Hi!
it's Moselle! As you know I'm doing the “through the Bible reading plan”
and I read about theofferings today in
Leviticusand they are so powerful! So
I'm going to tell you about them.
In
the Bible we have: The Burnt offering ,The Grain offering, The Peace offering,
The Sin offering, & The Guilt offering.
Let’s
start with the Burnt offering. This offering had to be totally burnt up in
smoke on the altar. This means that God wants me totally like the animal. So
that is every day and not just on Sunday.The Priest had to clean the ashes of the offering every day in his Holy
undergarments! That's special!
And
then we have the Grain offering. Aaron’s sons presented this to the Lord. This
is a mixture of grain, olive oil and sprinkled with incense. It can be the
harvest grain or the young green shoots.Pretty cool right? This represents that at any season whether you are
nine and working at the roasting room or you are receiving your retirement
check, just keep giving to God! Whatever you have, and whatever the season of
your life-- Give! Give! Give!
Then
we have the Peace offering. Peace to God means that everything is in his order.
If you were God you would want to have everything in your order right? I mean I
would if I were! If God gave you something cool like a motorcycle, you would
give him something back right? That is telling God you know where it came from!
Right? So anyway that's the peace offering.
Then
we have the Sin offering. Again you sin. This I think is even worse! The animal
sacrificed here has to be perfect! IT MUST! Because you sinned BAD!! BAD TO THE
BONE! Hehe..... Anyway back to the story. So it’s a valuable thing to
sacrifice! Right? You know its not good..... you know....... that you sinned
against God! But its normal. It’s ok! He will always forgive you, but usually
sin will cost you something. That's the sin offering.
And then we have the Guilt offering.It’s like the cherry on top of the sin
offering. This offering costs something very valuable. So in the Bible they
say: give me “the ram” not “a ram” but “the ram”. Because
it is the main guy in the flock. He is the one that makes the little lambs and
that makes the shepherd rich.So we know
that it will cost something valuable in our future. But for us he might say:
(this is just an example) Give me your house! (because that's what’s
valuable now days) or your car!
In
the Bible they say you “unintentionally” sinned, but I don't know what that
means so I'm just gonna put “sinned”. Anyway, back to the story. Because you
sinned is why you have to give it up! I think this Guilt Offering means that
this kind of sin will cost you something of your future.
All
these offerings help you understand what will make God happy with your life. So
I hope you enjoyed my “TRUE” story. Thank for listening to God’s word spoken
through me!
Today
we were doing our daily Bible reading. We were studying Acts 15.
There
were some Jewish guys (aka the Pharisees) who said to the Greek friends of Paul
and Barnabas, “If you want to be a Christian you have to be circumcised
andobey the laws of Moses.”Some of these laws say no eating pig or
shrimp or lobster. So according to these guys, Christians can't eat these
things, but I like to eat hot dogs and I am a Christian. I also like to eat
shrimp which my mom makes really good. So you know I can't resist it when it is
in front of me.
The
law talks about not trimming beards. I don't have one but my dad trims his
every morning-he shaves, but sometimes not on Saturday. And another law is “no
tattoos”. I don't have one but a lot of Christians that I know do. One of my
friends is even a tattoo artist.
As
I read it in the Bible, being a Christian is just having a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ and confessing he is Lord. That’s what it says
in Romans 10:9-10. Of course once we have the personal relationship, then we
will want to do the things that make him happy.
These
Jewish guys in Acts 15 are trying to say to be a Christian is Jesus +
something else.It's like Jesus
plus “no piercings”.Or Jesus plus
“reading the Bible every day”. I mean that's not the truth at all.
I
have disobeyed those laws many times but I always ask God to forgive my sins
and I am still a part of God’s family (aka a Christian). So the
Pharisees added more rules about being Christian than Jesus says in the Bible.
I am so glad James and his friends decided that we don't have to be Jews
because I am part Japanese. I love cheeseburgers, I love ribs, especially how
my friend Tracy makes them. And love shrimp- its the best.Arielle
Here are some Photos and videos for this month's reading
Exodus describes the building of the Tabernacle in the WIlderness. A few years ago, our friend Dr. Randall Smith built an exact replica of the Tabernacle, and set it up in a desert setting near the Dead Sea just south of Jericho. For many years the Tabernacle in the Wilderness Study Center provided many students a realistic model of the structure, and a quiet place to mediate on how we are to approach God.
