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: Sunday, February 09, 2020
Chapters: Exodus 30-32
Message: I Belong To Jesus
Hello My Friend,
As I was reading the chapters for today, this song verse is playing through my head, “Now, I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me. Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity.” As saved, born again Christians, this ought to be the song that plays through our heart every single step we take. The sad truth is, the majority of Christians have forgotten just was Jesus is all about, they use their salvation as crutch or device to live a sinful life with the assurance that they have Heaven to go to when they die. Well, let me tell you, God will not be mocked, while salvation is by grace, and we will not see hell through our faith, no sin goes unpunished, it always leads to death, and it is usually a painful death. “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – I Corinthians 15:56-57.
All sin comes at a cost, and it is the same price no matter what we have done. As Moses continues to get instructions from God on the laws and His sanctuary, He enforces the census tax, a sum of money was to given and directed for the service of the tabernacle, after a count had been made of the congregation.
“When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.” – Exodus 30:12-16.
“that there be no plague among them,” Death is the punishment for sin. “The rich shall not give more,” For all of those who think that the rich are to pay more taxes than everyone else, think again. We are all the same, each and every soul is of equal value, equally in danger, and all equally in need of ransom. “that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD,” This was a reminder that they were God’s people, they sinned, the ransom was paid for their soul, and were now reconciled with God. We will all be accounted for, and we must all pay the ransom for our soul to escape the plague. Jesus paid the ransom for us with His life, He shed His blood, He bought the souls of those who believe in and receive Him, and makes the atonement for us “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” -I Corinthians 6:20.
More of the song that is playing through my head, “Jesus, my Lord will love me forever, From Him no power of evil will sever, He gave His life to ransom my soul. Now, I belong to Him.” You see, since we were bought with a price, it is important that we keep ourselves in a way that glorifies God because we belong to Him. It ought to make sense to us to live a virtuous life. This is why we need to be in church or to have a day solely dedicated to God, which is why He enforces the Sabbath, a day of intermission of pain or sorrow from sin, a time of rest to reflect and reconcile with God. Believe it or not, we can be at odds with God after we are saved, we need a Sabbath day to relinquish all that guilt, pain, doubt, fear, and weariness that becomes of the week.
“Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” – Exodus 31:13-18.
“he shall surely be put to death.” You see, the reason for this was to keep them from working seven days a week, even for the priests. Even when doing God’s word we need rest as it really does refresh us. Over the years this has gotten extremely distorted, the Jews will not even flip a light switch on. There were times when God did end someones life because they tempted Him by doing something on the Sabbath. God will not be mocked, if anyone tempts Him in a way that says, “I’m going to do this to see if you really will kill me.”, will answer to Him. “for a perpetual covenant.” The Sabbath is God’s day, we need a day of rest each week from all servile work, including that of what we do in His ministry. Years ago, when I first began serving God, it had gotten to the point that I was in the nursery just about every church service, when the preacher realized this, he made it appoint that the women involved in the nursery ministry alternate. This is because we all need to be fed spiritually, of course, it is great to serve God, but we also need to rest, refresh our souls so that we can recoup from the week. And here is the reason why, the longer we go without being spiritually fed, the more we starve for God, and that makes it easier for Satan to feed us with lies. While Moses was up on the mount, something was going on down below, the people were tired of waiting for him, and go to Aaron with a request.
“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:” – Exodus 32:1-7.
“Up, make us gods,” First of all, Aaron was their leader until Moses returned, he should have been encouraging them in the LORD. “he had made it a molten calf:” Why a calf? There could be a number of reasons why, but since they sacrificed ox, it is probable that Aaron did this in an attempt to get them to see that it was God they ought to worship, which maybe why he did something even more foolish. “To morrow is a feast to the LORD.” How foolish was Aaron to do all of this, then proclaim a feast to God? How many Christians are guilty of this? They do not really take time to rest with God, then when nothing seems to be happening, they create idols as though they are God, and become entangled in the world. God was so angry that He was going to destroy them all right there, but Moses reasoned with Him, and sent him back down to handle it.
“And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.” – Exodus 32:17-24.
“and made the children of Israel drink of it.” There is nothing like drinking the sludge that sin consumed us with to realize that there is only one God, and that consequence comes to all unrepentant sin. Many people lost their lives, including their souls, over this, the truth to their faith in God was shown, all who do not stand with God will die in their sin. This is confirmed at the end of this chapter. “And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.” – Exodus 32:31-35.
“out of thy book which thou hast written.” Yes, there is a book that contains the very names of every soul who chooses God. Each and every one of us is responsible for our sin, and will be held accountable for it. Thankfully, that ransom was paid for, “mine Angel shall go before thee:” It is our faith in Jesus that pays the ransom, those who refuse to accept this will not be saved, their names will not be written in His book, and they will die an eternal death. “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” – Revelation 20:13-15.
Today’s Prayer: God, I will never understand why You chose me to be one of Your ministers, but help me to remember that my labor is not in vain, and that my faithfulness to You is critical to the mission You have called me to do. As I remain faithful to You, let me always keep the Sabbath, and wait patiently for You in doing so, I know that You are perfecting me and getting me ready to receive what I have been waiting so long for. Thank You, Lord for Your patience with me, and doing a great work in me. I love You and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://readytofollow.com/
Receive The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Missed A Message: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Visit I’m Following Jesus Missions: http://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
I’m Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2020 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.