An Announced Purpose (Lev. 16:30-34)

9/28/2008 8:16 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                              Focus:  An announced purpose

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Leviticus 16:30-34

            Message of the verses:  “30  for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD.  31  "It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute.  32  "So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen garments, the holy garments, 33  and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.  34  "Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year." And just as the LORD had commanded Moses, so he did.”

            The following is from the Strongs Concordance:  “03722. rpk kaphar kaw-far’; a primitive root; to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel:— appease, make (an atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile(-liation).  

            In the case of when Jesus Christ made atonement for sins, He did it through the shedding of His blood to take away sins, for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.  On the Day of Atonement there had to be a sacrifice and there had to be the shedding of blood, and this had a three fold purpose, the first was for the forgiveness of the priest and his family, the second was for the nation of Israel, and the third was for the tabernacle.  I realize that this may seem a bit strange to have the blood shed for the tabernacle, but that is what verse thirty-three teaches in the section of verses above.  I want to quote Hebrews 9:23:  “Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”  This verse shows that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice cleansed or purified the heavenly things with blood of a better sacrifice. 

           

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The more that I study about the death and sacrifice of Jesus Christ the more I learn about it, for there is so much to learn about His sacrifice for me as I look at it from a personal viewpoint I find it is much more complicated than I ever new, but the thing about it is that it was all necessary and I do not want to take it for granted. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1. Be so very thankful for what Christ did for me personally on the cross.

Memory verses for the week:                                  Exodus 20:8-13

8. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10. but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
11. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
12. Honor your father and mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
13. You shall not murder.

9/28/2008 8:47 AM