9/7/2011 9:11:09 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Their support for the house of God PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Nehemiah 10:32-39
Message of the verses: There are three sub-points to this third main point in the outline that is used by Dr. Warren Wiersbe, and this third sub-point is entitled “The temple tax), and it covers verses 32 and 33.
“32 ¶ We also placed ourselves under obligation to contribute yearly one third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the showbread, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burnt offering, the sabbaths, the new moon, for the appointed times, for the holy things and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.”
In his introduction to this last section of this chapter Dr. Wiersbe points out that there is a difference and there are some similar things about worship in the OT as opposed to what it is like in the NT. For one of the difference we must realize that the temple of God is now the believers of God, where as the temple of God in the OT was a building that was built in the city of Jerusalem and it was a shadow of what was to come. While we as believers are the temple of God in the NT era we still meet in buildings to worship the Lord and it is very important to make sure that those buildings are kept in a way that would be pleasing to the Lord, neat and clean, and in order so that it will bring glory to the Lord. Speaking of this neatness and cleanness I used to be the custodian of a church that I attended for over 32 years and it was the best job that I ever had in my life, I only did it for a total of about 4 years I felt that by keeping it clean and neat was bringing glory to God, and that much of my job there was a ministry, a ministry that I truly enjoyed until the day that it was taken away from me.
Dr. Wiersbe also says in this introduction that we will find in this last main section the following “Their promised support was specific and involved four different areas of ministry.” Those four different areas of ministry are the topic of the four sub-points that are found in this third and last section of this chapter.
The temple tax was first introduced by Moses and is found in the book of Exodus, chapter thirty and verses eleven through sixteen. This tax was to be paid by all Israelites twenty years and older, and this tax was first used to make the silver sockets and hooks for the tabernacle and this can be found in Ex. 38:25-28, but in the subsequent years it helped pay the expenses of the ministry, and that is what it would be used for at the time of this writing. The tax is described as a third of a shekel and what it would be used for is found in the Scripture seen above.
It is probably because the times were so hard that the leaders adjusted the tax down to one third as opposed to one half, but by the time our Lord was walking on this earth in Israel the tax was back to a half, and this can be seen in Matthew 17:24-27.
In the church today we do not need to spend money for animals to be sacrificed, but there are salaries to be paid and building to be kept up along with missionaries to be supported in order to have the gospel to go to all of the earth. Paul speaks in 2Cor. 8 & 9 as to how this giving is to take place. There is no place in the NT that speaks of an obligation to give a tithe (10%) to the work of the Lord but I have heard that if under law the people were obligated to give a tithe that we who are living in the age of grace should not give less than that.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Paul when writing to the Corinthians tells them that they are to give with a willing and cheerful heart and that is the way that I want to give my tithes and offerings to the work of the Lord. You can’t take it with you but you can send it ahead.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Be a cheerful giver.
2. Continue to learn contentment. 9/7/2011 9:45:50 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment