Tuesday - Feb 18 - Tiffany

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Leviticus 7-8; Psalm 35; Mark 7

;

Today's scripture focus is Titus 2:1-5

Titus 2:1-5

 You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. ² Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

³ Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

 

 

The ladies fellowship group I attend has taken the Titus 2 woman as our example in what we aim to be each day.  It is honestly refreshing to get a new focus on what we, as women, are called to be, leaving the Proverbs 31 woman behind a bit. Because of my group's focus, I was excited to have these verses fall on a Tuesday!

 

Speaking to all people (not just women), while the Titus verses are split between guidance for men and guidance for women, I believe we can all take wisdom from these 5 verses.

The lists of virtues benefit everyone: temperate; self control; sound in faith, love and endurance; reverent; teaching what is good; and urging others to live this way as well.

 

These verses remind me of 1 Timothy 6:11-12 - "But you, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith...."

 

Paul obviously felt this was the way to go.  He instructs two young disciples to follow the same virtues, to pass these virtues on to others. 

In our house we have 3 goals for each day: godliness, character, and contentment.  Be a person who loves God first, be a person of character, be a person content with what God has given you.

 

While Jesus instructs us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourself,, I'm thankful for Paul's instruction on character to help us with the details each day.

 

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Titus 2:6-10

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Leviticus 9-10; Psalm 36; Mark 8

Tu

Monday, February 17th

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Leviticus 5-6, Psalm 34, Mark 6

Today's scripture focus is Titus 1:10-16

Titus 1:10-16

English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁰ For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. ¹¹ They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. ¹² One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹³ This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,¹⁴ not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. ¹⁵ To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. ¹⁶ They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

Accompanying John MacArthur sermons: Men Who Must Be Silenced Part 1 and Part 2
Accompanying Robert Rayburn sermon: Controversy

I actually listened to all 3 of these sermons and they were all so good.  So much is packed into these passages.

Note the very first word - "for".  It's the link to the previous section.  The reason Titus had to appoint elders of strong character who held firmly to the Word and was able to instruct and rebuke with sound doctrine is because there were many false teachers inmeshed in the churches - Jewish false teachers (the circumcision party).

Part of strong spiritual leadership is silencing people who should not speak.

MacArthur contends that you can silence them by not giving them a platform from which to speak - if it's within your power to do so, don't publish their books, don't have them as a guest speaker, don't put them on the radio, don't give them the opportunity.

You can also silence them by overpowering them with the truth.  We need to be knowledgable so that, when given the opportunity, we are not the ones embarrassed.

You can also silence them by living holy lives to back up the truth you are speaking.

Unfortunately, as this text says, there are many of them.  Many false teachers who are rebellious and deceitful, spewing empty lies.  When someone falls for their deceit it creates chaos in the home and in the church.  And they do it for money.

Paul has some very harsh words for these people - detestable, disobedient, worthless.

We need to know the truth in order to spot the error.  We need to be ready to rebuke with the truth - in love and compassion. And, in particular, we need leaders who are willing and able to do so.

Rayburn closes his sermon this way.....

Paul, as we know from his whole corpus of writings, was very careful to distinguish between killing errors and more benign misunderstandings. He knew that real Christians sometimes gave place to bonehead ideas. He knew how to be patient with people who didn’t understand things correctly. He knew how to teach and instruct and refute in ways that made proper distinctions between various kinds of errors and various kinds of persons. He knew where to draw the line and where not to draw it. All of this is also the task of the one who would contend for the truth and the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. Such contention is an art as well as a science and requires godliness and love as well as education and intellect to do well. They said of Augustine that he was sauviter in modo, fortiter in re; that is, he was gentle in his manner but unrelenting in regard to the issue itself.

But all of that being said and heard, it remains the fact that the truth that sets men free is always and everywhere being subverted from within the church. Congregations and whole denominations filled with believing people generations ago are now empty of spiritual life. Once thriving spiritual nurseries are now morgues. The churches of the men of whom you hear so much from me: Chrysostom and Augustine in the early church, Francis and Bernard of the medieval church, Calvin and Knox of the Reformation church, Owen and Bunyan of the Puritan church, Whitefield and Edwards of the Great Awakening Church, Charles Simeon, J.C. Ryle, Charles Spurgeon, and Alexander Whyte of the Victorian Church, these churches are dead or dying and it was in every case a self-inflicted wound that killed them.

