Hello everyone! Chapter 9 of Hebrews is pretty long but also awesome so let's delve right in! In my Bible, it is divided into two parts: Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle and The Blood of Christ. The theme of this chapter is to compare the old rituals to the new rituals, made different by Christ's sacrifice. Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle describes the "old" way of worship in the tabernacle (Old referring to the Old Testament). In those times, there were two rooms: the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place behind the Holy Place. Important relics were the "gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant" (v. 4). The high priest entered these rooms only once a year with animal blood to atone for the people's sins. Yet the distinction is made that these rituals were only placeholders until the new convenant arrived, explaining why animal blood has (thankfully) fallen out of style. Verse 10 explains, "They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings-external regulations applying until the time of the new order". Now that there is a new convenant, the rituals change accordingly.
The Blood of Christ section starts at verse 11. Christ's blood is now the sacrifice and obviously much more precious than simple animal blood. The animal blood was not enough to "cleanse our consciences" but Christ's blood is (verse 14)! This is how the new convenant is new and improved, the ascent from mere animals' blood to the blood of Christ. The necessity of the new convenant is stated as "a ransom to set them free from teh sins committed under the first convenant" (v. 15). Again I assumed that this referred to the Israelites again and their disobedience regarding the jounrey to the Promised Land and such. It makes sense since Moses is mentioned a bit later in the chapter. Starting in verse 16, it describes how blood is needed to prove the validity of a new covenant (assuming that the words will and covenant are synonyms/interchangeable). In Moses' time animals' blood was used, but for the new covenant Christ's blood was used. There is a constant comparison/reminder of animals' blood in the Old Testament/old covenant and Christ's blood for the New Testament/new covenant. Jesus died for our sins and then entered heaven. The enormity of this sacrifice only needs to be done once as opposed to the continual slaughter of animals that the old rituals required. Through this act, Jesus has forever wiped away our sin, thus negating the need for further animal sacrifices. This singular act is compared to mortal deaths, which only occur once as well (v. 27). To me this seemed like an unworthy comparison for us at least, to have Jesus' one death compared to our one death. There is such a big jump in intensity from the first to the second covenant that the first covenant seems to be referred to as "copies of the heavenly things" compared to the second covenant which is the real deal (v. 23). The last verse prophecies Jesus' return where he will bring salvation. Perhaps then rituals will change again to accomodate this new addition. Personally I really liked this chapter because of the logical juxtaposition between old and new. I hope I analyzed it well enough (and clearly enough!) but please feel free to add on your own thoughts and such!!
In Pittsburgh I've been hanging out with friends, watching movies, etc. Let me know if you want any details on Twilight, Australia, 7 Pounds, or Bolt. hahaha Just relaxing and sleeping a ton (probably way more than necessary). It's not as deathly windy here which is a nice change. Actually today was in the 60s? Craziness. I do miss the sermons/LIFE group meetings from ACCESS though. The sermons at my home church are just not cutting it. :/ Hope everyone is doing well and see you all soon!!
Chrissy :)
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, Awesome LIFE Group! I hope each of your respective Christmas days were wonderful with blessings as you spend time with your friends and families. I wanted to post especially today for a lot of reasons, but first:
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Hebrews 8
All this talk about Melchizedek comes to a point at Hebrews 8: Jesus is our High Priest. He does not follow the rules set up by men (ie the Levitical priests), but fulfills a role with "better promises" (verse 6) in the "true tabernacle" (verse 2). With Jesus, there is a new covenant, a new promise, a new contract - God promises that he will not remember our sins, that we will be his people, that he will be our God!
I love the image of the church, the label on the church that we are the bride, Christ is the groom. God calls us his people not in the sense necessarily that he owns us, that we are his property like slaves, but we are his people, like a man calls someone his bride (and likewise, the church calls Christ the groom). That's unleashing a whole other discussion, but I'll end with this:
God gives us that new promise. What an appropriate time for this chapter! Jesus came to earth as a real, physical, tangible representation of that promise - that we could know God and be in relationship with him. Amazing. I hope you can appreciate that today.
