Exodus 29-31 Consecration, Dedication, And Sacrifices

Psalm 14:5-7 Antidote for Alligators

14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have done abominable deeds, There is no one who does good. 2 The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. 3 They have all turned away, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one. 4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call on the LORD?

5 There they are in great fear, for God is present with the generation of the righteous.

6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but Yahweh is their refuge.

7 Oh, that the salvation/deliverance for Israel would come out of Zion! When Yahweh restores the fortunes (NIV) of His people, Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad."

Observations 14:1-4 See post on Genesis 35 for vv 1-4, where David laments the departure of people from being dependent upon God, to instead seeking to devour those who are loyal to Him.

14:5-7 David affirms that God is with the righteous, which causes the wicked to fear. The evildoers desire to oppress the poor, but God is the refuge of the righteous. He ends with a prayer for God to act, and restore the fortunes (reverse the captivity) of His people. Then they will rejoice.

Application: Call upon God when the wicked are seeking to take bites out of you, and trust that He will be your refuge and defense, and hope that at the appropriate time, He will totally deliver you.

Prayer: God, You are my God, and I will always trust You to protect and prosper me, because that is what You said You would do for the righteous. Amen.

Proverbs 4:17-19 Light and Dark

4:17 “For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. 18 But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day. 19 The way of the wicked is like darkness. They don’t know what they stumble over.“

Observations: 4:17-19 The unrighteous both consume and are consumed by wickedness and violence. They wind up downed in the dark, not knowing what hit them. The righteous who walk in the light, progress to greater light, until they will stand in the secure light of God's presence on that perfect day when He returns.

Application: Make sure your choices and steps lead to light and not darkness.

Prayer: God, may the wisdom of Your word guide my steps so I don't stumble in the dark, but walk with You in the light. Thanks. Amen.

Exodus 29-31 The Consecration of the Aaron and sons in Exodus 29 introduces us to a number of sacrifices/offering which are explained in more detail in the opening chapters of Leviticus (the next book).

Exodus 29 Consecration and Dedication

29:1 "This is the thing that you shall do to them to make them holy, to minister to me in the priest`s office: take one young bull and two rams without blemish, 2 unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil: you shall make them of fine wheat flour. 4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water. 5 You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron...7 Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him. 8 You shall bring his sons, and put coats on them.

10 "You shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting: and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 You shall kill the bull before Yahweh, at the door of the tent of meeting. 12 You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. 13 You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp: it is a sin-offering. 

15 "You shall also take the one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 16 You shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the altar. 17 You shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its innards, and its legs, and put them with its pieces, and with its head. 18 You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to Yahweh; it is a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 19 "You shall take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20 Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood on the altar round about. 21 You shall take of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be made holy, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons` garments with him. 22 Also you shall take some of the ram`s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), 23 and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh. 24 You shall put all of this in Aaron`s hands, and in his sons` hands, and shall wave them for a wave-offering before Yahweh. 25 You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a sweet savor before Yahweh: it is an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 26 "You shall take the breast of Aaron`s ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave-offering before Yahweh: and it shall be your portion. 27 You shall sanctify the breast of the wave-offering, and the thigh of the heave-offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons: 28 and it shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel; for it is a heave-offering: and it shall be a heave-offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace-offerings, even their heave-offering to Yahweh. 29 "The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be consecrated in them. 36 Every day shall you offer the bull of sin-offering for atonement: and you shall cleanse the altar, when you make atonement for it; and you shall anoint it, to sanctify it. 38 "Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs morning...evening 43 There I will meet with the children of Israel; and the place shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar: Aaron also and his sons I will sanctify, to minister to me in the priest`s office. 45 I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. 46 They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them: I am Yahweh their God."

Observations: God sets apart/sanctifies His servants, deals with their sin, and then prepares them for unreserved service to Him.
29:4 The preliminary washing might indicate a desire for holiness, or maybe they didn't want to get the nice clothes dirty.

29:14 The first offering, a bull, is a sin-offering, slain as their substitute for the death penalty of sin. Its blood was kept in the tent; its fat, representing the best of the animal was burned (same word for burning incense) on the altar, but the body, tainted with sin, was totally consumed by fire (different word for burn) outside the camp.

