jeffersonvann

YOM KIPPUR

YOM KIPPUR

Leviticus 16:29-34 NET.

²⁹ “This is to be a perpetual statute for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves and do no work of any kind, both the native citizen and the foreigner who resides in your midst, ³⁰ for on this day atonement is to be made for you to cleanse you from all your sins; you must be clean before the LORD. ³¹It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves. It is a perpetual statute. ³² “The priest who is anointed and ordained to act as high priest in place of his father is to make atonement. He is to put on the linen garments, the holy garments, ³³ and he is to purify the Most Holy Place, he is to purify the Meeting Tent and the altar, and he is to make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. ³⁴ This is to be a perpetual statute for you to make atonement for the Israelites for all their sins once a year.” So he did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The Bible does not begin with the Gospel of Matthew. In fact, Matthew’s Gospel is the 40^th book of the Bible. I have encountered Christians who are afraid of the first 39 books. I have encountered those who choose to ignore them because they appear hard to understand. They are harder to understand than most New Testament books because they go back deeper into the past and reflect a more ancient world. But I encourage those who feel this way to face their fears and choose not to neglect the Old Testament. The back side of the mine is deeper and darker and harder to get to, but if we dare to face our fears and put in the hard work of digging into the recesses of that dark place, we might find precious treasure.

Many never get to the backside of the mine because they are too lazy to do the work that it takes to get there. Such people will remain poor when they could be rich. They will settle for a meager existence in this life because they refuse the challenge of seeking a deeper life. They would rather stay behind in obscurity where it is relatively safe than pack up all their belongings and head out west to find the mother lode. It is safer to stay behind. All our things are here. Everything that we value and cherish is on this side of the world. We hear tell of those who have gotten lost on the trail and never even got out west. Others were attacked, died of starvation, or succumbed to disease. The treasure may be there, but it’s too hard to get to.

There are some, of course, who never dare touch the Old Testament because they are not just afraid of the first 39 but against them. Like Marcion, they see the Old Testament as the work of a different god – a God of anger and evil. They think the Old Testament is all law and the New Testament is all gospel. If you’re tempted to believe that, I want to remind you that for all of the authors of the New Testament, their only Bible was the Old Testament. The Old Testament was the Bible that Jesus read. It was the Bible that Jesus quoted when he was tempted. It was the Bible that the Gospel authors quoted when they saw the fulfillment of prophecies in the life of Christ and the early church.

But the influence of the Old Testament is not only seen in the Gospel, it permeates the rest of the New Testament as well. When Paul or Peter of James or John wanted to prove a point or verify teaching, they quoted from that good Old Testament to do so. Mr. Google tells me that there are 283 direct quotations from the Hebrew Bible in the Greek New Testament. The two New Testament books that contain the most direct quotes and indirect allusions are Romans and Hebrews. Those two epistles are precious descriptions of the gospel of grace and the life of faith. Yet they would not make any sense at all without their Old Testament background.

So, we cannot avoid the Old Testament. It is there, and it is not going away. We can ignore it, but choosing to do so is choosing not to receive the blessing that God intends us to have. The gold is on the backside of the mine. There is gold in those hills. God wants us to have it. Yes, getting there is hard work. But getting there and receiving God’s blessing is our destiny.

Today, I want us to examine these six verses in Leviticus 16. They review the commands God gave Moses regarding the Day of Atonement. The whole chapter serves as the context, and it covers more than we will be able to cover in one sermon. So, we will limit our examination to what is being taught in these six verses.

The Hebrew phrase “Yom Kippur” means “day of atonement” or “day of reconciliation” in English. It refers to a specific day in the Hebrew calendar when the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place and offered sacrifices to reconcile the whole nation to God. Let’s look at what this text says about that day.

First, this text highlights one day (29-31).

There was only one day of atonement. It was set for the seventh month of the secular year, which was the first month of the religious year. Starting on the first day of that month, which is the first day of the religious year, the Israelites were to fast for ten days. The first day is Rosh Hashana, and the last day of the fast is Yom Kippur. The Jews are still celebrating these days. If you look at your 2024 calendar, you will find Rosh Hashana on October 3^rd and Yom Kippur on October 12^th.

It was a day for all the inhabitants of Israel to humble themselves before God and “do no work of any kind.” Remember that the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt. They had been born and raised in an environment where their value was judged on the basis of the work they could do. Yet, God rescued them out of Egypt. He intended for them to forsake that old life where they worked to live. He wanted them to be free from that bondage. He wanted them to know that their identity was not based on what they could do. It was based on who they were. It was based on their relationship with him.