Here are a few photos taken by us over the years.
The court yard of the Tabernacle featured a bronze laver, an altar for the sacrifices, a place for the preparation of the animals, and the Tent of Meeting.
The Bronze Laver was a place of cleansing- something required before a meeting with God.
The animals were brought to the Tabernacle (Leviticus 1) and prepared for sacrifice. Sharp knives were required!
The Altar was for burning the sacrifice.
The Olah offering (Burnt Offering) was a completely consumed offering, painting the picture of us giving it all to God.
Inside the Tent of Meeting, was a 7 candle Menorah which represented the "Light of The World" which Jesus used later to describe Himself.
The Table of Shewbread was a place to keep some of the Manna. It was a reminder of God's provision to His people.
The Table of Incense was a reminder of how our prayers go up to God.
The Ark was the place where Atonement took place. Dr. Smith used the designers of the Paris Disneyland to make this copy of the Ark, and the Gold used was over $10,000.00.
How do we understand all this? Here is one suggestion:
An excerpt from Echoes Into Eternity
“As we come
into the Scriptures and try to understand what is going on in the pages, we
have to realize when I open my Bible, I step out of my 21st century world and
go to another culture in another time.So it is a little more than just reading it and believing it. Mark Twain
is the one who said, “We know a lot of things that just ain’t so.”
“The reality
is this: There is not one word of Scripture written to me personally, but every
word of Scripture was written for me.”
“When God
spoke, He spoke to a specific people at a specific time in a specific place to
benefit me much later- but not to me.He
said it to them in a way that they would understand it.I’ve got to do something more than just read
it and believe it.
It’s like
putting a tea bag into hot water- I’ve got to allow the Scripture to permeate
my “water” and change who I am by the principles involved in it. It is the
principle behind the cultural practice that I am after.What everlasting truth can I draw from this
story that is relevant and applicable to my life today? We believe that there
is a simple and direct manner to understand Scripture.
We call it:
The Principle Approach to Scripture.
Look at a
simple example from Leviticus 1:
Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from
the tent of meeting, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to
them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring
your offering of animals from the herd or the flock.
‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the
herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the
doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord.Leviticus 1:1-3
In verse
one, we see God calling out to Moses.From this I know God often takes the initiative in His fellowship with
mankind.This is an important principle
for me to remember when I am feeling far from God.
In verse
two, God orders the people to bring an offering from their own herd or flock.I can conclude that God wants me to return to
Him some of the things He has freely given me.This is a good principle of relationship between God and me, and an
important principle of God’s economics.
In verse
three, God says to bring an animal without defect.From this I see God wants my best; He will
not be happy with a half-hearted response from me.If He asks me to give $100 to the
missionaries, He will not be pleased if I give only $50. If I am to paint the
widow’s house, He wants me to use the best paint I can afford.
According to some teachings, I could throw out
Leviticus by saying “We are not under the Law!”, but I then would miss many of
God’s Truths that apply very well to my life today.If we read the Scriptures, searching for the
principles and truths behind the specific cultural practices, then we begin to
receive life from the Word of God, not just dusty, out-of-date commandments.”
One thing to realize is that the Bible is a library
of 66 books.This library, like many
modern libraries, contains different types of literature.The “Type” of literature determines the steps
to take to understand and extract the everlasting truths and principles.Let’s face it, we read a court document much
different that we would read the lyrics to a love song.It is the same with the Bible.
Since we are wandering around the desert in Exodus & Leviticus & Numbers, here are some pictures of a recent trip to the Negev Desert.
We also have a video of that trip in a YouTube format at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!!!
These scenes are from a trip to the Negev Desert in southern Israel. The Camel Team included Pat & Kandi Obrien, Carlie & Luke Broadhurst, Moselle, Arielle, Lukas, and Mikaela Bagby, Shai (our guide) as well as Laura & Maik Bagby.
Recent Comments