1 – “ Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord.” (1 Samuel 2:12, ESV)
RAF: It is not enough that our children are “our” children in that we know the Lord. It is not enough that they be the children of priests, or even priests themselves. Do they know the Lord? This is the critical thing. This is what we need to raise them to, to know God for themselves.
1 – ” And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.” (Judges 13:1, ESV)
RAF: It is amazing in this book to see how long the People of God can walk in obstinance before they feel the pain of their fall and cry for recovery. Over and over. – Heavenly Father, give me a heart that repents at the drop of a dime. Do not let me grow so hard and cold that long times pass before I feel the woeful state of my soul and fly back to you.
1 – “ Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep the whole commandment that I command you today.” (Deuteronomy 27:1, ESV)
RAF: The whole of God’s words to them is seen as a unity. It is spoken of here as the “whole commandment” in the singular. While the New Covenant believer is not “under the Law”, nevertheless, every word God speaks is precious, and to be considered. By it, we know His heart and mind in a vast variety of situations and circumstances.
1 – “Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God said to him.)” (Deuteronomy 10:9, ESV)
RAF: Now, as we are a “royal priesthood” 1 Peter 2:9, and we receive the “earnest of our inheritance” Ephesians 1:14 in the Holy Spirit – we see that the Levitical priesthood was a type of the Christian. As their inheritance is God and not earthly plots of ground – so ours. Imagine, we inherit the fullness of God.
1 – ““But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.” (Numbers 35:16-21, ESV)
RAF: Murder is distinguished from manslaughter by these 3 things. To be “murder” it must bear at least one of these elements:
a. Use of a weapon. b. Predisposition of hatred or enmity. c. Premeditation by lying in wait.
1 – “”Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.”" (Numbers 27:16-17, ESV)
RAF: What a beautiful prefiguring of Christ. Even though he is about to face death, his heart is concerned for the people – that they might not be Shepherdless. Though it was on their account that he would not be crossing over, nevertheless, he loves them – as they are God’s people. And one cannot truly love God, and not love those upon whom He puts His name and calls His own. Moses could only consign them to the care of another like himself – Joshua. But Jesus consigned us to another like HIMSELF, the Holy Spirit. John 14:18 / 1 John 2:7-11
1 – ““This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days. And every open vessel that has no cover fastened on it is unclean. Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt sin offering, and fresh water shall be added in a vessel. Then a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on whoever touched the bone, or the slain or the dead or the grave. And the clean person shall sprinkle it on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day. Thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean.” (Numbers 19:14-19, ESV)
RAF: This ministry of cleansing one another from this defilement was not carried out by the Priests, but by anyone who was clean in the congregation. It was ministry one to another.
1 – “ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. If any one of the house of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. And the priest shall throw the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations. “And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from his people.” (Leviticus 17:1-9, ESV)
RAF: There could be no such thing as private sacrifice. Perhaps the equivalent of modern home churches. Sacrifice was commanded worship and it was not allowed to be conducted outside the context of the Tabernacle. Why? Because it leads to idolatry, and a service to God which is detached from the rest of His people. One cannot have a right relationship with God, and not also be connected to His people. One ought to want connection to His people in the larger context and not want to privatize his service to God.
1 – “He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.” (Leviticus 1:4, ESV)
RAF: Perfection has always been God’s standard. That is why we need a Savior.
1 – ” The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you:” (Exodus 31:1-6, ESV)
RAF: Note how even these natural giftings come from God and are the work of His Spirit within us. This is why even our “secular” work is to be done as unto Him. He gives the talents and abilities and they are to be utilized in light of His working in us.
1 – “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:18-21, ESV)
RAF: Do not fear the “thick darkness” of God’s Word. Study it. Draw near to it. Yes, there are strange sounds in it, strange things to see, it deals with things which make the mountains tremble – but you can draw near to Him there. God is there. Don’t ask others to do that for you. You cannot build a relationship by proxy.
1 – “But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.” ’ ”” (Exodus 8:22-23, ESV)
RAF: Up until now, it appears the Israelites experienced the difficulty of the plagues as well as the Egyptians. God’s judgments upon mankind, or a particular nation, affect the Christians as well as those who are being judged. But then there does come a separation – wherein the distinction is made. Do not be surprised that you suffer some of the ill effects of God’s dealings with the lost.
“Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted.” (Genesis 25:29, ESV) / Temptation always argues that the immediate “pinch” must be met, even at the expense of the long term consequences; even at the cost of eternity.
” So Isaac settled in Gerar. When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance.” (Genesis 26:6-7, ESV) / Like father, like son: Our children often pick up our thought patterns and responses to things. May they learn from us how we trust Christ!
” When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”” (Genesis 27:1-10, ESV) / Isaac knew full well the words spoken to Rebekah, but wanted to put Esau in his rightful place anyway. He was sinning against the revealed will of God. But Rebekah had little faith that the Lord would see to it His will was done in the face of Isaac’s sin. So she sinned. No one else’s sin every justifies ours. To respond sinfully to sin – is still entirely wrong.
What is the fear of the Lord?
The phrase appears on the pages of Scripture nearly 30 times. Yet quantifying it seems to be somewhat difficult. This is especially true when we consider passages like 1 John 4:18 where we are told perfect love casts out all fear. How then are we to understand the idea of an ongoing fear of the Lord, and yet a full comprehension of His love?
The answer seems best answered in the context of Proverbs 1. A fitting passage I think for what has been termed in our culture “April Fool’s Day.” Here is wisdom for all of us “April’s fools”.
The Writer of the Proverbs opens his powerful and majestic book with a preface describing what he was after in penning it: “To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity.” (vss. 2-3) And then as a summary of his stated direction, and to put in one phrase what he is going to explore throughout the following chapters he tells us: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
In short, if I am catching his drift rightly, he is giving us a worldview of staggering proportions in an amazing economy of words. In essence, I believe he is simply stating, that the fear of the Lord, is to live life in God, fully aware that we are all held to an absolute standard of righteousness, which will be judged and administrated in absolute justice, which will end in absolute fairness wrought out in the context of righteousness and justice. In other words, it is to recognize that God’s standard of righteousness – is the standard of righteousness all are judged by. That in His righteousness, justice must be done, and cannot be perverted or neglected – there are no plea bargains. And that all of this is carried out on an absolutely level playing field – in perfect fairness to all involved, without perverting justice or lowering the standard.
Fools want to live in a universe that has a curved standard, a flexible justice, and fairness perceived mainly in relationship to themselves. But the wise man, sees the universe God’s way – through the lens of God’s own righteousness, justice and equity – and thus flees to God for mercy in Christ – where all of these are met in Him. Fools do not fear God. They dismiss these concepts. The wise – fear the Lord. Not living in terror, but in the mercy and grace that fear leads them to in our Savior.
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