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Baptism in New Orleans

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originally uploaded by Jack Fox.

This is the groups celebrating the baptisms in N.O.

Scapegoats and Sacrificial Goats

In todays bible reading, I was struck by the use of 2 goats for the Day of Atonement (at-one-ment). One was used as the sacrificial goat (i.e. slaughtered by the priest) and the other was the scapegoat. Both were used as a means of cleansing the Jewish people from their sin. One dies the other lives.

This fascinates me. I have really been camping out in Hebrews for the past several years; trying to figure out some of the deep mysteries within this great letter. Hebrews talks about Jesus being our High Priest and about how the earthly tabernacle is a copy of the heavenly tabernacle. So my fascination is: How the two goats play into the Heavenly tabernacle, and this issue of atonement.

So here is my two cents: Both goats represent Christ. One goat's blood was shed (without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness). The other goat had the sins of the people placed upon its head and was lead out into the wilderness, this was the scapegoat. It is easy to see that the first goat ties in closely to the crucifixion. But the other goat takes a little to understand. My thought ties into the REAL penalty of our sin is that we will be separated from God because of our sin. We will all die right? So Christ simply dying was not paying for our penalty, but shedding his blood did satisfy the Law. The scapegoat was separated from the tabernacle (where Gods presence resided) and led out into the wilderness taking the sins with it. Christ fulfilled the Law for us completely 1) by shedding his blood; 2) by separating himself from God.

We know that Christ was separated form God because 1) on the cross he said "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" 2) he descended into hell and hell could not hold him (no sin=no guilt).

So you can know that your sin, no matter how great, has been completely wiped out. Today is the day of atonement for you. Accept Christ's forgiveness and sacrifice.

Baptisms in New Orleans

262_IMG_0816,
originally uploaded by Jack Fox.

Scot and I had the honor of baptizing 4 people dring the trip!

Hey that's 10% of the people that went!

Have I noticed this before?

Acts 7:9"Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.

Maybe I'm a little slow....

But the story of Joseph is a great parallel to the story of Christ. The pure and wrongly accused despised by his own. Sold out by those who he loved. But in the end given the place of highest honor second only to one.

Just Copies

Exodus 25

God goes into great detail in describing the appearances and use of the tabernacle and items that would be contained within. To a jr. higher it might appear that God is just trying to fill up pages for his "book." Combine that with some geneology scattered throughout the bible and you could fill up few pages!

But these things were very important to God. The Tabernacle is where he would minister to his people through his high priest. The Ark contained reminders of Gods power, and was the place where Gods presence would manifest. This is also known as the Mercy Seat.

This is all pretty interesting stuff but we have to ask, "what's the point?" The point we fnd out later on in a letter to the Hebrews take time to read this link:

Hebrews Chapter 9

So the design of the Ark ultimately is a representation of something in heaven. Actually the entire tabernacle is representative of something in heaven.

Giving us what we want.

On the surface who wouldn't agree that Pharoah had it all...wealth, power, and all the fineries thereunto. His people worshipped him as divine. It's easy to see why Pharoah would not have a need for God. He had everyone since his birth telling him that HE was divine. Have you ever met someone who appeared to have no need for God? They don't want to admit that they have any needs, weaknesses, and they certainly don't need the God crutch do they?

One thing that really struck me when reading about the Exodus was how the Bible refers several times to God hardening Pharoahs heart. I have read a lot about this because it is confusing that God would cause someones heart to harden. But this is not necessarily interferring with Pharoahs free will, because 1) he wanted it. 2) he had been warned that God would make a spectical of him.

If you have kids it's easier to understand how God could do this. Sometimes kids are so stubborn in having there own way that you have to tunr them over to it, even if it causes them pain in order to get them back.

It will be difficult for us to tell who is on the self destructive path. But they are out there. The guy who is wrecking his family while building his business. The addicted, the prideful, sometimes I feel like I am one bad day away from that.

I need to take inventory and see where my heart is hard. I am sure it is there. And while I'm at it; what has God warned me about? I gotta go...got some thinkin and prayin to do.

How about you?