Exodus 29
Consecrating Aaron and sons: Offeringverses 1-3
And this is the thing that you shall do to them to HALLOW them
to MINISTER to ME in the priest’s office
Take one young bullock – and two rams without blemish
and unleavened bread
and cakes unleavened tempered with oil
and wafers unleavened anointed with oil
of wheaten flour shall you make them
And you shall put them into one basket – and bring them in the basket
with the bullock and the two rams
Consecrating Aaron and sons: Clothingverses 4-9
Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation – and shall wash them with water
And you shall take the garments – and put on Aaron the coat
robe of the ephod – ephod – breast-plate
and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod
and you shall put the miter upon his head
and put the holy crown upon the miter
THEN shall you take the ANOINTING oil
and pour it on his head – and anoint him
And you shall bring his sons – and put coats on them
and you shall gird them with girdles – Aaron and his sons
and put the bonnets on them – and priest’s office
shall be theirs for a perpetual statute
and you shall CONSECRATE
Aaron and his sons
Consecrating Aaron and sons: Sin offeringverses 10-14
And you shall cause a bullock to be brought before the
tabernacle of the congregation
and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands
on the head of the bullock
And you shall kill the bullock before the LORD
by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation
And you shall take of the BLOOD of the bullock
and put it upon the horns of the altar with your finger
and pour all the BLOOD beside the bottom of the altar
And you shall take all the FAT that covers the inwards
and the caul that is above the liver – and the two kidneys
and the fat that is upon them
and burn them on the altar
BUT the flesh of the bullock – and his skin – and his dung
shall you burn with fire without the camp
IT IS A SIN OFFERING
Consecrating Aaron and sons: Burnt offeringverses 15-18
You shall also take one ram and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands
on thehead of the ram
And you shall slay the ram – and you shall take his BLOOD
and sprinkle it around about on the altar
And you shall cut the ram in pieces – and wash the inwards of him
and his legs – and put them to his pieces and unto his head
And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar
it is a BURNT OFFERING to the LORD
it is a SWEET SAVOR
and offering made by fire to the LORD
Consecrating Aaron and sons: Bloodverses 19-21
And you shall take the other ram
and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the
head of the ram
THEN shall you kill the ram – and take his BLOOD
and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron
and on the tip of the right ear of his sons
and on the thumb of their right hand
and on the great toe of their right foot
and sprinkle the BLOOD on
the altar round about
And you shall take of the BLOOD that is on the altar
and of the anointing oil – and sprinkle it upon Aaron
and on his garments – and on his sons
and on the garments of his sons with him
and he shall be hallowed – and his garments
and his sons – and his sons’ garments
with him
Consecrating Aaron and sons: portion of sacrificeverses 22-26
ALSO you shall take of the ram the fat and the rump
and the fat that covers the inwards
and the caul above the liver
and the two kidneys
and the fat that is upon them
and the right shoulder
For it is a RAM of CONSECRATION – and one loaf of bread
and one cake of oiled bread – and one wafer out of the
basket of the unleavened bread
that is before the LORD
and you shall put all in the hands of Aaron
and in the hands of his sons
and shall wave them for a WAVE OFFERING
before the LORD
And you shall receive them of their hands
and burn them on the altar for a BURNT OFFERING
for a SWEET SAVOR before the LORD
it is an offering made by fire to the LORD
And you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s CONSECRATION
and wavy it for a WAVE OFFERING before the LORD
and it shall be your part
Portion of Peace offering to be Aaron’s sonsverses 27-28
And you shall SANCTIFY the breast of the WAVE OFFERING
and the shoulder of the HEAVE OFFERING – which is waved
and which is heaved up
of the ram of the CONSECRATION
even of that which is for Aaron
and of that which is for his sons
And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ by a statute forever
from the children of Israel – for it is an HEAVE OFFERING
and it shall be an HEAVE OFFERING from the
children of Israel of the sacrifice of their
PEACE OFFERING
even their HEAVE OFFERING to the LORD
Priest garments to be worn by future generationsverses 29-30
And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him
to be ANOINTED therein – and to be CONSECRATED in them
And that son that is priest in his stead shall put them on SEVEN DAYS
when he comes into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister
in the holy place
Consecration ceremony eaten by Aaron and sonsverses 31-34
And you shall take the ram of the CONSECRATION
and seethe his flesh in the holy place
And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram
and the bread that is in the basket