That was why this holy day was to be a Sabbath Day. Whether or not it occurred on a Saturday, it was a sacred Sabbath – a day of rest. The Pharaoh demanded work, but God demanded rest. The Pharaoh valued his slaves based on what they could do for him. God valued his people based on what he could do for them. When the slaves failed their Pharaoh, he demanded their destruction. When the Israelites failed their God, he provided for their reconciliation. Yom Kippur was a demonstration of grace.

But it was not just the Israelites who would benefit from God’s grace on that day. The instructions for the celebration were to apply to “both the native citizen and the foreigner who resides in (their) midst.” This is a picture of the universal nature of God’s atonement and the universal scope of the gospel of grace. The whole camp was to celebrate, even those resident aliens who were not part of the children of Jacob. It doesn’t mean that everyone will be saved, but it does mean that everyone can be saved. The blood of the sacrifices of the day of atonement is sufficient to cover all the sins of the camp. No one is to be left out. The Yom Kippur celebration is not optional. Everyone in the camp was expected to participate.

The purpose for the day of atonement is described in verse 30. It says, “On this day, atonement is to be made for you to cleanse you from all your sins; you must be clean before the LORD.” That statement is full of New Testament theology. It says atonement is to be made for the Israelites, not by the Israelites. This is not a doctrine of works but a doctrine of grace. The whole nation was to undergo a cleansing not at the end of their shift (if you will) but at the beginning before any work was to be done. There would be work done throughout the year, but here, at the start of the year, God provides a cleansing.

The Christian life is like that, too. We begin with a cleansing we receive from God, symbolized by our baptism. It represents not the end of our life of achievements for God but the beginning of a new life received from God by his grace alone. Before any work is to be done for God, we must accept his forgiveness and cleansing. The one who does the forgiving is God. The one who does the cleansing is God. We are the passive recipients of his cleansing grace.

Notice also that on the day of atonement the reconciliation is made for all the camp for all their sins. This is before any personal sacrifices are offered. This is before any personal offerings are given. The atonement is God’s work and it is intended to reconcile all the people and cleanse them from all their sins. God wants the nation to start out the year completely forgiven and completely free. He does not wait until the end of the year to get a list of who has been naughty and who has been nice. The reconciliation God offers his people is up-front and is offered by God free of charge.

The holiness that God supplies for his people is not a holiness that is gradually earned. It is a holiness that God gives. It is a reflection of his grace, not our merit. It is inherited. It is not compensation for work done. It is an unmerited favor. The New Testament tells us to pursue holiness because without it no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). But the good news from the Old Testament is that we do not have to exert our own energy to pursue holiness. We merely have to open our hands and receive it as a gift from our loving God. He is the source of all holiness, and we can receive it in the same way we receive everything else from him. We need only ask and we shall receive.

What we can do by ourselves is what Paul calls the works of the flesh. But what God wants to do through us by empowering us with his Holy Spirit is called the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5). Yom Kippur was God’s way of telling his people that they have a choice: they can live the year their way or his way. They can work by their own strength and produce the works of the flesh, or they can receive his grace and, by that grace, produce the fruit of the Spirit.

Next, this text highlights one man (32-34).

All the actions of the day centered around the work of one man, the descendant of Aaron who was High Priest. The text says that this one man had to be anointed and ordained and that he would be doing the work “in the place of his father.” All the High Priests in the Levitical priesthood represented Aaron, their ancestor. On that day, the High Priest would purify himself, put on holy garments, and purify the sanctuary itself, including the Most Holy Place, which only he was allowed to enter, and only on that one day of the year.

All the rituals and ceremonies of the Day of Atonement were prophetic of God’s work for us. The actions of the High Priest were prophetic of God’s work through Jesus Christ. The text says that the High Priest would act “in the place of his father.” Jesus is the High Priest, not of the Levitical priesthood but of the order of Melchizedek, as described in the Book of Hebrews. Aaron was not his father; God is his Father.

Hebrews says that Jesus “had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). He was made like us so that he could intercede for us in the place of his Father, who is God.

On Israel’s Day of Atonement, the High Priest reconciled the whole camp to God so that the whole camp could live for God free from sin for the year. On the world’s Day of Atonement, Jesus, as our High Priest, entered the heavenly Holy of Holies and presented his own blood to reconcile us to God, enabling everyone who is in Christ to live free from sin for eternity.

Paul told the Colossian Christians, “Do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days — these are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ!” (Colossians 2:17). The Israelite Day of Atonement was a shadow of the things to come. The reality is Christ.

The author of Hebrews said, “The law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship” (Hebrews 10:1).

Let me tell you something about shadows. Shadows are not reality, but they do prove that the reality is there. As we keep digging in the Old Testament, we will encounter a number of shadows. We must look at those shadows closely because they are shaped like Christ and the cross!

