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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, May 27, 2021
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Versions of the Ten Commandments [4] Bible Verse:Exodus 34: 18-20 (CEV) "Don’t fail to observe the Festival of Thin Bread in the month of Abib. Obey me and eat bread without yeast for seven days during Abib, because that is the month you left Egypt. The first-born males of your families and of your flocks and herds belong to me. You can save the life of a first-born donkey by sacrificing a lamb; if you don’t, you must break the donkey’s neck. You must save every first-born son." Message:
The third and fourth statements in Exodus 34 are not generally heard today in any form. The third had already been delivered in detail to the Hebrews on the night of the tenth plague (see Exodus 12:1-20). Simply stated, it requires that Passover be observed and reiterates that no yeast bread may be eaten during the week.
The fourth initially requires that the firstborn male offspring of every female animal (including women) be sacrificed to God. The animal or child may, however, be “redeemed.” Redeem is used in the strict sense: to buy something back that has been given to someone else, as in redeeming something from a pawnbroker. In the case of human children, redemption is mandatory. Actual child sacrifice is thus forbidden.
The cost of redeeming the child’s life is the sacrifice of a lamb. This has very deep roots in the Old Testament, including the ram sacrificed by Abraham in place of his child Isaac, and the death of the first-born in Egypt, where lamb’s blood indicated which houses death should pass over.
Hebrew blood on lintels|first Passover|Clara Miller Burd +
The reason we do not follow the letter of this commandment is the same reason we are not obligated to follow the letter of any commandment in the Old Testament. Their purpose was fulfilled by the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. (Yes, God did the one terrible thing He has never required of us, giving his Son as an actual sacrifice.) This particular commandment is uniquely instructive regarding the relationship of Old Testament law to modern obligations, because it was directly fulfilled by Christ.
Why and how? Here is the short version: God required the sacrifice of every first-born male. However, the first-born could (and, if human, was required to be) redeemed by sacrificing a lamb in its (or his) place. Christ was the final sacrificial lamb, so perfect in his sacrifice that He redeemed all people (and animals) for all time. The law requiring the sacrifice is still “on the books,” but it has been permanently fulfilled. The required sacrifice has been prepaid.
Pre-payment is a key to understanding how Old Testament ritual is no longer part of our lives. By analogy, it is easy enough to imagine being found guilty in traffic court, having a judge fine us $250 and then say “I see your fine has been paid already; you are free to go.” It is a bit harder to imagine a judge finding us guilty of murder, sentencing us to the electric chair, and then saying, “I see your death penalty has already been paid; you are free to go. Don’t do it again!” But this is ultimately what Christ meant when He said, “I do not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.”
We have been freed of the obligation to follow the law, to the letter, because their purpose has been met. But out of love for God, we follow them in spirit. Every time we take communion, we are essentially honoring the spirit of this commandment, by celebrating the sacrifice of flesh and blood made by Jesus. In effect, by participation in the final sacrifice, we fulfill the requirements of the Law of Moses. We celebrate Passover, we redeem our first-born children, and obey innumerable other duties given to us by God in the Old Testament.
Meditation : Prayer : And finally, may the grace of Christ our Savior, and the Father’s boundless love, with the Holy Spirit’s favor, rest upon me, and all of us, from above. Thus may we abide in union, with each other and the Lord, and possess, in sweet communion, joys which earth cannot afford.........Amen |
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