by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation
And they shall eat those things wherewith the ATONEMENT
was made to CONSECRATE and to SANCTIFY them
BUT a stranger shall not eat thereof
BECAUSE they are HOLY
And if aught of the flesh of the consecrations – or of the bread
remain unto the morning
THEN you shall burn the reminder with fire
it shall not be eaten – BECAUSE it is HOLY
Seven day ceremony of consecrationverses 35-37
And thus shall you do to Aaron – and to his sons
according to all things which I have commanded you
SEVEN DAYS shall you CONSECRATE them
And you shall offer every day a bullock for a SIN OFFERING
for ATONEMENT – and you shall cleanse the altar
when you have made an ATONEMENT for it
and you shall ANOINT it – to SANCTIFY it
SEVEN DAYS you shall make an ATONEMENT for the altar
and SANCTIFY it
And it shall be an altar most HOLY
whatsoever touch the altar shall be HOLY
Daily sacrifices describedverses 38-41
Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar
two lambs of the first year DAY BY DAY continually
The one lamb you shall offer in the morning
the other lamb you shall offer at even
and with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled
with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil
and the fourth part of an hin of wine
for a DRINK OFFERING
And the other lamb you shall offer at even
and shall do thereto according to the
MEAT OFFERING of the morning
and according to the
DRINK OFFERING thereof
for a SWEET SAVOR
an offering made by fire unto the LORD
Obedience brings continual presence of the LORDverses 42-46
THIS shall be a CONTINUAL BURNT OFFERING throughout your
generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation
before the LORD – where I will meet you
to SPEAK there unto you
And there I will meet with the children of Israel
and the tabernacle shall be SANCTIFIED by MY glory
And I will SANCTIFY the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar
I will SANCTIFY also both Aaron and his sons
to minister to ME in the priest’s office
And I will dwell among the children of Israel
and will be their God
And they shall know that I am the LORD their God
that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt
that I may dwell among them
I am the LORD their God
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 And this is the thing that you shall do to them to hallow them, to minister to me in the priest’s office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish. (6942 “hallow” [qadash] means to be clean, appoint, consecrate, dedicate, holy, proclaim, sanctify or purify)
DEVOTION: The details of the clothing and service of the family of Aaron are given in this chapter. There is an seven day service of consecration for Aaron and his sons. They are to be holy before the LORD. The blood of the sacrifice was put on their body parts to show that their whole body was holy unto the LORD.
God has always wanted a group of people who are appointed to serve HIM. In the Old Testament the people that were chosen for special service were from the tribe of Levi. They were all in the family of Aaron. There is a process that is given here in this chapter for each of those who are to serve HIM in the holy place of the tabernacle. There is a service that is to be done to dedicate Aaron and his sons.
God takes service to HIM seriously. God promises to meet with Aaron and his sons if they are obedient to HIM. They had to be sanctified. They had to be consecrated. They had to be anointed.
Once this happened the LORD promised to dwell among them. HE wanted them to remember that HE was the God who delivered them out of the slavery of Egypt. HE wanted to be the LORD their God. HE wanted to be their only God. This was to be done to give God the glory.
We are HIS priests today in our world. HE has appointed us because we have become followers of HIS son as our SAVIOR. Once we have repented of our sins and accepted HIS standards for our lives, we are HIS chosen people. HE dwells with us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our engagement ring to genuine that we are going to be with HIM for eternity.
It is an awesome responsibility to stand before God every day and try to reach our world for HIM. We are a HOLY people. This does not mean that we are sinless. We are covered by the blood of the LAMB of God that takes away the sins of the world. Christ is the Lamb that was slain for our sins. We are to be thankful for this and service HIM with gladness.
CHALLENGE: When reading this portion of Scripture do we see that every part of our body is important to the LORD: right ear, right hand, right big toe. From top to bottom we are the LORD’S servants.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 20 Then shall you kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood on the altar round about. (1818 “blood” [dawm] means shedding of blood, blood-guilt, the red fluid that is pumped through the body by the heart)
DEVOTION: This is a service of dedication of the priests to the service of the LORD. The family of Aaron was to be the only ones who worshiped the LORD as priest. The High Priest was to come from the family of Aaron.
