"Have You Ever Been Carried Away For Him?" by Oswald Chambers
She hath wrought a good work on Me. (MARK 14:6)
If human love does not carry a man beyond himself, it is not love. If love is always discreet, always wise, always sensible and calculating, never carried beyond itself, it is not love at all. It may be affection, it may be warmth of feeling, but it has not the true nature of love in it.Have I ever been carried away to do something for God not because it was my duty, nor because it was useful, nor because there was anything in it at all beyond the fact that I love Him? Have I ever realized that I can bring to God things which are of value to Him, or am I mooning round the magnitude of His Redemption whilst there are any number of things I might be doing? Not Divine, colossal things which could be recorded as marvellous, but ordinary, simple human things which will give evidence to God that I am abandoned to Him? Have I ever produced in the heart of the Lord Jesus what Mary of Bethany produced?
There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him the abandoned tokens of how genuinely we do love Him. Abandon to God is of more value than personal holiness. Personal holiness focuses the eye on our own whiteness; we are greatly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, fearful lest we offend Him. Perfect love casts out all that when once we are abandoned to God. We have to get rid of this notion – “Am I of any use?” and make up our minds that we are not, and we may be near the truth. It is never a question of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. When we are abandoned to God, He works through us all the time. (From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition)
Bible in One Year: Numbers 1-3; Mark 3
Numbers 1:1 Adonai spoke to Moshe in the Sinai Desert, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt. He said, 2 “Take a census of the entire assembly of the people of Isra’el, by clans and families. Record the names of all the men 3 twenty years old and over who are subject to military service in Isra’el. You and Aharon are to enumerate them company by company.
4 Take with you from each tribe someone who is head of a clan. 5 These are the men to take with you:
From Re’uven, Elitzur the son of Sh’de’ur;
6 From Shim‘on, Shlumi’el the son of Tzurishaddai;
7 From Y’hudah, Nachshon the son of ‘Amminadav;
8 From Yissakhar, N’tan’el the son of Tzu‘ar;
9 From Z’vulun, Eli’av the son of Helon.
10 Of the children of Yosef:
From Efrayim, Elishama the son of ‘Ammihud;
From M’nasheh, Gamli’el the son of P’dahtzur.
11 From Binyamin, Avidan the son of Gid‘oni;
12 From Dan, Achi‘ezer the son of ‘Ammishaddai;
13 From Asher, Pag‘i’el the son of ‘Okhran;
14 From Gad, Elyasaf the son of De‘u’el;
15 From Naftali, Achira the son of ‘Enan.”
16 These were the ones called from the assembly, the chiefs of their fathers’ clans and heads of thousands in Isra’el. 17 So Moshe and Aharon took these men who had been designated by name; 18 and, on the first day of the second month, they gathered the whole assembly to state their genealogies by families and clans and recorded the names of all those twenty years old and over, as well as their total numbers. 19 Moshe counted them in the Sinai Desert, just as Adonai had ordered him.
(ii) 20 The men twenty years old and over who were subject to military service were recorded by name, family and clan, starting with the descendants of Re’uven, Isra’el’s firstborn. Here are the totals:
21 Descendants of Re’uven 46,500
22-23 Descendants of Shim‘on 59,300
24-25 Descendants of Gad 45,650
26-27 Descendants of Y’hudah 74,600
28-29 Descendants of Yissakhar 54,400
30-31 Descendants of Z’vulun 57,400
32-33 Descendants of Efrayim 40,500
34-35 Descendants of M’nasheh 32,200
36-37 Descendants of Binyamin 35,400
38-39 Descendants of Dan 62,700
40-41 Descendants of Asher 41,500
42-43 Descendants of Naftali 53,400
44 Moshe, Aharon and the twelve leaders of Isra’el, each from a clan, 45 counted the people of Isra’el by their clans, those twenty years old and over, eligible for military service in Isra’el; 46 and the grand total came to 603,550.