A song to share with you all: Welcome to our world by Chris Rice. It's an old one, but it's one that's touched me for years, and I hope it'll do the same for you.
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Awakening
I was at one of the UIC services one Sunday, the one where Pastor Seth came to speak. It was a crazy moment - he didn't bring up his laptop! Instead, he just took out his Bible, opened up to a passage, and just started sharing what he thought God wanted him to share.
In the midst of his sermon, he started sharing something - he felt like the church at UIC needed to pray. To really come earnestly before God and seek Him in dependence. He threw out a number - 21 days.
21 days.
It wasn't until a few weeks later that Pastor Seth shared about Awakening. It's a movement started by one of the bigger churches in America, where they take 21 days every January to start the year in prayer. It spread, and Pastor Seth had a chance to take part in it. How could he not? Preaching on what he did, throwing out the number that he did, how could our church not take part in this?
Something big is going to happen. I'm not sure what it is, but when God moves, you move with Him, even if you're not sure what it is. And we need to pray. We, as a LIFE group, need to pray. We, as a church, need to pray.
I want this LIFE group to begin now in preparation for these 3 weeks of prayer. If we just decide to give up something when it starts, then we'll be legalistic about it - "Oh, I can't eat because I have to." Instead, what I'm hoping is we come to the point where we all can say, "God, we're giving this up because we want you more than we want this."
As funny as it sounds, it's a way of saying, "God, I want you more than I want chicken shack." And for me, being home, I really want chicken shack. But man, oh man, if we see a thing of God happen... how incredible!
I hope that we can all reflect these next few weeks on what the year has brought us, and where we are now. And I want to encourage everyone to bring prayer requests! Yes, this is a time for our church, but this is a time to bring any request to God - prayers for ourselves and maybe our growth, prayers for our LIFE group, prayers for our friends that are in need, prayers for our campus, prayers for our church...
It's an exciting time coming. But I hope we can all prepare for it so we can get the most out of our time of prayer together. We will give more direction as a group in the coming weeks, but please, I'm asking you to reflect on this past year, look forward to the year ahead, and ask God for blessings in everything that happens this year.
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Blog
A more personal announcement: the blog designs are done! Head over there to see them in all their glory and splendor -
Evanston
Downtown
Some things I wanted to bring your attention to:
- Missions Projects : Sign ups are located on the blogs for both summer and spring projects. Please consider these and talk with your parents about them. I want to challenge some of you especially about the summer. Steps of faith require action, and for some of you, the next step of faith would be to participate this summer in our inner-city projects. Prayerfully consider this.
- Winter Retreat : I don't have to sell this as much, but the link is on the blog as well. Last year was pretty awesome, undergrad retreat was pretty awesome, and this retreat is gonna be pretty awesome. And this is one of the last times we'll have to hear Pastor Seth share from his heart, especially with the Jakarta plant coming soon. Sign up soon, with your mounds of Christmas money I know some of you got for Christmas ;)
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That's all I have for now. Merry Christmas again, get your sleep in before winter quarter starts up, be good to your parents, and I'll see you in a week and a half =)
-Josh
-------
Hebrews 8
All this talk about Melchizedek comes to a point at Hebrews 8: Jesus is our High Priest. He does not follow the rules set up by men (ie the Levitical priests), but fulfills a role with "better promises" (verse 6) in the "true tabernacle" (verse 2). With Jesus, there is a new covenant, a new promise, a new contract - God promises that he will not remember our sins, that we will be his people, that he will be our God!
I love the image of the church, the label on the church that we are the bride, Christ is the groom. God calls us his people not in the sense necessarily that he owns us, that we are his property like slaves, but we are his people, like a man calls someone his bride (and likewise, the church calls Christ the groom). That's unleashing a whole other discussion, but I'll end with this:
God gives us that new promise. What an appropriate time for this chapter! Jesus came to earth as a real, physical, tangible representation of that promise - that we could know God and be in relationship with him. Amazing. I hope you can appreciate that today.
