2018 Weekly Devotional - Week 30

Week 30

“Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord.63 Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.64 The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings. “

    William, Duke of Normandy was a cousin to Edward the Confessor, King of England. Edward was childless and therefore had no heir. According to Norman historians, William visited Edward in 1051 and upon that occasion Edward promised to make William his heir and therefore he could lay claim to the throne. But on his deathbed Edward changed his mind and made Harold Godwin, a wealthy nobleman, his heir. King Harold was crowned in 1066.
William was furious and setout to make war against England. William defeated Edward at the Battle of Hastings and went on to London where he received the city’s submission. On Christmas day 1066 William the Conqueror became the first Norman king of England. One of William’s great achievements was to produce the Doomsday Book. This book is a census of England that chronicles the land and people during that medieval period. In the Doomsday Book an ancient street where the butchers of York assembled to butcher and sell their meats is mentioned. The street was called ‘Shambles’ which is from ‘shamel’ meaning stalls or benches on which the meat was displayed. Around 1400 A.D., not far from the present day York Minster, the street was rebuilt into its present form characterized by small shops on each side of a narrow road. Can you imagine the mess and smell of a street that was used to sell meat in the open-air markets common to the day? Now I know what my mom meant when she called my room a shambles!

    When I read in our passage the number of animals that were used as an offering to the Lord at the dedication of the Temple, my mind has a hard time comprehending the scene. I have butchered hogs, deer and even an entire steer so I know what is involved. The blood letting and evisceration of tens of thousands of animals must have produced an unbelievable amount of fluids and entrails to say nothing of the smell of burning flesh. Then I read in Hebrews 10 about the perfect sacrifice of Jesus.
“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

    Oh hallelujah! Praise God for his provision! Rejoice Christ-follower! Sing unending praise to the Lord for working salvation with a mighty outstretched arm! Lift up your head and behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ! Do you find your life is a ‘shambles’ because of sin? Fly to the fountain that is filled with Christ’s sacrificial blood shed for you. There you will find forgiveness in his substitutionary death on the cross for your sin. There you will find redemption and restoration. There you will find eternal peace. Maranatha!

In Christ, 

John