47 But those who were L’vi’im, according to the clan of their fathers, were not counted in this census; 48 because Adonai had told Moshe, 49 “Do not include the clan of Levi when you take the census of the people of Isra’el. 50 Instead, give the L’vi’im charge over the tabernacle of the testimony, its equipment and everything else connected with it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its equipment, serve in it and set up their camp around it. 51 When the tabernacle is to be moved onward, it is the L’vi’im who are to take it down and set it up in the new location; anyone else who involves himself is to be put to death. 52 The rest of Isra’el are to set up camp, company by company, each man with his own banner. 53 But the L’vi’im are to camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that no anger will come upon the assembly of the people of Isra’el. The L’vi’im are to be in charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.”
54 This is what the people of Isra’el did — they did everything that Adonai had ordered Moshe.
2:1 (iii) Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, 2 “The people of Isra’el are to set up camp by clans, each man with his own banner and under his clan’s symbol; they are to camp around the tent of meeting, but at a distance.
3-9 “Those camping on the east side toward the sunrise are to be under the banner of the camp of Y’hudah; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows:
Tribe Chief Number
Y’hudah Nachshon the son of ‘Amminadav 74,600
Yissakhar N’tan’el the son of Tzu‘ar 54,400
Z’vulun Eli’av the son of Helon 57,400
Total 186,400
“This group is to set out first.
10-16 “Those camping on the south are to be under the banner of the camp of Re’uven; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows:
Tribe Chief Number
Re’uven Elitzur the son of Sh’de’ur 46,500
Shim‘on Shlumi’el the son of Tzurishaddai 59,300
Gad Elyasaf the son of Re‘u’el 45,650
Total 151,450
“This group is to set out second.
17 “Then the tent of meeting, with the camp of the L’vi’im, will set out, with the other camps in front and behind. They will go in the same order as their camps are set up — each man will go forward in his position, under his banner.
18-24 “Those camping on the west are to be under the banner of the camp of Efrayim; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows:
Tribe Chief Number
Efrayim Elishama the son of ‘Ammihud 40,500
M’nasheh Gamli’el the son of P’dahtzur 32,200
Binyamin Avidan the son of Gid‘oni 35,400
Total 108,100
“This group is to set out third.
25-31 “Those camping on the north are to be under the banner of the camp of Dan; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows:
Tribe Chief Number
Dan Achi‘ezer the son of ‘Ammishaddai 62,700
Asher Pag‘i’el the son of ‘Okhran 41,500
Naftali Achira the son of ‘Enan 53,400
Total 157,600
“This group is to set out last with their banners.”
32 These are the ones counted from the people of Isra’el by clans; the total number recorded in the camps, company by company, was 603,550. 33 But, as Adonai ordered Moshe, the L’vi’im were not counted with the rest of Isra’el.
34:1 The people of Isra’el did everything Adonai had ordered Moshe: they set up camp under their banners, and they set out, each according to his family and clan.
3 (iv) These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe as of the day when Adonai spoke with Moshe on Mount Sinai. 2 The names of the sons of Aharon are: Nadav the firstborn, Avihu, El‘azar and Itamar. 3 These were the names of the sons of Aharon the cohen, whom he anointed and ordained as cohanim. 4 But Nadav and Avihu died in the presence of Adonai when they offered unauthorized fire before Adonai in the Sinai Desert, and they had no children; El‘azar and Itamar served as cohanim in the presence of Aharon their father.
5 Adonai said to Moshe, 6 “Summon the tribe of Levi, and assign them to Aharon the cohen, so that they can help him. 7 They are to carry out his duties and the duties of the whole community before the tent of meeting in performing the service of the tabernacle. 8 They are to be in charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and to carry out all the duties of the people of Isra’el connected with the service of the tabernacle. 9 Assign the L’vi’im to Aharon and his sons; their one responsibility in regard to the people of Isra’el is to serve him. 10 You are to appoint Aharon and his sons to carry out the duties of cohanim; anyone else who involves himself is to be put to death.”
11 Adonai said to Moshe, 12 “I have taken the L’vi’im from among the people of Isra’el in lieu of every firstborn male that is first from the womb among the people of Isra’el; the L’vi’im are to be mine. 13 All the firstborn males belong to me, because on the day that I killed all the firstborn males in the land of Egypt, I separated for myself all the firstborn males in Isra’el, both human and animal. They are mine; I am Adonai.”
