Joy Gems

Joy When Your Sacrifice is Burned Up

Do you have joy when your sacrifice is burned up - as happened in the Tent of Meeting? It was seen as evidence that God accepted their sacrifice.

Leviticus 9:23-24 Moses and Aron then went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell face down.

God had given Moses complete and detailed instructions for how to build the Tabernacle, which was also called the Tent of Meeting, and how priests were to be set apart, and exactly how they were to make sacrifices for the sins of the people. At the point where the above passage begins, they had just gone through the whole process for the first time. Aaron and the other Levite priests were dedicated, and had just performed the first set of offerings.

When Moses and Aaron came out where the whole Israelite congregation could see them, they pronounced a blessing on them. Just then God sent out fire to consume their offerings.

Somehow they did not need to be told that God had accepted their offerings, and this gave them great joy. They fell on their faces to worship and revere God.

Now I always like to look for how to apply each passage personally when I read and study the Bible. What would be a parallel experience for us?

There are times in our spiritual journey where we have offered God our possessions, or perhaps our very lives, as proof of our worship and submission to Him. But when that offering gets swallowed up or seems gone forever, do we mourn our loss, or do we have joy when our sacrifice is burned up, taking it as a sign that God has accepted our offering?

PRAYER: Lord, I confess there have been times when I saw it as an unexpected loss. I wanted my time back! But You spent it on people in need, (or You really took away my car to get me out of debt). I had to learn to do without. I need to shift my perspective; when You take something it means You accepted my gift! Wow!

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