Title: Daily and Yearly Preparation for Heaven
Topic: Salvation
Summary: The daily sacrifices, weekly sabbaths, and three annual feasts prescribed in the Old Testament are a picture of how to prepare for heaven.
Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.
References:
2 Peter 2:22, 10
Numbers 28:1
Exodus 23:14, 17
Leviticus 23:1, 5, 10, 33
Deuteronomy 16:1, 9, 13-14
Luke 6:1
Acts of the Apostles 2:1; 20:16
Nehemiah 8:13-14
Ezekiel 45:21, 25
Zechariah 14:16
John 7:2, 37
261 - Daily and Yearly Preparation for Heaven
By Jonathan S. Rose
Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 5/4/2016. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com
Leviticus 23
1
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
3
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
4
These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
5
In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.
6
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
7
In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
8
But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
9
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
10
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
11
And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12
And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
13
And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.
14
And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
15
And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16
Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
17
Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
18
And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.
19
Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20
And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
21
And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
23
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
24
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
25
Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
26
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
27
Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
28
And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.
29
For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
30
And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
31
Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32
It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
33
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
34
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.
35
On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
36
Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
37
These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:
38
Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD.
39
Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
40
And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.
41
And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42
Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
43
That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
44
And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.
Arcana Coelestia #9506
9506. 'And you shall make a mercy-seat from pure gold' means the hearing and reception of all things that belong to worship arising from the good of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'the mercy-seat' as the cleansing from evils or forgiveness of sins, consequently the hearing and reception of all things that belong to worship, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'gold' as the good of love, dealt with in 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914. The truth that 'the mercy-seat' means the cleansing from evils and forgiveness of sins is clear from those places in the Word where propitiation or expiation is referred to. 1 The reason why the hearing and reception of all things belonging to worship is also meant is that only those who have made propitiation or expiation, that is, been cleansed from evils, are heard by the Lord and have their worship accepted by Him; it does not happen with those who are steeped in evils, that is, have not made expiation or propitiation. Therefore also Aaron was not allowed to approach the mercy-seat until he had been cleansed and had made propitiation for himself and the people.
[2] The truth that 'the mercy-seat' consequently means the hearing and reception of all things that belong to worship is also clear from the consideration that Jehovah spoke to Moses over the mercy-seat between the cherubs. The reason why worship arising from the good of love is that which is received is that no one is allowed to enter heaven and so approach the Lord other than a person who is governed by good, that is to say, by the good of love to the Lord and the good of charity towards the neighbour, see 8516, 8539, 8722, 8772, 9139, 9227, 9230, 9274; no one else is heard nor can anyone else's worship be received. This also explains why there were cherubs over the mercy-seat; for watchfulness and providence are meant by 'the cherubs', guarding against access to the Lord except through the good of love, that is, guarding against entrance into heaven by any apart from those who are governed by good, and also guarding against those in hell gaining access to the inhabitants of heaven and doing them harm. All this shows what was meant by the presence of the mercy-seat over the ark and by that of the cherubs over the mercy-seat, and by the fact that the mercy-seat and the cherubs too were made from pure gold; for 'gold' means the good of love, and 'the ark' heaven where the Lord is.
[3] The truth that 'the mercy-seat' means the cleansing from evils, and so the forgiveness of sins, is clear from places in the Word where 'propitiation' or 'expiation' 2 is referred to, as in David,
O Jehovah, expiate our sins for Your name's sake. Psalms 79:9.
In the same author,
He, being merciful, has expiated iniquity. Psalms 78:38.
In the same author,
You will expiate me with hyssop and I shall become clean; You will wash me and I shall be made whiter than snow. Psalms 51:7.
In Isaiah,
Evil will come upon you, which you will not know how to ward off; calamity will befall you, which you will not be able to expiate. Isaiah 47:11.
And in Moses,
Sing, O nations, the people of Him who will avenge the blood of His servants, and will expiate His land, His people. Deuteronomy 32:43.
[4] Expiations were effected by means of sacrifices; and it says that when they were offered the priest would expiate him from sin, and he would be pardoned, 3 Leviticus 4:26, 31, 35; 5:6, 10, 13, 16, 18; 6:7; 9:7; 15:15, 30. Expiation was also effected by 'silver', Exodus 30:16; Psalms 49:7. Hence also the day of expiations 4 before the feast of tabernacles, Leviticus 23:27-32. But it should be recognized that none of those expiations constituted a real cleansing from evils or forgiveness of sins; it only represented it. For every religious observance among the Israelite and Jewish nation was merely representative of the Lord, His kingdom and Church, and such realities as belong to heaven and the Church. How representations brought such realities to angels' awareness in heaven, see 9229.
[5] Since the cleansing from evils and forgiveness of sins was meant by 'the mercy-seat', the hearing and reception of all things that belonged to worship was also meant; for one who has been cleansed from evils is heard and his worship is received. This was represented by Jehovah's speaking above the mercy-seat to Moses and His commanding what the children of Israel should do, as is clear from verse 22 of the present chapter, where it says,
And I will meet with you there, and I will speak to you from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubs which are over the ark of the Testimony, [declaring] everything that I shall command you for the children of Israel.
The like occurs elsewhere,
Whenever Moses spoke to Jehovah he heard the voice speaking from above the mercy-seat that was over the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubs. Numbers 7:89.
The fact that a person was heard and his worship was received when he had been cleansed from evils was represented by Aaron's not going into the holy place within the veil before the mercy-seat unless he had first made expiation for himself and the people, by ceremonial washing, sacrifices, incense, and blood, as stated in Leviticus 16:2-16, which concludes,
In this way he shall expiate the holy place from the uncleannesses of the children of Israel, and from their transgressions in regard of all their sins.
It also says in verse 2 that Jehovah would appear at the mercy-seat 'in the cloud', meaning in Divine Truth adjusted to people's ability to receive and understand it, such as the Word is in the sense of the letter, 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343 (end), 6752, 8106, 8443, 8781.
Footnotes:
1. The Latin word propitiatorium rendered the mercy-seat may be translated more literally as the place of propitiation.
2. The Hebrew verb behind expiate, used in an uncommon way in the following quotations, means cover over. The Latin verb generally means atone for or purify what is defiled.
3. i.e. the priest shall make atonement for the person's sin, and the person will stand forgiven
4. Generally known as the day of atonement