(v) 14 Adonai said to Moshe in the Sinai Desert, 15 “Take a census of the tribe of Levi by clans and families. Count every male a month old or over.” 16 Moshe counted them in the manner Adonai had said, as he had been ordered. 17 The names of the sons of Levi were Gershon, K’hat and M’rari. 18 The names of the sons of Gershon were Livni and Shim‘i; they fathered their respective clans; 19 likewise the sons of K’hat — ‘Amram,Yitz’har, Hevron and ‘Uzi’el — 20 and the sons of M’rari — Machli and Mushi. These fathered the clans of the L’vi’im.
21 Gershon fathered the clans of Livni and Shim‘i; these were the Gershon clans. 22 Of them, 7,500 males a month old and over were counted. 23 The Gershon clans were to camp behind the tabernacle, toward the west. 24 The chief of the Gershon clan was Elyasaf, the son of La’el. 25 In connection with the tent of meeting, the descendants of Gershon were to be in charge of the following: the tabernacle itself, its inner and outer coverings, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26 the curtains surrounding the courtyard, the screen for the entrance of the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and the altar, all the fixtures and ropes for these items, and their maintenance.
27 K’hat fathered the clans of ‘Amram, Yitz’har, Hevron and ‘Uzi’el; these were the K’hat clans. 28 Of them, 8,600 males a month old and over were counted; they were in charge of the Holy Place. 29 The K’hat clans were to camp next to the tabernacle, toward the south. 30 The chief of the K’hat clan was Elitzafan the son of ‘Uzi’el. 31 They were responsible for the ark, the table, the menorah, the altars, the utensils the cohanim use when they serve in the Holy Place, the curtain, and everything involved with the maintenance of these things. 32 El‘azar the son of Aharon the cohen was first among the chiefs of the L’vi’im and supervised those in charge of the Holy Place.
33 M’rari fathered the clans of Machli and Mushi; these were the M’rari clans. 34 Of them, 6,200 males a month old and over were counted. 35 The chief of the M’rari clan was Tzuri’el the son of Avichayil. They were to camp next to the tabernacle, toward the north. 36 The M’rari clans were assigned responsibility for the frames of the tabernacle, along with its crossbars, posts, sockets and fittings, together with their maintenance; 37 also the posts of the surrounding courtyard, with their sockets, pegs and ropes.
38 Those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east, in front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moshe, Aharon and his sons who were in charge of the Holy Place. They carried out their responsibility on behalf of the people of Isra’el, and anyone else who involved himself was to be put to death.
39 The total number of L’vi’im whom Moshe and Aharon counted by their clans, all the males a month old and over, was 22,000.
(vi) 40 Adonai said to Moshe, “Register all the firstborn males of the people of Isra’el a month old and over, and determine how many there are. 41 Then you are to take the L’vi’im for me, Adonai, in place of all the firstborn among the people of Isra’el, and the cattle of the L’vi’im in place of the firstborn of the cattle belonging to the people of Isra’el.” 42 Moshe counted, as Adonai had ordered him, all the firstborn among the people of Isra’el. 43 The total number of firstborn males registered, a month old and over, of those who were counted, was 22,273.
44 Adonai said to Moshe, 45 “Take the L’vi’im in place of all the firstborn among the people of Isra’el, and the cattle of the L’vi’im in place of their cattle; the L’vi’im are to belong to me, Adonai. 46 Since there were 273 more firstborn males from Isra’el than male L’vi’im, in order to redeem them, 47 you are to take five shekels [two ounces] for each of these (use the sanctuary shekel, which is equal to twenty gerahs). 48 Give the redemption money for these extra people to Aharon and his sons.” 49 Moshe took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the L’vi’im; 50 the amount of money he took from the firstborn of the people of Isra’el was 1,365 shekels, using the sanctuary shekel. 51 Moshe gave the redemption-money to Aharon and his sons, in keeping with what Adonai had said, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
Mark 3:1 Yeshua went again into a synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Looking for a reason to accuse him of something, people watched him carefully to see if he would heal him on Shabbat. 3 He said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Come up where we can see you!” 4 Then to them he said, “What is permitted on Shabbat? Doing good or doing evil? Saving life or killing?” But they said nothing. 5 Then, looking them over and feeling both anger with them and sympathy for them at the stoniness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” As he held it out, it became restored. 6 The P’rushim went out and immediately began plotting with some members of Herod’s party how to do away with him.
