King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Chapters: Leviticus Chapters 21-23
Message: Stay Useful For God
Hello My Friend,
Yesterday, I had a complete melt down in my car as I realized that a job offer I had interviewed for an hour before I started work turned out to be a scam as I sent him over a picture of my drivers license. On top of that, I got a call from my supervisor accusing me of not working all the stores I said I worked last week due to excessive drive time. I kept telling God that I deserved it because I was so desperate to leave the job I am at now that I compromised my life and my husband’s. I even told my husband that I was a lousy wife and Christian and asked God to just take me now because I have been so terrible these past few months. Do you know what God said? He reminded me of what He had told Joshua when he did not understand why Ai defeated them.
[Joshua 7:10-12 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? 11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.]
So, what is the accused thing among me? Well, I do not have any idols nor does anyone else that I am around that I know of, but I have been whining a lot. Let me tell you, my oldest nephew and I were sitting in my old church in the pastor’s Sunday school class when he talked about letting go of the past and moving forward. I have been beating myself up since last December when I let go of my job that was at for this job out of fear that I was going to lose that job for missing so much work. Did you know that we are our worst enemy sometimes? We really do have a hard time of letting go of the things that God has already forgiven us for, [Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.]
Now, with that said, it is important for us to not only move forward, but to remove and keep ourselves separated from anything that will keep us from going forward. As we continue in the reading of Leviticus, God goes on to instruct the priests, these would be the sons of the high priest, who was Aaron at this time, on how they were to keep themselves separated for the service of God in the Tabernacle.
[Leviticus 21:1-6 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people: 2 But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, 3 And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled. 4 But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. 5 They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. 6 They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.]
[he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people,] The leaders of our churches have a much bigger burden than the congregation, not only are they setting an example for them to follow, they are to also accountable for them, [1 Timothy 3:2,7 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.]
Let me tell you just how many pastors have gotten themselves into trouble because they fell into the snare of the devil. Therefore, it is imperative not only for our church leaders to live a holy life, their wives and children ought to also. God, goes on to explain how ungodly children set a bad example for their father.
[Leviticus 21:8-12 Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire. 10 And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes; 11 Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother; 12 Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.]
[for he offereth the bread of thy God:] What would church leader be who did not preach the Gospel? He would be as Jesus said, salt that lost is savor and is good for nothing, but melting ice, [Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.]
[shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;] If the high priest was fully clothed and consecrated for their service they could not go out into the world under any circumstances, they had to remain in the sanctuary until their duties were fulfilled. Once we receive Christ as our Saviour, we are consecrated with the blood of Christ upon our soul, we actually become spiritual high priests. Therefore, we too are to abstain from anything that will defile us or mar our testimony, [1 Thessalonians 5:21-23 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.]
My husband cannot understand why I do not deliberately walk down the aisle at the store with the liquor, but will so conveniently put a Gospel track down one if we have to go through it to get to something down that aisle. While he thinks that it is pointless to put a track on a case of beer I say that they need Jesus too. With that said, no church leader or faithful servant of God ever deliberately sets out to mar their testimony, but the truth is this, if we do not keep our heads covered, meaning keep ourselves grounded in Christ, then we will fall. Now, should any saved, born again person fall into sin that does not mean that they lose their salvation, but it does cause some problems for their serving God in the role that they had. God, goes on to explain that if the priest had any mars whatsoever they could not serve Him in regards to receiving the sacrifices.
[Leviticus 21:17-22 Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, 19 Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, 20 Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; 21 No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. 22 He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.]
[For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish,] In other words, we are all human and are to never put our church leaders on pedestals, but all it takes is one wrong turn any of us to mar our testimony. Understand that God created all mankind, even if they were born with some blemish, they are just as if not more precious to Him because it is our infirmities that draw us near to God, [John 9:2-3 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.]
[He shall eat the bread of his God,] Keep in mind that even though a marred testimony ruins one from certain positions in the Church, that does not mean that God is done with them, they are just used in different ways, [Ephesians 4:11-12 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:]
My husband wants to preach and is very good at it, but he cannot be a pastor because he is divorced, I keep telling him that God has a role for him where he can preach, but he needs to let Him guide him. God, chose the tribe of Levi to be those who would serve Him in His ministry, that did not mean that He would not use any other tribe to serve Him, but they would be the ones who would minister to Him in services of the Tabernacle. God, gave specific instructions on how they were to be separated from the rest of the tribes. The offerings offered (except for the trespass offering) were for the priests and their family members to eat as provision for the work they had done for God. God, gets specific with Aaron and His sons.
[Leviticus 22:2-4,6 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD. 3 Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD. 4 What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him; 6 The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.]
[unless he wash his flesh with water.] In other words, one can mar their testimony and be forgiven of their sin, but the damage is done, they will now need to regain God’s trust in them. It is not easy to regain God’s trust, I think we need to work twice as hard, but it can be done, we just need to make sure that whatever it is that we do we do it with all our might, backed up with the power of the Holy Spirit, [Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.]
It is definitely hard to know what we ought to be praying for, and although God is more merciful than we think, we need to keep ourselves holy. God, will forever forgive and forget our sins with sincere confession, but if one thinks that they can live a life of sin after they are saved without repentance, then there will be consequences. God, goes on to address that those who choose Him need to come to Him His way.
[Leviticus 22:9-13 They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them. 10 There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. 11 But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat. 12 If the priest’s daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things. 13 But if the priest’s daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father’s house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.]
Now, our salvation may save us from hell, but it does not keep us from sin and becoming defiled by it should we remain living in sin. With that said, we can sin all day long as long as we are repentant and at least make some progress with God. God, goes on to explain what sacrifices are acceptable.
[Leviticus 22:18-21 Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering; 19 Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats. 20 But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you. 21 And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.]
[for it shall not be acceptable for you.] No one can help us on this, we must come to Jesus willingly, and we must accept His offering. Jesus, bought and paid for our souls with His life, if we want fellowship with God, then we must believe that He is the only offering who is accepted. Therefore, if we know Christ as our Saviour, we are not only accepted by God, we become one of His, [John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.]
When we belong to God, He takes care of us, He provides for us, and if we do not acknowledge Him as being the source of all that is good in our lives He is going to start taking them away until we do. Because life can make our fellowship with God seem nonexistent, God institutes holy days (holidays).
[Leviticus 23:2-6 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. 3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. 4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. 5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.]
[ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.] [Convocation; The act of calling or assembling by summons.] We are called by God to take some time each day, week, month, and many days in between to give thanks to God. And what better way the with food and drink that God has provided us with. Let me tell you, we do not need holy days to afflict our souls and give thanks to God for all His mercies and grace, this is something we need to do continuously. In fact, Jesus is the most holy thing we will ever feast upon as He purchased our soul with His own blood, [Romans 5:9-11 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Leviticus 22:10-11 There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. 11 But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.]
Today’s Prayer: God, How awesome is it to be one of Yours and that You are our God. You have called on all Your people to be holy and show the world Your Son through our obedience to You, as He is the only way to You. Lord, Give us Your power to stand by our faith and not be ashamed to show that we love Jesus. Let us not take for granted the freedoms that You have given all of us, even those who do not believe in You, and let us not forget to take time to remember everything that You have blessed us with. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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