29:14 The first ram, a whole burnt offering, was entirely dedicated to God (up in smoke). 

29:21 The second ram, the ram of consecration, was marked on the ear (hear the Word), thumb (do the Word), and toe (walk in the Word), and sprinkled on the beautiful garments as a reminder of the covenant to obey, when Moses sprinkled the people with blood (Exodus 24:8).

29:24 The wave-offering was a symbol of giving the first and best of what one has (time, money, strength) back to God. Normally one would give the wave offering to Aaron and the priests to eat (which is why it was waved rather than burnt), but in this case Aaron burns it, showing God's ownership of all.

29:28 The peace-offering was more of a fellowship meal, for now God and man were in right relationship.

Application: Have you gone beyond getting your sins forgiven to dedicating yourself to serving God? That's the path to true fellowship with Him.

See: the sermon Holy Priests Offer Pleasing Sacrifices for part III. The Poor Saints Guide to Big Ticket Sacrifice.

Prayer. Lord, I recognize that You desire all believers to be Your priests, may I be wholly serving You with the best of my life. Amen.

Exodus 30 Incense, Census, and Oils

30:1 "You shall make an altar to burn incense on. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold...6 You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. 8 When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations. 9 You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal-offering; and you shall pour no drink-offering on it. 10 Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year...It is most holy to Yahweh."

12 "When you take a census of the children of Israel, each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh, when you number them; that there be no plague among them when you number them. 14 from twenty years old and upward 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel 16 You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the tent of meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.

18 "You shall also make a basin of brass, in which to wash. 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die...23 "Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, cinnamon, fragrant cane, 24 cassia, and olive oil. 26 You shall use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, 27 the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base. 29 You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy. 30 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest`s office. 31 You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, `This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations. 34 sweet spices, gum resin, and onycha, and galbanum; with pure frankincense: 35 make incense of it, seasoned with salt, pure and holy: 36 and you shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be to you most holy. 37 The incense which you shall make, according to its composition you shall not make for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for Yahweh. 38 Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people."

Observations: Incense, census/tax, basin/laver, two anointing oils.

30:1 The smoke from the incense would ascend toward God and be something pleasing to Him. The prayers of the saints are equated with incense in Revelation 5:8 and 8:3-4. Not all prayers smell equally nice.

30:12-17 The census tax is said to ransom and atone for their souls and serve as a memorial and for maintenance.

30:23 & 31 Perfumed anointing oils are specified, one for the place, the other for people, and any other use would result in discipline.

30:38 Keeping ourselves in a state where God can bless still requires holy obedience, not just ritual.

Application: Are your prayers sweet-smelling incense offered from a holy heart, or a smelly laundry list of things you badger God about?

Prayer: O God who inhabits the Holy of Holies, may my words and works be a fragrant offering to You. Amen.

Exodus 31 Spirit and Sabbath

31:1 "Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Behold, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 to devise skillful works, to work in gold... 6 I, behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab...and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you...13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, `Most assuredly you shall keep my Sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 18 He gave to Moses, when he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets, written with God`s finger."

Observations: 31:3 Being filled or controlled by the Spirit of God is necessary for serving God acceptably. Wisdom (choosing the right objectives {devise} and the right means of attaining them {work}), Understanding, Knowledge, and Skill in our work are areas the Spirit should infiltrate and permeate. See Digging Deeper below.

31:13-19 God repeats and emphasizes only one of the Ten Commandments, the fourth, about the Sabbath, since it is the sign of the covenant. Treating it as common resulted in being cut off and death. It's tough for a dead person to be blessed.

31:18 The tablets were a testimony/witness to the covenant God made with Israel, and placed in the ark of the covenant/testimony. So much for these being man's ideas. People prone to lying, think everyone lies and makes up stories.

Application: Does the Spirit of Truth fill/control/permeate your desires and Day-Timer?

Prayer: Lord, I ask that Your Spirit would fill every area of my life, so the work of my life would accomplish Your design and desires. Amen.

Digging Deeper:

God in a nutshell: God uses people to accomplish His purposes, but those He uses must first be separated from what they were and dedicated to whole-burnt-offering obedience. He is pretty specific about what He requires. The greater the service, the greater the requirements, but He does compensate His servants well. God provides reminders to His people, but ritual is no substitute for a real relationship with Him.

