Ruminations on Scriptures

With thanks and acknowledgments to Michael Rydelnyk and others.

Will there be sacrifices in the Millennium? The answer is a quick, “Yes.” We can find that in Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 40) Why would there be sacrifices in the Millennium? There are two main reasons, according to Dr. Rydelnyk. First, they will be a memorial to remind the denizens of the Millennium of Jesus’ sacrifice for them. As we celebrate communion to remind us of His death now, until He comes, so the temple sacrifices will commemorate that same thing in the 1000 years of His reign.

Second, death will be very rare in the Millennium, as few people will die. It says a rebellious person may live as long as 100 years before being punished. (That is to allow the sinner adequate time to repent. Isaiah 65:20) Since death will be so rare, the sacrifices will be literal and graphic  illustrations of what Jesus’ death involved and meant.

But Dr. Rydelnyk explained a third reason. According to Dr. Charles Ryrie, Adam and Eve had “raw animal innocence.” It was pure, but it was untested, much like that of small children. They instinctively obey their parents because it has never occurred to them that they can, let alone do, otherwise. Adam and Eve were like children and animals in that no alternative had appeared, nor occurred to them.

The role of the tempter in the Garden was not to “trick them into sinning, but to test or prove  their innocence and obedience. We are not given an insight into heaven, but as we saw with Job and his testing, it is possible that Satan approached God and challenged Him to prove that the creatures in the Garden really loved Him and would obey Him, as Satan did with Job.

We know that they failed the test initially, but then turned and repented and were redeemed by the death of Christ on the cross. (Job did the same thing.) In the same way, we now are saved and come to love and obey the Lord after repenting. Untested love, is unproven love. (I did not find that on Google, but I am sure that someone far wiser than I already thought of it.)

Just as God did not want automatons to blindly and mechanically worship Him, neither did He want a love that had only one known option, even if there were other, though unknown, options. He gave His all for us, and this is our chance to return our unlimited and unending love. In essence, we are proving Satan wrong again. Glory.

Following God. Next thought.
(A lot of these thoughts came from Pastors Rick and Dave at I-91 Church in Indianapolis.)

This hurts deeply. At the dedication of our grandson, the pastor cited some statistics, that, though not unexpected, are still quite stunning. Roughly 70% of teenagers leave the church when they finish high school and go to college. Questions as to why and how this is occurring have been raised for years. (Aside note, I did not find any statistics on the same question in earlier years, such as 1950 to 1980.)

Why does it happen? The first analysis reminds us that kids spend more time with their parents in a car in one week, than they spend in Sunday school and similar training in a month. A study from the seminary also found that most church youth programs tend to focus on providing entertainment and pizza rather than building up young people in their faith. As a result, teens are ill-equipped to face the challenges they will encounter upon leaving home.

The point that the pastor made was that parents potentially exert a much greater influence on their kids and the ultimate decisions that they make than the church does. And the failure can be laid at the feet of the same people. Sadly, they, and we, are not doing a good job of introducing them to the Lord. This is stunning and frightening. He suggested that many kids leave home without seeing God influence the lives of those in their homes. What a responsibility we have as parents and what a disastrous result if it is shirked, ignored, or transferred. It doesn’t take a village to raise a child. It takes a home and parents--resident parents.

Jesus and Children

An additional thought comes from the dedication of babies. We are often reminded in the Gospels that Jesus loves children. Sometimes we look at this affection with condescension as we, proper, sophisticated, and advanced specimens of the human race also known as adults, smile condescendingly at Jesus, essentially wasting His time with the “lesser valued” children. Jesus made it clear that they were of great value to Him. But a second idea occurred to me.

This affection is to demonstrate and illustrate to us as “adults” that we appear as little children to Him. He is so far above us in any and all categories, that an observing angel might well wonder why Jesus “wastes” His time on us “worthless children.” He came and died for each and every one. No one was omitted or given a smaller portion of His love and grace. And in terms of our comparative “value,” it is like a student who received a 2% on a test boasting about his elevated position compared to the guy who got 1%.