They had to wear special clothes to serve the LORD. They had to behave in just the right manner before the LORD or they could lose their life. They were under a microscope by the children of Israel.
In this verse we find that the blood of the sacrifice was put on the bodies of the priests.
It was placed on the right earlobe. So we find that what a priest is to listen to is the Word of the LORD rather than things he shouldn’t put in his head.
It was placed on the right hand to show that their hands should be used for service to the LORD at all times. So anything they did with their hands was to be pleasing in the sight of the LORD.
Finally, blood was placed on the big toe of the right foot, so that, the priests knew that they were to walk the way the LORD directed and not to just please themselves.
We have to remember that if we ask Jesus in our heart we become priests for the LORD. We are HIS representative for HIM by what we hear and what we handle and where we walk.
CHALLENGE: Is this a common thought each day with each of us?
: 30 And that son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he comes into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place. (8334 “minister” [sharath] means serve, servant, service, to serve a deity by doing various commanded religious practices, especially rites and ceremonies, or be attendant to)
DEVOTION: God included in the instructions the transfer of leadership. This verse is giving the right way to move from one High Priest to another High Priest. The ceremony would take seven days.
When Aaron was done being the High Priest, he would have to transfer the garments to his son who was going to be High Priest. The transition was important for the children of Israel to understand. It was not to be taken lightly by the priests or by the people.
The person becoming High Priest had an awesome responsibility to the LORD and the children of Israel. He had to be a man who was willing to serve the LORD faithfully in this position.
As in any family there were sons who were not as dedicated to following God as other sons. The choice had to be a good one. So the ceremony lasted seven days as the number seven served to represent a complete transfer of responsibility to the next generation.
The transfer of leadership in a local church is very important as well. There are many individuals who want to be in power someplace because they might not be in power at their workplace or home. Those who are trying to become leaders for the wrong reasons have to be told that it will not happen if they are not willing to change to meet the standards set by the LORD.
Many churches fail to be a good witness for the LORD because the leadership is not full of men who want to stay close to the LORD and each other. Men who want their own way should never be in leadership. It should always be the LORD’S way of doing things.
CHALLENGE: The seven days that the ordinations service took was to show that the individual was ready to serve the LORD with his whole heart.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 33 And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy. (6942 “holy” [qadash] means sanctify, hallow, dedicate, consecrate, purified, separate, apartness, sacredness, or devoted)
DEVOTION: We understand that the LORD is separate from everything that HE created. HE is not measured by the same standards that human beings are measured. HE is above all HIS creation. HE is above the angels. HE is above the animals. HE is above the rules of nature of this world. HE is different from any other person or thing we know.
The priests were to be different from the rest of the congregation of Israel. They were set apart for the service of worship of the LORD. They had to dress just right according to the standards of the rules of the LORD. They had to eat right according to the standards set down in the Word of God given to Moses on the mountain.
Here we find that they were to eat meals a certain way. The offerings of consecration were made for Aaron and his sons. They were dedicated to the LORD for service. Their clothes were dedicated to the LORD with blood. Their food had to be eaten a certain way. Every aspect of the life of a priest was important to God. They were the spiritual leaders of the nation and HE wanted them to be obedient.
Today we find that many of us are not as careful as we should be with our appearance in church. We come to worship the LORD and yet some dress like we are going to a party at the beach sometimes.
Our fellowship dinners are a time when we should always be making sure that everyone has enough food to eat. Our eating should be good whether we are in church or at home.
The New Testament wants us to remember that we are priests for the LORD. We are in HIS service. We should be ready at any time to show people the way to heaven through Jesus Christ. We have a message to share with our mouth, dress and actions.
In this particular time of consecration there was a meal that was considered devoted to the LORD. There is only one New Testament meal that is devoted to the LORD and that is when we partake of the LORD’S Supper on the first Sunday of each month in many churches. At this service we are asked to examine ourselves and ask the LORD to show us if there is anything between us and HIM. It is a celebration of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross but also a time for us to understand that we must make sacrifices for the LORD as well.
CHALLENGE: Do we consider our lives as consecrated to the LORD as the Old Testament priests were consecrated? Should we?
