Consecrated - In an otherwise fallen world

Shabbat, shalom, I'm Rob Wilson one of the teaching Elders here called Kettering is the other one. Kyle is busy with Asher. So well, I don't know what that means, but I kind of do so my prayers go out to Asher and Kyle.

Lord. We thank you for being present this morning and everything that's happened so far. We know you are present even while I'm teaching, we know you are present as we depart from this place. Help us to experience your presence and to yield according to your instruction. Because you do give us instructions. We sometimes get confused, but we forget, we forget that you are present and that you are instructing even as we go through this life of ours.

We ask your blessing on each of us, on our families or children or children's children. Many others in Jesus name. Amen.

so, I'll start with

This. This is the first verse in the Torah section this week. This is what you shall say. This is what you shall do to consecrate them that they may serve me. That's kind of the whole sermon.

This is what you shall do to consecrate them. That they may serve me.

Jumping around. To consecrate. The word used that is translated to consecrate is La kodesh. It's got a llama Don from the front of it. And it has kodesh, which is a holy or Unholy nesser. So this is an unusual word form. It's called the active infinitive construct with a llama. Don the front of it. The active infinitive construct active and the infinitive construct, Hebrew doesn't use infinitives. The root word in Hebrew is he did something. It's the third person masculine singular verb, it's the risk. If you ask, what's the root word? Almost always, you're going to get a third person. Masculine singular verb like in the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. Alberta sheep Bara, Bara if you hear over with a, it's a third person. Masculine singular verb, it's a simple form of the verb. Bara, he created and then you go. Well, that doesn't make any sense. We like infinitives in English. Yeah, we do. We like, in English and if, if I'm asking you, what's the verb? You would say, it's to run, or, to eat, or to create, or to go, or to live, or it's, we like infinitives, but Jeepers doesn't do that, it always begins with, he did something and that actually makes sense. That the primary verb in Hebrew is God God does stuff. He did it third person. Masculine singular easy concept to get but we keep going back to the infinitive in Hebrew. You don't have that many infinitives but this is one Kadesh. It's an infinitive and has a limit on the front of it, which means this is for the specific purpose of doing this infinitive So if we go back to the verb, again the verse again, the very, very first. This is what you shall do to consecrate them that they may serve me consecrate the priests so that they may serve me.

It's the Piel form, it's not that call form the pill form in the verbal since in Hebrew. If it work, the call form, its to Simply do something. Then there's a reflexive doing something and then there is I did it to myself something sister. These are the different kinds of Hebrew verbs, but this is the intense verb. So if you can think of something that you do, very intensely can you give me a verb anyting?

Study, you could simply study, or could you could intensely study. That's a good word actually, cuz a student is one who's simply studies and a teacher. Studies with the pl. So a teacher, is a very intense student is the who who's the most intense study, or the teacher, or the students, it's the teacher, and that's in the verb sense. Another word. Rejoice. Okay, we could just sing or we could really rejoice. So that kind of captures this PL idea. We're not just singing We're rejoicing, we're not just singing. Where we Joy? Sing where praising? We're worshipping. So you could say, these are intense forms of the verb singing. You understand? kind of, okay. So, go back to the verse again. Alry translate this verse. This is what you shall do to

make them extremely holy with intensity.

That's kind of what this is saying this isn't like this is what you do to make them, whatever. It's like with intensity this. You are you're making them extremely holy they're not just going to be playing. Holy what's plain whole way, kind of loses its meaning. Know, if this were in the call form to simple form, it would be just to make them holy but it's not, it's in and it's in the Intensive active, infinitive construct form, which is for the specific purpose of intensely, making them extremely holy, I know that's overdoing it. But that's in it. And I got stuck there. I didn't know what to do with that. That they may serve me. Okay, so now we're talkin about God's mikdash is sanctuary. His holy place and he wants to live there. He wants to dwell there. He wants to visit there with you and he wants you to go in and visit with him there. So, if you're going to visit God, you got to visit God on his terms. If you think you can go on your own terms, you're going to be like need a panda by who and you might get vaporized. Or like the 250 firstborn who offered send incense and their golden sensors, they were all vaporized. And the gold from the sensors was extremely holy because it had been used in the service of God. Even if they made a mistake, there's this extreme Holiness going on here. And last week in the Torah, probably not in here. But in the Torah study, we talked about the priest. The priest who is consecrated to serve in the presence of God, he will bear all of the responsibility.

