Principle of the Wave

"Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD

as a wave offering from the Israelites,

so that they may be ready

to do the work of the LORD."

Numbers 8:11

I spent little time tending to the fruit trees.  A friend of mine told me I needed to fertilize them, but I never got around to it.  It was no surprise, then, that when it came time to harvest there was little fruit to find and minimal growth to detect.

I can expect to get out of my garden in proportion to what I put into it.  This principle is also found in the wave offering, a special offering established by the Lord where people would bring thanks, oath or other voluntary offerings and wave them before the Lord in the Tabernacle.  This waving motion was a symbol of how we give to the Lord and then He gives back to us.

Jesus taught this same idea when He said, "Give, and you will receive.  Your gift will return to you in full--pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap.  The amount you give will determine the amount you get back." (Luke 6:38 NLT)

When I give my attention, time and gifts to the Lord, pouring my life out to Him like an offering, I receive as much, if not more, than what I give. (Romans 12:1)

Experience

I had never done anything like it before.  It was hard to even picture myself teaching a class of children.  Still, I stepped forward in faith, responding to the call to teach Sunday School that I sensed God placing on my heart all those years ago.  Week after week I presented the lessons.  Month after month went by as I learned valuable lessons and gained understanding and know how into the craft of teaching.  By the time my family and I moved away from Ft Bragg, I had learned many valuable lessons and acquired 3 years of experience in teaching children.

My confidence in the Lord's willingness to give me the tools necessary to accomplish the mission to which He called me grew as I trusted Him enough to act on His calling on my life.  If I had sat back, afraid to try, I would never know the awesome power that comes when I place myself in His hands and trust Him fully to equip me for the job at hand.  After all, it is not up to me to carry out the task.  Rather, it is God working through me Who is faithful to complete the work He desires to be done.

Therefore, when I offer myself to Him, I need not be afraid of what He will ask me to do.  Like Moses learned when he offered God every excuse in the book as to why he couldn't go to Pharaoh to deliver the message God had for him, I will find out that my success or failure is not based on my own skills, worth or abilities. (Exodus 4:11-12) Instead, the accomplishment of the mission to which God has called me is entirely based on His power working through me.

When I use the gifts God has given me, I gain experience and confidence in the Lord.

Faith

The boy offered all he had to give; five small loaves of bread and two little fish.  What good would that do in feeding a crowd of five thousand men plus uncounted women and children?  It turns out the small offering was more than enough.  Jesus took what the boy had given and multiplied it until they were overflowing with food.  When the feast was over, the disciples collected up twelve basket-fulls of leftover bread. (John 6:1-14)

It goes without saying that the faith of those gathered there that day grew as they witnessed such an astounding act of God's power.  No one had ever seen such a thing!  From that time forward, these people began to consider Jesus, if not the Messiah, at least as a prophet from the Lord.  The witnesses knew there was something different about this Jesus and there is no doubt that they would pay attention to whatever He said from that time forward.

My faith also grows when I step out into the dark, scary places to which God has called me to go.  As I see Him work through me, providing for my needs, supplying the tools necessary, and affording me the energy required, I am more likely to respond eagerly the next time He calls and the easier it is for me to believe that God is who He says He is.   

As a human, it is hard for me to believe something I cannot see with my own eyes.  Ironically, faith requires me to do just that:  to be sure of what I hope for but have no physical evidence to back that expectation up, and to have a conviction of the reality of these things of which I have no proof of their existence. (Hebrews 11:1)

When God says, then, that there is nothing that can separate me from His love, I will be able to take Him at His word and walk boldly through the shadow that crosses over my heart, bringing me into a time of grief and suffering that leads me closer to Him.  (Romans 8:38-39)  When He reminds me that there is nothing I can do of eternal significance apart from Him, I will be able to believe enough in what He says to cease all the meaningless activities and service and focus solely on where He is leading me.  (John 15)  When He tells me there is no need to fear because He is with me, I can trust Him enough to know my feelings of isolation and loneliness are not accurate. (Psalm 23:1-4, Psalm 139:5-10) 

The more I offer of myself to the Lord, the more my faith in Him will grow as I see God work in and through me.

Intimacy

My husband lost his brother in a shooting a year ago.  At the time, it was hard for any of us to comprehend that this fun-loving father of five was gone.  There was much grief and sorrow as my husband thought about all times he had shared with his little brother and of the years ahead that would be devoid of his presence.  As our family walked through this dark time, we each turned to the Lord for comfort.  As we did so, we experienced the kind of healing that only He can bring to those with a broken heart. (Isaiah 61:1-3, 2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

Walking with the Lord through difficulty leads to a deeper bond with Him.  As I draw near to Him to find comfort, guidance and reassurance, He comes closer to me in response.  (James 4:8)  Similarly, as I trust God enough to step out in faith in obedience to His calling, I will find in return a closer bond with Him.  The more I trust Him, the closer I will grow to Him.  