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

John 13:34-35 NET.

³⁴ “I give you a new commandment — to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples — if you have love for one another.”

For several years now, we have been studying the commands of Christ. I plan to finish that major study this year. But it seems odd that we are at this point in the history of Christ and his message as represented in the Gospels, and it is here that we find Jesus giving a new commandment. After all, the commands we have studied tore down traditions and upset the whole nation of Israel. But there must be a sense in which everything that Jesus had said up to this point is not new.

First, let’s look at the context of the commandment (John 13).

Last time, we witnessed a a foot-washing. Jesus got together with the twelve and took a towel. He washed the feet of all the disciples. They sat there in amazement and were probably quite embarrassed. He wanted them to follow his example. As I mentioned before, Jesus was not establishing a new ordinance. He was just meeting a real need that all of the disciples had. He wanted to teach them that meeting the needs of other Christians is a high priority for the life of every believer. His taking up the towel was an illustration of that truth. It was also something that neither of them would ever forget.

This chapter also records three predictions that Jesus made at this time. First, he predicted a betrayal. He said it mysteriously. He had just told the disciples that they were now clean because he had just washed their feet. Then he added, “But not every one of you.” He told them that he knew the ones he had chosen but that a prophecy made in the Old Testament had to be fulfilled. The prophecy is found in Psalm 41:9, which says, “Even my close friend whom I trusted, he who shared meals with me, has turned against me.”

The disciples were trying to understand that prophecy. They knew that each of them had disappointed Jesus. There were times when they just seemed to stumble all over themselves and fail him constantly. But this was something different. This was a betrayal. This was joining the other team. This was selling out to the enemies of Christ who wanted him dead. Naturally, everyone wanted to know who the betrayer was.

Jesus identified Judas as the betrayer, but only to let Judas himself know that he knew. Then Jesus told Judas to do what he was going to do quickly. The other disciples had no idea that the mission Jesus had sent him on was the very act of betrayal that he had just predicted.

The second prediction Jesus makes in this chapter is even more earth-shattering. He predicts that he is going to go somewhere that none of the twelve can follow. They seem to sense that he is once again predicting his death.

Peter boldly announces that even if everyone else might abandon him, he will follow even to death itself. That is when Jesus makes his third prediction: Peter is going to deny him.

Now we know the context in which these two verses of Scripture are found. It seems an extraordinary place to put a new commandment. But Jesus has his reasons for everything he does. Judas had been the leavened loaf. Once he left to go about his business of betrayal, the crew that was left was the pure symbol of the body of Christ. They were now ready for his new commandment. Jesus wanted his true church to love one another.

Now, let’s look at the standard of the commandment (34).

Jesus had previously taught his disciples to love their neighbor. We read the command in Matthew 19:19, but it was itself a quote from the Old Testament.

In Leviticus 19:17-18, we read, “You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” Jesus’ command for his kingdom citizens to love their neighbors was not a new commandment. It had its basis in the Old Testament Law. It was basically a command not to hate other people. Hating others would bring about guilt and lead to sin. The standard of the Old Testament was the love of self. It was in the best interest of those under the Mosaic Law to love their neighbors because if they did not, they would be harming themselves. God demanded neighbor love, and failing to do so would bring contamination and sin-debt.

Jesus had expanded the concept of neighbor love to include those who had not previously been seen to be neighbors. He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:43-45). This is still the Old Testament requirement; only the scope of the command is changed to include those who were not understood initially as targets of neighbor love. So, this is still the old commandment, even though it is an expansion of its scope. The standard is still the same. We should love our enemies as we love ourselves.

But with this new commandment, the standard changes. Jesus tells his disciples to love one another just as he has loved them. The standard is no longer how much we love ourselves; it is how much Jesus loves us.

This is the mature love that Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 13. It is a love that goes beyond what we learn from our parents and our politicians. It is not self-serving love. It is sacrificial love. It is patient, It is kind, it is not envious. It does not brag; it is not puffed up. It is not rude; it is not self-serving; it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. We now love for a whole new reason. We love because he first loved us and showed us how to love others.

Now, let’s consider the purpose of the commandment (35).

Jesus said that when we love each other sacrificially, the rest of the world will have no trouble seeing the difference between the true disciples and the lookalike goats. He said that if we love one another, everyone will know that we are his disciples. This solves the question of Christian identity.

Notice that Jesus did not say that if we profess the right doctrine, then the world will know we are authentic. We have fought wars among ourselves over the question of right or orthodox doctrine. But the result was that the world looked at us and saw us hating one another and concluded that either Jesus is not real, or we are not, or both. You cannot hate yourself into the kingdom of God. You certainly cannot hate your enemies into the kingdom.