: 46 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord their God. (7931 “dwell” [shakan] means 1a (Qal). 1a1 to settle down to abide. 1a2 to abide, dwell, reside. 1b (Piel). 1b1 to make settle down, establish. 1b2 to make or cause to dwell. 1c (Hiphil). 1c1 to lay, place, set, establish, settle, fix. 1c2 to cause to dwell or abide. [Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship].)
DEVOTION: The idea of God dwelling with people is introduced here. God is pictured as a God who seeks the fellowship of His children, and this can be traced all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Now God not only leads His children out of Egypt and through the wilderness, but seeks to have an active relationship with them. Sadly, we get the picture that only a very few (Moses, Aaron, Joshua) actually availed themselves of this relationship.
The idea of God dwelling among His people then becomes the source of the incarnation of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5-8). He becomes one of us, so that we can touch Him and fellowship with Him. Further on, the idea of dwelling is mentioned by Jesus Himself in the upper room in John 15, where He emphasizes to His disciples that they need to abide (dwell) in Him so that they will bear much fruit.
This is a difficult saying for us, because we tend to lead very compartmentalized lives. We see ourselves as at work when we go to work and otherwise by ourselves even in our own homes. Instead, God wants to be a part of every part of our day, dwelling with us no matter where we go. Do we really think of our homes as God’s dwelling place? Do we realize that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19? Again, all of this presupposes that we want God to dwell in our lives.
CHALLENGE: How close would you say your relationship with God is at this particular moment? If it isn’t close enough, ask Him to come and dwell in you.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Hallowed priestsverse 1
Sacrifice young bullock
Two rams
Unleavened bread
Bring to door of tabernacle
Dress Aaronverses 2-7
Coat
Robe of the ephod
Breastplate
Girdle of the ephod
Mitre on head
Holy crown
Anointing oil on head
Aaron’s sonsverses 8-9
Coats
Bonnets
Consecrate Aaron and his sonsverse 9-37
Kill a bullock
Blood on horns of altar
Burn fat on altar
Tabernacle of the congregationverses 10, 42
Sin offeringverse 14
Burnt offeringverses 15-18, 25, 42
Ram of consecrationverse 19-22
Wave offeringverses 19-24
Heave offeringverses 27-29
Aaron and sonsverses 29-35
Consecrate
Sanctify
Cleanse the altarverse 36
Drink offeringverse 40
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Perpetual statuteverses 9, 28
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD (Jehovah)verses 11, 18, 23-26, 28, 41, 42, 46
MY gloryverse 43
I will sanctify the tabernacle verse 44
I will sanctify Aaron and his sonsverse 44
I will dwell among children of Israelverses 45, 46
God (Elohim)verses 45, 46
LORD their Godverse 46
I am the LORD their Godverse 46
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth, twenty-four- hour period of creation)
Land of Egyptverse 46
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Sinverses 14, 36
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Holyverse 1
Ministerverses 1, 44
Consecrateverses 9, 26, 29, 33, 35
Atonementverses 33, 36, 37
Sanctifyverses 33, 43, 44
Meet with the LORDverses 42, 43
Speak with the LORDverse 42
Dwellverses 45, 46
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Priest’s officeverse 1
Sacrifices without blemishverse 1
Aaronverse 4
Sons of Aaronverse 4
Aaron’s descendants in priesthoodverse 9
Tabernacle of the congregationverses 10, 11, 32
Sin offeringverses 11-14, 36
Burnt offeringverses 15-18
Wave- heave – peace offeringverses 19-28
Weekly service of the priestsverses 29-30
Cleansing of the altarverses 36-37
Drink offeringverse 40
Meal offeringverse 41
Children of Israelverse 43
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
44–46 After the Lord has consecrated the priests and paraphernalia (v.44), he “will dwell among the Israelites and be their God” (v.45). In fact, the divine side of the Exodus was so that God “might dwell among” his people (v.46). The real significance of the tabernacle theology is explicitly stated as God’s “tabernacling” or “dwelling” among people so that they could recognize that he indeed was God. (Kaiser, W. C., Jr. (1990). Exodus. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers (Vol. 2, p. 471). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
29:42–46. Fifth, the passage ends with a statement about the importance of the daily burnt offerings in Israel’s daily life. It was there that God promised to meet with His people. Fellowship with God is on the basis of blood shed for sins. When the priests were consecrated and serving the Lord then God would dwell with them and they would know that He is the Lord their God. God’s condescending to dwell in a tent speaks of the depth of His concern for His people. (Hannah, J. D. (1985). Exodus. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 153). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
During the week of ordination ceremonies, the priests had to remain in the tabernacle precincts (Lev. 9:13–16), and when the week ended, they immediately entered into their ministry. No time for a day off or a vacation! In their work, they had to follow a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly schedule, all of which was outlined in the Law that God gave Moses on Mount Sinai.
