King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 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.]
Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Chapters: Leviticus 26-27
Message: For The Perfecting of Saints
Hello My Friend,
As I was praying this morning I spoke with God concerning vows and how some of the things we will never understand are in His will for us while others are a result of His will after we have massed up and He had to work harder to get us back in His will. While I do not believe that anything is too hard for God, I do believe that He hand is in everything that we do, even when we mess up over and over again. Then as I read the chapters for today, God surely answered some of my prayers, He also reminded me of something, [This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. – 1 Timothy 1:15-17]
At my job, there is not a day that goes by that someone does not complain about the law of the state, which I always respond by saying that I do not make the rules, I am only the messenger. That kind of got me thinking of when teaching the Bible and people get offended, but in this case, I consider myself as more than just the messenger, I am also a citizen of God’s kingdom through my faith in Christ. As we complete the Book of Leviticus, God gives His final instructions on what would become the Law of Moses, given to them from God Himself, and what He expected of them should they choose to follow Him.
[Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. – Leviticus 26:1-4,8-9]
[and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight:] I just realized that this may be in reference to Gideon when the three hundred soldiers who took on the thousands and won the battle with God’s guidance, [Judges 7]. [For I will have respect unto you,] Even in our best behavior, we are going to mess up thousands of time, what brings God’s respect toward us even though we do, is our repentance and faithfulness to Him, [For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. – Psalms 51:16-17]
Nations that keep God in them are protected by God Himself, and let me tell you, the reason America soil is not being attacked right now is because there are many Christians defending their faith, but it will not last if is keeps going in the direction it is going. Of course, God chastens His children when we are disobedient, but He has great respect for us as long as we are faithful to Him. However, if we come to Christ in vain, or if we remain living in sin without one hint of repentance, He will not respect us, nor will He hear our prayers or pleas for help. God warns what will happen if they refuse to obey His commands and are not repentant about it.
[And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright. But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. – Leviticus 26:11-16]
[and ye shall sow your seed in vain,] This is also in reference to things that would happen to them during the times when God would send judges to save them after they had been under so much oppression that they found no joy in anything they did. The things that are happening are not the result of God’s faithful, who are just as much a sinner and the lost, for they are repentant, and doing whatever they can to spread the Gospel until Christ returns. This is all a result of these fools who mimic their faith in God, proclaiming Christ and doing just the opposite of everything that He stands for, yet still expecting God to bless them. God goes on to tell them what will continue to happen to them if they are not repentant.
[And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. – Leviticus 26:23-25,32,34-35]
[and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.] If you think this only applies to Israel, think again. This applies to both, Jews and Gentiles. We make the choice to come to Christ, and He responds accordingly to our faith. Salvation by grace is not just cause to live a sinful life, we must repent or we will suffer in our sin, it will be seven times worse, and many will even fall away from their faith, [When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. – Luke 11:24-26]
[Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths,] This is in reference to their neglecting the laws concerning the Sabbath years of the land and also the jubilee. It was actually a jubilee when Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah (southern kingdom of Israel) and had taken most of them captive for seventy years, [Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. – 2 Kings 20:17]. Again, God does not force Himself upon us, we come to Him willingly. Therefore, He expects us to follow through, and by following through, I do not mean that we comply to every command or face His wrath. Following through means fearing Him, being faithful to Him, confessing our sin, repenting when we do, seeking His will for our lives, and coming to Him for help in removing the things from our lives that cause us to sin. God reminds us that if anytime we come to Him, confessing our sin, He will forgive us, and remember the covenant He has with us.
[If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD. – Leviticus 26:40-42,44-45]
[But I will for their sakes remember the covenant] Do you understand why our faith in Christ alone keeps God from punishing us with hell? We are not saved by anything that we do, but by the grace of God through our faith in His Son alone. Whenever we sin after we are saved, God remembers the covenant He made with us concerning His Son, and that is the only reason why we are not consumed, [Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. – Lamentations 3:19-22]
Do you think God wants to see His people in so much pain? God really is not the one who brings the unnecessary pain, we are. First of all, God gives us ample warning, even before we are tempted, not to even go there. And if we do, He gives us plenty of opportunities to repent. Our salvation does not keep us from suffering while we are here for sin, it does give us liberty to come to Him and when we do, then He will lessen the pain. When we choose Christ, we make a vow with Him, and promise to trust in Him alone for our salvation and He promises to keep us out of hell, among other things. While salvation is in fact a free gift, we must understand that it was not free, Christ paid that price for us. And when we receive Christ as our Saviour we belong to God, and that is when our works count, God actually estimates us for what we devote to Him.
[Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation. And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him. – Leviticus 27:2-4,6,8]
[the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation.] Even children that were dedicated to God were estimated, and this was according to what they were capable of doing. My four year old nephew loves to take the Bible and go through the pages, reading each book and words that He recognizes, and yes, even at the age of four he can read. We are not all going to be preachers or teachers, and that is perfectly fine because God does not expect us to be. What He does expect is that we use the talents He gives us to show the world His Son, it may only be that we might pray specifically for someone, but whatever calling His gives us, He will give every means to be able to fulfill it.
[There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: – Ephesians 4:4-7,11-12]
Today’s Prayer:
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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