As I continue on my journey through Chronicles, verses are popping out at me in a fresh way. This morning I read about God (through David) setting up the duties of the priests from Aaron’s line, and the Levites from the line of Moses.
The priests were set apart to sanctify him as most holy and to consecrate the most holy things, that he and his sons might burn incense before the Lord, minister to Him, and bless in His Name forever. [1 Chronicles 23:13] At first I was confused by the two hims in this passage. However I realized that the first was Aaron, the human High Priest, and the second Him was God.
As New Testament believers, after everything changed with Yeshua (see yesterday’s post), we form a royal priesthood. [1 Peter 2:9]. It is our assigned and glorious purpose to minister to Him and bless in His name. Yeshua is our great High Priest, and He has called us all to fulfill the role of Aaron’s sons.
He has also called us to be Levite’s, whose duty was to oversee the work of the Lord’s house [1 Chronicles 23:4]...and to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise in the evening; and to offer all burnt offerings to the Lord.
Where David set aside the sons Asaph and of Heman the ‘king’s seer’ to prophesy with harps, with stringed instruments, and with symbols, now we are all called to praise and prophesy, as inspired by the Holy Spirit given us at Pentecost. No longer do only certain people receive a word from the Lord. All of us who are open to the Holy Spirit’s work within us are given the privilege. How awesome that even the least in the Kingdom of God* is honored and called to praise, prophesy,
serve, minister to God, and bless others in His Name.
As we ponder these thoughts in the context of our daily lives, let’s ask the Father how we can better fulfill these roles to which He’s called us, as believers in His Name. Furthermore, let’s reorder the list above and place minister to Him as our first priestly priority.
What does it mean to minister to the Lord? Stay tuned...
***************************
*Matthew 11:11
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Everything changes...
I have not read Kings and Chronicles anywhere as often as I have read the New Testament, or even other books in the Old, such as the prophets. But recently, my sweet daughter-in-law referred me to a passage in 2 Kings involving Elisha, in which he directed people to dig troughs in the ground to make a place to receive what God had for them. [2 Kings 3:16-20]
This set me on a path to read all of Kings and then the two Chronicles, which are so totally entwined. Once we make it through all the genealogy, we discover much treasure buried there. I had forgotten just how much.
The last few days, I have been reading about David. Today I came to the point where he took a military census, against the advice of Joab, the commander of his armies. This upset God greatly. Why? Because David was then relying on human strength for success. It was God who, despite situations of greatly inferior numbers, had brought the victories David had experienced.
Even after he repented, David was afraid to go before the Lord in the Tabernacle. He followed God’s direction to build a ‘local’ altar, but he did not have confidence to travel and come before the altar in the holy Tabernacle tent, itself. [1 Chronicles 20:30]
I was immediately reminded that everything changes with Jesus. Even David, beloved mighty man of God with such a heart to serve Him, was unsure of his welcome after his sin. Remember, even the man who touched the Ark of the Covenant to steady it, lost his life in the process. [2 Samuel 6:1-8]
We, however, never have to be afraid or uncertain whether we’re welcome at God’s altar or at His feet. It’s all because of Yeshua. We may well be coming before Him with a great sin (or a long series
of ‘smaller’ ones) on our hearts. We may be thinking our sin is too great or we’ve repeated a sin once too often for Him to tolerate our presence. Yet Yeshua paved the way, now and forever, for us not only to survive coming before our Most Holy God, but to be encouraged and welcomed in His Fatherly arms. We no longer need fear death, or even condemnation, before the Throne. We’re welcomed as precious children, naughty though we may have been.
Yes, as a child of a Father Whom we love and desire to please; Whom we hate to disappoint; Who we want to be proud of us; we are grieved at grieving His Holy Spirit. But we should never fear running directly to Him in our sorrow, never be uncertain of our welcome. Everything changes from Old to New....all because of Yeshua.
You, even if you feel least in the kingdom of heaven, are greater than David, greater than Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and even John the Baptist, whom Jesus called the greatest man who had ever lived up to that time. [Matthew 11:11]
Yeshua cancels every curse, from the Garden forward. He makes us righteous and worthy to stand before His Holy Father and receive His great and tender love. He stands in the gap as the Great High Priest and Intercessor for all who trust in Him. He sets us free from captivities of body, soul, and spirit. Everything changes with Him....how incomprehensibly wonderful is His gift to us. Be sure to tell Him so this very moment. And while you’re there, stay awhile.....
This set me on a path to read all of Kings and then the two Chronicles, which are so totally entwined. Once we make it through all the genealogy, we discover much treasure buried there. I had forgotten just how much.
The last few days, I have been reading about David. Today I came to the point where he took a military census, against the advice of Joab, the commander of his armies. This upset God greatly. Why? Because David was then relying on human strength for success. It was God who, despite situations of greatly inferior numbers, had brought the victories David had experienced.
Even after he repented, David was afraid to go before the Lord in the Tabernacle. He followed God’s direction to build a ‘local’ altar, but he did not have confidence to travel and come before the altar in the holy Tabernacle tent, itself. [1 Chronicles 20:30]
I was immediately reminded that everything changes with Jesus. Even David, beloved mighty man of God with such a heart to serve Him, was unsure of his welcome after his sin. Remember, even the man who touched the Ark of the Covenant to steady it, lost his life in the process. [2 Samuel 6:1-8]
We, however, never have to be afraid or uncertain whether we’re welcome at God’s altar or at His feet. It’s all because of Yeshua. We may well be coming before Him with a great sin (or a long series
of ‘smaller’ ones) on our hearts. We may be thinking our sin is too great or we’ve repeated a sin once too often for Him to tolerate our presence. Yet Yeshua paved the way, now and forever, for us not only to survive coming before our Most Holy God, but to be encouraged and welcomed in His Fatherly arms. We no longer need fear death, or even condemnation, before the Throne. We’re welcomed as precious children, naughty though we may have been.
Yes, as a child of a Father Whom we love and desire to please; Whom we hate to disappoint; Who we want to be proud of us; we are grieved at grieving His Holy Spirit. But we should never fear running directly to Him in our sorrow, never be uncertain of our welcome. Everything changes from Old to New....all because of Yeshua.
You, even if you feel least in the kingdom of heaven, are greater than David, greater than Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and even John the Baptist, whom Jesus called the greatest man who had ever lived up to that time. [Matthew 11:11]
Yeshua cancels every curse, from the Garden forward. He makes us righteous and worthy to stand before His Holy Father and receive His great and tender love. He stands in the gap as the Great High Priest and Intercessor for all who trust in Him. He sets us free from captivities of body, soul, and spirit. Everything changes with Him....how incomprehensibly wonderful is His gift to us. Be sure to tell Him so this very moment. And while you’re there, stay awhile.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)