Not only will I find that my relationship with the Lord will be tighter as I give of myself, but my bond to other believers will grow stronger as well.  As I give to the Lord of my life, trusting Him enough to live authentically before Him, others will be drawn to what God is doing in me.  As I work side-by-side with my brothers and sisters in Christ, we will grow closer as we share our hearts with each other.  

Serving God and others in obedience to His calling leads to a closer relationship with the Lord and His family.

In Old Testament times, the wave offering demonstrated the principle of giving and receiving found in God's kingdom that I can still experience today.  When I give of my life to the Lord, sharing the time, gifts and talents He has so generously bestowed upon me, I will find as much if not more coming back to me.  I will gain experience, faith and intimacy with God and others as I give of myself in faith.  This is the principle of the wave offering.

As I begin this day, it is my prayer that I can remember all the benefits that are mine if I would trust God enough to move my feet in the direction He is pointing me.

When do I fear so much that I'm paralyzed, unable to obey the Lord?

What have I gained from giving to the Lord?    

Wave Offering

"Moses, Aaron and the whole Israelite community

did with the Levites just as the LORD commanded Moses.

The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes.

Then Aaron presented them as a wave offering

before the LORD and made atonement 

for them to purify them.

After that,

the Levites came to do their work at the tent of meeting

under the supervision of Aaron and his sons.

They did with the Levites just as the LORD 

commanded Moses."

Numbers 8:20-22

It was a strange turn of events.  What once was traditionally a part of the peace offerings that were given to express gratitude to the Lord, in fulfillment of a vow and to convey thanks for benefits thusly received, or to simply offer something out of devotion to the Lord, now took on a whole new twist.  In the past, these offerings were given, in part, as a way to provide for the priests. (Leviticus 7:28-34)  Once they were waved before the Lord as a special presentation to Him, whatever was offered by the people became the property of the priests. The offering was waved toward God and then back toward the priests as a symbol of how God provides with what was offered to Him. Now, however, Moses told the people that the Levites themselves were to be presented as a wave offering before the Lord.

This reminds me of Jesus.  First the sacrifice of animals was given as the way of atonement for God's people. (Leviticus 4-6) Then Jesus Himself became the sacrifice offered before the Lord as a punishment for my sins and a way to make me right with God.  (Romans 3:25)  As He willingly gave His life, Jesus provided a way for all those who believe to receive atonement.  He gave, we receive.

Supernatural

She was powerless to help herself.  The girl was drowning and she needed someone to save her or she would sink down to the bottom of the lake and meet her demise.  She tried to stay afloat by kicking her legs, but she must have been doing something wrong because it did little to keep her head above water.  As the fatigued young woman bobbed up and down, she cried out with all her might each time she came up for air.  "Help!"

Suddenly, a savior grabbed her from behind and towed her to safety.  Without the lifeguard's help, she would have died.

In the same way, I am completely powerless to save myself from the predicament in which my sin has placed me.  I can put as much effort into meeting God's standard, but I fail every time. (Romans 3:23)  The Lord, in His holiness and righteousness, condemns me to hell because of this failure.  (Romans 6:23)  If someone doesn't intervene, I'm destined to spend eternity apart from God, suffering as a punishment for the sin I can't help but commit. (Romans 7:18-19)

Suddenly a Savior reaches out His hand and snatches me from the jaws of death.  Before I even knew I needed Him, He rescued me from eternal suffering. (Romans 5:6-8) Jesus Christ, in dying on the cross, accomplished for me what I was unable to do for myself:  He took the punishment meant for me, satisfying God's righteous requirement for my sin and giving me a clean slate. (1 John 4:10, Hebrews 2:17)  

Jesus Christ, in offering Himself as a sacrifice to satisfy God's wrath against me as a helpless and condemned sinner, provided a way for me to be reconciled to God.

Free

"Free Stuff."  I spotted the sign on the side of the road as I drove out of the neighborhood.  Someone had piled some of their belongings at the curb in front of their house in an effort to get rid of things they no longer needed, offering the items to whoever wanted to haul them away.  As a result, my family gained enough landscaping bricks to create a border around a flowerbed in our backyard.  

It's hard to believe that I could receive something for nothing.  In this world, if something is labeled as "free,"  there is usually a catch;  a fee that must be paid, or a contract I'll unwittingly enter into, or a hidden agenda I won't discover until it's too late.  Even the bricks that I paid no money for required some labor to haul them to my house and then into the backyard.  There is always some kind of price that must be paid.

