Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus 4:1-12.  Here is a link to this Scripture – http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+4&version=NASB

I quote the following verses.

“1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them, 3 if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer to the Lord a bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.  4 He shall bring the bull to the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull and slay the bull before the Lord.  5 Then the anointed priest is to take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting, 6 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary.   …

“11 But the hide of the bull and all its flesh with its head and its legs and its entrails and its refuse, 12 that is, all the rest of the bull, he is to bring out to a clean place outside the camp where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire;  where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.”  Leviticus 4:11-12.

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“11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp.  12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.  13 So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.  14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”  Hebrews 13:11-14.

“3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.”  Isaiah 53:3-5.

“So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.”  Hebrews 13:13.

David, did so, went outside the camp, bore Christ’s reproach, and identified himself with Christ in the following Psalm Chapter 22.

“1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.
2 O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest.
3 Yet You are holy,
O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
4 In You our fathers trusted;
They trusted and You delivered them.
5 To You they cried out and were delivered;
In You they trusted and were not disappointed.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
A reproach of men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me sneer at me;
They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,
8 “Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”
9 Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb;
You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.
10 Upon You I was cast from birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.
11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near;
For there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13 They open wide their mouth at me,
As a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And You lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
They look, they stare at me;
18 They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But You, O Lord, be not far off;
O You my help, hasten to my assistance.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
My only life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth;
From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.
22 I will tell of Your name to my brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him;
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
25 From You comes my praise in the great assembly;
I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.
26 The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
30 Posterity will serve Him;
It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.
31 They will come and will declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.”  Psalm 22:1-31.

This is God’s sovereign action.  “He has performed it.” as David concludes.

As we read in Hebrews 13:12, Jesus (God, the Son) suffered outside the gate, so that He might sanctify the people through His own blood”.

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;  for he who has died is freed from sin.”  Romans 6:3-7.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus Chapter 3.  Here is a link to this Scripture – http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+3&version=NASB

I quote the following verses.

“From it he shall present his offering as an offering by fire to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys.  The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire for a soothing aroma;  all fat is the Lord’s.  It is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall not eat any fat or any blood.’”  Leviticus 3:14-17.

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Today’s Scripture teaches us the importance of devotion.  There should be things in our offerings that we devote, that is, commit or dedicate to God.  These things should be set apart for God as in “all fat is the Lord’s.  … you shall not eat any fat or any blood.’”  Verses 16-17.

We see other examples from Scripture.

“you shall devote to the Lord the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the Lord.”  Exodus 13:12.

“‘Nevertheless, anything which a man sets apart to the Lord out of all that he has, of man or animal or of the fields of his own property, shall not be sold or redeemed.  Anything devoted to destruction is most holy to the Lord.”  Leviticus 27:28.

“Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”  1 King 8:61.

“Also he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to the law of the Lord.”  2 Chronicles 31:4.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”  Matthew 6:24.

“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”  Acts 6:4.

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love;  give preference to one another in honor;  not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;  rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.”  Romans 12:10-13.

There are a lot of good things that we can do, but we need to be devoted to doing the most important things that God has led us to do.

There are general things to which we all should be devoted, and there are specific and different things to which each of us are called and gifted to specifically do.

Examples of the general things to which we all should be devoted are reading God’s Word, prayer, doing good to others in brotherly love, and worshipping and resting on the Sabbath.

For me, an example of a specific thing that I am called and gifted to do is to write these devotions.

For you, an example of a specific thing that you are called and gifted to do is something else.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10.

“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  … And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;”  Ephesians Chapter 4:  Verses 7 and 11-12.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus 2:14-16.

“‘Also if you bring a grain offering of early ripened things to the Lord, you shall bring fresh heads of grain roasted in the fire, grits of new growth, for the grain offering of your early ripened things.  You shall then put oil on it and lay incense on it;  it is a grain offering.  The priest shall offer up in smoke its memorial portion, part of its grits and its oil with all its incense as an offering by fire to the Lord.”  Leviticus 2:14-16.

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“O sing to the Lord a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.”  Psalm 98:1.

How can our offerings to God be “early”, “fresh” and “new”?

Here are three personal examples that I have observed our LORD work in my life over time.  You know that I rarely use personal examples, preferring to use verses alone or as much as possible, but I think these examples will stimulate appreciation for such  “early”, “fresh” and “new” offerings.  In any event, these things are not being done by me from my legalistic sense of duty, but from being gently led by the Spirit Who draws me to want to do such things by his “Irresistable Grace”.  To God alone be the glory! 

First example is that for my daily devotions offerings, I find myself walking up in the middle of the night (very early) to read the Scripture and write down a few of my thoughts about it.  My mind is fresh, and I am able to write down new thoughts.

