Feb.7 - Leviticus 24 - 26

God continues to offer Moses the type of lifestyle He wants for the priests and the people of Israel:

1) The light from the lampstand must NEVER go out! Several times throughout Exodus and Leviticus we have read how the priests are to keep the lampstand within the Tabernacle burning at all times. In Chapter 24, we read it again. God puts the responsibility on Aaron to make sure the he and all the priests are to tend to this important duty. Aaron represents our High Priest, the Lord Jesus. In this passage, we see a picture of how the Lord Jesus, the True Light Of The World, is to keep His light burning at all times - and He does it through his priests (Christians!). We believers are to be lights to the world by reflecting the light of the Lord Jesus who lives within us!

2) What a fragrant aroma that ascended from the Table of Showbread! In Chapter 24, the Lord requires Aaron and the priests to receive 12 loaves of bread - one from each tribe of Israel on the Sabbath. As they did, they then lined them up in two rows (6 in each row) on the golden table made especially for the bread within the Tabernacle. After placing the bread on the table, they were then to put a dab of frankincense near each row. One can only imagine the combined smell of fresh baked bread and the beautiful aroma of frankincense that must have filled the Holy Place within the Tabernacle. This bread represents the body of the Lord Jesus which was broken on the cross for man's sin. He is the bread of life! It's interesting to note that the golden table and the frankincense both typify the presents that were given to Him at His birth - gold, frankincense and myrrh. Of course, the gold represents His royalty, the frankincense represents the beautiful aroma His life represented in the presence of His Father, and the myrrh represents the oil they annointed His dead body with just shortly after His death on the cross.

3) Special agricultural laws, like we have today, are put into place! God tells Moses that they are to plant for only 6 years, and then let the fields lay idle during the seventh year in order for the soil to replenish its nutrients. Also, every 50 years (during the Year of Jubilee), they were to let the fields lay idle again. And, as an added bonus, God assures those who are worried about this that He will provide 3 years worth of produce in the sixth year (25:21)! Wow! God is surely taking good care of His children!

4) The blessings of obedience ARE FANTASTIC, but the punishment for disobedience IS HORRIBLE! Did you read chapter 26? Wow! Here, in this chapter, God gives Israel a challenge! He offers them a tremendous harvest of food, peace from war, an abundance of children, and His holy presence among them IF they remain an obedient people. But, He also offers them a scenario quite opposite if they stray away from Him and go after other gods! God always give us the freedom to choose! That's one of the beautiful things about our Lord. Unfortunately, we don't always make the right choices. We often battle with doing things our way and not God's. We don't to spend time with God, we'd rather watch TV. We don't want to attend church, we'd rather use Sundays for something else we think is more important or urgent. And, we don't always want to restrain ourselves from committing a sinful act because it seems more pleasurable. God is giving you and I choices every day! When we look at the blessings of following Him, why would we stray?

I hope you're hanging in there and continuing to read God's Word every day. Let me know if you would like to add any comments! Peace in Christ!