Exodus 30
Instructions for making altar of incenseverses 1-6
And you shall make an ALTAR to burn INCENSE upon
of shittim wood shall you make it
A cubit shall be the length thereof – a cubit the breadth thereof
foursquare shall it be – two cubits shall be the height thereof
the horns thereof shall be of the same
And you shall overlay it with pure gold
the top thereof – and the sides thereof round about
and the horns thereof
And you shall make to it a crown of gold round about
and two golden rings shall you make to it under the
crown of it – by the two corners thereof
on the two sides of it shall you make it
and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal
And you shall make the staves of shittim wood
and overlay them with gold
And you shall put it before the veil that is by the ARK of the testimony
before the MERCY SEAT that is over the testimony
where I will MEET with you
Instructions regarding altar of incenseverses 7-9
And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense EVERY morning
when he dresses the lamps – he shall burn incense on it
And when Aaron lights the lamps at EVEN
he shall burn incense upon it
a perpetual incense before the LORD
throughout your generations
You shall offer NO STRANGE incense thereon
not burnt sacrifice – nor meat offering
neither shall you pour drink offerings thereon
Once a year purifying of altarverse 10
And Aaron shall make an ATONEMENT on the horns of it
ONCE in a year
with the blood of the SIN OFFERING of ATONEMENTS
ONCE in the year shall he make ATONEMENT
on it throughout your generations
it is MOST HOLY unto the LORD
Ransom money to be collected regularlyverses 11-16
And the LORD spoke to Moses
saying
When you take the sum of the children of Israel after their number
then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul
to the LORD – when you number them
that there be no plague among them
when you number them
This they shall give – every one that passes among them that are numbered
half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary
(a shekel is twenty gerahs)
a half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD
Every one that passes among them that are numbered
from twenty years old and above
shall give an offering unto the LORD
The rich shall not give more – and the poor shall not give less
than half a shekel – when they give an offering unto the LORD
to make an ATONEMENT for your souls
You shall take the ATONEMENT MONEY of the children of Israel
and shall appoint it for the service of the
tabernacle of the congregation
that it may be a MEMORIAL unto the children of Israel
before the LORD
to make an ATONEMENT for your souls
Moses sets up a laver of brassverses 17-21
And the LORD spoke to Moses saying
You shall also make a LAVER of BRASS – and his foot also of brass
to wash withal – you shall put it between the tabernacle of the
congregation and the altar
and you shall put water therein
FOR Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat
when they go into the tabernacle of the congregation
they shall wash with water
THAT THEY DIE NOT
or when they come near to the altar to minister
to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD
so they shall wash their hands and their feet
THAT THEY DIE NOT
and it shall be a statute for ever to them
even to him and to his seed throughout
their generations
Ingredients for anointing oilverses 22-29
Moreover the LORD spoke unto Moses
saying
Take you also unto thee principal spices
of pure myrrh five hundred shekels
and of sweet cinnamon half so much
even two hundred and fifty shekels
and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels
and of cassia five hundred shekels
after the shekel of the sanctuary
and of olive oil an him
and you shall make it an oil of holy ointment
an ointment compound after the
art of the apothecary
it shall be an HOLY ANOINTING OIL
And you shall ANOINT the tabernacle of the congregation therewith
and the ark of the testimony – and the table and all his vessels
and the candlestick and his vessels – and the altar of incense
and the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels
and the laver and his foot
And you shall SANCTIFY them – that they may be most HOLY
whatsoever touches them shall be HOLY
Anointing oil only for the priestsverses 30-33
You shall ANOINT Aaron and his sons – and CONSECRATE THEM
that they may minister to ME in the priest’s office
You shall speak to the children of Israel
saying
This shall be an HOLY ANOINTING OIL to ME
throughout your generations
On man’s flesh shall it not be poured
neither shall ye make any other like it
after the composition of it – IT IS HOLY
and it shall be holy to you
Whosoever compounds any like it
or whosoever puts any of it on a stranger
shall even be CUT OFF from his people
Ingredients for incense to be used only by the priestsverses 34-38
And the LORD
said to Moses
Take to you – sweet spices – stacte – onycha – galbanum
these sweet spices with pure frankincense
of each shall there be a like weight
and you shall make it a perfume
a confection after the art of the apothecary
tempered together – pure and holy
And you shall beat some of it very small
and put of it before the testimony in the
tabernacle of the congregation
where I will MEET with you
it shall be unto you most HOLY
And as for the perfume which you shall make
you shall not make to yourselves according to the
composition thereof
it shall be to you holy for the LORD
Whosoever shall make like to that – to smell thereto
shall even be CUT OFF from his people
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 6 And you shall put it before the veil that is by the ARK of the testimony, before the MERCY SEAT that is over the testimony, where I will MEET with you. (3259 “meet” [ya‘ad] means assemble, appointment, gather, to come with him to such a place, congregate, band together, or join forces)
DEVOTION: There is a lot of information in this book on the Tabernacle. There will be more throughout the Old Testament until they build the Temple.
The veil is the one that was the one that was split from top to bottom when Jesus Christ died on the cross. It separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest could go through the veil once a year on the Day of Atonement, to offer the blood sacrifice for the nation of Israel. So we find that this separation of responsibilities was carried out throughout the Old Testament time period.
The promise was that God would meet with the High Priest in that location. HE was going to show mercy toward the children of Israel. Remember that mercy is not giving them what they deserve for their sins. HE was forgiving their sins.
We are living in the Age of Grace. That is a time period when God is giving us what we don’t deserve. HE is giving us blessings based on the sacrifice of HIS Son on the cross.
So we have grace and mercy given to us. We are not given what we do deserve because of our sin and we are given blessings we don’t deserve because we are still sinners who are in right relationship with HIM.
Our blessings are stated as BETTER blessings than the Old Testament saints received from the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Appreciate all the blessings you are receiving from the LORD today. Tell others how much you are blessed. Encourage others to tell you how much they are blessed of the LORD.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 12 When you take the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul to the LORD, when you number them; that they be no plague among them, when your number them. (3724 “ransom” [kopher] means satisfaction, to avoid impending punishment, sum of money, price of a life, or something given or received as payment or reparation)
DEVOTION: The people had to be counted. Each man had to give an offering to ransom his soul. Each man was a slave to the LORD. They had to give an yearly offering to the LORD to buy their freedom.
If they refused to ransom their selves from the LORD then they could expect judgment. The plagues of Egypt were always available for the LORD to use or other circumstances to show that they were out of fellowship with HIM. The money was used for the priests and their families as they served the LORD.
The LORD owns the cattle on the thousand hills and HE owns each of us. We are a debtor to HIM for all HIS provisions for us. There is a responsibility to give a thank offering to HIM for all HIS blessings. It is not that the LORD needs the money but HE wants us to realize that all our money comes from HIM.
HE is the one who gives each of us the wealth we have. Some people in some countries don’t have as many possessions as we might have but they are still given blessings from the LORD if they continually say “thank you” to HIM for the wealth of salvation. We all have a mansion prepared for us in heaven waiting when we die.
Our time on this earth is short. We give to HIM because HE provides so much for us. The greatest gift was HIS Son who died in our place on the cross for the sins of the world. HE gives us a NEW NATURE when we come to HIM in repentance.
CHALLENGE: Do we truly understand all that we owe the LORD for HIS daily blessings to us?
: 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. (8641 “offering” [teruwmah] a present, heave offering, oblation or gift.)
DEVOTION: The details of the Tabernacle continued with the articles that were in the courtyard. One of the articles was an altar of incense that was to be used every morning. And when Aaron lighted the lamps in the evening he was to burn incense. There was to be no strange incense burned on this altar. There was to be no burnt sacrifice on this altar. There was to be no meat offering on this altar. There was to be no drink offering on this altar. The altar had one purpose: burn sweet incense to the LORD.
The LORD required an offering from every individual of a half a shekel each. This money was for the atonement of each soul. Atonement had to do with the forgiveness of sins. This money brought items for the tabernacle, which was involved in the process of atonement for sin.
This was a startup amount of money for the special purpose of providing funds to construct the Tabernacle. It was also done in the future whenever there was a census of the people. Everyone that was twenty-one years old or older had to pay this amount for the work of the Tabernacle. The LORD promised that if they did this there would be none of the plagues that HE had put on Egypt put on them.
The children of Israel were all sinners in need of atonement. The rich didn’t need more atonement money than the poor. This was a universal tax to help fund the priests work in the Tabernacle. No one was treated any different.
We are all sinners in God’s eyes. Each of us should be on our way to the lake of fire. It is only because of the ultimate atonement of Christ that any of us can stand before God on the Day of Judgment. HE can only see the blood of Christ. HE doesn’t see our sins. HE forgives us on the basis of our standing in Christ. We receive this standing when we ask forgiveness of sin.
One of the reasons we give an offering to the LORD today is to say thank you to HIM for our salvation. How thankful are we? How does our local church look in comparison to our homes? Do we settle for our worship center to be just OK? How active are we in the cleaning up of our place of worship? Remember that today we are all ministers of God. People are watching!!!
Two warning are issued in this chapter regarding the incense and the anointing oil. If any strange incense was offered – that person should die. If someone other than a priest was anointed with the anointing oil – that person should die. God took HIS instructions seriously. Do we?
CHALLENGE: Do we understand what it cost God to send HIS Son to die for us? Are we willing to give ourselves wholly to HIS service? Are we following the instructions HE has given us in HIS instruction book, the Bible?
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations. (7364 “wash” [rachats] means to cleanse one’s body with a cleansing agent, bathe, be cleansed, remove dirt and impurities using water, or to douse with water)
DEVOTION: Before the priest could serve the LORD, he had to wash his hands and their feet. They were not allowed to come to the Tabernacle with dirty hands or feet. If they came to the Tabernacle to serve the LORD without washing, they were condemned to die.
It seems like a harsh judgment on someone who forgot to wash their hands or feet. The problem was that they had to show respect for the LORD and for their service to HIM. To not wash and try to do a holy work was a sin.
This was a statute forever for those who served the LORD in HIS place of worship. If any priest didn’t do it throughout the Old Testament his judgment was death.
Service to the LORD was to be serious business. Each step was important to the LORD and HE wanted it to be important to the priests that were serving HIM. If the people started to come to serve HIM in any manner, they pleased they would not be treating the LORD with respect and the people would look at their example and think that they could treat the LORD with disrespect also.
The priests were the spiritual leaders of the people. They were thought to be the ones closest to God. They were separated and anointed to serve HIM. This was the way it was in the Old Testament.
Now in our time period we are priests to the LORD. We enter the Holy of Holies each time we communicate with God through prayer. HE comes to meet us when we pray. HE wants to hear from us.
HE also wants us to come with confession of our sins for a proper relationship with HIM. It has nothing to do with our salvation but with our fellowship with HIM wherein we receive blessings because of our willingness to keep short accounts with HIM.
Judgment was real to the priest and it should be real to us today.
CHALLENGE: HE wants us to respect HIM when we come to church and when we meet HIM in our home on a daily basis.
: 29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever touches them shall be holy. (6942 “holy” [qadash] means 1 to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to be set apart, be consecrated. 1a2 to be hallowed. 1a3 consecrated, tabooed. 1b (Niphal). 1b1 to show oneself sacred or majestic. 1b2 to be honored, be treated as sacred. 1b3 to be holy. 1c (Piel). 1c1 to set apart as sacred, consecrate, dedicate. 1c2 to observe as holy, keep sacred. 1c3 to honor as sacred, hallow. 1c4 to consecrate. 1d (Pual). 1d1 to be consecrated. 1d2 consecrated, dedicated. 1e (Hiphil). 1e1 to set apart, devote, consecrate. 1e2 to regard or treat as sacred or hallow. 1e3 to consecrate. 1f (Hithpael). 1f1 to keep oneself apart or separate. 1f2 to cause Himself to be hallowed (of God). 1f3 to be observed as holy. 1f4 to consecrate oneself. [Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship].)
