Daily Dose of the Word of God - Exodus 40 Selections

Kara Hackert, Director of Children & Family Ministries

Transcript

Kara Hackert  
Welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose of the Word of God. It's Tuesday, November 12, during this Hearts Ablaze season. I'm Kara Hackert, and this morning I am reading to you from Exodus 40:6-7, 24-29. 

“Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it."

"He placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle and set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.

Moses placed the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord commanded him.

Then he put up the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. He set the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it burnt offerings and grain offerings, as the Lord commanded him."

The words burnt offerings are said three times in this passage. That made me curious, so I looked up burnt offerings. There was a lot. So this morning, my devotional is more of a history and symbolism lesson list. As I read some of what I learned, note what speaks to you. The burnt offering was a sacrifice where an animal was completely burned as a tribute to God, a complete sacrifice to God. It was voluntary. The worshiper offers the burnt offering of his own free will. It was whole. The whole animal was given. There was symbolism. The worshiper placed their hands on the animal's head to acknowledge their guilt. The animal takes the worshipers place and pays the price for their sins. A burnt offering was a symbolic act of total commitment to God, representing the worshipers life being a given place of the animal's life. The burnt offering was a way to atone for sin and express devotion to God, the worshiper must believe that God will provide for their needs, even though they're giving up something valuable. There was significance. The burnt offering was one of the most significant offerings a worshiper can make. The Hebrew word for burnt offering actually means to ascend, literally, to go up in smoke. The smoke from the sacrifice ascended to God, a soothing aroma to the Lord. Burnt offerings represented a tribute to God, a submission to his will and a desire to fellowship with Him, an individual recognizing that they are weak and commit sin and wanting to renew their relationship with God, could generally give a burnt offering at any time. The burnt offering represented a gift to God. The worshiper incinerated something valuable, communicating to the Lord this valuable thing that I possess belongs to you. The sacrificed animal had to be a valuable animal, not one about to die. The ultimate fulfillment of the burnt offering is in Jesus, sacrifice on the cross. His physical life was consumed. His sacrifice, once for all time, atoned for our sins and restored our relationship with God. Today, we don't offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord, not because we have paid the price for our sins, but because Jesus did.

Let's pray together, Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you now as sinners who want to express our devotion to you. We surrender to you. We dedicate our lives to you. Every good thing we have comes from you and belongs to you. Thank you for sending your son as a sacrifice for our sins. We thank you for your rescue plan. We thank you for your goodness and for providing for us to you. Be All glory. Amen.