7 Yeshua went off with his talmidim to the lake, and great numbers followed him from the Galil. 8 When they heard what he was doing, great numbers also followed him from Y’hudah, Yerushalayim, Idumea, the territory beyond the Yarden, and the Tzor-Tzidon area. 9 He told his talmidim to have a boat ready for him, so that he could escape the crush of the crowd if necessary, 10 for he had healed many people, and all the sick kept pressing forward to touch him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they would fall down in front of him and scream, “You are the Son of God!” 12 But he warned them strictly not to make him known.
13 Then he went up into the hill country and summoned to himself those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve to be with him, to be sent out to preach 15 and to have authority to expel demons:
16 Shim‘on, to whom he gave another name, “Kefa”;
17 Ya‘akov Ben-Zavdai and Yochanan, Ya‘akov’s brother — to them he gave the name “B’nei-Regesh” (that is, “Thunderers”);
18 Andrew, Philip, Bar-Talmai, Mattityahu, T’oma, Ya‘akov Ben-Halfai, Taddai, Shim‘on the Zealot,
19 and Y’hudah from K’riot, the one who betrayed him.
Then he entered a house; 20 and once more, such a crowd came together that they couldn’t even eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they set out to take charge of him; for they said, “He’s out of his mind!”
22 The Torah-teachers who came down from Yerushalayim said, “He has Ba‘al-Zibbul in him,” and “It is by the ruler of the demons that he expels the demons.” 23 But he called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan expel Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom can’t survive; 25 and if a household is divided against itself, that household can’t survive. 26 So if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he can’t survive either; and that’s the end of him. 27 Furthermore, no one can break into a strong man’s house and make off with his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. After that, he can ransack his house. 28 Yes! I tell you that people will be forgiven all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 however, someone who blasphemes against the Ruach HaKodesh never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 For they had been saying, “He has an unclean spirit in him.”
31 Then his mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent a message asking for him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.” 33 He replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 Looking at those seated in a circle around him, he said, “See! Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does what God wants is my brother, sister and mother!”
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WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I learning how to use my Bible? The way to become complete for the Master’s service is to be well soaked in the Bible; some of us only exploit certain passages. Our Lord wants to give us continuous instruction out of His word; continuous instruction turns hearers into disciples. (from Approved Unto God, 11 L)
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"The Initiative Against Dreaming" by Oswald Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest for Tuesday, 20 February 2018 - Daily Devotional
If we are quietly waiting before God and He has said – “Come ye yourselves apart,” then that is meditation before God in order to get at the line He wants; but always beware of giving over to mere dreaming when once God has spoken. Leave Him to be the source of all your dreams and joys and delights, and go out and obey what He has said. If you are in love, you do not sit down and dream about the one you love all the time, you go and do something for him; and that is what Jesus Christ expects us to do. Dreaming after God has spoken is an indication that we do not trust Him. (From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition)
Bible in One Year: Leviticus 26-27; Mark 2
Leviticus 26:1 “‘You are not to make yourselves any idols, erect a carved statue or a standing-stone, or place any carved stone anywhere in your land in order to bow down to it. I am Adonai your God.
"The Initiative Against Dreaming" by Oswald Chambers
Arise, let us go hence. (JOHN 14:31)
Dreaming about a thing in order to do it properly is right; but dreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong. After Our Lord had said those wonderful things to His disciples, we might have expected that He would tell them to go away and meditate over them all; but Our Lord never allowed “mooning” When we are getting into contact with God in order to find out what He wants, dreaming is right; but when we are inclined to spend our time in dreaming over what we have been told to do, it is a bad thing and God’s blessing is never on it. God’s initiative is always in the nature of a stab against this kind of dreaming, the stab that bids us “neither sit nor stand but go.”If we are quietly waiting before God and He has said – “Come ye yourselves apart,” then that is meditation before God in order to get at the line He wants; but always beware of giving over to mere dreaming when once God has spoken. Leave Him to be the source of all your dreams and joys and delights, and go out and obey what He has said. If you are in love, you do not sit down and dream about the one you love all the time, you go and do something for him; and that is what Jesus Christ expects us to do. Dreaming after God has spoken is an indication that we do not trust Him. (From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition)
Bible in One Year: Leviticus 26-27; Mark 2
Leviticus 26:1 “‘You are not to make yourselves any idols, erect a carved statue or a standing-stone, or place any carved stone anywhere in your land in order to bow down to it. I am Adonai your God.
2 “‘Keep my Shabbats, and revere my sanctuary; I am Adonai.
3 “‘If you live by my regulations, observe my mitzvot and obey them; 4 then I will provide the rain you need in its season, the land will yield its produce, and the trees in the field will yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing time will extend until the grape harvest, and your grape harvesting will extend until the time for sowing seed. You will eat as much food as you want and live securely in your land.
(LY: ii) 6 “‘I will give shalom in the land — you will lie down to sleep unafraid of anyone. I will rid the land of wild animals. The sword will not go through your land. 7 You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before your sword. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand — your enemies will fall before your sword.
9 “‘I will turn toward you, make you productive, increase your numbers and uphold my covenant with you. (RY: v, LY: iii) 10 You will eat all you want from last year’s harvest and throw out what remains of the old to make room for the new. 11 I will put my tabernacle among you, and I will not reject you, 12 but I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would not be their slaves. I have broken the bars of your yoke, so that you can walk upright.
14 “‘But if you will not listen to me and obey all these mitzvot, 15 if you loathe my regulations and reject my rulings, in order not to obey all my mitzvot but cancel my covenant; 16 then I, for my part, will do this to you: I will bring terror upon you — wasting disease and chronic fever to dim your sight and sap your strength. You will sow your seed for nothing, because your enemies will eat the crops. 17 I will set my face against you — your enemies will defeat you, those who hate you will hound you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.
18 If these things don’t make you listen to me, then I will discipline you seven times over for your sins. 19 I will break the pride you have in your own power. I will make your sky like iron, your soil like bronze — 20 you will spend your strength in vain, because the land will not yield its produce or the trees in the field their fruit.
21 “‘Yes, if you go against me and don’t listen to me, I will increase your calamities sevenfold, according to your sins. 22 I will send wild animals among you; they will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock and reduce your numbers, until your roads are deserted.
23 “‘If, in spite of all this, you refuse my correction and still go against me; 24 then I too will go against you; and I, yes I, will strike you seven times over for your sins. 25 I will bring a sword against you which will execute the vengeance of the covenant. You will be huddled inside your cities, I will send sickness among you, and you will be handed over to the power of the enemy. 26 I will cut off your supply of bread, so that ten women will bake your bread in one oven and dole out your bread by weight, and you will eat but not be satisfied.
27 “‘And if, for all this, you still will not listen to me, but go against me; 28 then I will go against you furiously, and I also will chastise you yet seven times more for your sins. 29 You will eat the flesh of your own sons, you will eat the flesh of your own daughters. 30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your pillars for sun-worship, and throw your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols; and I will detest you. 31 I will lay waste to your cities and make your sanctuaries desolate, so as not to smell your fragrant aromas. 32 I will desolate the land, so that your enemies living in it will be astounded by it. 33 You I will disperse among the nations, and I will draw out the sword in pursuit after you; your land will be a desolation and your cities a wasteland. 34 Then, at last, the land will be paid its Shabbats. As long as it lies desolate and you are in the lands of your enemies, the land will rest and be repaid its Shabbats. 35 Yes, as long as it lies desolate it will have rest, the rest it did not have during your Shabbats, when you lived there. 36 As for those of you who are left, I will fill their hearts with anxiety in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will frighten them, so that they will flee as one flees from the sword and fall when no one is pursuing. 37 Yes, with no one pursuing they will stumble over each other as if fleeing the sword — you will have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And among the nations you will perish; the land of your enemies will devour you.