DEVOTION: The concept of holiness is woven throughout the Pentateuch, particularly in Exodus and Leviticus. It is the idea of being set apart for something, in the same idea as the fact that we are set apart to God as His “saints” when we choose to follow Christ. In other words, we are holy because we are truly different in the values for which we live (not the world’s values, Romans 12:1-2), and we live to please God. We are “holy” because we are “wholly” His (we have been made “whole” by the blood of Jesus).
God makes it very clear here that there is no room for mixing the holy with the unholy. There should be no compromise in our lives. What the priests were doing was something entirely separate from what the lay person would do, and that was spiritual. There was to be the idea that the spiritual was separate from the ordinary day-to-day. However, in our lives, God has made it clear that our daily lives are holy to Him, and that there is nothing that we can or will do that is not in some sense spiritual. For example, we cannot claim that we have a secular job, although we are believers in Jesus.
Holiness, then, is an attitude that we need to cultivate. It is recognition of God active in our lives in the present, as well as in the past and future. This is where the children of Israel failed, for they did not remember how the LORD had acted on their behalf in the past and was continuing to do so.
CHALLENGE: Are you willing to be separate from the values system of the world around you? Lent is a good time to re-evaluate our values.
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)
Meet with Godverses 6, 36
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)
Altar to burn incenseverses 1-10
Shittim wood
Cubit in length and breadth
Two cubits the height
Overlay with pure gold
Two rings of gold to carry it
Staves of shittim word overlay with gold
Place before the veil
Incense every morning and evening
No strange fire or other offerings
Atonement once a year on horns of blood of sin offering
Burnt offeringsverse 9
Meat offeringverse 9
Drink offeringverse 9
Sin offeringverse 10
Payment of ransomverses 11-16
Laver of brassverses 17-21
Wash hands before ministry
Holy ointmentverses 22-38
Only priest
Any others are to be cut off
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Statuteverse 21
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD (Jehovah)verses 10-15, 17, 20, 22, 34, 37
Offering to the LORDverses 12-16
Atonement money
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)
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Strange incense on altar of incenseverse 9
Offering burnt sacrifice on altar of incenseverse 9
Sinverse 10
Unwashed hands or feetverses 20, 21
Anointing oil on someone other than priestverse 32
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Atonementverses 10, 15, 16
Ransomverse 12
No plague if ransom paidverse 12
Minsterverses 20, 30
Sanctifyverse 29
Holyverse 29
Anointverse 30
Consecrateverse 30
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Aaronverses 8-10
Light lamps
Burn incense
Make atonement
Mosesverse 11
Sum of the children of Israel
Collect a ransom from every man
Half a shekel = offering to LORD
Make laver of brass
Day of Atonementverse 10
Children of Israelverses 12, 16, 31
Offering of the LORDverses 13-15
Half shekel offering by everyoneverse 15
Tabernacle of the congregationverses 20, 26, 36
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Dieverses 20, 21
Cut offverse 38
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QUOTES regarding passage
7–10 The effective use of anything depends on following correct procedures. The incense that was to be burned every morning and evening symbolized the prayers of the saints and communion with God (vv.7–8; cf. Ps 141:2; Luke 1:10; Rev 5:8; 8:3–4). What was not to be used on the altar of incense is explicitly pointed out (v.9). Failure to follow this would result in the desecration of the altar. Also, it was necessary that once a year the altar be cleansed with blood from the atoning offering (v.10). (Kaiser, W. C., Jr. (1990). Exodus. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers (Vol. 2, pp. 472–473). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
Aaron was instructed to burn … incense on this altar twice daily when he attended to the lamps on the lampstand. The ingredients in the incense are described in Exodus 30:34–38. Incense may be symbolic of prayer (Ps. 141:2; Luke 1:10; Rev. 5:8; 8:3–4). Aaron was to make no other offering on this altar. Once a year on the Day of Atonement he was to make atonement for the altar (i.e., to cleanse and reconsecrate it) by sprinkling bull’s and goat’s blood on the altar’s horns (Lev. 16:18–19; as well as on the atonement cover, Lev. 16:14–17 (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. 154). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books)
In the Bible, burning incense is often a picture of prayer. “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense,” David prayed (Ps. 141:2), and John saw the elders in heaven with “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Rev. 5:8; see 8:3–4). Whenever the priest burned the incense, it was a call to the people for a time of prayer (Luke 1:8–10).
