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: Thursday, February 27, 2020
Chapters: Numbers 8-9
Message: No Cake For You
Hello My Friend,
For the past few weeks, and it is probably because we have been studying through Leviticus and now Numbers, something that Paul said keeps going through my head. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” – Romans 7:18-20,23-25.
“warring against the law of my mind,” Because of the sin nature that we have, without even realizing it, we automatically gravitate to sin. I mean, the chocolate cake is much more appetizing to the flesh than the kale. Yet every decision we make is a literal fight between our conscious, and if we are saved that would be the Holy Spirit, and our flesh. “who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” And this is exactly where Jesus comes in, He is the very bit of good is in us, if He can reach us before we take that bite, we will make the conscious decision together to eat the kale over the cake. You see, it is not really the cake that is the sin, it is when we eat it, in fact, anything good can become sin when done with the wrong intention. “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” – James 4:17.
We must come to the understanding that as saved, born again Christians, we are set apart from the rest of the world, and this includes the Jews. In fact, in God’s eyes, there are no such things as Jews or Christians, there is only His people. From creation, God has always had a plan that all mankind would choose Him, but since the majority of mankind is a bunch of stiffnecked, hardhearted fools, He narrowed it down to one group of people, the children of Israel. This did not mean that He would never accept any other group, or that He would accept all of Israel, it meant that no matter what nation, the entire world was going to know who the Almighty is, and who His people are. God narrowed it down a step further when He decided to separate the Levites from the other tribes, they would be used to serve Him alone. It was essential that they be not only separated from the rest, they needed be cleansed and offered up to God Himself. This is what God instructs Moses to do.
“Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together: And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites: And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine. And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering.” – Numbers 8:6-11,4-15.
“and so make themselves clean.” Saved or not, the elements of the world get us dirty, which is why Jesus tells us that it is necessary to wash our feet, but only our feet (John 13:9-15). “and the Levites shall be mine.” There are millions of Christians all over the world, very few are set apart from the rest, but those who are are His to use at His will, and He will use them at His will. This is the very reason why one person can have the cake, and it would be acceptable to God, and why another cannot. If the cake is going to interfere with His will, then it will not be acceptable to Him. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” – Romans 14:17-23.
Let me tell you, there is not one servant of Christ that does not go to God and ask Him why they cannot have something when all the rest can have it, at one time or another. And I will give you the perfect example as to what His answer will be every time. I absolutely love bread made with regular white flour, but cannot have it because of the gluten, even if I eat one crumb my entire body becomes dysfunctional for days. When I ask God why I cannot have what everyone else can have, He simply says, “You are to be separate and are different from the rest.” And He gives us all the same straight forward answer. Unfortunately, we do not always listen to Him, end up eating the cake anyway, and do not always perform at our utmost best. Thankfully, He looks past our indiscretions, but we must stop immediately, or risk being separated from God all together (Hebrews 10:22-31).
“for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Passover was instituted by God as a reminder of the day the death angel passed through Egypt and took the first born of every child of every family, man or beast, but saved all that had the blood of a lamb struck upon the doorpost of their house. Passover is a time of self examination and repentance, much like in the way we observe communion, they could not eat of the Passover unless they were clean. According to the Law, any person who touched dead flesh was deemed unclean and had to distance themselves from everyone for seven days. There were some men who became defiled when they buried a family member, and could not eat the Passover meal on the day appointed. These men approached Moses and asked why they had to be excluded from the observance since they were only doing the right thing.
“And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD. The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it. But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.” – Numbers 9:8-14.
“yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.” This means that wherever they were at the time, even if they had been defiled, they were able to observe the Passover meal, and not face judgment for it. In other words, we ate the cake because there was no other option at the time, and therefore, God forgave our indiscretion. “and forbeareth to keep the passover,” So, why did God judge the one who did not observe the Passover even though they were clean? Because we are all sinners, and need to come to God at the appointed time to reflect and remind ourselves of what Jesus has done for us (I John 1:9). And remember, works without faith is dead (James 2:18). “ye shall have one ordinance,” This means that the same rule applies to both Jew and Gentile, as it still does today, only our Passover is Christ. “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” – I Corinthians 5:7-8.
Now, after the tabernacle was finally finished, the Levites were set aside, and cleansed to be able to perform their duties, the cloud, the pillar that they saw guiding them, hovered over and settled upon the tabernacle, and covered it to show that God makes His presence known to His people when they follow Him as He instructs.
“And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning. So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed. At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.” – Numbers 9:15-16,20-23.
“and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed:” This entire life that we live is a journey, one that lead us to Christ, and continues to lead us to the promised land. Right now, we are in the wilderness, and at His command, just when we get settled in and find some contentment with life, God decides it is time to pack it all up, and move to another location. Why? So that we can lead more people to His Son. We must keep reminding ourselves that this is not our home, it is only our temporary dwelling until God brings us to the promised land. Amen! “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” – Revelation 21:1-4.
Today’s Prayer: God, You prove time and time again that there is no stopping Your will, we may get diverted at times, but You always lead us right back to where we are supposed to be. It is not always easy to be set a part for You as we are not allowed to always have cake, nevertheless, what we receive for our faithfulness far outweighs anything we miss out on. Lord, lead us and guide us, give us Your power, wisdom, mercy, grace, and protection to be faithful and honorable, performing at out utmost best, and to encourage all we come in contact with to follow us to the promised land. I as this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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