It's not a light thing to go in and visit God. At least here.

It's on his terms. He's extremely holy and he's requiring that you do it. Now what priests can we ever imagine? Who could be? Scream Lee. Holy and, Suitable for this anointing.

One that doesn't die. Who would that be?

You sure there's only one but this is the erotic priesthood that's being, they're talking about here and they're not perfect. They're trying to be pretty good, but they're not perfect. And if if I wasn't perfect and I'm not And I were commissioned to do this.

I'm not sure I'd want to do it. Knowing how serious it is.

Would anyone want to be in a ronick priest?

Go in once a year. With a rope tied around your leg.

No. So these priests or stepping forward, I think they were what was the word volunteered volunteered old

These priests were voluntold. And if you were voluntold to do this, imagine you being voluntold to do this.

Wood. The idea that you're getting annoyed be like an arrogant attitude that you would have because you're so great. Or would it be like a Incredibly sincere confession about how inadequate you were.

Think about it.

If you want to be great, that's one thing.

If you realize what it means that you can get vaporized. It's another thing. So I I do every one of these acts on the priests side as being a confession of what they're not really ready for. But God said, do it? And so they're honoring God's command and doing it and trying to honor him in the midst of not being perfect. Is that make any sense?

Is everyone confused and lost?

Michael.

Absolutely.

High risk.

He would he would honor. He would honor his command first of all, He set the rules, I'd better be ready. And I'm confessing I'm not ready. And I think that's 90% of the matter. I don't think it has anything to do with. Being a great man or anything else.

Some people sometimes say why did God just give the priesthood to the Jews. Why didn't you give it to everybody?

He did. But first, he wanted to let you know how serious it was.

And when we read about the Jews being made priests, we think they're arrogant and we don't understand what's going on here. Pretty serious. That they may serve me. This word serve is also translated minister to me. This is how you'll do it, you'll annoy them with oil. And pour it on his head and him and his sons in the priesthood shall belong to Aaron, and his sons forever. In this way, you shall ordain ordained filler complete. The idea of, they're not complete, until they're filled with what God's trying to fill them with Aaron. And his son, Or go all the way back to the beginning.

This title is the hardest for me to come up with ever ever because I initially thought, okay, it's consecration Consecration. And the more I studied all the verses that are we're going to go over today. I thought it's not consecrated. It's concentrated in an entirely Fallen World.

The world is messed up, the world is got a lot of problems and God is asking us to do something in this mess. And that's what this is about consecrated in entirely Fallen World.

Those are my versus. We're going through the semi septennial cycle that we go through here and We ran out of schedule, so I printed some more, I'll put them on the, on the back table there.

A little bit of a schedule where we're at in the calendar, the month of elul is about to begin. Elul begin every month. Begins on the lunar. New moon. And apparently the Lunar New Moon this year happens between the days. So this is a very unusual month. We have two first days of the month. It's a 29 or 30 day month this year. It's kind of two days. So theoretically you could say a little begins at sundown today. Or tomorrow. Or both know I'm not going to explain that. I'm just saying we're about to start the month of elul that's pretty straightforward and JC studies sent out this morning. I think A very nice article by Karen Pryor. Which I have exerted and made copies of in one page. And I'll put them in the back to if you want to read. What Karen has to say about the month of the law and it says the month of elul topic subject change takes planning. So this is the season of getting ready. Why isn't season getting ready? Because at the end of the month?

Rosh Hashanah a new year begins and it's liking to the idea that God is going into his courtroom. He's arrived and is going into his courtroom to judge. So we're beginning the month of elul We're camping out for the picnic Monte. Orcutt is the Commander in Chief of camping this year. In case you're curious about how that's going to work out. The concerts Mick picnic is on Saturday 5th, at John Bryan State Park, and then we have are of Rosh, Hashanah the, the new year and then Yom Kippur the day of atonement and then Sukkot and then, Sukkot celebration in the middle of Sukkot and then the 8th day and then rejoicing in the Torah. This is the month and I had I was really kind of two months but those are the three most important days there. The beginning of a little church picnic and calm, Sukkot celebration, all the rest of them are important to. But those are the ones I wanted to stress. Sundown today. Tabernacle. We're talking about the Tabernacle and we're at Staters 67, the Priestly instructions and this is a big plan of where we're at and I just want to show it to you. The whole point of all of this where we're at is God's mercy. Where Moses prays to God, don't lot out. Israel block me out of your book.