The fire for burning the incense came from the brazen altar where the sacrifices were offered to God (Lev. 16:12–13; Num. 16:46). This suggests that true prayer must be based on the work of Christ on the cross and on our complete dedication to God. A true fervency in prayer isn’t a religious emotion we work up ourselves; rather, it’s a blessing that God sends down as we yield ourselves to Him. John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, said, “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.” Coldhearted praying is not effective praying (James 5:16).
In order to please God and not be in danger of death, the priest had to use not only the right fire on the altar but also the prescribed mixture of spices for the incense (Ex. 30:34–38). Nadab and Abihu tried to worship God with “false fire” and were killed (Lev. 10). Any Israelite who tried to duplicate this special incense for his own personal use would be cut off, which could mean death.
Prayer isn’t simply a jumble of words we mix together with the hope they’ll be heard by God and answered. The Bible names some of the “ingredients” of prayer—adoration, confession, thanksgiving, petition, submission (1 Tim. 2:1; Phil. 4:6)—and even gives us a pattern to follow (Matt. 6:5–15). You can be sure that the priest didn’t rush into the tabernacle, quickly burn the incense, and then rush out. No, he prepared himself and reverently approached the altar, knowing that he was in the presence of the holy God.
Because of the work of Christ on the cross, believers today can go through the veil into the very presence of God, and there present their worship and petitions in the name of Jesus (Heb. 10:19–25). Our living, reigning Priest-King, Jesus Christ, is interceding continually for us in heaven (Rom. 8:33–34; Heb. 4:14–16; 7:19–28), and the Holy Spirit also intercedes in our hearts (Rom. 8:26–27). While it’s good to open and close the day with special prayer, as the priests did, it’s also good to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17) and stay in communion with the Lord all during the day.
The priests were warned not to use this golden altar for anything other than burning incense (Ex. 30:9), for there are no substitutes for prayer. No amount of sacrificing can take the place of true praying. The golden altar wasn’t a place for making bargains with God or trying to change His mind (James 4:1–4; 1 John 5:14–15). It was a place for adoring Him and praying, “Thy will be done.” (Wiersbe, W. W. (1998). Be delivered (pp. 141–143). Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub.)
Ver. 9. Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, &c.] Which had not the same, but was made of other materials, or had more or fewer; whatever was not exactly the same was not to be offered; and so to make use of other mediators than Christ, whether angels or men, or to put up prayer to God for the sake of our own righteousness, pleading the merits of our works, and not the blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of Christ, is to offer strange incense, unacceptable to God, and which will be of no avail to men: nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat-offering; these were to be offered and burnt upon the altar of burnt-offering; neither shall ye pour drink-offering thereon; as upon the other altar; every thing in God’s worship and service was to be done in the proper place and order; these offerings and sacrifices, though they were by divine appointment, yet must be offered on that altar which was peculiar for them. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 1, p. 499). 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!!)
Haggai explains that God’s people suffer because they neglect to finish the temple.
