ev 24-28{
M. Now the Lord told Moses to command the children of Israel to bring him pure olive oil to burn in the seven lamps in the holy place, for he said, Aaron shall take care of the lamps from evening to morning, to keep them always burning—the priests were never to let the lights go out, all through the night, while the children of Israel were asleep, the light was shining in the holy place.
The Lord told him also about making the show bread, which was to be always on the table, He said, you must take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes or loaves, and set them in two rows on the table, six in each row. Every Sabbath-day Aaron was to put fresh loaves on the table in the holy place, and it was to be In everlasting covenant with the children of Israel.
S. Did they ever eat the showbread?
M. Yes, it was the food of the priests, like the other offerings; Aaron and his sons were to eat it in the holy place. But each loaf had some frankincense on the top, and this they were to burn as an offering of a sweet smell to the Lord.
S. Did Aaron and his sons get all the things the people brought to God?
M. Yes, that was their portion, as God's priests. But I must tell you a sad story of a man, whose mother was one of the children of Israel, and his father was an Egyptian. He had a quarrel with another man, and in his anger, he spoke evil of the name of the Lord, and cursed. So they brought him to Moses, and Moses desired him to be shut up, until he should ask the Lord what should be done to him. And the Lord said, Whoever curses his God, shall bear his sin, and he shall surely be put to death, all the congregation shall certainly stone him. So they brought him outside the camp, and all who had heard the wicked words he said, put their hands upon his head, and all the congregation stoned him. What a solemn act! It shows us the terrible holiness of God, and that His Word must be obeyed; if God was in His camp, He could not allow any one who spoke evil of Him to dwell there, and all the congregation were to help to put away the wicked person.
The Lord raid, Whoever kills any man, shall surely be killed himself; they shall give an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; if any body hurts another, the same shall be done to him. And they were to have the same law for themselves, and for the stranger that lived in their land.
S. Did God tell Moses anything else about the land that they were going to?
M. Yes; while Moses was yet in Mount Sinai, the Lord said to him, Tell the children of Israel, that, when they come into the land that I will give them, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. Six years you shall sow your fields, and prune your vineyards, but the seventh year the land shall rest, and keep a Sabbath to the Lord. That which grows of its own accord, you shall not reap, neither shall you gather the grapes off the vines.
S. Why did the Lord say the land should keep a Sabbath?
M. Because the land was His, and all that belonged to God was to enter into His rest. He also taught His people, in the Sabbatical year, how He could feed them, and sustain them, though they did not sow their fields, nor plant their vineyards. And He said, If any of you say, what shall we eat in the Seventh year, while the land is resting, and keeping Sabbath I will take care of you, for I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and, your land shall bring forth enough for three years, so that while the corn is growing in the eighth year, you shall have corn to eat until the ninth year.
S. What quantities they must have had the sixth year!
M. The Lord also raid, You shall count seven Sabbaths of years, which would make forty-nine years, and in the fiftieth year—on the day of atonement—the trumpet shall sound through the land, to proclaim liberty to all the inhabitants, and it shall be a jubilee, or year of liberty. If, any man is away from his possession, or away from his family, he shall come back when the trumpet sounds. And every slave shall be set free, and they shall not sow nor reap in all their land, because it shall be a year of jubilee, and it shall be holy to the Lord.
And He said, The land shall not be sold forever, but in the year of jubilee every one shall have his own again.
S. Why did God give them a year of jubilee H. That it might be a time of restoration of all things; and that they might not oppress one another. In the year of jubilee the land carne back to God. They could only buy or sell it until the year of jubilee, then it went back to its rightful owner, as if it were given back to him from God.
It was also a figure of the time of full restoration of this earth to God; when the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the rightful owner of it all, will come back as Lord and King. Then He will give liberty to the captives, and open the prisons to them that are bound; for He will reign till He has put all enemies under His feet; then God will be all in all, and Satan will have no more Power, for he will be cast into the Lake of fire; and all those men and women and little children, who have gone on distrusting God, will be with him there. Oh what a dreadful thought! To have Satan's company forever, and not God's! And all because they would not believe God.
There is a place prepared for Satan and his angels, and there is another place prepared for Christ and His redeemed. In one place there will be endless, hopeless misery, forever and ever—in the other place there will be everlasting joy and gladness; for God will be there, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and those who enter there will cast their crowns before Him, and will never cease praising Him, who loved them, and washed them from their sins in His own blood.
S. Mamma, I wish everybody would read the Bible, and then they would not have wrong thoughts about God.
M. Yes, my child, God's Word reveals Himself, and is like precious seed, which grows up in our hearts, we know not how.
God said much more about keeping His laws, and He said I will give you rain in your land, and plenty; of corn and fruits, and you shall dwell safely; and I will drive away the wild beasts from your land, and destroy your enemies, and I will walk among you, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. But if you do not keep my commandments, I will punish you for your sins, and I will scatter you among the Gentiles, and I will let your land be desolate; and when you are in your enemies' land, then the land I have given you shall rest, and enjoy her Sabbaths. But if you confess your sins, and humble your hearts, I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and with Isaac and Abraham, and I will remember the land.
S. Did that mean that the Lord would bring them back again if they prayed to Him?
M. Yes, and you will read how the Lord kept His word, and how He did all that He said He would, to the children of Israel; and He told Moses when anybody wanted to give anything to the Lord they were to bring it to the priest and he was to value it, that is, to say how much it was worth. And nothing, that was given to the Lord could ever be taken back, it was to belong to the priests; for He said, Every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord.
These are the commandments which the Lord gave to Moses for the children of Israel, in Mount Sinai.
S. Why did God tell them all those things in the wilderness, when they had not got into the land yet?
M. That they might understand His ways, and that their hearts might be occupied with the land to which they were going.
And while they were learning about the feasts, they must have thought of the rich fields of harvest time, and of the vineyards and fruits of the plentiful land—of the time when they should of er their first fruits to the Lord, and praise Him for all His mercies.
So God's Spirit teaches His people now about heaven, while they are going through this world; the children of Israel had to wait till they got into Canaan to enjoy it, but those who know the Lord Jesus need not wait till they get to heaven to enjoy Him, because they have got His love, and His ways, and His thoughts, and all that He has as theirs already; and the Holy Spirit brings down the joys of heaven into their hearts, so that they have got Christ in them, the Hope of glory.