DAY 45    Read Leviticus 1 through 4.

Today's reading begins a section on the many specific regulations about the ceremonial services.  Try to find revelations of Christ's ministry in all of this.

Memory gem:  "How much more shall the blood of Christ...purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"  (Hebrews 9:14).

Thought for today:
When I was a little boy, my father offered to give me a dollar if I would read the Bible through from the beginning to end and do my best to pronounce every word.  It took me a long, long time, but finally I finished it.  I shall never forget what a hard journey it was, getting through those long chapters of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  What was the meaning of all those sacrifices and offerings of various kinds, those feasts days, those yearly sabbaths, the ritual of the priesthood?  What was it all about?  I couldn't seem to make sense of it.  And no wonder.  No one who leaves Jesus out of it can make sense of it, for He is in every part of it.

One day a certain father was reading his Sunday paper, hoping that he would not be disturbed by his little girl.  So he cut up a map of the world which he happened to have handy and gave it to her to put together.  After a short time she returned to him with all in perfect order--every piece in its place.  The father was greatly surprised.  "Why," he said, "how did you do it, darling?  You don't know anything about geography."

The innocent little one replied, "There was a picture of Jesus on the other side, and I knew that when I had Jesus in the right place, the whole world would be all right."  And so it is.  When you put Jesus in the right place, you will understand all these uninteresting things in the Old Testament, and also everything in your own life will be right.

DAY 44    Read Numbers 8 through 10:28.

Today's reading returns to a recital of Israel's worship of God in the sanctuary service.

Memory gem:  "By his own blood he [Christ] entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us"  (Hebrews 9:12).

Thought for today:
In this day of growing modernism the Bible doctrine of blood-bought salvation grows less and less popular.  Look at some of the new church hymnals and try to find the old songs about the blood of Jesus Christ and His sufferings on Calvary.  You may be surprised to find many of those old songs omitted.

Not long ago in one of the large denominations it was suggested that all songs referring to the blood or to salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, be eliminated in the revised hymnbook as being too gruesome for our fastidious modern ears!


In spite of this so-called modern attitude toward the shed blood of Christ (this modernism is really as ancient as Cain), it is still true that, according to Holy Scripture, no man ever lived who had his sins remitted without the shedding of blood.  We read in Hebrews 9:22: "Without shedding of blood is no remission."

"All have sinned" (Romans 3:23, emphasis supplied).  All are lost.  Therefore, all need salvation.  It is provided for all, because Christ died for all (see 2 Corinthians 5:14 and Romans 5:6).  But all who are lost must come to God by way of the spilled blood of Christ.  There is no other way to climb up to heaven--no other avenue to redemption--no other door--no other gate.  "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6), are the words of Christ.

No human being can be cleansed without the shedding of blood.

DAY 43    Read Numbers 7.

Today's reading describes in detail the initiation of services in the newly completed and dedicated tabernacle.

Memory gem:  "Thy way, O God, is the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?"  (Psalm 77:13).

Thought for today:
In the ancient sanctuary services the believer looked forward to the Redeemer who was to come.  We look back to the Redeemer who actually has come and is now in heaven pleading our cause before the heavenly Father.  He is our High Priest in the heavenly temple, there appearing before the justice and love of God for us.

In the plan of God, He was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world"  (Revelation 13:8).  God's plan of redemption is revealed in the Man of redemption, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who was both the Lamb of God who died, and the High Priest who offered the sacrifice.  So the ancient tabernacle was a type of the way and fellowship of salvation.

Let us look for a moment at some of the wonderful pictures flashed before us from the temple and its services, the type of Christ and His salvation.  By faith we are justified from the guilt and power of sin--so teaches the altar of burnt offerings.  We are to be sanctified by the washing of His Word (see Ephesians 5:26).  There at the tabernacle was the laver of purification.  We are to shine as light-brearers, a testimony of the Lord's goodness--the lampstand (see Revelation 1:12).  We are to pray.  Our prayers are symbolized in the ancient sanctuary by the golden altar of incense which stood in the holy place.  Here, the mingling of incense with the ascending prayers typified Christ's merits and intercession, which alone makes man's worship acceptable to God (see Revelation 8:3).  We are strengthened by the Bread of Life (see John 6:48), pictured by the shewbread.  And we are to look forward, hastening to appear before the very throne of God Himself, as portrayed in the earthly sanctuary by the ark of the covenant.

Our hope is certain; God's promise is sure.  My friend, all this wonderful teaching of the sanctuary is for you.  Do you not see in Christ, the Lamb of God, the One who has died for you--your hope and your blessing and your salvation?  Have you responded to His love?

DAY 42    Read Numbers 5 and 6.

Today's reading takes up various rites and regulations under the ceremonial law.  It ends with the beautiful Aaronic blessing.

Memory gem:  "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace"  (Numbers 6:24-26).

Thought for today:
Why should people in our so-called Christian dispensation not be as fully honest as men were to be under the Mosaic law?  We may go to church, sing hymns, make donations to missions, give our children in Christian education, and still our prayers will not be heard by God--in fact, they will be an abomination to Him--unless we are completely straightforward in our daily life and our business dealings.

I think it was Charles G. Finney, the great evangelist, who said that one reason for the requirement the apostle penned in Romans 12:2, "Be not conformed to this world," is the tremendous instantaneous influence it would have if everybody would do business on the principles of the gospel.  In fact, Finney maintained that if Christians would do business for just one year on gospel principles, it would shake the world.  I believe he is right.

You see, Bible righteousness is very practical.

DAY 41    Read Numbers 3 and 4.

Today's reading concerns largely the duties of the Levites--the tribe set apart to carry on the religious services for Israel.  These people were born with a special mission in life.

Memory gem:  "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service"  (Romans 12:1).

Thought for today:
We meet people constantly who do not know what to do with their lives.  They seem to be wandering about in a daze.  Many are disappointed at the way things have turned out.  Their plans have not worked.  They have not found in life what they expected.  They know there is something better, and they are reaching for it, staggering along through a fog of misapprehension.

If you want to find life in its highest reaches, give your life to some great cause, some good, though unpopular truth.  Then sacrifice, work, and spend your life for it, and you will be happy all the way along.

Remember this: God's Word is the greatest truth; His cause is the greatest and the most unpopular to the natural heart of man; and Jesus Christ Himself is the greatest personality.  Avow your allegiance to Him, His message, and His Holy Word.  Give your life, all that you have and are, to God's service, and your complete loyalty to Him as revealed in Jesus Christ.  Then you will have joy, even in the midst of sorrow.  There will be no disappointment that is not His appointment.

You will find that there is no sin which He will not forgive.  There is no loss which He cannot turn into an eternal gain.  You will discover that there is nothing too difficult for God and that His love blots out the darkness of the past and opens the door to the only future worth striving for.  Why not try it?

DAY 40  Read Numbers 1 and 2

Today's reading:  A census was taken at Sinai and the encampment was organized with precise detail.

Memory gem:  "Let all things be done decently and in order"  (1 Corinthians 14:40).

Thought for today:
"The Hebrew camp was arranged in exact order.  It was separated into three great divisions, each having its appointed position in the encampment.  In the center was the tabernacle, the abiding place of the invisible King.  Around it were stationed the priests and Levites.  Beyond these were encamped all the other tribes...

"The position of each tribe was specified.  Each was to march and to encamp beside its own standard.....

"Scrupulous cleanliness as was as strict order throughout the encampment and its environs was enjoined.  Thorough sanitary regulations were enforced.  Every person who was unclean from any cause was forbidden to enter the camp.  These measures were indispensable to the preservation of health among so vast a multitude; and it was necessary also that perfect order and purity be maintained, that Israel might enjoy the presence of a holy God.  Thus He declared: 'The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy.' "--Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 374, 375.

Memory gem:  "Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle"  (Exodus 40:34).

Thought for today:
In the holy tabernacle made by Moses at the command of God and carried by Israel through the desert wanderings, we have a perfect picture of the cross.  Notice the arrangement of the altar of sacrifice, the laver, the golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant in a straight line from east to west.  Then the table of shewbread, the altar of incense, and the golden candlestick, running at right angles to this in another straight line from north to south, formed the arms of the cross.  This made a perfect cross, which was displayed wherever the sanctuary was set up.

And the teachings of the sanctuary with its sacrifices of slain lambs and ascending incense pictured, beforehand, the redemptive work of Christ our Sacrifice, offered before God for us.

If we have exalted views of Christ's atoning work, we must study the New Testament and have some knowledge of its deep bloodstained foundation in the Old Testament gospels of Moses and the prophets.  In every sacrifice Christ's death was shown.

A visitor said to a wounded soldier of World War II, who lay dying in a hospital, "What church are you of?"

    "I'm of Christ's church," he replied
    "I mean, of what persuasion are you?"
    "Persuasion?" said the poor dying boy, as he looked heavenward beaming with the love of His Saviour.  "I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord"  (Romans 8:38, 39).

Is that your persuasion, friend?  Do you believe it?

