Live the Word Bible Studies

Purpose Study Bible 133: Vows

Leviticus describes many mandatory offerings, regulating their exact execution. The last chapter, however, shifts from compulsory worship to the concept of freewill vows:

"The Lord said to Moses, ^'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the Lord by giving the equivalent value . . .'" (Leviticus 27:1-2).

The chapter then goes on to talk about vows that involved animals, houses, inheritance, and non-family land, and then concludes with illicit vows—things people had no right to vow because the Lord already owned those things (or people). A vow was and is sort of like worship on credit, promising God that the vow-er will do something in the future if God will do something now. You've probably said something like, "God, if You get me out of this mess, I promise to serve You forever." You meant it when you said it, but sometimes when the pressure's off, you can relax and not be as zealous as you were when you made the promise.

This Purpose Study Bible series specifically focuses on purpose and creativity, so what can Leviticus 27 teach us about those? First, we all tend to promise beyond what we can deliver, so we should be careful about what we promise God we will do. Second, He's not a bill collector who's going to show up and demand payment of your promise, but He does expect you to follow through in some way on your commitment. If your promise eyes were bigger than your fulfillment stomach and you made a commitment you can't keep, you shouldn't just ignore it but seek to renegotiate the terms. In other words, don't treat God like a forgetful fool, but revisit the matter with Him and do what you can with what you have.

Finally, realize that God welcomes freewill offerings of what you will do for Him, using the gifts and calling He bestowed on you. You aren't only God's servant but also His partner and friend, and partners and friends do things willingly, not just because they are commanded to do so.

Have you ever vowed to do God's will no matter what? Have you sought your purpose, promising to fulfill it, only to now be bogged down with life and thus unable to follow through? Is the extent of your service to God only what He tells you to do and not something that's in your heart to freely give Him? The answer is not to ever vow or to refuse to acknowledge you did make one, but to be mindful that you are God's partner. God is listening when we vow, so we need to keep in mind what we said, even if we only deliver on a part of it in the long run.

Purpose Study Bible 132: The Favor of God

As Leviticus comes to a close, the Lord summarized the blessings if the people obeyed but also the problems if they did not. Let's examine some of the blessings in this study:

“I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high" (Leviticus 26:9-13).

Here is a summary of the blessings: 1) fruitfulness and increase; 2) all the promised blessings of the covenant will be in effect; 3) abundance; and 4) God will dwell and walk among His people, accessible to their needs. God also reminds His people that He brought them out of Egypt, walking "with heads held high." In other words, they will draw strength and joy as they reflected on their glorious history of God's acts on their behalf.

When you are obedient to God's assigned purpose, you should have tangible evidence of God's favor. Are you experiencing the favor of God? Can you be specific? Are you experiencing increase in your work or spiritual life? Do you pray with boldness, claiming the promises of the New Covenant? Are the blessings of God overtaking you? Do you sense God's presence? Is He walking "among" you as Jesus is depicted doing in the early chapters of Revelation, evaluating your walk and work? And are you exalting in God's goodness as represented by your history and testimony? Are you reviewing and repeating your history for others so they too can be encouraged by God's faithfulness?

Purpose Study Bible 131: Whose Servant Are You?

In the last study, we examined something called the Year of Jubilee. The Lord laid out many scenarios through which the people and their land could be restored to their original condition for this event that was to occur every 50 years. Just in case there was a scenario He did not cover, He ended the Jubilee regulations with this statement:

“‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 25:54-55).

This simple but profound statement contains several important reminders about God's relationship to His people. Here are a few for you to consider:

1. You are to look for ways to set people free, not to keep them in bondage. You can do that by extending forgiveness and grace, even when the recipients are less than worthy.
2. Ultimately, the people with whom you have relationships belong to God. You are to treat them as He directs, not as you see fit. That includes family members, co-workers, supervisors, clients, customers, and partners.
3. You are first and foremost God's servant. While He may put you in a place where you are serving others, you're doing that for Him, and not for money or convenience.
4. God is the Lord and He directs His creatures as He sees fit. You have no right to hold on to someone because they serve you. Instead, you are to look for ways to serve them, even if it costs you something to do so.

