Exodus 19:6 KJV - And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of - Bible Gateway So, theyre raging against the exclusivity of Christ, and then, theyre raging against all moral boundaries. If you come from a Jewish backgroundand maybe youve read the Old Testamentyou understand that the priesthood, and the office of priest, is all throughout the Old Testament. Starting at 8 a.m. We do not control ourselves, we are controlled by the lord of our lives., Counterfeit gods come in structuressin in our hearts affects our basic motivational drives. Its most obvious appearances in the Mosaic books are twofold, the first in relation to Shabbat the day God Himself proclaimed holy and the inner chamber of the sanctuary known as the holy of holies. He makes them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Judaism is thus hyper-democratic sometimes a political weakness, but always an assertion of human dignity. A Kingdom Of Priests | Bread for the Bride Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." New Living Translation And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.' This is the message you must give to the people of Israel." English Standard Version Maybe its just the pressure the fans put on the team, and maybe it helps them throw a ball better or catch it better. My kingdom must continually be crushed by His rod of iron. A Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation - U of T St.George Bible Fellowship The dietary rules, originally just intended for sacrificial meals, were applied to all Jews and all mealsagain, bringing the holiness of the priesthood to all Jews. That is of the essence. Verse 8 says, Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. Other people want money because it gives them so much power over others. Jesus, in John chapter 17, when He prayed for us, He prayed that we would be sanctified by truth. When God becomes our power, our boast, our wisdom, and our joy, the Lord is our God. Does the Bible say anything about teleportation? At best Deism would be true (that God set creation in motion and thereafter did not intrude into the universe). By this you will know that I am the Lord. Sometimes, people ball up their fists in the face of God, and they think, God, where were You when this tragedy happened? They were slaves and a minority. Jesus said, if you love me, you will obey my commands. Take refuge in Him! Judaism also knows the faith of humanity as such. Those who know him as the Lord love him and obey him fully. But when the kiss is planted, what happens? On August 27 of that year twenty-four men and twenty-four women covenanted to spend one hour each day in scheduled prayer. A Kingdom of Priests and A Holy Nation - philaubf All holiness is a form of renunciation, but since God desires the existence of human beings as responsible and creative beings, he does not ask for total renunciation. Is that where youre going to find security and refuge? It does not yet have a king. We have direct access to Him through Jesus Christ, and our role is to represent His kingdom to the world. . We preach a holy messagethe gospel. They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. When we follow idols of this world, we become earth-bound. When the Amalekites viciously attacked from behind, God fought for them when Moses lifted his hands and Aaron and Hur held Moses arm together. Understand this first of all: do you recognize that we no longer have home-field advantage in America? Many of them expressed their candid opinion that Jews observed the Shabbat because they were lazy. Love the Son! 19:6, NASB). In one of my favourite quotations, the American writer Milton Himmelfarb once wrote: Each Jew knows how thoroughly ordinary he is; yet taken together, we seem caught up in the things great and inexplicable . Are you going to go to Mom and Dad? Sinai creates the terms of collective existence. This fact is implicit at Sinai, where God Himself had to secure the assent of the people before giving it its laws (The Talmud entertains the possibility that God coerced the Israelites into agreement by suspending the mountain over their heads but then immediately concludes that if this were so, the covenant would be null and void). His kingdom is filled with peace, joy and righteousness. Being a holy nation compels us to be counter-cultural in a world that often opposes Gods standards. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. In 1 Samuel 15, Samuel told to Saul, Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? 5. On the way home, we stopped by Moravian College. Whether through war, assassination, coup dtat, plebiscite or general acclaim they elect an individual or group to be their leader, and a political structure which determines relationships between rulers and ruled. There was only one designated tribethe Levitesthat were to act as the go-between. Yet were God entirely hidden from the universe it would be, experientially and functionally, as if He did not exist. Regarding this, Pastor John Piper said, God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him.. Is there still a distinction between priests and non-priests within the Church? Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. And you shouldnt try! For any unholiness to come into the presence of holiness means that whatever is unholy would be incinerated! It means that God is our king. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.. And yet, when we read that it is the Lord Who terrifies them in His fury,God is still on His throne, and God has a King who can take down any ruler or any kingdom. He is our power and wisdom. The Apostle Paul highlights this inclusivity in Galatians 3:28, There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (NIV). In conclusion, the designation of Israel as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation in Exodus 19:6 represents a unique and profound calling. Be holy, for God is holy. Let us read Jeremiah 2:5, This is what the Lord says: What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me? We even see that here in the Scripture, when it says, The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel. Its as if they gather together in boardrooms or the halls of Congress or the Oval Office and they scratch their heads and say, What do you think the rules should be? And theyre rewriting the rules because theyre no longer listening to objective truth. Idols give us a sense of being in control and we can locate them by looking at our nightmares: What do we fear the most? He will listen to their prayers and communicate his will to the whole world through them. Or some might be very disappointed that they are not as attractive others. Acts 19:1-41 Were going to find out what it means to live as a priest in an unholy nation. What other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? Are you going to run to the next presidential candidate who maybe can pass a few laws that might be a little favorable to us? That is what holiness is. Individual Jews continued in their support of the Temple in Jerusalem and its worship system. So what does it mean to be a priest? Its one of the few places in the Bible that we see God laughing. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast. Let us read 4:35 and 39. We are to be intentional in our witness, demonstrating the transformative power of the Gospel through our words, actions, and lifestyle. . Designed using Magazine Hoot. Besides him there is no other. Are you going to run to the treasures of this earth? (It was partly because they had the chance to play games afterward) I was very happy to see their obedience. Sometimes He needs to be violentwith me. Its just that He finds it ridiculous, that people would stand against Him! This too is the meaning of Isaiahs remarkable statement: You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, that I am God. 4 In its collective fate and destiny Israel will constitute the most compelling evidence of Divine involvement in human history. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? Answer: No! But, this passage says that you, as a citizen of Heavena citizen of this kingdomare a royal priesthood and a holy nation. Thus the very land it inhabits will not be its own but Gods (The land shall not be sold in perpetuity because the land is Mine). Every believer, regardless of their role in the Church, is part of the priesthood of all believers and shares in the responsibility to represent Gods kingdom to the world. The essence of the Sinai revelation is that the Israelites become the first indeed the only nation formed on the basis of a covenant with God. How many of you have ever played on a sports team, and when you went into the visiting court or the visiting field, you recognized there was a lot of pressure on you? Fulfilling our role as a holy nation involves living in obedience to Gods commandments, imitating Christs love and forgiveness, and pursuing righteousness in all aspects of our lives. Your email address will not be published. Were separated by His designation; we are called out of an unholy nation to be a holy nation. While the role of mediator between God and people continues to be fulfilled by Jesus alone, we are called to reflect His character and be ambassadors of His kingdom in the world. Do you understand that? That is what the Torah means when it says that we are created in Gods image, meaning that we, like God, are creative. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us., What a description of what is going on in our culture, even right now. We acknowledge that everything is from God and we are only his stewards. This reminds me of magnetic. Because, not only are you a royal priesthood, you are a holy nation. What makes Israel unique is that it is a holy nation, meaning, a nation all of whose members are summoned to holiness. Another student pointed out that the most dangerous form of slavery is the invisible slavery. 2. Big things seemed to happen around us and to us. There is no limit in his power, and nothing is impossible with him. Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God. We may say that we are free people and the constitution of our nation guarantees our freedom. Whats your excuse? All forms of rulership, whether of judges, elders or monarchs, will be limited by the overarching sovereignty of God; hence the moral right of prophets to criticise kings and speak truth to power. Israel will know no absolutes not the state nor the individual nor the status quo for there is only one absolute, namely God Himself. We do this by a temporary renunciation of creativity. We are called out by a holy God. These things lie far ahead in the future. As Matthew Arnold wrote: As long as the world lasts, all who want to make progress in righteousness will come to Israel for inspiration, as to the people who have had the sense for righteousness most glowing and strongest.. It can be understood the best as the mediator between God and people. And here we are reading, as a reference to the Trinity, God the Father has a Son that He says will sit on a throne. But that does not matter. I have written elsewhere on the phrase a kingdom of priests (At least part of its meaning, I have argued, has to do with the invention of the alphabet, which occurred in or close to centres of Hebrew life in the age of the patriarchs, or possibly during the period in which the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. . No human, says God, can see Me and live.. How and why did Moses prepare the unholy people to meet the holy God? Immediately prior to the great revelation at Mount Sinai,God instructs Moses as to the nature of the covenant He is proposing to make with the children of Israel. Look at verse 1-2. Wherever it was erected, it defined a certain space as holy, meaning, set aside for God. God would be a Deus absconditus, a creator who deserted humanity. 4. We accept him as the authority. In the Church, there is no longer a hierarchical priesthood as was seen in ancient Israel. So, I understand that I must make a choice every day, who is going to rule and reign on the throne of my heart. Thats the kind of environment that were living in, politically. One student mentioned peoples desire to be liked by people. We are to live lives marked by holiness, separating ourselves from the values and practices of the world and displaying Gods love, grace, and truth to those around us. Some practical ways to live this out include participating in corporate worship, engaging in regular self-examination, cultivating a Christ-centered character, and being intentional in our relationships and interactions with others. In Exodus 19:5-6, God says this, If you [speaking to the nation of Israel] will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me [notice] a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Thats why were grouping them together. So dont give up! So what are you waiting for? Do it with humility and sincerity and unashamed passionin light of the fact that He has been a servant to you. The idea that empty space like empty time might be holy was beyond him. Did you know that? The word goi like its cognate term geviyah means a body. It is a metaphor for a group of individuals whose relationship to one another is as of the limbs to a body. While being a kingdom of priests refers to Israels collective role, being a holy nation emphasizes their personal and communal obligation to be set apart and consecrated for Gods purposes. When we touch God, have fellowship with him, we also become holy because God is holy. Psalm chapter 2 gives us an understanding how we, as a holy nation, can live in an unholy nation.