231 And the Lord said to Moses, 2 Say to the children of Israel, These are the fixed feasts of the Lord, which you will keep for holy meetings: these are my feasts. 3 On six days work may be done; but the seventh day is a special day of rest, a time for worship; you may do no sort of work: it is a Sabbath to the Lord wherever you may be living.
4 These are the fixed feasts of the Lord, the holy days of worship which you will keep at their regular times. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at nightfall, is the Lord's Passover; 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread; for seven days let your food be unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you will have a holy meeting; you may do no sort of field-work. 8 And every day for seven days you will give a burned offering to the Lord; and on the seventh day there will be a holy meeting; you may do no field-work. 9 And the Lord said to Moses, 10 Say to the children of Israel, When you have come to the land which I will give you, and have got in the grain from its fields, take some of the first-fruits of the grain to the priest; 11 And let the grain be waved before the Lord, so that you may be pleasing to him; on the day after the Sabbath let it be waved by the priest. 12 And on the day of the waving of the grain, you are to give a male lamb of the first year, without any mark, for a burned offering to the Lord. 13 And let the meal offering with it be two tenth parts of an ephah of the best meal mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord for a sweet smell; and the drink offering with it is to be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. 14 And you may take no bread or dry grain or new grain for food till the very day on which you have given the offering for your God: this is a rule for ever through all your generations wherever you are living.
15 And let seven full weeks be numbered from the day after the Sabbath, the day when you give the grain for the wave offering; 16 Let fifty days be numbered, to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you are to give a new meal offering to the Lord. 17 Take from your houses two cakes of bread, made of a fifth part of an ephah of the best meal, cooked with leaven, to be waved for first-fruits to the Lord. 18 And with the bread, take seven lambs of the first year, without any marks, and one ox and two male sheep, to be a burned offering to the Lord, with their meal offering and their drink offerings, an offering of a sweet smell made by fire to the Lord. 19 And you are to give one male goat for a sin-offering and two male lambs of the first year for peace-offerings. 20 And these will be waved by the priest, with the bread of the first-fruits, for a wave offering to the Lord, with the two lambs: they will be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 And on the same day, let it be given out that there will be a holy meeting for you: you may do no field-work on that day: it is a rule for ever through all your generations wherever you are living. 22 And when you get in the grain from your land, do not let all the grain at the edges of the field be cut, and do not take up the grain which has been dropped in the field; let that be for the poor, and for the man from another country: I am the Lord your God.
23 And the Lord said to Moses, 24 Say to the children of Israel, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, let there be a special day of rest for you, a day of memory, marked by the blowing of horns, a meeting for worship. 25 Do no field-work and give to the Lord an offering made by fire. 26 And the Lord said to Moses, 27 The tenth day of this seventh month is the day for the taking away of sin; let it be a holy day of worship; you are to keep from pleasure, and give to the Lord an offering made by fire. 28 And on that day you may do no sort of work, for it is a day of taking away sin, to make you clean before the Lord your God. 29 For any person, whoever he may be, who takes his pleasure on that day will be cut off from his people. 30 And if any person, whoever he may be, on that day does any sort of work, I will send destruction on him from among his people. 31 You may not do any sort of work: this is an order for ever through all your generations wherever you may be living. 32 Let this be a Sabbath of special rest to you, and keep yourselves from all pleasure; on the ninth day of the month at nightfall from evening to evening, let this Sabbath be kept.
33 And the Lord said to Moses, 34 Say to the children of Israel, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month let the feast of tents be kept to the Lord for seven days. 35 On the first day there will be a holy meeting: do no field-work. 36 Every day for seven days give an offering made by fire to the Lord; and on the eighth day there is to be a holy meeting, when you are to give an offering made by fire to the Lord; this is a special holy day: you may do no field-work on that day. 37 These are the fixed feasts of the Lord, to be kept by you as holy days of worship, for making an offering by fire to the Lord; a burned offering, a meal offering, an offering of beasts, and drink offerings; every one on its special day; 38 In addition to the Sabbaths of the Lord, and in addition to the things you give and the oaths you make and the free offerings to the Lord. 39 But on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have got in all the fruits of the land, you will keep the feast of the Lord for seven days: the first day will be a Sabbath, and the eighth day the same. 40 On the first day, take the fruit of fair trees, branches of palm-trees, and branches of thick trees and trees from the riverside, and be glad before the Lord for seven days. 41 And let this feast be kept before the Lord for seven days in the year: it is a rule for ever from generation to generation; in the seventh month let it be kept. 42 For seven days you will be living in tents; all those who are Israelites by birth are to make tents their living-places: 43 So that future generations may keep in mind how I gave the children of Israel tents as their living-places when I took them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. 44 And Moses made clear to the children of Israel the orders about the fixed feasts of the Lord.
241 And the Lord said to Moses, 2 Give orders to the children of Israel to give you clean olive oil for the light, so that a light may be burning at all times, 3 Outside the veil of the ark in the Tent of meeting; let Aaron see that it is burning from evening till morning at all times before the Lord: it is a rule for ever through all your generations. 4 Let Aaron put the lights in order on the support before the Lord at all times.
5 And take the best meal and make twelve cakes of it, a fifth part of an ephah in every cake. 6 And put them in two lines, six in a line, on the holy table before the Lord. 7 And on the lines of cakes put clean sweet-smelling spices, for a sign on the bread, an offering made by fire to the Lord. 8 Every Sabbath day regularly, the priest is to put it in order before the Lord: it is offered for the children of Israel, an agreement made for ever. 9 And it will be for Aaron and his sons; they are to take it for food in a holy place: it is the most holy of all the offerings made by fire to the Lord, a rule for ever.