One more thing. God assigned you a purpose and gave you creative gifts, and those are to be used as He directs. You are not at liberty neither to ignore them or use them only in the pursuit of money. Are you clear in what you are now doing that you are God's servant first and foremost? Do you see yourself as the owner of your gifts or their steward? Are you so bound by debt and fear that you sell yourself to the highest bidder (or any bidder who comes along)?

Purpose Study Bible 130: Reboot

In the last study, we looked at the sabbath year, which was to happen every seven years. After the guidelines for the sabbath year, the Lord issued a command for a special sabbath year to occur every 50 years called the year of jubilee:

“‘Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields. In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property" (Leviticus 25:8-13).

During the jubilee year, all debts were cancelled and all family property that had been mortgaged or lost was to be restored. In a sense, the people nation was starting over, with everyone having a clean slate, so to speak, so they could experience a fresh start. In modern terms, we could say the nation had a reboot of its economic operating system.

Are you in need of a reboot in your life? Maybe you need to start over with your commitment to find and fulfill your purpose? Perhaps you have neglected your creativity but now is a good time forget the past and launch out once again? Or you have a relationship that is fractured, and both parties just need to start over again, cancelling all past trespasses against one another? Paul wrote, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14). In what area of your life do you need to reboot and start over?

Purpose Study Bible 129: A Season of Rest

We are finally finished with our study of the bread of the presence and it's time to move on in Leviticus. This week, let's look at Leviticus 25:1-7:

The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

The issue of rest is highly subjective, for some believe it is spiritual while others see it as practical to be carried out literally. This directive pertains to agriculture, however, but it also involved an element of trust, for the Lord had to provide in year six what the people would need in years six, seven, and eight before the next harvest would be realized. I would imagine it would give their work animals a rest as well and also give the farmer a chance to repair tools. So rest, faith, and preparation for the future seem to the main elements of this practice. How can you extract lessons from this for your own situation?

First, when God gives you a "break" from work through a job transition (for whatever reason), don't be in a hurry to find something else. Don't fret, but instead trust God and seek Him for your future. Second, use the transition time to prepare for the next life chapter. Go visit friends or family, give some time to your hobbies, or just take walks so you can think, reflect, and dream. Don't sit at home in panic mode about your future, but also be prepared that the season of rest may last longer than you anticipated.

Finally, trust the Lord for your provision. God can use a job or company to pay you, but He doesn't need them. He can provide by supernatural means and this may be a season from which you will emerge with a testimony and a new lease on life—a life of faith.

Purpose Study Bible 128: Holy Food

This is the last in our series examining the bread that was in the tabernacle, called the showbread or the bread of the presence. We have looked at 12 points in the previous studies and applied them all to the concept of your life purpose. Let's finish off our list of characteristics with more practical insight for you to consider.

13. It was eaten in the holy place. There is a specific “place” where you fulfill your purpose. It may be among a group of people with a common characteristic or need, in a certain country, or in a certain set of circumstances. My purpose is to create order out of chaos. I'm in my holy place when I'm in chaos creating order. That's where I meet the Lord and where His presence is special for me. Wherever and whatever that is for you, it's a holy place.

14. It was a most holy part of the regular offerings by fire for Aaron. Your purpose is special, holy and set apart for God. There is nothing else like it for you. You eat it along with all that God has done in your life and it sustains you. To not function in your purpose is to cut yourself off from something that will spiritually energize and nourish you.

15. It was located in the inner court, just prior to the entrance to the Holy of Holies, along with the lampstand and the altar of incense. Your purpose brings new light or revelation (Saul found his purpose in the bright light on the Damascus road). It sets you apart for God (see Acts 13:1). It renews your prayer life (symbolized by the incense altar) because when you pray about your purpose and how to achieve it, God listens and responds.