You want someone to die, let it be me. And the lesson in that is We're supposed to be praying for those around us particularly those who are destined to die.

unless something happens and we're praying for their salvation, About once. Every couple weeks, I hear that at church, the Messiah we don't do enough of the evangelism.

And I kind of have to go. Where did they get that? Interesting. I disagree. This house God's house will serve the Lord. The welcome mat. By the way. God is welcome. He wants to welcome you into his house on his terms when you go into this house. They're going in on his terms. Don't put your feet on the furniture and less he tells you, it's okay.

Words. Kodesh kadosh, holy moly ordained, consecrate Bill Sherritt Minister serve, anoint poor smear oil, Misha, oil, priest, and Alum here. Again, in the New Testament, the Greek words hagiazo to make holy pimp. Play me filled Tessa me to a point. Christ says, I appointed you.

that's like ordained you

the akinyele, how to be a servant to be a minister as to where the word from which we get Deacon and crystals. The reason I put all these words up is that last word tree stuff, Christo's is where Jesus got his second name, so to speak, but it's not a name at all. Its designation. He is the anointed one. I've often pictured him reporting into the Roman authorities and and them saying, what is your name? Jesus, what's your second name Christ? No.

No.

Theme parks. This is what you shall do to consecrate them that they may serve me. Take the anointing oil and poured on his head annoyed him and his sons. The priesthood shall belong to Aaron and it since forever in this way, she'll ordained filler complete Aaron. And his sons, Interesting things about olive oil. Why am I doing this? Because the anointing is kind of like a cleansing. Yeah, they're supposed to be cleaned washed with water but I boil has some unique properties years ago. I met an Indian who liked to keep his skin moist with chicken fat.

Yeah, we go. Oh yeah but it actually work pretty good. He had very Supple skin. You have to wait for it to kind of absorb in, you know, for a while. But but that was his idea. And and the the the grease, the oil With some ash or soda or it. It's what soap is made out of. So

where did the idea of soap come from actual E from the sacrificial altars? There would be fat kind of collecting around the Altar and there would be Edge from the Burntwood and they would use it to clean themselves off with. And that's really the root of soap is a greasy oily thing, and Ash or soda, or something like that. So, olive oil is kind of unique in the, in the oil fat world. It's non-greasy.

Didn't know that try smearing some on yourself and see how it works out. I've read that people with acne. Sometimes use olive oil on their, on their pores, it cleanses the poor and does not leave a grease behind. I don't know. It is a well-known skin moisturizer facial cleanser makeup remover. It also has antioxidant qualities and anti-inflammatory qualities and if you have damaged skin from free radicals, different things that rot the skin. It can help to heal your skin. It relieves eczema and psoriasis and I have used it on my hair from time to time but I don't usually do that and it is an extra mild soap. How do we know it's extra mile? It's one of the very few Strokes approved for use in preterm infants. Now if it's okay on their skin it might be okay on mine. Might not never mind. Anyway. Okay. So

They were anointed. They were ordained. Why?

To serve. How did they serve? I said, interesting question. The reason I think it's important to ask this question is these are supposed to be images for us to learn from about what we're supposed to do. If we're just reading about them about what they're supposed to do. We don't understand what's going on here, but these are images. There is supposed to help us the teeth to be to teach us about how we're supposed to live. That's the analogy that we've been drawing, all the way through this series, of of lessons. So how are they supposed to serve will first before they do anything else? In service, they go into the courtyard and they wash their hands and their feet in the labor and the labor is a basin and do you think they would feel clean enough to go into the presence of God by washing their hands in a bowl?

Does anyone think they would feel clean enough to go in and serve God in his presence by washing your hands and feet in the bowl?

Michael, you would.

Okay. Christ in you, you're going fast-forwarding all the way up, until now that I get that, I get that. So he's going to back up a little bit. They're looking into a bowl that's made out of mirrors. So they're seeing themselves on the other side of the water.

And it there confessing God no amount of cleansing is going to make me clean enough to come into your presence. It's a confession but they do it. Every time they do anything they do this first. They wash first have to

I think this is tied up with Jesus washing the disciples feet. Just a side note and the second thing they do their work and do their a lot of different things I could do. But another thing they could do is offer sacrifices. So I included this in this slide because they wash their hands in the offer sacrifices in the same general area.