Us in a nutshell: We have a tendency to forget where we've come from, and what God has done for us, thus taking God for granted, and setting ourselves up for discipline. Participation in Biblical corporate worship provides a partial corrective, but a personal daily dedication to doing things God's way works wonders.

Where to Go for More:

Truthbase.net

Filled with the Spirit & Spilling all Over

Walk by the Spirit in Dependent, Fruitful Victory

See part III. of the sermon Holy Priests Offer Pleasing Sacrifices:

The Poor Saints Guide to Big Ticket Sacrifice 

Genesis 6-9 How Long Can You Tread Water?

Bill Blurb: This post is longer than I intended, but again, like Genesis 3, there are many profitable avenues to explore, including one hilarious, and one amazing video. Come back and explore the links if you want to develop a reasonable faith.

Psalm 3:1-4 Believe What God Said, Not What Others Say

A Psalm by David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

Psalm 3:1 "YAHWEH, how my adversaries have increased! Many are those who rise up against me. 2 Many there are who say of my soul, "There is no help for him in God." Selah. 3 But You, YAHWEH, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head. 4 I cry to YAHWEH with my voice, and He answers me out of His holy hill. Selah."

Observation: Yahweh is God's name in covenant relationship with Israel, frequently translated LORD (in capital letters). Selah means stop and think about it. When we focus on our problems things can look hopeless. When we focus on our God's power, provision, and protection, we become hopeful.

Application: Prayer is for answers. When you call to God, look for the answer. (See Jeremiah 33:3).

Prayer: God, I praise You for revealing Yourself to be my Helper, Protector, and Provider; help me to not lose sight of You when the alligators are nipping at my earlobes. Amen.

Proverbs 1:15-16 Don't Walk, Run

1:15 “My son, don’t walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path, 16 for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.“

Observations: 1:15-16 Wise parental advice helps children see the consequences of actions that the naive don't notice. The enticing sinners of the previous verses spoke of the gain of wickedness. The reality is that the sinners will suffer loss (next verses), particularly for shedding innocent blood (which ranks right up there with idolatry and arrogant pride as things that bring God's wrath upon humans). These verses warn against taking steps in the wrong direction, particularly with the wrong companions, because the destination is destruction.

Application: Before setting foot on an enticing path, find out what lies at the end of it; if it leads to evil, don't walk on it, run the other way.

Prayer: God, give me discernment to keep me from going down the wrong paths; send me warnings from others if I can't see that well myself. Thanks for protecting me. Amen.

Genesis 6-9

For a comedic account see the conversation between God and Noah,  (If the link doesn't work Google “Noah, how long can you tread water?”). Totally worth it!

Genesis 6 How Long Can You Tread Water?

6:3 "Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; yet will his days be one hundred twenty years.”... 5 Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 Yahweh was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart. 7 Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground; man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in Yahweh’s eyes.

9 This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God. 10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

13 God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make a ship... 17 I, even I, do bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die.18 But I will establish my covenant with you...22 Thus Noah did. According to all that God commanded him, so he did."

Observations: Once again, a good guy (like Abel, who does what God wants) and bad guys (like you know who, who do whatever they want).

6:1-4 (Full text below) Did angels hookup with women? (Answer somewhere below.) Does knowing the answer make a difference in how you live today?

6:9 Noah, like Enoch faithfully strolled with God, and God took care of him.
Faith is believing that God is Who He said He is, and will do what He said He'll do.

Hebrews 11:6 "Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. 7 By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith."

The righteous, blameless, fully obedient Noah, was a lot like Job. The book of Job was written during the time of the patriarchs, and gives a portrait of a person who makes God delighted rather than “depressed”.

Job 1:1 "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil." (Cf. Job 1:9)

6:12 “corrupt” is used twice, once in the passive (Niphal) and then in the causative (Hiphil) [Click on the Online Bible verb parsing for details.] Note the characteristics of the bad guys, who corrupted their way (which implies what?).

6:13 Why is there violence? Because folks want what they want, when they want it; rather than obeying and waiting on God to give what's best when it's best.

6:18 Note the significance to the Exodus generation (only Joshua and Caleb paid attention.)

Application: Have you purposed to trust, fully follow, and do all that God has commanded you, even though no one else in your generation does? How will you follow through on that purpose? May God be with you (Matthew 28:18-20).