39 Those of you who remain will pine away in the lands of your enemies from guilt over your misdeeds and those of your ancestors. 40 Then they will confess their misdeeds and those of their ancestors which they committed against me in their rebellion; they will admit that they went against me. 41 At that time I will be going against them, bringing them into the lands of their enemies. But if their uncircumcised hearts will grow humble, and they are paid the punishment for their misdeeds; 42 then I will remember my covenant with Ya‘akov, also my covenant with Yitz’chak and my covenant with Avraham; and I will remember the land. 43 For the land will lie abandoned without them, and it will be paid its Shabbats while it lies desolate without them; and they will be paid the punishment for their misdeeds, because they rejected my rulings and loathed my regulations. 44 Yet, in spite of all that, I will not reject them when they are in the lands of their enemies, nor will I loathe them to the point of utterly destroying them and thus break my covenant with them, because I am Adonai their God. 45 Rather, for their sakes, I will remember the covenant of their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt — with the nations watching — so that I might be their God; I am Adonai.’”
46 These are the laws, rulings and teachings that Adonai himself gave to the people of Isra’el on Mount Sinai through Moshe.
27:1 (RY: vi; LY: iv) Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘If someone makes a clearly defined vow to Adonai to give him an amount equal to the value of a human being, 3 the value you are to assign to a man between the ages of twenty and sixty years is to be fifty shekels of silver [one-and-a-quarter pounds], with the sanctuary shekel being the standard, 4 if a woman, thirty shekels. 5 If it is a child five to twenty years old, assign a value of twenty shekels for a boy and ten for a girl; 6 if a baby one month to five years of age, five shekels for a boy and three for a girl; 7 if a person past sixty, fifteen shekels for a man and ten for a woman. 8 If the person is too poor to be evaluated, set him before the cohen, who will assign him a value in keeping with the means of the person who made the vow.
9 “‘If the vow is for the value of an animal of the kind used when people bring an offering to Adonai, all that a person gives of such animals to Adonai will be holy. 10 He is not to exchange or replace it by substituting a good animal for a bad one or vice versa; if he does make such a substitution, both the original animal and the one replacing it will be holy. 11 If the animal is an unclean one, such as may not be used in an offering to Adonai, he must set it before the cohen; 12 and the cohen is to set a value on it in relation to its good and bad points; the value set by you the cohen will stand. 13 But if the person making the vow wishes to redeem the animal, he must add one-fifth to your valuation.
14 “‘When a person consecrates his house to be holy for Adonai, the cohen is to set a value on it in relation to its good and bad points; the value set by the cohen will stand. 15 If the consecrator wishes to redeem his house, he must add one-fifth to the value you have set on it; and it will revert to him.
(RY: vii, LY: v) 16 “‘If a person consecrates to Adonai part of a field belonging to his tribe’s possession, you are to value it according to its production, with five bushels of barley being valued at fifty shekels of silver [one-and-a-quarter pounds]. 17 If he consecrates his field during the year of yovel, this valuation will stand. 18 But if he consecrates his field after the yovel, then the cohen is to calculate the price according to the years remaining till the next yovel, with a corresponding reduction from your valuation. 19 If the one consecrating the field wishes to redeem it, he must add one-fifth to your valuation, and the field will be set aside to revert to him. 20 If the seller does not wish to redeem the field, or if [the treasurer for the cohanim] has already sold the field to someone else, it can no longer be redeemed. 21 But when the purchaser has to vacate the field in the yovel, it will become holy to Adonai, like a field unconditionally consecrated; it will belong to the cohanim.
(LY: vi) 22 “‘If he consecrates to Adonai a field which he has bought, a field which is not part of his tribe’s possession, 23 then the cohen is to calculate its value according to the years remaining until the year of yovel; and the man will on that same day pay this amount; since it is holy to Adonai. 24 In the year of yovel the field will revert to the person from whom it was bought, that is, to the person to whose tribal possession it belongs.
