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Portion 60

Golden Text: Exodus 29-30:10.
Readings for the week:

Day 1: Exodus 29-30:10

Day 2: Nehemiah 3-4

Day 3: Ezekiel 40-41

Day 4: Acts 25

Day 5: Hebrews 8

Day 6: Revelation 5

I- Sets aside for the ministry.

Three areas needed consecration for ministry: the tabernacle, the priests, and the people. It is often believed that the ministry in God is for a specific elite, without understanding that everything that belongs to the Lord and that has been taken out of the world needs a special consecration. This does not depend on a ritual, but on an attitude of the heart that is first obedient to the ritual that God has ordained.

For example, there are people who refuse to be baptized because they say that their faith is enough to enter heaven, and they are right, but nothing justifies disobedience. If God has ordained baptism as an outward symbol (chukim) of what happens in the heart, an obedient person who has the opportunity to be baptized will never question why he should do it with the desire to avoid it, but will ask, “When should I do it and what does it mean?” with the desire to please the one who saved him.

II- Holiness only in the divine presence.

Interestingly, the priests’ shoes are never described. On the other hand, God had told Moses to take off his shoes when he approached Him, “for the place where you are is holy ground.”[1] This shows holiness not only as something to be aware of, but to be experienced externally. It is also not something attainable by a certain action, but by fulfilling God’s demands and doing so in His presence.

For example, Moses would experience holiness not by taking off his shoes in Pharaoh’s palace, but in the precise physical place that signaled the approach to the Creator. What would have happened if he didn’t take off his shoes as God had told him? He would not have left the place alive.

This is why the priests understood this and never wore shoes in the temple. Some will say, “Perhaps God did not emphasize that they should be free to use any kind.” And yes, he is right, that option remains, but the presence of God descended there as on Sinai, so it brings a parallel and implies that the interpretation based on the precedent of Moses is closer to the correct interpretation in this regard.

It is good to know that the Bible does not have to say everything, there are things that must be deduced from it, not from fiction but from elements that emerge clearly from Scripture. Through his shoeing the priest could identify himself and have a clearer awareness of God’s holiness and all that he would do in the sanctuary.

III- Holiness comes from God.

All these requirements for God’s service in the tabernacle made one thing clear: “There is much among men that is natural to them and even ‘good’ that God does not like.” A world corrupted by sin needs a definition from God Himself of what is holy or not. The opinion of humans about whether a thing or method is good or acceptable to serve God is simply null, because the fall into sin makes their hearts deceitful and, therefore, incapable of knowing how to fully discern between what is good or bad. It is only by knowing God’s will that one can discern between good and evil.

On the other hand, any human being who intends to speak on the subject, assuming a certain gift given by God, the first thing he must know is that he must always harmonize with what God has established through his written Word and incarnate in his Son, whether he knows its details. That is why God’s will regarding cultic service was described in the provisions (chukim) that referred to the priesthood.

 

Questions:

1.- Make a detailed analysis of what concerns this portion in reference to the priest and choose what struck you the most to show your group.

2.- Considering all believers today being the royal priesthood, how would this apply to the portion?

3.- Do you research what the altar horns were?

 

[1] Ex 3:5.

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