Jesus paid it all for everybody. What a Savior. And I have nothing to brag about nor be proud of. Paul explained it to us. If we boast, we should and can only boast in the Lord. Let’s go deeper. There is no “favored” class with the LORD. In fact Galatians 3:28 spells it out for us.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 12:13 reaffirms it.

If we examine Jesus’ life we will see that He did not limit His attention and affection to just children or His disciples. He touched, healed, and had compassion on lame, handicapped; on the outcasts like prostitutes and tax collectors; on “foreigners,” like Samaritans; on skeptics, like Sadducees; on criminals, like the thief on the cross; and even hypocrites, like Pharisees. No one was outside the purview or reach of His love and compassion. And as His followers, we can, no, must, show the same lack of discrimination. As Jesus’ followers, we show love, His love to everyone. We speak, we serve, and we share. That just about covers it.

Savor or aroma of Life
The Old Testament uses a strange term associated with sacrifices. It is called a “pleasing aroma” to the Lord sixteen times in Leviticus alone. (Some references listed below.)What would be “pleasing” about the smell of burning a bird or animal? The reason for burning is the key. A sacrifice is offered in obedience to the Lord’s command. In practical terms, it does not do much, if anything. But theologically, it is a response to the Lord’s picture of Jesus being offered as the sacrificial satisfaction for our sins. In fact, the Father announced two times that Jesus was “well pleasing” to Him. The first was at Jesus’ baptism and the second at the transfiguration.

When Jesus became the vicarious substitute sacrifice for every person who has ever lived, He fulfilled the demands of the Law found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. As such, Jesus was pleasing, a pleasing aroma, to God the Father. But a second mention of “savor” occurs in 2 Corinthians 2:14.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

“Aroma of life” and “aroma of death” seem like strange comments. Try this on for size in your understanding. When the priests offered the sacrifices, particularly inside the temple, the “smoke” or other smells would surround them and “stick to” their clothes. Ever been around a camp fire? So when the people approached the priest, they were able to detect definite and distinctive evidence that their sacrifice had indeed been sacrificed. This was the aroma of death.

God does not simply give a negative proof of His acceptance and approval, that of death. A second aspect of the Tabernacle and later Temple worship was also outlined in the law. The priests burned and “waved” a fragrance incense as a portion of the sacrificial ceremony. That aroma would likewise cling to their vestments and be transmitted to the supplicants. And the worshipers could detect that as they neared the priest. That was the aroma of life.

Paul cited that in the Corinthians passage. To those who had not accepted the sacrifice for sins, the odor of death, the pungent and unpleasant stench of death, decaying and burning bodies, was literally all that they had or have to anticipate. But for the penitent believer, the incense was and is an odor to life. They were assured that God had accepted their offering and received them. We have the same confidence in the spoken and written Word. A passage as simple and well known as John 3:16 says, “...that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Life!

Paul demonstrated how sweet that could be for the believer and how foul a stench that would be to the unbelievers. That Paul was quite a smart guy, wasn’t he?

Passages of “Pleasing Aroma.”
Genesis 8:21
Leviticus 1:9, 19; 2:2; 23:18
Ezekiel 6:13
Exodus 25 and 30
Ephesians 5:2

Our final vignette is from Greg Laurie. (A little smorgasbord of leaders today.) It considers prayer.

Imagine that we are in a row boat, nearing the dock, but constantly drifting away. We throw a rope, connect to the anchorage, and begin to pull closer to the shore. Prayer is like that. We “fasten” on to God. We do not pull God into our plans. It is like the boat drawing near to the dock. When we pull “hard,” the boat is getting closer to the dock, but the dock is not moving. Prayer does not move God, it moves us closer to Him.

Even Jesus, when praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, illustrated this. “Not My will, but Thine be done.” (Matthew 26:39) He was moving into the path that God had arranged. The Father did not move, Jesus did. He expressed His desire, not to suffer, but admitted and agreed that there was no other way. Jesus’ “way” was then overlapped with the Father’s. Our prayers follow the identical trajectory. When we follow the path that He has revealed, we are making the most progress and entering the safest location.

Lord, teach us from Your Book and servants today.