Beauty For Ashes
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place. And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out” (Leviticus 6:8-13)
Today’s Morsel: When we lived in Virginia, our home had a wood fireplace. Each morning after burning wood during the night, we needed to remove the ashes and take them outside. The same was true for the priest under the law. They were to take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place. We find that when Jonah was sent by God to Nineveh, he arrived at Nineveh and told them that God was going to overthrow their city. Scripture says, “And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.” (Jonah 3:4-6) Ashes represented mourning. They began to repent of their sins. Speaking of Jesus Christ, Isaiah said, “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:3)
Sing: He gave me, beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirits of heaviness, that we might be trees of righteousness, the planted of the Lord, that He might be glorified.
Thought For Today: “Strength and beauty are found in His sanctuary.”
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