Blog Post

Why all the Sacrifice – Questioning God

This has been another tough week. So much has gone on that I haven’t had time to focus on my blog the way I would like to.  I had decided that I was going to skip my blog entry for today and focus on what I needed to get done. But as I was spending time in the Word this morning, I felt I needed to share what God had given me.

I’m reading through the Old Testament… again. I love the OT. In many ways, I like it more than the NT. I have learned so much about the nature of God and I don’t think we can truly understand the NT without understanding the OT.

I have to admit, though, that it can often be very confusing. Much of it seems trite and legalistic. Why would God want repetitive practices that don’t have anything to do with drawing His people closer to Him?

Let me give you an example:

Numbers 28: 1-4:

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be careful to present My offering, My food for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time.’ You shall say to them, ‘This is the offering by fire which you shall offer to the Lord: two male lambs one-year-old without defect as a continual burnt offering every day. You shall offer the one lamb in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 

Two questions arose in my mind as I read this.

  1. Does God really need all those animals killed to please him?
  2. Why is He being so particular about the exact time these offerings need to be presented.

I’ve found that it’s never a bad thing to question God. I know… I know. This isn’t what we’re often taught. But I believe it’s true. We were never meant to blindly follow. When we spend time wrestling through what we don’t understand, God honors us by revealing Himself and we are drawn closer to Him.

As I wrestled through these verses I began to see the answers to the above questions.

God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows how quickly our minds drift from Him to the thing that so easily consumes our everyday lives.

Paul tells us that the Law was a tutor. (Galatians 3:24 ) It was meant to train up His children in the same way a parent puts rules on a young child that may not understand them, but as they grow, they learn to make their own decisions and (hopefully) choose what is right.

By requiring His people to perform a physical activity at certain times a day, He tried to continually draw their focus back to HIm. He wants a relationship and communion with them. He was training them to go to Him each morning and night. The act took time. It wasn’t a quick, two-minute morning and night prayer.

I’m not going to make any assumptions on how this should affect your life with Him. I know what He’s telling me, but our God is a personal God and works with each of us in a personal way.

But it is something to think about.

 

 

 

 

Visits: 80