If you love your souls and the souls of your children, you will care about the battle that Paul is calling upon us to fight and you will care that you have leaders capable of acquitting themselves faithfully and ably in that battle.

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Titus 2:1-5

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Leviticus 7-8, Psalm 35, Mark 7

Friday, February 14th

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Exodus 39-40; Psalm 33; Mark 5

Today's scripture focus is Titus 1:5-9

Titus 1:5-9

English Standard Version (ESV)

Qualifications for Elders

5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

Accompanying Robert Rayburn sermon: Elders
Accompanying John MacArthur sermons: The Moral Characters of a Pastor, The Required Character for a Pastor: Family Leadership, The Qualifications for a Pastor, Part 1: Noble Character, Part 2, Part 3: Teaching Skill

Titus had a tough job to do and a short time in which to do it: strengthening believers, establishing effective ministry in the homes and the churches, opposing false teachers and their errors, teaching sound doctrine.
And 3:12 tells us that Titus was supposed to return to Paul once Artemas or Tychicus arrived.  And he was supposed to appoint elders in cities throughout the islands of Crete.  A tall order indeed!

Our passage today gives us the required character and qualifications for elders of the church.

He was supposed to be above reproach or blameless.  This doesn't mean sinless, because no one is sinless.  But he had to consistently live according to his profession of faith.  He had to be a man of integrity, a man whose reputation as a man of God would be inarguable.

He was to be the husband of one wife.  This doesn't mean he couldn't remarry if he was a widower.  A more literal translation of the Greek would be a one-woman man.  It's not marital status that's the issue, it's moral characters.  He has to be faithful to his wife and his wife alone, totally loyal to her, with a reputation of being sexually pure, with no past mistresses, illegitimate children, or current adulteries.  A one-woman man.

He also needs to have proven his spiritual leadership capabilities within his own home.  This is controversial, and may seem harsh.  But the truth remains that there is a direct connection between a man's faithfulness and success in raising his own children, and his ability to nurture a church.
MacArthur: The fact of the matter is God saves people through the means of godliness in the lives of others. And if I in my home am committed to living a godly life and a virtuous life and the proclaiming saving gospel truth that is lived out in integrity, there is every reason to believe God in His grace will use that to redeem my children. It may not always happen, but for a man who stands in the pulpit to be the model and who will not be scandalized by some activity on the part of his children, it is necessary... The Scripture says people are converted as a result of how we live and what we preach. And a godly life proclaiming truth, living with integrity is going to have a tremendous impact on the conversion of other people and you're going to see it in the family, in the home.  
A pastor must have children who believe and who live what they believe.  No, we are not held personally responsible for our children's coming to faith - that is between them and God. But it is a requirement for pastoral leadership, because it is the proof of his spiritual leadership capabilities.

V7-8 talk about the noble character necessary in a pastor.
v7 talks about what a pastor should NOT be, and the reverse would tell us what he should be.  He should not be arrogant or self-absorbed or self-seeking, rather he should be humble and unselfish.  He should not be quick-tempered, but rather patient.  He should not be a drunkard or indulge in anything that might dull his senses or decision making abilities, he should be clear headed.  He should not be violent, but rather peaceful, meek, and humble.  He must not be greedy or a lover of money, but rather a man of integrity and honesty.

V8 gives us the positives, and they're all pretty self-explanatory.  He must be hospitable (loving strangers generously), loves what is good, self-controlled (in thought, word, and deed), upright, holy, and disciplined.

These are some high standards.  Very high standards.  Why so high?
Because that's how God wants you to live..and that's why He wants your leaders to be that because how are you going to get to that point if you don't have somebody to follow? It isn't that these people are to be different than everybody else, they are to be what everybody else is to be. That's what leadership is all about. Luke 6:40, "And when a man is fully discipled, he will be like his teacher." The standard is high because God wants his flock to be holy even as He is holy.

And, finally, the pastor needs to be a good preacher and teacher.  That's the only skillset that's in this list.
preach and teach the Word of God to strengthen believers and to bring them to obedience to God and then to convince people of error and show them the path of truth. Sound doctrine does both. If a man has the necessary foundation, that is he holds loyally and exclusively to the Word of God as the source, then he can do the necessary duty with power and blessing.

A pastor needs to be skilled in preaching and teaching, but he needs to have the life and character to back it up.