When Jesus died on the cross, however, He paid the only price that was required for my sins.  When He uttered the words, "It is finished," He signaled to us that He had completed the mission He was sent by His Father to fulfill; He had paid the penalty for all of my sins.  There is nothing I can do to earn the benefit of eternal life and reconciliation with a holy God that is found in Christ Jesus.  Instead, this salvation is a free gift from a loving God.  (Ephesians 2:8)

Sometimes I might think I need to earn my salvation by doing good deeds.  It just seems too good to be true that I could gain such riches for free.  Other times I might begin to think I must be on the right track or that I've gotten on God's right side in order to receive such a valuable gift.  I may even think I can't accept such extravagance, that my heart is just too black.  In all instances, I must realize the complimentary nature of the gift means that my salvation cannot be earned and is not at all connected to my performance, whether good or bad.  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Jesus Christ freely gave Himself as the perfect sacrifice for my sin so that I can freely receive salvation from the separation from God I rightly deserve.

Undeserving

"You deserve a break today."  This was the advertising slogan for McDonald's from 1971-1975, 1980-1983, and again from 1989-1990.  This successful campaign worked because it spoke to the very heart of our sin nature: We deserve all the best life can give us.  We think that we work hard, we do our best and should therefore be rewarded for our efforts.  

When I take this fleshly principle and try to apply it to the salvation that comes freely through faith in Jesus Christ, I wrongly believe that I deserve to be saved.  Or, on the flip side, I don't believe I'm good enough to receive such a costly gift so I turn it down, unable to accept the fact that I could be an heir to righteousness through simple faith.  (Romans 4:13-16, Romans 8:17, Romans 3:22)

In reality, the gift of salvation I receive through Jesus Christ is not based on my worth, my performance or my standing in life.  Instead, it is entirely rooted in God's great love for mankind.   If it wasn't for His love, I would be left standing on the outside of His kingdom, feeling the full brunt of His wrath. 

Jesus Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice for my sin, not because I deserve to be saved, but because God loves me enough to rescue me from certain death for all of eternity. (John 3:16)

I see the Levites being presented as a wave offering whose service benefited the people as a type of Christ.  Christ's loss was our gain.  This unspeakable gift is as a result of a supernatural work of God, at no cost to me, and stands apart from my own worth.  In these ways, Jesus is a kind of wave offering that provides eternal benefits for those who believe in Him.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I will never forget the price that Jesus paid so that I can be made right with God.

When do I take this gift for granted, living my life without thought to what He has done for me?

How do I feel I don't deserve such extravagance and reject the freedom that comes through faith in Christ?

Care of the Holy

"The duties of the Kohathites at the Tabernacle

will relate to the most sacred objects. . .

Do not let the Kohathite clans be 

destroyed from among the Levites!

This is what you must do so they will live and not die

when they approach the most sacred objects.

Aaron and his sons must always go in with them

and assign a specific duty or load to each person.

The Kohathites must never enter the sanctuary

to look at the sacred objects for even a moment,

or they will die."

Numbers 4:4, 18-20

The samples of blood had to be treated with care.  In order to ship the little vials across the country while still preserving the integrity of the blood, special instructions had to be followed.  If each step was not adhered to, the integrity of the sample may have been jeopardized.

In a similar way, the Kohathite clan from the tribe of Levi had to follow God's specific rules about how to care for the holy things in the temple.  Since the items used in worship were considered to be sacred, there was a high level of respect surrounding these objects. Therefore, they must be handled with great care.   If the Kohathites did not do everything that was required, it was their own lives that were on the line.

Since Jesus gave his life as a sacrifice on the cross, I need not worry about being struck down if I don't do what God expects.  As a matter of fact, there is no way my sinful being is able to reach such high standards, illustrating my need for a Savior in the first place.  This, however, does not exempt me from paying careful attention to the way I live my life.  I am bought with a price, a steep price, and by the blood of Jesus, I have been set apart for God's use.  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 Peter 1:14-15)

As the new temple of God, it is important that I treat my life as special.  What does this mean for me?

Covering

Each holy object from the Tabernacle was handled with great care by Aaron and his sons.  First they covered the items with blue or purple cloth, and sometimes even an extra covering of red, and then wrapped the whole package in fine leather.  Once every piece of the sacred furnishings and holy articles were covered, only then were the Kohathites allowed to enter in to perform their duties.  They were not authorized to directly touch or look upon the objects themselves.  (Numbers 4)  Only Aaron and his sons were allowed to do so since they had been consecrated for this purpose.

Like those special objects, I am considered to be holy, as well, because of what Jesus did for me.  When He spilled His blood on the cross, He consecrated me for use by a Holy God.  Therefore, I must not look at my life as ordinary or common.  The blood of Jesus has set me aside for His purposes, so I must not be so careless with how I treat His temple.

This does not mean I adopt a holier-than-thou attitude, but that I view my life with a kind of sacred respect and reverence.  Before I knew Jesus, I felt perfectly comfortable with taking part in all kinds of self-destructive activities and pursuits.  After all, I thought, It's my life and I can do whatever I want!  

Now that I belong to Jesus, however, it is important that I stay away from that which offends Him.  Out of respect for what Christ has done for me, I can no longer in good conscious speak in any old way, watch whatever form of entertainment I want to, or read the latest book which is an affront to His holy Name.  

As a child of God who was bought with a price, I must do as Aaron and his sons did with the sacred objects.  I must intentionally protect myself from that which contaminates my mind, corrupts my heart and leads me down the path of destruction.  (Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 6:22-23, Romans 12:2)

In order to care for my life made holy by the blood of Jesus, I must take great care in covering myself from worldly influences and appealing temptations.

Code of Conduct

If a member of the U.S. Armed Forces is captured as a prisoner of war, there is a special code of conduct they are expected to follow.  American P.O.W.'s are required, among other things, to avoid answering questions, stand strong against the enemy captors, always strive to escape and resist, never accept special favors, and never forget they are Americans fighting for freedom.  The code was written to give military members a guide in how to survive captivity honorably while avoiding exploitation by the enemy.

In much the same way, I have been given a code of conduct found in God's Word.  It is easy to read the Bible in the same way I used to read books in school: I glean information, take note of interesting facts, and walk away unchanged.  God's Word, however, is different than a history or social studies book.  Instead, it is His inspired Word, given to His people with the purpose of instructing, convicting of sin, correcting where wrong, and training to conform to His will in thought, purpose and action. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

If I am to take these instructions seriously, then, I can't simply read it.  Instead, I am to open my heart and listen to what God is trying to tell me. (James 1:22-25) If I don't study with the intention of getting something out of it, or finding a nugget of truth that will change my life, I will not see anything significant.  

If, however, I open God's Word with the expectation of discovering something new and life-changing, I will not be disappointed.  The Lord will use scripture to encourage me, show me more about His ways, highlight areas of sin in my life, and exhort me to reach higher in the power of His Holy Spirit.  (Hebrews 4:12-13)

In order to care for my life made holy by the blood of Jesus, I must carefully follow the code of conduct found in God's Word.

Commitment

As a mom who taught her children at home, parents often came to me seeking information or advice concerning homeschooling.  If someone was considering pulling their children out of a traditional school setting and teaching them at home, I always asked them what was their motivation.  I had found that those who would be able to persevere in such a large undertaking needed a commitment that came from a call beyond themselves.  If the parent simply thought it was a good idea, they would most likely give up when the going got tough.

In the same way that there must be a commitment to homeschooling in order for parents to withstand the difficulties, I must make a commitment to following Jesus if I'm going to be able to live wholeheartedly for Him.  If I'm mostly concerned with what I'm getting out of the deal, like my heavenly reward, I won't really consider how I should live while I'm here on earth.

Therefore, I must examine my heart, and ask myself who Jesus is to me.  If He's my Savior, but not my Lord, I've probably not submitted my life to God.  Instead, I may have accepted the free gift of salvation without repenting of my sins.  In other words, I want it both ways; to live my way and to receive the perk of heaven.  This results in a lukewarm existence as opposed to a fiery passion for knowing God and making Him known. (Revelation 3:14-22)

Jesus is standing outside the door of my heart, waiting to be invited in.  He died a criminal's death not just to give me a way to live forever with Him, but also to make me right with God in this life. (Romans 3:22)  I am meant to live in relationship with Him, inviting Him in to every part of my life, allowing Him to change me, discipline me and make me new.  

If I don't let Him in, I'll never experience the red-hot passion that is needed for me to strive toward the finish line. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) Instead, I'll spend my life wandering around without a focus or a drive.

In order to care for my life made holy by the blood of Jesus, I must commit my life wholeheartedly to the Lord, allowing Him to light in me a fire of passion for Him.

In the same way that the descendants of Levi's son, Kohath, were tasked with caring for the holy items of the Tabernacle, so I am called to care for my own life as a sacred temple.  Therefore, I would be wise to cover myself from that which contaminates, carefully follow His code of conduct, and make a sincere commitment to following Jesus.  In these ways, I will show proper care for the life that truly belongs to the One who bought and paid for it with His own life.  

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can take my job of holiness seriously.

When do I slack off in protecting myself from worldly influences?

How am I lukewarm in my relationship with the Lord?