Have you found your holy place of purpose? Have you found what you can do that energizes and doesn't weaken you? Has purpose impacted your prayer life? Are you learning and growing in how to be more effective in the things God has for you to do? Remember, Jesus said to His disciples, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about" (John 4:32) when He was ministering to the lost Samaritan woman at the well. You should be able to say the same thing about your purpose, for it's holy food that others can't understand but you can't do without.

Purpose Study Bible 127: Purpose Food

We are still examining what was called the showbread or the bread of the presence for purpose clues to apply to our lives:

Take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf. Set them in two rows, six in each row, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. Along each row put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be an offering made to the Lord by fire. This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place, because it is a most holy part of their regular share of the offerings made to the Lord by fire" (Leviticus 24:5-9).

Let's add to the things we've learned in the last few studies:

10. The bread was for all the Israelites. When you find your purpose, it encourages others to find theirs. My purpose is like a down payment to you. If I can find mine, you can find yours and vice versa. Also, purpose is best expressed through service to others which is another community benefit from someone's purpose. The bread of the presence, or the bread of purpose as it is referred to in this study, is there to nourish you in your service to and for God. 

11. The bread belonged to Aaron and his sons. In this gospel age, we are all priests unto the Lord. There is no family of priests who inherit the role through their bloodline. Purpose isn't just for one generation or something special that only happens at certain points in history, but rather it's for every generation. Each person in a family, business, or church must work to know their purpose and to know the purpose of others.

12. The bread was replaced and eaten every Sabbath. It isn’t enough to talk about purpose. If you are to live by it, you must digest it. Your purpose must become part and parcel with who you are. In eating it, there is nourishment and refreshing, things the Sabbath was to give people an opportunity to access. Purpose always gives more than it takes in the way of energy and grace.

The bread of the presence was in the tabernacle where God's presence was made manifest. Life purpose is most meaningful in the same context. Purpose can never be more important than the Lord; it is the practice that sustains and gives meaning to His presence. Is your purpose nourishing you and your family? Do you know the purpose of those closest to you? What are you doing to encourage them in their purpose? Are you keeping your priorities straight in that you serve the Lord and through Him you serve your purpose?

Purpose Study Bible 126: Fresh Fire, Fragrant Incense

Jesus was a man of purpose and many of the acts and symbols in the Old Testament express some truth concerning His life and ministry. We have been looking at the showbread or bread of the presence the last few studies. Since Jesus said He was the bread of life, we are looking to see what we can learn about the bread and Jesus, and how we can apply what we learn to our own search for and expression of purpose. Let's continue our study this week.

6. Set them on the table of gold before the Lord. The table of gold was a wood table covered in pure gold.  Without a lot of explanation, this table was a type of Jesus. He was a man (wood) and God (gold).  Your purpose rests on the foundation of Jesus, who was a man of purpose. We define ourselves in the context of Jesus, who did the perfect will of God and now assigns purpose to each one of His followers.

 7. Put some incense along each row as a memorial. When you function in your purpose, you are a pleasing aroma, a fragrant sacrifice to the Lord. When you try to be something you’re not, you can only do that in the strength of your flesh. Flesh doesn’t smell so good in God’s nostrils, but His incense is pleasant. It's interesting that the wise men brought frankincense to the baby Jesus as a gift, representative of the Father's pleasure in His Son's mission.

 8. The incense was an offering to the Lord by fire. When you function in your purpose, there is a fire about you that burns but doesn’t consume you.  You are like a burning bush and what you do, you do for God. It rises before God as a fragrant sacrifice. What's more, your fire in "contagious" and inspires others to also burn for the Lord in their purpose.

