"Sent Away into the Wilderness"

"The goat chosen to be sacrificed to the LORD will be presented by Aaron as a sin offering.  The goat chosen to be the scapegoat will be presented to the LORD alive.  When it is sent away into the wilderness, it will make atonement for the people." (Lev. 16:9, 10--NLT)

 

I first read this passage 40 years ago this coming summer right after our son died.  I had never read through the whole Bible before; but desperate, "alone in the world," empty, and any other words that attempt to describe such a time, was mine.  Leviticus 16 brought me great liberation and comfort.  It still does. 

 

What stood out most "emotionally" to me was the passage of, "the goat chosen to be the scapegoat....sent away into the wilderness."  What a cruel death for that lonely creature, not a quick death, but agonizing thirst, depravation, possibly even to be torn apart by beasts.  When I first read this passage, it was as though I was swept away to Calvary.  As the hymn says, its scenes were brought before me.  In my spirit I was "there." Jesus, "chosen to be sacrificed...as a sin suffering," and, "Scapegoat,.. sent away into the wilderness," to, "make atonement for the people." 

 

Yet mankind must take note that Jesus was not a helpless victim of some angry god.  "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."  Neither was Jesus a third something between God and man.  "....God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself...."  It was the Living Triune God on that cross.  "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself...."  Jesus has plainly told us, "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me...."  This never had a beginning, nor will it ever have an end.  Let it be noted that Jesus was not chosen as a Galilean carpenter to be the Son of God.  He is the Eternal Son who became a Galilean carpenter. 

 

Whatever grace there is, whatever forgiveness, whatever claim to sonship or citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven, it all centers in Jesus Christ.  Out of Him I have nothing.  In Him I have everything.  "For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.  Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.  Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.  For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.   

 

"O Thou for sinners slain,

Let it not be in vain that Thou has died:

Thee for my Savior let me take,

Thee, Thee alone my refuge make,

Thy pierced side."  Amen.

************************************

* Prophetic News, Updates:    www.apf327.blogspot.com

* Jerusalem Watch:                www.apfjw.blogspot.com

* Prophetic Video:                    www.antipasprayerforec2.blogspot.com

 

 

When an 18 year old Norwegian "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"So That I May Finish My Race With Joy"

"But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." (Acts 20:24)

 

The RSV says, "But I do not account my life of any value nor precious to myself...."  Three questions came to mind as I read our text--- (1.) What does, "move me?  (2.) If I, "count my life dear to myself," then how do I "count" the Lord Jesus Christ, His Church, His Kingdom?  (3.) If, "the ministry," is, "to testify to the gospel of the grace of God," then why do so many speak of "my ministry" as something else? 

 

If you ever want to pray for me, pray our text.  What greater servant's heart for Jesus Christ, His Church, His Kingdom, His Earth?  I know none.  A Rwandan Believer said that yesterday's devotional gave him a "new fire for missions and the Great Commission."  Our text does the same for me.  The Great Commission, or, Great Command starts here in front of this computer ------ but it does not end here.  Missions may, as many love to say, start at home.  Okay, but our Lord Jesus says it only ends, "to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8).  God told Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth."  Is it any different for us?!    

 

What King Jesus said to Pharaoh nearly 3500 years ago, He is saying to you and me, to the Church right now.  Jesus suffered, bled, died and rose from the grave that I may be forgiven of sin, enter His Kingdom, have a home in Heaven, and as Revelation 3 says, "to sit with me in My throne."  But, my dear Fellow Follower of Jesus Christ, there is more.  Jesus did not save you and me just for you and me.  He saved us, "that [He] may show [His] power in [us], and that [His] Name may be declared in all the earth."

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray for the strength and conviction to be an active participator in declaring Your, "Name...in all the earth."  Amen.  

********************************************

NOTICE: If you only receive my devotionals sporadically, check your Spam folder.  I have had some of my friends' stuff goes there from time to time.