Prayer: God of Sky and Storms, though none go with me, still I will follow. Help your servant float on top of the waves today. Amen.

Genesis 7 How Do You Catch a Blue Woolly Mammoth?

7:1 "Yahweh said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before Me in this generation...5 Noah did everything that Yahweh commanded him.

11...all the fountains of the great deep were burst open, and the sky’s windows were opened. 12 The rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. 16 Those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; and Yahweh shut him in...19 The waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered...23...Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ship. 24 The waters prevailed on the earth one hundred fifty days.

Observations: Truth is that which best explains ALL the facts. Why are marine fossils found on the top of Mount Everest? How does a glacier catch and flash freeze a healthy tropical woolly mammoth in the middle of lunch? How can a ten foot high jumble of perfectly preserved predators playing Twister with their intact prey be uncovered in the fossil record? How did the Matterhorn take a 50 mile hike without leaving a footprint? How did a 135 mile by 15 mile section of Glacier National Park do a headstand without breaking apart? Why does Noah's Ark win first place design award among Ancient Civilization Flood Accounts?

Digging Deeper: First, the answer to catching a Blue Woolly Mammoth... use a blue woolly mammoth net. (*Groan*) “How do you catch a White Woolly Mammoth?” “Errrr, with a white woolly mammoth net????” “One would think so, but no. You grab his trunk and twist it so he can't breath, and then when he turns blue, you use your blue woolly mammoth net.” (*Double Groan*, then tell it to someone else.)

If you want a more scientific explanation of the facts, in six minutes Walter Brown, another MIT PhD (and a lot more) gives a compelling view of the facts. It's better than Bill Cosby, though it starts a little slow.

For Digging Even Deeper. Find the sermon summarizing of lot of relevant findings, with supporting links on Truthbase.net. Check out the five flood links under Resources below.

Genesis 8 BBQ

8:1 "God remembered Noah... 3 The waters receded from the earth continually... 15 God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 “Go out of the ship... 18 Noah went out, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him... 20 Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in His heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake, because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

Observations: A whole burnt offering (WBO), burned up the entire animal. In most sacrifices, the worshiper burned the guts (symbol of the will being submitted to God), gave the priest his “cut,” and then had a BBQ with his family and friends, while he told them about how God had saved or blessed him. In the WBO, God got it all. It was total dedication.

Genesis 9 Fruitfulness and Fruit of the Vine

9:1 "God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. 3 Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As the green herb, I have given everything to you. 4 But flesh with its life, its blood, you shall not eat. 6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in His own image. 7 Be fruitful and multiply. Increase abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it.”

8 God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9 “As for Me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you...11 I will establish My covenant with you: all flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood, neither will there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 God said, “This is the token of the covenant...13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth...

20 Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent...28 Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood. 29 All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years, then he died."

Observations: 9:1 Blessing like Adam's.

9:3 Burgers legit. Carnivores rejoice!

9:4 Blood pudding is a no-no. Life is in the blood (note: a blood sacrifice is a reminder that rebellion is worthy of death).

9:6 Beginning of Capital Punishment. (As a deterrent? Do the research; check source bias.)

9:8-13 If God kept His covenant with Noah, He would also with the Exodus Generation.

9:20-27 Righteous Noah's self indulgence gave others an opportunity to sin.

Digging Deeper:

God in a nutshell: He blesses the good guys; He's patient with sinners, giving them opportunity to repent (1 Peter 3:20, 2 Peter 3:9-10), but there is a limit to His patience (2 Peter 2:5). He keeps His promises.

Us in a nutshell: When we follow our heart to please ourselves, we displease God and suffer the consequences. There are righteous folks who find favor with God and reap the blessings. Starting well is no substitute for finishing well.

Last Application: Some consider “sons of God” to be angels (cf Job 1:6). The Greek mythology has the “gods” seducing humans. But the judgment in Genesis 6 is on humans.

The mighty men of old, men of renown, were clearly humans. Some have suggested demonic possession as an explanation. Maybe. Regardless, despite having “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” they didn't do too well in the flood of judgment. Don't wait until we get Psalm 52 to take corrective action; by then it might be raining.

Psalm 52:7 "Behold, this is the man who didn't make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness."

Where to Go for More: