Let
us now examine the days and occasions which the Lord has set aside for His
honor and glory, but before doing that, let us pause and wonder and ask
ourselves one simple question, which is, why are we so excited, jubilated,
passionate and overwhelmed with our own celebrations and the customs and
traditions of men, but when it comes to those which the Lord has ordained and
said “These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall
proclaim at their appointed times.” We somehow, become disillusioned, skeptical
and under duress, considering them to be legalism and being in bondage?
This
leaves me to wonder whether we have not blinded ourselves with the blindness of
disobedience as the Lord spoke to the prophet Isaiah saying;; "Inasmuch as
these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have
removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the
commandment of men, Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among
this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men
shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden" (Isaiah
29:13-14).
The
way one’s heart is far removed from the Lord regardless of them drawing near to
Him with their mouths and honoring Him with their lips it is because they don’t
love Him, because, the way we know that we know Jesus Christ is by keeping
His commandments. For, he who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His
word, truly the love of God is perfected in him: By this we know that we are in
Him” (1John
2:4-5).
So
then, let us re-examine the appointed times which the Lord ordained that we
should appear before Him to worship and glorify Him as He instructed Moses
saying; “Command the children of Israel, and say to them, 'My offering, My food
for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to
offer to Me at their appointed time” (Numbers 28:2).
Regarding
these appointed times the Lord said, “'These are the feasts of the LORD which
you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire
to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings,
everything on its day ---besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides your gifts,
besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give
to the LORD” (Leviticus 23: 37-38).
As
one who is not spiritually blinded can clearly see the main objective for
observing these appointed times is to offer the Lord the food for His offerings
which is in addition to everything else we offer to the Lord including the appointed time itself,
so let us re-examine these appointed times.
·
The
daily regular offerings
The
spirit and intent for this time of worship is to express gratitude and
thankfulness to the Lord for His loving kindness in the morning and His faithfulness
in the night as alluded to by the Psalmist David who wrote; “It is good to give
thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare
Your loving-kindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night” (Psalms
92:2).
The
regular daily offering is the first command given to the children of Israel
that they should be careful to observe as Moses was instructed by the Lord
saying; “This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to the LORD:
two male lambs in their first year without blemish, day by day, as a regular
burnt offering. The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, the other lamb you
shall offer in the evening” (Numbers 28:4),
This
is also part of the last words which King David gave to the Levites asking
them, “to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at
evening; and at every presentation of a burnt offering to the LORD on the
Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the set feasts, by number according to the
ordinance governing them, regularly before the LORD” (1Chronicles
23:30-31).
Please
note carefully that the regular daily offering is besides or in addition to all
other offerings whether it is the weekly Sabbath, the New Moon or the annual
festivals. And the burnt offering was a copy and shadow of the reality which is
now the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the form of the bread and wine.
So then, what is the main goal and objective
of the regular daily offering? It is to present the worshiper perfect and
sinless before God and allowing him/her to have fellowship with the Father and
the Son. For this is what the apostle John wrote; “This is the message which we
have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no
darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in
darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as
He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1John 1:5-7).
In
order to have fellowship with the Father and the Son one has to be cleansed
from his/her sins because God has no fellowship with darkness, and it is the
blood of Jesus Christ His Son, represented by the wine we drink when appearing
before Him that we become cleansed from all sins if we confess them.
One
main goal of a true believer is to fulfill the Lord’s desire which states; “Therefore
you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” And the way
one becomes perfect is by abiding in the word (Matthew 5:48).
And
this state of perfection is attainable through the regular daily offering which
is the mechanism by which sins are cleansed daily, for we have been instructed
saying; “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him
there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither
seen Him nor known Him.” It is also stated that; “Whoever has been born of God
does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has
been born of God” (1John 3: 5, 6, 9).
But
how could this be possible when the scriptures clearly states that, “If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” And, “If we say that we have not sinned, we
make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1John 1:8, 10).
This
is made possible only If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and it is the
blood of Christ represented by the cup of the New Covenant that cleanses us
from all sins: Hence the reason why the daily regular offering is so vitally
important to keep us always in fellowship with the Father and the Son.
Stay tuned
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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