----------------
Difficult or obscure words:
Exodus 38:8.  "Looking glasses"--better mirrors.  They were highly polished bronze plates.

DAY 38    Read Exodus 35 through 38.

Today's reading describes more of the beautiful furnishings for the tabernacle.  One interesting sidelight mentions the time when people brought too many gifts to church!

Memory gem:  "They spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work"  (Exodus 36:5).

Thought for today:
As we study this great tabernacle in the desert, we pass within the veil to the sacred stillness of the most holy place.  Here rests the ark of the covenant, within which are the Ten Commandments written by the finger of God on tables of stone.  The ark is surmounted by two golden angels with their wings outstretched over the mercy seat, which is between them.  This represents the throne of God in heaven, the very center of the universe.  The mercy seat resting over the tables of God's law helps us to understand that "righteousness and judgment are the establishment of his throne"  (Psalm 97:2, margin).

Here on the mercy seat, the holy presence of God shone forth in blinding light.  No one but the high priest could sprinkle the blood of the sin offering for all the people before the mercy seat, and he could do that only once, at the end of the yearly services.  In like manner, Christ appears in the very presence of God for us as our High Priest, our "advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous"  (1 John 2:1).

Friend, will you not send your sins on beforehand to judgment in Christ?  Will you not accept Him as your Mediator, the Man Christ Jesus?  He is the One who is touched with all the feelings of our infirmities (see Hebrews 4:15).  He understands what it is to live in this world, He knows what it is to be a man, for as the Son of man He has carried our humanity with Him to the very throne of God.  Does your hope enter into that within the heavenly veil, whither our Forerunner, the Lord Jesus Christ, has entered there in heaven above to appear in the presence of God for us? (see Hebrews 6:19, 20).

DAY 37    Read 29 through 31:17.

Today's reading, among other things, introduces two men with heaven-imparted abilities.  The work of preparing God's house demanded careful and skillful workers.

Memory gem:  "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God"  (Exodus 29:45).

Thought for today:
What about God's plan for our lives?  Have we tried to find out what it is?  Have we been willing to follow it as He has led us step by step?  Remember, we are responsible for all the talents the Lord has loaned to us.  The Holy Spirit, knowing every heart, divides spiritual gifts "to every man severally as he will"  (1 Corinthians 12:8-11).

What would happen today if every professing Christian were ready to do every good work?

God is willing to reveal His plan for us, but there are two requirements if we would know what it is.  First, there must be the sympathy of trust; and second, the faithfulness of obedience.  There must be sympathetic trust, or we shall never have spiritual insight.  God reveals Himself to the trustful, loving heart, and He makes His ways clear to those who obey Him.

Each of us, then, has his work; and how important are those individual peculiarities which God has given to each of us for the accomplishment of that task!  How reverently we should guard the diversities that are really revelations of God's will concerning our work!  Our service to Him is not a by-product of life; it is life itself.  So, working and watching, happy will be the servant whom the Lord shall find so doing--that is, doing the work that is God's plan for him.  He is not merely idly looking for Christ, but doing His will here and now, knowing that every man's life is a plan of God.

DAY 36    Read Exodus 26 through 28.

Today's reading has more of the detailed instructions for making the various items for the tabernacle.

Memory gem:  "Thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD"  (Exodus 28:36).

Thought for today:
What a perfect picture this is of Christ and His work of redemption!  No wonder we read in Psalm 77:13:  "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary."

The central feature of the Christian religion is the mediatorial work of Jesus Christ as our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.  His sinless life might have been lived.  His sacrifice might have been made.  He might have risen triumphantly from the tomb.  But if it were not for His mediatorial work in the heavenly sanctuary--the sanctuary "which the Lord pitched, and not man" (Hebrews 8:2), which was the original after which the earthly sanctuary was copied--we would not share in the benefits of that redemptive work.  It is as a priest that Christ ministers salvation and grace to us.  His ability to save to the uttermost is based on the fact that "he ever liveth to make intercession" for us (Hebrews 7:25).

So we see that this tabernacle in the desert carried with it the form of the cross and the teaching of the cross.  There were sacrificed the bleeding lambs which pointed to Jesus, the Lamb of God.  These animals were brought to the altar of sacrifice, and those who had sinned laid their hands upon them, confessing their sins.  They did this to show their faith in the innocent Lamb of God who would someday come to this earth and die for them.  By faith they, as we, could say:

Christ has for sin atonement made
    What a wonderful Saviour!
We are redeemed! the price is paid!...
What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Lord!
          --Elisha A. Hoffman.