Futility

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

Hebrews 10:11

Does your life ever feel like an exercise in futility? Do you ever wonder why God allows you to stay stuck in your station in life with seemingly no hope of escape? Consider the Old Testament priests. Stunningly, the Bible tells us that a faithful priest under the old covenant was doomed to spend their life, day after day, offering the same sacrifices for sin over and over again that could never actually atone for sin. From a human standpoint this is the very definition of an exercise in futility. What a waste of time! But it wasn't. Even if the priests didn't know it, every single sacrifice offered in the Old Testament served a higher purpose than atoning for sin. Every sacrifice pointed forward to Jesus. So the priests didn't spend their lives offering pointless sacrifices, they spent their lives pointing forward to that more excellent sacrifice, Jesus. He offered a single sacrifice for sins by which we have been sanctified once for all (Hebrews 10:10, 12).

So what at first glance appears to be pointless is actually a beautiful reminder of what we are all supposed to do. We point to Jesus with our lives. Whatever circumstances you find yourself in, make sure your response points people to Jesus. You can be sure that no matter how great or how terrible your life is, God has allowed you to be in the exact place you are in so that you might point others to Him by your response. God appoints some to thrive that the world may see He is good. He appoints some to poverty so His goodness can be shown in providing for them. Some suffer that the world may see His tenderness and His power to rescue. Some are called to singleness so they can spend more time pointing others to Jesus. Others are called to families so they can raise up the next generation for Jesus.

Whatever circumstances God has put you in, He has put you there to point people to Jesus. So worry less about why God has allowed certain things in your life. You'll probably never be able to answer that question anyway. Instead, focus on how you are pointing others to Jesus in your circumstances, through your circumstances or even in spite of your circumstances.

Father, whatever my situation, help me point to Jesus with my life!

Dirty Floss and Polluted Garments

When it comes to cleaning, almost all married couples are "unequally yoked." There's usually one spouse who stands out as the messier of the two and one who is inevitably called the "neat freak." I am the latter.

One thing in particular that I do drives my wife crazy. I talk incessantly about cross-contamination. In part it comes from my time working as a short order cook. Stacy has listened to me talk about cross-contamination as it relates to food preparation, diaper changing, taking out the trash...a whole host of scenarios really. For example, "Stacy dear, your floss touched the faucet handle that we touch after we use the bathroom to wash our hands. You may not want to put that in your mouth." I drive her nuts! But thankfully there is grace even for this. And as it turns out this is a biblical concept of sorts.

In the little book of Jude, sin is pictured as a type of spreading disease that contaminates all it comes in contact with. In Jude 1:22-23, the brother of Jesus instructs believers to "be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh."

Jude isn't telling Christians to avoid interacting with lost people as though they might contaminate us. That would go against his admonition to snatch them from the fire of God's impending judgment. Rather, Jude instructs us to always respect our own vulnerability to the power of sin. His emphasis on the garment stained by sin serves to remind us how much we ought to hate sin. If we hate even clothing that's been contaminated by sinful actions, how much more ought we to hate the sin itself. This reminds me of the Old Testament priests. When they entered the tent of meeting or later the temple to make atonement for God's people, they had to undergo ceremonial washing, bathing and even changing of clothes to ensure that the stain of sin wasn't on them as they entered God's presence.

At the end of the day this image captures the core of the Christian life. How can a person ensure that the stain of sin is not found on them when they stand before God? Zechariah 3:1-5 provides a beautiful and insightful picture into the Christian answer to this question. In the immediate context it speaks to the high priest's sin being taken away so he can make atonement for God's people, but Joshua serves as a type of how we all can find forgiveness in Christ.

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.” Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.

Satan is eager to accuse us all. And just like Joshua we are all clothed in the filthy rags of our sin compared to God's holiness. But those who place their faith in Christ will be washed as white as snow. God offers to clothe us in the righteousness of Christ and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness. But unlike Joshua we cannot wait until the day we stand before God to deal with our sin. The Bible tells us that on that day it will be too late. Sin is a spreading disease for which there is no cure after death. It'll be too late to try get right with God after you die. We dare not wait to deal with our sin or to warn those we love. The cure must be administered while you are still alive. Hate sin. Hate even the garment contaminated by sin. For it has the power to separate you from God for all eternity. Have you turned to Jesus in faith for the forgiveness of your sins? If not, then remember that today is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2) If so, then who might God be calling you to snatch from the fire?

