Something Smells Good

Leviticus 2:1 And when any will offer a meat offering unto the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon: The name of this offering gives you the wrong impression. The meat offering was actually an offering in which there was no blood shed. It was an offering of flour, oil and frankincense. The flour would be beaten until it was fine with no lumps. Christ was our example when it comes to allowing suffering to bring God glory. I have come to realize that in my life, I sometimes take a few lumps, but God uses the lumps to remove my lumps! The oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, and pouring the oil upon the offering is a picture of the anointing. As we are sifted in this life, we become even better candidates for His anointing. Everyone that does great things for God has no doubt gone through a great many trials to receive the great anointing. Frankincense is a wonderful picture of prayer, and in the meat offering, all of the frankincense was burned up with some of the flour and some of the oil. When it comes to prayer, the Bible teaches us that we should always pray without ceasing. When I look at this offering, I see it as a surrendered life, a life of daily sanctification, increasing fellowship with His Spirit, and an ever growing prayer life. The name "meat" offering makes sense in the light of the words of Christ when He said "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. (John 4:34) If you feel as if you are being sifted today, I encourage you to let God use what's happening to you to become an offering with a sweet smelling aroma to Him. 

A Whole Offering

Leviticus 1:4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. The first few chapters of Leviticus describe the instructions that God gave concerning sacrifices. The burnt offering is the first one discussed, and was the most common of all the sacrifices. This burnt offering was a voluntary offering that a person would offer out of his own free will. It was also a whole offering, in that the offerer, nor the priest, got to eat any of the meat from the animal. The whole animal was consumed in the fire. The burnt offering was offered on the bronze altar, which was the first thing that one would come to as they approached the temple. Every day, morning and evening, the altar would be used for burnt offerings, and even more so on special occasions. The burnt offering wasn't so much for specific sins, but to recognize the sinful condition of the offerer. The person giving the offering would lay his hand upon the animal without blemish, identifying with the animal, and would kill the animal himself and offer it before the Lord. I've said a lot, but the most important part is what it all means for us as New Covenant believers. The burnt offering pointed to Christ, the Lamb of God. As the offerer, we must recognize, not only our specific sins, but our sinful condition. Just as the bronze altar was the first thing, we must first realize our sinfulness before we can progress toward His presence. As the offerer identified with the offering, we too must identify with Christ, and baptism is no doubt the best way. Finally, just as the offerer did not get to partake of the offering as it was a whole offering, we too recognize that the offering of Christ as God's perfect substitute was a whole offering. He gets all the credit, and all the glory!

Crowded Out

Exodus 40:34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. After Moses and the people had finished building the tabernacle, and arranging all of the pieces of furniture as God commanded, God's presence came and dwelled in the tabernacle. His presence was so strong that Moses couldn't enter in. His glory was a visible cloud by day, and a fire by night. If the glory lifted from the tabernacle, the people knew that it was time to move forward on their journey. I have had some memorable times in God's presence when there seemed to be so much of God that there wasn't enough room for me. It has been some of the best experiences in my life. I wish that I could get crowded out by God everyday of my life! I really believe that God cherishes those moments with us as well, when His glory is made manifest with such power. But then there are other times when it seems as if His glory lifts......what does it mean? Is there sin in the camp? Possibly, but it's also possible that it's time to move forward in our journey with Him. Whether it is sin, or it's time to grow, the response should be the same......empty ourselves, and seek Him until once again His glory fills our temple and crowds us out. May God occupy our lives in such a way that He lives where we used to live, and the old us lives no more. Amen

You Gave too Much!

Exodus 36:7 For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.

When it was time to build the tabernacle, the people of Israel began to bring all the materials that would be needed. There were people who brought gold, some who brought silver, others who brought fabrics. Some used their talents to sculpt or weave, and God stirred their heart to do it with excitement. It was an impressive endeavor to say the least. So impressive, that Moses had to tell everyone to stop giving! God's people were so generous with their giving that there was much more materials than what was needed for the job. Now it's important to note that this tabernacle was not some poorly built shack, but instead, it was a beautiful work of craftsmanship that had many intricate and elaborate details. How in the world could this group of wanderers, who were recently slaves, have all the materials that would be needed for such a work? It was simply God. When Israel left Egypt, the Egyptians, fearing God, sent them out in style. And no doubt God was in all the details. I can imagine Him impressing an Egyptian woman to give all of her golden jewelry to the woman who used to be her servant.....why? Because God was gonna use that gold for the mercy seat! Just think, each piece of fabric, and each piece of jewelry had a purpose. There was only one thing needed. A heart that was willing to freely give what had been freely given. When a giving people come together with a giving God, there is only one possible outcome........TOO MUCH!

Shining Faces

Exodus 34:30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. Moses had such an encounter with God that his face shone with God's glory! It was such a big deal that Moses covered his face with a veil. It served as yet another reminder that God's people and God's glory were somewhat separated. The glory of the old covenant was present in the holiness of God, but the law revealed man's sinful nature, and the veil in the temple and the one on Moses' face were reminders of their inadequacies. The Bible tells that the New Covenant actually has a more glorious glory, and unlike the shine on the face of Moses, the glory of the gospel will never fade away! In Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, he stated that many people were still looking at the law with a veil on their heart, but for those who trusted in Christ, the veil is removed. Now, if the veil has been removed, and we have a better way to God than Moses did, shouldn't we all have shining faces? I pray that today, the world will get a glimpse of our glorious God when they look at you!

Hidden in Christ

Exodus 34:6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

Moses had a God encounter like no one else. God was going to pass by him and show him His glory. There was a problem, however, and in God's own words, "no one can see me and live". So God hid Moses in a cleft in the rock, and covered him with His hand as He passed by. God then removed His hand, and Moses was allowed to see God's glory. What did He see? We don't know for sure, but we know that God's glory had a visible effect on Moses that everyone noticed when he came back down from the mountain. Just like Moses, we are hidden in Christ, so that we might see His glory. He is our mediator, our go between, and has revealed to us the mercy, grace, patience, goodness and truth of God. We can also find comfort in the fact that God covered Moses with His hand. It can be scary sometimes when we can't see, and we feel like we are in the dark when it comes to this life, but as God's people, we can be assured that the darkness is the hand of our God, and He will certainly remove it when the time is right so that we can partake of His glory! I pray that we all would have a renewed vision of our glorious God, and that we would find strength, safety and security in the cleft of the rock.

Good Luck isn't Enough

Exodus 33:15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.

"If You aren't going with us, we aren't going." This was what Moses said to God, and it's something that we would do well to follow in our own life. How many times do we run full speed into business transactions, or relationships, or even ministry only to find out later that God wasn't behind our endeavors. How much better off would we be to have God's blessings before we jump in with both feet? Even more so, how much better off would we be to hear from God that what we were about to do was not in His plan for us? Let us not forget that Christians are followers of Christ, not leaders of Christ. If you are repeatedly finding yourself in situations where you have to ask "where is God", maybe it's time to back up, wait on God, and determine in your heart to stop trying to lead the Leader, and faithfully follow Him. If God goes before you, no one and nothing can stop you. If you go by yourself, good luck won't be enough!