Saturday, December 13, 2014
Preparation For The Sabbath
As worshipers of the Most High God, we are called to set aside the Sabbath to honor, worship, praise, and learn of our God and Father. In so doing, we are like the priests of old. In fact, Peter said we are a part of a new priesthood.
1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
As priests, we are called to prepare ourselves to serve our God, just as the priests of old prepared themselves to serve in the temple. There were certain rules about being clean that the priests had to follow to serve in the temple, such as if they touched a dead body they were unclean and could not serve in the temple.
Leviticus 8:1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread;
3 And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
4 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him; and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
5 And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the Lord commanded to be done.
6 And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.
7 And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.
8 And he put the breastplate upon him: also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim.
9 And he put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate, the holy crown; as the Lord commanded Moses.
10 And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them.
11 And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them.
12 And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.
13 And Moses brought Aaron’s sons, and put coats upon them, and girded them with girdles, and put bonnets upon them; as the Lord commanded Moses.
14 And he brought the bullock for the sin offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering.
15 And he slew it; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it.
Today, we are the priests and the temple, rolled into one, and God lives within us. We are called to be prepared for this collaboration between man and God by being holy which means set apart.
Romans 12:1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
We are also called to stay away from those that do not set themselves apart from their past practices and seem to be the same as those that have not surrendered to God.
1 Corinthians 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
In recent conversations this passage came up. In the past I have seen “pastors” throw people out of churches for certain transgressions, using scriptures like this and others to justify their actions. I place the word “pastors” in quotes because I suggest they are not (and likely have no mirrors in their homes), for Jesus clearly taught that a true pastor does not forsake a member of the flock. In fact, in this very verse it tells us what to do – do not eat with them. It says nothing about excommunicating them from the group. A similar passage that supports my point is found in a letter to the Thessalonians.
2 Thessalonians 3:13 But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
15 Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
16 Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.
Here we see Paul saying that we are to have no company with one that does these things. He also says not to count this person as an enemy but a brother, and admonish that person. He follows that by saying that peace is the goal, and then blesses THEM ALL. Does not sound like someone being thrown out of a group, right? You see, in today’s church there are some things not quite right. Someone frequently puts themself in the place of God with a title they give to themself of “Head Pastor” or something similar. I say they give it to themself because it never appears in scripture. Then they end up making rules and grabbing power that belongs to God. In this sense they are as wrong as the people they come against. We are all called to humble ourselves and to bear one another’s burdens. We are called to cry out to our Father and seek His kingdom in this earth. We are called to prepare ourselves to be priests, walking in the power of the living God.
Today, on this Sabbath, may we all judge ourselves and not another, and may we all humble ourselves before God.
Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High One True Living God. You alone are worthy of our praise. We need Your kingdom here Lord, not the kingdom of men. We need You to send us Your abundant provision. Forgive us when we judge others, whether for small things or big. We know we are all the same in Your sight, and we all have sinned and fallen short. Please forgive us all. We need Your healing and deliverance. Only You can do this. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.