Their support for the house of God Parts 2-4

9/8/2011 9:01:40 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  Their support for the house of God Parts 2-4

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                                         Reference:  Nehemiah 10:34-39

                Message of the verses:  “34  Likewise we cast lots for the supply of wood among the priests, the Levites and the people so that they might bring it to the house of our God, according to our fathers’ households, at fixed times annually, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law; 35  and that they might bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all the fruit of every tree to the house of the LORD annually, 36  and bring to the house of our God the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks as it is written in the law, for the priests who are ministering in the house of our God. 37  We will also bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine and the oil to the priests at the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithe of our ground to the Levites, for the Levites are they who receive the tithes in all the rural towns. 38  The priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. 39  For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine and the oil to the chambers; there are the utensils of the sanctuary, the priests who are ministering, the gatekeepers and the singers. Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.”

                As mentioned in the last SD (9-8-2011) there are sour sub-points in this last main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary (“Be Determined”), from the tenth chapter.  I covered the first sub-point yesterday and will attempt to cover the last three in today’s SD. 

                The second sup-point is entitled “The wood offerings” and covers Nehemiah 10:34 which is written above.

                Leviticus 6:12-13 state “12  ’The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not go out, but the priest shall burn wood on it every morning; and he shall lay out the burnt offering on it, and offer up in smoke the fat portions of the peace offerings on it. 13  ’Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.”  These two verses explain that the fire on the brazen altar was to be kept burning constantly, and so the exiles were now setting up a system in order to keep the fire burning.  The Lord did not tell how to set up the people so that this job would be taken care of this job specifically only that it had to be done and that is what these leaders were doing, setting it up so that it could be done.  Dr. Wiersbe writes, “That such a humble thing as wood was important to God’s service and could be sanctified for His glory is an encouragement to me.”  I can understand that statement, and when you put that statement in the context of the NT Church, where each member is a part of the body, and each member has a specific gift in order to make sure that the body runs efficiently then when you read in Paul’s writings that not all of the parts of the body seem to be important for the body to work, yet all are necessary even in the OT economy of bring wood to keep the fire burning.

                The next sub-point covers verses 35-37a, and is entitled “The firstfruits.” In the teaching of the OT Law the Jews were taught to give God the first and the best of their crops and also their flocks and herds.  This started when the Lord killed the first born son’s of Egypt, which was the last of the plagues and the one that finally changed the mind of Pharaoh to let Israel go, however the first born of Israel was not killed so from that time on the Lord wanted the first fruits from the nation of Israel.  Proverbs 3:9 states “Honor the LORD from your wealth And from the first of all your produce.”

                It is not stated in Scripture how much of the firstfruits of their harvest that should be brought to the Lord, but they were not to use any of the crops until the firstfruit was brought to the Lord in an offering.  As far as the first born son they had to be sanctified by a sacrifice because that child did belong to the Lord. 

                The next and last sub-point is entitled “The tithes” and the verses that go along with this are Nehemiah 10:37b-29.  The word tithe actually means a tenth, and the Jews were to bring a tenth of their produce to the Lord in order to support the Levites so that they could do their work for the Lord.  When the Levites received this tithe they would tithe off of the tithe and give it to the priests and this can be seen in Numbers 18:25-32.  Now of the 90% of what was left by the Jews they were to also to tithe off that and bring it to the annual feasts (Deu. 26:1-11). These two tithes would add up to one third, and this takes faith in order to do this.

                I have mentioned in an earlier SD that there is no mention of how much is to be given in the economy of the NT, yet there are some guidelines that the Apostle speaks of in his writings to the Corinthians in 2Cor. chapters 8-9. Let’s look at 1Cor. 16:1-3 “1 ¶  Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. 2  On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come. 3  When I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem.”  I think that the keep phrase in this section is “as he may prosper.”  This gives NT believers a guideline of what we will call proportionate giving, the more you prosper the more that you give.

                Here are two quotes, one from Sir Winston Churchill and one from the Lord Jesus, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”  “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).  Nehemiah 10:39 says “We will not forsake the house of our God.”

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at these three sub-points I see that my attitude has to be right in doing what I do for the service of the Lord, for if my attitude is not right then there is little benefit in me doing things for the Lord.  For instance I am to give cheerfully my tithes and offerings to the Lord and not give reluctantly as if I really want to hold on to them but I know that the right things to do are to give them.  When I look at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and see that He gave of His all in order that I may be a child of God then my attitude should be of the same as His was when He gave of His all.  

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Seek to have a good attitude in all that I do, especially what I do for the cause of Christ.

2.       Continue to learn contentment.

9/8/2011 10:09:15 AM