We now are at the understanding that salvation is having a relationship with God and requires a sacrifice. We will see in the Old Testament God speaking directly to Individuals and those individuals themselves offering Sacrifices to God. God spoke to Noah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Abraham, and many more. The Bible in the Old Testament only gives us certain accounts of the many individuals having that kind of relationship with God. None of the individuals were perfect but had a heart for God and a desire to fellowship with God. When we get back to the Question” How do I get to Heaven?” We must understand one thing. Why would you want to go to a place where you have no or do not want a relationship with the owner and live forever in their house with their rules? Think about that.
In the book of Exodus God gives Moses the Ten Commandments.
Exodus 20:
(1) And God spake all these words, saying, (2) I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (3) Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (4) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (5) Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (6) And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (7) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (8) Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: (10) But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: (11) For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (12) Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. (13) Thou shalt not kill. (14) Thou shalt not commit adultery. (15) Thou shalt not steal. (16) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (17) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
God has delivered the Israelites from Egypt and is now letting His people know there are ways we should conduct themselves. The Ten Commandments were to prove that we all have faults and why we need a savior of some sort. Something must atone for thier faults. Further on in Exodus we will see God instructing Moses and Aaron on building His Tabernacle (Exodus 25 and following chapters) and the sacrifice needed for the different types of sin. He would go on and set the high priests to serve in the tabernacle for a mediator between God and them. It was required by God to maintain a good standing relationship with Him and to atone for our sins. It would be the way of their salvation. As stated earlier, there must be a sacrifice to be able to have a relationship with God. Without it, it is not possible! God is now setting up for something (someone) great to come. He is setting order on to how He wants His relationship to be established. This would be the normal throughout the Old Testament. Next week, we will get to start talking about the most wonderful person in the Bible. God’s order and the way he wants things done is the same, the way it would be carried out would be vastly different.
COMMENTS
[ posted by Cindy, 11/10/2024 03:48 PM ]
Mike has already mentioned some history of Moses and the new tabernacle for the Jewish people. I am just gonna add a bit more to it.Before Moses, the first believed mention of 'worship' can be found in Gen 4: 2-7. Abel and Cain ( children of Adam & Eve) made offerings to the Lord. Fruit of the ground from Cain, and Abel brought meat and fat from sheep. It's not clear how or where the offerings were made, but they did recognize that God gave them every herb and beast in the land, Gen 1: 29-30, and they were thankful for that. So we know that God does acknowledge worship, which in those days was a sacrifice as your offerings and worship to God. God also spoke to them. Gen 4:6 We just don't know why one was accepted and one rejected. After Moses takes the Israelites out of captivity, a new worship period starts. These practices continue long after the time of Moses and on thru Jewish history. In Ex 20: 24-26 God sanctioned a new kind of worship site. Moses received more than just the 10 commandments when he went up to top of Mt Sinai. Ex 27:1-3 tells of the new alter, very specific and different from anything previous, and don't forget about the ark of the covenant. God speaks with Moses in this new tent they have made directed by God. Verses tell us of the "cloudy pillar" that stood before the tent. In a sense, Moses was the "go- between" for the Israelites and God. Moses was God's messenger to the people. Making offerings to God was a serious thing. It was specific and had meaning depending on what the sacrifice was for. A fire burning to never go out (Lev 6:13), peace offerings, sin offerings, ritual offerings , Sabbath offerings, Passover and Feast of Unleavened bread offerings, Pentecost, Day of Atonement....etc....Can you imagine if we still had to do these things to be forgiven? To show worship? These were acts of obedience in their faith. Just like the 10 commandments. The relationship they had with God was based on these sacrifices And folling His commandments. God loved His people. He had to find a way to save us from sin, it was taking over more and more of mankind. Love has always been the key to salvation. Old Testament Jews only had the prophecies and promises of a Savior who hadn't come yet. We can't have salvation without a personal relationship with God, and we can't be 'perfect' on this side of earthly life. God was planning to bring us sinners back into an intimate relationship with an eternal salvation and righteousness with Him again. 2 Cor 5:21