10 And a son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel and had a fight with a man of Israel by the tents; 11 And the son of the Israelite woman said evil against the holy Name, with curses; and they took him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12 And they kept him shut up, till a decision might be given by the mouth of the Lord. 13 And the Lord said to Moses, 14 Take the curser outside the tent-circle; and let all in whose hearing the words were said put their hands on his head, and let him be stoned by all the people. 15 And say to the children of Israel, As for any man cursing God, his sin will be on his head. 16 And he who says evil against the name of the Lord will certainly be put to death; he will be stoned by all the people; the man who is not of your nation and one who is an Israelite by birth, whoever says evil against the holy Name is to be put to death. 17 And anyone who takes another's life is certainly to be put to death. 18 And anyone wounding a beast and causing its death, will have to make payment for it: a life for a life. 19 And if a man does damage to his neighbour, as he has done, so let it be done to him; 20 Wound for wound, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever damage he has done, so let it be done to him. 21 He who puts a beast to death will have to make payment for it; he who puts a man to death will himself be put to death. 22 You are to have the same law for a man of another nation living among you as for an Israelite; for I am the Lord your God. 23 And Moses said these words to the children of Israel, and they took the man who had been cursing outside the tent-circle and had him stoned. The children of Israel did as the Lord gave orders to Moses.
11 The first words of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 Even as it is said in the book of Isaiah the prophet, See, I send my servant before your face, who will make ready your way; 3 The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight; 4 John came, and gave baptism in the waste land, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed. 5 And there went out to him all the people of Judaea, and all those of Jerusalem, and they were given baptism by him in the river Jordan, saying that they were sinners. 6 And John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey. 7 And he said to them all, There is one coming after me who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo. 8 I have given you baptism with water, but he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit.
9 And it came about in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was given baptism by John in the Jordan. 10 And straight away, coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens broken open and the Spirit coming down on him as a dove: 11 And a voice came out of heaven, You are my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
12 And straight away the Spirit sent him out into the waste land. 13 And he was in the waste land for forty days, being tested by Satan; and he was with the beasts; and the angels took care of him.
14 Now after John had been put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news of God, 15 And saying, The time has come, and the kingdom of God is near: let your hearts be turned from sin and have faith in the good news.
16 And going by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon, and Andrew, the brother of Simon, putting a net into the sea: for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. 18 And they went straight from their nets, and came after him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were in their boat stitching up their nets. 20 And he said, Come after me: and they went away from their father Zebedee, who was in the boat with the servants, and came after him.
21 And they came to Capernaum; and on the Sabbath he went into the Synagogue and gave teaching. 22 And they were full of wonder at his teaching, because he gave it as one having authority, and not like the scribes.
(Read Mark 1:1-8)
Isaiah and Malachi each spake concerning the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in the ministry of John. From these prophets we may observe, that Christ, in his gospel, comes among us, bringing with him a treasure of grace, and a sceptre of government. Such is the corruption of the world, that there is great opposition to his progress. When God sent his Son into the world, he took care, and when he sends him into the heart, he takes care, to prepare his way before him. John thinks himself unworthy of the meanest office about Christ. The most eminent saints have always been the most humble. They feel their need of Christ's atoning blood and sanctifying Spirit, more than others. The great promise Christ makes in his gospel to those who have repented, and have had their sins forgiven them, is, they shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost; shall be purified by his graces, and refreshed by his comforts. We use the ordinances, word, and sacraments without profit and comfort, for the most part, because we have not of that Divine light within us; and we have it not because we ask it not; for we have his word that cannot fail, that our heavenly Father will give this light, his Holy Spirit, to those that ask it.
(Read Mark 1:9-13)
Christ's baptism was his first public appearance, after he had long lived unknown. How much hidden worth is there, which in this world is not known! But sooner or later it shall be known, as Christ was. He took upon himself the likeness of sinful flesh; and thus, for our sakes, he sanctified himself, that we also might be sanctified, and be baptized with him, John 17:19. See how honourably God owned him, when he submitted to John's baptism. He saw the Spirit descending upon him like a dove. We may see heaven opened to us, when we perceive the Spirit descending and working upon us. God's good work in us, is sure evidence of his good will towards us, and preparations for us. As to Christ's temptation, Mark notices his being in the wilderness and that he was with the wild beasts. It was an instance of his Father's care of him, which encouraged him the more that his Father would provide for him. Special protections are earnests of seasonable supplies. The serpent tempted the first Adam in the garden, the Second Adam in the wilderness; with different success indeed; and ever since he still tempts the children of both, in all places and conditions. Company and conversation have their temptations; and being alone, even in a wilderness, has its own also. No place or state exempts, no business, not lawful labouring, eating, or drinking, not even fasting and praying; often in these duties there are the most assaults, but in them is the sweetest victory. The ministration of the good angels is matter of great comfort in reference to the malignant designs of the evil angels; but much more does it comfort us, to have the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
(Read Mark 1:14-22)
Jesus began to preach in Galilee, after that John was put in prison. If some be laid aside, others shall be raised up, to carry on the same work. Observe the great truths Christ preached. By repentance we give glory to our Creator whom we have offended; by faith we give glory to our Redeemer who came to save us from our sins. Christ has joined these two together, and let no man think to put them asunder. Christ puts honour upon those who, though mean in this world, are diligent in their business and kind to one another. Industry and unity are good and pleasant, and the Lord Jesus commands a blessing on them. Those whom Christ calls, must leave all to follow him; and by his grace he makes them willing to do so. Not that we must needs go out of the world, but we must sit loose to the world; forsake every thing that is against our duty to Christ, and that cannot be kept without hurt to our souls. Jesus strictly kept the sabbath day, by applying himself unto, and abounding in the sabbath work, in order to which the sabbath rest was appointed. There is much in the doctrine of Christ that is astonishing; and the more we hear it, the more cause we see to admire it.