Second example is that I find myself immediately writing a tithing check out of most checks that I receive.  These are early and fresh fruits.  I stick the check(s) in the back of my wallet, so when Sunday comes, I don’t have to ponder what I will give or begrudging see what I can spare.  I give the check(s) that are in the back of my wallet and find that these money offerings are given more cheerfully.

Third example is that when people ask me to pray for them and I want to pray for them, I immediately pray for them.  I don’t forget or delay to pray for them.  If I receive a request my email, then I immediately reply with a written email which contains a prayer.  If I receive the request in person, I don’t care if I am in a gym or a public place, I draw close to them, bow my head, and quietly say a short prayer.  I think these prayer offerings are “early”, “fresh” and “new”.

You have your own examples, “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:13.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus 2:13.

“Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering;  with all your offerings you shall offer salt.”  Leviticus 2:13.

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When we offer worship to God, we should “salt” it with God’s covenant promises.

God’s covenant promises describe what God promises that He will do for our salvation.  We can add this “salt” to our songs, our Scripture readings, and our sermons.

Although every sentence of our songs, our Scripture readings, and our sermons does not need to contain these covenant promises of God, there should be sufficient salt in them that our whole worship is seasoned with this salt.

It is sad when we our ears pick up with delight these covenant promises of God only to be later contradicted and let down by other statements.  We should not just pay “lip service” to these covenant promises of God.  Everything in the worship service should be seasoned (affected) by the covenant promises of God.

For example, how often does the focus change from what God has done for our salvation to a conclusion in the worship service which states or infers:  “Now, it is up to you!”.  Instead, the conclusion could be seasoned by the salt of God’s promises such as “… walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”  Galatians 5:16.

Our salt is “TULIP, the Five Points of Salvation, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.  These are God’s covenant promises of salvation.  Our songs, our Scripture readings, and our sermons should all be seasoned by this salt.

We don’t need to expressly use the words “Unconditional Election”, “Limited Atonement”, “Irresistable Grace”, and “Preservation of the Saints” (the “U”, “L”, “I”, “P” of “TULIP”).  These are helpful general summaries, but we can be even more general as Scripture sometimes is.

“For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.”  Psalm 92:4.

“The Lord has done great things for us; We are glad.”  Psalm 126:3.

“I looked, and there was no one to help,
And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold;
So My own arm brought salvation to Me, …”  Isaiah 64:5.

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  and these whom He predestined, He also called;  and these whom He called, He also justified;  and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”  Romans 8:29-30.

“Salvation belongs to the Lord;
Your blessing be upon Your people!”  Psalm 3:8.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  …”  Ephesians 1:3-4.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;  seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”  2 Peter 1:2-4.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus 2:12.

“As an offering of first fruits you shall bring them to the Lord, but they shall not ascend for a soothing aroma on the altar.”  Leviticus 2:12.

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Fruits can be works (or fruits) of the flesh which do not please (or soothe) God.  But, faith pleases God.  We see this from the story of Abel and Cain.

“Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.”  Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground.  Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.  And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering (the firstlings of his flock);  but for Cain and for his offering (the fruit of the ground) He had no regard.  So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.”  Genesis 4:1-5.

“By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.”  Hebrews 11:4.

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;”  Hebrews 11:17.

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”  Hebrews 11:6.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  For by it the men of old gained approval.”  Hebrews 11:1-2.

“… whatever is not from faith is sin.”  Romans 14:23.

“Behold, the eye of the Lord (favor) is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness,”  Psalm 33:18.

“Behold, as for the proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live by his faith.”  Habakkuk 2:4.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus 2:11.

“‘No grain offering, which you bring to the Lord, shall be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire to the Lord. ” Leviticus 2:11.

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We may not make any burnt offerings or grain offerings, but we present our “bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Romans 12:1. We “offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:5.

And so, let us make sure that there is no leaven in our spiritual sacrifices.

There is no pride in our spiritual sacrifices.

“Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Corinthians 5:6-8.

There is no pomp in our spiritual sacrifices.

“And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Matthew 16:7. “Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Matthew 16:12.

There is no perfection by the flesh in our spiritual sacrifices.

“This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Galatians 3:2-3.

“You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.” Galatians 5:6-9.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus 2:1-10.

“1 ‘Now when anyone presents a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it. 2 He shall then bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests; and shall take from it his handful of its fine flour and of its oil with all of its frankincense. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke as its memorial portion on the altar, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord. 3 The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons: a thing most holy, of the offerings to the Lord by fire.