9. The bread was set out Sabbath after Sabbath. Isn’t it interesting that the bread of the presence was changed every Sabbath? When you function in your purpose, there's rest for you. You stop striving in your own strength and operate in the divine energy that comes when you function in your purpose. Rest isn’t always a cessation of activity, but activity that actually rejuvenates you as you engage in it.  Jesus often functioned in His purpose without food or rest and was still effective, not because He was divine but because He was a man of purpose.

Do you feel fresh and rejuvenated in your purpose, or are you stale and in need of a purpose revival? Is it time to move on from where you are comfortable into some new expression of creative purpose that will spark a fire of energy? Do you see your value (the gold of your purpose) as you carry out your heavenly assignment?

Purpose Study Bible 125: Stacked Up

In the last study, we focused on the bread of the presence as described in Leviticus 24:5-9. Let's stay with that theme for the next few studies:

"Take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf. Set them in two rows, six in each row, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. Along each row put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be an offering made to the Lord by fire. This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place, because it is a most holy part of their regular share of the offerings made to the Lord by fire."

We learned previously that fine flour, the main ingredient in the bread, is made through the wheat being ground into a fine texture of the highest quality. That is similar to how God prepares you for your purpose: through the things you learn and become as you suffer. Here are a few other of the showbread's traits and how they can relate to your purpose preparation:

2. No leaven. This bread was considered unleavened bread, similar to modern crackers, because it had no leaven. There was nothing in it to puff it up and make it look bigger than it was. There should be nothing in you that attempts to make you appear to be more than you are. If you are good enough for God, you should be good enough for your own tastes as well.

3. Bake twelve loaves. After the wheat was beaten into flour, it was made into twelve loaves and baked in the fire. Why twelve? There were 12 tribes in Israel and there was bread enough for all of them.The message of purpose is for everyone living in any and all of God's tribes. No one people group in God's Kingdom have more than the others.

4. Use two-tenths of an ephah to bake each loaf. The essence of purpose, gifts, and creativity is in all of us in equal measure. You may not have the same effect as someone else, but your purpose is just as significant and vital in God's sight.

5. Set them in two rows. The bread was laid out every week according to God's instructions, stacked in two piles. God orders purpose according to His sovereign will and then assigns us to places according to His plan. There is a place for your purpose and gifts somewhere, for God arranges His work "decently and in order" (see 1 Corinthians 14:40). All you have to do is serve where God places you when you are stacked up with all the other saints who have their own gifts and purpose.

Do you know where you "stack up" in God's plan? How does He want to use you? Where does He want to use you? Are you being true to who He made you to be? Are you the bread that others eat as you express your purpose in the service of others?

Purpose Study Bible 124: Bread of the Presence

If you were to do a Bible study on the topic of purpose, you would run into the Greek word for purpose, which is prothesis.  It literally means setting forth and exposed before, and is almost always used in connection with the showbread that was part of the tabernacle and Temple.  This showbread is also referred to as the bread of the presence. In Leviticus 24:5-9, we read,

"Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf. Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. By each stack put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the Lord. This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is a most holy part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord.”

Let's draw some lessons from the bread of the presence and apply them to your life purpose over the next few studies. Let's start with number one:

1. The bread was made of fine flour. Fine flour at that time was made by beating and grinding wheat. The higher the quality of flour, the more beating the wheat endured. That's how it is with your purpose. Often it's released or refined only after a process of preparation which can be deep, long, and tumultuous. The finest bread is made of the finest ingredients, which often take time and effort to prepare. There's no other way or shortcut. The fine flour of the Old Testament is always a type of Jesus, who endured much tribulation to see His purpose released and fulfilled. He was sifted and found to be "fine" in every way.

Your purpose is an expression of God's Kingdom rule in your life, as you carry out the King's royal assignment for your life and Paul encouraged and strengthened the disciples by saying, "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Are you going through trials and tests? Could they be related to your purpose, either trying to prevent you from expressing it or training you as you do? Can you see that God may be transforming you into the bread of His presence that people will enjoy when they encounter you in your purpose?