A song to share with you all: Welcome to our world by Chris Rice. It's an old one, but it's one that's touched me for years, and I hope it'll do the same for you.
-------
Awakening
I was at one of the UIC services one Sunday, the one where Pastor Seth came to speak. It was a crazy moment - he didn't bring up his laptop! Instead, he just took out his Bible, opened up to a passage, and just started sharing what he thought God wanted him to share.
In the midst of his sermon, he started sharing something - he felt like the church at UIC needed to pray. To really come earnestly before God and seek Him in dependence. He threw out a number - 21 days.
21 days.
It wasn't until a few weeks later that Pastor Seth shared about Awakening. It's a movement started by one of the bigger churches in America, where they take 21 days every January to start the year in prayer. It spread, and Pastor Seth had a chance to take part in it. How could he not? Preaching on what he did, throwing out the number that he did, how could our church not take part in this?
Something big is going to happen. I'm not sure what it is, but when God moves, you move with Him, even if you're not sure what it is. And we need to pray. We, as a LIFE group, need to pray. We, as a church, need to pray.
I want this LIFE group to begin now in preparation for these 3 weeks of prayer. If we just decide to give up something when it starts, then we'll be legalistic about it - "Oh, I can't eat because I have to." Instead, what I'm hoping is we come to the point where we all can say, "God, we're giving this up because we want you more than we want this."
As funny as it sounds, it's a way of saying, "God, I want you more than I want chicken shack." And for me, being home, I really want chicken shack. But man, oh man, if we see a thing of God happen... how incredible!
I hope that we can all reflect these next few weeks on what the year has brought us, and where we are now. And I want to encourage everyone to bring prayer requests! Yes, this is a time for our church, but this is a time to bring any request to God - prayers for ourselves and maybe our growth, prayers for our LIFE group, prayers for our friends that are in need, prayers for our campus, prayers for our church...
It's an exciting time coming. But I hope we can all prepare for it so we can get the most out of our time of prayer together. We will give more direction as a group in the coming weeks, but please, I'm asking you to reflect on this past year, look forward to the year ahead, and ask God for blessings in everything that happens this year.
-------
Blog
A more personal announcement: the blog designs are done! Head over there to see them in all their glory and splendor -
Evanston
Downtown
Some things I wanted to bring your attention to:
- Missions Projects : Sign ups are located on the blogs for both summer and spring projects. Please consider these and talk with your parents about them. I want to challenge some of you especially about the summer. Steps of faith require action, and for some of you, the next step of faith would be to participate this summer in our inner-city projects. Prayerfully consider this.
- Winter Retreat : I don't have to sell this as much, but the link is on the blog as well. Last year was pretty awesome, undergrad retreat was pretty awesome, and this retreat is gonna be pretty awesome. And this is one of the last times we'll have to hear Pastor Seth share from his heart, especially with the Jakarta plant coming soon. Sign up soon, with your mounds of Christmas money I know some of you got for Christmas ;)
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That's all I have for now. Merry Christmas again, get your sleep in before winter quarter starts up, be good to your parents, and I'll see you in a week and a half =)
-Josh
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Hebrews 7
Ni Men Haoer,
Greetings from the land of jet laggyness.
Since I'm writing on Hebrews 7, I get to add a bit to Louisa's post and answer Levina's questions on Melchizedek.
Hebrews 7 is broken into 2 sections. "Melchizedek the Priest" and "Jesus Like Melchizedek."
Melchizedek the Priest
- Interestingly enough, not only was Melchizedek a priest of God, he was also the king of Salem (vv. 1).
- In being king of Salem, his title also meant "'king of righteousness'; then also...'king of peace.'" (vv. 2)
- Was so great of a ruler and so noble a king that even "Abraham gave him a tenth of everything." (vv. 2) Even the Bible states, "just think how great (Melchizedek) was." (vv. 4)
- "Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever." (vv. 3). Just as Jesus remains the Son of God throughout eternity, the Bible recognizes Melchizedek as God's priest for all of eternity.
