Instructions for Blessing — Chuck Smith

The Priestly Blessing and God's Keeping Power

Now in verse 22 the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to Aaron and his son saying this is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them Jehovah bless you and keep you. Jehovah make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

Jehovah lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And thus shall you put my name on the children of Israel and I will bless them. And a God who will keep his people the keeping power of God now unto him who is able to keep you from falling.

Peter said unto you who are kept by the power of God through faith Jehovah bless thee and keep thee. Jehovah make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the face of God shining upon us. We live in the eternal day.

There is no need for sun or moon that says in heaven for the Lamb shall be the light thereof. And there is no night perpetual day. So the second characteristic of God's graciousness or God's grace God wants you to know that he is gracious.

God's Graciousness and Forgiveness

Now a young man came up and he said Chuck what can I do. I have so misrepresented God. I've known the Lord. I've walked with the Lord but then I walked away from the Lord and I so misrepresented God what can I do.

And I said remember God is gracious though you've misrepresented him yet he is gracious. That's the way the Lord wants to put his name upon the people. I'm gracious forgiving. And then the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

The God of peace imparts his peace to us. And so the Jehovah blessed Jehovah is gracious and Jehovah give you peace. Be gracious to you bless you all. That is the God that we serve. No wonder we love him.

And that is the God that we're to represent. And if I'm representing God then I am going to be seeking to be a blessing to people. I'm going to be gracious towards people and I'm going to seek peace because I'm God's representative.

Israel's Offerings and the Work of the Levites

As we get into the seventh chapter we find that the leaders of Israel verse 2 made an offering to the Lord. And in their offering the 12 tribes 12 leaders of the 12 tribes they brought first of all six carts covered wagons and 12 oxen.

Every two tribe furnished one cart and each tribe furnished one oxen. And they were brought to Moses to give to the Levites for the work of the tabernacle of meeting to each man according to his service.

So Moses took the carts in the oxen and gave them to the Levites. Now two of the carts and four of the oxen they gave to Gershon according to their service. Now remember last week the families of Levi were divided up into which portion of the of the tent that they would carry whenever they moved the tabernacle how that they had this whole procession.

Aaron and his sons would come in and take and cover the Ark of the Covenant and cover the table to show bread cover the lampstand put the you know the staves through so they could carry them. And then the other things were wrapped up and part of the Levi's were to carry the curtains and another part were to carry the boards and the the whole thing.

So here were covered wagons when they moved camp. And so four carts and eight oxen were given to the sons of Merorai because they were carrying the boards and these poles and everything else the heavier part so they have four carts and two carts for Gershon.

But to the sons of Kohath they didn't get any carts because the family of Kohath they carried on the staves the Ark of the Covenant and the table to show bread and the alder and so forth they were carried with those sticks that were put through the rings.

And so they were born by hand not put in a cart. And so the leaders offered this dedication offering. Then they brought other offerings to the Lord. And in the other offerings the leader of each tribe came with the offering for the tribe.

And from the tribe of Judah was Nashon and he offered a silver platter that was a hundred and thirty shekels of weight a silver bowl that weighed 70 shekels and both of them were filled with flour and oil.

As a grain offering he offered a gold pan that was full of incense one young bull one ram and one male lamb in the first year as a bird offering a kid of the goats as a sin offering and two oxen five rams five male goats five male lambs in their first year.

Now through the rest of the seventh chapter you find the repetition. Each tribe gave the same offering. Each tribe gave a silver platter gave a silver bowl gave this golden pan and gave the same offering.

And so it names the leader of the tribe and the tribe that he was from. And it repeats the same offering over and over. Each tribe gave the same. Now it does get rather repetitious as you're reading it through.

That's why we're gonna jump it. It's one of the longest chapters in the Bible. It's a chapter in which God lists the offerings of the various tribes. It is interesting to me that God kept such accurate record even though they were sort of duplicate type of records.

Yet God kept an accurate record of what the people gave. I'm certain that he still does. In the eighth chapter the Lord spoke to Moses to speak to Aaron concerning the arrangement of the lamps. The seven lamps that give light in front of the lampstand.

Now this lampstand verse 4 was of hammered gold from its shaft to its flowers. It was hammered work according to the pattern which the Lord had shown to Moses to make the lampstand. And then there was the dedication at this point of the Levites for their service.