I am distressed to find that even my own denomination seems to be circling the wagons and seeking to exclude others on the basis of doctrinal purity. I understand the desire to proclaim the truth and the need to be biblical. But I fear that we are failing to live up to the new commandment. Jesus said this new kind of love will demonstrate our Christian identity.

If you look closely at what Jesus commanded, you will find a new kind of love that demonstrates three principles—first, the principle of mutuality. Jesus didn’t say that only some of us could measure up to this new love standard. He said it was to be the measure of all true believers. Love is not the work of an elite team. It is the identifying mark of the whole kingdom.

The second principle is equality. Since we are all called to love each other, none of the things that other people see as a basis for hatred and exclusion are to matter to us anymore. Paul told the Galatians that “in Christ Jesus (we) are all sons of God through faith, for all of (us) who were baptized into Christ have clothed ourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek (so no ethnic superiority or inferiority), there is neither slave nor free (so no social or financial superiority or inferiority), there is neither male nor female (so no gender superiority or inferiority)— for all of (us) are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28). Since we are all equal in Christ, we are free to love each other on the basis of that unity.

The third principle is reciprocity. We are to love not just our best and brightest, not just our leaders, but each other. The Apostles who wrote the epistles in the rest of the New Testament took hold of this principle of reciprocity and taught that reciprocal love implies:

thanksgiving for each other (Ephesians 5:20),
encouraging and building up each other (1 Thessalonians 5:11),
belonging to one another (Romans 12:5),
being devoted to one another and honoring one another (Romans 12:10),
living in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16),
welcoming one another (Romans 15:7),
greeting one another (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20),
having mutual concern for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25),
serving one another (Galatians 5:13); (1 Peter 4:10),
carrying one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2),
bearing with one another (Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:13),
being kind, compassionate, and forgiving one another (Ephesians 4:32),
submitting to one another (Ephesians 5:21),
treating one another as more important than ourselves (Philippians 2:3),
confessing to and praying for one another (James 5:16),
being hospitable to each other (1 Peter 4:9),
being humble toward one another (1 Peter 5:5).

All these reciprocal commands are ways of obeying the one new commandment that Jesus gave us – to love one another. It is how we identify ourselves as disciples of Christ. It is also how we go about accomplishing the mission that he has given us to make more disciples.

Jesus wants us to demonstrate this radical new love and so draw the lost to him. If we love each other, the lost will seek our Savior. If we hate each other, they will look elsewhere. Our love of each other is a means of proclaiming God’s love to the world.

IMITATE!

IMITATE!

John 13:12-17 NET.

¹² So when Jesus had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table again and said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? ¹³ You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have given you an example — you should do just as I have done for you. ¹⁶ I tell you the solemn truth, the slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you understand these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Penny and I have been watching the latest season of “The Chosen” at night. If you are not familiar with the show, it depicts the life of Jesus and his disciples. One thing that struck me as we binge-watched it recently is that the characters in the show are constantly traveling from one place to another. Of course, they are always walking except for a brief ride on a donkey’s colt that Jesus took for his triumphal entry.

You have to understand that walking long distances was just how people traveled back then. That helps to set the stage for the event that today’s text highlights.

Jesus washed their feet because they needed it (12).

People traveled long distances by foot back in those times. Penny and I can sympathize with people back then because, as hikers, we have literally traveled thousands of miles by foot. Taking care of one’s feet is essential for hikes like that. We can get by with cheap food and clothing, but proper footwear is crucial. But back in the days that Jesus and his apostles walked the earth, most people walked in sandals. That created a need. To meet this need, most homes had a jar of water and a towel outside their front porch.

If a family were wealthy, they would have a slave whose duty was to wash the feet of everyone who came to visit their home. If they were not rich, they would still provide the water jar and the towel so that the visitors themselves could wash their feet prior to entering the house. On this particular occasion, Jesus and his disciples were heading to a home without a foot-washing slave. That meant that one of the disciples would have to do the job. But before they drew straws to find out who got the dirty work, Jesus himself grabbed the towel that day.

Now, some denominations treat this story as if Jesus was proclaiming another ritual that Christians should follow. They put this incident right up there with baptism and the Lord’s Supper and proclaim it as an ordinance of the church. I don’t think that is what Jesus had in mind. The reason Jesus washed his disciples’ feet that day was that they needed their feet washed. He was taking care of a basic need of the whole group. It was something that they all usually experienced. The only thing that was abnormal about it was that it was Jesus who took the towel. He was the master. The students should have jumped at the chance to help one another, but they didn’t. So, Jesus did what was needed.