Two things. Third thing. Trim. The lamps. What do we say about trimming the lamps? Provide light, who do we provide light for? Ourselves. And Others. So we're supposed to provide light to ourselves. And to others, we trim the lamps, we serve the bread of the presence. We keep the bread moving. Whatever that means. We keep it fresh. We always replace anything we've used and the bread of the presence is symbolic of providing sustenance for those around us, who we need to help. Our families. A king isn't a king unless he makes sure that his people can eat. Let them eat cake didn't work.

And also, in this place they offer incense and I read a verse on incense and offering of prayers and a little bit. They offer up incense. And then the fifth and sixth things are the sprinkle and be sprinkled with the sacrificial blood of the sacrifice to sprinkle and be sprinkled with the blood of Christ.

This is part of the ministry. We are responsible for if we're priests in the kingdom. And finally to meet With the Lord. That's why he did all this. He wants to be with us. This is how we can come into His presence to meet with the Lord. So that's six things that we can learn from. Gone over that already. The lock adesh is only used seven times and all scripture twice with reference to the priests in the seder this week. That's it, don't talk about it anymore. Once in Chronicles were there of making the Lord's House extremely holy and once in the Amaya and Jeremiah and Jeremiah making the Sabbath extremely holy and Ezekiel, it's a kind of a weird thing. Is Ezekiel, the priests in Ezekiel are to offer the sin and guilt offerings in a place away from the people in order to not make the people extremely holy because if the people were made in streamly holy in the presence of the sin and guilt offering, they'd be vaporized

If you've been given something from the Lord you're responsible, to use it appropriately. And if you're not ready to use it appropriately, you shouldn't be asking it from the Lord.

Because entering into extreme Holiness has consequences that go with it. So it's only use 7 x lock Kadesh.

Here we are about the prayers and the incense, this is an example of what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to pray for others. Zechariah was chosen to enter the Temple of the Lord and burn incense sounds simple. All the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. All the people are outside the temple all around the temple, praying At the hour of incense, they wait till zechariah's going to burn. The incense, they know when it's going to happen, and when it happens they all pray. Now we ask the question earlier, what was it? What's the priority for a first or last?

Is prayer your first choice or Last Resort this is proof. That prayer was done at the time of offering incense And so the priest is offering incense and all through the New Testament, you hear these illusions that our lives. Our prayers are going to be received by the Lord as a fragrant incense and offering made the Lord by fire. These are our prayers are our lives or a prayer. An angel of the Lord, stood. Just right. Of the incense altar in the angel said, don't be afraid Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Okay, so is Zacharias praying for the whole Kingdom of Israel. Is he only praying for one thing?

No, he's got a whole lot of things. He's praying about. But one of them is that he has a son that he gets his son, one of them, not all of them. Don't Be Afraid Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. All of your prayers have been heard, but we heard that one. The Lord heard that one and you're going to have a son and you're going to name him, John. It doesn't say you shall name him, whatever you want. Says you'll name him John which isn't unusual name. And this is John the Baptist, it's not the John, the Apostle. So this is one of those interesting verses that Christians helped Jews under their understand what they were doing in the first centuries. There are only a few of these but without forces like this juice with know what happened at that time. Cuz it's not written down.

It's written down later.

Moving on to the other John. John the Apostle. Now my personal view of John, the Apostle and will John my personal view of. Yeah. John the Apostle is he wrote John the gospel John. We could get into an argument on that 1st, John 2nd, John and Revelation. Now, what we could get into a long discussion on any of those four but I think he wrote those for books and

1st John 2nd, John and Revelation were probably written around 90 ad. 90 ad and John went to Ephesus and he took Mary the mother of Jesus with him and somehow, Luke ended up there too. So the tombs of John Mary and Luke are all in Ephesus. Very significant town. The most Pagan town in the Roman Empire. Most of the time that they were there. Why is going on here? I thought that being a Christian town. They were there was a church there, but there were a whole lot of pagan temples Ephesus was incredibly Pagan. It had over 20 or at least 20 serious temples. This is the town where the Imperial dynasties family were worshipped as gods.

