Set Apart

"His worship wouldn't have selfishness in it."

THE LAW reads complicated to the New Covenant Christian. We’ve taken in all the procedures for sacrifice, the rules for priests, and the annual feasts, and it seems hard to remember. We know the purpose of the Law—to show men their sins. This is stated several times in the New Testament. But why did God make it complicated? Why all the pomp and circumstance?

“… indeed it is the straight-edge of the Law that shows us how crooked we are.” (Romans 3:20 Phillips)

“The Law possessed only a dim outline of the benefits Christ would bring and did not actually reproduce them. Consequently it was incapable of perfecting the souls of those who offered their regular annual sacrifices. For if it had, surely the sacrifices would have been discontinued—on the grounds that the worshippers, having been really cleansed, would have had no further consciousness of sin. In practice, however, the sacrifices amounted to an annual reminder of sins; for the blood of bulls and goats cannot really remove the guilt of sin.” (Hebrews 10:1-4 Phillips)

A revelation of this was given to me after reading Exodus. Egypt was a wicked, wicked culture when the Israelites were in servitude there. As point-of-thought, Pharaoh’s court magicians copied the first few miracles that God gave to Moses. Their rods became serpents, possibly crocodiles, given the word meaning. They turned the Nile River water into blood. It does not say how much water but does tell us God turned the entire river into blood and also every side water, pond and lake, and all the water in vessels inside homes. They created frogs out of nowhere. God created all things so His creating insects and pests, changing the weather, turning off the sun, is understandable. But the fact that men tapped into devilish witchcraft enough to do these things is, frankly, horrifying.

It also explains why God did what He did to set Israel free. He would be seen as the God of all nations, the God of all living things. He would not allow His glory to go to selfish men and unclean spirits. So thinking of Pharaoh’s behavior with Moses, we have his refusal to obey in the face of the Hebrews’ powerful God. Despite what he saw and how the people suffered, he refused to bow down. We also have the idols and creations of man the people of Egypt worshiped (these are well documented historically, I might add). In this light, now look at the behavior of Israel in the wilderness. From the moment they found themselves stuck at the Red Sea, they began to whine and blame Moses. They complained throughout their travels in the desert, of lack of food, of tiredness, of leadership. They went so far as to plot a return to Egypt (Numbers 14:4).

“Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?” (Exodus 14:11)

“Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!” (Numbers 14:3)

“And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.” (Numbers 11:4-6)

This was more than just desperate people who hated the situation they were in. In Egypt, they had lived in Goshen, the best of the land. There they were protected by God from the plagues that destroyed Egypt. They had light when Egypt was in darkness. When Egypt had a massive storm of hail, they had peace. And most of all, while the death angel killed every firstborn of Egypt, they dined in God’s Presence, and so their firstborn lived and prospered. They knew what God could do, what He would do for them. They’d crossed the Red Sea on dry land, not muddy soil, but dry. They saw Pharaoh’s men drown when God closed the waters, and it says their bodies littered the shore (Exodus 14:30). Yet, when Moses went up the mountain to commune with God and didn’t come back quickly, they decided to make for themselves gods to worship.

There is a verse in Isaiah which grabs me. Isaiah 44:15 in the EasyEnglish says, “It is wood for the man to burn. So he takes some of it and he makes himself warm. Yes, and now he lights a fire and he bakes bread. And then he makes a god and he worships it. He makes an idol and he goes down on his knees in front of it.”

From the same tree, they baked bread and made an idol. Why worship something with no breath in it? The Remedy Translation continually refers to sin as selfishness, and here in the story of Egypt’s worship of idols, of their use of strange witchcraft, are man’s imaginations, arrogance, and selfishness on display. HERE IS WHAT “WE CAN DO,” Pharaoh’s magicians said, Here is what Pharaoh refused to do, not letting them go to worship as they pleased. Selfishness. And this mentality had gotten into Israel, who weren’t satisfied with the words of God, with the works of God, to the point they’d bow down to a golden calf, after seeing so much that God did for them.

So when God designed the Law to function as it did, containing so many rules about the implements, the types of animals sacrificed, how they were slaughtered, how the priests were to dress and live—the list is long—He was trying to change Israel’s thinking from Egypt to true holiness. His worship wouldn’t have selfishness in it. There’d be no pride mixed in with the sacrifices, no lust over money or sexuality. Instead, His altars would become so holy that whatever touched them became holy, and not the other way around. The man who touched the altar did not soil the altar, but the altar cleansed him. So is God’s Spirit in this earth. He is here amongst us and sees sins on every level. Yet He is what cleanses sin, and He is not soiled by it.

God wanted Israel to stop being like the people of Egypt. Stop thinking like them. Stop behaving like them. He wanted them to stop being slaves in Egypt, but to rise up and walk after Him in humility of character and knowledge of His Truth. So that those who conquered the Land He’d Promised them would resemble Him, displaying the glory of Him to those who, thousands of years later, His Son would die to save.

“Make atonement for the altar every day for seven days. After that, the altar will be exceedingly holy, and whatever touches it will become holy.” (Exodus 29:37 TLB paperback)

“Sanctify them to make them entirely holy. After this, whatever touches them will become holy.” (Exodus 30:29 TLB paperback)

Image from Wikimedia Commons


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com