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March 9

Reading 1 - Leviticus 16

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v.21 - The confession of sins was a big thing. I wonder if we actually rate it that highly in our own private or public worship. The need to acknowledge our sin before God is paramount to our salvation - to our obtaining the grace of God and thereby being saved. Look at the intensity of Neh.9:3-5. Do our services come anywhere near this? Let us resolve to acknowledge our sin before God more. Ps.32:5, 51:3, Prov.28:13, Dan.9:3-20, Rom.10:10. And by doing so our sins are laid on Jesus, who takes them away for ever - Isa.53:6, 2Co.5:21.
Peter Cresswell
v.10,11 - The concept of atonement runs throughout these chapters. The whole purpose of man's worship and faith is that he might be brought - in our case through the blood of Christ - to a state of being at one with God. Atonement is the absolute fulcrum of our salvation. We should be careful to follow the commandments of God that show us how our sins can be atoned.
Peter Cresswell

16:23 'put off' 'put on' also see Leviticus 6:11 This marks the change that should take place in our lives consequent on appreciating the requirements of the gospel. Romans 13:12 Ephesians 4:22 - 24 Colossians 3:9 - 10
The details of the day of atonement form a powerful pattern of the appointing of Jesus as priest and the effect of his sacrifice.

16:6 sin offering for himself Hebrews 5:2
16:11 for himself Hebrews 7:27
16:11 an atonement for himself Hebrews 9:7
16:12 censer Hebrews 9:4
16:14 blood of the bullock Hebrews 9:13
16:15 for the people Hebrews 5:3
16:15 within the vail Hebrews 6:19
16:15 sprinkle Hebrews 9:7
16:22 bear all their iniquities Hebrews 9:28 Isaiah 53:11
16:24 atonement for the people Hebrews 2:17
16:27 [details used] Hebrews 13:11
16:31 sabbath of rest Hebrews 4:9
16:34 once a year Hebrews 10:1

That the sacrifice was offered every year contrasts with the offering of Jesus once. The live goat bearing their iniquities patterns Jesus as shown in Isaiah 53:11. The 'sabbath of rest' speaks of the millennium and the reign of Jesus - see Hebrews 4:9 and the context in Hebrews. The 'rest' that remains for the servants of God is not a ceasing from labour but a keeping of the sabbath which Israel did not attain to.
Peter Forbes

So having recorded all the details of the laws of cleanness and uncleanness we come upon the sacrifice of the day of atonement. It is as if God is telling Israel that even after they have ensured that they are ceremonially clean they still have to recognise that they are sinners. The New Testament takes this one stage further by reminding the Jew [Hebrews 10:1-2] that even this great sacrifice had it's shortcomings in that it had to be made annually.
Peter Forbes
:10 Whilst the 'scapegoat' was to be 'let go' into the wilderness eventually the Jews developed their own mysticism about this. They then appointed a man to take it into the wilderness to ensure that it would not return. The concern being that they had decided that if it returned their sins had not been forgiven. Israel so quickly added their rituals to the commandments of God - we must take care that we do not add our own rituals and then give them the status of laws which have to be observed.
Peter Forbes
OUR ATONEMENT

The parallels between the day of atonement and the death of Christ are amazing.

Firstly the priest had to offer a bull for his own sin offering so that when he came to offer the sacrifices for the community he would be sinless. Jesus lived a perfect life and was already sinless.

Two male goats were required for a sin offering for the community. One was to be set free bearing the sins of the community and the other was to be offered as a sin offering. Before Jesus was crucified the crowd made their choice: they set Barabbas free - a sinner, murderer and rebel - and they crucified the sinless Son of God.

With the sacrifice of the goat the sins of the people were forgiven, and so, with the sacrifice of Jesus the sins of the world could be forgiven.

After this the priest could enter into the Most Holy Place. This is one of the things that is graphically pointed out as Jesus died. We read that "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." (Matthew 27 v 51). So Jesus opened the way into the Most Holy Place.

After his resurrection he ascended into heaven to become our High Priest. He has ascended into the Most Holy Place - not the copy that Moses built, but the real thing. There he acts as our High Priest to make atonement for us.

Praise the Lord for his love in giving us Jesus!
Robert Prins

Reading 2 - Psalms 119 v. 1-40

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v. 3 - It is hard to understand this, but here we have a picture of the grace of God. It is, of course conditional upon our confession and worship, and the consequent attitude of humility for which God looks. Walking in his ways is able to bring this about. 1John 3:9, 5:18. We need to believe for this, as it our faith that causes us to receive this justification. Note how Rom.3:23 then flows, without even a full stop, into the next verses (24-26).
Peter Cresswell
v.11 is very sound advice. We have to hide God's word in our heart. If we do that the sin we have is covered by His grace and merciful forgiveness. Psa.1:2, 37:31, 40:8, 119:97
Peter Cresswell
v.9 makes it all so simple - a clean way is to be achieved through listening to God's word. The theory is simple, however the practice is hard. However we should not think that because it is hard to implement the principle that we should not bother, or that we should try to find some easier way to be Godly. It is the only way.
Peter Forbes
:9 the questions as to how should a young man cleanse his ways is explained by Jesus John 15:3 the disciples were clean through Jesus' words which mirrors David's conclusions.
Peter Forbes
:25 In saying that his soul 'cleaveth unto the dust' the Psalmist has indeed been cleansed by the word and so truly understands the state of man and his need for deliverance.
Peter Forbes
FREEDOM

Often we hear people complaining that their life in the Lord is so restrictive. It seems to be filled with "thou shalt not" rules, and it means that we can't do all the things we want to do. To replace all the things that we are not allowed to do, it seems that we have to do things that we find hard to do, like pray, read the Bible and go to church. Looking at the Christian life in this way would certainly put many people off.

But there is a much greater freedom in the Lord, than the freedom we think we have before we come to him. All the great men of old found this freedom. They never complained that life was too full of rules that they couldn't cope. Religion is based on rules and many people mistake the life in Christ for being "religious." But our life in Christ should not be based on rules to keep, but principles to live by - in particular, love for God and love for our neighbours. Our life in Christ sets us free from the bondage to rules and regulations. It means we are free to serve from our heart and not just from the things that we know "must be done." Our life in Christ sets our hearts free. This is what the Psalmist spoke about when he said, "I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free." (Psalm 119 v 32)
Robert Prins

Reading 3 - 2Corinthians 12 & 13

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12 v. 7,8 We need to be aware that God also sends us problems in our lives - they may be physical as Paul's was - or they may take some other form - lest we be exalted above measure. Humility is at the very centre of a life in Christ, and has always been presented that way. Deut.8:14, 17:20, 2Chr.26:16, 32:25,26, 1Tim.3:6.
Peter Cresswell

12:9 It is so hard to believe that God's strength is made perfect in weakness - but we must understand that it is so. It is so because it is only when we appreciate that we are weak and can achieve noting in our own strength are we willing to acknowledge that God is in control. Unless we get to the point that Paul did we will never truly trust that God will always keep His word.

13:5 In calling the Corinthians to 'examine yourselves ' we see that it is possible to evaluate our own spiritual development. We might think that doing this would be a dangerous activity as we might esteem ourselves higher than we ought however we know better than anyone what is going on in our hearts and minds - we manage to hide these things from those around us - Paul is calling for intellectual honesty in the Corinthians - and in us to. Are we up to the challenge?
Peter Forbes