- Worthy enough for Jesus to be compared with him (2nd section)
Jesus Like Melchizedek (Had a bit of difficulty with this portion)
- Unlike Aaron (the first high priest), a Levite, Melchizedek who was not a Levite was priest to Aaron the same way that Jesus, a Jew, is the ultimate high priest to everyone.
- Because we are unable to become completely pure through the Levitical priesthood (the laws in the Old Testament), "such a high priest meets our need - one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens." (vv. 27) In addition, "because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood." (vv. 25) the same way that God gave Melchizedek permanent priesthood.
If people would like to add on, please be my guest. I feel as if I haven't covered the entire 2nd half sufficiently.
Pu
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Hebrews 6
Hello, lovely Life Group. Hope the first week of break has been wonderful. I will share more about mine in a bit, but now: Hebrews 6.
What a difficult passage.
The first part (vv. 1-12) left one thought ringing in my mind:
How scary.
(vv. 4-8)
-Can a person, having experienced something so much like salvation, "fall away" to the point where "it is impossible to restore again to repentance"?
-Did that person truly believe to begin with, or were all their "spiritual experiences" just that, only experiences with no life-changing salvation?
-Are believers who "fall away" then doomed to two fates: fruitless faith -- oxymoron (v.8), or impossibility of restoration (v. 4)?
-Should this be taken literally, or is the writer only trying to make a point in highlighting the severity of having long-term immature faith (5:11-14, 6:1)?
These were some of my questions before reading several very helpful commentaries. I wrote them so that they might be a springboard for you guys to seek answers yourselves. I'm afraid if I answer the questions myself on this blog, I will either preach or misinterpret God's Word.
* (vv. 13-20)
An immensely blessing passage. Personally, I really needed these words; I drank them in and let the weight of their truth settle somewhere deep inside. I think I might never tire of reading it. Don't just take my word for it, please meditate on it too.
I hope this helped in some way for your guys' personal devotions with God.
- - - - -
My week was very good. And my week was absolutely miserable.
I guess with the bad news first. I've been sick since Tuesday. Yesterday was my worst sick day yet. I couldn't stop shaking, sniffling, and coughing. I "emptied my stomach of anything substantial" ...5 different times. My first meal since Thursday night was lunch today. I'm feeling better now though, so no worries.
My week was very good (up until being sick) because I got to catch up on reading and relax a little. On Thursday, my 3 closest friends surprised me by visiting me at home. Last night, my best friend Shea came to take care of me. Today, I went with Pastor Tom to a counselor's training meeting for the AF1 retreat. I'm not sure if I'm going yet -- I've been feeling very emotionally drained lately -- but PT is actually really understanding and is giving me time to pray/think about it. And I had a really good time just talking and hanging out with him today. :)
I have much more to do. I hate being sick because I'm just so immobilized by exhaustion. Hopefully this will go away very soon.
- - - - -
Wow, sorry for cutting this so close.
I didn't realize it took me this long to write a blog entry.
- - - - -
Now to go make Christmas goodie-bags for my adorable YG kids! :D
Have a wonderful remainder of break.
What a difficult passage.
The first part (vv. 1-12) left one thought ringing in my mind:
How scary.
(vv. 4-8)
-Can a person, having experienced something so much like salvation, "fall away" to the point where "it is impossible to restore again to repentance"?
-Did that person truly believe to begin with, or were all their "spiritual experiences" just that, only experiences with no life-changing salvation?
-Are believers who "fall away" then doomed to two fates: fruitless faith -- oxymoron (v.8), or impossibility of restoration (v. 4)?
-Should this be taken literally, or is the writer only trying to make a point in highlighting the severity of having long-term immature faith (5:11-14, 6:1)?
These were some of my questions before reading several very helpful commentaries. I wrote them so that they might be a springboard for you guys to seek answers yourselves. I'm afraid if I answer the questions myself on this blog, I will either preach or misinterpret God's Word.
