231 The Lord spoke again to Moses , saying , 2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ' The Lord'S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations -My appointed times are these : 3 ' For six days work may be done , but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest , a holy convocation . You shall not do any work ; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings .
4 'These are the appointed times of the Lord , holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them 5 ' In the first month , on the fourteenth e day of the month at twilight is the Lord'S Passover . 6 'Then on the fifteenth e day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord ; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread . 7 'On the first day you shall have a holy convocation ; you shall not do any laborious work . 8 'But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord . On the seventh day is a holy convocation ; you shall not do any laborious work .' " 9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 10 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest , then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest . 11 'He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted ; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 'Now on the day when you wave the sheaf , you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord . 13 'Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths e of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil , an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma , with its drink offering , a fourth of a hin of wine . 14 'Until this same day , until you have brought in the offering of your God , you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth . It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places
15 ' You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath , from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering ; there shall be seven complete sabbaths . 16 'You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath ; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord . 17 'You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering , made of two-tenths e of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour , baked with leaven as first fruits to the Lord . 18 'Along with the bread you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect , and a bull e e of the herd and two rams ; they are to be a burnt offering to the Lord , with their grain offering and their drink offerings , an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord . 19 'You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings 20 'The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with two lambs before the Lord ; they are to be holy to the Lord for the priest . 21 'On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation . You shall do no e laborious work . It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations 22 ' When you reap the harvest of your land , moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest ; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien . I am the Lord your God .' "
23 Again the Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 24 "Speak to the sons of Israel , saying , ' In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest , a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation . 25 'You shall not do any laborious work , but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord .' " 26 The Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 27 "On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement ; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord . 28 "You shall not do any work on this same day , for it is a day of atonement , to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God . 29 "If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day , he shall be cut off from his people . 30 "As for any person who does any work on this same day , that person I will destroy from among his people . 31 "You shall do no e work at all . It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places . 32 "It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls ; on the ninth of the month at evening , from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath ."
33 Again the Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 34 "Speak to the sons of Israel , saying , 'On the fifteenth e of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the Lord . 35 'On the first day is a holy convocation ; you shall do no e laborious work of any kind. 36 ' For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord . On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the Lord ; it is an assembly . You shall do no e laborious work 37 'These are the appointed times of the Lord which you shall proclaim as holy convocations , to present offerings by fire to the Lord -burnt offerings and grain offerings , sacrifices and drink offerings , each day's matter on its own day - 38 besides e those of the sabbaths of the Lord , and besides e your gifts and besides e all your votive and freewill offerings , which you give to the Lord 39 'On exactly the fifteenth e day of the seventh month , when you have gathered in the crops of the land , you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days , with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day . 40 'Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees , palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook , and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days . 41 'You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year . It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations ; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month . 42 'You shall live in booths for seven days ; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths , 43 so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt . I am the Lord your God .' " 44 So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of the Lord .
241 Then the Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 2 "Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light , to make a lamp burn continually . 3 "Outside e the veil of testimony in the tent of meeting , Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the Lord continually ; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations . 4 "He shall keep the lamps in order on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord continually .
5 " Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve e cakes with it; two-tenths e of an ephah shall be in each cake . 6 "You shall set them in two rows , six to a row , on the pure gold table before the Lord . 7 "You shall put pure frankincense on each row that it may be a memorial portion for the bread , even an offering by fire to the Lord . 8 " Every sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord continually ; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel . 9 " It shall be for Aaron and his sons , and they shall eat it in a holy place ; for it is most holy to him from the Lord'S offerings by fire , his portion forever ."
10 Now the son of an Israelite woman , whose father e was an Egyptian , went out among the sons of Israel ; and the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel struggled with each other in the camp . 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name and cursed . So they brought him to Moses . (Now his mother's name was Shelomith , the daughter of Dibri , of the tribe of Dan .) 12 They put him in custody so that the command of the Lord might be made clear to them. 13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 14 "Bring the one who has cursed outside e e the camp , and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head ; then let all the congregation stone him. 15 "You shall speak to the sons of Israel , saying , ' If anyone curses his God , then he will bear his sin . 16 'Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death ; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native , when he blasphemes the Name , shall be put to death . 17 ' If a man takes the life of any human being , he shall surely be put to death . 18 ' The one who takes the life of an animal shall make it good , life for life . 19 'If a man injures his neighbor , just as he has done , so it shall be done to him: 20 fracture for fracture , eye for eye , tooth for tooth ; just as he has injured a man , so it shall be inflicted on him. 21 'Thus the one who kills an animal shall make it good , but the one who kills a man shall be put to death . 22 'There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native , for I am the Lord your God .' " 23 Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel , and they brought the one who had cursed outside e e the camp and stoned him with stones . Thus the sons of Israel did , just as the Lord had commanded Moses .
11 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ , the Son of God . 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet : " BEHOLD , I SEND MY MESSENGER [1]AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY ; 3 THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS , 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE Lord , MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT .' " 4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness [2] preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins . 5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem ; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River , confessing their sins . 6 John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist , and [3]his diet was locusts and wild honey . 7 And he was [4]preaching , and saying , "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals . 8 "I baptized you [5]with water ; but He will baptize you [5]with the Holy Spirit ."
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan . 10 Immediately coming up out of the water , He saw the heavens [7]opening , and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; 11 and a voice came out of the heavens : " You are My beloved Son , in You I am well-pleased ."
12 Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness . 13 And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan ; and He was with the wild beasts , and the angels were ministering to Him.
14 Now after John had been [8]taken into custody , Jesus came into Galilee , [9] preaching the gospel of God , 15 and saying , " The time is fulfilled , and the kingdom of God [10]is at hand ; repent and [11]believe in the gospel ."
16 As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee , He saw Simon and Andrew , the brother of Simon , casting a net in the sea ; for they were fishermen . 17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow e Me, and I will make you become fishers of men ." 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 19 Going on a little farther , He saw [12]James the son of Zebedee , and John his brother , who were also in the boat mending the nets . 20 Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants , and went away [13]to follow Him.
21 They went into Capernaum ; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach . 22 They were amazed at His teaching ; for He was teaching them as one having authority , and not as 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.