Jesus washed their feet as an example for them to imitate (15).

The disciples were students of Jesus. That is what a disciple is: a student. But it is probably best that we don’t just call ourselves students of Jesus today. We have a poor concept of what it means to be a student. Our classes are filled with teachers who teach and students who learn, but more often than not, nobody ever changes. Jesus intended to teach his apostles the gospel, yes. But he intended more than that. He planned for them to become evangelists who pass on the gospel to others. He wanted them to, at some point, stop learning and start teaching themselves.

Even more, Jesus intended the apostles not just to learn what he taught but also to reproduce what they saw. He was an example that they were supposed to follow. Remember, he called them to himself and told them to follow him. They were not just supposed to learn from him; they were supposed to follow him—to imitate him.

So, when Jesus took the towel that day, he intended to teach his apostles to do what he did. This went further than simply being on the lookout for dirty feet. Jesus wanted his apostles to anticipate all the needs of their congregations and the communities they lived among.

Remember Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats that we just studied. In the parable, the king said, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’” In each case, the king praised the authentic true sheep because they recognized a need and met that need. That is what Jesus was teaching with his example of foot-washing.

On that particular day, none of the apostles was thinking about the need that his fellows would have when they reached the house. They were too busy with their grand ideas of their importance compared to the others. They had needs that they could have filled, but they expected someone else to do it. They were shocked when their master himself took up the towel. But he did it to show them the attitude they should have as believers.

Looking for the needs of those around us is something that every Christian should do. I did not say every minister. I did not say every church officer. When Jesus spoke to all his apostles that day, he intended the whole church to hear his words. He expects all of us to focus on meeting the needs that present themselves all around us.

Jesus washed their feet to demonstrate mutual submission (14).

There is a widespread understanding of what it means to be a Christian that contradicts what Jesus did that day. A false doctrine has embedded itself into the fabric of the Christian Church even though Jesus taught against it. Even today, whole churches and denominations are swept up in this false doctrine. I call it the heresy of hierarchy.

The heresy of hierarchy says that the church is made up of levels of leadership. It asserts that some people are supposed to look after the needs of others within the community, but others are too important to do that. It’s the totem pole concept.

Now, I have already spoken on this subject in my sermon on Mark 10. That is where Jesus told his apostles that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. But he said it is not this way among believers. Instead, whoever wants to be great must be a servant.

We are not very good at living up to that instruction from the Lord. We call our leaders ministers, but we mean by ministry something different from what Jesus meant. A minister is a servant—a slave—someone whose job it is to take care of the needs of all the others.

The Apostle Paul instructed the congregations at Ephesus not to get drunk with wine but to be filled by the Holy Spirit. How was that fullness of the Spirit supposed to manifest? Those who the Spirit fills would be “speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:19-21).

Most preachers quickly go on to the next verse and teach wives that they are supposed to submit to their husbands. They are more comfortable with that verse because it appears to establish a hierarchy: wives are under husbands, kinds are under the wives, and dogs are under the kids. So they make submission into a one-way thing. They think God wants us only to submit to those higher up the ladder.

That is not what Paul said. He said that the church is supposed to submit to one another. We are supposed to wash one another’s feet. We are supposed to find a need and fill that need, regardless of what our title is or who has the need. Mutual submission means every foot must be washed. There is no totem pole.

Jesus didn’t say, “OK, I’ll wash Peter’s feet, but the rest of you lowly disciples are going to have to take care of yourselves.” He didn’t set up a rank system. He did the work of the buck private for everybody in the company.

The lesson of foot-washing is that everybody counts or nobody counts. Our ministry is not to a select segment of the church or the community. We need to submit to one another. That command is not obeyed when we simply follow our leaders. It is obeyed when we look for needs and meet those needs regardless of who has the needs. When Jesus picked up the towel, it was to wash the feet of the whole congregation.

Jesus wanted each of his apostles to aspire to greatness, which can only happen when someone dares to be the slave of all. To teach that lesson, Jesus himself picked up the towel and became a slave, washing the feet of all his team. Imitating him means letting go of our self-imposed levels of status and importance. It means always doing our best for everybody.

Obeying this command is one of the hardest things you will ever do as a Christian. It attacks your pride and sense of superiority. It offends your sense of fairness. But if we all dared to submit to one another and put the needs of everybody above our desires, the world would be shocked. They will wonder why we are doing this. This will be a perfect opportunity to share Christ.

RENEWED ENERGY

RENEWED ENERGY

Isaiah 40:27-31 NET.

