Feb wk 3 Reflections - Movitation for the Ritualistic Practice?

OT Narrative
- Design of the Tabernacle is awe inspiring! Even the design of the priestly garments, which begs my interest as to why of all the possible designs matches, this is the one that God has chosen to intervene.
- Burnt, grain, fellowship offering - what is God teaching us? My initial take is to ensure disciplined lifestyle of being a christ follower.
- Sin and Guilt offering - basis of law??
- Discipline, hardwork - basic tenet of getting ahead in life.

- Godly man acts in Godly ways - love the unvolable and bear patience to the unbearable.

- biblical diet : a must try approach to good health

- In Hebrew, the guilt offering comes from the word asham, meaning guilt. Restitution was necessary, and the Hebrew word for trespass comes from the word ma’al, meaning a violation of another person, either God or man, of what was rightfully his.

Here are some concrete ideas for handling guilt: 

1. Our conscience must be correctly trained. It must alert us when we have failed to do, as we ought. This requires faithful teaching:

1 Timothy 1:3, 5 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer … The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Hebrews 5:11-12, 14 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk not solid food! … But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

2. Not all of our sin will be known to us. This is really an extension of the first point, but it also covers those times when we just feel unworthy. The sin nature is a deep, festering pool. Now that we know the Lord instituted an offering for this, we may have confidence that this is normal and covered by the cross.

3. Confession is better than denial. First John 1:9 validates the role confession has in the life of the believer. It contains the promise of cleansing, and by faith, we know that our known failings will eventually be behind us, and our unknown failings brought to light and cleansed. Confessing unknown sinfulness is appropriate.

4. When restitution is possible, make it. When restitution is offered, accept it. Restitution is what uniquely distinguishes the guilt offering from the sin offering. Restitution brings healing, and cancels the legal and moral debt on the horizontal level between men.

5. Learn the lesson, and leave it behind you. I suspect that it is here that we drop the ball. But consider the Israelite who appears before the priest with the property of his neighbor, plus 20 percent of its value in grain, plus the ram. When all has been offered, what else is there to do? The moral and legal debt is paid. What more can he do? Nothing. Continuing to carry it around as baggage is not faith and may violate the holiness of the guilt offering and the atonement of the priest.

For the believer, our guilt offering is Jesus Christ. Restitution is our responsibility, and confession and cleansing are offered to us. Even if it is a recurring sin, we need to confess it and leave the guilt behind us.

Christ Our Guilt Offering

We are guilty of violating the Lord’s holy things. We are guilty of unknown sins, and we have wronged our neighbors. The good news comes from the prophet Isaiah who wrote:

Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many and he will bear their iniquities (Isaiah 53:10-11).

Messiah was prophesied to be our guilt offering. The word “justify” means to declare “not guilty.” The moral and legal debt is canceled, but there is more. The author of Hebrews wrote:

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts; and I will write them on their minds.” Then He adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:10-18).

Jesus Christ, our sin offering, is the eternal solution to our guilt. He offered Himself for your guilt, but you must acknowledge your guilt and accept this guilt offering He made for you. Then you can rejoice in the knowledge that you will be made holy.

(https://bible.org/seriespage/6-guilt-offering-leviticus-514-67-71-6) 

Proverbs 9:11-12

11 For through wisdom[a] your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

Proverbs 9:13-18

“Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!”

Psalm 37

1 Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; 2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.

Proverbs 10:3-4New International Version (NIV)

3 The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. Lazy hands make for poverty,  but diligent hands bring wealth.

Proverbs 10:5New International Version (NIV)

5 He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,  but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

NT Narrative
- After baptism comes trial and testing!!
- Basic tenet of Christianity - Jesus came to heal the sick, and tend to the sinners!
- Parable of the sower reminded us that words not practiced is useless!

- Jesus always taught in parables. Stories does bring home a point better than describing an event per se.

- Actions does speak louder than words! Jesus prayed. Healed. Turned water into wine. Fed the five thousand. Confronted tyrants. Counseled the sick. Commanded the wind to stop. He is THE WORD!
- Faith does heals! 

- As long as a persons ways are blameless then there is nothing to be afraid of.

Mark 2:13-3:6

 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”