25 “‘All your valuations are to be according to the sanctuary shekel [two-fifths of an ounce], twenty gerahs to the shekel.
26 “‘However, the firstborn among animals, since it is already born as a firstborn for Adonai, no one can consecrate — neither ox nor sheep — since it belongs to Adonai already. 27 But if it is an unclean animal, he may redeem it at the price at which you value it and add one-fifth; or if he does not redeem it, it is to be sold at the price at which you value it. 28 However, nothing consecrated unconditionally which a person may consecrate to Adonai out of all he owns — person, animal or field he possesses — is to be sold or redeemed; because everything consecrated unconditionally is especially holy to Adonai. (LY: vii) 29 No person who has been sentenced to die, and thus unconditionally consecrated, can be redeemed; he must be put to death.
30 “‘All the tenth given from the land, whether from planted seed or fruit from trees, belongs to Adonai; it is holy to Adonai. 31 If someone wants to redeem any of his tenth, he must add to it one-fifth.
(Maftir) 32 “‘All the tenth from the herd or the flock, whatever passes under the shepherd’s crook, the tenth one will be holy to Adonai. 33 The owner is not to inquire whether the animal is good or bad, and he cannot exchange it; if he does exchange it, both it and the one he substituted for it will be holy; it cannot be redeemed.’”
34 These are the mitzvot which Adonai gave to Moshe for the people of Isra’el on Mount Sinai.
Mark 2:1 After a while, Yeshua returned to K’far-Nachum. The word spread that he was back, 2 and so many people gathered around the house that there was no longer any room, not even in front of the door. While he was preaching the message to them, 3 four men came to him carrying a paralyzed man. 4 They could not get near Yeshua because of the crowd, so they stripped the roof over the place where he was, made an opening, and lowered the stretcher with the paralytic lying on it. 5 Seeing their trust, Yeshua said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Some Torah-teachers sitting there thought to themselves, 7 “How can this fellow say such a thing? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins except God?” 8 But immediately Yeshua, perceiving in his spirit what they were thinking, said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier to say to the paralyzed man? ‘Your sins are forgiven’? or ‘Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk’? 10 But look! I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He then said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you: get up, pick up your stretcher and go home!” 12 In front of everyone the man got up, picked up his stretcher at once and left. They were all utterly amazed and praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
13 Yeshua went out again by the lake. All the crowd came to him, and he began teaching them. 14 As he passed on from there, he saw Levi Ben-Halfai sitting in his tax-collection booth and said to him, “Follow me!” And he got up and followed him.
15 As Yeshua was in Levi’s house eating, many tax-collectors and sinners were sitting with Yeshua and his talmidim, for there were many of them among his followers. 16 When the Torah-teachers and the P’rushim saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his talmidim, “Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?” 17 But, hearing the question, Yeshua answered them, “The ones who need a doctor aren’t the healthy but the sick. I didn’t come to call the ‘righteous’ but sinners!”
18 Also Yochanan’s talmidim and the P’rushim were fasting; and they came and asked Yeshua, “Why is it that Yochanan’s talmidim and the talmidim of the P’rushim fast, but your talmidim don’t fast?” 19 Yeshua answered them, “Can wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is still with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, fasting is out of the question. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; and when that day comes, they will fast. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old coat; if he does, the new patch tears away from the old cloth and leaves a worse hole. 22 And no one puts new wine in old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine is for freshly prepared wineskins.”
23 One Shabbat Yeshua was passing through some wheat fields; and as they went along, his talmidim began picking heads of grain. 24 The P’rushim said to him, “Look! Why are they violating Shabbat?” 25 He said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what David did when he and those with him were hungry and needed food? 26 He entered the House of God when Evyatar was cohen gadol and ate the Bread of the Presence,” — which is forbidden for anyone to eat but the cohanim — “and even gave some to his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “Shabbat was made for mankind, not mankind for Shabbat; 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of Shabbat.”
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WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically. (from Disciples Indeed, 387 R)
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My Utmost for His Highest © 1992 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. Original edition © 1935 by Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. All rights reserved. United States publication rights are held by Discovery House, which is affiliated with Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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