To Maintain Focus – Abiding Principles from the Ceremonial Laws: Giving (3)

To Maintain Focus

Abiding Principles from the Ceremonial Laws: Giving (3)

We cannot live by grace unless we focus continually on it.

“And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.” Exodus 25:8

The sacrifices and offerings God required of Israel were of various sorts. Offerings were made for sin, as expressions of thanksgiving, as purifications or other forms of renewal. These were intended to help Israel in disciplining their hearts to love God and their neighbors. But they also helped in renewing focus on God and His grace.

God required of His people that they bring their sacrifices and offerings to the place He had chosen to dwell in their midst. He strictly forbade them from offering on hills or under trees, the way pagans did. It was not convenient for Israel to bring their offerings to the Tabernacle and, later, the Temple. However, it was instructive, and part of the way Israel would learn the practices of grace would be by giving their offerings in the presence of the God of grace Who had redeemed them.

The system of sacrifices and offerings thus reinforced the gracious nature of God’s Covenant and reminded the people of the requirement of grace in their own lives, by bringing them into the presence of God, amid tokens and by rituals and practices designed to emphasize His grace.

The furnishings of the Tabernacle spoke of God as Creator, Sovereign, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. The priests and Levites embodied God’s desire to be approached by His people and His willingness to receive them to Himself. The sacrifices and offerings were consumed by priests and those who offered them, even as they envisioned the Lord enjoying them as a fragrant offering. They “shared a meal” with the Lord and His servants each time they brought their sacrifices and offerings to the Tabernacle.

We must be constantly renewed in the grace of God if we are to live faithfully according to that grace. When we come to Him in worship, according the pattern of sound worship He has revealed in His Word, we renew our focus on our Savior and King so that, drawn into His very presence and participating in Him, we observe and experience the greatness of His glory and grace and are renewed in our hearts and lives before Him.

The ceremonial laws thus served not only as means for disciplining the hearts of God’s people, but to instruct them, again and again, in the gracious character and purposes of their Covenant God.

For a fuller study of the pattern of worship revealed in Scripture, order the book, The Highest Thing, by T. M. Moore, from our online store. These studies and brief essays will help you to see how the pattern of sound worship, which began in the Law of God, comes to complete expression in the rest of Scripture. Pastors, we’re getting ready to start the next season of The Pastors’ Fellowship. Write to me today at tmmoore@ailbe.org for information about how you join in these online discussions. Our theme for the coming series is “The Worldview of God’s Law.” There is no charge for participation, but you must reserve a place for these monthly gatherings. Subscribe to Crosfigell, the devotional newsletter of The Fellowship of Ailbe.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.