The character of the man is the foundation of his preaching and teaching because the pattern of his life is the platform for his proclamation. We are preachers and we are teachers, we are articulators of truth, but at the same time that is done from the platform of a virtuous life. Leadership primarily is example. We are called to live what we preach and teach. We are to set a pattern for others to follow in our own lives, as well as what we say.

Note that these are not optional.  He MUST be all these things.  And if he is not, he cannot be a pastor. If a pastor commits adultery and repents of his sin, he can and must be forgiven, he can and must be restored to fellowship - but he can no longer pastor a church.  The Bible is clear on this.
Where do people get the idea that a year or a few months or few weeks can somehow restore integrity to a man who has squandered his reputation, who has stained the pulpit with his sin, who has destroyed people's trust and most heinously, sinned against the gracious God who called him to preach? Once purity is sacrificed the privilege of leadership by example and proclamation is gone....

Now by all means if a man is truly repentant we should embrace that man and love that man and forgive him seventy times seven and let him share in the joy of Christian fellowship when his repentance is real. But that does not mean that he should be put back into the place of spiritual ruling and teaching. We cannot erase the consequences of sin by a simple prayer or an elaborate recommissioning service. We have to measure every man who seeks to minister by the scriptural standard. But sin is so pervasive in our world, it's so pervasive even in the church that there is a tolerance for sin that I don't think certainly in my life time we've ever seen. And there are many, I suppose you could call them casual Christians, or carnal Christians, or professing Christians who want to lower the level of holiness in their leaders because it makes them feel much more comfortable about their own sin....

Evangelical Christianity for the most of this century has focused on the battle for doctrinal purity and it's right that we have, but we're losing the battle for moral purity. So we have people with the right theology living an impure life. And the worse defeats the church is experiencing may be coming at the very hands of its leadership. We cannot lower God's standard for the sake of sympathy. We don't need to. We can be loving and forgiving and gracious and merciful and kind without lowering God's standard. We have to hold it higher so that purity can be regained. In fact, all of the battles that we have fought for orthodoxy, all the battles for the integrity of Scripture fall uselessly by the wayside if preachers of it are corrupt and if their people no longer follow their shepherds as models of holiness.


I think Rayburn sums it up well....
the same character that is to be found to an eminent degree in an elder is precisely that same character that ought to be found in an increasing degree in every Christian.

Perhaps you noticed this as we read Paul’s description of the man who ought to be an elder in Christ’s church. It is nothing but a description of Christian godliness and of the virtues to which we are all summoned and of the vices which we are all commanded to put to death. It is not only elders who are to be blameless, hospitable, self-controlled, and holy. It is not only church officers who ought not to be quick-tempered, given to too much drink, or greedy.

So fundamental to God’s interest in our lives is a holy character, so crucial to what Christ is wanting to accomplish in us by the Holy Spirit is personal godliness, purity, and love, that such a life becomes the measure of man’s fitness to lead the church. We might have thought it otherwise. We might have thought that the wealthy and powerful, or the smartest, or the most commanding personalities, or the best speakers, or the most interesting teachers might be chosen for the church’s leaders. But it is not so. It is to be the holiest men and they only; those who have gone ahead in the things of God and have put on the full man in Christ Jesus.

Do you see the point? It is for us as it must be for them: our lives are our ministries; our lives are the proof of the gospel of Christ; our lives are what invest our words with authority and persuasiveness; our lives embody, express, and represent our faith in Christ. It is holy Scripture that teaches us times without number that Christ gave himself for us to make us holy; God sent his Son to die for us that we might be conformed to the image of his Son; that we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. To make a godly life our great interest, to make a Christ-like life the great goal of our efforts day and night, is to think God’s thoughts after him; it is to honor the love and sacrifice of Christ; and it is to seek to fulfill God’s will in our lives. All of this is confirmed in this attention paid to a man’s character in the qualifications for the eldership....

If we all aspire to be what elders must be, we will not only be happier and more useful to Christ ourselves, but will together produce a church that must be greatly favored to have so many holy men from which to choose her officers.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!




