Num
8:15-19 (NIV) "After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a
wave offering, they are to come to do their work at the Tent of Meeting. 16
They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as
my own in place of the firstborn, the first male offspring from every Israelite
woman. 17 Every firstborn male in Israel, whether man or animal, is mine. When
I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself. 18 And I
have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel. 19 Of all
the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons to do
the work at the Tent of Meeting on behalf of the Israelites and to make
atonement for them so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go
near the sanctuary."
NOTE: In the OT,
many of the lessons show a price paid.
In fact, most of the law requires a price to be paid. Very little is free, although at times, the
price is changed according to the income of the worshipper (such as the two
doves used in dedication). At first the
NT would seem to contrast itself from the OT in this regard, but in reality it
does not. The difference is that in the
NT, a price was paid, but this time God himself paid the price, making the
results free to the worshipper. Jesus'
death on the cross satisfied all the offering requirements and was a "once
for all" action, because it was a sufficient action. All the offerings of the NT were not
sufficient. Their effect was temporary
and had to be repeated time and again.
Because Jesus is God, his sacrifice was eternal and will never be
repeated. This is another reason to
rejoice on this the day that we celebrate his birth into our world of flesh and
blood -- his sacrifice was sufficient to completely pay for my sins and for
every offering or sacrifice required of God for service to him. Jesus is all sufficient.
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