The Cleansing and Consecration of the Levites

Take the Levites verse 6 from among the children of Israel and cleanse them in a ceremony. Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them. Sprinkle water of purification on them and let them shave all their body.

Let them wash their clothes and make themselves clean. Then let them take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil and take another young bull as a sin offering. And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of meeting.

You shall gather together the whole assembly of the children of Israel. Now the whole assembly though the congregation was to be gathered. It's gonna be a day we're gonna consecrate these Levites for their service to God.

They're gonna go through this cleansing ritual in order that they might serve the Lord for the people on behalf of the people. So call the whole assembly and bring in the Levites before the Lord. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites.

So all of the the people of Israel laid their hands on these fellows. You're gonna you know serve the Lord for me and may God bless you. And may God help you as you you know serve the Lord in my stead.

And and so the the congregation laying their hands on the Levites. And so you're to bring the Levites before the Lord. The children of Israel lay their hands on them. And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as though they were a wave offering.

Now the wave offering you lift up. So he didn't lift them all up and wave them before the Lord. But as in a symbolic sense here they are Lord as a wave offering before you. And then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls.

And you will offer one as a sin offering. And the other is a burnt offering to the Lord to make atonement for the Levites so that the Israelites the children Israel lay their hands on the Levites. Now the Levites being cleansed start their ministry.

But before they do they lay their hands on these two bulls. The one is the sin offering the transferring of their guilt over onto the bull it was slain offered as a sin offering. The second one the burnt offering was the offering of consecration.

And so it is these men are to be consecrated unto God in this service to the Lord. And thus you shall separate the Levites or consecrate them from the children of Israel. And the Levites shall be mine.

For they were wholly given to me from among the children of Israel I have taken them for myself. Verse 16. Instead of all who opened the womb of the firstborn of the children of Israel for all of the firstborn.

Verse 17. Among the children of Israel are mine both man and beast. On the day that I struck all of the firstborn in the land in the land of Egypt I sanctified or set them apart to myself. Now when God passed through the land of Egypt and destroyed the firstborn in the land God made a provision for the redemption of the firstborn.

Redemption Through the Blood of the Lamb

Moses instructed the people take a lamb of the first year without blemish kill it put the blood in a basin and with a hyssop bush sprinkle the blood upon the lintels in the doorpost of your house. And when the Lord passes through the land this night when he sees the blood upon the door he'll pass over that house so that the firstborn will not be slain.

So the lamb was a substitute for the firstborn. In the house it died instead of the firstborn. Whereas in the land of Egypt when the Lord passed through and each family when they awoke found that the firstborn child had been slain there in the camp of Israel where the blood was protecting the houses not a child was slain.

They were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb they have been purchased. Their life was purchased by the life of the Lamb which blood was shed for the family. Now the Lord said in that night I really purchased all of the firstborn they became mine.

They owe their lives to me and thus they are mine. And that is what redemption implies. When you've been redeemed by someone it implies that you now belong to that person. You who have been redeemed through Jesus Christ really are no longer your own.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians and he said don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you and you are not your own. You've been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are his.

You're really not your own anymore. If you have been redeemed by Jesus Christ you don't belong to yourself. You don't have the right to do what you want to do. You don't have the right to follow your own plan or your own ambitions.

You belong to Jesus Christ and your life is his. You're not your own. You've been bought with a price. You've been redeemed and that means that you're no longer your own. You belong to him. God said I redeemed them all and I claimed them that night for my own.

They're mine. The night that I passed through and wiped out the firstborn. By sparing these they become mine. And so by giving you eternal life through Jesus Christ you actually give up your rights to yourself.

I no longer am a self-determinant creature. I surrendered those rights to the Lord and he now is the one who has the right to tell me what I am to do how I am to do it where I am to do it and when I am to do it your life belongs to God.

And how many of us are robbing from God that which he purchased by our own self-willed ways. We don't have this concept down in our minds at all. You may accept it in theory form but in practice I'm afraid we're far from it to realize.

Hey I belong to him. I've been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live yet. Not I but Christ is living in me and the life that I am now living in the flesh. I'm living by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

I'm not my own. I've been bought with a price. I'm to glorify God both in my body and spirit which belonged to him. I'm to live for him not for me. And anytime I live for me I am actually taking from God that which is his that which belongs to him that which he redeemed and God laid claim on it.