Tomorrow's scripture focus: Titus 1:10-16

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Leviticus 1-2
Sunday's passage: Leviticus 3-4
Monday's passage: Leviticus 5-6, Psalm 34, Mark 6

Thursday, February 13 ~ Miriam

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Exodus 37-38; Psalm 32; Mark 4

Today's scripture focus is Titus 1:1-4

Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, 3 but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior,

4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Rayburn talks more about the book as a whole in his sermon, rather than focusing on these four verses, but he says that Titus had been sent to Crete to shepherd the new believers there, and he draws parallels between the Cretans and our society today.  I found this interesting:

The Cretan culture was famous in the ancient world for its sensuality, its covetousness, its dishonesty and its laziness. Paul will quote one of the Cretan's own poets, Epimenedes, to this effect in 1:12. A Cretan should be expected to praise his fellow citizens, or at least, not to slander them. But here one of their own prophets says these hard things about the inhabitants of Crete. Their reputation for telling lies for selfish purposes was so widespread that it gave rise to the noun "Cretism" which meant "Cretan behavior" which, in turn, was a synonym for lying. And the verb "cretize" meant "to tell a lie," just as "to Corinthianize" in the ancient world meant to live a sensually profligate life.

It was a culture corrupt in recognizable ways. But, what is new about that. Our culture is corrupt in very recognizable ways and, were it possible for the apostle Paul to address the American church, he would no doubt have very specific things to say to us about how our behavior, perhaps in ways we hardly recognize, needed to be made subject to the law of Christ. We live and have been shaped by a culture that is materialistic, relativistic, feminist, sensual, and proud of its accomplishments. All of us bear within our hearts the effects of those cultural sins. We breath them in with the air, we drink them in with the water. We may not be precisely the sort of people that Cretans were widely considered to be, but we are a people with a certain character and way of life and there is much of that in us that needs to be changed. Others around the world see that very clearly, even as we see so clearly their faults.

But here comes Paul to Titus telling him to be sure that he tailors his preaching and teaching to the moral, the spiritual, and the material culture of the Cretans. Don't preach to them as if they sinned in the same way as the Corinthians do. Speak to them as Cretans. Address the temptations that they face because of where they live and because of the culture of which they are apart. All of this teaching will be, of course, useful for any Christian living anywhere at any time. But it also reminds us that loyalty to Christ and to his gospel, obedience to the Word of God and to God's law, will mean for any group of Christians particular departures from the thinking and behavior common to their society, to their times, and to their culture.

Much of what we will read in Paul's letter to Titus is what needs to be said to any and every Christian all of the time; some of it is what needs to be said directly to us, in just our kind of culture - so similar is our situation to theirs - and some of what Paul tells Titus to tell the Cretans is what can easily enough be translated from instructions for the Cretans to instructions for us in 21st century America. For example, we may not have slaves and masters, literally, in our day and our country; but we have similar relationships that must also be sanctified for the glory of God.

What I love more and more about the Bible is how perfectly timeless it is. A letter from one of Christ's apostles can be read as if it were written to us today. A letter about what the church needs to hear and needs to do is as relevant to our situation as it was to that of the Cretan Christians in the middle of the first century. Let us hear then the Apostle Paul with the intention that we should believe and obey; that our lives should be changed; that we should be sanctified and made the more holy; that we should, as Paul says in chapter 2, more and more make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

Hmmm, I have a little hesitation about the last part of the sentence above - "make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive" - it concerns me that people make it more attractive by diluting it or leaving out the unpalatable parts.  I'm sure he doesn't mean that we should do that, but I'm curious to know what he means by making the teaching more attractive.  He doesn't say.

Happy Thursday!

Tomorrow's scripture focus:  Titus 1:5-9

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage:  Exodus 39-40; Psalm 33; Mark 5

Wednesday, February 12th

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Exodus 35-36, Psalm 32, Mark 4

Today's scripture focus is Ezekiel 47:13-48:35

This is our last day studying the book of Ezekiel - I've really enjoyed our study and I hope you have too!

Ezekiel 47:13-48:35

English Standard Version (ESV)

Division of the Land

13 Thus says the Lord God: “This is the boundary by which you shall divide the land for inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions. 14 And you shall divide equally what I swore to give to your fathers. This land shall fall to you as your inheritance.
15 “This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north side, from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, and on to Zedad, 16 Berothah, Sibraim (which lies on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. 17 So the boundary shall run from the sea to Hazar-enan, which is on the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north. This shall be the north side.
18 “On the east side, the boundary shall run between Hauran and Damascus; along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel; to the eastern sea and as far as Tamar. This shall be the east side.
19 “On the south side, it shall run from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egyptto the Great Sea. This shall be the south side.
20 “On the west side, the Great Sea shall be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This shall be the west side.
21 “So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. 22 You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23 In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord God.