* (vv. 13-20)
An immensely blessing passage. Personally, I really needed these words; I drank them in and let the weight of their truth settle somewhere deep inside. I think I might never tire of reading it. Don't just take my word for it, please meditate on it too.
I hope this helped in some way for your guys' personal devotions with God.
- - - - -
My week was very good. And my week was absolutely miserable.
I guess with the bad news first. I've been sick since Tuesday. Yesterday was my worst sick day yet. I couldn't stop shaking, sniffling, and coughing. I "emptied my stomach of anything substantial" ...5 different times. My first meal since Thursday night was lunch today. I'm feeling better now though, so no worries.
My week was very good (up until being sick) because I got to catch up on reading and relax a little. On Thursday, my 3 closest friends surprised me by visiting me at home. Last night, my best friend Shea came to take care of me. Today, I went with Pastor Tom to a counselor's training meeting for the AF1 retreat. I'm not sure if I'm going yet -- I've been feeling very emotionally drained lately -- but PT is actually really understanding and is giving me time to pray/think about it. And I had a really good time just talking and hanging out with him today. :)
I have much more to do. I hate being sick because I'm just so immobilized by exhaustion. Hopefully this will go away very soon.
- - - - -
Wow, sorry for cutting this so close.
I didn't realize it took me this long to write a blog entry.
- - - - -
Now to go make Christmas goodie-bags for my adorable YG kids! :D
Have a wonderful remainder of break.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Melchizedek
Melchizedek will be mentioned again, especially in Hebrews 7, where the relationship between Jesus and Melchizedek is made clearer.
Melchizedek first appears in Genesis 14. He is actually the first priest, not only that but high priest to be mentioned in the bible. He didn't come from the line of Levites. And he has no successor. It was significant that Jesus did not come from the priestly tribe of Levi (Aaron) but is compared to being the same kind of priest as Melchizedek. In Jewish genealogy Jesus came from the royal tribe of Judah (David), making him a King and a priest--like melchizedek.
hmm this is not really an in depth explanation, but I think reading Genesis 14, Psalm 110, and Hebrews 7 will help a lot in understanding why the author of Hebrews relates the two together. and an interesting side note--- tithing.. giving a tenth of what we have came from Melchizedek, not an original idea in levitic law.
happy reading! It's snowing like crazy in Jersey right now.
Melchizedek first appears in Genesis 14. He is actually the first priest, not only that but high priest to be mentioned in the bible. He didn't come from the line of Levites. And he has no successor. It was significant that Jesus did not come from the priestly tribe of Levi (Aaron) but is compared to being the same kind of priest as Melchizedek. In Jewish genealogy Jesus came from the royal tribe of Judah (David), making him a King and a priest--like melchizedek.
hmm this is not really an in depth explanation, but I think reading Genesis 14, Psalm 110, and Hebrews 7 will help a lot in understanding why the author of Hebrews relates the two together. and an interesting side note--- tithing.. giving a tenth of what we have came from Melchizedek, not an original idea in levitic law.
happy reading! It's snowing like crazy in Jersey right now.
Hebrews 5
Hellooooooo from Hong Kong, where it is still in t-shirt and flip-flops weather and (well I would like to say the sun is shining... boo but it is nighttime over here now so nvm that.)
Continuing from the end of ch4, Hebrews 5 talks about priesthood - the criteria and duties of a priest (vv. 1-3); how one is called to become a priest (vv. 4-6); and uses Jesus as an example (vv. 7-10).
It says in v3, 'This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people'.
This reminds me of the Sunday when Pastor Seth came to preach on the last part of the Re:turn series on repentance and forgiveness. Pastor Seth talked about the importance of collective repentance, and pointed out that leaders of the church should take responsibility of the sins committed by the church and repent 'for the people'.
V7 'During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission'.
In one of my quiet times a few weeks ago, I was reading Psalm 102, aka 'A prayer of one afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before God'. In the follow up reading, it says that worship is meant to be real and truthful, as exemplified by Jesus' 'loud cries and tears'.