²⁷ Why do you say, Jacob, Why do you say, Israel, “The LORD is not aware of what is happening to me, My God is not concerned with my vindication”? ²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is an eternal God, the creator of the whole earth. He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom. ²⁹ He gives strength to those who are tired; to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy. ³⁰ Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble. ³¹ But those who wait for the LORD’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.

Election day is coming. We see signs of its approach everywhere. Cars have bumper stickers with the candidates’ names on them. Signs pepper our roads and streets. Radio, television, and the internet are all filled with “ads” explaining how excellent one candidate is and how stupid the opposing candidate is. Election season is mostly just a major annoyance to most people. Many of us are convinced that no matter who gets voted in, life will continue as usual, and the politicians will not really make much of a difference.

The nation of Israel during the time of the prophet Isaiah had a similar experience. They were convinced that nothing good was ever going to happen to them as a nation. They knew that as a people, they had a tremendous past, but they had lost hope of ever experiencing anything positive as a nation again.

Isaiah, the prophet, had hammered his nation for its rebellion against God for the better part of 39 chapters. He wanted his people to come back to God in repentance. But even he recognized that all this negativity was not achieving positive results. At this point in his book, Isaiah starts to offer some hope to his people. He hears God tell him to comfort his people and offer hope for a better future. He wants his people to know that God is going to rescue them and restore them.

But Isaiah knows that his good news will not be believed. Israel had been oppressed for so long and had faced failure after failure. They were not likely to take any words of hope seriously.

In today’s text, we hear the nation’s three complaints and the prophet’s three answers. As we look at these words, we are going to find that they are relevant to us today as citizens of a nation and as individuals. We are going to see that the complaints of Israel as a nation, as voiced by Isaiah, are very real to us today because we often find ourselves thinking those same things, even if we don’t dare say them out loud. God knows what we are thinking, and it should be no surprise to us that he has already anticipated our complaints and given his response to them in his holy word.

The first complaint is “God does not know” (27-28, 30).

Israel says to the prophet that the Lord is not even aware of what is going on in their nation. He used to be present among them and spoke to them through great leaders like Moses and Joshua and great kings like David and Solomon, but he is on vacation now. They are not so bold as to dare say that God does not exist. Instead, they assert that God does not matter.

This is fundamentally a theological argument. It is an attack on the omniscience of God. It asserts that God is not who we have been told he is. Instead of being immediately involved in the lives of his people, God drops in every millennium or so to check on them. Otherwise, he is absent and cannot be reached. He could know, but he doesn’t know. He is busy with other nations and other worlds so Israel is on their own.

In answer to this theological argument, Isaiah tells his nation that “there is no limit to (God’s) wisdom” (28). He knows alright. He knows everything. He is not limited by distance. Even if he were actively involved in dealing with other nations, he is still 100% present among his people Israel.

Israel’s second complaint is that “God does not care” (27, 29).

Israel might concede theoretically that God knows everything, but they still insist that it does not matter because God does not care enough to intervene in their problems. The philosophical view of deism says that God created this world, then wound it up like a clock, and is now leaving it to run by itself without his supervision. The Israelites had come to believe in a God like that. He is all-wise and all-powerful, but it makes no difference because he does not rescue.

How can the prophet respond to an accusation like that? Isaiah responds by telling his nation that God is not like that. People get tired, but God does not. When we get tired and feel spent, “he gives renewed energy” (29). The people are not praying because they feel that it is no use: God is not listening. Isaiah says, “Pray, because God is there and he wants to restore your energy and give you new life.”

Jesus gave a similar invitation to the weak and weary of his day. He said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry” (Matthew 11:28-30). We were not intended to carry the burdens of life alone. We were designed to get renewed energy by coming to the Lord and taking his yoke on us.

Maybe I need to explain what Jesus said because we are no longer living in a society where everyone uses animals to do their work. A yoke is a harness that you can mount over the necks of your horses and oxen. When an animal takes a yoke, it enables the animal to share the burden of the load with another animal. It, therefore, makes it easier for that animal to bear the burden. If a weak animal joined with a stronger animal, the result was that the weak animal was capable of doing anything that the strong animal could do.

When Jesus invited the weary and burdened to take his yoke on them, he was telling them that he was willing to work with them to accomplish what they needed to do. They did not need to face life alone. God is not only there, but he cares.

Israel’s third complaint to Isaiah is “God does not help” (31)

They said, “Isaiah, we admit that we have fallen, but God does not seem to be around to help us get back up.” Isaiah answered that objection too. He said, “Those who wait for the LORD’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.”

The phrase in Hebrew appears to mean “they will sprout wings like eagles.” Isaiah is telling them, “I know you have fallen, and you cannot help yourselves. But if you dare to trust God and wait for his rescue, he will do a miracle in your life. It will be as if you sprouted wings and flew away from your troubles.