48 “These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern extreme, beside the way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan (which is on the northern border of Damascus over against Hamath), and extending from the east side to the west, Dan, one portion. 2 Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher, one portion.3 Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the east side to the west, Naphtali, one portion. 4 Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion. 5 Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion. 6 Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion. 7 Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the west, Judah, one portion.

8 “Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which you shall set apart, 25,000 cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. 9 The portion that you shall set apart for the Lord shall be 25,000 cubits in length, and 20,000 in breadth.10 These shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring 25,000 cubits on the northern side, 10,000 cubits in breadth on the western side, 10,000 in breadth on the eastern side, and 25,000 in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the Lord in the midst of it. 11 This shall be for the consecrated priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did. 12 And it shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites.13 And alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in breadth. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the breadth 20,000. 14 They shall not sell or exchange any of it. They shall not alienate this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.
15 “The remainder, 5,000 cubits in breadth and 25,000 in length, shall be for common use for the city, for dwellings and foropen country. In the midst of it shall be the city, 16 and these shall be its measurements: the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500, the east side 4,500, and the west side 4,500. 17 And the city shall have open land: on the north 250 cubits, on the south 250, on the east 250, and on the west 250. 18 The remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall be 10,000 cubits to the east, and 10,000 to the west, and it shall be alongside the holy portion. Its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. 19 And the workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall till it. 20 The whole portion that you shall set apart shall be 25,000 cubits square, that is, the holy portion together with the property of the city.
21 “What remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the 25,000 cubits of the holy portion to the east border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the west border, parallel to the tribal portions, it shall belong to the prince. The holy portion with the sanctuary of the temple shall be in its midst. 22 It shall be separate from the property of the Levites and the property of the city, which are in the midst of that which belongs to the prince. The portion of the prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin.
23 “As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, Benjamin, one portion. 24 Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon, one portion. 25 Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Issachar, one portion. 26 Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the east side to the west, Zebulun, one portion.27 Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, Gad, one portion. 28 And adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run from Tamar to the waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. 29 This is the land that you shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Lord God.

The Gates of the City

30 “These shall be the exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, 31 three gates, the gate ofReuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. 32 On the east side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. 33 On the south side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun.34 On the west side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali.35 The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There.”

Rayburn's commentary on these verses in his sermon on this passage was really fascinating and I'd encourage you to read or listen to it all yourself.  A few things jumped out at me that I wanted to share.

In this passage there is no distinction made, as far as land ownership goes, between the foreigner and the native Israelite.  The Gentile becomes an Israelite - just like the New Testament emphasizing the Gentile and the Israelite believer together forming the Israel of God.

The land allotments are completely different than those described in Joshua, where each tribe was given a different size allotment based on size and topography.  This is a picture of an idealized Promised Land and the allotments are now fair and square paying no heed to topography whatsoever.  Even though everything is basically "fair and square" there are still some difference, even inequities.  Some are closer to the city and sanctuary than others.  It's interesting to note that the ones that are closest are the tribes from the true wives of Jacob (Leah and Rachel).  It's also interesting that Judah is placed with the northern tribes, perhaps symbolizing the overcoming of the animosity that had long existed between Judah and Israel during the days of the divided kingdom.  Fascinating!

We have, in this passage, an idealized picture of the Promised Land to come.  What an encouragement!

Everything back and better than ever before. The Holy Land restored, from east to west and north to south, the same basic dimensions it had had in its ideal form when first defined to them and before Israel entered the Promised Land under Joshua. All of it back in the hands of the people of God. Brotherhood reigning again, all the tribes in unity with one another. The worship of God in a perfect temple being supported by all the people. A prince to lead them. And, supremely, God present among them once more to bless them.

How is this meaningful to us?  In several ways!  First, the promise of the OT Promised Land is enlarged to become the promise of the world in the NT.
“The meek shall inherit the land” in Psalm 37:11 becomes “The meek shall inherit the earth” in Matthew 5:5. The promise that Abraham would inherit the land in Gen. 12:1 becomes the promise that Abraham would inherit the world in Rom. 4:13. And the promise that faithful children would live a long life in the land, in the fifth of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 becomes a promise of long life on the earth in Ephesians 6:3

The believing world, as a whole, will eventually come under God's grace. What a promise!

This is a joyful description of the amazing future ahead for the people of God - salvation both here on earth and in heaven to come.