Each day would begin with the priests sacrificing a lamb as a burnt offering, signifying the total dedication of the people to God, and the day ended with the offering of a second lamb as a burnt offering. That’s a good example for us to follow, opening and closing the day with surrender to the Lord. With each lamb, they also presented a meal offering mixed with oil (Lev. 2:1–16; 6:14–23) and a drink offering of about a quart of wine, which was poured on the altar (Num. 15:1–13). For most meal offerings, the priests put only a token portion of the flour on the altar and used the rest in their own meals, but with the daily morning and evening sacrifices, this wasn’t done. Everything was given to the Lord.
The flour and wine represented the results of the people’s labor in the fields and the vineyards. Symbolically, they were presenting the fruit of their toil to God and thanking Him for the strength to work and for food to eat (Deut. 8:6–18). The wine poured out was a picture of their lives poured out in His service (Phil. 2:17, niv; 2 Tim. 4:6, niv). All of this would please the Lord and He would find delight in dwelling in the tabernacle and blessing His people. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1998). Be delivered (pp. 162–163). Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub.)
Ver. 45. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, &c.] In the tabernacle ordered to be built for him, and which, when built, was placed in the midst of the camp of Israel; and here Jehovah dwelt as a king in his palace, near at hand to help, protect, and defend his subjects, and supply them with all things needful for them; see Deut. 4:7 and will be their God; their covenant-God, their King and their God, their government being a Theocracy; their God and father, by national adoption, and from whom they might expect all good things, they continuing in obedience to his commands, by the tenure of which they held their rights and privileges, civil and ecclesiastical. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 1, p. 497). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
Faith
“And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)
It may come as a surprise to some that both Old and New Testament believers are justified only by faith. In fact, four New Testament epistles base their arguments on justification by faith on two Old Testament passages, each quoted three times but with each one emphasizing a different aspect.
In our text, we see that Abraham was declared righteous because of his faith (i.e., belief, same word). This verse is quoted in Romans 4:3 in the midst of a formal argument on the just nature of God and the fact that we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Here, the emphasis is on counted. In Galatians 3:6, the word believed is emphasized, couched in the book dedicated to contrasting works and faith. “They which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham” (Galatians 3:9). The book of James was written to encourage believers to good works as evidence of their faith, and our text, quoted in James 2:23, emphasizes righteousness. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).
The other Old Testament passage dealing with faith, which is also quoted three times in the New Testament, reads, “The just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). When used in Romans 1:17 just prior to the description of the evil lifestyles of the wicked (vv. 18-32), the emphasis seems to be on the word just. In Galatians 3:11, as noted above, the word faith is stressed. But in Hebrews 10:38, the author teaches that those who have been declared righteous by God live eternally by faith and will be able to cope with persecution (vv. 34-37).
Thus, the Old Testament doctrine that we are saved by faith in the work of God to solve our sin problem applies to every area of our lives and being, including our past sin, our present holy life and work, and our future eternal life.
(JDM, The Institute for Creation Research)
Two years ago, when Jackie Hill-Perry, a talented writer, poet, and speaker, spoke at a Wilberforce Weekend, she had the entire room leaning forward in their chairs. A powerful speaker with a powerful testimony about following Christ out of a lesbian lifestyle–no one in the audience wanted to miss a word.
Recently, Perry shared her testimony on a YouTube interview with Christian comedian KevOnStage. After leaving a long-term relationship when she gave her life to Jesus and after years of discipleship and deep involvement in the Church, Jackie married Preston Perry, a poet and apologist. They have two daughters, with a third baby on the way.
