One Year Bible, Friday, February 18th A Review of the Six Offerings, Jesus Casts Out Demons and Calls the 12 Apostles
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1. If someone steals someone's property, or deceives or cheats their neighbor out of property or money, they are to make full restitution for the cost of such property, and add 20% to the value as well. They also need to present a ram as a guilt offering to the priest.
"The guilt offering were sacrifices for unintentional sin or sins against man. The sin offering were sacrifices of sins against God." (Guzik)
2. The burnt offering stayed on the altar all night long. To keep holy the priest had to take off his linen clothes, burn them, and take the ashes outside the camp.
“We may therefore reasonably conclude that the priests sat up by turns the whole night, and fed the fire with portions of this offering till the whole was consumed.” (Clarke)
3. The grain offering was an offering of thanksgiving. It was made of flour and oil and no leavened. The priest could eat whatever was not burned up. Importantly it was the finest grain, which made the aroma pleasing to the Lord.
"One aspect of the grain offering specifically detailed here, but not included in chapter 2, is that not only was a portion of the offering given to the priests, but only those who were ceremonially clean (holy) could eat of it." (Guzik)
4. The sin offering was sacrificed in the place where the burnt offering was slaughtered. The offering was to be eaten in the tent of the meeting in the courtyard, and it made them holy.
"In some cases, a portion of the meat from the sin offering was to be given to the priest who did the work of sacrificing the animal. Everyone who touches its flesh must be holy: However, the meat from the sin offering had to be regarded as holy, and everything connected to the eating of it had to be holy (ceremonially clean)." (Guzik)
5. The guilt offering has many similarities to the previous offerings.
"The procedure for the trespass offering was previously described in chapter 5. Here, a specific detail is added, explaining that the trespass offering had to be made at the altar of burnt offering; the central altar at the tabernacle and later the temple. A trespass is a particular kind of sin. Trespassing is the unlawful crossing of a boundary. God has certain boundaries for humanity in general and for His people specifically, and when they cross those boundaries it is a sin of trespass. Leviticus 5:5 also explained that the trespass offering must begin with the confession of sin." (Guzik)
6. The fellowship (peace) offering was an offering of thanksgiving that anyone coule present to the Lord.
"The Peace Offering is supremely the symbol of communion based on reconciliation. It is the offering which symbolises two sides to a great transaction; one of those is that of God, at the other is that of man. God and man are at peace. The Godward side can only be symbolised by that which is unleavened, free from all evil, separated from everything that tends to corruption. On the other hand, there remains in man much of imperfection. This is symbolised by the leavened cakes.” (Morgan)
1. As Jesus continued to do miracles of healing the sick and casting out demons, news spread quickly and crowds started following him in droves. At this point when evil spirits saw and recognized Jesus, they threw themselves at his feet shrieking and saying, "You are the Son of God". How interesting the evil spirits were the first to recognize Jesus' true identity. But Jesus knew the quicker his identity was revealed, the quicker the Jewish leaders who find a way to get rid of him.
“The demons addressed Jesus as the divine Son of God in a futile attempt to render him harmless. These cries of recognition were designed to control him and strip him of his power, in accordance with the conception that knowledge of the precise name or quality of a person confers mastery over him.” (Lane)
2. Then Jesus called "out" his 12 disciples and called them "apostles". The word "apostle" means "messenger"or, "the one who is sent". Importantly he gave them the authority and power to do the same things he did. They would exercise the same spiritual power to cast out demonic spirits. Jesus spent the whole night in prayer before choosing his disicples, reminding us that before any decision, we should pray intentionally and fervently.
"A preacher will only be as useful to Jesus to the extent that He has “been with” Jesus. There is little done for eternal good by those who preach without having a real, personal relationship with Jesus Christ." (Guzik)
“A disciple was a learner, a student, but in the first century a student did not simply study a subject; he followed a teacher. There is an element of personal attachment in ‘disciple’ that is lacking in ‘student.’” (Morris)
We see the diversity of the 12 disciples.
"There are many interesting connections with this group. There are brothers (James and John, Peter and Andrew); business associates (Peter, James, and John were all fishermen); political opponents (Matthew, the Roman-collaborating tax collector, and Simon, the Roman-hating zealot); and one who would betray Jesus (Judas Iscariot)." (Guzik)
3. The Pharisees tried to convince the crowds that Jesus was the "Prince of the demons", or Satan. Since Satan was the most powerful demon that is why Jesus could cast out the weaker demons. But Jesus quickly destroyed their argument. Why would Satan fight against himself? Jesus compared it to a family who feuded and quickly fell apart. If Satan's goal was to destroy Christ and his minions had a similar goal, why would he try to defeat these same demons?
4. Finally, Jesus describes a sin that cannot be forgiven as, "the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit". There has been much debate about what this sin is. Basically it is attributing something done in the power of the Holy Spirit with Satan. But in a more general way it is the denial of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is denied, one cannot come to faith in Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sin and leads us to saving faith in Jesus!
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