When an 18 year old Norwegian "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

Just, "Follow the Lamb"

"And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia-- also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.  These men, going ahead, waited for us at Troas.  But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days." (Acts 20:4, 5)

 

You probably will not find our text in any other devotional, but it is a three month regular for me, and it is there for a reason.  It reflects the life of a servant of Jesus Christ. 

 

Our text today reminds me of the many thousands of miles, delivery of hundreds and hundreds of Bibles, secret "under ground" meetings, questioning by the Russian KGB, a 75 year old Czech woman receiving a Bible and kissing it, delivering heart medicine to a pastor in the Orthodox Church in Romania, thousands of dollars and marks delivered to Christ's servants behind the Iron Curtain, pastors' seminars, and the many great Brethren with whom I have had the privilege to fellowship and love over the last 42 years, from Marchand to Rosewood, from Africa and Iran to all nine Eastern European countries, Washington, DC and the hours and hours of intense intercession, and Jerusalem, once landing in the Land on the very day the last intifada began.  Now some may say this is not normal Christianity.  Isn't it?  I'm not talking of the places, the travel, the schedules.  I'm speaking of the obedience to, "follow the Lamb wherever He goes." 

 

Every place I have been, Jesus has been.  He was there before me; He went in me; and He is still there.  The Bible tells us, "....Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."  Well, at the same time the Enemy of our souls is walking about and roaring, "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him."  There is no "corner" of the Earth where the Blessed Trinity is not, there in front of your computer, your house, the office, school, market place.   Don't fret about missions trips, witnessing, doing good works.  Just, "Follow the Lamb, Jesus, wherever He goes," and everything will be okay. 

 

"The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God."

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray for health and strength in body, soul, and spirit to continue to serve You.  Amen.

********************************************

* I will be preaching in the CCE meetings this coming weekend.

* Prophetic News, Updates:            www.apf327.blogspot.com

  

 

When an 18 year old Norwegian "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"The Call"

"A bishop then must be...." (1 Timothy 3:2)

 

The reading of our text today reminded me of a classic statement of   Oswald Chambers.  In speaking of the missionary call, He said it is "first a call to 'be' and second a call to 'do.'"  There are many in Christendom who are good doers, but place little emphasis on being.  Yet the qualification of leadership, or any "call" for that matter, is not preaching, singing, charming personality, or organizational skill.  It is, "first a call to 'be.'"  Being and doing, by the way, are not necessarily synonymous.  Someone once said of a prominent pastor, "He's a great preacher, but the toll collectors on the turnpike have another opinion of him." 

 

This "be" and "do" theology is not just New Testament.  A "Spirit led" reading of the Old Testament reveals the same.  I read in Psalm 95 today, "For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know (are not "endued with) My ways.'"  The purpose of the New Birth is, "in their hearts," and, "know (to endue with) My ways," to bring me into the Kingdom of God, to begin a life of conversion, a conversion from my old ways, life style, thinking, to, "the mind of Christ," the life of Jesus Christ within. 

 

This call "to be" is for our good.  When a person has an operation to remove some destructive tissue, the question we all ask is, "Did they get all of it."  This is the question for ourselves and pastoral care for others.  I will not be content with any operation of the Holy Spirit until he "gets all of it," all which keeps me from being that which the Godhead created me to be.  This is what our Lord Jesus speaks of when He says, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly."  The, "more abundantly," does not mean feel good religion.  It is the "religion" of the whole man.  The, "more abundantly," of which Jesus speaks is the work of the Holy Spirit to "get all of it," all which comes, "to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." 

 

The thief has triumphed in American society.  What a person achieves which appears to benefit the people has nothing to do with that person's character; a person's personal life does not matter.  The Word of God is quite clear---------------------------- "A bishop must be...." 

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You that You "get all of it."  Amen. 

******************

* I will preaching in the CCE Meetings this coming weekend

* New Articles on Jerusalem Watch Blog:    www.apfjw.blogspot.com

* See Israeli Memorial Day, History of the Fallen and testimony of POW 

    www.apf327.blogspot.com

When an 18 year old Norwegian "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2