The descendants of Israel, North and South, inherited the covenant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at Mt. Sinai hundreds of years before. Yet, instead of living in that covenant, the children of Israel preferred to imitate the practices of the nations around and actually surpassed the surrounding nations around in their iniquity. This is why God judges the entire family of Israel much more severely than He punishes the other nations. This is the prophet’s warning in Amos 3.
The Pesach (Passover) is one of the most solemn of God’s appointed times (a.k.a., feasts or festivals), it is the only feast inaugurated when God Himself shed blood. The Pesach is also the only feast with a “second chance,” which seems apropos for a God who is all about giving people opportunity for repentance and second chances. God also shows, through the Cloud, that when He says “move” we are to move. When God says, “Stay put,” we are to stay put.
The friends of God are those who trust the promises and testimony of God and want to communicate with God face to face, despite knowing how disastrous that could be for one’s casual observance of God. We can know God as one speaks to a friend, but once God calls you to be His friend, you life will never be the same.
Numbers 8 is very short, but there’s a lot of meat in here to digest. This chapter details the dedication of the Levites for service to the Tabernacle. The Levites were exchanged in place of the first-born sons of all Israel, and they were appointed to serve the High Priest and assist him in running the Tabernacle. The Torah is a picture showing us how God runs His kingdom.
The throne of the Kingdom of God is the “mercy seat.” That is the seat of His power. Aaron enters into God’s presence once a year (Yom haKippurim, the Day of Atonement), but he has to enter in with a spoon of burning incense. Without it, Aaron would have died. Our High Priest, Yeshua, entered the most holy place without the incense. He tore the veil, entered in and died.
Amos is warning the people of Israel that although the nations around them have committed heinous sins but Israel’s sins are even worse. Israel could easily see the failures of the nations but they could not see their own failures. Amos is trying to take the veil off their eyes. He wants Israel to look inward at themselves.
Each leader of the tribes of Israel had a different job and function based on how the tribes were placed around the tabernacle. They had to go through a ceremonial pattern in order to be “ordained” to the job God was calling them to do. Every prince accepted their anointing. All the names listed here are a play on words that teach us about God’s love and the Messiah’s sacrifice.
If a branch is not productive, the vineyard owner sends out workers to prune away any branches that are sickly or unproductive. When one prunes a branch, it is removed. It can no longer get nutrients, water, etc. When it no longer abides in the vine, it dies. To live, the branch must remain attached to its source. Part of remaining in the vine is wanting to be connected to the vine, wanting to be connected to God and being in His presence. That is our great hope: to know God and be known by Him.