For further reading...

• 1 Corinthians 5:9-13- Paul agrees with Jude that Christians should not separate from non-believers. Interestingly, Paul tells us who we should separate from.

Holy Shoulder Pads!?

“Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests... And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty... 

"You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance...

 

“You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work... There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord. And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron's heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly."

Exodus 28: 1-2, 9-10, 12, 15a, 21a, 29-30

 

 

The New Testament teaches what theologians call the priesthood of the believer. This is a fancy way of saying that all Christians are priests. We aren't priests in the same way that Aaron was. We don't go into the tabernacle and make animal sacrifices. But we are priests in that now all Christians enjoy the privileges that Aaron had. We all have direct access to God the Father through Jesus. We can all enter into the very presence of God  (Matthew 27:50-51) through prayer in Jesus' name, and one day we will enter His presence physically in heaven. Also, as priests we are all called to minister in Jesus' name. We are called to offer a sacrifice of praise to God (I Peter 2:5-9). I also believe this feeds into the Great Commission which commands us all to go out and make disciples for Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20).

 

Since it is true that all believers are priests, some of the Old Testament passages that guide the priests in their ministry ought to apply to us as well. The above passage is taken from God’s instruction for how Aaron’s priestly robes are to be made in the book of Exodus. It would be easy to read over this and think that it is a pointless piece of Scripture. But II Timothy 3:16 says that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness..." If you are willing to give this passage a deeper look you will find that there is buried treasure here.

First, we see that Aaron was to get a rather nifty set of shoulder pads: two onyx stones which had the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on them. Now I don’t know a lot about stones, but I do know that they tend to be heavy. And then there is a clue that this has a deeper meaning. God says “Aaron will carry their names on his two shoulders before the LORD as a reminder.” A reminder of what? The Bible does not say, but I think a good argument could be made for the idea that these stones were placed there to remind Aaron that he ought to be aware that he carried the burden of Israel on his shoulders. He was responsible for all of these people. He was to feel the weight of that responsibility when he went before the Lord on their behalf.

There is even more to be had here though because attached to these shoulder pieces was a breastpiece which had a stone for each of the twelve tribes of Israel and a set of holy dice which were used to determine God’s will. This breastpiece is called the breastpiece for decisions and in verse 30 it says, "Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly." Often this breastpiece was used to determine God’s judgment in a given situation. For example if you know the story of Achan, I think it is likely that it was used to determine which tribe the man was from who had stolen the gold (Joshua 7). Thus, some translations of the Bible call this breastpiece the breastpiece of judgment. Aaron is to carry the judgment against the people’s sin on his heart.

Certainly Jesus as the great high priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) fulfilled these verses in ways which we never can, but they have application for us as well. As a believer and a priest you have a responsibility to feel the burden of those around you whom you have been charged with taking the gospel to and ministering to. The Bible commands us to carry each other’s burdens. Moreover, you are also responsible for carrying on your heart the terrible judgment that awaits those who reject Christ or turn from His ways. When was the last time you prayed for your lost family member, friend, or even for the lost in a certain city or country of the world? Are you helping to carry anyone’s burden? I struggle to remember to do this myself. If you are like me, then rejoice with me that even this sin of self-centeredness was covered by Christ on the cross and is forgiven by God. Then begin carrying the burdens of others and seeking their salvation today. 

For further reading.

• http://www.operationworld.org/prayer-calendar- This prayer calendar is a great way to get started praying for the lost around the world. You simply select today's date and it gives you a target country with statistics and appropriate prayer prompts.
• Ezekiel 22:29-30- Some of the saddest words in all of the Bible. May they not be true of us today.
• II Timothy 3:16- Do you really believe that all Scripture is useful?
• I Peter 2:5-9- What do you think this passage means when it says that we are a "royal priesthood?"