#41. Numbers 5-8 | May the LORD Bless You and Keep You and Make His Face Shine Upon You
You may be familiar with this sweet, concise prayer, but did you know it was from the book of Numbers? Continue to read about the God who longs to bless His people... and in this episode, we will get to witness the Israelites blessing God too! It doesn't happen every time, so don't miss it. :)
Today's Reading: Numbers 5-8
Scripture Read or Referenced:
Numbers 5: 5-7, 11-31
Numbers 6:1-8
Numbers 6:23-27
Numbers 7:84-89
Numbers 8:10-16
Hebrews 13:4
Find out which track is best for you with our Free Bible Reading Plan: www.entrustedministries.com/podcast
Find out more about Entrusted with a Child's Heart here: www.entrustedministries.com/studies
Commentaries Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary
Transcript
Welcome to the Dwelling Place
from Entrusted Ministries.
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:I'm Stephanie Cocks and we believe the
Lord God creator of the universe longs
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:to dwell and abide with us and when we
seek Him first, that he guides us in
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:wisdom for our families and helps us
become the mothers that we long to be.
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:But it's not just for our kids' benefit,
it's for our joy and blessing as well.
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:We are going through the
Bible chronologically.
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:I use the ESV version, but
there are plenty of great Bible
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:translations you can utilize.
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:and if you're new to this, we
have three different tracks.
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:You can convict the Bible reading
plan that works best for you.
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:I'm gonna link in our show notes.
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:how you can sign up for free access to
our file with all sorts of resources
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:to help you be in God's word.
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:I'm going to speak delicately,
But this episode still deals
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:with some sensitive topics.
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:Today we're looking at numbers
chapter five through eight.
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:Interestingly, Moses was not
concerned about presenting.
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:Numbers in a chronological
order necessarily.
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:More so.
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:He wanted to focus on obedience.
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:But in these first couple chapters,
we'll continue to read about God's
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:guidelines for helping these people be
set apart in righteousness and holiness.
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:In chapter five, verse five, we read
and the Lord spoke to Moses saying,
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:speak to the people of Israel.
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:When a man or woman commits.
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:any of the sins that people commit.
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:By breaking faith with the Lord and
that person realizes his guilt, he shall
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:confess his sin that he has committed
and he shall make full restitution for
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:his wrong, adding a fifth to it and
giving to him to whom he did the wrong.
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:The Lord has already addressed
a lot of the sins against him.
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:And the ways that people become unclean,
but now he's talking about more personal
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:sins that might not be outwardly obvious.
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:God's heart for forgiveness is so apparent
to me when I keep reading these words.
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:When a man or woman commits any of the
sins that people commit, he really is a
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:God that wants us to be restored to him.
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:But there were consequences
for more serious sin.
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:And if you keep reading in chapter
five, you'll see what happens.
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:If a husband suspects his wife has
been unfaithful, God continues to
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:call them to purity, and he describes
what must be done if one of the
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:most private of sins is committed.
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:If a husband is experiencing
jealousy and really believes his
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:wife may have been unfaithful, an
elaborate process is described.
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:She would've even had to drink
holy water that was mixed with the
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:dirt from the floor of the temple.
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:It would've been absolutely
humiliating to go through it,
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:but God is creating a deterrent.
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:He's saying, if you commit this sin,
you're not just sitting against your
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:husband, you're also sitting against
me, and this is not what my people do.
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:But if the woman is innocent, the Lord
will prove her innocence and bless her.
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:If she's not, there will be a consequence.
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:Although my amaris disagree about
what this would be, one says that
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:the woman would've been sentenced
to death, but another said they
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:didn't believe the Lord was requiring
death, and it chose an act of grace.
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:But also that this is providing
protection for a wife.
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:If a husband was falsely accusing
her, she could be publicly vindicated.
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:God continues to elevate the
marital relationship just as he
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:wants our full devotion to him.
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:He wants us to be faithfully
committed to one another.
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:It makes me think of Hebrews 13.
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:in verse four, let marriage be held in
honor among all and let the marriage
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:bed be undefiled for God will judge
the sexually immoral and adulterous
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:.
And as I read the beginning of numbers, chapter six and the process for committing
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:to the Nazarite vow, I want you to be
thinking about who else in scripture
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:was called to make this commitment.
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:Chapter six, verse one begins, and the
Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to
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:the people of Israel and say to them.
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:When either a man or a woman
makes a special vow, the vow of
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:an nite to separate himself to the
Lord, he shall separate himself
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:from wine and strong drink.
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:He shall drink no vinegar made
from wine or strong drink, and
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:shall not drink any juice or grapes
or eat grapes, fresh or dried.
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:All the days of his separation,
he shall eat nothing that is
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:produced by the grapevine, not
even the seeds or the skins.
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:All the days of his vow separation.
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:No razor shall touch his head until
the time is completed for which
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:he separates himself to the Lord.
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:He shall be holy.
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:He shall let the locks of his hair
of his head grow long, all the days
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:that he separates himself to the Lord.
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:He shall not go near a dead body,
not even for his father or for
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:his mother, for brother or sister.
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:If they die, shall he make himself unclean
because his separation to God is on his
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:head all the days of his separation.
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:He is holy to the Lord.
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:Hmm.
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:And then God continues to describe
what this commitment would entail.
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:If you thought of Samson in the
book of Judges or John the Baptist
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:taking this vow, you are correct.
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:I find it fascinating that this was
actually something parents could
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:commit their children to and initiate
it as Hannah did with Samuel.
