READINGS FOR OCTOBER 22, 2024: NUMBERS 28, HEBREWS 4, PSALM 109:16-20
Numbers 28
Chapters 28 & 29 give details about the types of sacrifices that are to be made by the priests. There are daily offerings, sabbath offerings, and first of the month offerings. Then, it details the specific sacrifices required for the specific feasts and festivals. The key is the work of the priests in the temple.
Feast of Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzot) – It is a separate feast from Passover that is observed during Passover week. These two Holy Days celebrated together represent the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt.
When the Israelites were granted permission to leave Egypt, they quickly packed their belongings. Since there was not enough time for the dough to rise, God memorialized the event with the commandment to eat only unleavened bread for seven days. The absence of yeast (leaven) was a symbol that corruption or evil had removed.
Pentecost / Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) – The Jewish feast of Pentecost is a major Jewish holiday that commemorates the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai and the early barley harvest. It is celebrated fifty (50) days after Passover. The Greek word Pentecost means fifty (50). It is the fourth and final spring festival. The Hebrew word Shavuot means "weeks".
Hebrews 4
The author uses the punishment of the people of Israel in the desert to emphasize the reward for those who believe. When they refused to enter the Promised Land, they were destined to wander in the wilderness for forty years. Their punishment was that none of them would ever set foot in the Promised Land but would die as sojourners in the wilderness. The author quotes Psalm 95:
So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest. (V11, NIV)
Because of the sin and lack of faith in God, that generation of Israelites would not experience the rest that would come once the nation was settled in the land that God promised.
For those who have faith in Jesus, we have been promised rest. In Revelation, we find this promise:
READINGS FOR OCTOBER 22, 2024 (CONTINUED): NUMBERS 28, HEBREWS 4, PSALM 109:16-20
Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” (14:13, NIV)
There will come a day when the followers of Christ will enter into eternal rest. The day of labor will be over. The time for celebration in the presence of the King of Glory will commence.
Verse 12 requires some comments:
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (NIV)
Jesus is the Divine Word and his teachings are to be lived. The Bible (the word of God) is to be studied and lived in our daily routines. As a double-edged sword, the word of God can do two connected but different things. It can affirm when we are living right, when we are living a life of faith. It can also show us when we are living in sin. When we have strayed from the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Psalm 109:16-20
Psalm 109 is a hymn of lament asking God for deliverance from David’s enemies.
Verses 16-20 – The Psalm lists the evil characteristics of David’s accuser. Since this psalm envisions a Heavenly trial, this is the case being laid out before God. The accuser’s evil is not contained in his treatment of David.