He said I claim them the night that I passed over them in Egypt and spared the lies. I claim them they belong to me that night I purchased them and so you've been purchased. You belong to him. And so God says now I have taken the Levites this cleansing right for the Levites because I've taken the Levites instead of the firstborn of the children of Israel.

And I have given them as a gift not to Aaron and to his sons to do the work for the children of Israel in the tabernacle rather than the firstborn of every family being there. God took the Levites instead.

And so Moses and Aaron and all of the congregation of Israel did to the Levites according to that which the Lord commanded Moses and they purified themselves washed their clothes. Aaron presented them as a way of offering.

They offered the sacrifices. Now verse 24 this is what pertains to the Levites from 25 years old and above one may enter to perform the service in the work of the tabernacle of meeting. Now you remember this was a portable place of worship.

It could be broken down and moved and was broken down and moved many times. And sometimes they'd set it up for a day sometimes for a year. You never know how long this place is gonna be sitting here because they could collapse it and they move it.

And so these guys that were doing this moving they they had their their jobs all assigned. You know you guys are gonna roll up this portion of the of the curtains over here and you guys roll up this curtain and you guys carry these boards.

And you guys you know and they were directed in in the service that they were to do in the moving of the tabernacle. They could not enter into this until they were 25 years old. And as soon as they were 50 years old out ski.

No more caring no more labor. Now you can stand there and direct the others. You had the experience. Now you've been around you know how the thing goes together. You know how the thing is taking apart.

So you stand there and you supervise after 50 I like that. Not really I too much to get my hands into things. But after 50 years of old they were. They were. They must it says they must cease performing the work and so they can attend to the other needs.

But they shall do no work. That's the Levites from 25 to 50 they were able to come in and do this service of moving. Now in chapter 9 the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt.

Observing Passover and Seeking the Lord's Direction

So two years now there at Sinai let the children of Israel keep the Passover in its appointed time on the 14th day of this month at twilight you shall keep it at its appointed time. That's why the Jews begin their days in the evening at twilight.

Sundown begins the day. We begin our days at midnight. They began the day at sundown and their day went from sundown to sundown. And they still observe their days from sundown to sundown. Their Sabbath day begins Friday evening sundown goes to Saturday evening sundown.

And so at twilight keep the appointed time according to all the rites and ceremonies. You're to keep it. So Moses told the children of Israel they were to keep the Passover. Now there were certain men verse 6 who were defiled by the body of a dead person.

They had touched a dead body and they didn't have the time to go through the purification rites. So they came to Moses said look we are unclean. We've touched a dead body. We can't go through the ceremony.

What shall we do. And so the Lord Moses said to him now stand still here that I might hear what the Lord will command concerning you. I like this. Moses took every issue to the Lord. What are we gonna do about us.

You know we can't observe the Passover. We touched a body. Well you know what should we do. Was it just wait a minute. Let me go in and find out from the Lord. I like that he had enough wisdom to seek the Lord for each decision.

Here's an issue that's come up. We haven't faced this before. What are we gonna do about. Well what does the Lord want us to do about it. I think of that verse of the song. Oh what needless pain we bear all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

If you don't know what to do about a certain situation rather than just moving in on it. Wait pray stand still. Let's just see what God has to say about this. I think a lot of times in our wanting to get moving.

Let's do something that a lot of times than just doing something we do it wrong. Let's see what the Lord has. Stand still. See what the Lord has to say about this. And so Moses.

Went in to inquire of the Lord concerning these men. We'll return next time with more valuable insights on the celebration of the Passover and we do hope you'll make plans to join us. But right now I'd like to remind you that if you missed any part of today's message or perhaps you'd like to order a copy for that special friend or loved one you can do so by simply contacting one of our customer service representatives and they'd be more than happy to assist you with the ordering details.

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Here is pastor Chuck Smith. May the Lord be with you and bless and keep you in his love. May he watch over you and give you a beautiful week. A week that is devoted to the consciousness and awareness of his goodness giving thanks to the Lord for he is good and his mercy endures forever.

God bless you in Jesus name for today would like to invite you to come along on a revolutionary.

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