If you could imagine the most wonderful day, spent in the most wonderful place, with the most wonderful people you know to the make the experience the best one you could imagine - that will not even compare to the glory of heaven.  Rayburn encouraged this imaginative exercise and then said....

Did not God furnish you with this extraordinary power of imagination because a large part of what we must do if we are to live rightly in this world is to keep in our mind’s eye (another word, another phrase for that power of imagination) on the wonderful world and the wonderful life that lies ahead of us because Jesus Christ has gone ahead to prepare a place for us so that where he is we may be also.

It has sometimes been alleged that people who are always thinking about heaven are “too heavenly minded to be any earthly good.” ...... But, the fact is, you can’t be too heavenly minded. No one can. To be heavenly minded is to understand rightly the life you are living here in this world. To be heavenly minded is to understand what it means to live life as a person should and to know how that life is to be lived. The end, the destination determines the meaning of the trip and shapes the way in which we think about our traveling. Indeed it shapes the way we travel.

In the Bible the reality of this grand future, the prospect of the unending fulfillment of human life, of a place, a time, a people, a way of life that is in fact the fulfillment of the longing of every human heart, all of that is meant to encourage us, to strengthen, to nerve, to steel us, to face the trials, difficulties, challenges and the temptations of life in this world with calm and with resolve. If life becomes hard, well, we are going to a place where all difficulties will soon be forgotten and if you can see that place in your mind’s eye, undergoing difficulties now is not so difficult. If we must do without, well the time is coming when we shall have everything and that forever and if you can see that place in your mind’s eye, doing without for a time seems not so great a sacrifice to you after all. If we must make sacrifices to live for Christ, well, as he did, we make them willingly for the joy set before us...

We are to live with an eye open to that glorious world and if we do it will, it must change the way we think, and speak, and act here and now. That is the whole point.

Have you ever read CS Lewis Chronicles of Narnia and thought to yourself - I don't want to live in this world, I want to live in Narnia?  The happy truth is - one day we will! And it will be infinitely better than Narnia could ever be.

Do we anticipate the passage into heaven with eagerness and joy?  Indeed, one of the greatest testimonies we will ever give is the attitude we have if/when we receive news or our impending and certain death.  Of course we enjoy our lives here on earth, and of course we should seek medical help when we fall ill, and of course we look forward to seeing our children and grandchildren grow up.  But we need to always remember that this world is not our home.  We need to focus on the glorious Promised Land that is ours, and when we receive the news that we will be there soon we should receive it with rejoicing!



Tomorrow's scripture focus: Titus 1:1-4

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Exodus 37-38, Psalm 33, Mark 5

Tuesday Feb 11 -Tiffany

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Exodus 33-34, Psalm 31, Mark 3

Today's scripture focus is Ezekiel 47:1-12

Ezekiel 47:1-12

New International Version (NIV)

The River From the Temple

47 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. ² He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side.

³ As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. ⁴ He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. ⁵ He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. ⁶ He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”
Then he led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷ When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. ⁸ He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. ⁹ Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. ¹¹ But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. ¹² Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing

 

 

As I read this, the song "Let the river flow" began playing in my mind.  You can listen to the whole thing here.

 

What a beautiful picture.  After all the prophecy of destruction, how wonderful to think of a river that turns salt water fresh, that causes fruit trees to blossom and bear fruit every month, trees that can feed and heal all who come to the river. 

How amazing to think that this is where we are.  All who come to Jesus, come to this river.  And we become fishers of men. Strengthened by this river, we can bring even more to Christ.

Tomorrow's scripture focus:Ezekiel 47:13-48:35

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Exodus35-36, Psalm32, Mark 4

Monday, February 10- by Pamela

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Exodus 31-32, Psalm 30, Mark 2

Today's scripture focus is Ezekiel 43:13-46:24

The Altar

¹³ “These are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth):^[a] its base shall be one cubit high^[b] and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span^[c] around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar: ¹⁴ from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; ¹⁵ and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, four horns. ¹⁶ The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad. ¹⁷ The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all around. The steps of the altar shall face east.”

¹⁸ And he said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and for throwing blood against it, ¹⁹ you shall give to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord God, a bull from the herd for a sin offering. ²⁰ And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around. Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it. ²¹ You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area. ²² And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull. ²³ When you have finished purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish. ²⁴ You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. ²⁵ For seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. ²⁶ Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.^[d] 27 And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, andI will accept you, declares the Lord God.”

