Christ Jesus, Our High Priest

Leviticus 4:31
"Then he must remove all the goat's fat, just as he does with the fat of the peace offering. He will burn the fat on the altar, and it will be a pleasing aroma to the LORD. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the LORD, and they will be forgiven"

Dear Lord, I'm so thankful that we no longer have to rely on human priests to secure our forgiveness through the blood of animals. Christ Jesus is now my High Priest and he has once and forever secured my redemption with his own blood.

Hebrews 9:11-12
So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood - not the blood of goats and calves - he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

I praise you, Jesus, for giving your life for me! Please help me to show my unending, inexpressible gratitude by daily taking up my cross, dying to myself and living for you! In Jesus' powerful name, amen.

MEMORY VERSE

Christ Paid the Penalty

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

Christ Paid the Penalty

Our Prayers Reach God

Exodus 37:25a
Then Bezalel made the incense altar of acacia wood.

Hebrews 9:2-4a
There were two rooms in that Tabernacle. In the first room were a lampstand, a table, and sacred loaves of bread on the table. This room was called the Holy Place. Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room called the Most Holy Place. In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides.

Hebrews 9:7-8
But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.

For some reason, I didn't realize until today that the incense altar was in the Most Holy Place. I guess it makes sense. The incense represents prayer. Prayer is the way we enter God's presence. Under the old system, only the high priest could enter God's presence only once a year and only after blood was shed.

Under the new system Jesus is now our High Priest who offered his own blood. With his own blood - not the blood of goats and calves - he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. Hebrews 9:12. Now we are free to enter God's presence with our prayers anytime day or night. And as God revealed to my best friend a few days ago, our prayers cover more ground than we realize!

I praise you, Lord God! I'm so glad that you hear my prayers!! They are all collected and kept in your presence. I love you so very much!! In Jesus' name, amen.

Hebrews 4:16

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Hebrews 10:19-22

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

MEMORY VERSE

Salvation Not By Works

Titus 3:5

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Titus 3:5

Salvation Not By Works

The Way is Open!

Exodus 36:35
For the inside of the Tabernacle, Bezalel made a special curtain of finely woven linen. He decorated it with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with skillfully embroidered cherubim.

This was the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The blue, purple and scarlet represent different aspects of Christ's character. Blue - the Heavenly One, Purple - the Royal One, Scarlet - the Suffering Servant.

It also had cherubim skillfully embroidered onto it. These were not fat babies with wings. They were mighty warrior angels. Cherubim are tasked with guarding God's holiness. Not that God cannot stay holy without them, but to keep anything that is unholy out of God's presence. 

This curtain symbolized our separation from God because of our sin. The moment Jesus Christ died, the curtain hanging in Herod's Temple was torn from the top down showing that the way is now open through Christ's death. We can now enter God's presence because Jesus' blood makes us holy. The cherubim no longer block our way! Praise God!!

Hebrews 4:16

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Hebrews 10:19-22

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

MEMORY VERSE

Salvation Not By Works

Titus 3:5

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Titus 3:5

Salvation Not By Works

Bezalel and Oholiab

Exodus 31:6b
Moreover, I have given special skill to all the gifted craftsmen so they can make all the things I have commanded you to make.

Lord, I love that you equip each of us with the special skills we need to accomplish the task you set before us. You gave Bezalel great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. And you gave him skilled helpers so that they could make all the things needed for the Tabernacle.

You don't give us a task without giving us the skills we need to do it. It may seem impossible to us in our human minds, But we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. 

Philippians 4:13

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

And your power works best in our weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9

Each time he said, "My grace is all you need, My power works best in weakness."

I praise you, Lord, because you have given me the skills I need to teach my children at home and to train them in godliness. Please help me to not become weary in doing good because at just the right time I will reap a harvest, if I don't give up.

Galatians 6:9

So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up.

Thank you, Jesus, for the encouragement you have given me this morning! Thank you for these verses that you have brought to my mind and have spoken to me through. In Jesus' name, amen.

MEMORY VERSE

Salvation Not By Works

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Salvation Not By Works

The Anointing Oil

Exodus 30:22-33

In the Bible oil always seems to represent the Holy Spirit. It's no different here. This oil was used to anoint the priests and everything in and associated with worship in the Tabernacle. Not just the altar, but also all of it's utensils. Not just the lampstand, but also all of it's accessories.

We should seek to include the Lord and the Holy Spirit in all we do, even the mundane. Then even these mundane tasks will be transformed into acts of worship. They become anointed by the Holy Spirit and therefore holy. Doing laundry, or the dishes can become holy worship for the Lord. Changing poopy diapers can become an act of holy service for God. Teaching my children math can become my worship to Jesus.

Colossians 3:23

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

Romans 12:1

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Psalm 37:23-24

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

Lord, help me to remember to include you in even the mundane details of my life. I want my life to be worship to you. I thank you that you delight in every detail of my life! In Jesus' name, amen.

MEMORY VERSE

Salvation Not By Works

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Salvation Not By Works

The Bronze Laver

Exodus 30:17-21

The washbasin was made completely of bronze. Brass/bronze stands for judgement. Jesus is the one appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. Acts 10:42

Moses and his sons were commanded to wash their hands and feet using the water from this washbasin. If they didn't they would die. This water represents the Word, which we need daily to cleanse us from the filth we get on us from living in the world. Ephesians 5:26; Romans 12:2

"The feet-washing service, as commanded in John 13:1-17 certainly takes on a deeper meaning the moment we see the water as typifying the Word of God. Stooping down and washing my brother's feet symbolizes a readiness to render menial, humble service to my brethren. But that is barely half of the story!

Our feet symbolize our walk of life, and the water the Word of God. To extend my bare feet to my brother symbolizes my willingness to lay my life bare before my brethren and have them use the Word of God to help me cleanse and improve my walk of life. I'd better mean it lest I play the hypocrite. Then, as I wash my brother's feet, I symbolize my willingness to use the Word to help him improve his walk of life. To do that in a brotherly way requires a far deeper humility than to simply wash his feet and dry them with a towel!"*

Lord, please wash me clean as I spend time in your word. Help me to be willing to lay my life bare to my brothers and sisters so they can use Your Word to help me cleanse and improve my walk with you. Remind me that it is ONLY your Word that can soften another's heart and clean any of us from the muck and mire of this world. In Jesus' name, amen.

*Hersberger, Ervin N. (2010) Seeing Christ in the Tabernacle. Harrisonburg, VA: Vision Publishers.

MEMORY VERSE

Salvation Not By Works

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Salvation Not By Works

The Altar of Incense

Exodus 30:1-10

Incense represents our prayers to a Holy God. This wooden alter of incense overlaid with gold and wearing a crown is a picture of our victorious Savior interceding for us day and night.

"Jesus' intercessory ministry makes Him the ultimate fulfillment of all that the Levitical priesthood stood for. We cannot bypass Calvary (self must still be crucified), nor the 'washing of water by the word' (the Laver), nor forego the Living Bread at the Table of Fellowship. These are all vital parts of the process. But if it were not for Christ's intercessory ministry, we'd still be lost!"*

Jesus, I praise you for interceding for me! I am so thankful that you are my High Priest! Help me to daily die to myself so that I can live for you. Wash me clean with your word as I read, meditate on, and memorize it. Thank you for the fellowship we share as I talk to you throughout my day. In Jesus' name, amen.

*Hersberger, Ervin N. (2010) Seeing Christ in the Tabernacle. Harrisonburg, VA: Vision Publishers.

MEMORY VERSE

Salvation Not By Works

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Salvation Not By Works