This is a town where there were several marketplaces and in order to buy or sell in any of the marketplaces you had to do some kind of subservience to the gods of that Marketplace. It was a temple to Artemis of the Ephesians, the great Artemis of the Ephesians, as well as I can tell. Artemis would accept any type of offering. Now, what is any type of offering mean? Scares me to ask that. Artemis would accept gold and silver, obviously food of any kind obviously, but also possibly accepted child sacrifice and everything else. We don't know. All we know is that Artemis accepted offerings of any kind? Then it was a temple to the sink rest syncretistic Egyptian deities.

That's a weird term Rob, what's it? Mean, it means this was a temple to all the gods of Egypt and more of them.

I'm not kidding, they figured out how to incorporate, even more Gods into the pantheon, and all of those gods were Worship in this syncretistic Temple. I told you about the Imperial Dynasty, the temple to the mission. Near Coral sword. So this is the award that Rome gave to the city that most honored The Emporium. Dynasty. Episode Scott. It first, another town, got its second and Ephesus. Got it back. They kept trying to win the other guy and they did. They got it back there. The only town to get the Nia korus award twice. Then there's a Temple to Hestia which I call the Home and hearth cult. It's kind of like the Better Homes and Gardens Temple. For the Good Housekeeping Temple. Then there's the Odeon Coral worship and performance. Lots of gods are worshipped there. The theater Coral, drama and Gladiators were also in the theater and stadiums in janessian. So at least 20 temples and you couldn't walk through Ephesus without doing service to some of these Gods, you had to do some kind of service to the Gods in order to live in Ephesus at this time. Do we live in a world like Ephesus today? It sure, feels like it.

Does it matter that our world is not totally Christian, and glorious and wonderful and peaceful and loving, and kind and christ-like. Yeah, but what's our role here?

We're priests. In the midst of an otherwise, totally Fallen World. We have service to do. In the midst of an otherwise, totally Fallen depraved world.

John Doe John rights to his followers in Ephesus, who had to do some observance to the different pagan gods at different times in some way.

These are powerful words.

Particularly, if you consider the Torah reading, You've been anointed by the Holy One. By Jesus Christ. You sure how much she are.

The anointed One crystals. You have all knowledge. You all have knowledge. I don't write to you because you don't know the truth but because you do know the truth and because truth doesn't include lies. So he's saying be careful in the context of the culture living in. Don't give in to the lies.

You're being lied to all around you, people are lying to you, you don't have to treat the people who are lying to you with disrespect. You need to treat them with decency and love and mercy and kindness and speak the truth. In the midst of everything that's being said, we have this responsibility, Well, I don't know anything. Yeah, you do, if you've received Jesus as your lord the Savior you have knowledge. You know the truth and you know lies aren't truth. John is saying the anointing you received from him he gave me the anointing not a mere human he gave you the anointing. It abides in you you don't need someone else to instruct you his anointing teaches you about everything. That is true abide in him since John.

About $98 in my opinion.

And today.

Today.

So, back to the haftorah Not frequent that you read the New Testament. Then go back to the Fulfillment of the Torah. You'll be called Priests of the Lord, Ministers of our God, the ones who serve him greatly rejoice in the Lord exalted in your God, he is closed. All of us with the garments of his salvation with the robe of his righteousness. Just as a bridegroom, decks himself, like a priest with a beautiful headdress and as the bride, Dorn's herself with her jewels as the Earth Springs. His fourth Sprouts Gardens Rod up. So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all nations. Hallelujah. Yes, I added a few words.

He said it was okay.

Lessons God desires to be with us and is with us. He consecrates us, he makes his holy which is suitable for his service according to his instruction in the world that otherwise seems devoid of Holiness. He's called us into his service. And this is something I used to always say in the midst of the mess. It's cool. You're around here. Okay, you're called to service. We're welcoming his place as we honor him, and his instructions in his sanctuary. And we are also his Sanctuary. We Serve by washing cleansing ourselves. Offering sacrifice providing bread for a self, and I'm providing light and bread for ourselves. And for others, lifting up others in prayer, sprinkling, and being sprinkled by his blood and by coming into his presence, We come into His presence boldly through Jesus Christ, who is the curtain. God is bringing and will bring many others and unity into his holy Place Sanctuary for a holy kadosh Fellowship meal with him.

When should we celebrate the Feast every day? the feast is coming and we're looking forward to celebrating the feast, but every year, every year that we celebrate the Feast I hope we don't get to celebrate it this year. I hope where they're celebrating the feast and all the practice will still be worth it.