INSIGHT
As the children of Israel return from the Babylonian captivity, their first order of business is to rebuild the temple. Haggai, a prophet of God who is ministering at the time, encourages the people to work hard at restoring the temple. With great enthusiasm, they quickly lay the foundation. But discouragement sets in and work on the temple is soon forgotten as they begin to build their own houses. Finally, after 15 years, Haggai tells them that the afflictions they are suffering are because of their neglect of the temple. They must finish the temple first and then resume building their houses. First things first. God demands proper priorities. (Quiet Walk)
Proverbs has a lot to say about wisdom, and it also has a lot to say about foolishness. See if anything on this list surprises you:
A fool starts fights. (Proverbs 18:6)A fool is easily upset. (Proverbs 12:16)A fool believes everything he reads. (Proverbs 14:15)A fool loves to talk, but hates to listen. (Proverbs 18:2)A fool is fiercely independent. (Proverbs 28:26)A fool makes light of sin. (Proverbs 10:23)A fool hates their mama. (Proverbs 15:20)
This vision of “true virtue” as the “end of creation” was much on Edwards’s mind when he wrote Original Sin. Edwards feared that many people of his time had lost sight of sin in part because they had a lost sight of true goodness. There was a growing tendency for people to believe they were naturally virtuous, even without God’s help. This sense of natural virtue blinded people to the true virtue that God expects fo them – a much higher standard. Tragically, therefore, people went along thinking they were virtuous when in fact they were horribly depraved. (Jonathan Edwards for Armchair Theologians by James P. Byrd, p. 125)
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ONE COVENANT OF GRACE
I will be their God. Genesis 17:8
Consider the new disposition of the covenant of grace–the word “new” simply means a new administration of the same covenant. Let us remind ourselves of God’s purpose in this covenant of grace. Through sin and the Fall men and women lost their knowledge of God–they were estranged from Him, and God’s purpose of redemption was to bring us back to know Him. The working out of the new economy of this covenant has been done in and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is important, first of all, that we should establish clearly that we are still dealing with the same covenant. So let me give you these proofs.
The first is that there is but one covenant of grace, and it is the same covenant in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament. We notice that the great promise made in the Old Testament (“I will be their God”–the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 17:8) is mentioned several times in the New Testament. It is one and the same promise. The greatest thing that can happen to anybody is to say, “My God.” Nothing is to be compared with this, and it is the New Testament term as well as the Old Testament term.
The second proof is that you find the same kind of blessing in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Take Psalm 51 and see what David prays there: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (verse 10); he wants to have the joy of his salvation restored to him (verse 12). Sometimes Christian people speak very wrongly of the kind of spiritual experience that was enjoyed by the Old Testament saints. There is a tendency to say that we have this experience but that they had nothing. You would be very surprised to hear that the psalmist is further on spiritually than you are!
A Thought to Ponder
There is but one covenant of grace, and it is the same covenant in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament.
(From God the Father, God the Son, pp. 235-236, by Dr.Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
His Master’s Crib
“The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.” (Isaiah 1:3)
What an indictment this is—not only against the people of Israel, but against men and women everywhere. All were created and made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) for fellowship with Him, but even His own chosen people rejected Him, and most people everywhere all but ignore Him in their daily lives.
“Crib” is the same as “manger,” and when God became man, His human parents “laid him in a manger” (Luke 2:7) since there was no room for Him anywhere else. The animals knew Him, and so did the angels, but His people were unconcerned. “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (John 1:10).
When He came into Jerusalem offering Himself as King of Israel, He rode on an unbroken colt, “whereon yet never man sat,” and the little “foal of an ass” (Luke 19:30; Zechariah 9:9) willingly submitted, knowing his divine Master and Maker. But the people of Jerusalem as a whole joined in clamoring for His crucifixion just a few days later.
The indictment against Israel could be lodged with even greater justification against America today. “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth:…I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me” (Isaiah 1:2). The morals of our people seem to have been turned upside down, and God would say to us also: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20).
Yet—in modern America, as well as in ancient Israel—“as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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