Isaiah is not guaranteeing anything, but he is telling his people that God has not given up on helping them. He is there; he knows what they are facing, and he is able to help them. They need to start trusting him and waiting for him to act.

The same is true for our nation as well. Any nation that is willing to humble themselves and trust him can be rescued.

The same is true for every individual. If you dare to believe that God is who he says he is, that he knows what you are facing and cares about you, then you can put your trust in him, stand back, and wait for the eagles’ wings to sprout. If you choose to handle things for yourself, you may be able to run for a while, but eventually, your limitations are going to catch up with you. You will grow weary. You may be able to walk for a while, but sooner or later, you are going to get tired. Your heavenly Father is there. He knows what you are facing. He cares about you. He is standing by ready to help.

BE HOLY

BE HOLY

Leviticus 19:1-4 NET.

¹ The LORD spoke to Moses: ² “Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You must be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. ³ Each of you must respect his mother and his father, and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. ⁴ Do not turn to idols, and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal. I am the LORD your God.

God has always called his people to be holy. This command is found in today’s text and elsewhere in the Old Testament. It is also repeated in the New Testament, just in case believers under the New Covenant might think that holiness is no longer important to God.

The Apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Ephesus of this command:

“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love” (Ephesians 1:3-4). I don’t know what goes through your mind when you hear the words “every spiritual blessing.” Still, when I read those words, my mind did not automatically go to the idea of holiness. But for Paul, to be blessed spiritually is to be holy and unblemished.

I want that. I want it more than I want to be blessed physically. I want it not just as a hope for my future but also as a present reality that I experience now. It is comforting to know that God has already blessed me with that holiness in Christ. But I’m not satisfied with a mere expectation of future holiness. I want what God wants for me now.

The Apostle Peter addressed this two-fold reality – the fact that we have a hope of future glory and a need to manifest that holiness in the present. He said:

^“Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance, but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, for it is written, “You shall be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:13-16).

For Peter, holiness was not just a future hope. It was a standard of action in the present. Holiness must be more than an idea. It must be a calling and a lifestyle. But Peter recognized that there would be obstacles to living by that standard. He challenged his readers to stop following the evil urges that they used to follow when they didn’t know better. He called them to stop letting the world around them dictate their behavior. The Apostle Paul directed the Romans to do the same thing when he said, “Do not be conformed to this present world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God — what is good and well-pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). That is another challenge for New Testament Christians to walk in holiness.

The world is telling us that holiness is impossible, but the word tells us that it is not only possible; it is our calling. A holy life today is proof that we will inherit a holy universe in the future. If we cannot learn to live in holiness today, we will always be subject to the accusations of the enemy that we are not authentic. Now, the question for us today is how do we walk in holiness? How can we live so under God’s control that the accusations bounce off?

When we go up and down the highways, there are cars with blue lights that flash. They catch people who disregard the speed limits. There are two ways to avoid blue light anxiety. You can listen for warnings that the police are present in your area and adjust your speed when they are near. Or you can monitor your speed and always drive within the limit. As far as holiness is concerned, we cannot use avoidance tactic number 1. The reason is – unlike the patrol cars – God is always present. The only avoidance tactic that works is maintaining control of your life at all times. Holiness has to become our normal.

So, again, the question: How do we walk in holiness? How do we spend our days doing the right thing so that we never have to fear heaven’s blue lights? Today’s passage from Leviticus 19 gives us some insight into what holiness means to God. It is written under the Mosaic covenant, but it spells out four principles that can be applied to the life of any believer anywhere, anytime. I want us to get familiar with these principles because they can help us live in God’s standard of holiness.

First, the principle of identity (1-2).

The whole congregation of the Israelites was required to be holy—not just Moses, the leader, Aaron and the priests and Levites, the tribal leaders, the fanatical super-committed Nazarites, or the soldiers. Every man, woman, and child were required to be holy. They were united under God, and it was God’s holiness that formed the ground and purpose for their holiness. God told them that they must be holy because He is holy.

In his book, The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses, Vern Poythress writes, “The people could not survive alongside the tabernacle unless they respected the holiness of God and maintained holiness among themselves. Or, to put it another way, now that the people themselves had in some sense become a dwelling place of God through the erection and consecration of the tabernacle, they had to maintain practices exhibiting the principles of God’s dwelling.”[1]

Not only had God rescued them from Egypt and promised to bring them to the promised land, but he also agreed to go with them as they traveled. Every step they took was as representatives of God, who was among them. They were no longer just the children of Israel. They now had the identity as a nation of being God’s own. Hence, their actions and lifestyles had to correspond to that new identity.

