It was my intention tonight to get through a large portion of my reading schedule in my Bible. That has not happened. As I got to the later part of Exodus 28:1 (NLT)....They will be my priest and they will minister to me - I was immediately struck yet again by love and beauty of the Almighty and how He has woven such a moving and dramatic story of love to this life we live.
It occured to me that this was another Scripture that was a shadow in the Torah and that apostolic writings have given futher revelation.
1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own spiritual people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of YAHWEH, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
The Father originally chose a special people to reflect His glory to the world. Those people were the Israelites (**note: not just the Jews [who were descendents of the Tribe of Judah] but the Israelites; the people group that encompassed all 12 tribes). Furthermore, he chose special men to be set apart to minister to Him. The priests.
I began to ask myself, if I am now part of a royal priesthood because I am adopted into the family of God, or grafted in as some may say - then what is it that the priests did, what made them set apart and special - and shouldn't I be paying attention to that, if I am now part of the chosen generation - a royal priesthood - and part of a holy nation?
The priests ministered or "served" YAHWEH. To serve is to direct ones self and others to the proper service to YAHWEH. What others see in us, the fruit we bear is a reflection of a love relationship we are experiencing with the Father. It helps to give direction to those around us that points to the one true Way - which is an intimate and loving relationship with our Creator. Just as the priest in the Tabernacle submitted himself to the Father in service, which brought through radiant blessing and influence into the world - we also should be striving to do the same.
"It is not incumbant upon you to complete the work, but neither are you at liberty to desist from it." (Avot 2:21) [we each have a purpose and part to play out in the greatest love story of all time]
The priest was the illumination of YAHWEH's presence giving a daily blessing over the people of Israel:
And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying,
Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying,
In this way you shall bless the sons of Israel, saying to them:
YAHWEH bless you and keep you;
YAHWEH cause His face to shine on you, and be gracious to you;
YAHWEH lift up His face to you, and give you peace.
A beautiful blessing of peace and love given to the people!
Can't you see how this opened up the gates of mercy towards the people! Through it the people of Israel (which now includes us as we are in the family of God by the blood of His son) are blessed with offspring and long life, spiritual blessings, Divine protection and true peace.
We need to represent these attributes people! We need to bring the Father's blessing down once again to this world in which we live! What is our model to do that? Where do we learn? It's not a new lesson, or a new plan! It's been there for us all along - and the fullness of it is in the Messiah who came to show us the way!
Just as Peter says - you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own spiritual people!
You have to ask yourself, "what does it mean to be a holy nation?"
First you have to be set-apart. We are set-apart and sanctified [made right with the Father] by the blood of Messiah - but do we reflect that to others around us? Are we SERVING the Father like the priests in the Tabernacle did. Are we speaking blessings over our families, our friends, our co-workers, our enemies, our people in authority? Are we reigning down the Father's mercy? Are we illuminating the love relationship we have with Him?
Or are we looking the opposite of holy...... mundane and ordinary? [doesn't that make you want to cry.....it does me......because I realize so often, I'm not laying hold of what He has already given me.....I'm not walking in the light that He shines upon me everyday. I so often am stumbling in the darkness, because I can't get SELF out of the way and just submit and serve my Father].
We have the greatest Teacher known to mankind. Messiah is Living Instruction - He is the Living Torah - How did He really live out His life? He was obedient to His Father - He celebrated the Feasts as commanded for all time by His Father - He loved - He loved His enemies (of which we all were at one time) - He gave grace to those finding their way - He didn't judge - He lived out both everything you read in the Old Testement and the New. Nothing has been done away with - the New just shines a brighter light on the Old - but you don't know it's true brightness if you can't see the contrast - you have to read and understand the shadows.
In closing, I hope you search your lives - that you believe you are part of a holy nation - that you know you are a royal priest and that like me - you get back to understanding that responsibility on a deeper level, fall ever deeper in love with your Savior - and let Him illuminate His love in this world through you and your life.
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