The Gate for the Prince

44 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. ² And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. ³ Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”

⁴ Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And I fell on my face. ⁵ And theLord said to me, “Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning all the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. ⁶ And say to the rebellious house,^[e] to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, enough of all your abominations, ⁷ in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You^[f] have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. ⁸ And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.

⁹ “Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. ¹⁰ But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment.^[g] 11 They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. ¹³ They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. ¹⁴ Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

Rules for Levitical Priests

¹⁵ “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. ¹⁷ When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸ They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. ²⁰ They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads.²¹ No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ²² They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ²³ They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. ²⁵ They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. ²⁶ After he^[h] has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. ²⁷ And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

²⁸ “This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. ²⁹ They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

The Holy District

45 “When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits^[i] long and 20,000^[j] cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. ² Of this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. ³ And from this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. ⁴ It shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. ⁵ Another section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.^[k]

⁶ “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. It shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

The Portion for the Prince

⁷ “And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary ⁸ of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

⁹ “Thus says the Lord God: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people, declares the LordGod.

¹⁰ “You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.^[l] 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer,^[m] and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. ¹² The shekel shall be twenty gerahs;^[n] twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.^[o]

¹³ “This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, ¹⁴ and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor^[p] (the cor, like the homer, contains ten baths).^[q] 15 And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. ¹⁷ It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

¹⁸ “Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and purify the sanctuary. ¹⁹ The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. ²⁰ You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.

²¹ “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. ²² On that day the princeshall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. ²³ And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering. ²⁴ And he shall provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin^[r] of oil to each ephah. ²⁵ In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil.

The Prince and the Feasts

46 “Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. ² The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. ³ The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. ⁴ The burnt offering that the prince offers to the Lord on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish. ⁵ And the grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah,^[s] and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he is able, together with a hin^[t] of oil to each ephah. ⁶ On the day of the new moon he shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish. ⁷ As a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. ⁸ When the prince enters, he shall enter by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way.

⁹ “When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead. ¹⁰ When they enter, the prince shall enter with them, and when they go out, he shall go out.

¹¹ “At the feasts and the appointed festivals, the grain offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs as much as one is able to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah. ¹² When the prince provides a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be opened for him. And he shall offer his burnt offering or his peace offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be shut.

¹³ “You shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning you shall provide it. ¹⁴ And you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, one sixth of an ephah, and one third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour, as a grain offering to the Lord. This is a perpetual statute. ¹⁵ Thus the lamb and the meal offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, for a regular burnt offering.

¹⁶ “Thus says the Lord God: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance. ¹⁷ But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty. Then it shall revert to the prince; surely it is his inheritance—it shall belong to his sons. ¹⁸ The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be scattered from his property.”

Boiling Places for Offerings

¹⁹ Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests, and behold, a place was there at the extreme western end of them. ²⁰ And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and so transmit holiness to the people.”

²¹ Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me around to the four corners of the court. And behold, in each corner of the court there was another court— ²² in the four corners of the court were small^[u] courts, forty cubits^[v] long and thirty broad; the four were of the same size. ²³ On the inside, around each of the four courts was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around. ²⁴ Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”

Scripture:"They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean." Ezekiel 44:23

Observation: God gave the instructions to the Levitical priests that they were to be examples and leaders of people and instruct the people in God's ways.

Application: Our role as believers is much the same..."to teach people the difference between holy and common"...in essence to be examples in the word.  The Bible says in John 15:19--If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. We are to be in the world but not of the world. We are to be different to understand the difference between what is good and what is not....what is right and what is wrong...what is holy and what is common. In Matthew 5:14-16, the Bible says:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works andgive glory to your Father who is in heaven. We are called to be the "light" of the world to illuminate for others who God is and what He desires for us. Just as the priests were called to this purpose, we too are called to lead people to God.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, 
You are all-knowing, all powerful, and Your ways are always perfect. We sometimes don't understand why You do the things you do but it's only because we can't see the whole picture. Help us to just let You lead in accordance to the plan that You have so that You can achieve Your purpose according to Your plan. Let us be the leaders in Your kingdom that You want us to be. Give us the words we need to say and the ability to show in our actions that You have control in our lives. Thank you for your unending patience as we continue to fall short of Your desires. Amen.

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Ezekiel 47:1-12

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Exodus 33-34, Psalm 31, Mark 3