I was at church Sunday morning and I was asked if I was in my less busy time now that the Speech and Debate season was over. I chuckled and said that I was flying to Phoenix that afternoon to do a 4 day camp, then Baton Rouge the week after that, then San Jose the week after that, and Jacksonville, FL the week after that. Then when I get home, I will start making the food for a wedding I am catering (yeah, I do a little of that too), and then I should have a little break, then World Schools Debate Camp, then the season starts again. The lady at church exclaimed, “So you don’t slow down at all?” “No. This is my full-time gig.”
I’ve been accused of being the busiest person people know, but it doesn’t feel like it. I do feel like I don’t get everything done that I want to get done, but I’ll get to it eventually…I think. It isn’t as bad as it was when I was running a nursing business full-time, coaching my home club and traveling to tournaments (as well as run my own), as well as being the main pastor of a church I helped plant, as well as on the Board for our State Homeschool organization, as well as on the Debate Committee for Stoa. I was busy then. Today, I’m just running my home club, running Monument, and coaching an international debate team, as well as I’m on the church worship team once or twice a month, and I do some catering. So, it isn’t too bad.
I am still getting in my daily reading of the news and the Bible. And I finished Leviticus. That is quite the book. The more I read it, the better it gets. There is a definite pattern to the book, and it was how Israel was to approach God.
They start with the Burnt Offering which symbolizes giving all of our whole being to God. This is a committed relationship. He is either Lord of all or He isn’t Lord at all. Then the book moves into the other offerings, grain, peace, sin, and guilt. Aaron and his sons were to be consecrated/cleansed so as to be able to make these offerings for the people to God, but they had to make offerings for themselves too, as they were also sinners.
This all was moving toward the Feasts of the Lord. The offerings covered our sin so that we could feast with God. Feasting shows a good and right relationship with anyone, and to be able to feast with God was very special. God said He would make His dwelling place with man, and this was a symbol of that happening.
This then moved us into the idea of the Sabbath Principle. This was a foreshadow of our rest in God. At Creation, God rested on the seventh day. It wasn’t that he was tired, for God never sleeps. It may be better understood as being satisfied in a job well done. If you have ever made or created something. When it is completed, you rest in the satisfaction of your work. You may actually celebrate with others, esp. if it took some time and effort to get it done. And you are not tired, but elated. But you can take a step back and just bask in what you have done. This is rest. And it is ultimately what God offers those who are His.
There was the seventh day where the people worked toward rest each week. The seventh month was the most holy month with the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths all in that one month. Trumpets indicate that we need to pay attention for our God is about to speak. There was the sound of the trumpet at Mt Sinai before God spoke to them. This announced the coming of the Day of Atonement where the people grieved heavily over their sin for the past year. The High Priest would make a sacrifice form himself, then lay the sins of the people on one goat for sacrifice, then do it again for the scapegoat which was led into the wilderness. It is said you don’t know sorrow until you have seen the Day of Atonement.
Then the Feast of Booths which reminds us that we are just passing through. The people built temporary tents to stay in these days, and they celebrated their hearts out. It reminded them of their days in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. They were commanded to give the highest praise. It has been said that you haven’t seen joy until you witness the Feast of Booths.
The other feasts were big celebrations as well. God gave the sacrifices so he could have parties with His people. And He kept reminding them of His rest that we would eventually enjoy to the full. And this was all BEFORE the Cross. All of Leviticus has been fulfilled in Jesus. He took away our sin as the final sacrifice so that we could be in God’s direct presence all the time. The curtain has been torn in two which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. We, as a kingdom a priests and a holy nation, have full access to the Mercy Seat of God which is on top of the Ark. Jesus, the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, made this way for us by going into THE Holy of Holies in the heavens, and offered His own blood on the true throne of God.
It is finished. The debt has been paid. We live, as it were, in the continual Feast of Booths, knowing that this place is not our home. We are just passing through. Our citizenship is in Heaven, the New Jerusalem. This, in fact, is what the whole Book of Hebrews is all about. Jesus did it all. We now live in the better. And we look forward to the best. We live in God’s rest now, but look forward to the ultimate rest. We have the down payment of the reward now because we have the Spirit. But this is just a taste of what is to come. And this is the good news. It is the goodest news ever. We are a complete mess, but our future is incredibly bright because of Jesus, and everyone can get in on this for free because Jesus has already paid it all. Someone should maybe write a song about that. What a title. Jesus Paid it All.
Amen
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