4 ‘Now when you bring an offering of a grain offering baked in an oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil. 5 If your offering is a grain offering made on the griddle, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil; 6 you shall break it into bits and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. 7 Now if your offering is a grain offering made in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 8 When you bring in the grain offering which is made of these things to the Lord, it shall be presented to the priest and he shall bring it to the altar. 9 The priest then shall take up from the grain offering its memorial portion, and shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord. 10 The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons: a thing most holy of the offerings to the Lord by fire.” Leviticus 2:1-10.

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Today’s Scripture continues with the message of prior Scriptures that our offerings are to be “a soothing aroma to the LORD”.

But, we may not feel like soothing our LORD; we may think that we are the ones that need to be soothed.

I feel that way today. I received disappointing news on Friday that was unexpected. It is not a health or financial issue, and I want to keep it private for personal reasons and for reasons that the disclosure of the nature of the news will not aid this devotion. We all have received disappointing news from time to time that make us want to soothe ourselves rather than soothe the LORD.

But, here is today’s Scripture. We need to make an offering which will be “a soothing aroma to the LORD”.

Today, as I go to church, will I seek something soothing for me or something soothing for the LORD?

We are forced to realize that because of our sin and the holiness of the LORD, and His righteous anger, we need to make an offering which will be “a soothing aroma to the LORD”.

But, there is hope!

There is only one “soothing aroma to the LORD” and that is our Savior Jesus Christ about Whom the LORD said “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Matthew 3:17.

“12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them

After those days, says the Lord:

I will put My laws upon their heart,

And on their mind I will write them,”

He then says,

17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds

I will remember no more.”

18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.” Hebrews 10:12-18.

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:19-22.

Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus Chapter 1. Here is a link to this Scripture – http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+1&version=NASB

I quote the first nine verses.

“Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. He shall slay the young bull before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. He shall then skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head and the suet over the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar. Its entrails, however, and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the altar for a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord.” Leviticus 1:1-9.

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“For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Hebrews 9:13-14.

“and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Matthew 3:17.

“10 But the Lord was pleased

To crush Him, putting Him to grief;

If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,

He will see His offspring,

He will prolong His days,

And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,

He will see it and be satisfied;

By His knowledge the Righteous One,

My Servant, will justify the many,

As He will bear their iniquities.” Isaiah 53:10-11.

“so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” Hebrews 9:28.

“For by one offering He (Christ) has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14.

Today’s devotion covers Exodus 40:17-38 which covers the details of how Moses erected the tabernacle. Here is a link to this Scripture – http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+40&version=NASB

I quote herein only the following verses.

“17 Now in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected. 18 Moses erected the tabernacle and laid its sockets, and set up its boards, and inserted its bars and erected its pillars. 19 He spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. …

33 He erected the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the veil for the gateway of the court. Thus Moses finished the work.

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. 38 For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.” Exodus Chapter 40: Verses 17-19 and 33-38.

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If we think the earthly tabernacle was awesome, how much more awesome is “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.”! Hebrews 8:2.

“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:11-12.

And, if we admired Moses for finishing the work of erecting the earthly tabernacle, how much more should we admire Christ for accomplishing all the eternal redemption work that God the Father gave him to do!

“I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.” John 17:4-8.

And, if we think the glory that filled the earthly tabernacle and that led Israel was such a blessing, how much more of a blessing is the glory that Christ gives us, perfects us in unity, and leads us!

“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:22-26.

Today’s devotion comes from Exodus 40:1-16.

“1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 3 You shall place the ark of the testimony there, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. 4 You shall bring in the table and arrange what belongs on it; and you shall bring in the lampstand and mount its lamps. 5 Moreover, you shall set the gold altar of incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the veil for the doorway to the tabernacle. 6 You shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 7 You shall set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. 8 You shall set up the court all around and hang up the veil for the gateway of the court. 9 Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and shall consecrate it and all its furnishings; and it shall be holy. 10 You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, and the altar shall be most holy. 11 You shall anoint the laver and its stand, and consecrate it. 12 Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 13 You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to Me. 14 You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them; 15 and you shall anoint them even as you have anointed their father, that they may minister as priests to Me; and their anointing will qualify them for a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.” 16 Thus Moses did; according to all that the Lord had commanded him, so he did.” Exodus 40:1-16.

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The Law (all the “You shall …”s) leads us to Christ.

All the commands make us realize that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

All the objects of the commands (the tabernacle, the ark, the lampstand, the altars, the laver, the anointing oil, the garments, and the priests) were only copies and shadows of Christ (Hebrews 8:4); they make us seek Christ and draw us to Christ.

“11 Worship the Lord with reverence

And rejoice with trembling.

12 Do homage to the Son (Christ), that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,

For His wrath may soon be kindled.

How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!” Psalm 2:10-11.