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Family Research Council is serving in the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, & freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
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Holiness Demanded of Priests 0:10 Good morning, and welcome to Stand on the Word. Well, our 2 year journey through the Bible takes us today to Leviticus chapters 22 and 23. Verse 32 of chapter 22, you shall0:21 not profane my holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the lord who sanctifies you. So today, what do work, rest, and celebration have in common?0:33 Well, stick around. I'll have the answer for you in a moment. Now, let me just say this first. Many of you have, posted messages or sent emails, just expressing how the stand on the word reading program has,0:46 encouraged you. It strengthened you in your walk with the Lord. And I'm just gonna say those messages are very encouraging to me and to the team here at the Family Research Council because, you know, we're committed to0:57 not just shaping policy from a biblical perspective or defending religious freedom, but we're actually wanting to model it. What does it look like in practice? So it's not just about talking about it.1:09 It's about doing it. And and I'll say this from our perspective in Washington and as we work on policy and even work on elections, Elections are critical. And I1:21 do hope, by the way, that you are registered and you will be voting in the primary seasons, but transformation will not come from the ballot box. Alright? It will come from individuals whose lives are formed by an1:32 encounter with the lord Jesus Christ. But it's about more than just knowing Jesus as your savior. It's about living for him as your lord. And, you know,1:44 we we obviously want Christians to be in the word, but we want the word to be in them. And that means you have to abide in the word, and that's what the 2 year journey through the Bible is about. It's about helping1:55 Christians not just read the word, but allow the word to abide in you as you abide in Christ. So I'm gonna ask you to do me a favor. Help us get more Christians and and others into2:07 the word. You know, there are people that come to know the lord as savior as a result of this reading plan. So I wanna encourage you to, if you're watching this on a social media platform, like it, you know,2:19 send it to your friends. If you're watching on YouTube or you're watching on, the website. Send the link, to this daily devotion to your friends. Invite your friends to join us. We're gonna be starting a new book. Very2:31 soon, we're gonna start the book of Numbers. I've even heard from somebody who's saying, you know what? I was dreading getting into Leviticus, but you know what? It's exciting. Yes. It is. The word of God is2:42 alive, and it is exciting. Alright. As I mentioned last time, I'm going to include chapter 21 today with our discussion very briefly because 21 and 22 actually go together. They're2:54 instructions regarding the priest and the offerings. And then when we go to chapter 22 or 23 rather, we have direction regarding the festivals. And, 2 different topics, but they're connected by3:06 the overarching focus and theme of Leviticus, which is what? It's holiness to the Lord. So chapter 21 verse 8, therefore, you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your3:18 God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy, talking about the priest. Now chapter 21 unpacks this command for the priest to be holy in their3:30 marital relationship, and there's even a higher standard for the high priest. There's instruction for their children, for ceremonial separation, and a command that no priest serving the lord could have a physical defect.3:42 Look at verse 17. Speak to Aaron saying, no man of your descendants in succeeding generations who has any def defect may approach to offer the bread of his god. Now we might think, wow. How insensitive3:55 and harsh as if somehow we're more compassionate than god. God is holy, and his presence demands holiness. As we look at these harsh4:06 requirements of the Old Testament, remember, the Old Testament speaks to the physical. It gives us an illustration, a symbol. It's a type. The New Testament speaks to the spiritual. Spiritually, we're all4:18 lame. Right? We're all lame. None of us have what it takes to enter the presence of God. This is pointing to the way that we have that access. It's through Jesus, the high priest,4:29 who did enter and dwells there on our behalf. And you remember what Jesus did? It was pretty neat. Matthew chapter 21, excuse me, verse 14.4:42 Then the blind and the lame came to him in the temple. Excuse me. They were excluded from the temple, but look what it says. Then the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he4:54 healed them. You see, he made a way for those who were excluded. That's me and you. Alright. Moving to chapter 22, then the lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to Aaron andHigher Standards for Leaders and Worship 5:06 his sons that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and they do not profane my holy name. By what they dedicate to me, I am the lord. Say to them, whoever of all5:18 your descendants throughout your generations goes near the holy things which your children of Israel dedicate to the Lord while he has uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord.5:30 Now as we've been reading Leviticus, the children of Israel were called to holiness. Now, again, let me remind you, holiness is a separation unto the Lord. It's a separation from the world and the way the5:41 world operates. Here, we see that the priests are called to an even higher level or standard of sanctification to the lord. You might say, wait a minute. That's not fair. That's not right.5:54 Look at what James in the New Testament writes in James 3 1. My brethren, let not many of you become teachers knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. Why? Why why are leaders held to a6:06 different standard? Why are teachers held to a stricter judgment? Because if you're a leader, people are following you. And God says you better lead them in6:18 the right direction. And that's why I think we see so many leaders being exposed, because they are not leading people in the right direction. And God cares about his people. He cares about his6:29 sheep. So what is the spiritual application for us from this passage? I would say the principle here is that pastors and Christian leaders, which include Sunday school teachers, small group leaders, and here, brace6:40 yourself, parents. Yes. Parents. Because you are leading your children whether you recognize it or not. And fathers, you are to be the spiritual leaders of your home. And and6:52 here's something we need to understand, and this is what we see here in this imagery of the old testament. God will not release his holy spirit, pour out his holy spirit into7:05 a willfully contaminated vessel for others to drink from. Now don't don't don't misunderstand me. This is not a call to sinless perfection because no7:17 1 would make it. We we we just won't make that. This is an issue of sanctification. Okay? There were some things as we read here that would cause a priest to forfeit his position7:29 completely. Others left him temporarily defiled from which he could be restored, as, just a reflection of God's mercy. Now in the latter half of this chapter, we see the7:41 standard set for worship as the focus is on the sacrifices that they offered to the Lord. Verse 21, and whoever offers a sacrifice of peace of a peace offering to the Lord to7:52 fulfill his vow or a free will offering from the cattle to sheep. It must be perfect to be accepted. There shall be no defect in it. Here's what god's saying. He doesn't want our rejected8:05 or or defective worship. It doesn't want the leftovers. We should give god our very best. Now remember what worship entails. What does it entail? Everything. First Corinthians chapter 108:17 verse 31. Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of god. God. This is not just about finances and tithing. Although these offerings were costly as we talked about before,8:29 it's about giving god our very best. We we we now we just have time for an overview of the festivals here in chapter 23. And now these periods on the Jewish calendarFeasts of the Lord: Work, Rest, Celebration 8:40 placed there by God were there for a reason. It wasn't just for a barbecue or a day off. Alright? And and we could do an entire study on the festivals if we had time, but we don't. We're8:52 doing a 2 year journey through the Bible. There are others, fortunately, who have done those studies, and I encourage you to take a look at some of those. But I, I just wanna very quickly as we look over this,9:04 there are 7 festivals. They further illustrate God's justification, his call to sanctification, his glorification, his favor, his provision, and the gratitude that we owe him. Right? Verse9:16 1 chapter 23. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the children of Israel and say to them, the feast of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are my feast. 6 days shall9:28 you shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwelling. So the Lord, as he starts his discussion here9:40 in chapter 23, begins with the Sabbath because it is a model of and a reminder of the bigger picture. Okay? It's a daily it's a it's a weekly reminder of that cycle. Now we often miss this9:51 because we think the Sabbath you know, our our minds immediately go to the images of church. The worship of God began in the home. They were not to work in their homes because they were to be resting10:03 and contemplating the things of God. That was the Sabbath. And I've had the privilege of, joining families in Israel for the Sabbath, and so it was a remarkable10:15 experience. And it's it's something we need to just spending time with the family and and discussing the things of God. And and that's part of what gave10:27 rise, and I've talked about this before, maybe not in this so far in this journey. But there are Sundays where we don't have reading, but we just spend time discussing it with the family or with our small group. That's10:38 where that came from. I was with the the family in Israel, and I said, wow. This is this is something we need to rediscover. And and so that's why we do no reading on Sunday. We just have a discussion. And it's10:50 been 1 of my favorite days for many, many years as my kids were growing up. Alright. The Lord then lays out the 7 festivals after talking about the the, the11:02 Sabbath. And, again, God does everything by design, and he establishes a pattern for life, for work, for rest, and celebration. And most of these are celebrations. Okay? The festivals11:14 were be to be placed on the collective national planner. Everybody was involved. This was something to remind them of who they were, a part of their identity. There were 7 festivals.11:26 3 of them required pilgrimages, to the tabernacle or temple. Again, the timing of the festival shows the design of God. They were primarily in the months of March, May, and11:37 September, which was the most practical for the people to travel first to Shiloh and then later to Jerusalem. It wasn't winter, and it, wasn't during the time of planting or harvesting. So11:49 here are the 7 feast or festivals. First, you had Passover, first month of the year fourteenth day. This was the spring pilgrimage. It lasted it was 1 day. Then the feast of unleavened bread.12:01 This was the first month, fifteenth day. So right after Passover, and this lasted 7 days. Then there was the feast of first fruits, which was kind of a transition within the12:13 feast of the unleavened bread. It was on the first month sixteenth day, the third day after Passover, which symbolized the resurrection. It lasted 1 day. Then we12:25 have Pentecost, 50 days after the first fruits. This was the summer pilgrimage. It lasted a day. Then we had the trumpets, feast of the trumpets. That was the seventh month. First day begins12:37 10 days of repentance concluding with the day of atonement, seventh month, tenth day. No work on that day. This was the 1 day where they were fasting. They were to afflict their souls. We talked about this before. This12:49 was where they fasted for 1 day. Then there was the Feast of the Tabernacles, the seventh month, fifteenth day. So it backs right up to it. Last 7 days. And on the eighth13:00 day, there was an assembly, a fall pilgrimage. So in total, we're talking about you know, it sounds like a whole lot, about 18 to 19 sacred days. Most of them were celebrations.13:12 2 additional celebrations were added later or festivals, feast, the feast of dedication known as Hanukkah that comes from the book of the Maccabees, and then the feast of lots or Purim,13:24 which is actually going on, was last week in, in Israel, from, Easter. I'm sorry, from Esther. And that that's from the book of Esther. So there's a lot to consider in these13:36 chapters, but I'll leave you with this. Alright? God has established a pattern for us to be a people set apart for him. Work, rest, celebration.13:48 It is all all of it. All of it. Work, rest, celebration. All of it is to be an act of worship to him. Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you,14:00 father, for the holy spirit that is leading us on this journey. And I just continue to pray that you would show us the holy spirit would show us how to apply these truths to our lives in this world in which we're living,14:11 that we would be holy, we would be sanctified, set apart, that we would, lord, do so with humility, with great thankfulness and gratitude that you have called us into relationship with you, and14:23 you have called us to go and make disciples and share with others the good news of the lord Jesus Christ of the salvation that is available freely in him. So, lord, give us boldness. Give us courage.14:35 Give us strength. Lord, grip our hearts with this call to holiness that, lord, we would walk holy before you and that in that, we would14:47 reflect you to a world that is in desperate need, desperate need of encountering you. For we pray and ask this in Jesus'14:59 name. Amen. Thanks for joining me this morning, and until next time, keep standing on the word.15:08 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you15:20 can read through the entire bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Holiness Demanded of Priests5:00 Higher Standards for Leaders and Worship8:33 Feasts of the Lord: Work, Rest, Celebration
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