Inspirational

by

Preparation for Camp

tabernacNumbers 1:1-4:49

Preparation for Camp

Who or what is the center of my life? The Sunday School answer is “Jesus”. But what is the main focus of My time, My thoughts, My energy, My actions? Around what/whom does my life revolve? God organized the Israelites around the Tent of Meeting/Tabernacle. God is literally in their midst. He is the center of everything. The presence of God was to be the heart of everything the Israelites did. If they were to be successful, God needed to be at the center. If we are to be successful spiritually and eternally, God needs to be at the center of our lives. Our lives are to be oriented around God! Is my ENTIRE life camped around the presence of God?

God commanded Moses to count every male 20 years or older. God had promised them the Land of Canaan but Canaan was already inhabited. The Israelites would have to conquer and defeat these people. The census counted 603,550 men. The Levites had a different task and were not included in the census count. How did the count occur? The men cue up and their names were written down. Every name was recorded and counted. How mind boggling is that? As a believer, my name is written in the BOOK OF LIFE.

This is a picture of how our lives are to be oriented around God. The arrangement of the camp is about who is in the center of the camp/our lives.

  1. God is the God of order – there is no randomness.
  2. God is wise. Without God’s direction, there would have been utter chaos in the Israelite camp. God knows our human nature. Everyone would have been jockeying for position, or whining about why they had a particular task to do. Think of our church potlucks – even there, people push and shove to get in line first.
  3. God is compassionate. Without God, the anxiety and fear of moving all the time for the Israelites would have been unbearable. God has removed all that by giving them an assigned spot. They knew where they belonged and they knew their neighbors.
  4. God is relational. He wants a relationship with His people. Everything in the camp – everything – Focused on – Revolved around – Was oriented toward God.

The Levites were given specific duties by God. Aaron and his family were to be the priests. The other Levites were to do the work in the Tabernacle

The Kohathites carried all the things that were inside the Tabernacle (lamp stands, Ark of the Covenant etc.)

The Gershonites carried the curtains.

The Merarites carried the frames of the structure. God has a work for each of the Levites. Each Levite was to do the specific work God had assigned to them.

God has a work for each individual to do for Him.

We read nowhere in the Bible that the Levites said “No” to God. They did not question their assignment. There was no whining of being assigned one task rather than another; there was no discussion of not being worthy to do a particular task.

How about you? Do you question your assignment?

by

Requirements

promisLeviticus 27

Requirements

God says: I want you to be faithful to your promise. God does not REQUIRE dedication of things, land or people to Him. But when we do dedicate something to God, we must honor our commitment.

God expects His people to keep their promises.

As believers, we represent God to the world. He expects us to keep the promises we make. We must keep our word. Do I keep my promises and commitments? Or do I honor them only when it is convenient or suits me?

by

Rewards and Punishment

lev-26-6-ww-notraceLeviticus 26

Rewards and Punishment

Leviticus 26:1-2, ”Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the LORD your God. Observe My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.”

God tells the Israelites they are to have no idols and observe the Sabbath.

Leviticus 26:3: “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey My commands, – God gives conditions. If you… then I will…I give you ground rules. If you obey them, I will reward you. There are seven different blessings/rewards: Plenty, Peace, Protection, Power, Prosperity, Provision, and Privilege.

Leviticus 26:4-5 (PLENTY) 4: I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. 5: Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.

Leviticus 26:6a (PEACE) 6: I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid.

Leviticus 26:6b (PROTECTION) I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country.

Leviticus 26:7-8 (POWER) 7: You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. 8: Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

Leviticus  26:9 (PROSPERITY) I  will  look  on  you  with  favor  and  make  you  fruitful  and  increase  your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.

Leviticus 26:10 (PROVISION) You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.

Leviticus 26:11-12 (PRIVILEGE) 11: I  will  put my dwelling place [among you, and I will  not abhor you. 12: I  will  walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.

Leviticus 26:14-16  14: But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands,  15: and if you reject My decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16: then I will

LEVITICUS 25:10“Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan.”

I am God of rewards and this is what I expect from you. If you obey, I will reward you.

If you do not obey my commandments, I will punish you. God tells the Israelites what will happen if they are unfaithful and disobey God. The severity  of  the punishment increases. The ultimate punishment is exile from the land.

God rewards those who obey and He punished those who disobey.

How have I seen this in my own life? What blessings have I received because I obey? What hardship have I endured because of disobedience? Not every hard situation is discipline or punishment from God. We live in a fallen world that is full of sin. God never leaves His people in despair. God always brings hope.

God is always faithful even when His people are unfaithful.

Lord, thank You for all Your blessings! Help me to obey You every day.

Your obedience to the Lord will bring blessings on you!

by

Provision and Redemption

jubiLeviticus 25

Leviticus 25:21a: ,,Then, I will command My blessing on you.”

Have I ever wished for a second chance, or hoped for a new beginning, or desired a fresh start or another opportunity, or a redo in my marriage, in parenting, in a family relationship, in a friendship, in my career, in my finances? If I answered “yes”, then this text in Leviticus is for me. The heart of the text talks of a new beginning, a fresh start, a second chance. The Israelites have been on Mt. Sinai throughout the book of Leviticus. While there, God has given them moral, civil and ceremonial law. Two million people were encamped at Mt. Sinai. God has been giving them a lot of information. God has been stressing who He is. He wants the Israelites to know Him and to know Him accurately. God wants the same for us. God wants the Israelites and us to know His character. God is holy.

God wants His people to trust in His character and rely on His promises.

God is the God of provision – both physically and spiritually.

God provides for those who trust in Him.

We must not confuse wants with needs. God provides for all our needs: Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, and Spiritually.

Where do I see the evidence that God provides for all my needs?

God owns everything. It is all His.

This is legislation (Leviticus 25) put into effect by God to keep His people from sinking into inescapable poverty. God gives the people an opportunity for a new beginning. God is the God of Redemption, the God of New Beginnings, the God of 2nd chances.

Redemption is who God is and not just what He does.

Redemption is the message of the Bible from beginning to end. In the book of Leviticus, God points us to redemption that will come through Jesus Christ (Look for Jesus in the book of Leviticus). God is foreshadowing the new beginning, the second chance, the fresh start that Jesus Christ will provide. We are impoverished sinners. We can never repay the debt we owe for our sin. There is no way to satisfy the enormous debt we owe. But through Jesus Christ, God frees us from all our debt of sin.

God redeems and sets free those who trust in Him.

Have you been redeemed? Are you still in debt?

Am I living in freedom that Christ’s redemption offers? Do I live as someone who is free and not one who is still in bondage to guilt and sin?

Thank you, Lord, for being my Provider and my Redeemer.

I am blessed because You commanded Your blessing on me!

free

by

Copii ai aceluiași Tatã,

Copii ai aceluiași Tatã,
Nãscuți din Eterna Iubire,
Trãirea-n Lumina curatã
Vã poartã spre țãrm de sfințire.
*
Copii ai aceluiași Tatã,
Nãscuți în durere amarã,
Trãirea-n Lumina curatã
Iubirea în inimi coboarã.

Copii ai aceluiași Tatã,
Nãscuți prin jertfirea pe cruce,
Trãirea-n Lumina curatã
Putere din Cer vã aduce.

Rãmȃneți mereu împreunã,
Oricȃte poveri v-au durut,
Și-n timpuri de asprã furtunã,
Și-atunci cȃnd necazu-a trecut.

Nu stingeți cereasca Fãclie
Aprinsã de mȃini îngerești;
O lume întreagã sã știe
Cã voi sunteți fii cerești !

Pe marea de urã și ceațã
Ȋnvingeți ispitele firii,
Treziți omenirea la viațã
Și harul divin al Iubirii !

Cãci Mȃna cereascã vã poartã
Uniți, într-un gȃnd și-o simțire,
Copii ai aceluiași Tatã,
Nãscuți din Eterna Iubire!

Gelu Ciobanu,             Floresti,  Cluj

“…tuturor celor ce L-au primit, adica celor ce cred in Numele Lui, le-a dat dreptul sa se faca copii ai lui Dumnezeu; nascuti nu din sange, nici din voia firii lor, nici din voia vreunui om, ci din Dumnezeu.” (Ev. Ioan 1:13)