Ok. This is probably not relevant to what this passage is saying, but I do think it is important to know that we should acknowledge our true feelings in our worship and prayers. By admitting our anger/sadness/anxieties etc to God, we cast these unwanted burdens on Him and let Him be in control of them.
vv 11-14 shifts the theme to our spiritual growth.
vv 13-14 'Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil'.
Ahhh. Foooood.
Milk vs. Solid Food.
I think 'milk' is learning the basics when we first heard the Gospel. It is relatively easy to digest, how we're loved and special in God's eyes; how we can do anything if we have faith and the right motives. We hear all the good things and are protected in this bubble. But we have to grow up. We can't be babies forever. We can't forever crawl on carpeted floors with every dangerous object taken out of our way. We can't forever lie in the crib and wait for someone to feed us. There comes the time when we have to exercise those muscles and start walking. We need to exercise our faith and practice the teachings we've heard Sunday after Sunday. This is when we start to ingest 'solid' food. We gain experience, some harder to digest than others - failures, disappointments... but these are the ones that can provide us with the essential nutrients that will help us grow stronger and more mature.
So yes. It's time to stop waiting open-mouthed for the church to feed us. It's time to really get up on our feet and hunt.
//
Hmm. Oh. Question.
v6, 'You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek'.
I had no idea what 'the order of Melchizedek' was, so I looked up Psalm 110:4 as quoted in the reference.
Psalm 110:4 -
The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind:
"You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
...
Then I read the whole Psalm 110 but I still did not get what 'the order of Melchizedek' was supposed to mean.
Any insights? (If not... is it important? After all, it appeared twice in four verses)
Continuing from the end of ch4, Hebrews 5 talks about priesthood - the criteria and duties of a priest (vv. 1-3); how one is called to become a priest (vv. 4-6); and uses Jesus as an example (vv. 7-10).
It says in v3, 'This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people'.
This reminds me of the Sunday when Pastor Seth came to preach on the last part of the Re:turn series on repentance and forgiveness. Pastor Seth talked about the importance of collective repentance, and pointed out that leaders of the church should take responsibility of the sins committed by the church and repent 'for the people'.
V7 'During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission'.
In one of my quiet times a few weeks ago, I was reading Psalm 102, aka 'A prayer of one afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before God'. In the follow up reading, it says that worship is meant to be real and truthful, as exemplified by Jesus' 'loud cries and tears'.
Ok. This is probably not relevant to what this passage is saying, but I do think it is important to know that we should acknowledge our true feelings in our worship and prayers. By admitting our anger/sadness/anxieties etc to God, we cast these unwanted burdens on Him and let Him be in control of them.
vv 11-14 shifts the theme to our spiritual growth.
vv 13-14 'Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil'.
Ahhh. Foooood.
Milk vs. Solid Food.
I think 'milk' is learning the basics when we first heard the Gospel. It is relatively easy to digest, how we're loved and special in God's eyes; how we can do anything if we have faith and the right motives. We hear all the good things and are protected in this bubble. But we have to grow up. We can't be babies forever. We can't forever crawl on carpeted floors with every dangerous object taken out of our way. We can't forever lie in the crib and wait for someone to feed us. There comes the time when we have to exercise those muscles and start walking. We need to exercise our faith and practice the teachings we've heard Sunday after Sunday. This is when we start to ingest 'solid' food. We gain experience, some harder to digest than others - failures, disappointments... but these are the ones that can provide us with the essential nutrients that will help us grow stronger and more mature.
So yes. It's time to stop waiting open-mouthed for the church to feed us. It's time to really get up on our feet and hunt.
//
Hmm. Oh. Question.
v6, 'You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek'.
I had no idea what 'the order of Melchizedek' was, so I looked up Psalm 110:4 as quoted in the reference.
Psalm 110:4 -
The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind:
"You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
...
Then I read the whole Psalm 110 but I still did not get what 'the order of Melchizedek' was supposed to mean.
Any insights? (If not... is it important? After all, it appeared twice in four verses)
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