. For the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying, ‘Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor shall you take their census among the sons of Israel. But you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it; they shall also camp around the tabernacle” (Numbers 1:47-50).

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February 15, 2012

One Unauthorized Action (2/15)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 8-10.

“Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord” (Leviticus 10:1-2).

The account of Nadab and Abihu is an excellent example of the need to do those things which God has authorized and refrain from those things which He has not. But this event is not without a context. This happened during the time when Aaron and his sons – which included Nadab and Abihu – were consecrated and sacrifices were offered to God. Notice some of the phrases that describe what was done during these events:
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February 7, 2012

According to the Pattern (2/7)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Exodus 25-27.

“Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it” (Exodus 25:8-9).

God was about to reveal His instructions to the Israelites regarding the construction of the tabernacle and its furnishings. In these instructions, the Lord was very specific about what He expected them to do. He did not explain a vague concept He had for the tabernacle and allow the people to use their creativity to fill in the details. Nor did He permit them to create something that would be more “personal” so that the worshipers would be better able to “connect” to God and the worship “experience.”

God gave His instructions for a reason: He expected the Israelites to follow His instructions.
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February 1, 2012

God Reminds Pharaoh of His Place before Him (2/1)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Exodus 7-9.

After suffering through several plagues, Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let the Israelites go into the wilderness to worship God. After the sixth plague, God told Moses to deliver a message to Pharaoh, reminding him of his place before the Lord.

“Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth. But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth. Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go’” (Exodus 9:13-17).

These words were meant to remind Pharaoh of some facts he had allowed himself to ignore:
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January 31, 2012

Is Taking Time to Worship God a Sign of Laziness? (1/31)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Exodus 4-6.

There are many people today who cannot seem to take time away from their busy schedules to worship God or assemble with the saints. If there is work to be done, that takes priority in the minds of many. Pharaoh exhibited a similar attitude when he was first told to let the Israelites leave Egypt to go out into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord (Exodus 5:1). He gave the following instructions to their taskmasters:

“But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are lazy, therefore they cry out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words” (Exodus 5:8-9).

God’s people are certainly to be hard workers (Ecclesiastes 9:10; Colossians 3:23). But serving the Lord must always come first (Matthew 6:33).
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