Every aspect of their lives now had to conform to God and his will. They could not decide to go somewhere apart from where God was going. Their tribes camped around the Tabernacle. They advanced when God told them to advance. They stayed put when God told them to stay put. God was among them – making decisions for them – keeping them from danger. But God could not endorse their sins, nor could he look the other way when they rebelled. Being delivered did not make them free from accountability. They were even more accountable to God now that they had identified with him.

Second, the principle of morality (3a).

God told them that they had the moral responsibility to respect their parents. Of course, there were more moral responsibilities than just that, but that was an excellent place to start. This chapter contains a mix of ethical and ceremonial obligations. It shows that God is concerned with both. There would always be Israelites who were only worried about looking like good followers, so they focused on the ceremony and omitted the weightier matters of the Law. Those weightier matters were the moral obligations.

Nowadays, some take grace for granted and flaunt their sinfulness. They say things like, “I’m not perfect, just forgiven.” What people hear when we say such things is, “I am a believer in grace, but I cannot be trusted with your teenage daughter.” God’s word never condones immorality. We saw in Matthew chapter 25 recently that there will be many who appear before the Lord on Judgment Day convinced that they are true Christians only to discover that they were not. They may have talked about eternity, but they were not prepared for it. They had the opportunity to use their gifts for the gospel but did not. They thought they were sheep, but they were goats. Jesus said that the true sheep cared about others. Moses told the Israelites that to be holy, they had to respect their parents. Loving others had to start at home.

Third, the principle of conformity (3b).

God tells the Israelites that to be holy, they had to keep his Sabbaths. This had nothing to do with going to church on Saturday. There was a whole barrage of rituals and regulations prescribed by God for his people to adhere to. There were sacrifices and offerings. There were Feasts and fasts. There were rules and regulations about what to wear, what to eat, what to say when, who to marry, and who not to marry. God expected every Israelite to conform to his standard of living. The reason for this requirement is also stated three times in today’s text. The reason is ‎

אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם. In English, “I am Yahveh, Your God.” The reason for all of these regulations was not to get saved. The reason is that the Israelites claim that Yahveh is their God. So, they are responsible for conforming to his will.

Fast-forward to today, and there have been a few changes because we are no longer under the Mosaic covenant. Christ fulfilled the law by becoming our one sacrifice. His death atoned for sin once and for all, so there is no longer a need for sacrifice. We are no longer under obligation to conform to the regulations about the Sabbath days. But there are still some things that God expects us to do in order to identify with Jesus, our Savior. Baptism is the initial rite of admission into the New Covenant community. The Lord’s Supper is the ongoing rite. In addition to this, the instructions given to us by the Apostles in their letters to the churches help us to set standards of behavior so that we identify ourselves as Christians and our fellowships as Christian churches. The means of conformity have changed, but the principle of conformity remains.

Finally, the principle of loyalty (4).

God commands his people not to turn to idols. When they were in Egypt, their captors worshipped idols. God instructs them not to go back. He tells them to forsake their old way of living and their old way of thinking. They would be tempted to go back to the old way of doing things, but God says don’t. He also instructed them not to make for themselves gods of cast metal. Egypt had been filled with gods, goddesses, and idols. The nations surrounding the Israelites, when they arrive at the promised land, will also be filled with gods, goddesses, and idols. But holiness cannot be achieved by being religiously inclusive.

This same principle of undivided loyalty is found throughout the pages of the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians, Paul warns believers not to eat food offered to idols because it could lead to participation with demons. Paul lists idolatry as one of the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:20). John tells his readers to guard themselves against idols (1 John 5:21). In Revelation, he predicts that this world will suffer great pandemics, but they will still refuse to repent. They will “not stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood — idols that cannot see or hear or walk about” (Revelation 9:20).

Those dead idols are still with us in this generation. We have not rid ourselves of them. Anything that competes with your loyalty to God and Jesus Christ is an idol. We are warned to guard ourselves from them. You cannot be holy and idolatrous at the same time. Holiness is a matter of undivided loyalty. It makes no sense to brag about not having any idols in your house if the house itself is an idol. There are people today who live in their idols, drive their idols, work for their idols, play with their idols, watch their idols on the screen, and plan for retirement so they can spend more time with their idols, but still insist that they are not idol worshippers.

We need to start asking ourselves what things in our lives are competing with our devotion to Christ and his gospel. God instructed the Israelites through Moses to live as a holy nation. They failed to live up to those instructions. The same God who called them to be holy is calling us to live holy lives today. Be holy because your God is holy.

[1] Poythress, Vern S. The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses. P & R Pub., 1991. p. 42.