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:And did you catch that?
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:It said if any man or woman wanted
to consecrate themself onto the Lord,
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:how beautiful that this
opportunity was available.
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:And it seems it was for
any one of any tribe.
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:You didn't have to be born into
the Levitical priesthood to be
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:set apart, to serve the Lord.
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:Anyone who wanted to embrace
a Call of Holiness, who wanted
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:to consecrate themselves to the
Lord had an opportunity to do so.
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:You'll probably find the words of
this blessing familiar, and you
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:might be surprised that these verses
are found in the Book of Numbers.
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:In 6 23, we read.
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:Thus, you shall bless the people
of Israel, you shall say to them.
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:The Lord bless you and keep you.
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:The Lord make his face to shine
upon you and be gracious to you.
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:The Lord lift up his countenance
upon you and give you peace.
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:So shall they put my name upon the
people of Israel and I will bless them.
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:This is a sweet, concise prayer,
and it might be even be something
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:you've said over your children.
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:When it says, may God's face
shine upon you, this is saying his
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:favor, but also his presence and
keeping you relates to preservation
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:and him being gracious as him, showing
kindness and blessing in all of it.
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:And now we're onto chapter seven did
you know that this is the second
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:longest chapter of scripture?
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:Second to Psalm one 19.
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:So if you are listening, and it goes
on and on and on, I just wanted to
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:give you a heads up that today's
reading is a little bit lengthy.
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:Chapter seven describes the donations
that were made to the temple.
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:If you've been walking with us since
the beginning, you might recall that
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:before the tabernacle was constructed,
the Israelites brought donations to
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:the temple and now more offerings
are coming in for the dedication.
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:It is neat to see how practical a lot
of this was as they're giving wagons
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:and carts and oxen and the materials of
the tabernacle needed to be transported.
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:so those would've been very helpful.
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:The men that came to present the offering
from each tribe were the same men that
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:were selected in chapter one to be in
charge of the census for each of the
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:designated tribes, and we'll see their
names come up again in different roles.
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:After we get through that long chapter
of them bringing offering after offering,
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:Then we're given a list
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:of the sum of the offerings.
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:I'll begin in verse 84.
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:This was the dedication offering for the
altar on the day when it was anointed from
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:the Chiefs of Israel, 12 silver plates.
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:12 silver basins, 12 golden dishes.
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:Each silver plate weighing
130 shekels and each basin 70,
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:all the silver of the vessels.
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:2,400 shekels according to the shekel
of the sanctuary, the 12 golden
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:dishes full of incense weighing
10 shekel a piece according to the
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:shekel of the sanctuary, all the
gold of the dishes being 120 shekels.
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:All the cattle for the burnt offering.
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:12 bulls.
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:12 rams, 12 male goats, a year old with
their grain offering and 12 male goats
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:for a sin offering and all the cattle
for the sacrifice of peace Offerings
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:24 bulls, the Ram 60, the male goat 60,
the male, the male lamps a year old, 60.
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:This was a dedication offering for
the altar after it was anointed.
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:it concludes in verse 89, and
Moses went into the tent of
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:meeting to speak with the Lord.
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:He heard the voice speaking to him
from above the mercy seat that was on
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:the arc of the testimony from between
the two cherin and it spoke to him.
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:It's almost as though the Lord is
saying, wow, if you are gonna bring me
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:all of this, I am gonna show up for you.
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:He is so pleased at their hearts.
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:Remember the Israelites have been
quite fickle, but when they have
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:these moments of devotion and
generosity, it seems God chooses to,
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:to delight in and enter in with them.
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:In chapter eight, God explains how
the Israelites should be brought
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:before him and that the people
should lay their hands on them.
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:It says that phrase multiple times,
that the people should lay their
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:hands on them to consecrate them.
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:Have you ever wondered if
there's a biblical basis
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:for that practice of prayer?
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:Well, you can rest assured that there is,
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:and eight 16 tells us.
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:They are wholly given to me from
among the people of Israel instead
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:of all who opened the womb, the
firstborn of all the people of Israel.
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:I have taken them for myself.
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:What an honor to be chosen to
serve the Lord as a Levite.
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:But you and I have that same honor
as well, whether you are a wife,
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:a mother, a daughter of Christ,
a churchgoer, a sister, a friend.
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:The Lord has prepared good works for you.
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:A scripture says before
the creation of the world,
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:so when you, whether it's staying
faithful in your marriage,
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:devoting your children onto him,
bringing offerings before the Lord.
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:Or serving with whatever
gift he's given you.
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:You are walking in those works.
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:Heavenly Father, as we read about
the Levites being set apart to
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:serve you and the vow of the
Nazarites being consecrated to you.
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:I pray our hearts would be
devoted to your work and that we
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:would lay down our own agendas.
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:Though motherhood and life seems to
continually overhaul our plans, we ask
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:that you would help us to embrace the
interruptions of our day, that we would
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:see them as silver platter moments and
opportunities to love and serve well.
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:We desire to be generous and to give
joyfully and sacrificially as the people
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:did when they dedicated to your temple.
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:And just as these parents could have
initiated this fow to set their child
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:apart for your glory today, we bring
our children before you and ask that
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:they would be devoted to your work.
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:Lord.
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:Whether it's in vocational
ministry or just loving you
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:faithfully, wherever they go,
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:we pray that they would have pure
hearted devotion to serve you.
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:Thank you, Jesus, that you
are a God that can make us
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:clean and blameless before you.
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:It's in your name we pray.
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:Amen.