When, in the YouTube interview, Jackie shared she still struggles with same-sex attraction, her host was noticeably surprised. So was his audience. Many commenters accused Jackie of “suppressing her true self” and “denying the humanity” of others with same-sex attraction. After days of social media pressure, KevOnStage decided to take down the video.
The anger directed at the Perrys reflects a sad fatalism that permeates both the LGBTQ movement and the so-called “gay-affirming” Christians. Their critique is rooted in a bad idea, that our sexual desires fundamentally define us. Therefore, anyone with same-sex attraction will be ultimately powerless against it. No other temptations or sins are thought of this way.
The Perrys addressed this double standard on their own podcast. After all, they mused, no one asks Preston whether he’s still attracted to other women. He isn’t accused of “denying his true self” by his fidelity to Jackie.
The Perrys also addressed the accusation that for Jackie to marry a man and have children is a betrayal of “who she really is.” Her response reveals just how important worldview is when thinking about anything, especially those areas of culture so hotly contested:
Here is what Jackie said: “If you don’t understand the reason you were created, and then you don’t understand how sin has corrupted that, then when we talk about denying self, you don’t understand that your self is broken. We were created for glory, we were created to love and honor God… When sin came into the mix, it perverted and twisted our affections and our desires where now, we desire things that go against God’s original intention for our body and our creation. So to say that we’re denying ourselves is to say that we are attempting, through the power of the Spirit, to restore our bodies and our minds back to its original intention, which is to honor God with it.”
The Perrys’ story offers a different and better narrative about humanity, sexuality, and marriage, one that makes no sense to a culture that has defined sex and marriage down to acts of pleasure and self-fulfillment. If however, sex and marriage offer something more, as part of a divinely orchestrated plan in which a lifelong union becomes a life-creating act, and if love extends us beyond merely seeking pleasure to living in friendship, fidelity, and self-giving for the good of another, then the Perrys’ marriage points to something remarkable.
C.S. Lewis said that “we are far too easily pleased. We are half-hearted creatures… like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”
Anyone struggling daily against sin and temptation and attempting to live faithfully to another may not describe their life as holiday at the sea. Jackie describes her own road as difficult, but she’s accused all the time of denying herself the right to a happy life. Sadly, it’s her accusers and anyone who believes we are powerless against temptation, that settle for something less than God offers. (Break Point)
Zephaniah 3
Beyond impending judgment there is joy.
INSIGHTBlue blood flows through Zephaniah’s veins. He is the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah, the thirteenth king of Judah and one of the most righteous of all kings. The flame for revival and religious reform burns as hot in Zephaniah’s heart as it did in his forefathers’. Zephaniah’s book has been called one of the “hottest” books in the Old Testament. He portrays “the final crash of the universe.” The impending Day of the Lord is his all-encompassing message. Twenty-three times in this short book he refers specifically to the day that signifies the final judgment of God on the earth. Following the time of terrible judgment is the time of restoration and peace. Beyond judgment there is joy. (Quiet Walk)
THE PROTOEVANGEL
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15
What does God tell us in Genesis 3:15? Well, first of all that He was going to put enmity between the serpent and the woman and her seed. Hitherto there had been no enmity between them; but the serpent had beguiled Eve, so they were very friendly together, and the woman was now under the dominion of the devil. Had God not done something, that would have been the end of the story. But God came in and said, “Now I am going to break that friendship;you were meant for friendship with Me, not with the devil. So I am going to put enmity between you and the devil, and between the devil and you.” This was the first announcement of salvation. Man cannot be saved while he is a friend of the devil and an enemy of God. He must be a friend of God; therefore he must become an enemy of the devil.
The second thing, therefore, that is implied is that God was going to give man power and grace to fight the devil. Man had already been defeated by him and was his slave. Man must have help and strength, and God promised him that. God promised to be on man’s side in this fight against the enemy. He applied the promise also to the “seed”–“between thy seed and her seed.” That is most important. It was not a temporary promise given there in Eden; it was to continue until it had achieved its ultimate purpose.
You notice also that God said that the quarrel was to go on not only between the woman and her seed and the devil, but also between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. So humanity can be divided into the seed of God and of Christ and the seed of the devil, and there is a fight between them–all announced in Genesis 3:15.
A Thought to Ponder
Man cannot be saved while he is a friend of the devil.
(From God the Father, God the Son pp. 228-229, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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